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Chapter Text

Sister of Merlin

Chapter One: Submerge

By: Hogwartswonderland

The cerulean waters of the pool located in Sadie’s backyard calls to her, beckoning for her to jump into its cool embrace. It is the dead of night and Sadie is only wearing a long white cotton dress for protection against the cold. She knows that she shouldn’t go in -for it is the middle of winter and therefore too cold to swim- but the calm, undisturbed water is practically shouting her name. She walks to the end deep end of the pool and pauses at the ledge. Her toes curl around the stone curve, acting as her last anchor to solid ground. Hesitant to answer the waters call, she looks back at her house wondering if her parents or twin brother would appear to stop her. The house and its occupants are silent. Not seeing anything to hold her back, and not caring if it was wrong, Sadie closes her eyes- only pausing to take one last look at the mosaic tile at the bottom of the pool- and then allows herself to plunge into the icy water.

The moment she is submerges, the voice calling her name ceases, and the bottom floor of the pool vanishes beneath her feet. Stunned at the change, Sadie makes no move to swim up. She is now surrounded by murky water rather than clear blue, and the bottom of the pool is replaced by miles of sand peppered with broken shells and seaweed. Suddenly Sadie is struck with the urgency to move. She shifts her dress so that it gathers around her thighs and begins kicking, moving her legs together like a mermaid would in order to propel herself forward. As she begins to move, the melodic voice that was calling her name before starts up again.

Sadie pauses and looks around the desolate ocean to find the source but sees nothing. She continues swimming. As she moves along, the voice grows louder. It isn’t until she comes across a large rock formation a couple feet below her that the voice stops again. Sadie barely notices this time because a ray of the sunlight from above reflects from a metal surface that appears to be stuck in the tallest point of the rock. Curious of what could be stuck down there, Sadie makes the move to swim down towards it. Her lungs are beginning to protest but she is too curious to acknowledge it.

She has only moved a couple inches when suddenly is feels like a giant, invisible hand is crushing her, holding Sadie in her place. The tightening feeling around her chest does nothing to alleviate the now heightened burning of her lungs, and now Sadie is panicking. She thrashes wildly against the invisible force, but its only reaction is to tighten around her.

Her heart thumps wildly against her chest, her vision begins to blur- causing her to lose sight of the shiny object- and the roar of her escalating heartbeat echoes in her ears. All she feels is panic. Panic and regret. She screams for help but only bubbles escape. Fear that she will never see her brother or parents again wells up inside her and suddenly Sadie wishes she never jumped in the pool. If she had known that it would have come to this, then she would have stayed put. Just as her vision fades and she goes limp from exhaustion, the force holding her dissipates and an ethereal form of a woman clothed in all white takes her by the hand and guides her to the surface.

The woman is beautiful with her smooth skin, long, billowing black hair that forms a halo around her, and peridot green eyes that radiate kindness. She gives Sadie a serene smile as she gently pushes the teenager up towards air. Just as Sadie’s head comes above the surface, she recalls that the woman has the same eyes as she does. Then she wakes up.

Sadie suddenly shoots up in her bed, her oversized t-shirt soaked in sweat and her long brown hair plastered to the back of her neck. The crushing sensation she felt in her dream is still present, but it is not as debilitating as before. Shaking slightly, Sadie takes a hair band from her nightstand and pulls her hair into a ponytail in hopes of cooling herself off. Sadie has experienced nightmares before- she used to have ones about the monster in her closest- but never had they felt so real. She felt as if she really was going to die in the depths of that ocean.

She shudders at the morbid thought and attempts to push in out of her mind. Glancing at the alarm clock next to her bed, Sadie notes that it is 6:00a- meaning it is almost time to begin getting ready for school. Going back to sleep is pointless so Sadie reluctantly gets out of bed, puts on a nearby cardigan, and exits her room to go wake her brother. At the same time as she opens her door, her brother steps out of his room directly across the hall.

Miles has a frantic look in his eyes when he spots his twin sister. His looks unkempt- an unusual occurrence for him- with his brown hair uncombed and his pajamas rumpled, which immediately let Sadie know that Miles must have seen her dream as well. As twins, the two can communicate with each other without words, but they do not have what people call ‘twin telepathy’. Miles just happens to have psychic abilities that allow him to see the future.

“I guess you saw it, too?” Sadie asks her brother. It didn’t have to be said but she wants to make sure. Miles’ visions range from being very serious to being of little importance and it is quite possible he saw something extreme.

“Unfortunately, yes. Why would you ever follow a weird voice that is calling your name?” He snipes. Sadie rolls her eyes at her brother’s jab at her intelligence.

“That is what you choose to focus on?”

“It is a logical question!” he says defensively. He then settles down and walks over and hugs her. “But don’t ever do something like that in real life. I don’t know who else would put up with me like you do, sis.”

Sadie smiles at his words. Miles is much more anti-social of the two and only positively interacts with her. Sure, they fight like any siblings would, but at the end of the day all they have is each other. Sadie has a few friends from the swim team, but her brother will always be her best friend. Even when he uses his dry, sarcastic sense of humor on her. “Don’t worry, Miles. I’ll make sure to hire someone to put up with you before I leave.”

“You’re impossible."

“I learned it from you,” Sadie teases as Miles walks away from her and back to his room. Miles’ reply is muffled through the closed door. Laughing and shaking her head, Sadie turns back around and gets ready for the day, excited to start the first day of her sophomore year. If she is to survive another year, she must keep a positive attitude.

The first thing Sadie does when she arrives at school is to head to the library. Ever since last year the library has been her sanctuary. The librarian, Mrs. Healey, was a no-nonsense woman with a temper to match her fiery red hair. She doesn’t stand for any roughhousing, yelling, or tomfoolery (her words, not Sadie’s) in her library, which made it a haven from Marco- Miles and Sadie’s personal bully.

“Mornin’, Lassie!” Mrs. Healey chirps the moment Sadie walks through the oak doors. There is no one in the library so Mrs. Healey doesn’t worry about raising her voice a little. “Did ya have a good summer?”

Sadie smiles at the woman. “It was good, Mrs. Healey. All I did was swim, read, and swim some more. How is baby Healey doing?” Before school let out for the summer, the Irish woman told Sadie that she was pregnant. Now, three months later, it is quite obvious with her being at the 6 months mark.

The Irish woman smiles brightly at the teenager. “Lil’ Collin is right on schedule for his upcoming arrival.”

“Collin!” Sadie nearly squeals in excitement. Emphasis on the nearly, for Sadie Emrys doesn’t squeal. “You are having a boy? That is great! I imagine Mr. Healey is thrilled by this?”

“Of course, Lassie!” Mrs. Healey crows. “He hasn’t stopped talking about teaching the wee one football since we found out! Now, while I am happy to catch up, do ya have the books you checked out?”

Sadie grins sheepishly and quickly takes out a large stack of books out of her backpack. “Sorry about that,” she says as she hands them over. “I got a little caught up with the exciting news.”

“It’s alright, Lassie. Now, go visit yer friends. I know ya will be back later in the day.” She makes a shooing motion at Sadie with her hands.  

“Whatever you say Mrs. Healey,” Sadie says over her shoulder as she walks towards the door. “See you in a couple hours!”

Now out of the library, Sadie wonders around trying to decide what to do next. It is 6:57 at the moment and the late bell rings at 7:15, so she still as some time to kill. She is contemplating going to the vending machine and treating herself to an Arizona Tea when she catches sight of her brother. Grinning to herself, Sadie decides she will pester her brother about what he thought the dream meant.

“Hi, big brother.” Miles turns around from his locker to see his little sister smiling at him. He immediately recognizes the smile as the ‘I-need-help-and-you’re-the-one-to-do-it’ grin. The last time she looked at him like that, she was asking him to cover for her while she went for a midnight swim with her friends.

“Whatever it is you want, the answer is no,” he replies. “Mom is still upset with me for covering for you last time.”

“It is nothing bad, I promise,” Sadie laughs knowing her brother doesn’t believe her. He abhors getting in trouble- in school or at home- so when it does happen it is because he is doing something for his sister. Sadie isn’t exactly a troubling kid, but she can be a rebellious teenager when she wants to.

“Why don’t I believe you?”

Sadie shrugs in response. “Beats me. I wanted to talk to you about- “

“Will you look at that. Geek 1 and Geek 2 having a nerdy conversation at their locker,” a low male voice sneers. Sadie immediately recognizes that voice; It is Marco, her brother’s least favorite bully and the school’s resident bad boy. Marco moved to Avalon High last year and ever since he was paired with the Miles in a project, the delinquent has had it out to make Miles life miserable. Unfortunately for Sadie, Marco decided that they were a package deal. Sometimes she really wished she could slap the smug smirk off his face.

“Wow, what an original insult,” Sadie says dryly, turning around to greet Marco’s harsh gaze. “It must have taken you all summer to come up with that.” Marco narrows his eyes at the younger girl’s dry retort before smirking. While he may not enjoy playing the role of a bully, he does find amusement in interacting with the female Emrys twin. He has come to enjoy their sarcastic quips and dry banter.

