A/N: Thank you Buckhunter, GuestM, Hodophile-Sandhiller, PadrePedro, Guest, SnidgetHex, and pallysAramisRios for reviewing!
Chapter 6
The afterlife was incredibly lonely. Lancelot's interactions were mostly with his mentors, who were more intent on pushing him hard rather than being his friend. And every other fallen warrior in the valley was also solely focused on their own training and higher pursuits. There was no laughter, no camaraderie.
Not that there was discord or competition, it wasn't like that. But discipline and tranquility were of the highest value here, and Lancelot missed his friends so much there was a physical pain in his heart. He missed teasing Merlin, missed the raucous banter of the other knights…missed the softness of Guinevere.
But he didn't have them anymore, and so Lancelot tried his best to wholly devote himself to embracing this new destiny laid before him. That was, after all, what Evaine and Hayao were constantly telling him was the only thing that mattered.
Lancelot and Merlin quickly made their way back to Camelot. The storm seemed to be picking up again, and they didn't want to get caught outside if or when another tornado struck.
Thanks to the chaos of earlier, their absence hadn't been noted, and they returned to Gaius's chambers to share what they had learned.
"So now we just have to find Morgana," Merlin concluded.
Gaius's brows were pinched together. "If she's captured an elemental, no doubt it's to further her end goal of taking Camelot."
Merlin's mouth pressed into a tight line. "Which means she'll come to us."
"Can you fight against an elemental?" Gaius asked Lancelot.
He held back a sigh. The problem with possessing great power was everyone seemed to think he was all-powerful, which was not the case. "No," Lancelot answered.
"They are rather…big," Merlin added.
"So how did Morgana manage to capture one?"
"Well, she did sell off part of her soul for the powers of Darkness," Merlin said. "Maybe I can find a spell to locate her, or at least that level of power. It has to stand out, right? Now that the rest of the Darkness has been sealed away again."
The ringing of the warning bell interrupted their discussion, making them all stiffen in anticipation. Yet before they could take a step toward the door to investigate, the window imploded as water came crashing in. In a massive wave, it spilled across the floor and swept all three of them off their feet. The furniture went slamming into them as well as more and more water pumped through the broken windows.
Lancelot thrust both palms out to the sides, repelling the water. It arced up in waves against the walls, forming a dome along the ceiling as Lancelot held it at bay. Merlin pulled Gaius to his feet and they staggered toward the door, but more water came rushing in as soon as they opened it. The entire lower level of the castle was flooding.
Lancelot backed up, giving ground on the water behind them and pushing back the waves out in the corridor, effectively forming a shield around him, Merlin, and Gaius. They managed to make it to a stairway where he could finally drop his arms as they hurried up to the second level.
"This shouldn't be possible!" Gaius shouted.
Lancelot and Merlin shared a look before bolting for the balcony. They burst out into the sleeting rain and looked down into the courtyard. Sure enough, Morgana had come to them. She stood in the middle of the quad as ten-foot waves cascaded around her, defying the laws of nature and plunging into the castle through every door and window. Screams echoed from inside.
"She's going to drown everyone in the great hall!" Merlin yelled.
Lancelot slapped Merlin's shoulder to get his attention and pointed at a glowing blue orb hanging around Morgana's neck. "Could that be the elemental?"
Merlin squinted against the rain battering his face. "Your guess is as good as mine."
Lancelot nodded, and the two of them sprinted across the wall to another set of stairs that would take them down to the courtyard. Water was already flooding that spot, so Lancelot pushed his arms out and carved a path through it.
Morgana's gaze snapped toward them, her eyes blowing wide in surprise. She recovered quickly though and, with a sharp fling of her arm, threw a wall of water at them. Lancelot swung one hand down to keep the ground at their feet clear and the other up. The water split and went rushing around them.
"How exactly are we going to get that thing away from her?" he lobbed over his shoulder.
Merlin ducked in close at his back, mostly shielded from Morgana's line of sight. He uttered a spell, and the cord around Morgana's neck suddenly snapped, and the orb fell into the water streaming around her feet.
"No!" she yelled, lunging to grab it.
Lancelot rotated his hands around and pushed the wave of water back at her. It slammed into her, propelling her backward. Merlin broke from his cover and went diving into the shallow water for the orb.
Morgana shrieked in rage, and several tendrils of shadows burst through the water and shot straight at Lancelot. He didn't have time to release his hold on the flood before they enshrouded him, blacking out all his senses and sending him falling backward. He splashed into the water and was now surrounded by both it and cloying ink, unable to see or even move. Both forces pressed in around him, clogging his nose and mouth. He couldn't summon lightning to fight off the shadows like last time, since the water would just spread the current to everywhere, including the people drowning inside the castle. And there was too much water to conjure fire, either.
The pressure on his lungs intensified, and Lancelot forced himself to stop struggling and go completely still. The water whooshed around him and the shadows pulsed with malevolent intent, but Lancelot pushed those sensations away. He turned his focus inward toward the spark inside his soul. All other sound but the beating of his heart faded away. Calling up that inner light, Lancelot let it build and then unleashed it in a blazing nova that exploded outward and vaporized the shadows.
