Evil on the Rise

Colliding with Destiny

Merlin rounded the corner, readjusting his customary neckerchief before going any further. In the past twenty five thousand years or so, Merlin's outfits really hadn't changed that much. He had his neckerchiefs, he wore denim jeans and a soft brown leather jacket, and he had on either a blue or a red t-shirt. Same old, same old. His brown messenger bag rested across his chest and he spared a moment to look down at it. Wrong move.

As he was looking down, he was also continuing to walk forward. However, someone coming the opposite direction down the street was also walking forward. And talking to their friends. And not paying attention. They smashed into each other and Merlin fell back onto the sidewalk. The blond sneered down at him, "Watch where you're going." Merlin didn't care. He was too busy staring at the retreating group of friends. He was too busy staring at the blond who sounded and acted and looked exactly like him. Like King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot. And the people who were with him. Who looked exactly like the knights of the round table.

Merlin's mind was whirling as he got back up, absentmindedly readjusting his neckerchief, and walked to his normal café. He wasn't sure if he was just hallucinating, or if he really just accidently ran into the reincarnation of Arthur. The warlock pulled out his laptop, the waitress already getting Merlin his usual without needing to ask. He opened a search engine and typed in 'Arthur Pendragon 2015'. He came up with nothing. He then searched 'Uther Pendragon', but still: nada.

The waitress slid Merlin's tea to him and he deftly stopped it and started drinking immediately. She raised an eyebrow, "You seem awfully busy today, Merlin. By the way, cook's orders: you never have to pay for your tea again. Something about coming here for a year straight and getting the exact same thing. Are you even processing my words?" Merlin blinked at her, "Um. Yeah. I think so. I don't have to pay for my tea and I seem busy. Right?" She smiled fondly and ruffled his hair. "See you tomorrow, Merlin." "You too, Finna!" Merlin called out cheerfully before continuing his search.

For fifteen minutes, he couldn't find anything. He was starting to get frustrated when it hit him that Arthur should be around the right age that he should be going to school. Well, school started in about a week. Merlin tried to find a way to look at the roster, but then realized that it was impossible. Finding no other way, he went onto the school website and after hovering over it for a while, he clicked 'Enroll'.

Arthur was still indignant about being plowed into by that gangly kid on his way to Gwen's house. He was saying, "I mean, who does he think he is to just run into me like that? Doesn't he know who I am?" Gwaine rolled his eyes, "Not everyone can recognize a princess on sight my lady." Lance chimed in, "And I'm pretty sure that you ran into him."Arthur huffed before waltzing into Gwen's house like he owned the place. Well, his father technically owned the place, being the realtor that sold almost every house in the city. That wasn't important though. Gwen wrapped her mocha colored arms around him the moment he stepped into the house. She was smiling brightly. Leon had been assaulted by Morgana running to jump into his arms and kiss him full on.

Gwaine was staring at Leon and Morgana with a tad bit too much interest for Arthur's taste, "Gwaine, you really should get your own girlfriend instead of staring at my sister and her boyfriend." Gwaine grinned sheepishly at him and plopped into a sofa. Gwen and Arthur squeezed into one side of a love seat with Leon and Morgana on the other. Percival and Elyan sat on either side of Gwaine and Lance took one of the other chairs. Mordred just leaned against the wall. He would sit down when he wanted to, not when everyone else did.

Mordred snickered, "Arthur plowed some poor kid to the ground today." He knew what the immediate reaction would be. Gwen leaned away from Arthur and gave him an eyebrow worthy of her and her brother, Elyan's, adopted father, Gaius. He insisted that they all call him by his first name. Gwen's father had been killed in a drunken driving accident. He, Gwen's mother, Arthur's mother, and Arthur's father had all been in the car. Only Arthur's dad survived. It was a sore spot for the whole group who had known each other practically since they were kids. Everyone's parents were everyone else's parents. Gwen started her lecture with a shrill, "What did you do?"