It was surprising to Lucy when she and her family were attacked by the eclipse version of the zodiacs. It was even more surprising when it turned out that they've become separate beings from the actual zodiacs, unlike last time. They all went back to the guild and were surprised to see Michael and his friends with Yukino.
"It's good to see you again, Yukino." Lucy said.
"It's good to see you as well, Lucy. I wish this was a friendly visit, but it's not." Lucy said.
"Yeah. We got here too late to warn you about these rogue spirits." Michael said.
"So you guys were attacked as well?" Nashi asked.
"More specifically, Yukino was." Athena said.
"We were attacked by these evil versions of her two spirits, Libra and Pieces." Shae said. "For reasons we don't understand, they were after a celestial wizard."
"Mother, you fought the spirits before, haven't you?" Simon asked.
"Yes, but it was a little different back then." Erza said.
"Loke, how are you feeling?" Storm asked as all of the turned towards him.
"I'm okay. You don't need to worry about me." Loke said. "I know you all want to know what's going on and I'll tell you. It is rather strange. They just showed up out of nowhere. They came and were saying a bunch of stuff how they wanted to free us from our shackles of being enslaves from humans."
"Yeah. I remember hearing your doppelganger said something like that." Nashi said.
"Some of us spirits didn't understand at first, but we soon figured it out. They were saying they wanted us to be free from humans." Loke said. "Some of us spirits didn't agree with that. We tried to fight back, but they were strong and they claimed we were traitors if we willingly sided with the humans."
"Free? Be free from what?" Owen said.
"I remember they were trying the same thing all those years ago." Gray said.
"Yes. Last time, they tried to perform a ritual that would allow them to be free." Yukino said. "The ritual would allow them to be free from humans, as well as the contracts they had formed, but it came with a price. It would only allow them twelve days of freedom. After that, they would die."
"Wait. Has this happened before?" Loke said. "I don't remember."
"You and the other zodiac spirits were corrupted after that whole thing with the Eclipse Gate." Erza said. "We were able to save all of you, but you were aiming for that exactly."
"But somehow those nastier versions of you guys are back and seem to be after the same thing." Gray said.
"So these spirits despise humans and desire to be permanently free from them." Sasha said.
"Are they planning to start that ritual again?" Nova asked.
"Gosh, I hope not." Lucy said. "They only be given twelve days of freedom. That shouldn't happen. If they know that, why would they pursue it?"
"It actually makes sense when you think about it and see it through their point of view." Michael said. All of them looked at Michael and were curious as to what he was talking about. "Think about it. These spirits think all humans are bad as they have spirits enslaved. I know that isn't the case with people like Mom and Lucy, who befriend their spirits. These eclipse spirits seem to be under the impression that they've always been in service to humans as slaves. If they have a chance for freedom, they're going to take it, even if it means they die. Dying with their freedom is probably better than going back to a life of enslavement."
"When you put it like that, it would make sense." Shae said. "Some people would rather die than go back to being a slave."
"No. That isn't right." Lucy said. "That's just giving up."
"Maybe, but perhaps others would see it as just putting themselves out of misery." Shae said.
"Whatever the case, they are causing much damage to my world." Loke said. "They're harming other spirits and bringing it to this world. They don't seem to care who gets hurt."
"So let's go find them and punch their lights out." Natsu said as he was obviously ready for a rumble.
"Wait. This doesn't make sense." Simon said. "If they desire freedom like they did last, why do they desire a celestial wizard? It doesn't sound the same as last time."
"That's a good point. Why do they need a celestial wizard? It's different from before." Erza said. The grown-ups tried to figure out what these rogue spirits were trying to do, but Nashi had other thoughts.
"Storm." Nashi whispered and got her attention with the others. She motioned for all of them to step outside so they can talk. So all of them snuck away from their parents and left to talk outside about this. "Guys, this is a real problem."
"I'll say." Michael said.
"You two probably no more about spirits and celestial magic than we do." Athena said. "What is the true relationship between human and spirit?"
"Some humans do mistreat the spirits, but my mother always told me that humans and celestial spirits should always be treated as equal." Nashi said. "Contracts are form between each spirit and celestial wizards must honor those contracts, but my mother loves her spirits so much that they're willing to make exceptions. For whatever reason, those eclipse spirits don't seem to see that."
"Indeed." Rona said. "They seem to view all humans as inferior beings and desire to be permanently free from the hold we have over them. Not just themselves, but for all spirits."
"Nashi, don't you know some celestial magic?" Storm asked. "Maybe there's something you can do."
"My mom did teach me a little." Nashi said. "In fact when I was born, she added to her contracts with each of her spirits that when I needed their help, they help me."
"Yeah. My mother did the same thing with me." Michael said. "My little sister on the other hand actually wants to learn celestial magic."
"But that isn't my biggest concern." Nashi said.
"Then what is it?" Nova asked.
