Chapter 23: Camelot

As he slammed into the ground several meters behind Arthur, Edward felt a strange force invade his body and try to corrode it. He hurriedly sat down and meditated, activating his Chi which began fighting against the corrosion.

Meanwhile, he couldn't help but feel scared at the magician in the sky, a single spell from hers had almost killed him, had he not circulated his Chi in time the corrosion would have quickly reached his heart and killed him.

After a while, Edward stopped his meditation and reopened his eyes to look at the situation.

No one in the battlefield was moving, be it the orcs or the human soldiers. A dark energy had unknowingly spread in the surroundings, and it seems it was blocking everyone from moving.

Only two people were still able to move, one was Arthur, who was trying to disperse the fog with his sword, and the other was one of his knights, who wielded a dark blade as black as the night. But even he had difficulty moving.

Edward found himself free to move, probably thanks to his armor, but it was too late.

In the sky, the runes shone with a dark light before converging onto the demon, and branding themselves into it's skin. As for Zatanna, she fell to the ground, looking very exhausted.

She looked at the demon and Morgana and said "Nrub ot srednic!" However, nothing happened. As she looked shocked, Morgana laughed mockingly "What a pathetic magician you are, not even recognizing the sealing runes."

She raised her hand and another bolt appeared above her hand. Edward did his best to get up, but he wasn't fast enough as the bolt already left her hand and headed for Zatanna.

As the bolt was about to hit her though, a crimson barrier appeared above her, and stopped the bolt. Morgana clicked her tongue and looked above Arthur as she said "So you came… I'm done anyway."

With a wave of her hand, darkness spread around, thickening the dark fog and blocking everyone's vision. After a couple of seconds, Edward felt a warm light appear in the darkness, and watched as the fog was quickly cleared by the light.

However, neither Morgana, her Orcs or the demon were anywhere in sight.

As for Zatanna, she was unconscious, but a man had appeared next to her. He was of an average height, had short black hair and a well groomed beard. He definitely didn't look like the old enchanter of legends, but a middle aged magician.

His robes shone with a soft crimson light, and he could be considered handsome.

He was currently examining Zatanna, and after a few seconds he snapped his fingers, and Zatanna disappeared.

Then, Merlin approached Edward and asked "Are you okay? I sense the Darkhold's dark powers on you…"

Edward shook his head and said "I was hit by one of Morgana's spells, but I'm fine." Merlin raised an eyebrow and asked "Would you mind if I examine you?"

Edward once again shook his head, and the same crimson light as earlier enveloped him. He didn't really feel anything, but after a few seconds the light disappeared and Merlin said "How interesting, your vital energy is strong, and strengthened your body."

Arthur walked up to them and asked "We should return to the castle now." Merlin smiled and said "Right, right."

Merlin turned around and clasped his hands as a giant portal slowly formed in front of him. On the other side of the portal, was a giant castle. Edward, Merlin, Arthur and all of his men entered the portal.

Quickly, the knights under Arthur led the men away, while Edward was brought by Merlin and Arthur toward the castle.

Soon, they reached a large room at the center of which was a round table, surrounded by twelve seats, one of which was more of a throne than a seat.

His eyes glued to the legendary round table, Edward heard Merlin say "Young man, we have things to do while the King meets with his knights."

Edward looked at the wizard before nodding at Arthur and walking away under his curious gaze. Once out of the room, Edward asked "So, how did you know about me?"

Merlin smiled and said "Figured you would ask… But first, tell me, are you a Sorcerer? Or do you know the Sorcerer Supreme?"

Edward nodded and replied "I don't know if I can be considered a Sorcerer, but I study the mystical arts, I mastered a couple of spells but I mainly focus on improving my magical knowledge."

Merlin said "I expected as much. As you have been told, you time travelled. And usually, time travel is a pain to deal with, the consequences are unpredictable."

Edward replied "Yes, I have been told Sorcerers found a way to safely time travel though. Does my presence being expected have anything to do with this?"

Merlin was clearly surprised as he said "Quite impressive of you, how did you come to this conclusion?"

Edward shrugged and replied "I had a conversation with a Sorcerer friend about time travel and destiny. Although he didn't tell me the specifics about this famous 'safe' way of time travel, he did teach me there isn't anything such as destiny, so my arrival being foretold in a prophecy led me to this conclusion."

Merlin chuckled "Interesting. Tell me, when do you come from? Month and year."

Edward felt a shiver as he heard the weird question, and replied "September 2010."

As he said that, Merlin opened a door, and they entered what seemed to be Merlin's wizard tower. They approached a table upon which numerous runes were carved, and Merlin said "The safe way of time travelling first requires two very skilled magicians. In this case, it will be me and the Ancient One of your time."

As he said that, he placed his palms on the sides of the table and began chanting in a weird language.

"Msgeii hnal, n mjdlg, amgsrnjv ejhe hrl ldvli ez hrl vglmh gnwlg. Mjsnljh ejl, hmbc he al!"

