A/N: Here's the last chapter of my story, see it as a late Christmas present :)
Read and Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
CHAPTER 20: GUARDING ANGEL
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-GUARDIAN ANGEL-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
One month later…
The sun shone brightly, its light being reflected in the cold water of the lake. Merlin lazily enjoyed the warmth on his face as he lay in the grass with his head resting on his crossed arms and a content smile on his lips. A cool breeze danced lightly across his skin and made the temperature actually pleasant.
Today was one of the warmest days they had had this year and it also had been the last day of this semester.
They had all decided to go to the lake again and Merlin had happily agreed when he had learned that Freya would accompany them. He had actually been in the water for a little while, but he found that he still couldn't enjoy it as much as the others did, so the raven haired had decided to just relax a little.
Dazedly, Merlin peeled one of his eyes open and looked around. He saw that Percival had laid some steaks onto the barbecue and the raven haired slowly got up, stretching his tired limbs.
He walked over to Freya and Gwen, who were happily giggling about something or someone. When they noticed him, a blush crept onto Freya's face and Merlin wondered just what they had been talking about.
"Oh, Merlin! Did you have a nice nap?" Gwen ask with a smile but Merlin noticed the sly glint in her hazel eyes.
"I didn't really sleep, but it was still nice." He responded with a smile and raised his eyebrows at the still blushing Freya but the dark haired girl just shook her head.
"Anyway, I should help Percy with the barbecue." Gwen responded and left the two with a last smile.
Merlin waited until she was out of hearing range before he sat down next to Freya and took one of her hands in his own. "What was that about?" He asked with a grin.
"Oh, nothing! Nothing at all!" She mumbled, quickly placing a kiss on his lips.
Merlin leaned into it for a while but he wasn't distracted by it. He rested his forehead against hers and locked gazes. "Nothing you say? Really?"
Freya chuckled and blushed even more but she hold his gaze, not looking away. "Just gossip, really. You know, the kinds of things only girls talk about."
The young archangel still had no idea what his girlfriend talked about, but he nodded nevertheless. "Do you know how wonderful you are?" He suddenly said out of nowhere, smiling at his beloved.
"I'm just as wonderful as you are…" Freya mumbled before she kissed him again, this time more passionate and heated.
Suddenly, someone behind them cleared his throat and Merlin unwillingly pulled apart, looking at who was interrupting them. It was Arthur and looked quite serious, as if he had just been told a hurricane was forming right next to them
"What is it?" Merlin asked, surprised by his friend's expression.
"Gaius is here and he has a letter for you." Arthur explained with a grim expression, his eyes hardened.
Merlin still didn't understand what the blonde was implying, so he just tilted his head and waited for further explanation.
"It's from the angels' court." The blonde said dryly.
Merlin's eyes widened for a split second but then he narrowed them and nodded sternly, instantly getting up. He spotted the older man talking to Leon and Merlin quickly headed towards them, Arthur and Freya followed.
"Merlin, there you are." Gaius greeted, his expression serious and maybe a little bit nervous. "Here, it's from the angel court. I'm afraid they finally decided to take action…" The older man handed Merlin a neat letter made out of parchment and with a big seal on it.
"Took them long enough…" Merlin mumbled to himself as he broke the seal and opened the envelope.
He took out the letter and carefully unfolded it, noticing the beautiful handwriting covering an entire page. "Should I read it out loud?" Everyone had gathered around him in the meantime.
"Yeah, that'll be easier." Arthur answered and expectantly looked over at his guardian angel.
"Alright. It says:
"Dear Mister Merlin Emrys, we, the elected head of the angels' court, have taken notice of the fact that you have illegally acquired the status of an archangel. In addition, it did not go unnoticed that there are human beings who have gained knowledge about our race. You should be aware that this is under no circumstances allowed.
We hereby accuse you of the illegal attainment of higher status and the repeated revelation of our race.
It would be profitable for both of our parties of you would take cognizance of our summoning and appear at the court session in person.
The court session will be held under Barbiel and will take place on the thirteenth of June at twelve o'clock in court room 7-""
"Hey, but that's tomorrow already!" Gwaine chimed in.