Lancelot surged up out of the water and spun in search of Morgana. She was across the courtyard, looking down at something in the water, hand outstretched. The water was bubbling and thrashing.
Merlin.
Lancelot sent a column of water gushing toward Morgana, knocking her away. Merlin came bolting upright, gasping for air. Lancelot splashed through the standing water to reach him. They both saw the orb glowing beneath the surface, and Merlin went diving under for it again. Lancelot turned in a sweeping motion, propelling a wave of water that caught up Morgana and slammed her into the wall before she could attack again. He felt it when Merlin's magic flared behind him, and then a geyser of water shot straight up into the air, the force knocking Lancelot off his feet.
He flailed in the rushing waves. Merlin's thrashing arms bumped into him and they both fumbled to grab at each other as the released elemental grew in size, until a massive cyclone of water was towering above the city. It threw its amorphous head back and shrieked, then bowed low and struck out at Morgana. She barely scrambled out of the way in time as water crashed against the stone wall. Before another wave could snatch her up, she was escaping out through the gate. The elemental screamed again.
"Please stop!" Merlin shouted. "You're free now! The people of Camelot weren't responsible for your capture!"
Lancelot tensed as the elemental swung empty eye sockets of swirling water toward them. But after a long moment of it looming over them angrily, it suddenly jerked away, swirling up higher and higher, drawing up all the floodwaters with it. And then it went leaping over the wall and coiling across the fields back toward the river. The clouds parted and the sun broke through.
Lancelot and Merlin stood in the middle of the wrecked courtyard, completely soaked and dripping water. But they were alive.
Still breathless, they shared a look and then went hurrying into the castle. The foyer and great hall was littered with people sprawled across the floor, equally sopping wet and coughing. But it looked as though no one had drowned.
Elyan came staggering toward them, coughing into his arm. "What happened?"
"Yeah," Gwaine echoed raggedly. "I thought you couldn't stop the storm?"
"I didn't," Lancelot replied. "Merlin and I managed to get the elemental Morgana had enslaved away from her and free it. And then it simply left."
The knights gaped at them incredulously.
"Just like that?" Gwaine said.
Merlin shared a smile with Lancelot. "Well, there might have been some magical fighting in the middle."
Lancelot tried to tone down his grin. "Come on, let's make sure everyone's okay."
The flooding had caused just as much damage as the twister had, and there was so much cleanup to see to. Lancelot stood in Gaius's chambers with Merlin and the old physician, picking through the sopping mess. Lancelot wove the standing water together and moved it to a bucket, while Merlin cast spells on the books to magically dry them.
"While I appreciate you salvaging my books, Merlin," Gaius said, "someone's going to notice they're somehow in perfect condition."
Merlin just shrugged. "I'll say Lancelot did it."
Lancelot shook his head in fond amusement. "I could draw out the water from individual objects, but it would be a very long and tedious task, as I'd have to do it drop by drop."
Merlin's nose scrunched up. "My way is faster."
Gaius bent down to pick up a bundle of sodden herbs, only to hiss and yank his hand back.
"Gaius?" Merlin queried.
"There's broken glass everywhere," he harrumphed.
"I'll get it," Lancelot said, searching for the broom. Of course, it was wet too, though it was a little easier to beat it against the wall to scatter most of the water. He then set to sweeping the floor, using his honed senses to spot the glint of glass that otherwise might be hard to detect.
It took a few hours to get the floor completely cleaned up, and Merlin had salvaged all of the books. The plants, unfortunately, were a lost cause, which meant Merlin had a foraging day in his near future. The bedding and clothes would have to be hung up to dry, and hopefully it wouldn't be a chilly night, since half the castle's bedding and blankets had been in the great hall and suffered the same fate. The people of Camelot were going to have it rough for a while, but they were safe and no lives had been lost, so it was still a victory.
Once all the broken debris had been gathered into a bucket, Lancelot carried it out to the courtyard where they were accumulating a large pile of refuse into one place to then be dealt with later. The gates were wide open, and Lancelot paused to look out at the town where people were also busy cleaning up rubble and boarding up windows. The sun was sinking low toward the horizon, so they would have to stop soon and return to the refuge of the castle. Arthur was a good king who would never leave his people out in the cold without shelter.
Lancelot left the bucket of trash with the pile and headed back inside, only to find the corridor blocked by two knights standing abreast, their shoulders drawn back tautly. Lancelot slowed to a stop when they didn't move to let him pass. He felt the shifting of air and cast a look over his shoulder as more men moved in behind him—two more knights and one of Arthur's advisors.
"My lords," he said, angling himself sideways so he could keep them all in his line of sight.
"This is your fault," one of them accused. "You brought this destruction down on Camelot."
"I did no such thing," he replied, holding himself guardedly. "I'm here to protect Camelot."
"All of this started when you showed back up. Sorcery," the advisor spat.
The knights drew their swords at that, and Lancelot inhaled sharply as he held his palms out.
