All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.
Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Annoyances".
The Last Place One Looks
By SN/TVfan
Email: Sam_Nary
Pond
The small boat came out of the mist to find themselves alone on what appeared to be a very small pond. There was no grass surrounding the pond, but Arthur did notice some sort of desert shrubbery around the banks of the pond. The landscape beyond the pond also looked fairly desolate. The stars above them, however, were easily seen as the night was cloudless.
"Where do you suppose we are?" Una asked, looking around and seeing nothing but the brush and dirt around the pond that they were in.
"Desert of some kind," Rachel grumbled, "one some sort of man made pond… or oasis… or something like that. We can't do any more then guess as to which desert we're in."
The others nodded as they rowed toward the shoreline and once on dry land, Arthur moved to see if he could get a better look at the territory. He soon saw an expanse of sand and desert rock. That more then proved they were in a desert of some sort. The ground was largely fairly flat and there was a fair breeze blowing. From the direction that he was looking in, Arthur could not see if there was any sign of civilization for miles.
"Wish there was some way to figure out exactly where we are," Merlin commented as he came to stand by Arthur.
They were then interrupted by the sound of a man in the distance from the other side of the pond. They immediately glanced to Una, who was now rushing in search of some sort of cover, although it was unlikely she could completely hide herself. They then turned to Rachel and then slowly walked toward the other side of the pond.
"Does either of you have a logical explanation as to how we got here?" Rachel asked as they got closer, "this guy could own the land."
"The only one he'd believe is that we are adventurers who have walked all this way," Arthur sighed, "and I don't think that even that is entirely error proof."
"We'll just have to deal with it," Merlin sighed, "He probably won't believe the truth."
When they reached the other side of the pond, they found a man in robes walking along a small path. For the moment, he did not seem to notice them.
"Mahdi!" the man called out as he held up one hand as if to call for someone.
The man continued on for a few moments before he finally noticed Arthur, Merlin, and Rachel standing in front of him. He was visibly startled and jumped back nervously.
"You!" the man spoke firmly, "What have you done with my Mahdi?"
"Excuse me, but who is 'Mahdi'?" Arthur asked.
"My son, you fool!" the growled, "the one you kidnapped!"
"We haven't kidnapped anyone," Merlin spoke firmly, "we've only just arrived here."
"We might be able to help you find your son," Rachel offered.
"You would?" the man asked, "You would help me find my Mahdi?"
Arthur nodded, "Yes. In England, I run a private investigation agency. Missing persons reports aren't the thing I deal with most often, but a lot of the work is the same."
"England?" the man asked confused, "Where is England?"
"A long way from here," Merlin answered, "Speaking of which, could you tell us where here is?"
The man looked at them with a fairly puzzled look before he eventually answered.
"You at one of the small oasis's that my family brings its herds to," the man answered after a few moments, "we are about two days journey from Riyadh."
"Saudi Arabia," Rachel commented, "It hasn't been too hot lately, has it?"
The man then looked the group over. The two men were in attire that was strange to him, and the woman was in clothing fairly similar to the men's clothing.
"You are all strangely dressed," the man answered, "but I will assume that is the culture of England. And I will owe you greatly if you are able to help me find Mahdi."
Arthur nodded, "When and where did you last see him?"
"I last saw him two days ago at our camp," the man answered, "he was herding some of our goats. I went to go check on our camels, when I heard him scream, and then nothing."
"Nothing?" Rachel asked, "weren't there any tracks you could follow? Or a scent you could use dogs to track with?"
"I own no dogs and strangely, there were no tracks," the man answered, "Mahdi was just gone. Even one of the goats was missing, but that is unimportant compared to my son."
"How could your son just disappear?" Arthur asked, "He couldn't have been carried off by something."
"I do not know, I…" the man continued and stopped when he saw something move through the shrubs on the other end of the pond.
He then noticed a fairly small boat floating in the pond's shallows. He then began to walk toward the source of the movement.
"Mahdi?" the man asked toward it, hoping it was his son.
Arthur and Rachel tried to get his attention back, but failed as the man continued to approach that spot, not knowing that the figure hiding there was a female gargoyle and not his son. As he got closer, he quickly found that out.
"Ahhhh! A demon!" the man screamed and stumbled back, "A demon come to eat us! It's probably already eaten Mahdi!"
Una, seeing that she had been spotted, decided to slowly come out of hiding.
