Hello again. Here is the third chapter, enjoy!

Chapter 3

They kept walking, and walking, and walking until Merlin thought they had gone across a couple of countries and started to wonder how big a place needed to be to have so many halls. Merlin's first impression had actually been wrong, these halls were not like the ones from the building with the red door, these ones seemed much more elegant and pleasing than the others, why? He didn't know, it was like some part of him felt at home, but he had no time to think about it because Marcus moved faster with each step he took. When Marcus finally stopped it was in front of a door colored a smooth green like some of the others they had passed, they had come across various doors of different color and shape but the only red door had been the one with the dragon head in it and the only one like that he had seen had been the one they used. When Marcus entered the room Merlin followed without thinking and so was taken aback with the situation he saw himself in. The room was small and had a couple of comfortable chairs but nothing more, on the opposite wall to the one with the door they used was another door in the corner and the wall had a big window in the middle, through the window Merlin could see an immense auditorium filled with people, more people than he had seen in practically all of his life gathered in that room, and all of them were looking right at him. When Marcus saw Merlin's "deer caught in the headlight" reaction to the view he proceeded to explain.

- This is a one way mirror, you can see all of them but they can only see a mirror -

Of course, it was obvious if he looked carefully, the people on the other side were not looking at him, they were looking at the person a little way after the mirror, whose back was to Merlin and by his movement seemed to be giving a speech. It would have also been obvious if they had seen them, no doubt there would have been some kind of reaction to a dirty, shriveled old man appearing in what was obviously, according to the fancy suits and dresses, a very formal meeting.

- So? - Merlin wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery as soon as he could and get back to a quiet and secluded corner, he always avoided crowds and seeing one of this size made him feel vulnerable, but the man besides him was just looking at him with an expectant expression on his face.

- Look - was the simple answer Merlin received and yet he decided to comply.

Merlin looked over the people present on the humongous space in front of him, he awkwardly skimmed through their faces, analyzed their clothes, noticed the booklets they all had which contained only the word welcome in the front, Merlin saw how some were uncomfortable being in the big crowd, how others chitchatted with the people besides them, and how some were even dozing off. He noticed most of the people in the seats were young, varying from 17 to 20, and the people standing in the front, their backs to Merlin, were older and looked much more professional. There were a couple of conclusions he could make from this, but nothing really jumped out at him, nothing grand or enlightening although he had this vague feeling that he was missing the elephant in the room, Merlin once again decided to ignore his instinct and go for the fast answer.

- People, that's all I see people and more people - Marcus looked frustrated with that answer

- No! no, I'm not telling you to look at the crowd, I'm telling you to look at the individuals, not what they are doing or what they are wearing but who they are, who they really are inside. I know you can do this, I can't do it for you it has to be done right, try again and this time allow yourself to really see them -

Merlin tried, and Marcus was right. This time he really looked, not only with his eye but with his very essence, and saw something that never crossed his mind once in those thousands of years. Merlin saw them, all of them, the faces were all a little different and yet the same if you knew both. The moment Merlin realized what he was looking at his head and eyes began moving at a frantic speed looking for the one face that would make his world start spinning again, the one face that would make everything alright once again. And Merlin found him, sitting right there on the front row, besides his father and a beautiful woman Merlin did not recognize and yet looked slightly familiar.

No! This was simply too much for anyone to receive, impossible, a cosmic joke messing with his senses, playing with him. Merlin's tears started falling without permission, running down his old face, dragging some of the dirt on his skin in their way down. He would soon confirm it was not who he thought it was, then when the sick joke was over Merlin knew he would probably end up more mentally crippled than he already was, and he knew it would be more than he could handle.

That was when Merlin's magic, which he understood had never been gone but rather trapped inside a mental prison that he himself had created, burst out from inside him and went and wrapped itself around this person who looked so much like the one he'd been waiting for. Now Merlin could sense him, not just what was on the surface, but also what was inside, his essence , the very energy which made him everything he was, everything he had always been, and everything he would always be, and the truth was undeniable.

