Hey all, sorry this is so late! Graduating has been an absolute nightmare—albeit one that will end happily. Thus life is crazy even without all my other obligations. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though! Soon I will be back to being weekly, and to make up for my being missing, this will be an extra long chapter! And next chapter will be from Merlin's point of view back in Camelot!
Thanks to all those who reviewed, favorited, and liked!
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It was an hour before Arthur slowly opened the door. Merlin looked at his face but it was unreadable. He didn't look scared, or worried anymore. He looked proud, like a King. Merlin let go of the breath he had been holding.
"So you can't tell me anything that happened when I was gone." When Arthur finally spoke, it was phrased as a statement, but it had a lot of hope that the answer would oppose him. Merlin sighed though, knowing he would have to let him down.
"Exactly, Arthur. I'm sorry. Although, I can give you a bone. There is a letter from Guinevere that I will give you when we go back to the estate."
"Estate?" Arthur had been wondering about Merlin's housing, and thought it was a good time to ask, even though he was burning to read the letter.
"Well, when you've lived one thousand years, it's pretty easy to build up a fortune. My "family" has held this property for five hundred years—luckily, I'm pretty good at changing my face, and I was a recluse for about three hundred of those years, working from home generally." Arthur looked at Merlin in amusement.
"So you don't age? Is that what you're saying? You'll always look like you did back in Camelot?"
"Oh no," Merlin laughed. "This is actually what I look like. But at about age fifty I stopped aging so I have to use a little help if I want to not look suspicious. And then I usually pass the deed off to my son…a younger looking me. It's pretty good, if I might say so."
"Another thing," Arthur looked as if he wanted to ask about fifty questions at a time. Which was fine with Merlin—they had all the time in the world. "Is Uther…here? Is he the father you told me about?"
Merlin shook his head, and a little light of hope in Arthur's chest died—he knew his father hadn't been the best ruler, or even father, but that didn't mean Arthur didn't still love him.
"No, Arthur, I'm sorry. His name is Jerry and his hobbies are fishing, reading, and his job as the CEO of a toy company. Nothing like your father, I'm afraid."
Arthur shrugged it off, trying to remember the rest of his questions. "Who are the reincarnations that you've found?" He tried not to sound hopeful, to wish for Gwen, but Merlin could tell. Of course he could. One thousand years later and they still understood each other like twins.
"Not yet. There's hope, of course. She's out there, Arthur, don't worry. We will find her. As for the others, I've found Percival—he's Perry here, so not difficult to remember—, and Leon, or Luke here. Neither of them know who they really are, but I managed to figure out a way to get them to work here—Luke is a scientist here, and Perry is head of security. We've been trying to figure out how to wake them up, make them realize. Perry is a bit lost, he he must be pretty close to realizing because he's not as bad as you were, but he is close. And Luke actually is very well adapted here—which will probably make it harder to make him realize. He'll be a valuable asset either way, however, and he knows Adam."
"So what am I here for? Why are you here? Who's the bad guy?" Arthur waited, while Gwaine and Merlin exchanged a glance.
"That's a topic for another day," Merlin finally said. Arthur grimaced, but moved on.
"So Morgana had nothing to do with this…" He waited for an affirmation, and Merlin nodded. "So…if she has magic too, does that mean she's around as well? Is that what the big problem here is?" Merlin was already shaking his head before Arthur finished.
"No, Arthur, actually…well, she's changed. She's had a thousand years to do so, I suppose and actually…well, we're close friends now." Arthur was so tied up in this answer that he didn't notice the slight blush that rose up Merlin's neck.
Merlin remembered the last time he had seen Morgana—fifty years ago, actually. She had aged well, and had promised to turn up when the time came for Arthur to return. Merlin would be happy to see her.
"She's an…an ally, then." Merlin nodded, glad for the interruption. Arthur looked a bit confused, torn about how to feel. Merlin had an awkward thought, one he'd been suppressing for a long time. Arthur might be…protective of his half-sister. He hoped the resentment that had built up between them would be resolved, but he was also half-hoping that resentment would stop Arthur from murdering him once he found out that Merlin and Morgana, well…had a bit of a thing. Even if Morgana refused to be tied down, traveling the world nonstop.
"Well," Arthur mused. "This will be weird." Gwaine snorted, drawing a smirk from both Arthur and Merlin. "But it's good to have you two back."
\m/
After leaving the museum, the ride to Merlin's estate was quiet. Arthur looked a little pale from the jolting of the car, but also determined and thoughtful. He had grown up a lot in the years after his father died, but even more so after he had woken up from that coma. He had to learn a lot, in a short amount of time. Merlin was proud of him.
When they got to the property, Arthur stared. It had to be at least 70 acres. The castle—Merlin had said it was called a mansion, but Arthur thought the word castle was much more appropriate—looked ancient. There were creeping vines up the front wall, and a huge garden that ran parallel to the road up to the castle after the gate. Merlin stopped and typed in a code before the gates swung open—Arthur stared.
When they got up to the house Merlin did not stop but took a sharp right, heading around the back of the house. Then they followed a road behind the estate.
"You need roads to get through your property? Now that's what I'm talking about." Arthur was feeling more and more at home. Now this felt like a kingdom. Merlin grinned happily.
"I thought you might like it." They kept going, into a mini-forest. When they emerged, he pulled into the driveway of a cottage, next to what looked kind of like a carriage with wheels. "This is where you will stay. I know it's a bit small, but you have a four-wheeler that I'll teach you how to use, to get up to the mansion."
He turned off the car and gestured to Arthur to follow him into the cottage. "There are five rooms—a bathroom, a bedroom, a kitchen, a living room, and an office. The office is where I keep all my research—you'll have to catch up on it but that can wait until tomorrow. I am guessing you want to sleep now."
Arthur glared—he was anything but tired. "Let's look at some of it." Merlin shook his head, but led him into the office.
Arthur looked around. There wasn't a spare inch of wall that wasn't covered in photographs and newspapers. They all seemed to center around one man.
"Seth Lamia. A slightly diabolic name, at best. He is descended from Modred." Arthur looked at him in shock.
