Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
This is a sequel to Avalon's Tear. This takes place approximately 6 months after that story.
Chapter 1
Merlin watched the evening news. The major story of the day was a volcano erupting somewhere in a remote Russian province, which would not normally be a news story except for the human interest piece. There had been sightings of a phoenix in the area over the centuries. Now, this would once have been regarded as mere superstition, but with the recent revelation of magic's existence, everyone was curious if any of the other myths were true. The general public still had no knowledge of the dragons.
He lived in Greenhaven, a small village that had been started by what remained of the druid community decades ago. It was in the UK. Up until recently, the regular folks had been completely unaware of the village's origins. It was only because Merlin had broken free from Nimueh's spell keeping him trapped for all of those centuries that they knew about magic. While Nimueh had been defeated, Morgana and Morgause had disappeared. More than likely, they were using magical methods to hide themselves.
In the meantime, he was keeping himself busy teaching at the school the druids had started up just a few months ago. Schools of magic were springing up all over the world now, though some had to resort to being hidden, due to new laws regulating the use of magic. The world governments had come to a consensus that magic should be regulated, but how, they could not agree. Therefore the laws around the world ranged from being Uther-inspired to the more standard variety, in which only harmful magic was banned unless used in self-defense.
Merlin, Arthur, Guinevere, the rest of the former round table knights, and some of the druids had been invited to Parliament to discuss what the laws should be, and the lawmakers had agreed to ban only harmful magic except in self-defense. That had been about four months ago. As a result of those discussions, formal magic schools had been legalized, so long as they also taught standard subjects.
Also, a universal travel database had been created, which magic users were expected to enter into where they were going and when if a foreign country was involved. This had come about since the world governments had realized it was going to be nearly impossible to keep track of people who didn't require an airplane to visit another continent. Of course, it depended upon honesty, and all magic users were required to carry a passport if they were in another country, but the druid council could punish anyone if violations occurred.
Since not all of the world's countries trusted the druids, several had taken it upon themselves to outlaw magic completely. The punishment for violating the law was life in prison or death, depending upon the country. Thankfully, most of the world had not gone that route. Most of the world remained quite sane.
Merlin's parents had been reborn, and his father was once again a Dragonlord, though with the help of the dragons' magical experiments. They had been brought together by the dragons and secretly lived in Greenhaven among the druids. Since the dragons had foreseen Nimueh's return, they had protected anyone having anything to do with Merlin in order to create a defense against her. Gaius, Leon, Percival, and Gwaine had been reincarnated and were brought together by the dragons.
Arthur and his parents had been found living in New York City, blissfully unaware of their connections to Merlin until Morgana and Morgause had stormed the New York City library, where Uther worked in his current incarnation. Guinevere and her family had been living on the other side of the US. They had all reunited as Nimueh, Morgana, and Morgause tried to take their revenge. Now though, they were back in their old lives, at least as much as they could be with the sudden fame.
Meanwhile, across the ocean, Guinevere was unpacking her things with the help of Arthur and her brother. Leon was also helping. He was Arthur's friend from college, and while he knew he had been a knight of Camelot, he did not remember anything. Gwen's parents were outside and talking to Arthur's parents. It was probably a good thing that her parents had no memory of Camelot considering what had happened to them. Uther, to his credit, was being polite. But it was still awkward politeness all around.
"So…what exactly did we do, back then?" her father asked.
"You were the blacksmith," Uther replied.
"Dad, you made Excalibur," said Guinevere. "You just didn't know what it was at the time."
"I did? But it's magical, isn't it?"
"Merlin got the dragon to breathe on it," she explained. "That's where the magic comes from."
"Oh."
"Come on, Leon," Arthur said.
"I really…ugh…think we should have…ugh…called Percival," said the former knight.
"All right, you two," said Gwen. "You can put those boxes in the living room." She gestured to a set of boxes inside the moving truck.
"Too bad Merlin isn't here," said Leon. "He could just magic all of this stuff for you."
"He's supposed to be here today."
There was a flash of green light outside. "Hello," said the warlock.
"Merlin!" Gwen exclaimed, running outside. "You made it."
The raven-haired man grinned. He appeared much younger than he was. Having been trapped in Nimueh's spell in the cave for over a thousand years, he had only recently broken free. It had been several months since then.
He was still getting used to the twenty-first century, even though he was a fast learner. The culture shock was finally starting to wear off. However, there were a lot of things he only had a basic concept of and hadn't had time to fully delve into the details, like computers.
"You remember my parents?" she asked, gesturing to them.
"Ah. Yes. Hello," he said.
Her mother nodded politely. Her father's jaw dropped.
"I don't bite," said Merlin, smiling.
"Merlin, hurry up and magic this stuff already," Arthur ordered.
