Chapter 9 - A Way Forward

"This stop, Magnolia! Repeat! This stop is Magnolia!"

Locki looked up from his seat to stare at the train station they pulled into. Magnolia station wasn't the largest of stops in the train line, but it was an important midpoint to get to Evermont as it was close to the border of Bosco as well.

Dressed in a pair of tough, thick brown pants and a clean white shirt, Kagura looked at him as the announcement came on. Her hair had finally been cleaned thoroughly, and she had forced him to tie her clean and non-greasy hair up in the only hairstyle he knew, a ponytail. He looked to the top of her head where a large white ribbon sat like a pair of rabbit ears that she had forced him to buy for her. And as much as he wanted to refuse– since it was more money he didn't want to waste, Honedge made for a convincingly sharp argument.

"Are we," Kagura started, exhaling as she swung Honedge like a regular sword. "There yet?"

Locki held back a sigh, ignoring her actions. The girl had apparently decided that the train ride was boring at some point, and she had promptly stood in the middle of the aisle of the train to practice her swordsmanship. The teen wondered why she couldn't just appreciate the passing scenery like a normal child. Instead, she attracted the ire and annoyance of both passengers and train conductors, who Locki had to talk down.

Just remembering that, the teen lamented his future troubles.

"Yes… now can you stop that?" Locki said, annoyed.

Kagura flinched at his words, releasing Honedge and letting the sentient sword sheath itself to float behind her. "Sorry, guild master…"

Locki sighed and shook his head. "Never mind, let's just get out here. It'll be another hour or two to find a ride to Evermont without scheduling beforehand."

"Can't we just walk there?" Kagura asked carefully as they stepped off the train. They had packed light, and even the shopping trip back in Pinewallow was only to get clothes for the girl.

"No, I don't want to make an hour trip into a several hour trip." Locki said, shooting down Kagura's idea quickly. He didn't want her to get it into her head that they could walk everywhere. Mainly because he was afraid she might suggest they do that for everything. "Now, come on. Stay close so we don't get separated."

Magnolia station was bustling with activity. Crowds of people roved around the large platforms, moving to and from trains or looking at the schedule that was posted around several boards. Locki caught several mages in the crowds, finding their guild insignia and noting they were ones he hadn't read about in the news. Normally, this many people would inconvenience him as he'd have to push and shove his way through a couple.

Now though, Locki was experiencing something new. The crowds of people gave both he and Kagura a wide berth, fearfully glancing behind them. This formed a fairly open circle of space that allowed the two to easily walk through the worst of the traffic.

He was spared a glance at their last visible companion who was the cause of his good luck, the murder-happy sword behind Kagura. The Pokemon had said, through his guild's resident translator, that she wanted to stay beside her "lord" for protection. Several mages shot him and Kagura a look, and Locki felt a bit conflicted about the attention. On one hand, he was preening under the gazes, feeling like this might be what he could feel like when he made it. On the other, he could do without the tense expressions of the mages who looked about to fight him.

"Uhm," Kagura blushed with embarrassment as she looked around the crowds of people in the station. Locki caught her eyes as she nervously darted around and carefully gripped his shirt.

He sighed, and tentatively reached out to pat her shoulders. She looked up with a weak smile, but her grip didn't lessen. Locki knew she still wasn't that confident and downright a nervous wreck around other people. He didn't expect her to suddenly heal from her experiences; Kagura had been kidnapped and inducted into slavery. It was basically a miracle that she trusted him a little.

Though, he was sure that it was mainly because Gastly had been spreading false facts about him. Annoying, sure, but he didn't want to give Kagura a reason to hate him when she could probably kill him.

Luckily, his actions served to deter the mages who looked uncomfortable with the floating sword that glared at everyone. Locki internally smirked at that. He noted that Kagura's natural timidness seemed perfect for diffusing volatile situations.

"Guild master…" Kagura whispered, and buried her face into his side. Honedge spun around, daring any would-be attacker –or in this case, everyone in the general vicinity, to back off.

"What are you–" Locki said, startled by her actions until he found the source of her concern.

The teen recoiled when he saw the aged, wrinkly face of Lon Curliss face him from across the platform. Her lips were curled into a permanent frown that only added more creases for shadows to catch. Locking eyes for a moment, the woman marched through the throngs of people, pushing a couple who didn't get out of the way in time to the ground.

Before he knew it, Locki found Lon in front of him. Her eyes trailed up and down his body, locking onto the wound on his face he got from the death trap. He watched her frown deepen, and he raised an eyebrow as her hands landed on his shoulders.

