Late 12th Century Camelot
{Third Person POV}
A black cat-like dragon flies through the clouds towards a castle atop a hill.
He soars overhead as knights spar against one another in the arena, pausing to watch the dragon.
He soars over the town square until he finally reaches the castle, turning into a cat as he lands on the roof
Panning into the cattle we see a young man wearing leather work clothes. His black hair was tied in a man-bun and he was sweeping the floor of what looked to be a workshop of sorts.
Near him was a young woman who looked to be close in age to the man. She was wearing a dirty old dress similar in color to the man's clothes. She had H/c (Hair color) hair and striking E/c (eye color) eyes. She hummed softly as she swept across the floor.
These people were Hisirdoux and Yn
Better known as Douxie and Yn, the young apprentices of Merlin.
Douxie is sweeping when he runs into a suit of armor, knocking the helmet off its head.
He groans as he goes to pick it up
Yn casts him a glance and snickers quietly
He shoots her an amused glare and then gasps in surprise as the suit of armor angerly takes its head back.
"Sorry," Douxie says as the armor sizes him up
The armor stands back at attention and Douxie rolls his eyes in annoyance.
"Careful Doux," Yn says playfully
"Oh shut it" Douxie replies back in a similar tone.
Begrudgingly, Douxie leans down to pick up the broom he had dropped, sighing as he looks at the mess he and Yn still had to clean.
The H/c haired girl walked over to stand next to Douxie
"This is going to take forever," She says with annoyance in her tone.
Douxie nods in agreement but then pauses as he gets an idea.
He looks over to Yn with a smirk and it doesn't take her long to realize what he was thinking.
She smirked back and both reached out their arms and scrolled through their wrist bands.
They both landed on a spell, holding out their brooms as a blue light outlined Douxie's broom and a F/C (favorite color) light outlined Yn's.
The enchanted brooms then started moving around the room on their own, sweeping up everything in the room. Douxie grabbed Yn's hand and led her over to the stairs with a yawn. He let her go as he picked up his lute and started to strum.
His strumming was interrupted when his broom swept under him, knocking him off his seat.
"Blast it" Douxie mutters as Merlin walks in through the door.
Yn started to giggle until she herself was knocked off her seat by her own broom.
"Hisirdoux! Yn! What have we talked about?" Merlin asks in a stern tone.
Douxie sighs as he stands up from the floor, reaching a helping hand to Yn.
"Magic isn't a permissible shortcut to hard work." Both apprentices reply in unison.
"Carry on and don't-" Merlin starts as he walks in the door
"But Master-" Douxie starts as he approaches Merlin
"...'but Master' me"
"I'm just- I know I'm capable- We're capable of more than just pushing a broom"
Yn nods in agreement as she summons both brooms to her hand and hands one back to Douxie.
The brooms, however, still being enchanted, started to attack both of them.
Douxie was knocked onto the table as Yn was knocked backward into a bookshelf.
"Teach us to become proper sorcerers" Douxie gasped out while fighting the broom
"Yeah, we are ready" Yn joined in while also fighting her broom.
Merlin uses his magic to mix ingredients into a bowl as he addressed the pair of apprentices
"If there is a universal truth in this world, it is that struggle is the flame which forged one's soul into steel. Magic cannot be a crutch."
"Haha" Douxie laughs out as he gains the upper hand against his broom and loses it almost immediately after.
"To take the easy way out, is to merely exist, Hisiridoux. Yn." Merlin says as he walks away from his cauldron and over to the two.
Merlin enchants the two brooms and frees the struggling apprentices
"So why are we learning spells if we're not supposed to use them?" Yn asks as she gets up and walks over to the table Douxie was still laying on "We want to be wizards, like you, with a staff and everything!"
This time it's Yn's turn to offer a hand as she helps Douxie off the table
"Staffs are for those with mastery over magic, and magic is mastery over life." Merlin places a hand on both Yn and Douxie's shoulders, "So, first, you must learn how to live. Master that lesson, and I vow your days of pushing brooms will be over"
Yn and Douxie turn to smile at each other excitedly
-Time Skip-
Nine Centuries Later
{YN POV}
I swept under one of the tables in the cafe
We were just closing and the place was a mess
I hear Douxie murmur a "blast it" and look over to him.
I saw him hold out his broom as if preparing to enchant it.
"Magic isn't a permissible shortcut to hard work" I remind him, mimicking the old man's voice from back when he used to lecture us with the same line
Douxie lets out a laugh before sighing and looking over at me
"Yeah I know, I know."
