Chapter 1

Mǣte Spearca

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Danny Phantom or Merlin

Danny Fenton frowned as he flew through the field of bright green and purple doors that made up the Ghost Zone. Of late he had been feeling very displaced, and he was tired of it. He was tired of late nights fighting ghosts, catching them in a thermos and sending them back to the Zone, only for them to return the next day. He was tired of the disappointment in his teachers' eyes as he slipped out of class again. He was tired of dodging the blasts from the GIW, Valerie, even his parents. All the hunters who thought he was nothing but an emotionless ectoplasmic blob. He was tired of going to bed at one only to wake at three to catch another ghost. He was tired of the despair in his parents' eyes when they got another call from the school to say he was in trouble again. He was tired of his secret double life.

He was just plain tired.

He had decided to retreat into the Ghost Zone to have a refreshing explore, but had gone in his human form for safety. After three years of living, existing, as s strange cross between two incompatible species he had learned near full control in both his human and ghost forms. His ghost powers were easier to control in his ghost form, and some things he just couldn't do as a human, but in the Ghost Zone it was safer for him to operate as a human. Some part of him loved being in here, sure it was creepy, but there was something in the energy of the place that made him feel complete in a way that being in the Human World just didn't. Danny sighed as he passed by a large purple archway; he was tempted to look inside, but at the moment he was happier just drifting.

While part of him loved being in here, another part of him hated the inherent wrongness of the place. There were times where his status as a half ghost really got to him; his two halves were never truly meant to mix, and while usually the two coexisted perfectly, there were times where his human and ghostly instincts warred with each other. His ghost half would love nothing better than to just stay in the Zone forever, away from the troubles of the Human World, but is human half demanded that he be in the living world to experience sunlight and to keep everyone he cared for safe.

Ever since he had met Frostbite and learned to master his ghost core he had just felt so much happier in the Zone. Here he was free of the worry of being accepted for what he was. While a lot of the ghosts may disagree with him, they didn't care too much about the fact that he was only half-ghost. But if his secret was ever found in the human world... Danny shuddered at the images that leapt to mind. Faceless men digging away at him, lines of beakers filled with his blood and ectoplasm, endless tests and lots and lots of painful experiments.

Sometimes he wished there was someone like him, who knew what it was like to be terrified of going home, knowing that if you were ever discovered that it would be your end. He had tried to change things, he really had. But the idea that 'all ghosts are evil' remained no matter what he did. He couldn't do anything to change things, his parents were just too stubborn, and none of the other ghost hunters could see past the end of their ecto-guns. He just couldn't change things, no matter how much he wanted to.

Danny continued floating, it had been several hours since he'd retreated into the Zone, and he should probably be heading back, but he really didn't want to. Danny sighed, floating past a large grey rock formation. This place was so exotic, there were thousands of ghosts floating through the endless abyss, but it was always quiet until you visited someone's lair. Danny shook his head, his raven bangs falling into his eyes. He was so tired of feeling alone in the world.

Frowning Danny decided to head back. He didn't know how it worked, but he somehow always knew how to find the portal home. He flew off for a few minutes, the few ghosts he passed payed him no heed as they continued on their way. Danny figured he was probably ten minutes from his portal when he jerked, feeling a tremor in the air as a natural portal opened in front of him. Danny was moving too fast to stop, and he found himself flying through the portal and coming to a skidding halt as he landed heavily on the grass. Danny felt the cool ectoplasmic energy of the Ghost Zone disappear as the portal closed behind him.

Danny looked up; the stars in the sky automatically told him that he was back in the Human World, but at the same time it felt different. The stars themselves were slightly differently arranged to the normal Amity Park skyline. It was also very dark; Danny could automatically tell that he was nowhere near any big cities due to the lack of light pollution. The Milky Way was beautifully spread across the heavens, brightly twinkling above him. But there were more differences still. The very air around him seemed so much more... alive than anything he had ever felt back home. It was practically humming with energy that warmly touched his ghost core. Danny couldn't help the smile that came to his lips.

"Um, excuse me." Danny heard a voice pierce the night, and his eyes instantly went to its source. Even on the blackest night his eyesight was better than any human's, but the moon's glow was bright in its own regard. The young man stood just before the tree-line, his dark raven locks contrasting with his pale skin. He had bright blue eyes, sparkling oddly in the moonlight. That strange energy seemed to resonate not only through, but from the young man. But most interesting was the fact that he was holding a live flame in his hand.

"What are you doing here?" The young man questioned. To most people it wouldn't have sounded intimidating, but Danny felt the way the energy in the air thrummed with the man's changing emotions. It was beyond anything Danny had ever experienced before, even with ghosts who changed the colour of the sky around them. The man was still fairly young, maybe in his early twenties to Danny's seventeen, but the sheer power that seemed to roil around him spoke wonders. He sounded English, maybe Irish, and Danny desperately hoped that the portal had only dumped him in the States where he had chanced upon an English man.

"Um," Danny replied, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "I think I got a little lost on the way home." Danny answered, looking sadly back at the place the portal had been.

"Your accent is strange. I've never heard the like." The man said, his eyebrows creasing in confusion, but it cleared as he shook his head. "You should know that all magic is banned here."

