Disclaimer: refer chapter one

Chapter Nine

"This!" Harry exclaimed, his eyes on the sword. He then looked at Merlin, his eyes wide. "This is! How is this sword even real?!"

"Why would it be fake?" Merlin asked. "Most assume that it was lost to annuls of time after Arthur's death. Other legends claim that it was lost and then Arthur would go on to receive the Excalibur. And some claim that the two are the same sword. But… the truth is that I kept this sword till I felt it would be needed again. If I was correct or not, I suppose only time will tell."

"I assume you want it back?" Harry asked.

"Not in the slightest. Caliburn would not have allowed you to wield her if you were unworthy of it. There's a reason why it is also called the Sword of Selection," Merlin said.

"But the stories say that whoever is worthy of it was also the king of Britain," Harry muttered. He was going to question the 'will be' part, but he had a gut feeling that Merlin wouldn't answer that.

"Harry, old men that appear in dreams and distribute swords is no basis for any system of government," Merlin said.

"I suppose…" Harry said.

"Really? You didn't get that? Monty Python and the… you know what, that's not too important. In all seriousness, no, simply possessing that sword did not make Arthur king. He was already the son of Uther, the previous king, remember? Only not raised in royalty," Merlin explained.

Harry was silent for a while as he gazed at the pure white sword. "Just what is this sword? A single cut and all of that cursed energy was being purified."

"That is a rather difficult question," Merlin replied. "One could say that the sword is essentially the very concept of 'Purity' and 'Goodness' given form. As for what it does and is capable of? Well, I'll leave that for you to discover."

"I see," Harry said, looking at Merlin. "But Tezcatlipoca? Was he correct? About humanity not needing the gods?"

"A rather bulky question," Merlin said. "To fully understand that, you would need to understand gods and why they fade. And of course, why gods exist in the first place. Not everything is clear, and not everything meant to be revealed to mortals. Perhaps the actual question should not be whether humanity needs the gods, but rather if humanity can evolve and grow without the gods."

"And you are not going to tell me." Harry said. It was not a question, but a guess.

"Ah, but whats the fun in explaining everything?" Merlin questioned with a smile. "Somethings, especially about gods, is best left to the gods. Like you said, gods do not understand humanity. But… humanity also cannot understand the gods. Even you demigods, who are the bridge between the two, can only do so much with either beings."

Harry then noted something. "You talk about the gods in the third person. As if you don't consider yourself to be one."

Merlin chuckled. "Maybe I did speak too much."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Who… or what are you?"

"Hmmm. I could be a god. Or I could be a wizard who was so powerful that he attained godhood through various deeds that most, if not all, would consider impossible. Or maybe I am a manifestation of all the legends surrounding the being that is 'Merlin' given form because enough people believe in his existence," Merlin said, before he smiled mischievously. "Or maybe I am just pulling your leg and want you to believe what you want."

Harry sighed, knowing that Merlin would not tell him the exact truth of his nature. Or was really just joking.

"Is that how you stopped time? Because there must be some story, a tale somewhere that Merlin could do so?"

"Or, perhaps time has not frozen at all, and you're actually unconscious and this is a dream I created," Merlin replied. "More importantly, I wonder if you realize the importance of your actions here. Because Tezcatlipoca was correct in a way. Humanity does not need the gods for survival, but not in the way he thought."

Harry was silent for a while.

"All gods are meant to fade eventually, right? When their respective roles in this world are completed? Or if their sphere of influence is simply transferred over to another god and therefore there is no further need of them existing?" Harry asked.

"I just said, leave that to th–"

"Humor me for a bit," Harry interrupted Merlin. "If that is true, then a god fading away is but a natural phenomenon. If it happens naturally, gradually over time, then this transition is seamless, without any adverse effects. But… Tezcatlipoca's plan would have accelerated this well beyond what the world could handle. By making humanity forget about all of mythology, weaker lesser known gods would have faded immediately. More powerful ones wouldn't be spared either. Maybe they don't fade immediately, maybe they realize what is wrong and immediately fix it. But the damage done would be permanent."

Merlin simply chuckled. "Quite the theory you've got there."

"But is it inaccurate?" Harry questioned.

"I will tell you this. Had Tezcatlipoca succeeded, he would have indeed caused a cataclysmic event of a magnitude enough to destroy all life. Not just the gods. Not just the monsters. Everything that existed. That is why he required so much time building up the magical energy, and also required all the souls residing in Salem, along with all the curses placed in the same exact spot where over hundreds of innocents were hanged, with the townspeople cheering such an atrocious act," Merlin said.

