The Fourth Apprentice

by Carly the Llama

A long time ago, Merlin was a Keyblade wielder alongside Terra, Aqua and Ven. Years later, his past comes back to haunt his new life and destiny. Xehanort is back. Again on an adventure, this time with Arthur in tow, Merlin fights to save his friends, and the universe. But secrets are revealed, making him wonder who he truly is. And poor Arthur just wants to know what's going on.

10. Chapter 10

A/N: I am so so sorry for the nearly two-month hiatus, writer's block is a bitch. It's funny in a way, I have the entire storyline thought through and edited, yet this chapter keeps coming back to haunt me. But it's mostly just a world and hearing more of Merlin's backstory in Ealdor and the road to recovery.

Yup, Shrek. I don't give a fuck about sticking to Disney, this whole fanfiction ties into BBC! What's next? I'll be doing Orphan Black or Sherlock? (I'm kidding, halt your typing keys, if you're going to review, don't give me crap.)

Warning- Mention of mature themes like depression, PTSD and other shit like that.

Anyway, chapter 10, let's dive into it.

Chapter 10: Stories, Depression and Darkness (oh yeah, there's a world too.)

They landed on the world and registered they were in the greenery, right next to a mountain what looked very dangerous.

Suddenly, they all turned when they heard voices. The knights were all looking defensive, but instead they saw a green creature with a donkey, a talking donkey. They stopped when they saw the group of foreigners. The green creature groaned,

"Let me guess. Ahh! Ogre! Kill it!"

Merlin crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, "An ogre and a talking donkey. Not the strangest thing I've seen this week."

"What is the strangest thing you've seen this week?" Elyan asked.

"Arthur and I used magic jewelry to turn into animal-themed superheroes, which, while not the first time I've done it, still counts as strange. And my kidnapper is my father." He turned back to the ogre, "Hello!" He proceeded to introduce himself and the others, "May I ask what you and the donkey are doing here?"

The ogre groaned, "Donkey, you're rubbing off on them. I'm Shrek, and we are here to rescue the princess in that tower on top of the mountain and bring her back to Lord Farquaad, so I can get my swamp back."

Gwen beamed, "We can help you rescue the princess!" Arthur and Elyan stared at her in horror, causing her to shrug, "What? Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I don't want some adventure. Aqua got some and managed to survive in hell for twelve fricking years before getting turned evil, something that according to our world, should have happened within ten minutes or not at all as everyone would have taught her to be a housewife." Merlin just chuckled, knowing she was right.

Donkey beamed, "That's great! Because there's a dragon and lava." Merlin smirked, "Thankfully, I can control dragons. Let's go." He threw his head back and screamed into the sky, "O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd hupâ anankes!"

Everyone stared at him as a pink dragon flew down, Merlin smiled warmly and stroked her scales, "Hello. May you please take us to the princess?" The dragon looked angry for a second but looked into the Dragonlord's kind sapphire eyes caused the creature to relent and lower her wing, Merlin beamed, "Come on guys, she's safe."

Everyone, including Donkey and Shrek, looked to each other in worry, but did obey—as the group trusted Merlin's judgement and the other two saw this as an opportunity to not die.

They flew up the mountain, over the lava moat and right next to a tower. Arthur summoned his Keyblade and unlocked the window, so Shrek could climb in, wearing a helmet Merlin had fashioned in the event he was hit with a book or a frying pan.

They heard the sounds of talking, before they could tell he was taking her to the window,

"You didn't slay the dragon?" The princess shouted in horror.

"Don't need to, Princess." Shrek answered, "Raven over there can control it." Merlin waved at the mention of him.

Fiona screamed, "But this isn't right! You were meant to charge in, sword drawn, banner flying. That's what all the other knights did."

"Yeah, right before they burst into flames." Percival retorted, "We're sticking with Merlin."

"That's not the point." Fiona said, turning to Shrek, "What kind of knight are you?"

Shrek shrugged, "One of a kind." Donkey appeared from behind Leon,

"Hi, Princess!"

"It talks!"

"Yeah, it's getting him to shut up that's the trick." Shrek replied, dragging her onto the dragon, Gwaine wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her stable as Merlin gestured the dragon to fly them down to the edge of the woods.

The dragon landed, and Merlin pressed his temple to that of the dragon's "Thank you, Irsilth, you have done a great good. Now return home and rest."

The dragon, Irsilth apparently, flew away at his words and Fiona cheered,

"You did it! You rescued me! You're amazing. You're—You're wonderful. Thy deed is great, and thine heart is pure. I am eternally in your debt." She turned to Donkey, "And where would be a brave knight be without his noble steed?"

Donkey laughed, "Alright, I hope you heard that. She called me a noble steed. She thinks I'm a noble steed."

Fiona beamed, her fiery red hair now over her shoulder, "The battle is won. You may remove your helmet, good Sir Knight."

Everyone looked to each other, before Shrek answered, "Uh, no."

"Why not?" Fiona crossed her arms, glaring at everyone, "I wouldn't look upon the face of my rescuer."

"No, no, you wouldn't." Elyan said, earning a nod from Shrek and Donkey, because having lived in a very prejudice kingdom most of his life, he and the others cold take a guess as to her reaction.

