Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I also do not own Star Wars, Monty Python, Peter Pan, National Treasure, Wizard of Oz, Over the Hedge or anything else that looks remotly familiar. I only own Mary, Cassi (with Phoe), Anor, Anoro, and Lenia.
Note: I SO did not get the idea for Merlin from Shrek the Third, fyi-- Phoe and I came up with our Merlin long before that movie ever came out. Two words: Phone Taps. LOL! :)
Warning: Contains OCs and some bad language. If you don't like this, don't read it. Simple as that, really.
Setting: Takes place the summer after third year (summer before 4th). The trio started school in Sept. of 1999, so this takes place sometime in Aug. of 2002.
Spoilers: May be references to books 1-3, nothing major.
OCs:
Mary Evans-Potter: Harry's older twins sister, heiress of Anor, Cassi's best friend, 1/2 of the Dangerous Duo, dating George Weasley since her first year
Cassiopeia Black (Cassi): daughter of Sirius Black and Dumbledore's niece Luna, just started dating Harry, Mary's best friend, other 1/2 of the Dangerous Duo, Merlin's heiress
Anor Mysterio: greatest/ most powerful witch ever, Merlin's mysterious lover, elder twin sister of Anoro, Lenian (from the North Star), father is Godric Gryffindor (under a different name)
Anoro Mysterio: knight of Camelot, powerful wizard (not as powerful as Merlin), Anor's younger twin brother, Lenian (from the North Star), father is Godric Gryffindor (under a different name)
~ Please Read and Respond. NO FLAMES PLEASE! ~
Merlin + Anor = Forever
Earlier in the day, Remus had told Cassi that he had someone he wanted her to meet, so she willingly—and curiously—followed him with little question. When they reached a cave in a hilly meadow type area, Remus finally spoke. "Well, we're here," he said.
"Where's here?" asked Cassi curiously, looking around at a whole lot of nothingness.
"Here." Remus pointed at the cave.
"Oh. So…where's this person you want me to meet?"
Remus pointed again. "He's in the cave."
"And how exactly am I supposed to get in there? Go up and knock on the giant…boulder?"
Remus laughed at Cassi's question. "No, no. Of course not. You see that intricate carving there?" he said, this time pointing at an indentation in the middle of the boulder.
"Yes…"
"Well, you just put your necklace in that…"
"Okay…" Cassi walked forward and reached out to put the necklace in the slot.
"…with your telekinesis," Remus finished.
"Oh," Cassi pulled her hand down. "Anything else I should know about how I'm supposed to put it in the slot?"
"No, that's it."
"Good." Cassi then took a deep breath and levitated her necklace into the slot. The instant the necklace touched the rock, the boulder began to slide open.
Once the boulder was out of the way, Cassi looked up to see a wizened old man meandering slowly out into the sunlight, blinking. He stretched for a moment before turning to face Cassi and Remus. "Hello," he said cheerfully. "You must be Cassiopeia Black and Remus Lupin. Nice to finally see you both in the flesh."
Cassi just stared at the eccentric old wizard. "How do you know who I am? And who exactly are you?"
Just as the old wizard opened his mouth to speak, there was a small KA-POOF type noise and a little flash of light and smoke next to Cassi.
"Um…what just happened? Where am I?" asked the redhead girl who had just appeared.
"Mary! Hey, hi! How'd you get here?" asked Cassi.
Mary just stared at Cassi's hair. "You—your hair! It's…Weasley red!" Shaking herself, she tore her eyes from Cassi's new do and blinked, realizing the she had asked her something. "Oh, yeah, you said something," she said. "What was the question again?"
Cassi just shook her head, running her fingers through her hair to show it off some more. "How did you get here?" she repeated patiently.
"Oh, right. Good question," Mary said. She pondered this question a moment, staring thoughtfully into space and tapping her chin lightly. "Can I get back to you on that one?" she finally said, clueless as to how she had arrived…wherever the hell she was.
"What happened?" asked Cassi.
"Honestly? I have absolutely no bloody idea. One minute I was…ah…talking to George…then the next minute I was here."
