They first had to take a train from Magnolia station to a station in Hargeon. From Hargeon, they would have to take a ship to Bosco, and then another ship to Stella. After that, they would take several trains to get to Pergrande Kingdom, and then another train to get to the meeting destination. It was a long journey, but would hopefully be worth it.

The train ride from Magnolia to Hargeon was a short one. Once they reached Hargeon, they had to stay in a hotel for the night, since their ship wouldn't leave until morning. The hotel was run down and falling apart, but Irene tried to make their situation seem okay.

"Look, they serve free breakfast in the mornings for guests! That's good, we'll need the extra Jewel for travel expenses..."

"Our ship leaves pretty early in the morning, so I'll set this alarm so that we don't miss it."

"Erza, look! They have a deck of cards! Come on, let's play, it'll be a good way to pass the time!"

Erza gave her half-hearted answers.

"Yep, the extra jewel's nice."

"Cool."

"Fine, I'll play."

They played a game of cards. Irene won in the first five minutes, which was definitely not normal. Erza was just throwing out whatever card she had in her hand, which was not a good strategy. Irene was starting to get worried.

"Erza? Are you okay?"

Erza nodded, but didn't say anything.

Is she sick? Or mad at me? Irene thought.

She put a hand against Erza's forehead. "You don't have a fever. What's wrong?"

"Nothing... I think I'm just going to go to sleep..."

Irene sighed. "Okay. I hope you feel better in the morning."

Erza went to her hotel room, but she couldn't fall asleep. To be quite honest, she was worried that Irene might try to hurt her somehow, or cause trouble. She didn't fully trust her yet. Taking Irene on this job was more of a way to test her than a show of trust.

Meanwhile, Irene layed awake in her bed. She was worried about Erza. Did she do something wrong? Was Erza mad at her?

She had to find out. She needed to make sure Erza was okay. She walked across the hall to Erza's hotel room and knocked softly on the door, in case Erza was asleep.

"Come in," a muffled voice said.

Irene opened the door and saw Erza sitting at the desk in her room with a pencil and notebook in hand. Irene walked over to her.

"Whatcha doing?" Irene asked, peering over Erza's shoulder.

Erza slammed the notebook shut. On the cover it said,

Journal of a Requip Wizard

"Oh, Erza, you keep a journal? That's pretty cool. I used to keep a diary when I was younger, too."

"It's not a diary. It's a journal, where I record everyone that I've fought, how the fights went, the outcome of the fight, and stuff like that."

Shock spread across Irene's face. She used to keep a diary, but she would only write about drama that happened at her school, and then after she graduated school, drama within the Spriggan 12 and any cute boys she noticed. But here Erza was, writing about her battles.

"Then," Erza continued. "I go back and review what went wrong in my fights and improve my technique. It's the perfect way to get stronger."

"Y-yes... I see... well, uh, I just came in here to make sure everything was okay..."

"Yes, everything's fine."

"Glad to hear it... Erza, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Are... are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong?"

Erza was surprised. This was definitely not what she was expecting. "O-oh! No, of course not! I'm sorry if it seemed that way, I'm just tired from traveling."

Irene was relieved that Erza wasn't mad at her. "Okay then. I'll let you rest up. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you. I will."

Irene returned to her room and fell asleep, getting a good night's rest for the long journey tomorrow.

The next day, Irene woke up early and knocked on Erza's door. Erza opened it. She had already gotten dressed, and her bags were packed and ready to go.

"I'm ready to continue our adventure! Come on, we should leave now so that we don't missed our ship!"

Irene smiled, glad to see that Erza was back to normal.

"I'll go get ready, then we can grab some breakfast and leave."

"Oh, actually, I already had breakfast." Erza said, a little guiltily.

"What! Without me!"

"Yeah... sorry!"

Irene sighed. "It's fine. I'm just glad you're back to normal."

Erza gave her a smile. "Yep, and ready to go, so go get ready!"

Irene nodded and went back to her room. After getting dressed, she went back to meet Erza at her room. They went to the hotel lobby, which was tiny and full of cobwebs, and grabbed the free breakfast for Irene. After she finished eating, they ran to the docks and boarded the ship 5 minutes before it was scheduled to leave. They almost missed it. They chose two seats towards the back of the ship and began their two hour journey to Bosco.

