As the World Comes to an End, Epilogue
AN: I just need to make a small retraction. I wrote in an earlier chapter that Samuel (the little boy at the daycare that Merlin becomes attached to) was the son of the chief elder. To better serve where I want the epilogue to go, that needs to be changed. Samuel is just the son of a regular villager, not the chief elder. Sorry. Now onto the ending. :)
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As the World Comes to an End
Epilogue: You’re My King and I’m Your Lionheart
Merlin and Arthur stay at Windermere for a good twenty years.
Within their first year, Arthur becomes Chief Elder. The laws of the village have always been relaxed, and the previous Chief Elder has been too old for his job for nearly five years, with no children to take his place. And so, at the yearly electoral meeting during their first summer in Windermere, the Chief Elder agrees to let a vote determine their next elder. Arthur receives more nominations than anyone, and when the decision is put to a vote he wins in a landslide.
Over the long years, Arthur does what he can to build and expand - not just the village, but the country as well.
He starts off small, expanding the borders of Windermere, building it up to better withstand the cold months and the dry spells and the floods. He visits a few of the smaller neighboring villages, those that are failing or slowly dying. He offers to help them rebuild their own land if he can, or offers them a place in Windermere. The village, which has long since become their home, quickly becomes a small town. As the reputation of not only Windermere but Arthur Pendragon himself begins to grow, more and more people move there. More people means more mouths to feed, but it also means more hands to work and build and farm. More families and children. More laughter and life.
Arthur is known far and wide as a fair, just, and caring leader; a man with strong ambitions and the drive to see them achieved. Word begins to travel across the country. Over his first decade as Elder, people flock from all corners to join his village. As Windermere begins to push her boundaries, Arthur finds it necessary to turn people away. But he encourages them to join the villages nearby, sometimes to build their own, and soon the countryside up and down the river is overflowing with life and prosperity.
Arthur joins many of the communities together. He forms treaties with them, letting them govern themselves as they see fit, but they help each other through rough times. They offer each other aid in times of sickness, rebuild in the wake of harsh weather, and offer food and clothing in times of need. He offers treaties to all the villages around Windermere, traveling far and wide (with Merlin always at his side). He always leaves those who don’t want to join him in peace.
Over the years, not everyone approves of Arthur’s attempts to join the country together. They see him as power hungry, claim that he must have some hidden agenda. More than anything, they’re afraid that he’ll rise to be a tyrannical dictator like those of times past.
Nearly a decade into Arthur’s rule, three of the villages who don’t approve of Arthur join together and storm Windermere. They don’t hurt the villagers, but instead force their way to the city square with weapons raised and demand an audience with Arthur.
But when Arthur meets with them, he refuses to fight. He tells his own citizens to lay down any weapons they may have brought out, and they all obey. Arthur tells the small army that the only weapons they have in Windermere are used for hunting for food, and they’ll never be used for anything else. Arthur has not forced them to join with him, and he never will. He tells them that he will not fight them, and he asks that they extend the same courtesy and that they leave his people alone.
In the end, the army disperses peacefully, its members returning to their own villages. A few years later, two of the villages join with Arthur while the third disbands, its people moving off to different parts of the country in search of something else.
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Arthur doesn’t do anything alone. Merlin remains a firm fixture at his side, just as he had all those years ago. He counsels him, encourages him, gives him strength, and loves him unconditionally.
While Arthur easily transitions into their new life in the village, Merlin seems a bit off. Arthur quickly begins to realize it’s the loss of his magic that’s bothering Merlin. Merlin seemed so free and even happy about the loss of his magic when they were in the caves. But after two thousand years of having it, Arthur can understand why Merlin finds it so hard to cope without it now. The biggest problem is that Merlin wants to help out more; he wants to use his magic to hunt, to build things, to make their lives easier. He knows how to do things with his hands, of course, but there are things he can’t do as well as he could with his magic.
He misses his ability to heal more than anything. When Merlin sees the first case of real sickness spread through Windermere, he feels completely useless. All he can do is play nurse and hope for the best.
During one particularly bad bout of something not even Sibyl can identify, nearly a hundred people die. One night, Arthur finds Merlin sobbing by the riverside under their favorite tree in the orchard. Merlin’s inconsolable. Arthur holds him, and all he can get out of him is “worthless” and “useless” and “broken.” It’s when Merlin sobs, “What good am I without my magic?” that Arthur pulls back and kisses him. It’s a salty, wet, messy kiss, but it’s what Merlin needs.
