Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun was just starting to go down when Arthur reached the residence on the edge of town. For some reason, Arthur thought that it would look different, but even with the pink glow of the setting sun, the house looked the same as when Arthur had last seen it two years ago. It was a two-story house with faded orangey red bricks. The shingles were a warm brown, and the windows were white and clearly needed to be cleaned. The same could be said about the door. Though Arthur wasn't surprised. It was easier to see dirt on white, and there hadn't been anyone taking care of the place; at least there hadn't been for the last few months.

Arthur opened the iron gate of the brick fence that surrounded the rustic property. It was really the only thing anywhere near fancy about the place. From memory, Arthur knew that the inside wasn't fancy either. It was rather on the simple side. His father hadn't been one for unnecessary decorations, and Arthur hadn't been either. Unless Morgana had changed anything since the last he had been there, it would be the same.

Morgana... That was the whole reason why Arthur found himself entering his childhood home. Though the place had been left to him when their father died two years ago, Arthur had had no use for the property. He didn't want to get rid of it though. Life growing up with his father wasn't an easy one, but the house still held memories that Arthur wasn't ready to let go of. Though wasn't that a common occurrence with childhood homes? Even when being away for so long, they were so nostalgic. As soon as you saw them again, the memories started to rush back. Here was where Arthur fell because he was running too fast when he turned the corner and scraped his knee. This was the chair that Arthur sat in at every meal. 

Fond memories were around every corner. He remembered when he filled a cup with water and used a chair to get up to the cabinet that held all of the spices. He put a pinch of each one into the cup and pretended that he was making a magic potion. Of course, he got in trouble for wasting all that he did, but Arthur still remembered how much fun it had been to do it. After that, he went creating make-believe potions outside with small buckets of water, dirt, and whatever weeds that he could find. Now as an adult, he had graduated into creating spells with the appropriate herbs. Morgana had helped him as he started that path.

The thought of his sister brought Arthur's mind back to why he traveled all the way to the small town of Hazelbury. With Arthur having no use for the place, Morgana had asked if she could live there. She had been struggling much more at the time and was convinced that coming back to her first home would help. Arthur, of course, let her stay free of charge. Had he not felt a selfish wish to keep all of the memories that it held for himself, he most likely would have just given her the property. Alas, he did not, and Morgana simply stayed there.

It was a fine thing too. Arthur kept in touch since he worried about his younger sister. Depression and nightmares were things that she had a hard time with since she was a teenager. Morgana talked about this feeling that there was something missing from her life, and she couldn't do anything to fill it. Arthur had distressed about what she could possibly do or try to fill that unwanted void. She ended up settling on witchcraft which helped somewhat. It was a much better alternative than the worst things that Arthur could think of, and after some time, he grew an interest in tarot and had her teach him. Some time after that, his interest grew to include simple spells and understanding the magic of herbs and crystals. They bonded over this, but their bonding time was mostly through texts and video calls as the two of them began their own lives away from the little town of Hazelbury. 

Arthur could see her slipping back as they chatted through video calls. He could see the large bags under her eyes. Her long dark hair started to look more like a mess each time he saw her, and she loved how her hair looked. It was probably her favorite feature about herself going off how she acted usually. Seeing her with unkempt hair showed Arthur that something was wrong. Not long after that, she only contacted him through text. 

However, that changed once she asked to move back into their childhood home. There had been a light that had come back to her, and it looked like she was finally starting to get enough sleep. This past year and a half, he hadn't had any worry about the state of his sister. From his view, it seemed like she was finally thriving again. That was why he was so shocked to learn that she had gone missing.

Arthur found himself opening the door to his old room. So many memories were held inside. It was not just the space either. The last time Arthur had been at the house for the holidays when his father was still alive, Morgana's idea, everything had been where he left it. Arthur hadn't been sure what to make of it. He wasn't surprised to hear that Morgana's room was also the same. She was clearly their father's favorite, after all. Arthur, though, grew distant as he grew older. As a child, he idolized his father, but as the years went by, this view cracked and splintered. Arthur could see how his father hadn't been much of a "father." All Arthur could think the last time he was inside his old room was that, perhaps, his father was more complicated than he had thought.

This time, there would be no thought of its state overshadowing the treasures that rested inside. It was a strange thing to think, how the simplest of things from one's past could be a treasure. When you are young, you either enjoy your youth or wish for it to be over and for adulthood to begin, but once it's over, you can't help looking back. The nostalgia grows as the years tick by. However no matter how a pen that you simply used for taking notes becomes a ruby or how the Game Boy Advance that still had the only Pokémon game that you managed to "catch them all" inside becomes an emerald, you still leave them behind when you go home to your adult world.

The door knob turned, and the chestnut door was opened. It was like walking into a treasure chest. Arthur had not been expecting so many pearls and diamonds. Perhaps not having his father there anymore meant that the gems could shine brighter, or perhaps it was just from the wear and tear of the years on his own. To think that in only a few years, he would be thirty. Part of him thought, "Christ, I'm getting old", but the other part of him knew that twenty-seven wasn't old at all. Isn't that a funny thing for twenty-something-year-olds? Your life seems to just pass right by you even though there is so much to come after. 

Arthur set down the red suitcase that had been following along behind him onto the bed. He had almost forgotten about it, feeling almost overwhelmed with the past. Arthur was about to get the unpacking over and done with, but something on his nightstand caught his attention. If his old journals were sapphires and his old books were opals, this treasure was a gold coin. It wasn't any gold coin though. It was the coin you could not part from whether it be because it was a lucky coin or because it was a gift from someone special. This object, this coin, was the latter. Arthur picked it up and examined it. It was just like he remembered, a small figurine of a crow with a red beak and red legs. Arthur felt slightly bad for having left it behind as he grew up and left to have his own life. Though Arthur completely felt guilty that he could not remember the name of the one that gave it to him.

It was not difficult at all to recall those dewy days of spring, those hot days of summer, and those windy days of autumn of that year. Arthur could even remember those cold winter days that he spent hoping that the weather was the reason he no longer saw his friend. It had been such a terrible thought that he wouldn't return. Yes, Arthur could easily recall it all but the boy's name. It seemed to have gone with him to wherever the boy went.

Holding the little crow brought all of the little adventures they went on and all of their little games to the front of Arthur's mind. It had been the year that Arthur turned eleven. The woods were just beyond the brick fence at the back of the house. Arthur would often play along the edge, only darting around the trees that stood at the edge of the property. Sometimes he'd duck inside, but he'd never go too far. Arthur remembered how it had been a rather crappy day at school. He couldn't remember why exactly, but the reasoning didn't matter. He wanted to be by himself. Arthur walked and walked until he stumbled across a lone apple tree. However it wasn't the apple tree that interested him. Arthur wasn't alone. Sitting at the base of the tree was a dark haired boy. He looked younger than Arthur, and Arthur figured that he was probably around the age of his sister. At the time, Arthur didn't realize how great a friend that this boy would become to him. He also didn't realize how sad he'd become when he could no longer spend the afternoons and summer days playing pretend and talking about all sorts of things.

Arthur smiled as the memories popped into his head one after the other. That had been the most fun year he had ever had in his childhood, and if he was being honest, that was probably the best year he had even counting his adulthood years. It couldn't last it seemed. To this day, Arthur wasn't sure why the boy stopped coming. The only reasoning he could come up with was that the boy had moved. Arthur couldn't have been sure though. The boy didn't go to the same school as Arthur. He was probably homeschooled and most likely because of moving around. After all, the boy hadn't been there a full year. He also didn't seem to know anything about the town of Hazelbury, so he was probably new. Arthur wouldn't have been shocked if the boy knew he was leaving soon. 

The little gift that Arthur had received was given to him during one of the last days that Arthur had seen him. It would have been nice to have gotten a proper farewell. At least Arthur was able to coerce his sister into following him into the woods to meet him. The days that the three of them played were probably the most amusing. With a shake of his head, Arthur pushed the memories away. However sweet the memories may be, he needed to stay on track. His sister was what mattered now. Now, there was at least something that he could do before the sun set and the night began. Arthur could have a look around Morgana's room. Though Arthur was no detective, he hoped that he could find at least something to give him an idea of where his sister was.

Her room was located just down the hallway, so it was a rather short walk. Standing outside of her door, Arthur felt rather uncomfortable as if he was about to do something that he wasn't allowed to do. It was a rather silly feeling, he thought. Though Morgana didn't allow him in her room without her being there and oftentimes even when she was there, he was an adult on a mission to help her. He highly doubted she would care about someone snooping around if it meant her being brought safely home. The thought of her coming back injured or worse would not and could not enter Arthur's head. She was out there, and he was going to find her. It was as simple as that. 

Though perhaps it would have been better if it was more complicated in the sense of various different theories. Arthur hoped that there was something that would make the gears in his head turn since it wasn't like the authorities were willing to look anymore. Arthur wondered if you could even count what little they did as "looking." It was all up to him to bring her back. There was definitely a degree of anxiety swirling inside of Arthur because of this, but there was also an intense determination to make it happen. He just wondered if this determination would continue to burn with such strength if he didn't find the fuel to keep it going inside. Arthur was prone to self-doubt after all.

The door creaked open. It was impossible that that was the only sound that could be heard. Arthur knew that there was a breeze outside. There were birds outside. Then there was his pounding heart, and the always audible brain static that never failed  to fill the silence. However, Arthur didn't hear any of them. His ears were far too focused on the door. His mind was far too focused on the mission at hand and the worry that started to bubble up inside his stomach.

Morgana hadn't kept the cleanest room was the first observation that registered in Arthur's head. It was quite different than it had looked during the times that he had seen the inside. Morgana was usually one to have everything placed in its proper location. It was a contrast to Arthur's room which often turned into organized chaos. This wasn't like how her room had been before. She could have changed since leaving before, but Arthur doubted that. The crumbled papers spilling out of the trash and the clothes scattered about reminded Arthur back to Morgana's hair. 

A sigh escaped Arthur's mouth. He had honestly thought that she was doing better. She seemed to have been doing better, but the state of this room indicated that she had once again hid the true state of her mental health. Arthur didn't blame her. He kept much to himself as well, but Arthur just wished that he could have done more for his younger sister. The feeling was much worse too considering how she had ended up missing.

Now that Arthur was in the room though, there was so much to take in. He hadn't been expecting that, and that made it seem even more overwhelming that it might have actually been. Looking at it all, Arthur wished that he had liked mysteries and detective shows before this had started. Maybe if he had watched anything of that sort, he'd have had an idea of where to start. Alas, he had not, so he was on his own completely. Arthur's right hand started to twirl the ring on his left pointer finger around and round. He wasn't consciously doing this, but nonetheless, it helped slightly with the large amount of input that his brain was taking in and trying to process. 

Cleaning the room a bit was the first idea that took root in Arthur's head. Perhaps he would find something or notice something once he had all of the clothes picked off the floor. Arthur got to work. However, his cleaning wasn't the best. After all, he wasn't trying to make the room neat enough to be able to actually get something done like he did with his own room. He was looking for clues. That meant that he didn't give as much attention to what happened to the clothes once they were examined and where they were laying was looked at. The room still looked much better than it had once he was done though. He hadn't planned on just throwing the clothes back where he had found them after all. Instead, he did a rather lazy fold and sat them on the bed for now. Besides, if he really did need to look at them again, maybe it would be easier to have them sitting out instead of figuring out what drawers they went in and hanging the tops up. 

So far, the only thing that Arthur had noticed was that all of the clothes that had been thrown to the ground were clothes that he knew she had been wearing. They weren't old clothes that had been left behind in the house. There were a few different outfits, such as a long-sleeve lavender top, an emerald blouse, and then a tee shirt of a band that he knew Morgana liked, that he remembered she wore during some of the last video calls that he had with her. Looking at it all, there was one top that he recalled in a few videos that didn't seem to be anywhere in the room. It was a cream shirt with thin grey stripes. Morgana often paired it with one of her jackets. The top just wasn't there. Unless something had happened to it, there was a good chance that that was what she had been wearing when she went missing. 

Figuring something out helped with that spark inside of him, and Arthur found himself searching around for anything else that could be some kind of sign. He opened drawers and looked all across her dresser and desk. He even lifted up the pillows on her bed and looked underneath said bed afterward. Though even though he had had some luck before, that seemed to have been all the luck that he would get. Arthur couldn't find anything that would indicate that she went somewhere. 

There had been one thing that struck Arthur as odd, and that had been her altar. The altar was a place that was essentially a witch's working space. Arthur was familiar with how Morgana set up hers. After all, she had been the one that helped him set up his first one. Since she had moved back to their old house, she didn't have it out in any of the other rooms like she did at her old flat. Instead, it was located in her room, specifically her dresser. It was a bigger dresser with a large mirror. Around the mirror were little shelves where little knick knacks could sit. Morgana's dresser was the cleanest part of the whole room since the only things that sat on it were the various tools that rested in her working area. 

Arthur did recognize the tools that Morgana was more prone to using such as her athame. He also saw that one of her talismans that she often used was there as well. It laid on top of a slab of selenite, an easy way to charge various magical objects and one of the first things that she recommended to him since she knew that it would be easier for Arthur to keep up with when it came to his new magical practice. Besides that, her little porcelain cauldron was there as well. 

However, there were various different things that she hadn't had on her altar before. For instance, there was a figure that Arthur didn't recognize on her altar. Generally the only figure that Morgana kept on her altar was the Morrígan. This figure, which appeared to have been made from some sort of clay, didn't resemble her at all. Instead, it had very little shape to it. There was no way of determining who it could represent even if Arthur had a more broader knowledge of different gods and goddesses. Besides this, Arthur noticed an herbal mixture laid out in front of the figure and another one sitting in a bowl next to her cauldron. Arthur didn't feel comfortable touching it. This was his sister's sacred place. He didn't want to disturb it. He also wasn't sure what he'd gain even if he did figure out what it meant. He already knew that his sister wasn't in the best headspace. Arthur had seen her at her worst before. He knew what she was like. Adding specifics from trying to deconstruct spells wasn't going to add anything that he didn't know, so he decided to leave the altar. 

One of the drawers under the altar held Morgana's spell supplies. Arthur noticed a few things missing including some of Morgana's candles in a few different colors. Candle magic was something that Morgana enjoyed doing, so it wasn't shocking to discover that she had been clearly going through her supply. There didn't seem to be anything else noticeable in the drawer.

With an exhale, Arthur deemed the search to be over. Though he had been looking in the room for about two hours, Arthur didn't really learn much. He now knew that her mental health was worse than he had thought, that she was probably wearing her striped shirt when she went missing, and her magical practice had changed since they last spoke about the subject. Oh, and he also remembered that her phone and the tarot deck she often carried with her was nowhere to be seen. Well, her bag wasn't anywhere to be seen either, and the deck did live there, so it made sense that he couldn't find it. However, that was all.

A knot was forming in Arthur's stomach. It felt heavy, and he didn't like the feeling, but it was there. He felt like he had failed. If there hadn't been anything significant to begin with, he wouldn't have found it anyway, but that didn't make the uneasy feeling go away. Arthur was prone to not noticing things he was searching for that were right in front of him. He couldn't help but think that he just hadn't been able to find something important. 

That feeling stayed with him as he walked back to his room. The sun had already been setting when he arrived, but now that he had spent all of that time in her room looking for something, the sun had gone completely down and it was clearly night. In fact, Arthur might have been recalling memories before for longer than he had thought going off the time. It was probably best that he go to bed now, so that he would be able to get back to attempting to find something the next day. He wasn't as sure about this now after looking through her room, but Arthur knew that he still had to do something. Surely, there was something else that he could do. 

Arthur pulled down the covers of his bed and changed into a more comfortable outfit. It was much more fitting than wearing jeans to bed. Though, he'd be lying if he said that he never did that at all. To finish getting ready for bed, Arthur took some melatonin to help him get tired, and then he went into the bathroom with his little bag of toiletries. It never felt like bedtime unless he brushed his teeth first. The other nightly ritual that helped it feel like bedtime, he started to do once he got back in his room. Besides the red suitcase, Arthur had brought a satchel with him, and inside said satchel was his journal and one of his favorite tarot decks.

Every night before bed, Arthur pulled the card for the next day. When he first started reading, he had tried to pull a card in the morning, but Arthur kept forgetting. It was hard for him to try to form new habits, but trying to do something new in the morning just seemed impossible. Arthur was just not a morning person, and it took him a while to mentally wake up. By the time, he was in the headspace to journal about a daily card, part of the day had already gone by. Night was a much better time for him to pull a card for the next day, and also journal more about the card that he had pulled the night before. It also worked out that he needed to do something while he waited for the melatonin to kick in. 

So here Arthur was, sitting on his bed with a journal, pen, and a deck of cards. He flipped to the second half of his journal. The first half was basically his planner while the second half of the journal was his tarot journal. This meant that he had to have two journals for an entire year when it came to his planning pages, but it meant that he didn't have to have two journals at the same time and try to keep track of both. It made it much easier, and if he needed to jot down a reading while he was out, he also only had one journal taking up space in his satchel. That meant that he could put whatever else he might want to take with him.

The page with the previous night's reading already had some writing on it. It was an easy card to interpret since it lined up so easily with what was going to be happening today. It had been the Six of Cups, a card of nostalgia and childhood memories. Having looked at the time, perhaps he should have kept the level of this in mind. Then he would have had more time. He wrote this down. 

Arthur only had to pull a card for the next day now and see if there was anything that came to mind. He didn't need to write a lot. Generally, he wrote down what first came to mind. Most of his writing happened later when he started to notice what the message was saying or what it was talking about. Arthur took his deck and started to shuffle. He shuffled overhand. There were very few decks that he was willing to riffle shuffle. It depended on the card stock. This particular deck wasn't stiff, but it wasn't as bendy as he would have liked for a riffle shuffle, so overhand it was. Arthur kept shuffling, and every so often he would look at the deck to see if it looked like it was meant to be like that. Doing a reading was always an interesting thing. There was a mix of a "look" that the deck had when the cards were ready to share their message and a feeling that the deck gave off. Holding the deck and going off of that was just as reliable as looking at the backs of the cards for Arthur. 

When he finally felt like it was time to pull a card, Arthur stopped and laid it face down in his journal. He set the deck aside before flipping over the card that he had pulled. However, right before he did, he felt that something wasn't right. Yes, the reading didn't feel complete. He needed to have a second card for the day. That did happen, but it didn't happen often. The next card on top had the right look to it, so Arthur pulled that one too and laid it facedown right next to the other one. Though he could have flipped them both over, Arthur felt it was best to flip them over one by one. He flipped over the first one.

Knight of Swords.

Arthur nodded and wrote it down. He could see that he needed to keep strong for his quest. He couldn't be second guessing things or letting his emotions get the best of him tomorrow. Arthur needed to dive right into his search and use his wits. Perhaps as the day went on, the Knight of Swords would give him more wisdom, but for now, he could appreciate this drive that he was being told to have. It put him at ease. It made his mission not seem like it was hopeless. Now Arthur just had one more card, the extra one that he felt he needed to pull. He turned that card over.

Eight of Swords.

Arthur frowned. It wasn't that the Eight of Swords was necessarily a bad card. It was just that he knew that he could trap himself in his mind. He saw the card as a reminder that while things may seem hopeless, he could get out of that feeling. It was a rather nice message that he saw, but he frowned because it told him that even after how he felt when he saw the Knight of Swords, that knot would come back, and it would tie him up until he sliced it away and continued with his quest. Arthur wrote all of this down as he did the other card. He made sure that there was space for that card as well. After all, the Eight of Swords could also have a message that he didn't see just like how the Knight of Swords could.

Besides which specific cards that he had pulled, there was also the fact that both cards were of the same suit. Again, Arthur didn't often feel a need to pull a second card, so to see that both cards were of the same suit, Arthur thought that it was necessary to write that down as well. Both cards did have to do with his mind and wits, at least, that was the message that he saw from them. That made sense since they were both part of the Swords. Since it wasn't something new or something that Arthur knew he would forget. He kept that part brief.

Now with all of the nightly journaling done, Arthur closed his book and placed his pen in the pen holder that was attached to the cover. He set it back in his satchel, so that he would know where it was, and then he turned out all of the lights. Now that the melatonin had had some time in his system and everything was done for the night, Arthur was able to find sleep. He laid his head down upon his pillow and drifted off.

Chapter Text

It should have been expected. Arthur groaned as he reached for his phone that sat on the nightstand just next to the bed. His eyes were dry, but after a second, he was able to see the time on his phone. Of course, it was not the time that Arthur had wanted to wake up. He had overslept. Setting an alarm had completely slipped his mind, and now he was starting his day at ten o'clock. It could have been worse; Arthur knew this. However, Arthur couldn't stop the feeling of needing to rush to find something. Every minute was a minute wasted in the search for Morgana.

Arthur threw the blankets off of his body and sat up. He stretched his back muscles before standing up. Though slightly famished, Arthur did the first thing that he did every morning, and that was to brush his teeth. If he didn't do it right when he woke up, he wouldn't remember to do it at all. It was true that the combined flavor of the minty toothpaste would mix into a swirl of disgust if he ate anything right after, but after years, Arthur learned that this was the only way that he could remember and keep up this habit.

Though the trip to the bathroom came before a new change of clothes, that was the very next thing on his morning to-do list. There wasn't much that had been stored inside the red luggage bag. Arthur had hoped that if he needed to stay longer, he would be able to wear the clothes from his teenage years. Just pulling a single shirt out of the closet, Arthur quickly realized that that wouldn't be a possibility. He hadn't realized how much more muscle he had put on as an adult. That would potentially lead to another expense if he stayed too long. With a sigh, Arthur turned back to the clothes that he had brought with him and started to form an outfit.

Simple would be the word to best describe what he laid out on the bed. Arthur had never been one for going beyond or looking up the latest trends. He didn't notice them until he walked into the stores to replace whatever clothes he needed to or when he needed a new outfit for a special occasion. Arthur's default was a pair of jeans and a jumper with a tee shirt underneath. Sometimes he would change it up, but he found the clothes to fit multiple events and were quite comfy to wear. The only other reliable outfit that Arthur held more than one of in his closet were joggers for his afternoon runs. The particular outfit that Arthur picked out was a pair of blue jeans, a white tee shirt, and then a red jumper. Today just felt like a red day.

Before leaving the room, Arthur double checked everything in his satchel. He made sure that he had his keys, phone, journal, and also the deck that lived in Arthur's satchel. Knowing that today would be a day of questions and some guidance might be useful, Arthur threw one more deck that he had brought with him into his bag. The deck had an earthy vibe to it, and Arthur had always found it to be quite reliable. That should have been it, but there was something missing.

Only a foot was out of the doorframe when it hit him. Arthur turned around, and his eyes immediately landed on it, the little crow figurine. There was no need to bring the little bird with him, but his heart screamed at him too. It was almost as intense as what Arthur assumed a new pet owner went through. "Assumed" was the word since Arthur had never been allowed to have a pet of his own.

There was something peculiar about this feeling. It was only a crow made out of wood. Why was it stirring such guilt inside him at the thought of leaving it behind? Arthur was coming back after all. He wasn't leaving it for years like before. However, the crow wouldn't let Arthur go. It clawed its way into him and sunk its talons in his heart.

Arthur walked the few feet and snatched the little crow up. He placed it safely into a pocket in the inside of his satchel. Maybe he needed to have the crow with him. Maybe this feeling was a sign. Arthur wasn't sure. He had had feelings before, but they had never been like this. Arthur tried to make a mental note to think of this all later before finally leaving the room and then the house.

The wind outside had a comfortable chill to it. It wasn't too cold that it was extremely noticeable, and it wasn't too hot that Arthur would have to take his jumper off. It was a perfect autumn day. The trees around him were peppered in various shades of reds and oranges. The discarded leaves sprinkled the ground around them. It was a pretty picture. At some point growing up, Arthur had been told that the sky resembled a painting. However, this scene in front of him? Each little leaf was like another little brushstroke upon the canvas. Each one was placed with feeling, and the colors all danced together into an orange-tinted rainbow. To Arthur, this was a painting of nature.

However, Arthur didn't have the time to admire it. He longed to, but he couldn't let it distract him even with the wind pulling at him and beckoning him to come and sit amongst the trees. Arthur had a job to do, and that was to find his sister.

Thinking back, there hadn't been many places that Morgana brought up in their calls. Even before moving back, she wasn't one to mention specific locations. Though, there was one that Arthur recalled. In town, there was a newer shop. How new? Arthur wasn't sure. He only knew that it was not there before the two of them left home, and if it had been there the last time the siblings came back to the family home, neither of them had noticed it.

The name of the shop was simply "The Wick", and it, of course, was a little candle shop. Morgana had raved about the place. Though her love of candle magic was well known to Arthur, he was still taken back slightly with how much she adored the little shop. It was truly a place to be in her mind.

If she went to the shop as much as she seemed to, Arthur thought that made the place a good starting point for asking questions. Perhaps someone there would be able to say when they last saw her. It would give Arthur a better idea of when she exactly went missing. That was how this kind of thing went, right? Arthur hoped.

The cobblestone path led Arthur away from his home and the vast amount of trees towards the little town square. Hazelbury wasn't very large, but it did have the essentials along the streets in the center of town. The very center was a patch of grass with a few trees and a gazebo. There was also a pair of swings. This little area was used as a community spot more than anything else. The swings in a more established park two blocks away were used more frequently by the neighborhood kids. However, this little area was nice to look at regardless. It was well kept. The flowers that were planted in the various pots were always vibrant during the season when each one bloomed. Walking past, Arthur could see the autumn blooms looking simple but rather pretty. They always managed to look nearly identical to every other time Arthur had walked down this sidewalk since his childhood. Even the benches that were around seemed to have the same amount of dirt as they always did. One might find the scene to be uncanny since the only difference was whatever flower was in bloom at that time. However, Arthur just found the scene to be rather familiar and homey.

Arthur continued walking. He wasn't sure where exactly the candle shop was located, so he kept his eyes open. He examined all of the store fronts as they came into focus. As Arthur thought, there weren't all that many changes along the street. The pub sat at the corner. Then the flower shop sat between the toy store and the small family restaurant. There were a few differences to the line-up though. Instead of the restaurant that no one ever seemed to go in, there was now a pizza chain. It was odd seeing it as part of the street.

The Wick ended up being on one of the roads that were along the main square. It stood directly in front of the town's library. What had been there before the place became a candle shop, Arthur wasn't sure. It wasn't that Arthur never came down this way either. Arthur frequently visited the library. What the store had been before had just slipped Arthur's mind, it seemed. Perhaps, it wasn't something that would have brought any interest to a younger Arthur, so it never cemented itself in his brain.

Entering the little shop wasn't required to see why Morgana beamed when she talked about it. Arthur could see enough through the store front window. Besides the display in the window which consisted of a tower of colored candles in a way that reminded Arthur of a multi-tiered birthday cake, there was shelf upon shelf filled with candles that was visible. Arthur could see the various shades of purple and blue. The only one that seemed to be the same were the stock behind each candle that sat in the front. He saw mauve, lavender, lilac, plum, and eggplant. He also saw cerulean, navy, spruce, and denim. Once he did enter, two colors made up of various specific colors morphed into a rainbow. It even went beyond that though as there were also rows of white, grey, black, and brown. There was even a section of plain beeswax candles with their buttery warmth and also unscented candles that were the color of linen. The Wick was truly a candle lover's dream come true.

The shop wasn't busy, but it also wasn't empty either. There were a duo that were looking at candles together and an individual on the other side of the room looking as well. Though the entire place was only a single room, the room felt spacious. Arthur suspected that adding a few more people would not change the feeling of the room to a feeling of being anywhere near crowded. The layout itself was very open. Besides those few that were shopping, there were two employees that Arthur could see. One was standing behind the register that was placed about a quarter of the way into the shop on the left. The other was busy restocking a section of orange candles to the right. 

It wasn't easy going right up to the lady that was working at the register. Sometimes it was easier, but like this moment, it was a bit on the harder side. This might have been because Arthur already had the worry of trying to find his sister. Whatever the case, he wasn't able to easily drive away the worry that came with talking to people, especially those that are busy doing their job. It didn't matter how often Arthur told himself that he didn't care what others thought. The anxiety would always find ways to bubble up inside of him. Though even that could not compare to what the anxiety was specifically for. The feeling of rejection in some way, shape, or form was always the worse when it did come. It was always unreasonable, but that didn't make the feeling stop feeling like a knife twisting in his gut when his brain immediately jumped to the conclusion that someone didn't like him. This happened more often than what Arthur would have wanted because Arthur also had a habit of saying things that he didn't exactly mean whether it be because he didn't know how to get his point across or because he blurted out the first thing that made a sliver of an appearance in his head.

The nerves caused Arthur to start fidgeting with his ring again. It was probably the only way to tell that something wasn't exactly right since Arthur always hid exactly what he was feeling. The levels of his feelings only came out when it was too strong for even him to hold in. Still, if anyone had been looking at just his face at this time, they would have just seen a man. His face didn't give anything away. Arthur wanted it to stay that way, and so he started to browse.

Arthur didn't really have anything in mind that he would want as he started to look at the different candles. He was familiar with color magic which went along with candle magic. It just wasn't something he gave much attention to because it didn't speak to him. He remembered reading about yellow candles being used for spells to enhance joy and purple candles being used to enhance intuition and mental clarity. He also had seen online people discussing what color candle to use as a replacement when you didn't have the color you needed. There were quite a few that said white, but others talked about how it makes more sense that white wouldn't be a good replacement for any color but rather just whatever the wax naturally is. For instance, a beeswax candle wouldn't be pure white. However, this wasn't something that Arthur knew much about, so Arthur couldn't give his opinion on this at all. While looking around, Arthur briefly wondered what kind of candle would be best if he was to do candle magic to help his state of being during all of this. Would the yellow help him to stay positive? Or would orange be better to help him get creative ideas on how to go about this search?

Candles escaped his mind as Arthur spotted something that he was more familiar with, and that was incense. He hadn't been expecting to see any, but it did make some sense. Both were burned for their scent. The section for incense, of course, wasn't that large though. However, Arthur did spot a few that he had used before. There was cinnamon that could be used to enhance intuition and psychic abilities or even love and passion. There was also sandalwood which was used for protection and healing. Arthur even spotted some eucalyptus incense sticks. Yes, this little section was much more up Arthur's alley. He picked out a few that he felt he could use while staying in Hazelbury. Of course, he also picked up a holder as well. Arthur didn't want to use his sister's. Besides, he quite liked the one with a little sun face carved into it.

With the incense and holder in hand, Arthur made his way over to the register. He set them down when he was motioned to do so and fished his wallet out of his pocket. Arthur was quiet while the lady rang him up. He avoided any conversation, but as he handed over the money to pay for it, Arthur remembered that he had come into the shop to converse.

"Excuse me," Arthur started, "may I ask you a question?"

"Um, sure." Her voice was quite high pitched, and Arthur couldn't stop his ears from hearing an unease to it. 

That knife was starting to make an indent in his gut. It wasn't yet cutting, but any further and his flesh would give way.

"I'm looking for my sister. I know she used to frequent here. Would you be willing to look at a picture of her?"

The look on the woman's face changed. "Oh, sure." 

Arthur mentally crossed his fingers as he pulled up the latest photo that he had of his sister on his phone. His emotions were escalating into overwhelming. He turned the phone around and showed her.

"Of course, I know her. That's Morgana. You must be... Arthur?"

"Yes, that's me."

"I thought that was your name. There were a few times that she mentioned you. You said that you're looking for her?"

"She's missing, and I'm trying to figure out what happened to her."

"That would explain why I haven't seen her in awhile. I thought that was a bit strange since she came in here at least once a week to buy a few candles and to chat. I'm just starting to get into witchcraft, and she was giving me some tips and book recommendations."

"Do you know when you last saw her?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't remember the exact date. It had to have been at least a month and a half ago."

"Thank you. That's better than nothing. I hadn't heard from her for a few months. Though I don't know why she would have  stopped contact before going missing. It's just not like her."

"I mean, it could have been a few months. I wasn't keeping track exactly. From just our conversations, she seemed to really care about you, so I believe you when you say that would have been out-of-character for her. I did think it was strange when she just stopped showing up. I just assumed that maybe she was going on a trip. She did mention that she was planning on going somewhere. She just didn't say where."

"Morgana didn't mention anything like that to me."

"It had to have been one of the last times I saw her. I wish I knew more, but she only just mentioned it."

Arthur nodded. "Thank you. Again, this is better than where I was at."

"I hope you find her."

No reply came out of Arthur. He just gave another nod before talking about his change and bag of incense. Arthur left The Wick with more questions going through his head than before he entered.

The bag of incense wasn't that large, and Arthur was able to fit it into his satchel as he started to walk along the sidewalk. Now what? The Wick had been the only place that Arthur knew Morgana frequented. What else could Arthur do? Would it be worth it to ask around at some of the other establishments around here? It was worth a shot. It wasn't like Arthur had any other ideas.

There were some shops that he knew Morgana most likely would not have gone into much or perhaps not at all. Arthur looked at each shop and calculated the probability of her entering each one as they came into view. There were a few that he thought would be good candidates for asking just like he did at The Wick. However, each one that he went to had much less to say than the woman at The Wick. She seemed to have been the only one that Arthur could find that Morgana actually talked to. One of the other employees he asked recognized her with no problem, but he didn't know anything about her, let alone when he last saw her. The others couldn't pull out any memories of even just seeing her face. 

After about four shops, Arthur found himself giving up. He knew that he needed to keep pushing on. After all, that was what the message he journaled about last night. However, it was hard when you had absolutely no idea what you were doing. Was it too late to just search "How to Find Your Missing Sister" online? It might be because sadly, Arthur hadn't been able to come all the way to Hazelbury right when she stopped picking up her phone. Of course, he had thought that he wouldn't need to immediately come out either. Arthur had been able to get one of his friends to check out the place a week later since he wasn't going to be that far from the place during his own trip. 

With no trace of Morgana, Arthur had alerted the local authorities. He had hoped that they would be able to find something, anything. They didn't though. They said that they would look into it, and Arthur never heard of any news. He called to check up on them a few times and hoped that he wasn't bothering them. Arthur didn't like the idea of irritating those that he was relying on to find his sister. However, each time, they just brushed Arthur off. The last time that Arthur had talked to them, they had basically told Arthur that they weren't going to look anymore, if you could call what they were doing looking at all. They concluded that she probably just up and left due to her mental state. 

It was only after that that Arthur knew that he had to come back to Hazelbury himself. Damn his job and his current life. His sister needed him, and he had to do something. Oh, how Arthur wished that he had come sooner though. If only he had come when whatever trail she might have left was still fresh.

Thinking of what to do next wasn't easy. This was especially true on an empty stomach. That was why Arthur found himself sitting in a booth at the local family restaurant, Daybreak Inn. He had already ordered and was sitting there waiting. Arthur was also contemplating doing a reading. Surely the cards could help guide him in some way. Anything would be of use. Though Arthur had not brought a reading cloth with him, doing a reading on the table wasn't an issue. It wasn't dirty at all, and there was no food yet that could get on his cards.

Arthur began to shuffle. Questions pooled into his mind, and he fished out the ones that he thought would be the most helpful. What advice did the cards have? What was he missing? How could he motivate himself and get the drive back? What was next?

The Hanged Man. Six of Pentacles. Six of Cups. The Wheel of Fortune.

The Six of Cups sprung out to him easily when it came to motivation. Arthur thought back to their childhood yet again. Though he had thought it distracting the day before, Arthur could now see that it did push him and added a layer of positivity from thinking of all the fun times they had together. The boy in the woods and the times the three of them came together entered the front of his mind. He held on to those sweet memories as he began to look at the other three cards more closely.

For advice, Arthur had not been shocked to find the Hanged Man. He only hoped that the message was to simply look at things from a different perspective and not the pain or stagnation that can come with the card. Though perhaps the stagnation was what he needed. Maybe he did just need to sit and think over everything he knew. Arthur could at least see hope in the Wheel of Fortune. The Wheel often brought good luck his way. Though it wasn't the most predictable. The Wheel was also the card of destiny and the spinning of time. Arthur found that the card could indicate what was meant to happen without telling him what. In a way, the card was sometimes just a card of the unknown. With this reading, Arthur wasn't sure which of these it was, but the word destiny did seem to speak louder.

Before Arthur could look at the Six of Pentacles and take in its message, the waiter came around and refilled Arthur's glass of water. He was rather handsome with his dark curly hair and deep brown eyes. However it was someone approaching Arthur that distracted him. At least, that's what he told himself. Arthur thanked the waiter, but he didn't walk away immediately after. He looked down at the spread in front of Arthur.

"There was a lady that was coming in often and doing readings with those tarot cards."

"Long dark hair and green eyes."

"Yeah, do you know her?"

"She's my sister."

"Oh, right. I think I remember you two. The Pendragon siblings, right?"

"Yes, I'm Arthur."

"I'm Devin. We went to school together." Arthur vaguely remembered him. "How is your sister? I haven't seen her in awhile."

"She's been missing for a few months now."

"I'm sorry."

"I came here to look for her, but I'm not really having any luck."

"If she's been missing for two months, it would make sense if you're having trouble finding any clues. What have you done so far?"

"I asked around, including the one shop she talked about more than once. Yesterday, I looked around her room. I looked at everything on her desk and dresser. I even picked up all of her clothes off the floor. I didn't really find anything."

"Did you go through her trash? They always do that in those true crime shows."

"No, I hadn't."

"Well, that's what I suggest. Maybe she threw something away that could be useful."

Arthur felt like a fool. How had he not thought to look through her trash? He had been looking at it. He even made a mental note of how full it was when he was thinking of how messy her room was to begin with. Though Arthur had no way of knowing that that was always a must when investigating, he couldn't stop himself from thinking himself an idiot.

With this suggestion given to him, Arthur wanted to run out of the restaurant and back to the house. He wanted to spill the contents of her bedroom trashcan and go over everything that fell out. However, Arthur needed to eat. He knew that as soon as he left the restaurant and ran home, he would completely forget to eat. Who knows when he would finally notice? It was best that he got his substance now. 

It took everything in Arthur to not scarf down his lunch as quickly as humanly possible. Tasting the crispy fried fish didn't happen since Arthur was still eating faster than normal. It was a shame since the Daybreak Inn had always had a delicious selection of meals, but even the most expensive meal at a five-star restaurant was not going to stand between Arthur and the possibility of finding something useful in the search for his sister.

Of course, when Arthur made it back to the house, he all but barged into Morgana's room. He was about to dumb the contents of the garbage can onto the clear floor when Arthur realized that maybe it would be better to start from the top and then work his way down. After all, the can was stuffed and anything from the bottom could be far too old to have any value.

So, that is what Arthur did. He carefully picked up every scrap of paper, every wrapper, and every discarded piece of plastic from the top and looked at it. This examination would have taken much longer had Arthur not found the note that he did right up against the trash. It must have fallen out due to the overflow. The paper had been quickly crumbled up with what appeared to be very little care. On it was a list of supplies to what appeared to be a spell. Each item had a little checkmark next to it. Probably to show that Morgana had bought it or had it packed and ready to go. Arthur knew that she took these supplies elsewhere because right underneath the messy bullet points was a date, a time, and a location. Why Morgana needed to do whatever she had planned in the middle of the night and in the middle of the woods, Arthur had no idea. He did know, though, that the date wasn't that far off from the last time he had spoken to her. He also knew that this time he had a specific location to examine, written in her own hand, the lone apple tree.

The stained glass leaves danced down from the trees and then crunched under Arthur's heels. Further he went into the woods without looking back. Even if there had been a need to take in his surroundings to make the journey back, Arthur wouldn't have bothered. He was finally the knight charging ahead. Unlike his previous attempts turning sour, this one, this very one, was coming up plentiful. 

As he approached the tree, Arthur immediately spotted something rested up along the trunk and under the sunset branches. It wasn't visible what it exactly was due to the leaves starting to build up, but the leaves of this particular tree had just to desert their place and find their new home on the ground. Arthur went over to it and lifted the few leaves off of it. 

A candle.

Arthur picked up a few more leaves. There was a cloth that had been laid out. It wasn't anything special. It was an average altar cloth. Looking at it closer, Arthur recognized it as the cloth that Morgana put on her altar during autumn. She had been here. She had definitely been here. There were more objects scattered across the cloth and next to it from having fallen over. Some of what he found included one of Morgana's athames, a mortar and pestle that was most likely used to crush up whatever herbs Morgana decided to use on location, a bowl that possible held water but could have held something else, and also another of the shapeless figure that Arthur had found on her altar at home.

What was it that she was doing out here? Arthur only had a candle, an athame, an empty bowl, and a figure of an unknown deity to go off of. Whatever herbs she had used were most likely mixed and were nowhere to be found anyway. It was possible that what was on her altar was the same mix that had most likely joined with the earth out here. However, Arthur could not be so sure. Even if he did find any of it, Arthur realized that he wouldn't be able to figure out exactly what her spell was just from what she used. After all, not only were there missing elements to the spell, the words were lost. Arthur could go off the color of the candle, but a bowl and an athame were very basic additions to a spell and very Morgana as well. They could have served a specific purpose, but they could have only been there to represent the elements. Perhaps if Arthur was able to figure out who this mystery deity was, he would be able to have an idea what the work that she had been doing out here and also leading up to her going missing.

With that in mind, Arthur started to pick up Morgana's possessions and place them in his satchel. One by one they went in, but there was one that Arthur just couldn't put in. When he picked up the figure, an uneasy feeling immediately hit him. A cold chill wrapped around his hand and then started to climb up his arm. He dropped the figure and didn't bother picking it up. Arthur wasn't sure what had caused the feeling, but he didn't like it at all. He wasn't going to risk whatever it was getting worse either if he tried picking it up again. Morgana had an almost identical one back on her altar. He could examine that one instead and leave this one on the ground and in threat of being covered by vibrant colors that contrasted its dark void. Though that feeling... What had Morgana gotten herself into?

Arthur had started his walk back home, but his ears picked up another set of crunching. He stopped, and as he did, the other sound stopped. Arthur started up again, and this time, he heard another set of what possibly was a set of feet walking through the leaves. Again, Arthur stopped and so did the noise. 

"Hello? Is there anyone there?" 

Arthur wasn't sure acknowledging it was the best idea, but surely, if there was someone out there, it was only a few kids that had stumbled across him and were playing a prank. Though, was that something Arthur could easily think about Hazelbury? After all, his sister had gone missing here, and he still had no idea how or why. Perhaps, it would be best if he had his phone out and in hand. Either that could potentially scare away any evildoer due to the idea of being caught, or any child might decide that an angry adult turning into another angry adult and the possibility of an angry parent was too much.

His hand started to go for his phone in his satchel, but as his eyes started to move down and towards the satchel, Arthur spotted something. He turned his head back towards it and completely abandoned the idea of his phone. Amongst the reds and browns was a piece of paper. It looked worn, and though it was a few feet away, Arthur could have sworn that the writing on it was done by Morgana's hand. This could be the words to the spell. How it managed to survive all this time and not all that far from the apple tree, Arthur wasn't sure, but he also didn't care. There would be no mystery of what the spell was for with this. He could read it and know what Morgana had in mind. 

A step forward, but Arthur grew no closer to the paper. The breeze picked it up. It swayed away. Arthur picked up his speed. Was this hope going to slip away? Was he going to lose the best clue that he had found? Please, it can't. It can't be like this. 

To Arthur's amazement, the paper caught on a branch. The wind tried to claim it once more, but it had placed itself in just a way that it became the tree's possession. At least, it was until Arthur got his hands on it. Arthur went towards it without urgency now. The sound of crunching leaves filled his ears, but it didn't fill his head. The only thing on his mind was this piece of paper. He reached out for it, but then there was a disturbance. Something caught Arthur off guard. 

However, it was too late. Arthur had been too preoccupied with the paper possibly holding the meaning behind the spell to notice that the sound of feet had continued and had caught up with him. He turned to face whatever, or rather whoever, it was, but Arthur was only one man. Had it only been one man, and he might have stood a chance. Another had showed up. When the struggle seemed bleak, Arthur still tried to reach out for the paper, but his hand never made it because a third figure made themselves known and hit Arthur in the head, knocking him out.

