Camelot
August, 507 AD
'I said my mommy loves me,' the little boy on screen stated as he cowered in the corner of a dark hotel room, his hands shielding the top of his head as his widened doe eyes darted between the two figures standing above him.
'I'm sure she does,' Sam Winchester replied while trying to contain the horrified look that showed on his face all the same as he shone his flashlight down at the pale child.
'My mommy loves me this much!' the boy said and uncovered his head as he extended his arms, revealing a nauseating bloody gash that almost reached his skull.
Merlin recoiled beside me and took off his earbud, giving me a bewildered look. "How can you watch this?!" he whisper-yelled. "Especially now?!"
I looked away from him sheepishly and paused the episode of 'Supernatural'. "I thought that maybe I could get some strength from them... I mean, we're basically living the medieval version of their lives," I tried to explain before cringing at my own words. My brother's mouth fell agape for a second and he tilted his head. "If they can deal with the ghosts of little kids who have been wronged and have everything be okay in the end, maybe we can, too," I added in a mumble.
His expression turned sympathetic and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder as he asked in a gentle tone, "Is it working?"
"Nope, but at least the eye-candy's good," I responded with a playful grin.
He rolled his eyes and chuckled softly before pressing play again.
The episode ended some twenty or so minutes later and I turned off my tablet as Merlin and I decided that that was enough for the night. I won't be surprised if either of us end up having some twisted dreams – between the craziness of the series and the craziness in real life.
After planting a kiss on my forehead, Merlin got off my bed and left my room. I let out a sigh and went to brush my teeth. Then I went towards my closet to get my PJs, but the action was interrupted by my brother bursting back into the chamber, holding a finger to his lips.
I tilted my head and walked up to him. "Arthur's leaving," he whispered. My eyes widened and I hurried to throw on my bomber jacket, put on my sneakers, and grab my weapons; then we linked arms and began to quietly walk down the corridor.
Eventually, we caught up to the King's cloaked figure and stalked him from afar.
As he exited the castle grounds through a back gate and went into the woods, I wondered why he didn't take Tequila, but I didn't comment on that thought as Merlin and I continued to trail him... Until we lost him among the tall, thick trees and abundant bushes.
We shared a wary look as we halted and glanced around us for any signs of our himbo. He can't have gone far, can he? Not with a cloak dragging uncomfortably behind him, which is sure to soon rustle some leaves and alert us of his location…
Seriously, what's with these people's choice of clothing? Why wear dumb cloaks when hoodies are much more simple and efficient?
The sound of a throat clearing behind us caused my soul to half-jump out of my mouth as we turned on our heels while clutching each other's hand... Only to come face-to-face with none other than the gorgeous King of Camelot.
"Heeey, Artie!" I greeted, giving him an awkward smile.
"Fancy meeting you here," Merlin added with a small grin, his expression suggesting that he was trying to appear surprised at the encounter.
Arthur was not amused as he glared at us while demanding stoically, "What the hell are you two doing creeping around in the woods?"
"Pickin' daisies, what does it look like?" I muttered under my breath as I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket, finding that the late summer night is a bit chillier than I'd anticipated.
"We're following you. What the hell are you doing creeping around in the woods?" Merlin shot back at the King in an accusatory tone.
Arthur huffed and shrugged off his cloak. See? I told you they're uncomfortable. "It is something I should have done a long time ago," he replied.
"Elyan could be out here. Do you know how dangerous that is?" my brother asked in a grave tone, appearing like a concerned mother hen as he tilted his head.
The King let out a shaky sigh as he made eye-contact with him. "I have to face him," he said, a determined glint in his gaze. "Feel free to go back to Camelot anytime you like," he added, then he glanced at me for a second, and then he continued on his path through the forest.
My brother and I shared a concerned look and promptly followed after him, only for him to halt just seconds later and turn back to face us.
"Turn back," Arthur commanded, this time more sternly as his eyes jumped between us. The ocean trapped in his irises was stormy and restless and bound to cause a shipwreck.
Frowning, I stepped closer to him and slipped my hand into his. The muscles in his fingers were tense and they resisted to mould into mine even as I rubbed gentle circles over his knuckles with my thumb. My heart felt as if it'd been turned upside down in the face of his resistance. I don't think he's ever fought my physical contact before... Still, I carried on.
"Sorry, Sire. As a knight, it's my duty to protect ya'," I stated and pressed my lips into a forced grin. His eyes met mine for a second and then he looked away, gulping.
"Besides, we do not want you getting lost and scared," Merlin threw in, his serious face contrasting with his teasing words.
Arthur clenched his jaw and tried to dissuade us again (well, mostly me, I think, considering that his attention was fully on my person with my brother's presence going almost ignored), "This is my burden, not yours."
I was unable to restrain the scoff that pushed past my lips. "Well, you should've thought about that before befriending us. Now you're stuck with us as your emotional cargo mules, or whatever."
Merlin gave me a weird look, which I shrugged off, before he turned back to Arthur and addressed him firmly, "We are not going to let you do this alone."
Seemingly finding himself defeated, the King dropped his head and gritted his teeth. "You two are the most infuriating people I have ever met," he muttered under his breath.
