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kinkfestTitle: Legends Reborn - Part 2/2
Author: Gryvon
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: Merlin, Arthur/Merlin. Reincarnation — "I'll miss you till I meet you."
Word count: 13,613
Summary: Merlin's life comes crashing to an end when Arthur dies unexpectedly, bringing their destinies to a halt. Destiny draws them together again and Merlin finds Arthur once more in the modern world, but he's not the only one who remembers the past.
A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting this. The story refused to die...
Part 1
Arthur felt different. He wasn't quite sure how he was different, he just knew he was. Somehow, during his night with Merlin – his wonderful, incredibly hot night with Merlin – he'd changed. He wasn't the same person that he had been yesterday. He felt... whole.
Morgana had been giving him strange looks all day, ever since he'd walked into the palace that morning wearing the same clothes he'd gone to the exhibit opening in. She finally cornered him shortly after lunch. Arthur grunted slightly as he was suddenly shoved into one of the private reception rooms.
"Spill," Morgana demanded.
He stared at her and squinted. There were two of her there, the vision of one overlaying the other. Both of them were still recognizably Morgana, but the other, the one not physically standing in front of him, seemed colder, more refined. It was strange seeing a fine gown overlaid on top of Morgana's jeans and t-shirt. He quickly shook his head. The double Morgana disappeared.
"Spill what?"
A sharp fingernail pressed into his chest. "You. You've been out of it since you got in this morning. Do you know how hard it was to keep Uther from issuing a city-wide search for you after you disappeared last night?" She smirked suddenly, her grin a touch too vicious for his taste. "Merlin was gone too. I don't suppose you happened to have noticed."
He coughed and felt his face heat. "I may have noticed."
Her eyes narrowed. "You didn't!"
Arthur quickly stepped around her and further into the room, away from the door and any chance of being overheard. He glared at her, suddenly angry. He was prince and she was only his father's ward. She wasn't supposed to talk to him like that. He would rule their kingdom one day.
He froze. Where had those thoughts come from? Morgana was his sister, his full, biological sister. If it weren't for the slight difference in their ages, she would be the one to inherit, not him.
"What in the world is going on with you?" Morgana asked.
"I don't rightly know." He shook his head again but the strange set of other memories still lingered at the back of his consciousness.
There was something else as well. He felt a connection to Merlin, like nothing he'd felt before. If he closed his eyes, he knew he could point, without error, exactly to where Merlin was. He could almost feel him, just at the edge of his mind, like a solid presence that refused to go away. It was both comforting and disconcerting at the same time.
"I think I'm in love," he blurted suddenly.
Morgana took the admission in stride. "With Merlin?" There was no censure in her voice but also no approval as well.
She should approve. They were friends – her and Gwen and Merlin and Lancelot. He paused again. They'd never met Lancelot. Aside from the brief encounters in the museum and the bookstore, the girls had never met Merlin either, and yet he felt like they should have, like they were all connected and destined to be connected.
"Yeah," he answered after a minute. Morgana was staring at him. She seemed concerned. "I'm in love with Merlin."
He always had been, he realized, ever since he first met Merlin, a lifetime ago. That was the key to it. Past lives, past destinies. He'd been Prince Arthur from the legends, never the king because his life had ended too early, but he'd still been the legend, the real, living, breathing legend. He remembered.
"You do realize your father is going to have a fit." Arthur stared at Morgana. He'd forgotten that she was even in the room.
"Let him. I'm not losing Merlin a second time."
She stared at him. "A second time?"
He ignored her and started towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Morgana sounded annoyed, which never boded well for him, not in either of his lifetimes.
"To find Merlin."
They needed to have a long talk.
*****
Merlin was not having a good day. He'd woken up sore and alone, in his own bed for a change instead of the office couch, which meant he was once more late for class. He had a feeling some of the other students in Gaius's class were starting to figure out that he knew more than he was letting on. And, to top it all off, he'd answered one of Gaius's questions wrong.
Well, that wasn't entirely right. He'd answered the question how he remembered it instead of how legend dictated. Thankfully Gaius had covered for him but he still felt like a complete and utter idiot. Next he was going to start teaching it wrong and then the whole department would be in an uproar.
He thought his day couldn't get any worse and then he opened his office to find a certain blonde prat sitting behind his desk. Merlin groaned and kicked the door shut behind him.
"One of these days, someone will come see me and actually sit on the other side of the desk," he muttered to himself.
Arthur quirked an eyebrow at him and smiled cockily. His feet were up on Merlin's desk, probably getting dirt all over his papers.
"Nice office."
He glared and magically shoved Arthur's feet off the desk. He was being petty, but he felt that he deserved a bit of pettiness today.
"Thanks," he growled and slammed his books down on the desk. One of the stacks already there slid aside to make room.
Arthur stared at him, started to say something and then apparently thought better of it. "More books?" He pointed at the stack Merlin had set down. "Don't you have enough already?"
"These are from the library. Research. A concept I'm sure you're unfamiliar with."
He'd been doing far too much research lately, looking into legends surrounding Excalibur and the Lady of the Lake. Geography had changed so much from what he remembered and the maps of his time, of his old time, hadn't exactly been the most accurate. There were hundreds of lakes across Britain that could match the one he'd hidden Excalibur in. Add in the rest of Europe and the Isles, and it jumped to thousands.
He should have put up a sign. A big fucking sign that said 'Excalibur Hidden Here' so that when he wanted to find it again ages later, he could.
Arthur pouted at him, a gesture so familiar from their old days that Merlin paused. He stared at Arthur, really noticing the man for the first time since he walked in. Something was different, or, really, something was the same, the same as he remembered.
"That's no way to talk to a prince, you know," Arthur chided. "It's really quite sad that we've gotten rid of the stockade. Marvelous invention." He stood suddenly, bouncing to his feet like an overeager puppy. "Might be one hiding in that dusty old museum exhibit you're so fond of, but in this day and age, you're more likely to get molested than fruit thrown at you, and we can't really have that." Arthur shifted closer until he was inches from Merlin. He grinned widely. "After all, that's my job."
He opened and closed his mouth several times, gaping like a fish. It wasn't possible. It shouldn't be possible. Last night... he'd... Arthur hadn't said anything, so he assumed.... It wasn't possible.
"It's your job to throw fruit at me?"
"No." Arthur closed the distance between them. "To molest you." Then Arthur was kissing him and he didn't really have a response for that, at least not a vocal one. Arthur's hands dropped to Merlin's hips and then shifted down, putting action to words and thoroughly molesting Merlin's ass.
He gasped for breath as Arthur pulled away. Arthur was grinning smugly at him and there was really only one thing he could think to do in response.
He smacked Arthur, hard, on the arm. "You complete and utter prat!" Arthur's hands pulled away quickly. The smug look fell from his face.
"What? What the hell was that for?"
Books quivered on the shelves, reacting to his anger. "You prat! All last night you let me think that you had no fucking clue, about any of it, but you fucking knew!" He smacked Arthur again for emphasis. "You knew and you didn't say anything! And then you left, without a word. Prat!" Another smack, just for good measure.
"Ow!" Arthur rubbed at his arm and glared. "Stop that! I did not. I mean..." His face shifted towards that confused expression which Merlin found far too adorable. He refused to let himself get distracted from his anger, no matter how much he wanted to kiss Arthur just then. "I didn't know until today, just earlier, and then I came straight over but you were in your class so I waited and..." Arthur deflated suddenly. "I'm here now. I'm sorry I left. Uther, father, he gets uptight sometimes when I'm out overnight. Keeps worrying that I'm going to make some sort of scandal and embarrass the crown."
