Morgana was in her bedchamber cum cell - as much as she hated it there, it was the one place where she was safe from the stares and whispers of Morgause's soldiers - reading one of the magic books her sister had given her so she could prepare herself for their attack on Camelot, when an overwhelmingly putrid stench washed into the room. Pinching her nose, she glanced up and was alarmed to see a creature seemingly made of mud shambling toward her. Then the creature said, in a voice ragged with exhaustion yet nevertheless very familiar, "I got it, my lady. I got the water."

"Gwen?" Morgana asked uncertainly even as she shot to her feet. Closer up, she could make out Gwen's features under the muck covering every inch of her. Her once-lavender dress had been reduced to dirty brown rags, and her usually riotous curls were plastered to her back in a lank, sodden mass. "What happened to you?"

"I had a little swim," Gwen said ruefully.

"Where, in a sewer?"

"As a matter of fact, yes - it was the only way to get inside the castle walls unseen, but that doesn't matter now. What's important is that I got the water." She fumbled in her apron pocket and withdrew a glass vial that slipped from her wet, trembling fingers and rolled away. Morgana snatched it up. "Nimueh said I should remind you of some warning about how to use it. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Yes, Merlin cannot be tricked or forced into drinking the water but must accept it freely. I shall convince him to make the right choice…somehow…after I find him. His location is one thing Morgause has never shared with me."

"I saw her take him to her private chambers after she finished breaking him, so he's probably still there. As far as I know, no one besides Morgause ever goes inside. I can show you where-"

"No, Gwen, you've done enough. I can find the queen's chambers on my own. You stay here and rest. And Gwen," Morgana added gravely, "when you feel able, I want you to get out. If it goes badly for me, I want to know that at least you're safe."

"I won't leave-"

"You must! I'll have to fight Morgause with magic if she catches me, and you can't help me with that. Even if I break her spell on Merlin, I have no idea what state he'll be in; I may have to take care of him, and I don't know if I can protect you both, so the best way you can help me now is by leaving me behind. Please, Gwen, I know I ask too much of you, but do this one last thing for me, please?"

"Very well, I'll try. If I get out, I'll send help, I promise."

Gwen blinked back the tears gathering in her eyes, which Morgana was grateful for because seeing them made it hard to keep her own emotions in check. "Thank you. Goodbye, my friend."

###

Morgause's chambers were guarded, but Morgana was able to bluff her way past the soldiers by acting angry and commanding; they did as she asked and let her into her sister's rooms because they weren't sure of the extent of her authority and feared the consequences of refusing her. Once she was past the large, carved double doors leading into Morgause's suite, Morgana coolly dismissed them and locked herself inside with magic as well as the more mundane method.

She searched several luxurious rooms - a sitting room, an intimately small private dining room, a circular room with bookshelves from floor to ceiling, and a huge washroom with a white marble floor and walls much like her own at home (she noted with some surprise that she had begun to think of Dagon's royal palace as 'home') except that Morgause's bathtub was a round hole built into the floor and lined with aquamarine marble, with a ledge that one could sit on while bathing around the sides - before at last reaching the bedroom.

King Cenred was propped in a chair beside the bed, his mouth hanging slightly open as he stared blankly at the wall, but Morgana's probing gaze passed over him, her mind not really registering the king's presence as her eyes darted to Merlin, who sat on the floor, his wrist chained to the bedpost. What remained of his clothing - he had lost his shirt, jacket, scarf, and boots at some point - looked somewhat the worse for wear, but at least he appeared uninjured. What really frightened her, though, was that his eyes were nearly as hollow than Cenred's. She almost would have preferred to find him in a pool of his own blood with every bone in his body broken; at least she knew that kind of damage could be repaired.

"Merlin!" When he didn't react, Morgana dropped to her knees beside him and shook him. "Merlin! Merlin, please, look at me! It's me, Morgana!"