"But how will you kiss me?" Fiona asked, causing Shrek to jump in shock,

"What? That job wasn't in the job description."

"Maybe it's a perk." Gwen shrugged.

"No, it's destiny." Fiona insisted, earning a scoff from Merlin. She glared at him, then softened, "Oh, you must know how it goes. A princess locked in a tower and beset by a dragon, is rescued by a brave knight, and then they share true love's first kiss."

Merlin frowned, and Donkey cocked his head, "Hmm? With Shrek? You think—Wait. Wait. You think that Shrek is your true love?"

"Well, yes." Fiona said, causing Arthur to lean closer to Merlin as everyone else began laughing,

"Merlin, what's wrong?"

"There's something about her. She seems to be wrapped in dark magic. It's not coming from her like her own power, but almost like a curse of some sort."

"Do you think she could be dangerous?"

"I don't know." They turned back to the conversation, where everyone, including Shrek, was laughing, and Fiona was not giving up on getting the helmet off,

"Let's just say I'm not your type, okay?" Shrek insisted.

"Of course, you are. You're my rescuer. Now remove your helmet."

"Look. I really don't think this is a good idea." Leon pleaded.

"Just take off the helmet."

Shrek shook his head, "I'm not going to."

"Take it off."

"No!"

"Now!" She screamed, causing everyone to jump back, and Arthur and Merlin's Keyblades summoning.

"Okay! Easy. As you command, Your Highness." Shrek removed his helmet and Fiona gasped,

"You—You're an ogre."

"Oh, you were expecting Prince Charming?" Shrek asked.

"Well, yes, actually." She ran her hands through her hair, "Oh, no. This is all wrong. You're not supposed to be an ogre." She looked around to the others, "One of you must be my true love." Arthur wrapped an arm around Gwen's waist and some knights backed up; Merlin literally turned himself invisible, and the only reason Arthur knew he was there and hadn't sprinted away was because of their connection, which only now did he realize was so strong; he could feel Merlin's presence.

Shrek groaned, "Princess, I was sent to rescue you by Lord Farquaad, okay? He's the one who wants to marry you."

"Well, then why didn't he come to rescue me?" Fiona snapped.

"Good question." Gwen muttered, "You should ask him that when we get there."

"But I have to be rescued by my true love," Fiona pleaded, "not by some ogre, his pet and a bunch of random people."

"So much for noble steed." Donkey said.

"Look, Princess." Shrek said dryly, "You're not making my job any easier."

Fiona sat down on a rock and crossed her arms with a 'humph' "Well, I'm sorry, but your job is not my problem. You can tell Lord Farquaad that if he wants to rescue me properly, I'll be waiting for him right here."

"Hey! I'm no one's messenger boy, alright. I'm a delivery boy." Shrek threw her over his shoulder and began walking as Fiona began screaming,

"You wouldn't dare. Put me down!"

Shrek turned to them, "Ya coming, guys?"

"I'm right behind ya." Donkey said, following the ogre. Everyone else just looked to each other.

"Do we go?" Percival asked Merlin.

Merlin watched the others leave, "Fiona has some sort of dark magic to her, I want to know if she's dangerous or not."

"Okay then."

Merlin threw his Keyblade into the air, turning it into a large hoverboard. Everyone sat down as it flew after the other three.

OoOoO

After a few hours of floating or hiking, along with Fiona rabbiting on about true love to the point Gwen had pulled out a dagger or Merlin had magically shut her up, she sighed, "The sooner we get to Duloc the better."

"Oh, yeah." Donkey agreed "You're gonna love it there, Princess? It's beautiful!"

Shrek put Fiona down, so she could walk. Merlin's hoverboard raised itself up, not liking her, "And what of my groom-to-be?" She asked, "Lord Farquaad? What's he like?"

The knights, Arthur, Gwen—who were on Arthur's own hoverboard—and Merlin all leaned in in interest,

"Well, let me put this way, Princess. Men of Farquaad's statue are in short supply." Shrek said, laughing. Everyone could tell this was a sort of roast session.

"I don't know, Shrek." Donkey joined in, "There are those who think little of him." They were both laughing now, but Fiona was clearly offended,

"Stop it. Stop it, both of you. You know, you're just jealous you can never measure up to a great ruler like Lord Farquaad. Tell them guys," she gave everyone on the hoverboards a pointed look. Arthur frowned,

"Don't look at us, we don't know anything about your fiancé."

"Yeah, well, maybe you're right, Princess." Shrek relented, "But I'll let you do the measuring when you see him tomorrow."

Fiona gasped, "Tomorrow? It'll take that long? Shouldn't we stop to make camp?"

"No, that'll take longer." Leon replied, "We can keep going."

"But there's robbers in the woods." Fiona pleaded, causing Donkey to agree with her, "Whoa! Time out, Shrek! Camping's starting to sound good."

"Hey, come on. I'm scarier than anything we're going to see in this forest."

"And I can command a dragon." Merlin said, now sitting in almost a cat-like position, but it was clear to anyone who knew him that he was doing this to test her into revealing why the dark magic was so close, "And my friends are all warriors, mighty knights. So why don't we keep walking. The moon in nice light and the sun is going down."