That threw Harry in for a loop. It wasn't the fact apparently non magicals could curse a place. It was mostly a side effect of so many people damning a place with their dying breaths. That held weight even if the person doing the damning wasn't magical, especially in a place like Salem, where multiple ley-lines intersected. "But the amount of people hanged in Salem wer–"

"Recorded history is not always the accurate history, and sometimes, legends about something, somewhere and/or someone, given enough, what is the word, I suppose power, is the closest, can influence the nature of things," Merlin said. "Even Ancient Greek legends are subject to this. Did your mother curse Arachne, even if there was such a woman? Or was that the imagination of the Roman poet Ovid? The truth of that is inconsequential, as when a sufficient amount of people started believing in it, even said goddess will testify that she did curse a girl named Arachne for being arrogant."

"Are you telling me that the arachnophobia that me and my siblings share happened simply because a large amount of people believed that a child of Athena must be afraid of spiders because she cursed a mortal to become one? And therefore every spider wants revenge because of that?" Harry asked. It was a very incredulous thing in his opinion.

Merlin didn't answer, but rather chose to change the subject. "But now it has been successfully averted, with you and your friends having saved the day and all that. I suppose as a reward, the least I can do is ensure all of your safety."

"What about Laura?"

"She is dead, Harry," Merlin answered. "Tezcatlipoca was absolutely correct in that she had been dead for a long time. She was merely existing on borrowed time. And don't worry about the god either. With his temple destroyed and his host also gone, he cannot sustain his essence any longer. Either his conscience is spread too thin to matter, or he faded and joined the rest of the Mesoamerican pantheon."

Harry closed his eyes in a moment of sadness. He was certain that despite her sacrificing herself in the end, she would not end up in Elysium. Especially if Merlin was correct in that she aided – either knowingly or not – in an apocalyptic plot. And the whole cheating her own death thing.

The best he could do was send her soul two drachma as was the custom.

Harry opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the very familiar ceiling of the Athena Cabin. It was the same bed he slept in every single night in Camp. He groggily sat up in bed, noting that Caliburn was propped up on the wall opposite the bed, with a note attached to the hilt.

He felt well rested, as if he had slept a good two or three days and nights.

For a moment Harry stared at the sword. It was a beautiful sword. The blade itself was pure white, with the hilt being a brilliant golden. Harry had no idea who or what forged the weapon, but they certainly were not human. The sword was way too… perfect to be made by human hands.

Harry grabbed the note, opening the folded piece of paper.

I forgot to tell you this: Caliburn relies on its wielder to determine what is 'good' and 'pure', despite being the very embodiment of the two. After all, the definition of what is considered good is completely different for you than it was to Arthur. Different times and all that. But, does that mean that it will selectively target the evil inside a being? Or will it simply work as a sword does? Well, that is not for me to say.

The note had no name as to who wrote it, but it was obvious in Harry's mind.

Harry still had a lot of questions that needed answered, however. The most important one: what exactly had happened on that quest. While it was certainly possible that Luke came out unaffected, unknowing of any of this, but he would be the only one who would know.

Then there was Luke's story when he had returned.

"It happened so fast," Luke said sadly as he recalled the events at the Garden of Hesperides. "One moment, Ladon was ignoring us. The next, it had tore into Peter and Laura. If it hadn't been Peter who pushed me out of the way, I would have ended up the same."

That was it. No details about the exact way the events took place. No one at Camp had questioned it then. No one wanted to reopen the wounds. It was obvious then he was suffering quite a bit.

But Laura was alive. While she spoke nothing of Luke or Peter or what happened, or even how she came to be under Tezcatlipoca's control, she had somehow survived. No, not just survived. She wanted vengeance, and was angry enough to ally with a foreign god.

Well, technically a local god, the Olympians were the foreign gods, but that was beside the point.

And the more he thought of it, the more he realized something.

Why did Ladon stop at two of three?

All three of them were intruders to the hundred headed dragon. He would not stop at two. Unless he was made to stop at two.

Garden of Hesperides … Harry only knew what was held there as much as everyone else: the Golden Apple Tree, that was gifted to Hera. Luke was supposed to retrieve such an apple. A recreation of one of Herakles' Twelve Labors.

