Here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy!
In the dragon graveyard below the stadium housing the Grand Magic Games, the Fairy Tail wizards were confronted by a royal knight and Yukino.
"I am the captain of a division of the Fiore Royal Army, stationed in Crocus." The knight introduced himself. "My name is Captain Arcadios of the Sacred Cherry Blossom Knights."
"And I am Provisional Sergeant Yukino Aguria of the same unit." Yukino spoke.
"What's the army brass doing here?" Gray questioned.
"And why is Yukino with the knights?" Jayden asked.
"Why don't I explain?" Arcadios replied. "We need the assistance of a Celestial Wizard for a certain top-secret project we are preparing. And Sergeant Aguria has kindly offered her services."
"A celestial wizard?" Wendy asked.
"Hold it!" Natsu shouted. "I don't get this at all! If it's another confusing as hell story, I'll pass! Just tell us what you want!"
"You are Natsu Dragneel, I take it?" Arcadios guessed. "Your last battle in the Games was splendid."
Natsu stomped his foot as he got right in front of Arcadios's face.
"I couldn't care less about that!" Natsu growled. "That thing you said about needin' a Celestial Wizard stuck in my head! You wanna say something, creep, then why don't you come out ans say it?!"
Everyone was quiet and Flynn face-palmed himself. *We're all going in a cell… I just know it.* He thought.
Arcadios calmly turned around, his cape flowing in the air. "Follow me."
"Hey!" Natsu exclaimed.
Yukino walked up to Lucy. "Miss Lucy, I also ask for your help?"
"Huh?" Lucy and Flynn spoke.
"If this plan is a success…" Yukino said. "Zeref… AND Acnologia will be defeated."
Those words definitely got everyone interested in Arcadios's 'secret plan'.
Arcadios and Yukino guided the Fairy Tail wizards to the royal palace Mercurius and through a staircase leading underground.
"… Juvia?" Zale whispered to her as they walked next to each other.
"Yes, my Zale?" Juvia asked audibly.
"Shh…" Zale politely hushed her. "Not so loud. I don't entirely buy that there is a plan to defeat Zeref and Acnologia. It just sounds too good to be true."
"But what if it IS true?"
"There IS that possibility…" Zale then thought to himself. *Even so, I just can't shake the feeling… that something doesn't feel right…*
"To start with…" Arcadios said. "I would like to apologize for the attempted kidnapping of Miss Lucy a few days ago. I accept full responsibility."
"What?!" Zale exclaimed as he recalled the very incident the knight was referring to.
"That was you?!" Natsu asked.
"Of course, it was never my intention to put you in danger." Arcadios continued. "But it turned out to be slightly too forceful a strategy."
*'Slightly'?!* Flynn thought in irritation.
"I was under the impression that I needed a Celestial Wizard immediately, and that urgency affected my judgment. I apologize. The Grand Magic Games are a ruse designed to collect enormous amounts of magic energy from wizards."
"So you're saying you steal magic energy from the wizards every year?" Gray asked.
"That's dirty!" Natsu said.
*If no one has suffered from magic deficiency syndrome, then it probably doesn't take enough to put anyone in danger or have them question why they can't cast spells they normally should.* Zale analyzed the knight's words. *But how have they been syphoning magic for so long?*
"You may criticize me all you like." Arcadios said. "We do this to aid us in a particular plan. Eclipse, the door that will change the world. We needed an abundance of magic energy for its construction."
They had reached the bottom of the staircase where there was a giant hallway and at the end of it was a massive black and gold door.
"A door?!" Lucy gasped.
"For a monster!" Natsu jokingly said.
"Upon the alignment of the sun and moon…" Arcadios said. "Bring the twelve keys and open the door. When the door opens, you may travel four hundred years in time… to defeat Zeref before he became immortal. That is the Eclipse Plan!"
After hearing those words, everyone stared at the giant door in shock.
"T-travel through time?!" Lucy muttered.
*Time Magic?!* Zale thought even though he was just as shocked as everyone else. *Wasn't that lady in Crime Sorcière a practitioner of such magic? I wonder if she knows anything about this.*
"Lady Lucy, I have heard that the flow of time in the Celestial World differs from that of our world." Yukino said.
"Come to think of it, that's true, but…" Lucy replied.
"Celestial Wizards cross dimensional borders in contacting the Celestial World." Yukino stated. "This door opens using that power."
