X802
"Where are they?!"
"I don't know! We've tracked down the enemy's base but they're not here! In fact, there isn't anybody in the building."
"But how can an entire group just disappear?"
"How the hell should I know?!" A slight growl in the tone this time.
"You need to calm down. We won't get anywhere if we keep rampaging about."
A sigh. "You're right. But it's just so frustrating! They took my kids and I can't do anything about it!"
"Honestly, we're just lucky their father is on a separate mission. If he were here… Well, let's just say they wouldn't have a base anymore."
"It's sad that it's true."
"I guess it's back to square one, huh?"
"Yeah. We should get back to the guild hall."
With that, the Trio of Fairy Tail wizards left for their guild hall, the lead actually leading them nowhere.
Nikko, Hoseki, I hope you're safe.
X791
Back on the train, the group was moving to the front swiftly. Natsu, as always, sped ahead while Gray right on her heels. Erza had requiped her sword, about half a car behind, with Wendy and Lucy behind her, and Loke was bringing up the rear with the two children still attached to him. This fact hardly bothered him - he was Leo the Lion of the Zodiac.
Soon, the group reached the front car to see six men with maces, hammers, and swords and dressed in armor that bandits would have. The train's engineer was quivering in the corner.
"You ready?" Natsu asked.
"Hell yeah!" Gray responded, just as the rest came in.
Leo pulled the two kids off of him and set them down. "Now stay here, okay? I don't want you getting hurt."
The two nodded before Nikko took a defensive position in front of Hoseki, ready to fight if need be. With that, Team Natsu started the battle against the bandits.
"Fire Dragon, Iron Fist!" Natsu shouted, running at one of her opponents. She punched them with a flaming fist.
"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray cast the spell and it attacked a bandit. Said bandit fell to the ground, twitching in pain.
"Loke!" Lucy commanded.
"On it!" Loke grinned, then used Regulus Impact on his enemy. Erza was very nonverbal, simply using her sword to cut him down.
There was one left. Natsu turned and- where'd they go?!
"Get away from us!" Nikko's wavering voice rang out in the car. "D-don't make me use my magic!"
"Nikko, Hoseki!" Gray called out.
The bandit - who seemed to be the leader - smirked and took another step forward. The crying girl took in a deep breath and-
"Fire Make: Dragon's Ice!" she cried out and a small, cold flame lit on his foot. The bandit looked down, then laughed.
"Really? That's all you can muster? Ha! I can do more than that in my sleep!" Bandit Leader exclaimed.
Nikko's eyes grew wide in terror as both she and Hoseki were picked up and used as leverage against Team Natsu. "You attack me, you hurt them, too!"
Natsu ground her teeth, hands in clenched fists. The nerve of this guy! How dare he?! However, the pinkette was unable to do anything as Gray beat her to it.
In an instant, the Ice-Make wizard was behind the Bandit Leader, a dagger made of ice in his hand and to the bandit's neck. The bandit looked like he had just shit his pants.
"You don't want to make an enemy of Fairy Tail, do you?" Gray asked in a cold, menacing voice.
The bandit quick shook his head.
"Then you will let them go. Now," the wizard said with a tone of finality in his voice. Natsu walked up and pulled the two children away from their opponent. As soon as they were in her arms, they clung to her and wouldn't let go.
The ice wizard made quick work of the leader by knocking him out. Erza quickly tied them all up and called the authorities, who locked them up in jail. The engineer of the train expressed his gratitude by offering coupons for a free ride on their next train, but Erza humbly refused, to Lucy's slight dismay.
"You were right Lucy, the kids do seem a lot like them, right down to magical power," Loke said to his wizard.
"It's hard to tell where they came from. They told us they're from Fairy Tail, but I've never seen them," Wendy pondered.
"Our theory is that they're from the future," Erza told the spirit.
Suddenly, it seemed as if Lucy had an idea. "Hey, Loke! Can you see if there are any Celestial Spirit spells that would send somebody to the past?"
"Sure thing," Loke responded, then closed his own gate. "See ya when I figure out your answer!"
"Thanks, Loke," Lucy murmured.
