- Chapter 16 -

"Who was that? That was she, wasn't it? The third apprentice."
~ Dave Stutler

They have all eaten dinner, deciding to go on with the story about the girl in the room with a full stomach. Though Merlin told the boys to wash the dishes too before anything else. Then, after they were seated once more at the dinning table, it took moments more before Merlin decided to break the silence with a sigh. When he looked up to his apprentices, he was ready to start.

"I was on my way back here, when I came by a village. I don't know the cause of it but, I saw the houses were on fire..."

It wasn't just their house that was on fire, all the other houses were too. While she was able to get out of the door, her mother and little brother were still trapped inside. Veronica didn't know what to do, as she cried, calling out for her father, desperately looking around. Until finally, she saw a figure running towards her direction.

"Father! Father!" she called out.

Her father knelt down and held her close.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, pulling away to look upon her face, and brushing off the tears. "Where is Victor? And your mother?"

"They are still inside the house," cried Veronica. "Father, I don't know what to do!"

"I'll get them out," he reassured her. "Alright? You wait for me here. You'll be fine. Wait here."

After she nodded, her father immediately stood and ran for their house, shielding his head with his arms as he braved to enter the fire.

Merlin in another part of the village was busy using elemental water spells to put off the fire, as well as the other villagers were gathering water in pails from their well and some even went so far as to go to the spring.

"My boy is still in there!"

The shouting voice of a woman was enough to have caught Merlin's attention, as he turned around to find two people trying to hold back a crying woman.

He ran to the direction of the house as the woman caught him by the arm.

"Lord Merlin, it's you!" cried the woman. "Please help us. My son is still in there. Please, help him."

"I will."

Merlin then made off to clear the flames on the door before he entered the house. He looked around, peering through the flames, and setting them off with his magic, until he heard the crying of a young boy. He then found the boy in a burning room, sitting on the bed. The boy like himself was already coughing from the smoke. He was glad that the boy hasn't suffocated yet.

He made off to enter the room, and carried the boy, wrapping the sheets around them. The moment he got at the door, the roof fell just in time as he got out with the boy in his arms.

After he gave the boy to the mother, Merlin looked around to see if someone was still in need of help.

The fire was at least in control, but there were still other houses in flames, until he caught sight of a dark haired girl from afar, standing still and seemingly crying, staring at a house. He ran towards the girl and asked, "Why are you here? Where are your parents?"

"They are still inside!" cried the girl, who turned out to be Veronica, pointing to the burning house. "My little brother is still inside there too!"

Merlin glanced to the general direction, then looked back to Veronica. "Alright. I'll get them out." But as he stood up, the entire roof of the house fell, and the flames raised higher. Anyone who was still trapped in there wouldn't survive that.

"NOOOOO!"

Merlin had to grab hold of her before she was able to ran towards the burning remains of the house and got herself burned.

Just as Merlin grabbed hold of Veronica, she reached out her right hand, and something magical just happened. The garnet ring on her finger glowed and then all of a sudden, the flames cleared way around the burning remains of the house. It left both Merlin and Veronica in speechless surprise. When Merlin once again looked down on the girl, she was looking down on her ring.

"Where did you get that ring?" he asked, causing her to look up.

"M-My father bought it for me," was her honest response.

"Are you telling me the truth?"

Veronica nodded. "Yes, I am!"

"As I heard from her later then," Merlin said, "both of her mother and brother had been trapped inside long before her father came. And minutes had passed before I came there myself. Her family must have suffocated there inside within those minutes that passed."

The boys were rather silent, not commenting on anything. Merlin then turned his gaze towards Maxim, who's gaze was down on the table, but his eyes were empty. It was at its unreadable state. One that which occurs only when the teenager was thinking of something. Until he opened his mouth to speak.

"How old is she?"

"Eleven," answered Merlin.

The youth nodded. "I lost a part of me when I was her age."