Fiona gasped at the setting son, "I need to find somewhere to camp now!" It was the same ferocity as when she was getting his helmet off. They all relented to her and not long after found a cave by the cliff,

"We can do better than that." Donkey insisted, "I don't think this is fit for a princess."

"No, no, it's perfect. It just needs a few homey touches." Fiona scurried off and Gwen frowned, "Homey touches? Like what?"

Fiona literally ripped off some tree bark and put it in front of the cave, "A door?" She began crawling in, "Well, gentlemen, I bid thee good night." Gwen frowned.

"You want me to read you a bedtime story? I will." Donkey said.

"I said good night." Fiona shut the door and Shrek subtly began sliding a boulder in front of the cave entrance.

"Shrek, what are you doing?" Percival asked, unsure of whether to stop him. Fiona had been rather horrible to be around.

Shrek laughed, but stopped pushing the rock, "I just—You know—Oh, come on. I was just kidding."

They started a campfire, ate a quick dinner of deer, Shrek and Donkey went to watch stars while the others sat over the campfire roasting s'mores.

"Mmm. Merlin, mate, you should have showed this to us a long time ago." Gwaine said, having gone through his fifth s'more. Everyone nodded their agreement and noticed Merlin wasn't fully paying attention, fiddling with a guitar; humming to himself. Gwaine suddenly grinned,

"Mate, do you play? Sing?"

Merlin looked up, "Oh, sorry. Just reminiscing old times. Campfires are a little nostalgic for me."

Gwen perked up and smiled, "Ventus is lovely. Tell us about some of the others. What did you guys do?"

Merlin was still holding his guitar, smiling sadly, "We did a lot of things, which went surprisingly well with our age differences, though I guess me having the IQ of someone five times my age helped that right along."

"How many times have you found problems in deals with witches?" Arthur asked.

"Many." Merlin answered, "The one time I didn't, and it came back to bite me, I went back and blew her up." Everyone winced.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side." Percival muttered, "Lancelot was right, looks are very deceiving with you. "

Merlin continued humming while watching Shrek and Donkey, before Gwen asked,

"Merlin, can you sing?"

Merlin looked up, "Am I able to, or will I?"

"Will you?"

Arthur and the other knights grinned to each other, they wanted this to happen just as much as Gwen did. Merlin sighed,

"I don't know..." He sighed, "I haven't truly sung in a long time. Last time was...with them."

"Tell us." Elyan said, "Get some things off your chest. We know about your magic and most of your past, there's no harm."

He relented with a distant smile, "Okay. It was three days before out Mark of Mastery exam," Merlin started, "We were out camping, because why not. We all sat around a campfire and the master got out his guitar, this one." He gestured to the guitar, "He started singing, and we all joined in. It was the last time the five of us did something as a family. We laughed and sang and told stories and joked about old times." He laughed sadly, "It was one of the best nights of my life."

"Do you remember the song?" Arthur asked. This wasn't the first time they had been told a story about Merlin's past, but it was the first time they heard any details; mainly because Merlin had been likely concussed when mentioning anything else. It had always been the one perk of the young warlock getting injured, because he would be less guarded when only half-lucid and would reveal tiny details like names and places that before they had all blamed on said concussion.

Merlin nodded, "Of course I do."

"Come on mate," Gwaine encouraged, "go ahead."

Merlin smiled, nodding. He began playing the guitar,

"I have a dream, a song to sing

To help me cope with anything

If you see the wonder of a fairy tale

You can take the future even if you fail

I believe in angels

Something good in everything I see

I believe in angels

When I know the time is right for me

I'll cross the stream—I have a dream"

His voice was enchanting, beautiful and harmonic; and they could tell he wasn't fully with them anymore either, as his eyes revealed he was back in the past.

They all joined in, following Merlin's melody and subtle cues.

"I have a dream, a fantasy

To help me through reality

And my destination makes it worth the while

Pushing through the darkness still another mile

I believe in angels

Something good in everything I see

I believe in angels

When I know the time is right for me

I'll cross the stream—I have a dream

I'll cross the stream—I have a dream"

Merlin spent a moment just playing a melody, no words coming from his mouth. They then realized while he may not have sung in a long time, this was not the first time he had played this on a guitar. His eyes were closed, and a singular tear fell down his cheek, as his eyes opened gold and they saw the semi-transparent images of Eraqus, Ven, Aqua, Terra and a young Merlin sitting around the campfire—or Terra and Aqua were dancing together while Ven and Merlin were sitting on the logs, grinning like the children they truly were at heart. The group of memories joined in with adult-Merlin's voice,

"I have a dream, a song to sing

To help me cope with anything

If you see the wonder of a fairy tale

You can take the future even if you fail

I believe in angels

Something good in everything I see

I believe in angels

When I know the time is right for me

I'll cross the stream—I have a dream

I'll cross the stream—I have a dream."

The song ended, and Merlin looked up, smiling sheepishly. The fire was the only source of light, but they could tell he was blushing.

"Why are you blushing?" Gwaine asked, "And when the hell did you learn to sing like a fricking angel?"

