Chapter 12: The King and the Beanstalk
9400 BC - Enchanted Forest - Fairy Tale Realm
A king and his army have just defeated another kingdom's army
"Well done, Your Majesty" a woman said
"Identify yourself" the king said
"A friend" the woman said "you know, with this latest conquest, you are now king of the whole Enchanted Forest"
"I am well aware" the king said "that's why I went to war"
"Where are you going to conquer next?" The woman asked
"Who says I'm going to conquer anywhere else?" the king asked "I've united the Enchanted Forest under my rule"
"You're a powerful man" the woman said "powerful men are never satisfied"
"You're right" the king said "but I've kind of run out of places to conquer in this realm. Getting to Agrabah requires traveling through a desert that would be difficult to get troops through or traveling by sea, but I have no navy and have no interest in building one. Arendelle, Weselton, the Northern Isles, and the Southern Isles also require traveling by sea. The Empire has an army so large and well trained that even I could not conquer it. Camelot is accessible, but I do not want to mess with Merlin or Vortigan. The Tribes of DunBroch, MacGuffin, Macintosh, and Dingwall would require traveling through Camelot"
"What about another Realm?" the woman asked
"Portals are unpredictable for most people" the king said "and even if I could find one of the talented individuals that knows how to predict when and where they are going to appear, they don't stay open long enough for me to get my armies through"
"But what if you could open your own portals?" the woman asked
"That would work" the man said "but the only magic user I've even heard of that might be powerful enough to open the portal is Merlin and I highly doubt he'd help me"
"True" the woman said "but I know of way you can open portals at will without requiring a wizard"
"How?" the king asked
"For that answer, I need something in return" the woman said
"What?" the king asked
"I want to go through the portal with you" the woman said
"Very well" the king said "but I don't make deals with people who I don't even know their name"
"Wise policy" the woman said "I'll give you my name, but I want to know the name of your new kingdom"
"Why do you want to know?" the king asked
"Curiosity" the woman said "surely you're not going to say you're king of the Enchanted Forest?"
"I may keep that as one one my titles" the king said "but you're right, I do have a name in mind"
"So, do we have a deal?" The woman asked "I give you a way to open portals and my name in exchange for passage with you to another Realm and the name of your kingdom"
"Deal" the king said "now how do I open a portal"
"In the kingdom you just conquered" the woman began "there's a giant beanstalk. At the top of the beanstalk, you will see massive fields of beans, ready to be harvested. The beans are not ordinary beans, they can open magic portals. You simply toss one down and think of where you want to go. Now, at the top of the beanstalk is also several Giants, they are the ones who plant the beans"
"Giants?" the king asked
"They're friendly…" the woman began "…unless you're trying to steal their beans"
"Which we're trying to do" the king said
"If you go up at night you will be fine, they'll be sleeping" the woman said "you don't need to send your entire army either, just a few dozen soldiers to gather the beans"
"Up the beanstalk at night, gather the beans, come back, got it" the king said "now before I let you come along, I need to know your name"
"Your kingdom's name first" the woman said
"Misthaven"
"Nimue"
9399 BC - Camelot
"It's been quiet" Merlin said
"Well ever since the king of Misthaven united the Enchanted Forest under his rule, there hasn't been any wars" the Apprentice said
"That's not what I mean" Merlin said "we haven't heard from the Dark One in almost a year. She must be up to something"
"Why not summon her and ask?" the Apprentice asked
"Excellent idea, my young Apprentice" Merlin said
"When are you going to stop calling me that?" the Apprentice asked "I'm over one hundred years old now, I look older than you"
"Never" Merlin said "please open a portal to an empty part of the forest, I don't want anyone around her when I summon her"
"Can't you do it?" the Apprentice asked
"You need practice opening portals" Merlin said "the more practice you have doing that within this Realm, the easier it will be to open portals between Realms, which you will need to know how to do sooner or later"
The Apprentice grabs his wand and draws a rectangle with it and a door appears. He opens the door and walks through, followed by Merlin
"Well done" Merlin said as he pulls out the Dark One's Dagger "Dark One, I summon thee" and nothing happens… "Dark One, I summon thee" and still nothing happens
"Why is it not working?" the Apprentice asked "you should be able to summon her from anywhere in this Realm"
"And that my young Apprentice, is your answer" Merlin said "I guess you need to learn how to open portals to another Realm sooner rather later, as the Dark One is no longer in this Realm"
Hall of Legends
"How did you lose her?!" Poseidon asked "it was your job to keep track of her!"
"I didn't think she'd actually leave the Realm!" Merlin said
"It looks like she left the Realm about a year ago" Simultaneous said "disguised to look like her more human self. She left with the king of Misthaven, who stole some magic beans to conquer other Realms"
"I should be able to use a locator spell on the Dagger to at least narrow down which realm she's in" Merlin said
"Do it quickly" Zeus said "we cannot allow the Dark One to roam about free among the Omniverse"
"I'm doing the best I can" Merlin said "you all could help now and then!"
