The Future Is Ours

By: juvia0613 (aka FayeValentine00)

Chapter 7

Summer - x814

It was a warm summer night and 14-year-old Kichirou Gryder was returning home from a long day of hanging out with Katsuo Strauss. The two had spent the day running through the woods, practicing some new magic they'd recently learned. Although it had been fun, Kichirou was exhausted. All he wanted to do was get home, eat dinner with his little sister, Piper and go to sleep.

Maybe it was because it was a dark moonless night or because the teenage boy was tired, or maybe it was because he didn't have much battle experience but, as he approached the home, Kichirou didn't immediately realize anything was wrong. He didn't notice that heavy feet had trampled his mom's flowers in the front yard or that there was a large gash in the fence along the side of their home. He didn't even realize the house was completely dark until he opened the front door and was greeted with an eerie silence.

Normally Piper was the little sister that attacked you at the front door to ask about your day and gush about her own yet… there was nothing. Absolutely nothing in the house was moving. An immediate sense of dread hit him all at once. As soon as he focused, he was hit with the nearly overwhelming smell of Piper's paints. With a trembling hand, Kichirou turned on the light and found his worst fears confirmed.

The home where he'd lived happily with his family for as long as he could remember was completely trashed. Furniture was upturned, someone had broken a table and there were splotches of paint everywhere. It was obvious that whoever had done this had fought with Piper and it was also clear, from what he was seeing, that his little sister had been fighting for her life. He stood in a trance surveying the damage for a long moment before he came back to himself and was able to think straight.

"PIPER!" Despite being exhausted, Kichirou ran through the house, room by room, screaming his sisters' name at the top of his lungs. "PIPER! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

He had to fight the panic that was beginning to overtake him. With his parents gone for the night on a job outside of Magnolia, he was the one who should have been guarding her. His parents had specifically told him that this could happen and yet, Kichirou hadn't been there to protect Piper when she needed him most. Hot, angry tears fell down his cheeks as he realized that he had failed his family. He fell to his knees hard and hit his fist into the floor in frustration. He knew he had to do something. The Lightning Magic user knew he had to get help, but it felt so hard to get back on his feet when it felt like the universe had come crashing down around him.

What finally got him moving again was thinking of his sister. Piper was alive. He didn't doubt that for a moment. She was out there somewhere and scared and he needed to go save her. He needed to bring her back home to the place where everyone loved her. With that though firmly planted in his mind, he used every last bit of his magical energy to turn into lightning and dart to the closest safe place he could think of.

He materialized at the kitchen of the Strauss home just as the family was sitting down for dinner. Although it had only been a short time since he'd left them, it only took a glimpse at Kichirou's face to know that something was very wrong. Before the boy could even speak, he collapsed but was easily caught by Elfman.

He was weak and fighting to stay conscious after spending the reminder of his magical energy, but he knew he had to relay the message. "Help… Piper… Kidnapped."

When Kichirou lost consciousness, everyone at the table jumped up from their seats. Evergreen and Carnation took the boy from Elfman and checked him over for injuries before anything else. All the while, Carnations heart was beating wildly in her chest. If someone had kidnapped Piper, Carnation knew exactly what that meant. This was what Wendy had been dreading since the day she'd returned to Fairy Tail. Based on what her mentor had revealed over the years about the children's real father, Carnation tried to convince herself that Piper was safe but despite that, her hands wouldn't stop shaking. She was closer to Piper and Kichirou than her own siblings and the angry that filled her was nearly unbearable.

Once it was clear that the boy wasn't hurt but just exhausted, Bluebell pulled on her shoes and ran to the door. "I'm going to the guild to get help!" Before anyone could complain or try to join her, the girl was off like a shot into the night.

"I need to go check on the house," Elfman said firmly, climbing to his feet looking dangerously intense. "Maybe I can find some clues."

"I'm coming with you, Dad!" That was Daisy, his youngest daughter that was so much like his big sister, Mirajane. Her expression was equally dark as she climbed to her feet and met his eyes evenly. "Let's go."

Although the protective father in Elfman wanted to stop her, he knew that she could defend herself. He also knew there simply wasn't time to argue. With a nod, the two were out the door.