Merlin's blush only got brighter, "I...I don't. Hey, it's getting late, we should get some sleep. I put a barrier up, we can all sleep." He laid down, summoning a blanket, then he seemed to fall asleep.

Everyone looked to each other as they saw Merlin's breathing become more erratic; he was trying not to cry. They all felt immensely guilty as they realized they had pushed him too far too fast, all having assumed it wouldn't hurt as much because he had nothing he needed to hide; but it clearly had.

Everyone watched him, noting he was wrapping himself in a separate barrier made of vines. He was almost in a small cocoon, but they could also tell he might be doing so consciously to keep a brave face and tear himself apart when others weren't looking.

Arthur looked at the pod sadly, "I still can't believe how much things have changed. How much I've changed." He chuckled humorlessly, "If someone had told me Merlin had lost everything, a month ago, I would have laughed and sent them to Gaius to get sobered up. But now...I wonder how I didn't see it before."

"Sometimes the people who smile the most are the most broken."

Gwaine's words made them all freeze. If he was right, then all those small moments with Merlin they all brushed off... they were...? Those smiles he would always throw their way after battle would sometimes be strained. The words he would say would crack slightly. His eyes would darken with something they couldn't possibly comprehend. And he would hold himself occasionally, like he was in pain...

And then it truly clicked.

Everyone there felt their entire world shatter as they mentally connected the dots at how broken Merlin had been for so long. They should have seen the signs, they were everywhere! Percival sighed, "Well, this experience has taught us something. Merlin's been there for us, whether or not we knew it, we need to have his." He looked up, "I should have seen it. I remember when he figured out I had lost my family not long before meeting Lancelot, he comforted me, gentle but happy; he really helped me with my pain. And when I asked him why he was helping me, his response was 'I understand what you are feeling more than you will know.' I didn't ask him about it then, but I feel like I should have."

"Do you think there are other secrets he's keeping from us? Or things we brushed off or overlooked?" Gwen asked, snuggling against Arthur, tears in her eyes. Merlin held a special spot in all their hearts, and to know they hadn't been aware of how desperately their young friend needed help was hard on everyone; especially Arthur and Gwen, who had known him longest.

Arthur shrugged, noting Merlin emerged from the pod for a second and walked off into the trees. He had a feeling his brother just needed a little time to himself, so he opted to give him some space, but would check if he felt there was any trouble, "I'd assume he kept most of his life from us, with most of it being until-recently punishable by death. But we'll let him tell us in his own time. And it is getting late, we should get some sleep."

OoOoO

They woke up in the morning to the smell of eggs. Arthur blinked awake and saw Merlin already up, with Fiona making eggs. "Good morning." She greeted, "How do you like your eggs?"

Donkey, Shrek and everyone else joined them, "Good morning, Princess!" Donkey greeted.

"What's all this about?" Shrek asked as the others began eating.

"We kind of got off to a bad start yesterday." The princess answered to them all, "I wanted to make it up to you. After all, you did rescue me." She handed him a plate, "Well, eat up. We've got a big day ahead of us."

The group began pleasant conversation, but Arthur noticed Merlin hadn't contributed yet, and he noticed the food had only been cut into small pieces and moved around to give the appearance of having been eaten without any food ending up inside the young warlock to keep him going. He was staring off into space like he would frequently in Camelot, everyone had assumed he was tired or daydreaming, and maybe that was all it was; but that was the thing when a light gets turned on, you always expect the worst.

Arthur got up and sat next to him, picking up the fork and waving it in front of his brother's face,

"Merlin, eat. As your king, I order you to eat the food." It was more of a joke than an order, but it didn't start off the usual banter it would on a normal day in Camelot; Merlin continued to stare off into space.

Arthur, panicking now, began digging through Merlin's bag and saw a little orange bottle towards the bottom. He read the label: Wellbutrin. What was a Wellbutrin? He held up the bottle to the others, "Hey guys, do you know what Wellbutrin is? Merlin's not waking up from this trance and I'm worried." He shook Merlin again, but his brother just fell backwards; that was when Arthur noticed he was muttering words quietly, they were quiet and mumbled, unclear. Arthur bent down beside him and noticed Merlin's sapphire eyes a) had rings of gold along the pupils, something that had always been there but was never pointed out by anyone, and b) weren't reflecting the sky, they were reflecting a bare landscape surrounded with fallen warriors. The Keyblade Graveyard. That was the only possible candidate.

That was when Merlin screamed and shot up,

"NO!" He blinked and looked around, then at his hands, then at the people—and ogre and donkey—staring at him. He looked at his reflection in the water Gwen had handed him. He remained confused for a moment, before taking heavy breaths, smiling broadly,

"Hey guys! Good morning! Well, time to get Fiona to the kingdom." He picked up his bag, not noticing the absence of the mystery medication.

Everyone just stared at each other.

"Well," Shrek said eventually, "I'm going to ask now, what's his damage?"

"Trust me Shrek," Elyan answered, "you don't want to know."

"No really," Donkey said, "I caught him sobbing in a weird vine cocoon with a dagger, is he okay?"

The word 'dagger' caused everyone to get up and run after their friend and the redhead princess.