The tree decided that it didn't care to have a piece of paper up against its bark. It relinquished its possession, and the breeze reclaimed it once again. It lifted up in the air and journeyed through the woods. It pranced out and along the sidewalk. A child pointed it out to his father, but the father was too busy watching his other child to notice. The piece of paper went further and further. It floated down the street before finding a new owner in the form of a car. It was an uncaring owner. The paper stretched out from the speed. Further and further it went from our dear Arthur. Though this wasn't only the paper's new adventure that caused this, but rather, it was Arthur leaving the only world he knew behind; though he was unaware of it at that time. Arthur would never find out what was on that paper or even if the paper really did belong to Morgana.

The piece of paper was never seen again.

Chapter Text

There was darkness, and then there was a faded scene. Arthur saw through the eyes of a child. A perfectly red apple hung down from the branch. His hand reached up to grasp it, and before he sunk his teeth into the juicy fruit, he made sure to give the apple a nice clean. This wasn't the first time that he had done this, and it wouldn't be the last. Arthur realized that the child was him. This wasn't just any scene. This was a memory. Why he was remembering this particular moment, Arthur didn't know, and this question did not cross his mind. The memory simply played on.

One apple wasn't enough for Arthur. He needed a second one, so he reached up and grabbed another one. He was quite happy that there were two that hung just low enough for him to reach while on his tippy toes. Arthur maneuvered his already partially eaten apple into the crook of his elbow before cleaning this second apple the same way that he had cleaned the first. Then he handed it over.

Though the memory appeared in a way that Arthur could only describe as "faded", he was able to see the boy that was in front of him. It was the boy whose name Arthur could not recall. Memories aren't always clear. They can start to erode over time, or they can warp as the years pass by. This memory of the boy had not been damaged in any way. Though it had been over a decade since Arthur had laid eyes on him, Arthur knew that this was what he had looked like. He knew that his short dark hair had slight curls, and he knew that this was how his blue eyes squinted when he smiled big and brightly. He also knew that the boy's ears were indeed that big. Arthur briefly wondered if he had eventually grown into them. This was brief because the memory continued for only a minute more before Arthur was plunged into darkness again.

Arthur wasn't sure how long this went on for, but at some point, he realized that he could feel the grass tickling his neck. He could feel the hard ground pressed up against his entire backside. Arthur could feel, and he knew that this was because he was now awake.

He opened his eyes.

The first thing that Arthur noticed as his gaze was pointed towards the sky and the branches upon branches of all of the trees that surrounded him was that it was somehow no longer autumn. Arthur's face scrunched up in confusion. How was it that the bright oranges, sunny yellows, and warm reds had turned into bright and healthy greens? At the point in the season that Arthur had traversed the woods, it was at that point in fall where the last trace of green on the last leaf had finally changed from a cool color to a warm one, that the final leaf had left the previous season behind and had embraced the season. How was it that Arthur could no longer spot even a suggestion of a color outside the spectrum of green? Now that Arthur realized it, how was it also possible that Arthur didn't feel any crunchy leaves under him. He felt grass, and he felt the ground. He felt nothing more.

At least, he thought he felt nothing more. As his brain began to process this, he realized that there was something else that Arthur could feel along his flesh, and that was a rope that bound his hands together. Somehow Arthur had ended up in a place that looked more like spring than fall and had his wrists tied together in front of him. He needed to know why.

Arthur lifted his upper half and managed to sit in an upright position. He examined his surroundings to find the cause of his predicament, and it didn't take much searching to find, who he assumed to be, the three men responsible. Everything has happened so fast, but from what Arthur could remember, they did appear to be the ones that had knocked him out under the orangey branches of the woods that he knew. 

Now, how they managed to bring him to some other woods that appeared to be half a year away, Arthur still had no idea. He hoped that one of them would tell him. He hoped that one of them would at least mention something that would give Arthur even just the slight idea how this was happening. The only thing that came remotely to mind was that the same thing that had happened to Morgana was now happening to him. This made him optimistic that he would finally find out what had happened to her. However, it also filled him with dread since whatever did happen resulted in her going missing for months. Had she been able to return, Arthur knew she would have. Though, Arthur still believed that Morgana was alive. She just had to be.

One of the men stopped him. He was a bit on the short side, and his light hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Then Arthur realized that he wasn't dressed like the average person. In fact none of them were. All three of them appeared to be dressed as if they were lower class, or perhaps henchmen, in some kind of medieval fantasy. The site puzzled Arthur. Of course, he was already puzzled to begin with due to the environment being so vastly different. However, the questions and statements that followed left him completely perplexed.

"Oi, it looks like he's finally waking up. Took him bloody long enough. Terrin, remind me to give Ives another smack later for being a bloody idiot."

The one that Arthur assumed was Ives tried to defend himself. "I didn't know he was going to be unconscious for that long! Besides, he was giving the two of you quite a fight!"

"Look at yourself," Terrin, who was about average height but quite thin, said. "You don't think that just joining in would have made any difference. You don't think that joining in, we would have managed to get him restrained without needing to hit him over the head with a branch."

Ives couldn't defend himself there. It was true that he probably would have been able to get Arthur down. Though Arthur was fit, Ives had a few inches on him and was quite a large man. Arthur wouldn't have stood a chance if he had joined the other two. He was already struggling with just Terrin and the unnamed kidnapper.

The one that Arthur didn't know the name of spit on the ground and quite loudly at that. He stood up and walked over to Arthur. He lowered himself but didn't kneel or sit. He simply got as low as he could while still on his two feet. Had he sat down or kneeled, he would have been shorter than Arthur. Perhaps he chose not too to appear more intimidating whether that was to scare Arthur or for his own satisfaction. Perhaps he didn't plan on staying in that spot for long. It didn't matter to Arthur. What mattered was what the man said to him.

"Where's Emrys?"

Arthur didn't say anything.

"I'll ask one more time. Where's Emrys?"

Arthur had absolutely no idea what the man was talking about. He wasn't even sure if Emrys was a thing or a person.

"Look, we know that you've been in contact with him. We don't know when or for how long, but you had to have been in contact with him at some point. The spell doesn't lie. You have something with a trace of Emrys's magic on it."

"And they thought that doing a tracking spell would be pointless," Ives chuckled softly. The unnamed man gave him a dirty look. Ives stopped.

"Now, we can't seem to find whatever it was that he must have given you, but we will find it."

Arthur peered behind the man and spotted not just his satchel but everything that had been in his satchel. The contents were scattered across the area that the men had made themselves comfortable in. Arthur hoped that they didn't damage or lose anything. Though he was really worried about his little crow figurine. Arthur tried to stay optimistic that the reason he didn't see it was because it was so small and not because it was gone forever.

The unnamed man scoffed as he stood up. "He's finally awake, and he's still not talking. No matter. I'm sure the High Priestesses will get him to talk. You know, now that we can actually take him with us since it's not like we could have dragged him all the way there."

"I'm sorry alright! I didn't think about us not having any horses with us."

"Exactly, you didn't think . Alright, make sure to grab everything. We still have a few hours of sunlight to at least get back to town. Then tomorrow we can make our way to the castle."

Arthur wanted to ask what they were talking about. He further wanted to scream out if they knew what happened to his sister, but not only was this a frightful situation for anyone to be in, Arthur doubted that he would receive any answers. If anything, it would only make his situation worse. Instead, he kept a straight face as he was forced up and watched while the other two slowly began to pack up their own things and then throw Arthur's belongings back into the satchel.

A look of worry almost appeared on Arthur's face as he realized that he still didn't see his little crow. However, a sound diverted his attention. From what sounded like right above their heads, the cawing of a crow could be heard. It was strange that this happened right as Arthur was thinking of his own, but it was even more strange that a feeling that Arthur could only describe as "be prepared" overcame him.

"That bloody crow is back! Damn bird better not annoy us all the way there."

It happened so suddenly. Arthur wasn't the only one to have not noticed the footsteps approaching the camp. They were too light, especially while everyone was preoccupied. Ironic that what had happened to Arthur was now happening to the men that had snuck up and then attacked him.

Terrin went down quickly. The two newcomers charged into the resting place on the side that he was standing. He stood no chance and didn't even have time to draw his sword. Though, Arthur doubted it would have helped much. It was a different matter than what happened in the autumn woods. They were going to capture, not kill. Then one the size of Ives, no, still somehow taller, was part of this assault of two against one. Not only that, but both men were equipped with chainmail. Yes, Terrin stood no chance.

Two remaining kidnappers turned towards the attackers. They drew their swords, and the one closest to Arthur even drew a knife to wield in his other hand. The light shined on all the weapons now out in the open and thirsty for victory. If only Arthur had one to protect himself since he had no way of knowing if these two were enemies as well, but alas, Arthur found himself completely vulnerable. Even more so with his hands bound and useless.

Perhaps he didn't need them now though. As the two sides clashed, no eyes gave Arthur attention. He called upon all the courage he had as he started to get on his two feet. Arthur focused on the task at hand. He ignored the sound of metal hitting metal. He ignored whoever was winning and whoever was losing. Though the face of Terrin as he fell to the ground clouded Arthur's mind. Stop it, Arthur! You can do this!

Arthur wobbled as he managed to stand. He swayed back and forth as he started to find his balance. Now with them distracted, he could escape! He would be free! Though what he would do after, he wasn't sure. That would come later though.

One tree passed him and then another, but before Arthur went any further, he heard a caw. Arthur stumbled a bit and then came to a stop. He should be running! He should be trying to get away, to stay alive! However, something told him to stay. It came from the same place inside himself that the warning had come from, and as he realized this, Arthur understood that it had come from the same source.

Before him, the bird that had been flying overhead landed. It was indeed a crow like the man had said before. Arthur could tell by its deep black feathers and shape and size compared to other birds with the same such feathers. However, this wasn't like most crows. As he looked at the red beak and feet, Arthur knew that this being just earlier that day had been a wooden figure nuzzled inside Arthur's satchel. The thought seemed impossible. An inanimate object coming to life? Arthur, however, knew this to be the truth. Somehow, the gift from the boy in the woods was now flesh and blood.

It didn't startle him. Arthur was washed over by another feeling. It calmed him. There was a connection between this crow and Arthur. What the connection was unknown and could also wait. Arthur knew he needed to wait for the fight to end. Behind a tree, Arthur stood with the crow. Though this wasn't for long. One side was more prepared and skilled than the other. 

The attack had started so quickly and with no warning. It was probably over faster than what Arthur felt, but the exact time seemed to drag on as he faced the crow. Perhaps, this was due to the calming nature. No matter. Arthur started to take in the rest of the world again when he realized that he no longer heard fighting. He could no longer hear the swords clashing or the grunts from attacks that caused damage. All he could hear was the breathing of the two men that had snuck up on them and their steps as they now softly moved across the green grass. The crow tiled its head as it looked at him. It was time to come out of hiding.

Arthur wasn't sure what exactly he was going to find. There was no doubt when it came to finding bodies laid across the ground. He just tried to ignore it. Though Arthur had seen his father resting eternally in his casket, there was a difference between seeing a dolled up body and a lifeless corpse sprawled on the grass and dirt. Arthur didn't want to look at whatever state they lay in. He had already been through so much just this day. He wasn't sure if he could not just stand but also stomach to see them. As he approached his two, what Arthur now assumed to be rescuers, he kept his eyes fixed on them.

This wasn't a difficult task to do. Had it been any other situation, any other day, he would have admired them. The shorter of the two, though not a short individual, who wouldn't be short standing next to the giant of a man to his left, was quite handsome. Though, it wasn't just his dark eyes and tousled brown hair. There was a certain air to him. It was as if Arthur was meeting a knight from a fairytale, as if the "knight in shining armor" was standing right in front of him even if said knight was covered in sweat and grime from his travels and from the confrontation and victory that had just taken place. Then the only armor that he, and also the other, seemed to be wearing was a hauberk. This didn't take away a single ounce of his attractiveness. If anything, it just added to it. He didn't just look like some knight. He looked like the hero that had just risked his life, as one does in any battle, to save him.

The other man, the "giant", was not a sight for sore eyes either. His stature... Arthur almost started blushing and definitely would have had it been any other day. His hair was short and sandy, and although his face and body were strong, there was something soft about the eyes. Perhaps that was the duality of him, a powerful warrior but also someone kind hearted.

Slowly, the dark-haired one approached him. He held up his hands slightly to indicate that he was of no harm to Arthur. Though, Arthur didn't need to be told. That connection that Arthur had with the crow had allowed him to know this already. The two of them had come to rescue him and not just ambush an enemy. With that in mind, Arthur didn't flinch as the man came up to him and freed him of his binding. 

Seeing that Arthur wasn't going to lash out or run in fear, the taller individual picked up Arthur's satchel and started to pick up the scattered possessions of Arthur up and then into the bag. Now thinking about it, Arthur hoped that no serious damage had come to either of the two decks that he had brought with him. It wasn't just the reading of tarot and also tarot itself that was important, it was also now ingrained as part of his nightly schedule. It helped him in the process of going to sleep. Now there was no melatonin that could be taken when the lull refused to overtake him. Arthur would have to depend on his nightly rituals as closely as he could to help with the process. 

Unless this duo knew the way to send him back home, he would be stuck here. Of course, he realized that he didn't want to go home even after all of this. He thought back to before. It was true. This was the farthest that he had gotten to finding his sister. How could he turn back if given the option?  

Arthur slung the satchel over his shoulder once the taller knight of the two handed it to him. He didn’t give the man a thanks. In fact, Arthur didn’t speak at all. He didn’t know what to say. A thanks was the only thing that came to mind, but how did one formulate the appropriate thanks for what they had just done. Instead, Arthur just stood there waiting for one of them to speak first. Luckily, the wait wasn’t that long.

“We’ve never been asked for help by a crow before,” the dark haired one smiled. His voice was comforting and smooth. If Arthur had any nerves left that felt anxious, they were gone now. “Luckily, for us we had a translator.”

It registered for Arthur what he had just said. Though at this point, Arthur wasn’t surprised. The crow had gone to get help? That made sense. Arthur could feel it making sense. Unable to do anything itself, the crow searched out for help. It somehow knew who to go to for help. This translator was able to send it.

“Thanks,” Arthur decided that perhaps now would be the best moment to say this. 

“According to what he said,” the dark haired one continued, “they were asking you about Emrys?”

Arthur nodded. “That was the name they used, yes. Though, I’m not sure who that is. I couldn’t give them any information, but they were set on me knowing something. They said that they were able to trace his magic? That it wasn’t camouflaged or something? I’m not sure what any of that means.”

“For years, he has been hiding his magic by adding a camouflage element to each of his spells. I’m not privy to the specifics. Though, I wouldn’t understand it even if he did tell me. But, they said that you had his magic about you?”

“Yes.”

The man seemed to be deep in thought. “It would probably be best if you come with us. Merlin seemed to think that you were safe to bring back.”

Arthur didn’t have much of a choice anyway, so he decided to go along with it. Besides, the crow perked up at the name. Somehow it knew who he was. Arthur knew that going there would be the safest option.

“I’m Lancelot by the way, and this is Percival.”

“Arthur.”

“Well, Arthur, we’re a ways away from where we live. Lucky for you that we were out and close by. Though that does mean that we’re going to have to stop at a tavern on the way back. Riding at night in this area would be unwise, and we don’t know if these three mentioned you to anyone else.”

Arthur looked down at himself. “I probably stick out too.”

Lancelot nodded. “We have a cloak that you can throw on. That should work for now.”

The cloak was a dull shade of blue, and it did seem to do the job. Arthur rode behind Lancelot, and the crow flew above. Arthur would have thought that they made quite the sight, but it seemed to have been much more normal here. This was further cemented for Arthur once they reached a village. Village was definitely the term that fit best. It was very small; there were only a handful of buildings. However, the look of it was what made Arthur think this. If the knights wearing hauberks weren’t medieval-looking enough, the appearance of the village was plenty to see the time that this place seemed to be. Adding the talk of magic, and Arthur would have thought that he was reading a medieval fantasy. Though, he wasn’t reading it. He was experiencing it.

Chapter Text

While the sky was getting darker, the lanterns spread across outside the buildings kept the place lit. However, Lancelot and Percival didn’t trust whatever they may find once it was night. They also needed to rest their horses and get a bite to eat. Arthur couldn’t say no to this. It was unknown how long it had been since Arthur had eaten at the Daybreak Inn. Regardless, he felt like he was starving, and he would have eaten just about anything placed in front of him.

The tavern was more lively than Arthur would have thought for such a small little place. However, there was a performer of decent enough talent. At least, that’s what Arthur thought going off his little knowledge of music. The tavern goers seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit. Drinks were passed around, and there was more than one that sang along. 

However, the duo that Arthur found himself with were rather quiet. They ordered whatever the current meat stew was for each of them and a room and that was it. Arthur found himself about to ask them questions about this place, but they stopped him before he could. As they ate quickly, he noticed how they seemed to be keeping an eye on the entire place. Every moment, they took in. Whenever someone new came in, they calmly looked over and examined him. They tried to keep this hidden, and Arthur was sure that no one else would have noticed. He believed that he only did because he was currently being ignored while sitting right in front of them. 

If they weren't able to talk at this moment, that was fine. Arthur kept himself busy by devouring his stew. Though not what he was used to, it still tasted delicious. The flavors were also fueled by how hungry Arthur was. Had it been another day, the stew would have simply been alright, but on an empty stomach, it tasted absolutely divine. The chunk of bread that came with it also added to the meal. It was able to fill him up quite easily. 

Of course, Arthur didn't eat the entire chunk of bread himself. Hidden under the cloak, the crow nestled up close to him. Arthur had thought about leaving the bird outside with the horses. That had actually been his plan as they dismounted, but the crow simply would not leave his side. It hung close to him and even rested upon his shoulder. If not for the cloak, Arthur was sure that the crow would have found a way inside the building and right to him again. Luckily, he did have the cloak, and it was large enough that it wasn't noticeable that there was a living creature underneath it with him or that it was a hungry creature that craved the little bites of bread that Arthur fed it while he ate his stew.

Arthur did what he could to not finish his meal long before his two companions. Breaking up the bread into small pieces dragged out the meal, but he still managed to finish before both of them. The minutes that passed felt awkward, but no one seemed to be giving them any mind, that he noticed anyway, and so Arthur was able to stay calm. He sat there and twisted his ring around his finger until both Lancelot and Percival finished eating.

Still without a word, they left the bowls there to be picked up by whoever was waiting the tables. They climbed up the stairs and down the rugged hallway. It really wasn't much of a sight. There wasn't a single picture that lined the wall. It was just a wooden hallway. There was nothing special about it. If anything, the hallway having no decorations and only being simply a hallway made it stick out to Arthur more than anything. Arthur, especially after where he had been living recently, was not used to such simplicity. Even the easy going and almost rustic feeling town that he grew up in had not prepared him for this. 

Arthur wondered if all the villages and all the taverns in this world were like this or if the first one that he found himself in was just more simple than all the others. It was rather small, so perhaps one in the cities would be a different sight. Though Arthur had only been here for a day, he imagined that there had to be cities of some kind. Even if this world was like back in the medieval times, there had to be cities. It was just a matter of how these cities looked. Were they occupied by large castles? Were there high stone walls? Were they still the palette of grey and brown, or were they more colorful? Did the cities of this world resemble the images and films of a fantasy more than a historical story? Arthur could only assume that he would find out once the small group arrived at their destination. 

What was their destination like anyway? They lived there, but what exactly was "there"? It clearly needed to be away somehow going off the way that the two had been acting, but did they live in some kind of hideaway away in the woods? Was there a secret cellar in a nearby city? How many others lived there? How large was it? All of these questions swirled around inside of Arthur's head as they made their way to their room at the end of the hallway.

While entering, the crow immediately emerged from under Arthur's blue cloak. It landed on the bedside table and stretched its wings out. The gesture almost made Arthur want to stretch his arms out as well. Now they were aware from all of the eyes of everyone else. Now he didn't have to worry about somehow causing others to take notice. Now he could stretch out and be himself, or at least as much of himself that he could with two companions that were still strangers.

With a finger to his lips, Lancelot signaled for Arthur to stay quiet. The thought of having to spend the entire night in quiet chewed away at Arthur, but luckily, it didn't get very far. Lancelot pulled some kind of talisman out of a pouch that he had strapped to his bag, a different one than the one that he had used to carry his coin. He placed this talisman right up against the door and then muttered something under his breath. Arthur didn't manage to catch any of it, but he didn't need to though. The air in the room seemed to change. The sensation was almost a claustrophobic one. Though they had already been in a locked room, it somehow felt even more like a locked room. He felt even more closed off from everything else. Arthur found the sensation hard to understand. In a way, it felt like they were in their own little world.

Though Arthur was feeling a push in, the others seemed to have been feeling the opposite. Even the crow appeared to be relaxing every more as the seconds ticked by. Arthur wasn't sure how magic exactly worked in this world, but seeing this brought him to the conclusion that whatever Lancelot did, he caused the place to be closed off from the rest of the tavern. They were safe. As Lancelot spoke, Arthur's suspicion was proven to be right.

"Now we can talk." Lancelot turned to Arthur. "I'm sure you have plenty of questions." Arthur nodded. "We have questions too."

"Where are we? I don't even know the name of this world."

"The entire world? We call it Albion. Where we are exactly is a small unimportant village at the Camelot border. By you asking that, I assume that what Merlin was talking about was true."

"And what is that exactly?"

"I overheard him say something about you being from another world while he was talking to the crow."

"Yes." Arthur wanted to draw him on himself. The situation felt heavy, and though he had read such instances in stories growing up, it was another to experience it first hand, finding yourself in another world. "It probably sounds crazy, but it's true. The season isn't even the same here. It was autumn when I woke up this morning, and then after they knocked me out, I woke up to spring."

Lancelot nodded. "Then you need to be caught up in how things work here. I already know that I can trust you. Merlin told us that we can trust the crow, and the crow clearly trusts you."

"Who is this Mer lin? He can talk to the crow?"

"Merlin... probably wouldn't want me to talk much about him. Yes, he's able to talk to the crow. I don't really know why. I assume it has something to do with him being a sorcerer. Merlin can do a many things when he puts his mind to it."

"I'd question if magic was really real, but I know that this crow was just a small figurine before I came here. I don't know how I know, but I know. There seems to be some kind of connection with the two of us."

"That's what Merlin seemed to think. I'm sure you can ask him about it once he get to Ealdor."

"Is Ealdor our final destination?"

Percival started to unpack the bedrolls that the two of them brought with them. Arthur hadn't noticed when he entered that there was only one bed. Who exactly was going to take the bed and who was going to take the bedrolls, Arthur wasn't sure. Though, the answers that he was listening to mattered more.

"Yes, that is where we all live. It once belonged to the Dragonlords, and now it belongs to the last of them, Emrys. We are gathered there because it was a secret before the High Priestesses betrayed everyone, and it has stayed a secret after. It's the safest place in all the kingdom, and because of that, it is the best place for us to house refugees and our rebellion."

Arthur tried to take in everything that he had just heard, but none of it really made any sense. Dragonlords? High Priestesses? Refugees? A rebellion? What kind of world had Arthur found himself in, and more importantly, how did Morgana fit into all of this?

"You don't know about any of that though, do you? Twenty years ago, the High Priestesses, one of the orders that ruled Camelot, betrayed the others. They overthrew them, and they also had all of the Dragonlords, another order that ruled, killed. Their rule has caused nothing but pain to the people. Anyone that stands up to them ends up dead."

"My entire village was destroyed," Percival piped up, breaking the silence that he had had. "I'm lucky that I wasn't there when it happened, but my village hasn't been the first, and it won't be the last. We've come together to stop them."

"Our efforts continue to grow. We offer housing, and we recruit any that wish to put a stop to their rein. They must be stopped, but as you may have noticed, their spies are all around. Some, just as the men that took you from your home, will do whatever they can to enter their good graces. They seek the power that they can provide, and power, they have plenty of. Their magic is only rivaled by Emrys."

"The one that I was supposedly in contact with at some point."

"Yes. Emrys hides himself well, so I'm sure it must have been from a long time ago. I'd question if you were at all, but those three weren't the only ones that were suspicious of this. No, you most likely were somehow. If any others try to use a tracking spell as those three have, which though unlikely, could still happen, then they will be led right to you. It's best that you come with us to Ealdor. The wards will hide you from them."

"This is a lot to take in."

"Just growing up here in this world, it felt like a lot to join everyone at Ealdor and stand in the presence of the legendary Emrys. Though, I can't imagine exactly what it must be like for someone that has never even heard of the man. Everything that you knew is gone, and now you've been thrown into a rebellion that you couldn't have ever known about, let alone fathom."

Arthur nodded. "I was just looking for my sister. I think the same thing that has happened to me happened to her."

"Your sister? It's possible. Though, we have not had any changes in a long time. They either can't use her like they thought, or she managed to escape. You can inquire when we get to Ealdor. The other knights may have seen something. I'm also sure that Gwe- Lady Guinevere would have heard of something. She often walks amongst the people and helps when she can. The people of the rebellion, of course, trust her with their life. If your sister managed to get to Ealdor or someone there had noticed a girl wearing strange clothing such as yourself, I'm sure Lady Guinevere would have been told about it."

Though the day had been long and stressful, or rather deadly, Arthur found himself having more hope than he had in the months that Morgana had been missing. He found himself completely out of his element, but the drive of the Knight of Swords pulsed in his veins. He would dive into this world to find his sister. He swore it to himself.

"Do you have any questions?"

"I'm sure that I will have more once we get there."

"I'll make sure to introduce you when we get there. Then if I don't show you around, the others will. They will also be able to answer any question that you have, but if that is all for tonight, we should all get some sleep. We have the ride to Ealdor tomorrow, and we should rest while we know that we are safe."

It seemed that whatever the talisman did, it also offered some level of protection as well. At least, that's what it seemed to Arthur. He wasn't surprised by this. After all, protection was something that was seen in all sorts of magic, talismans included, in his own world. It could be assumed that magic has some similar attributes in this world as well. Though where the similarities ended, Arthur would have to find out at some other point.

For once, the drain of the day was setting into Arthur's bones. Now that it was calm, it was coming in on him. This didn't happen often, and Arthur welcomed it. If there was going to be time that he would feel tired without the start of his nightly ritual, it was now. Of course, it still wasn't enough.

Arthur tried to go about his nightly ritual. He didn't have his toothbrush with him, so he wasn't able to brush his teeth. What he was able to do was pull his nightly card and journal. However, that depended on if his cards had been damaged at all and that they were all there. This was the first that Arthur had dug into his satchel since before he was taken. He didn't want to check while he was on horseback, and he didn't want to draw any attention during their meal. Opening up your satchel and checking everything inside probably would have brought some eyes to their table. Now it was finally the perfect opportunity to. 

As Lancelot and Percival prepared their bedrolls, Arthur sat down on the bed. It wasn't spoken that he would be the one to take it, but Arthur could see that it was implied with how they didn't approach the bed at all. Neither eyed it as they load their bedrolls out. Arthur would have let either of them take the bed instead. After all, while he may have been the one captured, they were the ones that fought. Then Arthur wasn't sure what they had done earlier in the day. They were out of Ealdor with this Mer lin, so they most likely did something that would have drained them. However, they both seemed quite alright with using their own bedrolls. Arthur told himself this to try to lessen the guilt he was feeling for hogging the bed.

While seated, Arthur started to pull out everything in his satchel and lay them to the side. The other two gave him no mind. Though, he thought he noticed Percival glances his way when he pulled out his phone. That would be something to get anyone's attention, especially as he checked to see if it still worked. It did. Though once the power was gone, there would be no way to charge it. That was, unless whatever magic-users he came into contact with were able to whip up a spell that could keep it going. Arthur wasn't sure that that was possible, so he turned the phone off to preserve what power he did have. He luckily had not used it much at all while he was out searching for his sister, and so, it was sitting at a comfortable 84%. There wasn't much that he could do with his phone without the internet, but there were pictures of his sister on his phone. As long as showing someone didn't scare them, it was something that could be used for those asking to get a clear image of what she looked like, much better than Arthur doing his best to explain her appearance. 

There were a few random things in his satchel. For instance, Arthur had more pens in there than what he had thought. His journal was in alright condition. The cover had gotten dirty from having been thrown to the ground, but the binding was alright and the book itself had not gotten wet. The grass had been rather dry. Had it been dewy from the morning or wet from a previous day of rain, he was sure that his journal would not have made it in its entirety, especially with how his things had been thrown about without a care.

It was the moment of truth though. Arthur pulled out the fabric deck bags. Just like his journal, dirt painted them both. Dots of brown speckled parts of the bag with a soft forest design, and there was a large smear that ran across the red bag with hints of gold. Both had been gifts from Morgana, and while he wasn't pleased with her gifts being in this shape, the state of the bags mattered little compared to the state of the cards inside. 

Arthur took in his breath as he pulled out the first deck, his go to deck, the one that was homed in the red bag. Just a quick look gave Arthur hope. There was no dirt or damage that could easily be seen. He started to thumb through the cards and count them as he went. 

One. Two. Three. 

Arthur looked for any small damage as he went. As long as the deck was usable, it was alright. However, small damage, even if it didn't make a difference for a reading, would have disappointed him. 

Seventy-seven. Seventy-eight. 

Yes! They were all here. At least one of his two decks had surprised the brutish treatment of his possessions. His nightly daily draw would be able to continue on, and of course, he would have a deck with him to give him guidance if he needed any. 

Now it was time for him to check his other deck, the one that always felt grounded to him. Arthur held the deck in his hands and felt all around. No damage stuck out to him. There was nothing noticeable. Now it was time to count. The images of trees and woodland creatures past his fingers as he flipped through. They greeted him again as he recounted the deck. Thankfully, he had simply miscounted the first time. They were all here. Arthur had not one but two decks that would help him in need. 

Arthur put everything away before opening up his journal, having his pen at the ready, and then shuffling a deck. Arthur decided to go with the latter deck. He was feeling the most drawn to it for this particular reading, and it was also a bonus that the deck was already out and ready to be used. Arthur shuffled. He felt the cards as they slid across each other. He kept shuffling until the top card looked like it was the right one. Arthur was already in such an unknown world, so he decided to keep things simple. He came up with three questions while he was shuffling that he could ask the cards.

What will I find in Ealdor?

What should I be cautious about? 

What advice do you have?

As he was shuffling, a card flew out. It wasn't a simple error on his part of shuffling either. It was almost as if something had pulled the card out. Cards had flown out before, usually because of Arthur struggling to shuffle perfectly at that moment, but none had ever come out with such force before. Arthur, surprised, found himself turning to the crow, who had perched itself on the bedpost. The bird tilted its head at him. It didn't seem to know why this had happened either. Could this happen to be because of the magic in this world? Arthur wasn't sure. He shook his head and focused on the reading. The card that flew out was added as a fourth card. Arthur flipped the first card over. 

Three of Cups.

In Ealdor, Arthur would find friendship. Others would gather with him. This was also a card of celebration. However, it wasn't something that was long-lasting. Arthur knew that this did not mean that he would celebrate finding his sister. He had a feeling that this didn't relate to her at all. Whoever Lancelot would introduce him to, Arthur felt with this card, that they were meant to become friends with him. He also felt that they would bring him out to do something. They would raise their glasses up together and toast.

Ten of Pentacles.

This card puzzled him. The first card read so easily for him. In fact, it seemed to read more easily for him than any other reading that he could remember doing. However, this card could only be described as the exact opposite. Though he knew that this was definitely the correct card for this position, and he could feel like no other card could answer this question, what exactly it was answering perplexed him. He could only go off of what he knew of the card. Legacies came to his mind. Was the card telling him to be cautious about the matters that run deep? Did this have something to do with the rebellion? Arthur wasn't sure. He moved on.

Strength.

Simple advice to give, but it was welcome advice. Arthur could feel himself sitting up straighter. Yes, courage was something that he needed to have. He needed to be courage. Arthur wasn't just in the unknown at the moment. This was going to just get further from his home as he went forward. No matter what he found, not just in Ealdor but beyond, he was going to have to face. There would be no running. He couldn't run from finding his sister, and Arthur had a feeling that there was even more that he couldn't run from. Tomorrow wasn't going to be the day that required the most strength. It was just the start. Well, today was the start of it all, but now that he wasn't tied up in a forest and at least had an idea of what was going on, now it could really begin.

The Magician.  

Generally, The Magician would come up as advice when Arthur pulled it. It would take him to make what he wanted a reality. Creativity wasn't something that everyone thought of when The Magician was pulled. However, for Arthur, sometimes it would even come up if there was going to be something creative happening the next day or Arthur needed to be creative about something. Sometimes this came up as what most people think of when they hear "creative," but oftentimes creative thinking was the advice that he received, to be resourceful. 

Arthur received none of that as he laid his eyes upon the card. His eyes focused right on the figure in the image. This was one of the cards that did have a person or at least, a figure that appeared human. Arthur's gaze did not go to the tools at the figure's disposal. They did not go to the magic that the figure was manifesting and putting out into the world. No, his eyes stayed on the figure. Arthur didn't know who this person was, but he could feel that this was a person, and whoever this person was, they were important. After all, this was the card that had been pulled out of the deck in such an intense manner. There was also something about this card that Arthur quite couldn't put his finger on. There was an air of power with it, but there was also a feeling of innocence. One after another, Arthur started to be hit with different emotions.

The card was put down and placed on top of the deck. Arthur wasn't able to keep looking at it. He put it away along with the other three cards and started to write down everything that he had felt. The entire thing took up more than a page. Generally, he was careful with how much space he used since the journal did have two purposes. However, this reading needed to be detailed. He needed to explain everything he felt, and of course, he had to write down the questions that the reading then brought. Arthur was starting to get too tired to ask the deck to explain further. Instead, he wrote down the question of the Ten of Pentacles, and he also wrote down the question of who was The Magician.

As he did this, his mind went to the magic-user that started all of this. Emrys. Arthur didn't know if he had anything to do with this. He was the reason Arthur was brought here. Supposedly, he had something on him that Emrys had used magic on. Of course, everything that Arthur had was his own. He wasn't sure what their spell may have detected. Either way, Emrys was a magic-user, a Magician, and he was apparently legendary in this world. Could he be The Magician? And most importantly could he be the key to finding Morgana?

Chapter Text

Though the group ate at the tavern the night before, it was decided it would be best if they got a move on. There hadn't been any signs that they were being watched with a suspicious gaze, but that didn't mean that there hadn't been any at all. Where they were heading, especially the trails that they would be taking, it would be easy to tell if they were being followed. Arthur was completely for this plan. After all, this was clearly not their first time doing this; Arthur had seen them at work with this just the previous night. Lancelot and Percival were careful, and that was apparent to Arthur. He trusted them. The bird trusted them as well, and that added to what Arthur was already feeling.

Unlike the previous day, Arthur was only riding behind Lancelot for maybe an hour. The group had cut through a section of trees and ended up at another village. Originally, they were going to pass it by. Arthur didn't see anything of note with it. It looked very similar to the last village. However, Lancelot spotted someone that he knew. Lancelot dismounted. Percival as well. Their chat was short, but it resulted in them buying a horse. What exactly was said was unknown to Arthur. He found himself too easily distracted by everything else such as watching the crow that had just landed on his shoulder and the sounds that the horses made as they stood there waiting. Mornings were not the best time for Arthur. It took him a while to wake up, and though he had learned to make himself get up to not annoy his father as a boy, Arthur never did become a morning person. It also didn't help that he had a moment to appreciate not just the horses that Lancelot and Percival rode but also the horse that he was going to be riding the rest of the way to Ealdor. He had done a bit of horse riding when he was younger, and it was something that he had missed. 

As they continued, Arthur understood why they had to stop somewhere. Just within the hour, it would have been dark. However, they still had a few hours to go before they reached their destination. They rode along paths that didn't appear to get much use, some patches of grass were growing through, and sometimes, just like between the two villages, they rode off the path. Generally, they went in the same direction. Arthur could tell which way that they were going. Though he still had no idea what the place would be like. Ealdor wouldn't be like either of the villages, right? It had to be bigger, but was it going to just be a bigger version or something completely different?

Arthur thought about the possibilities as they continued on. The ride was mostly silent, but luckily, the nature around them had enough conversations to fill Arthur's ears. He listened to the various birds. He listened to the whistle of the wind. He listened to each step of his mount. It was quite calming, and luckily, he had woken up enough to not fall asleep on the way there. It would have been embarrassing and painful to fall off his horse, having drifted to sleep from the relaxing melody of nature.

While off the road a few hours in, Lancelot, the one that was in the front of their little party, slowed down to a stop. Arthur looked around, but he didn't spot anything out of the ordinary. The birds continued to chirp, and he didn't notice any noises that might have indicated that they weren't their only companions on the journey there. Arthur also had that feeling again. He knew that the crow that flew overhead would warn them if they were being followed or if there was an ambush up ahead. He assumed things such as ambushes would be a possibility going off of the stories that he had read. It was a possibility, correct?

There was no sign that anything was amiss, but anxiety didn't start to grip Arthur because once Lancelot dismounted, he simply went over to the stream that they had been following and began to refill his waterskin. Percival followed, and Arthur was left as the only one still on his horse. It didn't seem that they were going to be immediately leaving after this. After all, they were taking their time and starting to talk amongst themselves. Surely, that meant that they were staying for a minute. 

Arthur decided to dismount. He didn't follow their lead at first. After all, he didn't have a waterskin. However, he then remembered that he did have something that he could use. He had forgotten that he had a thermos that he used for tea inside of his satchel. It was part of the "random things" that Arthur had really only glanced at when he was checking the contents of his bag. Just like with other things, even though Arthur had seen it the night before didn't mean that he was going to remember that it was there the next day. There wasn't anything in the thermos, so there was no need to dump the contents. He was able to join the duo over by the stream.

As the thermos started to be filled, Percival looked over at it. "What's that?" he asked. 

Arthur held out the thermos, including the cup that served as the lid and the middle section that was more or less the actual lid. "It's called a 'thermos'. I usually use it to take tea with me to different places. It keeps hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold."

Percival seemed amazed by this. He closed his waterskin before setting it down. Arthur let him hold the shiny red thermos. At this point, Lancelot had started to pay attention as well. Arthur could understand the interest. The time of this place appeared to be hundreds of years behind his own. Arthur showed the two of them how to use it and demonstrated the use of the cup part. 

"And it's keeping things the same temperature with magic?"

Arthur shook his head. "No magic. Magic doesn't work like that in my world."

"Huh."

Talking about how magic actually worked there was something that he could have talked about continuously, but luckily, he didn't start talking their ear off due to Lancelot offering apples. Just hearing the word made his stomach growl. Not having eaten breakfast before leaving was coming to Arthur's attention now. He gladly accepted and started to munch on the first one. The apple looked slightly different than the usual green and red ones that he grew up knowing. It had a pink tint to it, and Arthur found it to be quite pretty. The taste of it was more tart than he was used to as well, however it was equally sweet. Having had nothing to eat yet, the flavor stood out more than what it normally would.  Arthur was too preoccupied with eating to even think about the short conversation that he had been taking part in. Though, he wasn't too preoccupied to offer an apple to his horse. Thinking about it, he hadn't asked what the name of the horse was. Perhaps, he would just think of her as "Apple" until they parted ways in Ealdor. He wasn't the best at names, but it would do the job.

While the break wasn't very long, it was needed. It felt good to sit under a tree while savoring the flavor of a much needed snack. Arthur hoped that either they were getting close or that there would be a hot meal when they arrived. Both felt a bit too hopeful. 

When everyone was ready, they continued on their journey. Lancelot led them as they followed the stream. Eventually, though, they crossed the stream and seemed to take, what felt like to Arthur, a sharp turn. Arthur had no idea why this turn was taken. He had thought they were going to continue to follow this particular stream. That was the direction that it felt like they had been going towards this entire time. Plus, a stream may lead to a larger body of water. A rebellion and refuge would do good being by a source of water due to the amount of people. Away from this stream, they went. Where were they heading now?

The trees started to grow more dense. Though it felt more cramped, the horses were able to get through easily. That could be said especially with Lancelot's horse. Arthur assumed the same could be said about Percival, who was behind Arthur. The duo and their mounts clearly knew where they were heading even if it felt even more off the path than they already were.

At some point, Arthur thought that he felt something. It was around the same point that the crow flew down and landed on his shoulder. From that point, it continued to stay there. Eventually, the trees started to thin out more, and it was at this moment that Arthur started to see where they were heading. Due to the large amount of tall trees, Arthur hadn't realized how close they were drawing to the mountains. He hadn't thought that their destination was located by the mountains, but as they drew closer, Arthur started to hear the sound of water running from a nearby stream or perhaps river. Maybe this secluded location was a good location. Though, Arthur wasn't equipped with the knowledge to fully understand if that was true. He did think about it though as they became closer and closer to the mountains. The location wasn't a spot that one would easily find. That gave it points. However, Arthur wondered how close it was up to the mountains. If attacked, an escape plan would be good. Being up against mountains means that they wouldn't be able to have an army attack them from the front, but how were the escape routes? Arthur continued to ponder this.

It was a beautiful sight, the mountain range. Arthur had noticed it before when it was visible in the long distance, and though now close, it was still quite pretty. However, Arthur still wasn't seeing any sign of a village, let alone a town. Were there caves in the mountains? Was that where the rebels were located? A series of intersecting caves would make an interesting hideout. Arthur wasn't sure about refugees in such a hideout, but he had read at least one book that he could think of off the top of his head that had rebels hiding inside such a place. 

Arthur felt it again. It was like walking through a thin wall that was made of polyfill. However, he was able to walk through it just fine. It was more so the sensation that covered his skin as he walked through, what felt like, a barrier of some sort. The feeling was so strange that Arthur didn't immediately notice that the mountain range in front of him looked different now. 

No longer did it look like one would have to use climbing equipment to get up the mountain. A trail marked by powder blue lanterns had become visible. The path wasn't too steep for the horses, and so they continued on horseback up the trail. Arthur easily put together that the feeling of polyester fiberfill must have been some kind of spell that hid this trail from prying eyes. The feeling before that most likely caused the crow to come down and make itself comfortable on Arthur's shoulder, where it was continuing to sit. What exactly that spell did was a mystery to Arthur. Perhaps it had something to do with the spell hiding the trail? Maybe it alerted those in Ealdor? 

These two spells weren't the only ones. Arthur could feel the next one as they passed through it. It was like foam was covering his skin for that brief second. This happened about halfway up the mountain. Before this, Arthur didn't know exactly what to look for. Every place that he looked, he didn't notice anything. It was more and more stone. Now, a beautiful image started to appear in front of his eyes.

Cascading over the mountainside was the source of the water that he had heard below, but this stream wasn't the only. There were at least four falls that Arthur could see. Three of them were on the smaller side, but the one that Arthur realized was closer could only be described as a river. It was a majestic sight as the light shone down on them. A rainbow could be seen as the light reflected off the spray of water as a medium-sized rock mass split the river in two on the way down.

Apple stopped, and Arthur realized that he was so taken in that he hadn't realized that he had her stop. Arthur wasn't being left behind though. Only a few meters away was Lancelot and Percival looking back at him. They had smirks on their faces. Arthur wouldn't have been surprised at all if they told him that this was a common occurrence for the souls that found themselves seeing their new home for the first time. Easily imagining that that was most likely the case, Arthur found no embarrassment from the situation, and actually, Lancelot was motioning his head towards the sight that Arthur hadn't noticed.

After catching up that short distance, Arthur was able to see it clearly. There were no caves for the people to stay in. There was no need for them. After all, Ealdor was already a full-fledged town. Arthur had thought that the waterfalls were gorgeous, but when combined with the structures before him, it was all breathtaking. On the levels of the mountain, which must have had some carving to have even roads, were stone buildings. They looked so old, and Arthur couldn't think off the top of his head what they made him think of from his world. The closest could only be some fantastical paintings that he had not had the chance to lay eyes on. The buildings had roofs that were a worn-out red, but that wasn't all the buildings have. 