Except this particular Labor was where Herakles received help from a very unlikely source.

Atlas, the Titan General.

Herakles had to free Atlas from his prison, where he held up the Sky, separating it from the Earth. Then, Atlas agreed to get the apples for Herakles, but had declined to retake his position under the Sky. As any previous Labor where Herakles was helped was considered void by King Eurystheus, Herakles had to ensure that no one would ever know of this, and was successfully able to put Atlas back into his prison.

The legend made Harry think. As Merlin had told him, just because it was recorded as such did not mean that was the accurate.

And if any of the three demigods who left for that quest were offered something by Atlas to get him freed? And even one of them agreed? It would certainly explain why Ladon chose to ignore Luke entirely.

Harry shook himself. What was he thinking? Luke committing treason? Sure, the son of Hermes was… critical of the gods, but he would not go so far as to kill his own brother and Laura, right?

But now? Harry could not help but think if that was supposed to mean that Luke had some hand in that. As the only surviving member of that quest, surely Luke must have known something, right?

Harry was now put in a very uncomfortable position as he thought about every single scenario.

The very first one was plain and simple. It had happened just as Luke had claimed it had. For reasons that even Luke did not know, Ladon stopped after killing Laura and Peter. And Luke survived the ordeal without knowing anything about Laura and Tezcatlipoca. Harry personally hoped that this was the case. That way, Luke was still innocent and had done nothing wrong.

Second was slightly worse. That fateful day, something had possessed Luke the same way Tezcatlipoca had possessed Laura. That being was still inside of Luke, and was careful enough to not get noticed by the Camp's boundary or Chiron. That meant that Luke was still being possessed, and needed to be dealt accordingly.

Third was even worse. Luke was being manipulated by that 'something' but was not being possessed. An argument could be made that he was still innocent, despite having committed treason of his own volition.

But the last scenario was what Harry did not want to be true at all. There was nothing manipulating or possessing Luke. The events had took place as exactly as his current theories about the quest presented. Luke had really betrayed everyone. He had directly killed his Cabin mates. Mostly because he must have been promised something that Luke truly desired. Like power. Or perhaps freedom from the shadow of the gods. Or…

"Huh? Why are you thanking me?" Luke asked. His legs, left arm and torso was covered in bandages, and some bruises were visible on his face as well. The right arm was placed in a cast. At least the Camp infirmary bed was comfortable.

"Because if it weren't for you, Annabeth says that she would have died multiple times in the wild," Harry replied. Luke and Annabeth had come into the Camp two days ago. There was a third member to their party, but she had given her life to save her friends. It had been two days since Luke was brought past the boundary, when he had fallen unconscious. He had woken up just now.

"What's it to you?" Luke asked. He did not know why this black haired boy was sitting beside his bed that morning. He had told Luke that Annabeth was mostly uninjured, and was sleeping in the Athena Cabin.

"Oh right. I didn't introduce myself, did I?" Harry asked sheepishly. "I'm Harry Potter. Annabeth's older brother. Well, half-brother technically."

"And... Thalia?" Luke asked softly after a moment of silence.

Harry's expression turned sad. "She…. Her father turned her into the Pine Tree. 'If protecting your friends is your wish, then protect everyone you shall' was what the entire Camp heard that night. Chiron states that her sacrifice created a boundary that surrounds the Camp that keeps all monsters and non-demigods out."

The way Luke broke down after that would be embedded in Harry's memories forever.

Harry shook himself out of the memories as he walked to the Big House, ignoring the looks of confusion that other Campers were sending him. No doubt they were curious as to how he got back into the Camp.

He had yet to meet up with Silena or Beckendorf, or even Malcolm. To him, determining Luke's status was a tad bit more important. At best, he was being paranoid and Luke was innocent. At worst, there was a traitor amongst them, and needed to be dealt with.

Caliburn was strapped to his side, after Harry had conjured a scabbard for the sword. Because of this, no one was questioning how Harry had a sword that was not Celestial Bronze, as they could not see the actual weapon itself. He had no desire to hide the sword from his fellow Campers, but he also did not want to be interrupted and side tracked till he reached the Big House.

Curiously, the metal from which Caliburn was made up of was receptive to magic, as Harry had experimented by trying to place a temporary enchantment on the sword. Nothing special, just an enchantment that allowed him to swing the sword faster without sacrificing strength.

