A/N: Episode 177.
Enjoy!
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: THE ECLIPSE PROJECT
Still underneath the arena, the group had been confronted by Arcadios and Yukino. "I am Arcadios, Captain of the Cherry Blossom Holy Knights, the kingdom of Fiore's military corps stationed in Crocus." Arcadios introduced himself.
"I am Yukino Agria, temporary sergeant of same." Yukino added.
"What's a military big cheese doing here?" Gray questioned.
Lucy stepped forward next to him. "Yukino... But you..." She started to say.
"...were a member of Sabertooth." Lily finished.
"You said they kicked you out, right?" Happy asked.
"Yes. That's correct." Yukino responded.
"I'll explain. The power of a Celestial Spirit Wizard was necessary to the secrecy of the operation. And so, I'm relying on the assistance of Sergeant Yukino." Arcadios explained.
"A Celestial Spirit Wizard..." Lucy repeated in her mind.
"U-Um, what do you mean you needed the power of a Celestial Spirit Wizard?" Wendy asked.
"Wait a second! I'm lost here! Skip the annoying details! Just tell me what you want!" Natsu exclaimed.
"Natsu Dragneel-kun, yes? Your previous event was a marvelous magic battle." Arcadios complimented.
Natsu stepped forward in front of him. "I don't give a damn about that. I wanna know this 'Celestial Spirit Wizard is necessary' business." He said. "If you got somethin' to say, spit it out!"
"Natsu..." Lucy mumbled.
"Yeesh..." Gray huffed out.
"Natsu, I think you already know this, but that guy's a VIP." Happy informed.
"If you think so, then I don't know about calling him 'that guy'..." Raden commented.
Carla thought back to her vision. "A white knight..." She recalled.
Arcadios soon turned around. "Follow me." He ordered.
"Hey, jackass! Wait!" Natsu called out.
"Lucy-sama, I also have a favor to ask." Yukino said, getting Lucy's attention. "If this operation is a success, Zeref and Acnologia will be defeated."
"Acnologia..."
The group soon found themselves in front of the palace. "What the hell is this?!" Natsu exclaimed.
"It's huge!" Gray shouted.
"It's the Flower Light Palace, right, Mercurius?" Wendy asked.
"His Majesty's palace." Arcadios replied.
"That's really something..." Lily commented.
"It's okay for us to go inside?" Happy questioned.
"But first, I would like to apologize to Lucy-dono for her mistaken attempted abduction several days ago." Arcadios said.
"W-What?!" Natsu said.
"That's right. Wendy was mistaken for Lucy and kidnapped." Carla recalled.
The group began walking behind Arcadios and Yukino. "You were behind that?" Lucy asked.
"Of course, I didn't intend to cause you any harm, but I imprudently took somewhat forceful measures. At the time, I was convinced we needed a Celestial Spirit Wizard immediately, and made an error in judgment. I apologize." Arcadios responded.
"The Grand Magic Games were camouflage to absorb a great quantity of wizards' magic power."
"So every year, you stole magic from wizards?" Gray questioned.
"Camouflage?!" Happy quoted.
"That's terrible!" Carla exclaimed.
"That's really low." Sebastian commented.
"Exactly." Raden agreed.
"Say what you wish. I did it all for a certain plan." Arcadios informed.
"What is it?" Wendy asked as the group stopped in front of a large gate.
"Eclipse, the portal that will change the world. A great deal of magic power was required to construct it." Arcadios explained.
"Portal?" Lucy repeated.
"What the hell is it?" Natsu asked.
"When the sun and moon are in conjunction, the 12 Keys will be used to open the door." Arcadios replied. "When it's opened, the plan is to travel back 400 years in time and murder Zeref before he can become immortal. That is the Eclipse Project!"
Everyone was in shock at the news. "T-Travel through time?!" Lucy quoted.
"Lucy-sama, I've heard that time flows differently between the Celestial Spirit World and our own." Yukino said.
"Yes, now that you mention it, but..." Lucy started to say.
"The idea is to use the Celestial Spirit World's dimensional boundary line and the power of a Celestial Spirit Wizard to open this door." Yukino explained.
"Originally, the plan called for the possible use of pseudo-Celestial Spirit magic in place of the real thing. But having a true Celestial Spirit Wizard and the 12 Keys would guarantee the success of the project. I could say that aspect is indispensable. The sun and moon will overlap three days hence, on July 7th. I would like your assistance, Lucy-dono." Arcadios continued.