Merlin, Morgana… There was something vaguely familiar about those names, almost as if he'd heard them before somewhere…but no, he had never been anywhere except the dark place. Anything he thought he remembered was really just a fantasy he had made up to get away, to find some momentary relief in pretending there was something more beyond the empty nothingness that imprisoned him, only he'd never truly managed to escape, and now that black void was inside his mind. It was part of him. Even when he saw, smelled, heard, touched, or felt things that should have been solidly real enough to convince him that a world beyond the void existed, all that sensory input vanished into the dark chasm of oblivion that seemed to have devoured the very core of his being, like pebbles tumbling into a bottomless ravine. None of it left any impression on him.

This girl, though, was different; there was a blazing intensity in her jade-colored eyes that he doubted he could dream up, and she wasn't fading away like every other sensation had - in fact, now she was gripping his head between her hands, forcing him to keep looking into her eyes when he wanted to turn away because it would hurt too much when he inevitably had to face the fact that even this especially vibrant figment of his desperate imagination was nothing more than an illusion.

"Merlin! …You do know I'm talking to you, don't you? Your name is Merlin."

My name… The other one never said his name, nor did she ever hold him like this; when he wanted to look away from her eyes (they were too dark and the last thing he wanted was more darkness) she let him, only touching him when she had to. Her touch was one thing he was glad never got through to him - he didn't like the way she touched him. When she felt like addressing him at all, it was always as 'my pet'.

"You're Merlin, and I am Morgana," the lovely mirage continued. "I know you are…confused right now, but I have something that will make you better." She took one hand off his face and pulled out a little glass vial full of water, or at least what he thought water might look like if such a thing actually existed. "You need to drink this." Again there was no reaction, so she put the vial in his palm and curled his fingers around it. "Please, Merlin, just drink the water. It will heal you…it has to…please…"

Now she seemed on the verge of crying. This was very strange; the things he imagined were usually more pleasant, and shouldn't she have dissolved into nothing by now anyway? The longer she stuck around, the more he started to hope that maybe, just maybe, this time he wasn't dreaming, that he was finally waking up and she would still be there when he did. Whether she was just a dream or something more, he couldn't ignore her any longer.

"N…not…real," he said haltingly. Using the tongue that was part of the body he felt so detached from was bizarre, and the sound it produced was a grating, hoarse whisper.

"What? What is not real? You think the water isn't real?"

He slowly shook his head.

"It isn't the water? Then what, pray tell, do you think is not real?"

"Everything."

Morgana leaned back, stunned. "Everything? None of this is real? You honestly believe you dreamed up all this?-" She waved a hand at their lavish surroundings "-Me?"

He nodded. "Too dark. Needed…more."

"So whatever magic Morgause used to twist your mind has you convinced that the world is some horrible dark place and whatever you see that tells you differently is just something your mind conjured up to make the darkness more bearable. I suppose that means you think you've dreamed me up as well?" Another nod. "Unbelievable." Morgana had come prepared for a fight, assuming that any enchantment that made Merlin loyal to Morgause might also make him think badly of her, but nothing she said would do any good if her very existence was in question. "I'll prove to you that I am real. Seeing as you are the furthest thing in the world from a romantic, I'll wager you would never imagine anyone doing this."

She seized the warlock by the back of his neck, dragged him closer, and pressed their lips together in a searing kiss, trying to communicate everything she felt for him through her touch.

His vacant blue eyes popped open wide. This was new. She was quite right - he would never invent this on his own, and none of his previous imaginings had included such vivid sensations, which must mean that, impossible as it seemed, this was really happening. There really was more to the world than empty darkness.

At long last she pulled back, breathing hard, and was pleased to see that her prince seemed a little more focused now. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that, but we can never truly be together until you are free of Morgause. Please, Merlin, drink the water. Come back to me."