In hearing such words from his best friend, Balthazar looked up with great understanding in his eyes. Yes, he understood his friend. Between the two of them, Maxim is the one who knows just how it feels like to lose a loved one. So, in some way, though it could be quite different, he knows that Maxim was somehow aware what the girl might be going through.

"Her father was neither Morganian or Merlinian," Merlin spoke again as he wrapped up the short tale about how he met Veronica. "Not even a sorcerer at all. Because I would have known of him. And so, I offered her a new home, a new life, a new beginning. But she was rather hesitant with the offer of apprenticeship."

Here, Merlin made a pause, taking in the memory of how the girl wasn't interested in magic at all.

"Then she asked me if with it, she could help other people," he stated again. "I said yes, of course, and only then did she accept. So, I took her with me, and here she is now."

There was another pause from the sorcerer, perhaps waiting for the boys to say anything. When it became apparent that neither one of his apprentices was to say anything at all, Merlin made off to speak again.

"From now on, this is to be her home, we are to be her family, and you two are her new brothers." He pointed a finger at both boys. "You two have considered each other as brothers, consider Veronica your sister. And since she's younger than both of you, I expect you look after her just as the same way you look after each other."

Both apprentices nodded.

"I have a question, though," said Balthazar, raising a finger.

"What is it?" asked Merlin.

"Since she's sleeping on my bed, and that there are no other room available at the moment, where am I suppose to sleep tonight?"

Minutes later, Maxim and Balthazar found themselves sharing a single bed, backs turned to each other. It was a little awkward for them to share a bed, even though they were best friends, and they made certain that there was at least a good amount of space in between them.

"I've never even shared a bed with any of my brothers before," said Balthazar in a hushed voice.

Maxim tried to look over his shoulder to his best friend, then settled his head once more on the pillow. "Are you talking to yourself or you just know I was still awake?" he asked.

Balthazar was smiling. "I knew you were awake."

There was a sigh from the older apprentice.

"Even when she sleeps she looks so sad," Balthazar spoke again.

The blond had a view of Veronica asleep on his bed, since Maxim's bed and his were positioned side by side with only a foot distance in between.

"She's alone now," he said, almost to himself.

"And we're her new family."

Looking over his shoulder, Balthazar slowly rolled over on his back to have a better look at his best friend.

"How was it like to lose a loved one, Maxim?"

Maxim took note of how Balthazar addressed him with his first name. After years of growing up together, Balthazar only calls him that when the matter they were to talk about was something rather serious between them.

"It hurts, Balthazar," was all that he said, not even rolling over to face the blond boy. "And the pain is unexplainable. I can't even find the right words to describe it until now."

Looking up to the stone ceiling, Balthazar said, "I'm sorry if I asked."

It was Maxim's turn to smile.

"That's alright. Now go to sleep. If I know Merlin, he'd want us to wake up early tomorrow."

Waking up to the continuous breathing against his face, and the warm feeling as though someone had his or her arms around him, and that he was having his arms around that someone as well, Maxim slowly opened his eyes, only to find a pair of blue eyes that was from a blond boy who was slowly waking up as well.

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!"

The boys screamed, causing Veronica to bolt up on bed, as the boys scrambled away from each other, shocked on how they got in close proximity with one another, until they both eventually fell on either edges of the bed. Maxim had his feet and legs still on the bed while his upper body fell hard on the floor, and Balthazar found himself falling on the floor too with a hard thump as he laid there on his back.

It was Balthazar who was first able to recompose himself and sat up, having a hand on the back of his head.

"How did we ever got to such a position?" he asked his best friend, who hasn't moved from his current position on the edge of the bed.

"Do I look like I know?" replied Maxim. He then tried to haul himself to his feet.

When the both of them was already standing up, only then did they realized that they have awaken Veronica.

Merlin suddenly came and opened the door.

"Oh, good. All of you are awake. Come, come. Breakfast is ready."

