Paperlegends: The Raven Knife (6)
Masterpost
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 & Epilogue
On Friday evening, Merlin had come home late to find the house dark. But Arthur had said he was home when he’d rung him, hadn’t he?
He heard Lux barking in his usual greeting. His dog ran happily to him in the dark. Merlin lifted his small dog from the ground when he was at his feet, carrying him in his arms. Lux greeted him by licking his cheek.
Turning on the lights, he found Cavall lying on the floor of the living room. He was in his white wolf form, which still startled Merlin a bit. Cavall stood up upon Merlin settling his eyes on him. But Arthur’s dog didn’t move. His now silver eyes only stared at Merlin, almost judging him. Frankly, Merlin felt the look was somewhat malicious.
“Cavall?” He asked tentatively.
Then Arthur emerged from the kitchen. Merlin nearly dropped Lux at the unexpected sight of Arthur with pure black eyes, even the whites of his eyes were - Merlin wondered if maybe this was the Prince of Darkness. Yet something didn’t fit…no, this was Arthur, his Arthur. But not him at the same time.
Arthur’s mouth twisted into a cruel smile. “I’ve fooled you. All this time.”
“What?” Merlin intoned, puzzled. “What are you on about, Arthur? Why are your eyes black like that?”
Lux started whining anxiously. Merlin shushed him, petting his head to comfort him.
“I’m the Prince, the Prince of Darkness,” Arthur said so seriously, so convincingly that it planted a seed of doubt inside Merlin. No. That couldn’t be true. Yet maybe just maybe…if Arthur really was telling the truth now. Oh god. Oh god. No.
“And after years, you still were too blind to see who I truly was. How could you be such an idiot not to see it?”
“But your eyes. Aren’t they permanent? How could you change them back to blue?”
“They’re not permanent. Fuck, Merlin, I have so much magic you can’t even fathom it,” he told him with twisted relish. “You think I can’t change such a dumb thing like eye colour to trick you? Honestly I thought you were smarter, but I guess you enjoyed fucking me too much to bother being perceptive. Such a fool. Complete idiot.”
And then Arthur, the Prince of Darkness, whoever this was laughed a cold laugh.
Merlin felt static electricity surrounding him, feeling Athena releasing a spark of magic to defend him. Merlin took a deep breath, and then released it.
“You’re not Arthur. Not the one I’m engaged to,” Merlin declared solemnly. “You’re some imposter who’s putting on a good disguise. I don’t even think you’re the Prince of Darkness. Maybe someone who knows him, but you’re not him.”
Arthur gave him a disbelieving look. “You poor, deluded man. Why can’t you see what’s right in front of you?”
Then Arthur approached him, and Merlin reflexively stepped back. He still held on to Lux, an earnest grip now. As if letting go of his dog would cause Lux to disappear forever. He couldn’t do it.
“Look at me, you blind idiot. I’ve been the Prince all along. Our first meeting wasn’t at the cursed tree, but at uni. You laughed at me when I introduced myself as Arthur, saying how unfucking believable it was that my name was that when your name was Merlin. And then you purposefully avoided me for the next week because the whole Merlin-Arthur thing weirded you out. You were worried we’d date and then break up and that you’d never be able to pick up a book on Arthurian legend ever again.”
Merlin stared, wide-eyed at him. Damnit. That was all true. Arthur had managed to sway him and they had begun to date, Merlin’s worries had been unfounded.
Looking carefully at Arthur’s pitch black eyes, Merlin believed. He believed in what Arthur or the Prince was saying.
How could he have been so short-sighted not to see the truth? After all the time he had known Arthur, Merlin truly hadn’t known the real him.
“So I think it’s time we went our separate ways. You’re beneath me, honestly,” the Prince said in such an honest tone that Merlin couldn’t help but flinch in response. “You’re better off with someone just as slow and pathetic as yourself.”
Merlin glared at him. “Fuck you.” He shouted back at him, wanting to express his anger at the Prince for pretending to be someone else all this time.
With Lux in his arms, Merlin left the house, slamming the front door behind him.
He went to his car and placed Lux in the backseat. He himself sat in the driver’s seat and he wasn’t sure whether to scream or cry. Silent tears came down his face, almost unbidden, and he let them fall, doing nothing to stop them. He leaned his elbow against the window frame, his hand resting against the side of his head.
Merlin knew he should drive, leave now, but he couldn’t. The last few years of his life had been a lie. He stared dully at the silver band on his ring finger. His engagement ring.
Angrily, he removed the bloody ring yet he didn’t have the heart to throw it away. So he tossed it in the glove compartment instead.
“Merlin…” Athena spoke softly, but she seemed unsure what to say.
“Just…thank you for being here, Athena. You don’t need to say anything. It’s all right.”
Then he pulled out of the driveway and headed to Gwen and Lancelot’s house. Since they and their daughter were still on holiday, their home was blessedly empty.
That’s just what Merlin needed now.
First Morgaine, then Tauren, now this. Bran was ill, sick enough that it concerned Robin. While Gwydion could have magically taken care of any average illness with little fuss, this time was different.
But this was a memory echo of a sickness Bran had when he was sixteen in his past life. And it was haunting him now, giving him a high fever and making him lethargic and a little delusional. It was a price to be paid for remembering your past life. An old ailment could come back and haunt you.
As a consequence, healing Bran with magic was much trickier. The best they could do for him was give him the usual medication combined with Gwydion’s magic and hope Bran would pull through. Robin tried not to be too worried about Bran being only eleven now, younger than he’d been when he’d first contracted this illness in his past life. But children were resilient, weren’t they?
Robin sincerely hoped that would prove to be true here.
Bran was asleep now in his bed. Gwydion was pretending to be sleeping in his little tree home in the room. Robin had sent Ophelia off to bed, but he doubted she would follow his advice and get some much-needed rest.
Suddenly Bran had shot up and then he had a desperate look on his face. He turned to Robin. “Please don’t let them take my blood,” he said earnestly, deep in some tortured delusion. “Please. It’s not what they think it is. It’s not Immortal blood. Please. They’ll lock me away and I’ll take forever to die…please. Help me.” he asked of Robin, so intent and worried about this perceived danger.
Robin gripped his hand firmly to comfort him. “I’m here, Bran. Don’t worry. No one will take you away. I won’t let them. Your blood is safe. Don’t worry.” he assured him.
Bran still looked a little anxious. “Are you sure?” he asked in a small voice.
“Yes I’m very sure,” Robin said to him quietly. “You’re never alone.”
He then urged Bran to drink a glass of water. Robin kept the glass steady as Bran drank from it. Deeming he’d had enough, Robin replaced the glass on the table nearby.
“Is Gwydion--?” Bran asked in a sleepy whisper. His eyelids were already drooping. He looked about ready to go back to sleep.
“Yes Gwydion’s here,” Robin told him.
Appearing to have heard Bran, Gwydion flew over to him, landing on Bran’s hand. “Oh, Gwydion,” he breathed out tiredly. He raised his hand so that he could kiss Gwydion on the head. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“You’ll be better, I promise,” Gwydion assured him.
Tears came down Bran’s face, and he looked so distraught over something that Robin didn’t dare to ask about it. Gwydion shifted position, perching on Bran’s head, as Robin took Bran in his arms, embracing him.
Bran’s shoulders shook and he sobbed as Robin continued to hold him.
“It’s harder in his weakened state to deal with all the memories of his past life. Especially the bad ones,” Gwydion deduced sadly. He moved to Bran’s shoulder, and nestled in the crook of his neck.
“We’ve all had that trouble,” Robin sighed.
He had remembered his past life at sixteen, and there were times where he couldn’t handle it all as easily as he wished. He’d been close to taking up smoking to relax himself. But his mum had laid down the law and he’d had to let go of that idea. Fortunately physical activities like running or hiking had helped him.
His heart broke for Bran who had remembered so much sooner than Robin thought was right. How Bran managed to live each day with the weight of those memories was a wonder. Robin tried to help him by suggesting origami or visiting other worlds with Gwydion - being careful not to get into trouble, of course.
Once Robin heard Bran quiet down, crying himself to sleep, he gently laid him back down to bed.
Gwydion was on Bran’s chest now.
Ophelia came into the room. She yawned. “How is he?” she asked in concern.
“Bran’s a fighter,” Robin said with a small smile.
“Of course he is, Clan pride and all that,” she said, smiling back at him.
The two of them watched a now sleeping Gwydion, still on Bran’s chest, moving up and down in rhythm with Bran’s breathing.
Robin decided to move Gwydion back to his nest in the tree later.
Horrified, Arthur just realized that he’d driven Merlin away. And even worse, he’d finally remembered everything of his past life. He now faced the very real possibility that he would never see Merlin again, that they’d never recover from the fight they’d just had.
Oh God. The things he’d said. He hadn’t meant them. The bloody Prince of Darkness had been behind this. He’d changed Arthur’s eyes, twisted his words; and Arthur could only remain trapped inside his own body as he’d said terrible things to Merlin. Enough to make Merlin leave and to make him reevaluate his relationship with Arthur.
And Merlin believed, oh god, that he’d been living a lie. Arthur had made him believe that. No. No. No. This couldn’t be happening.
“Well, that was something,” the Prince reappeared again. He was wearing a light grey dress shirt with a silk black tie and also dark trousers. Another blasted dark fedora was on his head.