Gaius nodded, rubbing his chin lost in thought. "That's strange, indeed… And under Barbiel as well…"
"Whatever, I'll read on now:
"-court room 7.
In addition to you, we would like to summon following persons as witnesses: Gaius Physic and-""
Merlin stopped midsentence, eyes widening.
"I expected as much." Gaius said, looking at Merlin. "What is, Merlin? Who else would they possibly summon?"
The raven haired hesitantly looked up from the letter and stared at a certain blonde with wide eyes. "It's Arthur…" He almost whispered, unable to believe the words written on the parchment in his hand.
"What are you talking about? Humans aren't allowed to visit the heavens. Expect they're dead of course…" Gaius explained and glanced at Arthur as if to confirm that the younger one was still alive.
"Are you it's me?" Arthur asked with furrowed brows leaning over Merlin's shoulder so that he could read the letter.
"Look, there it says: Arthur Pendragon. It's obvious that they refer to you. Or do you know another Arthur Pendragon? I wonder if he is a prat as well." Merlin teased, but the grin on his face wasn't entirely real. He was worried, to say the least. What kind of punishment would he receive? If he told them that he never had anything bad in mind, they surely would understand, right?
On the other hand, Merlin felt something akin to excitement. After such a long time, he would finally be returning home! He would see his mother and Will again! If he left today, he could spent a night at his old house and sleep in his old bed…
"Alright, then I'll just come along. It will probably helpful if I tell them what a great guardian angel you were." Arthur said honestly and Merlin found himself getting a little embarrassed. He wasn't used to getting praise for what he did by Arthur, so every time the blonde said something nice, Merlin was blushing or at list smiling nervously.
"Merlin! What are you waiting for, read on!" Arthur rushed him impatiently and Merlin rolled his eyes. His protégé was still an utter clot-pole.
"Yes, yes. Where was I? "-and Arthur Pendragon. We look forward to settling this matter peacefully, so please do not try to abscond from justice.
With kind regards, the elected head of the angels' court." Under that there's a signature, a seal and the date." Merlin finished, folding the letter and tucking it away into his pocket.
He looked around finding serious and pensive expressions, even Gwaine looked kind of thoughtful.
"I guess I have no choice but to do as they say, right?" Merlin asked, sitting down in defeat.
"Don't worry mate, everything will turn out alright." Gwaine said reassuringly and patted the raven haired on his slumped shoulders.
"I think I'll already go today, I would like to…spend some time at home." Merlin said with a tiny smile and stood up. "Gaius, I'll meet you and Arthur tomorrow morning."
When the young archangel turned around, he was face to face with Arthur who gave him a typical don't-be-an-idiot-Merlin look. "What?" Merlin asked with a raised eyebrow, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"There's no way you're leaving me behind down here. If I really have to go to heaven, I want to see something of it." The blonde said in an all too prattish manner.
"Are you sure?" Merlin questioned, glancing at Gaius who just shrugged his shoulders.
"Of course I am. Now, how do we get there?" Arthur demanded, eagerly looking at Merlin.
The raven haired just walked up to them, wrapping his arms around the blonde's chest from behind.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Arthur asked, looking over his shoulder at his guardian angel who was holding him tight.
"Well, I somehow have to get you into the air, don't I?" Merlin responded with a grin and rolled his suddenly golden eyes. He flapped his wings and immediately left the ground, together with Arthur who was clinging to his friend's arms for dear life.
"Gaius, we'll see you tomorrow." Merlin said to the older man, who nodded and gave him a small smile. "Merlin!" Gwen chimed in. "We're all wishing you good luck, you're going to make it!"
"Thanks!" Merlin shouted back and smiled at his friends before they were so small he no longer could make out their expressions.
"So, how far is it?" Arthur asked, taking in the view in awe. He felt the wind ruffling through his hair and tugging at his clothes and Arthur had to admit it was getting very cold very fast this high up.
He remembered that when he had flown with airplanes, there had sometimes been ice crystals on the windows.
That kind of worried him now, but he stayed silent.
"Oh, it's not that far." Merlin pressed out between gritted teeth.
