Merlin's Big Surprise

Ivy took Sara for a quick tour of the cove while Tulip went and got her sisters to meet Sara. While Tulip was gone Sara got down on her hands and knees and looked at her reflection in the water. Wow, I am pretty too, said Sara. Yep you sure are but everyone in Fae Land is pretty, said Ivy. When Tulip came back with his sisters she introduced each of them to Sara. It is getting close to lunch time so why don't we all go to the palace and eat with Alieta and Ginger, said Pippie. Well we just had soup and ice cream at my place said Ivy. You all go and I will show Sara how the overviewer works. Okay they all said and flew out of the cove and forest. Fairies seem to be very happy, said Sara. Yes they usually are and they love making other people happy too, said Ivy. When the fairies reached the palace they saw Alieta sitting on the steps. Hello girls, I saw Ivy go in the forest with Sara so how did it go in there? asked Alieta. Sara said I was pretty and had beautiful wings, said Tulip. Yep she said all of us were pretty said Lilly. We really like Sara. Well that is good to hear, said Alieta. So is it lunch time already? Yep so what do you want and where is Ginger? asked Tulip. She is in the elf village checking on things, said Alieta. She is going to need Lilly to make some new furniture for Grace and Liza soon though. I can do that now, said Lilly. No first lets eat then I want you all to meet a very special friend of mine, said Alieta. Just make me a nice sandwich on a bun please. Okay, what about Phonixa and Repellia? asked Tulip. They took Grace to the town to do some shopping, said Alieta. It's just us here for lunch today, said Alieta. Tulip made a corn beef on a bun for Alieta then everyone else just made something for themselves. After they were all finished Alieta asked them to all gather around her. Now I want you all to meet a special person that is very magical, even more magical then you all, said Alieta. Oh really, we all love magic, said Sunflower. Yes I know, said Alieta. Alieta called for Merlin and said she had six very special new people for him to meet. Merlin appeared and said six this time? Oh my what do we have here, he said. Smaller than a sprite and smaller than a pixie, Are these fairies? he asked. Yes they are. My goodness, they all are so pretty, he said. Lovely wings too! Now girls go one at a time please and introduce yourself to Merlin the wizard that is the most powerful of all wizards. Wow a real wizard. We have never seen a real wizard before, said Tulip. And I have never seen a real fairy before either, said Merlin with a big smile.

Each girl went up to him and introduced themself to Merlin. Each girl left with a smile on their face. He is very nice and funny, said Tulip to Alieta. So girls, will you be staying long in Fae Land? Merlin asked. Yep, we live here now, said Lilly. Really and he turned to Alieta. They all live here now? How did you manage that? asked Merlin. It is a long story Merlin. I will tell you all about it later, said Alieta. Well I am looking forward to it. So is it true that you all can do magic with a special wand? asked Merlin. Yep, we all have our own wand, said Sunflower. Now Merlin, their mother is the queen of Fairy Land, so you know what that means, said Alieta. Yes these six are all fairy princesses. I read that they have the strongest magic of all fairies, said Merlin. Alieta said that you are very magical too, said Chestnut. Well yes, wizards are very magical. I am just the best, he said with a smile. Let me show you. Merlin waved his hand and big tree appeared. See, did you like that? he asked. Yep that is cool we can't make trees or plants, said Tulip. Tulip made her wand appear and pointed it at the tree then hundreds of gold bells appeared in different sizes ringing away a nice tune. We can do that though, do you like it? asked Tulip. My goodness, very much so, said Merlin. Merlin then waved his hand and turned the tree into a big candy cane. With six presents at the bottom. Wow that is amazing, said Lilly. You even undid our magic and made something else. Well not exactly. You see I used your magic that was making the bells ring and used it to help make the candy cane. A bit of a short cut you might say, said Merlin. Now look in the presents at the base of the cane, one for each of you. They did that and each present had a little kitten in it. Kittens, said Sunflower. We can't do that either. It is not allowed. Well these kittens are just temporary and will disappear soon because only one person is allowed to make permanent kittens, said Merlin. Yep we know, said Roseberry. So can you make food, asked Merlin. Yep, that is how we feed ourselves, said Tulip. Okay then give each kitten a little treat, said Merlin. They all made their wands appear and made treats for the kittens they were holding. These girls are wonderful, said Merlin to Alieta. Yes they are, very special but they can only use their magic for good, even if being attack by something bad. They cannot harm or kill anything, said Alieta. Though they can shrink down very tiny so you can barely see them then fly away. Perfect defense for such special beings, said Merlin. Okay girls stand back, time to get rid of the candy cane and kittens. He waved his hand and all disappeared. You have the strongest magic we have ever seen, said Lilly. Well I have been around for a very long time and have learned much over the years. We are old too, said Tulip. Really, said Merlin, you all look so young. Yep I am one hundred and eight I think and Lilly is over three hundred and my two oldest sisters and our mother won't tell us how old they are. Merlin laughed. Yes just like a woman. How old are you? Oh I don't know dear. I stopped counting after the first century, said Merlin. Wow centuries. That is a long time, said Tulip. So Merlin, there is someone else new I want you to meet that arrived this morning, said Alieta. Could one of you girls go tell Ivy that Merlin is here please.

