Training the Prat
"In order to succeed, we must first believe we can."
"Merlin, where are we going?"
"I told you."
"No you didn't, you just told me to get—and I quote— 'my ass out the bed" Arthur grumbled half-heartedly biting on an apple as he went. "Which is funny because I didn't sleep in a bed." He whispered the last part to himself, though, seeing that Merlin was either ignoring him or deep in thought, Arthur just kept walking behind him as he surreptitiously massaged his sore back.
The sun was barely up and the rather beautiful sunrise was overshadowed by Arthur's need of sleep, granted, it wasn't like he hadn't slept, he practically collapsed the moment his head touched the floor, but he didn't rest as much as he would've if he had slept in his own bed. He kept quiet about that, it was enough that Merlin called him a prat on a daily basis, he didn't want to seem rude to Hunith dare she hear him complain. She had offered him the bed, of course, but he refused to accept the only bed in the hut.
They talked with Hunith about the recent events in the castle as they ate, telling her about the vase, Agravaine and Uther, Hunith had been incredibly mortified, but when she asked who had done such things neither Merlin nor Arthur had the heart to tell her, it would lead to more questions and eventually it would come to light that Merlin was going to fight Morgana in the very near future. Arthur thought Merlin she had the right to know, however, if Merlin didn't tell her himself he would respect Merlin wishes. After that much-needed talk, Merlin and him made themselves comfortable by the fire and a few blankets. The prince felt a kind of Deja vu remembering when he had done the same. Arthur had once left Camelot to help Merlin then. Now they were here so Merlin could help Arthur. At least Merlin kept quiet about 'two sides of the same coin'.
Merlin had been up and about before Arthur had even pondered the idea of waking up, however, the decision was made for him as he was rudely shaken awake. He rolled to his back and grunted. His hands searched blindly around him for a pillow to hit Merlin with it.
"Get your ass out the bed, c'mon, sun is up." Merlin whispered as a good morning before he got up and traveled to the kitchen. Arthur counted to ten before he sat up, blinking the sleep away.
"Wha's for breakfast?" Arthur asked with a yawn, a second later an apple was thrown in his direction. Arthur caught it out of reflex and scoffed down at it. Perfect. He was being bossed around.
The fact that Hunith was sleeping a few feet away had been the only reason why he had not screamed at Merlin. Instead, he just stood up— as royally as he could, feeling out of sorts at being woken up in Merlin's house instead of in his palace room— changed into fresh clothes (way more decent that the horrendous shirt for yesterday) and followed Merlin out the house. Arthur had always been a morning person, though Merlin begged to differ, calling Arthur an 'early riser' instead. Apparently, there was a difference; something to do about 'morning people' not being 'incredibly grumbling and pratish humans.'
The air outside was fresh, bordering on cold but not uncomfortable; it made Arthur wonder when will the real winter begin, and he wondered how people like Hunith managed to survive in Ealdor. The little house had improved since his last visit, granted, but he couldn't imagine Hunith living there in the winter. Arthur had the feeling that Merlin had something to do with that, with his annual trips to Ealdor—despite the common belief that Merlin never has days off, Arthur actually encouraged (very subtly of course) his friend to visit his mom at least twice a year. The one thing he was certain of was that Ealdor was not a starving town anymore, two years ago he had sent with Merlin a few ponds of seeds of different kinds and apparently the towns people had made good use of them.
As Arthur walked around the little village he realized how different Camelot and Ealdor were. Even in mornings. For starters, there were no loud noises to let him know the daily activities had started. If anything, Ealdor was eerily quiet, no one was out just yet, if Merlin had not woken him up Arthur would have actually overslept.
He followed Merlin through a shortcut between two houses and then, without any indication but the vast meadow in front of him, they were out of the little town in less than a few steps. They crossed the meadow and got to the starting line of the forest, all the while Arthur just followed in silence and just savored the feeling of being awake at the same time the forest seemed to come to life.
He heard the birds singing over his head, the sunlight trespassed the leafs on the trees in such a way that made him want to lie on the grass to watch the sky for a moment; something that definitely couldn't be done in Camelot. Arthur realized that, unlike last time, he wasn't in charge of people going into battle, neither was he in charge to keep Merlin, Gwen and Morgana alive—something he heavily thought for a moment there. In fact, Merlin was kind of in charge now, being these his town, house and his bloody idea…. And talking about ideas.
