Alaia Skyhawk: Well, having watched this week's episode, I can say that the plan I made to make it work, will work. I deliberately delayed doing this sub-ep so I could confirm what would happen this week, and after looking at the teaser for next week I've already made one big decision about it.
Next week's episode is going to get a MAJOR re-write.
I really hate "Evil Gwen", COMPETELY, and while I admit it's an interesting and very dark twist for the series, that doesn't make me dislike it any less. So yeah, after this week's episode, any further ones that have Gwen as Morgana's puppet will be getting totally done over. Meaning that while the major events will stay as close as I can manage, the whos and hows will be changed to remove all references to Gwen being involved in them.
Which incidentally means I'll get to have lots of fun twisting around motives and circumstances in any such episode, which isn't really a bad thing hehehehehe!
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
Music: Siren Song (By Yuki Kajiura)
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Chapter 45: Condemnation of the Witch ~Part 2~
The central courtyard was a bustle of activity, even though only four horses were being prepared. Arthur was insisting on accompanying Merlin to the Isle of the Blessed, Mordred wished to come too, and upon hearing that his friends were going on an 'adventure', Gwaine had decided all on his own that he would come to help keep Arthur out of trouble... Even if the king would be the first to say that it would be the other way around.
Since the event at the Storm Druid camp, Merlin had been acting a little more odd than usual. He kept pausing as if he'd heard things, then shaking his head and getting back to whatever he'd been doing, and it was all starting to cause Arthur some concern.
Once they'd set off and had reached the woods, the King urged his horse forward to come up alongside the warlock.
"What's bothering you, Merlin? You've not seemed right since yesterday."
Merlin glanced at him, aware that Mordred and Gwaine were also watching him, and sighed. He might as well own up to that one detail.
"When I passed out, I saw the Triple Goddess. The Old Magic had granted her a last boon, so that she could speak to me."
Arthur stared.
"So she was the one who told you to go to the Isle."
Merlin nodded.
"Yes, but that's not the only thing that happened. After she'd told me what she needed to, the Old Magic released her and she vanished, but the ties that had connected her to it didn't. They called to me, and my magic answered... I'm connected to the Old Magic now, the way she was." He grimaced. "It's like an extra sense in the back of my head, and it's a bit... distracting. I'll get used to it."
Arthur seemed only mildly perturbed by Merlin's explaination, but Mordred was gaping in astonishment.
"You've taken the place of the Triple Goddess, as the ruling conciousness of the Old Magic?!"
Arthur went rigid in shock, Gwaine blinked in complete bafflement, and Merlin did the only thing he could think of in response to that.
He shrugged.
"I guess so."
Arthur looked at him again, gaping.
"You guess so?! Merlin, this is... it's huge!"
Merlin winced.
"Yes yes, the Old Magic has a 'will' but it doesn't have a conciousness, and so the Triple Goddess served as its mind and the interpreter of its wishes, but I don't see why you should make such a big deal out of it." He went quiet. "From my point of view, when it linked with me... it almost felt like coming home. Like I'd found part of me that was missing, that I've been waiting for, and the Old Magic was waiting for me too."
Gwaine, staring.
"You're being pretty casual about all this, Merlin, but from the way you've rendered Mordred speechless then Arthur is right and this is big."
Merlin gave all of them a long look, and then sighed in resignation.
"I'm not even going to try and explain it. We all know that the Old Magic 'created' me to be the most powerful sorcerer who will ever live, so I might as well assume that I was always meant to do this. It certainly makes sense when I look at it like that, I am Emrys after all. 'Lord of the Old Religion' fits with that very well."
Silence fell between them, and after several minutes had followed, Mordred began muttering something under his breath. It wasn't a spell, but rather a prayer for guidance from the Old Magic, and the effect on Merlin was immediate.
He flinched, and glanced back.
"Please don't do that, it's even worse at close range than it is with all the distant ones I keep getting. But, if your prayer for guidance in this situation was sincere, then I shall answer it. Be patient, and trust that the Old Magic knows what it's doing... That's just about the answer it's giving to everyone else."
Arthur was staring again.
"Every time you look off, like you've heard something, you're answering prayers?"
Merlin favoured him with a look of utter disgust.
"Of course not! The Old Magic answers them, not me, but that doesn't stop me from hearing them. That's what I have to get used to, blocking them out." He went quiet, almost bleak. "But there's one I can't ignore, even though I want to... Morgana, she's been praying every hour or so ever since yesterday, but the Old Magic refuses to answer her. Every time she tries again, she sounds more and more desperate."
Gwaine snorted.
"She should have thought of that before she kidnapped Gwen. Maybe then the Disir wouldn't have sent her that Rune Mark."
Merlin's voice cut across that remark.
"And did it ever occur to you that, for the Triple Goddess to be dead, she must have ordered the Disir to end it... That is, the Disir killed themselves so that she too would die at the time she wanted to, which was probably right in front of Morgana."
That shut Gwaine up, and Arthur and Mordred for that matter. No one said another word for the rest of the day, as they rode hard for the Isle and neared it as dusk began to fall.
There was a boatman waiting for them, and wordlessly he bowed deep to Merlin as the four men got into the boat. But still they remained silent, as Arthur felt his aprehension mounting when they neared the shore of the Isle. But even without magic, he began to feet a sense of anticipation emanating from everything, and what the Isle was waiting for became clear the moment Merlin set foot on it.
