Tales Of Arcadia Ficlet Collection

Joan [Part 1]

Warning: This story and future chapters may contain spoilers from Wizards, please do not read if you haven't seen the series yet. Proceed with caution

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Camelot, 12th century

"Master Merlin! I've brought the weeds like you asked!" Joan calls as she knocks on the doors of her teacher's chambers. She hears a loud crashing noise from the other side, as if someone knocked over some glass vials, followed by a "oh fuzzbuckets!" and a loud cat yowl before the door cracks open.

"Umm...hi...Joan." Hisirdoux greets as he peeks out and gives a nervous laugh. "Ah how about I take those weeds and put them where Merlin can find them?"

"No need, I need to mix these anyways myself." Joan responds, grabbing the door handle to push the door open and slipped inside. "Great gorkus Hisirdoux! What happened?!"

Some sticky blue and orange substances were spilled all over the floor and surrounded by shards of glass that a glowing blue broom was attempting to sweep up. Archie, Hisirdoux's cat familiar, was seated on a chair covered in some of the substance and trying to clean it off with a rag.

"Oh good, can you give me a hand with this?" He asks as Joan hurries over, placing the bundle of plants she was holding onto a nearby table. "It's not poisonous is it? I was planning to try and lick myself clean but didn't want to risk it."

"I hardly think so, but you had the right idea to be cautious." Joan says as she picks him up by the scruff of his neck and gives him a sniff before gagging. "Oh that's disgusting, go find Khalil and have him help you take a bath."

"This will be one of those rare time's I'll actually take a water and soap bath." The familiar mutters before Joan walks over to the door and opens it before dropping him to the floor.

"Alright, do you at least have an explanation for this mess this time?" She asks, shutting the door behind her to turn back to the nervous teen. "Aside from the "I tried using magic to clean up the room" excuse again?"

"Uh...no?"

With an annoyed sigh, Joan snaps her fingers and the glass shards immediately spring up from the floor and quickly reassemble themselves back into large glass vials and settle back onto the table. With another snap of her fingers a mop stood up in the corner and flew right over to the puddles and began to mop them up while a bucket filled with water appeared to aid it.

"Why does Merlin let you use magic to do anything like this, it's not fair!" Hisirdoux asked with a frown as his broom stopped glowing and fell onto the floor.

"Maybe because I don't always try to use magic to get things done and I'm a bit more responsible and in control of my own magic?" Joan suggests as she sets her bundle of plants down on the table. "I'm sure in a few years when you are in better control of your magic you'll be able to use it for simple things to help you do some multitasking."

"You are only four years older than me -"

"And I've been studying magic under Merlin since I was twelve, and I never got to really use it for certain things until I was sixteen. You my dear Hisirdoux still have a long way to go."

The teen mutters something under his breath as he picks up the broom. "What are the weeds for anyway?"

"Medicine, which Archie will probably need if that goop burns right through his fur." Joan responds as she grabs one of the weeds from her bundle. "Unless Khalil manages to get him bathed on time."

"How is a giant horse like him supposed to wash a cat?! He doesn't have thumbs!" Hisirdoux exclaims.

"He's a shapeshifter too you know, I'm quite sure he shifted into something with hands that was big and strong enough to hold your familiar down to clean him proper -"

The doors of the room burst open as Archie flew in, in his dragon form and covered in soap suds as a large grey monkey looking creature walked in after him. "THAT HORSE TRIED TO DROWN ME!"

"I certainly did not, I was trying to keep you from escaping from the tub." The creature says before turning to Joan. "You'd think he'd be fine with taking a normal bath like that, but the second I dropped him into the water he started screaming and yowling like I was trying to drown him, his head wasn't even under the water."

"Khalil, you have to be gentle with him, you really don't know your strength." Joan chuckles as Archie flew right back to Hisirdoux and shifts himself back into a cat to sit on his shoulders. "Archie come here, I'll rinse you off myself. Is your skin burning?"

"No, but I do not trust your familiar to ever wash me again." The cat responds, shooting the other familiar a look. "Also get back to your original form, that monkey form looks ridiculous."

"Pardon me for wanting to turn into something smaller so I wouldn't break the doors." Khalil states with a roll of his eyes. In a flash of green light a large grey draft horse now stands where the monkey last stood. "There, happy?"

"Why is there a horse in my chambers?" The four turn to the door to find Merlin standing in the doorway with a frown. "Hisirdoux, why isn't this room clean yet? And why is Archie covered in soap, it's getting all over the floor!"

"My apologies master, he was a bit smelly so I had Khalil bathe him." Joan says quickly. "Unfortunately he wouldn't let him finish."

"Ah, Joan, did you bring the weeds I asked for?" The wizard asks, turning to the younger spellcaster.

"Yes sir, I'll begin the process of removing the leaves from the stalks and throw them in the pot." Joan says with a wave of her hand, Archie now consumed in a green light before it faded and he was now no longer covered in soap. "Khalil, you can head back and rest, I know you are tired from running from the Gum Gums."

"Alright you two, back to work." Merlin says with a clap of his hands. "I want you two to finish your tasks before dinner at least."