- This is the First Great Magic Kingdom, Albion!-

Chapter 5

- Albion?! What do you mean Albion?! Why did you use that name? And first?! Does that mean there is more than one?! Explain yourself, Please!- to Merlin the name stung a little more than it should have, it wasn't surprising though, after all it represented his biggest failure, the destiny he had failed.

- Calm down Merlin, that is exactly the reason why we are here, to make everything clear. Sit down.- He was right, Merlin knew that standing was only making him hot in the head, so he sat.- I'll start by answering your last question. Yes, this is indeed the first, but by far it is not the last of the magic kingdoms, I'll expand a bit more on that later. Regarding your first, why we named this city Albion, the answer is simply that this is THE Albion, the united lands under the once and future king.-

- But that's wrong, Arthur died, he was never able to unite Albion!-

- Arthur did die, Merlin, but his ideals did not and neither did his actions, those were the things which we united under. This city lives under the ideals of its founders.- Merlin was dumbstruck, what kind of nonsense was this guy speaking?- I see you don't understand, I suppose I'll have to start from the beginning-

- Weeks within King Arthur's death and your disappearance every land around Camelot had somehow heard of the brave king, his adventures, and his untimely death. What shook everyone, though, was the fact that Camelot, famous for their prejudice against magic had allied themselves with a powerful warlock who the Druids spoke of in such high regard, somehow the prophecies found their way around the lands and everyone found out about the future that Arthur, the Once and Future King, was supposed to bring. The prophecies spoke of such peace and prosperity on the grounds of the promised Albion that many mourned a King they had never known, and even the lords of the surrounding lands did not dare attack Camelot in fear of rebellions in their own kingdoms. What most didn't know was what was happening at Camelot behind the public eyes.-

- You see, when Queen Guinevere found out about all the hardships you had gone through besides her beloved, she made an ironclad resolution with herself, that she would not allow your efforts and Arthur's to be in vain. Besides being partly responsible for the truth getting out she knew she had to do more. She went by herself and met with the Druids, she proposed to them an incredible idea, now that you two had done the hard work, now that you had proved that there were people willing to fight and die for a land of peace, it was left to them to do the easy work. After much action by the queen they all agreed to unite the lands of Albion, not a land conquered by force and blood, not a land for those who didn't need it, rather, a land of peace for the oppressed and persecuted, a land of wonders for those who lived in a constant nightmare, a land of magic for those who had or supported magic, a secluded paradise from the rest of the cruel, judging world. The queen wanted a place like this so that there would be no more mages like you, Merlin, no more potential wasted by hiding their gifts in fear of prejudice or even death, no more threats to innocent lives who were guilty only of being born different, special. No more secrets between friends just because of an unreasonable law.- Merlin's eyes stung, he was not unfamiliar to Gwen's kindness and yet, after all these years, she could still bring him to the edge between sadness and joy.

- That is how Albion came to be, and at first it was difficult, we were only a little village in the middle of a forest that the queen had set aside for us. Try to imagine it, we were just the few trusting people in an unknown land, we could not provide for ourselves and so for the first couple of years our sustenance came directly from Camelot. Eventually, though, we started to like it, we started to enjoy the peace and security that this secret place could give us, people started to see the advantages, the children were the first to start using magic without fear, but soon we all followed. We had all lived with the same fears, but we had all become used to hiding, the Druids, which never denied who they were even in the most dangerous situation and had mostly been living on the run since the day they had been born, were the ones who eventually came to appreciate the safe haven the most. Yes, we started to get over our fear of using magic, and when we finally did we found that we could do so much more than we had ever done, so much more than had ever been allowed. The first step was our expansion into every corner of that forest we had been granted, we became familiar with the land and discovered a million possibilities hidden in the earth, within weeks we were already producing all we needed to survive and more than a few commodities. The members of our community were becoming more outgoing and we were all becoming familiar, using our magic to its full potential was becoming an everyday thing and we realized that every passing day we became stronger and more able. Every other week we also got a person or a group of sorcerers who had sought help from the queen, and they were all properly welcomed into the forest. We were happy with our new home.-

- Then the outside world took a turn for the worse, the hunt for magic users outside our lands suddenly became more arduous and hundreds of us were dying every day, the only ones who escaped were those fortunate enough to find their way into our precious Albion, we practically became extinct on the outside world but our community rose incredibly in numbers, and it wasn't just people from the areas affected by the hunt, it was magic users from all over. We found ourselves a little cramped on the space we had been given and the queen who had by this point been aged by the years without those she loved was sure to pass away soon, this put even the little space we had in question. We decided to do something that had never been done before, to experiment and truly study our powers without limiting our selfs to a religion or deity, rather to awaken the power within ourselves in order to protect the space we had and, if possible, expand it. It didn't take long to find a long list of ways to repel others from this forest and ways to expand a space and make it bigger, that was when we began to realize that there were so many possibilities for our magic if we put all our heads together and shared our knowledge. Later this ideal would be the foundation for the Albion Academy. That's where we are right now.- there were many emotions stirring in Marcus' eyes but there were other things at the forefront of Merlin's mind.

