LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 1: 8 and 9
Summary:
Arthur Pendragon had hoped to receive his Hogwarts letter after his sister, Morgana had gotten hers at eleven, so when Arthur's birthday came and went, and nothing came, he couldn't help but be disappointed in knowing that the closest he would get to magic was reading some of his sisters books she received from school.
Until Merlin came crashing into his life, and he found a new friend with magic. Except, this magic wasn't the same as his sisters. Merlin's eyes turned gold, and he needed no wand; not to mention the magic seemed to have connected itself onto Arthur for some reason. Merlin never got his letter either, so clearly something wasn't right.
As Merlin tries to learn magic by his own means, the two of them find out that there are people in the world who would like nothing more than to harness Merlin's strange magic for themselves.
This is them as children before all the events in my story will be taking place.
Chapter 1: 8 and 9
Arthur chewed at his lips, watching his older sister as she beamed, reading her acceptance letter into some magical school. Morgana read it in her head, and Arthur figured it was because she just wanted to bother him by holding him in suspense. He nearly laughed at the thought. He wanted to know, but he knew his sister too, and she wouldn't last long before telling him. She never could, as she got far too excited to keep quiet with these types of things.
He thought that maybe she shared exciting things with him because she might think he was her best friend. He sure hoped so. Morgana teased him a lot, sure, but he was pretty sure that was just a sister thing. He tried to tease her too, but she was just better at it.
She squealed, startling him into nearly biting his lip off and he flinched at the pain. He couldn't help the wide-eyed look as he watched her do a sort of happy dance.
"Oh, Arthur, I don't even know exactly what this means, but it sounds so cool!" She beamed at him. "Magic, can you imagine? I have magic."
Arthur's mouth fell open. "What?"
She didn't answer him, instead running from the room, more like skipping, as she yelled for their dad. Arthur rushed after her, determined to figure out what was going on.
He listened as she talked a thousand words a minute, at least it seemed so, and he didn't really understand all that she was saying. Hogwarts? Magic? A school?
He did understand though, by the end of the night, that she was leaving.
He lay in bed the night, curled in a ball as he stared at the wall. Their father had been pleased — of course he had. It was Morgana after all. She was his brilliant, do-no-wrong daughter. Of course she was the one to have some magic in her.
But Arthur…
His door cracked open.
"Arthur?" He heard his sisters voice softly whisper into the darkness.
He considered a moment of completely ignoring her, pretending sleep, but he couldn't. He rolled over and she pushed into the room, nearly skipping again to land on the foot of his bed on her back with a sigh.
"Isn't it great?"
She was obviously in heaven.
"Yeah, sure," he mumbled. She caught onto his tone quickly, of course she did, and rolled to face him.
"What's going on?" Her tone was gentle, still quiet, but Arthur just shrugged miserably. "Come on," she pressed, pushing at his side. "What's wrong. You can tell me."
He hesitated a long moment, then looked up at her through his lashes as he fiddled with his hands. "It's just… you'll be gone," he finally admitted, feeling stupid for his obvious weakness, but the idea of staying here with his father — his impossible-to-ever-please father — made life suddenly seem dull. Morgana was really his only good friend.
She chuckled, though it didn't seem like it was a happy laugh. She moved so that she was sitting beside him, and he automatically moved so he could lean against her. "I'll still be here for the summers. And I can write you letters. Lots of letters. And you can write back, anytime you need me."
It won't be the same, are the words he thought, but didn't say. He couldn't. Not when his sister was so excited. He swallowed back a sigh and tried to force a chipper note in his voice. "Yeah, of course." He paused a moment, then asked the question that had been bothering him. "Do you think I'll get a letter too, when I turn eleven?"
Morgana chuckled. "Of course you will. If I'm magical, then so must you be."
Arthur hoped she was right, but he had his doubts. Father wasn't magical. And technically he and Morgana didn't have the same mother. Maybe he wouldn't get to be special like her. But maybe who their moms were didn't matter.
Morgana let him go with her to get all the stuff he needed. He didn't know if that was strictly allowed, but the lady that came by, a Madame Humphry or something like that, didn't say no, so at least there was that.
Arthur stared in awe as they walked down diagonally. There was soooo many people. And when he saw the toy store, he was pleased when they agreed to go in. A redhead greeted him, ruffling his hair as he mostly spoke to the other two. Arthur didn't care, he could hardly focus on them. He didn't ask for anything, it was great enough to just see, and he knew that they weren't there for him today. Today was Morgana's turn. He'd get his own in just a few years.
He could wait.
Morgana got herself a cat. It was no surprise, she'd wanted one for years, but father had always been allergic. She didn't have to worry about that anymore, because the cat could stay in the school. Arthur wished it could go home with him. And Morgana too.
He clung to her hand as they headed home.
When she left a few weeks later, through a magical doorway in a train station onto what he was told was a magical train, she had already made a friend at the station. She nearly walked away, and he stared after her, a hollowness setting in.
Right before she left, she spun and ran back to him, wrapping him in a hug. "I'll see you at Christmas," she promised.
Right. Christmas. He nodded in her shoulder, then, as she left, disappearing through the 9 and 3/4 wall, he wandered back out of the station alone.
Merlin climbed the tree, laughing as he heard Will follow behind him. The other kid was loud. Merlin had always been loud too, but in a different way. His footsteps themselves could be quiet, but Merlin had a tendency toward clumsiness. He could scale a tree quickly, and Will, being bigger than Merlin — everyone said that Merlin was a twig — was not able to weave his way up the tree quite as quickly.
Will swore behind him, and Merlin bit back another laugh, but didn't fight back the grin. Will had been his best friend for years, even though he was two years older, and he'd always been loud.
