Chapter 12
There are in this world two books which together contains all of history. One has its pages filled with histories left in the past, while the other one speaks of things yet to come. They are consider one of the most powerful relics that a sorcerer could ever have. Wars have been waged over who controls those books, and entire empires have risen and fallen because of them. In the end, a secret society was created to separate the books and hide them somewhere no man could ever find them.
Or so they hoped...
The book that Dragoon just gave Merlin had nothing to do with that.
"So, you are saying that she'll see whatever I write in this book?" Merlin asked.
Dragoon nodded.
"And I'll see what she writes in hers?" Merlin asked again.
"Exactly," Dragoon said. "It's called a two-way book; it was a very popular way of communication before the purge."
"You know?" he asked. "I could have really used one of these in the past."
"If you want I can teach you how to make them, but the spell is useless unless you have a pair of twin gems," Dragoon said, pointing at the book.
Merlin gave it another look. It's cover was dark with a drawing of a dragon skull that had a red gem encrusted in its right eye. Dragoon had once told him about those gems. Apparently, twin gems were two gems so similar that they magically resonated between them, whatever that meant. The point was that they were really useful in practicing magic.
"How did you find this girl? It seems odd that you just stumbled on a lonely druid that lives in the forest," Merlin pointed out.
Dragoon moved his hand to his chest. "It's that distrust I hear?" he asked, acting offended. "Here I am, doing a good thing, and all I get in return is doubt." He reached his hand towards Merlin. "If you don't want it just give it back, I'm sure I can find someone that appreciates my hard work."
"It's fine..." Merlin said, moving the book away from Dragoon's hand. "It's just not a very 'Dragoony' attitude; I'm half waiting for this to be a trap and half waiting for it to be a test."
Dragoon let out a small laugh.
"I like how you think kid, but I promise is neither; I just thought you could use talking to another magic apprentice like yourself."
"Still suspicious..."
Dragoon shrugged. "I'm not going to force you to write, but know that if you don't, you will be letting down a fellow sorceress. I already imagine her there, waiting for you to answer, asking herself what she did wrong, or what foul thing have happened to you..."
Merlin raised his hands, stopping Dragoon.
"Alright, alright, I get it," he said, "I'll write, but if it turns out that you were the 'druid girl' all along I will be very pissed."
"Noticed," Dragoon said. "And kid, I didn't think it wise for her to know who you were, so I told her that you were a just a peasant boy with magic hiding in a town in Camelot. You just have to avoid using names and specifics and you'll be fine."
"And how did you justified that to her?"Merlin asked.
"I told her it would be for both of your safeties, just in case one of you get caught."
"I guess that's also true."
"It is, so please try not to leave the book lying around."
Merlin was going to argue, but the mess around them didn't let him.
For a while the magic book had distracted Merlin, but the sudden silence reminded him of exactly how tired he was.
"Alright, alright, I can get a hint," said Dragoon watching Merlin yawn. "See you tomorrow kid," he said, as he moved towards the door.
Merlin mumbled something in response, went to his room and dropped on his bed.
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.
Merlin jumped out of bed realizing how late it was and started looking all around for his clean clothes. It wasn't until he was on the floor tangled in his own pants that he remembered he had the day off.
He finished getting dressed, ate some breakfast, clean up the mess all he can (which unfortunately he had to do without magic because Gaius didn't like the way the sort spell sorted things), practiced some concentration techniques, and more. However, no matter what he was doing, he couldn't help looking again and again at the book resting on the table. He didn't know what to do. On one hand it could be nice talking to someone who knew about sorcery and didn't know he was Emrys; he still was troubled by some of Morded's fan boy stares. On other hand, Dragoon was the one who gave him that book.
He sighed. He knew that sooner or later he was going to use it, and right now he had nothing better to do.
He opened it, grabbed a quill and some ink from Gaius and started by writing a simple "Hello".
Merlin was surprised that, despite the black ink, the letters came out blue.
He waited for a while and was almost ready to close the book when a new set of words appeared; they were green.
"How do I know you are not just Dragoon?" the other one asked.
Merlin smiled. It was only fair that she had the same doubts as him regarding Dragoon intentions. However, he then realized that if the one on the other side of the book was actually Dragoon, that question would have been the first thing he would write.
"I guess you can't, but I could ask you the same thing," Merlin wrote.
No reply came. They were stuck, both of them doubting each other. Basically, worst conversation ever. After a while Merlin got tired and decided to just take leap of faith and trust that Dragoon was actually telling the truth. The problem now was how to make the druid think the same. He thought a bit before finally grabbing the quill.