No matter the size or shape, whether the building was a simple house or a tall tower, it was covered in greenery. Vines climbed along the walls of every stone surface that Arthur could see. There was an arched bridge that went across the river into the town, or rather small city, and it was not spared by the attack of foliage. The edges of the bridge on both sides were blending into the bushes and trees that littered not just the entrance but, what appeared to be, the entire city. At the end of the bridge, there were statues of two different figures that Arthur had no way of knowing who they were. However, he did easily recognize the creature that the one held and the other had on his shoulders, small dragons. Dragons! Dragons existed in this world! Though clearly a world with fire-breathing beasts was a terrifying concept, it was still exciting. Of course, seeing them included with these figures that must have had some importance to the history of this city put any worry that he may have had at ease. Of course, even the dragons had bits of what looked like moss on them. 

The last thing that Arthur noticed before they had even begun to cross the bridge was the eye-catching large structure that rested at the top of the city. It was like a castle, and it probably most likely was a castle. However, though it had the towers that one would expect of a castle, the room was a dome instead that was more of a worn-out orange. There was a gleam off of the edge of where the dome connected with the rest of the castle-like building. Arthur wondered if it was gold or perhaps some other kind of shiny mineral. He could just imagine how beautiful it must have looked back in its glory. A shine of gold and a warm orange, it must have looked like the sun itself in the sky. 

While Arthur would have been quite satisfied with even just gazing upon Ealdor, he could not. After all, he was here to enter the city, not just look upon it. The group crossed the bridge and passed through the open gate. Arthur looked above as they passed under it. It was so tall! Of course, everything was so much taller now that he was inside the walls. The streets, like the bridge and the houses that lined it, were made of stone. It was worn-down and no longer looked new, but it was still just as sturdy. Arthur didn't spot any cracks as they continued. Although, Arthur wasn't really paying attention to it. Arthur was too preoccupied with making sure that he didn't stir Apple away from Lancelot and Percival while also examining the rest of the living situation of the people of Ealdor. 

At first, Arthur didn't see many people. Though there were plenty of houses, they didn't seem to have anyone living in them. Arthur only saw the guards that were stationed at the entrance. The houses here seemed to be abandoned though kept in decent shape for any that may need to live there. Compared to the buildings that Arthur could see ahead, these ones were the most overgrown. Arthur did also notice one of the paths along the main street that they rode on seemed to go towards even more greenery and a section that didn't appear to have many houses, if any at all. 

As they crossed a small bridge, more people were around and living their lives. Arthur couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed the city and the waterfalls that lay on the other side of it. Perhaps the illusion hadn't completely dispersed. Surely, that had to be why because now that Arthur was inside, going over a second bridge, and seeing that there was yet another to come if they were going to the top layer, Arthur couldn't understand how he could have possibly missed any of it. 

All around, the people here were busy. They carried baskets and leather bags, and Arthur could see that there were stalls around with various different merchandise. Adults and even small children entered and exited different buildings. They appeared to be stores. In the center of this circular area, anyone could clearly see that this was a market area. Before still forward, he was glad to notice that the stones beneath Apple were colored and created a pattern. Right as they left the area, Arthur looked back to get an idea of how it looked, and from what he could see, it looked like the pattern created an image of a desaturated red dragon. 

Were they headed to the castle? Closer, they drew to the top of Ealdor. They continued to pass more houses and some larger buildings as well that Arthur wasn't sure what they were. Ideas of what they could be entered his mind. It kept his thoughts busy as they continued, what seemed, forever forward and up. One building, Arthur imagined, could be an event center. Another, he had hoped, was some sort of library. There was no reason behind his musings, but the musings continued. 

Of course, Arthur just couldn't bring himself to think that he was important enough to go to the castle of all places. The fact that he had been captured due to a search for Emrys escaped his mind. Arthur just didn't feel important enough to truly consider it a possibility. However, he was proven wrong because that was exactly their destination.

Before entering, the group, of course, had to dismount and leave their horses at the stable nearby. There was no one to take the horses for them. They simply did it themselves. It was most likely a good-bye for Arthur and Apple. He had only known her for the hours that they had spent together that day, but Arthur was sad to have to leave the white mare. Could she be feeling the same way? Apple knocked her head gently against Arthur's own. The action caused him to chuckle. Yes, he was going to miss her. Perhaps he would be able to ask to ride her if he had to leave Ealdor, and although it was more safe here than anywhere else for him, he knew that there was a chance that he would have to leave. After all, he couldn't forget his mission. If Morgana wasn't here, he had to make sure that he would be able to find her. As a good-bye present, Arthur snuck Apple another pink apple. 

It was time to enter the castle. Arthur quietly took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. What would he find inside? Was he to meet this Emrys? And most importantly, did they have any idea where his sister was?

Chapter Text

The place looked just as big as it did inside as it did outside. Arthur couldn't help but soak in the place as he followed behind Lancelot and Percival. It wasn't the easiest task. There was one point where Arthur had to stop himself from walking down one of the other corridors. Luckily, he noticed before he really moved away from the duo. Just thinking about the embarrassment of that was enough. If only Arthur didn't have to worry about the thoughts of others. He grew up trying to impress his father before eventually giving up. However, those early years really cemented the idea in his head that he needed to be worthy to be with others and to do pretty much everything he wanted to do if it involved other people. No one could deny that Arthur was the hardest worker, but the cost for such work was Arthur's mental health. He knew that this wasn't the only thing that caused issues with his self-esteem, but there was just something about Uther Pendragon that just seemed to push it to the next level.

On the walls were various works of art. These were all in the forms of tapestries, and almost all of them depicted dragons. Lancelot had told him that the Dragonlords had lived here before, and though he didn't know what their connection to dragons was, he could tell that there had to be something more than just them equating themselves to the creatures. This level of artwork told Arthur that there was definitely something much more. 

Besides the art, Arthur just found the whole structure to be quite beautiful. Unlike the stone around the small city, including the outside of the castle, there was no greenery that had snuck its way inside. However, there were still plants. Wherever there was a window, there was often some form of plant on top of a pedestal. They varied by size and color as did the vases that they sat in. Arthur wondered if this was decoration for just the entrance and to wherever he was being taken or if this was something that repeated throughout the whole castle. Arthur liked to think that the whole castle had flowers, evergreens, and ivy, sprinkled across the hallways of the entire castle. 

Arthur didn't get to walk nearly enough for his liking once they came through a large open doorway. Again, Arthur ended up taking in the sight before he took in what was in the room. The doors were just so much more than simple doors. They were decorated with engravings of, surprisingly, not dragons but something else. He couldn't really take in what it was. It seemed to have been a scene of some sort with a figure wearing a crown. Alas, the meaning was lost on him as he had to continue forward.  

However, Arthur couldn't stop being surprised by the sheer beauty of the place. In the center of the room that they were in stood a rather large circular table. The center of the table bore the image of a dragon that was styled like a crest would be. At least, that's what Arthur thought. Around the table were wooden chairs, and just as the table seemed to show equality, there was no one chair that was larger than the rest. They were all nearly identical copies of each other. Only the slight differences of handmade objects and the pattern on the wood could show which one was which. 

The chairs were not the only thing around the table either. In fact, there were currently people occupying a few of them. These individuals included an older gentleman with almost shoulder-length white hair, a knight with curly hair and beard, a beautiful woman with braided brown hair and a regal appearance to her, and another rather pretty woman that also had dark hair and was dark-skinned. Though the latter dressed in a more simple dress, she still gave off the presence of authority. Not all of the chairs were filled, and as far as Arthur knew, they probably also had people that were meant to sit in them. However, at this time, Arthur was only going to be introduced to the ones that happened to be here. 

"Lancelot, Percival, you've returned," the curly-haired knight said as the trio approached. He stood up as he greeted them. However, the others remained seated.

While looking over each of the others more closely, Arthur noticed a slight smile appear on the freckled face of the woman that wore a more simple dress, a lavender one with flowers embroidered across the middle and along the sleeves. While the corners of her lips were only ever so slightly lifted, the smile could be seen in her brown eyes. Arthur had the feeling that he was seeing something private. The details and reason of this was unknown to Arthur, but he quickly looked away and back to the entire picture that was before him.

"I take it that this is the young gentleman that Merlin was talking about." This time it was the oldest of the group. With an eyebrow raised, he seemed to be evaluating Arthur. He took stock of him as he eyed him up and down. Arthur tried to ignore this as he fidgeted with his ring. There was no point getting uncomfortable about this since he had no idea what would impress the older man. Arthur didn't have anything to prove, and he held on to that.

As expected, Lancelot was the one that answered. "Yes, this is Arthur. I assume that Merlin gave you all of the details."

"He spoke of a bird that informed him that there was a man from another world, and that that man had been abducted due to an unknown connection with Emrys. I must admit that I found the story to be quite unusual, even the way that Merlin came to hear of it. A talking bird, I had never heard of such a thing before."

"We wouldn't have either had it not been for Merlin there since he was able to understand him. Where is Merlin anyway? I'm sure he would want to hear of Arthur's arrival."

"Merlin is in his tower. He told me that he didn't want to be disturbed."

"Well, surely he wouldn't mind someone going up there to inform him that Arthur is now here."

"He said that he didn't want to be disturbed, and I believe that we should stick to his wishes."

There was something that appeared on Lancelot's face. Percival's face seemed to mirror it as well, but it wasn't as pronounced. Though, it didn't stick out too much even on Lancelot's. If Arthur had to guess, he would say that it looked like frustration. Only a few sentences had gone back and forth between the two of them, but it seemed as if a whole conversation had. 

"While we wait for Merlin, why don't we get to know a little bit about Arthur," the freckled woman said and broke the tension that had started to build for some reason. Lancelot gave her a nod. She turned to Arthur now and gave him a smile. It was a rather sweet smile, and although she had a presence that suggested that she could command followers, which could be the case given that she has a seat at this table, Arthur felt that she was also quite sweet. After all, her smile had such a warmth to it, and any anxiety of his that was starting to build up was now fading away. Arthur had only met a handful of people that had such an air about them, and he had not met one that had the counterpart in charge. "I'm Lady Guinevere, I'm the appointed representative of the refugees of Ealdor. This is Sir Leon, commander of our knights, Lady Mithian of the Forest Folk of Nemeth, and Gaius, our physician and a member of the Order of Healing Hands."

It all sounded very impressive, and Arthur thought that it sounded much more interesting and important than himself. However, he then remembered that, oh yes, he was from a completely different world than them. Arthur talked a bit about his world. He made sure to not go into too much detail. He knew that if given the chance, he probably would have talked too much and most likely confused them. After all, his was a world of technology. Though magic seemed to be different here, it was at least something that he could understand even if it may be more like the fantasy books that he had read. It was one thing to read a fantasy, perhaps even a medieval fantasy, in his world, but what would a science fiction story be like in this world? 

At any rate, it was probably best to go more into detail at a later point. Though he was introducing himself, explaining the situation at hand, and giving a little bit of information about Earth, those that had been standing, including himself, remained standing. Arthur wasn't sure if he should sit or if he needed to stay more vague. He didn't know if the four in front of him were busy, going to be busy, or if Lancelot and Percival had something else to do now that they were back. Arthur stuck with being vague for now.

"You said that your sister had gone missing before all of this happened?" Lady Mithian questioned. "Do you believe that the same may have happened to her?"

"I do," Arthur answered.

"We have not received any reports that have stuck out, but I'm sure that Lady Guinevere could ask those in the town if they have seen or heard anything of the sort."

"Of course," Lady Guinevere agreed. "I'll gladly ask around. I often go down and ask the people if there is anything that they need. We can discuss this at length later. I'm sure that you're hungry after the trip here."

"I must admit that I had forgotten about that, but yes, I am."

"Lancelot and Percival can show you around and to a spare room and then to the dinning hall. I believe there are a few over in the west wing."

"The rooms by Merlin's tower have remained empty," Gaius says. "I assume you are talking about those ones. Are you sure that you would want Arthur to be staying over there?"

"I'm sure that Merlin wouldn't mind. He's up in his tower, and those rooms are eventually going to be filled. They are out of the way, but perhaps, Arthur would prefer that? What do you think?"

A room away from everyone else did sound nice. Arthur didn't know how gossip exactly went here, but every place had gossip. He didn't know exactly why he of all people ended up in this situation besides what the men had said to him, and even with that, Arthur didn't know how that could be. It would be nice for Arthur to be able to get away and relax in his room without being bothered. "That sounds alright."

"Then it's settled."

Lancelot nodded. "Right this way."

As one would expect from having just seen the outside, the entire place seemed to go on forever. To Arthur's delight, the various plants continued to be spread out along the halls. Arthur was shown a few different areas. There was an armory which happened to be on the way there. If anything was to happen, and he was in need of a weapon. That would be the place to go. Though, everyone was confident that the wards would be upheld. They would have to be found first, and then it would take more than one High Priestess to bring it down. Arthur came to the conclusion with that information that the wards must have been Emrys's. He asked, and was answered.

"Yes, he's responsible for ensuring our safety. Though we have some other sorcerers here, the High Priestesses and their main enforcers are just too powerful for any of the others here to be able to ward the entirety of Ealdor properly."

"Wait. Is Emrys the only one responsible? There are no others that have lent their hand?"

"No, the wards were created before most of the refugees came. Those that came later either couldn't, didn't see how it would really add anything to them, or were denied. I'm not sure about the process of putting them up. It seemed that it might have taken a while."

That was something that Arthur could easily understand. He tried to keep his mouth from falling open from the thought of it. Was casting a ward anything like he was used to? For Emrys to be able to have the entire place protected with not just one ward but multiple and have the place be camouflaged... It was just incredible. There was a reason why it was best to ward smaller locations than bigger ones, at least in his own world. The larger a protective circle, for instance, is, the more energy it would take in order to be able to be effective. It was hard for Arthur to imagine someone that could keep such magic going or even cast it without issue to begin with. The only image popping up was someone that looked like Gandalf. Though, perhaps that also had to do with the world that he now found himself in.

Arthur continued following alongside Lancelot and Percival. The crow stayed perched on his shoulder the entire time. There was effort to remember the different areas, but Arthur knew that he wouldn't be able to. He found the entire place too distracting. If anything, it would probably have been better to have gotten a map that he could keep on him until he had been here for a while. Alas, Arthur wasn't even sure if they made maps of the place. He didn't bother asking. Instead, he just tried to focus. 

Telling someone just to focus isn't much of a help at all, but Arthur lucked out by noticing one of the tapestries that decorated the wall of the hall that he was shown was his. While the majority of the artistry around were dragons, this one featured another creature as well. A sleeping red dragon curled around in a circle, and in the center was a crow that reminded Arthur of the one that was with him now. That wouldn't be hard to find. After all, he already knew that the crow was going to be going with him wherever he went. 

The location of his room in the hall was filed into Arthur's memory. He didn't bother ending the room just yet though. At this point during the tour, Arthur was completely aware of the growling of his stomach. Looking around his room could wait. It wasn't like he had anything to place in there. Arthur only had his satchel with him. With a look of that, Lancelot informed him that there would be someone coming in the morning to drop off spare clothes for him. Then they went on to the dining hall.

Towards the center of the castle laid the dining hall. Arthur could tell that they were drawing close. When they reached the long hall where the doorless entrance was, the scent of various different foods danced underneath Arthur's nose. Each one was a step to a familiar, yet foreign, song. It entranced Arthur and pulled him closer. He stayed behind Lancelot and Percival still, but if they had vanished, there would be no effort to bring Arthur to the dining hall. With the scent this strong, Arthur believed that the kitchens must be close as well. Though, he also knew that that made sense if the dining hall was originally a dining hall and not a room that was repurposed for the amount of people that it would need to seat.

Under the arc, they went, and the sight caused Arthur's stomach to growl rather loudly. Luckily for him, they weren't the only ones inside. There were quite a few groups of knights that were sitting and chatting while enjoying their meal. There were others that sat just as the knights did with plates of food. The clothes that they wore were rather simple, and considering the kind of world this was, Arthur wondered if they were servants or perhaps apprentices of some sort. However, there was no way for him to be sure. They might just be workers instead of "servants". After all, this may have been a rather grand castle, but it was also a place for refugees. 

Arthur's eyes landed on the set-up for the assorted meats and fruits. All of it sat on a series of beautiful dining room tables. Each one held a different type of food, and on the ends of this row were round tables that had plates and utensils placed on them. The trio started at one end of the line and started to make their way down. Arthur was surprised to see how much there was to choose from. After all, there was so much; Arthur couldn't imagine it all being eaten any time soon. It was all at the side of the room. It wasn't until Arthur's hand went to reach for one of the types of cheese did he realize that the temperature drastically dropped. Of course, it now all made sense. Make the tables open refrigerators with magic to make the food last longer. Not all the tables were kept cold either. There was a table with two pots of stew, and though they sat on wood, steam rose from inside in a way that food only does when it is fresh off the stove or is still cooking. Arthur thought the entire thing was wondrous. What other forms of magic did people do to make their lives easier here? 

Though the selection was quite impressive, Arthur decided to not overdo it. While he made sure to fill his plate, he refrained from grabbing a second or stacking food on top of each other. It was rather tempting though. Instead, Arthur went with  cooked carrots, boiled potatoes, pickled fish, perhaps a herring, what looked just like a seasoned chicken breast, and a few pickled eggs. After sitting, the knights, especially Percival, dug right in, and so, Arthur did as well. Tasting everything was a joy. Arthur hadn't been expecting much given that this was, again, a place for refugees, but they clearly had more than a simple farm to keep everyone fed. Everything was seasoned, and there was care put into how the food entertained the tongue. Arthur could only assume that magic had something to do with this as well along with talented cooks.

Arthur was so focused on eating that he didn't notice that there were two individuals approaching him from behind. The sudden feeling of someone ruffling his hair caused him to drop his fork and quickly turn around. However, the hand didn't retreat. If anything, the man, which Arthur could now see, was messing up his hair even more while laughing. Seeing that this wasn't going to end anytime soon, Arthur raised his own hands up and swatted the unwanted one away before trying to get his hair to lay flat again. The grin on the man's face only seemed to grow wider.

"Who's the princess?" he asked over Arthur's head. Realizing that he must be talking to Lancelot and Percival, Arthur glanced their way. It was evident on their face that they knew this individual especially as Percival was holding back a chuckle.

"Arthur," the "princess" answered himself, "and I'm not a princess."

"Eh, I think I'll stick to 'princess'."

"Arthur," Lancelot said, "this is Gwaine and Elyan. Fellow knights and friends."

Knights? Arthur couldn't see the man in front of him as a knight. There didn't seem to be anything knightly about him. The only thing that resembled Lancelot and Percival was the fact that he, too, was wearing chainmail. Without it, Arthur thought that this Gwaine looked more like a man that he would have seen in a pub, and though he was trying not to think about it, Gwaine would have been the man at the pub that Arthur would have been secretly crushing on the entire time he was there. There was no denying that Gwaine was just as handsome as Lancelot and Percival. Was attractiveness a requirement for knighthood in this world? Or was it just Arthur's luck that every knight that he's run into, including the one at the round table, was good-looking. 

Gwaine had a look that made Arthur think of a dashing rogue. His brown hair went past his ears, and the man had a beard. He held himself in a way that gave off confidence, and either he was flirting with Arthur by calling him a princess or Gwaine just came off as flirting to everyone. Arthur wouldn't have been surprised by the latter. He had that kind of air about him.

Next to him was the man that Arthur assumed was Elyan. Again, why were the knights for Ealdor so attractive? Unlike Gwaine, Elyan didn't come off so much like a dashing rogue. Though, his presence did seem to have a bit of that. However, Arthur chalked that up to him standing right next to said "dashing rogue" and being the only one that wasn't prepared for a sudden attack. Elyan wore no chainmail. Instead, he wore a dark vest, a light grey tunic, and a cowl. His hair was short just like Percival's,  and his skin was darker than Lady Guinevere's. His eyes were a dark and deep brown.

Both Gwaine and Elyan sat down at their table with the plate of food that they had brought with them. Gwaine took the seat right next to Arthur while Elyan took the seat next to him. Everyone was happy to see each other from what Arthur could tell. Of course, he couldn't imagine why they wouldn't be. 

"So, to my surprise, I saw Merlin coming back from his trip without either of his assigned knights with him," Gwaine started. "I thought to myself, 'well, surely nothing had happened to them. Lancelot and Percival are two of the best knights that we have. There must have been something else that they needed to do.' Then sure enough, I start hearing about Merlin sending the two of you off to fetch someone, or rather save their arse, and bring them back to Ealdor. I knew this to be true once I heard that you'd returned with a strapping blond. So, what exactly happened while you were out there." He paused. "And why does the princess have a strange looking crow with him?"

"Not a princess," Arthur muttered before Lancelot and Percival started to answer.

"The crow was actually the reason why we knew that Arthur was in danger. Merlin wasn't sure why exactly, but he was able to understand what the crow was saying. Told us to follow him and that Arthur was in danger. He also told us that Arthur had been kidnapped due to Emrys. At least, that was what the kidnappers were saying that the crow picked up."

"This man had something to do with Emrys? Granted, I'm not entirely surprised. I knew he had it in him-"

"No, in relation to his magic."

Arthur still didn't even know who exactly this 'Emrys' was, but he still found himself blushing.

"Of course. Though, that won't be the case forever. If I can help it, it'll eventually be the other."

"Anyway, the men that had kidnapped him had believed that he had been in contact with his magic. Arthur confirmed to us that that had been what they were saying. Though, he also doesn't know why that would be the case. He didn't know who Emrys was, the actual man, the rebellion, or the legend."

"What kind of sheltered life did he lead to not have heard the legend? That's a classic children's bedtime story. You all heard it when you were little, right?"

"Our father told both Gwen and I when we were little," Elyan answered.

Percival nodded his head, but then spoke, "Well, that's the interesting part though. Arthur couldn't have because he's not from our world."

That caused Gwaine to raise his eyebrow right at Arthur. "And what does that mean exactly? I've heard the rumors of other continents beyond the mountains and sea. Are you from one of them?"

Arthur shook his head. How many times would he have to repeat this? Oh well. It came with the strange nature of his being here. "No, I'm from a completely different world. I'm not sure how it happened. I was in the woods behind my childhood home looking for my sister when they caught me off guard and overpowered me. I was knocked out, and the next thing I knew, it was a completely different season than where I was."

"That's quite strange, and can you confirm this?"

Lancelot cut in. "Merlin had said to believe whatever the crow was saying, and the crow said just that."

"Well if Merlin believes it to be true, I guess it's true. He wouldn't risk the safety of everyone here to bring a random person here. He knows the lengths that the High Priestesses would go to to try to stop us. So, if you're from a completely different world, then tell us about it." Gwaine propped his elbow on the table and rested his head on the table. He began eating his meal, starting with an apple, with his free hand and just waited for Arthur to begin.

"Well, the season is different. Time probably either runs differently, or perhaps, we're in a different hemisphere." Gwaine seemed to be lost. "Or magic? I don't really know. Essentially, it was autumn where I was, and now it looks like spring."

"That it is."

"That is the other thing. Magic is much more dominant here than my own world."

"How do you mean?" Elyan asked.

"Well, there is magic in my world, but it can't do all that it can here. At least, no one is able to, for instance, change the temperature of a table to keep the food on it cold. Most of the magic that is done is quite simple, and most people don't even believe in magic."

"Don't believe in magic!" Gwaine laughed. "And how exactly do they keep their food cold then?"

Arthur glanced away for a second. He wasn't sure how detailed he should go. It wasn't just that they probably wouldn't understand him. It was just that, for instance showing his phone... he wasn't sure what kind of reaction that would get. Sure, magic was able to do things that technology did in his, but how exactly would someone from a place where magic replaced with technology react? 

"Well, I'm not sure exactly how it works. My field of work didn't have anything to do with refrigerators. We use a different kind of power source, and they are basically boxes that are able to keep food cold if placed inside."

"What kind of power source?" Lancelot questioned. He, too, was curious.

"Electricity."

"Like, lightning?" Gwaine chuckled. "How exactly did your people figure that out? Did someone decide to fly a kite up there in the middle of a storm?"

"Well... Wait. How do you lot know about electricity."

"True, we don't have people crazy enough to try something like that," Elyan answered, "but sorcerers are able to harness lightning. It's not common, but I've seen it done. Magic is just far better than for anything to have been done with electricity properly."

Arthur could understand that. Why create a light bulb when a spell could light a torch whenever it was wanted or keep the torch from never going out? It wouldn't have surprised him if that was something that was common or at least done in this world. They already had refrigeration down.

"So, you're from a world of electricity instead of magic."

"Yes."

"Well, I guess anything is possible when it comes to other worlds."

Though Arthur tried to stay vague, the knights continue to ask him questions about the world. They didn't stop there, though, as they started to ask him questions about his life as well. Arthur really tried to keep those ones vague, but he did go into more detail about his sister. The more people that knew, the better. They all agreed that if they saw anyone fitting that description that was going by the name "Morgana", they would come and grab him, no matter what he was in the middle of. An interrupted meal was nothing compared to the possibility of being reunited with his lost sister. 

With the subject of food, they ate everything that they had all grabbed rather fast. It surprised Arthur how quickly they were able to get through their plate while talking, but then he realized that they probably had other things to do. Eating while chatting could be accomplished quite quickly if one was used to it. Arthur wasn't used to the talking bit, but he managed to keep up without making a mess or making himself feel sick. 

It did turn out that this was their designated lunch time. It was just like a job back home. Gwaine was the only one that had to get back to work. It was Elyan's day off, and Arthur must not have been paying attention when Percival and Lancelot were told that they had the rest of the day off. However, the latter decided that, although he had the rest of the day to rest after having been out on a quest with Merlin, he would basically go back to work. Lancelot helped train the townspeople of Ealdor, whether they wanted to become a knight or just wanted to learn how to protect themselves. Because he was out, there were no classes with him. He didn't want them to go another day without a lesson. Though Arthur had only known Lancelot for two days at this point, he could tell that he was a dedicated person. 

Percival was also busy. He wasn't training or anything like that though. Instead, he had made plans with Elyan to go see a play with him if he was back by Elyan's day off. Though he only just came back on the exact day that Elyan had off, he came back with plenty of time before the play started. They didn't mind bringing another along with them, and so, Percival invited Arthur to join them. Arthur couldn't remember the last time he had seen a play, and if he had seen a play at all. Wasn't there one when he was in school? It didn't matter. Going to a play sounded entertaining, and it would give another way to understand this world and the people that lived in it. Arthur gladly accepted.

Chapter Text

Arthur found himself falling alongside Elyan and Percival after the group split up. They needed to stop at the latter's room before they left and went down to the second level of Ealdor. Basically, Percival didn't want to go looking as he did. He was still wearing the clothes that he wore when they had left, but not only that, he was still wearing his chainmail. He wanted to change into something comfortable that was also clean. Clean clothes sounded nice. There were times where Arthur would wear the same clothes for a second day, but he tried to avoid this. Percival suggested that he could look through Lancelot's clothes. He was sure that he wouldn't mind if Arthur borrowed a tunic. 

Although Arthur was still absorbing all of this, he found himself chatting away with Elyan and Percival. The conversations about Arthur's world were left in the dining hall, and instead, they just talked. Arthur started to learn about them as he shared about himself as well. He learned that Lady Guinevere was actually Elyan's sister. There was a time that they were separated due to Elyan trying to find out who he was in a world like this. It turned out that who they both really were led them both to Ealdor and to their current positions. He was sure that their parents would be proud of who Gwen, as he called her, became. Their parents had both passed, their mother when they were young and then their father about six years ago. Their father was only trying to protect them, but he didn't stand a chance against the High Priestesses and their followers. 

Percival told of a similar story. However, there was much more loss in his. It wasn't just his family that he lost. His whole village was burned to the ground. This was before Ealdor started to send out some of their knights to check on villages and gather refugees. His village was also further away, and so, Percival didn't hear about the rebellion and shelter until much later. Before he did, he had dedicated his life to revenge. He wanted the High Priestess to pay for what they had done. This shocked Arthur because Percival didn't seem like the type at all to have turned to such a life, but Percival did; it was all he could think about. 

Though, Percival couldn't do much. He put himself on the line and did quite a few reckless things, but he knew there was no point in facing them directly even if he could. Instead, Percival started to listen in the taverns and keep track of their henchmen. He timed his smaller attacks, and just hoped that he was doing enough harm. He held onto this. They needed to pay, and if they were unreachable, he would kill and stop all those that were; a scratch added to another scratch that would hopefully lead to even damage for blood to flow freely. It wasn't what they deserved, they deserved worse, but that was all that he had the power to do.

Blood filled his thoughts until he met Lancelot. Lancelot had heard of a large man causing a headache for at least some of the High Priestess's followers. One general in particular that was in charge of that area was starting to send out parties to attack the man. Luckily, Lancelot found him first. He told him all about the rebellion and Ealdor. Percival's hand had been red from the blood of his enemies, but Lancelot saw the good in him. He knew that Percival could be so much more than just what he found. He could see what he could be as he looked upon him. Without Lancelot, Percival was sure that he wouldn't be walking these halls, on his way to get ready to see a play. Lancelot opened his eyes to how he could use his strength to help others that had been damaged by the High Priestess just as he had been. Percival came to Ealdor and became a knight, and he knew that this was what he was meant to do. He was meant to help those around the town and save those that he could outside of it.

Percival's story had made the conversation turn, but Percival just gave a smile after and changed the subject. Though that day still haunted him, he didn't let the hate get to him anymore. Instead, he focused on the care and protection that he could give others.

The walk to the room seemed much longer due to the tale and other talk that they had before and after the story, but eventually, they did reach it. Half of the room was quite tidy while the other half of the room was a little on the messy side. Both Elyan and Percival got a laugh from Arthur's surprised face when he realized that it was the really clean side that was Percival's. Arthur had been sure that that side must have belonged to Lancelot, but it turned out that he misjudged. Of course, he did also have a different idea of who Percival probably was before he heard the story. At least, he more so learned that there was more to Percival; he was a person, and just like anybody, Percival had layers and depth.

He also had really nice muscles.

Arthur turned his head away. His height and thick arms were already enough to cause the blood to go to Arthur's cheeks, warming his face. He did not need to continue staring at the unit of a man in front of him. The blushing that he knew had spread across his face before and most likely spreading across his face at this moment was embarrassing enough. 

While turned, Arthur was handed a plain off-white tunic of Lancelot's. There was no hiding the smirk that was on Elyan's face as he gave the shirt to Arthur. Arthur, in turn, rolled his eyes and then couldn't help but give a small smile in return. The jumper that Arthur had been wearing was removed and then the white tee shirt underneath was replaced by the tunic. Then the jumper took back its place. Having had a shirt underneath it, it wasn't really dirty. Well, it did have some dirt on the back of it from when Arthur had been unconscious, but the majority of that was able to be brushed away. He didn't think so since he didn't notice. Percival was the one to point it out, and Elyan was the one to playfully wipe it off. Though Arthur hadn't been around either of them for long, especially Elyan, Arthur could already feel a great friendship forming with them.

Even with both being too attractive for their own good. 

There was a bit of time before the play began, and so, Percival and Elyan began to show Arthur around. Percival knew that Arthur hadn't really seen anything. He had seen the marketplace, but he hadn't experienced the marketplace. Plus, he hadn't seen any of the shops that had buildings either. It was time to give Arthur a flavor of Ealdor! 

After a few stalls, some having jewelry, some having journals, which Arthur actually wanted to look at, and some having satchels that were clearly nicer than his own, the flavor became literal. A few hours had gone by, and it was a perfect time for more food. Though the selection wasn't nearly as large as what Arthur had encountered inside the castle, it was still quite a nice one. Some vendors were selling freshly cooked meats, flans, and wafers. Arthur settled on the spiced meat and fish pastries. It was hard to decide, so he ended up just pointing at one and letting himself be surprised by the filling. He offered a nibble to the crow on his shoulder, but it was uninterested in the food. It had been inside the castle as well. The crow was magic. Perhaps, it didn't need to eat?

The evening was turning out to be delightful, and they still had one last thing to do before night came, the play. One of the larger buildings that Arthur had seen when he came here was the playhouse. As they followed the crowd entering and finding their seats, Elyan told him about how the building was used for plays before they had all come here and had enough people that wanted to continue with the entertainment. Though the place needed cleaning, vines were growing all over the building just as most of the others, it was, of course, the perfect location to host the plays and even performing bands. Arthur soaked up all the information as they found their seats towards the middle. 

It was more than a few minutes after everyone found their seats before they began. Finally, the play began. A man wearing a simple tunic entered from stage left, and then another individual that was clad in chainmail entered from stage right. The latter walked towards the audience and began to set the stage as the actor behind moved about and met with others that joined him. Once the short speak was over, he exited, and the scene began to play out.

Arthur would have been lying if he said he completely understood what was happening. He knew that this was some sort of legend, but a lot of pieces were vague. Perhaps the parts left out were common knowledge? He wasn't sure. For instance, the man that looked like anyone else in the playhouse had suddenly become king and thrown into the very heart of the war that was breaking out amongst the kingdom. This king had no name, and was only referred to as "king" and "sire" throughout the entirety of the tale. This king found himself in battle, losing people that he was close to, and falling in love with one of his advisors. Though it continued to be more vague than what Arthur was used to, especially with the high fantasy stories that he had read, the romance was quite beautiful. The emotions that the actors showed really made the scene. Arthur could feel the love that they had for each other and not just see it. 

As the story grew ever closer to the climax, the king was able to start to prepare for a final battle. It would come down to this after the losses that they had experienced. Their men traveled until they came to a place that had a round table, and it was with this table that the king looked at his advisors and held them up to the same level of power that he had. They were all chosen to be the leaders of not just their own people such as the Forest Folk of Nemeth and the Order of Healing Hands but rulers together for the kingdom that they would take back from this evil. It was at this point that Arthur wondered how much of the story was legend and how much of it was the history of this place.

At this location, they found something that would change the tide of the war. This power is represented in the form of a crystal, a carnelian, that the king started to wear around his neck. It seems to bring him a strength that he had not known before, and his fighting skills grow evermore. Magic also begins to come to the fingers of the king, and with this, they are able to drive back the enemy soldiers, the cultists of the Ivory, the great evil that goes unseen but threatens them all. 

With the border of the lands they protected grown, they are able to go to the home of the king's advisor and lover, and it is there that it is revealed that the man is a Dragonlord. He calls upon a draconic force that it simply referred to as the Red. Together with the power of the carnelian and the Red, the king and his Dragonlord are able to defeat the Ivory and save the land. 

Of course, the story doesn't not simply end with the defeat of the Ivory. The story takes a tragic turn as they learn that the battle is not truly over. A hidden betrayal has taken place, and though they have no idea who it was, they know that because of what they have done, the Ivory hasn't truly been defeated and that the Ivory would return. With tears streaming down his face, the Dragonlord does what his king tells him, what he knows he must do, but what breaks his heart. The king became the Once and Future King. His life is ended in the arms of his lover, and there is the promise that he will return to save the land once again.

The audience clapped and cheered, and though the story was confusing at points, Arthur clapped along. The actors made the play, and he was excited for the possibility that he would be able to see them in another play. They were just brilliant. With that, everyone began to leave, chat, or chat while leaving. Arthur's group did the latter, and although they were chatting, Arthur didn't bother to ask about the parts of the play that he didn't understand. It wasn't like he needed to understand every bit of it. It was a play, and he enjoyed it. He also learned more about Ealdor during the course of the evening. 

When Elyan and Percival take Arthur to his room for the night, Arthur takes in his room. It's not a large room, but it is still bigger than what Arthur was expecting. It was the same size as the room that Percival and Lancelot shared, but of course, this room was entirely his own. The bed was larger than theirs, and there was a dresser and even a vanity next to the window. Against one of the walls was a bookshelf, and while mostly empty, there were a few books on the shelf. Arthur left them alone. He took his boots off while sitting on the bed. He then proceeded to fall back on it. 

So much had happened in just a few days, and with the enjoyment that he had today, he almost felt guilty. He didn't let himself though. There were now others that would be keeping their eye out for his sister. Not only had he come to the world that she most likely had been taken to, but he now had allies and even friends that would help him be reunited with her. 

It was definitely bedtime now. Arthur could feel it. Though if it was going to be enough to be able to fall asleep, he wouldn't know until later. For now, Arthur would prepare as much as he could for bed. He pulled his journal out of his satchel and began to write in it. Now that he was in Ealdor, he could see the friendships that the Three of Cups talked about. Of course, not only did he find friendship, but he had actually gone out with two friends just as had felt. Three individuals toasted together. The Ten of Pentacles still eluded him, but he also still wasn't sure about the Magician. Perhaps it had something to do with the actors? However, that still didn't seem to fit. He had felt a powerful individual. It could be that he just hasn't met this person yet.

Either way, it was time for Arthur to go to sleep. He pulled out his trusty deck and performed his nightly reading. Once the top card of the deck looked just right, Arthur stopped shuffling and flipped the card over. It was the Ace of Pentacles. As an ace, it spoke of the beginnings of its suit. It represents opportunity, abundance, or a new venture. To Arthur, it felt like tomorrow, there would be something for him to do. He wasn't sure what, but he just knew that this was telling him of what he would be starting to do at the castle. It felt like he was going to have a job of some sort. Arthur wrote all of this down.

Now it was truly time for bed. Arthur set his journal on the nightstand, put his satchel down below, and then laid down. Hopefully, he would be able to find sleep. The next before he had no issue. Perhaps this night would be the same?

Wrong. Arthur was completely wrong.

Though he tried, he just wasn't able to. He turned to one side. He turned to the other side. He laid on his stomach. Even when he found himself comfortable, he just wasn't drifting off! Arthur groaned. It wasn't at all surprising, but that didn't stop it from being absolutely annoying. The day had been a delight too. Now it had to end with him getting no sleep. Well, there was one thing that he thought that he could try.

Walk around.

True he was new here, but if he only stayed close, he wouldn't get lost right? Arthur decided that it would probably be fine. He would do a lap of the surrounding halls, get more tired, and then come right back to where he was. The crow that had been his constant companion the entire time was currently fast asleep on the satchel that had fallen over. There was no need to wake it up. Arthur stood up and put his shoes back on before leaving his room. 

Moonlight lit the hallways. It was much darker than Arthur had expected. Though he now felt himself thinking how silly that thought had been. It wasn't completely dark. Besides the light of the moon that came through the large windows that bordered the castle, there were lit torches that lined the walls. There were only so many of them though, only a few for each long hallway. Still, it was enough light, right? And with that thought, Arthur started to roam the halls.

Left. Walk down the hallway. Right.

Arthur tried to keep a system as he explored. It was like someone going through each isle of a store. However, there came a point where there was another hallway, and Arthur was left with a choice. At this point, he was starting to get tired. He just made his choice and started down it. 

It was a bad idea.

Drowsiness engulfed Arthur more, and he knew that if he tried to sleep now, he'd probably be able to, but when he turned around, the halls didn't look like he thought they would, and all of them around him seemed to look the same. There wasn't enough light on the artwork, and even if there was, all of them were probably of dragons anyway.

Great. Arthur was lost.

Standing in the same place wasn't any help. He contemplated knocking on the doors, but then he remembered that he was the only one living over in this part of the castle. Well, that wasn't counting the friend of the others that he had heard multiple times that day, Merlin. He lived up in his tower though, and Arthur didn't know what the entrance of the tower looked like, let alone where the tower was. The only thing that Arthur could do was continue roaming back in the general direction that he probably, hopefully, came from and try to see if he spots something that he recognizes. Arthur decided to go with that plan.

If there had been a clock in any of the halls or in any of the rooms, Arthur would have heard it. He would have been able to hear every tick, and honestly, Arthur would have welcomed it. There was only silence around him besides his footsteps, and so all he could hear was the static of his brain. 

On and on, he walked. Hopelessness was starting to set in. He wondered if it would be better to just find a comfy spot in one of the hallways to sleep and find his way back to his room in the morning. After all, it would be easier in daylight. 

Arthur was about ready to put that new plan into action when he noticed another sound, another set of footsteps, ones that belonged to someone else. Arthur snapped out of it, and used his ears to find the source of the sound. Though the person was clearly walking away, their speed was much slower than Arthur's. He rounded a corner and then rounded another one. He had to be getting close. The sound was getting louder. If anything it was almost as if-

As Arthur made a sharp turn into the windowed hall, he bumped right into the individual. Clearly startled, they dropped whatever they had been holding. Though still drowsy, Arthur's reflexes kicked in, and his eyes, adjusted to the darkness, looked down at what had hit the floor. There were books, four of them to be precise. Arthur's eyes went back up to the person that he had just run into. It was a man, probably only a few years younger than himself and around the same height that he was. However, his build was quite slim, especially compared to Arthur's. At least, that is what it seemed. He wore baggy clothes, and they made him appear even more skinny than he probably was. 

The moonlight shone through the glass and onto the right side of his face. He was... quite beautiful. Yes, that was the word for him. Due to the light, the first thing that Arthur noticed was the sharp cheekbones. The next was his plump lips. Those, he was probably going to be looking at more in the future if he ran into this individual again; Arthur knew he wasn't strong enough not to. He took in the man's dark hair which contrasted with the glow. In the darkness and tinted light, the locks looked black just like the feathers of the crow. Though, Arthur knew that his hair could easily be a very dark brown. From his hair, Arthur's eyes roamed over to the man's very large ears and then finally to his eyes, eyes that were not looking back at him. It looked more like the man was looking at his chest or shoulders. The eyes were blue like his own, but in the lighting they reminded Arthur of crystals. 

Down, the man went onto the ground. He wasn't graceful in the slightest, but the man clearly didn't care. He was focused on picking up the books that had fallen. Arthur went down on his knees to help, but the man ignored him and quickly snatched them up before Arthur could. Arthur managed to present one of the texts to him. It was at this point that Arthur finally realized that the man's eyebrows were furrowed. Of course, that made sense. Arthur felt a bit embarrassed that he hadn't noticed. Next time, Arthur was going to have to remember to pay attention to the expression in front of him and not how kissable the person looked. Of course, Arthur also knew that he wasn't going to remember that once he'd need to apply that.

"Sorry," Arthur told him.

The man ignored him as he snatched the book out of Arthur's hand. He seemed very set on just forgetting that Arthur was there and just leaving him in the darkness. Arthur couldn't let that happen though. He was lost, and the man clearly knew where he was going. After all, he was fine with walking about in the dark corridors. 

"Please, I'm lost. Could you please show me back to my room?"

Without a moment of hesitation, the man shook his head.

"Please."

The second one seemed to have been enough for the man. He still looked rather annoyed, but he nodded.

"Do you remember anything about where your room is?"

It took a second for Arthur to respond. He hadn't expected the man's voice to be deeper than his own. It didn't take long for the idea of not getting too wrapped up in the attractiveness of a man in order to pay attention to what was going on in front of him to just melt away. Arthur only noticed when the man seemed to be getting more annoyed with him.

"Sorry, can you repeat that?"

"I said, 'do you remember anything about where your room is?' Is it close to anything in particular? Is there anything that distinguishes it from the others? Anything? I can be of no help if you cannot give me that."

"Yes, I do remember a tapestry in the hallway. I hadn't seen one that looked exactly like it. There was a dragon that was curled up in a circle asleep, and inside the circle there was a crow with red legs and beak. It reminded me of the one that has been following me around, so I was able to remember it."

There was no immediate answer. In fact, what seemed to be on his face was that he was in thought. At least, he no longer looked frustrated at Arthur. He didn't know who the man was or if he'd ever even see him again, but it was starting to get to him. Arthur was quickly glanced at again before the man looked back down again. Was that confusion that Arthur was seeing now?

"I know where that's at. Just follow along. I'll take you back there."

And that he did. It didn't take that long either. They were perhaps three hallways away. Arthur was proud of himself that he was at least able to get this close. Though he knew the tapestry was at the other end of the hall, so he might have just ended up walking past his room and either being lost again or needed to turn back around. 

They parted right there at the start of that hallway. The man stopped, told him they were there, and then simply walked away. Arthur still didn't know what the man could have been doing late at night. A late night stop to the library perhaps, if this castle had a library, which it probably did? The entire walk there, he didn't talk. It was back to the footsteps and brain static for Arthur.

None of that mattered right now though. Though he was clearly not going to get enough sleep for the night. Arthur knew that after all of that, he was definitely going to be able to fall asleep without issue. He closed the door behind him, threw the tunic off, and then got under the covers of the bed. 

