its-a-vespa-momâ:Â
He followed Douxie as the wizard and dragon-cat began walking.
âIn Camelot? Wait⊠How old are you?â, Eliâs eyes widened.Â
What Douxie was saying not only meant Camelot was real, but he lived there at some point. But Douxie was⊠Nineteen years old at best, wasnât he? Wait, was Zoe at Camelot too? Because the pink haired girl didnât look that old either.
With all implications of what the wizard said in mind, Eli was too distracted to notice the wincing, although he thought they were walking slower than usual. Anyway, after fighting a Manticore, Douxie was probably tired.
âDid he take you in? As in⊠You and Merlin were like⊠family or something?â Eliâs voice sounded high, as amazed as he was with his recent discoveries.
âDonât worry about that. I think it is cool you have your own place already. I still live with my momâ, he looked away, blushing. It looked childish to admit that while talking with someone who was probably alive centuries ago.
Oh, boy.. He should have expected these questions, shouldnât he.. Especially bringing up both Merlin and Camelot. That.. Yeah, that gave away something about his age, didnât it.. Clearing his throat a moment, he gave a slightly awkward smile, Archie chuckling a moment.
âUh.. Well.. Iâve been around about 900 years, give or take.â He acknowledged. âWizards are.. Well, true wizards, to be specific, are pretty effectively immortal, so..â He trailed off, shaking his head a bit.
âDouxie is Merlinâs apprentice, or.. rather, was.â Archie added. âMerlin sheltered us when King Arthur banned most magic from the kingdom, which.. Well.. After the queen died, the king was pretty angry at magic in general.â
âAnd if not for Merlin, I might not even be here today. But.. Merlinâs no longer around now, so.. yeah..â Another moment or two of introspection, considering all that was said, and Douxie shrugged, hiding another wince of pain. âEnough about that, though. Weâre here.â A gesture to the apartment building he lived in, and Douxie unlocked the door, leading Eli up the stairs to his second-floor apartment, unlocking that door and welcoming him inside.
âAnd this is it. My humble flat 22B. Please forgive the mess, I havenât really cleaned up much yet. Though..â Searching through runes on his bracer, and a flick of his hand, and several things of dirty laundry, as well as a few dirty dishes and scattered chinese food takeout cartons levitated themselves and departed to their proper places. The blanket on the partly lopsided sofa straightened and folded itself, draping across the back of the sofa, and the coffee table gently rocked itself back into a more straightened position.
Another wave of Douxieâs hand, and a round table in the far corner adjusted itself, the cloth draped over it fixing its drooping corners, scattered rune stones and divining bones withdrawing themselves from a flat bowl of water and neatly tucking themselves away in separate dishes on the table. Crystals as well righted themselves on the bookshelf nearby, and a few other odds and ends tucked themselves away in their places. It was still somewhat of a mess around the place, the usual signs of this being the residence of a teenage boy, but at least it was an improvement.
âDouxie.. Remember what Merlin said.â
âI know, I know. Magic doesnât take the place of hard work..â He sighed, waving a hand dismissively. âIâll do some proper cleaning later, Arch, I-â He stumbled, wincing and dropping to his knees, barely managing to catch himself on the arm of the sofa.
âDouxie!â
âI- Iâm okay, Arch, I just-â His breath caught, and he cringed in pain, his breathing coming in short gasps. âI just- ..need a minute- ..I..â And he was on the floor, panting and sweating, growing paler by the second. Archie looked at Eli a moment, before running to his wizardâs side.
For every new information Douxie gave him, Eli formulated more questions, but he decided to save them for later. He understood the subject of Merlin was delicate.
âoh⊠Iâm sorry about that.â Eli said, supposing Merlin was dead by the way Archie talked about him. Since the old wizard took them in to protect them from Arthur (THE Arthur, oh my god, THE KING ARTHUR) he assumed their relationship was close. Maybe similar to a father-son relationship?
âDonât worry, Iâm sure it isâŠâ He began to say when Douxie opened the door. His jaw dropped as things started to levitate. âWow, that is amazing! Was that a spell? Donât you need to say an enchantatment?â He entered the room and saw the cloth dropping over the table. The crystals caught his eyes and before he could even think he was following them to the bookshelf. He read some titles, âHistory of Old Englandâ, âCreating partituresâ, and some that were in a language that looked like old english and he couldnât quite figure it out. He didnât even hear the chat between Archie and Douxie until he heard something hitting the floor.
Not something. Douxie.
âOhmygodmygodmygodâ, he repeated when Archie stared at him.
He ran to the wizardâs side, kneeling near him. His hands moved to loof for wounds on Douxieâs limbs, but he froze right before touching the teenager, not knowing what to do.
âThink, Eli.â He took a breath. âok, Douxie, I think the Manticore hit you!â and now that he was saying it out loud it sounded obvious. He didnât see Douxie getting hit by the claws, but maybe⊠Maybe the tail? Oh, no, no, no. That wasnât good! âArchie, I think he is poisoned! Do you have an antidote? Like⊠Manticore antidote?â. His voice was high again as it usually was everytime he was nervous.
He went back to look for wounds on Douxieâs arms, but didnât find anything. He kept muttering:
âIm sorry, Im sorry⊠Douxie, what do we do?!â He asked when he got to the leg and realized the rip on the fabric. âFound it!â
