Soooo... finally getting back on the ball with this one! I almost made another conversation with my favorite blonde ninja, but it seemed stupid after I wrote it...
IMMEDIATE STORY TIME!
(I am not a slave-owner, I do not own Naruto)
After exiting Hargeon Town, the boys finally let go of Lucy, whose wrist was rather numb from the strength of Natsu's grip.
"So, why didn't we take the train?" Lucy asked innocently. Immediately, the temperature in the surrounding area dropped about thirty degrees. Both boys turned to look at her with glares that would scare Shinigami (if he was here).
"Do NOT. Make us get on a TRAIN," Naruto said, fury in his voice. Lucy nodded her head shakily, waterfall tears running down her face. Both boys did a complete 180 from their previous mood, and carried on as though nothing happened.
"W-what was that...?" Lucy stuttered. Kurama landed on her shoulder, and dispelled his wings for the moment.
"Lets just say... they hate any form of transportation. Especially trains right now, since they had a bad experience on the way into town..."
"Ah... Motion sickness?"
"That would be a serious understatement..."
After another hour of walking, a thought popped into Lucy's head.
"So Naruto..." she started.
"Yes?"
"You never did tell me what made you a 'special case'." He stopped walking for a moment, but quickly recovered. Natsu, meanwhile, was mock-glaring at his brother.
"Oh, so you're the special one in the family?" he teased. Naruto grinned in response.
"Well, Lucy, how about you tell me how many kinds of magic a wizard can learn and use." She seemed confused by his question, but answered nontheless.
"Can't mages only use one type of magic?"
"Wrong." She stared at him in bewilderment.
"What?! But, the strain of handling two different magic types would drastically weaken your magical control! Thus, your magic would leak out on its own and cause havoc!"
"That's true, unless you have the necessary training for it," he countered. It finally dawned on her.
"OH... so if you, for example, trained your magic control..."
"...then you could practice different magic types and use them at will; yes," he finished for her.
"But that's incredibly useful! Why wouldn't mages use this skill?" He stopped walking, and stayed there. He seemed to be contemplating how to say this.
"Okay. Since I'm going to have to reveal about my past to explain this, I'll just say it now; this is not my first life." Lucy stared at him, completely dumbfounded.
"Uhhh... what?"
"I once came from a place known as the Elemental Nations. Five in total, each specialized in one different element type: Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, and Lightning. I came from Konohagakure, The Village Hidden in the Leaves."
"Earth Nation, yes?" Lucy guessed. Naruto grinned at her.
"That's what everyone here thought at first(1), but wrong. It's the Fire Nation's Hidden Village. I guess it's because leaves are the quickest way to start a blaze...? I dunno. Anyways, in each nation, there was a Hidden Village that served as the military base for each nation. They had normal civilians, but each village was run by, protected by, and led by ninjas." Lucy stared at him disbelieving.
"Ninjas... seriously?" Naruto mock-glared at her.
"Not like the ninjas that wear all black and only do things with extreme acrobatic skill. Ninjas had the ability to unlock and utilize a force called chakra. Now, since I can talk about the nations later, let me focus on what I wanted to talk about when I introduced this topic: chakra. Chakra is the combination of the Spiritual and Physical energy held within a person's body. Physical energy is made by strengthening the body, and Spiritual energy is made from the experiences a person has lived through; all their emotions coming together. Combining the two energies equals chakra."
"I think I get it..." Lucy was nodding with her eyes shut. "...It's like Yin-Yang, isn't it? Yin is Physical energy, and Yang is Spiritual energy. They can exist without each other, but when they come together they are greater than when apart." Naruto nodded at her with a big smile.
"Exactly! Bonus points for the example! Now, as I've lived here on Earthland, I realized that you all held the same energies as ninjas did. But why did you all perform such different abilities? The answer: two other energies are within your bodies."
"What? But that much energy could kill us!"
"Not exactly. The energy a human body can hold is dependent on the physical traits of a person, but it seems as though your Physical and Spiritual energies have been dampened over time. That means, the body needed more energy to keep itself going. So, it drew in energy from nature and from the mind."
"Nature has energy?"
"Yes; from my time, some very specific people could draw in this energy themselves. This gave them the Sage Mode, where their chakra levels and physical capabilities were increased exponentially. However, it had a time-limit. Since they could only draw in Nature energy while being still, they would stop gathering the energy while in the heat of battle."
"I guess all power has to come with some sort of weakness..." Lucy mumbled.
"Exactly. Just look at me and Natsu. Transportation of any kind makes us feel like we are about to puke..." Naruto broke off with a shudder mirrored by Natsu.
"Anyways, as peoples' original two energies were dampened, the body began to draw in Nature energy on its own. However, this wasn't enough at the time. In ancient history texts, it described a world where these humans lived without any special abilities. However, they made amazing technological achievements that make a train look obsolete. The society was soon destroyed, and left behind only several hundred people and one new giant landmass. This became known as Earthland, though it was once known as Earth. Now, somehow, the body realized that it needed to prevent a catastrophe like that from ever happening again. So, it began to draw in the energy that was left over from the disaster. Alchemical Energy, to be exact."
