I am so incredibly sorry about the ridiculously long hiatus. My last year of university plus two part-time jobs were hectic, to say the least. But I'm on vacation and writing a lot, so here it is. Thank you for still reading!

The flight to Belfast itself went smoothly. It was getting to Heathrow in London and trying to avoid the paparazzi that made Morgana swear up a storm and flip the bird more than once. At least that way, they couldn't sell the photos to magazines, though she was sure the photos would end up online anyway.

Once their flight had landed, Morgana gripped Merlin's hand nervously while her other hand held onto her small carry-on.

"They're going to love you," he said reassuringly, kissing the top of her head.

Morgana merely nodded and squeezed his hand tighter.

Waiting in the arrivals section were Hunith and Balinor, Merlin's parents. Hunith had Merlin's kind blue eyes, and brown hair that was tied back into a low bun, wispy bangs framing her face. Balinor was darker, with brown eyes and black hair that had just begun to go grey.

"Mum! Dad!" Merlin smiled broadly upon seeing his parents.

Morgana smiled in spite of herself as they fast-walked to meet them.

"Merlin," Hunith reached out to hug her only child.

Merlin let go of Morgana's hand and hugged his mother. While Hunith had Merlin in a death-grip, Balinor stepped forward, taking Morgana's bag and offering his hand for a handshake.

"It's nice to meet you, Morgana," he said politely as she shook his head.

"Likewise," Morgana grinned. Balinor and Merlin's voices sounded similar, comforting.

Hunith let go of Merlin and immediately wrapped her arms around Morgana, startling her. Morgana hugged back awkwardly, patting Hunith's back.

"I'm so glad you're both here," she said, pulling away.

She turned to her husband who had wrapped an arm around their son in greeting. "Well don't just stand there, let's go."

"As m'lady commands," Balinor said jokingly, walking ahead with Merlin while Hunith and Morgana trailed behind them.

Hunith wrapped her arm around Morgana's, and the younger woman felt wistful all of a sudden. It wasn't often she missed Vivienne, but this was one of the times she regretted not having a mother around. Her teen years might have been less of a disaster if she had a mother to talk to. Morgause was helpful and wise, yes, but she figured that mothers had a special way with their children that an older sister couldn't replicate. She supposed she'd never really know.

"You know, Merlin would not stop talking about you," Hunith confided as they walked to the car park.

"Really?" Morgana raised a brow.

"Mmhmm. First it was complaining that there was a joint tour. Then he mentioned how you'd started writing together, bouncing off ideas and such. And then we saw the papers after the last concert and he told us you're dating," Hunith explained.

Morgana turned pink, "He thought I was rude, didn't he."

Hunith merely smiled serenely, tactfully not giving an answer.

They reached the car, and Balinor and Merlin loaded the two bags in the boot, and Balinor took the driver's seat. Hunith went to sit next to him while Merlin and Morgana climbed into the back.

"What horror stories has my mum been telling you?" Merlin asked in what he thought was a quiet voice as Balinor drove out of the car park and onto the street.

"I heard that," Hunith said, causing Balinor to laugh, which in turn earned him a smack on the shoulder.

"No horror stories," Morgana said with a small grin.

As they sat around for dinner later that day, Morgana remained quiet unless directly asked a question. Her mind wandered, trying to recall if dinner with Gorlois and Vivienne and Morgause had ever been this pleasant. She couldn't remember and that scared her. She hadn't seen her mother in a decade, and maybe it was time she try to reach out to her.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Hunith and Balinor clearing the table.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Morgana asked.

"You and Merlin can get the dessert plates and forks," Hunith said, dirty plates in hand.

Morgana nodded, and Merlin stood.

"Follow me," Merlin said, nodding his head.

Morgana followed him into the living room where there was a large glass cupboard filled with pretty plates and glasses.

"This is where mum keeps the good china," Merlin informed her.

He opened the door and took out four plates and four forks. Merlin's parents' house was quite nice. It wasn't large and sprawling like the Pendragon estate, but it wasn't cramped either.

There were three bedrooms, a living room, two bathrooms, and a spacious kitchen with a dining table. There was another table in the back yard, as well as a patio.

"This place is nice," Morgana said while setting the plates and forks down on the table.

"You should've seen our old place. Two rooms, one tiny bathroom, and a stove for a kitchen," Merlin shook his head.