That would certainly be very useful in a lot of situations, Harry idly thought to himself as he neared the Big House.

"You cheated!" Luke said, the practice sword having fallen out of his hands and Harry's own sword at his throat.

Harry chuckled as he sheathed his sword. It had been a year since he and Annabeth came to Camp. "Nope. Its not cheating if I use everything and anything at my disposal. I may not be able to affect Celestial Bronze with my magic, but the hilt itself is made of leather, plain and simple. Heating it up just as you were about to disarm me is fair play."

"Still cheating, I should have won!" Luke said. "And I got a nasty burn on my palm!"

Luke was still grumbling about it as they went to the infirmary to get it treated. While both of their sword styles were based around speed, and not strength, it had come down to who was faster, and Luke was easily faster than Harry. He was not expecting Harry to use magic, however.

"I don't understand how this can taste like the cookies my mother would make," Luke whispered as he ate the ambrosia.

"What?" Harry asked, not having heard Luke properly. He had spoken too softly for Harry to hear.

"Huh? Nothing," Luke replied.

"I thought you said something about your mother," Harry said.

"It's. Nothing." Luke said firmly.

"Okay, jeez," Harry said. "I can see that you don't want to talk about that."

"Yeah. I don't." Luke's tone made it clear that he wanted this topic to drop.

"Harry? How did you get here?" Chiron said as he saw Harry approach. He was sitting in the porch in his wheelchair, a book on his lap.

"Merlin sent us back when our task was complete," Harry said, sitting down in a chair in front of Chiron when the Centaur gestured for him to do so.

"I see," Chiron said. It was curious that he did not feel anyone or anything get past the boundary that surrounded the Camp, but did not put it past Merlin to know how to bypass it entirely. "So… what happened on the quest?"

Harry gave Chiron the full report, sparing no details.

Chiron was silent for a while as he processed everything that Harry told him.

"This is concerning," Chiron stated. "The fact that it happened at this point, with the Master Bolt missing is obviously no coincidence. At least Merlin was able to see it and able to act through the three of you."

"There's something else," Harry said.

"The matter of how Laura survived, despite Luke having claimed otherwise?" Chiron guessed. When Harry nodded, the Centaur continued. "It is of course possible that Luke was unaware of this, and assumed that she died based on what he experienced."

"I considered that… but he also told us that Ladon was responsible. If nothing else, I want to know Ladon's behavior to see the full picture," Harry said.

Chiron looked a bit confused. Luke never told the Centaur that, but supposed that Luke would tell his friends more than he told his teacher. "Ladon protects the Tree above all else. Granted, Luke was sent to retrieve the Golden Apple, and it is perfectly possible that it could have gone after Luke given that he wanted an Apple. But it would not pursue him if he left the Tree alone."

Harry closed his eyes in thought. "And Luke would've backed off and decided to abort the quest if it had just killed – in his perspective that is – both of his quest mates."

"That is what I assume, yes," Chiron said. "Remember, Luke never even got a single Golden Apple. So Ladon had no reason to further pursue him after he backed off."

Harry nodded as he took that in. But for some reason there was still something that was bugging him in the back of his head. Like a thought that he simply could not get rid of. It was more of a hunch that anything else. A baseless accusation, perhaps, but something that he just had to confirm.

Maybe it was his pride that was telling him that he was not, could not be, wrong. Maybe it was paranoia that there was a possible murderer amongst them. Maybe it was a desire to know exactly what happened in that ill fated quest as a way to pinpoint exactly what wenn wrong and what he, or anyone else, could do in the future to avoid that.

Or maybe it was a mixture of all of the above.

"But… that quest was a recreation, or rather supposed to be a recreation, of Herakles' Labor, right? And even Herakles struck a deal with none other than the Titan General. What are the odds that Luke had a similar plan?" Harry asked.

Chiron narrowed his eyes. "Harry… I know that seeing a friend who was supposed to be dead working with a god from another pantheon must have been traumatizing. But just because Laura happened to betray us, and it happened as a result of that quest does not necessarily mean that Luke has done something similar."

"I know. I may be very well acting on a hunch. But its been bugging me constantly. What if he is…" Harry trailed off. Chiron gave him a moment as he collected his thoughts. "I just can't help but wonder what really happened in that quest."

"You want to know why Laura could turn her back on us," Chiron guessed. "And you need Luke to be innocent, in this mess, as you don't want to feel betrayal. I suppose it is to be expected, in a sense. After all the only reason betrayal hurts is because it only comes from the ones closest to us."

