"What's this?!" Makarov exclaimed. Gray, Erza, Sora, Laxus, and Mira listened to him. "You say Lucy's been arrested by the Royal Army? And she's been charged as a collaborator in some strange plan?"

"So what's the deal? If we don't win the Games, we won't get Lucy back or something?" Laxus asked Gray.

"I don't know if we can trust what that guy said." Gray stated.

"What I'm saying is who cares about that?!" Natsu yelled. However, he couldn't do much since everyone tied him to a pillar. "I gotta go rescue her right now!"

Sighing, Sora held her anger in. As much as she wanted to go rescue Lucy, they didn't exactly have a plan to do just that. "Natsu, even I know we need to think about how to."

"Please calm down, Natsu." Wendy said, sitting next to him.

"You'd be up against an entire country." Happy stated.

"Master?" Erza asked, turning to Makarov.

"Hm." Thinking, Makarov opened one eye. "If we're up against the kingdom, no half-baked plan will succeed...I also don't think they'd abuse one of their own citizens, either. Until this Eclipse plan, or whatever it's called, is completely canceled, we have to think of her as a hostage."

"But it still doesn't make sense. Here we know about this government secret, but they just let us go. What's that about?" Gajeel said.

However, what they didn't know was that Magi was listening in, hiding the tables.

"Poor Lucy..." Aladdin said.

"I wonder if she's okay..." Morg said, looking down.

"We have to do something!" Sin said. Everyone nodded.

"But how? We could make things worse." Muu stated.

"We still have to try."

"Would you be quiet." Kouen commanded.

However, before Sin could say anything to Kouen, Sora lifted the table up. Smiling brightly, she closed her eyes. "And what're you guys doin'?"

"We...just..." Alibaba fidgeted.

Laughing, Sora walked back to the rest. "You know, you didn't have to hide."

"How did you guys know?"

"Oh. After Sin said you had to do something!" Mira smiled.

As Magi looked at him, Sin looked away. "Well...I'm right!" As everyone laughed at him, he pouted. Looking at Sora, he begged her for help.

"Nope. You're on your own."

However, Makarov cleared his throat, quieting everyone. "Back to business."

"I see the logic in setting free people who might later act as witnesses in the treason trial of Arcadios." Lily suggested.

"Even if they may leak vital top secret information...?" Carla pointed out.

"Perhaps they decided it could remain hidden no longer." Erza looked down, her arms crossed.

"If they had just locked us up, it wouldn't have spread, though." Gray placed his hands on his hips.

"I wonder about that. Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel are members of a team in the Games. If you were suddenly absent from the Games tomorrow, they might figure out where you went." Mira explained.

"I don't think even a kingdom would want a wizard's Guild as enemies." Sora stated.

"To us, arresting Lucy may be seen as an absurd act, but...it is not inconsistent with the Royal Army's justice." Erza glared in the distance of where the palace would be.

Before they could react, Natsu used his strength and broke the rope. Yelling, he stood up. "Quit the useless talk, and let's go rescue her!"

Using his magic, Makarov grew his arm and hand bigger. Making a fist, he smashed Natsu to the ground. "Calm down! When a member of our family is taken, it's no time for a festival. I assume...you all feel the same?" To this, everyone, aside from Natsu who grumbled, nodded.