"Alchemical? What's that?"
"The apocalypse was caused by alchemy, the science of creating one thing out of another. Like gold from lead." Lucy gaped at that.
"That's incredible..."
"But it was too unstable. Earth's inhabitants had managed a way to travel throughout space (yes, technological achievements. I know...) but they never got a human past Mars(2). Too long to travel, so they began to research new methods of transportation. One way they were banking on, was being able to open portal anywhere in the universe from the central location they called the Stargate. The Stargate was supposed to separate all of the intended transporters atoms, turn it into light, and send it across the galaxy only to reform at the intended destination where another portal would transform them back(3). Very dangerous, very unstable, but very smart. However, during the testing phase, an accident occurred that created a giant gravitational mass that dragged everything in across the planet. It wasn't strong enough to collapse the planet, but strong enough to drag everything on it! Eventually, it lost all power and the catastrophe ended. Only a few hundred survivors on a single landmass..."
"How awful... How could anyone survive that?"
"A miracle, that's how. If it didn't lose power, it would've kept going until the entire planet was bare. Anyways, the accident left an imprint on the planet. It saturated the Earth with the energy used to power it: Alchemical Energy to be exact. The human body soon began to draw in the energy, and thus our fourth energy was born. The fourth energy is grown by training the mind. Reflexes, logic, knowledge, all that jazz..."
"I never knew our Magic was gained through such a loss of human life... but you still never explained why we can't use more than one magic!" Lucy said.
"I was getting to that... Now, since we have four different energy types in our body, we do everything we can to keep it stable. Remember the Yin-Yang example from earlier? Add two more segments named Yon and Yune. It's completely chaotic, but still manages to keep itself in balance. As we gained the ability to utilize the four energies, all coming together to form Magical Energy, the four segments became a little disjointed. Like a cog that isn't completely on the track; not perfect, but enough to work. Now, if we use a different magic, the cog is really off the track. It can slip, and the performance is less than satisfactory. Third magic, everything goes to pot. So, to answer your original question, most mages can't learn a second or third magic because it either completely disrupts the flow of energy, causing imminent death, or they use too much or too little energy for spells, making the spell weak or too chaotic."
"So, instead of just wasting magic energy, or wasting time training, most mages would just stick with one magic." Naruto nodded to her.
"Exactly. However, this is for the mages with low magic energy. With high magic energy they can learn two magics easily. For example, our guildmaster. He knows Titan Magic, allowing him to change his size into a giant, but he can also use Light Magic in battle. High magical energy is needed for a wizard to perform the more complex and advanced techniques, and for learning two or more magics. Imagine the cogs again; a person with higher magical energy would have a bigger and thicker cog. It would be very hard to disjoint it and it can still run efficiently."
"Hold on a moment, bro!" Natsu interjected. "Erza has her Requip Magic, and she has her telekinesis! How can she have two like that?"
"I just explained it! She has extreme magical power! Also, Telekinesis is just a minor ability in magic. Sure, it can be used it battle, but it doesn't have any actual telekinesis spells. That's what Minor Magics are: if the person has the innate ability to perform something using magic, but it doesn't require actual spellwork. For example, our friend Levy McGarden uses Solid Script magic, but also specializes in Rune Magic. She decoded ancient runes, and can write out runes of her own as well; a Minor Magic Ability."
"Ohhhhh..." Natsu and Lucy said in sync.
"Wow, Naruto! You know a lot about Magic!" Lucy honestly praised. Naruto grinned.
"Well, my teachers wanted to know if there was anything that connected my past life to this life. After my first trip into town, they sent me back to ancient archives to find out about the planet's history. I ended up learning a lot about magic, but in the end I just asked my birth parents for help." Lucy nodded sagely at that, then did a double-take at Naruto.
"Wait, but your birth parents are dead!" Naruto chuckled nervously.
"Yes... look I'll explain in Magnolia, okay? Let's just get back to walking; we have at least two more days of travel, three if we keep this speed up..."
Two days later...
"THANK KAMI!" Naruto cheered. "We're back home!" Lucy reached the top of the hill, and took in the sights. Magnolia was a large built-up area, extending over a large, rectangular surface to the shores of Lake Sciliora. Splitting the town vertically and horizontally was a series of large roads, and a few large canals. The whole place was western in style, with its buildings being mildly reminiscent of neat medieval ones. Located almost in the middle of the town was Kardia Cathedral, one of Magnolia's most important and distinctive landmarks.
"It's so beautiful..." Lucy gasped.
"It's home," Kurama quipped stoically. Lucy turned to the boys.
"So, where's the guil-" she broke off, realizing that two wizards and a blue cat were missing. She looked down the hill to see said missing persons running into town. Kurama sighed, and formed his wings.
"They always do this... C'mon, I'll take you to the guild hall." Lucy nodded and gave her thanks, and the two set off.
