multi-fandom (CRIMINAL MINDS, atla, marauders, pjo, doctor who, merlin) | writer | my hyperfixations change with the wind so I'm sorry about that Any pronouns
Fic where, after Arthur has legalised magic but before Merlin has revealed his magic, Arthur hears that a sorcerer named Emrys can see into the future and grant prophecies, and decides to seek him out to ask him about the future of Camelot and Merlin panics
So Merlin tries to convince Arthur the whole time that maybe it’s not the best idea to seek out this apparently all knowing oracle, and what about whether this guy is even real or if he has the abilities in the first place (because as far as Merlin knows, he’s not a seer. Sure, he can see the future if he looks into the Crystal Cave, but it’s not an innate ability like Morgana’s visions)
But Arthur is determined so he takes Merlin and his knights and sets out to where Emrys is said to reside (and Merlin can’t help but think the entire thing is nonsense anyway, because where did this guy get his information from? Merlin very obviously does not live where ever they’re going)
The whole time he’s also thinking about ways to disguise himself once again if he indeed does have to present himself as Emrys to Arthur.
Anyways, they get to the abandoned castle where “Emrys” lives and surprise surprise, it’s an imposter
Merlin is now very angry and annoyed but for totally different reasons
He very subtly tries to discredit or trip up this “Emrys”
Merlin: I thought Emrys was a dragonlord
“Emrys”: Of course I am
Merlin: Then, why don’t you call a dragon?
“Emrys”: Ummmm
Arthur: Merlin, don’t be silly, all the dragons are gone, you were there when it happened
Arthur: Please, Emrys, I seek to know what will become of Camelot under my reign
“Emrys”: A kingdom is only as strong as its leader. There will be times of hardship, but also times of peace and joy
Merlin: Oh please, that’s so vague.
Arthur: Merlin, do not insult the all knowing, all powerful sorcerer
Merlin: So, how do you get your visions? Through sleep? By looking through a crystal?
“Emrys”: It comes to me naturally, like breathing. My magic always has
Merlin: Interesting, can we see some magic?
Arthur: Merlin, we are not here for entertainment
Eventually it’s revealed that this “Emrys” is a fraud and that Merlin is in fact the real Emrys, but then Arthur keeps expecting him to know about the future
Arthur: Merlin, will I die if I go on this quest to slay the beast?
Merlin, gritting his teeth: How would I know?
Arthur: Mm. I guess I just expected the all powerful Emrys to be a little more impressive
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
First chapter is out now!
Here's a taglist of all people who commented or reblogged the original post with a comment about wanting to see a fic like this. I don't want to bother anyone but I noticed a lot of people wanted to know if anyone made a fic like this.
If you'd like to be removed from the taglist, please let me know!
@chaosofbelievers @unknownthebook @jelly-of-many-ships @maevemei @arthursdonkeyears @quotidian-oblivion @lightningstorm003
I hope as hell that you all have the same handles as your ao3 accounts and that I haven’t been tagging people who don’t need this shit thrown their way 😂
And if I said that Merlin would deny his magic for Arthur, and Arthur would deny his kingdom for Merlin, thereby giving up the part of themself that is the core of who they are?
I really wish we saw more of Arthur denying his kingdom for Merlin within the show, although I believe the true extent of that really only comes when there's already been a magic reveal - my original post was a thought I had while talking about one of my fics with a friend in which Arthur commits treason for Merlin (this is before he's king but the point still stands)
Although you could argue that the times in which Arthur flat out disobeyed his father is a version of him denying his kingdom and therefore his very self as he saw his father as the ideal king and what he should strive towards, even if he did have different opinions than his father on certain matters.
We literally see it in, what, episode 4? Arthur puts Merlin's life above his own, and that is essentially putting Merlin before his kingdom because he's literally risking the security of Camelot's future (so I guess yeah, we do see Arthur at least somewhat play fast and loose with his kingdom, but I really wish we saw him truly put Merlin before it a few more times, but that's mainly because I love the angst it produces)
Canon does not shy away from how devoted the two of them are from each other, but I wish we had received a magic reveal earlier because imagine! the choices Arthur would have to make!
And if I said that Merlin would deny his magic for Arthur, and Arthur would deny his kingdom for Merlin, thereby giving up the part of themself that is the core of who they are?
The motivation I needed to finish the next chapter of my Merlin fic comes to you from the worst week I’ve ever had in my entire life. If you want to find out more just wait for the author’s note of the next chapter lol
so many of the pjo couples don’t feel made to last (to me)
like Percy and Annabeth get to slide bc they’re one of the few couples that had a slow slow burn and went through actual hell together.
