This one is a little shorter because I am getting it up a lot faster. No writers block today apparently.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, only my OCs and this storyline.

Hope you enjoy.

Ghosts Walk These Halls

"Is it going according to your plan?" The scarred man asked after returning to the obsidian room where his lady watched over the progress her prisoners were making.

"Everything is going perfectly." She grinned, watching three people walking down one of her many hallways. "They think they'll be safe from my horrors if they all stay together. Fools. This is my realm. I am the one in control here. Soon they will find themselves ripped away from each other. Won't that be fun to watch?"

"Very entertaining." The scarred man nodded but did not smile.

"We'll watch them loose their minds in the twists and turns of my house." Her laugh was menacing. "What did you do with the boy?"

"He is behind his own door, waiting for his sister." He confirmed. "Would you like me to fetch her?"

"Not just yet." Her beady eyes found the girl's face on the dark reflective surface of the wall. "Let them have their guide for now. Let her fill their heads with stories. Maybe then they'll have some idea of who they're up against."

"Of course Milady." He bowed and left her to watch her plan unfolding and he would wait until she had further commands.

Our heroes, now inside the house, are a little bit lost. They've been walking down the same long hallway for what has seemed like hours, though one can't be certain about anything in here, especially time.

"Are all of these doors locked?" Merlin asked as he tried to open another one.

"So far it seems that way." Arthur confirmed as he too tried the handle of another door.

"That's the point of this place." Jay stared down the never-ending hallway. "She made it to drive people out of their minds. Nothing in here flows normally."

"How do you know all these things if this place is so dangerous?" Arthur turned to the strange young girl. "From the way you've described it I'd say no ones ever made it out of here alive. So how do you know so much?"

"Like you said, no one has ever made it out of here alive." She didn't look at him when she spoke.

"What is that supposed to mean?" But Jay didn't seem to hear him. Her eyes were fixed at something further down the hallway. Arthur and Merlin followed her gaze and just managed to catch a glimpse of something moving before it disappeared and everything became still once more. They weren't the only ones walking the halls. There was something else out there and it gave them all chills.

"What was that?" Merlin voiced the question.

"Nothing." Jay said, snapping out of her daze.

"That was not nothing." Arthur turned to her. "What aren't you telling us?"

"It would take me a lifetime to explain madness to you. All I'll say now is avoid the shadows." Jay looked at them. "They don't like it when you mess with the story."

"Jay, you're not making any sense." Arthur shook his head.

"You left sense behind when you walked through that door." Something had changed in Jay; her eyes were no longer full of fear. She had seen something, the shadows she'd called it, and it had taken something from her. Jay felt defeat and she understood now that the Old Mother knew they were there. This silence would be done soon.

"Jay?" Merlin took a step towards her. This girl had seemed off the moment they had met. Her story was a mystery and from the sight of her patched up clothing it was also a tragic one. She kept pulling away from them as if she couldn't bear to be so close. It was also the surprise they'd seen on her face when they didn't understand what she was talking about before. Arthur had missed it, but Merlin saw.

"Jay?" He said again, drawing her attention. "How old are you?"

"I'm…" Then she hesitated and looked away as if she had to think about it. Her eyes rose and met with Merlin's. "The last I checked I was fourteen."

"That was before you stopped counting, back when counting meant something." Merlin spoke slowly. Jay's eyes widened and she understood that he knew. "That's how old you were when you passed through the veil. Then you were warned of this place because it would affect you the most."

"Yes." Her voice was quiet.

"What are you both talking about?' Arthur was lost.

"We were warned of the Old Mother because she only goes after us." Jay turned to Arthur, her voice grave. "She likes to collect the dead."

"But why would she go after you if she collects the dead?" Arthur moved the pieces around in his head, trying to work it all out.

"You couldn't even see me before you crossed the border into her territory." Jay told him. "I guess I thought you wouldn't help me if you knew, because you all think that we're safe and there is nothing left to protect us from after we're gone."

"Gone?" Then it clicked and Arthur saw Jay in a new light. "I'm sorry."

"No need." She waved her hand. "Being dead isn't so bad when you're not alone."

"All the more reason to get your brother back." Arthur found a new sense of purpose then. Though wrapping his head around this whole ghost thing was hard.

"You should never have come here. You should have turned back." She was angry with them trying to be all heroic. "Why wouldn't you listen to me? You'll get yourselves killed going on like this. She'll never let you leave." She backed away from them and the house around them began to sway and creak. The doors began to shake in their frames as if struggling against their locks.