He considered for only a split second before opening the vial and downing its contents in one swallow; he would happily drink anything she gave him, especially if that was what it took to stay in this world instead of slipping back into the darkness, and if it didn't work, he'd be no worse off than he was before. Morgana held her breath as his eyes lit up, which she hoped meant the healing water had tapped into the power inside him and was using it to cleanse the taint of Morgause's vile magic from his soul. When those golden eyes finally faded back to blue, she nearly fainted with relief at seeing that they were no longer hollow - but she didn't, because it would have been a shame to waste time being unconscious now that her Merlin had returned to her, disoriented and confused but definitely himself again.

"Morgana…where are we? What's going on? Why do I feel like we've been apart for ages?"

She tearfully shook her head. "We're together now, and that's all that matters."

Merlin disagreed - he was very interested in finding out where his clothes had gone and why he was chained to a bed he didn't even recognize, for instance - but Morgana was kissing him again, which somewhat hindered his ability to investigate the situation. She didn't seem inclined to let him go any time soon, so Merlin quickly concluded that he should just go along with it and kiss her back. Besides, kissing Morgana was…indescribable. There were no words for it, no previous experience that was even remotely comparable. Using magic came close, but since the magic came from within him, it was a solitary act; this feeling was better because it was shared with another person - with her. Maybe there's something to this kissing thing after all. We should do it more often…

Morgana wholeheartedly agreed, pressing herself closer and sighing with pleasure as Merlin's fingers tangled in her hair, gently angling her head to grant him better access to her mouth… Then another, less gentle pair of hands suddenly seized her hair and jerked her backward, tearing her out of his arms. She ended up sprawled on the floor, with the furious face of her sister glaring down at her.

"Well, it appears my faith in you was misplaced, sister." Morgana scrambled to get up, but a casual flick of Morgause's wrist tore away the carpet under her feet and sent her crashing down again with bruising force. "I sought to free you from the shackles of a society where you and I will always be seen as less, always relegated to serving the desires of men like him, but you willingly choose to return to that life? What a disappointment you are, Morgana. Do you really think you shall have power as his queen, that he will value you as you deserve? You will be nothing more than a pretty, smiling ornament to decorate his courtroom and a vessel for producing an heir for the kingdom, and when you have fulfilled your purpose and are no longer young and beautiful, he will cast you aside like scraps for the dogs!"

"You're wrong! I pity you if that's the way you have been treated, and I learned from Uther what it is to be treated as a mere tool of politics, but Merlin is different. He does value me, and he would never try to keep me down or throw me away!" She looked past the angry blonde witch to her fiancé, who was watching with wide eyes, trying to figure out what on earth all this was about. "That is why I love him with all my heart, and I always will. You, on the other hand, never encouraged me to improve myself for my own sake, but taught me magic only so I could better serve you. You may not have used me as a king would, yet you would have had me beneath you nonetheless. You never loved me, 'sister'."

Morgause sneered at her in disgust. "Love is for weak little fools like you, Morgana, and I have no use for such people. You are dead to me." She raised her hand, conjuring a fireball at her fingertips, and cast the sphere of flame at Morgana.

Morgana threw up her hands to shield her face as the growing conflagration hurtled toward her…and it dissipated upon impact.

"What…?" Morgause's gaze narrowed on Morgana's right hand, where her dragon ring glowed softly. "So, your precious prince has provided you with some protection. Yet it did nothing when I struck at you before…" Her voice trailed off as she realized that her last spell hadn't actually touched Morgana, only the carpet she stood on. Apparently the ring only protected her from direct attacks on her person. She readied herself to cast another spell…

…And something heavy slammed into her back. Merlin had freed himself from his chain, then swung it at her. With his most recent memories muddled, he wasn't positive who this woman was, but anyone who yanked Morgana around by her hair was certainly not a friend.

Morgause fell to the floor and barely managed to dodge another blow, but she wasn't finished yet. Her next incantation hurled him across the room, banging his head against the wall, then sent him crashing to the uncovered marble floor in a dazed, crumpled heap. She thought he was still alive, but she didn't care. "I shall deal with you later, boy. Right now my little sister is in need of some very severe discipline."

