Chapter Five:

Emrys Manor 2059

This weekend gathering was only an initial meeting, with the flood defence work not due to start until September. Merlin was keen to take this opportunity to show his guests around his house and did so as the old man Emrys, explaining some of the history of the place and that it had been in his family for as long as anyone had records to prove such things.

"And it really is such an old building," Leon remarked.

"Indeed," Merlin replied, proudly. "Although rumour says there has been at least one other on this land before it."

Two others in fact, and he'd lived in both of them.

"Aren't we missing a few people?" Gwen asked, looking around.

"Yes, I thought it easier to split everyone into two groups," Merlin explained. "As some of the rooms are a little small."

Although, of course, the real reason was so he could spend time solely with the other eight members of the Round Table.

"Oh, so Martin's in the other group then, is he?" Arthur asked.

"Who?" Merlin asked, relishing the role of forgetful old man.

"You know, the tall, dark-haired one."

"Oh the lanky boy," Merlin waved a lazy hand in the air. "Saw him earlier. He said he was going for a walk. Ah now, you really need to see this..."

He opened the door to the large room next to the Great Hall with a flourish, although the group didn't seem especially impressed at what they saw. Looking back into the room, Merlin realised he'd forgotten that the centrepiece of the room was currently covered with a dull cloth.

"Oh, I meant this," he said, hobbling forward to whip the sheet aside. "It is, without question, the oldest thing in this building. Many centuries older than the house itself. Why, it's even older than I am!"

His guests laughed politely at his joke, although they had no idea just how close in age he really was to this ancient piece of stone.

"It's amazing!" Leon said.

"Beautiful," Gwen agreed.

"What do those symbols mean?" Percival asked.

"It is in a very old language," Merlin replied. "Long forgotten."

"Now then, Lord Emrys, I don't believe that for a moment," Gaius said. "I know very well you're the world's foremost authority in ancient tongues."

Merlin simply smiled slyly and made no comment. The table was already imposing its special brand of magic on the souls here, he noticed, pulling them gently towards it and, more specifically, to their true places. This had happened in every time period and every incarnation, the circle only fully opening as all nine members stood in their positions around it. He smiled broadly, feeling something click and, this time, he was sure it seemed louder and more powerful than ever before.

"What on earth...!"

They all turned to the open doorway to see Morgana standing there, staring at them with a stunned expression. She blinked and shook her head as if dizzy.

"What's going on?" she asked. "What am I seeing?"

"I don't know, my dear," Merlin said, moving towards her. "What do you think you're seeing?"

"Lots of people..." She shook her head again. "No, lots of different versions of these people."

"Tell me," he asked gently, waving a hand at the others and silently ordering them to remain quiet.

"I see Guy wearing long robes and with long hair. Most of the men are wearing chain-mail and... there are other versions, slightly different faces and ages and heights." She moved closer, frowning at her half-brother. "Except Archie who's always the same. Always Arthur."

"Oh, here we go again with the Arthurian legends," her brother said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, we do have the Round Table," Gwaine joked.

She nodded. "Yes, yes, that's it. That's what I'm seeing. It is the Round Table. The original one."

"Morgan..."

"King Arthur," she said pointing at her brother. "And Guinevere..."

"What?"

"And Gaius, Percival, Lancelot, Elyan, Gwaine and Leon."

"Those are not the correct knights of the Round Table," Leon objected.

"What would you know?" she snapped. "You weren't there."

"Come and sit down, my dear," Merlin said. "Are you feeling dizzy?"

"And you're Merlin," she declared, not allowing herself to be lead. "But... you're not Merlin now... you're..."

He smiled. "I'm Emrys, yes."

"But..."

"I'm sorry about this, sir," Arthur said. "She always was a bit over enthusiastic about those legends."

Morgana spun around with a sound which was almost a snarl. "You don't speak for me, Archie! I know what I'm seeing."

"This place is truly ancient and has seen many things," Merlin said, calmly. "And Morgan has chosen her name well. True vision or not, I think perhaps we should adopt the idea for ourselves, for are we not all knights embarking on a noble quest?"

"Yes," Morgana said. "I see it..."

"What?" Merlin pushed. "What do you see?"

"I see..." She then paused, her eyes rolling upwards and the tone of her voice changing. "...Arthur and his knights will cause the waters to recede, but that is only one step on the journey to opening a new Circle."

"She's talking that funny language again," Arthur said.

"What?" Merlin blinked, looking at the confused expressions in front of him before realising what he'd said was true. This wasn't Morgan talking in English, it was Morgana talking the language she'd uttered originally. Back when they'd all been truly young in Camelot.

"Go on," he said in the same tongue and heard Guy gasp as he did so. "A new circle?"

"Yes, the waters recede and powerful magic is used for the first time in centuries. The Centre will rise, Avalon will fall and a new Circle will be created in place of the old. Rest then, Emrys. Rest all nine souls. For destiny has set you free and doom can no longer find you."

She gasped once and turned towards Merlin. The confused gaze turned briefly focused and she snarled at him. "Emrys! My doom!"

"No, my lady. No longer. We have forgiven each other, remember?"

Again she blinked and Merlin was sure he could see all the other versions of Morgana dance within her green eyes. As her gaze again settled on him he knew that Moira was returning. "Merlin?" she asked, still talking in the old language. "Is that really you? The same you? Exactly as you were before?"

"Yes," he answered. "Our secret?"

"I understand," she replied.

Then she fainted.