"July 7th..." Natsu muttered.
"The day our dragons disappeared..." Wendy realized.
"Is it just a coincidence?" Gajeel wondered.
"Could be..." Sebastian answered.
"The eclipse, when the sun and moon are in conjuction..." Gray paused.
"A solar eclipse..."
Multiple footsteps were soon heard, causing everyone to turn around and see the Royal Army surrounding them.
"That's enough! Don't move!"
"The royal army?!" Wendy exclaimed.
"What is this?!" Carla wondered.
"What the hell?!" Natsu shouted.
"What's going on?!" Lucy asked.
"You dumbasses wanna rumble?!" Gray taunted.
"Surrender peacefully, Captain Arcadios."
"Minister of Defense, what is the meaning of this?!" Arcadios questioned.
"That is my line. Leaking details of a top secret plan and state military secrets to outsiders is abominable." Darton replied.
"They're not outsiders! You know this. These people have a critical role to play in the success of the operation." Arcadios argued.
"That's not a simple matter for you to arbitrarily decide on." Darton claimed.
Arcadios stepped forward, but two royal guards stopped him. "You're just opposed to the plan, aren't you?! I want you to stop this nonsense immediately!" He ordered.
"Of course I'm opposed to it! Changing history! Can you even slightly imagine the inherent dangers, boy?!" Darton exclaimed.
"What the hell are they arguin' about?" Natsu wondered.
"So there's a faction that's against the plan." Lucy pointed out.
"Even so..." Gray trailed off.
"Change history..." Wendy mumbled.
"I see. If you change the past..." Happy started to say.
"...the present will change too!" Carla concluded.
"That's what would happen." Lily stated.
"And the events that come after will cease to exist." Raden added.
"Arrest Captain Arcadios on suspicion of treason! Arrest Yukino Agria and Lucy Heartfilia too!" Darton ordered. "Throw everyone else out!"
"Yes, sir!"
"What?!" Gray exclaimed.
"Wait, me too?!" Lucy shouted in shock.
"Jackasses! You're not gettin' Lucy involved in this..." Natsu claimed, lighting his fist on fire.
"Don't! You mustn't use magic here!" Arcadios warned.
"Huh?"
The Eclipse Gate soon activated, causing a bright light to show. "Wha...?! This is..." Natsu trailed off.
Natsu felt his magic power leaving his body. "The hell is this?!"
"Natsu!" Lucy and Sebastian called out.
"Perhaps he didn't tell you. The Grand Magic Games is a system to steal a small amount of magic power from wizards and send it to Eclipse. If magic is activated this close to Eclipse, all of the person's magic power will be siphoned." Darton explained.
Natsu finally stopped glowing white as he collapsed to the ground, with Sebastian quickly catching him. "Don't cause a fuss. Wizards who can't use magic are no threat to our kingdom." Darton finished.
"Hey! Let go of me!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Isn't Arcadios-sama your commander?!" Yukino asked.
"Lucy!" Gray shouted.
"Yukino-san!" Wendy added.
"Darton!" Arcadios yelled.
"I will not let Eclipse be activated." Darton claimed.
The rest of the group were outside with a knocked out Natsu. "Natsu..." Happy mumbled.
"He has magic deficiency syndrome. I don't think he'll be able to move for a while..." Carla informed.
"Bastard..." Gajeel muttered under his breath.
"I want you to understand that this isn't my own will. It's all on behalf of the state. But I can give you one piece of advice. His Majesty is fond of Fairy Tail. If you win the Grand Magic Games, I'll grant you an audience with the king. Knowing how kind he is, he may consider the matter of your friend's treatment. May you have grand magic battles." Darton said before taking his leave with the royal guards.
"Lucy..." Natsu mumbled.
July 5th. The second-to-last day of the Grand Magic Games.
Bar Sun...
"What?!"
"Lucy was captured by the royal army?!"
"So they involved her in a plan we know almost nothing about..." Makarov stated.
"In other words, what? Unless we win the Grand Magic Games, we won't get Lucy back?" Laxus asked.
"Although I don't know if we can trust that, either." Gray replied.
"Right." Juvia agreed.
"Who gives a crap about that?! I'm gonna rescue Lucy right now!" Natsu yelled as he was tied to a pole.