Merlin snorted. His anger had died a valiant death. He dropped heavily onto the couch, hissing softly in pain as it jarred his sore muscles.
"Oh, I'm sure he'd just love it if the papers knew what you'd been up to last night, fucking some bloke."
"You are not some bloke." Merlin cocked an eyebrow at the vehemence of Arthur's words. "Okay, so you're definitely a bloke, and for the record, I rather like that about you but-"
"So do I," Merlin interrupted. Arthur glared at him. He smiled cheekily back.
"But," Arthur emphasized the word, "you are not 'some' bloke. You're a very particular bloke that I'm quite fond of."
He blushed uncontrollably and looked away. That was probably the sweetest thing Arthur had ever said to him, which was slightly sad in proportion.
"You're still a prat."
Arthur grinned and turned the wooden chair in front of Merlin's desk around, sitting on it backwards. "I know. It's part of my charm."
He couldn't help himself. He laughed. He laughed until his sides hurt, looked up at Arthur's grinning face and then started laughing some more.
"Gods, what am I going to do with you?"
"I'm sure we'll think of something." The smugness crept back onto Arthur's face. "That thing with your mouth last night was quite good. You could do that again."
Merlin dropped his face into hands to hide his complete and utter mortification. "You're such a prat."
"We really need to get you some new insults. It's the twenty-first century, Merlin. Add some color into your life."
He stared. "I could call you a twat if you'd prefer."
Arthur made a face. "Let's stick with prat."
They grinned at each other for a long moment. Merlin was the first to break eye contact. He shook his head and sighed. They were going to have to talk about it sometime. He stared down at the wooden floor. He needed to sweep.
"So you remember now?"
Arthur's feet shifted but that was all of him that Merlin could see. "Yeah."
"How much?"
He dreaded the answer.
"All of it? I mean, everything up to..." Merlin flinched. "I don't know what happened after."
He swallowed painfully. "Dying has that effect on memory."
The chair tipped forward. Arthur took one of Merlin's hands in his. "How long? I remember your magic going wild, as I was... dying." He was slightly proud of Arthur for saying that with only a faint falter. Merlin had never been able to manage that. "Uther saw, so I'm assuming he had you exiled."
He shook his head but couldn't find his voice.
One of Arthur's hands tipped his face up until they were looking straight at each other. "He had you executed?" Arthur's repressed anger was clear in his voice.
He shook his head again. "No. I'm sorry."
He wasn't going to cry. He wasn't. Except that he was. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, burning a hot trail down his cheeks.
"Why are you sorry?" Arthur asked softly. He took Merlin's free hand in his own and squeezed lightly.
"Because I couldn't save you." His voice broke. He was losing it. "I was supposed to protect you, keep you safe so that you could fulfill your destiny and I failed." His sentence ended on a wail.
Arthur stood quickly and joined Merlin on the couch. His arms wrapped around Merlin. They were as strong as they used to be, before he'd died. It was strange just how much of their lives, of them, had been recreated in modern day. For a moment, he felt like he'd never died but then he stared across at the bookshelves lining the room, full of myth and legend, of history and folklore, and he remembered that this wasn't his old life. This wasn't how any of it was supposed to be and that was solely because of his failure.
He buried his face in Arthur's shirt, using the fabric to muffle his sobs. He'd ruined it, ruined the Golden Age that Arthur was supposed to usher in. Arthur was supposed to make the land safe and whole but instead he'd died because Merlin was too much of an idiot to protect him from a simple arrow.
Hands rubbed along his back, soothing. "It's not your fault, Merlin."
He tried to protest but the words came out as a wordless wail. The hands didn't stop moving.
"It's not. I promise. You didn't send the archers and soldiers to ambush us. Despite all of your magic – which, by the way, you never told me about, but I still knew anyways because that's just how awesome I am – you're only one person. You can't see the future. You can't know what's going to happen, all you can do is react. Things happen that are outside of our control but that doesn't make it your fault. I'm here now. I'm safe and I'm not going anywhere. Not for a long time."
Merlin drew back and shook his head quickly. "It's going to happen. I can feel it. You're in danger."
Arthur's thumbs brushed over Merlin's cheeks, wiping his tears away. He sniffled and slowly stopped crying.
"Then we'll do better this time. Things are different. We're different. I don't really have to worry about archers in this century." The small grin on Arthur's face took the sting out of his last words.
Merlin snorted and rolled his eyes at Arthur's poor attempt at a joke. "No, instead you have to worry about gun and bombs and chemical warfare. There's also poison and knives – those never go out of style. Oh, and car crashes or plane crashes or really crashes of any kind involving the plethora of large metal boxes society's so fond of strapping themselves into and hurtling through space at high velocity. And-"
A hand over his mouth cut him off.
Arthur stared at him. "Morbid much?"
"Only for you."
"Charming." Arthur grinned at him like he meant it, despite his sarcastic tone. He brushed his hand through Merlin's hair. "So, what do I have to worry about for you if it wasn't old age or Uther? Archers as well?"
He blushed, suddenly feeling stupid for his own reaction years ago. He'd acted on instinct, instinct heavily controlled by grief and fear and his own self-pity.
"I don't think it'll be a problem."
A tissue floated over to him and he blew his nose before sending the tissue on its way into the garbage can. Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"That was probably the stupidest use of magic I've seen yet. Also, you're deflecting. It's not going to work."
He attempted to grin but it came out muted. "Stick around, I'm sure you'll see stupider. I used magic to open a can of pop the other day."
Arthur stared at him pointedly.
Merlin sighed and looked away. "Fine." He shifted slightly on the couch, moving away from Arthur. "When..." The words stuck in his throat. He swallowed and tried again. "When you... died..." He shivered. "I... overreacted. Just a tiny bit."
The arch of Arthur's raised eyebrow suggested that he didn't believe Merlin in the slightest.
"I was grieving," he defended sharply. "Inconsolable, if you must know." A faint smirk started to form on Arthur's face and Merlin glowered. "My magic reacted quite... strongly. A lot of people died." Arthur's face fell and he corrected himself quickly. "None of ours. At least, not by me. It... it took a lot out of me. Everything, actually."
He couldn't look at Arthur. He felt ashamed of what he'd done. There could have been other ways to handle the situation. He could have lived, but he knew, deep down, that that had never really been an option. There was no Arthur without Merlin and vice versa.
"So you killed yourself because you couldn't stand to be without me?"
Arthur's tone cut through his shame. He gaped at the insufferable prat who actually had the nerve, the very nerve, to suggest such a thing. He smacked Arthur.
"You prat!"
Arthur grinned at him. "You totally did! Oh, Merlin, that's terribly romantic. Gwen and Morgana would practically swoon if they knew."
He smacked Arthur again and pushed off of the couch, suddenly needed to be very far away from Arthur.
"I don't know why I bother."
"Because you love me," Arthur said solemnly, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Arthur's boots thudded across the wooden floor. Arms wrapped around him from behind. "And, I love you." His chin settled on Merlin's shoulder and he dropped his voice to a low whisper. "It's silly that we never figured that out before. I mean, I loved you for a very long time, probably since I first met you, and I never really knew it until this lifetime."
Merlin clasped his hands over Arthur's. "Yeah. Silly."
"I'm going to tell him," Arthur said suddenly.
Merlin blinked at the non sequitur. "Tell who what?"
