Time [Open/All]

[Selene Eruth]

When darkness lays her crimson cloak,

Your lamps will call me home.

Times came and passed, as always. Things often overlapped, festivals, birthdays. Things that weren’t certain were replaced, even when the old continued. One example of that was Yule and Christmas, one from the old religion, the other from Christianity. With the first of May coming up, it would be interesting to see what would happen. That date was Beltane, one of the festivals of the old religion. Would it be noticeable that the small magical population would be celebrating, or would it remain hidden? Those where the thoughts going through the head of the fourteen year old witch who Merlin had rescued as she stared out across the landscape of Camelot.

It was the day that Merlin had said that she would be allowed to visit her house and check up on her cats. Gwen had been very nice, as had Gaius and Merlin, all looking after her, never complaining. In the spare time she had, she asked Gaius constantly about his profession and tried to help. When she wasn’t with Gwen and Gaius was out, Merlin would teach her magic and how to control herself. He said she was making progress, but Selene didn’t think she was. From what she had discussed with Merlin, it appeared that she lost control when scared or a life was threatened.

“What happened when you were in the market and the guard found you?” Merlin had asked.
“I don’t know.” Selene replied nervously. “It has happened before. I go blank and then people are dead.”
“You seemed to be using magic the whole time, your eyes turning to the colour, but you weren’t always letting it flow, I think.” Merlin had replied.
“Do you think that magic takes control over me?” Selene asked Merlin, nervously as she fiddled with the makeshift bed Merlin had given her.
“No. I think you automatically go straight for magic and let it influence you.” Merlin had concluded.

So he had been teaching her other ways to defend herself, so she didn’t rely solely on magic. On top of that, he taught her new magic with the book he had. It was useful and sometimes Selene got the impression that Gaius didn’t approve of Merlin’s actions, but she had never met an old man for longer than a few minutes so she couldn’t be sure if this was how they usually behaved.

Sometimes, Selene wondered what it was like in the castle. She knew Merlin worked for the prince, who lived in the castle. He didn’t seem to see it so much as an honour but as a duty. Once she had questioned him about his work and he had told her a little about it. From what the warlock had told her, he didn’t seem to like it. At times, Selene wondered what it would be like to help Merlin out with his chores. She wanted to meet this prince and see if he was really as great as he was supposed to be. From stories of other commoners, it sounded like he was a nice man, better than her father, but she wasn’t sure.

Sighing, Selene looked around, hoping to see Merlin so that they could go to her house and check up on her cats. One was barely older than a kitten, and although she didn’t feed them, she was afraid that they might leave her. For her, it often felt like they were staying just for the warmth she provided and Selene wished she could cast a spell that would allow them to stay warm, even if she was busy, learning from Merlin and Gaius or being cared for by Gwen.

Over the past few days, Selene had been allowed to be seen by other people only rarely, so the story could be spread and she wouldn’t be connected with the witch who had killed the guards, which was what she was. One day, she hoped her story would be good enough that she could accompany Merlin and meet this Arthur that he served. And probably to help him with his chores. She owed him that and much more. She also owed Gaius and Gwen much, but it was Merlin who had saved her.

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Word Count:700
Tags:None, but open to all, and I do hope that you join in.

Outfit:Rough brown dress, her hair in plates and coloured to match Merlin's hair colour. Her skin also 'painted' to disguise herself as a relative of Merlin.
Lyrics:Mystic's Dream -Loreena Mckennitt
Notes:This is set after 'A Dangerous Move', but it doesn't mean that the thread is over and it can continue, this shouldn't need to relate too much to it. I have writen this so everyone can have a thread with everyone, so if one person becomes inactive for a while, it won't have too much of a knock on effect. Please don't take things away with two people only posting, if I post, then person 1 replies, I should give other people time to reply (Probably a day or two is enough) before replying. Then if Person 1 replied again, I will wait longer and mention it on C:Box again. We don't want this to become closed. Don't try to match other people's posts, do what you can. Also, if you want to reserve something, in case you are a slow writer but definatly have something coming, post and then update. But don't leave us for a long time hanging, please.
Complete:Complete

[Merlin Ambrosius]

I know the secrets of the land and the sky,

And you'll hear my voice in the eagle's cry.

Today was the day that he had promised Selene that she could go check up on the house that she had lived on and see if her cats were keeping well. Over the past few days, merlin had been teaching Selene, but also questioning her, to see if she would give him a further insight into what her life was like. So far, he had found out that her mother, father and brother had been killed because they had magic. She was the only one to escape. She didn’t eat dead things and when in her right mind avoided killing and harming others. If she trod on someone’s toe, she would break into hysterics and would be apologizing for the rest of the day.

