So I haven't been able to get this idea out of my head. I decided to turn it into a multi chapter fanfic - although I'm not sure how the storyline is going to go... I'll let you know when I have one. For now, it's just a lot of jumbled ideas in my head :/
Disclaimer: I will say this once, and only once. Anyone who thinks I own Merlin is bloody insane.
Oh, and this story will be written in Arthur's perspective. Unless I decide not to for a bit. We'll see.
"Arthur!" I heard Merlin scream. But I couldn't answer anymore. I felt like I was floating in the air. I could hear him, but there was a force pulling me, pulling me away from this world, pulling me away from everything and everyone I knew and loved...
Pulling me into the world of the dead.
I no longer had the will to resist. I just... went.
Death was peaceful. Death was easy. Death was limitless.
Death was lonely.
Who was I again? Oh that's right, I was Arthur. But I couldn't remember anything else.
I was suddenly surrounded by nothingness. It was just white. There were a few people here and there, but no one I recognised.
I walked - or was it floating? - around, looking for some sort of sign of something.
And that was when I came to a river.
There was a girl swimming in the river. She had flowing black hair. She looked kind.
When I approached her, she smiled.
"Hello, Arthur," she greeted me.
Her voice was faintly familiar, but I couldn't put a name to it.
Her smile faded a little. "You probably don't remember me. I'm Freya. Several years ago, when I was alive, I had been cursed to turn into a blood thirsty beast at night. I was caught by a bounty hunter, and brought to Camelot."
"I remember now. Sort of. How exactly did you escape from the cage? Did you use magic?" I asked, confused. The hunter had always been sure she'd been assisted, but I never was certain.
She hesitated and answered, "Merlin helped me."
Merlin.
Floods of memories came back to me. Merlin, my servant. I was a King, of Camelot, but when I met Merlin, I wasn't. I was still a... a... I couldn't remember the right word. But Merlin, he'd been with me for years. He was my best friend, and the person I trusted most.
Then another memory came back.
He had magic.
He'd lied to me. All of those times he'd been accused of being a sorcerer, and I'd defended him saying that was ridiculous, when it really wasn't.
Because they'd been right.
How could I have been so blind?
But I still trusted him. Because I'd seen Merlin cry before I came here. He was determined not to lose me. He truly mourned my death.
He may have lied about many things, but he was still my friend. That wasn't a lie.
Freya was still staring at me, but she had a sadder, more vacant expression on her face now.
"You loved him," I realised.
"I still do. Love is one of those things that doesn't die in death."
I looked around me again. "Is this it? Is this all that death is?"
She shook her head. "No. These people have been deemed unworthy to fully cross over for a few reasons. The most reoccuring one being that they did something treacherous in their life. Something bad, really, really bad. Or, they simply can't remember who they are."
"But I remember who I am. I am Arthur Pendragon. I was the King of Camelot."
"There are many other keys to who you are, Arthur. It's not just what you did, but who made you whole. Who were your parents? Who was your best friend? Who did you love most in the entire world? Who was your enemy? What did you stand for when you stood in battle?"
I delve deep into my mind, desperate to find the answers. I already knew who my best friend was - Merlin. The memory of Merlin brought many other memories with it. I tried to follow the most recent ones.
Before I died, Merlin killed someone with my sword... someone who hated me. Someone who was once very close, but now was my enemy...
Morgana.
"I remember who my enemy was!" I said in triumph.
Freya smiled again. "Very good."
"Is she here?" I said, whipping my head around.
"Morgana was able to cross the river. She'd done many good things before she was consumed by bitterness. And in her heart, she'd believed she was doing the right thing for her kind once she was. She was also able to retain her memories - I could not stop her from finding the bridge."
Bridge... I suddenly remembered a little guy standing at a bridge, alerting me I was Courage... Grettir. Obviously, now that I was aware of it, Merlin would've been Magic. Which means that Strength was...
"Gwaine! I remember him!" I exclaimed. All these other memories began unravelling. "And I remember Percival, Leon, Lancelot, Elyan, Mordred..."
I trailed off as a stab of pain caught me.
"Mordred," I panted. "He... he killed me. But why? We were friends."
"When you executed his love, Morgana manipulated his grief into hatred. There wasn't anything you could do," Freya explained calmly.
Suddenly, there was a flash. A bridge materialized next to Freya.
"Congratulations. You've unlocked enough of your memory to pass over the bridge. You'll find Gwaine, Lancelot, Elyan, and all your other friends and family when you cross over," she congratulated me.
Happiness overwhelmed me for a second. I went straight to the bridge, but then I stopped.
"What about you, Freya?" I asked.
