It didn't take Penelope long to escort Bentley and Carmelita's parents outside the blacksmith shop, where once they were outside the shop she turned back around and tapped the same button she had pressed earlier, where the secret entrance sealed up behind them. The downside to leaving the Black Knight armor behind was that they had to be weary of the normal guards that patrolled the village, the reason they didn't do the same to the mech wolves was because Penelope made them and they were designed to recognize her in either form she decided to use. Bentley admitted that it was a good idea for her to have done that, as they walked by one of the mech wolves that saluted Penelope before moving onward, and it made getting to the outside section of the village all that much easier, which was when he took over and directed them towards their safe house. Fortunately they found that none of the guards seemed to notice what they were doing, allowing them to get up to the entrance of the safe house and enter it before they were seen, meaning that Le Paradox would have no idea what they were doing if he suddenly decided to contact Penelope.
Carmelita was overjoyed to see that they had found her parents, since they had been missing since Daniel and Elizabeth had been taken earlier, and Sly echoed her thoughts, since they were part of the family, though the rest of the gang was overjoyed to see that Bentley had found Penelope as well. When everyone settled down Penelope informed them of what she told Bentley earlier, that she had been threatened with the death of Sly, Carmelita, and the kids, by Le Paradox in order to get her cooperation with his plans, which mostly included sending the main enemies they had fought back to the time periods they had been sent to. None of the group were happy with that information, as it proved that their true enemy was willing to do anything and everything to ensure the cooperation of those that he employed, making them wonder if any of the other foes had been tormented in such a way, but at the same time they were angry by the fact that the skunk was so willing to sacrifice children for his cause. Clockwerk, on the other hand, flew outside the safe house and remained outside for some time, where the gang heard a screech of pure anger a few moments later, indicating that he didn't like Le Paradox... and when the ancient owl returned he remained silent and simply returned to his perch, which was an indicator that he wasn't in the mood to talk.
Galleth, seeing how emotional they were over the news, was wise to stand aside and let them do what they were doing, but at the same time he found that he was interested in who Penelope was and why the gang was so interested in her, before he put the pieces together and discovered that he was standing near his sworn enemy.
"Impossible! The Black Knight can't be a lady!" Galleth exclaimed, though he didn't know whether to attack her, by using his sword or this lance-cane, or simply stand there and try to make sense of the situation that he had found himself in, as he felt that striking her would be wrong, especially since she didn't seem like a warrior and the action would only make the gang dislike him.
"Well, he is." Penelope replied, but she couldn't fault Galleth for looking at her like he didn't like her, not when she loosed a stun rocket at his fellow knights and knocked them out or when she punched him in the face, knocked his cane out of his hand, and sent him to the circus to serve as a jester, before she sighed, "Look, Galleth, I know you might not forgive me for what I've done to you and the village, but, well, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for everything that I've put you through recently."
Galleth looked into Penelope's eyes for a moment, finding that there was no malice in her voice nor was there the desire to lie in her eyes, rather he found a painful sorrow that hadn't been there moments ago, meaning that she truly felt sorry for the deeds that she had been forced to commit recently... and despite the humiliation that he had suffered at her hands, after his defeat and the loss of his cane, he couldn't find it in himself to hate her or do anything to her that would upset her friends.
"I, uh... well..." Galleth said, though at the same time he rubbed the back of his head and quickly found that everyone was looking at him, as if he was, as they said, making a scene or something like that, before he sighed and braced himself as he stared into Penelope's eyes once more, "Lady Penelope, I... I accept your apology."
"Well that's a relief," Penelope said, as she had been thinking that Galleth wouldn't forgive her for what she had done, but at the same time she was happy to see that he was willing to believe her, especially since she had only done this to keep Sly and the others safe, something that had been broken by Le Paradox's betrayal, "I promise you that, once we've set a plan in stone and we're ready to leave this time period, I'll recall the mech wolves and return the village to how it was before I arrived."