"Careful, boy" Zeus said "it is our magic that allowed you to become one of us, show us some respect. You know why we can't interfere"
"No, you forget that I have all your magic combined" Merlin said and he waved his hand, freezing all the Original Powers in place "I have followed your rules as best as I could, and that led us to where we are now!" And he waves his hand, releasing them
"If you ever…!" Poseidon began
"Enough" Daimyo said "we get your point, Merlin. But Zeus and Poseidon are right, you can't do that to us. We will find a way to stop you if you go against us like that again"
"So you'll work to find a way to stop me, but not the Dark One?" Merlin said "I was beginning to think I understood your rules, but now I realized I never did. I will go do what I said, I will find the Dark One, and I will return her to the Fairy Tale Realm"
"Merlin, wait…" Simultaneous began
"No, old friend, this is something I apparently must do alone" Merlin said
Land of Magic
In a castle, a servant brings Merlin before a king
"Who might this be?" the king asked
"He refers to himself as the Sorcerer" the servant said "and he refuses to give me any other name besides that"
"Sorcerer, eh?" the king asked "are you friend or foe"
"Friend, I hope, O King Lothor of Misthaven" Merlin said "I mean you no harm, I'm simply looking for someone who I believe to be in your kingdom"
"I generally deal with people who won't tell me their name" Lothor said "but I have found that you wizards are particular about your names, so I won't press you, yet. Please, let my servant take your cloak"
Merlin would rather not take off his cloak, it's not magical, but he's not planning on staying long. Still he'd rather not push this king, he needs to know if the king has run into the Dark One. The Dark One's Dagger makes locator spells less accurate than usual for whatever reason, so he knows she's in this Realm, somewhere in this general region, but not exactly where. He doesn't want to use the Dagger to summon her unless he has to, as using it is does leave a mark on his soul. He tried to use it outside of Camelot earlier, because he want to make sure she wasn't scheming something up and had no other way of finding her. But if he has a lead that doesn't require using the Dagger, he'd rather take that.
"Thank you for your hospitality" Merlin said as he allows the servant to take off his cloak "I'm looking for a woman named Nimue"
"That is the name of the woman who led me to the beans that allowed me to travel the Realms" Lothor said "what do you want with her?"
"She's not who she seems" Merlin said "she's a powerful being known as the Dark One, also sometimes known as Vortigan. She may seem helpful, but she's cruel, manipulative, evil. She manipulated you into coming to this world, so she could escape the control of a mystical dagger"
"What Dagger?" Lothor asked and Merlin hesitated "look, someone I just met and won't tell me his real name, is telling me a woman who helped me in the past is evil and I should just trust him? Show me the Dagger and I'll tell you where she is"
Merlin hesitated again, but realizes there shouldn't be any harm in showing someone the Dagger. Lothor has no magic and even if he alluded to having wizards working for him, Merlin is on another level. He should be able to stop anything this king tried to pull. He reaches for the Dagger… but doesn't find it
"It's… it's not here… where did it go?" Merlin asked
"Oh, you mean this Dagger" Lothor said as his servant hands him the Dark One's Dagger.
"When the servant took my cloak… he grabbed the Dagger off of me" Merlin said "hand the Dagger back over, it's power is tempting but it will corrupt you, you have no idea what it or she will do to you"
"Oh, I have some idea, Merlin" Lothor said and he twirled his hand and magic surrounding him and his servant, revealing Nimue and her Dark Apprentice
"Dark One" Merlin said "but what happened to the king"
"Oh I killed him not long after you left" Nimue said "I then took his form to get control of his armies. I love this new land. So much magic everywhere, so many different magical users to help me get what I want. And the aliens… oh what did they call it… technology is also a massive help. And now you've given me my Dagger back, thank you, Merlin. I should be able to conquer entire multiverses without issue now. It will take time, but I have all the time in the world"
Merlin knew he could probably beat Nimue in a one-on-one fight, and even with Arius there, he could still probably win. But he doesn't know what magic users she has around, nor has he ever really understood technology. She can't kill him, but if she managed to capture him, all would be loss. He needed to retreat, Lord Simultaneous knew about technology better than anyone else. He would learn what he could from him and try to reclaim the Dagger on even ground
"You may have won this round, Dark One" Merlin said "but I will get the Dagger back" and with a wave of hand, he disappears in a puff of smoke
Elsewhere in the Land of Magic
Nimue's forces are in the middle of conquering another planet. They are winning easily with a combination of magic, technology, and good tactics. All of a sudden, a man with blue skin and carrying a staff appears on the battlefield. He swings the staff sending out a massive blast of magic that knocks everyone in Nimue's army off their feet. He then sends another massive blast of magic to destroy Nimue's war machines and all but one spaceship. He then teleports to where the generals are giving orders from
"Tell your king that he better leave this Realm immediately" the being said "if he does not, I will fight through his armies until I get to him and I will end him. I do not like violence, but he has caused too much destruction, too much suffering of the innocence for me to stand by. The only reason I'm sparing your lives is so you can tell him what I just told you"
"Who… who are you?" one of the generals asked
"Zordon of Eltar"