A/N:This is my submission for the After Camlann Big Bang Challenge 2017! And its the reason Compromising Position hasn't been updated in quite some time (I am so so sorry)
Well as usual, I'm late. I don't know why I expected not to be. First off, thank you to the mods for another great ACBB! Even though I stress and lament and get frustrated, I still love doing this challenge. I wouldn't get any stories written full out if I didn't (clearly as I still have ones I need to update...). And thank you to chocobo_lu for your lovely art. We have both been insanely busy for the past few months and are still struggling to get things done so those lovely pieces will be posted later. You are so talented and it was a pleasure to work with you. Last but not least, thank you to p3rfectlyn0rmalx for beta-ing and all your support and cheering and listening to me complain.
Of course, I own none of these characters, but please, enjoy this anyway :)
Los Angeles, California, USA
The rumors were not exaggerations. Los Angeles was always sunny, to the point of annoyance.
Granted, Arthur had been in the city for just a little over a week but he had yet to see a single cloud in the endless blue sky. Nor a reprieve from the heat. How anyone could enjoy such a place let alone want to live here was beyond him. It was too artificial for his taste. He quite enjoyed the gloomy cloud cover and seemingly never-ending showers in his beloved London.
Arthur wiped the sweat off his brow before stepping off the dock and onto the red carpeted metal gangway. A breeze blew off the ocean, bringing the smell of salt and teasing Arthur's hair upright. It felt glorious on his heated skin, the perfect balance of sun-kissed warmth and cooled ocean breeze. He paused briefly on the gangway, basking, trying to soak up as much of the seemingly artificial sun and heat as Los Angeles had to offer, despite it's annoying qualities. He expected to get very little in the coming weeks.
But that mattered little in the scheme of things. He wasn't here to enjoy himself.
A smiling cheerful crew member greeted Arthur as he stepped onto the spotless wooden outer deck of the ship, her white uniform stark and bright even in the shade of the ship.
"Welcome aboard the Grandeur, sir," she said, showing her teeth in a beaming smile. "May I see your ticket and cruise card please?"
Arthur handed over his ticket and the cruise card he had been issued just minutes before. Cruises were a strange affair. He had only ever been on one other cruise before and though it had been somewhat enjoyable—and warmer than this one was expected to be—he prefered vacationing on land. Moreso now. He would never have set foot on another cruise ship if circumstances hadn't forced his hand.
The crew member held his card up to a scanner just to the right of the entry way into the body of the ship. It gave a single beep, the light on top turning briefly green before she handed the card back to him with a nod and another smile. "You will need to carry your cruise card with you at all times aboard the ship. It is your key into your room and you can use it to purchase specialty items like alcohol and souvenirs anywhere on the ship. You will also need to scan it before you disembark and as you return to the ship at ports."
Arthur just gave her a brief nod, no longer really listening to her speech. He knew the logistics to keeping track of passengers aboard cruise ships. He had been learning all about it, studying the ins and outs, gleaning all he could about the Carnival cruise lines inner workings and how things could go so horribly wrong. Why they had.
And how they could claim no responsibility for any of it.
"You are in an ocean view suite, 1003," the crew member said as she looked over his ticket. "Your stateroom is located on the Panorama deck, deck ten, all the way at the fore toward the bow." She gestured to the right and up as she handed him back his ticket. "Unfortunately, your room is not quite ready yet but it should be ready for you by the time we disembark at 1800 hours. Your bags will meet you there." She gave him a disarming smile before gesturing toward the inside of the ship. "In the meantime, there's a band playing on the Lido deck and the lounges and bars are open on the Promenade, Lido, and Atlantic decks. We hope you enjoy the voyage and welcome aboard."
"I doubt I will," Arthur muttered to himself, giving her a nod and a half-hearted smile in thanks.
