Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

Much to Pacifica's distress, they couldn't stay in the arcade all day if they wanted to make it to Lutera within any reasonable timeframe. "At least I have them." The otter frowned at the many cards she had managed to collect in the little time they had spent at the arcade.

"For the love of the Seven Sages you spent a hundred notes on those," Shouri grumbled, staring at the dozens of micro-transactions on his banking app. "You better not lose them," he warned.

"They're my precious friends! I would never!" The water element cried out, hugging her bundle of cards tightly.

Taika shook her head but smiled all the same. Pacifica was passionate if nothing else and it was something Taika could appreciate about her dear friend.

Moving right along, the group continued their trek toward the towering pillar in the sky. As they made their way through Naiza, Shouri took note of a couple of interesting structural decisions.

The buildings, while tall, weren't skyscraper height. He guessed this was simply due to Lutera sapping the area of resources, though he couldn't account for why they didn't just import the necessary materials from Luna or other Kalanichan cities.

Secondly, and more interestingly, was the shade. The buildings appeared to be constructed in such a manner to maximize the amount of light being blocked by the overhangs and canopies that extended well into the street.

Not that he particularly minded, in the last few months of travel he had become more of a night owl himself. He stole a gaze to Taika, a slight pang in his heart as he was reminded of the cloudless day his Lunar had been afflicted with only a week ago.

Other lunars passing by similarly kept to the shaded areas – they knew better than to allow themselves over-exposure. A simple adaption for them living on the Riterran surface.

"Sho." Taika tugged on his sleeve. "Ho fame," she whined.

Rebecca opened her mouth to remark about the lunar fox's persistent hunger but snapped her jaw shut. It was Taika's birthday after all.

"Let's check out a local place," Pacifica suggested as Taika's eyes locked on a M'kroc's.

"Good idea, that'll make it more special." Shouri placed a hand on his hungry fox's shoulder.

They walked a bit further and found a restaurant called "The General Spore". A warm savory scent filled the air as they passed by the small shop.

"That." Taika made her decision.

With the lunch choice made, the quartet entered the tiny restaurant and were quickly seated.

"Oh, I get it," Shouri spoke up as the group looked over their menus.

"Mushroom-themed restaurant has a mushroom-themed menu, who knew?" Rebecca commented.

"Hrm…" Pacifica furrowed her brows as she scrutinized the menu.

"Pizza." Taika decided almost instantly.

"Yeah, I could go for some pizza." Shouri set his menu down.

"Sounds good to me," Rebecca agreed.

"Uhhh yeah, sure," Pacifica chuckled nervously.

The server Resonator came and took their order before leaving the quartet to wait for their meal. The group of four didn't have much to talk about until they showed up.

Three small Resonators entered the establishment. They stood about half the height of Shouri and Pacifica, but where other Resonators had horns, wings, or tails, these odd creatures bore mushrooms that sprouted straight from their moss-like hair that adorned the tops of their heads. The odd trio walked through and into the back kitchen area as if they owned the place. Rebecca raised a brow, turning back to see if she could catch sight of the strange creatures again.

"Those were Resonators," she frowned.

"Oh yeah. They are Sphonpais – one of the mirage Resonators species," Shouri told them. "Never seen them in person myself," he added.

"They're lunar," Rebecca noted the same elemental feeling from them as their own lunar element.

"Yep." Shouri nodded. "I'm actually surprised to see any here, they're hated even more than lunars normally are on Riterra," he explained.

"Why?" Pacifica asked, similarly turned around in her chair like Rebecca. "They seemed pretty happy to be here."

Shouri hummed, his lips curling down. "Well, besides being lunar-element, they're also the only known predators of Scherzando," he revealed.

"Wh-what?" The three girls turned to Shouri, eyes wide.

"Yeah. Sphonpais are unique in that they can eat Scherzando. The more they hunt the more mushrooms sprout from their heads. That's probably why the stuff on this menu is so cheap – it's all mushroom based and they get to eat while making money from Scherzando hunts on top of being able to sell the fruits of the labor."

It was at that moment their pizza was delivered to their table and they began eating.

As they ate the curious Resonators looked around the small restaurant. Despite the area it was in and how small the building itself was, everything was top class – the seats were comfortable, the tables free from any damage or staining; large, brand-new televisions hung proudly on the walls and were playing live Resonator battles from the Kalanichi Nationals. It was all top-notch as if they opened yesterday. What's more, now that the lunch rush was on, every seat in the house had someone sitting in it.

Not only was everything so meticulously kept, but they were popular to boot.

"Sho, what even is a Mirage Resonator? I've never heard of that before," Taika questioned in between bites of her food.

Shouri polished off the slice he was eating before resuming his explanation. "Hoo boy, okay, so there are four 'rarities' of Resonators. Common, Noble, Mirage, Ethereal. Common Resonators are like you and Pacifica, just normal Resonators with no special traits or lineages"

Rebecca huffed, knowing what was next.

"Next is Noble Resonators, so common species of Resonator but with strong bloodlines or lineages." Shouri averted his gaze. "So like Rebecca."