"My father. King Uther. I'm going to tell him that I'm madly in love with you and that I'm going to marry you – someday, eventually – and that he doesn't have a choice in the matter."
He shoved away from Arthur and turned. "Are you completely daft?"
Arthur shrugged. "Probably, but I'm still going to do it."
"What about the royal line, becoming king?"
"Bugger all that. If I'm destined to do it, I will. Otherwise, if Uther disowns me, Morgana will inherit, and I'll run off to Tahiti where I can spend all day buggering you senseless."
Merlin's mouth hung open. Obviously, somewhere in the time between the old Arthur and the new one, he'd gone a bit daffy. Then he replayed the rest of their conversation and he outright stared at Arthur, agast.
"Did you just propose to me?"
Arthur grinned in that self-righteous, cocky way that only he could. "Not really. Consider it advanced warning. When I do actually propose, it's going to be much more romantic."
He sank into his desk chair and buried his face in his hands with a loud groan. "I don't know why I put up with you."
"It's destiny."
The queen captured a rook and a bishop.
Merlin felt a shiver of foreboding run down his spine and he snapped his head up to stare at Arthur. He remembered the conversation he'd had with Gaius earlier. "Do you know Nimueh?"
Arthur's smile disappeared.
*****
"You've been watching me."
Arthur froze. He turned very slowly and shut the door behind him. When he looked back, Nimueh hadn't moved, still seated primly on the couch in Arthur's sitting room.
"I'm sure you're mistaken." They both knew he was lying.
She smiled. It wasn't an expression that seemed used to her face. It hung there, seeming distant with a trace of bad humor. He didn't like it when this Nimueh smiled. At least in the past she'd had some sense of elegance, but she lacked that here.
"I'm not. You have been, and that's fine." She stood and brushed off her skirts. "I saw that you've found your Merlin again. How lucky for you."
Her eyes seemed to go through him, at once piercing and vague. Whatever her true focus was, it wasn't him.
"What do you want?" Instinct made him reach for his sword, but it wasn't there anymore. Nimueh's eyes followed his hand and she smiled wider.
"Merlin." The word came out as a hiss, dark and angry.
Words fell out of his mouth before he could think, before he could realize what he was saying to a former and possibly current sorceress who may or may not have gone a bit wrong in this incarnation. The Nimueh before him was nothing like the polite mask she put on for state visits and nothing like the little he'd seen of her in the past.
"I'm sorry, but he's taken."
She laughed. There was no humor in the sound. "He's not the only one." She stalked towards him. Belatedly, he realized she was focused on the door, not him, like he was of little consequence and not a threat. She was probably right. He couldn't do anything to her, not without causing a political scandal.
Arthur quickly stepped aside. She paused with her hand on the door and looked at him. Her eyes seemed so much colder up close.
"If you want your sister and the Prime Minister's daughter returned to you, you will bring Merlin to meet me at the museum at midnight. By Excalibur. Do not be late."
She was through the door before he could protest. Arthur cursed loudly and started dialing.
"Merlin? We have a problem."
*****
Merlin pressed himself flat against the wall and clutched Arthur's hand. His heart was beating a mile a minute. "We're going to get caught."
"We don't have a choice," Arthur hissed. He moved ahead of Merlin, sliding along the wall. They paused for a moment and he heard Arthur fumbling with something along the wall. "Door."
Merlin checked around them, but the hedges and darkness hid them from view. He moved around Arthur.
"Can you open it?"
He nodded. A quick jolt of magic and the lock clicked open.
Arthur grinned at him. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you look when your eyes glow?"
Merlin felt his face heat to the point where he was certain Arthur could see his face glow. "No, you hadn't." One of Arthur's hands settled on Merlin's back. His mind went the exact opposite direction it needed to go. "But we can talk about that later. Princess to save, evil sorceress to defeat, all that."
Arthur grinned at him as he opened the door. He was far too excited about the whole situation. If Merlin was completely honest with himself, he was too. He'd kind of missed this. Their lives – their current lives – were so dull compared to what they'd almost lived through, would have maybe lived through, if it hadn't been for the ambush. He paused inside the doorway. It was dark. They were in some sort of storage area.
There was no guarantee that they would have made it to old age. If it wasn't one ambush, it would have been another ambush or a monster or a poison. Their lives had been destined to end, early, violently. His hand curled around the doorframe. He had no way of knowing what their destiny really was, or what it had been.
"Are you okay?" Arthur's hands settled on his shoulders.
He half-turned and smiled. "Yeah. Come on. Destiny awaits."
They snuck though dark rows of shelving and into the halls.
"Are you sure you know which way we're going?" Arthur asked after a moment. He seemed nervous but Merlin couldn't blame him. Likely, he was wishing for a sword in his hand.
"Yes," he hissed. "Beating people with swords and sticks is your thing, old books and museums is mine. I know where I'm going."
He'd been coming to this museum since he was a child. Even without that knowledge, he could feel the Arthurian exhibit pulling him. They were meant to be here, now. He only hoped no one had to die for destiny this time.
Nimueh was waiting for them. She smiled widely, her mouth stretched thin across her features, nearly bisecting her face. It reminded him of a really creepy doll. Gwen and Morgana sat behind her, perfectly still, staring blankly into space. The fake Excalibur shone from its place on the podium behind them.
"We're here, now let them go," Arthur demanded. He placed himself between Merlin and Nimueh.
The sorceress snapped her fingers. Morgana and Gwen gasped loudly, expressions of surprise and fear quickly replaced the blank look on their faces.
"There. It's done." She stepped forward and gestured grandly. "And now, so are you."
The suits of armor lining the edge of the room marched forward. Merlin barely managed to dodge in time as the closest stabbed a spear through the space he'd just been occupying. The statues shifted to fill the doorways, bristling like a metal porcupine.
Merlin stared at the blockade. "You do know that I can just move those right? That's not going to stop us from leaving."
Gwen and Morgana were staring at them.
Nimueh's smile never faltered. "It's not meant to stop you."
A loud roar echoed through the chamber. Merlin shivered, his blood suddenly running cold. The girls screamed. Arthur turned, took one look at the giant lizard crawling down the wall and ran towards the girls. Merlin just stared.
"It," Nimueh said with a smug look, "like that," she gestured towards the lizard, "are distractions."
She pointed. Merlin felt her intent seconds before a bolt of energy slammed into his chest. He barely reacted fast enough to keep it from ripping a hole through him, but he hadn't been able to stop enough of it. He flew backwards, slamming hard into the stone wall.
Nimueh's laughter carried over the creature's growls. Merlin fell limply to the floor. Arthur tugged on the fake Excalibur but it was stuck. Gwen and Morgana ran towards one of the blockades and started untangling the suits of armor. Bits of metal clattered to the floor, giving Merlin an idea. Nimueh raised her hands, a maniacal look of pleasure on her face.
Merlin breathed deeply and pulled. He reached out with his magic and grabbed anything that might possibly be of use to him. The armor collapsed into fragments, each piece lifting in the air to float around the room. A breastplate took the force of the second bolt meant for him, giving him time to stumble to his feet. A pair of helmets took the third and fourth, shattering into dust under the force of her rage. He sent a spear after Nimueh but she shattered that as well, batting it aside with barely a glance. The rest of the spears he sent after the creature. They bounced harmlessly off of its hide but it kept the thing busy, batting at the weapons instead of advancing after his friends.
It bought him time, but really that was all it did. That was all he needed. Just a bit more time. He wished he could have had longer. He had a feeling that his current destiny was coming to another quick end.
