Ah, the reviews you all gave me were lovely. Could you please keep it up? :D

So far, Merlin's been missing for six years and Arthur's all but forgotten about him. Emrys, a "prince" from some faraway land, has come to visit Camelot. Arthur is like HOLY MOLY YOU LOOK LIKE… nah, Merlin's dead. And now they're dining at a banquet.

Oh, and Pedr (Emrys' "servant" who is really a Druid friend) rescued a girl who was about to be executed. For sorcery, of course.

Noisy. Emrys couldn't believe how noisy it was. Laughing, screaming, the clink of metal forks against metal plates - Emrys wondered how he survived as a manservant in these banquets.

'Having fun?' said Arthur mockingly. Evidently he'd noticed Emrys' discomfort.

'At least I'm not serving anyone,' said Emrys, glancing at Stephen. The prince's manservant seemed to be everywhere at once, serving the king while holding the next course on one arm. He was even talking to Lucia while he was at it, who was sitting on the other side of the table to Emrys.

Arthur noticed the direction of his gaze. 'Yes, this servant is much better than the previous one was.'

Emrys looked at him in shock.

'I'm joking!' said Arthur quickly, and did a fake laugh. 'Come to think of it, where's Pedr?'

With the impeccable timing gifted only to fictional characters, Pedr burst through the side entrance, conveniently located next to Emrys' seat.

'Present!' he said, a bit out of breath.

'Pedr! How nice of you to grace us with your presence!' said Emrys. Softer, he said, 'the girl?'

Pedr lowered his voice so only Emrys could hear, while Arthur watched them suspiciously. 'Her name's Katie. She's from the lower towns, but she's not going to return any time soon as her neighbours had accused her of sorcery. She's staying in your room right now - is that alright?'

Emrys tilted his head. 'Aside from the fact that you didn't ask me beforehand, yeah, fine.'

Pedr grinned and melted into the crowd of servants. Emrys turned back to Arthur. 'So how often do you have these banquets?'

'Not much,' replied Arthur. 'Every time a visitor comes over.'

Just as he said that, a huge plate with a roast boar came to the table. It was upside down with an apple in its mouth. Six years ago, Emrys would have felt his mouth watering, but all he felt now was revulsion for the dead animal on the table.

'Delicious,' said Arthur. 'Come over more often so we can have more of this.'

Emrys clenched his hands. 'This is wrong,' he said. Arthur looked at him in surprise. 'That used to be a living creature. It used to live in the forest, a part of the circle of life.'

'I-I'm sorry,' said Arthur uncertainly.

Merlin… Merlin…

'What?' said Emrys.

'You're right,' said Arthur. 'We shouldn't take the lives of animals-'

Emrys dismissed him with a wave. 'No, did you hear that?'

It is I, Merlin… Come down to where I am, Merlin… Emrys felt his mood drop as soon as he recognized the voice. Arthur, on the other hand, was completely baffled.

'Hear what?' the prince asked.

Emrys pretended to frown and look confused. 'Never mind. It must've been my imagination.' He felt the voice tugging at his mind again, calling his name. 'I need to go to the bathroom,' he said. He quickly stumbled out of the banquet hall, leaving a thoroughly confused Arthur.

Emrys made his way through the corridors, feeling himself being pulled by the presence of the being. He didn't – rather, he couldn't – check for any servants wandering around the palace. He was struggling to merely keep hold of his own consciousness.

At last he reached the underground tunnels. A strange breeze greeted him, accompanied by a strong feeling of déjà vu. This place was…

Merlin! Hurry up!

Emrys shook his head and lit a torch with his magic. He glided down the steps, and tried remembering his other lifetime when he had come here. He'd woken up in the middle of the night to find a cryptic giant lizard who had told him, wrongly, that it was his destiny to protect Arthur.

'Merlin,' the Great Dragon roared.

'My name is Emrys,' he yelled. Even though he was speaking at the top of his voice, he sounded tiny and weak compared to the dragon's boom.

