Hi everyone! ^^

Oh I liked writing this chapter so much! *.* I hope you'll like it too! :D

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( /RoryWild4)

And Bertaz too! (She draws Escalin sooooo well! She's an inspiration and a huge help every time!)

( /BertazHead)

CHAPTER 4

"Escanor!"

Everyone froze at that voice, and had the time only to see the person vanish and reappear with the hands on the glass wall, eyes open wide in shock.

Merlin had seen the strange party leave Camelot, had become suspicious and had followed them here.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing: he was right there on the other side of that glass! He was only a soul, but he was unmistakably him!

She had to press a hand on her mouth to forcefully silence a sob that wanted to escape her lips.

He was there, he was 'alive' in a sense, he… had he been here all this time? She had searched for him, but without results, was it because he had been trapped here and was unable to be reached?

Suddenly she turned sharply towards the Supreme Deity, her eyes narrowed and her hands closed in fists.

"You!"

The Deity seemed almost pleased and amused, and that made her narrow her eyes even more, her blood boiling in rage.

"You had him all this time?!"

Now she turned completely towards the Supreme being, enraged by the thought.

"Well found Belialuin's daughter, I see you haven't grown much, your disrespect never cease to surprise me."

"One should earn the respect."

Answered back the Mage, a cold fury in her words and stance.

The Supreme Deity's face darkened, quickly She approached the raven haired woman and grasped her chin, pulling her captive towards Her, making sure to look at her straight in the eyes, menacingly.

"You have something of mine, little girl."

Merlin didn't back down, not even an inch, she slapped away the Deity's hand and straightened up, returning Her gaze unflinchingly, she was furious, and wasn't really thinking straight.

"And you have someone that belongs to me, old hag!"

Everyone gasped and then held their breaths at that exchange, the atmosphere was definitely tense.

"Merlin!"

Elizabeth was the only one able to speak, and only from fear for her friend. She quickly went to the Mage's side, taking her in her arms, to restrain or protect her from her mother, no one was sure.

The two almost didn't notice the third one, they were continuing to glare at one another.

"Mpf, I see you didn't lose your back bone."

The Supreme Deity said, looking down on Merlin.

"Give him back!"

The Mage was already fed up, she was concise and to the point.

"You know how these things work, don't you?"

The Deity smirked maliciously, while Her opponent looked even more furious but recomposed quickly, she didn't want to stay here a second longer than necessary.

"What do you want?"

Her tone was so cold that everyone present shivered, except for the Supreme being, who just smirked more.

"I'll tell you the truth, I'm not opposed to letting him go back to life, in fact I'm quite curious about this human and what he could accomplish. The fact that he was able to thaw your frozen heart is already a great feat."

Elizabeth could feel the Mage tremble in her arms from the rage she was feeling, she was staying silent, waiting for the Supreme Deity to go on, but if it wasn't for her embrace, Elizabeth was sure that Merlin would have given her mother at least one punch in the face.

"So I will let him live again, but there are two conditions."

The Deity was serious, even if she couldn't hide a malevolent smile.

"The first: once he will be complete and have his body back, I will recover Sunshine from him, as it is now, my Grace is the only thing keeping him intact and recovering it now it would be an annoying task and it would result in his death almost certainly."

At those words Merlin's brain had forcefully taken back control of her being, she needed to concentrate, to listen carefully and to think of any possible way out or around everything that would seem suspicious. Hearing about Escanor's death had made her shiver in fear, she couldn't allow herself to be blinded by rage and desperation, it was his life they were talking about.

Gently she got out from Elizabeth's embrace, reassuring her that now she was fine with a touch on her shoulder, but her eyes never wandered away from her opponent.

"I agree to it only If that won't harm Escanor in the long or short terms."

Her voice was strong, her head held high. The Deity nodded, accepting that.

"Now the second."

She smirked more, looking forward to the Mage's reaction.

"You'll have to give me your magic."

Merlin's eyes narrowed, this seemed like a trap.

"WHAT?!"