"Hmm? What's wrong, Merlin? You sound stressed." Arthur asked and tried to look at his guardian angel over his shoulder.
"Oh, it's nothing. You're just a little bit…heavy."
"I am not fat!" Arthur said with a huff and tried to glare at Merlin over his shoulder but it didn't quite work. "But you are able to carry me, right?"
"It's more likely that my arms fall of than that I would ever let you fall." Merlin said simply, sounding concentrated.
Arthur didn't know how to respond to that, so he just stayed quiet.
They kept flying through the clouds and Arthur noticed his clothes getting soaked. It was so cold by now that he found himself shivering and clattering with his teeth.
"Don't worry, we'll soon be there." Merlin reassured and sped up a little. Arthur's heartbeat skipped for a moment when Merlin took one arm off of him and held it on front of them.
A blue sphere appeared before them and as soon as Merlin had flown into it, Arthur felt strangely warm, the cold and wet clouds long forgotten.
After a few seconds of flying through blue light, Arthur's feet touched the ground. He looked around, surprised by what he saw. They stood in front of a man with white wings and he wore some kind of uniform, making him look like an officer of some sort. Behind him there was a metal detector, like the ones used at airports.
"Ah, Merlin!" The man exclaimed and his face lit up. "It's been a while, huh?"
Merlin walked over to the man with a smile and they shook hands. It looked as if they were old acquaintances to Arthur.
"Yeah, long time no see. How are you doing?" The raven haired asked, looking the other up and down. "I hope Mary isn't making any trouble?"
"Oh, I can't complain. But more importantly, what have you been doing? You look different…"
Merlin sighed, but he seemed contempt. "A lot has happened, I'm afraid I don't have the time to explain everything now. But anyway, this is my protégé, Arthur."
The man looked at Arthur as if he had only noticed that the blonde was present. "Oh, hello Arthur. My name is John, nice to meet you." The man, John, said but looked at Arthur strangely, as if he had never seen a human before. Arthur wondered if this was indeed the case. "Likewise." He replied as they shook hands.
"Anyway, what are you here for, Merlin? And with a human…I hope you now it's not allowed that they're here." John turned serious for a moment and he looked like an officer again.
"Of course I know." The raven haired explained and rolled his eyes. "Here, this should explain everything." Merlin handed John the letter he had kept in his pocket and watched his expressions changing while he read.
"Oh boy, what have you gotten yourself into?" John said when he had finished, shaking his head in disbelief. "But hey, I wish you good luck."
Merlin took the letter and nodded. "I appreciate that."
John wordlessly gestured for them to walk through the metal detector. It stayed silent and so the two of them proceeded onwards.
Next thing he knew, Arthur followed Merlin through some crowded square surrounded by trees and flowers. The sky above them was completely blue, the sun seeming two times bigger than normally.
He wondered if Merlin, with his pale skin, often got sunburned if he lived so close to the sun.
"Don't be surprised if you're getting stared at. It's just not every day that a human comes here." Merlin said with a grin.
"It seems to me as if they staring more at you than at me." Arthur said while he looked around, dazed by the huge amount of winged people around them. He wasn't sure what he had expected but he was surprised by the fact that they wore the same clothes people in his country did.
The only real difference was the fact that they all had golden eyes and that they looked slightly healthier than humans. Arthur did not see a single disabled or injured person and everyone seemed to walk at a steady pace, head held high and back straight.
"Now that you mentioned it…" Merlin said with a chuckle, glancing at his wings. "But they probably think I'm some kind of punk who dyed some of his feathers."
Arthur laughed at that and looked around some more. In the middle of the square was standing a young woman, some years older than them, with long red hair. She wore a beautiful golden dress and was singing a beautiful song about the sunrise.
Some angels gathered around her and listened intently, fond smiles on their faces.
"Is it always so peaceful here?" Arthur couldn't keep himself from asking. This whole world seemed so…surreal.
"Most of the time, yeah. But there are moments when some angels are acting a little more…humanely." Merlin explained with a grin. "And of course there are the children. Children are children, whether they're humans or angels doesn't matter."
