The Artist's Touch

Chapter 5
Shocking Truthes

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Chapter Description: Heather and Derek find out what really makes the pencil tick as a new story gets ready to begin . . . .

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“Rise and shine, darlings. You’ve got such a busy day ahead of you.” Heather’s eyes burst open, looking around for the source of the voice that had awakened her. Derek woke up groggy, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

“Whose that Aunty?” Derek asked through yawns.

“I don’t know, Derek.”

“Aw, you know me! We all had so much fun together yesterday!” The voice said with a cruel tone.

“Aunt Heather, I’m scared.” Derek said as he huddled next to Heather, who instinctively covered him with her hands.

“Who are you?”

“Ah, pleasantries. I was never really good at them. My name is Morgause. You know, sister of Morgan, mother of Mordred, half-sister to Arthur, all that stuff. I’m a fay, and after my ?treacherous’ deeds, aka trying to make my son the ruler of Camelot instead of my bumbling brother, his advisor trapped me in stone. But you, my loves, have released me into the mortal world.”

“Released you?”

“Yes, released me. Fortunately for me, the stone I was in is used by your kind to manufacture that useless writing tool you call a pencil. I transferred my essence into a single one, and slowly but surely my power began to grow again.”

“Wait, so you’re saying you make our pencil magical.”

“Precisely why we had so much fun yesterday! After all, I destroyed your work’s power cords, turned the man into a boy and back several times, gave him everything a child could need and wiped his mind away when you asked. The bigger magics I create, the more power I regained, until now I stand before you as a granite shell of myself. And now that I’m out and about, I want to be whole again.”

“What do you mean by whole again?”

“I want my mortal form back. With so many centuries gone by, I can now claim this entire world as my own. And all I need are you two.”

“What are you gonna do with us?” Derek asked while shivering, not quite understanding what was going on.

“Well, in order to regain my human form, I need to give birth to a human. These enchantments work quite simply, really.”

“Well, good luck finding a guy when you’re made of stone.”

“Ah, you’re a funny girl! There’s nothing in the rule book that says I need to bear kids the natural way.” Morgause snapped her fingers, and instantly Heather felt strange inside. The sensation sent shivers up her spine. She looked over into a mirror that was placed in Derek’s makeshift room, watching in horror as her face and body were slightly off their norm. Derek was also suffering too, he looked younger and his pajamas didn’t fit him as well as they had did this morning.”

“Have you figured it out yet? You two will be my children! I promise I’ll be a good mother!”

“You can’t do that, you crazy bitch!”

“Oh my, temper. Of course I can. Didn’t you do the same thing to Derek? You took advantage of the fey as well to make your own ends. I’m sure that he wouldn’t have been so pleasant last night if it wasn’t for me altering his mind a bit.”

“What?”

“Well, you asked for him to ?embrace being a kid again’. You even said I wish! You were practically being me to make him younger. And speaking of younger, it looks like he’s ready now.” Heather looked over to see a newborn infant lying on its back next to her; Morgause swiftly walked over to pick Baby Derek up. Morgause shimmered in the light, her granite body reflecting in the morning sun her body adjusted to the form of a heavily pregnant woman. She took the baby, and placed him insider herself, a place where, if she was human, her ovary would have been.

“Ahh, I can feel it already.” Morgause announced as Heather’s shirt slipped down a little bit, revealing her young, preteen skin.

“However, I’m afraid that you two will need to start from scratch in order for me to be released on the world, so down you go sweaty.” As she got even younger herself, Heather watched in horror as Morgause’s pregnant belly withered away until it wasn’t even noticeable.

“And now, at lease part of me is human. After all, I can’t kill anyone while I?m cursed, so that very curse forces certain organs to become human again. Want to say good bye to your friend?” Morgause pushed her ?human organ’ as she bluntly called it out of her body for Heather to see. Derek was no more then a large cluster of human goop, getting smaller by the second. Heather fell down on her back, she realized that she couldn’t be older then one now that she had lost all body strength.

“Ahh, nothing can stop me now.” Morgause declared as Heather drew dangerously close to the prenatal years. However, like all villains who gloat before their victory is upon them, someone opened the front door.

“Heather? It’s me, Rodger. Are you home?” Now barely a few months old, Heather couldn’t respond, but Morgause’s laughter crackled in her ears.

“It appears that you’re going to be a triplet, my dear. Let me see to my guest before I finish you off.” Morgause left the room, in search of Rodger.