Harry nodded. If nothing else, he needed to be convinced that Luke had done nothing wrong.

"I think I should just directly talk to Luke instead," Harry said as he got up.

"Of course," Chiron said. "And Harry, do be careful. Regardless of whether you are right or not, it may just drive a wedge between the two of you."

Harry nodded as he left.

Chiron sighed to himself. 'Giving him Caliburn… what are you thinking, Merlin? There is a reason why Zeus specifically told you not to give such a powerful weapon to demigods or mortals…'

"Hey," Luke said softly as he sat down beside Harry. They were sitting in a clearing near the Zeus' Fist. "I know that you must want some time to yourself, but we were all worried. You haven't said a thing to anyone since the past four days… especially after…"

After Rahul died was left unsaid.

Harry just stared ahead, not reacting to Luke's presence.

"Look… I know more than anyone what it feels to lose someone close to you," Luke continued. "And, I know just how much it hurts. But a part of mourning is also moving on."

Harry looked at Luke with a piercing glare. "Move on? Like you have? By talking to a tree nearly every single day?"

"That was low, Harry," Luke said with an angered look of his own. He knew that Harry was not in the right sense of mind, and probably regretted even saying that, but it stung nonetheless.

"Not as low as telling me to move on from my own brother's death apparently," Harry said in response.

"I am just trying to cheer you up!" Luke said. He took a few breaths to calm himself. "Besides, she was not allowed to pass on! Her father could not even accept her sacrifice so he turned her and trapped her in that tree instead! And there is no way to save her from such a fate! At least Rahul was allowed to go to Elysium! Thalia is just trapped in the Pine Tree, forever!"

Luke could not help himself as he ranted. He knew that his anger could be explosive at times, and unfortunately it had exploded at the worst possible time.

"She was metamorphosed by a god. That's reversible if said god wishes it to be so, or a powerful enough being does so," Harry said lowly. "So, there's still a chance, no matter how low, that you might see her again. But Rahul? He's gone. For good. And if he chose to reincarnate… I won't ever meet him even when I eventually cross the River."

Luke looked at Harry with a surprised expression. Both of them were still angry at each other, but now Luke was curious. It was almost as if Thalia could be saved. But that could not be true, right?

"What do you mean?" Luke could not help but ask. "What being could do so?"

Harry humph'd. "Like I said, a powerful enough being. They would need to be more, at least as powerful as Zeus himself. But why would anyone go against the wishes of the King even if you found someone who fit this criteria? And would want to help a demigod?"

Luke was silent. "What if I offer them something?"

Harry said nothing. He doubted that Luke had anything of value to such a powerful being. He was certain of that. Not like Luke would go so far as to…

'...sell his very soul,' Harry completed his thought as he approached Luke in the weapons training arena. It seemed that a Hermes training session was completed, given that Luke was putting away all the equipment that they had used.

The rest of the Cabin members had seemingly left, or were leaving. Harry gave the leaving ones a halfhearted hi's and hello's as he made his way to Luke.

"Hey, Harry!" Luke said with a warm look as he greeted Harry. "I heard that you were back! Even met Beckendorf in the forge. He did say that you were giving a report to Chiron, though."

That threw Harry in for a loop. He had not even met Beckendorf after he arrived in Camp. Deciding to address that later, he asked the thing that was nagging the back of his mind.

"Luke… we met Laura in our quest." Harry stated simply.

To his credit, Luke showed no emotion or expression on his face, except that his face turned blank. "I… see."

"She wanted revenge against those that hurt her," Harry said. He had purposely worded it like that, wondering if Luke would take the bait.

"Then why are you coming to me?" Luke asked.

"Because… I need to know exactly what happened on that quest," Harry said. Given that Luke did not take the bait, Harry decided to drop all pretense. "And I need to know if you had any hand in the way she turned out."

Luke was once again silent for a while before he started to chuckle. The chuckle turned into a laugh that put Harry on edge. He kept his arm on his sword, ready to draw if Luke did anything.

"Of course I could not fool you forever," Luke said. "Always observing every little detail. And Laura could not keep her mouth shut too."

Harry immediately drew Caliburn as Luke suddenly drew his own sword and lunged at him.

Luke's Celestial Bronze/Steel sword, that Harry had not seen before, clashed against Harry's pure white blade.

