A/N: Sorry it's taking me so long to update my stories… But I'm horrible like that, so you'll have to get used to it. I do intend to continue this story, it'll just take awhile. Hope you like this installment, it'll have to tide you over for quite awhile most likely. Remember to R&R, it might motivate me to write more sooner rather than later.
She ached. There was no part of her that was not throbbing painfully, and there was something sharp jabbing into the back of her neck. She rolled away from it, before slowly opening her eyes. She took in the crystalled walls around her, before turning back to see what she had been laying on. The pedestal of her seeing crystals was behind her, she assumed one of the edges must have been the cause of her added discomfort.
Slowly she got to her feet and stumbled, falling against the pedestal. As she made contact with it, the crystals all flared to life, and Merlin's voice boomed into the chamber, reverberating on the walls.
It was very strange, and yet it wasn't. Half of me felt this was the most natural thing in the world. That feeling inside was growing stronger and stronger… I was coming home. But the other half of me was terrified of leaving everything I'd ever known behind. I wondered if I'd ever see Ambrosia or Nimue again and I feared the unknown that awaited me. Sir Rupert, of course, was unphased by the turmoil within me and carried me calmly to the lakeshore where an empty boat awaited to take me to my new life.
I met Frik for the first time then, as the little boat passed from the realm of man into the realm of magik, the two realms were much closer together in those days. Frik was a character. He enjoyed playing different roles when ever possible. When I first met him, he had assumed the part of a crusty old seadog so as to be better equipped to steer the boat to Queen Mab's castle.
My first view of the realm of magik was that of a magnificent underground cavern of giant proportions, which made the hundreds of fairies flitting around in it seem that much smaller. Mab's castle, though, was the most spectacular sight of all. Formed out of the cave rock, it stood taller than any tree I'd ever seen and I'd seen quite a few as I'd lived in the forest. I'd never seen anything like it. It was amazingly beautiful. Four massive columns framed the entrance where a figure slowly emerged as we got closer.
My first impression of Mab was that she must have been the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen but her cold hard eyes chilled me and brought all my doubts and fears to the forefront of my mind. I preferred Nimue's warm humanly beauty. She told me that I had come to save them. Her voice was unlike anything I'd ever heard before, a quiet raspy whisper that somehow echoed throughout the entire cave.
She set me to work almost immediately, with Frik as my teacher. I studied day and night, learned of those unseen forces that hold this world together. Learned the secrets of other worlds that exist beneath the surface and behind the mirrors. I worked hard to do what Frik asked of me, but my heart wasn't in it. I didn't like this strange power I felt inside me, and as it grew, it frightened me. I was afraid of what I could do with it. I thought it wasn't right or safe for a person to have such power. And I missed my home. I missed Ambrosia and Nimue. And I didn't like being confined to Mab's castle. I didn't like being told what I could or couldn't do. I didn't like being told that this was my destiny and I had no choice in the matter. That I have come to understand is one of the great contradictions of human nature. We desire a purpose for our life and yet we desire freewill. It was something Mab couldn't understand, but her sister did.
The Lady of the Lake came to me one evening when I was hiding from Frik and feeling sorry for myself. She told me that Ambrosia was very ill and accidentally told me that Mab had killed my mother. I was angry and worried for Ambrosia. I begged the Lady of the Lake to help me escape from Mab's castle and get across the lake so that I could go to Ambrosia. And so I ran away from the realm of magik and my supposed destiny. In a way, it was that act that set the course my life would then follow… What would cause the following chain of events that would set Mab and me truly at odds.
Mab stumbled back clutching her head, as Merlin's voice continued to echo through the room. How could he yet be so stupid? Her sister had used him! It was so obvious and yet he still only saw the two of them as the only players in the game. Her sister had played her like a lute as well. Mab had been desperate and her sister had counted on that to make her more short tempered than usually. Counted on her desperation to make her act first without thinking the act through, to make it impossible for her to get through to Merlin as she so needed to.
She had never really understood just how deep her sister's hatred of her was until she was standing in Camelot begging Merlin not to forget her. Her sister was confined to the water, unknown to most of the world, and had no other realm to run to if she grew fed up with man. Of course she envied her darker sister and over the countless years it had hardened and grew to hate. And ultimately it was her undoing. She had been she eager to hurt Mab as much as possible that she didn't care if it destroyed her too.
It's funny really… Mab was queen of darkness, the one believed to be evil, the one hated and attacked, and yet it had really been the Lady of the Lake who had been the source of all the trouble, the one filled with hatred, the one trying to destroy. Perhaps it was time to set the record straight?
Mab straightened up, ignoring the throbbing pain in her head and sharp aches in her limbs, and started to take careful steps out of the chamber. It took quite a long time to finally reach her destination, but she had been determined to get her plan set in motion. It would take time, progress would be slow, for she was too weak yet to do much… But perhaps that would turn out to be a blessing. After all the direct, all out approach had failed her.
She watched the scene in front of her, hidden behind one of the trees she had created so long ago. A much aged Nimue sat before her, doing something with fabric… Weaving it, sewing it? Mab wasn't sure, nor did she really care. She had warned Nimue that she would never leave this place should she enter it, but keeping her here had done no good to anyone. One side had to make the first gesture, and since Merlin was completely oblivious to what was going on (as usual), she would have to be the one to make it. She looked beyond Nimue, beyond the illusion, all the way back to where the cave opening had been sealed. She concentrated hard, sweat beginning to bead on her forehead, and slowly the rock began to move back. This was so much harder than she remembered it being, but she guessed that was to be expected.
As the grating of the rocks got louder and louder, Nimue stood, hope plainly written on her face. She took slow steps forward, as though afraid her hopes were unfounded, but as sun light began streaming through the cracks being made, she gave a cry of joy and rushed forward. Mab had fallen to her knees by this point, unable to stand any longer, but she did not cease, she had to finish this.
"A little more, just a little more…" She panted to herself, as sun light rushed into the cavern illuminating her illusion for what it really was. Then there was a mighty crack and it was done. Mab collapsed against the tree, exhausted, and watched Nimue's reaction with an odd mix of fascination and curious detachment.
Nimue stood, basking in the sunlight she hadn't felt in so long, happy tears streaming freely down her face. After many minutes of just taking in this miracle, she wiped her eyes and stepped forward, back into her world. She wondered what had become of Merlin, what he was doing now. She remembered that he had lived in this forest when she had first met him, perhaps he still did. She set out to find the charming improvised hut she remembered. If nothing else it would be a place she could stay and in a way be close to him even if he was no longer there.
Mab watched Nimue leave, knowing exactly where she planned to go. Nimue had always been so easy to predict… She laughed, lightly at this, finding it more amusing than it really was in her exhaustion. She made herself comfortable against the tree and allowed herself to rest. She deserved it after all and she would need to recover more of her strength for the next step of her plan, one that would probably prove to be more difficult than it should be… but then Frik had always made things more complicated than necessary.