First Slow, Then All At Once

Vetting

The next morning, Arthur woke up with a start because of a particularly sad dream. He looked up at Merlin, and still saw him in his normal sleep state. Arthur's stomach growled, and he guessed that Gaius heard it. Gaius handed Arthur one of the Quince that they had picked together awhile ago. Arthur gladly ate it, and then headed to his room to get changed.

Percival walked up to him.

"Arthur. When shall we commence the vetting?" He asked. Arthur thought.

"Give me until tomorrow morning, and if Merlin is not awake, I will go and fetch a druid from the forest to help. Apparently sorcerers and druids can sense different types of magic in other people, so we'll need someone. Just tell the people that the vetting will commence either on the morning of tomorrow, or earlier, but no sooner." Arthur told him. Percival nodded, and walked away. Arthur continued to his room, and got dressed in more comfortable clothing, and he left his crown in the locked storage cell in the wall.

As Arthur was heading to the balcony to see the city, Gwen rushed to him.

"Arthur quick! It's Merlin." She said. Arthur paled, and ran towards Gaius's room. The urgency of her voice did not sound positive. Gwen ran behind him.

Arthur swung open the door, and saw Gaius furiously trying to cast spells on Merlin.

"What's happening!?" Arthur asked worried.

"Merlin's fever came back extremely high, above a human temperature, and now he's ice cold." Gaius rushed, trying to warm him up, and then cool him down after his fever would spike again.

With Arthur and Gwen's help, Merlin was finally stable. But then his chest stopped moving. Gaius squinted. He held his ear to Merlin's chest. His heart wasn't pumping. His lungs weren't compressing. Gaius looked at Merlin, and saw that his skin was all pale. Everyone froze.

"He's not breathing. His heart stopped." Gaius told them. Arthur dropped down to his knees, and scooted to Merlin's bedside. Arthur held his hand and rested his forehead on Merlin's hand. A silent tear dropped down his face.

Gaius held Gwen as she started to cry quietly. They stood there for a moment, and just stayed still. Like maybe Merlin would wake up suddenly.

"I'm so sorry. I tried every spell in the book. But I couldn't do anything." Gaius apologized.

Arthur silently wept for a couple of minutes. Gwain walked into the room very happily, but stopped in his tracks once he saw the scene. Potion bottles laid everywhere, some broken some not, rags were everywhere. Gwen and Arthur were crying and Merlin looked like a ghost.

"No. It can't be." Gwain said. He closed the door, and walked closer to the bed.

Arthur felt Merlin's hand pulsating. He thought it might just be the normal twitches of a corpse, but he felt it. It felt like blood pumping. Arthur looked at Merlin, and noticed his face got some color back. Arthur looked at the scars on Merlin's body, and saw them start to fade away into his skin. Merlin's skin became pinker. The others noticed, and watched. Merlin's whole complexion glowed, and all the imperfections faded away.

Arthur stood up, and rubbed Merlin's face.

"Come on Merlin." Arthur said. He lightly slapped Merlin's face, trying to wake him up.

Suddenly, Merlin sat up, and head-butted Arthur. He stumbled back, but looked at Merlin. Merlin groaned at the impact, but looked around the room.

"Where am I?" Merlin asked. He blearily looked around the room.

"Merlin? You're in Gaius's room. Do you remember?" Arthur asked.

Merlin looked around the room, and to the others. They seemed really familiar. He almost had their names. Merlin held the bridge of his nose.