Another canon chappy~! Hehe. Again, I would like to express my gratitude for bearing with this story until now. THANK YOU!

DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own Merlin.

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CHAPTER XVIII: Denials and Admittance

Arthur gently placed Merlin on Gaius's largest couch. He couldn't remove his gaze from the boy's degenerating phase. It was unreasonable – the reason he was going through this, as well as the feeling of extreme despair that accompanied the boy's predicament. Other than wanting to torture himself since he was supposed to be the one dying, there was also the fact that he wanted to pull all of his hair off at the possibility that he wouldn't see him again.

He ignored the frantic atmosphere that surrounded him – with Gaius running everywhere and reading everything at the rate of 10 pages per second to find a cure, as Guinevere going to and fro to Merlin in an attempt to cool him down – and just stared at his weak figure.

His heart skipped a bit when he heard his manservant moan in pain. What made it worse was that he was in so much pain that he moaned like a girl. He grimly deduced that his manservant was in so much pain that he could moan like that.

'Merlin…' He thought worriedly. He wanted so much to make all the pain go away – no matter what might happen to him. He was about to pressure Gaius even more when he yelled, right on cue:

"I've found it!"

…

FOREST OF BALOR

It took Arthur more than a day to reach the outskirts of the cave containing the Morpheus flower. Gaius warned him about the lizard guardian of the tree, and he was right to do so. The thing was huge and powerful. It was a bit of a challenge to kill the creature while protecting the damsel in distress that stood behind him. As a knight, it was his duty to protect the girl and bring her to safety.

But turned out, it was the wrong decision—the girl was the one to set up the trap and tried to kill him as he went to get the cure for Merlin's illness. And soon enough, he found himself just a grip away from death. At that moment a lot of things went through his mind.

Like regrets, for instance... and some of which had nothing to do with his failures as a prince. Most thoughts he dismissed—even at the brink of death. The idea of admitting his feelings was still out of the question.

Then, as if on cue, a beautiful blue ball floated around him. It was pretty but he distrusted it.

"Go on! Kill me!" He threatened, hoping like hell it would do otherwise. But when it hovered around him as if wanting to guide him, he felt himself relax.

'Follow it, Arthur.' An eerily familiar voice said in his head. He then thought of Merlin but shook his head. This voice was too feminine, the voice of the Merlin he knew definitely had a girlish voice compared to him… but a passably low-male voice all the same.

That's what he told himself, but deep inside he hoped so much that it was Merlin and so he decided to follow the voice inside his retarding brain. He climbed up closer to the flower and grabbed it immediately. He swung his sword to kill attacking insects and climbed at an even faster rate – since the voice in his head said so. He barely avoided the spiders that were gaining on him and he gave out a large breath of relief when he found himself back to the surface.

He could swear that the voice in his head did the same. He closed his eyes and smiled.

"Thank you."

CAMELOT
Several Hours Later

BAM!

Arthur's fist landed strongly on the dungeon's wall.

At that moment. He hated his father. He didn't even think he could do that.

His father locked him in the dungeons for disobeying him. Uther was too prideful that even when his son succeeded in the mission to save a life – he refused to admit defeat. His son disobeyed him, and he made sure his son got punished… even if that meant that the quest he went through became futile.

He paced. And paced. And paced...

He could not just sit and do nothing. He did everything, talk to the guard…punch the wall… pray—but nothing seemed to work. Well...that was until Guinevere came in with his 'food' and he knew immediately what she was planning.

He smiled and was thankful to the girl he used to dislike. He snuck the leaf onto the food and shouted at her—saying it wasn't food suited for him.

Gwen bowed, took the life-filled plate, and swiftly walked away.

"Merlin!" Gwen sobbed as soon as she had the strength to sit up. Gwen bear hugged her in relief and sobbed. "I th-thought y-were *sob* g-going t-to—"

Merlin chuckled and patted her back. And as if waiting for a nice moment—the door opened. She winced.

It was Arthur… looking shocked, in various degrees.

"Your highness….?" She voiced out and Gwen immediately separated from her and wiped her tears.

"I… seem to be interrupting something. I'll come back later." He said to her coolly after shooing his shocked expression away.

"Thank you." She stated just before the door became completely closed. The door was left opened only slightly revealing Arthur wearing softer-than-usual expression.

"It's just hard to come by a half-decent servant. That's all."

"I know." She smiled, but he didn't answer her.

He just shut the door, instead.

PRINCE'S CHAMBERS
Days later

Arthur woke up and was delighted at the first thing he saw. It was Merlin arranging his food silently in an attempt not to wake him up. He smirked. "You sure are early." He said and the boy flinched in surprise almost dropping expensive grapes on the floor.

"Sire!" Merlin exclaimed, he forced back a hard laugh.

