'Unbelievable!'
[Not really, Merlin was always a conniving soul, what's unbelievable is how he managed to convince the masses he was a good person]
'Take me back, I need to tell Jade about this!'
[Not yet, we haven't learned enough]
'We don't have the time to.'
[We do. In the real world, it's been barely a second since you came here]
'But that wasn't how things were with Chelsea,'
[Because with Chelsea you were in the in-between which isn't the case right now. Let's keep watching]
"Tea?" Merlin offered. "Yeah, thanks," Joseph said taking the cup and drinking from it.
Merlin walked towards a large shelf of his filled with old scrolls and tablets and sacred-looking books. He takes out a book from the shelf and pulled out one of the books.
"What's that?" Joseph queried. "The Darkforge," Merlin replied placing it on a table.
"Oh I've heard about that before, a client wanted us to find the book for him ... So what exactly are you trying to do here?" The hybrid inquired.
"You said you were familiar with the darkforge, have any idea what it does?"
"It contains powerful spells ... I think," Joseph shrugged. "Powerful chaos magic spells," Merlin stated.
"I've never heard of chaos magic before," Joseph said.
"Chaos magic was created by the elder god, Aergarhys or more commonly, He Who Sleeps, and the darkforge is a collection of the spells he created. The magic is omniperfect and unlike other magic types, it doesn't need a worldly source to be used and hence it bypasses magic negation," Merlin explained.
"So you're going to use the magic to manipulate time?"
"No. You see, using chaos magic makes you susceptible to manipulation and possession by Aergarhys," Merlin stated.
'Did you know this?'
[Of course]
"And there's no way to get past that?"
"No chance. The only person who managed to use chaos magic for an extended period with rationality was the amazing demon king, the Dark Majesty," Merlin said with a small smile. "... But even he too died after years of repeated use," he added.
"So if black magic isn't strong enough for what you want to do and chaos magic is too dangerous for you ... What type of magic do you want to use?" Joseph asked.
"I am going to create my source," Merlin revealed, "hand me the book on the right," he pointed.
Joseph grabbed the book from the shelf, a collection of papers held together by a binder. "What's this?" He asks.
"Research papers by the polymath, Cal-Ra. He was just as intelligent as he was a nuisance," Merlin said a smile flickering on his lips. "He wrote that magic energy can neither be created nor destroyed and from this theory, I concluded that when an individual dies, their energy is recycled back into the earth," the witch stated.
"That energy is a part of one's soul," he continued, "and I believe it can be used to create a new magic source," he added.
"So you want me to take you to all the cemeteries I know or ..."
"Not quite," Merlin shook his head, and as if on cue, some of his men walked into the room carrying an unconscious person. They gently drop the body on a table and Merlin flips through the darkforge before stopping on one of the pages. He recites a spell, first inwardly before saying it out loud.
Merlin walked towards the unconscious person, reciting the spell, his voice becoming louder and louder before placing his hand on the person's chest.
Joseph looked on with great attention as Merlin recite the spell over and over until a sky blue light started glowing under the unconscious body's chest before moving through the person's hand and emerging through the fingertips, turning the person's fleshy hand into bony one with no skin; Merlin traps the soul in a lamp like object.
"What just happened?" Joseph asked as surprised as he was confused.
"I just took this man's soul," Merlin revealed. "So he's --" the hybrid stopped.
"Dead? Yes," Merlin stated. "This is what I need your help with. As I mentioned earlier, I believe it is possible to create a new magic source using souls. You can go invisible in the dark and so it would be easy for you to grab mystical beings without being spotted," he explained.
"You want me to kidnap people?"
"I know it sounds morally wrong but keep in mind that you are about to go fourteen or fifteen years back in time, so none of this matters ... When we get enough souls to make this source strong enough for time manipulations, it would be like none of this even happened," Merlin stated. "Don't you want to be with your daughter? Don't you want to make up all the time you have lost?"
"I -- I do," the hybrid state. "So you're going to do it?"
"Yes," Joseph replied. "What's in it for you?" The hybrid asked the witch. "What?"
"You've been saying you're going to help me with my issue but what about you? What do you want?" Joseph asked.
Merlin laughs, "I want to build an empire just like that of the Dark Majesty," he stated.
"Huh?"
"That shouldn't concern you," Merlin smiled.
