Vivi woke to wet hands stroking her face and pushing back her hair. There were twigs and branches poking her from all around, and Callie hovered just above her, patting her face and neck. She tensed, pushing deeper into the bush.
"Vivi?" Callie pulled her hands back. "I'm not going to hurt you. Look at me."
She was clear. Vivi had seen her body inky, and before that a sort of lightly murky blue-green, but now she shone a deep, pure blue.
Vivi caught her breath. Callie was smiling. Vivi launched forward, tackling the water spirit. "Callie, you're okay! Oh this is amazing, how'd you do it? Squire's gonna be so happy! Well, once I get through with him and he can walk again he will be, but what happened?"
"Let me tell you and Arthur and Lewis all together. Can you move your hands?" Callie rolled Vivi over, plucking at her sleeves worriedly.
Vivi lifted her hands, flexing her wrists carefully. "Yeah… good as new. Your work?" At Callie's nod, Vivi hugged her again. "Thanks Callie."
At a loud bark, Vivi turned to see Mystery bounding toward an approaching form. Her grip on Callie tightened. It didn't look like Squire, but Mystery greeted him with such familiarity.
"Sire King," Callie whispered, subdued.
Vivi swallowed. The ghost was laughing, saying something to Mystery. The last remnant of her ancestry stood right there, and she wasn't sure she wanted anything to do with him. He probably wanted Squire anyway, the legitimate heir.
He strode across the grass toward them, dropping to a knee a few feet away.
"I have done great wrong to you both." She could barely hear him, and he kept his face down. "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."
Vivi glanced aside. She wasn't sure what to think of this. He hadn't done her any personal wrong, but still his words spoke to a raw place.
"You are every bit the heir that Arthur is," the King said softly. "And never let anyone say different."
Oh. She took in a deep breath, feeling an old sting dissolve. "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 nudged Callie toward the King. "I think it's been a long time coming."
She was startled to see the King's outline tremble as Callie released Vivi and drifted toward him. Callie paused within arm's reach of King Arthur, peering up at him. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His mouth closed, his jaw clenching hard, and opened again. Still he could not speak.
Callie turned to Mystery, wringing her hands, but Mystery shook his head. She returned her gaze to the King, as he finally managed to speak. "Forgive. Me." The words sounded like stones being dragged through his throat. "Forgive. Me." Over and over in a ragged moan. This was King Arthur? This was the proud King, the tall tale teller? Vivi's throat tightened, imagining her Arthur's year of suffering stretched out over centuries.
Callie pushed the King back on his heels and coiled in his lap. She reached up, trying to wipe his tears away. Vivi held her tongue. It wasn't the time to correct the water spirit on the nature of ghost tears, and that they couldn't just be 'wiped away'.
"Sire King, do you remember how much I wanted to heal the land?" At his dejected nod, she continued. "I think, Sire King, I would not have done a very good job. I did not understand this not-joy so well as I thought I did." She dropped her hands to his chest. "It isn't something you can heal like a cut or a broken bone. It isn't something you see on the outside to fix. I may have been able to help some, but not in the places where the not-joy was hiding." She reached toward his tears again, but stopped, pulling her hands back. "There was only one way I could learn that. And I learned it." She poked his nose gingerly. "Because of that I'm going be the best healer there's ever been. Because I really really know now. Don't be sad, Sire King."
She pulled his face down and kissed his forehead. "Rest, Sire King. I let you go. Go be happy with My Beautiful Bride and My Brother."
The King released a long, slow breath, his shoulders slumping and his head rolling back. Vivi could see the grass and the recent undergrowth through his fading form.
"Tell my beautiful bride that I'm waiting for her," he whispered, before disappearing completely. Callie thumped to the grass, unmoving.
Vivi caught sight of Merlin approaching, hesitant and cautious. "Nimue?" There were so many questions in his voice. Vivi sat back with a grin, she could hardly wait to see Callie's response.