But Calypso and Leo? Calypso needs a girlfriend and Leo needs someone who respects him. Falling in love out of a curse can’t be a healthy dynamic to aspire to T^T
Jason and Piper (duh. self explanatory.) Piper and Shel probably won’t last long either, mostly because Shel feels like a heavy rebound to me and dating someone after your friend just died is lowkey a cheap shot. Piper will still 100% end up with a woman but it probably won’t be Shel.
Both Nico and Hazel’s relationships with their various partners feels very,,,, baby’s first girl/boyfriend. “But Nico and Will went through hell together!!” I hear you cry. They went through Diet Tartarus. I’d actually say that them going through hell together would make their relationship crumble faster. I’ve read ToA, I’ve read Sun and the Star, but Will just feels so one dimensional as a character to me. If Will had been a side character during HOO and then further developed more in ToA, then I feel like having solangelo become canon in the tower of Nero would’ve been more fitting.
And Hazel and Frank do have good chemistry— but it’s battle chemistry. I think that their run as praetors will be the best Camp Jupiter and New Rome has ever been. But they’ll both break up on year three mutually, remain good friends for th rest of their lives and retire at the end of their ten years of service to Rome. Hazel will go and be a badass Amazonian and Frank will finally go make out sloppy style with Leo once, have a bi-panic and immediately evaporate into the ether to return to Canada and live a nice quiet life in the woods with Lupa and her pack as the occasional visitor
HOO relationships and onward just feels like a very botched attempt of trying recreate the success of percabeth without any of the original formula that made it so intriguing.
I agree wholeheartedly with this. I think making all of the main characters pair up in HOOs was not the best choice? Idk, when I was 12 I thought it was cute but I do think it makes all the relationships a little cheap, plus it makes the friendships not as centre to the story because we’re focusing more on the couples.
Leo being Frank’s bi awakening is genius though, I love that
But yeah, Rick has a bad habit of needing almost every single character to be paired up in some way, which I think is also more of a product of the 2010s in general
@demigod-shenanigans I don’t know how else to respond to questions in the tags lol so sorry for the @/ BUT!
So I read a fic YEARS ago (like ten years ago at least) where Leo entered the story via the Labyrinth. We know that he was constantly on the run from foster homes, so my idea is that while he’s on the run, sleeping in sewers (which we also know he’s done before) he somehow gets lost in the Labyrinth (I’m doing a re-read of BotL right now for this fic and only up to chapter 3 so forgive me if this is not how the labyrinth actually works but anyway)
So then Percy meets Leo while he’s down in the Labyrinth (I don’t know yet if it makes more sense for him to meet before or after Percy is sent to Calypso?)
But yeah essentially that means Leo helps out during the battle at the end of the book, becomes close to Beckendorf only for Beckendorf to die the next summer (yay angst) and also helps out during the Battle of Manhattan. I feel like he will also discover the Bunker at some point and is about to tell Beckendorf before he dies.
Then my idea is that Hera still abducts him from camp for the whole Jason plotline. This is where I’m struggling a bit because I would like Leo and Piper to be really good friends but in canon they at least have the Wilderness school together (even if some memories are fake?) And I don’t want their memories to be completely fake, so. Idk I’ll think more about that when I get to that plot point lmao
No need to apologize for the @! I wouldn’t have asked if I hadn’t hoped you’d reply and I’m totally fine being tagged, so this is perfect :D
Considering from what I recall Annabeth and Percy fall into the labyrinth by accident the first time and it’s got entrances just kind of all over, I can totally see that happening!
How long was Leo down there? Because we do know being down there alone tends to be kind of a lot mentally
Also I can possibly maybe help with the Piper problem! Feel free to completely ignore me if you don’t want advice on this btw but an idea popped into my head so I thought I’d share
Namely, I don’t think it’s necessary for Hera to abduct Leo for the Jason plot line. Based on him being close with Beckendorf, you could just him run away from camp after tlo for grief reasons (him specifically dying in an explosion after what happened to Leo’s mom would not help ngl)
He proceeds to get found up by the same officials who caught him and stuck him in Wilderness School for being a serial runaway in canon and BAM! Slightly more traumatized Leo who’s been to camp and still gets to keep his friendship/backstory with Piper more or less the same (he might be even more reluctant to befriend her in this context considering he’s just lost someone again, but Piper being Piper, he can’t help but warm up to her eventually
Also, at the start of TLH, Leo spends a lot of time assuming he’s just gonna run away from Camp like he has everything else, so I imagine it won’t take much for him to split. Beckendorf’s death should do it.
