One day in Amaryllis, a strange traveler came walking into town. His face concealed with no one knowing who it is, but it appeared that he was heading for the Phoenix Flame guild.
"You're kidding me. There's no way that actually happened." Yukina said with her, Mary, Maru, and Sandy all sitting at a table and talking.
"I'm not joking. When Maru punched that gigantic fish right in the stomach, a whole bunch of other fish came flowing out of it's mouth like drool." Sandy claimed.
"Yeah, and it was disgusting." Mary complained.
"I said I was sorry. At least none of it got on you. What are you so upset about?" Maru said.
"Because Sandy grabbed one of those disgusting fish and held it near my face to try and get me to eat it." Mary complained. "That is so wrong." Yukina couldn't stop laughing. She certainly loves being in Phoenix Flame. Yukina felt at peace, but that went away when she felt something was off. She felt a set of eyes on her. When she turned to the entrance, she didn't see anyone there. "Yukina? Are you okay?"
"It's weird. You guys ever get the feeling you're being watched?" Yukina questioned.
"Of course. Sometimes boys can't take their eyes off me." Mary said with her trying to feel like a supermodel.
"The only thing bigger than that fish appears to be Mary's ego." Sandy teased, but Mary grabbed a hold of him and tossed him away.
"I could have sworn there was someone there and was watching me." Yukina claimed.
"Must have just been your imagination. Can we talk about what we're going to do tomorrow? I need to start saving up for some rent." Mary claimed.
"We'll just take a highly pay job. Are you in Yukina?" Maru asked.
"Sure. Maybe I just need something to clear my head. I'll see you tomorrow for work." Yukina said with her getting her stuff and headed on home. What they weren't aware of was that Phatar was listening in with him sitting at the bar, and he too was aware that someone was watching Yukina. In fact, he actually saw someone then they ducked away when Yukina looked to the door.
...
Yukina
"Boy, it will actually be nice to get back to work." Yukina said with her walking down an empty street all on her own. "I'm starting to think Mary was right. Things have been a little too quiet that it makes you a little restless." Yukina was on her way home until she heard someone kick a can right behind her. When she turned around, she saw the mysterious traveler following her. When Yukina saw him, she got spooked and picked up the pace. 'I wasn't imagining things. There was someone stalking me. Then again, it's possible he's just heading in the same direction as me.' She took another look back and saw he picked up the pace as well with him following her. Yukina was starting to get scared now. This means he really is following her. "Get away from me!" She panicked and turned to the man with her using her snow magic. A gust of snow blew down the street and she lost sight of him. "That was scary."
"Yukina..." Somehow he managed to get behind her.
"AW! Leave me alone!" Yukina screamed.
"Calm down and quit making such a fuss. It's me." He took off the hood and showed his real face with it being someone she knew. "It's your father." Yukina was shocked to see it really was him. It was Johnson, the former master of the dark guild known as Fiendish Gargoyle, but he looked a little worse for wear. Hos clothes were in bad shape and he had some facial hair growing. Still, she knew it was him.
"Dad? What are you doing here? You look like..." Yukina tried being sensitive, but wasn't sure what to say.
"Like I've seen better days? I know." Johnson claimed. "You might already know this, but Fiendish Gargoyle is no more. I had to work my way to the bone for all that I did. My guild and all my followers gone just like that. I don't know what to think of all of it that I could laugh with how crazy this all is." In fact, he actually did laugh, but Yukina was in no mood.
"Why are you here?" Yukina said with her sounding serious. That got him to stop. "Don't tell me you came here to mess with Phoenix Flame again."
"Look at me, Yukina. Do I look like I have the power to mess with anyone." Johnson claimed. "I'm just passing by. Luckily, I managed to find some work in a small town to the west of here called Tulip. I just wanted to see my daughter." Yukina wasn't expecting that. He sounded like he actually cared. "Now that Fiendish Gargoyle is gone, you're really all I have left in the world. Ever since the last time we saw each other, I began to reflect on my actions and I've come to regret what I've done."
"Oh, well good for you." Yukina said and just tried to walk away, but Johnson wouldn't allow it.
"Wait. Yukina, I'm being serious." Johnson said. "Yukina, everything I have now is gone. I'm working to get it all back, but until I do, I only have you. I want things to be better."
"I... I don't know, Dad." Yukina said.