“I came up with it just for you, mermaid. Oops. I mean mergirl,” Marco replies back knowing that the nickname annoys her. Sadie scrunches up her nose at the repugnant nickname. Sure, she has an unusual love for swimming, but nobody ever called Olympic swimmers like Michael Phelps a mer-person!

“God you’re annoying. It’s too early to deal with your crap.” Sadie turns around to her brother who is looking on with amusement. He doesn’t like Marco but his and Sadie’s interactions are funny to watch. “You’re on your own with him.” Both boys sigh in annoyance. Marco because he was looking forward to teasing Sadie some more and Miles because he is now left to deal with the bully.

“What a great sister you are!” Miles complains loudly as Sadie walks away.

Sadie merely shakes her head, causing her long brown tresses to sway, and continues walking away. She purposely walks slowly in order to hear Miles and Marco’s exchange but is soon distracted by a petite blonde-haired girl looking on at Marco’s attempt at bullying Miles with mild interest. Normally this wouldn’t bother Sadie, but people rarely pay attention to Miles being bullied. It’s nothing new so why bother watching? If the girl is actually bothering to pay attention, then she must be new.

She stealthily sneaks up on the new girl, hoping to catch her off guard, before speaking. “You’ll get used to it. It isn’t an uncommon occurrence.”

“Oh my god!” the blonde jumps up a couple inches off the ground at the sound of the sudden voice. “Jeez. It is normal to just creep behind people at this school?” the new girl asks as she turns towards Sadie. Sadie grins at her snippy response.

“It is part of our welcome wagon routine,” the brunette jests. “We like to keep the new kids on their toes.”

“Well that’s good to know.”

“So, you must be new, huh?”

“What gave that away?” the blonde asks sarcastically.

“Not many people care to watch Miles being bullied anymore. It happens too much for it to be interesting to them. So, what’s your name, new girl? Unless your name is New Girl then I must apologize. That is very unfortunate.”

The quip at her name causes the blonde to smile. “Funny, I was just thinking I should change my name to New Girl. It’s much more fitting than Allie.”

“Allie, huh?” Sadie cocks her head to study her. She takes in the bright blue eyes and friendly smile. “Nice to meet you, Allie. I’m Sadie.” She holds out her hand for the other girl to shake.

“Likewise. So what grade are you in?” Allie asks as she shakes Sadie’s hand.

“Sophomore. Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have the time, would you?”

Allie-the-new-girl pulls up her sleeve to glance at her watch. “7:06. Why?”

“Nothing,” she waves off the question. “I just have to start heading to class. If you see me around later, don’t be afraid to just start talking to me. You have spunk, and I like that. See you around!” With that, Sadie turns around and makes her way towards room B-19. She didn’t have to leave at that exact moment, but she prefers to be early. Never could it be said that she was not a diligent student.

“Hello, there!” the teacher, a tall man with average brown hair and limping around with cane greets Sadie as she walks through the door of B-19. “I am Mr. Moore, your history teacher. And you are?”

“Sadie Emrys, Sir. Nice to meet you,” Sadie says with a smile. He seems nice enough, but then again, most teachers usually start the term looking at way. How else are they supposed to lull students into a sense of false security before turning into teachers from hell?

“It sure is nice to see a student arrive this early. Hopefully that is a sign that you are eager to learn?”

“You can definitely say that, Sir. I love history.” This is true. The only thing is that Sadie loves the WW2 era and beyond. Medieval history isn’t exactly her cup of tea. But what Mr. Moore doesn’t know won’t hurt him. It’s not like Sadie won’t get an A in this class; after all, she does share it with Miles- the-teachers-pet.

“That’s great to hear!” Mr. Moor says cheerfully. “Go ahead and take a seat anywhere. There is no seating chart.”

Sadie chooses to sit in the back. She loves having a lot of open space and sitting in the middle or up front is too claustrophobic for her. She can’t stand being constricted among a dozen other students. Sitting at her chosen seat, Sadie decides to start on reading the textbook for the class. She is in the middle of a chapter about Merlin when people start filing in. Not in the mood for socializing with the other kids, Sadie positions the book so that it hides her face. Yes, she is expecting Miles, but he knows by now to take the seat beside her. Why should this time be any different? This was her first mistake. So immersed in her reading, Sadie didn’t realize that someone had gotten to the seat beside her before Miles. And it just so happened that his person was Marco, which led to problems when Miles finally showed up and began voicing his displeasure at his customary seat being taken.

“I think you are in my seat, Marco. I always sit next to my sister.” Sadie’s eyes widen in surprise. What the heck was Marco doing sitting next to her? Hoping to change the situation, Sadie snaps the textbook close and glares at her neighbor.

“I don’t think this seat has your name on it, so move along.”

“Actually- “

“Mr. Emrys, there are plenty of seats in the classroom. Please find an empty one. You can grab a seat next to your sister tomorrow, but for now it is time for class to start.”

At the teacher’s words Miles resigns to the fact that Marco won and takes a chair by the window. Marco smiles smugly at him before turning his attention to Sadie. She realizes that the situation isn’t going to change for the forty-five minutes, so she opens her textbook again and begins avidly reading in hopes that Marco will leave her alone. But this was Marco, she should know better.

“Wow. You are such a nerd. You’d think a pretty girl like you would have better things to do other than put her nose in a book. I can see why guys don’t ask you out,” Marco drones. Sadie scoffs and rolls her eyes. Who was he to insult her about her dating habits? Sure, she doesn’t currently have a boyfriend, but she has been on dates before. She was seeing a lifeguard at the swim club this past summer! “You know what, Marco?” Sadie starts, turning her body towards him. At this point a good majority of the students- including Marco’s football captain stepbrother, Will- have turned their attention towards the two teens sensing an upcoming argument. “It’s not like you have a dating life to talk about. I think you only pick on Miles and me because you feel inadequate as a person and secretly admire us. At least I am comfortable enough with who I am to not to need validation from a relationship. Can you say the same?”

Her comeback leaves Marco speechless and the rest of the class crowing with laughter. The story of Sadie cutting Marco down is most likely going to be all over campus by lunch break. “Ok, ok! Guys, lets settle down. We need to get through boring syllabus talk before diving into our first project,” Mr. Moore announces in hopes of calming the students down. At hearing the words syllabus and project, the energy level of the class dies down effectively. Mr. Moore immediately jumps into his lecture, but Sadie is barely listening. She is on a slight high from telling Marco off in from of the class and she can’t help but think that it is going to be an interesting year.

Of course, she is proven right when the door to the classroom opens and Allie the New Girl enters. She cautiously looks around, giving a small smile when she sees Sadie, then makes a beeline for Mr. Moore. The two have a brief exchange before Allie picks up a textbook and makes her way to the nearest open seat- which just so happens to be next to Miles. As she walks Sadie hears her give a slight laugh upon looking at the textbook and also notices the interested look Will Wagner gives her. Interesting development. Sadie can’t remember a time where Will wasn’t with Jennifer. Yet here he is, taking interest in the new, pretty student.

“I’m sorry, is there a problem Ms.?” Mr. Moore tapers off at the end in search of Allie’s last name.

“Pennington.” She answers as she turns around. “Allie Pennington.”

Suddenly a look of recognition passes over Mr. Moore’s face making Sadie wonder just who Allie is. She seems to already be stirring things up at Avalon and she hasn’t even been here a full hour.

“Ah! Well, that explains everything.” From his place over by the window Miles shoots his sister a questioning look. Knowing him, he is wondering who she is and if she is going to take his teachers pet spot.

“Everyone, please welcome Avalon High’s newest student, Allie Pennington.” People give sheepish waves and mutter their hellos. Sadie decides to yell out ‘Hey Allie-cat!’ which elicits a laugh from the blonde and a glare from her brother. He hates it when she calls attention even though the attention isn’t on him. “Allie’s parents are professors of medieval literature at the University and they, uh, also wrote the also wrote the textbook we’ll be using this semester when we learn about King Arthur and his court.”

Upon hearing that Sadie can’t help but be impressed. She has always thought that people that write textbooks must be a little – or in most cases, a lot- obsessive about the subject in order to write so much. Sadie doesn’t even wish to think about what it is like to live with not one, but two obsessive professors as parents. One could only imagine just how much of the dinner conversation at Allie’s house revolves around medieval times. The poor girl must be tired of the topic by now. Of course, she seems to be the only one who respects that because Lance, Will’s best friend and another football jockey, fakes a cough that sounds a whole lot like ‘easy A’.

Mr. Moore responds in the same way but his cough sounds like ‘nobody asked you’. In that moment Sadie realizes that Mr. Moore is actually pretty awesome. For a European medieval history teacher that is. It seems like the other students might think this as well because they burst out laughing. The only people not joining in are Marco (he is always surly during class), Miles, and of course, Allie, who is walking towards the seat in front of Miles.

