Everything was fuzzy around the edges. Arthur had the vague sense he was being carted off somewhere by a rather large someone, but then maybe it was a smaller someone. Or maybe he was just staring in a mirror. His reflection was upset, he noted. Funny, he didn't feel like he was frowning or yelling. Weren't mirrors supposed to reflect you?

Now his reflection was holding him. A decidedly surreal experience. Sounds came and went, and occasionally his vision blacked out and changed direction, but none of this alarmed him. He merely waited until images pulled together again, still fuzzy and uncoordinated, but there.

Something is wrong. The thought passed through his mind briefly before vanishing. His reflection was still shouting something. Then there was a skull shouting in his face, and bony hands gripping his head, and suddenly words sounded clearer.

"Can you hear me, boy?" The skeleton spoke slowly and loudly. "Blink once for yes!"

Arthur blinked once, and found himself behind the skeleton. It stared blankly at its empty hands for a minute, before whirling around and grinning. "Hah! Knew you'd pull through. Takes more than that to knock out one of mine!"

Arthur tilted his head, slowly pulling pieces together. "You're-"

A foot kicked straight through his body, jolting him out of his realization. He spun around, coming face to face with-himself.

"What the hell was that back there?" Lewis shouted. "You were supposed to lay low! That was NOT laying low! Look at this!" His one good arm clutched the prosthetic protectively. The metal was crushed and cracked, the joints springing wires in every direction. "Idiot! I don't have any fire to fight with, I couldn't have gotten this thing back without Vivi! She'd better be okay! YOU'D better be okay!"

Arthur reached for Lewis. "Hey, I'm okay, nothing bad is gonna-" his vision blacked out, and when he could see again, he was just to Lewis' left. "-happen."

Lewis glared at him. "You're damaged. You should have let us handle it!"

"Someone needed to throw the Okami for a loop!" Arthur crossed his arms sullenly. "I've been told ghost-whispering is my special talent. Reason with them, or infuriate them until they can't think straight. Or were you just saying that?"

"Of course I wasn't just saying it, but you were way outta your league!"

"I always am!" Arthur threw up his hands. "And they're always trying to kill me! I'm done hiding, Lewis! Just done! I'm not gonna stand by and let Inari wipe out my family, and if that means I blow my cover, well, I don't regret doing it!"

"Unnngh you!" Lewis clenched his fist, swinging it. It passed harmlessly through Arthur, but Lewis' momentum tumbled him to the ground, panting. "I thought you were gone!" Lewis shouted. "I couldn't feel you at all! Then you go put yourself in danger again when I can't even DO anything to keep you safe!"

Arthur crouched, raising an eyebrow. "Welcome to my world," he said shortly. "I can't keep anybody safe most of the time. For once I got to do something different for the team, okay? I trust you all with my life, can you give me the decency of letting me pull my weight?"

"And pull your weight you did!" The skeleton crouched right next to Arthur. "You were hardly dead and you managed full manifestation and some combat skills, how did you accomplish this?"

Arthur snorted. "With the amount of time I share headspace with this guy?" He gestured at Lewis. "You really think I wouldn't pick up a thing or two about being a gh-OOST!" He fell back, swinging his finger accusingly at the skeleton. "YOU! ARTHUR!" His vision blacked out, and he re-appeared just above them. "AUGH!" The edges of his vision blurred again, and he focused on holding his form.

"Damaged, I told you!" Lewis seethed. "You can't control it anymore." He cradled the arm carefully. "Calm down or you'll spend what little you've got left, you're bleeding everywhere and he's given you all he's got already!"

"Calm yourself." The woman he'd seen near the King earlier rose to his level, placing a hand on the side of his head. As she did, his vision sharpened, and he found it easier to pull his thoughts and form together. He could see her more clearly, from her pale gray eyes to her prominent cheekbones and shoulder-length black hair. "There. Try and hold onto it, don't spend it flashing around if you can help it."

Lady Guinevere. Lady Guinevere had just given him an energy transfusion. And so had-

Arthur drifted back down, eyeing the skeleton warily. "So. You're King Arthur."

The King nodded absently, staring off through the trees-Arthur shook himself. How out of it WAS he? "Lew, when did we switch to a forest?!"

"When we were running for your life," Lewis muttered, "or what's left of it."

"Where's Vivi?" He scanned their group, crackling when he didn't see her. "Mystery? Callie?"

"Back there." Lewis' eyes were clenched shut.

"Then what are we doing here?" Arthur cried, darting off through the trees. He came up short as a skeletal hand gripped his arm.

