arthur found out about kilgharrah and with his and gaius's help was dealing with magical threats in the castle. merlin never got to camelot, his mother died in cenred's raid before she could tell him about her friend gaius. so he left his village and sought whatever magical knowledge he could get until he stumbled upon peaceful people who for some reason called him emrys with such reverence it puzzeled him.
through them he found out a lot about magic and about his destiny to reuinite albion with a pendragon, although he decided to not act upon it after mordred was almost killed in camelot. he needed to be more powerful to be able to change anything and quite frankly he doubts pendragons are gonna listen to him unless he comands them to, so he waited.
meanwhile arthur never got to know about his mother, and morgana never trusted him with her powers so she grew paranoid in isolation. but the dragon did tell him about emrys.
after he had to poison morgana to save his father and most importantly his kingdom, as he promised, he let the dragon go with the help of excalibur.
of course, kilgharrah will never rest until he has uther's head. but arthur can't let him do that. gaius says there's the last dragonlord somewhere, he might be their only hope, but he needs magical help to locate him.
so he decided to look for druids, he did save mordred after all that has to count for something.
as he squeezes mordred's shoulder in greeting, who is now almost at his chin height, he hears a soothing voice.
m: who is your handsome friend, mordred?
they turn around and arthur sees a young man, with dark hair and blue piercing eyes and a teasing smile.
mor: it's prince arthur, i told you about him.
and just like the sun covered by clouds, all of a sudden the man's face loses any warmth.
m: oh. a pendragon at our doorstep. to what do we owe such... honor?
his might as well just spit the last word out, obvious disdain on his tongue. arthur is used to sorcerer's hating him but it's druids, he'd like to be on their good side.
nonetheless, he's a prince and manners always come first. he straightens up.
a: i apologize for disturbing you all but i must ask for help. camelot is in great danger and i didn't know where else to go.
mor: that's emrys, if anyone can help it's him. I'll leave you to it.
arthur freezes. he wasn't ready to meet emrys so soon.
as soon as he says it he winces, clrealy hearing notes of disbelief in his own voice with a mix of his signature "arthur being an arse" tone. emrys hears it too and gets even more defensive, his gaze hardens, his chin lifts up in challenge.
m: that's what the druids call me. you've got some problem with it?
a: no no, not at all. i just imaged you older. not that you being young is bad , of course!
ugh, just strike him dead.
m: you've heard about me?
a: yes. a... dragon told me about you. emrys supposed to be my other half, the other side of a coin.
m: right... a dragon told you. naturally.
he didn't deny his words though, so that's a good sign for arthur.
a: that's actually why im here. the dragon is loose in camelot, wrecking havoc and death. i need your help to locate the last dragonlord.
m: where did you even get a dragon? i thought they were extinct.
arthur shifts his gaze in shame. for both being connected to the carnage of magical creatures and for releasing the beast that his people are now suffering from.
a: it's a long story.. please, emrys, i beg of you, i can't let camelot fall, innocent people die.
emrys looks at him for a while, maybe finally noticing how desperate he really is. surely helping a kingdom that hunts their kind is no easy feat, arthur only hopes he's as generous as kilgharrah painted him to be.
m: alright then, let's talk. and just call me merlin.
if he's totally honest, he always feels uncomfortable whenever someone calls him emrys, he feels like he doesn't have a right to claim that name, at least yet.
besides, he already has a name, his mother gave it to him and he cherishes it deeply.
although arthur seems nothing like uther, merlin is still wary. but maybe it is time to finally meet his destiny.
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