Locki wanted to shake off her hold immediately, but stopped when her fingers dug into his skin. He felt her fingers shake as they held him. As if she thought he'd disappear if she let go. Awkwardly, the teen could only let her continue.

"You dumbass brat." Lon finally began.

"Is that all you have to say, you old hag? After you almost got me killed with your shitty mission?"

Locki appreciated the fact that she winced and pulled away, freeing his shoulders. Finally given a bit of time, Locki looked over to his shoulder to miraculously find Honedge hadn't gone into an apocalyptic rage at someone's presence near Kagura. Was it just him? Kagura had her eyes locked on Lon, muttering something about "weak metal at its breaking point," but Locki didn't really care too much either.

Lon sighed hard. Her emotions were hard to read behind that rictus of anger, but he felt he was in the right as her mission did almost get him killed. "...I see you made it back in one piece, brat. I nearly keeled over from laughing that your mission turned out to be such an anomaly– speaking of, I am now forced to do your guild's paper and mission review work for your… recovery. Are you trying to kill this old lady with overwork?"

Locki scoffed, suddenly feeling a bit comfortable with the conversation. "Shut up, hag. You're the one who started it in the first place. But, I do want to hear one thing."

"Don't make this worse than it is. I could die any minute now."

"Come on, it's just a couple simple words." Locki grinned, leaning over to present his ear to her. "Maybe a certain someone wants to hear that they were right? That he's a fucking great mage, huh?"

Lon shook her head, unresponsive. She pursed her lips, and Locki knew her long enough that she had something she wanted to say. "Why…" her gaze paused on Kagura for a second. "Did you not run away?"

"That's all you wanted to know?" Locki shook his head, ignoring everything else. He didn't know what idea she had in her head, but he didn't really care for it. "It was a trap from the beginning. How could I run away in the first place?"

"Like I'd believe that you won't be able to escape. You always found a way to run away from your chores." She jerked her chin to point at Kagura. "And when did you start kidnapping children? A dumbass is one thing, but a dumbass criminal is something I know both your father and grandfather wouldn't condone."

Locki rolled his eyes at her, knowing that she just wanted to shift the topic. Kagura, emboldened by being called out, poked her head at Lon. The girl's hazel eyes glared at the woman with impotent anger.

"D- don't make fun of my guild master. He stayed to… to protect me." Kagura started strong before her voice slowly petered out as Lon and Locki stared at her.

Locki's face paled immediately while Lon wore a smirk. The young guild master already knew who put all this propaganda in the girl's head, and he wanted to strangle the little gas ball the second he had the chance. All he needed to do was find out how to strangle a floating ball of gas.

"Did he now?" Lon asked, shooting a glance at Locki's twisted frown.

"No, never, false." Locki denied first, turning to the girl. She alternated her attention between the floor and his eyes. "You need to stop listening to Gastly. He's a bad influence that tells lies."

Lon raised an eyebrow at the new name, but didn't bring it up. "Sounds similar to someone else I know."

Locki nodded. "Of course, I am the same– it's why I wanted to spend a bit of time in Magnolia. I want to see if Kagura wants to join Fairy Tail; they're stationed here, right?"

"What?" Kagura whispered, shocked. The girl stiffened behind Locki, and Lon spoke up before the girl could speak out.

"I had a feeling she was a mage, and wondered if you forced her to join your shithole. To think you'd make a good decision…" Lon looked over Locki again. "Are you sure you're not sick?"

Locki scoffed, refusing to respond. Instead, he just lightly grabbed Kagura and tugged her outside the train station. Half his attention was on Honedge as he moved. The Pokemon seemed perfectly fine with the situation, and he felt that she was receptive about Kagura's potential move to a better guild.

The city of Magnolia opened up to the three of them. Rows of large buildings bordered the well-paved streets. They stretched up higher than normal, and the teen could tell that there was quite a bit of magic that went into their make; some kind of wood magic to build their frames and earth magic to fill them in. It made sense since one of the oldest Magic Guilds in Fiore made this city its residence.

Oddly, it was his long forgotten [Carpentry] skill that told him how faulty the buildings were. He could see the faults in the building's make, the cracks that he could exploit and the areas that could collapse with just a bit more weight added to them. They seemed built in a hurry, as if the previous ones were destroyed and they had to build them quickly. Locki had heard of some powerful mage from the resident Magic Guild of Fiore, Fairy Tail, that seemed to destroy buildings accidentally. Idly, the teen felt, even with his low ranked skill, he could do better as he looked at the buildings.

