Alice entered the guildhall and greeted everyone there. She's been a member of Fairy Tail for a couple of weeks now and has been through a couple of missions with Reiki, Nasha, and Greige. She has bonded with them quite well. She sat by the bar and ordered her breakfast. She can't cook even if her life depends on it.

"Good morning Ali!" Nasha greeted Alice with the nickname she came up with. "What'cha eating?"

"Beef stew." Alice briefly replied, food still in her mouth.

"Can I have some?" Nasha reached out for my spoon, but Alice immediately slapped her hand away.

"Go get your own, I paid for this!"Alice pouted, keeping her bowl away from the pinkette.

"She's right you know, unlike you she actually has to work for everything herself." A voice said, Alice turned around and saw the red-headed teen approaching them.

Nasha grumbled and sulked in her seat. Alice simply giggled at her antics.

"Where's Greige?" Alice suddenly asked. "He's usually early."

"He went on a job with Rin," Nasha replied.

"That's his little brother right?" Alice said, slightly unsure of her statement. She's heard Greige talk about his siblings before, but she hasn't met any of them yet.

Reiki nodded. "The job requires a water wizard, truth to be told Rin is far more skilled with water magic compared to his siblings he could've handled the mission on his own but he lacks discipline and that's where Greige comes in."

"So, he's basically babysitting his little brother." Alice chuckled.

"Pretty much." Nasha smiled.

"She likes him~"

"Where did you come from?!" Nasha shouted at the blue cat who suddenly appeared.

------

"We're back!" A purple-haired lady opened the double doors and greeted everyone, her maroon-haired father standing beside her.

"Erica, Erik you're back!"

"Welcome back you two, how's the mission?" Mira greeted the father-daughter duo with a smile.

"It's tough and annoying, but fun." The lady named Erica replied with a smile.

Erik chuckled and ruffled his daughter's hair. "Where's Laxus, I need to talk to him about something."

"He's upstairs with Nova," Mirajane replied, and Erik nodded and went upstairs.

"Whoah, that's Erica Cubellios. The Serpent Queen." Alice is in awe once more. "She's so pretty."

"She's really nice too," Nasha grinned. "But she can be pretty harsh with her words sometimes." Nasha groaned, remembering all the times Erica had unintentionally roasted her.

"Heya Ash." Erica suddenly popped up behind Nasha and Alice, startling the two.

"Oh, you must be one of the new members." Erica took notice of Alice. "I'm Erica, pleased to meet you."

"I'm Alice." Alice nodded.

"She's a cutie, has Greige flirted with her yet?" Erica asked innocently, not knowing the effect of the question on Nasha.

Alice blushed heavily, denying the claim.

"I'm just messing with ya! It's hard to tell if Greige is flirting or just being nice, he's that type of guy." Erica chuckled, Alice wholeheartedly agreeing with her statement.

------

"Erik you're back. How did the mission go?" Laxus greeted his fellow Dragon Slayer. Nova is sitting across from her father trying to figure out her next move in their chess game.

"I hate trains." Erik groaned. Laxus chuckled in response, knowing what it feels like to be in a moving vehicle.

Erik looked much more mature than before. His hair didn't change as much. He's wearing a dark red turtleneck shirt, a fur-lined white coat, a pair of black pants, and boots.

"Either way, I need to speak with you, it's of importance," Erik said sternly.

"Alright." Laxus nodded and turned over to his daughter. "We'll finish our game later, your old man needs to work."

"Okay." Nova smiled sweetly and walked downstairs.

Laxus didn't change as much in the looks department. He stuck with his Mohawk hairstyle. He wears a black button-down shirt with yellow trimmings underneath his signature black coat, a pair of cream-colored pants, and black shoes.

"What do you think, our dads are talking about?" Nova asked Erica.

"I don't know, he acted quite normal during our train ride back home, and when I mean normal, I mean puking his guts out," Erica responded, and Nova laughed.

------

"Reforming the Baram Alliance?!" Laxus exclaimed.

"That's what I heard, a group of dark guilds is attempting to reform the Baram Alliance," Erik said.

"Did you get any other information?"

"Apparently there are three dark guilds, just like last time. They're Edmonstone, Nightwell, and Death Rose. The masters of those three guilds conducted the plan to form a brand new Baram Alliance." Erik answered.

"I've heard of Nightwell before, but the other two I'm unfamiliar with."

"Those three dark guilds have one goal and that is to resurrect one of the demons of the Book of Zeref," Erik added.

"Only one," Laxus muttered. "But why just one? and how is that even possible?"

"I don't know, but from what I've heard they already have the book."

"But how? Zeref is dead, those books should be nonexistent."

"I was thinking of the same thing, our best option here is to bring this information to the council. They can investigate this further." Erik said.

"You're right." Laxus nodded.

------

The next day, Laxus gave Team Reiki a special mission.

"Mind filling us in with this mission, Reiki," Greige spoke as the train started to move.

