A/N: This chapter is a lot darker than the other's and the next few of them are going to be similar to this. You have been warned.

-Four months later-

Richard had publicly announced the death of his step son, his wife and his "butler's" son. The announcement had shaken the company, but Richard, being the tycoon that he was, was able to twist it into a story of how he would use their life insurance to better the company. After pouring ten million pounds into the UK market and 20 million dollars in the US market, he was able to bounce his stock up fifty points.

Two birds with one stone and a couple mil in profit. What a glorious day it is.

The fire at the mansion was declared an accident, and it was believed that Arthur and Merlin had been the only fatalities. Richard had confessed that he only would use propane to cook and had an inspection done. After a touch of bribery, it was only natural that they declared the fire was caused by a leaky fuel line.

Uther and Ygraine grieved for their only son, but little did they know, he had decided to join the Knights with Gwen and Morgana. He had to let them think he was dead otherwise they were a target, and Arthur could not deal with losing another loved one.

Richard pushed the money he made back from his investments into the Purge, but a more sinister plot was being developed. The white jewel with Hunith's soul burned a hole in his pocket, a hole that only something cutting edge could fill. His mind frequently flew through various magical text, all dating back to the mythical days of Camelot. He researched Necromancy, Possession, Demon Magic, but nothing seemed quite as interesting as the topic of a Chimera.

-o-

Gwen had begun to understand life—or so she thought. She spent her time with less yelling and less swearing and more passion and forgiveness. She had fallen from her First Officer position into a more lenient Third Officer position, which allowed more flexible hours and less pay, but it also gave her time to spend with someone she'd been missing for quite some time. Morgana.

They weren't dates, not really. It was just to the cinema, and then maybe dinner. Gwen was adamant that she wasn't ready for a relationship, and Morgana was okay with that because just spending time with her was good enough.

As the days turned into months, they started seeing each other more and more, and soon Morgana was practically living out of Gwen's fat, something she couldn't help but smile about every time she woke up, knowing that Gwen was only a room over.

-o-

Dear Diary,

I think I'm starting to get Gwen back and it feels just so amazing. I want to make it clear that I do NOT take pleasure in the fact that Lance is dead, but I look at this like it was a "meant to be" kinda thing, you know? Ugh, it's difficult, because I want to be so close to her, yet I know that Morgause still disapproves and this band on my wrist can only contain her for so long.

She still scares me, and yet she's my best friend.

Love,

Morgana.

-o-

Arthur had begun his preliminary training. It was a six month course to get into the Knights because unlike Gwen, he wasn't a genius for combat and he had a lot to learn—but Arthur was a skilled swordsman and that won him many points with the Knight's military wing.

He had learned a lot about the Knight's since he'd arrived, about how they weren't just militant rebels, but had a science and research wing, a medical wing, a military wing, a political wing, and an education wing, that helped educate higher officers of almost every government in the world about Magic, about how it's used and the risks. Apparently Magic was as common as being left handed, and the Knight's were an organization that had been built to protect that and those who were magical.

Arthur had also found out the real meaning of the Purge. It wasn't to kill the magical creatures but was to take their power and collect it within a few select people, a few magical and a few not. He learned that when you drink the blood or eat an organ of a magical creature, its blood reacts with yours and its antibodies magical-ize your body, similar to how a mother's body feminizes a male fetus in the womb. Eating the rich organs like the kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, brain, can give you an intense boost in magic, back in the days it was a common way for bandits to get "high", and just like a drug, you can over dose.

Mordred was a poster child for that. Magic twisted his body and soul, making him a shell of his former sell, driving him deep into madness.

The most important thing that Arthur had learned over the last three months, however, was how to deal with pain. He was slowly getting over the fact that Merlin, his Merlin, was gone. At first it had been cold and dry, like frostbite, but as time went on he became calmer, and he started to think less of Merlin and more of now. He started to wake up without having cried into his pillow the night before. He started to live again.

Almost three months after Merlin's death, Arthur felt ready to really flourish again. He was scoring higher and higher in his testing with the Knights, and he was waking up brighter and happier and with a new purpose. There was a cute woman by the name of Mithian who worked the reception's desk at HQ.

He was going to ask her out for coffee tomorrow.

-Eight months later-

Merlin hurt. He hurt bad. His mind was slow and groggy. He couldn't see anything around him, but at the same time he wasn't sure if his eyes were open. There was a comforting glow though, not light or heat but, something, something was in the darkness with him. It made him feel like he was going to be okay, like he was going to make it.

I'll come back for you, Arthur. I will.

"Merlin!"

Arthur sat up in his bed. There was a thin layer of sweat glazing his body. His eyes stung. He had been crying. He sank into the bed and placed his hands over his face. Every. Single. Night. He couldn't go just one night without thinking of Merlin.

