Merlin fic: The Turning Point (Part 2)

[dk323]

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Word Count for this part: 8,888

~ * ~

“Well, it’s fortunate you won’t let that happen,” Nathan said.
 
Arthur sighed. “Yes.”
 
Nathan looked at him questioningly. “You’re not sure?”
 
“I am sure. I told you,” Arthur insisted. “I’ll talk to Merlin when I return and tell him I’ll keep his secret.”
 
Nathan observed him, disbelieving his words.
 
“It’s not about trusting Merlin, it’s that he didn’t trust me enough to confide in me sooner. I know that I haven’t been an advocate for magic users, but I – I just wish he had more faith in our friendship,” Arthur admitted. Then he added, realizing something, “You’re his future incarnation. You’ve been through all this. You know how he – you – felt then.”
 
“I risked my life for you time and again, Arthur, back then. I believed you were my friend, but your father’s edicts and your repeated words of hatred toward magic deterred me from going forward. I would have rather died saving your life, our friendship intact,
over seeing you watching my execution with no sign of remorse. I didn’t trust in my words enough to prove to you that I only had your best interests at heart. That, despite my magic, you would remain my friend,” Nathan explained to him, his green eyes piercing Arthur’s blue.
 
“I can understand that,” Arthur acknowledged with a sigh. “--but it still hurt. I just found out about it this evening. Maybe if I hadn’t been doing this now, I would have had the night to think things through.”
 
Nathan stared at him like he was crazy. “But that’s exactly why you’re here. So that you can think things through, open up your mind to new possibilities. What do you plan to achieve at night when you’re meant to be sleeping? Dreaming about it? No! At least what you’ve seen here is more interesting than whatever other boring thing you planned to do.”
 
Arthur had to agree with that. He definitely had learned a lot so far, to the point where he was overwhelmed. He felt like his future incarnation surely had felt.
 
“No matter how many lives I have lived, I still find myself being amazed at what magic can accomplish.” His future self had said.
 
Magic was like a sword, he thought to himself. Of course. His father had seen magic as a dangerous weapon, but Arthur realized that it only mattered who wielded the magic and what their intentions were. Was not a sword meant to protect and defend as well as maim and kill? It all came down to intent in the end.
 
And magic had so many possibilities…Arthur had seen people who had used magic to heal, to increase their crop yield, and yet his father had executed them all.
 
If he accepted Merlin for who he was, acknowledged that he was still his friend, then who knew what Merlin’s magic could accomplish for Camelot?
 
Arthur had already seen and heard what Merlin’s future incarnations had achieved. All the good things they had done.
 
Of course he had to wait until he was King to enact change, but he could almost taste the bright future Camelot would have with Merlin by his side.
 
“Thinking, were you?” Nathan observed.
 
“What?” Arthur said, shaken out of his reverie. “Yes, I was,” he admitted.
 
“I’m no stranger to that. Centuries of memories in my head, past lives, past battles, happy memories, sad memories, everything in between. I could spend a whole day just sitting and sorting out my memories, reflecting on them, thinking about them,” He confided in Arthur. “I meditate when I can – that usually helps. It’s easy to go a little mad with all these memories if you fail to deal with them appropriately. Sorting them out becomes vital.”
 
“I can’t imagine…” Arthur said. “You’re from the year 2010?”
 
“Yes. I travelled from that year,” Nathan confirmed. He stood up. “Well, it’s time to show you a past memory of mine.”
 
“Yours? As in this incarnation right now?”
 
“Yes that’s it. Believe me, Arthur, when I say that I’m probably the most unique person you will ever meet.”
 
Arthur raised his eyebrow. He wasn’t sure if Nathan just thought a lot of himself or if; in fact, he was telling Arthur the honest truth.
 
Before Arthur could remark on the statement, Nathan took him by the arm and the both of them were swept away.
 
~ * ~
 
They landed in the street. Fortunately they were away from the traffic of people making their way up and down the pavement. It was early evening judging by the sky still being quite light, but with hints of darkness creeping in. Arthur noticed how anyone passing by them avoided colliding into them.
 
“Those moving things on the road are vehicles. People use them to travel now instead of by horse. We’re invisible too.”
 
Arthur could only nod, still trying to take this future in. He had only been inside the Crystal Palace, but to see the future like this – from the outside was a different matter entirely. There were shops all along the street with flashing lights as signs. People were walking up and down the pavement, preoccupied and in a rush to get where they were going. With the light rain, he wasn’t surprised that others would rather be home than messing about in the dreary weather, getting wet. A few people carried umbrellas to shield them from the rain.
 
Arthur was grateful that the rain wasn’t touching him, and he was mercifully dry. It was almost as if they weren’t even really here because no one noticed them and even the rain didn’t acknowledge their presence.
 
“What year is this?”
 
Nathan looked at him, thoughts warring within him, Arthur could see it in his eyes. “Very far into the future, further than what Artemis showed you.”
 
“Is it 2010?”
 
“A few years before that,” he only confirmed to him.
 
Arthur raised his brow, not sure why Nathan was being so tight-lipped about it.
 
But Nathan directed his attention to a man who Arthur could only assume was Nathan from a few years ago.
 
He was wearing a dark leather jacket and dark, tight-fitted pants.
 
Arthur noticed the dragon ring on one of his fingers; the same one the Nathan beside him was wearing. Arthur suspected that the ring held some sort of importance, that the ring was the kind one wore all the time. But he doubted it was a marriage band. Maybe it had to do with Nathan being Merlin’s incarnation? A symbol of that? Considering that Merlin, his Merlin, was a Dragonlord apparently, it made sense to Arthur.
The past Nathan was smoking too, leaning against the wall. The really odd thing was that no one seemed to notice past Nathan’s presence and everyone seemed to move around him like they were doing with Arthur and Nathan.
 
