My eyes began to open, and my body began to feel, and I realized I was on cold hard ground. I placed my hands underneath my body to push myself up when my hands felt something wet, sending a chill through my body. Once I stood up I had to stable myself to stay up right, and then I looked at my hand in the apparent moonlight and it was a sickening red. 'Blood?' I thought. I looked down at my feet and follow the crimson stream to its source, only to find Merlin kneeling in front of me, but it wasn't me...and he was holding his shoulder.
"Arthur..." I heard his voice rasp, and the sound sent a chilling feeling down my spine.
"Tell me I'm lying!" I heard my own voice shout as I watched myself still hold a sword just inches from Merlin's nose.
"I...I can't!" I inched closer to the scene and could hear Merlin sobbing as he still looked up at 'me' and the sight physically hurt and made something twist inside my chest as I remembered that this was a fear of his.
"So it was you then! You were the old man that was supposed to cure my father!?"
"Arthur, I...I did everything I could! The spell should've worked. The reason it didn't was..."
"ENOUGH OF YOUR EXCUSES!" I heard myself shout, and I flinched at how 'I' sounded towards Merlin.
My mind is reeling and I feel cold as I quickly realize that since this is a fear, that means Merlin fears that I'll find out he was the old man who was supposed to heal my father...and that I'll attack him. What sickens me the most is that I cannot deny that this is how I would react.
"Arthur, listen to me, please! Morgana..."
"Morgana huh?" I watched as 'I' grabbed Merlin by his shirt and lifted him up causing him more pain to his shoulder. "You're probably in league with her!"
"I'm not! I swear to you I'm not!" My heart sank as his voice cracked in broken sobs.
"You have no proof and why would I believe you anyway?"
"Arthur, please...you're my friend..." Merlin was thrown to the ground and 'I' raised my arm to kill him with a final blow, but it never came. The ground beneath me shifted into dirt and grass with daylight shining onto it.
I looked up, but my heart was still pounding from the last vision. Soon, I realized I recognized the village I was apparently in. 'This is Ealdor.' I heard screaming and I looked up, and the people of Ealdor were running from armored men with large weapons. 'This is when we helped Ealdor, but...' I looked further into the battle and I noticed myself fighting, and then I noticed Will and Merlin standing next to each other. Merlin's mouth formed words and his eyes glowed a liquid gold as the wind storm erupted from the ground and attacked only those who attacked the village people. 'It really wasn't Will then...of course he had covered for Merlin they were old friends but why didn't he just...' Before I could finish the thought I heard my own voice charge towards them.
"Who did that? That was no normal wind, I know magic when I see it. Which one of you did that?" Soon after I said that, instead of Will getting struck down, it was Merlin, however it didn't effect him like it did Will...he was holding onto his shoulder and looked up at his feared version of me. "It was you?"
I looked at Merlin and noticed the gold had just left his eyes, but in its place was a look of defeat and fear. "Yes, but Arthur we were losing and..."
"DO NOT SPEAK TO ME SO FAMILIARLY! You're a sorcerer, right under my nose."
"Sire, you don't understand, I..."
"Enough, I will put an end to this. I will execute you where you stand and then I will have Will and your mother in my dungeons." Once again, I watched my arm raise against him and there was no impact, but a change of scenery.
'He's...he's terrified of me. He's terrified I will kill him if I found out...'
Once the view before me settled, I found that I was in a cell in our dungeons and Merlin was with me, and the sight of Merlin confined in the dungeons was enough to make me sick to my stomach, then I noticed he was bound in a strange sort of chain around his wrists. I then heard doors open and close, followed by impatient footsteps, only to find out they came from 'me.' "Was it really you, who cured Gwen's father?"
The chains glowed brightly and I heard Merlin sigh, "Yes. I created the poultice to cure her father. I couldn't bare to see her suffer."
