Chapter 302

The Eclipse Plan is the 302nd chapter of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail.
Arcadios and Yukino appear before Fairy Tail in the Dragon's Graveyard, looking for Lucy because of her Magic. They take the group to Mercurius to explain the plan to eliminate Zeref and Acnologia using the Eclipse Project to travel back in time 400 years, before Zeref was immortal. Darton and members of the Imperial Army come to stop Arcadios. Fearing what changes the Eclipse Plan could bring to the present, the group arrests Arcadios, Lucy and Yukino. Natsu tries to stop them but his Magic Power is drained by the Eclipse Gate and he and his friends are escorted out of the castle with the only chance of freeing Lucy being to win the Grand Magic Games and convincing the King to release her.
==Summary==
Still in the Dragon's Graveyard, Arcadios and Yukino introduce themselves to the group. Gray and Lucy begin to wonder why the white knight and ex-member of Sabertooth are in the cavern littered with the bones of Dragons long gone, to which Arcadios begins to explain to them that he requires the power of a Celestial Spirit Mage for his plan and how that is the reason why Yukino is present with him. Natsu then confronts Arcadios, angry and confused about what he wants with them. Arcadios, now realizing Natsu was among the Fairy Tail Mages, compliments him on his battle. Natsu, not caring for Arcadios' praise, rushes towards him, demanding to know why exactly the other man needs a Celestial Spirit Mage. Arcadios then tells Natsu and friends to follow him but before they proceed further, Yukino tells that if they follow through with this plan, they would have a chance of defeating Zeref and Acnologia.
The group follows Arcadios to the palace, Mercurius, gazing in awe of its sheer size and magnificence. Arcadios then takes his time to apologize to them for the earlier attempted kidnapping of Lucy, showing them how desperate the need was for a Celestial Spirit Mage and revealing that he was the one behind the act to the Fairy Tail Mages, much to their surprise. They then enter the castle and continue to follow Arcadios while he tells them that the Grand Magic Games were actually a ruse to collect Magic Power from many different Mages, which the Fairy Tail Mages quickly disprove of but Arcadios shrugs off their feelings knowing that the Eclipse Plan would take a large amount of Magic Power.
After traveling through the palace, Arcadios shows the Mages the Eclipse Gate, which in fact is a massive gateway that will be unlocked when the sun and moon intersect by the Twelve Gold Keys. He then reveals his plan to use the gateway to travel back in time 400 years and destroy Zeref before he could become immortal, stunning the group in the very idea of travelling through time. Yukino then tells them that by using a special dimensional plane of the Celestial Spirit World, they would be able to open the gate with that Celestial Spirit Magic. Arcadios then asks Lucy if, on the 7th of July, she volunteers to lend him her power to open the gate when the moon intersects the sun, with Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy wondering if there was a connection between the Dragons' disappearance and this upcoming eclipse. 
Suddenly, guards come charging into the room and surround the group. They then make way for the minister of defense, Darton, who tells Arcadios to come with him peacefully. Arcadios questions the meaning of Darton's actions, to which he replies that Arcadios has leaked classified information on the Eclipse Plan and is now under arrest. Arcadios claims that Darton is only doing this because he opposes the plan seeing how the Fairy Tail Mages are the key to the plan. Darton then yells that of course he is against the plan as Arcadios is not thinking about what effects changing the past can have in the present. He then demands the immediate arrest of Arcadios, Lucy and Yukino and tells the guards to get rid of the rest of the group.
Angered by the obscure charges against his friend, Natsu prepares to attack the guards with his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. Arcadios warns him not to use Magic around the gate but it is too late. Natsu's Magic is then sucked out of his body by the gate and he then passes out after losing it all. Darton tells him how using Magic this close to the Eclipse gate will only result in him losing it all in one burst. The guards then take away their new prisoners, while Darton escorts Natsu and the others from the palace. Before leaving them, he tells the group that he only does what benefits his country and that the King has taken a liking to their Guild. Finally he informs them that if they are to win the Grand Magic Games, they will be allowed an audience with the King and that if they are to get along well with him, they might be able to change the sentence for their arrested comrade.
==Characters in Order of Appearance==
==Battles & Events==
*Arrests at Mercurius (started and concluded)
==Magic, Spells, and Abilities used==
===Magic used===
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===Spells used===
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===Abilities used===
*Hand-to-Hand Combat
==Navigation==