"Fancy weapon you have got there," Luke stated as they clashed.

"What did you do, Luke?" Harry pressed on.

"What do you think? A simple enough deal," Luke said with a crazed smile.

Harry know knew that Luke was either brainwashed or possessed. His mannerisms were completely different from the Luke he knew.

"So… you finally found a powerful enough being to undo Thalia's metamorphosis like we talked about that night? I suppose the Titan General would be powerful enough!" Harry asked. "And what did that cost? Your soul?"

For the first time, Luke gained a bit of confusion as he tried to break Harry's guard. He had the Son of Athena on the defensive, but knew Harry's fighting techniques well enough that Harry could still turn this around if he wanted to.

"What are you on about? You never told me anything of the sort!"

It was Harry's turn to be confused. But given that Luke was still battling him, Harry decided to address that first. Harry blocked an incoming slash with Luke's sword. His reflexes were still quick enough that he could easily parry it, but Luke did not give him the opportunity to punish.

"Like my new sword?" Luke said tauntingly. "It has both Celestial Bronze and tempered steel! The combination, along with its enchantments, will be more than sufficient to give me the upper hand!"

Harry narrowed his eyes. A long time ago, Harry had told Luke that he could not affect Celestial Bronze with magic, which was why he had heated up the sword's hilt. So why would Luke tell him his weapon's singular weakness in an attempt to intimidate him…

…unless that particular conversation never happened in the first place.

The fact that it was enchanted presented its own set of problems, but those were minor as compared to something as transfiguring Celestial Bronze. Of course, Harry did not want to transifigure Luke's sword at all – even though he could do something, anything, to the steel that was blended in with the Celestial Bronze.

There was still a chance that Harry had told Luke that Celestial Bronze could not be affected by magic, and Luke was just trying to goad him into trying to do something like that again. Especially if he had something to counter his magic.

Harry did need to do something about Luke. He wasn't acting like himself, which gave him a hint that he was being possessed. The fact that Luke was fighting to kill told him plenty. Even if the memories he had were inaccurate, the feelings and emotions in them were not.

"Why–" Harry tried to ask, only to be interrupted by Luke as their swords clashed.

"–should it not be obvious?" Luke answered in an even tone. His eyes conveying the anger. "They keep hurting those around us. Not just us demigods. They use us and then throw us away when they've had their fun! Why should I fight for them?"

"So you would instead ally yourself with who? The Titans?" Harry asked, his own anger rising as they both tried to gain an upper hand. The two separated for a bit, their blades aimed at each other.

"They did promise me that I would bring about an age where no mortal would ever be hurt by the gods and their false promises!" Luke answered.

"False promises? And what guarantee do you have that any Titan would hold up their end of the bargain?" Harry asked.

"Please! This is one problem that not even you can solve!" Luke growled. "The corruption of the gods runs very deep!"

Harry chuckled. He couldn't help himself. "A problem not even I can solve, huh? Well, whatever the answer is, the definite wrong answer is to ally with the beings that saw humans as entertainment and liked to keep us ignorant."

"Perhaps that is better than knowing things you shouldn't!" Luke said angrily. "Such knowledge can drive someone to their death!"

Harry gave him a solemn look. "Is that what happened to your mother?"

Luke for once did not respond, but charged Harry again. His movements and attacks were no longer measured and controlled. Harry struggled a bit to answer in kind, but quickly realized that Luke was too angry to fight with a proper form. He was swinging and slashing wildly.

Seeing his chance to subdue Luke, Harry struck.

Caliburn slashed away at Luke, drawing blood.

Harry did not mean to. He only wanted to disarm. But with Luke moving so wildly, erratically, Harry was off in his aim. And that meant that Caliburn slashed across Luke's chest.

Luke stumbled back, staring at a horrified Harry in disbelief. A painful scream tore from his throat.

It was almost inhuman. Harry tried to ignore the scream as he rushed towards Luke as he fell, catching him before he fell to the ground. He gently lowered Luke to the ground, to administer first aid. Harry made sure to kick away Luke's sword.

Tears stung at his eyes as he opened up Luke's Camp shirt, tearing it to see the extent and depth of the wound.

To Harry's surprise, however, a gold liquid began to pour from the wound on Luke's chest. It quickly dissipated as soon as it came out from the wound. Luke began to scream harder as he was suddenly enveloped in a blackish purple aura. Harry tried not to stumble backwards at the absolute malice in that aura.

