Arthur ran through the streets of Radiant Garden, ready for his first big day; his first test. He had been studying for it and he had been busier than ever with trying to understand the concepts. But try as he might he couldn't understand all of it. So he headed to the only place he could go and the only man who could help him, his teacher and the world's most powerful wizard; Merlin.
He ran up to the door and opened it "Merlin? Merlin?" he called out upon entering. Aerith was the only one on the room along with Bodger and Tao. The two animals looked at him and Aerith responded.
"You're looking for Merlin?" she asked and Arthur nodded "He's not here right now"
"But I have problems understanding the lessons we've been going over" Arthur said "I was hoping he could go over it with me a little more before I have to take the test"
"Is it today?" Arthur nodded "Well good luck" she smiled sweetly and Arthur thanked her
"Do you know where everybody went?"
"Well let's see" Aerith pondered "Leon look Luath out on patrol with him. They're getting along so well together" she giggled "He offered his paw to him this morning" she giggled again The Gullwings are out looking for treasure. Yuffie's out doing some jobs around the city. Right now I think she went over to Ansem's study…" she paused for a moment "Oh" she let out "If you're looking for Merlin he went over to Ansem's study with Cid"
"Ansem's study? Who's Ansem?"
"He used to be the ruler of this world"
"Oh I see, and Merlin should be there"
"He seemed to be in a hurry. I think he has something important coming up"
"Probably my test"
"I'm not sure, he seemed stressed over the amount of time he had. He may not even be there now"
"Could you take me there?" Arthur asked
Aerith shook her head "I have to stay here and look after things"
"I'll help you boy" a voice said from above. They both looked up to see Archimedes descend from the ceiling and landed on Arthur's shoulder "I know where the study is. I'll take you there"
Thanking Archimedes and saying Goodbye to Aerith Arthur went over to open the door and walked out. The owl then took to the sky and Arthur followed him through the streets. Keeping his eyes up, he didn't notice it when bumped into something hard and landed back on the ground.
"Ow" he let out and rubbed his head. He was then greeted by a sniffing Luath and looked up to see Leon staring down at him.
"Wart? What are you doing out here" Leon asked as Arthur picked himself up
"OH sorry Leon it's just" he said as he shuffled past him "I've got to get going!" he called back to him
"Wait!" Leon called and Luath barked but Arthur was already gone.
He followed Archimedes high above Arthur now didn't know where he was. He was in an area clearly left for wide patrols, no doubt where Leon and Luath just came back from. He thought of asking if he saw Merlin but he was too far behind now. So he just stuck with following Archimedes. He followed him as he ran along the path and eventually rising from the distance they came to it; the castle.
But even then they're journey was not done because Arthur now followed Archimedes to a single door that led inside. As he walked inside Archimedes landed on his shoulder.
"Well boy just follow the hall from here" his voice echoed. Listening to him Arthur made his way down the ling hall, following its many turns. Finally they came before a door. From inside they could hear voices and the sound of movement and then a loud thud.
"Watch you're feet ya big oaf!" one voice scolded
"It was an accident" another responded
"Come on guys let's try again!" Yuffie's voice chanted
Arthur and Archimedes then looked to each other and shrugged their shoulders. Arthur then reached forward and opened the door. He saw Yuffie standing with two large men who wore similar attire. One with black hair tied back in a ponytail and the other with red hair and a beard. They both knelt down tp pick up a large desk.
"Alright on three guys. One. Two." She then turned over to see Arthur "Oh hey" she greeted
"What?" the red haired man let out just as the black haired man raised his end of the table and the red haired man felt the entire weight of it come onto his arms.
"Aw come on Lon, it's only a little desk" the black haired man said
"Alright alright Ben" Lon said as he finally picked up his end "I just didn't hear anybody say three that's all"
Yuffie then went over to Arthur as Ben and Lon moved the table across the room "So whadda doing here?" she asked
"I came here to find Merlin, is he here?"