They didn't know what to expect, but they certainly didn't expect to find Fiona and Merlin tag-teaming it against a bunch of random men, using the most awesome karate ever.

Fiona wiped the sweat from her brow, "Man, that was annoying!"

One man got up, "Oh, you little—" He was cut off by Shrek and Donkey joining the fight. The others weren't fully sure what to do as Merlin sent one man sky-high.

After a few punches, the battle was won, and Fiona chuckled, "Um, shall we?"

"Hold the phone." Shrek said, "Oh! Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on now. Where did that come from?"

Fiona looked back, "What?"

"That! Back there. That was amazing! Where did you learn that?"

Leon paled, "Please don't tell me you're a secretly trained warrior as well. I've had enough of those for one lifetime."

"You've only had me revealed." Merlin said.

"Says the guy who I genuinely thought couldn't fight with a sword for the first couple years." he chuckled, "Then again, there was when you and Arthur first met..."

Merlin laughed as Arthur cringed at the memory, "Oh yeah..."

"Come on then." Arthur taunted, "Take a swing."

Merlin didn't know he was being told to punch the prince, and he honestly didn't care. This guy reminded him of Vanitas and was just getting away with this because of a status given to him by his father, no matter what station he was in; noble, lord, or even the prince. At first, he debated sending a fake swing, but then decided this would be a good way to keep his hand-to-hand combat skills from getting rusty.

He took a swing before Arthur could react and punched him square in the jaw, sending the knight crashing to the ground. He looked up in horror at the blood coming from the side of his mouth.

Merlin crouched in front of him, "What? Didn't expect a peasant to know how to punch. Well, it's a game of life and death where I'm from, you don't let who someone's daddy is get to you." Arthur looked at him, now enraged, crossing his arms as he stood up, "You know I could have you arrested for that."

"You're not the king."

"No. I'm his son, Arthur."

Everyone gaped as Leon continued, "Arthur confided in me later that you would make a fine knight with that kind of attitude if you weren't a commoner. Then he thoughts changed when we though you couldn't use a weapon."

Merlin frowned as they walked, "I need to admit something. I've meddled with all of your memories at least once. I've been resetting them since I woke up, hence my trance."

"There's an arrow in your butt!" They heard Fiona shriek before anyone could voice their forgiveness and understanding. They all turned and saw there was indeed an arrow in Shrek's rear end.

"What?" He looked down, "Oh, would you look at that?"

They all stared blankly at him.

Donkey saw the wound and gasped,

"Shrek's hurt. Shrek's hurt? Oh, no, Shrek's gonna die."

"Donkey, I'm okay." Shrek assured.

"Oh, you can't do this to me. I'm too young for you to die. Keep your legs elevated. Turn your head and cough. Does anyone know the Heimlich?"

"Donkey! Calm down." Merlin ordered. Fiona turned to Shrek, "Now you hold still, and I'll yank this thing out."

"Ow! Hey! Easy with the yanking."

"I'm sorry, but it has to come out." Fiona said. Merlin was watching to ensure she did it right. The others were keeping Donkey distracted.

"Don't move." Merlin said from the tree he was leaning against.

"Ow! Not good."

"Okay. Okay, I can nearly see the head." Fiona said, grunting, "It's just about…"

"Ow! Ohh!"

Fiona now had a hand on Shrek's thigh, and that was what Donkey saw as he looked past the group, "Ahem. If you wanted to be alone, all you had to do was as, okay."

Shrek groaned as Gwaine fought back a laugh, "Oh, come on! That's the last thing on my mind! The princess here was just—Ugh!"

Donkey came closer, "Hey, what's that? That's—Is that blood?!" He screamed.

OoOoO

Twelve hours and two curagas later, they were on a hill in sight of the kingdom. Shrek and Fiona had become quite close, while the others stayed in their own conversations, pointedly avoiding anything that could set Merlin off and upset him—nobody had asked about the dagger, afraid of the answer. But they had learned Merlin learned memory-warping magic while trying to get Ven's memory back as a loophole to the death threat, which led to failure, but a nifty skill.

Fiona saw the kingdom and the overly large castle.

"There it is, Princess." Shrek said somewhat glumly, "Your future awaits you."

Fiona looked both disappointed and awed, "That's Duloc?"

"Yeah, I know." Donkey said, "You know, Shrek thinks Lord Farquaad's compensating for something, which I think means he has a really—" Leon slapped him over the head as everyone else sent appalled looks, "Ow!"

"Um, I, uh—I guess we better move one." Shrek muttered. He sounded disappointed like Fiona looked, causing Gwen to whisper to Merlin,

"I ship it. Am I using that right?"

Merlin smirked and nodded, both to prove she had indeed used the correctly and in silent agreement.

"Sure." Fiona said, proving their point, "But, Shrek? I'm—I'm worried about Donkey."

"What?" Everyone asked. Most had expected an excuse, just not that.

"I mean, look at him." The princess defended, "He doesn't look so good."

Donkey looked confused, "What are you talking about? I'm fine."

"That's what they always say, and then next thing you know, you're on your back." She kicked him, so he was on his back. When he still seemed confused, she clarified, "Dead."