“Fuck you. It’s always you fucking things up.”
“Hey, don’t blame me. Blame King Merlin for saying such ‘nice’ things about me,” the Prince said sarcastically.
“How can you even still be alive? That prophecy involving Gwydion was supposed to get rid of you. But now you’re immortal. Probably the last person who should be. You don’t deserve immortality.”
“No prophecy said I would die, only lose, if my plan to bring all worlds into ruin, into darkness would be thwarted. Defeat doesn’t mean death. Hopefully your sad mortal brain can process that reasoning,” the Prince sneered at him.
“If there was a way to kill you, I’d do it in a heartbeat,” Arthur shot at him darkly. He began thinking of all the ways he’d relish killing the Prince.
“Oh Arthur, Arthur. I would’ve thought you’d be more interested getting your Merlin back,” the Prince said cajolingly. “Just like old times, right? Your actions driving Merlin away. Let’s see if it takes him five years again to reconcile with you and forgive you for your nasty words.”
“They were your words. What do you have against me? Is it because I was able to have what you didn’t? I was King of my world’s Camelot, and you--”
“Shut up. Just shut up,” the Prince of Darkness retorted angrily. “You don’t even know, do you? About the nature of Merlin’s reincarnation? You two don’t belong together. He’s better off with someone else, or alone, I don’t care. As long as he isn’t with you. You were forcing something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
“I don’t believe a word you say. You just want me to be miserable.”
“Fine then. If you don’t want to know about Merlin…”
“You’ll just be lying.”
“This world has dulled your senses. Honestly have you even looked at him? Hair as black as night, eyes forget-me-not blue…”
Arthur blinked at him. “What the hell are you getting at?”
“His great-grandmother on his mother’s side was an incarnation of Snow White, and his grandmother on his father’s side is Cinderella’s incarnation. How could you be so blind?”
Now Arthur remembered the existence of the Fairytale World. Despite having his Excalibur that he used to travel to other worlds, he’d never visited that world. He had been busy running Camelot as King after all. “People from the Fairytale World were reborn in this world?”
“Some of them.”
“Why weren’t Merlin and me reborn into the Daemon World? That’s our world. We should have returned there.”
The Prince shrugged. “Maybe you didn’t have your lucky horseshoe with you,” he said carelessly, clearly not too concerned over Arthur’s frustration.
The Prince continued on, “But so you see, the fact is that you’re beneath Merlin. Why would he ever choose you when he’s been reincarnated with such a fairytale-laced ancestry? Why he even gave you the time of day, I don’t know. Frankly, I was helping by breaking the two of you up before you married each other. It would have only gone downhill from there. You should be thanking me.”
“No, actually, right now, I’m still very much hating you,” Arthur said fiercely.
He glared at him. He knew that it would be useless asking the Prince to change his eye colour back to his natural blue. If he had to be stuck the rest of his life with demon black eyes, shit…what the hell was he going to do? Arthur couldn’t stand the fact that he resembled the Prince of Darkness more so now with his fully black eyes.
“Well. If you feel like that, then you leave me no choice,” the Prince said quietly, a threat underlying his words.
It made Arthur nervous, and a few minutes later, his fear was not left unfounded.
Merlin stroked Lux in his lap. He sat in the darkness of Gwen and Lancelot’s living room. He didn’t want to think about Arthur or the fight they’d had. It hurt too much, and he just wanted peace, to breathe in and out, and to not think.
His eyes closed, and soon, as his breathing slowed and he fell into very welcome sleep, Merlin dreamed.
Strangely, he was dressed as a prince, complete with a blue cape at his back. He was running from someone, but he wasn’t sure who. Unfortunately he hit a dead end by way of a cliff with a long way down to the sea below.
The man chasing after him caught up to him. It was Arthur, or no, it was the Prince of Darkness. His eyes kept shifting from Arthur’s blue to the Prince’s creepy black eyes that left no white for reprieve from the desolate darkness.
Arthur/Prince, whoever he truly was, stood in front of him on the offensive. He had a sword at the ready to attack Merlin.
“You’ve come to the end. You might as well face your death like a man.”
“There’s always a way out,” Merlin declared defiantly.
Arthur/Prince looked incredulously at him.
To show him, Merlin walked backwards until he reached the very edge of the cliff. He then spread his arms wide and closing his eyes, he then fell over the cliff.
“Merlin!” Arthur/Prince shouted in outrage upon losing him.
But Merlin was surprised when he didn’t feel himself speed up as gravity took hold of him. No. He suddenly transformed into a great phoenix of scarlet-gold coloring. He started to flap his expansive wings, flying up instead of falling down.
He was his phoenix daemon, Zlocisty, but he usually just called her Zlota. The golden phoenix.
Just like that, with a startling jolt, Merlin’s memories of his past life came rushing back to him. Growing up in the Daemon World. A world where everyone Merlin knew had their souls outside their bodies. The souls took on an animal form that could speak and interact with others. Unless you possessed magic and underwent the ritual like he had, then the daemon and their respective human couldn’t bear to be more than few feet away from each other.
There was his mother’s orange and cream male cat daemon, Cieplo, who he remembered was always a warm, reassuring presence in his childhood just like his mother was. Like his reincarnated mother was in this life.
That’s why he saw a glimpse of Cieplo in his mum’s Merlin falcon, Belle. Maybe a part of Cieplo was in the bird somehow. And the same might be true of Cavall. A part of Krola must be inside of the Norwegian Elkhound too. That had to be why Cavall could turn into a white wolf at whim.
He remembered the terrible sadness he felt when his father died when he was only four. He’d been killed by Uther’s orders. How his mother tried to remain strong for him, but years later, Merlin knew that she was just as devastated as he had been. It must have been so hard for her to not lose herself, knowing she still had a son to look after.
And how in this life, his mum had to deal with a similar situation with her husband dying yet she had to be there to take care of Merlin. She had to pull through the loss and the grief somehow.
In his long ago past life, his Zlota had settled into her final daemon form when Merlin was just shy of fourteen years. The settling of his daemon had happened a few years later than was typical. Merlin thought the wait was well-rewarded when he saw Zlota was an awe-inspiring phoenix, not to mention that she could also transform into a small, more conspicuous firefly.
When he had come to Camelot, he had been nervous considering the ban on magic. Zlota’s firefly form had allowed Merlin to keep a low profile. If she’d been in her phoenix form out in the open in Camelot, Merlin might as well have given himself up and asked to be sent to the pyre.
Surprise hadn’t even begun to cover what he’d felt when Arthur had told him that he’d seen Merlin do magic at the fight in the marketplace. Arthur had promised he’d keep the secret of his magic. That shocked Merlin even more.
He had found out by then that when Arthur had been little, only five, he had spotted Merlin’s father doing a little bit of harmless magic. Regrettably back then, Arthur had wanted to please his father King Uther. He followed his father’s laws and went to report to his father about seeing a man perform magic.
And here was Arthur, years later, defying his father by keeping Merlin’s magic secret. Merlin hadn’t even needed to plead with Arthur to spare his life.
“I don’t understand. I thought I’d be dealing with an uphill battle getting you to see the good in magic. What led you to having a different view on magic than your father?
“I guess it’s just your lucky day, Merlin,” Arthur said with a smile. “Now you better learn how to best be cautious with your magic. Because if my father finds out about you, then I don’t know how much I can help you.”
“And I suppose you know best how to conceal magic use?” Merlin retorted with a raised eyebrow.
“Of course, Merlin. I am the Prince of Camelot after all. Who better?” Arthur quipped back smartly.
Merlin crossed his arms and frowned at him. He still thought that Arthur was a prat. A well-meaning one, but a prat all the same.
That was how only a few weeks after Merlin had been made his manservant, the two unlikely friends established an especially close bond. They inevitably fell in love.
Arthur had remained quiet on why exactly he had had a change of heart regarding magic. Certainly King Uther had not been the one to birth this change of opinion in him. Eventually, Arthur had only revealed to Merlin that he had seen the light one day after Merlin’s father had died. Merlin had let it go, and he’d let him keep this one secret.
Although Merlin had noticed Arthur sneak out to visit a big old oak tree surrounded by three smaller ones. There was an intriguing white rose etching upon the tree that Arthur had looked at thoughtfully, tracing the petals gently.
Merlin himself always felt a kinship to the big oak tree. He had never found out why he felt that way around the tree. Yet due to that, he always liked to read by the oak tree, leaning his back against the tree bark, or just admiring the lovely white rose etching some artist must have put there.
After a year living in Camelot, Merlin had saved Arthur with his magic as he always did. But this particular time had led to huge consequences. Arthur’s father had been in the room, and he had seen Merlin visibly use magic. Luckily, Merlin had managed to escape the pyre, and he along with Arthur had headed into exile. Arthur had stood by Merlin, even risking his chance of being King by accompanying him into exile.
“I’m sorry, Arthur,” Merlin said softly. “It was my mistake, and now you’re stuck here in exile with me.”
“Shut up, Merlin,” Arthur shot back. “Saving my life wasn’t a mistake. Don’t ever think that. I suppose we were both deluded in believing you’d never get caught. I’m just glad that we escaped before you’d gotten killed. I could have never lived with myself if you’d died, Merlin, died and I could have done something about it. And like you said, I will be King one day with your help, of course.”
“Yes. I won’t let you down, Arthur. I promise,” Merlin assured him.
