Chapter Text
“Morrie?” Arthur was so shocked, he didn’t even realize he’d used Morgana’s childish nickname.
She, however, scrunched up her face in disgust.
“Stop with the endearments, Arthur. You have no right to call me that, anyway.”
“What are you talking about?” Arthur’s voice went loud as he lurched forward.
Merlin grabbed his hand in order to remind Arthur of their agreement. Arthur drew back a little, but the tension in his body was visible, his posture stiff.
“Oh, don’t tell me you don’t know,” sing-songed Morgana, walking from one torch to another, lightning them up. “Oh wait, you don’t!” she laughed, the sound filled not with joy, but with madness.
“Morgana,” Arthur inquired patiently, “What are you talking about?”
Morgana stopped and examined him for a moment, and then, with poorly disguised rage, spat out,
“Look at you, Arthur. The Golden Boy, with a powerful sorcerer at your side, the best knight, the Perfect Son. A reason for Daddy to be proud.”
She was shaking.
Arthur still couldn’t understand what this was about, so he held onto the only thing he knew - their father.
“Morgana, listen, is this about Dad? You know he cares about us, he’s just been busy and, besides, the Academy’s rules...”
Arthur was interrupted by Morgana’s deafening hysterical laughter. He stood, transfixed, silent, and waited for her to calm down.
When she finally did, she declared, wiping tears from her eyes,
“Oh God, Arthur, no wonder Merlin got it first. You’re thick as a tree.”
Just as Arthur was going to demand explanations - for Christ’s sakes, this joke really wasn’t funny anymore, Morgana turned deadly serious and came up very close to him.
“I’m not you sister, Arthur. I never was.”
Arthur blinked.
“It was all a lie. Your precious Daddy lied to you. And my Dad?..You wanna know where he is?”
She took a breath, looking Arthur straight in the eyes. It was so absolutely surreal, all of this.
“He’s dead. Because his knight wasn’t there to protect him.”
Arthur didn’t really know what to say, hell - he didn’t even know what to think, but what he did know was that this was his sister. And okay, maybe they weren’t related by blood - but who cares? They grew up together, side by side, and that’s what’s important.
“Morgana, please,” he said softly. “You know Dad loves you. We care about you, and you are my sister. Come on, let’s just go and talk this over, yeah? Why didn’t you say anything earlier, anyway?”
There was a split second when Morgana’s eyes seemed to warm up, her expression sad and regretful, and she looked at Arthur with sorrow.
“I was scared. And when I did try to tell you, you never listened.”
But then she grew stone cold again, the soft features gone, replaced my merciless smirk, “You were always too busy showing off with your fellow knights. Anyway, it’s not important, now.”
She leaned in and whispered theatrically,
“It’s show time.”
At once, the flames seemed to shine brighter, and the symbol in the middle started glowing, as if it was on fire too.
The person standing turned out to be Morgause, and she and Morgana bowed their heads to talk about something in hushed tones.
Meanwhile, Arthur turned to Merlin.
“How long have you known?”
Merlin stared at the ground, speechless.
Arthur tugged on his hand, still entwined with Arthur’s.
“Merlin?”
Merlin apologetically glanced at him.
“I didn’t know for sure. That’s why I was going to check it.”
“How long?” repeated Arthur, insistent.
Merlin sighed, and after a moment, replied quietly,
“Since the incident. I’ve started suspecting since the incident.”
Arthur gritted his teeth, feeling the blood rush through him. He yanked his hand back from Merlin’s grip, and that was Merlin’s cue to look Arthur right in the eyes as he continued desperately:
“I tried talking to her, Arthur, I did, but she wouldn’t listen! She was going on and on about how everyone betrayed her and I just couldn’t, I didn’t...”
“You could’ve told me!” he knew he was yelling, but he didn’t care.
Arthur was furious - at his sister, at his father, but most of all - at Merlin, who knew the whole time.
“You wouldn’t believe me!” Merlin threw his hands up in despair. “Arthur, think about it!”
Arthur was going to tell Merlin all about his thoughts on this matter, when they heard a loud yelp and, turning simultaneously, saw Gwen, running towards the circle from the left, straight to the kneeling figure.
“Lance!” exhaled Merlin in horror.
And just like that, it dawned on Arthur.
He remembered hearing rumors about Cendred, Morgause’s knight, disappearing, and how he hadn’t thought much of it at the time. He remembered how he had noticed Morgana’s bracelet with “Best sister” engraved on it and, when asked, she had replied, “Oh, it’s just this thing...We make matching bracelets for each other, it’s nothing really, just a bit of fun,” and he saw a similar bracelet on Morgause’s hand now.
