A/N: I apologies profusely to those who ended up getting an insta-headache from the incredible amount of information I crammed into that last part of the last chapter. I knew that it might cause people some problems, but I had hoped it wouldn�t, so, again, I�m sorry. And yes, it really is the crossover from hell, but not near as hectic as what came before all of this. That, all of that is just history. That is the culmination of about two or three years of role playing with my friend Amanda and doing at least two different alternate versions of the story. I�m trying not to fit ALL of that in there, but will come up is stuff that either will or won�t make sense and I�ll try to keep it all coherent, as that IS my job here. Since I�m the one that has to keep things coherent in the rp anyway, this is just normal for me, as Amanda�s the one that has the crazier ideas, generally.

Anyway, again, I�m sorry for giving everyone a sudden headache from the too fast information download, and believe me, there�s more to come, so try to put in a better processor for your brain, because this� may get a little worse. I don�t know.

Chapter Six

Arturia went riding about the land of Loganberry watching men practice and work and fight, keeping her eyes peeled for anyone who would be a worthy man to fight in her army. She found a few archers from the Loganberry Manor�s guard and asked if the Earl of Loganberry could send them to Camelot for extra training in the coming battle against Babylon�s forces. He was, reluctantly, compliant, however she had to promise to send him a couple of barrels of ale for his fighting men, as the alewife had gone off for a much needed vacation. She agreed and started off with Merlin once more, though this time headed toward Wales.

�I hear tales of a one handed man who is excellent with an axe,� said Merlin. Arturia nodded as she came up beside him in the small group.

�Yes, as did I. His name is Bedivere, as I recall,� she said softly. Somehow, the feeling she came up with when she even spoke the name felt calming. �Why is it I feel as though I have enjoyed speaking that name before?�

Merlin watched his pupil for a moment and then looked ahead, wondering what he should say. �You recall the tales of King Arthur, correct? The king you were named after,� that is.

�Yes, I have, and the sword I carry is the same as he carried, correct?� asked Arturia as she fingered the red jeweled hilt of Excalibur set at her back.

�Not exactly, not as I know it, anyway,� he said softly before glancing at her, �Excalibur was said to be the unbeatable sword of promised victory, most of which of these tales came out of Wales. Not many remember the tales anymore, thus I doubt any will compare you to him, but� Arthur Pendragon was the king of knights, a man who was the most chivalrous, the most brave and the most generous of all men. His knights were handpicked, as most of his army was handpicked, and they were the best of the best as well. Excalibur, however, was supposedly a golden sword, shimmering and beautiful.�

Arturia looked ahead as she heard this, feeling it all too familiar. �That is why Avalon was golden and pure,� she said softly.

�Yes, that is why Avalon was so beautiful before it held Excalibur. I was afraid it would do that if Uther had put his tainted hands on it. I�m afraid that it was probably inevitable,� said Merlin as he shifted in his saddle. �It is said that when he was mortally wounded, Bedivere, the closest of his knights to him, took Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake and then came back in time to watch nine sisters from the mists of Avalon come and take Arthur away. It was said he was to come back one day when his people needed him most, however� many times Briton has needed him greatly and he did not come.�

�Am I Arthur?�

Merlin was hoping to avoid this conversation altogether, but that didn�t seem likely. His pupil could pull information from a person just by fixing them with one of her famous glares. �I have suspected that since your birth, since even before your birth when Excalibur was given to me in order to help Uther vanquish a rather irresponsible king. It turned out that I did not really judge people as well as I had hoped.�

Arturia frowned as he watched the guards in front of her. If she was Arthur reborn, what did that mean for her? Was she to repeat Arthur�s mistakes as her own? Was she to live the way she wanted to when she was the great King in a woman�s body? Indeed, strange things were occurring in this world outside of her own presence. A one handed man who was still as mighty and wise as they came with the same name as the one in the stories was beyond coincidence. Even still, Arturia wasn�t about to give up on her people because she was uncertain as to what was happening in this strange world of hers.