"You know, she's right." Shrek agreed, earning a smirk from Gwaine, “You look awful. Do you want to sit down? I'll find us some dinner."

"I'll get the firewood." Fiona cheered. The two walked off and Merlin started getting out other, more modern foods to introduce to his friends.

"Hey, where you goin'?" Donkey asked, "Oh, man, I can't feel my toes! I don't have any toes! I think I need a hug." Gwen bent down and hugged him, earning the young woman a sloppy kiss from Arthur.

It wasn't long after that, Shrek and Fiona returned from their separate errands and Shrek began cooking, while Merlin put up some protective wards around the land they were using. Their sleeping bags, blankets and pillows were out, and the group was watching Shrek cook, learning with Fiona about the swamp.

Shrek handed out their food and while Arthur was reluctant at first, a smile from Merlin made him try it as well; it was surprisingly tasty.

"Mmm. Mmm. This is good." Fiona took another bite, "This is really good. What is this?"

"Uh, weedrat. Rotisserie style."

The group smiled to themselves, before Gwen finally got the couage to ask the one question that had been bothering them for hours now,

"Merlin…Donkey said he saw you sobbing, with a dagger…" she bit her lip, gesturing to the hand they had all seen was bandaged, but since he could easily heal himself if he wanted to hide it, they didn't know why.

Merlin looked up from his food, "Oh…" he looked to his hand, "Oh. You think I…No. I can see how you would think that, but those two things have nothing to do with each other. It's part of the barrier spell—requires the magic-user's blood. That's why I haven't healed it, just left it open so I don't have to slice my palm again." He smiled, trying to give his signature grin, but only now could they see how hollow it was, maybe they would have been fooled if he hadn't been brushing away such a serious topic, but the look in his eyes told a different story. Merlin needed help, and damn it all, they were going to give it.

"Have you ever thought about that?" Percival asked. He didn't need to avoid the pronoun game, as everyone knew what he was suggesting.

"Yes."

That singular word was like a punch to the gut from everyone.

"But that doesn't mean I've done it." That soothed them all, but not as much as they wanted it to.

Gwaine put a hand on Merlin's, "Mate…we're sorry for pushing you so far last night. We—or I at least—just wanted to know everything, so I could help you. Because you're hurting, and I don't like it. I don't want you to hide who you are, have us confide everything in you but not feel like you can confide in us. But I won't push you to tell us, but I will always be here to listen."

"We all will." Arthur added, earning nods from everyone.

They sat in silence as Fiona again panicked about the sunset and went into the building close by. They all knew they should follow her, but they were all preoccupied by proving to their friend that he could trust them.

"It wasn't trust…that prevented me from telling you, that had me wipe your memories…" Merlin muttered eventually, "It's just that everyone who found out has died, and I can't bear to lose more friends."

"What do you mean?" Elyan asked, "Gaius is still—"

"Gaius is the only one." Was this it? Was Merlin opening up to them? Whatever it was, it was of his own will and they weren't going to stop him. Even Shrek and Donkey were silent, captured by his words,

"When I went back to Ealdor after I lost them, I was depressed and traumatized, so much so I didn't say a single word for three years. I couldn't. It didn't help that I had always been considered the village freak, being a bastrad born on the Winter Solstice and all, which was considered a sign of the devil individually, and the fact my eyes are ringed with gold only made it even worse. Will was the only one to try being friendly, to not hurt me emotionally or physically. He was okay that I was mute and when he finally got me to start talking again, he was okay with my magic and even wanted to help me on my quest to find Aqua, to get out of Ealdor and never return to that hellhole, wanting to go with me. But then, when I turned fifteen, my mother got tired of raising me and sent me to die in Camelot." He looked up at Gwen, "I was scared, Gwen, to make friends. Because if anyone found out what I was, they would hate me; and if they didn't and kept my secret, Uther could have them burned. But you were the first to worm your way into my heart." He looked around, "I tried to distance myself, but all of you found a way in, no matter how hard I tried to keep you out."

"How did you meet Lancelot then?" Leon asked quietly.

Fortunatly, Merlin just smiled a little, "He saved my life from a Griffin. I could have defended myself, but he still helped me. He told me later of his dream to become a knight, and I helped him do so… ahem… fine, I went into the archives and forged one with magic. He was honestly the best thing to help with my mental recovery, especially after Will died preserving my secrets. He wrote often after he left, and when he came back, he learned a lot of my story. He even followed me on one of my trips to the Realm of Darkness in hopes of helping me find Aqua, insisting two sets of eyes were better than one, even though we had to leave after three days because he didn't have the limited protection the Keyblade provides and started hallucinating." He teared up, "He died for me, not Camelot, it was my fault. I made the mistake of revealing my plan to be the sacrifice, and managed to sneak past me…There were also Freya and Balinor…" Gwaine wrapped his arms around the younger man, followed by everyone else in one giant group hug

"Merlin," Arthur assured, "It wasn't your fault. Lancelot made his choice, and I am more thankful for his sacrifice than ever."

They all released the hug and saw Shrek had stopped listening and was staring wistfully at the building Fiona had entered,

Donkey smirked, which was odd on a donkey, "Ohh! Now I really see what's goin' on here. I don't even wanna hear it. Look, I'm an animal, and I got instincts. I know two were digging in each other. I could feel it."