The warlock turned around. "Yes, your formerly royal clotpoleness."
"That's not even a proper word," he replied.
"It is now," the warlock replied, stepping into the apartment building.
Gwen's apartment was on the ground floor, so at least there were no stairs involved. The patio door had been left open to make it easier to bring in things from the truck. The parking lot was right outside.
Merlin's eyes turned golden. Suddenly, Arthur and Leon's box felt as light as a piece of paper. Leon stepped away as Arthur set it down.
Elyan turned around. "Hello, Merlin."
"Hey, Elyan!"
"I'm sorry; I don't remember anything from Camelot. My name's Ethan now."
"Do you want to remember it?"
He glanced around. "Yeah, I suppose it would be easier, wouldn't it?"
Merlin's eyes glowed as he cast the memory spell. It worked the same as it had for the others. They retained their present-day memories, but also those of their past lives.
As Elyan recalled his days as a knight, he gasped. "Morgana killed me in that tower."
"It's all right," Arthur said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're here now."
"That I am," said Elyan, looking around. "It's so weird having two sets of memories in my head."
"You'll get used to it," Arthur responded.
"Leon," Merlin began, "Do you want to remember?"
The former knight looked from Elyan to Arthur and back to Merlin. "Sure. Why not?"
The spell only took a moment to cast, but for Leon it was like having another life flash before his eyes. He had survived Camlann to marry, have a son, and grow to old age. However, it had been odd without Arthur there. The land had finally been united and magic was allowed in.
No one at the time had known where Merlin was. They assumed he had been terribly upset after Arthur's death and that he could not bear to be in Camelot without the king. Now Merlin having been trapped in Nimueh's spell all these years made sense. The knights should have known that he would never willingly abandon his beloved Camelot.
Gwen poked her head into the room. "How's it going?"
"Fine," Arthur said. "Especially since Merlin's going to make all of these boxes weigh a lot less, so that everyone can take one. Right?"
Merlin nodded. As his eyes glowed, a bluish sheen sparkled over the boxes and then vanished. "You try one, Gwen," he said.
She picked up a large box that should have been way too heavy. "That worked out great. Come on, mum, dad, you can help now."
Even Arthur's parents helped, and that sped up the process.
Meanwhile, in London, the guards at the embassy opened the door to the ambassador from Japan. He was a middle-aged appearing man with a receding hairline. Mr. Sato wore a black Caraceni suit, a white shirt, and a red tie. He carried a Gucci briefcase. Nothing but the best for him would do.
As Mr. Sato entered, he noticed someone he had not seen before. A younger man was waiting for him. The younger man appeared to be of Japanese descent and wore a good quality navy suit from Marks & Spencer. It was nowhere nearly as expensive as his Italian suit, but for a young man who had not been in the workforce long, it was considered quite spendy.
"Good evening, Sato-san." The younger man bowed respectfully.
The older man raised an eyebrow. "Good evening. I do not believe we have met."
"We have not. My name is Haruto Tanaka. I am to be your new assistant."
The older man nodded. "Good. Come with me then. You can make yourself useful by doing some research for me."
"What sort of research?"
"I need information on a particular region of Russia, the Kamchatka Peninsula - geographic data as well as current population data."
The younger man nodded. "As you wish. Is there anything else?"
"No," said the ambassador. "Arigatou gozaimasu."
Mr. Sato entered his office and opened his briefcase. Inside it was a laptop computer. He took it out and set it up. Upon checking his email, he received a message with one word: Beware. The sender was encrypted.
The ambassador looked around just to be certain that he was alone. His eyes glowed golden, and the bits of information broke down with the applied magic. He waited patiently.
Though this world had its technology that thought to replace magic, it never fully could. Magic applied in the right way could destroy more than an atomic bomb. The fools with their guns and warheads could not comprehend that. Most of the world's military forces still did not employ magic users, and that would be to their disadvantage.
A bargain was being struck; a bargain that would unite some of the world's most ancient and darkest forces against the current powers. He knew that some magic users would try to undo them, especially Merlin. However, unbeknownst to Merlin, these particular forces were even more ancient than any he had previously encountered. The warlock would be caught unaware, and thus unable to defend his beloved Albion.
The e-mail had come from his contact in Russia. She was ancient beyond belief, having lived for over two thousand years. No one knew that she was still alive, and thus she was a wild card. Her power was immense. Even Merlin would find her difficult to defeat on her own, if not impossible. It wasn't just her, though. It was the rest of the Council of Astraeus, the name of those who disagreed with the main druid council.
They had split off from the core group and gone their separate ways, knowing that the other council would do nothing until they posed a direct threat. By that time, the Council of Astraeus would have gained strength and would easily be able to defeat the others. Merlin would be dealt with separately, since he was their strongest threat. Once defeated, the others would be easily cowed.