Disclaimer: I do not own BBC Merlin.
Chapter Thirty-Five: Two Merlins
Gaius expelled a soft sigh. "Can you please stop pacing, sires," he begged. "I am getting a headache just by looking at you two."
Bodyguard Arthur jerked in surprise, having been immersed in his worry for the princess, and glanced at his past reincarnation. True to Gaius' claim, even the king was pacing, who now drew into a complete halt to glare menacingly at the mirror.
The princess had been gone for hours. He did not know for how long, seeing that they were trapped inside this place without any sight of the outside, but for him, it felt like an eternity. He was even tempted to break Merlin's order and throw himself into the mirror just to save the princess, 'forever trapping him inside' be damned.
It was the king who made an astonishing offer a while ago. "I can go inside and search her, and quite possibly my manservant, for our peace of minds," he claimed, with all the seriousness he could muster. He then proceeded to point out that his future reincarnation was here, and Bodyguard Arthur just had to cross the mirror to bring him out.
His idea was quite tempting, but the bodyguard knew Princess Merlin would have his head for sacrificing his and King Arthur's wellbeing. Gaius also adamantly refused with the king's idea. Thankfully, King Arthur dropped it and had proceeded to pace to and fro up until now.
"That's it, I'm going in!" the king suddenly exclaimed. Gaius made a move to protest, but he just continued to barge forward, eyes determinedly eyeing the magical mirror. Bodyguard Arthur was torn whether to step aside or block the mirror; his impatience and worry were growing by the minute, and truth be told, he was almost on the verge of snapping, too.
Finally, he decided to step aside and let the king through.
Just before he could even touch the mirror, however, the mirror suddenly glowed, and Princess Merlin and the unmistakable sight of the unconscious legendary warlock came tumbling out.
"MERLIN!" the two Arthur's exclaimed in unison. King Arthur immediately came forward to unburden the unsteady princess with the dead weight of his manservant. The bodyguard, on the other hand, assisted the princess on her feet.
"The door materialized once more!" Gaius claimed, and they did not have to be told twice as they all dashed forward, threw the door open, and finally emerged out into the open.
The future reincarnation of the Once and Future King was right in thinking that they had been staying in the Tower of Idem for hours. A magnificent mixture of orange, pink, and red painted the sky, signaling the sun's descent down into the horizon.
"We have to get to the transportation symbol," Princess Merlin gushed, inexplicably tired from her little adventure. "We must make haste."
They all blindly ran. The bodyguard half-dragged, half-carried the princess until they all collapsed inside the pentagram.
"Ætberan ús áberstan [1]," Princess Merlin said, the incantation instantly taking place as the dark symbol glowed, and the familiar feeling of transportation took over.
Soon, they found themselves back in the Darkling Woods. "Ácwínan [2]," the sorceress said, her eyes turning gold as the pentagram disappeared from their sight. "To save some unfortunate souls from stumbling back into that horrid tower." She said it as a reply from her bodyguard's questioning look.
The forest now was dark, as the sun did its complete descent and the full moon now high above the inky black sky.
"We should camp out here for the time being," King Arthur said, unceremoniously placing his manservant on the damp, dirty ground of the forest. "Seriously, he weighs tons for a gangly, young man."
They all waited with bated breath, eyes constantly magnetizing down on the unconscious warlock. Gaius took that time to heal some of the princess' cuts from her unfortunate encounter of hurtling shards of ice.
Manservant Merlin was still too cold from his entrapment in the block of ice; despite his unconsciousness, he was shivering violently with chattering teeth. The group had to give up their own blankets just to cocoon him to give him some warmth. They were finally satisfied and less worried when his teeth stopped chattering all together.
The bodyguard volunteered to keep watch for the night, seeing that the princess was dead tired from saving her past counterpart, Gaius' health was slowly declining, and he needed the king to be alert in the morning. He knew he had no choice.
Shooting another look at the unconscious manservant, he frowned, hoping that he would wake up real soon.
