So, I figured I better start writing things down, as I don’t even know if this is a dream or not. Yesterday I was working at my local Target store and today, I learned that magic is not only real, or at least was, but that I can use it. Though it won’t help me much as I doubt I will ever get back to my own time. From the look on Ferd’s face, I gather that time magic isn’t easy or that anyone can even do it. That part saddens me, but the part that I’m excited for is to be able to learn magic. I can’t help but wonder what lies ahead of me once I can master it.

Ferd showed Andrew, Merlin, around the premises for the rest of the day, but all he felt was a numbness inside of him. Oh, sure, there was plenty to see and be excited about and if things had been different he was sure he would have loved it, but at that moment, all he could think about was home. He wondered if time would move on without him. Would people notice he was gone? Would he still exist in the future? Just give it a while, he thought to himself, things will look better.

After Ferd showed Merlin around, he spent the rest of the day in the room where he had woken up, laying on the bed and crying on and off. He didn’t eat supper, but sometime at night, he had heard a knock on the door. When his stomach wouldn’t stop growling, he gave in and got up to sneak to the kitchen. There in front of the door was a tray with some food on it. Whoever knocked must have left it here for me, he thought.

Merlin woke up some time later, he felt a little better now, after having cried and had some time to think about what happened to him. The dresser was filled with different colored robes, but were the same style as the one he was wearing. The same sight as the day before greeted him as he walked into the kitchen.

“Good Morning, All.” Merlin said.

“And good morning, to you as well, Merlin. I see you seem to be feeling better today.” Natalie said, smiling.

“I am, thank you very much.”

“George, Herald, you two know what to do. Natalie, take Arthur and go practice in the west field. Azura you have your chores to finish and then you can go practice in the North field.” Ferd said, giving out instructions to the others.

They all got up and left, Azura looked back before leaving again. Merlin wondered what her deal was. Merlin thought about how it was weird that this would happen to him but as he thought about it his went on a downward spiral, thinking it’s only the second day and he’s already acting happy. Shouldn’t I feel sad longer, for leaving everyone I’ve ever known? Worrying never did anyone any good, and come on, you get to learn magic. Real magic. How awesome is that?

“I will take you to the East field and we will start the basics today, if you are up for it.” Ferd said.

“I’m up for it.” Merlin said and quickly finished his food.

“Follow me.” Ferd said and he got up and waited for him.

Merlin stood up and followed Ferd out the door, and they walked out into the beautiful sunshine. Merlin took a better look around that day, with new eyes seeing the opportunities unfold and imagining what he would be able to do, eventually.

“Now I’m going to start you off with the basics, seeing as how you don’t even feel your magic.” Ferd closed his eyes for a moment and then right behind him the grass parted and stone rose, shaping itself into a chair. When it was done, he opened his eyes and sat down, he gestured for Merlin to do the same. Merlin looked behind him and saw another chair exactly like Ferd’s, He couldn’t help but touch it to make sure it was solid before he sat down. “Now I want you to close your eyes, try to empty your mind of thoughts and breathe slowly.”

Merlin closed his eyes, took a deep breath and let it out slowly and tried to clear his mind. All he could hear was his breathing and heart pounding in his ears.

“Once you have your mind clear, look inside yourself and try to feel the power within you.”

Merlin tried to feel whatever power may be there, but all he could feel was his own body. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath, he shook his arms out and tried to crack his neck. Come on, you can do this, he thought. He relaxed his body and closed his eyes, sitting back he looked inside himself for the power. He had to have sat there for hours before he heard someone walking up to them. He opened his eyes and realized that the sun was getting low and that it was Ferd that was walking towards him.

“I’m glad to see you back with us, you were gone for quite some time.” Ferd said and handed Merlin a plate and then a mug.

Merlin tried to talk but his throat was dry as a desert, he quickly took a drink of whatever was in the mug and felt the liquid wash away the dust and dryness. “What do you mean?” Merlin asked once he could.

“You’ve been unresponsive for almost two days now.” Ferd said as he sat down on the chair. “That’s most unusual for someone who hasn’t felt their power before.”

“I don’t even remember feeling any power or anything inside me either.”

“You must have found it somehow, otherwise you wouldn’t have been immersed for so long.”

Merlin looked off into the horizon and tried to remember what happened when he was looking inside himself, but it was like a dream, just on the edge of his mind but slipping away each time he reached for it.

“Come on, we should get back to the house so you can rest properly.” Ferd said

“Why did you say that it was unusual for someone to stay inside themselves for so long, if they hadn’t touched their power before?” Merlin asked as he caught up with Ferd.

“Well, it’s not unusual for people new to their magic to stay inside themselves for periods of time. What is unusual is that you did it for two days. The longest I’ve seen anyone stay in before this was about six hours. See when someone hasn’t touched their magic before, they obviously have to find it first, which takes time. So most people will spend hours a day looking inside. Some find it their first try, while others don’t find it for a week or two. Then once they find it, they have to figure out how to access it at will, which takes more time. Then they must figure out how to shape it, or cast a spell. So, it’s all about time and patience, but while you search I can still teach you theories for everything.”

