Chapter Text
When Merlin was a little boy, he loved hearing stories of the "immortal kingdom". It was his favorite little fairytale, a kingdom of peace and happiness ruled by an undying, heroic, golden king. The story of King Arthur and his eternal kingdom had everything: chivalry, romance, equality, and sacrifice. That part amused Merlin as he grew old older, how he shared a name with one of the most boring character from the legends.
According to the bedtime stories that parents across Britain told their children, the wizard Merlin gave his life at Camlann to save Arthur, using the most sacred law of the Old Religion to heal his king of the mortal wound dealt by the traitor Mordred, his magic was diffused into the king and kingdom he so loved upon his death, making everyone in Camelot immortal. After a few centuries of thriving though, Merlin's magic started to fade, and everyone fell into an almost comatose state. It would keep them all alive and protected the kingdom from intruders, but it could not keep them awake. However, the people of Camelot did not worry about this. Both the druids and the dragon had proclaimed that Merlin would return to the world of the living again one day. So, they were content to sleep peacefully and await the day of their friend's return. Slowly, the earth rose up to swallow Camelot, and the sleeping kingdom was buried underneath the earth.
Several years into his career, however, Merlin was much less impressed by the silly story. Through years of study, he's finally become an archeologist, and he's been sent out to a promising dig site on the border between England and Wales. There, a team had unearthed a window into an old fortress. Their sonar equipment has revealed a full castle underneath their feet, and they have everything prepped for a preliminary excavation! They had already found coins and a few blades on the site, dating back to the sixth century! Merlin was beside himself with excitement to join the team and help in their discoveries.
Merlin, deep down, was hoping that the dig site was indeed the historical kingdom Camelot itself, as much of the kingdom's history had been lost and buried under ridiculous myths about magic and dragons. If he could shed light on the historical facts of the actual kingdom of Camelot, which thrived from the fifth century until it mysteriously fell off the map in the tenth century, they could discover what caused the sudden downfall of such a powerful kingdom!
However, the issue with the dig site was that the window that they discovered, which was their only point of entry into the underground fortress, was pretty small. Merlin, as the skinniest out of all of them, was the only one who could fit through it. Excitedly, Merlin put on his safety harness and hard hat and descended through the window and into the castle, where no one else had set foot for at least a thousand years!
Merlin explored for a bit, constantly telling the team on the surface all about the amazingly preserved artifacts in the castle. There were tapestries, suits of armor, furniture, even clothing still in wardrobes all in perfect condition! The entire team was besides themselves with excitement. They had just made the most important discovery of their careers! For archeologists working in England, this would be the equivalent of finding the perfectly preserved tomb of King Tut! Merlin could see it now: him and his team in the headlines of historical magazines for years to come! There would be dozens of articles written about their discovery, and they would be the envy of all of the academic in their field!
Merlin spent a few more days exploring the castle by himself while the team worked on widening the entrance at the window. Eventually, he came to a rather impressive and ornately decorated door and decided to find out what was behind it. It must have been something pretty important to warrant such an impressive door! Perhaps the throne room?!
As he opened the door though, he let out a loud gasp, shocked by two elements of the room. First, the large round table that sat in the middle of the room. He knew that he was near the supposed site of the lost kingdom of Camelot, but this confirmed it! All of the legends spoke about King Arthur's round table, and here it was before him, confirming some of the legends!
However, Merlin's elation was dashed by the second thing he noticed: bodies. There were bodies occupying the seats around the table, all of them slumped over or slouching in their seats with their eyes closed. But, more unnervingly, they were not the skeletal remains that should have been there, seeing as how no one had set foot in those room for hundreds of years. No, these bodies looked like they had only been there for less than a day, with no signs of decay on them.
As Merlin's fear began to rise, he tried to reason with himself. Maybe this kingdom had surprisingly advanced embalming techniques and had unusual burial rituals? What other explanation could there possibly be?
As Merlin reported the bodies to his colleagues on the surface, they warned him to be careful if something didn't feel right, which it certainly didn't. Something about these bodies creeped Merlin out in a way that no other human remains had ever done. However, Merlin's unease lessened somewhat as he described the bodies to his colleagues, and his excitement at such a well-preserved find started to eclipse his fear.
There were, in total, five male bodies and one female body, with four of the male bodies being clad in chainmail, surcoats, trousers, and long bright red capes with an insignia of a golden dragon sown into it. The other male body was similarly clad in chainmail and a cape, but wore a golden crown on his head. Lastly, the lone female body, who was sitting to the left of the crowned male body, was a dark-skinned woman wearing an ornate and richly decorated dress, along with a small silver crown on her head.