Other than that, Merlin knew very little of the mysterious girl. She had a very old symbol of the druids, and it was fading away. He guessed that she had been there once when very little but they had known that her visit was not going to be permanent. And that was as much as he could find out about her. Of course, he also had very little time to spend with her, seeing as he had to help out the ‘Royal Pratt’, Prince Arthur. So, Selene spent a lot of her time with Gwen, which was good, and Merlin was eternally thankful for his friend for looking after the young girl, but he hadn’t told her the danger.

Arthur had yet to know about Selene, she was mostly staying hidden, but Merlin knew at some point it would come to light to the prince. The king also needed to know about it. As long as the king did not see Selene as the witch, she would be safe. But they couldn’t be certain that Uther would see it like that. He might execute them all as the witch and her helpers. So it remained a secret from royalty. However, Merlin did not know how well things would fair when he kept his promise to Selene and took her out.

He remembered one of the times he had come home after the sword training, which was mainly when Arthur beat him. However, he was improving with the sword, which meant he had less bruises. It was the second time, and Selene had been expecting this. She had created a poultice and used magic to increase the strength. Merlin knew that he wouldn’t be able to teach her anything in the subject of healing with magic. In fact, she could probably teach him a thing or two in that area. But he had a harder task to do. Defence magic, which Selene wasn’t exactly for.

“Why do I need to know how to defend myself? I can do basic escaping. Using air to help lift me. Herbs to heal my wounds.” The girl had said when Merlin was trying to teach her how to move objects.
“Well, this can be used so that they never see you and so that no one knows you have magic. I use it all the time and no one knows that I know magic. Apart from you and Gaius.” Merlin had replied. At least that had made her pay attention and try her best. After that, it wasn’t long before she was managing it without too much effort.

The next time he was free, Merlin had tried to teach her how to heat up others weapons so that they dropped them. It was there that it had failed.
“NO! I’ll hurt them like that!” protested Selene, horrified.
“But they would kill you and its better than throwing fire around.” The warlock had tried to point out.
“I throw fire?” Selene had asked, surprised.
“That’s how the guards died.” Merlin told her softly.
“You mean I did it?” the soft voice of the witch broke as she realised that.
“Come on, the more ways to defend yourself, the less likely that you will end up having to resort to that, okay, Selene?”

As he entered the room which Selene was in, Merlin could see the young girl staring out of the window across Camelot. She looked so young, yet at her pose, she seemed to know much. Which was probably true, Merlin through. After all, she had seen the destruction of her whole family and knew how to heal. She spent most of her time with the ill or away from other people. That was the way she lived, and it wasn’t right. This was what Uther’s reign had caused. Hopefully, things would be better for people like him and Selene when Arthur came to power.

“Selene, did you say you wanted to visit some cats, today?” Merlin asked with a smile as he walked up to the witch.
“I can see my cats today!” she exclaimed, happily, turning and giving Merlin a big hug. After a while, when she didn’t show any sign of letting up, Merlin spoke again.
“Okay, Selene, I think you need to let go, or I won’t be able to take you to your cats, okay?” Merlin asked, patting her on the back.
“Oh! Yes!” Selene exclaimed, letting go, but grabbing his hand. Considering that she hadn’t had her parents for a while, Selene managed to act pretty normal.

As they walked out of the room, Merlin called to Gaius. “Gaius, I’m just taking Selene out for a walk, don’t wait for us!” he called, before they left and headed out towards the castle and Camelot. Merlin knew a quick route to get them outside, the less time they spent around the people, the easier it would be. They reached the courtyard and Selene seemed to be amazed by everything, because she was slowing down, and moving over to corners to examine things. If she didn’t get a move on, they may not get out of Camelot until dusk. “Selene, are you planning on going to a walk, or just examining every part of this city?” Merlin asked with a smile. He hoped none of the people where watching.

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Word Count:1012
Tags:Selene

Outfit:Usual: Blue top, brown jacket, trousers, red neck scarf thing.
Lyrics:Merlin Am I - Dahm the Bard
Notes:I will probably post as merlin after Selene as these are my two accounts and they usually need to overlap. However, if one is being talked to very percifically, I may jsut use that one then leave it open. Just post when you get the oppotunity!
Complete:Complete

[Gaius Holocaust]

Gaius watched them leave. He wondered what would happen to Selene, what being young and not able to control her powers properly.