A/N: Here's the next chapter :)
I secretly titled it 'The-chapter-in-which-nothing-happens' because, really, it's a plain filler chapter. I hope you like it nonetheless ;)
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot idea. This means I don't own Merlin.
CHAPTER 15: DEPARTING ANGEL
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Merlin ran faster than he had ever before. Which was mainly because he had never been this late before.
When he saw the bus that Arthur had rented appear in the distance, many figures with suitcases standing all around it, he slowed down a little. Merlin was dragging his probably much too big trunk for this short journey after him (It was the same he had tried to heave up the stairs on his very first day in the college) and his arm already started to hurt a little.
When he came to a skittering halt in front of a very sour looking blonde, he instantly let the trunk slump to the floor and tried to catch his breath, pressing his arms against his aching sides.
"I'm sorry I-"Before Merlin could press any word of explanation out between his teeth, Arthur hit him hard across the head.
"What the hell have you been doing?! We're waiting here almost a complete hour for your lazy ass to arrive! What did I tell you yesterday?! Don't. Be. Late. How much of an idiot does someone has to be to not understand this?"
When Arthur had finished with his little rant, he seemed to have calmed down a bit, but he still looked fairly annoyed.
When Merlin felt like he was allowed to speak again, he couldn't keep the huffy tone out of his voice. "I already said I'm sorry, but it just…got a little late yesterday."
Arthur perked up in curiosity and raised his eyebrows at the raven haired. "You met with your girlfriend?"
In less than a second, a third person was joining in on their conversation. "Whaaat?! You have a girlfriend, Merlin?!" Gwaine asked out of nowhere, draping his arm around Merlin's shoulder.
Merlin glanced at the brunet in surprise, deciding that this was a topic he found himself embarrassed when talking about it.
"Uh…I guess you could say that…" He said reluctantly while rubbing the back of his neck.
Gwaine then let go of his shoulder, crossing his arms in front of his chest in mock pouting. "Why does princess know and I not? You know you can tell me everything, mate."
Suddenly a huge grin took over his beardy features. "So what's her name? Older or younger? From another college? What does she look like, is she hot? Does she have a hot sister?"
Merlin was overwhelmed by the flood of questions and found it quite difficult to answer. "Uh, her name's Freya and I'd say she's younger and… uh… yes, wait no!...maybe?...I-I don't know…Can you repeat the question?" He mumbled while trying to remember all the things Gwaine had asked in under a second.
The young angel had been so distracted that he hadn't noticed all of the other team members surrounding them and listening intently to their conversation.
Gwaine just waved his hand dismissively, a dangerous glint suddenly appearing in his hazel eyes. "Forget all that, did you do it?"
"Huh? Do what?" Merlin asked in confusion, not getting what the brunet had meant. He was quite surprised to see looks of disapproval and indignation on all of the other's faces, disappointedly shaking their heads at Gwaine.
"You can't just ask something like that, Gwaine." Leon scolded, silently face-palming.
Gwaine wisely decided to remain quiet for now, but his unanswered question still hovered above Merlin.
"What? What did he mean?!" Merlin asked, slowly growing uneasy as realization started to dawn on him. He suddenly grew very flustered, crossing his arms in front of his chest, sending a silent glare towards Gwaine. That was none of his damn business!
"Merlin, he means whether you and your girlfriend had-"The young angel quickly interrupted Percival, who had just started to explain.
"I've already got it!" He shouted, flailing his arms wildly. His face was a bright red by now and he quickly wanted to discard this embarrassing topic.
"Anyway, we've wasted enough time, let's get going." Arthur threw in, being tactful for once. He grabbed his suitcase and entered the bus, storing his luggage away and seating himself directly behind the bus driver.
With a sigh, Merlin followed suit and, after some troubles with his gigantic trunk, found himself seated opposite to Arthur on the other side of the rows.
The others all followed along, storing their luggage away and making themselves comfortable in the bus seats. When everyone was sitting down, the bus took off, leaving the city within a few minutes.
Everything went smoothly, Elyan and Lancelot discussed the latest news, Percival was reading some kind of magazine, Leon and Arthur talked about the hotel they would be staying in, Gwaine was asleep and Merlin had rested his head against the window, watching the grey clouds passing by.
Well, things weren't bound to stay this peaceful.
When they were driving on the M5 for about half an hour, Gwaine woke up with a yawn.
And after five minutes, he had become incredibly bored.
"Merlin, what are you doing?" Gwaine asked from behind the angel, resting his head on the back of the other's seat.
