Two months later
Merlin sat on a bench holding a guitar he recently bought, he was on the playground that Ariel and him had played two months before, during this period of time, he had lived his everyday life with the child, he had grown attached to the peaceful life, and he had rested peacefully, a peace that he never had since arriving in this world.
He smiled as he stared at Ariel who was playing with a bunch of kids like a normal twelve year old, but he knew that she wasn't normal.
He narrowed his eyes as he stared at her figure, he had tried to ignore the significant connection between her and this nightmare, but even if he knew that he couldn't bring himself to do anything.
Merlin's eyes locked on the necklace around her neck, it held a black pendant, the exact one he had picked up before entering the nightmare, but that necklace was still resting quietly in his soul sea, instead this replica was one she had seen in a jewelry store and told him to get.
Merlin sighed as he moved his gaze away from the child and raised it to the sky.
"How may I help you, Ascended Jeffrey?" Merlin said calmly, not bothering to turn around.
The ascended walked to him and sat down beside him.
"We'll need your assistance for our next expedition… we've spotted Project X" the ascended spoke with a slightly defeated voice.
Merlin paused then asked.
"What of Jamiel?"
"He was part of the previous expedition crew… no one returned from beyond the walls" Jeffrey turned his head to stare at the ground.
"I see… When are we moving out?" Merlin sighed, his gaze still fixed on the distance.
"A week from today… the child can stay with the care takers till we return" Jeffrey answered calmly.
"You're coming too?" Merlin sighed helplessly and continued "so this is it huh…"
"Yes… it is" Jeffrey stood up then came to his front and offered him a handshake, one out of pure respect "Thank you brave warrior…"
Merlin nodded, then Jeffery walked away leaving him alone on the bench again.
'So this is it huh…'
Merlin gave a helpless smile as he turned to Ariel who was still playing with the children, he held the guitar in his hand and began to play a song, one from his past life.
[House of Memories - Panic! At The Disco.]
He played and sang while he reminisced about the memories of the past two months, coupled with those of his past life.
He was so engrossed that he failed to notice when a crowd had started to form around the bench. Children and adults alike watched him with interest as he sang melodiously, the melancholy made a few of them feel emotional.
Ariel, who stood among the crowd, simply stared at his figure as he played, not paying attention to his surroundings, she smiled and walked towards him and sat down beside him on the bench.
Merlin snapped out this reminiscing as Ariel sat beside him, he was stunned by the crowd , but he still smoothly finished the song, he received cheers from the audience as he greeted a few of them he knew.
After the scene had finally calmed down, he turned to Ariel to talk, but she beat him to it.
"You're leaving right…" Ariel said in a calm voice with a soft smile.
Merlin looked at her then smiled and replied.
"Yes… how did you know?"
"I guessed… I knew something was wrong because you always make that sad face whenever something is not going well, you always do it when you're alone, especially when you're looking at the stars…" Ariel said as she placed her small hand on his.
"I… never knew I was that obvious" Merlin chuckled depreciatingly.
"Will you come back?" She asked hopefully.
Merlin ruffled her hair and offered a light smile.
"I will… I promise"
"I trust you big brother…" Ariel smiled then turned to his guitar "will you play another song for me?"
"Alright, if you say so" Merlin held his guitar as he began to play.
[You Are The Reason - Calum Scott.]
As he played, Ariel placed her head on his lap as she listened quietly to his singing. By the time Merlin finished playing the song, she had already fallen asleep, he quietly dismissed the newly formed crowd then he sent the guitar into the dimension ring, before picking her up and placing her on his back then he started walking back home.
On the way, Ariel stirred on his back.
"Finally awake, sleepy head?" Merlin joked as he held him tighter.
Ariel snuggled into his shoulder as she spoke shyly.
"I fell asleep…"
"That you did princess…" Merlin teased.
"I'm hungry" Ariel said to him, after spending a while together, she had become more open with her requests, and he appreciated it that way.
"Sure Ari… what do you want to eat?" He asked as he kept walking.
"Um, anything you make is nice, I'll just eat whatever you make" Ariel nodded as if confirming her decision.
"Are you sure you don't want anything specific?" Merlin asked again.
"Anything is okay, big brother is the best cook after all" She proudly declared.
"Haha… I sure am" he chuckled to her response.
"Then we better head home fast before you take a chomp out of my shoulder" Merlin joked as he increased his pace.
…
A little while later they arrived at home and ate a simple meal, then they ate and they freshened up and they decided to play some indoor games.
"Big brother… do some magic tricks" Ariel shook happily as she asked.
He had used his abilities to play with her a few times under the guise of magic tricks, and seeing that she enjoyed it, he simply stuck to it.
"Alright… sit tight" Merlin spoke softly.
Merlin smiled as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and cleared his voice.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen..." he announced in a deep voice. "To the greatest magic show this house has ever witnessed."
Ariel immediately clapped with an exaggerated smile.
"Yay!"
"The audience seems enthusiastic" Merlin nodded. "That's a good sign"
She sat cross-legged on the carpet, eyes sparkling with anticipation as he stared his performance.
Merlin rubbed his chin as he spoke.
"For the first trick..." He flicked his fingers, a tiny paper crane flew out from behind his sleeve.
Ariel gasped and smiled as she shouted.
"Another one!"
A second followed, then a third.
Within seconds dozens of paper birds fluttered around the room.
In reality, Merlin was controlling countless paper figurines with his ability, making them flap their folded wings as though they were alive.
"They're alive!" Ariel laughed as tried to catch them.
"They only obey our beautiful princess" Merlin gestured to her.