"Magic?" Danny asked curiously. All he'd ever known was ghosts, but he had seen enough in the ghost world to not dismiss the idea immediately. His parents would, but being half-ghost tends to shift perceptions of what is impossible. The young man looked back at him, the ball of flame disappearing from his hand.

"How you managed to appear in the middle of the Darkling Woods." The man stated as if it were obvious. Danny shook his head.

"That wasn't magic; it was a naturally occurring portal between the Ghost Zone and the Real World." Danny said, watching as the young man blinked. "Um, where is the Darkling Woods exactly?" Danny asked, realising that he still had no clue where he was. Sure he could navigate a bit using the stars, but he had to know where he was starting from.

"It's on the borders of the Citadel of Camelot; the capitol of one of the Five Kingdoms of Albion." The young man offered, now eyeing Danny warily. Danny blinked he'd never heard of Albion before.

"Albion, where's that?" Danny asked before his mind came to a screeching halt. "Wait a minute, Camelot?"

The blue eyed man stared at him for a moment. "Yes, Camelot. And since it is obvious that you're a sorcerer I'll have to ask you to leave. As I said before, all magic is banned."

"Camelot, as in Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table Camelot?" Danny pressed. If he really was in Camelot then he was in a lot of trouble. Clockwork would be out for his ectoplasm, the Observants council would have his head. Camelot was supposed to be a myth. The only part of the legend that remained was Tintagel, and even there it was only rumours. If he was in Camelot... Danny gulped.

The blue eyed man raised a questioning eyebrow. "Where else would you be? No sorcerer ever comes here by accident, and while your method of arrival is unusual I must warn you that Camelot and King Arthur do not take kindly to sorcerers or magic of any kind."

"I'm a lot further from home than... Pariah, why is it always me who gets into messes with portals!?" Danny shook his head. He needed to get home, back to Amity Park. But he had no idea when or where a portal would open, and he still didn't know how to do that on his own. More than that, the usual feeling of the Zone, the cool presence that followed him everywhere was much weaker than it had ever been, like a stream compared to an ocean. It made Danny worried, he couldn't even feel home properly anymore.

"I don't know what you mean, but you should leave." The blue eyed man warned. Danny turned to face him, meeting him firmly in the eyes. Danny was surprised; in a way those eyes reminded Danny of his own when he looked in the mirror, the slightly haunted look of someone with a dark past that must be kept hidden. But Danny was scared, he was cut off from his only way home, and the man was obviously trying to send him away.

"I don't know how to get home." Danny said quietly to the air, defeat set in like a blanket over him. Here he was, stuck in a time lost to legend and he couldn't get home because the portal had closed.

"Where do you come from? If it is one of the neighbouring kingdoms I can help you get there." The blue eyed man offered kindly, despite his earlier threat.

"It's a lot farther than that, over the sea. If I'm where I think I am, my... home won't even be found for a thousand years." Danny whispered, seating himself down on the ground. He had to think things through, there had to be some way to get home. But Clockwork had told him that there were few portals that opened before the Dark Ages, something about the Zone not being stable enough yet. With the way the ambient ectoplasm felt Danny would believe it. That meant that unless he found some way...

"Magic." Danny said, looking up to the young man. "You said that magic is banned here? Is there anywhere it isn't?"

The young man scoffed. "After King Uther's Purge the Five Kingdoms all seem to despise those of the Old Religion. King Arthur has granted clemency to the Druids, but there are few practitioners left in the open. If you are looking for a Master to apprentice yourself to I suggest you abandon your quest."

Danny shook his head once more. Things didn't seem to be looking up, and this young man's obvious distrust was not helpful. "I'm not looking for a Master; I just want to go home." Danny replied. It was probably time to try a different tack. "Look, sorry. I think we got off on the wrong foot." Danny stood up, offering his hand to the young man. Hopefully he wouldn't mess history up too much if he introduced himself to the man. From what little Danny knew of the time the man was a commoner, judging by his clothes. "I'm Danny" he introduced himself as the young man tentatively shook his hand. It was a fairly safe bet that Danny wasn't dealing with any of the legends. Not King Arthur, or Lancelot or Gwaine. And if magic was banned there was no way he was dealing with...

"Nice to meet you." The young man said, shaking his hand. "I'm Merlin."

Danny froze.

Merlin looked at the young boy facing him. There was something odd about him. More than the fact than he came from a 'portal' that felt magically similar to the realm beyond the Veil. It was curious, and Merlin couldn't quite place it. He felt like he was nearly as in touch with magical energy as Merlin himself was, but at the same time the magical presence coming off him was colder than any other sorcerer he'd met. Agravaine had had little magical talent, but his magic felt slimy. Morgana's felt cold and dark, oppressive like the dark bogs where occasionally prisoners were executed.

But this boy's magic felt stranger still, it was paradoxical. It felt closer to the raw energy of the Great Dragon, but at the same time was benign like a unicorn's. It was cold, like the dorocha had been, almost touched by death. But at the same time it had an almost protective touch to it, closer to the cool depths of a lake in winter or the villia, who had healed him when he had been touched by the dorocha. Merlin couldn't figure it out at all, he just intuitively knew that the boy possessed magic. But the most interesting thing about him was the way he had frozen up when Merlin introduced himself.