"Easy," Una spoke, trying to sound as soothing as possible, "I won't hurt you."
The man continued to crawl away backwards, clearly terrified.
"This is Una," Arthur spoke, "She is a friend of ours. She speaks the truth when she says she won't harm you."
This further puzzled the man even more.
"You know this demon?" the man asked.
"She's a gargoyle, not a demon," Merlin corrected.
This puzzled the man even more, but something seemed to visibly click in his mind.
"We'd best return to my camp," the man said, making no effort to hide any sign of frustration, "Something tells me there is more to you then meets the eye."
Unknown Location
"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, given the troubles in Tibet, but I felt you should see this," a man in what looked like a red military uniform spoke as he walked down a hallway with a more mysterious man walking behind him.
"Pendragon may not be directly linked to Khan's traitorous activities, but he is still a threat in the Council's eyes," Six spoke, "Particularly if he is able to fulfill the prophecies concerning Britain's Greatest Hour of Need."
"Maybe so, but as far as I know, we do not know when that time will come," the other man reported, "and we know that Khan has betrayed us and is causing trouble now."
"We must always be prepared," Six told him, "besides, if we require more information about the Mage's prophecies, we can always check our 'sources'."
They then arrived in a small monitoring room and the soldier led Six to a panel where a lone technician was following something on a small screen. It showed the image of Arthur, Merlin, Rachel, Una, and a strange man walking along a desert trail.
"We are they?" Six asked.
"According to the larger satellite images," the technician spoke, "they appeared in an oasis south of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The man they're with, I'd assume is a Bedouin tribesman."
The technician then brought up a map of the Arab country and highlighted the exact location of where Pendragon and his group appeared. Six looked and then frowned nervously.
"They're near one of our dry storage facilities," Six growled, "Who do we have guarding it?"
The technician then pressed a series of buttons and the image of a figure then appeared on the screen.
"It appears to be Jeanie, sir," the technician answered.
"Contact her, and let her know that she is likely to have company," Six commanded the soldier.
"Of course," the soldier responded.
Saudi Arabia
The man they had met lead them all back to his camp quietly and as quickly as possible. He did his best to insure that Una was not spotted by any of the other people there, and his actions puzzled the travelers greatly. He was originally terrified utterly of Una when he first spotted her, but now he seemed more suspicious, especially since they had insisted that Una was a gargoyle and not a demon.
The tent he had lead them into was very basic, and most of the things inside it were necessary for sleeping, eating, and the other basic necessities of living. He then gestured for them to sit in the center of the tent and began pacing.
"I do not want to be thought of as foolish because I am concerned about my son," the man began, "but there is something not right about you, and I do not mean the woman's inappropriate attire."
Rachel ignored the comment.
"I promise you, I mean no harm," Una spoke, "and like the others, I would be willing to help you find your son."
"You had better, for you will not leave this desert alive if you do not," the man answered, "It is nothing personal, but I have lived here all my life, and never before has something happened like what has just happened."
"Kidnappings happen all the time," Arthur commented.
"Not the kidnapping of my Mahdi," the man answered, "the appearance of infidels in the middle of an oasis with a winged one."
This created a series puzzled looks from Arthur and the others.
"You say you are a gargoyle," the man spoke to Una.
Una nodded.
"I have heard stories of your kind," the man answered, "that your kind fought along side the Greeks against the warriors of the Prophet, and that some even fought against the Prophet directly."
"My clan has always been around London," Una answered, "None of us have ever been to the middle east before now."
"And just how is it that you all arrived on an oasis on my family's land?" the man asked, "And why do you volunteer to help me? It is strange for such things to happen, even among my own people."
"We are traveling by means of magical mists created by an island known as Avalon," Merlin answered, "largely to gain knowledge and material necessary to help someone."
"You play with sorcery?" the man asked, his suspicions still obvious, "you know that Allah is against such things."
"Magic and the application of it is not necessarily bad," Merlin answered, "and if you study things closely, sir, you will find that there are things out there that may seem dark and frightening, but aren't evil."
"You people probably ran into a series of evil sorcerers in your history, men who misused their powers to oppress others," Arthur commented, "not every 'sorcerer' is like that."
"My people have learned it is best to avoid such things," the man answered.
"Our purpose is to do good," Merlin answered, "Especially since there are things that go on in this world that are far larger then what you know or think."
