{sequel to Black Fairy}


I was thrown to the ground forcefully, the mud getting on my pants which I had just bought. I stood, adamant to not show weakness. "Oh look, the little runt is getting back up! He's just asking for a beating, isn't he?"

I glared at them with venom seeping from my eyes. Twilight Ogre, a legal guild by the books, but they were filled with scum, especially after that other guild beat them out of Magnolia nearly twenty years ago and into this town.

As they started to walk toward me, I shot a hand forward, them half expecting a magic spell to be flung, but instead I just held a finger up at the main guy. My glare quickly turned into a grin. "One hit," I said as cheerily as I had at the beginning of this confrontation.

"W-what?"

"One hit; I'm going to beat you in one hit."

They started laughing, but my smile never faded. "One hit? That's really funny considering your sword isn't even drawn, not that it would do you any good. You just carry that thing around for looks, but in a fight it's useless," they mocked.

I took a stance, my sword held in its usual back-handed style. "As I always say; I'm always itching for a challenge. You'll never know unless I try; what do you say?"

"Tch, alright, I'll play your game. What do I get if you don't beat me in one hit?"

"Well, you get to hit me again, I'll allow that at least, but if you want more…then how does two-hundred-thousand sound to you?"

"Two-hundred-thousand jewels?! No way a little twerp like you has that much on you!"

"You don't know that," I said innocently, my smile remaining. "But if I win this little wager, I get a hundred thousand from each of you, alright?"

"Haha! Hahahaha! Alright, twerp, you made me laugh; take your best shot. The most you'll do is give me a bruise," he mocked, holding his arms out to give me a good angle.

My grin then changed into a smirk. "Alright, but be prepared to fork it over," I said, tightening my stance before dashing forward in a flash, appearing having slashed behind him.

"Ha! I didn't even feel it."

"Wait for it," I said as I locked my sword, still in its sheathe, to my belt, standing straight as I heard the man grunt and then a thud was heard behind me. I turned around grinning as I saw him on the ground. "Alright, that'll be four-hundred-thousand total, and don't bother running; I'll catch you."

I walked away from the group satisfied, tossing up and down a fat sack of Jewels in one hand and my sword in the other.

I then passed by and alley, throwing the sack up, only to have it caught by my worst nightmare. My head creaked to the side, a nervous smile across my face as I saw her straight purple hair flow in the gentle wind, basically spelling my death. "Kagura, I mean…Teacher, I…didn't realize you were, you know…in the neighborhood, and, uh…" I trailed off, breaking into a run to get away from her as she just gave me a glare that could kill if she possessed that type of magic.

I rounded a corner into an alleyway and jumped headfirst into a garbage bin, waiting for her footsteps to pass me by. When they had, I let out the breath I had been holding in, popping my head up to check if she was still there, which she wasn't so I happily hopped out, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Well, I lost the cash, but I've got my head, so I'll consider it a win for me," I said, about to walk away.

"Oh is it now?" Kagura's voice came from behind me and before I had a chance to turn around, she activated her gravity change magic around me, sending me plummeting into the ground, now too heavy to stand or even turn over to look at her.

She snatched my sword away and walked a few steps before releasing the spell. "H-hey! Give that back!" I demanded as I stood, charging toward her, only succeeding in running past her as she slid around me without even looking at me. She did the same once again, but the third time she just up and kicked me away.

I landed on my butt and just waited for my scolding. "Yuri," she said in demanding tone. "You know what I've told you about hustling Jewels with your skills."

"Yeah, yeah…" I muttered as I stood, only to be forced to the ground with her magic again. "That is…so not fair," I forced out before she released the spell once again. I sat up and looked at the ground, my sleek white hair shrouding my eyes.

"Yuri Asher, look at me," she ordered. I reluctantly did so, and she gave me a clear view of my sword. "This blade was passed down by your father to me and then to you. It is his final gift to us; it's sacred. You'd do well to treat it as such," she said as she tossed it to me, with me catching it and laying in on my lap. "It shouldn't be used for such petty purposes as hustling a quick buck," I didn't respond. "Besides, doing so isn't keeping within your goal, remember? Becoming a true hero, right?"

"I know…" I admitted. She had told me this before.

She sighed, kneeled down, and put a hand on my shoulder. "Keep your chin up, would you? When you don't…it makes me feel like I haven't raised you properly."

I cracked a smile. "Well, maybe you haven't," I joked, causing her to chuckle.