Then unfortunately, Morgana had killed herself by jumping off the castle ramparts. Merlin had learned that Uther was subduing the daemons of magic users so he could bend them to his will, to make them do what he commanded. Apparently the King had decided to stop killing sorcerers, and instead use them for his own selfish plans.
Knowing this, Morgana had chosen to ‘save herself’ from that terrible fate and fell to her death, her daemon, Tiresias, dying with her.
A year into their exile, Arthur and Merlin had traveled to this world they’d now been reincarnated into. The travel between worlds had been thanks to Arthur’s Excalibur given to him by Sir Lancelot. Excalibur could cut openings into other worlds to allow them to elude Uther’s men.
And now, oddly enough, Merlin had been reborn into that same world they’d escaped to. They’d called this world the Non-Daemon World then. Arthur and Merlin had met the Merlin of the Non-Daemon World, who had been a manservant to his Arthur as Merlin had been to his own. Although the other Merlin had been luckier because he hadn’t been driven into exile as Merlin had been with Arthur.
Later on, Merlin had met Alice in the Non-Daemon World. She had been an orphan, looked after by her relatives. Yet she had run away, and Merlin had met her and helped her as best as he could.
He later learned that she had a twin brother, Robin, who was a Dragonlord. He’d inherited the talent at a very young age due to the death of his and Alice’s father. He was taken to another world to be educated in the art of being a Dragonlord.
Eventually, when he was of age, he was placed in the employ of Lady Ophelia’s household as nobility of the World of Magic typically had a good number of dragons on their property. There was a high demand for trained Dragonlords to take care of the dragons. After Ophelia’s first husband had died in battle, she was left a widow with two children. But she found love again with Robin and she had married him.
Disaster struck for Merlin and Arthur’s relationship after a year into their exile.
Arthur betrayed Merlin and turned him into King Uther. Uther subdued his daemon Zlota and subjugated Merlin under his ruthless command. For Merlin, it was hell on earth for those few days. It was all due to a prophecy requiring Arthur to betray Merlin, and then for Merlin to truly forgive him. Only then would the Prince of Darkness lose.
Arthur had risked his relationship with Merlin due to the noble purpose of saving all the worlds from the Prince’s dark plans. Yet despite those reasons, Merlin still had a hard time coping with Arthur being so willing to ruin their strong bond, so willing to put Merlin through hell.
Merlin recalled one moment during the five years before he forgave Arthur. He had had a row with Arthur. This particular time involved Merlin’s apprentice, Rhys, which made it personal to Merlin.
“I want you to leave him alone. Rhys is my apprentice, my charge, and you have no right to ask him how I’m doing. I won’t have him be some sort of go-between. He has other duties that are more important.” Merlin told Arthur firmly.
“What, so I can’t even ask how one of my oldest friends is doing? We hardly talk to one another these days. Truly talk as friends. It’s all just official business. Please, Merlin, don’t make a fuss about me just wanting to know how you’re feeling, how your day is going,” Arthur pleaded with him.
Merlin shoved him out of the way. “Don’t waste my time or Rhys’s time again.”
He started walking away from Arthur.
“Do you honestly think I don’t see it?” Arthur shot back at him. “Rhys may not have the build of a knight -- more likely a strong wind might just blow him over -- but the boy is blond with blue eyes. Why the hell did you pick him over all the others? If I recall correctly, he was the only one with those features.”
Merlin turned back around. He gave a hollow laugh. “Seriously? You think I chose him because he vaguely looks like you? I chose Rhys because he has the most potential. Stop seeing what isn’t there.”
Then Merlin quickly walked away from Arthur before he could respond. Zlota looking ready to attack Arthur had forced Arthur and Krola to retreat, much to Merlin’s relief.
Back then, Merlin hadn’t wanted to admit to Arthur that maybe a small part of him had chosen Rhys because of the resemblance. It was his way of coping with his broken bond with Arthur. While he still couldn’t find it in himself to forgive Arthur then, that hadn’t stopped him from missing their close relationship.
But he had been speaking the truth about the potential.
Rhys had been the only one who Merlin had felt was eager and willing enough to put in the effort and flourish under Merlin’s guidance. While his relationship with Arthur lay in tatters, focusing on teaching Rhys was one of the few bright spots he had during those years.
Thinking back now, Merlin didn’t deny he had been selfish to be annoyed that Arthur didn’t choose him over saving the worlds. But again and again, he saw Arthur looking cold and like stone as Merlin stood in front of Uther, learning that he was now trapped and Uther would subdue his precious Zlota. And Merlin would effectively be a puppet, and Arthur just stood there letting Merlin suffer.
It was as if Arthur had taken a piece of Merlin’s heart which Merlin had so lovingly given him and squeezed it, the red blood running through his fingers. Arthur’s face only yielded a look of determination to make Merlin feel as much pain as possible.
Uther had been smarter than he looked and he hadn’t trusted that Arthur had turned against Merlin. So he had locked him up in a tall tower, as Arthur had told Merlin later, and it was thanks to Ophelia’s aid that Arthur escaped the tower to rescue Merlin.
Toward the end of Merlin’s time as Uther’s unwilling servant, he recalled meeting his uncle, James, for the first time. James had actually been the one to kill King Uther in revenge against him killing his older brother, Merlin’s father, Hephaestion. That act by James had lifted the dark spell from Merlin, freeing him.
Then the prophecy had become irrelevant. A new prophecy came to being that involved two other people who would stop the Prince of Darkness. It was as if some higher power had known that it would take Merlin years before he forgave Arthur. So a new prophecy was made that would have a greater assurance of success.
This new prophecy only clearly defined Gwydion, but when he played his part, it was easily revealed that the other person of the prophecy was Bran. That hadn’t been much of a surprise considering how strong of a friendship the boys shared.
It went as far as Gwydion transferring a life-threatening illness that a sixteen year old Bran suffered - courtesy of the Prince of Darkness -- unto himself without Bran’s permission. Fortunately Gwydion survived the ordeal of the awful sickness. Being part-god due to his father had helped him to beat the sickness.
Merlin had been lucky enough to see this new prophecy played out. The new prophecy entailed Gwydion truly loving, deep down within his soul, another person who, for him, was Bran.
Seeing the golden light created from this moment and seeing this light grow and spread had inspired Merlin.
He had had a change of heart as a result. Soon after, he decided to finally forgive Arthur, which effectively ended five years of tension between them. Their love for one another was stronger than ever before.
Once Merlin had remembered his past life, he sat there, breathing quietly. Hearing the sound of his steady breath helped to calm him. Lux was down on the floor now, looking anxious, as he wandered around on the floor. Merlin knelt down to pet him behind the ears, and then he decided to get his dog outside.
After he let Lux out, he finally thought about the fight he’d had with Arthur.
With the knowledge of his past life, Merlin realized that the Prince’s manipulations had been behind Arthur so viciously breaking up with him. Merlin should have seen it, but he’d let himself be tricked and left Arthur just like that. Mind control had to have been involved.
Then he jumped when he noticed that King Merlin, or his ghost rather, had appeared. He was wearing a gold crown on his head. His robes were deep blue with an embroidered likeness of Archimedes, the King’s dark blue phoenix with silver-tipped wings and silver eyes, etched onto the robe at the upper right hand corner below his shoulder. The phoenix was outlined by delicate golden thread so it would stand out against the robes.
Soon after he’d been freed from Uther’s control, Merlin had met King Merlin when he had spent a year in the World of Magic. Arthur had needed time to re-establish order in the Camelot of the Daemon World. So Merlin had gone to stay with King Merlin at his palace and help out with any tasks the King needed of him. Merlin had traveled all over the World of Magic, and it had been a worthwhile experience.
“I should have expected to see you,” Merlin decided.
His other self from the World of Magic smiled quietly. “I apologize for not coming sooner, but I thought it’d be best to visit once you remembered. It’s good to see you,” King Merlin said honestly.
The King became corporeal for a moment, which surprised Merlin, and the two embraced in a half-hug.
“How can you do that? Solidify like that?” Merlin asked him as the King returned to his transparent appearance. “Or is it just because you’ve been a ghost for so long, you know all the tricks?”
King Merlin nodded. “Hard not to considering I’ve been a ghost since I died so long ago. Figuring out the ‘tricks’ certainly helps to pass the time.”
“Is there a reason why you look you’re thirty-something? I remember seeing you older. You didn’t die in your thirties.”
The King looked sheepish. “Well since I agreed to continue helping in the fight against the Prince as a ghost, turning down reincarnation completely, I requested to be de-aged. It’s vain of me, I admit, but if I’m to be a ghost forever and the de-aging option was open to me, I couldn’t resist taking it.”
“Fair enough. So you can’t be reincarnated at all?”
King Merlin shook his head. “No. The hard part is seeing Freya reincarnated - she was Robin and Alice’s mother. She passed away some years ago while the twins were at university. I visited her of course, but it wasn’t the same. Yet I made my choice, and I have to accept that there are downsides to it.”
Merlin remembered that Freya was King Merlin’s wife in his past life. The two of them were quite in love with one another from his recollections. It’s never easy to be separated from the one you love.
That left Merlin thinking of Arthur and how much he loved him. Yes they fought sometimes like now, but still, they would always find their way back to each other.
Merlin gave a long sigh. He opened the door for Lux to return back inside. The puppy didn’t bark as he usually did in the presence of strangers. Even if King Merlin was a ghost, that didn’t even faze Lux. Or maybe the dog wasn’t even aware that the King was a ghost.