"First," King Arthur said, effortlessly reeling him back, "we are keeping you in one piece. Second, that is the wrong direction. Third, they have your foe well in hand." He paused. "I think."

"You think?!" Arthur growled. "You left your other heir back there, I hope you know that!"

The King flinched, releasing Arthur's arm. He dropped his gaze. "Well. Yes."

"Don't tell me you FORGOT her!"

King Arthur turned away from Arthur, and as he did, he began to shrink. The skeleton faded away, leaving in its place a fairly short, wiry man with a forest green cloak and curly brown hair. "It seems my talent for making mistakes follows me on into the afterlife." He set his jaw, striding toward a break in the tree-line. "Guinevere, take them to the castle." He glanced back at Arthur. "I will ensure her safety."

Guinevere laid a hand on his shoulder, halting him. "You've waited long for this," she murmured. "If you are granted the chance to pass on, do not wait for me. I will follow shortly."

He turned, sweeping her into his arms and crushing her close to his chest. "You always know, don't you?" Releasing her, he dipped forward in a dramatic bow. "As you say, M'lady." He took her hand, pressing a kiss to her fingers. " 'Til we meet again on the other side." And with that, he vanished.

She held her hand where he'd left it for a moment, before turning back to Arthur. "He has made many mistakes, but no one comes to the afterlife clean. Do not judge him so."

Arthur glanced away, and Lewis sighed.

"I'm just tired of cleaning up his mistakes," Arthur mumbled. "They've cost me and my friends a lot."

"I understand." She crossed over to him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "And he will never be able to properly communicate his gratitude to you for what you have done, and are doing right now. So allow me to do it for him. Arthur, he remains for one reason and one reason only. The single regret that binds him to this plane of existence is breaking a pure spirit through misuse."

Arthur's eyes widened.

"All other regrets were dealt with between the three of us," she said softly. "We had a long, long time to come to understand what occurred and why. But he could do nothing for Excalibur, and this has bound him here. And now, perhaps…" she trailed off.

"But why are you and Lancelot still here?" Arthur rubbed his chin.

Lewis rolled his eyes. "Are you THAT thick, Arthur?" He pointed to himself. "Why didn't I pass on?"

"Because you wanted to kill me."

"AFTER that part."

"Because you… wanted… to keep us safe." Arthur studied Guinevere. "You didn't want to leave us alone."

Guinevere dipped her head once. "Indeed. But come." She nudged Lewis' leg with her staff and gave Arthur and firm push. "The castle is a safe distance from the conflict, and your friends will find you there once it is over."

"You're that confident they'll win?" Lewis asked.

"I know my husband, and I know what I saw before I left." A small smile toyed at the edges of her mouth. "Your foe doesn't stand a chance."

….

Callie attends to the unconscious Vivi, gingerly picking free the fragrant vines and inspecting her wrists as I turn to Merlin. He has, with no small effort, coaxed or coerced some of the spirits into slightly more portable forms. He carries three now as an acorn, a rose thorn, and a river stone-each in a separate pocket of his cloak. He struggles with one that still rails at him and fights the spells. Merlin is strong, but he has been out of practice for a long time, and he has already spent much of his energy already.

In the background, Lancelot curses. The kitsunes are clearly no threat anymore, and a few of them have taken to pinning the knight and pawing at the shiny weaponry. I have no doubt he would fight them off if he felt attacked, but they are clearly playing, and it is more difficult to break free from a pack of giant foxes if you no longer wish to harm them.

I return to the one responsible for the growing things of the Earth. There is a soft sadness in her eyes as she watches my approach.

"Answer me something before you go to your bonding. If there wasn't a unity among you in the decisions that were made, why?"

She can't meet my eyes. "The two of them were the strongest," she stammered, "When we dissented, they suppressed us."

"Two against three sounds like the odds were in your favor." I press her, unwilling to let it pass. "Even if they did suppress you, at some point you had to relinquish decision-making willingly."

Her head droops. "They were not wrong. There was great evil all the time, all around us, and none to keep it in check. Someone had to, so they said. They were… very persuasive. The five of us came together, but I did not want to deal punishment. Two were willing to, and we allowed them. But they became stronger with every act. At first, in the earliest days, there was mercy, and mitigation for strange circumstances. But it became stricter and stricter, and when we tried to speak, we were silenced."

"If they are so strict, how does Merlin still live?"

