Chapter 2: Opening Act (2)

Merlin, in her time, was famed all across the British Isles for both her power, wisdom and cleverness.

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say she had been infamous, at least among some circles. But such a reputation - as well as the skills to back it up - had ensured she was always courted by ones of importance, either her hand or talents sought after by those that directed the fate of her home. From Uther and Arthur Pendragon, royals who had carved out their respective legends in history to her earliest and most bitter days as a wandering prophet, desperately seeking to master and make use of her powers in a manner that would win her affection and a living, not condemnation and execution as a witch.

And survive she did, being tutored by ancient spirits and beings of great age and mystery, eventually coming to pass along teachings of her own to those she deemed worthy of it. Her life had begun to take a significant upswing in both quality and enjoyment as she drifted from hobby to hobby, fascination to fascination.

...But she had always been a meddler, a tinkerer of fate that lived to see the dreams and aspirations of humans either fail, fall short or come to fruition. It was that very same meddlesome nature that had sealed her fate, fittingly. With the benefit of hindsight and having lived her life to its culmination the magus of flowers could admit to herself that her last great scheme was perhaps one of the very few things she regretted in life, wished she could change if at all possible.

Sentencing a young man with more heart than common sense to the crushing burden of kingship and the weight of destiny had been cruel of her. And why had she done it? Because she was Merlin and fancied a world where an eternal king brought about a utopia in complete defiance of the natural order...because she didn't want to admit that she had been wrong, that her machinations had spiralled out of control and were rapidly leading to the death and damnation of one of the few people she genuinely cared for.

Had she tried harder to make young Arthur see the dangers of his style of kingship, had she sacrificed her own vanity and air of mystique to be forthright with him...perhaps he may have treated her words with more gravitas, rather than another obtuse prophecy to consider at a later date. And her refusal to admit that Morgan le Fay had long since become a credible threat to her was yet another inexcusable failing, the magus of flowers trusting that the relationship they had held would overshadow the steadily growing treachery present within Arthur's court.

And where had that left her? Betrayed by both the witch and the Lady of the Lake, the duo desiring her removal from the board for completely different reasons but united in that one purpose. Thus, she had been confined to her tower in Avalon, forced to watch from afar as the gleaming beacon of hopes, dreams and aspirations was torn apart in a bloody civil war...all because of her web of schemes that she had thought herself clever enough to weave without opposition.

Agelessness can be both a boon and a curse, moreso the latter when one is heavily restricted in what they may or may not do. While she had been able to view the world and ages pass from her glorified prison her ability to influence those events had been nonexistent or limited, the rare occurrence of her being freed from Avalon for short periods of time always fleeting and repeatedly transient. Most of the time she was merely an observer, left alone with only sparse company to stave off the tedium of her seemingly eternal imprisonment.

Decades, centuries, millennia...she had lost track of time, the passing of seasons only marked by the rare shade of her legend or facet of soul being summoned for one purpose or another.

Merlin had grown tired. Tired and wistful, remembering older, better times when she had walked the Isles and interacted with people. Real people, who had their own wishes and desires that had sometimes lead them into alliances while others had left them on opposite sides of the board. Times of strife, challenge, failure and success alike. She had walked among the dreams and ambitions of all that humanity had to offer as one of them with no distinction to be found.

Wistfulness had quickly shifted into melancholy and nostalgia, constant memories of what could have been plaguing every waking moment as all she could do within the tower of Avalon was remember...remember both triumph and defeat alike. But looking back all she could morbidly reflect upon was that her failures, in all honesty, outweighed her successes.

Was that to be the sum of her legend? A short age of conflict, schemes and glory, only to have her persona fade away into the annals of time as one who had fallen prey to the plots of those she once tutored and counted as acquaintances?

For the first time in her life, Merlin had known despair.

And then she had been offered a choice.

