154AN: Last chapter! Don't forget the other chapter subtitles. Enjoy!
Changes: Just little things;)
Epilogue
. . . But We Also End Right Back Where We Started; That is, With Elvis
Four Months Later . . .
When another apparently important man shook her hand, Divina resisted the urge to groan. It was bad enough that Arthur had dragged them to this party, but he also expected her to talk to people. Even as Nimueh, conversing with normal people in a perfectly normal manner had not been normal, and, unfortunately, that hadn't changed much. Besides, these people were annoying!
Oh, she rued the day she had agreed to work at Ulric Peterson's company . . .
Well. Not really.
Tuning out the man's banal words, she instead searched for familiar faces.
Gwen - sorry, Gina - had left Arthur's side and was talking politely (very politely) with some blueblood. She looked, as always, stunning in a evening dress that harked back to her queenly regalia. Melinda was standing by the refreshment table, chatting up the only cute guy around. Arthur was very seriously discussing business with a few men and women.
Merlin and Anne were nowhere to be seen. Divina filed this under 'Deeply Suspicious".
It was because of business opportunities in the States that they were there. Ulric had sent Arthur to negotiate, Divina had gone as a legal representative, and in the end the entire Evans family had gone, due to a jealous fit Anne had thrown. The party was being held outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; Divina thought the museum pieces were quite good, though New York was certainly not her idea of a perfect city.
Arthur sidled up. "Do you know where Merlin is?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth. "I haven't seen him in five minutes; that usually means he's getting into trouble."
Divina answered in the negative. "Anne's not here either," she reported seriously. "You don't suppose they're in the museum?"
Arthur's eyebrows drew together. "But the museum's locked-"
"Since when has that ever stopped Merlin? He probably wants to have another look at that magical artifact he noticed this morning."
Arthur growled. "If he releases some Native American demon intent on avenging its death on all Europeans, I'm going to do it a favor and kill Merlin myself."
Divina chuckled and would have answered, but instead she gasped and clutched her chest. A heavy feeling had passed through her, like the aftershock of an earthquake.
Immediately, the former king was on the alert. "What is it?" he asked. He knew the signs of a sorcerer that had felt powerful magic.
"That wasn't Merlin . . ." she panted. "But whatever it was-"
She was promptly interrupted by the museum's roof blowing off with a roaring whoooooosh!
Everyone startled backwards, for a moment not sure what had happened. Then the full impact of what had happened hit them, and suddenly everyone was panicking.
Divina and Arthur started fighting their way towards the museum. Divina's heart was pounding. Melinda was standing half-way up the steps, watching the smoke with a flabbergasted expression. Divina and Arthur were almost upon her when Merlin and Anne came pelting out of the front doors and clattered towards them.
"Nope, other way!" Merlin cried. "Turn around!" There was an ominous green light behind them; they could see it playing on the walls beyond the glass doors.
The three didn't listen. "What did you do?" Arthur demanded as the warlock neared.
"I told him not to touch it!" Anne said before Merlin could answer. "But did he listen? No!"
"Well, how was I supposed to know it would do that?" Merlin snapped. "Now come on, you need to go, it's coming!" He seemed quite desperate.
"What's coming?" Divina asked. "Why aren't we staying to fight it?"
Melinda suddenly grabbed Merlin's arm; her face was as one having a conniption, her chest heaving as she stared open-mouthed at the smoking museum.
"You-"
Merlin grabbed her arm urgently. "C'mon, Melinda, we have to go!"
She didn't move. "You . . . "
He groaned impatiently. "Have you any idea how much danger we're in right now?"
At this, Melinda found her voice with a vengeance. "You blew up the Metropolitan Museum of Art!"
Merlin looked baffled. "When did you start caring about museums? And I'll have you know it was the demon that destroyed part of the museum! Please, we don't have what we need to defeat it now, and it will stop at nothing to kill you if, if, you're found. Just go and get my staff, Divina knows where it is; I'll hold it off till you get back."
The glass doors trembled violently and shattered, the shimmering pieces falling to the concrete with tings and tangs. The green light grew brighter, flooding out and starting to condense on a single spot.
"Uh-oh," Merlin muttered.
"What's 'uh-oh'?" Arthur demanded, watching the light with a wary eye and wishing he had his sword.
"It's starting to come together," Merlin explained. "Since I touched it, it will take on a form that will be difficult for me to defeat, someone or something I won't want to hurt."
Anne groaned. She hated creatures like that. "Then you go and get your staff, and we'll take care of it!"
It sounded like a good plan to Divina, but Merlin shook his head, his brow furrowed. "You don't have the experience to deal with a creature such at this, not yet," he told them seriously. "Now go, and . . . don't be gone long."
Divina found herself wondering if he doubted his own experience, but it was too late to argue; the demon had taken form.
If only someone watching had had a camera; it would have been the most perfect picture of facial expressions ever taken.
Anne was a bit near-sighted, so she leaned forward and squinted to see the demon. Melinda was the opposite: she all but leapt backwards in horror. Arthur's face was slightly disgusted, while Divina's lips were twitching in an attempt to hide a grin.
But the best was Merlin's face. He looked like Christmas had come early.
Standing at the top of the stairs was . . . Elvis.
Melinda didn't seem to be able to stand the sight of him. "Get your staff, did you say Merlin? On it. Anyone with me?"
Arthur looked sorely tempted. "I need my sword . . ." he said, still staring as if mesmerized by a train wreck. Elvis, smiling smugly, had started to descend the stairs. He was confident as a peacock.
Divina suddenly groaned. "Oh, how clever," she muttered in disgust. "Of course the demon knows Merlin could never hurt Elvis. He practically worshiped the man! Still does!"
Merlin turned towards her, his eyes wide and his face still ecstatic. "What on earth are you talking about?" he demanded, grinning. "This is perfect! Not only do I get to see the face of my greatest hero, I finally have a good reason to blast one of his imposters into oblivion! It's like killing two birds with one stone!"
There was a moment of silence as all processed his words. Then Arthur seemed to come out of a trance.
"Right," he said, "sword." He clapped a hand on Merlin's shoulder, and now he was the one hiding a grin. "Good luck, Merlin. We'll be back soon."
Divina and Anne stepped up to his side. "Those two may be cowards, unwilling to face the music, but we aren't," Anne told him, her head held high.
Divina elbowed Merlin a little. "We're here to help," she told him quietly, her face once again calm and unreadable. "In the end, Melinda will be sad she missed it, but there you are."
Merlin smiled and stepped forward to meet Elvis. "Let's get to it then," said the immortal warlock. "Maybe, if we're lucky, he'll sing us a song."
"If life was fair, Elvis would still be alive and all the impersonators dead."
― Johnny Carson
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand . . . thats's it! FOREVER! Muahahahahahaha!
Ahem. I hope you enjoyed that. For some reason I'm very fond of this chapter, even though it's not the best thing I've ever written.
Nobody: Thank you for your reviews! I was actually just in Texas, and I do believe that a Texan can love something just because it has Texas in it;) Your reviews always make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside:)
Please tell me your thoughts this one last time. Any comments are welcome, especially constructive criticism. I'm always happy to hear ways my writing can be improved;)
That's all folks!