A/N: Well this fic got away from me, lol. I just wanted to write an AU where Lancelot is saved and it turned into nine whole chapters. 0.o All aboard the angst train! I'll be updating this fic on Thursdays and Sundays. Stay safe, healthy, and sane everyone!
Chapter 1
Merlin sat in Gaius's chambers, eyes fixed on the closed door to his small room behind which the shade of his one-time friend lurked. Patient. Waiting. But for what? Lancelot had ceded the tournament to Arthur, hadn't taken the opportunity to grievously wound—or kill—him. So if Lancelot wasn't here to kill Arthur, why had Morgana sent him? What was her game? Why had she raised Lancelot from the dead?
Merlin's heart clenched with grief, anguish…anger. It had been hard enough losing Lancelot the first time, to see him like this, to know Morgana had enslaved his soul…it was too much. Lancelot didn't deserve this, not after his sacrifice. Merlin had to find a way to stop them, not just for Arthur's sake, but for Lancelot's.
When night fell, Merlin left the citadel and made his way to the clearing, calling for the Great Dragon as he went. A thwack of wing beats preceded Kilgharrah's arrival.
"Merlin, you look distressed. What great calamity has befallen Camelot now?"
"Morgana raised Lancelot from the dead. He's a shade, walking the halls of the castle."
Kilgharrah blinked. "That is grim news indeed."
"How can I save him?"
"It takes very dark magic to perform necromancy. His soul is bound by the one who raised him."
"There must be something," Merlin insisted. "I can't leave Lancelot enslaved to Morgana, and I can't let them accomplish what she sent him here to do."
"You could slay him," Kilgharrah suggested.
Merlin flinched. The very idea of killing his friend, even if Lancelot was now a shade, tore at his heart. Would death even free him? Or condemn him to an eternity of torment?
Kilgharrah canted his head thoughtfully. "Unless you want to do battle for the noble knight's soul."
Merlin straightened. "How?"
"It will take great power, and the witch will sense you trying to break her hold. She will fight back, and you will risk revealing yourself."
"I don't care," Merlin said immediately. "Lancelot gave his life to save Arthur—to save me. I have to try to save him."
"Very well, I will give you the knowledge you need. But be careful, young warlock; the witch is not to be underestimated."
Kilgharrah lowered his head and breathed in Merlin's face, filling him with the incantation he'd need to instigate this fight. Then the dragon flapped his great wings and took off into the night.
Merlin hurried back to the castle. He didn't need to have Lancelot right in front of him to do this, but he felt some proximity might boost his connection. He just needed to find a quiet secluded place where no one would happen upon him, and his former friend was currently occupying his room.
Or not. Merlin pulled up short and ducked into a shadowed alcove as he spotted Lancelot walking down the corridor. Now what was he doing out and about at this hour? Merlin cautiously followed. Lancelot turned a corner and stopped at a balcony. Agravaine stepped out of the darkness to join him.
"Everything is prepared," Lancelot said in that deadened voice. "Gwen is on her way to our assignation as we speak."
"You've done well. Our lady Morgana will be very pleased with you."
They said nothing more and went their separate ways. Merlin ducked behind a column as Lancelot passed. So Gwen was the target. There was no time to try breaking Morgana's spell; Merlin had to stop Lancelot now.
He hastened after the shade, pulling up short and thrusting his hand out, uttering an incantation under his breath. His magic slammed into Lancelot's back, flinging him through the air several feet to go sliding across the floor. Merlin sprinted toward him, unsure what to do next. He had to restrain and hide Lancelot somewhere while he performed the spell to free him.
But before he could think of a plan, Lancelot's eyes snapped open. The knight surged to his feet and kicked out at Merlin, taking out his legs from underneath him. Merlin fell back on the stone floor with a jarring thud. He heard the screech of steel being drawn from a scabbard and tried to get up, but the pommel of a sword smashed into his face, and then there was nothing.
He wasn't sure how long he was out, but when he next woke, his head was killing him and Lancelot was gone.
