She had not known how much she loved the law until Apollo came into her life.

She had known Daddy was a lawyer, of course. How could she not? But before meeting Apollo, it was something that she saw as being the past. Something long dead and buried. Something that the two of them would never speak of. It had no bearing on their lives now.

That day he was arrested terrified her. They could barely afford their rent then, and affording a lawyer would be impossible.

"What about that girl you found, Daddy?" She had asked him, her face pressed against the glass. "The one who wants to be a Lawyer?"

He smiled ruefully. "She's nowhere near ready for something like this." He said. "And she won't be for years."

They had found Apollo almost entirely by chance, but he had done more for them in the past year than any of them could have imagined. It was because of his help that they managed to expose the truth in the case that led to her Daddy's disbarment.

It was Apollo who brought the Agency back up on it's feet, helped her Daddy find reclaim his badge, and it was he who really gave them a chance to shine.

She really missed Apollo.

She was not the only one. Pearl Fey and her cousin, Maya, were always eager to hear about how he was doing in Khu'rain. Maya in particular was far more interested in the political aspects of Khu'rain ("Mr. Justice is making real history!) But Pearl asked after him personally.

She was not close to Pearl. She had once overheard her father describe them as being like 'sisters' but she didn't feel that way. They did not fight, get into squabbles, or anything like that. But they also did not have the close emotional connection that real sisters should have.

Trucy did not feel comfortable in asking Pearl about herself or what she was doing with her time, but today was a little different.

"Mr. Justice has really come into his own, hasn't he?" Pearl asked. "It really makes me feel as if I need to grow up a little myself."

Pearl always spoke in a dignified, polite tone of voice. Trucy, a natural born showman sort of person, always felt as if they had come from two very different worlds.

"Grow up?" Trucy repeated. "But you are… rather well respected in Kurain, aren't you?" She knew better than to believe in Spirit channeling. She was a magician, after all.

She shook her head. "With Mystic Maya finally ready to rule the clan, I feel as if my presence is not needed." She said. "I feel as if I need to focus my energies… elsewhere."

She blushed. Trucy cocked her head curiously to the side, and asked her to continue.

"Our population of Spirit Mediums is at an all time low." Pearl confessed. "But with Mystic Maya's power fully realized, we no longer have need for a lowly acolyte like me."

"But what will you do now?" Trucy asked, still unsure of where to go with this.

"Well…" She buried her face in her hands. "I want to get married!"

"Married?" Trucy repeated. Pearl nodded, her face radiant. "But why do you need to leave the village for something like that."

"There are no men in Kurain." She said, calming herself a little as she folded her hands neatly onto her lap. "I feel as if there is no one there for me. The city, on the other hand…"

"I thought you loved Kurain." Trucy said. She could not explain why this sudden shift in attitude bothered her so much.

"You sound just like Mystic Maya." Pearl said, laughing. "But she cannot stop me. She knows, as I do, that we need more mediums. Not less. And there is, as they say, only one way to make that happen."

That was a rather old fashioned sounding way of saying you desperately wanted to get fucked by someone, Trucy thought. Pearl always was a rather odd girl.

Zak, her real daddy, had once told her that there were two types of people in the world. Magicians, and everyone else. Magicians were clever, intelligent creatures that could fool and impress the masses. As she got older, she began to feel more and more as if that was an overgeneralization. The lawyers she surrounded herself with were more than willing to question her tricks when the need arose, and they had never had any trouble figuring them out. Even in those instances where she was too stubborn to swallow her pride and describe how the trick actually worked.

The Feys, to her, were the perfect audience. They laughed and clapped at everything she showed them without questioning the hows and she could do what she did. It encouraged her and pushed her to improve her craft.

Daddy and Apollo, on the other hand, were more than willing to try and help her improve. Daddy wasn't good at it at all, although he tried, but Apollo was actually a born natural. If she had met him earlier in life, than somehow, maybe, he could have been her assistant. He was more than competent, perhaps even more so than the De Famme twins. He offered feedback, helped her practice, even invented his own trick that surprised her.