The brunette swimmer watches on in interest as the blonde sits down and introduces herself to her brother.

“No, no, no, no.” Miles starts saying over and over. He is obviously going to do his routine where he insults whoever tried to be friendly to him so that he can say that he has no friends then complain to Sadie about it later. Ever since they were in kindergarten Miles seems to think the only friend he needs is his twin sister. “Avert your eyes. You are making a tactical error of monumental proportions right now.”

As soon as Miles says this Sadie can see Marco from the corner of her eye suddenly listening in on the conversation with interest. “By what,” Allie asks, “sitting at my desk?”

“By talking to me. Come on, you had a great start. I saw you talking to Captain Everything this morning. You have the chance to be in the popular group. Don’t mess it up.”

At this point Marco is listening and watching the exchange avidly, so the sophomore not-so-lightly slaps the junior in the arm. This definitely gets his attention. He turns his body towards Sadie to give her a menacing scowl. “What was that for?”

“That was a lesson to not listen to other people’s conversations.”

“Who are you to decide that you need to give me lessons?”

“Oh, you admit that you need to learn manners? You know, they say that acceptance is the first step to changing your bad habits.”

Marco is about to return the insult when Mr. Moore calls for the classes attention by ring a bell. “Okay, so the first thing we are going to do is break up into groups to write research papers. You will draw your topics out of this.” He says as he holds up a mostly silver medieval helmet with gold edging up. He starts to go around the classroom pairing people up so Sadie listens attentively to hear her name.

Will and Karen Jenkins have the Sports of Camelot. Half of the guys groan, now knowing they missed that topic. Then Lance and Jen are partnered up and must report on the love triangle that ruined Camelot, which is even more appropriate than Will’s topic because half the school knows there is something going on with Lance and Jennifer. Then he gets to Miles.

“Miles! You are with Allie.”

Almost immediately, “I rather work with my sister.” Sadie swear Allie’s eyebrows disappear into her hairline at the mention of a sister. It becomes funnier when Mr. Moore mentions that no, Miles can’t work with her. She briefly wonders if Allie has made the connection between the two but then remembers that she barely knows neither Miles nor Sadie. “Why not?” he practically whines.

“Because Sadie will be working with Marco.”

Suddenly the atmosphere in the room grows dark. After the debacle before class it is very clear that the partnership between Sadie and Marco will not end well. Who for, no one- not even Sadie herself- knows. The only person not terrified by this partnership is Allie who has yet to come to the realization that the friendly girl she spoke to in the hall and the slightly standoffish boy next to her are siblings.

“Then I’d rather work alone,” Miles tries to bargain when he realizes he won’t get what he wants.

“And I’d rather be eating pineapple on a beach in Hawaii but that isn’t going to happen either.” The amount of sass Mr. Moore is demonstrating would normally make Sadie smile but the sudden sinking feeling in her stomach is taking over. It doesn’t help that Marco is grinning maliciously at her like Christmas came early. It isn’t until Allie mentions that her chosen topic is the Order of the Bear that Sadie notes that Marco’s expression changes to a combination of fear and fury. His already pale face is suddenly whitewash and he now turns his hateful gaze towards Allie.

Seeing the major difference in the bully catches Sadie’s attention and the girl makes a mental note to ask Miles to include her on his research. Marco obviously knows something about it and isn’t happy that someone else got the topic. As she contemplates this sudden change in her sworn enemy, she fails to notice that Mr. Moore is standing right in front of her with the helmet held out. “Ms. Emrys, please pick a topic for yourself and Marco.”

Shaken out of her train of thought she reaches her hand into the helmet and takes the first paper her fingers touch. She unfolds the blue slip towards Mr. Moore so he can read it aloud. “Now here is an interesting topic! The Lady of the Lake is one of the most mysterious tales in Arthurian legends.”

Mr. Moore’s last comment finally breaks Marco from his murderous gaze of Allie and Miles as he hears something to do with Sadie and swimming. He swiftly snatches the paper from her grasp. When he reads it, he starts grinning at the younger girl again. “Well, what a perfect topic for mer-girl here. Of course, you would pick the Lady of the Lake.” Then once again, Marco’s facial features go from leering at her to being surprised as if he has suddenly figured out the secret of life. But before Sadie can remark on it, he quickly switches back to his sour, moody self and Mr. Moore calls for the class’s attention once more. Sadie sneaks a curious glance at the black-haired boy before returning her attention to the teacher, but not before silently promising herself to uncover just who Marco Campbell really is.

Chapter Text

Sister of Merlin
Chapter Two: Settle
By: Hogwartswonderland

“Hey, Marco! We need to talk!” 

 The bell dismissing Sadie and her classmates from Mr. Moore rang no more than five seconds ago, but Marco had already made a mad dash for the door. Sadie had spent the rest of the class brooding on what she should do about the raven-haired teen and their joint project before coming to the conclusion that they needed to talk about things for continuing further, but it seems as if he had different plans, for he was already out the door and disappearing among the student population by the time Sadie reached the doorway. Sadie huffs in frustration at her current predicament. A few of her classmates gave her sympathetic glances and words of encouragement, knowing that the younger girl was going to have a terrible time working with the bully. Even Lance and Jen gave her comforting pats on the shoulder as they passed. 

 “Why don’t we ask Mr. Moore for you to and I to switch partners? It would solve both of our problems,” Miles suggests as he walks up to his sister. While he is not pleased with his current partner, he realizes that his sister has it a whole lot worse than he does and wishes to protect her from dealing the with cruel teen.

 
 Sadie sighs- releasing the tension in her shoulders- and shakes her head. It was made noticeably clear that switching partners nor working alone was going to be tolerated. It was obvious that Mr. Moore was laidback for a teacher, but she realized that if Will Wagner- the Golden Boy of Avalon High- couldn’t switch partners, then there was no way she would be allowed to as well. 

 “If you are sure,” Miles remarks as the two walk the halls. “Just don’t come to me complaining when you get fed up working with him.”

 “Oh,” says Sadie with a smirk, “So you can complain about the guy twenty-four-seven during the summer- even when you had no contact with him- but now that I am stuck working with him I can’t say a word?”

 “Well- I- you- “

 “That is what I thought. I will see you later Miles. Try not to keep tripping over your words!” Sadie cuts her brother off, slowly walking away from him as he splutters in indignation. 

 “Why must you always have the last word!”

 Sadie laughs to herself as she weaves through the crowds to get to the gymnasium, nearly forgetting the reason behind the argument that elicited that response. It wasn’t until she made it to the girl’s locker room and was immediately swarmed by a group of juniors that she remembered. They all began pestering her for details on what happened with Marco- one girl even insinuating that it was a ploy to hide their secret relationship- before Sadie managed to make her way to her gym locker to quickly get changed. Her gym teacher, Ms. Morgenstern, was known for being harsh and unforgiving when it came to lateness and Sadie has no intention of getting on her bad side. 

 Now outside of the locker room, Sadie is preparing to join students as the walk laps around the gymnasium when she spots Allie rounding the corner.  Sadie immediately makes a beeline for the younger girl just as a group of gossip mongers make their move to approach her. 

 “Hey there Allie-cat! How are you on this fine morning?”

 Once again Allie jumps at the sound of Sadie’s impromptu greeting. She was so lost in thought about her project in Mr. Moore’s class that she didn’t realize that the older girl had once again walked up to her. 

 “Jesus! You really need to warn a girl before you sneak up on her!” Allie remarks, catching the attention of the gym teacher who glares at the loud response. While the new student shrinks under Ms. Morgenstern’s gaze, Sadie ignores it completely and continues. 

 “Maybe you should pay more attention to your surroundings. This is high school, and you are a fresh meat- you are more likely to be a target than anyone else. Constant vigilance I say!”

 “Isn’t that from Harry Potter?”

 “Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! You have just won yourself a brand-new friend!”

Allie snorts at Sadie’s over the top response. She can tell that the brunette girl is a lot of fun and is not afraid of making herself known, which is a far cry from the other people she has met so far. “I am guessing you are a Harry Potter fan?”

“Duh! I would be sorted in Gryffindor,” Sadie announces proudly. One of the few fond memories she has of her parents before their divorce was of them reading aloud the Harry Potter books at bedtime. Their mom was the narrator and their dad would voice some of the different characters while acting out a few scenes. Even after they split up it was Sadie’s go to book to read when she was upset or bored. 

“That is fitting. I think I would be Hufflepuff.”

“Nice.”

“Thanks. So, I must ask, what is the deal with you and that Marco guy?

Sadie takes a quick glance around to make sure that none of the school gossips are nearby before explaining the situation to Allie. “Long story short, Marco moved here last year when his mom married Will Wagner’s dad. He is bitter and on his first day here, he got paired up with my brother, Miles- “

“Wait, you are Miles’ sister?” Allie asks is disbelief. She can see a slight resemblance in their looks now that it is mentioned, but she would have never guessed since their personalities are vastly different. 

