Morgana knew that magic. She'd recognize it anywhere. Through the whirlwind of sounds and cries, she could still see the dark look on his face. The way his sword had sliced through her without hesitation. After everything, the feel of his magic terrified her. And made her furious beyond compare. She could feel the waves of power rolling off him, even after what looked like years since he last used it.

Morgana let out a groan before she could stop it. She twitched. Since she had woken up, her world had been nothing but shadows and muffled sounds. She was trapped, unable to move. But for some reason, the magic of Emrys. The magic of Merlin started her awake.

They had tied Morgana to a bench. It wasn't their brightest idea but they sure as hell weren't going to let her wander free. They had camped out at the edge of a grassy area. It was the only place they found where people had come to kick them out after sundown.

Arthur didn't know if Morgana still had her magic or not and if she did, then their bonds were basically useless. But Arthur wasn't taking his chances. It broke his heart that the kind, outspoken girl he grew up with had become such a twisted, misguided person. The last time they had talked, Morgana was kneeling by Arthur's dying body, a crazed look in her eye.

I will stay and watch over you until the wolves gorge on your carcass and bathe in your blood.

Arthur shuddered softly, thinking back. He hated what she had become. Arthur always thought that if he had been a better brother to her, things wouldn't have gotten so bad. Arthur still remembered Merlin's words from when they had talked about it. There were others better placed to help Morgana. Looking back, Arthur realized that Merlin was talking about himself. Merlin had blamed himself for Morgana. Arthur took in a deep breath. If he knew anything, it was that Morgana wasn't above salvation. Gwen was right. They had to sit down and talk and then everything would be okay. That's all Arthur had to believe.

"How do we wake her up?" Elyan asked.

Gwen crouched by her, placing a hand on her forehead, then to her cheek. "I swear she had woken up last night. She was twitching and groaning and-"

"She could've been dreaming or something! Why would she wake up now anyway? We've all been away for over a day." Gwaine said.

"Merlin." Lancelot crouched beside Gwen. "She's waking up because of Merlin."

They all fell silent. Gwaine spoke up. "I'll get him. Arthur and Gwen have probably freaked him out already so I might have a chance. Let me talk to him. Maybe I can convince him to come over."

"I'll come too. We shouldn't bombard him with everything at once. Let's become friends again and once he trusts us, maybe we can spark his memory a bit." Lancelot stood up, glancing over at Arthur, who still hasn't said a word.

Arthur's gaze flicked from Gwaine to Lancelot to Morgana. He exhaled slowly. "Ok. Go. Don't… don't freak him out."

Gwaine smirked, clapping a hand on his back. "I think you did all that yourself, Princess. Don't worry. I'll play it off and say that you were just having an off day."

Lancelot rolled his eyes. "It's been more than twenty-four hours. Hopefully, he doesn't recognize our faces and blast us against the wall or something."

"Wait. Wait, hold up. Merlin has magic?" Elyan exclaimed.

"Yeah. Where the hell have you been?" Gwaine raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know! You were talking about immortality and some other stuff and Merlin has magic?"

Arthur stalked forward. "Is that a problem?"

Elyan backed away. "Woah. Come down, Arthur. Of course not. I've never hated magic."

"Ok, so you all can figure this out. Gwaine and I are going to go. Wish us luck." Lancelot grabbed Gwaine's shoulder.

"Good luck. Don't waste time." Percival muttered, glancing at the ground.

Lancelot gave a sudden laugh, leaning over to whisper in his ear. "Don't worry yourself. My heart belongs to Gwen."

Percival's head snapped up, sputtering. His cheeks flooded red. "What? No- I-I didn't mean-"

Lancelot winked, turned away. "Let's go."

Merlin dipped his brush into the dark green paint. He had cleared out one of the walls in his bedroom to paint. He didn't know if he was allowed to paint the walls in the flat but Merlin had already painted one of the living room walls so it was too late for that. He swiped up, curving his brush to form the back of the dragon. He loved painting dragons. The intricacy of the scales and their molten eyes and curving wings made it all the more fun to paint out.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Merlin dropped the brush onto his plate and fished out the phone with his other hand. Rowan's face smirked back at him. He picked up. "Rowan. What's up?"

