Arthur returned to bed, sheet in hand as he stared seriously at his changed friend and wondered how truly bad his situation was.
Merlin took a breathe and rubbed his eyes, taking off the display glasses that showed a live feed of Arthur's condition. "~We are not just a long way from Camelot. The current year is two thousand, two-hundred, fifty-eight. You have been kept at the verge of death for more then one thousand seven hundred years." He paused, looking at Arthur carefully, guessing at the rise in blood pressure, but also seeing the blood drain from his already paled face upset him even more, and Merlin couldn't help but close his eyes and bow in regret to his king.
Arthur for his part felt as if what he'd just heard had to be a lie. So much time. He wasn't just out of his own time, but he'd be dozens of generations out of his time. All of his friends, family, gone. Was his kingdom even still around. Was his castle? His home?
He felt cold. Chills running through and around his heat and forcing him to grasp at his frail and bare chest and asked the most basic of questions that were able to bubble up in his mind.
"~How?.....Why?~"
"~My lord, you were stabbed by a blade blessed by a dragon. Equivalent of Excalibur itself and by all rights should have died. It was only through tremendous amounts of magic on my side as well as the help of Avalon and the remaining fae that we were able to save you in a state of near death. We...I couldn't let you die. Not when I knew it was your fate to bring about Albion. A fate that I failed to help you realize then.
But, while I could keep you alive in that state. I could not heal you. No one knew a way to heal a wound inflicted by such a blade. So, I took to researching a means of reviving you. But...it has taken me most of this time to do so. I am sorry Arthur. I never imagined this would happen then, but I don't regret keeping you alive.~" He said taking a knew before his king and bowing deeply.
"~Then you're not REALLY APOLOGIZING ARE YOU?!~" Arthur shouted and smashed his arm against the bed in frustration. His fist shaking in anger but he tried to settle down as he couldn't truly blame his loyal friend for truly just trying to save him. Even if it felt as though this was a sham against life itself.
"~Then....Guinivere, Camelot. What of them. What of my kingdom, Merlin?~"
"~Gone.....all but us are gone my king.~"
Arthur just sighed again. The cold truth finally washing over him and no longer stinging, but just leaving his whole body cold. His eyes closed and a few tears escaping down his face. His hand coming up to cover his face in shaking frustration, anger, and loss. He could hardly believe that only he and his closest friend were left in this strange world that he was a foreigner to. It took him several silent moments but he was able to slowly regain his composure and wipe his tears. Trying to move past his grief.
"~Then what am I left to save? My kingdom is gone, thus making me no king. My people long dead, my armies, friends, my wife lost to time itself. So what Albion am I meant to save Merlin? What purpose could I have in a time where even my greatest great grandchild would be thought of as an ancestor?~" His face stern, but his voice lost, weak. His fist loose and limp against the bed.
"~My king.....Arthur. I know you have lost much. I know this is hard, but I believe the scholar's were mistaken in their interpretations of the prophecy. The old words state you to be the once and future king who will unite Albion and save it during its darkest hour in order to lead it to an age of prosperity and peace. Many felt it meant the isles of Briton should be united under your banner and that you would bring about a peace between the old magics and the new world of men. But, now that so much time has passed and so much has changed. I believe the prophecy was meant for you to not just save Camelot and the isles of Briton, but the world itself, and all of its living creatures.~"
Merlin's words left a heavy weight in the air. They sounded fast, and full of confidence, but their power and meaning left one feeling as though it were a joke, or the stolen writings of a play.
"~How is that possible? I have never espoused conquering the world. I merely wished for peace for my people from the constant wars of the saxons and foolish warlords that dotted our lands. To take on all the worlds problems. You ask and expect to much of me Merlin. Especially after I couldn't even accomplish such a smaller mission with all the kingdom of Camelot at my back.~" His face turned in shame as he acknowledged not just his failure in his final battle, but the many regrets and failures he'd had in ruling and governing his people and even his friends and love.
