Chapter Text
“It has to be done. You know we’ve no other choice anymore. The Council’s plan won’t work. And he trusts you. Well… as much as he’s still capable of trust. He’ll allow you close enough for it to work. Don’t look at me like that. You know I’m right. We have to do this. And we have to do this fast. Please. You know I’m right. There’s no other way. I wish there was. By the Goddess do I wish…”
~x~
Two cloaked figures hurried through the forest bathed in absolute darkness. It was quiet there too. Too quiet. No wind rushing through the leaves, no night critters skittering about. There was nothing. The air, what little there was, however, felt heavy. Felt charged. It was like walking through a marsh made out of taffy. The two figures exchanged a glance and quickened their pace. There wasn’t much time. The forest was… monitored. It was only a matter of when, not if, they’d get caught. And it was paramount they didn’t get caught quite yet.
Seconds, minutes, even if it had felt more like years, later, they came out into a clearing. Full moon shone brightly overhead, lighting over the peaceful waters of the Lake. In the distance, the Isle loomed, surrounded in perpetual waves of fog. Two hooded figures hurried to the still waters and knelt on the shore, dropping their hoods simultaneously.
“Lady of the Lake, we beg an audience. Lady of the Lake, please heed our call.”
A breathless moment passed in silence. Nothing happened. The younger woman glanced at her companion quickly, tucking a wavy strand of her black hair behind her ear nervously.
“Nothing’s happening. Why isn’t anything happening?” Gwyn muttered anxiously, making the older woman huff.
“Patience Gwyneth, one does not simply rush the Blessed Lady.”
Gwyneth blushed, chastised. Her eyes roamed their surroundings, never staying still, always watchful, always on the lookout for a threat.
“I know. I know, but, Tana, we’re running out of time and…”
Before she could finish, a gentle wind rose up, causing slow ripples to appear through the waters of the Lake. A breath later, She stood, well, more like, floated, before them. Gwyneth gasped.
“My Lady.” Tana bowed her head. “You know why we’ve come.”
She nodded.
“You know what we need. What the world needs. My Lady… it is time. We need him. Albion needs him.” Her voice trembled. “The World needs him.” She looked straight into the Lady of the Lake’s eyes as she finished, “The World needs its King back.”
Gwyneth was wringing her hands. The Lady was silent. Tana took a deep breath, opened her mouth. Closed it again. Opened it again. “Please… we… we can’t do this without…”
There was no wind this time. The waters simply parted. Gwyneth gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. Tana beamed, her relief palpable.
He rose from the depths, his armor shining, his blood red cape billowing behind him, his sword gripped firmly in his hand. Between one blink and the next, he stood before the two kneeling women, Lady just behind him, still in the Lake.
“It was not meant to happen like this, Once and Future King. It was not meant to…” The Lady sighed, her face betraying the absolute anguish she was feeling. “I can only shield you from him this once. Once the shield is lifted, it can never be lowered again. Remember that.”
With that, she turned and began sinking back beneath her Lake. Just as she was about to disappear, she stopped. She didn’t turn back, but the three on shore heard her just as well as if she had been before them.
“Save him, please.” And then the waters were still once again, the Lake seemingly undisturbed.
For another moment all was still. And then - then it wasn’t.
~x~
Thunder roared overhead. In the still quietness of the night, it sounded especially harsh, grating, upon their ears. The two women rose to their feet slowly, twin looks of trepidation on their faces.
“If… if we hurry, then maybe…” Gwyneth started, but Tana shook her head morosely.
“We’d never make it. He’s coming. Stay strong, Gwyn. Remember the plan.”
There were tears in the younger woman’s eyes, but she held them at bay, nodding at her companion. Tana tossed a quick look over her shoulder and gulped.
“Whatever you do, do not make a sound, Your Majesty. Do not. Please.”
Seeing the desperation in her eyes, the man nodded. The pure relief that filled her whole expression then nearly knocked him back. Before any more words could be exchanged, however, their time ran out.
