But where's the long white beard? {Merlin}

[Phoebus]

Phoebus had reached the school, and, having parted ways with the lady of the forest had set off to investigate where he was, why he was here, and how he could get back to his regiment.  He was impressed by the castle; it reminded him of particularly grand and impressive castles he had seen back home, but there was something about this place that just confirmed that he wasn't in France anymore.  He wasn't even sure he was in the same world as he had come from, although he knew what a ridiculous notion that was.

He stood in the courtyard, admiring the fountain, and looking around at the buildings.  He wasn't sure which one to head into - he hadn't seen anyone around yet, and although the place had some signs of life, it somehow looked pretty abandoned and unloved.  It was all very strange, and Phoebus couldn't help but think back to the tales he'd read as a child, of the quests and adventures King Arthur and his knights had been on.  Phoebus had always wanted to be a questing knight, and the small boy inside him was jumping with excitement.

He heard footsteps, and turned to see a figure crossing the courtyard.  He watched for a moment, deciding the fellow looked harmless enough, and, one hand on his sword just in case, he hailed the other man down.

"Excuse-moi?  Je suis désolé monsieur, je me demande si vous pourriez m'aider? Je ne suis pas tout à fait sûr d'où je suis..."

Excuse me? I am sorry, sir, I wonder if you could help me? I'm not entirely sure where I am...

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin had found himself rather busy since arriving back at the school, between research and exploring and talking to old friends he felt like he'd barely stopped. He also wanted to try and make sure there were provisions in place for all the new people who'd never been here before, where the school normally picked up the slack of helping people find their feet and get settled in the brave new world that was Tintagel, the problem was that the portals seemed to be spitting people out all over the place right now, and it was almost impossible to find them.
Sometimes, however, they stumbled right into your lap. Or courtyard, as the case may be.

He'd just been heading back to the dorms to check up on the latest cleaning progress when he was stopped by an unfamiliar man clutching a sword. There was something slightly Arthur-like about him in that he appeared to be cut from the same dashing-blonde-warrior cloth, but then he spoke, and Merlin immediately felt guilty for even thinking of comparing him to Arthur, given his husband's feelings on the French in general.

"This is Tintagel," he answered "It's a school." he realised the place was still looking a little decrepit in places and added "Or, it was, and will be again, we're just cleaning it up at the moment. Welcome."

He paused for a split second and then added, just in case,

"C'est Tintagel, c'est une vieille école que nous réouvrons, bienvenue"

This is Tintagel, it's an old school we're reopening, welcome

[Phoebus]

“Ah, tu es Anglais!” Phoebus exclaimed, before catching himself and speaking again. “My apologies, monsieur, you are English!” He smiled at the man. “So, am I in England?” He asked, looking around in confusion. “But I was in France, I was just outside Paris...”

He realised he had not introduced himself, and turned back to his companion with a smile. “Excuse my rudeness, my name is Phoebus de Châteaupers.” He stood up straight, clicking his heels together and resting his closed fist on his chest in a formal salute. “May I say, your French is superb.” He smiled charmingly.

He looked around again, his hand no longer on his sword as he relaxed. There were unlikely to be many enemies or dangers in a school, after all. “So, I have stumbled upon a school... I’m sorry, monsieur, but I am a little disoriented. I was leading a patrol on a scouting mission in the forests outside France, and now suddenly i find myself in a school in England. Perhaps I hit my head... perhaps this is an elaborate hallucination...”

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin nodded along with his explanation, it sounded about right. He hoped that once they finished getting everything set up that they'd stop having these random people dragged into the school without any preparation, but he also didn't know enough about how Tintagel worked to be able to guess if that was ever going to happen.

"Not...quite England..." he admitted "but the predominant language is English, so it's as good a word for this place as any. This place is called Tintagel, it's a school that is... a little outside of everywhere else. It's not a hallucination or a dream of any kind, it's a real place, and at the moment it is pulling people magically here for reasons we're still trying to properly ascertain. It might be a little overwhelming if your world doesn't have magic, but you'll get used to it soon enough, and if you wish to return home we'll try and find a way back for you as soon as possible." he spoke in a firm, reassuring tone, wanting to sound like he knew what he was talking about, trying to calm Phoebus' nerves. It wasn't until he'd finished that he realised he hadn't actually given his own name.

"Apologies, my name is Merlin."

[Phoebus]

Listening to this man's explanation, Phoebus was becoming surer all the time that he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating, and that everything he'd ever believed and understood to be real was wrong. Or at least, seriously lacking in some very important areas.

