Author's Note: I am so sorry that it has been so long since I last updated, but, unfortunately, school must come before fan fiction. Nevertheless, the awaited finale is finally here. Hopefully I will be able to put the epilogue up soon after, and the story will be finished. As per usual, please review, and enjoy!
After Arthur and his knights got off the train (with absolutely no plan), they asked the nearest bystander where the Mystic Lake was. The kind girl gave them directions and they started that way.
It was eight o'clock by the time they got to the lake, and it was nearly deserted. Merlin was nowhere in sight and neither was Freya.
"What do we do now?" Gwaine asked. He was continuously running his hands through his hair and it was starting to get on Arthur's nerves.
"We find Merlin, obviously!" Arthur growled at him.
Gwaine just stared at him, unperturbed, "I have no idea how you ended up leading us in your past life. It just doesn't make sense. I can see everyone else being who they were, but I don't see you being a leader. Well, I don't see myself serving you either, but whatever." The group was trying to avoid using phrases that could potentially trigger flashbacks.
They had figured out that the terms Merlin, king, knights, and question words triggered flashbacks. So far, there had been only a few other memories and they were all secretly dreading the memory of their death.
Lance stepped between Arthur and Gwaine before they started to truly fight, "Come on guys, we need to work together. Let's think this through. We're looking for a place that buts up against the water. It has to be somewhere that other people cannot see nor hear. Most people wouldn't take well to seeing a lady rise from the water."
Arthur deflated and visibly calmed himself, "You're right. It'll probably be in a wooded area. The trees muffle sounds and allow for no visibility from at least three sides."
The other knights nodded, thinking. Mordred spoke up, "I snagged a map a while earlier. I found something that could work, but it's at least an hour away."
"Alright, we'll go there. Elyan, I want you to stay with Morgana and Gweneviere and keep them safe, understood?" Arthur instructed.
Gwen crossed her arms across her chest and lifted her head high. Morgana repeated this stance and said sternly, "No! There is absolutely no way that we are going to stay here while one of our best friends is missing and possibly kidnapped. Do you understand me?"
Arthur gaped slightly at Morgana while Leon sniggered, happy that for once Morgana's attitude was aimed at someone else. After a few seconds, Arthur nodded his consent and murmured something about Gwen spending too much time with Morgana. The two girls smiled at each other gleefully before turning and following the knights.
An hour later found the heroes at the self same grove that Merlin had been in hours ago. There was no one there.
Gwaine punched a tree and swore loudly, startling some birds from their nests. They heard a splash in the water and turned to look upon a mystical sight. The gates of Avalon stood ajar, about eighty percent below the water. They could hear the sound of many people talking and laughing behind the doors.
Coming out from inside the doors and rising above the water was a girl. She was wearing a gorgeous, medieval looking, mauve and purple gown with gold threading and ribbon. She had mesmerizing eyes and a haunted yet beautiful face. Her black hair hung loose behind her as she regarded them with curiosity. It was Freya.
"Freya! I'm so glad we found you! Have you seen Merlin?" Morgana called out to the girl who was sweeping her gaze across the clearing.
Freya's eyes landed on Arthur's and froze with hatred. The heroes stilled as they watched Freya stalk closer to their king. When she spoke, it was so cold and… evil that they could hardly believe this was the same girl who had pronounced her love of Merlin not so long ago, "Of course I have seen Merlin. I helped capture him after all. And look who shows up to save him! Ha! The infamous Arthur Pendragon! You killed me! And still my love took care of you. He didn't even grieve for me you know. He didn't want you to find out he was hiding anything. He was too scared. You know, Merlin was afraid that you were going to kill him when you found out about his magic.
"But what you did was worse. You tore him apart with two words. He showed you his magic and you, the great king, the once and future king, loved by all his people, said to him, 'Leave me,' when you found out. You are a monster! You deserve to die. So does Merlin. He has lived far too long on borrowed time. Soon, he will be dead and will join me in Avalon. There, we can truly be together and I can let go of my hatred. We will finally be together." Freya finished.
Truth be told, Arthur was panicking. He had no idea what to do. Then he thought, what would Merlin do. He thought about all of the days that he knew Merlin in this life. He thought about the few memories that returned of his old life. And he knew what Merlin would say.
Arthur raised his chin and looked Freya right in the eye and said, "Freya, I am sorry I killed you and I am sorry Merlin angered you. That is no excuse to do what you are doing and I know that you love him with all your heart. You must be spelled then. So, I forgive you Freya Avalon. I forgive you."