He came riding the lightning. One moment the clearing before them was empty, the next, in a bright flash of light, He stood before them. Gwyneth trembled. Tana clenched her jaw, both of them frozen in place. The man, the King behind them stood still, his expression clouded, whether in shock or something else.
“Well well well… what DO we have here…” The manic grin split His face as he took a step towards them. “Two little druids? At my lake? Tsk tsk tsk.”
He waved a finger at them. “Naughty naughty~” His head snapped to the side as he scowled. “Hush you! I know they’re in the wrong, why would I need you telling me that?!” He cackled then, spinning in place, seemingly lost in a conversation only he could hear. “Well, obviously! Naughty children must be punished. Otherwise they just won’t.learn.will.they.” With that he turned back to them, the manic grin back on his face, his eyes glowing copper in the darkness.
“M-my Lord.” Gwyneth tried, but quickly grabbed at her throat, her face growing pale as she struggled to draw breath.
“Did I say you could speak?” He hissed, one hand raised in the air, squeezing her throat shut despite the distance. “Naughty naughty…”
He crooked a finger towards himself and Gwyneth sailed through the air, hanging limply in the air before him. “I should destroy the both of you. Trespassing? Here? These are my lands. This is my lake. This is where my King is resting. Yet you DARE TO COME HERE AND DISTURB HIS PEACE?!!!!!”
His words bellowed over the Lake, causing ripples in the water, causing the waves of fog around the Isle to swirl.
“I should annihilate you both. Yes, yes I should. But then… then how would others learn? Hmmmm, yes, that would be most inconvenient. You must always leave someone alive to tell the story. That's how others learn and stay stay stay away.”
He hummed, nodding firmly, and then smiled serenely, his eyes darting between the two of them. “So, who shall be the one to tell the story, mmm?”
His hand lowered and with it, Gwyneth collapsed to the ground gasping for air.
“Well? Betray each other. Come on now, you’re human, it’s what humans do. Betray each other. The one who does it first, lives!” He finished joyously, giggling and clapping his hands. “Oh yes yes I know, isn’t it a wonderful idea. I can’t wait to see what they do too!”
“Kill me, my Lord,” Tana said, taking a shuddering breath and stepping forwards.
His eyes gleamed as he watched her approach.
“Ohoho?” Eyes snapping to Gwyneth, who was still on her knees before him, he crouched down and lifted her chin with one finger. “Well? Aren’t you going to ask me to spare her too? I had forgotten what a silly self-sacrificing bunch you druids are.”
Gwyneth opened her mouth to speak, but Tana was faster.
“No, please, my Lord, please, spare her. She’s… she’s my Anchor.”
His eyes widened, intrigued. “Is she now… and are you, hers in turn?”
Gwyneth’s flinch told him all he needed to know. “That’s a no then. I wonder though… how much truth is there in the whole ‘one cannot survive without one’s Anchor’ thing. Shall we test it out, hmmm?”
Tana’s heart-wrenching scream made Him scowl. “No, my Lord, NO!” She flung herself before him, trying to shield Gwyneth with her body.
“Tsk, you’re disturbing my King’s rest. Wretched druid.” He harrumphed, and Tana clutched her throat, tried to draw breath, and instead began coughing up blood. “There. Quiet. Much better.” He looked back at the younger girl and blinked. For a moment, it seemed like the madness in his eyes receded. “You look so much like her.” He hummed, gently twirling a dark curl around one finger. “Like my Queen. Like His Queen. Oh, how he loved her. Loved her. Loved her so much… I wonder…hmmm.”
He stood, raised her body from the ground with a wave of his hand and then locked his eyes with hers, looking deep. Deeper still, straight into her soul.
Gwyneth gasped, shivers wracking her whole body, and then stilled. She let go. Let go, and so she saw what he saw, all the way back, generation through generation he looked. Further and further away, right until he found it. Her roots.
The manic grin returned. “Gwen.” He breathed out the name and Gwyneth’s body collapsed onto itself.
