Magic in the Quad

[nevergetscredit]

Character(s): Merlin and Rapunzel
Location: The Quad
Rating: G
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed.
Summary: After talking to Rapunzel on the BBS, Merlin comes to the quad to meet her in person (and maybe, see some of her magic).

Merlin entered into the Quad, looking around to try and find the girl he'd talked to on the 'bbs'. The girl with magic, who'd had to hide in a tower because of it. The girl who it had been all to easy for Merlin to emphasize with.

Although the tricky thing was, Merlin didn't have a clue what Rapunzel actually looked like. She'd said that her magic would be obvious to anyone who saw her, but Merlin didn't know what that actually meant. He should have asked her what to look for, back when he was still at the library and reading all of the writings come up like magic on the computer.

"Rapunzel?" he called out, hoping that she was here somewhere.

Comments

[seethelanterns]

"So maybe when Arthur becomes King he might be able to change things and let people use their magic? I'd like that. Nobody should feel like they have to hide or lie...." Rapunzel murmered in response, feeling empathetic and that the conversation was quite close to home for her too, albeit slightly differently.

"I was nervous too, but the people here are pretty accepting. We have people with all sorts of different powers here in the Garden. It's more the locals you have to worry about. But as long as you're careful it should be okay."

[nevergetscredit]

"I hope so," Merlin said quietly. "It'd be nice to just...be myself, without worrying about whether someone will find out and I'll end up on the pyre."

"Maybe," Merlin said, not sounding convinced. Even just telling Rapunzel was risky enough. "So, what were those floating lanterns like?" he said, changing the subject. "They must have been magic."

[seethelanterns]

"It would. I wish I could help, but I don't see how I could." In some ways his situation was even worse. At least she could use her magic, even if it was to help Mother and Pascal. At least in the tower she knew she was safe.

At being asked about the lanterns Rapunzel's face lit up. "They appear every year on my birthday. Only on my birthday. Mother says they are stars, but I don't think so. Flynn said they were lanterns. I don't know if they are magic, I just know I really want to see them. I've been looking out the window for eighteen years dreaming of seeing them in person....."

[nevergetscredit]

"Oh, it's alright. You don't have to do anything," Merlin reassured her. If it was anyone's job to change how people thought of magic, it was Merlin's.

"On your birthday? You must have been born on a special date then," Merlin said, grinning. "I hope you get to see them one day. But who is Flynn? You've mentioned him before."

[seethelanterns]

"If you say so. If there is some way I can help, let me know, okay? Maybe if your King comes here and sees how some of us are using our magic he might change his mind. I don't use mine to hurt people, I just want to help. If I have these powers and not everyone does...don't we have that responsibility?" Rapunzel mused, contemplating this, her motivation for helping at the clinic in spite of her nervousness at being discovered.

"I don't think I was born on a special day, but the lanterns only seem to appear then. Flynn is a....well, he's a thief. I am making him take me to the lanterns in return for returning his satchel after he snuck into my tower." Rapunzel was still quite proud of herself in her initial dealings with the man, really.

[nevergetscredit]

"...The King could come here?!" Merlin said, all the colour draining from his face. Uther...here? In this place where at least one kind of magic was permitted? Where there were glowing boxes and never-dying sources of light that had no fire and trolls?!

And not to mention, a place where few people who had already accused Merlin of having magic without him even doing anything to make them think he had it in the first place.

The King, here?!

"You're traveling with a thief?" Merlin said, blinking in surprise. "...Don't you think that might be a little...well, unsafe? Especially if he's already tried to steal from you before."

[seethelanterns]

"Well, maybe. It seems Time Compression brings all kinds of people in to the Garden. The King might show up at some point." Rapunzel said with a small shrug. It was hard to say who would turn up next or when, but she could empathize a little with Merlin's obvious panic. "But--if he does, I promise I won't tell him about your magic!" And when she promises something, she means it.

"Yeah. Well, it was the only way to get him to take me. I need a guide, I've never been outside the tower before. I'd be lost if it weren't for him, trying to find my way to Corona on my own with Pascal." And besides, Flynn wasn't so bad......

[nevergetscredit]

Knowing that Rapunzel wouldn't tell Uther was, well, a little bit reassuring, but not enough to return the colour to Merlin's face. "I can't let anyone else know now," he said, sounding a little panicked. "If Uther comes here, and he hears anyone even mentioning that I have magic..."

And not just Uther. If Uther could be brought here, then who else? Arthur? One of the knights? Or even Morgause. Any one of them finding out that he had magic would be a disaster.

"Pascal? So you had a friend you could rely on come with you, at least?" Merlin said. He still though going off with a thief was probably not the best idea, but if Rapunzel had had someone to protect her if need be, that at least was a lot better.

[seethelanterns]

Rapunzel bit her lip. Merlin still seemed so nervous and pale. "But....I mean, if the King did show up here, a lot of people have magic of some kind, and the Garden even teaches some to us, so maybe it could be a chance for him to see how it can help. But, I promise I won't tell him about you. And when I make a promise, I never break it." she exclaimed, a frown and slight pout as she tried to look serious.

"Oh! Yes, Pascal is a very good friend. A chameleon." Rapunzel replied with a smile. Pascal was not very big so he was easy to hide from Gothel, as well as his ability to blend into the background with changing his colour.

