Memories of a Stranger
Chapter 2
The squirrel is back! (Just to clarify, that's what I tend to call myself in fanfics)
Here's the next chapter!
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Arthur rushed into the room. Merlin immediately tensed. He felt a pair of arms wrap around him. This was when Merlin started panicking again.
"He's going to choke me!" Merlin screamed in his thoughts.
Arthur, however, didn't choke him. Instead, he began talking.
"God, Merlin, I am so sorry! I can't believe that I killed you! I know you hate me, but please listen for a moment. I'm so sorry! I was so angry when I found out you had magic, but I shouldn't have killed you! You were my best friend, Merlin! I let myself be influenced by my father's hatred so much that I didn't even realize you weren't evil until you were already dead! I'm so sorry!" Arthur apologized repeatedly.
Then, Gwaine forced Arthur to let go of Merlin. Merlin's heartbeat slowed. Without looking at Arthur, Merlin turned to Gaius.
"G-Gaius? Can you c-call my Mum?" he requested. "I-I want to go home."
"Of course," replied the nurse.
A few minutes later, Hunith came running into the nurse's office and hugged Merlin tightly. As she led her son out of the room, she spotted Arthur. Hunith looked him right in the eye with the coldest glare she could muster. When they had left, Gaius spoke.
"Hunith apparently remembers everything as well," he said.
A few hours later, Merlin sat alone in his bedroom. He thought about what Gwaine had told him.
"A past life…," he muttered to himself. "If Gwaine knew about my friend and family, does that mean they're the same as in my past life too? Do they remember…?"
With that thought, Merlin took his cell phone out of his pocket. He dialed Will's number and waited for his friend to answer.
"Hey, Merlin," Will greeted.
"…Hey, Will," Merlin said back, hoping Will wouldn't think he was crazy.
"What's up?" his friend asked. "Did you have the… dream… again?"
"Well, yes, but… Something happened today, Will," Merlin started. "Do you believe in past lives…?"
There was a moment of silence before Will's voice almost broke Merlin's eardrum.
"DID YOU FINALLY REMEMBER EVERYTHING AGAIN?!" Will yelled excitedly.
"Calm down, Will," Merlin explained. "I met someone today that claimed to be my friend in a past life… He told me some things that he shouldn't have known about me… And… I met the blonde man from my dream… So… is this past life stuff really true…?"
"Yeah," Will affirmed. "Man, I thought you remembered again... Back when we were younger, you remembered almost everything, but you forgot it when you remembered how you died... Is there anything you remember other than that?"
"Today, I remembered eating with the court physician, who is apparently my school nurse now. That's it, though. Sorry," Merlin replied.
"That sucks… Make sure you tell me if you start remembering anything, okay?" Will requested.
"Okay," answered Merlin.
After a few more minutes of talking, Merlin hung up.
"So… It's definitely true… That man… really killed me…," Merlin thought.
He curled into a ball and started to cry.
"What should I do…?" Merlin asked himself. "We go to the same school and we have at least one class together…"
Eventually, Merlin drifted off to sleep with his worried thoughts swirling around in his head.
I carry a girl in my arms. Carefully, I set her down next to a lake. Why does my chest hurt so much? Who is she? She says something to me. I respond. I feel like I have to help her. With shock, I realize that this girl is dying. I desperately try to think of something I can do to save her, but I know that not even my magic can do it. She reassures me and tells me I already saved her. No I didn't! She's still dying! I can no barely hold back my tears. I can't lose this girl! I can't! Her head starts to fall back and her eyes close. Shakily, I reach a hand to the side of her face. I pull her into a hug. She can't be gone! She can't be! I sit there, clutching her to my chest. I don't know how long I do this, but I eventually regain enough composure to lay her to rest. I fill a canoe with plants and gently lay her on top. With a spell, I send the boat out into the lake. Hesitantly, I cast another to set the canoe on fire. Unable to watch any longer, I make my way up from the edge of the lake and into the forest.
"FREYA!" Merlin screamed.
Once again, Merlin couldn't breathe. He tried to find his knife, but he was stopped by his mother's gentle hands. She pulled him to her chest. Reminded of his dream, Merlin tried to break free, but he couldn't find the energy to do so.
"It's okay, Merlin. It's okay," Hunith comforted.
The next day, Merlin didn't go to school. Arthur, who had spent the morning trying to find him, gave up by lunchtime. Sadly, he sat next to his half-sister, Morgana.
"Hey, Arthur. I see you came to join me at the 'I regret what I did in my past life' table," Morgana greeted glumly. "From what I've heard around the school, Merlin didn't take seeing you again too well."
Arthur sighed.
"I obviously don't blame him for his reaction, but I want to at least try to atone for what I did," he told her.
"I'm sorry to say this, Arthur, but it might be better to just leave Merlin alone. You and I can't exactly atone for what we've done," Morgana replied.
"I have to at least try, Morgana," Arthur said.
"Being around you will only put him in more pain, Arthur," she retorted. "And I believe that would be the opposite of atoning."
Arthur had nothing to say to that.
"Hey!" an angry voice shouted from behind them.
The siblings turned to see Gwaine coming toward them. The ex-knight stopped next to Arthur. He leaned down and glared directly into Arthur's eyes.
"Listen to me, princess. I don't care if I get arrested. If you ever hurt Merlin again, I will kill you," Gwaine growled darkly.
With that, he stomped away.
"See?" Morgana questioned.
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First of all, thank you for all the positive reviews! I hope I won't disappoint you guys in the future.
I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the other one, but I thought that would be a good place to end it. Sorry.
Also, I don't know if this will be a Merthur story or not yet.