Smirking, Arcadios said, "I am captain of a division of the Fiore Royal Army, stationed in Crocus. My name is Captain Arcadios of the Sacred Cherry Blossom Knights."

"And I am Provisional Sergeant Yukino Agria of the same unit." Yukino said.

"What's the army brass doing here?" Gray asked.

"Yukino...weren't you a member of Sabertooth?" Lucy asked.

"She told us that they kicked her out." Happy said.

"Yes, as you say." Yukino agreed.

"Why don't I explain?" Arcadios suggested. "We need the assistance of a Celestial Wizard for a certain top-secret project we are preparing. And Sergeant Yukino has kindly offered her services."

"A Celestial Wizard?" Wendy said.

"Hold it! I don't get this at all! If it's another brain-twisting story, I'll pass! Just tell us what you want!" Natsu yelled, annoyed.

"Natsu! Let's at least hear him out!" Sora said, glaring at Arcadios.

"You're Natsu and Sora Dragneel, I take it? Natsu, your last battle in the Games was a splendid display."

Having enough, Natsu walked towards him, and got up in his face. "I couldn't care less about that! That thing you said about needing a Celestial Wizard stuck in my head! You wanna say something, creep, then why don't you come out and say it?!" Hence, Arcadios frowned.

"Natsu!" Sora warned.

"Natsu...I think you heard him, but that creep's kind of a bigwig..." Happy said, shaking.

"If you think he's so important, then maybe you shouldn't be calling him a creep..." Lily warned.

Turning around, Arcadios started walking away with Yukino following. "Follow me."

"Hey, you!" Natsu yelled. Before he could get far, Sora hit his head. Turning towards her, he yelled, "Oi! What was that for?!"

"You bein' an idiot!"

Meanwhile, Yukino stopped, and went towards Lucy. "Miss Lucy, I also ask for your help."

"Huh?" Lucy blinked from confusion.

"If this plan is a success...Zeref...and Acnologia will be defeated."

Time-skip~~~~~~~~~~~

Following Arcadios, he brought them in the gardens of Crocus.

"What is this place?!" Natsu looked around him.

"It's huge!" Sora said, amazed by its size.

"The Palace of Flowers and Light, Mercurius." Wendy stated.

"Are you sure it's okay for us to go in?" Happy questioned, scared.

"This is the palace where the King lives." Arcadios explained. Closing his eyes, he stopped walking. "To start with...I would like to...apologize for the attempt to kidnap Miss Lucy a few days ago. I accept full responsibility."

"What?!" Natsu and Sora said.

"That...was you?!" Lucy questioned.

Furious, Sora marched up to him and brought him down to her height by holding his cape. "You made the wrong decision about kidnapping someone from our Guild! You better have a really good reason as to why you want Lucy! Or so help me...I will pound you in the ground!"

Sighing, Arcadios took her fists off of him. "Of course, it was never my intention to put Miss Lucy in danger. But it turned out to be slightly too forceful a strategy. I was under the mistaken impression that I needed a Celestial Wizard immediately, and that urgency affected my judgement. I apologize."

Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared menacingly. "You better be! 'cause next time, I won't be so forgivin'!"

Time-skip~~~~~~

As they followed Arcadios into the palace, he explained about the Games. "The Games are a ruse designed to collect enormous amounts of magical energy from wizards."

"So you're saying you steal magical energy from the wizards every year?" Gray asked.

"That's dirty!" Gajeel said, glaring.

"You may criticize as you like. We do it to aid us in a particular plan. Eclipse: the door that will change the world. We needed an abundance of magical energy for its construction."

"You still haven't explained why you need Lucy." Sora urged.

Walking up a set of stairs, they reached a door that looked like a clocktower.

"A door?!" Lucy gasped.

"What is this?!" Natsu and Sora said.

"Upon the alignment of the sun and the moon...bring the 12 keys and open the door. Upon opening the door...you may travel 4 hundred years in time...to defeat Zeref before he became immortal. That is the Eclipse Plan!"