Her face darkened. "I'm trapped in between. I murdered so many people... but I hadn't meant to, and I couldn't control myself. But don't feel bad for me. I actually like it here. I can make brief appearances to Merlin through the Lake of Avalon where he let me go."
"Can I come and see you?"
"The river is not visible once you cross over. This is goodbye, Arthur."
I gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry for killing you."
"I don't mind. You released me from my curse. I couldn't bare having to keep murdering people," she said softly. "Goodbye, Arthur."
When I got to the other side, I looked back. The bridge was gone, and so was the river, and Freya.
On the other hand, I could remember everything now. I remembered that I loved Guinevere. That my parents were Uther and Ygraine Pendragon.
I remembered that they were both dead. And now so was I.
This place was different to where I first entered. This place was almost like it was back in the land of the living. There were cottages everywhere, with a few plants and caves and everything. The only difference was there was no sky. It was just white.
"Arthur!" A very familiar flop of brown hair came jogging towards me.
"Gwaine!" I said, clapping his arm in that sort of weird handshake thing I did with the knights.
"It's good to see you," he greeted.
"Likewise." And that it hit me. "Wait. What are you doing here. You were alive last time I saw you."
He grimaced. "I went on a suicide mission with Percival. We were going to try and kill Morgana. Well, she killed me instead, after she tortured me into telling her where you and Merlin were headed. Then she left in a big hurry, and left Percival alive."
"So that's how she found us," I mused.
"Oh well. What's done is done, ain't that right?" Gwaine said cheerfully. "Besides. She ended up over here anyway. Did you uh... have anything to do with that?"
"No, that was Merlin believe it or not."
"Seriously? Come on, Arthur. How'd she really get here?"
"It was Merlin. Look, Gwaine, there's something you probably need to-"
"Arthur!" I heard another cry. I looked over Gwaine's shoulder and saw Lancelot coming over. I grit my teeth. I still hadn't exactly forgiven him for trying to steal Guinevere on the night before our wedding.
"Look, Arthur, I want to tell you that about what happened... with Gwen and everything..."
"It's fine, Lancelot," I cut him off. I didn't want to bring back painful memories.
"No, it's not. And it wasn't me. I was summoned from the dead by Morgana. She had control over me. I couldn't do anything to stop her. My will was hers. She wanted to destroy your marriage because she couldn't bare to have Gwen on the throne beside you," he explained, a hopeful gleam in his eyes that I'd believe him.
I thought about it. It was true that Morgana would probably stoop that low to keep Guinevere off 'her' throne.
"Look, mate, for what it's worth, I believe Lancelot," Gwaine admitted. "We both know he wouldn't do something like that to you."
I wanted to believe him. I did. But there was something about it that still bothered me. Maybe it was because Gwen had still betrayed me. And that was her own will.
"I'll leave you to it," Lancelot sighed, obviously seeing the conflict in my eyes.
Gwaine coughed awkwardly.
"Well, I guess I should show you around then!" He announced.
I gave him a puzzled look.
"It's the land of the dead. There wouldn't be much to see. Would there?"
"Ah, it's a bit more complicated then that. Come on!" He grabbed my arm, not taking no for an answer.
We walked, and he explained everything on the way.
"This particular part of the world is for previous residents of Camelot. But because of all the hate and stuff going around, because of Morgana... well everyone's claimed territories.
"Over there," He pointed to the left, where a small cottage stood. "Is where your Father and Mother are. They're separate to everyone else, because Morgana is... well, you know Morgana."
"Yeah," I reluctantly agreed.
We came to another cottage, but this one had a bright red roof, and a yellow dragon on the door.
"This is where all the former Camelot knights live. Except Mordred. But I live here, and your welcome to live with us for a while."
"Where's everyone else? The dead druids, Morgana, Mordred..."
"They all live in this large section of land up here," he pointed to a fenced off area. There were a few caves on there, as well as a big forest.
"This is where all the sorcerers reside. Opposite end of our little piece of the world. They want to be as far away from Uther as possible. Although, I will admit he's calmed a little bit since he's reunited with Ygraine. But then, all these people here are still angry. So it's a little uncomfortable if they have to live next door to each other and all..."
"Arthur!" Someone else called out to me. Well wasn't I popular?
But this voice stirred a familiar pain in my gut, again. It was Mordred.
When I finally saw him, he seemed a lot happier then the last time I saw him. And he was holding a girls hand.
Oh, yeah. Kara. She didn't look particularly happy to see me. I hadn't expected Mordred to either. But he was wearing his goofy grin, and I hoped things could go back to the way they were.
"Mordred," I smiled. "You look... well."