Upon seeing Morgana's confused expression, he elaborated, "We weren't too well off when I was a kid. My parents slept on the couch and gave me the bedroom."

"You bought them a house," Morgana said, her voice affectionate.

"First pay check from the first album went to fixing my dad's car. Next few paid for a house," Merlin shrugged as if it were nothing.

Morgana stared at Merlin in admiration, and a flush crept up Merlin's cheeks.

"It's nothing," he said, glancing towards the kitchen.

Balinor was washing the dishes while Hunith took a cake out of the fridge and god he missed home so much, despite visiting not even two months ago.

Morgana didn't say anything, instead sitting down to enjoy the biscuits and chocolate cake Hunith had baked.

Mithian strode down the corridor near the offices of Camelot Records, just having left a meeting with Gwen. Fucking photographers had caught wind of Morgana at Heathrow with Merlin, and she'd flipped them off. By all logic, those pictures should not have made it to the public. They didn't make it to the papers. They did, however, end up on the internet. Mithian hadn't thought being a publicist for Along Avalon would be so demanding. Aside from Morgana's rowdiness, there was Nimueh's dour attitude and 'mystery man' that even Morgause had no idea about who it could be.

She let out a sigh and stepped into the lift. She pressed the button for the lobby. Just as the doors were closing, a hand reached out.

"Wait," came a voice.

Mithian hit the button to open the doors and she looked up to see Arthur Pendragon. She hadn't seen him since the party for the tour's announcement.

"Hi," he greeted with a small smile.

"Hello, Arthur," Mithian greeted politely.

They stood in silence whilst waiting for the lift to reach the ground floor of the record studio.

"How's your dad?" Arthur broke the silence. Rodor Nemeth had been in ill health lately. He and Uther were buddies in university, and had kept in contact over the years.

"Better," Mithian said with a small smile.

"That's good to hear," Arthur said, cringing inwardly at how awkward he was being.

He'd spoken to Mithian millions of times before. Hell, he'd fancied the pants off of her at uni, but she always kept her distance. She'd told Morgana once that old money shouldn't mix with old money, and Morgana had informed him of this, why though, Arthur couldn't wrap his mind around.

Mithian looked at him strangely and he took a deep breath. Guinevere had already refused him, so he figured he should try to move on.

"Mithian, would you like to go for dinner sometime?" Arthur asked.

She raised a brow, "Sure."

Arthur smiled and looked away. He still had it.

Freya propped her feet up onto Lancelot's lap, a bowl of popcorn in her own lap.

"I can't believe we're watching this. Again," he absentmindedly played with a strand of her hair.

"I love the Princess Diaries, shut up. I'm still waiting on a long-lost grandmother to inform me of my royal lineage," Freya said defensively.

"Aren't they both from Carrickfergus?" Lancelot raised a brow.

Freya bristled, "Maybe one of my parents was adopted."

He chuckled and she poked her socked foot at his stomach.

"Shut up," she pouted.

"Yes, princess," Lancelot said, earning an eye roll.

"Keep that up I'll be using you as a butler," Freya huffed.

"Promise?" he asked.

Freya turned pink and met his gaze, "Shut up and watch the movie."

"As you say, princess."

The weekend passed quickly and soon Merlin and Morgana were back in London, to be harassed by the paparazzi and thrown into work once again.

Each band spent two weeks in the recording studio, working nonstop. They lost count of the late nights spent trying to perfect the instrumentals and vocals. Being a musician wasn't all about the fame and the fans and the concerts. A lot of it was the grunt work of recording.

Everything was going well enough, and it was nearly fall, which meant the albums needed to be in post-production soon. Then Morgana lost her voice from over-exertion and Will sprained his wrist after a friendly basketball game and Gwen and Arthur were totally fucked when Uther asked them for an update.

They sat in Uther's office, silent. Morgana's voice should be back in a few days, according to her doctor. Will's hand will take a fair bit longer than that, but he should be fine by mid-September.

Work was backed up again, and the late-fall/winter tour was in planning mode. Uther was aiming for North America. Canada, the States, Mexico.

"Wait, you mean they're going together?" Gwen raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not. Not after the mess the last one got us all into," Uther said with a steely tone, "there will, however, be some overlap. More specifically, in Manhattan, Boston, Los Angeles, and Toronto. That's it. And it'll be a surprise for the audience," he explained.