Shocked, no one had any words to say.

"T-travel through time...?!" Lucy managed to get out.

"Miss Lucy, I have heard that the flow of time in the Celestial World differs from that of our world." Yukino commented.

"Come to think of it, that's true, but..." Lucy turned towards her.

"Celestial Wizards cross dimensional borders in contacting the Celestial World. 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. However, with real Celestial Wizards and the 12 keys gathered together, the plan is even more assured of success. Now, it could be said, Celestial Wizards are a necessity for the plan." Arcadios explained.

"The day when the Sun and Moon will be in alignment...in other words, in 3 days, on July 7th...I request that you lend us some of your power, Lucy."

"Huh?" Lucy started sweating.

"July 7th!" Sora and Natsu said.

"That's the day our dragons disappeared..." Wendy gasped.

"Just coincidence...?" Gajeel suggested.

"Too much of a coincidence..." Sora said.

Looking down, Gray said, "When the moon and sun align...Eclipse..."

However, before they could react, guards started surround them. "That is far enough!" one said.

"The Royal Army?!"

"What do you want?!" Natsu asked.

"What is this...?!" Lucy questioned.

As the guards made a path for Darton, he said, "I will ask you to come quietly...Colonel Arcadios."

"Defense Minister! What is the meaning of this?" Arcadios asked, turning to him.

"That is the question I should be asking you! This plan is top secret...For you to leak national security secrets to outsiders is an outrage!"

"They are not outsiders! 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!" As Darcon said this, the guards started to walk forwards.

"Hey! I think we have a right to know what's goin' on! You're usin' our friend, after all!" Sora glared.

"Quiet, girl! You have no say in this!"

"Oh! I have enough to say about you, old man!"

"You are only doing this because you oppose the plan! I ask you to stop all this foolishness immediately!" Arcadios urged.

"Of course I oppose the plan! It would alter history! Just think for a second how dangerous that is, you whelp!"

Blinking, Sora pointed at him. "Ya know, I'm kinda with him on this..."

"Change history...?" Wendy mumbled.

"That's true...If you change the past..." Happy clenched his fists.

"The that changes the present!" Carla stated.

"Colonel Arcadios, you are under arrest for suspicion of treason against the King and the country!" Darcon stated. "Arrest Yukino Agria and Lucy Heartfilia as well! Eject the rest from the palace!"

"What?!" Gray said.

"Wait! What am I..." Lucy glared at Darcon and the guards.

"You jerks..." Natsu frowned. "You got Lucy mixed up in this..." He started to ignite his fists in fire."

"Lucy did nothing wrong! If you wanna arrest her, you're gonna have to get through me!" Sora did the same.

"Stop! You must not use magic here!" Arcadios warned, but it was too late. Before they could attack, Sora and Natsu felt their magic seeping away.

Screaming in pain, Lucy yelled their names while two guards started to take her away.

"Didn't he tell you that there was a system to collect small amounts of magic during the Games and send it to the Eclipse gate? Of course, if you are this close to the system and try to use magic, it steals all of your strength!" As Darcon watched them fall to the ground, he frowned. "I would prefer no fuss here. We do not really consider wizards who cannot use their magic to be enemies of the state."

Meanwhile, Lucy tried to get out of the guards hold. "Wait! Let me go!"

Yukino tried to reason with them as they tied her and Lucy up. "Aren't you men supposed to be loyal troops of Colonel Arcadios?!"

"Lucy!" Gray yelled as they held Wendy and him back.

"Yukino!" Wendy yelled.

"Darton!" Arcadios yelled, being held back.

"Eclipse will not happen." Darton stated.

~~~~~~~~~

Afterwards, Darton threw Fairy Tail, minus Lucy, out of the palace. As they watched him leave, Darton said, "I want you to understand that these are not my wishes. This is done for the sake of the nation...However...I will give you one piece of advise: His Majesty has taken a liking to Fairy Tail.

"If you were to win the 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 friend."