"So, are you telling me about this grand plan of yours?" He tried after a moment, now following Merlin down a narrow path of trees. "What we are looking for, anyway? A place where you can train?"
"Something like that, yes…"Merlin said vaguely and nodded to himself, recognizing the rock they were rounding and waved for Arthur to follow him over his shoulder. "Come, this way."
Arthur followed Merlin deeper into the forest, after a few minutes they reached an empty but wide stream that was cutting their path short, Arthur looked down, it was a few yards deep and a severely yards wide. He turned towards Merlin with crossed arms and a smug smile.
"If you tell me you can actually fly I swear I will believe you are as great as you think you are, Merlin." Arthur poked Merlin's ribs with his elbow.
Merlin just pointed to the left, eyes twinkling, the prince looked over his shoulder and saw a bridge, he scoffed and shoved past Merlin getting to the 'bridge' first. The bridge, was in fact, just an overgrown tree that had been tumbled down to serve as a way to pass from one side to the other.
"Do be careful, you idiot," Arthur whispered to Merlin in an exasperated tone as he was about to cross the bridge himself. "If you break a leg what will I tell Hunith, uh?"
"I won't fall! Can you just cross it already?" Merlin said with half a smile, rather amused at Arthur's behavior. Arthur has been eerily silent, have not pressed Merlin much about his plans and he, by all means, had eaten just one apple for breakfast. In Merlin's book those were all signals of trouble.
Arthur scoffed and then looked at the length of the tree trunk, not narrow enough to fear falling but not wider enough to cross carelessly. "Just don't fall."
All in all, they crossed it fairly fast and easy—Merlin even grinned at Arthur when he crossed it unharmed— and walked further for a few minutes. Finally, after stepping around an overgrown tree, Arthur found himself in wide open clear, the pattern of the forest brakes to let the sun shine down merrily, illuminating everything it touched. Around the edges of the wide circle made by nature, were a few giant boulders, a few smaller ones were scattered by the center but the rest was all grass or patches of earth.
Arthur looked around impressed, the way Merlin knew his way around like he had just been here yesterday told Arthur the amount of times Merlin had probably been here as a child. The tree that served as a bridge probably had been Merlin's doing.
"This is where I came to practice magic as a child; no one ever bothers to get so deep into the woods after all. Wi—Will found it, when we were around twelve." Merlin said in a hurry as he stepped inside the clear, Arthur following behind. "The perfect spot to get away from the world for a while, it's my version of your tower."
Arthur felt the urge to laugh but controlled himself. His secret place was the ceiling of a dark tower nobody used anymore, away from everything and everyone, only him staring down at Camelot. On the other hand, Merlin had a wide open valley, nothing to stare at besides the sky above them. They were truly different when it comes down to it.
He followed Merlin to the center of the little valley, Merlin's nostalgia was almost palpable and the prince cleared his throat in anxiousness, not knowing if talking about Will would be a good idea or not, he decided against commenting.
"Alright…" Arthur said after a moment, looking around. "So I take this is the place you will be spending the week? Figuring out the vase?"
When he got no response Arthur looked over his shoulder. They had reached the center of the clear and Merlin was looking at Arthur up and down, like running a mental test in his mind. Arthur consciously changed his weight to his other foot and crossed his arms.
"What?"
As an answer, Merlin pulled out the vase from his satchel and placed it on top of a nearby rock. Both friends stared at it. Merlin glanced from the vase to Arthur at least five times before Arthur lost his patience.
"What?" He repeated again.
Merlin just dropped to the floor, a few feet away from the vase, crossed his legs and nodded to himself. Arthur closed his eyes and counted to five. Merlin was probably the only person in Camelot who didn't answer to his prince right away. Patience. The prince breathed out and nodded to himself. Patience. Patience was a virtue, isn't it? He pressed his lips into a thin line and opened his eyes, staring back at Merlin with raised brows.
Merlin stared back and after a moment he motioned for Arthur to come nearer.
Arthur waited for an explanation.
It didn't come.
"Alright, what is it?!" Patience be damned, Arthur thought.
"Sit. I need to talk to you. I need to make a decision." Merlin said.
