Fairy Tail is on a large ship sailing towards home. Natsu is enjoying the ride since he isn't motion sick, because of a spell from Wendy.

"Ah!" Natsu lets out a satisfied sigh. "So this is what it's like to sail the seas without puking your brains out."

Happy is standing on the rail beside him. "Aye, Matey, welcome to the good life."

Natsu runs around the ship. "Ha ha! Look out, vehicles. Natsu's gonna ride you hard."

"Careful!" Wendy calls out. "The Troia spell doesn't last forever."

Happy pops in front of the screen and looks to you. "For those of you who might now know, Troia is a healing spell that cures motion sickness."

Natsu falls to the ground and a purple hue spreads across his face. "Argh! No. Cast that spell again. Hurry."

"I'm sorry, I can't." Wendy says. "It only works a couple of times."

Everyone's watching the scene. Alice is leaning against a railing next to Erza. Still wearing the dress from Cait Shelter, but she has Fragrant Olive on her left hip.

"Guess it's back to barf bags." Gray says and Lucy laughs.

Happy looks at Carla, who's next to him. "When you and Wendy join Fairy Tail, I'll show you all the snuggling spots perfect for kittens."

Carla has her arms crossed and she looks away from Happy. "I'm joining your guild to stay close to Wendy, not because I have any interest in you."

Wendy looks back to the others, as Natsu is suffering in the background. "We're joining Fairy Tail! This is so exciting.
 Natsu barfs.

Alice turns around and looks out to the ocean. A small smile forms on her face and a breeze lightly blows through her golden hair. 

Alice then looks to the side and sees Erza staring at her. "Erza?"

Erza smiles. "You look lovely in that dress."

Alice lightly blushes and looks away. "Thanks."

Erza chuckles. "Though, are you okay?"

Alice looks back to confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You just... been more quiet since your battle with Zero and the incident with Jellal."

"I just..." The fight with Zero plays in Alice's head. Then her threatening everyone. "There's just a lot I need to process."

"As long as your fine."

Alice nods. "I'm surrounded by my family, so I'm fine."

The two sisters smile at each other.

'There's just a bigger mystery added to my past.' Alice says in thought. 

.

.

.

The party arrives back at Fairy Tail and Erza tells everyone what happened. "Long story short---" Erza motions to Wendy and Carla. "Wendy and Carla are Fairy Tail's newest members, so you'd better treat them well."

Everyone stares at the two newest members in shock.

Wendy smiles and bows. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Everyone adores Wendy and Carla. "Adorable!" "Look there's even a female happy." "I bet your mom's real pretty!"

Alice and Erza walks over to the bar counter, where Makarov and Mira are at. 

"We're so glad you made it back safely." Mira smiles.

"Hello, Master." Erza greets.

"Grandpa." Alice greets.

Alice sits down next to Makarov.

Makarov nods to the two girls. "Great work you two. I'm sure things will quiet down now that the Oracion Seis are out of the picture. And thanks for bringing two precious yet powerful additions to the Guild back with you."

Erza nods and she looks back to the guild.

"I love that dress Alice." Mira says.

Alice blushes and looks down at her outfit. "It's too revealing." She changes back to her regular golden armor. 

"Awww, but you looked so cute!" Mira compliments, causing Alice to blush more.

"Girl, it's been too long!" Levy says as she walks over to Lucy.

"You're telling me." Lucy smiles.

"Hug attack!" Levy tackles Lucy into a hug.

"Aww. Now that's an attack I'll always take."

Jet and Droy are watching the two.

"Does Lucy seem different to you?" Jet asks Droy.

"Kind of." Droy responds. "Who knows what craziness she had to go through?"

Suddenly everyone gets pushed back by a wave of water. Which is caused by Juiva crying. "Gray, Darling. You're back!" She cries out. "I'm so happy you made it home." The guild starts to fill with water. "My tears are flowing like waterfalls."

"Gray." A guild member calls out. Stop your girlfriend, man, we're dying here!"

Gray is dragged by the water past everyone. "She's not my freakin' girlfriend!"

Little while later.

Natsu is telling a story about his fight with Cobra and his snake. "And then the giant snake sprouted wings and started flying." He flaps his arms.

Elfman is standing nearby. "Yeah, yeah, now I know you're pulling my leg. Snakes aren't manly enough to fly."

Mira walks over to Wendy and Carla. "Welcome to Fairy Tail, you two. I'm Mirajane."