"Right." He said calmly, allowing it all to sink in. "Well, this isn't exactly how I pictured my Tuesday going, but there we are." He looked around again, taking the place in. "See, they burn witches where I'm from, but it's for things like spoiling the crops or giving the neighbour's dog a rash. I've never heard of anything like this, the whole pulling people in from all over the place - wait, did you say my world?" He rubbed his head. "Ok, so we've got storybook characters and different worlds..." He muttered to himself, before looking back up at the other man. "And you're sure I'm not hallucinating?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

He offered his hand when Merlin introduced himself. "Merlin, nice to meet yo-" Eyes widening, Phoebus stared. "Merlin? Right, named after the legendary wizard, I suppose?"

[Merlin Emrys]

"Definitely not hallucinating," Merlin confirmed patiently "And yes, your world, we all come from different worlds, some of them have similarities, history that coincides or... stories. You see, that's something that everybody who comes here has in common, they have a story. Sometimes people from other worlds know about your story, sometimes they don't. I think the best way I can illustrate it is...well..." he hesitated, wondering if it would be too much for Phoebus to take or if it would help explain the situation a little better. He really needed to streamline this whole process, or get the school back to the point where there was a system in place.

"I'm not named after the legendary wizard Merlin," he decided to just go for it, he was going to find out eventually anyway "I am Merlin. I am a wizard, an advisor to King Arthur, friend to Queen Guinevere and the knights of the round table, some of them are even here as well. We are not quite as the stories you may have heard, I've encountered a lot of people who knew our stories rather differently to how we lived our lives, but we are those people."
He'd yet to meet anybody who knew he and Arthur were together, but he supposed that was probably to be expected, the people writing those tales probably weren't in the know.

[Phoebus]

This was, officially, crazy. Phoebus just didn't know what to make of things anymore - this guy was talking about different worlds and his story - did he have a story? He was just a soldier, working his way through the ranks, following orders and doing what he was told, he wasn't sure that constituted a story. He was about to argue, when Merlin managed to completely blow Phoebus' mind.

Fangirling wasn't a thing in the fifteenth century. But that was not going to stop Phoebus.

"You're... you, you're..." Phoebus was aware that he was staring, but he couldn't stop himself. "You're Merlin, the Merlin? And, wait, did you just say King Arthur and Guinevere - are they here?!" Phoebus looked around quickly, as it he expected them to jump out of a bush yelling 'surprise'. "This is ... utterly mad." He laughed, folding his arms and taking Merlin in properly. "I mean, you're actually Merlin. The great wizard Merlin. I grew up reading the stories, I drove my brothers and sisters mad making them play Arthur's knights all the time, and now you're telling me I'm actually meeting the legend that is Merlin." He let out a low whistle, his face lit up with happiness and an element of disbelief.

"But... where's the long white beard?"

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin couldn't help the smile that was growing on his face, he'd gone ten years without experiencing this, and even in the last few years of being at Tintagel there had been too much to worry about with the war and everything for anybody to get excited about the fact that he was The Merlin, to them he was just regular old Merlin, friend and ally.
The smile immediately dropped at the last comment.

"That bloody beard," he threw his hands up in frustration "Why is that always the first thing anybody asks about? It's not my fault I'm not an old man with a long beard, I'm sure I will be eventually.. or not, even, because Arthur doesn't even like this beard, he thinks it tickles! Personally I think it gives me a little more gravitas but of course Arthur can't see that because I'm just Merlin to him, and yes that's very sweet but it can be awfully frustrating at times and surely he can understand the need to be taken a little more seriously and-" he coughed "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to rant, it's just I get asked that a lot. Even the wise old wizard of legend had to be young once, right? The mistake most of the legends seem to make is they tend to portray me as so much older than Arthur, when really we're about the same age."

[Phoebus]

He simply stared as Merlin began ranting about the beard. Note to self, beards are a touchy subject... he thought, his mouth slightly open.

Wait, did he say Arthur thought the beard tickled? Tickled what?! Phoebus almost asked, but caught himself just in time, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know. "Erm, sorry for bringing it up." He said uncertainly. "I just wasn't expecting you to be so young. But it's good - great actually, I bet it's much easier to get involved with all the quests and stuff if you're not, you know, geriatric." He gave Merlin an apologetic smile.

"I'm just, I'm sorry, this is incredible. I always wanted to grow up to be one of King Arthur's knights, but you'd all been dead for 300 years by the time I was born." He had a sudden thought, and looked at Merlin with concern. "Sorry, is that offensive? I mean, obviously you're not dead... erm... I mean..." This was awkward. "I'm not entirely sure what the protocol is for meeting a childhood storybook hero. It's not really something I've experienced before."

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin laughed, unable to help himself, it was just that Phoebus had appeared as this sort of bright spot in the midst of all the rush and organising and it was just a little reminder why they were putting so much effort into the school, it had given them all so many things, and that included opportunities like this one - for somebody to meet their hero and learn from them the way they always dreamed. Admittedly that was sometimes disappointing for them, but it usually worked itself out eventually.