"Look, when Dragoon gave me the book he promised me you weren't him, so I suppose he also promised you he wasn't I, or me, or whatever. The point is that he really doesn't have that much to gain lying to you."
Still no reply.
"Alright, how about this? Dragoon is a prat."
It was a while before green letters appeared.
"I don't see how that proves anything," she wrote.
"Have you met him? Dragoon's ego is so big that it probably has its own room. He would never write that, not even to trick you. I'm not even sure he would do it if the world depended on it," Merlin wrote. It was a really lame effort to convince the druid that he wasn't Dragoon, but he couldn't do much more via a book.
"I hardly think the world would ever depend on that," she replied.
"It was a manner of speaking... or writing I suppose."
Another pause. Finally he got an answer.
"Fine, let's say I believe you. For now. What then?" the druid girl wrote.
"We talk to each other, I guess. That was the whole point of this"
"Talk about what?"
"I don't know... What did Dragoon told you about me?" Merlin asked.
"Not much, he told me you are a sorcerer's apprentice around my age who lives in a town somewhere in Camelot. He was very vague."
"He usually is. He really likes to act mysterious."
"That sounds like you know him well," she wrote.
"He passed through my town a few months ago and found out about me. After that he stayed for a bit and taught me a few things."
"Do you know what is he doing in Camelot?" she asked.
"He was looking for someone, I think. Like you said, he was very vague," Merlin wrote.
There was a time before she wrote again.
"What do you do there?" the druid asked.
Merlin had already been thinking about his cover story; it was incredible how easy he could make things up.
"I work for a rich family that lives here. I do lots of things, but mostly I take care of one horse they have," he wrote.
"Just one?"
"It's a very needy horse. "
"Aren't you afraid they learn about your powers?" she asked.
"I happen to be very good at hiding them."
"But aren't you tired of doing that? Don't you want to be who you truly are?"
"I'm not just my magic. Besides, I think someday magic will be accepted back in Camelot," Merlin answered.
"The only way for that to happen is if people with magic take Camelot by force."
"Actually, I believe there are peaceful ways."
"You are fooling yourself."
Merlin didn't like where this was heading. He decided to change the conversation to a more pleasant subject.
"So, Dragoon told me you live alone; why aren't you with a druid camp?" he asked.
"I lived in a druid camp once. They were all slaughtered by soldiers from Camelot."
Definitely not a more pleasant subject.
"I'm sorry… I had no idea," Merlin wrote. "I know some druids, if you want I can ask them to take you in."
"I'm fine," she wrote. "I'm not alone, I have a partner. A cat."
"How is it called?" Merlin asked.
"No names, remember? But she's sweet and white as snow."
Reading that description, Merlin couldn't help but think of Aithusa. He started wondering how she was doing, but his thoughts were interrupted by more green words.
"What about you? Who do you live with?" the druid girl asked.
"Currently I'm living with a friend of my mother," Merlin wrote.
"Doesn't your mother live with you?"
"No, she lives in a town far away. She sent me here because her friend has some knowledge of magic and teaches me what he can."
"How about your father?" she asked.
"He was a sorcerer like us, but he had to left us when I was a baby because of the Great Purge."
"I also know what it feels to grow up without your parents," she wrote.
"Both of them?"
"Yes. I never knew my mother, and my father died when I was just a child."
"Any siblings?" Merlin asked.
"I had two, but my sister passed away and I'm not talking with my brother."
"Why?"
"It doesn't matter. How about you? Any brothers or sisters?" the druid asked.
"No, I'm an only child, but when I was younger I had a friend who was like a brother for me," he wrote.
"What happened?"
"He died defending our village from some bandits."
Merlin looked at the words in the book. He was amazed at how much suffering they had written about in just a few pages. Why does everyone who has magic live so difficult lives? Shouldn't magic make life easier? How can anyone expect sorcerers to be sane if they had to go through that much pain? How was he expected to save the world if he couldn't even help this one girl? He started writing again.
"I know that Dragoon said no names," Merlin wrote, "but I need some way to call you other than 'the druid girl'. Any ideas?"
"What if we use the colour of the words?" the druid girl asked after a while.
"What do you mean?"
"In the book, you write in blue and I write in green, what about that?"
"So I should call you Green?" Merlin asked. "I think that could work."
"I'm glad you approve, Blue."
Merlin smiled. How many names had he? Merlin, Emrys, Dragoon the Great, and now Blue. He should start keeping a record.
"I know who Dragoon was after," Green wrote.
"Really? Who?" asked Merlin, wondering what lies had Dragoon told her.
"It was Emrys."
