Well, I finally managed that double update I'd hoped to pull off in October; how about that. Don't worry, though, you'll still get another update in December.
"Now I have you in my power at last – and this time, there is no one here to save you."
After all those long, lonely months spent in hiding, stewing over all that the Pendragons had taken from her, the moment had finally come for Morgause to strike back, to avenge everyone she had lost in the Purge by shedding the blood of their oppressors. Of course, she knew Arthur's death alone wouldn't solve everything; there weren't enough Pendragons in the world to make up for all those whose lives had been stolen, but she hoped that with the loss of his son, that heartless wretch Uther would at last feel some small fraction of her pain…and with Arthur out of the way, there would be nothing preventing Morgana from joining forces with her.
Morgause understood that her sister blamed her for Bo falling into a cursed sleep, though she still maintained that it wasn't her fault – how could she have foreseen that the succubus would attempt to break her enchantment through such a reckless method as drawing it into herself? – but she hoped Morgana's fury might have cooled now that Bo had made a full recovery. Even if it hadn't, she doubted Morgana would remain loyal to the house of Pendragon once Arthur was gone. She had looked into Morgana's eyes as they spoke about Uther and had seen the sparks of resentment and burgeoning hatred there, however stringently her sister tried to deny it.
It was with those thoughts in mind that she prepared to drive her sword through Arthur's throat, to sever her sister's connection to their enemy once and for all, but before she could land the killing blow, a familiar defiant voice shattered her moment of victory.
"Can we get a second opinion on that?"
Startled, Morgause had just enough time to look up – not that she needed visual confirmation that it was Bo who had addressed her – and see the succubus, along with Merlin and Morgana, striding into the dining hall at the head of a rather sizable group before she was blasted across the room, her sword torn from her hand as she flew over the broad oak table.
With the immediate threat removed, Gwen wasted no time in ducking around Morgana and rushing to her fallen prince, dropping to her knees by his side. "Arthur!" she cried as she ripped the silver band with its sinisterly gleaming eye off his wrist and hurled it as far away as she could, then lifted his head with one hand while tenderly stroking his face with the other. "Are you all right? Talk to me!"
Unfortunately, removing the eye of the phoenix did not instantly reverse the damage it had already done; Arthur was able to focus his eyes on hers for a second before they glazed over again, but he was alarmingly limp in her arms and only managed to get out a single word. "Guinevere…"
The bracelet must have drained too much of his life force already, she surmised as his head lolled to one side, his eyes fluttering shut. It needs to be replenished. She knew Bo could do that, but the succubus wasn't paying attention to Arthur's plight at the moment; like everyone else, all her focus was on Morgause, who was already picking herself up and summoning her sword back to her with a twitch of her fingertips.
Before she could do anything with it, however, Vex stepped forward. "None of that now, love. I've heard a lot about you while we flew over on that great bloody dragon, and it sounds like you're nothing but trouble all wrapped up in a shiny suit of armor."
At a gesture from him, Morgause's elbow bent, her arm rising to bring the sharp edge of her blade to her own neck even as she watched her own involuntary movements with wide eyes that showed shock and maybe a hint of fear. Just as the blade came within a hair's breadth of cutting into her skin, Morgana grabbed Vex's wrist and dragged his outstretched hand down to his side. "No! You can't… Not like this."
"Are you mad?" he demanded, turning his head to stare incredulously at her. "Didn't you say she tried to kill everyone you love, including our princess?"
"She did," Merlin confirmed, watching Morgana with an unfathomable look in those deep blue eyes that sometimes, like now, seemed too wise to belong in such a youthful face, "but she's still her sister."
"Yes, I suppose she is," Morgana acknowledged, though she didn't sound thrilled about it. "Which is why I want to have a word with her before we do anything else."
She wasn't sure where her sudden reticence came from; if it were any other foe standing there, she wouldn't hesitate to make them pay the ultimate price for attacking her family…yet as much as she loathed admitting it, there was no escaping the fact that Morgause was part of her family too. Even when she was incensed at how Morgause had tricked her into serving as the vessel for her sleeping curse and her seeming indifference to Bo's fate after she sacrificed herself to break the spell, Morgana couldn't bring herself to actually kill her sister, or even try to, nor could she stand by and allow Vex to do it now.
