We used to play outside
When we were young
And full of life and full of love
Despite his best efforts, days pass without Morgana showing even the slightest sign of being able to see Merlin.
He isn't sure if it's because she's somehow learned how to shut him out, or if she simply can't see him anymore, but whatever it is, she isn't paying attention to him at all.
Merlin walks through the village, trough the square with all the shops along the walkway. It's fairly dark out and Merlin's on his way back to the castle when he sees a girl in a dress cut to above her knees running with shackles on his wrists. She runs with a limp, her face covered in scars and blood and her hair an absolute mess. Merlin watches with concern as she runs straight toward him, expecting her to run straight through him and continue on her way.
She seemed to think the same, though, because when the two of them crash into each other they end up laying on the ground next to each other.
"You're-" Merlin starts, but the girl doesn't find him important enough to stick around for. She scrambles to her feet and continues running, Merlin following suit behind her until she reaches a dead end, whipping around with panic in her eyes.
"Here. This way," Merlin hisses, and the girl looks at him with wide eyes. She casts another glance the way she came in time to see the people approaching. She runs up to Merlin and he leads her into the maze of the tunnels under the castle. She watches him suspiciously as he holds his hand over his shackles, mutters a few words, and she jumps when they break off her wrists.
He shrugs off his jacket and offers it to her, making her flinch and pull away from him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. I just thought you might be cold."
"Why did you do that?" She whispers after a moment of silence, and Merlin raises his eyebrows at her.
"Do what?"
"Help me."
Merlin has to think about this for a moment after he realizes he doesn't exactly have an answer. "I don't know. You looked so scared. You'll be safe down here until morning. Nobody will find you here. But if i stay they'll come looking and they'll find me, so I'll come back in the morning.
Will you be alright until then?"
She only shrugs and lapses back into silence.
"I'm Merlin, by the way," he says with a small smile, and she looks down at her feet.
"I'm Freya."
"Freya," Merlin repeats with a nod. He offers her the jacket again and she takes the jacket from him and throws it over her shoulders all without sending even the smallest glance his way, but he doesn't really mind because he knows she's scared.
"I'll see you in the morning, Freya," Merlin nods, and Freya doesn't react immediately.
It's only when he turns his back and starts walking up the steps that he hears the quiet "thank you" from behind him, and he turns to see her watching him leave. He nods, a small smile on his face, and Freya turns away again, but he can feel her eyes on him as he leaves the tunnels.
Merlin makes it back to Michael's room to hear a conversation between Michael and a voice of a man Merlin doesn't recognize. He wonders if they'd picked up a new one, but by the anger and authority in his tone and the way he spoke to Michael, Merlin could tell he knew the boy.
Merlin presses his ear as close to the door as he can without risking falling through it, and he listens to the conversation.
He doesn't pick up anything, though. Their words are muffled by the door and by the time the man walks through the door and down the hallway without even noticing Merlin, he still hasn't got the slightest idea of what they were talking about.
Merlin walks through the door to find Michael sitting on the chair, his elbows on the table and his chin in his folded hands. Merlin still wonders how the boy can lean against things without falling through them, and Michael doesn't seem to have any intention of telling him.
"Merlin," Michael starts in a low voice, making the warlock flinch.
"Yes?"
"Do you know what an Ambivalent is?" Michael asks, and Merlin shakes his head a bit nervously as Michael talks without even looking at him. "They're people who are half dead and half alive, they can be seen by us and people who're alive. There's one here now, along with a bounty hunter, and she- the Ambivalent- somehow escaped last night. Do you know anything about this, Merlin?"
Merlin tries his best not to gulp nervously. "I had no idea."
"Merlin, Halig is ruthless. We're not safe from him. He's one of our kind. He could kill us. I'm sure Orion's already told you about what happens to us if we die, right?" Merlin nods stiffly, and Michael continues, "trust me, you don't want him to kill you. So I'll ask you again, do you know anything about this girl?"
