Chapter Five: Temporal Paradox

Even a good hour later, Merlin could still hardly believe it. Two of the knights knew about his magic and they'd accepted him. Oh, Lancelot had known, as had Will, but the latter had never been a knight and Lancelot had known about his magic prior to earning that particular honor. Knowing what he did now, well… It was a bit less of a mystery as to why Lancelot hadn't turned him in straightaway. Though Merlin had to wonder why the griffin had attacked a gryphon Animagus. Competition, perhaps?

Team One had left the three Cameloteans alone to talk, sensing that Merlin and his friends needed to talk. Needed to get it all out in the open and answer any lingering questions. Of which there had been many. Most had, of course, been Leon's, but Percival had asked his fair share as well. Merlin answered them all, holding nothing back. Not the good, not the bad, though Merlin did try to downplay the dangerous or disgusting bits. Particularly when Leon asked about the troll.

"So how did you meet these guardsmen?" Leon finally asked.

Merlin fidgeted. "I've been…living as a hermit more and more these days," he admitted. "Then a goblin contacted me out of the blue one day."

Percival's eyes widened. "Like the thing you cast out of Gaius?"

Oh yes, Leon had asked about that as well. The warlock shook his head. "No, completely different," he replied. "These goblins may be just as obsessed with gold, but they are…honorable…within their own code. These days… There is little love lost between goblins and wizards, but goblins honor treaties and contracts to the letter. They run one of the only banks in the wizarding world."

"Banks?" Leon echoed, confusion glittering.

Merlin grimaced. "Money lenders, Leon. It's more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it. Anyway, this goblin and his family have been the account managers for the House of Calvin for a very long time. Long enough to know about a spell I gave to Geoffrey."

"What kind of spell?" Percival asked.

The ancient warlock blanched and both knights froze.

"Merlin?" Leon pressed gently.

Blue eyes met theirs, so old and full of grief. "After…after Gwen died, Camelot fell. Geoffrey was still alive, but…" Drawing in a deep breath, Merlin raked his hands through his hair. "I went back to the Crystal Cave, seeking answers to questions I'd had. For a long time. That's when I found out."

"Found out what?"

Merlin dropped his gaze, shuddering. "Lancelot. I…I was able to free him; Morgana could never again use him as a Shade, but…" Crumpling, the warlock whispered, "His soul. It was bound to her fate. When she died, she was sent to a demon realm called the Netherworld."

Leon stilled, horror blazing. "And so was Lancelot."

"Yes," Merlin confirmed softly. "I crafted a spell capable of reaching the Netherworld, but it needed knights to work. A warlock of Calvin blood and six knights willing to brave the Netherworld and bring a lost soul home."

"What happened?" Percival prodded.

Merlin's head rose. "Some of the story is not mine to tell." The knights nodded acceptance of his caveat. "The short version is that Sergeant Parker's soul was banished to the Netherworld. He and his young cousins are descended from Geoffrey so they could use the spell. His cousins and his team found my spell, stormed the Netherworld, and brought two lost souls home." A crooked smile emerged. "Since then, I've been pulled back into the magical world. Parker's cousins came to me, asking me to help with a healing bracelet for one of his teammates. I've crafted wands for them, confronted a witch who kidnapped young Lance on his birthday, and watched as a team of non-magicals set the whole of the wizarding world on its ear."

"But they have magic," Leon protested.

Merlin's gaze hardened. "None of them have enough magic to be wizards, Leon. In the eyes of those who rule the wizarding world, they are little more than nuisances. Less than dirt and hardly worth the bother. Every bit of respect they have, they have fought for, bled for, and nearly died for." He shook his head. "In many ways, Leon, they are just like you and the knights. Confronting magic with little more than steel and courage. It's just that now, the weapons of the non-magical world have advanced to the point that they can match magic. Even beat magic." A faint smile appeared. "But don't let that fool you either. They do have magical allies and they will fight with magical weapons and alongside wizards when the situation calls for it."

Leon was caught off guard. In a very real way, these guardsmen fought more effectively than the Knights of Camelot did. Never wholly trading one style of fighting for another, leveraging both to the greatest advantage. "They have…trained…to fight with magic?"

A tiny smile twitched Merlin's mouth. "They've learned it all on the job, Leon. They only found out magic is real five years ago." About to continue, the warlock stiffened as a pulse of magic radiated out from the knights. Magic he knew all too well, for it drew an answering echo from within himself.

Temporal magic.

For an instant, Merlin froze. Temporal magic from two men who didn't have so much as a flicker of magic. How? Then his head snapped around at a frantic yell from outside the room. No. Two.