"Run! Get out of here."
No one listened to him. Arthur had given up on the display sword and was looking around for something else. The girls were grabbing spears and settling into fighting stances. They weren't approaching the beast, but they were ready for when it approached them. Spears were no use. They needed something more.
Desperate, Merlin turned his concentration inwards and flung his magic out, reaching for anything that could help him. He felt the web of connection, the thin mystical threads that bound him and Arthur and Morgana and Gwen together flare into life. The spears they were holding glowed blue as his magic settled around them. At least they had some defense now.
Merlin screamed as Nimueh sent a raw torrent of energy flying at him. The thin wall of metal protecting him shattered. He lost his concentration as the force of the energy slammed against him, not damaging but disorienting enough that his magic faltered for a second. That was all the time Nimueh needed. The shards of metal froze midair and turned.
His eyes widened in horror. "Oh, shit."
He jumped to the side but he wasn't fast enough to avoid all of the shards. He screamed again as shards of metal ripped through his clothing, sinking into his flesh.
"Merlin!" Arthur's voice sounded distant, too far away.
Then the doors to the museum banged open, echoing loudly throughout the museum. There was a faint whizzing sound, barely audible over the clank of metal and the creature's hungry howls. The spears attacking it had all shattered, leaving it free to stalk towards the girls. Arthur turned as a flash of silver streaked into the hall, heading straight towards him. Nimueh's eyes widened.
"Impossible."
Apparently, Merlin's magic had managed to find something useful. Excalibur halted in midair inches from Arthur, gleaming as if it had been freshly forged instead of spending years upon years at the bottom of a lake. Arthur reached out reverently and grasped the hilt. Destiny shifted, responding to Arthur's reunion with the legendary sword.
The king advanced across the chess board.
Merlin gasped for air. He hurt. His head pounded from being bounced off walls, weakening his concentration. He had to keep fighting.
Nimueh turned to advance on Arthur. Merlin lashed out blindly, sending a solid wall of air at her. She blocked and started to turn back towards him. Arthur shouted and rushed forward. Merlin gathered all the energy he had left but it wasn't enough. He'd never learned much about fighting versus other wizards. All he knew how to do was help others take out the evil monsters. Closing his eyes, he remembered how he'd felt the day Arthur had died. Grief swelled through him, but it was muted now, faded under the realization that it wasn't his fault, that Arthur had been meant to die, meant to be born here, meant to live again. Another emotion surged over the grief, giving him strength.
He screamed and the walls of the museum trembled from the force of his rage. His magics slammed against Nimueh's shields, not enough to get past them yet. He didn't need to. Arthur stepped up behind her. Excalibur's blade blossomed through her chest and she looked down upon it in surprise. She fell, sliding off the blade to land on the stones. Part of the rug covering the center of the room had been kicked away in the fight, revealing a strange red marking on the floor. A drop of blood from Arthur's sword fell on it as he lowered the weapon.
Bright red light filled the room for a long moment, pouring out of ancient symbols hidden on the wall and floor. They flashed blindingly bright and then faded as quickly as they'd appeared. When they disappeared, so did Nimueh.
Checkmate.
Merlin's head hit the floor. He was going to pass out very soon but he had the feeling that there was something that he was forgetting.
"Arthur!" Gwen's terrified scream revived him.
The creature was still here. Morgana and Gwen were holding it off feebly with their spears, but that was all they were doing. It was backing them into a corner. They didn't have much time left. Merlin reached for his magic but there was nothing left. This body was still new to it. He didn't have the reserves he was used to, though they'd build in time. He didn't have time. Arthur ran towards them but he wasn't close enough. Merlin was closer but he couldn't get his body to move.
Someone ran past him into the room, picking up a spear as they went. Merlin would have recognized the tousled black hair and thick frame anywhere. Lancelot stabbed his spear into the creature's tail. It roared and turned towards him, but he wasn't alone. Arthur's sword caught the creature along the side, cutting in deep.
There were more people coming. Their voices filled the hallway. A pair of nearly identical looking brunettes slid in front of the girls, guarding them. A redheaded woman in men's clothing and an older man in a business suit flanked Arthur and Lancelot, spears in hand. A dark-skinned man and a young boy in a jersey slid around to the creature's other side. Two sets of hands lifted Merlin and carried him out of the room, away from the fight.
Merlin whimpered in pain as he was propped against one of the museum walls.
"It's alright. I'm an EMT."
Merlin turned his head up to face the thin blonde. The other man that had helped carry him was already heading back into the hall. Merlin caught a glimpse of elaborate tattoos and then the creature started screaming.
A name came to mind. He instinctively attached it to the blonde. "Percival?"
The blonde stared at him. "How did you know?" He started to peel back Merlin's jeans and then gave that up. There was a white case by his side. He pulled out scissors and started cutting the fabric away to get at the scrap metal.
"Merlin," he said by way of explanation. "Connected." It was probably a bad sign that his words were slurring so much.
"Ah. We never met before. I have a feeling you're the one to thank for all the past life stuff?"
He started to nod but his body had other ideas. The creature howled one last time and then fell silent. Merlin passed out.
*****
When he woke again, he was in a hospital room. It was not the same hospital room as last time – or at least he didn't think so – but it shared the same sort of vague similarities that all hospital rooms shared. He groaned and thought about trying to sit up. His body ached, vetoing that idea. It was far too bright in the room and he wasn't alone.
"Morning, sunshine."
Merlin turned his head and glared. Arthur grinned cheekily back at him. He leaned forward in his chair and kissed Merlin on the forehead.
"Welcome back to the world of the living."
He groaned. "I want a refund." A return to consciousness apparently meant a return to pain.
"Sorry, none currently being offered." Arthur's hand wrapped around Merlin's. "How are you feeling?"
He arched an eyebrow. "Like I was in a magical duel with a sorceress trying to kill me as revenge for already killing her and had a bunch of shrapnel stuck in me. Shouldn't I be on, like, a morphine drip or something? That's how it always happens in the movies."
Arthur chuckled and squeezed his hand. "You're actually not that bad off. A bunch of bruising, some minor cuts. Percival was adamant that you'd been hurt worse than that, but they didn't find any sign of it by the time we got you to the hospital."
He shifted slightly. His body still didn't want to move but he felt better than he should, considering. Tentatively, he reached for his magic. It responded sluggishly, but still responded. He traced the magic through his body, feeling certain areas where his magic pooled, other areas it ignored.
"Oh." He turned back to Arthur. "I didn't realize I could do that."
Arthur grinned. "Magic?"
He nodded.
"Percival will be glad to know he's not going insane. Well, no more than the rest of the Knights. And myself, and Morgana and Gwen and Gaius and Uther."
Merlin stared at him questioningly.
Arthur's grin widened. "We all remember. It's great." His expression fell slightly. "Well, not so much for father. I think he regrets what happened a little bit, the things he'd done while ruling Camelot."
Something else Arthur had said caught his attention, dragging his thoughts away from Uther. "Knights?"
"Of the Round Table." Arthur practically bounced as he said it. "Well, we still have to get a round table, but that's the general idea. It's still sort of new to all of us, but... destiny, all that. I figured you'd know."
Merlin rolled his eyes but he was smiling. "Is that so?"
"You always do." Arthur kissed him again before he could respond.
He had a feeling that he'd just woken up to a complete mess. He groaned, and this time it had nothing to do with the pain. "What the hell have I gotten myself into?"