Arthur fell right to sleep with dreams of crystal eyes.

Chapter Text

Arthur turned right and left. He shut his eyes even tighter. Something was pulling him out of sleep, but what? The sounds continued, and with a frown, Arthur found himself mostly awake. One eye opened before the other, and though the sun from the windows felt harsh against his sleepy vision, he knew that he had to get up. Arthur had realized what the sound was that continued still. There was someone at his door, and that person was getting impatient.

Though there was urgency to get the noise to stop, Arthur couldn't move his body quick enough. He called for the person to wait and that he was coming, but it came out more like a mumble. It was unlikely that the person was actually able to hear him. With a yawn, Arthur gave a quick stretch and threw the tunic over his head. 

Unlike himself, the individual that barged in as soon as the door was open was wide awake. They walked into the room in wide strides, and it took a second to realize who they were, especially now that their back was what was facing him. Was it? Arthur moved towards the man as he just dumped the basket of clothes he was holding down onto the ground. A tunic or two spilled out in the process, but the man didn't seem bothered by it. At least, Arthur thought he wasn't until after a second, the man bent down and placed it back where it was supposed to go. This gave Arthur time to come over to him and see who it was.

It was the man from last night.

Now that there was sunlight, Arthur was better able to make out his appearance, and somehow, the man looked even more beautiful than what he did last night. This time, the confusion of what he was doing here took over a bit. Though, then he remembered that he had been told that someone would be around in the morning to bring him clean clothes that should fit him. This must have been the person assigned to do just that. 

"I didn't know who was going to bring that, or when. Thank you, and also thank you again for last night."

The man turned his way and looked him up and down. "I was coming here anyway. Get dressed. You're coming with me."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Did no one explain it to you? You need to work for your place here, and I volunteered. You're to be my assistant starting today."

"Oh. Assistant for what exactly."

"Just hurry up and get dressed. I want to start working now."

Arthur didn't want to annoy the man any further and started to get dressed. He pulled out an outfit from the basket. The clothes were all pretty simple. There were a few different colors for the tunics, but the bottoms were pretty much all brown or black. Arthur picked out a black pair and threw a red tunic on. He adjusted the laces in the front before grabbing a belt and placing it at his waist. While out the day before, Arthur had noticed that those that wore simple tunics seemed to all wear a belt over their tunic. Looking at the outfit that the man wore today, he was doing the same thing. 

"No need to stop for breakfast," the man said as he tapped the strap of his bag. "I already grabbed some rolls before the dining hall officially opened. Of course with the way that you were sleeping, you probably would have missed it and been stuck eating lunch instead."

Arthur couldn't argue back. He was about to, but the man was right. Without an alarm, he probably would have been sleeping for at least another three hours.

"Follow me." 

Arthur quickly grabbed his satchel and let the crow sit on his shoulder before doing just that. As they exited the room, Arthur began to converse with him. He had no idea who he was or what they were going to be doing. All he knew about the man was that he walks around at night with books and is good-looking. What he was going to do from the day wasn't going to come from that little information. Well, the latter could give something, but Arthur didn't think that something would come anytime soon, especially since the man already seemed to not like him.

"I assume you know my name since I'm to be your assistant, but I never caught your name."

"It's Merlin."

"Merlin? The others talked about you. You're the one that can talk to my crow."

"He's specifically a chough, and his name is Cal."

"I didn't even know he had a name. So, how is it that you can talk to Cal? The others have just said it was because of magic."

"I can sense that he's made of magic. That's probably why."

"So, you don't go strolling around all day talking to birds."

"No, just that one apparently."

"Was Cal the reason you volunteered to bring me on as your assistant?"

"Partially. Though you seem like a dollophead, I'm curious about magic in your world."

"Dollophead?"

"Besides, I could use an extra hand to speed things up."

"Well, what are we doing exactly?"

"I'll tell you when we get there."

Merlin kept to that. He didn't speak the rest of the walk through the hallways. The only conversing that the two of them did after that was Arthur asking for one of the rolls that Merlin had mentioned. Arthur spent the time glancing around and munching as he followed behind Merlin. 

Occasionally, he looked at the man in front of him. This wasn't just the Merlin that could talk to his crow, who he now knew was "specifically" a chough named Cal. This was the Merlin that was friends with the knights that he met. The idea of the dark haired individual in front of him having fun and chatting with them as friends do was a strange image in Arthur's head. He especially couldn't imagine him hanging with the "rogue,” Gwaine. Yet, he was friends with them. How was he with them? How was it different from now? Was Merlin just cranky? Was he in that much of a rush? Did he simply just not like Arthur already? Also, what was a "dollophead"? Arthur had a feeling that whatever it was, it wasn't nice.

Arthur continued following Merlin through the wing of the castle. It was bigger than Arthur had thought, at least when it came to how empty that part was, that is. The entire walk, Arthur hadn't seen a soul, and since they didn't go towards the center of the castle at all, Arthur could only assume that they were still in the section that Merlin kept to himself. Well, he kept it to himself until Arthur came. It turned out to be a good thing that he was all the way over by Merlin's room. Had he not been, he had a feeling he either would have gotten lost on the way to Merlin's, or Merlin would have been even more grumpy having to go to wherever else they might have placed him. If anything, it was going to make starting his work easier. He just knew not to wander the halls at night until he got the hang of his surroundings.

Hall and through more halls, they walked. However, the scene started to change. From the outside, Arthur couldn't see any courtyards that existed amongst the bricks of the building. Here one was though. The sight was refreshing, but it was also beautiful. Merlin didn't give him time to stop and take in all that was around, but as they walked up the entrance and through it, Arthur saw that there were numerous flowers all around. There was even a tree that was standing in one of the corners. Under the tree was a wooden bench with what appeared to be little engravings of dragons. Of course, even the courtyard wouldn't escape the overuse of dragon imagery.

When Merlin finally did stop, it was in front of a mural of, of course, a dragon. It was more detailed than some of the other ones that Arthur had seen. He almost felt like he could reach out and touch it. There it laid in the paint asleep. Arthur looked over at Merlin with a face of confusion. Though this was rather pretty, he wasn't sure what exactly they would be doing here. He didn't see any equipment. If they, for instance, were going to clean, he assumed there would have been something more than just whatever Merlin might have in his bag. Unless, he planned on cleaning it with magic. If that was the case, Arthur would be no help. Though, the whole courtyard seemed pretty clean. 

What else could Merlin possibly have in mind for them? After all, he had no idea what Merlin did exactly. When he first saw him, he thought that he must have been one of the castle employees. Arthur didn't think that now though. He knew who this man was now. He knew that he was a sorcerer that went out on missions with Lancelot and Percival and possibly the other knights as well. Then there was the way that he held himself. There was a determination about him, and Arthur even felt what could only be described as power.

That power showed itself as Merlin started to speak in a deep voice. Before this, Arthur had been able to understand what everyone was saying, but now, Arthur knew not one word that came out of Merlin's mouth. It was foreign to him and said in a way that reminded Arthur of the very painted dragon that slept in front of him.

Or rather, was sleeping.

Startled, Arthur took a step back. Rising his head, the dragon looks at them both. This was something that Arthur had not expected at all. What kind of magic was this? It was different from what he had seen before. After a blink, the dragon looked over a few feet away. Though, besides the mural, there were only a few places of painted stone, there was something else there now. It was a door, and like the dragon, there was a realness to it. Slowly, the paint that had appeared to create the object turned into the object itself. What once was a wall of stone had turned into a wooden door. 

This was Merlin's destination, or at least, the destination was beyond it. He walked over to it and opened it. Arthur waited for a moment as he watched the dragon lay back down and sleep once more. In that time, Merlin had grabbed a torch off of the wall inside the door and set it aflame with the utter of a word. Arthur was handed this torch as soon as he made his way over to Merlin. Then he grabbed another off the other wall, right across from where he had grabbed the first one, and lit that one for himself.

"How did you do that?"

Merlin didn't answer. He shook his head slightly before moving forward. As he started to become shorter than Arthur, Arthur finally realized that it wasn't a hallway behind the door but stairs. Arthur followed.

Down and down the pair went. It seemed to go on forever, but Arthur knew that it was probably only a minute. The place was dark. Light came from above, but the further they went, the more the torches became the only source of light. That was until Merlin uttered something else under his breath. Now there was a light below them as well. It grew brighter as they drew closer. Arthur was now able to see the hallway stretched out further and went beyond the stairs. It wasn't until they reached the bottom though that Arthur noticed that there were hallways branching off from this main one. 

There were also rooms as well, and Arthur peered inside them as they walked past. Some of the rooms no longer had doors. There were others that were only partially broken off the hinges. However, there were still some rooms that had doors. They were just open. As Arthur looked inside, he couldn't spot anything. The rooms were bare, and though Arthur could only get a glance since he was trying not to fall behind Merlin, falling behind in such a place would have been a horrible thing if Merlin did go down one of the long parallel hallways, he could tell that there probably wasn't anything that he was missing. This was true for each one that he looked into. What they had originally been for, there was nothing to come to Arthur's head. It could have been anything since there was nothing that linked it to any possibility. 

Of course, Merlin had to go down one of the hallways that Arthur had just thought of. Now he truly needed to stay right behind Merlin. It was already bad enough that he became lost last night. He didn't need to become lost in a hidden underground area of the castle. Arthur didn't even know if anyone else knew about it besides Merlin. 

Another turn, and that was it for their journey. Merlin had led them to a chamber with an open door that was a bit larger than the ones that he had seen. Though dusty, the place looked like a book lover's dream. Stacks on stacks of books were lined up against the walls and next to the three tables that were towards the center of the room. There were chairs, but the chairs were occupied with scrolls or books. Scrolls were what was also covering the tables. Arthur couldn't count how many there were. He couldn't even make a guess because as they entered, Arthur noticed that the walls were also lined with bookshelves. Though the other rooms were empty, this room was filled to the brim with things. Unlike before, Arthur could easily see this room as having been a library, or at least, it was being used as a library now. 

Was this where Merlin found the books that he was caring for last night?

There were a few other things besides the books that had their place along the walls. Paintings decorated the place, and though there were only a few, at least they were more paintings of dragons. The first one that Arthur noticed was a painting of a sword. Around the sword was a design that Arthur couldn't think of a comparison for. The painting sat between two of the bookshelves. The others were between bookshelves as well. One was a painting of a falcon, and there was another that... Oh, well, that one was another dragon. Arthur hadn't realized it was at first. This one looked sort of like a crest. The color of the crest was a solid red, and the dragon was a silhouette of gold. 

Though books took up most of the space, there were other things that were scattered about. A few looked like they could be other paintings. They were at least framed. What was on them, Arthur couldn't see. They were facing away and towards the walls and shelves. Some other things that Arthur noticed were antiques. Over and leaning against a bench, there was a sword in a scabbard. Then there were also a few pots that were making their home in one of the corners. Arthur briefly wondered if any of what he saw had been in the rooms that he had passed.

Merlin made his way over to one of the tables. He walked around different tomes of various sizes to get to it, but once there, he started to look at one of the scrolls. The paper was rolled out, but before a decent dent could be made, Merlin was already rolling out the next scroll. The other was shoved to the side. It no longer had his attention. It was barely any time before the second joined the first and a third was now the one that was open. Was Merlin looking for something specific?

"Are you going to stand there, or are you going to help?"

Arthur didn't know exactly what he was supposed to be helping with. He walked over to the table that was closest to the one that Merlin stood at. Not surprisingly, the chair held books, and Arthur had no choice but to stand. With a look over to Merlin, he opened one of the scrolls. Did Merlin plan on telling him what they were looking at? 

Another scroll was discarded, and then Merlin did. "You're to look for anything that mentions the legend of the Once and Future King."

The Once and Future King? Thinking back, Arthur remembered that that was the name of the play that he had seen with Elyan and Percival. Was that what Merlin was trying to find information on? Was that also why the play seemed so vague? Was it not common knowledge the details of what went on? Was it actually unknown? At least Arthur had an idea of what the legend was. He'd make sure to thank Percival and Elyan for inviting him along. 

Still, Arthur decided to ask. "The play that was performed yesterday is that what you are talking about?"

"I don't pay attention to whatever entertainment is happening below."

"It was about a nameless king that came into power and defeated something called... What was it? The Ivory, I think."

"Yes, it's referred to as the Ivory. That's the legend of the Once and Future King. Whatever interpretation of the play is probably enough that you need to know. I doubt they added anything that didn't happen. The story is popular, and I've heard from others that the crowds never like it if it changes from what they heard as children."

"Like, the legend of Emrys? I heard from the others that they all heard about him when they were children as well."

Merlin paused. "The legend of Emrys is the same legend."

"Oh, but didn't the other take place long ago? If it actually happened, that is."

"It happened, and yes, the story of Emrys starts at the end of the legend of the Once and Future King, at least, where the play probably ended. They then intertwine. Might as well just say that it's the same legend."

"Oh."

"Look for any mention of the Ivory and Emrys. Also, look for any mention of the High Priestesses and tracking spells." Merlin looked through another scroll. "You might as well also look for any mention of 'Merlin' as well, name of a person or the falcon. Though I'm generally referred to as Emrys in the legends, it would be best to keep an eye out for my given name as well. After all, one of the paintings that I found in this room was a merlin."

Arthur's hands stopped. His eyes stopped looking at the paper. He took in the words that Merlin had said, "I'm generally referred to as Emrys." Merlin was... Emrys? Arthur looked over at the man. This beautiful slim man that was probably around his age was Emrys? Merlin was the one from legend, and he was the one that brought everyone to Ealdor? Merlin was the one that had put up such large and strong wards? Merlin was the one that had magic that rivaled the enemies of the rebellion?

Merlin was the reason why he had been taken to this world in the first place?

It was hard to grasp. It wasn't surprising that the man didn't look like Gandalf or any other older and long-bearded wizard with a pointy hat. This was, after all, a real place and not a work of fiction. However, he wasn't expecting this. He wasn't expecting someone who looked like his peer. He didn't expect Merlin with his sharp cheekbones and baggy clothes. Arthur also didn't expect to have been assigned as his assistant.

Though it did make some sense. It made sense why Merlin could have a whole section of the castle to himself. He wasn't just some sorcerer. He was the   sorcerer. Of course, Merlin could have whatever he wanted. He was Emrys . He had the first pick. That also explained the magic that Arthur thought seemed unusual. He wasn't really sure if it really was unusual. After all, he had only seen just a bit of the magic of this world. However, now knowing that Merlin was Emrys. It very much could have been magic that was unique to him. Arthur knew that Emrys was powerful, it wouldn't be surprising if he had magic that was his own.

Even still, it was hard to grasp that this man, that Mer lin, was so powerful.

"Are you going to keep gawking at me, or are you going to work?" Merlin snapped at him.

"Sorry," Arthur apologized. 

"If any of the scrolls contain any mention, put them to the side. We'll bring them up to my room later to go over more thoroughly."

"Right."

Arthur went back to the scrolls. However, it just wouldn't leave his mind. He had to ask Merlin questions! 

"Does everyone else know that you're Emrys?"

"Of course, there are questions," he grumbled. "Those that need to know know. Some of the first refugees know. I don't want it plastered everywhere."

"That makes sense. Smart."

"I don't want to have to deal with it when it comes to people. Otherwise, those that don't leave could probably know. It makes me uncomfortable, so I expect that you'll keep your gawking to yourself."

"Right. Sorry again. May I ask... Do you have any idea of why I was targeted? Why was I taken from my world?"

"No."

"'No?' You don't know why that tracking spell led them to me?" Thinking back, one of the things that Merlin asked for Arthur to look for was any mention of tracking spells. "If it was true, wouldn't you be able to tell? Is there any way for you to be able to tell?"

"I don't remember what my magic feels like. I keep it camouflaged, so that others can't be led to me. I don't know how you could have gotten ahold of anything that I used magic on. I haven't used magic without it since I was younger. Someone could have taken it to your world somehow. It's not like I understand how traveling to other worlds work anyway. Regardless if it's true or not, if anyone else tries to use a spell like that, they'll be led to you. If they tell anyone else, they will definitely try."

"Then shouldn't you do something to stop that from happening?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "The ward will keep you hidden. It neutralizes that part of magic that makes each spell the caster's own. It doesn't stop the spell. It just takes away the feeling, and it prevents it from being tracked."

"So, the only way for you to be able to know what your magic feels like would be to go outside the wards and risk being found if they are trying to track you by your magic."

"Yes. Now is that enough answers for you? I'd like for us both to get work done today."

"Of course, sorry about that."

Arthur did what Merlin wanted. He clearly wasn't moving as fast as Merlin was. The sound of each scroll that Merlin finished went into his ears. They would be unrolled and then rolled back up. He was probably working twice as fast as Arthur was. With time, Arthur hoped to be able to look through the information written as fast as the dark haired man. He wasn't sure how long it would take or how many of the texts here that Merlin had already gone through. He assumed not as many as he wished since he wanted someone to help him. Arthur hoped that Merlin didn't regret that discussion. Whether he came to like him or not, Arthur knew that disappointing him would feel awful.

The sound changed to books being opened and flipped through. Arthur looked over and saw Merlin flick through the pages. With how quick he was going through the pages, Arthur would have thought that it would have been better to just pick up the book and skim the pages that way. Looking at him, Arthur saw that Merlin's left hand was preoccupied by tapping his leg repeatedly. It made Arthur realize that he too was fidgeting. Though he wasn't surprised by this realization at all. As Arthur worked on yet another scroll, he wished that there was a way for them to have music playing. It would probably help him focus better. Alas, his phone only had so much battery, and there wasn't any internet to be able to access more than the few albums that he happened to have on it.

As Arthur worked, he was able to put a few scrolls aside. It was only three, and he wasn't sure if any of them even had what Merlin was looking for, but he was told to look for those keywords. Each one of them mentioned at least one. At least he was done with everything on his table.

At least, he was done.

Though Merlin hadn't been watching him before, he must have looked over when Arthur had finished. Arthur had just set the last scroll aside when Merlin, seemingly out of nowhere, if it wasn't for the fact that he was only feet away that is, dropped the books down in front of Arthur. It startled Arthur a bit. He hadn't been expecting it at all, but there Merlin was and then he was going back over to his own table. He picked up some of the books that were sitting in the chair and started to go over them. How many did Merlin plan on having them look through today?

A few more hours went by before Merlin had them stop. Although Arthur was only able to add a single book to the three scrolls, Merlin was able to amass a decent stack of books and scrolls. Arthur's eyebrow raised at the sight of it. How many books had Merlin gone through to be able to get so many more than him? It couldn't have just been luck that the pile grew to that size, especially since Arthur could hear each book and scroll that Merlin went through. He just hadn't thought that it was that many. 

The two of them were done looking through everything though. It was time to take what they did find back up to Merlin's room in order to go over each text more thoroughly. Arthur woke up Cal, who probably out of boredom fell asleep on the corner of the table, and then started to gather his materials. Of course, those weren't going to be the only ones that Arthur carried. Just like before, Merlin, more quietly than Arthur had thought possible, came up to his side and dropped his own materials on the table. 

First off, Arthur couldn't believe how Merlin had done this not once but twice. Arthur was more sensitive to the sounds around him unless he was focused on something. Then second, Merlin didn't even have to tell Arthur for Arthur to know that he was going to be carrying the bulk of what Merlin had gathered. Arthur withheld a sigh before collecting it all in his arms minus the two books that Merlin decided that he was fine with carrying. Even with his arms now completely full, Cal decided that he was still going to sit on Arthur's shoulder. Now he was going to have to carry everything, including a bird, up the flight of stairs that they had descended and then up the stairs to Merlin’s tower. Gods, help him.

Chapter Text

Carrying everything started simple. Arthur kept himself fit. His eating habits weren't usually the best, it was so much easier when he made sure that there was something healthy and frozen that he could heat up, but he did manage to get his exercise in. Jogging while listening to something was an easy thing to do. Besides, he gave him something else to do for both activities. Listening to an audiobook or podcast without anything else going on wasn't the easiest. Arthur briefly wondered how his jogging would go in this world without even music to fill his ears. 

Arthur's thought went back to the task at hand. The flight up the stairs wasn't any trouble. However, there just had to be even more stairs. Of course, there had to be. Merlin just had to live in a tower. No wonder he didn't want to carry these books himself. The winding stairs to Merlin's room seemed to be never ending. The only thing that Arthur could be happy about when it came to this location was that the tower wasn't all that far from the courtyard. However, even going all the way back to Arthur's room or even back to the dining hall would have been nicer than Merlin's tower. At least now Arthur knew that he wasn't going to have to keep up on his jogs to stay in shape. Working for Merlin was going to do that just fine.

Finally, they reached the top, and there was no door to be opened. The stairs went directly into Merlin's room. Looking at it, it didn't appear to have been originally designed to be someone's room. Though, Arthur was getting that more from the vast number of stairs that needed to be climbed to get here than anything. 

The room, of course, was mostly round. It wasn't perfectly round, but it was close enough. The windows were all around the room, and they stuck out a bit. With how they were designed, someone could easily sit in front of them on the stone or place whatever they wanted to in the windows. It was more than the windows down below that he had seen. Of course, all of the windows seemed to have something or other in them. One of them had books. Another one had vials, mostly filled. The window that was closest to Merlin's bed had what could only be a lute. 

Windows weren't the only place that held various different items. The entire room seemed to be organized chaos. Even though the room was clearly a bit bigger than Arthur's own, it still would have held more things whether Arthur had been able to bring his belongings with him or not. It actually reminded Arthur of himself. Arthur was never able to keep a clean room, and it was hard to manage having everything in view that he wanted to remember or knew that he needed to remember. Merlin's room almost seemed to be the same in that regard. Though Merlin clearly had many, many more books than Arthur could ever dream of owning. 

Just like down in the room below, there was a table that had two chairs that both held books just like the table that they were partnered with. Merlin went over to this table and lifted one of the stacks of books that was on it. He then placed it in front of the very full bookshelf that had its home against the wall and between two of the windows. Merlin moved another stack to the same place again. Arthur was almost sure that the stacks were going to fall over once they were placed on the ground. They seemed far too high for any reasonable stack. However, they managed to stay in place. With the table having more room, Arthur made his way over to it. He hoped that Merlin had been moving them for Arthur to finally give his arms a rest as he put everything down. Merlin didn't object, and that was a good sign that was why he had done that. 

As Merlin started to clear the chairs, Arthur began to examine the room further. Besides the table, there was also a desk that held paper and a few other books. How many books did this man have? In front of the same desk, there were various papers that were hung on the wall. There were illustrations on them, but Arthur couldn't quite make out what they were from where he was standing. On the other side of the room, Arthur spotted Merlin's drying laundry. There was a dresser and a cabinet next to one of the windows. The clothes were hung on a thin rope between them so that the light of the sun shined right on them. Surprisingly, the room also had its own fireplace. It was right across from where most of the books were.  

Now that the chairs were empty, Merlin sat down in one and motioned for Arthur to do the same. He did. One of the scrolls was handed over. Arthur wasn't sure if it had been one that he had picked out from downstairs or if it had been one of Merlin's. Whether it was his or Merlin's didn't seem to matter. Arthur took the scroll and readied for Merlin's further instruction.

"We are going to be looking at what I had us look for before. Now we're going to sit and read through the sections that contain them. With information on tracking spells, I'm looking for information that could explain how they came to find you and also if there is anything else that I could do or anything better to cloak my whereabouts from those that would use tracking spells based off of my magic. I know that they need something that I once used magic on, but I don't know what all they may have from my childhood when I was able to use magic freely."

That sparked Arthur's interest, but Merlin was focused on the task at hand. There was also the chance that Merlin might not want to talk about it. Arthur didn't ask the questions that he wanted to.

"When it comes to the High Priestesses and the Ivory, it would be useful to learn what we can of them. It is clear now that the traitors from before had been the High Priestesses. However, we do not know why or how they came into contact with the Ivory. We also know nothing of the Ivory. Any information that we could learn about taking them down would be useful."

That made sense. If Merlin planned on helping the reborn king, it would be helpful to have any information to take down his enemy and the enemy of the land. Perhaps this time, the king would be able to prevent the Ivory from being able to come back if he had the knowledge to do so.

"The most important information that we are looking for is anything that may give us an idea of how to find the king. This would probably be found wherever my name and title is."

This time, Arthur had to ask a question. "Why is that?"

"Since you don't know anything about my part in the legend, I'll tell you. When the king comes back, it is Emrys's job to find him. He's the one that finds the king and puts him in the position to be able to start his fight against the Ivory."

"And you don't know where he could be?"

"No," Merlin replied. He was clearly trying to hide his feelings about the matter, but Arthur was able to pick up on his discomfort talking about the matter. "I don't know if I'm supposed to just know if I meet the king or not or if there is something that I'm supposed to be doing in order to find him. Finding the king is the top priority. If you find anything on the matter, share it with me. If you do not, then don't mention anything about it with me. I don't like talking about it."

Arthur nodded. He was curious about what Merlin was supposed to do. After all, how does someone just find a reborn king? However, there was no point in asking questions even without Merlin not wanting to talk about it. Merlin didn't have the answers.

The two of them read in silence. Just like before, Arthur wished there was some sort of music to stop the static in his brain that wouldn't turn off. No sound was far more distracting than having something soft playing in the background. He did what he could to keep his mind on task though. Luckily, the mystery of it all was keeping his attention. He did wish that it was a possibility to have someone hired to play the lute in the window for them while they worked. Arthur didn't bring it up. He knew that the answer would be a firm "no."

A growling started up in Arthur's stomach. He wasn't sure how long they had been working for at this point, but he knew that it was long enough to make him hungry. It was also enough for him to notice that he was hungry. Surely, Merlin would let him take a lunch break or at least bring up something to munch on while they worked. As if Merlin had read his mind, Merlin grabbed a random slip of paper off of his desk and then came back over to the table to use it as a makeshift bookmark. 

"Find anything yet?" Merlin asked as he closed the book

Arthur shook his head. "No, I haven't seen anything beyond what you have said you already know. They just seem to repeat the same thing or talk about unrelated areas of the topic."

Merlin nodded. "Alright. Well, I'm hungry. We can stop working for now. You can use just about any scrap of paper as a bookmark."

Quickly, Arthur glanced around and spotted one that happened to fall on the ground. He brushed it off; though, it didn't seem to be dirty at all. With it in its new place in the chapter that Arthur was on, he was able to follow Merlin back down the long and narrow staircase. Going down wasn't nearly as bad as going up while carrying almost the majority of their work for the day. Knowing that at the bottom, there would just be a matter of navigating the halls to fill his stomach also helped.

Unlike before, there weren't as many people occupying the dining hall. There were no groups of people, only individuals, and even those were few and far between. There was no clock to inform Arthur of the time, but it was most likely an odd hour to be eating. Those that were in the room were either people that just didn't have time to eat until now, such as Merlin and Arthur due to their work, or they were just people that ate at times that just weren't typical. None of this really mattered to Arthur, but he couldn't stop himself from observing this as he walked up to the row of food.

If Arthur's mouth watered, he wouldn't have been surprised. He didn't notice if it was or not because the dishes of meats and cheese were on his brain. He filled his plate up full and stood to see if Merlin was done or not. It turned out that Merlin was actually waiting for him. Arthur had thought that either Merlin was still picking out all he wanted or he had gone off to find a table to sit at. Neither was the case though. He stood at the end of the row as he nibbled on the bread that he had grabbed. All that was left for him to grab was what was behind him, and looking at the goblet that was played close to the edge, it appeared that he already had grabbed it; his beverage, that was.

Merlin spotted him approaching, and placed the roll down on the plate. It was replaced by the mentioned goblet as Arthur went to grab one for himself and fill it with wine. Now that they had everything that they needed, and a partially eaten roll, or rather an almost eaten roll, they were able to find a table and sit down. Arthur followed Merlin's lead. He couldn't help but think about how Merlin clearly had been waiting longer for him than what Arthur had thought. Although, that did make sense. After all, he was used to eating in the dining hall. He most likely knew what was out at any given time.

It was also clear that Merlin knew what table he wanted to sit at. There was no looking around or evaluating which would be best. Merlin also didn't go for the set of tables that was closest to them as they walked away from the placed dishes. He went straight towards a table in the front and up against the wall. It was almost clear in the corner. There were two tables that separated it from the spot. Merlin also had a clear idea of the exact seat that he wanted to sit at. He walked around the table and placed his plate and goblet down at the third seat in. Arthur decided to place himself at the spot right in front of him.

Unlike Arthur, who had picked out two different meats and sides such as boiled potatoes and, of course, pickled eggs, Merlin had gone quite simple with his meal. Arthur hadn't noticed as they made their way to their seats, but on Merlin's plate was a bowl that was filled with a stew of some sort. Around the bowl, there was the mostly eaten bread on one side and berries of red, blue, and black on the other. 

"Sorry, I took a while. You weren't able to eat your bread with your stew," Arthur said as he pointed to the remainder of the side.

Merlin made a slightly disgusted face. "I wasn't going to anyway." He picked it up and finished off the bread before even touching his stew. Only once it was gone and washed done with some wine did Merlin finally pick up his spoon to begin eating his main course.

"Alright..." Arthur wasn't really sure what to say in this situation. He wasn't sure what to say to Merlin. Here they sat, and by the gods, Arthur was hoping that Merlin would actually fill the time with sound. It would even be nice for Arthur to be the one talking and talking while Merlin sat there half ignoring him. With the way that Merlin has acted so far, though, Arthur wasn't expecting Merlin to let him. At least, he wasn't expecting him to without returning his unwanted dialogue with a glare.

Luckily for Arthur, Merlin did want to speak.

"What's magic like in your world?" Merlin asked, not bothering to stop eating while doing so.

"Um," was Arthur's initial response. "Different. Very different."

"Different how?" Another spoonful was eaten as Merlin seemed to be completely ready for all Arthur would say about the subject. It was as if he was sitting on the edge of his seat, and if Arthur was on that side of the table to see, he wouldn't have been surprised to see that Merlin was.

"Well, magic is so much more in this world. Just from what I've seen, it's more dramatic and more active."

Merlin's eyebrows scrunched together. "What do you mean by 'dramatic'? I can understand when I asked the dragon to reveal the door since that's something that no one else sees, but everything else, I assume you have seen, minus Cal that is, have been mundane spells. Well, the scale of my wards around Ealdor are impressive, but I'm sure you gathered that that is just something that is unique to me and does not reflect the rest of the sorcerers that live here."

"No, I'm not just talking about your magic. Though, I must admit that it has been the most impressive thing that I have ever seen, but no, I wasn't talking about that specifically. Even the spells that keep the food hot and cold are more 'dramatic' than anything in my world. Though, I guess 'active' would have been the better term for that one."

"I'm confused. Are the sorcerers in your world just not trained? Any trained sorcerer can cast a spell the spells that are engraved in the tables. They are just simple sigils."

"But yet none of the sigils in my world can do such a feat."

"You're still confusing me. Describe what it is like casting a spell in your world. I need to hear the differences as they happen."

"Well..." Great. Now, Arthur had to think of something on the spot. What was something that he did more often than most back home. "There would be a kind of spell that I would want to use. I would want to have a certain effect. 

"For instance, maybe I was going to do a tarot reading, but I wanted a boost to the reading and my ability to interpret the cards. I would gather the appropriate supplies that correspond to the work that I am going to do. I always went with things more on the simple side. Sometimes just holding a crystal or wearing a necklace with the kind of crystal would be enough after having had it charge on a slab of selenite. Intention is important when it comes to magic, so there would be intention with what I wanted the crystal to help with. 

"Spells that involve small bottles that could be worn were also something that I would do. At my altar, I could have the bottle filled with different herbs and crystal chips. There were other things that I could do, incense and sigils as I had mentioned. I've never been one for a more ritualistic style of magic. 

"My magic has always been hands on. I once tried growing my own herbs, but I kept forgetting to water them. Dried herbs work just as fine as fresh ones. Though they can be a bit different when it comes to the spellwork. Then there were some instances where I used one of my tarot decks in the spell. I would involve a card in the spell that represented what I wanted the spell to do.

"I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"Yes, but I still don't understand how it's different. Spells here can also involve different materials. It's true that not all spells need this. Some just need to be spoken, but generally, that only goes for certain individuals."

"Such as yourself."

"Yes, such as myself. The vast majority of all magic here is done as you described. Is the outcome desired what is different? You said, ‘enhance tarot readings.' I don't know what that is."

Arthur grinned. "I could easily go on and on about that, but I'm going to try to hold back, so that we can keep talking about what we're talking about before I ramble and forget what I was going to say. Tarot is a system of cards, originally used as a playing card deck, and still used as such, but is primarily known for divination."

"Such as water and fire scrying."

"Yes, exactly. We have that in our world as well, but I doubt it's anything like what is here."

"So, the spell would just involve enhancing your divination?"

"Yes. Perhaps that wasn't the best example. Why is this so hard?"

"Maybe you're making it too hard."

"How about this, not everyone believes in magic in my world."

Merlin scoffed. "Not believe in magic? How could someone not believe in magic?"

"People believe in what they can see and hear. They believe in what they can feel, and an aspect of magic is intention and belief, so if you don't believe in what you are casting, it's not going to happen. There are no spells like lighting a torch. There are no spells where you can so easily feel yourself walking through a ward. There are no spells that can cause your food to stay hot.  Spells in my world are for luck, courage, love, enhancing your mental abilities. You can curse individuals if that kind of magic strikes your fancy, but you aren't going to utter a string of words and watch them fall in agony. 

"Magic in my world is not the answer to everything. It is something that can help, but it is not something that can fix or do whatever you need to happen on its own. If you want a job, magic isn't going to just cause someone to call you and offer you your dream position out of the blue. You have to be actively applying for the job that you want working towards it. Magic is just a boost to help you."

"Huh. I think I understand what you mean now. For instance, I wouldn't be able to use magic to make me smarter. I would have to study. Magic would just make it easier to understand what I'm learning."

"Exactly."

"If magic is like that in your world and not everyone believes in it, then how is it that you came to become a sorcerer?"

"I'm not exactly a sorcerer. There are different names that people can go by. I go by witch as I am someone that does witchcraft. It's a more common term than sorcerer."

"Interesting. I have heard of some people referring to themselves as such. Sorcerer is what is common for most of Camelot."

"To answer your question, though, there was just something about magic that drew me in. I've always been interested in magic. First, I was interested in the magic that was in the fantasy books that I read, magic that is more like what is here in this world. When I learned of what real magic was in my own world, I started to learn all that I could about it. My sister did as well, and it was something that we could both delve into even if we ended up having different interests.

"Speaking of my sister, you haven't heard of anyone else having been taken from my world have you? Or anything really to help me find her."

"There wasn't anyone else there from my understanding when you were found. Was she taken before you were, or were you separated after you were both brought here?"

"Before. That's why I was in the woods looking for her. I had found some of her things where we used to go and play when we were children."

"I don't know anything about it. I'm sorry about your sister. Would you talk more about magic in your world? I'm curious to know if 'crystals' which I assume you mean different minerals and herbs have the same correspondences in your world as they do here. If they differ, why? Are there even any that can be found in both of our worlds?" Merlin stopped himself. "I'm sorry. That was probably insensitive. You were talking about your missing sister, and then I started talking about my interest in magic without so much as a pause. I would offer my help, but I wouldn't be of much help anyway. Besides, I need to focus on my work."

"It's alright. Lady Guinevere said that she would ask about. Besides, finding your answers would be important for her as well. I've no doubt that she's in this world, and if this world is threatened, she is too. We can talk about magic more if you like. In fact..." Arthur moved his plate over to the side and pulled his decks out of his satchel. "I could talk about tarot and show you my decks."

"Please do."

Though their food was eaten, the two of them continued to talk about the topics of tarot and magic. Arthur even started to venture into oracle decks and Lenormand. It was like he was having multiple conversations with Merlin at once. They talked about different areas of magic all at once. Arthur would start to talk about another point, and they would discuss that before going back to what they had been saying. This happened repeatedly, and Arthur felt so excited to be talking about all of it. Merlin was all ears to everything he told him, and though his sister was also a witch and, of course, his sister, she wasn't able to chat as Merlin was able to with him at this moment. It made him feel a tad guilty, but the warmth that he felt as Merlin enthused about the same things that Arthur was overrode it and took over. 

Their conversation didn't slow down until Arthur offered to give Merlin a reading. Arthur hadn't expected for Merlin to be so hesitant about it. He could see it in his demeanor even if it was just slight. Merlin did tell him that he would like to get one, just not today. Some other day, Arthur could read the cards for him. He wanted to continue talking about what they had been talking about.

The duo grabbed something that they could eat a bit later before continuing their discussion on the walk back to Merlin's tower. Though once they started to work again, they grew silent. This silence didn't bother Arthur this time though. He multitasked by thinking about all of the other things that he could talk about with Merlin tomorrow. Maybe Merlin would even show him some other spells if he asked. Though Arthur wasn't sure how the two of them would get along earlier in the day, he was sure that they were going to become great friends. Maybe if Arthur was lucky, their relationship could turn into something else as well. Either way, Arthur now knew who The Magician was. It was clearly Merlin, and it was so easy to see why The Magician had flown out of the deck back on his first night in Camelot. Merlin was the powerful Emrys, the reason that he had been taken and brought to this world, his new employer, someone that he was going to be spending a lot of time with, and also someone that he just knew he was going to form a close bond with.

Chapter Text

Arthur was wrong.

Though there had been progress with getting to know Merlin and being able to talk to him, after all Arthur had thought that the two of them were going to become fast friends after their meal the first day, it turned out that this was not the case. This was entirely Merlin's fault, and clearly, Arthur had been far too optimistic with what Merlin thought of him. Over the first week of working for Merlin, there was no shortage of name calling that was thrown his way. Arthur didn't understand all of it; he wondered if they were actually insults that were common in this world and not his or if Merlin just made up his own. Surely, the people of this world didn't let their anger out at a person by calling them a "cabbage head." Right? 

Either way, Merlin was quite fond of "dollophead," and Arthur had yet to learn what it meant.

As an employer, Merlin was relentless. There was time for Arthur to delay. If he lost track of his focus, Merlin would snap at him to get it back. Arthur had contemplated telling Merlin that it was harder for him than it was for most, but he didn't think anyone in this world would understand the reasoning why. After all, there were still people in his own world that still believed it was a made-up thing.

Even though the treatment seemed rather harsh, Arthur continued on. He didn't request that he be moved to another job; knowing how nice the others were, Lady Guinevere, especially, was kind and empathetic, he probably could have asked to work for anyone else. Arthur kept to the work and kept to the insults. When Arthur had the time to talk to Merlin about how magic worked in his world and the different spells that he knew of or had performed himself, Merlin brightened up. It was like he was talking to an entirely different person. Was this the person that the knights talked so fondly of? Why was it that this person only came out at times? Why did Merlin act so differently when it was time to work? 

Clearly, Merlin was quite serious about everything that they were researching, but there seemed to be something more. Underneath the mask, which Arthur was sure was a mask, he knew from personal experience, there was something going on that Merlin was keeping from him and perhaps everyone else. Arthur just didn't know the depth of it. Thinking about it, which was something that Arthur had to do while also looking through the various books because not doing so threatened to bring the dreaded boredom, made Arthur wonder about all that they were looking through. Was Merlin stressed because of not knowing how to help the king defeat the Ivory? Looking at what Merlin seemed to be paying attention to, Arthur wondered if he was stressed about not having found the king. Merlin had said that he wasn't sure how he was supposed to go about it. Was that what caused him to push through the work to the level that he did? 

Still, there seemed to be more to it.

As one would expect after seeing the way that Merlin pushed Arthur around and dropped more and more materials on his desk, Arthur had barely any free time. When he did have time, he spent that time training during Lancelot's classes or hanging out with the other knights that he had come to consider friends. Even Gwaine, who continued to refer to Arthur as "princess," was considered a friend. Though he had contemplated if that was really a good idea more than once. Considering how many times he thought about it when he had only known the man for a week was concerning, but at the same time, Arthur could tell that Gwaine was a good man, under all of the flirting, teasing, and drinking too much at the local tavern. 

Really, why had Gwaine decided to become a knight out of all the jobs offered here?

Between working, training, and having time to socialize, Arthur had no time to look for his sister. Though there wasn't really much that he could do anyway since he was to stay in Ealdor where it was safe, Arthur still felt guilty. Perhaps it would have been better if he didn't spend time with the knights and had just used that time to do anything that would help in the search for Morgana? She was missing after all, and though Arthur was in the same strange place, at least he was safe. 

Lady Guinevere had to have gotten tired of seeing him. Every day, Arthur made sure to find the time to find her and ask for any updates. He felt bad for interrupting whatever she was doing each time, but since he spent the majority of the day researching with Merlin, who probably wouldn't allow for another break other than the lunch one that they took together, he didn't have much of a choice of when he could go to see her. Arthur also had a nagging feeling that she must be sick of seeing him and asking the same thing every day, but Lady Guinevere didn't show that on her face at all if she did. Actually whenever he would arrive, she offered him a smile and apologized that there were no further updates. No one in Ealdor had seen Morgana that they knew of, and no one that arrived in Ealdor had seen her either. She'd tell him that she would continue to have the knights ask everyone that came to Ealdor and that she would tell him as soon as she heard of anything. 

Arthur couldn't help but think that Lady Guinevere was far too kind to him.

Currently, Arthur was looking at some of the larger pieces that he had hauled up to Merlin's tower. Seriously, couldn't they have just looked at these below or even just in the courtyard. It took more than one trip up to bring up each of the stone slabs that was the current work for the day, and had Arthur not been in shape, he would have been too tired to look at the symbols on them, let alone be able to decipher the meaning with the notes that Merlin had given him. During their trips up, Arthur was surprised to see that Merlin carried one of the slabs up himself. He was stronger than he looked; the baggy clothes hid any muscle that his lithe body had. Arthur wondered why he was stuck carrying almost everything every day. It seemed to just come with the job of being an assistant.

Unlike Arthur, Merlin didn't need anything in order to read the slabs. Whatever language or code they were in, Arthur wasn't sure which exactly it was, Merlin already knew. It took him much longer to get through any of it compared to Merlin's quick time. Arthur was proud that he was starting to catch up to Merlin's reading speed, but this was taking longer than when he had started to help. At least with the usual texts, Arthur could read it. Somehow, the language that they spoke in this world was the same as the one that he spoke in his. He had lucked out with that, but now he was struggling. 

Arthur managed to finish the slab before moving over to the other one. He made sure to keep the notes in eyesight before starting to look at what was written on them. Let's see. This sentence seemed to have this arrangement. Looking at the notes, the translation of that sentence was not helpful to their goals.  Now to keep going.

The king rode on as he left his home.

What was that? Arthur shook his head before touching his hand to it. He tried to hide his reaction from Merlin. What was that though? Arthur looked back at the slab.

With him were only his trusted companions. Where they were heading required the utmost secrecy.

Again, it happened. As Arthur looked at the slab. There was a voice in his head, one that sounded much like his own, that seemed to be translating what was on the slab. Quickly, Arthur looked at the notes. He needed to know if what the voice was saying was actually what was on the slab. If it was, then what came next might be the first helpful thing that he's found!

Looking, he saw that it was. He needed to continue. Please let whatever this was continue.

Their journey had been long, but this did not matter. The king had to do whatever it took in order to protect his kingdom from the Ivory, even if it meant riding out in search of something that he did not believe existed.

Arthur remembered this point in the play. The king, desperate, left with only his closest knights and his advisor and lover, the Dragonlord. They traveled for days and then came across a cave. There, the king found the "carnelian" which was what bestowed upon him a power that helped him face the Ivory. 

Though the king did not believe, he hoped, and hope drove him. His trusted advisor, the Dragonlord, led the party. The stories had been passed down to him by his ancestries and the dragons. If the legend was true, they would have the power that would rival the Ivory. They traveled through Brocéliande. Onward, they went to-

The voice stopped. It was just Arthur's luck that it wasn't that whatever caused this voice was no longer working, something that just meant it was easier to read, but it was because the text had ended. The slab was broken, and the most important part was on the missing piece. Arthur knew that there had been no pieces that were the right size to be the missing bottom. The only hope that they had was that one of the other slabs continued where this one should have left off. Still, this was something that he had to share with Merlin! Brocéliande was something that had not been mentioned anywhere before. Perhaps that was the lead that they needed!

