A/N: Thank you to all those who favourited or scubscribed to this story, and double thank you to those who reviewed - carinims01, lordstarlight, merlinismylife, LadyDunla, rmatri540, Neonlights, Josh4eva3, Galaya, Epsilon Scorpii, sweety2010, KlaineDrarryMerthur, writergirl142, Hiphuggers2, Melgaye, ColorLikeWhoa, StrangelyPenned, ReadingRaven019, and Haley Renee - most of you are quite familiar to me by now, but a few are new - but I appreciate you all.

I have a feeling some of you will be rather upset with me by the end of this chapter...

The Seeress' Redemption

An astounded hush fell over the warring citadel of Camelot, each citizen pausing in their respective battles to stare in amazement and trepidation at the figure who had just entered their midst with Gaius, Elyan, and Queen Guinevere. Even the dark creatures they fought hesitated at the sight of one they thought was their mistress. And then, slowly, the sudden quiet gave way to whispered mutterings.

"Is that –"

"No, it can't be, she's inside…"

"Then who –"

"Impossible!"

"Morgana!"

The last came from Sir Gwaine, who hastened to the seeress' side, his posture weary, his normally jovial face drawn. "You shouldn't be here…"

"On the contrary," Morgana answered him coolly, "this is exactly where I should be." And so saying, she ignored the crowd of Camelotians who were viewing her with suspicion and fear. She swept past them and instead drew the attention of all the magical beasts in Morgan's army, speaking directly to them with words that rang with power and authority. "Begone, all of you," she commanded, using her identical appearance with Morgan le Fay to her advantage. "No more battle is to be done here. Return from whence you came, and I will deal with you later."

The creatures all eyed her warily for a long moment before turning as one and retreating to the north. Morgana knew she had only delayed the issue of the army – eventually they would return to cause more havoc – but she had bought them time by dispersing Morgan le Fay's main advantage. Hopefully, by the time any of those creatures returned, Arthur would be back in control of Camelot and Merlin would be Court Sorcerer, and the dark beings would be defeated easily. But for now, a step had been made to reclaiming Camelot – now, only Derowen and Morgan herself remained.

"Who dares to command my army?" a chilling voice shrieked from somewhere above; all turned to see Morgan le Fay's seething figure on the parapet. Morgana steeled herself and met Morgan's gaze as calmly as she could manage.

"I dare, Morgan."

Morgan blinked once in surprise before her mouth twisted in a sneer. "Hello, Morgana," she greeted. "How does it feel to know you did this?" She waved an arm over the chaos and destruction in the courtyard.

"I did not do this," Morgana corrected. "You did."

"But I am you, or at least, I was you." Morgan smirked. "Now I am my own person, and I have accomplished more than you ever did. I have killed the king!"

Horrified gasps and exclamations met her thunderous proclamation. Those who had not known of Arthur's demise – which is to say, all of them, except Morgana, Gwen, Gaius, and Elyan – turned to those four who did, hoping for denial. When none was forthcoming, they mourned.

"You may have killed Arthur," Morgana agreed, "but I'm sure you know, Morgan, that in the right circumstances, even death can be reversed?"

"It would require a powerful life to return the Once and Future King from a magical death," Morgan scoffed.

"How about the life of Emrys?"

Morgan's eyes widened for a split second before she burst out laughing. "So, our dear warlock is trading his life for his king's, is he? He's an even greater fool than I thought," she said derisively. "I can easily deal with Arthur again – and this time, there will be no warlock to protect him – nor a sorceress, either!"

At her words, a sudden gust of wind leapt up around Morgana, whipping her hair around. It stank of dark magic and spirits, and Morgana knew it was Derowen's work. As all manner of fantastical natural elements attacked her host parent, Morgan seemed content to simply watch from her balcony as Derowen dealt with Morgana.