I smile sadly at him. "Don't worry. We'll be done soon"
He nods and turns back to his work as I do the same. Wishing I could just use a bit of magic to help along the way.
A car passes by outside as our coworker walks out the door
"Night, Douxie, Yn! Thanks for cleaning up" he calls out
"Or course" Doux replies.
I turn around and smile as he leaves.
Douxie then walks over to the window and changes the light on the open sign so it now reads "nope" signally that we were finally closed for the day.
I let out a yawn as I finish cleaning with Doux
We both leave the shop as Doux turns around to lock the door.
He turns to Archie and me with a smile
"Right. Time for real work. You ready?"
Archie meows and I grin in response
Douxie and I then head off towards the alley as a shadow follows behind.
{Third Person POV}
Archie walked between trash bins, sniffing the ground as he went.
He hops from bin to bin looking around as the shadow dives down beside him.
Archie pauses at the end of the ally and sits down.
The shadow emerges showing a dark creature with glowing yellow eyes and mouth.
The creature leaps at Archie, but Archie moves away as Douxie takes his place, laughing as he holds his hand out and sends blue magic at the creature.
The creature struggles as it is caught in a blue bubble
Yn comes out from around the corner laughing in excitement
"Tis my cleanest capture yet!" Douxie says excitedly
{Yn Pov}
I smile as I look at Douxie's happy smiling face.
He was awfully cute when he got excited.
I couldn't help but stare at him. His hazel eyes. His black and blue hair. His bright smile. His adorable laugh. All of it.
I hadn't realized how long I was staring until Douxie waved his hand in front of my face.
I snap outta my trance
"I'm sorry, what?"
Douxie laughs
"I was just talking with Archie on what the creature we caught was. I say an umber imp. Archie says 'es a shadow mephit. I asked what you think?"
I look over at the creature struggling in its bubble
"Hmmmmmm. I think I'm gonna have to agree with Archie on this. Sorry, Doux. Umber imps don't fade like shadow mephits."
Douxie nods in understanding
"Alright, I guess that's true. Either way, let's take a sec to recognize that we've done some very good magic tonight!"
I smiled at him and then noticed that behind us, the shadow mephit had started to break through his magic prison.
"Uh douxie. Old pal" Archie tried to tell Douxie about the mephit, but Douxie disregards him
"No, no, no, revel in the victory. We're unappreciated, Arch, silent sentinels keeping the world safe from specters and demons and-."
A pop indicated the mephit had finally freed himself.
"It's out of the trap, isn't it?" Douxie says, freezing with his arms out
Both Archie and I nod as we keep our eyes on the mephit.
Douxie faces the mephit and pushes me slightly behind him
The mephit roars and jumps towards Douxie.
Doux yells as I push us both out of the way and onto the ground.
The mephit attempts to bite us, but Douxie blocks it with his rune bracelet.
Said bracelet starts to glow blue as Douxie blasts and creature off of him.
I stand up and then reach down to help Douxie up.
The shadow mephit regains its senses and starts running down the alley with Douxie, Archie, and I in pursuit.
"Your capture technique is still weak, and you could use a couple more centuries of practice." Archie lectures Douxie as he runs into garbage cans and bins while chasing the mephit
"I will not be lectured by someone who licks their own butt!"
I snicker into my hand at that.
An idea then suddenly hits me as I split off from the two and head to cut the shadow mephit off.
I hear Douxie yelling and thinks banging around as I presume he is dragged throughout the street by the mephit. Both him and Archie discussing hunts from the past.
I turn one last corner to see Douxie slam into a truck
I wince but then focus on finding the fire rune on my bracelet.
"Uh... I've-- I've got it! I've got it! I've..." Douxie says as he searches through his spells as the mephit heads towards him
I beat him to it though and blast the mephit away from him with a fireball
Douxie looks over at me in surprise
"Unlike umber imps, mephits are vulnerable to fire," I say with a smile
Archie nods his head in agreement as he flies down from the roof he was just on.
Douxie smirks and then turns back to the mephit. He uses his magic and casts a spell to capture the mephit once again
"Saucy midge. Your pet-munching days are over! Say "Hi" to everyone in limbo for me."
The mephit tries to climb out of the magic hole but is sucked in. The hole closes leaving the mephit trapped inside.
Douxie smiles when his magic dies down and announces to the empty street,
"You're welcome Arcadia"
I laugh as I walk over to him.
