so, I was feeling a bit ambitious, trying to finish the twelve chapters I plotted out for this story done in three days before school started (today) and I actually got seven done and am currently on eight- which is more than I've written in less than three days ever. So, I decided I would post "Act One" as the first six chapters that are done, then next week post "Act Two" which will be seven through twelve.
As to the story in question, I was watching Aladdin on Sunday and I just made connections to Merlin and the idea would not leave me at all. So, this AU was was born, and I'm actually thinking of writing a "King of Thieves"-esque sequel to this later to add in other characters. But anyway, I was watching and I just saw the characters of Merlin because they fit so well!
Now, I used a lot of help for the story dialogue but I tried hard not to "copy and paste" the Aladdin script and only use direct quotes (including songs) only if they fit. The only full song I will be using is "A Whole New World" for obvious reasons. (it just SCREAMS Gwerthur)
Alright- well, enjoy the first Act!
THIS STORY IS DEDICATED TO THE PARTING OF THE BRILLIANT ROBIN WILLIAMS. YOU DID IT, GENIE, YOU'RE FREE.
Disclaimer: I own neither Merlin nor the Aladdin plot.
Albionian Nights
A Merlin Aladdin/Disney!AU
Chapter One: Street Rat
A full moon glittered over the brilliant navy sky and cast a peaceful air over the great land of Albion. Not a soul was awake, save for two dubious individuals and an equally dubious parrot, congregated in front of a large rock wall in the middle of a forest clearing. One was a taller, menacing man with greasy black hair and sharp black eyes. He was the one who had a brilliant female scarlet parrot on his shoulder, equally as terrifying. The second figure was a shorter man, wearing hooded robes, obviously in fear of the former.
"You're late, thief," the taller man spat, narrowing his eyes. The short thief flinched and gave a small bow.
"I apologize for my lateness, patient one," he replied meekly, before pulling out a leather pouch. "But it was for a worthy prize, after all." The taller man smirked devilishly and started to reach for it, but the thief pulled back. "My payment, if you please," he ordered darkly, moving a step backward. The parrot swooped by and suddenly snatched the pouch out of the thief's hands, shocking him. The bird landed on the taller man's shoulders and dropped the pouch into his hands.
"You'll get your payment when this is over," he smirked snidely, opening the pouch and pulling out a half of a metal phoenix. "Trust me." He pulled out a mirroring half from his pockets and slowly fit them together.
All of a sudden, the full phoenix began to glow brightly and burned in the man's hands. He let out a sharp yell and let go as the phoenix flew out of his hands and shot straight for the rock face behind them. It split into two once again and now resembled eyes as the rock began to shift, shaking the earth. Both men doubled backwards in awe and fear as the rock wall formed into the large stone head of a dragon, bright golden eyes burning at them. The black haired man grinned wickedly.
"At last, after all these years! The ancient Kilgharrah- the Cave of Wonders!" he exclaimed gleefully.
"By God," the robed thief breathed. They both stood tall now, taking in the sheer magnificence. The taller man grabbed his accomplice's robes threateningly.
"Remember- you must bring me the lamp," he demanded, obsidian eyes flashing dangerously. "All of the treasures of the Cave shall be your reward, but the lamp, is mine!" The thief nodded and turned to approach the dragon's head. The parrot squawked and ruffled her feathers. She leaned over into her owner's ear and gave an intelligible smirk.
"Jeez, where'd you find this idiot?" she cooed viciously. Her owner smirked and placed a finger to his lips.
"Quiet, my dear," he whispered. The thief was directly in front of the dragon's face, shaking terribly.
All of a sudden, the dragon roared, blowing the shorter man back a few feet. "Who disturbs my slumber?!" The thief cowered before the mighty stone beast.
"It is but a humble thief, Geldred," the thief- Geldred- replied. Kilgharrah growled fiercely.
"Know this- only one may enter here! One whose worth lies far within! The diamond in the rough," he bellowed. Geldred looked back to his companion with a scared and questioning look. The taller man was quite intrigued, no questioning, but irritated nonetheless. It was all riddles anyway for God's sake!
"Go on! What are you waiting for, you fool?" he hissed. Geldred gulped and slowly moved closer and closer to the dragon's mouth, who in response gave a testy breath. The short thief closed his eyes and stepped one foot into the entrance of the cave. Nothing happened. Geldred sighed in relief and took another step inside. But with that second step, the dragon let out a fierce and bellowing roar and clamped its jaws down on top of the fear-paralyzed thief, the Cave disappearing.
"Seek thee out, the diamond in the rough," Kilgharrah's voice echoed as the two pieces of the phoenix fell onto the ground. The scarlet parrot snickered.
"Well, would you look at that, what a waste of time!" she laughed sardonically. "We're never gonna get a hold of that lamp, are we? Just forget it, I mean, look at me, I'm molting from the stress!"
"Patience, Morgause. Geldred was obviously not one who was worthy," the man pointed out. Morgause rolled her eyes.
"Oh, well there's a surprise!" she retorted, flapping her wings huffily. "What are we gonna do then? We have a problem here-"
"Yes, indeed we do," he agreed, interrupting her squawks. "Only one may enter, eh? Well, we must find this…diamond in the rough."
