Chapter 26: Arc 1: Chapter 24: Search…again

"Ahhh!"

A flock of pigeons nibbling bread crumbs from the floor under the dim lights were suddenly spooked away by the sudden howling.

As light flashes, an illusory door abruptly opens midair, and a flustered man falls from the door; the door quickly dissipated afterward.

"Bam"

Merlin falls onto the grass, the not-so-heavy impact made him stand up quickly; he brushes off the grass clippings on him, picks up his wallet from the ground, and counts the money in his wallet,

Merlin then points a middle finger into the air.

He was thrown into a weird space by Mephisto and had been falling for 15 minutes.

It felt as though he was falling into Earth from space, for a split second Merlin thought that he would fall into pieces.

"Where am I?"

Merlin shook his head and calmed down. He looks around on the grass field, it was a quiet place, there were no signs to indicate where he was, he could only guess that he was in a park in a city.

Merlin follows the path outwards; a few minutes later, he arrives at the exit and sees the busy streets before him.

Merlin found a roadsign as quickly as he could, his eyes widened as he read it:

"Brooklynn? I'm in New York?"

He turns around and looks at the city behind him, it felt as though it's been a lifetime.

A few days ago, the Atlantean Vulko brought him from the coasts of Maine all the way to the beaches of Florida overnight, from the Northeastern side of America to the Eastwestern side; he thought he had seen it all.

But now, in 15 minutes, he was thrown all the way from Texas to New York.

"So this...is the power of magic?"

Merlin takes a deep breath, looks around, then lowers his head and enters the bustling streets.

He did not forget Mephisto's advice, the Great Devil which had helped him must have its own considerations, perhaps this was a node to the devil's sinister plan. But Mephisto also said that many of Trigon's 'sons' inhabit New York, making the city look more of a most dangerous hunting ground.

He does not plan to hunt for his 'brethren' as the devil suggested.

But he wishes not to become deh half-demon's hunting target either. In his many travels over the past year, Merlin had learnt skills on surviving a completely unfamiliar environment; what he needed to do now, was hide in the city in the fastest way possible.

He plans not to harm others, but to learn a little more about Trigon must be all but bad.

More importantly, he was tired after his long travels, it was time to find a place to rest.

"Let's stop here for a while."

Merlin, under the night sky of New York, stops his pace by a street newstand. He takes out a bill and asks the owner of the stand who was reading a newspaper:

"A bottle of water and a newspaper please. Also, if you dont mind me asking; if I want to find someplace to stay, can you recommend me a place?"

The owner of the stand looks at Merlin, he throws him a newspaper and turns around to grab a bottle of water, all while saying:

"If you have an ID card, and money, then Brooklynn is for you. If you don't, plus you have some stuff the cops don't like about; then I suggest you to head for Hell's Kitchen, that place definitely welcomes freaks like you who wear sunglasses in the night."

"Oh, Hell's Kitchen?"

Merlin picks up the enwspaper and finishes the entire bottle of water in front of the owner, then snorted:

"Sounds like a good spot, thanks."

---

As Merlin tries to find a place to stay in the most chaotic street in New York; in Maine, another person is looking for his traces.

And he's very close to Merlin's final secret.

"Knock Knock"

It was midnight, beneath the lighthouse in Amnesty Bay, lighthouse keeper Tom Curry opens the door; he finds a tall, black man with a cold aura wearing a leather jacket, standing outside the door.

Nick Fury takes out his identification card from his pocket and shows it to Tom; he introduces himself:

"Senior Agent Nick Fury of the S.S.R. Hello Mr. Tom, I'm here to ask about a few things."

Tom glances at Fury's identifications and looks warily at the not-to-be-trifled-with man in front of him. 

"Let's talk outside, my son just fell asleep."

"Yes, of course."

Merlin leans aside and takes off his glasses, and tells Tom:

"Don't worry, sir, this won't take long."

Moments later, Tom who had changed his clothes sat with Fury by a table in the harbor; under the lights of the harbor, Fury places a few hand-drawn sketches on the table.

Tom immediately recognizes the person on those sketches as Merlin.

Albeit it wasn't very detailed, and there were a few errors in the sketch, but it was definitely Merlin.

"You know him, don't you?"

Tom could not hide his expression from the experienced Fury as he had been observing him. 

"This young man is called Merlin, he's been proven to be related to at least three supernatural occurrences; our specialists believe he may be the cause of these three supernatural occurrences."

"In other words, he's dangerous; maybe not of his own free will, but he undoubtedly has some elements that must be emphasized. Letting him move around unrestricted may bring harm to himself, and even others."

"For this, Mr. Tom; if you have seen him, do be truthful about his whereabouts. Trust me, it's for his own good."

Tom did not reply immediately, instead he looked at Fury.

The handsome lighthouse keeper was favored by the Queen of Atlanna not only because of his looks, but also because of his wisdom. as well as his emphaty; he will not reveal Merlin's whereabouts to the agent before him, not to mention, it's related to his son.

So Tom asked in another way:

"Are you implying, Mr. Fury, that Merlin is a bad person? What bad things has he done?"

"I did not say he's a bad person, Mr. Tom."

Fury knew something from Tom's words, so he explains:

"Our specialists believe that he too is a victim of a supernatural occurrence. Trust me, we've dealt with similar cases over the years since the end of World War 2. Normal people look for our help when they experience supernatural events, and we are here to help them with it."

"We find them, shelter them, and then protect them."

"As for Mr. Merlin, his situation is complicated."