"A decision? What about?"
"Sit," Merlin said impatiently as he motioned for the space of grass in front of him. He rolled his eyes. "Please?"
Arthur looked down at Merlin. Internally he was having a battle. There he goes again: commanding Arthur to do things and expecting him to do it. Arthur glared at the spot for a moment and he sighed internally, before he could change his mind he sat in front of Merlin.
"A decision about what, Merlin? About the vase?" Arthur glanced to the vase a few feet away shining merrily in the sunlight. Arthur had never hated anything like he hated that bloody vase.
"It's not about the vase," Merlin said as he bit his lip. "It's something that Kilgharrah said to me, before leaving Camelot, and it's been… bothering me."
Arthur pressed his lips together. They had talked about Kilgharrah before but it was never easy to hear about him. It was a dragon for god's sake! a dragon that had been incredibly close to killing him, mind you. One that terrified Camelot for days! He knew Merlin was not only a sorcerer but a bloody dragon's lord too—seriously, how many things Merlin could be? An idiot, a dragon's lord, incredibly clumsy and a sorcerer—and he knew that Merlin had some kind of power over the beast now. That didn't appease Arthur in the least, knowing Merlin, but so far two years had passed since then right? So he had to give Merlin so credit.
"What did he say?"
"He reminded me of something very important." Merlin sighed and looked down at his hands. "He reminded me that as urgent as this vase is—I will figure the vase, just hear me out—as urgent as it is, we are forgetting something."
"What?
"Albion," Merlin said quietly looking at Arthur square in the face. "Albion and what should we do about it. All of these; the vase, Morgana, Agravaine, Elyan, even us leaving Camelot… I believe—and the dragon didn't tell me, this is my idea—I believe it's linked."
"Strangely as it may seem, Merlin, I'm not following," Arthur said in sarcasm, Merlin was already talking in riddles and he was not a court sorcerer yet. "We came here for an specific reason, didn't we? We can solve Albion later."
Merlin shook his head.
"Look, I just think that we are dealing with all these events as isolated issues, what if—and just hear me out, stop interrupting!—what if all of this is the beginning of Albion? The decisions we take? Decisions we are taking? Every kingdom needs a start, didn't you say so yourself? What if this is the start. What if the day I told you about me was the start of Albion? The destiny, prophecy, however you want to call it, said that Albion will need the both of us. You were right, the fact that everything has been going down for the worst since that day only proves something is changing. Proving this land is changing. Morgana is aware of that. I never dreamed on telling you about my magic but two months have passed since then, what if that was the start of Albion?"
Arthur shook his head. "You think that day we fulfilled something? A prophecy? Merlin, this is all linked, true, but with Morgana, all of this is her fault, everything falls back to her."
"No." Merlin shook his head. "If I have never told you I had magic… haven't you… think about that?"
"What? Think about what?"
"You wouldn't be here." Merlin said as an explanation and waited for Arthur to process. "You wouldn't have killed Agravaine, probably that would have fallen into my hands, in fact I'm pretty sure Agravaine must have caught me doing magic around you, and the list can go on and on. Arthur, things are changing, destinies around Camelot are changing ever since that day."
Arthur was silent, he had never, not once, had pondered on the idea, he was never a man who pondered on "what ifs…" and he didn't like the way Merlin was thinking now, like everything was his fault.
"Then I'm glad it all happened the way it happened." Arthur said with crossed arms and a strong voice. "Maybe you would be dead, maybe I would be dead. You know I don't believe much in destinies but If there is a really a destiny then I do believe you and I met for a reason. If all this was meant to happen then I wouldn't change a thing. That's all I will say on the matter, Merlin."
Merlin blinked and looked down before he nodded.
"Kilgharrah once told me that only by working together will Albion come to life…" Merlin smiled softly before he looked up at Arthur. "He reminded me that understanding it's not the same as 'doing and working'. Maybe he should focus more on solving things together than apart."
Merlin tried to make it sound easy and simple but Arthur knew there was something more that he wasn't saying, he didn't pressure Merlin for that information just yet.
"This dragon has been talking to you a lot," Arthur said after a long pause and Merlin smirked. "I agree, though, maybe all these decisions we are taking will bring Albion to life so… maybe this is the start of my future kingdom. I certainly wish it could have started under different circumstances but we have to make the best out of this and hope that Albion is looming on the horizon at the end of all this."
