A/N: Second-to-last chapter. Enjoy!


Gaius stood in the corner of his tiny working space as Merlin stumbled about the bookshelves and nooks-and-crannies, gathering the materials he needed.

"I just need to find that spell to bring them out of the silver-"

"Merlin," Gaius said calmly.

"-And hopefully after I say it, I can use that spell I learned earlier, the one to destroy them. If I do it right, that is..."

"Merlin," said Gaius once more.

"...I told Arthur about most of it but he seems a bit skeptical; I mean, why wouldn't he be, I suppose..."

Gaius' voice rose this time: "Merlin!" and the boy froze. He sighed, walked over and handed a small piece of parchment to the boy. "This is the spell. I found it for you."

Sighing in relief, Merlin took the paper and folded it up, placing it in the pocket of his jacket. "Thank you, Gaius."

"I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, Merlin, but you're about to do something quite dangerous," Gaius said carefully, watching Merlin sling a bag over his shoulders, "And a part of you isn't quite keen to do it in the first place. Am I right?"

Merlin shook his head fervently, lifting a hand to scratch at his hair. "This is hurting Arthur. It's my job to keep him safe."

"Is that all?" Gaius raised an eyebrow, knowing he'd caught Merlin in a lie.

The boy sighed, sinking into a chair. "Do you know he defended a little girl who was using magic?"

"So I heard," replied Gaius. "The King isn't pleased. It's lucky Arthur was even released from the dungeons at all tonight."

"It's just . . . I know deep down Arthur is still there somewhere. He has to be, or else this whole thing I'm about to do would be pointless." Merlin stared at the floor. "But there's this new part of him that's, well . . . nice. Really nice."

Gaius noted the redness creep across Merlin's face that seemed to appear a lot these days when Merlin mentioned Arthur. It certainly hadn't gone unnoticed by Gaius' discerning eye. But he cared for Merlin too much to let him know he was aware of it. There was too much else to worry about, and besides, Gaius felt this was something Merlin needed to figure out on his own.

"You never know, Merlin," was all Gaius said as he pat the boy on the shoulder encouragingly, "Maybe this 'new' Arthur you speak of isn't that far off from the man you know well."

And after pulling him into a tight embrace, Gaius watched the boy leave, hoping Merlin would be all right when it was all finished, in both body and in spirit.


"So, you're going to say this, erm, incantation, and those things that took my memory...what are they called?" Arthur rubbed his forehead wearily and looked up from his seat on the bed.

"Sunscin creatures," Merlin supplied absently, leafing through what was apparently a book of spells.

"Right. They'll show up, and then you say another spell to destroy them? Seems simple enough."

Merlin looked up at Arthur, and suddenly Arthur saw something that looked quite a bit like regret in the glance. "There's sort of . . . a few things I haven't mentioned."

"Of course," Arthur sighed, flopping down onto the bed and crossing his arms behind his head.

"When I bring them out . . . they're going to try to, um, to hurt you. That whispering you experienced? It's going to be worse. Much worse." Merlin shuffled over and sat down next to Arthur, peering down at him. "Do you think . . . do you think you can handle it?"

"I'll be fine," Arthur said, with a lot more confidence than he actually felt, "I always seem to be when you're around, anyway."

Merlin didn't respond. Arthur sat up again to find the disposition of the boy beside him was one of complete devastation. His shoulders were hunched and his eyes were cast to his lap.

Arthur took a deep breath and placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder. "All right?"

Merlin looked up. "Yeah. Yeah, of course. It's just . . . there's one more thing."

"Just say it, Merlin."

But Merlin's next words made sure that it clearly wasn't: "You're not going to remember any of this. You'll just go back to how you were before, like these past few days didn't happen."

Arthur blinked, letting this new information sink in. "Well," he said finally, "What if I don't want it to?"

"You don't really have a choice, I think," Merlin replied, "But . . . it's all right. All the memories you've been trying to recover will come back to you. It'll be like . . . like you never left."