“That’s right,” Sadie says with a snap of her fingers. “You two got paired together in Moore’s class. I apologize for his behavior. He can be a bit standoffish to people that aren’t me.”

Allie waives off her apology. “Don’t worry about it. If he is anything like you, then I think we will become good friends no matter what he says.”

“I knew I liked you! Anyway, Marco saw him as an easy target, so he began to pick on him. I hadn’t even met Marco when he just came up to me and began talking smack. It has been like this ever since.”

“Wow. I understand how much it sucks to move, but to bully someone you just met is way too extreme. Why doesn’t someone do something about it?"

 
“People have gotten used to it, I guess. Plus, they know that Will deals with Marco when he starts on Miles and that I can usually handle him on my own.” As unfortunate as it sounded, it was a universal truth Sadie has come to accept. She had her small group of friends that would call for help if anything got too bad, but Miles wasn’t as lucky. He was always more intelligent than other kids their age and that caused a lot of problems when the twins started school. It didn’t help that he always revered their parents and was the one to take their divorce the hardest, causing him to be closed off and to have trust issues.

“Well that sucks. But I guess there will always be that one person no matter what school it is.”

“You got that right. Sounds like you have a lot of experience moving around,” Sadie comments, hoping to find out more about her new friend. It was obvious that things around Avalon High are changing and Sadie has a sneaking suspicion that the blonde was a catalyst for it all. 

Allie sighs. “You can say that. I have been to 9 different schools in my lifetime. It is rare to have one professor, let alone two, that are experts on Arthurian legend, which means they are in high demand from Universities. I love them, but their job sucks sometimes.”

“Hey, look at it this way. With your parent’s knowledge on Medieval times, this project should be easy for you. You can get it out of the way quickly and then spend time hanging out with me!” Sadie exclaims as she puts her arm around the younger girl. “I can be your official guide for Avalon!”

“You make a very good point,” Allie concedes, giggling at Sadie’s antics. “By the way, you’re more than welcome to use some of my parent’s books for your project. I know they have a ton of resources on the Lady of the Lake.”

“Really? Thanks so much! Would you mind if I stop by sometime soon? I have a feeling that I will need to start the project now to get it done on time, since I most likely won’t get any help from my supposed partner.”

 “How about today? I have track tryouts after school, but after that I am free.”

“Sounds like a plan, Allie-cat. It works out since I also have swim practice. I’ll just have to text Miles to let him know I won’t be walking home with him.” 

After making more concrete plans on where to meet and at what time, the girls chat about their favorite TV shows until Ms. Morgenstern blows her whistle to signal the start of class.

The rest of the day passes smoothly for Sadie; if one were to ignore the pointed stares and whispers that followed her. People were still talking about the showdown between Marco and Sadie this morning. At first it made Sadie giddy to know that people were viewing Marco with less fear, but on the other hand, it made cornering the older boy to talk about their project more difficult. She has seen him in passing many times throughout the day, but he always made himself scarce before she had the opportunity to say a word to him. It isn’t until her last class of the day- independent study- that Sadie spots the golden opportunity to corner Marco. 

 She pauses her current task of sorting new inventory to go to Mrs. Healey and ask for a hall pass. The moment the wooden board is handed to her, Sadie books it out of the library and into the hallway. Marco had been standing at his locker and listening to his MP3 and didn’t realize the younger girl is beside him until she yanks the earbuds from his ears.

 “What the hell?!” Marco curses as he turns to see the culprit. He scowls when he sees the mischievous smile of Sadie Emrys. “What do you think you are doing Sa- I mean mer-girl?”

 “Getting your attention, dumbass.”

 Marco smirks at this and steps closer to Sadie, effectively cornering her against the lockers. “I didn’t realize you like me like that. Make sense now that I think about it.”
 “I think it is the other way around. You were the one that commented on my relationship status this morning. Trust me, I would rather be as far away from you as possible, but we need to talk about the project.”

 “Whatever floats your boat Emrys,” he says as he uncharacteristically tucks a loose stand of her hair behind her ear before stepping away. While his voice sounded patronizing, the tender show of affection shocked the younger girl. 

Logically, Marco knows he isn’t supposed to do anything to jeopardize his mission at Avalon, but Sadie Emrys is a puzzle he can’t figure out and he is determined to learn all he could about her. The only downside is that he must act cruelly when interacting with the tall, gangly girl, leaving her with a less than stellar opinion of him. Alas, everyone has a part to play in the world, and this was his. “But don’t expect me to do any work on this. I could care less about this stupid class.”

 Dazed by the random affectionate gesture, it takes some time for Sadie to register what Marco said. “I don’t like working with you, but I will not do this entire project myself and allow you to get a good grade too. In the interest of getting this done quickly, I propose a truce between us for the next week. If we knock this out within that time, then we can go back to hating each other.”

 Marco mockingly thinks about her offer before turning it down, citing that he isn’t one to do schoolwork. “Argh! Don’t be a douche about this Marco! I think I made a fair deal, and I don’t want to have to resort to something extreme to get this done, but I will if necessary. I refuse to be the one responsible for everything!”

 “Well, it looks like you will just have to take a bad grade then. That will lower your perfect GPA,” Marco sneers as he slams his locker shut and begins walking away. What Sadie can’t see is that the scowl on his face becomes a bitter frown- as if he was upset over the way he was acting towards her. As if struck by lightning, Sadie suddenly comes up with the perfect plan to get what she wants.

 “Well, if you aren’t going to cooperate, then I will just have to ask Mr. Moore if I can switch partners with Miles. He will be happy to do this himself and I would much rather find out what this Order of the Bear is.” The moment the last word left her lips Marco whips around with a snap, places a hand on Sadie’s shoulder, and pushes her against the lockers with great force. The metal locks dig into her back and her shoulder throbs from where Marco was pinning her. It is the first time since she met him that Sadie fears Marco.

  “If you know what is best for you, then you will Stay. Out. Of. It,” Marco growls, emphasizing the last few words, before releasing the brunette and stalking away angrily, leaving a visibly shaken Sadie wondering why he cares so much about this topic and why she felt tingling in her arm where Marco had touched her. Unbeknownst to her, Marco is also inwardly questioning why his hands burned from where he touched her all while simultaneously commiserating over her observant nature. 

 Unfortunately- or fortunately, depending on how she views it- the final bell of the day rings, signaling that the first day of classes is complete. The hallways begin teaming with jubilant students either talking with friends or visiting lockers for last minute supplies to take home. The rumor mill at Avalon was already brimming with gossip about Sadie and Marco, so to avoid confirming conspiracies and bringing further attention to herself, the sophomore picks up the abandoned hall pass from floor and rushes back to the library to gather her belongs and head to swim practice. 

 On the way there, Sadie focuses on forgetting the incident with the junior until she can analyze it further. It wouldn’t do well for her to dwell on it during practice and risk her place on the team. Last year she was the first freshmen in the history of the state to make it to regionals, but it wasn’t an excuse to slack off. After her outstanding effort last year, along with the fact that her father was a former Olympic swimmer, there were high expectations for her this year. With that reminder, Sadie squares her shoulders, checks her backpack to make sure she has her swimsuit, and then opens the locker room door to meet the rest of her teammates for the first practice of the season. 

Over an hour later, Sadie was pleading the gods to end her misery. She never thought it was possible for her to be excited for the end of practice but she sure was feeling that now. Being in the water has always been a sacred for her and had a calming effect on the spirited girl, but this time around it was doing nothing to keep her from being annoyed with her teammates. The past hour has been peppered with prying questions from older girls about what happened in Mr. Moore’s class, or from the new, clueless freshmen, what it was like to have a semi-famous dad. 

 “So, Sadie, what is going on with the sexual tension between you and Marco?” Lindsey Miller, a junior and Sadie’s warm up buddy asks, effectively pulling the sophomore from her increasingly angry thoughts. They were spending the last 15 minutes of practice taking turns showing their coach, Mr. Rollins, their butterfly stroke; leaving a lot of free time for the girls to whisper among themselves while waiting in line. Lindsey was a sucker for all things romantic and was convinced last year that Marco was into Sadie, so it wasn’t a surprise that the older girl was bringing this up.

 
 Of course, the girls surrounding them pick up on the conversation and begin giving their two-cents on how cute they look together or -from a particularly lewd senior- how they should just hook up and get over it already. Sadie rolls her eyes at their comments. Why do people feel the need to comment on something that wasn’t their business?

 “Guys, I think all this chlorine is getting to your brain. One, I would never crush on a guy that bullies my brother like Marco does. And two, what makes you so sure that arguing is a sign that he likes me? Have you considered that we actually don’t get along?” Outwardly, Sadie shudders at the thought, but internally she thinks back to how her arm still tingles from where Marco touched her earlier. She shakes her head when her mind begins to wander back to their interaction this afternoon. 

 “Honey,” Lindsey gives the younger girl a pointed look. “Marco isn’t cruel with his teasing with you. He only does it to catch your attention. I can tell from a mile away that he likes you.”