It was no other way to describe it. It was permeating the air. It made Harry sick to the core. He needed to do something, any–

Caliburn. The sword was the crystallization of all the good and pure in the world, according to Merlin. He held the sword and cut through the aura, this time ensuring that Luke won't be harmed any further by his own hands.

The effect was instantaneous. Caliburn's innate properties got rid of the malice and the aura that surrounded Luke.

But, does that mean that it will selectively target the evil inside a being?

Those words echoed in Harry's mind.

Harry had, at first, discarded the words. He thought Merlin was just being Merlin and trying to play games as he had with the whole 'am I a god or simply legend given form' thing. The fact that Merlin did not give a clear answer about that also infuriated him to no end. Perhaps as a result of being born from a Goddess of Knowledge, Harry just had to have all the answers.

This had apparently confirmed that.

Caliburn had somehow removed the evil in Luke.

Or so Harry hoped as he leaned beside Luke. With a quick spell, Harry first closed the wound on Luke's chest. Harry took his wrist in his hand, trying to feel for a pulse. It was there, but faint.

Harry breathed a heavy sigh. "Thank the gods," he muttered under his breath. He had not killed Luke.

"Harry?"

Harry turned around to see Chiron, and Mr. D standing behind him and Luke. Both looked very serious, and Mr. D in particular looked like he wanted to turn both Harry and Luke into grapevines and be done with it.

"What happened?" Chiron questioned, his eyes narrowed.

"Took him long enough to realize that memories are also a form of recorded history, don't you think?" Merlin asked in an amused tone as he observed the two demigods from his own home.

Well, calling it a home was a bit of a stretch. This place, which was essentially a large grassland with a few gentle hills and rivers, seemed like it could not exist anywhere on Earth. It was too pure, too untouched by humans. The sky was a clear blue, but there was no sun anywhere. Yet, the time felt as if it was constantly stuck in the morning, with enough light to reflect that.

"You were out of line!" Athena growled as she glared at Merlin. "Who gave you the right to play around in my son's head?!"

"Consider it a reward for saving all of us," Merlin replied.

"His reward was more than sufficient, you letting him keep that sword," Athena said. Her anger towards Merlin had not diminished in the slightest.

"And the sword allowed him to save his friend from a very, very cruel fate. You and your father may ignore the obvious signs, but my eyes are not fooled by the slightest. This allowed us to get rid of one pawn, with no casualties."

"Even if that is the case, He would have contingencies," Athena muttered. She, too, had seen the signs, but did not want to believe.

"Of course He does. But you are aware of Caliburn's special properties are you not?" Merlin asked with a smug grin. "One less fragment of His in the wild now."

Athena of course knew. Caliburn was a special sword. Created by the Lady of the Lake – a goddess who had long since faded – it was the very concept of 'good' and 'pure' given form, and also as a result of the sword relying on its user to define what is 'good' and 'pure', it would easily destroy anything that the user perceived as evil and impure.

No exceptions.

Even gods and monsters, who were affected by mortal perceptions, would be very much affected by Caliburn's properties. For this reason, Zeus had ordered Merlin to never give the sword to any demigod or mortal after Arthur died.

"...That is besides the point. No matter the reasons or justifications behind your actions, I can not and will not let this go unpunished. You messed with my Harry's mind!"

"Ah, there is that beautiful fury of yours," Merlin said with a light chuckle, his eyes glowing. "If only that statue could capture that… such a shame. That blank look, or that sculpture in its entirety, does not do your beauty justice at all."

Merlin escaped with a louder laugh as Athena's mind crashed due to the sheer anger at his revelation.

A/N: I am extremely nervous about this chapter, I am not gonna lie. Either I did something really good, or I may have jumped the shark. I guess only the reviews will tell me.

The Merlin-Harry interaction was supposed to be a lot longer, but I thought that most of that was just pure exposition that I could put in some other way. And Merlin's origins is something that I decided to leave it ambiguous. Partly based on LuisMStar's suggestion to make Merlin's personality similar to Fate Merlin's.

Also, Merlin did not mess with all of Harry's memories. Only a part of the flashbacks. As to which part in which flashback... well that is purposely left a bit ambiguous.

Once again, I cut the chapter short because it was becoming too long. Next chapter is the final one that deals with this particular arc. Along with Harry/Silena relationship.

Hope you all enjoyed!