"Right. I suppose that's good," Arthur said, bitterness at the edge of his voice, "Since . . . I'm not really Arthur, anyway. I never was."

He felt that familiar cool touch of Merlin's arm around his shoulders and the reassuring voice of the boy: "But I think you are."

Arthur looked down at his hands, and laughed a bit. "We've . . . been through a lot, you and I, haven't we? You . . . really are extraordinary, Merlin. Thank you. For everything." He said the last part quickly, afraid that if he didn't say it all in one breath he wouldn't have had the courage to say it at all.

He saw Merlin's pale hand reach out and grasp his own as the boy replied, "Yes, well. You're quite extraordinary yourself, your prattiness."

Arthur let out another small chuckle and let himself squeeze Merlin's hand just a bit.

He saw Merlin smile out of the corner of his eye. "I'm going to miss . . . " he trailed off, squeezing Arthur's hand just as tight.

But Arthur had no time to react, as Merlin was on his feet within seconds and heading back to the spell book. "Are you ready?"

"As ever," was Arthur's retort.

And so it began.

Just like he'd remembered from before, Merlin's eyes glowed a blinding yellow as he said a spell. Suddenly, though, his words blended with the screeches of those inside his head.

You must be one with us. You must be ours, Arthur! .

Arthur dropped to his knees immediately, clutching at the sides of his head, moaning. Breathing hard, he tried to focus his energy on tuning the voices out. He had to be strong. For Merlin. For . . . the real Arthur, wherever he was.

Then he heard Merlin's words (all but background noise now) come to an abrupt stop, and when he looked up, three large, gray, horrifying creatures hovered before him. These were the creatures that had been hurting him all this time. They floated in circles, making Arthur dizzy as he looked into their nothingness-black eyes. Their sharp teeth were bared in an ugly smirk.

"You are ours," they hissed, reaching with long, grotesque fingers to grab at him, "Come to us."

"No," Arthur said, and then again, louder: "No."

"Keep distracting them, Arthur!" Merlin called, and Arthur cast a glance at Merlin, panicked.

Merlin's eyes were a bright, beautiful gold, but in them Arthur caught the flash of a smile. Even from his spot across the room he could feel the warmth emanating from his servant, and it was comforting.

Merlin was here. Arthur didn't have to be afraid.

And now it was time to step things up.

"All right, then," he spat, suddenly laughing a bit, "You want me?" He stood up, his confident, mocking smile canceling out his shaking limbs, "Come and get me."

He held out his arms, and the Sunscin creatures descended-gray and black and screeching and terror. And in all the chaos, Arthur heard Merlin's voice, clearer than ever:

"AbrĂ­et."

There was a sharp flash of color, and with the Sunscins' dying screams a surge of energy seemed to throw itself at Arthur's chest, moving through his very veins. He gasped, falling to the floor again. This was it, he knew. It was ending.

"Arthur!" Merlin cried, and Arthur saw his servant running toward him in a blur, kneeling down and lifting his upper body into his arms. This was Merlin; this was safety.

Arthur suddenly thought of falling asleep in the comfort of the warmth that was Merlin. He thought of standing up for what was right in front of his father, of how he'd learned more about himself than he'd ever thought possible. It was all going to go away. Forever.

"Merlin," Arthur gasped, sitting up and clutching at the fabric of Merlin's tunic, "I don't want to forget. I don't want to go . . ."

"Shh," was Merlin's hushed reply in a cracked whisper as he cupped Arthur's face in his hands, "You have to. It's all right. Everything's all right."

"Merlin, I-"

But Arthur didn't have time to finish, for his words were interrupted by Merlin's lips pressed against his own. He felt the boy's arms snake around his neck, pressing him closer in a fiery kiss and a warm embrace. He tasted hot tears and realized faintly that Merlin was crying. With the little strength he had, Arthur kissed back and wondered why they'd both waited so long to do this. Why they'd waited so long to just be with the person each trusted most in the world.

Arthur felt his consciousness slipping away as he heard Merlin's gentle whisper at the nape of his neck: "Whatever happens, you are always my King."

And then everything (once again) went black.