Tana, meanwhile, practically felt the King behind her flinch. Between her coughs she sent a silent prayer that he wouldn’t move.
A moment later, He released Gwyneth again and spun in a circle, hands akimbo, what should have probably been a happy smile on his face. “Oh yes yes yes do you see it too??? It’s her, she comes from my Queen! No no no, she can’t die, obviously not! But lessons must be learned, yes they do, yes they dooo…” With that he stopped spinning and turned back to Tana, nodding towards her graciously. “I grant your request.”
And, saying nothing more, he raised his hand and Tana… disintegrated into thin air, her parting scream echoing through the clearing.
Gwyneth’s wail could barely be heard through His joyous laughter. “Poof and gone, poof and gone, did you see it? She sparkled as she went!” His laughter continued for a couple more minutes, interspersed with a comment here and there to whomever it was he was talking to. When he was finally done, he crouched before Gwyneth again and all traces of a smile were gone from his face. “Have you learned your lesson?”
The girl nodded frantically and He hummed. “Are you going to come back here. Ever. Again?” She shook her head so violently she got whiplash. “That’s a good little druid. Now then. Run along, and know that if I ever so much as sense you anywhere near here, I will not be quite this generous.”
Gwyneth nodded again, her sight still blurred by her tears, and struggled to her feet. With the tiniest of motions, she crooked a finger for the King to follow her and stumbled into the trees. A breath later, she heard the soft clanging of chainmail as he followed.
He was left standing there, motionless, gazing off into the Lake.
Just before he reached the tree line, the Once and Future King turned around, to steal one last look at…Him.
“Hello, Arthur.”
He froze. The pain in that voice nearly forced him to his knees. But He wasn’t looking back, he was still gazing into the Lake. As the King watched, He seemed to fold down into himself, sliding down onto the ground, all motion seemingly torn from his limbs. “Yes, yes I know I should go…but… may I stay here, just a while? Just for a little while, yeah..?”
The King flinched as a shaking hand grabbed his wrist and pulled. With one last look to the motionless figure by the Lake, he turned and followed the druid girl into the trees. Away from the Lake. And away from… just away.
~x~
He didn’t know how much time had passed as they trudged, silent, side by side, through the dense, quiet woods. And they were quiet. Preternaturally so. He looked around as they walked. He knew these woods. Yet he also didn’t. It was a jarring feeling. Finally, the forest thinned and then ended and they were in a… he didn’t know what to call it. The scenery was not familiar as were the… big.. metal… he blinked. What on earth were those things. The druid girl walked straight up to one, and the thing’s eyes blinked light for a moment and then she was…opening its side. He was confused and, not that he’d ever admit such a thing, ever, a bit scared.
“Your Majesty.” Her voice was subdued, but to his surprise and grudging respect, it did not tremble. “Please, come, get in. We’ve quite a long ride before us.” After making sure he was seated and buckled in, the druid girl got into the metal contraption herself and then they were moving. Far faster than any horse and… he tried, honestly, he did, not to panic, but, from the expression on her face, he failed quite miserably. With a pained sigh, she stopped the…the thing and turned to face him. “Forgive me, Your Majesty I…losing Tana was harder than…even though I knew the plan and we were prepared for… well…”
“Take a moment.” He said putting his hand on hers, trying for comfort as the girl was shaking again.
She nodded and took a shuddering breath. “Right. Thank you. I… I have something for you.” She reached over and pulled out what looked like a ball of glass, or maybe it was crystal? It fit comfortably in the palm of her hand. “This contains the history of the world from the time you’ve been… gone.”
He blinked at her. Then blinked at the ball. And then opened his hand so that she could hand it over. “It may become a bit… overwhelming.”
He gave her a crooked grin. “I believe I am already quite overwhelmed. How much worse could it get?”
~x~
As it turned out, quite a lot worse. By the time he had gotten caught up with the happenings of the world, the day was breaking, his stomach was turning, his head felt like it was splitting in two and they had reached their destination.
