A Saiyan Among Wizards

Chapter 21

The Ring of Anubus

Author's Notes: I was just going to leave the last chapter as a cliff hanger, but it would've bugged me probably a hell of a lot more than it would you guys. So, I'm gonna roll with this until the end of what I'm calling the 'Anubis arc' for the sake of the possible length this will be. I have a good idea on where I'll have this road lead us and I'll do my best with it. I also apologize in advance for the wait. I've stalled long enough, now on with the show!

*Insert TFS disclaimer. Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and Funimation. I do not own any other mentioned properties.

"Ten minutes till the last depature for Oshibana!" called the conducter from the station platform.

"Hey, Marc," said the bluenette standing at my elbow, "shouldn't we be getting on the train now."

"Yeah, why don't you find us some seats, I just remembered that left something just outside." Jabbing a thumb in the direction of the enterance.

Walking outside, I had to immediately facepalm at the scene that met my eyes. A crowd had gathered to watch a man-sized cat try in vain to drag one of Fairy Tail's dragonslayers up the stairs of the train station. God dammit Gajeel! This was your idea in the first place, don't chicken out on me now! I was never really sure if I said that in my head or shouted it over his screams of not wanting to go and that he'd changed his mind. Getting closer, I could see why Lily was having so much trouble getting Gajeel to move. He had turned his fingers into metal hooks that dug deeply into the cobblestone street. That, combined with the strength gained by training with me, meant it was close to impossible for the exceed to keep him in one spot, let alone move him any further.

"C'mon, we don't have time to deal with your bullshit right now," wrapping my arms around his middle, I gave an all mighty heave and pulled him from the ground and threw him over my shoulder despite his protests and flailing, "Lily, could you do me a favor and grab his bag for me."

"Sure thing." he panted, relieved he no longer had to keep Gajeel from running back home. Staying in his battle form, he grabbed Gajeel's pack as well as his own and followed me and a now strangely complacent Gajeel into the station.

It didn't take long to find Levy amongst the other people in the train car. Putting the iron dragon in the window seat so he couldn't run off, I helped Lily with the luggage and sat down across from him.

"Mind fillin' me in on this job you dragged me on." Gajeel said bitterly, staring out the window as the carriage shook from the train starting to move.

"Quite yer bitchin', again, I remind you, this was something you wanted to do." I chastised, "Now, the four of us are going to take out a large group of bandits that has occupied some nearby ruins, they're paying six hundred thousand for us to do so. But here's the kicker," Now having everyone's full attention, "more than half of 'em are wizards and strong ones by all accounts. There's a huge bonus if we are able recover a magic item owned by one of the richer residents."

"How huge?" Lily inquired.

"See for yourself," holding up the request sheet for all to see.

"EIGHT MILLION!" They all screamed in unison, nearly making me drop the paper in fright.

"What the hell is so damn valuable that they'd pay that much just to get it back?!" Gajeel said quietly while we got suspcious looks from the other passengers.

"Something called," pausing as I scanned that last few lines, "'The Ring of Anubis.'" And I knew exactly why I heard something thump to the floor, for my astonishment was almost as great.

"You're joking right?!" Levy asked shakely from her spot the floor.

"I'm not." handing her the flyer. "I know the name 'Anubis' from an old mythology in my world, being a god of sorts I think. But what does that mean here?"

"Let's just say that this ring makes the Book of Zeref look like a children's toy." Levy answered, Lily helping her back to her seat. Thank God no one's close enough to hear this.

"That bad, huh?" I asked. She nodded. Letting out a sigh, "Perfect." I added sarcastically, "You guys get some rest. This job just got a hell off a lot more complicated and I need to rethink our strategy a bit." Getting up with my chin tucked in between my index and thumb, ideas bouncing around in my head that would almost work but would get in the way of the secondary plan of this job. I had spent a good part of the day working on it and I don't want it to be all for naught.

"Fine by me," yawned Gajeel, "just wake me when we get there." Sinking into a more comfortable position and laying his head against the window, closing his eyes to the last rays of the sun that cast interesting shadows across his face.

