Morgana's plan was in motion. Even her backup plan had been set up. Everything was ready.

     Arthur was still under the effects of the Wishful Thinking spell, so Morgana would torture Merlin, one last time. For her final session with the boy, the witch would use the most painful stone: the diamond. It attacked both the body and spirit of its victims. Very few could keep their sanity after being exposed to the gem. Hopefully, Merlin reveal Emrys's identity before he went insane.

     Morgana grabbed the diamond and her whip, leaving the other stones. The ruby had already been used, but the sapphire, emerald, and pearl lied there, neglected. The witch felt regret, to see the powerful objects, unused against the meddling boy whom she so despised.

     Morgana entered Merlin's cell to find the servant staring at the bars of his cell, waiting for her.

     He looked up at the witch, expectantly. "Hello, Morgana. You have Arthur, now, I see."

     The witch tilted her head quizzically.

     "A loyal servant can always sense his master." Merlin had put a spell on Arthur years ago, so that he knew when Arthur was nearby.

     Morgana seemed at a loss for words, but she quickly regained her facade. "Are you ready to experience pain beyond your imagination, Merlin?"

     "Sure," he responded, "I guess."

     Morgana leaned down to face the boy. "Just remember," she whispered, menacingly, "to try to be quiet, we wouldn't want to wake up Arthur this early in the Wishful Thinking spell." The witch was just trying to intimidate Merlin; no amount of noise could disturb her spell.

     "I don't plan on it."

     Morgana thrust the point of the stone into the boy's forehead.

     Everything was empty and Merlin was tired, very tired. It was just nothingness. Everything hurt, but not with pain. He couldn't feel pain. This nothingness went on for what seemed like years. Suddenly, everything returned, and felt like he was experiencing the most extreme hangover ever, multiplied by a thousand. Then, the pain of a thousand knives penetrated Merlin from all angles, along with the feeling of water, filling his lungs. He couldn't breath, he couldn't scream. It was terrible.

     The nothingness returned, and Merlin no longer felt the pain. His brain commanded his lungs to breath, but he couldn't feel the air passing through. Suddenly, the pain came back, but all his other senses were still gone.

     Then, Arthur appeared. He was crying. He clutched his throat as if she was choking.

     "Merlin," the King begged. He fell to the ground.

     His pupils dilated until his eyes were all black. Black fluid poured out of his mouth and eyes, and his flesh began rotting, as if he were a walking corpse.

     "Why?" Arthur cried.

     "I'm sorry," Merlin said, over and over again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he sobbed.

     Back to nothingness. Then, one by one, Merlin's worst memories began playing in front of him like pieces of Shakespeare's works, without any plot and glued together by a curtain of nothingness.

     The same scene repeated with everyone he had ever loved: his mother, Balinor, Freya, Will, Gwen, the knights. 

     Finally, Merlin screamed. He screamed until it wasn't possible to keep screaming. He heard something that sounded as if glass had shattered, but he didn't care. He felt the Earth shake, but it didn't matter. He saw a figure fly backwards through the air, but he didn't process it. He kept screaming until his lungs gave out. Then, the warlock collapsed.

     Morgana got up, and slowly backed away from Merlin's unconscious body, startled and afraid. She had not been seriously damaged, maybe a few scrapes, and some bruises might appear later. All of her windows and glass objects had broken, and Morgana had a few cuts from the glass.

     Most of all, she was just shaken. The power that had come from Merlin was immense. It was also impossible.

     Only one creature on earth could have done what Merlin had, bound in magical bindings, and at his physical weakest: Emrys.

     Merlin was Emrys? Merlin was Emrys. Merlin was Emrys, and he had lied to her, all these years.

     Soon, the witch heard the clanking of chains, coming from the other end of the dungeons. Arthur had awaken. So, without thinking to check on Merlin, she walked swiftly away.

     Of course, when Morgana had been thrown across the cell, she failed to notice, that along with the rumbling earth, and every glass object in the castle, something else had been affected by Merlin's outburst of power.

     Arthur was back in Camelot. Morgana was there, along with Gwen, Gaius, and Merlin.

    The boy was by Arthur's side, not as a servant, but as an equal.

     Arthur shared a look with Merlin, one with great meaning. The king smiled, and clapped Merlin on the back. All was right with the world.

     Then, Morgana smiled, and walked up to them. She looked at Arthur, a long, deep stare, that preceded his very soul. Then she hugged him, and opened her mouth to say something. But instead, a scream so full of pain that it made Arthur's bones tremble erupted from her mouth. 

     Finally, he woke up.

     The scream was as loud as ever, penetrating Arthur's ears. Arthur had never, in his life, heard a scream like that. It wasn't humanly possible. The king knew it was Merlin. He just knew. 

     Arthur heard glass shatter, and felt the ground begin to shake. The dull thump of a body hitting a wall. Then, suddenly, everything stopped. Arthur heard the sound of someone breathing heavily, and a woman sighed.

     Arthur tried to peer around the hall to see what was happening, but found that he was chained to the wall. The chains were only long enough to permit him a seat on the floor.