"Destiny."
Author: Gryvon
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: Merlin, Arthur/Merlin. Reincarnation — "I'll miss you till I meet you."
Word count: 13,613
Summary: Merlin's life comes crashing to an end when Arthur dies unexpectedly, bringing their destinies to a halt. Destiny draws them together again and Merlin finds Arthur once more in the modern world, but he's not the only one who remembers the past.
A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting this. The story refused to die...
Part 1
Arthur felt different. He wasn't quite sure how he was different, he just knew he was. Somehow, during his night with Merlin – his wonderful, incredibly hot night with Merlin – he'd changed. He wasn't the same person that he had been yesterday. He felt... whole.
Morgana had been giving him strange looks all day, ever since he'd walked into the palace that morning wearing the same clothes he'd gone to the exhibit opening in. She finally cornered him shortly after lunch. Arthur grunted slightly as he was suddenly shoved into one of the private reception rooms.
"Spill," Morgana demanded.
He stared at her and squinted. There were two of her there, the vision of one overlaying the other. Both of them were still recognizably Morgana, but the other, the one not physically standing in front of him, seemed colder, more refined. It was strange seeing a fine gown overlaid on top of Morgana's jeans and t-shirt. He quickly shook his head. The double Morgana disappeared.
"Spill what?"
A sharp fingernail pressed into his chest. "You. You've been out of it since you got in this morning. Do you know how hard it was to keep Uther from issuing a city-wide search for you after you disappeared last night?" She smirked suddenly, her grin a touch too vicious for his taste. "Merlin was gone too. I don't suppose you happened to have noticed."
He coughed and felt his face heat. "I may have noticed."
Her eyes narrowed. "You didn't!"
Arthur quickly stepped around her and further into the room, away from the door and any chance of being overheard. He glared at her, suddenly angry. He was prince and she was only his father's ward. She wasn't supposed to talk to him like that. He would rule their kingdom one day.
He froze. Where had those thoughts come from? Morgana was his sister, his full, biological sister. If it weren't for the slight difference in their ages, she would be the one to inherit, not him.
"What in the world is going on with you?" Morgana asked.
"I don't rightly know." He shook his head again but the strange set of other memories still lingered at the back of his consciousness.
There was something else as well. He felt a connection to Merlin, like nothing he'd felt before. If he closed his eyes, he knew he could point, without error, exactly to where Merlin was. He could almost feel him, just at the edge of his mind, like a solid presence that refused to go away. It was both comforting and disconcerting at the same time.
"I think I'm in love," he blurted suddenly.
Morgana took the admission in stride. "With Merlin?" There was no censure in her voice but also no approval as well.
She should approve. They were friends – her and Gwen and Merlin and Lancelot. He paused again. They'd never met Lancelot. Aside from the brief encounters in the museum and the bookstore, the girls had never met Merlin either, and yet he felt like they should have, like they were all connected and destined to be connected.
"Yeah," he answered after a minute. Morgana was staring at him. She seemed concerned. "I'm in love with Merlin."
He always had been, he realized, ever since he first met Merlin, a lifetime ago. That was the key to it. Past lives, past destinies. He'd been Prince Arthur from the legends, never the king because his life had ended too early, but he'd still been the legend, the real, living, breathing legend. He remembered.
"You do realize your father is going to have a fit." Arthur stared at Morgana. He'd forgotten that she was even in the room.
"Let him. I'm not losing Merlin a second time."
She stared at him. "A second time?"
He ignored her and started towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Morgana sounded annoyed, which never boded well for him, not in either of his lifetimes.
"To find Merlin."
They needed to have a long talk.
Merlin was not having a good day. He'd woken up sore and alone, in his own bed for a change instead of the office couch, which meant he was once more late for class. He had a feeling some of the other students in Gaius's class were starting to figure out that he knew more than he was letting on. And, to top it all off, he'd answered one of Gaius's questions wrong.
Well, that wasn't entirely right. He'd answered the question how he remembered it instead of how legend dictated. Thankfully Gaius had covered for him but he still felt like a complete and utter idiot. Next he was going to start teaching it wrong and then the whole department would be in an uproar.
He thought his day couldn't get any worse and then he opened his office to find a certain blonde prat sitting behind his desk. Merlin groaned and kicked the door shut behind him.
"One of these days, someone will come see me and actually sit on the other side of the desk," he muttered to himself.
Arthur quirked an eyebrow at him and smiled cockily. His feet were up on Merlin's desk, probably getting dirt all over his papers.
"Nice office."
He glared and magically shoved Arthur's feet off the desk. He was being petty, but he felt that he deserved a bit of pettiness today.
"Thanks," he growled and slammed his books down on the desk. One of the stacks already there slid aside to make room.
Arthur stared at him, started to say something and then apparently thought better of it. "More books?" He pointed at the stack Merlin had set down. "Don't you have enough already?"
"These are from the library. Research. A concept I'm sure you're unfamiliar with."
He'd been doing far too much research lately, looking into legends surrounding Excalibur and the Lady of the Lake. Geography had changed so much from what he remembered and the maps of his time, of his old time, hadn't exactly been the most accurate. There were hundreds of lakes across Britain that could match the one he'd hidden Excalibur in. Add in the rest of Europe and the Isles, and it jumped to thousands.
He should have put up a sign. A big fucking sign that said 'Excalibur Hidden Here' so that when he wanted to find it again ages later, he could.
Arthur pouted at him, a gesture so familiar from their old days that Merlin paused. He stared at Arthur, really noticing the man for the first time since he walked in. Something was different, or, really, something was the same, the same as he remembered.
"That's no way to talk to a prince, you know," Arthur chided. "It's really quite sad that we've gotten rid of the stockade. Marvelous invention." He stood suddenly, bouncing to his feet like an overeager puppy. "Might be one hiding in that dusty old museum exhibit you're so fond of, but in this day and age, you're more likely to get molested than fruit thrown at you, and we can't really have that." Arthur shifted closer until he was inches from Merlin. He grinned widely. "After all, that's my job."
He opened and closed his mouth several times, gaping like a fish. It wasn't possible. It shouldn't be possible. Last night... he'd... Arthur hadn't said anything, so he assumed.... It wasn't possible.
"It's your job to throw fruit at me?"
"No." Arthur closed the distance between them. "To molest you." Then Arthur was kissing him and he didn't really have a response for that, at least not a vocal one. Arthur's hands dropped to Merlin's hips and then shifted down, putting action to words and thoroughly molesting Merlin's ass.
He gasped for breath as Arthur pulled away. Arthur was grinning smugly at him and there was really only one thing he could think to do in response.
He smacked Arthur, hard, on the arm. "You complete and utter prat!" Arthur's hands pulled away quickly. The smug look fell from his face.
"What? What the hell was that for?"
Books quivered on the shelves, reacting to his anger. "You prat! All last night you let me think that you had no fucking clue, about any of it, but you fucking knew!" He smacked Arthur again for emphasis. "You knew and you didn't say anything! And then you left, without a word. Prat!" Another smack, just for good measure.
"Ow!" Arthur rubbed at his arm and glared. "Stop that! I did not. I mean..." His face shifted towards that confused expression which Merlin found far too adorable. He refused to let himself get distracted from his anger, no matter how much he wanted to kiss Arthur just then. "I didn't know until today, just earlier, and then I came straight over but you were in your class so I waited and..." Arthur deflated suddenly. "I'm here now. I'm sorry I left. Uther, father, he gets uptight sometimes when I'm out overnight. Keeps worrying that I'm going to make some sort of scandal and embarrass the crown."
