A/N: Sorry for the wait... I was going to wait for someone to review, but I've decided to post without their review anyway. Sorry again. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 12
"Merlin?"
The sound burst through the stuffed silence and shattered all of his symptoms. Merlin gasped and his eyes snapped open. As air filled his lungs, they burned as though he'd been drowning. Merlin shoved himself up off the floor and found he was no longer held down. He pressed his hand to his chest as though it would still his fluttering heart.
"Merlin? Merlin, where are you!" a worried voice called out. That's when Merlin remembered the voice that had shattered all his worries.
"Arthur?" Merlin asked in confusion. The crowned prince stood in the middle of the room. He was looking around curiously and making very little noise. Merlin knit his eyebrows together in confusion until he realized Arthur was looking for a sign from Merlin.
Without a second thought, Merlin snatched up a nearby metal container and let it hit the floor as he sat down. He was no longer held down, but he still felt drained. Arthur spun to look at the container. Merlin lifted it to show it hadn't just fallen over. Arthur visibly relaxed.
"Are you alright?" Arthur asked. "Metal vial is yes…. Glass one is no."
Merlin turned and looked on the table where he'd grabbed the metal container and saw the glass vial Arthur was talking about. He grabbed the glass one and then raised them both, but raised the metal one higher. That's when Merlin froze. Both vials hit the floor hard and it was a miracle that the glass one didn't shatter.
They were in Gaius's house… and Merlin was touching things! Merlin stood up quickly and waved his arms around in an attempt to convey his confusion. Arthur just saw wildly moving objects and almost got dizzy trying to watch them. He held his head and closed his eyes until his brain remembered to stop shaking. That's when Merlin noticed the bed between them was empty.
"Where's my body?!" Merlin gasped.
"Merlin, will you calm down? You're giving me a headache!" Arthur complained. Merlin stopped his waving arms and instead flipped the metal vial upside-down and used it to point at the bed. Arthur groaned but looked at what the bottle was aimed at.
"Is that why you're panicking?" he asked in annoyance. "I'd hoped it would be something bigger than that. You're body is outside. I knew you were in here, but couldn't move… and the only thing I could think to do to help was to move your body to a different room. I figured maybe it was hurting you somehow and then… well as soon as it left the room, you stopped screaming so I knew you were okay."
Silence filled the room. The vials hung in Merlin's hands, unmoving. Arthur dropped his own hand. Then Merlin was astonished as he watched Arthur's face go red and his face contort into something akin to annoyance but more like embarrassment.
"What?" he barked. "What did you expect me to do with you screaming in my ear like that?! I couldn't just leave you!"
"You could hear me?!" Merlin exclaimed, dropping the metal vial. Thank goodness it wasn't the glass one.
Arthur raised one eyebrow and his embarrassment seemed to leak a bit from his expression.
"I can see you're as astonished as I was," he said in a slightly amused tone. "I was walking through the castle feeling like an idiot for trying to look for what wasn't there. Then I decide to visit Gaius and see if he'd made any progress… I get to the door, and all of a sudden all I can hear is you crying out and saying you can't move. You nearly gave me a heart attack! Do you know how quickly you'd be killed for killing the crowned prince? Honestly, Merlin, if you're going to scream… give a little warning or something."
"Oh, I'm sorry, highness. Next time I'll consider your tender royal ears when I'm dying!" Merlin half whined.
"Honestly," Arthur continued, crossing his arms. "I'd think a sorcerer could control the volume at which he spoke in people's heads."
"Hey!" Merlin raised the glass vial and Arthur almost flinched back. "I'm not a-… I mean…" Merlin slowly lowered the vial. "You figured it out and you're not burning my body?" he asked.
Arthur was silent for a long while. Then he frowned and took a seat at the table. He watched where the glass vial was still being held. He sighed.
"Look. I figure you're either able to do magic because of the spell you're under or you already could. I also know you didn't follow me out on my hunt today. That time alone gave me a chance to think. Understand, Merlin, I am loyal to Camelot above all else… but as far as I know you have done nothing to harm Camelot or its people. You've been my loyal servant for a long time, Merlin… You've been a loyal friend. You've always been there for me, and you've helped out in saving the kingdom on several occasions… no matter how annoying you could be while doing that," Arthur stopped here and growled in annoyance at himself. He was stalling with all this chatter. Then he grit his teeth and took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is… Merlin, if you're a sorcerer, I'm not going to turn you in. I won't even make you leave the kingdom if you choose to stay."
Merlin almost dropped the glass vial too. Arthur was…. He was accepting him as a sorcerer just like Merlin had always hoped he would. Silence enveloped them again. Merlin didn't know how to reply. He didn't know if he could reply. Arthur pressed his hands together and lowered his gaze to his fingers. Then he nodded and sighed out again.
"Arthur," Merlin began to scold teasingly. Then Arthur shook his head.
"Sighing gives wrinkles. I know, Merlin. Goodness, I can't see or hear you, and yet somehow I just know that's what you're thinking," the prince said, seeming torn between annoyance and amusement.
There was a long while where Arthur looked up and guessed where Merlin's face would be. He just watched that spot, imagining what look Merlin might have on his face… probably some stupid grin. He'd probably be amazed with Arthur right now, and that thought made Arthur's chest swell up a little. He loved watching Merlin's face change to show his emotions. It was like a game… how often could Arthur make Merlin smile? Usually Arthur got embarrassed after making Merlin smile and would reverse the effects with some taunt at his manservant, but he truly did prefer Merlin smiling.