"Do you have any list of people you want me to grab or I should bring whoever I can find?"
"One of my disciples has been compiling a list of mystical beings here in Skyhill who I'd prefer," Merlin stated.
Joseph nods, "I'll go get started," he said before walking out of the room. Hunter follows after him.
Joseph walks into a room where he sees Merlin wearing a brown knee-length woolen tunic with a long ash scarf around his neck. "Going somewhere?" The hybrid asked.
"The council of mysticism ... I'm standing against this kid who was brought in for using chaos magic," Merlin replied.
Joseph raised an eyebrow, "isn't that a bit hypocritical?"
Merlin laughs, "Chaos magic is hard to tap into, if this kid can already use it then that means the energy within him is astronomical," Merlin stated. "I am only doing this to have him executed."
"Because of the circulation of energy you told me about?"
"Yes. When he is executed, and before his energy is passed back to the earth, I can absorb it for myself," said Merlin.
"Good luck," Joseph wished the witch.
Later, Merlin returned dejected. "How did it go?" Joseph asked.
"Terribly. They acquitted him of all charges," he replied.
"You want me to bring him in?"
"Too risky. The council appointed an agency to monitor him at all times and I am sure they are also keeping a close eye on his situation," Merlin said rubbing his chin.
"How about you have someone follow him for the time being, I'm sure the agency would slip up, that would give you a chance to capture him," Joseph suggested.
"That's a good plan," Merlin agreed.
Joseph smiles before rising to his feet, "I'll be on my way now. I've been following this dark mage for a while but she's barely in a private space; hopefully, today would be my lucky day," Joseph said walking out of the room. Hunter followed after him, appearing in a messy apartment.
Joseph looked at the time on the clock as he hears someone knock on his door. "Public Safety and Demon Control agency, open up!"
'That's Jade, right?'
The hybrid jumps out of bed and quickly grabs whatever he could. He turned off all the lights in his apartment and escapes through the window just as Jade breaks the door open.
Hunter follows the hybrid as he flees the nation on a plane and escapes to the Northland.
'I've seen this ... I was there,' Hunter noted.
After the hybrid scuffled with Hunter, Joseph received a call from Merlin asking that the hybrid return to Skyhill as the witch has now gathered enough souls.
[Let's go back now]
'Finally!'
...
Hunter removed his hand from Joseph's forehead. "Anything wrong?" Leah asked.
"No. I've seen his memories ... He was working for Merlin," the sprite stated.
"Son of a -- Hunter, you stay here with Leah. Merlin's school is nearby, I'll gather some agents to raid the place," Jade said before speeding out of the room.
"Why should I -- and she's gone,"
[She's going to the wrong place]
'I know,' Hunter turned to Leah, "come with me," he said. "Jade said to stay here!" Leah pointed out but the sprite doesn't stop moving,
"where are going?" Leah asked rushing after him. "Skyhill."
...
Hunter and Leah reached the building where Merlin normally kills his victims. "Stay on alert," Hunter said to Leah who nods before drawing out her pistols.
The sprite frowns, "what's your -- never mind." Hunter moved expertly through the building like he had been there a thousand times before, crossing over several dead people, all dressed as Merlin's disciples. "Did someone get here before us?" Hunter wondered out loud.
[Look at their hands]
Hunter looked down at the corpse whose left hand was nothing but bones. 'Don't tell me!'
Hunter shakes his head as he continued through the building with Leah closely behind. The sprite reached the room and in the middle of it was Sophia. Unlike the others, her soul had not been taken but her eyes were.
The sprite rushed to her side with eyes filled with tears as he checked for a pulse; she was gone. "Noooo!" He cried holding her close to himself.
Leah stood still behind the sprite unsure of what to do while the sprite lamented.
"This is all my fault ... You tried to warn me ... You told me how others were going to target her ..."
Hunter felt himself teleport, when he looked around he was in a dark space, endless. He saw a figure approaching from afar.
The figure becomes clearer and clearer as it got closer, it was a person; he looked just like Hunter if not for the loose hair stretching down to the shoulders and with unique markings on his forehead, nose, and cheeks.
He was wearing a thobe and also had two lines on both his wrist that looked to have extended from his upper arm.
"Waleed?"
[Yes]
"Where are we?"
[Safe. I wanted to talk to you about your friend]
"What about?"
[I can bring her back to life]
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