King Merlin smiled at the dog, kneeling down to pet him with a solidified hand. The dog seemed to enjoy the attention.
“You have a sweet dog. What’s his name?”
“Lux. His name is Lux,” Merlin said.
“Vita Magica Lux,” King Merlin murmured thoughtfully as he stood up.
They walked back to the couch to sit down.
Merlin remembered the motto of King Merlin’s Camelot. Life Magic Light was the translation. Maybe something subconscious inside him recalled that motto and that’s why he named Lux that name.
To occupy Lux’s interest, Athena conjured a dog toy resembling a chipmunk for him. Merlin soon discovered that it was a squeaky toy. Wagging his tail, Lux expressed his delight at biting the toy just right to make the squeaky sound. Merlin wrangled the chipmunk out of Lux’s mouth and threw it some feet away into the kitchen. Lux went off after it, and soon, faint squeaking sounds were heard as well as the pup’s happy barks at conquering the chipmunk.
“Arthur and I had a big fight,” Merlin confided in his other self. “That’s why I’m hiding away here. And feeling like an idiot. The Prince probably finds this so amusing, that he has succeeded in dividing me and Arthur.”
King Merlin looked sympathetic. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “I can make a good guess about what the Prince did exactly.”
“I know mind control had to have played a big part,” Merlin declared grimly.
“Yes, unfortunately so,” King Merlin agreed. “I expect the Prince of Darkness trapped Arthur within his own body, so he was forced to watch as he drove you away. The Prince even used some of Arthur’s memories for an added touch. And then for extra guarantee, the Prince applied some mind control that Arthur could use against you. The mind control magic centered at the eyes, as that’s the easiest place to put it.”
“How do you know all this?” Merlin was curious to find out.
“It has been the Prince’s style as of late. When he sees me, he likes to gloat about it and he inevitably tells me what he did. I imagine it was particularly easy for the Prince to work his magic on Arthur--”
“-because they’re two versions of the same person from different worlds. The similarity can make magic work more smoothly. I know. I feel like an idiot,” Merlin said in frustration. “Arthur’s eyes looked exactly like the Prince’s. I don’t even know if his eyes can return back to normal.”
“They will. That spell isn’t permanent.”
“If you’ve been talking with the Prince, then you know what world he apparently is Emperor of, right?”
King Merlin looked uneasy, like he wasn’t too happy telling Merlin this.
“Oh no. Don’t tell me. Not the Daemon World,” Merlin guessed. “No. Seriously? Is that why Arthur and I were reborn in this world? So the Prince could have our original world?”
“Unfortunately yes… he, well, the Prince hasn’t destroyed the Daemon World if that’s what you’re thinking. He rules with his half-sister, Morgaine, as his wife; but it’s his advisor Nimueh who’s truly his real confidante.”
“But how did that happen? How could whoever approved this have allowed the bloody Prince of Darkness to rule a world?” Merlin wanted to know, feeling justifiably outraged.
“Sometimes tough choices have to be made. The Prince lost, as you know, thanks to Gwydion playing his prophetic part. Yet, despite that, the Prince was undeterred and managed to gain immortality. Though he can’t destroy all the worlds anymore, he still has a part to play in the future of the worlds. So he needs to be alive,” King Merlin informed him regrettably. “It’s frustrating, I know, but one way to appease him was to give him a world to rule. This was finalized around the twelfth century. By this concession, he’d be more focused on being a leader rather than thinking up plans to cause misery.”
“Oh, right. So he was bribed. ‘Here’s a world for you, Prince of Darkness, now, be happy with it and don’t misbehave,’” said Merlin bitterly. “Not sure how well that’s worked after what he’s done with me and Arthur, and then sending that wretched man after Bran…”
Then Lux came back, trotting along with the chipmunk toy carried in his mouth. He settled down, appearing tuckered out, fortunately, as he relinquished his hold on the toy and laid his furry white head over his paws. Merlin took him in his arms so that Lux could rest with his head on his lap.
“Unfortunately, the Prince can’t be completely stopped from anything else he does,” the King told him. “He has lived all these centuries - honing his magical talents and gaining allies -- while you’ve been resting waiting to be reborn. The Prince is quite adept at making deals and making certain people like him enough to agree to his conditions.”
Merlin dearly wished the Prince wasn’t immortal. If anyone deserved to die, it was him. He was like an infuriating trickster, making a mess of things wherever he went.
“I know you must hate to hear all this especially since it involves the Daemon World, but the Prince expressly wanted that world. He knows all too well that the World of Magic will never accept him. I suppose the Daemon World was his second choice.”
Merlin swore again. “Just great. Brilliant,” he said darkly. “Second choice! Fuck him. I really should go see Arthur,” he declared.
Before he stood up, King Merlin stopped him. “Wait, I should tell you something.”
Merlin turned to look at him, wondering. “What is it?”
“Gwydion isn’t the only Merlin who’s related to you,” the King began.
Merlin’s eyes widened. “But how?” he asked, puzzled.
As far as he knew, King Merlin, his other self from the World of Magic, was the son of King Balinor and one of the most powerful Empaths in the World of Magic, Queen Hunith.
“Ceridwen, the God of Magic’s first child and your father’s half-sister, as you know, is my true mother. I only just found that out after my death. I almost feel grateful I wasn’t aware of it during my lifetime. But I’m glad that Ceridwen finally revealed the truth to me.”
“How does that work - her being your birth mother?”
“Magic, of course. She is the goddess of creative magic after all. She well, she tricked my father into believing he was sleeping with my mother one night by changing her appearance. I was conceived then, and Ceridwen was able to magically transfer me into the Queen’s womb. So the woman I’ve always seen as my mother was the one who carried me for the majority of nine months. Yet I was born with Ceridwen’s express blessing. It’s powerful magic to be carried inside a goddess even if it’s for a brief time.”
“And your parents didn’t know?”
King Merlin shrugged. “My father and mother were trying to conceive during this time. They saw nothing suspect about it. Ceridwen did as smooth a job as she could so no one would raise questions. So overall, nothing has greatly changed. Queen Hunith is still my mother, but I have a bit of Ceridwen in me as well.”
“That was the last thing I was expecting, but I’m glad you told me. So you, me, and Gwydion are sort of related as cousins,” he concluded.
“Yes. I know you’ve been dealing with a lot lately, and you’ve just remembered. But I wanted you to know the truth about me before it slipped my mind to tell you.”
Merlin nodded. “Thanks for letting me know. I’d better go,” he said.
“Of course. I hope all goes well,” King Merlin wished him.
Merlin gave him a small smile back. “It was nice to catch up with you after all this time,” he told his other self.
He carried Lux in his arms, complete with his new toy, and departed from the house.
In the specially designed oasis Ceridwen had set up, with King Merlin’s help and input, the King stuck his bare feet in the tranquil lake.
Only his old nursemaid Guinevere had known that he had encountered the Prince of Darkness before the Prince had been taken away from the World of Magic. It hadn’t been much of a meeting, but oh he had seen him, and oft times the King wondered if he had been much older, then maybe he would’ve been able to actually help the Prince...
But alas, he had only been three years old, the Prince only five.
He’d come into the chambers the ailing boy was kept in. He’d found some colourful wildflowers and he’d felt sorry for the boy not much older than him. The blond boy looked very ill, and he’d hoped he’d feel better soon. At the time, Merlin hadn’t been aware who exactly this boy was, that he would have remained the Prince of Camelot if the plague hadn’t come. How now, Merlin had taken his place as the current prince of the same kingdom, and one day, Merlin would be King.
He’d placed the collected wildflowers in a vase on the bedside table near the sleeping boy. He looked very pale and his face was set in a frown. He looked dreadfully unhappy, the sickness making him so Merlin had assumed.
Then his nursemaid Guinevere had entered the chambers, and scolded Merlin gently for wandering off into this room. That he would upset his mother and father if they’d learned he was in this room.
“I don’t want to upset them, especially Mummy,” Merlin had said earnestly. “You won’t tell them, will you?” he asked hopefully.
Guinevere shook her head at him, bemused. “No, child, but promise me you won’t come here again.”
“I promise,” said Merlin. “Will the boy feel better? He looks sick.”
“Don’t worry about the boy, little Princeling. Someone will see to him.”
Then she lifted him up so that she carried him in her arms. “Now we should go. There’s a dragon hatching taking place very soon,” Guinevere had told him.
“I like the blue ones most,” he had declared.
“Yes I know, dear one,” she said.
As they walked away from the boy’s bed, Merlin saw his eyes open. The boy’s blue eyes looked sad, and a bit lost too. He made a passing glance at Merlin and then he peered in confusion at the wildflowers at the small table beside his bed. The boy put one hand over his brow, and his other arm was outstretched across the bed. He looked miserable and made a small groan. Merlin wondered if the older boy would cry because his eyes seemed a bit wet.
But then, Guinevere had taken Merlin away, preventing him from seeing more of the boy.
Unfortunately, his destiny involved him being pitted against the Prince of Darkness, his world’s Arthur. An Arthur forced out of a world where he could have been King of one of its kingdoms if fate had been in his favour.
Undoubtedly, he could see why the Prince forced the Merlin and Arthur of the Daemon World to be reborn into another world. As a roundabout revenge for being forced out of his own world long ago.
