"The King only learned the Eclipse Gate's true purpose and activation method after that," Rhodes said quietly, "which is what ultimately gave rise to the Eclipse Plan."
Silence settled over the room.
Everyone was digesting the sheer weight of the information.
A plan that had begun four hundred years ago. The Heartfilia ancestors.
A gate and a form of magic passed down across countless generations.
The fact that it had survived intact for so long was, in itself, astonishing.
If the Fiore royal line had ever been severed. If a Heartfilia heir had died young.
If even one generation had doubted the words left behind by their ancestors, the entire plan would have collapsed.
"Could the Celestial Spirit Realm have been protecting it all this time?" someone murmured.
It wasn't an unreasonable thought.
Celestial Spirits revered contracts above all else. To them, four hundred years might be no different from four or five. If so, what kind of objective was worth Anna risking four centuries of time displacement?
Rhodes voiced the speculation forming in his mind.
"Don't tell me this was also about Zeref," he said.
"They couldn't resolve it four hundred years ago, so they planned to deal with it in a magic-rich era centuries later?"
Gemini gave no reply.
Instead, without reverting to its original form, it dissolved into a streak of golden light and vanished.
They had already said far more than they should have.
If Rhodes continued pressing, exile from the Celestial Spirit Realm would no longer be a hypothetical.
With Gemini gone, Anna's deeper plan could only be set aside for now.
The group quickly shifted focus, dividing responsibilities, who would search where, which areas of the capital to monitor, who would keep watch on the palace.
To maintain secrecy, all instructions were transmitted via Warren's Telepathy, without a single word spoken aloud.
Given the gravity of the situation, tonight's usual drinking session was doomed to be subdued.
No one complained.
Everyone moved immediately, dispersing into the city before nightfall.
Their objective, just like Crime Sorcière's was clear: Find the other person from the future.
"Brother Rhodes."
He turned at the voice.
"What is it, Wendy?" he asked gently, noticing her troubled expression. "Are you worried?"
Wendy looked down at the small white cat in her arms.
"Carla has something to tell you."
Rhodes's expression sharpened.
"Carla? A premonition?"
"Yes," Carla replied solemnly. "I saw people fleeing the capital. I saw a lunar eclipse. And I saw dragons fighting in the sky."
Rhodes fell silent for a moment.
"So they really do come," he said at last. "What kind of dragons? How many?"
"I don't know the number," Carla admitted. "I only saw one clearly, a Mountain Dragon fighting a strange dragon. The others were too far away."
That was typical of Carla's visions: fragmented, incomplete, often from strange vantage points.
She continued describing what she had seen.
The dragon's body was dark red, covered in black, net-like patterns.Its most striking feature was its horns, one curving downward, the other upward, forming something like a massive crab's pincer when closed.
Rhodes immediately knew one thing.
This dragon was unfamiliar.
It didn't resemble Igneel. Nor Metalicana.
Nor any dragon associated with Natsu, Gajeel, or Wendy.
"So it really is a dragon group attack," Rhodes murmured.
And not a small one.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent the Mountain Dragon alone.
In a one-on-one engagement like that, the reason was usually simple:
Either there weren't enough dragons available, or there wasn't enough magic power to deploy more.
The former felt far more likely.
Unfortunately, Carla's description alone wasn't enough to determine the creature's abilities. A pincer-like horn structure suggested close-combat specialization, but that was still speculation.
Rhodes stroked the cat's head gently. "That's very important information. If you see anything else later, remember to tell me."
Seeing both Carla and Wendy still wearing worried expressions, he added in a calm, reassuring tone, "Things haven't reached an irreversible point yet. We just need to stop the worst-case scenario."
Near midnight, the Fairy Tail members, having found no immediate leads, returned to their inn one after another. No one slept soundly; even after lying down, worries lingered in their minds.
Rhodes arranged several "sentinels" around the inn where he and his companions were staying, only allowing himself a short rest once everything was in place.
At that moment, a black shadow silently rose in front of another hotel filled with distant scolding and laughter. The shadow twisted and solidified, transforming into a cloaked young man with half-black, half-white hair.
"They're staying here, right?"
He observed the building for a short while, then slipped inside without making a sound.
July 5, X791. Clear skies.
According to the Grand Magic Games schedule, today was a rest day.
With the final team battle approaching tomorrow, the organizers had deliberately set aside time for all guilds to heal injuries and recover magic power. Even though Fairy Tail currently held a commanding lead in points, internal sources revealed that the final battle's scoring rules were extremely generous. Each team could earn over sixty points.
In other words, even the last-place guild still had a chance at victory.
The organizers likely leaked this information to prevent teams from giving up and dulling the spectacle. Whether it truly worked was another matter, but at least no one could say they hadn't tried.
Several guilds didn't even step outside their inns, choosing instead to analyze opponents and speculate about the final battle's format. With combat almost guaranteed, preparation was never a bad idea.
Of course, not everyone was tense.
Sherria from Lamia Scale, for example, came looking for Wendy early in the day, excitedly inviting her to visit the famous Tequila Park.
Wendy hesitated, feeling it would be rude to refuse outright, and instinctively turned to look at Rhodes.
"Go," Rhodes said after a brief thought. "Take Carla with you. And Juvia should go too. It is a water park, after all."
"Yes!"
"Yes?" Sherria blinked, confused. Why did this sound like an official order?
Meanwhile, Juvia, who had shown zero enthusiasm just moments earlier, froze for a split second before her eyes lit up.
"Then Juvia shall immediately inform Gray-sama!" she declared. "This is the acting Guild Master's directive!"
Before Rhodes could react, she transformed into a spiraling torrent of water and shot straight out the window.
Rhodes ground his teeth. "Don't just promote me like that!"
It was far too late. Juvia was already gone.
Sherria stared at the still-fluttering curtains, her expression complicated. "Is this what Lyon-sama's beloved girl is like?"
"I'm sorry," Wendy said quickly, flustered but trying her best to defend her companion. "Miss Juvia isn't usually like this. Most of the time."
They gathered Carla, waited for Gray and Juvia, and then set off together toward Tequila Park.
Everyone else had their own arrangements.
Jude stayed with the two Lucys under the Guild Master's watch, which was about as reassuring as it could get.
Rhodes, meanwhile, spent the day with Mira, without his younger siblings around for once.
Mira showed no discomfort, and there was still no visible change in her stomach. The two of them walked through the city at an unhurried pace, chatting like they were simply out on a casual stroll.
After a while, Mira spoke softly, a hint of regret in her voice.
"We had planned to celebrate our anniversary, but then there was the Grand Magic Games, and now all of this."
Yesterday, July 4th, had been the day Rhodes first woke up in the guild eight years ago.
It was also the day he met her.
A day that meant everything to them.
In the current atmosphere, though, there was no room for celebration.
...
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