"Yukina, please!" Johnson said as he grabbed a hold of by the shoulders and was getting a little forceful. "You're my daughter!" When he did that, Yukina was starting to have flashbacks of how he was before. He was acting like he owned his daughter like a piece of property and tried to control her. How he wanted her to be a part of his dark guild when she didn't have the heart to be as cruel as her. "Yukina!" He shouted at her, but Yukina just pushed his arms off. She wasn't going to be that same helpless girl.
"You might be my birthfather, but you don't know how to act like a real father." Yukina said. "Go and do whatever you want, but I'm not going to be a part of it."
"Yukina!" Johnson called, but Yukina just ran past him and didn't want to hear him out. Johnson could see he messed that up, but he didn't dare chase after her to make things worse.
'He hasn't changed at all. He's still a horrible man.' Yukina thought as she felt more upset and disappointed than angry. What neither of them knew was that Phatar was standing at the top of a building and saw everything unfold, but what is he going to do?
...
The Next Day
"Let's see... What job can we all take?" Gin questioned as he looked for a good job the whole team can take.
"This one will work. It will be a big help to cover my rent." Mary claimed. It seems they were all interested and set to go, but Yukina didn't seem that excited. She just couldn't get over what happened the other night.
"Yukina? Is something wrong?" Aster asked.
"No. It's nothing." Yukina assured, but it wasn't easy for her to shake off what happened.
"Hey, did you hear what's going on in Tulip, a town just west from here?" Axel said. He and Frank were talking with Yukina overhearing them. "I heard a group of thugs is holding a jeweler guild captive."
"A jeweler guild? Isn't that a guild for jewelers to get work?" Frank said. "They excavate gems and try to turn them into jewelry. You're saying some thugs just stormed the place?"
"Yeah, and some innocent citizens are being held in there as well." Axel claimed. Yukina remembered that Tulip was the name of the town Johnson said he was going to so that he could get work. If civilians and a whole guild has been taken captive, she's wondering if her father got caught up in that mess.
"In Tulip... I wonder... No. What do I care?" Yukina said. She tried to ignore the feeling, but she knew what she had to do because she was a better person than her father.
"Well, let's get going." Maru said, but Yukina just took off and left the others confused on what she's doing. "Someone's eager to go." Yukina hurried out of the guild and ran right pass Phatar on her way out.
'He might be a rotten person, but he's still my father.' Yukina thought. What she's doing is crazy, but she's a better person and knows that this is the right thing to do.
...
Tulip
Tulip is a small town, but home to a different type of guild. Right now, that guild is being held hostage by a group of criminals. A lot of people want to know what's going on in there, but some soldiers won't let them through their own safety. They're all rather worried about what might be going on inside.
"Everyone, calm down! We've asked for help from a nearby guild, but we can't risk the hostages safety or yours! Stay back!" A soldier called. As for Yukina, she arrived herself and saw the whole crowd, but saw no sign of her father anywhere.
"He's not here, and it looks like the whole town is here." Yukina said. "Don't tell me he might be inside, or if maybe all that stuff was a lie and he's running this whole thing." Yukina didn't like how this was shaping, but she put the whole thing out of her mind. "No. I've got to try a way inside." She knew she couldn't take the direct route and go right in, so she had to sneak in. She made her way around the guild and did find a window she could get in through that no one was guarding. "Perfect!" She hurried towards the window and climbed in through there. Meanwhile, all the guild members and some innocent people were all grouped together and forced to remain still as a bunch of guys in black and ski masks had the whole place.
"I got all the jewels I could, but what good does any of this do if we can't get out of here?!"
"Shut up! I'm trying to think of that! Unless they want the hostages to be harmed, those guys better get us some carriages!"
"I told you we should have done this at night! No one would have spotted us!"
"I said shut up!" This wasn't looking good, and one of them seems to have a short fuse. That's why when he heard one of the hostages whimpering, he was getting rather impatient. "I thought I said shut up, and I said that to everyone!" He claimed with him walking over to her, but she couldn't stop herself. "When I say shut up, it means you be quiet!" He said with him aiming a gun right at her.
"Don't do it! You want to make things worse for us!" It seemed like he was really going to take the shot, but that was when he got hit in the head with snow.
"What the hell? Is this snow? Where did that come from?"
"Over here!" All of them looked and saw Yukina standing there.
"Cute, but I'm not the kind of guy you want to annoy. Now, if I were you, I behave myself or else you're going to have more holes in you than cheese!"
"Not if you can't see me. White Out!" Yukina used her snow magic and unleashed all of it right inside the building. The snow was so thick that it was hard to see anything.