Everyone else was shocked by the demand, it was unthinkable!

They began talking, protesting against such a request, but the two women didn't even hear them, too concentrated on studying one another.

"You need my magic."

At last Merlin answered, sure of her suspicions, and the narrowing of the Other eyes was confirmation enough.

"Why?"

She would give the Deity nothing, not without a fight, and only if it was for a good reason.

The Supreme being resisted for a few seconds more, and then sighed, disappointed by the lack of shock or worry from the other.

"Because as it is now, your boyfriend doesn't have a physical body, it was turned to ashes. To reform a human body from almost nothing isn't an easy task, it requires time and a lot of magical power, and I refuse to spend too much of mine. Seeing as you are the one who wants him back the most, and that you have the means, it is only fair that I use your own magic power to recreate his body."

Merlin hated to admit it but it sounded at least a tiny bit fair, and if it was for Escanor she would have used her magic anyway.

"Give me specifics."

The Deity grimaced, she had never liked the authority in the Mage's voice, as if she could order Her around, but this time She complied, She will have her sweet revenge soon.

"To create a body is a very long process, once initiated it can't be interrupted until completed, or it would fail or create an imperfect and weak body. You can't stay awake for all the time that it would require, so taking your magic is the only way to do this right, and with your infinity the power won't ever run out."

"You'll take it temporarily."

"Yes, only until the end of the process, then I will return it to you."

"How much time?"

The Supreme Deity smirked slightly.

"Well you see, here comes the interesting part: it's up to you."

Merlin frowned, perplexed.

"Explain."

"The more time is invested in the creation of the body, the better it will be, and for better I intend more durable. With the right amount of time I could even make him so resistant that he would be able to house a Grace inside him without repercussions."

The Mage was intrigued by this, having Escanor with a durable and resistant body would take away a lot of problems.

"How much time?"

"To make him very durable and resistant for a Grace? Well, I'll say a year, more or less."

The others gasped again, it wasn't too much, but at the same time it was a lot. Having Merlin without her magic for one year would be very troublesome.

The Mage was studying the conditions and the explanations by every direction, dissecting everything and thinking about what She had said. It wasn't a bad deal, of course it would be very annoying, but to have Escanor alive again…

"Alright."

Everyone was shocked by her agreeing to that, even the Supreme being was surprised.

"But I want to make sure of a couple of things and specify something. First: You will use my magic only for creating his body and nothing else. Second: if, for some reason, you aren't able to recreate his body as we arranged, durable and resistant enough to be housing a Grace, then you'll have to do it again until you'll manage, but without my magic to help you, you'll do it under your own power. Third: I want reports during this period to know how your work is coming along, and after the year time is reached we'll see how it is and I'll decide if letting you use my magic for a longer period of time to finish the job or not. Fourth: while I'll be without my magic I want protection for king Arthur, Camelot, and its citizens, from any kind of peril that I would have been able to defend against if I had my magic."

The Supreme Deity glared at her but decided to amuse her.

"Alright to everything, and I'll give you Mael as protector of your city for a year."

The Archangel bowed his head in understanding, he was surprised at how well the Deity was taking Merlin's outrageous behaviour.

"That's fine with me."

The Mage was smirking in satisfaction, annoying the Supreme being.

"One last thing."

Now the raven haired woman was almost concerned.

"What will happen to him in the meantime?"

The Deity seemed unconcerned.

"First of all we must reunite his last piece of soul to the rest of him, or we risk that he could lose himself if he stays incomplete for much longer."

Saying this She moved closer to the Mage, grabbed her face again and quickly began extracting the piece of soul and Grace that had attached to her face as scars.

Merlin wasn't prepared for the pain, she hissed, trying to wiggle out of the Deity's grasp.

"The more you struggle the more painful it will be. Please, continue."

At that the Mage stilled, gritting her teeth and closing her hands into fists to try and resist the pain.

The others had moved forward on instinct when it was clear that their comrade was hurting, but Mael stopped them, shaking his head. It was painful to look at, but they had to stay put and let the Supreme Deity finish.

