Series: Fairy Tail, Fairy Tail Future
Type: On-going Fanfiction
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure
Pairings: NaLu, Gruvia, Gajevy, Jerza; Elfever, Miraxus; and their children.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters. Purely fan made. However, their children I created from my own imagination.

Chapter Twenty-six

The next day, late into the afternoon, everyone began packing to head back to Magnolia. Even Kenji and Kagura were headed back to Mermaid Heel as well. As they all gathered together, hugged, and were saying their goodbyes, Sting spoke up.

"Lucille, you need to know something." Sting said with his arms crossed. Lucille turned her full attention to him. He noticed she had determination in her eyes and that made him feel a little better about what he was about to say. "We think we know of two people who are a part of the group who wants you." When she said nothing, he continued. "Two people met the time frame that left several years ago. And with the help of Lance and Zane, we figured out someone was here recently disguised as someone else from my guild. Lance made a tracking rune but it was too late. So I'm sure that they know you were here and went to report back." He watched as Lucille looked down in thought. "But I want you to know, we're going to find out and protect you no matter what. We will take them down." He saw her group looked surprised and cross. But Lucille looked up at him and smiled.

"Thanks, Master Sting. It comforts me to know you have my back. But I don't care who they are, if I meet them, I won't go so easily." She said putting a hand on her hip with a smirk.

Sting broke out into a grin at her surety. "That's our Lucille!" He said as he wrapped her in a hug which she returned. Then they were on their way. Promising to keep in touch.

As they were on their way after boarding the train, it was the same routine, Lance, Lucille, and Natalie got motion sickness. Cain sat on the outside of one bench with Natalie holding his hand and lying her head in his lap, while she let Lucille hold her hand and lie her head in her lap. Ray sat by the window with Lydia in the middle and letting Lance rest his head on her lap. Ray looked at Lucille sympathetically and wished he were the one comforting her but at least she had Natalie. Cain put his hand on Natalie's arm, drawing comforting circles on her arm. Lydia ran her hand through Lance's blue locks to comfort him. Things were going as well as they could have with the sick. But about halfway there, the train suddenly stopped. Natalie, Lucille, and Lance sitting straight up, motion sickness gone.

"What's going on?" Lydia asked as she brushed some of her bangs from her face, saddened by the thought of Lance not laying on her anymore.

"We're only halfway to Magnolia.." Ray chirped in as he looked outside the window.

"Maybe engine trouble?" Cain suggested. But when he looked at Natalie and Lance he saw their eyes closed and that they were concentrating. "Nat?"

She held up a finger. "Something's wrong." She said, and he realized the two of them were using their keen hearing.

"The engineer is in a panic." Then Lance's eyes flew open and he stood up.

The conductor came rushing in looking pale. He looked around frantically until his eyes landed on the group. "Y-you s-six…they want you guys.." He said fearfully. Earning whispers from other passengers.

All of them stood up at once. "Who's 'they'?" Cain asked cautiously.

"I..I don't know! B-But they said if you all don't get off the train they'd.." The conductor blanched. Whoever 'they' were seemed to have threatened the conductor.

"Alright." Lucille spoke up.

Ray looked at her surprised. "Lucille!" He whispered.

Lucille walked forward, ignoring Ray, and put a hand on the conductors shoulder. "It's ok. We'll get off. That way no one will get hurt, ok?" She said smiling. The conductor relaxed and nodded, though she could tell he felt sorry. Once they got their luggage and stepped off, the train sped off. The land around them had a forest on one side of the track and on the other was flat land. When the train was out of sight two figures appeared.

As they walked forward, Lance sucked in a breath. "No way.." He stepped forward in front of the others protectively.

"What is it, Lance?" Lucille asked carefully, seeing how tense he was. She glanced at the figures as they came closer. She tilted her head and thought, 'Are they who Master Sting warned me about..?'

"Don't tell me.." Ray began, his eyes narrowing. He stood protectively on the right side of Lucille.

"Yeah..it's them." Lance growled.

Lydia stepped beside Lance. "The traitors of Sabertooth.." She said eyeing the two figures, Natalie taking a protective stance to the left of Lucille.