"If only people knew how many creatures we keep off the streets," I say
Doux looks down at me
"Yeah, but at the end of the day, I'm just glad to use some of my magic. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Yeah, I suppose so," I say
Archie then directs our attention back towards the mephit we just captured.
"Strange. A lone shadow mephit snacking on pets. Where there's one, there's usually more."
"You're right..." I say, but then shrug "I guess it was a lone patrol today."
Archie hums, not totally agreeing with me.
The lights and stoplights along the road suddenly overload and burst
"Hisirdoux..."
"Yn..."
A voice echos through the wind
Douxie jumps off the truck and lands right next to me
"Merlin? Merlin?! Yes! Finally Arch, yn. Our moment has arrived!" He looks over at me and pumps his fist in the air with a huge smile across his face
I grin and repeat the action right back at him in excitement.
Merlin is here which means we may finally be able to show him all the magic we have been working on all these years.
We see a green mist as a hologram version of Merlin raises from the ground.
Doux and I kneel
"Master Merlin," we say in unison.
"Hisirdoux, Yn, my faithful apprentices, I need-"
"You're darn right we've been faithful! We have been mopping for a millennium!" Douxie says as he stands up angrily
"Yeah, Why didn't you send a raven or a text? There's texting now, you know." I add on, standing up as well.
"I was busy, as you know" Merlin responds with annoyance
This seems to tick Douxie off even more.
Not that I blame him though. He and I have been working at that cafe for so long. We deserved to at least be kept up to date.
Not that I mind Douxie's company though. It was nice spending time with him.
I snap out of my thoughts when Douxie responds
"Yeah? Well, Yn and I have been quite busy too, protecting the material plane while you weren't around."
"Hisirdoux, I need you and Yn-"
Douxie interrupts once again
I sigh out
"About time. I've been practicing my incantations and my spells with Yn-" Douxie says as he gestures to me
I nod in agreement
"Enough!" Merlin shouts, "Matters are most dire! I need you to bring me the guardians of Arcadia, with haste!"
What does he need them for?
I wonder what's so dire that Merlin needs them all.
I look over to see Douxie with annoyance on his face as Merlin disappears.
"Oh, it's our moment all right, as errand runners." Archie states
Douxie sighs in disappointment as I put a hand on his shoulder
He looks over at me and meets my eyes.
Time seems to stop for a second as we just look at each other.
I smile at him and see him smile back
My heart skips a beat.
He puts his hand on top of mine as we just get lost in each other's gaze.
"So I guess I shall go retrieve these guardians. I will bring them to the bookstore "Archie says, ruining the moment.
Douxie and I nod in understanding as Archie flies off
We then turn our attention back to one another.
"So I guess we should start heading that way huh," I say
Douxie nods with a small smile
I smile back and then start walking towards the shop.
{Third Person POV}
As Yn walks away Douxie stands for a moment and just watches her with a lovesick smile on his face.
He knew of his feelings for her. He's had them for centuries now.
He just wasn't sure if she felt the same towards him
"One day," He says to himself as his eyes stay on the H/c haired girl, "one day I'll tell you how I really feel."
With that, he follows her towards the store so they can meet up with the guardians
-Time Skip to After Archie meets with Toby, Steve, and Arrrgh-
{Yn Pov}
I hear Toby talking as Archie leads him, Steve, and Arrgh towards Douxie and I
"Sorry, this is a lot to process! Pets can talk? The world is ending? Again?"
"Not the best timing, I know," I say to them
"But we need your help all the same," Douxie finishes for me
"Douxie? Yn?" Toby says, surprised to see us
"Wai- wha- hold up! I thought you two worked at the cafe, or were, like, models or something" Steve says just as surprised as Toby
Douxie and I chuckle at Steves's comment.
Douxie chooses a spell from his bracelet as he addresses Steve
"There's a lot about us you don't know," He says as he holds a small ball of his blue magic in his hand.
"Whoa," Toby says, eyes wide with excitement
"What?" Steve says with a similar face to Toby
I giggle at their reactions
Douxie smirks as he turns to the door places his hand on it and releases the lock with his magic.
"Come on then," He says to the others
"The answers to all your questions are within," This time I finish for him.
Toby, Steve, and Arrrgh walk in first with Douxie and I following
They gasp at all the floating objects in the store
I give an amused look to Douxie at their reactions and he lets out a slight laugh in return.
A trunk floats through the air as objects like books, maps, and tools float into it.
"Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh." Toby says, "So cool, so cool, so cool."
A glass ball with a ship inside it floats in front of Toby, catching his attention.
