Rhyme of Another Autumn
.::.*~Chapter One~*.::.
The date was now April 7, 2001. The night was young and a full, magnificent moon shone gracefully in the dark heavens above. For one young warlock, Camelot's sky had truly become a remarkable sight to behold.
Merlin liked looking up at the stars. They were dazzling little marvels scattered along the vast nocturnal curtain, and all the time he wondered how many their universe could possibly hold. That night, he became certain that he'd find that answer for himself one day, if fate ever decided to put him in the right time and place.
"Merlin?" A distant voice called from behind him.
The boy, now the age of 12, took one last look at the beautiful panorama above before scampering back towards the front porch where he could smell his favourite food waiting for him on the kitchen table.
Merlin had grown up in a small house that Gaius had rented on the outskirts of Camelot where it was calm and less crowded compared to the more metropolitan regions. It was there that he had continued to learn to make a living for himself under the retired physician's care and that his "gifts" were not something to be ashamed of as if they were a sort of curse, but something to be grateful for if used properly. However, with the fear that society would one day point him out as the boy who once devastated a significant part of Ealdor, Gaius had told him to keep his special talents hidden unless they became necessary.
And Merlin had agreed to do so, although when indoors, Gaius would often lend him books handed down from previous sorcerer colleagues he'd befriended back in his days as a travelling intern. Merlin would study them well, making sure that he took every opportunity offered to him in life just as a certain someone had told him a long time ago. He never did forget the blonde who had saved him at Grand Albion Station, and sometimes he'd even wonder what the boy was doing in his own home while Merlin was busy gazing up at the stars or playing with the marbles Gaius had given to him for his birthday.
Almost in the blink of an eye, weeks from months to years had passed, and eventually, when Merlin was 21, he moved into his own flat and got a part-time job nearby as a waiter at the Twin Dragons Cafe.
~o~
Click.
"Ginger princess, 5'7", 2:15 p.m."
Merlin looked up from the front counter to see his friend Gwaine watching with interest as another female customer walked out the front door after checking her pocketbook to see if everything was in order.
At the same time, Gwen, who had been cleaning one of the tables at the other side of the room, heaved out a long, suffering sigh and turned around to roll her eyes at Gwaine.
"Gwaine, really—when are you going to give this a rest?"
Gwaine only smirked in response, stuffing the tape recorder back in his pocket. He leaned back against his chair with his elbows behind his head and his heels planted firmly on the table.
Merlin slowly shook his head and came out from behind the counter with a wet rag in his hand. "Oi, feet off the table," he laughed, grinning at Gwaine. Gwaine snorted smugly, crossing his legs and throwing his hair back condescendingly as if he were royalty. Merlin made a playful expression and threw the sodden cloth in the other's face.
Gwaine made a sound of mock disgust before peeling the rag off with his hand. He dumped it on the table as he got up from his seat then pulled his brown leather jacket over broad shoulders.
"See you tomorrow, mate," he chuckled, making his way out the front door.
Merlin rolled his eyes jokingly, picking the rag up and wiping the table top until it was spotless.
"What am I going to do with him?" Gwen muttered, walking past Merlin to place empty dishes on the front counter.
Merlin smirked to himself then turned to put the rag back on the bin sitting beside her. Gwen glanced at him with the corners of her mouth turned up. "What are you smiling about?"
Merlin only laughed, dropping the bin behind the counter before turning to look at her with a bright expression on his face. "Would it be alright if I decided to leave early today?"
Gwen raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "What's the occasion?"
Merlin walked over to hang his apron on the wall before proceeding to the front door. "Going to check on Gaius and pay him a little visit," he replied, still facing her as he started to walk backwards with a clever grin. But right when he turned around, he found himself almost tripping over his own feet and stumbling over the threshold with flushed cheeks.
Gwen couldn't help but laugh as he made his way onto the sidewalk. "Don't kill yourself on the way there!"
~o~
It was about 2:20 one fine Sunday afternoon. The streets were full of people, and a different Merlin walked tall among the crowd—a mature young adult who was now responsible for his own actions but at heart still very much the curious, happy-go-lucky child that he once was. Perhaps even more now that he followed a new, meaningful dream to enjoy life's simple, everyday pleasures.
