Merlin Imagines

Regrets Chapter 5

"—Rlin!" Merlin groggily lifted his head. "Merlin!" He groaned as he opened his eyes. The drowsiness disappeared as soon as he laid his eyes on his friends.

"No, no no no no no." He mumbled in fear. "Wha—What are you all doing here?" His eyes scanned the group until his eyes landed on a lump huddled up in the corner. "Will?!" He whisper-shouted. "You brought Will?!" Will's head snapped up at the mention of his name.

"Merlin!" Will ran over to his friend and hugged him. Merlin hissed in pain, curling into himself. Will backed up immediately.

"Sorry," He mumbled sheepishly. Merlin let out a breathy laugh.

"S'okay," Everyone immediately bombarded Merlin with questions, one after the other.

"How long have you been here?"

"Did Morgana hurt you?"

"You look thin; when was the last time you ate?!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, everyone calm down!" Merlin held up his shackled hands, effectively silencing the group. He was about to answer, but he was stopped by the sounds of footsteps echoing through the silent halls.

Approaching their cell.

Will immediately retreated back into his corner. He curled up into a tight ball just as the iron door swung open with a loud groan. A group of guards shuffled in, each grabbing a prisoner. They were all escorted out in different directions, one by one, until Merlin and Morgana were the only ones in the room.

"Let them go," Merlin growled. "They have nothing to do with this. It's me you want." Morgana laughed. The noise made Merlin's blood boil.

"I know. But don't you see?" She crouched down to his level and stroked his cheek. "I'm doing this because I know it'll hurt you the most," She giggled and stood up, waving her hand. Seven large bubbles appeared in the air, hovering in front of him. Upon closer inspection, Merlin realized he could see his friends in each one. Screaming in pain. Merlin could only watch as they were brutally tortured. He strained against his chains with a snarl as Morgana backed out of the cell with a sickly-sweet smile on her face. She closed the door behind her and Merlin listened as her footsteps faded down the corridor.

Leaving Merlin alone with his friends. He tried summoning his magic to do something, anything, to help his friends, but it wasn't responding to his commands. The more he tried, the more hopeless he felt. He slowly brought his shaking hands to his ears, and began to rock back and forth as tears sprung to his eyes.

"I'm sorry," He whimpered. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." He sobbed over and over.

...

Merlin was woken up by the door creaking open. He watched silently as his friends were thrown back into the cell, crumpling to the ground like rag dolls. Morgana closed the door, locked it, and snapped her fingers. Merlin's shackled released and he flew to his friends side.

"Ta-ta," Morgana waved as she strolled down the hall. Merlin glared at her retreating form before turning his attention to the current task. His hands began to glow and he waved them over Arthur's wounds as they slowly began to close. When Arthur was healed, he moved onto Gwaine and treated his injuries. As he healed the knights, they all woke up and got out of Merlin's way. One by one, everyone woke up and began forming a plan on how to escape while Merlin continued to heal everyone. Eventually he finished with the knights and moved onto Will. He grimaced at Will's wounds but worked diligently to close them. When he was finished, Merlin sat back and wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Is everybody alright?" He asked afterwards, turning around to face the group. Everyone nodded. Merlin turned to Will, only to see that he hadn't woken up. "Will?" Merlin slowly crawled over to his friend and shook his shoulder. "Will? Will, wake up!" Why wasn't he waking up? "Will! Will!" Merlin shook him even harder as tears sprung to his eyes. "WILL!" Merlin's voice cracked as he let out a short sob.

"Well, isn't this heart wrenching?" Merlin whirled around to see Morgana standing on the other side. "Maybe you should've looked after him first. Then he may have made it," She cackled. Arthur lunged for her, but she stepped back at the last second, grinning as she turned and stalked down the hall. Arthur glared at her until she disappeared, before turning back to Merlin.

"Merlin, I'm so sorry," Merlin didn't make a sound. "Merlin?" Arthur tried again. Merlin's shoulders heaved. Arthur walked to Will's other side and faced Merlin. Merlin's face was stony, but his eyes were glowing a bright yellow. "...Merlin?" The air became electric, and Arthur slowly backed away. This wasn't the Merlin he knew. His Merlin was beyond reaching. Merlin's breathing grew heavier, before letting out an agonizing, gut-wrenching scream.

And then all hell broke loose.