Merlin sat on his bed and immediately dove into his soul sea, as he arrived in the familiar gray fog filled castle, he sat back on the high back chair, then he changed his appearance into that of Merlin Hermes.
He stirred up at the fog filled castle, he tried faking a smile to hide his pain and exhaustion, but somehow he felt that even with the clown's control he would still fail miserably.
He sighed as he turned to one star that he had seen when he was sorting through the multiple points of light in his soul sea, the star belonged to Silver.
When he first saw it, he wanted nothing more than to talk to her, to apologize for leaving her, to ask her how she had been, but sadly he didn't have the time, and he felt that he couldn't just send the message like that into her head.
Through the star, he had confirmed that she wasn't captured by Thorax, whether the cursed terror left her as bait, or it simply lost interest in her after he left, he didn't know and frankly he didn't care.
Merlin stared through the star for a while, he saw Silver in her transcendent from, she was laying down on the grass with her eyes closed and iron spikes covering her body just like when she had appeared before him, the sight alone made a huge wave of nostalgia hit Merlin as he subconsciously smiled.
He expanded the vision, and checked around, after confirming that no dangerous creatures were around, he finally made his decision.
Before he summoned her, he made the twenty-one other chairs and table disappear, leaving only his own, then he summoned Silver into his soul sea, the drain on his essence was huge, but it was a price he was willing to pay for the moment.
..
As Silver appeared in an unfamiliar place, her first instinct was to go on guard, she wanted to crouch low, but she found that she wasn't in her transcendent form, so she immediately summoned two blades on her hands, as the blades were forming, it immediately stopped midway because of what she saw.
Merlin… the child of prophecy, her mother's prophecy, the child she had risked her life for, the child she had spent two weeks that were more memorable than the years she'd spent in the forest with, the child who would cuddle in her fur despite her efforts to push him away, the child that had protested to ride on her back, the child that had always thought of her as a friend, the child that had fed her even when she refused, the child that had made her remember the joy of taking care of a person, the child that had freed her from her corrupted form, the child that was ready to fight a cursed terror for her… that child now stood opposite her with tears streaming down from his eyes as he stared at her with a complicated expression like he didn't know which emotion he was supposed to feel.
She then stretched out her arms as she said softly.
"Come now Child"
..
Merlin didn't even think twice, as he heard Silver's words he was already moving, he ran towards her like a child, he hugged her, the only person that had accepted him being weak, the only person that had protected him no matter the cost, the only person that had cared for him like a family and treated him like one.
He ran into her arms as he sobbed.
"I'm sorry Silver… I'm truly sorry Silver…"
"It's alright Merlin, I'm safe, it's okay now" Silver said softly as she consoled him.
Merlin smiled in her arms as he said.
"Yeah… you're safe"
"You can rest now…" She smiled.
.
"..." Merlin had recovered and was now calm, but for some reason he was still holding her close.
Silver stared down at him, then a light moment of confusion flickered across her face.
"Merlin… what are you thinking right now" Silver asked as she stared down at him as she was only a head taller than him.
"Soft…" Merlin muttered subconsciously in her arms.
"..."
"Ow!" Merlin exclaimed as he held his head that Silver had hit.
"You didn't have to get violent you know…"
Silver chuckled and replied.
"It seems you're back to your normal state"
"Yeah… I'm just happy to see you" Merlin smiled then he continued "I've figured out a method to get you out, but it'll take some time, I'll need to ascend first" he sighed as his voice sounded slightly regretful.
"It's alright Merlin… I will wait for you, so no need to feel sad" Silver smiled as she ruffled his hair, Merlin simply let it happen, he had no reason to reject it after all.
Silver then looked around the place, then she turned to Merlin and asked.
"So where is this place?"
"Well it's my soul sea… I don't know what you guys called it then, but it's somewhere I can see my soul cores" Merlin explained.
"So why am I inside your soul… sea?"
Merlin scratched his head as he answered.
"Remember that game, of repeat after me… well because of those words, I was able to drag you in here"
"I see, your abilities really are strange" Silver sighed as she accepted his explanation.
"Trust me, you haven't seen the half of it…"
..
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Merlin and Silver talked with the remaining time he had left, he told her about his journey, and a few of his plans, and she discussed how she had been during the past months. Then when his essence began to run dry, he nodded her goodbye and left his soul sea, then he laid on the bed and slept to recover his essence.
A few hours later, Merlin woke up, he checked around and found that his iron barricade was still holding strong.
He used his apprentice ability to leave the cave, then by the side, he started a fire and prepared a simple dish and then he returned and ate it, in the process, he also cooked a large amount and stored them in his soul sea for future use.
After he finished, he sat on his bed and went into his soul sea again, this time his mood had recovered enough to talk with the cohort, he resummoned the chairs and long table and took his place in his high back chair.
With a thought, he summoned the cohort, this time Kai and Effie included, before this, he had already confirmed that they were alone and undisturbed so he summoned them.
Like before, the cohort took their regular positions on the chairs, but there was a look of tension and alert on the faces of Kai and Effie.
"Yo guys…" Merlin called out with a smile.
"Merlin!" Nephis, Sunny and Cassie called out.
"Merlin?" Then Effie and Kai asked, confused.
"Long time no see guys, sorry for the delay, I was kind of busy surviving…" Merlin smiled and chuckled genuinely.
"Hey pretty boy… What the hell is this place?" Effie asked as she moved around in her chair and knocked on the table a few times.
"Well my friend… welcome to my soul sea" Merlin spread his hands in a calm gesture.