"I see. Interesting. Good thing you were fully clothed then," Cassi joked playfully, not realizing just how spot on her statement was. She also happened to miss (whether on purpose or not) the guilty look that passed ever-so-briefly across Mary's porcelain face.
Quickly regaining her composure, Mary suddenly noticed the strange old wizard. "Who are you?" she asked bluntly, though not entirely rudely.
The wizard replied happily, "There are some who call me…Tim?"
"You've seen that movie too?!" Cassi and Mary exclaimed together.
"Of course, what else could I have possibly been doing for the past thousand years?" he said sarcastically, a twinkle of mischief and something else (hmm…perhaps INSANITY?!) in his stormy gray eyes, eerily like Cassi's own. "Ah, Mary Evans-Potter, as beautiful as your foremothers," said the strange old man, turning his attention on the fiery redheaded witch.
"You-you got my name right?" Mary exclaimed. "Who the bloody hell are you?!"
Cassi looked at the old man carefully before it hit her. "You're Merlin, aren't you?" she said slowly. "That's why the boulder had a spot for my necklace carved in it."
"Clever you are, young padawan. Correct, your assumption is."
"YOU WATCH STAR WARS TOO?!"
"Not now Mar—"
"I just saw Episode II, it's my favorite!"
"It's only, like, my favorite movie of all time! So far, anyway. And we're in it too—me'n Cass! I mean, we're only extras, but still…see, Cass here was dating this movie star's little brother—"
"Mary, um, we have more important things to talk about here," Cassi hissed at her hazel-eyed best friend.
"No we don't! Nothing is more important than Star Wars!" Mary insisted stubbornly.
"Mary…" Remus spoke up for the first time since Mary arrived.
"Fine," Mary huffed, pouting sulkily at the sandy-haired werewolf.
Suddenly, out of the blue, it started to rain, so Merlin said, "Come into my cave, we'll be warmer there… and not as wet."
As they all scrambled into the cave, Cassi whispered to Mary, "Why does this sound horribly like 'The Spider and the Fly?'"
"Good question…but we're too smart to fall into a trap like that…aren't we?"
"I think…"
XXXXXXXX
Once inside, Remus sat on a small wooden stool as Merlin sat down on his big, comfy, Chudley Cannon orange armchair. The girls, on the other hand, were too busy looking around the cave to sit and talk. Written all over the walls were such sayings as "Merlin + Anor = Forever," "M+A," "Merlin 3's Anor" and the like.
"Whoa, dude, are you like twelve or something?" Mary asked, still not taking her eyes off of the writing.
"Twelve hundred maybe," replied Merlin calmly.
"Dude, you're freaking me out here! Wait…Anor…as in my necklace Anor…that Anor?"
"Oh, you're that one."
"Merlin?" Cassi asked, completely confused.
"Gather around kiddies, its story time!" Merlin said cheerfully, clapping his hands together in delight.
By this point, all three of his guests were completely shocked by this man; he was definitely not what they were expecting from the legends. All the same, Cassi and Mary sat down on large, cushy, sunshine yellow pillows by Merlin's feet to hear whatever tale he was going to tell them.
"Oh, my dear Cassiopeia, I have been waiting so long for you to arrive, so I will tell your story first." Merlin said looking at Cassi in a fatherly way.
"Hey what about me?!" Mary said jealously.
"Yep, you're definitely hers," laughed Merlin. "Okay, I'm sure you've both have heard the Legend of My Heir—"
"Huh?" Cassi and Mary said together.
"Your hair? The Legend of Your Hair?" Mary said jokingly.
Merlin looked to Remus for an explanation, "Cassi didn't get the Mark—" (of Merlin—not to be confused with the Dark Mark) "—until this past Christmas and she didn't tell anyone when she did…whatever the girls do know, they've found in books on their own."
"So when did Mary get hers?" Merlin asked.
"Good question…When did you get your necklace, Mary?"
Mary, who—as usual—had only been half listening, started at the sound of her name. "Huh? I was listening, I swear." She paused, then continued, "What was the question again?"