Knowing Will had definitely made him more outgoing. More adventurous. He'd always been nervous as a kid, his mother and uncle always reminding him that he had to stay hidden. His secret had to stay secret, otherwise he might be taken away from them by the government or others. He hadn't known what that would mean until he'd overheard his mom talking about it to Uncle Gaius. He definitely did not want to be experimented on or killed or anything, so he kept his secret close to him. As close as he could.
The problem, though, was that his secret acted without him, sometimes.
The cracking of a branch below him, and a startled yelp, had him instantly looking back toward his friend.
And, in seeing his friend falling from the tree, hitting a branch that broke beneath him, caused panic to whirl in his mind.
And that secret, with no thought, went rushing to his friend, catching him just before he hit the ground.
Time seemed to freeze, Merlin staring, wide-eyed at Will, and his friend right back at him.
As Merlin's wits came about him, he swore, accidentally dropping Will the last few feet or so. He squeezed his eyes shut a moment, willing his eyes to turn back to their normal blue color.
Maybe he should run now. Would Will leave, running for someone to come help him? Would he be scared of Merlin now? Or would he tell anyone about his secret? Merlin was going to have to run. He might have to say goodbye to everyone. Should he run to his mom first? Or would he get caught if he stopped anywhere? Would he have to leave all alone? He gripped the branch tighter, trying to calm his breathing down, panic making it hard to see or focus.
"Merlin?" Will's voice, for once, was soft, still in shock. "You should come down now. You look like you're going to pass out."
Merlin shook his head, pressing close to the trunk of the tree as he nearly hugged the thing. He felt like Will was right. He wasn't getting enough breath, but he couldn't pass out. Not up here, and not before he could escape.
He needed to climb down, but he couldn't. His hands were numb, his body drained. His secret, his magic, always drained him. He wasn't sure how it worked, and he didn't know why he felt like sleeping each time he did so, but he didn't think he could get down. He didn't have the strength.
Shifting slowly, his body trembling, he adjusted to sit on the branch, wedging himself against another branch and the trunk to hopefully keep himself from falling, one arm over the other branch, the other wrapping around as much of the trunk as he could.
"Merlin! You need to come down." The panic in Will's voice was evident and surprising. Why wasn't Will running away in fear? Why wasn't he telling anyone?
Merlin closed his eyes tight again, tears running down his cheeks as he buried his face in his arm and the tree.
He heard Will yelling below him, but he just couldn't move. Between his weakness and his fear, he was stuck.
He wasn't sure how long he stayed there. He honestly wouldn't be surprised if he'd passed out. He didn't hear Will anymore.
"Merlin?" The new voice surprised him enough to lift his head, a flood of relief washing over him.
"M-mom?" He saw her down below him, staring up. Concern, not disappointment. Good.
"Hey, Merls. I need you to come down now, okay?"
"I… I can't." He hugged the tree tighter. "Mom… I mean, I didn't mean to…" He trailed off, realizing that she wasn't the only one there. Will and his grandfather, as well as Uncle Gaius were also there.
"I know darling. Let's just get you down, how about it?"
"I can't," Merlin repeated with a whimper. "I… my hands are shaking too bad, I just…" He sobbed. "Mom—"
"Shh… It's okay, love. It's okay. We're going to get you down."
"I'll climb up," Gaius insisted, putting a hand on moms arm to stop her from moving. Uncle Gaius was older than mom, but not by much.
Mom didn't even try to argue with him, just put her hands in front of her mouth in what Merlin knew was a silent prayer.
"We should call for a fire truck or something. They'll have a ladder," Will's grandpa mentioned.
"I'll be fine. I see an easy route, and I don't want to leave him up there. He's panicking. His breathing is too unsteady, which might cause him to pass out and fall." Gaius was already climbing before he finished speaking. Merlin didn't tell them how he was pretty sure he'd already passed out. His mom and uncle probably already assumed he had.
Merlin leaned against the branch, burying his face in his arm again.
With his hearing off, he was once again surprised when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. He'd already made it to him? Maybe Merlin had drifted again.
He looked up at Gaius' carefully concerned face. "You ready to get down?" he asked, already reaching for Merlin.
Merlin nodded, fresh tears running down his face as he let go with one arm to cling immediately to his Uncle. As soon as he had a good grip, his other hand finally released the grip on the branch to tighten on Gaius' shirt.
"Uncle," Merlin whispered in his ear. "Will… Will knows about my magic, Uncle. Please, don't let them take me away. I want to stay with you and mom." He sobbed hard. "Will was falling, I had no choice. I had to catch him, Uncle, he's my best friend! Please. Do you think he's going to tell?"
Gaius rubbed his back gently. "Merlin, let's not worry about that. We will protect you, and I will talk to Will, see if he will keep it secret too." Even with the words, Merlin could hear the undertone of worry and fear. Or was that just Merlin's own fear?
Merlin buried his face in Uncle Gaius neck, refusing to lift his face as he felt him slowly descend the tree, then felt his mom's hand on his back.
"Merlin, you okay?"
Merlin merely nodded but kept his tight grip on his Uncle. Part of him wanted to go to his mom, but he just couldn't release his hands and didn't dare look up and risk seeing Will.
So instead they walked home. He soon noticed when Gaius settled in his chair, having tried and failed to pry him free and then relenting and just holding him as he sat.
He vaguely heard people talking around him, Will, Hunith, and Uncle Gaius, but Merlin couldn't look up and couldn't focus on the words.
Not until he heard the stubborn determination in Will's voice. "I won't tell anyone, Hunith. I promise. Merlin is my best friend, I'll protect him."