So finally, she had answers. Aki's morning that had lately been teeming with something akin to hope and happiness, were dreary again. She just didn't want to be proven right. Yet, she had been. The undercurrents of something sinister, something behind the scenes had just ceased to bother her... But perhaps that was the calm before the storm. They had received orders that a bunch of undercover operatives of the Rune Knights had finally collected information on the shady guild that resided in the shady town of Drannor. What an opportune timing this was. So they'd probably been planning a confrontation for a while, but needed Knights to handle the usual crap that happened in the other towns, while the higher ranks forged a plan.

No wonder Akira felt like she was working overtime. What was the plan that they came up with? Of course, to send the same Knights, mostly the newly minted Seated Knights, to go confront the Phantom Lord guild-master and members and basically ask them to disperse. They made it sound so simple. Like anyone would just abandon their guild peacefully... Along with most of the B ranks a few Apprentices, that were probably promised promotion after this excursion, were also in the list. Aki sighed deeply as she waited in the queue to buy her teammates some snacks. She'd offered to deal with that task, while one of the other two got them the tickets and then the last one kept an eye on the most convenient route that would get them to Baska fast.

There were several connecting trains, then a couple that were faster because they took a different direct route, but their availability was low and their price could sky rocket. She was just trying to pick up some sandwiches for the three Eclipse team dwellers. Annoying pieces of crap... she thought as she dramatically made a big show about her impatience. Suddenly, it is drop everything and go to Drannor... her thoughts went on. They were supposed to get there as soon as possible... Aki hoped that they'd at least be compensated for the expensive tickets, if that was what was decided upon.

Finally after getting the food and beverages, she looked for her teammates. After much discussion and deliberation, they finally were in time to catch one of the faster trains. With heavy hearts and lighter pockets they set off to their journey. The train dashed along the vistas that swam past their eyes. There were moments of awkward silence interspersed with some small talk. Yet, none of it was uncomfortable. Despite the confrontation that grew neared and in all possibilities could get violent the three had a calm presence, at least around each other. Akira wondered who she would run into... What kind of evidence was collected, what happened if they weren't enough to take down the fortified guild? But there was nothing she could do, except wait for things to unfold. She almost smirked, as she tried to play out the different scenarios in her head, most of them were strange.

After what seemed like eons, but also felt like it happened in a blink of an eye, depending on which feeling Aki let win inside her. Between a certain sense of dread which made the train journey feel more like teleportation and that usual sense of relief when the destination is reached, which makes the journey feel like a lifetime. Nonetheless, they were here in Baska now, the journey wasn't technically over. They'd take another day, to reach Drannor... Then they'd have to meet up with the others and plan.

Truth be told, Asura was annoyed to a whole new extent.

It seemed as though the Knights days were just getting hectic and stressful no matter how much they tried to drift away from it. After days of doing jobs, almost daily, in Magnolia, they were now informed that they were being sent to Drannor in order to infiltrate Phantom Lord and get them to surrender. Apparently, it had been a plan that had taken months of meetings to come upon and was the reason why the Seated were bombarded with quests. While Asura will admit that she had heard prior rumors engaging within the Knights ranks of a potential take-over, she found it best to not indulge in it, wanting to keep as far away from the unnecessary commotion as possible. However, it seemed as though fate, or more seemingly, the Magic Council had other plans and the expulsion of Phantom Lord was placed as a top priority.

As far as she knew, Asura and her two team-mates who were like her, Seated's with her being the last one to be promoted, were sent on this endeavor with a few other promised prodigies of the faction. Who they were, the blonde was unaware but would find out after reaching Drannor. It seemed almost laughable how she was merely recently promoted and already, they sent her and her team-mates on a potential mission that could end up in them all being slaughtered. For all Asura knew, this could be last time she would be in Magnolia.

The blonde scampered her thoughts away as she stood in the ticket line, waiting to buy them for the trio. Akira had volunteered to buy snacks while Haru had gone to check the train routes. A light sigh left the blonde's lips as worries plagued her mind of the upcoming days. It seemed as though Rei sensed her discomfort and nudged her in the knee lightly, looking up at her expectantly with his crimson eyes. She smiled lightly at the Umbreon, trying to assure him that she was okay. Asura focused her attention on getting the tickets before meeting up with the duo. As if all of a sudden remembering that they hadn't met Rei yet, Asura tried to get the duo's attention before pointing at her companion. "This is Rei, my companion. He's an Umbreon and I think he'll be really helpful during the fight." And she was being serious. Asura's own trust in her abilities was incredibly low and the main reason she was unsure about this fight was due to that however, having Rei by her side soothed the blonde's nerves a bit as he kept nudging her to try to calm the woman's quiet panic down.

The trio got onto the train and quiet moments as well as, conversation filled moments elapsed between them as they munched on their snacks and gazed outside the train, awaiting their arrival to Baska. Once they would reach there, it was another day to rannor where the Phantom Lord Headquarters were located. And as they reached the city, Asura could only hope that they come out of this victorious.