"Right." Reiki nodded. "Yesterday, Erik spoke to the Master about the new Baram Alliance."

"They're reforming it!?"

"Yes, it's pure coincidence and luck that Erik got a hold of this information. The council themselves are oblivious to this. Moreover, the three guilds that form this new Baram Alliance are all unknown except for one but even so, there's very little information about it." Reiki explained.

"Master sent us out here to deal with Crimson Death. A dark guild that's under the commands of Edmonstone, one of the three guilds of the new Baram Alliance."

"And Master picked us because..." Alice trailed off.

"We are his only choice," Greige replied. "The twins are out on a mission and the Neo Thunder Legion hasn't come back yet."

"Neo Thunder Legion?" Alice tilted her head.

"They're Fairy Tail's strongest team." Greige snickered, knowing this would bound to get a reaction out of Reiki.

Reiki grumbled at the statement. He hates to admit it, but it's the truth.

"It's led by the Master's son, Raiden Dreyar. His team being the strongest is to be expected." Nasha added.

Alice has heard of Raiden Dreyar before, his name came up in several articles in Sorcerer Weekly, he's known as the "Angel of Darkness". He's quite popular.

"Going back to the task at hand. Our mission is to stop Crimson Death, according to the master they have acquired a weapon called Dearo." Reiki started. "It's a forbidden magical drum, that controls the mind and soul of whoever is unfortunate enough to hear the beating rhythm made by it."

"Do you know, where are they gonna use it for?" Nasha asked.

Reiki nodded. "Their goal is still unknown that's what we're here to figure out, as for the location, they're gonna use here, in this train."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

"According to the informant, they planned to use the drum to the train that will leave Hargeon at 9:00," Reiki added. "Which is this train, so keep your eyes peeled and sharpen those ears."

"Why didn't you start with that!?"

Reiki was about to defend himself until the train shook and rattled.

"What was that?" Nasha asked.

"Those might be the guys we're looking for," Alice replied.

The door to the cabin burst open, and three individuals walked in.

"This train belongs to Crimson Death now!"

One of the men stepped forward and scanned his surroundings, seeming like he was looking for someone.

"They're fairies in this cabin, if you morons value the lives of the people on this train, you won't interfere with the plan." He said, his eyes landing down at the group, a menacing glare visible in his eyes.

"What do we do now?" Alice asked, unconsciously gripping Reiki's arm.

"I have a plan, but first we need to get them to come to us," Reiki replied.

"I got this." Nasha snickered and moved forward.

"DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN BOSS US AROUND!" Nasha snarled at the men. "WE'RE FAIRY TAIL WIZARDS AND IT'S OUR JOB TO TAKE YOU DOWN!"

"Someone's hardheaded." The man snickered and walked toward the group. The other two followed suit.

The men took the bait and the moment the three men were close enough, Reiki went in for a strike. The three men dodged his attacks, but chains erupt from the floor and tied them down.

"Well, that was easy," Greige commented. "Too easy." He looked at the three tied-up men who were currently being interrogated by Reiki with a worried expression.

"Maybe they're just really weak." Nasha chuckled, trying to lift Greige's spirit.

One, Two

One

One, Two

One, Two, Three

One of the passengers stood up and grabbed Greige by the neck.

"What the hell!?" Nasha exclaimed.

The grip tightened around Greige's neck, but the navy-blue-haired wizard was completely unfazed. Reiki and Alice took notice of the commotion and turned around to assess the current situation. Greige tried to pry off the hand on his neck, but to no avail, he sighed and turned into water and escaped the passenger's grasp.

"What's gotten into him?" Nasha asked.

"I don't know. This might be Dearo's work." Greige responded, his body turning back to normal.

One, Two

One, Two, Three

One, Two

One, Two, Three

"That sound." Reiki looked around the cabin. "Where is it coming from?"

The passengers stood up and tried to attack Alice, but the woman was prepared. She blocked their attacks, but they were persistent. But she wasn't prepared for what came next.

Reiki went in and swung his sword towards Alice, but Greige quickly blocked the attack.

"Reiki what's wrong with you!" Greige exclaimed, but there was no response from the redhead.

"Is he being controlled by the drum?" Alice asked.

"But I didn't hear anything," Nasha said.

"This is trouble," Greige said, his eyes staying on Reiki, sword at hand, prepared to strike at any time.

"We have to snap him out of it," Alice said, stepping up next to Greige.

"I know." Greige nodded. "But how?"

"We'll just have to knock him out," Nasha smirked.

"Easier said than done," Greige said.

"It's useless." One of the men tied up, snickered. "Once you are under the drum's control there is no going back."

🏐🏐🏐🏐🏐🏐🏐🏐🏐🏐🏐🏐🏐🏐

*inserts random emoji*

Things are getting interesting... Don't ya think

Don't forget to leave a vote if you like the chapter. And give me some feedback. I like to hear your opinions.

Till Next Time