“Shut up, Merlin. For once in your life, shut up.” Arthur kisses him again, and Merlin recovers enough to kiss him back for a second before pulling away.
“Arthur, what-”
“You’re not broken, Merlin. Or worthless, or useless. You don’t need your magic. It was a part of you, of course it was, but that’s not all there is to you. The world still needs you, Merlin. I still need you. Where would I be without you?”
“Arthur…you’d have done all this without me.”
It’s like two thousand years ago all over again. Except this time, Arthur doesn’t hold back. He pulls Merlin close and kisses him firmly. When he finally pulls away, he whispers: “Never.”
After that night, Arthur makes sure to remind Merlin over and over again that he’s more than his magic. That he’s important because he’s Merlin, not because he was a sorcerer. Arthur doesn’t need Merlin’s magic, he just needs Merlin. Merlin, after all, is more than enough.
Merlin insists many times over the years that Arthur could do this without him. And each time he says it, Arthur shuts him up with a kiss and responds: “Never.”
And eventually, in time, Merlin begins to believe him.
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During their first few years in Windermere, Arthur becomes increasingly attached to the young boy Samuel. At the age of 8, Samuel becomes an orphan when he loses his father to the worst sickness the village has ever seen. One of the older village widows who tends at the daycare takes him into her home.
Merlin and Arthur visit Samuel whenever they can, and Arthur begins to appreciate why Merlin likes the boy so much. While Arthur believes that Samuel is more like Merlin than anyone, he begins to see himself in the boy as well. He’s headstrong but still self conscious; good at getting what he wants but caring. By the age of eleven, Arthur sees a real potential for leadership in Samuel.
Arthur’s busy schedule doesn’t leave much time for the three of them to spend together, but Merlin and Arthur do spend as much time with Samuel as they can. In time, they both begin to care for him like a son, and Samuel quickly begins to see them as more than just the Chief Elder and his Advisor. When Samuel turns twelve, the widow who’s been raising him offers to care for two 5 year old twins who lost their father in a hunting accident. In order to better cope with caring for two young children, she asks Arthur and Merlin if they would like to continue caring for Samuel.
They don’t even need to discuss it.
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Over the years to come, Arthur and Merlin raise Samuel as their own. Merlin insists that they let Samuel remain a kid for as long as possible, and Arthur wholeheartedly agrees.
But by the age of fourteen, Samuel is brimming with curiosity and questions about running the village. He wants to learn everything Arthur has to teach him about leadership. And so Arthur quickly becomes Samuel’s mentor as well as father. Samuel is a worthy protégé, learning quickly and eagerly. While Merlin and Arthur mourn the loss of his innocence, his genuine desire to help the village, to make life easier, and to find peace with the rest of the country makes both of them beam with pride.
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As the years go by, Arthur passes more and more of his responsibilities onto Samuel. He and Merlin spend quiet time in the fields and orchards: farming, harvesting, helping to build and rebuild houses and expand the village.
Arthur loves every second of leading Windermere, uniting the villages, and raising Samuel, always with Merlin by his side. But twenty years into his role as leader of New England, Arthur begins to feel tired. More then anything, though, he begins to miss the quiet time he used to spend alone with Merlin: just the two of them and no one else.
When Arthur turns 50, he and Merlin agree it’s time for them to move on. They want to spend some time away from the rest of the world. Together, and in peace.
“I’ll do my best to lead the people in your stead, Arthur,” Samuel promises. “But…I’ll miss you both so much. Thank you for caring for me like I was your own.”
Merlin and Arthur hug Samuel close, and Merlin swears:
“We will always love you as our son.”
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Merlin and Arthur spend a few years quietly traveling the country, marveling at how New England is beginning to flourish. In the end, they travel to Scotland and retire on a small piece of land they can call their own, and they build a farm. It’s quiet, and quaint, but it’s theirs.
Over the years they tend to their farm and pass their time together peacefully. Merlin reads Arthur some of their favorite stories, along with a few new books they’ve collected over the years. Though Arthur’s more than capable of reading the books himself, he still likes it more than anything when Merlin reads them to him.
“‘Once upon a time - for that is how all stories should begin - there was a boy who lost his mother.’”
“Are you sure this isn’t my story, Merlin?” Arthur asks.
Merlin shows him the cover of the book he’s reading. “It’s called ‘The Book of Lost Things,’ Arthur. And you’re going to love it. I promise.”