She looked around for Morgana, but the younger witch had taken advantage of Morgause's distraction to slip over to the doorway, conveniently close to where Merlin had ended up. She hauled him to his feet, and the two of them ran.

###

"Morgana, what in the name of the Old Religion is happening?" Merlin panted as they fled for their lives. He was sore, confused, and now had a splitting headache; if not for his magic, he doubted he would even be conscious, never mind able to move. "Who is that woman, and why does she want to kill us?"

"She's Morgause, queen of Escetia and my half-sister, unfortunately. She wants to take over Camelot, and she wants to kill me because I refused to join her. She captured us about a month ago, during which time you've been under the influence of the Teine Diaga. I sent Gwen to get water from the Cauldron of Arianhrod from Nimueh and persuaded you to drink it, and now you're all better as far as I can tell."

"I was until that madwoman tossed me around like a rag doll, anyway," Merlin grumbled.

At that moment the entire building shuddered, raining dust down on their heads and almost causing them to lose their footing. "What's happening?" Morgana cried out as she stumbled into Merlin.

"Morgause must be more creative than I gave her credit for; once she realized your ring protects you, it seems she decided to expand her attacks beyond traditional combat spells like the ones for flinging your opponent around or throwing fire at them. If I were to guess, I'd say now she's trying to bring down this castle and bury us under a few tons of rubble."

The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the floor under their feet gave way.

###

Gwen took some time to catch her breath after Morgana left, but she wasn't able to relax enough for even the briefest nap; the very walls of Morgause's castle seemed alive with menace, and she wanted nothing more than to be out of it for good. She could sleep on the ground in the woods if she needed to, but not here.

As she made her way out through the service hallways, darting along with her head down like a nervous animal with bloodhounds on its trail, she was struck again by the castle's eerie silence. In the whole time she'd been a prisoner here, she had only seen other servants once or twice. There were plenty of heavily armed guards, though, and she knew they could be on her at any moment.

At last she emerged into the empty stone courtyard, where a number of statues and snarling gargoyles stood like markers in a graveyard. She was overjoyed to be out of the castle, but petrified at the prospect of venturing into the open where she might be spotted. And how was she going to get outside the walls? She would have to swim through the sewer again, which should be easier this time since she wouldn't have to go against the current…

A sudden concussive blast tore the air apart, nearly scaring Gwen out of her wits after she'd grown accustomed to the quiet. She hit the ground with a scream, covering her head with both arms, but a thunderous CRACK forced her to look up. The castle had split in two as if hit by some almighty lightning bolt, then began to crumble before her eyes, sending shockwaves through the ground that ripped up cobblestones, toppled statues, and knocked down huge sections of the walls.

"NO!" Merlin and Morgana were still in there. When at long last the dust settled, Gwen got up and poked through the ruins, calling for her friends, but there was no answer and eventually she realized that she wasn't calling their names anymore, just sobbing incoherently. Her noises choked off as soon as she realized she was making them.

They might have escaped, she told herself while she sat on a broken gargoyle's wing. They had magic, so they could have simply disappeared when they saw the castle was collapsing…but if they had, would they really have left without her? Or they might have protected themselves from being crushed yet been trapped in a cave-in, in which case they'd need help digging out. Gwen couldn't dig through this much rock by herself. Arthur… Arthur will help. He'll bring a lot of men to help. If they're there, we'll have them out in no time.

Gwen picked herself up, brushed uselessly at the dust coating every inch of her, and shuffled slowly across the courtyard, through a gap in the fallen walls, and away from the remains of King Cenred and Queen Morgause's destroyed castle.

Well, Mergana finally got their first kiss - before chapter 50! Amazing! I just loved the idea of Morgana's love being the thing to snap Merlin out of the catatonic state Morgause left him in, because it's the one thing that couldn't possibly not be real. I hope it didn't disappoint, and I promise there are many more to come…and, since it's me, they'll get beaten up and buried alive immediately afterward. *Revs up bulldozer and dumps another load of angsty, whumpy misery all over Mergana's happy moment while humming cheerfully*