Arthur nodded, he could perfectly imagine Merlin as a cheeky little angel child, running around and causing trouble.
"Ah, here we are!" Merlin suddenly said and Arthur noticed that they had left the square and instead were in some kind of quiet neighbourhood.
They stood in front of a small, picturesque house, painted in a light blue with a big garden full of fruit trees. Arthur was surprised how well this kind of house suited Merlin and he wondered what Merlin's mother was like.
He got his answer when she opened the door. She was smaller than both of them and had dark, curly hair. Her eyes were golden of course and shone brightly, much like Merlin's. A warm smile appeared on her pale lips when she recognized her son and she instantly pulled him into a tight hug.
"Merlin! It's been so long!" She said and laughed warmly, not bothering to let go of her son anytime soon.
"Mother, I need to breathe!" Merlin teased and made a sound as if he was suffocating.
"I don't care, I haven't seen you in two months." She teased back, hugging him even fiercer. Suddenly, her golden eyes spotted Arthur and her dark eyebrows raised. She slowly let go of Merlin, taking in his appearance one more time, before turning to Arthur.
"You must be Arthur, right?" She said with a smile and looked at the blonde closely.
"Yes, I am. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Emrys." He said politely, returning the smile. "Oh, just call me Hunith." She said and suddenly pulled Arthur into a hug as well.
The blonde blushed and looked taken aback for a moment, but then he smiled and hugged the warm woman back.
"Since you're my son's protégé you're part of the family, right?" She explained with a wink. "Now, let's go inside, I've just finished making dinner." Hunith shooed them inside and closed the door behind them.
Arthur followed Merlin into the dining room and sat down at the table. It was a bright room with white walls and some beautiful paintings hanging on them. A big window provided light and Arthur was instantly feeling comfortable here.
A few moments later, Hunith came back with large pot and the smell emitting from it made Arthur's mouth water.
"This smells lovely, mother. Can you imagine how much I missed your food?" Merlin said with a smile while he laid the table.
Hunith chuckled and fondly shook her head, filling their soup plates. Arthur shoved a spoonful into his mouth, eyes widening at the heavenly taste. "This tastes divine, Hunith!" Arthur said before he immediately shoved another spoonful of the stew.
Hunith laughed warmly and poured herself a glass of water. "You're too nice Arthur, I'm all embarrassed now."
While they ate, the three continued their friendly chat and Merlin did quite some catching up with his mother. Arthur added something here and there, but otherwise stayed silent and watched his best friend's mother intently.
He noticed how her golden eyes sparkled whenever Merlin told her of something good that had happened or how her lips twitched into a familiar grin whenever Merlin talked about Freya.
But Arthur noticed that her gaze hardened when Morgana was being mentioned as well and he noticed her sad yet unsurprised gaze when Merlin revealed why they were here.
"This is unfair, it's not your fault any of this happened. It was inevitable, right?" Hunith sounded quite desperate while she took the hand of her son into his own. "They just cannot punish you."
Merlin sighed and gazed out of the window, watching the golden sunset. Arthur hadn't even noticed the time passing so fast. The raven haired's hand tightened around his mother's. "You know that they'll find something. Not everything was inevitable, even if just barely."
Arthur asked a question that had come to his mind while Merlin had been explaining recent events. "How does your jurisdiction work? Aren't their lawyers and defence lawyers?"
Hunith shook her head, taking a sip from her glass. "No, it's different here. We only have a judge accused of course, no lawyers and no jury. Actually, it's rare that there are witnesses."
"How so?" Arthur questioned with raised eyebrows. Merlin answered: "Usually, the crime is seen by observers, who immediately report it. There just is no need for witnesses if it is clear what really happened."
"Then why is there a trial in the first place?"
"We usually don't judge based on actions, but on motives. A trial is not about whether what you did was right or wrong, it's about why you did it and if you regret it or not." Merlin finished, watching as the last sun rays vanished.
"But honestly, I can't say I do. Regret what I did, I mean." Merlin muttered darkly, pushing unwelcome thoughts away.
Arthur was almost reluctant to ask, but he just had to know. "What kind of…punishment do we have to expect?"
