A/N Alright children, this wraps up the three parter. Now…for those of you who don't like Dark!Merlin or Dark!Arthur…I'd suggest not reading this. It's pretty dark and very depressing. Uhhh…yeah It kinda depressed me. Okay but this is it! Enjoy….?

Lacuna: a blank space; a missing part –AND- Apostasy: desertion or departure from one's faith, principles, or party.

Emrys let a small smirk creep up his face when he heard the long forgotten name spoken by the long gone friend.

Merlin...how long that had been since he'd heard that name.

He'd forgotten it. Merlin was dead. Long gone. He was murdered ten years ago. Along with hope of a bright future for Camelot and the friendship of the inseparable prince and servant.

Emrys stood up straight and strong above the king below him. Seeing the fear course through the king of the burning city was both unnerving and satisfying. Mostly satisfying.

He smiled darkly down at the burning eyes of his broken hope for a now shattered destiny. The victorious smirk then turned to a look of disgust when the thought of what Camelot's golden age might have looked like if this king had tried to see a new light to magic.

He broke it. Shattered it like fragile glass.

Merlin fell back hard against the forest ground, the young warlock tried to ignore the violent act and instead tried to reason with the half-mad with rage prince. "Arthur, Arthur please, please don't do this. You have to listen-"

"WHY would I listen to YOU sorcerer!" The prince spat, the fury that burned in his eyes could have sent any great man running in fear.

"My Father is DEAD because of you, YOU KILLED HIM!" The voice rose to such a high level that it seemed echoed throughout the forest.

"NO! Arthur I didn't! I tried to save him! He-"

Suddenly, a sword was pointed at his chest and he felt it push against him only slightly, but the threat was evident.

"No...No..."

The young Pendragon eyed the warlock with such madness and hate that it sent chills of fear running down his spine. "Don't try to save yourself you coward. You were plotting his downfall all this time. My father was right, he'd always been right. And I will carry out the punishment he set for the filth like you..."

Merlin tried to find any hint of remorse, of forgiveness in his eyes, something that would make him believe that the friend he thought he had, would not go through with this.

Nothing. There was nothing but pure hate.

Hate was the one that drove the sword through his chest - and killed him.

Emrys eyed him coldly as the flashback receded then turned around, dark cloak flowing behind him and swiftly walked over to where his satchel waited for him. Gently, Emrys reached in and pulled out a very familiar crystal.

Slowly, the dark haired man walked back to the kneeling king whose eyes had never strayed away from the dark figure.

Emrys slowly leaned down and held up the crystal that glistened like liquid fire in the surrounding flames.

The king managed to tear his eyes away from the hypnotizing crystal and glare coldly at the sorcerer before him.

"How did you get that?" The king snarled finally finding some of the confidence he had been lacking the second he set eyes on his used-to-be-dead manservant.

The dark haired man smirked icily. "Does it matter that I have it? I'll only use it...for your own good." The smirk faded into a furious gaze and Arthur visibly flinched at the words that had been used all those years ago.

"You have magic...How...Why...?" The prince looked so defeated and shocked that the warlock was afraid he might faint.

"...Does it matter how that I have it? I'll only use it for your own good..." He said calmly but firmly.

Arthur shifted uncomfortably as the memory pounded through his head. The king felt so inferior under the burning gaze. Trying to distract himself, he focused on the pain in his side...at last that would divert him from the hurt that was even more intense.

"I want you to look hard at this Arthur; I want you to see the future that we could have built together. Then you destroyed because of foolish words that your father spoke."

"It's him! HE'S THE ONE! The sorcerer...he...plotted this..." The mad king's dying words would imprint themselves in Arthur's memory forever.

The middle aged king would have punched him in the face if he could've freed his hands; instead he mustered up his fiercest glare and stared hard at the man before him.

Emrys smirked seeing the pathetic response then turned his gaze bad towards the crystal. Not even muttering a word, the image of fire slowly began to swirl into something entirely new.

Arthur's eyes immediately fixed themselves on the display of magic and found that try as he might, he could not look away.

A flash of brilliant blue sky filled the crystal.

Arthur was sitting on his thrown listening carefully to a man bound by chains. The king mouthed something and the man bound in chains was released. A knight to his right could be seen mouthing something that looked like 'sorcerer' as he gestured to the now free man.

Merlin was kneeling before the king. And a man behind him put a silky dark blue cape around his shoulders.

Arthur smiled down at his servant and reached out a hand to for him to grasp.

Arthur and Merlin were standing on the balcony both garbed in fine robes, Merlin's of dark blue and Arthur's of the regent's attire. Both were smiling and looking down at a cheering crowd

Gwen was sitting on the thrown next to Arthur when their child ran up to them, both parents happily scooped up their son.

Merlin stood in front of a small child and suddenly the ground started to bloom with flowers on the court room. The delighted child cheered and clapped its hands.

Merlin slowly looked up at the king and gave a genuine Merlin smile.

Suddenly the world flashed back into focus and Arthur couldn't help himself when he whipped his head away from the crystal and started to pant heavily.

"No..." Arthur breathed. That was not the future that would've been...it couldn't be. Magic was evil. Evil did not bring such joy. These were twisted lies that this sorcerer was conjuring. LIES!