"Oh, for the love of..." Sebastian trailed off as he marched over and sent a kick towards Natsu's face, causing his head to fly sideways due to the impact as the rest of Fairy Tail stood in shock. Souta just sighed from his place next to Makarov.
"Your anger is justified but you need to cool it, cousin. Look around. Do you really think your guildmates will let this slide?" Sebastian questioned.
"Master..." Erza spoke up.
Makarov placed a hand on his chin, as if he was thinking. "We can't act recklessly against the kingdom, but on the other hand, they can't afford to treat their citizens too shabbily either. Maybe we can think of her as a hostage who'll be kept until this Project Eclipse is cancelled." He said.
"That's a pain in the ass." Laxus commented.
"A hostage..." Erza mumbled.
"But that don't make sense." Gajeel claimed. "Why would they let the rest of us go when we heard the same state secrets?"
"Agreed. Something is definitely weird about this whole scenario." Sebastian agreed.
"It's got nothin' to do with makin' sense!" Natsu commented.
"It's also possible we've been released as witnesses to eventually help convict Arcadios." Lily pointed out.
"Why?" Happy questioned.
"When there's the danger of top secret information spreading..." Carla trailed off.
"Maybe they decided it can't be hidden any longer." Erza guessed.
"If they'd captured the whole lot of us, we wouldn't be able to leak info, right?" Gray said.
"But..." Juvia mumbled.
"I don't know about that. Gray, you and the others are participants in the Grand Magic Games, right?" Mira questioned.
Sebastian seemed to realize what Mira was getting at. "If we suddenly didn't appear tomorrow, the spectators would take notice." He finished, making Mira nod in confirmation.
"I don't think even the kingdom wants to make an enemy out of a wizard guild." Juvia added.
"To us, it's ridiculous that Lucy's been taken captive, but it isn't a breach of the royal army's sense of justice." Erza claimed.
Natsu gritted his teeth before breaking out of the rope that held him. "Enough jawin'! I'm gonna rescue her!"
Makarov soon slammed his fist on Natsu, sending him back down. "Stifle it!"
"Squished..."
"This ain't a festival where the whole family gets captured. We all feel the same way." Makarov claimed. "This time, just charging ahead without thinking isn't gonna work. Still, we're not cowards who're gonna take it lying down either. We're Fairy Tail!"
July 6th, the final day of the Grand Magic Games.
Fireworks erupted into the sky. "At last! At last, it's here!" Chapati exclaimed as the audience cheered. "The final day of the wizards' passionate festival, the Grand Magic Games! Like it or not, only one guild will be victorious today! I'm your emcee, Chapati, and next to me is a former Council member, Yajima-san, who will provide the commentary."
"Good to be here." Yajima said.
"Our special guest is none other than the mascot of the Grand Magic Games, Mato-kun!" Chapati said.
"Kabo!" Mato waved.
"You don't have to judge today, Mato-kun?" Chapati asked.
"Not today-kabo! Everyone, do your best-kabo!" Mato responded.
In the tunnels, Team Black Sun was waiting anxiously for their leader. "Where the hell is he?" Nox muttered.
"Everyone! Sorry I'm late!"
They all turned to see Aster rushing towards them. "Aster? What are you doing here? Aren't you our reserve?" Massorao asked.
"Ah, well... It was kind of last minute... But Sebastian-nii won't be able to compete. So Master told me to take his place." Aster explained, rubbing the side of his neck sheepishly.
"What happened to Seb?" Orion questioned. "His magic power should be back to normal by now."
Aster shrugged. "Master didn't go into details."
"That idiot... Bailing on us on the final day of the Games where we need his power more than ever." Massoro huffed out.
"We'll make do without him. When he comes back from wherever he went, we'll be number one." Orion claimed, making the rest of his team members nod in agreement.
"Now then, the teams are about to take the field-kabo!" Mato announced as multiple explosions went off and Quatro Puppy's guild mark appeared in flames.
"Currently in 7th place! Can they turn it around?! Formally a hunting dog, now a puppy! Quatro Puppy!" Chapati announced as Team Quatro Puppy appeared in the arena.
"Although he's been trounced once, you can't underestimate the power of the drunken hawk, Bacchus." Yajima commented.
