Chapter 1: Arc 1: Chapter 1: Merlin’s Beginning

July 17th, 1989, the sun shines on the lands of Wisconsin; the natives know this land as 'The Grasslands' has reached its most beautiful time of the year.

The sweet aroma of the milk manufactured here spreads across the lands, and for some, the season change represents something fundamental, as they are soon to reach the turning point of the first half of their lives.

August is the time for College, which means there is little time left for the high school graduates to have fun.

On the side of the farm, young men and women full of teenage dreams are riding along on the road. With the 'special' occasion, it becomes easy for these hormone-inducing boys and girls to do some romantic things; of course, occasionally, they have to deal with the terrible consequences of their thrill.

"Merlin! Merlin!"

A black muscle car rides across the road in front of the farm at 120 mikes and stops outside, following a swift drift. On it, some lightly clothed females are shouting at the farm.

"Come play with us! Don't be alone all the time! You nerd!"

The boy behind the wheels keeps honking and alarms the dairy cows on the farm. Moments later, a slim-looking young man wearing a patterned shirt comes out of the garage holding a wrench.

He has black hair, light grey eyes, standing 180cm in height, and outstanding facial features.

His shirt and hands are covered in black oil stains, seemingly fixing something. He reaches out his hand to block the sunlight atop his head and waves at the boys and girls in the car, replying:

"You guys have fun; I'm still a bit busy."

"Don't be like this, Merlin."

In the car, a girl stands up, and in the cheers of her friends, her sweet voice exclaims:

"Come on!"

The other girls start cheering as well; the girls have a good impression of Merlin, of course, less so with the boys. The boy driving the car gives a thumbs down to Merlin and steps on the accelerator.

"Merlin, you nerd! Go play with yourself then."

The car accelerates at top speed as the young men and women scream, disappearing before Merlin's eyes almost instantly.
Seeing off his classmates, Merlin shrugs and returns to the garage, un-bewildered by their sarcasm. Soon, clanking and banging sounds start to resound once more on the farm.

Merlin doesn't like to stick with his adrenaline-fueled peers.

As one who has experienced terror and nightmare from birth, he is steadier than his peers. Especially for his family, who left Buffalo County due to some nasty rumors circling him, and after arriving at Madison, Merlin has learned to hide and not stand out from the crowd.
He knows the things that happen to him are hard to explain.

Rather than spending time with the girls, he prefers to spend more time with his family. Or stay in the garage of his farm, fixing that 1962 Classic Chevrolet Corvette.

He calls the car 'Lola' as if that beautiful car is his girlfriend.

His old man promised that if Merlin managed to fix it, then this beauty of a car would belong to him.

There is no better gift for Merlin than Lola for his 18th birthday. He even plans on driving Lola to New York, finishing his six years of college life, becoming a doctor, finding a loved one, having children, and inheriting the bloodline of the Reilly family, and living his life just like that.

"Merlin! Can't you be quieter with your banging? It's 9 am! Can't you let me have a good sleep? Even if it's just for a day!"

As soon as Merlin closes the front cover of the car, he can hear mumbling from behind him.

As Merlin turns around, he sees Phil yawning in his loose T-shirt, jeans, and rough hair.

He was his younger brother, Phillip J. "Phil" Coulson, the son of his foster father James Coulson; he is three years younger than Merlin and is a high schooler with exceptional grades.

"If you go to sleep every day on a timely basis, then every morning at 9 am, you should be here fixing Lola with me."

Merlin leans on Lola's hood, putting down his wrench and wiping his hands with a towel, all while contemplating Phil.

Phil averts his gaze, and Merlin asks:

"You came back late at 2 am last night; what did you go off doing?"

This question makes Phil turn his head, mumbling:

"I'm a healthy 15-year-old, I'm good-looking, popular, and it's summer, what do you think I did? Have you not experienced puberty?"

"Of course, I have, but my puberty was not as 'passionate' as yours."

Merlin stands up, walks beside Phil, and looks at his younger brother. Moments later, he sighs and hands Phil his towel:

"Wipe the lipstick mark off your neck before you get shouted at by mom when she sees it."

Phil takes the towel and wipes the three lipstick marks off his neck while facing the mirror.

Merlin stands behind him, looking at his younger brother, the Phil in the mirror is a classic American White male; he is slightly shorter than Merlin, has a clean face with the same light grey eyes as Merlin. He looks surprisingly cold and serious when he purses his mouth, scoring additional points among his female peers.

Phil holds his hairbrush, brushing his hair into a style that's with the times, slightly curving upwards, while giving his hair a nice hairspray.
Behind him, Merlin crosses his arms, and like an actual doctor, he says:

"Use less hairspray; that thing gives you an additional 20% chance of hair loss. By the way, I'm curious, have you taken safety precautions?"

"Who was that girl last night?"

"Hell! Don't ask this kind of question."

The many questions piss Phil a little; he turns his head and glares at his brother, saying:

"I'm more experienced than you on these types of stuff, so quit it with the lecturing. And the girl from last night wasn't Stacy, it's Julie, the new girl who just arrived in Madison, she's half European, and she likes me a lot; I like her too. If this keeps up, maybe we'll be together in the future."

"Hold up!"

Merlin interrupts his brother's fantasy; he walks to the table in the garage, opens the drawer, and looks around a pile of letters. Without turning back, he asks:

"Julie? Julie Noyce? That's her name, right?"

"Yeah, how do you know her?"

Phil looks at his brother curiously and sees Merlin holding three letters in his hands as he turns around. There is a familiar smell of perfume on those letters, and Phil starts to look ugly.