Arthur and Gwen shared a look, and Arthur shrugged. He didn't know what Uther's goal was with that plan of surprise performances, but he wasn't about to question his father's authority.

They continued planning, and Uther stipulated he wanted at least one music video from each of them before the tour started.

After listening to Uther's demands, Gwen went into the recording studio. Just because Morgana lost her voice didn't mean she couldn't play the piano.

"You need to choose a single so we can start planning the concept for the music video," Gwen informed them shortly.

"What about Hell's Belles?" Nimueh suggested.

Morgause nodded in acquiescence and Morgana tilted her head in thought. She waved her hand and took the whiteboard she'd been carrying around with her.

In the darkness, she wrote. It was the one song she had most difficulty writing, and she was incredibly proud of it.

Both Nimueh and Morgause made sounds of agreement.

"Or Queen of the Underworld?" Morgause added another song to the pile. That one was about Persephone and Hades.

"You can't just name every song on the album," Gwen tried to keep the amusement out of her tone.

"I agree with Underworld. It's eerie and kind of romantic and we can dress Morgana up as Persephone," Nimueh said with a small smirk.

Morgana attempted to laugh, but ended up wheezing.

"Ooh, can I be Hades?" Nimueh asked.

"Does that make me Demeter?" Morgause arched a brow.

Gwen bit her lip, "I don't think Uther's going to go for a woman Hades."

Uther's strangely conservative values aside, there was the possibility that people would see the video as queer-baiting, what with having two queens of the underworld. Or, alternatively, if the video was to be as racy as it would be with a man as Hades, then parents of younger fans would clutch at their pearls. Really, there was no way to win. One of the music videos for a song off the first album had involved Morgana and Alvarr in various states of undress and was quite raunchy, but there wasn't a huge fuss. Gwen didn't think that a girl-on-girl video with a similar plotline and art direction would be as readily accepted.

"Oh, come on, Gwen. It'll be fun. I want to wear all black and get paid to be brooding and kidnap myself a pretty princess," Nimueh said with a smirk.

Goddess, Morgana scribbled on her whiteboard.

"Right, sorry, goddess," Nimueh said.

"Fine," Gwen agreed, still unsure.

It was settled. Morgana would be Persephone, Nimueh Hades, and Morgause Demeter.

They were filming in a private garden, tents and chairs of hair and make-up set and ready to go.

Morgana was clad a white bustier and lacy black boy shorts, a long, gauzy white skirt worn over them. She was barefoot, standing in the garden as Persephone. Her dark hair was fashioned into loose waves, a crown of pink flowers on her head.

Nimueh was dressed in a semi-sheer dress of black and dark blue. The front of the dress reached her knees, while the back trailed on the ground. She wore high-heeled shoes, which made it difficult to walk on the grass. Underneath her dress she wore a black bra and black boy shorts, covered with lace. Nimueh's hair had been pulled back for the current take, but it would be let loose later on.

Morgause was clad in a long, sheer, green dress that trailed on the ground, and she looked like summer itself. She wore a pale green corset underneath her gown, and a pair of shorts that were scarce two inches long. Her golden hair was curled at the ends, and she too had a crown, this one of yellow and white flowers around her head.

They began to shoot the video, with Morgana and Morgause running around the garden, laughing. It was easy for them since they had no shoes on. Morgause went off on her own, and they got a shot of her petting a bunny that happened to be in the garden.

Morgana was left on her own, picking flowers, when Nimueh crept in from her Underworld (which would later be filmed in the studio), and snatched her.

The next few shots were of an angry and morose Morgause, and editing would make it look like the flowers had wilted, along with freshly fallen snow. The last shot for the moment was of Morgana running back to Morgause, pomegranate in her hand. They had Morgana take a bite of it, the camera zoomed in on her red lips, and ended there, signalling her impending return to hell.

They'd later have Morgause looking for her "daughter" with torches in the studio.

In the studio the art directors and crew had created a dark underworld with two thrones, one for Morgana and one for Nimueh. There was a smoke machine to create a misty atmosphere, and a large bed with a black sheet over it.

For this portion of filming, Nimueh dragged Morgana on the ground, and it took all their strength not to laugh at the absurdity. The director was a bit melodramatic, they had to admit.