He felt the metal of Merlin's ring on his forehead and pulled his hand away to look at it. The silver had become dark and tarnished from wear, the red jewel at the tip was all but glowing. He should have taken it off to clean it but he couldn't bear to part with it, not even for a second.

Even though it was so long ago, Arthur couldn't help

"Everything okay?"

Arthur turned laid back down in bed and wrapped his arms around Mithian. He cautiously ran his fingers through her hair, the texture, the feeling, it wasn't right, it wasn't Merlin.

"Nothing... Just a bad dream is all," he cooed, and he held her close, trying so hard to feel everything he felt for Merlin with her. He tried until he fell asleep, where his dreams reunited him with his love once again.

-o-

Gwen found herself falling back in love with Morgana again. She wasn't ready for a relationship, but they had spent all their free time together—it was like the old times again. Gwen still missed Lance every day, but it was getting easier, better. She was stronger. Her voice was booming when she talked now and she was nowhere near as shrill or tyrannical as she used to be. She attributed this to her lax job and happy life style, but deep down she knew better, she knew that it was because she had been with her true love again.

Gwen wanted to wait a little longer though, just to be sure. She and Lance had been together for a long time, and she knew that this was a post relationship high, something that could fall just as fast as it built up. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Morgana again. Gwen couldn't live with her self if that happened.

They were having dinner again tomorrow, and Gwen realized that at the end of her day, the only important thing was Morgana. She had to take a chance; she had to let herself go, even though it was against her better judgment.

-o-

Richard had finally begun his project. He ran his hands along the large sedated lion in front of him. He was such a magnificent creature. A large golden mane, powerful teeth, Richard lifted each paw and pushed gently on the middle, extending the claws. Fierce and powerful, perfect.

Richard picked up a bone saw and turned it on. The vibration filling his hand, he placed it against the still breathing lion's leg, it twitched a little in its drug induced slumber. Not enough sedatives... oh well, Richard thought.

He had to be quick with the wet pieces of flesh he had stripped from the lion and various other animals. This would only work if the organ's we're still alive. The wings of an eagle, magically enhanced to have three times the wing span. The back legs of a lion and the arms of a moose, the head of a goat, and a bull with a third head being the snake that extended from where the tail would be. The torso of a bear and, finally, the heart of a human, inside it the white jewel he had created months ago.

Together, at once, Mordred flipped the switch of his machine, and with a few Old English words, electricity spun a thread of life from multiple receptors across the room. The platform rose into the sky and the top of the building opened, breaking the cover of the storm. Lighting was attracted instantly, and with help from Mordred, it found its target: the crudely stitched together body of a creature only Satan himself could think of.

As the platform lowered, Richard's eyes were wide in surprise. The stitches were gone and skin seemed to have grown over, fur from the animals had mixed and spread, creating beautiful designed along the body, feathers, scales, fur mixed together in a beautiful mural that spanned the length of the creature. Its eyes opened slowly, and as all of the mouths opened at the same time, a wail of pain escaped the lips and Richard held up a gauntlet. He flexed his fingers inside it and watched as he thought the creature into submission. He forced it to walk on its sore muscles and he almost laughed as it did its best to reject him, but his thoughts and Mordred's magic of metal and technology were too much for the creature. It bowed before him, just as Richard had wanted.

"Welcome back, Hunith," Richard mocked, a sly grin covering his face. "You're going to be very useful for the first time in our entire marriage. Lock her away."

Mordred nodded and did his best to place a magical chain around the creature's body, being in the body of a child made things difficult sometimes, especially when the enemy is five times your size.

I'm so sorry, Merlin, my baby, I'm so sorry for what he did to you.

-Twelve Months Later-

Merlin could see daylight now. He wasn't ready yet, not really. He felt stronger, stronger than the day before, but still weaker than tomorrow. The voice in his head kept telling him that it was alright, that things were going to be okay. The time he had spent in this place was endless, he knew that it was magical and he knew whatever it was had saved him from death the night he faced Mordred. The only thing that kept him going was the reunion with Arthur and the fact that he was still alive. He could feel him, he still wore his ring, and that had a bond with Merlin, something that dimensions couldn't but off.

It's going to be a while longer, but we'll be together soon, okay? I love you, Arthur Pendragon, I really do.

-o-

"Kill him." Richard commanded.

Hunith tried so hard to resist Richard's thoughts, but they were sharp in her mind like a sword on fire. Hunith couldn't bring her eyes to the target in front of her. It was a little boy, no older than six or seven. Richard had been testing her as hard as he could, but this, this was different. This time he had wanted to test how far he could push her, how far he could test her spirit before she broke.

