As the World Comes to an End

Chapter One: Starry Night

After Gwen's death, with no true heir to the throne, Merlin tries his hardest to keep the kingdom together. He becomes a good mentor to the man who takes the throne next, and for awhile Merlin finds himself hopeful for Camelot's future. But then the king dies unexpectedly, of a disease Merlin finds himself powerless to cure, leaving his wife to rule in his stead. The Queen, always jealous of how close Merlin and her husband were, goes against Merlin's council and marries a monster of man who becomes the start of Camelot's downfall.

A hundred years after Gwen's passing, Merlin can't bear to watch the death of the kingdom he and Arthur had worked so hard to build, and so he sheds the old man, becomes himself as he was when Arthur knew him, and he leaves.

Centuries after Arthur's death, he meets a woman who reminds him how to love. She loves him for who he is, reminds him that he has so much to offer the world, and he falls for her. He grows old with her, never telling her that he has magic. She dies in his arms, and as he weeps, he sheds the old man once more and moves on.

She gives him the courage to leave what's left of Albion and see the world. He watches civilizations rise and fall. Watches countries grow and flourish. He finds causes, fights in wars.

In the early 1200's, Merlin finds himself in Ireland, and it's there that he meets a brave young man named Matthew. His courage, his kindness, and his strength remind him so much of Arthur that Merlin wonders at first if it's really him come back after all this time. But in the end, they get along too well, and though Merlin knows that this man isn't really Arthur, he falls for him hard and fast.

They're allowed ten glorious years together. Then one night, Merlin wakes to what feels like his heart being torn out of his body, and he's on his feet before he even knows where he's going. He reaches the tavern just in time to see a man rip his sword out of Matthew's chest. The man and his five companions are dead before they hit the ground. The woman they had been attempting to rape when Matthew came by to help her runs away in terror. Merlin holds Matthew's body in his arms and screams his anguish to the skies, but Kilgarrah is long dead and there's no one to answer him.

Merlin builds a funeral pyre for Matthew, and as the fire soars into the night sky, Merlin gathers his few meager belongings and starts walking.

It's not until he passes by the Crystal Caves that he realizes where he's going.

In the year 1232, Merlin finds himself in Camelot for the first time since he left so long ago.

He wanders through what is left of the town, and then the castle itself. A few towers remain standing here and there, a few walls and turrets, but Camelot lies in ruins. Merlin stops at what he remembers to be the stairs leading into the castle, and he sits down on them and weeps.

When he awakens the next morning, tears dried on his face, he finds himself with a strong resolve, the likes of which he hasn't felt in a long time.

He places a powerful spell on the castle, one that leaves him drained of energy but feeling accomplished. Camelot will remain untouched by time, untouched by human hands and weather. Camelot will stay as he has found it for as long as his magic will hold. Because Merlin knows that Arthur will return someday, and he wants him to have something of his old life to visit.

But as he turns to go, another idea comes to him. He walks until he finds the clearing where he and Arthur faced off against Kilgarrah so many centuries ago. And there, in the woods next to the clearing, Merlin builds a small cottage.

It's not much, but it doesn't need to be.

In the years to come, Merlin returns often, staying for weeks, sometimes years, at a time. He strengthens the spell on Camelot and works on his cottage, filling it with mementos of the changing world. Each time he returns it gets a little bit easier. Though he still remembers what it was like to wander those halls after Arthur's death, after Gwen's death, in the days of tyrannical rule, he also remembers the good times. Drinking in the tavern with Arthur and the knights. The day Arthur was crowned king. The night Arthur gave him his mother's sigil.

Merlin clings to the good memories as tightly as he can, and whenever he visits the Lake of Avalon he sits on the shore and whispers new stories into the air, hoping the wind will carry them across the water to Arthur.

But he only tells him the good stories, because the bad ones are just too painful.

Merlin's made the journey from Avalon to Camelot many times. Dozens, hundreds, he's lost count over the years. On foot, it usually takes three days.

As they walk, Merlin begins to tell Arthur about what happened while he was gone. He starts with the early history of the world after Camelot fell and works his way through time. Covering 2000 years of history is no easy feat, and Merlin knows he's leaving things out, but Arthur listens attentively, soaking up everything he hears.