"You remember blondie?" Rowan didn't bother greeting Merlin.

"Highlight of my week. What about him? Don't tell me he's back at the shop? Merlin ducked into the bathroom, shoving the phone between his shoulder and ear to wash his hands.

"Nope. His friends are though. Gwaine and Lancelot. Next thing you know the whole round table will be here."

Merlin snorted. "Shut up. That's actually their names?"

"I bet they just need a Merlin for their Arthurian Legend retelling. Thank god King Arthur isn't here. Geez, his acting was a little too over the top."

"Don't be mean. What do the knights need?" Merlin asked.

"They said they wanted to explain themselves. For yesterday."

"Tell them it's cool. Everyone has their off days. I hope Arthur's okay, though. He seemed kind of…"

"Crazy? I know. Yo- Gwaine. Merlin says it's cool. Don't stay up at night worrying." Rowan's voice was pulled away from the microphone, and Merlin had to strain his ears to catch the reply.

"Oh! Is there any way for us to talk to him?"

"Here. I'm on the phone with him if you want to chat."

Merlin started. "What? No, I don't want to talk to him. Tell him I'm busy."

"Yeah, he's right here." Merlin could almost hear the smirk in Rowan's voice.

"No. No, Rowan- I swear to god-"

"Merlin?" Merlin didn't recognize the voice. "Hello?"

Merlin groaned softly, rubbing his forehead. "Hey! Gwaine- was it?"

"Oh my god. This is the coolest thing. Lancelot, look. It's Merlin. I think he's stuck in this brick." Gwaine's voice went high with excitement. "Is this some type of magic?"

Merlin blinked. "What? What are you talking about?"

There was loud fumbling on the other end before another voice came through. "Hey. I'm Lancelot. Sorry about Gwaine. Uh- we were wondering if we could talk to you? Like at the shop. Not in this brick."

"Brick? You mean through the phone?" Merlin spoke slowly.

"Uh- yes exactly. So can you come to the shop and we can talk?" Lancelot asked, his voice hesitant.

"I'm kind of busy right now but feel free to drop by the shop during the week. My shift ends at 2 so if you want to get a cup of coffee then you can come."

"Ok! Can I come tomorrow morning?"

"I'm not really at the shop on weekends. You can come on Monday. During the week." Merlin spoke, resisting the urge to speak slower and drive the words into this bloke's head.

"Monday. Ok yes. We'll be here Monday morning. That's the earliest we can meet?" Lancelot asked, and Merlin almost cried.

"I'm afraid so. Now if you could give the phone back to Rowan that would be great." Merlin was going to kill Rowan.

"Phone?"

"The thing in your hand. Can you give it back to Rowan? The man behind the counter?"

Lancelot laughed. "Oh yeah. Sorry."

After a moment, Rowan's voice came back. "Wow. Are these guys from the sixties or something? They look like they've never used a phone before. Oh my god. What if they are actually the knights of the round table and they've genuinely never used a phone before?"

"That would be hilarious. What the hell is wrong with you? You cannot just give the phone to random strangers. I have no idea who they even are. What if they're secret FBI agents who wanted to kill me?" Merlin whispered harshly into the phone.

"Don't be ridiculous, Merlin. They're your knights in shining armor. Low-key cute, I mean-" Merlin could hear Rowan's shit-eating grin.

"Oh, shut up. Do your goddamn work and don't call me again if any of them show up. Bye." Merlin hung up before Rowan could reply but he knew that Rowan was probably laughing like hell back at the shop.

Merlin groaned, tossing his phone onto his bed. He flopped down, sighing. Something about the oddball group was familiar. It was an unsettling feeling. Like that feeling when you watch a movie and you just know that you've seen them before but you just can't place where. And you spend the entire movie agonizing over it because they just look so familiar. Like an old group of friends. Like home.