The boy tried to draw himself back into the corner of the room. The monster in front of him was something he only heard of in faerie tales. He was waiting for a superhero now, waiting for someone to save him. He pulled his little blanket close to him. He was still in his pajamas but they were soaked with his own urine. He tried to scream and call out, but he could barely muster up the courage to breathe, let alone call for salvation.

"P-please..." the boy croaked. "I-I just w-w-w-want my mommy." He started to cry again at the end of his last words and Hunith whimpered at the boy—he looked so much like her Merlin.

Richard held his hand out and closed his eyes. He let the thoughts of murder flow through his mind, down his arm, into the gauntlet, and into Hunith's mind. He repeated the scene over and over again in his head. Mordred watched with his eyes wide, waiting, a large twisted grin on his face.

She tried. She tried so hard. She didn't want to do this; she didn't want any of this. But she couldn't control herself anymore. She felt the teeth of all her heads sink into hot flesh and her hooves smash into the fragile skeleton that was beneath her, venom, saliva, and sin pouring into the young frame. In just a few bites, the body below her stopped screaming and fell limp, the taste of iron and hate on her tongues.

Mordred laughed as hard as he could, his shrill voice echoing through the laboratory, the feeling of success overcoming him. He wiped a few drops of blood from his face, bringing them to his lips. Richard clapped and Hunith turned around, bearing her blood stained teeth from all the faces she carried, tears rolling from every single eye.

"Enough of you," Richard said firmly. "Mordred, put her away." Richard left the lab and walked up into his new mansion with his new wife and his new step son and his new life and his new plans and everything was just... well... Perfect.

-o-

Morgana stretched and arched her back as the morning light irritated her eyes, breaking through the window. Her hand came down hard on the person beside her.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Morgana said through a yawn. She smiled cheerily, her teeth radiating a shine from the sunlight. Her black hair, even though messy, still looked professional, something Gwen had always envied and cherished about her, the small things, they were perfect.

"It's alright, really," Gwen said irritably, once she realized she was staring, and Morgana didn't even notice that the response was awkwardly late, she herself had been fantasizing as well. Gwen gave Morgana a toothy smile and sat up to kiss her. They spent the night together last night for the first time since Morgana had left, and later that day they were going to see Arthur, for the first time in months, it was, in her mind, a great day.

-o-

Arthur was walking along the lake. His royal clothes gently drug along the ground. It was a beautiful day, the lake was reflecting an almost cloudless sky, and of course, Merlin was with him.

"You know, sire, I like it when you show this side of you," Merlin remarked. He was a few paces behind Arthur, dragging behind like he usually did. It was funny, no matter how obnoxious Merlin was, Arthur couldn't be annoyed for long, just one flash of that smile and Arthur could feel himself melt away into a world where he wasn't "king" or had responsibility, but into a world that consisted of Merlin and himself, of Merlin and Arthur, two sides of the same coin.

"What do you mean? I am always this romantic," Arthur replied. He held a hand to his chest, pretending to be offended. Merlin smiled at him. Arthur's hand was in his, they were together, like he knew they'd always be. Merlin lifted his hand and the water from the lake began to move and shift, the water turning into something living and they danced in the sunlight, reflecting a bounty of colors across the lake and the land around it.

Arthur was mesmerized. The water took the shape of creatures he didn't know existed, something that was a fish yet not and something that was a bird but also a snake. Beside him, Merlin watched Arthur carefully, and he stepped up his game. More and more water began to pour into the sky, making a spiral of water that rotated slowly, with water creatures dancing around it. Arthur couldn't help but laugh in excitement.

Arthur turned to Merlin and walked over to him quickly, planting a firm kiss on his lips. His tongue darted deep into Merlin's mouth and he wrapped both his arms around him, pulling him as close as he could get. Merlin whimpered as he did every time Arthur kissed him and he felt a shadow overcome them.

And then they were wet. Merlin hadn't meant to let go of the water, but every time Arthur kissed him he would lose control of everything. The lake was dark and muddy and Arthur was laughing and Merlin was smiling with those big ears and that beautiful face and those cheekbones and—

"Arthur?" the priest asked quietly, his voice low enough only for those close enough to hear. "Did you hear me?"

"Oh yes, of course," Arthur replied automatically, shaking the daydream from his head. He looked forward with a serious look on his face. It had everything it should have had, except for the expression of true love. "I do," he finally said, half forcing a smile.

"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The small crowd behind them roared, Arthur peaked a glance to where his mum and dad should be sitting, empty, of course.

Arthur pulled Mithian close and kissed her with everything he wished he could pour into Merlin. His eyes became wet and red and Mithian held him close, pulling his face into the crevice of her neck, stroking his hair with her hand.

"Aw, Arthur," she whispered in his ear. "I love you, too."

I'll be there as fast as I can Arthur, we'll be together again soon.