Chapter 24- The fallen fairies in the eerie silence

It had happened in about the space of an hour. In all the commotion the fairies had lost a sense of time, and the comrades and friends they cherished. Could Fairy Tail find hope in their despair? Natsu Dragneel had been stabbed through the chest, Erza Scarlet had been turned to darkness by Nirvana. Cana, Juvia, Lucy and Gajeel had been taken, and all of the Fairy Tail mages were either sleeping or unconscious.

Wendy, Bickslow, Asuka, Lily and Happy were the first to wake.

"NAATSUUUUU!" cried Happy, "They've taken him!" tears rolled down the cheek of the blue exceed.

"The others are gone to!" cried Wendy, "Natsu-san, Juvia-san, Cana-san, Lucy-san and Gajeel-san are all gone! Erza-san probably left with them willingly to!" Wendy to, broke down into tears.

"Don't cry, Wendy. All we can do is help our comrades who are injured, we will go save them Wendy." Bickslow assured her.

"Really?" Wendy looked up into a light of hope,

"We are Fairy Tail, of course we will!" said Bickslow,

"We will, we will, we will!" chanted Bickslow's baby's.

Creek. Wendy turned to the guild doors to see Sting, Rogue, Lector, Frosch, Laxus and Freed, standing in the doorway with expressions of shock and horror.

"What happened here!?" Laxus demanded from Bickslow.

"Where's Mirajane!?" Freed asked with his face in a state of worry,

"What happened to Lucy!?" asked Sting.

"An enemy dark guild raided us." answered Bickslow, "They were too strong, even for Fairy Tail."

"I'm sorry Freed-san, I don't know where Mira-san is." Wendy looked down as her timid voice shook.

"Where is Lucy!?" demanded Sting, beads of sweat poured down his face in distress.

"I'll explain this situation to you in more detail, please be patient, Sting. The mage who I assumed was the master, of the guild, was a user of Nirvana magic. They came to Fairy Tail with the desires of capturing and probably killing our comrades. They took Natsu, Gajeel, Juvia, Cana, Erza and Lucy. Minerva stabbed Natsu… Lucy was hit with the unison raid of Gajeel, Natsu and Wendy intended for Minerva…. And Erza, was turned to darkness by Nirvana and left with them willingly. Angel was with them, she claimed to have been doing it for Yukino." said Bickslow… "And that was just to sum it up… Look at the damage."

"I knew it!" bellowed Laxus, "It looks like Acnologia was here!"

"Turns out they were as destructive as Fairy Tail… and they all had incredible magics, much like Grimoure Heart… In fact, Bluenote and RustyRose were here." added Pantherlily.

"You don't say…" said Freed, "I'd imagine Gildarts and Bluenote are responsible for most of the damage…"

"Look, conversation can wait til later. First we should round up everyone and assess everyone's physical and mental states. Let's get started, see how many you can wake up and move the rest to the infirmary." announced Rogue who left swiftly with Frosch. The other members agreed and left seeking others as well.

Freed frantically ran through the guild, Mirajane, Mirajane, Mirajane… where are you.. Freed ran outside through the whole in the wall, he spotted Laki and Kinana lying unconscious with numerous cuts and bruises. I want to find Mirajane, but they are nakama to…

"Laki.."

"Kinana…"

Freed shook them gently… Kinana didn't wake, but Laki slowly cracked open eye after eye.

"Ouch that hurt!" Laki sighed rubbing her aching back. "That little kid was insane."

"What kid?" asked Freed.

"This little eight year old kid was doing some serious requipping and got me and Kinana good, I don't know about Bickslow though… But Freed, since when have you been back?" asked Laki in turn.

"I resigned from the council. I have better things to do than be mocked by Rufus Lohr. And Bickslow is fine… Have you seen Mirajane?" Freed questioned,

"Sorry, I haven't… But Freed… Were they taken?" Laki's face fell at the thought that they were… and judging from Freed's expression… Freed opened his mouth to say something but Laki cut him off.

"Say no more…" she said. Laki clasped her hand over her mage and her eyes widened…

"We lost…. Fairy Tail lost…" Laki breathed heavily as she fought back tears and sobs. Laki turned away from Freed and composed herself. She turned back to Freed,

"We are gathering everyone in the infirmary and waking those that we can… I'm sorry Laki, but I have to find Mira." said Freed. Freed left Kinana in Laki's hands and ran back into the guild. Freed scanned the room for the eldest white-haired take-over mage.