Wendy turns to Carla in excitement. "Wow! I can't believe this is happening. First I met Erza and Alice, now Miss Mirajane."

"I'm guessing your feline friend uses the same magic as Happy. You mind telling us what type of magic you use?"

"Wait a minute." Carla becomes angry. "Don't you dare compare me to that furry horn dog!"

"Don't mind her." Wendy says to Mira. "I use healing and support magic. Actually, I'm a Sky Dragon Slayer." Everyone gasps, minus those who already knew, and they go quiet. "Did I do something wrong already?"

"That's awesome!" Everyone yells. "We have another Dragon Slayer! Aw, yeah!"

"Just like Natsu and Gajeel!"

"I've never heard of a guild with three Dragon Slayers in it! We're gonna be even more unstoppable now."

"Welcome to the family. Happy to have you aboard."

Wendy smiles.

Gajeel is watching from the second floor and he sees that Natsu and Wendy both have exceeds, and he starts to sweat. "It's not fair." 'Seriously. I mean I'm a dragon Slayer too. When do I get my own flying kitty cat, huh?'

"All right everyone, Listen up!" Makarov yells. "Let's welcome our new members the way only Fairy Tail can!" Everyone cheers. "Now, eat, drink, and make merry!"

"Yeah!" Natsu yells. "Who wants to brawl?"

"Ah!" Lucy yells as she covers her chest. "Look at me and you lose an eye."

"Oh yeah?" Wakaba asks. "Well, it'd be worth it, baby."

Juvia isn't happy. "Darling, are you cheating on me with that tramp?"

"Huh? What are you talkin' about?" Gray is confused. 

Alice sighs. "I was hoping to have a normal return." 

Happy is all lovey dovey. "You know, Carla, if you eat a fish with a loved one, you'll have good luck."

Carla looks away from happy. "That is not you."

Everyone starts to party hard.

Later that night.

Alice is walking down a dirt path with Wendy and Carla behind her.

"Thank you for taking us in." Wendy thanks. 

"I hope we won't be too much of a bother." Carla says. "But at least we're staying with the most sane person in the guild."

Alice waves Carla off. "It's no bother, I have plenty of room. I hardly actually sleep at my home, I'm usually way to busy doing job for Fairy Tail or the Magic Council."

"I've heard you do jobs for the Council, but what do you do?"

Alice puts a finger on her chin in thought. "Usually taking out Dark Guild, or escorting High Value officials. I'm usually sent on those to pay for the repairs Fairy Tail causes."

"And how often does the Magic Council send you on jobs?" Wendy asks.

"Once or twice a week, only a few times a month if I'm lucky" Alice sighs.

Both Carla and Wendy sweat. "The guild must owe you a lot." Carla mutters.

"I really don't mind going on them. Just a large portion of the money made is sent to the Council, but I still make a lot from the jobs. And taking these jobs from the Council gives me some favors within it. I mainly use them to make sure Natsu doesn't get kicked out of the guild."

"That boy and Horn dog cat are big trouble." Carla says.

"But Carla, they're so cool." Wendy says, causing the cat to huff and cross her arms. 

"And I have to take these job, since I'm a Wizard Saint candidate, these jobs give me a good reputation with the people." Alice says.

"Wizard Saint candidate?" Wendy tilts her head in confusion.

"It means that I could become a Wizard Saint in a few years. They believe I have the potential to become one of the most powerful wizard in the country."

"Wow, you're so cool!" Wendy admires Alice.

Alice blushes. "Well, I gotta become strong so I can become a Wizard Saint. I know this might sounds selfish, but if I become a Wizard Saint, I might be able to keep the Council off Fairy Tail's back much more than I can now."

"You really don't think about yourself a lot do you?" Carla asks.

"Well, I do take some time to myself once and a while to take a nice long hot bath and eat some mint ice cream. Then I'll take ware some comfortable clothes and read a nice book by candle light, while drinking some apple juice or tea."

"And how often do you take time to yourself?" Carla asks.

"Um... Once a month to every coupla months."

Carla sighs. "Girl, you need to take more time to yourself. You need to focus on your own health a little more often."

"Sorry about Carla, she can be very protective." Wendy says.

Alice laughs. "She's like a mother." Alice stops laughing and looks a little sad.

"What's wrong?" Wendy asks in worry.

"Nothing..." Alice smiles. "Where almost there, I'm sure Amayori will be glad to have some more people to be around."