"At first, our plan was to use magic similar to Celestial Magic as a substitute for the real thing." Arcadios said. "However, with real Celestial Wizards and the twelve keys gathered together, the plan is even more assured of success. Now, it could be said, Celestial Wizards are a necessity to the plan. The day when the sun and moon align… in other words, in three days, on July 7th… I request that you lend us some of your power, Lady Lucy."
Lucy and the Dragon Slayers immediately took notice of the exact date Arcadios had specified.
"July 7th!" Natsu said.
"That's the day our dragons disappeared…" Wendy spoke up.
"Just a coincidence?" Gajeel guessed.
"All four of our dragons vanishing on the exact same day?" Jayden questioned the logic. "That sounds like too much a coincidence to be one."
"When the moon and sun align…" Gray repeated Arcadios's words. "Eclipse…"
"That is far enough!"
Sounds of rattling armor caught everyone off guard and they saw that the royal guards were mobilizing and surrounding them, their lances pointed directly at the wizards, Arcadios and Yukino.
"The Royal Army?!" Flynn exclaimed.
"What's goin' on here?" Natsu asked the soldiers.
"What is this?!" Lucy also asked.
"I will ask you to come quietly, Colonel Arcadios." A short, old man in royal robes passed through the soldiers and approached the fresh captives.
"Defense Minister!" Arcadios gasped. "What is the meaning of this?"
"That is the question I should be asking you." The Defense Minister retorted. "This plan is top secret… for you to leak national security information to outsiders is an outrage!"
"They are NOT outsiders!" Arcadios argued. "You know this too! These people will play a crucial role in the plan itself!"
"That is not a decision you can take upon yourself!"
"You are only doing this because you oppose the plan! I ask you to stop this foolishness immediately!"
"Of course I oppose the plan!" The Defense Minister began shouting. "It would alter history! Just think for a second how dangerous that is, you whelp!"
Silence fell as the mages processed what the Defense Minister had just said.
"Alter history?" Wendy parroted.
'That's true…" Happy said. "If you change the past…"
"Then that changes the present!" Carla finished for him.
*Obviously…* Zale thought. *But how much of our time will change is anyone's guess…*
"Colonel Arcadios, you are under arrest for suspicion of treason against king and country!" The Defense Minister proclaimed while ordering the guards. "Arrest Yukino Aguria and Lucy Heatfilia as well! Eject the rest from the palace!"
"What?!" Flynn gasped.
"Wait! What am I…" Lucy was about to ask until a couple of guards grabbed hold of her.
"You jerks…" Natsu gnashed his teeth and ignited his fist. "Leave Lucy outta this!"
"Stop!" Arcadios shouted at Natsu. "You mustn't use magic here!"
A small light glowed on the Eclipse door and the flames around Natsu's fist died out as he felt the energy draining from his body.
"Natsu!" Wendy exclaimed.
"Didn't he tell you that there was a system to collect small amounts of magic during the Grand Magic Games and send it to the Eclipse gate?" The Defense Minister asked of Natsu. "Of course, if you are this close to the system and try to use magic, it steals all of your strength."
Natsu lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
*So that's how it works.* Zale thought again. *That siphon takes more magic the closer in proximity that source of magic is.*
"I would prefer no fuss here." The Minister said. "We don't really consider wizards who can't use magic as enemies of the state."
"Wait! Let me go!" Lucy yelled at the guards arresting her.
"Aren't you men supposed to be loyal to Colonel Arcadios?!" Yukino questioned as she was also being taken away.
"Lucy!"
"Yukino!"
Flynn and Jayden were about to follow after them, but the guards held them back with their spears.
"DARTON!" Arcadios shouted the Defense Minster's name as he was captured by his own men.
"Eclipse will not happen." Darton said.
The others were forced out of the palace, Natsu still unconscious.
"Natsu, wake up!" Juvia tried to get him to regain consciousness.
"I want you to understand that these are not my wishes." Darton said as he was taking his leave of the wizards. "This is done for the sake of the nation… However, I will give you one piece of advice. His Majessty has taken a liking to Fairy Tail. If you were to win the Grand Magic Games, you will receive an audience with His Majesty. He is a big-hearted man, and he may be convinced to be lenient with your friends."
The large wooden doors closed shut, leaving the remaining Fairy Tail wizards to themselves.
"… Lucy…" Flynn muttered under his breath in worry.
The next morning, Zale, Gray, Juvia, Flynn, Wendy, Gajeel, Jayden and the Exceeds informed the Master, Erza, Mirajane and Laxus about the events that had transpired the night before.