Part 7 -->
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 & Epilogue
On Friday evening, Merlin had come home late to find the house dark. But Arthur had said he was home when he’d rung him, hadn’t he?
He heard Lux barking in his usual greeting. His dog ran happily to him in the dark. Merlin lifted his small dog from the ground when he was at his feet, carrying him in his arms. Lux greeted him by licking his cheek.
Turning on the lights, he found Cavall lying on the floor of the living room. He was in his white wolf form, which still startled Merlin a bit. Cavall stood up upon Merlin settling his eyes on him. But Arthur’s dog didn’t move. His now silver eyes only stared at Merlin, almost judging him. Frankly, Merlin felt the look was somewhat malicious.
“Cavall?” He asked tentatively.
Then Arthur emerged from the kitchen. Merlin nearly dropped Lux at the unexpected sight of Arthur with pure black eyes, even the whites of his eyes were - Merlin wondered if maybe this was the Prince of Darkness. Yet something didn’t fit…no, this was Arthur, his Arthur. But not him at the same time.
Arthur’s mouth twisted into a cruel smile. “I’ve fooled you. All this time.”
“What?” Merlin intoned, puzzled. “What are you on about, Arthur? Why are your eyes black like that?”
Lux started whining anxiously. Merlin shushed him, petting his head to comfort him.
“I’m the Prince, the Prince of Darkness,” Arthur said so seriously, so convincingly that it planted a seed of doubt inside Merlin. No. That couldn’t be true. Yet maybe just maybe…if Arthur really was telling the truth now. Oh god. Oh god. No.
“And after years, you still were too blind to see who I truly was. How could you be such an idiot not to see it?”
“But your eyes. Aren’t they permanent? How could you change them back to blue?”
“They’re not permanent. Fuck, Merlin, I have so much magic you can’t even fathom it,” he told him with twisted relish. “You think I can’t change such a dumb thing like eye colour to trick you? Honestly I thought you were smarter, but I guess you enjoyed fucking me too much to bother being perceptive. Such a fool. Complete idiot.”
And then Arthur, the Prince of Darkness, whoever this was laughed a cold laugh.
Merlin felt static electricity surrounding him, feeling Athena releasing a spark of magic to defend him. Merlin took a deep breath, and then released it.
“You’re not Arthur. Not the one I’m engaged to,” Merlin declared solemnly. “You’re some imposter who’s putting on a good disguise. I don’t even think you’re the Prince of Darkness. Maybe someone who knows him, but you’re not him.”
Arthur gave him a disbelieving look. “You poor, deluded man. Why can’t you see what’s right in front of you?”
Then Arthur approached him, and Merlin reflexively stepped back. He still held on to Lux, an earnest grip now. As if letting go of his dog would cause Lux to disappear forever. He couldn’t do it.
“Look at me, you blind idiot. I’ve been the Prince all along. Our first meeting wasn’t at the cursed tree, but at uni. You laughed at me when I introduced myself as Arthur, saying how unfucking believable it was that my name was that when your name was Merlin. And then you purposefully avoided me for the next week because the whole Merlin-Arthur thing weirded you out. You were worried we’d date and then break up and that you’d never be able to pick up a book on Arthurian legend ever again.”
Merlin stared, wide-eyed at him. Damnit. That was all true. Arthur had managed to sway him and they had begun to date, Merlin’s worries had been unfounded.
Looking carefully at Arthur’s pitch black eyes, Merlin believed. He believed in what Arthur or the Prince was saying.
How could he have been so short-sighted not to see the truth? After all the time he had known Arthur, Merlin truly hadn’t known the real him.
“So I think it’s time we went our separate ways. You’re beneath me, honestly,” the Prince said in such an honest tone that Merlin couldn’t help but flinch in response. “You’re better off with someone just as slow and pathetic as yourself.”
Merlin glared at him. “Fuck you.” He shouted back at him, wanting to express his anger at the Prince for pretending to be someone else all this time.
With Lux in his arms, Merlin left the house, slamming the front door behind him.
He went to his car and placed Lux in the backseat. He himself sat in the driver’s seat and he wasn’t sure whether to scream or cry. Silent tears came down his face, almost unbidden, and he let them fall, doing nothing to stop them. He leaned his elbow against the window frame, his hand resting against the side of his head.
Merlin knew he should drive, leave now, but he couldn’t. The last few years of his life had been a lie. He stared dully at the silver band on his ring finger. His engagement ring.
Angrily, he removed the bloody ring yet he didn’t have the heart to throw it away. So he tossed it in the glove compartment instead.
“Merlin…” Athena spoke softly, but she seemed unsure what to say.
“Just…thank you for being here, Athena. You don’t need to say anything. It’s all right.”
Then he pulled out of the driveway and headed to Gwen and Lancelot’s house. Since they and their daughter were still on holiday, their home was blessedly empty.
That’s just what Merlin needed now.
First Morgaine, then Tauren, now this. Bran was ill, sick enough that it concerned Robin. While Gwydion could have magically taken care of any average illness with little fuss, this time was different.
But this was a memory echo of a sickness Bran had when he was sixteen in his past life. And it was haunting him now, giving him a high fever and making him lethargic and a little delusional. It was a price to be paid for remembering your past life. An old ailment could come back and haunt you.
As a consequence, healing Bran with magic was much trickier. The best they could do for him was give him the usual medication combined with Gwydion’s magic and hope Bran would pull through. Robin tried not to be too worried about Bran being only eleven now, younger than he’d been when he’d first contracted this illness in his past life. But children were resilient, weren’t they?
Robin sincerely hoped that would prove to be true here.
Bran was asleep now in his bed. Gwydion was pretending to be sleeping in his little tree home in the room. Robin had sent Ophelia off to bed, but he doubted she would follow his advice and get some much-needed rest.
Suddenly Bran had shot up and then he had a desperate look on his face. He turned to Robin. “Please don’t let them take my blood,” he said earnestly, deep in some tortured delusion. “Please. It’s not what they think it is. It’s not Immortal blood. Please. They’ll lock me away and I’ll take forever to die…please. Help me.” he asked of Robin, so intent and worried about this perceived danger.
Robin gripped his hand firmly to comfort him. “I’m here, Bran. Don’t worry. No one will take you away. I won’t let them. Your blood is safe. Don’t worry.” he assured him.
Bran still looked a little anxious. “Are you sure?” he asked in a small voice.
“Yes I’m very sure,” Robin said to him quietly. “You’re never alone.”
He then urged Bran to drink a glass of water. Robin kept the glass steady as Bran drank from it. Deeming he’d had enough, Robin replaced the glass on the table nearby.
“Is Gwydion--?” Bran asked in a sleepy whisper. His eyelids were already drooping. He looked about ready to go back to sleep.
“Yes Gwydion’s here,” Robin told him.
Appearing to have heard Bran, Gwydion flew over to him, landing on Bran’s hand. “Oh, Gwydion,” he breathed out tiredly. He raised his hand so that he could kiss Gwydion on the head. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“You’ll be better, I promise,” Gwydion assured him.
Tears came down Bran’s face, and he looked so distraught over something that Robin didn’t dare to ask about it. Gwydion shifted position, perching on Bran’s head, as Robin took Bran in his arms, embracing him.
Bran’s shoulders shook and he sobbed as Robin continued to hold him.
“It’s harder in his weakened state to deal with all the memories of his past life. Especially the bad ones,” Gwydion deduced sadly. He moved to Bran’s shoulder, and nestled in the crook of his neck.
“We’ve all had that trouble,” Robin sighed.
He had remembered his past life at sixteen, and there were times where he couldn’t handle it all as easily as he wished. He’d been close to taking up smoking to relax himself. But his mum had laid down the law and he’d had to let go of that idea. Fortunately physical activities like running or hiking had helped him.
His heart broke for Bran who had remembered so much sooner than Robin thought was right. How Bran managed to live each day with the weight of those memories was a wonder. Robin tried to help him by suggesting origami or visiting other worlds with Gwydion - being careful not to get into trouble, of course.
Once Robin heard Bran quiet down, crying himself to sleep, he gently laid him back down to bed.
Gwydion was on Bran’s chest now.
Ophelia came into the room. She yawned. “How is he?” she asked in concern.
“Bran’s a fighter,” Robin said with a small smile.
“Of course he is, Clan pride and all that,” she said, smiling back at him.
The two of them watched a now sleeping Gwydion, still on Bran’s chest, moving up and down in rhythm with Bran’s breathing.
Robin decided to move Gwydion back to his nest in the tree later.
Horrified, Arthur just realized that he’d driven Merlin away. And even worse, he’d finally remembered everything of his past life. He now faced the very real possibility that he would never see Merlin again, that they’d never recover from the fight they’d just had.
Oh God. The things he’d said. He hadn’t meant them. The bloody Prince of Darkness had been behind this. He’d changed Arthur’s eyes, twisted his words; and Arthur could only remain trapped inside his own body as he’d said terrible things to Merlin. Enough to make Merlin leave and to make him reevaluate his relationship with Arthur.
And Merlin believed, oh god, that he’d been living a lie. Arthur had made him believe that. No. No. No. This couldn’t be happening.
“Well, that was something,” the Prince reappeared again. He was wearing a light grey dress shirt with a silk black tie and also dark trousers. Another blasted dark fedora was on his head.
“Fuck you. It’s always you fucking things up.”
