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A/N: Thank you very very much for your continued support! Here's the chapter you've been waiting for :) No whump yet, but in the next there will be lots ;)
Read and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Owning Merlin is not something I can do.
CHAPTER 11: FIGHTING ANGEL
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-GUARDIAN ANGEL-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
White. It's all white…
What's that…? Snow…?
No, it's not snow… Snow is cold…
This is warm… Is it the sun…? Could be…
But why would I be so close to the sun…?
So it's not the sun… Just where am I..?
Thinking is so hard, like on the edge of sleep…
But I'm afraid to go to sleep, sleep is cold…
I want to be awake, but I don't even know whether my eyes are open or not…
Usually, my eyes feel heavy when I'm tired but right now…
I don't feel anything.
I'm all alone, I'm scared and confused…
No, wait… I'm not… There's someone here…
A dark figure, black against the white… It's stepping closer…
I'd like to smile and run towards it, but I can't move…
Their face is hidden in the shadows, but I can see that they are wearing strange clothes…
A dress? Must be a woman then… Could be…
No, this one's male…. So a tunic then?
It's white, but a different one than my surroundings…
This white is like the clouds of the sky, with silver linings and blue sparkles…
The person isn't far away anymore, anything besides the eyes are visible…
A mop of black hair, big ears and a grin on pale lips…
I know him… He's important… He's warm and comforting…
But why can't I see his eyes? They are hidden in the shadows…
The man was now standing directly in front of me, his grin widening.
He slowly raised his arms, slender fingers spread wide.
Like in slow motion, his hands shoot forward to my chest, hitting me hard and sending a shock through my whole body.
This is becoming strange…
I can feel again… I feel pain…and heat…
The man hits me on the chest again, this time even harder…
I feel like my heart is about to explode and I slowly fall to the ground…
The raven haired man is standing above me and I can finally see his eyes.
They shine in a bright golden color, lightening up the whole room…
So familiar yet so unreal…
Merlin?
…
"Merlin!"
Gaius called out to the younger angel, who was kneeling next to Arthur, crying and screaming his heart out.
"Merlin, you have to calm down!" Gaius said, loud but gentle. He could understand how he must feel, but now was not the time to panic. As quickly as his old legs would let him, Gaius closed the door to Arthur's room behind them and hurried to Merlin's side, gently laying a hand on the trembling angel's shoulder.
"A-arthu-ur… N-no…" The boy was stuttering, staring at his protégé's face with a blank look in his eyes. "M-y fault… I… I f-failed…"
Merlin's mind was completely blank, all he knew was that his chest started to feel numb… And there was a soft touch on his shoulder. The raven haired slowly turned around. He was facing Gaius, but his eyes weren't looking at him.
"Pull yourself together, Merlin. There is still a way to rescue Arthur, but you need to calm down." The old man explained slowly, as if he were speaking to a child.
Merlin's eyes widened almost comically and now they were really meeting Gaius', gaining strength from the older man's determined look. "H-how?" He asked, his grip tightening around his protégé's shirt.
A small smile was finding its way onto Gaius lips as he saw the little spark of hope glistening in the boy's eyes.
"First, lay both of your hands onto Arthur's chest." Gaius explained to Merlin, who just nodded and did as he was told.
"Now, when I say go, you unleash your powers and push them straight into Arthur's chest."
The younger angel furrowed his brow and looked at the older one skeptically.
"Trust me. I'm a doctor and an angel, remember?" Gaius said reassuringly and watched with satisfaction as Merlin finally nodded, determination clear in the raven haired's eyes. "Alright, let's do this."
Gaius removed his hand from Merlin's shoulder and instead laid it onto Arthur's forehead. He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to find Arthur's consciousness. Suddenly, the old man's hand started glowing in a green light, throwing distorted shadows on the walls.
"Now, Merlin. Don't hesitate!"
Merlin closed his eyes and unleashed his powers, he felt them streaming through his hands and the electric tension between them was almost visible. He saved them up in his hands for a moment, before letting them go again and he felt his powers hitting Arthur's chest, making the body shake a little under his hands.
