Only For You

~ chapter seven ~

"Today marks one month since the largest mass-hallucinatory attack the United Kingdom has ever seen. There have been no major sightings since the London Dragon Attack, which caused thousands of videos of the normal London sky to go viral, as people from overseas watched and waited for the dragons to appear. Which, contradictory to the millions of tweets and eye-witness accounts from the area, they did not. Known now to have been orchestrated by the Black Knight Gang, who tampered with the water supplies around England and Wales, police are still searching for the leader of their organisation – known by its members as Morgan le Fey. Anyone with information regarding Miss Le Fey should contact their loca—"

Arthur turned off the TV hurriedly, and looked up at Leon as he walked through the door. "How is—"

"No change, my Lord." Leon said, Arthur's face falling at his words as he sank back down into the couch. One month. It had been exactly one month since he had returned – if you could call it that at all. Everything was so much different to how he had left it all those years ago. Long gone were the small villages, living on their own, growing all the produce to get them through the year. Gone were the towering citadels that used to rule over the land, replaced by dotted ruins in the countryside, mere shadows of the splendour they used to be.

For fifteen thousand years he had lay dormant in the safehaven of Avalon, not realizing how much time had passed and just how much had changed. He would have been lost if Leon, Gwaine and the other knights hadn't found him when they did.

***

Arthur knelt at the edge of the cool waters of Avalon, an unconscious Merlin cradled in his arms. Just as Merlin had held him all those years ago.

His hands stained crimson as he desperately tried to stop any bleeding he could. "Merlin," he looked at the wound, and the sight cut through his heart. His voice haltered. "Merlin, I know you can hear me, you clumsy oaf. Wake up Merlin. Please, Stay with me. I lo--" but he couldn't bring himself to say the words, hanging above the two of them again, unspoken and unaddressed.

Arthur's voice soon turned rough as he screamed, cried, pleaded into the valley. For anyone, anything to bring Merlin back. He had lost so much, he couldn't lose Merlin too. Not again. He lost time of how long he stayed there, with his memories rushing back to him as more and more colour faded from Merlin's already pale skin. "I know you're in there! I know you can hear me you stubborn sidhe! You have to bring him back! He can't die!"

He turned his attention back to Merlin. The one voice that had kept him going all this time. Even though he hadn't realised it as it happened, Merlin had come to the lake almost daily for fourteen thousand years. Then only four or five times a week. Then maybe once or twice. He had grown restless without Merlin there. The mystery voice which assured him everything was fine, even when he was in entirely new realms. After all this time, he would never hear Merlin's voice again. After hundreds of years, Merlin was gone.

"Merlin, stay with me." He laid his head on Merlin's chest, the last of his energy leaving his body as his words were met with a sullen silence. "I can't lose you. Please, Merlin."

The King moved his hand to the back of merlin's head, drawing him even closer in an embrace as violent sobs wracked his body. Hundreds of years of loss crashing down on top of him as Merlin lay dead in his arms. "You have to live. For Albion. It's our destiny, Merlin."

"Wrong." Arthur turned his head, hand tightening on the hilt of the sword next to him as he was met with the face of the Sidhe Queen. "It was his destiny."

She advanced towards him, as he stood up to meet her gaze. The weight of Merlin's body lifted off him, as he felt lighter than ever. As though not just the weight, but a piece of himself, was gone for good. Arthur held Excalibur firmly in his hand, but left the weapon at his side. Not daring to bring it to his eye-sight where he knew the blade shone red.

"For now the old warlock is dead, and so his destiny is no more."

"You can't mean that. He can't be gone."

"But he is, young King. You have seen it for yourself." Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur could still see a very still Merlin lying on the grass next to the lake. His own chainmail bloodied from the warlock's wounds. The queen watched him with a careful gaze. She saw the way his chest jumped and his eyes averted the man before them. How he would look up into the sky, out into the lake itself, waiting for something to happen. "Yet you still don't believe. Do you, Arthur?"

"I was told it was my destiny to rise again at Albion's greatest need. And it was Merlin's destiny to help me accomplish that he said so himself too many times to count. I'm back, so he can't die. Not now. Not like this. Not here."

"You still don't understand, do you Arthur?"

"Understand, I... what?"

"Why you have risen at this time."

"Because the, the kingdom. Albion. It's greatest need." Arthur stumbled over his words, his mind struggling to catch up. He looked directly into the queens eyes, and could have sworn, for a second, he saw a glimmer of empathy in her eyes.

"Arthur, it is Albion's greatest need because Emrys is no longer here to protect it. Your destinies past Camlaan were never written to be shared."

"No," Arthur exclaimed. Taking a step back and raising Excalibur. "No. You're wrong."

"I'm sorry, Arthur Pendragon."

"No, there," his eye caught on the blade as he dropped the sword to the ground by his side. "There has to be a way to bring him back. Please. He can't die like this."

The Sidhe Queen looked down the side of the mountain, and a small smirk flashed across her face.

"There is something, isn't there. You wouldn't smile like that if there wasn't."

"How badly do you want him back?"

"I'd do anything."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"Very well then, Arthur Pendragon. You shall indeed have what you desire. But be warned, everything comes for a price. And the price for a life is very high indeed." Before he could say anything, the Sidhe Queen dived back into the lake. He rushed to Merlin's side to protect him, just as he noticed five figures riding up to them.

The six knights looked to Merlin, who was now sitting, a hand on his side, his hands covered in blood. As he slowly regained his thoughts, Merlin rushed over to where the riders stood, pushing right past Arthur in the process.

"Gwaine! Lancelot! I'm so glad to see you!" He turned to the others. "Leon, Percival, Elyan! You're all here!" He paused for a second, hand ghosting over where there should be a huge gash in his side. "I- I don't know how I'm here. After everything that I did, I couldn't, It was, I failed. I had to protect Albion and I failed. I put you all in danger. And I came here, and- and I thought there was only one thing I could do, but then, I—"

Merlin turned back to face the lake, and noticed the figure standing there, holding the very Excalibur which he had retrieved from the lake only hours ago. "I'm sorry, am I meant to know you?"

***

Even one month on, Arthur's chest tightened at the memory. His mind raced, and his hands began to shake in his lap as everything became too much to handle. The words of the Sidhe queen pierced through the thundering layers of white noise in Arthur's mind.

The price for a life was very high indeed.

It was all his fault.