"Are they okay?" Erza asked, walking over to Natsu.
"Yeah, just scared," Natsu replied, subconsciously making a slight rumble in her chest to calm the two down.
"Holy crap! It looks light you're vibrating!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Huh?" Natsu said dumbly. "Oh! You're talking about my… purr? I don't know. It's something I've always been able to do. I didn't realize I was doing it."
"It always calms us down," Hoseki said, half-asleep again.
"Um, would you wizards mind going back to your seats so I can start the train again?" The engineer interrupted.
"Oh, yeah, sure," Gray replied. "Come on you guys."
The group walked back to their train car and Gray took the two kids from Natsu with a little prying. Just in time, too, as the train started moving again. Natsu was once again doubled over in motion sickness. She couldn't wait until they got back to the guild hall.
X802
Natsu burst through the door, as per usual. "It was a bust!"
"Really?! And I was sure that was the place this time!" Levy pouted.
"Well, I caught a faint trace of their scents, but they weren't there. Nobody was!" Natsu replied. "So don't feel so down."
"She's right, Levy. You should cheer up, they're still out there somewhere - we just have to find out where they disappeared to," Lucy comforted.
"Hey, Gramps! The lead didn't lead anywhere!" Natsu called over to the 99-year-old man as she approached. Somehow, the old man was still alive, hardly kicking the bucket. Though really, what would you expect from a Fairy Tail wizard?
"Hmm, this is concerning. No trace of the enemies either?" Makarov asked.
"Nope, not a thing," the woman sighed, concerned about her children, but also wanting to beat up whoever took them. "But I have a theory on where they are. Or rather-"
The doors were slammed open once again, interrupting the dragonslayer. "Hey, Natsu! I'm back!"
"Crap," Natsu muttered under her breath before turning to face her husband. "Welcome back, Gray!"
Gray, noticing the pinkette's distress, walked up to her, planting a kiss on her forehead. "What's the matter?"
"Only that some jerks took our kids and as soon as I find them, I'll beat them to a pulp-!" Natsu had turned around during her rant and raised a fist menacingly, teeth seeming sharper, before turning back to Gray. "-Nothing much."
It took a moment for Gray to realize what she had said before-
"What?!"
X791
When Team Natsu arrived back at the guild, a discussion was going on. Natsu, being Natsu, just had to but in.
"There's this guild called Sabertooth," Romeo was explaining Carla.
"Sabertooth?" Natsu asked, sitting at the table. Lucy, Wendy, and Gray sat down with her.
"A tiger for sabers for teeth. Sabertooth, get it?" Romeo said. "Even Tenma and Lamia disregard them. They're currently the strongest guild in Fiore."
"Never heard of 'em," Gray responded, still holding Hoseki. Nikko was in Natsu's arms. Neither child made a comment on how none of Team Natsu knew Sabertooth, nor how they were number one in Fiore. They were just glad to be in their parents' arms, safe and away from any danger.
Nab and Elfman had stopped their arm wrestling match to look at the two unknown kids, drawing some other guild members' attention. Romeo was a bit distracted, too, but was busy explaining.
"They weren't anything special seven years ago," Alzack replied, looking at Nikko, who shied away from the attention.
"So you're saying they grew suddenly over these last several years?" Gray asked.
"It started when their guild master recruited five very strange, yet capable mages," Max said, turning from his game of cards with Warren. Now, these two had seen.
"Five people alone make that much difference?" Lucy asked, looking over her shoulder and at Max.
"Oh? I like his style," Natsu grinned.
"So what rank is our guild now?" Wendy questioned.
"You really wanna know?" Happy replied, leaning away from the girl.
"You haven't heard yet," Carla said, more of a statement than a question.
"Huh?" Wendy said dumbly.
"Absolute last place," Romeo.
"A super tiny weak little guild," from Alzack.
"The weakest guild in Fiore," was Bisca's response
"Ahh! Sorry for asking!" Wendy exclaimed.
Natsu broke out in semi-maniacal laughter, one foot on the table, other on her chair, arms still holding Nikko close to her chest. "Sounds great! Very interesting!"