Fury takes a few files from his briefcase and hands them to Tom; as Tom reads through the files, he says:

"We initially noticed Merlin during an explosion in Chicago, where a notorious fraud became the sacrifice in the explosion."

"The second time was in Central City a year ago, where Merlin used the power he could not control to blow a hole through the collapsed tunnel, saving hundreds of people."

"The third time was on the seas not far from Amnesty Bay. A Stark Industries freight experienced a sudden storm, some were heavily injured and it's said that Merlin had saved them with the help of another young man; but to our surprise..."

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"There weren't any detected storms in the region that day."

Tom finished Fury's words; as a lighthouse keeper, predicting storms was his duty.

But he had not detected any possible storms occuring recently.

"So now, you must understand our concerns."

Fury sighs and continues:

"All three events have long intervals, but without a doubt, some of Mr. Merlin's powers are growing as well. If we let him be, maybe the next report I'll receive is a causalty report about an asteroid destorying a city, causing hundreds of thousands of casualties."

"Human lives, is a serious matter."

"Tom, if you know something, you should tell me!"

Fury's tone aggravates, he could see that Tom was still hesitating; but as Fury plans to pressure him once more, his phone rings.

Fury smiles apologetically at Tom, then walks aside and answers the call.

"Yes, I'm here tracing leads on No. 89084. What? Dr. Pim attacked Minister Carson?

Agent Fury's expression becomes serious, he answers:

"Stop him! Don't let him leave! Notify Chief Carson and Chief Pierce, I'm on my way!"

The agent has other urgent matters to attend to, so he walks beside Tom and hands him a name card.

Fury keeps the files and tells him:

"Mr. Tom, I sincerely hope that you will consider what we had just discussed. You're a truly kind person, and everyone here likes you, you wish not for them to encounter misfortune as well, right?"

"If you remember anything, call me on this number...and for the last time, I'm really here to help Mr. Merlin. Please believe me!"

The agent then leaves the harbor abruptly with his briefcase.

Tom stands on the harbor and watches as Fury's figure disappears into the distance; he shakes his head and returns to the lighthouse.

The father who had been through many lies in front of his son's bed and looks at the sleeping young Arthur; he then takes out the silver trident pendant from his pocket and carefully places it beside the bed.

Before Fury's arrival, Tom had been visited by the Atlantean Vulko.

The indifferent undersea person did not reveal much, he only said that he's here under Atlanna's request; to teach young Arthur how to control his powers as well as protect him from danger until he matures.

This made Tom relax his worried heart.

This proved that Merlin had fulfilled what he had promised; compared to an agent, he was more willing to believe in Merlin.

As for where Merlin had gone?

Vulko did not say, nor did Tom ask, but it was certain that he was alive.

May that kind young man cursed by misfortune have a safe journey.

---

Meanwhile, on the other side of the vast ocean, in a high-class apartment in Baker Street, London.

11-year-old Hermione was in her room playing with her family's cat.

She was wearing a small cowboy outfit, along with sunglasses and a children's cowboy hat; she knelt on the floor like a weak patient and tells the dumbfounded cat behind her:

"I've cleared the path...I saved you, now go."

"Don't tell anyone that you've seen me, dear Hermione, please help keep my name a secret, our secret."

The cat was simply looking at its little owner dumbfoundedly, it had no clue what she was doing.

Apparently, this little girl was mimicking the scene where Merlin, who turned into black mist, busted the tunnel.

She was pretty much one of the two people of the entire group of rescued people who knew of Merlin's true identity, as well as the only one who saw him save everyone by blasting a hole through the collapsed tunnel.

Although she had not seen Merlin ever since he left, as the unnamed hero who saved 200 people and disappeared under the sunlight; Merlin had some weight in this little girl's heart that was akin to that of a superhero.

"Oh, it's so boring!"

Even the most exciting game would get boring after playing it too many times; not to mention, she was two months away from middle school.

That was not a very anticipated day for Hermione, whose life had been planned of since the start.

She had already seen the other side of the world, even participate in one of those stories, how could Hermione continue to live her life as a normal person willingly?

"Maybe I should go look for Merlin in America! Maybe he'll teach me magic!"

A thought appeared in her mind and began to spread uncontrollably.

"Bonk"

But as Hermione was prepared to pack her stuff and go, a slamming sound surprised her.

Hermione looks back and sees a grey owl flapping its wings outside the window, hovering with a letter in its claws.

"Wow!"

Hermione exclaims, she was not scared, instead, she climbs up to her bed and reaches out to the window; she opens the window, takes the letter, and feeds the intelligent owl with some food from her snacks.

Hermione opens the letter sealed by red candle wax, in it was an odd admission notice. It was written beautifully; with just the opening, it grabs Hermione's attention.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"

"Principal: Albus Dumbledore (Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, First-class Sorcerer of the Order of Merlin)

"Wow!"

Hermione lets out another scream of excitement and anticipation, she continues reading:

"Dear Miss Hermione Jean Granger:"

"We are delighted to inform you that you have been permitted to study in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Along with this letter are study materials and a list of magic materials. Your semester begins on the 1st of September. We will be awaiting your reply by owl before the 31st of July."

"Vice Principal: Minerva McGonagall"

Hermione read the letter word by word, her tone grew louder until she eventually read the letter loudly in joy.

This child was in extreme excitement, she had known since she was little that her life would not be as boring as her parents who both worked as doctors...that it would be full of excitement! And from the looks of it, she had guessed right!

"Ah, all good luck from Mr. Merlin!"

"From here on out, I'm a wizard!"

 

 

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