Well everyone, here it is. The last story in the saga of Merlin and Addy. Please R and R, I love hearing from you, even if its just one word or a hundred. Thanks for following!
CYA time: Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
Queen of the Wild Magic—Chapter 1
Well, thought Addy randomly, at least it was warm here. I wonder where 'here' is? Her mind felt strangely giddy. Guess I've had a few too many. She reached for her head, but there wasn't any feeling in her hands. When she opened her eyes, she saw only darkness. What is going on? And strangely, Why does this keep happening to me?
Gradually, light swam slowly into focus and she felt feeling return to her limbs. She blinked her watery amber eyes as the stained-glass world started to solidify before her. Now that she had sensation in her body, she could tell she was lying on something soft but slightly prickly. Above her, the sky was lilac and gold. Purple? She thought. That's not right. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Her head throbbed and her stomach rolled. Whoa. Take it easy, Addy. After a moment, the sensation passed and she was able to take stock of where she was.
There was plush, aubergine grass under her hands and feet. Circled around her, twisty ash and oak trees dripped with ivy. And up through the canopy a bright violet sky. She stood up and looked closer, not sure of what she was seeing. No, it wasn't a sky. It was a roof of a cave hundreds of meters above, covered in large, glowing crystals. Am I underground? What kind of place is this?
Cautiously, she called out, "Hey! Is there someone there? How did I get here? And where am I?" She wasn't exactly angry. Not yet, anyway, but she could feel it simmering inside.
Surprisingly, there was an answer. "Greetings, My Lady. I do hope I did not startle you." She turned to seek out the source of the voice. Coming through the curtain of ivy was a tall, thin figure. Alarmed, she backed up to the edge of the tree line. The person coming towards her was glowing like his skin was on fire! He held out his hands in a calming gesture. "Please, I won't hurt you."
Not trusting him, she called out, "Who are you? I mean, what are you?" She stared at the man as he approached. He was impossibly slender and pale, with pointed ears and tiny nose, overarched by wide, coal black eyes and a flowing mass of tangled ebony hair. And his skin! How it shimmered!
He bowed. "I am a sĂdhe, or fairy, if you would prefer. My name is Theosfain." His voice was high and pitched like a choir boy's. His thin lips curled into a merry smile. "And you are in the last, great stronghold of magic, the Otherworld."
Addy studied him. "Otherworld? As in 'another world'?" She snorted. Couldn't he come up with anything more original?
Unfazed, he answered. "Yes, My Lady. You are in fact deep within the heart of the earth."
She looked up at the crystal-covered ceiling. Now, she was feeling angry. "Great," she said sarcastically, pointing her finger at him. "Why did you bring me here?"
He bowed even more deeply. His eyes were far too black to read his expression, but he seemed a bit shocked. "My Lady, you are our Queen. This is where you belong."
Addy's cheeks were burning. "Your Queen?" She was barely able to keep from shouting. "You have the wrong person. So, why don't you just take me home now, okay? Before I really start to get mad!"
The fairy looked shocked. "But, My Lady, you do not understand. We have waited for many, many centuries for you to arrive. You are the wielder of the Wild Magic. You cannot go back."
Addy felt like a cartoon character with smoke pouring from her ears. "What do you mean 'can't go back'?" She said through clenched teeth. "Besides, I have no magic, that's Merlin. So, I really think you should-"
"Oh, no! You have magic!" He cried desperately. "Wild Magic. The strongest, purest form there is! You hold the power of life itself!"
She scoffed. Not only was he freakishly strange looking, he was a bit of an idiot, apparently. "I think I would know if I had magic...What was your name again?"
"Theosfain, My Lady." He bowed again.
She crossed her arms. "Please stop calling me that. Really. It's annoying. And stop bowing, too." He looked up at her with what could have been surprise or hatred, she couldn't tell. "Now, Theo," she said deliberately. His expression didn't change. "All I really care about is getting back. So why don't you just tell me how to do that. Ok?"
