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Sakura had taken a fair amount of damage from Foster's attack.

"Even with my Dragon Slayer Magic, his wood-based attacks still pack quite a punch." Sakura said to herself.

"I'm not finished yet!" Foster said as he charged toward Sakura with his arm surrounded in lack leaves. "Forest God Hammer!"

Before Foster could slam his arm down on Sakura, she quickly sidestepped out of the way and surrounded her foot with cherry blossom petals.

"Forest Dragon Talon!"

Sakura used her magic-infused foot to kick Foster in his ribs and send him crashing into the tree, which cracked in half from the force.

"Forest Dragon…" Sakura charged at Foster with her entire body covered in cherry blossom petals. "Oak Crash!"

Sakura smashed her body against Foster which sent them crashing into more trees right into the side of the mountain. Just as they hit the mountain, Foster surrounded his arm in black leaves again.

"Forest God Hammer!"

Foster hit Sakura with his arm with tremendous force. As the smoke cleared, Sakura was lying on the ground struggling to get back up.

"This battle is over." Foster said.

"I'm…" Sakura growled. "Not done yet!"

Suddenly, the magic power Foster was emitting from his body became tremendous and fear overcame Sakura's entire body.

"I understand that there are moments here failure is not an option." Foster said. "But when it is, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Failure is a learning experience. Learn from this defeat and you will be much stronger for it. Although I must admit…" The magical pressure around Foster started to lessen. "You're the first opponent in a while to give me a decent fight. Here, take this."

Foster used some form of Forest Magic to create a golden fruit in his hand and tossed it over to Sakura, which she managed to catch.

"The Fruit of Gaia." Foster said. "Eat this and it should replenish your magic energy and give you the strength to take on the demon."

"What demon?" Sakura asked.

"Go in that cave and see for yourself." Foster answered before walking away.

"Wait!" Sakura shouted as she got back up.

However, by the time she was on her feet Foster was already long gone.

"… What's up with him?" Sakura wondered.

In the mountain cave, Aqua continued chasing Kuroko and both were clearly starting to run out of breath.

*I can't keep running like this.* Aqua thought as she ran. *I better end this quickly!* "Aqua Flagellum!"

A whip of water shot out of Aqua's hand and wrapped itself around Kuroko's ankle. This caused him to trip and fall and Aqua pulled him toward her.

"You can't get away now!" Aqua shouted.

Kuroko grabbed one of the staves he was carrying and pointed it Aqua.

"Force Staff!"

The gravity around Aqua began to shift upward and she started to move toward the ceiling.

"Lightning Impale!"

Aqua was electrocuted by the attack and fell toward the ceiling since gravity had changed where she was.

"Aqua Hasta!"

Aqua fired a spear of water at Kuroko, which pierced his shoulder and it started bleeding.

"My… my power…" Kuroko muttered as he felt magic energy start to surge through his body.

"Kuroko!"

Flora flew right up to the two.

"Flora, what are you doing here?" Aqua asked.

"Sakura's busy with a fight right now." Flora answered.

"… Sakura…" Kuroko mumbled.

(Begin Flashback)

Kuroko was walking through a field and stopped when he saw a cherry blossom tree.

"Every time I see a cherry blossom tree, it would always remind me of Sakura…"

(End Flashback)

Kuroko started to calm down from his surge of magic energy.

"Hey!"

Sakura came running up toward the group and saw that Aqua was still on the ceiling.

"Whoa! How are you doing that?!" Sakura asked.

The gravity returned to normal and Aqua fell to the ground in a comical fashion.

"Ow…" Aqua groaned in pain.

Sakura then turned her attention to Kuroko. "It's okay, Kuroko. You don't have to be afraid of us anymore."

"Aren't you a LITTLE concerned about my safety?" Aqua asked.

"Kuroko, you're innocent in all of this, aren't you?" Sakura asked.

"Huh?" Kuroko responded. "You…"

"Someone else is responsible for the death of the townspeople." Sakura said. "If you know anything about it, please tell us."

Kuroko took a breath for a brief second and spoke up. "When I got here in town, I found that mountain of corpses. So I tried to perform a ritual so they could rest in peace."

"Then why did you run away?" Aqua asked.

"I wasn't trying to run away." Kuroko said. "At the same moment you arrived, I sensed a dark presence coming from within this cave. A dark mage had murdered the townspeople as sacrifices in order to summon a powerful demon. It's only a matter of time now."

"Then we better hurry!" Sakura said.

Sakura ran off and Flora flew off after her. Aqua got to her feet and followed Sakura as well. Kuroko just looked at them and smiled.

"I'm glad Sakura came when she did…" Kuroko said to himself. "If she hadn't… I better not think about it."

Kuroko followed Sakura and the others until they reached a wide, large area. In the center, a large magic circle was glowing and a man with dark robes stood in front of it.

"I offer unto you the souls of departed so that you may rise again and do my bidding!" The dark mage chanted. "Come forth, Jezebel!"

Out of the portal came a giant, almost plant-like demon that looked like a tree with root-like tentacles and a woman's face coming out of the hollow of the tree.

"Yes! YES!" The dark mage shouted.

"Forest Dragon Talon!" Sakura kicked the dark mage right in the jaw and sent him flying and crashing into the wall of the cave. She then turned her attention to the giant demon.

"Sakura, get out of there!" Kuroko shouted. "That forest demon is more powerful than you could possibly imagine!"

"Guess it's time I finally used this." Sakura said as she pulled out of her pocket the fruit that Foster had given her and started to eat it.

After swallowing the last piece of the fruit her magic energy wasn't just restored, it increased in power and her body started to be covered in leafy dragon scales.