There was some theatrical arguing, and Morgana trying to run away. Nimueh circled her arms around Morgana's waist, and Morgana stilled. Nimueh brushed her thumb over Morgana's cheek, and they pressed their foreheads together in what they were sure would be a close-up. They parted, and Nimueh glided her finger down Morgana's shoulders, smirking. She put out her hand and Morgana took it.

The next shot was of them rolling around on the bed, caressing the other's arms and kissing each other's cheeks.

"A bit more passion, girls," the director instructed, and their movements stilled.

Nimueh grasped Morgana's chin and pressed a kiss to her mouth, and Morgana fought the instinct to move away. This was bizarre, even for them. Morgana slowly kissed back. It wasn't the first time she'd kissed a girl, but she was with Merlin now. She had to remind herself it was acting, and allowed herself to get into it more. She'd rather be kissing Nimueh than some model hired to be Hades, anyway.

They broke the kiss and Morgana took the clip out of Nimueh's hair, and the older girl shook her head with a smirk. She pushed Morgana so that she lay on her back and ran her fingers up her leg gingerly.

The director called 'cut' and the two girls broke out into fits of laughter. They discarded their skirts and dresses, leaving them in their underwear. They took a moment to compose themselves before filming resumed. They were aware that the video would be edited later, unsightly bra straps edited out to make them appear nude from behind, etc, etc. The video with Alvarr from the first album involved far more nudity and nary a person batted an eyelash, yet this one may end up being banned. It made them all mad, just thinking of it.

The camera came in close, panning from behind Nimueh as she leaned into Morgana.

The camera remained behind Nimueh while the next shot was a close up of Morgana's scrunched up, breathless face. She hoped she looked convincing, her chest heaving up and down, dark hair fanned out behind her.

The next shot consisted of them sitting up, Morgana's chest flush against Nimueh's, filmed from a distance so that their clothing was not visible. Morgana ghosted her lips over Nimueh's neck, not even touching her, and the camera closely followed Nimeuh's expanse of skin.

The next shot was arranged so that the two women were side by side, holding hands. They then filmed Morgana's return to the underworld, with them sitting on matching rough looking-thrones to rule over the darkness together.

"I got to second base with Nimueh today," Morgana said nonchalantly during dinner.

Merlin nearly choked on his salad. He looked up to see Morgana smiling wickedly before taking a bite of lettuce.

They were having dinner at her flat, for once, and Merlin didn't know if he should be concerned. Was she going to dump him for Nimueh?

"It was for the music video," she clarified.

Merlin let out an "oooh". He remembered now. Morgana was Persephone and Nimueh was Hades. Damn, that video was going to get popular and cause an uproar.

"And how was it?" he asked.

"A girl never kisses and tells," she said innocently.

"What about show and tell?" Merlin asked with a raised brow.

Morgana licked her lips and pushed her salad aside, "That, I can most definitely do. I can do that and more."

Merlin immediately stood from the small table, the chair scraping against the wooden floors. He took Morgana's hand, pulling her up from her seat, and kissed her. Morgana groaned into his mouth and leaned back against the table. Merlin lifted her up and sat her down on the table, stepping between her legs.

"Bedroom?" Morgana whispered.

"Too far," Merlin nipped at her neck.

She grinned mischievously and hooked her legs around his waist.

Last Dragonlord's newest album was to be called In a Time of Magic, picking up where In a Land of Myth had left off, while To Sarah, With Love had been a parlay into the real world. They had chosen the single, Faded Reality. Sweet Dreams would be a follow-up and their second single from the album.

The video was shot in black and white, and each band member was shown in a crappy situation. They showed Freya, wearing a pencil skirt and blazer, getting fired from an office job. Then they showed Gwaine working in a dead-end job at the gas station they'd recreated in the studio. Then they showed Lancelot standing in front of a tombstone, grieving, Merlin wandering around the streets of London, lost (actually filmed in London's streets, and Lancelot's bit actually filmed at a graveyard). Then there was Will, sitting in a pub, drinking himself to death. It was all rather bleak. Filming took longer than Along Avalon's video did, as they used more than two filming locations.

They hit a snafu when Freya's heel broke and she swore like a sailor, earning chuckles from the crew. They re-did the shot, allowing her to wear flats. Then they filmed her walking around London with a briefcase and tears in her eyes. She brushed her shoulder against Merlin's to get by on the busy street and their characters didn't notice each other. She ended up in the pub where Will was drinking, and she joined him in his misery. Lancelot walked into the pub, too, to drown his sorrows.