"MIRAJAAAAANE!" Freed called out over the guild. Freed jumped over bodies, mentally apologising for his ignorance as he went.

"Calm down Freed." hushed Laxus.

"Yes Laxus." replied Freed who had slowed down and was taking deep breaths.

"Check the second floor." said Laxus.

Of course! I never would have thought of that! Laxus is amazing… he is my hero. thought Freed, still obsessively loyal to Laxus. Freed raced up the stairs, going out of his head in worry. Freed reached the top of the flight of stairs and saw her.

"MIRAAAAA!" yelled out Freed as he rushed to her side.

Freed cradled her head in his arms and stroked the side of her beautiful face.

"Wake up Mira," said Freed softly as he gently shook her.

There was no response. "C'mon Mira wake up please," Freed pleaded, but again, no response.

Freed shook her a little rougher. "Mira…. Mira please…." he whispered.

Freed's eyes assessed the injuries on her body, she had scratches and cuts everywhere, her knee caps were badly bruised black and purple, he even found a tack that stuck into her arm that seemed to have been from the request board… It seemed to have been quite a fight… they must have been strong to defeat my Mirajane… As Freed's eyes scanned her body he also noticed how her clothes had been literally torn apart. Her black dress (the one she wore at the gmg) was now half a shirt and a mini skirt and amount of exposed skin made Freed blush. It had reminded him of the first night he spent with Mira when he walked in on her in her underwear. Evil Lisanna. He thought. But other than the small amount of clothing, Freed also noticed how peaceful she looked as she slept, she was living proof fairy tales exit. She was his sleeping beauty… Speaking of fairy tales… Maybe, just maybe, if I kiss her, she'll wake? thought Freed. It's worth a shot! Freed leaned toward Mira's beautiful sleeping face, holding her head in his hands. This was the first time Freed had actually seen her since their night together, Mira was busy at meetings alongside Gildarts and Freed had started work at the council and hadn't had time off since. All of a sudden with that thought, Freed suddenly felt nervous doing what he was doing… what if that night just meant a one off thing to her? panicked Freed… But she indirectly said she loved me… sort of…. she said I couldn't love her sister? Through all these thoughts, Freed hadn't quite absorbed the fact that his lips were still only centimetres away from hers. There was a second of awkward tension when Mira's eyes flashed open. She didn't move, mostly because she couldn't and secondly because her and Freed were shocked stiff. Freed stared into her eyes, she stared into his. Neither of them moved. Both waiting for the other to make the first move, their eyes became filled with a competitive spirit.

"Who will be the first to crack?" taunted Mira,

"Who wants it more?" challenged Freed,

"You do." remarked Mira cheekily,

"Are you sure?" tempted Freed, leaning a smidge closer to her lips.

"Well, well, well… The rumours are true." sniggered Laxus who had popped his head up from the stair case.

Even through Laxus's snide comment, Mira and Freed didn't move, only their eye shifted their gaze.

"Willing to call it a draw?" asked Mira,

"You're tempted aren't you," smirked Freed,

"No. You are." replied Mira,

"No I'm-" began Freed.

Mira cut him off by crashing her lips onto his hard enough so that she managed to push him onto his back and position herself on top of Freed. Forget the competition… thought Freed as he kissed her back needily and ran his fingers through her hair. Eventually Mirajane pulled back and Freed smirked,

"You lost!" he teased,

"And that was long overdue!" smiled Mira leaning in for another kiss.

Freed placed a hand on her shoulder, he again noticed the most beautiful mage in Fairy Tail was hardly clothed and on top of him, he started blushing crazily. Freed began sporting a sad sort of guilty expression, and Mira's face contorted to a worried and confused look.

"It's not like I want to end this moment, Mirajane. But I think we should go help the others… and I haven't even explained the situation to you yet…" he said,

Mira hurriedly removed herself from Freed and began running.

"LISANNA! ELFMAN!" she yelled striving to get to the steps.

But under a sudden strain her knees gave way and she fell to the ground. Freed caught up to her and threw her arm around his shoulder to support her and he hauled Mira to her feet.

Mira apologised to Freed for getting caught up in the moment, and Freed explained the situation to her. Mira's bright eyes were filled with sadness in hearing the news of the hostages taken by Silence.