When Merlin begins to talk about lands outside of Albion (which Merlin explains is now called England), Arthur's eyes widen. He explains that he never really thought about how there could be a world outside of Albion. Merlin talks about time spent in Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa. He talks about the wars, but he also talks about the happier things: rising civilizations, an explosion in knowledge about science, art, philosophy. Arthur is most interested in hearing about the Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment; those times when man learned and evolved and made beautiful things.

Merlin's just finished discussing Shakespeare (more like gushing about Shakespeare, really) when they need to stop and try to find some food. The land they've been traveling through for the past few hours is unpopulated, still heavily forested. Merlin has become a much better hunter in the years since Arthur passed, and he manages to snag them a rabbit and hunt down some berries and nuts.

After lunch, they continue walking, and Merlin tells Arthur more about the history of the world. He tells him about America, the battles they fought for their independence, and the internal struggles they fought to become the country they wanted to be. He tells Arthur about how he fought for the Union in the American Civil War, and how more than half a million people were dead by the end of the country's bloodiest war.

Arthur grows quiet for awhile after that, and as the sun starts to set they walk in silence.

"Half a million people dead. I didn't know wars could be so bloody."

Merlin laughs bitterly. "Believe me, that's nothing."

Arthur stops walking and looks at him. "Half a million people is nothing?"

Merlin pauses. "The past five hundred years haven't been...easy. I'm sorry, Arthur."

Arthur shakes his head. "The world sounds so big, Merlin. I had no idea."

"I know," Merlin answers quietly. "It's a lot to take in. Maybe we should stop for the night."

So they find a cozy clearing and settle in. Merlin helps Arthur remove his armor without thinking twice, resting Excalibur against a tree, just like old times. They gather firewood, and when the fire is built, Merlin lights it with magic.

He remembers the first time he did this in front of Arthur, and he looks up to gauge his reaction. This time, instead of looking hurt and disappointed, he smiles at him, and Merlin feels his heart clench at the almost fond look on Arthur's face.

They lie down to sleep close to the fire. Merlin wears the cloak he had on when he was called away from the castle ruins, but Arthur has only his old clothes. After ten minutes of listening to Arthur shiver, Merlin gets up and moves closer. He lies down next to him, takes off his cloak, and wordlessly covers them both as best he can. Arthur turns toward Merlin, wraps his arms around him, and sighs sleepily. Merlin smiles as he shifts closer to Arthur's chest and rests his head under Arthur's chin. He whispers a quick spell, and as the air under the cloak warms, Arthur actually chuckles.

When they wake at sunrise, warm and well rested, Merlin finds himself still wrapped tightly in Arthur's arms, Arthur's breath warm against his forehead, and he feels truly happy for the first time in a long time.

That morning, Merlin goes into the woods and manages to kill another rabbit using his magic. After all these years, killing with magic still makes him a bit uneasy, but as they need to eat, he overlooks it. He returns to their camp with the kill and begins to prepare it, waiting for Arthur to return.

Half an hour later, the rabbit is roasting and Arthur comes out of the woods hefting a crudely crafted spear and dragging a small deer behind him. He drops the deer at Merlin's feet.

"And that is how you hunt. Two thousand years and you're still terrible at it, Merlin." Arthur smiles smugly at him, and the look is so familiar Merlin can't help but laugh.

After they've cooked the deer and eaten their fill, Merlin wraps up as much of the deer meat as he can in his cloak and hefts it over his shoulder. Then they continue their journey to Camelot.

As they walk, Merlin tells Arthur more about the history of the world. As he reaches the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, the land around them begins to change. They pass by abandoned farms at first, which give way to small villages. The villages are empty, like ghost towns, and Merlin leads them past slowly and quietly, as though he's paying homage to the people who used to live there; to a way of life that no longer exists.

Their feet hit a smooth path outside one village, and Arthur's not sure what to make of it. Merlin explains that it's a road, paved smooth to make it easier for people to travel. They walk along the road, on the outskirts of a large town, and Arthur points out things he doesn't understand. Telephone poles, light posts, steel buildings, the list goes on. Merlin does his best to explain them. When they find an abandoned car on the side of the road, Arthur eyes it warily.

