Before I confuse anybody, the events happening here took place a little after we got those assignments to investigate the other worlds for disturbances. Enjoy! ^_^
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Finally, after all of that redundant hassle, Lerxia and I had made our way to Merlin’s house. No sooner had we arrived at the front door did Merlin casually open the door for us. Rather gravely he said, “Hmm, so you did come after all.”
Tilting my head a little to the side I asked, “What? …Are you not excited to see me?”
“Wait; how did you know she was coming?” asked Lerxia hurriedly.
Huffing, Merlin told her flatly, “Well, with all of the carnage taking place around here lately I figured somebody was somehow involved!”
“Now, now, Múinteoir,” I giggled, “how can that possibly be the case when in fact…nobody was involved?” This last comment caused Lerxia to chuckle and Merlin to send his palm flying into his forehead.
“Will you please just state your business with me?” Merlin grumbled.
Lerxia was the one to present him our demands. “Alright old man, I’ll keep it short and straight to the point: hand over the book to the Hundred Acre Woods right now.”
Huffing again, Merlin snarled, “Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I’m a fool. What makes you think that I would just hand on over that book to someone as vulgar as yourself?”
Lerxia donned the appearance of a wild animal out for blood. “‘Vulgar?’ Listen you; I didn’t come all this way after fighting who KNOWS how many lesser Nobodies to be dealing with this crap! Now you give me that book or I’ll—“
“Huff and puff and blow his house down?” Perhaps not the best way to deal with an angry demon, but that’s never stopped me from having a little fun. Besides, if I had let that argument go any further than it had I knew for a fact that Merlin would’ve ended it by making his entire residence disappear in the blink of an eye—book and all.
Jumping in before Lerxia could form whatever comeback she had formulated, I found an open opportunity to take matters into my own hands. “Look, if we were here to cause any real mischief, don’t you think we would’ve done so already?”
“That is beside the point, Xakiah.” said Merlin calmly. “If I were to let anything terrible happen to the residents of that world, I would never forgive myself.” I normally don’t concern myself with the welfare of other worlds, but the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood, even to me, were most certainly one of the sole exceptions to this rule. They…weren’t the brightest of the beings out there in the universe, but their capacity for that silly thing called “compassion” more than made up for that. I know that sounds odd, coming from a Nobody and all, but only a shallow soul would ever wish them harm. …At least in my book.
A solemn silence fell between us as I took his concerns into consideration. After a while I came to the conclusion that the only way that we were going to complete our mission was by offering him something in return for his cooperation. Money? Too crass. Treasure? Might as well give him seven pieces of silver while we’re at it. Women? Hah! He’s the “only one for me” type. Status? Doesn’t need it. Power? Has PLENTY ENOUGH on his own. Damn! Think Xakiah! What would Múinteoir truly desire from us? Whatever it is, it has to be something that he doesn’t already have or can obtain with magic. Something precious…something like…like…
A slight smile spread across my face as the idea finally hit me. Sure, it would mean having to answer a lot of questions that I wasn’t too keen on answering, but if it meant achieving our goal…then so be it.
“Múinteoir, if you would just please listen for a moment.” Merlin straightened up his back and looked at me through those old blue eyes of his, granting me my request. “The reason why my acquaintances Lerxia, Nyx, Xemmsur (the last two are elsewhere attending to other matters at the moment), and myself are here is because we received word that an unidentified dark force has been spotted in the Hundred Acre Wood. We have been made responsible for identifying this anomaly and eliminating it…if need be.
“You may not believe me when I tell you this, but I do understand your concerns. So instead of handing over the book to us, how about just letting me in so I can have access to it? I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Oh? And how do you suppose you can do that?” he asked.
“Those questions you told me that you’ve always wanted to ask, but never did…do you remember them?” He slowly nodded his head. “I will answer all of them.”
“A lot of time has passed, Xakiah. Time, I’m afraid, creates more questions than it actually answers them.”
Hesitating, I responded, “Very well. I will answer those too, but…only if I choose to.”
“Hold on just a minute there, young lady. I need one more thing from you.”
Despite my usual take on figures of authority, Merlin was one of the few I would never dream of turning down and the old goat knew it. As meekly as possible I answered, “Yes?”
“Your word; swear to me that no harm will come to Pooh Bear and his friends. And please, before you bring in that sarcasm of yours, don’t bring up the fact that you’re a Nobody. I’m being serious here.”
Chucking, I said, “We Nobodies may be void of hearts, but that doesn’t mean that we’re void of principles. Consider yourself…lucky that I’m one of the few Nobodies out there that actually does believe in the honor of one’s word.”
The sound was practically nonexistent, but I know Lerxia said something under her breath after I said that. If that same sound was one of doubt…well…that was her dilemma, not mine.
“Anyway…you have my word that I will not harm Pooh Bear and his friends while we are in the Hundred Acre Woods.”
Merlin took a few moments to stare straight into the windows of my soul. My first instinct was to renforce the barrier around myself to prevent his magic from penetrating my secrets, but I knew better. This man, despite any arguments contrary to the point, knew me better than anyone else. Such defensive precautions would have proved futile in the end anyway.