They soon got to Bosco, and boarded another ship to get to Stella. That ship ride was shorter, only one hour. When they arrived in Stella, they stopped at a diner to get lunch, then headed to the train station. So far, their journey was going well.

"When does our train get here?" Irene asked.

Erza checked the schedule. "In about an hour. We can wait here, or we can walk around and do something."

Just then, they heard a commotion on the other side of the station. They ran over to find two men and a little girl. The girl couldn't be older than eight, and was tied up. One of the men held a dagger against her throat.

"Everyone give us all the Jewel you have on you, or else the girl dies!" The man holding the dagger said, pushing the dagger against the girl's throat. A drop of blood fell onto the floor. A woman got on her knees and wept.

"Please... please don't kill her..." she sobbed.

Erza began to requip, but Irene was faster. In less than a second, both men were tied up, and the girl was free. She stood there surprised for a moment, then ran to the woman, who must've been her mother.

Erza looked at Irene with a mix of shock and respect. "How did you do that so quickly?" She asked.

Irene gave her a small smile. "Erza, I used to be one of the Spriggan 12, and I've only gotten more powerful. What did you expect?"

"I dunno..."

The girl and her mother hesitantly walked up to Erza and Irene.

"Thank you... thank you so much... so much..." the mother said, still crying.

Erza patted her on the back. "Of course. It's no problem."

"How can I repay you? Would one million Jewel be enough?"

"Oh, no, we can't accept any money!"

"Please, there has to be some way I can repay you," the mother said.

Irene though for a moment. "I know. Do you live here, or are you visiting?"

"We're visiting. We live in Fiore, but my husband had a job here in Stella. Why?"

"Where in Fiore do you live?"

"We used to live in Onibus, but we sold our house and are planning to move to Hargeon..."

"Would you mind moving to Magnolia instead?"

"Magnolia? Why?"

"That's where our guild is. Fairy Tail. Do you or your daughter know how to use magic? And sorry for all of the questions."

"It's fine. And yes, my daughter does, but neither me nor my husband do, and she hasn't had proper training..."

"We can train her. Or someone else at our guild can. You can repay us by moving to Magnolia and joining Fairy Tail, if that's okay with you."

"Yes... yes, of course! Thank you so, so much, uh..."

"Irene. And this is Erza."

"Thank you, Irene and Erza. My name is Yotsuba, and this is my daughter Miya."

"It's so nice to meet you both, Yotsuba and Miya. I can't wait to see you at the guild, Miya! We'll stop by to see how your doing after we finish the job we're on." Irene said.

Miya gave her a shy smile. "Okay!"

Irene and Erza headed back to the part of the station where their train was supposed to pick them up. Their train arrived half an hour later, and they got off at Bellum, another Earthland country, six hours later. They decided to stay in an inn this time. The inn was pretty nice. Their room was split into two rooms: one main room with a mini kitchen, dining table, and couch, and another room with two futons in it. They went to a restaurant for dinner, then decided to walk around the town they were in. The town was beautiful, and since they were pretty far up north now, snow covered the ground. Erza and Irene had to buy snow boots and coats, since they didn't bring proper snow gear.

A giant tree decorated with lights and ornaments was at the center of the town. Children ran around it, laughing and having fun. Shops lined the streets, each seemingly decorated for Christmas even though in Fiore, Christmas wouldn't be for a few more months. Apparently, they celebrated Christmas earlier in Bellum.

Erza and Irene window shopped, going into a few stores. One store, a jewelry shop, caught Erza's eye. Irene noticed this.

"Come on, let's go into that jewelry shop." Irene said, pulling Erza in.

Inside we're several cases full of bracelets, necklaces, rings, and earrings. Irene caught Erza staring at a bracelet with a sapphire on it. She checked the price.

𝐒𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐭
14,000 𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐥

It was a lot of money, yes, but Irene wanted to do something good for Erza. She bought the bracelet, but hid it from Erza until they left the shop. Once they were in front of the tree, Irene have it to Erza.

"Here, Erza. I figured I should get you a thank-you present for bringing me on this quest."

Erza took the bracelet and put it on. "Oh, Irene... thank you so much..."

Irene smiled at her. "Of course! Anything for my favourite daughter!"

Erza glared at her. "I'm your only daughter."

Irene laughed. "Doesn't change the fact that you're my favourite!"

Erza couldn't help it. She laughed too.

They walked around for a little longer, talking about random stuff and having fun. Then they headed back to the inn and fell asleep.