Meanwhile, in the background, Douxie and I watch with amusement.
"Ooh, what's that?" Toby asks as he grabs the glass ball"
"Put that down" We hear someone say from the upper floor.
I look up to see Merlin using his magic to gather together all of his things.
"Thank the ether you're here!" He says as he looks over the railing, "We haven't a moment to waste."
Toby laughs in excitement
"Woah! crusty, creepy dude!" Steve says as he looks through a magnifying glass that was floating in front of his face
"Though I had hoped for more, Hisirdoux, Yn," Merlin says to us
"We tried," Douxie says "We couldn't find the changing or the aliens"
"I'm pretty sure most of them left the planet," I added, looking up at Merlin
"Merlin, it's me, Toby Domzalski! You know, War Hammer, Guardian of Arcadia, Geology Club President." Toby says while doing poses for each name
"No one could forget you, chatty," Merlin says to him as he throws books behind him into his trunk
"And Steve Plachuck, Creepslayer!" Steve adds on
"I have no idea who you are," Merlin says nonchalantly as he walks by and his trunk hits Steve in the head, "But, we're desperate."
I look over to see arrgh sniffing Archie
Archie scrambles to get away as he is pulled towards Arrgh
"Yum" arrgh says
Archie slaps his nose in reply "I'm not anybody's lunch. Got it?"
I look towards Arrgh sympathetically as he cries out in pain. He nods in reply to Archie.
"Wait, where's Jimbo and Claire?" Toby asks Merlin, "I thought they were with you."
"Answeres forthcoming. Make preparations. We've a journey ahead." Merlin replies, walking past everyone with his Trunk still in tow
I catch Douxie looking towards the ship in the glass ball
"And don't-"
Douxie cuts Merlin off with a "But master-"
"...'but master' me."
Merlin turns and continues to pack as Doxie follows him.
I stay where I am, choosing to observe for now.
"But... are you sure you want to count on these- children? They're clearly not ready for this."
Steve scoffs at this, grabbing both Merlin and Douxie's attention.
"Excuse me, college dude, these children fought off a 50-foot extraterrestrial!"
Steve bumps into the suit of armor behind him, knocking off his head
I stifle a laugh as the armor grabs Steve's head, resulting in steve screaming.
Toby tries to get the head out of Steves's arms as he shouts at him to let it go.
Merlin groans and Douxie watches them with a look of disbelief and judgment.
Merlin resumes his packing and Douxie follows him, still trying to convince him to let us help.
I decided to help out Toby, Steve, and the poor suit of armor.
"I'll take that," I say as I use a small spell to bring the helmet into my hands
I then walk to the suit of armor and hand it to him with a slight bow
"I apologize for my companion here, it was an accident. I assure you he meant no harm."
The armor seems to accept my apology and releases Steve
The armor takes the helmet from my hands and places it back on its head. It then returns to attention.
"Yea you buttsnack, you better watch out for the Palchuk," Steve says walking towards the armor
I send Steve a look and Toby pulls him back. Steve turns to Toby and the two start arguing
I roll my eyes but a noise grabs my attention away from the bickering teens.
I look around to try and find the source but I couldn't see anything.
I thought no one else heard it until I hear Merlin speak up
"Silence!" He says
I hear Douxie sigh, thinking Merlin was talking about him, and I look over at them
Merlin gives a look of regret as he clarifies "I mean, silence, all of you. Can you not hear that?"
Everyone goes quiet as they listen for the sound I heard before.
They all shake their heads, but I nod instead.
The sound gets louder as the items in the bookshop begin to move slightly.
Toby activates his war hammer and Steve gets in a defensive position
I myself prepare my rune bracelet in case I need to use it.
The creaking gets louder when suddenly all the candles are blown out and the cuckoo clock goes off.
"Something wicked this way comes," Merlin says quietly as he walks towards the front of the store.
Douxie activates his rune bracelet as well and walks over next to me
We look at each other and nod as we follow Merlin up to the window in front of the store.
A shadow mephit suddenly runs at the window
We all flinch back as the magic seal Douxie put up causes the mephit to bounce off the window and onto the ground.
Behind it, tons more mephits were stalking towards the store
"I guess Archie was right huh," I said with a nervous laugh
Merlin looks at Douxie and I
"Did you two lead them here?"
"No, no! I mean, I don't think so?" Douxie says with a guilty look
"Yes we did," Archie pipes in
Douxie nervously chuckles as Merlin shakes his head
We all flinch once again as all the shadow mephits begin launching themselves at the store.
