Title: Never Forget
Author: Forbearnan
Summary: He could feel the power of the Land mixing in his blood and thrumming in his fingertips and understood they were each other's lifeblood, as inseparable as Life was to Death.
Disclaimer: All characters are not of my creation; they belong to BBC's Merlin tv show.
He felt it when he arrived; his magic mixing with the wounded magic of the Land, comforting and healing it, sealing the torn edges that had been left open so long, and mending the new ones so constantly inflicted upon it.
As long as the Earthremained, so did he. As long as he remained, so did the World. He could feel the power of the Land mixing in his blood and thrumming in his fingertips and understood they were each other'slifeblood, as inseparable as Life was to Death.
When he arrived, the Land welcomed him and held him close, like a mother singing a lullaby to her baby. She was his mother; he was her child. He was from the Land and the Land was his home.
Years ago he had watched his kingdom rise and stumble and then fall. He had watched as his King- his friend- fell in battle; as the army rose and destroyed all that had been accomplished. And a great blackness spread over the Earth.
He heard the Land cry out as a newborn is taken from its mother's arms. He watched from the Other World as dark years fell upon the Earth and war's tears watered the ground in anger, turning the Land into a wilderness of hate. Many times, the Land called for him, but he could not come, for the Other World would not let him.
He remembered watching as years passed by in seconds, centuries in minutes, millennia in hours. He watched as his Land rebuilt itself, and blossomed like a flower. He saw turmoil and peace and light and darkness, each blending into each other to form a beautifully wild painting, an intricately tangled masterpiece.
It was not until later that he felt a tingling go down his spine and a whisper in his ears.
It was only time until the Land called him back again.
When he fell, the World became quiet and welcomed him. It spoke to him in the passing wind. They felt their magic join, and each felt whole again.
Like child who hadn't seen his mother in years, the Earth wept and he wept with it, their tears turning into rain and calming them both, and watering the Land with new hope.
It was not long before he found them all, each a passing shadow of their former selves. Their names were there, their flesh was there, they could breathe and see and feel, but where had their souls gone? They are all but puppets of Fate and slaves to Destiny.
Sometimes he wakes with memories of past lives spilling into his mind, the pain of losing them again and again. Other times he does not know where he is or who he is or why he even exists. And he screams at the Land.
No one remembers until the end, when it is too late.
He soon learns to turn his back on the Land
and the Land mourns him.