Okay but Merlin would’ve turned around for Arthur.
Imagine this: after Arthur dies instead of telling Merlin that he’d one-day return, Kilgharrah told Merlin that there was a way to go into Avalon and bring him back. He had to trek the long lake towards the tower at the center; within, there was a door where he could pass into Avalon. But from there the journey wouldn’t be easy.
The Sidhe wouldn’t appreciate someone entering their lands without permission.
But of course, Merlin will go anyway. He just hopes Arthur will wait long enough for him to reach him.
love fics where Merlins well-being is in accordance with the land. So when he's ill at the end of autumn winter comes sooner or if one of camelots forests has been cursed to rot he gets a fever and just literally son of the earth, the sea and the sky. Elemental magic yk??
When Arthur returns from his deathbed a near 1500 years later, there’s a great many things that are different from the world he knew before. And through it all, despite Merlin at his side once again, something still feels like it’s missing. He can feel it deep at his core.
Perhaps an integral part of himself, but definitely one for Merlin.
So one day he finally asks: “What’s become of magic in our world?”
“…. Magic is gone.”
Once upon a time Arthur never thought he would dread such a phrase. But hearing it now and seeing the world without it, he now understood — more than ever — just how important magic was to the very nature of things. Without it the world was just… more empty than it should’ve been. He could feel it in the wind as it blew through his hair and the cool waters of a lake as it was absorbed across his skin.
Merlin goes on to explain that when Arthur died, a part of Merlin died with him. “The most important part, it seems…” Despite being unable to die, without his magic Merlin has grown weaker and sicker. Always in pain; always ill; always tired — never able to ease any of it with the sweet release of death.
“But…” Arthur said, “I’ve returned.”
The two slowly come to the realization that with Arthur’s return, magic was slowly returning to the lands with him.
As Merlin relearns his strength and power, the two fight to keep people and creatures of magic from being taken by those who want to study it; and strive to unite the lands once again as Arthur should have done hundreds of years ago.
After being made court sorcerer or something or other, Merlin has a lot of tasks away from Camelot as well as within it. Today in particular he was to meet up with some Druids for something he wouldn’t yet disclose.
Merlin always with the secrets…. Although Arthur understood this time — it was Druid business and if there were anyone more secretive than Merlin then it was them.
It just couldn’t have come at a worse time….
Merlin had recently revealed a secret chamber within the hall of records, wherein the knights could speak in private from any prying eyes or ears if the kingdom was ever in danger again.
However, there was a problem: it was filthy. Forget the state of the moldy old books on the shelves, there were piles of boxes and jars with who knew what inside in every corner; old records on forgotten-tables; older gems that were probably cursed — all sprinkled with a good helping of lint and cobwebs.
Honestly Arthur almost wasn’t teasing when he asked if the Druid quest wasn’t just an excuse for Merlin to get out of another chore. It was disgusting.
But Merlin’s duties were important, and the chamber wasn’t going to clean itself.
The plan was for anything that looked useful to go into Arthur’s chambers; anything that looked cursed to stay put; and anything magic-related — that didn’t look like it could put Camelot in grave peril for being removed from its nook — would go in Merlin’s room.
The only thing Merlin advised them before he left was: “Don’t open the box lined with lead.”
Really, it should’ve stayed put or gone to Merlin’s room; but somehow it ended up in Arthur’s. And one session of joking around between Gwaine, Percival, and Elyan later had it broken wide open.
Arthur was shocked when he burst into his chambers to find a goblin on his table. He drew his sword but before he could even swing, the goblin had disappeared into a small floating light. Arthur instantly lost sight of it when it flew past him.
The knights each asked if Arthur was okay when they realized it had escaped, and the King replied, “Yes. Now bring me all the gold in the castle.”
They traded a look. “Sire, are you sure you—”
“I am your King, and I order you to bring me all the gold; I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
The knights listen.
Many many many amounts of gold later — and some knights being locked up for speaking up against the King — the goblin is feasting like a King on his throne. Because, well — having possessed Arthur — he was a King on the throne!! And he had all the gold he could ever want! It was perfect!
But then Merlin returns.
Welcomed home with the sight of Arthur sitting on his throne with a lopsided crown, coins in his mouth, surrounded by piles of gold — not to mention the remaining knights’ worried expressions — Merlin lets out the deepest sigh he’s had in years.
He fixes everything fairly quickly — at least, quicker than last time — with the help of the knights, and all the gold was returned to their rightful places. But afterward Merlin had to have a talk with the Roundtable, and naturally it started with this:
Kilgharrah has many titles. Most know him as the Great Dragon, or the Last Dragon; but one of his greatest titles rests in the legend of Emrys & the Once and Future King: The Adviser.
Of course, you already know that he advises Merlin within the shadows of secret quests with the knowledge he has of the legends, as well as that which he has gained over his many years. But what you don’t know is that he also advises Arthur.