Remus did the all-too-familiar face-hand motion and shook his head back and forth. Merlin, who seemed to be more patient and to understand modern teenagers more—perhaps more so than was good for him—willingly repeated his question. "When did you get your necklace, Mary?"
"What neck…oh, this necklace," she said, holding The Flaming Heart of Anor. Mary was so used to it by now that she often forgot that she was wearing it. "My Uncle Alex gave it to me on my eighth birthday. He told me that it was an old family heirloom and that it was to be passed on to me when 'the time was right,' which apparently was my eighth birthday. Unless he made a mistake by giving it to me too soon…or too late…or whatever…"
Remus gave Mary a look, "Mary…"
"Oh, sorry. Please continue."
"As I said before, I am going to start with Cassi…mostly because I know more about her necklace than I do about Mary's. When I was a fairly young man, Anor and I had a son. When I held little Ambros," said Merlin as he motioned to the moving portrait of a silver-blond haired young man and an ebony haired young woman, "I had a vision of a young lady whose life was in danger. That young lady was you, my dear Cassiopeia."
"Please just call me Cassi; I hate my name, it makes me sound like I'm supposed to be all 'proper' and stuff."
"But it's such a lovely name, Cassiopeia, dear."
"No, it's not."
"But Cassiopeia dear, it's such a lovely name! I think I shall call you Cassiopeia for now and forever, my dear girl."
"I never thought I'd actually say this, but I really hate you right now… Although I never thought I'd actually say anything to Merlin, but that's beside the point!"
"Er… where was I?"
"You were explaining the necklace to Cassi," Remus piped in—really beginning to wonder what he had gotten himself into with this whole Merlin thing.
"Why would I explain the Heart to Cassiopeia? She's not Anor's Heiress…is she?"
Remus did the all-too-familiar hand-face motion once again. "Not the Heart, the Mark," he said, exasperated.
"Oh, that makes more sense than it doesn't. Where was I?" Remus did the hand-face motion again. "Oh, right. As I was saying, after I saw the vision I made a necklace. It was purdy. And shiny. And also very magical." Mary and Cassi couldn't say anything, they just gave each other a look that said "What the bloody hell have we gotten ourselves into this time?!" "As for the magical-ness of the necklace, Cassiopeia dear, into the white gold I poured the light of the moon—" Suddenly, hippie-Indian type music starting playing. The girls looked around the cave and could not find anything that could even possibly play music. They were too freaked out to say anything, so they just sat quietly (a first!) and listened to the rest of "story time." "Of course, that is figuratively speaking, Cassiopeia dear, as I am sure you have seen the moon in the sky many, many times before. I also poured the light of the Dog Star—again, figuratively—into the largest diamond on the magical necklace. Into the rest of the diamonds went the light of the North Star—*coughLeniacough*."
"What the bloody hell is Lenia?" asked both girls at the same time.
"Nothing, nothing. As I was saying—those are all real diamonds, by the way, Cassiopeia dear—as I was pouring all of this light into the magical necklace, I also poured my own magic into it and cast a special spell to call more magic if it was ever needed…or if something bad happened to me…or you. I tried to keep the magical necklace a secret from everyone, even An—Arthur! But my lover, my mysterious love-var, found me out. And then she poured some of her own magic into the magical necklace."
Oh thank Merlin…er, God, I thought he was going to say it was Arthur for a minute there! Mary thought-spoke to Cassi.
Yeah, that would have been a bit too much information! Cassi responded in thought-speech.
Just a bit?! Mary thought-spoke back, causing Cassi to thought-laugh.
Meanwhile Merlin was still busy explaining the Mark. "And I gave the magical necklace to my love-var to give to our son when he was old enough to give to his first born witch-daughter when she was old enough and so on and so forth, etcetera, etcetera," he said. "Now, I know you girls look like you want to run away right about now, but please stay seated, keep your arms, legs, head, hands, feet, and other appendages inside the cushions at all times until the ride comes to a full and complete stop. We know you do have a choice, so thank you for flying Merlin's Magic Cushion Ride. We hope you enjoy your flight, thank you and have a nice day. We hope you come again soon."