He scoffed. "I'm dead. Of course I look well."
Kara's mouth was pulled into a tight line. She was still against me, obviously.
"Look, Kara..." I tried to apologise.
"Arthur. Just leave it, alright?" Mordred said firmly, a little agitated now.
"No," Kara objected. "It's good to see that you got what you deserved, Arthur. I knew you had it in you, Mordred. It's a pity that you suffered."
"But I did not, for I got to see you again," Mordred smiled, trying to break the tension.
I suppose I could trust Kara to bring out the badder side of Mordred.
"Seriously, Arthur, theres no hard feelings. I killed you, and you killed me. And you killed Kara. But we're all dead, so who cares?"
"What about Morgana?" Kara interjected.
"Right," Gwaine interrupted. "Arthur we should go before this gets ugly."
Mordred gave me a passing grimace before heading back towards one of the caves.
"So..." Gwaine tried to change to subject.
"Is there anywhere else you haven't showed me yet?" I asked.
"I don't think so..."
"Gwaine!" Elyan came from behind us. "You didn't show him the portals?"
"Portals? What portals?" I asked.
"Oh... those... well..."
"Oh never mind. I'll show him," Elyan huffed, grabbing my sleeve.
"You do remember I was your King," I said after a while, taking back my arm.
"Mm-hm, I also remember you being my brother-in-law, which means I can treat you as I see fit," Elyan grinned mischievously. "Ah! Here we are!"
We had arrived at a blank area, with just two pools of water there.
"It's water," I said, doubt creeping into my voice.
"They're not just water, Arthur. God, this is the world of the dead. We do not need water, or food, or sleep. So why would there be water here?" Elyan pointed out, exasperated.
"Something magical?" I guessed.
"This one," he pointed to the left one, "Let's you see whats going on in the world of the living. You can check up on Gwen every once and a while. I always do.
"And that one," Pointing to the one on the right, "Let's you look back on past memories, from a third persons view. So you'd see yourself as others do, rather than experiencing it yourself."
I nodded my head. "Interesting."
"Any questions?" he asked.
I didn't think so... but then there was one that was nagging me a bit.
"Well, since you've been dead longer than Gwaine, maybe you'd know the answer to this. Why do I get a pain in my gut everytime I see Mordred?"
"Oh. That's because he killed you. And you'd notice that the pain occurs right where he stabbed you. In this case, he'd have the same problem when he sees you. So you'd have a pretty good excuse to avoid each other if you ask me."
"What about you?" I wondered.
"Oh, Morgana's the trigger for me. But everyone tends to avoid her like the black plague anyway. Except Mordred. And Uther. But Morgana's the one refusing contact there."
I nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe I could try and pay her a visit one day."
Elyan snorted. "Good luck with that." He looked between me and water. "I'll leave you for a moment."
He patted my shoulder, and left.
I was torn between which pool to look in first. I really wanted to check up on Gwen. I wanted to make sure she was okay.
But there was something bugging me. I went to the memory pool first.
When I got to the foot of the pool, I realized I had no idea how to work it. I looked behind me. Elyan was gone, I couldn't ask him.
I settled for trying to visualize the memory I wanted to see. I visualized when I first met Merlin.
Opening my eyes, I saw the water ripple, and the image changed. It became one of Camelot, where a very gangly boy was challenging a blonde, arrogant looking man.
No wonder Merlin always called me an arrogant prat back then. I most certainly looked the part.
I skipped forward to when we had our mace fight in the lower town.
Watching this from a different point of view was weird. I kept my eyes on Merlin. I was waiting for something.
And sure enough, Merlin's eyes flashed gold just as my mace got caught in the rings. And I stubbed my toe on the stool. And I tripped over the rope.
I shook my head, chuckling a little. That wasn't quite how I remembered it happening.
I realized that there were probably several different occasions where Merlin had used magic. I was tempted to go back to every situation where I thought we'd been 'lucky'.
But suddenly, I felt a pull. It came from inside my body, right near my heart. And I couldn't resist it.
I followed the pull so there'd be less pain, I tried to stay ahead of it. I passed Lancelot as I did.
"Arthur?" He said, confused.
"Lancelot! I don't know what's happening!" I exclaimed.
Gwaine appeared by his side.
"Now that, that looks to me like your being summoned," he mused.
"What?"
"Summoned. To the Stones of Nemmeton. Somebody is using the Horn of Cathbad to bring you to the veil."
Andddddddd that's where I'll leave it for this chapter.
I'm quite busy these days (school work, bleh) so it may be a while before I write another one, but I will try.
Please review! I hope I kept it realistic enough :)