The ground actually shook, in a soft tremor that shivered in a ring of ripples out across the lake. But not only that, in the moments following it, figures began to emerge from everywhere around the dock. At ground level, on the walls above, and in the doorways that led deeper into the temple complex.
All eyes were on Merlin... He was the one they were waiting for, and despite the number of faces, there were a number that were immediately recognisable.
Kalem came down the stairs to the dock, followed by Alator and a man who Merlin hadn't see for close to a decade... Aglain.
The druid smiled as he came forward to clasp arms with Merlin, and he looked proud of him.
"You were just a seedling when last I saw you, yet now you've grown into a mighty tree that would spread your wisdom to all of those with magic. It is good to see you again."
Merlin returned that smile.
"It is." He now glanced at Kalem. "So, you were summoned here? Considering you serve as the High Priest that consorts with my clan, I would have thought you'd have told me about this."
Kalem grinned, as he took Aglain's place to clasp arms with Merlin.
"When you get a summons from the Goddess, that demands you speak of it to no one, you obey. I am honoured to be one of those she chose as her final act for her followers, for helping you build Albion has long been my dream."
Merlin now looked to Alator.
"The Catha were summoned as well?"
Alator nodded.
"Aye, and all of us who remain have come. It has been agreed that we shall form the guard of the Isle, if you agree."
Merlin smiled.
"The Catha are mighty warriors, and I would be honoured to have them serve as the guardians of this place." He started up the steps, and called to the many others present. "Each and every one of us has come here for a single purpose, to see the Old Religion born anew. The time of the Triple Goddess is over, and by her will the duty of seeing that the Old Religion becomes a community that will govern itself, has passed to me. I could dictate to all of you that which I wanted each of you to do, but I will not. Instead I will ask only this... That the Myrrdin Code I created, be taught and spread across all of Albion. That those with magic learn to repect the power they have been gifted with, and use it wisely for the betterment of those around them. You all know your own strengths far better than I who has never met most of you before now. I will allow you all to decide for yourselves what roles you will best play, as we come together here in the spirit of unity for the good of all."
One-by-one all of the waiting sorcerers and sorceresses nodded and bowed, but they did not move from their postions once they stood straight again. And when Merlin frowned in puzzlement, Kalem and Alator each placed a hand on his shoulders.
"But even an Order that governs itself, still needs a leader who will command the respect of all who will pass from the old ways to the new."
"Something they are familiar with, even if you will be the first man to ever hold the role."
Aglain moved to the front, and turned to face Merlin.
"You must become the High Priest of the Isle of the Blessed, the highest rank a mortal may hold within the Old Religion."
Merlin took a deep breath, remembering the Goddess' words. She had told he would have to become a figurehead for the new Order.
"Then I accept this honour and this duty, to be the pillar that supports our path to the future we dream of together, and so I shall name you such. You will all be known as the Order of Fothweard, who wll forever look forward to the future."
A slow clap of approval was started by a priest high above, and he was soon joined by them all as even Arthur, Mordred, and Gwaine applauded their friend. But just as it seemed they were all going to make their way to the High Altar, utter silence fell as another, much smaller boat bumped against the dock beside the one that had carried the warlock.
Morgana, looking dishelved and bewildered, clambered out of it to stare at them with wide eyes as almost every man and woman present turned their backs on her in silence. Only one man chose to approach her, to speak to her, and he did so with greatest solemnity.
Aglain stopped in front of Morgana, and his expression was one of sadness and disappointment.
"It has been a very long time, Morgana, since I reassured a frightened young woman that her magic didn't make her evil. A woman who I told could use her magic for good, and who took hope from those words." Aglain shook his head. "You were so full of light, of promise, and yet you've cast that aside. You should go, now."
"Wait." Merlin's call surprised them all, as he turned to face Morgana. "She has come here to grieve for the Goddess, and despite whatever mistakes she has made, I will grant her that... Morgana, you may remain on the Isle until sunset tomorrow. One of the symbols of the Goddess was the sky, so I suggest you head for highest of the towers and mourn her passing there. You are not to approach any of the altars, or participate in any of the ceremonies. If you disobey this command, you will be driven out immediately. If you try to interfere with my appointment as High Priest, you will be attacked. Heed that warning, because I am not the one making the threat. The people here will strike you down without hesitation if you try anything, and it won't be at my orders. They will chose to do it themselves."
Merlin now turned his back on Morgana, as did Aglain, in the same symbolic rejection as the rest of the magic-wielders present. Meanwhile Gwaine started to splutter and pointed at her.
"You're letting her stay?"
"Shut up, Gwaine." Arthur strode past him, to follow Merlin and the others up the stairs. "Sometimes you have to show a little mercy, even if the person who receives it doesn't deserve it. Because to deny them that, would mean stooping down to their level."
Gwaine gave Morgana one more scowl, and followed after everyone else while muttering under his breath. Within moments she found herself completely alone on the dock, and trapped within the very nightmare punishment the Disir had promised her.
She turned and fled towards the far end of the Isle, where the tallest of the towers could be found, and upon reaching the top she flung herself down onto the stones to sob her heart out beneath a darkening sky.
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Alaia Skyhawk: For anyone confused about Algain being alive, in A Question of Resolve I chose to have Merlin save him rather than have him die like he did in the show (Episode: The Nightmare Begins). And I saved him purely for this sort of moment... A moment where he meets her again, witnesses what she has become, and reveals his sadness and disappointment in her. As the first person who really reassured her about her magic, he has a special place in the foundations of her confidence... and in this sub, everything she'd taken for granted has come crashing down.