REMUS!!!! The girls thought-yelled at the same time into Remus's head.
"Ahh!" he yelped, wincing and holding his head. "I thought I told you girls to stop screaming into my head! I have enough problems without having a migraine on top of it all—you do know the full moon's coming up soon, right?" The girls just stuck their tongues out at him.
Merlin just sat there smiling, seemingly clueless about what was going on in front of him. "Well, I do believe I've told you everything there is to be told about my Mark," he said cheerfully. "Now on to the Heart… which I know considerably less about…almost nothing, actually."
"Well, what do you know?" asked Mary.
"Er…It's called the Flaming Heart of Anor and it's yours and Anor made it. And it's a magical necklace. And I think I put some magic into it, but I can't really remember—it was a really long time ago and I may have been on some magical hallucinogenic mushrooms at the time."
"Y-you wouldn't happen to be related to any Dumbledores, would you?" asked Cassi nervously.
"Actually yes, I am. They are descended from my son," said Merlin, smiling creepily.
"Okay, I'm officially doomed. But I can definitely see where Uncle A gets his liking for mushrooms from…and his insanity, for that matter."
"So what about my necklace?" interrupted Mary.
"Which necklace? Oh, your magical necklace. Made by my mysterious love-var."
"The earth is doomed," said Cassi.
"The earth is definitely doomed," added Mary.
"You two wouldn't happen to know where Anor is, would you?" asked Merlin.
"The highest room in the tallest tower," said Mary, joking.
"You know, you just might be right! Let me consult my magical crystal ball…well, really it's more of a magical crystal pool…really it's just a magical pool of water. I like to call it my magical crystal ball though. That sounds better, don't you think?"
"He does know I was just kidding right?" Mary whispered to Cassi.
"I have no bloody clue and I really don't want to know either," Cassi whispered back.
"How would you girls like to go on a little mission…quest…thing…Wait, what am I talking about? Oh, right, a quest...a QUEST FOR CAMELOT!"
"Does it mean we can leave here?" both girls asked at the same time.
"Yes! No. Wait, I mean, yes. I think. What was the question?"
"If we go on your 'quest' can we leave here?"
"Yes! I think. You must find Camelot. Camelot! Camelot. It's only a model. Shh!"
"Oooookay, then…" said Cassi, very scared.
"Where exactly is Camelot?" asked Mary.
"Who said anything about Camelot? Oh, right, I did. It's in a sort of North…West…South…Easterly direction! I'm a little bit confused here…"
"Really, never would have guessed…" both girls muttered.
"Perhaps you can teleport there, Mary."
"I can teleport? I didn't know that. And wouldn't I have to know exactly where 'there' is anyway?"
"Well you teleported here," said Merlin creepily cheerful (the girls were willing to bet their considerable combined fortunes that he was on magical hallucinogenic mushrooms at that very moment).
"That's what that was?" said Mary thoughtfully.
"Yes indeed," replied Merlin.
"Okay, I think we'll go then. Where exactly is she?"
"In the highest room of the tallest tower, of course. In Camelot. Camelot! Camelot. It's only a model. SHH!"
"Okay, Cassi, take my hand, we're leaving now!" said Mary quickly. Okay, we're going to pray that this works. I hope to Merlin…er, God this works! Because if it doesn't, we're screwed! And while I'm at it, I've got to get out of swearing to Merlin now that I've met him…it just doesn't have the same…oomph…to it anymore, Mary thought to herself.
Cassi took Mary's hand, while thinking Please let this work, please oh please oh please let this work!
Okay, thought Mary with her eyes closed, what was I thinking about earlier? Oh right, George…
XXXXXXXX
"Hey! Where did that castle come from?! And where's Merlin and Remus?" Mary opened her eyes and instead of a cave with a crazy old loony and the most awesome werewolf ever, she saw a magnificent castle. "I bet we're supposed to go inside, aren't we?" asked Cassi as she looked up at the castle in awe (the good kind).
"Probably," said Mary, also staring.
"Why does this all seem so bloody familiar?" asked Cassi.