"It's my mother." Nashi said. "I'm concerned that she won't actually bring herself to fight these eclipse spirits. I saw it myself. She was about to be attacked by two of those spirits. She looked ready to fight back, but she hesitated. I know my mother. She can't bring herself to fight another spirit, even if it is one of these eclipse spirits."
"But why not?" Sasha asked.
"She loves celestial spirits too much. She doesn't even like seeing them fight each other." Nashi said. "There's no way she'll actually fight them. Besides, most of the zodiac spirits are in her possession and she's friends with all of them. Since these guys are from the zodiac spirits, it's hopeless for her."
"You might be right, Nashi." Simon said. "Your mother isn't like most members of the guild. She may be willing to fight for our guild like everyone else, but she's got a pure heart. No way she'll fight if she thinks there's really no reason to. She would rather try and reason with them and it doesn't sound like they're willing to listen."
"So what are you saying we should do?" Gale asked. Nashi looked at her mother. She knows what her mother would rather do, but she doesn't want to chance it if they're after her.
"I say we should go on ahead without our parents." Nashi said. "We'll take care of these spirits for her. Besides, they aren't normal celestial spirits. So it might not be so bad when we take them down."
"You can count me in." Michael said. "Those jerks are after my mother as well. No way I'm going to allow that to happen."
"If Michael's in, I guess the rest of us are in." Athena said as the rest of Sabertooth was in agreement.
"Just one thing." Storm said. "How are we going to fight these spirits if we can't even get to them?"
"Yeah. How are you going to get these spirits?" All of them were surprised as they looked and saw Drake was there.
"Drake? Were you listening to us?" Nashi questioned.
"Hello…" Drake said as he tapped his ears. "I can hear practically everything."
"Hey. No one likes an eavesdropper." Storm said.
"Look, I heard everything you guys said and I want in." Drake said. "Besides, if I join you guys, I even the fight. Twelve of them, twelve of us." Gale did a quick count on that.
"Drake's right." Gale said. "If he comes along with us, it will be an even fight. We can each take one of those eclipse spirits."
"Thanks, Drake. We appreciate the help." Nashi said.
"Lucy's part of the guild. I want to help her out." Drake said as he walked over to the group and tilted Nashi's chin, much to Storm's annoyance. "Besides, she is going to be my mother-in-law one day."
"Don't get ahead of yourself." Nashi said as she knocked his arm away.
"No. Let him so he can crash and burn." Storm said.
"Now, Storm, don't get jealous now." Nova said.
"I'm not jealous!" Storm said with him getting a little defensive.
"He's a bad liar." Michael whispered to Shae.
"You're right. He's bad at hiding his real feelings." Shae said.
"I can hear the both of you!" Storm said.
"Okay. We've got our little team, but we still need to figure out how we're going to even find these spirits." Athena said.
"They must be in the celestial world." Rona said. "If memory serves me correctly, which it does, humans can't travel to the celestial world. We wouldn't survive there for very long."
"That's not entirely true." Nashi said. "Mom told me that humans can as long as we wear special clothing from the world. As for how we're going to get in there, I think I already know how." Nashi looked back inside and knew just who to ask for help. As Natsu and the others were discussing their plan of attack, Loke hang back and listened. However, Shae became a shadow and moved his way through and appeared behind Loke. He covered Loke's mouth with his hand so he wouldn't make a sound. They both became a shadow and slithered back outside as they reemerged.
"Hey! What was that for?" Loke said.
"Loke, we need your help. We want you to take us to the celestial spirit world." Nashi said.
"What?" Loke said.
"You heard her." Storm said. "We want to get these spirits before they get Lucy. As one of her spirits, you want to protect her, don't you? So you can get us there, can't you?"
"Yeah. Can't you give us some of those special clothes and let us in?" Michael said.
"I could, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea. If your parents found out about this, I'll be in trouble." Loke said. "I know better than to make some of those guys mad."
"Loke, please." Nashi said. "Mom added to your contract with her. That addition is that you would help me when I need it and I need your help now. Take us to the spirit world."
"Look, Nashi. I know that I agreed to do that, but I also promised Lucy that I protect you." Loke said. "I'm not so sure this is a great idea. You've never been to my world before and these other versions of me and the other zodiac spirits mean business."
"Loke, you're forgetting that we're part of Fairy Tail. You're technically a member yourself. So surely you can understand." Nashi said. Loke looked into her eyes and saw she was determined to go through with this. Being Natsu's and Lucy's child, he knows he won't be able to change her mind.
"Fine. It's so hard to say no to a beautiful face like yours." Loke said. Nashi sighed in annoyance.
"Loke, we've been over this." Nashi said. "You're probably like over a hundred years old. Way too old for my taste. You don't seem that much better than a creepy old man in my eyes."
"Ouch. Okay. Let's get going." Loke said as he snapped his fingers. All of them were surrounded by a bright light and were heading off to a different world this time that was filled with stars.
