The plan hadn't begun with the Eclipse Gate.
It began the day Fairy Tail vanished along with Tenrou Island.
The strongest guild in the kingdom had been erased by a single strike from the Black Dragon. No resistance. No miracle. Just annihilation. If that same calamity turned its gaze toward the capital, Fiore wouldn't last an hour.
Fear spread upward, from scholars to ministers to the throne itself.
Ancient records were unearthed. Fragmented histories. Half-burned prophecies. They spoke of the Dragon King Festival, of a dragon who would end the world, and of a black mage whose sins echoed through every age.
Zeref.
The royal faction, led by the king and princess, with Arcadios as executor, came to a conclusion born of desperation. If the Black Dragon was the end, then its origin had to be erased.
Thus, the Eclipse Gate Plan was born.
Using the royal family's inherited artifact, the Eclipse Gate, they intended to gather vast amounts of magic through the Grand Magic Games. Seven years later, on the day of a lunar eclipse, celestial mages wielding the twelve Zodiac keys would activate the gate.
They would go back to a time before Zeref became the black mage.
And kill him.
History be damned.
Not everyone agreed. Defense Minister Darton and his supporters warned that rewriting the past could erase the present entirely. Kingdoms. Bloodlines. Even Fiore itself. But fear won out over caution.
The plan moved forward.
"…Taken at face value," Rowan said after sorting through Arcadios's memories, "you're not trying to do something evil."
Arcadios stiffened, then nodded. "Everything we've done was for humanity. We never intended to harm the mages who participated. Please… keep this secret. If the truth comes out now, the kingdom will collapse into chaos."
Rowan was quiet for a moment.
Then he shook his head.
"I respect the resolve. I really do. But your plan is wrong."
Arcadios looked up sharply.
"First," Rowan continued calmly, "the Black Dragon's name is Acnologia. He wasn't created by Zeref. I've been to the northern continent. I've seen enough to be certain. Killing Zeref won't erase him."
Arcadios's face paled.
"Second, based on how time magic works in this world, even if the Eclipse Gate sends you to the past, it won't change this present."
"That's impossible," Arcadios snapped.
"Third," Rowan went on, unfazed, "let's say you succeed anyway. Zeref dies. Acnologia never rises. Then the Dragon War never ends. Dragons survive. Humanity doesn't. Same ending. Different road."
Time wasn't a pond you could stir and reshape. It was a river. You could slow it. Step outside it. Even branch it.
But you couldn't turn it back.
Rowan had seen enough worlds to know the patterns. Some timelines fractured. Some looped. Some corrected themselves with brutal efficiency.
Fiore's rules leaned toward branching.
Arcadios clenched his fists. "Even so… we can't do nothing."
Rowan sighed, then spread his paws.
"Good news. You won't."
He pulled out a small, unassuming box.
And placed the Eclipse Gate inside it.
The massive artifact vanished without resistance.
Silence crashed down like a dropped blade.
"Y-you can't do that!" Arcadios drew his sword, fury breaking through discipline. "The Eclipse Gate is a royal treasure passed down through generations! You're stealing it!"
Rowan nodded cheerfully. "Correct. I am."
He turned, tail swaying.
"Tell your king I'm holding onto it. I'll bring it back after the lunar eclipse passes. That way, you physically can't carry out this plan."
Arcadios stared, speechless.
"Oh, and don't try to take it back," Rowan added lightly. "You can't win. And if you push this, I'll teleport straight to the Magic Council, explain everything, and hand the gate over to them instead."
He paused, glancing back over his shoulder.
"By my count, your plan violates at least thirty Council safety laws. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to have a conversation with the throne."
Before Arcadios could respond, Rowan vanished.
The underground chamber was left empty. The Eclipse Gate was gone. And with it, seven years of royal ambition.
Back in the dormitory, Rowan curled up as if nothing had happened.
Time travel. Dragons. Alternate histories.
Plenty to think about.