"Perhaps a visit to Merlin is in order, before your departure?" Galleth asked, causing the gang to look at him for a moment, as if they wondered what he was doing by suggesting such a thing in the first place, and he even noticed the looks that they were giving him, "It's not every day that three novice sorcerers appear in this village, ones with great power I might add. Maybe they can learn a thing or two from Merlin before your forced to chase after the foe that dared to use children as, um, hostages."
"He's right." Sly said, to which the gang looked back at him for a moment, as they were a little surprised that he was agreeing with his ancestor's proposal, especially since they had no idea what Le Paradox was planning, "It might be worth the few minutes we'll spend talking with the powerful sorcerer, as he might be able to teach you three something or even boost your powers to the next level, which we might be able to use against Le Paradox and his plans."
Galleth, happy to have one of them agree with him, proceeded to leave the safe house and beckoned for the gang to follow him as he headed into the forest that was near where the village was located, to which Sly and the others walked outside the safe house and followed him. It didn't take them long to reach the edge of the forest, though as they entered the forest Derpy, Gilda, and Diz realized that the part of the forest that they had been brought to had some magic dancing in the air around them, meaning that they might have reached the edge of the area that was Merlin's domain. They looked around as they followed Galleth through the forest, noticing that the magic seemed to be hiding the place that Merlin called home, as a few moments went by before they seemed to pierce the veil, and the reason the gang thought that was because they stepped out into a clearing that Bentley confirmed wasn't in the forest to begin with, at least from what he and Penelope knew of the area. Resting in front of them stood a lone tower that was as tall as the oak tree that their safe house was located in, one that was made from stone, wood, and strengthened by magical energies, but even as they neared the trio realized that there was a powerful individual resting in the tower... one that was definitely as strong as them, at the very least, even though they had no idea just how strong Merlin really was.
When they neared the door, however, Galleth stepped forward and lifted the knocker that was on the door, to which he knocked on the door that was in front of them and let the sound echo throughout the tower, before he took a step back and waited with the gang for a few moments... though their patience was rewarded as the door opened a minute later and they found the figure that Galleth had told them about earlier standing in the doorway.
"Galleth, it is good to see you again." Merlin said, though at the same time he actually stepped out of his tower and showed that the ancestor's description of him was spot on, despite the fact that he was using an interesting oak staff with a blue crystal on it's tip to assist him in walking, a staff that held some power inside it, before he noticed that there was more than just Galleth standing outside his tower, "What's all this about?"
"Great Merlin, I found three novice sorcerers that are on a quest to defeat a great evil," Galleth explained, which was actually true, since Le Paradox could be seen as a 'great evil' for what he was doing to the time periods that the Cooper Ancestors were located in, but the gang said nothing as he continued, "I felt that, before they got underway, they might stop by your tower and learn something that might help them in their quest... if you were willing to teach them before they have to depart, that is."
"So, you found more of my kind..." Merlin commented, to which the unicorn sorcerer stepped forward and stared at Derpy and Gilda for a moment, as there were the ones that he was more interested in at the moment, "Ah, a pegasus that commands the power of lightning, and a griffin that has harnessed the power of the wind itself... most interesting. It has been some time since I've seen, much less been in the same area as, someone of my kind, and yet there is someone among you that is different from the rest, carrying a power I have not felt in long time."
Galleth knew the tales that had been spread about Merlin, that he was over a thousand years old or that he was an undying being that had come to the mortal plane and was learning everything about magic that he could, from the safety of his magical tower the only a select few knew the way to, though this was a confirmation that he was old, which made sense considering his age and his appearance.
"You are familiar to me, and not because of your innate chaotic nature and powers." Merlin continued, to which he turned his gaze towards Diz, who rubbed his arm for a moment and decided that, since they were in the presence of such a powerful and well respected sorcerer, that he might as well show him everything, so he brought his two different wings out and let his serpent dragon tail coil around his left leg as he stared at Merlin, "Young one, what name do you go by?"