Merlin almost choked with an apple he was eating. He couldn't believe Dragoon had told her that. What happened to her not knowing who he was?
"No! The Emrys?" Merlin asked, trying to appear surprised.
"Yes."
A voice inside Merlin's head told him he should change topics, that keep talking about this was foolish. However, foolishness had never stopped him before.
"What do you think of him?" he asked.
"He's a traitor to the cause, helping those who commits crimes against our kind," Green answered.
"But maybe he wants to fix things without going to war."
"And meanwhile he lets our people die."
Alright, apparently Kara wasn't the only druid who didn't like him. He wondered how many others thought like them. Still, he had to defend himself.
"It's not like that," he wrote, "Camelot lets the druids live in peace now."
"How grateful of them to not kill them! So what about the druids visiting their cities, or doing magic in public, or having the same rights as any other citizen?"
Merlin sighed, this wasn't going anywhere.
"I like to think Emrys is working on it," he wrote.
"You are a fool then," Green replied.
And that were the last words she wrote that day.
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It was almost midnight when Morgana and Aithusa returned to the cave. They had made a habit of walking through the forest when the sun went down. At first Aithusa wanted to go out at all hours, but Morgana explained her the dangers of them being seen. As always, the white dragon had understood her concerns.
The cave was cold, but a small gesture from Morgana lit a bonfire and she got ready to cook the rabbit Aithusa brought with her. It had been a few weeks since Aithusa started getting her own food and Morgana couldn't be more proud. Still, she also had to explain to the dragon that humans need to cook the food before eating it, and not after, like Aithusa did.
It was a nice dinner, although quiet. Aithusa already could speak some words, or at least make noises that sounded like words, but still she was a long way from being someone Morgana could speak with. The seer thought about the things Dragoon had told her about Aithusa and wondered if he really knew what he was talking about; dragonlords were supposed to be almost extinct after all.
No. He was the real deal. Morgana still remembered feeling the power he had. It was impressive; almost as impressive as Emrys', but it felt different, older, if that made any sense.
Her eyes focused in light flashing to her right. The book was still resting in the corner of the cave where she had thrown it two days before. The gem in the left eye of the dragon skull was flashing red, which meant the other one had just written. Blue had been apologizing again and again, not that he had that much to apologize for; he was just stupid. She knew Emrys was a legend for many sorcerers, a beacon of hope; if only they knew the truth... But it would be impossible to make Blue understand without telling him know who she was, and that was something she couldn't afford.
Still... that didn't meant Green couldn't talk to him.
Morgana picked up the book, ignored all the apologizes, and just changed the subject.
"When did you find out you had magic?" she asked.
As she had hoped, Blue answered almost immediately.
"Hi!" he wrote. "To be honest, I can't even remember; it was at a very young age. How about you?"
"No one thought I had magic until a few years ago."
"That must have been quite a surprise."
"You can say that again. Most of the people around me saw it more a curse then a blessing."
"And you? How did you feel about finding out?" Blue asked.
"At first I was scared, I didn't even know what was happening to me, but with time I understood that my magic was a gift only a few have. I just wish it had been easier for me to realize that. It should have been easier, and it would have been if not for what Camelot says about us," she wrote.
"But doesn't all druids approve magic?"
Morgana had to think before answering, and she cursed herself for that; she was a bit rusty in all this cloak and dagger business.
"My mother was a druid, but my father wasn't," she finally wrote, "and when he died he left me with a man that despised magic." No matter what, to Morgana her true father was and always will be Gorlois. "When this man found out about me he went crazy and that was when I escaped to join the druids."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Don't be; that taught me how normal people see us."
"Not everyone is the same, Green," he wrote.
"Yes, Blue, they are. Just wait until one of the people you call friends finds out about you and you'll see."
"Actually some of them already know."
"Really? And they didn't turn you in?" she asked.
"Of course not! They are my friends."
"But aren't they afraid of you?"
"A little bit at first, maybe, but that's only because they just knew the bad side of magic. I explained them that magic could be also used for good, showed them how I could heal wounds or make plants grow. After that, they saw that I was still the same person they had always known, only with extremely cool powers."
"You are a lucky one, then," Morgana wrote. "My friends casted me aside the second they found out."
"I'm sorry Green, but don't judge all normal people because just a few. There are good and bad people, the same way that there are good and bad sorcerers."
"If there is one thing I have learned Blue, is that good and bad are relative things. Even a tyrant like Uther probably thought he was doing good while he was conducting the Great Purge."
"It's not actually that hard; if you are hurting someone, what you are doing is bad," Blue wrote.