"Amayori?" Wendy and Carla asks.

"She's my best friend." 

The three come to a clearing with a log cabin and a large tree with a hole in the bottom.

"Wow, it's so beautiful." Wendy says.

"Ayamori!" Alice calls out.

Said Wyvern uncurls herself from the large hole in the tree and roars.

"WOW, IT'S THAT A DRAGON!" Wendy yells in excitement. 

Alice shakes her head as Ayamori runs over to her. "No, she's a Wyvern. I found her as an egg and took care of her since." Ayamori rubs her head against Alice.

"She's not like any Wyvern I've seen before." Carla states.

"Well, I found her in a Wyvern nest, so she has to be a Wyvern." Alice says as she rubs Ayamori. Ayamori roars and chitters. "Yes, I'm fine." The Wyvern roars again. "Yes, it was very eventful."

Carla and Wendy sweat drop.

"Are you talking to her?" Carla asks.

Alice nods. "Yes, why is that weird."

Carla facepalms. "And here I thought she was the most sane."

Alice pats Ayamori under the chin. "I'll get you some fish from the market tomorrow." The Wyvern roars in happiness. 

Alice turns to Wendy and Carla. "Let's head in, I'll show you where you'll be staying. At least until you can afford a place to live yourself."

The two girls nod.

A day later.

Alice is sitting at the bar and she's drinking some tea with her eyes closed. She takes a sip and then lets out a satisfied sigh. "This is really good."

Mira walks over to Alice with a couple papers in her hand. "Alice." She calls out.

Alice opens her blue eyes and sets her tea cup down. "Yes, Mira."

Mira nervously smiles. "I know you just got back from a hard job, but a request specifically came in for you today." She hands Alice the papers in her hand.

Alice reads through the papers. "What they want me to do is dangerous, but they are paying a lot for it. 3,500,000 jewels."

Natsu slams into the ground next to Alice and he gets up. "Bring it on, Ice Princess!" Natsu looks over to Alice and sees the papers. "Oh, what's that?"

"Just an S-Class job." Alice replies.

"WOW, LOOK AT THAT REWARD!" Natsu yells. 

"Yeah, though, it's a high risk, high reward kinda thing."

Natsu becomes confused. "Huh?"

"Don't worry about it." Alice stands up and looks at Mira. "I'll take it and go now, I'll be gone for a couple of days, if I'm lucky it'll only take that."

MIra smiles and nods. "Good luck."

Alice finishes her tea and walks out of the guild. 'Nothing bad could happen in two days... I hope.'

Later that evening.

Alice is walking beside a expensive carriage, she's wearing simple iron armor with a simple iron sword on her hip. The carriage enters a thick wooded area.

"We're entering a dangerous area." The driver says to Alice.

"I'll keep an eye out." Alice says as she looks around. "I'll keep Miss Kimina safe."

The carriage and Alice keep walking and she puts a hand on the handle of her sword. Alice snaps her head to the right and swiftly takes her sword out and deflects an arrow.

"Ambush!" Alice yells.

A group of about twenty men come out of the forest around the carriage. They all have a symbol on the front of their armor. 

"It's the Wicked Brotherhood!" The driver yells.

"The Wicked Brotherhood are a Dark Guild that have been terrorizing the region lately." A narrator explains. "They've been stealing goods and kidnapping people, they may not be a big guild, but they're good at hiding."

A thud charges at Alice with a sword and she deflects it and kicks him away. Then a rock hits her in the back, denting her armor and she turns around. A thud uses wind magic to launch another rock at Alice

Alice kicks off the ground and charges at the wind mage. He launches another rock at her and it hits her in the face and she tumbles down to the ground.

Alice groans as some blood falls from her right cheek. Alice uses her sword to help herself up. She then ducks under a flaming crescent that flies over head head.

Alice swings her sword and cuts another flame crescent in half, and charges towards the flame mage and she kicks him to the ground. She hits his temple with the handle of her sword, knocking her out.

Alice stands in a defensive position as thugs surround her.

"Surrender!" Someone yells out.

Alice looks over to see the driver and a blue haired girl with green eyes, being held hostage. A thug holds a knife close to the girl's neck. "Drop it or we'll cut her head off!"

Alice grunts and drops her sword and holds up her hands. 

The thug holding the bluette smirks. "Good girlie."