“So then where does that leave me?” Merlin asked. “Since I was inside for so long but I can’t remember anything.”

Ferd looked at Merlin, “right now, I’m not exactly sure. Do you feel like you’ve gained any knowledge about your magic?”

Merlin thought about that but it seemed like all his thoughts about magic were like oil, just slipping right through the cracks in his mind. “No, but I feel like I learned something, though what that was I’m not exactly sure.”

They reached the house shortly after their conversation. Natalie was working outside, sitting on the edge of a round pool, washing clothes. She had long black hair and brown eyes that seemed to take in everything and showed a lot of compassion. She was only about five foot four, but she carried herself with a lot of confidence. She turned towards us as we got closer and waved at us. Arthur was cutting wood, just beyond the pool where Natalie was. He wasn’t much taller than her, only about five foot six, but he still had a few years to grow. He had long brown hair that covered his ears and hung down and almost covered his eyes. He didn’t look muscular but from the way he swung the axe, I could tell he was strong. He did look kind of lanky but I figured he still was growing. He had quite a bit of wood stacked up that was ready to be brought into the house and to the lean to.

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Ferd and Merlin walked over to the well and washed up before heading into the house. George and Herald were sitting in two chairs in front of the fireplace, napping. Merlin didn’t like either one of them, and he got the feeling they didn’t like him. George was the taller of the two, at about five foot ten. He had blond hair with a short, almost military type, haircut and moustache. On his face was a scar, just below his left eye, that ran down to his neck. It wasn’t puckered or nasty looking, it gave him an almost roguish look, that he wouldn’t have doubted a lot of women would find beddable. Herald on the other hand, had longer reddish hair, he was in between Natalie and Arthur for height, about five foot five, but he was stockier, with wide shoulders and a bigger belly, he looked like he did as little work around the house as possible. Though Merlin imagined he was stronger than he looked.

Azura was in the kitchen, cooking supper, Merlin imagined it was her that had prepared the platter that Ferd had given him. She had shoulder length chestnut hair, with green eyes and she moved around the kitchen with the grace of a dancer, her five foot eight-inch frame flowing from one position to the next as easily as water falls from a cliff, Merlin was easily enchanted with her dance that he couldn’t help but stare.

“I wouldn’t stare too long, my boy.” Ferd whispered in my ear.

Merlin jumped a bit at Ferd’s words, he hadn’t noticed him standing so close to him. “Umm…I…wasn’t…staring…” Merlin slowly said as his eyes kept watching Azura move.

“Sureee you weren’t. You should see the collection of frogs she has in her room. They all used to be young men.” Ferd said with a smirk as he walked away, heading for the stairs.

“Wait! What did you say?” Merlin exclaimed as he blinked the enchantment away and looked for Ferd.

With his commotion, Merlin had inadvertently drawn the attention of Azura. He slowly turned and saw that she had stopped what she was doing and was looking at him funnily. “Umm, sorry about that. Do you need any help?” He asked her.

“Well since you asked, you can take the bucket out to the well and bring in some water and put it over the fire.” She said as she turned away.

As she turned away, Merlin caught a hint of a smirk on her lips. Merlin grabbed the bucket and went outside, walking to the well, Natalie called him.

“So, Azura put you to work, did she?” Natalie said with a smile.

“I volunteered.” Merlin answered

“Oh, so she caught you staring then, huh.” Natalie said with a little laugh.

Merling groaned and pulled the bucket up and poured the water into the other one to bring inside. I’m never going to hear the end of this from her. He thought as went inside. He turned and headed towards his room, stealing one quick glance at her before ascending the stairs. Sitting at the desk, putting his head into his hands and thinking about the last few days. How could I have spent two days meditating and not remember any of it? Where is my magic located? Why do George and Herald dislike me? Why do I dislike them? What’s Azura’s story? He shook his head at the last question, that should be the last thing on your mind. He couldn’t help but laugh at that, he was in a new land, in a new time and yet he was still thinking about women.

Merlin leaned back in the chair and blew out a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling, he closed his eyes and turned inwards. At first, he didn’t feel anything except his heart hammering in his chest and blood rushing through his ears. He cleared his mind of those distractions and kept looking inward, starting at his feet, he slowly examined them, feeling for any sign of his magic, nothing. He slowly moved up his right leg, reaching his hip, he slowly started back down the left leg. He reached his foot, still finding nothing, he moved up to his groin area, smothering a laugh at the thought, but checking it anyways, he didn’t find anything. He slowly moved back and forth, up his abdomen, searching for anything. As he reached his heart, he faintly felt a slight pull. he stopped and remained there, moving ever so slightly back the way he had come, until he felt the pull again.

