Shadow and Flame
Merlin came out of the room where he'd been working on all the data collected from Ethelfleda and Kay, causing all of them to look up from where they were scattered about doing various activities. "I've got the information. Everyone gather around."
They assembled in the living room again. Arthur on the couch with Gwen and Morgan on either side of him. Lancelot and Dred standing on either side of Merlin by the fireplace, the others scattered across the remaining chairs or standing by the windows in the case of Percival.
Calling up several viewing screens, Merlin started speaking. "We got far more from Ethelfleda than I dared fucking dream. The most important part is the pocket universe we keep transitioning to whenever we're in the game."
"What about it?" Arthur asked.
"We assumed that it was created here and now, but it wasn't. He made a bargain with the darkest magic to create it back then.
Camelot was the fuel, the raw material, to create it.
But before he could claim it entirely, Lancelot and I ruined everything for him.
Now the pocket universe is what we are truly fighting over, as it is essentially made from the soul and power of Camelot.
"I can't say for certain, but I think the victory was a different bargain, likely made by his sisters.
It would explain why they vanished midway through the battle, why the tide turned so sharply and suddenly.
They sacrificed themselves for the victory, and Maleagant made a devil's bargain to create the pocket universe. "
"And then we tore it all away," Lancelot said. "He got to it first in this life, but he can't truly claim it because we bargained for a rematch. So it was always going to come down to the Knights of the Round Table once more going up against him."
"Precisely. He used the game to create a portal, give himself an edge, but a deal is a deal, and we sacrificed ourselves for a second chance. He cannot override that."
Arthur frowned, eyes dark, lines of worry etched deep into his face, and for a moment he looked as old as his soul. "Merlin, what price did you and Lancelot pay?"
"We don't know yet," Merlin said. "We won't know until this is over, win or lose. There's no sense in worrying about it yet."
"We'll figure it out together, regardless," Morgan said. "What else do you have for us?"
"I think we're still right about him wanting to claim the real-world territory as well, so he has a foothold here to further protect and bolster the pocket universe.
Or, who knows, perhaps he'll want to sacrifice it as he once did Camelot to lend it further strength.
I got no clear answers on that point. Which brings me to Amphelise. "
Lancelot tensed, Kay's dead body, all his stupid taunting and mocking being the last thing Kay ever knew, filling his mind.
"She was only able to possess Kay and then puppet the others because they all live here. The game is the portal, but the territory is the anchor point, and so anyone who lives here is vulnerable to her control."
"Peasants used and abused by their lord," Arthur said angrily. "He's supposed to protect them, not use them."
"Yes, well, Maleagant has always been a by-the-book villain," Percival said. "No points for creativity."
"Kay brings me to my last piece of information," Merlin said, tapping a screen and then looking at Lancelot as he continued.
"I think, please understand I can't confirm this yet so temper hopes and expectations, but I think they went with a 'waste not, want not' policy with Kay.
He's dead in the real world, but he may still be alive digitally.
I thought that tech was still exclusively with the government, but from what little I could glean from the remnants of her thoughts…
I think we can upload him to the pocket verse if we can reach the place where his data is stored. "
Lancelot couldn't breathe. His eyes stung. "You really think there's a chance?" He couldn't fix his mistake entirely, but it would be something.
"I do not want to make promises in case I read the data wrong," Merlin said, "but it is a strong possibility."
Percival and Tristan cheered, and Dred hugged him tightly.
"Where would they store such a thing?" Arthur asked.
"On the premises, likely. Offline, so they always have a copy if something happens. Cheap and easy way to always have citizens to enslave. Pretty fucked up if you think about it too long," Merlin said with a sigh.
Percival snorted. "Pretty sure it's fucked up if you think about it for half a millisecond."
Gwen asked, "So what's the plan?"
Merlin touched the screens, bringing up blueprints and other schematics. "As you've likely already surmised, they are headquartered at…well, Monmouth Headquarters downtown. I'm pretty sure Maleagant and his sisters pretty much live there, despite that being against regulations."
