Destiny - a Merthur fic

Chapter IX

Merlin's POV

I was asleep. 

And very comfortable.

Too comfortable...

I sat bolt upright and looked around. I was in a large room. But there was something wrong with the room.

I was in a bed. The bed alone wasn't right - it was too big, too comfortable. And the blankets had strange patterns on them.

I pulled them off of myself and jumped off the bed in one swift movement. I looked around the room again.

There was no way to describe the room other than wrong. It was extremely luxurious. More so than anything I had ever seen - and I was Arthur's servant. His chambers were about as luxurious as it gets.

There was a large window covered by a curtain with more strange patterns on the other side of the room. I walked towards it; while walking, I noticed there was a strange material underfoot - sort of cushy and soft.

Arriving at the window, I pulled the curtains aside - and what I saw shocked me.

I appeared to be up very high, and all around there were tall gray buildings made out of something that looked almost like stone, but not quite. Looking down, I was even more shocked - there was more of the gray stone stuff, and there were metal things moving quicker than any horse. Feeling sick, I stepped back.

"Not in Kansas anymore, are we now?"

I whirled around. There was a middle-aged man standing behind me. I either hadn't noticed him before or he'd been very quiet upon entering.

"Or should I say Camelot." He started walking towards me. "So. Wow. You wouldn't have gotten that reference." He stopped when he was close enough to reach out and touch me. "You're real. Merlin."

I raised an eyebrow. "You know who I am?" That was the least important of all the questions I should be asking him right now, but it's what I decided to say.

He nodded. "Oh yes. I've heard all about you. I've known about you ever since I was a child. This moment, right now, is a very important one. I've been preparing for it for a long time."

I blinked a few times in an attempt to clear my head. It didn't work. 

"You must be very confused right now," he said. "Understandably. I mean, you have time traveled forward a few thousand years."

I could feel my jaw drop. I shook my head. "No."

He nodded. "Yes." He looked at me like I was a child. I couldn't stand it.

I sat down on the bed and put my head in my hands. "Where's Arthur?" I asked.

"Oh, Arthur's fine," he said.

I looked up at him with my eyes blazing. "I'm not asking how he is. I'm asking where he is."

He smiled a little. "He's in another room in the hotel. When he comes 'round, I'm sure he'll find you."

Hotel? What does that even mean? I was so confused by - by everything.

The man headed back towards the door that I'd never heard him come through. "I'll be back later to help you understand the new world. It's quite different, I'm sure you'll find. Make yourself acquainted with this room." He opened the door and stepped through, then peeked back. "Welcome to your new life, Merlin."