Chapter Ten:

"Well, well, well," Elena said in a cold voice as she stepped towards the two girls. "What have we here?"

Layla whimpered in fear as Nashi moved to stand between her little sister and the crazed killer. Elena's eyes widened slightly in recognition as she and Nashi stared at each other. Elena's eyes narrowed.

"You," she hissed, raising a hand and pointing at Nashi. "I remember you."

"We brought you fairies, Mother!" Tate cheered as he danced to her side.

"And why would you do that when I never told you to do such a thing?" Elena snapped. Tate hung his head and shuddered.

"We didn't mean to," Carmen answered in a soft voice. "They followed us through Tate's portal."

"Oh, well in that case-" Elena turned to Tate and smacked him across the face. "Someone wasn't quick or attentive enough, now, was he?"

"P-p-please don't be cross M-M-Mother…" Tate whimpered as tears welled in his eye.

"It's not his fault," Carmen insisted. "It's mine. She-"

Carmen turned and pointed at Nashi. "She attacked me! Tate was just trying to save me."

Elena glared at Nashi again. "Why am I not surprised?"
She began stepping towards the Dragneel girls again.

"Nashi?" Layla whimpered.

"It's gonna be okay," Nashi promised Layla as she reached behind her and grabbed her sister's hand.

"But...Nashi, she-"

Elena leaned down and stared Nashi directly in the eyes. "You know, I've thought a lot about you since that day. About how much I'd love to squeeze the life out of you…"

"Where'd you send our parents!?" Nashi asked.

Elena sniffed. "And why would I tell you that?" she let out a long sigh. "Boys, kill them," Elena ordered.

Before Carmen or Tate could even take a step towards the girls Nashi yelled "STYX!"

A fiery whirlpool appeared under the two girls and they disappeared through the floor. They reappeared in the hallway, completely unharmed. Still, Nashi turned to her sister.

"Layla, are you alright?" she asked.

"I think so, but, Nashi, she-"

"Yeah, I know," Nashi answered as she patted Layla's head. "That didn't work out, sorry."

"It's okay. But Nashi, I think we have bigger-"

"What are two wee, little girls like ye selves doin' here?" A gruff voice asked from behind Nashi and Layla.

Both girls turned around to find a group of rough-looking men standing behind them.

"Uh...Nashi how far did you take us?" Layla asked.

"I don't know. Not very. I'm running low on magic power."

"I think we're still in the jail," Layla said in a shaky voice.

"Oi!" one of the men roughly grabbed Layla by the arm and jerked her towards him.

"Ouch!"

"Hey, let go of her!" Nashi screeched.

The man glared down as he stared at the pink mark on Layla's shoulder. "Fairy Tail, huh?"

"Thea!" Nashi shouted as she punched the man in the stomach, a crimson flame burning in her fist. The punch was not as strong as it usually was. Like Nashi had said, she was running low on energy. Still, it stunned him enough to make him let Layla go.

"Hey! That one, too!" one of the other men shouted as he pointed to the mark on Nashi's wrist that she had exposed while punching the man holding Layla.

"What luck!" yet another of the men said. "How about it, boys? Let's get some revenge, eh?"

"I guess our guild's not that popular in prison," Nashi deadpanned as Layla fumbled with her keys.

"Misbah!" she shouted as she held one key out.

A cloud of red smoke covered the entire area, blinding the men and making them cough, giving Layla and Nashi just enough cover to make their escape, a genie-like figure following after them.

The three stopped as they turned a corner to catch their breaths.

"You two cuties go ahead," Misbah said as peeked around the corner. "I'll hold them off so you can get out of here."

"Thank you, Misbah," Layla sighed.

"Don't thank me yet, now go!" Misbah ordered the two girls.

Nashi and Layla nodded before taking off. Misbah waited in her spot, listening as the small mob of angry men came towards her.

"Where are ya, you little fairy brats!?" they shouted as they rounded the corner, and got stuck in another cloud of smoke.

"Oh, you've gotta be- OUCH!"

Under the cover of her smoke, Misbah was able to move rather freely, striking the men squarely on the back of the head and knocking them unconscious.

"There, that should give them some time to-GAH!"

One of the men had faked being unconscious as he grabbed Misbah by the ankle and threw her against the wall.

"UGH! Now that's just a dirty move! Even for me," Misbah groaned as she disappeared.

Somewhere deeper in the jail Nashi and Layla were still trying to run away.

"This is bad, I have no idea where we are going!" Layla whispered.

"Yeah, me either," Nashi answered, grabbing Layla's hand. "Just stay close. We'll find a way out of here, somehow."

"Pst!" a voice came from behind them.

"Eh?" both girls asked, turning to see an old man peeking out of a cell.

"Hide in here," he said.

"Uh, no," Nashi answered in a dead-panned voice. "Sorry, we don't take offers from creepy old men in jails."

"I don't blame you, but you two really shouldn't be hanging around here," the older man answered.

"It's not like we're here by choice!" Nashi shouted.

"Well, actually, we did follow that guy through-" Layla began.

"NOT HELPING, SIS!"

"Would it help if I told you I knew your friend Farrah?" the old man asked.

"Huh? Farrah?" Nashi asked.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"This way," the guard said as they led Farrah through the halls towards the meeting halls. She hugged herself tightly as she felt the glare of dozens of criminals on her. She'd already walked through this hallway once. But without Benedict at her side, she felt even more exposed and vulnerable. The Rune Knight opened a door to a meeting room and led Farrah to a chair. Farrah took a deep, shaky breath as she sat down and began twiddling her thumbs.