"Alright! Next up on the field is..." Chapati started to say as Blue Pegasus's guild mark appeared. "...Blue Pegasus, led by the current master of parfum, Ichiya Wanderlei Kotobuki!"
"They're currently in 6th place..." Mato added as the members of Blue Pegasus posed. "...but in the end, will they be able to grasp the parfum of victory-kabo?"
A large green Lamia Scale guild mark appeared. "Here they are! Lamia Scale is on the field!" Chapati said.
Lyon, Jura, Yuka, Toby, and Sherria walked out. "Right now, they're in 4th place, but will Ice Wizard Lyon Vastia, who rivals or surpasses Fairy Tail's Gray Fullbuster, lead his team to victory?!" Chapati questioned.
"And we mustn't forget Sherria Blendy, the God Slayer, or Jura Neekis, one of the Ten Great Wizard Saints!" Mato said.
"A team you never get tired of." Yajima added.
"And sharing 4th place with Lamia Scale is..." Chapati began as waves soon appeared in the arena, followed by a blast of water that shot up, revealing the Mermaid Heel guild emblem. "...Mermaid Heel!"
"They're large flowers that have bloomed during the tournament, but they're not only glamorous..." Yajima started to say.
"The team leader, Kagura Mikazuchi, is as calm as ever. There's something scary about her-kabo." Mato concluded.
Sabertooth's emblem flashed on the screen. "In 3rd place!" Chapati began as the audience cheered. "Will they remain dethroned?! Will the two Dragon Slayers, Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney, challenge Natsu and Sebastian again?! And if so, what will the results of that rematch be?!"
Sabertooth soon walked out.
"Sabertooth takes the field!"
All of the Sabertooth members had calm looks on their faces, getting everyone's attention. "Huh? It seems their mood has changed somehow." Chapati noticed.
"Maybe they've jump-started their fighting spirit." Yajima guessed.
"That's cool-kabo!" Mato commented.
"Currently in second place!" Earth pillars soon appeared as Black Sun's guild mark shot up in golden energy, making the audience cheer once again. "Will these rookies have a chance with their five strongest? It's Black Sun!"
Orion, Nox, Maxim, Massoro, and Aster walked out. "Huh?" Yajima questioned.
"I-It seems Sebastian James is not competing!" Chapati exclaimed as Aster had a calm look on his face with his arms crossed.
"What?!" All of Black Sun shouted.
"Raden's not here either." Zane mumbled. "Master, what the hell's going on?"
Souta didn't answer Zane, making him grunt in annoyance.
"And currently in first place! Will this be the day the so-called strongest guild seven years ago come back in full force?!" Chapati announced as the Fairy Tail flag blew in the wind and the audience cheered.
"Fairy Tail is taking the field!"
"Soon, Sting..." Rogue mumbled.
"Yeah." Sting agreed.
"From getting booed on the tournament's first day to being more popular than I'd imagined..." Lyon commented before he noticed something.
Fairy Tail soon began walking out. "Huh?!" Chapati said.
"K-Kabo?" Mato questioned.
"W-What?! They've also changed the members! This is an unexpected development! In place of Natsu Dragneel, we've got..."
"Juvia!" Lyon exclaimed.
"Natsu Dragneel isn't here?" Rogue muttered.
"That's fine, Rogue. Think of it as lucking out." Sting told him.
"Yeah..." Rogue agreed.
"Natsu was instrumental in the Tag Team Battle, so why isn't he here?" Chapati wondered.
Yajima hummed. "Maybe something happened?" He guessed.
"Why isn't he here?"
"I wanted to see him!"
"I suppose he hasn't recovered yet." Darton muttered.
All seven of the participating guild emblems appeared on the Lacrima Vision. "You've put some thought into it, Number Six." Mavis stated.
"In the end, it was all I could do, Number One." Makarov claimed. "If we win the Grand Magic Games, they may release Lucy, fair in square. But... we can't put all our faith in that, so there had to be an alternate plan. With everyone absorbed in the tournament, this is the perfect chance. We'll cheer the team on, as usual."
"Meanwhile, behind the scenes, a separate team is heading to rescue Lucy."
"A war fought on two fronts, right?" Mavis asked.
Natsu was shown running through Crocus, followed by Wendy, Mira, and Sebastian. As well as Happy, Lily, Carla, and Raden.
"I'm counting on you, brats!"
A/N: Another chapter is completed!
Thanks for reading!
~ Kaleb.