Here’s some food for thought- What if Leo was found by Luke instead? He was in the Labyrinth at the same time as Percy and Annabeth. They’re both runaways and Leo holds a lot of resentment for the gods after what Gaia did to him and it won’t take much for Luke to use that to his advantage. If he was introduced to the demigod world through Luke’s eyes he might not have ended up on the good side. I’ve thought about this a lot for this other fic I was writing where Leo was found by Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke while they were on the run, which I’ve sort of abandoned now. But Leo in the Titan army is such a fascinating concept.
Leo in the Titan army would be incredibly fascinating. We don’t really hear much about demigods who went to Luke’s side and came back, so imagine a Leo who went to the other side, and then the next year is expected to be a part of the Prophecy of Seven!
I want to mainly focus on Percy, Annabeth and Leo’s friendship in my fic so I won’t be exploring this, but imagine a Percy and Annabeth who went through the first war, and have such complicated feelings for Leo who was on the other side! Because even in TLO (which I’m currently re-reading) Percy is still trying to save demigods on the wrong side (Ethan, a random demigod on the Princess Andromeda) so obviously he’s not going to be completely hostile to Leo, but it would be such a complicated dynamic!!
And it would give us a perspective of a demigod who joined the Titan army and then came back to camp and dealing with the fallout of that
Going feral as I think about my greek soulmates percabeth who were Perseus and Andromeda in a past life and Odysseus and Penelope in another. Falling in love in every lifetime. Finding each other every time. Their love is true and unconditional. Listening to “Would You Fall In Love With Me Again” from Epic and thinking about post Tartarus Annabeth having to cope and deal with the more cruel and dark version of Percy she saw in the pit and coming out the other side still loving him. He hesitates before reaching for her and his touch is so gentle and barely there, his hands tremble slightly as if he’s afraid he’ll hurt her and Annabeth is sure that no matter what he does, he’ll always be hers. He’ll always be her love. He’ll always be her best friend and soulmate. She’ll always love him.
Drew Tanaka gives Percy the safe space he needs to be a complete and utter bitch without remorse and thats why I believe with all my heart that they’re really close friends. No, I do not take constructive criticism.
I’m halfway through my rereading of BotL and finally found where I’m going to put Leo in and oh boy does it feel like the book was made to have Leo show up specifically at this part, I’m so excited to start writing.
@sentient-stove I HAD thought about bringing him in during the Antaeus chapter earlier, but in my re-read (and this is a spoiler for my fic (that is not even written yet lmaooo) but like it happens immediately so whatever) there’s a part in the book where the gang GO TO A TEXAS RANCH and then IMMEDIATELY AFTER GO SEE HEPHAESTUS
So it’s like… Leo is likely to be in Texas (even though he moved around a lot, and did end up in New Mexico and eventually Nevada at the Wilderness School, he’d still most likely stay in Texas for a lot of his childhood in the system) So if we have Leo enter right after the Texas ranch and right before Hephaestus, we have a Leo who doesn’t know he’s the son of Hephaestus but maybe suspects that he does, and we have a super awkward Hephaestus who is like “Why is my child here? I haven’t claimed him yet what’s going on?”
BUT please please please tell me about your AU PLEASE because the only reason I’m writing this is because there is a severe lack of this AU around
Oh my god the Triple G ranch timeframe is such a banger part to add him in I am 👁️👁️ watching you now to see the progress. Did the poor guy fall through a cattle guard and end up in the labyrinth his luck would be that bad T^T
Plus the idea of how awkward the first meeting with Hephaestus and Leo would be hnnnn very very interesting very exciting 👀
The idea with my au & Antaeus is that he’s a son of Gaea right,,, and runs a gladiator ring,,,, Percy v Leo fight instead of Ethan if you catch my drift,,,nothing like showing up back to camp with some random gladiator you picked up after you thrashed him in a fight and killed his boss,,,,
OH MY GOSH YES So (forgive me because it’s been a while since I read that chapter) Leo would be an established fighter by this point because of the fighting ring?
Also a Leo v Percy fight *chefs kiss* oh my gosh I love them so much
I’m halfway through my rereading of BotL and finally found where I’m going to put Leo in and oh boy does it feel like the book was made to have Leo show up specifically at this part, I’m so excited to start writing.