"Of course, I know her, my foolish younger brother."

With an odd smile, Merlin places the letters on his brother's hands, tapping Phil on the shoulders, whispering:

"When she first came to Madison high school, she wrote me three love letters, 2 to James, 2 to Rubes, and many more to other guys I'm not familiar with, pretty much all the boys in the entire high school..."

"You're not stupid enough to think a girl like that would fall for you at first sight, right? Lil bro, you haven't learned a thing since you were 13, making the same mistakes every time, again and again."

Phil's body slightly hardens, and Merlin's tone takes on a bit of warning.

"Phil, I do not want to mess with your puberty life, but you should keep it down a little. Dad's the PE teacher in high school as well as a well-respected man in school and the community, don't taint his good name with some stupid action of yours, and I mean...keep your eyes clear next time, got me?"

"That bitch! That god damn..."

Phil tears up the letters in his hands, and like an anxious cub, tries to throw away the shreds in his hand. But Merlin stops him by the wrist:

"No cursing in the house!"

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"Clean yourself up, wipe your tears, go back to your room, and dress; we're having breakfast outside today. It's my birthday today, Lil bro; you won't miss it, right?"

Phil nods silently; his reddish eyes mean that this young man has been hurt by this event again.

But, this is the characteristic of young Americans; none are exempt from it.

"Alright, cheer up a little. Today's the day for a gathering."

James Coulson walks out of his room, tidying the tie on his neck while eyeing his son:

"Merlin, the principal today, told me that he wants you to speak as an exceptional graduate. You make me proud, son; unlike that worrying brat Phil, you are the perfect son. Speaking about it, are you still fixing Lola? Do you need my help? There's less than a month to your college life, and you still haven't fixed it; maybe you need some elderly wisdom."

"Nah, it's fine, dad."

Merlin, wearing casual clothes, walks by the car, opening the doors and helping his father into it.

"I've already replaced Lola's engine, a few more steps, and your precious car is mine."

"An original engine?"

James' eyes go wide, he looks at his son with slight seriousness:

"Where did you get the cash? You didn't do anything you shouldn't have done, right?"

"I earned them myself."

Merlin gets onto the driver's seat, turns on the engine, and grasps the steering wheel. From the rear-view mirror, he looks at his parents, explaining while driving out the barn:

"I've been working as a rookie in Rubes' private hospital this holiday, although I've yet to reach legal standards, Rubes still gave me extra pay. Am I that untrustworthy in your eyes, dad?"

"Of course not!"

Before James could talk, Merlin's mother, Anna Coulson, stands from the back seat, giving the son she's proud of a kiss on the forehead:
"My little Merlin is the best, although it saddens me that you'll be leaving soon."

Before Merlin could react to the sorrow in his mother's eyes, he sees a shadow appear in front of the moving car.

Although it was just a glance, Merlin still saw clearly.

He wears a black suit, donning a strange blue cloak and a black top hat.

The figure had lowered the hat's brim as one could not see his face; he was standing in front of the moving car holding a cane, smiling as if he was greeting Merlin.

The silhouette was so visible that Merlin subconsciously stepped on the brakes. The accelerating car shook, causing Madam Coulson to fall on the back seat, and Phil, sitting beside Merlin, hit the glass hard.

Everyone was upside down.

"Shit!"

Phil shouts angrily at Merlin while rubbing his forehead:

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"N, no! I saw a person in front of the car, wearing a cloak and a hat...I saw clearly."

Merlin holds the steering wheel with his mind blank, his heart beating fast, he tries to explain, but as Phil looks ahead, there is no one there.

"You've gone crazy! Merlin."

Phil screams:

"There's no one there!"

"Phil! Shut it!"

James sees the anxiousness on his son's face as more natural than fake; the middle-aged man recalls the dark rumors surrounding Merlin's life back in Buffalo County.

The people there rumor that Merlin is cursed, having killed his parents upon birth and bringing misfortune to those around him.

It was because of these dark rumors that made the Coulsons move to Madison 15 years ago.

Merlin's expression made James anxious, he got off, walked in front of the car, and examined the surroundings, but there was nothing, not even a footprint.

"There's no one here, Merlin; maybe you saw wrong."

James looks left and right, reconfirming the situation before returning to the car to comfort Merlin and his wife. Then he tells Phil, who's still mumbling, to take the wheels:

"Phil, you drive; let your brother have some rest."

"But I'm 15. Didn't you say 15-year-olds aren't allowed to..."

"Shut it! If I tell you to drive, then drive! It's time to eat; let's not be late."

Phil wasn't that angry at James' scoldings. Instead, he started driving with high spirits; his driving skills were okay as a boy who grew on a farm.

But under the afternoon sun, as the car leaves the farm towards the restaurant, Merlin, who switched places with Phil, can still see the silhouette with the blue cloak and hat.

It was still looking at him.

It was conveying the news that need not words and gestures.

Merlin understood what he meant.

And although the sun was still shining across the land, Merlin felt like he was in an ice cave.

Yes, he lied.

He knew something about his parents' deaths, the fire that consumed the Reilly family one month after his birth.

He recognizes that silhouette, which he remembers clearly; it appeared when his parents died.

For 18 years, it had not reappeared; for so long, Merlin thought it was but imagination, a false memory, but it wasn't.

It wasn't a fantasy but reality.

Do angels and demons exist in this world?

Nobody knows, but today, Merlin knows...

Whatever that thing is, no matter what he represents...

He...has come to find him.

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