That left Evergreen, Katsuo and Carnation to take care of Kichirou. The only thing running through the mind of the Sky Dragon Slayer were questions. Why now? Why here? How could this happen? Where they coming for Kichirou next? That last question made Carnation squeeze the boy's hand tightly. They would find Piper, she knew they would but, in that moment, her number one priority was now to keep Wendy's son safe.

Katsuo hadn't said much of anything since Kichirou appeared in their home. The youngest Strauss had never seen his best friend looking so desperate. All of it just seemed too impossible. They were all members of Fairy Tail. The guild and Magnolia were safe places. This kind of thing just didn't happen. Katsuo had never truly been afraid until that very moment and he didn't like the feeling at all.

Bluebell ran all the way to the guildhall and threw the door wide open, slamming it against the wall. It was dinner time so most of the usual suspects were in the hall having dinner or a drink. When they heard the noise, all eyes instantly turned to her. At first her friends looked annoyed but one glimpse at her face and their expressions quickly turned to concern.

"H-Help," Bluebell choked out while trying to catch her breath. "We need help. Piper's been kidnapped!"

For a second, you could have heard a pin drop but then the uproar was deafening. Everyone was on their feet and questions were coming from all directions. Who? What? Where? When? How? But no matter how many questions they asked, Bluebell didn't have an answer for any of them. All she knew was that Kichirou was safe and Piper was missing. It wasn't until Ryuu got to her side that real tears fell down the Fairy Magic users cheeks.

In an instant, every child of the new Fairy Tail generation found themselves facing the true dangers of the world for the first time. Strong as they might all be, they'd never faced the kinds of trials that their parents had, and that reality hit them like a cold slap in the face.

"Happy, we're going to find Wendy." Natsu said, when the initial uproar died down. As he climbed to his feet, his expression was deadly serious.

"I'm coming with you." Lucy immediately jumped to her feet to follow but when their eyes met, the Celestial Spirit Mage knew she couldn't.

"It'll be faster with just me and Happy." His words seemed a little cold but then nodded his head to something behind her and it became clear.

Aki has been sitting beside his parents at the table when Bluebell had run in and since then, their younger child hadn't moved. He looked like he was in a state of shocked disbelief. Seeing her sons' normally confident face look so confused, Lucy immediately knew that, she couldn't leave. Instead, she did the only responsible thing, Lucy nodded firmly. "Bring Wendy home safe."

"Of course!" Her husband's easy smile was all Lucy needed to see to banish her fears.

Just as Natsu turned to leave, Gajeel stepped forward to follow. "I'm coming too."

The dragon slayers' eyes met seriously for a moment and then Natsu smirked. "Yeah. Let's go, Happy."

As the men and their partners walked out the door, everyone could see the dangerous look in Natsu's eyes. It was an expression that hadn't been seen for many moons. For so long now, Fairy Tail had been peaceful and although they knew that peace couldn't last forever, the fact that one of their children had been taken right out from under them was everyone's greatest fear realized.

Quickly various people teamed up and were heading out the door right behind the Dragon Slayers. Those on their way to the Strauss house to check on Kichirou and to try to get more information were: Lucy and her son, Aki; Levy and her son, Ryuu; and Shayla. The people on their way to the Gryder house were hoping to figure out exactly how this had even happened. They were the Fullbusters; Gray, Juvia, Slate and Haruki, and Akemi Redfox. Everyone else stayed at the guild to make a plan of action.

Using his telepathy, Warren contacted all the Fairy Tail members in the area, alerting them to return to the guild. Meanwhile, Freed quickly got to work on setting a barrier around the main building that would only allow guild members to come and go freely. It would not be strong enough to hold off a full-blown attack but if push came to shove, it would buy them some time.

Daisy and Elfman arrived in front of the Gryder home less than ten minutes later and it was shockingly plain how intensely Piper had fought. There was paint splattered both inside and outside of the home and everything was in utter disarray. As they dug through the upturned furniture and broken personal items, they looked for anything that might lead them to the culprits. Although it was easy to assume that it was Piper's father who had come to take her back, they still wanted proof.