[nevergetscredit]

"No, you don't understand. Not Uther. He'll never change his mind, not ever," Merlin said, trying to take a deep breath. He gave Rapunzel a shaky smile. "Thank you. I just...I need to be careful." And not just about his own magic. If he used even the kind of magic that they had here...

But then he was blinking at Rapunzel in confusion. "Your friend is a chameleon?!" So much for feeling relieved that she'd had someone looking after her. How could a chameleon protect a human girl? "...He's wouldn't happen to be a magic chameleon, would he?"

[seethelanterns]

"You sure if he sees other ways magic can be used....?" Rapunzel tried softly, almost pleading in her empathy with Merlin and his situation. "Right. Well, he might not show up. Nobody seems to know who will come here next, so you might not need to worry about seeing him here."

Rapunzel gave a light laugh, shaking her head. "No. He's really just a chameleon, Merlin." But she did place great importance and trust and love on her best friend, even if he wasn't human.

[nevergetscredit]

"Uther's already executed plenty of people who were trying to use magic for good. To him, all magic is the same," Merlin explained. "But I sure hope he won't come here."

If Merlin was lucky, he'd be the only one from his world to come here. Although he was really going to miss everyone...

"Did you have any...other friends? Apart from the chameleon?" he asked, concerned. If Rapunzel didn't have anyone else...that tower would have been really lonely.

[seethelanterns]

"Well, I'm glad you're safe from that for now, at least?" because Rapunzel thought Merlin seemed really nice and it was just...wrong to kill people for something they couldn't help, in her eyes at least. Even considering the circumstances and reasoning behind it, the good intention that nobody else would be killed like the King's wife had been.

"Other friends? No. I mean, besides Flynn Mother was the only one I saw. Her and Pascal. Mother kept me in the tower to protect me, so it was quite...out of the way. It's not like we had visitors around." That would have kind of defeated the purpose of keeping Rapunzel hidden, after all.

[nevergetscredit]

"For now," Merlin agreed. Although Rapunzel shouldn't worry too much - as long as Merlin's magic was secret, he was safe.

"You shouldn't have had to be all on your own like that though," Merlin said. "Couldn't your mother have brought someone to visit every now and then?"

[seethelanterns]

Rapunzel shook her head at that question, her gaze at her feet for a brief moment, running her fingers through her hair. "No. It would have compromised our location if she brought people over to see me. Nobody was supposed to find me and know where I was." The fact that Flynn managed was amazing in and of itself, really. He was the first, and Rapunzel had been there all but from birth since Gothel kidnapped her.

[nevergetscredit]

"If no one ever came, how were you able to use your ability to heal?" Merlin said, his eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. If Rapunzel never left, and no one ever game to see Rapunzel... "You wouldn't be able to heal anyone if you never them in the first place."

[seethelanterns]

"I helped Mother. I sang for her and kept her young. And I helped heal Pascal when we first met when I was little." And she had helped Flynn. Eugene. After he hurt his hand on the rocks trying to find a way out of their cave-in with the water filling up.

[nevergetscredit]

Merlin paused. "...Your mother? The one who said you needed to stay in the tower to be safe?" he said slowly. He'd thought that with Rapunzel's magic that keeping her hidden had to have been the best thing for her, but now he was starting to wonder if that wasn't quite right at all...

[seethelanterns]

"Yes. Mother always got me to sing for her when she was tired." Rapunzel was naive enough that she hadn't quite clicked to the real implications and contradictions of Mother Gothel and her warnings. Being hidden kept her safe, true. But it also meant she couldn't share her gift, as protective as Gothel was over her 'flower'.

[nevergetscredit]

"So your mother had you keeping her young and wouldn't ever let you talk to anyone else," Merlin said, something hard creeping into his voice. "She kept you close so you could sing to her when she felt tired."

[seethelanterns]

"Yeah. Pretty much. She never found out about Pascal. Or, she didn't seem to mind him if she did. But it....wasn't so bad." Rapunzel exclaimed, trying to reassure him and herself at the same time. She's seen and learnt so much since leaving the tower, but she does in some ways miss the familiarity of her tower. Knowing she was safe there. Rapunzel did not seem to glean on what troubled Merlin so much. She has yet to figure out the truth about Gothel at this point.

[nevergetscredit]

"If it wasn't so bad, then why did you leave?" Merlin said. "Would you really want to go back there, after you've seen what it's like outside?"

[seethelanterns]

"I....I'd been dreaming of seeing those floating lights--the lanterns for years. I have to see them, for myself. In person, not just from my window." she exclaimed determinedly, before seeming to shrink under her uncertaincy at the next question he asks. "Y-yes! No? I don't know.....it's...complicated." she still had yet to decide what to do once she fulfilled her dream to see the lanterns. To stay, to go back. If she stayed, what would she do, where would she live?

[nevergetscredit]

"You should be able to see lots of things in person," Merlin suggested. "Not just the lights. You don't have to stay locked in a tower all the time to stay safe."

[seethelanterns]

"I did see a lot! The snuggly duckling pub, Corona...." she paused, biting her lip a little. "I know I don't have to go back. I'm....still deciding, I guess. What to do." a hand running through her hair as she frowns. Leaving and not returning would upset Mother Gothel. But what Rapunzel had seen of the world was not all that bad as Gothel had painted it to be with her lies and stories and preying on Rapunzel's fears.