"Really?" Ariel asked with a smile.
"Go on… try them"
Ariel giggled and stretched out her hand, the cranes circled around her before gently landing on her fingers and shoulders and one even perched atop her head.
Merlin watched her with a smile, then he spoke again.
"Now..." He snapped and every crane suddenly exploded into flower petals "...Ta-da."
"How?" Ariel asked as she stared in amazement.
"A magician never reveals his secrets..." Merlin chuckled.
He was naturally using illusion to hide the transition while the paper figurines silently folded themselves into petals.
"What next?" He asked as the figures dissolved into little flames.
"Fire!" Ariel proclaimed happily
Merlin scratched his cheek.
"You really like dangerous things huh…" the child seemed to really like fire as she always asked for it during their sessions.
"I'm not scared." She puffed out her chest.
He sighed then held out his hand, a tiny orange flame bloomed above his fingertips, It danced lazily around his palm.
"So pretty..." Ariel said as she stared intensely at it.
Merlin gently manipulated the fire with flame control, twisting it into shapes.
First...
A rabbit–
Then...
A dragon–
Then...
A tiny knight wielding a sword, the little knight charged the dragon, while the dragon breathed miniature flames, and the knight dramatically flew backwards.
"Oh no!" Ariel shouted as she watched the silent fire show hovering above his palm.
The knight stood back up.
"I won't lose!" The words were written above his head in small burning letters.
She burst into laughter, eventually the knight defeated the dragon, causing it to burst into countless harmless golden sparks.
She applauded enthusiastically to his show as he made the knight bow.
"My turn!" She puffed out her cheeks "I command the dragon!"
Merlin smiled as the knight went on a knee and bowed.
"As Your Highness wishes" Another set of words appeared above his head.
The flame dragon that he remade immediately bowed before her as she proudly crossed her arms.
"I've conquered it." She clapped happily as she laughed.
"I suppose humanity has been saved…. Kai just met his match" Merlin chuckled.
"What else?" Ariel asked with an expecting gaze.
Merlin looked around, then he secretly activated Wind.
A gentle breeze suddenly filled the living room, the curtains danced, paper butterflies floated into the air.
Ariel spread her arms as she tried to catch them.
"It's flying!"
"Yeah… it is" Merlin watched as she flayed around.
"Can you make snow?" Ariel turned away from the butterflies and asked him.
Merlin hesitated as he asked.
"...Inside?"
"Please?" Ariel asked with her ultimate weapon, the puppy dog eyes.
He sighed as he placed a finger against his palm, frost slowly spread across his fingertips, and tiny snowflakes drifted from the air.
Ariel's eyes widened as she touched one.
"So cold..."
A thin layer of frost coated the table, Merlin carefully kept the spell weak enough not to freeze anything important and also make the clean up more easier.
"It's beautiful..." she whispered.
"It really is…" Merlin said as he let it a breath that formed like smoke, prompting Ariel to do the same.
"Now..." Merlin grinned "a disappearing act"
He snapped his fingers, then the room was instantly engulfed by darkness.
"Ah!" Ariel exclaimed softly.
The darkness only lasted a second, until Merlin dismissed the Black Screen spell then everything seemed normal, except Merlin himself had disappeared.
Ariel blinked and called out.
"...Big brother?"
"..." no answer.
She looked around.
"...Where are you?"
"..."
She puffed her cheeks, then his voice sounded.
"I'm behind you"
She spun around, but he wasn't there, then the voice came again.
"No, over here…"
She turned left, it was still only empty space, no sight of Merlin.
"Wrong again." His voice sounded from above.
She looked up, Merlin was somehow hanging upside down from the ceiling.
"..."
"..."
"That's a fake…" Ariel pointed to his figure
He laughed, it was only an illusion, the real Merlin was quietly hiding behind the couch, he dispelled the spell then walked out and ruffled her hair.
"Good eyes Ari"
"You always do that!" She pouted as she held her hair.
"A magician needs mystery" Merlin puffed out his chest.
"That's cheating…" She chuckled.
He smiled and picked up a feather he got from a pillow.
"Watch closely."
He flicked it using Air Bullet, then he launched a tiny burst of compressed wind, the feather shot across the room like an arrow before gently sticking into a cushion.
Ariel's mouth formed an O.
"Again!"
Soon feathers, leaves and paper balls were flying all over the house, neither of them noticed that the living room had become an absolute mess.
..
.
After cleaning up together, well it was mostly Merlin cleaning while Ariel offered "moral support".
She suddenly looked thoughtful as she turned to him and asked.
"Big brother..."
"Hm?" Merlin who sat tiredly on the couch answered.
"Can magic protect people?" She asked.
Merlin paused then replied softly.
"...Sometimes."
He remembered battles on the forgotten shore where he had used paper substitutes to survive fatal attacks, times he'd redirected wounds using damage transfer, moments when danger premonition had saved his life before danger even arrived, and countless scenarios where divination had revealed things that had helped him survive.
'Magic… could save people, but it couldn't save everyone' he thought back to the people who died on the forgotten shore,
He smiled gently and said.
"It can protect the people we care about."
Ariel nodded happily.
"Then your magic is really nice."
His expression softened.
"...I hope so."
..
.
Time went by, outside, evening settled over the city, the warmth inside the house was high at odds with the cold reality waiting beyond the walls for him.
'One week' he muttered inwardly.
Only one week remained before he would leave and face the crux of the nightmare.
Merlin looked at the smiling girl sitting beside him, she was trying to fold another paper crane, her tongue sticking out slightly in concentration.
The sight made him laugh, and deep down he promised himself to survive and always remember her.