A Gift

Strange as it was, Gajeel was proving quite at home working in the Magic Council, and Levy honestly couldn't really imagine as to the reason why. He was never that respectful of authority, so it was curious that he took this job as seriously as he did. But Levy figured she shouldn't complain about it; it made her job all the easier too.

For her own, Levy found it rather ironic, all things considered, seeing where the three of them now were. For the longest time, the Magic Council seemed to be fighting to dissolve their guild, only for Fairy Tail to end up disbanding of its own accord, and for three of their former members to end up joining the council. Fortunately, the new Council was made from experienced mages instead of bureaucrats, so they had the sense to see things a bit more objectively. It also meant they paid attention to actual threats, instead of just perceived ones that threatened their authority, but it still always paid to air on the side of caution in this day and age, as Levy was doing right now with Gajeel and Pantherlily.

Though they didn't have the fully story, the Magic Council had gotten word of an artificer working out a local town who apparently had a knack for forging magic rings. He'd been distributing them to some of the major guilds in Fiore for the past few months, and apparently they worked quite well. However, when the Council heard of this, it was decided that such items needed to be regulated more thoroughly. So the Rune Knights were dispatched to meet with this artificer, and bring him back into line with Council law.

"The place should be just up here," Levy said, as she pointed up the hill from the town, of which there were surprisingly few people. She, Gajeel, and Pantherlily were all standing at the head of their forces, ready to get this done with. Since this was just one guy, it was figured that they wouldn't need to worry about a fight or anything like that, but it was still policy, and so they traveled with a couple dozen armed soldiers (better safe than sorry).

"Simmer down, Captain," Pantherlily said, "Don't forget, we're just here to investigate."

"Yeah, yeah," Gajeel answered, though he didn't sound that dissuaded, as the group came up to a decent sized house, beside what looked like a massive forge looming over them. Mulling about were various men and women, carrying ore, tools, and other supplies associated with smithery. Levy was suddenly aware where the townspeople were spending their time, and she couldn't help but notice the stiff way they were all walking, though she didn't have time to dwell on it, as she saw the one they'd come for.

Overlooking all the workers was a tall figure, possibly even taller than Pantherlily, his arms folded, and his back to them. He was wearing an iron-colored trench coat over a similarly colored pair of pants and shirt, and on his hip was an iron rod of sorts. When he turned, Levy say his face was obscured by an iron mask with goggles.

"Can I help you?" He asked in a hard voice.

"Are you Annatar?" Gajeel asked.

"I am," the smith answered, as he approached them, "And, judging by the symbols you bear, I take you are representatives of the Magic Council." He then took a moment to look over them, and the retinue they brought.

"Its seem you've brought quite the force just for me," he continued, "To what do I owe the honor of this visit?" Gajeel grinned, an expression Levy was savvy enough not to let go any further.

"Let me do this," she said, stepping forward, putting her hand on the captain's chest before he could do anything, "It'll pay to be at least somewhat diplomatic here." She then came up to Annatar, who looked down at her.

"My name is Officer Levy McGarden of the Magic Council Custody Division," she explained, keeping her tone steady, "We're here because we heard that you have been distributing unlicensed magical items to the guilds of the kingdom."

"That I have," Annatar said, plain as day.

"So you admit it?" Levy asked, blinking. She though they'd have to wring him just a little.

"Why would I not?" Annatar asked, spreading his hands, "I have nothing to hide, and I must say that I take great pride in the work I do here."

"Well we can't have ya' giving out magic rings like that!" Gajeel growled, as he came up, "So if you don't stop-"

"What my captain means is you have to get a license for the distribution of magical tools," Levy interrupted.

"Is that so?" Annatar responded, though didn't seem that surprised or concerned to hear as much.

"I mean, they're real easy to get," Levy then said, "All you have to do is fill out the form, send it to the-"

"Perhaps some clarification is necessary," Annatar interrupted, folding his arms behind his back, "The items I forge are merely a hobby of mine. I hand them out as gifts, as tokens." Levy cocked her head at that; in all honesy, there was strictly nothing wrong with that alone, if he was just giving them as gifts, but still, it didn't seem wholly appropriate what he was doing.

"In fact…," Annatar said, before anyone else could say anything. He went towards his forge, and gestured for the three in charge to follow him. And despite themselves, they all agreed to do so. After having the Rune Knights stay behind, Gajeel, Levy, and Pantherlily followed Annatar in.

The sight of the inside of the forge made Levy's jaw drop; in the center was a massive fire, fueled by huge piles of coal. There was a large pot in the center of the fire, in which molten metal was bubbling. Lining the fire pit were various molds and smithing points. Working about the forge, be it setting down metal, shoveling coal, or other stuff, were more workers, all covered in filth. All of them looked exhausted, but didn't look any closer to stopping. Annatar made his way over to the fire, and after shooing a few workers away, picked up a box on the table.

