Hi there again! How are you doing? Good? Bad? Fantastic? I really do hope that wherever you're sitting, or standing, you are having a wonderful day/night. This is the last chapter of The Soulful Heir. Wow. Sad. Joyful. But sad. Bittersweet. It's been a great journey and having you here right now is really cool! Okay, enough talk. Finally, may I present to you: chapter eleven.
Disclaimer: I can never stress enough on the fact that I do not own BBC Merlin. I do, however, own the plot and OC.
Mission control, we are ready for takeoff. Launching in three, two, one…
"What do you mean we're about to die?" Merlin demanded.
Osric nodded towards Leon. "This place is going to explode when the hourglass runs out, the hourglass that this fellow found."
Elyan pinched the bridge of his nose, "Why would you do that?"
"I couldn't have anyone following my tracks."
Right. This was bad. They were on a tight time schedule and they still couldn't figure out to fix Arthur.
Merlin asked, "Alright, how do we put Arthur back together?"
"Release me and we'll talk." Osric smirked.
Release the sorcerer and let him run free? Never. "No." This was a trick. It had to be. The sorcerer went through a lot of trouble to split Arthur's soul and now he was going help repair it?
"Your choice. Either release me and take a chance or we're going to die together."
Arthur One gave him a look and Merlin knew what he was thinking: a risk was crucial to their survival. Merlin's magic could easily overpower the sorcerer if Osric decided to play some mind game. Just because he surrendered to Arthur's plan didn't mean that he liked it a bit. With a flash of gold eyes, Merlin untied the invisible chains around Osric. The sorcerer moved his shoulders and smiled, but even he knew that if he strayed out of line, Merlin would not hesitate to incinerate him.
Osric explained, "You see the necklace and ring? I enchanted them so when I get… possessed by the Once and Future King, my own soul would still stay in my body. One item anchors one soul to the body. Then all you need is to get one part of Arthur's soul to go back into the body while the body is wearing those things. The second soul will move back into the body. Since, they are of the same souls, like attracts like. They fuse."
Merlin was a little confused. He thought those objects were used to distract the knights and provide as a kind of energy supplement for Osric when he was under the illusion spell. He voiced out his questions and Osric folded his arms, "Again, I overestimated your magic knowledge, Emrys. I get my energy supplement from objects that haven't been touched by illusion magic, not enchantments. They're different types of sorcery."
The warlock made a mental note to pay more attention to Gaius' lessons on magic from now on. Once the items are on shell body, everyone froze. What if this was a trick? Everyone Osric had proposed were theoretical reasonings. Would this even work? But nobody said anything because… well… it wasn't like they had any other choice.
Before Merlin could change his mind, Arthur One and Arthur Two looked at each other and they both fell into the body. The sound of stars crashing to the ground exploded and the remaining people covered their ears until the ringing stopped.
Silence.
Did it work? Please work, Merlin pleaded silently.
Suddenly, the sky-blue eyes of the shell body flew open and it gasped. As if seeing a ghost, everyone jumped back.
"Arthur?" Merlin tentatively asked, his heart pounded loudly in his ears.
"I feel like I just finished fighting in a war and then got kicked by a horse's hindlegs." Arthur mumbled. He stood up and almost stumbled over. "Help me up, Merlin."
The knights cheered and Merlin breathed a sigh of relief as he steadies his king. "Are your souls…"
"Fused? Well I think I'm okay." Arthur's eyes were a little glazed and he grinned lazily at them. Merlin would have check up on him later. The castle rumbled and he was reminded of the hourglass.
"Let's get out of here!"
The warlock grabbed his king's wrist and pulled him along. The castle shook violently as they ran. The group bursted out into the open and into the blinding sunlight. They didn't stop sprinting until they heard an explosion behind them and everywhere surrounding them was just deafening noise. When the chaos died down, Merlin looked around. The looming castle had disappeared. Vanished without a trace.
Percival asked, "Where's the sorcerer?" Osric was nowhere to be seen.
"He must have gotten away when we were running."
Merlin cursed. He should have known that the rat would slip away during all the confusion. But this was no time to worry about the sorcerer. Camelot would have him behind bars later. He examined Arthur almost everywhere, checking for injuries and concussions and slurring, while the prat muttered about mother hens and overprotectiveness.
"What happened to you and Leon after we separated?" Merlin asked Lancelot, hoping that Arthur would be distracted enough to let him check the king in peace.
And Lancelot told the story of how he went down the tunnel and saw the shell body. Then he was trapped in a prison box. Then Gwaine and Percival came to find him, but also got trapped in separate prison boxes. Finally, they were teleported into the throne room. Elyan and Leon nodded.
The eight of them walked back to the part of the forest where they had kept their horses tied to the trees. Arthur shook his head and complained about dizziness, but otherwise, he was fine. He had fuzzy memories of the soul split. A part of Merlin felt relieved that nothing too horrible happened. The other half felt that he had failed them because after all, he was the greatest sorcerer to have ever walked the Earth.
"What's wrong, Merlin?" Arthur said.
Merlin hesitated before answering, "I just couldn't believe that I got fooled so easily."
"Everyone makes mistakes. Especially idiots like you."
He supposed so. Arthur was silent when Merlin did not answer. "Greatest sorcerer or not, you're still the idiot I… we… know way back when. And well, if you make a mistake, I'll be here to clean up the mess. As always."
Merlin chuckled, "Prat."
Just when the horses came into view, his telepathy connected and Morgana's voice screamed, "Merlin!"
"Morgana?"
"No. I'm an imaginary voice inside your head." Merlin rolled his eyes at her sarcasm.
"We got Arthur back in one piece."
"Good, because Camelot is under attack." Then the connection dissolved.
When Merlin reported this to the knights and Arthur, they all groaned. Fate wouldn't give them a break.
Mission control, we have landed, safe and sound. Well, folks, here we are, at the end of my first story. I know I left it off a bit open-ended, but I think since I put a cliff-hanger in every chapter, why break tradition? However, in my world, Camelot is saved, everyone continues to be happy, and Osric, well, I'll let you decide his fate. I sincerely thank everyone who has been with me since the first chapter and have the patience and tolerance to read through the entire thing. Thank you for all your reviews, your follows, your views, and your resilience. Without them, honestly, this journey would not have been as fun. So, I wish everyone a good day or night or whatever time your clocks show. For the time being, I hope you, your family, and your friends, stay safe, happy, awesome, and shining brightly. Keep loving Merlin!