The barrier was holding, for now, but it wouldn't be able to keep them away for long.
"The barrier won't hold for long," Merlin says, vocalizing my own thoughts, "We must make egress! Tobias, take my things!" Merlin says sending his trunk, with Toby riding on top, out the skylight, and onto the roof.
Steve screams as the mephits begin to break through the barrier and crawl into the shop.
"All of you, to the roof!" Merlin says
Arrrgh and Steve head up there, but Doux and I stay with Merlin
I fully intended on helping and I had no doubt Douxie felt the same.
"Hisirdoux, Yn, I said get to safety!" Merlin says as mephits begin to surround the three of us.
"We've got this" Douxie says
"We can help" I add
"Ugh. Still trying to earn those staffs are you?"
"Of course we are! We have learned a thing or two since we last caught up." I say in reply
I begin to make a ball of magic in my hand and I start shooting at the mephits, trying to keep them at bay as they start to jump at us
My arm is then suddenly pulled back and I look to see Douxie pulling me up the stairs.
"Use the Flux Rune Second, it's stronger," Merlin tells Douxie as he continues up the stairs.
"All right, I knew that!" Douxie says as he uses the rune on the mephits
"Douxie!" Archie cries out
I look to see him surrounded by mephits as they close in on him
"Archie!" I hear Douxie cry out for him
I suddenly see flashes of that day so many years ago
"Yn! Watch out!
Tears unknowingly pour from my eyes as I use a spell to grab Archie from the mephits
"Mag! NO!"
Archie looks at me with worry before telling me in a soft voice, "I'm fine, no need to worry."
He then jumps off to join the fight once again
I hold his dead body in my arms
Tears blurring my vision.
Douxie calls my name and I duck just as a mephit jumps at me
"Magnus. Please don't leave me. PLEASE MAGNUS. COME BACK!"
"Yn, get to the roof! I'll meet you up there!" Douxie says
I nod and run past him
I can hear him start using fire as I climb up to the roof
It's all my fault
It's all my fault
It's all my fault
The words echo in my head over and over
When I reach the roof I see the others fighting off more mephits
I push the memories aside as I begin to use my fire spell and join the fight
I can hear the muffled shouts of Douxie and Merlin as they continue in the bookstore
I blast a mephit about to attack Steve as Merlin and Douxie finally arrive on the roof.
Merlin smashes his crystal ball on the ground as he shouts "Stand back!"
Green magic surrounds the ship inside as it begins to expand.
We all cover our eyes as Steve gasps in wonder
"Ship just got real," He says with amazement
Douxie looks over at me with a smirk, but it quickly disappears when he sees the dried tears on my cheeks.
"Are you-" He starts to say as he reaches toward me
He is interrupted though when Arrgh says "Everyone on," and tosses him, Steve, and Toby onto the ship.
The ship begins to rise in the air as Merlin, Arrgh and I run across the roof towards it.
Merlin rides up on his trunk and enchants a book for me to ride on as well.
We land on the ship and Merlin jabs his staff into the hull, starting the engine with his magic.
Arrgh then hangs onto the side, causing the ship to spin around and scrap the roof due to the weight.
Shadow mephits crawl on Arrgh towards the ship, but Douxie and I start blasting them off of him before they make it on board.
The ship finally rises away from their reach and Arrgh jumps onto the ship causing it to lurch to the side.
I fall backward, but I land on something soft
I look down to see I had landed on Douxie
I quickly get up and apologize, hoping he doesn't see my slight blush
I then extend a hand and help him up
He looks as though he is about to say something to me when something on the ground catches his eyes.
I look to where he was looking and see someone in a suit of armor being surrounded by the mephits
"It looks like he's.. controlling them," I say to Douxie
He doesn't respond and just stares at the mysterious sorcerous.
"Boy," The person says in a deep voice
I look over to Doxuie in surprise and see him mirroring my expression
I look back to see the mephits all start jumping into the armor, disappearing in black and yellow smoke.
The strange person then shoots pieces of his sword at us
"Look out!" Merlin shouts as he pulls Douxie and me down and away from the projectiles.
Merlin then crawls over to his staff and uses it to direct us away from the armor and further into the sky.
I peek over the side and watch as a cloud of smoke surrounds the armor and he disappears.
I sit back down in the ship and pull my knees to my chest
I rest my head on my knees and take deep breaths, just trying to calm down a bit
I feel a hand start rubbing my back and I peek out to see Douxie gazing at me with worry.
