Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.
I'm also occasionally chilling in JaxWolf4's (Author of Nah, I'd Adapt and Zenin Days) Discord Server. It's a chaotic lobotomy mess. Not for the faint of heart.
Here's the link:
Disc: HrPrTeam
-Story Start-
Alex's slumbering form was struck with an immediate sense of bliss - the heavenly softness of the flowerbed beneath him, the delicate loving touch of the sunlight upon his skin, the subtle breeze of the wind.
This sensory overload had immediately clued him into his whereabouts - Avalon.
It was this apparent realization that stirred Alex awake and prompted his move; his eyelids gently blinking open as he was greeted with the wide blue sky.
The very air was thick with what appeared to be Mana, something that would ordinarily make anyone else implode upon one little huff.
He took a moment to process his sudden summoning, and with it:
"Nice. I thought he'd take his sweet time." He couldn't help but admit with a tiny, grateful smile directed at he who shall not be named.
Though as he lay there, he couldn't help but feel something amiss, "No Beast to guide me to the Wizard?" Alex muttered with slight perplexity as he raised his upper body, his right hand tightly clutching onto Excalibur.
As he rose, his dull amber eyes narrowed down on the not-so-distant yet looming ethereal tower that served as the prison of the one who welcomed him back into paradise.
"Guess no need for a guide when he knows I'll be heading out for him anyway."
The fact that he needed Merlin's help wasn't lost on Alex.
Nor was it lost on Merin himself, obviously.
It was quite literally a one-sided dependency. And knowing Merlin's personality quite well, Alex was preparing to be handed out scraps - if he was lucky, anyhow.
Indeed, as he rose up to his full height, Alex almost lost his smile to exchange it with his usual deadpan at that clear realization, but it was kept intact as he was still in literal paradise.
He didn't know what exactly Merlin summoned him for, surely not guidance, but even if he got nothing out of it...
'Just visiting this place is worth it.' Alex admitted with a firm appreciative nod, his steps reverbrating steadily as he strolled through the flowery hills and plains heading towards Merlin's grandiose prison, enjoying the view and feel of this place with each passing moment.
-----------------------------
Arriving once more at the base of the stunning tower, Alex lifted his head to look up at the endlessly stretching tower as he took a deep breath in preparation to strain his voice.
Only to pause in the act as the tower suddenly began sinking into the flower-clad ground below it at an astonishing pace.
Alex's stoic expression held no surprise as he calmly observed the tower sinking into the earth through means that would probably elude him for the rest of his life and simply labeled - 'Magic or Magecraft, whatever'.
A short moment later, Alex's dull amber eyes were met with the playful gaze of the rainbow-haired Merlin.
"Hello Merlin, thanks for bringing me here last time. And now." Alex quickly gave him an appreciative nod and a thumbs-up.
Completely ignoring the gratitude, Merlin supplied, "It has been quite a while, hasn't it, Alexander?"
"Less than a week. Though I do agree, it does feel like it has been a while with what's happened." Alex nonchalantly agreed.
"Well, time is a fickle thing here in Avalon," Merlin chuckled, waving his hand casually, "I must say, this is quite the odd timing, Alexander." He cheerily announced with a finger on his chin, his knowing grin practically screaming he knew or was up to something.
Blinking, Alex inquired, "Why? Weren't you the one who summoned me?"
Merlin nodded, "That I did, but I was just done speaking with a few people of interest who could need Excalibur to deal with their troubles." He calmly gestured at the miracle held in Alex's right hand.
Arching an eyebrow, Alex took a moment to process Merlin's infuriatingly playful and enigmatic words.
To which he could only sigh audibly, and meet Merlin's gaze, "Where do I need to go?"
A soft hum escaped Merlin's lips, "Hmm?" He tilted his head, "Offering to go yourself instead of offering Excalibur?"
Merlin's words made Alex pause for a moment, to which he nodded, "Yeah, does it matter? Is there someone else who could wield it?"
...
Merlin's tone shifted; it had lost the prior playfulness, left with but the coldness that lay underneath his human-like exterior:
"And if there was?"
Alex froze at those words, his grip on Excalibur's hilt tightening as his eyes lowered to meet its brilliant light.
