(no subject)
He did it he did it he did it. It takes all the self-control Balthazar has not to dance a jig when Dave finally trusts what he can do and sets that thrice-damned dragon on fire. And it's a very good thing he does too - the boy doesn't seem to have any instinct (so far) regarding finishing a kill, and no one wants to see what a truly pissed-off dragon can do. He does regret not putting Horvath back into the Grimhold when he had the chance, but Sun Lok killing Dave seemed to be a worse option than Horvath on the loose, without a Grimhold.
He had counted, heavily, on Dave's inquisitive nature. He remembers the boy who couldn't keep his hands to himself. No way could someone with that much curiosity and love for learning could keep his hands off something like Merlin's ring once he'd gotten a taste of what it can do.
Underhanded, perhaps. But necessary. He really doesn't have time ot explain it all. Maybe Dave will forgive him later. He tries not to think about it too much as he drives to the old subway turnaround Dave is using as a laboratory. He has to reassure his Phantom that he isn't going to disappear for ten years again before following Dave down the twisting staircase.
Again, he has to keep himself from grinning like an idiot at the sight of the Tesla coils. He remembers Nikola's delight at producing plasma from normal, everyday objects - something that'd only been done by sorcerers reliably before then. That Merlinian had been a very good friend. He'd almost thought, when Nikola was younger, that he might be the Prime... but the dragon ring hadn't so much as twitched.
But that was then. This is now, and it's time to get to work. First, time to not-so-metaphorically remind Dave just how much he has to learn, just in case the kid feels like getting cocky.
"Oh! I just remembered," It's a lie, but thankfully Dave doesn't seem to be picking up on it. "I didn't have a chance to give this to you earlier. Your Encantus." He grins sunnily at Dave as he holds out a minature book, only big enough for a doll to use (or a fairy, but let's not get into that).
"I remember it... being bigger?" Dave hazards, and Balthazar pulls on his best poker face.
"Pocket edition." There is, oddly, a feeling of deja-vu to the moment, as he begins unfolding the book, each unfolded layer doubling the book's size. Soon, he has a book roughly the right size to drop into Dave's waiting arms.
And then, to add insult to injury, he makes sure all the right pages are included as well, making the book ten times as thick.
"The Encantus is our textbook - the art and science and history of sorcery, including our recent history as well. See?" He points to a picture of a screaming, panicking Dave, "There you are!"
Oddly, while Dave does seem impressed that there's a picture of him from their recent scuffle in Chinatown, he doesn't seem shocked that it's a picture of him in meltdown mode. This is not encouraging.
Balthazar wastes no time, pushing the coils back towards the walls and ignoring Dave's protests as he does so. He needs room for this, and he'd prefer not exploding the coils.
"In order to put Horvath back into the Grimhold, we must first turn you into a sorcerer." He lectures, as if this was his primary goal all along. "Step back." The instruction is more for the coils and cages than Dave, but it applies to the apprentice as well. At least the boy was clever enough to put all his instruments on wheels?
"I really was doing somethi..." Dave starts, and Balthazar wheels on him, a lean, wild-haired figure without his swirling coat on.
"Eyes open. Mouth closed." He snaps abruptly, not wanting to go into further argument. He's done more overt magic in the last few hours than he has in the last few decades (not, of course, counting the one spent in an urn). And this next bit, so necessary when training an apprentice, is going to take a lot of effort. With Dave suddenly silent and momentarily subdued, he puts all of his will to the next task, taking both his own energy and that around him (light, heat, the currents that run under his feet and over his head through the city's infrastructure) to re-align the stone underneath him, and to channel that power right into the stones themselves.
The room erupts into green flame.
Well no, not really, but in a perfect circle around him, with a diameter of nearly three grown men, a line of tall green flames appears, the light bright against his closed eyelids. From memory, he etches the symbols of the ring into the stones, forming each of the domains inside the ring of fire.
He opens his eyes. Dave looks shocked. Good.
"This is the Merlin's Circle. It will focus your energy, help you master new spells. It is where you will learn the art. Step inside it, you leave everything else behind. Once you enter, there is no going back." He intones solemnly.
"So I should pee first?" Balthazar wonders if it is permissible to beat ones apprentices before they actually become apprentices. He'll have to see if those Tesla coils work, later. He settles for just glaring at Dave until the boy settles and nods, picking his way over the flaming inscriptions to stand in the center circle.
Dave is taller than nim. By just a hair. This is going to make things difficult - while he certainly became taller than Merlin, he can remember years that the grey-haired sorcerer towered over him, and the sight of that man in a rage kept him from doing some spectacularly stupid things as an apprentice. It's just difficult to be that impressive without overt effort when he's just a smidge shorter. Oh well - better this situation than Horvath trying to kill the boy ten years ago.
"I am Balthazar Blake, sorcerer of the Seven hundreth and seventy-seventh degree. And you are my apprentice." It's a shortened version of the full formal announcement, but it gets the job done. Now all he has to do is train the boy, somehow let him know about being the Prime Merlinian, help the boy kill Morgana, rescue Veronica, and deal with Horvath.
