Yes, anyway, I must say I am proud of myself for actually getting motivated to do this, and hopefully, I HOPE, that my writing has improved for all of you guys to enjoy it~ (:

With great perseverance, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to a friend who helped me get back on writing again. (:

I DO NOT OWN ANY THING OF FMA OR FMA BROTHERHOOD, ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THE MANGAKA AND THE PUBLISHING COMPANY, SAME ETC. FOR MERLIN. NOW SHUT UP AND READ, AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY. (:

ITALICS-Flashback

BOLD-author's notes

Normal-Normal

The hills were green with unkempt grass that swayed gently in the wind, the air clean and pure. There was no cleaner or more beautiful place to be right now than here. The several hills that swept around the small valley made anyone feel at home. On these hills a small dirt gravel path travelled the entire way up and sometimes around these hills, occasionally meeting at intersection.

It was paradise. The sun was gleaming warmly and brightly, and there was no greater happiness then now. A crow flew across the never ending sky.

The small dirt gravel path that winded and twisted all the way around the small valley had stopped. It had led to weird looking cottage. A strange looking cottage stood at the top of one of the tallest hills. It was a small cottage with a big and tall tree beside it; there was a small swing that hung from one of the big tall tree's firm branches. The cottage was made out of a weird hard thing that didn't look like mud or clay, and its walls were white.

The person who lived in the strange cottage suddenly came out. There was a weirdly dressed woman, who had lots of strange contraptions on her ears; they looked like they had been painfully put in. The person sat down on the swing, and rubbed her big pregnant belly. Suddenly the door opened again from the cottage and more people came out. The sun shone brightly in their faces, but there was no need to see the faces to know who they were….

They were all laughing and being so happy.

There were no tears or sadness.

No pain.

Arthur walked down the cold corridor. Something wasn't right. Camelot still felt the same, but something was missing from the repulsively smelly stables. Why was it that nothing felt the same anymore? It didn't feel the same when Arthur was jousting or duelling. It didn't feel the same when Arthur went horse riding, it didn't feel the same when Arthur talked to Gwen and Morgana anymore. It felt that they were hiding something from him. Nothing felt the same any more. And it was all because of a person called Merlin.

It felt like this 'Merlin' was unique, and special in some way, in a way that Arthur couldn't put it. It just felt wrong now without this 'Merlin'. Camelot was no longer the place Arthur used to feel it was. It was a pile of garbage that he had to take care of. Arthur had asked every single person in Camelot (except his father) who this 'Merlin' person was, but nobody seemed to remember him, Gwen always avoided Arthur's eyes when he asked her who he was.

'Merlin.' The whisper escaped from Arthur's lips.

Yes, that felt right, Arthur thought. Arthur said this mysterious person's name again. This time a, shiver of warmth went through his whole body. Whoever this person was, where ever he was, Arthur felt connected to this 'Merlin'.

'Merlin' felt important.

Merlin, was what Arthur wanted.

And starting from today, Arthur was going to do everything that he could to get this 'Merlin' in his grasp.

Arthur arrived at the huge door and took a deep breath. He pushed away the guards at the door and entered.

Uther looked surprised. He was in the middle of discussing something important with Gaius, and he did not look pleased. Meanwhile, on the other hand, Gaius looked flustered and frustrated, but when seeing Arthur, he smiled.

Uther's reaction suddenly changed to rage.

'OUT! GET OUT RIGHT NOW!' he yelled.

Arthur stormed into the room, ignoring his father's outburst of sudden rage. Uther rushed towards Arthur and hissed in his face, 'Do you think I will care what insignificant issues you have right now? I do not have the time to trifle away just to listen to your petty troubles, as you can see I am discussing a important issue to do with you and Merlin-'

Uther swore, but it was too late. The damage was done. Arthur smiled with satisfaction.

'Aha! So it everybody knows this Merlin except for me!' Arthur shouted, 'And all of you were hiding it from me!'

Gaius pulled Uther towards him, and muttered to Uther, 'Do you see? Arthur has no recollection of what Merlin has done to him! We might as well just leave him be! It will be the best for both of them!'

'No!' Uther shouted, 'Merlin has used magic, and never the less, on my own son! Think about it Gaius, magic is forbidden in Camelot, and Merlin had the uttermost foolishness to use it on my own son to try and kill him!'

Arthur felt his blood run cold, this Merlin? No that wasn't right, was it because of Merlin's attack on him that was why he had felt special? Was that the truth? Use of magic in Camelot meant the death penalty. So Merlin was going to be killed?