Eventually, Arthur begins to write their story: the story of Arthur and Merlin. Knight and Sorcerer. Ruler and Advisor. The two men whose love once saved the world. Merlin adds some of his own stories to the middle of the book, to cover the time when Arthur was gone. One book quickly becomes two, and by the time it’s done it spans the equivalent of what Arthur likes to call “Ten Game of Thrones.” They call their saga “King and Lionheart.”
“But what does it mean, Merlin?” Arthur asks.
Merlin smiles.
“It was a beautiful song, Arthur. I wish you could have heard it.”
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Arthur and Merlin return to Windermere many times over the years. They visit with Sibyl, who never marries but assures them that, as Chief Healer and Midwife, she is happier than she’s ever been. Samuel marries a beautiful woman named Jessica who works in the orchards, and they have three children together, two boys and a girl. Samuel becomes a good father and a real leader, one Merlin and Arthur “couldn’t be more proud of.”
“What can I say, Dad?” Samuel always responds with a grin. “I learned from the best.”
On their last trip to Windermere, Merlin and Arthur give Samuel their book in the hopes that he and future generations can learn from it. Samuel smiles bravely through his tears when he reads the dedication.
To our dearest Samuel: Family doesn’t end with blood. You have always been and will always be our son. We couldn’t be prouder of the man you have become. The world will be a brighter place because of you.
Samuel hugs them both and whispers:
“The world is already a better place because of you.”
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On their way home from passing on their life story to Samuel, Merlin and Arthur visit the ruins of London so Arthur can finally see just what a big city looks like. Nobody lives there, even still. Nothing grows and the air still reeks of smoke and death. Arthur’s heard a lot about big cities and how they used to work, especially this one. Merlin shows him what’s left of some of the best spots. The Tower Bridge, the Eye, Buckingham Palace, and Big Ben.
Arthur is amazed and awed at the size of the place, and the beauty of the architecture. As much as he likes it though, Arthur hates that it feels like a ghost town.
“It makes me sad, Merlin. I wish I could have seen what it was like when people lived here.”
“I wish you could have, too.”
In the end, Arthur kisses Merlin fondly by one of the fountains in Trafalgar Square and thanks him.
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Merlin and Arthur spend the last five years of their life growing old together. And it’s there, in the bright, peaceful mornings and the long, quiet evenings, that Merlin finds his magic isn’t entirely gone after all.
Slowly but surely, the smallest bits of Merlin’s magic come back to him.
“But I thought Kilgharrah said your magic was gone for good?” Arthur questions.
Merlin just smiles.
“In two thousand years, it’s the only thing he’s ever really been wrong about.”
Merlin spends many of his afternoons on the porch, under the apple trees, and by the side of the lake, trying to get his magic to come back to him. In the end, he can only do little things. He can make flowers bloom, recreate the blue ball of light that led Arthur to the Morteous flower all those years ago, create small blue fires in his palms and golden dragons in the flames of their fire. Merlin grows frustrated at the fact that he can’t do anything more, but Arthur comforts him.
“This is what I’ve always loved most about your magic, Merlin. All these small, whimsical things. The little stuff that always makes you smile.”
He kisses Merlin fondly to prove his point.
“I can’t bear to see you upset, Merlin. Not over something like this. If this is all the magic that comes back to you, then so be it. So long as it makes you smile.”
Merlin takes Arthur’s words to heart, and he smiles. He makes sure to smile every day, as often as he can. He makes the blue ball of light sparkle above their bed. He makes the flowers bloom during the day and the dragons dance in the flames at night. And he does all of it for Arthur, because Merlin finds that when he smiles, Arthur smiles back, and it’s all that Merlin has ever wanted and more.
The one thing Merlin can’t seem to do is make the blue butterflies. They were Arthur’s favorite, and Merlin tries his hardest to make them again. But for some reason, he just can’t do it.
Arthur holds Merlin close at night, their blue light shining quietly overhead, and tells him he doesn’t need any butterflies.
“All I need is you.”
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One morning, Merlin wakes to tell Arthur that Camelot has fallen.
“I saw it, Arthur. The castle, the town, our cabin. It’s all gone. The only thing left is the tree. And Excalibur. It’s still broken, but it’s there, right where we left it…and it always will be. As long as there’s the smallest bit of magic in the world, it will wait until someone worthy comes along to claim it.”
Arthur doesn’t ask how Merlin knows this. He just pulls him close as they allow themselves to grieve.
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That night, Arthur wakes to find himself alone. The light that normally floats overhead - a quiet, comforting sentinel - has gone out. Arthur pulls himself out of bed, grabs his cane, and shuffles slowly to the front door. He finds Merlin sitting on the porch steps, his hands cupped slightly. Arthur sits down carefully, ignoring the arthritis in his knees and the constant pain in his back. He spies a faint glow coming from between Merlin’s old, gnarled hands, and he assumes it’s their blue ball of light.