"How are you finding the chains around your wrists, sorcerer? I found them in the treasure room. It seems not only do they prevent you from doing magic, but they also force you to tell the truth. Now, why are you in Camelot?"
"My mother sent me. She didn't want my powers to be noticed..."
"So she sends you to Camelot? Odd place for a woman to send her only son if she truly loved him, are you sure she just didn't want to get rid of you, sorcerer? What about Gaius? Does he know of your treachery?"
"I never betrayed you!"
"Let me rephrase that, did Gaius know of your magic when you arrived?"
"He found out when I arrived...I saved him from falling."
"Those shackles force you to tell me the truth...you say you've never betrayed me?"
"Exactly, I've never betrayed you, Arthur! I've always used my magic for good, for you!"
"Hmm...well, even thought that is the truth...I'm sorry, Merlin, but I can't risk you betraying me later down the line. GUARDS!" I watched as the cell door opened and one of the guards lifted him up and started pushing him out of the dungeons. I found that the scene didn't change so I followed then and we eventually made it to where they would tie Merlin up and light the pyre.
I rushed towards them and once he was tied, an arrow flew over my head and it struck Merlin in the shoulder, pinning him to the stake. 'In every dream thing or what ever he keeps getting injured in the same spot...and it's the same spot where the dagger outside of this nightmare is.'
"Light the pyre!" I heard my voice cry out.
"NO!" I shouted as I held up a hand towards where Merlin was in a futile attempt to stop it, and I felt a cold yet warm and comforting energy rush throughout my body, and then it was gone as quickly as it came, and once it left I watched Merlin's chains dissolve like snow. I looked around at the people and at the knights, and no one was moving. It seemed time had stopped. 'Perhaps the weird feeling was because I've finally made myself known in his nightmare.' I looked up and Merlin was looking at me. 'Right, I'm supposed to convince Merlin to pull the blade out...but...how exactly am I to do that when I am the cause of his greatest fear?'
"S-Sire?" I heard him croak out in disbelief. "How...how are you over there and over here? You...you can't be the real Arthur..." As he stepped down his skin gained color, and his eyes were shining again, but they now held the look of confusion.
"Why can't I be?"
"Because he wants me dead." He said as he pointed at the copy of me.
"Why, what happened?"
"He saw me use magic to fight Morgana and then after it was over he bound me in chains. I didn't try to struggle despite the fact I could've escaped...but he sends me here anyway...which..." He looked around noticing no one was moving or even blinking. "Where is here anyway?"
'Now or never...' I quickly made my way to get him down from the pyre and once I did, his hands were freed for some reason. "Listen to me Merlin, we did fight Morgana, but she has taken over the castle. We fled to the forests with the druids that tried to help us, but right now...you have a dagger in your shoulder near your chest...Kilgharrah told me everything and the druids..."
"Now I know you're not the real Arthur. The Arthur I know doesn't know that I sent the great dragon away and he certainly doesn't know his name. I'll thank you for freeing me...who ever you are...but don't pretend you are Arthur..."
He began to walk away but a question quickly nagged at my mind, and I quickly grabbed for his arm. "Answer me this, why are you so afraid of him finding out you're a sorcerer? Why are you so frightened he'll kill you?"
"I don't know where these questions are coming from...and I don't know who you are, now let me go!"
"Just please...answer it and then I'll let go of your arm."
He looked at me questionably at first and then he sighed. "I'm not afraid of Arthur."
"You're terrified of him! You're terrified of what he'll do to you! I've seen it!"
"YOU KNOW NOTHING OF WHAT I FEAR!" His eyes glowed the brilliant liquid gold like before but nothing happened, and all too quickly they turned back into their normal sky blue. "You know nothing of me, of what I've suffered of what I've done...I'm not afraid of Arthur, I'm afraid of what will happen if I'm not there. I'm not afraid of dying for him if that makes him the great king I know he'll be...God knows how many times I've already willingly offered my life for Arthur's. How many times I've known the risks and the impossible odds but i went anyway...for him...for my friend...but now...it seems he isn't that anymore. I don't know how you stopped time or disguised yourself as Arthur...but...I need to go...if this spell fades and I'm still here...your magic will have been for nothing."