Merlin's heart stuttered in his chest as he came to the natural conclusion of these observations: he had just found the perfectly-preserved bodies of a king, queen, and four knights. Forget making his career, Merlin was going to be put in the history books for this discovery! Quickly, he radioed to his colleagues, who had finally found a way to safely widen the entrance at the window, to follow the line of his harness and join him in the room he had just found. They needed to see this!
Finally turning away from the bodies, Merlin let his gaze wander around the room. He takes note of the impressively high ceilings for the time period, the repetition of the dragon crest on decorations around the room, and the designs carved into the wood of the round table. However, one of the most intriguing elements of the room was the lone empty chair sitting next to the king.
The fact that there was only one empty chair was strange enough, but there were a few even stranger aspects of the chair. The chair was placed directly to the right of the king, presumably reserved for the king's right hand, his chief advisor. Why would such an important figure be missing here? Another puzzling feature of the chair was the scrap of red cloth that was tied around one of the arms of the chair.
As Merlin stepped closer to examine the little piece of cloth, he could see at first glance that the cloth was old, battered, and made with cheap material, unlike the richer cloth that made up the knights' and king's capes. What was this random piece of cheap cloth doing tied around the arm of this chair, which presumedly belonged to a powerful figure in the kingdom?
A sudden, piercing shriek caused Merlin to jump into the air. He looked up and across the table, relieved to see that it was just four of his colleagues who had just entered the room. They must have been freaked out by the well-preserved bodies too! Merlin certainly couldn't blame them for such a reaction.
Merlin chuckled a bit and spoke to his frightened coworkers. "Well, what did I tell you? This is going to shock the world! We've just made the discovery of a lifetime!"
However, his colleagues were only getting paler by the second, not even looking at him, instead looking... past him? Merlin frowned a bit and turned to look over his left shoulder, at the body of the king, which was where his coworkers were staring. What could possibly...
His eyes were open. His eyes were definitely not open before.
As soon as his brain caught up with what his eyes were seeing, Merlin let out a panicked shriek and flung himself backwards, away from the king who he swore was dead just a second ago what the fuck was happening?!
Unfortunately, Merlin's desperate attempt to get away from the maybe-zombie king sent him sprawling to the ground, having tripped over the empty chair, but his shriek had jolted his colleagues into action. The four of them ran forwards and grabbed ahold of Merlin, dragging him back towards the entrance to the room while never taking their eyes off of the probably-undead king.
As they made their way back to the entrance though, something truly horrifying happened. The king moved. He blinked and moved his neck to track their movements.
Oh god, that thing was awake and aware that they were here! They needed to get out of there!
Together, the group turned and ran as quickly as they could back towards the entrance. Horrifyingly, as soon as they were out of sight of the king, they could hear the screeching sound of a chair sliding against the stone floor. Each one of them could feel their hearts pounding with fear as they all realized at once: the king, whatever he was, was going to chase after them.
They nearly all had heart attacks when they heard a voice roaring after them, "Gripan híe! Híe syndon fandian to niman Myrddin!"
Catch them! They're trying to take Merlin!
After a tense few minutes of running with the terrifying echo of boots chasing after them ringing in their ears, they finally reached the hallway that connected to their window entrance. They could see the light outside! They were almost free!
Fear gripped all of their chests, however, when a group of what should have been corpses blocked their path, cutting them off from the sight of the daylight. For a second, Merlin thought about making a break for it and to running through them, but then the probably-undead knights unsheathed their swords, which were still somehow sharp and pristine after hundreds of years.
The group quickly turned around, hoping to run back and perhaps find another path towards their freedom, only to have their hopes dashed by the sight of the undead king storming towards them with his sword (why was it golden?) unsheathed and rage in his eyes.
As they looked at each other, the closest thing that they had to a weapon were a couple hard hats. They were doomed, and they could see their death marching towards them.
Getting closer, the king furiously shouted at them again with unfamiliar words. "Hū darrst þū āsceacan hine from mē! Iċ hæbbe bīdode ofer þūsend geara for þisne tīman, and þū ātēowedest tō nīefre hine from mē stelan! Þū scealt āgildan for þis!"
How dare you try to take him from me! I have waited over a thousand years for this moment, and you've attempted to steal him from me! You must pay for this!