Still, he ignored the random skill he acquired through his [Dimensional Guild System], and he focused more on everything else. Shouts of low priced and home-focused Lacrima echoed around the streets as happy couples and families browsed the diverse shop fronts around the streets. Traffic on the street slowed as some mage performed some kind of air magic to hover several paper planes around him. His magic brought in a nice breeze that tousled the teen's blonde hair, brushing against his skin softly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Locki caught Kagura staring at another child who played with a small toy that spun using small amounts of Lacrima embedded with air magic. He followed her eyes to find small sections of the street were taken up by people selling small baubles and toys powered by Lacrima.

Naturally, he ignored it. He had already caved in with her ribbon, and anything here would be overpriced.

"Are they all mages, guild master?" Kagura asked, looking around at some people who waved little wands to create small gusts of cool air.

"Mmhmm," Lon hummed as she nodded at the girl. "There are mages who focus mainly on Holder-type magic. The building, maintenance and use of items like those fall under this type of mage."

Locki eyed the items before shaking his head. "No, those are baubles and simple magic items. Not real magic."

Lon sighed nearby. "Must you be like this, brat?"

"Kagura needs to understand the difference between actual magic and something used to amuse children." Locki said harshly, uncaring for the way Kagura flinched. He offered a look at the girl. "You remember what I said about magic affinity and mutability?"

"Yes?" Kagura nodded.

"Good." Locki nodded before continuing, "Holder-type magic is how some people with high mutability in their magic can increase the amount of different spells they can use– makes them almost like Blank Mages. The Lacrima embedded inside the magic items serves as a way to circumvent a mage's affinity as the mage just serves as a battery. They mix their magic with the Lacrima's energy to allow the premade magic to work. This comes with the drawback that stronger magic items need larger and better Lacrima to work."

Kagura numbly nodded, taking in the information. She pursed her lips as she looked at the children who played with the small magic items. "Then, what about those?"

Locki waved his hand vaguely. "Its why I say they are just baubles. Normal Holder-type mages use their own magic to help fuel the magic, but those drain the Lacrima by itself." His teeth unknowingly grinded against each other. "Its a stupid and inefficient way to use magic; you need a Lacrima that can use B-rank or even A-rank magics just to use some C-rank one."

"Oh…" Kagura grew silent as Locki continued. "So… I shouldn't use them then."

"No, you're a Blank Mage in the first place. You have no need to use " Locki said immediately, but sighed as he saw her wilt a little out of the corner of his eye. "But, maybe you can ask the guild master of Fairy Tail. They know more than me…" he grumbled before whispering to himself, "He's part of the Ten super-talented bastards, after all."

"Uhm, guild master… Are you trying to throw me away?" Kagura asked softly, pulling on his pants lightly.

Locki glanced at her while he ignored the look Lon was giving him. "Yes."

"B- but… guild master, y- you said…" Kagura's words trembled as Locki saw her eyes begin to water. Locki panicked a bit as he found several families eye him, and the teen hurriedly dragged the girl away from the middle of the street before they could garner more attention.

"Look what you did, brat." Lon said, seemingly fine with watching everything unfold.

"Do you disagree?" Locki shot back. "She's a Blank Mage with enough talent. I barely have a working guild, and I can't spare the time or effort to raise a kid in our shitty environment. It's better that she joins a better Magic Guild before she gets way in over her head."

Val screeched silently, and Locki shot a glare at the Pokemon. "Oh shut up, like you don't disagree with me. Its what's best for Kagura."

"I don't disagree with you." Lon answered, shaking her head. "I just don't like the way you worded it."

"I- I don't wanna leave…" Kagura cried, wiping the tears that came down her cheeks. Val hovered around her, and Locki could tell the sword was worried about the girl, but it was unsure of what to do. One of Kagura's hands reached out and held the Pokemon to her chest as her cries turned to small sniffles.

Locki exhaled, running a hand through his blonde locks. "Look, Fairy Tail is a good guild. They have a record of churning out S-rank mages, and they are, as much as it pains me to say, more talented than me. I promised I would help you, but we both knew this…" he gestured between himself and Kagura. "This would end. You don't want to stay in my guild."

Kagura shook her head rapidly. "No, no, no you don't mean that!"

"You're making this harder than it needs to be. Scarlet Hand is not what–"

Locki froze as he found Kagura's eyes locked on him. Instead of the warm hazel he had grown used to, they were a glowing steel. A color that reminded him of the sword that was held within the girl's grasp.

"Y- your steel is broken enough…" Kagura whispered loud enough for him to hear. "You always throw away everything even when they want to help you…"

Lon chuckled beside him. When Locki shot her an annoyed glance, she said, "She's not wrong, brat. You push away those who want to help you like its a reflex, and you try to do most things yourself when you know for a fact that there's nothing you can do alone."