I lift my head and wipe my eyes as Doxuie speaks
"Are you ok?" He asks
I look over at him and feel more tears threatening to fall
"No," I say, my voice threatening to break, "Back in the bookstore when Archie was surrounded by the Mephits, it reminded me of Magnus and the day he... the day he..." I couldn't bring myself to say more
Douxie gives me a look of understanding as he pulls me into a hug.
I let the tears fall as I rest my head on Douxie's shoulder and grasp the back of his shirt
I can hear the others shouting in excitement as we fly through the clouds
But all I could think of was Magnus
And Douxie
Douxie and I stay hugging each other tightly until I hear Merlin say
"Welcome, young squires, to Camelot!"
{Douxie POV}
After Merlin announces our arrival, I feel Yn pull away
I look down at her to see her already looking at me
At that moment the only thing I could think of was how much I wanted to just lean down and kiss her
But I held back as she smiles at me
"Thank you." She says quietly
"I'm here whenever you need it" I reply with a small smile
She nods in acknowledgment and stands up.
I follow her lead and stand up as well
I watch her as she walks up to the front of the ship and joins Toby and friends in looking at the flying castle.
I'm worried about her. It's been a while since she's had flashbacks.
They didn't seem too bad today but how am I to know when they start getting worse.
I'll just have to keep an eye out.
I'd do anything to keep her safe
And I mean anything.
{Yn POV}
I still feel the pain from the memories during the fight, but Douxie's hug helped a lot.
I blushed a little thinking about it.
I am the luckiest person in the world to have someone like Douxie in my life.
I don't know what I'd do without him.
We pass Sir Galahad keeping watch in the tower
I wave to him and he happily waves back
We start to dive down towards an entryway
I grip onto the side rail and pull my thoughts away from Magnus and Douxie for the time being.
"I say, coming in a little hot, don't you think?" I hear Archie say to Merlin as the ship flies at full speed towards the entrance.
"Rubbish" the old man replies
We fly into the castle and, to my surprise, land safely on the floor.
We all jump out.
I hear Toby and Steve speaking in awe about the castle
I look around at the levels and stairs and architecture of the castle. All of which is just the same as they were 900 years ago
It takes me back to the days when Douxie and I were beginner apprentices to Merlin.
I smile at the memories being brought back and I look over to Douxie.
I see him looking around with a smile on his face as well.
"It's been 900 years since we were last here. Hasn't changed a bit."
"Except for the flying part," I add with a playful smirk
Douxie laughs, "Yeah, except for the flying part".
Steve laughs, "900 years? Yeah, right. You two are like, what, 18? 19?"
Archie who is now sitting on Douxie's shoulder steps in, "Give or take a few centuries."
Archie then jumps off as he transforms into a dragon and flies up to the higher levels of the castle
I watch him fly around and I hear Douxie and Steve discussing Archie behind me.
But then, something catches my eye.
What looks to be a small green person peers back at me
I try to move and get a better look, but whatever I saw ducks back down
"Claire!" I hear Toby say
I whip my head around to see Claire and Blinky embracing Toby and Aargh
I smile both in relief to see that Claire and Blinky are ok. I had been worried for them.
I notice that Jim isn't with them.
Toby voices my concern when he says "What happened to you guys? Wait, where's Jim?"
Claire looks down sadly as Merlin leads us all to another room.
I walk next to Douxie and I find I am too lost in thought over what might have happened to the trio that I don't even register Douxie staring at me.
We walk into another room and I see I giant green stone laying on the ground.
As we get closer I realize Jim was inside of said stone.
"Jim" I hear toby say in surprise and concern
I look over to see the sadness on Claire, Blinky, and even Merlins face
"What happened to him?" Toby asks looking to Merlin
"We were ambushed," Blinky replies, "Some ancient dark warrior. An unstoppable knight clad in green who struck down Master Jim"
I walk up and put my hand on Toby's shoulder
He looks over at me and I can see the tears in his eyes.
We both look back to Jim. I notice the shard buried in his amulet.
"Master, is that the same knight we saw at the bookstore?" Doux asks
I look over at him
"One and the same. That onyx shard is working its way towards his heart." Merlin replies with a solemn tone, "I placed the boy in stasis, stalling its progress... for now."
I looked back towards the shard that was embedded deeply into the amulet. Any longer and the shard may have fully corrupted him. Merlin had acted just in time.
