Morgana sensed the Isle of the Blessed immediately. Breaking the silence, she shouted to Merlin,
"Left here!" Merlin was confused, but he obeyed. "Keep going," Morgana directed. "Right!" The car turned onto a small gravel road. At the end was a forest. Before the car had even stopped, Morgana was jumping out and running. She ran down an almost hidden path, not even waiting for her companions to follow. They did.
Morgana burst out of the woods and saw the lake. The dock was still there, and a boat was tethered. Her sister came to her side, breathing heavily. Merlin almost fell into her. Gwaine had been the last to exit the car, but he was the best conditioned to running, so he sprinted easily through the woods. He tripped over his own feet and fell down. Morgause looked down upon him in disgust. Merlin helped him up.
"How did you find it?" asked Gwaine in admiration of Morgana. He could see Morgause gritting her teeth.
"I sensed it," she explained, looking at the castle in the middle of the lake. "I am a High Priestess."
So am I, thought Morgause bitterly.
"Good job," said Merlin. He smiled at Morgana. They walked down the small hill to the dock, where they encountered the same ferryman that had always been there. Merlin had anticipated this, so he handed the man a few gold coins. They entered the boat.
The ferryman brought them through the familiar passage and into the fortress. His silence was enough to tell them to get out. When they did, the boat glided silently away. They were alone.
"This way," said Merlin, walking fast through the ancient halls to the main altar. When they reached it, Morgana stumbled. She hadn't tripped, but rather recognized the place as where she had killed her sister. Morgause gently touched her shoulder.
"I asked you to," she reminded the guilty woman.
And it accomplished nothing except misery and death, Morgana thought. It caused the death of Lancelot, noblest knight of them all. She didn't say this out loud, only smiled at he sister as if she was grateful.
"Morgana," Merlin said. He stood in front of the altar. She stood beside him. Just where she had killed Morgause. They began chanting the spell to talk to speak to the dead, but there was no voice. They looked at Morgause and Gwaine, but neither seemed to channel Nimueh. Morgana glanced at Merlin, but he too was himself.
"Nimueh?" asked Morgause. There was no change.
"This can only mean one thing," said Merlin solemnly. "Nimueh is in this world."
0O0O0O0
"What does that mean?" Gwaine asked Merlin. "Is that bad?"
"It really is," Merlin replied. "It means we can't talk to her without bringing back her memories."
"But we have to!" Morgause exclaimed. "We must know!" Truthfully, she didn't care about the reason for the reincarnation. She doubted she would live long enough to encounter whatever Destiny wanted Arthur to face. She just wanted to see Nimueh again. She might have an answer to her lack of magic, and it was possible that she could help Morgause with her problems with the Sidhe.
"Morgause is right," Merlin said. "We have to find her." The travelers that had at some point had magic looked between themselves with worry. Gwaine faded out of their circle until he spoke, his typically carefree voice tinged with a bit of worry.
"Won't be too hard, I expect," he said. The magic people turned to look at him, and saw what he was seeing. A beautiful woman stood in the crumbling archway. She had wet black hair and the bluest eyes Gwaine had ever seen.
"Nimueh, I presume?" he said, mock bowing. The woman raised her head proudly.
"Your presumptions shall be your undoing, Sir Knight," she warned. "But you have guessed correctly. I am Nimueh, High Priestess of the Old Religion." At this point she curtsied with the same degree of mocking he had bowed to her with.
"Nimueh!" cried Morgause. The love and relief on her face was matched by that on the enchantress's own.
"Little Morgause, all grown up," she smiled. "I am proud of you."
"Nimueh, this is Morgana. My sister," said Morgause with the sort of pride one would expect from an old pupil showing off their younger sibling to a teacher the sibling would soon have. Nimueh looked unimpressed. She studied Morgana until she noticed the man behind her.
"Merlin," she said dangerously. "Last time I saw you, you were killing me. You ensured the death of Morgause, and you stabbed her sister. Every person who has ever shown the power to bring magic back, you killed."
"Nimueh," Merlin acknowledged. "Long time. How do you know about all this? Everyone else brought back only remembers their own life."
"That's because I wasn't brought back!" Nimueh said, raising her voice to a commanding tone. "I am more worthy than any of these mortals. I was summoned by the gods to balance the magic of the world." Nimueh looked at Morgause and Morgana.