Hunith noticed that her son was still staring out of the window, so she answered for him instead. "Nothing to severe, I think. Though I doubt they'll let him stay an archangel."
"I don't think they know how to reserve this." Merlin piped up again, gesturing to his wings.
"We'll see." Hunith said and closed the topic. She stood up and cleared the table off the dishes, vanishing into the kitchen. "I am going over to Angela now." She called from the kitchen a few minutes later. "Is there anything you need?"
Merlin shook his head but soon realized that his mother couldn't see him right now. "No, we'll be fine." He answered and stood up from the table. "Have a fun evening." He added before he quickly walked up to Hunith, hugging her before she left the house.
Arthur got up and followed Merlin, a quick glance at the clock on the wall told him that it was almost nine. Had he already been here for such a long time? He hadn't even noticed. Maybe time was different up here?
"Are you tired or would you like to go out?" Merlin asked, looking Arthur up and down as if he tried to find some kind of indicator for his friend's tiredness.
"We should probably be well-rested for the trial tomorrow, so let's just stay here the rest of the day."
"Yeah, that's probably the right thing to do. Let's go and prepare the guest room for you, alright?" Merlin said with a smile and headed up the stairs closely followed by Arthur.
They had quickly prepared the bed for Arthur and had then decided to talk over which story Arthur would tell the judge. They made it sound more dramatic and heart-wrenching ("Seriously, you want me to say that I was unable to live on if I didn't get to know you're secret? Don't be such a girl, Merlin." "But that sounds as if you would attempt to kill yourself and as your guardian angel, I couldn't let that happen. Thus, I would be forced to reveal my secret." "No, just no. I won't say that!") and left out some other parts.
When they were mostly satisfied with their story, they decided to go to bed early. After Merlin had vanished, Arthur lay awake for quite some time, unable to go to sleep. It was too quiet, the only noise being the ticking of an alarm clock. There were no birds or insects, but also no cars or trains. How could anyone sleep like this? It was driving Arthur mad but he supposed it was something you didn't even notice when you were born here.
He wondered whether Merlin had been unable to sleep when he had first come to the college. Probably not, the guy slept like a stone.
After much tossing and turning, Arthur decided to get up and get himself a glass of water. He quietly shuffled out of the bed and opened the door, surprised to see light coming out of the kitchen.
He stealthily made his way ever to the source of light and was surprised to see both Hunith and Merlin in it. Hunith was wearing dressing gown and held a cup of tea in her hand. Merlin sat on the counter, wearing his pyjamas and a tired look on his face.
Arthur quietly opened the door, but Merlin must've heard something. His golden eyes immediately found Arthur's and softened as soon as they did. "Couldn't sleep?"
"Not really, no. It's just…too quiet." Arthur tried to explain and Merlin chuckled as if he completely understood what the raven heard meant. "That can really drive one crazy, huh?"
"Here Arthur, have some tea. It'll let you sleep like a stone after just a few sips." Hunith explained and handed him a cup. "Trust me, it's a specialty of mine."
Arthur took a sip and was once again surprised by how tasty it was. He suddenly felt his eye lids growing heavy and he quickly set the cup aside before he would accidently let it fall.
"It seems to work even faster on humans." He heard Merlin mumbling in the distance and the last thing he remembered before drifting into blissful oblivion was the raven heard dragging him to his bed and whispering a "Sweet dreams."
The next thing he knew was waking up to hand on his shoulder, shaking him rapidly. "What is it?" The blonde mumbled drowsily while slowly sitting up.
"Arthur, we're late for the trial! No matter what I did, you just didn't want to get up. I'm afraid breakfast will have to wait until afterwards."
Arthur rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and slowly recalled where he was and what was going on. "What time is it?" He asked merlin, surprised to see that the raven haired was wearing a suit. That was probably appropriate for an occasion like that, but Arthur couldn't stop thinking that it didn't suit Merlin in anyway. He looked to serious, not like the goofy idiot he was.
"It's nine already, the trial begins in an hour. Now get up, you lazy bugger." Merlin said with a grin but Arthur could clearly see the nervousness in the way he held himself.