"Wind ætstandan," Morgana ordered, and immediately the gale died down. But then a thousand dead leaves rose from the ground and came together in a horrific monster of decaying vegetation. With another spell, Morgana blasted that apart too. But as she made to step forward, she was caught mid-air by a translucent spirit with features reminiscent of the Dorocha. Its wispy arms wrapped around her nose and mouth, and Morgana found herself struggling to breathe. Strangely, although there was not a hint of water in sight, she felt like she was drowning – Derowen must have conjured a water spirit to hold her.

"Finish her off, Derowen," Morgan called from above. "Let's get this over with."

Morgana's eyes blazed gold as her instinctive magic took over and fought off the suffocating grip of her supernatural captor. Morgana dropped to the ground, sucking in deep gulps of air. Her relief was short-lived, however; a second later, a volley of rocks – hurled by several vicious earth spirits – sailed her way, one after another. Morgana did her best to avoid them, but a painful cry escaped her as one of the stones struck her on her left arm. Gingerly, she clutched her injured limb close to her body, knowing the blow had fractured a bone somewhere.

"Yield, Morgana Pendragon, and your death will be quick," Derowen said persuasively as she appeared in front of the suffering royal.

"Stān afeallan," Morgana cried, her eyes flashing gold as a large block of stone broke off from the very parapet Morgan stood upon and fell towards Derowen. Morgan cursed and jumped away while Derowen wielded the nature spirits and crushed the rock to a shower of tiny pieces.

"Derowen!" Morgan shouted, the command clear in her voice.

Derowen's unnaturally youthful face turned cold and cruel. "So be it, then."

MERLIN

Merlin groaned as he returned to consciousness, only to find Arthur shaking him awake.

"Wake up, lazybones," Arthur said. "I need you to get us out of here, because I don't know where the hell we are."

Merlin sighed as he cracked open his eyes, immediately realizing where they were. "We're on the other side of the gates of Avalon," he said, looking over the lake.

"You know, Merlin, I kind of figured that one out on my own. Seeing how the lake is identical to the one we just left. Now, if you could be so kind as to tell me where we should be going…"

Merlin shook his head clear of the remaining daze and pointed to his left. "That way." He frowned, considering. "I think."

"You think?"

"Look, I'm still a little unsettled, all right? I feel like I'm still partly in Avalon."

Arthur blinked once, his mouth forming a perfect 'O' as a slightly anxious expression came over his face. "I think that's because you are."

Merlin stared at him, uncomprehending. "What are you talking about?"

"Merlin," Arthur said seriously, "don't you remember what your girlfriend said?"

Merlin's cheeks turned pink. "She's not my –"

"Then what would you call her?" Arthur demanded. He seemed ready to press the issue, but then he decided against it. "Fine – the Lady of the Lake, then – she said we have twenty-four hours to kill Morgan le Fay, right?"

"Right," Merlin agreed.

"Meaning that until we do, your life is still forfeit – because apparently, the trade you made between your life and mine is already considered 'official', because I don't feel like I'm not all here. Meaning, if we don't manage to kill Morgan, you go back to Avalon – for good this time." Arthur's face was unusually grave. "You're not out of the woods yet, Merlin."

"I know that."

Arthur gave him a long look before he spoke again. "Then let's get going, Merlin – because I swear, if you die again, I will walk into that bloody lake myself to drag your lazy ass back to work."

MERLIN

Morgana gasped as a lethally sharp branch of wood shot past her, missing her neck by inches. Derowen was fast proving to be a far more capable opponent than she had initially thought – Morgana was pushing her limit just trying to avoid getting killed by the spirits the mystic ws commanding. The only bonus was that Morgan le Fay appeared to be entertained enough by their deadly duel that she didn't intervene – yet. Morgana had no doubt that if her evil double were to enter the battle, she'd be dead within seconds.

"You can run, but you will only delay the inevitable," Derowen called, sending a wave of unnatural red flames at the sorceress. "Sooner or later, you will die."