"I believe you are thinking about the creepy, dark tunnel towards the end of the school year."
"Oooooh, right. So who wants to go down the creepy, dark tunnel first?"
"Not quite that similar Cass."
"Oh, right. So where are we going?"
"The highest room in the tallest tower, of course."
"Oh, right. Is this going to involve a lot of climbing?"
"Most likely. Let's go!" Cassi just grumbled incoherently. "Shut up and start climbing…walking… whatever," said Mary with a wry smile.
The Dangerous Duo made their way through the castle. On their way, they saw many knights and princes —whether they were just sleeping, dead, or statues they couldn't tell. On each new level that the girls reached, they found more knights and princes. Finally, after what seemed like forever (it was really more like five minutes, ten tops) they reached the highest room in the tallest tower.
They opened the door and saw, laying on a bed in the middle of the room, a sleeping woman with hair the exact same color as Mary's. The girls slowly—and cautiously—approached her.
"Do you think that's her?" whispered Cassi, as this seemed like one of those whispering places.
"I'm sure that's her," Mary whispered back.
"So…what do we do now? This is usually the part where the prince kisses the princess…I don't have to kiss her, do I? Cause I really don't want to!" Mary simply rolled her eyes, grabbed Cassi's arm, touched Anor, and teleported all of them back to Merlin's cave.
XXXXXXXX
The girls and Anor—who was still asleep, by the way—appeared with a small KA-POOF and a flash of light. "You have returned my beloved love-var to me! Oh, thank you Mary, thank you Cassiopeia dear!" said Merlin, running towards Anor. Mary and Cassi quickly jumped away, not wanting to be trampled by a crazy old loony. "Why-why is she still asleep? She's not dead, is she?" asked Merlin worriedly.
"Dude, I thought you could see everything!" said Cassi, with a roll of her eyes.
"In all the fairy tales, the princess can only be awoken by true love's first kiss…or in this case, just true love's kiss. Apparently you two are already way beyond the first kiss point."
"Oh, right, right. So…I have to…"
"Kiss her?" Cassi finished.
"Uh, that'd be a yes," said Mary, rolling her eyes.
"Quite right, quite right," said Merlin with a very creepy look on his face.
"Avert thine eyes, children," said Remus, jokingly serious. The girls just turned around and looked at him. He just shrugged, "I just thought I'd get in the mood. Just look away; this can't be good and may just scar you for life. I think it might actually do the same for me, for that matter."
"Well, thank you for that, Rem," said Cassi as she and Mary closed their eyes as tightly as humanly possible. They even stuck their fingers in their ears and said "LALALALALALALALALALA!"
"Is it done yet?" asked Mary, hazel eyes still squeezed shut tight.
"I think you're good," said Remus. "And that was not pleasant. I, er, forgot something. I'll be back… later," he said, desperately needing some fresh air and some time away from the crazy old coot who called himself Dumbledore's ancestor. That said, he took off as quickly as humanly—er, werewolfly possible.
Mary and Cassi turned around just in time to see Anor sit up, with some help from Merlin. "I was wondering when thee would awaken me, Merlin my love," said Anor as she cautiously stood up. She wobbled for a moment while she regained her balance and stretched gracefully. "It is good to be awake after all these years. How long has it been? One hundred, two hundred years, per chance?"
"1507 years to be exact, my love."
She stretched some more, "Well, I suppose it could have been worse. How long hast thou been out of thine cave, Merlin?"
"About an hour now," he replied as he looked down at his non-watch on his wrist.
"Er, Merlin, you don't have a watch on, dude," said Cassi.
"I do not think that is quite long enough for thee, thou great unfaithful lout!" snapped Anor, ignoring Merlin's normally black-haired descendant.
"B-but my dear!" pleaded Merlin.
"Do not think that I do not know what went on between thee and that wench Nimue! That is what thou gets for being unfaithful, thou bloody ungrateful prat!"
"I-I'm sorry?"
"Thou art sorry? Thou art sorry?! That is all thou canst say is thou art bloody sorry?!"
"I-I love you? And I'll never do it again?"
