The year: 921

A mile east of Avalon Lake,
Camelot,
Albion

[Merlin's POV]

"You don't have what it takes to kill Akurra, Morgana!" I challenged the woman I had once watched over, protected, and risked my life for on multiple occasions. 

Morgana fixed me with a fevered stare. Her body tensed, and her nostrils flared. She clenched her fists, turning her knuckles pale. A clear sign that my words had hurt and angered her. Morgana despised being underestimated.

It took her but a moment to school her features into casual indifference. "Tsk. Tsk," she clicked her tongue. "You know what's your problem, Merlin?"

"I am a thorn in your arse?" I retorted. We hadn't looked eye to eye in ages.

After Uther's demise, Morgana closed her heart to us all. We found out three years later that she had chosen to side with darkness to get what she wanted: Camelot's throne. I didn't know then that Morgana had always known I had poisoned her. Maybe that's why- thinking I had forsaken her for Arthur- she had left us: Arthur, Guin, and me. 

"Arthur is everything to you. I am nothing. Neither to Father nor to you!" She had thrown the accusations at my face while her goons shackled me for further interrogations about Arthur's plans to find and capture her. What puzzled me was why, when she had so many chances to expose the deed to Arthur, she had stayed silent.

At that time, I believed that if I told her about my magic and confessed to her that the one she owed her life to, Emrys, was none other than me, her life would be in jeopardy. The only way I could think to keep her safe… to keep everyone safe, was to take my alter ego to my grave. 

I often wondered if she would have embraced darkness if I had told her the truth about my magic... about how much I cared for her, and what had prompted me to poison her on that ill-fated day? Alas, it was too late to make amends now. There was no point in dwelling over it.

"Overconfidence, Merlin. That's your problem. That has always been your problem. Even now, instead of asking me how I got rid of Akurra, you think I am incapable of it." Morgana flipped her long tresses, falling on her bosom, over her shoulders. 

"Anyway, it doesn't matter now. What matters is that you are all alone now." She paused and bit her lips, "How does it feel to be alone, Merlin?"

I stood straight, "You are forgetting, my lady. I am not alone. Camelot stands with me."

"Not for long. Not after the knights realize that you are Emrys." She threw the truth in my face. 

Morgana had found out about my magic very recently when she had captured me to stop me from reaching Arthur's side. My king relied on my advice, and Morgana was aware that my absence would affect him negatively in the battle where he had eventually lost his life: the battle of Camlann. 

To escape from her clutches, I used magic and got caught red-handed. 

Would Arthur have lived if I had told Morgana the truth when I had fallen into her trap? 

The thought made my eyes sting and well up, and Morgana grabbed this chance to land a blow in the middle of my chest. 

Wincing, I toppled over. If this curse would have hit anyone else, they would be dead. But I was different. I rose to my feet and gave back better than I had received.

The air around us vibrated and buzzed with magic. The clash of spells turned the surroundings toxic. Clouds roared and darkened. Curses rebounded and hit everything in their vicinity, decimating whatever it touched instantly.

It puzzled me that even after knowing who I was and what I had done for her, instead of questioning me, she had attacked me while I was escorting Arthur to Avalon in a last-ditch effort to save him. 

As her spells grew darker and more powerful, the small flame of hope that believed Morgana would turn to light died. I couldn't afford to die at her hands. If the serpent was no more, I had to survive until Arthur's prophesied return. What if I died and no one was there to guide him, show him what was truly important, and stop him from becoming a brat!?

I wanted to reason with her and see if I could guide her back to what she was like the first time I saw her.

"Morgana, I am sorry. Trying to poison you that one time was the biggest mistake of my life. You are not a nobody. You were never a nobody."

She interjected before I could continue, "But I wasn't Arthur. The once and future king!" She growled, unleashing another curse. 

"Morgana, stop this madness. Please, come back to us. Guin needs you. I need you."

"Stop with the lies, Merlin." She lifted her arms as if readying herself for another curse, but instead of attacking me, she asked, "Why didn't you trust me then, Merlin. We were friends. Maybe..."

"More." I completed her thoughts. Her arms fell to her side, and her eyes met mine. Tears glistened at the corners of her pale gray eyes. "Merlin, Arthur is gone. We can never go back. Everyone hates me. I am responsible for it. All of it."

I took a step towards her cautiously; she held her ground. 

The danger had passed. Or so I thought. 

Not a moment later, the amulet around my neck grew warm. It was a sign that I was in mortal danger. 

To make sure that we were alone, I summoned Arnica. Abandoning its high perch, the bird took to the skies immediately. There was no one but Morgana and myself within miles of us.

There was only one conclusion that I could draw: Morgana was trying to fool me by putting on a show. She still wanted me dead. 

I had to stop her. However, I had already abandoned the idea of killing her. I was immortal. I had all the time in the world and was ready to wait the hate out. I had to believe that she would forgive me one day. Until then, I had to keep her safe, somewhere she couldn't hurt others or herself. 

Morgana's eyes grew cold, and she threw her arms out. Reacting instinctively, I did the same. "Jalmnno!"

The spell she was about to use died on her lips. Her eyes met mine. They expressed sadness and disappointment with the tears that glistened within them. 

A golden thread bound her feet, creeping upwards, but before they could do the same to her hands, she flicked her wrist, and a whip appeared in her palm and caught fire. Like a serpent about to strike, it hissed, throwing bright vermilion sparks around us, illuminating the moonless night sky.

"Morgana!" I cried out; fearing for her life, I reached for her. Stumbling over my two left feet, I crashed into Morgana in the most embarrassing way possible, making her lose her hold on the whip. 

Now free to do what it pleased, the whip wrapped around our torsos, plastering us together from head to toe.

"How dare you, Merlin!?" The slap landed on my easily bruisable skin. It stung more than I dared to admit. Nonetheless, if I had known that that would be the last time I was going to be touched by a woman, I would probably have cherished it more. 

Almost immediately, I started to lose my sense of touch, realizing belatedly that due to our close proximity to each other, my spell had recognized me as an extension of Morgana and was now working its way into my person as well. 

I was about to lose my body. With barely a few heartbeats to spare till the enchantment stripped me of my magic and trapped me in a place between worlds, I took off my amulet, locking my magic- the one thing that could help me be myself again- inside it, and threw it at Arnica.