I'm back with a new chapter. Sorry, just been so overwhelmed with exams. Sorry that this update is short.
Someone was wondering so the story is sort of set between season 3 and season 4 but its very much AU. It doesn't completely matter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, only my OCs and this storyline.
Hope you enjoy.
Not Bound by these Strings
Merlin stared in amazement. This place just kept getting stranger and stranger. He felt like he was getting a punch to the gut at every turn. Merlin remembered the day Will was killed like it was yesterday. He still remembered the ache in his heart as he saw the light leave his friend's eyes, hoping that he would never have to go through that again. Now here he was. Will. It was like the Fates were playing with him. Maybe it was this place. Maybe it was the Old Mother trying to toy with his mind. But he looked so real. He looked so…Will.
This defeated looking Will stared up at him. The look in his eyes was haunting, as if he had lost all reason for going on. The Will he remembered had been a fighter, not one to give up so easily. He held fast to his beliefs, not accepting defeat. Will had taken an arrow for Arthur and protected Merlin's secrets. Merlin had always looked up to his courage and friendship, inspiring him not to give up on his destiny.
How could Will be here?
"Don't look so surprised." This Will smirked halfheartedly. "You can find anyone in this place." He got to his feet. "You look younger then I remember you." He pointed out.
"Do I?" Merlin couldn't imagine why.
"Oh." Will connected the pieces. "You're not my version of Merlin."
"I'm not your what?" He was definitely lost now.
"You must be new." Will looked Merlin up and down. "Allow me to explain. The Old Mother likes to take souls, trapping them in their own specially made room where they are forced to relive some of the worst moments of their lives, moments that will tear them apart. There are such things as alternate universes. You could choose to say no in a situation, but in another version of reality you say yes. You are an alternate version of my Merlin."
"I think I understand." Merlin's head was swirling. "So is everyone in here a ghost?"
"Yes." He folded his muscular arms. Merlin looked at this alternate version of his friend, now noticing the differences. This Will seemed somehow taller, stronger, and…older.
"I'm sorry you died so young." Will sighed.
"No, I'm still alive." Merlin corrected him.
"Are you sure?" Will looked at him.
"Very." Merlin nodded.
"From the look of surprise on your face I can tell that I'm already dead in your version of reality." This didn't seem to disturb Will for some reason. Maybe this place had changed him, or perhaps he was just that different form Merlin's Will.
"You took an arrow to the chest for Arthur when we were saving Ealdor." Merlin told him. "What happened in your version, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Not at all. I was hanged for treason." He shrugged if off like it was nothing.
"What?! By who?" Merlin was astonished.
"Uther." Will elaborated. "It was because I was one of the founders of the rebellion against him. You were one as well and Arthur was our leader."
"Arthur?" This Will's world was very different from Merlin's.
"Yes, he fought against his own father, the tyrant, to free the kingdom from his hate, especially after he found out about what happened to his mother." From what Will was saying it seemed as though this Arthur had never forgiven Uther. He had chosen a different path, siding with magic.
"So you're not devastated over your death or leaving all the people you loved?" Merlin couldn't understand how calm Will was being about this.
"I was, but if you've been in here as long as I have and had to relive it all over and over again you start to see it differently." He leaned against the stone wall of the cell behind him. "It seems like a lifetime since I've seen you Merlin, or any Merlin at all. I've been down here a long time."
"Why are you down here?" Merlin sat down on the plank of wood that almost passed for a bed.
"I wouldn't play the Old Mother's sick game." Will explained. "I guess rebellious habits die hard. I tried changing the events leading up to my death. She didn't like that. She wanted me to follow the script, but I wasn't going to be one of her puppets. Not bound by her strings. She tried to break me. None of her tricks worked. Then I went so far as to try and escape her labyrinth so she sent me down here, hoping the darkness would change me. This is where she sends all the troublemakers and the ones who annoy her. I still fought anyway.
"I had another cell mate before you came." His eyes lowered. "It feels like an eternity since I could walk further then a few feet or at least run. This cell is too small. I don't think the Old Mother will ever let me out. She's moved on to different pray now for her entertainment. It seems she's even taking them whole now." He gestured to Merlin.
"You don't think you'll ever get out." Merlin started to see why he looked so defeated, having lost all hope of ever resting in peace.
"I just want to close my eyes and let the darkness take me, but my rebellious side still lives." Will leaned his head back. "Part of me is still fighting and I don't know why."
"You can't change who you are, no more then the Old Mother can." Merlin assured him. "Who knows, maybe things are starting to change. As you say, she's starting to take whole ones now. Something's happening."
"I've heard whispers from the other people down here. They say that not too long ago the Old Mother had been in a deep slumber. Someone, a long time ago, sent her into the sleep to stop her madness." Will looked up. "She slept for centuries and the souls of the dead were safe from her grasp. Do you think it could happen again?"
"Maybe." Merlin felt his own hopes rising. So defeating the Old Mother was possible. If they could figure out how to send her into the long sleep again, though it seemed as though it wouldn't last forever, but it was a start.
"It's almost a cause for hope." Will scoffed. "That is if we could get out of this cell and if we knew how they had done it before."
"There's always cause for hope." Merlin got to his feet, taking a step towards the alternate version of his friend.
"You!" They heard someone yell. Will stood up straight from where he was leaning on the wall, looking towards the small-bared window in their thick cell door. The shout sounded like it came from the cell across the hall from theirs. Merlin looked through the window and saw the face staring back at him. He gasped.
The one staring back at him was none other then Cornelius Sigan, still wearing Cedric's face. He looked very angry.
"I could have ruled the world if it wasn't for you!" He shouted. "You ruined everything."
"Your idea of how to rule the world wasn't exactly appealing." Merlin shouted back. So the Old Mother didn't only take the goodhearted souls to torture. She tormented the evil ones as well. It didn't seem to matter to her if their hearts were black or not as long as she got her entertainment.
"How could you pass up such power?" Sigan fumed. "Because of you my soul was again vulnerable to the Old Mother. I'm here because of you."
"You didn't make a very good argument for me not to stop you." Sigan didn't seem very menacing from his helpless position behind bars.
"Fool!" Sigan's face was turning red. "I…"
"Shut up Sigan!" Will shouted. "No one wants to hear any more of your whining. It's annoying."
Sigan shut his mouth tight, pursing his lips. He pulled away from the bars and disappeared back into his cell. Merlin stared at Will in awe. Will just rubbed his temples.
"We're going to need a plan." Will suddenly said.
"A plan?" Merlin raised his eyebrow.
"To get out of the cell so we can find out how to defeat the Old Mother." He looked up, a little bit of the old Will returning to his eyes. "There has to be something in this labyrinth house that can help us."
"You'll help me?" Merlin found himself smiling.
"There doesn't seem to be anything else to do." He nodded.
Thanks for reading and the REVIEWS have been fantasitc, please keep REVIEWING.
LightningBolt21: Good luck on your story, don't give up, I'd love to read it when you're done. Hope your surgery goes/went well.
Hope you all keep following because defeating the Old Mother won't be easy and they're going to need all the help they can get.
My rewrite of I Will Never Forget is going well. I'm always afraid that I'm writing too much. I'm thinking of renaming it something better. Any ideas?
See you all next time.