Merlin (secretmagic) wrote in parabolical, @ 2009-11-14 03:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | complete, merlin, narrative |
Who: Merlin
When: Night
Where: Streets
What: Arrival
Rating: R, for profanity
Status: COMPLETE; Narrative
Merlin didn't have the foggiest idea what just happened. And that was saying something, since he occasionally had his share of foggy ideas.. Arthur had certainly mentioned it often enough. He was in his living quarters a moment ago, a book open in front of him. The Sidhe staff was in his left hand as well. He had learned to somewhat read the ancient runic language on them. There were ties to the Old Religion. It was some also some reference to life and death. He had recently gained power over that after several encounters with dangerous magic; Nimueh was the only living person capable of it as well. Was. Past tense. But how had he vanished? Teleportation could perhaps be considered a magical ability.
But it was not one he had tried as yet. Was it subconscious? Couldn't be. Not really. He had not read upon that yet, if such a passage existed. And honestly, if you wanted to appear somewhere at will, would it not be to a place you know, to a realm that you had visited beforehand? Such was not the case here. It most assuredly wasn't. The road was too hard. It was some stone substance. Some roads were dark and smooth. No gravel at all. It felt funny and hard as he walked in it. And there was noise!
As he walked, he nearly jumped back when a metal beast nearly collided with him. There was an offensive honk sound, and a MAN had poked out, yelled at him, and extended one finger more than the other. Merlin was new to this odd customs, but he had an idea that this certain finger was not nice. He was about to cast a charm after the beast, so the man would be free. But it was too fast. And it turned the corner. "Next time," the young warlock said with a firm nod. But then his eyes widened in surprise. He just realized this was not Camelot. There were tall and expansive structures. They were composed of glass, stone, and steel, and much larger than castles. The smells were also foreign to him. He knew the Great Dragon was nowhere near. He could use his advice. Or his uncle Gaius. He called out for him, but nothing happened. He had just seen his elder uncle in the next room an hour ago. But he obviously was not in his room anymore.
Merlin continued walking for what seemed like a half hour. He was still dressed in his blue shirt, with brown jacket and pants, along with the red scarf. He had put the book in his knapsack for now and just kept walking with the staff. It was not long before he came upon a newspaper stand. It had funny writing. November 3rd, 2006. He widened his eyes at that. What did this mean? What type of.. time was that. He vaguely recognized the month, but the four-numbered part threw him. He had little concept of that sort of thing. He picked it up then.
"That will be thirty-five cents," the old man by the stack said. "Gotta pay to read, boy. Ain't free shit here."
"What?" Merlin asked, confused. He looked a bit lost. But surely, merely reading a few words was at least free enough. The voice sounded weird. He'd not heard that sort of accent before.
"Shit," the man said. "Poop, crap, dung, manure.. stuff. As in, you gotta pay for your own shit. I know other words if-"
"No, no," Merlin said, holding up a hand and setting the folded paper back down with the others. He wasn't sure he wanted to know those words. "Where am I? How far is it to Albion from here.. where are the knights of King Uther? Maybe one of them can help me find the way back."
The man shook his head. "Speaking nonsense, just more shit. This is America. United States. California?? And we got no king, be a cold day in Hell before that. We got a President. Free country. Except for these papers here."
"Fine," the young warlock said as he turned around. The man had been gazing curiously at the staff and he didn't like that too much. He knew as little about this as he did before. That patron was really no assistance, as far as he could tell. The place was just so big and confusing. He recognized none of these places. He also noticed light. Lights were everywhere. In buildings, windows, on street corners. On those metal beasts. All over. He shook his head as he walked more, "What kind of sorcery is this..."