The next time he set forth across Europe he was met with a pestilence he had could never I have imagined, he helped where ever he could. The Black Death had spread across the land killing nearly half the population.

Merlin first came across it in the country of the mogul people, but it spread before him as he travelled west, and even crossed the channel to England. He helped where he could, but it was sometime before he had worked out it was the fleas from the rats that were spreading the disease as they moved from place to place.

He was careful to ensure that he kept free of the fleas, using magical wards to keep them away. But even as powerful as he was he could do nothing to stop the spread, only managing to save a few souls as he travelled.

It made his travel difficult, as most places banned travel in an effort to try to stop the spread. But using his magic he moved across Europe, making sure he wasn't responsible for taking the death anywhere new. When he reached the English Channel he was distressed to hear it had already reached England, and was killing so many people that they were digging their own graves, so that if they became ill they could fall in them, and the remaining folk could just fill them in.

Merlin travelled west across the country, and was amazed when he reached a place called Salisbury when he could see, from miles away, the spire of their new Cathedral. He was told by locals it had been built, a hundred years previously, as a place to worship their new god. He wondered at how it had been built and its beauty and size, but couldn't understand the need for such a building, when no one could live within and the poor were still destitute.

He stopped in Salisbury for awhile, helping the priests look after the plague victims, before he set of once more using his magic once again to avoid the ban on travelling. As he moved closer towards the place where Camelot had once stood he visited Glastonbury, and was astounded to hear that the monks had found King Arthurs tomb with a cross belonging to him.

He went to talk to the monks, who seemed to believe they truly had found the tomb. He wished he could tell them than that Arthur didn't have a tomb as his body was waiting in Avalon to rise again. But at least his friend was still remembered.

He listened to their tales with disbelief and was upset that Gwen and Lancelot had been treated so badly by history. He laughed when he heard he had been an old man, but thought it served him right for inventing Dragoon.

After awhile he moved on to the site of Camelot and visited the lake, wishing Freya would come to see him but she never showed. He sat for a while by the lake wondering what sort of thing would prompt Arthurs return, as losing nearly half of the population had not been enough. Collecting a small amount of the gold coins from the dragons cave he decided to return once more to China, and set of back the way he had come. This time avoiding all the settlements and towns, he had had enough of death.

Once he got back to his cave he tried to blank out all the death he has seen, but he found it difficult. Merlin was by nature a healer and saver of life, to see so much death and not be able to do anything had hit him hard. He immersed himself in the dragons and their culture, avoiding as many people as he could. This went on for a couple of centuries, until Aithusa and her mate talked Merlin into once more seeking out his own kind.

So setting out once more he decided to travel following the coat line. He loved the sea and had never had much chance to spend time near it in the past. On his last trip he had found a way to use his magic to help him learn languages quickly, and he now had no trouble communicating wherever he found himself. Arriving in Italy he met a painter called Michelangelo, who was doing incredible work painting a ceiling in a place called the Sistine Chapel. He looked at the building in awe.

What he couldn't help but notice was the smell; he couldn't remember Camelot smelling so bad. He supposed it was from so many people living so close together; he was already missing his new home.

The thing that surprised him the most was the Vatican City built for the Pope and his followers. He still had problems understanding the need of such buildings, for priests and their religion, when so many people were poor. After a few weeks he left and headed to Florence where he stopped for some time.

He didn't intend to stay as long, but he met up with another painter and scientist called Leonardo de Vinci ,and was invited by him to stay for a while. He was amazed at the man's work, particularly the maps of the inside of the human body. They got on well and Merlin stayed with him in his small house. Leonardo wanted Merlin to stay with him permanently, and tried everything in his power to talk Merlin into staying.

"You are a beautiful young man, I would like to paint you, and surely you could stay longer. Or do you have a lover you need to get back to?" he asked. Merlin smiled if only he knew he was talking to a man not to short of a thousand years old!

Merlin kept telling him that he had no lover but Leonardo wouldn't let it rest. In the end Merlin told him about Freya saying she had died and so had his best friends; he no longer made close friends as he couldn't bear to part from them.

It wasn't until later that Leonardo truly understood. He had fallen down a flight stairs and would have been badly injured had Merlin not used his magic to save him. The warlock slowed down time, so he could catch the other man by the arm. After Leonardo had got over the shock, Merlin explained and they spent talked into the night. The next morning Leonardo asked Merlin if had been in love with either Arthur or Gwaine. Merlin said he had loved them both but had not been in love with them.

It soon became apparent that Leonardo was asking Merlin to be his lover. Merlin was shocked and flattered, but declined the offer. Not only did Leonardo look a bit like his older self Dragoon, but Merlin had never considered having a relationship with a man. In fact since Freya he had never thought of anyone in that way.

He had often wondered whether he had been attracted to Freya due to his magic, and the need for her to become the lady of the lake. Perhaps his magic didn't want the complication of another person in Merlin's life. That thought made him sad, he seemed to have given so much up for his gift and destiny.

The next morning he packed his few belongings and moved on once more, promising Leonardo to come back for a visit on his way back to China. Travelling on he soon passed a huge hole in the ground from where the stone was being quarried for all the stone buildings. It covered a large area and left everything covered in dust. He wondered if this need to build stone buildings had any effect on the balance of the world. It seemed to Merlin that people were taking without putting anything back. He soon realised that there was a great deal of unrest and fighting in the Europe as once more two groups of Christians were in dispute. The Catholics and Protestants couldn't get on. Would there very be a time of peace for the populations.