Merlin hummed and nodded to the ground, pondering Arthur's words.
"Was, uh—does this have anything to do with the decision you have to take?" Arthur asked, what exactly had this dragon told Merlin, anyway?
"Yes, I just need a minute," Merlin announced out of the blue and closed his eyes where he sat, tilting his head to the sky, letting the sun wash on his face.
"Merlin, what—"
The sorcerer raised a hand to stop Arthur from talking, eyes still closed. "Would it kill you to be quiet for once in your life, sire?"
Arthur scoffed and looked to the side. Now it was like a joke. Every time Merlin calls him Sire he feels like he was being chastised like a ten-year-old, so of course he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to give any leeway for Merlin to label him as a prat once again.
Arthur looked around, his right hand playing with the hilt of his sword, and then back at Merlin with raised brows. What was Merlin doing? Was he conjuring his magic? Were they in danger? Was Merlin casting a spell right here right now? Was he—
"Can you stop fidgeting?" Merlin said with his eyes still closed, a smirk on his face. "I'm just thinking, something I'm sure even you are acquainted with?"
Arthur refrained himself from kicking him.
"Care to share?" Arthur growled and Merlin opened his eyes to glare at him, his left eyebrow raised in a very Gaius like manner. Arthur just raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine, Merlin, I'll be quiet, Jesus."
Merlin closed his eyes again and Arthur managed to shove aside his 'pratish' attitude. He kept still, as he waited for Merlin to be done with his 'thinking'. He wanted to make a remark about that but wisely kept silent, his hands on his knees and his eyes on Merlin. After a minute or so he began to relax, all he could feel was the warmth of the sun on his back and the rush of the air on his hair. He could hear the rustling of the leafs in the trees, even when they were not making a sound the forest was filled with life.
Merlin sneezed and Arthur brought his attention back to the sorcerer. Taking advantage that Merlin wasn't watching him Arthur gazed Merlin up and down. They were so different, Arthur realized, just like day and night.
Arthur had blond hair—albeit not at the moment, granted—blue eyes like a morning sky and a rough face. Handsome, even if he says so himself. He was muscular, tanned, and fit; born from years of physical training. His body, however, wasn't sculptural, or 'Molded by the God's' as he had heard some woman call him, on the contrary, he believed he had the body of a warrior; he had a broad back born from endless hours spent swinging his sword. His hands were calloused, by all the times he had fixed and sharpened weapons. He had endless scars all over his arms born from all the battles he had fought and won. Other scars were born from doubts, doubting yourself at the wrong moment to move was a mistake that more often than not had cost him blood. His chest and back were covered with scars too, placed there to serve as sordid memories from all the times he had been stabbed, cut, slashed. All the times he had managed to escape
Arthur took pride on his body not because he 'looked handsome or hot', it was because in every sense his body was a living memory and statement of the life he had led and how he had survived it. Of course, with a crown on his head, the nice clothes he used and his knight's cape, very few people could see that. His knights understand, warriors understood, but for the common eye he was just 'the handsome prince of Camelot' and it made Arthur cringe internally. Merlin was a warrior of his own too. He understood, probably better than others.
Arthur focused on Merlin's concentrated face for a moment. Merlin was the complete opposite of him. The sorcerer had dark hair that refused to get tamed and an angular face that, apparently, drew woman crazy, in their many nights at taverns or trips, woman have told Merlin so several times (for the amusement of the prince) so he was aware that his friend had some enchantment of his own too. While Arthur was broad Merlin was tall and skinny as a twig—taller than Arthur but Arthur would die before accepting that— Arthur had often joked that he had seen twigs thicker than Merlin's torso and he wasn't joking he was pale enough to make people worry and wonder if he was eating enough.
He looked down at Merlin's hands. Almost no scars. Arthur had always thought Merlin didn't have hands for fighting, in fact, he had always thought Merlin wasn't even built for fighting, or anything really. God knew he was a lousy manservant. He understood now that Merlin had been born and built for other things, greater things. Arthur looked down at his own hands, they were firmly pressed on his knees, his back straight and senses alert in case of an ambush; it was second nature to him. He looked at Merlin, whose hands were rested lazily on his lap, his posture was slouched and his face demonstrated he was far way gone in his mind, not a care in the world.
