The Hope That Comes After Nightmare

"Why should I go with you? What difference does it make?" The boy wondered as he looked around at the destruction in his surrounding. His voice was timid and low.

As he couldn't shed any more tears, his eyes were hollow and blanching. His face was dim and tired.

"I see potential in you," The wizard answered.

Staggered by the wizard, the boy peered at the hooded man.

"Are you insane? Can you not see that I don't possess any magic?"

"No, I am not insane. And yes, you do possess some magic within you. The knowledge of magic that has been passed and spread in the middle realm is not the true nature of magic." He clarified as he stood in front of Merlin.

"What do you mean? Middle realm? Why are you speaking so weirdly?"

It piqued the curiosity of the boy.

"To maintain the balance of the cosmos, The Gods separate the universe into three realms. The realm above men for a group of deities that you often called the Gods and angels, the middle realm is the realm where we, humans, lived. And finally, the realm beneath men is reserved for supernatural creatures. Demons, spirits and many other creatures that are stronger than humans and weaker than gods reside within it."

"I see..." The boy pondered and furrowed.

Merlin was still sceptical at that time, for the strange wizard suddenly uttered a piece of knowledge that the boy never heard before. A part of him wished to believe, but another wished to stay away since he thought the wizard was only trying to comfort him.

"But how does that has anything to do with me being able to perform magic?" Merlin continued to converse with a lack of conviction.

"The thing is, the Gods that you believed in are not actual Gods."

"What?!" Merlin narrowed his eyebrows. He was perplexed.

"They were nothing but men who were able to reach the pinnacle of magic."

"So what now? Are you going to tell me that these people are the reason why I can not perform any magic?" The kid asked snarkily.

"Yes! Due to some circumstances, they have to take on the role of Gods in this world."

"What circumstances?"

"That's a long story. I will tell you later."

"Well that's unfair isn't it?" Merlin's voice lamented.

He sat there on the ground, clenching both of his knees tightly near his chest. A mix of sadness and frustration was plainly etched onto the boy's face.

"I know a way."

"A way to what?"

"Magic."

"How?"

The wizard walked closer to Merlin. He lowered himself and sat cross-legged in front of the curious boy.

"So..., tell me everything you know about magic!" The wizard invited Merlin to a discussion.

Merlin made eye contact with the wizard.

"Why don't you tell me instead? You seem to know more than me." He replied caustically.

The wizard let a gentle smile illustrate his face. Though Merlin seems to drown out by despair, his snarky comment gave the wizard a little hope that the boy might still have some will to live.

The wizard then used simple shield magic to summon a small translucent globe the size not too far from an adult's fist. Inside the ball, the wizard also summoned a spark of fire magic.

"Every single being in this universe is born with a soul core inside our body. This core is conceived from a very thick magical shell, and inside the thick shell, lies our mana." The wizard began to explain.

The orb that the wizard summoned then cracked. The fire inside then turned itself into a form of a human.

Then, the wizard continued "When you've reached adulthood, there will be a ceremony to crack the thick shell, and thus, mana will spread throughout your body."

"Is that what the appraisal ceremony is for?"

"Yes!"

"Then, how do we get our power then?"

"Remember about the men that turn themselves into Gods?"

The wizard then dispelled his magic.

"Yes," Merlin replied.

"These three men, to be exact, turn themselves into Gods to protect the existence of our universe."

"Three people you say?"

"Yes. The first one is the Lord of Law, which creates and governs over the rules of nature and anything in the physical world. The second man called himself the Lord of Chaos and his job is to make sure that the law is properly enforced."

"Well that's a weird name, isn't it? For chaos to govern the concept of order."

"Well, I'm not the one to choose the naming of these people."

"Fair point."

"And lastly, the Lord of The Universe. His task is mainly to preserve and protect the existence of our universe."

"Protect? From what?"

"Other Universes."

"What?!"

"The reason why you are incapable of gaining magic power is that you are a reincarnated being from another universe."

"What?!" Merlin's consciousness was overloaded by the amount of new information that he got from the strange wizard. "Then, how's that has anything to do with me not being able to do magic?" He continued to ask the wizard.

"Since you are a reincarnated being, you possess two layers of soul cores. The appraisal ceremony that happened earlier only managed to crack one of your cores." The wizard replied calmly.

"So you're telling me that if I got my other core to crack, I will be able to perform magic?!" Merlin asked enthusiastically.

Merlin suddenly stood up, and his eyes immediately lit up. The passion that was dimmed by the announcement of the bishop shortly sparks brighter than ever before.

"Then, all I need is to meet the bishop again right?!" Merlin asked with eager enthusiasm.

"Well.., how will you meet him? Do you even know where he lived?"

"Well..., I can ask?" Merlin replied hesitantly.

"Ask who?"

"The neighbouring village, maybe.... Or I can go to a big city...."

"And how will you reach that village or city? Do you even have any knowledge about their location? Can you even survive the journey? Do you know that there are plenty of dangerous beasts and people out there?"

"...." Merlin could only reply with silence. His face turned sour from facing the reality of the cruel world that he lived in. "Wait!!!" He then yelled.

"What is it now, boy?"

"You're a wizard right?"

"Yes, you are correct."

"Then, can you do the appraisal ceremony?!" Merlin asked with a pair of starry eyes full of zeal.

"Technically..., yes."

"Yahoo!!!" The boy jumped in excitement. "Mother! Father....." he continued.

Merlin looked around his surrounding of rubble and dried blood. He was, for a matter of minutes, blinded himself away from the reality of what had happened to his village. His facial complexity was then again, pained.

Not quite far behind the wizard, he saw two makeshift tombstones to mark a grave that was built right next to each other.

Merlin slowly approached the graves.

"Is this all of your doing?" He asked solemnly.

"This is the best I can do. I'm sorry that I couldn't notice it sooner." The wizard replied as he approach the boy.

"It's okay. It's not your fault anyway." Merlin replied placidly.

"Boy, what is your name?"

"Merlin."

"Heka."

The conversation then stopped. Silence then decided to accompany a child who is trying to digest the multitude of anguish and grief from the loss of his family, friends, and home. A pain that anyone had never wished for a child to bear alone.

He then broke the silence by asking the wizard,

"Hey, Heka, can you do the ceremony now?"

"No, not now."

"Why!?" Merlin raised his voice as he looked at Heka.

"There are still plenty of things that you have not to know, and you must learn about them."

"How long do I have to learn?! How long do I have to wait?!"

"Be patient, boy!" The hooded wizard also raised his voice. "I will tell you some of it during our walk home. For now, I want you to focus on resting your body and mind. you must be exhausted from all the chaos that had just occurred," He continued.

"Okay," Merlin said as he lowered his head.

After which they pay their respect to the dead, they slowly head toward the wizard's home.

During their walk through empty houses and fresh graves, the wizard spoke,

"Merlin boy, remember when I said that there is plenty of information that you must learn?"

"Yeah."

"Would you like to learn some of them?"

"Sure," Merlin agreed.