Everyone hurried forwards, with Gwen being the first to kneel by Morgan's side, looking up in concern. "Has this happened before?" she asked.

"Quite often when she was a child," Arthur replied. "But not since she was put on that medication."

Merlin scoffed. "A lot of good that did."

"It helped."

Merlin gave him a long, hard look. "Who exactly?"

"Sorry?"

"Who did it help? It helped your father feel a bit better, perhaps? It certainly didn't help your sister."

"You shouldn't talk about him like that. Don't you know who he is?"

"I give respect only when it's earned," Merlin replied. "And my concern now is for young Morgan here."

"But you understood what she was saying," Percival said. "You spoke back to her."

He exchanged a glance with Guy who raised an eyebrow. "It's the language once spoken in this part of the world," Merlin answered carefully.

"At the time of King Arthur?" Leon asked, sceptically.

He smiled. "Ah but, when was that and are those stories history or legend? The tales have been retold so many times that their true origins are lost in the distant past."

"But my sister never studied languages," Arthur said. "And she was talking like that – in a grown woman's voice – when she was three. So, what's really going on here and what was she saying?"

Merlin frowned. "I shall need to give her words some careful consideration, but she did say Arthur and his knights would help the water recede so, I suppose that's good news."

"What happened?" Morgana was waking up.

"Ah, back with us, my dear," Merlin said. "What do you remember?"

She sat up and blinked for a moment, taking in the scene before her. "I saw Arthur, Guinevere and the knights around that table and then..." She sighed. "I had one of my turns, didn't I?"

"I wouldn't call it that, exactly."

She turned to him with a small frown. "It's all Merlin's fault. I told him it wasn't a good idea to meddle with stuff he doesn't understand, but he wouldn't listen."

"Right... we have Merlin now, do we?"

"Hush, Archie," Gwen said. "She's obviously still confused."

"I think the boy had the right idea," Merlin replied. "Self-medicating is most definitely not the solution."

"Like you'd know." She started to stand up, glaring at the old man in front of her. "She doesn't trust you, you know."

"Who doesn't?"

"Morgan le Fey... Morgana. She's scared of you."

"Yes, I know."

She nodded. "I don't trust you either. You've lied to me too often before."

"Well, I can't deny that. Why don't you take a walk, Morgan? I'm sure that will make you feel much better."

"That's probably a good idea."

"Well?" Arthur asked once she'd left.

"You're taking what she said very seriously, aren't you?" Lancelot said.

Merlin smiled and pointed to the table. "It is very ancient, as I said. And, to answer Guy's original question, I do have some idea of what these symbols say." He moved over towards his own place. "This one for example, says 'magic'."

"Magic?" Arthur scoffed.

"Indeed and this table was around when such things were believed in. Perhaps that's what Morgan sensed. Perhaps we are all caught up in its ancient spell."

There was a long pause, finally broken by Gwaine's loud laugh.

"Ha! Good one, old man. I admit you had me going there for a minute. Certainly one up on the usual oujia boards and conjurer tricks you get at most parties. It really has been a most entertaining weekend."

~o~0~o~

The Crystal Cave 2038

Merlin knew the little girl's warning had been true just as soon as he entered the valley. Despite several dry days, the ground was soaking wet underfoot, and the mud made it almost impossible for him to move with any speed, The water was rapidly seeping up from the ground and, even worse, he could feel something was wrong, as if the valley itself was objecting the situation.

"And magic shall disappear from the land forever."

That one sentence had been enough to send him scurrying west with hardly a word of explanation to Gaius. But, what could he have said? This version of his old mentor didn't have any magic. In fact he'd encountered no-one with the gift for very many years.

But perhaps that wasn't quite true, Merlin mused as he continued his cautious journey towards the Crystal Cave, perhaps there was someone else with the ability. That little girl, with pale skin and dark hair, talking in an ancient language. Was she Morgana's reincarnation? It was very likely but, unfortunately, it was impossible to tell from an image, no matter how life-like such pictures and videos were nowadays. To know for certain he would have to meet her in person and, despite the fact that the souls were usually reincarnated in similar looking bodies, Merlin had encountered enough exceptions to know it couldn't be relied on.

Moira may have been speaking in Morgana's voice but she could just as easily be Morgause or Nimueh or even Mordred. It wasn't unheard of for one of the old souls to be reincarnated as the opposite sex and true seers could channel the voice of anyone if required.

But the mystery of Moira would have to be delayed because Merlin's attempt to cast a spell to travel through this mud with more ease had met with a worrying amount of resistance. The water was dulling the magic here somehow. He had no idea how or why that would be, but he was fairly certain it was the case and, if he couldn't get it to stop, the little girl's prophecy was likely to come to pass.

~o~0~o~

The waters continued to rise and Merlin battled to keep the cave dry, initially erecting force fields to keep the worst of the water out and using drying spells to evaporate the water that was already here. He checked the crystals too, although they were even more vague than usual, initially giving little away.

Merlin lost track of time for a while, working tirelessly to survey his land and put up both magical defences and physical drainage ditches in various places. By the time he thought he'd discovered a more permanent solution, years had passed and he suddenly worried about the little girl and what had become of her. He needed to see her urgently and find out who she was and how much magic she may have. If she was Morgana or Nimueh then he may be able to persuade her to help, because it was now quite clear to him that a permanent solution to this problem could only be solved by having at least two powerful magical beings deal with it.

On his own, even with all the magical and financial means at his disposal, he was quite powerless to stop the Crystal Cave being lost forever and all of the country's magic along with it.

~o~0~o~