Merlin snorted. His anger had died a valiant death. He dropped heavily onto the couch, hissing softly in pain as it jarred his sore muscles.
"Oh, I'm sure he'd just love it if the papers knew what you'd been up to last night, fucking some bloke."
"You are not some bloke." Merlin cocked an eyebrow at the vehemence of Arthur's words. "Okay, so you're definitely a bloke, and for the record, I rather like that about you but-"
"So do I," Merlin interrupted. Arthur glared at him. He smiled cheekily back.
"But," Arthur emphasized the word, "you are not 'some' bloke. You're a very particular bloke that I'm quite fond of."
He blushed uncontrollably and looked away. That was probably the sweetest thing Arthur had ever said to him, which was slightly sad in proportion.
"You're still a prat."
Arthur grinned and turned the wooden chair in front of Merlin's desk around, sitting on it backwards. "I know. It's part of my charm."
He couldn't help himself. He laughed. He laughed until his sides hurt, looked up at Arthur's grinning face and then started laughing some more.
"Gods, what am I going to do with you?"
"I'm sure we'll think of something." The smugness crept back onto Arthur's face. "That thing with your mouth last night was quite good. You could do that again."
Merlin dropped his face into hands to hide his complete and utter mortification. "You're such a prat."
"We really need to get you some new insults. It's the twenty-first century, Merlin. Add some color into your life."
He stared. "I could call you a twat if you'd prefer."
Arthur made a face. "Let's stick with prat."
They grinned at each other for a long moment. Merlin was the first to break eye contact. He shook his head and sighed. They were going to have to talk about it sometime. He stared down at the wooden floor. He needed to sweep.
"So you remember now?"
Arthur's feet shifted but that was all of him that Merlin could see. "Yeah."
"How much?"
He dreaded the answer.
"All of it? I mean, everything up to..." Merlin flinched. "I don't know what happened after."
He swallowed painfully. "Dying has that effect on memory."
The chair tipped forward. Arthur took one of Merlin's hands in his. "How long? I remember your magic going wild, as I was... dying." He was slightly proud of Arthur for saying that with only a faint falter. Merlin had never been able to manage that. "Uther saw, so I'm assuming he had you exiled."
He shook his head but couldn't find his voice.
One of Arthur's hands tipped his face up until they were looking straight at each other. "He had you executed?" Arthur's repressed anger was clear in his voice.
He shook his head again. "No. I'm sorry."
He wasn't going to cry. He wasn't. Except that he was. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, burning a hot trail down his cheeks.
"Why are you sorry?" Arthur asked softly. He took Merlin's free hand in his own and squeezed lightly.
"Because I couldn't save you." His voice broke. He was losing it. "I was supposed to protect you, keep you safe so that you could fulfill your destiny and I failed." His sentence ended on a wail.
Arthur stood quickly and joined Merlin on the couch. His arms wrapped around Merlin. They were as strong as they used to be, before he'd died. It was strange just how much of their lives, of them, had been recreated in modern day. For a moment, he felt like he'd never died but then he stared across at the bookshelves lining the room, full of myth and legend, of history and folklore, and he remembered that this wasn't his old life. This wasn't how any of it was supposed to be and that was solely because of his failure.
He buried his face in Arthur's shirt, using the fabric to muffle his sobs. He'd ruined it, ruined the Golden Age that Arthur was supposed to usher in. Arthur was supposed to make the land safe and whole but instead he'd died because Merlin was too much of an idiot to protect him from a simple arrow.
Hands rubbed along his back, soothing. "It's not your fault, Merlin."
He tried to protest but the words came out as a wordless wail. The hands didn't stop moving.
"It's not. I promise. You didn't send the archers and soldiers to ambush us. Despite all of your magic – which, by the way, you never told me about, but I still knew anyways because that's just how awesome I am – you're only one person. You can't see the future. You can't know what's going to happen, all you can do is react. Things happen that are outside of our control but that doesn't make it your fault. I'm here now. I'm safe and I'm not going anywhere. Not for a long time."
Merlin drew back and shook his head quickly. "It's going to happen. I can feel it. You're in danger."
Arthur's thumbs brushed over Merlin's cheeks, wiping his tears away. He sniffled and slowly stopped crying.
"Then we'll do better this time. Things are different. We're different. I don't really have to worry about archers in this century." The small grin on Arthur's face took the sting out of his last words.
Merlin snorted and rolled his eyes at Arthur's poor attempt at a joke. "No, instead you have to worry about gun and bombs and chemical warfare. There's also poison and knives – those never go out of style. Oh, and car crashes or plane crashes or really crashes of any kind involving the plethora of large metal boxes society's so fond of strapping themselves into and hurtling through space at high velocity. And-"
A hand over his mouth cut him off.
Arthur stared at him. "Morbid much?"
"Only for you."
"Charming." Arthur grinned at him like he meant it, despite his sarcastic tone. He brushed his hand through Merlin's hair. "So, what do I have to worry about for you if it wasn't old age or Uther? Archers as well?"
He blushed, suddenly feeling stupid for his own reaction years ago. He'd acted on instinct, instinct heavily controlled by grief and fear and his own self-pity.
"I don't think it'll be a problem."
A tissue floated over to him and he blew his nose before sending the tissue on its way into the garbage can. Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"That was probably the stupidest use of magic I've seen yet. Also, you're deflecting. It's not going to work."
He attempted to grin but it came out muted. "Stick around, I'm sure you'll see stupider. I used magic to open a can of pop the other day."
Arthur stared at him pointedly.
Merlin sighed and looked away. "Fine." He shifted slightly on the couch, moving away from Arthur. "When..." The words stuck in his throat. He swallowed and tried again. "When you... died..." He shivered. "I... overreacted. Just a tiny bit."
The arch of Arthur's raised eyebrow suggested that he didn't believe Merlin in the slightest.
"I was grieving," he defended sharply. "Inconsolable, if you must know." A faint smirk started to form on Arthur's face and Merlin glowered. "My magic reacted quite... strongly. A lot of people died." Arthur's face fell and he corrected himself quickly. "None of ours. At least, not by me. It... it took a lot out of me. Everything, actually."
He couldn't look at Arthur. He felt ashamed of what he'd done. There could have been other ways to handle the situation. He could have lived, but he knew, deep down, that that had never really been an option. There was no Arthur without Merlin and vice versa.
"So you killed yourself because you couldn't stand to be without me?"
Arthur's tone cut through his shame. He gaped at the insufferable prat who actually had the nerve, the very nerve, to suggest such a thing. He smacked Arthur.
"You prat!"
Arthur grinned at him. "You totally did! Oh, Merlin, that's terribly romantic. Gwen and Morgana would practically swoon if they knew."
He smacked Arthur again and pushed off of the couch, suddenly needed to be very far away from Arthur.
"I don't know why I bother."
"Because you love me," Arthur said solemnly, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Arthur's boots thudded across the wooden floor. Arms wrapped around him from behind. "And, I love you." His chin settled on Merlin's shoulder and he dropped his voice to a low whisper. "It's silly that we never figured that out before. I mean, I loved you for a very long time, probably since I first met you, and I never really knew it until this lifetime."
Merlin clasped his hands over Arthur's. "Yeah. Silly."
"I'm going to tell him," Arthur said suddenly.
Merlin blinked at the non sequitur. "Tell who what?"