"If I had my staff, I could've saved him," Claire says with guilt
I turn to her immediately and reply "No. Don't do that. Don't blame yourself. It won't get you anywhere to focus on the "if only's". What happened, happened, and as much as it sucks we have to work with what we got. Focus on the fact that at least he's still alive. There's a chance that even if you had your staff he would have ended up in the same place or worse."
I put a hand on her shoulder and she looks up at me, nodding. Newfound determination in her eye
"Who is this green knight? How do I get my hands on him?" Toby asks. I can hear the anger in his voice and I look to see the anger mirrored in his face.
"I do not know. The green knight said but one name, which chilled me to the bone.
Morganna..."
I shiver at the mention of her name. The memories of her and her shadow magic rushing back.
I stood by her side and she had betrayed me. Morganna was a woman I had never hoped to hear from again.
But here I was
Hearing her name once more.
I didn't notice Douxie looking over at me after noticing my reaction to her name. I didn't see the concern in his eyes as he remembered what had happened.
"Oh, I hate that lady. But wait, I thought we kicked her bewitched butt to the shadow realm?" Toby says
"Which he appeared not to know, but he bore the emblem of Camelot," Merlin says grimly
"So he may be one of the knights from Author's army?" I said to myself
Merlin seems to hear what I said and nodded "He just may be."
"Now, all of you, come with me, quickly. I fear the answer lies in the past. A dark menace is coming, one even I cannot face alone."
He then turns and leads us out of the room
I fall into step besides Douxie and I feel his hand brush against mine
I look over to see him looking down at me in concern
I can tell he wants to say something but I beat him to it
"We can talk later, first we have to figure out this whole knight thing so we can help Jim"
Douxie nods accepting my answer
We turn our attention back to merlin as we enter the other tower
We all stand around a table as Merlin pulls out his time map. Images show through the timeline as Merlin begins to explain everything.
"You are all now soldiers in a war started centuries ago for the world of magic. Once, the realms of Magic and Man clashed in endless bloodshed. King Arthur sought to wipe out magic that ravaged the lands in his war against Gunmar. I brought what few spellcasters I could under my protection to spare them from the sword..."
"Including myself and Yn," Douxie says
"And Morgana le Fay" I add quietly. My grip tightened around the tabletop as I said her name aloud.
"She was the finest student I ever taught... until she tried to kill me and the young Yn over here. Thankfully, in my all-seeing wisdom, I created a secret weapon- The Trollhunter Amulet. The war came to a standstill and I imprisoned Morganna at the battle of Killahead Bridge.
This Green Knight that assailed us was clearly born of dark magics, but I have no memory of him, nor what connection he could have to Morganna. We know not what he is nor why he pursues us. Though his presence is a dire omen of things to come." As Merlin finishes and closes the time map we all hear the sound of the bell tolling, warning us that something was coming.
We feel something hit the castle causing us all to lose our balance.
I fall backward into someone and I look up to see Douxie holding me steady.
"What's happening?" I hear Claire ask
Merlin grunts as he grabs his staff and the time map
"Have you never been under attack before? To the battlements!" He shouts
Douxie and I start to run to the top of the tower where the main engine was. Merlin following behind.
The three of us make it to the top of the tower. I see the rest of the group spread out around the castle.
We all look into the clouds to see another giant castle flying up to us
"Oh, no! I think we have somewhat of a problem." Archie says
"Fuzzbuckets," Douxie says
"No," Merlin starts in disbelief, "they found us"
"The Arcane order" I say
"Everyone get to safety, now!" Merlin shouts "Fulgur praeca!"
He shoots a spell from his wand and deflects the spell the order had launched towards us
But the force of the speels caused his staff to be thrown over the side.
"My staff!"
Archie dives after it
"I've got it!" He says
But another blast from the order causes him to drop it, "I lost it!"
I can't do anything but watch. Douxie and I don't have spells powerful enough to match the order
Their ship launches their cannons and Merlin calls for the knights of our castle to return fire.
A few blasts hit the edge of the tower Douxie, Merlin and I are on
I can feel a few sparks hit my skin from the impact
"We must flee!" Merlin shouts as he uses magic to send the time map to the steering part of the ship.
Douxie runs towards it and begins to try to turn the ship.
I run over with Doxuie and I prepare my bracelet.
"You focus on steering, I'll stay on defense and make sure nothing hits us," I tell him
He nods as he struggles to turn the ship away from the Order
Our ship runs into theirs and I lose my balance, falling to the floor and hitting my head off of something.
The ship is rammed once again as an ice bridge attaches to our tower
I stand up dizzily and once again get ready to fight. I can feel a but of blood running down my face but I ignore it
Douxie is still focusing on steering as Merlin shouts to him
"They're boarding us! We must break free! Steer us clear at my command!"
