Another Twist of Fate
Chapter 4: A Last Wish of Magic
"Freya..." I said wistfully. It had been so long since I'd last gazed on her beautiful face; nothing I could paint or imagine or dream ever seemed as beautiful as the real thing though. Her pale beauty was not diminished in the dim light of the primitive cave, nor was it obscured by the never ending droplets of water cascading from her body. She had always been shrouded by an unnatural, but enchanting loveliness.
"Greetings, my King," she bowed slightly to Arthur who only stared in shock at her. Great, more explaining for me to do. Fantastic.
"Somehow...you don't seem very surprised..." I rolled my eyes; of course she would know about this. She was the Lady of the Lake after all.
"No, I suppose not," she smiled. "But it's not as complicated as it seems, my love," she said to me, but I found that very hard to believe.
"Then enlighten me," I rolled my eyes.
"Magic is almost dead," she said sadly, ignoring my dulcet tone, "To make amends for all it has cost you...it does this now."
"But magic isn't dead, I am magic, it can't die," I told her. If magic was me how then could it die if I was fated to live forever? And why had I not felt it?
"The magic in you is alive yes, but the magic in the earth is almost gone. It is alive...but it doesn't have long..."
"No...wait...if it's dying in the earth won't you...I'll never see you again once it's gone..." I frowned. There must be something I could do, some way I could save her...
"Yes you will," she sighed.
"'One day', I remember" I scoffed at recalling one of our last conversations, "That 'one day' is a long time coming, Freya, I'm still here! And I'm tired..."
"I know, Merlin, and you've done so much good."
"No, I haven't, I failed, over and over again," I corrected her.
"You're the oldest human on earth and you still don't understand," she smiled at me. "Fate always repays good deeds, even if it takes lifetimes," she said with confidence. "The people of magic are gone. The power in you was born of the earth, it is no longer needed elsewhere, with you will die the last of magic, but your time is not yet come. You must live, my love, live your life, for you are the one child of magic. The magic of the earth is indebted to you a thousand times over, it gives its thanks now, for it cannot do so once it is gone."
"Why didn't I know about this sooner?" I demanded.
"You could not, your power is instinctive, if it was to sense the death of its brother it too would perish...and so then would you," she spoke lightly, "It protects you," she clarified, and I suddenly couldn't find my voice. "And now, I am charged with granting the last wish of the magic of the earth."
I stared transfixed at her, this long dead beauty, this magical being, this...woman, as she spoke solely to me. "Its last wish, my love...is to grant you, the loyal servant of magic, your one and only wish..."
She stepped slowly out of the water and walked towards me...never before had she separated from the magical waters of the Lake. I was enchanted as she seemed to glide over to me with angelic grace. Her elegant limbs still dripping with water, she reached out her arm and touched my face with cold, pale fingers. It had been so long since I'd last felt her touch, her cold, dying touch, and heard her last words...
'...One day...I will repay you...' she had said all those years ago, when I had been young...oh, I had been so young back then. And I had been so heartbroken.
As I stared into her eyes now, hundreds of years later, I felt that seeing her face was all that I wanted from her, hearing her voice and seeing her smile...that was all she needed to give me.
...And then...and then she kissed me. I felt something inside me screaming and shouting its lungs off that this situation was not the time for kissing my long dead, one and only love...evidently she thought differently. She was made of water, after all, maybe water had a different way of thinking than thousand year old men.
Then I felt my magic escape through my fingertips, through my very soul without my willing it to and it shone like a miniature sun in the darkness of the small was joined by a smaller, weaker silver light. It was my golden power and the silver power of the Lake granted to her, they intertwined together in bright display light until it burst up though the cave with a loud explosion, sending debris in every direction.
My magic shielded us.
The lights then burst out, confusing the remains of the tower and then upward to finally reach the heavens. This was certainly going to give people something to talk about. I felt elated, my soul soared high with the bright shine of my magic, it danced around in forms and images long unseen.
I saw the great castle of Camelot and its never ending streets filled with the people I'd fought so long and hard to defend. They smiled at me. I saw the rolling fields of Ealdor as the villagers I'd been raised with worked at sunrise each morning, my mother and father smiled lovingly at each other. I saw the glowing Crystal Cave and the forms of Kilgharrah and Aithusa with endless images of long extinct magical races that lived now only in my memories and in my stories.
I closed my eyes and let the magic do what it wanted. It always knew what to do even when I didn't. I felt the cold, but loving arms of my beloved around me as I seemed to loose my hold on reality. Things seemed unfocused and I felt like a drunk with all the coordination - or lack thereof - of Gwaine, my old friend, Gwaine, on one of his week-long tavern benders.
"Merlin!" I heard a voice call through the fog that began to cloud my mind. I could've sworn that it was Arthur...but that was not possible...my King had died...he had died in my arms...was I dying now? Was this what death felt like? A slow, gradual loss of reality?
...If so...then perhaps...it wasn't so bad after all...was this all that I had spent so long despising...so long hating for taking away the people I loved?
"Merlin!" the voice called again, but I was too far gone. I had never before taken any of the words of Shakespeare to heart before but...indeed...to die on a kiss...was really no bad thing...
...I finally lost all hold on consciousness and the mysterious voice...and the arms and lips of my beloved were my last thoughts...It was finally my time...I was leaving behind an unsolved mystery...but I was finally able to rest...and I was so tired.
...
...
...
This was unexpected.
I could feel my fingers. I could feel the cool air and I could hear the water lapping against immovable stone. When my eyes finally opened I saw something I'd only seen in my dreams.
Perhaps I was dreaming.
Queen Guinevere Pendragon was helping Arthur, her beloved husband, to his feet, as Gwaine, Lancelot, Percival, Leon and Elyan stood smiling around the remains of the cave. The long dead Knights of the Round Table, about whom the stories had become legendary, were stood around me once more, just as it had been in Camelot.
I felt a great burden suddenly removed from my shoulders and now, perhaps now, I could finally stand tall. Perhaps now I could finally live as Merlin, not as Thomas, or William, or any of the other innumerable names I'd assumed over the years.
With these people here, I was now..once again...finally...Merlin...I was myself once more.
"Your one wish, my love," Freya whispered in my ear as she knelt beside me. I searched myself for my magic to find that it was still here with me. "Your immortality for our lives; an equal trade in the eyes of the Old Religion...or...in the eyes of magic in its last days," she said and kissed my cheek with a tenderness I had forgotten how to miss.
I looked to my right and saw the smiling face of my old mentor and uncle...Gaius...the Gaius of old was sitting to my right with my mother and father holding each other happily, as they stood behind him. Freya was sitting on my left and my dear friends stood proud in front of me.
"I'm going to need a bigger boat..." I simply said and I felt tears that I had not been able to shed in centuries, stream slowly down my face. I suddenly remembered what happiness felt like...for the first time in centuries.
It seemed that, as magic had always taught me; with the end of something, comes the beginning of something else...something else of equal...if not of greater importance.
A.N. Whoa...was that a corny ending or what?! But who doesn't love a good, happy, happy, corny, cheesy ending?! Granted this was gonna be a longer story but I couldn't bring myself to write anymore for this new century take on this plot. It was good for a few chapters but I don't think it works all that well to be honest.
Anyway, I'm glad so many people liked it and thank you to everyone who reviewed! It's been fun! I'm planning on doing the other end of the spectrum where Arthur lives after Camlann and we'll see how well that works. And for the sake of tradition I DO NOT OWN MERLIN!
It will be called 'Another Twist of Fate: Take 2', so keep a look out people! Then I'll pick the one I like best and do a sequel.
!Bye bye for now mes amis!