“Hey, don’t blame me. Blame King Merlin for saying such ‘nice’ things about me,” the Prince said sarcastically.
“How can you even still be alive? That prophecy involving Gwydion was supposed to get rid of you. But now you’re immortal. Probably the last person who should be. You don’t deserve immortality.”
“No prophecy said I would die, only lose, if my plan to bring all worlds into ruin, into darkness would be thwarted. Defeat doesn’t mean death. Hopefully your sad mortal brain can process that reasoning,” the Prince sneered at him.
“If there was a way to kill you, I’d do it in a heartbeat,” Arthur shot at him darkly. He began thinking of all the ways he’d relish killing the Prince.
“Oh Arthur, Arthur. I would’ve thought you’d be more interested getting your Merlin back,” the Prince said cajolingly. “Just like old times, right? Your actions driving Merlin away. Let’s see if it takes him five years again to reconcile with you and forgive you for your nasty words.”
“They were your words. What do you have against me? Is it because I was able to have what you didn’t? I was King of my world’s Camelot, and you--”
“Shut up. Just shut up,” the Prince of Darkness retorted angrily. “You don’t even know, do you? About the nature of Merlin’s reincarnation? You two don’t belong together. He’s better off with someone else, or alone, I don’t care. As long as he isn’t with you. You were forcing something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
“I don’t believe a word you say. You just want me to be miserable.”
“Fine then. If you don’t want to know about Merlin…”
“You’ll just be lying.”
“This world has dulled your senses. Honestly have you even looked at him? Hair as black as night, eyes forget-me-not blue…”
Arthur blinked at him. “What the hell are you getting at?”
“His great-grandmother on his mother’s side was an incarnation of Snow White, and his grandmother on his father’s side is Cinderella’s incarnation. How could you be so blind?”
Now Arthur remembered the existence of the Fairytale World. Despite having his Excalibur that he used to travel to other worlds, he’d never visited that world. He had been busy running Camelot as King after all. “People from the Fairytale World were reborn in this world?”
“Some of them.”
“Why weren’t Merlin and me reborn into the Daemon World? That’s our world. We should have returned there.”
The Prince shrugged. “Maybe you didn’t have your lucky horseshoe with you,” he said carelessly, clearly not too concerned over Arthur’s frustration.
The Prince continued on, “But so you see, the fact is that you’re beneath Merlin. Why would he ever choose you when he’s been reincarnated with such a fairytale-laced ancestry? Why he even gave you the time of day, I don’t know. Frankly, I was helping by breaking the two of you up before you married each other. It would have only gone downhill from there. You should be thanking me.”
“No, actually, right now, I’m still very much hating you,” Arthur said fiercely.
He glared at him. He knew that it would be useless asking the Prince to change his eye colour back to his natural blue. If he had to be stuck the rest of his life with demon black eyes, shit…what the hell was he going to do? Arthur couldn’t stand the fact that he resembled the Prince of Darkness more so now with his fully black eyes.
“Well. If you feel like that, then you leave me no choice,” the Prince said quietly, a threat underlying his words.
It made Arthur nervous, and a few minutes later, his fear was not left unfounded.
Merlin stroked Lux in his lap. He sat in the darkness of Gwen and Lancelot’s living room. He didn’t want to think about Arthur or the fight they’d had. It hurt too much, and he just wanted peace, to breathe in and out, and to not think.
His eyes closed, and soon, as his breathing slowed and he fell into very welcome sleep, Merlin dreamed.
Strangely, he was dressed as a prince, complete with a blue cape at his back. He was running from someone, but he wasn’t sure who. Unfortunately he hit a dead end by way of a cliff with a long way down to the sea below.
The man chasing after him caught up to him. It was Arthur, or no, it was the Prince of Darkness. His eyes kept shifting from Arthur’s blue to the Prince’s creepy black eyes that left no white for reprieve from the desolate darkness.
Arthur/Prince, whoever he truly was, stood in front of him on the offensive. He had a sword at the ready to attack Merlin.
“You’ve come to the end. You might as well face your death like a man.”
“There’s always a way out,” Merlin declared defiantly.
Arthur/Prince looked incredulously at him.
To show him, Merlin walked backwards until he reached the very edge of the cliff. He then spread his arms wide and closing his eyes, he then fell over the cliff.
“Merlin!” Arthur/Prince shouted in outrage upon losing him.
But Merlin was surprised when he didn’t feel himself speed up as gravity took hold of him. No. He suddenly transformed into a great phoenix of scarlet-gold coloring. He started to flap his expansive wings, flying up instead of falling down.
He was his phoenix daemon, Zlocisty, but he usually just called her Zlota. The golden phoenix.
Just like that, with a startling jolt, Merlin’s memories of his past life came rushing back to him. Growing up in the Daemon World. A world where everyone Merlin knew had their souls outside their bodies. The souls took on an animal form that could speak and interact with others. Unless you possessed magic and underwent the ritual like he had, then the daemon and their respective human couldn’t bear to be more than few feet away from each other.
There was his mother’s orange and cream male cat daemon, Cieplo, who he remembered was always a warm, reassuring presence in his childhood just like his mother was. Like his reincarnated mother was in this life.
That’s why he saw a glimpse of Cieplo in his mum’s Merlin falcon, Belle. Maybe a part of Cieplo was in the bird somehow. And the same might be true of Cavall. A part of Krola must be inside of the Norwegian Elkhound too. That had to be why Cavall could turn into a white wolf at whim.
He remembered the terrible sadness he felt when his father died when he was only four. He’d been killed by Uther’s orders. How his mother tried to remain strong for him, but years later, Merlin knew that she was just as devastated as he had been. It must have been so hard for her to not lose herself, knowing she still had a son to look after.
And how in this life, his mum had to deal with a similar situation with her husband dying yet she had to be there to take care of Merlin. She had to pull through the loss and the grief somehow.
In his long ago past life, his Zlota had settled into her final daemon form when Merlin was just shy of fourteen years. The settling of his daemon had happened a few years later than was typical. Merlin thought the wait was well-rewarded when he saw Zlota was an awe-inspiring phoenix, not to mention that she could also transform into a small, more conspicuous firefly.
When he had come to Camelot, he had been nervous considering the ban on magic. Zlota’s firefly form had allowed Merlin to keep a low profile. If she’d been in her phoenix form out in the open in Camelot, Merlin might as well have given himself up and asked to be sent to the pyre.
Surprise hadn’t even begun to cover what he’d felt when Arthur had told him that he’d seen Merlin do magic at the fight in the marketplace. Arthur had promised he’d keep the secret of his magic. That shocked Merlin even more.
He had found out by then that when Arthur had been little, only five, he had spotted Merlin’s father doing a little bit of harmless magic. Regrettably back then, Arthur had wanted to please his father King Uther. He followed his father’s laws and went to report to his father about seeing a man perform magic.
And here was Arthur, years later, defying his father by keeping Merlin’s magic secret. Merlin hadn’t even needed to plead with Arthur to spare his life.
“I don’t understand. I thought I’d be dealing with an uphill battle getting you to see the good in magic. What led you to having a different view on magic than your father?
“I guess it’s just your lucky day, Merlin,” Arthur said with a smile. “Now you better learn how to best be cautious with your magic. Because if my father finds out about you, then I don’t know how much I can help you.”
“And I suppose you know best how to conceal magic use?” Merlin retorted with a raised eyebrow.
“Of course, Merlin. I am the Prince of Camelot after all. Who better?” Arthur quipped back smartly.
Merlin crossed his arms and frowned at him. He still thought that Arthur was a prat. A well-meaning one, but a prat all the same.
That was how only a few weeks after Merlin had been made his manservant, the two unlikely friends established an especially close bond. They inevitably fell in love.
Arthur had remained quiet on why exactly he had had a change of heart regarding magic. Certainly King Uther had not been the one to birth this change of opinion in him. Eventually, Arthur had only revealed to Merlin that he had seen the light one day after Merlin’s father had died. Merlin had let it go, and he’d let him keep this one secret.
Although Merlin had noticed Arthur sneak out to visit a big old oak tree surrounded by three smaller ones. There was an intriguing white rose etching upon the tree that Arthur had looked at thoughtfully, tracing the petals gently.
Merlin himself always felt a kinship to the big oak tree. He had never found out why he felt that way around the tree. Yet due to that, he always liked to read by the oak tree, leaning his back against the tree bark, or just admiring the lovely white rose etching some artist must have put there.
After a year living in Camelot, Merlin had saved Arthur with his magic as he always did. But this particular time had led to huge consequences. Arthur’s father had been in the room, and he had seen Merlin visibly use magic. Luckily, Merlin had managed to escape the pyre, and he along with Arthur had headed into exile. Arthur had stood by Merlin, even risking his chance of being King by accompanying him into exile.
“I’m sorry, Arthur,” Merlin said softly. “It was my mistake, and now you’re stuck here in exile with me.”
“Shut up, Merlin,” Arthur shot back. “Saving my life wasn’t a mistake. Don’t ever think that. I suppose we were both deluded in believing you’d never get caught. I’m just glad that we escaped before you’d gotten killed. I could have never lived with myself if you’d died, Merlin, died and I could have done something about it. And like you said, I will be King one day with your help, of course.”
“Yes. I won’t let you down, Arthur. I promise,” Merlin assured him.
