Got this one up faster then I thought I would.

WARNING that there are spoilers for my story I Will Never Forget.

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

Hope you enjoy.

Lighting the Fire

Our three heroes stumbled through the door as it closed quickly behind them, not allowing them to take their time. The three of them found themselves panting and out of breath. They had only taken one step through the door, how could they already be so exhausted? Was it even possible for a ghost to be exhausted?

"We have memories of what it was like to run out of breath." Aida sensed Arthur's question. "We remember how it feels."

"We did enough of it. Running." Jasper fought to get his breath back, hunching over and placing his hands on his knees. "Enough for a lifetime. I guess once you start running it's hard to stop."

"At least we're doing it together." Aida took his hand. He smiled up at her weakly. These two had been through so much together. They had been separated once before. You could tell by how tightly they were holding onto each other, like any second they will be torn away.

Arthur didn't want to ask what had happened, how they had died. He wouldn't deny that he was curious, but part of him preferred to be kept in the dark about it. He didn't want to know if there had been something he could have done to save them, or if he was somehow at fault.

He shivered as he thought of the Dark King, the evil version of himself. That version had killed Merlin. Arthur could never imagine being capable of doing such a thing, but he had seen it happen right before his eyes. In an alternate reality he had been capable of it. He even found himself glad that Morgana had killed him.

But he didn't want to think about that anymore, so he shook the memories from his mind, pushing them away. They would always be there, and Arthur would always have to live with having this knowledge. He wished he could tear those memories from his head. He found himself wishing again that he had never come here, that he hadn't put Merlin in this danger, and that he hadn't lost him through that hole in the floor.

Arthur looked over at Aida and Jasper who were still trying to get their breath back. If they hadn't come here these two would still be sitting in that attic, reliving their nightmares. They would have felt defeated for the rest of their eternal torment, with no hope of a way out. They had tried and they had failed, loosing some good people along the way. The two of them even blamed themselves for what happened.

He wished there was some way he could assure them that none of it was their fault. They could still save their friends. If this plan worked they would all be saved. Arthur could still hear the words Atropos had whispered to him, the things they would need to defeat the Old Mother. Her words had sounded like a riddle.

Find the pure sword tainted with tragedy.

Find the ones who are blind but see.

Find the light that shines even in the darkest of hearts.

Find the words that will bring us home.

It didn't make sense. How were they supposed to find any of these things? Arthur could still feel the small marble that lay in his pocket. They had one clue, but even that was surrounded by riddles. The soul it belonged to could be behind any of these thousands of doors. Atropos had told him to have faith and to trust in his destiny. Arthur didn't even know what his destiny was.

He wanted to throw the marble on the grass-covered ground in frustration, but then where would they be. Getting angry would not solve their problems. He needed to have faith. That was going to be a lot easier said then done.

"Where are we?" Jasper's question pulled Arthur out of his deep thoughts. The three of them looked around. They were standing near a cliff that looked out over waves that crashed against the rocks bellow. There was a small village in the distance. Arthur looked closer, squinting, and then he gasped.

"What is it?" Aida asked, her eyes wide. "What do you see?"

"There's smoke rising from the village." Arthur's voice sounded horrified. "It's on fire."

"That's no natural fire." Jasper came to stand next to him, looking down on the village bellow, his back to the cliff. "We were caught in one of those fires once." He looked back to Aida and she nodded.

"Soldiers from Camelot." She said what they were both thinking. "The village must have defied the king, hiding sorcerers. They wouldn't give them up so they pay the ultimate price."

"No." Arthur couldn't believe it. "My father wouldn't do that."

"Maybe not anymore." Jasper's voice was like stone. "He did around the beginning of the Purge though, when there were more of us."

"Maybe this is just another alternate world thing." Arthur tried to convince himself that what he was seeing wasn't true.

"I wish it were, but I think your world is very close to ours." Jasper tried to be kind, but Arthur could hear heartbreaking memories in his voice. "Burnings were rare occurrences though, even when we were still…" He hesitated and didn't finish his sentence, but Arthur knew what he was going to say. When they were still alive.

"Is there anything we can do?" Arthur asked, changing the subject.

"I'm afraid not." Aida sighed. "What we see are only shadows of the past and there is nothing we can do to change them. If we interfere much more then we already have it will bring the full wrath of the Old Mother down upon us and our quest will be for nothing. I just hope her wicked gaze isn't on us right now."

"Are you saying that she can see us?" Arthur felt a shiver run up his spine as if he could feel the Old Mother's eyes on him.

"She can see everything." Jasper lowered his voice. "She is probably enjoying watching us run around, so sure that we will fail that she doesn't need to raise a finger to stop us. Her vanity may be our advantage."

"I hope you're right or…" But Arthur was cut off as he heard the familiar sound of feet running towards them. He turned in time to see a familiar brother and sister trying to stay ahead of a small group of Camelot soldiers. Their brown hair was just as messy as the last time Arthur had seen them. He had never gotten a very good look at the boy but when he saw his sister he immediately knew whom they were.