@sentient-stove I HAD thought about bringing him in during the Antaeus chapter earlier, but in my re-read (and this is a spoiler for my fic (that is not even written yet lmaooo) but like it happens immediately so whatever) there’s a part in the book where the gang GO TO A TEXAS RANCH and then IMMEDIATELY AFTER GO SEE HEPHAESTUS
So it’s like… Leo is likely to be in Texas (even though he moved around a lot, and did end up in New Mexico and eventually Nevada at the Wilderness School, he’d still most likely stay in Texas for a lot of his childhood in the system) So if we have Leo enter right after the Texas ranch and right before Hephaestus, we have a Leo who doesn’t know he’s the son of Hephaestus but maybe suspects that he does, and we have a super awkward Hephaestus who is like “Why is my child here? I haven’t claimed him yet what’s going on?”
BUT please please please tell me about your AU PLEASE because the only reason I’m writing this is because there is a severe lack of this AU around
Hello everyone! Here's a new au for you all! Don't worry, I'm still going to be doing a part 3 for the Disir au, but this is something for you all while you wait! Enjoy! :D
This au takes place in a modern setting where Merlin has been waiting for Arthur for over 1500 years. Merlin believes that Arthur will rise directly from the lake, as Kilgharrah led him to believe, but in actuality, Arthur, Gwen, and all the knights were reincarnated and born into new lives without any memory of their past lives.
In this modern setting, Arthur's reincarnation, Arthur Penn, works for a top-secret task force in MI6, known as the Knights. The Knights are tasked with monitoring and hunting down dangerous otherworldly or supernatural threats.
The Knights task force was successful for many years, up until one fateful mission. The team was exploring a cave with high levels of strange radiation, which usually indicated strong supernatural forces. While they didn’t encounter anything in the cave, agent Lance DuLac got separated from the group somehow and was missing for several hours before they found him sitting in front of some crystals, seemingly entranced.
While he was physically fine, Lance was never quite the same afterwards, having strange dreams or speaking in an unknown language at random. Since one of their best agents was left near-insane and they didn't even find anything, that mission was deemed a disaster, which led to the Knights getting disbanded by their superiors.
After the Knights were disbanded, Arthur was put on several solo missions, hunting down supernatural creatures, but he eventually got a new mission.
MI6 had been following and observing an entity known as Emrys for decades, ever since the 1930’s, when reports of an “immortal man” first reached intelligence agencies.
Ever since Emrys's immortality and presence through history was confirmed, MI6 always had someone trailing him and documenting his actions. However, he had never shown any real threat to humanity despite his estimated power level sitting at that of a god’s. In fact, the only documented case of any sort of power from that they had observed in their 90 years of tailing him was during WWII, when a bomb was dropped over his little cottage and he made it disappear with a wave of his hand.
Over the years, the post of watching Emrys had become the most laid-back and least threatening job in the entire supernatural department of MI6. After all, he had never hurt anyone in the entire time that they had watched him, so all an agent had to do was keep their distance and they’d be fine. Hell, it was practically a 9 to 5 job. It was, as far as jobs within the supernatural department went, extremely boring.
Which made agent Arthur Penn extremely overqualified for the post. Unfortunately, agent Gwaine Greene, who had been assigned to Emrys post in the years following the Knights’ disbandment, had been running his mouth to their superiors that Arthur was too high strung and throwing himself into one dangerous mission after the next and needed a lighter mission to cool down. And, even more unfortunately, their superiors had listened to that loudmouth.
So now Arthur was being assigned to watch an old man for an unspecified amount of time. Yay, this was exactly what he hoped his career as an agent at MI6 would look like. Agent coordinator Gwen Smith gave him his debrief, showing him the extensive file that MI6 had on Emrys, his abilities, his routine, and his alternate appearances, because apparently this bloke could change his age as well.
So, Arthur begins his new assignment with a generally bad attitude, but he still performs his duties. Arthur tails Emrys, during which time Emrys mostly sticks to the routine that Gwen had showed him: walking around a nearby lake every morning, then going into town for lunch and to chat with locals about mundane things like the weather, going back home, reading and writing and cooking and cleaning, and then going to bed. Rinse and repeat.
However, as the weeks go by, Arthur notices something… strange. All the previous agents who had post had reported that, even if he knew they were trailing him, Emrys never really paid them much attention. A passing glance or a knowing smile perhaps, but never anything overt. A few years ago, one agent even made the bold move of having a drink next to Emrys in a pub, and Emrys had only asked him if he was "off the clock". If Emrys was upset about being followed, he certainly didn't show it.