"Even they have codes they feel they must uphold. No matter the circumstances, Arthur did kill, and this renders his life forfeit in their eyes. Merlin never killed, he only interfered." She finally lifts her face. "We were coming for you. We allowed your corruption to a point because you were containing the evils of the world in yourself. But you had begun to actively corrupt souls to consume. We knew where you were. Perhaps you thought we had forgotten you?" At his nod, she murmured tenderly, "Never. And then suddenly, we could not sense you. But we sensed traces of the magic that had hidden you, and tracked it to this human." Her gaze shifted to Merlin, bent nearly double over the fourth, most stubborn spirit. "We could sense he was a most unusually powerful human. We took him by surprise at the water's edge, else he might have escaped."

"And then found me when I manifested at the cave." I eye her, unsure what to make of her gentleness when I think of what They have done together. "Why did you wait?"

Again, her head drooped. "Punishment," she whispered, "They… we… saw it as justice that you suffer for something you care about before we claimed you."

As They suffered. I exhale slowly. They did care for me. Or some did, even if it became twisted over time.

"Your name is Mystery now, it suits you. Mystery, will you allow me to give you one last thing before I must go?"

My tails straighten and my eyes narrow. She seems kind, but I cannot know to trust her.

"Think, Mystery. You are stronger than I right now. You are more than just you, and I am by myself."

It is true. Throughout the conversation, I have felt Callie restoring Vivi's crushed bones, coaxing her back to consciousness, and embracing her gratefully. I am not alone. I touch my nose to the water that holds her still, pushing it back and down until her hands are free. Before I can pull back, she reaches up and takes hold of my glasses, sliding them off of my snout.

I feel no change as I watch her inspect the lenses. "Completely stripped of their magic," she noted. "Although I suspect they were damaged when you were bound. I noticed you missed many spirits that passed you." The glasses crumble to dust in her hands. "You don't need these anymore."

Merlin has finally forced the spirit into a pinecone, and is stumbling wearily in our direction. She holds up her hands. "No need. Farewell Mystery. I hope one day you can bring yourself to find and visit me. You remain our greatest work." And with that, she vanishes, the watery bonds seeping into the ground. On the ground lies a blooming sprig. Merlin gathers it up and tucks it gently into a pocket.

"Ah, I see all has transpired to completion without me."

I turn tail, my heart rising in my chest. Now that the danger is past, I can hardly contain myself. He appears now as he did in life. My master. The King. I rush to him, covering the distance in three bounds, tackling him to the ground and cuffing the side of his head playfully. He bats away my paw, laughing.

"So, this is who you were the whole time, eh?" He grinned cheekily. "Secret was out the second I died you know. Came back to the palace to see you making off with my youngest son." He pats my snout firmly. "You were a terrible bastard to my land, you know that?" He shakes his head, still smiling. "But quite made up for it, from what I gather."

I lower my ears, and he punches my snout away. "None of that now." He stands, brushing himself off. "All apologies already accounted for. Besides, you've done a marvelous job taking care of the lad." He peers around me, and swallows a little at the sight of Vivi. "And the lass." His shoulders slump. "But you have my thanks, and none of my anger." His grin picks up a bit as he struts past me. "Just keep the eldritch talk to a minimum, what?"

I can't help a smile of my own. Seeing him is temporary, I know this, but it is a balm to know he bears me no ill will.

"Ay, Lancelot, can't handle the kits?" He calls over his shoulder. "Try tossing them treats, perhaps they'll sit up and beg."

"Go possess a rock!" Lancelot shouts, wriggling uselessly.

King Arthur laughs, approaching Vivi and Callie. As he comes closer, I see his strut slow to a walk, then to a hesitant step, and then finally a complete stop. He removes his cape, allowing it to dissipate into thin air, before dropping slowly to one knee, bending forward, his head bowed. Vivi hasn't risen from the bush she had fallen into, but she cradles Callie protectively, scrutinizing the King with great mistrust.

"I have done great wrong to you both." His voice is low and threadbare. "And there isn't a day that has gone by in these hundreds of years that I have not listed through my crimes to myself. To you, Vivi, I have nothing to give, save my grief at the suffering of your line. I could not stop Morgause, once embodied, and she would fall into a rage on sight of me. I could not reason with her, or apologize. So I offer those words, instead, to you."

Callie winds her arms around Vivi's neck, beaming up at her. Vivi glances aside, unsure.

"You are every bit the heir that Arthur is," the King says softly. "And never let anyone say different."

Her mouth curls slightly. "Yeah. Well. Anyone who says so will get a face full of blistering blue barnacles anyway. I'm fine, but you two gotta talk." She pulled Callie's arms away from her neck and nudges her toward the King. "I think it's been a long time coming."