He should have known better.
He remembered how Morgana had always envied Merlin’s free-flowing power and how she wanted to be “fearful”. Granted, now she scared Arthur, but not because of her “power” or whatever, but because he didn’t know her anymore.
The litany of Gwen’s “Please, please, Morgana, don’t, I’m begging you, stop”, as she hugged the motionless Lance, trying to protect him with her body, pierced Arthur’s hearing.
He recovered from his trance just in time to see Morgause sigh and say: “It’s too crowded here”, and then - then everything happened too fast.
When Morgause lifted her hand towards Gwen, Merlin’s eyes shone gold and he threw both of his palms forward.
A transparent sort of cupola appeared in the air, separating everyone from Morgause the very second the sorceress had shouted the words. The spell reflected off the peculiar magical wall and, as is the law of nature, backfired.
The next moment Arthur heard an ear-splitting cry. He had to close his ears with his hands, but the sound was inhuman, making his veins stand out. The blood was pounding maddeningly inside his head, and he saw Merlin clutching his head as well, wincing.
Arthur only realized it was Morgana screaming when he cast a glance at her. She was trying to get to a lifeless Morgause, clawing at the hardly visible wall, but the cupola surrounded the five of them securely. Arthur looked back at Merlin and saw his eyes still glowing gold.
Suddenly, Morgana sharply turned around and shouted:
“You!,” throwing an accusing finger towards Merlin. She looked purely psychotic.
Merlin realized what was happening too late.
He was still holding the shield up, so when Morgana threw a spell at him, he couldn’t even deflect it, just looked up in time to see Arthur’s
very blue, very wide eyes staring at him, as the spell shot him in the back,
because Arthur
jumped in
to protect Merlin
with himself.
--
No light, no light
In your bright blue eyes
I never knew the daylight
Could be so violent.
A revelation
In the light of day:
You can’t choose what stays
And what fades
Away.
--
Merlin clutched Arthur’s shoulders as he was falling to the ground.
“No, no, no, Arthur, come on, no,” he chanted, petting Arthur’s hair, casting spell after spell after spell, indifferent and oblivious to what was going on around him.
Meanwhile, Morgana seemed paralysed with the realization of what she had done.
Gwen was trying to make Lance, who was supposedly under a “no-free-will” spell, move.
The birds were singing cheerful tunes. The sun was shining brightly, making the grass seem not just green, but emerald. The sky was wonderfully azure.
The world was full of life.
And Arthur was irrevocably dead.
--
But I’ll
Do
Anything
To make you
Stay
--
This was the time for Merlin to wake up to Arthur’s sleep-warm body.
Come on, he should wake up now.
He should wake up and everything will be okay, he’s going to kiss grumpy Arthur senseless even if he has a terrible morning breath.
Only, Merlin was still there, rocking back and forth, holding Arthur close to him, petting Arthur’s shiny hair and trying to warm up Arthur’s cold lips with his own.
He didn’t know how much time had passed.
It could have been minutes, it could have been hours.
Merlin had tried out each and every spell he knew, and now was just whispering “pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasearthurplease”.
If anyone came up to him now and tried to pry his fingers off of Arthur, he would burn them where they stood.
He was never leaving him. Ever.
But suddenly, some sort of force threw Arthur’s body back, positioning it near Merlin’s knees. Merlin’s eyes were puffy from endless tears (“When did I start crying?”), and he rubbed them to see what was happening.
In the circle of torches, Morgana started twitching, as though she had electricity running through her. Then, a gentle light travelled from her body to Arthur’s, making him shine for a quarter of a second, and when the light subsided, Arthur’s skin was white no more and his lips began to gain colour.
Just as Morgana choked out “No” and fell to her knees, sobbing, Arthur opened his striking aquamarine eyes, the colour matching the sky, squinted at the sun, then turned his gaze to Merlin and, after looking at him for a moment, frowned,
“Merlin, have you been crying?”
--
You’re my
Head
You’re
My
Heart
--
The thing is - no one really understands what magic is.
Some think it’s a weapon of power, others believe it’s a choice. There are tales of infamous sorcerers, who controlled their magic so well, they were practically undefeatable.
But what no one actually gets - not even Merlin, despite the fact that his bond with magic is stronger than most people have, - is the simple truth.
Magic is, in reality, love.