Truly two sides of the same coin.
After a moment, Arthur closed his eyes too. Imitating Merlin and letting his hands rest lazily on his lap instead. He felt the wind blowing softly on his hair, he could feel the warmth of the sun on his neck and back, he could feel the prickles of the grass on his ankles, he could sense Merlin's presence in front of him, he could hear the whisper of the wind in the trees and smell the grass under his feet. He lost track of time as he enjoyed the feeling. Once Merlin had told him that the forest was alive, he had begun to understand what he meant exactly. He was so fascinated by the nature around him that he jumped when Merlin clapped.
"Alright, I have decided!"
Arthur opened his eyes startled, jumping a little and saw Merlin grinning with mirth, blue eyes wide open and Arthur's mind registered that as many differences he could find, Merlin and him shared more or less the same color of eyes. Bright blue, and he noticed—with no uncertain amount of embarrassment—that with the sate his hair was, they probably looked like brothers now. Like brothers from different mothers.
He shook his head as he saw that Merlin was chuckling.
"What are you laughing at, uh?" Arthur snapped and kicked Merlin's shoulder, fearing that he had said so out loud.
"Nothing," Merlin waved a hand. "Well? How did it felt?"
"What?"
"Meditating," Merlin said as an answer. "Using your brain for the first time? I bet it must have been quite a surprise?"
Arthur went for a hit as Merlin just raised his arms in a lousy attempt to defend himself.
"Despite your common belief that I don't use—or have—a brain, I do meditate from time to time, Merlin. Now, care to explain to me what was all that thinking about? Believe it or not, I will like to know about your plans sometime in the near future." Arthur grunted before he smirked. "Or do you need more time to think? I will understand, your brain works slower than most I'm sure."
"Fine, fine, sorry." Merlin raised his hand and surrender. "But yes, I finally have a plan."
There was a pause.
"You mean—wait… you didn't have a plan before coming here?" Arthur tried hard to not scream and control his voice.
"I have a plan, I always have a plan. I just decided to include you into it." Merlin grinned and then looked at the vase, his face grew solemn and Arthur knew that finally, after days, Merlin was about to share this plan with him. He just prayed it was a good one. Merlin was quiet for a moment before he straightened; rolling his shoulders back and nodded. "Ready to hear it?"
"As ready as I will ever be, Merlin."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Two days, it's been two days since Gwaine has last seen Merlin or Arthur. Arthur, he could live without out, certainly, since they were still not talking, but it wasn't like any of them had made the effort. Gwaine didn't want to know who would hit the other first. The knight was still trying to get over the loss of his friends, losses that the rest of the Camelot didn't know about… yet. Losses he was responsible for, and in two days their deaths will be official and he didn't know if he would be able to not drown in misery then. It was hard as it was.
Gwaine had kept himself away from the knights, and had not shared his burden with anyone, not even with Percival or Lancelot, they had tried to coax it from him but Gwaine had refused to say so outloud. He couldn't face their dissapoinment. The guilt was eating him alive and against his better judgement he had gone almost every night to the tavern in hopes of getting rid of it. It had not worked.
Yesterday a wise a man told him that he had two decisions: he could either fix what was wrong or let that wrong consume you.
Gwaine was tired of the second option, and feeling braver than in days he had gone out to the mess hall to have something to eat and then go and find Arthur, but as faith would have it, things were not working his way. As usual.
"He left?" Gwaine almost dropped the bowl of soup. "When?"
"Two days ago, he's meant to come back in a week, though, Arthur went to Annora to overlook some treaties that were long overdue." Leon provided at furrowed his eyebrows at Gwaine's reaction. "Thought you knew."
Gwaine shook his head and looked down at the table as he set his bowl on the table. Arthur was gone? He felt frozen on his seat for a moment.
Arthur was gone.
"Isn't that the path where Agravaine was… you know—killed?" Owen asked from the other side of Leon. The knight's chief nodded somberly. "So isn't that like a bad idea?"
Leon rolled his shoulder and nodded. "Lancelot swears the path is safe now, at least for the moment. And you know Arthur…"
Owen scoffed and finished his goblet of wine. Didn't they know? Once the prince wanted something he would see it through. Owen had an ongoing debate with James about if that was a good think or not.