"Don't," he warned.
They charged forward. Lancelot spun and thrust his palm into one knight's chest, sending him flying backward. He then pivoted and ducked under the swing of another attacker. Wrapping his arm around the knight's, he gave it a crank until he dropped his sword and cried out. Lancelot then kicked him backward into his friend and whirled to face another. A blade swished by his face as he narrowly avoided the strike. Lancelot pivoted around behind the knight and delivered an arm chop to the back of his neck. He went down.
But the others were getting up, and while Lancelot was intent on defending himself, he remembered just how easily he could snap these men in two, and he didn't want to irreparably hurt them. So as he shot out a hand to grab one of their wrists and halt their blade, another got in a lucky strike and slashed Lancelot across the side. The fierce sting was a minor irritation, but before he could retaliate, Leon came charging into the corridor with reinforcements. In a matter of seconds, he, Gwaine, Elyan, and Percival were all brandishing their swords at their fellow knights in Lancelot's defense. He backed up against the wall to stay out of their way, not knowing what to do.
And then Arthur and Merlin arrived.
"Enough!" Arthur bellowed, and his ringing command was enough to give the knights pause and cease their fighting. "What the hell is going on?" Arthur demanded.
"These men attacked Lancelot," Elyan said scathingly, sword still pointed at his opponent.
Arthur and Merlin looked at Lancelot. Merlin's eyes widened and he rushed over, pulling at Lancelot's jerkin to reveal the bloodied tear where he'd been slashed.
Arthur's nostrils flared with rage as he snapped his gaze back to the other knights. "Sir Leon, escort these men to the dungeon."
"He's a sorcerer, Sire!" the advisor protested. "He's the one causing all of these calamities!"
"Really?" Arthur replied, a notable hard edge of scorn in his tone. "As I recall, Lancelot saved us at Camlann from Morgana, and he saved us from that darkness threat, which was probably also Morgana. And then today when Morgana stormed the citadel, he stopped her too."
"He's just as much a threat as she is."
Arthur's eyes darkened. "I have half a mind to sentence you to a week in the dungeon, but we need every able-bodied person on hand. So tonight you will sit in a cell and tomorrow you will assist with the cleanup in the lower town. And if you can be half as helpful to the people of Camelot as Lancelot has been, I might consider not having you spend every night in a cell for the next month. We are, after all, short on beds."
Arthur gave Leon a sharp nod, and he and Elyan took the knights' swords and directed them to get moving.
"We need to get you to Gaius," Merlin said, fussing over Lancelot's wound. "This needs stitches."
"It's not that bad," Lancelot assured him.
"I didn't think anyone could get close enough to tag you," Gwaine commented.
"I didn't want to hurt them," Lancelot explained. "They're not the enemy."
Arthur sighed. "I appreciate that, Lancelot, but I will not abide such behavior or hostility directed toward a fellow knight. It seems I need to have some conversations with people."
"We'll help with that," Gwaine said darkly, and Percival gave a nod of agreement.
Arthur nodded to Merlin. "Get that treated."
Lancelot let Merlin tug him away if only to be done with the spectacle. He'd known many of the knights were leery of him, but he hadn't anticipated they'd confront him so openly and violently. He supposed he should have and taken more care about where he went in the castle. He'd do so from now on.
Merlin ushered Lancelot into Gaius's chambers and immediately to the bench seat. "Gaius?" Merlin huffed irritably at the old man's absence.
"Merlin, I'm fine, really. It's already healing." Lancelot lifted his shirt to reveal the laceration, which was no longer bleeding and half the size it had been.
Merlin gawked at it. "Hang on, you have healing magic too?"
"No, but remember I said my body was a bit more fortified? That includes fast healing."
Merlin blinked. "That's handy. Mind if I clean it anyway?"
Lancelot smiled and canted his head in permission. He knew it'd make Merlin feel better and it wouldn't hurt.
Merlin retrieved the supplies and then sat on the bench next to him, straddling the seat as he leaned forward to clean the wound. "Those knights are wrong," he said after several moments. "None of this is your fault."
"I know that," Lancelot replied. "They're just frightened. Frightened men often react with anger."
Merlin let out a derisive scowl. "It's unbecoming of a knight of Camelot. After everything you've done for them too. Not just since you came back but before when Morgana had that immortal army and then with the Veil."
Lancelot nodded soberly. "I hope they have a better reaction to you."
Merlin snorted. "Still on that?"
"I will always keep your secret, Merlin," he vowed. "But one day I will also see you recognized for who you are." His expression softened and he added quietly, "There is nothing more freeing than being known."
"You know me, that's enough," Merlin said, straightening as he finished cleaning the wound.
Lancelot smiled. "For now, but I might not always be around."
Merlin frowned. "Don't be silly. You're practically invulnerable now."
Lancelot didn't say anything to that and let the matter drop. They had not yet reached the end of things, and who knew what fate still had in store for them all.
A/N: If anyone's seen The Librarians, you might recognize the elemental being captured and forced to create a storm (though in that show it was actually a fairy.)