Steel and Mana

While my people were screening the workers, examining them one by one, I was with Sasha and Merlin, visiting our captured witch, sitting in Avalon's very own prison. She was the first put into the most secure part of it since its completion, guarded by four soldiers at all times. Of course, that was not all because she had two bracelets put on her, the same kind we used to suppress Mikki-2. Then, outside her cell, the corridor itself had a fiery formation put onto it, and an officer standing at the ready on the other side with CC in hand, ready to activate it and purge the whole area as a last resort. As for her ankle injury? She was given first aid, but that's it; we weren't going to heal her just yet. At least she can't run away. Or run as fast as previously.

"Welcome to Avalon!" I answered with a smile, bringing over a stool, sitting down at the other end of her cell, and looking at the defiant face she was showing us. I would have commanded her for it, but sadly, she was following someone who I was sure would never be our friend. "My name is Leon; she is my wife, Sasha."

"Nameless barbarians." She answered with a sneer, sitting on her bed at the end of her cell.

"Maybe she doesn't understand us." I joked, looking at my wife, who was not as amused by her words as I was.

"Hmph, you are so low-standing that you do not even own a surname... just like a peasant. And you think you can interrogate me? The simple gall to talk to me, hahaha! Say whatever you want, you lowlifes!"

"Surnames, huh?" I shrugged, "Like we care about something like that. Now, let's focus on the real issue here! Who are you serving? I want honest answers."

"..."

"She won't talk." Sasha interjected, watching the captured woman's eyes. "She would rather die than say anything."

"Not even her name?"

"..."

"I guess not." I concurred, raising my hands. If Sasha says our fugitive is going to seal her lips forever, I believe her. "Oh well, we will need to use other methods to learn what the old monster under the castle is planning. I know Pascal is aiming to become eternal, the fool."

"You talk like you know of the Undying Emperor! The best you can understand is that your struggle is futile, and you should just sit and wait for your inevitable death." She sneered, showing her teeth like a dog, compelled to snap at me for what I had just said. Yet, under her feisty interior was something lurking, trying to stay hidden: Fear. She could not remain silent after I let her know that I was aware of things she never expected and was now a bit more unsure of who we were.

"Undying? He really calls himself that? I saw his face... it was like a dried raisin, left out in the sun for way too long. If not for him being a wizard, I would have thought someone was puppeteering a dug-up corpse, but there was no hand attached to his rectum."

"You will pay highly for your insolence!"

"Clara, was it? Yes?" Sasha asked while I continued giggling, enjoying how worked up she was and how quick her breathing became after realizing we knew her name. However, I will give her credit because she pushed it back to normal very quickly. "I think if your rotting Emperor wants to claim that title, he will learn the hard way... It is not something he is worthy of!"

"Whore."

"My whore~" I countered Clara's insult, hugging Sasha's waist, "And as she said... We know someone who is more deserving of that title..."

We both knew she wasn't believing it, thinking we were trying to play mind games with her. Oh well, it is not our job to convince her, and to be honest, I wouldn't want to. Merlin was already going through her belongings, finding her notebook, and decoding the tongue she used to write her reports and thoughts down. We learned her name from it, too.

"Listen, Clara. If that is your real name, " I stated, smiling at her. "You can tell us everything, or we will extract it from you by force. It is wholly up to you."

"..."

"Force it is." Sasha worded clearly, not wanting to wait or play along with Clara's stubbornness.

"Just because you are a witch, don't think you can scare me. You don't know what true magic is! You will all die... Yes... You will all die!"

"Nobody will die." Sasha answered with such calmness that it silenced Clara and her bubbling, maniac laugh before it had a chance to erupt into its full force. "We won't, and neither will you... But I can promise you, Clara. You will wish you would be dead."

...
....
......

"You worked fast!" I chuckled, meeting with Merlin in my office the following day, who was like an energized chipmunk since returning from his little forced vacation.

"I feel refreshed! Every morning!"

"Every morning?" I questioned, looking at him from behind the papers he put on my desk; being about a meter in height, I had to lean to the left to see his reaction.

"Y-yeah..." He answered in a mumble, his face as red as a tomato.

"Nice. So!" I switched topics at once, focusing on our current issue. "You went ahead and filtered them out? I am not doubting your results, Merlin. I'm just shocked you confirmed them this quickly. There were a lot of workers, even with every officer stationed there to go through them..."

"I used our mind-influencing magic on the camp." He explained proudly. "Those who managed to resist it, spies. Those who did not, clean! Easy!"

"..."

"What...? Was it... not good?" he asked, a bit unsure after seeing my silence. "We are still monitoring them to see if they shake off the suggestion! I am not rushing it..."

"What was the suggestion?"