"Jules!"

"Ed!"

The warlock bolted, oblivious to the knights only a step behind him. One hand slapped the briefing room's controls, the blue panels all sliding sideways and open as the steel door rose. Outside, Sergeant Parker and Constable Wordsworth hovered over Ed Lane while their teammates ranged around Jules Callaghan. Both officers were on their knees, both were gasping in clear pain, and both were flickering in and out of sight. Magic flexed in the air and Merlin seized it, forcing the temporal pulse back. Determinedly, he gripped it, teeth baring as his own magic dissipated the foreign magic. Time steadied, Lane and Callaghan snapping fully back into view, but the warlock knew it wouldn't last for long.

Indeed, now that he was paying attention, he could already sense another building temporal pulse around the knights. Even worse, it made sense; when they'd been forced forward in time, a new timeline had been created, the effects of the time travel rippling out through history to affect the present. Merlin was powerful enough to keep the changes at bay for now, but eventually the pulses would be too strong, even for him.

"What was that?" Parker demanded as Wordsworth pulled Lane up and Braddock helped Callaghan back to her feet.

"Merlin?" Percival asked, eyeing the officers with wariness and concern.

The warlock glanced between his friends and Team One, then swore fluently in the Old Tongue. He blinked when Team One, to a man, flinched at his language. Understanding broke through when the depths of Parker's eyes flickered scarlet. Then he swore a second time – this time in a mix of Ancient Greek and Egyptian.

To his utter shock, Team One flinched again.

"What was that?" Sam hissed before Merlin could find another language to swear in – he had a nasty feeling it didn't matter what language the ancient warlock used. Somehow, some way, he and his teammates would understand. Perfectly and in far too much detail.

"Temporal realignment," Merlin spat, incandescent fury rolling off him.

Spike's eyes widened in terror even as Lou asked, "Huh?"

Whirling, Merlin stalked back into the briefing room, ignoring the hovering, bewildered knights. Team One followed warily, their boss tapping the controls to close the door and swing the room's panels shut. Once inside, the Sergeant cleared his throat, casting the warlock an expectant look.

Grim, with a touch of foreboding, Merlin switched languages and explained, "You have changed Time yourselves, Sergeant Parker. Surely you knew there was a reason the Unspeakables demanded that you restrict your time travel to a mere twenty-four hours."

The knights gawped, but Merlin shook his head at them. Sam understood; there was no time.

"You mean, going back further would have risked something like this?" the blond sniper rasped out.

Lou shook his head. "Only for me 'n' Jules, Sam." When attention swung to him, he sighed. "That's why it's happening, isn't it? Time changed and reality's trying to adjust?"

Realization swept the room. Sam nearly choked, horror rising up to strangle him. "You mean… Because the knights were sent here, Jules and Ed… They don't exist anymore?" It was a horrid and appalling thing to say; he hated himself even as he spoke the words.

"Precisely," Merlin replied gravely. "History itself has changed because Leon and Percival disappeared. It may seem a small thing, but the greatest of changes often come from such events."

Sam shuddered again as another issue presented itself. "Shouldn't Sarge be affected, too?"

"An excellent question," Merlin acknowledged. "Apparently, the lineage of the Calvin family remains unaffected, though I speculate that several…personal…histories have likely altered."

Sarge paled, but hazel darted to his best friend and then the team's backup negotiator, fear for them burning brighter than his fear for himself. "There's going to be more ripples, aren't there."

Merlin cringed. "I can hold back the initial ripple, for now, but the longer Leon and Percival remain…" He trailed off pointedly, both knights and officers shuddering at the implications. Softly, he confirmed Sam's unspoken terror. "It is likely that other ripples would be caused by the first, further altering reality as we know it."

No more Jules. No more Ed. No more Team One. Sam felt his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed convulsively. Even worse was the knowledge that once Time altered, he wouldn't remember the original history. He'd never even suspect that he was missing the best part of his life.

"How do we fix it?" Ed demanded, though the normally fearless team leader had drifted closer to his two best friends. Both of them instinctively bracketed him, as if terrified that he would vanish, right in front of them. Even worse, what should've been just an idle, if macabre, fantasy, suddenly wasn't.

The warlock's gaze hardened. "I would have thought that would be obvious, Constable Lane. We must send Leon and Percival home." Switching his gaze to the knights, he arched a brow. "What was occurring right before you arrived here?"

Sir Leon answered readily. "We were fighting a hydra near the village of Longshore."

Sam didn't know what he'd expected, but Merlin paling in horror and taking a step back wasn't it.