"Lucy's been arrested by the Royal Army?" Erza couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"So what's the deal?" Laxus asked. "If we don't win the Games, we won't get Lucy back or something?"
"I don't know if we can trust what that guy said." Gray said.
"What I'M saying is WHO CARES ABOUT THAT?!" Natsu yelled angrily.
Natsu would be threatening if he wasn't tied to a support beam.
"I gotta go rescue her right now!" Natsu continued shouting.
"Please calm down, Natsu." Wendy said.
"You'd be up against the entire country!" Happy pointed out.
"Master?" Erza turned to Makarov for advice.
"Hm. If we're up against the kingdom, no half-baked plan will succeed…" Makarov pondered. "I also don't they'd abuse one of their own citizens, either. Until this Eclipse plan, or whatever it's called, is completely cancelled, we have to think of her as a hostage."
"But it still doesn't make sense." Gajeel said "Here we know about this government secret, but they just let us go. What's that about?"
"I see the logic in setting free people who might later act as witnesses in the treason trial of Arcadios." Lily said.
"Even if they may leak vital top secret information?" Carla asked.
"Perhaps they decided it could remain hidden no longer." Erza surmised.
"If they had just locked us up, it wouldn't have spread, though." Gray pointed out.
"I wonder about that." Mirajane said. "Natsu, Gray and Gajeel are the members of our team in the Games. If you were suddenly absent from them tomorrow, they might figure out where you went."
"I don't think even a kingdom would want a wizard's guild as enemies." Juvia said.
"To us, arresting Lucy may be seen as an absurd act, but… it is not inconsistent with the Royal Army's justice." Erza said.
"ARRRGH!" Natsu broke free from the ropes with just his muscles. "Quit the useless talk and let's go rescue her!"
"Calm down!" Makarov enlarged his right arm and slammed it on top of Natsu to pin him to the ground. "When a member of our family is taken, it's no time for a festival. I assume… you all feel the same?"
Everyone in the room had no sense of doubt when Makarov asked that question.
"I know we always go in full throttle without a plan… but that's not a good idea against this enemy. Still, we're not so cowardly that we can remain silent about this. Not Fairy Tail!"
Juvia looked to Zale and noticed that he was holding onto his chin and deep in his thoughts.
"Do you have any ideas, my love?" Juvia asked.
*Dammit! I almost had something!* Zale thought before turning to his girlfriend. "It's a work in progress."
"Our best course of action would be to send a small team to infiltrate the palace while everyone's attention is focused on the Games." Makarov said.
"I'm going to save Lucy!" Natsu said.
"But you're on the team, Natsu." Flynn pointed out.
"But we COULD have someone fill in for Natsu." Zale added. "Each team has one member in reserve, right? We never did select that sixth member."
"Are you just saying that so you can fight in the games?" Jayden asked.
"I wasn't the person I had in mind." Zale replied. "Our current team is a mix of our two other teams, so it'd be best if we had one of them take Natsu's place. With Lucy and 'Mystogan' out, that just leaves Juvia, Elfman, Mirajane, Wendy and Cana."
"Juvia will fight in your place, Zale!" Juvia volunteered.
"Th-that's sweet of you, but you're fighting for Natsu." Zale chuckled nervously.
"I guess that settles it." Mirajane laughed a little.
"Now who will join Natsu in the rescue operation?" Zale asked.
"I'm going, too!" Flynn spoke up in resolution. "Natsu's not the only one who wants to save Lucy! And I'm not taking no for an answer!"
"Mira?" Zale turned to Mirajane. "Your Transformation Magic would be appreciated in the infiltration. Do you want to go, too?"
"Anything to help Lucy!" Mirajane clenched her fist in confidence.
"I want to help Miss Lucy, too!" Wendy said.
"We can't add any more people or else the group becomes too large for a stealth operation." Zale said.
"But I want to go with Natsu!" Happy whined.
"Actually, Happy, with your small sizes, you, Carla and Lily can join, too." Zale told him. "We shouldn't add more than that, though."
"It might be a day off, but we can't afford to waste time." Makarov said to everyone. "Teams, get ready for tomorrow's mission!"
"Right!" Everyone raised their fist in unison.
Just as Erza was about to walk off, she was stopped by Zale.
"Erza, there's something I need to ask someone about." Zale said.
A/N: That's the end of the chapter, guys! I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!