"There's the cocky grin I love to see," she said, even though it soon faded. "Yuri, listen, you need to stop this. These petty acts will only lead you down a dark path to bigger and bigger thefts and one day it'll get you killed."

"Yeah, I know, you've told me," I complained, leaning back, using my arms to support myself.

"I may have told you, but you haven't listened yet."

"Maybe the words would sink in if it were my actual blood-parents saying them," I said harshly, striking a nerve with my Teacher, though I was too stubborn at the time to take it back.

"Yuri…" she started, prompting me to continue on my rant which I'd said to myself so many times before.

"But it's not like that can happen, right?" I said with a sad chuckle in my voice. "I mean, my dad died and left me from the afterlife and my mom gave me to you soon after, and even then she hasn't been seen for over five years now," I said angrily. "And now, after seventeen years, all I have left of them is this stupid sword," I said as I threw it away to Kagura's feet, wrath clouding my heart.

She picked it up, walked over to me and kneeled in front of me once again. I looked away from her as it dawned on me the severity of my words.

"I…I-I'm sorry…that came out wrong."

"No, venting is…always good. Maybe work on your word choice next time though…" she assured, placing the sword in my lap. "I think it's time for you to get some family, so I was thinking-"

"But you're my family," I interrupted, my voice lower than normal, showing my sadness that she didn't openly acknowledge me as a relative, even though I did her.

"But I'm only one person," she reminded me. "You need siblings, a father figure maybe."

"You're…not going to send me to an orphanage again like when you got mad at me, are you? Because I've kinda broken out of every single one you threw me in, so…"

"No, not an orphanage; how about a Mage's Guild?"

My nose scrunched up. "What? Gross! Those people are freaks."

"And you're not?" she retorted, silently reminding me that she had once been in a guild. Now she worked as a swordsmanship specialist training people for cash…I was an exception to the cash part.

"Well, whatever, it's not like I can use magic whenever I want. I'm not normal like you are, or everybody else is," I countered back.

"Sure you are; you just need some…work…" she knew form the moment she started that sentence that it would be bullshit.

"Teacher, I have no magic power unless my sword is drawn, and when it is sheathed again, my magic disappears. That's not normal," I answered.

She sighed. "Even still; I used mainly that sword and only used magic when it was necessary, just like you're gonna do."

"Pft, whatever. Find a guild that isn't bat-shit insane, and maybe I'll considering joining."

"Oh you're joining alright," she ordered.

"And why should I?"

"Because if you don't," I expected her to threaten me with death; she'd done it before after all, but she only held up the sack of Jewels. "You're not getting this back to use on food."

"What?!" I yelled. "That's completely unfair!" I continued though I was soon silenced by meeting my nose with the ground.

"Now then," she started walking circles around me as I lay on the ground from her magic, despite her having released the spell. "Which guild should you join? That's always a good question to ask. I suppose my old guild is out because it's all female. Mermaid Heel probably wouldn't suit you as a cross-dresser either," she commented, delving into her darker thoughts of dressing me up as a woman to join an all-female guild. That would've given me nightmares.

"What about that really famous one; Fairy Tail?"

"No way," she said sternly. "Those people are freaks."

"Isn't your older sister the Guild Master?" I questioned. I'd never actually met the woman, but if she was Kagura's older sibling, then she must've been three times as scary.

"Yes she is, but that's not important. And besides, I can't have you spreading rumors about me to her, ones that I might add, would most likely be completely untrue!"

"You mean like how you only just recently stopped sleeping with one pillow between your legs and one in the normal spot?"

"Shut up!" she snapped. "Everybody has awkward sleeping positions sometimes-"

"Every night," I corrected, only to be slapped away. "Alright, I kind of deserved that," I said as I picked myself up.

Kagura popped a fist onto her palm. "Oh! There's an up-and-coming guild with only a few members that would be perfect for you. They've had a lot of successful missions for that small of a guild, so there are sure to be a lot of strong mages there for you to bond with," she said excitedly. "I believe their name was…Esperscale."

Author's Note:

Hey guys! I have to say that I'm super excited to get this one going!

In case you were absolutely lost, this is a sequel to my previous fic, Black Fairy. This takes place nearly twenty years after it ended, so everyone is going to be older than you're used to, once we actually get to them, but just stick with it and give it a chance if you could.

Other than that, this was just an introduction, so next chapter we're gonna get to know a new guild: Esperscale!