"Thank you very much for agreeing to get off the train." The woman spoke kindly with a smile, her hands folded in front of her. She had short orange hair that curled around her cheeks with short bangs, a right blue and left green down turned eye, and freckles. She wore a maroon dress that reached up her neck with a gold trim. It has three cut-out tear drop shapes on her chest and is sleeveless on her right arm; a black glove adorning her right hand, her left sleeve has the shoulder cut out and reaches to her wrist; a gold butterfly rests in the middle at the end of her sleeve with a gold trim. A red cloak like material is attached to her right shoulder and falls down her back to right at her knees. A small black corset tied together with a red ribbon and a gold butterfly in the middle adorns her waist. The dress ends above her knees, the sides splitting to reveal red ruffles which show black tights and maroon boots that meet her knees with a gold butterfly and trim at her ankles; the foot of the boots are black.

"Yeah, it would have been a mess and nature could have been hurt." The young male replied with his arms crossed. He had short, spikey, dark brown hair that is swept to the right side of his head with bright green eyes, and his build is lean. He wears a dark green sleeveless jacket that buttons in the front, with gold trim that reaches down to his knees. Underneath the jacket he wears a dark grey button up shirt that goes below his waist and flares out, with sleeves that reach down to his elbows; dark green cuffs at the end of his sleeves. Dark green gloves adorn his hands. He wears a green turtle neck under armor shirt, and tight green pants. Then he has dark green boots that go to just above his knees, with dark gold trim around the ankles; the foot part of the boot a dark grey at the end of the trim.

Lucille looked at the others as if asking, 'Is that guy for real?' They gave her the same look. She glanced back at the woman. "Who are you?"

The woman smiled warmly. "My name is Nina, and this is Quinn. We are friends of Shizuka, you have a bit of a history I've heard."

Lucille kept her expression solemn. "Shizuka says we do but I don't remember." She watched as Nina's expression turned to one of surprise and then concern. She sighed. "So you are the 'friends' Shizuka was talking about. Well, sorry, but I want no part in your plan. And yes, we know what it is." She said with her arms crossed.

Nina just closed her eyes and smiled. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. But we will need you to come with us. And if you won't come willingly," she opened her eyes. "We will take you by force."

Everyone got into battle ready stances. How could they get away? They seemed pretty powerful, this Nina and Quinn. They had an idea of their powers but they couldn't prepare because they'd never seen them with their own eyes. Lucille flipped the pouch for her keys and got ready.

"Nina, can I do the honors?" Quinn asked with a smirk as he unfolded his arms.

Nina looked at him and smiled. "Of course. Just let me know if you need help." She said as she took a few steps back.

"That shouldn't be necessary." Quinn responded and stretched his arms out in front of him. "Come forth, Raiden!" Clouds began to form in the now, orange sky, and a bolt of lightning shot down to land a few feet in front of Quinn. The others backed away quickly and saw in place of where the lightning struck, a white, winged unicorn stood. It's body was pure white, with a yellow hue added to its wings, its eyes as bright yellow as the sun, it's hooves were gold as well as it's horn, and the horn was shaped like that of a lightning bolt.

"Woah.." Lance said his eyes shining like a little kid in a candy store. He had never seen a real unicorn. In fact, they should only be fairy tales and nothing more. But to have one appear before his eyes made him intrigued. Everyone groaned and looked at him appalled or embarrassed.

"Lance! This is no time to be admiring the enemy's magic!" Lydia yelled exasperated causing Lance to look down ashamed.

Quinn smirked and held out his hand. "Raiden, attack!"

"Scatter!" Cain yelled, transforming into his 'Heaven's Wheel Armor'. They all ran in different directions as the unicorn neighed and stomped the ground causing bolts of lightning to strike the ground randomly.

"Gah!" Ray shouted as he was hit.

Lucille turned and ran to him. "Are you okay, Ray?!" She knelt beside him as he fell to one knee.

"Of course it'd have affinity for lightning magic! Water magic doesn't do well with lightning and since I have water body..danggit!" He growled, his body going in between his normal form and his water body form from the shock.