     Arthur heard someone swiftly walking across the ground, toward his cell. When the person reached to cell, Arthur saw Morgana, and, although she was scraped and bruised, she was still a terrifying sight to behold, but Arthur didn't process that. He could only think of one thing: Merlin.

     When Morgana walked into Arthur's cell, she didn't have a plan. But, she did have questions. And so, she begun her routine with her usual evil smirk. "Hello, brother."

     The king's response was immediate: "Where's Merlin?"

     Morgana laughed, artificially. "Oh, Merlin and I have been spending a lot of time together."

     Arthur was not satisfied. "Was that him?"

     A shadow passed over Morgana's face. "Now, now," she started, "I have some questions for you, first. Answer them, and I'll tell you everything you want to know about Merlin's time here."

     Arthur looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to ask, so she continued.

     "In the forest," she said, "when I caught you, something did not go as planned."

     The man scoffed, "It seemed to work properly, to me. I'm here, aren't I?"

     Morgana ignored him. "The magic in that trap should have immediately lured you in. But, instead, you hesitated. My spell was flawless. Unless your heart belongs to another person, you should have immediately been entranced by the girl."

     Arthur stared at the bloody whip in the witch's hands. All he could thing about was how that was probably Merlin's blood. "So?" 

     "So who is it? To whom does your heart belong?"

     Arthur did not know that he was in love. Well, he was in love with his kingdom, but that would probably not count. The king answered truthfully. "I don't know," he said.

     Morgana scoffed. "Shall we get Merlin, and ask him?

     "Morgana, I don't know."

     The witch smiled. "Merlin will be so happy to see you. He asks about you every day, you know."

     "I don't know, Morgana!" Arthur was frustrated with both himself and his sister. "Please, you have to believe me.

     "He worries about you so much. He tries to make deals, you know. 'I'll tell you about Emrys if you leave Arthur alone.' It's so annoying."

     "Leave him alone! Hurting him won't do you any good because I don't know."

     Morgana looked at him, scanning his face for any trace of a lie. "I am afraid," she said quietly, "that I believe you." The witch grinned. "Besides, I don't need your love. Your best friend's unconscious in my dungeon." She walked away, her footsteps pounding into Arthur's brain.

     The king curled up in a ball, as the sun was just starting to rise, and fell asleep on the cold, hard ground.

🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮

     Merlin awoke suddenly, for no apparent reason. There was no loud noise, and it was pitch black, outside. He was lying on the ground.

     How long had it been, since Morgana had come into his cell with the diamond? Days? Weeks? Was Arthur okay? Was Camelot okay?

     The warlock started panicking. The world was swimming around him, and his breaths were becoming ragged. He remembered the pain, and how everything had happened so suddenly. Everything hurt. He put his hands to his head, as if that would make it stop. He put his hands to his head. His chains were broken. He was free, for the first time in almost a year.

     Merlin's head was more clear, now, and he could sense Arthur, across the hall of the dungeon. Merlin got up, and almost collapsed. He had been chained for so long that he had nearly forgotten how to use his legs.

     Once he had steadied himself a little, Merlin staggered, as quietly as possible, to Arthur's cell. He looked down to a sleeping Arthur, who was chained to the wall, though, not as brutally as Merlin had been. A few rotten apple cores and moldy roles were scattered around the cell. At least she was feeding him.

     Merlin opened the cell door, unlocking it with a quick spell. The cell door creaked as it opened, and the noise echoed through what seemed like the entire castle. Well, shit.

As Arthur stirred awake, Merlin heard the clinking of guards in armor.

     "Sound the alarms!" one of them shouted. "The prisoners are trying to escape! Notify the Lady Morgana!"

     Merlin had no choice, he had to act. "Forbærn yfel!" The warlock incanted. A tall ring of fire surrounded the guards.

     "Merlin?" Arthur asked, groggily, "What's happening?"

     While the guards were distracted Merlin grabbed Arthur's face, and looked him directly in the eyes. "Arthur, are you okay?" He asked.

     "Merlin!," Arthur exclaimed. "You're in one piece! When I heard you screaming I just... Merlin, What did she do to you?"

     "Not important. She'll be here, soon."

     "Mer-!" Arthur started to exclaim.

     "Arthur!" Merlin begged. "We have ran out of time! We can talk later when you're safe!"

     Arthur realized, just then, the how important the next few moments would be to their escape, and that they had to leave before Morgana arrived. He nodded.

     Then, Merlin magically unlocked his chains.

     The king blinked. "Merlin?"

     The warlock looked at Arthur.

     His eyes were wide in disbelief. He stared at Merlin, feeling mostly confused and betrayed. The king barely stopped himself from scrambling away from the boy.

     "You aren't Merlin."

     The warlock sighed. "Arthur, I-"

     "This is another illusion. Morgana did this to give me hope. It's been days since the screams. Merlin is either dead or dying."

     "Arthur, it is me."

     "I'll wake up, soon, and I'll still be chained and Merlin will be screaming and-"

     Merlin grabbed Arthur's face, looking directly into his eyes. "Arthur, look at me. I am real. This is real." The boy reluctantly continued. "I have magic."