 “Yeah!” one of the freshmen chime in. “Otherwise he wouldn’t be here watching you right now!” Everyone’s attention turns towards the stands to see if she is making it up. Yet, there he is, leaning back on one of the metal benches with his arms crossed- showing off his muscled shoulders- and an almost predatory look on his face. Many girls sigh at the sight of the notorious bad boy.

 “Well, that is just creepy. And it doesn’t prove anything. I imagine he is up there planning my death right now.” Many of the females on the team last year roll their eyes at the female Emrys dramatics. “If you excuse me, it is my turn. You guys have fun drooling over the wierdo.” 

With a flourish, Sadie spins on the balls of her feet and goes to climb onto the diving board. She can feel eyes on her but doesn’t know if it is the stares of the other girls or Marco’s. Neither option does much to comfort her. She attempts to clear her mind, choosing to focus on the perfectly clear water below her, but is soon distracted when the voice of her dreams calls out her name. 

“Sadie,” it calls to her faintly. If she were still talking to her teammates, she would have missed it. 

“Sadie,” she hears again, but this time it is louder. The sound quality is so clear this time around that Sadie can verify it is a female. The voice calls to her a third time, but this time Sadie catches a glint of something sparkling from the pool below. Instinct urges Sadie to find the voice and discover what is in the water, but she is shaken from her dream- possibly, vision- by the sound of her coach angrily calling her name, yelling at her dive in the pool. 

She is confused as to what just happened, but Sadie ignores the knots in her stomach and dives into the cool water. As she submerges, Sadie tries to forget the voice and focus on her strokes, but she can’t seem to cleanse it from her mind. The experience was very much like the dream she had, making her believe that it wasn’t a onetime experience. It was definitely on the top of her list of things to discuss with Miles. 

“Okay girls,” Mr. Rollins yells once Sadie’s head emerges from the water. “I think that settles it for practice today. Go change and head home. I will see you on Thursday for the parent’s meeting.”

Shaken up by the hallucination, Sadie climbs out of the pool and all but sprints to the locker room; ignoring all the worried glances coming from her team and missing the contemplative gaze Marco gave her before exiting. In a record time Sadie finds herself changed into worn jeans, a flowy tank top, and converse and waiting for Allie outside by the main entrance. 

She twirls a strand of her wet hair around her pointer finger as she sits and contemplates what the dream meant. What was that in the water, and why would someone- or something- try to keep her from retrieving it? Why did she dream this twice in one day? And was the woman that saved her in her dream the voice she keeps hearing? It was all too confusing for the sixteen-year-old. Weird dreams and mystical juju were more of Miles area of expertise.

 
“Hey, are you okay?” Broken from her tumultuous thoughts, Sadie looks up to see a very sweaty Allie looking down at her with concern. The blonde-haired girl was decked out in her yellow singlet and grey track pants and was panting hard. She obviously ran from the track to meet Sadie in time. The blonde’s puzzled expression is enough to pull Sadie from her funk. She didn’t want to meet her new friend’s parents in this state. 

“Just worn out from practice Allie-cat,” Sadie replies with an easy grin, which is enough to make Allie content.  “Although, you look worse than I do, so you really can’t say anything.”

“Hey, you get to be in the nice, cool water while I am under the hot sun. You don’t get to judge how I look.” The younger girl retorts with a smile. “Anyway, are you ready to head out? My mom just pulled up.” Sure enough, Sadie spots a dark green Grand Cherokee pull up to the curb. A woman with dark blonde hair in tight curls honks the horn then waves excitedly.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sadie spots Marco lurking around the main doors. He still has that predatory look in his eyes, and it makes Sadie uneasy. She has now seen what he is capable of and isn’t in the mood to deal with him any more today. Running away is her only option for now. 

“Totally. Let’s go!” With that, she grabs Allie’s hand and the two girls make a beeline for Mrs. Pennington. Allie climbs in the passenger seat and Sadie goes to sit behind her. She turns to take one last glance at her personal tormenter only to see that he has vanished into thin air, leaving Sadie baffled at the days strange turn of events. 

Chapter Text

Sister of Merlin

Chapter Three: Stumble

By: Hogwartswonderland

A/N: Sorry for missing the late update of this story. I had a severe case of writers block on how I wanted to end this chapter. Anyways, there isn't any Marco and Sadie interaction, but the main focus was building the friendship between Sadie, Allie, and Miles. Interaction between all three was so much fun to write! Also, kudos for those of you that guessed Sadie's role in Arthurian legend! Since this is based on the movie verse I am going to make the modern-day role of the Lady of the Lake's different to what it was in the book. Please let me know what you think by dropping a comment below! I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Happy reading!

The moment the high school was out sight Sadie let out a huge sigh. While normally Sadie isn't one to back down from a fight- with Marco to be precise- she has had enough interactions with the surly older boy to last her the rest of the week. And to think it is only the first day of school! Hopefully, Sadie muses, she can limit her conversations with Marco for rest of the week.

"Allie, who is your new friend?" Mrs. Pennington kindly asks in her midwestern accent, breaking the silence that had settled in the vehicle.

"Oh, yeah," Allie says sheepishly after completely forgetting to introduce her mom to her new friend. "This is Sadie. We share history and gym together."

"How fun! Well, it is very nice to meet you, Sadie. Have you lived in Avalon your whole life?"

Sadie smiles at the older blonde woman. She comes across as very exuberant and genuine which is something Sadie greatly appreciates. While she loves her parents, she isn't very close with them. They divorced when she and Miles were eight and since then their family dynamic has been different. The twins' father, Ezra, is a former Olympic swimmer turned PR rep that is busy traveling the world for work. He visits when he can, but his parenting style consists of sending them expensive gifts, paying child support, and calling only Sadie regularly during swim season. Their mother is the one with custody but that doesn't mean she is more involved in her kids lives than Ezra is. In fact, Sadie and Miles only see her slightly more than their dad, but it isn't by a lot. As a single mom and a full time ER nurse she is either at work or sleeping. She does make the time to go to parent-teacher conferences, attend Miles' science fairs, Sadie's swim meets, and occasionally have dinner with them, but the small family isn't close knit. Meeting Allie's mom makes Sadie wish that she had that.

"I have," Sadie finally replies. "In fact, both of my parents grew up here and graduated from Avalon High." For the rest of the drive Sadie continues to answer Mrs. Pennington's questions with a few quips from Allie thrown in. The brunette girl seems to mesh will with the mother-daughter banter that is going on and begins to grow comfortable. Eventually they pull into the driveway of the Pennington's home. At first glance the exterior looks to be very quaint with its craftsman style, welcoming from porch, and tastefully overgrown shrubbery. There is also the added bonus that it is only a 10-minute walk from her own home. It is incredibly likely that Sadie will be hanging out with Allie a lot in the near future.

The ladies all exit the vehicle still chattering away as they grab their individual belongings; bookbags and gym sacks for Allie and Sadie and a few canvas bags with groceries for Mrs. Pennington. Sadie's attention is redirected from her friend when a balding middle-aged man with glasses exits the house with a pleasant smile on his face to greet the females. It is obvious that this is Mr. Pennington if the loving greeting to his wife and excited question of how Allie's first day of school went is anything to go by.

"Sweetheart, Allie brought home a friend," Mrs. Pennington points out sweetly, hoping to catch her husband before he began interrogating their daughter about school. At that point Sadie was standing awkwardly, fidgeting with the ends of the still damp hair as she observed the warm family dynamic. The couple turn towards the brunette girl only to be taken aback when they get a good look at her.

When Mrs. Pennington first saw her daughter with the girl, it was from a distance, so she didn't really get a good idea of what she looked like. Now, though, both she and her husband were able to notice her striking features. With her straight nose, full lips, strong brow, and bright green eyes, she greatly reminded the couple of a particular painting- one that just so happened to currently be in their possession. It was all very curious.

"Uh, Mom, Dad?" Allie calls out confused to why her parents were staring at Sadie oddly. This effectively breaks whatever spell washed over the two.

"Sorry sweetie," Mrs. Pennington started. "It is very nice to meet you-?" Mr. Pennington finishes, reaching his hand out to greet the younger girl normally.

"Sadie Emrys, sir." Sadie says slowly, wondering just what happened. She glances at Allie who just shrugs. Her parents are medieval literature professors and are therefore- at least in Allie's opinion- weirder than most parents.

Mr. Pennington perks up upon hearing her last name. "Emrys, you say? Did you know that your last name is welsh for immortal? It is also said that the mythical figure, Merlin, also when by the name of Myrddin Emrys which is also similar to the historical warlord- "

"Dad!" Allie yells. Never has she been more embarrassed to bring a friend to her house. While she is used to the odd historical lecture here or there, she didn't want her parent's weird tendencies to run-off a possible friend. "I'm pretty sure Sadie doesn't want to hear the history of her last name while standing in the driveway."