- A school? So those I saw before?- Merlin was still trying to process all the information that had been laid in front of him, but as always his thought were not far from Arthur and all of his old family.

- Yes, that was the entrance ceremony to the second level of the academy, our second level is equivalent to the human world's university level, what you saw through the window was the city and behind us is the academy, it is almost as large as the city itself, but don't worry about the details right now, you'll have to learn all about it later on anyways. For now do you have any questions about the story?-

- Too many, but for now just tell me where exactly on the map we are, I don't recognize any of the views.- Marcus smiled widely at this question.

- We didn't come up with this until about three hundred years after Albion Academy was opened, but to answer your question... We are not on any map. We aren't even in the same universe we were before.- Merlin's surprised expression was a bit humorous to the others but they did not laugh so they wouldn't make him embarrassed. - Let me make it simple to understand, imagine the universe is an infinite balloon, all we did was pinch a piece of that balloon, make a small one, and separate it from the big one, we call it a pocket dimention. It took a long time and quite a bit of magic but it was well worth it.-

- But... The red door?-

- That is how we travel between the kingdom and the human world, we have one of those doors all over the world in about every city that has a modern building in it. The doors connect to the only pathway that exists between us and using them is very difficult and consuming so it is well regulated. Kilgharrah here is the door keeper, only he can open the doors and he'll only do it if you have the appropriate identification, even right now he is probably having a couple of mental conversations with people trying to cross the doors.- Kilgharrah nodded while smiling at this.

- What you've given me... This is just... Too much. - Sure, Merlin could store information better than a super computer, but even for him it was difficult when he was told so many things, where each of those things could bring him to his knees with tears in his eyes. - So we didn't fail...? He didn't die in vain that day...? - his voice had become almost pleading and Marcus responded with a soft, caring voice.

- Of course not. You two were the heroes who made this safe haven possible. I know that he would have been able to do many great things if he had lived, but even by dying he was able to bring upon so much peace and prosperity, if not for him we would be extinct, lab rats, or horribly persecuted on today's world. And this isn't my personal opinion, your names appear on about every single history book on Albion and even on those of all the other magic kingdoms, the stories are not perfectly accurate, the writers decided not to pass on most of the hardships you personally went through, but the truth is clear, you two were the beginning of something unimaginable. An important lesson we teach in Albion is to never forget those that came before us, there is always something to learn, both from their failures and their success. That was the reason for which your statues were erected. -

- What statues?! - Even in between all the confusion Merlin couldn't help the surprise in my face.

The real startle came when Aithusa jumped up from Merlin's side, where she had latched herself to his arm, and started giving little jumps of excitement with an expression that would lead you to believe she had heard that she was about to receive some kind of impressive award.

- Can I show him?! Please Marcus, pretty please?! - She was batting her eyelashes at Marcus and trying her best to look like a pleading innocent child when a loud sight came from Marcus' chair.

- Fine, you can show him, but remember, Merlin just got here so try not to overwhelm him, keep him away from people he shouldn't meet for now, and come straight back here after you show him. - This time he turned to look at the person in question. - And Merlin, if you do meet anyone at all, you are now Merlin Dracoville my distant cousin, that should be enough to stop most of the questions.- So this was who Merlin would be from now on... Well, it sure was better than being no more than a ghost wandering around.- Remember that no one should know that you are "the" Merlin, it would bring more trouble than any of us can handle.-

Merlin didn't want to look at the teeth of the gift horse, but there was one last question prickling at his mind, one piece of the puzzle that didn't quite fit.

- I'm wondering, by what you've said I'm guessing that only the people in this room know who I am, and putting that down together with the way you told the story, as if you had seen it all happen. I can't help but wonder, Who are you? - Merlin immediately noticed how the others in the room, even if ever so slightly, tensed at the question. Merlin knew enough of the world to accurately predict that answer he was about to receive was either a lie, or no answer at all.

- For now that's not important, I'm just your long lost cousin and that is all anyone needs to know. We'll eventually talk about the details, but not now, not today-

Before the first complain even came out of Merlin's mouth he was forcefully dragged out of the room by an Aithusa who was way too cheery after the tense moment. Before he could retaliate against the lithe tornado that was dragging him away by the arm, he saw in her eyes that she was honestly that excited to show him whatever it was that they were about to see, and all he could really do to make himself not feel guilty about her past was try to keep up with her speed walking.