Taika and Pacifica nodded. Rebecca hugged herself, trembling at the labeling.

Shouri scooted closer to Rebecca, rubbing her shoulder. "Mirage Resonators are extremely rare species of Resonators. In fact, there's one species per element. Golems, Mermaids, Zalavan, Sprites, Dinosaurians, Fairies, and Sphonpais. Fire, Water, Nature, Lightning, Earth, Solar, and Lunar respectively," he continued.

"Wait, so that Zino guy is a mirage Resonator?" Pacifica asked.

"Yep." Shouri nodded in the affirmative.

"Why are Ethereals classed with the other three though? I thought they were immortals," Taika wondered, eying the remaining couple of pieces of the pie.

"They are," Shouri replied, motioning for the fox to polish off the remaining 'zza. "Ethereals are named individuals, so they're the rarest and most powerful of all Resonators. There's only one Blaze Lyre out there for example. Most Maestros who have Ethereals lay low, you get a giant target painted on your back when the public finds out you have one on your team," he told his trio. "Not much modern information on them as a result," he said with a shrug.

It was at that point in the conversation that the crowd by the bar grew rowdy, cheers rising as one of the battles on the TVs intensified.

"Damn they're loud," Rebecca grumbled, folding her ears back to filter out the noise.

"Just a bit, let me see if I can get our check, keep eating."

While Shouri was off fighting the crowds, Pacifica was slowly picking at her pizza. A small pile of mushrooms had accumulated just under a napkin the otter had shuffled onto her plate.

"Are you going to eat those Paci?" Taika asked attention locked on the discarded fungi.

"Go ahead." Pacifica pushed the plate over, which was quickly cleaned by the hungry fox.

"You could have just asked for something else," Rebecca whispered to Pacifica.

"It's not my day, I didn't want to raise a stink," The otter whispered back.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "If you insist."

Shouri returned to the table, sliding a tuner back on his side. "We good to go?" he asked the table.

"Si!"

"Yeah."

"Yep!"

"Wooahhhh…" Astonished gasps escaped the lips of the four tourists as they stood in the shadow of the Lutera Space Elevator.

"C-cold." Pacifica trembled as a sharp gust of wind chilled the group.

"Let's get inside." Shouri motioned to one of the many entranceways that dotted the base of the tower.

As a major travel hub, there were plenty of people coming and going. Surprisingly, the mix was quite healthy: many different Maestros with a wide variety of different Resonators of all kinds made their way in and out of the structure. Despite how free-flowing the foot traffic was from the structure, security was exceptionally tight – several guards stood at the ready by the entranceways, eyeing the masses as they went about their days. The most glaring thing about the security detail was the pistols they all carried on their person.

Thankfully, Shouri and company weren't there to cause trouble, so they easily entered the building without attracting any attention. Finally inside, they could behold the majesty of the only way to leave Riterra. It was not as grandiose as they had imagined, bearing a resemblance to a typical airport, with departure and arrival boards showing when certain gates were coming and going.

"Oh ugh, my stomach." Pacifica dropped her head.

"What's wrong?" Shouri asked.

"Looked up." She shook her head, keeping her gaze firmly on the ground.

Shouri did exactly that. It was like staring into a hole in the sky, as the walkways circled the inside of the tower, seeming to up forever until it became an undistinguishable black point. Various signs and billboards hung proudly advertising all kinds of goods and services, most of which could be found within the tower itself if their claims were to be believed.

"Hey guys! Come check this out!" Rebecca shouted waving for her friends.

Shouri, Taika, and Pacifica convened where their group's fire element had wandered off to. "Look look!" Rebecca excitedly pointed to a large electronic sign. The first floor was the actual spaceport itself, but the next hundred floors were a mixture of industrial, commercial, and residential areas.

"Wow… you can just straight up live in here," Pacifica gasped in awe.

"There's even a few MA Offices, too," Shouri noted, touching the map which changed the listing to show all the Maestro Affairs Offices within the tower.

"They have parks here!" Taika noted.

Once more, Shouri craned his neck skyward. There were so many people wandering around, with no end in sight – just how many people called this elevator home?

"Sho!" Taika squeaked, tugging his sleeve.

"Hm?" He flinched as her arm whipped in front of his face to point to one of the electronic billboards hanging above.

Currently being displayed was an ad for a new cigarette brand specially grown on Luna that gave a taste that was "out of this world".

"I uh, didn't know you had an interest in smoking?" Shouri offered.

"Che?" Taika watched in horror as the ad changed yet again to something entirely unrelated. "Ah! Non!" she cried out.

"What was it then?" Pacifica asked.

"It was a bookstore." Taika frowned. Her gaze was transfixed on the sign, hoping the ad she saw would return, to no avail.

"Was it one of these?" Shouri pointed to the large map screen they were monopolizing, having searched for bookstores. Taika scoured the list, trying desperately to recall the name.

"Ah! This one!" She tapped the screen by accident, having only intended to point at it. The map zoomed out and back in, displaying where the shop was and providing further information.