Footsteps approach Alice from behind and she's hit on the back of the head. Alice falls to the ground and passes out.

"Grab her!" The thug holding the bluette yells. "She should be worth a little something."

A hour later.

Alice is laying in a makeshift cell of a tent, tied up. In the cell next to her is the bluette and the driver, both are tied up. Alice opens her eyes and sits up. 

"Alice." The bluette calls out. "I'm sorry for making you play a weak guard. I hope they didn't hurt you."

Alice shakes her head and smiles. "It's fine Miss Kimina, they are just simple Dark Guild thugs, I've dealt with their kind before." Alice wipes some blood off her face and the wound from the rock is gone. "They didn't even think about tieing me up, amateurs." 

Alice stands up and walks to the edge of the cell and looks out of the wooden bars. "Not even a guard." She grabs the wooden bars and rips them apart. Then she walks over to Kimina's cell and rips the door off and walks over, and requips her golden sword and cuts the binds off the two.

Kimina rubs her wrists. "Thank you Miss Alice."

"Can you take him and yourself outta her without being seen?"

Kimina nods. "I have some invisibility magic."

"I'll give you a ten minute head start before I start taking down these goons."

Kimina nods and she grabs the drivers hand and they both suddenly disappear. "Good luck." She says.

Alice requips into her golden armor and sits on the ground. She waits ten minutes before she stands up and stretches out. "Time to deal with this, then head to an Inn and get some sleep."

Alice steps out of the tent and someone spots her. "Hey, we got an escapee!" A thug yells.

Yelling rings out through the camp and people run over to her position. 

Someone charges at Alice with a mace raised high. He brings down the mace onto Alice, but she just swats the mace to the side and pulls back her fist. Alice brings her fists into the man's stomach and he goes flying halfway across the camp. She then starts to release a little bit of her magic power. 

"What's this?!" A thug yells. "She wasn't this powerful before."

"Doesn't matter if she got a little boost, we'll take her down!"

A group of thugs rush Alice and she holds her hand out and it starts to glow golden. "World Call: Generate cryogenic element. Form element, birds." Many ice birds appear around Alice. "Fly straight. Discharge."

The ice birds fly through the air and slam into the group of thugs, knocking them to the ground and taking them out for the count. Alice then charges forward and kicks another thug int he face and swings her sword, taking out a couple more.

A thug backs away from Alice. "She's supper strong dudes!" He gets punched in the face and sent flying.

"Where's Xander!" Another thug yells.

"Right here!" A man walks through the crowd with a cocky walk. 

Alice drops a man she was holding to the ground. "You must be the leader?"

Xander gives a cocky smile and does a pose. "You bet! Leader of the Wicked Brotherhood, Xander! The most powerful water magic user!" He does another pose.

All his thugs start to fan over him. "He's so cook."

Alice deadpans and she readies her sword. "Well, then let's fight."

Xander laugh. "You're no match for me girl!" He throws his hands out. "Water Vortex!"

"She's no match for that, it's his strongest attack!" A thug yells.

The water vortex reaches Alice and she just holds her hand out, and absorbs all the water. Two blue arrow marks appear under her eyes.

Everyone's jaw drops in astonishment. "S-She absorbed the attack."

Alice holds her hands out. "World Call." Her hands glow golden. "Form Aqueous element, Water Vortex." A large vortex of water appears in her hand. "Fly Straight. Discharge!"

The massive vortex of water shoots from her hand and digs into the ground as it flies. Xander gives a high pitched scream as the vortex hits him. The Vortex travels through the camp and slams Xander into a tree on the other side.

The vortex dies down and it shows the destruction it left behind. It destroyed half the camp. Everyone's jaws drop more and they stare on in fear.

Alice points her sword out at the rest of the thugs. "I am Alice Zuberg of Fairy Tail, and I'm ordering you all to surrender!"

It's quiet for a few seconds before all the thugs hold their hands up. "We surrender!" They all yell.

Alice smirks to herself. 

An hour later.

Night has almost fully arrived as Rune Knights transfering the Wicked Brotherhood into jail carries. Alice watches on from the sidelines. Kimina walks over to Alice and bows to her. "Thank you for helping my people out, Miss Alice."

Alice smiles. "It was my pleasure, besides, I have to thank you for playing bait. I don't know any nobles that would do this for their lands."

Kimina stands up and smiles. "The people of this valley have worked hard for my family for many generations. It was the least I could do." She hands Alice a satchel. "Here's your payment, and thank you again."

