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

Shouri remembered the warning imparted on him by the Dallivan MA Office manager. He ignored it. Unlike Holly, who could be spotted by the plants adorning her head, there was nothing weird about Linh. Granted, he did bring Holly with him--he wasn't coming here without the company of his loyal plant.

She just put her hood up, easy enough to not draw suspicion.

Or at least they both hoped.

Unlike Holly, who had never seen a MA Office prior to her registration, Linh had no such curiosity. Instead, she just clung to to his jacket sleeve, her gaze directed forward.

Even without being properly linked to her yet, just the promise they would be connected made him privy to her emotional state.

Trepidation and nervousness radiated from the mermaid.

"Relax, you're just drawing more attention to yourself," whispered Holly.

"But what if--?" Linh cut herself off. She couldn't speak the fear that dwelt in her heart. As such, Shouri didn't know what was bothering her.

Perhaps she hadn't been entirely forthcoming about being abandoned? That was something that concerned him. What would realistically happen? Not much to him, at least. If Linh had a reason to run away from her previous Maestro it couldn't have been good. It wasn't like he or Holly could do anything in that instance, they'd just have to let Linh be taken back.

That made the bile in his gut rise in protest--what a horrible thought.

Unfortunately, that wasn't what came to pass, instead it was an entirely stupid scenario that ruined their day.

None of the trio noticed when that Maestro walked in. In fact, they never even found out the dude's name.

His face, they'd remember that for as long as they lived, despite how mundane and average he was. Mid, as one might say.

They most certainly remembered his drink order--four large orange sodas, all for him, naturally.

How did they learn of his drink selection?

Well, he ran into Linh, full force; spilling the sodas all over the incognito mermaid, the zalavan by her side, and the Maestro of the two.

Linh couldn't fight her magical anatomy and dropped to the ground on the spot, as her legs turned to a tail. She didn't know what to feel. It was mortifying being a fish out of water like she was, but even worse is she was completely soaked in sticky soda.

They also would remember his stupid, nasally voice, bellowing out "Woah! Is that a mermaid?!"

The trio were fairly certain they hated this nameless man.

If Holly had fire seeds, she'd have been able to dry Linh off to make their great escape. As it stood, the poor plant was in the same state as her mermaid counterpart, soaked and humiliated.

To make matters worse, the rest of the people lounging around the MA Office heard the very stupid man calling Linh out and rushed to see the mermaid.

"Fuck, we're so getting chewed out for this," Shouri grumbled. If he wasn't worried about Linh, he'd have throttled the very stupid man. Instead, he did something equally as dumb; he grabbed Linh's shoulder and cast.

"L'onda di Tempesta, Accelerando!"

Linh simply did as ordered of her, without a second thought. She took in the Maestro's intention and a river of water sprung up, causing the gathering crowd to dodge out of the way of the spell. Shouri grabbed Holly's hand and pulled her onto the high speed river-ride generated by one very distressed fish. The trio slammed through the door to the back offices, despite the shouts and protests of the staff to knock it off. They hit the wall with a wet smack, and Shouri scampered to the door to lock it and prevent any further gawking by the adoring public.

The boy allowed himself a short breath of relief.

"Uhhh… Sho…"

He didn't like the nervous inflection in Holly's voice, it made him tense where he stood. He didn't want his two loyal Resonators to face whatever awaited them alone. With a hard gulp, he slowly turned to face his fate.

Shouri Tomoshibi thought he knew anger. He felt a lot of it in his daily life. He's witnessed it on others (mainly his temperamental father.)

He knew not the rage of a wrathful office manager.

Not until today.

The three sat in temporary clothes, simple t-shirts and shorts while the MA Office manager gave them the third degree. The manager went on and on about reckless spellcasting, and bringing a mirage into the main lobby for registration.

Guilty as charged, the three just hung their heads and continuously mumbled apologies. Especially after Shouri tried to speak up and got reamed out harder for the effort.

Just saying sorry repeatedly was the only safe play.

Finally, they got all of their bottled up anger out of their system and asked the trio the question they had been waiting for.

"Why are you here?"

Shouri allowed a moment to pass before he lifted his head and spoke. "I wanted to register Linh," he motioned to the rueful mermaid to his right. "I didn't think we'd get assaulted by the entire M'krocs drive-through," he snarked quietly.

Holly covered her mouth as she snorted at her Maestro's joke.

The office manager huffed. "We could have done this at your home, you know," they pointed out.

Shouri knew this well, but in the brief reprieve from being chewed out, he formulated the perfect excuse.

"Well, she was abandoned by her previous Maestro and I wanted to make sure there would be no problems."

The office manager scrutinized the boy. It was quite hard to believe--someone just abandoning a mirage; not selling or trading it. When Shouri didn't immediately cave or come up with another excuse, the manager inquired further.

"Where is her tuner?"

That… was a good question. Holly and Shouri looked to the water element in between them, who refused the curious gazes.

"I… lost it," Linh admitted quietly. "When I jumped, I must have dropped it."

Shouri gripped the edges of his temporary shorts, as he found himself clenching his jaw tight. This all sounded beyond suspicious. Also, she jumped? He didn't like the implication of that.

Holly shared her Maestro's nervousness, he could feel it through their bond and he dare not call attention to it by looking at her.

The manager continued to scrutinize the three young adults before they turned to their computer. "What is your previous Maestro's name? If your story is true, the system will reflect his release of responsibility."

Linh continued to hang her head. She opened her mouth a few times, failing to give power to her voice. Finally, a name.

"Cameron Abedul."

That name earned pause from the office worker. "Zacara Academy's Cameron Abedul?" they questioned.

The mermaid flinched, but nodded quickly.

Some typing and clicking later, the manager raised a brow. "Well, isn't that interesting?" they mused aloud.

Shouri felt his heart drop. This was it, wasn't it? There was no way a second mirage would just fall into his lap like this. In their short time together he'd grown fond of the poor timid little fish, but it was a ridiculous prospect; not like Holly's situation. More than anything he was frustrated, Linh was driven to try to escape this horrible--

"Your story checks out." The office manager turned their screen towards the trio.