Author: Loteva

Title: Tales of Edolas: 00. Preface

Written: 27-28.09.2012

Standard disclaimer applies.

A/N: The introduction to my stories about Edolas' characters. Enjoy!

Tales of Edolas

Preface

Once Upon A Time...

Once upon a time, there was an universe. It was very much alike all the other universes, as we could find there peace and war, love and hatred, harmony and chaos. The only thing which distinguished it from all its counterparts was magic. This glorious energy, by some called the essence of life, was flowing freely through the entire universe and its inhabitants, infinite and immeasurable. Some of the people over there had enough magic power and talent to learn how to use it, and they had become known as mages. Soon after the mages gathered together and formed guilds, providing their services to the non-magic population for profit. In one of the countries of this universe, the Kingdom of Fiore, there were many powerful guilds, the most notable proudly called Fairy Tail.

This story isn't about this universe.

The universe mentioned above had a twin; a mirror image, where everything and everyone was reversed. Therefore, while in the first universe the magic was present in living bodies and everlasting, in the second one it's resources were limited and it was mostly stored within objects. The only living beings who had magic inside their bodies was the race of Exceed, living in the Kingdom of Extalia. Due to their magic abilities, they were considered guardian angels and their queen a god by the people which inhabited this world's most powerful country, the Kingdom of Edolas.

Faced with the shortage of magic and a true danger of exhausting all its resources in just a few decades, the benevolent ruler of Edolas, King Faust, had to undertake drastic measures to ensure the stable supply of magic for his people. In the royal edict, all of Edolas' magic was declared the sole property of the Kingdom and it was to be controlled in its entirety by the monarchy.

The consequences of the edict were far-reaching. The magic guilds were disbanded and the trade strictly monitored by the government. The mages who disobeyed the new decree became outlaws, hunted down with extreme prejudice by the royal army. The last magic guild in Edolas which managed to successfully escape the purge and evade the subsequent pursuit, led by the relentless Captain Erza Knightwalker, was Fairy Tail.

Meanwhile, King Faust with help of his advisor Byro found a way to access the infinite source of magic. He forged ahead with his plans for the greater good of the Kingdom, even after experiencing personal loss as his son, the young Prince, turned missing, presumed dead after months of fruitless search.

The preparations took seven long years. Finally, the time had come to fulfill the wishes of infinite magic. The amazing amount of magic was sucked out from another universe and stored into a gigantic lacrima, to the joy and awe of the people of Edolas.

In obscurity stays the real reason for King's next actions. Many speculate he was overcome with the grief after the loss of his son and death of his wife later on. The fact remains that King Faust in a fit of insanity ordered the sacrilegious attack on Extalia.

The blasphemy didn't go unpunished, to the eternal misery of Edolas' citizens. The horrible Great Demon Lord Dragneel and his two servants, Redfox and Marvell, ascended from the deepest pits of hell, planning to plunge the world into darkness. King Faust, though nobly made a stand against their invasion, was soundly defeated. But even this crushing victory wasn't enough to appease demon's hunger for destruction. The Great Demon Lord Dragneel craved for widespread anguish above all, thus he took away what was the most dear to the people of Edolas – their magic. In bright pillars of vividly bright energy it was siphoned off out of this world, lost and gone forever. Along magic disappeared the race of Exceed, thereby the Kingdom became devoid of their angelic protection and farther crippled.

The victorious Great Demon Lord Dragneel raged amongst the devastation he brought, his power unchallenged. Despair was settling into the hearts of the people, as they watched helplessly while the invaders levelled down the large portions of the Royal City, turning buildings into dust with single blows. But one man dared to defy the Great Demon Lord's conquest, his bravery giving back hope to the people. This man was the son of King Faust, Prince Gerard, who miraculously came back to the Kingdom in its time of need.

People cheered on their champion as the fierce battle against the Great Demon Lord Dragneel commenced. They fought to the standstill, neither willing to give ground to the other, as their powers were evenly matched. Eventually, with the final exchange of blows, Prince broke through his opponent's guard and ultimately defeated him. With a bloodcurdling howl, spitting idle curses and threats, the Great Demon Lord Dragneel and his two servants returned to hell, where they were sealed away again.

The coronation of King Gerard took place immediately after, to the general approval of the grateful people of Edolas. Although their hero and new monarch couldn't restore the magic, he instantly assumed his duties, beginning with the difficult task of rebuilding the Royal City from the ruins it has been reduced to by the invaders. His strong belief that the world can go on without magic gave hope for a better future to those still disillusioned with the loss of it.

With King Gerard's reign, the royal edict regarding the seizure of all magic became null and void and all the outlaw former mages were granted amnesty. For this reason, the pardoned Fairy Tail guild arrived to the Royal City and offered its help with the reconstruction, which was gladly accepted.

This story starts then, in the beginning of the new era, the Era Without Magic...

Bibliography

"History of Edolas" vol. XVII "The Twilight of Magic" Royal City, X785

Blackwolf, Gajeel. "The King is dead, long live the King!" Edolas Times 16 Jul. X784: 1-5

A/N2: I thought up Edo Gajeel's surname and the titles of references. Also, I'll be using Gerard instead of Jellal.

Please let me know what you think and vote in the poll on my profile! Thanks!