"I am Diz S. Cooper, formerly Diz S. Cordious." Diz replied, though it had been some time since he used the name that he had been given at the orphanage he had been dropped off at, a time that had been before he found the gang that he now called his family, "I changed my last name when I joined the Cooper Gang, because they quickly became a family that filled the gap in my heart... one that was left because my parents, whoever they were, abandoned me at an orphanage when I was young."
"Diz S. Cordious... interesting." Merlin said, though at the same time he waved his staff towards the tower and a small chalkboard floated out to where they were standing, complete with the chalk and the eraser, before he carefully wrote the name that Diz had told him on the board, "Tell me, have you ever removed the z from your first name, along with the ious from your last name, and just combined the remaining letters together, into a single mass?"
"No. I never thought to do something like that." Diz answered, though at the same time he had to wonder why such a thing even mattered, because from the way Merlin was talking it sounded like he knew one of his own ancestors, even if it wasn't his birth parents, "Why do you ask?"
"Because of this." Merlin replied, to which he turned the chalkboard over and showed them what he had written over the last few minutes, where the gang discovered that he had removed the letters he had asked Diz about and used the remaining letters to form a new name, and that name was 'Discord', "Does this name mean anything to you?"
Diz stared at the name for a few seconds, his mind telling him that the name did sound familiar for some reason, but at the same time he found that he couldn't place why it was that way, which was why he ended up shaking his head in the manner that indicated that he had no idea what it was supposed to mean.
"I see... you poor thing." Merlin said, to which he waved his staff and the chalkboard returned to the tower, before he took a few more steps away from the entrance and thought about something, most likely what Galleth had asked of him when they first arrived, "I cannot help your sisters, the pegasus and the griffin, but you, Diz, I can spare a few minutes out of my busy schedule to see how your magic holds up to mine and see if I can't draw out more of your inner power, for your quest to stop this great evil that Galleth mentioned."
Diz nodded and separated himself from the others, as he was surprised that Merlin only wanted to deal with him at the moment, and when the old sorcerer told him to start Diz burst into the air and stared flying around the area, using his body to form copies of himself, a trick he had learned long ago and never bothered to use after joining the Cooper Gang, but he figured that now was the perfect time to bring it back. The problem was that those that were stronger than him could find where he was in no time, which was why Secretary Sen was able to find him so quickly, and despite his already considerable power boost, from his previous adventures, Merlin seemed to know where he was at any given time and didn't seem concerned by his mirror image technique. Diz gathered his power and the images fired bursts of magical energy at the still sorcerer, who simply stood there for a moment and let the spells come flying at him, but he watched in surprise as the spells struck a barrier that seemed to be protecting Merlin, as he was unharmed by the attack and beckoned for him to try again. In the following moments he tried attacking, with his punches and kicks enhanced by his chaotic power, and yet Merlin simply used the edge of his staff to block his attacks and knocked him backwards, showing the gang that his reputation was well earned... and there was even one instance were Merlin raised his hand and caught Diz's next magic attack, before tossing it into the air and letting it detonate before it could hurt anyone.
It went on like that for a few more moments, where Diz tried and failed to even breach Merlin's barrier, though even as that happened Gilda and Derpy determined that this was the purpose of the exercise, as the ancient sorcerer was intentionally wearing Diz down so he could do something... though what that something was they had no idea, since they weren't as versed in the magical arts as Merlin was, especially when he started his counterattack.
The gang was surprised by Merlin's power, in the regard that they were able to confirmed that the legends about him were true and not exaggerated in the slightest, because he was able to loose fireballs from either his hand or his staff and accurately target where his opponent was standing, he could do the same with bolts of ice, lightning had no trouble following Diz around the area, and a number of other spells that told them that Merlin was a force to be reckoned with and not to be underestimated because of his old appearance. The only thing that he didn't do was use his fists or his legs to attack, meaning that he was focused solely on the magical aspect of his powers, and yet Diz couldn't find a way to breach his defenses, meaning that even with his own power boost he wasn't able to crack the barrier that Merlin was using to protect himself. At the same time Diz could tell that he was running low on power, because the number of attempts he was making to break the barrier continued to drain his reserves, something he never really had to do since he had actually never fought another magic user and he had only trained with both Gilda and Derpy over the years, under the watchful eyes of Mz. Ruby, and he was now understanding why so many respected Merlin.