Then unfortunately, Morgana had killed herself by jumping off the castle ramparts. Merlin had learned that Uther was subduing the daemons of magic users so he could bend them to his will, to make them do what he commanded. Apparently the King had decided to stop killing sorcerers, and instead use them for his own selfish plans.
Knowing this, Morgana had chosen to ‘save herself’ from that terrible fate and fell to her death, her daemon, Tiresias, dying with her.
A year into their exile, Arthur and Merlin had traveled to this world they’d now been reincarnated into. The travel between worlds had been thanks to Arthur’s Excalibur given to him by Sir Lancelot. Excalibur could cut openings into other worlds to allow them to elude Uther’s men.
And now, oddly enough, Merlin had been reborn into that same world they’d escaped to. They’d called this world the Non-Daemon World then. Arthur and Merlin had met the Merlin of the Non-Daemon World, who had been a manservant to his Arthur as Merlin had been to his own. Although the other Merlin had been luckier because he hadn’t been driven into exile as Merlin had been with Arthur.
Later on, Merlin had met Alice in the Non-Daemon World. She had been an orphan, looked after by her relatives. Yet she had run away, and Merlin had met her and helped her as best as he could.
He later learned that she had a twin brother, Robin, who was a Dragonlord. He’d inherited the talent at a very young age due to the death of his and Alice’s father. He was taken to another world to be educated in the art of being a Dragonlord.
Eventually, when he was of age, he was placed in the employ of Lady Ophelia’s household as nobility of the World of Magic typically had a good number of dragons on their property. There was a high demand for trained Dragonlords to take care of the dragons. After Ophelia’s first husband had died in battle, she was left a widow with two children. But she found love again with Robin and she had married him.
Disaster struck for Merlin and Arthur’s relationship after a year into their exile.
Arthur betrayed Merlin and turned him into King Uther. Uther subdued his daemon Zlota and subjugated Merlin under his ruthless command. For Merlin, it was hell on earth for those few days. It was all due to a prophecy requiring Arthur to betray Merlin, and then for Merlin to truly forgive him. Only then would the Prince of Darkness lose.
Arthur had risked his relationship with Merlin due to the noble purpose of saving all the worlds from the Prince’s dark plans. Yet despite those reasons, Merlin still had a hard time coping with Arthur being so willing to ruin their strong bond, so willing to put Merlin through hell.
Merlin recalled one moment during the five years before he forgave Arthur. He had had a row with Arthur. This particular time involved Merlin’s apprentice, Rhys, which made it personal to Merlin.
“I want you to leave him alone. Rhys is my apprentice, my charge, and you have no right to ask him how I’m doing. I won’t have him be some sort of go-between. He has other duties that are more important.” Merlin told Arthur firmly.
“What, so I can’t even ask how one of my oldest friends is doing? We hardly talk to one another these days. Truly talk as friends. It’s all just official business. Please, Merlin, don’t make a fuss about me just wanting to know how you’re feeling, how your day is going,” Arthur pleaded with him.
Merlin shoved him out of the way. “Don’t waste my time or Rhys’s time again.”
He started walking away from Arthur.
“Do you honestly think I don’t see it?” Arthur shot back at him. “Rhys may not have the build of a knight -- more likely a strong wind might just blow him over -- but the boy is blond with blue eyes. Why the hell did you pick him over all the others? If I recall correctly, he was the only one with those features.”
Merlin turned back around. He gave a hollow laugh. “Seriously? You think I chose him because he vaguely looks like you? I chose Rhys because he has the most potential. Stop seeing what isn’t there.”
Then Merlin quickly walked away from Arthur before he could respond. Zlota looking ready to attack Arthur had forced Arthur and Krola to retreat, much to Merlin’s relief.
Back then, Merlin hadn’t wanted to admit to Arthur that maybe a small part of him had chosen Rhys because of the resemblance. It was his way of coping with his broken bond with Arthur. While he still couldn’t find it in himself to forgive Arthur then, that hadn’t stopped him from missing their close relationship.
But he had been speaking the truth about the potential.
Rhys had been the only one who Merlin had felt was eager and willing enough to put in the effort and flourish under Merlin’s guidance. While his relationship with Arthur lay in tatters, focusing on teaching Rhys was one of the few bright spots he had during those years.
Thinking back now, Merlin didn’t deny he had been selfish to be annoyed that Arthur didn’t choose him over saving the worlds. But again and again, he saw Arthur looking cold and like stone as Merlin stood in front of Uther, learning that he was now trapped and Uther would subdue his precious Zlota. And Merlin would effectively be a puppet, and Arthur just stood there letting Merlin suffer.
It was as if Arthur had taken a piece of Merlin’s heart which Merlin had so lovingly given him and squeezed it, the red blood running through his fingers. Arthur’s face only yielded a look of determination to make Merlin feel as much pain as possible.
Uther had been smarter than he looked and he hadn’t trusted that Arthur had turned against Merlin. So he had locked him up in a tall tower, as Arthur had told Merlin later, and it was thanks to Ophelia’s aid that Arthur escaped the tower to rescue Merlin.
Toward the end of Merlin’s time as Uther’s unwilling servant, he recalled meeting his uncle, James, for the first time. James had actually been the one to kill King Uther in revenge against him killing his older brother, Merlin’s father, Hephaestion. That act by James had lifted the dark spell from Merlin, freeing him.
Then the prophecy had become irrelevant. A new prophecy came to being that involved two other people who would stop the Prince of Darkness. It was as if some higher power had known that it would take Merlin years before he forgave Arthur. So a new prophecy was made that would have a greater assurance of success.
This new prophecy only clearly defined Gwydion, but when he played his part, it was easily revealed that the other person of the prophecy was Bran. That hadn’t been much of a surprise considering how strong of a friendship the boys shared.
It went as far as Gwydion transferring a life-threatening illness that a sixteen year old Bran suffered - courtesy of the Prince of Darkness -- unto himself without Bran’s permission. Fortunately Gwydion survived the ordeal of the awful sickness. Being part-god due to his father had helped him to beat the sickness.
Merlin had been lucky enough to see this new prophecy played out. The new prophecy entailed Gwydion truly loving, deep down within his soul, another person who, for him, was Bran.
Seeing the golden light created from this moment and seeing this light grow and spread had inspired Merlin.
He had had a change of heart as a result. Soon after, he decided to finally forgive Arthur, which effectively ended five years of tension between them. Their love for one another was stronger than ever before.
Once Merlin had remembered his past life, he sat there, breathing quietly. Hearing the sound of his steady breath helped to calm him. Lux was down on the floor now, looking anxious, as he wandered around on the floor. Merlin knelt down to pet him behind the ears, and then he decided to get his dog outside.
After he let Lux out, he finally thought about the fight he’d had with Arthur.
With the knowledge of his past life, Merlin realized that the Prince’s manipulations had been behind Arthur so viciously breaking up with him. Merlin should have seen it, but he’d let himself be tricked and left Arthur just like that. Mind control had to have been involved.
Then he jumped when he noticed that King Merlin, or his ghost rather, had appeared. He was wearing a gold crown on his head. His robes were deep blue with an embroidered likeness of Archimedes, the King’s dark blue phoenix with silver-tipped wings and silver eyes, etched onto the robe at the upper right hand corner below his shoulder. The phoenix was outlined by delicate golden thread so it would stand out against the robes.
Soon after he’d been freed from Uther’s control, Merlin had met King Merlin when he had spent a year in the World of Magic. Arthur had needed time to re-establish order in the Camelot of the Daemon World. So Merlin had gone to stay with King Merlin at his palace and help out with any tasks the King needed of him. Merlin had traveled all over the World of Magic, and it had been a worthwhile experience.
“I should have expected to see you,” Merlin decided.
His other self from the World of Magic smiled quietly. “I apologize for not coming sooner, but I thought it’d be best to visit once you remembered. It’s good to see you,” King Merlin said honestly.
The King became corporeal for a moment, which surprised Merlin, and the two embraced in a half-hug.
“How can you do that? Solidify like that?” Merlin asked him as the King returned to his transparent appearance. “Or is it just because you’ve been a ghost for so long, you know all the tricks?”
King Merlin nodded. “Hard not to considering I’ve been a ghost since I died so long ago. Figuring out the ‘tricks’ certainly helps to pass the time.”
“Is there a reason why you look you’re thirty-something? I remember seeing you older. You didn’t die in your thirties.”
The King looked sheepish. “Well since I agreed to continue helping in the fight against the Prince as a ghost, turning down reincarnation completely, I requested to be de-aged. It’s vain of me, I admit, but if I’m to be a ghost forever and the de-aging option was open to me, I couldn’t resist taking it.”
“Fair enough. So you can’t be reincarnated at all?”
King Merlin shook his head. “No. The hard part is seeing Freya reincarnated - she was Robin and Alice’s mother. She passed away some years ago while the twins were at university. I visited her of course, but it wasn’t the same. Yet I made my choice, and I have to accept that there are downsides to it.”
Merlin remembered that Freya was King Merlin’s wife in his past life. The two of them were quite in love with one another from his recollections. It’s never easy to be separated from the one you love.
That left Merlin thinking of Arthur and how much he loved him. Yes they fought sometimes like now, but still, they would always find their way back to each other.
Merlin gave a long sigh. He opened the door for Lux to return back inside. The puppy didn’t bark as he usually did in the presence of strangers. Even if King Merlin was a ghost, that didn’t even faze Lux. Or maybe the dog wasn’t even aware that the King was a ghost.