"You're crazy. I'm just bringing her back to Farquaad." He pointed to Merlin, "That one seems to have more interesting topics to poke holes at, go bother him."

"Oh, come on, Shrek. Wake up and smell the pheromones. Just go on in and tell her how you feel."

Arthur smiled a bit, laughing at how this kind of reminded him of Merlin nagging him to admit his feelings for Gwen, "I—There's nothing to tell. Besides, even if I did tell her that, well, you know—and I'm not saying I do 'cause I don't—she's a princess, and I'm—"

"An ogre?" Gwaine asked, "What does that have to do with anything? Or is this world as…what's the word…racist?...as ours."

"Yeah, racist is the word." Merlin confirmed.

Shrek just nodded and walked off.

"Hey, where you goin'?"

"To get... more firewood."

The foreigners looked to each other,

"Fiona?"

Merlin yawned and nodded, about to stand up when Arthur sat him back down,

"Merlin, I'll handle it. You look exhausted, get some sleep."

"I'm okay." Another yawn betrayed him.

"Bullshit. It is time for us all to mother hen you." Gwaine insisted jokingly, but he was obviously dead serious. Arthur put his hands on his hips, "Merlin I swear, sleep or I'll make you."

"And how, pray tell, would you do that?"

Arthur summoned his Keybade, "Sleep!" Merlin was hit and flopped over. Earned Sleepra.

"I thought he'd block that." Elyan said after a second of watching Merlin's even breathing. Gwen shrugged,

"Maybe he appreciated the gesture and decided to let it work but will wake if we need him." That sounded accurate.

"Well whatever it is," Arthur looked to Donkey, "Donkey, wanna check on Fiona with Guinevere and I?" He looked back to his faithful knights, "Rest of you, watch over Merlin." Seeing as Merlin had started muttering words and reaching out in Gwaine's general direction, leading to an adorable cuddle session from all the men, they didn't see that as an issue.

They entered the building, Arthur's Keyblade in hand.

"Princess? Princess Fiona?"

Donkey looked around, "Princess, where are you? "It's very spooky in here. I ain't playing no games." Suddenly they all saw a female ogre, "Aah!"

"Oh, no!"

"No, help!"

"Stop!" Arthur threw the Keyblade in the air and both the ogress and Donkey froze. He looked down at the blade,

"Oh my god, I wish I had that in Camelot." Things unfroze after a moment, but Donkey had stopped screaming,

The ogress took a breath, "Donkey, I'm the princess. It's me, in this body."

Donkey calmed, and Gwen looked the ogress up and down, "Fiona? What happened to you? You're, uh, uh, uh, different. "

"I'm ugly, okay?!"

They all sat down, "Well, yeah!" Donkey announced, even though Fiona's state could easily be a lot worse, "Was it something you ate? 'Cause I told Shrek those rats were a bad idea. You are what you eat, I said. Now—"

Fiona: No. I—I've been this way as long as I can remember.

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked as the pieces lined up from what Merlin said about dark magic that didn't belong to her, "Are you cursed?"

Fiona nodded, "It only happens when the sun goes down. "By night one way, by day another. This shall be the norm, until you find true love's first kiss, and then take love's true form." When I was a little girl, a witch cast a spell on me. Every night I become this. This horrible, ugly beast! I was placed in a tower to await the day my true love would rescue me. That's why I have to marry Lord Farquaad tomorrow, before the sun sets and he sees me, like this."

"Look, it's not that bad." Donkey assured, "You're not that ugly. Well, I ain't gonna lie. You are ugly. But you only look like this at night. Shrek's ugly 24/7."

Gwen was suddenly grinning, and Arthur understood her thought process, "Fiona, how about you don't marry Farquaad?"

"I have to. Only my true love's kiss can break the spell."

"But, you know, um, you're kind of an ogre, and Shrek—well, you got a lot in common."

Fiona: Shrek? I can't just marry whoever I want. Take a good look at me, Donkey. I mean, really—" Arthur shushed her,

"I'm courting Guinevere for love, even though I'm king and she's a servant. I've learned propriety means nothing. And as for apprerance, do you really think Shrek would care? And also, Lord Farquaad didn't save you, he sent Shrek. If you love someone, you go the the end of the universe for them. You at least need to tell Shrek the truth."

Encouraged by the king's words, Fiona got up and took a deep breath as she opened the door to see Shrek standing there with a sunflower.

Shrek stared for a second before taking in the red hair and green dress, "Uh, Fiona?" Fiona nodded, "That explains a lot."

Fiona beamed at how he didn't judge, "This is why I hide at night…but Shrek…I—I love you…"

"Really?" Fiona nodded.

"I—I love you too."

"Awwww!" Came from everyone, including the knights, and Merlin, who had been roused by the noise, rubbing his eyes sleepily. The ogre couple kissed and suddenly Fiona lit up like a small blue sun,

"Until you find true love's first kiss, and then take love's true form." The voice echoed, and everyone shielded their eyes, "Take love's true from. Take love's true form." The light dimmed, and Fiona stood there, still an ogress.