“It was a troubling time,” Nathan spoke up before Arthur could ask, “There were bad wizards as well as good, and some of the bad wizards would’ve liked nothing better than to kill or torture me. That way, they would dampen the morale of the good wizards who supported me as I supported them. So I had to take precautions. I was ordered to keep myself hidden if I decided to venture into the Muggle world, which is where we are. Muggle London. It was either do that or have a bunch of irritating wizard bodyguards tailing me. It’s almost like they forget I have magic of my own and I can defend myself.”
 
“Why all the security?” Arthur wondered. “The Muggle world doesn’t have wizards, does it?”
 
“That doesn’t mean that ill-meaning wizards couldn’t go to the Muggle world, install spies to watch my moves. It was common knowledge that my mother was always a Muggle and that I couldn’t resist seeking you out in the Muggle world in every life. They would use that against me, knowing that I had reason to go to the Muggle world – away from the protection of the wizarding world. I created a safe place for my mother to protect her from those wanting to hurt me through her,” he said, his voice breaking a little with emotion. Shaking his head, he continued on, “For the place, I went off the fictional realm in this book series, imagining it as best as I could. My magic managed to recreate it and bring the world to life. I called the place Avalonia. It’s probably even more secure than The Crystal Palace, and I don’t have to worry so much about her.”
 
“You created a whole world for your mother?” Arthur uttered, surprised.
 
Nathan shrugged as if it was no big deal. “Yes. She’s my mother after all. I care a lot about her. And others stay with her as well, so she wouldn’t be alone. I try to visit her when I can, but I’m always doing something…like being here with you,” he said, waving his hand at Arthur.
 
“Is everything all right now? With those bad wizards?”
 
Nathan nodded. “Yes it is. My mother has grown attached to Avalonia though, so she still lives there. I don’t blame her. It’s a nice place,” he said, a hint of pride in his voice.
Before Arthur could say anything else, Nathan announced, “We should get going.”
 
Nathan’s past self had removed himself from the wall, smothering his cigarette with his shoe, and started walking to his left.
 
“Let’s go,” Nathan said, taking Arthur by the arm.
 
“What are you--?” Arthur started, but then he couldn’t speak as he was transported away by magic.
 
“Is it really necessary to do this when we could have simply walked?” Arthur argued, glaring at him.
 
Nathan looked unaffected. “That’s too slow,” he commented with a sly grin.
 
Arthur shook his head in disbelief.
 
Then at Nathan’s direction, Arthur looked at the scene before him.
 
Just in time to see a bolt of lightning hit Nathan’s past self dead on in a relatively deserted area. His past self cried out, startled, and fell to the ground.
 
Arthur turned to Nathan, demanding an explanation. “What?” Arthur could only say, speechless all of a sudden.
 
Nathan rocked back on his heels. “Keep watching,” he advised Arthur.
 
A blond man came by, surprising Arthur, and going off the physical resemblance, he could only assume it was a future incarnation of him at that particular time. He was wearing a dark suit with a red tie. Notably, his eyes weren’t like Arthur’s blue, but more hazel leaning toward a green shade. But still, enough of a resemblance existed that Arthur knew without a doubt that the blond was a future version of him.
 
“That’s you,” Nathan told him as Arthur’s incarnation went over to help the fallen man. “You hadn’t remembered your past lives at that time, but still, we were drawn to each other. Like a sixth sense. You just happened to be in the area at the time. And I never liked hiding from you. That’s why you could see past the invisibility spell.”
 
“Is there some way to make one remember? Like seeing you here?” Arthur asked, nodding at the two men. His future self was asking if the other man was all right.
 
Nathan sighed. “It’s never that easy. The trigger that makes a person remember is different every time. The only thing you can do is let the person remember on their own terms. Forcing them to recall all those memories doesn’t help much in the end. There’s no guarantee they will remember them that way.”
 
“But Artemis said you always remember early on, before me at least.”
 
“Yes, there’s that,” Nathan acknowledged. “It’s frustrating remembering so young, but I have no control over it. Only thing I can do is live with it,” he admitted, irritation seeping through in his tone.
 
Arthur nodded. “Yes, I can see how that may be if you’re only a child.” He recalled the boy in the portrait who was Merlin’s incarnation before Artemis’s time. Arthur wondered what that boy was like when he wasn’t tipsy. How did a ten-year old boy deal with all those memories, some more trying than others?
 
They resumed watching the scene before them. Nathan’s past self appeared none worse for the wear considering he had been hit by lightning a moment ago.
 
“I’m all right. I’m fine!” Nathan’s past self tried to reassure Arthur’s incarnation. He was trying to help Nathan up, but he resisted the assistance and remained sitting on the ground.
 
“You were just hit by lightning. I’m taking you to the hospital. You need to be checked out,” Arthur said firmly, though he sat down beside the other man.
 
Nathan’s brow furrowed. “Wait – like a Muggle hospital?”
 
“A what?” Arthur asked, confused.
 
Nathan shook his head. “What’s your name?” He asked.
 
The prince turned to the Nathan beside him and asked, “You knew it was an incarnation of me?”
 
“Obviously. He wouldn’t have taken it well if I indicated that I knew him. In his eyes, we were strangers after all.”
 
“My name’s Arthur,” the blond answered Nathan’s past self, looking suspicious. “Who are you? You look oddly familiar.”
 
Nathan’s past self blinked, looking confused. “I can’t exactly remember. I think…maybe Edmund…or Myrddin or…” He squinted his eyes as if trying to get a closer look at something ahead of him.
 
“You could have lost your memory. With the lightning striking you…” Arthur’s incarnation suggested.
 