The feeling was like when he would drop suddenly going down a hill. His stomach felt like it was being pushed up into his throat and being dropped lower into my body. The feeling wasn’t very strong though but he could still feel it. he figured he had found his magic, but wanting to be thorough, he continued to search. Back and forth he went, the rest of the way up his chest and onto his neck. He started looking at his jaw and wasn’t very hopeful as there wasn’t much left and he had already found his magic, but he kept going, back and forth, up into his head, when he reached the middle of his head, he felt the same feeling when he was over his heart. he kept moving, slowly, and felt the feeling get slightly stronger, moving past the spot it started to get weaker so he moved back to it.

Coming out of his meditation, he opened his eyes and sat up, looking around, I wonder how long I was out for this time? Just then he heard a knock on his door, followed by Natalie’s voice.

“Hey Merlin, are you going to come down for supper anytime soon?”

“Yep, I’m coming right now.” He answered.

Merlin went downstairs and everyone was already at the table. they all seemed to have their own seats. It was quiet as they all ate the food was delicious, as usual. Merlin wondered where Azura learned to cook like this.

The days continued, as Ferd kept training Merlin in how to access and control his magic. After a few weeks, Merlin had learned plenty of theory with Ferd, but when he tried to feel his magic when he was with Ferd for some reason, it always failed.

Now, Andrew was never good at performing in front of other people, he had hated public speaking in school and could never talk to girls without anxiety creeping up. But Andrew wanted Merlin to be everything that he wasn’t, though that didn’t stop his body from foiling his attempts. Merlin attributed his not being able to access his magic in front of Ferd to his anxiety, as he felt it creep up every time Ferd wanted him to try something practical. Merlin knew he could do it, he’d been in touch with both points of his magic for two weeks now, and when he was in his room he could do the practical spells. But when he was with Ferd they just wouldn’t work.

That only made Merlin want to practice more on his own. He was practicing every free moment he had alone. He started out small, just getting used to feeling his magic. Then starting with some of the more basic spells Ferd was teaching him, those only took him a couple days to figure out. By the end of the first week he was making things float, throwing things across the room, all that fun stuff. By the end of the second week, he had started being able to do some small things around Ferd, though nothing like what he was doing when he was alone.

“Very good, Merlin.” Ferd congratulated, when the stone Merlin was making float stayed aloft for a whole ten seconds.

“It’s not bad, but I know I can do better.” Merlin said as he let go of the magic holding the stone.

“You’ll get there, don’t worry. Everyone just takes their own time in figuring things out. Arthur took three months to be able to do what you just did. Natalie took one month, while Azura was able to do it in just six days.”

“Six days, is that good?” Merlin asked. He had figured she was good with magic, heck they all seemed to be. “Does that make her really good then?”

“Not necessarily. I’ve known people who did it in a shorter amount of time that were no better than mere street performers when they left. I’ve also known people who took months to learn it and end up being very gifted. She just has a natural talent for magic is all.”

After he said that, Merlin started to wonder if he was a natural at magic. It did only take him three days to figure out how to do this, it just took him longer to be able to do it in front of Ferd. He continued to practice, as it was still before mid-day, and it seemed like with every successful attempt he did in front of Ferd, his confidence went up just a little also.

Ferd told him, the more he worked his magic, the stronger it would get. Merlin just wished he wouldn’t feel so out of shape from seemingly doing nothing. After he had successfully held a golf ball sized stone for five minutes, Ferd had him lift a bigger stone for five minutes. Then he had him lift a bigger one, and so it went until he was lifting a basketball sized stone for a minute. With all the lifting and no breaks between stones, Merlin was tired.

“So why don’t I get any breaks between stones?” Merlin asked, in between sips of water.

“If you took a break between each stone, you wouldn’t be working your magic as much.” Ferd said as he created a chair and sat down. “If you use your magic continuously until you almost run out, then when you regain your energy, you’ll be able to go for longer or do more powerful magic. While if you stop for more than a minute to rest, after each stone, then your energy will replenish and you will only gain a little bit more energy in which to feed your spells.”

So now that Merlin knew how to become stronger, he was going to start some supplemental training on his own. he decided then, that if he couldn’t make it back home, he wanted to be strong enough to be able to protect himself and those in need, if he could. “So how long does it take to regain energy to be able to start the process over again?”

“It depends on the person usually. The more experienced and powerful they are, their energy will replenish faster, but they’ll usually have a larger pool. Where someone like yourself, or Arthur, while inexperienced, will replenish a little slower, but also have a smaller pool to refill.”

Merlin thought about that for a moment, and it made sense. I wonder if he refers to the energy as mana at all? He thought to himself. He stood back up, took a deep breath and looked inside himself at his magic. Even though he couldn’t see a number or any sort of read-out, he could feel how much magic he had and how fast it was refilling. Opening his eyes, he looked around the field and couldn’t believe it had only been about a month ago that he was in the future and that magic was just a myth.