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It’s a beautiful day and Arthur is once again grateful to have fallen in love with a warlock. Merlin has whisked them all, Arthur, Lance, Leon, Gwaine, Perc, Elyan and Kay, off to a lake somewhere. It’s warm, there’s greenery all around them, there’s even a waterfall; it is, in short, magical.
Arthur drags himself out of the water and drops down next to Gwaine and Merlin, both of whom are way too dry given the circumstances. The rest of the lads drop down to the side of Arthur, everyone a little worn out after the impromptu game of water tag.
“Why aren’t you swimming Merlin?”
“I’ll swim when I’m ready. And when you all stop behaving like ten-year-olds.”
Arthur smirks at him, “Just because you’re ridiculously ancient.”
Merlin’s eyes twinkle and he’s about to throw a barb back, when Kay grabs Arthur’s arm.
Scowling, Arthur turns to ask Kay what he’s up to, but the other man is staring aghast at the lake. Elyan, to the other side of Kay, is making a similar face.
Arthur looks to the lake and his heartbeat picks up. There’s a mass of dark hair rising from the water, all of which is rapidly turning black. The sky overhead seems to be getting stormy too, but Arthur can’t look away from the jumble of white limbs that are emerging from beneath the hair. They’re bent at wrong angles. And all of it is getting closer as the thing claws and creeps its way out onto the shore.
“Shouldn’t have watched it,” Perc’s voice is almost a whisper, but it still makes Arthur jump. He’s on his feet, he realises. With no memory of getting up. The whole atmosphere is dark and menacing, so far removed from the bright day of moments ago that it’s hard to think that it has, only, been moments since the change.
“We just got out of that water,” Leon adds, voice a little too high.
Arthur is edging backward without really meaning to. In his periphery, he can see the others doing the same. He can’t take his eyes away from the thing at the edge of the water though.
And suddenly, between one heartbeat and the next, it isn’t at the edge of the water anymore. It’s moved to within a step of Lance. If it stretches up a white, bony arm, it can touch him.
They take off. Arthur’s heart is pounding, and he can see the others running with him as he heads deeper into the greenery. “Stay together!” he yells, trying not to sound as shaken as he is.
It’s odd. Since Merlin showed up, since he let Arthur know he’s been protecting him, Arthur can’t really remember feeling afraid like this. He hasn’t missed it.
“Merlin!” he yelps, coming to a halt, nearly twisting his ankle in the process of stopping so suddenly. Arthur flicks his head around, but Merlin definitely isn’t with them. Neither is Gwaine. He scours the way they came, but can’t see any ominous shapes following them either.
The others have come to halt around him, all breathing hard, all pale and shaken.
“The fuck? The fuck.” Kay manages, same words but different tones. Arthur thinks it’s a fair summation.
“Anyone think,” Leon pants, “that was a little too like the movies we watched.” Pant. “Last week.” Huff. “At Gwaine’s insistence?”
Arthur glares. He’s not sure if he’s more annoyed at Gwaine for pulling this shit, or at himself for not figuring it out before he took off into the undergrowth like an overgrown squirrel.
In fact, if he listens very carefully, he thinks he can hear laughing.
They all exchange looks, and head back to the lake.
Gwaine is rolling on the ground with laughter. Literally. He’s clutching at his sides and howling as he rocks on his back in the grass.
And Freya, her hair blacker than usual and a complete mess, is sitting on a puddle next to Merlin and chatting animatedly. She stops, biting her lip, when she sees Arthur and the rest watching her. That’s about as repentant as she gets though, a broad smile forming straight after.
And Merlin. Merlin looks like butter wouldn’t melt. “You know the Japanese horror movie marathon we had? Gwaine decided Freya shouldn’t miss out. Who knew she’d find it quite so relatable?”
“You,” Arthur starts, but he isn’t entirely sure where he’s going with that sentence. He ends up just pointing at Merlin, “I’ll deal with you later.”
Merlin’s smile turns sharp and anticipatory. It does things to Arthur that mean he has to look away if he wants to retain any of the anger he’s, quite rightfully, built up. Not to mention his dignity given he’s in his swim trunks.
Then he, Lance, Leon, Perc, Elyan and Kay all focus on Gwaine.
Ten minutes later, when they’re carting a still grinning Gwaine to the top of the waterfall, he has the audacity to look Arthur in the eyes, wink, and say, “Worth it.” Arthur practically growls as he hurls Gwaine over the edge.
There will be a reckoning for this, he vows. He’ll talk to Kilgharrah. And Morgana. They’ll help him get Merlin back, he’s sure of it.