From seemingly out of the ether a soul had reached across all of time and space, stated its terms and asked if she would accept them. And what simple terms they were! Were she to accept she would be crafted and shaped by the individual she was to serve and aid them in any capacity they desired...and in return she would be granted the greatest gift she could possibly imagine.

Love. Freedom. Purpose. Unconditional and without caveat, since her new life would be one where she cared only about her master's wants and needs, their happiness and fulfillment equal to hers. Not the past and all the baggage that came with it.

…

As if she needed to think twice about such an offer.

Harris blinked, still scarcely able to believe the sight before him, some skeptical part of his brain insisting that - despite everything else that had happened - this was 100% impossible.

"What the fuck? I can't believe that worked."

A pale and silky cheek puffed itself out in playful irritation, Merlin grousing, "Now is that any way to greet a lady that answered your desires from many realities away?"

Blinking to himself and quickly shaking his head to clear it Harris wryly replied, "No, but I was honestly expecting the whole deal to spectacularly fail or some other bump in the road to rear its ugly head. Seeing you here before me is quite the shock, truth be told. Guess my benefactor wasn't just yanking my chain."

The breathtaking woman swept herself into a teasing bow, stating, "Having rather intimate knowledge of the power that called me - courtesy of your wish, master - I can indeed confirm that your benefactor is no false charlatan or soothsayer. It is very much, to borrow one of your phrases, the real deal."

Shaking his head in a failed bid to clear it the newly grown young man decided to start figuring out the specifics of this strange new paradigm he found himself in, seeing as how it was no parlor trick but a very real situation he was going to have to deal with and have greater knowledge of.

"Sorry, this is probably a pretty weird question to ask considering I'm the one who called you but how much do you know of why I asked for your presence?"

Merlin placed a dainty and glove-covered finger on her chin, vibrant pink eyes closing as she released a contemplative hum...and with a coquettish grin leaped onto his lap, surprising the male as her comparatively light weight ground into his abdomen, booted legs and thighs transferring a delicious warmth onto his skin as the scent of intoxicating flowers suffused his nostrils, tone naught but a purr as she whispered, "I am to be one of your mistresses, am I not~?"

The young man felt a delightfully tender caress cross his face, Merlin continuing with, "Along with something else far less important. World domination or alteration of history, trifling matters like that."

The Magus of Flowers abruptly giggled, gazing deeply into Harris' eyes as she mused, "This promises to be quite the interesting shift in positions...normally I was the one to ensnare and charm, to have suitors compete for my hand. Now I will be sharing with additional souls when you are able to summon them? How novel~!"

The young man merely shook his head in amused disbelief, reflecting that Merlin Prototype had indeed been summoned to his side just like his benefactor had said she would.

And wasn't that quite the bizarre method he had been instructed of? To think of an individual - fictional or otherwise - and to think of how he would best prefer them to be summoned to his side, personality shifts or historical alterations performed as a matter of course in accordance with his will. Basically the power of an omnipotent deity in the hands of a horny and ambitious crazy person, given as a reward for performing to his god's wishes.

"Man, and I thought being tossed into the world of Highschool DxD was the wildest part of this."

Shaking away yet more meandering thoughts he instead returned his attention to Merlin, asking, "What of your power? Do you feel anything different in that regard?"

The woman shrugged, easily replying, "Far weaker than I once was - my relative strength is dependant on yours, after all - and I will be far less a threat than I may once have been...for now, at least."

She grinned, impishly musing, "I suppose it will be an interesting challenge, to rely yet again on my wits and ingenuity to carry the day."

"Yeah, sorry in advance but you'll likely be a great deal weaker than your normal self for awhile."

He raised his arm aloft, staring at the newly created and grown limb with a narrowed gaze.

"My power increased significantly after clearing the first hurdle but I doubt I'm any more dangerous than a four-winged devil or their equivalent right now. Seems my strength is correlated to my accomplishments. Guess my sponsor wasn't exaggerating that part either."