"Owen, Gaius is looking for you," James announced as he sat heavily on the other side of Gwaine, startling the half-sober knight from his thoughts.
"Well, I'm off." Owen announced as he drank his goblet of water in a go. "Gaius is in need of help. Winter is coming and a lot of kids are getting sick, even my sister caught something, speaking of which… where is Rowan?" Owen asked as his eyes trailed the table and frowned. "He's her boyfriend, has been pestering me all week to find out where the man is, apparently a nineteen year old can't live without a man. As much as I would want to say that is not true."
"They do grow up fast." James mocked Owen. "You are talking like she's a ten year old, Owen! Ler the woman live."
Leon patted Owen's back and the knight scoffed. "It's not funny! She's my baby sister, and for all that I care Rowan can go missing for a couple of days more."
James laughed merrily along a few knights that overhead but Leon and Gwaine both froze on their seats. "Just tell me where the man is, wasn't he in duty of… mail or something? Or night duty?"
"Yeah, yeah, well, Rowan was out with Elyan's search party?" James said as he looked sideways to Gwaine and then at Leon, mentally marking days in his head. "Aren't they supposed to have arrived already?"
Gwaine grumbled something intelligible before he got out of his seat.
"Something I said?" James asked confused as Gwaine stalked out and a few shrugged.
"Quite the mood he's been in lately, uh?" Owen whispered amused. "Maybe Rosa rejected him again?"
"Stop wasting time, all of you, and go back to your duties. There's knight practice at midday." Leon commanded as he stood up. Once out of the mess hall he dropped his stoic face and sighed. He didn't know what was worse: the fact that Gwaine and Leon had to pretend everything was fine, or, in two days, when everybody discovered the truth about Elyan and the rest. Leon massaged his temples before he went to release Lancelot from Uther. He had a long week to go without Arthur here; he only hoped he could survive it.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Well, the plan is simple: Training. A part of my training involves figuring the vase out, at least this is the part Kilgharrah agrees with." Merlin said pointing to the vase.
"The key to our problems." Arthur grumbled. "You figure the spell, I have my father back and then we can go and deal with Morgana and—in fact, everything just relays on the vase."
"No pressure," Merlin said sarcastically and then he extracted a book from his satchel. "But you are right; the vase holds the key to everything. That's why I came to Ealdor, here I can spend day and night figuring the vase out—"
"That is what I don't understand, you have already spent three days and nights working with Gaius in Camelot and you couldn't figure what was wrong with it, what changes now?"
"Nothing and everything, I mean—it took me three days to realize why the vase wasn't in any of our books. Kind of stupid really," Merlin sighed and placed the book between them. "The vase is in no book I have because it's an object that Morgana created, there are no records because it never existed before now, that's why there is no spell or cure written about it."
The voice of Agravaine sounded so clear in Arthur's head it was almost like he was there beside him, laughing at him, mocking him even in death. 'There's no cure, no spell, your father is as good as dead! Did you think Morgana was that stupid? She already won, Arthur.'
"That only makes it a bit difficult, not impossible." Merlin said unaware of where Arthur's thoughts were heading. "The reason I need time is simple: the vase is an ensemble of different spells—layers around it" At this Merlin placed his left hand in a fist and covered it with his right. "Once I crack figure out each layer the object will be just an object, and hopefully the spell with lift."
At least it was Merlin's theory and God knew he could be wrong, the sorcerer had been praying for two days now that he would be right, though. He needed to be right.
"You think it will work?"
"Kilgharrah said it could." Merlin nodded and smirked at the reaction of Arthur, he always shivered a little whenever he mentions the great dragon.
"I—I don't see what I have to do this, though," Arthur said after a moment. "If your theory works, then there is nothing I can help you with."
"That is the part of the plan that Kilgharrah wasn't so sure about…" Merlin scratched his arm. "You see… I'm going to be… breaking the rules a little."
"What rules?"
Merlin sighed and placed his hands in a prayer under his shin, looking at Arthur for a moment. "I'm… I'm going to train you, Arthur."
Merlin expected a gasp, and unexpected reaction, a yell, but Arthur just bark laughed. The prat laughed.