"My father. King Uther. I'm going to tell him that I'm madly in love with you and that I'm going to marry you – someday, eventually – and that he doesn't have a choice in the matter."
He shoved away from Arthur and turned. "Are you completely daft?"
Arthur shrugged. "Probably, but I'm still going to do it."
"What about the royal line, becoming king?"
"Bugger all that. If I'm destined to do it, I will. Otherwise, if Uther disowns me, Morgana will inherit, and I'll run off to Tahiti where I can spend all day buggering you senseless."
Merlin's mouth hung open. Obviously, somewhere in the time between the old Arthur and the new one, he'd gone a bit daffy. Then he replayed the rest of their conversation and he outright stared at Arthur, agast.
"Did you just propose to me?"
Arthur grinned in that self-righteous, cocky way that only he could. "Not really. Consider it advanced warning. When I do actually propose, it's going to be much more romantic."
He sank into his desk chair and buried his face in his hands with a loud groan. "I don't know why I put up with you."
"It's destiny."
The queen captured a rook and a bishop.
Merlin felt a shiver of foreboding run down his spine and he snapped his head up to stare at Arthur. He remembered the conversation he'd had with Gaius earlier. "Do you know Nimueh?"
Arthur's smile disappeared.
"You've been watching me."
Arthur froze. He turned very slowly and shut the door behind him. When he looked back, Nimueh hadn't moved, still seated primly on the couch in Arthur's sitting room.
"I'm sure you're mistaken." They both knew he was lying.
She smiled. It wasn't an expression that seemed used to her face. It hung there, seeming distant with a trace of bad humor. He didn't like it when this Nimueh smiled. At least in the past she'd had some sense of elegance, but she lacked that here.
"I'm not. You have been, and that's fine." She stood and brushed off her skirts. "I saw that you've found your Merlin again. How lucky for you."
Her eyes seemed to go through him, at once piercing and vague. Whatever her true focus was, it wasn't him.
"What do you want?" Instinct made him reach for his sword, but it wasn't there anymore. Nimueh's eyes followed his hand and she smiled wider.
"Merlin." The word came out as a hiss, dark and angry.
Words fell out of his mouth before he could think, before he could realize what he was saying to a former and possibly current sorceress who may or may not have gone a bit wrong in this incarnation. The Nimueh before him was nothing like the polite mask she put on for state visits and nothing like the little he'd seen of her in the past.
"I'm sorry, but he's taken."
She laughed. There was no humor in the sound. "He's not the only one." She stalked towards him. Belatedly, he realized she was focused on the door, not him, like he was of little consequence and not a threat. She was probably right. He couldn't do anything to her, not without causing a political scandal.
Arthur quickly stepped aside. She paused with her hand on the door and looked at him. Her eyes seemed so much colder up close.
"If you want your sister and the Prime Minister's daughter returned to you, you will bring Merlin to meet me at the museum at midnight. By Excalibur. Do not be late."
She was through the door before he could protest. Arthur cursed loudly and started dialing.
"Merlin? We have a problem."
Merlin pressed himself flat against the wall and clutched Arthur's hand. His heart was beating a mile a minute. "We're going to get caught."
"We don't have a choice," Arthur hissed. He moved ahead of Merlin, sliding along the wall. They paused for a moment and he heard Arthur fumbling with something along the wall. "Door."
Merlin checked around them, but the hedges and darkness hid them from view. He moved around Arthur.
"Can you open it?"
He nodded. A quick jolt of magic and the lock clicked open.
Arthur grinned at him. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you look when your eyes glow?"
Merlin felt his face heat to the point where he was certain Arthur could see his face glow. "No, you hadn't." One of Arthur's hands settled on Merlin's back. His mind went the exact opposite direction it needed to go. "But we can talk about that later. Princess to save, evil sorceress to defeat, all that."
Arthur grinned at him as he opened the door. He was far too excited about the whole situation. If Merlin was completely honest with himself, he was too. He'd kind of missed this. Their lives – their current lives – were so dull compared to what they'd almost lived through, would have maybe lived through, if it hadn't been for the ambush. He paused inside the doorway. It was dark. They were in some sort of storage area.
There was no guarantee that they would have made it to old age. If it wasn't one ambush, it would have been another ambush or a monster or a poison. Their lives had been destined to end, early, violently. His hand curled around the doorframe. He had no way of knowing what their destiny really was, or what it had been.
"Are you okay?" Arthur's hands settled on his shoulders.
He half-turned and smiled. "Yeah. Come on. Destiny awaits."
They snuck though dark rows of shelving and into the halls.
"Are you sure you know which way we're going?" Arthur asked after a moment. He seemed nervous but Merlin couldn't blame him. Likely, he was wishing for a sword in his hand.
"Yes," he hissed. "Beating people with swords and sticks is your thing, old books and museums is mine. I know where I'm going."
He'd been coming to this museum since he was a child. Even without that knowledge, he could feel the Arthurian exhibit pulling him. They were meant to be here, now. He only hoped no one had to die for destiny this time.
Nimueh was waiting for them. She smiled widely, her mouth stretched thin across her features, nearly bisecting her face. It reminded him of a really creepy doll. Gwen and Morgana sat behind her, perfectly still, staring blankly into space. The fake Excalibur shone from its place on the podium behind them.
"We're here, now let them go," Arthur demanded. He placed himself between Merlin and Nimueh.
The sorceress snapped her fingers. Morgana and Gwen gasped loudly, expressions of surprise and fear quickly replaced the blank look on their faces.
"There. It's done." She stepped forward and gestured grandly. "And now, so are you."
The suits of armor lining the edge of the room marched forward. Merlin barely managed to dodge in time as the closest stabbed a spear through the space he'd just been occupying. The statues shifted to fill the doorways, bristling like a metal porcupine.
Merlin stared at the blockade. "You do know that I can just move those right? That's not going to stop us from leaving."
Gwen and Morgana were staring at them.
Nimueh's smile never faltered. "It's not meant to stop you."
A loud roar echoed through the chamber. Merlin shivered, his blood suddenly running cold. The girls screamed. Arthur turned, took one look at the giant lizard crawling down the wall and ran towards the girls. Merlin just stared.
"It," Nimueh said with a smug look, "like that," she gestured towards the lizard, "are distractions."
She pointed. Merlin felt her intent seconds before a bolt of energy slammed into his chest. He barely reacted fast enough to keep it from ripping a hole through him, but he hadn't been able to stop enough of it. He flew backwards, slamming hard into the stone wall.
Nimueh's laughter carried over the creature's growls. Merlin fell limply to the floor. Arthur tugged on the fake Excalibur but it was stuck. Gwen and Morgana ran towards one of the blockades and started untangling the suits of armor. Bits of metal clattered to the floor, giving Merlin an idea. Nimueh raised her hands, a maniacal look of pleasure on her face.
Merlin breathed deeply and pulled. He reached out with his magic and grabbed anything that might possibly be of use to him. The armor collapsed into fragments, each piece lifting in the air to float around the room. A breastplate took the force of the second bolt meant for him, giving him time to stumble to his feet. A pair of helmets took the third and fourth, shattering into dust under the force of her rage. He sent a spear after Nimueh but she shattered that as well, batting it aside with barely a glance. The rest of the spears he sent after the creature. They bounced harmlessly off of its hide but it kept the thing busy, batting at the weapons instead of advancing after his friends.
It bought him time, but really that was all it did. That was all he needed. Just a bit more time. He wished he could have had longer. He had a feeling that his current destiny was coming to another quick end.