"Wake up," her bodyguard murmured, as Merlin stirred in her sleep.
Opening one eye, she scowled upon noticing that the moon was still very much in the obvious dark sky. "It's still night," she groaned, rolling over to her side to cover her face.
"Merlin's waking up."
Her eyes fully opened in surprise, immediately sitting up from her makeshift cot. Merlin paused for a while, getting a little dizzy from her abrupt actions, before settling her eyes on the supposed unconscious manservant. King Arthur and Gaius were already up, some remnants of sleep still visible on their faces.
She and Arthur crept closer to the group, eyes peering down on Merlin in anticipation. True to Arthur's words, the warlock was jerking lightly on his cot, before finally opening his eyes.
Princess Merlin gasped, once again feeling strange staring down on the blue eyes she had been constantly dreaming about for the past few months.
For a moment, they were silent and watched the manservant's eyes sweep from one person to another. Finally, he settled on the kind, old face of the Court Physician. "Ga-gaius?" he croaked, voice still raw from disuse. "Is it just me or are there two Arthurs?"
He was cold, utterly cold, as he finally opened his eyes.
The first thing he noticed was that he was not in his warm bed in Gaius' bedchambers. The next thing he noticed, however, was that there were two unmistakable Arthurs staring down at him.
"Ga-gaius?" he asked, confused and quite disturbed with the sight. "Is it just me or are there two Arthurs?"
He slowly sat up, assisted by the two Arthurs he claimed. Before Gaius could even respond, his eyes landed on the girl in front of him, and he blanched, noticing her startlingly familiar blue eyes. "D-do I know you?"
Merlin blinked rapidly, confusion growing on his face. He did not know who she was but she was making him uncomfortable.
"Am I just dreaming?" the manservant spoke once more, still ogling strangely at the two Arthurs. As an answer, the king gave him a huge slap at the back of his neck, much to the surprise of the others. "Ow, you dollophead!" he cried, rubbing his smarting neck. Arthur grinned widely at his insult.
"Can someone please explain to me what is happening?" he cried hysterically, a wild look still on his face.
Her other companions were highly amused with his antics. Thus, the only girl from the group took it upon herself to step forward. She stuck out her hand, and mustering the brightest, cheeriest smile she could muster, she said, "Hello, Merlin." The legendary warlock's eyes finally landed on her and still, he peered at her curiously. "I am Merlin. Pleased to meet you."
His eyes widened in saucers, his jaw dropping, as he took in her introduction. All the color drained from his face and he slightly swayed on the spot.
"Careful there, Merlin," one of the Arthurs, the one on his right, said, also grinning widely at him.
Merlin's horror-stricken face landed on Gaius. "Um… Gaius?" he squeaked, a tad scared from all of them. "What's happening?"
The Court Physician chuckled, humor in his eyes. "Do you remember anything at all, lad?" he inquired.
The manservant scrunched his forehead as he racked his brain. "We… we were here, in the Darkling Woods," he slowly started, trying to recall the memory. "When Agravaine suddenly appeared and knocked me out. I… I think there was Morgana and then, I don't remember anything anymore."
He scowled at the Arthur on the right. "I told you we shouldn't hunt on that day!" he angrily spat, annoyed that he could not remember anything at all.
"Wrong Arthur, mate," was all he said.
"Merlin, you idiot," the Arthur on the left, claimed, prompting his eyes to widen.
The confused warlock groaned, hands snaking to his temples as a pounding headache started to form. "Gaius," he pleaded and closed his eyes, refusing to look at the peculiar sight before him.
"You were abducted by Morgana," the Court Physician continued. "King Arthur's memories were meddled by her. You were gone for months, my dear lad. And then, these two time travelers appeared out of nowhere, claiming to be the future reincarnations of you and our king, with hopes of finding you."
"W-what?" he asked, aghast. "Time travelers? Reincarnations?"
