Merlin barely made it out before he started heaving what little he had ate. He then cleared his throat, spat on the floor, and wiped his mouth.
"Busy night, Merlin?" Merlin turned around half expecting another ghost but it was only Gwaine… Merlin could barely supress his relief. Gwaine raised an eyebrow… again Merlin had taken too long before answering his question.
He rubbed his eyes and nodded, "Yeah, something like that." Gwaine chuckled.
"It looks like you have just had your first night out!" Merlin stood straight almost defensively.
"Just because I don't drink as much as you do. Doesn't make it my first night." Gwaine nodded trying to contain his smile, "Anyway what are you doing out here? Last, I check you don't have training or patrol duties."
"Exactly I'm trying to enjoy my day off! Come with I'm sure the Princess won't care if you bunk off a day. Me, Elyan, and Percy are going to the tavern."
"It's literally the morning." Merlin said in shock.
"What's a little day drinking between friends?" Gwaine said with an easy smile before he rolled his eyes, "I don't know why you're getting into this fit… from what I have heard they say the king's manservant spends more time in the tavern then he spends in his own bed." Merlin shook his head in dismay.
"That's only because Arthur keeps thinking I go into the tavern when he can't find me!"
"Oh, and pray tell where do you go when the princess can't find you?" Gwaine says with a teasing smile.
"My second job. Y'know for Gaius!" Gwaine enthusiasm deflated slightly.
"That's not fun."
Merlin stared at Gwaine in shock, "I never said it was fun!" Gwaine stood there for a moment, before his smile reappeared on his face and walked up to him.
"I prefer the rumour instead." Gwaine said whilst patting him on the shoulder and walking off. Merlin opened his mouth to speak up when his voice was suddenly robbed by the sight of Morgana in her black tattered dress making her way around the corner. Merlin turned around to see if Gwaine was behind him. But Gwaine was already making his way towards the tavern. Merlin briefly considered calling for Gwaine before realising that should this be real, Gwaine would only hinder his ability to fight back so he clenched his fists and launched himself after her.
She seemingly walked quicker after that… maybe she spotted him, but Merlin didn't let it discourage him. It wasn't before then he was going at a full-blown sprint just to catch up to her. This could all be in his head… but if it's real he couldn't let Morgana cause any harm. Eventually she reached the armoury… back to when he got dosed by the drug. He stood by the door to the armoury, for a few moments, as his head recycled back to the events that had transpired last night.
He sighed before picking up a discarded sword. He peered in… it was darker then it could possibly be without the aid of magic. Merlin relaxed his body and mind… this would be a cagey affair and then tightened his grip on the sword.
The feeling of walking slowly into the armoury felt strange… it felt like a memory. Like he was reliving something, he even closed the door behind him with a spell. But contrary to last night, he was facing a deadlier enemy. He lifted the sword so that it would be in front of him so that he could defend himself easily. Once he reached the centre of the armoury, he felt anxious… he wanted to call her out but the same time he wanted to get the hell away from here.
He looked around him with the aid of magic, keeping his movements tight and quiet. Morgana was a very dangerous opponent.
For a moment there was nothing but the sound of his breathing before he heard Morgana's infamous cackle. One moment he could hear it from his right side… the next it was his left. He kept his wits about him before suddenly, he heard it behind him and he swung his sword behind him.
Right before the blade could make contact she disappeared, "I've got you Merlin!" Merlin could only turn his head around before she sent him flying in the air. He managed to drop the sword in his hand to prevent himself from getting impaled by it just before his body collided into, luckily, the rack of shields. Merlin turned to right and counted his blessings as he realised the, menacing, collections of spears which stood a mere feet to his right.
He exhaled in relief as he stood up. Morgana, seemingly incensed by her momentary win in their battle, charged at him sword in hand. She swung at him aiming to take off his head, to which Merlin dropped to his feet and picked up a shield and used it to block her heavy crashing blow. He pushed her off him and stood on his own two feet holding the shield very tightly. She feinted to one side which Merlin didn't fall for.
Then they stood there just looking at each other. Her crazed eyes just baring at him. But Merlin didn't do anything. He didn't say anything about her changed appearance. He didn't try to appeal to her, non-existent, better self. At first, she seemed almost patiently waiting for Merlin to try and 'save' her. Then she seemed almost surprised, before her emotions bled into a bitter appraising smile, "You've gotten better at sword play, Merlin!" She drawled.
"Or you've grown reliant on your newfound abilities." She didn't seem to appreciate his insult, because she responded with another quick crushing blow onto his shield. He was surprised to find out that his arm felt extremely numb. Arthur had often substituted him with the training dummy. To find his arm numb after two blows was strange to say the least. When he looked up and saw the reason, he forced a smile on to his face, "Proving me right there, Morgana." She stood there for a moment and raised the sword. Merlin readied himself to feel the blow, but to his surprise he heard the sword clatter on the floor.
"I am always a person up for a fair fight… pick the sword up." She said as she walked away with her back turned. Merlin stayed motionless, "Not going to accept my generous offer?" She said with what he could only guess was the makings of a taunting expression.
"A generous offer would be you removing this darkness." She tutted before she sighed.
"Very well." Merlin squinted as the light re-entered the armoury, Morgana was feeling rather generous today she was even allowing him to get used to the light. He put the shield in his other hand and stretched his numb hand. He walked over to the sword and picked it up. When he finally looked up to see what she was doing… she was looking at her nails! At that moment she noticed that he looked up, "Oh! You're Ready! I was waiting for you to ask me to tie one of my hands behind my back."
"Will you?"
Morgana gave him a maniacal laugh before a level of seriousness approached her face shaking her head, "No."
"Worth a shot, eh?" Her facial expressions switched once more as a smirk sat broadly on her face. Her eyes went gold and Merlin dived to his right just missing the spells effect, before rolling again forward, finding one of Elyan's throwing daggers and throwing them straight at her which she stopped a hair lengths away from her throat.
"Good try Merlin! You've gotten closer than anyone ever has to kill m-!" Morgana couldn't even finish her monologue of being unbeaten before she realised Merlin's deception had actually worked and he rammed the sword straight into her stomach. He was so consumed by the thought that he had finally killed her that he didn't realise he was no longer in the armoury anymore and that he was by The Lake.
