“To begin, I should state what Merlin actually wants. He wants to resurrect his wife first and foremost. Second, he would like to create peace on the earth for him and his wife to enjoy.” Oberon said.

“Why would he try and kill us then? I have been striving for peace with him for so long that I would assume he would want me around for it.” Mordred said with a confused look.

“Because he views you as a threat. The method of resurrecting someone that he is using is the same one that Medea attempted. The more powerful the person the more sacrifices that are needed. Also the longer that they have been dead the more sacrifices needed as well.” Oberon said.

“But I thought only those with blood magic like Elysif and Medea could use that ritual?” Iscarat asked.

“That is not necessarily true. The ritual Medea used was a form of ancient ritual that was lost to the ages. Thus, she had to fill in the gaps and came very close. That is, until she was given the final piece by Merlin. He used her to test the ritual and see if it was even possible. Though, she used the incomplete version that required three blood magic users to activate. The original only needed one sorcerer.” Oberon explained.

“I see, but where did Merlin even learn of this ancient magic? If he already knew about it then he would have probably used it before I ever showed up.” I said.

“ I can answer that.” I heard a somewhat familiar voice say from the entrance to the garden. Looking over I saw the dwarvish figure of Reubin Reuben standing there.

“Reubin? I thought you were dead!” I exclaimed.

“Good, that’s what I wanted you to think.” he said as he walked over and sat down with us at the table. His beard that hung down to his waist he laid on the table as if it was on display and began rubbing his feet. Despite only meeting him once he seemed significantly younger.

“After you met me I knew that the Agency wasn’t going to just sit idly by and let me enjoy my alexandrian treasures so I used a copying magic to make a double of myself and began transporting my stuff to the realm of the Fae. Oberon and I go very far back so he was happy to help. Anyways, Merlin showed up and killed my double before taking what books I had yet to transport away. One of which contained the completed ritual for summoning the deceased as they were in life.”

We all looked at each other with a mix of confusion and disbelief. All except Mordred who now looked a bit responsible and was trying not to show it. Despite that she was still showing it and everyone was aware of it. It also didn’t help that Reubin was staring daggers into her.

“So how do we stop it?” Compton asked to break the silence.

“There are a few options. Since you can’t alter anything that has been set in motion by Mr. Barret time traveling you will have to stop him from where you left. Thus, you can kill him to make a hard task simple. The other option is to destroy the ritual and the backlash would kill him in the process. Finally, if you are unable to do either of those then you will have to kill the God of Time.” Reubin said with a sigh before pulling a small pipe from his pocket and began stuffing it with a mix of dried tobacco leaves.

“Kill Time! I don’t think that’s possible. Killing Merlin sounds much easier.” I said.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Oberon said with a smirk as if he had been waiting for someone to say that. “I made those arrows that I shot you with in order to kill my creator. If you took some of them and killed him during the ritual then everyone wins.”

“I guess, but it doesn’t seem that easy, let alone possible.” I replied.

“What I want to know is how he can obtain peace from this?” Mordred asked. Reubin gave a look that made it see like he didn’t want to answer that one so he turned to Oberon before lighting his pipe.

“With how powerful Freya was when she died and how long it has been then it would require several continents worth of people to initiate the ritual. Europe would be completely wiped out. Asia would lose three quarters of its population along with Africa and the America’s would lose at least half of its population as well. This doesn’t just apply to humans either. All creatures whether they were human or neighbor would be wiped out. To be frank it’s unspecified genocide. He believes that by wiping out a majority of the population he can take over them and rule as a king.” Oberon said with a depressed look.

“That’s insane. I understand that I didn’t know him very well and that I only knew what he wanted me to but he couldn’t do something like that.” Mordred stated in a rush of anger as she stood up from her seat and slammed her hands against the table.

“I understand why you can’t accept this. You were seeing him as a manic pixie dream girl that could replace your dead father up until recently. Thus, even with evidence of the truth and the fact that you saw it with your own eyes you want to deny it.” Reubin said rather harshly. Mordred looked as if she was about to say something back but instead sat back down looking defeated and like she was about to break down at any moment. I hadn’t really thought about how she was feeling with all of this going on.

“So, how exactly do we go about killing Merlin then? We’ll leave the God killing for a last resort.” Compton asked a little impatiently.