"I was planning on presenting these to the Council myself, but maybe it would be more prudent to give them to you as their envoy," Annatar explained, Again, these are nothing more than gifts. And come to think of it..." He set the box back on a table.

"Allow me to make you three some gifts as well."

"Ya trying to bribe us?" Gajeel asked, glaring at the smith.

"That's not necessary," Levy said, holding up her hand.

"I insist," Annatar responded, as he snapped his fingers. A number of workers then assembled, and poured the metal smelting over the fire into a small series of molds that Levy hadn't noticed up into that point.

"At any rate, I already have some gold smelted, I must make some use of it before it cools," Annatar said. His tone left little room for argument, but Levy was a Council enforcer, and she had authority, which she intended on using. But when she opened her mouth, no words came out, as she watched Annatar work, which she found herself unable to tear her eyes away from him.

The way he hammered the material was almost threatening, with hard swings and loud *clanging* sounds. But at the same time, there was a bizarre level of finesse to his work, and with each strike of the hammer, there was a brilliant flash of light. And, while it was probably Levy's imagination, it seemed every time there was a flash, Annatar's form seemed to shift slightly, like Levy was looking at someone through flashing lights. Once he was done, he started using a series of small tools just as much as big ones, he seemed to make tiny inscriptions and engravings, before attaching a blue stone onto the tops of the ring.

Soon enough, he was done, and he offered the completed product to the group, as well as the ones he made earlier. They were all made of fine, black metal with beautiful blue stones on the top of them. Imprinted on the stone was the ankh of the Magic Council; it was truly a beautiful product, Levy couldn't lie.

"Again, we really shouldn't," Levy said, "It would be…"

"I insist," Annatar hissed, as Levy could've sworn she saw a flash of light behind his goggles. But she couldn't' dwell on it, as it was then that a series of images flashed through Levy's mind.

(~)

The whole Fairy Tail guild was back together. They were all hanging out on a beautiful beach, and doing the things they always did: Natsu and Gray were fighting, Erza was scaring them, Cana was drinking, Elfman was being a man, Mirajane was serving drinks, Lucy was watching it all with Wendy, while the Exceeds played in the sands, to name just a few.

For their own, Levy and Gajeel were sitting on benches a little further away, watching their friends. Sitting on Gajeel's shoulder was a little girl with dark blue hair, while in Levy's own arms was a little boy with the same colored hair, and on each of their hands was the rings, shining bright.

It was, in all, one of the most beautiful sights Levy had ever seen.

"Take the rings..."

(~)

Levy let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, as she shook her head clear, and looked at Gajeel, who had a strangely far away look on his face. Despite herself, she wondered if a similar image had flashed through his mind, a thought that made her blush slightly.

"Of course, I can take them back if you really think it's so inappropriate."

"Well, I guess so long as you aren't getting any money for it, I guess it's not too bad," Gajeel said, slowly.

"Wonderful," Annatar said, as the three of them took the rings, while Pantherlily took the box for the Council themselves.

"Well, thanks," Levy said, smiling, "We do really appreciate it."

"Truly, the honor is mine," Annatar answered cooly, as he stepped back. With that, the smoke seemed to shroud his form, and he vanished. The Council enforcers took this as an invitation to take their leave, and return to their troops.

"Let's head out," Gajeel said, gesturing. The Rune Knights exchanged glances, but didn't protest orders, as they made their way back down the hill towards the town.

"Well, that was an odd experience," Pantherlily said, as he shifted the box under this arm.

"I'm sure they'll all be very glad to have these," Levy said, feeling optimistic, as she gazed at her new ring with admiration, before a thought came to her. They hadn't gotten that license from him…

Note: Managed to get back onto this. Since there were a lot of guilds that could need covering, I decided just to knock out the Wendy and Erza in that regard, and then put something in for Gajeel and Levy too. At any rate, I think we can conclude what Sauron has in mind, though, as he even turns his gaze to the Council, but I don't think he'll stop there, either. Speaking of which, something about Gajeel and Levy ending up working for the Magic Council never sat right with me; maybe it was because the Council had always been antagonist of their home guild (even with the new, reasonable Council), it felt off; or maybe I just don't like seeing them anywhere other than Fairy Tail. Not helping was the fact that, much like the old Council, they only showed up after the worst of the threat had already been dealt with.

Lastly, a quick heads up, but I won't be doing an individual chapter for all the different guilds getting rings. That would take too long, and again, at any rate, I think we can all put together Sauron's plan at this point.

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