"And I'm to assume that this 'Avalon' place sent you here to help me find my Mahdi?" the man asked.
"We would think so, although the reasons why Avalon's magic will send travelers somewhere, is usually kept a secret, even from them," Una explained.
"But you have agreed to help find my son?" the man enquired.
"We will," Arthur nodded, "but you will have to trust us, even if we seem strange to you."
"Is there anything else that is strange about your group that you would like to disclose?" the man asked, "it would be preferable that you did reveal such information."
Arthur and Rachel traded glances for a moment before the woman sighed and stood up.
"For the sake of being honest," Rachel sighed, "I am a werewolf… it's a sort of condition that I have. I can change into a humanoid wolf creature at will and must on the nights of the full moon."
The man looked fearful.
"And you won't attack me or my family here in the camp?" the man asked, fearfully.
"No," Rachel answered, "I'm in complete control of myself whenever I change… and I've found that I've gained some abilities that might help. I can track your son's scent, so… I guess… with me here, you don't need a dog."
The man looked on nervously but eventually nodded as he regained his composure.
"Well, now that you have asked questions of us, may we ask you a question, sir?" Merlin asked.
The man slowly nodded after a moment.
"Who are you?" Merlin asked.
"I am Ali Al-Sahoud," the man answered, "and I trust you will not cause trouble?"
"We're here to help," Arthur answered firmly.
Elsewhere
A young boy sat alone in what looked like high security prison cell, staring out with a tremendous amount of fear in his eyes. A figure moved a short distance away outside the cell, but the lighting was just low enough that he couldn't see exactly who it was. The figure also appeared to be conversing with someone she referred to as 'Six'.
"So they come here to me," the figure spoke, "They will be defeated easily."
"Do not go hunting after them," Six answered, "Merlin may be powerless, but the female gargoyle is stronger then you would think, and the female were will not be easily subdued. You are only to engage them if they somehow stumble onto the 'library'."
"Speaking of which, what should I do with the boy who stumbled onto the 'library'?" the figure asked, "His goat was fairly good, but I do not eat humans."
"As well you should," Six answered, "but the boy's fate is not our concern. You may do with him as you wish."
The figure turned to look at the boy with a mischievous smile, even though the boy couldn't see it. The boy did know that the figure had turned toward him and shuffled toward the back of the cell.
Al-Sahoud's Camp
Ali lead Arthur and Rachel to the spot where he knew that his son, Mahdi, had been last. Merlin and Una had moved to the outskirts of the camp so that no one else in Ali's camp would see them, but they were close enough that Rachel could tell where they were.
"This is the area where Mahdi was last," Ali spoke gesturing to the makeshift corral made out of the same material as the tents and held up with a few scattered pieces of wood, "can you track him from here?"
Rachel slowly nodded, "If you give me something that has his scent on it. Otherwise, it could take a while to discern which scent is his and which is not."
Ali turned and pointed to a small Shepard's crook leaning against the thick cloth wall.
"He was carrying that when he disappeared," Ali answered.
"Thank you," Rachel answered, and took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Ali watched while Arthur moved to stand beside him. He jumped when he saw Rachel's eyes again and would have fallen over if Arthur hadn't caught him. The woman's eyes had changed to a feral yellow color, but there were no other visible changes.
"It's alright," Arthur told him, "she won't change all the way unless it's necessary."
The watched for a few moments while Rachel approached the Shepard's crook and sniffed at it. She then turned toward the horizon to the south of their position and her eyes narrowed on the horizon.
"He appeared to have wandered off in that direction," Rachel reported, "I think he was trying to follow an animal that got loose."
Rachel then began walking forward, sniffing as she went. Arthur and Ali were quick to follow.
"How long will it take to find Mahdi?" Ali asked.
"That depends on how far he's gone," Rachel answered, "If he's still moving, it will depend on how fast we are moving in relation to him. If he is in a singular location, it will depend on how far he went before he got there."
The search went fairly quietly. Merlin and Una rejoined the group once they were safely beyond the borders of the camp. After a few moments of following the track of Madhi's scent, Rachel came to a sudden and complete stop. She then turned around and took a step or two back.
"What is it?" Ali asked, sounding nervous.
"The trail stops here," Rachel answered.
"Any sign of a vehicle?" Arthur asked.
Rachel shook her head, "Not by scent. The trail simply ends here. We must have followed a wrong trail or something. If the trail ended here, we should be able to see the boy."