Several of her companions, especially Lancelot, looked relieved at her intervention, because even though they were well aware of how dangerous Morgause was, it was clear that killing a woman who'd had no chance to defend herself, whose magic might not have been able to help her resist Vex's control even if he hadn't caught her off-guard, didn't sit well with them.
The mesmer, on the other hand, clearly had no such reservations. "Oh, come on," he protested with an impatient roll of his eyes. "I've met plenty of people like her before, and if they're hellbent on killing you, you're not gonna convince them otherwise by talking to them."
"At least let her try," Bo snapped. Her face softened as she placed a sympathetic hand on Morgana's shoulder. "I know how hard dealing with a morally compromised relative is," she said softly, leaning in so that her lips nearly brushed her girlfriend's ear. "I hope you have better luck getting through to Morgause than I did with my mom…although it can't hurt that at least Big Sis still seems to have a few shreds of sanity left."
Morgause's gaze locked on her, her expression somehow even more stunned than when she had found herself entrapped by a mesmer's power. As close as she had come to causing Bo's death (albeit indirectly and unintentionally), she would have expected the succubus to want revenge, yet when she looked into the other woman's brown eyes, she didn't find the hatred there that she thought she would see.
Seeing her sister's face take on a more open look, as opposed to the cold fury or single-minded determination that meant there was no reasoning with her, Morgana inched closer. "Listen, Morgause…"
She wasn't sure exactly what she intended to say, didn't know whether she could find the right words to get through to her sister, if there were any; if there were, though, she never got a chance to say them. A commotion arose in the corridor outside, and any further conversation was forestalled by the arrival of at least two dozen hooded and masked warriors who streamed into the room through every available entrance with their weapons at the ready. They weren't just limited to conventional weaponry either, as a couple of them were holding fireballs in their hands.
"Seriously?" Kenzi protested, taking half a second to shoot an affronted glare at Morgause as the group pivoted to meet this new assault. "You brought an army of wizard ninjas for backup?! Dick move, lady!"
"These are not my men," Morgause replied grimly, bringing her own sword up as well. "I have no idea where they've come from."
She seemed to be telling the truth; when the battle commenced, the mysterious warriors showed no sign of looking to her for direction, nor did they hold back from attacking her, and she fought them as hard as any of the rest. Their methods varied – Gwaine, Lancelot, Kenzi, Gwen, Bo, and Dyson were mainly limited to purely physical combat, though the latter two had an advantage thanks to their fae natures, while Merlin, Morgana, and Morgause fought as much with magic as with steel and fists, and Vex appeared to rely entirely on his power.
This nearly proved to be a fatal flaw in his strategy when one of the attackers managed to use a spell against him even after he'd taken control of their body, summoning a cobweb-covered silver knife off the table to impale Vex's shoulder, the resulting pain distracting him enough that his concentration was broken. Before his newly freed opponent could finish the job by stabbing him with a much longer, sharper sword, Gwaine grabbed the hooded figure from behind and pulled him away from Vex, spinning him around to face him before running him through.
"Got to watch those magical types, friend," he called out as Vex eyed him with a mildly surprised look. "They can be tricky!"
Meanwhile, Gwen was doing her best to remain stationary while the fight raged all around, determined to stand guard over Arthur's unconscious body – but much to her consternation, the enemy forces didn't appear particularly interested in getting to him. She had to fend off her fair share, to be sure, but it almost seemed as if the ones who came at her only did so out of some general sense that they should take out all of their foes, or as a preemptive move in case she decided to go after them, while the bulk of their squadron looked far more interested in her magically gifted friends…unless it was Morgause, who was definitely not a friend but was closer to Merlin's and Morgana's vicinity than Arthur and Gwen, that they were after.
