Fight For Me

Chapter 9

"Watch it!" they call, hands raised in surrender. Taking in the familiar blue eyes and blonde hair, Morgana lowers her sword and gives a fond smile.

"Arthur!" she squeals, going in for a hug. "You're okay."

"I'm okay," he whispers, returning the embrace. He glances at Merlin from Morgana's shoulder, and sees him smiling in relief, whilst looking guilty, embarrassed and glad all at once. Arthur rolls his eyes, and when finished hugging Morgana, he heads over to Merlin to give him a playful slap on the head. "Merlin," he says, seriously, "will you stop looking so guilty? For the last time, it wasn't you. No one blames you."

"I do," he chokes out, quietly.

"Well, you're an idiot, so your opinion doesn't count," Arthur counters.

Merlin gives a weak chuckle, before returning to eerie silence.

"Arthur!" Gwen calls, grinning with joy, stepping out from behind the tree.

"Hello, Guinevere."

"How did you get here?" Morgana questions, almost immediately. Arthur frowns at her. "Well, I highly doubt Uther just let you go."

"I hatched a daring escape," Arthur replies, simply, as if it were obvious. And then, he went into miraculous detail of this 'daring escape', when all he had to say was: "I waited until my father left the room, told the guards I was going to Gaius for treatment or something. I then went to Gaius's, asked where you were, snuck out of the castle and made my way here."

But he made it much more lengthy and exciting than it really was. Which was good for everyone, a bit of light-heartedness at this time.

"Why did you come?" Merlin asks, almost inaudibly, and with the timidness of a shy mouse.

"Why do you think?" Arthur answers, softly, gazing fondly at his servant. There was a moment where the two just stared at each other, with small, affectionate smiles, and a million things racing through their minds. Morgana clears her throat, interrupting the moment, but beaming like a proud sister.

Arthur coughs, regaining himself, then claps his hands together, ready for action. "So, what are we doing here?"

"Trying to find a way to get rid of me," Merlin says, in a mocking tone. He lifts his head up slowly, and there it was.

Arthur cringed away from that god-awful look of cruelty; that uncanny twist of Merlin's face. Even if it was a smile, it still twisted and burned Arthur's insides worse than any liqueur. Always. Every time.

But at least there was no screaming this time. That was almost unbearable. It seemed, for the most part, to any outsiders, painless, the quick transition from Merlin to Sigan.

But it was far from painless. It was and is the most painful thing Merlin has ever had the misfortune to experience, your own consciousness being pushed into the very depths of your mind, the deepest, darkest part, to be tucked away like something useless, unneeded, and old, outdated. Like a toy some kid has grown out of.

He feels smaller than he ever has, and that's saying something, given his daily life experiences.

But, at the very least, it feels good to know that Arthur and Morgana and Gwen all accept him. That's just about enough to keep him at peace, before the second-hand sights, and senses begin crashing into him.

"How do we do that?" Arthur asks, ignoring Sigan as if he were nothing more than a mild inconvenience. Arthur wishes that is all he was.

Why, why did it have to be Merlin? Why not anyone else? Hell, Arthur would even rather him being possessed by this bastard than Merlin. He'd rather anything bad happen to him than to Merlin. But this seems like hell for him. Arthur wonders what it's like to not be in control of your own body. He wonders how it feels to say and do things, but not be the one doing it, and not being able to stop them. To feel powerless, when usually you are the most powerful person in the room, even if no one knows it. Because he is. Merlin really is the most powerful in the room, almost all the time, yet no one knows it, because all he does is hide it.