"Where is that fly…?" Viviane hissed, poking her head out of the water and swatting at the air. "How can I be expected to concentrate with all that infernal buzzing…?"
Viviane sank back into the water, despondently blowing bubbles. Once again, she had failed.
"Oh, where are you, Anna?" Viviane sighed. "At this rate, I'll be an old human maid by the time we find the Chosen One…"
Today was Viviane's fifteenth birthday; the fifteenth anniversary of her escape from the otherworld and of her incarnation into human form. As was her custom, she had come down from her human father's castle at the foot of the mountain to bathe in the hidden lake, deep within the forest of Brocéliande. The Lesser Fairies were plentiful here, and they kept her company while she fruitlessly tried, day after day, to divine where her little sister Anna could possibly have reincarnated.
Perhaps something had gone awry with the voyage from the world of mists back to the land of the living, Viviane thought ruefully to herself. After all, instead of being reborn in the British Isles, she had been reborn on the continent; granted, still in the Kingdom of Logres, which included Armorica, Vannes, Gaunes (where Viviane now lived; present day, Britanny, France) and Aquitaine in mainland Gaul, but still on the wrong side of the Channel. Perhaps she ought to be counting her blessings that she had not been reborn on the other side of the world, she then glumly thought.
Viviane stared at her reflection in the clear lake water.
She was quite stunning, as far as human standards went, she thought to herself with a hint of pride. Long, silky black hair that fell past her shoulders, lips as red as cherries and skin as white as snow… but it was not as if her beauty would allow her to obtain what she wanted. If anything, it was more like a cage… her parents were already talking of marrying her off to her distant cousin in faraway Burgundy, deeper still into the continent and further from the British Isles, towards which she ought to be heading in search of the Chosen One…
The sound of branches cracking underfoot suddenly roused Viviane from her reverie. Startled, she sank to her chin in the water and covered her naked chest with her hands. She was still learning to adapt her Fairy powers to a human body, but she was making little progress; her outer form remained that of a frail human female, and she would be unable to defend herself if some brigand— or worse— found her while she was bathing…
Heart beating rapidly in her chest, Viviane watched as a handsome youth dressed as a page stepped out of a dense thicket, batting aside reeds and branches. At the sight of him, she subconsciously relaxed. Surely a man so handsome would not be lacking in female attention, not to the point of assaulting her…
"A thousand apologies, Milady!" the page cried, politely turning his back to her in her nakedness. "I would never have approached this pond had I known that so beautiful a woman was bathing in it!"
Viviane's Mystic Eyes instantly activated, telling her the handsome page was lying.
"I do not believe you, Sir," Viviane said coolly. "You would have peeped anyway, had you known I was here, wouldn't you?"
Viviane's eyes suddenly widened in shock.
She hadn't noticed it at first, but this pervert's magical aura was immense; she simply hadn't perceived it until the kaleidoscope of colours nearly blinded her. Indeed, his aura was so vast that it encompassed her entire body, even from a dozen feet away. When he moved, even if only to shift slightly in place, his aura left innumerable afterimages… almost as if he were a hundred thousand different men superimposed upon one another…
"Indeed, I would have, I'm ashamed to admit; for I would never insult such incredible beauty by refraining from stealing even a single glance," the page said unabashedly. "Fair maiden, may I have the honour of knowing your name?"
This handsome youth was terrifyingly powerful, to such an extent that Viviane could hardly breathe in his presence. She had never seen his equal, nor had any of her past incarnations ever heard of a being so steeped in magic, be it a human or even the Queen of the Fairies.
How was this even fair?
"I am called Viviane, daughter of the man who owns this land," she replied, swallowing hard. "May I know your name in return?"
"I am but a humble errant page," the handsome youth declared, lying through his teeth. "I am searching for a master to serve, and perhaps to learn a vocation from."
Most of what he had said was hogwash, yet one part and a half rang true.
"A vocation?" Viviane wondered aloud, curious despite herself. What could a man as powerful as the one standing before her possibly need a job for? He was a human Wizard, was he not? Or perhaps, did he not know his own power? "What kind of vocation?"
"The kind that allows one to lift castles into the sky and turn rainy days into sunny ones," the man replied. "The kind that lets one walk on water without wetting the soles of one's shoes, or spin clouds into fine garments as if they were silk."
That settled it: this youth masquerading as a jobless page was definitely a Wizard. From the sounds of it, the kind who used magic tricks to charm easily impressed Muggle women into his bed… yet, ironically, this was exactly the kind of man Viviane now needed— an easily manipulated man, from whom she could learn the magic of humans.
"What a wonderful vocation!" Viviane said, clapping her hands excitedly. "But, alas…"
Viviane then sighed listlessly, and the handsome youth immediately caught on to her feigned distress. He turned, sneaking a glance as she rose from the water, exposing her neck and delicate shoulders.
"Please, go on," the young Wizard said in concern. "It does the world a great disservice for such anguish to mar so pretty a face. If there is anything I could do to be of assistance…"
"I should also like to perform such wonders, but alas, I am to be wed this fall," Viviane replied. She batted her eyelids and turned away coyly, hiding her face from the Wizard while revealing her shapely shoulder blades to him. "If there truly were such a man who could teach me to accomplish such feats, I would not hesitate to marry him in a heartbeat, over a man I have never even met!"
Upon hearing footsteps, Viviane peeked over her shoulder. The handsome youth was walking across the pond, treading upon the water without even disturbing its calm surface. A few feet away from her, he stopped.
"Do you really mean it?" he said.
"Yes," Viviane replied simply.
With a broad grin, the man closed the distance and extended a helping hand, and without hesitation, she grabbed it, and he pulled her out of the water, even as the morning mist swirled around them, covering her naked form before transforming into a sky blue, gossamer gown.
"You have seen my magic, Vee," the man said. "Are you still willing to marry me?"
Viviane gasped in wonder. Human magic had certainly advanced by leaps and bounds over the past few thousand years or so!
"Oh, yes!" Viviane cried. "But you still have not given me your name. How can I marry if I do not even know my future husband's name?"
The handsome youth smiled.
"They call me Merlin," he said. "Merlin the Enchanter."