07x177 - The Eclipse Project

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Previously on Fairy Tail...

Dialogue: ,::.,::.,Signs,,,,,,Grand Magic Games th Day Resultsst Place: Fairy Tailnd Place: Sabertoothrd Place: Mermaid Heelrd Place: Lamia Scaleth Place: Blue Pegasus

The Grand Magic Games, a festival for wizards.

Fairy Tail started off in last place,

but they dominated the Tag Team Battle and rose to first place.

However, as for Sabertooth,

the failure of the Twin Dragons triggered a certain incident.

Meanwhile, at the sprawling dragon graveyard underneath the tournament venue, Domus Flau,

Natsu and friends learned the truth about the Festival of the Dragon King and Acnologia.

I am Arcadios, Captain of the Cherry Blossom Holy Knights,

the kingdom of Fiore's m*llitary corps stationed in Crocus.

I am Yukino Agria, temporary sergeant of same.

What's a m*llitary big cheese doing here?

Yukino... But you...

...were a member of Sabertooth.

You said they kicked you out, right?

Yes. That's correct.

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.

A Celestial Spirit Wizard...

The Eclipse Project!

U-Um, what do you mean you needed the power of a Celestial Spirit Wizard?

Wait a second! I'm lost here!

Skip the annoying details! Just tell me what you want!

Natsu Dragneel-kun, yes?

Your previous event was a marvelous magic battle.

I don't give a damn about that.

I wanna know about this "Celestial Spirit Wizard is necessary" business.

If you got somethin' to say, spit it out!

Natsu...

Yeesh...

Natsu, I think you already know this, but that guy's a VIP.

If you think so, then I don't know about calling him "that guy"...

A white knight...

Follow me.

Hey, jackass! Wait!

Lucy-sama, I also have a favor to ask.

If this operation is a success,

Zeref and Acnologia will be defeated.

Acnologia...

What the hell is this?!

It's huge!

It's the Flower Light Palace, right, Mercurius?

His Majesty's palace.

That's really something...

It's okay for us to go inside?

But first, I would like to apologize to Lucy-dono

for her mistaken attempted abduction several days ago.

W-What?!

That's right. Wendy was mistaken for Lucy and kidnapped.

You were behind that?

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.

The Grand Magic Games were camouflage to absorb a great quantity of wizards' magic power.

So every year, you stole magic from wizards?

Camouflage?!

That's terrible!

That's really low.

Exactly.

Say what you wish.

I did it all for a certain plan.

What is it?

Eclipse, the portal that will change the world.

A great deal of magic power was required to construct it.

Portal?

What the hell is it?

When the sun and moon are in conjunction,

the Keys will be used to open the door.

When it's opened, the plan is

to travel back years in time and m*rder Zeref before he can become immortal.

That is the Eclipse Project!

T-Travel through time?!

Lucy-sama, I've heard time flows differently between the Celestial Spirit World and our own.

Yes, now that you mention it, but...

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.

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 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 th.

I would like your assistance, Lucy-dono.

July th...

The day our dragons disappeared...

Is it just a coincidence?

The eclipse, when the sun and moon are in conjunction...

A solar eclipse...

That's enough! Don't move!

The royal army?!

What is this?!

What the hell?!

What's going on?!

You dumbasses wanna rumble?!

Surrender peacefully, Captain Arcadios.

Minister of Defense, what is the meaning of this?!

That is my line.

Leaking details of a top secret plan and state m*llitary secrets to outsiders is abominable.

They're not outsiders! You know this.

These people have a critical role to play in the success of the operation.

That's not a simple matter for you to arbitrarily decide on.

You're just opposed to the plan, aren't you?!

I want you to stop this nonsense immediately!

Of course I'm opposed to it!

Changing history! Can you even slightly imagine the inherent dangers, boy?!

What the hell are they arguin' about?

So there's a faction that's against the plan.

Even so...

Change history...

I see. If you change the past...

...the present will change too!

That's what would happen.

Arrest Captain Arcadios on suspicion of treason!

Arrest Yukino Agria and Lucy Heartfilia too!

Throw everyone else out!

Yes, sir!

What?!

Wait, me too?!

Jackasses! You're not gettin' Lucy involved in this...

Don't! You mustn't use magic here!

Wha...?! This...

The hell is this?!

Natsu!

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.

Don't cause a fuss.

Wizards who can't use magic are no thr*at to our kingdom.

Hey! Let go of me!

Isn't Arcadios-sama your commander?!

Lucy!

Yukino-san!

Darton!

I will not let Eclipse be activated.

Natsu...

He has magic deficiency syndrome. I don't think he'll be able to move for a while...

Bastard...

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.

Lucy...

July th. The second-to-last day of the Grand Magic Games.

What?!

Lucy was captured by the royal army?!

So they involved her in a plan we know almost nothing about...

In other words, what? Unless we win the Grand Magic Games, we won't get Lucy back?

Although I don't know if we can trust that, either.

Right.

Who gives a crap about that?!

I'm gonna rescue Lucy right now!

Please calm down, Natsu-san.

You're a real piece of work...

Your opponent is the kingdom!

Master...

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.

That's a pain in the ass.