Morgana chose to ignore the witch's comment in favour of catching her tightly within the grasp of a spell. Derowen's eyes widened and she thrashed about as she fought to escape the death enchantment that was even now working its way to her heart, but Morgana held firm. The Great Dragon had given her but a single task – kill the mystic – and she was not going to fail. Despite the toll it took on her strength, Morgana held firm, repeating the fatal words over and over again.

Derowen, for her part, attempted to cry to the nature spirits for help, but Morgana was well into her spell by now, and the mystic's power was weakening to the point where she could no longer control the spirits.

"No!" a voice yelled.

A second later, Morgana gasped and lurched towards the ground. Hands splayed to prevent her fall, she noticed a sudden weakness in her limbs at the same time she caught sight of the glinting dagger in her chest – the same instant she realized she was going to die here today. And yet, despite the shocking pain that radiated from her wound, despite the darkening blurriness of her vision, despite the growing faintness of her heartbeats, Morgana uttered the final words of her enchantment. Her eyes barely gleamed gold as the last of her magic, the last of her strength, was used to kill Derowen the mystic.

As her eyelids closed, Morgana was dimly aware of her voice – no, Morgan's voice – shrieking like a banshee at the fall of her lieutenant. She also registered the cries of her friends – Gwen, Gaius, the knights – and then she realized that they had been calling her name for some time.

"Morgana." This voice was different; it was softer, quiet, full of sorrow and longing, yet also holding understanding. Agonizingly, Morgana opened her eyes to see Arthur's face. True, it was dark and blurry, and looked like it was very far away – but it was his face, nonetheless. And unless she was mistaken, it was his hand holding hers.

"Arthur…" she gasped. "You're…alive…"

"Thanks to Merlin," Arthur agreed; and she could hear the tears he didn't shed in his voice. "Thanks to you," he added more quietly. To someone else, he said in anguish, "Can't you do something?"

And then Merlin – sweet, gentle, kind-hearted Merlin, sounding tormented by the very words he had to say – replied, "I'm sorry – I can't – I've always been rubbish at healing magic…Morgana, I'm so sorry!" he burst out feelingly.

Morgana closed her eyes again to conserve what little strength she had left for speaking. "It's…okay…no more…than I deserve…"

"Don't you ever say that," Arthur growled. "You deserve so much more than this, Morgana." His voice broke. "So. Much. More."

"Arthur…I'm…so sorry…I wish…"

Arthur closed his eyes tight against the tears that threatened to leak. One spilled onto Morgana's abnormally pale face anyway.

"I forgive you," he said. "Morgana, I forgive you for everything, and…" Here he choked over the lump in his throat. "And I trust you." He remembered telling her – ages ago, it seemed – that he did not forgive her, that she had to earn his trust back. Now she had.

Morgana managed a weak smile. "Good to know," she whispered faintly. Then her hand slipped from his grasp as she became forever still.

A moment of silence descended on the courtyard as everyone bowed their heads, acknowledging the final sacrifice of one who had been a traitor, but who had redeemed herself in front of everyone in the most ultimate way possible.

"Arthur, I'm so sorry."

Arthur shook off Gaius' sympathetic hand as he briefly stroked Morgana's cold cheek. "She killed Derowen?" he inquired.

"She did," Elyan affirmed, wordlessly comforting a sobbing Gwen. "Killed her thoroughly – she burst into nothing at the end of the spell."

Arthur glanced for a second at the blackened scorch mark where Derowen had stood, then looked up at the parapet. Morgan le Fay was nowhere to be seen. Arthur's gaze hardened as he rose.

"Come on, Merlin," he instructed. "We've got a job to do." He had already lost his sister to this battle; he would not allow himself to be responsible for losing his best friend as well.

Morgan le Fay had to be ended, permanently.

A/N: Somebody predicted in an early review that this fic was going to be heartwrenching. I wonder if this counts?