"Run! Get out of here."
No one listened to him. Arthur had given up on the display sword and was looking around for something else. The girls were grabbing spears and settling into fighting stances. They weren't approaching the beast, but they were ready for when it approached them. Spears were no use. They needed something more.
Desperate, Merlin turned his concentration inwards and flung his magic out, reaching for anything that could help him. He felt the web of connection, the thin mystical threads that bound him and Arthur and Morgana and Gwen together flare into life. The spears they were holding glowed blue as his magic settled around them. At least they had some defense now.
Merlin screamed as Nimueh sent a raw torrent of energy flying at him. The thin wall of metal protecting him shattered. He lost his concentration as the force of the energy slammed against him, not damaging but disorienting enough that his magic faltered for a second. That was all the time Nimueh needed. The shards of metal froze midair and turned.
His eyes widened in horror. "Oh, shit."
He jumped to the side but he wasn't fast enough to avoid all of the shards. He screamed again as shards of metal ripped through his clothing, sinking into his flesh.
"Merlin!" Arthur's voice sounded distant, too far away.
Then the doors to the museum banged open, echoing loudly throughout the museum. There was a faint whizzing sound, barely audible over the clank of metal and the creature's hungry howls. The spears attacking it had all shattered, leaving it free to stalk towards the girls. Arthur turned as a flash of silver streaked into the hall, heading straight towards him. Nimueh's eyes widened.
"Impossible."
Apparently, Merlin's magic had managed to find something useful. Excalibur halted in midair inches from Arthur, gleaming as if it had been freshly forged instead of spending years upon years at the bottom of a lake. Arthur reached out reverently and grasped the hilt. Destiny shifted, responding to Arthur's reunion with the legendary sword.
The king advanced across the chess board.
Merlin gasped for air. He hurt. His head pounded from being bounced off walls, weakening his concentration. He had to keep fighting.
Nimueh turned to advance on Arthur. Merlin lashed out blindly, sending a solid wall of air at her. She blocked and started to turn back towards him. Arthur shouted and rushed forward. Merlin gathered all the energy he had left but it wasn't enough. He'd never learned much about fighting versus other wizards. All he knew how to do was help others take out the evil monsters. Closing his eyes, he remembered how he'd felt the day Arthur had died. Grief swelled through him, but it was muted now, faded under the realization that it wasn't his fault, that Arthur had been meant to die, meant to be born here, meant to live again. Another emotion surged over the grief, giving him strength.
He screamed and the walls of the museum trembled from the force of his rage. His magics slammed against Nimueh's shields, not enough to get past them yet. He didn't need to. Arthur stepped up behind her. Excalibur's blade blossomed through her chest and she looked down upon it in surprise. She fell, sliding off the blade to land on the stones. Part of the rug covering the center of the room had been kicked away in the fight, revealing a strange red marking on the floor. A drop of blood from Arthur's sword fell on it as he lowered the weapon.
Bright red light filled the room for a long moment, pouring out of ancient symbols hidden on the wall and floor. They flashed blindingly bright and then faded as quickly as they'd appeared. When they disappeared, so did Nimueh.
Checkmate.
Merlin's head hit the floor. He was going to pass out very soon but he had the feeling that there was something that he was forgetting.
"Arthur!" Gwen's terrified scream revived him.
The creature was still here. Morgana and Gwen were holding it off feebly with their spears, but that was all they were doing. It was backing them into a corner. They didn't have much time left. Merlin reached for his magic but there was nothing left. This body was still new to it. He didn't have the reserves he was used to, though they'd build in time. He didn't have time. Arthur ran towards them but he wasn't close enough. Merlin was closer but he couldn't get his body to move.
Someone ran past him into the room, picking up a spear as they went. Merlin would have recognized the tousled black hair and thick frame anywhere. Lancelot stabbed his spear into the creature's tail. It roared and turned towards him, but he wasn't alone. Arthur's sword caught the creature along the side, cutting in deep.
There were more people coming. Their voices filled the hallway. A pair of nearly identical looking brunettes slid in front of the girls, guarding them. A redheaded woman in men's clothing and an older man in a business suit flanked Arthur and Lancelot, spears in hand. A dark-skinned man and a young boy in a jersey slid around to the creature's other side. Two sets of hands lifted Merlin and carried him out of the room, away from the fight.
Merlin whimpered in pain as he was propped against one of the museum walls.
"It's alright. I'm an EMT."
Merlin turned his head up to face the thin blonde. The other man that had helped carry him was already heading back into the hall. Merlin caught a glimpse of elaborate tattoos and then the creature started screaming.
A name came to mind. He instinctively attached it to the blonde. "Percival?"
The blonde stared at him. "How did you know?" He started to peel back Merlin's jeans and then gave that up. There was a white case by his side. He pulled out scissors and started cutting the fabric away to get at the scrap metal.
"Merlin," he said by way of explanation. "Connected." It was probably a bad sign that his words were slurring so much.
"Ah. We never met before. I have a feeling you're the one to thank for all the past life stuff?"
He started to nod but his body had other ideas. The creature howled one last time and then fell silent. Merlin passed out.
When he woke again, he was in a hospital room. It was not the same hospital room as last time – or at least he didn't think so – but it shared the same sort of vague similarities that all hospital rooms shared. He groaned and thought about trying to sit up. His body ached, vetoing that idea. It was far too bright in the room and he wasn't alone.
"Morning, sunshine."
Merlin turned his head and glared. Arthur grinned cheekily back at him. He leaned forward in his chair and kissed Merlin on the forehead.
"Welcome back to the world of the living."
He groaned. "I want a refund." A return to consciousness apparently meant a return to pain.
"Sorry, none currently being offered." Arthur's hand wrapped around Merlin's. "How are you feeling?"
He arched an eyebrow. "Like I was in a magical duel with a sorceress trying to kill me as revenge for already killing her and had a bunch of shrapnel stuck in me. Shouldn't I be on, like, a morphine drip or something? That's how it always happens in the movies."
Arthur chuckled and squeezed his hand. "You're actually not that bad off. A bunch of bruising, some minor cuts. Percival was adamant that you'd been hurt worse than that, but they didn't find any sign of it by the time we got you to the hospital."
He shifted slightly. His body still didn't want to move but he felt better than he should, considering. Tentatively, he reached for his magic. It responded sluggishly, but still responded. He traced the magic through his body, feeling certain areas where his magic pooled, other areas it ignored.
"Oh." He turned back to Arthur. "I didn't realize I could do that."
Arthur grinned. "Magic?"
He nodded.
"Percival will be glad to know he's not going insane. Well, no more than the rest of the Knights. And myself, and Morgana and Gwen and Gaius and Uther."
Merlin stared at him questioningly.
Arthur's grin widened. "We all remember. It's great." His expression fell slightly. "Well, not so much for father. I think he regrets what happened a little bit, the things he'd done while ruling Camelot."
Something else Arthur had said caught his attention, dragging his thoughts away from Uther. "Knights?"
"Of the Round Table." Arthur practically bounced as he said it. "Well, we still have to get a round table, but that's the general idea. It's still sort of new to all of us, but... destiny, all that. I figured you'd know."
Merlin rolled his eyes but he was smiling. "Is that so?"
"You always do." Arthur kissed him again before he could respond.
He had a feeling that he'd just woken up to a complete mess. He groaned, and this time it had nothing to do with the pain. "What the hell have I gotten myself into?"
"Destiny."
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Date: 2009-12-02 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 12:11 am (UTC)