“Rodger my dear, at last we meet.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Morgause, and you will further my cause.”

“Where is Heather? What have you done to her?”

“Well my dear, it is quite simple really. I am using her to my means. She will soon be my daugher, and you will be one of my sons.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Am I? It has already begun, and even faster then before! My power is returning to me!” Rodger was in awe as his yellow muscle shirt, which was a tight fit on him before, easily slid down off of his untoned shoulders. The room had become much larger, and as he inspected himself, he saw tiny feet wearing ridiculously over sized flip flops. His shorts were already on the floor, wrapped cleanly around his legs, and his muscle shirt was suspended off of his one shoulder.

“Aw, you can’t be much older then four now. You’re such a cutie! I’ll be proud to call you my son!”

“You won’t be calling anyone your son, you old hag.” A blast of energy hit Morgause square in the chest, and her ovary with the completely unaged Derek in it flew out of her body.

“No! I won’t let you trap me again, Merlin!”

“I see now that you cannot be contained. I had hoped that granting wishes of the many would make you more benevolent, but you are certainly rotten to the core. I am not here to banish you, Morgause.” An old man wearing brilliant blue robes with a silvery beard and half-moon glasses appeared from nowhere with one ancient hand upon Rodger’s shoulder.

“I will now destroy you.” With one magical motion, the ovary remained where it was in the air, and Morgause imploded upon herself, leaving behind a tiny, wooden pencil and a drawing which Merlin quickly snatched up.

“It looks like I will need to repair the damage dealt here.” Merlin sighed heavily.

“Where am I mister, and what stinks?” Merlin noticed the smell in the air as well, and he found a small baby lying on a Pokemon bed.

“I suppose this is Heather, and from the smell of it no one is going to want to use those sheets again.”

“Nuh huh! Even if Pikachu is super cool, I dun wanna sleep in poopy!”

“Well said, Rodger. Well, let’s take this junk and go to my house for milk and cookies.”

“My mommy said that I should never take milk and cookies from a stranger.”

“I’m not a stranger son.” Merlin laughed as he put his hand on the child’s head, “You’ve known me your whole life.”

“Well, okay then.”

“Alright then, I’ll pack this up,” with a motion, the apartment was completely bare and everything was tucked away inside of a bag sitting at Merlin’s feet.

“No loose ends to tie and now we’re off!” And with that, the baby, boy, and the old man completely vanished along with the lives of Rodger, Derek, and Heather.

* * * * *

“I suppose everything turned out well then.” Merlin said to himself as he closed a book which he had crafted from the memories of himself and everyone who experienced the strange events.

“I truly love memory books, especially magic ones. Not only do I get to reflect on the things that bring people to my lovely town, but it also removed them from the people’s minds. Rodger and Heather both ate my ’cookies’ and regained their age, while Derek got what everyone needs, somebody to love them.” Merlin smiled as he replaced the book in onto a shelf. The room he was in was his private array of books, written in every language and form possible.

“It most certainly is good to be home.” Merlin left is quarters for the front end of s tiny shop as dawn’s first glow entered the store. Inside were objects of every variety, from bottles of rare perfumes and colognes, to mirrors, rings, and jewelry, even a few strange objects even Merlin had difficulty remembering their types and purposes. He placed a pencil in a silver box and placed it upon one of his racks.

“Ah, I do hope Rodger and Heather bring their little boy over to visit again. I must say they’ve been a joy to speak to since they moved here.” Merlin walked outside to where a small wooden sign reading ?Spells R Us’ hung. Not quite satisfied, Merlin rubbed his long beard for a few seconds.

“Ah ha! Spells R Us was my mall chain! I believe a new name is in order for my small town variety.” With a snap of his fingers, Merlin’s sigh now read ?Merlin’s Mystic Shop of Wonders’, and was embroidered with a dimming golden finish.

“Much better! It reminds me of my dear friend Mr. Copper. I should really check in with Madeline sometime soon. I never got that book back from her.” Merlin said as he flipped an ?open’ sign in the doorway. Almost immediately, the doorbell rang as someone walked inside.

“Welcome to Merlin’s Mystic Shop of Wonders,“ Merlin smiled at the young man who walked into his store. “Take a look around, I’m sure you’ll find exactly what you need . . . .”

THE END, For now . . .

If you liked this, want to see exactly what happened to Derek, Rodger, and Heather, keep your eyes peeled for "On Merlin’s Shelf". That is, if the Archieve wants it . . .

 

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