Finally She extracted the missing piece, letting the Mage go, who fell to her knees, grasping her face and breathing hard, but glaring up at the Deity, who just smirked.

She then moved inside the room, where Escanor's soul was, and let the piece float and rejoin the main 'body'.

In the meantime Elizabeth had run to the Mage's side, to make sure that she was okay.

"Merlin…"

"I'm fine."

But she accepted the other woman's help to stand. On the glass's reflection she could see that her scars were all gone.

When Escanor's soul became finally complete there was an intense light emanating from him, it lasted just a couple of seconds, and then vanished, and everything was like before, but now the soul had taken the form of his body, head to toe. Merlin sighed, relieved by the sight, this went well.

"Now I'll give him a temporary body."

The Deity gestured for Merlin to come inside, she obliged, she wanted to be near him so badly.

"To do that I'll use your magic and connect your life forces. A temporary body is a weak substitute of the real thing, he needs something to be connected to, so that he can exist for a long period of time."

The Mage glared at the Supreme being.

"Don't look at me like that, he can't stay in this form for much longer, a body is needed, even only a weak one, or he'll lose himself and go on his journey."

Merlin said nothing, she knew what that meant, and she won't allow it, she would be his anchor to the living world.

"I see you understand, good."

They glared at one another.

"But I'll also say that this will mean that your very lifes will be connected to one another. If you were to die he will also die, and vice versa. So you both will have to be extra careful if you don't want the other to suffer with you. Or maybe you can decide to die together, that would be romantic."

She smirked maliciously, while Merlin glared at her in cold fury, she could have killed with that gaze.

"Bullshit! You know nothing, just go on with it so that we can leave as soon as possible."

The Mage seemed unperturbed, but inside was very worried, without her magic she was more vulnerable, and she didn't know how well would work the temporary body for him, they would probably be more weak and had to be more careful than ever, that wasn't sitting well with her, but they didn't have other options, they will have to work with this, one way or another.

The Deity wasn't amused by her behaviour, in fact She was very annoyed, but She calmed Herself thinking of all the struggles the Mage would have to go through, and She won't miss any of it. Ah! She finally will have a taste of revenge!

"Now I'll take your magic."

That was all the warning that Merlin received, right after she felt like a part of her was being sucked out, leaving her dizzy, she was just able to lean on the wall near her, before sliding down it to the floor. It wasn't a good sensation, she felt weak and vulnerable, she didn't like that, and she had a bad ache in her stomach and head.

"Oh! You really grew your true body into your adult form. What a shame, I would have really liked seeing you struggle as a normal human in your child form."

The Supreme Deity smirked maliciously down at her, resulting in an angry glare from the Mage.

So she had really taken Infinity from her, luckily she had had the good sense to make her real body reach adulthood in the last year, being turned in her child form during the last war had been a liability, and in this situation it would have been even worse.

In the meantime the Deity was already at work, She too didn't want the raven haired woman to stay in Her presence much longer, She would watch her from afar and laugh in satisfaction, for sure.

Gradually a body was formed, it hadn't any distinctive features, surely it didn't resemble Escanor, it also had a white sash covering its private parts, the goddesses were so prudish! Then the Supreme Deity put the soul inside the body, merging them. There was a sparkle of lights, so vivid that it blinded everyone.

Once it stopped, Merlin opened her eyes and saw the body floating horizontally in mid air in front of her, it had changed, taking the familiar form of her Lion, the body had seemingly reformed to accustom the soul, and slowly it began descending towards her; she opened her arms, reaching for him, as if in a trance, and when he was finally near enough, she embraced him fully, a beautiful warm sensation was spreading in her chest, she was so grateful to be able to see and touch him again, she could feel the warmth of his body spreading through her.

They stayed sitting on the floor for a while, his back was leaning on her chest, his head on her shoulder, and she was embracing his shoulders and chest to her, almost hiding her face in his neck, her back on the wall supporting them both.

