The clockroom

Freya

A.N.:// This is the first unedited chapter :)

-------------------------------

Knowledge, Arthur had learned, always came with a price.
It was something that had become clear after Merlin stopped him from killing his own father.
The truth came with the understanding that Arthur was a fool who let himself be manipulated.
It came with the understanding that everything Arthur had learned the past couple of months had been wrong. He misunderstood every information, every circumstance, every enemy and their intentions.

Had Arthur made the same decisions, had he known magic was evil?

Arthur felt restless. And a part of him wanted to close this chapter of his life, another wanted to confront the Merlin from the clockroom for everything he had learned. Tell him he knew the truth now.
Knew that those dreams were nothing but lies.

It was the middle of the night and he couldn't get that image out of his head. He imagined thousand different scenarios of how this could go. How the Merlin from that other world would react.
It made him restless.

Before he knew it, Arthur got up, put on a cape against the cold and left his rooms.
He sneaked down the vaults, took the long route around the dragon cavern and past the guards that somehow never noticed him.
He didn't care tonight. Arthur was angry and he wanted to feel the satisfaction once he confronted dream Merlin about his lies.

So Arthur burst into the clockroom with intention. The doors fell shut with the disturbing silence they always fell shut to. The clicking of the clocks only fueled his anger.

He grabbed the falcon and wished for a moment of confrontation.
A moment in which he could show Merlin what he knew now. And what a liar he was. A moment in which Merlin couldn't dispute what he had to say.

Wished to be alone with Merlin and speak his mind. His eyes fell on the table where he had stored the items he had brought from other timelines. He grabbed the bullet and held it tight in his fist.

Then the world lost color.

----------------------------------------

... Sometime at the Lake of Avalon ... -

The colors rearranged themselves into a dark forest.
Arthur heard the owls singing and some squirrels rushing about. Leafs cracked under his boots. Otherwise Arthur was in his night garments, uncaring who saw him now and how.
These were dreams. Who cares.

Grabbing the bullet tighter, Arthur tried to get used to the darkness, then he oriented himself by his tracking skills.
They had never failed him and certainly those human tracks belonged to Merlin. The clock had always send him on the right path to find him. And Arthur had never missed him.
Why Merlin would stroll through a dark forest at night, Arthur had no idea and he didn't care.

The tracks lead him out of the forest to a lake.

Merlin must be here somewhere. Arthur listened to the waves washing ashore and looked around. Maybe Merlin had lit a fire somewhere. Or used another magical source or something. The coast was clear, so he should be able to spot him soon.

Arthur walked along the beach, still following those tracks that faded as the water washed them away.
He may have walked forever, but his rage wasn't even close to being gone.
And finally, there, in the distance, Arthur saw a strange light illuminating a dark form in the sand.

Arthur couldn't even smile as he fell into a sprint. He was about to yell, when he came to an abrupt halt.
Merlin was asleep.

He lay there, cowered in the sand, sleeping in the waves that washed around him quietly.
The light came from the waters themselves. And there, far away from the shore, far enough that Arthur only saw her blurry outlines, there stood a woman there. She waved at Arthur and seemed to smile, but Arthur couldn't make out more than that.