In his eyes.
In his mind.
In his hands.
It had always felt like the Sword of Promised Victory could speak, hear his pleas, answer his calls - yet the language had always been muffled.
The message left for interpretation.
What answer was it whispering now?
What did it seek from him?
He kept asking those questions, he had begun to accept his role as her chosen wielder.
The notion of someone else being its possible wielder had crossed his mind before, he knows himself well enough, he truly has no idea what Excalibur had seen in him.
But now presented with the option of giving to someone else? To someone also worthy of being a wielder?
He shouldn't have hesitated; he knew in the beginning he would have given it out in a heartbeat.
And yet - here he was.
Biting his lips, Alex's grip faltered as he stood in profound contemplation.
...
Alex's lips parted as he was about to supply his answer, "I-"
Merlin swiftly cut him off, his jovial tone reverbrating in the utopia, "Not that it matters, the issue has already been dealt with. Besides, you wouldn't amount to much over there as you are right now."
Frowning, Alex inquired, "You didn't call me here just to mess with me, right?"
"Not at all, I had sent out a mere projection of myself to guide those troubled individuals. Whilst they have to make-do with a fake, you are getting guidance from the genuine article! You should feel honored~!"
Nodding, Alex took what was handed to him at face value, "The guidance I need is a way to remove that parasite from me. You mentioned a possibility, right?"
Merlin nodded, "I did."
"What do I have to do so you give me a solution to my predicament?" Alex cut to the chase.
Merlin's lips lifted as his smile widened, "Is an immediate solution to an issue truly guidance?"
"Leave me out of the philosophy and flowery poetry, I'm not built for it." Alex deadpanned and admitted immediately.
Merlin shook his head, "I'm afraid you overestimate my abilities. The affairs and workings of a Divine of another world are beyond my current capabilities, I am still a helpless prisoner." He shrugged.
Huffing through his nose, Alex adhered to his life philosophy and quickly...
Gave up.
'Trying to get a straight answer out of the shadiest of men is impossible.'
"Okay, so if I'm not getting a straight answer... what do you want? And what do I get in return?"
"Guiding the wielder of-"
Alex cut him off, "For now, that is, but later?"
Merlin admitted with an unfazed expression at Alex's blatant suspicion, "I'm impressed by your foresight and caution. I was under the impression you were far less forward-thinking." He genuinely praised.
"I am. But it's you. The shadiest of men." Alex's honed instincts when dealing with shady men were flaring code red with each passing moment in Merlin's presence.
"I do wonder when I got that title." Merlin's voice resonated like a bell as he let out a light chuckle.
A moment of silence passed, and Merlin put a stop to the game of cat and mouse. "While it saddens me you have yet to let your guard down and trust in me, you are right, there is something I need you to do."
Merlin dramatically started, "And that is..." he paused, letting the tension weigh down on Alex, who was completely unimpressed, "something I don't need from you right now. But I guarantee it is but a small favor!" He gave a cheeky smile.
"So you'll give me the answer, and I owe you a small favor?"
"I don't have the answ-"
'Was worth a try.'
"Okay, I got it. You'll 'guide' me to it or help me reach it, right?"
"That's right!"
"...I'll take it." Alex nodded and accepted the impromptu trade-offer.
Silence enveloped them once more, as Alex was loading up his next question.
Merlin gestured knowingly at Alex with an indulgent expression, "Ask away."
"How do I remove Avalon?" He pointed out the first important question due to... recent events.
"I wouldn't be so quick to remove it, unless you want to fall right into that parasite's hands for eternity," Merlin warned casually.
Before Alex could ask why, Merlin answered immediately, "It's what protects your body from being tampered with by that Magic."
Blinking multiple times consecutively in confusion as he recalled that instance of Avalon blocking his body from being tampered with when initially sent to Purgatory, Alex couldn't help but voice his thoughts, "I wasn't this strong when I took over this body in Remnant. I got pumped with a whole lot of Dragon blood or something. So what you're saying is-"
"Contradictory? It's simply a matter of granting you these things in the correct order, nothing more," Merlin lectured, gesturing to the floor below him as if it were nothing impressive.