“Shut up. I didn’t. My memory can’t be lost. I just need a moment to bloody remember…” The past Nathan declared fiercely.
 
Arthur gave him a look.
 
Nathan raised one finger in front of him. “It’s Nathan! That’s it. Nathan Young!” He exclaimed gratefully.
 
Arthur shook his head wryly. He gave Nathan his hand to shake. Nathan shook it. “It’s good to meet you, Nathan Young,” he said congenially. “I’m taking you to the hospital now.”
 
Nathan gave a long sigh, grumbling a bit, but he allowed Arthur to help him to his feet. He made a misstep, like his legs weren’t working the right way. He had to lean on Arthur a bit as a consequence. Arthur didn’t seem to mind.
 
“Come on,” Nathan told the prince. “We’re going to the hospital.”
 
~ * ~
 
They arrived in a room within the hospital. Nathan’s past self was lying on a bed, hooked up to different machines. An older woman, who Arthur could only assume was Nathan’s mother, sat by his bedside.
 
He sat up, frowning deeply when he realized where he was. “Come on!” Nathan exclaimed reprovingly. “I’m fine! I hate all these things. I hate hospitals. I was a physician once. I can look after myself,” he said.
 
“Oh honey,” his mother said in a calming tone. “Arthur was only doing what he thought was right. You were hit by lightning after all. It’s a miracle that you seem perfectly fine. Napoleon, your head of security--”
 
“Napoleon?” Nathan uttered, shaking his head. “Right. Better him than overconfident Aurors.”
 
As an aside to the prince, Nathan told him that Aurors were trained wizards hired by the government to deal with bad wizards. Like the Knights of Camelot but with magic.
 
His mother smiled at him softly, squeezing his hand. “But he was tailing you, of course, as that’s a part of his job. He saw you struck by lightning and he let you go off with Arthur’s incarnation. He overheard you would be coming here and made sure that a Squib doctor treated you here.”
 
Nathan explained to Arthur that a Squib was someone with at least one magical parent, but the person was unfortunately born without any magical powers. It was kinder to have Squibs grow up in the Muggle world so they wouldn’t feel inadequate in a world of magic. Still, Squibs were connected to the wizarding world. Better a Squib doctor to treat him in a Muggle hospital than a Muggle one who had no clue about the wizarding world or about Merlin’s importance. For security purposes.
 
At the same time, Nathan’s mother was saying, “Napoleon contacted me to come and he told Arthur to leave, in a nice way, I’m sure. Since he hasn’t remembered yet, it’s not a good idea to bring him into your world. These are dangerous times after all.”
 
“Did Napoleon Obliviate him? Make him forget about meeting me?” Nathan asked resignedly.
 
“I don’t think so,” She reassured him. “He told me that he had Arthur swear that he would keep quiet about meeting you. I’m certain Arthur will maintain that promise. He is an honourable man to help you when you were a stranger to him.”
 
Nathan could only shrug. “Well, that’s the Once and Future King for you.”
 
Then a man Arthur’s age came into the room. He was of medium height with a lean build, but not as thin as Nathan (Arthur thought Nathan was just the type of person who’d easily be able to slink through tight, narrow spaces. He was that thin). He was wearing a white shirt with a blue and bronze striped tie and grey pants. He had brown hair and eyes, though a moment later, his hair inexplicably turned blue.
 
“How could you possibly get hit by lightning?” The man demanded.
 
“Hello to you too, Napoleon,” Nathan greeted him with a grin. “I don’t know. I guess the lightning was attracted to me?”
 
“He’s your head of security?” Arthur asked Nathan in surprise. “I would think it’d be someone older.”
 
“Is that a rule or something?” Nathan shot back. “He’s the best man for the job. He can change appearance at will, which he is how he changed his hair color so suddenly.”
 
Napoleon looked frazzled, but then he shook his head, composing himself. “All right. We should transfer you to St. Mungo’s. A Healer should look you over. That Squib doctor, Dr. James, said you were fine physically except for the weakness in your legs. Hopefully, if the doctor’s right, you’ll only have trouble walking temporarily. That Arthur fellow said you experienced some memory loss, but then you remembered a few moments later.”
 
“Yes, it was just a hiccup. My memory is as intact as ever,” Nathan said confidently, “And my magic feels the same too. Mum tells me you sent Arthur away. I hope you were polite to him.”
 
“Of course. I have some decorum,” Napoleon said, sounding a bit affronted at being accused of impoliteness. “Still, with the times we live in and his lack of remembrance, it’s best to keep him away. He’ll be safer.”
 
“Right,” Nathan noted curtly.
 
His head of security continued on, “Anyway, there were some strange readings on you as well. We can’t figure them out. Not yet at least.”
 
“I love strange readings,” Nathan expressed idly. “And I’m not going to St. Mungo’s. I don’t need to. I’ll head back home, to the palace.”
 
“I thought you might say that,” Napoleon said with a resigned sigh. “The wizarding world will probably find out about this soon enough. You have to make a public appearance to assure those against Lord…you know...”
 
He almost tripped over his words, giving Arthur the impression that Napoleon was afraid of saying this Lord’s name. Nathan’s past self raised his eyebrow, looking unhappy about the slip-up, but he didn’t point it out. Arthur asked Nathan who this Lord was. He told Arthur that he was an evil wizard who was terrorizing both the wizarding and muggle worlds at that time. Wizards were nervous about saying his name out loud, thinking it would call this Lord to them and he’d do unspeakable things to them.
 
Napoleon continued on, “--that you’re alive and well. Hopefully your leg problem will correct itself by that time. You can’t show any weakness.”
 
“Some time at home and I’ll be as good as new. Don’t worry. I’ve had worse.”
 
