A/N: OMG I am super excited that the first chapter of this fanfic was so well received. Thank you to everyone who read it an especially to those of you who followed it, favourited it, or reviewed. Anyways, let's get on with the tale~
Arthur watched as Merlin walked in and out of his room and another for a few minutes, cleaning up the floor. Arthur shifted to a sitting position after a few minutes of Merlin's clattering around. "Either do that quitter or actually have a conversation." He demanded.
Merlin didn't look up from where he was scrubbing at the bloodstained rug. Arthur gave the boy a strange look; he had something in his ears.
"Merlin!" He said slightly louder, still no response from the boy. "Merlin!" Arthur yelled, throwing the closest thing, which happened to be a pillow, at his servant.
Merlin jumped, pulling the things out of his ears. "Bloody hell, Arthur! What was that for?"
"I'll just ignore that first bit." Arthur said, he didn't quite understand the meaning, but with tone alone he could tell they were not words of kindness. "How about the fact it's the year 2015. I swear, Merlin, if this is some sort of joke that you're pulling I'll have your head."
"Yeah, it's totally a prank." Merlin said sarcastically. "What year did you say you thought it was anyways, four hundred and something?"
Arthur was surprised at the way Merlin spoke to him. The lack of formal titles was one thing, but sarcasm and blatant rudeness, well in a situation like this anyways, was not normal of his manservant. "498." Arthur corrected. "And it is the year 498."
Merlin shook his head. "You must have hit your head really hard when you fell off the bar Saturday."
"I don't recall doing anything of the sort." Arthur argued. He had been on a hunting trip on Saturday, he was sure of it.
"I'm not surprised." Merlin said with a small chuckled. "You were pretty drunk."
"I most certainly was not!" Arthur countered.
Merlin held up his hands in mock surrender. "Whatever you say."
"And where is my father?" Arthur asked. His father rarely left the citadel and the king had always appeared mere moments after Arthur's awakenings in the past.
"Work probably." Merlin said with a shrug. "Where else would he be at 4:50 in the afternoon?"
"Where is that?" Arthur asked yet another question.
"At headquarters in London. You really don't remember any of this, do you?" Merlin asked, taking a seat on the edge of the prince's bed, finally seeming to take the situation seriously.
"I don't know any of this. Last thing I remember we were on a hunting trip with Gwaine and Lancelot and now we're here." Arthur tried to explain his plight to his servant.
Merlin made a face of disbelief. "A hunting trip?"
Arthur nodded. "It was late and I was on watch." He tried to remember all of the details. "I heard a sound and I went to investigate and then I woke up here to some weird beeping." As if on cue the same beeping went off again. "That! What is that sound?"
"It's you're phone." Merlin said, grabbing a rectangular thing about the size of his hand off the nightstand. "Looks like your Father is calling."
"I don't hear my father calling for me." Arthur said, listening for his father's voice.
Merlin laughed and touched the rectangle a couple of time before a voice came from it. "Arthur, how are you?" It was Uther's voice, but Uther was nowhere to be seen.
"Father?" Arthur asked, slightly fearful. He suspected magic was behind this, what else could it be?
"Yes, Arthur? Gaius called me and said you'd woken up. How are you feeling?" Uther asked through the rectangle in Merlin's hand.
Arthur was momentarily too confused to speak. It was at least ten seconds before he responded. "Umm… Yes. I'm awake."
"That's good to hear. You had me worried." Uther responded with a small laugh. "I'm on my way home now; I should be there in about 20 minutes. I just wanted to call and confirm that everything was okay."
"Alright…" Arthur was too dumbstruck to say much else. Somehow through the rectangle he and his father were speaking, yet his father seemed completely calm about this fact. Arthur's mind was racing trying to figure out how his father could be perfectly calm about using magic to communicate with his son.
A moment later he heard his father bidding him goodbye and Merlin setting the rectangle back on the side table. "That… That was magic." Arthur said in a mixture of awe, anger, and fear.
"Actually it was technology." Merlin corrected him, standing up from the edge of the bed. "Anyways, I should finish cleaning up or your father'll have my head when he gets here."
Arthur blinked and nodded, watching as Merlin went back to cleaning up. Soon, Merlin had left and Arthur was alone in the unfamiliar room. He set his eyes back upon the rectangle that was on the side table, what had Merlin called it, a phone? He gingerly reached over and picked it up, careful as if dealing with something hot. It didn't seem to be anything too extraordinary now, just a chunk of metal and glass. The blonde turned it over in his hands, examining it from all angles. It had something that looked like an apple on the back. He set it back on the side table, eyeing it cautiously for the strange beeping it had emitted twice now.
He studied many of the other items in the room, there was another rectangle, this one much larger and against the wall. There was a dresser; at least Arthur could recognize that item. Upon opening that he saw clothes, but not the same fabrics as he was used to. He picked up an article, it seemed to be trousers, they were dark blue, slightly rougher than the linen he was used to, but they seemed more durable as well. There were buttons and pockets, and a strange thin piece of leather like material that said Levi on it. He put the trousers back into the drawer and shut it as he heard a knock at the door and someone enter.
Arthur turned around quickly to see his father, Gaius, and Merlin. "Father." He greeted politely.
"I'm so glad to see you awake." Uther said with a small smile.
"I thought I told you to rest." Gaius said with that disappointed tone he spoke to all his patients with. Arthur knew it well. Whenever he was to break a rib or something of the sort and refuse to rest longer than a few hours he would get that disappointed tone.
Arthur indignantly sat down on the edge of the bed. "So can someone explain to me what curse has put my 1500 years in the future?"
"A curse? What do you mean, Arthur?" Uther asked, concern creasing his forehead.
"I mean this is not Camelot. Some kind of magic must have been used." Arthur insisted. If anyone would believe his plea he could only hope it was his father.
Uther and Gaius exchanged a look before Uther spoke. "Gaius told me you were suffering from some amnesia and some delusions, but I must assure you that everything is perfectly fine."
Arthur huffed and put his head in his hands. "Of course it is."
"Just follow Gaius's advice and rest, Arthur." Uther told him. "And if you have any questions I'm sure you're personal assistant can help to answer those and I'm always just a phone call away."
Arthur nodded. "Yes, father."
Uther turned and left, saying he had to take some calls since he had left work early. Gaius stayed and spoke. "If you need anything more, please just ask."
"I will, Gaius. Thank you." Arthur sighed, feeling defeated.
"It's not a problem." Gaius said before exiting the room quietly, leaving just the two young men together.
"So I assume you think I'm just crazy too." Arthur said, looking at Merlin, who was standing near the door.
"No. I know you're crazy, but that's nothing new." Merlin said, with his normal goofy grin plastered on his face.
"You're an idiot." Arthur told his servant, or personal assistant, even though he was thankful for the slight sense of normalcy and comfort that being around Merlin gave him.
A/N: It'll pick up in the next chapter or two, I promise. It just takes a bit to get things put in place, but once they are… mwahahahahaha.