"I'd probably figure out whatever protocol works for you," Merlin advised "It's unlikely to be the last time. I mean quite apart from the fact you're likely to meet Arthur and Gwen, sorry, Guinevere, and Lancelot, there may even be others here you know from tales and legends of the past, even people you didn't think were real." he hadn't experienced as much of it himself, being from one of the older legends, but he remembered the first time he'd met one of the gods... not that he liked to think about them, since 'them' included Apollo, but it was still a little startling to come face to face with a diety.

"And no, it's not offensive, as you say, I'm not dead. We're all from different time periods here, so that kind of thing can get a little confusing for everybody."

[Phoebus]

That open-mouthed stare was back. "Lancelot is here? As in, Sir Lancelot, King Arthur's favourite knight and best friend?" He let out a low whistle. "I know I should be more excited about meeting King Arthur, but that guy is just my hero." He glanced at Merlin. "I mean, it's about equal, you know. Lancelot, Arthur, you." He really didn't want to offend this guy - he'd read the stories, he knew what Merlin was capable of.

It was all a bit much, and he sat down on the edge of the fountain, feeling a little odd. "Different time-periods... storybooks and legends..." He looked up at Merlin, frowning. "This makes no sense at all, you are aware of that aren't you?" He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "And what makes even less sense is me being here. I mean, if you're all from these legends and stories... I'm just a soldier. Nothing interesting about me, and I'm definitely not part of any great story. I'm just Phoebus." He shrugged.

[Merlin Emrys]

"I know," Merlin agreed, sidestepping the gleeful praising of Lancelot, that was definitely one part he'd miss out if he relayed this story to Arthur, Phoebus had definitely been most excited about the King himself, honest. "But you get used to it."

The self-deprecating talk made him smile slightly, looking back on his own past, and that of a lot of his friends, while he hadn't necessarily heard it said in the exact same way, it was definitely a sentiment he recognised.
"You'd be surprised how many of us are 'just' something," he said simply "I have friends who are 'just' orphans or 'just' soldiers like you. Sure there are people here who are royalty or gods or something else special, but even they don't know the kind of stories they'll become, the myths and legends that will follow on with their name. When I came here I was just a manservant, it was pretty weird to meet people wanting to know if I was 'the' Merlin, let me tell you."

[Phoebus]

He shook his head, not entirely believing Merlin. This was a place of heroes and legends, and, apparently, gods - he was going to have to circle back to that one. If he tried to deal with that right now he was concerned his brain was going to explode. But Phoebus wasn't anyone special, and he didn't have the capacity to become anyone special either, that he was sure of. He was a simple soldier, born to a simple family - he might become a Captain one day but that was it.

"Well, whatever story I might be from, I can guarantee I'm not the main character." He said with a shrug. It wasn't that he minded - he was content with his lot in life. He had always wanted to be a soldier and he'd achieved that, he was good at it, he was working hard and making his way through the ranks. Sure, he harboured the not-so-secret desire of being a hero, but he just thought of that as saving a damsel in distress some time or something. He was a bit-part, a cameo.

"Sorry, though, did you say there are gods here? Actual gods?"

[Merlin Emrys]

"You never know," Merlin shrugged "You may not even have reached your full potential yet, but Tintagel is a good place to start finding that potential, among other benefits..." he might not want to stay, but Merlin couldn't help but try and sell the place, he'd been very happy here (despite the variety of magical mishaps) and he was pretty sure other people would be too, especially if they were getting the school back up and running, it did need students after all.

"Oh, yes," He nodded "Probably best you are aware of that before you meet one. We've had both Greek and Norse deities, Apollo," he wrinkled his nose in irritation "Hermes, Loki, although I haven't yet seen the latter two back, they can be a little overwhelming to meet in person but after a while they're just like any other student or teacher, you get used to it." it was probably a bit weird that he'd reached the point where rubbing shoulders with gods and legends was commonplace, but it made it easier to face the more dramatic things that came up at home when you were so used to such overwhelming people and events here.

[Phoebus]

The more Merlin spoke, the more intrigued by this place Phoebus became. And if there’s was some unreached and untapped potential inside Phoebus, that this place could unlock, it would be foolish to leave, surely? He was a little older than the average student, of course, he couldn’t join the school, but perhaps there would be a way for him to stay. “So could I enroll as a student? I mean, I know I’m a little old...”

He frowned slightly as Merlin began listing gods. “Wait, so these ‘gods’ are real too? That whole ‘one god to rule over heaven and earth thing’, so that’s not true either?” He rubbed his head. “I think I need to become a lot more open minded.”