     The king clenched his jaw.

     "I've always had magic. But I use it for you, Arthur." Tears were forming in Merlin's eyes. "Only for you. So, right now, I'm going to use it to get you out of here, and, when you're safe, you can hate me all you like."

     Arthur turned his head from the boy. He felt guilty and he felt angry because he felt guilty. "Okay."

     So, they set off.

     Arthur noticed Merlin was falling behind, walking clumsily, as if he had just learned how to. When they reached the stairs, he helped Merlin by acting as a crutch. The king's conscious mind told him not to touch him. Magic was evil, so Merlin was evil. However, Arthur could never believe that Merlin was evil. Arthur could never hate Merlin.

     The warlock tripped, even with Arthur's help. Arthur almost had to carry the boy, but he barely noticed because Merlin was so light.

     "What's did she do to you?" The King asked Merlin, quietly. He

     "No time," Merlin reminded him, once again.

     They reached the top of the staircase, and continued walking.

     Arthur sighed in frustration. He stopped Merlin, before he could follow the hall, and turn left.

     "Speech won't slow you down, Merlin," he said, a little louder this time. "

     "Shhhh" Merlin hissed.

     Arthur was extremely exasperated. "I-" he started.

     "Arthur, for once in your life, be quiet!" Merlin exclaimed. "Don't you hear it?"

     Then, Arthur heard it. A single pair of feet was walking toward them, just around the corner. Crap.

     "Emrys," Morgana called in a singsong voice. "I know you're there. Come out!"

     Merlin stared straight ahead, not looking at his king. He knew that he had to do something. So he did.

     The warlock cast a shielding Spell on Arthur, and a muting charm. Then, just to be safe, he made the king invisible. His eyes glowed brightly in the darkness, impossible for Arthur not to notice.

     Finally, Merlin stumbled out into what used to be a great hall. "I'm here, Morgana," he said, clearly.

     Although he was staggering and weak, he was still a sight to behold. His dark hair had grown a few inches, and he had a faintly darkened shadow of facial hair. His sapphire colored eyes were narrowed at Morgana.

     "Where's his highness?" Morgana asked, far too casually for the situation she knew she was in.

     "Somewhere safe."

     "So," said Morgana, casually, "you escaped. How?

     "Oh, it was easy," Merlin replied, with the same nonchalance. "My chains were broken. How didn't you notice?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm. "It's been a few days, hasn't it?"

     Morgana glared at Merlin.

     "Morgana," said Merlin, now serious, " I do not wish to kill you."

     Morgana smirked, "And it would bring me great pleasure to kill you. The great Emrys, right in front of me, this whole time! Who would have thought?"

     Merlin continued as if nothing else had been said. "Why can't we make peace, Morgana? Why does it have to end in blood?" The emotion in Merlin's voice was overwhelming, for Arthur, at least.

     "Because," sneered Morgana, "that's the way it began."

     Merlin looked at her sadly. "Very well."

     It was quick. Very quick. At least, Arthur thought it was.

     Morgana attacked first, sending a ball of flame in Merlin's direction.

     The warlock quickly cast a shield charm that absorbed the flame. Then, he sent a wall of force toward the witch, thus knocking her over.

     Morgana stood up. "When I win," she taunted, " I'll use the diamond on Arthur!"

     Arthur didn't know what that meant, but it must have been bad.

     Merlin's face flashed with fear, then anger.

     He hit Morgana with another wave of power.

     The witch only laughed as she fell.

     "Morgana, you don't have to do this. You don't have to make me do this."

     The witch laughed. "He will scream in agony and it will be all your fault."

     "You don't want this," Merlin begged. "You don't want to kill him. You never wanted to kill anyone."

     "Not until you; all of this is your fault!"

     Merlin looked at the ground. "I know."

     "So I will deliver your sentence, just as you delivered mine. Hopefully, you'll die, because you won't want to live after you watch me rip every bone out of Arthur's body."

     The warlock seemed to explode. He raised his arms up, and Arthur heard thunder, and saw flashes of lighting. It must have bean Merlin, because Morgana flinched. "I will not let you hurt him."

     The few lit torches were blown out, enveloping the room in darkness. Arthur saw lightning, heard a scream, then the sound of muffled sobs.

     It was a few moments before the torches were relit by Merlin's magic. Even though the warlock had done his best to cover it up, Arthur could tell that Merlin had been crying. His eyes were red and puffy, and tear streaks had cleaned parts of his dirty face

     "Come on," said Merlin, lifting the enchantments from Arthur. "We have to go."

     The king walked to Merlin's side, helping him stand.

     The guards were all gone. They probably fled.

     Arthur, once again, let the boy use him as a crutch.

     The king had questions. He felt emotions that he needed to express. He wanted to say many things, but he knew that now was not the right time.

     Once they left this dreaded castle, and Merlin was taken care of, then Arthur would ask his questions.

     Well, one question now wouldn't hurt.

     "Why didn't you tell me?"

     Merlin's reply was hoarse. "You'd have chopped my head off," he said.

     Arthur stopped walking. "Merlin," he said. "You really are an idiot."