AN: It's been while. I've been procrastinating.

From the Darkness

Morgana felt numb on the day of her execution, partially because her stomach had expelled everything inside. There was no escaping death. Agravaine was to be hanged before her and he had been her only way out. From her cell she could hear the crowd outside. The death of the traitor only increased their excitement for the main event. Morgana didn't know whether she should hold her head high and glare or show remorse in what would be her final hour. She couldn't believe that everything would soon be over and everything she had fought for would turn to dust.
"It's time." Said the guard that stood before her cell.
He had black, curly hair and slight stubble. He had broad shoulders like most guards did and probably equally annoying.
She sighed. The fear inside her made her legs weak but she willed them to move.
"You've made peace with the Goddess?" He asked.
"Yes."
"So you admit you were wrong?"
It annoyed her to constantly be reminded how the Old Religion had been banned.
"I should've gone about it another way." There was a hint of anger in her voice since she did not believe the Old Religion was wrong.
Morgana looked at her feet as the guard escorted her. Her mind was too preoccupied to pay attention to the direction going. It was only when a door opened that she looked up. It shocked her to see that the man coming from the other room was the same as the guard escorting her.
"Hleap on bæc!" Shouted her escort to the equally shocked doppelganger who flew back through the door he came from.
Morgana wanted to back away but he grabbed the chain between her arms. Their eyes met for a moment and this pause seemed to calm her down. His eyes went to the chains he held.
"Irenfaestnunga onlucap híe."
The restraints let go of her wrists and she rubbed them in an attempt to shake off the feeling of being a prisoner.
"Come on, we haven't much time." He said as he went through a different door.
Morgana didn't hesitate and followed him through the doors and up the stairs. This man offered escape and she was going to take it with both hands. As they moved through the corridors of the castle, the witch heard people approach from the other end. Without a second thought she pulled the sorcerer into an alcove and they waited for them to pass by. Once their voices faded away Morgana took the lead and pulled him along. She managed to get them out of the citadel by using a side exit but it left them at the edge of the garden which didn't provide any shelter at all.
"One second, I need a breather." He said.
Morgana frowned at him, annoyed, as they had been lucky that no one had uncovered the empty cell or made sense of the unconscious guard.
"Who-" Her jaw dropped along with the question she was about to ask.
Clinging to the edge of his shirt was a tiny, almost diamond shaped gem. Arthur had held a similar stone the day before and knew it as a Blood Crystal. Without thinking Morgana grabbed the thing and pulled it off the chain. His black curls seemed to fall out of shape, stubbles withdrew, shoulders narrowed and skin paled.
"You!" She scowled and Merlin grabbed her arm.
"Get me out of this bloody armour." The warlock no longer had the body to wear the metal suit.
"Is this another plan to torture me?" She asked ignoring his rude request to lend him a hand.
"Right now, the plan is to get out of Camelot." He explained as he finally managed to pull the chainmail over his head.
"And then?" Morgana demanded to know but their conversation was interrupted by the warning bells.
The Knights would be looking for them and so might an angry mob. Morgana led Merlin to the outer wall but the secret passage she had used so often in the past had been sealed off. Arthur's men had been thorough in their efforts to close them off. In the distance they could see half a dozen guards approach already. They had been spotted when crossing the garden which hadn't any great trees to hide behind. Morgana felt a sudden chill and turned to Merlin who looked at her with golden eyes. It was strange that she could feel his magic when her own was inaccessible. Merlin opened his arms for her and began casting the spell.
"Bedyrene us..." He said and, recognizing the spell, Morgana grabbed him to hang on."Astyre us thanonweard."

They reappeared at the edge of the Valley of the Fallen Kings. The two immediately broke away from each other not out of disgust but nausea. Although having done the disappearing act before, his anger wasn't fueling his magic and this increased difficulty led to a musch stronger urge to vomit than before. This time he couldn't help but give in to it against the nearest tree.

Merlin, with an empty stomach, saw Morgana keeping herself on her feet by leaning against a tree. She shook like vomiting but nothing came out. The nerves for her execution had emptied her already. Morgana stretched her neck and turned to him with her head held high in defiance.
"Why condemn me one moment and save me the next?"
"I changed my mind. I was wrong."
"About?" She asked.
"Everything!" He shouted in despair. "Arthur is a tyrant like his father, all he brings is death."
Though Merlin was in pain, Morgana saw something unfold. The man wasn't the angry sorcerer she had seen before but neither was he the happy one of old. He was somewhere in between. He had saved her from death which meant that he cared to some degree and at the moment there was conflict in his heart. She could agree with what he just said and condemn Arthur. United in their anger they would triumph but what would happen after? After Arthur's death he would either find something new to hate or break down as a human being. Whichever it was, it would make her unable to mend his heart to what it used to be. In that perspective Arthur's death was a short-term goal. So what did she want for the long run? She still wanted his love but only if he would become the young man he once was. Enough pain had been brought upon him. He had lost his life in Camelot and then Arthur took his mother from him. Part of that was her fault.
"I'm sorry about Hunith. You were right, I should have done more to save her." The witch admitted guilt.
His face contorted with pain from his heart and he ran a hand through his hair. Morgana hadn't realised how present that pain really was and how badly he was coping with it.
"Thank you." He said and, with a slight smile, continued. "You're the first to say it."
Morgana didn't really know what she wished to achieve with her apology but it did more than she dare dream. Her compassion made him feel that saving her had been the right decision and it grew to something more. She had seen the error of her ways and she had listened to what he had said. She had hurt people but didn't Arthur's continued persecution of sorcerers do the same?