A bright sun rose over the kingdom of Camelot, far from the forest clearing, and shined itself upon a young blonde ragamuffin teen who was perched upon a rooftop, holding two small loaves of bread. He licked his lips briefly, as a sign of his growing hunger, but he stopped as a sharp growl pierced the air.
"THIEF! I'll have your HANDS, street rat!"
The teen looked back at his accusers on the ground, then at the food.
"All that for a couple loaves of bread?" he chuckled. With skill, he leaped off the other side of the roof, landing on multiple clotheslines and sliding down to the ground. A young woman chuckled as the teen landed in front of her open window.
"Good morning! How is it going, Arthur?" the woman giggled. Arthur gave a crooked grin.
"How do you think it's going, Angel?" the blond replied cheekily, winking at her. She scrunched up her face in mock thought.
"Well," Angel began, glancing down the alley at the approaching guards. "It looks like you're in trouble."
"What? Me, no!" Arthur denied, casually turning away to run. "You're only in trouble if you get caught!"
A guard grabbed onto Arthur's shoulder and wrenched him around.
"Oops, I'm in trouble!"
"I've got you, filth!" the guard snarled, but not before the teen kneed him under the belt and gave a mock salute.
"See ya!"
Arthur ran through the streets, dodging swords and hurrying through the crowds of the market.
"One jump, ahead of the breadline, one swing ahead of the sword. I steal only what I can't afford. That's everything!"
He faced another guard at a fisherman's stand and dodged his sword before pulling down his pants and shoving him into the fish barrel. He chuckled as he continued to flee.
"One jump ahead of the lawmen, that's all and that's no joke! These guys don't appreciate I'm broke!"
Arthur scampered up a set of outdoor stairs and a crowd of guards followed him, crying out "Street rat!" and "Burglar!"
"Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat, tell you all about it when I've got the time!"
He broke through the building and went out the other side, deftly leaping onto an overlay.
"One trick ahead of disaster, they're quick but I'm much faster-"
Men began to surround him from either side and he spotted another set of stairs that he quickly rushed up. He grabbed a sheet from a hanging clothesline and from his spot, spied a wall that divided a hay stack from an open horse stable. With guards nearly behind him, Arthur took a breath.
"Here goes, better throw my hand in, wish me happy landin', all I gotta do is jump!"
The young teen leaped into the air, using the sheet as a parachute and fell gracefully onto the pile of hay. The guards, on the other hand, tried to follow suit, but ended up plummeting straight into the horses' muck. Arthur gave a hearty laugh as he settled on the ground, pulling the two loaves from his pockets.
"Alright! Time to eat!" he rejoiced, but before he did so, he spotted two children, a girl and a boy- no more than 6 he would say- rummaging in the trash heaps for food.
Arthur felt a heavy pang hit his heartstrings. He knew how it felt for them. He glanced at his edible prize and then back at them, and then sighed. Arthur stood up and carefully approached them, holding out his bread to the starving children.
"Here you go, take it," he offered gently, smiling at them. Cautiously the girl stepped forward. "You'll need it more than me." The girl took the food out of his hand and shared it between her and her brother, smiling and giggling gratefully at Arthur.
The sound of trumpets blazing surprised the young blond, and he snuck out of the alley to see a crowd of people in the streets clapping and cheering as a pompous looking prince rode by on an equally pompous horse.
"Another suitor for the princess, I hear," a man in front of Arthur whispered to the man beside him.
"Will she ever marry?" the other wondered aloud. Arthur snuck by them for a closer look as the prince neared the castle gates. Suddenly, the children whom Arthur had helped ran out into the street- in front of the horse! The prince scowled and snarled.
"Out of my way, you pests!" he shouted, raising a whip. Arthur's eyes widened and he felt a rush of adrenaline run through him as he swooped to stop the whip from hitting its intended mark.
"HEY!" he shouted heatedly. "If I were you, I could afford some manners!"
"I'll show you manners, boy!" the prince snapped, butting Arthur into a mud puddle. This only enraged the teen even more.
"Oh lookie there! A horse with two asses!" he yelled, which struck a nerve with the supercilious prince. He turned around and glared at Arthur, who glared as harshly in return.
"You are nothing but a worthless lowlife street rat and that's all you'll ever be!" he hissed as the gates opened up. "You'll die a street rat and only your fleas will mourn you!" He entered the castle grounds and the gates closed once again before Arthur could say anything back in retaliation.
"I'm not worthless! I do not have fleas!" he yelled to the wood of the door, his insides crumbling as he heard laughter and jeers from the dispersing crowd. Arthur heavy heartedly turned away, and began to head to his 'home'.
"Riff raff, street rat, I don't buy that."
Arthur climbed up a series of stairs and ladders, crawling through a dilapidated building at the very edge of the town.
"If only they'd look closer, would they see a poor boy? No siree. They'd find out there's so much more to me."
He settled into an area of small comfort where he had a ratty blanket and old carpets and curtains. Arthur looked longingly out of the open window- which was more like a broken wall- and sighed. From there, he had a brilliant view of Camelot's castle.
"One day, things are gonna look up," he vowed. "One day I will be rich, and live in a castle, and then I'll have no worries at all."
Next up- Chapter Two: Suitor Issues!
Remember to Review!
-DMRA