In an impressive display of his skills, flowers grew on the stone to sketch a small figure of Alex. From his body was an arrow pointing towards a small textbox resembling the System's notification, and then from there was an arrow pointing at Excalibur and then Avalon in that order.
"Your body was tampered with first, the Magic attaching itself as well, handing you Excalibur of course, and only then was Avalon's contract and the sheath forced into you. Making any subsequent changes impossible unless removed."
Lifting his head from the small flower sketches he casually drew up, he added, "Had Avalon been given to you first, this could not have been feasible."
Silence reigned as Alex digested Merlin's words, carefully reading into each word as best he could.
Nodding, Alex mentioned, "How limited is the System? I get that Excalibur and Avalon are beyond it."
Merlin stated rather enigmatically, "Quite limited. It had obtained the pair... rather circumstancially." He added with a lighter tone, "As a matter of fact, survey its prior tasks that you had yet to complete, maybe you'll notice something of importance?"
Alex noted the advice and shelved it for later, "Will do, thanks."
He pressed on, "Even so, I would still like to know how to remove it, even if for but a moment."
Merlin's smile broadened at Alex's inquiry, "It is normally possible with awareness of your Prana, but given you have Aura, without knowledge or capability of converting it from one form to the other, and vice versa, taking it out is impossible."
"Then what do I have to do?" Alex nodded in understanding as he, at the very least, got a normal answer out of the Magus of Flowers.
"You have to gain awareness and understanding of Mana, whose difference from Prana is paper thin, with this understanding, the connection between Prana and Aura should be easier to grasp - from there, learning to convert your Aura from one form to the other is child's play." Merlin supplied in an instant as he drew on his flowery floor canvas.
Alex processed the information, not seeming to understand it quite well, so he lifted his head to get the immediate answer from the imprisoned wizard, "And I do that... how?"
Merlin's broad grin stood unchanged.
No, that was a lie.
It had broadened considerably, a chilling aspect to it as an almost nostalgic feeling coursed through the half-incubus's whole being.
"Like so." He sang-songed with a gleeful, sadistic smile, to which Alex felt himself launched a few hundred feet into the air in an instant.
His instincts barely registered being hit by what appeared to be a blast of pure Mana, as he slung through the air.
The pain was only momentary, a millionth of a second even, as Avalon's nature has a Utopia made injury and death impossible.
Alex suppressed a hint of surprise at the fact that Merlin easily cut through his supposed Magic Resistance like a hot knife through butter.
Before he could even notice, he got hit.
With an explosive boom that kicked up a great deal of dust, rock, and flowers into the air, Alex's whole body was embedded within one of the many flowery hills of Avalon.
There was no pain as he slowly lifted himself up from the crater he had created courtesy of Merlin, and noted how far away he was from the tower.
"Is this really necessary?"
To Be Continued!
-Author Note Start-
Spoiler, it's not necessary.
By simply being in Avalon's absurdly mana-rich environment, Alex's awareness will grow on its own.
Merlin is just being nostalgic, and Merlin.
He has AGENDA to train Alex - he's a nicer guy here than when he was with Artoria, if it helps you a bit. I plan on showcasing a smidgen of development for the guy.
Also, Merlin has the answer, but he's Merlin, which Alex could already tell. I'd probably have tried to choke him out and lost my patience if I were him.
He fr bettah then me.
Though I am not one to stretch things out unnecessarily, nor make Alex as stupid as possible, most of the time.
The method of removing the System is rather simple and risky, and should happen once Merlin gets what he wants or Alex figures it out, which is relatively soon (plotwise, not with my pace of writing lol).
Frankly, the two of those options are feasible and should happen roughly at the same time.
Also, the mention of Excalibur being converted from Mana to Aura and vice-versa will be discussed at a later point.
I didn't forget it (Allegedly).
But Alex did.
Also, make sure to smack Merlin for dropping a few spoilers; he's a naughty one, that guy.
As for how he can see them given his Clairvoyance?
Avalon the Realm + Merlin = A whole lotta bag of jellybeans.
My interpretation anyhow!
And as always, I beg mercy of thee, Nasuverse Professors, in the case of any mistakes.
On that note, Love ya and bu bye!