"It's okay Ray, we'll figure it out!" Lucille helped him stand and took out a key, as Cain and Natalie began striking at the winged unicorn; Cain sending his swords to attack while Natalie blew fire at Raiden. Their attacks proved difficult because when they got close Raiden created a type of lightning force field, preventing them from getting too close. "Open gate of the twins, Gemini!" Once Gemi and Mini appeared she told them to transform into Raiden and attack. However, when they did, Gemini's attack was merely absorbed into Raiden's horn. "What?!" Lucille sighed.

Quinn just laughed. "You don't get it. Raiden is like lightning itself! It can unleash and absorb lightning!" As he said that Lucille decided to close Gemini's gate.

Lydia frowned. "There's only one being who can control lightning. And that is me!" She ground out as she ran towards Raiden, lightning forming in her right hand. "Roaring Thunder!" She shouted and once she was ten feet away she unleashed the collected lightning at Raiden. But when she did, Raiden seemed to absorb it around himself and blasted it back at Lydia. The blast hurled her backwards and into the air.

As Lydia came down, Lance rushed forward and whipped his left hand in front of him calling out, "Wind!" A gust of wind floated from the ground, slowly lowering her to the ground. He ran to her. "You alright?"

Lydia sighed. "Yes, just really annoyed." She said as she stood. "Thank you for the save." She said smiling at him. He smiled back and nodded. But their moment was short lived as Raiden unleashed lightning upon them, all of them getting hit with its blast. And the blasts just kept coming. If it didn't hit one or two of them, it hit the whole group.

When Lance saw his chance he called them over to him and he raised his arms up in an 'X' in front of him, raising his 'Dome'.

"Okay, this has gotta end!" Natalie groaned as Cain helped her stand upright.

"We can't even land a hit on it because we can't even get close enough." Ray commented as he sat on the ground, Lucille right beside him, supporting him. Ray unfortunately got hit most of the time by Raiden's attacks.

"We need to figure out something! I can't hold this dome for long. It's attacks are getting stronger!" Lance gritted out.

Cain who had went back to his original attire, put a hand to his chin in thought. Then he remembered. "I can teleport us." Cain mumbled.

"You can?!" Lucille said surprised as she whipped her head to look at him.

"Oh yeah, you were doing secret training with Mest, weren't you?" Ray asked, now remember seeing him talking with Mest and they had left to go somewhere. He realized now that they must have been doing teleportation training.

Cain scratched his cheek. "Yeah. I haven't completely mastered it, but I can probably get us to Magnolia." He whispered. Although he wasn't sure where in Magnolia they would appear, but he felt he could get them there. He glanced at all the attacks that Lance's dome was taking and saw cracks beginning to form. "But with how fast it's attacks are, I'm not sure if I'll be fast enough.." He admitted.

Lydia looked at the lightning and then at Raiden and Quinn. She knew what she had to do. It'd be tricky and risky, but Lucille's life was on the line. "That's it.." She stood up and walked closer to Lance. "Cain, get ready. I have an idea." She said with her hands on her hips.

"I just need you all to hold on to one another." Cain said. "What's your plan, Lydia?" Her whole demeanor seemed to change and he suddenly got very worried. She was braced and looked ready. This wasn't a good sign.

"When I say 'now', Lance will take down his dome."

"What?!" Lucille squeaked as she clutched Ray's shoulders a little tighter, Ray just gaping at Lydia.

"Are you crazy?!" Natalie commented. "No, scratch that, I know you're crazy! Especially if you're suggesting that!"

Lydia rolled her eyes and ignored them. "Lance."

"Lydia..I can't.." Lance's voice was strained from him trying to respond and concentrate at the same time. 'She's absolutely insane!' He thought.

"You know I wouldn't suggest this if I didn't have a plan. You know I'm not that type of person. You can't hold out for much longer." Lydia said in a tone so sure and so soft it almost made Lance lose his focus. "Please, Lance, trust me." She said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm your comrade. You trust me, don't you?" She asked with a hint of uncertainty. Lance was much more to her, and she was scared of how he felt towards her. But surely he felt she was one of his friends, right?

Lance glanced at her and shivered at the resolve in her eyes. He trusted her more than she knew. He closed his eyes tightly and swallowed hard. "Okay." He ground out.

"Lance?!" Lucille cried. She didn't want any of this! She didn't know what Lydia had up her sleeve but she could tell by looking at Lydia that it would be risky. She didn't want her friends to get hurt! She felt that's all they ever did.

