Disclaimer: BBC owns Merlin, not me. I only own my OCs.
Please read the entire story and tell me if I should make a prequel. The pole is on my profile.
Mercy
The particles in the air started to come together forming an almost solid figure. Slowly a face and then a body materialized out of thin air. You could still see the stones of the wall when you looked through the slowly forming being but the details weren't as prominent. The creature was neither beautiful nor ugly. It resembled a young girl with flowing locks that were once the colour of gold. Though Merlin knew the creature would not and could not harm him, it's phantom like presence disturbed him and sent a shiver up his spine.
When it spoke it spoke with not only one voice. Though the more prominent voice was that of a young girl, which matched her appearance, underneath you could hear the cackling voice of one much older then the frail child before him. Her inhuman voices made Merlin take a small step back. "Why have you summoned me here boy?" It said boy as if it were the vilest word in the dictionary.
The shock of what had transpired before him was slowly wearing off so it took him a moment to answer. The eyes of the creature bore into Merlin as it waited patiently for him to come up with an acceptable response. Gathering his wits he tried to answer with the most confident voice he could muster. "I need your help." At this the figure before him smiled. If the creature wasn't frightening before it surely was know. "Is that so?" She said very slowly, articulating every word. "What ever for?" The sarcastic tone in her voice was unmistakable.
Merlin fidgeted where he stood wondering now if this was the best option he could have chosen. He could feel her eyes on him as he formed the words in his now dry mouth. "It is said there was a sword forged here."
Her laugh was cold and piercing. "There were many swords forged here in the castle of Shades." He looked at the floor once more before he continued. "There was one sword more powerful then all the rest." He continued slowly looking up to meet the other being's eyes as her fragile shape flowed back and forth like a flag in the wind that wasn't there. "It has been known through the ages by many names but it was originally called Kadee meaning pure." The smile that once occupied the apparitions face vanished as he spoke the name. Her eyes narrowed. "That is true." She said warily, eyeing Merlin. "What is it to you?" He swallowed finally coming to the question he had been putting off. "Can you tell me where it is?"
He cringed slightly as sparks of red danced across her eyes, the fury that contorted her features was monstrous. She moved as quick as lightning until she was only inches from his face, her breath was like ice against his skin. "How dare you ask me where Kadee sleeps! I have heard of you. You, prophesized as the hero of your people, the one destined to bring back the magic. But I can see through the lies. I lost the luxury of being naïve long ago. Yes you may be the one prophesized to be our salvation but…" She trailed off her eyes loosing focus and what appeared to be tears formed, teetering over the rims of her eyes. She took a deep breath trying to control her anger. "I know why you seek the sword. Do you know why the swords name changed through the ages? It was because you humans tainted it with your lust for power. It was meant to bring purity back to this land but your kind stole it from us believing that it could bring you whatever you desired. Tell me how can it fulfill its destiny if its bearers will not fulfill theirs?"
The silence was like needles in the dark picking at his brain. Merlin had no answer for her. He understood her anger. Mankind had stolen the blade for wealth and glory. The ones who stole it tricked its guardians, promising to use it only for the good of all. But they only thought of themselves and their kind. They lashed out at the other creatures that inhabited the world driving them away. They may have thought what they were doing was for the good of all but that wasn't true and Kadee new that. Its full power was locked away waiting for the time when a true hero would come to claim it and to lead others into the light.
"The time you are waiting for may not come for a long time but I promise you we will do all we can to purify this land once more." Her expression softened a little at his words then she moved away from him and floated up towards a high stone window where the moonlight shone right through her. She looked longingly over the only place on the earth that showed proof that her time had existed. The castle of Shades had been abandoned hundreds of years ago but it still stood tall. It was once one of the most beautiful places on earth. The ghosts of the past still wandered the hallways. She was one of the only ones who had not yet lost their mind to the darkness that had overtaken her home.
Her mind had almost been consumed by the darkness that very morning as she was sitting in her usual alcove, but a voice calling out somewhere in the castle had woken her. She had immediately turned herself invisible in order to investigate. As she drifted down one of the dark hallways she could feel the air getting warmer. She inhaled deeply. It was faint, but she could taste it on the air. Whispers seemed to scurry up and down the walls. Rumors of a visitor, and not just any visitor. This visitor was alive.
She had followed the scent of life down the hallways, holding up her skirts as she ran, just like she used. She ran until she had come to the abandoned throne room. The doors still stood tall, but the paint had faded. Slowly she had reached out to stroke the cracked paint, but nothing met her fingers. Not the flaking paint or the smooth wood from one of the oak trees that had once stood in the forest a days ride down from the castle. Not for the first time the apparition felt herself thinking of the times when she could touch and feel. She had not felt anything for a hundred years.