Below them, the figure looked nervously at the screens that were shown. The figure was incredibly nervous as it showed that the man with the female were and Arthur was dangerously close to tripping a hidden trap door entrance, the same one that the boy had earlier tripped. The orders received were to defend the 'library', and now the 'enemy' was extremely close to falling into it.
Ali looked down at the ground in a very depressed manner. It was a dark night, with only the moon and stars providing illumination on the desert. And now, his only hope for finding his son had admitted that she couldn't find him. He had barely taken a step back towards his camp when the ground suddenly began to shake.
"What the?!" Arthur gasped as the ground began to shake around them.
Suddenly the dirt below them began to lower and slide away, making Arthur, Ali, and Rachel drop straight down into what looked like a metal entryway. Una and Merlin quickly rushed to the opening.
"Are you alright?" Merlin called down.
"Wonderful," Ali grumbled.
"How could there be a bunker in the middle of a desert?" Arthur asked, sounding curious.
Rachel took a few sniffs and became quickly alert.
"We may find out," Rachel reported, "I've picked up Mahdi's scent again, and he wasn't alone."
"You mean the kidnapper is still here?" Una asked as she hopped down with Merlin.
"I'm beginning to think he wasn't kidnapped," Rachel commented, "I never detected the other scent before now. It is quite possible that there was some sort of trigger for the trap door, and that Madhi in pursuit of the escaped animal tripped that trigger by accident, much like what we probably did."
"So, whoever has them was only 'defending' themselves?" Arthur asked.
"More like hiding something, I'd think," Merlin commented, "Why else would one have a bunker in the middle of no where."
They then began walking down the hallway, slowly and carefully. After a few moments of quiet walking, they were blinded by a bright light and knocked to the ground by a force field.
"What is that?" Ali demanded.
"A force field of some kind," Merlin answered, "Probably designed to keep us out of someplace."
"A very intelligent answer for a powerless fool," came a taunting voice from the other side of where the field was, "sadly, it will be hours before it's fully charged again."
"You kidnapped my son!" Ali accused the figure moving slowly toward them.
"I didn't kidnap anyone," the figure answered, "I caught a boy who was trespassing on ground he shouldn't have been on, but I have not kidnapped anyone."
"If you've harmed him…" Ali growled.
"You'll what?" the figure spoke while coming into view, "hack at me with a sword that could never hurt my kind even in the middle ages?"
What they saw was a shock to all of them. It was clearly a woman in practically the skimpiest clothing any of them had seen. She was wearing a strapless western style bra and underwear. Over that she wore a pair of 'pants' that were completely see through, other then their pink tint and tank top of the same material.
"I am Jeanie," the woman said, "Guardian of this facility."
"And we're to be afraid of a woman with no sense of modesty or her place!" Ali growled and shook his fist at her.
Jeanie raised a hand and Ali suddenly went flying backward, hitting it hard.
"Yes," Jeanie answered, "For I am not a 'woman'."
"A fey, perhaps," Rachel growled, her voice edged by the fact that she was quickly trying to transform, as she stripped down to her jumpsuit, which she wore under her normal clothes.
"In a manner of speaking," Jeanie answered as she turned her hand to Rachel, making the still transforming werewolf fly backward into Ali.
Arthur readied Excalibur while Una prepared to defend herself as best she could.
"If you're not a fey, then you must be at least a most a halfling," Merlin spoke as he readied the ring he was presently using as a conduit.
Jeanie then raised both hands and sent all three of those still standing flying backward. Rachel barely managed to catch Arthur, but couldn't hold him up, as she was still enduring her own transformation.
"You okay?" Rachel managed to ask as she felt her tail push out behind her.
"I'd be doing a lot better if this 'thing' would give us an honest answer," Arthur commented as he got back to his feet.
"Straight answers?" Jeanie taunted, as she moved her arms, making Arthur fly about the hallway, hitting the walls several times, "what do you think I am, stupid?"
Una lunged forward while Jeanie was distracted and managed to land a strong punch one the 'woman'. The blow knocked Jeanie back against the far wall. Merlin was about to add a small restraining spell through his ring, when suddenly Ali appeared in front of him, holding a knife that he had produced. He brought the knife down on Jeanie's shoulder as she was still getting up.
"Where is my son?!" Ali demanded, "Tell me and I might let you live!"