A smirk was suddenly sent Merlin's way, the male amusedly stating, "Then again, if I had the strength of the Magus of Flowers at her best right from the start I wouldn't have much to fear, now would I? Seems a safe bet that you and the other souls I'll be calling will be just as powerful as I am, whatever scale that ends up being."

The flawless woman grinned at his musings, trilling, "No doubt one of great extravagance and eventual dominance, hmm~?"

"That's the hope. Now unless my ears are mistaken we're about to have some guests."

"Oh very well, I suppose we should be at least marginally courteous to our current company, considering the ordeal they have been through."

She hopped off his lap before taking up position by his shoulder, the male inwardly noting that while she hadn't been exposed to any of the captives she seemed to know about them and their circumstances just fine...an odd state of affairs, to say the least.

"So does she have access to my memories as well? Dammit, I should have asked for a manual or something before jumping balls deep into this whole mess."

Snapping out of those ruminations as the group of five entered the impromptu meeting room Harris gave them his undivided attention, the three woman covered in fresh blood and suspiciously staring at the two younger supernatural...who seemed far more scared of the human trio than aforementioned women were of the tiny pair.

Not that they had time to keep staring at the kitsune and vampire, their eyes instantly landing on both him - in his older and more mature body - as well as that of Merlin, who merely offered a cheerful wave and megawatt smile.

"...More shapeshifting magic?"

The oldest human woman warily stepped in front of the other two, Harris offering a shrug as he responded, "In a manner of speaking. And no need to worry, I'm not here to enslave or torture you. How about we start with introductions? My name is Harris Xavier and this is Merlin, Magus of Flowers."

Interested to see if that name resonated with the two supernatural he gave the pair of boys a sidelong glance, pleased to see that they both stiffened, looking at the woman not quite with fear but definitely with caution, as if they were examining some kind of unknown bomb. The trio of woman obviously had no knowledge of arthurian legend, the nominal leader among them stepping forward as she boldly announced, "We are of the Olmec people. I am Weave-Maker, this is Silent-Walking and she is Morning-Breeze."

Harris nodded politely at the naming from oldest to youngest as he reflected that the kitsune boy's talismans seemed to be doing their translation duties just fine...albeit extremely literally.

And on the topic of the supernatural duo it was the yokai who seemed to recover first, bowing his head while intoning, "We are Akito Eiichi, it is a pleasure to make the acquaintance of one who saved us."

Noting the usage of royal pronouns in the boy Harris filed that tidbit away for later perusal, turning to the vampire who nervously swallowed, responding, "Charles...just Charles."

Merlin leapt on the opportunity, playfully stating, "Very well, it is my pleasure to meet you, Just Charles~!"

Rolling his eyes at the irreverent comment the male brought up the proverbial elephant in the room as he stated, "Before we delve any deeper into our business and more dad jokes are cracked...do any of you require immediate medical attention or aid? You've been through alot, to say the least."

Both boys and the two younger women shivered, although Weave-Maker merely seemed pissed about her previous treatment rather than haunted as she growled, "We partook of our medicine with the devil you presented. That aside, we are of decent health. Bruises and bindings will fade, or harden into stronger flesh."

Nodding at the sensible and also slightly hardcore response Harris turned to the two supernatural boys, Akito trying for a weak smile as he replied, "A few bumps and bruises and our fur shall grow back in time...nothing the passage of time will not heal quickly enough."

"My my, such a brave little fox~! Have no fear, if you get a little tired and worn out feel free to come and see big sister, she can make you feel all better~!"

Merlin's response seemed to make the youth mildly uncomfortable but he bowed in appreciation nonetheless, Harris turning to Charles-

-and the silver-haired boy collapsed with a drunken sway of his body, the young man instantly at his side with Merlin not far behind as the male's crimson eyes dazedly blinked.

"M-my apologies...it's been some time since I was able to drink blood, is all. I'm afraid it's made me rather weak and frail…"

Nodding in understanding of the statement Harris tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck to the shocked boy as he stated, "Well, feel free to go ahead and drink. Not sure what it'll taste like but as long as this won't turn me into a vampire myself I don't see an issue."

