Today's British Glossary (in order of appearance)
Primary school: grades 1-5, a.k.a. elementary school
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Chapter 3
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Merlin remembered the day it changed.
It was, as far as he could tell, just like any other day. He ate some cereal for breakfast, went out to garden, and then came back inside to shower away all the dirt he'd accumulated while outside.
But, when he was shampooing his hair, something felt off. It felt… weird. But he couldn't quite figure out why.
He got out of the shower still confused, and towel-dried off. He ran a hand through his hair slowly before letting it drop slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. His drew his hand forward, and as it brushed past his jaw, his eyes widened and he froze.
Merlin gently moved his hand again, his fingers brushing his jawline. Then he ran his hand through his hair again.
His hair… it felt weird because it was longer. Probably not by much, but after over a thousand years of not having your hair grow at all, you'd notice too. He was growing stubble as well.
Merlin knew what that meant.
Arthur had returned.
…
*A YEAR LATER*
Arthur hated it when people called him Bradley. He'd been going by his middle name for over ten years, and it felt wrong now. He had loved getting his degree, but that was one thing he definitely didn't enjoy. Inevitably, in every new class, the teacher would call him Bradley for the first week, even after he corrected them. It was one of the things he was happy to leave behind now that he'd graduated.
His parents still worried about his future, but they grew more confident in him when they saw how hard he worked in school. He graduated a semester early, even. At graduation, his parents gave him probably the greatest gifts he had ever received: a vacation in Glastonbury.
Now, Glastonbury doesn't exactly sound exciting, but it's not what it seems. It's rumored to be the true location of Avalon. It was once surrounded by water, but over time that turned to marshland. Arthur had always wanted to see the town, but couldn't. It was almost four hours away from Manchester, where he grew up, and it was around three and a half hours from London, where he went to college. In both cases, he didn't have the time, let alone the money for gas and lodging.
Anyway, his parents set him up in a nice condo in Glastonbury for the two weeks after his 22nd birthday. It was great, and he loved visiting all the historical attractions. Afterward, he wanted to visit one of his friends from Oxford, Brad Prentice. He was a year older than Arthur, and he'd graduated the previous year. Now that Arthur had graduated, he needed to take his teaching exams to be certified. Since Brad had already done so, passed, and even gotten a job at a primary school in Wales, Arthur had asked if he could help him study a bit. Brad said he was happy to help.
So, right after his two-week vacation was over, Arthur went to the village of Sully. It took roughly 4 hours, but it wasn't all that bad. He took a bus to Bristol, and then took a ferry from there to Newport, so at least there was some scenery. Brad picked him up from Newport and drove home from there.
Sully turned out to be a quaint little town. There were lots of places outdoors where he could study, and Brad showed him the sights. He also got to meet Brad's girlfriend, Carly, who was really sweet. On the last day of his week there, Carly came over again, and the three of them played a few games together.
Partway through a game of Monopoly, Carly asked, "Have you taken him to Swanbridge yet?"
Brad smacked his face with his hand, "Oh my God! I was gonna do that this morning, so you could see it when the sun rises…"
"Too late for that," Arthur said with a laugh.
"What time are you leaving, again?" Brad asked.
"It doesn't really matter. Cardiff's only, what, 20 minutes away? As long as I get there before 8pm, I should be good. That's when the office closes."
Brad nodded. "Okay. Is all your stuff moved in, or…?"
"I moved everything in right after graduation. My parents came down for my birthday and helped out a little. They weren't sure about it at first, since it's far, but London was further, so they can't complain that much."
"You found a job yet?"
Arthur shook his head. "Not yet. Hopefully soon."
"Uh, guys?" Carly interrupted. "Swanbridge. Remember?"
"Right. Well, we can plan on getting there a little before sunset. It's a thirty minute walk from here, and you can get from there to the bus station in like five minutes."
"Sounds good to me. Uh… what is Swanbridge?"
Brad and Carly both laughed. "It's the beach."
"Oh. Well, that sounds even cooler now."
The three of them wrapped up their Monopoly game (Arthur won), and then set out for the beach. Fortunately, Arthur had packed light for his two weeks in Glastonbury and week in Sully, so it wasn't much of a bother to carry it.
The whole way there, Carly had gushed about how pretty Sully Island looked over the water at sunrise and sunset. She hadn't been exaggerating. It really was amazing.
The three of them visited a while longer, and then Brad said he should be getting home before it got completely dark. Arthur said goodbye and then stared out over the water for a while. But then he noticed a man staring at him, an old man with long white hair.
He walked over to the guy to confront him. He didn't really like being stared at.
"It's you," the man breathed, eyes wide and shocked.
Arthur squinted at him. Maybe the man was senile. "Listen, sir, I don't know who you are, but I don't appreciate the staring, okay? Can you…" he trailed off, suddenly realizing the man actually looked familiar. "Wait. I have seen you before… but…" Arthur's eyes widened, realizing where he'd seen the man before. Or, more accurately, that he hadn't ever met him in person.
He'd dreamed of him. The old man had been in his King Arthur dreams since he was a little kid.
"That's not possible," he muttered. He searched his brain for a name. "The Great… Dragoon? No. It's… Emrys? No. It's… it's… Merlin. Wait, MERLIN?"
…
It had been over a year since Merlin had begun aging again, and he's been coming to the Isle of the Blessed every single day. He was so sure that this is where he'd find Arthur. In what condition, he wasn't sure.
Merlin couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Arthur. He thought he had to be seeing things. He couldn't even move. After all this time, could it be him?
He was wearing modern clothes, but it had been a year. He would've had to find a way to blend in.
When Arthur turned around, Merlin's doubts left him. It was him. It was definitely him.
But then, Arthur was confused about who Merlin was. And Merlin realized Arthur had come back different than he'd expected. He had returned new, remade. He's lived an ordinary life for a while. Merlin guessed he was in his early twenties, and then it occurred to him that perhaps he'd started aging when Arthur turned 21 and became a man. That would make him 22 now.
Merlin's job was going to be a lot harder than he'd expected.
The second Arthur finally got his name right, Merlin grinned and glanced around. The beach was deserted. He shut his eyes and let his disguise fall away.
When he opened his eyes again, Arthur was gaping at him, mouth hanging open and eyes bugging out of his head. "What the… who are… how did you…" he stammered.
Merlin laughed. "Arthur. I am so happy to see you. How much do you remember?"
"What do you mean, 'What do I remember'? And how do you know my name?"
"How did you know my name?" Merlin countered.
"I… but those are dreams! THEY'RE JUST DREAMS!"
"Are they?" Merlin asked with a mischievous smile.
Merlin could tell Arthur was panicking. "What… what else could they be? How is this happening? How can you be here? You're not even real! Oh God, I've gone mad, haven't I?"
Merlin shook his head slowly. He reached forward slowly and set a hand on Arthur's shoulder. The blonde flinched at the touch, but he didn't move.
"I'm real," Merlin assured him. "And you're not crazy. I think we need to talk."
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