"You and Emrys are the only humans with magic in the world, Morgana le Fay. There must be balance to the world, and you don't provide it. You both fight for good, and the world needs the bad. And here I am."
Nimueh twirled her hands in the air, and the dead leaves and debris scattered around the floor blew to a cyclone forming in front of her. "Did you like that beast I sent you?" They knew of course, the monster that had sparked it all, when Morgana regained her memories. Merlin and Morgana both braced themselves, but the magic ended as soon as it began.
"I have no wish to fight you, Merlin. Nor you, Morgana. Peace is the key to wisdom." Nimueh glared at Gwaine with contempt.
"This one, however, fights against all my beliefs and the causes those with magic should support."
"Stay away from him," said Merlin quietly. Nimueh turned on him, her dark blue eyes threatening. Merlin stared back unwaveringly.
"You'll find that we don't take kindly to threats," Morgana told Nimueh in the voice she had perfected as an 'evil witch'. Nimueh looked on her with surprise, as if she hadn't expected such disrespect. Morgana knew that when she was around her sister before, she was overshadowed. In this world she had more power, but she knew that Nimueh thought that she was terribly inexperienced. Morgana needed to prove her wrong.
"Morgana, rest easy," Morgause warned. "Let's not get too carried away. Nimueh, we don't want conflict."
"You don't," Nimueh agreed. "But this warlock hates the sight of me." Merlin remembered what they there for.
"I need you to answer a question," Merlin said.
"About the return of your friends, I know. I will answer as much as I can." Nimueh walked gracefully in front of them and began pacing intimidatingly.
"The world you know is not the only one. Your Albion was in a different world."
"No, that's not possible," said Merlin. "I lived the thousand years in between Albion and this world."
"There are passages between the worlds. Unwittingly, you passed through one. It was when you searched for the Druids, and you never found them. They didn't all die. You left them." Nimueh smiled her treacherous smile at Merlin. He had thought that all the Druids were gone forever. It had broken his heart.
"And Aithusa?" asked Morgana.
"She came with me," Merlin said softly. The things he thought he knew had been a lie. "So this isn't a second life for them," he said to Nimueh. "This is the first." Nimueh nodded with a small smile.
"There are other world similar to your Albion in which time works differently. Things that happened to you haven't yet happened in those worlds."
"But we are there?" asked Gwaine. Nimueh curled her lips up and smiled cruelly.
"No. There is nobody to kill the foes that terrorize the land. The ones you have found are the only ones you will ever find. It was destiny that brought you back. It brought you here to take you there. If you can make it," said Nimueh.
"What do you mean, 'if we can make it'," asked Gwaine. "Was that a threat?" Nimueh laughed, but that only made Gwaine more nervous.
"You're saying that it is our destiny to save that world?" clarified Morgana. Nimueh nodded again. "Where is the gateway between the worlds?"
"That I cannot tell you," said Nimueh. "The knowledge has been lost. You must find it yourselves."
"Thank you," Merlin said to Nimueh. "You didn't have to help us."
"No, I didn't. Heed my words, Merlin. You will face many challenges in the next world. I will not be as gracious as I am now when I get there."
"You have been gracious," Merlin acknowledged. "Thank you. I don't look forward to fighting with you again"
"Because you know it will be hard?" Morgause asked, speaking for the first time. Merlin didn't answer. Nimueh's face twitched in anger. They both knew Merlin's powers far surpassed Nimueh's. She needed help, which, presumably, she would find in the other world.
"We should leave now," said Morgana, sensing the tension. Merlin and Nimueh didn't seem to hear her, they were staring so intensely at each other. "Merlin?" said Morgana, touching his arm. He turned to her. "Let's go."
Morgause, said a voice in her head. Nimueh's voice. I know your plight with the Sidhe. I told you long ago that your affections would be your destruction.
Can you help me? Morgause responded. Nimueh's blue eyes stared at her intensely.
They will not seek you in the next world. I can protect you until then. Or rather, you can protect yourself. Come here. As Merlin, Morgana, and Gwaine headed out the way they had come, Morgause made to follow them, but walked right next to Nimueh.
Nimueh grabbed her hand. For the first time since her death, she felt the magic surge through her again.
Keep it hidden. They will not trust you if they know, Nimueh warned. Morgause smiled at her and squeezed the hand.
Goodbye, my friend.
I hope I will see you again, Nimueh said.