With a splash, Callie whipped along the grass, clambering up Merlin. He fell to the ground with a shocked cry, which slowly shifted to fits of giggling as she rolled him over and over, tickling his ribs and stomach. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, and she embraced him as well.
"I missed you, Nimue." He clung to her.
Callie pulled back, cupping his face gently. "Still not Nimue. Nimue is gone. But it's okay Merlin. I'm happy being Callie. Callie learned so much more than Nimue could." She searched his face. "Merlin, you look tired."
He shook his head. "I'm fine, just need some rest."
She poked his wrinkles. "The other kind of tired."
He smiled, patting the side of her head. "I'll be fine, Nim-Callie."
"What will you do, Merlin?" She pressed her head into his hand. "The world is very strange now, very different. Will you stay with me and my new family?"
Vivi suppressed a groan. Squire would pitch a fit if they grew the group again.
Merlin shook his head, chuckling. "Callie, you know me. I couldn't stay put at the lake, I had to find out more. That hasn't changed, and I've been stuck for a very long time. Besides, I have to deliver these," he patted his pockets, "to their new homes. But I'll find you. I'll visit. You couldn't keep me away if you tried."
Callie took his hand in hers, sealing up the gash she placed there. "Be safe, Merlin."
"Not quite, still one thing that needs doing." He set her aside, rising slowly and trudging back toward the lake. Curious, Vivi followed, tailed by Mystery and Callie. Near the banks, he began gathering the shards of Excalibur. One by one, he threw them into the lake, as far as he could. Then he turned to the group behind him.
"Mystery, Callie, I am at the end of my strength. I will need many weeks of rest to return to my full abilities. Please, lend me your magic. I would see this evil buried and beyond reach."
Mystery lowered his head on Merlin's right, and Callie hovered just to his left. Laying a hand on each of their heads, Merlin began speaking in a language Vivi didn't recognize. As he did, the lake began to drain away, the water dissipating and leaving behind a dry bed. The edges of the lakebed began to draw together with a terrible rumble, like a great, gaping maw that was closing. Mystery's legs buckled, and Merlin sank to his knees, his voice fading slightly. Vivi smacked her forehead. Of course, Mystery had been spending every ounce of energy for over a day with hardly any rest, he couldn't give any more.
Marching forward, she shouldered in between Merlin and Mystery. "Move over, mutt. My turn." With Merlin's hand on her head, she reached into the life and energy of the greenery all around-every tree, grass blade, flower, vine, and bush-and channeled it to Merlin.
The opening closed in on itself with a final groan, and Merlin dropped to the ground, breathing heavily. Vivi glanced around. The lush meadow was now a barren waste, gray dust swirling through the few remaining trees-now leafless and shrunken. She sighed. With all the energy she'd stolen, it might be decades before anything could grow here again.
"That is all I can do." Merlin closed his eyes.
Mystery didn't even try to stand. "I don't think I'm going anywhere for awhile."
"But what about Squire?" Vivi protested.
"Arthur can handle himself for awhile." Mystery's eyelids drifted lower. "Proved very competent."
Callie curled up between Merlin and Mystery. "They need rest, I will watch over them. You also need rest, and Arthur and Lewis."
"Rest is the last thing Squire gets when I find him," Vivi fumed. "Fine you recover, but where do I find the boys?"
"If someone would help me with these blasted creatures I would be more than happy to guide you!"
Vivi snickered as she turned to where the pack of kitsunes had formed a cozy pile, slumbering in contentment directly on top of Lancelot.
"Why can't you just phase out, anyway?" She asked, crossing over to him.
"They're stupid, but they're still magic beasts! If only they were normal foxes, this would have been much easier!"
"Yeah, well, there's still a few things that are probably the same." She broke off a brittle tree branch in passing, put two fingers to her mouth, and gave an ear-splitting whistle. "HEY. Who wants to play fetch?"