The ethereal form of the great wizard Merlin chuckled softly, "Morpheus, how long has it been since we've seen each other? And this ritual I recognize it." he paused slightly then continued, "You desecrated my grave?"
Morpheus laughed loudly, his laugh seemed to send shivers down Merlin's ethereal spine, "Who cares about the small stuff anyways I'm surprised this worked I thought for certain you faked your death,"
Merlin sighed softly, "Death is a natural occurrence in nature why do you run from it?"
Morpheus sneered playfully, "That is rich coming from you,"
"Yes and you asking me about faking my death is rich coming from you above anyone else. After all, you did orchestrate it," Merlin replied bitterly
Morpheus didn't respond for a while, his face perfectly blank.
"So you knew," he whispered but with how silent the night was Merlin heard him clearly
Merlin laughed loudly, "Of course, I knew, although I only realized it at the end. Why did you do it, my friend?"
Morpheus sighed deeply, "You were never supposed to find out, haaa you bastard now I have to change some plans around. You always had a way of messing up my plans,"
"Why did you do it," Merlin asked once more but now his voice was stronger losing all of its friendliness
Morpheus met merlins powerful gaze and replied, "Your ideals,"
"My ideals?" Merlin asked confused
"Don't play the idiot now Merlin it is unbecoming, you were working with every race be it Gods, Angels, Demons, and more to break the veil. You believed everyone could live in harmony! What an idiotic idea, you were going to destroy the human race!" Morpheus yelled in anger
"I was NOT! I was building a future for the human race! You and your brother never understood that!" Merlin shouted back
"No Merlin you didn't understand, you are but a middle-aged man in my eyes I have seen the world you dreamed of I lived before the Veil! Humans were akin to livestock. Kingdoms mere playthings! They treated us worse than bugs," Morpheus was so angry pure magic wafted from his body wilting the ground around him
"That was before the human race advanced, we learned how to harness magic so we could fight as equals! And as equals we could build a world worth living in," Merlin replied stubbornly though with much less vigor than before
"You fool, do you want to know why they want back on Earth so bad? It's because they need the magic from our lands! They are running out of their own and in a couple thousand years they will be starving for more," Morpheus said in an eerily calm tone
Merlin fell silent his eyes never leaving Morpheus's.
Seeing that the argument was getting them nowhere Merlin decided to break the silence, "You called me here thinking I didn't know you were the one that schemed to kill me, what is it you truly wanted from me today?"
Morpheus calmly looked into Merlin's eyes as if gauging his soul, "Where did you hide it, Merlin?" his voice sounded tiered
Merlin smirked softly, "whatever do you speak of?"
Morpheus glared slightly at his provokeaction, "The true Dragons heart, it's been lost for centuries many think you still have it alive and well. Since we both know you died that day where did you stash it? I've looked everywhere,"
"People think I'm still alive?" Merlin couldn't contain his laughter
"The threat of you is more important than the real you sometimes," Morpheus replied dissmisvly
Merlin nodded at that, "And why do you think I would tell you the location? After all, you did kill me. And why now? You could have asked this long ago why in this time period?"
Morpheus laughed loudly, "Merlin my friend! You must give the heart to me after all aren't we trying to achieve the same thing? Peace for all humans sadly our methods are a little different but I know you wouldn't miss the opportunity to aid humanity. And as for your other question, this time period is different big changes are coming my friend."
"What you're doing can very well doom humanity," Merlin said softly although he didn't know fully what Morpheu's plans were he knew Morpheus never did things in half measures
"Yes, and the True Heart can increase my chances of victory. Either way, I will follow through with my plans do you want to help humanity or make it harder for us to win?" Morpheus said with a large smile knowing he won
Merlin sighed, his wish for humanity will always be his downfall, "The heart is within Azkaban,"
Morpheus's eyes widened, "Brilliant, you deserve the title of the brightest wizard,"
Hiding the heart in Azkaban was pure genius, the dementors are natural guards for the heart, and among the wards, there are strong divination blockers.
"The dementors agreed?" Morpheus asked skeptically
"Yes, it took a little convincing but the location is actually deep in the center of the island, where more powerful wards are waiting made with dragon tongue," Merlin replied
"Did you make a key?" Morpheus asked hopefully
Merlin nodded, "My staff,"
Morpheus smiled at that.
"You took my staff too?" Merlin said with exasperation
The two talked for a little longer but eventually, the ritual died and the connection was lost. Merlin's ethereal form faded away.
Morpheus quickly cast a spell to clean himself and then dressed. Taking out a portkey he popped away.
***
Standing in Azkaban with the staff of Merlin, many dementors floated about none ever coming close to Morpheus. It was as if they feared his presence.
Then a more solid-looking dementor appeared, "What are you doing here cursed one," it spoke in a language unknown to man
"The heart take me to it, King of the Dementors," Morpheus replied in the same language
"You are not Merlin," The King laughed
The laugh was terrifying it sounded like screams of pain.
"But I have his staff," Morpheus said with a smirk
The King fell silent as if deciding if letting Morpheus take the heart would break his oath.
"Very well," the king then floated away and Morpheus followed
"corpus aethereum," Morpheus intoned deeply while swiping his wand vertically
He didn't use the staff as it would only respond to Merlin. It was nothing but a key now.
As soon as the spell finished Morpheus turned ethereal like a ghost, nodding to the dementor King they both began to sink into the ground.
The King led him to a large carved-out circle, then left promptly.
Morpheus holding the staff entered the circle, he felt a little resistance but managed to get through the wards easily.
He knew Merlin wasn't lying and leading him to a trap because of one simple fact, the second ritual showed him accomplishing this goal. Not only did it show him the many paths to complete the third ritual, but the ritual also showed him the path he needed to take in order to complete his final goal.
That goal was to get this heart.
Morpheus flipped open the wooden chest in the circle and saw it, a pure silver beating heart.
It was beautiful.
Quickly he picked up the heart and left Azkaban.
Morpheus then went to his manor, and quickly he walked deeply into the depths of the old home. There a familiar black pit was seen.
Bubbles formed on the surface, holding the True Heart with both hands Morpheus began to chant.
***
Purgatory is the land between life and death. Only a small few souls could end up in this horrible but magical land.
There was one special condition one needed to have to end up here, just one.
Even Morpheus with his technique to escape death wasn't sent here when he died. No, he had the special privilege of being sent to the depths of hell where even demons wouldn't wonder.
Two figures sat on two separate rocks facing each other. One looked young and handsome but, a deep pondering look occupied his face.
The other looked old and tired but, his eyes shone with great strength and determination.
"He is the most unpleasant man to grace the earth," The young one suddenly spoke in spite
"Indeed," the old man replied
The young man shook his head in denial, "No I should say your whole family is nature's biggest mistake. I don't know what you two brothers are planning but leave me out of it,"
The old man laughed loudly thinking to himself, 'Oh Merlin but you are already so deep into it, How can you not be a part of our plans?'
-end-
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