Sorry I have been away. Life keeps popping up. Anywho! Story must go on.
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.
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Arthur was unsure of whether he was ready to see his friend. He didn't care about the magic, but he knew the man he once knew as his young clumsy fool of a servant was now an old man and probably as wise as Gaius.
He watched as Lyn turned the knob and beckoned with himself not to pass out. The door opened for Arthur as if in slow motion, which did not ease his nerves one bit.
He followed the young girl in and looked around the dimly lit room. There was a slight chill in the air as he stepped in and all he saw was a bed and books lying about. Then, his eyes rested on a figure in a wheelchair, looking out the window.
"I hope you didn't give my daughter a hard time, Clotpole." The voice and the words were enough for Arthur to chuckle as a tear fell down his cheek. "I have been waiting for you, as always." The old man, no Merlin, turned to him and gave him a goofy smile that gave the identity away.
"Well, I see you are lazy as ever. Couldn't even meet us yourself so you sent your daughter." He spoke half heartedly and sat on the end of the bed, closer to his friend. As he got a better look, his heart clenched. Merlin looked so frail and as if he were ready to die.
Arthur had to clear his throat as he put a hand on his friends arm and squeezed lightly. The words he spoke next was an emotional mess.
"There must be something to help you. Please. I can't do this alone." His tears were silent and his voice weak.
Merlin looked at his young friend and gave a sad smile. "I have lived a good life. I was able to love again, and I am loved. I leave you with a part of me, my daughter."
Arthur squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. "She's not you."
Merlin let out a croaked laugh. "You'd be surprised at how much she is like me. You will be kind to her or I will have to haunt you. Remember who you are, Arthur." With those words, he lay a wrinkled hand over the king's chest.
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As the night went on, the other knights and Gwen all got a chance to talk and say their goodbyes. Gwen was a sobbing mess and the knights either had stricken looks or silent tears as Arthur had had. Gwaine looked as though he was angry as well as sad, as though there was someone to blame for Merlin dying of old age.
Arthur watched everyone come and go until it was just him and Lyn. He hated how much Merlin was right, she looked so much like him with few different features. She was attractive, probably inherited from her mother. He smirked at his inner joke before sitting at Merlin's unoccupied side of the bed.
Lyn was on the other side with her small smooth hand wrapped around her father's old wrinkled hand. She didn't want Arthur to share these last moments with her, but she knew how much it meant to her father. She brought the hand to her lips and let a tear slip.
Merlin looks toward his only child and his heart swells with pride. "My beautiful daughter. I can not tell you the adventures soon to come, but I know you will be brilliant. I am with you in your magic, mind, and your heart." He squeezes the hand and turns to the blonde king.
"Take care of my daughter and she will take care of you. Whatever is to come, remember your strength. You are the Once and Future King".
Arthur's eyes widen as a soft glow takes one of Merlin's hands and it flows over to Lyn. She closes her eyes and cries. Once it dies down, the room is silent and Arthur knows before he looks. Merlin is dead.
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RIP Merlin. The legacy is passed down. Can Lyn handle it What great threat was Merlin warning them about? Updates to come. Peace and Chicken Grease.