Hey, so I have decided to make a Merthur fanfic. I debated this for a while, considering that I have so little time to write and so many other projects that I'm working on, but they are my current obsession and I am having a really hard time finding good Merthur fics (any suggestions would be appreciated). So, I decided, why the hell not?
*Spoilers: Everything coincides with the show's storyline, except that Arthur and Gwen have not married.
Type: Slash, M/M, Merlin/Arthur, slow building
Rating: Starts off T, but will eventually be M
~/~/~/~/~/~/~
Merlin hustled down the corridor towards the throne room. He was late and if he wanted to avoid Arthur's griping later, he'd have to make sure he wasn't too late… and had an appropriate excuse in tow.
'Oh, in fact it was because I was reorganizing your clothes, sire.'
Or more to the point: 'Don't worry. Whatever I was doing that made me late was undoubtedly for you so can we skip the insults and move ahead to the thank you?'
He'd figure it out later, probably on the spot. He was talented at spontaneous answers like that.
He came upon the large doors that separated him from the round table and all its occupants. His palms hit heavily, pushing the doors open without much subtlety. Still in haste, he did not stop walking in an effort to shake some of the attention he had gathered at his entrance. He looked to Arthur first, who was watching him. His eyes swept everyone else, giving a quick, no teeth smile. And his eyes went back to Arthur, who still held him in his gaze.
'Sorry,' he mouthed.
With that, Arthur's eyes flicked back to his knights and his voice rose again, continuing his dialogue.
Merlin listened, coming to his place. Just behind Arthur, standing.
"Now, this should not be of concern to us yet. We've never exactly been on friendly terms with the Druids, but they pose no immediate threat to us. Their camp is situated just inside of Camelot's territory. A small troop of people. As long as they remain amiable, then so shall we."
"So we take no action?" Leon asked.
"Correct," Arthur confirmed. "We shall remain aware of their whereabouts and hopefully nothing will come of it."
Quite a different tact than his father, Merlin thought fondly. Arthur stayed back and trusted. Uther initiated and fought. Arthur thrived, Uther destroyed.
Merlin was the first to sense it. Much like dogs and how they can instinctively feel earthquakes before a human feels the first rumble.
But it was a mere moment sooner and all Merlin had time to accomplish was to look towards Arthur.
And then it hit.
The weight of immense magic filled the room like liquid; ripping the air from everyone's lungs and making it feel as if they were submersed deep under the ocean's leagues of water. Merlin's knees buckled and he hit the ground unsympathetically. He saw Arthur collapse too, and fear jolted his body into action. He crawled rigidly across the floor, fighting against the screaming silence that threatened to blow his eardrums. His vision blanked into nothing but white and he let out a yell.
"Arthur!"
He threw an arm out blindly and met nothing. Blurry figures and objects stretched across his vision and he blinked hard to try and clear the image.
He fought to force thick air into his lungs, but it felt like trying to breathe in sludge.
"Arthur," he chocked out this time, throwing his arms out again.
And then, suddenly, a hand was gripping onto his jacket. The hand grasped all the layers of his clothes and pulled hard.
Arthur's face, fuzzy and distorted, came into Merlin's view.
"Merlin," Arthur said through clenched teeth. "Get out… now."
"Not…" Merlin began but collapsed into himself. Speaking was much more difficult than he thought it'd be. "Without… You." He still managed the words.
And again the brightest light formed and Merlin looked directly into the blinding nothingness. For a second he thought it resembled a doorway before it enveloped both he and Arthur.
Everything was pure white. There was no sound. They couldn't even hear their own screams… Their own thoughts. And just when the pressure surrounding them seemed fatal, everything just released.
And it felt like falling.
~/~/~/~/~/~/~
Merlin woke in a panic, jerking his whole body roughly. The first thing he felt was a weight against his chest, but air was coming easily into his lungs and he just took in a couple deep inhales, appreciated the ease of it all like he never had before. He looked around and looked down at the weight.
It was Arthur's hand, still gripping firmly onto Merlin's jacket. The fingers were white with tautness and Merlin's hands went to relieve them of their duty. He coaxed the fingers to relax.
"Arthur," he said, glancing at his still friend. "Arthur," he said a little sterner. His hands abandoned their task and went to Arthur's face. He cupped his cheeks and felt his forehead. He felt neither cold nor hot. He looked as if he were sleeping. "Come on," Merlin mumbled, shaking Arthur a bit. "Wake up."
A soft, barely audible moan came from Arthur and he began to show signs of stirring. "Arthur," Merlin said relieved.
"Yes!" Arthur jumped awake, yanking Merlin forward; for he had yet to forego his death grip on Merlin's jacket. He looked around wildly for a moment, breathing erratically before he realized that the air was back to normal. His eyes found Merlin and the panic fled them. His breathing settled almost immediately.
"Merlin," Arthur began, his voice slightly uneven. "What happened?"
"Powerful magic is what happened," Merlin answered. He brought a hand up to his chest and began to peel Arthur's fingers, one by one, off of himself. "Past that, I have no idea."
Arthur released his grip, bringing his hand back into himself quickly. It fell awkwardly to his lap. "Where are we? Where are the others?"
Merlin hadn't gotten that far yet.
Arthur was alive. Check.
Now he could worry about the humongous mound of trouble they were undeniably already too deeply involved in.
He gave his surroundings a thorough look over.
They were outside in what appeared to be a long abandoned building of some sort. It originally had thick, strong stone walls, but only crumbled, decrepit sections remained of the structure. Thick, healthy vines twined themselves everywhere. They climbed and covered everything in sight. Earth overcoming what was manmade.
