Chapter 3: Arc 1: Chapter 3: Midsummer Night’s Dream Pt.2

In the short 18 years of his life, it was not as if Merlin had never experienced strange occurrences.

In 1980, when Merlin was nine years old, when he looked into the starry night, he had witnessed a falling meteorite crash into the Southeastern night. They say it was a meteorite that fell into Texas, and it was the most spectacular event to have occurred during the year.

Some silly sources suggest that it was not a meteorite but an alien spaceship.

Then again, in 1985, when Merlin was 14, he saw from a television show that the water level in Lake Michigan had risen abruptly, nearly flooding Chicago, also the most astonishing event that year.

Not to mention, Merlin himself still remembers that one month after his birth, he recalls a faint memory of the night his parents died in the fire, the mystery man wearing a blue cape and black suit, and the flames that were split open.

Merlin was how he is today, not because it was who he is but because he was luckier or unfortunate than his peers.

He knew from the very beginning that the world runs differently under the guise of everyday life.

Those myths and legends may not be all myths and legends after all.

Even so, Merlin had never come across such an odd situation before.

A not-so-normal-looking man is asking Merlin to become his 'son'...

"I have two fathers."

Merlin takes a step back; he looks at the mysterious person in front of him as he slowly pulls out his pipe wrench:

"I've no interest in looking for a third one, so sorry, but..."

"Before you decline my offer, mortal, listen to me."

Before Merlin could decline, the white-haired man cut him off.

He looks at Merlin, expressionless; he lets the flame on his fingertips flicker as if he was highly impatient:

"Your unique soul harbors the scent of death, and this is a good thing that those pathetic mortals could never achieve. Your birth brings death. You've overcome death at least once before; this made your soul even purer, more precious, and in my eyes, this purity means talent."

"With the human world getting more and more filthy, like a pond that smells, fish like you is hard to find."

His voice hardens:

"I am mercifully giving you power, mortal; you should not decline. Also, I think you should see this..."

The man swipes the air with his finger, a fluttering halo appears before Merlin's eyes, and in it, he sees his father, James Coulson.

He was lying in a pool of blood, with people panicking around him. In front of the crowd was a black pickup, and the twisted license plate shows that this was the car that James used to go to work.

It had collided with a public bus.

All around were scattered glass, the screams of the wounded, and the aura of death everywhere.

And then...there was the fire.

It was blurry, but Merlin could see James was crawling on the floor with all his strength, with blood coming out from beneath him, dragging out a trail of blood.

He was trying to escape that hell.

But as James makes another stretch forward, the flame bursts and consumes everything.

It was so real, it made Merlin hold his breath, and in the picture reflected in his eyes, he could see the desperation, pain, and undeniable nostalgia in his eyes...

"Whoooo"

The suffocating image disperses, Merlin's breath becomes heavy, he looks at the white-haired man before him:

"This is?"

"What will happen tomorrow."

The flame on the man's hand becomes loose; he looks at Merlin, saying:

"Of course, you can treat it as a joke, and I can assure you that you won't feel anything when you wake up, you will happily sleep till the morning, and receive the news of your father's death, or..."

The light in the man's eyes flicker:

"You can try to change it?"

"You mean, your contract?"

Merlin's brain was spinning, but he had also heard of fairy tales and read superhero comics; he highly doubts the 'chance' before his eyes."

His eyes were full of doubt.

His eyes seem to infuriate the existence before him, and the white man's hair flows before Merlin's eyes. At this moment, Merlin realized that it was not white hair but more like white mist formed after a fire had died out.

A faint fire surrounds the man's arm, he glares at Merlin, and as his infernal presence begins to leak out, the atmosphere becomes heavy, as if a heavy yet invisible force was forced onto Merlin's shoulders.

At this moment, the young man felt like he was carrying a mountain; he could almost hear his bones screeching in pain.

The white-haired man moves his arms, the black suit from his upper torso tears apart, and disappears into the air as flames, leaving his muscular upper body, which was covered with sinister-looking mage-weaves.

On the man's forehead, a pair of black horns pierce his skin, and beneath his ears, thicker demon horns appear, as if forming the final touch of a demon.

A pair of eyes appear again on the demon's face, forming a strange square along with his original eyes.

It was like he unleashed his true self, he...no, it moves its body, stretching it comfortably, and with a deeper tone, says:

"Puh, Mephisto's method is useless. As disgusting as that old demon's treachery..."

"Mortal, I've had enough of your squabbling; maybe I should treat you like my other 'sons' and just stuff hellfire into your body, either grow with the pain or be burnt into ashes."

"I prefer this way of selection; more importantly, I dislike..your eyes!"

The white-haired man before him no longer restrains his power, that hell-bending pressure, and just the pressure, forces Merlin's body onto the ground like a fallen stone pillar.

"Bam"

Merlin kneels on the floor, struggling to get up.

"Excellent!"