If this wasn't going to work… No, he shouldn't think about it. He had to have faith in Gaius and himself, and in Arthur too. He would wake up again, no matter what! Arthur would fight, he wouldn't give up so easily. His destiny wasn't fulfilled yet, hell, Merlin wasn't even here for a month, there was no way that this would end so soon!
"One more time!" Gaius voice echoed through the room.
Merlin gathered his power in his hands again, mixing in all of his emotions.
When he released his powers for the second time the shake he got from Arthur was even heavier and he felt the skin on his fingertips rip open.
How strange, that had never happened before, no matter how many times he had used a great amount of power…
Suddenly, it felt like something in Merlin's chest was snapping back into place and a smile so huge that it hurt his cheeks appeared on his face when he heard it.
Arthur's heartbeat. It was back.
He was back.
"Gaius! It worked! We did it!" Merlin screamed excitedly, getting up from where he was kneeling and throwing his arms around the old man. "Thank you so much!"
Gaius was startled for a second, but then he laid his arms around the younger one and pulled him close, a soft smile on his lips. "Don't thank me, you almost did it alone."
Merlin just shook his head when he let go of Gaius again. "You say almost but without you, I wouldn't even know what to do."
Gaius just shook his head while he got up and looked down at Arthur, who looked like he was just sleeping, a peaceful look on his face.
"We should probably get him off of the floor and into his bed." Gaius suggested and Merlin nodded, hoisting his protégé up and half carrying, half dragging him to the bed and onto it. With a soft smile, the young angel pulled the covers over Arthur and brushed a few strands of golden hair out of his face.
His forehead was still really hot…
"He's got a fever…" Merlin mumbled, his eyes narrowed. What exactly had happened to Arthur? He had been all healthy and fine this morning. Suddenly, Merlin noticed an empty glass standing on the night stand. He picked it up and silently examined it. Something about it seemed off…
"Gaius, I think Arthur was poisoned…" Merlin pressed out between gritted teeth, anger rising up in him. He really was a lousy guardian angel if he didn't even managed to protect his protégé from being poisoned! He really had to be more careful and Merlin vowed to himself to never leave Arthur's side again expect at night. Maybe he could go and ask Uther to let him have a room next to Arthur's…
"This is actually very likely" Gaius pondered with furrowed eye brows. "I am going to examine that and bring something for Arthur's fever. You stay here with him." Gaius ordered and took the glass out of Merlin's hand.
"Oh, and you should hide your wings, in case he wakes up." Gaius said with cocky amile and left the room.
"So much to being careful from now on…" Merlin muttered to himself, a slight blush of embarrassment on his face.
A few seconds later, Merlin's wings had vanished and he was wearing a new shirt. He walked over, sat himself on the edge of Arthur's bed and sighed. He slowly grabbed one of Arthur's hand and held it in his own. He was still too cold…
"I'm sorry Arthur… I'm not doing my job well, am I?" He whispered, lowering his eyes to the ground as if he could avoid looking into Arthur's eyes, but they weren't even open so there was nothing to avoid.
"But from now on, I'm going to do better, no more mistakes! I promise!"
"Just what are you talking about, mate?"
Merlin looked up in surprise, pseudo blue eyes the size of plates. Right there in the doorway, the whole fencing team plus Gwen were standing, looking at him and Arthur with soft smiles. How couldn't he have noticed them?!
"H-how long have you all been standing there?!" He spluttered out in shock, immediately letting go of Arthur's hand. Merlin felt his face heating up under the mischievous grin of the brunette.
"Oh, just since 'I'm sorry Arthur', so no worries." Gwaine said with a grin and waved his hand dismissively.
"We heard Arthur is sick?" Leon asked, looking at the pale form lying on the bed. When he saw the confused look in the raven haired's face, he added with a softer expression "Gaius told us."