As she overturned a chair and found one of Pipers old stuffed toys ripped to shreds, Daisy finally spoke to her father with a shaky voice. "This is terrible." In all her 16 years, she'd seen nothing like it. It was mind blowing to the girl who'd never once considered herself sheltered.

"Yeah…" Elfman agreed darkly.

Even though there was a solid motive behind Piper's kidnapping, Elfman couldn't shake the dark feeling seeping into his gut. This could have happened to any of the children in Fairy Tail. They had been too relaxed for too long. They had let their guards down and now they were paying the price. There was a piece of Elfman that wanted to lock his kids away safely and hide the key until this was over. Yet, the other side of him wanted these kids to realize to learn just how good they'd had it all this time.

The father-daughter team moved carefully through each of the rooms and came up empty. They were just about to give up when the Fullbuster family and Akemi Redfox arrived. Per Freed's instructions, Akemi immediately set to work at setting up the barrier he'd taught her just a few minutes before. It was a fairly easy script, but it gave her a purpose and allowed her to feel like she was actually helping. Akemi felt that if she didn't have a task to keep her busy, she may have lost her nerve completely. The entire situation was simply unbelievable.

While Gray and Juvia touched base with Elfman and Daisy, Slate and Haruki walked through the house together silently. There were literally no words. It wasn't until they walked into Piper's room that Haruki finally reacted. Her eyes quickly noticed the broken picture frame lying on the floor beside the young girls' bed. Haruki knew that picture frame well because it was the exact one she'd given to Piper as a gift just a few months ago. Her hands were shaking as she dropped to her knees roughly, reaching for the frame but before she could touch it, her brother grabbed her roughly by the arm and yanked her to her feet.

"Haruki!" Alarmed, Slate accidently shouted her name loud enough to be heard throughout the house. "Your knees!"

Only then did the Water Mage realize that she had kneeled right into broken glass and it hurt. "Ouch!"

Right as Haruki reacted, both Gray and Juvia ran into the room with dark expressions that spoke of a short lifespan for whoever was threatening their children. Slate and Haruki had never seen their parents look so fierce and, to be honest, it scared the hell out of them.

"What happened?!" Gray asked, scanning the room quickly.

"Are you okay?!" Juvia followed up right behind her husband.

"I'm sorry!" Haruki blurted out as her mother reached her and fussed over her bloodied knees. "I didn't mean to."

Carefully, Slate leaned over his sister and mother and picked up the frame that Haruki had been reaching for. Flipping it over in his hands, he realized why Haruki was so upset. The framed picture was only a few months old, and it was taken at the party to commemorate the successful completion of Paige's first job. It was one of the rare times over the last few years that literally all of them had been together, all 18 children of the newest Fairy Tail generation. Just seeing Piper's face smiling back up at him from the picture was enough for Slate.

With a frustrated growl, he tore his eyes from the image and thrust it into his sisters' hands before stomping out of the house. The entire situation made him feel helpless, and he hated it. Even though the 17-year-old boy had heard everything that Bluebell had said when she ran into the hall, her words hadn't seemed possible. Fairy Tail was supposed to be a secure place and within that secure place, it was safe to say that Kichirou and Piper were two of the most protected people there. That little girl should have been ok. To make it worse, Slate could tell that Piper had fought hard, and he knew that she must have been scared. Just thinking about that made his blood turn to ice.

Slate was staring up into the night sky when he heard Gray's voice come from a few feet behind him. "Are you angry?"

Without thinking, the younger man spun around and lashed out aggressively. "Of course I'm fucking angry!" Only after the words escaped his lips did Slate realize what he'd done and quickly closed his mouth. For starters, Slate had never spoken to his father like that. He respected his parents too much. Furthermore, the younger man knew that none of this was his Dad's fault. Slate just felt so helpless about the situation that he wasn't sure how to handle it.

Gray narrowed his eyes at his son but said nothing for a time. However, a few tense moments later, he sighed heavily, putting a hand on Slate's shoulder. Looking his son dead in the eye, he spoke sternly. "Good! Be frustrated. Be angry! And put those emotions to good use when we bring Piper back!"

