Hey all! I have returned!
Thanks to MugetsuPipefox for the lovely writing prompt! I really, really wanted to make this longer for you, Mugetsu, but with finals nearing, and with my muse being stubborn, I don't have the time or mental capacity to add to its meager size. I hope you enjoy this regardless! Sorry!
Merlin is six years old.
Never Quite Lost: Subconscious
The question ran through all of their minds more often than they would admit: did Merlin really remember anything from his past life, or was everything just a big coincidence?
After all, they had all seen his aversion to any and all golden goblets, had all heard his ramblings about the 'drockas' hiding under his bed, screaming at him, and once, he had called Arthur 'Your Pratness'.
Gaius received the answer to the big question on a muggy midsummer's evening, when Merlin was assisting him in the cleaning of his closet. The boy had grown a few inches in the past year, now reaching the elderly man's waist, and his hair had grown longer and curlier, but Gwen had cut it slightly so it stayed at the base of his skull.
"Pass me the winroot, would you, Merlin?" He asked, rearranging the dated herbs and remedies. The warlock, hands full of bottles already, sighed and levitated the small jar into the waiting hand. Gaius placed it in its proper place without comment.
Merlin finished sorting through his designated shelf, decided that he would like to avoid going to bed, and moved up to the next wooden shelf without asking permission first. He just hoped that his uncle wouldn't notice.
Dogroot, dinsley, extract of frog testes, anamara… None of the names made sense to him, but he shrugged and sorted them by the size of the bottles encasing the leaves and liquids. All was going well until he came upon a strangely familiar bottle, a large and tall one full of bright blue liquid. Curious, he pulled it from its dusty perch and tugged on Gaius's robe.
"What's this say?" He asked around the gap between his bottom teeth. The aged physician turned slightly to read the label for him.
"It says aconite. Be very careful, Merlin, it's very-" He was cut off as the bottle crashed to the floor, Merlin jumping backwards from it desperately. His eyes were blown wide, his breathing was ragged and he was staring in something akin to shock at the broken shards of glass.
"Poison! Poison!" He shouted, pointing accusingly at the wet ground. There was sweat on his brow. Gaius placed his forgotten bottles on a nearby shelf and knelt by the boy, carefully avoiding the spreading puddle. He placed a concerned hand on the child's shoulder.
Merlin's head shot up and he met the man's gaze.
"'s POISON!" He exclaimed, again, as if Gaius was hard of hearing and hadn't received the message loud and clear already. The man nodded, examining his nephew carefully. Was he suffering from some sort of mental breakdown? His behavior was far from normal.
"It'll poison Arthur! Poison, poison, I'm lying to you Gaius, no bandits, Morgana, snake, poison the meat, Merlin, Arthur's in trouble, WHY ISN'T HE EATING IT?" He finished with a scream of frustration as his eyes focused on something in the far distance.
Memories of that fateful endeavor crossed Gaius's mind, making him blanch. Did Merlin remember being under Morgana's control?
"Merlin," he said firmly, shaking his shoulders a bit, "how do you know this?" Merlin looked directly at him with haunted, confused eyes.
"I don't know. I just do, and why am I doing this, Merlin? Control yourself, it's YOUR damned body!" He shouted again. Gaius winced at the adult language. When the boy had calmed slightly, he spoke to him, placing a hand under his chin.
"Merlin. Listen. This is all just a memory… from the… sky." He made up as he went. Merlin stopped rambling. His eyes lit up in wonder.
"From the sky?" He asked excitedly, all agitation gone in an instant. Gaius smiled and nodded, patting his shoulder in reassurance.
"Yes, see, when the sky has too many memories, it makes them fall like shooting stars and land right in people's heads."
Merlin's eyes were wide again, but this time with awe. He ate the story up happily.
"Woah. Tell me more!"
Gaius chuckled, starting to clean up the sharp pieces of glass. "I will, my boy, but first you need to finish sorting that extra shelf." Merlin groaned.
Stupid chores.
Does that make him a sky memory too? He thought, peering over at Will, who was standing awkwardly in the corner, perking up when Merlin looked his way. Merlin waved back before he continued his work. Nah, he's too mine to be the sky's.
Once again, sorry for the lame and short chapter, but I've got a lot going on right now and just wanted to get this up before things get even busier.
Thanks for your patience!