Freed

Freya

"Let me go! Please someone help me!"

Morgana had tears blurring her vision as they dragged him, kicking and screaming, onto land. Once he was on land they continued to hold him down, afraid of what he would do if they let go.

"Merlin please," she pleaded. "It's us. It's Morgana and Lancelot. We're not here to hurt you."

He had no response. He didn't even look at them. Wherever he thought he was, he couldn't snap himself out of it. He was still thrashing and yelling.

"What do we do?" She wavered.

"I guess we wait it out," Lancelot answered. "He has to grow tired eventually. Until then, we try not to hurt him and keep him from hurting himself."

Morgana and Lancelot worked together to get a good hold on Merlin. Eventually they had him so that he couldn't really move his arms or legs, but he still struggled. Eventually his yells turned to sobs, and he lost the strength to keep fighting.

"Please," he whimpered. His eyes were still closed.

Morgana let go of her hold on his legs and softly wiped a few tears from his face.

"Merlin."

He flinched, but he didn't look up.

"Merlin, please look at me," she pleaded softly.

This time he complied. He opened his eyes to find Morgana looking down at him. He was still filled with fear. Didn't she try to kill him? He looked over and saw Lancelot as well.

"Please," Merlin quivered, "if you're going to do it, do it quickly."

"Do what?"

"Kill me."

Morgana and Lancelot's eyes widened with realization. He thought they were going to kill him!

"Merlin," Lancelot answered, "we're not going to kill you. We're here to help you."

"No," Merlin shook his head. "You say that you're my friend but you're not. I've seen it time and time again. You want me dead."

"You were enchanted," Morgana explained. "Forced to live out your worst fears again and again. I've seen it happen before. But you're free now. We got you out."

"Why? You've only ever hated me, and rightly so," he directed at Morgana.

"I have never hated you. Not once. There were even times that I tried to hate you, but I couldn't. You were always too good for me to hate."

"You've been my friend since the beginning," Lancelot added.
"You risked so much for me and so many others. And now we need you possibly more than ever before. You're the only one who can save Camelot from doom."

Recognition flickered in Merlin's eyes. Things started to come together piece by piece. At some point during his ponderings Lancelot released him allowing Merlin to sit up. It all started to make sense. There were blurry memories of him being knocked out before all of this, but reality and nightmare were still mixed.

"Tell me something," he hesitated, "something to let me know that this is real. That I'm safe."

Morgana wrapped his hands in hers, ignoring how he flinched at her touch. She could feel the magic connecting them, however dim, and she could tell that he did too.

"I love you."

It looked as if Merlin entered a state of frozen shock. Morgana looked on nervously, hoping she hadn't gone too far. Finally Merlin's shock turned to comprehension. The fog cleared from his mind as he realized he was home. He put his hand over hers and smiled.

"I love you too."

Morgana couldn't help it. She grasped Merlin in an embrace and hung on tight with relief. Merlin let out an involuntary gasp as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm so sorry!" She begun to pull back, but Merlin hugged her back.

"No, it's okay. I'm okay."

After Merlin and Morgana let go, Lancelot helped Merlin up and gave him a brotherly hug.

"Glad to have you back," Lancelot smiled.

"Glad to be back. How long was I out?"

"Well you left yesterday, so I would assume almost a day?"

"I was supposed to be back by now," Merlin muttered under his breath.
"We have to go, now. Do either of you have an extra horse?"

"We can share mine," Morgana offered.

They all mounted the two horses and started riding toward the Crystal Caves. Not long after they start, Morgana remembered something.

"Oh Merlin," he looked at her.
"Freya said she misses you."

"Freya?" He questioned.
"How do you-"

"She healed you. She showed up once we got you in the water."

"She had to leave before you woke," Lancelot explained seeing Merlin's confusion.

"Oh..."

They could both see the touch of sadness overtaking his features. Morgana put her hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"Why don't you tell us about her? On the way to the cave."

Merlin smiled.
"I'd like that."

Alright... I once again apologize. The last two chapters have not really been edited and honestly the rest will probably also go pretty much unedited. I just need to get around to finishing it. So again, sorry everyone for the wait! I hope you enjoyed the last couple chapters!