"To be loyal to Avalon..." He mumbled, playing with the edge of his robe, "Then we asked them simple questions about Clara, a trivial one for which we knew the answer in advance! If they were honest, we knew they were not spies. If they lied, they weren't affected by the spell, so they were enemies."

"Geez... If I leave you alone a little, I fear that you will turn into Mengele."

"Into who?"

"No matter. Listen, keep an eye on them, okay? As for those who were confirmed spies, get them into the prison and start interrogating them thoroughly! I want to learn everything they know and everything we can get out of them! As for Clara, you can try your hand at her; feel free to be a bit rougher, but don't do permanent damage!"

"I will do my best!" He nodded, saluting back at me.

"Don't go too far with the torture, do you understand? After all is settled and done, I want to send them on the Walk."

"Wouldn't that be... dangerous? Letting a witch out?"

"For them." I smiled, leaning back and starting to go through his first reports. "I am not afraid of her caliber, not here, in my home base! As for those workers who are capable, I would be happy to integrate into Avalon, along with their families..."

...
....
......

"Back... again?"

"Yeah..." Merlin shrugged, entering the deepest part of his mind, returning to his old self, who was sitting amongst the infinite library of his past memories. "I am stuck..."

"It happens. That's the best part! Coming up with solutions to a problem and experiencing the joy of solving it."

"I can't get out anything useful from a captured witch! Our hypnotic spells can't affect her, nor does she react to anything else! I tried threats, magic, and even a few nasty things, but nothing came of it. The best I got was that she mocked me. Leon said I can't go far, so torturing her, asking Lady Mikan to restore her health and then start over again is not an option..."

"So?"

"So... I thought you may have ideas... or a spell that compels her to tell the truth."

"I do."

"Really?!" Merlin asked, yelling out with excitement.

"Uhum."

"And... will you tell me?"

"No."

"Wha– Why?!"

"Haaaah..." His old self couldn't help but sigh, shaking his head. "All these books you see here were written by me." He explained, standing up from his chair, opening his arms wide, and pointing at the shelves. "These are my memories, my experiences, and my discoveries! Mine. Do you understand it?"

"I... think?"

"I want you to add to my collection. Write your own books, and you were doing so well! I am afraid discovering the truth of your past hindered your creativity. Now, instead of working on the issue, you come to me for a solution. What you see here are what you can build on, your inherent foundation, but they are not YOUR solutions, Merlin."

"..."

"I am NOT your solution, Merlin. I am here to help but not here to solve YOUR problems without YOU making any effort! If you have an idea, I am willing to converse with you, help you dispel doubts, and push you along your own road, but I won't tell you what direction to take. I am going to block you from accessing my memories here, Merlin. You cannot return, not until your mindset realigns to how it was and clears up."

With that, before Merlin could say or do anything, the library and his old life disappeared from view, and he woke up from his dream, sitting in his bed next to his girlfriend.

"Mhm... what is it?" Elena asked, waking up, rubbing her eyes, and starting to quickly rub Merlin's back. "Bad dreams?"

"I... something like that..." He mumbled, blinking his eyes, feeling a bit weird.

"What is it? You know you can tell me." She continued, noticing that he was acting a bit different than usual.

"It is a lot." Merlin answered after a moment of silence, letting her hug him from behind. "I don't know if you are going to believe me or not..."

"Try me!"

"Okay... here it goes!" He nodded, taking a deep breath, and began explaining everything, from start to finish, revealing his gift, turning Elena into the fourth person who now knew about it.

...
....
......

"It is real." Sasha answered before I could, as we were having a private meeting with Merlin and Elena. "We confirmed it already."

Was I angry that he told her? No. She was his love and probably his future wife. She had the right to know it all. As for it spreading, if that happens, then I will know she was not the right girl for my Prime Minister.

"Gods above and beyond... It was hard to believe, but... You were an Ishillian?!" She gasped again, looking at Merlin.

"I was, but I am not one!" He answered in a panic, not wanting Elena to think he was some weirdo.

"Huh... Interesting." She mumbled, making me raise an eyebrow. I quickly glanced at Sasha as we waited for her to continue. "It turns out my family is destined for this, don't you agree? My big brother married an Empress, and now I am with an Emperor..."

"A reincarnation of one, the old Merlin, is inside my head!"

"This is weird!" Elena moaned but then flinched, looking into Merlin's eyes. "Wait... is he always watching?"

"I guess. I don't know... What I know, or feel, is that he isn't interested in, um... that thing, you know... He never had a girlfriend... he died as a virgin!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

This time, the room remained silent for a long time before Elena finally began rubbing her forehead and mumbling.

"This is not a morning talk I thought I would have ever have..."