A.N.://

now guess who will offer their memories.

Hint: You probably guessed it.
Or did you?

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The light had vanished with Leon's fall. And just like that, Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot and Gwen were surrounded by darkness, molten stone and dead bodies.
Except.... Beeltheas was still alive.

They could hear his breathing. He must have sunken on his knees, still completely overwhelmed by the fact that Leon had not harmed him.

"Merlin, light a torch.", Arthur ordered, his voice shaking.

He could hear soft steps echoing on the floor as Merlin obeyed his wish. There, where last remnants of the wall were still standing, lay splinters of furniture around.
The explosion must have destroyed quite a bunch of the interior mobilar from Alastor's room.

Arthur didn't know how Merlin did it, but within a few moments a flickering light echoed on to the walls and left giant shadows where objects and people lay on the floor.

Gwen didn't hesitate for another second. She hurried to Leon's side and moved him on to his back to check for a pulse.
"He's alive.", she explained. A relieved breath escaped her lips as she send a smile in Arthur's and Lancelot's direction.
Lancelot, on the other hand, had also grabbed for a piece of wood and targeted Beeltheas, who was still staring at the corpse of his master. Then his eyes switched to Leon's unconscious form.

"He's a wraith.", Merlin said all of a sudden, turning everyone's attention to him.

"Yeah, that's what he said.", Arthur rolled his eyes. 'I am thy wraith.' was literally what Leon had said while he recited that strange enchantment.

Merlin shook his head. "This means, Leon is undead. He probably always was.", he explained and then joined Gwen at Leon's side and also checked for something.
Maybe wounds or other indicators that something on him had changed.

"You don't mean undead like that immortal knight that challenged my father to battle over life and death now, do you?"

"Exactly like that.", Merlin answered. "No. Not quite. Leon bleeds. The dark knight didn't.", Merlin commented. Though that did not ease Arthur's worry at all.
Leon's head was split open, where his head had hit the ground unguarded. And a small trail of blood ran down on the side of his forehead.

"Do you think Leon is here to kill my father?", Arthur asked, concern evident in his voice, but the looks he received for that were more pitying than accusing.

"Leon literally said he was fighting for Camelot. If anyone wanted to kill your father, I'm sure it was THAT guy.", Gwen said and pointed at the dead king in the corner.

Their eyes all snapped in the direction Gwen mentioned and from there they could see how Lancelot pointed his wooden stick at Beeltheas, before he turned to George and Iseldir and loosened their chains as he realized the sorcerer was basically paralyzed with fear.
George sighed in relief, as the gag was removed from his mouth. Iseldir had already been freed from it, so he was more busy rubbing the wounded skin on his wrist.

When George was unchained though, he immediately hurried to his feet and went to check if king Alastor was really dead. Before he smiled in relief and then turned to Leon to check for wounds as well.

"Neither of you.... seem surprised.", Arthur finally pointed out. He was the only one still unmoving. To be fair, it was a lot to process for him.

"Well. Iseldir is a druid. He knew about Leon.", George explained, before bowing to the prince.
However, when he looked up, he offered no explanation as to how HE knew about Leon.
Not that they needed any.
Gwen had already told them that George grew up in Leon's household as well. But George couldn't have known that.

Iseldir merely nodded, but otherwise kept his mouth shut.
He must be more than afraid to say anything, since he was unable to lie.

Arthur however now turned to Beeltheas, who still seemed to be too afraid to move. Which was ridiculous, since he was a powerful sorcerer.

"You! You are a sorcerer too!", Arthur finally pointed out, his mind a constant mess, as he tried to grasp the idea that a magic user was on their side. Meaning... Leon.
"What were you doing here?", Arthur looked around at the corpses. "All of you?"

"And who are you?", Beeltheas seemed to finally catch himself. Before Arthur could answer, Iseldir was forced to speak instead.
The man's eyes rolled up, in another attempt to keep quiet, but his attempts were in vain.

"This is the once and future king." He fell to his knees, as Beeltheas loosened his grip on him.

"What?"

"My name is Arthur Pendragon.", Arthur straightened his back regally, uncaring for the strange words Iseldir had uttered about him.