Morgana knew he was a broken man and also that it made him a dangerous man. With some effort, she could attach to him the strings that would make him her puppet. It wouldn't be as it was with Agravaine. No, Merlin was more than that disgusting man would ever have amounted to. Her plotting, however, was interrupted by the sorcerer before her.
"I'm going to make you an offer. " Said Merlin and Morgana's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I will restore you to the throne but we do things my way and Arthur's life is mine to take."
"Agreed." She needn't waste a heartbeat to think about it.
She wanted to become Queen and she had planned to hand Arthur over to him anyway. Merlin was visibly surprised at her quick response.
"They know where I live, my spy is dead and if you've got a plan to take over Camelot, who else am I to turn to?"
He nodded in a near apologizing manner.

They began heading north-west, towards the Isle of the Blessed. Morgana had asked how he got the idea of seeking refuge there and piece by piece he told the tale of Nimueh.
"She didn't hesitate to kill me though I got there first." The warlock recalled refusing Nimueh's offer.
"Ever imagined what things would be like if you had accepted?"
Merlin smiled a bit. If he had then things would've been better than they were now.
"Uther, Arthur, Gaius and most of the Knights would be dead but the people mostly unharmed." Answered the sorcerer.
"What about me? You didn't mention me."
His smile widened. "I imagine she would've kept you alive and shown your magic to Uther just to spite him."
Morgana smiled along. She would've liked Nimueh and she was pretty sure Morgause would have as well. It didn't go unnoticed that Merlin's attitude had softened considerably since he 'tortured' her but she didn't realize that it was doing the same to her. Both of them had lost people they held dear and both had been so very lonely in the past. Merlin didn't have anyone who could truly relate as only a few knew of his magic. Morgana had played a game of masks and magic and lost everything.

Having arrived at the Isle, Merlin first showed Morgana where he lived. Her jaw dropped at the sight of the nearly unscathed room.
"This is unexpected." She said.
"Before she decided to attack Camelot, Nimueh tried to 'heal' the Isle." Explained Merlin.
Morgana took a brief moment to admire the books in the bookcase. Magic had given her a new sense of respect for books. After all, knowledge was power.
"Come on, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." Merlin beckoned her to follow.
It was a small room which only contained a bed.
"I know it's not much but I think Nimueh's done a lot of redecorating."
"So where do you sleep?"
Merlin showed her his room and immediately the runes covering the floor caught her eye.
"These runes..." She mumbled as she kneeled.
"I have no idea what they mean but I imagine they are there to ward off things."
"This one I know." Morgana tapped her finger on an eye-like symbol. "It offers protection against scrying spells."
"So that's why I couldn't scry for you." Thought Merlin..
"This one, however, is black magic." She was pointing at a symbol resembling lightning.
"Can you tell what it does?" Asked Merlin.
"It's an exchange of some sort. Sacrifice one thing for another."
Neither Merlin nor Morgana knew the surrounding symbols. The witch tried to recall what Morgause had taught her about runes but they didn't even seem remotely familiar.
"I think you shouldn't sleep here until we know what it is you're giving up." Said Morgana.
"I don't feel different."
"You definitely were." Said Morgana before realising something and cursed. "Goddess."
"What?"
"When we met at the druid camp, you were unusually rude." The witch recalled their unpleasant encounter.
"Sorry about that."
This was precisely what she meant. He was more like himself now than then.
"Exactly. You were acting like someone else entirely. What if that is what you gave up?"
There was a blank look in Merlin's eyes as he walked through the past couple of weeks again. He had behaved unlike himself. The confrontation between Arthur and him was proof of that. He had been sleeping on that bed for over a month and all that time it had been affecting his personality and judgement. It was also the thing that may have caused Nimueh's sudden urge for vengeance.
"It was messing with my mind." Merlin realised she was right but the wheels in his mind were turning still.
How did he escape the enchantment? Things had happened and they all revolved around Morgana. She had begged for her life, she had admitted she was wrong and confessed that she once loved him. His feeling for her had brought him back. In this new destiny, she had brought him out of the darkness and he would bring her into the light.

Meanwhile, Arthur Pendragon sat at his cluttered desk and grabbed a blank sheet of paper to write on. He began writing and soon the quill nearly pressed through the paper. When he wrote second sentence he wrote, it did pierce the sheet of paper. Annoyed and frustrated by everything and everyone, Arthur threw all paper off his desk. His breath hitched as he saw what had ruined his writing. Carved into the desk were four letters.

H E L L


AN: Despite what you may think, Merlin is not 'free' of the enchantment. You'll see what I mean later on.
Also, small spoiler but more of a preview, upcoming chapters will introduce some familiar faces that aren't yet present in this timeline.