"Merlin, I think I found something," Arthur said as he flipped the slab around to Merlin. He studied Merlin's face as his blue eyes examined each line of the text. A crease formed between his eyebrows. 

"I don't see anything to note." Merlin's tone was flat. "Don't bother unless you find something actually of note."

Arthur frowned. There was no way that this wasn't important, that this didn't have a clue. Sure, he wasn't from this world, and sure, he wasn't as familiar with the legend as everyone else, especially Merlin, but he'd been reading text after text, slab after slab, and he had never even see the name,  Brocéliande, before. Then there was the detail and the broken piece. 

"I'm sure if you look at it again, you'll see what I saw."

"Don't be a dollophead. I don't have time for this."

"You call me a dollophead, but yet you clearly aren't paying attention. Look, right there. Brocéliande! I hadn't seen any mention of this place before, and the king had traveled through it!"

Though his expression didn't change all that much, Arthur could feel Merlin's emotions in the air. Merlin was not having it. "Well, you 'clearly' haven't translated this slab correctly, and for your information, there is no place called Brocéliande. A king can't go through a place if it doesn't exist! We have no clues, no place to go to look for clues, if a place doesn't exist!"

Merlin's voice had continued to raise, and his face shifted towards a redder hue. The anger radiating off of Merlin caused Arthur a mix of his own anger. He would have been upset with himself had it not been for the unexplainable voice that read the slab to him. He knew that he was right. There was no mistake on Arthur's part, and he was sure of it.

However, the anger did not get to him. It didn't boil over into yelling. There was something else that distracted him from it, and that was worry. Arthur had seen Merlin upset before. He had even been called 'dollophead' more times than he cared to count, but he hadn't seen Merlin this angry before. Why? What set him off? Arthur just making a simple mistake normally wouldn't have, so what was it?

"Merlin." Arthur kept his tone even. There was still a rage that wanted to slip its way into his mouth and down his tongue, but he pushed it back. "What's wrong?"

Right before Arthur's eyes, Merlin locked it all up. The mask covered his face, and even his face went back to its normal pale color. He was unreadable. Merlin turned his head to the side for a second before going back to read his own material. It was as if none of this had even happened.

"You can go to lunch without me. I'm not hungry. I'll stay and work."

Arthur wanted to press. He wanted the answer, but he knew that he wouldn't get it. The wall had gone up, and there was no use trying to bring it down. Arthur knew from personal experience. There were times when he was upset, but he couldn't express himself. Hell, there were even times when he wasn't upset but happy and wasn't able to express himself. This was earlier in his life when he still cared about what his father wanted. When he stopped caring, he slowly started to take the mask off when it covered his face. There was no stopping this masquerade. Arthur was going to have to try asking another time.

"Alright." With that, Arthur stepped away and made his way downstairs.

Though Arthur no longer had his usual lunch companion, he wasn't alone for the entire walk. As he left the wing, he ran into Lady Guinevere. He thought that he might as well ask if there were any updates while she was there.

There weren't.

It wasn't surprising. Arthur had started to grow used to the disappointing news. Thinking about it though... Perhaps Lady Guinevere had any idea of why Merlin was so quick to anger. He wasn't sure if the two of them ever hung around each other, but they both were part of the group that oversaw the people that lived here- even if Merlin wasn't active when it came to this.

"May I ask you something about Merlin." 

Lady Guinevere continued to walk alongside Arthur towards the dining hall. "That depends on if the answer is something that Merlin would want you to know or not. You've spent enough time with Merlin to know how secretive he can be."

"Of course. I was just wondering if you knew what his deal was."

"His 'deal'?"

"What bothers him. I've also spent enough time with him to know that there must be something on his mind. Just today, I made one little mistake, though I highly doubt that I was the one mistaken, and he called me a 'dollophead' and went off on me."

This drew a chuckle out of Lady Guinevere. "I'm sure that whatever you did, or whatever he thinks you did, won't matter much. I've seen the way that he is around you, and trust me when I tell you that there is nothing to worry about."

Arthur wasn't really worried about what Merlin thought of him. Lady Guinevere danced around the question and did so again when Arthur tried to bring it up again. It was clear that she at least had an idea, but she wasn't going to say. Arthur gave his thanks, and then went off to eat his lunch.

Perhaps two steps was all it was before Arthur noticed Gwaine, Elyan, and Percival waving him over. Hm. Merlin did spend time with them. He was friends with them from what they've said. Though Arthur hadn't seen Merlin socialize with anyone besides himself. Still, they might have an idea of what was bothering Merlin. If anyone had an idea, it might be his friends, and luckily for Arthur, he was already friends with said friends.

Quicker than usual, Arthur grabbed his meal and made his way over to them. He didn't ask right away. He waited until there was a good moment to bring it up. Their stories often mentioned Merlin even if he was barely involved in said story, and so Arthur knew that it wouldn't have taken long to begin with.

"Earlier, Merlin became rather angry with me. It started with him just calling me 'dollophead,' but as I pushed, he just became mad. I knew that he was missing something, but I wasn't expecting it. I haven't seen him like that before, at least to that point."

"Maybe," Gwaine started, "he just didn't want to be proven wrong by you." It ended this take with a wink, and the other two joined in with his laugh right after.

Arthur wasn't sure what exactly was so funny about that, so he ignored it and continued. "I know that there is something bothering him. I know that there must be something wrong. I've spent enough time with him to tell that much. I just don't know what. Is it some big secret that needs to be kept from me, or is it just something that you guys don't know?"

The smirks ceased. They gave a look at each other, and then Gwaine, who happened to be the one sitting next to Arthur, turned his way. "He really must be having a harder time hiding it if you've noticed after you've been here for as short as you have."

"So you do know!"

Gwaine shook his head. "Believe me. If any of us knew what was on his mind, we'd have offered our help a long time ago."

With that, Arthur's face fell. "Not even you guys know?"

Once again, Gwaine shook his head. "I know we talk about Merlin quite a bit. It's a bit hard not to when he was always hanging out with us, and I was even a bit closer to him than Elyan and Percival. It didn't matter though. He's pushed me away too. He started to distance himself from us a few years ago. At first we tried asking what was wrong, but he just brushed us off and said that he was fine. Obviously, we knew that he was lying. When that didn't work, he started to just not open up at all to us. 

"Of course, now he spends his time wherever he goes to get those books. I tried helping him carry them once to his room, but he didn't even let me do that. I was surprised that he brought you along to help him. He seems to trust you more than he does us now. I know he likes to sit in the same spot everyday for lunch, but he hasn't even bothered to wave at us. Just starts chatting away with you."

It hadn't crossed Arthur's mind that he would be one of the closest people to Merlin already. They did spend most of their time together, but to be fair, they were working together. Arthur was working for Merlin. He didn't really have a choice. Although if he did, Arthur would have been lying to himself if he said he wanted to spend that time somewhere else, with someone else.

"Is there anyone, anyone at all, that might have an idea?" Arthur was determined not just to know but also to help with whatever problem Merlin had. "Or do you even have an idea of what might be bothering him?"

"Well, Gwen may know," Elyan offered.

"I tried asking her already," Arthur said. "I think she at least had an idea, but she didn't want to tell me."

"Well, you could try asking Lancelot," Percival suggested. "Out of us, he's been the closest with Merlin, and he might be willing to tell you if he knows just to try to make Merlin feel better."

Gwaine agreed. "Lancelot would probably be your best bet. I would suggest Gaius. After all, besides being his uncle, he's been a father-figure to him. However, I don't really know if Gaius would help."

That was news to Arthur. He wasn't aware that Gaius was Merlin's uncle. He also didn't know that he was his father-figure or even how that part came to be. Merlin never talked about family. Most of the time that they talked, it was about magic, and if it wasn't about magic, then it was about their worlds. The only one that had opened up about their family was Arthur. When it came to anything about the past, especially anything that had to do with childhood, Merlin was a complete mystery.

"Why wouldn't Gaius be able to help?"

"Well, I don't know if Gaius would want to tell you. He doesn't really know you, does he? Besides there is the other bit, and that is that I haven't seen Merlin and Gaius talk for awhile now."

"Is that unusual?"

All three of them nodded. It was very unusual. It started around the same time that he started to drift from them. However, none of them were expecting him to drift from Gaius, and they especially weren't expecting him to drift from Gaius before them. There was no explaining it, but Arthur had a strong feeling that there was and Gaius knew exactly what it was. However, as Gwaine said, Gaius wasn't going to be the one to tell him. He'd have to ask Lancelot when he next saw him.

Before leaving, Arthur asked, "What is a 'dollophead' exactly?" In reply, he only received a trio of laughter and another wink from Gwaine. Arthur had just assumed it was just some kind of insult, but now he was confused about it again.

Chapter Text

Arthur wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to these stairs. Still, he managed just like he always did. This walk up was different though. Was that music? Arthur continued to climb the stairs, and as he did, it started to grow in volume. Glancing to the chough on his shoulder, he gave Cal a raised eyebrow as if to say, "Are you hearing this?" The sound was coming from some sort of string instrument. Surely, Merlin wasn't having someone come over to visit. He never did, and Arthur couldn't see him inviting someone over and having them play music while he worked. That could only mean that the source of the music was Merlin himself. Thinking about it, he had never seen Merlin even pick up an instrument. He was either working or monologuing. However, remembering Merlin's room, there was a lute sitting up under one of the windows. Was Arthur about to see Merlin plucking away?

The answer was no. As Arthur took the last few steps, the music stopped abruptly. Footsteps could be heard beyond the door, and when he opened it, Merlin was back to the table and looking over a book. The man was alone just as Arthur had thought, and looking at his partially made bed, there was a lute laying on its side. The rounded back clearly did not allow it to sit perfectly like a guitar would. For a moment, Arthur wondered what it would be like to hold one, or more specifically, play while sitting down. The strap probably being of use with that just as much as when standing. 

These thoughts didn't wander after this because there was something else in Arthur's view that was far more distracting. The table Merlin stood at was mostly cleared off, but it wasn't because he had decided to do some random cleaning while Arthur was gone. It was the opposite. Tomes and scrolls that had been laying there were now scattered around the room. Had Merlin thrown them? From what Arthur knew, that wasn't like him. For a moment, Arthur worried about the slab that he had read, but he was able to let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was still on the table. Perhaps the weight spared it from Merlin's wrath. Though he had only been looking at the book for perhaps a minute, Merlin was already shutting it. He didn't even bother to place a scrab piece of paper inside to mark the page. 

"I'm done working for the day," Merlin told him. "You can go.".

Arthur hesitated. He didn't want to go especially after seeing the state of the room. There was the mix of worry and still a hint of curiosity with Merlin's musical skill. That slight hesitation was enough for Arthur to not be able to leave. He had only begun to turn around to head back down when Merlin spoke again.

"Before you go," Merlin began and paused just somewhat, "would you give me that reading?"

It was unexpected. Arthur had almost forgotten that he had offered to give Merlin one. When he had brought it up, he had thought that Merlin would take him up on his offer the next day or at least the next time that they had free time like right after eating lunch. He hadn't though, and so it slipped from Arthur's mind. Now Merlin was finally bringing it up.

"Alright."

To say that Arthur was just nervous was an understatement. Besides doing readings mostly for himself, there was also the fact that something was clearly bugging Merlin. Still, he accepted and made his way over to Merlin. Seeing that it was actually going to happen, Merlin started to clear off the table further. Though he was careful with each thing that needed to be moved. By the time that Arthur was pulling his more earthy deck out of his bag, Merlin had gotten all but two slabs off, one of which being the one that Arthur had looked at. Both were towards the edges of the table and out of the way. Arthur could have worked with less space, but Merlin didn't know that. After all, this was going to be his first tarot reading. He didn't know what to expect.

With his arms at his sides, Merlin stood there and watched as Arthur began to shuffle the deck. Some people preferred having the other person shuffle the deck for them. Then there were some that only let the other person cut the deck. Arthur was from neither group. The times that he had given a reading to Morgana or a coworker that he gave in to since he wouldn't stop asking, Arthur did all of the shuffling himself. He didn't need the other person to even touch the deck. Though he considered changing that for Merlin. It would have given him something to do instead of just standing there awkwardly.

Arthur decided to verbalize what he was doing instead. He figured that would help with the uncomfortable air circling the two of them, and Merlin did want to know how the readings worked. Arthur didn't have an easy time explaining it before, but as Arthur started, he found that it was easier while actually doing a reading. He talked as he shuffled and even told Merlin of the different ways that people shuffle or start their readings. He asked Merlin if there was something he wanted to ask or if he just wanted a general reading. It was determined that the reading would focus on Merlin's search for the king.

The reading began.

It started just like any other. Arthur informed Merlin that he was missing something. This caused him to frown just ever so slightly. Someone else might have missed the tiny turn down at the corners of his mouth, but Arthur had spent more time taking in Merlin's appearance than he cared to admit. Plus, he was also a bit worried that Merlin wouldn't believe him and think that Arthur was just bringing up the slab again.

More cards started to lay down, and Arthur could see the anxiety that Merlin was having. It was clear in the Nine of Swords. That wasn't all though. He saw a loss that Merlin had experienced. Arthur didn't know what that had to do with the search for the Once and Future King, but the deck seemed to think that it was important.

As Arthur began to flip over the next card, he found that he could no longer see them. It was more intense than the strange moments that he had while reading before. The world seemed to black out in front of him. Arthur could no longer feel the card touching the tips of his fingers. He couldn't really even feel the ground beneath his feet. The only thing that didn't fade was the presence of Merlin. However, it was barely there. Arthur found comfort in what was there.

Before him, a figure started to appear. Arthur would have described the figure as "shadowy" had he been dark like actual shadows. He had the feel of them, but instead of blending into the darkness, the figure, which Arthur could somehow tell was a man, was standing right out. It was the only color that Arthur could see, a sort of honey glow. This did change though as a golden crown appeared on his head. Was this the Once and Future King? 

Arthur wanted to know more. If the figure, this possible king, could lead him in the right direction, that would be something heavy off of Merlin's shoulders. Hell, for all Arthur knew, this was part of what was bothering Merlin. Arthur wanted to move forward. He wanted to say something, to ask the figure! However, Arthur couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He could only watch. Though the figure continued to just stand there, another joined him, and this one, Arthur knew. 

It was Merlin.

A caw sounds through his ears. His vision went back to normal, and Merlin was now the only one in front of him, and Arthur could see the confusion and even worry across his face. Arthur looked over to Cal, but he was just looking at him. Arthur could sense that he was feeling that same way that Merlin was.

"Sorry," Arthur apologized. He looked down at the card to find The Moon. There was the illusion that Arthur had just seen. "Another card mentioning anxiety. There is something that is not what it seems, but there is a light that is shining down." Arthur thought to the glow that the figure started to have. "It will illuminate this dark." Though Arthur felt that this card was just as much for him as it was for Merlin.

Next to last was Temperance, it showed a balance, two sides of the same coin, and Arthur felt that this would be the conclusion of his search. He hoped that this would give Merlin some hope as he told him. The last card would give advice. What was it that Merlin needed to look at? What needed to come to his attention? 

The answer?

The Six of Cups.

Arthur couldn't mask his own confusion enough. The Six of Cups spoke of looking back at memories like one's childhood. It spoke of nostalgia. The specifics didn't come to Arthur, and he could only tell Merlin that. Arthur wished that he could have gotten more, but it was like there was a wall that prevented him from seeing the answer.

If Merlin was disappointed, Arthur could really only guess, but he felt it. It couldn't help it. It hit him, and he tried to distract himself from it. Arthur just felt like a disappointment.

"That's all for today," Merlin said. "Why don't you ask if Lancelot will give you some extra lessons?"

Oh gods, Merlin is finding something else to jab at Arthur.

"I'm sure he'll help you further. I saw you training with the others. You're advancing quicker than the others that I've seen."

Oh?

"I'm sure that Lancelot can give you advanced lessons. I've seen him doing the same thing with a few others like Mordred."

Arthur didn't know who this Mordred person was, but that didn't matter. Merlin wasn't insulting him. He was actually complimenting him, and that turned Arthur's self-doubt right around for the moment at least.

"I'm going to go over a few things, see if I missed anything."

"Right," Arthur said, a bit too breathy for someone that had only just been standing there. He cleared his throat. "I'll ask him next time I see him."

"Good. I'm sure that it won't be long before they want you to quit your job with me and become another one of their knights." 

Merlin gave Arthur a little smile, and his heart melted. 

Get ahold of yourself, Arthur. Don't act like a schoolboy with a crush. Why must it always be so hard to stop intense emotions?

"Right. I will see you tomorrow then."

With that, Arthur left and tried not to fan himself. He's not actually hot. It's just blushing. Though Merlin was definitely hot. No, stop it. Arthur figured it was best to get to fresh air. It wasn't entirely to distract himself. His head was feeling rather funny after the reading. Discomfort wasn't something that was nice to focus on, but Arthur held on to that as he went down the stairs and away from Merlin's wing of the castle.

Maybe he was feeling off due to the vision that he had. That would make sense. Arthur didn't know why it happened though, and that meant that he couldn't be exactly sure or even replicate it to see if it was. He wanted to ask Cal, but he didn't speak bird like Merlin did. He was only able to get a sense from Cal, and even if Cal told him that way that he knew, the chough wouldn't be able to actually tell him why or what it meant. Perhaps he'd finally bring it up to Merlin. This was something that he had never experienced in his own world, and Arthur knew that it had to do with the magic in this world. If anyone had an idea, it would be Merlin.

Arthur  continued walking through the halls. Over by the training area, there was a hallway that was open to the outside. It was a nice place to just stand and take in the breeze. There was a hint of flowers on the wind no matter where you were. It was sweet and comforting since it reminded Arthur of the flowers from back home. 

Home.

It almost surprised Arthur that he hadn't thought much of home since he came to this world. Merlin kept him busy, and when he wasn't busy, Arthur kept himself busy. The only thing from his life before that occupied his mind was Morgana. Of course, he thought of her. When it came down to it, though, she was all he thought of from his world. Sure, he spent time discussing with Merlin the magic of his world along with other aspects of his world, but that was because it was something that Merlin wanted to talk about. Arthur, himself, only brought up things if he needed a comparison for something.

The reason why it wasn't a complete surprise for Arthur. Though he was now in a position where he couldn't go back, at least until his sister was found and that was if Merlin knew of a way to travel to other worlds, he didn't feel homesick at all. Did his life before even ever feel like a home? There was a time where living in his childhood house in Hazelbury felt like home. His life after? His flat felt more like a place that he slept than a true home. Arthur had thought that maybe it was because having a flat in a city, though not one of the larger ones, was just too different to what he was used to. Taking the stairs and finding himself in a small place where he was alone, it wasn't the most homey feeling. Still, he had been convinced that it was because it was a change that he just needed to get used to. 

Even after years started to go by, he still told himself this. There was a library that he was able to walk to, but it wasn't the same. There was a small park nearby, but it didn't have those flowers that Arthur would always see year after year in Hazelbury. Then there wasn't the brick building of his house with a fence out front. The trees that were behind were nowhere to be found where he was living.

However, the comparison didn't matter. Now that he was a world away, he realized that it wasn't because his new place wasn't anything like his old place that caused him to feel like he was just staying in a place instead of living. It simply was just not a home for him, and the thing that really showed Arthur this was that he realized that his old home had also become no true home to him as well. He compared and thought that meant that he was homesick, but now that he was in a new environment and didn't think of Hazelbury that much, he realized that wasn't the case. The smell of the flowers as the scented noises drifted on the breeze made him think of the flowers that were constant in Hazelbury, but it was just a memory. There was no ache in his stomach. There was no pull to go back.

As Arthur thought of this, he realized that he felt no want to go home. If he lived the rest of his days here, even just here in Ealdor, he knew that he would be happy. It saddened Arthur that his life before didn't even have any friends that pulled at his heart enough to find his way back. The only thing that made him think that this situation might not be permanent was his sister. What would Morgana want to do? Would she want to find a way back? 

If anything, this made his stomach twist. Arthur knew that he would want to stay by his sister's side especially after having lost her. Once he was reunited with her, he wouldn't want to just abandon her to live in another world. Though Arthur didn't know if traveling back and forth would be easy, would he still be alright with being away from her? It wasn't just his big brother instincts that made him want to be there to protect her. It was also that he felt that he had failed her. Had he been able to be there with her, she might not have gone back home, gone to the woods, and found herself brought here. 

There was guilt there. Arthur had to admit it. Though he was taken against his will and his purpose here had become finding Morgana, Arthur found that he liked it here. Before, there was one place that felt like the most home to Arthur. That was under the apple tree with Morgana and the boy that they had befriended. He had never felt more comfortable. The tree was like the hearth to his own make-believe house. This place that he was now. It reminded him of that place, and Arthur knew that he went deeper than it just being because that was where he was taken. No, this place was feeling like that place then. He was just missing Morgana. The boy was also not here, but given time, he knew that the friendships that he had already made while here would become a close equivalent.

Arthur shook the thoughts away. At least it was better than his head bothering him. That was no longer an issue, and though there was the question of what would happen, there was the warmth that was now. Also this was a fine distraction from the blushing earlier. 

As Arthur rested his arms on the stone, he looked out at the training area. Was Lancelot out there? If he was, he would be able to ask him for some advanced lessons, and more importantly, he could ask him if he had any idea of what was bothering Merlin.

It wasn't difficult to vault over the stone. After all, Arthur had seen others doing so as a shortcut to the training grounds. He started to walk in that direction, but it wasn't long before he stopped Lancelot at the edge of the field and by the castle wall. He wasn't alone either. Standing with him was Lady Guinevere. Thinking about it, Arthur hadn't seen them together before, but Lancelot did have a habit of calling her "Gwen" just like her brother did. 

While waving, Arthur made his way over, but he luckily didn't make it all the way over before he realized that the two of them were clearly having a moment to themselves. He watched as Lancelot brushed a strand of hair out of her face. They did not kiss, but Arthur could see even from where he was standing the look that they were giving each other. Huh. That was probably why Lancelot called Lady Guinevere by her nickname. 

Was this something that he was allowed to see? Arthur asked himself this, but as they pulled away and finished their conversation, Lady Guinevere spotted him and gave him a smile and a wave. She made her leave as Arthur approached a smiling Lancelot. 

The situation was a bit confusing to Arthur. Was it not a secret? They seemed to not care at all about being spotted. They clearly didn't care about Arthur seeing them. What confused Arthur was that he had been positive that Lady Guinevere was already in a relationship. As Arthur often did, he would find Lady Guinevere to ask her if there were any updates about his sister. More than once, he had found Lady Guinevere and Lady Mithian giving the same look that he had just seen shared between Lancelot and her. Not only that, but they had walked with him while holding hands. Was Arthur mistaken?

Clearly the confusion was visible on Arthur's face because Lancelot chuckled. Arthur felt embarrassed. "I thought- You and Lady Guinevere- But isn't she?"

Lancelot understood at once. "Ah, you've seen her with Lady Mithian?"

Arthur nodded.

"The two of them are indeed together. Our relationship is still new. At first we were keeping it quiet, but she assured me that it was fine to become more open."

"But what about Lady Mithian?"

"What about her?"

Arthur was perplexed. Lancelot was acting as if this was the most normal situation for Arthur to have witnessed. Then it hit him. Was polyamory more accepted in this world? It wasn't like he had talked about what was socially accepted or not with anyone. Gwaine flirted with everyone regardless of gender, and with the play adaptation of the Once and Future King showing what was clearly a romance between two men, he assumed that at least different sexual and romantic orientations were accepted. 

"So, Lady Guinevere is in a relationship with both of you, and everyone in the relationship knows about it?"

"Of course. Did you think that Gwen was cheating on Lady Mithian?"

"Relationships with more than one person aren't really accepted where I'm from."

"That explains the confusion. Yes, we don't really have any issue with that here. It is more common in certain parts than others, but if someone feels strongly about more than one person and it is accepted by all involved, then why shouldn't a relationship grow to include more or branch into other relationships?"

"I'm not judging. I can understand in a sense. Even during the current time of my world, there are people that don't agree with people, like me, that like men."

"I see. We've never had any problems with that. There may be countries or kingdoms outside our own that do, but we have no negative view of it here. After all, look at the story of the Once and Future King."

"That's good."

"Is there anything that you need?"

"Yes, two things. First, would you be willing to give me lessons separate from the group ones."

"We can arrange a time. Gwen has her own lessons along with a few others. What's the other thing?"

"Gwaine said that you might have an idea about what's bothering Merlin."

"Oh."

"So you know?"

"I do. Why don't we walk around?"

Lancelot didn't start talking about the issue that was plaguing Merlin at first. He waited until they were over by the gardens. It was an area that Arthur had not found himself before. The flowers weren't all planted together. They were in different sections. How they organized them, Arthur wasn't sure. In the center of the area was a dress with leaves that were a soft pink. It reminded Arthur of cherry tree blossoms. The kind of tree that this was was unknown to Arthur. Some of the flowers, though, Arthur recognized. One group had pansies and buttercups. Amongst all of the others, Arthur also spotted tulips and daffodils. Around the tree was lily of the valleys along with some bluebells. The scent of it all blended into a soft perfume that lingered in the air.

Under the tree sat a bench made of stone. It reminded Arthur of the one that he saw each day that he went with Merlin to the secret door. It was there that Lancelot brought Arthur. The two of them sat down, and though it did not look like it would have been comfortable at all, Arthur was proven wrong. There had to be some magic at work here. Of course, Arthur wouldn't have been surprised if some of the comforting feeling that the area gave off as the feeling of the magic. 

"I assume you're going to tell me what is on Merlin's mind since you brought me out here.

Lancelot sighed and seemed to almost sink into his seat. If he did, it was just slightly. The air and posture that Lancelot held was still mostly there. There was just something ever so slightly different. Arthur had never seen Lancelot let go of it even by just a little bit. It was clear that the knightly demeanor that Lancelot had was no act but how he really was. 

"What is it that seems to be weighing Merlin down?"

"Merlin... He doesn't like to talk about it. I'm sure that Gwaine brought up that he hasn't been his usual self for a while."

"He did. He said that Merlin has been distant."

"I've seen how he talks with you during your break. That was how Merlin was most of the time. He was a good listener, but he also was a friend of chatter. His dry humor never failed to get a laugh out of us. I still remember when he was helping to train Daegal. Daegal had been having a hard time, and Merlin wasn't going easy on him. We were all a little worried about him, but Merlin insisted that Daegal could handle it. We could hear the ruckus, and I believe it was Percival that asked if Daegal was alright when Merlin stepped away and down from his tower. With a completely straight face, Merlin looked at us and said, 'He's dead.' Merlin, of course, was joking, but there was a moment where Percival completely believed him, and it was quite funny. Percival was a bit annoyed, but Merlin has always been someone easy to forgive. Even if he was part of one of Gwaine's pranks, we always forgave him much quicker than we did Gwaine. Merlin might be the most powerful one amongst us here, but he's younger than us, and so he has always been a bit of a younger brother to us."

"Yet now he barely spends any time with any of you."

"He spends most of his time now with you, and when he's not with you, he's either in his tower or under the castle. Yes, I know about the door that the dragon reveals. I followed him once since besides being worried about him, Gwaine was thinking that Merlin had met someone and was spending time with them. Gwaine wouldn't let it go. Merlin's nonexistent, as Gwaine described it, love life was something that Gwaine had interest in. He told us he'd drag Merlin on a date, himself, if it wasn't for him seeing him like a younger brother. Anyway, I didn't want Gwaine bothering him. He was already distancing himself from everyone. I didn't want him to feel worse. I'm not sure what was done there, but Gwaine even doubted that there was someone down there waiting for him. I saw and could hear how the door appeared. Unless there somehow was another Dragonlord that survived."

"Dragonlord?"

"Did no one tell you that Merlin was a Dragonlord? He's the last Dragonlord. That's why this whole place belongs to him. It once belonged to them, and now he is the last one."

"I don't remember if you ever told me why they were all killed."

"It's because of Emrys. The High Priestesses didn't want the king to be found, and Emrys was supposed to be born a Dragonlord. They tried to kill them all before that could happen or kill him before he grew up. They didn't know exactly who he was. They didn't know until later when they were able to get ahold of Merlin's things and were able to sense his magic. It's common knowledge here, but I can understand why no one, especially Merlin, didn't bring this up."

The last Dragonlord… Arthur was surprised that it was only a few years prior that Merlin started to be distant. Growing up with all of your family and people killed... It must have been hard. Knowing that you were wanted and were meant to die as well, that must have been harder. Still, Merlin had managed to put on a smile and appeared to have been doing fine with whatever trauma that must have given him. It was only recently that he started acting differently. Still, Arthur wondered if this had anything to do with it.

"Anyway, that does have some part to play in what is bothering Merlin." Arthur wasn't expecting for his wondering to be proven correct so soon. "I wish that Merlin would talk to us about it and let us help him, but he just hasn't. I was surprised when he brought you in to help since that was more than he has asked from us in years.

"Merlin... He has a lot on his mind. He's stressed, and he's been stressed before. He has no idea how he's supposed to find the Once and Future King, and so far, he hasn't found anything that could help him. All he knows is that apparently he's just supposed to find him. Clearly, that's a lot of pressure on a person. The Once and Future King is supposed to save us, and we know that the time for him is upon us because Emrys is here."

"I figured that the work was something that was bothering him, but there seemed to be something more. Gwaine said that he hasn't talked to Gaius, who he was close to."

"Yes, Gaius... I'm sure that Merlin wouldn't want me to tell you everything about what has been going on, but I'd rather you know. He's been isolating himself and making himself feel even worse. He can't help anyone if he wears himself out. 

"As I had said, all of the Dragonlords were killed minus him. However, Merlin's mother is not a Dragonlord. I don't know if Gwaine and the others mentioned Gaius's relation to Merlin. It's on his mother's side, and like Gaius, his mother is a member of the Order of Healing Hands. Gaius was one of the ones that represented the Order just as Merlin's father, Balinor, was one of the ones that represented the Dragonlords. That was how they met. Hunith had been visiting Gaius. I assume you don't know anything about the Order of Healing Hands."

"No."

"The Order of Healing Hands is a group of physicians. Their members generally follow family lines such as both Hunith and Gaius being members. Their order is not religious, but the way that it operates resembles a religious organization. They run on a set of principles. Of course, healing is their main motive. If there is a chance to save someone, they must take it. An order staying in one place or even stationed in different places can only do so much. If a member is able, they are to travel around to different villages and help heal the sick and injured as they go along. Not every member has to do this all the time. There are still healers that stay in the cities and the towns. However, the number that there are is limited. If there are more members than what is needed, they move on to another. By few of the order, it is almost a requirement that members go on a pilgrimage of healing once in their life. Members are even shuffled around if one hasn't been on one and they are needed where they are. Traveling as a member of the Order of Healing Hands is a big deal for them.

"Though members usually do this journey when they are younger, generally in their twenties, some put it off until later in life once they have had their family and raised their children to adulthood."

"So that is why I haven't seen or heard mention of Merlin's mother."

Lancelot nodded. "Hunith is out and going to the different villages to lend her hand."

"Even though it's dangerous."

"Especially since it's dangerous. Now is a time where all healers and therefore members of the Order of Healing Hands are needed. If it wasn't for Gaius's age and being the main physician here in Ealdor, he would probably be out there helping as well. Merlin has been worrying about his mother since she left. He tried to have Gaius order her back since he is one of the representatives for the whole order. He has the power to do so, but he won't. He knows how important this is for Hunith. She was planning on going on her travels, but then she met Balinor and had Merlin. She helped as much as she could while they were in hiding, but at times, she had to break her oaths because she knew that Merlin's safety would save many more lives. It was hard for her, and now that he is older and Ealdor is stable, she wanted to use her knowledge and healing magic to help others around. I can understand her dedication. However, Merlin doesn't."

"And the only way for it to not be dangerous would be if he found the Once and Future King."

"Exactly. It's blended together in the worst possible way. Hunith, of course, was one of the people that he went to when he was upset or overwhelmed. Though he didn't know what he was doing before, she was there to give him encouragement, and unlike us, he listened to her. The same was with Gaius. He's always gone to Gaius for advice, but he's been avoiding him. I'm not sure if he's still upset about Gaius refusing to order his mother to come back or if maybe Gaius is reminding him of his mother. Either way, he didn't talk to him. He's just been bottling it up.

"Telling you all of this won't fix it, but at least you can understand why Merlin is acting the way that he is. He won't let anyone close, but there is something about you that is making him act like his old self again. Be there for him since he won't let anyone else."

"I will."

With that, Arthur and Lancelot slowed their conversation down to a stop. Afternoon training was going to begin soon, and not only was Lancelot leading the session, but Arthur had planned on attending. The two of them started to make their way back. The fragrance of flowers fading but not leaving completely. 

Before they reached their destination, Arthur turned to Lancelot. "By the way, what does 'dollophead' mean?"

Lancelot just chuckled softly. "Don't worry about it. You're fitting in fine."

Chapter Text

The dummy in front of Arthur was looking like it wished that Arthur would just end it. It was tattered and beaten. There was a large rip that ran from what would be the right shoulder down to the bottom left of its torso. There was even a cut that was carved into the face from someone that had been previously using the dummy to train. It wasn't the most well put together dummy, and it had seen better times. However, it was the dummy that was all the way to the end and had a neighbor that wasn't being used. That neighbor was being used as a seat for Cal. 

Arthur would have thought that a chough would have no interest in watching a human swing his sword around. However, he always found Cal watching him. Perhaps it was out of boredom. After all, people practicing with various kinds of weapons were all that were around. Swords were also probably more comfortable to look at than bows.

There was so much focus that Arthur didn't realize that a rather giddy Merlin was making his way over to him. The man was full-on sprinting in his direction, and it was only when Merlin tripped and fell only about two feet away from him did he stop mid-swing to look at him. Merlin was already lifting himself up with his hands, and then picking up whatever scroll he had brought out to show Arthur. 

"Careful," Arthur said as he lowered his weapon and put it back in its sheath. "I could have hit you."

Merlin chuckled at the thought. "I doubt that. Not that you aren't on par with some of the other knights already, but that I'd never let a sword hit me."

Arthur shrugged. Knowing Merlin's magical abilities, that was probably true. "I see that you've found something. You've never come out here, let alone with some kind of text in hand."

That brought the energy right back to Merlin. He was almost bouncing with excitement. He unrolled the scroll and held it up for Arthur to see. It was a map, and while he could tell that it was clearly old, perhaps hundreds of years old, Arthur wasn't sure what was different about it. Most of the time, he had kept his nose in accounts of the time of the Once and Future King or retellings from different times and places. It had seen maybe two maps at most. What was special about this particular map? Arthur was sure that Merlin would quickly fill him in.

That was just what he did. "I was looking at that tablet that you had pointed out to me. I was thinking that perhaps you were right somehow; how, I didn't know. I thought it would be a good idea to look it over again. After reading it over, I realized that yes, that was the first time that we had seen a location other than where the final battle took place. It was something different, and that place might have some kind of sign or give us an idea into the mind of the king. 

"However, Brocéliande is on no maps, and of course, it's not been mentioned in any other retellings. Where could it possibly be, I asked myself. I had already looked at some older maps before, and I didn't recognize the name from any of those ones. Those were only a few maps, and looking back, the oldest was still created a hundred years after the king's death. Could a name change have happened in just those hundred years? 

"I dug through everything that I hadn't looked for with a focus on just looking for maps. Then I found this one. There are a few places that have had a change in name, and one of them was Brocéliande. I used a spell to give an approximate of how old this map was compared to the oldest one that I had before finding this one. It's such a discovery! This map predates the king, and as far as I know, this is probably the oldest known map in the whole kingdom! Just think of what we can learn from it, and what else is down there, I've been focusing so much on the legend that I haven't looked at anything else. Just think of the spells and older uses of magic that might be down there!"

"Back to Brocéliande, Merlin. You found it?"

"Sorry. Yes, I compared it to the maps that we have today, and the place is still the same. The name was written in almost the same place as the new ones. The only difference was the name. Why they changed the name, I don't know. Perhaps it had something to do with what it became. Though for all we know it could have been used as that as well."

"Merlin, focus."

"Right, um, Brocéliande is now called the Valley of the Fallen Kings. I've heard of it before, but I haven't been there myself."

"So, I'm still a dollophead. I did point you in the direction of a clue."

"How you managed to translate it, I don't know. Still a dollophead though."

Arthur sighed slightly. "Of course."

"Grab your things, we're leaving in half an hour."

"Half an hour?!"

"Yes, the others are already grabbing their things. I've already packed, and we'll all be waiting at the stables."

"I don't even have a pack to put anything in."

"Then you better hurry and see if one of the knights will lend you one," Merlin winked before leaving Arthur behind confused and trying to figure out what all he even needed to bring.

Luckily for Arthur, Lancelot was right there on the field and willing to help him. He lent him his pack since he wasn't scheduled to go out anytime soon. Lancelot was also kind enough to give him an idea of what all he needed to take with him, unlike Merlin, who had just left him without even a clue. 

Before practically running back to his room, Arthur made a stop in the armory. He already had a sword that he could use since he already had one on his side. Lancelot suggested that he take one of the chainmail and padding to wear underneath. Who was going with them, since Merlin clearly wasn't going without one of the knights, Gaius and the others, but especially, Gaius, not allowing him, was unknown. There was no idea if it was going to be just one knight or more. Since Arthur was already at the skill of some of their knights, he would be able to defend Merlin and himself if needed. Of course before he had left to quickly grab everything, Lancelot mentioned how amazing Arthur’s progress has been.

Who was going with them wasn't the only thing that was unknown to Arthur. He also had no idea if any of them had grabbed supplies, so he also made sure to stop at the dining hall before throwing clothes, his journal, and his decks. Without any grace at all, Arthur started to just throw whatever he could get his hands on that he knew would last in the back without magic. Merlin would probably be able to keep everything cold that needed to be cold, but Arthur wasn't going to count on that since Arthur would have to remember to ask Merlin. He had no idea when they would finally stop and he'd be able to open his pack and then see the food that was inside. Unless his hunger caused him to remember early, there was no telling if Arthur would remember until later in the day.

Now with bread, pastries, dried meat, and more bread, Arthur was ready to go out to the sables. It was a surprise to him that he managed to get there on time since he had no prior warning. Arthur, though, did sprint down the halls, especially the ones in Merlin's wing where no one would see him doing so. What surprised Arthur even more was that he wasn't the last one to show up. It wasn't Gwaine either, who was already chatting with Elyan and trying to chat with Merlin. 

The last one to show up was someone that Arthur didn't recognize. He was no knight. Arthur could tell easily from his garb. He wore a green tunic with a high collar and a dark cloak. From what Arthur could see, the young man only had a knife at his side. His hair was brown, and his eyes green. He couldn't have been over twenty. Twenty perhaps, but, to Arthur at least, he looked like he was probably around nineteen. Who he was was a mystery to Arthur, but the others recognized him. Gwaine grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him over to the others. Elyan also brightened up when he saw him. Whoever the young man was, he looked almost like a younger brother to the group. There was even a hint of affection that Arthur could see in Merlin's eyes. 

"Daegal," Gwaine smiled, "I didn't know that you were coming. How've you been?"

So this was the Daegal that Merlin had joked about dying.

"I've been good. I asked to come along since the town that Mordred is currently in is on the way. I figured that we could stop there since the ride to the Valley of the Fallen Kings will take longer than a day."

"We haven't seen Mordred in awhile. Right, Elyan?"

"He's been keeping himself busy lately. That's why I was hoping that we could stop and see him. Maybe stay in the tavern in town for the night?"

"No," Merlin answered rather bluntly. It took Daegal off guard, but Merlin quickly continued. "We'll stop, but we'll spend the night outside of town just to be on the safe side."

"Oh course. That works fine. I'm just happy to get out of Ealdor for a bit and to see Mordred."

"It'll be nice to see what trouble he's been getting himself into lately," Elyan lightly joked.

With everyone ready, the group climbed onto their horses and then started off towards the Valley of Fallen Kings. During the ride, Merlin kept mostly quiet. Gwaine filled the air with plenty of talking for both of them, if not at least three members of their group. Daegal introduced himself to Arthur, and he talked about Mordred. Arthur had heard the name before, but he hadn't had a chance to meet the young man. 

There was no shortage of conversation of him. Elyan and Gwaine shared stories about him including the pranks that they had played on him when he had first started training to be a knight. He was rather young and definitely the youngest that had been training with a focus to be a knight and not just learn ways to defend himself if something was to happen in the future. Mordred was pretty determined to join the knights. He wanted to help, and he especially wanted to help those that lived in Ealdor. 

When he was younger and his father died, Merlin, who had only just started planning on reviving Ealdor for refugees, helped Mordred out. His father had been part of the Circle of Druids, wanderers that had their own encampments out in nature and focused on the connection of magic and the life of everything. The control that the High Priestesses had on the people of Camelot was something that the Circle of Druids did their best to work around. There were even some that decided that they would rather take up arms against the High Priestesses even if their number was much smaller than the army that they had. Mordred's father was not one of these druids, but as he did what he could to help those around him, he was mistaken for one. His father told him to run, and run, he did. Mordred ended up running into Merlin. He went back to help Mordred's father, but it was too late. There was nothing that Merlin could do to help him, but he could help little Mordred. As he started to gather the first people that came to Ealdor, he had Mordred come with him and did all he could to ensure that he would have a comfy and safe life there.

Mordred wasn't the only child that Merlin had helped either. Daegal had been another one. He was also an orphan, and he was just getting by all by himself by scamming others. Of course, the villagers were not happy each time they found out, and he would run out. He tried scamming Merlin, but instead of being angry, Merlin found the boy after and asked him where his parents were. With no one there to take care of him, Merlin had him join the others as they made their way to Ealdor.

That was how Daegal had met Mordred. Mordred was only two years older than him, and besides being both young boys that could easily become friends, Daegal understood the pain that Mordred was experiencing. He comforted him and distracted him by playing games with him when he noticed that Mordred was getting upset. The two of them didn't just become friends. They had become the best of friends. 

Even with both of them working jobs that kept them separated part of the time, Daegal working with the other young mages in Ealdor and Mordred sometimes being sent out with other knights to help towns and villages, they made sure to catch up when they were both free. Though they took different paths, their paths, just like their personalities, complimented each other. Daegal was a healer, and Mordred was a protector. Arthur felt like he now knew Mordred after the way that Daegal, especially, talked about him as they made their way to him. It was easy to see that Daegal was excited to see his friend. 

The group did make a few short stops on their ride there. They stopped to give the horses breaks to drink water and eat along with themselves. Arthur was grateful for each stop as it gave him time to stretch his legs. He was also grateful that there were more snacks than what he had quickly grabbed. Gwaine brought quite a few apples to munch on. Arthur wasn't sure if he had brought anything else. Merlin had brought some of his usual snacks, but he had also grabbed some treats to share with Arthur, who was grateful for the added selection. 

As the group started to grow closer to the town, the trees started to grow more sparse. There still were trees, but the town was much larger than the two villages that Arthur had seen on his way to Ealdor. It wasn't quite a city, but there were still plenty of buildings and homes. The streets were made of cobblestone, and besides the houses, there was a stone structure that was slightly taller than the other buildings, allowing Arthur to see the top of it. It was centered in the middle of the town. Arthur wasn't sure what it could be exactly. He'd say that it could be a church, but even though he had been in this world for a while now, he wasn't aware of the religions of this world or even if religion was common at least in Camelot.

The location of Mordred wasn't something that was planned in advance. It was a surprise, and so, they weren't sure where he would be exactly. They believed that he might have been with the other two knights that were also in the town; a town this size required more than one knight, but to not stand out, they kept the number as low as they could. After all, the knights were there to help where they could, and if there was someone that needed an escape or a place to live that was safe, they were to carefully look at sending them with one of the knights to Ealdor. The magic that Merlin had prepared for the knights helped to make sure that they knew that the person was truthful and meant no harm to the cause.