"All this power…" Sakura said. "Just by eating that fruit? Heheh! You're going down!"

"What just happened to Sakura?" Aqua asked. "It's like she became stronger than ever before."

"That fruit she ate…" Kuroko said. "It's said to hold amazing wood magic within it. That much power must have allowed her to achieve the true form of the Dragon Slayer: Dragon Force."

Sakura lunged at Jezebel with cherry blossom petals forming the shape of a sword in her hands.

"Forest Dragon Blossom Blade!"

Sakura had cut off a few of the root-like limbs and the demon screamed in agony. She then went to eat one of the tentacles.

"Blegh! Nasty!" Sakura exclaimed. "Those roots taste awful!" She then breathed in. "Forest Dragon Roar!"

Sakura's breath attack struck the tree, but the face in the hollow started to charge up a dark magical blast.

"Sakura, don't let it use that move!" Kuroko shouted.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art…" Sakura said before charging up a large pink leaf in her hand. "Leaf Judgment Sword!"

Sakura swung the massive leaf across the demon and it was sliced in two, right across the face in the hollow. Upon defeat, the demon started to fade into black mist and dissipate until it had completely vanished. After it vanished, Sakura's body had reverted to its normal state and collapsed.

"Sakura!" Flora shouted as she flew toward her friend.

"I'm okay…" Sakura said, still lying down. "I just used a lot more energy than I thought I did."

"Come on." Aqua said as she helped Sakura up and carried her by her shoulder. "Let's get back to the others. By the way, where'd you get that weird fruit?"

"Some guy gave it to me." Sakura answered.

"You ate something someone just gave to you?!" Aqua asked, shocked that she ate something given to her by a stranger. "What if it killed you?!"

Kuroko followed them out of the cave and was walking next to Sakura.

"Sakura?" Kuroko spoke up.

"Yes, Kuroko?" Sakura replied.

"I want to apologize." Kuroko said. "For emotionally hurting you all those years ago. It's the one thing I regretted most after all these years."

"… Don't worry about it." Sakura said with a smile. "By the way, when did you become a wizard?"

"After we left the mansion, my father became ill and couldn't be cured." Kuroko recalled. "He passed away shortly after and I was all alone. One day, I fell unconscious from starvation and was saved from a shaman who took me to his hut and taught me my Voodoo Magic."

"Voodoo?" Flora asked. "You mean like controlling people with dolls?"

"Yes." Kuroko answered. "After two years, I decided to leave the shaman and explore the world."

"I'm glad I got to see you again." Sakura said.

Kuroko blushed.

"Hey, do you want to join our guild?" Sakura asked.

"R-really?" Kuroko asked.

"I don't see why you shouldn't." Sakura replied.

"W-well… okay…" Kuroko said, still blushing.

"You liiike her." Flora joked.

Sakura and Aqua simply laughed at Flora's joke, but Kuroko continued to blush.

Elsewhere deep in the forest, Foster had met up with Ultear and Meredy.

"How did it go?" Ultear asked.

"She's getting stronger and stronger by the day." Foster answered. "I only fought at half-strength and she managed to put up a good fight. Sent me crashing into a mountain."

"Are you okay?" Meredy asked, running up to Foster to check his back.

"It'll take more than that to take me down." Foster said. "I appreciate your concern, Meredy. Anyway, at this rate Phoenix Dawn will be on par with Saber Tooth."

"They could prove to be valuable allies someday." Ultear said. "Anyway, Jellal is waiting. We should report back to him at once."

The three of them walked off.

In the middle of a bustling town, Jason was returning from yet another job and heading back to Roseshade while making a stop at a town on the way.

"Geez, I come back to visit my family on my way back from a job and what do they do?" Jason grumbled to himself. "They keep asking the same question they've been asking me for 3 years now! 'Did you meet a girl'? 'Did you meet a girl'?" He quoted them with a mocking voice. "Gah, can't they just drop that?"

"Don't take your family for granted." A familiar voice said.

Jason turned to see Kagura outside a tea shop and sitting at a table shaded by an umbrella, sipping some tea.

"Kagura, I didn't expect to see you here." Jason said.

"As I was saying, do appreciate your family while you still have them." Kagura said.

"It's not that I don't appreciate them or care for them." Jason said. "I'm just tired of them asking me when I'm finally going to get a girlfriend… Wait, those words you just said… Never mind, I won't pry into it."

"Thank you for your consideration. Let us change the topic. Why is your family so concerned about you having a girlfriend?"

"Eh, it might have to do with the fact I've never dated anyone."

"So? I've never had a date."

"Well… I can't speak for you. As for me… I'm… waiting for someone."

"Childhood friend?"

"Not exactly, but ever since the day I met her there was just something that drew me to her. She was kind, polite, sweet… It's been years… and I've yet to hear from her. Some people would tell me to move on, but I just haven't felt the same for anyone else. I'm sorry if my rambling is bothering you."

"I'm not very talkative, so I don't mind. Although, I do have one question: How is Blaise doing?"

"Oh yeah, that's right. Blaise used to be a member of your guild."

Kagura simply nodded.

"Anyway, she's been doing well." Jason said. "She goes on missions on her own to help pay for our guild hall. Oh, speaking of which I'd better get back." As he stood up, he placed some money on the table. "Thanks for the chat. Tea's on me."

Before Kagura could say something, Jason had already left. She simply smirked and took another sip of her tea.

A/N: Next chapter I will reveal a little more on Spiral's backstory. I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I also hope that I kept Kagura in character during that conversation. If you guys want to submit an OC villain or villains I can use, go right ahead. Stay tuned for next time!