At the Strauss house, Katsuo and Evergreen sat tensely beside the bed Kichirou was resting on, but Carnation couldn't relax. She was pacing back and forth, her brain running wild. All she could think of was Wendy and Piper. It took everything in her to hold back the tears that were already stinging her eyes. Everything about this was wrong. Even though Wendy had told Carnation the entire story about how her children had almost been kidnapped as babies, they hadn't been able to protect Piper. That afternoon, while Piper had been fighting tooth and nail, Carnation had been out shopping… shopping! What was the point of being strong if you failed to protect the ones you loved the most?

"Carnation, sit down," Evergreen spoke softly, gazing at her daughter with obvious concern.

"I can't sit down!" Carnation finally broke her silence and as she did, the dam on her tears broke as well. With tears streaming down her face, she looked desperately between her mother and Kichirou. "I-I can't sit down. We-We have to help Piper. We have to do something!"

Just when a sob tore from the dragon slayer's mouth, she felt two strong feminine arms wrap around her from behind. It only took a second to recognize the scent. Without another word, Carnation spun around and buried her face into Shayla's chest with loud sobs.

When Levy arrived at Elfman and Ever's home, she immediately set to work on the same magical barrier being used at the guildhall and the Gryder home. Levy's heart was heavy as she thought about everything that was happening. Although she felt terrible about Piper, somehow Levy knew that the young girl was okay. If it was really her father who had taken her, there was no way that the man was planning to harm her. From everything Wendy had told her over the years, it appeared that the dark guild, Perdition, wanted the children for their power, not to take their lives. Levy also felt confident that Fairy Tail could get her back safely. There was no way that, after all they'd been through over the years, that they'd fail on such a basic job.

However, what broke her heart was seeing the faces of the children. None of them, even the oldest of them, her own twins, had ever faced this kind of danger. Their children had grown up in a time of peace where the only real fights they'd encountered were fairly straight-forward and only during jobs. This was a generation that literally had no concept of war. Although the entire world wasn't in immediate danger like it had been in their younger days, for these kids, it must feel like the end of the world. In many ways, maybe it was… the end of the world as they knew it.

"Did Kichirou know anything else about what happened?" Lucy asked Evergreen, sitting on the bed beside the young boy. Looking worried, she pushed his blue hair behind his ear and watched him sleep.

"No. He literally appeared, told us what happened and passed out," the elder woman replied, her voice shaky as she continued to watch her daughter sob into Shayla's chest.

Aki looked back and forth between the mom's and then over to Carnation's shaking shoulders before he turned to Ryuu with a dark look in his eyes. The Fire Dragon Slayer might have only been 15 years old, but he was the son of Natsu Dragneel. Patience and waiting where not his strong suits. He couldn't understand why everyone was just waiting around. In fact, no one was even talking about what to do yet. Well, that was a bunch of crap, as far as he was concerned. Without a word, Aki turned towards the door, intent of taking things into his own hands when a very strong hand grasped his shoulder.

"Where are you going?" The deep, firm voice belonging to Ryuu Redfox stopped the younger boy dead in his tracks. At 20 years old and as a fellow Dragon Slayer, Ryuu was the person who Aki respected the most after his parents.

"Where do you think I'm going? I going to save Piper," the younger boy spat back angrily. He was literally trembling with a mixture of anger and frustration. If he was being honest with himself, he was probably a little scared as well but that didn't matter. He couldn't just wait there all day!

"Not yet," Ryuu said, turning his hand into iron as Aki's body heat subconsciously rose.

Spinning around to face the much larger man, Aki manifested fire into both of his hands. He hadn't technically meant to do it and it wasn't even a threat. He just didn't know what to do with all these sudden emotions. "Then when?! Everyone is just standing around, doing nothing!"

"We need a plan," Ryuu answered calmly, looking the younger boy in the eyes sternly until the fires in his hands slowly faded away into nothingness. "Once we have a plan, then we go."