A few minutes later the guards carried Ivan in by a group of guards. He looked about the same as he had the day before, except this time he was carrying a large bag in his arm.

Farrah straightened her back as the Rune Knights lower Ivan into the chair and chained him to it.

Farrah shuddered as the Rune Knights left, leaving her with her grandfather.

"So, did you find anything out?" Farrah asked after clearing her throat.

"Just a little, but we have something more pressing to attend to," Ivan answered.

"Huh?" Farrah asked.

Ivan dumped the contents of the bag out on the table and revealed-

"Layla? Nashi!"

"Oh, hi," Nashi waved. "Good news! Your grandpa saved me and Layla. Bad news, Elena is the one behind this and she's onto us…"

"WHAT!?"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

SMACK!

"Mother, please stop hitting brother," Tate whimpered.

"Nah, it's okay," Carmen huffed as he rubbed his bruised face.

"You idiot, you let them onto our scent! Now how are we supposed to-"

"Oof!" Carmen stumbled back as Elena kicked him in the gut.

"The big fairies are still gone!" Tate shouted.

Elena turned to him, eyes narrowed.

"The big fairies are still gone! I still put them away, and Carmen kept the little fairies from getting them back. So...we can still win. Just...stop hurting brother."

"Hm," Elena paused to think. "True as that maybe, that doesn't change the fact that-"

"Big brother Carmen's been looking for the missing one!"

"Missing one?" Elena asked.

"Tate, sh!" Carmen hissed.

"The missing one that they stole from you! The one you gave birth to! Carmen thinks she might be at the games somewhere, and he's trying to find her! We might get our whole family back! That's good news, right, mother?"

Elena turned back to Carmen, one eyebrow arched. For a year she had wondered what had happened to the baby she stole, carried, birthed, and then had taken from her.

"Is that true?" she asked.

"I...it's just a hunch," Carmen said. "I keep sensing something familiar during the matches so I think she might be with one of the other competing guilds. But...I'm not sure which one it is yet…"

"But I thought you said she was wi-" Tate began.

"Yeah, well I was wrong. I checked the Rune Knight station she's not there. Which means she's somewhere else in the arena."

"But that's not-"

"Just let it go, Tate! My first guess was wrong!" Carmen snapped, before feeling the heat of Elena's glare on the back of his head. "But if she is there we'll find her soon."

Elena knelt and took Carmen's chin in her hand. "Good boy," she said as she tapped him on the nose.

"Good boy, keep it up," She then stood and faced both boys. "And try and keep a low profile from now on, will you? We can't give up our hand this early, after all…"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Are you out of your mind?" Farrah shouted after Nashi had finished catching her up on everything.

"I wouldn't worry too much yet," Ivan cut in. "I didn't manage to uncover too much from Mace and Elena yesterday, but I did hear them talking about the finale. Apparently, they having something planned on the last day of the games. What that is I can't tell you yet, but I'll keep eavesdropping to try and figure it out."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better because…" Farrah asked.

"If they have something planned for the final day of the games that means they can't do anything drastic until then," Ivan calmly explained.

"So...we still have time to save our parents," Layla sighed softly.

"That doesn't change the fact that we should be careful," Farrah answered as she narrowed her eyes at Nashi. "You could have gotten yourself and Layla killed!"

"I was trying to defend Roman and Fairy Tail's honor!" Nashi argued.

Farrah leaned her head in her hands. "I knew I should have stayed in the arena. I should have known you kids would do something stupid!"

"Hey, you're a kid too!" Nashi yelled. "And besides, Carmen was about to unleash another attack on my siblings!"

"And he did," Layla nodded. "He cast a spell on Luna and hurt her."

Nashi gasped. "Luna! I've gotta go check on her!" tears stung her eyes.

"It's okay," Layla whispered. "Igneel is still looking after her."

"That's supposed to make me feel better?" Nashi scoffed.

"All three of you should probably get back," Ivan said. "The jail's been on edge all day, it's not safe. I'll keep an eye on Elena and Mace for you."

"You two go ahead, I'll catch up," Farrah said.

Nashi called up a Styx portal, having had time to rest a regain some magic energy, and she and Layla jumped through it. Farrah, however, true to her world, hesitated.

"So, you saved them?" she asked Ivan.

"Yes," Ivan answered.

"Why?"

"I couldn't let two kids be viciously murdered."

"That's never stopped you before," Farrah muttered.

Ivan sighed. "I know it hasn't. But...nevermind…" he shifted uneasily. "I meant what I said when it was dangerous here today, you should go, I'll see if I have more for you tomorrow."

Farrah nodded and stood to leave.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Brother?"

"What?" Carmen snapped as he and Tate walked through a back alley out of the jail.

"Why did you lie to Mother? You told me you thought the missing one was with Fairy Tail."

Carmen stopped, turned to face Tate, and pointed a finger right in his face. "Listen to me Tate, I don't want to hear another word about the missing one, okay?"

Tate took a step back, his bottom lip trembling. "But, I-"

"This is something I am working on, ALONE! I don't want you, or Mother or anyone else interfering or getting in my way."

"But I-"

"Look, I've been trying to help you out, okay? But if you ever tell Mother about me snooping around Fairy Tail again, I will end you. Hear me!?"

"But I-"

Carmen stomped off. A tear rolled down Tate's face. "I was just trying to help…"