A few moments later Diz was forced to land nearby, showing that he hadn't been ready for this sort of fight despite his prior training, and that was when Merlin formed what appeared to be a glowing blue bow of magical energy, where he loosed an arrow that flew through the air and struck it's target... though in that same instant Diz found that he wasn't the true target, rather it was the strange magical medallion that suddenly appeared above his heart, something he hadn't seen before, which was followed by the object shattering.
The gang watched as Diz fell to one knee as his aura burst to life around him, which surprised Gilda and Derpy for a moment since they were sure that their brother had used up the majority of his power, but even as that happened they watched as a sphere of energy enveloped him, shrouding him from their sight for a moment. When the sphere broke apart they found that Diz's right arm had become that of a lion, his left arm took on the appearance of an eagle's claw, his right leg looked like a lizard's leg, and his left leg did the same thing, only it resembled a goat's leg, and in addition to all of that he sprouted two horns on his head, one that was a deer's antler, which rested on his right side, and a goat's horn on the opposing side. Gilda and Derpy, being the only magic users in the gang, could tell that Diz's power had skyrocketed, indicating that whatever Merlin had done had boosted Diz's powers to an even greater level than they had been before this moment, making them wonder what he could do now. The air around Diz shook for a moment, as if he was gathering his new power once more, before he rushed through the space between him and his target, where he swung his fist at Merlin and struck the barrier with all his might, both magical and physical, to which the gang watched as cracks formed in the magical barrier not even a few seconds later... to which Merlin jumped backwards and let Diz touch the ground, but instead of following after his opponent he huffed for a few seconds.
Not even a moment later his energy wrapped around him and he was snapped out of his form, returning to the state he had been in before Merlin had done whatever he had done, and caused him to fall to one knee in the process, showing that he had burned through his power and that the fight was over.
"I was right, you are his child, even if he doesn't realize it." Merlin stated, to which he glanced at the cracks for a moment and watched as they disappeared, before he approached the downed hyena that was in front of him and helped him back onto his feet, "I will tell you more about your father, but right now you have a great evil to defeat and a quest to finish, so I'll wait till we meet again to tell you what I know."
Diz stared at Merlin for a moment, wondering if this person was serious or if he was pulling his leg, but the fact that Le Paradox was still trying to destroy the Cooper Clan reminded him of what they had come here to do and nodded his head in agreement, causing the sorcerer to give him a smile before heading back into his tower. Since that was their cue to leave the area, and the door closed behind Merlin, Galleth lead them back through the forest and headed towards the village they had been in earlier, leaving them to their own thoughts, where the sisters determined that Diz had unlocked some sort of avatar of some sort, an avatar of chaos maybe. It didn't take them long to reach the village again, where they spent some time making sure that Penelope did as she said and recalled the mech wolves to the castle, which would serve as their resting place until she could come back and deal with them without having to worry about Le Paradox, after they figured out what he was planning and stopped him. It also gave Diz some time to relax and go over what Merlin had said, to which he convinced himself that maybe the old sorcerer had some sort of future sight ability and that was why he mentioned that he could tell him about his father, but even then he decided to push that to the back of his mind, as he wanted to be focused on their mission and nothing else.
Eventually the gang determined that their next target was interested in Salim al-Kuper, in Ancient Arabia as it turned out, and Penelope even said that this was the last of the foes they would have to deal with, since Le Paradox only had four other criminals that were doing his dirty work... and, as it turned out, Penelope even had a golden coin from that exact time period, swiped from the skunk's treasure hoard to help her in case she decided to rebel and take her chances, which was why she was so happy to have the gang stop her when they did. With the coin in hand, and Galleth's time period safe for now, the gang and Carmelita's parents hopped into the van and headed back to the future, so they could drop off Edward and Margret first, before heading to Salim's aid... and to figure out what sort of plan Le Paradox had in mind for that time period, and what his overall scheme was at the same time.