Merlin juts nodded, gesturing for the others to fully come in and sit down. "Yeah, I found him unconscious on the floor a little while ago. He seems to have a nasty fever, so Gaius is getting something against it." Merlin explained, his eyes once again resting on his protégé. Was he really going to be alright?
"Oh Arthur…" Gwen whispered, tears threatening to fall from her hazel eyes as she scurried over to Arthur. She immediately grabbed the hand Merlin had let go and leaned over the blonde. "I'm forgiving you, just get better, alright?"
Gwen was rewarded with a few soft smiles at this, and soon everyone was sitting around in Arthur's room, just waiting for Arthur to wake up.
"But it's strange, isn't it?" Lance suddenly said, while he was staring at the ceiling from where he was sitting.
"What do you mean?" Elyan asked, quirking his eyebrow at the brunette.
"Arthur was perfectly fine this morning and now he looks like death warmed up…" Lancelot explained, a deep frown on his face.
"Now that you mention it, it really is strange…" Percival commented and soon six pairs of eyes were looking at Merlin, who felt a little bit uncomfortable with all the attention him.
"I-I don't know, I just found him like this, okay?" He said, seemingly a little too defensive. Everyone nodded, but the frowns hadn't vanished from their face. They all knew that something must have happened. Something unusual.
"Maybe it was Morgana." Gwen suddenly said, earning surprised looks from everyone. Well, everyone except Merlin.
"Huh? How could she give Arthur a fever?" Gwaine asked, looking confused at the sweaty forehead of the blonde, who seemed to toss and turn in his sleep.
"I don't know…" Gwen admitted and didn't let go of Arthur's hand for a second. "But it wouldn't be the first time she pulled off something like this"
Elyan nodded in agreement. "That's true, remember the one time when she-"He was interrupted midsentence by the unexpected opening of the door.
Gaius slid through the door, looking at Arthur first, with a frown, then turning to Merlin with a soft smile. "Do you have second?" He asked, but his eyes told much more. "Oh, and here's something against Arthur's fever. Give it to him when he wakes up." Gaius added and handed Gwen a small package.
Merlin stood up from the edge of his protégé and walked over to Gaius, noticing the intense stares on his back from the others. They sure must be wondering what was going on and how much Merlin knew.
When Merlin stood in the hallway with Gaius, he instantly noticed the glass in the old man's lab coat pocket. Noticing the younger ones glance, Gaius quickly pulled the glass out of the pocket and held it up in front of his face.
"I analyzed this." He started and threw Merlin a serious look. "And I found traces of a highly concentrated Belladonna serum."
Merlin's eyes widened as realization dawned. So Arthur really had been poisoned!
"Belladonna? That's Deadly Nightshade, right?" Merlin asked, eyeing the glass closely. "Everyone would have been able to put that in there…"
Gaius sighed and looked at the ground, then up at the raven haired with a sad expression. "That's true, but I believe it was Morgana. I saw her in front of Arthur's room while she was trying to strangle Uther."
Merlin frowned, his pseudo blue eyes darkening. "Wait. You saw her standing in front of Arthur's room with murderous intent? Why didn't you do anything?!" Merlin said, his voice wasn't loud but it was strong and his anger was clearly visible.
Gaius looked him in the eyes, not trying to avoid them. "I know, it's my fault. I should have been more careful. I'm terribly sorry."
Merlin sighed, rather annoyed, but then he looked at the older man with a soft expression, the tiniest of smiles on his lips. "You don't have to apologize, it's as much my fault as it is yours. I should've been more carful as well. From now on I will be."
He was determined to stop Morgana from hurting Arthur. She would never so much as lay a finger on Arthur, he would make sure of that. And not just because it was his job. He did it because he liked Arthur. It seemed his protégé had also gotten his best friend. He could never forgive himself if something should happen to Arthur.
Merlin suddenly sensed a dark presence, moving somewhere outside the college. Anger started to build up in him instantly, tightening his chest and blurring his vision. Normally, as being an angel, he was calm and avoided fighting at any cost. But now, his protective instincts took over and he wanted to eliminate the possible threat.