He staggered out of the car, car what an invention, mmm? And followed the druid girl into her home – a modern, one storied house with a garden (of course, what kind of a druid wouldn’t have a garden?). Once inside, the King hesitated. The new knowledge was still… jumbled about in his head, making concentrating on even the easiest of tasks, such as walking a straight line, rather difficult.
The druid seemed to notice and helped him to a seat in a spacious living area. “You need time to process, Your Majesty, please, rest a while.”
Humming his consent, the King made himself more comfortable on the sofa and promptly lost himself to sleep, armor and all still on.
Gwyneth took a deep breath, allowed herself five minutes of breaking down time, then wiped her tears and strengthened the wards on her home. Then did it again. And then one more time, just in case. After that was done, she collapsed into an armchair in front of the sofa and fell into the sleep of truly exhausted. The last thing she saw before her eyes closed was the King, the last hope for the world, sleeping peacefully on her flower printed sofa.
~x~
At first, Gwyneth wasn’t sure what had called her up from her sleep. She blinked her tired eyes and looked around blearily. The King hadn’t moved, still soundly asleep on the sofa, gentle snores punctuating every other exhale. The girl yawned, stretched and turned around, about to go make herself a cuppa, since she was awake anyway. Instead, she collapsed on the floor with a startled yelp. He was there, sitting on her other armchair, watching her with calm eyes.
“My…my L-lord.” She gasped out, trying her best not to faint. She had tripled her wards. Tripled. And yet.
“I’m sorry.” It was barely above a whisper, but in the near deathly silence of her home, she heard him perfectly. “I am so sorry, my sweet darling child.” She could only stare, hope blooming against all of her wishes in her breast. He sounded like himself again. He sounded like her Teacher again.
“You…” He took a deep inhale, “You really do look like her, you know. Like Gwen. Like my Queen. She was…magnificent.” He let out a low chuckle. “Even before she was the Queen. She was kind and generous and patient. She was my first friend when I arrived in Camelot. I loved her so, for being there for me. For being my rock.”
He gave her a small smile. It was warm and yet so incredibly, indescribably sad. “It was impossible not to, after all. You could not meet her and not love her. She was the perfect Queen. Perfect Queen for the perfect King.”
She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. She couldn’t hear the King’s snores anymore either, but she paid it no mind.
“They were absolutely glorious together, you know? He was so happy with her. So happy.” He seemed to drift for a moment, but pulled himself back, shaking his head visibly. His lips thinned then and he stood. “I know what the Council is planning.”
At her sharp inhale, he gave her a wry look, waved a hand and there were books on her coffee table all of a sudden, stack upon stack of books. “Read these. Learn what you can, as quickly as you can. Shield your home. Shield those you love. Do not follow the Council, Gwyn. They’ll fail. They’re no match for me. No one is. Learn the books. They…they should help keep you safe.”
A shiver wracked his whole frame and he staggered, grabbing the back of an armchair to steady himself. “I can feel it coming. The good days are growing fewer and farther in between. Soon, I won’t be able to stop it any longer.”
“My Lord…”
He gave her another small smile. “I am so so sorry, Gwyn… I wish they’d succeed. By the Goddess do I wish anyone would. Oh Gwyn. Did you know I’ve been praying for death? For so long. I’ve prayed and I begged and I threatened.” He sighed. “I…” He shook his head then. “Doesn’t matter. Just. Stay safe, Gwyn. And try to forgive me, if you can.” And with that, between one blink and the next, he was gone.
It took her awhile to be able to move. When she did, she jumped with a yelp yet again – the King was watching her.
“Your Majesty… how long have you been awake?”
“Long enough.” The King blinked slowly, his eyes looking at her, looking through her too. “He’s right, you know… you do look like her.” There was an almost wishful smile in his voice. Shaking the melancholy off, the King sat up straighter and there was focus in his gaze then. “Now, tell me everything.”
She nodded. “Of course, whatever you wish to know. But, and I apologize, Your Majesty…”
“Arthur.”
She blinked.
"Arthur. Shorter than Your Majesty. Saves time."