"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!" Makarov narrowed his eyes.

~~~~~~~~

As Lucy sat next to the bars, clutching them tightly with her fist, glaring, Yukino sat in a corner. Holding her knees close to her, she said, "I never thought it would come to this...I...always seem to attract bad luck..."

Looking at her, Lucy gave her a reassuring smile. "What are you talking about?! If you have time to be depressed, think up a way to break out instead!"

"Lucy..."

"But if we want out, we gotta get our keys back."

"...Please forgive me."

"It isn't your fault!" Looking away from Lucy, Yukino frowned guiltily. "You and me both just got caught up in a royal power play...that's all!" Lucy said. "It's all about whether they should do this Eclipse plan or not, right? And to tell the truth, I have no idea who is right about this."

"They...must try it." After silence ensued, Yukino sighed. "I once had an older sister. Her name was Sorano. I managed to fail in anything I tried, and my parents would become angry at me. But my sister would always protect me." She remembered her sister telling her it wasn't her fault. "She was so nice and pretty...I loved my sister more than anything.

"But one day, members of a cult worshiping Zeref murdered my parents and hauled my sister away. The best I could do was escape with my life. After that, I never heard whether my sister was alive or dead.

"If they use Eclipse, they can defeat Zeref. If Zeref is gone from the world, then my sister..." Tears starting forming in Yukino's eyes.

Looking at her, Lucy frowned. 'Are you saying...that she wouldn't have been taken away? But there's no guarantee that the world will change the way you want it to. I think that's the danger of changing the past that the minister was talking about.' Looking at the ceiling, Lucy's eyebrows furrowed. 'Changing the past...Can that actually happen?'

As everyone cheered, fireworks went off in the sky.

"Finally! The day has finally come: the closing day of the Festival of Wizardry, the Grand Magic Games! Whether it be through smiled or tears, today we will know which Guild is the ultimate winner!" Chapati announced. "As always, I, Chapati, am your play-by-play announcer! Our color man is the ex-Council member, Yajima!"

"All the best to you." Yajima commented.

"And our special guest for today is none other than the mascot of the Games...Yes, Mato is here in the broadcast booth!"

"Pumkin!" Mato commented.

"You don't need to act as referee today, Mato?"

"No problem with that today, pumkin! Everyone, do your best!"

"Now, it's just about time for the competing teams to make their entrance into the arena!" Everyone started cheering. "In 6th place, can they make the comeback of the year? The hunting dog in its youth: Quatro Puppy!" Quatro cheered as they heard their fans.

"Following directly after, Blue Pegasus! Next, Lamia Scale! Following, Mermaid Heel! And currently in the number 2 position...Will they give up the crown? Or retake the title of 'strongest'?! Sabertooth!" Instead of expecting cheers, there was silence. "What's this? The mood is markedly different!"

"Maybe they've renewed their resolve." Yajima suggested.

"Looking good, pumpkin!" Mato yelled.

Meanwhile, the crowd looked towards Fro. They were confused as to why there was one instead of two.

"What do you think happened to the other cat?" Alibaba asked.

"I hope he's okay." Aladdin said, concerned.

"I don't think something's right..." Morg looked down.

"Yeah. He would be here cheering for his team." Muu said.

"Their Master has something to do with it." Kouen calculated.

"It's possible..." Sin mumbled.

Looking down, Sting thought about his best friend. 'Lector...' He looked to where Lector would be cheering. However, the memory of Lector disappeared. Smiling, Sting said, "Leave that to me. I will not lose anymore."

"And now, in the number 1 position, the Guild that 7 years ago they called the best! Will this be the day it completes its return?! Fairy Tail makes its entrance!" After Chapati said this, the cheering stopped. "What?!" It was revealed that Gray, Laxus, Erza, Gajeel, and Sora were in one team. "We have a change in the lineup!" This confused everyone.

"Natsu Dragneel isn't here?!" Rogue said.

"It doesn't matter, Rogue." Sting said. "Maybe we should even count ourselves lucky."

"Hey! Don't forget me!" Sora yelled, annoyed they forgot about her.

"Natsu, who put on such an amazing show in the tag battle, is missing...I wonder..." Chapati stated.

"Hm...I would assume they have their reasons." Yajima reassured.

Clearing his throat, Chapati smiled. "However, we still have his sister fighting in his place!"

Meanwhile, Darcon frowned, watching from a distance. "I suppose he never quite got his magic back. But that girl..."

With Fairy Tail, they cheered for their family who were set to fight.

"Some sharp thinking, 6th Master." Mavis commented.

"It was the only plan I could think of." Makarov said. "If we win the Games, we may be able to get her returned to us legally. But we can't trust them completely. So that plan alone was not enough. And with all eyes on the Games, this was our best opportunity. We have to be here cheering on the team like we always do."

"But in secret, we have a different squad going to rescue Lucy." Mavis said. "So it's a battle on two fronts."

As they said this, Mira, Natsu, Lily, Wendy, Carla, and Happy were on their way to the palace to rescue Lucy. "Make me proud, you brats!" Makarov yelled.