"Jay?" The last time Arthur had seen her she had been pulled through a door by a bunch of shadows. This must be where they took her. This must be her room. She had found her brother. Arthur took a step towards them, but Jasper caught his arm.

"Don't, Arthur." He warned.

"She's the reason we're here." Arthur explained. "Merlin and I came here to save her and her brother. I'm not leaving here without them."

"You cannot disturb this event." Jasper hissed. "We were able to come with you because the event you interrupted in our room was not major. In each room there is one event you can never meddle with. The last moment cannot be changed."

"What do you mean the last moment?" Arthur tried to pull away but Jasper's grip was tight for a ghost.

"You know what I mean." Jasper pulled him further away from the children.

"Their last living moment." Arthur realized. He stopped struggling for a minute and looked back at the children. They were making their way towards the cliff. "How do you know this is their last moment?" Arthur turned back to Jasper.

"Ghosts can tell. When you have a last moment you will understand." Jasper tried to make him see reason. "There is nothing you can do."

"I promised to save them." Arthur argued, struggling again. "I don't break my promises." Jay and Owen ran past them. Jay glanced over at them for a moment, surprised, but Owen pulled on her arm and they kept going, the soldiers close behind.

"You're going to get yourself killed one of these days thinking like that! You can't save everyone!" For a moment the two of them were silent. Jasper's eyes were lowered and Arthur's were wide. He could sense this was about more then him.

"A friend of yours." Arthur put the pieces together.

"Joone." Aida whispered beside them. "She got too close to us and too protective. She was willing to do anything to keep us safe, to keep her promise to protect us."

"Look what happened to her." Jasper's voice sounded broken. "I'm just glad the Old Mother never got her soul."

"I'm sorry." Arthur felt Jasper's grip slacken and his hand fell away, falling limply at his side. He looked back to Jay and Owen who had made it to the cliff, stopping abruptly when they saw the jagged rocks bellow. They spun around to face the soldiers slowly approaching them.

"If we defeat the Old Mother you won't have to break your promise." Arthur heard Aida say. "If we do this everyone will be free."

"I know." And Arthur did know. He felt the marble in his pocket and he vowed that he wouldn't stop until the Old Mother was gone for good.

Jay and Owen tried to back away from the soldiers but there was nowhere else for them to go. Owen was shaking with fear.

"I don't want them to take me." He clung to his sister for dear life.

"I know, Owen." Jay took a deep breath. "I promised I would never let them take you. Have I ever broken one of my promises?"

"No." Tears made tracks through Owen's ash-covered face.

"Owen." Jay turned towards her brother. "Owen, look at me." Reluctantly he tore his eyes away from the advancing soldiers and looked up at his sister, seeing her kind, soft eyes.

"I will never let them take you from me." She tried to make her voice sound as strong as possible to vanquish her brother's fears.

"Jay." Owen cried.

"We'll always be together, you and me." Jay tried to smile but it was halfhearted. "No matter what happens Owen just remember that I love you."

"I love you too, Jay." Owen's eyes were filled with tears and Jay was doing her best to hold hers back, but even so some slipped past her defenses. She wrapped her arms around her little brother, wishing there could have been more she could have done for him, but this was all that was left. She promised that she would never let Owen be taken away from her and she intended to keep that promise, no matter what.

"Hold tight to me, Owen." Jay told him and he wrapped his small arms around her. "Together."

"Together." Owen agreed, and then they jumped. The soldiers scrambled forward to pull them back but they had already disappeared over the edge.

Arthur, Aida and Jasper ran to the edge but all they saw were crashing waves. There was no sign of the children anywhere. They were just gone and all Arthur could do was watch. He knew that the Old Mother had wanted him to see this, wanted him to know what it felt like to fail. She wanted to make him feel despair and doubt about their quest. Maybe it would end the same way, with them all falling.

But seeing this did the opposite for Arthur. Instead of making him doubt, it lit the fire inside him. He had no doubts. They were going to put an end to the Old Mother so she would never be able to do this again.

The scene seemed to speed up. The sun set and the moon rose high into the sky, the soldiers were long gone now, but the cliff wasn't deserted. The three of them heard the wails as someone cried at the edge. A young woman was kneeling there, her face in her hands as she wept. Her long wavy brown hair fell around her shoulders, shaking as her body was racked with sobs. A young man knelt beside her, holding her close as they mourned.

"The scene is changing, resetting the story. We need to move now." Aida grabbed Jasper and Arthur's wrists, one in each hand, and pulled them towards the door. The world around them seemed to be pealing away, the pieces swirling around, ready to create a new scene. If they didn't move quickly they too would be swept up in this storm. The young man and woman disappeared in front of their eyes. The pieces of them falling away.

Aida grabbed the handle and thrust open the door, throwing the other two inside and following close behind. The storm beat against the door as it closed, as if trying to grab our heroes.

But the door had closed and now they were somewhere new.

Thanks for reading and please help me keep going with your life sustaining REVIEWS!

LightningBolt21: Hope you feel better soon and get back on your feet. Keep writing your story, because I will be looking for it.

Hope you all keep following because the differences between Arthur's world and these alternate ones aren't always easy to tell and the shadows are catching up with them.

See you all next time.