The Prince took longer to take the advice from a dragon of course, but once his dear other half’s life was on the line a while back he had no choice. Now the two continuously sneak around saving each other from every other thing.
Surprisingly, they had yet to run into each other during these adventures. In fact, Arthur wasn’t even sure if Merlin had magic! (Yes, even in spite of knowing their destiny as two halves of the same whole).
Well. That is until recently, when they bumped into each other in the middle of the Darkling Woods with threats at their heels. Shocked to find the other there — and even more, that they were there for each other — they now must work together to complete their mission. And then they wish to have a word with their- adviser back in Camelot.
Although Kilgharrah, of course, will be more amused than anything that they had not caught each other sooner.
Long after being crowned as King and in the midst of lifting the ban on magic, Arthur invites the Druids to the citadel in the hopes of making peace between their people.
There is great risk in entering camelot’s castle gates, but in knowing his great destiny the Druids choose to trust in Arthur. Only, something terrible is following them very closely behind….
In the midst of preparations for the treaties and celebratory feasts, Merlin is busy with every other thing on the planet: taking care of Arthur; helping Gaius; aiding Camelot’s many guests whenever he could; and more! He really hadn’t the time for anything but work, and the young Druid child who had started following him around certainly wasn’t helping; despite what they might’ve thought. The truth was, they may have been more clumsy than Merlin — could you believe it? And despite their want to help with his chores, they seemed to be making things worse.
Arthur is amused by this child following Merlin around between his duties, and finds it cute. Merlin is not amused, to say the least.
And all is made worse when, suddenly, two Druids are found dead at the hands of a knight. Arthur is outraged; Merlin is distraught; and the Druids fear for their lives. They remain in Camelot for time-being, but after one of Arthur’s closest knights — whom he had never dared to imagine killing an innocent person — killed more of them, they left.
On top of all his duties Merlin had begun researching because it was very unlikely that the knights had done this of their own accord. They had all welcomed peace between Camelot and the Druids in excitement days ago, and now they weren’t acting like themselves.
During his research he finds that the Druid child had been left behind by the group; but upon closer examination he believes that was on purpose.
Unknowingly enchanted with powerful magic, the child was causing trouble without even realizing it. The question was who enchanted them; but an answer was that they could easily be disenchanted with the use of Druid magic.
Merlin, Arthur, and the child all head out to the Darkling Woods in search of the Druids; for their aid, and the hope that things could be remedied.
However, the enchantress — Morgana — lay not too far behind, following her enchanted-puppet with some magic string which she could use to control people as she had with the knights.
What comes next may be disaster, as the group realizes the inexperienced child must disenchant themself if they wanted to be free before Morgana caught up.
And then afterward, through all of the bloodshed, can Camelot and the Druids still make peace?
There’s a ball coming up to celebrate Arthur officially being crowned as Prince of Camelot, and Uther has requested his Crown Prince to brush up on the nonverbal language of fans. Certain gestures meant certain things, and a lot of guests would utilize the secret codes to speak on the down-low.
Arthur knowing what they meant was important not only so he could make connections, but make sure everyone was staying in line.
Luckily Arthur was already well-versed in fans, because it meant he could also spend time researching the many other languages. Parasols; gloves; even handkerchiefs — there were many objects which people loved to communicate with. Handkerchiefs was the least-known to him seeing as it was used more by peasants than nobles, but he thought well to learn it so that he could understand more of his people.
Lessons with [Gwen or Merlin; up to you] later, and he was rather competent in holding a conversation.
Come the day of the ball, Arthur is enjoying himself a lot; until a princess comes up and starts flirting with him using her fan. The truth was, although she was nice and probably would’ve made a good queen in the far-future, his heart was with another.
In fact, that person was at this very ball — not a guest from far away, but one of the servants making sure the night ran smoothly in the background.
[This person could either be Gwen or Merlin imo; up to you, again].
Being of lower-class, they weren’t permitted to learn the fan-language which was reserved for nobles, but Arthur decided to tease and gave a few signals with his fan anyhow. And much to his surprise, they actually did understand; (likely from staying observant in their duties to nobles). Utilizing [a napkin on her tray, a piece of fabric holding her hair (for Gwen); or a neckerchief (for Merlin)— depending on how you want it to go], they replied to his comments in the nonverbal-language he had learnt only recently.
Although he was slightly embarrassed to have been caught flirting with them using his fan, the two continued flirting the night away from across the room between Arthur’s conversations with other nobles and the servant’s duties to the party.
And when at last the guests started to break away from the citadel and the two were left alone (something about Arthur needing to stay until the end as Crown Prince; and they needing to clean some stuff up), they could finally speak face-to-face.
But, though he had been hoping for that all night, Arthur found himself without words; and they felt the same.
Smiling, the two decided to share a dance instead.
Although all of this had to remain secret, at least they could have moments like these — silent conversations between handkerchiefs and fans, and their dancing-footsteps at the end of the day when everyone else had at last averted their gaze from the newly-Crowned Prince.
