Merthur - The Blue Butterfly

Chapter 4 - Pinky Promise

Slowly, the boy in the corner looks up to the source of the noise. He freezes in place, appearing to have seen a ghost before he slowly gets to his feet, legs trembling as he walks closer to the glow of the candle. "Ar-thur?" he asks, voice raspy and broken.

The prince frowns, his brows furrowing as he starts to worry. What happened? "It's me," he says cautiously, "did something happen?"

Merlin suddenly dashes forward until he's directly under the grate. He looks up at him, tears in his eyes as he reaches a hand up, as though hoping to touch the prince above him. "I thought something happened to you. You didn't come for so long..." Merlin says, his hand seeming to grab at the air.

Arthur can feel the guilt swell in his chest at those words. He wants to reach a hand down as well. To grab that hand and pull his friend out of the darkness, but of course that couldn't happen. If it were that easy he would have done it long ago. "I'm sorry," Arthur says, "I was sick and couldn't come."

Merlin lets his hand drop, "Sick? Are you okay now?" he asks frantically, "you-" the words get stuck in the boy's throats and his lower lip quivers as he stares up at the prince. "You won't die?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Merlin continues to stare up at him, as though he didn't believe those words. His hand now drops down, resting against the wall. He can see him start to claw at it slightly, as though hoping he could dig his way up to freedom. "You won't die. You won't die right?"

Arthur stares down, eyes growing sad as he looks at the desperate face of his friend below. Merlin's eyes seem glassy, like a thin film of fog has drifted down over them and now he can longer see what's in front of him. The boy's looking at him and yet he seems to not be as well. He seems to be looking somewhere else. Somewhere far away. Somewhere long ago.

Arthur sets the candle down on the floor then leans his forehead against the bars. He stares down at his friend. "Merlin, look at me."

The warlock doesn't pay attention. He continues to stare past the prince above him, scratching at the walls.

Arthur sits on the floor, going as close as he can to the boy. "They're gone Merlin. You're mama and papa are gone."

This gets him to stop. Merlin freezes and his eyes seem to finally clear. Though just slightly. "Mama? Papa?"

"They're gone. They aren't coming back and you know my mother's gone too. She-she's been gone for a long time. I always get sad when I see other people with their mothers but I always had father with me and he would make me happy then I wouldn't be sad anymore so..." Arthur looks down, knowing that he's rambling but still he makes sure Merlin is looking at him before smiling, "I'll make you happy too, then you won't be sad anymore."

Tears start to pour out of Merlin's eyes and he's quick to wipe them away. He looks back up at the prince, the mist clearing away and he seems to see Arthur again for the first time. "You won't leave me? You won't disappear again?" he asks in between sobs.

"I won't leave and next time I'll be sure to let you know. I'll stay by you forever, so please don't cry."

"Mama and Papa said the same thing once. But they left me," Merlin says quietly, the words barely audible.

"I won't leave you," Arthur repeats a second time, "I never will. If I ever do then you can come find me and drag me back to your side."

That seems to reassure the boy. He wipes at his eyes one last time before turning back up to Arthur with a beaming smile and the prince can safely say that it's one of the most beautiful things he's ever seen.