�What was that you said about death?�

Merlin snorted and started laughing heartily. Arturia watched him in confusion before he started to calm down and explain. �Apologies, my queen, I did not realize you were still curious about my world like that.�

�Of course I am, I don�t see why I shouldn�t be,� she said as she huffed indignantly and looked away from her master.

Merlin chuckled at his pupil before settling on his saddle once again, his horse getting a bit irritated at his constant shifting. He stroked the old horse gently before thinking about how to start. �All right, first things first, you recall I said my history teacher had a sister?�

�Yes, I do.�

�She�s much like you, actually, iron will and all, though more cat like. She�s the divination teacher, hand picks her students and teaches them the finer points of prophesy. However, the rest that she doesn�t like, she tends to send to the secondary teacher, who�s a bit less adept at the skill. You see, she�s a seer, a true seer, not like those women in gauzy shalls that spend half their time reading their tea leaves trying to tell whether it looks like a wolf or a sun. Even I can�t tell the future, but I can at least guess better than those old bats can.� Merlin sighed and scratches his chin in thought. �Her abilities are quite phenomenal, actually, but I wouldn�t want to be her or any of her children that get cause with this affliction. She sees through proximity. If you�re near her, she can see things coming off of you like waves in the ocean. If you touch her, it is as though someone released floodgates into her mind. She feels, sees, IS whatever the person who touched her experienced and will experience in his life. It is a most phenomenal gift as well as a terrible curse upon a person.�

�How does she live if this is her problem? How does this coincide with death? Why is it none of these people die?�

�All in good time, Arturia,� said Merlin softly. �Her husband is the second son of my teacher�s husband from a previous marriage prior to my teacher. This man is also a very accomplished Alchemist, however, he is not as into the practice of it as his brother and father are. That being said, again, with the mix of that strong of magic in the blood lines, you end up with very strange things occurring in the resulting children. One of their children came out a boy and this boy was like his mother, a seer. Sometimes it was so terrible that he would receive prophetical information and somehow burst it out to everyone in proximity to him in a great big wave. Everyone would see what he saw and then he would fall flat on his face, as I recall the phrasing that was used to describe this mess. This man grew up very isolated, and it was mostly his choice to be isolated, but he found that one day he knew he was something other than what his mother was.�

�He was death?� Arturia was getting a little irritated with the long explanations, but she also wanted to know more about what was going on.

�Yes, he found out he was the incarnation of Death, personified,� said Merlin. �You see, at the time he realized he was the personification of Death born on Earth, he also realized that at some point all the four horsemen of the apocalypse would be born on Earth like him. I don�t know about the others, but he�s the only one I know about being the personification of an act of nature, really.�

Arturia thought on this for a little while as they rode over a bridge. The water in the river was frozen solid, as was everything else. �Be careful, your highness. It is very slippery,� said one of the guards.

�Thank you,� she said. She pulled the fur-lined cloak she liked to wear closer over her body and pulled the hood down a bit more over her face, her ears starting to get cold. �The school you went to must be a very extraordinary school, Merlin.�

�Yes, it is. Godric and Salazar and their wives all created it first about thirteen hundred years ago.� Merlin didn�t need to look over at Arturia to see her head snap around like a child would have. He smirked faintly and tried not to look too amused by his pupil as she gawped at him.

�Those four are how old?!�

�You asked them if they were Scottish nobles, you suspected not and you were right. They are the four founders of my old school,� he said with an amused grin.