But he was too set in his ways. Too old. Too happy with who he already was to change.

Athena was different. She was too eager to try new things, and just as eager to drop them just as quickly. She would volunteer to help Trucy with her work, only to flake on her at the last moment. Whereas Apollo would often refuse to commit due to other responsibilities, he always made time to help her. Athena never did.

She looked up from where they were sitting to see a rain drenched Athena and Daddy step inside.

"I am exhausted." Athena moaned, as she flopped on the couch. Pearl frowned at her, and Trucy for once could see why. She was getting all of their things wet.

"You did well today, Athena." Phoenix told her. "We just need to do a little more investigating, then you'll have all the tools you need."

She flipped over onto her back and shot him a thumbs up. "You got it, boss." She said. "But Mr. Gavin is a real piece of work… I can't stay focused on the case with him smiling at me all the time."

Phoenix smiled and shook his head. "It's just something you're going to have to learn to deal with." He said. "People will try to throw all sorts of curveballs at you to keep you on your toes. But if you're smart, you can deal with anything they try."

Daddy had taken an interest in Athena years ago, long before they had met Apollo. He had immediately taken a shine to her and spent a lot of time working with her, trying to shape her into the ideal attorney.

Trucy, truth be told, felt very left out. Daddy never even tried to teach her anything like that, and had little experience with magic besides what she showed him. They were as distant as they were close.

Sometimes she wondered if Athena was more his daughter than she was. Sometimes she wondered if Daddy loved her more than her.

Athena knew it, too. Or at least she thought she did. She was always trying to be especially nice to Trucy, to win her over, but nothing she did could change how she felt.

She missed Apollo terribly. He made the Agency more than what it was, not… this.

Trucy could not fall asleep. All she could think of that night was Athena and her Daddy, talking about their work.

Why was he so interested in her?

Why couldn't he pay more attention to her, and what she was doing?

Why didn't he care about her?

What could she do to make him appreciate what she did for this agency more?

The questions kept beating around in her head, and she could not sleep. She had no choice. She couldn't just sit here and do nothing. She needed to practice.

She slipped out of bed, grabbed her hat, and slid out of the house.

Maybe she just wasn't working hard enough. She thought, as drops of rain pattered down onto her. Perhaps Daddy thought she was lazy, or useless, or a terrible magician…

She spun around, drops of rain flicking off her cape. She put on her brightest smile. "I am Trucy Wright!" She declared to the street.. "A child of magic!"

There was no applause, but that was because there was no crowd. Was she such a terrible magician that she did not have fans following her every move?

"Perhaps I am getting too old to be known as a Child of Magic." She thought aloud to herself, adjusting her hat. She was very nearly a adult. Pearl already was, and was thinking about starting a family.

She twirled again, striking another pose. "I am Trucy Wright! The Last of the Gramarye!"

That had a certain ring to it, but she disliked using her name directly in association with the Troupe's. Gramayre Land, for example, came about because she wished to distinguish herself from the rest of the troop.

She was still a Gramarye, but she was also Trucy Wright.

She spun around again. "I am Trucy Wright, the greatest magician in the world!"

Too bold of a claim. She thought irritably. You couldn't call yourself the greatest. Then people would think you never could be.

She spun around, again and again, trying out different stage names. "I am the Almighty!" "I am the magical girl!" "I am Gramarye!" Each time, she was underwhelmed by how none of them sounded good on her toungue.

"I am lonely." She said at last, as the rain poured on her. "I hate this."

She kneeled down on the sidewalk, feeling misereable. She wished Apollo was here.

"I am Trucy Wright." She said, as she stared at her reflection in the puddle. "Daughter of Phoenix and Iris Wright…"

She shook her head again, trying to clear her thoughts. She could not dwell on thoughts of a woman she would never meet. She would need to be strong, both for her Daddy and for herself.

"I am Trucy Wright!" She screamed, suddenly jolting upwards. "And I never give up!"

She would someday be the greatest magician the world had ever seen, and no one would be able to take Daddy's eyes off of her again.