While the three Olmec women - and to a lesser extent Akito - seemed bewildered and wary of his abrupt and seemingly foolish decision to let the vampire have a go at him Charles merely blinked, weakly replying, "You...you would let me do that? A-and you don't need to worry about becoming one of my species, I haven't matured enough to use that ability yet."

Supporting the younger male's head and bringing it close to his skin - close enough that his soft and labored breath caused Harris' flesh to tingle - the older grinned and replied, "No skin off my back. Now drink, no sense in remaining all worn out and weak if you don't need to, right?"

Hesitating for a moment longer Charles eventually did as advised, leaning forward with his tiny fangs bared-

-and Harris was honestly surprised at just how...erotic the whole sensation was. The little vampire breathing deeply through his nose, swallowing noisily as the briefest pricks of pain raced through his neck and the genuinely titillating suction, like a hickey but even more sexually charged.

"Well damn. Guess my whole little reincarnation deal made me into guys as well. Oh well, guess that just doubles my chance of landing a date. Although we're going to be keeping our hands to ourselves until we're sure just how old the kid is, no way of telling if he's as young as he looks or a few hundred years old or something."

Snapping out of his ruminations - and steadily hardening groin - as Charles eventually leaned back with a shuddering breath the slight vampire wiped away a few smears of red with the back of his delicate looking hand, holding himself straighter as he gave Harris a brilliant smile and graceful incline of his head.

"I thank you. Your blood was...quite strange, in all honesty. But filling and pleasing to my palette nonetheless. If you don't mind me asking, what species are you? You don't taste like any I know of…"

Shrugging amicably as Merlin watched the proceedings with no shortage of interest Harris replied, "To be totally honest I don't know myself."

The group of five - sans Merlin who knew of his fluid state of being better than any aside from him - looked on with wry expressions, Harris clapping his hands before announcing, "Okay, if everyone is feeling as well as can be then we need to figure out how to get all of you home."

The three Olmecs grimaced, Weave-Maker grimly remarking, "Our tribe may not exist much longer, if at all. The winged devils preyed upon us when our shaman was absent, many were taken prisoner. For a time we stayed at a place they titled Gastofield, before they carted us here in chains."

Charles perked slightly, mentioning, "Gastofield is a well-known fortress not far from here, it's where they're no doubt keeping any and all prisoners they've taken."

Thinking on that for a moment - and considering the actions he'd seen taking place here in the relatively isolated and empty outpost - Harris frowned, remarking, "I see...hey, Akito, Charles."

Both supernatural stiffened at his abruptly contemplative words.

"Would either of you have a way of getting into contact with your people? And would they be open to performing a few minor favors in order to have you returned safe and sound?"

Charles sagged, the boy lightly muttering, "Us vampires are a proud and haughty people...I don't think they'll want me back since I was captured so easily, never mind anyone else."

The glum words caused the male to frown, Merlin softly commenting, "While that is a very commendable and mature mindset to have, I cannot help but lament that you have need of it in the first place."

Charles replied with a noncommittal shrug, hiding his face from view as Akito jumped in with, "I have a way of letting my people know that I'm hale and healthy, as well as my location. Is this favor helping everyone find their way home?"

Harris smirked, replying, "You catch on quick, that's exactly it. After all..."

He turned to face Merlin and the woman merely gave him an understanding grin, evidently already understanding what it was he wanted to do in perfect detail.

"There are going to be a lot of people hopefully in need of making their way home. I'm going to kill every last devil within Gastofield, after all."

He took a fair amount of pleasure in the shocked and disbelieving gazes sent his way by the gathered group.

Holy crap, I knew the original HaiF was pretty popular (was front page for DxD stories for awhile) but 150+ followers on the first chap is insane. Wish I could update faster but unfortunately time is a valuable resource and I wasn't born with a small loan of a million hours.

I'll just have to settle for keeping a consistent update schedule, I suppose.