Jeanie brought up a hand, and Ali was thrown off, but his knife remained imbedded in Jeanie's shoulder. The woman screamed with pain and writhed on the floor. Blasts of magic flew from her hands as she suddenly began to age.
"A fey, or a fey halfing," Merlin commented, "Just as suspected."
After a few moments, Jeanie suddenly exploded in a blaze of light leaving only Ali's knife behind. That left everyone astounded.
"Has that ever happened before?" Rachel ask as she moved closer, and staying in her wolf form.
"Not that I can ever recall," Merlin answered, "Most fey age and grow weak as a result of contact with Iron. She looked like it was an overload."
"My knife is made of steal," Ali spoke.
"She may only be pretending to be dead then," Una commented.
"At least she's gone," Rachel spoke, "Let's keep going. I still have Mahdi's scent."
"Stay alert, though," Arthur warned as they began walking again, "if she's only pretending to be dead, she could attack again."
They went along the hallway following the scent of the missing boy. As they did, they entered a massive room filled with scrolls and books, which everyone found to be a great surprise.
"It's a library!" Merlin exclaimed.
"Why would one put a library underground?" Ali grumbled.
"Probably to preserve the pages," Rachel commented, "I saw something on TV about dry conditions being excellent for preserving things like paper."
"What do you suppose is in these scrolls?" Una commented and reached for one of them.
The unicorn like gargoyle picked up the scroll and gasped at the seal that held it shut, the insignia of the Illuminati.
"What is it?" Arthur asked, curious at Una's surprise.
"This bunker/library is run by the Illuminati," Una answered, holding up the seal, "these volumes likely hold information of great importance to them."
"Perhaps they have information on the type of powder needed to get Merlin his powers back," Arthur commented.
"It's a possibility," Una nodded.
"What about my son?!" Ali demanded, the library not among his list of concerns, shocking as its discovery was.
"While Merlin and Una look through what we've found, the rest of us will keep following the boy's scent," Arthur answered the man, "We'll find him, I assure you."
Arthur and Ali then set about following Rachel as she continued to sniff out the scent trail of the boy they were searching for. The path took them to the end of the library and to a large set of doors. They were locked, but they didn't last long against Rachel's strength and the female werewolf easily knocked both doors in. On the other side of the doors was what appeared to be a control room. The room appeared empty, but a jail cell was easily visible.
"He's not here," Ali said in a defeated voice.
Rachel continued following the scent until she was lead to what looked like an oil lamp sitting on a shelf. She looked at it with some confusion.
"His scent leads here," Rachel spoke, "that can't be a person…"
"They cremated him!" Ali exclaimed in fear and anger and grabbed the lamp.
As Ali's fingers rubbed over the lamp, the lamp suddenly began to smoke, and after a blinding flash of light, a young boy appeared.
"Mahdi?!" Ali gasped and then fainted from shock.
The boy's eyes with a surprising degree of understanding and looked upon a strange man, brandishing a broadsword, and a female werewolf standing over his father. Previous fear returning to him, he raised has hands.
"Leave him alone," the boy commanded, sending both Arthur and Rachel flying backward.
"Can you explain this?" Rachel asked as she and Arthur began to pull themselves up.
"No," Arthur sighed to her and then turned to the boy, "we mean you no harm."
"Leave him alone!" the boy commanded again.
"We came here with him, looking for his son," Rachel spoke, "If you're Mahdi, we've been looking for you."
"I am he," the boy answered, "You won't harm my father?"
"No," Arthur answered, "he is at the moment an ally of ours."
"Could you tell us what has happened to you?" Rachel asked, "Why were you in that lamp?"
Mahdi looked down at the lamp that he had appeared from and then at another oil lamp sitting on the table.
"It was the guardian of this facility," Mahdi answered in a weak and ashamed tone, "she is what you westerners call a genie. In our culture they are djinn."
"A fey, then," Arthur commented, "but then, how did you gain its powers. Despite all their power, no fey can turn a human or gargoyle into a fey."
"They are not fey," Mahdi answered, "they are more connected to the demonic versus the divine then they are to the mortal realm, the way humans, gargoyles, and the third race are."
"They're demons?" Rachel asked, sounding nervous.
"Some are, and the one who imprisoned me, the one who guarded this facility was one," Mahdi answered and then turned to the other lamp, "and now, she is dead."
He snapped his fingers and the lamp suddenly burst into flame and melted away. Rachel could just barely hear screams as the lamp melted and disappeared.