The question is, who are they? Is this some rival faction of sorcerers Morgause has run afoul of, or do they somehow think Merlin and Morgana are their enemies…? The maid's musings were cut short as another knot of them rushed her, forcing Lancelot and Dyson to step in and help her protect Arthur while Kenzi dragged the prince out of the way so he wouldn't get trampled, with much grumbling about how heavy he was.
Naturally, Bo also noticed that most of their adversaries' attention was concentrated on her and the people closest to her, so she suggested that they leave the dining hall in order to lure the attackers away and give their friends some breathing room.
"That's a good idea," Morgana replied in between swings of her sword, "but where can we go?"
"There!" Merlin pointed to a small, plain door in the corner behind her – the servants' entrance. "Let's go!"
They made a mad dash for the inconspicuous door, sweeping Morgause along with them, and sure enough, the enemy combatants followed them. Their progress was hampered by the size of the door, as well as the fact that Dyson, Gwaine, and Lancelot continued attacking them from the rear, but despite these impediments, at least ten of the warriors managed to cram themselves into the narrow, windowless passageway in their single-minded pursuit of their target, whoever that was.
"At least they can't surround us in here," Bo commented as she parried yet another sword thrust.
"No," Merlin agreed, "but we're still outnumbered, and-"
His next words were cut off by the sharp sound of cracking stone as someone cast a spell that sent a rift like a miniature fault line tearing through the floor under Bo's feet, forcing him to catch her as she was thrown off-balance and pull her out of harm's way.
"-Clearly, they don't need to get too close to cause trouble for us," he finished grimly. Their decision to use their environment against their quarries had given him an idea, except instead of attempting to rob them of their footing, Merlin turned his attention upward and brought the low ceiling down on their heads, taking advantage of the fact that the extremely cramped quarters gave them no room to dodge. By the time the billowing clouds of dust dissipated, there were no sounds or signs of movement from beneath the rubble.
"You're still the undisputed champ when it comes to magical showdowns, though," Bo remarked with a proud smile.
"Yes, that was certainly an impressive feat," Morgause concurred with grudging admiration – after seeing what he was capable of, she had to admit that her sister's attraction to the scrawny boy was starting to make a bit more sense – "although-" At that moment, they heard a low, ominous groaning as the ancient wooden beams that had just been violently broken started to lose their integrity, cracks splintering through them from the point where Merlin had snapped them in two "-I fear he may have destabilized the entire ceiling. We should leave at once, before we meet the same fate as our foes."
Her suggestion was underscored by the ceiling above their heads beginning to shake and buckle, and they sprinted down the narrow passage, barely staying a step ahead of the damage as chunks of wood and plaster rained down on them. At last, they came to another door whose hinges were too warped with age and rust to budge, though that mattered little as Morgana, who was in the lead, simply blasted it out of the way, allowing them to escape a mere second before the hall behind them completely caved in, leaving the doorway clogged with debris.
"Well, we're not getting back that way," Morgana stated needlessly.
"Looks like we've ended up in a kitchen," Bo observed, glancing around at the medieval appliances.
"Of course we did," Merlin replied matter-of-factly. "Where else would a servants' passage leading to a dining room end? They're designed to provide the most direct route possible from where the food's made to where it's served so it won't get cold – and so the servants aren't too visible while they're carrying all that food. Going back by the public corridors will take longer, but I'm sure we can find our way. This place can't be that big."
"Then we'd better hurry," Bo told him. "Last time I saw Arthur, he didn't look so great. I think he needs a serious chi infusion."
"You would give the prince your own life force?" Morgause demanded, and despite the urgency of the situation, the disbelieving scorn in her voice made Bo turn around.
"Well, yeah," she retorted in the tone of someone pointing out the painfully obvious. "I didn't fly all this way on a dragon and risk missing my Dawning deadline just to watch him die!"
Morgause took a step forward, her brown eyes burning with curiosity, her blonde brows knit in a puzzled frown. "Why are you so intent on saving the prince when he would see you and all your kind, all of my kind, exterminated without a second thought?"
