When I finished The Singng Hills I thought I was done with my immortal Merlin stories, time to move on to something else. Then Merlin poked me on the arm and dangled this little storyline in front of my muse. I was powerless to resist. I have a few chapters written already and, while I'd orginally intended this to be strictly a light-hearted comedy, it seems to be developing a rather serious undertone.

Since I can only choose two fandoms in the crossover section on this site, I've chosen Avengers since that's who we'll probably seeing the most of, but this is realistically a crossover with the entire MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), including the non-Marvel Studios stuff. Also, I haven't seen Age of Ultron yet, so I'm not sure if it'll be a part of this story. I honestly don't see why not, but I'm reserving final judgment until I see it next week.

Lastly, to give credit where credit's due: I'd like to point to the brilliant manga/anime Petshop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino, which was a strong influence on this story. If you've never heard of it, don't worry, this isn't in any way, shape or form a crossover or fusion with it. Anyone who is familiar with Petshop of Horrors will likely be able to spot the influences, but this is a very different story nonetheless.

Disclaimer: I own a coffee maker, a computer and an imagination, but I don't own any of the MCU or Merlin.

The Beginning

Years, centuries had passed as she rested within the earth. Not even the magic that suffused it could shorten the time it took for the last smoldering sparks of life within her form to burn brighter and fill with life and magic once more. Time was irrelevant, and she felt it pass as the earth felt it pass. She existed. She was not awake, however. She knew she'd been awake once, and this felt like hovering on the edge of dreaming, when awareness was only starting to creep through the grey haze.

The earth cradled her within its embrace and she felt no cold and no heat, only vaguely aware of the changing seasons. And with every season that came and went, she grew a little stronger. Eventually, she was able to stretch invisible hands out to feel the land around her and lap at the well of its power. Power that felt familiar; it caressed her in return and she relaxed further into its touch, weakly holding on. Over time her grip grew stronger and she began to feel beyond the earth around her: there were trees, grass, stones, and the occasional bird. And water all around.

She wasn't sure when the first time she felt the other presence was. It came from the water and moved upon the land. She felt its steps like clear bells, vibrating with power that resonated deeply into the land. It was a pleasant sound: warm and strong like the earth, and vibrant and weighty like magic.

It didn't stay long, but after it left, the first memories began to emerge. Flashes of faces, places and sometimes objects danced across her mind in between the endless silence of the earth. She didn't recognize them, but felt joy or sadness when they flashed. Emotions: she'd forgotten those as well.

She was different from the Earth, she realized, but what her existence meant beyond that eluded her.

The presence returned a few times after that and once, she felt its touch embrace her briefly. It was long gone again when she recognized the emotion she'd felt from it as surprise. Then she began to remember more. Sometimes a trinket would pop into her mind and she'd remember wearing it, or remember the person giving it to her. She remembered a castle and an island. She remembered a room full of vials and talismans, infused with the smell of dried herbs and incense. She remembered the smell of smoke and burning flesh, anger and grief molten ball within her chest.

The next time the presence returned, she remembered his name. For the first time during her existence within the arms of the earth, she felt her lips move as she whispered his other name. The land shivered with delight and she felt the earth above her move. Soil whispered as it slid to the side and leaves rustled as they, too, rolled away. The sun's rays kissed her bare flesh for the first time in centuries.

She stretched out her stiff limbs and moved, rolling over onto her back. For a few moments more she simply relished the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the soft breeze. After her cocoon of silence, the world on the surface was loud, and it took a long while for birdsong to sound less abrasive.

Her eyelashes fluttered, her lids as stiff as the rest of her, caked and crusted-over from lack of use. Eventually, she opened her eyes and looked up into the sun.

Then she remembered her name.

She smirked. Now she remembered what had happened, why she'd needed to rest within the earth for so long. She was probably lucky; he'd been just a boy when he'd faced her, all anger and righteousness. He'd no more understood what she'd done than what he'd left undone that day. As though a simple lightening strike could kill a Priestess of the Old Religion.