"Hmmm" Yuffie pondered "I saw him come in with Cid before but if you know Merlin he can disappear at will so who know's if he's still in there or not" she said cheerfully despite the grim warning.
"You can go back and check for yourself. That's where the computer room is" she pointed down another hallway with her thumb. Arthur with Archimedes made their way back there.
Meanwhile Ben and Lon had moved the table across the room.
"Wow Good job guys! I'm impressed" Yuffie shouted at the two sailors happily
"Um how long are we going to be cleaning out this room?" Lon asked
"Aye practically bustin' our backs over it" Ben said
"Oh come on guys it's not that bad" Yuffie waved at them "Besides that bookshelf over there isn't gonna move itself"
The two of them looked over at the large bookshelf "Yes ma'am" they both said before walking off to go move it as Yuffie continued to watch.
Arthur and Archimedes walked through the small doorframe took a turn into another room. This was gray with a large screen to the left. Two figures had their backs to them were crawling around the floor looking for something, Arthur knew for a fact one of them was Cid while the other was a duck in a lab coat.
"Dang it how could you have lost it?" Cid complained as he felt across the floor under the computer "We worked all week on it"
"I'm not sure" said the duck "But I'm sure if we keep looking" he then turned around and saw Arthur. Taking off the glasses he rubbed them and then put them back on his beak "Hohoho he laughed and Hello there! Who might you be?" he asked
"I thought if we had any questions we ask you" Cid said as he picked himself up from under the computer and saw Arthur "Oh that's just the kid. Merlin's student, he's new here"
"Well then perhaps he's seen our missing piece" he said looking up at Cid
"Doubtful, kids got test to worry about"
"Actually I do have a question" Arthur spoke up
"Well" the duck shook his vest "If you have any questions just ask Professor Ludwig Von Drake, and that's me" the duck chuckled
"Well have either of you seen Merlin?"
"Merlin? Merlin? Who's Merlin?" Ludwig asked as he received blank stared from Arthur and Archimedes while Cid sighed and covered his eyes "Oh the wizard, grand old fellow. Let me think where I last saw him" Ludwig pondered
"He came with us to check out the computer but left in a rush" Cid said "He seems to have a lot going on today"
"Do you think it could be this boys test?" Archimedes asked
"Nah. He seemed strung up about something else, he wouldn't say what thought"
"I wonder where he could have gone" Ludwig continued to ponder "Let me think" he said as he put his hand in his pocket. Then his eyes shot open and he pulled out a CD and began laughing "hohoho here it is" he said showcasing it to Cid "The Von Drake security system 5000"
Cid again sighed "You ducks are gonna be the end of me"
"There is no end, only beginning" Ludwig said as he walked passed Cid and to the computer. He then pressed a button "Hello Earth to Tron, wakey wakey" he said as he continued to press some buttons
"Don't keep doing that, you'll annoy him" Cid said walking over to the duck.
"Hello friends" A voice came from the screen "Cid, Ludwig"
"Tron" Cid acknowledged
"Is that security program you two were working on finished?" Tron asked
The two looked to each other and smiled "It's finished alright" Cid said
"Great! Let's try it out" Tron insisted. Ludwig passed the disc to the much taller Cid and he in turn inserted it into the computer. "Analyzing" Tron's voice said "Transferring data files… there all done download complete. The new security system id up and running"
"Yes! I knew we could do it!" Cid exclaimed as he and Ludwig started shaking each other's hand
"All it took was a little bit of brain power" Ludwig said
"Say did one of you say you were looking for Merlin?" Tron asked
"Nope but he was" Cid said as he turned over to Arthur "C'mere kid. Come meet the last member of the restoration Committee" Cid waved and Arthur came forth while Archimedes flew off his shoulder. Arthur stood before the computer and Cid put his arms on Arthur's shoulders "Tron this here's the new kid. He's looking for Merlin he's his student"
"I see" Tron responded "Is he my new user friend?"