“Ar-arthur. Right, yes, okay. Um. Right, yes, I…answers. Those I can do, but first, however, coffee.”
It was his turn to blink. And then the Once and Future King sent her a grin so blinding Gwyneth needed a Moment.
“Morning drink! The Crystal History thing told me about that! Lead the way, please.”
After the both of them were sat comfortably in the kitchen, Arthur a good deal lighter ('You are not dragging all that chainmail around my home, for Goddess’s sake!'), each with a cup in their hands, Gwyneth nodded for him to begin with his questions.
“So, this is delicious, by the way, I will want more. Now. From what I understood, after I was...gone, Gwen revoked the ban, correct?” At Gwyneth’s nod, he hummed and continued. “And Merlin was her…Court Sorcerer?”
“Yes. That was where he began. Twenty something years he spent on her council. After that however, with the Queen’s permission, he created the First Magic Council and left Camelot. He spent the following years traveling. Spreading awareness, learning and teaching… because of him, magic has a place in the world today. It’s flourishing, and with it, so is the world.”
“But?” At her questioning eyebrow, he shrugged. “There’s a but. I got all that history from the ball thing. What I did not, however, get was what exactly happened to Merlin. Because something did. Obviously. The person I saw yesterday… that…that was not Merlin.”
Gwyneth refilled their cups, sat back down and spent some time just sitting there, looking into her cup, gathering her thoughts.
Arthur sat silently, sipping his coffee, giving her time. Finally, she raised her head again and looked him straight in the eye.
“You know the legend, correct?”
“The Emrys one?” At her nod he nodded too. “Merlin was supposed to be this all-powerful Emrys and I…”
“The Once and Future King. Yes. You two were, well, are two sides of the same coin.”
Arthur rolled his eyes and then straightened under the strength of her glare; it was easy to see how she was descended from his Gwen.
“Tis not a laughing matter. The legend was…correct. You two were supposed to be inseparable. You… you balanced each other out. You kept each other in line, kept each other safe and…sane.” She took a deep breath and bit her lip. “There has to be a balance. Always. The stronger the magical being, the stronger their balancing piece must be. For a long, long time no one knew of the Anchors. People simply knew that sometimes, some individuals worked better together than they did apart. No one knew why up until the High Priestess Maryana did a ritual with her second in command and it sort of…blew up in her face spectacularly. The ritual she tried for failed, but she did learn how a link between two people, two compatible people, could help balance out the magical power within. This compatibility, you see, must be soul deep. Such connections are rare and therefore extremely valuable. The thing is, not everyone needs an Anchor. There are magic users who are perfectly okay on their own. Anchors only become necessary when a certain… level of power is reached.”
Arthur blinked. “So only the strong need this... Anchor?”
Gwyneth nodded. “Yes. The stronger the magic, the stronger balancing piece is needed. But you see this wasn’t an issue either – while there are strong magic users throughout the world, they are few and far in between; not to mention, they all usually find their Anchors relatively easily – that kind of power draws equal power in turn.”
“Not Merlin, though.”
It wasn’t a question. The druid still flinched. “No… he’s…unique. While some magic users are born with magic and some learn it through years and years of vigorous studying, Emrys was…is magic itself. Thus he has no limits. His power is growing still. It always grew and continues to grow and will continue to grow. Exponentially. But…”
She shook her head, wringing her hands and raised her eyes, full of despair and sorrow, to look him in the eye. “But he was alone. Still is alone. That much power, untethered, unanchored, unbalanced, it… began changing him. Began… corrupting him.” It shudders out of her and Arthur feels his insides freeze. “Over the centuries it… it drove him mad. Bit by bit, one little thing after the other… You saw what he has become. He… he talks to it, I’m assuming, and he kills without a thought, and he rips through the fabric of space and time itself… and if this continues, he’ll destroy not only himself, but everyone else too.”
Arthur opened his mouth, but her next words froze the air inside his lungs. “That’s why… that’s why you have to stop him. You’re the only one who can. The only one who can save us all. The only one who can kill him.”