She was almost being overwhelmed by the feelings she was experiencing, and tried her hardest not to cry, but she was shivering. At last she lifted her head to look at him, it was really him, his features unmistakable to her, he wasn't awake yet, and she couldn't wait to look into his beautiful blue eyes.

The moment was interrupted by the Supreme Deity's voice, she had approached them, also a little surprised by the Mage's behaviour.

"Does he know about all your sins? Does he know the real you? Do you really think that he would want you even after knowing all that?"

She whispered maliciously to the Mage.

Merlin tensed for a moment, but then her shoulders sagged a little, her head down, looking at the man in her arms.

"It doesn't matter, he deserves another chance at life, whichever his choices will be."

Her answer was solemn, but also a bit sad and almost resigned; but this wasn't for herself, it was for him!

The Supreme Deity frowned, this wasn't the response She had hoped to get from the Mage, She had wanted to rile her up, She hadn't expected that.

She stepped back and out of the room, gesturing to Mael who quickly entered and kneeled beside the two, he was soon followed by Elizabeth.

"Merlin, let him go, you're too weak now, I'll carry him."

The Archangel was trying to convince the Mage to weaken her grip on the unconscious man, but it wasn't working, she was glaring at him, strengthening her hold on Escanor; she knew he was right but she didn't want to let him go yet.

"Merlin, come on. I thought you wanted to get back home as soon as possible."

Elizabeth intervened, putting a hand on her shoulder, at her words Merlin relaxed a bit, sighing, and let Mael take him from her, grumbling in discontent.

The Archangel took the Lion in his arms, carrying him out of the room, while Elizabeth helped the Mage stand up and walk out, where they were surrounded by the others, Diane going on the other side of the raven haired woman to help her.

They were quickly dismissed by the Supreme Deity, but not before Merlin reminded Her of their agreement again, promising retribution if the Divine being hadn't kept Her part of the deal. The Deity just gestured for them to go away, and they quickly did so, before the Mage could say or do anything more to worsen her situation.

Returning to Camelot they were met with a very worried Arthur, but his expression changed to surprised delight to see Escanor and then again to concern when he saw the state the Mage was in. Merlin insisted that she was alright, and Meliodas interrupted telling the young king to let them rest, that they would tell him everything that happened.

Finally Merlin, Elizabeth, Escanor and Mael reached the Mage's room, and she guided the Archangel to let down his precious package on her bed.

"Are you sure that you're alright?"

Elizabeth asked, concerned, after checking them both to make sure that they were at least physically alright.

"Yes Sis-Sis, I'm just very tired, I'll sleep and I'll be as good as new, you don't' have to worry."

She was sitting on her couch, feeling completely worn out.

The other woman nodded, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead.

"I'm so happy to hear that, and that you were able to have him back."

Merlin felt a warmth sensation inside at that, she was grateful to her Big Sis, then turned her head to look at the man on the bed, and was oh so grateful to see him here in the flesh too.

The two goddesses went towards the door to leave them rest.

"If you need anything, anything at all, please call for me."

Elizabeth said with a warm smile, while Mael nodded.

"I...you two...thank you. For everything."

They stilled at that, looking at each other and then at the Mage whose head was turned away from them, but Elizabeth could spot some red on her cheeks, then they smiled and said goodbye, closing the door behind them.

Merlin sighed, closed her eyes, leaning her head back on the couch, she wasn't really used to thanking others, she should do it more often.

Reopening her eyes she looked again towards the bed, moved her hand as if to teleport herself there, but nothing happened.

This would require some getting used to.

With great effort she stood up, and stumbling made her way towards him.

He was still unconscious and they don't know for how long he will stay that way the soul and the body had to get used to one another, and the time could vary.

She sat besides him, taking his hand in hers, squeezing lightly.

"Wake up soon, my Lion. I'm waiting for you."

Go Merlin, go! *.*

It would have been epic to see a real fist-fight between her and the Supreme Deity, I know! But it wasn't possible, not with Escanor's life in the middle :S

I hope you liked this chapter anyway! :D

Let me know what you think! ^^