Of course even if Mordred was with the other two knights, they didn't know where they would be in town either. They paid for their horses to be left at one of the stables on the edge of the town before following the road inside the town. Out of Arthur's companions, only Merlin had been in this particular town before. Though, it had been so long since he had been here. He didn't really remember any of it. He traveled around to different places before Ealdor, and he was pretty sure that this was one of them. However, all of the villages blurred together and all of the towns did.

Where they planned on starting, though, was already decided by Elyan and Gwaine. Elyan wanted to see what blades were being sold in town while Gwaine wanted to look at and most likely buy whatever market food there was. Since the market was always a busy place, there was a chance that one of the knights might be there. It would also allow them to get an idea of how things were in the town by listening to the various conversations that were happening.

Bustling had often been used to describe town centers, and the market here was no exception.  Stalls were crowded, and the middle of the street was just as well. Sticking together was manageable though. Arthur had been through worse, so even though he was somewhere new, he was able to manage. 

However, the noises enveloped him. Gwaine and Elyan were chatting while looking, and even Merlin started to chat with Daegal. They were just behind him, but he was only able to make out that it was about how Daegal was doing as a healer and if the place he was staying was comfy. There were too many sources of sound, and Arthur was hearing all of it at once. It didn't overwhelm him or overstimulate him, but he found it to be rather annoying. When he was in the city, he wasn't with anyone, so it didn't matter that he could hear it all. Now he was with four other individuals, and he couldn't join their conversations. His attention was all over the place, and there was no focus that he could give to any of them. It was scattered all around.

Then it all stopped.

As Arthur's eyes darted around and took in each person of the crown, he saw someone that he hadn't seen in months, someone that he had been looking for, someone he was keeping the hope that he would find her.

Morgana.

Arthur didn't hesitate to start pushing through the cluster of people. Were there this many people in the street before? Was it just his mind making it seem that there was more now that they separated him from his sister? The distance had seemed so short, and now it seemed much longer. Though, Arthur could see that it was growing. She must not have seen him because she was heading in the opposite direction. If only Arthur could shout out her name, she would turn and greet him with a smile. His voice was as lost as Morgana had been until this moment. The overwhelming emotions prevented him from being about to even get her name out from between his lips. 

Closer and closer, he came to being reunited with her. In the distance, or perhaps not, Arthur couldn't tell as everything sounded like echoes in his ears, there was the calling of his chough. He ignored Cal. Whatever the bird wanted, it could wait. This was far too important.

Rounding a corner, Arthur found himself at a dead end. A gate separated the narrow alleyway for some unknown reason. It didn't matter because Arthur was alone. His sister was gone. How could this be? There was no way that he was just seeing this, right? She was here. She had to have been. The fence was high though, and Arthur even thought that he would have difficulty climbing it especially in the speed that she would have had to. 

There was no way...

Before had become nothing to the overwhelming feeling that Arthur was now feeling. There were too many questions swirling around in his head. They bubbled up and wouldn't burst because he was unable to answer them. They filled up the space in his brain and pushed at his skull. His breathing quickened as if all the distance that he had crossed to try to reach her had happened in only an instance. However, Arthur was in public, and that fact tugged at his sleeve and wouldn't be ignored no matter how much was already pulling at him in other directions. 

Arthur did his best to hold it all in. Tears threatened to spill over, but he refused to allow it because he knew that if it started, there would be no stopping it. Then it would be joined by pathetic noises escaping the cage that was his throat. He couldn't let anyone see him like this. This was only when he was alone, and even then, it was sometimes hard to fully express and let out everything that tried to pull him apart. He had to stay strong. He had to stay strong for her. Arthur reminded himself that.

Above all, he couldn't let Merlin see him like that.

While working on getting a hold of his emotions, Arthur didn't hear the others come up behind him. It wasn't until Gwaine was playfully smacking him playfully on the back that Arthur even realized that they were there. With one last inhale and exhale, Arthur turned around. His eyes didn't look directly at them. If there was any hint of worry, he knew that it would just be harder to hold it all in.  

"Sorry," Arthur apologized. "I thought I saw someone, is all."

Arthur tried to brush it off as if it was nothing. It succeeded. Although Merlin did start to say something before Elyan tapped his shoulder lightly. Good. That was good. Arthur didn't want to talk about what just happened. He wanted to forget that it happened, wanted it to be erased, the combination of failure and embarrassment to be wiped away from this world.

Conversation quickly went to the topic of Mordred. As they followed Cal, who had alerted the others that Arthur had left them, they had run right into Mordred. He was standing in front of one of the stalls selling savory treats, and Daegal had quickly told him that they would be back to talk to him in just a moment. 

That they did, and for the first time, Arthur met Mordred. Dark wavy locks fell down on his forehead, and his eyes were like green sea glass. His garb had him blending in quite well which consisted of a dark coat and scarf. It was easy to see that he was around the same age as Daegal. Though Daegal seemed to have more of a boyish charm to him. At least, that was until he saw Mordred smiling at his friend. His whole face lit up. Sunlight shone on the glass that were his eyes and sparkled. Mordred wasn't the only one that shared this look. Daegal sported it as well, and though Arthur knew that were only a few moments in his life that he shared that look with another, he easily recognized it for what it was. The way that Daegal talked of his friend before became more clear, and Arthur wondered when the time would come that they would share with each other how they feel. 

Mordred was quickly caught up with the situation, and even quicker, agreed to tag along to lend his aid. However, they were not to leave just yet. It was later in the day, but there was still plenty of time to grab a bite to eat. Mordred suggested one of the local taverns. His original plan was to just find something to snack on, but since the group was famished, Arthur included now that he noticed, Mordred thought that eating at The Rising Sun would be a good idea.

The tavern sign that hung above depicted a sun with a face amongst the sky. It was not a smiling sun, but there was enough smiling amongst their party and inside the tavern to make up for it. The atmosphere was quite pleasant, and Arthur could see why Mordred recommended it. Though the place was not completely empty, it wasn't crowded either. Too few people could have made it easier to draw attention their way especially since there were six of them and a bird sitting on his shoulder. However, there were also not too many people either. It was just the right amount, and the interior was exactly what Arthur was expecting.

What Arthur wasn't expecting, though, was that there was entertainment. Towards their right, there was a stage that was really just barely a stage. Standing on it, though, was a blond with hair that must have been curled since they didn't appear to be natural. He sang an upbeat and catchy tune as he strummed his lute. This was the first time that Arthur had seen one being played, and he wondered how difficult it must be with all of the strings. They were still too far away for Arthur to count each individual one, but there had to be almost double of the typical guitar. 

Arthur followed the group and ordered with them before sitting down at the table that was over by a staircase that most likely led up to rooms that one could stay for the night. Arthur kind of wished that those rooms were paid for by them, but he understood that it was a better idea to travel a bit further and stay in the woods. He trusted Merlin with that kind of decision. 

Thinking of Merlin, Arthur turned to look at the man and saw that he was watching the bard perform. That was right. Merlin played. He hadn't seen him play, but he had heard a fraction of a song and had seen the lute in his room. Perhaps Merlin was enjoying the music?

"He's quite good," Arthur commented as he nodded over in the bard's direction. 

Merlin crossed his arms as his gaze left that of the musician and found Arthur. "Not really."

"Oh." Arthur didn't know the first thing about playing the lute or Merlin's thoughts about the instrument. He had no way of being able to tell what amounted to good playing. He could only tell that the blond had a rather nice voice. "That song sounds quite nice. Could you elaborate? I saw that you had a lute in your room. I assume you play."

Merlin nodded. "I do. From what I can see and hear, he seems to be alright. The song is quite simple. If he is 'quite good,' he's not showing it. Though I will admit that if this is his own song, the overall song is definitely something that patrons could sing along to and have fun listening to."

"How hard is it to learn the lute? Guitars, a six-string instrument, are quite popular where I'm from. I'm not even sure how many strings there are on that instrument."

"Lutes can have different courses. That one is a six-course lute. Mine is also six-course. One day, maybe once all of this is over, I'd like to own a few more."

"What's a course?"

"Do you see that the strings are paired besides the top one, or rather what you would see as the bottom of the instrument?" Arthur could see what Merlin was talking about. With that, he was also able to see that the instrument in front of him had eleven strings then. "Each one of those pairs is a course."

"They are pretty close together. Is it hard to strum them individually? Are you just supposed to strum them at the same time?"

"It takes practice. There are two different ways to play the lute. I play with my thumb, so when I strum, my thumb hits one string and my finger hits the other. The bard's posture is fine. You use your elbow for strumming."

"Looking at it, is that lute smaller than the one that you have? It just looks a bit different."

"Yes, that's a travel lute. They are smaller. They aren't as loud, but it's easier for the bard to move around as he is for a long time."

"Huh. You should show me yours when we get back to Ealdor."

"I- I don't play for others, but I can make an exception for you."

"The design on the lute looks like yours. Though looking at it, I don't think it's the same."

"No, it's different. What you're looking at is the rose or rosette. You can look at it to see how skilled the maker is. I'm not a luthier, I just play, so I don't really know the details of that. I'd like to one day when I have the time. For now, I use my time to learn what I can about the music."

"It sounds interesting. Would you be willing to teach someone?"

"Perhaps."

When the food finally does come, a growl emits from Arthur's stomach. Though he isn't alone. Gwaine is already digging in before the others even get their own meal. It draws a laugh out of the others, and Arthur joins in with his own light one. However, he notices that while everything that the group ordered looked tasty, what sat in front of Merlin was something that Arthur had not seen Merlin eat before. He hadn't been paying attention when he heard Merlin make his choice, so this took him by surprise. Merlin's meal was simple, but it wasn't stew like he usually ate.

Arthur pointed at it. "Didn't want stew for once?"

Merlin shook his head. "No, I just don't know what they put in theirs."

"Oh, well, tell me what you think of it. Maybe if we ever find ourselves here again, I'll try that instead."

"Alright."

There was nothing eventful during the course of their dinner. Mordred and Daegal continued to chat mostly with each other unless Gwaine piped up to tease them over whatever details he found that were easy to do so to. Arthur went back and forth between talking with Gwaine and Elyan and talking with Merlin about some of his favorite songs to play on the lute. While he didn't have one in hand, he would give little demonstrations using his voice. Arthur wasn't surprised that he could carry a tune.

Once they were full, it was time for them to be off. They followed Mordred first to where they had been staying. He informed them of the plans, and they wished them all luck. With that, they set off. They left the town, and journeyed towards the thicker forest that held their destination. Had the woods been any smaller, they would have been able to reach it before the sun completely set. However, there were few forests that rivaled this one. Unless you were in Nemeth, there were none that could compare. 

It made sense that the king would have journeyed through here if he was trying to stay hidden. Arthur could tell as he looked at the twisting branches that were quite high and the thickness of the trunks that the trees here were quite ancient. Sensing the area though, Arthur didn't really have to use his eyes. Just standing under the lush leaves that blocked out the sun, it felt like Arthur had entered some kind of time capsule. 

Due to the amount of vegetation, they only went as far as they needed to before starting to set up camp. There was still a distance to cover, and after traveling all the way here, they needed their sleep. Merlin began to set-up wards while Elyan and Gwaine started to put up the few tents that they brought with them. Mordred grabbed twigs and small branches that he could find while Daegal used magic to start a small fire. 

Arthur really wasn't sure what he needed to help with. All of the jobs seemed to be taken, but he needed to make himself useful. He went over to see if Elyan and Gwaine needed any help. They didn't. With a fire now going, both Mordred and Daegal were gathering wood in the area. He asked the two of them next, but they said that they were alright. They didn't need much since with the help of magic, there wasn't as much of a need for physical fuel for the fire. That left only Merlin, and Arthur knew that he wouldn't be of any help with what he was doing. Still, he decided that he would at least ask.

"Do I need any help?" Merlin repeated the question.

"I don't know how exactly I could help, but I figured I'd at least ask."

Merlin stood there in thought for a moment. "You have set-up wards in your world before. You could see if you are able to do it here. I didn't bring anything that could aid you, but instead, why don't you aid me in making the wards stronger."

"How would I do that exactly?"

"I've not done this before, but it might be interesting to try channeling our magic together. I've heard of some groups doing this. I've never needed to, but some extra power behind the wards might be useful. I'll do most of the work. I'm having them work in a way that if someone was to pass by this area, they would not see or be able to touch us. In a way, it will be like we're ghosts. Do you think you can envision that?" Arthur nodded. "Good."

Arthur wasn't expecting working together to go exactly like this. He thought that Merlin would just lead him through it, but instead Merlin stood behind him and hovered his arms and hands less than an inch from Arthur's own as they both held them forward. Merlin was so close, but yet, he managed to not touch Arthur at all. Then their skin touched as Merlin laid his fingers on Arthur's wrists. He instructed him to envision the magic that was inside him and to see it moving down his arms before creating a ward. 

Seeing the magic and working magic like this was not new to Arthur, and he found it to be quite easy. Although, he did find that it felt different. He could feel the magic that was around him as well as he started to draw upon his own. Everything seemed more intense and brighter, and as the magic worked down his arms, he felt it joining with a sensation of a burning fire. It didn't hurt, but if there was a way to place one's hand in a roaring fire without leaving a single burn, Arthur thought that this would feel like it. It also felt intimate like holding a lover close. It was clear that what Arthur was feeling was Merlin's magic.

When it was over, Arthur felt that his face was warm, and he tried to think of other things to try to get himself to stop blushing. He knew that he had to be. If he was though, Merlin didn't seem to notice. He was more focused on the ward that they had put up and nodded at it with approval. Arthur made a comment that it seemed like it was good before making his exit.

With everything ready and the moon now in the sky, the group discussed who should keep watch. The ward was strong, and Merlin even gave Arthur a slight smile as he said it. However, it would still be if there was at least one of them awake just in case. They all agreed on this, and Merlin offered to take the first watch. Arthur was going to, but Merlin was so quick to offer that he didn't get a chance to. Arthur just hoped that he would be able to get some sleep during that time. Elyan offered to take the next watch, and the last watch was taken by Mordred. 

Everything was ready, and Arthur found himself in a night roll. He had his journal out and was writing down the events of the day. He pulled a card, and journaled about that as well. His head hit the pillow once he stopped, but he only had his eyes shut for a second. It was one of those nights. Arthur could tell. There was just too much going through his brain. It was too awake, and if anything, laying here unable to sleep would just make him feel worse. The only thing that he could really do was get up and give Merlin his company. Perhaps Merlin would be up for talking while watching, and Arthur could find tiredness after a good chat.

Arthur made his way out of the tent and over by the fire where Merlin was sitting. Merlin had his arms crossed and looked rather bored. He noticed Arthur right away and didn't mind as Arthur sat down next to him. "Can't sleep?"

"No. It's not the first time. I could have taken first watch."

Merlin shrugged. "I'm used to staying up too late working, so I had no issue watching first."

"Working late was how I first met you."

"Walking through halls you don't know was not one of your brighter moments."

"So I have bright moments?"

"Only a few. Remember, you're still a dollophead."

Though the term had only brought confusion before, Arthur came to find that he liked it when Merlin called him that. It was Merlin's word for him, and Arthur also liked to hear how it rolled off his tongue. Probably the only thing that he liked to hear more was his own name being spoken with Merlin's deep voice.

"What happened at the market today?"

Of course, Merlin had to bring up what happened earlier. Arthur didn't want to think about it, but with it just being the two of them, the tension that he felt earlier and the anxiety were gone. He just felt comfortable sitting next to Merlin by the fire. There was also the addition of time, even if it was just hours, that caused it to feel almost like it never happened in the first time. 

Arthur found it was easy to answer. "I thought I saw my sister in the crowd. I ran after her, but I must have been seeing things."

"You miss her. I understand. I assume that the two of you are close. I don't have any siblings of my own."

With a nod, Arthur started to tell Merlin about Morgana. He had described how she looked to Merlin before when asking if he had seen or heard anything about her, but that was where his talk of his sister ended before. Now he started to talk about who she was. He talked about her interests. Arthur thought that she would get along with Merlin. There would be no shortage of talking about magic between the two of them, and Arthur thought that he probably would have turned into a bit of a third wheel in conversations like that if he was present. He could talk about magic, but Morgana was on another level. She was the one that introduced him to witchcraft after all. While he enjoyed it, sometimes he wondered if that was the only thing in her life that she enjoyed. At least, he had been thinking of that more of late. 

Arthur also talked about how they were growing up. He talked about how their father was, and how Arthur looked after his younger sister. The two of them stuck together. There were times where they had disagreements. They could never agree on which movie to watch together for instance. Still, the two of them spent more time together than they did with anyone else. There were even times when the two of them would just sit outside under a tree reading a book that they had checked out from the library. 

It felt like it was the two of them against the world especially during their younger years. The woods behind their house was like their magical sanctuary where the two of them could recharge for what was thrown their way next, which was usually their father getting angry about something. It was only when they made friends with the boy around their age in the woods did it feel like there was someone that could join their duo and make it a trio. Arthur didn't know what happened to that boy, and he told Merlin as such. The time they spent playing was some of the most fun he had. Arthur was happy that out of all his trinkets from his childhood, it was the gift from that boy that ended up coming to life. Though he had to admit that it would have been cool if it was his Game Boy Advance that had come to life in a way that made the Pokémon alive.

Cal gave him a peck for that.

Before Arthur knew it, a few hours had gone by, and Merlin's time to watch was up. Arthur found himself yawning, and he knew that he wouldn't have any trouble going to sleep. He felt bad that he spent all of Merlin's watch talking his ear off instead of them talking each other's ears off, but Merlin didn't seem to mind. He did have a funny look on his face. At least, it looked like one to Arthur. He might have just been projecting his thought that he had been annoying him. 

Merlin, at least, didn't complain. The conversation died down, and then Merlin woke Elyan up to take over. Arthur entered his tent and got comfortable. As expected, he easily fell asleep this time.

Chapter Text

With the light of morning, the group gathered up their supplies, took the wards down, and then went further into the Valley of the Fallen Kings. It seemed aimless as they didn't know exactly what they would find. While Gwaine, in true Gwaine style, continued to chat, Merlin was even more quiet than usual. At first, Arthur had thought that maybe he had been wrong. Maybe he had actually annoyed Merlin last night, and it wasn't just that voice in the back of his head telling him he was. 

Doing his best to not be noticed, Arthur kept his eyes peeled for any indication instead of looking out like he should have. He did multitask, but he'd be fooling himself if he tried telling himself that he was actually being of any help. He knew he wasn't. Merlin didn't seem to see that Arthur was watching him a bit more than usual. Of course, he usually didn't. Though, this time it wasn't just Arthur taking a second to just look at the attractive man. It wasn't until Arthur happened to walk in Merlin's line of sight that he noticed him. Merlin offered a smile, and with that, Arthur's worry of annoying him too much was gone. Now Arthur was able to actually do what he was supposed to be doing, while also getting some short glances in Merlin's direction, this time just because he couldn't really help himself. 

All of them seemed pretty much the same to Arthur. Sometimes there would be large rocks, but besides that it was pretty much just all trees. Unsure of how large the place truly was, Arthur wasn't sure how long it would be before they found something that wasn't brown and green or a shade of grey. With an internal sigh, Arthur kept going. He kept looking, but what felt like three hours was only about half an hour. Arthur couldn't really take it anymore and ended up joining Gwaine's conversation. He wasn't sure why apple pie and cheese was being talked about, but he easily melded into whatever it was they were talking about. Gwaine already was a bit random as it was, and so Arthur sometimes changing the subject to something that reminded him of something else that also reminded him of another thing didn't change the pace of the conversation. If anything, Gwaine somehow managed to be more like him when he tried talking to other people in his life before.

Was Arthur really now seeing his world as his "life before?" That was something he was going to have to think about once he found his sister.

Eventually, the group come across what appeared to have once been a path. It wasn't the ground that gave it away. There were stones that at first looked scattered, but when observed together, seemed to follow a twisting path. Some of these stones were worn out statues while others were stones stacked on top of each other, three to be exact. It was possible that there was a pattern of three different kinds in total, but because the statues were so worn down, there was only a hint that this was possibly the case. Nevertheless, this was a good start. With just a touch of magic, Merlin was able to pinpoint the age of the statues to having existed during the time of the Once and Future King. It was very likely that this was the path that the king took through the Valley of the Fallen Kings.

Forward they went. There was a point where they stumbled across a rather old well and with a bit of Merlin's magic, they were able to get a quick drink and fill their water skins. The well was also another sign of what had once been, and what they searched for. The path continued, and while they followed it, there were no obvious signs of the king. None of them were surprised about this though because had there been, it would have been found long ago. Though this place was never used for trade routes, it was still a path that some chose to take. After all, the Valley of the Kings was large. It was hard to not avoid it. Generally, only part of it was walked by groups. Still, different groups have walked all over the whole forest and the rest of the valley. 

Hours passed, and this time, Arthur knew it because the light that came through the trees grew brighter and then started to dim. It wasn't the most noticeable, but Arthur took in everything around him including where the sun was probably positioned. There was also the fact that as each hour passed, Merlin grew impatient. He didn't let it show on his face, but having been with an impatient Merlin far too many times, Arthur was able to pinpoint the signs. Merlin walked ever so slightly faster the more time went by, and Arthur could see his hand fidgeting back and forth against his leg as he walked. It was something that Arthur did as well. Though, Arthur usually didn't notice for most of the time. 

The scenery before them was beautiful, and Arthur made sure to take that in as well as he followed along. They were by cliffs now. The land wasn't flat, and instead, went up and down quite a lot at this point. Even trees gripped tightly to the edges, and there were some that almost appeared to be climbing the rocks. Where the path markers were, it wasn't so bad, but there were times where there were even large holes that dropped down below to the sides of the path. It was no wonder why those that came before them had marked the path. If someone was running through without looking where they were going, there was a chance that they would fall and break their neck. 

Besides this, there were also places where the land dipped and anyone going down would have to be careful to not slip. There were clearly places beyond. Statues of different heights could be seen in the distance, and they were most likely other paths. However, the difficulty of those paths most likely varied. Arthur wondered if maybe the statues indicated how hard each one was. That was something that people did on hiking travels in his world.

Even with the other paths' existence, they kept to their own. It was clearly the easiest, and if the king and his men were riding horses, this would have probably been the way that they would have gone. Still, Arthur felt a tug away from the path. He wasn't sure why, and if he wasn't watching where he stepped along with everything around him, he would have pulled out his deck to draw a quick card.

The sensation lingered, and it got to a point where, not Arthur, but Cal couldn't take it anymore. One minute he was resting Arthur's shoulder, and the next he was flying away. Arthur immediately turned to go after him. In the process, he did actually what he had thought of and that was a trip while going down. Luckily, he tripped before and ended up sliding down instead. His rump was sore, but there was no need to check for broken bones. Arthur could hear the others calling down to see if he was alright, but Arthur didn't reply back. He was looking for Cal, and though he managed to spot him, the cough wasn't stopping for him. The others were just going to have to follow after him as he chased him down.

As he ran, Arthur could hear the others behind him. That was good, but it would have been even better if the damn bird would stop. What was Cal going after? He clearly had a destination in mind. After a minute, Arthur realized that he was running straight towards a cliff. Specifically, he was on the ground floor, but if he didn't slow down at all, he could still run right into it. His attention was towards the tops of the trees since Cal was flying above. Arthur reluctantly slowed down, but when he looked back up, Cal was gone. It was the first time since arriving in this world that Arthur didn't know where the chough was, and panic started to set in.

Caw!

Arthur quickly turned his head towards the sign. Thank the gods. Cal hadn't left him. In fact, it seemed that Cal had found his destination. Cal cawed again before flying back over to Arthur and resting back on his shoulder. Arthur petted the bird's head.

"You had me worried there. Now, what is it that you wanted me to see?"

Walking over in the direction, Arthur ran his hand along the rock. Even he could sense that there was magic here. Magic that was starting to disappear as he approached it. His hand touched empty space. This was the place. There was a small opening that led to a cave.

It took no time at all for the others to find Arthur. As they approached, he could hear Merlin chewing him out. That stopped though as soon as he saw what Cal had found for them. Without even a word, Merlin examined the entrance. His eyes flickered gold, and Arthur knew that Merlin most likely could feel what little magic still remained.

With that now done, they entered. 

The entrance didn't give away the size on the inside. At first, it appeared that it might not actually be that large, but as they moved further it opened up into what Arthur thought looked like a room. However, there was nothing inside. There wasn't even a slab of stone that could be used as a seat. The cave walls were also blank. Why had someone hidden this place with magic? Was there something inside that was hidden? Arthur wasn't sure if there could have been any other reason. After all, he was still learning about the magic in this world that Arthur would have described before as only fantastical. 

Without even thinking of it at first, Arthur's hand went towards his satchel and slid inside. When his hand touched his deck, he noticed that it found its way in his grip and recognized the urge to pull a card. While the others start to look around for clues, Merlin and Daegal even using magic to see if a hidden message was written on the cave walls, Arthur starts to shuffle. He did so without concentrating due to the whole process feeling more like a trance. This wasn't surprising due to how each reading he had done in this world had been, and also not surprisingly, he didn't even see the flipped over card. Just like before, a vision overtook Arthur.

There were clearly figures, but what they looked like, Arthur couldn't tell. They were a blur. It was as if they had been a painting that was still wet that had been smudged. Even their voices were hazy. There was a clear difference between each voice, but at the same time, they were unrecognizable. At least it was easy to understand what they were saying.

“What is it, sire?" Though the voices were hard to get a grasp on what they actually sounded like, Arthur could still hear a deep but youthful sound to it.

"Sire," said one of the figures. Though the voices were hard to get a grasp on what they actually sounded like, Arthur could still hear a deep but youthful sound to it. "May I have a word?"

The figures "sire" could be no other than the Once and Future King. Even if Arthur had not felt his presence before, there was no mistaking the almost golden glow to him for anyone else, especially given why the group found themselves in the cave. "Of course."

Together, they moved towards the back corner of the cave. There was a flicker of the one's wrist and a golden glow around where the eyes must have been. "The others will think that we are speaking of something else."

"What is with the secrecy?"

"Sire, I believe we have a traitor amongst us."

"Do you have any idea who they may be?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly sure. Something is... off. There have been too many coincidences with how the enemy has been able to track us and be prepared."

"I agree. I've had an inkling of suspicion myself, but these are my closest allies. I find it hard to doubt any of them."

"That's why I'm here. I can figure out the traitor for you. Until then, we shouldn't speak of what we plan on doing."

"Do you have any suggestions of how to discuss it if we need to? I've never had any talent for mind magic. Any communication between us in that matter would have a weak point with me."

"Perhaps code words?"

"That would work."

The figure that was not the king crossed his arms in thought. "Clearly, we need a code or name for what we are looking for."

"Would the Carnelian work?" As if repainted, a place that once was blurry was now clear as he spoke those words. Around the king's neck was a necklace. The gem that hung from the card was an unmistakable warm orange, a carnelian. "A gift that I hold close to my heart just as I hold this land close to my heart."

There appeared to be a wide grin upon the other's face.  "Carnelian would work wonderfully."

"What about when we get there if you haven't figured out who the traitor is?"

"It might be best if just the two of us travel there. Of course, the others can go with us to a certain point. Beyond that, though, I will do my best to protect you."

"As the most powerful sorcerer our land has known yet, I know you will."

Merlin gave Arthur a curious look, and this look continued as he relayed this information. A simple spell, at least for Merlin, and the card was all that he needed in order to see what Arthur had just witnessed. Unlike Arthur, Merlin appeared more in control of himself. He wasn't diving deep into the land of darkness and unclear sights. Well, those parts were probably still the same as it was for Arthur. Merlin just simply looked down into the pool instead of sticking his head in it.

There was something else though. Arthur could feel it. He could sense it, but he wasn't sure where it was coming from. His thoughts on the matter were interrupted as Cal began to caw at Arthur. Everyone turned to the chough as he flew over to one of the back corners, the same one that Arthur had seen the king and the other figure stand in. Cal stayed quiet, but that was because he was too busy trying to dig up something. Arthur went over and started to help him. The dirt covered his fingers and got in under his fingernails, but there was something here. Arthur knew it, and then there it was.

A carnelian.

It was the same one that was in Arthur's vision, and Merlin had clearly seen it as well since he quickly came over to Arthur's side to examine the rough mineral. Arthur placed it in Merlin's hands. The feeling was still there, but he wasn't sure what to do about it. With the vision now shared between the two of them, Arthur knew that Merlin would have a better idea of what use it could be.

"This was in your vision," Merlin spoke. Arthur gave him a nod. "I looked further."

"Further?"

"A moment beyond what you had seen. I anchored myself in this location to help. You left off the plan for them to go alone, yes?" Another nod. "The sorcerer with the king hid this here. The Once and Future King was confident that they would succeed, but the sorcerer, who I assume was the king's Dragonlord, an ancestor of mine, was not so certain. He had this placed here in hope that those that came after them would know where to go. He must have already had his plan for if the king was lost. The king didn't question him on any of this. They couldn't leave a clue that was easy to find. Whatever is at this location must have been what they used to defeat the Ivory the first time. With the necklace, they could be led to where the power was held."

"Maybe whatever the source of the power is still there! Why else would the Dragonlord want to leave a clue to lead us there?"

"That's what I was thinking."

"His magic must have been what I felt outside."

"The cloaking spell. I sensed what was left when we caught up with you."

"Maybe it knew that you were close? Since you're Emrys, he must have wanted you to find this place. Though, I'm not sure why it would start opening when we weren't close to it. Luckily, Cal noticed."

Merlin gave him the same look that he did the previous night. "Perhaps."

What was the meaning of it?

Arthur shoved it to the side. It didn't matter. They had a clue! Not just a clue either. They had something that would lead them right to what they were going to need to defeat the Ivory. There still wasn't any idea of where the king might be, but this was just as important. Maybe there would be something there that could also help them in that area? Whether that was the case or not, they were so close now to the answer of at least one of the mysteries. Perhaps the other would come shortly after.

The group quickly decided on what they needed to do next. Merlin was adamant that they continue on the path, and the others agreed. There was no arguing with Merlin even if the necklace was starting to pull him further from Ealdor. They may not have prepared the supplies, but they needed to continue on.

As the group left the cave, Cal sat back down on Arthur's shoulder. He looked down at the carnelian in Arthur's hand. He thought to the chough, "I know. I can't believe Merlin is having me be the guide. Let's not mess this up." Why Merlin decided this, Arthur wasn't sure. Maybe it would be easier to defend the group if he didn't have to worry about carrying it and paying attention to where it led. That made the most sense.

Still, Arthur thought back to what had happened in the cave. Why was he the one that had gotten the vision? Why had he been getting visions in general? Maybe that was just how his magic manifested itself in this world. There were individuals that had different talents and their own abilities that were unique to them. Dragonlords, for instance, had specific magic that was passed down their family line. Perhaps it was like that. After all, what else could it have been?

Chapter Text

Chatter continued throughout the day as they journeyed towards the location that the necklace led them. It was a strange sensation, the carnelian's pull, but it wasn't something that Arthur had never experienced before. There was a similarity between it and the feeling of pulling the right card in a reading or the feeling of a spell working once you've cast it. A sliver of it reminded Arthur of the ward that he had assisted making. Arthur wondered if that was because the one that cast the locator spell all those centuries ago was a Dragonlord, just like Merlin, and not just any dragon lord, but one that was an ancestor of Merlin's. In a way, everything felt like it was meant to go this way. There was the last Dragonlord and knights ready to serve their king on the path that the king had taken. All the journey was missing was the king.

Caw!

Ah yes, instead of a king was a chough. Before setting out with Merlin, he would have thought that the two of them would have felt completely out of place. That wasn't the case though. Arthur felt like he was one of them, and he knew that Cal felt the same way. He guessed that after all the training, the two of them would be the king's ready knights.

Though Gwaine, especially, kept the conversations light and continuous, the further they went, the more Merlin grew even more quiet. He was already quiet to begin with, but even without having to look out for something in the Valley of the Kings, he kept his mouth shut. Arthur had managed to draw a few sentences out of him, but they mostly had to do with directions. Could it  be because of how close they were getting? Arthur wouldn't have put it past Merlin. Each step brought them closer to the answers they seek. Even Arthur felt the build-up. He couldn't imagine what it must be like for someone that has been looking for them for years. It must be getting to him. Maybe it would be a good idea to talk to him once they're away from everyone. He'd check to see how Merlin is feeling about all of this if Merlin was willing to tell him.

The sensation started to grow stronger as the hours went on. They had to be getting closer, but Arthur wasn't exactly sure how much longer. The thought of it being roughly a day entered his brain. It felt right, and he relayed that information. Though Merlin didn't seem to care, the others were clearly not happy with this. Arthur didn't blame them. They hadn't packed for these extra days. Even though they had stopped to bring Mordred along, they didn't purchase any more supplies. Why would they? They didn't know that they would be away from Ealdor for so long. If it hadn't been for Merlin sending a message with a conjured falcon of his, the others probably would be out looking for them. 

Because of this though, they were running low on supplies. No one really wanted to say it, but there was no way that they would be able to go an extra day and come back with what little they had left. If they turned back now, they'd be able to reach a village. They could even go back to the town that Mordred had been staying in. Then they'd be able to resupply. It seemed like such a simple suggestion, but everyone felt the tension that would have caused even before saying it. It would add two extra days to their journey, and with them so close now, even Arthur felt impatient. Luckily, Mordred had an idea of what they could do.

"There's a village not that far from here, Ashbridge. It's slightly off the path but only by a few hours if I'm remembering correctly. I didn't go this way last I was there, but I know someone that has been staying there. It'd be nice to see her, and I'm sure that she'll help us."

"Putting those brains to use," Gwaine teased as he gave the younger knight a noogie.

Arthur was happy that there was a solution to their problem that even Merlin seemed fine with. According to Mordred, the village was small, but they were used to having travelers stop by. It was also an older village, and it wouldn't have been surprising if the Once and Future King stopped there on his way. Maybe that was where they split. Wasn't that something fun to think about? There was one that didn't seem to be enjoying it though even if he was trying to hide the frown that fell on his face at the mention of the place. What was it that Daegal would be upset about?

Ashbridge was definitely in the middle of nowhere. Why Mordred knew someone that was staying here, Arthur couldn't guess. Though, because of its reclusive location and history of random travelers, Merlin agreed that it would be fine to stay the night in a tavern. It was already afternoon, and besides being tired, the group was famished. If it was just that or not, Arthur wasn't exactly sure. Merlin seemed preoccupied with a thought.

To enter Ashbridge, there were a few different ways. For Arthur and the others, the easiest way to cross one of two bridges that went over the winding river, which was a beautiful sight. Looking beyond the other bridge that was a distance from them, it seemed that this wasn't the only river. There was another one at least. The river also ran into a large pond or perhaps just a tiny lake. A village that sat by a body of water and yet under a canopy of trees had a magical look about it. It was like seeing a scene from one of Arthur's childhood reads come to life. Of course, Ealdor, for instance, was the same. Still, each new sight momentarily took his breath away every time.

"Last time I spoke to her, she said that she was working in the tavern. Well, that's what she wrote. I haven't seen her in a few months, but we write letters to each other often. Let me send her a message. She can meet us outside."

Arthur wasn't familiar with mind magic. It didn't take long. Perhaps, it really was just a matter of sending a thought. Was it words though? Was it like hearing? That was usually how it was in the movies, but how was it in reality? It'd be an interesting thing to bring up to Merlin when next they talked about magic.

While they kept slowly walking towards what was most likely the tavern going off the look of the building, a young woman exited the building and came running towards them. She doesn't stop until she runs right into Mordred's arms. Oh, maybe that was why Daegal seemed unhappy about the suggestion. 

After the two of them have a quick catch-up, they realized that there were currently five men and a chough waiting for them to stop. With a hello, Mordred introduces them to her and vice-versa. She was a pretty brunette, and Mordred was clearly besotted with her. As Mordred explained while they made their way towards the tavern, he knew her when they were both kids and before he came to Ealdor. Kara's also part of the Circle of Druids. It was about four months ago that they ran into each other when he was placed in one of the other towns. He had offered to bring her to Ealdor, and the offer still stood, but even now, she declined. Unlike Mordred, Kara said that she continued the ways and wanted to continue wandering. There are a few other druids that she kept in contact with. Arthur hadn't known Mordred that long, but the young man wasn't great at hiding his emotions. He was clearly disappointed by this, but he kept the smile on his face.

Inside the tavern, Kara leads the way over to the counter to pay for rooms and order a meal for each of them. Though the rooms were all open besides the one that Kara had been staying in, the inn wasn't a large one. While it was true that there were visitors, they were usually by themselves or only with another person or two. Coin wasn't a problem, and after spending every minute with each other, everyone did want to have some time to themselves. There just wasn't enough room for everyone to have their own room. Two of them would have to share.

Considering that Arthur did want to see how Merlin was doing, it wouldn't be bad if the two of them shared. They were also used to spending so much time together anyway due to him being Merlin's assistant. That might work. He'll just go ahead and suggest-

"Merlin and Arthur can share," Gwaine smirked.

Again, what was with the winking? Did Gwaine have dry eyes? Whatever. It didn't concern Arthur. He was going to suggest that they share a room anyway.

Just like with the last tavern, the group sits and waits for their meal to arrive. There were slight differences since there was a new face amongst them, and two of them weren't their usual selves. However, it seemed like it was going to go about the same. There wasn't any music for them to listen to and for Merlin to give his thoughts on, but Arthur was sure that he could find a topic for the two of them to discuss. If not, he'd be able to chat with the others.

However, Merlin decided that he didn't want to sit with them. As soon as their meals arrived, Merlin excused himself and retired to their shared room. Was Merlin alright? This was the first time that Merlin wouldn't be eating with them. Should he check on him? He already had planned on it. With this in mind, Arthur focused on eating his meal instead of joining the conversation that was going on that, for some reason, probably Gwaine, had to do with everyone's favorite fruit. Food in his belly, Arthur looked at Cal, and he was able to understand what the chough was thinking. He'd watch the others while Arthur went to see Merlin. Funny enough, Arthur also got the impression that Cal would do his best to make sure the others didn't get too drunk.

While they had been waiting, the rooms were divided up, and so Arthur already knew which one Merlin was in when he reached the hallway at the top of the stairs. Arthur knocked on the door softly before entering. There on the bed was Merlin. HIs empty plate was discarded and resting on the nightstand that was closest to the door. 

The room itself was on the small side, but this didn't surprise Arthur. It was comparable to the one that he had stayed the first night in this world, and it was even comparable to his childhood room since that one wasn't that big either. Though that might have been because most of the room was empty. There was a bed, two nightstands on either side of it. A random chair sat in one corner of the room, and the entire place, including the bedsheets, were rather plain. It didn't matter though. Just entering the room, Arthur could tell that it was warm, and the bed didn't look like it was that uncomfortable.

Arthur drew his attention back to Merlin, who didn't move. He stayed in place, and Arthur wasn't sure if he had realized that he had entered. The man was just sitting there in thought. Arthur joined him on the bed. He gave Merlin a minute to speak, but even with him right next to him, Merlin stayed quiet.

"Is everything alright?" Arthur asked, breaking the silence,

"No." Merlin's reply was too quick.

With a sigh, Arthur said, "I just wanted to make sure. I... I know about everything. Don't be mad at Lancelot, but he told me about your mother. He's worried about you. I asked since even with us so close, you seem off and in a different way than I would have thought."

"I'm not mad at him. Lancelot has a habit of knowing what's actually in my best interest even when I try to ignore him." Merlin put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. "I am stressed. I've been stressed. Everything is all too much, the weight of it all, my mother's safety, trying to find the one person that can save this world... It's been hard, and I've never had a good way to cope with it. It just gets so..."

"Overstimulating?"

"Yes. I would have thought that it would have gotten easier, but it hasn't. I'm overwhelmed that we're getting close to the end. What if I'm wrong? What if even if I'm right, we still fail? To think, I've been through all this trauma, and it hasn't prepared me for anything."

Arthur frowned. "That's not how trauma works. Do you... want to talk about it?"

Merlin shrugged. "I have... mentioned things to the others. Lancelot heard the most, and after asking my mother, learned the rest of it. He was there before she left, you know? So, he didn't need to ask me. He clearly saw how it was affecting me."

"Did bringing it up with him help any, at least at the time?"

"I guess it did."

"Would you like to tell me about it?"

There was a pause, but then Merlin began. "I was home when they attacked, those that had aligned themselves with the High Priestesses when they betrayed us. No one saw it coming, and they had their followers sneak into the guards of every Dragonlord's place. Even now, I wonder how they managed it, but the attacks were so close that even those that received warning received it too late. Just like the Order of Healing Hands, we lived separately. There are very few dragons left, even less now, but at the time, some families lived close by to a specific dragon while the rest just lived wherever they wanted. When there were more, we did live together, as you've seen with Ealdor, but that was long before my time. If we still did, I wonder if we might have stood a chance...

"Anyway, as I said, I was home. I wasn't where I was supposed to be though. I had snuck out to play and had only just come back. There was still the high of a fun day, and I was ready to have dinner with my mother and father. Luckily, my mother was the one that found me in the hallway. My father was right behind her, and I instantly knew that something was wrong. I had never seen them so worried before. Even when I had fallen out of a tree the previous year, their faces weren't as... terrified.

"They gave me no explanation other than our home was under attack. We needed to leave. The guards were doing all they could, but we were outnumbered. I remember when my father left us. They were catching up with us, and we were being backed into a corner. There was an exit that was hidden, the same one that I would use to sneak out, but it would be only a matter of time before they found it and caught up with us. My father... he decided to buy us some time. He told me he loved me, and that was the last time that I saw him.

"Mother and I left. However, before we could leave the grounds, one of them spotted us. He didn't immediately call the others. Maybe he thought that he could take us himself. Everyone knew that my mother was a healer, not a fighter, and I was just a child. He was mistaken though. I couldn't let him hurt her. He tried grabbing her, and I... That was the first time I ever had to kill someone."

"Gods..."

"After that, we were constantly on the run. We were wanted, and we were on the top of their list since as we learned in a village about a month later, I was the last Dragonlord. Staying in the more secluded villages worked for awhile, but then the High Priestesses managed to track us by my magic. We found one of my little dragon carvings that I used to float around on someone that had attacked us. We didn't know how many of my toys or anything else I used magic on for fun that they had, so that was when mother had to conceal our magic. It was uncomfortable. I think that was my first thought when it happened. Magic had always been a comfort to me, and it's always been a part of me. It was like not being able to feel one of the fingers on my hand anymore. I knew the finger was there, but no matter how much I moved it, there was no feeling in it. That's what it's like. Though, it was for the best. It had to be done.

"Everything had been so easy before all of that. I was just a kid with two new friends, and all I wanted to do was play with them. There was a village off the grounds, but there weren't many children my age. I think there might have been one or two. Most of them were either older than me or younger than me, and the few that were didn't really like me. I must have confused them or something. I'm not sure. People, in general, can be confusing. Besides, I didn't really care anyway. It never bothered me if I played by myself or not. Sometimes I even preferred to be by myself. No one played the way I thought they should, but those two friends understood me. They were two kids that I actually had fun with."

Merlin finished talking with a smile. It was clear that those memories must have been something that Merlin cherished, and Arthur was glad that Merlin seemed calmer. He wanted to do something more for Merlin though. The idea came rather quick, and Arthur could feel that it was what was right. He took his more grounded and earthy deck out of his satchel and held it out to Merlin. 

"Here, I want you to have this." Merlin looked at him with his blue eyes, those beautiful blue eyes. "This deck has been always grounding for me ever since I got it, and I thought that it might be able to help you."

The deck stays in Arthur's hand. Merlin's eyes stay on Arthur, and Arthur just can't figure out what he's thinking. He sets the deck down on the bed, and he does so just in time because all of a sudden, lips are on his.

Merlin was kissing him!

However, Arthur doesn't get a chance to kiss him back. Merlin pulls away before he gets a chance to. As Merlin apologizes, Arthur just thinks that he doesn't want him to. No words leave his mouth though. Merlin has left him speechless. Anything that he could have said was kissed right off his lips. Arthur had been eyeing that plush mouth since he first saw him while he was lost in the dark hallways. If anything, he wasn't expecting that Merlin would be the first one to make any move. Arthur had been unsure if he should even flirt at all, but that was because he also didn't think Merlin liked him like that either. Looking back, there were probably signs, but they went completely over his head.