"Allie's right, dear." Mrs. Pennington places her hand comfortingly on the arm of her slightly dejected husband. She loves how knowledgeable and passionate he is, but he is not the best in social situations. "Why don't we go into the kitchen for some lemonade and a snack? I'm sure the girls are hungry from practice."

Trying to diffuse the tension that has settled over the group, Sadie speaks up. She didn't mind the odd history lesson on her name- in fact, she might recite to Miles later because he would find it interesting- but the shocked stares Mr. and Mrs. Pennington gave her set her at unease and she wished to move past all the weirdness. "That sounds great Mrs. Pennington. I know I am starving after swim practice. I'm sure Allie feels the same way after all that running."

The group of four says nothing further as they move inside the box filled house with Allie leading the way and Sadie following closely behind. So excited by the prospect of food the girls completely missed the pointed look Allie's mother and father traded each other. A few minutes later the pair of adults and high schoolers are sitting out the dining room table, the later happily munching on celery sticks covered in peanut butter and sipping on lemonade. Eventually the quiet is broken when Mr. Pennington begins asking both girls how school was. Sadie gives a generic response since she doesn't truly know the Pennington's, but Allie launches into slightly more detail. Mrs. Pennington asks how the girls met, completely forgetting she asked earlier.

"We initially met in the hallway before class started but started talking because we share European history and gym together."

"European History, what a fascinating time period," Mr. Pennington comments.

"It definitely seems like it will be an interesting class," Sadie laughs good-naturedly. "Our teacher assigned us a group project on our first day!"

"Really?" asks Mrs. Pennington. "What about? Maybe we could help." Mr. Pennington perks up at that. He would love to help the girls do research.

"Actually, I was hoping to do this on my own. Would you mind if we went through some of the books for research?" Allie requests her parents.

Sadie can't help but laugh inwardly at Mr. Pennington's dejected reaction. He reminds her of a kicked puppy. His enthusiasm for his job and eagerness to help his daughter is adorkable. "Of course, sweetie," Mrs. Pennington replies. Noticing her husband's reaction, she nudges his shoulder covertly. "I'm proud you want to do this on your own, Allie." Mr. Pennington starts dejectedly before perking up. "But let either of us know if you need any help. Anything at all!"

Not even Allie can deny that her dad's excitement over history is charming in its own way, so she just laughs in agreement. "Okay, Dad. You will be the first person we go to if we need help. Don't worry." She said with a grin before proceeding to take Sadie by the hand and drag her upstairs to her room. Both girls just barely manage to control their giggles until Allie closes the door. Once they are alone, they both collapse on her bed and begin laughing uncontrollably.

"Oh my gosh, your dad is something else Allie-cat! I never seen someone so sad about not doing research!"

"I know! That's my dad for you though. What he lacks in social understanding, he makes up for in obscure facts in medieval history!" For the next hour, the girls joke around and continue to get to know each other as the half heartedly sift through a few history books Allie has stored in her room for information. Sadie does take a moment to pull out her phone and text Miles her location- he can be such a worrywart sometime- and that she will most likely be staying for dinner before jumping back into goofing off with Allie while trying to find more than a single paragraph on the Lady of the Lake.

Eventually Mrs. Pennington knocks on the door and requests that the two wash up for dinner. They trudge downstairs, talking back in forth about trivial things, before settling at dining room table. All that could be heard was the soft clanking of forks and knives on plates as the Pennington family and Sadie quietly devour their meal. The silence is only broken when Mr. Pennington decides to speak up.

"You know Sadie, you bear an uncanny resemblance to a painting we have of the Lady of the Lake. It is quite remarkable." Mrs. Pennington hisses at her husband and Allie shakes her head in embarrassment, but Sadie found his comment interesting. It isn't everyday that someone says that there is an ancient painting that is her doppelganger.

"It's funny that you say that Mr. Pennington. I actually received the Lady of the Lake as my research topic."

She didn't it is possible, but Sadie swears the Mr. Pennington perked up even more hearing that. "If you would like we could show you. We even have some extra material that would probably be helpful."

"That would be great!" Sadie exclaims. Every book she has read so far only has a small paragraph- if it even has one at all- on her given topic and she figures that the older couple is her best bet at finding what she needs in order to complete this project. "Thank you so much. I don't know how to thank you guys."

"Trust me, it's no problem. My parents probably have every book under the sun about King Arthur," Allie comments nonchalantly. This isn't a big deal for the younger blonde girl. If she- well, her parents- are in a position to help out the bubbly brunette then Allie is more than happy to let her borrow them. "Do you mind if I look with you though? I don't think I have ever seen this painting before." With that statement she throws her parents a curious sidelong glance. She has never known them to hide factual information from her. Her entire childhood has been clouded with learning second hand everything her parents have ever researched and taught.

As soon as dinner was finished, and the table was cleared, Allie's parents lead the girls into their cluttered office where they produce a vintage brass skeleton key. Allie's mother moves to the corner of the room where there sits an old faded wooden chest that looks like it came out of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It is all a little too anticlimactic for Sadie's taste, but she can see why such a big deal is being made when they open it up to showcase an oil canvas painting that is expertly preserved. Both Sadie and Allie gasp in surprise as Mr. Pennington gingerly lifts it out of the chest and rests it on an empty portion of the desk.

The reason it is so shocking to the girls is because frozen on the canvas is only what could be described as an older version of Sadie. There are miniscule differences; the lady in the painting eyes are rounder, her cupids bow is more defined, the shade of the woman's hair is darker, and her eyebrows are more thinned out, but otherwise the portrait could pass for Sadie herself. Allie found it slightly disturbing to see a picture of her newfound friend that was most likely painted in the 6th century just laying about her house. Sadie, on the other hand, is thrown into a daze, for right in front of her is not just a near copy of herself, but the clearer image of the woman Sadie saw in her dream from last night. How did she possibly miss the similarities the first time around?

Worried at her friend's sudden quietness Allie places her hand on the girl's shoulder to break her of her stupor. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." Before Sadie could respond, the doorbell rings. But it is enough to avert Sadie's gaze from the painting and her tumultuous thoughts.

"Yeah," Sadie assures the blonde with a weak smile. "Just taking in the fact some old dude from probably hundreds of years ago decided he was going to paint a picture of a girl that didn't exist yet. No biggie. This is a regular Monday for me." She tries to joke to alleviate the tension that was smothering the room, but it was easy for the Pennington's to see that the brunette was rattled. The doorbell rings again, quickly followed by impatient rapping on the door.

"Allie, why don't you go see who it is. We will handle things here," Mrs. Pennington instructs while her husband nods enthusiastically. The historian couple has a few things they want to show Sadie, especially after seeing her reaction to the painting. She is hesitant to abandon her friend, but Allie complies, leaving Sadie to weather the curious stares of her parents.

As soon as she is out the door Mrs. Pennington moves back over to the trunk and retrieves a beautiful leather-bound journal that has the word Nimue etched in silver cursive on the cover. She glances at her husband, wondering if it was best to give this to a girl they barely know, but he just urges her on. Mr. Pennington may not believe in the reincarnation theory like his wife- and many others- does, but coincidences such as this can't be ignored. Mrs. Pennington walks back over and gently hands over the book. Sadie takes it hesitantly, lightly tracing her fingers over the words.

"What does Nimue mean?" Sadie asks, starting to regain her wits about her. This was an odd situation, but Sadie was determined not to let it freak her out- at least more so than it already has. She gingerly opens the book and begins flipping through the pages of handwritten notes and roughly drawn pictures. Unlike with the obvious patina of the painting, it is apparent that this is more modern. "And are these your personal notes? They look incredibly valuable."

The couple hesitates to answer the last question honestly, but they decide to tell her a partial truth. "Nimue is the name that the Lady of the Lake is reported to have gone by," recites Mr. Pennington before his wife jumps in. "As for the book, it actually belonged to an old associate of ours. He had always been fascinated with the tales of the Lady of the Lake and by extension, Excalibur."

"Huh," is all Sadie comments. She is far too engrossed in paging through book and its information to really pay attention. Eventually she realizes that they had spoken, and she looks up sheepishly at the pair. "Sorry, it is very fascinating. Do you mind me coming back tomorrow to read through it and maybe take some notes for my presentation?"

"You can actually take it home with you."

"Are-are you sure?" Sadie asks surprised of their generosity.

"Most certainly," Mrs. Pennington says warmly. "In fact, help yourself to any of the books in that chest. They are all of the topic of the Lady of the Lake and can help you."

"Thank you very much!" Sadie can't believe how generous they are being. If it were her- well, more realistically her brother- she would be hesitant about letting people borrow such precious material. "I will return them as soon as possible and take good care of it. Promise!"

The couple laughs at her enthusiasm then proceed to help her carry a few books downstairs. They are spouting off random facts to the girl as she listens raptly, mentally filing about anything she can use for her project. They are about Nimue's significance in Arthurian tales when a boy's voice cuts them off.

