Sorry this one took so long. I was at a anime convention the day after I posted the previous chapter and I've been trying to catch up on a few things. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!

Standing before Haru was a member of the Bladed Foxes' Hexagon Swords, Yao Sanguine (Age 58), whom she had recognized.

"Master Yao…" Haru gasped upon seeing him. "What are you doing with the Bladed Foxes?!"

"Really?" Yao asked. "Is that really the first thing that comes to mind upon seeing your master after 5 long years?"

(Begin Flashback)

An 11 year old Haru was standing at a Chinese style temple with Yao ready to leave.

"Master Yao, where are you going?" Haru asked. "I still have so much more to learn about Fire Fist Magic!"

"I'm afraid I'm going to be gone for a long time, Haru." Yao answered without even turning back to look at her. "If you wish to continue honing your skills, I suggest travelling and learning as much as you can about magic and martial arts."

"But-" Haru was about to say, but Yao placed his hand on her head and rubbed it.

"Don't worry, Haru. You're strong, I know you are."

Haru started to tear up and cry as Yao began to walk away.

(End Flashback)

"Is this the reason you left?" Haru asked. "To join the Bladed Foxes?"

Yao didn't say a word in response.

"Please answer me!" Haru shouted, her eyes beginning to glaze.

Yao remained silent and Haru charged at Yao screaming.

"FIRE FIST: EXPLOSION PALM!" Haru tried to press her palm against Yao.

However, Yao elegantly dodged the attack to Haru's side.

"Fire Fist: Iron Chop!" Yao, with his fists surrounded in flames, delivered a judo chop to Haru's head and the force slammed her into the ground. "Your aggressiveness was always your greatest weakness."

Haru flipped herself over, set her foot on fire and jumped into the air. "Fire Fist: Meteor Dive!"

Haru dove straight toward Yao with her foot aimed right at him, but Yao caught her foot and swung her into the ground. As she stood back up, struggling a little from the pain, Yao sighed.

"You'll just never learn your place, will you?" Yao asked before turning to his men. "Leave us and continue with the mission."

"But what if you need assistance?" One of the Bladed Foxes' grunts asked.

"I won't need any." Yao replied. "Now go."

The grunts complied and dispersed to other parts of town and Haru charged at Yao once again.

Outside of town, Sakura was struggling to fight off Omar's pack of ghost wolves.

"Damn it!" Sakura said. "I can't hit these things!"

"If Phoenix Dawn has just as many wizards as you, you're guild isn't gonna last very long." Omar said.

"Shut up!"

"Actually, I think you should." Omar said as he commanded his wolves to rush at her all at once.

Sakura readied herself to attack, even though she knew it was futile, but then streaks of light struck the ghosts, cut them apart and they dissipated.

"Hikari!" Sakura exclaimed with relief.

Hikari had slashed the ghosts with a pair of light swords in her hands.

"Am I glad to see you!" Sakura said. "Wait, how come your attacks were able to hit those things?"

"Because I use Photon Magic." Hikari answered. "Light magic is the only form of magic that can even hit those things."

Sakura smirked and slammed her fist into her palm. "Then keep those things off of me while I go kick that guy's ass!"

Omar placed his hand on the ground and another magic seal appeared. "Ghost Magic: Infernal Wyvern!"

Out of the seal came a purple mist that greatly expanded and formed into the shape of a red-eyed wyvern.

"Hikari, can you handle that thing?" Sakura asked.

Hikari was sweating nervously a little. "Um… huh?"

Sakura went in and charged toward Omar, but Omar requipped a black chain scythe and swung it at Sakura. The blade wedged itself into Sakura's left arm and Omar swung the chain so Sakura was slammed into the ground behind him.

"I'm not so stupid as to simply let my ghosts do all the work." Omar said. "I gotta protect myself, too."

Sakura gritted her teeth at the mere sight of Omar's smug face.

Back in the city, Jason was facing off against Veil and the two were still staring each other down.

"Do you like what you see?" Veil asked without any sign of emotion in her voice.

Jason didn't respond to her comment, still maintaining his glare.

"Oh, so you swing the other way?" She asked.

"No." Jason answered without changing his expression at all. "I'm already interested in someone else?"

"What is she like? Tell me."

"I'm not telling you anything about her."

"… Shadow Game." Veil went into the shadows of the buildings around them and disappeared.

Jason looked to the shadows around him and kept a close eye on all of them, keeping his distance by staying in the light. However, his shadow was touching one from the buildings and Veil came out of it with her sword ready to stab him. Jason quickly jumped out of the way and dodged her sword strike.

"So that's your magic." Jason said.

"My Shadow Dance Magic allows me to merge with the shadows and reappear within them." Veil said. "However, I can't use the shadows to attack you directly."

"That would explain your sword."

"Yes, but… I don't want to kill you just yet." Veil giggled.

*What's with her?* Jason thought. *It's like she's been trying to hit on me since our fight began. I better end this quick.*

Jason formed gusts of wind around his arm and pointed them at Veil.

"Zephyr Shotgun!"

Jason fired his gusts of wind at Veil in one quick shot. It appeared that Veil had suffered a lot of damage from that single attack.

"You're a lot stronger than I had anticipated." Veil said, struggling to balance herself as she stood up.

"I AM an S-Class wizard of Phoenix Dawn." Jason said.

"… So strong… I will… make you mine." Veil stumbled over to Jason.

He prepared himself for another attack, but Veil quickly closed the distance between the two of them.

