Hello, everyone! Katierosefun speaking! This is my second ever Merlin FanFic, (and first ever mutli-chapter Merlin FanFic,) so I'm crossing my fingers that at least some people will read this. I know that I'm not very well-known in the Merlin fandom, but I recently watched the show, (watched seasons one to five,) and I've been addicted.
And, like everyone else in the fandom, I went under some serious feels and tears in the season five finale. WHY DID ARTHUR HAVE TO DIE?! AND MERLIN'S WAITING FOR ARTHUR ALL THIS TIME, WAAAAAAH! *curls into a ball of feels and sobs/screams in pain over Merlin and Arthur*
This idea popped into my head almost automatically after I finished watching the finale-or at least, some form of the rough draft. I had the idea bouncing around my head since season three but it wasn't until the end of season five did I decide to actually write this down. Anyways, I've been rambling for too long but there are some things that should be taken note of before reading this story-I know that Merlin is an old man at the end of the season finale of season five, but I've converted him to look like himself when he was younger...around the time he was hired as manservant to Arthur.
I think some other writers did that with Merlin as well, and don't worry-Merlin will still be just as old as he is, he'll just look MUCH younger. Sort of like in Doctor Who, if any of you guys watch the show.
Ha-I'm rambling again. Bottom line-please, please, PLEASE review/fave/follow if you enjoyed the story! Feedback would be great, just no hate or harsh language or stuff. XD
Chapter One. Life Goes On
A new year was dawning—judging by the great cheers and noises outside and next to his flat, Merlin guessed that it had already come.
He tapped his fingers against the windowsill—year 3056 was here now.
Another year of waiting for King Arthur to wake up, another year of loneliness. Merlin heaved a sigh and stood up from his chair at the window and walked straight into his bedroom. Great lights were ablaze outside and fireworks blew up merrily in the sky, but he didn't pay much attention. The days of his amusement in entertainment were far behind him now, after all.
The sorcerer slid under the covers of his bed and turned off the light, but did not sleep. His eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Merlin never did enjoy sleeping anymore—the nightmares kept coming back. How many more times would he have to watch Arthur die before his eyes? How many more times would he have to see his failure?
And his friends—all of his friends he left back at Camelot—Gaius, Gwen, Gwaine, Percival, Leon…what had become of them?
Merlin felt shame and anger burning through his veins and clamped his hands over his ears. He closed his eyes tightly to avoid whatever scenes that were playing through his head.
"I hope you find what you're looking for."
"I'll have your favorite meal waiting for you. Now go. Look after him. Go."
"Thank you."
Merlin's eyes were suddenly stinging with tears and he quickly rolled over on his face into the pillow, trying to muffle his sobs. His hands clenched and unclenched themselves and his entire body shook.
Hundreds and hundreds of years…and he still couldn't stop thinking about that day.
Merlin instinctively began to curl into a small ball on the bed and clutched the sheets. He would have to endure yet another night of suffering.
•◊•
It was bright outside when Merlin woke up—the sun wasn't quite at its highest peak, but it was high enough for people to run errands before noon would be upon them.
He kicked off his blankets halfheartedly and walked out of his bedroom. Merlin peered into the mirror and ran a hand through his raven-black hair. It was odd—he was nearly a thousand years old, perhaps a bit more than that, (the warlock had actually lost count after some time,) but he was able to look much younger than he actually was.
Except for the eyes, of course.
It was always the eyes…
Merlin blinked at his reflection and hurriedly turned away. He didn't usually check his appearance—he looked as though he was the same young, naïve boy who was just appointed as Arthur's manservant.
No, don't think about that. Merlin shook his head and opened his flat door. He looked down to grab the papers and quickly ducked his head back in before any of his neighbors could see him.
It wasn't that Merlin was anti-social or a hermit—he enjoyed the occasional conversation as much as the next person, but he was always careful to keep to himself. There were certain secrets that he still had to keep, and to be honest, he wasn't quite sure how people would react if they discovered his secrets firsthand.
Merlin flipped through the papers, skimming through the headlines. It was a daily practice for him now—he would quickly scan the words for any unnatural occurrences that might serve as a sign that the great king of Camelot had returned.
'Sorcery Act Takes Effect', were the only headlines that were printed on the paper. Merlin sighed, disgusted, and threw the articles on the couch.
It was an annoyance and a pain to know that magic was still outlawed. The Pendragon family died out many years ago, so Merlin knew that sorcerers wouldn't be getting their liberty any time soon, but he had hoped, (in vain, he might add,) that perhaps someone would at least recognize magic as a benefit.
Sadly, that wasn't the case.
Magic was discovered, alright, and it wasn't just any old form of magic. People who studied in the darker aspects were found guilty of harming innocents, and sorcery had even more effective restrictions than ever.
Merlin sat down at the kitchen table quietly, drumming his fingers against the table. There wasn't much for him to do at the moment, if truth had to be told. He wasn't hungry, so eating was out of the list. He wasn't feeling particularly tired, seeing that he had just woken up, so taking a nap wouldn't help, either.
He didn't exactly turn on the telly except to see the news, but Merlin doubted that he'd see anything interesting except the constant alert of the Sorcery Act taking more effect.
Merlin stood up and shrugged out of his shirt. He would take his usual walk outside, then. Look over the Lake, watch if anything would happen, and hope that there wasn't any damage done.
Merlin opened one of the drawers to his dresser and rummaged through the belongings held in there. He managed to find a wearable assemble of clothing that he could put on for his trip outside.
For several silent moments, Merlin changed quickly out of his former attire. He was about to head out the door when he paused and turned around. He quickly walked back to his dresser and pulled out a small, worn, red neckerchief.