"Yeah, I'll be ready in a minute." Arthur mumbled still half asleep and climbed out of bed.
Just a few minutes later, they were on their way to the courthouse. It was a big, palace like building, angels in suits streaming into and out of it. Arthur actually saw one with purely golden wings and he wondered what kind of position he must have.
"There you are."
Gaius walked up to them, wearing a suit as well. Arthur suddenly felt kind of underdressed but he was just a human anyway, he would probably never come here again, so he couldn't care less about the impression he made.
"Oh, Gaius. I hope you didn't have to wait long for us." Merlin said and smiled sheepishly at the older man.
"I've just arrived a few minutes ago, so no problem. Let's go inside, alright?"
Arthur didn't get to see much of the courthouse as he was promptly shoved into courtroom seven. It was a small, completely round room with a pedestal on the one side and a single chair on the other side. A few benches were lined up after the single chair, but that was the only furniture there was. There was one gigantic window, ranging from one side of the door over the complete wall to the other side.
It was impressive, they had a complete view over cloud cover.
Merlin quickly sat down on the single chair in the middle of the room, Gaius and Arthur behind him on one of the benches.
They stayed like this for a while, tension steadily building up. Arthur noticed how Merlin got fidgety and he would've liked to say something reassuring but he somehow didn't dare to break the silence.
After some terribly long minutes, the door opened and a man stepped inside, dressed in a typical judge grown. He had dark brown, curly hair and a gently smile on his lips.
The three of them rose when he stepped in and he all greeted them with a nod. "I hereby open up the trial. Take a seat."
They did as they were told, waiting for the judge, Barbiel, to proceed. "You're name is Merlin Emrys, 18 years old, currently guardian angel of Arthur Pendragon. Is that correct?"
Merlin nodded nervously, trying to remember what he knew about behaviour in the presence of a judge. "That is correct, your Honour."
"You are accused of becoming an archangel through illegal actions and revealing the secrets of our race to more than one human. Do you deny this?"
Merlin clenched his teeth, intently staring at the ground. "No, I don't."
"Please answer my following questions. I must instruct you on your obligation to be truthful. How did you attain the powers and appearance of an archangel?" Barbiel looked genuinely interested as he asked this question.
"I did not long for this to happen, your honour. It simply resulted from my fight with the fallen angel Morgause." Merlin explained calmly, hoping the judge would understand the situation.
"I see. This is indeed a rare occasion, but it has happened before. Still, you should've immediately reported this to us." Barbiel threw in, looking intently at the raven haired's wings.
"On to the next matter. Why did you tell your protégé about our existence?"
Merlin quickly glanced at Arthur and then looked back at Barbiel. "When Morgana threw Arthur over the edge of the cliff, I had to do something, right?"
Barbiel looked confused and then sighed, resting his head on his hand. "Go ahead, tell me everything from the start and don't leave anything of importance out."
Merlin complied with a smile and started talking. Only once or twice Barbiel asked another question, Merlin talked the rest of the time, just like he had practiced with Arthur the night before.
"You know, somebody should make a novel out of that story of yours. I'd be a bestseller." Barbiel commented lightly and Arthur wondered if this guy was even taking his job seriously.
"Alright, I'll call upon the first witness now. Gaius, if you would." The judge said, gesturing towards the chair in the centre.
Gaius and Merlin simply switched places and the raven haired visibly relaxed once he sat next to Arthur. He had absolutely no idea what Barbiel was thinking, if he believed in his good intentions or not.
Merlin watched as Barbiel sked Gaius some unimportant questions, mostly about Merlin's behaviour and discretion concerning their secret. Gaius answered wisely, not saying too much but saying the right things at the right moment.
Barbiel was soon finished asking questions and now called for Arthur. The blonde switched places with Gaius but not before getting a reassuring pat on the shoulder by Merlin.
"Arthur Pendragon, I don't have any questions for you, that's not why you're here. Come forward, and show me you're right hand."
Arthur looked up at the angel in confusion, wondering what he wanted from him, but he complied silently.
