010. [voice]

[oncefutureking]

[The communicator clicks on, and it's almost the first of any word from Arthur there has been since the dreams, but there is no sound save for gentle breathing. On the other side, Arthur is holding it in a firm grip, knuckles white. He knows he should say something, that perhaps he should apologize to everyone he'd killed, but what is there to say

Comments

[video] BECAUSE WHAT WOULD EMO ARTHUR DO WITHOUT HIS DERPY SIDEKICK? 8D

[destinedsorcery]

[ It's been all over the system, all he's been able to think about himself- and while Merlin does still feel somewhat rattled by the nightmares, he appears more than willing to forget them entirely. To move on. His device clicks on in response if only because he knows better than to barge in on Arthur personally, but his tone is softer than what he usually addresses him with ]

-Arthur? Are you alright?

[video // locked]

[oncefutureking]

[His gaze darts to the image of Merlin on the screen, and it takes him a long moment before he can muster up the courage to turn his own video on, and it's the hesitation that makes Arthur feel even more a coward. When he finally speaks, he isn't quite looking at Merlin.]

I think I can now understand why Morgana wakes screaming.

[video // locked]

[destinedsorcery]

Yeah...

[ The words trail off. He's hardly afraid of Arthur, but he hasn't seen him like this since that Camelot had been cursed. As often as he picks fights with him, Merlin isn't used to seeing guilt etched so readily over the prince's face. ]

But, it's over. I mean, they're only dreams.

[video // locked]

[oncefutureking]

[He hesitates, and before Merlin, he shows his hesitancy.]

Are they?

[voice]

[myownmemory]

Nothing for you to say?

[voice]

[oncefutureking]

Riqis.

[He speaks haltingly, before taking a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. He's not quite sure what to say, but he figures he deserves the suspicion in his voice.]

[voice]

[myownmemory]

That's not an answer for any of us.

[voice]

[oncefutureking]

[And he finally settles for honesty.]

In Camelot there is much fear of magic. I... have never been present for a hunt so extreme.

[oncefutureking]

[Which is entirely unsurprising, but the fact that she even contacted him means something, he thinks. His voice is low, and while it almost sounds strong, there is a waver hidden there.]

Naminé.

I-

[He swallows. He owes her an explanation, but he's unsure how to start.]

[Private / Unhackable]

[oncefutureking]

[The question is one he has grappled with if not before he met the Druid boy. He has no doubt that the cages and the smell of fire and burning flesh were real, from a time when his father hunted every sorcerer down he could to purge their kingdom of the threat of magic. But the sight of Morgana dead on the floor, Guinevere unrecognizable, Gaius and Naminé, Draco and his friends, and Princess Zelda-- Arthur is no stranger to death, but even now it makes him nauseous.]

Where I am from-

Where I am from magic is a threat to us, as it has been since before I was born. My father has- gone to great strides to purge our kingdom of sorcery. Practicing magic within Camelot is against the law, and it is a law my father upholds with an iron fist.

[Voice]

[rons_a_keeper]

[There's a long pause before Ron finally speaks. When he does, his voice has the kind of coldness he usually only reserves for the likes of Malfoy.]

... there something you need to get off your chest?

[Voice]

[oncefutureking]

[The boy is hardly one of his friends, and any other time Arthur might have rose to the bait of the coldness in his voice, but he was raised a prince, and as such steadies himself, attempts to quell the tremor in his hands. He speaks carefully, and tries to smother the fact that he is trying to convince not only Ron, but himself as well.]

The dreams- they aren't real.

[Voice]

[rons_a_keeper]

[Ron had spent the better part of the day telling himself that, too. He's no more willing to believe it now than he was then.]

Right. Because that kind of behaviour's beyond you, yeah?

[Voice]

[oncefutureking]

[The disbelief in the other's voice is enough to give him something to push against, and his grip tightens on the communicator, struggling to keep his calm with the anger trying to claw it's way out of him.]

I have had to kill men, but never in my life have I acted so heartlessly. Never has my opponent not had a fighting chance.

[Voice]

[sorighteously]

[Her voice is devoid of accusation or demand.]

The dreams are cruel and shroud much, your Grace. Do not let them colour you to aught.

[Voice]

[oncefutureking]

[The lack of accusation throws him, almost violently. Of anyone, he would assume she would be the one to be most upset. She was all but the focus of the dream.]

They are more vivid than anything I have ever witnessed.

[Voice]

[sorighteously]

They are.

But that does not make them true.

[voice]

[oncefutureking]

Sorcery is a crime punished by execution in Camelot, My Lady.