Arthur felt heavy-footed as he walked back to the palace. He bore the fatigue of defeat on his face.
He could have repeated again, and again, that this was not his fault, but the nagging thought remained, I couldn't save those women.
He sighed.
It's only a myth, he reasoned.
They're not real...but this world feels too real to be myth. If there is life, death, cause, and effect, how can I simply deny it?
"Lost in thought again, young prince?"
Noah whirled around. Standing in front of him with a bit of a gleeful smile was Merlin.
"I couldn't save them," Noah whispered.
Merlin's smile softened. "No...you simply arrived too late. Their deaths were inevitable."
Noah clenched his fists. "Still… the responsibility lies with me."
Merlin struck the floor with his staff. "Would you like to know something, young man?"
Before Noah could respond, the world shifted.
The frigid stone of the palace melted into light. He blinked, and he found himself in a place like no other, where the sun hung close enough to provide warmth without burning, where open and endless fields of flowers stretched toward infinity, and blended softly into the horizon. The smooth air caressed his skin like silk.
Startled, Noah spun back towards Merlin. "Where.. am I?"
Merlin only smiled. But when Noah looked down, he could not believe what was there—he was back in his own body, not Arthur's.
"You... " Noah whispered. "You know, don't you?"
"Yes," Merlin, calmly. "Otherworld Descender."
Noah staggered back, wide-eyed. "How do you... ?"
"Have you forgotten my myth?" Merlin's smile grew even wider. "Eternal life. Watching the world unfold from the Glass Tower."
Noah's eyes flicked around. "This... this is the Glass Tower?"
Merlin looked at him with reassurance eyes "Indeed—a place of no dimensions. Don't be alarmed, you absence from the myth won't be noticed. I left a clone of Arthur sleeping in his room."
Noah look at him from upside down "Why bring me here?"
Merlin's eyes twinkled– "To remind you—look at this world, not importing the last one. And, if you want, I can show you what your friends are up to."
Noah squinted. "It sounds like you will want something in return, you are always adding a catch. You don't just offer information."
Merlin chuckled. "Sharp as ever. No, I require nothing in return– but there is a catch. You will forget everything once you return to Arthur's body. At least, for now, you will know– then only the burden will be left."
Noah groaned, rubbing his temple. "What's the point of knowing, if I am going to forget?"
"Because," Merlin mocked him with a smile and chuckled again, "Sometimes, knowing, even if it is for a short time can be enough to bring peace to the storm in your heart."
Noah stared at him for a long moment, then sighed heavily. "Okay. Fine. Tell me. Tell me about how the others are doing... tell me about Ren."
Merlin glanced at them. "Your friend Ren, he chose the myth of Yamato Takeru."
Noah's heart plunged. "What?! That's a death myth! Why would he -? That's suicide!"
Merlin only smiled. "I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"
"I'll take the good news," he said in a hurry. "I need something to cool down my head."
"That's right. The girl you thought was dead...she's actually alive."
Noah stopped. "Akansha...she's alive? But I saw Ren kill her!"
"Alive, nonetheless."
Noah chest pinched, drifting between hope and disbelief. But Merlin seemed to grow serious.
"And the bad news?" Noah looked at him, his voice quaking and cracking.
Merlin stared wide eyed. "She is chosen as well. Not in mythology... in history."
"History?" Noah repeated. "But this war... it is about myth and legend!"
"Ha! No, my lad. The war allows all in. Legend. History. Myth. Provided that people believe, they are - here."
Noah fell to his knees. "Then, this war... it is so much bigger than I thought."
Merlin look at him with a smile "No need to worry, Knowledge moves like a river. Flow with it."
Noah pushed to his feet, face hard as stone. "No more distraction. Just send me back to the myth. I will continue following Arthur's path... and I will win this war."
Merlin beamed. "That... is the mind of a true king."
He twirled his staff. Light enveloped everything.
When Noah opened his eyes again, he was back in Arthur's bed chamber. His head was throbbing. He sighed. "Maybe it is throbbing because I wasn't able to save those women..." His words trailed off and sleep dragged him down.
AND OUTSIDE OF THE ARTHURIAN MYTH WORLD
Here we saw a world with cars driving below us and planes taking off above us.
The 1940s. America.
Inside of a dimly lit lab, which had chalkboards filled with equations, a man walks in and looks at one person who is feverishly writing.
"Oppenheimer, are you done with your calculations?"
The scientist looks up, removes his glasses, and stretches. "Almost. Two years of research... it is almost completed."
But behind those eyes... is a voice screaming.
Why? Why me? Why this?
"I could be binge-watching K-dramas right now... not stuck in a lab in the 1940s," he thinks as he continues putting down his equations.
I am Akansha. Not Oppenheimer. Not this... historical monster.