His heart dropped into his stomach. No, Gwen…
Merlin staggered to his feet, pressing a hand to his pounding head. He had to find them. He bolted down the corridor, trying to guess where Lancelot was headed. He skidded to a stop when he came across Arthur and Agravaine at the council chambers. Both were staring at something. Merlin flicked his gaze to the right and his heart seized at the sight of Lancelot and Guinevere kissing passionately.
In the space of a breath, Arthur drew his sword and charged with an anguished cry. Merlin could only watch as Lancelot whipped out his blade and the two began to fight, a flurry of clashing steel and Arthur's vocalized rage. Lancelot's sword was knocked from his grasp and he ducked away from a killing blow from Arthur. He tackled the King, slamming him against a pillar. Arthur's sword went clattering to the ground. They switched to brawling for a few seconds before Lancelot retrieved his blade first. Merlin whispered a spell to wrench it from his hand. Arthur snatched up his sword and charged, ready to slay Lancelot where he stood.
Gwen leaped between them with a cry. "No! Please, please."
Arthur reeled back.
"You have to stop, please, please," she begged. "You have to stop this." She uttered it over and over, raggedly pleading with them to stop, one hand raised against Arthur, who could only stare at her in utter devastation.
By this time the guards came rushing in, looking upon the scene in confusion.
Arthur took a step back. "Take them to the dungeon," he ordered.
Merlin's eyes filled with tears as Gwen sobbed. Lancelot didn't react at all as they were led away. So that was Morgana's plan all along. And she'd succeeded. Merlin had been too late. He slumped back against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut against a swell of grief. He'd failed.
No. No, there was still Lancelot's soul. He still deserved to be saved. And maybe there was still a chance to fix this.
Merlin pushed himself away from the wall and hurried to his room.
.o.0.o.
"Arthur is devastated," Agravaine reported. "I wish you could have seen the look on his face when he found the two of them like that."
Morgana wished she could have too, but she relished in the knowledge that she could just imagine it. She'd seen the way Arthur and Gwen looked at each other, knew the depths of their feelings. It only made destroying that so much sweeter.
"And our dear Lancelot?" she inquired.
"In the dungeon." Agravaine hesitated. "Arthur hasn't given any indication of what he plans to do with them."
"It matters not," Morgana replied. "The damage is done. Give this to our noble knight." She handed Agravaine a sealed letter detailing her last wishes for her dear Lancelot. He had fulfilled his purpose and she had no more use for him.
Agravaine tucked the missive inside his cloak and inclined his head.
Morgana turned away, only to pull up short with a gasp as something poked at her magic.
"My lady? What's wrong?"
Morgana held her breath, focusing on the strange sensation. Her eyes blew wide in dismay. "Someone is trying to break my claim over Lancelot."
"What? How is that possible?"
"Emrys," she hissed. She stumbled into her chair and closed her eyes. She would not let him succeed.
.o.0.o.
Merlin sat on the floor of his room, focusing all of his magic into this one spell. He felt his awareness slip from the physical realm into the astral, a strange and new sensation that left him momentarily disoriented. Once he acclimated though, it was easy to find the dark magic emanating from the dungeons below now that he had the words to see it. He wondered how he hadn't felt it before. The shroud was thick, a crackling morass of evil personified in Merlin's one-time friend. It was so suffocating that he had the brief moment of doubt that Lancelot's soul was even still there.
He pushed that aside and pressed on, wading through the brume. It was like slogging through a mire and Merlin felt his own chest growing tight from the compression. Then he saw it, a faint flicker of luminescence. He pushed forward until he finally found a small orb of light at the center of the darkness, pulsing weakly. Dark, inky vines were wrapped around it with thorns piercing the sphere. Merlin reached out to touch it.
The moment his hand brushed across its surface, he felt it screaming. The bound soul shuddered in response.
"Lancelot," Merlin breathed, his throat constricting.