The Arthur on the right sighed. "My name is Arthur Pendragon, and I am the future reincarnation of the Once and Future King," he said, whilst gesturing at the Arthur on the left, the King Arthur which Merlin knew. "Pleased to meet you. And she" – he pointed at the strange girl still peering with that familiar blue eyes of hers –"is your future reincarnation, Princess Merlin of the House Emrys, and I pledged my loyalty to serve her and protect her future."
"A girl reincarnation?" he sputtered out, prompting the princess to roll her eyes.
"I'm proud to be one, so watch it, warlock," she snarled, eyes dangerously flashing. The menace in her eyes soon disappeared, however, and she grinned. "Quite a shocker, isn't it?"
'Shocker' was such a huge understatement.
"There are two Merlins in front of my eyes," King Arthur piped in, throwing a playful glare at the princess. "I am the one shocked."
It was all too much, the sorcerer thought. He had seen a lot of strange magic in this land ever since he was a baby, but it was the first time he came across with time travelers. And future reincarnations of him and the king, no less!
"B-but how?" he asked, breathless.
Bodyguard Arthur would sigh once more. "Some unimaginable force threw us back here in time," he explained. "We found out that our original counterparts were missing. With no knowledge of how to go back, we tried to blend in while trying to find clues on your disappearance."
Merlin paled. He should have known this was a work of a powerful magic.
"Don't worry," the time traveler said, smiling gently at him. "We don't bite."
The manservant turned to the king. "How come he is more tolerable than you are?" he suddenly asked, prompting King Arthur to glare.
To his surprise, female Merlin boisterously laughed. "Oh, trust me, Merlin," she piped in. "You are very, very wrong." This made the bodyguard laugh at her claim.
"All right, all right," the manservant said. "So, Arthur and I have been missing for months, our reincarnations travelled back in time, and you assumed roles just to fit in." He knitted his eyebrows, still disbelieving that the words he uttered were true, and then added, "But how were you able to find us?"
It was Princess Merlin who answered him. "I found King Arthur in Northumbria purely by accident," she said. "As what Gaius said, he has some memory loss, and our solution was to bring him to the Cauldron of Arianrhod to remove Morgana's spell."
"And you," she continued, giving him a strange look. "We found you locked in the Tower of Idem, a supposed myth. But you have been appearing in dreams for months, trying to help me find my way to you. Do you not remember?"
The manservant's eyes widened in realization. He had been having dreams, too, of a girl with the same eyes as she possessed. He remembered he was asking for help while he was trapped inside a huge block of ice. "I…" he quietly replied. "I did not realize it was true."
Manservant Merlin took a moment to digest all the new information he received. Here was he, still shivering slightly from the cold, while staring at Arthur's and his reincarnations. Whatever force may have brought them here, Merlin had this inkling he and the king were in grave danger for fate to decide to seek help from their future reincarnations.
"You said you pretended to be king while Arthur is gone," he slowly said, eyes landing on the bodyguard. "How come you are here and not in Camelot?"
All the humor and amusement left their faces, replaced with severity that he did not like one bit.
"Camelot is under Morgana's reign, with the help from the Southrons," Princess Merlin replied in a whisper, prompting his eyes to widen. "It is a long story as to how that came to be. To make it short, Agravaine betrayed us all, my bodyguard here and Gaius fled to find you and the king and reclaim back Camelot from Morgana's clutches."
He glanced at the king, who was somber from her words. Merlin always felt queasy whenever Agravaine was around. He did voice it out at times to Arthur, but the king would always brush it off. Looking at him now, however, Merlin did not have the heart to cajole him for being right.
"We are hoping that now you are here," Bodyguard Arthur continued, "you will now help Camelot and we can finally go home."
"Our first priority is to claim back Camelot," King Arthur claimed with conviction. "Morgana must pay for all the things she did to me, to Merlin… to Camelot." He sighed and shook his head. "I apologize because you've been dragged into this, too. I swear that once we get Camelot back, we will help you find yourself home."
Merlin reverently nodded his head. Somehow, he felt responsible for all the things that happened for the past months. If only he had been more vigilant, more careful – he could have protected King Arthur and these time travelers would not travel back in time in the first place.