Merlin immediately shakes his head no, and Michael sighs, finally shifting his glance to look at Merlin. "Good. Because we're going to help him find her."
Merlin may have underestimated Michael when he said that Halig was ruthless. The man had what seemed to be an army following him, with tools Merlin didn't think existed, especially not in their world.
As he continuously attempted to keep their attention off the tunnels below the castle, Merlin did his best to sneak away at every possible moment. It wasn't until a few hours later that he finally managed to break away and sneak down to the tunnels.
Merlin runs down the steps to the tunnel he'd hidden Freya in, to find the girl curled up in a ball on the ground, eyes closed. Merlin's been dead long enough to know that people in their world don't sleep, which is why he's so surprised when he touches the girls shoulder and she wakes up, shrinking away from him.
"Were you sleeping?" Merlin asks, and Freya just shrugs. He shakes his head, brushing off the fact that she was somehow asleep, and he lights a small fire in the corner, letting it hover as he has nothing to let it sit on.
He looks back at Freya to see the flames illuminating the symbol on her shoulder. "Is that a Druid symbol? "Freya nods, but doesn't say anything, so Merlin continues. "We're you born a Druid?"
"Why are you asking me all these questions?" Freya asks, her eyes meeting his, and the way she looks at him almost makes him shiver.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Merlin splutters, and Freya looks back down at the ground.
"I'm sorry."
"I understand."
"You could never understand," Freya almost snaps, looking back up at Merlin with the same look as before.
"I know what it's like to be hunted for who you are," Merlin tells her, and she bites her lip awkwardly.
"Does anyone know you have magic?" She asks, and Merlin shrugs.
"Now? Yes, but before only one did. He knew, but I don't think he truly understood. I don't think anyone who knows truly understands."
"I wish I was like everybody else, but..." Freya's voice trails off, and Merlin nods.
"You always know, deep down, that you're not?" Merlin asks, and she shrugs.
"Because I'm cursed."
"Freya, don't say that. Who you are, whatever you are, it isn't a curse. I'd give anything to be able to talk to them." Freya shakes her head at Merlin's words, looking back down at the ground, and Merlin sighs. "I've got to go. Someone will notice if I stay missing for too long. But I- I'll come back, and I'll bring you something warmer to sleep in."
Merlin awkwardly watches Michael talk with Halig, not noticing Orion approaching until she sits next to him.
"He let Lander go. He wanted to be with his family, and it took a lot of convincing before Michael finally broke the bind he set."
Merlin nods, his eyes not leaving Michael once. The boy who Merlin found radiated with power looked so small and scared compared to Halig, and just this fact alone made Merlin that much more nervous of the man.
"Do you think they'll find her?" Orion asks, and Merlin shrugs.
"Maybe. I don't know. Better she escaped, that way they can't hurt her."
"Merlin, they're hunting down the person who helped her," Orion sighs, and Merlin turns his head to glare at her.
"Why does everybody think I did this?!" He demands, and Orion doesn't even flinch.
"You seem to be forgetting that we know you a lot better than you know us. But if you say you didn't help her, then you didn't help her."
"Good. Thank you," Merlin mutters, turning his head and ignoring the look of distrust Orion sends him.
"I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of the person who helped her when he finds them," Orion breathes, and Merlin can't suppress the chill her words send down his spine.
okokok sorry i changed freya's character a lot but idk if you're all gonna like it im soRRy also this chapter is really short so im orry for that too omg i suck
well yeah freya's not a bastet anymore she's an ambivalent which if you did your reading is someone half-dead and half-alive basically who can see and be seen by people who are dead and alive
[whispers] i see dead people
yeah they're a really rare species and stuff there's only a few of them but we'll get into that later idk keep the ambivalents in mind they're pretty important i'd say
but yes here is freya hope y'all enjoyed
OH yes i also have a twitter my username is garthfitzgerald but the l is actually an i so it'd be garthfitzgeraid if u wanna follow me that'd be sick also my tumblr url is janseneckles so hit me up there if u wanna
-notreallymagical