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Lancelot.
Merlin couldn't believe he would finally see Lancelot again.
Would he always be the same? Hades had said that their experiences were different, but that their souls were basically the same ones.
Thalia was just like the old Morgana was, the one before Morgause's kidnapping. How had Merlin not realised his friend's suffering?
He understood that Gwen wasn't herself after a few days spent observing her, he understood that Lancelot wasn't himself after a single sentence.
And he hadn't realised that Morgana hadn't been herself for almost ten years .
At least, Merlin thought, in this life she had had someone there with her. Percy.
Merlin was realising how much he owed that boy. Percy owed Merlin nothing, yet he had helped him. He had taken care of Thalia, Nico, and all the demigods, if the group chats were to mean anything (Merlin had found it hilarious that Will had insisted on the ' Camp Mom ' role and then forced Percy to take it. Percy's mean response about Will being grounded had made everything so much funnier.)
“Why are we in a theatre?” Leon asked, having insisted on being there that time.
They didn't know how Jason would react to realising that his sister in that life had been the indirect reason for his death in their previous one, and then the reason why everyone had doubted his honour and his loyalty to Camelot and, more important, to Arthur.
"Piper's father," Nico said, looking at Leon warily, "is an actor. Recently, he pulled strings to let Piper see her favourite opera singer. Jason, being her boyfriend, went with her."
Merlin grimaced. "Is Piper another of the reborn souls?" He then asked, brightening.
He made a mental list of who she could have been. Maybe Gwen. In this life, could they find their happy ending?
"We do not know." Thalia said. "I can sense who is a reborn soul, but they're too close and I've never seen Piper without Jason there. So I don't know if she's a reborn soul, or if what I sensed was just my brother's reflection."
"But do you know who Arthur is?" Merlin asked.
"When I woke up," Thalia said. "I had trouble calling him by his current name. I saw the faces overlapping, and that wasn't good for me."
"Not even for Arthur, I'm sure." Leon murmured, venomously, making Thalia and Nico gasp.
"I am sorry." Thalia whispered. "I know apologies don't do much, but Leon... You have no idea how much it hurt me to see myself doing those things, without having any chance to react and fight Morgause's magic. I hated Uther, it's true. And I wanted to see him dead. But I loved my brother. I died… I was relieved that I no longer had the chance to hurt other people."
"Your apology won't bring me and Merlin back the years we lost, spent without our friends, our family !" Leon said. "They won't give us our lives back!"
"I know." Thalia whispered. “But I hope it will at least give them some peace.”
Nico spoke. "I'm sorry too, Leon. You trusted me, and I repaid you by not trusting you."
Leon gave him a cold look. "Should you hurt either of them again, Mordred, or Morgana, I will kill you myself."
"It seems right." Nico nodded. "I deserve it."
Thalia nodded, though her gaze was then drawn to the couple exiting the theatre.
"Those are them." Thalia said, walking forward until she reached her brother.
She pulled him into a hug, well aware that it might be the last one her little brother would ever give her.
"Thalia!" Jason smiled, holding her. "Did you miss me?"
Then, Jason pulled Nico into a hug and looked at Merlin and Leon.
"You must be the old sorcerer Dragoon and the Long-Suffering Knight ." Jason said, holding out his hand. "I'm Jason."
“I guess, the American golden boy son of the drama queen ?” Merlin shook the offered hand, amused by Percy's description of both him and Leon.
"Percy talked about me, huh?" Jason chuckled. Then he gestured towards the girl next to him, probably around his same age, with a braid and some feathers tucked in. "This is Piper, my girlfriend."
"Nice to meet you, Piper." Leon said, shaking the girl's hand.
"My pleasure." Piper smiled. "How's the collection of strays from the past going?"
"The what ?" Nico asked, scandalised. “ Who is calling it like that ?”
Jason and Piper smiled, raising an eyebrow expectantly.
"Percy." Nico sighed. "Obviously it's Percy . Does he have the slightest respect for everything that's going on?"
“You know he has.” Thalia said. "We are the product of our experiences. Percy is too."
Nico nodded seriously, and Merlin realised that Percy must be either a reborn soul, or someone who had suffered incredibly in that life.