Sentimental reasons, he thought somewhat sadly to himself before tying it on. Once securing it around his neck, he walked out the door to face the day.
•◊•
Merlin sat in front of the Lake with his legs stretched out in front of him. He stared at the glittering water quietly, being moved only when a faint wind would hit the surface of the water.
If Merlin concentrated hard enough, he could still picture Arthur's face. It was frightening what more than a thousand years away from your friends could do to you.
There were some days when Merlin almost forgot what Gwen's voice sounded like, or what Gaius' smile looked like, or the way Gwaine laughed during training sessions. It was in those moments when Merlin was scared—scared of forgetting about his friends forever.
But then there were days when Merlin almost forgot what Arthur looked like. He could still see his smile and his eyes perfectly, but it always looked deformed in his mind, as though he was missing something.
Merlin sighed and leaned back, his head touching the grass. He stared up at the sky and folded his hands on top of his stomach. It was quieter today—usually, the sounds of nearby trucks or cars always got in the way of Merlin's thoughts, but on this particular day, the noises of modern civilization had died down just enough for him to take a couple of moments to himself.
"There's something I want to say…"
"You're not going to say goodbye."
"No, Merlin. Everything you've done, I know now. For me, for Camelot, for the kingdom you helped me build. I want to say something I've never said to you before…thank you."
Merlin felt a tear squeeze out of his eye and slowly slide down the side of his face. He quickly wiped a hand over his eyes and took a deep breath. He would not do this again.
"Do you really like the lake that much? I mean, yeah, it's pretty, but gee, it must be really something to look at if you're getting all emotional over it."
Merlin opened his eyes with a start and sat up quickly. Standing in front of him was a young girl, perhaps in her late teens or in her early twenties. She was a fairly small creature—not small enough to be considered as a 'midget', but not exactly tall enough to be looked at as most girls. Her hair was of a dark color and cut to the chin, and her eyes were a lighter shade of brown.
In truth, the girl looked simple and plain with the only exception of her startlingly red streak of hair that was undoubtedly attached to her head as a décor of a sort.
"Ah, no. I wasn't getting emotional," Merlin said haltingly. "Reflex. Y'know…yawning?"
The girl frowned. "Really? You yawned? 'Cause I've been standing here for some time and I hadn't seen you do anything except just sit there."
Merlin blinked and the girl went on, "Then again, maybe you did yawn and I just didn't pay attention. That happens to me a lot. I'll just be standing at some place and then I forget what exactly I'm doing and something important would have happened and I would have no idea what, even if it was right in front of me."
Merlin frowned and he stood up. "Maybe you didn't see me," he said decidedly. "But thanks for the concern, even though I wasn't crying."
"Definitely not." The girl nodded solemnly but when the warlock looked at her again, there was a merry twinkle in her eyes.
"You don't believe me, do you?" Merlin asked.
"No, I guess not." The girl said with a grin. "Glad you caught on."
Merlin paused and then twiddled with the hem of his jacket. "Thanks for the conversation," he managed to say. "Have a nice day."
He turned around and began to walk the other way. For a couple moments, everything was quiet as he headed down the street until he heard the sound of running feet.
"Hey! Is that it? Just a 'nice to meet you'? I thought we were getting acquainted!" The girl said, catching up to Merlin.
"I have to go." Merlin replied as gently as he could. "I was just at the lake for a short amount of time."
The girl pouted and then perked up. "So where're you heading?"
"Um…my flat." Merlin said, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Oh, really? I live in the flat below you, did you know that? I don't think you do—you don't come out that often, do you? Well, not that I don't blame you—it's pretty boring outside and people can be pretty annoying, don't you think? I moved into the flat only a couple months ago. I've seen you go to the lake and all, but I think that's it. What exactly do you do all the time?"
Merlin's head was spinning by the time the girl was finished talking. So this is how Arthur felt whenever I talked…he thought to himself.
"I…look through the news and work from home." Merlin managed to reply. "I don't think I've seen you much around the building, either."
"That's probably because I'm in college. I thought you'd be in college—you look like you'd still be going to school. I mean, not to be rude or anything," the girl finally paused, her face slightly flushed.
Merlin allowed himself to laugh a bit. "Oh, I've been out of school…recently." He decided to say.
It was odd, really. Merlin knew that he looked exactly the same as he had when he was Arthur's manservant and when he was first hired; he was in his early twenties. Twenty one, twenty two years old, maybe?
"Huh." The girl grinned as the two stopped in front of the flat building. She turned to look up at Merlin and extended a hand. "I'm Violet Prows, by the way."
Merlin took the hand slowly and shook it. "I'm Merlin. Nice to meet you." He said quietly.
Violet grinned. "Merlin? That sounds like a funny name. Not that common—is it foreign or something?" She asked curiously.
"You could say that." Merlin answered weakly. He jutted a thumb inside the building. "Well…I better be off."
He opened the door quickly and held it open for Violet for just a minute before closing it.
"D'you think you'd be coming out more often? I'm still fairly new here so it'd be nice to have someone to show me around—" Violet called after Merlin as he headed up the stairs to his own flat.
Merlin turned around, giving a subtle wince of annoyance before saying, "I would, but I don't think I'm the right person to do that."
"Are you sure? 'Cause you seem pretty able to—"
Merlin gripped the hand railing of the staircase and said in a low voice, "Please don't ask me. I would rather be by myself for now."
He quickly walked to his door and opened it with his keys. Merlin stepped inside and without giving his neighbor a second glance, he closed the door.
A/N: Don't forget to review/follow/fave! :)