Next chapter's here =D Sorry for the delay again and hope you'll like it, thanks for your lovely reviews and enjoy!

Beta'd by goodythreeshoes =) thanks for the great work!

Disclaimer: Don't own anything! ^^'

Chapter 5

After heading a little to the side, so that none of the others could overhear their talk, Emrys turned back to Galahad and threw him a stern look, accompanied by a simple "Gal…"

"Yeah, I know, I know, but he called me a coward, so I had to pr-" interrupting his foster son, Merlin cut in.

"Huh, I really shouldn't have let you play with Arthur when you were still young and susceptible. Had I only known his ego was contagious…"trailing off, he stared wistfully back at his past self. "Maybe I should warn myself in advance."

Aware that he was off the hook Galahad snorted with laughter at his guardian's antics and fondly remembered the many training/play hours he'd had with the king, where the latter had taught him about honour and knightly values. He would never forget the one time Arthur made him his sparring partner for the day; it was amazing. Sure, he was battered and bruised all over afterwards, but he'd learnt more than ever before. And it was quite hilarious to watch his new father go ballistic, after he'd found him that way.

He didn't know what had happened exactly between the two in the subsequent argument, but rumour had it that "Pratdragon" and a donkey had had some part in Merlin's rampage. Unfortunately though, both men kept absolutely quiet about what had really happened. But apparently Arthur had gotten through to his servant on some level, as he trained with Galahad on several occasions in the future. However, now that he thought of it he'd never been that bruised since…

Brought out of his musings by Emrys's rather peeved look, as he'd most likely guessed what he was thinking about, Galahad quickly activated his puppy-dog eyes, which never failed to appease him, and innocently asked-"anyway, what did you discover?"

"Found three of them," was the short, clipped answer.

"Great, so we can question-"

"All dead."

The blonde knight raised his eyes at that answer, and replied cautiously. "Ah…you didn't try to catch them with magic by any chance, did you?"

As an answer Merlin narrowed his eyes in annoyance and promptly left after an indignant, "that could have happened to anyone!"


Stood in front of one of the windows overlooking the training fields, Uther Pendragon- present king of Camelot and persecutor of magic in its every form- watched the two men from the future during their private conversation. While on the outside he had apparently accepted the fact that his son was allowing magic, inside he was still seething. Every time he spotted one of the two he was reminded of his failure. Not even his own son followed and implemented his most sacred law!

On the one hand, he naturally understood that in this instance magic was little more than a means to an end, but even so… magic. The very thought of sorcerers running free in his kingdom drove him crazy. Only the thought that Marvin, that imbecile, was said sorcerer made it slightly better, as he was simply too dumb to plot something maliciously.

But in any case he would have to make sure that all magic users were snuffed out before his son succeeded him. Logically, there was no need of magical defenders, if all the attackers were 'taken care of'.

As for the present Marvin, Uther decided to watch him very carefully from now on.


A few hours later.

Frustrated after several hours of useless scrying, which wasn't in any way related to his lack of skill in that particular kind of magic, Emrys wandered through the castle aimlessly. He was thinking about how to find the trail of the escapees when he coincidentally crossed paths with Arthur. At first it seemed as if the prince was simply going to ignore him, but eventually he acknowledged Emrys's presence.

"Do tell, Merlin, what can I do to make your past self as quiet and docile?" He asked, mockingly.

For a moment he considered just walking away, while Arthur certainly meant that question as a joke, for him, (and probably everyone in the future,) it held a lot more meaning. Sighing to himself in defeat Merlin let his new, wise self take over and replied "quite easily, Sire, just start a war, kill his mother and make him your main advisor." Already walking on he called back- "oh, and don't forget to make a few assassination attempts on both yourself and him, let's say every five days…yes, that should do the trick."

Without waiting for an answer Merlin turned the corner and disappeared in the depths of the castle, leaving behind a gaping, dumbfounded and then pensive prince. Hopefully, next time he would think more carefully before he spoke.

Suddenly frowning, Merlin thought completely shocked- 'Damn, future Arthur was right. He is the prat-light version of his older self.' Looking around, paranoid, he added mischievously-'as if I'm ever going to tell him he was right ... I'd never hear the end of it.'

.

Both Emrys and Merlin awoke with a start that night. Unlike everyone else in Camelot they could feel something that wasn't part of the natural balance. A huge burst of power had been released somewhere far from Camelot and while Merlin had no idea what the heck had just happened, Emrys had an idea and it wasn't good, not at all.


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