Chapter 2

It still boggles me that a country that made so many great things would be doing this. I mean, as a whole America was loopy but at least they helped a lot of countries before deciding that everybody should just become them. Aithusa said as she tied up her white hair in a ponytail and grabbed Merlin's arm as they walked down the sidewalk.

Embedded in the slightly rough black material of the sidewalk was micro technology to absorb and use the sun's energy to power the flashing lights of advertisements all around them and to direct the traffic of the nearly silent electric cars.

"Remember...oh when was it, a bit over a hundred years ago? Those things combated your snoring power," Merlin teased as a car rolled across their path into an underground lot, above which was a sign advertising free charging for the first hour of parking. Underneath every parking space was a wireless charging pad which would charge your car for you while you were away.

Ah yes, very clever. You're lucky I can't make you carry all the groceries home anymore. Aithusa's artificial voice rattled out of the Talker as she swiped her hand in a downward motion in front of her, opening a screen which greeted her in fancy script "Hello, Abigail!"

And 'Hello' to you too, Siri. What are the sales like at the supermarkets today? Aithusa asked the projected screen while they walked in the direction of the store with the most sales of the day.

Merlin's nose was pink from the cold even though it was early August, his eyes scanning the street for the both of them as Aithusa was already preoccupied with her Mobile. Just like everybody else around them it seemed.

Light radiated from everywhere now that wireless internet was accessible anywhere you went: people with their eyes focused on the large images before them leading them pace by pace, the fading glow your shoes left behind on the ground, the swirling colors on people's clothes.

"Goodbye, Abigail!" Siri chirped as Aithusa swiped her hand upwards to get rid of the screen. How's the heir doing?

Merlin reached through the connection he had with the ancient ring to sense that the heir seemed healthy and generally at peace. "She seems fine. How old is she now?"

About 26? 27? She's had a generally uneventful life it seems, so we might not even meet her again. Aithusa said offhandedly as they entered the store.

"Thank God for that. We can only pull so many strings so many times before they realise something's going on." Merlin picked up an apple from the bin to his left and inspected it. Shrugging, he put his thumb to the lid of the tube to the right of the bin where it recognised him as "Christopher" and opened to take the apple which would later be delivered to their flat. His thumbprint also connected the machine to his bank account so an extra stop to a cashier wasn't necessary anymore.

"You know what? I think you might be right," he said after a while as he observed the somewhat glazed look in the eyes of those around them in the shop. People had become more and more lifeless as they zombified before the power of the rapidly increasing technology sucking them away from actually living.

About what? You've never considered getting a puppy before.

"What?" Merlin turned around in confusion as he spotted Aithusa by the kennel where a few mixed breeds were looking at her with clear distress. They, along with most other animals, could sense the power of her true form as she looked at them with slight disinterest. No doubt she was only considering getting one out of boredom.

"No, I meant about leaving. I've wanted to visit the greenhouses for a while to spend more time developing remedies and clues about Arthur. It's not like we're really doing anything around here much anymore, is it?" By 'remedies,' Merlin mostly meant magical potions for purposes beyond mere healing. Of course, he couldn't just toss out the word 'potions' in public but who knows? People were shocked very little these days by anything which might otherwise be out of the ordinary.

Aithusa looked at him hopefully, the dogs taking the opportunity to scurry away from her to the opposite side of the kennel. Would we be able to go to the cavern? I've been dying to stretch my wings for ages! Do you really mean it?

"I think so. How about it? One last trip to check up on Elena then we'll be on our way." Elena Garcia wouldn't see them when they checked up on her. Their only interaction with her would be making sure from a distance that she was healthy and financially stable enough to live and continue the Pendragon line even when the name itself was lost.

I can't wait to let loose. Aithusa said with a smile as she dropped a few more items in tubes around the shop to be sent to their flat. I am going to miss rockers, though.

"I'm sorry? What was that?" Merlin grinned as Aithusa whipped her hand up to her Talker as it deceived her by mixing up her words.

Ugh, damn this stupid contraption! Showers. I'm going to miss showers. She clarified, pulling at the Talker. I'm not even remotely going to miss this. Maybe the next time we have to return they'll have made something more effective.

"Maybe. Are you ready to go?" Merlin swiped his hand before him to check the time. It was already 3:30 and they hadn't eaten for awhile that day. He'd probably have Aithusa do the cooking tonight while he figured out where exactly they would stay when they left London. Somewhere close but not too close to the greenhouses and -

Merlin's eyes shot wide open as his heart suddenly started pounding and his face drained of all color. What was happening?

Merlin? Aithusa asked as she noticed Merlin had fallen behind. What are you - Merlin!

She rushed to his side and brought her face level to his own as he had hunched over, just barely able to stand. He looked directly into her eyes, "It must be Elena. We need to go NOW."

Aithusa nodded seriously as she helped him straighten, pushing her own magic toward him to speed up his system's recovery from whatever shock was coming through his connection with the heir's ring. He latched mentally onto its location and they rushed down the street toward it, weaving through confused pedestrians and dodging across the street causing a few of the cars to beep at them.

