Unexpected Forms of Resurrection

Chapter XI

A/N: Once again thank you to my beta reader, Literatifan4eva.


Naturally, Merlin did not know how meeting everyone again was going to go. It was customary to assume that he would meet them on the bus the next morning with Gwaine and Arthur as they had suggested; and it was this concept that was keeping Merlin awake all night.

Questions plagued his mind has they never had before and emotions swept through him quicker than he could count. What if they didn't like him… would they ever remember their past life… would they all come back? The fears that he had never addressed before haunted him until the sun rose in the distance.


As it turned out he needn't have worried about what would happen on the bus that morning, because he missed it. Typical, he thought to himself while starting the 1.7 mile trek to school. Maybe meeting Arthur again has brought back my "luck", was one of the many bitter thoughts floating through his mind has he walked. Needless to say he was late for 1st period.


On the bus Gwen absent-mindedly listened to Gwaine's tale of the previous day's adventures. Gwaine was a bit of an exaggerator to say the least. In order to get the story a little less so, Gwen was forced to turn to Arthur.

"So what actually happened," she asked with a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Arthur gave the story a bit more frankly and a lot less long-winded. But at the name of the boy they had helped tugged none so gently at Gwen's subconscious; it was a sense of deja vu to say the least. Her mind chased rapidly after any reason she would be experiencing this feeling after hearing such an unusual name that she was sure she would remember.

"Gwen, you in there?" Arthur asked, after noticing she was paying no attention to his story about how he tricked Percy into asking out his stepsister's weird friend.

"Yeah, sorry distracted," was her curt reply. But the rest of the ride, a feeling of restlessness bothered her.


Merlin didn't see anyone else he had known for the first couple classes of his that day. He looked, he truly did, but he could see none of his old friends roaming the halls. Until in his advanced maths class a girl with short brown hair caught his eye when the role was read aloud. Gwen Coulby was surely Guinevere. Luckily for Merlin (since when did that happen), she was sitting in front of him as well.

After class when they were both packing up their notebooks to go to their next class he made his move to talk to her.


Gwen was packing up her bag, ready to move to her next class when suddenly a voice spoke next to her, startling Gwen out of her thoughts.

"My names Merlin," he said tentatively. Holding out his hand while hoisting his bag onto his shoulder.

"Oh, yes. Gwaine and Arthur mentioned you this morning. It was very brave of you standing up to Cenred like that. I'm Gwen," was her rushed reply. This was evidently the new boy she thought. She looked at him a bit more closely after remembering this, and saw something interesting: his face was most definitely familiar.

Intense light and sound flooded through Gwen's mind. It was as if someone had just shone a flashlight into her eyes. The sounds of a town and the hustle and bustle that it produced floated thorough her ears. Emotions filled her, all conflicting with each other; the feelings of love and betrayal, of despair and of joy. And as soon as it was there; it was gone.

Gwen opened her eyes to see a concerned Merlin looking at her, asking if she was ok.

"Yes fine, migraine I guess," was her rushed reply as she picked up her bag. "I really must go; it was nice meeting you Merlin."

She left the room, Merlin looking a bit confused as to what had happened.


At lunch, Merlin spotted Arthur and Gwaine sitting at one of the round tables in the cafeteria. He could see that there were four other boys sitting with them. Knowing who these boys most likely were, he took a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart and walked over. As he slid into the empty seat next to Gwaine, the person in question clasped his shoulders tightly and introduced everyone to Merlin.

The four knights looked roughly the same as they had in Camelot. Leon, Elliot, Percy and Lance gave polite nods to Merlin while continuing to eat.

"Usually Gwen would be here as well, she's Elliot's sister," Gwaine explained, gesturing to one of the two empty seats. Merlin, of course, already knew that they were siblings but it looked like he was going to have to play dumb for a while. Suddenly a question popped up in his mind.

"Where is Gwen? I met her earlier today in maths, why isn't she here now?" Merlin asked looking at the other six boys.

"Went home with a headache," answered Percy, a man of few words.

The rest of lunch passed with some light conversation and laughs, Gwaine telling wild stories and Arthur laughing at Merlin's stupid jokes. It seemed as if whether or not Arthur and the knights would accept Merlin wasn't going to be much of an issue.


Gwen had gone home early due to her headache. A flood of memories continued to wash over her uncontrollably, and she unlike Merlin had absolutely no clue what was going on.

Serving to a kind woman but being more than just a servant to her… the friendship of another serving boy… the pang of loss as her father dies… a love she held for a boy who looked suspiciously like Arthur… betrayal of a close friend as she turned against them all… an image of Elliot dying, a sword's hilt in his chest…

She sobbed into a pillow in her dark room and continued to ignore her father when he asked if she needed anything for the headache. It was not the headache that bothered her as much as the images that accompanied it. She fell into a fitful sleep, tossing and turning as more memories penetrated her dreams. When she awoke she decided she was going to need help, and decided to seek it from someone who she repeatedly saw in the images, one who was uncannily wise in this dream reality. With that thought in mind she took out her laptop and started the search for an address.


Merlin had long ago finished any homework he was assigned, having already mastered many things from school long ago, and was currently watching Doctor Who. His mind wandered from the show into thoughts of how the heck this whole coming back to life thing worked. Bit like regeneration; same person but a bit different, he thought to himself and chuckled dryly to himself at his Doctor Who joke. If Arthur were here he would have fond some way to insult Merlin for that, was his next thought told him; he was once again in a more somber mood.

A knock sounded at the door, managing to get a sigh out of Merlin; he sincerely hoped it wasn't someone from school as he didn't have the energy to think of a good lie about where his guardian was (nowhere).

To his surprise he instead found Gwen standing outside, looking quite sheepish.

"I think I need your help," she murmured, rubbing her toe into the ground. "I keep having weird dreams and you are in them," she continued very quietly.

"Come in," Merlin replied quickly; shutting the door behind her. It seems at least one of them will remember and he didn't even try to hide the smile creeping onto his face.


A/N: Please feel free to PM me or review as I am a first time fan fiction writer. Thank you for reading