Barbiel instantly took his hand into his own as soon as Arthur was in front of his desk. The red dragon symbol appeared and the judge examined it closely, a look of pure fascination on his face.
"Interesting. Such a strong bond…It would be a shame…" He mumbled to himself and Arthur felt a little bit uncomfortable, having a judge looking at his hand as if it was some kind of fascinating insect.
"That was everything. Please take a seat again." Barbiel instructed, a thoughtful look on his face.
Arthur and Merlin switched places again and the blonde noticed his friend gulping.
"Alright, I've come to a conclusion. You're actions concerning the obtainment of the archangel status were completely unplanned and accidently. Telling your protégé probably was as well, at least to a certain degree. But telling other humans, even if they're your friends or whatnot, is inexcusable. I hope you know this is a serious crime as it bring our whole race into danger, not only yourself. This has happened to us once and we all swore that it would never happen again. I am sure you understand."
Merlin nodded and looked up at Barbiel with wide eyes, fearing what would come next. "Yes, your Honour, I understand…"
"About your punishment… I don't think taking your archangel powers away would be worth the effort. Taking away your protégé would be a crime in itself, you two share such a strong connection. Prison is not an option as well, you'd be neglecting your duties as a guardian angel. I have to punish you somehow though, so I settled for…"
Barbiel made a dramatic pause and Merlin's heart almost exploded in his chest.
"…taking away your immortality. Don't worry, it's overrated anyway." With that Barbiel raised his hand and Merlin felt as if something inside of him vanished but the feeling was soon gone again. He looked up at Barbiel and saw the curly haired man leave with a smile.
He really didn't know what to feel right now. He should probably be devastated, or at least shocked and angry, but he was neither. When he looked over at Arthur and saw the blonde staring at him sadly, he found that he was relieved, as if a curse had been lifted of him.
He would surely be sad to die before any of his angel friends were even close to death and sure, he could never have a great carrier as an angel, but he wouldn't have to watch Arthur die, knowing that he could never follow.
That wouldn't have been a desirable life anyway.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Arthur asked carefully as he approached Merlin. The raven haired noticed the concern in his friend's blue eyes, but he couldn't keep himself from smiling. "Oh, not bad actually. Let's get out of here, I hadn't had breakfast this morning, remember?"
Arthur looked at his friend incredulously, all the way out of the courthouse. After they had bid good bye to Gaius, they made their way over to Merlin's house.
"Shouldn't you be at least sad?" Arthur asked suddenly while they walked across the square.
The young, red haired woman from yesterday was still at the same spot, singing the same song about the sunrise.
"Why would I? Could you imagine living forever?"
"Maybe if I had the right persons around. But I would probably go insane one day." Arthur admitted and stopped, gazing at the angel devotedly singing her song.
Would she still be here tomorrow, and the day after?
"Yeah, and I'm not keen on going insane. Besides, I don't think I could stand watching you and the others die."
"But what about your mother and Freya? And your other angel friends?"
"They'll understand, so please do as well."
Arthur sighed looking into the golden eyes of his best friend. "I'll try."
"Thank you. Now let's get breakfast, I'm starving!"
Arthur chuckled, whacking Merlin across the head.
"Hey, what was that for, you prat?!"
"Oh, that was simply for being an idiot."
In more than one way. You stupid, selfless, loyal, idiot.
You idiot of an archangel.
You idiot of a guardian angel.
MY guardian angel.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-GUARDIAN ANGEL-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Final Author's Note:
Well, it's been a really nice time writing this story but I guess it's over now. It was a great experience and you will probably see me in the Merlin fandom again :)
I hope the story was good as a whole, it would be really nice of you to leave a final review ;)
I also want to give everyone who read this far a HUGE thank you! And those who favourited/followed/reviewed get an even bigger one :)
THANK YOU SO SO VERY MUCH
You're all wonderful supporters, you made me happy countless times by just leaving a short review.
I can't stop thanking you, I hope you understand how much I mean it because there's only so much I can express with only words :)
Alright, that was about everything. Happy new year to all of you :)
Maybe you'll hear of me again.
Good Bye :D
By DarkChain