For a second, Freya couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't speak. He said she was under a spell. He said sorry. He forgave her. And, she remembered, Merlin forgave her as well.
Then, the spell was broken. It only took three words spoken twice, once by the Once and Future King, and once by his Warlock. Freya, who was by now at the edge of the water, stumbled, and was only saved from falling by Percival reaching out to grab her arm. The big knight smiled at her.
Once he let go, Freya sat down hard. She started to cry and the entire lake started to shift and tumble and crash against the shore. "What have I done?" Freya cried, "I betrayed Merlin! Even under a spell I shouldn't have betrayed him. I hurt him too! And now they're going to kill him and I can't do anything. I have promised to stay out of Avalon until either they come out, or Merlin does." She started to cry harder.
Gwen went and sat next to the girl, rubbing relaxing circled on her back and murmuring soothing words to her. Eventually, Freya quieted and asked, "What can I do to help?"
Arthur nodded at her, "You can start by telling us where Merlin is."
Freya swallowed and took a deep breath, "They are keeping him in an outer room of Avalon. It is where, if you have the correct devices and spells, you can visit the dead. They are using it to focus the power of the Earth when they kill Merlin at midnight. It is also an opportune room to keep your memories stored. When they released the memories of Camelot, they released yours as well, but they captured those and used them to psyche Merlin out enough to come visit me. It worked." She finished bitterly.
"Can you get us in there?" Lance asked eagerly. He must be spending too much time with Gwaine. He was starting to want to rush into battle headfirst instead of strategizing.
Freya nodded but then said, "But first, you must know that every enemy that Merlin has ever faced is in that room right now. The only exceptions are Morgana and Mordred, who Merlin redeemed by trusting them. They also do not have magic this time around."
Mordred and Morgana looked down at their feet. They did not want their memories to come back. They didn't want to remember betraying their friends.
Arthur looked at them sympathetically before asking, "Is there a way to get us in there unnoticed?"
Freya thought and then her eyes lit up, "Merlin taught me a spell a while back to make me invisible, just in case I couldn't dissolve in time. But it will only last for ten minutes. You have to have a plan before you go in. Oh! Oh my goodness!"
"What is it?" Asked Gwen hesitantly. She had been sitting next to the girl when she surged up and stumbled farther into the water.
Freya reached into the door into Avalon and pulled out a sword. It was Excalibur and it practically sang as Freya returned it to its rightful owner and said, "Now, you can make your plan. This sword will cut through anything, living or dead."
The knights nodded and started to strategize.
The end result was this: Arthur would take the magical sword and cut through the chains or handcuffs or ropes or whatever Merlin had that was keeping him there. The knights would stand in front of Arthur in case they started to become visible again. The girls and Elyan would stand by the entrance and stop anyone from leaving. They hoped that Merlin would take the rest from there.
The group snuck into the large room and nodded as Gwen, Elyan, and Morgana took their places. They quickly rushed along the edges of the room until they reached the front. Gwaine, Mordred, Percival, Lance, and Leon stood in front of the table that Merlin was laid on.
Merlin thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head. What in the world did Arthur and the knights think they were doing here? At least, he hoped it was Arthur and the knights. He could only see an outline made of Freya's forest green magic, but there was one very large one and one with flawless hair, so he assumed so. That's when Arthur sat on his haunches next to Merlin and started to saw through his chains. With Excalibur.
On the one hand, that was good because it meant that Freya was released from the spell, but on the other, how long would it be before Nimueh and Morgause noticed the copious amounts of magic just pouring off of the sword. It was forged in a dragon's breath, it had powerful magic.
He heard Arthur quietly whisper to Mordred, who was closest to help him make sure the chains didn't rattle when he finally got it off. Merlin glared at them out of the corner of his eye and whispered just as quietly, "Arthur! What are you doing here?"
At any other time, seeing and Arthur made out of green magic do a double take might have been funny, but not at the brink of almost certain death for everyone he loved.
Arthur continued to cut through the chains as he asked, "How can you see us?"
"I can see magic, and I didn't think you believe in magic anyways. But that's not the point. What are you doing here, it's dangerous?" Merlin pressed.
"We know it's dangerous, idiot! That's why we're rescuing you. And I've had some… flashbacks to my time in Camelot, so I know you're telling the truth."
"What?" Merlin asked, but Arthur was saved from answering when the chains finally gave way to his sword and Mordred barely kept them still. Slowly, carefully, they inched them off until Merlin was able to roll off the table with no one noticing.
He whispered to Arthur, "So now what's the plan?"