"Your soul sea? who the hell has a castle in their soul sea? And what's with all this fog?" Effie asked as she examined the castle with the fog above.
Merlin sighed and answered.
"Well to answer your questions… one, yes it's my soul sea, it might be a little different from yours but who cares, two, I don't know of awakened, but supremes usually have representations of citadels in their soul seas, I'm not a sovereign yet, but I guess you could say I got the package early…"
He paused and looked up and then said calmly.
"...As for the fog, well it's to block stuff that might give you guys nightmares and trauma"
"..." The cohort was quiet for a while, until Nephis said.
"I want to see it"
"Huh… are you sure, I mean he kept it blocked for a reason, so are you really sure you want to see it?" Sunny asked as he turned to Nephis, he also wanted to know what was up there, but he knew that Merlin must've hidden it for a reason.
"I'm sure" Nephis nodded then turned to Merlin "Can you show me?"
Merlin looked at her for a second then he turned to the cohort.
"Do you guys want to see too, or just her?"
"Well since we're all curious, we might as well just see it" Effie said and the rest nodded along.
"Well don't blame me if you start having bad dreams" Merlin shrugged then commanded the fog to recede from the top.
The cohort stared wide eyed at the sight, hundreds of humans, and even more of nightmare creatures hanging and swaying at the top of the castle, the humans were all people they knew, sleepers that had stayed and fought on the forgotten shore with them, and right now they hanged above the soul sea of their companion.
"M-merlin… these are…" Kai's voice filled with utter bafflement and fear sounded in the quiet castle.
"Yes" he calmly replied "these are the sleepers and nightmare creatures we fought on the forgotten shore, after you guys left, I brought them all here, to my soul sea"
Then he commanded the fog to cover it again, forcing the cohort to look away from the scene.
"H-how?" Nephis asked, for the first time her words were caught.
Merlin sighed and then the cloak materialized in front of him draping over his figure, as it did, the fog within the castle stirred for a moment, then calmed down with a thought from Merlin.
As the cloak covered his figure, the cohort immediately became alert but they didn't act impulsively. He gestured to the cloak then said.
"You see this memory allows me to send things into my soul sea, it had been with me since my first nightmare so I used it to bring them in here, I will offer them proper rest when I arrive in the waking world, for now, let them find peace within me…"
The cohort nodded as they agreed with his words, then Merlin who noticed their earlier actions asked.
"You guys have questions about the cloak right?"
Cassie then spoke up.
"It's not just about the cloak, we also want to know what happened back then… the members of valor clan had been questioning us about it for months now"
Merlin sighed as he rested back on the chair.
"I guess it's best if I explained it"
Then he told them about his plans for awakening without leaving the dream realm, and how he did it.
"So you mean to say that you can awakened without the regular process of the nightmare spell?" Sunny asked as he stared at Merlin in disbelief.
"Ofcourse, that's how people advanced long before the nightmare spell came into the picture, well the process for doing it with a regular mundane person is different, but I know that way too, I just improved it to fit my situation" Merlin explained.
"If that's true, then the great clans can never get hold of this information…" Nephis said.
"Yeah, I know that… that's why I won't tell you guys the way until I return" Merlin nodded in agreement.
He looked around then he continued.
"Well before we get to who showed up after I awakened, let me tell you about my journey so far"
Then Merlin proceeded to tell them about how he navigated through the forgotten shore, to the forest of Civilth, to the city of order Karlax, to the rocky plains and finally to the desert, but as he shared the story with them, he had a feeling that they were still stuck in the Karlax part, well he couldn't blame them, even he himself would be scared of staying in a palace with the beings of the same rank that levelled the whole of America back in the waking world.
By the time he finished the story, the cohort went quiet from utter bafflement and sheer awe, the silence stretched for half a minute, until Sunny asked.
"How? How exactly did you escape that?"
Before Merlin could answer, Effie chimed in.
"How did he escape? That's not the question doofus, it's how did he survive?"
Merlin chuckled and answered.
"Eff as for how I survived, it's plainly because Thorax didn't even consider killing me, If he did, I wouldn't even be here with you… and as for how I escaped, we'll come to that when we're done with questions concerning my journey"
"So how was it, facing a cursed rank creature in a conversation?" Nephis asked curiously.
"That part was rather difficult, but the feeling Thorax gave off, it was like by simply existing, he commanded the forces of the world to bend to his will, I didn't even see him use his will halfway, the only demonstration I saw was him simply making a table vanish out of existence… As for the conversation part, it was more difficult than any battle I've ever fought. I was simply replying and also preparing myself for death with every word, I couldn't really do anything about it, so I just talked like it was a normal conversation" Merlin explained calmly.
The cohort kept quiet to digest the information, then Cassie asked.
"The city… What was it like? Having that many corrupted and great nightmare creatures in one place"
"It's better I do more of show than tell" Merlin said as he brought out the paintings of the city, he gave them to see for themselves.
"This is a terrifying place to be in…" Kai muttered subconsciously.
"Well Kai, that was two weeks of my life…" Merlin shrugged.
They asked a few more questions, and Merlin answered then the question shifted to how he escaped.
"As for my escape like Sunny asked, well technically I didn't escape… 'He' did" Merlin said as his voice turned serious.
The cohort exchanged glances, then Cassie asked.
"Merlin, who is he?"
Merlin took a deep breath then he turned to them and said.
"Well 'He' is…"
One chapter today, two tomorrow (we follow in the line of our predecessors)
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P.S My schedule was stacked up so I could only upload this now.