They entered a huge hall. For the first time the colours were brighter and vivid, instead of the white and pale Arthur had adjusted himself to seeing. The hall was of gigantic proportions and had an almost dreamlike feel to it. Three huge marble pillows were arranged in an triangular position whilst a rainbow kaleidoscope of colours shone through the huge, arched stain glass windows. Arthur looked up to see ceiling was actually covered in small wispy clouds in which underneath were complex runes that had been etched around drawings of dragons and mermaids and all such fantasy creatures alike. The hall had a light and airy feel to it, and Arthur knew you could fit at least five of his own council chambers inside it, if not more. Opposite to the door at the far end of the room were five wooden thrones. Other than that, the room was completely devoid of any furniture or items of any kind.
The women lead Gwaine and Arthur to the far end of the room to the thrones. Once they got closer, Arthur could see that four of them were preoccupied by four figures. The woman stopped by the foot of the thrones and bowed her head before looking up and speaking to the figures.
"I have brought the Once and Future King as well as Strength," she said proudly.
Arthur took this opportunity to get a better look at the figures. The biggest throne in the middle was occupied by a woman clothed in a simple white gown which glittered in the sunlight whenever she moved. A tangle of platinum blonde curls were delicately arranged around her oval face, but her most striking feature was of her ice blue eyes which were so achingly familiar. Upon her head were several icicles entwined and pointing upwards to make a glass crown which reflected and scattered the rainbow light.
The plump man on her right was wearing an orangey red tunic which looked so dry and crinkled; it reminded Arthur of dying autumn leaves. His fiery ginger hair seemed completely radiant compared to the ice woman's cold coloured curls. The man's amber eyes were similar to the man sitting the other side of the ice woman. This man was the friendliest looking out of the four and Arthur couldn't help but notice the chrysanthemum petals tangled up in his brown curls. He also had high cheekbones and was wearing light flowing robes made of light turquoise silk.
It was rather an odd thing but not as odd as the final figure sitting on the far left, a pale skinned woman with raven black hair and sea green eyes. Her attire was the strangest out of the four, as her robes seemed to be completely made out of cherry blossom. Arthur noted that she too was the prettiest out of the four.
"Welcome," the ice woman stood up, followed quickly by the other three, "welcome to the Great Hall of Avalon. My name is Dŵr and I am one of the four Guardians of Avalon."
Arthur felt her icy glare piercing his gaze, making him feel uncomfortable standing in her presence.
"On my right is Tân and on my left is Awyr with Ddaear being on the far left; the other three Guardians. We have been standing watch over the Earth since the Dawn of Time and will continue to do so until the Sunset of Life. We serve to keep the nature in balance and control over the elements of Earth. I am Guardian of Water and I bring the frost and snow when it is time to mark the end of the year. Ddaear is the Guardian of Earth and she starts the cycle of nature once again after Winter has finished. She breathes new life onto the Earth and tends all manner of creatures big and small."
The raven haired woman on the far left gave Arthur and Gwaine a small smile and gently bowed her head slightly at them.
"Then we have Awyr who is the Guardian of Air and brings the warmth of the Summer Sun to all life down on Earth, helping the creatures along their journey throughout the adolescence of the year. Finally we have Tân who is the Guardian of Fire, who helps to start to bring about the closing of the year and the preparing of Winter. Without this constant cycle, the creatures of Earth would surely perish because there wouldn't be a balance."
Dŵr bowed slightly to Arthur, Gwaine and the woman before she and the others sat back down on their thrones. Arthur noticed that each throne was intricately carved with tiny runes and swirling patterns, too delicate for a human hand to draw of their own accord. However yet another question unravelled in his mind. Gwaine turned to him with a similar expression of confusion which mirrored Arthur's own uncertainty about the situation.
"Excuse me Dŵr, but there are only four of you and there are five thrones. Why?" He moved forward and asked.
"In nature there are five elements; Water, Earth, Air, Fire and Magic. The fifth throne belongs to youngest of the five; Emrys who is the Guardian of Magic. However he was sent to Earth to serve and protect the Once and Future King as well as helping to bring about the golden age of Albion. Although he wasn't aware of it at first, Druid Seers have prophesised about this centuries ago and through Kilgarrah, Emyrs was able to learn of his destiny so he aid the coming of Albion."
"Merlin," breathed Arthur quietly.
He couldn't believe it. Merlin his scrawny manservant and best friend was actually the most powerful being in existence and he didn't even realise it. Arthur felt a tinge of guilt once more as he remembered the times he had goaded Merlin for being such a useless servant, when really Merlin had the power to take him apart with just the blink of his eyes.
Gwaine appeared to thinking along the same lines of Arthur, his companion had been hiding something so dangerous from them all.
"Why Merlin? He just doesn't seem the type." Gwaine remarked. Dŵr smirked coldly at him.