Perhaps that was why Arthur liked watching Merlin from afar. Merlin smiled a lot during the day, and if Merlin wasn't next to Arthur… then Arthur wouldn't feel panicked and say something to take that smile down a notch.
Merlin watched Arthur curiously. He fidgeted under the prince's gaze, but it wasn't a harsh look or an intense look. It was more of a curious and joyful look. It was a look Arthur rarely had… if ever. Merlin smiled gently. He was glad he got to see Arthur smile like that. He felt proud to say he'd seen Arthur smile more than most people. Arthur was so good at hiding his emotions that even the people closest to him had trouble figuring out if he was happy half of the time.
"Merlin," Arthur's voice spoke up and broke them both out of thought. "Are you smiling right now?"
Merlin dipped down to lift his metal vial off the ground and then raised it up higher than the glass vial. Arthur's smile turned even more lovingly proud – if that were even possible. Merlin lowered the vial to normal height and wondered what about that answer made Arthur so happy.
"Arthur," Gaius's voice called out and his head popped in the doorway. The old man eyed the two floating vials and then directed his stare at the prince. "If Merlin must be in a different room, he needs to leave. His body isn't doing well and I must tend to him."
"What?" Arthur asked, standing. His face lost all tenderness and he now looked upset. "What do you mean he isn't doing well?"
The vials dropped through Merlin's hands and hit the ground hard. The glass one shattered at his feet. Both Gaius and Arthur turned to look. Merlin held his head and dropped to his knees. Memories… They were flooding his mind again. Endless streams… It made his head and stomach ache. If it didn't stop, Gaius was going to have some invisible hurl on his floor soon. Speaking of the old man, he was now bringing Merlin's body in through the door with the help of a guard.
Merlin began to slowly crawl for the door, wincing every time a particularly emotional memory ran by. They seemed louder… brighter than the rest and that did nothing for Merlin's gut or head. Arthur was instantly kneeling by Merlin in the bed once the guard was gone.
Merlin's body was sweating a lot. His heart rate was up. His breathing was harsh. Arthur looked over Merlin's face and saw that Merlin's eyes were moving under his eyelids at a rapid rate… like someone who was dreaming.
"Gaius, what's happening to him?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah, Gaius," Merlin chimed from the doorway. He was out of the room, but the nausea was still with him, and he leaned heavily on the door post.
"I'm not sure. He was fine until a moment ago. Now he's having trouble breathing and his fever is through the roof," Gaius explained. He pulled a bucket of water and a rag up next to Merlin. He wet the rag and wrung it out. Then he set the damp towel on Merlin's forehead. Merlin gasped for air and seemed to try and press closer to the chilly cloth.
Merlin hissed in the doorway. His whole body felt cold now, but he welcomed it. He felt refreshed, and his stomach had stopped hurting. What was going on with his body? It was as though his body had chosen today to show signs of distress after two days of nothing.
"I'll do the rag, Gaius. Go to your books. Have you found anything about stopping that statue?" Arthur asked, taking the old man's place by the bucket. Gaius nodded and walked to his bench.
"Yes. However, I'm afraid that what has been recorded is exasperatingly unhelpful," he admitted. From the piles, Gaius extracted a tome of mystery illnesses. He flipped to a page and held it open for Arthur while the prince dabbed at Merlin's face and visible chest.
The picture was of an ordinary enough statue. The text was plain with no bolded word or words in all capital letters. Arthur inwardly sighed. The mundane style of informative books was what kept him away from them. Still, the prince pushed those thoughts away and began to read.
'Magical statues are created when a wandering spirit takes sanctuary in ordinary, unfinished statuary. The statue draws in energy from its own spirit and any magical force around it, including the magic of nature. Although it is unknown how it chooses its victims or charms them, the magical statue renders its prey unconscious. It drains the body of emotion, then energy. Within two days of encountering the statue a victim falls into a coma, and in four to five days a victim dies.'
"Dies?!" Arthur exclaimed. Gaius cleared his throat and pointed to the next paragraph. Arthur forced his eyes to keep reading, although anxiety made him want to stop.
'The best way to delay the effects of the curse of a magical statue is to keep the body as far from the statue as possible. This can allow the body to survive for up to one extra day. No cure is known, though it is reasonable to believe that destroying the statue could revive the victims.'
"But how can we destroy something we can't get near?" Arthur asked. Gaius pulled the book away.
"That's the problem. I found two other mentions of enchanted statues. All ideas on them are hearsay. No one knows anything for certain. Some think the statues are made by powerful sorcerers. Others say the statue is a lost soul and drains the victim in order to learn their secrets, their emotions, and their reasons… so that they may feel more alive and more human," Gaius explained. He sat his book down.
"Point is, while one of them mentioned the force field, none mentioned how to destroy it or any ideas on how to get into the room. On the other hand, none of them ever mentioned the victim hanging around as a ghost either," Gaius said and cast a look toward the door that clearly read 'Merlin, you're too reckless.'
"Hey, I didn't choose this," Merlin retorted. The wet rag was clearing his symptoms, but not entirely. He closed his eyes every other moment just to relish the feeling. Merlin couldn't imagine Arthur making him feel any better than this, even if they were to strip naked and pleasure each other… but that could be situation talking.
"That has little importance, Gaius," Arthur replied. "Actually, I think I may have an idea."
"You do?" Gaius asked and turned back to his prince.
"Yes, but it's probably dangerous… for one of us at least," and Arthur gave a half hearted smile. In the doorway, Merlin swallowed a heavy lump in his throat. This didn't sound like it would end well.