'He was not going to harm Arthur,' Gaius muttered, 'he was trying to protect Arthur.'

'From what Gaius? From what?'

Gaius stood silent.

Arthur looked at the bickering pair, and felt a gleam of hope. Obviously Gaius had good judgement, and there would be a reason for why Gaius was arguing for Merlin, even if he did attack myself. Arthur then had an idea.

'And if I let the other countries see that I have become so weak that I even allow a person to attack my OWN son and let him get away with it, why then, they will attack Camelot!' Uther was still raging on to Gaius about Merlin when Arthur stepped forward.

'Father, I have an idea.'

'Go away boy, can't you see that I'm busy?'

'Father, it's important. It's about this Merlin.'

Gaius and Uther stopped their shouting, and turned towards Arthur. They were patient and calm this time.

'Go on then, Arthur, dear boy. Tell us your idea.'

Merlin woke up with a jolt. That was no dream, he felt certain. The vision he had saw, was a vision of THEIR past.

For the past few days, Merlin had been telling THEM about Camelot and this place. The history, and of course, the people. But one particular topic that THEY were interested in was magic.

'The cursed thing separated me from my normal life, that's what it did.' Merlin thought.

And the stupid thing was that THEY were looking for a thing that was impossible to exist. That thing was the Philosopher's Stone.

Merlin hated THEM.

It was all because of THEM that he had to go on this stupid quest with THEM. Merlin felt so stupid, how could he have felt sorry for THEM in the first place? Even though it was his fault for getting THEM into the dungeon, was it exactly worth his own safety and his life as he knew it?

Now Merlin was alone.

'Merlin,' the armour asked 'come over here.'

His voice was high and pitched, like a little boys voice that still hadn't matured. God, how he hated Alphonse the most.

'I wouldn't go there even if you died.'

'That's mean.'

'Not like I care.'

'Brother!'

The other person who was sitting in the small corner turned around. Merlin avoided his eyes, it was because he reminded Merlin so much of what he missed and most of all-Arthur. His blonde hair, that always shone in the sun, and his big goofy smile. He could get so agitated so easily, and sometimes he was happy. And when he was, he was just like Arthur.

Merlin didn't need to bond with him to know. He had seen it in his vision.

Edward got up.

'Listen,' he said 'I know that because of us, we put you through some hard times. And I really want to be good friends. But right now, we can't even talk to you right now, Al and I aren't forcing you, it's your choice. But remember, the fire's over here.'

Merlin stood up, walked a few steps towards the fire, then hesitated and walked away.

The two brothers laid besides the fire while watching Merlin lying on the snow.

As Merlin rested his head on the cold snow, he cried.

'Arthur…' Merlin sobbed, 'I'm so sorry.'

'No.' Gaius replied, 'And that is final.'

'Gaius, my dear friend, can't you see? This is a marvellous idea. It'll kill two problems with one solution!' Uther exclaimed.

'Father, I believe its "Two birds with one stone"' Arthur corrected.

'Whatever,' Uther ignored Arthur, 'well, I believe that this is one of the best ideas that you have come up with! You shall depart in 3 days, I believe that will give you enough time to prepare. While you are away, we shall tell Camelot that you have gone on a hunting trip, and we don't know when you will return. Agreed?'

Arthur felt like jumping for joy.

'Yes, Father.' Arthur replied.

Gaius looked furious.

'This will be a good opportunity to show the neighbouring countries what Camelot's prince is made of! Don't be angry Gaius, we need this!'

'The other cities don't need to see how strong Camelot is when there already is a scary king…' Gaius muttered under his breath.

But Gaius' tone changed quickly, and when Arthur was striding out of the Great Hall, he gave him a few words of advice.

'Arthur,' Gaius shouted 'do be careful. You might want to reconsider, because once you learn, you can never forget.'

Arthur turned towards Gaius and smiled. Of course, Arthur didn't take it seriously, but soon he would realise the meaning of those words. But for now, all Arthur could think of was that he was one step closer to finding 'Merlin'.

'Whoever you are, wherever you are, I'm coming and I'm going to find you.'

OK, for a short note, I pulled a all-nighter for this, so I am dang panda eyed. So please don't say anything about my rushedness (: and grammatical incorrectness and bad spelling, (not sure if there are any) as you can see, this is why I envy the people who write 10 000+ words, and I must say, for me, I put a lot of effort into this chapter. SO PLEASE REVIEW!

BTW-I plan to update during these holidays on a 2 week basis, probs on Saturdays, if I don't, then you'll noe that I have gone back to randomly updating.

TY 4 READING!