Merlin turned around with a sigh and held his phone in front of the other one's face. "I'm watching the final episode of my favorite series, so could you please-"He didn't come far, as Gwaine interrupted him midsentence.
"Oh, I already know that episode! At the end, the blond guy is going to die! Oh, and it will be revealed that his father is actually his son who travelled through time! But the greatest surprise was that his girlfriend didn't really die but when she came back and noticed that her boyfriend had died, she married his brother, who was actually a woman!" Gwaine exclaimed happily and he cracked a nostalgic smile. "Oh man, that episode was legendary und so full of unpredictable story twists!"
After the brunet had peeled his eyes away from his friend's phone again, he noticed the other staring pensively at the ground.
The raven haired tucked away his phone and silently left his seat at the front. He slowly retailed to the very back, letting himself fall onto one of the seats in the back row and he wordlessly pulled his legs up to his chest, hugging them tightly and resting his head on his knees.
Gwaine watched all this in bewilderment, before he shrugged and got up, seating himself next to Arthur.
"Princess, what are you doing?" The brunet asked with a grin, leaning closer to the blond.
Arthur turned around, one of his eyebrows twitching. "Gwaine." His voice was dangerously low. "Why don't you just go back to sleep? Preferably now."
Gwaine just chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. "But I'm not tired at the moment! By the way, how much longer?"
"40 minutes."
"Oh, okay."
"…"
"So what are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"I see. Should I tell you a story? One day, I had just spend some time in the pub, I meet this one guy. Maybe you know him, it's this huge bloke with dyed hair? Does that ring any bells? Anyway, I met him on my way to the corner shop, I just wanted to buy some apples, when he totally walked straight into me! And, you know me, something like that doesn't bother me, but this guy, man, he became really upset. I think he might've been drunk, but it was hard to tell at the moment. Anyway, he began, and I swear it's true, he began throwing stones at me! I mean, who would think of throwing stones in such a moment? Where did he even get them fro-"
"WOULD YOU PLEASE SHUT UP?!"
That had done it for Arthur. His face had grown red from annoyance and he had been really close to punching the brunet in the face. But he had been able to keep his temper and so he had resorted to only shouting.
It had the desired effect.
Gwaine looked a little huffish when he crossed his arms in front of his chest and wordlessly left the seat next to Arthur and retired to somewhere in the middle of the bus.
Arthur breathed out in relief and relaxed into his seat with a peaceful smile on his face.
At least now, he could have some peace and quiet.
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"Alright, were there." Arthur called over his shoulder. "Grab your things and wait for me at the reception desk, I just have to make a short phone call."
Merlin did as he had said and dragged his trunk out of the bus, down the road and up to the hotel.
"Wow." He gasped at the sight of the impressive building. It looked as if it was completely made out of glass, a helicopter was standing on the hotel's roof and when the massive wooden doors with golden ornaments on them opened for a small moment, Merlin could get a glimpse of the designer lobby, full of men in suits and woman in fancy dresses. "That seems like a place where celebrities or rich businessmen would be staying."
Lancelot walked up to him with a small smile, carrying his much smaller suitcase. "I know, Uther probably chose the most expensive hotel in the entire city."
Merlin sighed and once again glanced at the building. "I kind of feel out of place here…"
Lancelot nodded in agreement and hesitantly walked towards the doors. "Arthur said to wait at the reception desk, so…" Merlin nodded and awkwardly followed him into the glamorous hotel.
When they were inside, they positioned themselves at the end of a queue that led to the reception desk. Soon, Percival, Elyan, Leon and Gwaine followed and stood behind them.
"Am I the only one or do you feel underdressed too?" Elyan asked and awkwardly glanced at all the other hotel residents.
Merlin nodded and nervously tried to straighten his hoodie. "Totally underdressed."
At this moment, Arthur stepped in and walked up to them. "I just checked and it seems like my father has booked three twin rooms and one single room. The single room was, apparently, booked on my name." The blonde said this part with a smug grin, that arrogant prat "It's up to you to decide who you want to share a room with. While you discuss, I'll do the check in."
And with that, he was gone again.
Gwaine was already about to exclaim that he would share a room with Merlin, but then he noticed Percy looking at him and with a smile, he walked over to the taller man. "I'll share a room with Percy, alright?"
Everybody nodded in agreement and it was soon decided that Elyan and Leon would share a room and Lancelot with Merlin.