"~Arthur, I have always believed your heart to be just and kind. Always hoping for and moving to grant as many as possible a righteous and happy life. Even in your failings, you have done much more than most ever hoped. You are human, and no god. You have made and will make mistakes. But I believe in you and the prophecy set down for the both of us. That man and magic will join in hand under your rule to march forward into a new and just age.~" His eyes still downcast and bowed to the floor, but his voice strong and powerful with each word spoken. The knowledge of what he'd done to his king weighing him down, as well as the herculean efforts and quest he spoke of. But his faith in his friend stood strong and needed voice after silently waiting for millennia.
Arthur's face went through several changes. Displays of amusement, disbelief, gloom, and resignation. He wasn't sure why or how Merlin was able to dedicate himself to a soothsayer's words for nearly two thousand years just to bring him back from the dead. But whatever his friend's words were, they weren't simple platitudes or blind faith. They were powerfully ringing in his heart and made him feel ashamed once again, though this time for belittling his friend's efforts all alone for centuries. If he truly had such faith, and dedication to this cause into making both of their dreams not only reality, but on a far grander scale then they had ever previously imagined, who was he to shun them as pure thoughts of fancy. A man who looked at a world of war, shit, and betrayal and thinking he could take it and make it better when it hadn't changed for hundreds of years prior. This was no different, just bigger.
"~Very well.....Stand my friend. I imagine that your ancient knees ache on the floor like that. I don't like that we are stranded in this new time. But I cannot fault you any more for simply doing what you felt your duty. Come, tell me of our friends and foes and what business we have going forward to make sure this dream of ours comes to fruition." A small amused smile on his face, as he tried to show his support, even as she felt guilty to shove his feelings back and away to try and march forward as he always had.
"~Thank you Arthur. And yes, my old knees were getting a little soar on the floor, haha. But before we discuss the past. I must tell you a few things of the present. For one, this age is even worse strife then the time of Camelot and thus my reasoning for seeing your successful revival as only another fulfilled step of the prophecy. But also, the people of this time are a mark dumber and smarter then the ages past. I had to drag you in as a nearly dead corpse under the eyes of a lot of people. This time has no sorcery or magic in the eyes of the public, and even those that know more would suspect me of necromancy at the sight of you. So, I am afraid that I have taken the liberty to alter your appearance to hide the fact that you are the same person as said body.~" His hands moving in uncertain and shame filled circles as he wasn't sure whether to look Arthur in the eyes as he spoke.
"~Haha, so, what, am I browner now, or perhaps a silver haired elf?~" His laughter quite a welcome break from the previous moments gloom. Whatever his forebodings about their current state, he was at least sure that Merlin hadn't harmed him or done something stupid like turning him into a woman.
"~No, but, I have slightly reversed your age, by.....twenty years or so. You are, once again, a juvenile sire. Hairless and weak in most things, but, no one would suspect that I have been able to reverse the aging process and wake the dead. So, I am sure we are safe for the moment.~" His face lit with a forced smile as he tried to make light of the situation, but the shock on Arthur's face was deep.
He looked at his scrawny and weak limbs once more and now realized that Merlin hadn't made himself taller, but that he had shrunk. And by quite a bit if things were how he thought they were.
"~Show me. ~" He growled in frustration, to which Merlin snapped his fingers and slot in the wall opened to reveal a mirror which promptly floated in front of Arthur. What he saw was a young boy slowly turning into a man. It was him of his younger days, though with fewer scars and far cleaner skin. Nor freckles or blemishes whatsoever. He didn't even have the baby fat that had stuck with him in his childhood.
"~But.....why a child?~" His disbelief at seeming himself in his youth even more shocking then that he was alive after over a thousand years and being stabbed through the gut.
"Well, I'm afraid you have much to learn and we don't have a lot of time to learn it. Luckily, the bountiful gifts of youth provide a great expansion for growth of the mind, body, and soul in a short amount of time. I will teach you as much as I am able, but you must also experience the world before saving it. A lot has changed, but the human condition to protect the young has remained, so no one would find it odd that I am protecting a young new adopted protégé. Well, at least not too strange.~" He said, though the look on his face inspired a lot less confidence then his earlier fearsome speech of bravely taking on the world together.