Chapter 6

Mostly everyone was happy at Camelot High School in the small town of Avalon. Many of the students were all too familiar, and Merlin wasn't sure if that was a relief or unnerving. As far as cliques went, Morgan and Arthur were surprisingly in the same social group, and since those two have had a rough history, the duo agreed to try and befriend their group.

After school, the group was standing around outside, chatting lightly, when another cluster of familiar people walked by and stared them down.

"What's their deal?" Lance asked Leon, who was closest to him.

She rolls her eyes dramatically. "Gloriana and Victoria think they're so much better than everyone else, and Gwen, Elinor and Morgouse just go with it. They're this close to recruiting Frederick, this quiet guy from math class, then god knows what they'll try and pull."

Morgan joined the banter. "They think we're so terrible, and for no reason!"

"Why would they hate without reason?" Merlin asked.

"Jealousy," Morgan shrugged. "Or a long-time rivalry that we've forgotten."

Just then Arthur popped out of the school, talking with someone Merlin would rather not see.

"Hey everyone," He excitedly stated. "You'll never guess what Moria just told me!"

"The Allies have invaded Normandy!" She announced. Everyone immediately gasped and broke off into smaller conversations. Merlin saw Moria see the two of them, smirk, then go back to her conversation with Morgan.

"Can you believe it?" She turned to Lance.

"What," he started jokingly. "The fact that Normandy was just invaded, or the fact that Moria hasn't tried to stab us yet?"

She shrugged. "Either!"

This group hung out together a lot more than the other times they've been alive. After school they went to Morgan's, where they talked and listened to the radio about the war efforts. It was nice, not having two opposing groups down each other's throats all the time.

"My gosh," Leon started talking over the radio. "Could you imagine having a boyfriend over there?"

Arthur looked at her. "I think our fathers would be over there instead."

"Well, we're eighteen. It's legal."

"It would be terrifying, going over there," Lance agreed. "And I don't even have a girlfriend to worry about me."

Morgan nodded. "None of us do. Thats why we gotta count on you girls to worry about us."

"Like we have anyone else to worry about." Moria concluded. Merlin shot her a look of surprise and in return she simply looked away sharply.

"But, you guys aren't going over there," Merlin started. "Are you?"

"We are old enough, you know," Arthur said matter-of-factly. "I could go help my father out."

Morgan smiled. "Wouldn't that be a sight."

"It'd be terrible!" Leon interjected. "You guys could be killed!"

In response Arthur casually shrugged, as if dying was a daily thing for him. Actually, it almost kind of was.

Deciding she wanted more information about the third existentially aware person in the room, Merlin Rose from her seat. "I'm going to get a glass of water. Moria, will you join me?"

She looked suspicious but nodded and followed the other girl into Morgan's small kitchen.

"So," Moria started casually. "What's new with you?"

Merlin looked at her with a judgemental look. "Same old thing. Waiting for everyone else to live, wondering what the hell it is you're up to, keeping Lance from doing something stupid."

The other girl sighed. "Why do you question everything I do? If I remember rightly, you were the main force that drove me away from Camelot in the first place."

"Oh really? You sure it wasn't that abusive boyfriend of yours? Where exactly is he right now?" She fired back. The other girl took a few steps back, hurt by the questions.

Moria sat down at the table. "He hadn't hurt me until that time, you know. I never feared him until then. But this time, I made sure he was sent to Europe right away. I- I pushed him off the boat last time, too. I can't see him again." She instinctively grabbed her right arm.

Merlin sat down next to her. "Is that all true?" She nodded. "I know you're telling the truth, why wouldn't you be? It's just- in the past, you're usually the one that kills Arthur. I can't let that happen again."

"I don't want it to happen either, it just always did."

They sat there for a brief minute, until Morgan called for them from the other room.

Things were slow going in the sleepy town. Usually that would be a good thing, but it was the "sleepy" part that concerned Merlin. Lately, she had been having strange dreams. There was a bright light, and that weird Conscience that tried talking to her before. Most of what he said was nonsense, but some of it sounded familiar. There was something he kept saying about Russia and then a random date far in the future, sometime in 2001. There was no reasoning behind the Conscience's lecturing, but at the end of each dream, he'd say the same thing.

"Remember," pause. "Remember, the returned are not like you, and many of them do not have their magic anymore. The world has stopped believing."

"What does that even mean?!" She would always try to ask, but her voice was blocked.

Nobody knew about the Conscience sending her dreams, not even Lance. It was for the best that she figured it out before it got inside anyone else's mind.

The boys' numbers came up in the draft quicker than expected. Morgan and Arthur announced together that they were assigned to the same camp for training. Lance didn't have a number because officially, he didn't exist, but he found a way to enlist in the same camp as the other two boys.

It was terrifying, not seeing Lance for such a long period of time. Most days Merlin and Leon hung out together; Moria had mysteriously disappeared, leaving only a note that read "good luck, see you next time", which was unsettling.

The day the small town turned to dust was the day she knew Arthur was killed in battle. Lance would later relay that they were in Europe somewhere, though he couldn't remember the exact location.

No matter. There's always next time, right?

It had been a long break. The year was what, 1968? Yeah, that sounds right. Unfortunately, they couldn't escape involvement in another war. Lance's number in the draft was almost up, and Merlin knew she'd go with him as a nurse to Vietnam. But first, they had to recruit someone that had gotten themselves into an asylum.