"You're wrong." It was Merlin who answered her, meeting her probing gaze with an equally intense stare. "Arthur is not like his father; when he's king, things will be different."
"Yet in the meantime, he does nothing to curb Uther's injustices! Sorcerers and fae are still dying-"
"Only those who attack Camelot first," Morgana said quietly, yet with fierce conviction. "I've seen Arthur's willingness to spare the lives of sorcerers who do not use their powers to harm the innocent, even seen him smuggle a young druid boy out of Camelot to save him from Uther, and I promise you that if any of us had been exposed and sentenced to death, Arthur would have found a way to save us too, even if it meant risking his own life. Arthur has always been there when I needed him."
She said nothing more, but there was an accusatory glint in her eyes that reminded Morgause of her harsh words during their last meeting, when she had declared that Morgause hadn't behaved as a true sister would, only bothering to seek her out when she had a use for her and manipulating her in order to use her against the people she loved.
"I regret that I wasn't able to take a more active role in your life," the blonde said stiffly as they left the kitchen and began searching for a way back to the room where they'd left their friends, "but you must understand that it was too dangerous for me to contact you – not only for me, but for you as well. I don't imagine Uther would have taken kindly to your establishing correspondence with a sorceress, do you?"
"No," Morgana grudgingly agreed, "although I doubt it would have placed me in any greater danger than I was already in once my magic fully manifested."
That assertion seemed to stymie Morgause for a moment, before she said in a much quieter voice, "I used to scry for you sometimes in the years before we met face to face, for brief moments – just to see how you fared, to assure myself that you were safe and happy – and if I had ever seen the slightest sign that Uther suspected you, that there was any risk to your life, I would have come for you. I would have saved you even if I had to raze the entire castle to the ground to do it."
"I never wanted anyone to raze a castle for me!" Morgana snapped. "I just… You can't imagine how frightened I was when I realized what was happening to me, how alone I felt. That was when I needed saving, and you weren't there."
As she spoke, Merlin and Bo slipped closer to her and took her hands in a silent show of support. Feeling the gentle pressure of their fingers, she smiled gratefully at them before continuing. "Bo and Merlin are the ones who saved me – Arthur too, when he accepted me for who I am. I know it's hard for you to believe, but he truly is a good man. If you care for me as you claim to do, you must promise not to harm him…more than you already have."
When Morgause went silent again, Bo let go of Morgana's hand and whirled around, bringing everyone to a halt as she parked herself in front of the blonde. "What, you can't even do that?" she demanded angrily. "Haven't you hurt her enough?"
"It was never my intention to hurt my sister," Morgause retorted, her voice, which had softened as she spoke to Morgana, instantly turning cool once more. "Very well, then…" She paused, her face twisting as if she had just been force-fed a giant lemon, before saying with obvious reluctance, "Whatever fate may await Arthur Pendragon, I swear that as long as your regard for him endures, sister, he will not meet his end by my hand."
Morgana gazed into her eyes for a long moment, gauging her sincerity, then at last said softly, "Thank you, Morgause."
Morgause accepted her gratitude with a nod, though there was still a hint of inner conflict in her eyes, of doubt that she had done the right thing in giving her word.
"You won't regret this," Merlin attempted to reassure her. "You don't have to give up fighting for our kind, but Arthur isn't your enemy. Once he's king, you'll see that."
Morgause still didn't appear entirely convinced, but there was no time for her to voice her misgivings, because at that moment the sound of distant footsteps and voices reached them, echoing weirdly down the wide, otherwise deserted corridors.
"Sounds like the rest of the gang's on their way," Bo remarked before turning back to Morgause. "You'd better get out of here before they catch up with us; after everything you've done, they might not feel great about letting you walk."
The sorceress blinked at her, skeptical of Bo's apparent willingness to do so, but when a few seconds passed without Bo saying anything else or making any attempt at restraining her, she finally accepted that the offer to let her leave was in earnest. "Thank you." She still made no move to effect her departure, though, instead continuing to eye Bo with an appraising look that made the succubus wonder what her deal was before saying abruptly, "I am sorry for what befell you when you removed my enchantment from Morgana. I never meant to harm you."
