Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Before bidding his farewell, Kilgharrah said "Take heart, for when Albion's need is greatest... Arthur will rise again." For the last 15 centuries, these words were what kept Merlin going, dutifully waiting for his King to return.

He had hoped to see him rise again numerous times, all for nothing. When did the monarchy first get threatened ? Nothing. Maybe, he thought, Albion needed to be in greater danger. When they were at war with France for a hundred years ? Still nothing. This didn't seem dangerous enough. A plague ? Nothing again. The country now known as England is still there, as strong as ever, 15 centuries after the death of its greatest King. What impressed Merlin the most, though, was that the country and its monarchy still exist today, even after the fall of the British empire, two world wars and a pandemic.

But it didn't help him see Arthur again. Merlin, who took the appearance of an old man (strangely resembling Dragoon the Great), can't help but come back to this fateful place. Through the centuries, it had become less and less of a resting place for Merlin, as it has become a road, especially popular to transport goods. But it didn't stop him from coming back, again and again, hopefully seeing Arthur rushing towards him, saying that he would have to clean the stables or another painfully annoying chore that Merlin would pay for, if given the opportunity to do it again under Arthur's command.

"It feels like yesterday." He muttered to himself.

He remembers everything from that day; the rage he felt, and then the despair. How he couldn't save Arthur. How he had to say goodbye. How he was powerless.
When he closes his eyes, he can still feel Arthur's cold skin on his fingers. He can still hear himself screaming in the first years. He can still feel the painful loneliness that was eating him away-but he couldn't die. What would Arthur do without him ?

"But what did he look like ?"

He couldn't remember. His memory was vague. He only noted it now. With no picture of him, it was quite hard to remember his face all those centuries. But still, he made it a duty to close his eyes at least once a day, and remember him. His face, his voice, even his smell. How he used to tease Merlin, how he would know him better than everyone else. Tears began to flow down his face, as he felt as if he just had abandoned his friend.

The warlock, trying to wipe away his tears, noticed a poster for an exhibition. "The Art of the Arthurian legends' ', it said. Surely, he could maybe find some comfort in it, finding the truth in all of these fantaisies people had invented throughout the years, effectively transforming what was once history into actual legends. It wasn't very far away and free, so he directly headed towards the building it was held in.

Upon entering, he heard some so-called reconstitution of the music that was played in Arthur's court. He refrained from grumbling or complaining, as he couldn't possibly explain how he knew which music was played at that time, and he didn't want to end up in a mental institution again. He saw multiple pictures of himself, Arthur, Lancelot, Gwen and everyone who had their name mentioned in the legends, but most of them were in a mediaeval style, and couldn't help him remember Arthur like he wanted to, or were off. Like that one, very realistic, which depicted Arthur as a big muscly knight with a ridiculously small head.

Then, he saw it. At first, he noticed that the artist painted Merlin's ears slightly too big, just like the other ones. But, when he glanced at Arthur, he felt it like a torrent. His blue eyes were staring into his soul, his mouth was ready to tease him, his hair was almost moving. Merlin's heart squeezed so hard, he felt as if he was dying. His knees hit the ground, while he clenched his heart as hard as possible. his screams were muffled by his tears, which wouldn't stop coming out. He cried like he was a newborn baby, and like there was no tomorrow. He couldn't take it another day, he couldn't be alone anymore.
He was soon thrown out by the security, right into the back alley, but it didn't stop him from crying and screaming.

A few kilometres from there, a blond head emerged from the water. He coughed out the water in his lungs, and took a quick glance around.

"Am I dead ?"

He slapped himself in the face.

"At least it doesn't feel like it. Where are the horses ? Where is Merlin ?"

He looked carefully around him, searching for his manservant, with no success. He noticed the road, and carefully approached it.

"Merlin ?" He shouted. No answer.

Suddenly, he heard a loud noise coming from his left. It sounded like nothing he's ever heard before, and he searched for his sword. But it wasn't at his side. And the strange-looking animal was approaching him, by the road. It began to slow down, and made a trumpet-like sound. Now, it seemed like Arthur would die today. It began opening its side mouth, and then stopped next to Arthur. There was a human inside. So, it wasn't an animal. Surely a magic device of some sort. Allowing no time for thought, the human spoke in a strange language.