"What?" He asked, feigning innocence. Then he realized that he was half-naked. He didn't know that Merlin would serve him today so he slept like that. It was odd, really, how conscious he was around a fellow guy. Maybe it's a gay th—

No. He was not gay.

His mood darkened considerably as he recalled his dilemma. He was not gay. He was not gay. He was not gay.

There was no way it was possible.

He was Arthur Pendragon, son of the hailed Uther Pendragon –saviour of Albion from the evils of magic.

"I shall take my leave now." Merlin stated and Arthur winced. He knew Merlin noticed his uncontrollable mood swings.

"No. I'm sorry." He blurted out without thinking getting Merlin to gape at him in disbelief. Internally, he did the same.

"…For what?" She asked as she let an eyebrow rise.

"…Nothing…"

"I see… Then—"

"Like I said, Merlin. I order you to stay." He said sternly, surprised at the concealed desperation in his voice. Sudden images of that moment at the cave—where he was about to die—that blue light that hovered above his head... but he shook them away.

Now that his manservant was right in front of him, he recalled the things he had regretted—and he did not like most of them. Merlin stayed quiet for a moment and waited for him to order something since he apparently had some errands to ask of her, but Arthur remained impassive himself. She sighed internally and initiated a conversation.

"Is there anything else you want, sire?" Merlin asked, but Arthur remained in a pondering state for a moment. An instant later, he had come to a conclusion.

He did not want to carry all that regret when he died.

"… Call me Arthur." He stated out-of-nowhere. Merlin gaped at him in incredulity… again. Arthur hid his blush and mentally punched himself. Maybe he was gay, after all. He certainly was turning soft. He'd spare himself the self-hate and ranting for today, he just wanted to be relaxed around his manservant again.

"Pardon?"

Arthur cleared his throat to hide his blush and show a cool façade. "You saved my life, and I decided you may call me by my name."

"You saved my life as well, Sire."

"But that's only because I can't be a good king if I let a servant die for me without even trying. It's not that I care for you. In fact, I couldn't care any less if you die." He practically blabbered about. Just where was his brain when he needed it the most?

Merlin frowned for a moment. She was hurt by that statement, and she didn't know why. But she also had her pride, so like hell she was going to allow him to get to her.

"That's good to hear, Arthur." She said so satirically that Arthur's eyebrows rose. "I really did have a bad time pretending to be so respectful."

"As rude as always, I see…" Arthur replied. Even when there was cynicism in the way he called his name, he still liked the sound of it coming from him – not that he would ever admit that. Merlin grinned challengingly.

"Thanks."

LONDON
Midnight

Arthur woke up from the sound of his favourite ringtone. "Hello?" He answered, ignoring the time.

"Bradley, I just woke up from the dream about the Morpheus incident."

"And… you want to thank me again?"

"Nope. I called just for the record that I was the one who sent you that blue ball that saved you." She stated. She was definitely annoyed by how he treated her back then, and it was time for a little record-clearing.

"It did not." He said stubbornly, knowing otherwise.

"Ah, yes it did." She laughed making poor Bradley want to hug her. "I just called to tell you that."

"That's all? No 'I owe you for saving my life'."

"Nope." She said and smiled at the tone of flirting he always exuded, and she appreciated him putting up his own limits. They had strong emotions for each other but they didn't have any memories of them actually going out.

"As rude as always."

"Thanks." She replied recalling a previous conversation with him.

"Merlin..."

"Yes...?"

"Do you want to start over?"

"What do you mean?"

"I just think its a bit..."

"Weird. Odd. Awkward—" She intervened. "But considering how you're actually acting... I didn't think you felt that way."

"Hmm... I guess I just flirt around a lot."

Her eyes twitched.

"I'm kidding!"

"Sure you were. Anyway... I just called to straighten up the history."

"Ahh... And you do know how I feel about you, right? Even when... neither of us knows how, right?"

"Right..." Her grip of the phone softened. "What's with you all of a sudden?"

"Nothing..."

She frowned. "Well, good night then—Arthur."

"Okay, fine." He cut her off, tone in blunt exasperation and defeat. He let out a deep breath, before telling her an... omen he was feeling. Something about her attention getting focused on someone else...

Merlin laughed, much to her soul mate's chagrin.

"I doubt it."

.
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END OF CHAPTER VIII

Coming soon:
CHAPTER IX: Lancelot
Another knight appears, and he… was very familiar.

REPLIES TO ANGELS:

Flyer without wings - (ch5) Of course I appreciated your feedback, how could I not? XD Thank you.

(ch7) Hahahha. How embarrassing! But FYI, spelling is my greatest weakness. Thanks for the review~!

nycorrall - Nope. It really do just shift from world to world. Sorry if its a bit disorienting. XD Just ask me anything~! Thanks for the review!

Princess Falling Star - Thanks for the comment~! - And Yes, yes it is. XD

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