"Jay, come back." Merlin reached out for her.

"I'll get you killed." She pulled away. The house moaned around them.

"Jay, step away from the doors." Merlin was desperate now. It was true; this place did mess with your mind. A second ago she had been fine but now she was pulling away from them again. They had to stay together if they were going to get out of here.

Suddenly the door behind her burst open and a dark shape lashed out, grabbing her. She screamed and tried to pull away.

"Jay!" Arthur pulled out his sword and pointed it at the shadow.

"Reach for my hand." Merlin tried to reach her but there was some kind of force stopping him. Jay got one of her hands free and tried to reach out for Merlin's. Their fingers were only inches apart. Merlin felt his magic serge through his fingers, pushing him forward against the force. The shadow writhed as Merlin's magic touched it. Its dark, abyss like mouth opened and it screamed. The scream was shattering. Arthur was forced to pull away and cover his ears.

With the help of his magic, Merlin's hand slipped into Jay's and he tried to pull her away from the shadow creature but it still had a tight grip on her. Then something ancient shook through the house towards them. She would not let this boy ruin her plans. She would not let him interfere. She had underestimated his magic and how strong he was. So she added a little of her own power to the mix.

"No!" Merlin yelled as he felt his hand slipping away from Jay's. Their eyes connected one last time.

"I'm sorry." That was the last thing Jay said. She wasn't going to drag Merlin through the door with her as she felt the shadow strengthen. So she let go.

"Jay!" Merlin reached out for her as she disappeared through the door, but it closed before he could get to her and he just ended up slamming into the wood.

"No!" Arthur yelled in frustration behind him. "We were supposed to protect her."

"She let go." Merlin was in shock. "Why would she let go?"

"We said we wouldn't let her go it alone." Arthur collapsed to the floor, his head in his hands.

"She's trying to separate us." Merlin realized. "That's the Old Mother's plan." He turned towards Arthur, but Merlin had figured it out too late as the floor suddenly opened up under him.

"Merlin!" Arthur tried to grab his friend's hand. He just skimmed his fingertips and then Merlin was falling until the darkness below swallowed him.

Because her plans always work and there was nothing they could have done to stop her. Makes you wonder doesn't it. It makes you consider the possibility that she will succeed in her vengeance. Maybe our heroes won't make it out after all.

"I lost them both." Arthur backed into one of the walls as he watched the hole in the floor disappear. He was alone.

Then the door beside him creaked open.

Thanks for reading and I will update faster if you grace me with your REVIEWS!

So everyone is on their own now. For those who have read my other stories that connect with this one please let me know which of those characters you want to see make an appearance in this one and your ideas on how you want me to bring them back. It would help me out a lot because I am writing this so you will enjoy reading it.

Hope you keep following because I know I want to know what is behind that door.

For those that it does concern, after this author's note there will be a little prologue for the rewritten I Will Never Forget that I am working on. It gives you an idea of how I am changing the original story. Please tell me what you think. This idea is still in the process so things might change.

The Great Disenchantment

Pentimentaire is a land of kings and queens, an old land that has been inhabited for thousands of years. A great kingdom ruled by a line of kings that has not been broken since the first settlers made their way to shore and discovered the thriving nature. The forests were full and the trees there were taller and older then any they had ever seen before. They could be dated back for a thousand years before that.

The settlers made their home there. They spread out across the land searching and discovering. It wasn't long before this new land had become their home. Their small villages became towns, then cities, and soon they had built a thriving kingdom. Pentimentaire was born.

And in all of the kingdom of Pentimentaire the greatest city of them all was Atlaltal, built into the side of the great ebony mountains. That is where the king reigned from and from there he watched over the rest of his kingdom. The king was once said to us a sort of scrying bowl that, in the ancient language long forgotten, was called the Luminatim. He would use this device to watch over his kingdom.

But alas the Luminatim was lost during the time of the Great Disenchantment. For you see when the settlers came to these lands they discovered much more then just beautiful forests and plant life. Running through the earth and flying through the air was the ever-mysterious power of magic. The magic was one with everything on this land and eventually it became a part of the people who lived there as well. Some had been gifted with the ability to tame the great beast and to wield it in many different ways.