It was like a silent battle of wills as the boys stared each other down but finally Aki sighed and dropped his eyes to the floor. "Fine! But we better hurry…"

As soon as Katsuo regained consciousness, everyone headed to the guildhall to regroup. When they arrived, they quickly noticed that everyone who'd gone to the Gryder house was also back. The only people not at the guild were Mest, Wendy, Natsu, Happy, Gajeel and Panther Lily. Every person in the room was dreading the moment they'd see Wendy's face. Wendy was the little sister to everyone, especially her teammates, and when she hurt, they hurt too.

Natsu and Gajeel did the best they could to track Wendy via scent. They knew what job she and Mest had taken so the men hoped that if they headed in that general direction, she'd be easy to find. It took about an hour of flying at top speed for them to find Wendy's scent. By the time the men got to her door, the Sky Dragon Slayer had sensed them coming in quickly and was waiting.

Wendy knew immediately that something was wrong. There was no other reason Natsu and Gajeel would come in the middle of the night at top speed. Before they spoke any words, her hands were shaking. She knew… somehow, she knew that it was bad.

With Carla by her side looking distraught, Wendy felt Mest intertwine his fingers with hers as she asked in a shaky voice, "What happened?"

She'd directed Her question at Natsu but he couldn't answer. When the man in question dropped his gaze to the floor and shifted uncomfortably, it was Gajeel who laid out the details quickly. "Kichirou is fine but Piper has been kidnapped. We think it was their father."

Carla's horrified gasp filled the room but then everything around them seemed to stop. Somehow, the way Gajeel presented the news in his serious, matter-of-fact way, made it easier to swallow. If someone had told Wendy the same news differently, she was sure that she'd have crumbled right then and there but she didn't. Instead, she felt numb. It was like having an out-of-body experience. His words made sense. Wendy understood what she was being told, however she just couldn't react.

The men watched Wendy carefully as the words sunk in. Natsu and Gajeel had both dreaded that moment but neither of them had expected this. Her lack of tears made them even more concerned.

Finally, it was Mest who broke the silence, pulling Wendy closer. "We have to go back… right now." Wendy was too dazed to notice but Gajeel and Natsu could easily see that her husband's free hand had formed a white-knuckled fist. He was clearly doing everything he could to be calm in front of Wendy, but he was struggling. Mest teleported Wendy and Carla back to the guild but because of the distance, the couple arrived at nearly the same time as the dragon slayers. By the time the couple appeared at the guildhall, Mest was out of magic and barely able to stand but Wendy didn't have time to worry about that. Knowing he would be ok with rest, she turned to locate her son.

Immediately, a loud voice called out to her. "Mom!" Hearing her Kichirou's voice, Wendy spun around to see her son running at her full tilt. Only when she saw that he was safe, did the tears finally fall.

Normally Wendy's 14-year-old son was tough. He definitely tried to be the man of the house as much as possible and Mest had done a great job supporting that but, as he flung himself into his mother's arms, all of Kichirou's bravado was gone. Her son's eyes were red, and his face was pale. Even the boys' hands were trembling. Not caring who was watching, Wendy held Kichirou tightly. She kissed the top of his head and smoothed his hair with her hand, trying to reassure herself that at least he was actually here and safe.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry, Mom," he repeated over and over again. "I was out with Katsuo a little late and when I got home Piper was gone. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Each word tumbling out of the boy's mouth was like a dagger to her heart. None of this was his fault. Kichirou shouldn't have to feel this way. All the old guilt she had felt when they'd escaped from Dugal Apollyon years ago, came back to her in a crushing blow. None of this was fair. She had caused her children to suffer again. She only had one job, to protect her children and now she had failed. Despite how badly she wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out, Wendy knew that she couldn't abandon her son now.

"Shhhh… It's not your fault," Wendy whispered softly. As she spoke, Wendy felt Carla hug her from behind. She knew her partner's heart was breaking along with hers. The only person who truly understood what Wendy had gone through and how she felt was Carla. Silently, she pulled Carla into the embrace as well and the trio cried together.

Chapter 8

~ It's Our Turn ~

Notes:

Would anyone be interested in seeing character profiles for the next gen characters?

If so, let me know and I will be happy to add some to the end of each issue. :)