"Wait...My magic?"
"Yes...the only thing that can stop time like this, and even stop flames from flickering like on those torches over there...is magic."
Before I could ask anything else, he was gone once more and the scene shifted in a much different way than the previous times also everything felt so much more real and shifty in a way. 'This must be where I see his regrets.'
I look around to get a better look at my surroundings and notice that this strange place seems familiar and then I quickly realized where I was. I ran as fast as I could and I was right. This is where Morgeuse showed me the illusion of my mother. 'How is this something Merlin regrets?'
I then saw Merlin growing increasingly concerned. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"If you were granted the same opportunity, wouldn't you want to meet your father?"
"Uther won't forgive you if he finds out you've collaborated with a sorcerer."
"What if my father's attitude towards magic is wrong?"
I looked quickly to Merlin, because I don't remember what he looked like when he heard me say it, but now that I see it, it almost looks like a mixture of hope and disbelief. "You really think that?"
"Perhaps it's not as simple as he would have us believe. Morgeuse is a sorcerer and she has caused us no harm. Surely not everyone who practices magic can be evil"
"We don't actually know why she's doing this."
"It is time." I watched as she blew out the flame she had lit to light the candle, and I watched Merlin as he looked around as she casted her spell, and she was there...again.
I gauged Merlin's expression as she said, "You were born of magic." His reaction showed almost too many emotions to list.
I blinked my eyes and suddenly I saw myself holding a sword to my father's chest.
"Arthur, please put the sword down!"
"You heard what my mother said, after everything he's done, do you believe he deserves to live? He has executed those who use magic and he has used it himself! You have caused so much suffering and pain. I will put an end to that!"
"Morgeuse is lying!" I watched Merlin's facial expressions like before, because once I again...I didn't notice how his voice seemed to struggle with what was being said, either from my mouth or his own. "She's an enchantress. She tricked you, that was not your mother you saw. It was an illusion! Everything..." I could tell that he was finding difficulty with his words, and from what I'm seeing, he is barely keeping himself from tearing up at his own words. "Everything your mother said to you...those were Morgeuse's words."
"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!"
"This has been her plan all along! To turn you against your father and if you kill him, the kingdom will be destroyed! This is what she wants!"
"Listen to him, he's speaking the truth."
"Swear to me! Swear to me it isn't true! You were not responsible for my mother's death! Give me your word!"
"I swear on my life I loved your mother..."
"It was all I lie..." I said, and then the world shifted around me in a strange glowing haze. Everyone was still, but it wasn't like last time when time stopped. It had definitely stopped again but the people started disappearing into the haze. All except Merlin. "Merlin?"
"It killed me to say it."
"You know I'm here!"
"When I said it...when I lied about the magic I saw...when I lied to you about what happened, my magic felt like it was attacking me from the inside, but I knew I couldn't let you go through with it. When we saw your mother that was all real."
"Merlin?" I asked as I placed my hands on his shoulders, causing him to look at me, finally.
"Arthur?"
"Merlin, I need you to focus. This isn't real. It's nothing more than a nightmare it's..."
"How...what..." I watched his eyes go from shock into sudden confusion and for some reason the haze that was on everyone and everything before, including Merlin, had begun to fade from him, and he seemed more real now.
"Think Merlin...please! Remember the masquerade."
"We...we were attacked?" I nodded my head. "Jacus...the druid helped...then Morgana, she...Arthur, what happened? Where are we?"
"Do you remember anything after that?"
"Nightmares...terrifying nightmares...but that makes no sense. Wait...you...there were two of you...and time stopped...and it was magic but..."
"But what?"
"It was definitely my magic that stopped time, now that I think of it...but I didn't cast the spell...you did...what's going on!?"