"Do you think we're in Camelot still?" Arthur asked.
Can't be that easy, Merlin thought. "I doubt it."
The king's shoulders sank minutely, as if he knew what Merlin was thinking. "What is this place?"
"An old castle, perhaps?" Merlin guessed. He tested putting weight on his feet and after a few successful attempts, stood fully upright. "But it's been abandoned for quite some time."
"Not just abandoned," Arthur said, getting to his feet without caution. He faltered but quickly recovered.
Merlin gave him a chastising look.
Arthur ignored it. "It's been forgotten," he finished. "No one has been here in quite some time. I fear how long. Let's go."
Merlin looked mildly surprised. "Let's go where?"
"I don't know, Merlin," Arthur said. "But we can't just stand here like two dollop heads."
Merlin watched his king walk towards what looked to be the remnants of a doorway. "Now we're both dollop heads?"
"No, just the ones who aren't walking," Arthur said, passing through the door and disappearing from Merlin's sight.
Merlin stood for a moment longer, debating a retort when Arthur's head reappeared.
"Come on, Merlin," he said much firmer now.
Merlin caved, walking in the same footstep prints that Arthur was leaving in his wake. The vines were at least a foot deep and felt spongy under Merlin's boots. They weren't killing the plants, but he was pretty certain they didn't appreciate being stepped on.
The room they entered looked identical to the one they had woken up in. Without delay, they moved on and entered the adjacent room. It looked very similar as well.
"Well, I'm starting to see a pattern," Merlin said.
Arthur did not appreciate the humor. "We need to find a way out of here. My men might be in here too. If so, we must find them."
"Arthur?" Merlin asked, recalling some details from earlier. "Did you see… a doorway? You know, before we woke up here."
The king searched Merlin's eyes for a moment before nodding slowly. "I did."
"It was only there for a short time," Merlin said. "If the others did pass through it too, then it could have only been a handful of them. And if they did, why didn't they wake up here with us?"
"I don't know," Arthur admitted. "If it's magic that brought us here, which it seems it was, then nothing is certain. All I can do is act on what I believe to be right. And if my men are here too, then we need to find them and regroup. Magic just doesn't happen spontaneously. We've been attacked. By someone. A sorcerer."
"Morgana?"
"No way of telling, but probably," Arthur said dryly.
Merlin watched the instant disdain Arthur showed for magic. He felt anger grip at his chest, but his eyes revealed nothing but sorrow. His anger was not towards Arthur, it was reserved for Morgana and all the others who abused magic. But the sorrow was for Arthur: the man who knew nothing but the evils of sorcery.
But what Arthur didn't know was that he was exposed to the good side of magic much more than the evil. He just hadn't realized it yet.
Yet.
"We're moving, Merlin," Arthur's voice came into his thoughts and his eyes refocused on the back of his king as he moved away.
They moved through a dozen more rooms before Arthur stopped and let out a short, but frustrated outburst. "All of these rooms are exactly the same," he said, kicking some of the shrubbery.
Merlin put his index finger up. "Idea," he said and leapt up onto one of the diminishing stone walls. He climbed higher until he reached the highest wall. He peered over the top.
He turned around, silent.
"Merlin?" Arthur asked. "What is it?"
"You might want to take a look for yourself," Merlin said.
Arthur's jaw line tensed. "Just tell me."
"Uh… these rooms… they uh…" Merlin tried to find the words. Actually he knew the words; he just didn't want to say them. "They… go on… forever." He made a hand gesture that was supposed to represent 'forever.'
"As in…" Arthur said.
"Forever," Merlin repeated. "As in infinitely. As in never, ever, ever ending."
"I get it," Arthur said.
Merlin let his back slid down the stone until he was in a sitting position, still on the wall. "What now?"
"Obviously this is a trap of some sort," Arthur said. "And there's only one thing to do once you are trapped. Figure a way to get out."
~/~/~/~/~/~/~
"So," Merlin said, breaking the silence. "You've been awfully quiet for the past few hours."
Night had descended on them and they had set up a fire. They sat opposite each other, peering through the dancing flames.
Merlin had situated himself within a nook that was amply filled with undergrowth. It served as a better bed than many of the nights out in the woods of Camelot. If only the night air wasn't so crisp and cool. His thin jacket just wasn't keeping in the warmth of the fire. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest, still staring at Arthur.
"We'll get through this, you know?" Merlin said. "We might be trapped inside a magical, never-ending labyrinth of rooms, but we'll figure our way out of it. Like we always do."
Arthur's gaze was steadily on Merlin as he spoke. "And you're so sure?"
"Yes," Merlin said immediately.
"Well, good," Arthur said, letting a small smile appear. "Because I don't know how long I could last, trapped, with just you for company."
"And you think it'll be fun for me?" Merlin asked, affronted. "Listening to you complain all day and all night. Ordering me around for the rest of eternity. Or, I guess, until starvation kicks in. And we both know I'd be the first to go, you know, because I have less fat." He patted his stomach.
Arthur gave a short, fake laugh. "Which is also why you'll freeze tonight." He shifted deeper into the foliage, looking smug and comfortable under his chain mail and cape.
Merlin's face fell, remembering how cold he was.
"You could make a kudzu blanket," Arthur suggested.
Or I could just use my magic, Merlin thought, but kept his mouth shut.
Silence settled again. Just the cracking from the fire interrupted the otherwise silent surroundings.
"I'm actually glad it's you here," Arthur said, his eyes coming up for just a moment before shifting down again.
I know was Merlin's first thought.
Merlin's eyes were studying his hands, and they moved up but couldn't quite reach Arthur's face. Instead he stared into the fire as he answered. "Me too."
