(Meeting Merlin the Sorcerer Supreme.)
Chapter nineteen:
Silence dominated for over an hour as they walked. Corvus was rather comfortable with this. He wanted to talk to her, but unless she brought a topic up he was perfectly alright with just enjoying the atmosphere. The sunlight through the trees, the fresh air, and the sound's of the birds and other animals nearby were all very relaxing. The only thing that would make this better would be. He thought as he flipped his hand and his cup of coffee appeared. He brought it to his lips and began to drink. It began to wreath him as he walked on.
"Dost thou have a pocket dimension?" The young woman asked curiously, breaking the silence that they had maintained. He looked at her, confused. She then gestured at his cup of coffee. Realization showed in his expression. He chuckled and shook his head.
"No, I created it." He flipped his other hand and a bird appeared, a Blue Macaw, who chirped and flew off. After getting to a certain distance he willed it out of existence. Seeing the bird appear and then disappear into nothingness when she sensed no fluctuation of energy whatsoever, dimensional or otherwise, stunned her.
"Created?" Said the Ancient One.
"Yes. I can bend reality. One would argue not on a large scale, but large enough for me. I've only done some experimentation with my abilities and don't know their full scope yet. In fact, I was in the middle of trying to find my limits before the knight had happened upon me." Vigilance and fear started to surround her once more, noticing this, Corvus continued. "One thing I know for sure, however, is that I am unable to do anything that would be a danger to the fabric of this reality. And even if I could, I would not wish to."
"Oh? And why is that? She asked, with brow raised.
"Simple. This reality is already so very wondrous. Why would I want to harm it? I'm certain my parent is loving hearing me say this, but I can't help but admit that what she has made is perfect." Replied Corvus Rigel.
Seeing the questions forming on her face, he smiled. "Thou will know eventually. In fact, if Merlin wishes to know, I can tell thee once we meet with him. I'd rather not explain myself more than once. Now, isn't it about time to utilize thy sling ring to bring us to him?" Said Corvus Rigel.
Once again surprised, and having not resolved the many other surprises she has witnessed since meeting him, she released an exasperated sigh. He chuckled and turned to face her. "Am I right in assuming that this walk and subsequent conversation was another layer to the test?" Replied Corvus Rigel.
She looked at him with a wry smile and nodded. Then, feeling as there was no point in continuing the conversation, she reached into her sleeve and pulled out a flat piece of bronze with two holes for her fingers. Slipping it on, she got into a stance and started to move her hand into a circle. Gradually, a circle of sparks started to form. As it grew larger, a dark candlelit stone room could be seen on the other side, with a wooden desk in the center. The young woman gestures for Corvus to proceed, so he did. As he stepped through, he could feel the shift in the space and identified that he was somewhere a few kilometers north of where present day London would be. This confused him as he thought Camelot was somewhere else, according to legend, but this could be the error of modern theorists or perhaps Merlin based himself outside of the mystical kingdom after it was established. Besides, this wasn't his earth and it was in the Marvel multiverse, there were bound to be differences in history.
As he stepped in and away from the portal so that the lady could enter. He took note of all the texts lining the walls and the bits of paper sterwn about. There was an aclove dedicated to what looked like chemistry, judging from the flasks and the scent of herbs. The room looked like a place for research rather than formal meetings, but that was more than fine for him. He didn't care for formality much. Attempting to speak in old English was already a trial and he couldn't imagine trying to figure out court etquette on top of that.
The next Sorcerer Supreme entered in behind him and closed the portal. She then stood in front of the desk as Corvus kept looking around. Then, another portal opened behind the desk, and an elderly man in similar robes to him and the young woman stepped out. His robes were colored varying shade's of blue with silver stars very stylishly embroidered along the hems of the outer robes. A silverly gray beard reached to his waist. Resting atop this beard was a very similar artifact to any Marvel fan, the Eye of Agamotto.
He had a wrinkled face, a large hawk nose, small, but bright, sky blue eyes that showed age and wisdom, and a bald head. Liver spots were present on his cheeks and hands. Corvus could see that this man did not have long to live. Maybe a few more years at best. According to his death prediction, barring any outside influence, the man would live until his one hundred and twenty second year. In these times, reaching that age is a miracle, taking into account the lack of proper public sanitation or adequate medical science. If Merlin was born in the modern era, Corvus estimated that the man could easily live to two hundred.
A living myth. He knew that this would be the second of many encounters with legends made real, the Ancient One being the first. However, due to the deep cultural influence this personage had on his own earth the sheer weight of actually meeting him had much higher significance to Corvus. He loved Marvel comics, but this was a legend that predated Marvel, as far as he was concerned. He was sure that the legend on his earth was actually based on Merlin's actual self from these universe's just made into myth on his earth, but it was about the feeling behind it. One was a comic book, modern day mythology, while the other was represented far before the comics were ever published. Hell, his childhood friend had inundated his formative years with stories of the Knights of the Round Table and Merlin. So this was much like meeting his childhood hero. He'd probably react the same way meeting Peter Parker for the first time, as he and his struggles had helped Corvus through much of his teenage years. Well, him, along with the things faced by the young X-Men. But as this was the MCU, he doubted he'd meet them, at least in this universe.