Uther hadn't left his office since Arthur told him off, which was a relief to Merlin because he didn't have to be careful about where and when he used magic.
Arthur was surprisingly okay with his father feeling completely betrayed by him. Merlin could usually tell when Arthur was distracted or upset by something, but he seemed wholly focused as he got his men ready for battle in a way he hadn't been yesterday. Whether he just got over it or was shoving it down for later, Merlin wasn't sure.
Merlin was watching all the grave expressions from the doorway of the armory, where he leaned on the doorjam with his arms crossed. He was putting his duty off—just for a couple minutes so he could gather his thoughts. He mostly watched Arthur as he weaved in and out of people, waiting for someone to have a question. Most people didn't speak at all, so the room was uncommonly serene. The calm before the storm.
"Hey."
Merlin turned to see Morgana, who curiously wasn't getting ready for battle.
"Hey," he replied dully. "You're not dressed."
"I don't plan to join Arthur today." Merlin knew where this was going, so he didn't say anything. Morgana continued, "You know, I'd be more than willing to come with you. My magic is so much stronger thanks to your training. I could help you."
"No," Merlin said flatly, using a lot of self-control to even let her finish the sentence before saying it. "You need to fight with Arthur."
Morgana looked equal parts annoyed and dejected. "You don't have to do this alone."
"I do, though. I can't put any of my friends in danger because I'm too weak to take her on alone."
"That's the point of friends, Merlin," she said. "So that they can pick up the slack where you fall short." He didn't say anything, so she continued, "What about your plan? The poison? How's that going?"
Merlin sighed. "I'm just going to have to hope that it's ready, and that Lady Morgana falls for the bait before I actually have to kill a dragon."
"Merlin." It was Lance. "Can I speak to you privately for a moment?"
"Sure," he said, desperately glad to have an excuse to walk away from Morgana. She was going to insist upon coming and one could only be nagged by her for so long before they gave in. He didn't want to give himself that chance.
Merlin was pulled into the vacant conference room. "I don't want to cause a panic," Lance said, "but I thought you should know that Mordred's body has disappeared."
Merlin had honestly feared as much the moment he saw Mordred's corpse in the first place. Mordred wasn't betrayed by Arthur in this version of things, so he had no reason to turn to Lady Morgana's side. Lady Morgana was known in the past to create Shades to do her dirty work, so it only made sense she would do the same now.
It was curious though, because Lady Morgana had seemed rather attached to the boy in the past, and had patiently waited for him to come to her himself. Now, she had no qualms killing him. Clearly the years steeping in bitterness had really done a number on her already lacking empathy.
"Thanks for telling me," Merlin said. Merlin vanished, going deep into the woods where he'd last seen his dragon breath sword, and came back to give it to Arthur.
Merlin took him aside before handing it to him.
"You're going now, right?" Arthur asked.
Merlin nodded. "I need you to use this sword. Mordred is going to meet you in battle, and the sword he wields will be like this one. One wound from him and you will die, so don't hesitate. He won't be the Mordred you knew anymore."
Arthur only nodded.
"You okay?" Merlin asked.
Arthur rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, Merlin, just a little worried about my boyfriend going to fight an ancient sorceress on his own. Why don't you try worrying about yourself for once?"
"Because—"
"It's your destiny, I know, I've heard the spiel," Arthur said. "But how are you supposed to keep protecting me if you die today?"
"If I succeed, you'll hardly need protecting anymore."
Arthur leveled Merlin with a serious gaze. "Merlin, you better come back. I expect you to come into our battle with lightning powers at the ready, and then afterwards I'm going to take you on a long vacation so we can forget all of this ever happened."
Merlin had a strange feeling it wasn't going to happen quite like that, but he didn't say so. He smiled his best smile. "You better, after all this trouble you're putting me through."
Arthur didn't seem to have it in him to tease Merlin back. Instead he leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together. "Be careful, Merlin."
It was a silly thing to ask of him. There was nothing careful about his plan. It could go wrong in a million different ways.
But he smiled again. "I'm always careful."
He couldn't bear to look at the hurt expression in his eyes anymore, so he impulsively vanished, without even a goodbye, back to Gaius' study.
Gaius wasn't alone.
"Morgana?" Merlin asked. He'd been teaching her to teleport recently, but she'd never gone very far successfully. It was the only way she could have gotten here this quickly, though. Clearly she was practicing—but he couldn't praise her or else she'd use it as reason she should come with him.
Though it seemed she planned to do that anyway. "See, Merlin? I'm strong enough. Let me help you."
He completely ignored her, knowing she could and would use anything he said as ammunition against him—going over to Gaius instead, who was looking somber with a glass vial in his hand.
"Is it ready?" Merlin asked.
"As ready as it's going to be in the time frame we have. I fear altering it any further at this late hour will hurt rather than help."
Merlin took the vial of dark green liquid.
"And here is the antidote," he said, handing him a different vial—this one with bright blue liquid. "Don't get them mixed up."
"I won't."
Gaius was quiet for a moment before he said, "I think you should let Morgana come with you."
Merlin rolled his eyes. "Not you too. Why would I do that?"
"Merlin, I could think of any number of reasons. Because she's powerful. Because she could be a distraction to Lady Morgana. Because I don't think you should be going alone in the first place."
"I don't have a choice."
"There is always a choice."
Merlin chose not to answer, instead giving Gaius a hug. There were a lot of people back at Pendragon Manor that he didn't bother to say goodbye to in his haste to run away from Arthur, and hugging Gaius reminded him of them.
But it was too late to worry about that now. He had to go. Better to try and end the fight before it started.
"Be careful," Gaius said.
"Everyone's telling me that," Merlin muttered.
Gaius glanced at Morgana, who was trying to give them some privacy by looking around the shelves of books against the wall. He leaned in close to Merlin and said in a hushed tone: "I fear that saving Arthur is not as easy as stopping Mordred from stabbing him."
"What do you mean?"
"The Old Religion is all about balance. For a life to be saved—"
"Another must be taken, I know. I don't think that same principal applies here. She didn't resurrect him, only a shade of him."
"It's not about Mordred being saved. It's about Arthur being saved. If his life is spared, I believe the spirits of the Old Religion will demand recompense, one way or another."
"So you're saying I can't save him and I'm doomed?" Merlin asked exasperatedly. This wasn't exactly a good pep talk.
"No, I don't mean that at all. I mean that you will not be coming out of this without losing something, whether or not that thing is Arthur."
"As long as it's not Arthur, I can handle it," Merlin said.
Gaius said nothing, but it was clear that he wanted to say a lot of things.
Merlin didn't really want to hear it, considering how disheartening all his words had been so far. Things felt hopeless enough without his negativity on top of it.
"Stop worrying so much. I'll see you in no time," Merlin said before teleporting himself a twenty minute stroll from Lady Morgana's castle—maybe it was mean to leave without a word to Morgana, but it really was better this way, he told himself as he walked towards the black monolith in the distance. Now that he was alone, nobody around him to distract him, the gravity of the situation settled upon him.
This was it. The moment he'd been dreading for years: the battle at which Arthur once died. Merlin was once again not with him, and it felt like a bad omen for them to be apart like this.
He wondered at that moment if this was a bad idea, if it would be better for him to be at Arthur's side during all of this. What if he was wrong and Morgana was actually marching with her men and he was wasting his time. Or worse, what if she knew he was coming and had something awful waiting for him?
Just then, Lady Morgana's cruel voice echoed in his mind. "Come and play, Emrys. Try to save your precious prince. I'm waiting."
She already knew he was here.
Whether he was ready or not, it was time.