Arturia huffed once again and looked away from Merlin, sulking in her saddle. �I can�t believe you would keep such information from me!�

�I had to at the time. How do you think the men and women that came from everywhere in the islands would have reacted to four people who are probably older than anything they could have imagined?� Merlin chuckled and pulled his hood over his face a bit more. �The school is divided up into four houses; the children that come into the school get divided up into those four houses, which are named after the four founders.� He held up his hand and popped a finger up as he named the four houses off. �Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Gryffindor for the brave and chivalrous at heart, Slytherin for the most ambitious, Hufflepuff for the most hardworking and generous, and Ravenclaw for the most clever and intelligent. Each of them had their own idea of what sort of child they wished to teach and they each decided that the children should be divided up this way so that they would be with people of the same heart as themselves. Each house is located in some part of the school, Gryffindor, my old house, is a tower on the east side of the school, I think.�

�But why are they alive? And why did you invite them to my coronation?!�

�They�re alive because they wished to be. That�s all I know of it, Arturia.� Merlin shrugged and scratched his chin again, thinking. �As for why I told them to come, I felt, since you are my student and, well, I feel you are almost like a daughter to me, that they would like to see one of their own become a queen.� He smiled faintly toward Arturia as she slowly looked to him with a bit friendlier look on her face. �Yes, I do think of you as my own daughter, even if you don�t think it sometimes. I�ve never had a child, but I would like to think of you as one, even if you do irritate me a great deal with your rather cold nature.�

�I can not help the way I act, for it is who I am,� said Arturia softly, a bit warmer in tone toward the older man. She really had no Earthly clue as to how old he was. They slowly entered a village near the Welsh border and found an inn to stay in for the night.

�Now, really, Aife, is that how you greet me?� Cuchulainn�s voice was smooth for his age, as though he was blessed with the gift of gab many times over. She suspected he used his tongue for an hour on the blasted blarney stone! He certainly knew how to use it!

�You are unwelcome at the moment, hound,� she snapped, feeling very irritable from the many things stewing in her brain.

�You�re as prickly as your sister is,� he said, snorting slightly before he laid down on this stomach on the pallet given to him to sleep on. He smirked as he held himself up by his elbows and watched her. �Though, I like prickly. It�s a bit of a challenge to work around, but I always did enjoy good challenges.�

Aife�s cheeks went pink and she turned to look at him. Her cheeks went even darker upon seeing his grin and his red eyes roving over her so boldly. �I should have told you to kill me,� she said with a grunt.

Cuchulainn�s grin faded and he watched Aife carefully, his dangling earrings clinking together softly as he moved. �Don�t be so ready to die. You took the promise and I had hoped you would enjoy it. At least that�s the impression I get when I enter you,� he said, adding a bit of a deeper tone to his voice at the last as he looked over her once again. He was greeted by a bright flush through her cheeks and into her neckline.

She puffed her cheeks and threw a pillow at him, which happened to be the nearest thing to her at the time, huffing even more when he caught it and winked at her. �You are incorrigible!�

Cuchulainn laughed and rolled onto his back. �Aye, I am that, however, you agreed to my terms, therefore, you have to abide by them.�

The boy was far too clever for his own good; that was for certain! Aife watched his arms as they went behind his head as he relaxed on the pallet. She gazed at the young body of his that had become more muscular under the tutelage of her sister. She could faintly feel the impression of his body against hers as he made love her her on that pallet. She could feel his hard muscles working as they both found pleasure in each other�s arms over and over again. She shivered from these rampant impressions in her body and sat down on a stool next to her. She could feel the grin that was slowly spreading across Cuchulainn�s face!

�Becoming a bit hot, my dear lover?� He smirked deviously as he leaned his head back and looked at Aife, his grin widening into a full out maniacal grin of pure evil intent. �I could make it worse by staying in this room, you know.�

Aife threw another random object at Cuchulainn, this time a book of spells. He caught it deftly with one hand and let it drop onto the floor as he sat up in one single move. She was desperately clinging to what reality she knew when she watched him take his ponytail down and held out the tie to her. �Would you like me to put it back up again, or do you wish me to keep it down for a while?�

Aife looked from the tie and back to him for a couple of turns before realizing what he was asking. His hair up meant he was ready to work, his hair down meant he was ready to play. �Gentle when stroked, fierce when provoked,� she muttered as she took the tie, �If ever there was a more hound like man, I�ve not seen one.�

Cuchulainn took Aife�s hand and pulled her against him, kissing her gently on her lips. He nibbled at her lower lip as she gasped softly at the feel of his teeth on her skin. He smirked and licked her tongue as it darted out before stroking her cheek with his gentle fingers. �I would say you fit the bill yourself, Aife,� he said softly, gazing at her through his lashes.