In a few minutes Pippie came back with Ivy and Sara. Okay girls give them some space to talk, said Alieta. My, my Ivy who have you got there? asked Merlin. This is Sara. God made her today so she could help me with the forest and the plants, said Ivy. Really, God made you a helper, I didn't know you were over worked, said Merlin. Well it is not hard work but once I train Sara how to control the magic in the fairy forest then we will be able to take turns, said Ivy. I see, so Sara let me have a look at you, said Merlin. You are a very pretty girl just like Ivy. Yep, I saw my reflection in the pool and I am pretty which is good because Ivy said everyone in Fae Land is pretty. Yes that is very true, said Merlin. Sara reached out and pulled on Merlin's beard. What is this for? asked Sara. Sara don't pull Merlin's beard, said Ivy. That is quite alright, seeing she is not even one day old yet, she is going to have a lot of questions, said Merlin. Your telling me, said Ivy. Merlin smiled. Well Sara a beard really doesn't have a purpose, it is more of a preference, said Merlin. Some men like to be clean shaven and some like to have a beard. I think it makes me look more like a wizard. Okay, will I grow a beard and have to shave too? asked Sara. I like the way I look now. No dear, girls don't grow beards, said Merlin. Well I am glad you like how you look, that is important. So Ivy what exactly are you teaching Sara in this fairy forest? You said something about controlling magic. Yep I control all the magic in the fairy forest from the fairy cove that has a pool in it with very strong magic in it that controls all the trees plus I can control some of the magic in Fae Land that comes from Eden, said Ivy. It's a lot of fun. Is there any way you could show me this cove in the forest? asked Merlin. I would have to tell the trees that you are okay to go in and then it is about three miles though the forest to the cove, said Ivy. The cove is in the center of the forest. My goodness. I didn't know there was a forest that big anywhere in Fae Land, said Merlin. There wasn't until the fairies made it, said Ivy. Really, well three miles is not that far, is it a hard walk through the forest? asked Merlin. Nope, the trees move out of the way as you walk through it, said Ivy. You just have to be careful where you step because the ground plants are alive too but can't move out of the way. My, I have to see all of this for myself, said Merlin, When can you take me there? Right now if you want, I have nothing to do and should check the overviewer anyways. Can I stay here? asked Sara. I would like the fairies to show me how to play. You sure can, they are really good at that, said Ivy. Okay Merlin, teleport to the end of the west woods and I will meet you there.

 When Ivy reached the forest entrance she saw Merlin standing there waiting for her. She announced to the trees that Merlin is a good wizard and is coming in as a visitor. The trees opened up for them. Well that was impressive, said Merlin. That is something I have never seen happen before. Well the trees are magical on top of being alive and I was always able to communicate with trees, said Ivy. The difference now is I am the queen here and control the magic. Now that is something I want to see, said Merlin. Okay but you can't use your magic in the forest and especially in the cove, said Ivy. Okay but why? asked Merlin. It is not allowed, I made that rule so if by some chance a bad wizard or something was able to teleport in here then it couldn't use magic and the cove would blast him or her out of the forest if they tried. My that is some powerful magic then, said Merlin. Where did you learn about stuff like that? I have been reading Alieta's books about the adventures the heroes have gone on, said Ivy. There is a lot of bad things out there so it is just a safety thing for the fairies seeing they can't defend themselves. The cove is very good at defending the entire forest though. Okay lets go and watch were you step.