Lancelot leaned against the counter. "Can I speak with Merlin, please?"

The man gave him a look before turning and yelling for him. A minute later, the other man- Rowan- came bounding forward. "Hey! Sir Lancelot, right?"

Lancelot's blood went cold. "Sir?"

Rowan only laughed. "Yeah, you know. Like the Arthurian Legend? Sir Lancelot? The knight of the round table?"

"How do you know that? Oh my god, did Gwaine tell you?" Lancelot demanded, glaring at the man.

Rowan backed away, slowly, pulling his hands up as if surrendering. "Woah there. Your friend didn't tell me anything. I just assumed because of the name. The legend of King Arthur and his knights are pretty famous, you know?"

Lancelot instantly relaxed. "Legend? That's a legend?"

Rowan stared at him. "You guys are really weird. You know that?"

The back door swung open and Merlin slipped out. "Hey. Gwaine, was it? Or Lancelot?"

Lancelot tore his eyes away from Rowan. "Uh- yeah. Lancelot. It's nice to meet you."

Merlin smiled. "Yeah, you too. Did you need anything from me? I hope your friend is okay."

"Arthur? Oh yeah, he's fine. He was just going through some stuff you know. He's really embarrassed about the whole situation. I promise, he didn't mean to break down." Lancelot gave Merlin his most innocent smile.

"That's alright. Happens to everyone. Can I help you? Did you want to buy anything? Some coffee?"

Lancelot had quickly learned to dismiss any words that made absolutely no sense to him. Words like phone, police, and coffee. Asking about just made people more suspicious and Lancelot did not want to bring any more attention to himself. "I'll pass, thank you. I was actually wondering if you wanted to come out with me. Just to the green area down the road. My friends are all there and we would love to get to know you."

Merlin started. "Uh- the park?"

"Yeah! The um, place down there. It would be really great." Lancelot asked.

Merlin gave Lancelot an awkward smile. "That sounds nice, but I actually have work. My shift ends around 2 and then I'm pretty busy for the day. Thanks for the offer though. Also, I should let you know that if you don't plan on buying anything, you really aren't allowed to keep coming here."

Lancelot cursed to himself. "Right. My apologies. Well, if you ever need some friends, just drop by."

The two stared at each other for a moment, before Lancelot flashed him a smile, turned on his heel and left.

"I made a complete fool of myself. I don't know what to do. He obviously thinks we're weird so he's never going to want to actually be with us. We're just strangers to him." Lancelot rubbed his forehead.

"You guys are so stupid. Obviously, he doesn't trust us. We need to prove to him that we're not trying to kill or something. One of us. Not Arthur, Lance, or Gwaine. I'll go. It might take some time but we can't expect him to just jump up and be with some random strangers. Someone needs to get a job. We need money and then we can actually buy stuff from the shop and be able to live here." Elyan said.

Gwen sighed. "He's right. We can't keep living like this. We need a home. And we need money. And we need to figure out how to live in this new world."

A layer of hopelessness settled in the air around them. It was pretty clear that they were all clueless about how to live here. Everything was so much more complicated than before and Percival had nearly lost his mind when Gwaine told them all about phones. The world seemed bigger and brighter and thousand times more terrifying and they were living on a patch of grass with an unconscious woman tied to a bench it was only a matter of time before someone came along and 'called the police' and one woman had kindly put it when they had spent two hours trying to find a place to stay. Gwen didn't know how to ask the woman what a police was without sounding like an idiot so she had shut her mouth.

Gwen's chest was suddenly so much heavier than before and her throat clogged up with tears. God, what were they doing? She probably didn't smell very good after being nearly drowned in dirty lake water and sleeping on grass and dirt for the night after spending all day running around the town. Her dress was much too thick and hot and her hair, longer pulled up, was in desperate need of a wash. Dirt seemed to be etched into her skin and she knew that the knights weren't much different.

