Bastille

Pompeii (Arthur POV)

A/N- I don't own Merlin (unfortunately), Nor do I own the song. They belong to BBC and Bastille respectively.

"This next song was written by our drummer, Gwaine."
"Gwaine?" Arthur instantly perked up. It was close to 11pm, and it was pouring down with rain. It had been almost a week since he had risen from what he had realised to be the lake of Avalon, completely stunned at how much things had changed. From what he had deduced, the year was 2019, near enough 1500 years after his passing. He'd nearly fainted when he realised this, but he also noticed the strange looks he'd been getting in his armour and sword. After finding someone willing to take him in (they ran something they called a B and B), he had set off in his search for Merlin.

A girl he had vaguely recognised called Freya had spoken to him just before he'd risen. She had said "find Merlin. He will guide you." He'd been searching for almost a week, now, wandering around Avalon in an attempt to find his half-useless servant. The people used a weird currency, though, and Arthur had been looked at as though he was crazy when he tried to pay for some clothes with his gold coins. In the end, he'd had to steal some in order to avoid getting stared at, and dumped his armour back into the lake. Dragging himself back to the present, he was stood in what the people called a 'city centre', which was monumented by the biggest building Arthur had ever seen, called the 'Arena', where some band was playing.

He heard the same man speak again. "He's going to be singing this song, it is called Pompeii." Cheering. Lots of cheering. Upbeat music began to play, and Arthur listened and hoped for the familiar voice of Sir Gwaine. However, it never came. "This one's for Arthur."
"Merlin..."
"A man who was very close to me."
As the all-too-familiar voice began singing, Arthur took off towards the Arena.

"I was left to my own devices."
He walked a little faster, but he didn't know the way to the Arena.
"Many days fell away with nothing to show."
"I'm coming Merlin." Arthur said, gently pushing a few people aside in his haste to reach his manservant.
"And the walls kept tumbling down in the city that we loved." Arthur stopped in his tracks.
"Camelot." He said, feeling a jolt of fear in his stomach. With that, he upped his pace to a jog. He had to find Merlin.
"Great clouds rolled over the hills bringing darkness from above." Arthur ran faster. "But if you close your eyes... does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?" Arthur was now flat-out sprinting as the music also upped its pace. He was following signs for the Arena, not caring about the people he practically threw out of the way. "And if you close your eyes... does it almost feel like you've been here before?" Merlin's familiar voice seemed to draw him in, he hadn't even noticed that Merlin was actually a good singer. "How am I gonna be an optimist about this? How am I gonna be an optimist about this?" 
'Ironic', Arthur thought, thinking back to how Merlin was always the most optimistic of the pair. Arthur slowed back down to a jog as the streets become even more unfamiliar. They were more crowded, and Arthur could see no more signs.

"We were caught up and lost in all of our vices." Arthur tried to follow the sound of Merlin's voice, walking as fast as his legs would take him without running in the busy street. "Whatever you do, Merlin, don't stop singing." He muttered to himself.
"In your pose, as the dust settles around us." As Arthur made his way towards a less crowded street, he returned to his jog. "And the walls kept tumbling down in the city that we loved." Arthur tried to ignore the clench in his heart as he started to sprint again. He could see the Arena now, it was a mere few hundred metres away. "Great clouds rolled over the hills bringing darkness from above." The music got louder just as Arthur reached the gigantic building. He tried to go in through one of the big metal doors marked 'Stage 7', but one of the two burly men stood at the door stopped him. "Sorry sir, you can't go in without a ticket. VIP only."