A person would know for sure if they had this gift when they turned fifteen. There would of course have been signs before but it was on the fifteenth anniversary of their birth that they would know for sure. This anniversary was the most important out of all of them for every person who lived in Pentimentaire, not only those with magic, because that was the day their eyes changed. Everyone was born with a shade of brown eyes but as soon as they turned fifteen their eyes would change colour.

The colours could be read just as one would read the palm of your hand and be able to tell you your future. Many have said that the eyes are windows to the soul. When someone's eyes changes the Elders would come and read their eyes. They would be able to glimpse the person's future and the person they would grow to be.

For example, you can tell who is a part of the royal family because when they turn fifteen two golden rings appear in their eyes. One circles around the pupil and the other around the edge of the iris. In the case of magic the person's eyes would turn from brown to silver.

Magic had always been a very influential force in Pentimentaire like the king himself, but there had never been a king who could wield the magic. Usually this had never presented a problem, as the king was content to work along with magic to help the land grow and keep all the lives that lived upon it safe. But of course the balance can never be kept. Things are always changing as new minds have new ideas and not always for the better.

The land had lived in peace for thousands of years with only minor wars and disputes, but nothing as large as what was about to happen. For when the eldest of the five sons of King Radigal succeeded his father after his passing one fine summers morning the kingdom was about to change drastically. This new king, King Fordiber, did not see the coexistence with magic that his father had and his grandfather had before that. To Fordiber, magic had too strong of a hold over the people. He believed that it was only the king who could have such divine power.

Fordiber saw magic as an evil manipulator that was seeking to corrupt the minds of his people and eventually turn them against him. If he were to rule over Pentimentaire then he would do it alone with no one to challenge him. He would not have his people's loyalties divided. So as soon as he became king he took action against magic. The only way he saw it possible to remove magic from its place of power was to remove the people it had already infected so they would not transmit this disease.

His brothers implored him to see reason. What he was doing was madness, but Fordiber had a silver tongue and he spoke to his brother's with his slippery words. Soon they began to see things the way he saw them. Fordiber managed to convince his brothers to join his cause, at least most of his brothers. The youngest brother, Ezgar, would hear none of his eldest brother's madness. Seeing that he could not sway his brothers away from this path he decided to leave Atlaltal with his mother, the once Queen Clarissa, before Fordiber turned against them and declared them traitors.

Ezgar traveled to as many towns as he could to warn the people of the oncoming danger before Fordiber's armies got there. Some listened and fled to the forests like the wild folk had before them. The wild folk had been rebellious to the power of the king and refused to follow one such leader like the others so they left to the forests to live the way they wanted to. Now those with magic were doing the same. The forests were vast and it would be almost impossible for Fordiber to find them all there.

But Ezgar and his mother did not get to everyone in time and he could not convince all to leave their homes or that the king had lost his mind and would do such a thing. Fordiber took all those he found and even the young ones that were suspected of having magic. Even the ones who had not yet turned fifteen, without concrete proof of having magic, were taken.

But Fordiber would not simply imprison them. His dungeons would be overflowing with them if he did. He could not allow them the possibility of rising against him so he put an end to them, permanently. It was genocide.

The ones who had not fled before were taken by the hundreds. Fordiber would not see the destruction he was causing. So many were taken in those first few years until the line of magic was almost completely extinct. Those were the darkest of the dark days. Now people fear the age of fifteen. They fear the sight of silver eyes as much as they fear the Whites.

The Whites are those that when they turn fifteen their irises disappear completely and all that is left are the whites of their eyes. They are cast out and now it seems those with silver eyes were condemned to the same fate. Unlike the Whites, who are simply cast out, they will be taken to the city of Atlaltal to be judged and sentenced for the crimes of their birth.

Fordiber's actions sent Pentimentaire into the time of the Great Disenchantment and he passed down his hatred for magic to his children and they passed it down to their children. The Luminatim was rumoured to have been destroyed during the Great Disenchantment as scrying was seen as a form of magic.

Now, generations later, the Disenchantment continues. King Ultar now rules and he is filled with the same hatred as his ancestor, King Fordiber, and he hopes to pass it onto his children as well, the young prince Altor and his older sisters Maldura and Misdere. But not all hope is lost as there are still those who believe in the Pentimentaire of the past and the one that Ezgar had fought to save. Ezgar may have gone missing during the Great Disenchantment but his beliefs have not been lost and the fight continues. They fight in his name and they will not easily be silenced.

Hope you all join me again for the next chapter.