Paint it Another Colour

Chapter 52

I found a headcanon that while Arthur can use black magic and Lukas (and Emil) rune magic, Vladimir can use fire magic, so that's what I'm using for this, coz other than that, I had no idea what I was going to do!!!!

"Merlin, we told you not to run off" a voice snapped harshly making Wendy shriek, ducking further behind Peter. A faint look of fear or confusement crossed Merlin's face before a tall, red haired man in a long blue coat and a small top hat of a similar colour appeared from out of one of the connecting corridors, his face clouded with frustration.

"Oh" Vladimir raising an eyebrow and staring with disbelief. "Crap."

The man didn't seem to notice them to begin with, simply grabbed Merlin's shoulders and shook him slightly. "Oliver said not to run off. He said there were attackers here, didn't he? And what did you do? You ran off. Of course you did, because it's not like you ever listen to anything we ever say, is it?"

Merlin didn't answer, just pointed. The man frowned and slowly turned to face them before screeching.

"What're... you..." he screeched again.

"Vasska!" Arthur shuddered at the voice and watched as Oliver pranced into their line of sight. "What's so wrong this time?" Oliver hesitated and then peered down the hall in the direction they were looking, then beamed. "Arthur, hello! It's been too long, how are you? Did you like the presents I left you? Much nicer than when I got to them I'll tell you - all screaming and swearing and things like that."

"Bastard" Arthur hissed. "I'll kill you."

Oliver sighed. "Looks like I'm going to have to give you a similar treatment then."

"Wendy, run" Peter muttered to her. Wendy didn't waste any time in dithering, got up and sprinted down the corridor again.

"I assume we can have a fair match this time Arthur?" Oliver asked, cocking his head to one side. "You never told me last time that we could use magic, and then you went ahead and killed me with it."

Arthur glared at him. "I suppose so."

"Excellent" Oliver clapped his hands together and grinned. "I haven't been able to find someone decent enough t o practise against for a long time now. Vasska is very good, but black magic cancels out fire anytime, and Loki never wanted to practise at all, always insisting it was a useless waste of time, and Merlin is only young, so naturally doesn't quite match up."

"Since when did black magic cancel out fire?" Vladimir murmured, receiving and answering shrug from Arthur. "Oh well. It doesn't matter now, does it? Now, we can have a good fight."

"Idiot" Arthur muttered. "It's not just a fight you know. There's a higher chance that you'll die than survive."

"Why is it higher?" Vladimir frowned. "I'm sure I could beat him."

"Injuries take their toll" Arthur sighed. "But there isn't really much else we can do at this point, so we'll have to go along with it."

Peter's eyes shone. "Does this mean that you'll actually let me fight someone?"

Vladimir stared at him and then transferred his stare back to Arthur. "You've never let him fight?"

"Safety reasons" Arthur huffed, taking a couple of steps forwards, away from them, to avoid any further conversation or comments on the topic.

Oliver smiled and clapped again. "Thank goodness you're going ahead with it. I was half convinced that you'd all leave, or I wouldn't get to meet you, or something like that."