"Well, you didn't exactly hold a gun to my head and make me chi-suck it out of her," Bo replied with a shrug. "I'm guessing you didn't know it was going to happen either."
"No, I must confess that I did not foresee that eventuality, nor did I even suspect such a feat was possible, even for a succubus."
"Then it wouldn't be fair for me to blame you for the whole magical coma debacle, would it?" Bo stepped forward, holding out her hand in what seemed to be a conciliatory gesture. After a brief hesitation, Morgause took it, and the two women shook hands. The moment they let go, however, Bo's hand clenched into a fist and snapped up to crash into the blonde's jaw with a force that sent her staggering backward. "I'm still pissed at you for what you put Morgana through, though, so I'm putting you on notice – whatever you do after this, wherever you go next, if you ever hurt her again…I don't know yet what I'll do, but I promise you it won't be pretty. And neither will you after I'm done with you."
"I suppose that's fair," Morgause conceded, gingerly fingering the bruise that was rapidly forming where Bo had hit her. Then she looked past her to Morgana, who was watching their interaction with wide eyes, still clutching Merlin's hand. "I hope we shall meet again, sister."
"Perhaps one day we might," Morgana temporized, clearly wishing to avoid making any actual commitments. "If you prove that I can trust you."
Morgause bowed her head in seeming acceptance of her decision, then vanished in a miniature whirlwind.
"Well, she knows how to make an exit, I'll give her that," Bo muttered. "Think she'll behave herself?"
"I hope so," Morgana said tersely, still staring at the place where Morgause had disappeared. "If she doesn't, whatever harm she causes will be my fault since I let her go."
"Not necessarily. You made it clear that you were only doing it on the condition that she leaves Arthur alone… Anyway, what alternative did we have?" Merlin asked quietly. "Trick might be able to hold her prisoner in his castle, but as powerful as she is, getting her there would have been very difficult, especially since we still need to find the missing pieces of that artifact before we can go back – so, really, the only other choice would've been to kill her."
"No one blames you for not being able to do that," Bo hurried to assure her. "…Well, Vex might, but I don't think he's ever had to deal with a situation like this, so he shouldn't judge."
"You aren't responsible for her choices, Morgana," Merlin added, still in that uncharacteristically somber, subdued tone. "You gave her a second chance; what she does with it is up to her."
Morgana nodded gratefully, her expression finally clearing a tiny bit. "Thank you both… Besides, maybe I'm worrying over nothing. Perhaps, after the warning Bo gave her, she'll be afraid to risk inciting her wrath – I know I would be."
"Yeah, sorry for getting all overprotective and decking your sister," Bo said sheepishly, ducking her head. "I know you can fight your own battles."
"That's true, and I'm sure it would annoy me to no end if Arthur or some other arrogant, swaggering knight did such a thing," Morgana agreed as she moved closer to Bo, who wondered briefly if she was about to get yelled at…then wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's neck. "But my princess can defend me any time she wants."
Bo gave a laugh that was half amusement, half relief, her hands automatically coming up to grip Morgana's slender waist. "Really? Funny, I thought you were the princess in this relationship."
Morgana looked ready to make some witty comeback, but before she could do so, the rest of their friends appeared around a bend in the corridor, just in time for Kenzi to overhear Bo's last remark. "Yeah, you do fit more of the 'dashing heroine' role… On the other hand, you were the one who got cursed into an enchanted sleep, which is about as Disney-fied as it gets even if true love's kiss turned out to be a big fat bust in your case."
"True love's kiss?" Bo echoed in surprise, her hands falling back to her sides as she glanced incredulously between her two lovers. "You guys actually tried that?"
"Only to pacify Kenzi," Morgana said quickly.
"She wouldn't leave us alone until we did, but obviously it didn't work and I'm pretty sure it was the most uncomfortable moment of both our lives, which is why we promised never to mention it again," Merlin elaborated with a pointed glare at the goth girl, who responded with an unrepentant shrug.
