"i'm a wanderess
i'm a one night stand
don't belong to no city
don't belong to no man

i'm the violence in the pouring rain-
i'm a hurricane." - Hurricane, Halsey

A/N: TRIGGER WARNING!

In this chapter there is a brief mention of self-harm/suicide/self-sacrifice. Please do not read this chapter if that is a trigger for you.

The warlock was at a loss for words. This magic was wrong, her aura was all wrong- this swirling mess was nothing like the soft, pastel greens that had once lit her up from the inside, that had once brought peace or passion to all those who met her.
He didn't understand- and then she met his eyes again and she did.
Those eyes weren't hers; Morgana was possessed.

He bit his lip as his newfound knowledge settled oddly in his chest.
Morgana- the fiery and good-hearted person he'd once known- was possessed.
But this still left too many questions.
What had happened? Had she sought out the spirit herself? How long had she been possessed? Was it the spirit that prompted her to betray them all, or were those events truly of her own design?
Most importantly- could he get his friend back?

Streaks of golden magic darted around him, flighty and skittish from the nervousness emanating from him.
You're the most powerful wizard the world has ever known...

Morgana's smile faded slightly.
"Cat got your tongue?"

You could take the spirit on, beat it and banish it where it could never harm again.

A streak of impatience entered her tone now.
"Merlin?"

You could free her.

He swallowed.
He'd made his decision.

"I know what happened to you, Morgana."
Her forehead scrunched into a frown, confusion flickering in her eyes.
"What?"
"And I'm going to save you. I'm going to bring you back."
Her eyes glanced to both sides, her magic rearing back somewhat nervously.
"I don't understand."
Gently, Merlin smiled.
"I know. But I do."

He closed his eyes and when they reopened, the clearing was lost in a flare of golden light.
The greatest warlock to ever live, the one and only Emrys stepped into the glittering mist, taking Morgana by the hand.
His magic didn't flinch back now, it barely even reacted to the poison pulsing beneath her skin.
"Asellan." He breathed.

Darkness burst from the witch's form, fighting the light as it tried to diminish it, tried to contain it-
Merlin's heart was pounding, head spinning.
I'm the most powerful magic user of all time. I can fight a mere spirit.
He was wrong.
He felt like he was drowning.
The darkness was clawing at his skin, trailing frosted knuckles down his spine, twisting and turning through the air as it searched for an entryway.
It twirled past his ears whispering seductively, making promises of freedom, of hope, of power-

He'd been prepared to defend Morgana from it.
He hadn't been prepared to defend himself from it.
The warlock should've known that something that could so utterly corrupt someone as powerful and strong-willed as Morgana couldn't be easy to defeat.

Merlin glanced down.
Morgana's eyes slowly fluttered open to meet Merlin's burning gold.
"Merlin-!" Her voice was quiet, awash with horror.
"I'm sorry- I thought- I thought I was strong enough-" Merlin grunted, gasping out in pain as the icy touch of the dark magic brushed against his leg.
His knees buckled.

Morgana shook her head, falling to her knees with him, shaking his weakening form.
"Merlin! Merlin you have to fight this-! Pull yourself together!" Her eyes were wide and fearful, but her tone was angry- whether she was angry at him or herself he wasn't sure.
He managed a weak smile.
"Well that's one good thing- You're back-" He broke off coughing, each breath rasping as the shadows tore into him, tearing apart the tendrils of his power that tried to fight them off.
"Arthur has his sister back."

Tears gathered in her eyes. Despite the urgency of the situation, she couldn't help but think of her brother.
"I don't think he'll want me back."
Wisely, the sorcerer smiled.
"I think you'd be surprised."
Then his face darkened slightly.
"But I swear to the gods, Morgana, if you ever choose betray him there will be no place where you can hide from my wrath... Possessed or no."

She nodded solemnly.
"I'll protect him, Merlin. I swear I will." Her face darkened slightly. "But don't you dare stop fighting this, don't you dare! You can win this, I know you can."

"But if I can't-"
"You must!"
He put up a hand to silence her protests.

"If I can't and the spirit wins- if it tries to do what it did with you..."
Her eyes widened in understanding.
"I can't." She whispered.
"You have to." Merlin snapped. He relented slightly, tone softening as her expression soured.
"Promise me- if my magic turns dark and I try to hurt Arthur or any of the knights, promise me that you'll kill me."

She nodded.
"I promise."

It was rather odd, Merlin thought, that Morgana had changed so quickly. How she had gone from so passionate and kind to cold and cruel in so little time.
At least now, he knew why.
As the spirit consumed him and he screamed for Morgana to run, run as fast as she could and warn Arthur, he wondered how he'd never thought of it before- of her quick change.
He watched her go.
She hated to leave him, he knew that, but he was losing the fight to the spirit- badly.
Each golden wave was smaller than the last, each stab of darkness was stronger.
He was just buying them time, now.

Time before this spirit uses my magic to raze Camelot to the ground.

Merlin wondered if he should try to stop this before it could start.
If he should take the small dagger at his hip that Arthur had insisted on him carrying after another one of their many near-misses, after Arthur had dragged them on another pointless hunt-
He wondered if he should just take the blade and-
The warlock grimaced at the thought.
He couldn't.

He thought of Gaius, of Arthur, of Morgana and Gwen.
Of how they'd scream, how they'd run and plead for their lives.
He had to.

With trembling fingers he reached for the knife, fingers burning in protest as they curled around the hilt-
His whole arm was screaming in pain as he fought the will of the shadows, as more and more streamed in with every shaking breath he took-
Icy fingertips trailed down his throat, nails scraping at his bones and his hand was trembling, trembling so badly he might just-!
He dropped the dagger.
Slowly, excruciatingly slowly he was frozen from the inside out and all he could hear was screaming.
It was just as the world blurred, shifting into darkness, that he realised the screaming was his own.

An hour later, Merlin woke.
The wood had faded to dark and inviting shades and a sunset of soft pastel hues stretched across the sky.
He slowly stood, stretching, and wiped a few flecks of blood from his lips, brushing it off against his jacket.
A certain, familiar coldness had settled in his stomach.
With a shuddering breath, his lips cracked into a smile.

A/N: WOO! Off on the Dark!Merlin / Possessed!Merlin train!
Hope you're liking the angst so far, don't kill me and I hope you don't think the characters are too OOC :')

Reviews are love!

(Question of the day- how do you think Arthur will react to Merlin 'going Morgana' and to Morgana's miraculous change of heart?)