For example, he liked to smell the freshly baked croissants coming from the pastry shop he always passed on the way back from his shift. He liked looking up at the sky to see the majestic clouds as they breezed along the sapphire radiance above. He liked waving to the little children on the street and watching them play their own little game of hopscotch on the sidewalk. But most of all, even now as he crossed the bridge leading to his childhood home, he enjoyed skipping stones down the long and winding stream, just to pass the time.
Merlin passed through the gate leading up to the main pathway and walked up the front steps. When he opened the door, he looked around for his old caretaker, only to find him sitting at the kitchen table focused on re-painting a garden gnome.
For an instant, Merlin's eyes were fixed on the vibrant colours of the small figure—the reds and the blues—and the smooth texture of its surface.
"Come in, boy," Gaius called, breaking him out of his reverie. "You're letting out all the air conditioning."
Merlin scratched the back of his head and laughed, closing the door behind him before approaching the elderly man with a wide grin on his face. "What's that?" he asked, sitting down beside Gaius, who dipped the tip of his brush into another splotch of paint.
Gaius cleared his throat then went on to finish retouching the gnome's ceramic blue shirt. "It's my old friend from before I married my beloved." He put the brush down and turned to look at him while lowering his glasses to the rim of his nose. "They never did get along, the two of them, once Alice came into my life."
Merlin frowned and watched as Gaius slowly rose from his seat. "And now they shall be reconciled," Gaius sighed, holding the gnome firmly in his hands. "Come."
~o~
Merlin followed Gaius into the back lawn until they reached a pile of knick-knacks stacked carefully around a tall, lush tree. He watched Gaius carefully place the gnome down in the middle as he gave a long sigh of content.
"There we are," Gaius said with a smile and glanced back at Merlin.
Merlin laughed, slowly shaking his head at him. "Have you taken your medicine?"
This time, Gaius was the one who laughed. "Of course I have, Merlin. Don't forget—you're asking the same person who's been taking care of your asthma all these years." He cleared his throat, taking a few steps forward to approach the boy with a more serious expression on his face. "Inhaler ready?" Gaius asked, raising an eyebrow as he gestured to Merlin's pocket.
Merlin promptly dug his hand into his right pocket and pulled out the medication, waving it in front of Gaius's face.
Gaius grinned at him and nodded approvingly. "Good." He placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder then returned to the house through the back door.
Just after he'd turned around, Merlin had quickly stuffed the inhaler back in his pocket and followed after him with a sheepish expression on his face.
In truth, Merlin never really did have any problems with his health. When he was a toddler and caught his first cold, his parents had taken him straight to the doctor. After being overwhelmed by the pediatrician's unbelievably strong perfume, he'd been forced to cough so violently that the woman had diagnosed him with an asthma condition. Unfortunately, in the years that followed, Hunith and Balinor never noticed the mistake, even when their precious son would often leave his medication behind in his sock drawer on purpose. No one had ever really checked again to see if his condition was legitimate or not, so he'd been left with no choice but to continue to go along with what his only doctor had told him to do. After a few months taking care of the little boy, Gaius had frankly had some vague thoughts about a possible misconception, but just in case, he still had him bring the inhaler around anyway.
Merlin sat back down at the kitchen table and sighed while Gaius left to put the tea kettle on the stove. He looked around to see the same old pictures hanging up about the room.
Of Gaius and Alice in one part of the room; of himself and Gaius in another.
When his eyes finally rested on the genuine form of his old caretaker, he couldn't help but soften his gaze at the sombre expression on Gaius's face as he found him staring forlornly out the window nearby.
"You should go out there sometime," Merlin uttered quietly. He frowned and got up from his seat, calmly approaching the elderly man. "Finally get some fresh air; go some place different."
Gaius only closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. "If only I could," he murmured in a solemn voice. He opened his eyes, staring down at his hands with sad eyes. "We dreamed of leaving the country one day, Alice and I."
Merlin frowned with sympathy then gazed past the windowpane to see beautiful sunflowers flourishing along the borders of the front gate. "Gaius..."