"I'm on it!" Douxie shouts in reply as Merlin jumps to another tower
I hear the shouts of others as I focus on deflecting fireballs and the rubble they created away from Douxie and I.
Sahdow mephits and goblins begin to board
I blast them away as Archie flies overhead, looking for the staff still.
"Archie, find the staff or we are all dead meat!" Douxie calls out
"What do you people think I'm doing?" Archie responds hastily
I see the frozen tower fly towards the ice bridges
I can't hear what they're saying but I suspected Galahad was making a move to save us
I mentally saluted him and his bravery as I turned back to the mephits still attacking us
Claire and Steve join us to finish the last few
"Hisirdoux, now!"
"Please don't blow us up. Please don't blow us up." Douxie mumbles as he sets the time map and begins to steer the ship once more
Archie flies over crying out "We don't have enough power for the jump!"
"Trust in Merlin!" I shout back, placing my hand on Douxies shoulder
He looks at me and we nod at one another
Magic shoots up through the cattle and hits the engine, causing the gears to stop and load up with power
"Hold together. Come on!" Douxie says as a beam shoots out at the sky, opening a rift.
"We have to steer Camelot through the time rift!" Douxie shouts to us
Me along with Steve and Claire grab onto the steering rod, helping Douxie to direct the castle towards the rift in an attempt to escape.
A huge blast of magic suddenly hits the castle causing it to lean to the side and throwing all of us towards the edge.
I yell out as my hand misses the towers edge and I fall through the sky towards the rift
My hand is suddenly grabbed and I look up to see Douxie grabbing me as he himself held onto the edge.
I look over and see Claire and Steve also clinging to the edge.
The stone Jim is in suddenly falls on the edge before sliding off and falling into the rift
Claire calls out for him as she reaches towards him, but it is too late as the stone falls through.
Douxie looks down and yells out to me.
"Do you trust me?"
"With my life!" I reply
He then tells Claire and Steve to trust him as well as he gets them to let go of the edge
I let out a scream as we all fall into the rift
I can barely hear the sound of the battle behind us as the wind whips around in my ears
We fall through the rift into another time and I see the ground getting closer
I look to see Douxie messing with his bracelet
He then whips out a spell and reaches over to grab me
"This is gonna hurt!" I barely hear him shout to us
We all slam into barrier after barrier as it slows our decent
I feel my body bruising at each hit
We then fall through the trees and land on the ground
Everyone including myself groans out
My head is pounding from all the times I hit it just now and the injury from earlier reminds me that it is still there
Everything feels and looks fuzzy
This cant be good I think to myself
I blink my eyes to try and bring everything into focus and I can hear the others talking
I then hear a distorted sound of someone yelling my name and a blurred face comes into view
{Douxie POV}
We all slam into the ground and let out a groan
My whole body hurts but it is better than being dead
I look up to see Jim's stone stuck in the tree branches above us
"I can't see! I'm blind!"Steve shouts as his helmet blocks his view "Oh, I can see!" He frees himself just as the stone falls on top of him. "Ah! What just happened?"
"Well, I just conjured an anti-gravity spell to slow our fall and keep us from dying. You're welcome." I say
"Yn, are you ok?" I look over at her to see she hadn't moved
I call out to her again but she still remains silent
I start to get worried as I call her name louder
I crawl over to her and see her eyes looking up at the sky, dazed
I notice a pretty large cut on her head and see the dried blood.
It must have been from the castle.
The fall must have made it worse.
I lift her head up and place it on my lap
I then place my hand gently on her forehead and use a simple spell to at least close the cut and stop the bleeding
She moves her hand slightly and places it on mine
I give her a small smile that she doesn't return, she just continues to look up at the sky trying to blink away the effects of the fall
I then hear Claire call out "Douxie, where is the flying castle?"
I look up to see an empty sky
"Oh, fuzz buckets! Well, it appears we've had ourselves a temporal accident."
"Which means," Claire starts
Steve gasps out and a sword is shoved in my face
I gasp in surprise and instinctively pull Yn closer to me.
Knights surround us as they all point their swords toward us
"It means-" I start to say looking around us at the knights
"We are lost in time" I hear Yn say
I look down and she meets my gaze. Looking at me with fearful eyes
I hold her hand in mine as I turn back to the knights
"What manner of sorcery is this?" The knight in front of me asks
Steve panics and lets out a scream