The Adventures Of Merlin ON HOLD

Chapter Five: The Fog Lifts To Reveal Your Crystal Eyes

AN: The official theme for this fanfiction is "Dark Doo Wop" by MS MR (I think that's who made it, not sure). I think it coveys the mood for this chapter a lot- the music, not the lyrics, necessarily. The whole story of Merlin and Arthur, really. :) Enjoy! Also, warning, (a bit), this chapter get's kinda scary so make sure to turn on a light or read it in a funny voice if you're easily scared. I tried my best to make it scary, at least. :)

After-Completely-Writing Update: It isn't scary...

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Hunting. 

It's not necessary, thought Merlin. It was actually kind of difficult to watch. And while Arthur just brushed it off, calling Merlin a baby for caring about the innocent animal's lives, he went anyways. More so because he had to. He was the prince's manservant, it was his duty. As was it his duty to protect Arthur with his life. His- their destiny. Though, he never did expected their destiny to smell like burning trees or be covered in mud. The forest seemed endless, and it probably was. It was growing dark and they'd rounded a corner of rocks to stop for the night in a tiny valley. "Why don't you go collect some firewood, I'll set up...the other things.." Arthur lazily instructed, and Merlin nodded, trudging off to get fallen branches. He'd been very quiet that day, only speaking when spoken to; no witty comebacks or insults. Arthur had tried to ignore it, he was sure to be fine- always was. 

Merlin didn't like nighttime. It's when all of the truly awful things came from their shadows and into the moons glow to...feast upon whatever it could, which meant him. There was a crackle in the woods not too far from him, and his heart sank. The woods were too quiet and clouded with fog and he ran towards their camp grounds. There was nothing, no horses or Arthur. Arthur. He spun aroung once more, the sun was fading even more. Maybe, he thought, I went the wrong way. But he was so sure that he'd gone east to get the firewood, and went west to get back to Arthur. He had, he recognized the trees and the mossy rocks to his left. Where was Arthur? The fog cleared up as he pressed further towards the center of the patch of open land where they were planning on setting up, Arthur lay slumped against one of the trees. Sleeping, it looked like.  

He took a few cautious steps toward him, spinning around at a fallen brach, and turning back around to see the prince's eyes open wide. "Arthur.." He sighed in relief, relaxing a bit. "Arthur?" He wasn't moving, only shallow breaths pushing his chest out in random, little huffs. He blinked, the most important blink in the world, and suddenly Arthur was dragged up the tree with a swift pull from... It was all too fast to tell, and he screamed something, said something. He held his head in his hands, staring up into the tall, dark tree. He could hear his name being called, desperate, pleading, scared. The calls stopped, and the forest was silent, nothing he could hear but a faint buzzing. He clutched his hair, the buzzing making his head ache. He looked up at the tree, hoping, and he went still. He gasped for a breath that he'd been holding off, arms feeling heavy. Small, red hands that looked as if they belonged to a baby were dangling from the tree, placed about in no such pattern, hanging form the branches and moving with the wind.

What?! 

((AN: The picture to your right is as close to an example as I can give you, as far as the Akateko goes and what merlin is seeing.))

"Arthur," he mumbled again-a hopeless attempt-a tear dripping from his face. His vision filled with blackness, and he dropped to the ground with a crunch of the dead leaves beneath him that sprinkled the forest floors this early during the fall. By sunrise he was surrounded by warmth, arms around his waist. He squinted as the sun was new to him. His chest burned, and he coughed violently, standing up and clutching his throat. Arthur awakened at the sudden movement, standing up and reaching for his sword. 

"Merlin," he whispered, grabbing his elbow and pulling him back. Merlin jumped, startled, but then caught sight of his eyes and smiled. 

"Arthur!" He ran up to him. Holding Arthur's face in his hands, he kissed him, sweet yet sad. Arthur placed his hands on his upper back, confused but deepening the kiss after gathering his surroundings and waking up a bit. Merlin broke the kiss, eyes wide with fear and an apology perched on his lips. He hugged Arthur, squeezing him almost too tightly. He was mumbling and rambling and Arthur placed two fingers half on his lips to hush him. 

"Merlin, are you okay?" Merlin laughed. It was bitter and cold and Arthur frowned. He wiped a tear from Merlin's face when it came back, the fog and the tree and the hands. He gasped as he recoiled the pictures through his brain. Arthur shook his shoulders. "Merlin!" He snapped back, tensing a little more. "Glad that worked this time." He said, brows furrowed as he looked at Merlin like he was indefinitely confused-which you could say he was. Last night wasn't any more fun for him than it was for Merlin, he was sure. 

"Why, what happened last time?" Merlin asked suspiciously, letting his hands fall from Arthur's shoulders. 

"Don't you remember? You were a brick screaming for me, for your life! Merlin, you do remember, don't you?" Merlin shook his head, lies. Almost lies, he reminded himself, for he'd blacked out and didn't remember the rest of that night. "I didn't want to ride to camelot without you conscious, so I waited," Arthur said to fill the silence. "We should go now."

~

"They were, small, red hands. They- They belonged to children!"

"Yes, I think I know what you're talking about." Gaius replied, handing Merlin his soup. Merlin shrugged off his blanket, picking up his spoon and looking at him hopefully. "Akateko," he continued. "In Japanese it means "the red handed child." They aren't very dangerous, according to folklore. Well, actually, they don't do anything at all. They're said to be mischievous ghosts or spirits who like to mess with their visitor's sanity."

"Great, then how do we get rid of them?" 

"Well, there is one problem, Merlin. They shouldn't be here. They're only found in the Tohoku Region. In Japan."

"Then what are they doing here?" Merlin asked with a mouthful of soup.

"I don't know. It might not be Akateko, though, Merlin. You could have been imagining it."

"But it felt so real, like everything was...there." 

"I think you need rest. Eat your soup and then I want you in your bed. Asleep." Merlin nodded, scarfing down the rest. " Oh, Arthur told me that you have tomorrow off. Don't abuse it, you need rest." 

"Yes, yes. Of course. And, Gaius, thanks." 

"What did I do?"

"You told me I'm not entirely crazy."

"Oh, I don't think I'd say that...." he teased, patting his shoulder and pushing him off to his room. "Now go."

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AN: Alright, so it wasn't very scary, I'll admit  And it was a bit short, again, I'm sorry! :\/ Please tell me what you think by commenting, or vote if you think my story is worthy! Thank you for reading and reviewing and I should have a new chapter up soon! :D (Longer, I promise.)

The Akateko are basically just a bunch of hands hanging from a tree. Well, baby hands that are bright red and scare the flying fuck out of you. They don't seem too harmful, but they come with free ghosts! Yay! And I'm just asuming that Japan was a place then... Well, I hope you don't have nightmares. heheheheheh...