"Sadie, what are you doing here?" he asks. Looking away from the Pennington's to see her brother standing next to Allie in the foyer, Sadie smirks at his annoyed tone. She was going to have fun with this, especially since Allie's parents didn't know that she and Miles were twins.

"What ever do you mean? I sent you a text earlier saying I was hanging out with Allie after swim practice. I even sent another one letting you know I was staying for dinner."

"Well I never received either. You know you are supposed to tell at least one person where you are at all times. Do you know the statistics of females that are kidnapped and never found all because nobody knew what they were doing at the time they went missing?"

"Why don't you pull out your phone and check oh-wise-one?" Sadie retorts, knowing very well that not only he saw the messages since they had the check mark underneath the boxes, but that he also didn't have it on him because he always forgets his phone on the foyer table.

Miles, recognizing that he is loosing the argument, mumbles that he left it home, hoping his sister doesn't catch on and tease him further in front of the new girl and her parents; all three watching with rapt attention as the twins banter back and forth. He doesn't get his wish. "Nice move, Genius. I thought you were supposed to be the smart one?"

"Well some of your forgetfulness must have rubbed off on me. It is the unfortunate side effect of being your twin."

"I have to say," Mrs. Pennington interjects before Sadie can retort, "You two are hoot! Are you always like this?"

"Yes," the twins say simultaneously in monotone voices, earning a laugh from all members of the Pennington family. "Our mother says we are both peas and a pod and total opposites at the same time," Sadie continues. "It makes for some interesting conversations."

"You mean arguments," Miles corrects. Allie finds it amusing how even with his twin sister Miles remains combative and factual- much like he was with her when the first met.

"Eh," Sadie flicks her wrist, waving off his comment. "I wouldn't say they are arguments when I win them over half the time."

"That is definitely not true."

Sadie just raises an eyebrow at her brother and stares him down. He was walking into dangerous territory. "Do I need to remind you who just won the last one not even a minute ago?"

Allie's parents laugh again as Miles stutters out a basic argument, knowing that the green-eyed girl got him there. "Well, we'll just go to the living room and let you kids have fun," Mrs. Pennington says in her midwestern drawl. "Let us know if you need anything!" her husband finishes as they disappear into the next room, leaving the twins and their daughter alone.

"Why are you even here?" Miles turns to his sister with narrowed eyes. He didn't realize that his sister knew the new girl in any way other than the fact that she was his partner on Mr. Moore's assignment. Then he notices the abundance of books in his sister's hands. "You do realize she is my partner, not yours, right?"

Sadie grins and puts her arm around Allie's shoulder, pulling the amused blonde into a side hug. "She may be your partner, but she is my new friend. Anyways, the real question is what are you doing here without an invitation? That is very rude, you know. Mom raised us to have some manners."

"Yeah," Allie interjects. She is curious how he even found her address when she has only had two conversations with him. "How do you know where I live?"

Miles rolls his eyes. It seems like Sadie and Allie were going to become a dynamic duo dead set on being a thorn in his side. It is rather unfortunate that the spunky new girl and his sarcastic sister found each other and joined forces. "I asked the front office. They like me there-"

Sadie snorts at that. She has overheard some teachers gossiping last year in the office about how Miles- despite his intellect and studious nature- makes life harder for them because of his straightforward and brash behavior. The only reason Mrs. Bingham, the school secretary, gave Miles the information he needed was to get him to leave her alone.

"Should I be worried that the school just gives out information?" Allie whispers to Sadie. The brunette whispers back the real reason and together the two snigger when Miles demands them to tell him what was being said. The two girls just look at each other conspiratorially.

"Fine. Keep your secrets. Sadie, I think it is time that you leave. Allie and I have work to do and you should really do research with your own partner, not mine."

"You don't have to leave. You can read some of the books my parents lent you on the Lady of the Lake and hang out with us." Allie suggests to the female Emrys twin with a smile. She can already tell that she and Sadie are going to have a great time teasing Miles.

"Thanks Allie-cat! I was actually curious about your topic anyways."

Miles just groans in response. "You girls are going to annoy me any chance you get, aren't you?"

Allie and Sadie look at one another briefly, their eyes twinkling with mischief, before turning to the other teen and replying simultaneously yes. The girls laugh at his expense as they walk into the den arm in arm as Miles trails behind sullenly.

Forty minutes later, the trio has set up camp in the library (although, according to Allie, the entire house could be considered a library) slash den area. Mrs. Pennington built a fire to give them increased lighting in the room, set out a few dishes of pie, and Mr. Pennington left some books that he thought would help them the most with their research. While Allie is looking through some of those books, Miles works on demolishing the pie that was left out, and Sadie reads the journal that the elder Pennington's gave her.

"Can we just find the book we are going to use and call it a night? We have a lot of time to do this." Allie huffs at Miles as she moves to plop down on the couch next to Sadie. The brunette swimmer looks up from her reading to give the blonde a reassuring smile. After a stressful first day at a new school, track try-outs, and a few hours spent hanging out with Sadie, it is obvious that Allie is ready to call it a day. Unfortunately, Miles seems to have other plans.

"I usually do the assignments in half the time allotted."

"Why?" Allie asks. Internally she is really wondering how he and Sadie could possibly be related, let alone twins. The female Emrys seems to be smart and a good student, but she is much more laid back than her standoffish brother. Next to her, Sadie sighs. She is attempting to focus on a passage in the journal but can't concentrate with the two talking.

"He does it to prove that he is better than everyone else," Sadie explains with a roll of her eyes.

"You forgot more modest as well," Allie adds in as she opens yet another book. She expects Miles to be upset about the two ganging up on him (again) but is surprised when he agrees with their assessment. "That was sarcasm."

"It isn't sarcasm if you're right," Miles states. After loosing the argument with Sadie earlier he is determined to gain the upper hand and not let either girl undermine him. After all, he is the genius in the room!

Allie ignores him and changes the subject. The siblings would be here all night if this conversation turned into a battle of wit between the girls and Miles. Instead, she decided to direct their attention back to the situation at hand, finding information on the Order of the Bear, which she couldn't find anywhere. Sadie pats her on the shoulder sympathetically as Allie tosses a thick tome onto the coffee table in frustration.

"Can't we just ask your parents for help?" Miles questions.

"Miles," Sadie starts, realizing that Allie was growing frustrated. "Allie hears about this stuff all the time from her parents. The last thing she wants is to ask them for help and for it to be the only things she hears about for who knows how long. Give her a break."

The blonde girl mouths thank you to Sadie when Miles thankfully remains silent and concedes to reading through more books. It is silent for only a second before Miles opens up his mouth again, this time to ask a generic question about the food eaten during the time period. To both the twins surprise- and her own as well- Allie spits out the answer without delay. She is lamenting the fact that parents' multiple lectures have started to take root when Sadie looks over at her brother and notices him clutching his head in pain, a sign that he was receiving a vision.

For as long as they can remember, Miles has always had the ability to see the future. Most of his visions are minor and happen either moments prior to whatever he saw or a day in advance, but in some cases, he will catch a glimpse of a big event. When this happens, it is obvious to Sadie due to Miles reaction of the pain. If it is a headache, then Sadie knows it is nothing too serious, like now. It is when he blacks out that Sadie gets worried.

While Sadie knows not worry about Miles sudden bout of pain, Allie does not. "Miles, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he says as he rushes to close the book he was reading and put down his plate. "Do you have any ice?"

The younger female Pennington directs him to the freezer and rushes to get up and help him, alarmed at his frantic behavior. As she moves to assist him though, Allie somehow manages to stub her toe on the brick of the fireplace. It takes everything in Sadie to not laugh as Allie begins jumping around on one foot as she holds the other in pain. Miles enters the room with a dishcloth filled with ice, which he promptly hands to off to the young female Pennington. As he takes his seat and says that its time to go back to work, Allie sits down on the coffee table with a puzzled look on her face as she holds the ice on her injured foot. Sadie warily watches as her friend attempts to uncover what just happened. In sync, the twins look up at each other and have a silent conversation. They both agree that they will try to keep the truth from her unless she was to figure it out.

"How did you know I would need ice?" To protect her brothers secret Sadie figures that she needs to step in to help rid Allie of her suspicion. It is obvious that the younger (by only a few days, as they found out earlier) girl has a good understanding for each of the twin's personalities, so Sadie is hoping that her lackadaisical attitude about the weird turn of events will keep her from looking into it too closely.

"It is just a coincidence. He usually gets these headaches, complains about the pain, and asks to get ice, only for it to pass as soon as he gets it. It rather annoying actually."

"No," she says to Sadie before turning to Miles. "You did the same thing earlier with the shoelaces." Sadie gives her brother the stick eye just as he looks to her for additional help. He really dug a whole for himself this time, and Sadie is beginning to think that she can't help him out of it. Your own your own, she mouths to him.