Arthur grunted. "He's too controlling to do anything else. So how do we get to them? Their security must be well past ridiculous and into medically diagnosed paranoia."
"We go from the top down," Merlin said. "He's smart enough not to live on the top floor, I'll give him that.
They live on the third floor, which otherwise is used for 'storage and archives,' and pretty much no one else who works there ever needs to go to that floor.
If we get to the roof and go down, we'll have a slightly easier time of it.
To get to the roof, we're going to scale this building three over.
" He shifted the central screen and highlighted what looked like a multipurpose building that had all sorts of offices and restaurants in it.
Lancelot had heard someone call one a mini-mall once, but had no idea what the fuck a mall was, let alone a mini one.
He'd always meant to look it up, but invariably forgot.
"Their security is negligible and easily overridden.
We'll go from that roof to this one, then this one, over to this one, and finally our destination. "
"Ugh," Dred said. "Getting a leg workout for certain. So we, what, wait until night, roof hop, fight down to the third floor, and start killing? Seems too easy. I mean, I know it won't be, but still."
Morgan rose and went to look more closely at the screens. "Let's not forget that he is now severely impaired. We took out Amphelise and Ethelfleda, which is huge. It's only him, Kinborough, Galehaut, Bran, and Bertilak now—and of course whatever minions they've hired or possessed."
"We won't be facing them here, it won't be that easy.
The magic cast by us and Maleagant will require the final fight be where it all began and ended: Camlann, which is now located in the game.
Our goal has three parts: force them into the game and ensure they can't get back out; secure the master files of Kay and the other possessed; destroy that fucking building. "
Dred's eyes burned. "Am I part three?"
"You are the key component of part three, yes," Merlin said.
"Morgan will take point of the primary infiltration group, which is her, me, and Gawain.
The second group, the muscle that will keep us safe while we deal with the computers, will be Arthur, Percival, and Galahad.
The final group, responsible for covering our retreat and destroying the building will be Mordred, Lancelot, and Tristan. "
Him to block the streets and keep people back.
Dred to actually destroy the building. Tristan to watch their backs.
Lancelot hated the idea of waiting outside while everyone else did the most dangerous part, but it was a solid division of the team.
Normally he, Merlin, and Arthur would work such things out together, but with just the twelve of them, and three of those noncombatants remaining at base, there wasn't really a need.
"When do we leave?" Lancelot asked.
"In two hours," Merlin said. "I'm sending all the necessary data to your chips. Normally I'd give us at least a day to prepare, but the longer we take, the more time Maleagant has to prepare."
"I assume there will be sufficient water around for me to pull from? If I have to pull from deep underground, that will require more time."
Merlin grinned. "Would I ever fail to keep you hydrated, fish boy? This building here is just a facade for the city reservoir. You'll have more water than you'll need. Just make sure you and the firebug play nice together."
Lancelot and Mordred scoffed in unison before Mordred said, "We know what we're about, madman."
"Then do your homework and ready up," Arthur said, standing. "Percival, Galahad, with me."
Tristan came straight over to Lancelot and Mordred. "Stuck with me as bodyguard, what did you do to disappoint His Majesty?"
Lancelot cuffed him playfully. "Like this isn't literally your specialty, Mouth.
" Because tease Tristan though they did about his propensity to talk too much and run his mouth right into trouble, he was phenomenal at keeping people safe.
All the times he'd been set protection duty, he hadn't failed once.
Even at the end, when he'd been charged with protecting Guinevere, Elaine, and Iseult, he hadn't failed until the dark bargain struck by Maleagant—or his sisters, according to their new information—had made a victorious Camelot impossible.
He'd been literally torn apart by knights turned into monsters, died protecting his lover and her closest friends.
Lancelot had found the bodies after, just minutes after seeing Galehaut killed.
He'd found what was left of Arthur and Morgan next, before trudging across the field of dead and dying to find Merlin.
They had died together, him and his oldest friend, clinging to the hope their desperate bargain would bring the victory they'd been denied.