He bypassed the photography station just inside the open double doors where a family of four posed in front of the ship's safety ring, all big smiles as another crewmember snapped their picture. Arthur couldn't help but wonder if Morgana had had her picture taken, then almost laughed at the mental image. She would have scoffed at the notion and strode passed it in her four inch heels. Part of Arthur wished she had stopped and taken a picture, if only so he could find it. He wanted something, any piece or sign of her to be onboard this ship. Something he could take back with him once the voyage was over. Even if it was just a corny tourist picture with a prop life ring.
The space opened up into a grand atrium spanning up three decks. Mirrored ceilings trimmed in gold and silver gleamed above, reflecting the glossy dark marble flooring. Black subway tiles overlaid with metal and wood detailing made up the walls and balconies. Plush red L-shaped sofas and chairs dotted the space, complimenting the red cushions on the stools around the curved bar to the right side of the lobby. Large expansive staircases lined in matching black subway tiles rose up above the bar, while the glass backs of the lifts rode their cables on the opposite side of the atrium.
Everything shone and gleamed, lit bright to be inviting, and polished to perfection.
Arthur hated it immediately.
It was the exact sight that had greeted Morgana as she boarded the ship.
He headed straight down the hallway to his left toward the lifts, ignoring the shore excursions desk where a few couples and families had gathered already. Excited chatter from other guests rose and fell as he approached the lifts. He had hoped to board early enough to avoid the crowds, to have time to explore before the ship got more crowded. But it seemed as though many other guests had the same idea. Nearly every seat in the lobby had been claimed, and the bar was just as packed despite it being not even four yet.
He hopped in a lift with an elderly couple, and rode it up to the tenth floor. The crew member had said his cabin wasn't ready yet but maybe that was for the best. It meant it was being cleaned or would be cleaned soon. It meant he might be able to have a chat with his cabin steward and be able to jump-start his investigation. If he could locate his cabin steward, or any cabin steward, he could find out whether the man he was looking for was even still working on the ship. If he wasn't, well then this whole cruise would be nearly for naught. He might as well just walk back down to the dock and catch a taxi to the airport.
Fleur de lis carpet of muted reds and golds greeted him as he exited the lift onto the tenth floor and headed toward the bow of the ship. The hallway was empty, not a steward cart, or guest in sight. Arthur sighed. He would have to wait until tomorrow or search for a cabin steward elsewhere it seemed.
His stateroom was at the end of the hallway, one of the more luxurious and prized suites onboard the ship. The price alone was evident enough of that but the view, he heard, was more than enough to make up for it. Morgana had gushed about it during several of her numerous calls to him as she took this very cruise. He hoped it lived up to her praise, if only so he could understand how she felt on those last few days when she looked out her windows.
Arthur swiped his card in the lock and opened the door. The room had been cleaned, that much was immediately obvious. The bathroom to the left was spotless, its glossy surfaces shining even more than the lobby. Blue carpet led him into the main room which opened up to a decent sized space. A king size bed lay at angle, its dark wood headboard flush against the wall of the bathroom while a dark yellow sofa took up the rest of the wall's expanse. Two armchairs and a small matching dark wood desk sat opposite the bed.
But the true opulence in the cabin was the large windows that made up the wall beside the desk. It gave him a nearly 180 degree view off the bow, the city of Los Angeles spreading out before him until in met the open ocean beyond. The view would be stunning once they departed, he had no doubt. Morgana had not been exaggerating.
Arthur sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh. This is where she had stayed, where she had slept, where she had lived the last time anyone ever saw her. She was the reason he was here at all, on a cruise he didn't want to be on. It was his fault, after all. He hadn't even tried to stop her from coming.
"Did father send you over to talk me out of this?" Morgana accused, hands on hips as she glared at him from across her room. Arthur sat down on her bed, shifting her open and half-filled suitcase over to make room for himself.
"No" Yes, but Arthur would have come on his own if he had known earlier. He just happened to hear about her trip and listen to father rant all in the same phone call. He quickly changed the subject. "Alaska?"
Even with her back turned to him across the room, Arthur could tell Morgana was rolling her eyes. "Yes."
