I'm posting as I write so I don't know how regular the updates will be. I'll try not to let more than a week pass without one though.

_

The world is an enormous place.

That was one of the things Merlin had come to realize during his travels.

There were vast seas and lands, some had not even been discovered yet, and would not be in the many years to come.

And he would be there to see it.

Another of his realizations was that he not only did not age, but also would not die. Not that he had actively tried to die, but after waiting for so long on the border of the lake, the Lady of The Lake finally had spoken to him on a night of Samhain.

"You really do not plan to spend your life away on my shore, do you?" The soft-spoken voice woke the warlock and he sat up, staring at Freya.

She was beautiful, standing in the water wearing a simple white dress, black locks of hair adorning her pale face. An otherworldly aura about her immediately told Merlin that she was not there, not completely, anyway.

"Freya" He let himself smile slightly

"Merlin" She smiled back, tilting her head slightly as if considering him "I came only to tell you what you already know"

"So… I can't die" He said, his mood falling "What am I supposed to do? I've waited, it has been years, and Arthur hasn't come back"

"I cannot tell you of what the future holds, Merlin, but I can assure you that he will return. When Albion needs him the most. But you cannot stop living on his account" Freya walked in his direction "It is not what he would have wanted"

"I have nowhere to go" He looked down "Camelot has fallen to the Saxons, every person I know is dead… I have nothing to live for" As he talks, his voice turns into a whisper.

He feels something touch his chin and tilt his head up. Freya has her hand on his cheek, smiling with pity and regret.

"Then find something new"

He had learned many things since that time, more than a few decades had passed, and still, he remained the same. Of course, with time came knowledge over his magic and he could appear to age if he wanted to, so people would not notice that time did not pass for him, but never die.

Eventually he came back to Camelot, smiling bitterly at the wildly modified castle, but that still felt as much like home as before. The place had been abandoned some time ago, the villagers moving out into bigger cities and differently constructed homes, but the stone castle still stood strong against time, much like Merlin himself.

He could not bring himself to stay much time in one place, or else he would start to care about someone, and he had learned his lesson on the first few centuries. They would eventually die and he would be left to wander alone again. It was not worth the pain.

However, he did not have that problem in Camelot; in fact, he liked to spend time alone on the empty city. It reminded him of old days and happy memories, even if those came with quite a selection of sad ones.

Slowly but surely he started to explore the castle, discovering it's secret passageways and cleaning as he went. It would not do to live in a place that looked like he did not care about it. The floors were polished, the windows opened and gardens flourished.

Just like old times.