Edward couldn't make any sense of it, but it seemed it was working as Edward felt the very space around them shake. Then, a face started materialising above the table. It was made of the same sparkly energy that made the portals from the Sling Rings, and as it finished condensing Edward recognized the Ancient One's face.

As soon as he appeared, the Ancient One asked "Merlin, how nice to see you. To what do I how the pleasure?"

Merlin replied "Someone from your time got here. Two of them, actually. The thing is, I saw them appear in a prophecy, meaning we performed the ritual."

Edward heard a sigh come from the Ancient One, who said "I see, which troublemaker is it? Is it Stephen Strange? I swear, this man will be the death of me. Who did he even bring with him?"

Merlin raised an eyebrow in interest and looked at Edward, who shook his head and said "Tell him it's Serenity and Zatanna, a powerful witch who speaks backwards."

Merlin nodded and repeated what he said. The Ancient One showed clear surprise before he asked "Giovanni's daughter and Serenity… Well, that is a surprise. What exactly does that prophecy entail?"

Merlin sighed and replied "A warrior and a witch from another time will bring a demon to our time, and the warrior is the only one capable of exterminating the demon. I met said demon, it's a demon of Dormammu."

The Ancient One looked pensive as he said "Dormammu? Knowing Zatanna, it wouldn't surprise me she sent the three of them into your time period through an ill mastered spell. But I hardly see how Serenity could be the only one capable of dealing with one of Dormammu's demons."

Edward didn't take offence at that, for he did agree, Merlin was countless times stronger than him, and there was also the Sorcerer Supreme of this period, as well as many other forces.

However, remembering the fight they just had, he asked "What if that demon has a magical resistance?"

Merlin shook his head and said "Dormammu is the greatest enemy of our dimension, and thus of the Sorcerer Supreme and the Vishanti. As such, many of the spells protecting Earth were specially made to work against his energy. Of course, any kind of magical resistance coming from his energy was banned, so it is impossible for one of Dormammu's demons to have an immunity to magical energies."

Although he couldn't hear Edward, the Ancient One could guess what he asked, and he added himself "Magical Resistance is the greatest counter to us Sorcerers, so we tend to try to ban it as much as possible. This makes your Armor of the Ancients a rare artefact, actually."

Edward slightly nodded, before saying to Merlin "What about the runes Morgana carved on the demon's skin? If I remember right, those are sealing runes."

Merlin nodded and repeated his words to the Ancient One, who said "Yes, this is a sealing ritual, although it is quite different from the one Circe used on Diana. But I think I know what happened."

Merlin nodded and said "Morgana sealed Zatanna's magic inside those runes and engraved them on the demon, and used the Darkhold to do so. She must have strengthened the demon with Zatanna's magical power."

Edward frowned at that and asked "How could Morgana seal Zatanna's magic inside the demon? Her magic is very different from Dormammu's dark power, shouldn't the two be unable to coexist?"

Merlin looked at Edward in surprise and said "Good question. You are right, but those runes engraved onto the demon's skin aren't just for the purpose of sealing, they also converted the energy into another one. The Darkhold was made by Chthon, an Elder God of Chaos. It's energy is much more attuned to the Dark Dimension's energy, so Zatanna's magical power is transformed to be accepted by the demon's body."

The Ancient One smiled and said "I get the situation now. Before sending Serenity back, let's have him kill this demon then. He is partly responsible for bringing this demon to your time after all. Now, I think it's time for us to perform the ritual to stabilize time."

Without needing for Edward to ask, Merlin explained "When time travelling, changing even a single thing may change the future drastically, and the farther in time one goes, the truer this gets. We are more than a millennia from your time period, if we don't do anything then even the death of one more person in a battlefield of thousands may end your world."

The Ancient One added "So we came up with a way to lessen the effects of an additional person over time. With this spell, your arrival in this world will be shown to past Merlin in the form of a prophecy, to allow him to prepare the world in advance for your arrival. This is the first part of the spell, to warn the most ancient of the two Sorcerers in advance."

Merlin continued "This first step done, we are now sure we can communicate with each other, so we can cast this spell together. Basically, what this spell does is to place a spell on the entire universe to take it's natural course, so that the world stays the same when you come back. Thanks to this, even if one of your ancestors dies before having any children, another person destined to die would be saved and have children."

The Ancient One finished "This is a spell of such complexity that not even the Sorcerer Supreme can use it on their own, two magicians of the calibre of a Sorcerer Supreme are needed, as it influences the whole universe to take a certain course."

Edward opened his mouth wide, wondering if there was a fate after all. He asked "Then isn't fate actually a thing? Stephen told me no one could predict someone else's future and influence it as they want. And how can you influence the entire universe, your magical reserves have limits."

Merlin smiled and relayed his question to the Ancient One, it seemed even him didn't have an answer. The Ancient One did, though.