If it was the latter, Merlin hoped it wasn't the former as well. He didn't deserve the pain of two such painful lives. Because, if Merlin had to guess, he would have said that Percy might be a new Gwaine. Humor used to hide the best heart Merlin had ever seen. And Gwaine didn’t have an easy life.
He might have been thinking of Lancelot, but Jason was Lancelot, so Percy couldn't be him.
"It's going well, though, Jay." Thalia said. “But you have to come with us for a second.”
"Why?" Piper asked, glancing at the girl. “What does Jason have to do with all this?”
Jason sighed. “I guess I'm one of those souls, right?”
Nico and Thalia nodded seriously.
"Well." Jason nodded. "Piper, maybe you should go back inside and watch the rest of the opera with your father. I don't think I'll feel well enough to go back inside after this."
"I'm not leaving you alone." Piper shook her head. “It might be painful to remember.”
"I can help him." Nico offered. "I remembered my previous life too. I can help him."
"And who were you?" Piper asked, narrowing her eyes.
"It does not matter." Surprisingly, it was Leon who spoke. "Whoever Nico and Thalia were, it doesn't matter now . What matters right now , is allowing Jason to remember who he was, if that's something he wants to remember, of course."
Jason nodded. “If I lived another life, I want to remember it.” He gave Piper a hesitant look, before saying. "You know it wouldn't change anything between us, right?"
"Unless you’ll remember someone you loved more than me, and then you won't love me anymore." Piper murmured, looking down.
"It doesn't matter who I loved, Piper. Now I love only you ." Jason promised. “But I wouldn't be myself if I backed out, would I?”
"No." Piper sighed. "You wouldn't be the person I'm in love with." She looked at the group. "If anything happens to him, I will find you one by one and kill you." She looked at Merlin. "And you may be a god, but Percy has slain Titans and Giants, and loves Jason like a brother. Hurt him, and you're dead ."
"Duly noted." Merlin smiled. "I won't hurt Jason, you have my word."
"Okay." Piper nodded. “Someone let me know how he is, as soon as he recovers.”
Nico nodded. "I will. Me or Leon."
"Very good." Piper gave her boyfriend a kiss before going back inside.
Jason smiled at the group. "Let's begin?"
****
Lancelot du Lac.
Jason was Lancelot du Lac. The most noble and loyal of all the Knights of the Round Table.
Dead because of Morgana, and returned to life to persecute Gwen and Arthur, two of the three best people Lancelot knew, again on Morgana's orders.
Morgana, who was Thalia, his sister . Sister who had always protected and loved him.
"I'm sorry, Jason."
Jason swallowed. "How long?"
"What?" Thalia asked, approaching her brother, with a slow pace.
“How long have you known who you are.” Jason specified.
"Since I woke up after the Golden Fleece. It healed everything ." Thalia replied.
"And how long have you known about me ?"
"Since I saw you again." Thalia confessed. "I'm sorry, Jay, I didn't tell you, because I was too afraid to lose you. And I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you again"
"You will not." Jason promised. "You're my sister, and you're not that Morgana anymore. Apparently, you never were. But… it hurts, knowing that it was you ."
"I know." Thalia whispered. "It hurts me too."
"Arthur won't take this well." Jason murmured. "Will he be able to separate you and Nico from those who betrayed and killed him?"
"I hope so." Thalia said. "But, even if he doesn't… I won't force him to endure my presence. I've already done too much damage. To him. I've hurt him already, too many times. I won't break that trust again."
"You're a good friend, and a good sister." Jason smiled. "Arthur will forgive you. It will be difficult, but he will forgive you."
Thalia smiled. Then, he held out a hand. "Do you want to go see Merlin?"
"Yes." Jason nodded. "I must scold him for not trusting anyone else with the burden he carried. He knew Percival was from the Druids. He would help him, damn it."
"He reminds you of Percy, doesn't he?" Thalia giggled. "Powerful, smart, always ready to help others, yet blind to all the people eager to help him ."
"Yes." Jason nodded. "You're absolutely right. They're the same." Then, huffing, Jason said. "And I have to run after both of them to make sure they eat."
"Isn't Percy eating?" Thalia blinked. "Since when?"
Jason smiled. "Long story. Come on, let’s go. I have to say hello to two old friends."