"I trust Lydia." Lance smirked at Lydia, gaining him a confident smile and a blush from her. He missed her blush and returned his gaze to the winged unicorn and its summoner. "Just say the word when you're ready, Lydia." He'd trust her. He knew of her abilities, knew her strength. He'd never question it. But he was worried. Just like Lucille, he didn't want her to get hurt. He sighed and concentrated. He needed to have faith and trust her judgement. 'Mavis..help us.' He silently prayed.

Lydia let go of his shoulder and hummed. She looked at the unicorn then watched it's attacks, looking for that brief opening. Static crackled off her body as she braced herself for what she was about to do. 'Give me strength, Mom, Dad, Max.' She silently prayed. Then after a minute there was a brief few seconds of silence from Raiden's attack. "Now!" She shouted. Lance brought his arms down and everyone instinctively crouched low to the ground. Lydia raised up her left hand, her index finger and middle finger extended towards the sky. Then Raiden's attack came down. With Lydia's static, she attracted the lightning, it striking her raised arm. "Guh!" She grunted as she kept up absorbing the lightning. Normally, she could absorb lightning and be fine. But this creatures lightning wasn't normal. It was different. Like it was a different brand of lightning only it could absorb and use. Cain, Natalie, Lucille, Ray, and Lance watched in awe and horror. 'Just…a little..more-!' As the heat and lightning struck her body, it began traveling down her arm leaving searing burn marks in its wake. Once it got to her right arm which was bent by her side, Lydia extended her index and middle finger at Nina and Quinn. Then, finally, she extended her right hand out straight in front of her and yelled, releasing the lightning at Nina and Quinn. They didn't have time to process what was happening and were struck. As they were thrown back, Raiden disappeared from Quinn's shock and concentration being broken. Lydia's arms dropped to her side as she wobbled where she stood as she smirked. "Heh, take that.." She said before she passed out and began to fall.

Lance caught her in his arms before she made contact with the ground. "Lydia? Lydia?!" He shouted. He saw the scorch marks that traveled from her left arm, across her chest, to her right arm in a zig zag pattern. This wasn't good. He looked at her and found it hard to breathe he was so concerned. 'No..no no..' He thought as he brushed some of her bangs from her forehead. She was burning up. He looked at the others. They just stared at the unconscious Lydia in shock. He didn't have time to think as he shouted. "Now, Cain! Teleport us now!" Cain finally snapped out of his shock and grabbed on to Natalie's hand, Natalie grabbing onto Lucille's shoulder who held Ray in her arms, and Ray grabbed hold of Lance's ankle. Cain took about two seconds to concentrate before they vanished.

When Nina came to, she saw the group vanish by teleporting. She sighed as she slowly raised herself up. She looked to Quinn and saw he was beginning to come to as well. She should have taken the lead, but she knew Quinn wanted some action and to test the maiden, but her friends got in the way. She crawled over to Quinn who finally began to sit himself up. "Are you alright, Quinn?" She asked.

"Mmm, yeah, just a little shocked. Ha, get it? Shocked." He chuckled then looked out to where the group should have been. "Danggit..I let them get away. Sorry, Nina." Quinn said as he looked down embarrassed.

"It's not your fault. They are quite resourceful and I did not know they had one who knew lightning magic. I'm sorry I didn't look into that." She said bowing her head. She sighed and stood. "Come, let us go home and report to Master." She said smiling and extending her hand.

Quinn looked at her worriedly but took her hand. "You know he'll be pissed off.." He said, knowing they'd get severely punished.

Nina looked at Quinn and put her forehead to his. Quinn was like a little brother to her and she treated him as such. She respected their master but she would not let him lay a hand on Quinn. "Do not worry. I will protect you." She said looking into his eyes before teleporting away.

Dun dun duuuunn!
I'm sure you noticed but Shizuka's 'friends' don't mess around lol. They wanna get Lucille and fast! And as for Lydia, she gained that sacrificial love for her friends and family from her mother and father, as you can see. She knew what the risk would be and did it regardless. This chapter was a little shorter but it sort of needed to be for the next transition. Next chapter will be much longer.
So what will happen to Lydia? You'll have to wait and see~!