The young angel was quite happy about this outcome, Lancelot would be the perfect roommate, not like Gwaine who would keep him up with his stories all night or would try to drag him to the hotel bar.
But Merlin had to admit that he felt a little uneasy. It was just a funny feeling, but it wasn't entirely causeless. Morgana and Mordred were somewhere in this city after all and he couldn't do anything if they decided to pay Arthur a visit when he was alone in his hotel room.
Merlin was lost in thought and didn't even notice how Arthur came back and handed them their electronic keys.
…
…
A few moments later, Merlin found himself sitting on a soft hotel bed, his trunk standing in a corner. Lancelot was currently lying on the bed next to him, staring lazily at the ceiling.
After a moment of silence, Merlin decided to speak. "Do you think we can win?"
Lancelot seemed surprised at the sudden question, but he soon settled into smiling calmly. "Of course. We have to. Everyone has a different reason for it but we all aren't able to lose."
Merlin stared at his friend for a moment. The other had spoken confidently, without a trace of doubt and Merlin silently admired him for his strength.
"What is your reason?"
The other man stayed silent for a moment, still gazing at the ceiling. He slowly sat up and looked at Merlin, a small smile playing around his lips and hazel eyes filled with a burning passion.
"Ever since I've been young, I've loved to play sword fighting. My parents were already getting worried, because I wouldn't think of anything else. It was like I was possessed." He paused, looking away into the distance.
"They thought if I started fencing, I wouldn't be able to concentrate on school. So I started training in secret. They found eventually, but they weren't angry or anything, they were just surprised. All this time I still had been an extraordinarily good student. They had no more reason to forbid it, so I started fencing officially."
Merlin listened intently as Lancelot presented him his story and leaned even closer so he wouldn't miss a word.
"At that time, there was a senior in my school, he was the greatest fencer in the whole area. He was training to win the world championship and I've become his greatest fan."
Lancelot slowed down and the smile had left his face, instead replaced by a look of old, long since overcome grief.
"Unfortunately, he went missing. A few years later, the police had found his corpse. It seems like he had fallen in love with a woman, that's why he run away. Apparently, he committed suicide."
Merlin felt the pain still present and silently sat down next to his friend, touching his shoulder in comfort. "I am sorry for you."
Lancelot just nodded and looked at his friend with a halfhearted smile. "It's okay, this all has happened some years ago, I should be over it."
After a moment, the brunet had regained the calm look of confidence he had worn previously. "I swore to myself that I would fulfill his dream and become world champion. This tournament will get me a little step closer to this goal."
Merlin nodded, his cerulean eyes filled with respect for the older one. "That surely is a noble goal."
Lancelot smiled at his friend, this time more brightly, and stretched himself out on his hotel bed again. "I'll take a little nap, if you don't mind." He mumbled and closed his eyes.
"Alright, I'll go for a little walk through this hotel. It certainly is big enough to occupy me for some time." The young angel explained and hoped of the bed. He quickly put on his sneakers and a hoodie, before he silently left their room.
He took the elevator down to the lobby and tried his best to blend into the background, still feeling out of place in this luxurious establishment.
After a while, he found a huge sign pointing towards a glass door with the inscription 'Lounge & Bar' on it. The raven haired just shrugged and entered the room with a lopsided grin.
Inside, he was met with what he had imagined. Dim light, a bunch of leather couches, a five meter long bar with three bartenders and once again fancy people, sitting around drinking expensive scotch or colorful cocktails.
Merlin was just about to turn around and leave again, when he heard someone calling his name. To his great surprise, it wasn't Gwaine.
Percy, Elyan and Leon were sitting at a table, three glasses of ale standing in front of them.
Merlin quickly walked over to them and let himself fall onto the couch next to Elyan. "Isn't Gwaine here?" He asked in disbelief, much to the other's amusement.
"He actually left just a few minutes ago, accompanied by a girl." Leon exclaimed with a roll of his eyes.
"I see." Merlin deadpanned and earned a chuckle by Percy. "First, he dragged us here and now he just vanished, that's so typical."
"What's Lance doing by the way?" Elyan asked before he took a sip out of his glass. "Surely he didn't follow Gwaine's example."
Once again, laughter made its round on their table.
"No, he just decided to take a nap." Merlin explained, still chuckling.
They continued to talk about everything and nothing and Merlin enjoyed the light atmosphere. He also ordered himself a drink and watched as all the other's finished theirs and ordered new ones as well.
The sun was going down outside, Merlin watched it through the glass windows, and more and more people filled the room.