"Excuse me ?" Arthur answered, hoping he would speak in his language this time

"I was saying that you looked like one of those arthurian fellas, and I could give you a ride if you wanted. So, you're coming or not ?"

"Well, of course, '' he said, trying to please the strange man in the device, while studying his clothes. They seemed foreign, as if he wasn't from Albion. If Arthur was sure of one thing, it was that he was indeed in Albion. He recognised his surroundings, and most importantly, he would surely recognize the place he thought he died at.

The stranger held out his arm, made a strange noise and opened what seemed to be a door. Arthur carefully entered the thing, and tried to close the door, but he failed. The stranger gave him weird looks, but closed the door for him, and told him to put his seatbelt on. Arthur gave him his most confused looks, and he helped him again.

"Are you alright ?"

"Ye-yes, of course !" he tried to give him his most reassuring look.

"Well, don't barf in my car." And thus, the strange noise returned, and they went straight ahead.

His first mission was to come out of the thing that was apparently called car alive, and his second was to find Merlin. Luckily for him, the man didn't speak to him for the rest of the trip, but Arthur didn't have enough time to relax even a little bit. The landscape was changing too fast, and they went past too many strange buildings for Arthur. Finally, the car stopped in a back alley, where an old man was ugly-crying his heart out. Arthur thought that he was drunk, and the man next to him said it out loud, before releasing him from his seatbelt. Arthur copied his movements to get out of the car, before thanking him for his kindness, interrupted by the crying man's screams. His driver gave him the directions to enter the exhibition, and said goodbye before disappearing into the building.

He seemed awfully familiar to Arthur, who decided to try speaking to him. He put his hand on Merlin's shoulder, who turned himself to see the person interrupting him.

"Dragoon ?"

"Arthur ? Am I hallucinating ? It's you, Arthur !"

Merlin threw himself, still crying, towards Arthur, very confused, to hug him tightly. After a little while of Arthur gently stroking Melin's back, he finally calmed himself down enough to say "It's me, Merlin !"

Chapter Text

“It's me, Merlin !" said Merlin, with his eyes full of tears.

“As in, Merlin ? My useless manservant turned warlock ?” Asked Arthur, who couldn’t believe what the man in front of him said.

“Yes ! I-I’ve waited for you. For so long, I thought that-that you wouldn’t come back. Do you know how long I’ve waited ?”

“No, but the world seems so strange… It must have been hard.” Arthur said, while looking around, trying to analyse as much as he could the world around him. He didn’t manage to understand much about the structures, or what seemed to be their clothing. He would need to interrogate Merlin about that later.

“It has been 15 hundred years since I last saw you, Arthur. Kilgharrah told me that one day, you would come back. Since then, I’ve waited for you. Every day, year after year. You wouldn’t believe how the world has changed, Arthur. We discovered new continents, cures for a lot of diseases, and even a way to prevent them ! And, even more incredible, we went on the moon ! Can you believe it ?” Merlin began rambling, glad to finally be able to talk to his best friend again. He talked to him with stars shining in his eyes, so much so that Arthur didn’t interrupt it. Strangely, it felt reassuring for both of them.

“Hey ! You two ! That’s not a place to be ! Go home !” said the security guard of the exhibition. It seemed that they didn’t hear the door opening, as they were too immersed in their heartfelt reunion.

“Come on, Merlin, let’s go.” Arthur got up, and offered his arm to help Merlin get up from the ground. “Where do you live ?”

“Follow me.” Merlin said, while heading towards the main street. They followed the sidewalk for a while, in silence, until they reached a small alleyway. There, they reached a spot where they were hidden from people’s view. “I managed to find an immediate transportation spell, but you’ll need to hold in your respiration. Ready?”

Arthur breathed in, and nodded. Merlin took his hand, and whispered a few words. Then, his world filled in with strange colours and sounds, and suddenly he felt like his insides were turned upside-down.