The group of five archeologists were shaking in their boots at this point, fearing for their lives. Each of them had reached the only logical conclusion about their ludicrous and probably deadly situation: they must have woken the king and his knights from their eternal rest, and they were now angry at the archeologists for disturbing their final resting place.
As the knights closed in on them and grab ahold of each of them, they were all prepared for the worst. As the king barked commands at the knights, all of the archeologists were prepared to be met with some horrible, painful death.
"Nimðað þa ungewelwieras to ðære cyrcan cwellan, wē magon dēmian mid him æfter. Gwaine, nim Myrddin to his geardas and hafa Gaius locian ofer hine. And be mildheort, he sceal hæbbe geferod eft fram Avalon and mæg swilc bēon in pinunge fram his wundum! Gecyða eft to mē mid Gaius's gemetungum þonne hē geendod hæfð."
Take the intruders to the dungeon cells, we can deal with them later. Gwaine, take Merlin to his chambers and have Gaius look over him. And be gentle, he must have just come back from Avalon and could still be in pain from his wounds! Report back to me with Gaius's findings when he's done.
At the king's commands, the knights nodded, and while Merlin was led down the hallway to the right, the others were led back down the dark hallway from which they had fled. Merlin tried to call out to his colleagues and to shove his way out of the knight's grip, but the knight responded by picking Merlin up and slinging him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, eliminating Merlin's ability to fight back.
Merlin tried to calm his mind and to avoid thoughts of what horrible fate would be in store for him at his destination. His treacherous mind spun up terrible theories as to why he had been separated from his group, each one more horrifying than the last.
Finally, the knight seemed to have arrived at his destination. As the knight pushed the door open, Merlin tried to brace himself for what horrible instruments of torture were surely inside.
However, there were no torture instruments inside the room at all. There were only sheets of paper strewn about, some herb bundles here and there, lots of little vials and pots scattered around, and an old man slowly walking towards them.
The old man blinked in what looked like surprise, followed by tears seeming to brim in his eyes. What the hell was going on?! The man spoke softly, "Is hit sōþlīce hē? Āh, mīn cniht, þū eart eft tō ūs āgēan cuman! Hēr, Hlāford Gwaine, sete hine dūn on þæt cot and hæbbe hine his scyrte āweg þæt ic mæg gesēon gif his wund is ēac þǣr."
Is it really him? Oh, my boy, you've returned to us! Here, Sir Gwaine, set him down on the cot and have him take his shirt off so I can see if his wound is still there.
The knight deposited Merlin gently on a small nearby bed and gave him some sort of smirk before speaking to him in a surprisingly gentle, almost teasing, voice, "Þu gehyrde þone wer, Myrddin! Of mid þinum scyrte nu. Ic wat þu maegst beon sceamful be þan, ac þises sio tid is swiðe aðele."
You heard the man, Merlin! Off with your shirt now. I know you can be shy about it, but this time it's pretty important.
When Merlin could do nothing but stare at the knight, more bewildered than he had ever been in his life, the knight seemed to take offense to his inaction and began tugging at the bottom of Merlin's shirt, trying to pull it over his head. After a brief struggle, the knight emerged victorious, holding Merlin's shirt in his hands and grinning like a loon. Why on earth had the knight wanted his shirt of all things? What was he about to be subjected to?!
After a tense few minutes, the old man pottered over to where Merlin was sitting, bringing a small bag along with him. The man then began looking over Merlin's torso, paying particular attention to a certain spot underneath Merlin's ribs, prodding it repeatedly.
Merlin was quite uncomfortable being examined like this, but with an undead knight in the room still armed with a sword, there wasn't much Merlin could do to without running the risk of getting stabbed. Well, at least the old man wasn't hurting him, so he supposed that he could look on the bright side and be grateful for that.
Eventually, the old man seemed satisfied with his examination of Merlin and addressed the knight again. "Hwæt, he þinceð tō bēon on sīðfæt hāl! Þū mæġst secgan Ārthūre þæt ic blīðe eom tō secgenne þæt ic ne mihte findan nān tācn his ǣrran lȳtlunge."
Well, he seems to be in perfect health! You can tell Arthur that I am pleased to report that I could find no sign of his previous injury.
The knight nodded at the old man, looking pleased at whatever he had just been told. Then, the old man turned to him and handed him the small bag. "Min cniht, ic eom swiðe blīð tō gesēon þē eft. Þū eart swīðe þearle gewilnod! Hēr, wē hæfdon sume þīnra reafa gehealdene for þē! Ic trowe þæt þū þē beteran gefēlan wille þonne þū sum þing gelīclicre gescēawian."