Napoleon frowned. “Well, I did what I could. I’ll escort your mother back to Avalonia.”
 
“That’s not necessary. I’m quite capable of going on my own,” Nathan’s mother interjected.
 
Nathan shook his head. “No, Mum. I know you don’t like it, but I’d feel better if you went with Napoleon. All right?” He nearly pleaded with her.
 
“It’s no trouble at all. I’m more than happy to do it,” Napoleon assured her. “When are you planning to return to the Crystal Palace, Nathan?”
 
“By tomorrow, I should be back,” Nathan informed him.
 
Napoleon inclined his head. “I’ll talk to Dr. James then. Get everything settled. And I trust you won’t do anything foolhardy. I see that look in your eyes. I don’t like it.”
 
Nathan grinned at him. “I’m not. I can barely walk. What could I possibly do?” he countered back.
 
Then Arthur saw the scene fade away, blurring and transforming before his eyes.
 
They were in a large open room with beds lining both sides.
 
“This is the sick Children’s Ward at the hospital,” Nathan explained to him.
 
Arthur watched as the past Nathan stood in the middle of the room, supported by the staff he had clutched in his hand. It looked like the same staff that the older Merlin had possessed – the same blue crystal topped it. It was late at night, judging by the children sleeping in their beds. Arthur noticed that some of the children were bald; others deathly pale and unbearably thin. A few were coughing amidst their slumber.
 
“Why are you here?”
 
“I’m going to heal all of them,” Nathan told him plainly. “Strictly speaking, I shouldn’t heal them all at the same time. But I’m going to do it now in this memory of mine,” he informed him. “I usually heal one person at a time because it’s safer that way.”
 
“But why are you taking the risk now?”
 
“Because I had a suspicion about those strange readings. I wanted to test my idea. And what better way than healing sick children? They’ll be able to live full lives after they’re healed. A much better fate than what was waiting for them otherwise.”
 
“What suspicion?” Arthur wondered. He wasn’t sure what Nathan was getting at.
 
But Nathan didn’t answer him, just directed him to watch.
 
He saw as the past Nathan took a long, deep sigh and then said, “Sorry, Napoleon.”
 
A bright light surrounded him, his eyes glowing white, and then the light shot out from Nathan. The light branched out and each stream of light swept over each of the children in the Ward.
 
Arthur saw how their conditions were quickly improving; their cheeks rosier, a healthy sheen to their skin, and those who were without hair were starting to grow their hair back. The children who were near skin and bones were returned to a healthy weight. Those who had been coughing slept on peacefully now. He could even see a few of the children smile in their sleep.
 
The prince was overcome with emotion at what he was seeing. Arthur never imagined that magic could do this. To see the effect of healing magic was a beautiful thing. He was left speechless. A warm feeling spread through him at the thought of those children now having a better chance at a long life.
 
But then he saw how Nathan’s past self was fading, collapsing to the floor. He dropped his staff and it rolled away from him before stopping a few feet away. He looked absolutely miserable, ghostly pale and sweating like he had a fever. It was like he had taken on all the illnesses onto his own person, the pain unimaginable. Breathing harshly, he appeared to be trying to calm down.
 
Suddenly, an echo of a young man with dusty blond hair and very light blue eyes appeared. He was the sort of dashingly handsome man every girl would fall for – not that Arthur himself found him handsome. It’s just that he imagined that girls like Gwen or Morgana would think so… Yes that was it.
 
“That’s Caspian, the incarnation who directly preceded me,” Nathan told Arthur.
 
Arthur was surprised to see that one of Merlin’s incarnations didn’t have dark hair.
 
“I need help,” the past Nathan managed to choke out. The light from his healing spell dimmed and was gone a moment later, the healing having been completed.
 
Caspian nodded, understanding the situation’s urgency, and he grabbed the staff. He and Nathan both held on to it, the blue crystal glowing brightly.
 
The two of them vanished.
 
Nathan took Arthur by the arm and they left as well.
 
~ * ~
 
Arthur found himself in a bedroom in what he assumed was the Crystal Palace. The walls looked similar to the ones he had seen before during his time with Artemis. The room was about the same size as his room back in Camelot. The ceiling held an image of the sky, but the sky took on the colors of a sunrise – light red, gold and purple.
 
There were also moving portraits on the wall here. One picture included that boy, the incarnation before Artemis, who was sitting in a chair and reading a book upside down (judging by the upside down title of the book’s cover). Tall, rectangular windows alternated with round windows along the opposite wall from the door.
 
In the center of the room, there was a big round table with chairs circling it. The table had a stylishly designed dragon decorating its top, and Arthur almost swore that the dragon’s fire breath was real fire. A small oval table was before the grand fireplace, two cozy looking cushioned chairs on either side of the table.
 
This time, the fireplace held a scene of a part-man, part-horse creature attacking a hideous horned creature with a sharp spear. Nathan told him that the hybrid creature was a magical entity called a centaur. They were known for being fierce warriors and highly regarded astrologists. Off in the corner, there was a beautifully carved dark wardrobe with a sign hanging off one of its knobs. The sign said: 
 

 

Avalonia

Restricted Access

 
Nathan’s past self was in bed, undeniably on the verge of the death. He looked horrible. “Let me die. I want to see…to see,” he muttered from the bed, drifting off. He fell into a fitful rest.
 
Caspian sought the attention of the boy in the portrait. “Edmund, get Artemis. Nathan’s dying. It’s beyond our healing capabilities.”
 
Edmund – finally Arthur knew his name – was startled. “Are you serious? During this awful time? We can’t afford to lose him.”
 
“You don’t need to tell me.”
 