"If he really is the once and future king... then -", Beeltheas turned to Iseldir once again.
"Is Emrys here?", he said and rose to his feet. Fear was gracing his features.
Before, he had anticipated that five or six sorcerers would be enough to defeat Emrys. Then they had faced a man who was decidedly NOT Emrys and still lost. Gravely.

"Who is Emrys?", Arthur asked, confusion now evident on his face.

But the sorcerer narrowed his eyes in distaste at the prince. "Your father taught you nothing, did he?", he didn't as much ask as he spat at Arthur. Arthur's features flinched in anger.

"Emrys is a warlock. The strongest who ever lived. He is immortal. No sorcerer alive could measure against him alone. Not even ...", Beeltheas eyes turned to Leon fearfully. "Not even him."

Arthur paled. And turned to the others. His eyes finally found Merlin's. Merlin, who slowly rose from his crouched position. Alarm had risen in his eyes. Was he scared of this Emrys as well?
"Iseldir, if he is here, point him out to me."

Iseldir gagged once again, then his eyes as well, fell on Merlin.
"I apologize, my lord.", Iseldir pleaded as he talked to MERLIN. "It's him."

Arthur heard a clatter against stone and only then realized that he had let his sword fall onto the ground. Considering he was the only one here with a metal weapon, he had noticed it quite late.
But Merlin wasn't denying it.
His eyes merely flicked to Arthur to check for his reaction.
And finally it clicked in Arthur's head.

Why Merlin didn't want to share his opinion on magic. Why it wasn't his opinion that put him at risk. It was... it was his mere existence. It was the fact that he was here – here in Camelot.
And Arthur saw the fear, the plea' in Merlin's eyes that was directed at him.
He saw the regret, the unspoken apology.

But that did nothing to help Arthur grasp the situation. So he did what he always did when someone uttered something so stupidly ridiculous.
"MERlin?"

Merlin frowned, but then sighed.
Beeltheas gritted his teeth. "No. That can't be him. He's.... he's merely a stick. You can't be seriously suggesting that this child -"

Arthur sighed in relief. This was what he needed. Someone, no matter who, to confirm to him that he wasn't the only one who thought the mere idea was preposterous.
Merlin couldn't even hold a sword up right. For goodness sake, Merlin grabbed swords by the blade, when someone handed one to him.

Gwen as well seemed surprised. The only one who wasn't, but appeared more defensive of Merlin, was Lancelot.
Well.... and then there was George, who didn't bat an eye. But with this particular servant, that could mean anything.
After all, he had just been held hostage for over a day and yet, apart from the roughened skin on his wrists, there was no sign of trauma anywhere.

"You would do well not to underestimate a servant of Camelot's.", yet it was George who decided to face the sorcerer. Arthur hoped George said that as a distraction.
And not, because he knew something the rest of them didn't want to accept.

"This is all very interesting and all.", Gwen finally said, but she was still crouching beside Leon.
"But we need to get Leon to the great dragon. Or... at least one of us has to go and explain to him what happened. And well... is someone of you alright with loosing a great part of their memory? Because I can't do it again.", she explained and once again, confusion filled the room, as they looked at the woman. Her skin glowed golden in the firelight.

"One of us? For THAT? Haven't you seen what he did? How dangerous all this was? Leon is a THREAT to Camelot, can't you see that?", Arthur almost shrieked.

"I don't want to interrupt you, Sire.", Lancelot cautiously responded. "But he did just save your father's life and defeated an enemy who would also want to see your head on a silver platter."

That shut Arthur up. Well, he didn't know either. He had never....

Helplessly he looked at Merlin, until he remembered what his servant had been accused of. And suddenly, he found himself alone with his opinion and his thoughts.

"What are they talking about?", Beeltheas suddenly asked Iseldir. And the poor druid was once again about to be tortured, but Merlin finally seemed to have had enough.

"God damn it, stop it!", Merlin ordered and with the growl that escaped his lips, his eyes turned golden as he flicked his wrist in Beeltheas direction.
The magic broke and Iseldir fell choking on to his knees. Before he could finally catch a proper breath.
Beeltheas, however, was thrown at the next wall. Compared to what happened to his companions by Leon's hand, it was almost gentle. But he couldn't move.