Morgana had to read that line twice before answering.
"I can't believe that one of our own is so idealistic. You would think that with everything you went through you would hate normal people, but for some reason you still care for them."
"What can I say? I'm Blue the Magnanimus!"
"Please don't. One like Dragoon is more than enough," Morgana wrote.
"And you are Green the Merry!" Blue added.
"You idiot..."
"You loved it."
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.
.
In time, they started writing to each other more and more, which called for a few adjustments. For example, taking in account how much Green talked about her cat, it became necessary to find a name for it. Sorry, 'her', as Green would remark. They finally decided in 'Snowflake'. The fact that Green considered necessary using a false name for a cat still baffled Blue, but who knows? Maybe the cat was called 'Josephine's cat'. Strange name for a cat though. Following that line of thought, they started calling 'Doc' to the man Blue lived with, and 'Blondie' to the horse he took care of.
There were lots of chats, about lots of subjects, many of which would be considered dull. They even reached so low as to talk about the weather. Every once in a while, however, they had a chat that was somewhat noteworthy:
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.
"You never did tell me how you met Dragoon," Merlin wrote.
"It's not a very interesting story. I was walking through the forest when I saw him and at first I thought he was someone else I knew, but I turned out to be wrong. We ended up talking for a bit and in the end he gave me this book."
"What about not taking gifts from strangers?" he asked.
"I'm a little old for that", Green wrote. "Besides, it's a magical gift! You can't say no to magical gifts!"
"I'm going to remember that."
"Make sure you do."
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.
"Tell me Blue, if you had just one wish without tricks, what would it be?" Morgana asked.
"I would wish for peace," Blue answered
Morgana sighed.
"I somehow knew that would be your answer, but isn't there something you want for you? Without thinking about anyone else."
"I won't lie, I would like to have grown up along both my parents, not fearing that one second or the next someone could find out about my magic and imprison us, or worse. I would also like to fix some past mistakes."
"Don't we all?"
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"Green, what is living in the middle of the forest like?" Merlin asked.
"It's peaceful. There are no wakeup call, no rush, no dresses, no one to impress. You can just be yourself, without fear of anyone judging."
Merlin wondered what life had Green had before her magic.
"But don't you miss people?" he asked.
"Even before, when I was with people, I really wasn't, not for a long time."
"That's sad."
"People hurts you Blue, they wait for you to turn around and stab you in the back, and the only way to avoid that is to stab them first. In here I don't have to think about all that. It's just me and her."
"Where did you find Snowflake?" Merlin asked. Talking about her always made Green happier.
"You know what? I didn't, she found me. You could even said she saved my life," she wrote.
"I've always wanted a pet, but my mother said that I didn't need help making a mess. There was some dogs in the village though."
"Well, at least now you have Blondie," Green wrote.
Merlin thought about how dead would he be if Arthur ever found out he called him that.
Very. Very dead.
.
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" What is your favorite spell?" Morgana asked.
"You first," Blue answered.
"Fine... I have to say teleportation."
"Really? That one?"
"Yes, really!" she wrote. "Imagine, being able to travel anywhere in a second, reaching places most people will never know and discovering things you had never even imagined. That's true freedom."
"And did you manage to do it?" Blue asked.
Morgana thought about last time she tried it. She was supposed to move from one rock to the next, but instead she ended up in a top of the tree. She had kept finding leaves in her hair for days after that. She wasn't going to share all that with Blue.
"Not yet," she wrote. "It's not an easy spell to pull off, but I'm getting there. What's yours?"
"You are going to laugh," Blue wrote.
"Don't worry about that. Even if I do, you'll never know."
"Fair enough. My favorite are the fire butterflies."
"So, you are telling me that of all the powerful spells you can choose from you are going for the one who does absolutely nothing?" Morgana asked. "And you dared to judge my choice!?"
"It's not like that. To me that spell represents the true essence of magic, the side most people don't care to know. Magic is not meant to fight and subdue others. Magic is beauty, happiness, hope, laughter. It's the thing that lets people like you and me walk into a world of endless wonders. I dream about the day I'm going to be able to share that world with everyone else. The day we could finally live in peace. That's why I like that spell so much."
Morgana must had taken a long time without answering, because Blue wrote again.
"A bit much, wasn't it?" he asked.
It wasn't like that. Her teary eyes were looking at the book and her left hand was covering her mouth. For a second Morgana forgot how to breath. The words he wrote... the way he felt about things... all those things just remind her how empty she was. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't she feel things that way? Why had life had been so unjust to her? Didn't she deserved better? Didn't she deserved to be happy?