Aife, in spite of her own irritation toward him, couldn�t help but feel warm and maidenly in this boy�s arms. Even if he was a boy, he was a skilled and admirable adversary whether it be on the battlefield or in bed. With that in mind, she submitted herself to the pallet beside them both, submitted herself to yet another round of passionate love making that this Hound of Ulster seemed to bring about with just his mere presence.

�I am Bedwyr, aye,� he said, his voice low and Arturia was certain that when he grew older that his voice would fair rumble from his chest much like Galain�s or Godric�s. �However, to you British, I am Bedivere,� he added.

�Thank you, Bedivere. We have heard you are most accomplished on the battlefield even though you have only one hand. Is this true?� Arturia dismounted from her horse and walked toward the young man. He watched her with what seemed to be amazement. �Something the matter, Bedivere?�

�No, not as such,� he said, his voice wavering slightly. �I have not seen a woman as small as you before, is all.�

�My height does not need to be brought into this discussion,� said Arturia, her voice suddenly very cold. Bedivere stiffened slightly and wondered if he shouldn�t move away from her.

�Y-yes, those are truths, Queen of Briton.� Bedivere stammered slightly under the chilly gaze of the small queen, though he did hold out his right hand. �I am one handed,� he said, then, he brought out his other arm, where Arturia saw a stump where his left hand should be located. �I lost it defending our town from raiders.�

Arturia walked back to her horse and pulled Excalibur from its scabbard and walked toward Bedivere. �Prove that you are worthy of such titles, Bedivere,� she commanded.

Bedivere pulled out an axe and barely had a moment to defend himself before this small queen attacked him with all her might. It was as though he was being attacked by a small lioness, ready to claw his throat out with every motion of her body. She sprang back when he tossed her away from him and defended herself as he sprang forward with his axe, bringing it down on top of her and moved away as her great black sword swung at him. �Such a sword is too big for a woman of your size!� he called, trying to distract her long enough to get inside her defenses.

�Such comparisons should be kept OUT of a battle, Bedivere!� She growled and swung her blade at him once more, charging at him with incredible speed. Bedivere pulled away and parried the blade, attempting to remove it from her small hands, but found that he merely locked the axe and sword together.

�It seems�urgh!�that we are locked, my lady,� he said as he attempted to free his beloved axe from her sword, but it seemed useless as she was doing the same with her black sword. �I have never seen a sword so black! What have you done to it to make it so and why?�

�It was this way when I got it,� she grunted, pulling the blade up and whipping her sword from the axe, cutting Bedivere on his side. She watched him drop and came at him once more. He swung his axe up and hit her with the side of it. �You drew blood, now stop!�

�So you know I wasn�t meaning to hurt you terribly?� Arturia rubbed the place where Bedivere�s axe hit her and then walked back to her horse where she replaced the blade in its scabbard. �You are indeed as the rumors say, Bedivere. Please, join me as one of my knights, for I have need of men such as you in my personal counsel as well as riding beside me on the battlefield. A king from the middle east is coming to invade Briton and I have need of great fighting men to come to my aid.�

Bedivere frowned as he held pressure on his wound. Merlin came forward and moved Bedivere�s hand aside to administer a healing potion to the wound. Bedivere watched the man and then watched as the wound healed up under his very gaze! �You�re a wizard?�

�Yes, I am that,� said Merlin, smiling faintly before retreating to his horse, �I am also another of Arturia�s counsel, though not of her fighting men.�

�Will you join me, Bedivere?� Arturia held out her hand to him as she walked a few steps forward.

Bedivere walked toward her and kneeled down, taking he hand and kissing the seal upon her finger. �I will join you, Queen of Briton, though I doubt I am worthy to be a knight.�

�We shall see, young Bedwyr,� she said with a small, rare, smile, �we shall see.