Merlin ended up at the petrol station where Gwaine's character was working, and he bought a pack of cigarettes and a candy bar. The two of them get to talking (they talked about the upcoming tour, though the viewers wouldn't know that because they didn't have mics on them while filming), and then they, too ended up wandering the streets.

In the end, all five band members found themselves on the sidewalk in front of the pub. A night bus then drove by, and in the edited music video there was a flash of light, and suddenly they were all in colour. And the scenery before them wasn't another street, but a garden with a maze.

Uther Pendragon was in a good mood. Arthur had gone to dinner with his father that evening, and tried not to smile at his father's benevolence.

"I'm proud of you, Arthur. I may not always say it, but I am," Uther said sincerely.

"Thank you, dad," Arthur smiled, wondering how far into his cups Uther was.

"Honest to God. You've got a good head on your shoulders. You've been doing a splendid job as a manager, hell they album's already in post-production! And you have fine taste in women," he winked.

Arthur paled, and Uther laughed.

"Old Rodar was at the club the other day and mentioned Mithian had been going out more, lately. You have too, so I put two and two together," Uther said, sounding proud of himself.

"It's nothing serious," Arthur tried to deflect him from prying.

"I think she'll be good for you," Uther said with a decisive nod. He drained another glass of wine.

"Dad, what's got you so excited?" Arthur asked.

"Life, Arthur, life," Uther replied.

He met Mithian for drinks after his strange dinner with Uther. She regarded him with a small frown as they sat in next to each other at the bar.

"Where is this going?" Mithian asked.

"What'd you mean?" Arthur asked obliviously.

"You're not serious about this, right? It's purely casual?" she asked, hope tingeing her voice.

Arthur coughed uncomfortably. He was sort of hoping it would go somewhere more serious, but instead he said, "Of course. Totally casual."

Mithian smiled brightly, the corners of her eyes crinkling. She took a sip of her wine, the frown gone from her face.

"Why'd you ask?" Arthur asked.

She rolled her eyes, "My father and your father got to talking at the country club."

"Oh, God," Arthur closed his eyes.

"I know," Mithian took another sip, "they're more invested in our personal lives than we are."

"Such is the life of wealthy older men," Arthur suggested, earning a chuckle.

He took a sip from his glass, only to do a double-take when he saw Gwen and Lancelot enter the restaurant. His mouth set into a thin line, and he only relaxed when he saw Freya bounce up to them and take Lance's arm. He tensed up again when a fourth member joined their group. Leon. What were Gwen, Leon, Lancelot, and Freya doing at a restaurant togther?

A hostess led them to a booth and Arthur tried not to twist in his seat to spy on them. Mithian's hand rested on his arm.

"Hey, look," she pointed at the group, "let's go say hi."

Arthur paled and nodded.

As it turned out, it was a group outing, which turned into a triple date. Gwen tried to ignore Arthur for the most part, and Arthur was quiet and subdued. Mithian and Leon were already good friends and had a laugh together about their jobs in the industry. Freya and Lancelot were sickeningly adorable, as usual, and Arthur wondered how the press hadn't caught wind of that particular relationship. Then again, they weren't the front men of the band, which allowed them more privacy.

Dinner was delicious, and the conversation was kept on the lighter side.

"So when's the wedding?" Leon asked Lancelot and Freya.

Lancelot choked on his wine and Freya dropped her fork.

"What?" they both said, turning pink.

"Oh, come off it," Leon rolled his eyes, "you two are so obvious."

"We are not," Freya spluttered while Lancelot said, "It's not like that."

The pair looked at each other painfully, the hurt clear in Freya's eyes. Realization dawned on Lancelot, and he moved his mouth wordlessly, trying to form the right words.

"Yeah, it's not like that. We're friends, pals, buddies," Freya regained some of her composure and looked down at her plate, "if you'll excuse me."

She pushed away from the table and got up swiftly, making a run for the door.

Mithian smacked Leon in the arm, and Lancelot looked at them helplessly before shooting out of his chair and walking briskly to the exit.

"You absolute idiot," Mithian hissed at Leon.

Arthur ran a hand over his face and wondered what PR nightmare their fallout would bring.

I've actually had this chapter ready for weeks, but didn't know how to end it. I hope it was a good read. Please let me know what you think.