As they approached the location of the ring, which was only about ten blocks away from the supermarket they were at, Merlin scanned the street for any sign of the heir, not seeing her even when he sensed they were very close to it. There wasn't any sign of her somewhat short frame or her long brown hair which should have been evident at this point considering they should basically be tripping over her now. A few minutes into their chase after the initial signal the ring sent out Merlin no longer felt the terror pulsing through the ring; fearing the worst but hoping he was wrong, Merlin's magic was directed to a young man walking toward them with a slightly confused look in his eyes.

"He has the ring. Get it and wipe his memory," Merlin instructed Aithusa, nodding to the stranger who for some reason had the ring.

Yes, my lord. I'll find you once I've finished. She rushed to intercept the man, her actions fueled by Merlin's unconscious use of his bond as a Dragonlord to instruct the disguised dragon. He would have to apologise for that later, especially since it wasn't remotely necessary.

"How am I going to find her now…" he wondered aloud before realising he could follow the ring's path as it would eventually lead back to its true owner. His eyes flashed gold as a blue haze led from the stranger to what looked like an alley about a block away. If this person died now so would any chance of Arthur's return. Merlin didn't know how the king would be revived but he felt in his gut that it had something to do with Arthur's line which Merlin had kept alive all these years.

He followed the path into the alley and saw feet limply sticking out from between two garbage bins. Rushing over he saw a faintly familiar girl, her head severely gashed and bruises littering a good portion of her visible skin. Even though he hadn't seen her particularly recently he could still recognise that this woman was indeed Elena Garcia.

"Oh my God." He bent down and touched her neck, feeling her pulse still pumping albeit weaker than it should have been. Merlin looked to the sidewalk and street full of people just meters away from them and decided that it wasn't going to work to try to get her out of here by merely carrying her in his arms. He also couldn't trust her safety to a hospital when he didn't know why she was attacked in the first place or if she would be attacked again. Even if this was just a mugging gone wrong, he wasn't going to chance her recovery so he decided that he would bring her to their flat.

"Aithusa's going to rip me a new one for this," he mumbled as he gently put one arm behind her shoulders and the other under her knees, her head swaying to rest against his chest as he stood to hold her unconscious weight. He hoped she wouldn't wake before he could get back and scare the everliving daylights out of her as he might as well be a total stranger to her carrying her somewhere she didn't know. Maybe he would ask Aithusa do the bulk of nursing Elena back to health since he figured it would be less threatening to have a strange woman rather than a strange man take care of her. "Alright, let's go. You're going to be okay, Elena, just hang in there."

With that, Merlin's eyes swirled gold and the both of them popped out of sight away from the alley.

How could you bring her here of all places?! Whatever happened to laying low and not making contact with the heir? Have you already forgotten what happened with Samuel? Margaret? Sophia? Wiping their bloody minds of every trace of you when they nearly got killed after discovering the truth! You helped develop hospitals for a reason, Merlin! Merlin hadn't seen Aithusa so enraged for a long time, but she was right to be. Just because magic was much more easily hidden in today's technology didn't mean he couldn't still be found out as a sorcerer.

"I'm sorry. I know you're right but I didn't have the time to figure out the extent of her wounds in the alley when people could easily think I was harming her or something. I had to be sure she would live, especially since there isn't another heir in the bloodline yet." Merlin took the ring Aithusa handed to him and placed it on the table under the television screen where Elena would see it but hopefully not suspect that they knew it was hers.

For some reason the man who had it wasn't exactly aware he held it in his hand for some reason. Did you put a defense spell on it after what happened with Jessica? Merlin nodded, remembering when the woman from...about three hundred?...years ago lost the ring to a thieving sorcerer who had recognised the magic it posessed and had stolen it. Then I can assume that we'll be around for another few months at least, correct? Aithusa asked as she crossed her arms and cocked her hip.

"Yeah, probably. Do you have something she can change into when she comes to?" Merlin pulled a blanket over Elena as he avoided Aithusa's eye, embarrassed at his impulsiveness after all these years. He'd gotten himself into trouble countless times since his youth in Camelot and old age didn't provide a lot by way of remedying that unfortunately. It drove Kilgharrah mad possibly more than it did Aithusa because for whatever reason she didn't have the gift of prophecy to the extent that the Great Dragon did, so she didn't have the same level foresight for Merlin to ignore.

I'll patch her up while you go get old and creaky, Aithusa said behind him as she approached the couch with clean clothes, a bowl of warm water with towels, and different concoctions of medicinal herbs made with minimal amounts of magic. It would be a pretty big red flag if Elena's wounds healed noticeably faster than they normally would have without magical intervention.

Aithusa re-tied her hair and proceeded to clean Elena of the grime from the alley with a damp cloth, her hands gentle to keep from disturbing the unconscious woman. The few times the two of them came into contact with Arthur's heir over the centuries Merlin would typically revert to what his old age would more realistically look like while Aithusa would pretend to be his granddaughter and caretaker. The more bland they made their lives appear, the less interest people would have to stick around. Or so the two of them hoped since they were just playing by ear most of the time anyway.

"Right. Thank you, Aithusa." Before Merlin could shuffle off to his room for the ingredients to reverse his youth spell, Aithusa reached out to him through their bond.

I understand why you did it, Merlin. I just hope that this isn't an omen for worse to come. Her back was still to Merlin as she strapped on her Talker in case she needed to speak to Elena, then continued with her work swiftly and methodically.