"And don't you dare forget it," I stated.
I sighed in relief when he began to walk again, his hand finally relaxing into my hold and returning the embrace.
About two hours passed before we made it back to the shrine. A thick layer of fog covered the ground while part of it evaporated into the cloudy night sky. An owl hooted in the distance, the cool wind caused the hanging cloths to blow back and forth, and the moonlight casted tricky shadows on the trees and forest floor, creating illusions of ghosts hiding in the darkness.
Or, who knows? The ghost might be real.
Arthur halted and stared ahead, his grip on my hand tightening. I looked up at him and then stepped a bit closer, pressing my shoulder against his upper arm in an attempt to bring some comfort – either to him or myself. Or I guess both.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Merlin questioned him as he stepped up to his other side while eyeing him worriedly. "Maybe we should wait until it is light."
"El may not have that kind of time, Merls," I mumbled in reply while fighting the urge to turn around and run away from a potential recreation of 'The Blair Witch Project' as I stared at a particularly big and creepy wooden ornament that was staked to a tree.
Our words seemed to fly over Arthur's head as he took a deep breath and continued walking down a naturally-formed staircase made of big, protruding tree roots – forcing me to keep moving as well, since I refused to let go of his hand.
"Sure, we could just do it now, whatever it is that we are doing, in the dark, when it is incredibly scary and dangerous," Merlin sassed under his breath as he reluctantly followed in our path. I sent him a pointed look, but said nothing.
Arthur stopped again when we reached the centre of the shrine, his eyes darting around warily as a terrified expression claimed his blanched complexion. My heart churned as I looked up at him. I hate seeing his handsome features drenched in so much unease. I'd gladly fight off an army of super-soldier zombie robots with a water gun on my own if it got rid of every negative emotion coursing through his body.
My eyes almost jumped out of their sockets when he suddenly unsheathed his sword and laid it on top of a rock before backing away slightly, still tugging me along.
"Is that a good idea?" Merlin asked warily. "We might be needing it."
Arthur's eyes didn't stop their restless analysis of our environment as he replied, "I am not sure a sword would be much use against a spirit."
"Well, is it made of iron? 'Cause it could work," I piped in.
"Reality, Astra," Merlin grumbled.
"The line between that and fantasy doesn't exist, Merlin," I muttered in reply
The King ignored us and he kept looking around for a few more moments, then he let out a shaky breath and dropped his eyes to mine. My heart continued to break apart and burn at the sight of the absolute horror he was displaying. I kind of hate myself for not being able to do anything to take it away.
I never would've imagined that someone as brave as him could be affected so much by the idea of a restless spirit looking at him for revenge. He's always shrugged this sort of thing off as 'superstitious nonsense'. But I suppose that his regard for his knights trumps all of that.
"Astraea – whatever happens..." he began and trailed off, dropping his head for a moment before taking a deep breath and making eye-contact again. My breath hitched. "Know that I have never treasured anyone or anything like I have you."
I stumbled backwards for a second as the strength of his words hit me like a tidal wave.
I glanced over at Merlin, who seemed almost as stunned as I felt, before returning my attention to Arthur.
"Y-you're not gonna try to sacrifice yourself again, are you?" I questioned. "'Cause I'll knock you out n' drag you back to Camelot right now."
Arthur shook his head 'no' and then he moved to cup my face in his hands before bringing our lips together in a firm-but-soft kiss. "I love you," he whispered. He released me and walked a few steps towards the centre of the shrine.
I blinked rapidly for a few seconds as my mind turned foggy.
"I am here!" the King called out loudly into the cool late summer night.
My heart began to race as it became shrouded in raw fear. I looked at Merlin, hoping that he might have a better idea of what is happening than I do, but he seemed just as puzzled as his widened eyes met mine. I shuffled to his side and clutched his arm tightly.
"That is what you want, is it not?!" Arthur continued.
"What are you doing?" Merlin asked him in a dismayed whisper.
Arthur turned to face us, the storm in his irises turning into a full-blown tsunami as fear met with something I couldn't quite make out, causing a wave of confusion to run through me. He gulped. "Everything Gaius said about this place is right except for one thing," he said, his voice shaky like a rowboat enduring a wild journey at high sea. "It was not my father that led the raid on the druid camp…" I held my breath. "…I did."
I would've collapsed to the ground were it not for Merlin's quick reflexes in wrapping an arm around my waist when my knees suddenly buckled from the impact of the words. My suddenly blurry gaze did not leave Arthur's figure even as he promptly looked away with a clenched jaw.
Reality began to crumble around me.
I was around when Uther almost had Mordred beheaded, and I was around when he sent Arthur to 'deal' with a tribe when he thought that Morgana had been kidnapped, and I was around when he sent Arthur after another tribe when their corrupted leader stole a magic crystal and threatened the safety of Camelot... But the image of Arthur cutting down a child out of his own volition struck me like a wrathful lightning sent by Zeus. I can't believe that the same person who helped us to sneak Mordred out of the castle all those years ago could also have been capable of taking another little boy's life.