Gaius chuckled softly, moving towards the cabinet to grab two empty teacups from the top shelf. "Besides, I'd be leaving you alone then," he sighed, carefully taking the kettle off the stove and placing it on the kitchen counter. "Who'd be there to take care of you if you got sick?"
Merlin lowered his eyes and grew pensive.
~o~
That night when Merlin finally returned to his apartment, he was greeted by Aithusa, his adorable white kitten with dark gray eyes, tinted like Camelot's sky on a cloudy day. Smiling at her fondly, Merlin scooped up the kitten in his arms and took her back to his mini-kitchen to feed her. He put the kitten down on the counter then stared through the window to catch a glance of his enigmatic neighbour who lived in the building across from his. When he'd first moved into his flat, he'd heard plenty of rumours about the man living there—that he'd been born with bones so brittle that he'd been confined in that room for years, never to see the wonders of life outside his apartment; hence he was known to all the neighbours as 'The Glass Man'.
For a moment, Merlin stared at the mysterious figure through the window, watching his silhouette seated stationary behind the curtains and wondering what a man like him would possibly be doing in that room all the time.
After a while, Merlin frowned and grabbed the milk from the fridge to fill Aithusa's bowl with a considerable amount. He then left the room to go take a nice hot shower.
~o~
If there was one thing Merlin liked about taking a bath, it was the calm, soothing feeling of the warm water trailing down his skin. He let out a sigh of content as he turned off the water then grabbed the towel he left hanging outside the curtain and wrapped it around his waist. He stepped out into his bedroom, rummaging through his toiletries, and couldn't help but laugh at Aithusa. She was lounging on the couch, watching Kitchen Nightmares on the telly.
Before he could even squirt the toothpaste onto his toothbrush, the screen suddenly switched from Gordon Ramsay to a frantic news reporter from the BBC giving live coverage from a grand mansion situated up in the higher, wealthier parts of Camelot.
Merlin froze as he read the breaking news headline at the bottom of the screen:
Former Wife of Uther Pendragon, President of Pendragon Inc., Killed in Car Crash
It was as if time stood still as Merlin recalled the day his own parents died in a whole other accident of their own and how he himself had been traumatised as a boy.
It hadn't just been their car at the time though, but many others flying through the air as well...
The storm devastating houses in its path...
Trees being yanked out by their roots...
Screams being drowned by the merciless, howling wind...
Eventually, Merlin had to force himself back to the present and took a deep breath, leaning with one hand against the bathroom doorway. He was about to continue brushing his teeth when a picture of the woman was shown on the screen, and for some reason, Merlin couldn't help but stare because she seemed so familiar.
Then, he suddenly recalled the blurred memory of a blonde woman who very much looked like the one shown on the television set. She was standing next to a small brunette, waving to him from the other side of a train station.
Merlin became so entranced by the image on the telly, not even noticing that he'd dropped the cap of his toothpaste on the floor. He shook his head, realising what had just happened.
Her name doesn't really ring a bell though, he thought contemplatively, crouching down to search for the missing cap. After some effort, he finally found the cap, which had rolled over to the wall, and reached over to pick it up. However, he stopped short when he noticed that one of the tiles at the bottom of the wall was slightly protruding, enough for him to see that it was loose and just barely concealed a mysterious hollow space.
Because Merlin's curiosity was so persistent, he instantly began working to remove the tile and was surprised to find a secret compartment. He swallowed hard then reached his hand into the cleverly concealed aperture, only to find a small rusty lunchbox. Carefully he pulled it out and opened it, discovering old toys and scraps of paper, most of which were trading cards and—
Hold on a second.
Merlin inspected one of the ripped and wrinkled fragments he was holding. It had handwriting on it, but it was in some sort of foreign language he couldn't understand. He picked up the slip of paper in his hands and held it up to the light, trying to make out the strange characters scribbled on the parchment. Somehow, they seemed slightly familiar to Merlin, but not enough for him to be able to read it. He put it down instead to examine the lunchbox for any signs of a name at the very least.
When he finally looked at the bottom of the tin container, he saw all but two words inscribed on the rusty metal in faded letters:
Ed Muir.