But then Merlin looks up at him, tears in his eyes, and opens his hands.
A small blue butterfly flutters out. It hovers in front of them for a few seconds, glowing bright enough to put the stars above them to shame. Then it flies around them once and soars off into the sky.
As Merlin cries, Arthur holds him close, pressing gentle kisses to every part of him he can reach, brushing away his tears and whispering:
“I love you.”
Merlin doesn’t try to make another butterfly. He knows deep down inside that he’ll never make another. But Arthur tells him it doesn’t matter. It was beautiful just the same, and after all:
“We got to see it one last time.”
Merlin and Arthur help each other up off the porch and back into bed. They talk about everything and nothing that night. Arthur talks about how grateful he is that he was able to get the old Merlin back. Merlin responds that he only feels like himself when he’s with Arthur.
Neither of them is sure how long they lie awake. They do know one thing, though.
“I waited a hundred lifetimes for you, Arthur. And I would have waited a hundred more.”
Arthur smiles, tears springing to his eyes. “Well, you don't have to wait anymore. I'll be with you again soon, Merlin. I promise.”
They pass peacefully in their sleep…together. And when they reach Avalon, they greet each other as old friends.
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That evening, deep in the Rocky Mountains of the United States, a baby girl is born. She cries loudly, and when she opens her eyes, they shine with gold.
THE END
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AN: The book that Merlin reads to Arthur is called “The Book of Lost Things” by John Connolly. It’s a story about stories and a book about books; a tale about the power of stories and the power of reading to change lives. I highly recommend it to fans of fantasy and all fans of reading.
Final AN: It took me a lot longer to finish this story than I ever intended, and I’m sorry about that. Life has a way of getting in the way of things we really want to do but don’t necessarily have the time or energy for.
I just want to say that I wrote this story for the ending. Not just the “happy ending,” but the ending where Arthur makes a difference with Merlin to help him and they get to be together by themselves at the end of their lives. They get to pass away at the same time just as Merlin’s magic comes back to him. I was able to give them the ending that they should have gotten; that’s all I wanted from the beginning and what I feel like we were kind of robbed of in the finale.
I was also excited for the idea of Merlin’s magic being passed on. This ending, and the part where Arthur stabs Merlin and Merlin loses his magic but doesn’t die, were the very first imaginings I had of this story. They were the ideas I had in the shower one morning and wrote down as soon as I got out, even though it made me late for work. These were the things that I knew I wanted to have and that never changed no matter how much this story evolved. I really enjoyed writing this even though it took me longer than it should have. There are a few moments in here that I’m very proud of, and some things that I know could use some editing; but overall I’m very happy with this story. I hope you enjoyed it, too. Thanks for reading! :)
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As the World Comes to an End
Epilogue: You’re My King and I’m Your Lionheart
Merlin and Arthur stay at Windermere for a good twenty years.
Within their first year, Arthur becomes Chief Elder. The laws of the village have always been relaxed, and the previous Chief Elder has been too old for his job for nearly five years, with no children to take his place. And so, at the yearly electoral meeting during their first summer in Windermere, the Chief Elder agrees to let a vote determine their next elder. Arthur receives more nominations than anyone, and when the decision is put to a vote he wins in a landslide.
Over the long years, Arthur does what he can to build and expand - not just the village, but the country as well.
He starts off small, expanding the borders of Windermere, building it up to better withstand the cold months and the dry spells and the floods. He visits a few of the smaller neighboring villages, those that are failing or slowly dying. He offers to help them rebuild their own land if he can, or offers them a place in Windermere. The village, which has long since become their home, quickly becomes a small town. As the reputation of not only Windermere but Arthur Pendragon himself begins to grow, more and more people move there. More people means more mouths to feed, but it also means more hands to work and build and farm. More families and children. More laughter and life.
Arthur is known far and wide as a fair, just, and caring leader; a man with strong ambitions and the drive to see them achieved. Word begins to travel across the country. Over his first decade as Elder, people flock from all corners to join his village. As Windermere begins to push her boundaries, Arthur finds it necessary to turn people away. But he encourages them to join the villages nearby, sometimes to build their own, and soon the countryside up and down the river is overflowing with life and prosperity.