Percival spoke up. "I saw this sign at what looked like a fancy tavern. I think it was called the Brit Pub or something? It said that they were hiring and were in desperate need of more staff members. I can try to go there and see if they need any help and how much it pays. It won't be enough to support all of us but it's a start."

Gwaine perked up. "A tavern? Oh, I am most definitely there. I'll come with you, yeah? We can work there together."

Percival flushed. "Y-yeah. That'll be fun."

Gwaine grinned at Percival, clasping his arm. "Great."

They both smiled at each other. Elyan pushed between them. "Jesus. You two are more revolted than Gwen and Lancelot."

Arthur arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Immediately, all the tension in the air was back. Elyan coughed, backtracking. "Uh- no. I only meant that- you know." He gave a nervous laugh.

Gwen rolled her eyes, catching Arthur's bicep. "Calm down, Arthur. That actually reminds me. We do have to talk."

"Talk? What is there to talk about?" Arthur spat.

"Don't do that. Don't act like you have no idea what's going on. I love you, Arthur. I do. But you know that what we had was- it wasn't everything. We weren't in love. You know that my heart was taken by another. And I know that yours is too."

Arthur scoffed, pulling away. "What are you talking about? I'm not-"

Gwaine laughed out loud. "You're funny, Arthur. A blind man could see how you feel about Merlin. Did you think we didn't know?"

Arthur sputtered. "What? Merlin? I don't- that idiot? You're crazy. I-"

"You are in love with Merlin. Catch up, Arthur." Lancelot interrupted. "Now going back. Your heart is taken by another?"

Lancelot turned to Gwen. Gwen only glared back at Lancelot. "Don't get me started. I'm still pissed off at you, by the way."

"For what?"

"For leaving! After we got you back from Hengist's cage fighting job. You took one look at Arthur, assumed he was in love with me, and left. Don't you think it was my decision to make?" Gwen shot at Lancelot

Lancelot's mouth opened, then shut. Then opened again. "I thought- well, I-"

"Yeah, that was the problem, Lancelot. You thought and whatever your brain came up with was really stupid so-"

"Woah, ok." Elyan slowly cut between them. "Clearly the three of you have unfinished business that I do not want to be a part of so if you could have the conversation later that would be swell."

Arthur gaped. "But-"

Elyan's hand went up. "No. I'm sorry, my lord, but I don't want any part of this. Gwaine and Percival, go get those jobs and please don't make fools of yourselves. Just nod along and get some money. Hopefully, I can drop by Avalon to see Merlin again and actually get something from the shop."

Gwaine and Percival quickly left, ducking their way through the crowded streets. Elyan turned back to the rest of the group. "Lancelot and Leon, go see if you can find any other easy jobs that don't require a lot of work. Something close by and pays well enough. I'm not sure if the currency has changed at all but I'm sure you guys can figure it out. Gwen and I are going to explore and try to figure out if there is a place we can stay and clean up for some time. Arthur, you stay here with Morgana in case she wakes up. If anyone walks by, just say she's taking a nap or something. And take off the ropes, it looks like we're kidnapping her."

Arthur opened his mouth to protest but Elyan beat him to it. "No. We'll try to be back here by sundown to catch up and then maybe a few of us can drop by at the fancy tavern to see how Gwaine and Perce are doing. Don't get lost and if you do, we are at Colby Woodland Park. That's what the huge sign says and there's a large fountain thing in the middle. You can't miss it. Come on, Gwen."

Elyan turned on his heel and walked off. The rest of them stared past him. Leon laughed quietly. "I hadn't realized how alike Gwen and Elyan were."

Gwen slapped Leon's arm. "Hey! I am not that bossy."

Arthur whistled softly. "Well…"

Gwen scoffed. "Ok, I'm leaving. Be back here by sundown."

All three knights straightened immediately, lifting their right hand to their head. "Yes, ma'am."

They all dissolved into laughter as Gwen walked off, quickly catching up to Elyan. It was no secret that they were all terrified of what lay ahead. But they were together and as long as that didn't change, there was nothing they couldn't handle.