Channeling his magic, he turned toward the vines and grabbed one to yank it off. It didn't budge and seemed to dig its thorns in deeper. Merlin drew his shoulders back and extended his hand, uttering words of power. The vine shrieked and went flying off. He turned to the next, only for a whomp of power to ripple through the air. He spun around and threw his arms up to shield against Morgana's attack. He could feel her pushing against his magic, probing. Merlin gritted his teeth and held his ground.
The vine he'd removed crawled back up and wrapped around Lancelot's soul again, squeezing so hard the entire light sputtered as though on the verge of winking out.
"No!" Merlin channeled every ounce of his might into pushing Morgana back.
More inky coils came shooting out of the darkness, toward him this time. Merlin twisted to avoid getting skewered by one and thrust his hand out to obliterate another. He uttered another spell, summoning forth a blazing nova like the sun. It flooded the darkness with light, driving back the shadows. He felt Morgana flinch from the unexpected move, her hold faltering just slightly.
Merlin took the moment to spin toward Lancelot and with one forceful word, incinerated the rest of the vines binding him. He heard a distant shriek, maybe Morgana, and then everything exploded.
Merlin came back to himself with a harsh gasp. He whipped his gaze around his room, finding himself alone and everything quiet. He bolted off the floor and ran for the dungeon, fear and hope waging a treacherous war in his heart. He barely remembered to slow down when he reached the cells lest he draw attention. The guards didn't stop him as he hurried past in search of Lancelot.
He found his cell by the sounds emanating from it—harsh chokes and gasps. Peering through the bars of the small window in the door, Merlin's heart leaped into his throat at the sight of Lancelot jerking on the floor as though in a seizure.
"Open the door!" he yelled at the guards.
They exchanged looks at that.
"He's dying! Open the door!"
The guards finally moved at that; they couldn't let a prisoner die on their watch. One of them came and unlocked the door and Merlin barged inside, rushing to Lancelot's side and dropping down beside him. The knight's eyes were blown wide, his entire body hitching with strained breaths.
"No, please," Merlin whispered. Please did he not just kill his best friend.
Lancelot's sightless eyes shifted just a fraction to focus on him. "Mer- lin," he coughed, so much wrapped up in that one word—recognition, pleading, terror.
"It's all right," Merlin urged, clasping the sides of Lancelot's head to steady it. "You're free. You're free."
Convulsions continued to wrack his body until Lancelot's eyes rolled back and he went limp.
Merlin didn't move, his hands firmly cupping his friend's head as faint puffs of breath brushed across the insides of his wrists. Lancelot was alive.
He was alive.
.o.0.o.
Merlin looked up as the guards returned, one of them having summoned Gaius.
"What happened?" Gaius asked as he entered the cell and knelt down beside Merlin and Lancelot.
"He's free," Merlin whispered. "I broke Morgana's hold on him."
Gaius's brows rose sharply and he looked down at the unconscious knight, reaching out a hand to feel for a pulse.
"He's alive, Gaius," Merlin went on, voice breaking with the sheer relief of it.
"For the moment," the court physician said gravely.
Merlin swallowed hard. "I have to tell Arthur."
"Tell him what? It won't change what's happened."
"It has to." Merlin pushed himself to his feet and reluctantly left his friend in Gaius's hands as he went in search of Arthur.
He checked the King's rooms, even the council chambers where everything had gone so wrong. He finally found him in the King's private dining room, staring out the window.
"Arthur," he said, out of breath. "Everything's that happened, it was Morgana's doing."
"Go away, Merlin," Arthur said tonelessly.
"She raised Lancelot from the dead, brought him back as a shade enslaved to her will so she could stop you from marrying Gwen. She won't stand the thought of a servant sitting on the throne."
Arthur let out an exasperated sound. "Merlin…"
"It's the truth!"
Arthur whirled toward him, eyes flashing. "Even if it is, it doesn't change what Gwen did."
"Unless she was under some sort of enchantment too," he blurted.
He had no proof of that, but he wouldn't put it past Morgana. Gwen loved Arthur; she would never betray him.
