Lady Knight Missione (Merlin fanfic)

Chapter Twenty One - Avalon, Part V

My thoughts keep drifting to Gwaine as we walk onward to our destination. They are distracting and it is hard to focus especially since my mind feels so drained. I keep trying to focus on the path ahead but I can't help but wonder what he is doing right now and if he thinks I am dead. If he does think that I am gone, then would he be sad? What would he do? Would he do anything? Or would he care? Would it make any difference to him? What if-

"Missy." Calls Pryoca, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yes?" I ask.

He doesn't need to answer. The answer is so obvious and right in front of me. We're standing in the blue and purple part of Avalon, but not too far away is the yellow part. They look and feel so different, it's chilling and it gives me goose bumps as fear creeps into me yet again. Standing between us and the yellow part is a large black wall that stretches on and on, on both sides.

We are not alone though, because there are creatures, short creatures with a height of about a little less than half my size moving around the part of the wall that we are in front of. There are about eight or nine of them and they are all dressed in black armour, the same black as the wall. They are so small and snout, moving around in such a little frenzy that they remind me of mice whom are collecting bits of food to bring back to their home before the people came back to take the food away. I smile a little despite the fear as I remember a time where I used to watch the mice for hours on end at Al's. There used to be a whole nest of them there for quite a while and it was a nice distraction from everything else. The memory at Al's disappears as soon as it comes when one of the mice turns around and catches me off guard. My smile disappears and fear rushes into my stomach.

These are no furry, little creatures, these aren't mice, and they aren't harmless. The one that turned around moves his head faster than I can blink and our eyes meet. His eyes are white with a black pupil and no iris, but when he looks at me his small black pupil begins to expand until there is hardly no white left around it. It takes a matter of seconds. He is small but pudgy and his face is full of lines of anger that seems to be permanently placed on his face. One second his face looks green, the next it is grey, then black, then white. When he looks straight at me I can see no nose on his face but as soon as he turns his head it is there, small and round but there. I can only see his face while the rest of him is covered in black armour, almost like a suit. I swear I see whiskers before he looks completely away and starts to walk over.

When he walks over, he walks backwards and then as soon as he is standing in front of us his body turns so he is facing us. His feet never change direction. I am confused by what I am seeing so I look over at Pryoca who is looking at the creature before us. I want to ask him many questions, but the fear holds my tongue and I stand still.

"We behéfþ æt pass." Says Pryoca to the creature.

"Hwá orders?" Asks the creature.

"High sácerd."

The creature stays silent for several anxious minutes before yelling out, "Déorgeat!"

I look over at Pryoca for his reaction and see that his eyes are narrowed at the creature. I notice his hands are balled up into fists and shaking. He is shaking with anger and about to do something he probably shouldn't. So I grab his balled up fist as the other creatures stop what they are doing and line up on each side, making a small path for us to walk through. I tug on Pryoca's hand and walk forward with him behind me. We make it to the black wall and I stop. There is no opening nor doorway and I'm not sure what I should do. I look over at the other creatures but they all only stare ahead into space until one of them steps forward or backward. He is the same as the first creature, as all the other creatures but he looks red not green and there are tints of yellow in his black pupils.

He looks at me then at the wall before placing his hand on it. It is like a spell has been lifted and a part of the wall is gone. A hole fills its place, big enough for me and Pryoca to go through. I look back over at the creature and say, "Geþancian. Thank you." Before I go through the wall I take one last look at the creature, see something that I can't explain in those eyes of his, and then I go through with Pryoca right behind me.

I wait at least ten minutes before stopping and looking behind me. Pryoca is still shaking slightly with rage, an uncontrollable rage that I've never seen before. It scares me slightly but I ignore that fear and look into his eyes. "Pryoca." I say to him. "Pryoca, they're gone. You're not what he says. Don't listen to him." His eyes move from the ground to me and he stops shaking. His fists unclench and relax.

"I'm sorry." He says to me. "I have been called everything except for the creature that I am my whole existence and bad memories follow. It is inexcusable. I'm sorry."

"It's alright." I say to him. "We all have bad times. We make it through and that's all that matters."

He nods his head in agreement and we start to walk again. I have no fear holding me back this time so I ask him, "What were those creatures?"

His face turns to stone as he explains. "They are without anything. They are shells full of nothing. They build the wall, they repair it, and they protect and serve the black and green kingdom. There is nothing in them. Cruel and unjust."

I ask no more questions as an eerie silence fills the spaces between us and everything else. I feel something behind us and I'm scared to look but I look anyway. I turn my head and see yellow, the objects and shapes are too unclear to make out. I blink twice as I shake my head and then look again. Nothing but yellow. I look forward and match my speed with Pryoca. I could have sworn I saw red and black.

....

The Knights of Camelot make their way through the forest towards their destination at a rapid speed. All are anxious to get to the lake, the lake that they hope is the right one, the one where Missione was last seen. This is the only lake that has the isle that Guinevere described perfectly, and the last option. So the Knights hurry their horses, gallop through the forest line and into the clearing of the lake. They dismount and begin the search.

They search, and search for hours until Sir Leon says, "Hold! I found something." All of the Knights gather around to see what he discovered. He is leaning over the edge of the water line on the far side of the lake and watching as something is floating in the lake. It is a piece of brown leather from a boot, but not just any, it is a Knight's boot. Sir Percival picks it out of the water and holds it in his hand as he remembers something from a few months ago. It was a few days before Missy and Gwen were taken by Morgana.

Percival and the other Knights were done their practice for the day and decide to get a drink at the tavern. Missy and Gareth are off on their own practicing as usual and it is Percival's turn to go and see if they want to come get a drink with the other Knights. So he makes his way to where they are practicing outside the walls of the city and when he finds them he stops. He watches as Missione teaches Gareth and as they spare. The way Missy moves is with the grace of a warrior, a very good one and she is teaching Gareth to become just like that. It makes him smile.

He watches a little while longer until she disarms him, but the sword gets to close and slices the side of her foot. They back away from each other as Percival runs towards her and checks her foot. She is lucky, extremely lucky. It didn't touch her skin, but almost and instead of her getting injured, her boot got all the wounds. She says she is fine and that the boot isn't bad enough that she needs to get them fixed right away. So instead they all go to the tavern and get a drink.

"It's Missy's!" Yells Percival to the others, and then more quietly to himself, "It's Missy's."