Vivian shook her head. “We let them. We know our powers are so great. Because we could level them with the flick of a finger, we humbled ourselves to them. The universes are theirs. We are but visitors, pieces in their stories, here to watch over them—not to interfere. They never did kill us. Those who worshipped us said the Old Ways were gone, but we never were. We loved mankind even though they forgot us, and so we fight to save them.”
A weak smile tugged at Merlin’s eyes. “I said that.”
“In 236 B.C. On the first earth. Do you feel the same now?”
Drawing a breath, it felt like the first time. He knew he was not a machine. “I must have been afraid of what I would do,” he said. “To let myself become a servant. To lock my own memories away.”
A fire of anger and sadness passed Vivian’s eyes. She paused before she replied. “You made the D.R.U.I.Ds to serve man. The poor, stupid, base abominations. We closed Avalon to you for that abominable act. I took your memories. You and Mab fight too much. I wanted you removed.”
“I had a plan,” he said, though he could not recall what he had calculated.
“You always do,” she smiled. “What is written, you always say. Written among the stars where the Questing Beast flies, awaiting a hunter worthy of his gift.”
He didn’t have to ask, but the question came out before he let doubt sink in. “Will you help me?”
She smiled ironically. “I will try not to. I hate you and I hate what you’ve done to this world in your righteous endeavors to save it. I don’t hate my sister Mab as much as I hate you.”
“And Nimueh?” he asked, closing his eyes, remembering the woman he loved. “She was human.”
Vivian gathered her robes, and turned away towards the door. “She still is. She followed your preaching, save mankind. She gave herself to Constantine and Augustine. But that is her story to tell. Not mine. And not yours.”
***
The night creatures sang in perfect rising and falling harmony with the wind, sounding like a strange song to Merlin as he sat in the darkened stones. They were only to be activated when Uther gave permission for them to be. The pulse of the Mist still lived in the pilot glow of the stone table, but he could not bring it to full life or Uther would know. So, here he sat, wishing he could communicate with the life around him in place of his fellow Avalonians. His eyes were trained onto the sky, scanning for any sign of the planet that had been so close before. He didn’t know what to look for, but he had faith that it was out there.
“I love the sky as well,” a sweet voice said behind him. He turned to find Nimueh standing there in her white gown. She must have left the lab in his absence and followed him here. “Thank you for running tests on me.” She smiled and crawled up on the table next to him.
“Why are you thanking me? I’ve discovered your greatest secret.”
“Because now you know who I am.”
He turned away from her. “You were mortal last time I saw you. And older.”
“My rebirth is a gift,” Nimueh smiled. “You never got to experience death and rebirth. I did. I am mortal. But,” she didn’t look at him, “this time I stay. This time I came through Avalon. I am like you now. Never have I been. I thought this time, he will love me for we are the same.”
She gently touched his pale hand on the stone. He pulled away.
“Yes, that’s what I thought. I was born out of sync, coming through Avalon. But you were not there. I left. Traveled the stars and found Augustine and his captain Constantine. I knew the king you sought came from this man and so I stayed. Forever. Constantine wanted to save the human race during a very dark time. You were not there. I knew that was your prime directive: save the humans. I gave myself to Constantine and Augustine’s experiments. I could bear them with Avalon inside me.”
He had to face her again. “What do you mean this time?”
She sighed heavily, disappointment drooping her eyes. “I loved you every time. But I was mortal. Every rebirth was new. I don’t know why I was gifted to return as an Avalonian this time, but I know it was for a purpose. I won’t pass on now. No more rebirth. Like you.” She reached out to touch his hand but he moved it away. “I thought this time, with all my memories, immortality, we could…”
“You’re a child,” Merlin hissed. “And a young Avalonian, apart from her planet.”
“I have all my memories,” she shot back. “I remember loving you. How we loved. Constantine said you’d come. I trusted him. And here you are.” She lowered her hand. “You won’t have me. I only have one mission then. I have a prime directive now.”
Something inside Merlin told him how revolting having her would be. She might have Nimueh’s memories, all of them, but no mortal was ever reborn an Avalonian. She was right, she would never die from age now and they were the same. He could love her like he never had before.
“You destroyed your Avalonian body,” he whispered, trying to stop his voice from cracking.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said suddenly. “Uther wants to implement a military academy. I have the ability he is looking for to pilot those Avamechs so I’m going to do that. I am what he thinks I am: part Avalon, part Camelot. I am giving myself to his experiments.”
Merlin had to reply to this. “Nimueh! He’ll tear Camelot apart! He’s weaponizing power he has no notion to control. Things are different this time. You cannot side with him.”
“Why not?” she shrugged. “You do. You always have.”
“What I