"Wait a minute, aren't we going to talk this out and come up with a better plan together?!" I heard Levy ask as I walked to the front of the car to find a place where I wouldn't be disturbed.

"Relax Shrimp, the Hero's a genius when it comes to this sort of thing. Ya should've seen the plan he came up with in Edolas when we were savin' your hides." Gajeel said casually.

"I remember that our forces never stood a chance and he never had to step in unless something in his plan failed. I believe that only happened once and the men he took out were still unconcious when the one you call Mystogen activated the anti-anima." Lily added. Yeah, but that only happened because Natsu refused to do as he was told. Then again, I should've expected that.

"Okay, but what if his plan fails this time, what happens then?" She asked.

"Plan B."

"What's that?"

"We start blowin' shit up." Gajeel concluded with a sadistic chuckle before I let the car door behind me shut, hoping a great idea could be encouraged by the fresh air from atop the carriage. I guess if anything else, I could play it by ear. Won't be as clean though, I just pray we can keep the collateral to a minimum.

A couple hours and a demensional trip later, I walked back to our seats with a new tool tucked under my arm to find the script mage still awake. Putting away the black mass of cloth, "What's the matter, can't sleep?" I asked before sitting down in Lily's empty seat, the exceed himself was asleep in Gajeel's lap, having learned of the infinite mystery of it being extremely comfortable.

"Wha-what?!" startled, "No it's just that," she was blushing slightly, "I never imagined him to be so cute when he's asleep." Hiding face behind her hands in shame of admitting it.

"I know what you mean, with how fiercely he acts you wouldn't expect this sour puss to be what he really is." I said, chucking quietly, knowing Gajeel to be a lighter sleeper than me. Though, not by much.

"What's that?" she asked, embarressment quickly being replaced curiousity.

"Under that prickly exterior, he's a really sweet and thoughtful guy."

"No way!" she said loud enough to make the dragonslayer stir in his sleep.

"Mmhm." taking off my ring, "here's the proof." I whispered as I handed it to her. "He made it for me for the Christmas party and I haven't taken it off since." I explained as she inspected it.

"What does 'always' mean?" her eyes falling upon the engraving before looking into mine and handing it back.

Slipping it back on, "It means, no matter what happens, no matter what stands between us, be it a fight, a misunderstanding, going our seperate ways, or even death, he will still love me. Always."

"That's so beautiful." Tears welling in her eyes.

"Believe me now?" Handing her a hankerchief. She nodded as she wiped her eyes. "You should get some sleep, We'll be arriving shortly." Leaning back in my seat, letting my eyes rest but never truely sleeping.

Having spent the night in a hotel, the rest of the group wasn't too thrilled when I told them that we'd be roughing it until we finished our job. If they think this is bad, they should try camping with Piccolo.

Wanting to set up a base camp as soon as possible, we flew, with Gajeel carrying Levy, over much of the terrain until we were within a couple miles of the bandit's hideout. These ruins were freightenly familiar, something resembling a mixture of Aztec and Eygptian architecture and it was very big. Ah man! That's more work for me. I groaned internally.

With a frown and a sigh, I descended close to the forest area below and began searching for a suitable campsite. With some great luck, I stumbled upon a small clearing that was perfect. Unloading the bulk of my pack, I had large tent set up with with enough supplies to last us three days at the most.

"Alright here's the plan," changing into my new stealth gear, "I'm going to go do some recon, establish our chances, and find out where they're keeping the ring." Throwing on a long black coat with two zippers and a chain connecting at the shoulders, "Levy, it would be for the best if we knew everything we could about that ring and it's Gajeel's job to fly into town to get what you need, since he's going to be the fastest here while I'm gone."

"Better than doing nothing I guess." Gajeel said with resignation.

"What about me?" asked Lily.

"Simple," pulling on black gloves and clapping my hands together to make a combat dagger and a Buster Sword, "your job is to keep Levy safe while Gajeel is away collecting books for her." Giving Lily the dagger and leaning the blade up against a nearby tree, "I think that's everything, any questions?"

"Yeah," Gajeel spoke up, "where'd ya get that coat? I don't remember seeing it before."