Kurama led Lucy right up to a large, three-story, pagoda-styled building, right up to the large double-doors in the front.
"You ready?" Kurama asked. Lucy looked behind her for a moment worriedly.
"Shouldn't we wait for the others?"
"They're big boys, now, Lucy. They can find their own way back..." He pushed one of the doors open and walked inside...
...only to be thrown right back out courtesy of a flying chair. Lucy squeaked in fright, but Kurama got right back up and marched inside. He was heard yelling obscenities about how he was going to CENSOREDCENSOREDCENSOREDCENSOREDCENSOREDCENSORED. Lucy had no choice but to follow, and walked into, what seemed to be, an all-out brawl. Chairs were flying, bottles were thrown, and limbs were flailing all in one giant dust cloud in the middle of the room. Some people were sitting on the sidelines, but they didn't look any more normal. One woman was sitting at the bar drinking out of a entire vat of beer. She saw a small, old man (that probably didn't stand taller than Lucy's waist) was sitting on the railing that led to the second floor, and he was just watching everything instead of trying to stop them. She saw an orange-haired man sitting in a corner, along with two women who seemed to be clinging onto him. Loke, one of Sorcerer Weekly's most eligible bachelors. Lucy pulled out the list of said bachelors, and crossed him off.
"Everyone here is crazy... is the guild always like this?" Lucy asked herself... or so she thought.
"Of course!" A bright voice sounded from behind her. She turned to see none other than Mirajane Strauss herself, the woman highly recognized for her bikini photos in Sorcerer Weekly. Lucy happened to be a big fan, and gushed over her for a moment. She then looked back at the brawl.
"Ummm... shouldn't we try to stop them?" she asked Mira, pointing to the crowd for a moment.
"No need. TThey always fight like this, and I just let them go at it..."
Several of the wizards began to power-up for their respective spells, turning the brawl into a more dangerous fight. Suddenly, a shadowed, towering figure, monstrous in size, appeared in the middle of the room.
"WOULD YOU FOOLS STOP BICKERING AROUND AND FIGHTING LIKE CHILDREN?!" The room completely froze at that point. Nobody dared to even breathe. Natsu, meanwhile, was laughing about how the rest of the guild was acting like a bunch of babies. That was when the giant's foot smashed down on him.
"SHUT UP NATSU..." the giant rumbled. He shank back down to his original size in front of Lucy, confirming that, yes, he didn't even reach past her waist.
"This is the guildmaster?! But he's so tiny!"
"Of course he is! Allow me to introduce the Fairy Tail guildmaster: Makarov!" Mira replied, not losing one bit of her cheery attitude. The master then performed a backflip, trying to reach the banister he was sitting on, but hit his head along the way. He groaned in pain for a moment, then climbed up to address the guild.
"You've gone and done it again, you bunch of clogs! Just look at how much paperwork the Magic Council sent me this time! This is the biggest pile of complaints yet! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MINDS?! All you kids are good for is getting the higher-ups mad at me!" The guild member looked down rather guiltily.
"However..." the stack of papers in Makarov's hand ignited. "...I say to heck with the magic council!" He tossed the stack away from him, which Natsu jumped up to and ate. Naruto suddenly walked up from behind the master, hand-in-hand with a tall muscular guy with blonde hair. Lucy realized this was Naruto's boyfriend.
"Any power that surpasses reason, still comes from reason, right? Magic isn't some kind of miraculous power; it is a talent that only works when the flow of energy inside of us, and the flow of energy in the natural world are in perfect synchronization. To perform magic, one must have a strong mind and the ability to focus. It should come out of your being and pour into your very soul!" Naruto lectured. His boyfriend grinned, and pointed to Naruto.
"What he said..." Makarov took over at this point.
"If all we do is worry about following rules, then our magic will never progress! Don't let those blowhards on the council scare you! Follow the path you believe in!" All three men on the second floor raised their hands up, index and thumb extended in an L-shape.
"'CUZ THAT'S WHAT MAKES THE FAIRY TAIL GUILD NUMBER ONE!" All three shouted at the same time. The guild below let out a roar and copied their guildmaster. Lucy, caught up in the moment, followed suit with a smile on her face.
Oh yes... she would get along great in here.
I can't believe how much I wrote for the new chapter! I'm still in shock I came up with such a great theory in how to tie the Naruto, Fairy Tail, and our worlds together like that! I know Naruto seems smarter than he did in the EN, but he lived two lives! He's gotta understand that he needs to up his education! Also, the dragons threatened to torture-train him if he didn't learn twenty new things a session...
Anyways...
(1): That's what I thought at first, at least...
(2): Yes, they study the planets...
(3): Got the basic idea of this from Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. The Space Station level had different teleporters that would split up the molecules in Ratchet's body, and send them whizzing through space to the intended teleporter.
(4): Yes, Naruto took some of Makarov's speech in Episode 2 of Fairy Tail... it would make sense that he would say it!
Review your hearts out, people!
Kage Musha