"Thou had bloody well better not! Merlinus Ambrosius Pendragon, if thou art ever unfaithful to me again I can promise thee that death will look a treat compared to what I will do to thee. And thou knows just how powerful I am!"
"I promise I'll be a good boy, Anor! Please don't leave me again!"
"Art thou going to settle for just me and leave those other whore sorceresses alone?"
"I promise, I promise, I love you so much! Please!"
"Fine then, I wilt give thee one more chance, Merlin. But if this ever happens again, I can promise thee that thou wilt beg for death!" Anor paused and looked around the cave. "Now, whatever happened to that great prat of a brother of mine? Did he end his life in some duel or anther, perchance?"
"No, he—"
"Merlin, let me look into thine seeing pool."
"Y-you mean my 'Magical Crystal Ball?'"
"No, I mean thine seeing pool, thou great silly prat! Where is it? Thou doest still have it, correct?"
"R-right this way, my dear." Anor followed Merlin through the cave, as did Mary and Cassi, but the girls kept their distance.
They reached the pool and Anor walked up to it, waving her hand over the pool saying, "I need to see Anoro, where is Anoro?"
The pool showed many blurred images until it finally focused in on a red-headed man—who looked much like Anor—walking alone down an empty road. He was dressed in very old-fashioned clothes, though not as pretty as Anor's dress…as it wasn't even a dress, really (thank Merlin, er God!). "Oh thank Lenia he is all right! Oh no, this cannot be good!" said Anor. The girls leaned in to see none other than Remus walking towards Anoro. "What does he think he is doing now? Sonorus!" Once Anor said the spell, the girls could clearly hear the conversation that was taking place on the road.
XXXXXXXX
"Halt thou foul beast and tell me where my sister is!" Anoro called to Remus, his hand gripped tightly to his sword.
Remus stopped, "I'm sorry young man, but I don't know who your sister is."
Anoro let out a harsh laugh. "Do not lie to me, foul beast!" he cried. "I knowest that thou hast taken my sister from me!"
"Again, I don't know who your sister is. And I'm not a beast!"
"Lies! All lies! If thou refuseth to give me my sister, then we shall duel here and now, foul beast!"
"Now, now, let's not get carried away here," said Remus, reaching inside his jacket to rest his hand on his wand. "Who is your sister—maybe I can help you find her."
"Foul beast, speak not of my sister! Draw thine weapon and we shall duel here and now!"
At the same time, Anoro drew his sword and Remus drew his wand. "I-I thought y-you meant we were going to duel with wands," said Remus, looking rather nervously at the sword.
"Fool! 'Tis a poor wizard indeed who relies on his wand alone; a true wizard knows the magic of the sword as well."
"Well, that may be true if you're living in the Dark Ages. But here in the twenty-first century, we don't use swords as much as we used to…or at all, for that matter."
Anoro lowered his sword a bit, "W-what doest thou mean, the twenty-first century?"
"Do you know what year it is, young man?"
"Of course I know what year it is, foul beast. What doest thou take me for, a fool? 'Tis the year of our Lord 496."
Remus lowered his wand, "Young man, it is the year 2002."
"Tis not possible! Tis…tis…inconceivable!"
"I'm sorry, young man, it is the year 2002."
"Then my sister is gone. I have failed."
XXXXXXXX
Back in the cave, Anor said, "I suppose that I should let him know that I am well and that I am safe." She closed her eyes, and the girls looked at each other as they didn't hear anything.
XXXXXXXX
"My sister is well! She is safe!" said Anoro. "Thou shalt take me to her, beast! Thou shalt take me to my sister now!"
"My name is Remus Lupin," said Remus, sounding a bit irritated. "I don't appreciate you calling me 'beast' all the time."
"But thou art a werewolf!" said Anoro. "How else should I address thee?"
"Just because I'm a werewolf doesn't mean I don't have feelings too!" huffed Remus.
"I beg thy forgiveness, Sir Remus," said Anoro, giving a slight bow. "I did not mean to offend thee. Now, wilt thou take me to my sister, please?"
"Who is your sister…what's your name?"