"Train?" Arthur asked bewildered as he furrowed his eyebrows. "Merlin, I didn't even bring a second sword or shields to train with, and—no offense—but just don't get any better with time. What could you possible train me for?"
Merlin stare was impassive and Arthur deflated, the scoff on his face died as he grew two shades paler.
"When you say train…" Arthur looked down at the book between them and then back at Merlin. His eyes grew huge a second later. "You don't… you can't—Merlin you can't be serious."
Merlin clasped his hands once and nodded, looking down at the book too. "I'm serious. I have been thinking about this for years, never been sure myself to be honest, now though it just makes sense. It seems like the right course of action. Arthur, I will train you in magic."
"Merlin, I don't have magic!" Arthur whispered, feeling the need to state such a fact to his friend.
"I know." Merlin agreed and then leaned just an inch in Arthur's direction. "But that doesn't matter. You don't need to have magic, you need to understand it. It's painfully obvious how much you don't know about magic. I think that if we want to bring Albion to life, defeat Morgana, and fix this vase you need to understand it. I think it's linked, Arthur. All of the three events are linked and I think the end result is you being King. Trust me on this."
"But—"
"You promised to one day bring magic to Camelot, didn't you?" Merlin pressed.
"Yes, but—" Arthur glared when Merlin dared to interrupt him once again and Merlin raised his hands in surrender. "Thank you, now can you shut up for a moment? I understand that I don't understand anything about magic. It unnerves me, Merlin. My whole life I was thought to hate it, for the past weeks that has faded, granted, I do not think magic is evil, if anything I don't think you are, but that doesn't mean I want to learn it."
"Why?" Merlin asked. "I'm not going to oblige you, of course, but why no? How do you want to be a ruler of a kingdom with magic if you don't know how it works? How are we supposed to defeat Morgana if you don't even know how she uses it? I have seen great people die because they are ignorant of what magic can or cannot do. You yourself, have gotten into a lot of problems—and trust me on this one— just because you didn't know about magic. Arthur, it won't hurt to know."
"Merlin, how can I understand something I don't have?" Arthur demanded, fearing that his friend had asked for too much this time. "How?"
Merlin's eyes wandered around the field and nodded once before he stood up, stalking away from him.
"Merlin?" Arthur asked aghast as how easily Merlin had dismissed his rant.
"C'mon, get up on your feet," Merlin said as he stopped a few yards away, he turned and motioned for Arthur to obey. "C'mon."
Arthur narrowed his eyes at him and stubbornly got up, arms crossed.
"Now walk to the boulder over there," Merlin instructed, pointing to a stone away from the vase and the book on the floor. Arthur glared at Merlin for a moment but relented.
"Merlin I don't—" The wicked and impish grin on Merlin's face made Arthur stop just a few yards away from his destination. "Merlin?"
Merlin's eyes turned golden and Arthur had barely a moment to register his shock before he dodged a fire sphere that Merlin sent his way. Aghast—and frankly quite scared— a pale prince of Camelot was looking at the black spot on the grass where he had been previously standing.
There was a pause that lasted an eternity.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT, MERLIN!" Arthur yelled, sword raised—he didn't know exactly when that happened—still half-crouched on the grass in a position that allowed him to either roll or take into a sprint, his innate abilities skills kicking in.
"Training," Merlin answered easily.
Arthur couldn't even mumble a reply and just said incoherent things for himself. His anger grew by the second but finally, he found his voice.
"I—you call that—You almost burned me alive, you idiot! What kind of training is that?!" Arthur rose to his feet and swung his sword in his direction marking his words but did not dare walk any closer.
"You don't need to have magic to understand it," Merlin repeated, face somber as his eyes despair all over his frame. "I was in control of that ball the entire time, had you not dodged I would have stopped from hurting you—"
"So?! It's that supposed to make me feel better?! What in God's name was that for?!" Arthur yelled incredibly angry, it was the first time Merlin used his magic to harm him, intentionally or not, and he was incredibly astonished and honestly perturbed about it.
"I want you to understand that the next sorcerer that will attack you won't be me!" Merlin yelled taking a step in Arthur's direction. The prince lowered his sword just slightly. He had never, ever, seen Merlin angry, and he realized an angry Merlin was quiet scary. "Next it will be Morgana and guess what, you prat? She won't fail! She will kill you!"