"Morgana you do realize cruises are supposed to be fun right? Swimming, lounging in the sun, visiting beaches and exotic places?" Why anyone would willing choose to take a cruise through glaciers and icebergs was beyond him. Had no one learned from the Titanic? He had seen the movie, that hadn't looked fun.
"Alaska is exotic," Morgana said. She strode over to her closet and pulled out a few more pieces. All long sleeve, all cold weather gear. "Have you ever seen a glacier up close? Heard it?"
"Heard it? No, why would I ever want to? It's a big slab of ice. Not much to it, is there. Besides, if I wanted to see a glacier, I'd go to the arctic. For a day, maybe two if I'm particularly self-loathing. Not a two week cruise."
"This is much more accessible."Morgana took the clothes off their hangers and rolled them, before packing them neatly into the suitcase next to Arthur. "I need the time to clear my head."
Arthur's teasing vanished."Are you having second thoughts?"
Morgana shook her head, a small smile on her face."No, not at all. I just want to take one last trip of independence before…"
"Before you are forever shackled to Leon, dragging around that ball and chain?" Arthur said with a chuckle. Morgana rolled her eyes, striding once more toward her closet. "It's more the other way around, you know."
Morgana glared at him as she emerged, but her eyes shone. "I love him, I'm marrying him, and I do not regret saying yes one second. I just want to taste freedom one last time before the start of this..." she waved her hand through the air, ...forever."
Arthur sighed. "I would probably do the same thing, in all honesty."
Morgana smiled, folding up her winter jacket and laying it neatly in the suitcase.
"But really, Alaksa?"
He had to admit now, a trip to a cold, underrated, unappreciated part of the world was just the sort vacation Morgana would take. It was just like her to go off the beaten path and do something unexpected, rebel against the norm. She had been doing it her whole life.
It was only suiting that she would be rebelling at the end too.
A part of him still held onto the hope that Morgana would be found alive and well but he knew the chances were slim. He had talked to numerous people who had lost family members, loved ones, or friends while cruising and very few were ever recovered or found. Most still remained on the ever growing missing person's list.
This trip, a retracing of Morgana's final days was Arthur's last resort.
The click of the door unlocking broke Arthur out of his stupor. He jumped to his feet and faced the door just as a curly-haired brunette man entered the room carrying Arthur's suitcase. He froze upon noticing Arthur.
"Oh, good afternoon sir!" the young man said, quickly composing himself. He set down Arthur's suitcase by the bed and straightened up. "I apologize for barging in like that. I didn't think anyone would be in here."
"It's fine," Arthur said, brushing away the man's words.
The young man smiled awkwardly, his hands fiddling at his sides. "My name is Gili, by the way and welcome aboard."
"Are you the cabin steward?" Arthur asked as the young man turned to leave.
Gili turned back to face Arthur. "Oh no sir. I'm just the porter. But if you need something, I can call your cabin steward to take care of it."
Arthur nodded to himself, scrutinizing Gili's eager expression, wondering if he could push him so soon. Ah, hell, he never cared much for proprietary anyway.
"What's the steward's name?" Arthur asked.
Gili hesitated a beat before answering, "Merlin, sir. He'd be happy to assist you with whatever you need, I'm sure." He nodded as though assuring himself that he was doing the right thing.
Arthur's heart skipped a beat. He was here. He was still working aboard the ship, still serving the same staterooms as well. It looked like luck was on Arthur's side after all.
"Yes, I'll be needing some extra towels and blankets," Arthur said, asking for the first thing that popped into his head. Anything to bring this Merlin here.
"Yes, sir, I'll relay the message." Gili said, nodding his head as he flashed Arthur a smile.
It wasn't until Gili had left and closed the door behind him that Arthur noticed the artfully shaped towel animal, rolled and folded to resemble that of a hunched rabbit.
A/N Fun fact: I've been on an Alaskan cruise similar to this one (different cruiseline, slightly different itinerary) and it is as beautiful as Morgana says. Cold as f**k but beautiful.
Also probably never going to go on another cruise again after diving deep into research on them and all the things that is wrong with them and can and have gone wrong in general. Just...nope