Merlin's dreams that night were incredibly troubling. The contents were not the most troubling part. The part that got to him was that he had no idea whether it had been an actual vision or just his own hopes manifesting in his dreams.
He found himself in Arthur's chambers in Camelot, but instead of Arthur standing in front of him, it was three women.
"What now?" He knew he would be more respectful, and if they had shown in person, and not in dream form, he might have been.
"It"
"is"
"time."
"Great. Time for what?" Merlin asked.
"Do"
"not"
"interrupt"
"us"
"boy." Merlin resisted the urge to interrupt again.
"It"
"is"
"time." Merlin rolled his eyes. Of course they had to start over.
"He"
"has"
"returned." Merlin's heart began to race in his chest.
"You"
"must"
"find"
"him"
"in"
"the"
"place"
"of"
"shade."
"Find"
"him"
"and"
"restore"
"Albion"
"before"
"it"
"is"
"too"
"late."
Assuming they were done, Merlin let out an annoyed sigh. "Can you possibly be more cryptic? What the hell is the 'place of shade?' Is he hiding under a tree." The women growled in unison, and then they were gone. "Oh come on!" Merlin shouted.
He woke up a moment later, feeling not at all rested, and incredibly annoyed. It could have just been his mind coping with almost having Arthur back, or it could have actually been a vision. Considering how annoying the goddess had been, he was going with vision, and if that was just the hope that Arthur was really back, well, no one needed to know about it. Merlin lay in bed, pondering the clue. The place of shade. What the hell did that mean?
Merlin looked over at the clock. He should be getting ready. He had a very important talk with Freya that would decide his and Iris' entire futures today. As much as he wanted to go out and find Arthur right this second, he was no longer Arthur's servant, and had his own life to tend to. Besides, he didn't even know for sure if Arthur had returned. One problem at a time.
He and Iris drove to work together, as usual.
"Lunch to discuss the case?" she asked as they entered the precinct.
"Can't. I've got plans."
"Plans?" She looked at him doubtfully. "With who?"
"Freya. I've got to give her the speech."
"Oh? And what speech would that be?"
"You know. The 'hurt her and I'll kill you' speech."
"There will be no speeches, especially not that speech."
"So you're not dating now?" She didn't respond. "About bloody time."
"Hey!"
"Well I'm sorry that you were the last person to know that she's been in love with you for years."
"Years?" Iris replied, surprised.
"Did Iris and Freya finally get together?" an officer they were passing asked. Merlin smirked at Iris.
"Oh shove it Asher," she snapped at the cop.
"I'll take that as a yes then." The man continued on his way.
"Told you," Merlin said in a singsong voice.
"Up your arse."
"Well that's not very friendly." She shoved him. Hard. He laughed and she couldn't disguise her small smile. They sat at their desks.
"Do me a favor and don't scare her away?" Iris requested.
"Like I could," Merlin scoffed. Iris glared at him and picked up a red pen. Staring him straight in the eye she began to chew on the end. "That is uncalled for."
"What do you mean?" she asked around the pen. Merlin glared at her and then tried to ignore the chewing, focusing on all of the paperwork he still had to get through.
At eleven thirty, Merlin took the elevator down the Freya's lab. She was wearing one of her usual flower dresses, with brown boots. Her back was to Merlin and she had her earbuds in.
"Freya!" He called experimentally. Nothing, as he had expected. He tapped her on the shoulder and then jumped back as she whirled around, wielding a dagger. She pulled the earbuds out.
"Don't sneak up on me like that. I could have hurt you!"
"It's kind of hard not to. I called your name but you didn't hear me. It's not my fault you were wielding a knife." Merlin recognized the dagger as the one that Iris had used on William Terell. "What are you doing with that?" he asked.
"Double checking my work."
"Can it wait? You wanted answers, right?" Merlin had no idea what made him say that. She set the knife down gently and removed her gloves.
"Let's go. You alright with bagels?" Merlin nodded and followed her out. Iris gave him a warning look when they emerged from the elevator and headed out of the precinct.
Merlin and Freya waited in line for a couple minutes at the bagel place Freya frequented. It was called Archer Street Bagels. Not a very creative name, seeing as it was located on Archer Street, but Merlin had to admit that the strawberry banana smoothie he had gotten was one of the best he'd ever had. They sat in a secluded corner, but just to be safe, Merlin silently put a privacy spell around the table.
"What did you just do?" Freya asked.
"What do you mean?" Merlin asked. He had learned how to hide his eyes when he did magic, and he hadn't spoken the words aloud.
"You just did something." She sounded so sure. She had certainly seen something. Had Merlin somehow managed to forget to hide his eyes? He didn't think so.
"What did you see?" he asked. She bit her lip, hesitating. It seemed Merlin wasn't the only one with secrets.
"It's nothing," she finally said, but Merlin wasn't having it.
"If I have to explain my life story, you can answer one question."
"I asked you a question first." Merlin rolled his eyes. He hadn't been sure how he was going to start the whole 'I have magic' conversation, but now he was considerably less worried about it.
"Privacy spell, that way no one will overhear anything they shouldn't." She hardly batted an eye, but seemed to relax slightly, as if hearing those words had confirmed something.
"Your aura. It glowed brighter for a second."
"You can see it?" Merlin asked, incredulous. He'd only ever heard of people that had the true sight. To think Freya had been under his nose this whole time and he'd never realized.
"I don't know what it is."
"Can you see my eyes?" Merlin asked.
"You mean the gold?" Freya breathed. All these years she had thought she'd imagined it. Merlin let out in incredulous little laugh.
"You can see them."
"Not anymore. I thought I was crazy, but I saw them when I first met you. Just for a moment, and then they were green."
"I must have unconsciously adjusted. This is amazing. People like you are super rare."
"There are others like me?" Freya asked, eyes wide. She had momentarily forgotten that she was supposed to be interrogating Merlin.
"Not many," Merlin replied.
"Do you know what exactly it is?" Freya asked. Merlin nodded.
"Basically you can see magic. You can't practice it. Or, well, I suppose you could if you studied for years, but it would be just as difficult for you as a regular person. But you can see things for what they really are." Something occurred to Merlin. "Why didn't you see Aithusa?"
"Who?"
"Did you happen to see a dragon around the caves?"
"No." She frowned. "Well, maybe. I thought it was just a really big bird. After all, dragons aren't real, and the jeep ride was really bumpy. I just saw something white fly up and away, and nobody said anything so I figured it was nothing important." Merlin snorted.
"Large bird. She'd be so offended."
"Who?"
"Aithusa."
"You're telling me you actually have a dragon? Like, a real life dragon?"
"She's not mine. She's her own being. Although I did hatch her. We're friends." Freya shook her head.
"Friends. You're friends with a dragon. Your eyes glow. You can use actual magic. I'm losing my mind. Maybe I have a brain tumor. Maybe--"
"Freya." She looked at him. "You're not crazy." She sighed.
"I know." She sounded defeated.
"Well that was easier than I was expecting." He had been trying to lighten the mood, but it didn't seem to work very well. It did however remind Freya of what she as supposed to be doing here.
"Right. We're here for a reason. You need to tell me everything." Merlin nodded, no longer afraid of what would come of this conversation.
"Have you ever heard of the Arthurian legends?"
Sorry it's kinda short, and I'm also sorry it's been slow for the past few chapters. I swear, things are gonna start to speed up again in the next one. I have so much planned, y'all have no idea. See you in the next one.
xoxo
-Sierra <3