So this? This had never happened to any of the other agents watching Emrys before.
A few weeks into his new post, Emrys had started… staring at Arthur. The stares were accompanies by an unnerving feeling, like Arthur was an insect pinned against a microscope. Like Emrys was looking into Arthur very soul and judging him for something.
The feeling of being watched by Emrys made the hairs of the back of Arthur's neck rise, just like whenever he was facing down monsters that looked like they crawled out of humanity's worst nightmares. He was the one supposed to do the watching, not the other way around!
After only three days of Emrys's petrifying stares, Arthur decided to go back to headquarters and give them an update. If Emrys's behavior had changed so suddenly, it might be a sign that the entity was planning something bigger, and they needed to be prepared for anything the immortal could throw their way.
Arthur's paranoia at being watched must have really gotten to him over the past few days though, because for the entire trip back to London, he swore he could see glimpses of Emrys out of the corner of his eyes. But every time he whirled around to see if Emrys truly was following him, there was nothing there. Besides, Emrys had never once left that little town by the lake in over 90 years. Why would he leave now?
Arthur arrived back at headquarters by the end of the day, and he quickly arranged a meeting with his superiors. If Emrys was plotting something, the entire supernatural division had to go on high alert.
About halfway through through the meeting, however, the lights started to flicker and the entire building started to shake, as if a massive earthquake was happening. Everyone sprang into action, weapons in hand and ready for any attack, but Arthur's eyes went wide with panic. He knew, somehow, what- or who- was behind this.
Sure enough, a guard burst into the room a couple second later, yelling about how Emrys was in the lobby making demands and shaking the earth with his anger.
Arthur and his bosses ran out to the lobby and were met with a horrible sight: Emrys standing at their front door with the guards' weapons disintegrating before they could even take aim at him.
"I will not ask you again. Where is he?"
Emrys's voice was more impatient than furious, but the threat of his power was more than enough to send a shover down everyone's spine, Arthur's most of all. Because while his superiors and fellow agents were frantically whispering to each other, trying to figure out who Emrys could be referring to, Arthur knew. There was only one mortal Emrys had shown any interest in over the past 90 years, after all.
"He's after me." The whispering of the agents around Arthur ceased as a horrified hush fell over the group. "I don't know why, but he's looking for me."
The agents around him shared a look, which slowly morphed from terrified to determined.
"Then we have to make sure he doesn't get to you," Gwaine said, uncharacteristically solemn. "Whatever reason he wants you for, it can't be good for anyone."
The other agents around them nodded and murmured in agreement, even as their voices were quickly drowned out by the rumbling of the building around them and the sounds of gunfire and screams behind them.
Suddenly, Lance, who had been silent the entire time, cut in.
"I know a back way out of the building. I can sneak Arthur through the back and escape to a safehouse, somewhere Emrys can't find us."
"No, absolutely not. I won't run away and leave you all to fight-"
"Arthur." Gwen's voice cut off his denial. "For all we know, if he gets his hands on you, he could become even more dangerous. Please, if not for your sake, then for everyone's: don't let him get to you."
Arthur swallowed thickly, holding back tears. Lance looked at him, his face growing more and more panicked as the sounds of conflict grew closer and closer to their hiding spot.
"Alright, I'll go, but I expect to see all of you when I get back. You told me not to let him get ahold of me, but the same goes for all of you: no dying on me today, got it? Especially not to some ancient bloke."
His friends smiled and nodded at him, and Lance took his arm and started leading him through the building, running down narrow hallways and darkened corridors until they reached a small, hidden exit on the side of the building, disguised among the building's brick exterior. The two of them burst out of the building into the adjacent alleyway, out of breath from their frantic sprint.
"Alright, where to now? How do we get to this safehouse of yours?"
Lance turned to face Arthur, but there was something strange about him. His face looked oddly conflicted and... guilty?
"I'm sorry, Arthur."
"What? Lance, what are you-"
Arthur froze as a figure stepped into entrance to the alley, blocking the only escape route. Arthur's hands reached for his gun, but he froze as two burning golden eyes stared into his soul.
And then, the world around him went dark.
I hope you all enjoyed this au! To clarify, Lance was trapped in the crystal cave and saw his memories of his past life as Lancelot, which led to him seeking out Merlin and forming a plan with him to get Arthur assigned to Emrys watching post so that Merlin could take Arthur to the crystal cave and finally reunite with his king.
And, as always, thank you for reading through my ramblings! :D