There was a long pause before either of them moved.
"I can't protect you all the time. I can't keep an eye on you if I'm meant to be fighting her, but I can prepare you to stay alive, Arthur. As you said I don't know if Morgana is alone, I don't know if another sorcerer is helping her, if she has thugs or magic tricks prepared to harm you. The truth is you have been harmed by magic more times than I'm willing to admit. I know I'm asking for too much, but I'm also taking a risk here. This has never been done before. I'm the most powerful sorcerer to walk this earth and you are the future king, there is supposed to be a balance there, a balance I'm willing to break. The things I could teach you Arthur… the power you would get, just by knowing, you don't even have to perform it..."
"Then why? Why give me so much power? Why train me."
"Because I fear the day we go and fight Morgana I won't be enough." Merlin said as he lowered his voice. Arthur sheathed his sword but did not walk any closer, pondering what Merlin had said for a few moments. He looked down to the ground and sat heavily on a boulder. Was Morgana that powerful? Or were they really that mental to hope on defeating her?
"You want me to become a… a sorcerer?" Arthur asked after a while.
"No, I don't think you can become one. However, teaching you about magic will help you understand it and then you can use that knowledge to your advantage."
"Knowledge is power." Arthur nodded, repeating the phrase that his father had told him endless times, Arthur mulled the idea for a few more minutes. "When you say you will be breaking the rules..."
Merlin lowered the vase to look at Arthur. "I meant not literal ones, but for centuries magic has been thought to people with magic, always, I mean, who would bother to teach someone not magical? Especially these last past years? Magic is something people fear, Arthur, but it should not be that way. Not anymore."
Arthur again got the feeling Merlin was hiding something from him but did not press, he looked up to the sky, it was going to be midday soon, training practice would be starting soon in Camelot.
"I just hope I'm worth breaking the rules for, Merlin." Arthur said with crossed arms and a long suffering sigh. "I have the feeling it will be a long week, in any case."
Merlin looked up and Arthur nodded. A moment of understanding passing them both before Merlin grinned.
"When does training begin, then?" Arthur asked arms crossed passing his weight to his other foot to hide his anxiety. His face grew a bit somber at the thought that he would have to rely on this information for survival but Merlin was right in one thing; the more Arthur understood the better chances he had against future sorcerers. To defeat your enemy keep them close, wasn't it?
"Right now."
Arthur rolled his shoulders histrionically and after a long sigh, he sat to resume his place in front of Merlin, the vase and book between them. This wasn't going to be like knight's practice and for the first time ever he didn't know what to expect or how was he supposed to react to a 'training session', how do sorcerers train anyway?
For good or bad he was about to find out.
"Alright but if you make me call you 'teacher' or something like that, Merlin, I swear I will take Saphir and go back to Camelot on my own, are we clear?" Arthur spat, in hopes to bring some kind of normalcy to this 'new normal'. A normal where he takes orders from Merlin, follows Merlin to the other side of the country and on top of it all agrees to learn magic. If his Father could see him now.
"Loud and clear… pupil of mine." Merlin smirked impishly as he placed his hands in a prayer and bowed.
"Oh my God."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A/N: IM SORRY! I worked on this chapter for days and almost gave up, in the end this was the best I could do, sorry if I disappointed you with this chapter but I promise you there was nothing else in my brain to work with, as much as this part needed to happen my brain just refused to come with new ideas.
So there! Magic training! I have the theory that if Arthur was born out of magic he might be magical as well, he has just never tried before. For now, his training will be focused on the theory and history of magic, just to get Arthur to understand the basics of it so he can defend himself better. How? Figure that out in the next chapter. I have never imagined Merlin as a teacher, like in my life, but I think his first lesson—attacking Arthur unannounced—was a bit out of the line… we need to work on that. If you have any ideas of what should go down in the training let me know! If the idea is good or I get inspired I might add it to the chapter.
A surprise is coming guyssss, just two more chapters I think and I know we haven't heard from Morgana, but that is also for a reason, everything is planned, remember that! I have a storyline and everything, it just take time for my imagination to put those ideas into actual chapters.
THANK YOUUU for your amazing reviews! Your reviews give me life. Thankyouguysssosmuchiloveyou!
-Juliet'lovestory-