"Can't sleep?"
Princess Merlin smiled as her bodyguard sidled beside her. "Sadly, I can't," she replied.
After the manservant's awakening, Gaius retired to bed whilst Merlin requested to be alone with his thoughts. He was currently sitting in front of the blazing fire, with King Arthur quietly sitting beside him.
The princess planned to sleep, with her bodyguard also preparing to call it a night, but Merlin found out she could not sleep at all. Perching herself on one of the available logs in the woods, she was lost in her thoughts until Arthur sat down beside her and snapped her off from her reverie.
"Yeah, me too," Arthur said, nodding his head to concur with her. "The fact that we finally found our original counterparts is enough to keep me awake at night."
She sighed, understanding what he meant. "It is comforting to think that we might be going home after all," she said, a huge beam growing on her face. "I wonder what my parents, our friends, are doing right now while we are still missing."
"We still have to reclaim Camelot, though," Arthur pointed out, prompting her to roll her eyes.
"Spoilsport," she said, sticking out her tongue afterwards.
Arthur tutted. "That was very unladylike," he said, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "What would your people think if they saw their future queen acting so immaturely."
She playfully hit him in the arm as her response and laughed.
"Shh," he said, placing a finger against his lips. "You'll wake Gaius up."
Merlin shot an apologetic look at the slumbering Court Physician. Her eyes then swept to the bonfire, and the two people who were sitting close to it. The king was slightly furious, furiously whispering to his manservant, while the warlock looked deeply remorseful.
"I have this feeling they're talking about Merlin's magic," the bodyguard suggested, which she agreed to completely.
"In Merlin's defense," the princess started, "Camelot is unforgiving to people of magic. I think it is perfectly reasonable for him to hide it from Arthur, of all people."
"He'll fully accept it, eventually," Arthur reassured with a smile. "The king only needs some time. I know that because I remembered how he felt when Merlin revealed his magic to him."
Merlin frowned and looked back at her bodyguard. "What confuses me really is how messed up the timeline is," she said. "If I remember correctly, Arthur found out about Merlin's magic days before he died in the Battle of Camlann." Her frown deepened, this time with her eyebrows meeting together. "Come to think of it, the attack of the Southrons is far too early and Morgana knows about Emrys already."
"Well, Arthur and Merlin did not really went missing in the first place," Arthur pointed out. He looked quite bothered. "Does that mean we are in a parallel universe?"
"That's preposterous," she exclaimed, highly doubting his explanation. "If we are, we will never have those real memories of our originals." She pensively looked at her feet and sighed. "How can we explain all of these?"
"We can't," the bodyguard said, shaking his head. "Time is… weird. All these time travelling, weird timelines, and the like…" Arthur slightly smiled. "I think the only explanation we have is by the words of my favorite doctor."
Merlin looked at him strangely. "And what is that?"
"A big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff," he said, shrugging.
"You don't make any sense," she sighed.
"Our situation doesn't make any sense," he interjected, slightly affronted with her insult. When she still looked highly unconvinced, he said, "Look, perhaps the reason why we still have the real memories of our reincarnations is because, you know, once we go back, the timeline will be restored and they will forget about us completely."
The princess looked thoughtful, about to retort something back, before stopping herself. He made perfect sense this time. "That's… sad," she said, feeling a tad melancholy with the fact that all the friendships she established here would all be forgotten once they go back home.
"Some powerful force brought us here for a reason, Merlin," he pointed out. "We don't have a say with anything that is bound to happen."
Merlin forlornly looked at their past reincarnations, feeling a painful clenching in her heart with the thought that they would be forgotten.
"What about us?" she softly asked, feeling more dreadful as she refused to look at her bodyguard. "Will we forget our adventure here, too?"
Memories of her stay came flooding back into her mind, overwhelming her greatly. Most of them consisted of her times with her bodyguard, too, and she could not bear the thought that she would forget the feelings they had shared with each other during their stay here in Camelot.
