After breakfast, Lucy went back to her tower. Apparently Zeref now trusted her enough that she didn't need to be guarded. He had even returned her celestial keys.

As she walked, she thought back to last year's Grand Magic games. A madman had kidnapped her and another Celestial mage named Yukino. He believed that if a single mage took control of all 12 Golden Zodiac keys, they would have the ability to open a gateway through time—Eclipse. There had been a battle to stop him but Yukino was unfortunately killed in the crossfire.

After Yukino's death, two keys had mysteriously appeared on Lucy's key ring. The keys had remained there untouched. Part of her was nervous about holding all 12 keys, but mostly she wanted to let the two spirits have time to grieve their previous summoner.

Now, in order for her to summon Eclipse, Lucy would need to make contracts with those two remaining Celestial Spirits—Pisces and Libra.

She sat on her bed and stared at her keys. What she really needed was a friend to confide in. She picked up a familiar key and summoned its Spirit.

With a soft puff of smoke, Loke appeared next to her.

"Lucy, I'm so glad your okay. That mage you were fighting was—"

"Zeref," she finished.

Loke's eyes widened. "I was going to say incredibly strong."

"That too."

"Did you get away?" he asked.

"No, but escape isn't the plan right now." She filled him in on everything that had happened and her conversation with Zeref.

Loke listened. When she had finished talking, he let out a low whistle. "Damn Luce—this is serious."

"I know."

He smiled. "It's good that you insisted on going to ancient Crocus with him though."

"Really? Why?"

Loke looked around the room. "Zeref's magic can make ordinary items come alive. These walls might be listening."

She looked around nervously. "You might be right. I have an idea."

She pulled out one of her silver keys.

"Open Gate of the Clock," she said.

The grandfather clock Horologium appeared. "Good afternoon Ms. Heartfillia."

"Hello Horologium. Can we step inside you for a moment?"

"Certainly." He opened his door and Lucy and Loke squeezed inside.

The door swung shut and Loke's body was squashed firmly against Lucy's.

"If you wanted to get close to me, all you had to do was ask," said Loke.

"Cut it out. Didn't you want to tell me something?"

"Hmmmm? Oh yeah." Loke's chin was brushing the top of her head. Lucy wasn't certain, but he might have just smelled her hair.

"Not many people know this, but Eclipse has built-in safety measures. The mage who created it wanted to ensure that it was only used for observing history, not making significant changes. Significant changes would anger the Fates."

"I've never heard of the Fates. Who are they?"

"Some consider them the guardians of this realm. They are very powerful but almost never show themselves." He brushed his hand across her cheek. "Can I kiss you?"

"No—If the Fates are guardians, why don't they stop evil beings like Zeref or Acnologia?"

"The Fates aren't really good and they aren't really bad. They don't pick sides—they only enforce certain laws, like the consistency of time or death."

"What happens if someone breaks one of those laws?" Lucy thought about Zeref's presumed immortality.

He shrugged. "I don't really know. The most common theory is that they will try to restore history to its natural course. For example, if two lovers are supposed to meet and they somehow miss each other, then another opportunity will present itself."

"What if thousands of people who were supposed to die are somehow saved?"

"Then the Fates would find a way to kill them."

"Do you think Zeref believes in the Fates?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, from what you described, it sounds like he's trying to avoid major historical changes."

She nodded. "I think so too. So, what are the safety measures in Eclipse?"

"Hmmmm" Loke shifted. "You know, it is incredibly hard to concentrate with you against me like this."

"Try."

He cleared his throat. "Well, first of all, anyone who passes through Eclipse will appear differently to those around them. It's meant to help reduce the chances of people recognizing themselves."

"Makes sense if you want to avoid changing the course of history," she said.

He nodded. "The second is that anyone who passes through Eclipse will temporarily loose their ability to wield magic. The mage who created Eclipse believed that limiting a person's magic would help protect the world from major deviations. It also prevents a user from making multiple time-hops which is highly unstable."

"Wait, does Zeref know that he's going to lose his magic?"

"Most likely not." Loke stopped touching her hair. "Eclipse hasn't been summoned for at least 500 years so it was before Zeref's time. His information is probably based on ancient writings and there aren't many of those available. If you open Eclipse and Zeref passes through it, he will be mortal."

Lucy took a deep breath.

Loke was watching her closely, nodding. "I can see you understand what this means—this is a chance to kill Zeref. If you bring a weapon with you, you'll have the upper hand in a combat situation. Plus, I don't think he would be expecting you to try anything. He's been immortal for so many years that his self-defense instincts probably don't even function anymore."

Lucy swallowed hard. "If I fail, he'll kill me. Also, I've never killed anybody before."

"I know," said Loke. He gave her a sad look. "If I could kill him for you I would, but you won't be able to summon me once you've passed through Eclipse. Still, it is an opportunity you can't easily pass up."

He was right. She had a chance to destroy one of the two great evils in the world. The question was which one would she chose?

"I'll think about," she said. "Is there anything else? I want to get out of here, it's getting hot."

Loke smiled. "There's a joke in there somewhere but I'll give you a break."

She rolled her eyes and opened the clock's door. Fresh air greeted her and she thanked Horologium. He bowed and disappeared with a slight puff of smoke.

She sat on the bed, and slouched.

"Aw Luce—come on." Loke sat next to her. "Don't be so sad, it bums me out. Look, you're about to gain two new Spirits."

"That's right. "What will happen when I make a contract with the twelfth?"

He gave her a sly smile. "You'll see." He stood up. "I should get going. It's nice to have some privacy with your spirits the first time you meet."

She nodded. "Ok. Wish me luck."

"Good luck." He winked and then he was gone.