Then another portrait of a brunette woman spoke up, “Didn’t you hear? Napoleon came by briefly. He said that Nathan was struck by lightning.”
 
“Oh what is that supposed to mean, Rowena?” Edmund said in frustration.
 
“Is that Rowena Ravenclaw?” Arthur asked Nathan, remembering Artemis mentioning the woman.
 
Nathan nodded.
 
Rowena frowned. “I simply think that there is more to the story. Surely none of you would so easily die. Nathan is still young. His time is not done yet. I do not doubt it.”
 
“Just fetch Artemis, all right, Edmund?” Caspian directed him, exasperated. “And apologize to Rowena for being short with her.”
 
Edmund said a quick apology, which Rowena accepted.
 
He left his portrait to seek Artemis.
 
Arthur asked Nathan. “Why Artemis?”
 
“She’s sort of like a mother to all of us since she was the first female incarnation. She has a very calming presence,” Nathan explained to him. 
 
“You may have a point, Rowena,” Caspian acknowledged, turning for a moment to look at her.
 
Caspian was at Nathan’s bedside, trying to ease his fevered future self’s misery by placing a cool, wet cloth on his hot brow.
 
“Thank you, Caspian,” she said appreciatively.
 
~ * ~
 
By the time Artemis – this time wearing a dark red dress with golden embroidery on the bodice -- came into the room, Nathan had died. But something peculiar was going on.
 
“He can’t truly be dead, Caspian. We would have felt the loss,” Artemis argued.
 
“He’s only mostly dead. I’m certain of that,” a portrait of an older grey-haired Merlin declared, supremely self-assured about his conclusion.
 
“He could come back to life,” Rowena suggested.
 
“Maybe he’s the one who’ll be immortal. It’s the best explanation,” Edmund asserted.
 
“Some of the other echoes are investigating the matter. But it is still strange for lightning to do such a thing,” Artemis noted.
 
“But you didn’t die,” Arthur declared. “Is it what Edmund said? That you’re immortal?”
 
“I think you know the answer,” Nathan only said.
 
Arthur sighed. He wasn’t sure if he believed it. But he had seen so many seemingly impossible things this night. Maybe meeting an immortal man who was Merlin’s future incarnation was just another thing he simply had to accept.
 
“Could you prove your immortality now? Kill yourself and then come back to life?”
 
Nathan grimaced. “It’s not something I like to do without good reason…and usually it takes me hours to come back to life.”
 
“Of course,” Arthur said, feeling awkward. “That was wrong of me to ask.”
 
“It’s all right. You don’t meet a person like me everyday. But even if it’s almost freeing to not fear Death, you end up outliving all those who you love.”
 
“But you can travel in time, and you have your echoes,” Arthur pointed out.
 
“Even with my ability to time travel, I understand how important it is not to dwell on the past or even visit it too often. I have to look forward because only the future can be changed – ideally for the better. Our past mistakes remind us what improvements we can make in the future. You only have one life in Camelot. You shouldn’t make your decisions lightly, Arthur,” Nathan told him. Then he admitted, “But you’re right about my echoes. I don’t know where I’d be without that support system.”
 
Arthur thought the idea was sort of nice, having these echoes. He could see Merlin choosing to have them in the future. It was like talking to yourself, but on a more advanced level. The prince wondered if it was another way to help with all those memories in an incarnation’s head. To have that ability to talk to your past selves on a daily basis must be useful in coping with that burden.
 
~ * ~
 
They jumped forward in time a few hours to when Nathan’s past self came back to life with a loud gasp, as if he were trying to return oxygen into his lungs.
 
“I’m immortal?” Nathan pondered aloud, already realizing the answer.
 
“Yes, I suppose so,” Artemis asserted. She handed him a glass of water, which he drank with an unsteady hand.
 
Artemis’s echo then wondered, “Do you believe you can walk now?”
 
“I’m not sure,” he admitted.
 
Nathan set down the glass of water on the bedside table. He shifted so that his legs dangled over the edge of the high bed. Artemis moved aside as Nathan put his feet on the ground. But when he stood up and attempted to walk, he had to quickly grab on to the table so that he wouldn’t fall to the floor.
 
Artemis helped him over to the bed. She frowned. “You may require a Healer,” she concluded.
 
“Un-fucking-believable,” Nathan said carelessly. He didn’t sound too bothered by the problem. “I’m immortal and now I might as well get a wheelchair,” he remarked, oddly enthused about the idea. He played with his ring, looking thoughtful.
 
“I wouldn’t doubt Napoleon getting a Healer to visit you here. I’m sure you’ll be able to walk again,” Artemis assured him. “Can you heal yourself with magic?”
 
“Artemis, if my immortality didn’t fix my legs, then I don’t think my magic can do it. Sometimes you need another person to do the healing. Self-healing is always a pain in the--”
 
Artemis gave him a wary look, interrupting with a, “Yes, you’re right.”
 
“Anyway, I agree. Napoleon should get a Healer to come here. I don’t want to stay at St. Mungo’s and make the hospital a target. Could you imagine how angry Lord Voldemort’ll be to find out I’m immortal? And if he can’t take out his rage on me, he’ll do it on those who can die,” Nathan pointed out in worry.
 
“Oh, but it will only be four more years – the year 1981, you said?”
 
“All Hallow’s Eve,” Nathan said in a low, haunting voice. He wrote ‘October 31, 1981’ with a finger in the empty space in the air in front of him. The date was written in red, glittering as it was impossibly suspended in thin air. Well, Arthur thought, with magic, the impossible wasn’t so any longer.
 
Artemis nodded.
 
“We’ve gone past the half decade mark,” declared Edmund from his portrait. He was wearing a black top hat. The hat was leaning too heavily on one side, looking about ready to fall off his head.
 