"Uhhhmmmm..." I stalled.

Elsewhere, in a ridiculously large castle, thirteen people had baracaded themselves in the kitchen as man with a x-shaped scar and long blue hair was on the rampage. All the while, he was screaming something about where in the hell did his coat disappear to. In a side corridor, a rugged man with shaggy black hair and yule eyes watched in amusement with a wolfish grin.

Back to in Fiore, "I 'borrowed' it from a friend." Marcus lied quickly, smiling sheepishly as he tried to pass this of as the complete truth.

"Well it's pretty badass, do ya think you could get another one from yer friend?" Gajeel asked.

"We'll see." Raising his hood, "I'll tell you guys what I find out as soon as I'm finished." taking flight in the direction of the ruins. Gajeel turned to Levy to have a list of books thrusted into his hand before taking flight as well, but for Oshibana. Leaving Lily alone with the script mage. With only awkward small talk as an alternative, Lily spent most of his efforts to familiarize himself with the new weapons to keep him busy.

Without anyone to slow him down, Marcus flew at top speed towards his objective. He disappeared from the sight of most humans when he closed on the ruined temple. Focusing on speed alone, he instantly broke through and repaired the wall of the top floor. Brushing the hair that had grown longer since joining Fairy Tail out of his eyes, he began a stealthy round of the structure and shrunk into shadows as others came too close.

Marcus, and his family to an extent, was a paradox among saiyans. Even by Goku standards he was strange, as he had found out so long ago. While a saiyan's hair never changed from birth, his did. Saiyans usually had to eat ridiculous amounts of food to keep up their strength, Marcus didn't. There were other, smaller ways that he differed from other remaining saiyans, but he guessed that came from originating different demensions. Most of the time, he was grateful he was different from Goku, Vegeta, and the others. The greatest example of this was when he could easily push aside his love of fighting to think of a more rational and safer route to either complete a job or help his friends become stronger. You could say that the root of this could be that Marcus only wants to be there just in case something happens that only he can take care of.

This was one of many things that plagued his mind when on his own. Even now, as he lurked in the rafters of a large hall observing the many men and women below, he thought of these things. Only to brush them aside and have them replaced with thoughts of a certian dragonslayer. Those always made him smile, for he felt so blessed that everything between them had been going so well with only a few minor hiccups here and there. But he disgarded these as well, having stumbled upon a conversation between two bandits about the Ring of Anubis.

Hovering in a dark corner, he listened to a grizzled man tell his friend, "I've heard that a god lives in that ring, searching for someone strong enough to possess."

"Bullshit," said the other man, "I've been told that you're granted three wishes if you put it on."

"Hey you two! Stop gossiping and get back to your posts!" Yelled a woman holding a staff, walking quickly towards the two men. "Why must I continue to surround myself with idiots?" She asked herself. Marcus so wanted to reply with, 'because it's never a dull moment with them around,' but he kept his mouth shut.

Meanwhile, back at the camp, Gajeel had returned with a large stack of books that were essential for their job. Or at least, that's what Marcus seemed to think. Gajeel never really understood the saiyan at times. Like how he acted like he could easily be mistaken for being at least twenty years older than he really was and in the same instant turn into a five year old by sticking out his tongue or doing something equally as childish. And, more often than anyone would admit, when he could be so prepared when something out of the ordinary happened and knew more about what was going on than anyone else. It's almost as though he could see the future long before it happened. It was kinda spooky.

"Thanks Gajeel," inspecting the tomes, "Wow, these must have cost a fortune!" she exclaimed as she flipped through the well kept, yet aged pages.

"Not a problem," Gajeel brushed off, "Hero's a bit of a workaholic and tends to go out on S-class missions with Erza whenever she's free, says he likes to have the Jewel just in case somethin' happens. I think he just likes the work for some weird reason." But the script mage already stopped listening, engrossed in her studies. Slightly put out, Gajeel turned to his exceed who had just finished practicing with the large sword Marcus had left. "What's with the holes near the top?" he asked as Lily panted.

"Couldn't tell you," he said, after regaining his breath, "but I have a hunch that you could fit lacrimi in them. On another note," popping back to his smaller form, "this blade is a lot heavier than I thought it was."