"Wait...how do you know that I casted the spell? How would I have casted a spell in the first place!?"
"I...I don't know...it felt like there was a piece of you in the spell somehow...I don't even know how I can possibly feel that..."
"The dragon's spell..." My eyes went wide as the thought came to me and at my words, Merlin's eyes were wide as well.
"Dragon?"
"Kilgharrah...he told me that you are Emrys...He kind of had to, considering the spell, poison, and enchantment you're under can only be reversed by Emrys...you..."
"What all did he tell you?"
"He told me that you're extremely powerful, a warlock, and that forcing you to not use magic would be like killing you..."
"Right...okay so how does all this connect with you doing magic!?" Merlin's confusion was understandable, but my brain was still trying to process the realization.
"Well...um..."
"Wait...if this is my subconscious...how are you here?"
"Like I said, Kilgharrah sent me...he used a soul sharing spell. Right now, I have a piece of your soul and you have a piece of mine."
"And since you have a piece of my soul, that's what's making you unconsciously do magic."
"All I've done is speak...and held my hand out..."
"Sometimes all I have to do is look at something." He smiled but it quickly faded. "So how do we get out of here...or I suppose how do we wake me up?"
"Well...like I said...only Emrys can pull the dagger out...you being Emrys...you somehow have to find a way to pull the dagger out of your shoulder."
"Well, why couldn't you pull it out?"
"If anyone besides you pulls out the dagger, I'll die."
"Right...so how do I pull the dagger out then?"
"I...don't know."
"Well, that's just great! You barge into my subconscious to try and convince me to pull a dagger out of my shoulder, and you don't know how to actually get me to pull the dagger out of shoulder."
"Well it's not my fault for being speechless at how terrified you are of me!"
His demeanor immediately changed and his shoulders hung lower than I've ever seen them. "What do you mean?"
"I...I watched your nightmares...in each one...I either kill you myself or I give the ororder to kill you...I had only seen about three of them and one thing you regret...but yeah...you were terrified of me, and I honestly can't blame you. I honestly don't know how I would've reacted if I found out sooner."
"So all I had to do to get you to accept my magic is to be on the brink of death, and to suffer nightmare upon nightmare?"
"Honestly, I don't know...It's hard for me to accept your magic when I don't know what you've done with it. I can accept you as person because you've been there for me, even when it wasn't part of being a servant...but the magic...may take some getting used to. As of right now, I am okay with it...but..."
"I suppose that's fair. So this is my subconscious right?"
"Right, I think we've established that." I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him. I recognized that look, that was the look of him coming up with something foolish.
"Okay...well perhaps I can use my magic in here...to effect what happens out there...such as pulling the dagger out."
"Will it work?"
"I...I don't know but I have to try...Hey, do you think once the blade is out that you'll wake up too, if it works that is?"
"I don't know. If I don't, you can always try cooking something, a foul stench such as that would wake the dead."
"I do believe you are actually talking about your socks." We both laughed for a bit and the nervousness of it all crept up on his face.
"You're nervous?"
"Of course I am...I've never done this before. Just because I'm powerful doesn't mean that I know what I'm doing one hundred percent of the time..."
"Oh that's comforting." Merlin laughed at me with a short nod, and he closed his eyes. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to focus on something magical in here. If I can find the blade that has magic in it, my magic should be able to grab it and push it away...I hope."
"Alright but how..."
"Got something!"
"Yeah...me..." I said with annoyance at suddenly being lifted ten feet off the ground.
"Whoops..." It felt weird as he carefully put me back down, but reassuring in a way. "Well, I guess that proves that you are something magical in here at the moment...Okay...let's try again." I watched as he closed his eyes and his whole body started to glow, and then the glow went to the exact spot where the blade was on his body in the real world. "I got something...it's dark and twisted, it has to be Morgana." The longer I watched, the more I noticed the glow on his shoulder growing stronger and brighter, until I was eventually blinded by the light, and no amount of covering my eyes was able to help. Then finally, it was dark.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Arthur...C'mon, you gotta wake up, Princess."