"I am Sir Anoro Mysterio of Camelot, brother of Lady Anor Mysterio of Camelot, greatest witch in all the land."
"Anor is your sister? Well, why didn't you just say so, Anoro! Come, follow me; I know where Anor is."
XXXXXXXX
Back in the cave Anor waved her hand over the pool again and the picture vanished. "It appears that we shall be entertaining some guests very shortly, Merlin. Please prepare some libations for them, as I am sure that they shall be in dire need of such."
"Yes dear," said Merlin, skipping (yes, skipping) off toward the back of the cave to get some food and drinks. The girls cringed visibly in horror as he did so.
Anor finally noticed the girls as Merlin left, "Oh, hello girls. Thou art surely Mary."
"How the bloody hell do you know my name?"
"I knew thy name long before thy birth, Mary. Thou art my heiress—thou art the one; I can see it."
"How?"
"I had a vision, long ago. Thou art the one to whom all my powers have been given. Thou art unmistakable, Mary."
"That's the truth," muttered Cassi. Mary just whacked her upside the head. "OW!"
"Trust me, Mary, it is the hair. I get it all the time."
Mary laughed, the sobered as she asked, "But how can you be sure it's me?"
"Canst thou take the necklace off, Mary?"
"Well, n-no…"
"Then thou art the one."
"Oh."
Merlin came back carrying a tray of cookies and milk, "I got cookies. I want my cookie!"
"Merlin, that is quite enough of that! Let the girls sit down and eat their sweets while I tell them the story of my necklace."
"Yes, dear."
"Where were you earlier when he was rambling on about my necklace?" asked Cassi.
"In a magical deep sleep in the highest room of the tallest tower of Camelot—"
"Camelot. Camelot! Camelot. It's only a model. SHH!" Merlin interrupted.
Anor pulled out her wand (from Merlin—er, God—only knows where) and pointed it at Merlin. Apparently she cast an unspoken spell because Merlin became silent and she had not said a word. "That is much better."
"I thought Merlin was supposed to be the most powerful wizard ever…" said Cassi.
"Wizard. Wiz-ard. Not witch. Besides, who was the one who was stupid enough to get himself tricked into a cave for fifteen hundred years by that whore sorceress? He obviously cannot be that good of a wizard if he was stuck in there by that tramp, can he now?"
"Er…I guess not…"
"Exactly. Now where was I? Ah, yes, my necklace—The Flaming Heart of Anor. I personally forged the necklace from a ruby I had come across as a young child in my homeland. I poured all of myself into it—my magic, my personality, my temper, my capacity for love, everything. Then this twit here came and poured some of his magic into it too—I am not quite sure what he thought he would accomplish by doing so, but apparently it is in there too. After Merlin here got tricked into this cave by that Nimue, I had a vision and I decided to put myself into a magical sleep until Merlin could escape and awaken me—so that I could torture him for the rest of eternity, of course. But anyway, before I did that I gave the necklace to my daughter Brianne and told her to wear it always and to pass it on to her eldest witch-daughter when the time was right, and her daughter was to pass it down to her first born witch-daughter, and so on and so forth, until it came to thee. Ah! Anoro, you made it!"
"Sister dearest! It is true! You are all right!" said Anoro as he ran into the cave and hugged her tightly. "I thought that I had failed you, my lady. I went to the castle to try to awaken thee, but I failed. The next thing I remember, I was waking up with many other knights and thou had gone."
"Art thou a wizard or not, Anoro? Doest thou not know me? Doest thou not know the powers bestowed upon the children of Lenia? That spell was conditioned so that only Merlin could awaken me; I thought for sure that thee of all people wouldst know that!"
"What's Lenia?" asked the girls in unison.
"Lenia is our home," explained Anor, glaring at her properly chastised twin brother. "It is where we were born; it is who we are. Lenia is the North Star, guiding us through our darkest hours; it keeps us safe and guides us on our life-long quest. It is in our very being, Lenia."
"Wait let me get this straight, y'all are from a star? Is that anything like Never Never Land?" asked Cassi.
