Reincarnated As The Dark Knight

"Prince Arthur?"

The voice was akin to thunder, sending waves of intangible vibrations across the underground base. Artur tried to put what he was seeing in words but his mind was blank. After what seemed like an eternity of trying to get his brain back online, it could only register one command.

'RUN'

Artur's body responded as quick as lightning and he was shot off the ground by unknown force he knew did not come from him. His legs worked like an engine and his first three steps took him across quite a considerable distance but the fourth did not reach the ground as he was floated. He felt like a gigantic and invisible hand was holding him and raising him off the ground.

Hanging upside down in midair was not the best of positions especially when faced with something this hideous.

This six-ish meter tall figure looked like its body was made of rocks, big ones. They were all designed in special patterns and in a specific order, giving it the body structure of a human. Its face comprised of several small rocks joined together. Its eyes had a purple glow and in between the rocks that made up its body, streams of that purple light were also present. It was only made of rocks but was way bigger than those man-bears and uglier too. The right word to use for something like that would be...

'A golem'

His brain was working again.

He thought about why a golem would be down here of all places but the only conclusion he could reach was that it was a security measured placed by his father. After all he was probably the only person who knew that this place existed.

"Prince Arthur" It was the voice again. It did not seem to come from the golem so Artur looked around, trying to pinpoint the source. He had no idea that someone was down here and why they were. The more pressing question was how did they get there? By the earlier display Loxley blood was needed to access this underground base and this person was not a familiar voice, not that he had visited any of his extended family members before. Besides, no matter how loud it was, this was the voice of an old man, and he was pretty sure that his grandparents lived nowhere near Hawkhurst.

"Who's there? Show yourself"

"Prince Arthur is that you?"

'Prince Arthur? Who is this and what are they talking about?' "I'm sorry but I think you've got the wrong person"

Artur noticed a soft glow from the corner of his eye and turned to look. There was a tiny ball of blue light, small like a grain of sand. Slowly, it was accompanied by many others and they all gravitated toward one place, forming silhouette of a person in a robe. The process was completed after several seconds and a man was standing before him, upside down.

He was clad in purple all over. A purple robe, purple inner garments , a purple RuneScape hat, purple shoes. His specs were the only exceptions, plated in gold or maybe even real gold in fact. He had a long white beard, same color with the one on his head. He was tall and his wrinkles were clear, telling of his old age but yet he stood like a young man in his twenties.

He stared at Artur with a look of curiosity but after a few seconds that look turned into a happy one. It gave Artur a feeling of nostalgia, like he knew this man from somewhere. The man suddenly curtsied, alarming Artur and greeted him:

"Prince Arthur, it's good to see you again"

Artur responded immediately "I told you, you have the wrong guy. I am not a prince" Artur said.

The old man raised his head and looked at Artur with concern on his face.

"Prince Arthur, why do you say this?"

"I told you I'm really not a prince. I am the son of a dead baron, and my name is Artur, without an 'H'" Artur explained "If you are the one responsible for this can you please put me down?" He asked, using his hands to gesture at his levitation.

"Pardon me lad" The old man said and there was a swirl of purple light around his hand. 

Artur was gently turned over and placed on his feet, releasing him from the grasp of whatever spiritual force was holding him. He felt like the man was not hostile, but he could say the same for the golem. The way it looked at him like he was some bug that needed squashing was truly frightening.

"Could you...could you by chance put that away too?" He pleaded, pointing at the golem.

"Of course lad" The old man responded and waved his hand once. As it moved through the air it was followed by a wake of the purple light. The body of the golem split apart into the bits of rocks it was made of and in an orderly manner, they floated across the room and stopped at a corner.

"Now lad, could you continue with your introduction?" The man suddenly had a scary demeanor. His eyes were filled with vigilance of which Artur knew not why. He looked like he was ready to pulverize Artur the moment he made one false move. It seemed that him not being who the man thought he was made him angry.

"Of course" Artur's voice suddenly became shaky "I-I-I am Artur, without an 'H', Loxley like I said before. I-"

"Wait!" The old man snapped, forcing Artur to keep his mouth shut "You are Artur Loxley, the son of a dead baron?"

"Uh-uh yes I am"

"Victor is dead?"

Artur's eyes widened and his fear of the man suddenly vanished "My father, how do you know him? Tell me, how do you know my father's name?!"

"Watch your tone lad" The old man said and his right hand was instantly engulfed in blue flames "I can end your life with a simple thought"

His eyes were stern and so was Artur's. They stared at each other like they were in a contest of mental strength. The man's stern face relaxed after several seconds and so did Artur's and silence reigned for the next few minutes. Artur was waiting for the man to say or do something. He had to know who this man was and his connection to his father.

"So, are you going to say anything, sir?" Artur said, making sure to add that tone of respect because he did not want his life ending soon just like the man had threatened. 

The old man stroked his beard softly. He seemed to be doing some serious thinking but he soon spoke:

"Well this is rather disturbing bad news. Child, are you certain that Victor is dead?"

"I have no reason to lie, do I? If you don't believe me then why don't you go upstairs and confirm it yourself?" Artur offered with some intended disrespect behind the voice. He was pushing his luck.

"That won't be necessary" The old man said, shrugging off his recognized disrespect "And you claim to be his son?"

"Yes, I am"

Another circle swirled around his hand and the paper which Artur was reading flew to him and spread itself open for him to read from it. There were still four names which had not been ticked. Kane Loxley, Alta Loxley, Luthor Loxley and Artur Loxley. He needed to know what that list meant or what it was for, who those other people were and where they were, how they were connected to and what their names were listed up for. The old man seemed to be very concentrated on the contents of the paper. Artur wondered if he had any connection to their family or if he knew any of those people. Of course he had to or he would not have been able to access this underground chamber.

"You said your name was Artur, without an 'H' right?"

"Yes sir"

"Well your name appears to be on the list. Let's get this over with and be done with it"

Artur was surprised and as he tried to speak he struggled to find the right words to use to address the man with respect. 

"Um excuse me I do not mean to be rude but what are you talking about?"

The old man gave Artur a look of disgust "You don't know, then why are you down here?" He stopped and thought for a while "Well I guess you wouldn't know given the kind of man that Victor was, you are still a young lad after all. I take it that you stumbled upon this place by chance"

"No, my father came down here a lot so I was curious. I read the tap code and here I am"

"Hmm. I'll perceive you as one of the clever types. My apologies for mistaking you for someone else by the way, the resemblance is just too much"

Artur was a bit glad that the man was going to at least show him a bit of respect so he smiled and bowed.

"Thank you"

"That's right lad, be thankful. Not everyone gets to receive even a shred of my respect" The old man said. Artur was provoked once again but did not want to misbehave. It was clear that the man needed him for something but what if he decided to kill him after that for disrespecting him. He was not going to risk it.

'Not everyone gets to receive even a shred of my respect my ass' What made this old, withering bag of bones so haughty. He spoke like he were a king or emperor. 'I'm pretty sure no one even knows him'

"If I may sir"

The old man's eyes turned to Artur and the paper before him and disappeared, leaving behind sparks of purple light "What is it?"

"I just feel it will be right for me to know the name of the person I am speaking to" Artur said.

The old man scoffed "What a daring lad. If you want to know that badly..."

'Let's hear it, let's hear the name'

"My name is Merlin"