A hostage...

But that don't make sense.

Why would they let the rest of us go when we heard the same state secrets?

It's got nothin' to do with makin' sense!

It's also possible we've been released as witnesses to eventually help convict Arcadios.

Why?

When there's the danger of top secret information spreading...

Maybe they decided it can't be hidden any longer.

If they'd captured the whole lot of us, we wouldn't be able to leak info, right?

But...

I don't know about that.

Gray, you and the others are participants in the Grand Magic Games, right?

If you suddenly didn't appear tomorrow, people would take notice.

I don't think even the kingdom wants to make an enemy out of a wizard guild.

To us, it's ridiculous that Lucy's been taken c*ptive,

but it isn't a breach of the royal army's sense of justice.

Enough jawin'! I'm gonna rescue her!

Stifle it!

Squished...

This ain't a festival where the whole family gets captured.

We all feel the same way.

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!

I never expected this to happen.

I really am a bad luck magnet.

What are you talking about?!

If you've got enough free time to be depressed, use it to find a way out of here instead!

Lucy-sama...

If we do escape, the first thing we need to do is get the keys back.

I'm so sorry about this.

It's not your fault!

Both of us have gotten caught up in the kingdom's internal strife. That's all.

It's all about whether to go ahead with the Eclipse Project or not, right?

I don't exactly know which is the right way to go myself.

It should be done.

I had an older sister. Her name was Solano.

No matter what I did, I fouled things up, which infuriated my parents.

But my sister always protected me.

It's not Yukino's fault!

She was so kind and pretty. I loved my sister.

But one day, a group blindly devoted to Zeref m*rder*d my parents

and took away my big sister.

All I could do was flee with my life.

With the Eclipse Project, Zeref can be k*lled.

Without him in this world, my sister...

Maybe she would never have been taken away...

But there's no guarantee the world would change the way you wanted it to.

That's the danger of changing history the defense minister was talking about.

Changing the past... Is that really possible?

July th, the final day of the Grand Magic Games.

At last! At last, it's here!

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.

Our special guest is none other than

the mascot of the Grand Magic Games, Mato-kun!

Kabo!

You don't have to judge today, Mato-kun?

Not today-kabo! Everyone, do your best-kabo!

Now then, the teams are about to take the field-kabo!

Currently in th place! Can they turn it around?!

Formerly a hunting dog, now a puppy! Quatro Puppy!

Although he's been trounced once,

you can't underestimate the power of the drunken hawk, Bacchus.

Alright! Next up on the field is...

...Blue Pegasus, led by the current master of parfum, Ichiya Wanderlei Kotobuki!

They're currently in th place...

...but in the end, will they be able to grasp the parfum of victory-kabo?

Here they are! Lamia Scale is on the field!

Right now, they're in rd place,

but will Ice Wizard Lyon Vastia, who rivals or surpasses Fairy Tail's Gray Fullbuster,

lead his team to victory?!

And we mustn't forget Cheria Blendy, the God Slayer,

or Jura Neekis, one of the Ten Great Wizard Saints!

A team you'd never get tired of.

And sharing rd place with Lamia Scale is...

...Mermaid Heel!

They're large flowers that have bloomed during the tournament,

but they're not only glamorous...

The team leader, Kagura Mikazuchi, is as calm as ever.

There's something scary about her-kabo.

And currently in second place!

Will they remain dethroned?! Will the two Dragon Slayers,

the Twin Dragons, Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney,

challenge Natsu and Gajeel again?!

And if so, what will the results of that rematch be?!

Sabertooth takes the field!

Huh? It seems their mood has changed somehow.

Maybe they've jump-started their fighting spirit.

That's cool-kabo!

Hey, over there...

The cats in the rooting section...

One of them's not there.

Yeah, right?

Lector...

Sting-kun!

Sting-kun! Please do your best!

With your strength, and just being one point behind...!

Leave it to me. I'm not gonna lose anymore.

And currently in first place!

Will this be the day the so-called strongest guild seven years ago comes back in full force?!

Fairy Tail is taking the field!

Soon, Sting...

Yeah.

From getting booed on the tournament's first day to being more popular than I'd imagined...

Huh?!

K-Kabo?

W-What?! They've changed the members! This is an unexpected development!

In place of Natsu Dragneel, we've got...

Juvia!

Natsu Dragneel isn't here?

That's fine, Rogue. Think of it as lucking out.

Yeah...

Natsu was instrumental in the Tag Team Battle, so why isn't he here?

Maybe something happened?

Why isn't he here?

I wanted to see him!

I suppose he hasn't recovered yet.

You put some thought into it, Number Six.

In the end, it was all I could do, Number One.

If we win the Grand Magic Games, they may release Lucy, fair and 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 w*r fought on two fronts, right?

I'm counting on you, brats!

Oh, no, Natsu!

Lucy's been captured by kingdom bigwigs!

Relax, Happy! We'll spring her for sure!

But how are we going to free her?

One of our buddies is fantastic at comin' up with strategies, right?

Next time: Fairy Tactician!

That's well and good, Natsu, but will you be able to remember the strategy?

I'll muddle through it somehow with fightin' spirit!