Chapter Three:

"But...where?" Farrah asked. "And why?"

"What part of I don't know did you not get!" Persephone shouted.

Nashi pushed past her friends and ran towards her family's hotel room. There was no way her parents were gone! They wouldn't just leave her and her little-

"Nashi!" a frightened voice called as Nashi's eight-year-old sister, Layla, ran out of the room towards her, their one-year-old sister, Kyri, in her arms.

"Layla?" Nashi asked.

"Nashi! Mommy and Daddy disappeared!"' Layla wailed.

"But...how? Why?" Nashi asked as their seven-year-old brother, Igneel, walked out with Kyri's twin sister, Luna, on his hip.

"They were putting Kyri and Luna to bed and then POOF!" Igneel said.

"Poof?" Nashi asked as Luna began crying.

"One minute they were there and the next they were gone!" Layla wailed.

"So...what happened?" Nashi asked dumbly. Her head was spinning. None of this was making sense. She still couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. She was still expecting her Mommy and Daddy to walk out of the room and tell her this was all a joke.

"We don't know," Layla whimpered. "We called Pops and he said he was coming."

"I'm here!" a loud voice called. All the children turned as Jude Heartfelia rushed inside.

"Pops!" they all called and began shouting over one another.

"Whoa! Whoa! Alright, alright," he tried to calm them down.

"Popsy!" a small voice called. A tiny exceed kitten flew to him and landed on his shoulder. "Popsy some bad magic took my Mommy and Daddy!"

Four other exceed kittens flew to him. "They took all our mommies and daddies!"

"I know, Maisie, I know," Jude said as he patted the first kitten's back. "I'm going to do my best to help, but I need you all to stay calm."

"What's going on?" came another voice. Jude, the kittens, and the children turned to find Sting, Lyon, and Ichiya walking in.

"Thank you for coming," Jude said, then turned back to the children. "Now, calmly, tell us what happened from the top."

One by one each of the children who were old enough to talk gave their version of the events.

"So that's why you kids went into the pre-trials," Sting said.

"Man, it seems that Fairy Tail has a very jealous rival. One who is not afraid to go to extreme lengths to take them out of the games!" Ichiya nodded.

"What do you mean?" Benedict asked.

"Both Twilight Ogre and Phoenix Grave have made the games this time," Lyon said. "Neither of which have had any history of success in the Grand Magic Games. And that same night every adult in Fairy Tail goes missing, but not the children."

"Sounds like someone wanted to knock you guys out of the games, but not actually hurt you," Sting said. "There's no other reason to make all the adults disappear right before the games begin, right?"

Sting's eyebrows furrowed. "Right?"

Silence fell over the room.

"It's impossible to say," Lyon said. "Perhaps we should contact the Rune Kni-"

"No!" Jude answered firmly.

"Why not, man?" Ichiya asked.

"Well...I...um…" Jude flustered as he turned and looked at Nashi. She was staring at her feet. She knew the reason for Jude's refusal. Her. Hezim, the head of the Rune Knights had a particular, menacing interest in her because of her magic. He thought of her as a danger and was always looking for an opportunity to take her in and study her. He'd gotten close a few times, but he'd never quite been able to nab her. This could be a good opportunity for him.

Jude cringed slightly at the sight of his granddaughter so uncomfortable. "Well, erm, it might cause a scandal! Whoever caused this will most likely be expecting, even wanting a bunch of attention on this. Uh...best not to give them what they want!"

Nashi blinked. She knew that wasn't the reason Pops had refused to talk to the Rune Knights. Why was he…

"Well, you're probably right about that," Sting said.

"Seems the best we can do now is look for clues," Lyon nodded. "As far as we know they're alive and well. If someone wanted to kill or harm them then they would have done it rather than making them disappear."

At this point, the children all stopped listening. They knew the adults were just trying to make them feel better. After a while, one by one, they began retreating to their hotel rooms.

As Farrah began walking back, one hand on Cato's shoulder, their younger brother, July, on her hip, she heard a sniffling. She turned and found Lorelle cowered in a corner crying. Farrah sighed at her little cousin. Even if Lorelle was a brat she was still her cousin, and she wanted to help.

"C'mon, Lorelle," she sighed.

"Hm?" Lorelle sniffled as she picked her head up.

"You can stay with us tonight," Farrah said, gesturing with her head to the hotel room door.

"Really?" Lorelle rubbed her nose on the back of her hand.

"Yeah. You don't need to stay alone," Farrah sighed.

"Thanks," Lorelle whispered as she stood up and followed after her Farrah and the two boys.

"Don't mention it," Farrah shrugged. "We're cousins, after all."

She led Lorelle, Cato, and July into the room. She put the two boys in their bed, and put Lorelle in the master bedroom. She then slipped into Lisanna and Bixlow's room to gather her other cousin, little baby Vance. Vance was still asleep, so she carefully scooped him up and carried him back to the master room. She set Vance in the middle of the bed and then laid on the side opposite of Lorelle. Lorelle, by this point, had already cried herself to sleep. Farrah knew she should sleep too, but she couldn't. She knew she needed her energy to try and solve the mystery of where all the adults had gone, but she couldn't.

She knew the adults were sugar coating things. Everyone knew.

Uncle Lyon's words were the worst. "If they wanted them hurt or dead…"

There was no guarantee they WEREN'T dead! Someone could have transported them somewhere and then-

Farrah shuddered at the thought.

Then again, who was to say it wasn't a rival just trying to even their chances at the games. It seemed to be a bit extreme to make an entire guild vanish just for a game, though. But if it wasn't Twilight Ogre or Phoenix Grave, then who? It was a bit of coincidence that Fairy Tail's two biggest rivals who rarely made the cut for the games were both in the 25th-anniversary games. Coincidence? Maybe…

What other enemies did Fairy Tail have?

Farrah let out a shaky sigh. She knew of one person who would know, a long time enemy of the guild who was now on friendlier terms with at least the guild master. That didn't mean Farrah was comfortable with the idea of talking to him. Still, who else might know what was going on? Farrah sighed and stood out of the bed. She tiptoed to the hall and poked her head out. The adults were gone, they had probably moved into a suite. Farrah carefully closed the door behind her, hands shaking.

She didn't want to do this, but she needed answers, or maybe at least an ally. She took a deep breath and began to walk off when she heard a voice saying:

"How'd I get the feeling you'd sneak out?"

Farrah sighed. "Hey, Benedict."

She turned to find the boy in question leaned against the door frame of his family's suite. He pushed himself off it and walked towards her.

"So are you going to drag me along this time, or am I going to have to force you to take me with you?"

"Neither," Farrah sighed.

"Huh?" Benedict arched an eyebrow.

"I'm not gonna force you to come but I'd…" Farrah began to tremble and rubbed her arms to stop the shaking.

Benedict frowned. This wasn't like Farrah. She NEVER showed fear.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked as he took a step closer. "Where the heck are you planning on going?"

Farrah sighed. "To pay my grandfather a visit."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Nashi pulled her knees up to her chest as she sat on the couch, the rest of the Birthday Gang sitting around her.

"So...what now?" she asked.

"Well, the adults said we should go on like nothing happened," Cato answered.

"So...that means…" Storm wondered.

"The games have to go on," Roman stated.

All six of the children nodded, nervously glancing at back and forth at each other. They all knew they should get to bed now, they needed their rest, but they were too scared and excited to move.

Tomorrow they would be participating in the Grand Magic Games.