Wait. Was that why Gwaine kept winking at him whenever he was with Merlin?

Arthur snaps out his thoughts, though, as he sees Merlin. His apology didn't stop at the kiss, or rather, it wasn't about the kiss at all. No, there was something else that Merlin wanted to apologize for.

"I need to tell you something. It's... It's my fault that Morgana and you were taken."

"We talked about this before."

"No, I know exactly how they found you."

"What do you-"

"The friends that I was talking about. I was talking about the two of you."

"The ones you played with as a kid? Merlin, that's impossible."

Merlin shook his head. "No, it's not."

The boy... Looking at Merlin now, Arthur finally realizes that he looks like him. The fogginess of the memory, the moments that were once lost to time, were now more clear. He could remember now how that scrawny boy looked with his head of dark curls and ears that looked too large for his head. He remembered how he spoke. When they played, the fantastical parts of their "quests" were a sort of realness to them. It was as if the boy thought of things such as magic as real. True, they were fake for the games, but there was always more pretend on his sister and his parts. In fact, the boy always had a kind of magical vibe to him. The boy was never seen in the village. He was only ever there in the woods, and if it wasn't for their numerous times playing together, he would have thought of him as some kind of ghost. There were even a few times where he performed "magic tricks" for them, and Morgana could never figure them out no matter how much she tried. Most important of all, though, was that Arthur remembered the boys name.

It was Merlin.

That didn't just mean that he had met Merlin before though. It also meant that Merlin was the one that gave him Cal. The chough carving was a gift. Hell, Merlin had even told him his name, and if Merlin had used any magic on the carving like he had with his other toys, which wasn't even a question since Cal did come to life as soon as he entered this world, that meant that Cal was how they tracked him down. Arthur had been in a completely different world, but because of Cal, they had traveled there and taken his sister and then they took him.

"I'm sorry," Merlin apologized. His face was starting to gain a hint of red due to how upset he was over the matter. 

"It's fine."

"I didn't know at the time, and I didn't even think about Cal after."

"It's alright."

"If I had just remembered, and came back for him-"

The only way to shut Merlin up was with a kiss. It worked splendidly too. Finally, Arthur could actually place his lips on his, and this time, it was mutual. No one pulled away suddenly. Arthur could savor the feeling. Merlin's lips were as soft as they looked, but there was still a bit of the bottom lip that was on the verge of becoming too dry. At least it was before Arthur captured it with his own. The two of them moved in unison. Even their hands reached for just the right place on the cheek or the back of the neck. This was far from Arthur's first kiss, but this one... This one was like time had stopped. There no longer was a quest. There no longer was a king. There weren't even two different worlds. There was only Arthur and Merlin sitting on a bed in some tavern that Arthur didn't even catch the name of. Arthur's imagination, his fantasies, couldn't compare. It was truly perfect.

When they finally pulled away, since no matter how much they might have wanted to, two people can't kiss forever, the two of them stayed wrapped in each other's embrace. Merlin rested his cheek on Arthur's shoulder, and Arthur brushed his thumb right behind his ear as he looked down at him. Even though the kiss had ended, Arthur wouldn't have minded at all if they just stayed like this. The warmth of Merlin pressed into him was comforting, and if they were able to stay this way forever, Arthur knew that no worry would ever cross his mind.

Of course, the world couldn't wait for them, and the two of them knew it. It needed to be said and if not now then whatever "later" couldn't have been too far. Merlin chose to say it after a few moments of contentment.

"I think I might know where the king is."  

Chapter Text

They left at first light. It wasn't easy for Arthur to wake up, but he didn't mind Merlin waking him up with a kiss. He didn't mind it at all. It was filled with anticipation, and though there was a sense of nervousness, his lips also tasted of hope. For Arthur, it was clear that Merlin was lighter as they left the room and went downstairs. He was standing straighter. There was still a weight on his shoulders that held him down, but Arthur was there to support him now more than ever.

Mordred said bye to Kara, and with that, they were off. There had been no need to wait for any merchants to open their small shops beforehand. As Arthur was checking on Merlin along with other things after, Daegal had taken it upon himself to restock their supplies in town. Leaving the town also seemed to make him appear lighter. Unless he asked him, there was no way to tell if Daegal was just suffering from one-sided feelings or if there was the addition of just not liking Kara. Cal seemed to give his two cents as he looked over in their direction, and it was that Cal didn't like Kara. 

To think, the group was so close now. The carnelian lead them along the riverside and towards tall grey mountains. There, they would find what they were looking for. Arthur felt excited. Everything was going alright. They were almost to where the king had received his power. Merlin said he thinks he knows where the reborn king is. Then he also learned that he really liked kissing Merlin. Of course, that was something that he would continue to explore when they next got a chance to. 

There was the question of how Merlin knew, or thought at least, where the king was. Arthur was so curious about it. He'd been helping Merlin, and they hadn't noticed anything that seemed like a sign. Was it that this was bringing Merlin back to something that he had read already? Arthur didn't think of himself as an idiot, even if Merlin liked to tease him about it, and he couldn't think back to anything that he had read. Perhaps it was something that only Merlin had looked at? Perhaps it was from something before Arthur even came to this world? After all, Merlin had been looking for years before Arthur had even heard of the Once and Future King. There was a chance that it was from then.

Right now, the specifics didn't matter. The necklace would lead them to where they needed to go, and then Merlin could tell him later where the king was. Merlin wanted to be sure first, and Arthur was perfectly fine with that. He had something else that was stealing away his attention, and that was the change in their relationship. Last night, they didn't discuss the specifics about what exactly this new relationship was for them, but giving the occasional glances and smiles his way from Merlin, he knew that it was a lasting one. If they needed to talk about anything, they could once they were back in Ealdor. For now, Arthur had to make sure that the search continued to be his main focus. He just had to make sure that he didn't check Merlin out too much on their way there.

The scenery was beautiful, and it was even more so once they reached where the necklace indicated. It had taken some hours to reach the scenery that had been in the distance. Before them were the mountains, but they weren't the exact destination. At least, they weren't on their own. Going backwards, they came to the river's source, a waterfall that ran down the mountain. However, it wasn't that waterfall that they were looking at. There was actually a smaller waterfall a short distance from that one. It was amongst the rocks, and partially hidden. Though one could see where it was by following the stream that it created. Looking at it, there didn't appear to be anything special about it. It just looked like a natural source of water. 

"Is there a spell hiding what we're supposed to be finding?" Elyan asked Merlin.

"There is," Merlin confirmed. His face scrunched up slightly though as he held out one of his hands. Arthur watched as his eyes glowed gold and then turned to confusion. "I can't seem to break it though."

"You can't break it?" Gwaine asked, flabbergasted. "How are we supposed to, I don't know, enter the waterfall or whatever it is we're supposed to do?"

Arthur wondered the same thing, but Cal was nudging him with his wing. He looked at the chough sitting on his shoulder. The bird looked at him and then motioned his head towards the waterfall. Arthur wasn't sure what Cal was trying to tell him. There were times where he felt he could understand or get an idea of what Cal was thinking, but alas, he didn't actually speak chough. However, they did have someone in their party that did.

"Merlin, what is Cal saying?"

There was a pause before Merlin answered. The answer, even after what had happened at the cave, still surprised Arthur. There was no hint of that on Merlin's face as he told them, but Arthur thought that maybe he just didn't catch whatever slight change there was to the man's face. "Cal says that he can break the spell."

As Arthur approached the waterfall, as per Cal's instruction, Gwaine tried to make a joke out of the matter. It really wasn't that funny. Even Gwaine had misses with his jokes. This was forgotten about once Cal cawed as loudly as his little body could. Where there had once been stone behind the waterfall, there was now a cave entrance. Somehow, Cal had opened the way for them, and he may have been the reason they even found the first place to begin with. How was Cal able to do that?

One after another, the group entered. Cal didn't wait for them, but the cave appeared to just go straight back. Surprisingly, it wasn't dark inside. While a few were at the mouth, they grew in number the further they went in. Those being glowing crystals. Their soft cyan light allowed for everyone to see without the need for Merlin's magic. 

Everyone was silent as they made their way forward. Even Gwaine didn't talk. There was so much riding on this, and it took over all of them. Just as they had thought, there were no separate paths. The crystals clustered and led to the back cave wall. Unlike the tunnel that they walked down, the cave opened up to show a large mural. 

It was beautiful, and what it showed took their breath away. There in the center of the mural was a king, his hair blond, and a crown sitting on his head. He held a sword that was decorated with gems that were growing out of the wall. Around this figure, the Once and Future King, were images that told of the legend, scenes that each one of them had heard of as boys from someone or other telling them about the legend. Arthur thought that the play did a rather good job. There were some moments that were missing such as an image of the Crystal Cave that they now found themselves in. Right after that in the circle was what appeared to be some kind of egg. Arthur didn't have an idea of what it could mean. Was that what the king had found here?

"Is that?"

"It can't be."

"He was here the whole time."

Arthur was still looking at the mural of the king as the others started to talk behind him. What did Daegal mean? "He was here the whole time." Confused, Arthur looked over at Merlin. He met his gaze, but before he did, Arthur noticed that it wasn't the mural of the king that Merlin had been looking at, that any of them had been looking at. A flutter of wings caught his attention, and his eyes found Cal, sitting on one of the crystals. Above him was another mural. It was almost the same. A figure at the center and a story being told in a circle around him, but this figure, this reborn king... He looked strangely like Arthur.

Instead of a crown and a sword, there was a bird, no, a chough that was painted flying above him. Was that? No, it couldn't be. Arthur started to look at the circular story. Surely.... Surely, he was just mistaken, but there in front of him was his own life. There was the two-story house with the faded orange bricks. The shingles were a warm brown, and the door was white. There was even the iron gate of the brick fence. Seeing the mural was like watching his life flash before his eyes because that's what this was. There was no mistaking it. 

This was a mural of Arthur.

Images depicted some of the important moments of his life and some of the moments that didn't seem important at the time but shaped who Arthur became as a person. He sees when he first met his little sister. Arthur hadn't first seen her at any hospital. Her mother kept her until she died a few years later. It was then that Uther gained full custody. During one of the visits, Arthur had come as well. They had gone to the park. When Arthur first saw Morgana, he had promised her that he would be the best big brother. It was here in paint on the wall. 

It didn't stop there. There was the apple tree and the boy that he only learned last night was Merlin. Another showed the moment that he was given the chough figurine. There was even the moment that he had been kidnapped and taken to this world. He sees him entering Ealdor, and he sees the dark hallway and the light shining on Merlin's face the first time they had met. Unlike the other mural, this one wasn't finished. The last image shows them finding the carnelian, but as Cal flew back over to Arthur to his usual perch, another scene appeared on the wall, an image of them standing before the very mural that they were looking at. There was no denying it.

Arthur was the reborn king.

"I started to suspect that it might have been you when you told me about the boy that you used to play with," Merlin said. Arthur turned towards him. "I thought to myself, 'What if the reason I haven't found him is because I already had?' When I was younger, I never knew why the apple tree in our garden started to bring me to some other place. I had asked my mother at one point, and she had thought that I was just playing a game. The tree wasn't known for doing such a thing, and even as the years went by, I never found an answer. It was always just a childhood mystery. 

"When Cal found the cave, allowed us inside, and found the king's carnelian necklace, I took that as the sign that I was probably right. Cal was also the gift that I had given you. It made sense, and it made sense that after all this time something happened that brought us together again even if under such a dire situation. Cal's the symbol that you're the reborn king. I just didn't know how to tell you. I didn't think you'd believe me. Besides, I wanted to be sure. I thought that maybe this place would have some kind of clue that would make it easier for us to take in this information. Though, I wasn't expecting an entire mural of your life. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you though."

"It's fine," Arthur sighed. "You're right. I wouldn't have believed you. I may have thought about it since it's you, but I don't think I would have accepted it. There's nothing for you to apologize for."

Cal, of course, flew off again. At the far end of the wall, there was an opening. They watched as he flew through it. Whatever they needed to find, must be behind it. Leave it to Cal to continue to show them what they needed to find. The entrance wasn't hidden, but it wasn't noticeable at first. The murals took away the attention of anyone that was looking, and as they walked past it, Arthur briefly wondered what the king saw when he had come here. Had he seen Arthur? Was this how the Dragonlord knew that the king would come back? Or was Arthur not even on the mural yet since he didn't exist until hundreds of years later?

The room was small compared to where they had just been. Around, the crystals emitted their light, but they were not the only cyan objects there. Amongst them were two stone pedestals. Working around them were words that Arthur recognized from the old texts, but what captured their attention were not the legend that they clearly told but of what sat on one of them. While the left pedestal held nothing, on top of the right was an egg that was of a similar color to the crystals. It was just like in the painting in the king's mural.

Merlin quickly went over to it and picked it up. He went with no caution, and with his speed, Arthur could tell that Merlin knew exactly what it was. Before Merlin even told them, Arthur already suspected it. After all, what kind of egg would a Dragonlord immediately recognize?

The power that the king had used before was that of a dragon.

No time was wasted as Merlin explained the process to Arthur after the egg had started to hatch. Dragonlords could hatch the eggs of dragons by giving the dragon their name, and the name came to Merlin as soon as he laid his eyes upon it, Aithusa . Watching the dragon breaking away the shell and showing his little face brought tears to both of their eyes. He was beautiful. His scales were a pure white like snow that had just fallen. How exactly a baby dragon was going to help them was a mystery, but even Arthur had come to understand the power of dragons just from being in Ealdor. Clearly, this little guy was what they needed to stop the Ivory.

Before they leave the cave to make their way back to Ealdor, Arthur takes one last look at the mural. It was a good thing that he did too. Even Merlin looked at it with surprise. The next part of Arthur's story had already appeared on the wall. It hadn't happened yet, but yet, it had appeared. Why? There was no answer, but they needed to follow through with it. The image depicted them in the same room that the two of them had been using to skim through different texts, the one that lay beneath Ealdor. However, there was now a doorway under where the painting of the sword had been. Besides that, the painting didn't look the same either. It was no longer alone and was now joined with a chough. They would need to look into this once they got back. It was interesting that Aithusa being hatched didn't make its way onto the mural, but at the same time, there were so many moments already. Finding him may just be part of finding the Crystal Cave.

The group left the cave behind. Merlin was talking softly to the dragon, and Daegal was watching Aithusa with fascination. Arthur put the carnelian necklace on. It felt like any other necklace now, but still, it was a part of the past that Arthur hadn't known about, an act of love between a Dragonlord and a king. To think that history was repeating itself even in this aspect. Not that Arthur was in love with Merlin. No, he couldn't be. It was far too soon... However, Arthur could already tell that it was going to happen. There was something about Merlin. He felt it when he first saw him. Whether by prophecy or not, there was a connection that went beyond just a king and his Dragonlord.

"Wait. Did you hear that?" It was Mordred that spoke. Unlike the others, he had been paying more attention to their surroundings. "No, stop. I know I heard something."

Everyone stood where they were. There it was again, the sound of a twig snapping. They were surrounded by trees again at this point, but it was clear enough that they could make out the direction of it. It couldn't have been an animal. There were no other sounds. In fact, it was too quiet. The only noise coming from themselves and whoever it was that was watching them. Something wasn't right, and the side of the path that wasn't the river was elevated. Not a good place to be. The knights drew their swords.

"Show yourself!" Elyan demanded.

Out from behind one of the trees, a figure emerged. She was no stranger though, and the sight of her confused them. It was none other than Kara.

"Kara?" Confusion not only showed on his face but bled into his voice. "What are you doing here? How'd you even find us?"

"I'm sorry, Mordred, but this had to be done."

Then they were on them.

Being outnumbered wouldn't have been an issue with the skill and magic that Arthur had on his side, but it wasn't going to be an easy fight. Arthur can only glance over to see how the others are fairing as he's attacked by two soldiers at once. Arthur is forced to stay on the defensive. Their attacks are aggressive, and Arthur can only just manage to dodge and keep his footing. The extra lessons with Lancelot were paying off. 

One of the men swung at him, and Arthur found an opening in it. That was one of the downsides to being all offense, one misstep left an opening that you couldn't recover from. Arthur managed to have his sword meet the man's side as he sidestepped the attack. There was the possibility that he was Arthur's first ever kill, but there was no time to take that in or even look to see if the deep slice was enough. However, Arthur couldn't stop the slight hesitation that came with it, and that gave the other soldier the chance to disarm him. 

On the ground and without a weapon, Arthur feared that this was the end. He was going to fail not just Merlin but all of Camelot. He knew that the others wouldn't see him on the ground in time. Merlin wouldn't be able to save him. There had been a powerful magic-user in their party as well, and if Arthur had heard the name from Merlin's lips correctly, she was Nimueh, one of the High Priestesses. Arthur was done for.

Caw!

Cal? Cal had come to Arthur's rescue. Arthur had suspected that maybe he would peck at the man as he brought his sword down upon Arthur, but this wasn't the case. Before Arthur's eyes, he watched as Cal vanished and a magical sword entered his grip. The attack was easily blocked, and with the shock of it, Arthur took the opportunity to take the other man down.

This sword... It was Cal. He could feel it. Somehow Cal had become a sword, one with runes that if Arthur had time, he knew that he would know the meaning of. However, he didn't have time to fully admire what Cal became because another soldier was on him, but Arthur didn't worry. He was the king, and he was going to prevail.

Arthur and the others were able to drive back or defeat most of the attacks, but once Arthur gets a chance to look, he sees that Merlin is still fighting Nimueh. Considering Merlin's reputation and the power that he had felt himself, he hadn't thought that it would still be going on, but as he observes their match, he realizes what is stalling it. Merlin wasn't giving it his all. He couldn't. His hands were pressed as tightly as they could to his ears. He'd move them to block her attacks, but that left Merlin in pain before covering them up again. What was happening?

Looking at Nimueh, Arthur could see that she was whistling softly. Was she using magic to cause it to hurt Merlin? Was this the king of magic that the High Priestesses had? Arthur had to do something. Merlin couldn't keep holding on, and although his power was no match for a High Priestess, Arthur had Cal and the confidence of a king.

It happened quickly. Arthur attacked her, and while she blocked it, it threw her off. The whistling stopped, and Merlin was able to use his magic to stun her and hold her in place. It was easy for Arthur to deliver the killing blow.

With their leader defeated, the others that still remained fell back. There was no reason to go after them, they weren't going to be here by the time that they got reinforcements, and the damage to themselves needed to be checked. Merlin gave his thoughts to Arthur as they both went to check on Elyan and Gwaine. Luckily, both were alright. Elyan had taken a hit, but he wasn't hurt badly. Daegal was already running over to heal him. Mordred didn't appear to be hurt physically, but emotionally, he was suffering. In his arms was a dying Kara.

"Why?" he cried. "Why would you lead them to us?"

Kara smiled, blood covering her lips. "There is no fighting it. It's useless. Your king is a fraud. The only ruler of this world is our god, the one true ruler. You'll see. He's... beautiful."

"Did you ever even love me?"

Mordred never received his answer. Kara died before she could answer.

Though there was tragedy around, Arthur couldn't stop himself as he let out a short laugh. He just couldn't believe it. He fought in a battle, or rather a skirmish, and had survived. His chough friend wasn't even a bird at this point but a magical sword that he could now see read, " Take Me Up, Cast Me Away ."

Things were not so hopeful, though, once they realized what they had lost in the fight. There was a reason why they were so quick to retreat, and it would have been better if at least Merlin and Arthur had run after them. Merlin had told the little dragon to hide, but as he called for him, Aithusa didn't reveal himself.

They had taken the power they needed to defeat the Ivory.

Chapter Text

As soon as the group made their way to Ealdor, they made their way to the round table. Merlin had everyone called, Lady Guinevere, Lady Mithian, Gaius, Sir Leon, and the others that ran Ealdor. What had transpired on their trip was told, including Arthur being the reborn king and the loss of Aithusa to the High Priestesses. During the meeting, Merlin only gave enough input that he thought was required for them to know. Of course, the others filled in more information. Gwaine, especially, made sure to give as many details as he could think of. That was just like him though.

Arthur stayed mostly quiet. Even after the days that it took to get back to Ealdor, he was still coming to terms with it all. What had started as a hope to find his sister had morphed into him being the one that was destined to save an entire world from the destruction of some mysterious entity. It was more than just like a story from one of his favorite books growing up. Not only did Arthur have no idea this was going to happen until it came down to it, but also this was actually happening to him.

Sometimes when he read, he would wonder what it would have been like to have been in the shoes of the hero. What would he have done if he was an ordinary individual tasked with traveling across battlefields and enemy territory to destroy a piece of jewelry? Would he have found the strength to do it? Kid him liked to think that he would. It made him feel better about himself, especially given how his father would put him down so.

It was surreal to be in such a situation now though. While it was true that Arthur had been practicing his swordsmanship and was clearly able to defend himself, he couldn't picture himself leading whether that was leading an army into battle or leading a kingdom. At least, he couldn't picture himself doing it alone. He was unsure if the people would want him to be their king. He didn't think himself worthy, but with how people looked up to the legend, he wouldn't have been surprised if there were those that wanted him to. 

When the meeting had ended, messengers had come in right away. Reports had come in, and they didn't sound encouraging at all. They were frantic, and just the sight of them as they came rushing in had given Arthur anxiety. Lady Guinevere had told him that he was more than welcome to stay as they looked over what was brought in. She even suggested that Arthur might have some good ideas. Arthur couldn't believe that he, himself, had any. Lady Guinevere may have had an idea of Arthur's character and range of skills at this point, but that didn't mean that he believed in any of it. No, he was probably only invited because she was the reborn king, and a title wasn't going to be any help to whatever stress had just befallen them. Arthur had politely declined. 

After that, he was left to his own thoughts. while the others had been there to witness it all, they were all busy. Elyan had joined his sister as they examined the reports. Comforting Mordred was Daegal's top priority. Then Gwaine had left as soon as he could, stating that he needed a drink. Merlin... Arthur couldn't tell what was running through his mind. He had barely spoken the entire trip back. The only contact that he really had was wordlessly reaching out to hold Arthur's hand during the two times that they had stopped to make camp. They had even shared a tent during this. To Arthur, it was clear that Merlin wanted some comfort, but he couldn't verbalize it. There was just too much, and Arthur felt the same. Once they were back in Ealdor, though, Merlin had, again, only given the bare minimum of details and had the others do most of the talking for him. As soon as the meeting was over, he left. Judging by the direction, he was headed towards his tower. Arthur had thought that he was just going to be a bother.

Dinner was what Arthur had decided on. It had been some time since they had eaten, and their selection while out had been limited. Although, Arthur didn't pick anything fancy. He had actually settled and put together a few sandwiches that he was able to take where he currently was, the bench in the garden. Here, he wouldn't be in anyone's way, and Cal and him could just sit and take in the sight. That was one thing that had happened after the skirmish. Cal hadn't stayed in the form of a sword. He had transformed back into his chough form. Arthur had planned on asking Merlin about it, but with everything else, it quickly slipped his mind. Currently, the bird was hanging out in the tree above Arthur.

The sandwich was nothing special. In true Arthur style, he was struggling to eat it a bit. The tomatoes just wanted to slip out. He had noticed that they were rather on the juicy side when he had sliced them, but he didn't think that it would matter much. With everything else on it, though, they didn't want to stay in place. Without even needing to look, Arthur could tell that he was going to have to wipe his chin. It also didn't help that sometimes hand-eye coordination went out the window, and sometimes that happened in the middle of eating. Luckily, that didn't happen with other things such as training or in the heat of battle.

Arthur and Cal weren't alone for that. He was only just about to finish his first sandwich as he saw a particular dark-haired sorcerer entering the garden and making his way over to him. Arthur immediately swallowed the food in his mouth to give him a smile. In return, he received a chuckle from Merlin.

"Dollophead." Yeah, Arthur didn't think to wipe his chin. That one was on him.

"What are you doing out here?" Arthur moved over to give him room to sit.

"Well, I thought that now would be a good time to give you some lessons."

"Lessons?" Arthur felt his face showing warm.

Merlin shook his head with more light laughter. It was then that Arthur understood what he meant. He hadn't noticed until Merlin didn't sit down right away that there was a strap across his chest and a lute on his back. Merlin took it off and placed it between his legs once he sat. This was the first time that Arthur had seen Merlin even touch his lute, and he wasn't expecting today to be the day that he finally did. Arthur just expected Merlin to stay in his room all day. If he did play, it wouldn't have been around him, and he definitely didn't think that Merlin would have brought it outside.

"I did say that I might teach you how to play. I gave it some thought. Make sure your hands are clean. I don't want whatever was on your chin to get on my lute."

"Do you take payment in the form of sandwiches?"

"Depends on what's inside. If I don't like it, I can think of another form of payment."

Arthur was hoping that maybe he wouldn't want the sandwich.

With Merlin's help, Arthur held the lute. It was more awkward to hold than he had expected. Sitting with it was really strange for Arthur. There had been one point that Arthur had held a guitar, but that had a flat back. The lute was anything but that, and he couldn't figure out how it was supposed to sit in his lap. Where was it supposed to rest? It seemed more like it was just going to fall at any moment. Luckily, Merlin knew exactly what he was doing and had Arthur wear the strap. That made holding it a lot easier. Thinking about it, it did need to be higher than he had thought. 

Merlin's hands moved Arthur's own and his left arm into the proper position. "It's important to hold the lute right. Do you feel relaxed?"

"Not really. Though part of that is just holding an instrument. I assume this wasn't cheap."

"If the time it took to make it counts and the trial and error, then no it wasn't."

"The time- Did you?"

"There is a luthier that lives here in Ealdor. He showed me how to make lutes. It's probably a bit different than however they make it in your world since magic, but it's still not easy. I wanted to learn everything I could, though, so it was worth it."

"Well, now I really don't want to break it."

"You'll be fine. Now, how about now?"

"Yeah, I feel looser."

"Good. Now this is how you rest your right hand. The pinky rests on the lute. I play with my thumb, not everyone does, but that's what I'm showing you. Your thumb will strike the strings down, and your pointer finger will strike the strings up. Let's start with this course. Just place your thumb and let gravity take it down. That's right. Now you just do the opposite with your pointer finger."

Arthur found playing the lute to not be the easiest. He knew that it was going to get harder, but unlike working for Merlin, he was being patient. It was clear how much Merlin enjoyed playing the lute, and he seemed happy to just be sharing that with Arthur. Maybe it was because Arthur had taken an interest in another one of Merlin's. Maybe Arthur wasn't as bad as he thought. Either way, Merlin took his sandwich payment. However, Arthur still did manage to get a kiss. Instead of payment, that was his reward for a job well done on their first lesson.

The sun was starting to set, but Merlin had more plans for them. These ones didn't involve staying outside. Instead, they dealt with the tunnels and caverns below Ealdor. It was their only lead. For some reason, the mural had shown them a secret doorway in the very room that they had used for all their work before bringing it up to Merlin's tower. There had to be a reason for it. There just had to be something there that could be useful. After all, everything else on the mural had already happened. This was the only thing that hadn't. It had to have meaning. That image was their hope going forward.

There was no reason to drop Merlin's lute off in his room first. It was slightly out of the way, and besides that, there was the long stairway just to get there. Merlin would be able to keep it safe easily. It wasn't like he hadn't been beneath Ealdor before. The only new place and thing was whatever that doorway left and whatever it was they would find. If it really came down to it, Merlin's protective enchantment would keep it safe. That was a little something that Arthur would have liked to know earlier. Playing an instrument while being terrified that he was going to break it lasted longer than it needed to, especially given that there was never anything to get anxious about. Apparently, Merlin still had to get a tease in even when in his patient teaching mood. At least, that's what Arthur got from the little smirk he had sent his way once the enchantment was mentioned.

In a way, it felt normal to go down to the chamber. After all, it was something that Arthur had been doing almost daily since he had gotten to this world. This trip was the only thing that broke that chain. There was a familiarity to it. He knew this stone. He knew these torches. He even gave a little wave to the dragon painting that opened the way after being commanded. This was Arthur's new life.

At least, it had been his life before the trip. What an interesting thing to go from one life to another and then to another. How long had he even been here? It had definitely been over a month, but it felt longer than that. It felt like years. Maybe that was because it had been years, hadn't it? It wasn't like it was his first time here technically. The strange glimpses that he had gotten before, he now knew weren't just his magic. They were memories. That was how being reborn in stories worked, right? Maybe, but maybe there was too much distance between himself and the old king. Shouldn't he have remembered things as if he was the king? The king always seemed like someone else.

This wasn't the time to be having an identity crisis, but Arthur couldn't at least stop from thinking about it. It was quiet walking down the steps. There was no chatter as they made their way through the maze of chambers and hallways. The noise inside his head made up for it. What had the king been like? Had he been like him? Was he him? Well, of course, he was the king, but what exactly did that entail. In the grand scheme of things, maybe none of it even mattered. Maybe all that matters is that somehow, they're going to find something that can help them stop the Ivory and save the day. Maybe the happy ending was all that mattered. If they lived to see it, that is.

Everything in the large room was the same as they had left it. The stacks that had yet to be sorted through were still just barely staying up. To think that they actually made it this whole time, and now they would all be toppling down. Merlin seemed to have an idea of where to look. Paintings weren't something that Arthur had even noticed when down here besides the few that were hanging on the wall. He walked over to the one with the sword. There it was. The same one that was in the mural. Looking at it now, Arthur could see that it was a picture of Cal in his sword form. He wasn't sure if the old king really had a sword that looked like his. Was this a picture of the past or of the present? 

"Do you have any ideas of how to open this?" Arthur asked.

"Well," Merlin replied, "I know I've seen a painting of a chough down here. I had all the others set aside over here. I just have to find it."

"And of course, it's in a pile with a bunch of other things."

"I didn't think the paintings would be that useful after I looked at them the first time. There were no hidden messages behind the canvas. The images were too simple to gain any information from them. At least, I thought that at the time. I wasn't expecting the chough toy I made as a kid would come to live and be the sign that the king was here. It wasn't the first time that I had seen a depiction of a chough here."

"Thought it just went with all the dragons?"

"I didn't really have my childhood on my mind, so yes, that's all I thought."

Arthur went over and lent a hand. "You know, I'm curious if Cal knows about any of this. He led us to the other caves, but he never showed us this even though we were down here all the time. Sometimes I have moments where I can sense what he's saying, but care to translate for me, Merlin?"

"I'm curious as well, so Cal, what do you know? Have you kept anything from us?"

Caw .

"He says that he doesn't actually know that much. The only thing that he withheld was that he did know that you were the king, Arthur. He says that you're his master and his friend. It's his job to protect you. Knowing would have helped, Cal... I don't see why you'd have a feeling to keep that hidden... He says that things come to him. There was a feeling that overtook him as we approached the caves... It was like he had been created to help find them just as he was created to protect his king.

"Thinking of it, I do remember making Cal myself. Don't remember how it happened exactly. It was like I was in a trance. I had planned on asking my father what that could mean, but I had forgotten all about it. It happened not long before the apple tree took me to your world. I had just planned on picking one of the apples, and there I was and then there you two were. 

"Hm?"

"What is it?"

"Cal was just telling me that Cal is actually just a nickname. Not like we would have been able to figure it out from that. I think I may have seen that name once, but the whole text was all over the place and didn't make sense. His full name is Excalibur. Cal is just quicker and less of a mouthful. I don't know, Cal. I don't think it's all that hard."

"I don't know. I kind of prefer Cal, and if he'd rather go by that, fine by me."

It takes a few minutes, but working together, they manage to find the painting. It really did look just like Cal. As Arthur held it up, the chough came to life. It surprised it, and he dropped the canvas as he flew right over to the painting of the sword. With only the faintest flash of light, the chough went back to a 2D form and joined the sword. Now the painting looked like the one in the mural. That means...

The painting started to move upward. It was as if something on the other side was sliding it up, but that was impossible since there was no opening. At least, there wasn't until the painting was high enough up for an entrance to appear. It wasn't exactly a doorway. The stone wasn't cut clean like with every other one down below. This one was rough, and if anything, it almost looked like it was natural. The question of what came first came to mind. Did the hallways and rooms come first or whatever it was that was in this new chamber? If the latter, what needed to be hidden?

There was no chamber. As they entered, they found themselves walking a rather short distance before the cave walls opened into a large cavern. The torch that Merlin had brought with them wasn't enough to light up the place. It was too covered in darkness. With a whisper of a spell, the fire of the touch transformed into an orb of fiery light. It split further, creating just enough to light up the place. Now they could actually see around them, and from what was now visible, the cavern seemed rather empty. It really was large. Even with more light, there probably wouldn't have been a way to see the entire size of it. There were even tunnels leading away from where they were. Of course, those tunnels were still much larger than what they had come from. However, they did seem like they ran through the mountain. If they were going to have to search this place, how long would it take?

The answer was no time at all. From above, they could hear the sound of something large moving. It wasn't the threat of any of the stalactites falling.  No, those that they could see were perfectly still. The sound came from behind them and in the darkness of the high ceiling. It sounded like wings...

Louder it grew, and before them, a dragon flew down and landed on a rock formation in front of them. It was crimson, and unlike little Aithusa, this was a fully grown dragon. The statues and art around Ealdor didn't do the dragon justice. After seeing Aithusa, Arthur knew that, but seeing what they were truly trying to depict was so much more truth to that. It was also one thing seeing a baby, a creature that was the size of a small dog or large cat, and this massive creature. Arthur couldn't even think of something to compare it to. A building? What was more surprising than any of it though was what the dragon did first.

It yawned .

"Took you long enough," said a feminine voice. It took Arthur a second to realize that the voice belonged to the dragon. Of course, dragons talk in this world. "I've been expecting you for, what, a week or two now? You're much slower than I thought you would be."

"Hello," Merlin sounded as awkward as ever. Sure, he was a Dragonlord, but the only other dragon that he had met before was Aithusa. Arthur knew that if he spoke, he'd sound the same way. How did one talk to a dragon?

"Emrys, it's good to see that you made it here, and look at this, you brought the king. Was he hard to find?"

"Well, he was in another world."

"Yeah, sometimes legends happen like that. Sometimes the influence of them crosses over to our neighbors, and the next thing you know, the legends are your neighbors."

"I take it you have experience with this?"

"Hm? No," she chuckled, "I've just heard of it happening once or twice before. We thought that it might happen. There was no trouble, though, correct? You were able to enter his world. Considering the crossover, there shouldn't have been any issues with finding anyone affected and bringing them over to the world that they belong in."

"Well..."

"Merlin has worked hard to uncover anything his ancestor left for him to find," Arthur said. "It's not his fault that nothing was left in these archives, if you can call them that, to point him towards me." Where had this confidence come from? "We were lucky to have picked up on his path to find, I assume, you all those years ago."

"It's nothing to worry about now. You're both here. That's the thing about destiny. It's going to bring us all together. Now where are my manners? I know who both of you are, but you only know me as some dragon that was napping under Ealdor. The name is Ursa."

"Ursa..." Merlin let the name linger on his tongue. "Ursa, are you what the king used before, or rather the one that helped the king stop the Ivory before?"

"Why, of course, and I'm the one that's going to help you defeat it for good if everything goes right. That was the thing about the legend. There just had to be two sides to this one. Oh well, I'm confident that we stand a pretty good chance."

Gods, what was with this dragon? And two sides to the legend? Was the happy ending not a guarantee? It hadn't felt like one, but to be fair, being told that everything would work out when everything was stacked against you was never going to feel real.

"Ursa," Arthur asked, "what happened last time? Why weren't you able to defeat the Ivory before?"

"That's because it was just simply impossible. The Ivory that we fought wasn't all there. It had left a piece of itself in the abyss that it dwells. It took almost everything of us to just defeat that. This time, though, we're going to be facing all of the Ivory."

"And how do you know that?"

"Did the legend not get passed down correctly? Your Dragonlord ancestor foresaw this next act of the legend. This time, it would be different. There was no way that the Ivory could hope to defeat us unless it gave it its all. Of course at the time, it couldn't do that. Now it can, and if it fails, we win. It's the Ivory's last chance to try to overtake Albion. Might not even stop there if the legend crossed over more than we thought it would."

"What is the Ivory?"

"The Ivory is a force born of the darkness of people's minds. At least, that is what some people think. How long it has been around has always been up for debate. We know that it preys upon those that it can manipulate. The mind theory might have something to do with how it targets those that it can bring to its side. Again, we don't really know. What we definitely know is that it wishes to control everything. It wants to join with everyone and spread its dark cloak across the land. All there would be would be the Ivory."

"Yet, the High Priestesses follow it," Merlin said.

"The High Priestesses? Ah, that makes sense. It must have been Kay that betrayed us. Kay was the king's brother. He was in a relationship with one of the High Priestesses at the time. If their beliefs now came from then, he must have been the one that betrayed us. We almost lost due to him. Luckily, we managed, and that was because the legend wasn't over. There was too much belief, power, emotion, etc. for it to end there. It continued on and created what you're living now."

"How is that possible?" Arthur was just about to ask the same thing. How was such a thing possible? Legends worked like that in this world?

"You know, the power of the people. Belief, emotions, and magic, of course, can all come together. I guess this isn't part of the basic magic theories anymore. It doesn't really matter. The final battle won't be long now. We should be focusing on that. The Ivory has a host that can withstand its control and work together with it. Only such a host could allow the Ivory to completely leave the abyss. When the time comes, I will meet you on the battlefield."

"But- Wait!"

Ursa gave them no time to ask any questions. She dumped all of this information on them and left them there to try to process it all. There had to be something else that could help them prepare. Their questions weren't answered, and they were left with more than what they had started. Luckily, one of them was able to fly. Cal flew after her as fast as he could. He'd ask some questions for them and get back to them tomorrow. Hopefully, he'd be able to get some more clear answers out of her. Were all dragons like this?

With that, all that Merlin and Arthur could do was leave for now. The duo ended up going up to Merlin's tower, where they could try to make sense of everything. Tiredness was weighing on their brains, though. What had started as a discussion about the meaning behind Ursa's words turned into cuddling in Merlin's bed and talking about the specifics of their relationship and hopes for the future. Especially in a world where polyamory was considered much more normal and common than in his own world, it would be good to talk about what they actually wanted this relationship to be. 

As far as they both knew, the relationship would be as it was going, just the two of them, and the idea of this continuing far into the future if fate permitted it, and it turned out that Arthur was the one with the most experience. Merlin hadn't even considered a relationship a possibility for himself. Considering that someone had to have flirted with the man, he was gorgeous after all, Arthur found it surprising to hear that, but when he thought about it and Merlin telling him that it never bothered him or crossed his mind, he understood more. Still, this was all new information for the both of them, and that was how they ended the night, starting to delve further into things about themselves that they never talked about or told anyone. Then they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Chapter Text

It was early, but with the distress that the messenger sent to Merlin's tower to fetch them had, it was easy to wake up. With a very quick stop to Arthur's own room to change, they were on their way to the council chambers. Running almost seemed necessary as they passed others doing the same thing. What was going on? Did it have something to do with whatever Arthur left them to lookover without him?

Merlin and Arthur dodge around knights left and right before they finally reach their destination. Across the round table, maps were laid out, and the two of them were quickly waved over by Gaius. As they grew closer, they could see that it wasn't just maps but there were also little figurines. It didn't take experience of having seen such a sight in shows to figure  out what was happening. 

An army was heading their way.

There, of course, was the question of if the High Priestesses' army was actually coming for them or not. However, could they risk it? For all they knew, Kara could have known the general region that they were in, and the High Priestesses were able to figure it out from there. Then there was also the coming of the Ivory. There was no telling what exactly the Ivory could accomplish. There was the possibility that it could lead the army right to them. 

What were they to do? There seemed to be three options. The first option was that they build up the defenses of Ealdor. There was no certainty that the army was actually heading towards them. It was true that more villages resisted on this side of the kingdom. They might just be picking those off. Perhaps, they even hoped of drawing out Emrys and his forces in the process. They could build up the ward and prepare the forces for a coming attack. At Ealdor, they would have the higher ground. If needed, they could have civilians leave in advance and come back if they knew it was safe.

However, there were problems with this plan. First, if the civilians did leave, they wouldn't be safe behind the wards anymore. The timing would have to be right. Too early, and who knows what could happen to them. There could only be so many watching after them if they were to be attacked. If they left too late, though, they could be caught in the conflict. There were tunnels under Ealdor, but not only had they not been completely explored, but they weren't sure how much of them the wards covered. Then there were the specific tunnels that Merlin and Arthur went to every day, but those were closed off. It was true that only Merlin could open the entrance, but again, the powers of the Ivory were unknown. There was also worry of the people becoming trapped; though, Merlin was sure that if something happened to him, that wouldn't happen. He was only needed for the outside. Still, if the entrance was known even if the High Priestesses couldn't get in, they could starve the people and force them out. 

The second option was to flee Ealdor. Out of the options, this one posed the most risk. It took time to have the wards as strong as they were. With as many people that lived in Ealdor, they would be a large target. If they split up, their forces wouldn't be enough to protect each group. The only hope that they would have would be running continuously and pure luck. Maybe making sure they were on the other side of the mountains would buy them the time. There had to be some tunnels that lead over there, but constantly running would make what they all knew had to happen harder.

That led them to their third option. They all knew the legend. It was destiny for the Once and Future King and Emrys to face off against the Ivory. That time may be coming, and they would need to lay it all on the line. The civilians could stay behind. The wards could be enough to protect them from any smaller groups that might go after them. Maybe their forces would even be enough to weaken the High Priestesses' army enough that they wouldn't be able to even get into Ealdor. The problem with this option was that their chances of winning based on the reports of the opposing forces were slight. 

That was until Merlin and Arthur brought up Ursa.

Now a dragon could topple waves of men. A dragon with the power of Emrys and the king... Now that sounded like odds that they could get behind. Plus, they already knew where the battle could take place, Camlann. It was famously known as the place that the Once and Future King had first defeated the Ivory. Now it would be the perfect spot to attempt the same thing again. First, they were closer than the army was to Camlann. They could easily get there a few days before and prepare. It was also a pass, and they would be able to manipulate this to their advantage. Depending on how it went down, they might even be able to surround the army and attack from all sides. 

A vote was held, and perhaps the high of having discovered the king and an ancient dragon, influenced the votes. Whatever the case, along with Merlin and Arthur's own votes, it was determined that they would end it at Camlann. There, the legend would end. Either they would come through, and they would fail, and the kingdom would be doomed. There would be no going back.

There was so much that was riding on Arthur, and it all made him feel sick. He hid it though as best as he could. While there couldn't be any doubt and fear shown on the battlefield, it was even more important to show none here as well. Merlin, on the other hand, did let it show. Arthur hadn't seen him this emotional before, but when he realized why, it all made sense. Merlin wasn't even thinking of the battle to come. He was worried about the specific villages that had been attacked. He was able to loosely keep tabs on his mother, but they weren't the most accurate. She made sure of it, and Gauis made even more sure of it. One of the villages that had been attacked had been a place that Merlin knew his mother had recently been. 

Was she alright? Was she in danger? Merlin was about ready to throw himself in harm's way to make sure that she was alright.

Gaius and Arthur both had to calm him down. The worry was clearly overstimulating him. It wasn't until Gaius was able to confirm that she had long left the area and was on her way back to Ealdor that Merlin was able to start calming down. Still, he had already caused a scene. Tension was high, and it was best to just leave the chambers and let the others plan their departure and arrival in Camlann. 

Though away from everyone, the pressure was like a mist in the air. It wasn't quite even, but it still covered everything. Even when the two of them were alone again, there was the unspoken worry. It was tempting to let it slide slowly off the tongue, but giving it just that tiny bit that would allow it out would cause it to come flooding. Mists would be forgotten, and the fog would roll in.

At first, Arthur stayed distracted with Merlin. They went to finally grab something for breakfast and made plans for Arthur to have another lute lesson after. What else could distract so easily but learning a new skill and music? This didn't come to be. While only halfway through their semi-silent meal, Merlin was called to help prepare for the departure. Arthur could have tagged along, but what could he even do? Wouldn't he just get in the way?

By himself now, Arthur did what he could to think of anything else. However, this was impossible. Everywhere he turned something was happening. There was always someone dashing one way or another. Supplies were being carried. Messages were being sent. People were saying their goodbyes.