...
Suddenly he feels very tired. And, oddly, he really wants a cinnamon roll. He'll have to remember to pick up some dinner later.
He had counted, heavily, on Dave's inquisitive nature. He remembers the boy who couldn't keep his hands to himself. No way could someone with that much curiosity and love for learning could keep his hands off something like Merlin's ring once he'd gotten a taste of what it can do.
Underhanded, perhaps. But necessary. He really doesn't have time ot explain it all. Maybe Dave will forgive him later. He tries not to think about it too much as he drives to the old subway turnaround Dave is using as a laboratory. He has to reassure his Phantom that he isn't going to disappear for ten years again before following Dave down the twisting staircase.
Again, he has to keep himself from grinning like an idiot at the sight of the Tesla coils. He remembers Nikola's delight at producing plasma from normal, everyday objects - something that'd only been done by sorcerers reliably before then. That Merlinian had been a very good friend. He'd almost thought, when Nikola was younger, that he might be the Prime... but the dragon ring hadn't so much as twitched.
But that was then. This is now, and it's time to get to work. First, time to not-so-metaphorically remind Dave just how much he has to learn, just in case the kid feels like getting cocky.
"Oh! I just remembered," It's a lie, but thankfully Dave doesn't seem to be picking up on it. "I didn't have a chance to give this to you earlier. Your Encantus." He grins sunnily at Dave as he holds out a minature book, only big enough for a doll to use (or a fairy, but let's not get into that).
"I remember it... being bigger?" Dave hazards, and Balthazar pulls on his best poker face.
"Pocket edition." There is, oddly, a feeling of deja-vu to the moment, as he begins unfolding the book, each unfolded layer doubling the book's size. Soon, he has a book roughly the right size to drop into Dave's waiting arms.
And then, to add insult to injury, he makes sure all the right pages are included as well, making the book ten times as thick.
"The Encantus is our textbook - the art and science and history of sorcery, including our recent history as well. See?" He points to a picture of a screaming, panicking Dave, "There you are!"
Oddly, while Dave does seem impressed that there's a picture of him from their recent scuffle in Chinatown, he doesn't seem shocked that it's a picture of him in meltdown mode. This is not encouraging.
Balthazar wastes no time, pushing the coils back towards the walls and ignoring Dave's protests as he does so. He needs room for this, and he'd prefer not exploding the coils.
"In order to put Horvath back into the Grimhold, we must first turn you into a sorcerer." He lectures, as if this was his primary goal all along. "Step back." The instruction is more for the coils and cages than Dave, but it applies to the apprentice as well. At least the boy was clever enough to put all his instruments on wheels?
"I really was doing somethi..." Dave starts, and Balthazar wheels on him, a lean, wild-haired figure without his swirling coat on.
"Eyes open. Mouth closed." He snaps abruptly, not wanting to go into further argument. He's done more overt magic in the last few hours than he has in the last few decades (not, of course, counting the one spent in an urn). And this next bit, so necessary when training an apprentice, is going to take a lot of effort. With Dave suddenly silent and momentarily subdued, he puts all of his will to the next task, taking both his own energy and that around him (light, heat, the currents that run under his feet and over his head through the city's infrastructure) to re-align the stone underneath him, and to channel that power right into the stones themselves.
The room erupts into green flame.
Well no, not really, but in a perfect circle around him, with a diameter of nearly three grown men, a line of tall green flames appears, the light bright against his closed eyelids. From memory, he etches the symbols of the ring into the stones, forming each of the domains inside the ring of fire.
He opens his eyes. Dave looks shocked. Good.
"This is the Merlin's Circle. It will focus your energy, help you master new spells. It is where you will learn the art. Step inside it, you leave everything else behind. Once you enter, there is no going back." He intones solemnly.
"So I should pee first?" Balthazar wonders if it is permissible to beat ones apprentices before they actually become apprentices. He'll have to see if those Tesla coils work, later. He settles for just glaring at Dave until the boy settles and nods, picking his way over the flaming inscriptions to stand in the center circle.
Dave is taller than nim. By just a hair. This is going to make things difficult - while he certainly became taller than Merlin, he can remember years that the grey-haired sorcerer towered over him, and the sight of that man in a rage kept him from doing some spectacularly stupid things as an apprentice. It's just difficult to be that impressive without overt effort when he's just a smidge shorter. Oh well - better this situation than Horvath trying to kill the boy ten years ago.
"I am Balthazar Blake, sorcerer of the Seven hundreth and seventy-seventh degree. And you are my apprentice." It's a shortened version of the full formal announcement, but it gets the job done. Now all he has to do is train the boy, somehow let him know about being the Prime Merlinian, help the boy kill Morgana, rescue Veronica, and deal with Horvath.
...
Suddenly he feels very tired. And, oddly, he really wants a cinnamon roll. He'll have to remember to pick up some dinner later.