"Its not that hard to guess. You seem pretty clumsy." Allie goes to speak again but Miles beats her to the punch. "Just drop it, okay!" He exclaims heatedly. Sadie shakes her head at him. That reaction is only to result in Allie pushing it further. To both of their surprise, Allie leaves it alone and agrees to ask her parents for help when Miles suggests it again to save time. Together, the three approach the elder Pennington's holding up the paper with Miles and Allie's topic as if it were a white flag signally peace.

The teens look on as husband and wife have a silent conversation between themselves. It didn't take long for Mr. Pennington to sigh- he obviously was not the victor- and to gesture for his wife to do as she wish. Mrs. Pennington rises from her seat with a secret smile, beelines to a dark antique cabinet against the far wall, and opens a secret compartment hidden that houses (another) beautiful leather-bound book. Sadie and Allie trade a look, both thinking back to the old chest that the weird painting of not-Sadie was kept in. It seems as though Allie hasn't heard everything about her parent's research after all.

She gingerly places the book on the table and urges the kids to sit down, handing them each a piece of pen and paper to take notes. She immediately launches into the history of the Order of the Bear, explaining that it was founded under the belief that King Arthur would rise again when he is most needed. At that, the three teens look at each other with disbelief. There were people that seriously believed this? It is apparent to Sadie that Allie's mother genuinely believed it, but that her father was much more skeptical. Despite his opinion, Mr. Pennington explained that it was the Order of the Bear's task to discover the reincarnation of Arthur in every generation.

"If Arthur isn't found soon, Mordred and his followers will send us back into the dark ages. Ignorance, humiliation, suffering-" Mrs. Pennington cut off her husband and started to explain to the three teens. Sadie couldn't help but think that she was describing modern day high school. Of course, she wasn't going to say it out loud (she has some tact) but apparently Miles had no qualms about doing so himself. Sometimes it was scary how in sync the two could be. Despite her reservations on voicing the same thought, Sadie laughs along with her brother and Allie.

It was a nice boding moment between the three until Mr. and Mrs. Pennington cut them off. Well, it is mainly Mrs. Pennington, who definitely seems to take this seriously. Mr. Pennington doesn't but it is obvious that he was trying to appease his wife, only for it to turn into a comedic tiff between the two, effectively ruining the learning atmosphere. It turned out to be a good thing because at that exact moment Sadie received a text from her mother saying it was time to come home. Miles automatically knew and takes charge, thanking the Pennington's for the information and asking if he (which really means they) can stop by again sometime for further research. As he talks with Allie's parents, Allie helps Sadie gather her school and swim bags from upstairs as well as some of the material on the Lady of the Lake to take home.

Before she knows it, Sadie is bidding Allie and her parents goodbye and is walking home with Miles. The twins are silent the entire journey home. It isn't until they have gone through their nightly routine, said goodnight to their mother, and are about to retire to their individual rooms that something is said.

"You seemed a bit off earlier when I first arrived at the Pennington's. Is everything alright?" Miles asks his sister quietly, causing Sadie to pause in the doorway of her room.

For a moment Sadie was going to tell him the truth about the eerie painting and how it brought up the memories of both her dream from this morning and the incident at swim practice, but she then remembers how scared he was this morning and how he has been annoyingly overprotective the entire day, and decides that this is something she needs to keep from him. At least until she figures out what it all means. "Nah, I was just overwhelmed by information by Mr. Pennington on my topic. You know how frazzled I get when I feel overloaded."

Miles doesn't seem convinced but decides to let it slide. Sadie may be the younger of the two, but she has always been the one to protect her brother, not the other way around. If something was going on she wasn't about to tell him as to not bother him with her problems. It frustrates the Emrys boy to no end. It also makes him feel guilty that he has put his sister through so much trouble over the years just because he was a little different. "If you say so. You'll let me know if you need help though, right?"

"Of course," Sadie tells him with a serene smile that is only reserved for her brother. "Now shoo. I'm supposed to be the sentimental one out of the two of us." Miles rolls his eyes but complies with his sisters demand. Once Sadie is in her room and the door is shut completely, she flops down on her bed and lets out a frustrated groan. When she left her house this morning she was trying to be positive about the upcoming year, but it is now apparent that it is not going to be so easy. So much for her plan to have a good year of school.

Chapter Text

Sister of Merlin

Interlude #1

By: Hogwartswonderland

A/N: Sorry for such the long wait everyone! Work has been quite busy for me lately and I didn’t have much downtime to try working through my writers block. Fortunately, things have slowed down now, and a good friend gave me the good advice of writing from another character point of view, so I will now be including these brief interludes in Marco’s viewpoint. While I love all of the Miles and Allie interactions, the story is supposed to focus more on Sadie and Marco. From this point on you will see this story diverge from the movie a bit to focus more on those two. Feel free to leave a comment on what you think of this new development! Thanks for being such great readers!

ONCE UPON A TIME… Sometime shortly before King Arthur was slain by Mordred in battle, Merlin- while conversing with a small group of the knights- foretold their liege’s death. Most of the knights didn’t genuinely believe in the power of Merlin and soon forgot about it, but one knight- perhaps the most wholesome and pure of them all- internalized it and even encouraged Merlin to tell him more about this vision. This young knight was named Galahad. Merlin, recognizing Galahad’s willingness to listen, opened up to the young man about the entirety of the vision. He described how the king would fall, but that hope wouldn’t be lost as he would be reborn in order to bring forth an age of enlightenment.

While the idea was a little far fetched at the time to young Galahad, he soon believed in Merlin’s words after the death of the king and the collapse of Camelot that followed. Many knights didn’t survive the battle against Mordred’s forces, but Galahad did, and he told his companions that have lost hope of Merlin’s words. Before long Galahad had small following dedicated to the search of the next King Arthur. This small band of protectors became known as The Order of the Bear.

As the years went on, the knights of the Order recruited others to carry on their mission of searching for the new King Arthur. After the deaths of the original knights that founded the group, their replacements continued to uphold the mission even if they often failed. It wasn’t until the second known Arthur, Joan of Arc, was murdered that a discovery that would give them an insight to why they kept failing: King Arthur was not the only one to be reincarnated. Merlin along with other key players in the original Arthur’s life were also brought back, including Mordred, Arthur’s murderer, who was hellbent on ending the reincarnations life before they could rush in an era of peace. With that discovery the Order of the Bear learned that it was crucial to protect not just Arthur, but those that would serve by his side as well.

Time passed and eventually The Order of the Bear was forgotten by history, but believers remained and so they pressed on, only operating in the shadows of society. Twenty-five centuries later, it is the year 2010 and a new Arthur is emerging. A young knight named Marco Campbell stands in front of the governing council of the Order of the Bear in the meeting hall.

“No.” The two lettered, single syllable word echoes in the sparsely decorated hall and beats like a war drum inside Marco’s head. He immediately left school at the end of the previous day to journey to the Order’s manor on the outskirts of the city, calling for an emergency meeting with the five council members. Of course, nothing could be easy for the young knight and he was made to wait until the following evening to be given the audience he requested. Normally Marco was abiding of the rules and procedures that govern the small but ancient movement, but the discovery that Sadie Emrys- the twin sister of the current reincarnation of Merlin- is the new Lady of the Lake was too important of a discovery to ignore, especially when she has a penchant for not backing down from a fight and being unafraid to tell people off. If it had been anyone else Marco wouldn’t be as worried, but since it was Sadie, he worried that Mr. Moore- i.e. Mordred- would try to take her out and effectively keep Will Wagner from taking his place as the new King Arthur. He explained this all to the council then asked to bring the Emrys twins into the fold. But the council’s answers were not what he had in mind.

“Council, I ask that you reconsider. Mordred has already managed to keep Miles, I mean, Merlin secluded from others, and I’m afraid that once he discovers that the girl is the Lady of the Lake he will take harsher actions to be rid of her.”

Callum de Grace, the main leader of the council, was once a knight with a penchant for getting into fights and acting before thinking but is now a stern old man with little patience for insubordination. If it weren’t for the fact that Marco was his great-nephew, he would have taken the teen off Arthur’s protection duty long ago. “We very well understand just what kind of person Mordred is, and we do not decide our actions lightly. But we are chosen to serve as the council for a reason and collectively we believe it would be safer to keep the Emrys twins in the dark for as long as possible. As long as they know nothing, Mordred has no plausible reason to get rid of them.”

Marco goes to speak out again but is cut off by his great-uncle’s booming voice. “If you continue to persist with this Knight Campbell, we will have no choice but to relieve you of your duties. Are we clear?”

“Yes sir,” Marco grits out between his clenched teeth, almost biting down on his tongue to keep from saying something to make matters worse. He dips his upper body into a shallow bow before doing an about face to walk swiftly to the ancient double oak doors. Just as he is about to make his exit, Callum’s voice speaks out again.

“Remember that the prophecy is almost upon us. You know the consequences if you fail your mission. Keep that in mind.”

A shiver runs down Marco’s spine at the harsh, cryptic words. He certainly does know the price of failure for he has seen it before, and he does not want to be on the receiving end. He will succeed where none have before him, or he will die trying.