Then, as quickly as the sorcerer appeared, he left. The door closed behind him.

After both boys fixed up and found themselves at the door minutes later, they noticed Veronica was still standing right in the middle of the room, looking at them as though not certain what she should do next. It was Balthazar who beckoned to her with a hand.

"Let's go. We're to eat breakfast now."

The girl hesitated.

"Don't worry, it's alright. We're Merlin's apprentices." Balthazar then walked over to Veronica and held out a hand. "I'm Balthazar Blake. We haven't been introduced, but Merlin told us who you are."

Veronica took the hand in a handshake reluctantly. Balthazar then stepped aside to give room for Maxim.

"Horvath," the older apprentice said, looking down on the girl with a held out hand. "Maxim Horvath. First apprentice."

Again, Veronica took the hand, but this time, she at least managed to flash a brief smile.

Once again, Balthazar indicated they should go down stairs. The three then went on their way, rather very silent at first. Though the boys kept sharing looks with each other, having a non-verbal conversation deciding who between the two of them should be the one to break the silence. But, to their surprise, it was the girl who spoke first.

"You two are...Merlin's apprentices?" she asked from where she was following closely behind them.

The boys shared one last look at each other and nodded, but it was Balthazar who answered.

"Yes. We are."

"For how long?"

"I've been apprentice for three years. Maxim is the first apprentice so he is one year ahead of me," said Balthazar, also answering for his best friend.

Veronica nodded. "You two still have a family?"

The question once again caused the boys to share a look.

"Both my parents are still alive," Balthazar answered first, reaching the final steps of the stairs. "I also have two older brothers, so I'm youngest."

"I'm an only child," Maxim said immediately after the blond was finished. "I only have my mother and an old family friend. My father died years ago, when I was about your age."

They were then making their way through a hallway, just minutes away from the dinning room.

"You visit your families?" the girl asked again.

"Home visit," replied the boys in unison.

Once again, the girl nodded, mouthing an 'oh'.

"Do you get hurt in learning magic?"

"Yes, you usually do." It was Maxim who answered this time. "No need to worry. We learn from mistakes, don't we?"

Finally reaching the dinning room, Merlin greeted all three of them with a big smile and indicated to take their seats. Maxim took the chair at Merlin's left, while Balthazar took the chair just beside the older apprentice. Veronica hesitantly took the chair on Merlin's right side.

"I must tell you, I'm not a good cook," said Merlin to Veronica, causing the boys to snigger to themselves. "But no need to worry of that, I used magic to prepare our breakfast for today. Although, I don't usually tolerate using magic to such a reason, but it is necessary."

Maxim was whispering something to Balthazar, causing the both of them to once again snigger. When their master shot them a look, they swallowed their sniggering and busied themselves with eating their breakfast. Once more, Merlin turned his attention to the girl.

"After eating, I will give you rest before I introduce you to the Circle. You remember about the Circle, don't you? We talked of it along the way."

Veronica nodded, having her first bite off a piece of bread.

"Good girl. And don't be afraid. After a few trainings with me, you'll be working with the boys." Merlin gave a meaningful sway of a hand to his two male apprentices. "After learning from me you'll learn something from them."

He was very pleased when the girl gave him the first cheerful smile he saw from her since yesterday.

"I know you need time to heal," he spoke again, sounding more sympathetic towards the girl. "But don't worry, time will also help you feel settled in with us here."

There was only a small smile from the girl as a response, as she looked down on her plate, only until a voice called her name.

"Oh and, Veronica."

Looking up, she found it was Maxim, who was smiling at her.

"Welcome to your new family."

She blinked a few times before she smiled again.

"Thank you."

A/N: "Pretty short chapter, I guess. So, let us just be reminded about the ages of all three of them in this chapter:

Veronica is 11;
Balthazar is 13; and
Horvath is 17

Those are the age gap between them. Please keep in mind for further progress of the story. Review if you like." ;)