Iseldir thankfully send prayers Merlin's way. But for Arthur, the coin finally dropped.
Merlin DID have magic. His mouth parted slightly, but except for a small "huh", he said nothing.

"Gwen, you are probably right. I don't know what kind of magic it is that keeps Leon alive, but if you're right, we should probably hurry.
However, I would like to know what kind of magic Kilgharrah used. I wouldn't trust that lying lizard, if I were you."

"You know him?", Gwen stared at Merlin. But then she blinked, because Merlin had just used magic and that should tell her that even she did not know everything that went down in this castle.
She finally caught herself, while Arthur tried to understand how...
He tried to count his friends.... ... Gwen, Merlin, most likely Leon and George as well, 4 people in this room were casually talking to a DRAGON in their free time.

Gwen shook her head to answer Merlin's question. "Well, he used some kind of spell. I don't remember how it went. But from what I know, it took my memories about Leon and therefore restored Leon's. I don't know how far it went and how much he will remember when he wakes up.
But apparently, it only works, if he knows the person he shared these memories with."

Merlin nodded in thought.
Then he let Beeltheas fall to his knees. The man, stunned by Merlin's DISPLAY OF MAGIC – Arthur still struggled to wrap his mind around that part – didn't dare get up again.

Merlin stuck out his tongue in consideration as he placed a free hand over Leon to check for something. According to the glow in his eyes and the same hues on his hands (honestly, what did they need the torch for, if Merlin walked around like that, they saw more than enough) it must have to do with Leon's magic as well.

Especially, since all of a sudden, Leon's body began to glow was well.
The lines and runes that had been visible before, now glowed under Merlin's hand as well.
It was like Leon's skin was now translucent and they could see his inner veins and organs working. It was his blood that was glowing.
And when Merlin ripped apart Leon's shirt right where his heart was, they could also see why.

Inside Leon's chest was still a heart, but it was placed inside of a crystal.

"This looks almost like the crystal in Cornelius Sigan's grave.", Arthur commented. Remembering that one time some of his knights got attacked by the traps the ancient man had set for intruders of his grave.
"That one was heart shaped though.", Arthur said. Though now that he thought about it – heart shaped got a new meaning, now that he knew what it REALLY looked like.
It was irritating to see the thing pumping and pumping. The light in Leon's veins was moving rhythmically to it too.

"That's because it's the same technique. Well... almost.", Merlin suddenly said and Arthur could only stare.

"What technique?"

"You do remember that Cornelius Sigan's soul was stored in the crystal, right? Remember the bootlicker you fired me for? The one who stole your keys and broke into Sigan's grave to get the crystal? He ended up being possessed by Sigan's soul.
Didn't you know that?", Merlin looked at Arthur in confusion.

"No, yes of course.", Arthur flushed a little.

Merlin regarded him with another look, as if to examine from afar, what Arthur's non reaction to the entire situation meant.
Except for inner panicking, of course.

"Anyway. This thing works pretty much the same, I suppose. I mean, I managed to trap Sigan back into his crystal, last time.
I think I might be able to do the same thing again. But Gwen is right, someone has to offer their – wait, there is one in his brain too."
Actually, now that Merlin checked again. "His other organs as well. Oh. .... there are tiny ones in his cells as well. Wow. These are.... this is a network of crystals."

Arthur blinked. Merlin had WHAT?

"What does that mean?", Gwen asked.

"It means that we have to split the memories evenly onto all these crystals. I can't believe he survived the transformation. Remarkable.", Merlin awed.
"If this IS the same magic Sigan used, if maybe it was Sigan himself, that means Leon is hundreds of years old."

"Just like I told you.", Gwen commented.

Did she? So much had happened, Arthur wasn't sure anymore.

"Alright, who wants to offer their memories?", Merlin said and looked around. "Because if I use my magic for it, I can't be the one offering mine. It has to be one of you. And Gwen is right, she can't do it again, because her memories were already used for this."

"That is relevant?", Lancelot questioned.

"Memories have a certain energy. You can't use ashes to make a fire now, can you?", Merlin commented. "It's similar. We need fresh memories."

"Well then.", George spoke up.
"There is no question about it then, right? We need mine."

