Shinobi by Trade, Mage by Design

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail.

Chapter 2: The Royal Kingdom of Edolas

Prince Jellal of the Royal Kingdom of Edolas was exhausted.

Masquerading as a reclusive mage of the light guild Fairy Tail, he had carved out quite the niche in Earthland in spite of his alien status. While the rowdy guild was an odd fit for one as hermitic as he, it did serve his purposes well; its reputation as Fiore's number one guild was quite helpful in that regard. Given his status as an S-Class mage of said guild, he had virtually no restrictions placed upon him. He wasn't one to abuse such a kindness, especially since Master Makarov had been altruistic enough to go out of his way to induct him into the guild; as a result, he did perform missions from time to time to supplement the guild's income. At the same time, though, he had free reign to leave the guild on an indefinite basis to do what he had set out to Earthland to accomplish.

Suppress and snuff out the perpetually encroaching magic that is Anima.

It was not just the deep-rooted nature of the interdimensional magic that had earned his ire, but what it represented: it was essentially a medium through which the King of Edolas could extend his fearmongering ways to other worlds. It was frightening to look back on, but the way things had deteriorated in his homeland should have served as a harbinger for what was to come.

At first, in his really early years, life was good. Magic wasn't plentiful, but it was sufficient enough that it was still a prominent staple in every household: light lacrimas, fuel lacrimas, the works. Magic was applicable in almost every aspect (and thus, almost every tool) of everyday life in Edolas, just like in Earthland.

Magical guilds were established, and given the fact that nobody had any inherent magic, almost anybody could (and usually would) seek membership. To join a guild, the only thing that was required was a tool or external apparatus to manipulate magic, or a skill or talent these organizations found to be useful. If anyone had a particularly valuable tool or skill, guilds would line up to recruit said individuals. As a result, the three largest guilds, Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, and Lamia Scale, all had numbers easily eclipsing the century mark (Blue Pegasus' membership numbers were particularly impressive, given the fact that they were a bit more... selective, what with them only accepting women into their ranks); even the lesser guilds approached substantial numbers in their prime.

Things changed all too quickly, however, as a precipitous drop from what had become the norm took place without any warning.

In hindsight, it was easy to say that exhausting a commodity that was finite in quantity, particularly a resource as valuable as magic, was a recipe for disaster, but nobody was willing to even think about such a harrowing prospect. Everyone was more than happy to remain in ignorant bliss, ensconced in the paradise that was a world of 'abundant' magic. The reality of it, though, which was that Edolas was a world whose magic stores were near depletion, had hit them hard.

However, the King, along with his advisors, were not so naïve. As a child, Jellal remembered seeing his father's grim face, his heavy eyes revealing his exhaustion at his tireless efforts to curb the wasting of the Kingdom's magic. He had brought in scientists and the land's leading experts and innovators to collaborate and help develop newer, more efficient ways to utilize magic; ones that would, at the very least, delay the inevitable.

When those avenues had failed, though, things changed drastically. King Faust, furious at their collective helplessness in the face of what was shaping up to be an out-and-out disaster, completely eschewed the diplomatic approach in resolving the problem. The fact that he was practically the only one who seemed to be overly concerned with the impending disaster certainly didn't help.