My boy, I am so deeply glad to see you again. You have been dearly missed! Here, we've saved some of your clothes for you! I'm sure that you'll feel better wearing something familiar again.
Merlin gently took the bag from the old man and tentatively opened it up and pulled out its contents. Inside the bag were a scratchy red tunic, a pair of old trousers, a brown jacket, a thin leather belt, and a scrap of blue cloth. Merlin looked up at the knight and the old man, unsure of what to make of this random assortment of clothes.
The knight just rolled his eyes, snatched the tunic out of Merlin's hands, and started pulling the tunic over Merlin's head. Did they... did they want Merlin to put on the clothes? That seemed like the correct answer, as they looked happy when Merlin complied and put on the tunic. After he had put the tunic on, they pushed Merlin towards a small room in the back of the chambers with the rest of the clothing still in his hands.
Alright, Merlin thought to himself, he would change clothes in this odd little broom closet if that kept him from being stabbed.
(And he did not acknowledge the part of his mind that swore that he knew this room, that this room was his. That was ridiculous, he had never seen this place before in his life!)
After putting on the trousers, belt, and jacket, all Merlin was left with was the scrap of blue cloth. What the hell was he supposed to do with this? Should he keep it in his pocket or something?
However, it seemed like his hands moved before his mind had a chance to catch up, as his hands, seemingly of their own accord, wrapped the blue cloth around his neck a couple time before tying it in the front. Huh, that was strange. Merlin normally didn't wear scarves, how did he know that this piece of cloth was a scarf?
It was... strange. However, there were more pressing matters at hand, namely not getting killed by undead medieval knights. After taking a deep, calming breath, Merlin opened the door and stepped back out into the main room, where the old man and the knight were waiting for him.
They both smiled at the sight of him, and the knight quickly slung an arm over Merlin's shoulders, said what was presumably a goodbye to the old man, and started to lead Merlin back out the way they came.
At this point, Merlin started struggling again. If he could just escape from this knight, he could get back to the surface and gather a rescue team to save the others! But the knight's grip on him was tight, and after a certain amount of Merlin's struggling, the knight just sighed and threw Merlin over his shoulder again. Damn it!
Merlin tried to reference places that he had already seen as the knight dragged him deeper into the castle. An escape route would be essential if he was going to make it out of here alive. However, Merlin's hope was quickly running dry as he was carried further and further away from the only exit to this godforsaken castle and further away from any area that he had explored so far.
What was worse was that, as they went, Merlin could see more and more undead (maybe undead? what else could they be?) people throughout the castle. And it wasn't just knights either: there were guards, servants, and even what looked like noblemen and noblewomen running around the castle. What made all of this truly eerie for Merlin though, was that all of them would stop and stare as soon as they saw him. Even though he was dressed like one of them, they could still somehow tell that he was an outsider, not one of their number.
After what felt like an eternity, the knight finally stopped in front of a large door and put Merlin down. Merlin's dread skyrocketed as the guards opened the doors and the knight dragged him inside.
The room itself was richly decorated, with a dining table, a study, and a plush canopy bed. It looked like a room fit for... a king.
Oh no.
As if summoned by Merlin's thoughts, the king rounded a corner and appeared before them, thankfully looking less angry than before, but still sending Merlin's fear into overdrive. Merlin jumped at the sound of doors slamming shut behind him, leaving him trapped with the king.
Merlin was sure that he was shaking terribly, but he managed force his joints to work and took a step backwards as the king began to approach him. Merlin continued to back away from the king until his back met the cold, unyielding wood of the door. Slowly, the king stepped towards Merlin, his eyes never leaving Merlin's form.
In what was entirely too short of a time period in Merlin's opinion, the king had closed the distance between them and was within an arm's reach of Merlin. Merlin's eyes desperately darted around for a weapon, anything he could possibly use the defend himself with, but there was nothing that he could reach.
As the king took one last step closer to Merlin, Merlin closed his eyes and braced himself for pain, even death. However, to his shock, no pain came. Instead, the felt the king's warm hands on his shoulders, and without warning, he was roughly pulled into a hug. What the actual fuck?!
Through the king's ragged breathing, he could hear more of those unfamiliar words, this time spoken tenderly.
"Oh Myrddin, hwǣr eart þū bēon?"
Oh Merlin, where have you been?