Gwaine came back towards them and hunkered down, "We were hoping you could help us with that mate. You see, the spell only lasts us ten minutes." Ironically enough, at that moment, the spell wore off and the assembly grew silent as they saw the intruders appear.
Merlin glared at Arthur in a promise to talk about this later before he weaved his way through his friends and to the front of their group.
For a moment, Merlin could see fear in Morgause's and Nimueh's eyes, but they hid it quickly. Morgause drawled, "Oh look, Emrys' little knights have come to rescue him. How sweet."
Merlin's voice was powerful when he spoke, "Give it up Morgause. Go peacefully back to death or I will force you there. You have a choice and you will not get another. Besides your idea was stupid anyways."
Nimueh snarled at him, "You always think that you are so smart. Even against two High Priestesses you can't figure it out. You cannot win every fight, and you will lose this one." She raised her hands into the air and started to chant. Her eyes flared gold as fire filled her cupped hands.
Merlin didn't have time for words when the sorceress threw the ball of fire. With a swish of his head, his friends were pushed out of the way and he held his hand in front of him and stopped the ball. He moved his hand in a circular motion behind the flame and watched as it extinguished itself and came back to life with two golden flares of his eyes.
He smirked at Nimueh, "Look familiar?" He pushed his hand outward and it flew at Nimueh, hitting her square in the chest and flinging her to the ground. Her 'loyal' followers parted to avoid getting his by her falling body.
Unlike him however, she didn't get back up. Merlin's eyes stayed gold as he turned his gaze towards Morgause, "Will you really fight me Morgause? I don't want to kill you, but I will if I have to. My loyalties lie only with my king and I will do anything to protect him."
Morgause tried to keep a neutral face and even tried for an evil smirk, but she didn't quite make it. "I don't need to fight you. I have others to do it for me. Attack." At her command, the hundreds of enemies crowded behind her surged forward.
Merlin sighed, evidently they were braver when they thought they had the advantage of numbers. The knights watched, awed as Merlin swung his head one way or the other, flinging about ten people at a time into the wall with bone crushing force.
Eventually, only a few stood behind Morgause.
Merlin faced some of his worst enemies and he smiled. He feared them no longer. They stared back at him, finally fearing him as they should. Morgause, Agravaine, Cendred, Tristan de Bois, Edwin, Cornelius Sigan.
Merlin spoke again, his eyes still a molten gold color, "This is your last chance. Flee with your lives and do not return. If you do, I will be waiting for you."
At this statement, all but Morgause fled. She stared resolutely up at him, "I will never flee from you Emrys. You killed my sister and you took her rightful throne from her and gave it to him." She snarled as she turned her head to indicate Arthur.
Morgause froze when a hand was placed on her shoulders. Morgana walked around Morgause and smiled to the side of her. Merlin had a full view of both their faces.
Morgana smiled again, "I don't remember you. Not really, anyways. I know that when you say sister, you mean me, but I have no idea who you are. Please, if you are my sister, then I was wrong. I was wrong to betray my family and my friends. I was wrong to hate Merlin or to fear him. It was wrong to kill my family and friends. It was wrong of me to join you. For that, I am sorry. Maybe it was my fault that you ended up so evil. Maybe it was your fault that I ended up so evil. I don't know, but I'm not evil anymore. I have a family and I have friends and Merlin forgives me. So you can rest in peace now knowing that I am avenged."
Morgause put her hand lightly on Morgana's face, as if to check that she was real, "Sister?" Morgana nodded, tears in her eyes. Morgause smiled a true smile. One of pure joy. Then she faded back into the mists of Avalon.
Morgana sobbed as her hand fell into thin air. Gwen and Merlin came up behind her and held her close to them. Eventually, everyone joined into a hug and Avalon faded from around them and they ended up on the shores of the Mystic Lake.
Merlin released Morgana when he saw Freya standing near the shore. "Freya?" He called.
She smiled hesitantly at him, but he ran to her, arms outstretched. He enveloped her in a hug and she cried into his shoulder. All was forgiven between them.
In the next few hours, the knights and royalty regained all of their memories and they came to terms with the things they did and the things they didn't do. They thanked Merlin and all begged for forgiveness for the wrongs they did to him. He forgave them easily.
They stayed there until the sun came up, talking and laughing and comparing stories. A new dawn filled the horizon and finally, finally, Merlin's world was truly complete.
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter was so short. I just thought that this would be a good place to stop. Again, hopefully I'll get the epilogue out soon. Pretty please review!