This was him, his prince, his King, HIS Arthur, the one for whom Merlin had waited a millennia and would wait an infinity more. As this realization took hold all of Merlin's mental shields crumbled down and he fell to his knees, the ever present pain was gone and in its place all his feelings came crashing down on him, Merlin now understood that he had done this to keep himself sane, and he could feel them again, those he called his old ghosts, no longer in his body they were back in his his heart and there they met a light that extinguished them, like a match dropped in the middle of the ocean they stood no chance against the happiness, the relief, and all the other beautiful things that had been revived in Merlin's heart, revived merely by his presence. The tears falling down Merlin's face were not from pain, they weren't tears of regret or sadness, they were tears he hadn't cried since his time on Camelot, tears of happiness. Somewhere in Merlin's mind an echo from the past that was once a whisper screamed loudly at him:

"I don't want you to change"

Without realizing it Merlin's old skin crumbled to dust and his body went back from looking like an 80 years old man to look like that of a 19 years old guy, looking like his old self. He had changed to resist the madness inside him, he had changed to survive, but at all times he had always been himself, somewhere in a corner of his hear he had kept himself intact to one day return to being the Merlin that Arthur hadn't wanted to change. The feelings in Merlin's heart were overwhelming him and it was affecting his magic, where it had been a soft, undetectable veil to sense at first it was now becoming a protective, possessive rush, more of a shield to protect him against any harm the world might want to cause him, and Merlin didn't care, he had lost him once and in that very moment Merlin promised the universe and whoever might be listening that never again. Merlin's magic was also becoming noticeable, in a few seconds everyone in that room that had magic would notice. He felt a hand in his shoulder and realized that Marcus was injecting his magic into Merlin's body to stop what he was doing. Merlin knew he could stop him, send him flying across the room and disable him for a while, he knew that right now he could fight the world and come out victorious, but he didn't, he couldn't, this man had been true to his word, he had given Merlin the single one thing that he wanted from the universe, how could Merlin possibly harm him after that?

- Lets go before they find us - Now Merlin could see that though it seemed as if nothin was wrong, there were some people in dark suits moving around the huge room looking worriedly around, perhaps they were much better than Merlin had given them credit for.

Merlin suddenly found himself exhausted both mentally and physically, he wasn't able to stand on his own, Marcus realized the inconvenience and hooked one of Merlin's arms around his shoulder and, holding Merlin by the hip, was able to stand him up and take him out of the room before the men in black started searching there. Before they were out of the room Merlin caught a last glimpse and saw some of the faces he had recognized when he thought it was all a dark joke, now he couldn't help but become elated at seeing their faces because, more likely than not, it was them, still, he couldn't help but ask.

- It's ok, I can walk. Was that really them? All of them? - At that Marcus let go of Merlin and gave him another of his bright smiles.

- Anyone you might have recognized was probably exactly who you thought they were. We don't know why but they all decided to reincarnate at the same time. But don't worry about any of that right now, when we get to my office I'll explain everything, just try to recover while we walk -

Merlin knew he couldn't recover from a thousand years of trauma with just a walk but he would try his best. He still couldn't get the picture out of his mind, he didn't know if he wanted to in case he forgot, and it wasn't just Arthur, it was all of them, the joy had only increased with each new face, Gwen, Elyan, Lancelot, Percival, Gawain, Leon, even Morgana had only made him happier. It was so much for him to take in, too much in fact, his mind was in absolute chaos.

While Merlin's mind had been reminiscing and trying to get itself in order they had arrived at what Merlin supposed was the entrance to Marcus' office, this time they had taken what seemed to be an elevator. Marcus turned to face Merlin and said

- I knew you would be overwhelmed at this point so I decided to call in some of your old friends who could give you moral support, I just hope this doesn't make it worse - as he finished with that last part sounding like it was more for himself than for Merlin he opened the door, they both walked in, and soon after, Merlin's mind was once again thrown into chaos.

Inside, a man and a girl stood up from the couch they had been sitting on, as a side thought Merlin noticed that the office was a very cozy place. The man was tall with a thin but solid build, had a deeply tanned skin, a weathered and crinkled but happy face with shining golden eyes and silver, longish hair tied back in a ponytail, he was wearing a black tuxedo with a red tie. Though he only seemed 40 yeas old, Merlin got the feeling that this man had seen centuries pass him by, something told him that this man normally stood above others while being serious, and yet he seemed very happy to see both of them walking into the office. The girl on the other hand was petite and beautiful, had very pale skin, her eyes were a captivating azure blue and she had a head full of golden locks that looked to be all over the place and yet came together to form a perfectly beautiful hairdo, she was wearing a white European dress that was perfectly decorated and in one hand held a white umbrella. When Merlin walked into the room the girl made it a point to avoid eye contact with him, Merlin thought nothing of it, after all he still had the dirt and smell of a homeless man on him. What he didn't understand was that the girl looked kind of guilty, ashamed even. When Marcus had said friends Merlin thought there would be familiar faces involved, still, he couldn't recognize either of the two standing in front of him.

- So, who are they again? - At this the girl lowered her head and the tall man gave a slight smile in Merlin's direction and said

- Do you not recognize me because it has been so long or because I look so different young warlock? No, wait, that title has been long outdated, hasn't it old friend? -