The sound of solid feet on stone had woken her from her reveries. The thought of seeing a living being excited her and without hesitation she passed through the doors. There wandering around the room was a living being. Silently she glided across the floor until she was standing just behind the man. He was tall and had raven hair. She followed close behind him as he made is way into the center of the room. For a moment he stood there silently, tapping his boot as if to a song that only he could hear. The tapping stopped abruptly. She watched as the young man straitened himself and began to speak in a strange language. To many it would have seemed as if he were speaking absolute gibberish. The young ghost too would have thought so if a tingling sensation had not taken over her entire body. Wishing to be rid of it she quickly put as much distance between the young warlock and herself. But her attempts to leave to room was foiled. Whatever he was murmuring was making it impossible for her to leave the room at all.
If it were possible for a ghost, the young girl slunk, in defeat, to a spot in front of the young warlock. She stared daggers at him, waiting for the last words of the spell to be spoken. The magic he was wielding was forcing her out of her invisible state. The one thing that she had control over was being taken away, and she did not like it. Who was this living creature that thought he had the right to force a phantom into the light? And then it dawned on her. Throughout her ghostly existence there had only been five people powerful enough to enchant her kind. Three of the five were dead. One had been imprisoned and the last...
No, it couldn't be. Why would he come here? To this forsaken place. The most powerful man to ever live. Emrys.
Her recollection of the past was short lived as she came back to the present. Finding that she was still staring out the window that looked over a land that would never return to the way it had once been.
"The others promised the same thing." She murmured, almost to herself. "What makes your claim any different?" Her gaze slowly moved to meet his. "I take it you already have Kadee's twin, Excalibur, the two swords that were once one. Do you truly believe their power will help to unite Albion? I know what you are going to do and I warn you it will not end the way you think."
"Yes, that is what I believe. How will it end?" He saw sadness cross the face of the floating girl and he knew the answer was not good so he tried another question. "So will you tell me where it is?" She slowly came down until her face was level with his.
"Will you make the oath?" Her second voice was not as gruff as before but more gentle and wise. "Swear on what you value the most and promise me you will not stray from this path that you have chosen, that you will carry out your destiny." Merlin stood up straight looking her in the eyes and with confidence he spoke. "I swear." She questioned his answer for only a second but seeing that his mind, his heart and his soul believed his words she relented. Finally she was starting to see the true form of Emrys and his unwavering loyalty to his king. This time her smile was soft but not altogether happy. "I believe you." She said. "The sword is hidden in a tree in the forest of Souls. The tree bares the mark of the hourglass. You will know it when you see it. Be carful, Kadee will not bend to your will easily. Combining the two swords is a difficult task." She looked him up and down as he took in this information, as if she were inspecting him. "You are everything the prophecy said you would be. The hero you are meant to be, because of this I will warn you. For all your hard work you will receive a hero's fate and it is inescapable like all other fates. But yours will be worse then most and for that I am sorry. You have a kind soul and this is not what you deserve."
A lump formed in Merlin's throat. Somewhere deep down he had known this from the start. He swallowed hard trying to hide the quiver in his voice. "I know." He said simply but it meant much. "If you do as you promise your fate is sealed but… If you promise me one more thing." She paused. "What?" He asked, the hope showing in his eyes. Even the ones spoken of in prophesies can still act human. She would have thought him strange if he had not grasped at the chance of a longer like. A chance she had never been granted.
She reached out one of her frail hands and tried to take his, for a moment forgetting what she was. Merlin shivered at her touch, but her hand went right through his. "Promise me that just before your task is done and only in your greatest moment of need call upon me." Her mistake did not cause her to miss a beat. With a wave of her snow-white hand she conjured a small marble with flowing colors. "Hold this in your hand and whisper my name. Will you swear to do this?"
"I swear." He said again. She gestured for him to take the small object. He reached out and took it as gently as he could, afraid that it might shatter in his hand and, as carefully as he could, placed it in his pocket.
The apparition turned away from Merlin and began to float away towards the window. "But I do not know your name." He cried. She turned around once more. The smile on her face was genuine. Suddenly she rushed towards him and disappeared in a wave of fog as she crashed into him. He took a step back. A sudden rush of cold, as if he was plunging into a mountain river, washed over him. It was a feeling that was a cross between good and evil, and a sensation he never wanted to feel again. But it left as quickly as it had come and he was alone once more in the dark throne room. The girls last whisper still lingering in the cold night air. She had uttered just one name, Clemence. It meant mercy.
Clemence is the Roman goddess of pity.
Thank you for reading and please review.
Should I make a prequel?