"How, why did she do this to you?" Arthur asked, surprised that the boy was so calm with everything.
"She took me and placed me over the lamp," Mahdi slowly began to explain, "and lit a small fire on it, not using her powers. Then she slit her wrist with a finger and made me drink her blood… then the smoke from the fire sucked me into the lamp. She essentially placed her essence in me. I am weaker then she was, but I don't really care. I don't want to be like this."
"No one ever does," Rachel tried to comfort him, "I didn't want to be like this when I was bitten."
"But we can not escape our fates, can we?" Mahdi asked back.
Rachel slowly nodded.
"What do you intend to do then?" Arthur asked.
"I hope to stay with my father," Mahdi answered, "like many djinn I am tied to the lamp and essence I am bonded to. I was hoping he could keep it safe, at least until I can prove my faith and either journey to heaven or break the curse that has been put on me."
"And you won't abuse the powers you have?" Arthur asked.
"I am weaker then the guardian of this facility, and she wasn't all that powerful for a djinn," Mahdi answered, "moving objects and what would be considered small pranks are about all I can do."
"I see," Arthur sighed, "Rachel and I will help carry your father until he revives. Will you be alright?"
"I will be fine, in time," Mahdi answered.
They nodded and slowly began to make their way out.
Hours Later
While Rachel stayed with Mahdi outside the Illuminati bunker while he tried to explain to his father what had happened to him, Arthur returned to Merlin and Una. He hoped they had found something that would help them.
"Did you find anything?" Arthur asked.
"The Illuminati has stored thousands of articles and spells here," Una reported, "and some which we think might be written prophecies."
"Some we'll be taking with us," Merlin answered, "for later study, but the only thing we need is some description on either the spell used on me, or the ingredients for the counter spell."
"Most of the information however will take time to translate," Una sighed, "We'll be taking everything that we clearly recognize as a help to us."
Arthur could only nod, "We'd best move quickly, though. Dawn can't be too far off, and the Illuminati must surely know by now that Jeanie was defeated."
Carrying out the 'looting' of the Illuminati library/bunker took right up until dawn. Both Mahdi and Rachel were needed to lift Una's stone form out of the bunker, which left Rachel feeling slightly agitated. The air temperature was already getting hot, and her fur held body heat in rather easily. She was sure to be thoroughly baked by the time they got back to their boat at the oasis. Arthur and Merlin weren't too keen on hiking through a desert during the day either, but they had no real choice.
"We wish you the best of luck," Arthur spoke to Ali as he and his son prepared to return to his camp.
"And to you," Ali answered, "May you never fall into the failings of those who do evil."
"We'll try not to," Arthur answered.
"Do you need help?" Mahdi asked, "You certainly aren't dressed for this climate, and your werewolf will likely overheat under her fur."
"That would be helpful," Rachel spoke, "but I'd think we've already given your father a rough time by being so… different. We wouldn't want to cause any trouble."
"As much as I do not want to admit to debt to outsiders, I am in your debt," Ali answered, "If you need help getting the gargoyle back to your boat, I will consent to it, but Mahdi must return home afterwards."
"Of course," Arthur answered, "and thank you."
Mahdi then used his new powers to lift Una up, allowing Rachel to change back to her human form and put her normal clothing back on. They then began walking back toward the oasis that Arthur and his group had appeared on. Arthur and Merlin silently wondered how Ali and his son seemed to be adjusting so easily to everything that had happened, but they were silent on the issue, as they didn't want to cause any real problem.
The Oasis
Avalon's mists quickly engulfed Arthur's boat as soon as Una's statue had settled into it, and they were soon traveling off into Avalon's mists. Ali and Mahdi watched from the shore until the boat vanished from sight.
"I hope they do well," Rachel commented after a few moments.
"I'd think they will," Merlin answered, "there are many things that we don't know and don't have the time to learn."
"Like why Ali didn't seem to have many troubles with what had happened to his son, or why his son seemed almost unconcerned with what had happened to him?" Arthur asked.
"Or why he seemed to quickly gain his wits after meeting us?" Rachel added.
Merlin nodded, "for all we know, Ali is himself involved in much the same work that we do in England in Saudi Arabia. And my knowledge of their myths and legends are just lacking enough that I can't say much more."
"Hopefully things turn out well," Arthur sighed as the mist began to thicken around them.
The End…