The four of them sat in silence, each of them watching the sunset and getting lost in their own thoughts.
"Let's raise our glasses to the wonderful fencing team of the CPC, who will surely win the tournament, no matter what!" Percival exclaimed suddenly, a huge grin on his face as he held his glass into the air. The others peeled their eyes from the vanishing sun and looked at him for a moment, before they all broke into grins.
"To our fencing team!" they echoed and raised their glasses as well, all meeting in the air with a promising clinking sound. The dying sun's golden light reflected in their glasses, making them shine like the trophy they yet were to win.
"Cheers!"
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Merlin rolled around in his hotel bed for the millionth time, still trying find a comfortable spot. But it was not his body which had trouble getting comfortable, it was his mind.
He glanced over at Lancelot, whose chest was lifting and lowering slowly and evenly. He must be fast asleep and Merlin wished so much he could just follow him into the land of dreams but that seemed to be the impossible.
With a sigh (but not too loud, he wouldn't want to wake Lancelot) he slowly climbed out of his bed and slipped loosely into a pair of shoes. With a hoodie pulled over his pyjamas, the young angel left their hotel room.
A few people were still sitting around in the lobby when he arrived there, but he didn't care about the strange looks they were giving him. He made his way up to the balcony, were usually all the smokers stood around, but at this hour of the night, there was only a certain blonde present.
"Arthur? What are you doing here?" Merlin asked as he walked to the edge of the balcony, where his friend was standing.
"Merlin? I could ask you the same." He replied and Merlin noticed the tiredness in his voice, alongside with a strange tension.
"I couldn't sleep." The raven haired explained and leaned onto the balustrade, looking down onto the buzzing road. He loved the view from high spots and this certainly was high, even to an angel's standards.
"Me neither." Came the short reply and Merlin couldn't help but roll his eyes. That was kind of oblivious, given the fact that Arthur was partly wearing a pyjama as well.
"Are you nervous?" The raven haired asked and looked over his friend intently. Arthur's steely eyes were directed at the street below them, but he wasn't really looking at it, and the hint of a frown made his face seem quite tense.
"I don't get nervous." Merlin could've laughed at that answer if he hadn't heard the obvious lie behind it.
"I thought everybody did." He said with a smile and looked in his friend's eyes, trying to get him to focus on the angel.
Arthur turned his gaze away from the street with a sigh and looked at Merlin with mild annoyance. "What do you want, Merlin?"
The young angel shook his head and his cerulean eyes seemed to pierce right into Arthur. "That's the wrong question. The right question would be about what you want. And I know that you want to talk."
The blond just snorted and crossed his arms in front of his chest, clearly in a protective manner. Merlin knew Arthur long enough to know what his gestures meant.
"Why would I want to talk? That's ridiculous."
Merlin's smile just widened and he patted his friend on the back. "If you say so."
He turned around and walked a few steps, his back facing Arthur, then he stopped and thought about what he was going to say next.
"Arthur, you don't have to worry. We will win this tournament. Not even Morgana has chance against us, I know how much beating her means to you. I know that you don't want to disappoint your father and I'm sure you won't. You have a team full of great fighters. You have Leon, Gwaine, Elyan, Percival and Lancelot. And you have me. We won't let you down, we're going to help you winning this, no matter what. I really believe that we will be winning but you have to believe in it as well.
Good night, Arthur."
Merlin walked towards the door and his hand was already resting on the door knob, when Arthur finally spoke.
And even though it just were three words, they were filled with so much emotion and hope that it seemed like the sun was already rising, despite it being still much too early for that.
"Thank you, Merlin."
…
Later, when Merlin lay in his bed again, he felt oddly calm. There was no trace of agitation left in him and his mind was clear like it hadn't been for a long time.
He thought of Freya for a moment, he surely missed her already, but he could draw happiness from his memory of the night before and then he could store the picture of her away again and it would calmly rest in his mind, without causing him things to think about.
The same went for everything concerning Arthur and the fact that he was an archangel now, or that he would face Morgana and Mordred soon.
When he closed his eyes, he could literally feel himself drifting off into sleep and he knew that he would dream of nothing as there was nothing that his subconsciousness produce dreams of.
This must be what so many people had described before, whether they've been generals in a war sailors on open sea.
This must be what the calm before the storm felt like.
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A/N: See, I told you. Nothing really happens, other than they arrive in Bristol. I hope you liked it, the next chapter will contain action. Much action. Be warned! :D
Until next time~
By DarkChain