I felt someone hitting my cheek and I opened my eyes only to hear whoever was there, quickly move away from me as if they were frightened. I slowly sat up and rubbed my aching head. 'I am never doing that again!'
'A-Arthur?'
My eyes went wide as I heard the echo of Merlin's voice in my head. 'Merlin?'
'Oh no...this is bad!' I immediately look over at Merlin, who was seemingly better, and they had Gaius checking his wound, but once I looked up at my knights my men take more than just a few steps back, and they look both frightened and confused.
'What's going on? Did it work, or are we still in your head?'
'This is all real I'm afraid...and your eyes are gold...like my eyes turn gold when I do magic...Arthur...you have magic.'
"This is interesting..." I heard the dragon say with what sounded more like amusement than astonishment.
"Oh, is it? What happened, Kilgharrah!?" I shouted and I suddenly felt that strange sensation I felt earlier in Merlin's nightmares when time stopped so I quickly tried to calm it before anything coukd happen and it seemed to work.
"I'm assuming Merlin already told you..."
"Wait, wait, wait...how could Merlin have told him whatever he needed to tell him if he hadn't said a single word since he woke up?" Gwaine asked and the dragon's grin grew wider.
"He told him telepathically and Arthur replied to him in the same exact way. It seems that the young Pendragon now possesses magic.I had told you before hand I didn't know how it would effect you. That spell is usually used between two sorcerers...it has never been used between someone who isn't practicing magic with someone who is, let alone a warlock, and especially that warlock being Emrys."
Merlin and I both looked at each other, and a strange question popped into my mind, because of Merlin's regrettable memory. "So, say it was a normal sorcerer and a normal mortal man...instead of one born with magic and one born of magic...what do you think would've happened then?" I could hear the gasps of astonishment and disbelief coming from those around us, and I made sure to take note that only Gaius, Merlin, and the dragon seemed unaffected by my question. Merlin knew, I suspect the dragon has known, but it seemed even Gaius knew.
"I would think there may have been a chance that the magic would've been temporary, but Merlin is Emrys and you are Arthur Pendragon, your destinies were written as far back as the dawn of time."
"So...what does that mean?" I asked, and I regretted the fact that my voice cracked a little.
"You now...permanently share a piece of his soul and he a piece of yours. However, I can still sense that Merlin is a great deal more powerful than you, so you will have his natural born ability to do magic, but not the power he has."
"I...have magic?"
"I do believe that's what big tall and scaly over here just said, princess." I looked over at Gwaine and there were tears streaming down his face as he looked at both of us.
"Gwaine...why...why are you crying?"
At my words Gwaine stiffened and walked back towards Kilgharrah's large paw, and Leon stepped forward. "When the dragon casted the spell on you, you fell back and you were seemingly fine, but then...tears came from your eyes, you started shaking and then you would stop. Merlin's wound appeared on you, both of you started glowing twice, but after the first one Merlin started shaking and then he stopped...the second time you both started glowing...both of you stopped breathing. We all thought the two of you had died. Gaius couldn't find your heart beat. He couldn't even find a pulse, and then suddenly Merlin started glowing brightly once more with a golden light surrounding the dagger, and his wound healed immediately once the dagger was obliterated."
"Obliterated?" My eyes widened. "You said you were going to try and push it out!" I shouted.
"Hey, you said I should try and get it out, I just said I would try and grab something magical, and I did. What my magic did was it's own decision."
"Fine...but wait...so...you all thought we had died?"
"For the longest time, we didn't know what to think, and quite frankly, I think everything just got that much more complicated with our king having magic in a kingdom where magic is banned, while his very magical sister is currently sitting on his throne."
"No, everything got complicated the more I found out about Merlin. Nothing here complicates things...well, me having magic is a bit complicated and...I guess I will have to..."
