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It doesn't take long for Merlin to find Mordred after he leaves Arthur's chambers. He already has an idea of what the man might try to do, yet he has to try and talk some sort of sense into him before he ends up disappearing who knows where! It's as if Mordred knew he'd follow him, because he whirls around the second the coast is clear "do not stand in my way, Merlin. I don't wish for you or anyone else to be hurt" he says in a calm but dangerous tone.
It reminds him of himself all those years ago when he was trying to help Freya "Mordred" he says with a quiet sigh, he understands the man's plight, he really does. But Kara has made it quite clear that she wasn't going to change her mind about killing Camelot's King, if given another chance in the future "there's nothing we can do, Arthur gave her a chance to redeem herself, she only incriminated herself further" he says, watching as confusion and suprise appear in the younger man's eyes before he shakes his head in denial "she said she would only continue trying to kill King Arthur if he let her go" he continues, yet Mordred's expression only gets harder and harder to read.
It isn't long before the kicked puppy look from before reappears "tell me you wouldn't do the same for the woman you loved" he whispers through their link and Merlin bows his head, warring with himself before letting out a deep sad sigh "I would, I did. Many years ago I was in this exact same position" he responds back through the link, watching as suprise and sadness grow over the anger in Mordred's eyes "she was a druid just like Kara, only she had been cursed for defending herself from attackers" he continues, Mordred's eyes only grow sadder by the second.
"Freya was brought to Camelot to be sold and killed by Uther" he all but spits the late kings name out like it was poison "she was beautiful and so much stronger than I could have ever imagined, but she was scared to death of everything around her" he says sadly, remembering the way she'd flinched when he moved a little to fast and spooked her.
"I fed her, clothed her and took care of her for 3 days, but it wasn't enough. It was never enough" he almost growls, glaring at the wall behind Mordred "the night we were meant to leave together she left her hiding spot and change into her Bassett form, Arthur landed a mortal blow and she died in my arms on the shores of Lake Avalon" he finishes, his eyes closed tightly as he willed the tears threatening to fall away "so yes I understand what you must be thinking, how desperate you must be to get Kara out of Camelot, to protect the woman you love" he says softly, before turning to go the other direction.
Before he disappeared around the corner, he's suprised to see Mordred routed to the spot "did you forgive him?" Mordred asks, meeting Merlin's eyes with a desperate but confused expression and Merlin can't help but feel sorry for him "it hurt like hell, but yes I did. He was protecting Camelot just as he is now but that still doesn't make it any easier" he responds, watching as Mordred's hopeful expression falls slightly before he nods and continues towards the dungeons. Merlin can only hope he'd done enough to show Mordred that they were more alike that the younger man realised.
It wasn't much later that Mordred made an appearance, much to Merlin's suprise "she is much like Morgana" he begins suddenly, taking Merlin by suprise that the man was even wanting to talk to him, never mind be in the same room as him "she used to be so full of love, we would talk of the future and it was so bright. I don't know where that love and warmth went but the Kara you saw isn't the one I used to know" Mordred finishes sadly, moving to sit beside Merlin with a sad sigh "I want my bright, caring Kara back but I won't get the chance to try" he says in almost a whisper and it makes Merlin's heart break, it's like he's hearing his younger self talking about Morgana all over again.
Mordred sticks by Merlin's side that night, all but curling up on himself in order to share Merlin's bed, much to Gaius' confusion. The next morning they stick by each other as Merlin does his chores, though the druid avoids Arthur's chambers like the plague. When Kara's execution begins, they are back in Merlin's room. Mordred is sat on Merlin's bed with a heartbreaking expression on his face, keeping everything he's feeling locked away as his and Merlin's magic feel the build up and then the execution itself.
Merlin flinches violently, as he always does when he feels another magic users magic fade back into the earth in such a brutal way. Mordred screams and just like it did when he was a boy, it broke every breakable thing in the room. The two of them startle before Merlin pulls the younger man into a tight hug as he sobs, holding onto Merlin like a lifeline "it hurts, Emrys! It hurts so much!" Mordred yells, thrashing in Merlin's arms wanting to hit something, stab something, Anything to get rid of this awful feeling!
Merlin only holds on tighter knowing this feeling better than anyone. It takes almost 2 hours before Mordred calms down enough to breath normally, it's then that Merlin slowly releases his grip of the man "I'm so sorry, Mordred. I really am" Merlin whispers softly, rubbing his arm when the druid merely shrugs "you did what you could, I don't think I could have changed her mind even if I did get her out" he says despondently. The two of them sit in silence for a while longer before Merlin gets up and holds out a hand "wanna see what I do when I feel like this?" He asks, wanting to see the light back in Mordred's eyes again and lets out a quiet sigh of relief when that familiar curious glint appears in his eyes once more.
He drags Mordred out to the furthest stretch of woodlands from the castle and lets his magic go. It thrashes against the floor and the trees, causing fireballs and small but noticeable earthquakes to rip through the world around them, his anger at having thought about Freya's situation all over again causes him to uproot and fell multiple trees, rip up grass and other plants. But as he calms down, he allows some of his magic to return to the earth, causing flowers to grow in their place. He turns to look at Mordred and nods "your turn, let your magic go, let it destroy let it do whatever it wants" he says, putting a protective shield around himself as Mordred's feelings are much more raw than his were.
Mordred's stance moves from shocked to concentrating, it isn't long before the earth begins to shake almost violently around them, trees get thrown around, huge fireballs are sent flying into the trees that remain standing and Mordred lets out a scream from his very soul as he punches the ground, causing quite alot of damage as not only does he manage to punch a rather wide, deep hole into the ground, he sends out a huge shock wave that sends the rest of the trees flying. Mordred also goes flying through the air, landing quite the ways away, groaning in annoyance and overexertion.
It takes him a few seconds to sit up, not that Merlin's worried he was like this the first few times he truly let his magic go, but he eventually gets to his feet and makes his way back to him, letting out some left over anger as he goes. Like Merlin had, he allows some of his magic to return to the earth and with a little bit of help from Merlin's magic they return everything back to the way it had been when the found it, with quite alot more flowers than usual for this time of year.
Mordred places a hand on Merlin's shoulder "you have the best ideas some times Emrys" he says with a fond smile on his face, as that was the first time Mordred had seen Merlin's more powerful magic after seeing the small bits of magic that he somehow got away with doing "only sometimes? Mordred you wound me" Merlin responds playfully as the make their way back to the castle "what I mean to say is thank you. You reminded me that not everyone in Camelot is an enemy, I'll get through this just as you did" he says earnestly, causing Merlin to smile, thankful that he'd done something right for a change.
Whilst Mordred was quiet over the next few days and avoided Arthur any chance he got, Merlin found that he was a great companion to have, even if that meant that the two were talking from different sides of the castle half the time. But gradually Mordred got back to his usual cheerful, chatty self though he and Merlin still disappeared to let out their anger and their couped up magic in the forest every few days and eventually they fought side by side when Morgana declared war, watching each others backs and causing complete and utter mayhem with both magic and sword.