Emrys stared hard at the king who refused to look back in his.

"We both know that this could've been the future Arthur...if you had not been so blinded by hate and sorrow...you might have seen something new, something much brighter than the darkness your father showed you." The dead voice of the sorcerer penetrated Arthur's thoughts like a blade slicing the joy that was once there...or had it ever been there?

"And you destroyed it. Now I want you to look at the future that you have created."

Arthur slowly turned his eyes back to Emrys and tried to not let it once again fall on the crystal.

It must have been magic that once again made his eyes turn back to the magical artifact.

Yes that was it.

The sky was bleeding red with flames that erupted from the ground.

A roar of such intensity echoed through the ground and screams of fear spread through grounds so quickly it's like a plague.

The dragon soars out of the sky and sets building after building aflame.

A voice commands this dragon to destroy the now burning city.

Their son is sitting alone in his room, crying for his mother and father who are not there to comfort him.

The dead body of Leon fills the crystal.

Gwen is in the throne room talking in small voices alone with Lancelot and she moves closer until their bodies are touching. Suddenly, she embraces him and they kiss. Kiss after kiss they stay locked into each other's embrace.

They finally pull away and Gwen mutters. "I love you Lancelot."

Arthur didn't realize he was screaming until he finally pulled away from the crystal.

The king tried with all his might not to let his weakness show to the warlock staring at him.

Something inside him died, right then, a vast void was the only thing that filled Arthur's chest. A gaping hole.

Tears streamed down his face, but the king's livid expression remained as he stared at Emrys.

"You feel it now, don't you Arthur. You feel the emptiness."

Boiling. The pain was excruciating, he was dying. He had been killed...by the hands of Arthur. How else could he explain the look of horror and madness that covered every inch of his once-friend's face?

For just a moment it looked as though the prince might try to save him...but that was shattered when he gave the warlock a dirty look then turned his back on him forever more.

Then. Something happened.

Anger. Seething, burning anger filled the dying man. It was so utterly intense that he felt it rip through his body and flare intensely in the hole that was now in his chest.

He'd killed him. After all he'd done to keep him safe. After everything he'd done to ensure his path to king was completed, the prince had turned his back on him.

He'd murdered him.

NO!

It would not end here. He would not let everything he'd worked for go to waste. This would not be the end of magic. He would not let his failed destiny ruin EVERYTHING he'd worked for.

He. Would. Not. Die.

And just as the thought came up, a burning sensation filled him once again, but this time, when he looked down to see the mess that was now his chest, all he viewed through the torn fabric was a scar, a permanent reminder of his failure.

Though the physical wound was healed by his hate, the hole in his soul would forever be there.

That was when he vowed he would destroy Camelot, he would rebuild it. Create a new king, and new kingdom. He would forget about Merlin.

Merlin had failed; he'd been murdered at the hands of Arthur.

And now it was Emrys' turn.

Emrys cocked his head trying to catch the gaze of the broken king.

"It's a terrible feeling. Isn't it?"

Arthur refused to look at the evil man in front of him. The one who had shattered everything he once had. Killed it...

"Yes, it hurts to have everything suddenly ripped away from you, suddenly everything is revealed, and then...it betrays you. Kills you. Your whole life doesn't mean anything now that what you've worked for your whole life - is gone." The soft tone of voice was so eerie that Arthur felt chills of complete dread run down his spine.

"But don't worry," The dark man cooed standing up and looking down at the king. "I'm sure you'll find some way to fill that gap...I did."

Arthur's head snapped up, but his eyes only saw the swish of Emrys's cape as he turned to leave the broken king.

Emrys crept back into the shadows and mounted the stallion patiently waiting.

"Enjoy the rest of your future...My king." The dark figure gave a mock bow, then turned his stallion and galloped away like a shadow forever leaving its being.

The rest of the party quickly dismissed itself and followed their leader back into the darkness.

Eventually the chains fell off the kings hands, but the ones around his heart never did.

And never would.

For five years the king would search for his warlock. Dead or alive, he embarked on countless missions searching for him.

He would try and find his friend. And beg for the forgiveness of what he'd done.

But all he would find was silence...loneliness...The fear of what could have possibly happened to him...the fear of him...

But mostly, he searched for the only one that could ever fill the gaping hole that had filled his chest the day he had put one in the warlock's.

He never found him.

Ever again.

…so… *looks around guiltily* Wha-uh-what did you think? *gulps* Yeah, that was pretty dark, but you know what? Merlin's not gonna take any crap from anyone, even Arthur! Rrrggg….okay so that's the end of the three parter which I officially deem:

The Burning City

I might actually turn this into a story…who knows. Would you guys want that? Give me your thoughts! :D

Okay, enough of that, we're moving on to actually suggested words! First up, is the first person who suggested a word: momo9momo This is gonna be a little cute one because poor cooking-ninja 18 is about to go mad with all the darkness!.. It's just going to keep going from the first person who suggested a word, to the last. So yeah.

Okay well I hope you enjoyed! And please REVIEW! :D You guys are awesome at that :P

Next up: Expectorate: coughing, hawking, when one is sick –AND- Valetudinarian: A weak or sickly person. (I like this word so I added it lol)

DragonGem777