"Mama…!" Nikko muttered in protest but didn't make any move to get Natsu to sit.
"Wha..?" Gray said, a confused Hoseki in his lap. Fairy Tail was supposed to be the strongest guild, not the weakest. Something was definitely off here, and Nikko knew it, too.
"You get it don't you?!" Natsu said, using one hand in a fist, while still managing to hold the young girl. "I'm looking forward to the chance to climb higher! How many opportunities like that do you get?!"
"Aww, geez," Gray sighed fondly, leaning his head on a palm, holding Hoseki with his other arm while Lucy laughed.
"Natsu is the same as ever," Romeo grinned, Alzack and Bisca laughing next to him. Actually, pretty much the whole guild was laughing, attention no longer on the two children.
"Yeah, I'm excited too!" Wendy exclaimed.
"So, um…" Juvia started. "Gray-sama, who are these kids?"
Before anyone could respond, Erza interjected. "We were going to talk to the guild master - or rather, Makarov - before revealing any information about them. Speaking of Makarov, he's currently with Gildarts in the old Fairy Tail building."
"Thanks, Erza," Cana called, running out of the current guild hall.
"Uh, you're welcome?" The Requip mage replied. "But what for?"
"You told me where Gildarts was!"
"Cana's devotion to Gildarts is really amazing, huh?" Happy asked Carla.
"That's the strongest power of this guild," Carla replied.
"It really is," Lucy smiled, looking between Natsu and Gray.
"Why're you looking at us?" Natsu questioned, breaking out of her staring contest with Gray.
"Oh, no reason!" The blonde quickly covered it up by waving her hand dismissively. The two shrugged before Natsu looked down at a wiggling Nikko.
"Mama, can you let me go?" Nikko asked.
"Oh, sure," Natsu replied, putting the child down. Now that caught some attention.
"Mama?" Lisanna questioned, confused.
Natsu froze, a light pink dusting her cheeks. She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Um… yeah?"
"That's… interesting. When did you have a kid?" Mira replied.
"Silly question, Auntie Mira!" Hoseki giggled. "I fou', so Mama had me fou' years ago! Sis' six, so she was six years ago!"
"Ah, I see," Mira smiled and nodding faux understanding like you would with a kid.
Before the conversation could continue any further, Max stood abruptly, slapping a hand down on the table. "Natsu, I challenge you to a duel!"
X802
"Calm down, Gray," Natsu sighed, lightly tapping her husband's head with her knuckles. "You remember 11 years ago, right?"
"Yea- oh…" Gray seemed to come to a conclusion of some sort. "You mean-?"
"Yup, that's what I mean," Natsu grinned. "They're safe. I figured it out on our way back from the enemy's base."
"Was that the theory you were talking about just now?" Makarov asked.
"Yea," the pinkette nodded. "My theory is that they are safe, but that they've been moved from this point in time."
"My only question is why," Erza muttered, holding her chin in contemplation.
Across the guild hall, a seven-year-old black haired, brown eyed girl holding a stuffed bear tugged on Levy's sleeve. "Mommy, when are Nikko and Hoseki coming back?"
"I'm sure they'll be back soon, squirt," Gajeel ruffled his daughter's head. The girl bit on the teddy bear's ear, while thinking, I hope so. I miss them.
"It's gonna be okay, Mia," Levy picked the girl up, giving her a hug. "After all, we have Team Natsu looking for them!"
"That's right," Gajeel encouraged. "If anyone can find those two, it's Salamander and her team."
"Natsu!" This time, it was a blue-haired teenager. "I found a spell that could have been used!"
"Good job, Wendy!" Natsu called back. Just as Wendy reached their location… she tripped.
"Woah, are you okay?" Lucy asked, helping the younger girl to her feet.
"Yeah, this happens all the time," the bluenette smiled. "Anyway, Natsu, I found something. It's a spell that's used to send somebody into the past. The caster is the person who determines where they go. The spell can only be undone if the person sent back does what the caster sent them to do."
"Well, what happened then?" Natsu looked up at the ceiling in thought. "It was the year we came back from Tenrou Island…"
