Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
┌────────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────────────┐
𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐌
𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯: 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 (𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰)
𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯
└────────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────────────┘
𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧
MONTHS HAVE PASSED - close on a year, really - and we've all but eradicated the new cults that had arisen and followed Uther's ideals of magic being evil. Surprisingly, Morgana hasn't made any attempt to end my life, or Arthur's, or even Lancelot's or Gwaine's. It's been relatively peaceful and, dare I say, fun and warm with the four of them alive once again in this world.
Morgana laughs, and it sounds like chiming bells for some odd reason. "Oh, Arthur, you're such a strange person. How have you not figured out how to use this yet?"
Gwaine's laughter bellows out after the princess'. "Come on, princess."
"Oh, shut up," Arthur retorts, grumbling as he stabs at the iPhone in his grasp in an attempt to open one of the games I helped him download. "These magic rectangles are infernal, and rather irritating."
Leaning against the door frame, the right side of my mouth quirks up into a smirk as the three of them bicker. I turn to look over my shoulder as Lancelot walks up behind me, dressed comfortably in a pair of sweats and a dark t-shirt, Kilgharrah resting comfortably in the knight's arms. The knight smiles at me as he walks past, taking a seat beside Gwaine and snickering at Arthur as the blond continuously attempts to open the app.
Kilgharrah climbs onto the table and walks over to Morgana, coming to a stop in front of her and letting out a small meow. The dark-haired princess smiles and scratches the former dragon under the chin, causing him to purr loudly and stretch his head forward, relaxing into her touch. Arthur's blue eyes roll in their sockets at the sight and he drops the iPhone onto the table, ultimately giving up on the "magic rectangle."
The oven alarm goes off, startling the four in the room once again, and I shake my head, chuckling and unfolding my arms from where they're resting across my chest. Pushing off the door frame, I head back into the kitchen and pull the chicken from the oven, placing it on the stove top. I wave my hand, my eyes flashing gold as the cupboard doors open and five dinner plates float out and land on the cupboard, a smaller plate following suit.
Humming a tune under my breath, I plate up the rice and chicken before getting the cans of drink from the fridge and the knives and forks from the draw. With a wordless spell, the plates rise up off the bench and follow me back to the dining room, coming to their resting places in front of their respective owners, the utensils and drinks following suit. A bowl with two sections comes to rest beside the smaller plate, milk in one segment and water in the other, Kilgharrah scampering over to it not a moment later.
Despite becoming accustomed to my magic, Arthur still harbours slight wariness towards it, as well as myself. Morgana has slowly begun learning how to properly control her magic, under my guidance of course, and Gwaine has come to understand why a lot things happened all those years ago. It was quite amusing to see his reaction, and Lancelot had quite a good laugh at his friend's expense, revealing that he knew of my magic years before anyone other than Gaius, Will, or my mother.
That didn't exactly sit well with Arthur at first, but he's come to accept it.
Taking a seat at the head of the table, across from the Once and Future King, I begin eating, my eyes are trained on the High Priestess, still not completely trusting of the dark-haired Seer despite her help in our endeavour over the past year. Her green eyes meet my blue ones head on, and she smiles warmly at me, despite knowing full well that I don't completely trust her yet. However, she seems to be trying her best to regain my trust.
"So, Merlin," she says, making me give her my undivided attention. "Tell me, what have you gotten up to in the years we were... gone?"
I smile weakly and swallow my mouthful, turning my gaze briefly to Kilgharrah and then to the table before looking back up to see everyone's eyes trained on me. "Well, there wasn't really much I couldn't do considering that I appear to be immortal, but I knew that I couldn't interfere too much with what we now call history. I served kings and queens of all races for many years as their Court Warlock, but I was eventually forced from their castles when they saw I didn't change much.
"I fought in wars and did what was necessary to survive, some of which I am not proud of. Despite how it seems, I don't have a complete recollection of the two thousand years you were gone. Events have blurred together beyond repair, and it's good for some things, but not everything. The ones I've loved and lost are still clear in my memory, but everyone else's faces have kinda melted."
Morgana's soft, pale hand comes to rest on mine and it's then that I realise I've started to cry. "I am sorry, Merlin. I didn't mean for you to dredge up sad memories."
I send her a warm, reassuring smile and move my hand away, picking up my drink can and raising it, instinct in the other four driving them to mirror my motion. "To King Arthur of Albion. Long live the king!"
A loud chorus of "long live the king" echoes in the slightly bare dining room and I know that we're all just that little bit closer now.
