Author's Note: Kudos to my hardworking beta, Georgia Kate. :-)

O0O0O

Gaius was getting tea ready when Merlin came home. He didn't ask where he'd been. Gaius had a theory about Merlin's odd behavior of late, and if he was correct, then the boy would tell him when he was ready.

"Ah, good!" said Gaius. "You're just in time to set the table." He didn't look up from the stove, but the tinkling of china told him Merlin was doing as he asked.

"Gaius? Can I ask you a really random question?"

Gaius turned around. Perhaps Merlin was ready to talk sooner than he'd expected. "Go ahead."

"Do you believe in reincarnation?"

Gaius blinked. "That's…a very random question indeed." He thought carefully about his answer. "I try to keep an open mind about such things, but no. I don't find reincarnation more convincing than any other theory pertaining to the afterlife."

"Oh." Merlin looked disappointed. "So you've never had a dream or anything that seemed like it might be a memory from a past life? Like maybe being a court physician in the Middle Ages, or something?"

Gaius shook his head, more puzzled than ever. The example struck him as oddly specific. Perhaps that was why it conjured a startlingly vivid mental image. He saw himself dressed in a brown robe, walking through castle corridors, administering herbal remedies to peasants and princes alike. Strange.

"I take it you've experienced something of that nature?" he asked.

"Maybe," said Merlin. He didn't elaborate. Gaius was intrigued, but he let the subject drop. He trusted Merlin to tell him what he needed to know, when he needed to know it.

O0O0O

After tea, Merlin went straight to his room and grabbed the book that had started everything. It looked exactly as it had before, but now Merlin recognized the text. It was the language of the Old Religion. The language of magic.

He sat down on his bed, shaking. What had happened to him?

The instant he touched Excalibur, it had all come back: Camelot, the Round Table, the war with Morgana. He was Merlin of Ealdor, servant to Prince Arthur and secret sorcerer, once more. It felt like waking from a dream. But when his head cleared, he was still in the woods outside King's Hollow, and his memories of Merlin Ealdor, high school student, were as vivid and real as ever.

Merlin Ealdor thought he was going mad, but Merlin of Ealdor had a different theory.

This is magic, he whispered. This is a spell.

Even with his memories of Camelot, that was hard to believe. What spell could transport an entire city through time and space? It went way beyond anything Merlin of Ealdor had ever accomplished, and he was supposed to be the most powerful wizard of all time.

The most powerful wizard of all time. That alone made him doubt himself. It sounded like something a lonely kid would dream up. But if it were a fantasy, wouldn't he have made himself more than a lowly servant? Why would he make Arthur in love with Gwen?

Arthur and Gwen. To high school Merlin, the idea was absurd. Gwen only had eyes for Lance, and Arthur would never betray his friend like that. Besides, did Arthur even like girls? But to Merlin, the servant, it was the thought of Arthur and Merlin together that was inconceivable.

Contradictory memories flashed through his mind: Arthur admitting he couldn't stop thinking about Gwen; Arthur kissing Merlin; Morgana trying to kill Arthur with a cursed bracelet; Morgana teasing Arthur about his hair; Gwaine sleeping through biology class; Gwaine riding through Camelot in armor.

This couldn't continue. If he had any sanity left, he'd lose it, going around and around in circles. He needed to figure out what was real and what wasn't.

All right, servant boy, he thought. If you're a wizard, then prove it.

His gaze fell on a pen lying on his desk. He pictured it rising into the air. Slowly, he reached out his hand.

"Fleoge." The word came to him as easily as breathing.

Nothing happened.

But if a spell could make him forget his memories of Camelot, then couldn't it block his magic as well?

Merlin fell back onto his bed. Never, in either life, had he felt so confused.

O0O0O

Arthur's conversation with Morgana put him in a daring mood. Monday morning, he barely glanced around the car park before pulling Merlin into his arms.

"Good morning!" he said.

Merlin leaned back enough to look at him with raised eyebrows. "Taking a bit of a risk, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked, blinking innocently. "I'm just hugging my mate. Nothing gay about that."

"Right. Your hugs with Lance and Percival and Leon last this long, do they?"

Reluctantly, Arthur took a step back. "Fine. Meet me after class, and we'll go someplace where I can hug you for as long as I please."

He expected this to get a giggle, or at least a smile, but instead, Merlin frowned.

"Is everything okay?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, sure. I was just thinking…Why don't we go for a walk in the woods?"