Alice grabs the satchel and puts the strap around her shoulder. "As a fairy Tail member, I can never back down from a person in need."

Alice and Kimina say their goodbyes and Alice heads to a nearby town and gets a room at an Inn. The next morning she's downstairs at the Inn, eating breakfast. 

Alice is calmly eating and listening to conversations around her.

"Hey, do you wonder why we're here?"

"Man, I blew my back out yesterday."

"I like fish, fish is great."

"Yeah, no one can get close to that cave." Alice listens to this conversation. 

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that something in there is making people feel a great sense of fear. So much so that no one wants to get near the cave."

"Well, where is this cave, I want to give it a shot."

"You're an idiot." He sighs. "It's just a couple miles west, past the large boulder that's behind the bakery."

"Ha, I'll show everyone that nothing can scare me."

"And there's even sounds of a child screaming in pain and crying, coming from the cave."

"Ok, that's a little scary."

Alice hums. 'I'll have to check this out, can't leave something like this unchecked. There even could be someone hurt inside the cave.'

Alice finishes her breakfast and pays for everything before she leaves the Inn. She follows the directions and eventually finds the cave.

"I think is the cave." Alice says as she stands outside the cave. "I don't feel the sense of fear he mentioned." 

Suddenly an echo scream is heard within the cave. It sounds like a child then crying follows it. Alice puts a hand on her sword and walks into the cave.

"Hello?" The knight calls out.

As she walks in it gets darker and darker. Alice pulls out a stick from a pocket within her armor and holds the tip of her finger to the tip of the stick. "World Call:"

A purple light glows farther within the cave. Alice raises an eyebrow and she puts the stick away and walks towards the glow. As Alice approaches the light it glows brighter. Alice turns a corner and finds the source of the glow.

The glow comes from a pedestal in the middle of a large room. On top of the pedestal is a small curved black horn. A sudden pained scream comes from the horn. "What is this?" Alice asks as she walks towards the horn in caution. 

Alice stands a foot away from the horn and she slowly reaches out to the horn with her right hand. As her hand gets within a few inches of the horn her gauntlet disappears and her hands grows pale with sharp red nails.

Alice gasps and she pulls her hand back, it returns to normal and the gauntlet reappears. "What's going on."

A child's laugh is heard behind Alice.

A sense of dread crawls up Alice's spin. She turns around and sees what looks like a smaller version of her "Dark Form" from when she fought Master Zero.

The child has pale skin with sharp red nails. Light Blue tattoo markings travel up her right arm and stop at her face. She has long black hair Pupil-less green eyes stare at Alice with two black arrow marks are below her eyes. She has a curved black horn on the left side of her head. The other one is missing.

This "Child" is wearing a black dress. The "Child" looks up at Alice with a smile, one that sends shivers down the knight's spine. "Hello, Alice. If you want answers, I got them."

"Who are you?"

"I'm you." The Child walks up to Alice. "I'm a much better you."

Alice takes a step back. "I ain't no Demon! I won't fall for your tricks!"

The demon tilts her head in a child-like manner. "If you want to know all about your past, just grab the horn." Alice looks back to the horn behind her. "The answers you've been looking for, for so many years. Are right there, just grab the horn and you'll know everything."

Alice turns around and stares at the horn with wanting eyes. "My past..." She shakes her head and takes out her sword. "I won't fall for a demon's tricks!"

The demon smiles. "You can only deny for so long." Alice raises her sword above her head. "If you don't accept your self, you'll end up broken in half by your creator."

Alice brings her sword and cuts the horn in half. Black magic seeps out of the horn and into the air. 

Alice turns around and sees that the demon is gone. "Where did she go." She turns back around and the broken horn is gone. "This entire encounter was just weird."

Alice heads out of the cave and through the forest. "I think It's time to head back to the guild."

Alice walks down a dirt road.

A small crystal orb floats in the sky above Alice.

.

.

.

.

Alice is walking with her eyes closed. "I've only been gone for a couple of days, nothing too bad could happen, right?"  She stops walking and opens her eyes, and they twitch a little at the sigh in front of her.

Part of Magnolia is destroyed and on fire, with a destroyed Dragonnoid in the front of the town. 

Alice's right eye twitches and she bends down. "I was only gone...." She looks back up to the sky and yells. "FOR TWO DAYS!"

 

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03-01-2023

4134 words