I recently rewatched Merlin, with my mom. I managed to get her hooked on it. But now that means that I'm obsessing over it again. So I have a new fanfiction. I know that I haven't finished my other Merlin fanfic, and I'm sorry about that. I do plan to finish that one at some point. I just hit a huge writer's block, and I can't seem to get past it. And I haven't been able to get past it for a while. This was an idea that I've had for a while. It's a rebirth story. It follows everything in the show, but we're going to pretend that, in this story, that the show was never created. I'm having a hard enough time working around all the Arthurian legends (what I know of them, anyway). So it follows the show, but the characters don't know about the show. To them, it doesn't exist, if that makes any sense. And don't worry, the future chapters should be longer.
Summary: Merlin has waited, and waited, and waited…And still, there has been no sign of Arthur. He's on the verge of giving up again. To keep himself from giving in to his own despair, he decides to get another college degree to distract himself. And so, shedding the aging spell he uses on occasion, he enrolls in yet another university, where he finds something he didn't expect to find.
Merlin was restless.
It happened every few decades, and it was perfectly reasonable for someone who had waited without any sign for centuries for someone else to return. He'd been alive since the fifth century, waiting for Arthur. It was now the twenty-first century, and nothing had happened.
Maybe Arthur wasn't coming back. Maybe Kilgharrah had been wrong about that.
It wasn't the first time that Merlin had thought this. The doubt had crept up on him many times over the years. It was what caused him to get restless. And when he got restless, he would travel.
Away from the lake.
Away from the endless hope.
Away from Arthur.
He'd traveled the entire globe. A few times, in fact. But he always came back to the lake, eventually. The longest he'd stayed away was eighty-seven years. He never worried about the isle at the center being disturbed. The ancient magic there kept most people unconsciously away from it, and Merlin had his own spells surrounding the isle. If Arthur did return, Merlin assumed it would be on that isle, the same place he'd died.
He always came back, and he always would, because he would always believe in Arthur and his destiny, because he'd be lost in despair if he didn't believe it. But sometimes, he just needed to get away from the memories. Sometimes, he just needed a break from the waiting.
America was his choice this time. He hadn't been there since just after it had become its own country. He thought it was about time to visit again.
He'd heard of a university that intrigued him. He was actually surprised he hadn't heard of it before. It had been running for nearly sixty years, and the name alone should have caught his attention long before now.
Camelot University.
The founders had certainly been fans of the legends of King Arthur of Camelot-none of which had the full truth, to Merlin's utter annoyance-to have created an entire college inspired by it. There were several accounts of King Arthur and the Round Table and Merlin and Camelot. There wasn't a single one that had all of the correct facts. None of the legends, for example, portrayed Merlin as a youth. He was always the wise old wizard. When in reality, he had been two years younger than Arthur.
Perhaps going to a school inspired by the very thing he was trying to escape wasn't the best way to keep the despair at bay, but he was extremely curious.
Besides, he'd always enjoyed school. He had several degrees and certificates in several different areas. Some practical, and some just for fun. Health care, education, law, advertising, journalism, art history, to name a few. It didn't take much time or effort for him to magically forge the documents he needed to get into any college he wanted.
Camelot University it was, then.