"Is she a wizard?!"
"I can't see anything!"
"She's just one girl! How hard can it be to take her down?!"
"Harder than you think. White Fang!" Yukina was able to fight right through the snow and attacked some of the criminals with her magic. "White Fury!" Yukina attacked again with gale-force powered snow and practically buried them in snow. The snow cleared away and showed there was only one left standing.
"Damn you!" He was about to shoot her, but Yukina was ready.
"Flurry Gale!" Yukina added the finishing move. She unleashed a blast a snowy wind that hit him right in the chest and was strong enough to blow him right in the wall. "Is everyone okay?"
"Yes! Thank you so much!"
"Your magic is incredible!" They were all grateful for the help, but Yukina still didn't see her father anywhere.
"You damned brat... Now you're really going to get it." That one criminal refused to give up and was going to shoot right at her. Yukina was so distracted that she didn't even noticed until something burst through the ceiling and struck the guy right in the back. Yukina was surprised to see it was Phatar with him finishing the crook off.
"Phatar?! What are you doing here?!" Yukina said.
"I was nearby after a job and heard what was going on. Thought I lend a hand when I saw you in here." Phatar claimed. Yukina thought that was rather strange, especially when she remembered running past him.
"Wait. You were already at the guild. Did you come here because you were worried about me?" Yukina said in a teasing tone.
"Zip it, you snowflake." Phatar said, but Yukina thinks she might have hit the nail on the head. Although, she still needed to find Johnson. After the two of them got the situation handled, the soldiers stepped in and took care of the rest. Yukina still looked around for him and couldn't find him anywhere.
"Dad? Where are you?" Yukina questioned.
"I haven't seen him anywhere." Phatar said. Yukina was starting to get worried now.
"Yukina?" Yukina looked behind her and saw him standing right there.
"There you are! Wait. Don't tell me you just got here." Yukina said. "I thought you were in trouble at that jeweler guild. You said you found work here."
"You think I could work at a guild like this? I was on the other side of town when I heard all of this going on." Johnson said. "I got a job at the local market." Now Yukina felt dumbfounded hearing about that. "Phatar..." He said with him astonished to see his former guild member. "I'm surprised to see you here. I heard you and Tsubasa joined the Phoenix Flame guild."
"It's a living." Phatar claimed.
"Well, you're okay. I guess I can go now." Yukina said with her trying to leave.
"Yukina, wait! I'm sorry about the other night!" Johnson claimed. "I tried to force my way back into your life, and I'm sorry. I'm trying to change, and I thought coming here would help. This... This town is actually where I met your mother." Yukina was surprised to hear that. They never really talked about her. "Back then, I was a young man who thought he could take on the whole world. Things were...different back then. Things sure took a dark turn when she died after giving birth to you." Yukina had no idea about that. "Being back here brings back some fond memories and I'm beginning to feel like my old self once again, the better side of me your mother saw."
"Dad..." Yukina said with her amazed that he opened up like that.
"Yukina!" All of them took a look and saw Yukina's friends hurrying over. "There you are!" Maru called.
"We were worried about you!" Sandy said.
"We found what was going on and heard you came here. What was that all about?" Gin said.
"Were you able to handle this situation? Color me impressed. Phatar, did you help her?" Aster said.
"Wait a minute. Johnson! What's he doing here?!" Mary said.
"It's a long story." Yukina said. Yukin was quite amazed her friends were able to find her, but even more amazed with her father. With how he opened up like that, she was starting to think he really is changing for the better because he never did anything like that before. It looks like everything is going to be just fine, but then Johnson noticed something on one of the criminals. One had a stitching of an emblem with the side of the skull with an L on it.
"Wait. That emblem... That's the emblem of Skull Legion." Johnson claimed.
"Skull Legion? What's that?" Yukina questioned.
"A dark guild. A powerful dark guild." Johnson claimed. "In fact, the reason Fiendish Gargoyle came into so much money before was because of them. We were in service to them."
"Fiendish Gargoyle was really under the control of another dark guild, and these guys are members?" Gin questioned.
"Skull Legion is small guild, but they are powerful and dangerous. I say these guys are really just hired help." Johnson claimed.
"I don't like the looks of this. Skull Legion hired help to rob a jeweler guild?" Maru said. He's getting a bad feeling that there's trouble just around the corner. If this Skull Legion really had something like this done, something bad must be coming.