And just as love, you can’t control it, not really. You can try and make something good out of it; or you can spoil it with jealousy and revenge. Either way, you can’t kill it, and you can’t stop it.
Maybe Morgana was bitter and scared, and undoubtedly confused. And maybe she didn’t consider Arthur to be her brother anymore, to be anyone to care about.
But her magic? Her magic remembered every tiny thing, every single moment when Arthur’s courageous little heart was beating for both of them. How he helped her build a dollhouse; how he protected her from a stray goose; how he swam across the lake to get her favourite kite, trapped in the trees on the other bank; how he never, ever left her alone and how he discreetly ate her portion of the much-hated porridge so she’d get the dessert. Morgana’s magic not only loved Arthur - it was love itself.
And when Morgana accidentally harmed him, her magic did everything it could to save her brother - it became his breath, his blood, his heartbeat, confirming old as the Universe axiom - love is the ultimate power.
~
Lance finally came to his senses, seeing as Morgana didn’t hold any control over him anymore, and Gwen hurriedly led him away.
Morgana was quietly howling on the ground, Morgause’s body lying close to her.
In five minutes, there were paramedics and a couple of teachers, even the Headmaster himself, taking care of matters. It was going to be a long day - calling Uther, explaining the situation, writing a report.
But none of that mattered for Merlin and Arthur, who had quietly left while no one was looking and were now back in their room. They shed their clothes, leaving only their underwear on, and were presently lying under the blanket, holding each other.
Merlin was listening closely to Arthur’s heartbeat, restlessly touching his face, his body, his hair, making sure Arthur’s here, alive.
Something cold touched the side of Merlin’s face, and he drew back to take a look.
The ring glistened in the afternoon sun, and Merlin smiled.
“Arthur,” he said softly.
Arthur opened his eyes and raised his eyebrows.
“I think you’re entitled to wear this now.” Merlin tugged at the chain, and Arthur silently took it off.
He stared at the ring as he slowly detached it from the chain, and then held it in his hand, uncertain.
“Arthur. You saved my life.” Merlin carefully took the ring and gently put in on Arthur’s index finger.
Then, Merlin tenderly kissed Arthur’s fingertips and curled back to his chest.
He felt Arthur chuckle, the sound vibrating through their bodies, and murmur,
“Well then, we truly are the halves of a whole, I guess.”
Merlin wasn’t really sure he understood what Arthur meant, but frankly, it wasn’t important.
“I have a confession to make”, Arthur mumbled.
Merlin only hummed in response, breathing in the delicious smell of Arthur’s skin.
“Remember ‘The Lance Plan’”?
“I thought it was ‘The Lance Test’”
“That’s because you did’t know the whole thing.”
At this, Merlin raised his head to stare at Arthur in surprise. His wide-eyed expression made Arthur even more nervous, but he was determined to do this. He automatically brought a hand to his chest to touch the ring, but then he saw it sitting on his finger, heavy and proud. Arthur bit his lip and muttered,
“I kind of made sure Lance would tell Kay? And everyone knew when to enter. And I kind of planned all of it.”
Merlin huffed and said, “Arthur, you can’t possibly plan someone to act one way or another. You can’t make people spill secrets.”
For some reason, Arthur felt offended at this.
“Can so, I was the best one in Strategy classes!” he pouted. He really loved digging himself deeper, now didn’t he.
Merlin stared at him, silent and serious.
“Why did you do this?” he asked quietly, at last.
Arthur hid his face in the pillow, and started explaining. In the middle of his speech, however, Merlin lightly grabbed him by hair and tugged impatiently, “Arthur, I can’t hear a word, you’re mumbling everything into the pillow!”
Arthur turned to him, then and, blushing even deeper, whined meekly,
“Please don’t be angry with me, Merlin.”
Arthur glanced up through his lashes and did his best “pretty puppy”-face.
Merlin laughed and swatted him on the head, instantly petting it better though.
“Arthur, that was ages ago, we were kids!”
He snuggled into Arthur’s chest again.
Arthur sighed in Merlin’s hair in relief, touching the delicate skin on Merlin’s nape. Merlin kept fondling with Arthur’s sandy-blond locks, silent, and then brushed his thumb across Arthur’s lips to get his attention,
“Just promise you will discuss stuff with me before acting on it, okay?”
“Pinky promise?”
“Prat.”
~*~
As you enroll into the Academy, you are at the beginning of your own story of greatness, and how it will end depends on you and you alone, for your actions shape your destiny, you are the creator of your own path, and every choice matters.