The demon no longer hides itself and nods pleasantly. It roughly throws a scroll full of crimson red runes before Merlin, it curves its fingers, and Merlin's blood sprays across the scroll as if a thousand blades had cut his finger.

He had been forced into the contract, no one had asked for his approval, no one had cared about his approval, everything had been planned as soon as he entered this dream; no, even before this, it had been destined.

"Very good; ants should act like ants."

The demon had finished the contracting and collected the scroll; he looks down on the wailing Merlin and speaks:

"The contract is done, my 'son'. Your precious and pure soul is now mine, and that poor father of yours will receive 'redemption', puh, I hate that hypocritical word, just as hypocritical as the angels that had invented it. Unfortunately, the other one rejected me, so...there will only be half of the 'redemption'; it is fair."

"Tomorrow at midnight...the contract will be set, and with it, I will give you..."

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The demon reaches out his dagger-like finger and taps only Merlin's, whose face distorted due to the pain, forehead, his sinister eyes flicker with malice:

"Power!"

"Whoong"

The world around Merlin shatters like broken glass, and as the world crumbles, Merlin hears the demon's proud voice.

"You see that? Mephisto, you old bastard! I too...have a 'knight' of my own!"

Before Merlin passes out, two thoughts come into mind.

"Who is this demon? And, who is Mephisto?"

"More importantly, wasn't it...my own choice?"

"AHH!!!"

Merlin lets out a scream, sitting up from the bed as if he had experienced extreme horror.

He holds out his hands and moves them as he breathes heavily; his hands are fully intact, there were no cuts or scars anywhere.

He looks out the window; the gentle moonlight shines on Merlin's window. Outside it was yet another peaceful night at Coulson's farm.

"Was it...a dream?"

Merlin walks to the window, opens it, and takes deep breaths; he picks up the cup of water and drinks all of it.

It didn't feel like a dream.

It was all too real.

But if that wasn't a dream, then doesn't that mean, tomorrow, James might..."

No!

Merlin squints his eyes; if that wasn't a dream, that means James won't die; as the demon said, James would live.

"Oh, I must've gone mad."

Merlin scratches his hair and returns to his bed; he looks at the ceiling and mumbles:

"I actually believe a devil's promise; I actually trust that contract."

"Whatever, let's not have James go to work tomorrow."

Merlin closes his eyes and tries to sleep, he thought it was hard, but snoring could be heard moments later.

And in front of Merlin's bed, in the unnoticed darkness, the mysterious man with the black suit and blue cloak, sits there leisurely, witnessing everything like a spectator.

In the dark, he mumbles to himself.

"I can't believe it, that brute-like barbarian Trigon believes in contracts...his mannerism is unheard of."

"So, you big guys changed the timeline, as well as Trigon's personality? If you can go that far, can you change Pandora's personality for me, to get her off me?"

Another voice in the darkness answers his question.

It was a deep, soar tone.

The tone of one of the big guys.

"Of course not, Phantom Stranger, that is the power of fate. Do you truly think that the name Dice of Fate is just for show? One last thing, then come back."

"As you wish, milord."

Phantom Stranger stands up, looks at the sleeping Merlin before jumping out the window and into the night; behind him, a gentle breeze closes the window.

Everything...

Returns to peace.

The next day morning, it was a genuinely sunny sky with the perfect weather.

Merlin, who wakes up every morning at 8 am, walks down the stairs as his mother, Anna Coulson, prepares breakfast for him and Phil.

Simple bacon and toast, but a true delicacy.

"Mom, where's dad?"

Merlin, who had finished cleaning up, takes a bite of the toast, yep, a familiar taste, and asks, Madam Coulson, who's working in the kitchen, replies:

"James has gone to work; strangely, the principal called this morning for James to head to school earlier."

"Bam"

Merlin had dropped the toast in his hand onto the plate, and before he could get up, Phil Coulson, who had just woken up, exclaims:

"Bro, you cannot imagine what dream I had last night! A weird old man with white hair wanted me to sign a contract with him, but I rejected him immediately. What's cooler is that you probably never guessed the man's true identity. It was a..."

"Demon!"

Merlin interrupts Phil's words and runs to the garage, grabbing Phil by the hand along the way.

Moments later, the fully fueled Lola speeds out of the farm like an arrow shot from a bow.

Merlin had a serious face, so serious Phil didn't even dare to talk. He had never seen his calm and collected brother make a face like that.

Something big must've happened.

Lola speeds across the road from the farm to school, and Merlin's eyes grow wide after taking a turn.

At the end of the street, a panicking crowd screams and attempts to get to safety. In front of them was a crash site between a black pickup and a bus; shattered glass was everywhere, so too were injured people.

A familiar figure is trying to crawl out of that hell in the wreckage.

"DAD!"
Phil screams to get up but is pulled down by Merlin; Merlin himself gets off the car and runs towards James, and just as he ran 100 meters...

"KABOOM!"

Red, hot, explosive bomb-like fire...

Consumes everything.

"NO!!!"

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