Memories of a Stranger

Chapter 6

Yeah… Sorry about the hiatus…

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Merlin's heart sank when he heard the weather report on television.

"There's going to be a blood moon on Saturday, so be sure not to miss it!" the weatherman announced.

Merlin cursed to himself. He hadn't even mustered the courage to explain the situation to Arthur and Morgana yet. He looked at the calendar.

"It's already Thursday…," Merlin sighed.

XXX

Merlin waked into school tensely. He had been up most of the night worrying about what he knew he would have to do the next day.

"I should just get this over with," he told himself.

So, Merlin started wandering around the school to find the two people he wanted to see the least. After ten minutes of checking random classrooms and asking fellow students, he saw the pair sitting in the library. Morgana was quietly reading a book as Arthur seemed to be frantically completing a worksheet.

"If this kills me, please make me be a barnacle or something in my next life…," Merlin thought.

He took a long, shaky breath in to prepare himself before forcing his feet to move him forward.

"Hey," he whispered to the pair.

They both stopped what they were doing and looked up. Both of their eyes widened. Clearly, they were surprised that Merlin had decided to talk to them let alone seek them out.

"Merlin?" Arthur questioned, almost hopefully.

"Look, Morgause has some plan to take over the world again, and apparently, I need you two to help me stop her," Merlin started. "To be quite honest, I'm still terrified to be standing here, but I can't let the world be controlled by evil just because I'm afraid. We're supposed to stop her when the moon is red, which will be tomorrow's blood moon. So, please, help me stop her."

Merlin had already been whispering when he began speaking, but he had grown steadily quieter the longer he talked. The two half-siblings stared at the young man for a second before replying.

"Of course we'll help you!" Arthur said a bit too loudly, earning a glare from the librarian and other students hanging around.

"What do we have to do?" Morgana asked quietly.

"I think we're going to have to literally fight her… like what we would have done back then…," Merlin answered.

"Alright," Morgana said with a nod as she started scribbling something onto a piece of paper and handing it to Merlin. "Here are our phone numbers, so you'll be able to contact us."

Merlin took the paper before exiting the library to go to class, his worry only somewhat alleviated.

XXX

The next day, as the moon rose, six people stood next to the lake Freya had arisen from. Merlin, at first, hadn't been sure about meeting there, but her had a strange feeling that that was what they were supposed to do. As Freya once again emerged from the lake, however, Merlin realized that he had made the right choice.

"Merlin," the woman spoke. "There's no time to waste. Morgause will also be arriving shortly. She knows that you're here, so she's going to try as hard as she can to stop you."

She then turned to the other five people standing behind Merlin.

"Gaius, Morgana, you two will have to help Merlin in casting spells. Gwaine, Arthur, and Guinevere, you three will have to fight with these," Freya told them as she pulled three enchanted swords out of the water. "You are the only people who can stand in Morgause's way. The world has forgotten magic, and its weapons won't stand a chance against her powers."

The sound of a stick snapping came from behind them. Hearing this, Freya descended back into the waters of the lake. The group of six turned to face the evil woman just as she shot a ball of magical fire at them. Merlin's eyes flashed gold, and the fiery attack was instantly blocked. Morgause's sinister smile grew disturbingly wide, but her eyes were set in a glare. She laughed maniacally.

"It seems that my dear sister has switched sides. It's a shame. We could have crushed these buffoons and taken over the world together, Morgana," Morgause spoke.

"I regret what I've done, Morgause!" Morgana shouted. "And we're going to crush you, not the other way around!"

"We'll see about that," Morgause sneered.

She then flung her hands up in the air, her eyes glowing. Dirt men grew out of the ground and the battle began.

Arthur and Gwaine immediately rushed at the of the creatures and cut them down with their swords. They immediately crumbled back the ground. However, two more dirt men soon replaced them. With that, everyone went into an all-out fight between the two sides as they tried to destroy the dirt men and get to Morgause, but the regenerative abilities of the creatures made this almost impossible.

"Don't you see it?! I'm stronger than all of you combined!" Morgause shouted madly.

Any attempt to attack Morgause with magic were either blocked by the dirt men or dodged.

"I've been waiting for this day ever since I was reborn!" she continued.

The battle continued, but there was no end in sight. Eventually, the moon rose right above the lake, and Morgause's entire body started to glow bright red.

"It's taken me years to complete this spell, but nothing can stop me now!" she shrieked at her opponents.

Morgause then held out her hand toward Arthur. A red beam of light shot out from her palm and attached itself to Arthur's chest, right above his heart. Then, within an instant, a complicated network of red threads attached themselves to Arthur's limbs.

"I'll finally have what should have been mine!" the mad woman continued.

Once she had spoken, she closed her hand into a fist, and Arthur's eyes began to glow red. She moved her hand again, and Arthur lurched forward, sword in hand. As they were distracted by the new attack, Morgana shot out her other hand. Everyone other than Merlin was wrapped tightly in the glowing, red threads as well, putting them under her complete control.

"Now, Merlin, I think I'll take my revenge for all those times you stopped me in the past. And what better way to get revenge than kill you with the same friend that killed you last time?" she giggled.

Arthur, under Morgause's control, then rushed at Merlin. The young warlock was just barely able to dodge the swinging blade before it connected with his neck. Arthur then turned and rushed him again. In fear, Merlin shot a ball of magic to stop him. It easily knocked Arthur onto his back, but that only stopped him for the time it took him to stand back up.

"Not much of a hero anymore, are you?" Morgause taunted.

Arthur slashed at him with his sword again, getting even closer to his target. This time, it was Merlin who fell to the ground. With another laugh, one even louder than before, Morgause moved her other hand so that the others all started to blindly attack him. Merlin tried to frantically block all of the attacks, but it became increasingly more difficult as the battle went on. Merlin started to give up hope, and. He looked up to see Arthur standing directly over him, sword positioned right above his neck. Merlin trembled fearfully, remembering the past, but he closed his eyes in resignation. He waited for the sword to cut off his head, but it didn't.

Merlin opened his eyes. He saw that the entire battle seemed to have paused. Arthur and the others were tense and shaking, as if they were fighting against the threads that controlled them. Merlin took the chance to stand back up. As Morgause was focused on trying to get her puppets to follow her orders, Merlin gathered up at much magic as he could into his one hand. Then, he shot it out at the wicked woman with as much force as he could muster. Seeing this, Morgause released her hold on the others and tried to block Merlin's spell, but she was too late. It connected and knocked her onto the ground with a loud thud.

Everything went silent. Morgause didn't move. Merlin stepped closer to check if she was dead. However, as soon as his shaking hands tried to check for a pulse, her eyes shot open, and she tried to shoot magic at Merlin with her last bit of strength. Merlin thought he was a goner, but, once again, the blow never came. Arthur grabbed Merlin and pulled him out of the way just in time to save him, but… this put him directly in the line of fire. The magic hit him and blasted a hole right through his chest.

Just as Morgause let out her final breath, Arthur hit the ground, never to stand back up again.

XXX

Okay, there's going to be one more chapter. It's probably going to be short because it's almost like an epilogue. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!