To her surprise, Arthur's warm hand enclosed her small, dainty one. She sadly looked back at him, but there was a smile on his face. "Remember when you said Merlin's name back when King Arthur still believed he was Benedict the Blacksmith?" he asked.
She nodded her head and lightly smiled. How could she forget? His reaction was instant, as if that simple name of his manservant had greatly impacted his confused state.
"I think," he said, eyes gazing up into the night sky, "that even if we forgot whatever transpired here in this place, we won't forget what we felt."
At the same time, he gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "I… love you," he said, eyes wide as if he just realized his feelings for the first time. "Christ, I really do and I would have told you before, but you refused to listen." He gave her a pointed look and she blushed, remembering their brief encounter in the Darkling Woods before she left Camelot. "And I know you are romantic by heart, so I think it is safe to say my love for you will transcend time."
She was floored, with his confession and how sincere his feelings were.
"Arthur?" she whispered.
"Yeah?"
"I love you too."
"How are we going to save Camelot now?" the manservant sighed as King Arthur supplemented more information with Morgana's reign.
"Well," the king said, a strange look on his face, "we can use your magic to send a message to the Kinghts of the Round Table and gather them in the outskirts of the Camelot." Merlin's eyes had widened but Arthur was not yet finished. "Then, we could plan more with them before we attack Morgana and the Southrons."
King Arthur sighed and shook his head. "Honestly, Merlin," he added, "this is the only plausible idea I could think of." He ran a frustrated hand through his dirtied, blond hair and frowned. "Morgana is starting to become a problem now. We should really deal with her once we get back in Camelot."
When Merlin did not reply, the king looked at him. "What?" he barked, annoyed with how he was stupidly staring at him.
"You… know I have magic?" he asked, whispering the last bit in fear that what he heard was wrong.
Their eyes drifted for a while onto the two time travelers when the princess suddenly burst into loud laughter, followed by her bodyguard's shushing.
King Arthur then gave him a strange look. "Your future reincarnation might have slipped it or something," he flippantly said, waving his hand. Merlin's eyes widened and he darkly glared at Princess Merlin, feeling betrayed.
"Oh, don't blame her," Arthur snapped, looking highly furious. "At least she had the decency to tell me that my manservant of years has been constantly saving me because he is a sorcerer."
Merlin flinched with his address, apologetically looking at the ground. "I am sorry, Arthur," he said with sincerity. "Truly, I am. But tell me" – he lifted his head and stared straight into Arthur – "what would you have done if I told you before?"
He was satisfied with how Arthur's fury dissipated.
For a while, the king was silent. "Honestly," the king started, creasing his forehead, "I would have been shocked, and most likely avoid you for days." Merlin gave him a knowing look, prompting him to roll his eyes. "Do you honestly think I would have built a pyre for you?"
Merlin shrugged. "I may have thought about that, one way or another," he said smoothly.
King Arthur sighed. "You really should start trusting me more, Merlin," he drawled, glaring darkly at his manservant. "I am not like my father."
Strangely, that made him smile. Seeing that he was still very much alive even if his secret was out in the open proved that Arthur was not like his father. "I'd keep that in mind," he said, relief flooding in his heart. It was tiring to keep his identity a secret for so long. It felt refreshing to know that one of his closest friends already knew of his true nature.
His eyes strayed back to the time travelers, specifically on his future reincarnation.
"Who knew I'd be a girl someday," Merlin said, still disbelievingly looking at the sheepish princess. Now that warmth had finally flooded his system, he could think clearly, and finally realize that the girl looked exactly like him. It was frightening that even the facial expressions on her face were mirrored with his. There were minor differences, however, like her long, wavy tresses and her ears were smaller than his, but still deemed as large.
"Seems fitting, don't you think?" the king said with a playful glint in his eyes. "What with your flare for drama and whatnot." When Merlin looked affronted, he continued, "I always knew you'd be a wonderful girl, Merlin."