She stood slowly on shaking legs, feeling like a newborn colt, but refusing to wait any longer. She didn't feel hunger yet, but she staggered to a nearby stream to quench her thirst. She could feel his presence at the edge of the island, unmoving. Waiting for her.

With every step she felt stronger, her magic burrowing into the land, into the sacred soil beneath her and augmenting her power. Her steps became surer, her back straighter and she stopped twitching at every sound. By the time she reached the edge of the island, she was once again a formidable opponent.

He was sitting on the grass with his back to her, looking out at the gently rolling waves on the lake. His hair was much longer than she remembered and tied behind him with a black bow, his clothing of a much finer material than she ever remembered him wearing, with tall boots of soft brown leather. Uncaring of her own dirt-smeared nakedness, she stopped several steps behind him and smirked.

"Well, hello Merlin, it's been a long time," she said.

He continued to stare out at the lake. "Hello, Nimueh," he said simply, a weight and weariness to his words that were also new. "I think it's been longer than you realize. Tell me, do you approach as friend or foe?"

The question startled her and chased away the anger that had begun to brew within her mind. "You would accept me as a friend after all that has happened between us?" The words tumbled from her mouth before she was aware of the question.

A sad, bitter chuckle was her response. "That was a long time ago and I have very few friends left in this world. I would be a fool to turn one away."

She blinked and realized that even her pain and anger were distant to her now. Without another word, she sat on the grass beside him. Equally silent, Merlin handed her a large metal flask. She pulled out the cork and sniffed at it. The aroma was sweet, yet bitter and unlike anything she'd ever smelt before.

"What is it?" she asked.

Merlin smiled. "It's something explorers brought back from a land far across the sea. It's called cocoa."

"A land far across the sea? That sounds like a fairy tale; has the world changed that much while I was asleep?"

"Hmm, perhaps. Some of it you might not recognize anymore, but people are still the same."

She snorted. "Of course they are; people never change."

She lifted the flask to her lips and drank. It was good. For a flask of this, she may even have forgiven Uther his crimes. Some of them, anyway.

New York was covered in a sleepy drizzle that Sunday morning as two figures walked noiselessly through the streets on the boarder of Chinatown and Little Italy. It was late enough that the late night revellers had staggered back to their university housing or found just enough money in their pockets to call a cab to take them to their expensive Manhattan condos, but not yet early enough for the first of the joggers to have hit the streets. The man wasn't anything remarkable to look at: tall and skinny with dark hair that seemed perpetually in need of a comb. The woman, however, was long-legged and curvy with full red lips – she would inevitably turn heads wherever she went.

Finally, they stopped in front of a squat, shabby brick building squashed in between two slightly taller brick buildings. The ones on either side of it were taller and seemed to be in much better condition, their front doors freshly-painted and the walk-ups looking considerably less like deathtraps.

"This is it?" the woman asked, not sounding particularly impressed.

The man shrugged. "The owner died; I got a good price. Don't worry, we'll fix it up and it'll be fine."

The woman rolled her eyes. "Then we'd better get started. The truck's arriving this afternoon."

The man waved his hand and the door opened for them. They went inside and, presumably got to work, though whatever they did happened inside the building and their neighbours were none the wiser. Which was likely for the better. At half past two in the afternoon, a large moving truck arrived, though its contents didn't seem quite right for a couple moving into a new home.

Monday morning at 10 am, a new antiques shop opened on the bottom floor, looking like it had been there for years. Everyone who passed by blinked at it, wondering how long it had been there, curious that they'd never noticed it before.

Years passed. And one day, a hole opened up in the sky and spewed aliens and giant mechanical whales. The little shop was, miraculously, undamaged.

Thanks for taking the time to read! I apologize in advance: this story isn't my priority at the moment as I'm working on finishing up another story so updates will be slow in coming, at least at first.