Gajeel took the blade into his hands to find that Lily's words were true, it was indeed a lot denser than it appeared. Inspecting it for a few minutes and giving it a few swings to test the durability, "It's made of tungsten, so no wonder it's heavy." he concluded, intrigued by the saiyan's choice in materials.

"How'd you figure that out?" the exceed asked, only to recieve a sarcastic look, "Nevermind, stupid question. What meant to ask was," Lily backtracked, "is that a rather dense metal?"

"You bet yer ass it is," Gajeel said as though it were obvious, letting the sword rest on his shoulder, "almost chipped a tooth on a chunk of it once. Metallicana had to take the rest of the day to teach me all of the metals he knew of to make sure I didn't do it again and actually lose one." blinking in surprise, having said more than he ment to. "Anyways," he continued with noticable force, "leave it to Hero to find some way to give us trainin' while on a mission

Night had fallen by the time Marcus returned to camp, exhausted enough that he almost immediatly crawled into Gajeel's lap and fell asleep. He would've too if he hadn't made a promise to tell everyone what he had discovered.

"Hey," Gajeel started, slightly irate and prodding the saiyan's face only have his hand sleepily swatted away, "dontcha have something to tell us?!"

Marcus made a noise between a groan and a whine before pushing his face further into his lover's lap. He continued to do this until Gajeel was pounding the back of his head with his butt of his fists. "Alright, fine!" Marcus shouted as he sat up, glarring daggers at the dragonslayer, "I was going to tell all of you what I found out in the morning when everyone would be awake! But since you're such an inpatient fuck," giving the raven a melodramatic push, "I guess I'll ..." he was about to finish before he got a pushed back, starting what equated to play fight, at least by their standards.

"Are they usually liked this?" Levy asked, hoping Lily would have enough experiance from the past month to answer.

"Only when Marcus is tired," he replied as they almost rolled into the fire, "they often tease each other, Gajeel mostly, but they're usually good sports about it. One night, Marcus came back late from a rather harrowing job that was only supposed to take part of the morning and Gajeel, being Gajeel, decided it would be a good idea to draw on his face while he took quick nap on the couch before dinner." Pulling out some polaroids, "The flashes woke him up." handing them to the script mage.

Levy held them up so she could see them in the firelight and began giggling uncontrolably as soon as she got a good look at them. The first one was just after Gajeel had finished his masterpiece, the words 'I love cock' were scrawled in a speech bubble one cheek, a crudely drawn dick on the other, and black circles on his eyes. The second was slightly blurred, but it was obvious that Marcus had woken up and the dragonslayer had begun to flee. The next was probably taken by Lily, showing that Gajeel hadn't gotten far and was on his back screaming and kicking while Marcus was on top of him, holding his arms above his head with one hand, one knee at his throat, and his other hand held a marker that appeared twice. Once on the left getting ready to swipe and again on the right outstretched as if he delt a swift death blow. The last photo was of the both of them and the aftermath, Marcus was smirking smugly at the camera holding up the peace sign while it looked like Gajeel had just been yanked into the frame, the words 'One does not simply poke a sleeping saiyan' and 'I'm an asshole, I eat the silverware' were written in elegant calligraphy across his face and looking as though he just fought a tornado.

"YOU BETTER NOT BE SHOWING HER THEM PICTURES YOU DAMN CAT!" Gajeel yelled from somewhere in the brush outside the the fire's light radius.

"Hey, hey," Marcus laughed, his head popping up seemingly out of nowhere, "he totally is!" he cheered before he was pulled back down again.

Oh my god! I did it! I finally finished a god damn chapter! *Celebratory noises* About time too! Sorry I've kept you guys waiting, I wanna say I started this chapter a month ago, but it's probably been longer. Hope you enjoyed it! Little warning though, I've got some rather dark stuff planned for the future, for this and in general. I'm not saying anymore, so leave a review and I'll see you next time!

P.S. Also, should I write in third-person more or do you guys like the first-person more? It won't affect the next two chapters, but I'd still like to know.