"Clotpole," he shot back, glaring darkly at the king. Arthur was unfazed, however. "I sure hope you will be a girl someday, too."
Arthur laughed boisterously, and Merlin couldn't help but to crack a small smile. "I'd be a horrible female," he said, nose now scrunching in disgust with the idea.
Merlin paled, imaging a whiny, female version of the king. Somehow, he had this inkling this version would be more intolerable than the king he had right now.
"But she's a princess in her time," Arthur pointed out. "I think that can compensate with your sudden gender change."
The manservant rolled his eyes, thinking it was typical for Arthur to think that all would be better with titles and riches. Honestly, he thought he would chose being a manservant than a royal of a kingdom any day.
"I'm sure you're disappointed you are a, how do they call it - ?"
" – a bodyguard - ."
" – yes, a bodyguard or a servant in the future," Merlin said, a pointed look on his face.
To his surprise, Arthur looked deeply slighted. "Do you honestly think of me as shallow?" When Merlin did not answer, he scowled. "Merlin, you are an idiot."
Merlin merely shrugged, a sheepish grin on his face.
Arthur sighed and shook his head. "I think this is a repayment for all the service you have given me, Merlin," he explained. "From what I heard from them, they are the umpteenth reincarnations, and I believe this is the first time this has happened." A small smile bloomed on his face as he looked back at the strangers. "Don't you think it's fitting that I get to serve you this time?"
He looked at the king, awed that he could say such words. Now that he said it, Merlin thought Arthur made sense. After all, it was not easy to serve him, especially because he had a destiny to protect the Once and Future King from all the harm that was thrown his way.
Silently, as he looked at the strangers, too, he thought that destiny was a funny thing.
They both watched as Arthur's reincarnation tightly grasped the hand of Merlin's reincarnation. Blanching and wide-eyed, Merlin turned to the king. "Are they - ?"
"Whatever you are going to ask," King Arthur hastily said, blushing furiously that mirrored his future counterpart, "I do not wish to hear it, Merlin."
This confirmed his suspicions all the more. Jaw dropping with bewilderment, Merlin looked back at the obvious couple and felt sick in the stomach.
'Yes,' he thought. 'Destiny is such a funny thing.'
"An owl?" King Arthur asked, eyeing the princess in incredulity. "As a carrier for messages? That's ridiculous."
Princess Merlin gave him a glare. "Hey," she said, affronted, "you have no right to insult the brilliancy of my favorite author." She frowned and gestured at the bird now perched on her right arm. "They are very intelligent birds, thank you very much, and I have successfully delivered a letter to my bodyguard and Gaius, twice, already."
The manservant grinned, obviously thrilled with her idea. "So, how do you do it?" he asked, raptly looking at the female version of him.
"So, the letter will be just tied to his claw." Bodyguard Arthur tied the letter to the owl's claw as instructed by Merlin. "And then… Ærendsecgan þys ærendgewrit æt Gwaine ferhþgléaw fléogenda [3]." Her eyes turned golden as the owl ruffled its feathers. Finally, it took flight to deliver the message.
"That's it?" King Arthur asked, warily watching the bird's flight.
"That's it," Merlin said with a smile.
Manservant Merlin looked back at a princess, a questioning look on his face. "Then what?" he asked.
"Well," Princess Merlin said, "now we wait."
[1] Ætberan ús áberstan – Bring us away
[2] Ácwínan – Disappear
[3] Ærendsecgan þys ærendgewrit æt Gwaine, ferhþgléaw fléogenda – Deliver this message to Gwaine, wise bird
A/N: I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE FOR BEING TWO WEEKS LATE! It's the last month of the school-year and I'm swamped (and dying lol). But please drop a review! Also, I'm sorry for some glaring mistakes. I'm still woozy from a sleep-deprived night and the words on the screen get a little blurry hahahaha.
I'd probably update late again, but rest assured this story will not be abandoned! I still have a few weeks left in school filled with exams and conferences and papers and gahhhh .
Next chapter features their return to Camelot :)
With love,
WickedlyAwesomeMe