Heads turned to him.
"Are you sure?", Merlin asked. But it wasn't much of a question. It was a need for reassurance.

"Of course I -"

"No.", Arthur stopped them.

Now the attention was on Arthur. "We will use mine.", he explained and took a deep breath.

There was a silent pause.
"What?", Merlin asked, eyes wide. Even Lancelot seemed surprised. One would probably question, why Lancelot wasn't offering his own mind. But Lancelot barely knew Leon.
It was clear to him right from the start, that it wouldn't work.

Arthur took a deep breath.
"Not gonna lie, this is terrifying.", he explained and pointed at the visible bones shining underneath translucent skin that Merlin was still examining with golden glowing eyes.

"But I think -", he paused, looking around with fear in his eyes of what he learned.
"My memories would be suited best."

"I can't risk you loosing your memories, Arthur!", Merlin said with exasperation.

"No, you HAVE to.", Arthur said and pointed at Merlin. "Because for all I know, you and Leon are BOTH traitors to the crown. You use magic, here in Camelot!
Gwen and George are both accomplices and Lancelot shouldn't even be here!
All of you should be burning at the pyre!"

Arthur said this with emotion. With a tremble and fear in his voice.

"You would -", Merlin asked, but Arthur shook his head.

"It's better, if I don't know anything about this. For your own sake and for mine.", Arthur said and tried not to flinch away from Merlin's eyes.

"You would still remember US.", Merlin remarked. And pointed at everyone but Leon.

"No. He won't remember anything that has to do with the circumstances of his memory loss. He will wake up tomorrow as if nothing has ever happened. His fantasy will fill in the gaps that make no sense.", Gwen said quietly.
"Arthur is right. He IS the best choice."

"But -", Merlin paused, then bit his lip, before he turned back to Arthur. His eyes still glowing in the dark. "Arthur, I always wanted to tell you about my magic. Never like this. But.... it's better than NEVER. And I don't think I can -", he paused and shook his head.
"I don't think I can teach you about magic, if you insist on living a life in ignorance!"

Arthur stared at Merlin. "You want to teach me?"

Merlin was close to tears. "I want you to know that magic isn't evil. I don't want to lie to you forever. I have to, because of the laws. But... now we have a chance to make this right!
This is YOUR opportunity to learn.
You can't just throw that away because you're scared!"

Arthur blinked. Merlin sounded desperate. But Arthur just -

"Merlin, one day Leon will forget about me too. Then I will remember."

"You don't know when that will be! And then you will STILL have to unlearn everything you've been taught. And it will be harder, because there are so many sorcerers who are mad at you and -"

"Merlin!", Arthur stopped him and closed his eyes.
"I've made my decision. BECAUSE, I'm still not sure what to think of magic. I have seen nothing here that eases my mind about magic. I'm sorry, Merlin.
Do what I ask of you. That will be the proof that I need. Take this burden from me and then I may be able to accept magic as something good."

Arthur might as well have shattered Merlin's heart with these words.

Merlin lowered his hand. And the glow faded.
Then he closed his eyes. "As you wish, Sire."

Arthur nodded and closed his eyes as well.

"Huh... Arthur? Merlin? Where are we? Why is it so dark in here?", everyone startled, as Leon grabbed for his head and looked around.

"Leon!", Gwen grinned with happiness to see he was alright.
"Er...", Leon was looking around, as if asking if anyone could explain how this stranger knew his...
He blinked.

"Leon?", he muttered, as if asking himself if that was his name.

"Yes, that's your name.", George confirmed.

"But -", Leon paused. "Do I... I don't.... that is my name?!"

"Leon, I'm really sorry. I know you just woke up.", Merlin opened his golden eyes with a sorry edge to his voice.
But then, he rose his hand yet again and Leon's eyes rolled back inside his head.

"I'll do it.", Merlin said and look at Arthur. Arthur came closer, carefully, and set down beside him. Gently, Merlin placed a hand on Arthur's head.
"Thank you, Merlin.", Arthur said.

Then, once again, there was a blinding light. And right after, Arthur fell unconscious. At the same time, Leon's body began to glow a bright blue.
And when his eyes opened, he knew exactly where and who he was.