“Get the confetti,” Nathan contributed drily, conjuring a cigarette. His hands still shaking, from anxiety possibly, he lit the smoke with magic and took a long drag from it.
 
Artemis reached forward, but Arthur was unable to see the rest of the memory. Nathan took him away from this particular scene. Everything faded away before Arthur as he felt himself leaving.
 
~ * ~
 
“1977 isn’t a little before 2010,” Arthur noted when they returned to the room with the golden throne, the same room where he had first met Nathan.
 
“I’m sorry for not telling you outright earlier, but I doubted you’d believe me. It is hard to accept. I mean immortality is one thing…but…” Nathan sighed, sitting down in the throne.
 
Arthur sat down in the chair across from him. He raised his brow, figuring out what Nathan hadn’t told him before. “If that was really you in 1977, then you haven’t aged a single day by the look of it. Are you saying you’ve stopped aging too?”
 
“It wasn’t when I was made immortal…” Nathan clarified. “It was two years later that I noticed something change inside of me. I don’t know how to explain it, but I felt something stop. I’ve always had this sense that I was changing, aging, and even after I became immortal; I still felt that. But in 1979, I just knew that I was stuck. That I may never age past 22. I’ve lived for 53 years in this life, and I look like I should have been born in 1988 instead of 1957.”
 
Arthur stared at him. “You’re serious. You’re telling me you’re immortal and you’ve stopped aging?”
 
“I did tell you I was the most unique person you would ever meet,” Nathan reminded him, snapping his fingers for effect.
 
“Right. Okay. I don’t know…that’s – well, it’s a lot to take in.”
 
“More than the whole notion of the wizarding world?” He prodded him.
 
“All of it…they seem like impossible things to me. But with all that I’ve seen this evening, I can’t help but believe some of it. Not all of this can be a complete impossibility.”
 
“That’s a start,” Nathan quipped.
 
“What about that date? October 31, 1981? Did you see the future?” Arthur wondered.
 
“It’s frustrating to know something and be unable to do anything but wait,” Nathan confided in him. “But I do have some prophetic abilities, yes. I knew that 1981 would be the year that a time of peace would come. Now the enemy, Lord Voldemort, was not completely destroyed in 1981, but the same person who weakened him then managed to kill him permanently years later. So by my present time, 2010, the wizarding world has been free from terrorizing dark wizards for over a decade now.”
 
“No matter how powerful you were magically, you still couldn’t kill the enemy?”
 
“I had to follow the prophecy,” he said unhappily. “However much I hated it, I knew I couldn’t be the hero all the time. The only thing I could do was help. Open up my palace to anyone needing a safe place to stay…aid those fighting against Voldemort. But I had to let the prophecy run its course. I had to allow that person to do their part.”
 
“Like my situation with Merlin...” Arthur mused. “He can’t do anything but wait for me to decide his fate. He’s probably hoping that I’m a better man than my father, that I’ll do the right thing.”
 
“You’re the only one who can act. By doing so, you determine if Artemis, Caspian, Edmund, Myrddin, and I as well as all the other incarnations will be born to carry on Merlin’s work.”
 
Arthur rubbed the back of his head, thinking. This future, Merlin’s and by extension, his own, was just so big and overwhelming. He had found out so much through this experience that he almost didn’t know what to do with himself. Except let this future unfold, to give Merlin the future he deserved after all he had done for Arthur and for Camelot.
 
“I was going to poke you with a stick,” Nathan said suddenly with a cheeky grin.
 
“Sorry,” Arthur said curtly. “Is this it? Am I done?”
 
“Unfortunately, no. You have one more person you need to see,” Nathan told him, putting up one finger.
 
“But the old Merlin said I’d only meet two incarnations,” Arthur argued.
 
“Yes,” Nathan confirmed, taking off his grey hat.
 
He set it down on his lap and started digging through the hat, throwing away items after seeing it wasn’t what he was looking for. Arthur assumed that magic was involved in being able to store items in a hat without everything falling on one’s head. Though why pockets couldn’t have been simply used, he didn’t know. Maybe Nathan had thought that too boring. That seemed like him.
 
Nathan continued on, “But he doesn’t like talking about her, so he didn’t tell you about the last person. No one likes discussing Death.”
 
“I’m going to meet Death?” Arthur uttered incredulously. “And Death is a woman?”
 
“Yeah,” Nathan said, finding a piece of candy and popping it into his mouth. “She prefers the name Mercy because most people beg for mercy before they are killed. She’s a real charmer,” he said with an eye roll.
 
“I don’t want to meet her. I don’t see the point to it. If she’s Death then…”
 
“But you have to meet her. There are always three ghosts in the Christmas Carol,” Nathan said, sounding like it was the worst thing to deviate from that premise. “You can’t back out now. Look at it this way, you can honestly say you’ve met Death and walked away without, well, dying,” he said with a shrug.
 
Understandably, Arthur didn’t feel any better about meeting Death, Mercy, whatever name she called herself.
 
“And how do I do that?” He wanted to know.
 
Nathan pulled out a shimmery pale cloak from his hat. “This is the Cloak of Invisibility. It’s made from the hair of a Demiguise, a magical creature with the power of invisibility. If Mercy threatens you, then you just wear this and she won’t be able to see or find you. She could hardly resist the chance to kill someone. It is her job after all -- to take people and send them to the afterlife.”
 
Arthur raised his brow, still unsure, but he took the cloak that Nathan offered him. “You’re certain this will work?”
 
“I wouldn’t be giving it to you if I didn’t. The cloak isn’t mine though. I’m borrowing it from someone. One of my echoes will come by to collect the cloak when you’re done using it.”
 
Arthur nodded. “All right.”
 