"Not you too…" Locki held his head as a headache settled between his brows from the two. "Besides, we aren't talking about myself right now."

"Stop being such a dumbass." Lon smacked his shoulder. "I have no idea what you did to get the girl so attached to you, but you need to stop being such a hypocrite. Despite how much you proclaim yourself as weak, you never seem to ask for help."

Locki bristled at the accusation. "Because I don't need hel–"

"You do. You think a guild runs by itself? You think a guild master can just run around and let things happen?" Lon said. "No matter how mature you try to be, you are still like a child throwing a tantrum because things aren't going your way."

"This again? Didn't I already finish one mission? I'll just do another."

"What did you do when you were first installed as the guild master? What did you do when the original members started to leave? What did you do when your grandfather and father's life work was ruined? What will you do now when you can't even properly understand what you're doing wrong?"

Locki swallowed. They both knew the answer to Lon's question. Nothing. He did nothing as everything came down around him. All he did was complain, and never once did he think to ask for help.

But, he didn't really think he could be blamed for his decision. Both his grandfather and father were opposites when it came to running to guild. His grandfather brought the guild up during the uprisings of crime and gangs that spawned from the insurgents from Bosco. The man believed in a rule of violence to counter violence, and the old man never trusted more than his inner circle. Eventually, when he was presumably assassinated, Locki felt the only culprits could be the inner circle of his grandfather.

Locki's father was someone who held opposite beliefs. The man believed in the best of everyone as he pursued the thrill of adventure, guiding the guild in a way that was reminiscent of Fairy Tail. Because of this, the man disappeared on a mission with "trusted" subordinates.

Locki had seen the results of both of their actions. Two radically different beliefs that both failed in the end. As a teen, he had always tried to emulate them, but he already knew the end that awaited him on either route.

In a way, he had only been pushing through by spite alone. Always posturing as something he could never be so much that even he believed in his actions. Locki could only wryly smile at his past actions. He wondered when exactly he had given up without noticing it, helplessly wishing for something to change by itself.

Perhaps if it wasn't for the [Dimensional Guild System] that appeared when it did, he would have given up entirely. Thrown away the Magic Guild like all the other members that he never actively stopped. However, he relied on it too much. He expected everything to work out just because he had it, and let it drag him around while he never actively sought out a solution to his predicament.

Taking a deep breath, Locki looked over to Kagura. He slowly kneeled down in front of her. "Scarlet Hand is not the nicest of guilds. Fairy Tail was built on adventure and family, but ours was built on taking what we wanted out of a… bad situation. My grandfather did a lot of stuff that'd get the guild labeled as a Dark Guild in a second, and our situation might get worse with the gangs in Evermont. I won't lie– I am probably not going to do all that good or be the best person, and at any time you can leave, but if you want, you can stay."

"I- I won't leave… the guild master took me in when you didn't need to. You saw something in me when all I did was run, so I- I want to prove the guild master right!" Kagura tearfully leaped into his chest, causing the teen to wheeze and cough as she drove the air from his lungs. He eyed the silent Val that floated behind the girl, and paused as the sword dipped down as if to bow.

Locki tried not to read too far into what that meant as he patted the girl who stuck to him. He ignored the way Lon chuckled behind him, muttering something about "brats and their dumb speeches."

The young guild master sighed, wondering just how he was going to help his… guild member. He felt he needed to improve, but he didn't know where. Like a rusty cog that never moved in a century. He didn't think he'd change immediately, but that didn't mean he had no idea where to begin.

Locki didn't know many things, but the one thing he knew were his faults.

"Hey Lon," Locki said softly, as if embarrassed to be heard. "I think I need help. I have no idea what the fuck I am supposed to do to run a guild."

The teen didn't see it, but he was sure the old woman's face had a cheek-splitting smile. "It took you long enough to ask, brat. Don't you remember what your grandfather always used to say?"

"Ah, [The guild will always support our own]." Locki paused as he felt his magic activate. He shook his head as the notion settled over the group, and found Kagura's eyes had changed back to their normal hazel.

"Not quite what he said." Lon smiled, but Locki noticed it didn't reach her eyes. "But, I guess that one works better."

A small part of him realized that he was already attached to the girl. He couldn't just pawn her off like those slave trader's had. And suddenly, her problems became his as well. The teen felt a headache as he wondered how he was going to deal with the Tower of Heaven now.

First he needed to know what he had to do to actually be the guild master he had been posturing as all this time.

"Come on, we've been in Magnolia enough." Locki said suddenly. "Let's go… home."