Arthur watched from a distance as Lancelot gave his goodbyes to Lady Guinevere. She wished to join, but she knew that she needed to stay with Lady Mithian. If anything happened, they could protect the people and each other. Arthur didn't mean to spy on them. The trio had just happened to be in his path. Even the corridors and halls that were usually mostly empty were busy. This one was no exception, and Arthur couldn't stop his ever wandering ears from hearing their conversation. Lancelot needed to say his goodbyes now since he needed to make sure that the knights were prepared. 

After all, he was one of the individuals that was given leadership over a large group of them. Arthur hadn't been there when this was decided, but having Lancelot as one of who knew how many leaders, or generals or whatever they would be called in this situation, was a no-brainer. When it came to skill, the only knight that he knew of that might compare was Gwaine, but Lancelot also had the qualities of a leader. Arthur did wonder if Gwaine would be given the same. It was true that Gwaine could be rather silly, but when it mattered, Arthur saw that he gave it his all. He wondered if he, himself, would have ended up like that had he had different experiences in his life. Besides, Gwaine was the most charismatic person here. If anyone could keep the morale of knights, it was him. 

Wandering through the knights kept Arthur busy. It didn't separate him from everything and ease the stress that pressed down on his skin, but it was better than sitting in his room and having it press down on his brain instead. With no actions and only himself, he knew that it would just invade his thoughts. This way, there was something else too. If anything, there was too much, but for once, he welcomed the blurs of color and the chaotic melody of too many notes from too many people. For the first time in his life, it somehow kept him grounded.

Arthur wished that Merlin was experiencing the same thing. Was he keeping busy? He had to have been. After all, he wasn't just Merlin; he was Emrys. The others had to have been keeping all of his attention and time. Maybe that would be enough. Perhaps, he would be able to keep away from the worry that Arthur knew he was probably still experiencing. Just because his mother wasn't anywhere near the villages didn't make the worried son stop worrying. The fear that was in Merlin's eyes... It was pure terror, and Arthur felt for him. He couldn't understand what it must feel like since he had never known his own mother, but he knew that look had been on his own face before. It was probably one that Arthur had when he realized that his sister was missing. 

With everything happening, Arthur hoped that she was alright. Even with everything happening, he had tried to hear if there had been any sightings, if anyone had even whispered her name, but as each thing happened one after the other, Arthur wasn't able to keep up as well as he wished. Now it wasn't just his sister that was counting on him. A whole kingdom's fate lay in his hands. 

Don't think about it, Arthur. If you think about it, you won't be able to stop all of the thoughts and the dread that comes with it. Just stick to the colors around, to the melody of chaos. Stick to anything else. Stick to everything else.

Luckily, Arthur was knocked out of it as he heard a dispute not that far from him. Had he not recognized both voices, he would have turned the other way and not have pried. However, he did, and he had to see what they were arguing about. Maybe this was something that he could lend a hand in.

Around a corner, Arthur found both Mordred and Daegal. As expected, Mordred was already wearing his chainmail. It looked like he probably was in the middle of preparing for his departure, but Daegal also looked like he had readied his own. The boy was already wearing his cloak, and the bag that he had used on his trip with Arthur and the others was slung on his shoulder. It was clear that the bag was already holding quite a bit of supplies going off of the bulk and the weight it seemed to have. 

"You're not going!" Mordred stood firm.

"And who are you to tell me if I can go or not?" Daegal countered. "I'm qualified to go to battle just as you are."

"But you're not a fighter. You'll get hurt!"

"No faith in me? We were both attacked on our last trip out of Ealdor, and we both made it out fine."

"And what if we hadn't been, if you hadn't been!"

Arthur chose this time to make his way over to them. He didn't get a chance to even speak before he was having them speak for him. Maybe he could still get out of this with everyone calmed down.

"Arthur will vouch for my usefulness."

"No, he'll agree that it's too dangerous for you to go."

"And not go when healers are needed? Arthur knows how useful we're going to be in the battle ahead."

"But he also knows how much more dangerous this one is! You're better off staying here and taking care of those staying behind."

"Can I speak for myself?" Arthur asked.

"No!" They both agreed in unison. 

It looked like Arthur wasn't going to be successful in this. He tried speaking up once again, but having been ignored so much in the past was always going to make it hard to do so. Before he had come up with a better approach, Daegal was storming off, still completely disagreeing with Mordred about whether he should go or not. Mordred let out a frustrated groan. Well... Maybe now Arthur could lend his thoughts?

"Why don't you think Daegal should go?"

"Because it's dangerous. Do I need to explain further?"

"Clearly, you do if Daegal thinks you're being unreasonable. He has magic."

"He's a healer. He doesn't use his magic to fight."

"Still, Merlin most likely taught him defensive spells, and the healers will have their own place. I'm not sure how everything is going to be set up. He might just be behind our lines and treating people there."

"But what happens if our line is pushed back? What happens if we start to lose or we actually lose? What if even those that are the furthest from the battle still don't manage to escape?"

"Well-"

"You can't deny that as a possibility. You've tried to hide it, but I've seen you wandering around today, trying to take your mind off of it. You're just as scared as the rest of us."

Arthur sighed. "I can't deny that, but I have to try to deal with it or at least mask it. I know that it'd consume me if I gave it a chance to, and now I'm in this position... I can't show it if I can help it."

"You're still afraid though. Why do you think Daegal should even consider being out there?"

"He's an adult that can make his own decisions."

"Yeah, and clearly, stupid ones."

"That's harsh. In my opinion, I wouldn't be surprised if he's doing this for you."

"For me? If he was doing anything for me, it would be staying here where it's safe. I don't understand how he can't see that. Doesn't he understand that I just want him to be alright?!"

"Because you care about him."

"Exactly!"

"And did you think that maybe he wants to be on the field, as a healer, in case you end up getting hurt? Maybe he wants to be there because he cares about you too?"

"I- Why- He should know that I'll be fine. Besides, he should know why I'm so adamant on him staying. I just lost Kara, and I learned that I probably never even had her to begin with. I can't lose him too."

"He was there, and again, that might not stop him from wanting to protect you. I'd face the battle regardless of being the king to make sure that Merlin was alright, and we all know that Merlin is way stronger than I am. That's just how you think when you care for someone. You want to protect him, and he wants to protect you."

"I just don't understand why he would feel the need to."

Arthur rubbed his forehead with hand as he sighed. How was it this hard to get through to Mordred? Part of him thought that he felt like Gwaine did when he was being the most dense person, but also, this wasn't even just about romantic feelings that Daegal most likely had for Mordred. This was just because he cared for him, and that was something that happened regardless of specific types of attraction. Even as a friend, it shouldn't be that hard to understand.

"Maybe you just don't understand how much he actually cares for you."

That was all Arthur could leave him with. He hoped that Mordred would come to his senses. He knew that people in his own world could lessen the amount of emotions that friends could have for each other, but from what he had seen in this world, that didn't seem to be the case. Of course, there was the added addition of romantic feelings, but that didn't matter when it came to this situation. Anyone that was close with another would feel this way. Arthur could only think that maybe Mordred was just that fearful due to Kara's betrayal and death, he downplayed how much someone else could care for him or just in general, which was possible, or maybe he was trying to deny his own feelings. Arthur couldn't get a read off of Mordred if maybe Daegal's feelings weren't one-sided. After all, again, it made sense platonically as well. Plus, not even a week had gone by since Mordred lost his girlfriend. All that Arthur could hope for was that the two of them could set this aside and that they would both be safe when the time came. That was something that he would hope for them all.

When it came time for Arthur to start packing himself, he gathered what he could in his room first. To think, this felt like his room. It was true that there weren't little treasures like in his childhood home. There weren't any rubies or emeralds in sight. Time had not passed of these gems of physical items to accumulate. However, Arthur had found a new fortune. The jewels that he now had in his life were the blue quartz of Merlin's eyes and the various other crystals formed by the friendships that he had built here. 

That meant that there wasn't that much that needed to be packed though. Gathering what he needed here barely took any time. Going to grab the equipment for him and finding Cal was going to take more than a moment. Though as he placed his notebook into his satchel, he couldn't stop himself from giving a quick look at some of the pages. A smile spread to his face from seeing the memories of his first days here. To think that he used to be annoyed with Merlin! The thought made him chuckle now.

Memories weren't the only thing that he found though. There was the reading from his first night in Camelot. It was the first time that he had experienced how magic was in this world and possibly the beginning of his connection to the Once and Future King. Looking back, he could see how much had been right. The Three of Cups perfectly told what he would find once he came to Ealdor. Arthur had tried not to think about it too much when he was in his old world, but the truth of the matter was that he was lonely. He just hadn't realized how lonely he was until he came here and met Merlin, Lancelot, Gwaine, Eylan, Percival, and the others as well. Heck, Arthur had even been down in the town center of Ealdor with Elyan and Percival his first night.

Then there was Strength and The Magician. What better advice could Arthur give himself but to have courage? Looking at the card that had jumped out now, The Magician, it was clear that it had been about Merlin, or Emrys as he had thought before he came to know that they were one in the same. Not only was Merlin a magician in the magical sense, but he was also a musician, something that Arthur sometimes thought of when it came to The Magician. Knowing himself, that was probably a slight second thought during the original reading.

However, there was still a card that gave Arthur pause, the Ten of Pentacles. It was what he had pulled as what he needed to be cautious about. It was like something was on the tip of his tongue, but it just wouldn't let itself be heard. The feeling was nagging, but Arthur could see some of it now. Legacy was something that Arthur knew he had to watch now. After all, now he knew that he was the Once and Future King, the one that needed to defeat the Ivory somehow. It very well could just be that. Still, it stayed on his mind as he finally left to get his armor and track down that chough of his.

Cal ended up finding him. For the whole day, Arthur hadn't even caught a glimpse of his winged companion, but before they set off, he was flying right towards him. Of course, he had to catch Merlin before everyone else started leaving. With how confusing the dragon had been, Arthur couldn't chance relying on the feelings that he got when talking with Cal. He needed to know exactly what he was saying.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing that Merlin translated for him. "I'm not sure why Ursa is the way that she is, but it's quite hard to get a straight answer from her. She would veer off topic and start giving me a history lesson or a philosophy lesson and sometimes even a magic lesson."

"Of course, it wouldn't be that easy."

"Cal says that he did find some useful information though. Ursa did confirm for him that she will be flying out and meeting us on the battlefield. She seemed to already know where we were heading. Then from what he could gather, it seems like our target will be an individual."

"Right, she had said something about the Ivory joining with someone or something along those lines?"

"Yeah, I didn't really understand it either. Cal says that she was a bit more specific the more he talked to her. The Ivory's only hope to defeat us is to be entirely there. Apparently, the Ivory is unable to leave the abyss that it dwells. He's comparing it to a parasite. A parasite cannot live without its host. There was no host when the Once and Future King defeated it before. The source, or heart, of the Ivory wasn't there. Cal is getting creative by comparing it to a bunch of arms reaching out of the darkness. The arms were able to grow back in time, but the Ivory needs to be able to step out of the abyss and fight us itself. Otherwise, this cycle would just continue. Yeah, Cal, that is interesting. What if the Once and Future King that we know wasn't the first Once and Future King?"

"Back to the person and the parasite bit."

"Oh, sorry. Yes, Cal says that Ursa explained she learned later that the High Priestesses had their own legend or perhaps their own information regarding this same legend that they kept from everyone else. When the Once and Future King returns, they would gain their own 'king.' Their 'king' would be a person that would sit upon the throne of Camelot along with the Ivory. The Ivory has tried to possess people before, but again, he can't actually leave. If it placed too much of itself in an individual, they burned out. Don't know the exact process, but the important thing is that they can't survive. The Ivory takes over, and they die. It's basically picky with its hosts. This 'king' is destined to be able to coexist with the Ivory. They would rule Albion together."

"Unless we can stop them."

Merlin nodded. "Unless we can stop them."

"So, our goal would be to find whoever this 'king' is and defeat them."

"Kill the 'king' and you kill the Ivory for good."

"Any idea of what they look like or where they will be?"

"Cal says he couldn't get any information like that out of her. He said that she kept rambling on about the nature of legends. I'd be curious to know more if we had the time for it. Anyway, I assume I'll be able to locate them. This Ivory is powerful, and I believe I'll be able to pinpoint their general area. At least, I hope. If it wants to hide, it might be harder. Whoever they are, they will probably be safe behind the enemy lines along with the other High Priestesses. I'm sure Morgause will take the battlefield from what little I've heard of her, but the only other one that I suspected might was Nimueh. Even then, I was surprised that she came after us like she did."

"Any plans? Are we going to have to sneak behind the line to find them?"

"Maybe. It'll depend on if we successively surround them, etc. I think it would be best if we take the high ground and watch out for their leader. From there, we'll decide the best course of action."

With that as their only plan currently, they joined the others and left for Camlann. 

  Getting there didn't pose any challenge. Those that were skilled with magic, including Merlin, kept up a ward to keep any attention away from themselves. Of course, this wasn't necessary. Not a single grunt soldier from the High Priestesses forces was sighted. Even as they approached the pass and started to set up camp and begin preparing their defenses for the battle, there wasn't even a scout. They weren't sure what to make of it. They were only two days ahead tops. Surely, if no scout was out there would be one soon, or were they just that confident in their forces? It wasn't like the rebellion had ever gathered an army before. 

Arthur lent himself to setting up tents. The larger ones were mostly being put up using magic due to more effort being needed for such tents. One or two of them were going to be used by the healers once the battle commenced. Then others were going to be used by the knights. They made use of the space that they had. The smaller tents were mostly being put up by hand, and that was what Arthur helped with. 

After the tents, Arthur helped count supplies. He helped with building the physical defenses, and after this, he even aided in putting up the strong ward for their main base. Arthur did what he could to keep busy. He would have spent the time having Merlin help him keep his confidence up, but just like everyone else, Merlin was busy. 

Once everything was in position, they were all able to rest. It was already quite late. Had magic not been involved, they surely wouldn't have finished everything in a day. Now they would have the following day to make any final preparations as they watched for when their enemy would approach. 

Rest at this moment was much appreciated, and after running around and keeping his body and later budding magic busy, Arthur was exhausted. He wasn't the only one either. Merlin was ready to retire to their shared tent. If only falling asleep with the handsome sorcerer that he was smitten with was enough. Merlin gave him a wave of calmness, but that could only do so much for a brain that was almost always running too fast for its own good. 

Laying there was comfy, but the more Arthur laid there, the more he felt like he wouldn't be able to fall asleep. For all they knew, the timing of the opposing army could be off. What if they managed to arrive tomorrow instead of the day after? What good could a sleep deprived Arthur do? It was tempting to wake up Merlin and see if he knew any sleeping spells. Surely, there would be something like that grimoire-like mind of his. However, Arthur couldn't bring himself to ruin Merlin's sleep to do so.

Late night walking it was.

Now considering what happened the first time that Arthur did this very thing in Camelot, he wouldn't have chosen this method of wearing himself down further to find sleepiness. He had gotten lost amongst all of the halls, but Arthur didn't think that anything could go bad this time. After all, there were no halls in sight. There was just their campsite and a protective ward that went beyond the rocks and the trees that were a walk beyond them. It was an interesting area since it was still part of the rocky pass. It was like an area of life had been placed in not just that spot but other places along the pass.

As Arthur walked to the one that was closest, he could feel the pulse of magic that it gave off. Theories of how these green spaces came to be entered his mind. Almost automatically, Arthur found a spot under a tree that was comfy but not to the point that he could accidently fall asleep out here. He couldn't have the others grow worried about him missing in the morning. Besides,  that was even if this would make him tired enough. Who knew? It wasn't like he had melatonin or a magical equivalent to take or have cast on him. Some nights are worse than others, and all Arthur could do was try to either calm his brain down or keep it focused on something long enough that it would grow tired. If not, he just hoped that there was a magical equivalent to coffee that actually worked on him, unlike coffee which never did anything. Merlin might know some kind of spell.

Thought after thought passed by, but there wasn't anything that stuck and stayed long enough for either of those two options. Had one done so, Arthur might not have heard the snapping of a twig as he did. His eyes that had been resting snapped open. The most likely cause was a knight walking around like he had been doing or maybe even someone trying to find a more peaceful place to take a leak. 

This... didn't feel right though.

Arthur stood up and looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone around. Yet, Arthur knew he heard someone. He sent a mental message to Cal hoping that the connection they shared was enough to even wake up the sleeping chough. How far had Arthur managed to go? He wasn't exactly keeping track. Was he even still in the ward? There was a constant feeling of magic, and thinking about it, he might not have even noticed if he had left it.

Silence.

Would it be best if he made a move first? Would it be best if he made a run for it? Should he question who was out there? This feeling... It was like something was weighing him down. It was like he needed to be here. Whatever that was, it almost felt like this moment was meant to be. Maybe that was just the fear though. He was unarmed, and he couldn't be sure if he was actually still safe or not. All he could do was run and mentally call for Cal, hoping that he would notice.

"Arthur?"

No, it couldn't be. That voice...

Yet, there she was. Her dark hair was down and looking much better than the last video calls that he had with her. Minus the entire, she looked like she always did, and Arthur couldn't believe what he was seeing. There she was after all these days in this world, after the months she was gone before coming here and further than he could ever imagine she would be. Right in front of him was his sister, Morgana.

The odds of this encounter didn't seep into his skull. Arthur was driven by his emotions towards her. He embraced her and held her as tight as he could without hurting her. He held her like she would blow away in the breeze like a leaf, like the clue he was never able to read. He never wanted to let go, and he knew that he had started crying. There was no controlling it. Arthur was too overwhelmed. He wasn't even sure if he could speak. She was here, and now he could keep her safe. He could still be the best big brother. Arthur wouldn't fail again. Gods, he loved her, and in that moment, he promised himself that he'd be there for her.

Her arms weren't tightly around him at all, and he didn't put it against her when she separated them. Arthur was probably getting her shoulder wet, and he knew he most likely looked ridiculous. He felt ridiculous. It's just that he couldn't stop the pressure that these feelings had as they pushed their way to the front of his mind.

It took seeing her straight face to push them back.

"Arthur, I can't believe I found you! Come with me. We need to go." Her hand grasped his forearm and started to pull. 

His feet were slow to move. "Go? Go where?"

"Away from here. Don't you know what's going to happen tomorrow?"

Something didn't feel right.

"Arthur, what are you doing? We need to leave."

"You knew that I was here in this world."

"Of course, you came to find me, right? I saw you in that marketplace."

"But if you saw me, if that was you, why did you run?"

"Arthur," she chuckled slightly in disbelief, "we don't have time for this."

"Why did you run?"

"I didn't know what to do. I didn't know who you were with. I waited until you were away from them, when I could talk to you." Morgana smiled. "Now we can get away. We can go home now. Don't you want to go home?"

This was wrong.

"Morgana, what's going on?"

And with that, the false smile fell.

Arthur took a step back from her. What was going on? This was more than something amiss. It felt wrong . This was his sister, but he mentally called for Cal to finally arrive. It was hard to believe that he would even think that, but there was no denying the chill that ran up his arms as he looked upon her.

"I came so that we could be together again. I came to take you away from them."

"Why would you want to take me away from them? We came here to save Camelot, to save Albion."

"Save?" Morgana somehow found that laughable. "It has no need for saving. You step on that battlefield, and you will lose. All of you will lose. I'm here to give you your out."

"Wha- I don't understand."

Her hand went to her hip. "Of course, you would only be clever enough to get half there. I'm asking you to surrender, or rather, I'm asking you to us."

"No. No, there is no way you're asking me what I think you are."

"Oh, is denial clouding that brain of yours? Yes, I'm asking you to join us, the High Priestesses."

This couldn't be happening. Morgana with the High Priestesses? Something had to have happened. She's clearly not joking. Did they brainwash her? What was going on?

"If you join us, I promise you that there will be a place for you. Some of the others, like Nimueh, didn't think that you should be allowed to live, but I know you. You're my big brother. I know that you wouldn't hurt me, and I know that you want to help me. Help me now. Join us. Leave this battle behind."

"No."

"No?"

"No."

It only took hearing that word for her face to turn to a scowl. Arthur felt completely frozen in place. The way that her face looked, it was something that Arthur had never seen before. Of course, he had seen her upset before. He had seen her angry, sometimes even towards him. This, though, was beyond that. Above that, Arthur knew that this wasn't some trick. This really was his sister, and she was terrifying.

"What? You're just going to soak up that pathetic excuse for a legend and see yourself as some kind of king? You've never been a king, Arthur. You've never even been a leader before. Do you really think that you could be any good at ruling? Let's face it, Arthur. You've never been the type."

"What is wrong with you? I never asked for this."

"But yet, you're going to try to get it. You can't let me have something for once in your goddamn life."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play stupid. You may be an idiot, but I know you're not that dense. Father made sure that you'd have everything. He even left that fucking house to you."

Arthur was baffled. "Gave me everything? You were always his favorite."

"Right, and that's why he was such a bastard to me."

"He was a bastard to both of us."

"Yet, it never bothered you."

"Of course, it did. I masked my feelings because it was always worse if I didn't. I thought that you were fine. You only started getting upset this year."

"How clueless you are. I've been upset my entire life! I have always felt like I wasn't supposed to be there. I have always felt like there was something missing. I have always felt like I was meant for something more! Yet, who managed to impress Father more? Who managed to get into a better university even after I put my all into it? Who managed to land a job that stuck? Who managed to be able to keep it together all this time? It sure fucking wasn't me! 

"Yet, here you are, trying to take my life here! I finally found my reason to live? I finally found my destiny, and you've come to take my place. No, I won't let you. This is what I was meant to do."

"Morgana, I don't know what they've told you, but they're lying. They're just using you. Come back with me." He tried to reach for her. He tried to connect with her, the sister he's always known, but she pushed him away. Not just that, she slapped him. Arthur was stunned.

"No. You don't get to do your 'knight in shining armor big brother' act anymore. I can protect myself. I've always been able to protect myself. I managed to hear the call from beyond. I managed to come here with only what little they were able to get across. I was able to do that, and I'm the one that brought back the one true god. That is what I was born to do. I'm the chosen one, and I will be Camelot's queen."

Arthur slowly started to step back. It couldn't be. She was the one that Ursa had warned them about. It wasn't a "king". It was a "queen." That meant... He needed to get out of here. He needed to get back behind the barrier. There was no denying that he went out of it by accident. Had he been behind it, she wouldn't be here. 

Caw . 

Thank the gods. Cal swooped down and midair transformed. Arthur caught him easily and took his stance. His feet weren't quite right, but how could they be? How could he even be standing with a sword pointed at his sister? How could she be the host to the Ivory?

"I should have burned that stupid figurine when I was a kid, proof that you were even his favorite. Fine." She smirked. "Have your night together. I assure you. It'll be your last."

Morgana turned around and started to walk away.

"I'll see you on the battlefield, Arthur."

Chapter Text

Arthur was torn. On one hand, he now knew who the "king", or rather "queen", was. However, that person, the one that they were meant to defeat, to kill, was his sister. If he told Merlin, they would know who, and perhaps even where, their target was. Then again, Arthur didn't want her to be their target. He didn't want any of this. All Arthur wanted was to be able to either take Morgana home, or if she wished, back to Ealdor, and then live happily ever after with Merlin at his side. He had never wished for any of this no matter what Morgana was thinking. Maybe there was still a chance that he could change her mind. Maybe there was still hope that he wouldn't have to do the unthinkable. 

How would the day go?

Though Arthur didn't mention that it was his sister that he had seen, he did tell the others that he had seen a scout and was under the impression that they may arrive sooner than what they had estimated. This turned out to be true. It was the afternoon of the next day that the army arrived. Soldiers started to enter the pass, and the knights of Ealdor readied for the grueling battle that was about to begin. 

Both Merlin and Arthur stayed back as they approached and clashed. However, Merlin was able to give his assistance from their position. It was the first time that Arthur truly saw the extent of Merlin's power. The skies clouded and became a tint of violet. A crackle was the first thing that he had heard. There was no way, right? Arthur had heard multiple times that Merlin's power was unrivaled. Yet, it still surprised him as he watched Merlin raise his hand, his eyes burning gold like an orangey summer sun, and then send down the beginning streaks of white light in the clouds down on their enemies with just a gesture.

The outcome was explosive. Lightning cracked, and screams below could be heard. Had Merlin been on the other side, Arthur would have been absolutely terrified. As it met the ground, those around it were pushed back into the air. After falling, they didn't get up. 

There was a part of Arthur that wished that he had the same power as it would give them more of an edge, which given that they were clearly outnumbered, was something they needed. The power and the outcome though... Arthur didn't think he'd be able to handle it. How Merlin managed, he wasn't sure. Perhaps it came with having had this level of magic for so long. Just doing what little Arthur could do already amazed him. Maybe that was why this seemed almost godlike and too far out of his comprehension. He could imagine what it must feel like to wield lightning like the different gods found across different mythologies and religions of his old world. How was it to channel your own abilities that were strong enough to pull bolts from the sky, create them even? 

Then there was the other reason why Arthur couldn't imagine himself in Merlin's place. It was true that this was a rebellion, the only kind that could be won through bloodshed, but until only recently, Arthur had never even fought someone, let alone killed them. The idea was foreign to him. Something like this only existed in tales of elves, talking trees, and wizards. That was here though. Well, he had yet to see an elf or a talking tree, but it was like he had fallen into the pages of a tale, like The Lord of the Rings, which he had read far too many times to count. With this in mind, it felt even more like a novel. He had just been at home before being dragged into this because he knew that this was something he had to do. Although the difference between Frodo and himself was that Frodo wasn't a "chosen one." Arthur fit those other stories more. He had a destiny that he knew not of before it became unable to be hidden any longer. There was also the fact that his Samwise was more on the power level of Gandalf. 

Enemies fell, but more rushed in to fill their place. With Morgana having already known that they were here, Arthur worried that their original plan of surrounding them wouldn't work. However, their position allowed him to see that it somehow seemed to be working. Was she far too confident that she would allow them to be surrounded? Arthur couldn't understand why they would find this to be no bother. Did she not even care that more of her men would be slaughtered? The thought of that brought chills to Arthur's skin. 

Arthur wasn't the only one that thought that was strange. After all, they were expecting this. They knew that if they were to surround them, even with mages taking the high ground, they would have to watch. Arthur had stressed this enough that they all had this in mind. Yet, it was as if Morgana had never told the others. He couldn't understand what her motives might be. Still, they were managing. At the moment, it seemed like they stood a chance. Merlin's addition was keeping the odds in their favor.

As another spark lit up the sky before it was to be called down from the heavens, a loud roar made itself heard from beyond the pass. The lightning came down, and the light shined on the red dragon that had joined them. Ursa had made it, and now, not only did they have Merlin, who wasn't even giving it his all, after all he needed to keep his eyes out for the host of the Ivory, but they also had an ancient dragon. Fire sparked behind her teeth, and the fire that she breathed brightened the field even more than Merlin's lightning. More and more enemy soldiers fell. These ones had been burned to almost nothing. Had the adrenaline not been rushing through Arthur, he might have been sick from the sight. 

It was unclear from where they stood if Ursa relished the fight or not. What was clear, though, was that something started to distract her. No more fire hit the soldiers. It stopped altogether as she flew up high. Both Merlin and Arthur watched in confusion, but they received their answer as the sky let out another cry.

There was another dragon.

A mass of white dove straight towards Ursa, and had she not noticed beforehand, she most likely would have been injured. Red and white twisted and turned around each other. It was hard to keep track of what exactly was happening. At this point, Merlin had entirely stopped his attack to also watch what was happening. The two flew higher and started a battle of their own. 

The white... It couldn't have been. Yet, Arthur knew that it could be no other. The other dragon was Aithusa, the baby that they had found and hatched inside the Crystal Cave. Though, he was a baby no longer. He was the size of an adult. Although, he still wasn't as large as Ursa, and he looked... He looked wrong . There was only so much that they could make out, but the pauses between one of their clashes was enough to see that Aithusa had become disfigured. 

What had they done to him? 

This time, Arthur did almost become sick. The baby, the little dragon that he had seen be born, was now but a shadow of what he should have eventually become. He was damaged and misshapen, and the sight of him not only disturbed Arthur but also brought Merlin to tears. How could they have done this? It wasn't even just a matter of how they managed to make Aithusa like this but how heartless they were. Who could look at a child and turn him into a weapon? Arthur tried not to think of his sister. This had to have been done by one of the other High Priestesses. There was no way that she would not only use but warp an innocent creature. 

There was something strange about Aithusa as well. He was clearly smaller, and yet, Ursa seemed to be struggling. He was quick, much faster than his mangled wings should have allowed. Not only that, but even Arthur could feel that something was off in a way that he couldn't describe. It was a feeling in a similar way that he shuffled his deck. However, this was the exact opposite. There was nothing right about it. Whatever it was, it went beyond the scales, beyond the flesh, of the dragon. It was swirling inside and changing the very energy of him.

Arthur was about to ask Merlin about it, but the feeling started to become felt amongst the battlefield. It popped up seemingly randomly, and with it, Arthur watched as their knights started to struggle. They were being pushed back. Those that had even been knocked out had lifted themselves back up and taken down those that were uninjured. Part of Arthur's vision seemed dark. He rubbed at his eyes, but it went in and out. There was nothing wrong with his eyes, and he realized that the slight desaturation was almost entirely on those that shared the same energy as Aithusa.

"Is this... Is this the Ivory?" Arthur questioned.

Merlin wiped the tears that had continued to shed away. "It has to be. It feels vile."

"It's vile what they did to Aithusa."

"They will pay for what they have done to him." Merlin clenched his fists in fury. It didn't take an expert on dragons and Dragonlords to understand how much more painful it must have been for Merlin to have seen him in that state.

"Our allies... The Ivory seems to be making their soldier stronger. If they don't fall back, they'll be slaughtered."

"I'm sure Leon and the others have noticed. Look, they have already started to fall back. The others are strengthening the wards. We need to make our move and fast. It's the only way to prevent more casualties. I can sense the Ivory on them, on Aithusa too. It's like chains that are not only wrapped around them but imbedded into their very being."

"But we can reverse it if we stop the source."

"Yes. They are all coming from the same location. There." Merlin pointed just beyond the pass and in a patch of trees not unlike the place that Arthur had been just the night before. "I'm sure the host won't be alone, but having seen the battle, it looks like most of the High Priestesses were on the field. We'll still need to be careful."

Merlin was able to at least get them there quite carefully. He placed a cloaking spell on them. No one would be able to sense them coming. They hoped this extended to the host of the Ivory due to the Ivory clearly being busy already. What Merlin couldn't do was teleport them over there. A swiftness spell had them moving faster, but it still felt like the longest run that Arthur had ever done.

How was Arthur going to explain to Merlin what they were going to find? How was he going to explain what he hoped to do? Merlin was furious and disgusted at what the Ivory and, by extension, the High Priestesses had done. Yet, Arthur knew Merlin. He knew that Merlin had come to trust him just as Arthur had come to trust him as well. Through the anger, Arthur believed that Merlin would understand. After all, had it been Merlin's mother, he would have wanted to try to talk to her about it just as well.

As they approached, the spell dissipated. Their speed went right back to normal, slower than normal, really, since they were now treading much more carefully. The cloaking spell was still working, but that didn't last too long. They felt it as it slipped right off. Only the darkness of a stormy afternoon and the various trees kept them hidden. 

There was no need to be sneaky though as they found out. There in a small patch where it was more open sat Morgana on a large rock. Her once laurel green eyes were now a burnt orange. Behind her stood a woman with blonde locks and dark eyes. Both of them had been waiting for them. 

As they approached, Morgana began to smile and gave them a small clap. "I was expecting you both sooner, but here you both are. Now then." She stood and took a few steps towards them. "My offer still stands, brother. I'm sure we can even arrange something to allow your boyfriend to survive this even if I can't stand him."

The blonde behind her scoffed. "He killed Nimueh."

"I am quite aware, Morgause. You sided with me on the decision to send her their way. The blood of our sister and perhaps more of our sisters are on his hands, but if it would allow peace, shouldn't it at least be offered."

"Peace?!" Though the women were calm, this was something that Merlin just could not be. He grit his teeth. "You call taking over peace ? You call murdering my kind and the others that stood in your way peace ? You call what you've done to Aithusa peace ?! It's monstrous !"

"Morgana," Arthur kept his voice soft in hope that he could prevent this, "please. You don't have to do this. Leave the Ivory. I don't even want the throne! I'm sure we can arrange something."

"Morgana? Your sister?"

"We can leave this behind. The Ivory is my enemy, not you, never you. Please."

With a sigh, Morgana crossed her arms. "So it's going to be that way. Both wanted the other to surrender. It's too late though. It was too late when you arrived. It was too late when I stopped calling you. Morgause, why don't you keep the Dragonlord busy. Arthur is mine."

The fight began faster than Arthur could comprehend. His reflexes luckily kicked in as the two of them started to attack Merlin and him. Morgause did what Morgana had asked, and the distance between Merlin and him grew. They were still in the same proximity, but were now separated by their own battle. Arthur couldn't give any attention to how Merlin was fairing. Though, he was confident that he would end up winning. The one that he was worried about was himself. All he had was a sword, and Morgana's magic, whether entirely due to the Ivory or not, it did not matter, probably rivaled Merlin's. 

With a crack of air, Arthur found himself being flung backwards. He managed to get up before the white light heading towards his head managed to pierce it. As it stayed in the ground for a moment, Arthur tried to get a hit in, but he wasn't expecting that light to be in the shape of a sword or for Morgana to be right there so quickly. Maybe he still would have managed if he had his heart in the fight. Alas, she easily dodged and sent out a wave of fire towards him.

Arthur braced himself. Cal was in hand, but what could a sword do to protect against fire? Apparently, enough. It was as if a barrier surrounded him. He wasn't sure how he did it or if it was Cal, and he didn't have time to think of what exactly happened before Morgana was back on him. Their blades clashed. Arthur found himself being the one taking steps back. There was a strength to her just like the soldiers. How exactly was he going to manage?

A light started to emanate from Cal, a crimson red. Arthur noticed it as he was blocking a particularly strong strike, and with it, his own strength began to burn into a flame larger than he had ever felt. The only thing remotely similar was when he had come into contact with Merlin's magic when he first taught him how to make a ward here. Now though, it was his own. The fire burned brightly inside his chest. Whatever was happening, he felt like it was fated. He finally felt like the one that they had been telling him he was. Now he truly was the Once and Future King.

This newfound power started to turn the tide of their duel. Arthur would have thought that they would have been equally matched, but as he had no issue anymore blocking her attacks, blade and magic alike, he found that fighting with a sword wasn't the only thing that he could do. What Morgana had done with the small amounts of fire was clearly nothing compared to the world of it, the world that Arthur could now feel in his center. It was an unworthy imitation. Arthur knew the true potential of the element, and the others were around him as well. The world of sky, sea, and earth were there. A main source of the energy of these realms were coming from a few yards away from him in the form of Merlin. 

Now this, what they had, this was real magic. The Ivory may have power, but it could never hope to be what they were. Morgana could never hope to have what he had. Arthur wished that wasn't the case. Her words echoed in his head. He didn't want to be what she had suggested, and even with her sword continuously trying to draw his blood, he had to ask one more time.

"Let's go back to being brother and sister."

Her response was a spat in his face. "You are no brother of mine."

There was no chance. There was no bringing Morgana back with him. There was no happy ending for the siblings. Morgana wouldn't allow it, and Arthur couldn't allow it either. He wished that he could have just surrendered. He wished that he didn't have to fight her, but this was about more than just the two of them. This was about Merlin, Gwaine, Elyan, Lancelot, and Percival. This was about Sir Leon, Lady Guinevere, Lady Mithian, and Gaius. This was about Mordred and Daegal. This was about the people of Camelot, his people, his new home, and now his new family. Arthur could never surrender. He had to protect them.

Arthur overpowered Morgana. She fell, and Arthur had an opening to strike her down. It would be over. The Ivory would be gone. Everyone would be safe.

Yet Arthur couldn't do it.

The people in Ealdor had become his family, but Arthur couldn't stop himself from seeing Morgana as his sister. She was his family too whether she wanted to accept it anymore or not. This was his little sister, and he had promised that he would be the best big brother. Arthur only ever wanted to be there for her, and he had failed.

Arthur hesitated.

Morgana took her chance. 

The pain didn't hit Arthur at first. It must have been the adrenaline. Morgana had been down on the ground, but now she was kneeling and... Her blade came away. He just watched as with a grin that stretched from ear to ear, she went for the killing blow. That didn't come to pass. Something knocked her to the ground. Merlin .

Cal slipped from his fingers, and Arthur fell.

There was a voice that Arthur could hear. It was calling his name, but all of his senses were too much. He couldn't think straight. He looked down at his hand clutching his abdomen and saw red. He knew that there would be more if Morgana wasn't dealt with. Merlin was already working on that. Arthur could see. She was across from him, and vines wrapped around her hands, legs, and stomach. He wanted to reach out. He wanted to comfort her even after all of this. He just wanted to bring her home.

But that couldn't happen.

It wouldn't happen.

Arthur was left with no choice, and as the tears started to spill down his face and fall to the grass under his head, he told Merlin to go ahead. Arthur watched and his eyes never left her as Merlin picked up Cal and put an end to the Ivory once and for all, an end to his sister.

As soon as it was done, he felt Merlin's hand find him. His voice was filled with worry. He caught a glimpse of his face before he could no longer keep his eyes open. There was a cool sensation beginning to overtake him. It was centered on his wound, but Arthur couldn't pay attention to anything now. 

He passed out.

Chapter Text

Battles were so much more simple. At least, that was what Arthur felt in the current moment. The logical side of him would have thought that silly. When did his logic overpower his emotion in any given moment though? He was nervous now, and it was like this was the most nervous that he had been. It wasn't even that this was a particularly hard task. Well, it was, but compared to everything that had happened since he came to Camelot, this should have been a walk in the park.

Yet, Arthur couldn't stop being nervous. It had been almost a year since the prophecy was fulfilled and Camelot was safe. Though everything wasn't perfect immediately. After all, the High Priestesses had a hold of the entire kingdom. Even after Camlann, everyone was busy. Those that were injured needed to be healed. The dead needed to be buried. Then they needed to figure out who was still loyal to the High Priestesses and posed a threat. There was also the work of dismantling their groups that had not been at the battle and were still controlling villages and towns. Travel wasn't quick, but luckily, they did have magic. Others could be informed almost as quickly as with a text message. It may have been that travel could have been faster with a dragon, but when this was even suggested to Ursa, she just laughed at them. Riding a dragon? That had to have been the funniest thing that she had heard in hundreds of years.

After all of that, there was still work that had to be done with setting up a new system of leadership. Unsurprisingly, the people had wanted the Once and Future King to retake his throne. They had all grown up with the legend, and along with his Dragonlord, he had defeated the Ivory and the tyrannical reign that the High Priestesses had. What they wanted, though, would not come to be. 

Not exactly, at least.

Arthur had no desire to rule a kingdom. He didn't know the first thing about ruling; though, he was a natural. Then there was also the control of one group going to a single individual. Arthur didn't like it, and the others agreed with his reasoning. Instead, the Round Table was reestablished. Those that had helped in leading Ealdor were given seats and those that would have been had the High Priestesses never betrayed anyone were contacted. Arthur also introduced more elected officials. Lady Guinevere wouldn't be the only one chosen by the people. Then, of course, both Merlin and Arthur had their own seats as well. There was no getting out of it for the two of them, but with how much they cared and worked to rebuild the kingdom, they weren't complaining.

At first, all of this took place in Ealdor. They used their meeting room as they worked to establish the new Round Table. It didn't stay like this. Ealdor was on the edge of the kingdom, and so, they restored the original table and the castle of Camelot. Moving there was strange for Arthur and the rest of them. To Arthur, Ealdor was Camelot, and to the others that had spent years living there, it was their home. However, it was for the best. Ealdor still remained a major town. Many refugees had decided to stay, and while Merlin and Arthur were now living in the castle, they still planned on going back to Ealdor when they could have time for themselves. Ealdor would never not be a home for them.

Most of the others came with Merlin and Arthur, and everyone was doing well. Lady Guinevere, Lady Mithian, and Lancelot had taken a pair of orphans and were raising the brother and sister as their own. Elyan and Percival were both dedicated to helping the villages that were most impacted by not just the High Priestesses rule but also the change in leadership. While working and traveling together, they ended up taking in a few children along the way. The three children became fast friends with the siblings when Elyan and Percival joined the others in the city surrounding the castle. 

Daegal never left Mordred as he healed from Kara's betrayal and death, and after a few months, their relationship started to be sprinkled with romance. Of course, Mordred was like Arthur when it came to just not seeing it. Then Daegal just didn't want to ruin their friendship. It ended up taking some outside influence for the two of them to finally talk about their feelings with each other. 

Even Aithusa ended up doing better. His recovery was still ongoing; the Ivory had essentially corrupted the poor dragon. However, he was not only looking far better but feeling better. There was no way that he could be healed entirely. He was always going to have scars. For instance, he initially had trouble flying when the healing had started. He was doing better now, but one of his wings made the act harder. Still, he was healthy now, and he was also learning with the help of Ursa. She was patient with him. After all, he was made to mature rapidly. There was a mix of an adolescent and a child, and although it confused Aithusa at times, Ursa was able to help him. She also taught him how to speak. Surprisingly, another dragon came and joined them. Apparently, he was a friend of Ursa. He was a bit of a hermit and had been in hiding since the Dragonlords were almost wiped out. He was a rather strange dragon. Though at this point, Arthur believed that was just a trait of dragons. His name was Kilgharrah, and once he arrived, he also helped with caring for Aithusa. Now his riddles... Arthur thought Ursa's were bad.

Then, of course, Gwaine was being Gwaine.

Everyone was gathered in the gardens of the castle for the little performance that Arthur was going to put on. Merlin was also going to play, his first time in front of a group of people, but that was out of Arthur's mind. He was far too nervous about how well he was going to do. Merlin would be fine. He was more than just talented at the lute, but Arthur still considered himself a beginner. Had it not been for Gwaine, Merlin would have been the only one playing songs. Gwaine just had to point out in front of the kids that Arthur played as well. The bastard just knew that they would beg to hear Arthur play too. Kids were like that, and with that thought, Arthur briefly wondered if Merlin and him would have kids. It was an interesting thought, and the distraction of it led to Arthur just thinking about Merlin and how happy the two of them had been.

No one was expecting Arthur to be alright after Morgana's death. The emotional pain that he felt was far worse than the physical pain could have ever been even if Merlin hadn't healed him right away. His sister had disowned him and tried to kill him. Arthur had tried to reason with her, but she had been lost for longer than he had ever thought. If only he had seen the signs earlier... If only he had been able to do something... If only he had been there for her as she needed him to instead of how he thought she needed him...

Questions and possibilities like those wouldn't escape his head for months, and even now, they sometimes made themselves known. Arthur could heal, and he would heal. However, Morgana would always be his little sister, and she was dead. Had Arthur not had Merlin and his friends, he wasn't sure how he would have been able to cope.

Their time together wasn't just Arthur struggling with this. Their work kept them busy, and that helped. There was a while where they didn't have any time for themselves, but once they did, they took every chance to be together. Eventually, they needed to be around others as well, but while out with friends, they were still with them together. Merlin and Arthur were names that were said together. They were two sides of the same coin. It was during this time together that Arthur started to take his lessons with Merlin more seriously, both magical lessons and lute lessons.

And now he would be showing the others where he was at with this.

"Arthur," Merlin spoke softly, "there is no need to be nervous."

With a chuckle, Arthur replied, "You do realize that children can be the most brutal critics."

"Dollophead. There's going to be nothing to criticize."

"We'll see. Also, just a suggestion. How about adding 'my' to the beginning of the affectionate insults."

"'My' dollophead? I thought that was implied."

Before Arthur took the stage, which wasn't actually a stage at all, Merlin gave him a kiss on the cheek for luck. There Arthur was amongst friendly faces and beautiful flowers. Fitting that this would happen in a garden. A garden was where he had first started to learn to play the lute after all. After an inhale and then an exhale to calm himself, Arthur began to pluck the strings.