“Oh, and you know how Artemis was my first female incarnation?”
 
“Yes.”
 
“I thought you might like to know that she’s not the only one now. After my first death, after healing those children, another incarnation was born in 1979.”
 
“That’s the same year you stopped aging,” Arthur remembered.
 
“It could be related. I’m not completely sure. There’s a restriction in place that prevents any more incarnations from being born if I die more than once. Only my first death counted. She’s going to continue the reincarnation cycle.”
 
“How does it work between you two? Do you divide up duties?” Arthur asked, finding himself intrigued by the idea of two incarnations of Merlin living at the same time.
 
Nathan waved his hand. “She helps me when I need it, but she agreed to let me continue on as the ‘official’ Merlin. I take care of most of the responsibilities. That’s why I’m still wearing the dragon ring. Your Merlin, when he’s much older, created this ring that would only come alive for his incarnations,” he confided in Arthur.
 
Nathan removed the ring and Arthur watched as the band of the ring unraveled and became the tail of the dragon. By all appearances, it looked like a miniature silver dragon statue, but with the unexpected ability to move of its own accord. Sitting in Nathan’s palm, the creature shook itself. Then the dragon wrapped its tail around Nathan’s finger and settled there, its wings tucked in and remaining still as if it were in deep slumber.
 
With his elbow resting on the throne arm, his hand cupping his chin, he continued on, “Anyway, she’s happy with her life. She was born during those dark times, and I decided it was safest to keep attention away from her. The wizarding world didn’t mind after they found out I was immortal. There was no need for another Merlin,” Nathan explained. “I did visit her as she was growing up, since she remembered early as always. It’s the job of the previous incarnation to look after the succeeding incarnation. Like with Caspian and me. Of course it’s usually the echoes of the previous incarnation. The situation with Hermione and me has never happened before after all.”
 
Arthur recalled how Caspian was the one to come to Nathan’s aid in the Children’s Ward and then how he cared for him afterwards. Now he understood why.
 
“I could show you a picture of her. Not that it will be familiar to you, but her name is Hermione Granger. Well, Granger-Potter now. She’s married. Here,” He said, handing Arthur the picture.
 
There were three people in the picture. Arthur assumed Hermione was in the middle as she was the only woman present. She had brown hair and eyes. Despite her unremarkable appearance, she still could be considered pretty. There was also something old and knowing behind her eyes. Maybe having all those memories could leave you with such a look. Nathan had a similar look in his eyes if Arthur peered at him close enough. He had to admit that Nathan had managed to school his expression especially well.
 
A dark-haired, green-eyed man was at her left side and a man with red hair and blue eyes was on the opposite side. The picture was a moving one as apparently all pictures in this world were. Hermione had one arm around each of them and all of them were smiling that smile one gets after hearing a joke.
 
“I took that picture,” Nathan informed him. “Hermione’s in the middle obviously. And that man with dark hair is her husband, Harry. The redhead is Ron. All three of them have been friends for years. They’ve been through a lot together.”
 
Arthur wasn’t sure what it was about that dark-haired man, but he had this strange feeling as he looked at him.
 
Nathan looked half-amused, half-curious. “What is it?” He asked Arthur.
 
“That man, Harry – is he – does he have magic then?” Arthur asked.
 
Nathan nodded. “Yes, both he and Ron do. Harry’s a halfblood though. His mother was a Muggleborn while his father was a pureblood. Ron comes from a pureblood family.”
 
“Oh okay,” Arthur said with a curt nod, returning the picture to Nathan. He swept aside the stray thought that had come to mind. It was completely ridiculous.
 
“Do you have someone?” Arthur asked idly.
 
“Like a girlfriend?”
 
“Yes,” Arthur confirmed.
 
“Or a boyfriend?” Nathan countered with a grin.
 
“Yes!” Arthur exclaimed, impatient. “Man or woman, I don’t care.”
 
“I’m used to keeping my love life private. I lead a very public life, so maintaining privacy doesn’t always work out…but yes, I do have someone. A girlfriend, that is. I’m straight as an arrow. But you know, if the right man comes along, I’m open to playing both sides,” Nathan said slyly, giving Arthur the once over.
 
Arthur felt uncomfortable all of a sudden as Nathan’s green eyes looked him up and down.
 
“Don’t worry though,” Nathan assured him. “In each of our incarnations, our personalities and even our preferences change. It’s not just our appearances. If I remember correctly, your Merlin could be open to you know…” he drifted off and made an obscene gesture involving a finger that left no room for the imagination.
 
He winked at Arthur.
 
“I think this conversation is getting out of hand,” Arthur said quickly.
 
Nathan laughed. “Yeah, I suppose it is. Good luck, Arthur. It was nice talking to you,” he said sincerely.
 
Arthur inclined his head. “Thanks. And you as well.”
 
Nathan then told him that he should wait a bit and he’d be transported to his next destination. He assured him that Arthur would return to his room once he was done (as long as he remembered to use the cloak, of course).
 
“Where are you going?” Arthur asked him.
 
“Oh, I think I might visit Hermione,” he said nonchalantly. “Unless something comes up.”
 
Nathan nodded at Arthur before he disappeared, his throne and the scattered items on the floor leaving with him.
 
~ * ~
 
Mercy
 
The Invisibility Cloak in hand, Arthur saw his surroundings shift around him.
 
He was transported to a place enveloped in a grey mist. A figure in a black cloak and white glittering dress stood before him. Death, Arthur assumed, was hooded and her face was in complete shadow. Arthur could not see a hint of her face – all he saw was darkness.
 
Her nails were painted black and her hands were ghostly pale.
 
“You’re Death?” Arthur asked. “Or I mean – Mercy?” He quickly corrected himself.
 