"Yep" Cid nodded
"Hello new friend, my name is Tron"
"I'm Arthur"
"Well let me find Merlin for you"
"You can do that?"
"With the new security system I can" Cid winked at Ludwig who shot him a thumbs up "Ah here he is. He's back at his home in the borough"
"Oh I have to get going, he's probably waiting for me right now to take the test!" Arthur said as he ran off and Archimedes soon followed.
"See ye kid" Cid waved and called off as he left him with Ludwig and Tron.
Arthur sprinted out of the computer room and ran under a desk Ben and Lon were carrying and they almost lost their balance as he went under. Arthur ran out of the study, through the halls, out of the castle and ran all the way back into town with Archimedes behind him. He ran up to Merlin's house slammed open the door "I'm here Merlin!" he cried out.
Everyone in the room stared wide eyed at him including Merlin who for some reason was holding his bag.
"OH well I see that. What seems to be the matter lad?" he asked concerned
"Well I'm here for the test. I thought you were looking for me all this morning, everyone was saying you were running around"
"Oh that" Merlin lightly chuckled "Well that's because I'm uh I'm… I'm going away"
Arthur was shocked and starred at the wizard with his jaw dropped "Going away what do you mean?"
"Yes Merlin, you didn't say anything to me" Archimedes said
"That is because I'm going alone. Yen Sid has called a meeting and I am inclined to go"
"Is something wrong?"
"I don't think so, not if we act quick enough" Merlin said and then looked at the look of concern on the boy's face "But it's nothing to concern yourself with lad. Stay here, have fun and remember study" he said with a smile. He then picked a book out of his bag "I picked this up from the study room, I thought perhaps it might give you an idea of our next lesson"
Arthur looked at the book which read "Of light, Darkness and the heart by Ansem"
Merlin then looked over at the only other people in the room Aerith and Leon.
"Now take care of yourselves while I'm gone" he said
"You got it" Leon said
"Do you know how long you'll be?" Aerith asked in a melancholy tone
"Sadly no dear, but I'm sure I'll be back before you know it" he said happily which cheered her up. Merlin then looked up to the ceiling "Goodbye ladies, I'll see you when I return" he waved
The gullwings then came down from above and flew around him
"Come back soon!" Rikku said
"Don't take too long" Paine said glumly
"Bring back any treasure you find" Yuna said.
"Of course, any I can find" Merlin said. He then turned to the floor where he saw Bodger, Luath and Tao looking up at him. "Well I'm sure you'd like to come with me, maybe get closer to home but trust me for now this is for the best" Luath then offered his paw "Why Luath this is the first time, you charmer" Merlin said as he shook the paw.
He then turned to Archimedes and Arthur and he reached out a hand to Arthur's shoulder "Don't worry lad, you'll be fine. And as for you Archimedes keep him out of trouble"
"Hmph, I've been doing it all along" the owl responded. Arthur then stepped forward and hugged Merlin. The wizard hugged him back and once that was done he made his way for the door.
He closed the door behind him and a voice called out to him "Didn't get your beard caught this time?" Merlin turned to see Cid looking at him with crossed arms. "You weren't gonna leave without saying goodbye were ya?"
"I'm in a bit of a hurry, have been all morning" Merlin said as he walked forward and the two men stood before eachother "How did your program work?" the wizard asked
"Like a dream" the tech man responded.
"Good to hear" Merlin said
"Coulda used a little bit of magic for a kick thought" the two men shared a chuckle "Well tell me all about it when ya get back" Cid said as he walked past him
"Uh Cid" Merlin called his name and he stopped to listen "Look after the boy while I'm gone"
"You don't have to ask. I always have been" Cid said before he walked towards the house.
Fumes then descended from Merlin's robe and he took off like a rocket into the sky.
Thanks for reading!
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