"Sorry if respecting your personal boundaries wasn't exactly my top priority when I thought my best friend might die."
"Arthur might die if his life energy isn't replenished soon!" Gwen broke in, too distraught to care about interrupting their conversation. "We can't wake him, and he's barely breathing! Bo, please-"
"Way ahead of you." Even as she spoke, Bo was already moving toward Dyson, who had Arthur's limp form slung over his shoulder, the same way he had carried Uther when they were trying to escape the Knights of Medhir. The wolf wasn't sure when lugging unconscious Pendragons around had become his designated task, but he was quite happy to put the prince down so that Bo could access his mouth.
Arthur's eyelids popped open as her chi flowed into him, just in time to see her familiar face and glowing cerulean eyes hovering over him. "Bo?" he asked dazedly, unsure if he could trust what his senses were telling him or if this was some sort of dying hallucination. He didn't feel like he was dying anymore, though; his blurred vision was rapidly sharpening, and his strength was returning in an exhilarating rush, like water flooding into a dry riverbed after a dam broke. Whatever Morgause's cursed trinket had done to him, Bo had obviously revived him, and although he was very grateful that she had somehow reached him in the nick of time, he still had to ask, "What are you doing here?"
"Saving your royal arse, again," Merlin answered for her, causing Arthur to look around as Bo pulled back to give him room to sit up.
No sooner was he back on his feet than Gwen and Morgana mobbed him in a group hug, both exclaiming about how afraid they had been that he would die, the latter because of her vision and the former because she had actually found him at death's door.
"Yes, well, I'm fine now," he muttered as he awkwardly hugged the two women back – but he did hug them back, because as embarrassing as their display was (especially when he realized exactly how many other people were watching), he loved Gwen, and hugging Morgana was the only way he could tell her how glad he was to see her without actually saying the words, which he absolutely refused to do.
"Do I get a hug too?" Merlin asked when Morgana and Gwen finally let Arthur go.
"No," came the prince's prompt reply. "If I hugged you, people might get the idea that I've missed having you around, which I haven't. Not one bit."
"Well, my life's certainly been easier without you barking orders at me all day long," Merlin retorted, grinning.
"I know it sounds like they hate each other," Kenzi commented in an undertone to Gwaine and Vex, who, never having witnessed Arthur's and Merlin's interactions before, were watching the pair with perplexed expressions, "but trust me, this is their love language."
"So, I understand that you lot-" Arthur made a gesture encompassing Merlin and his companions "-came because Morgana had a vision of Morgause trying to kill me, but what about the rest of you?"
"Gaius recognized that you were wearing an eye of the phoenix when you left," Lancelot explained. "When he confirmed what it was and told us what it would do to you-"
"We figured we'd better saddle up and ride to the rescue," Kenzi finished for him. "Again. This is like the eightieth time we've had to save you from some wicked witch or monster or whatever, and now that I think about it, maybe I'm getting some Disney princess vibes from you too."
"And I suppose all of you just forgot the part where I was supposed to complete this quest alone and unaided?" Arthur asked in a rather aggrieved tone.
"I'm sorry if we've spoiled it for you," Gwen said softly, "but we couldn't just let you die. Besides, anyone who knows you, who's lived in Camelot and watched you all these years as I have, already knows you'll be a great king when the time comes whether you retrieve some silly trident or not."
"But we can still get it if that'll make you feel better," Gwaine offered.
Arthur sighed and ran a hand through his hair in exasperation; he was still miffed about them messing up a rite of passage he'd prepared for all his life, but Gwen's heartfelt words had made it impossible for him to truly be angry with them. Besides, she had a point when she said he would have died if they hadn't come after him, and he definitely wasn't sorry to not be dead. "Fine," he agreed, trying not to sound too petulant. "Let's find the damn thing so we can go home."
So Morgana had a heart-to-heart with Morgause and decided to give her one last chance at maybe someday fixing their relationship… Think she'll actually learn her lesson? She might want to reconcile with her sister, but this is Morgause we're talking about, and we all know how stubborn she can be…