'And still you insist on deluding yourself,' it boomed. 'You have strayed off the path. The path that I had lit for you, the path that several of my predecessors had lay out, brick by boring brick, right in front of you.'

Emrys inwardly sighed. Even after six years, the dragon had still maintained its obsession with overly descriptive metaphors and cryptic riddles. 'The path has been broken,' he threw back. 'My destiny and all that you harped on about are no longer valid.'

The dragon roared, its fury overwhelming. Although it was chained up and Emrys knew of several spells to keep it that way, he couldn't help but feel a quiver of fear at the dragon's power and might.

'Your eyes are merely too blind to see it!' it roared. 'You do not know what you are talking about, young warlock!'

'Look here,' said Emrys. 'I am sick and tired of your cryptic riddles. I am not Merlin, the other side of the coin. I am not the one to bring peace to Albion. I am Emrys, a mere warlock.'

'You dare defy the chains of destiny?' roared the dragon. 'You dare ignore my words? You are but a youngling, untested in the ways of the world! You know nothing!'

Emrys nodded angrily. 'Yeah, that's right. I know nothing. I don't know how to bring peace to Albion or be the greatest warlock to ever walk the earth. I don't know how to fulfil my destiny. All I know is that I will never listen to you again.' He turned and walked away.

'Merlin!' the dragon boomed. 'Merlin!'

Emrys kept walking away.

'You will return, Merlin!'

Emrys stopped, but didn't turn around. 'No,' he said softly, half to himself. 'I will never return to Camelot.'

BREAK

'That was a very long toilet break,' remarked Arthur as Emrys came stumbling back.

Emrys rolled his eyes and took his seat. The dragon was still tugging at his mind, but he'd managed to set up some spells to stop Kilgarrah's voice from drowning everything else out. However, the dragon's magic was much more powerful than his, and he didn't quite manage blocking its whole presence.

A voice interrupted his thoughts. 'Are you alright, Prince Emrys?' asked Stephen, Arthur's manservant.

Emrys glanced at him and felt a surge of dislike well up in him. This… bootlicker… had replaced him. Emrys had never meant to leave Arthur's side. He would have been happy to stay with the prince until he became king, and long after that.

Something must've shown on his face, because Stephen recoiled and apologized hastily. He resumed his duties, and seemed to grow an extra pair of hands while he was serving Arthur and the others.

Emrys was grasped by a sudden desire to leave. He didn't want to see Arthur acting so normal and Stephen serving him so efficiently. He didn't want to see Camelot functioning so well. He didn't want to see how everyone was doing great without him. Each second seemed to drag out painfully.

Thankfully, the banquet only lasted for a couple more minutes. Emrys was vaguely aware of Uther standing up. It was suddenly silent and his voice carried out through the hall. Emrys was grateful for the silence. He didn't need to talk or hide his identity behind lies.

Arthur looked at him in obvious worry. Emrys realized the tiredness he felt was showing on the outside. He wanted to leave Camelot. The place was so draining and tiring, not to mention the giant lizard trapped downstairs, trying to break through Emrys' mental barriers.

Uther's speech lasted an eternity. Then Emrys heard applause, and he forced his hands together. As everyone started to leave the hall, Emrys gestured at Lucia and Pedr to meet him in his chambers.

In the huge crowd departing from the hall, Emrys managed to get separated from Arthur, Lucia and Pedr. He inwardly sighed, and started making his way to his chambers. The dragon's voice was still raging inside his head.

Suddenly he realized that his feet had brought him to the physician's quarters. Not to his own guest chambers, but to his old home. Gaius' home.

The door was closed, and voices were wafting through the cracks. Emrys lifted his hand to open the door. He hesitated, but instinct took over and he pushed it open.

I may or may not have used Eragon references… with all the mind-control and everything… and I may or may not have used a line from Paramore's song Brick by Boring Brick...

Review please? :) Pretty pretty please, because reviews make me update faster :)