Of course he had gotten that reaction when some of the younger druids met him. They were awed by the name 'Emrys'. But for someone to have that reaction to his birth name was a new experience. Danny was definitely strange. His accent and the way he spoke were unfamiliar, and some of the things he said didn't quite make sense. The Gaul's lived over the sea, but that was hardly an impossible journey, yet Danny had made it sound as though his home was much further than that. Merlin even thought he'd heard the boy say something about a thousand years from now, which from what he knew of magic was impossible.

Merlin could slow down time and freeze it, but he had never read anything about moving through time, and the sheer amount of energy needed to go a thousand years was beyond anything the Old Religion could manage. Perhaps Kilgharrah would know more about it. But then there was the fact that he had known about Arthur and the Round Table. Most of Camelot knew about the Commoner Knights and the battle that had led to their knighthood, but very few understood the significance of the Round Table. Arthur had suggested recreating it in Camelot, but the council had yet to debate and approve of it.

So how did this boy know about it? He looked to be six or so summers younger than him, and Merlin was confused by the inconsistencies of what he'd asked. He had known Camelot, but not Albion, had known about King Arthur, but seemed honestly surprised about Uther's purge on magic and seemed to know him as 'Merlin' and not 'Emrys'. And then there was what he wore. The boy bore a white tunic, a strangely bright red emblem on his chest, but it was of a fabric that Merlin had never seen before. His breeches were a shade of blue that he had only seen the nobility wear, and the weave of that too was strange. Everything about him seemed strange.

Merlin by now was very curious about the young boy, from his strange magic to his eclectic knowledge. He had tried to warn him off, lately any sorcerer he met seemed to have it in for Camelot, but this Danny hadn't shown any hostility. In fact something about his blue eyes reminded Merlin of himself, he had seen a similar look in his own eyes when he passed the mirror in Arthur's chambers. It was a haunted look, one that had crept up on Merlin over the years as he faced off hordes of revenge driven sorcerers, two seemingly immortal armies and uncounted betrayers to the throne. He wondered where this Danny, who looked barely into his manhood, had come by that look.

But that didn't stop him being friendly, and even if he turned out to be foe it tended to throw people off kilter when Merlin was friendly to them. "You still there?" Merlin asked, waving a hand in front of the boy's glazed eyes. "You froze up for a minute."

The boy shook his head, sending Merlin a confused look. "You're Merlin?" Danny asked softly in a very small voice.

"Yep, that'd be me. One and only manservant to his Highness, King Prat." Merlin beamed, ignoring the way the boy's confused look.

"And magic is banned?" The boy pressed.

Merlin frowned, his eyes dropping to the forest floor for a moment. "Yes." He answered simply.

"But, if Arthur's King and you're Merlin then how..." The boy broke off rubbing his hair. "I really am a long way from home."

"Where is home exactly?" Merlin asked.

"Amity Park." The boy supplied. "Not that that helps, it's in a country that won't be founded for over a millennium, across an ocean that no one will try to cross for five hundred years, and that's assuming I'm even close to guessing when I am." The boy shook his head ruefully. "Clockwork, how am I gonna get home?"

Merlin stared at the boy, unsure of what to make of that statement.

"It's not like I can even get back into the Zone, and even if I did, I don't think it would be my Zone." The boy rambled, seeming to forget that Merlin was even there. "Everything here feels different, strange. And you're Merlin." The boy finished, seemingly exasperated. He shook his head.

"Why do you sound so surprised by my name?" Merlin asked genuinely curious.

"Just am, guess I recognised it from somewhere." The boy answered, but Merlin could sense the half truth in it. "Clockwork's gonna kill me if I don't get home. I shouldn't be here."

"You could try just opening that thing again." Merlin suggested, but he was unsure. That 'portal' thing had felt so close to the tear in the Veil that had been worried that he was going to end up facing the dorocha again, but instead this strangely clothed boy fell out. A boy who from the sounds of it believed he came from the future.

"I didn't open it, they just open by themselves, and if you fall through you have to wait for the next one." Danny replied sadly. Merlin was suspicious, after all the only way the Veil had been opened was when Morgana had sacrificed her sister. Lancelot had had to sacrifice himself to get the thing closed again, and here this boy had just fallen out of something that felt remarkably similar. Yet he was just complaining about when the next one would open. Merlin was at a loss, really he had no clue what to do about the boy. And there was only one person, well being, that he went to when he was completely lost like this.

He just hoped that Danny wasn't scared of dragons.

AN: Okay, so I was going to hold this chapter back for a bit, but then I watched 5.03 and thought; okay I can't resist putting up a chapter where Merlin meets a benign ghost. And okay, so it's not the best chapter, but you get to see the boys' first impressions of each other. Hope you don't mind the boys being able to sense stuff about each other; it makes sense in my mind.

I hope they don't seem too OOC, but hey, it's early days.

Translation; Mǣte Spearca – Small Sparks

Cheers,

Bluerose