"Gaius, I have to go." The angel pressed out between gritted teeth, suddenly running through the hallway, already feeling the blue contact lenses in his eyes starting to melt, letting the gleaming gold shine through.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-GUARDIAN ANGEL-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Merlin was running through dark empty streets, his senses sharpened and his hands balled into fists. Morgana wasn't getting away with that! He had hurt Arthur multiple times and today she had almost killed him! It wasn't enough to protect Arthur, he also had to get rid of everything that could mean danger in the future.
Merlin tried to concentrate on the presence, but it seemed to move farther away from him, even though he was running at quite a speed. Maybe he should risk flying? It would definitely be faster, but he could be seen by someone…
When Merlin came to a crossing, he slowed down and stopped. He couldn't feel the presence anymore, so where should he go now? He could go back to the college, maybe Morgana would actually be there, or he could wander the city and search for her presence.
The raven haired narrowed his eyes and groaned in frustration. He was so useless, he couldn't even manage to find one of the three fallen angels in this city.
Trying to release his anger, Merlin punched a nearby wall, surprised to see it actually crack under his knuckles. What the hell?! He didn't use his powers and he certainly hadn't any remarkable physical strength. So how had this just happened?
While slowly removing his fist from the wall, Merlin stepped a few steps back and stared at the wall. There were some huge cracks which were spreading through multiple bricks and the stone started to crumble.
With a frown, Merlin looked at his hand and suddenly remembered how the skin on his fingertips had been torn apart earlier. And now this… Just what was happening with him?
The young angel just shook his head, deciding that there were more important matters at hand, such as searching for Morgana. He decided to go back to the college first, because he honestly didn't know where else to start.
With a sigh and a mental cursing of his life, Merlin put new contacts in, tucked his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and headed to the college.
…
…
A few minutes later he was walking around in the college, waiting for a presence to enter his mind, but there was no trace of a fallen angel. Merlin was already heading towards his room so he could go to sleep, but before he had noticed it, he found himself standing in front of Arthur's room.
Slightly hesitant, Merlin pulled down the door handle, surprised to find the door unlocked. He quietly entered and closed the door behind him. To his delight, Arthur was awake, sitting in his band and staring out of the window at the moon.
"Don't you know how to knock, Merlin?" The blonde teased, but he seemed to be far away with his thoughts. Merlin smiled softly, just happy to see his friend awake again.
The raven haired slowly walked up to Arthur, sitting down on the bed beside him. "How are you feeling?" He asked, concern lingering in his voice
Arthur just shrugged, still staring out of the window. "I had worse." Finally, he turned his head and looked at Merlin, his eyes clear and piercing. Suddenly, his shoulders slumped down and his lips started to tremble just the slightest bit.
"M-merlin, I think I d-died. But I'm alive now, r-right?" He asked, his voice sounding hoarse and his words revealing his uncertainty.
Merlin quickly wrapped his arms around Arthur, rubbing soothing circles on his back. "It's alright now, I'll never let you die, I promise."
Arthur chuckled. It was a weak, but sincere chuckle. "Somehow, I can't help but believe you."
Merlin then pulled away again, a glance at Arthur telling him that he was fine. His blue eyes shone bright and a smile was on his lips. Merlin answered with a grin of his own. Arthur was alive. Everything was fine. He wouldn't die. Merlin was telling himself this things over and over again, while he was just taking in every detail of his protégé's features.
He wondered who had been more scared. Arthur, or himself?
"Merlin" Arthur suddenly said, the smile had vanished completely, instead replaced by a frown. "May I ask you something?"
Merlin tilted his head in confusion. "Uh, yeah, I guess."
The blonde gulped, then he looked at the ground for a moment, before gazing up at Merlin again. "Who are you?"
First, Merlin was startled. What kind of question what that? What expected Arthur to answer him to that?
Then came the panic. Tightening his chest into a knot, burning his throat and drying out his mouth. Arthur couldn't possibly know, could he? There was no way; he was just being paranoid again.
