In essence, it's an AU where Merlin has spent 1500 years completing quests to gather soul fragments and hasten Arthur' return.
I love the idea that Bradley's other characters act as Merlin's objectives, he saves them from their destined tragic ends.
Here is Merlin&Arthur's story(text from the painting):
— Magic itself, a legendary warlock who has walked the earth for nearly fifteen centuries.
For a long time after learning the dragon's prophecy, he drifted in a hollow, waiting stillness. Unable to remain in Camelot, he built a dwelling by the lake with the help of the Queen and the remaining Round Table. Even with Emrys as its guardian, Camelot could not withstand time’s erosion, the castle eventually became ruins.
Then, one night, Magic sang under the starlight. A whisper came on the breeze from the Lake of Avalon. He learned of a task: to gather fragments of a soul so that Arthur might wake sooner. This would not hasten any unknown Albion crisis, it could be seen as fate’s amends.
The first was in Jomsborg. Seeing Harekr, who looked almost like a middle-aged version of the King, he wept and laughed.
The second was in Florence. By coincidence or fate, he and Giuliano became friends in a quiet, complicated way. After the incident at the church, it took long hours and countless healing spells to barely pull him back from death. When Giuliano (still weak) discovered the walls covered in portraits of Arthur, Merlin told him the truth.
The third was almost an accident. With no news of fragments for so long, he went to the Crystal Cave. In a vision, he glimpsed a still-"young" Varga, and managed to enter the manor to bring him back.
The fourth and fifth tasks overlapped. Posing as a retired battlefield medic, he made contact with two fragments at once. The power of the beast was so volatile that even Magic cried out in strain — so most of his communication with Lowell happened over text. He had just devised a spell to alter a zombie’s dietary needs when things went wrong; Lowell almost lost his head. After healing him and bringing him to the lake, Merlin explained everything and accepted his invitation to dinner.
Perhaps because the Old Religion and beast's power were so incompatible, not even he could afford to relax. He worked long and hard as a "guardian angel" beside Damien, they got along well, partly due to Damien's work as a war correspondent. The long process of tempering that demonic power, though, was not something easily put into words.
The Once and Future King’s return was inevitable. After inheriting the memories each fragment shared with Merlin before their point of death, no more needed to be said. Two sides of the same coin, reunited. Magic sang through sky, earth, and sea. Before them stretched an eternal, radiant future.
They lived happily ever after.
— The King of Camelot returned to the world of men. The Once and Future King. The other side of the coin.
Those were the words he heard as his vision blurred and consciousness began to slip away.
Just one more moment… a little longer…
That unfinished confession, the love hidden beneath words of thanks…in the end, it all faded into the air along with his life. What a cruel fate.
What followed was but a blink in the long river of time — a frozen amber, resting in the dreamless, sensationless peace of Avalon’s sleep.
Then, memories flowed into him like golden blood through his veins, both his and not his. Yet in every one, there was the same face: that dark-haired, blue-eyed fool of a servant, that heartbroken sorcerer, looking at him with devotion and love.
No matter how many years passed, no matter how his hair or clothes changed, to Arthur, Merlin would always be Merlin.
The memories grew clearer, fuller. Time was almost up. This was fate’s offering… and its apology.
“Arthur will rise again.” That prophecy had never been an empty promise.
The first face he saw upon opening his eyes, who else could it be but that idiot?
Meeting those tear-filled eyes, the King cupped the face of his destiny, his soul, the face he had missed beyond measure, and kissed him through a trembling breath.
They lived happily ever after.
By the way, two of Merlin's looks are inspired by Colin's works: Mammals, Dead Shot, and The Living and the Dead.<3
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