Merlin decides it's time to stop for dinner.

As they eat more of their deer, Merlin tells Arthur about telephones, electricity, steel and plastic, airplanes, cars, computers, and spaceships. He explains it all in terms he thinks Arthur will understand, but he's not surprised when Arthur says it just sounds like a lot of magic to him. Merlin assures him that it's not magic, but science, and while Arthur believes him, it doesn't make it any easier for Arthur to accept that people can fly, or talk to people on the other side of the world, or land on the moon.

Hours later, Merlin's just finished talking about how man was in the process of attempting to terraform Mars so it could support life when Arthur tells him to stop.

Merlin smiles understandingly. "I know it's a lot to take in. Sometimes I look back myself and I can barely believe everything that's happened. The world has come a long way since you were King of Camelot, Arthur."

"Yes...I'm getting that," Arthur replies tiredly. "I wish I could have seen it, Merlin. I wish that we..." Arthur looks down at the ground quietly, but Merlin knows what he wants to say. He wishes they could have seen it together, too.

Merlin looks down at the ground, lost in painful memories. "I know. It was amazing. All of it. And now it's all gone."

"Merlin." Arthur touches his chin and gently lifts his face up. "What happened to this world?"

"It's...it's a long story, Arthur. I don't think-"

"It's all right," Arthur says quickly, letting go. "I understand. It's getting late. We should find somewhere to stay for the night."

And with that, they head into the town.

The town is eerie in the dark. Quiet, empty buildings. Cars lie abandoned everywhere, as if the world just picked up one day and moved on.

"It's like a ghost town," Arthur says quietly, and Merlin shivers slightly. He stops next to a broken down fountain.

"Merlin?" Arthur looks back at him in confusion.

"We did this." Merlin says it so quietly that Arthur almost has trouble hearing him.

Arthur takes a few steps closer to Merlin. "What do you mean?"

"We did this. Mankind. We lost sight of what really matters: courage, chivalry, kindness...duty and honor. The things that used to matter, back when you were king and times were simpler. We got greedy. Started craving everything that was bad for us. Land, money, power. We ruined the world, Arthur. We did this. We-"

"Merlin."

He stops babbling when he realizes that he's crying, and he doesn't know when he started. Arthur reaches out and brushes the tears off his face.

"It's all right, Merlin." He holds Merlin's face gently in his hands, lifts his head up, and kisses him firmly. Merlin leans into the kiss, loses himself in it. When they finally pull apart, he breathes deeply.

"There, all better," Arthur says with a smile. "Come on." He grabs Merlin's hand and leads him on.

They stop at one of the less decrepit houses. Inside they find more remnants of a technological age ended abruptly. Merlin shows Arthur computers, refrigerators, televisions, showers, and indoor plumbing. Shows him ovens that heat up food within seconds, microchips as small as pennies that can hold millions of terabytes of data, machines that can project images along entire walls and objects within rooms. Nothing works, but it's still enough to make Arthur's jaw drop, and Merlin can't keep himself from laughing at the look on his friend's face. Arthur rolls his eyes and smacks Merlin on the head, calling him an idiot for good measure.

In the bedroom, they find a dresser and closet full of clothes, and Merlin pulls out a few things for Arthur and himself. Arthur makes a face at the weird styles: pants that look tight and uncomfortable, jackets with hoods on them, and shoes that just look impractical. Merlin gives him a few pairs of pants, shirts, a hoodie, a warm winter jacket, and a pair of practical hiking boots he manages to dig out of the closet.

"It'll take some getting used to, but I think you'll like it. The hoodie is actually pretty comfortable."

Arthur just frowns at the clothes Merlin has laid out on the bed, and Merlin sighs. "You don't have to wear them right now, Arthur. But we'll take them with us. I think you'll be glad for them eventually."

