Hi again! Wow, if you are here, that means I have succeeded in capturing your attention. That is awesome! You make me blush. Thanks! No, seriously, thank you for giving this story a chance. I hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint, and the characters are hopefully not too OOC. Sorry for any grammatical errors. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own BBC Merlin. Sadly. Regretfully. Sigh.
Part of Arthur's soul or not, Merlin lugged the shivering king out of the cell and back through the tunnel. Soul Arthur was light and mumbling incoherently which Merlin did not know if it was normal. He never dealt with an actual soul that was outside of a vessel.
Finally, the pair emerged into the dimly lit room, where he and the knights had separated. None of the knights had returned yet. Merlin slowly lowered Soul Arthur to the stone ground, propped him up against the wall, and sat down beside him. He stripped Arthur from his dented armor, which was too destroyed to be comfortable or useful. Underneath it, the king wore a white nightshirt, the one Merlin had last seen him in before the kidnapping. After fussing over the half-asleep king, Merlin waited for his friends to join him. If what Soul Arthur said was true, that he was a part of the original Arthur's soul, then there must be other portions of him in the castle. So, this was not some normal kidnapping for ransom, but what was the kidnapper, or kidnappers, up to?
Suddenly, Elyan appeared from this chosen tunnel with a sword in hand. Elyan stopped and stared at them. "Merlin? Is that Arthur?"
Merlin grimaced, "Uh, yes and no, it's a little hard to explain."
Before Elyan could question any further, Percival came into the light. The giant knight's fist was enclosed around something, and he too, stopped and stared questioningly at Merlin and Soul Arthur. Gwaine barrelled straight into the room next, panting like he was outrunning something.
"Bloody hell, and I thought that Arthur's tempers were bad. Those bats are vicious." Then he caught sight of Soul Arthur and his jaw dropped. "Arthur?"
"Well…," Merlin started, "yes and no. He's part of Arthur's soul."
The warlock recounted his story to the three knights beginning to end. Soul Arthur seemed more awake now. Energized, if Merlin was honest. When he finished, Gwaine whistled, "Tearing up souls, huh? New level of weirdness if you ask me."
Elyan presented the sword he was holding. "It's Excalibur. I found it lying on a table. It was just there. No guards, no shield, no magic, nothing protecting it." Sure enough, the blade read the telltale mark of the legendary sword: Take me up, cast me away.
"Found Arthur's ring, containing the Camelot seal, on a table too," Percival opened his fist and Camelot's seal shined dully.
Gwaine grinned and said, "The Princess's necklace." The knight took the necklace out from around his neck and handed it to Merlin to inspect. All three of the items belonged to Arthur. Fear creeped up the warlock's heart. What did this mean? Why did the captors wanted them to find these things? From what he studied back in Camelot; symbols of a person's identity can also be a part of their souls because they were a variety of identities forged together. Were these the other parts of Arthur's soul? Was that why Soul Arthur looked less tired than when he first found him? Souls were attracted to other souls, hence the word soulmates. It would make sense for Arthur to be attracted to its other parts. Right? Unless there was another explanation, but he would have to ask Soul Arthur later. Now another question popped up in Merlin's mind: where were Lancelot and Leon?
"We should go look for them," Elyan piped up.
Gwaine snorted, "Leon's immortal. That man can survive almost anything. Lancelot is a good fighter; he'll get out eventually. Maybe they're coming back right now."
"What if they're in danger though?" Percival had a point.
Soul Arthur hoarsely spoke up, "Go help them. Elyan, help Leon. Gwaine and Percival, go help Lancelot. Merlin and I will be fine."
"But-"
"No. We will be fine. Merlin and I can take care of ourselves. Now go."
Percival raised his hand, "I could stay with you, Merlin. You might need help." The other two nodded.
Half of Merlin was thankful that Percival volunteered to stay. Half of him was annoyed that they still couldn't trust him enough to protect himself. He was a sorcerer and he had done a great job at defending himself before they found out about his magic. What was the big fuss? He was no longer the defenseless manservant who hid behind trees. However, Merlin just shook his head and beckoned the three knights to search for their missing friends. When they reluctantly departed, Merlin sighed. Okay, how was he going to put together Arthur's soul together and what to do with these assumingly objects of identity? There must a reason why the captors were toying with them.
"There's a way to put me back together," Soul Arthur quietly murmured. His silver eyes glowed.
Merlin snapped his neck to look at his king. "How?" Could living souls read minds?
Soul Arthur hesitated, "By tearing up the person's soul who did this to me."
Dark magic, something Arthur hated when he proposed the regulation of magic.
What do you think? Yay, nay, or meh? A bit of a longer chapter, but necessary. The necklace Gwaine found is the same one Arthur wore in the episode "Lancelot", season 1, episode five, I think. Now wouldn't it be cool if Hot-tempered Arthur showed up as a piece of his soul? Just a random speculation while I was writing this chapter.