I didn't even flinch when a dripping wet Elyan suddenly appeared before us, my mind too preoccupied with trying to find a way off the out-of-control rollercoaster it was forced onto.
In what felt like a flash to me, Arthur was on his knees with his back to us, surrendering before the victimised spirit that has a hold of the knight's body.
"I am responsible for what happened to you. And for all the violence that happened here." Even as his body trembled, the King found a way to keep his tone firm. "When I led the attack on your camp, I was y-young and i-inexperienced..." His voice began to break and my heart twisted again. "I was desperate to prove myself to my men..." he paused to catch his breath, "to my father."
But he's not the same person he was then! Not by a long-shot! I mean, from what I gather, this particular massacre likely took place years before Merlin and I stepped foot into Camelot. Years before I accidentally stepped out of the twenty-first century. And he has come a long way since I met him. He's grown miles away from the rowdy boy we first met in the training field and turned into an honourable, virtuous man whom I would follow anywhere with my eyes closed. Whatever his past self did cannot cloud the person he has become. Right? Right?!
Maybe it's just wishful thinking because the thought of losing him hurts a trillion times worse than the thought of moving forwards with the knowledge of what he did…
Elyan stepped closer.
"I told the men to spare the women and children, but I know that some of them ignored the order," Arthur kept going.
All right, so it wasn't him who killed the child! He can't control everything that his army does! He tried his best to keep innocent blood from being shed, right?!
"A-and there was so much happening. I-I wanted to stop it." Once again, my heart broke at the realisation that he was crying. I knew as much from the trembling in his voice, even if I couldn't see his face. "I froze," he halted for a second and sniffled, "I did not know what to do."
Reality just keeps falling apart and then rearranging itself as more pieces to the puzzle are revealed, doesn't it? And in the midst of it all, all I wanna do is rush to him and just hug him and find a way to rid him of any emotional pain he feels. It wasn't his fault! He's not to blame! Surely the spirit can see that, right?!
Possessed!Elyan took a few more steps closer to Arthur, his expression stoic.
"I can still hear the screams. I cannot right this wrong. Nothing I can ever do will change the horrors that happened that day," Arthur continued pouring his soul out to the ghost.
In need of a lifeline as my eyes suddenly turned into the Langfossen Falls, I turned around to hug Merlin tightly. He quickly wrapped his arms completely around my torso and tucked my head under his chin. I could feel his accelerated heart-rate against my temple and, from his uneven breathing, I realised that he was crying, too.
I don't remember Sam and Dean ever being so emotional when hunting ghosts.
"But I can promise that, now that I am King, I will do everything that I can to prevent anything like this ever happening again," Arthur continued. "From this day forth, the druid people will be treated with the respect they deserve. I give you my word."
See what I mean?! He's good! He's nothing if not good! I'll die by that!
My lungs stopped working for a second as Elyan drew his sword. Merlin shifted, likely readying to defend Arthur if necessary.
The King let out a whimper, the earthquake that was taking his body intensifying as he stared death in the face while breathing heavily.
However, the spirit casted the weapon aside and then he moved to place its meat-suit's hands on Arthur's shoulders, and he pulled him to his feet.
And then, he hugged him.
Arthur seemed stunned as his body's trembling decreased and the pair stood motionless for what felt like endless seconds to me until the little boy's spirit finally spoke, his voice almost unintelligible as he whispered, "I forgive you."
Relief took a tour through my veins and I let out a long, shaky sigh.
A moment later, a white smoke shot out of the knight's mouth and it slowly evaporated into the dark sky above until there was nothing left.
Elyan seemed to return home as he remained standing in front of Arthur, his body still as his eyes glanced around, seemingly disoriented. "Arthur?" he asked in a mumble. The King seemed too shocked to respond. Then the knight's eyes rolled backwards and he fell forwards. Luckily, he was promptly caught by the blond, who held him tightly as he took in deep breaths.
The forest fell silent for a few minutes as the King held his knight; and Merlin and I held each other, both of us still trying to collect ourselves – though I think I was in a much worse shape than he was, considering that I was still crying helplessly like a hungry baby while he was only slightly trembling.
Eventually, my brother shifted and he gently pushed me away from him. I looked up at him and he motioned towards Arthur and Elyan with his head. I nodded in understanding and our hands found each other as we slowly walked up to the pair.
"Arthur?" Merlin called out gently. The King seemed to startle a bit before he turned his head slightly towards us. "Allow me to check on him," my brother said as he reached towards Elyan's unconscious figure.
The two boys carefully lowered the knight's body to lay him on the ground and my brother moved to inspect his vital signs and do all those things that Gaius usually does with his patients.
As he did that, I took a cautious glance up at Arthur, finding that his reddened eyes were fixed on Elyan while his lips continued to tremble ever so slightly. His body still hasn't stopped shaking.
Praying that I wasn't making a mistake by trying to comfort him when he might be wanting some space, I shuffled closer to him and gently slipped my hand into his once more. A small gasp left him as he finally looked down at me, his eyes widening. I gulped as we made eye-contact, fearing that he'd pull away. But, instead, he swiftly moved to wrap his arms around me, holding me safely against his chest as he let out a long sigh.