After a few moments of inner panicking, Merlin draw a deep breath and calmed himself. He knew what to do and how far to go.
With a crooked smile, Merlin looked out of the window at the moon and then back at Arthur, who was staring at him, expectantly waiting for an answer.
"I'm here for your protection. Nothing more, nothing less."
Arthur's jaw dropped open and Merlin could see that there were only more questions lying on Arthur's tongue, so he added: "Don't ask, I cannot tell you anything else."
Arthur groaned in frustration, confusion written all over his face. "Whatever…" He huffed, arms crossed in front of his chest and a dark frown on his face.
Suddenly, a dark presence tickled on the edge of Merlin's consciousness. Finally, Morgana must be just behind the college grounds!
"I'm sorry, I have to go." Merlin exclaimed, quickly getting up, not before patting Arthur on the shoulder once more. "You should rest. Oh, and take your medicine." He added while walking over to the door.
"But it's disgusting!" Arthur complained, watching as hid friend opened the door. He didn't want Merlin to leave just yet, he had just come!
"I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well!" Merlin said with a grin, but there was some kind of grim determination glimmering in his cerulean eyes.
"Wait, Merlin! Where are you-"Arthur stopped midsentence as the door was closed.
The blonde just sighed and shook his head, cursing this stupid secretiveness. It seemed like he once again had to go and search for clues on his own.
Arthur looked out of the window, gazing at the blinding white light of the full moon. He remembered, only vague, that he had seen Merlin in a white light while he had been unconscious. No, he had been dead. It just…had felt like that. He couldn't quite understand it as it was, but he was sure he had died for a moment, even if it had only been for a second.
So that meant someone must have revived him, yet nobody had said anything about it. But Gwen had told him that Merlin was the one who found him. This timing was actually supernaturalIt was another strange aspect about the raven haired, but then again it seemed to fit perfectly into the picture.
Arthur smiled as he thought about the girl he loved. He was unbelievably relieved that Gwen wasn't angry at him anymore, he had even gotten a kiss from her when he had woken up earlier. She was just so kind hearted; Arthur still couldn't understand how he deserved someone like Gwen.
He really loved her and he was sure, no matter what would happen between them, he would always love her and stay by her side.
That was when he realized that he would also always stay by Merlin's side, no matter who he was or what he did.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-GUARDIAN ANGEL-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Merlin once again ran through an empty street, the second time already. What was it with dark and empty streets and danger? The presence was coming nearer with every step he took and Merlin mentally prepared himself for whatever would come when he rounded the next corner.
What he sure as hell didn't expect, was to find Morgause sitting on the ground cross-legged with two swords lying next to her, shining in the moonlight, their deadly sharpness was almost visible.
"You came, Merlin." The raven haired heard the fallen angel's voice inside his head and the woman's cold eyes stared right into him. Unlike the last time, there was no flirtatious and joking glint in them, but instead a deadly sharpness.
"What do you want, Morgause?" He asked, as well in his mind. Merlin eyed the swords somewhat warily and he already gathered his power in his hands, ready to be released any time.
"I'm here to fight you. You've proven yourself a big nuisance." Her voice radiated in his head and Merlin sensed that she was serious. So it would be a fight with Morgause instead of Morgana. But that was just fine, he had to get rid of all of them sooner or later.
"So have you. I'm not fond of violence, but there is no other way." He threatened, wings suddenly breaking through his back, slicing his hoody open.
Merlin watched the blonde woman nod and in a split second she was standing, black wings swirling out of her back and she took one sword in each of her hand.
"Prepare yourself!" Her voice screamed in his head and the angel felt a headache starting to grow. Her cold eyes burned with passion as Morgause unleashed her dark powers, setting part of the alley on fire. Her blond locks flew through the air behind her when she rushed at Merlin, swords aiming at his snow white wings.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-GUARDIAN ANGEL-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
A/N: Man, what a chapter, huh? Next there will be an epic fight with lots of whump, I can promise that much ;) I hope you liked it, a review would be nice :)
Until next time~
by DarkChain