Anor stared at her blankly, "I do not know of this 'Never Never Land' you speak of." She stared intently at Cassi for a moment before a flash of understanding crossed her prefect porcelain face. "Ah, you must be his," she said simply. "Anyway," she continued, "of course Lenia is the North Star, 'tis what I said, 'tis it not? Lenia keeps us young, keeps us alive. Lenia is me, is Anoro—Lenia is you, Mary."
"Say what now?"
"Thou art a child of Lenia, Mary."
"B-but I'm pretty sure I was born right here in England."
Anor laughed pleasantly, "Of course England was the place of thy birth, dear girl. Thou art not a child of Lenia because of where thee was born, 'tis because of who thou art. There have not been many Lenians who were born outside of Lenia, but there have been a few. Thou art one of the few, Mary."
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but it is getting late, girls," said Remus as he looked outside at the quickly darkening sky. "We must be going soon. I know you both have many questions, but those must wait for next time."
"But Remus!" they both whined.
"No buts, girls. Mary, nobody even knows where you are and I would really rather not have Cassi out too long after dark."
"Fine, but I fully intend on pouting the entire way home—" started Cassi.
"Dually noted," said Remus before turning his attention to the fiery redhead. "Okay, Mary, where exactly were you when you teleported here so I know exactly who to tell that you're okay?"
"Well, I-I was kinda out in the middle of a random field…with a-a guy…" Mary mumbled this last part so quietly that had it not been for his enhanced werewolf hearing, Remus would never have caught it.
"George?" asked Remus.
"Maybe…"
"Mary…"
"Fine! Yes, alright! I'm supposed to be at the Dursleys right now, but I don't wanna! Can't I go home with you and Cass? Please?!"
"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way, Lil' Red," said Remus sadly. "You know I'd love to have you, but you can't come right now. Besides, the full moon's coming up in a couple of days and Cassi has to leave for that anyway."
"I could always teleport myself to Sirius—" threatened Mary.
"You don't even know where he is! And you just learned how to teleport today!"
"So? That doesn't mean I can't try. So what if I end up in the middle of Nicaragua or Nigeria or something?"
"If you're teleporting to Sirius, you have to take me with you!" Cassi piped up.
"Nobody is teleporting anyone to Sirius!" said Remus, starting to get frustrated. "Now, say goodbye to Merlin, Anor, and Anoro and let's go! I'm dropping you off at the Dursleys' Mary, and it's back to my house for you, Cassi."
"But I don't wanna!" both girls said at once.
"Too bad. Now say goodbye and let's go!"
"Just a second Remus; I have presents for the girls!!" said Merlin as he disappeared into the cave. When he returned he was holding two ginormus—yes, ginormus—boxes. "You each get one box, I made them myself," he explained chipperly. The girls pulled out the top t-shirt from their boxes, which was hot pink for both of them. They looked at each other and groaned. The t-shirts said, in big, black, bold block letters "Merlin is My Homeboy."
"Uh, this clashes with my hair," said Mary. "And my personality. Where are my scissors?" she muttered.
Cassi looked at her own hair and said, "Hey! I have red hair too! It clashes with my hair too!"
"Oh, don't be silly, just put them on girls!" said Merlin, cheerfully.
"It burns! It burns us!" shrieked Cassi.
"I'm meeeeelllting! Meeellllllttttinnnng!" shrieked Mary. "There is no way in Hell I'm putting pink on!"
"Same goes for me!" protested Cassi.
"Uh, how about we leave now? Bye!" said Mary as she ran out of the cave just as fast as she could.
"I'm right behind you mate! Later!" yelled Cassi. "Thank Merlin—er, Zeus—she healed my leg!" she added as she sprinted out. "Must stop swearing to Merlin now," she muttered to herself, shuddering in horror at the thought of her ancestor.
"Well, bye then," said Remus, hurrying after the girls.
"Lovely girls, aren't they?" said Merlin, peeking over Anor's shoulder.
"Bloody stars, it wore off," muttered Anor before once again waving her wand at Merlin, who once again fell silent.
~ R&R- No Flames Please! ~