In the end, Arthur nods, and Merlin packs up their new clothes in a pair of backpacks he finds in the closet and takes a set of clothes for himself. He leaves Arthur sitting on the bed and goes to the bathroom to change. Then he raids the pantry, but he can't find any salvageable food. Luckily he manages to find a stash of water bottles hidden in the cupboards, and he utters a quick spell just to make sure the water in them will be clean. He puts the water bottles in a duffel bag, then takes the remainder of their food out of his ratty cloak and stows it in there as well. Merlin removes the few important objects he has stored in his cloak pockets and moves them to the pockets of the jacket he took from the closet. Then he heads back to Arthur.

He finds Arthur sitting quietly on the edge of the bed, attempting to remove his armor.

"Here, let me help you." Merlin removes the armor slowly, and Arthur whispers a quiet "thank you" when he's done. Merlin lays their new bags on the floor next to Arthur's armor. He removes his jacket and places it on the pile while Arthur leans Excalibur against the wall next to the bed.

Without a word, they crawl under the covers, and Merlin has just enough time to think that he could get used to being wrapped up in Arthur's arms before he falls asleep.

Merlin wakes in the middle of the night to find the bed cold and empty next to him.

"Arthur?"

Instinct tells him to panic when he doesn't receive an answer, but he calms his breathing and reaches out with his magic instead. He senses Arthur sitting quietly outside the house, and he sighs with relief as he gets out of bed.

He finds Arthur sitting on the stoop outside the house, staring up at the night sky with a look on his face that seems both awed and happy.

"Arthur?"

Merlin sits down next to him, and Arthur continues to stare at the sky as he answers.

"They're the same ones I remember. The stars."

Merlin gazes up and finds the sky clear and bright, full of stars that he hasn't really looked at in quite some time.

"So much has changed since I died, Merlin. But not the stars. It's...comforting. To think that despite all this time, there are still some things that don't change. They're like a little bit of home."

Merlin smiles happily, and he reaches out and takes one of Arthur's hands gently in one of his own. Arthur squeezes it gratefully and looks over at Merlin.

"They're still beautiful, too. Just like I remember. It's hard for me to think that people have been up there. Close enough to reach out and touch them. It must have been amazing."

Merlin laughs, and he looks up at the sky.

"It was."

And so Merlin tells Arthur about the time he went into space. It was the year 2269, three hundred years after man first landed on the moon, and the US had decided to make space travel available to the civilian population. It was incredibly expensive, but he'd simply used a bit of magic to build up his bank account. Merlin usually balked at the idea of using his magic for financial gain, but this was something he simply hadn't wanted to miss out on. So he'd spent four glorious weeks in outer space, landed on the moon, and even been able to fly past Mars and see the work they were doing to terraform the planet.

"You can never really touch the stars, Arthur. They're too far away. Outer space is beautiful. But it's also big, and...well, kind of lonely."

Arthur smiles at him fondly. He removes his hand from Merlin's, then puts his arm around Merlin's shoulder. Merlin leans into the touch, rests his head on Arthur's shoulder. Arthur moves his hand slowly up Merlin's arm, over his neck, and runs his fingers through his hair gently.

"You've been through so much, Merlin. I hope you didn't do it alone."

Merlin smiles against Arthur's shoulder. "No, I didn't. Some prat made me promise that I wouldn't."

Arthur laughs. "Well, I'm glad he did." He wraps his arm back around Merlin, then reaches over with his other hand and grasps Merlin's hand tightly in his own. They sit like that for awhile, staring up at the stars in silence, until Merlin shivers and Arthur suggests they go back to bed.

The next morning, after a breakfast of deer meat, berries, and bottled water, Merlin gathers their bags together and finds Arthur staring at his armor.

"Arthur...you don't have to put it back on. You won't really need it in this world."

Arthur stares thoughtfully for another minute, then shakes his head.

"I know. But I want to wear it just awhile longer. Until we get to Camelot. I want to bring it home. It reminds me of a time when honor and courage and friendship were what mattered." Arthur pauses, then looks up at Merlin, tears shining in the corners of his eyes. "It reminds me of what the world needs."

Merlin loves him so much in this moment he thinks his heart might burst. He steps closer to Arthur and kisses him tenderly, like it's the only thing he could ever want. When he pulls away, Arthur moans slightly at the loss.

"The world needs you, Arthur. That's why you're back."

...tbc...