King Merlin smiled at the dog, kneeling down to pet him with a solidified hand. The dog seemed to enjoy the attention.
“You have a sweet dog. What’s his name?”
“Lux. His name is Lux,” Merlin said.
“Vita Magica Lux,” King Merlin murmured thoughtfully as he stood up.
They walked back to the couch to sit down.
Merlin remembered the motto of King Merlin’s Camelot. Life Magic Light was the translation. Maybe something subconscious inside him recalled that motto and that’s why he named Lux that name.
To occupy Lux’s interest, Athena conjured a dog toy resembling a chipmunk for him. Merlin soon discovered that it was a squeaky toy. Wagging his tail, Lux expressed his delight at biting the toy just right to make the squeaky sound. Merlin wrangled the chipmunk out of Lux’s mouth and threw it some feet away into the kitchen. Lux went off after it, and soon, faint squeaking sounds were heard as well as the pup’s happy barks at conquering the chipmunk.
“Arthur and I had a big fight,” Merlin confided in his other self. “That’s why I’m hiding away here. And feeling like an idiot. The Prince probably finds this so amusing, that he has succeeded in dividing me and Arthur.”
King Merlin looked sympathetic. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “I can make a good guess about what the Prince did exactly.”
“I know mind control had to have played a big part,” Merlin declared grimly.
“Yes, unfortunately so,” King Merlin agreed. “I expect the Prince of Darkness trapped Arthur within his own body, so he was forced to watch as he drove you away. The Prince even used some of Arthur’s memories for an added touch. And then for extra guarantee, the Prince applied some mind control that Arthur could use against you. The mind control magic centered at the eyes, as that’s the easiest place to put it.”
“How do you know all this?” Merlin was curious to find out.
“It has been the Prince’s style as of late. When he sees me, he likes to gloat about it and he inevitably tells me what he did. I imagine it was particularly easy for the Prince to work his magic on Arthur--”
“-because they’re two versions of the same person from different worlds. The similarity can make magic work more smoothly. I know. I feel like an idiot,” Merlin said in frustration. “Arthur’s eyes looked exactly like the Prince’s. I don’t even know if his eyes can return back to normal.”
“They will. That spell isn’t permanent.”
“If you’ve been talking with the Prince, then you know what world he apparently is Emperor of, right?”
King Merlin looked uneasy, like he wasn’t too happy telling Merlin this.
“Oh no. Don’t tell me. Not the Daemon World,” Merlin guessed. “No. Seriously? Is that why Arthur and I were reborn in this world? So the Prince could have our original world?”
“Unfortunately yes… he, well, the Prince hasn’t destroyed the Daemon World if that’s what you’re thinking. He rules with his half-sister, Morgaine, as his wife; but it’s his advisor Nimueh who’s truly his real confidante.”
“But how did that happen? How could whoever approved this have allowed the bloody Prince of Darkness to rule a world?” Merlin wanted to know, feeling justifiably outraged.
“Sometimes tough choices have to be made. The Prince lost, as you know, thanks to Gwydion playing his prophetic part. Yet, despite that, the Prince was undeterred and managed to gain immortality. Though he can’t destroy all the worlds anymore, he still has a part to play in the future of the worlds. So he needs to be alive,” King Merlin informed him regrettably. “It’s frustrating, I know, but one way to appease him was to give him a world to rule. This was finalized around the twelfth century. By this concession, he’d be more focused on being a leader rather than thinking up plans to cause misery.”
“Oh, right. So he was bribed. ‘Here’s a world for you, Prince of Darkness, now, be happy with it and don’t misbehave,’” said Merlin bitterly. “Not sure how well that’s worked after what he’s done with me and Arthur, and then sending that wretched man after Bran…”
Then Lux came back, trotting along with the chipmunk toy carried in his mouth. He settled down, appearing tuckered out, fortunately, as he relinquished his hold on the toy and laid his furry white head over his paws. Merlin took him in his arms so that Lux could rest with his head on his lap.
“Unfortunately, the Prince can’t be completely stopped from anything else he does,” the King told him. “He has lived all these centuries - honing his magical talents and gaining allies -- while you’ve been resting waiting to be reborn. The Prince is quite adept at making deals and making certain people like him enough to agree to his conditions.”
Merlin dearly wished the Prince wasn’t immortal. If anyone deserved to die, it was him. He was like an infuriating trickster, making a mess of things wherever he went.
“I know you must hate to hear all this especially since it involves the Daemon World, but the Prince expressly wanted that world. He knows all too well that the World of Magic will never accept him. I suppose the Daemon World was his second choice.”
Merlin swore again. “Just great. Brilliant,” he said darkly. “Second choice! Fuck him. I really should go see Arthur,” he declared.
Before he stood up, King Merlin stopped him. “Wait, I should tell you something.”
Merlin turned to look at him, wondering. “What is it?”
“Gwydion isn’t the only Merlin who’s related to you,” the King began.
Merlin’s eyes widened. “But how?” he asked, puzzled.
As far as he knew, King Merlin, his other self from the World of Magic, was the son of King Balinor and one of the most powerful Empaths in the World of Magic, Queen Hunith.
“Ceridwen, the God of Magic’s first child and your father’s half-sister, as you know, is my true mother. I only just found that out after my death. I almost feel grateful I wasn’t aware of it during my lifetime. But I’m glad that Ceridwen finally revealed the truth to me.”
“How does that work - her being your birth mother?”
“Magic, of course. She is the goddess of creative magic after all. She well, she tricked my father into believing he was sleeping with my mother one night by changing her appearance. I was conceived then, and Ceridwen was able to magically transfer me into the Queen’s womb. So the woman I’ve always seen as my mother was the one who carried me for the majority of nine months. Yet I was born with Ceridwen’s express blessing. It’s powerful magic to be carried inside a goddess even if it’s for a brief time.”
“And your parents didn’t know?”
King Merlin shrugged. “My father and mother were trying to conceive during this time. They saw nothing suspect about it. Ceridwen did as smooth a job as she could so no one would raise questions. So overall, nothing has greatly changed. Queen Hunith is still my mother, but I have a bit of Ceridwen in me as well.”
“That was the last thing I was expecting, but I’m glad you told me. So you, me, and Gwydion are sort of related as cousins,” he concluded.
“Yes. I know you’ve been dealing with a lot lately, and you’ve just remembered. But I wanted you to know the truth about me before it slipped my mind to tell you.”
Merlin nodded. “Thanks for letting me know. I’d better go,” he said.
“Of course. I hope all goes well,” King Merlin wished him.
Merlin gave him a small smile back. “It was nice to catch up with you after all this time,” he told his other self.
He carried Lux in his arms, complete with his new toy, and departed from the house.
In the specially designed oasis Ceridwen had set up, with King Merlin’s help and input, the King stuck his bare feet in the tranquil lake.
Only his old nursemaid Guinevere had known that he had encountered the Prince of Darkness before the Prince had been taken away from the World of Magic. It hadn’t been much of a meeting, but oh he had seen him, and oft times the King wondered if he had been much older, then maybe he would’ve been able to actually help the Prince...
But alas, he had only been three years old, the Prince only five.
He’d come into the chambers the ailing boy was kept in. He’d found some colourful wildflowers and he’d felt sorry for the boy not much older than him. The blond boy looked very ill, and he’d hoped he’d feel better soon. At the time, Merlin hadn’t been aware who exactly this boy was, that he would have remained the Prince of Camelot if the plague hadn’t come. How now, Merlin had taken his place as the current prince of the same kingdom, and one day, Merlin would be King.
He’d placed the collected wildflowers in a vase on the bedside table near the sleeping boy. He looked very pale and his face was set in a frown. He looked dreadfully unhappy, the sickness making him so Merlin had assumed.
Then his nursemaid Guinevere had entered the chambers, and scolded Merlin gently for wandering off into this room. That he would upset his mother and father if they’d learned he was in this room.
“I don’t want to upset them, especially Mummy,” Merlin had said earnestly. “You won’t tell them, will you?” he asked hopefully.
Guinevere shook her head at him, bemused. “No, child, but promise me you won’t come here again.”
“I promise,” said Merlin. “Will the boy feel better? He looks sick.”
“Don’t worry about the boy, little Princeling. Someone will see to him.”
Then she lifted him up so that she carried him in her arms. “Now we should go. There’s a dragon hatching taking place very soon,” Guinevere had told him.
“I like the blue ones most,” he had declared.
“Yes I know, dear one,” she said.
As they walked away from the boy’s bed, Merlin saw his eyes open. The boy’s blue eyes looked sad, and a bit lost too. He made a passing glance at Merlin and then he peered in confusion at the wildflowers at the small table beside his bed. The boy put one hand over his brow, and his other arm was outstretched across the bed. He looked miserable and made a small groan. Merlin wondered if the older boy would cry because his eyes seemed a bit wet.
But then, Guinevere had taken Merlin away, preventing him from seeing more of the boy.
Unfortunately, his destiny involved him being pitted against the Prince of Darkness, his world’s Arthur. An Arthur forced out of a world where he could have been King of one of its kingdoms if fate had been in his favour.
Undoubtedly, he could see why the Prince forced the Merlin and Arthur of the Daemon World to be reborn into another world. As a roundabout revenge for being forced out of his own world long ago.
Part 7 -->