"Shadow Kiss." Veil had kissed Jason on both his arms and legs.

Suddenly Jason's limbs started to go numb just as they were kissed and he fell to the ground. Veil stood in front of him and Jason looked up at her.

"My Shadow Kiss numbs whatever limb I kiss, but only for seven minutes." Veil stated. "Enough time to do this. Desire Dance."

Veil started dancing and her shadow was touching that of Jason's. For some reason, the more her shadow danced over his own, he could feel something change inside him.

"Anyone whose shadow overlaps mine while using this spell will instantly fall head over heels for me." Veil said.

*No…* Jason thought. *I won't… I won't stop forgetting about her… Wendy…*

Just then something had stopped Veil's dance and she was forced to jump back. It appeared to be a blast of black leaves that seemed to have appeared from behind Jason. Someone had jumped in front of Jason wearing a blue cape.

"You didn't do too badly." The person said, turning his head to Jason, revealing himself as Foster. "So you're one of Sakura's guild mates. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"How do you know Sakura?" Jason asked.

"The two of us fought a little over a month ago." Foster answered. "I kicked her ass, but she's clearly incredibly strong. I could say the same thing about you, but it seems you had a bit of bad luck with who your opponent was. Don't worry, I can handle the rest."

"That insignia on your shirt…" Veil said, pointing to the Crime Sorcière symbol. "You're from that independent guild that's been destroying all of my employers! Crime Sorcière!"

"Crime Sorcière?" Jason gasped.

"And I'm familiar with you, Veil." Foster said. "You were raised in a gypsy troupe and abandoned. To survive you took on high paying jobs for many dark guilds and you decided to join the Bladed Foxes because of their increased manpower once two of the guilds in the Balam Alliance fell. Your personality… is indiscernible. You constantly change your personality depending on the situation as well as the likes and dislikes of your target. Women-No, people like you who have no sense of identity make me sick." Foster took in a deep breath and puffed his cheeks. "Forest God Bellow!"

Foster shot a breath attack of black leaves at Veil and sent her crashing into a nearby building. The attack had rendered her unconscious and Foster walked up to Jason.

"Are you okay?" Foster asked.

"She said her spell only lasted seven minutes." Jason answered. "I should be fine after that."

"Then I'll leave you be then." Foster said as he walked away.

"Wait! What about the other Bladed Foxes?"

"I took care of the other grunts." Foster answered without turning around and continued walking. "Your guild mates are all fighting off the other members as we speak and seem to be holding their own. Besides, if the Magic Council asks why you didn't stop me you have a good excuse now. Oh, and I hope things work out with that girl you like."

As Foster walked away Jason smiled and he could sense the feeling in his limbs returning.

Haru's battle with Yao continued, though it seemed as though Yao was dominating as Haru was sweating and completely out of breath and Yao didn't even have a single bead of sweat falling down his face.

"Why don't you give up already?" Yao asked. "There is no way you can beat me."

Haru shot her head up and rage filled her eyes. "No way… I'm not going to give up! My friends are counting on me…"

Yao noticed that steam was literally rising from Haru's body and her skin was starting to develop a red hue.

*This intense heat…* Yao thought. *Is this… Overheat? I never taught her that technique during her training. Where did she learn it? … That's right. Phoenix Dawn's Guild Master is a fire wizard, too. SHE must have taught her.*

*Master Blaise, time to prove how far I've come since joining the guild!* Haru thought.

Haru charged at Yao again, though this time she was moving much faster than before, and her fists and feet were lit ablaze.

"Fire Fist: Flame Wheel!" Haru cartwheeled into Yao.

The attack had struck Yao and sent him flying quite a bit of distance, though he was able to land on his feet and slide across the ground.

*I didn't think Overheat would enhance her attack power and speed like this.* Yao thought.

Once again, before Yao could react, Haru ran up to him again and delivered a blazing uppercut to his chin.

"Fire Fist: Blazing Dragon Fist!"

The flames of the uppercut completely set Yao's body on fire and the force of the uppercut sent him flying through the air. Yao remained in the air until his motionless body hit the ground with a hard thud. Haru panted as her body started to cool down and she walked over to her former master.

"Why?" Haru asked. "Why did you join the Bladed Foxes?"

Yao was silent for several seconds before finally speaking. "… You weren't told why I left the temple? … It's because I took someone's life."

"You… killed someone?"

"… My wife cheated on me… because I spent most of my time at the temple. I was so angry when I found out I used my magic to kill both her and her lover. Once the temple found out, they kicked me out and I joined the Bladed Foxes." Yao reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. "… And today… I will atone for my sins."

"Master! Wait!" Haru screamed, her eyes starting to fill with tears.

"Haru… You should know… I was always so proud of you."

"MASTER!"

Yao stabbed the knife into his own heart and he coughed up blood.

A/N: Did you enjoy the chapter? By the way, at the anime convention I went to I met with the voice actress of Fairy Tail's Lucy, Cherami Leigh and I told her about what happens to Lucy in recent chapters of the manga. To that, she was silent for several seconds before responding 'That's a real game changer'. I also told her about how at the end of the Negima manga, it says that her character and another character got married in the same year, but we all know the two hooked up together to which she responded 'Yes! I love it when a plan comes together'. If you ever go to an anime convention where Cherami is a guest, she's only allowed to sign two items per autograph session. Just thought I should tell you guys those things. Anyway, stay tuned for next time!