As they moved along the path with the trees opening up for them and closing behind them, Ivy was surprised at how good Merlin was at keeping up with her. You move like a young man, said Ivy. Thank you, I do take care of myself, said Merlin. I think there is more to it than that, said Ivy. Yes there is, there is no hiding things from you I see, said Merlin. You see I was given longevity by four master wizards a long time ago. Back then they formed a council among themselves that would train new promising wizards. So where are they now? asked Ivy. They all passed away one by one many years ago, said Merlin. You see they knew that the stronger a wizard gets the more likely he would turn to dark magic so the four of them caste longevity on me but not themselves. They sensed that I was too good inside to become evil. The four of them taught me everything they knew and I kept a record of the teachings and spells in a big book of magic that I have well hidden and cloaked. I have a good memory but not for that many spells and potions. So you will live a very long time then, said Ivy. Yes I will but you are everlasting and will out live me but that is a very long time in the future, said Merlin. Good, I really like you and the magic tricks you do, said Ivy. Soon they reached the cove's entrance and Ivy opened the trees for them. Okay here it is, said Ivy. What do you think of what the six girls made? My god, it is like a paradise in here and I can feel all the magic too, said Merlin. Never have I felt such a strong presence of magic. Yep fairy magic is pure white magic, that is the strongest magic of all, said Ivy. That pool is the center of it all. The water comes from an underground river that started in Sandy Lake that gets it's water from an under ground river in Eden and comes out of the waterfall mountain that keeps the magical water moving. So where does the water go from here? asked Merlin. I don't know, probably to Fairy Land, said Ivy. I guess eventually it will just sink down deep into the earth. It is a physics thing. You know about physics too? asked Merlin. Yep, Alieta has a big library in the palace. I love reading the books in there. Okay let me show you how the overviewer works where I control the magic from most of the time.

They walked over to the overviewer and Ivy activated it. Now this is a full overview of just the forest, said Ivy. All the green areas show me that all is good there and that small spot that is red I have to fix. You have to fix, what is wrong there? asked Merlin. There is no magic going there, sometimes magic likes to do what it wants and moves where it shouldn't be, said Ivy. Now I just have to change the screen to the magic stream mode and now we can see all the blue magic streams. As you can see there is no stream at that spot now. Yes I see that, said Merlin, this is extraordinary. Now this is the fun part, I just zoom in on that red spot some then use my finger to take one of the streams that has moved away from where it should be and drag it to that red spot like this, said Ivy. Now I just go to the pool and lock it in. Ivy walked over to the pool and said lock stream in please then walked back to the overviewer. Merlin watched as the red spot slowly went from red to green. There all fixed, said Ivy. Amazing, you truly can control the magic here, said Merlin. How often do you have to do this? Well it is getting better as time goes on, said Ivy. Over time the magic learns where it has to be but right now a few times a day. Next I check Fae Land by panning all the way out and now I can see all the magic there. Eden is very good at keeping it's own magic going to where it is supposed to go but I am still trying to figure out how to get magic to the most north end of Fae Land. Eden's magic can't reach that far. I think it is because the water there is from the north and not allowing any underground water from Eden to go that way plus that water is cold. Very nice for drinking though. Just humans live in the town and seem quite happy the way things are. Still I will figure out some way of getting the magic above ground to reach there. Alexa and Tempressa live in the north town but they come to the palace a lot so they get the magic effect then. This has been very interesting to say the least and now I can see why God sent you Sara to help, said Merlin. This is a very big job. Yep but I have to train here first but it is not hard, My finger hasn't gotten sore or tired yet, said Ivy with a smile.