"Emrys wasn't made aware of his prophecy until he entered Camelot. He seemed very… reluctant at first to believe in anything of the sort, but as time progressed, his powers grew alongside his knowledge and soon he began to grow into his destiny. You too Arthur Pendragon, were growing more distinct as time passed but we were wary as there were many moments where you were placed in great danger. We seeked to influence Emrys in many ways, although mostly he seemed stubborn to not realise what he was being told and often disobeyed destiny to do his own thing."
Arthur grinned to himself; trust Merlin to not listen to anybody.
"But what about me?" Gwaine interjected, "I mean Arthur is the Once and Future and Merlin is Emrys, Guardian of Magic. What does that make me? Why have I been brought to Avalon?"
"You were foreseen to aid Emrys and the Once and Future King on their journey to building Albion. You were the Golden Trio; Strength, Courage and Magic. With the three of you together you were sure to succeed on your quest to the Fisher King in which he bestowed the most precious of gifts and throughout the course of the latter years from there. You too had an important role to play in Destiny and you wouldn't be one to dismiss it so freely."
Gwaine looked a taken back at the news, Arthur didn't blame him, all of this news that Dŵr had given them had completely changed the way he viewed the world worked. He remembered when he and Merlin had been sitting by the campfire when visiting the Disir, discussing if they should let magic be allowed into Camelot. Merlin had commented on how the world around seem to be thrumming with life, but Arthur had been bemused by this comment, only to not really take the full meaning of this till now. Merlin had been at one with the spirit of the creatures and plants around them, having attuned himself to his surroundings. Arthur then understood that Merlin didn't know that he was the Guardian of Magic, but was doing so naturally on instinct without even realising it.
That had been a lifetime ago. Quite literally.
"You've been through a lot recently. Go, leave these halls. Rest yourselves by the Coeden Afalau outside. There is much more you need to learn but too much knowledge can destroy a man." Dŵr commanded.
With that Dŵr and the other three Guardians closed their eyes and began humming a slow and haunting tune, which seemed to vibrate the very particles in the air around them. Arthur was drunk with the information that he had been given, that he had entered a dreamlike state. He didn't even realise that he was being led outside until he, Gwaine and the woman stopped outside a huge, wrinkled tree which seemed so knarled yet when he sat and lent against it, it was one of the smoothest things he had ever touched.
It was so much to take in, to learn his destiny. His legs felt like they had turned to lead and he shakily shielded his eyes against the afternoon sun. The knarled tree was a pale brown in colour, with an intricate spider web of ivy climbing up one side of it. It had no leaves on it and the branches were bare except for a single apple. The three of them appeared to be in a lush meadow filled with a sweet linger of apple and lavender. In the distance, Arthur could see the towering castle in which they had just been in, it's twisting spiral towers high in the sky. They appeared to be all by themselves.
Gwaine settled himself beside Arthur, he too seemed like he was in a hypnotic state. The woman kneeled opposite against, sitting comfortably in the grass.
They seemed to sit in silence for what seemed an infinity, but Arthur had given up trying to work out how long they had been there. Three thoughts were spinning around his head in a cycle.
Merlin.
Magic.
Destiny.
Merlin.
Magic.
Destiny.
Merlin.
Magic.
Destiny.
The thoughts flowed around and around his brain. He was originally angry and hurt when he found out that Merlin had been hiding that fact that he was a sorcerer – no warlock – from him that he wasn't looking at the bigger picture. The thoughts that had been implemented in his head by his father had now shattered as he realised everything he had been taught had been wrong.
He hadn't even realised how much Merlin had gone through for him. Or Gwaine speaking of which.
Arthur gazed over at his comrade, realising that he thought he knew who Gwaine was. The laughing and joking man who seemed to spend most of his time at the Tavern but was fiercely loyal to Camelot. He didn't realise that Gwaine had been so much more that, more than a mere Knight.
And here they were together, in Avalon.
.
.
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I thought this was going to have more action but it turned out to be more of Arthur learning about his destiny, because although Merlin tells him he's the Once and Future King, Arthur never learns the true extent of his destiny before he dies. I wanted to write a bit more of Arthur feeling sad about his death/what he left behind in Camelot but then it turned out it didn't fit quite as planned. *gold star for trying anyway* XD Maybe I'll include this at a later date.
Also I'm not quite sure what Avalon is supposed to be like so this is completely different from how it probably should be (except for the apple tree) and the Guardians don't exist in the real Arthurian legends but I hope you enjoyed reading about them. Hopefully the next chapter should see a bit from Merlin and Gwen doing a bit of action instead of Arthur and Gwaine reflecting (although I've enjoyed writing some angsty feels from Arthur!).
Thanks for the amazing reviews from CloudsAndWaves, Method in Madness, Little Miss Emerald, mayatrau, Vuurvlieg and Izzy - I.R.T. Yes Izzy I've tried to take a note of what you have said and have gone through both chapter one and two and corrected all the tiny comma errors in the characters speech (I didn't realise I did this quite a lot, thank you!). Any comments or critisim is welcome. Thank you for reading! :) *cries because I can't spell critisism*