Morgana steadied her breath and wiped out her tears. Happiness was for fools, people who don't see what's really going on. She would regain her strength. She would punish those who betrayed her. She would take back what was rightfully hers. And then she would finally be at peace. What more could one ask for?
Still, she didn't want to be the one responsible for shattering Blue's dreams. She looked back at the book.
"It's not that," she finally wrote. "I kind of envy you for being able to see magic that way, but I don't feel the same."
"Maybe someday," Blue wrote.
Morgana made a sad smile. There was absolutely no chance of that happening.
"Maybe..."
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.
And so they went on, day after day, week after week.
There were times when Merlin thought about telling her the truth, but after her first reaction to his name (the other one), he was afraid to do so. He still remembered all that she had said about him not doing enough. Merlin knew that he could enforce change if he wanted to, but that kind of change wouldn't last; wars would rise and innocent people would die. He knew he was doing the right thing; just a few days ago Arthur signed a treaty letting druids settle trading posts in some places of Camelot. The treaty only let them sell non-magical items, but still, it was a step forward.
Of course, Green didn't see it like that. When Merlin told her about the treaty, she said something like 'how good are our jailers that let us have a longer chain'. Still, Merlin thought that at some level those news made her happy because that day her words were a bit less dark than usual.
Now the sun was almost setting. He was passing through the market, coming back from an honest day of work, when suddenly Dragoon appeared next to him as if by magic (which was probably the case).
"I hear you are spending a lot of time with that new book of yours. Don't you think there is someone you should thank?" Dragoon asked. "Perhaps an amazing sorcerer who happens to be really good looking..."
Merlin laughed.
"Really? You almost gave me a heart attack for that?" he asked.
Dragoon just smiled. "So, what do you think of her?" he asked.
Merlin shrugged. "She seems nice. She's a bit cynical, but she has been through a lot." He sighed. "I just wish I could help her somehow; I don't think being alone is good for her. Don't you think we should do something about that?"
"That's her choice kid," Dragoon said.
"I know, I know, but I just feel like Green would feel better if she was surrounded by more people like her."
"Green?" Dragoon asked, confused.
"Oh, that's how we called each other because of your no names rule. She's Green, I'm Blue."
"And that's the best you two could come up with?"
"Look who's talking... Dragoon the dragonlord; how long did it take to think that amazingly creative name?" Merlin asked sarcastically.
Dragoon got closer to Merlin and whispered in his ear.
"Kid, where do you exactly think that the word 'dragon' came from?"
Merlin took a step back. "You are kidding me," he said, with open eyes.
Dragoon just stood there, looking right at him. Merlin couldn't believe it. If what he was saying was true that meant—
"Yes. Yes, I am," Dragoon finally said. "You should have seen your face right now," he added with a smile on his face. "Priceless."
Merlin let out a small laugh.
"So, anyway, what are you doing tomorrow?" Dragoon asked.
"Well, I have to clean the stables and help Gaius sort some books, and—"
"Never mind that, take the day off."
"Why?" Merlin asked
"I have to show you something. I think is finally time for you to know a bit more about me."
"Really? What? "
Dragoon looked at him and made a grin.
"Spoilers," he said.
And with that he disappeared.
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A/N: I hope you liked it!
An almost all talk (or write) chapter!
I've just invented a Book with a Face that lets you talk to other people. It's so innovative! I'm gonna be rich!
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT = Since both this chapter and the next are a little bit action deprived I'm going to be posting the next chapter on Tuesday! (don't get used to this XD)
Also, I don't know how many Doctor Who fans are out there, but they are a couple of things in the end of this chapter that are kind of a tribute (rip off) to it. I just want to clarify that no one here is the Doctor or something like that :p.
Thanks CHARLES CHUKU, Patiku, Guest, Lady Flurryous, camelotgirl15 and Feyfa14Frost for the reviews =D
Patiku: Fair enough :p, but there is one very important difference between Kilgharrah's riddles and the ones Merlin likes. The latter actually have an answer.
Lady Flurryous: I'm really glad that you laughed at that =D. Sometimes it's hard to write funny scenarios because you have to take in account that people needs to understand what is going on, but at the same time you want to keep the surprise factor. So, it's good to know that it worked XD.
A special magical cookie to Lady Flurryous, camelotgirl15 and Feyfa14Frost for guessing what the book was about! (people in the internet like cookies, right?... and potatoes... and mudkips... The internet is weird...)
EDIT: So, I've just realized that the fire butterflies weren't part of the show, but actually from a fanfic that I've read here XD. Make sure to check it out: "Throw Out the Script".