“Are you okay ?” Merlin asked, worried. “We’re there, so you can breathe normally.” He let Arthur’s hand go, who did his best to breathe. Merlin handed him a strangely coloured bucket. “Here, you can vomit in there if you need to.”

Finally, Arthur managed to steady his breathing and beat his nausea. Merlin was next to him, stroking his back in small circles. Then, he saw it. Plants. Everywhere. It seemed that they landed in a room full of green plants, as if they took over it. They seemed to have taken their rightful place there, showing off their leaves and flowers, bathing in the giant window's light. Arthur knew some of them, but not all -it seemed that new kinds of plants had appeared while he was in the lake, he would have to ask Merlin about that later- and it also seemed that Merlin lived there, as his recognisable mess was on the floor.

“Do you live there ?” Arthur asked.

“Yes, and we landed in my greenest room, with my best plants. Aren’t they beautiful ?” Melin asked, already knowing the answer.

“They’re plants, Merlin.”

“Come on, 1500 years, and you’re still the same insufferable clotpole ?”

“Of course, Merlin, and would you help me with my armour, please ?” Arthur said, with a mischievous smile.

Merlin sighed, rolled his eyes, and guided Arthur to the next room. There, he helped Arthur out of his armour, and took clothes out of the wardrobe.

“I drew you a bath, and these,” He gestured towards the clothes,” are fresh, new, clothes I bought for you. I hope they fit you.” Arthur looked at Merlin with round eyes.

“When ?”

“Did I buy you clothes ? Ithink it was some time last year, but I’m not sure.” Merlin answered, scratching his head.

“No, when did you draw a bath ?”

“Oh, I turned it on when I came to search for a bucket. It’s not magic, just running water. I’ll explain it to you later, if you want. I did make the water stay at the perfect temperature for you, though.” Merlin explained, matter-of-factly. “Now hop in, you need it and we’ll talk after that.”

Arthur took the clothes, and looked a bit lost.

“How am I supposed to put these on ? And where is the bath ? I don’t see it there.”

“Oh, it’s in the bathroom, just behind this door, and for the clothes,” Merlin took the t-shirt, “ This one is a t-shirt, you put it on your top. I know you can do it alone, I saw you. Then, this one is underwear, you put it on like pants. This part is the inside.” He said, while gesturing and manipulating the underwear. “And, these are pants, called ‘jeans’. You put it on, and I’ll help you button it up if you need. Is everything okay ?”

“Yes, thank you, Merlin.”

Merlin handed him back his clothes, and showed him the door to the bathroom again. Arthur was shocked by what he saw. The room was almost entirely tiled, with some small, blurry windows on top to let the light enter. The bath was big, and made with a white material that Arthur had never seen before. He was amazed. But, the most amazing fact, he thought, was that Merlin managed to keep plants even in this room.

After his bath, and after winning the fight against these so-called ‘jeans’, Arthur followed Merlin, who came back looking like his young self, around his house. It was pretty big, filled with plants and books, which did not surprise him in the least, and he even met Merlin’s cat, Mia. She was a cute black cat, who apparently loved to cuddle with Arthur. Then, Merlin showed Arthur his room.

“You kept a room for me ? And it’s tidy ?” Arthur asked, with a half-smile.

“Yes, I did. You know I’ve waited for you all these years. I’ll need to make the bed and transfer some clothes to the wardrobe, and you’ll be all set.” Merlin said, using his magic to dust the room and open the curtains.

“Thank you, Merlin.” Arthur answered, without looking at him.

“Did the long sleep make you polite ?” Merlin said, with his usual teasing tone, while taking out some sheets for the bed. He had his back turned to Arthur, who sighed, looking into nothingness.

“No, it’s just that I feel like,... There was something that was missing from me. For a long time. And now, I’m there, with you. Speaking about that, do you have any clue about why I’m here?” Arthur said, and Merlin turned back towards him, pausing in his task. He put the sheets on the bed, and gently stroked Arthur's arm.

“Well, Kilgharrah told me that you would come back in time of Albion’s greatest need.” He said, searching for an answer in Arthur's eyes, without finding one.

“And, what is the need ?”

“I don’t know, Arthur. I have no clue.”