"Practice? Learn how to control it?" I looked at Merlin and he was beaming so brightly and alive. I could also tell he was holding back his laughter with a great deal of effort.
"Yes...that...Merlin?"
"Yes, Sire?" He replied with a wide smile.
I want to make you a promise.'
'Why, Sire...I never knew you cared.'
'Shut up and listen will you?'
'Alright what is it?'
'After we take back the castle I will reevaluate the laws of Camelot concerning magic.'
'I...thank you...'
'There is also another thing...I can understand why you've lied and I would appreciate it if you understand that all of this is a bit strange to me...but, in light of the fact, you are still my servant, and even though I can't fully accept your magic without knowing everything...I will allow you to use your magic freely. You don't have to hide anymore...you're a servant, but you're a free warlock.'
"Wait, are you serious?" His smile faltered and a look of hope, joy, and disbelief crossed his features all at once.
"Yes, I'm serious."
"I'm...I'm free." He muttered, and at his words the wind moved throughout the trees, a powerful energy swept over all of us, and wildflowers started to grow and glow beneath us. His smile was so genuine it was almost hard to believe, and then I saw tears streaming down his face. "Thank you, Arthur, I won't make you regret it!" He laughed lightly and another bout of the warm comforting energy from before covered us once more and I noticed everyone's wounds and injuries were starting to heal rapidly.
"Sire...what did you tell him?" Leon asked as he looked at everything that happened around us.
"I made him a promise." I smiled, and then I looked up at Kilgharrah my own curiosity rising to the surface at what we all had just witnessed. "Kilgharrah, what did happened?"
"Think of Merlin's magic as it's own entity. It heard what you said, and since he now shares a piece of your soul, it could sense that you truly meant it what you said, and it made his magic fill with so much joy that it exploded."
"Wow..." I heard Elyan say as he came forward a little bit more, but I could tell he was still a little bit taken back about Merlin having magic, more so now that he knows that the spell had caused me to have magic now. "...So, none of us had really seen Merlin do magic aside from that and obliterating the dagger...What all can he do?"
"There isn't much he can't do." Gaius spoke up. "No one can ever hope to surpass him in power even if they studied their whole lives while being born with magic."
"So, he's more powerful than Morgana?"
"I'm much more powerful than Morgana." Merlin admitted with a sound of pride and confidence in his voice did not go unnoticed. I stood to my feet and I watched him do the same with a mischievous grin. Once he was standing directly in front of me he knelt down, placed his hands over his knee as they over lapped each other, and looked up at me with joyful eyes and proud smile. "Arthur, I vow to you that my magic is at your command, Sire. Your enemies are my enemies. I will heal your wounds, slay your enemies, fight by your side, and give any answers I can where magic is concerned. This is me swearing my absolute loyalty to you, and only you, my king. King Arthur Pendragon."
I found myself completely mute at his words, and I felt fresh tears threatening to fall from my eyes. The knights have to give an oath of loyalty when they're sworn in, and I'm used to that. I was also used to Merlin already being loyal before all of this, but he had never once bowed down to me, or address me so properly. Without a doubt, this was Merlin swearing to me...offering everything, and I almost couldn't believe that it was happening, but it was. "Merlin...I accept your loyalty." I said once I finally found my voice again.
I held out my hand to him and he gripped my arm like the knights and I do sometimes and I couldn't help the smile that appeared on my face. "Thank you, Sire. Now, I do believe the castle has an unwanted guest. You remember my greatest fears right?" I nodded my head and rose an eyebrow as I let go of his arm. "I'm her worst nightmare. She has been searching for me since she was still in the castle. Well, maybe not searching but certainly afraid."
"You don't say." I grinned and I could feel the very blood in my veins growing with excitement, determination, and amusement. "Do you think on our way back to the castle you could...I can't believe I'm asking this...but do you think you can teach me how to control...my magic?"
He chuckled lightly as his smile reached his eyes, "Of course."