Merlin stepped out into the sun, now in the company of strangers. He noticed the eyes of the one they were calling Snow following him curiously.
"What's your name?" She smiled.
Merlin hadn't thought about his own name until now.
"I...oh...I have no idea." He smiled.
The others turned and looked briefly at him.
"Ah, looks like I'm definitely going to be mixing up that memory potion." Regina smiled, trying to lighten the mood a little with a swish of her hair, and the flaunt of her confidence. Hook sighed.
"I wonder what else is to befall. This is twice this week two completely forgetful blokes have found their way into our familiar haunts. Does anyone else not find that a bit macabre?" Hook grimaced,glaring at Emma, whose expression was unreadable.
Emma sighed.
"I feel like...whether we want to or not, we're probably going to find that out soon."
It was decided that, they could attract the attention of any magic-bearers who might have been behind bringing Arthur back, if they were to warp back. So then, the journey back to Regina's portal to Storybrooke would take the better part of the afternoon.
In that afternoon, Merlin found that they were attacked several times, first by trolls he turned to flowers, next by a small dragon he knew how to tame.
All the while, Snow studied him with growing interest.
" You have power over dragons...and you're wearing that broken coin with a Dragon embossed on it..."Snow pointed to a pendant that hung at Merlin's throat. Merlin looked down, noticing it for the first time. It hung on a small silver chain, half of a golden coin broken in two. Sure enough, there was the image of a Dragon embossed on its face. Merlin felt cold as his fingers felt over it, a sense of strange, dark magic approaching and stirring from without and within.
"Are you sure you don't remember your name?" Snow stopped in the path, curiosity suddenly having gotten the better of her.
Merlin stared at her.
"Well, you seem to know something...so...um...well...Do you have any idea what it might be? I've noticed you seem to be pondering things about me all day, as if you haven't yet fathomed me out, but you're getting there." Merlin tried to smile.
Snow nodded.
"Well, it's just...you remind me of this ancient man I met once deep in this forest, when I was only a young girl. He could change his form, he said, to appear old or young, and sometimes he even changed it to look to others like a creature. He was called Emrys." Snow smiled.
Merlin's heart stopped. He swallowed hard.
"I...I know that name. I'm not sure if it's mine?" His eyes fluttered.
"Wait, I don't like that face you're making...Is Emrys...is that a bad thing?" Emma looked at her mother. Snow laughed.
"No, not at all. Emrys is only the Greatest Sorcerer who ever lived. Fairy tales say that all of the fairies of the Enchanted Forest originate from the blue butterflies that Emrys makes when he changes forms. They say the Blue Fairy was created through that magic. He's a wonderful, harmless old wizard. If the stories are true, and he created Blue, who is the original power, then that would make Emrys the source of all the magic in the land." Snow smiled at Merlin. Merlin swallowed.
Then, he stretched out his hands and manifested blue butterflies. They circled around him in a funnel cloud, before catching fairy light and rising to the sky. Merlin swallowed hard.
They all stared in wonder for a moment. A soft, white light appeared to glow out of Merlin, as if his origin magic woke up.
Snow smiled.
"I knew I recognized you. Your eyes always give you away...When I was young, I came to your cave and you taught me things about the world, and the true workings of men's hearts." Snow smiled.
Merlin tilted his head. Suddenly, he smiled.
"I remember a small girl with snow white skin and dark hair...riding up to where I was once before...on a white horse." Merlin smiled.
"That was you, wasn't it?" He laughed.
"It was, indeed." Snow smiled. Merlin nodded, studying them all with wonder. Then, a dark thought occurred to him, and his face fell.
"If I am Emrys,...then I know how I know Arthur now." Merlin nodded, tears suddenly falling down his face.
Snow took his arm.
"It's okay,...you can tell us. We're going back to Arthur anyway; we'll still take you to him." She smiled. Merlin let a huff.
"I was his servant. Um, Arthur is the Once and Future King of Camelot in Albion, according to that old book. Emrys was his protector, the sorcerer who posed as his servant to keep close to him and protect his destiny." Merlin blinked, as suddenly he remembered something. He looked at Snow in wonder.
"I'm starting to remember...besides the books. The legend always says that ,when Albion's need is dire...the Once and Future King would-would rise again to save his kingdom." Merlin drew a shaky breath.
"If that's true, and the Enchanted Forest is where Albion was, then Arthur came back because something really like Hella really bad, like poof a guy back from the dead kinda bad, is about to go down..."Emma frowned.
"We need to get back to Storybrooke. I left my son there..."Regina's eyes popped wide open, fearing for Henry now.
"This way. The portal isn't far." Regina shooed them along.