"Fiona? Fiona. Are you all right?"

Fiona looked down at herself, "Well, yes. But I don't understand. I'm supposed to be beautiful."

He cupped her cheek, "But you are beautiful."

Merlin stood up, "Damnit, I need to be a priest, don't I?" Fiona and Shrek were suddenly in white, formal clothing, while Merlin suddenly had a big ass book. "We are gathered on this hill in the middle of fuck fuck nowhere at midnight to bear witness to the union of Princess Fiona and Shrek. Because my only qualifications to do this are the fact I am a god, and I am also tired and need coffee, I will make this simple." He looked to Shrek, "Do you?"

"I do."

He looked to Fiona, "Do you?"

"I do."

"Okay then. By the power vested in me by, well…by me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Now kiss."

They kissed, and Merlin pulled out some champaign from thin air, and then a large mug of coffee for himself, drinking it.

The party was small, because it was only a few tired people, two ogres, a donkey, and an exhausted warlock/priest/baby god. The fact Merlin just had all that lying around still amused and baffled everyone else.

"Mate, did you just have all that stuff lying around?!" Gwaine asked, laughing as he drank another thing of champaign.

"No. I'm trying to rebuild my magical endurance, and menial item conjuring is a good way to do it."

That made sense…if any of them short of Arthur and Percival knew what magical endurance was.

It was sunrise by the time Shrek remembered the problem,

"Oh no. I was supposed to get Fiona for Farquaad, so I could get my swamp back. We have nowhere to live."

"No problem." Gwen announced, "Merlin, you have a way of bending the will of nobles for your gain, can you do that?"

"If you mean mind control, no. If you mean screaming and being annoying, then sure." He flopped over, "But first, all those years of less than two hours of sleep in three days has caught me. I need sleep." And then he was asleep again.

OoOoO

Merlin only slept an hour before they were trekking to Duloc. Most of the journery was uneventful and included a rule song with a dirty joke and the ogres and donke being sneered and gawked at. Most of this trip was not noteworthy enough for even the magic journal to document and led to the moment they met Lord Farquaad, who it turned out was a halfling—or he had a severe growth impairment. That only made the situation worse, as he was a hypocritical racist son of a bitch instead of the same thing, removing the hypocrite part.

Merlin was being civil, while nobody else was even trying.

Neither was Farquaad, "Ugh! It's disgusting! Guards! Guards! I order you to get that out of my sight now! Get them! Get them both!" He gestured to Shrek and Fiona, and the two were almost taken away. Highlight the almost. Because they were all frozen in place.

"Don't just stand there, you morons!" Farquaad ordered, "I'll make you regret the day we met. I'll see you drawn and quartered! You'll beg for death to save you! And as for you," he looked to Fiona, not seeming to notice that all his men were being either frozen in place, or beaten savagely by the knights, Arthur and Gwen—those last to were performing a limit and it was quite flashy and impressive, "I'll have you locked back in that tower for the rest of your days! I will have order! I will have perfection! I will have—" Every light went out as there was a sharp loss of air and the room took a freaky chill.

And only then did everyone notice the dark fire surrounding Merlin. Everyone who had seen Birth by Sleep recognized that as the same fire Terra had been surrounded with when Eraqus tried to kill Ven.

Darkness.

Merlin opened his eyes, blazing gold, and Arthur was reminded of the incident with Mickey and Aqua, and he understood the problem as Farquaad was flung out the window. So long dealing with the persecution of his kind had taken a toll, and now he was willing to let loose his wrath. He ran up to Merlin, prying him away and holding both his hands in front of his face,

"Merlin, listen to me!" He pleaded, "You're losing control!" He didn't blame Merlin for this, it was justly deserved, and there was no way someone could suffer like Merlin had and not have this issue. He had gone through the files while Merlin was asleep and noticed the topic of a hurt loved one or Xehanort could set this off. It was just a state, and it would often happen without the magic, but this time it was.

But this time was different, because then everyone saw a semi-transparent Xehanort appear, whispering in his ear,

"Good, fight him, he wants to hurt you…destroy them and come home. They are not your friends."

But it seemed Xehanort had gotten cocky, as that snapped Merlin out of it. He blinked a couple times, before slumping in Arthur's arms a bit.

"A-Arthur…?" He looked up as everyone ran to his side, "Did I do it again?"

"Yes. But it's gonna be okay." He reassured his little brother, "When all this shit is over, we're gonna get you a really, really long vacation with your friends, away from all the drama. It's not your fault."

Shrek and Fiona came up, "Thank you guys."

"No problem." Arthur looked back at Merlin, "Hey, I found a big old keyhole a minute ago and it locked when I key-beamed it. Is that good?"

"Yup. That means it's time to go."

OoOoO

They made it back to the Mysterious Tower, and were met with a very unexpected sight:

Sora was standing in front of Yen Sid, sopping wet, and next to him was an equally wet, not evil, Aqua.

"Hey guys!" Sora greeted happily, "Guess who I saved!"

A/N: I know, the world was more a background thing, that was kind of the point. I promise the hiatus won't be as riducilously long, and we will get a tearful Merlin, Ven and Aqua reunion.