She might not have been able to read anything on his face, but the tone of his voice was a different matter. It was tense, appalled. "My Lady, no! You cannot! If you return now and use your magic again, you would risk destroying the world!"
"Seriously? You expect me to buy that? For the last time, I DON'T HAVE MAGIC!" She raged.
Without the slightest hint of offense, the fairy responded calmly. "That is where you are wrong. You maybe don't know that you do, but you have used magic. The return of the Afanc is proof enough. And then there's Arthur's return, and what happened with Merlin. Not to mention all the other happenings."
She had no idea what he was talking about. Her head was spinning more now than when she had arrived. "What does that have to do with me?"
"Do you remember when you met Merlin as the old man? How he didn't have magic anymore?"
"Yes, so?" She said apatheticly.
He kept prodding. "And then you kissed him. And suddenly, his magic and his youth returned to him."
"How do you even know about that?" She demanded angrily. Had they spied on her?
Theosfain gazed up at the crystal suns, his black eyes sparkling with the shades of violet. "We keep watch over the things that happen above, especially on him."
She got the feeling that there was definitely something they weren't telling her. "But how did my kissing him have anything to do with me? I thought that it was him, his own magic."
He took a step toward her and exclaimed, "Oh, no! It was you. Do you remember what you were thinking? Feeling?"
She inhaled, and crossed her arms. Why was she even acknowledging his questions? He was staring at her as if he could wait forever for her to answer. She hated his unreadable black eyes. Closer now, she could see that his black hair was braided with tiny bird feathers, and that his silver garments were made of intricate lace. He smelled strongly of juniper berries. For some reason, though, the scent was calming to her. Gears in her mind began working. I'm more or less at their mercy. Perhaps if I play along, I'll figure a way out of this mess, she considered. She thought about his question and answered honestly. "I remember how frustrated I felt. I desperately wanted us to have our happy ending."
"And you willed it so, didn't you?" The sparkly skin was still unnerving her, but she forced herself to concentrate on the question.
She remembered seeing that pain in Merlin's ancient eyes, the years of loneliness and sadness behind the blue. How she had longed for a way to make it better. And how she felt that buried within her, she had the power to make it happen. "Yes," she replied slowly, thoughtfully. "I remember. I wanted to be with him so badly... I..."
"When you reached into that deepest part of you, you unleashed the Wild Magic." He toward over her, his voice growing stern and insistent. "But you had no control over it, and when you used your magic, you unleashed Life upon the world. Unrestrained, untamed Life. Pockets of magic seeped through into your world, releasing things that have long been enslaved. The Afanc was only one part of it. And then... you did it again when you brought him back from death!" His voice rising to a frenzied crescendo. "You have no idea what you've done! To go back now is to risk the destruction of everything!"
"I-I don't believe you." She answered weakly. Damn him for making her feel this way! She didn't have magic! She just couldn't! And now, to find out she was responsible for it... She wanted to deck his fairy face.
"Yes, you do. I see it, even now, in your eyes. You've felt the power come from inside of yourself, you just hadn't wanted to believe it before now."
"I-" What could she say? He was right. She had felt something. Could she really destroy the world with her magic? She frowned and lowered her head in shame.
His tone returned to that of reassuring friend. "My Lady, you are our Queen, not our prisoner." He almost sounded sad. He paused, looking off into the distance. "Perhaps...perhaps, if you could learn to control the power you wield, you could return without placing anyone in further danger," he offered.
She seized upon his words eagerly. "How would I do that?"
"We cannot teach you, we do not have the ability. I must meet with the council of elders to decide what can be done." He held out a slim, long-fingered hand to her. "In the meantime, please, come with me. I've no doubt you are hungry and tired. I know you still have many questions, and I swear that I will answer them. But for now, will you not trust me a little and accept our hospitality?" The thin smiled returned upon his face.
Tentatively, she took his offered hand. After all, what choice did she have?