"It's the only thing that makes sense! You've been under love enchantments before!"
"Just stop!" Arthur shouted. "I won't hear any more of this."
Merlin surged a few steps closer. "Arthur, you have to listen. Lancelot has been freed from Morgana's control. He's alive and himself again."
"Oh really?" Arthur said skeptically. "And how would you know that?"
"Because- because I've seen him! There was something different about him before, something…off. But now there's not. Now he's the Lancelot we all loved and remember."
Arthur shook his head and turned away. "I don't know what you're playing at, Merlin—"
"Please just trust me!"
Arthur's eyes narrowed dangerously, a mixture of affront and something else, something pained. "Forgive me if I'm having trouble trusting anyone right now. Two of my dearest friends just betrayed me."
"It wasn't really them!" Merlin clenched his fists. Why couldn't Arthur see that?
"Where is your proof then?" Arthur challenged.
Merlin didn't know how to answer that.
Arthur scoffed. "Stop trying to make this better, Merlin, you can't." He rested an arm on the windowsill and hung his head. "Lancelot being back from the dead is cause for concern, though, I'll admit that. It was concerning from the beginning. I'd just hoped…" He shook his head. "If he is a shade—"
"Was," Merlin interrupted. "I told you, he's free now."
"How?" Arthur demanded. "Just like that? I may not be an expert in magic but I doubt it works that way."
"I did it," a new voice interjected.
Merlin whipped his head around, gaping in stupefaction at Gwaine standing in the doorway.
"You did what?" Arthur asked in confusion.
"I found a way to break the spell Morgana had on Lancelot."
Merlin's jaw went slack and he continued to stare dumbly as Gwaine came further into the room.
Arthur's brows shot upward. "You used magic?" he accused.
"I could tell something was different about Lancelot when he returned," Gwaine explained, echoing what they'd all felt. "When Merlin and I discovered he was a shade, I decided to do something about it."
Merlin had absolutely no idea what to say. Gwaine flicked a nonchalant glance his way but otherwise kept his attention on Arthur, who was bristling with indignation and betrayal.
"That something didn't involve telling me?" Arthur exclaimed, raising his voice. "A creature of magic was running loose in Camelot and neither of you saw fit to tell your King?"
"We all know how you feel about magic," Gwaine went on calmly. "I wanted to try saving Lancelot first."
"With magic?"
Merlin blinked, flabbergasted at the turn this conversation had taken. It was supposed to be him confessing to using magic to save Lancelot, not Gwaine.
Gwaine lifted his chin defiantly. "Lancelot gave his life for this kingdom, for you. We owe him everything for that, and if magic was what it took to save him from being enslaved to Morgana, then that's what I was going to do."
Arthur shook his head in aggravation. "I need to think." He stormed out of the room.
Merlin stayed where he was, uncertain what to do next.
Gwaine turned toward him. "Was what I just said true?" he asked. "Was Lancelot really a shade brought back by Morgana?"
Merlin nodded mutely.
"And he's free now?"
"Yes," Merlin said softly. "He has his soul back. He's back."
Gwaine nodded. "I'm not gonna ask how that happened."
"Why did you do that?" Merlin asked urgently. "Why did you put your head on the chopping block by confessing to something you didn't do?"
Gwaine regarded him for a moment. "Because you're my friend, Merlin. And so is Lancelot. I don't know what's going on, but I will stand by the two of you."
"What about Arthur?"
"My loyalty is to those who deserve it. Always has been."
Merlin gave a jerky nod of gratitude. He didn't know what Gwaine suspected concerning him, didn't want to ask and increase that suspicion. Whatever the knight thought, though, it seemed he was going to back Merlin up in this. Which was good, because he didn't have many allies at the moment.
"So what happens now?" Gwaine asked.
"I don't know," Merlin replied, gaze shifting to the door Arthur had marched out through.
He didn't know if he'd just saved Lancelot's soul only for Arthur to have him executed anyway.