Mercy only put her finger up to where her lips would probably be. “You’re too loud,” she admonished him. A table suddenly appeared next to her and she scraped her nails against it.
 
Arthur cringed at the unpleasant, grating sound. He tried not to focus on the blood that formed in the same area she had been scraping upon. Was the blood hers? Did Death even have blood?
 
“I don’t really want to be here. I’m sorry, but--” Arthur stopped abruptly when Mercy moved forward. She was unbearably close to him now.
 
Arthur was startled when she peered down at the Invisibility Cloak he was holding.
 
“What a pretty cloak,” Mercy commented. She swept her hand over the material as if it were a delicate thing.
 
“You can’t have it,” he said sharply, stepping away from her.
 
She gave a soft laugh. “Do not worry. I cannot take it away from you. I know Nathan made sure of that.”
 
“He knew about you,” Arthur mentioned to her.
 
“Of course. We have an arrangement,” she said simply.
 
Arthur found it increasingly unnerving that he couldn’t see her face. He could only go by the sound of her voice to determine what mood she was in. And she spoke far too calmly, which from any other person would have lulled him into a sense of security. But considering this was Death, Arthur didn’t trust her motives at all.
 
 “I suppose,” Arthur ventured, “that if Nathan is immortal, then he has no fear of you. You must hate that.”
 
“Oh, clever too, aren’t you?” Mercy inquired idly.
 
She didn’t sound as if she were too invested in the conversation. She sounded almost bored, mildly interested at best.
 
“Isn’t it true though?” Arthur prodded. “That you hate not being able to take him? At least permanently?”
 
“‘But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, Death was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with Death gladly, and, equals, they departed this life,’” Mercy recited smoothly. “Everyone, no matter their peculiarities, will grow weary and tired. Everyone’s time will come. Even Nathan’s. Even yours, Arthur Pendragon,” she said, her voice soft, but her tone resolute and final. “The beauty of life is that you have the choice to do with it what you wish. The greatest gift for anyone is to depart from the world of the living with a lighter heart – to depart with no regrets and with a legacy that others may aspire to.”
 
Arthur had to admit that he had the same hope. To be remembered as a good and just man, a fair king, after his death.
 
“Where is that from? That first bit you said?” Arthur asked her.
 
“The Tale of the Three Brothers,” Mercy answered him. “I think you can guess what happened to the two older brothers,” she remarked, a hint of amusement in her voice.
 
“They didn’t live as long of a life as the youngest,” Arthur said grimly.
 
“Unfortunately so,” she remarked, not sounding too sad about it.
 
Arthur bet she celebrated the occasion when it happened. The more people she was able to get, the happier she was. It was a completely morbid thought to him and Arthur preferred not to dwell on it.
 
“I know it is wrong of me to consider this, but you are in my realm now. I would like to have you. It has been a bit slow lately, and--”
 
“No, I’m not going with you,” Arthur told her firmly.
 
“But it’s very nice,” she said earnestly. “You’ll be happy. You won’t have to worry about keeping your Merlin’s secret while your father reigns. You’ll be at peace. It’ll be lovely,” Mercy tried to persuade him.
 
But Arthur wouldn’t let her convince him. “I know it’s going to be hard to stand by Merlin and keep his secret for now. Still, I rather that than give up and go to my death. I will face any problems with my head held high. I am not one to back down and I most certainly am not a coward.”
 
Before Mercy could make another argument, Arthur put the Invisibility Cloak on.
 
“Oh how dull,” she said, disappointed. “I can’t see you,” she remarked.
 
Still fully covered by the cloak, Arthur watched as Mercy sat down in a chair that suddenly appeared by the table.
 
She crossed her arms on the table and laid her head down. Arthur was surprised and a little startled as well to hear Mercy actually crying.
 
She raised her head, her face still covered in deep shadow, so Arthur could almost pretend he hadn’t heard her weeping. “I don’t know if you’re still here, but it’s just…I get lonely sometimes.”
 
Arthur didn’t dare speak unless it would give away his location. He felt sorry for her, but then she was Death…why should he feel sorry for the person whose responsibility was to take life away? She had even wanted to take him! And she would have been glad to take Merlin too if she had the chance, if Arthur had decided to give Merlin up to be executed.
 
But that wasn’t going to happen. Merlin wasn’t going to die for a long time. He would be the youngest brother of that tale. The one who lived until old age, and only then, would Death come to take him.
 
Yet still, Arthur couldn’t resist extending some gesture of sympathy to Mercy.
 
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, honestly.
 
Arthur could feel an odd sensation working on him. He could only guess it was magic – maybe the magic of the cloak? He felt himself being pulled away from this eerie place of mist.
 
He heard Mercy say a soft thank you before he had completely left the place.
 
~ * ~
 
“Hello, Mercy,” Nathan said once he arrived at her realm, long after Arthur had gone. “Or should I say, Morgana…”
 
Morgana put down her hood, revealing her face that had a scar running down the left side. Yet it would never be the scar that would shock others, but her eyes. One eye was pure white and the other eye was pure obsidian black. Nathan had seen her enough to not be fazed by her startling appearance.
 
“I like the hat,” Morgana said conversationally as Nathan sat down at the table.
 
“Thanks,” Nathan said, taking off the grey top hat. He put it on her head.
 
She frowned.
 
Nathan smiled at her. “You look good.”
 
“You were never known for fashion,” Morgana reminded him, but she kept the hat on.
 
Nathan shrugged. “So, game of chess? What do you say?”
 
“You know my answer,” she said and swept her hand over the table.
 
A chessboard complete with chess pieces appeared upon it.
 
“Let’s play,” she declared.
 
~ * ~

Final Part