Arthur joins many of the communities together. He forms treaties with them, letting them govern themselves as they see fit, but they help each other through rough times. They offer each other aid in times of sickness, rebuild in the wake of harsh weather, and offer food and clothing in times of need. He offers treaties to all the villages around Windermere, traveling far and wide (with Merlin always at his side). He always leaves those who don’t want to join him in peace.
Over the years, not everyone approves of Arthur’s attempts to join the country together. They see him as power hungry, claim that he must have some hidden agenda. More than anything, they’re afraid that he’ll rise to be a tyrannical dictator like those of times past.
Nearly a decade into Arthur’s rule, three of the villages who don’t approve of Arthur join together and storm Windermere. They don’t hurt the villagers, but instead force their way to the city square with weapons raised and demand an audience with Arthur.
But when Arthur meets with them, he refuses to fight. He tells his own citizens to lay down any weapons they may have brought out, and they all obey. Arthur tells the small army that the only weapons they have in Windermere are used for hunting for food, and they’ll never be used for anything else. Arthur has not forced them to join with him, and he never will. He tells them that he will not fight them, and he asks that they extend the same courtesy and that they leave his people alone.
In the end, the army disperses peacefully, its members returning to their own villages. A few years later, two of the villages join with Arthur while the third disbands, its people moving off to different parts of the country in search of something else.
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Arthur doesn’t do anything alone. Merlin remains a firm fixture at his side, just as he had all those years ago. He counsels him, encourages him, gives him strength, and loves him unconditionally.
While Arthur easily transitions into their new life in the village, Merlin seems a bit off. Arthur quickly begins to realize it’s the loss of his magic that’s bothering Merlin. Merlin seemed so free and even happy about the loss of his magic when they were in the caves. But after two thousand years of having it, Arthur can understand why Merlin finds it so hard to cope without it now. The biggest problem is that Merlin wants to help out more; he wants to use his magic to hunt, to build things, to make their lives easier. He knows how to do things with his hands, of course, but there are things he can’t do as well as he could with his magic.
He misses his ability to heal more than anything. When Merlin sees the first case of real sickness spread through Windermere, he feels completely useless. All he can do is play nurse and hope for the best.
During one particularly bad bout of something not even Sibyl can identify, nearly a hundred people die. One night, Arthur finds Merlin sobbing by the riverside under their favorite tree in the orchard. Merlin’s inconsolable. Arthur holds him, and all he can get out of him is “worthless” and “useless” and “broken.” It’s when Merlin sobs, “What good am I without my magic?” that Arthur pulls back and kisses him. It’s a salty, wet, messy kiss, but it’s what Merlin needs.
“Shut up, Merlin. For once in your life, shut up.” Arthur kisses him again, and Merlin recovers enough to kiss him back for a second before pulling away.
“Arthur, what-”
“You’re not broken, Merlin. Or worthless, or useless. You don’t need your magic. It was a part of you, of course it was, but that’s not all there is to you. The world still needs you, Merlin. I still need you. Where would I be without you?”
“Arthur…you’d have done all this without me.”
It’s like two thousand years ago all over again. Except this time, Arthur doesn’t hold back. He pulls Merlin close and kisses him firmly. When he finally pulls away, he whispers: “Never.”
After that night, Arthur makes sure to remind Merlin over and over again that he’s more than his magic. That he’s important because he’s Merlin, not because he was a sorcerer. Arthur doesn’t need Merlin’s magic, he just needs Merlin. Merlin, after all, is more than enough.
Merlin insists many times over the years that Arthur could do this without him. And each time he says it, Arthur shuts him up with a kiss and responds: “Never.”
And eventually, in time, Merlin begins to believe him.
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During their first few years in Windermere, Arthur becomes increasingly attached to the young boy Samuel. At the age of 8, Samuel becomes an orphan when he loses his father to the worst sickness the village has ever seen. One of the older village widows who tends at the daycare takes him into her home.
Merlin and Arthur visit Samuel whenever they can, and Arthur begins to appreciate why Merlin likes the boy so much. While Arthur believes that Samuel is more like Merlin than anyone, he begins to see himself in the boy as well. He’s headstrong but still self conscious; good at getting what he wants but caring. By the age of eleven, Arthur sees a real potential for leadership in Samuel.
Arthur’s busy schedule doesn’t leave much time for the three of them to spend together, but Merlin and Arthur do spend as much time with Samuel as they can. In time, they both begin to care for him like a son, and Samuel quickly begins to see them as more than just the Chief Elder and his Advisor. When Samuel turns twelve, the widow who’s been raising him offers to care for two 5 year old twins who lost their father in a hunting accident. In order to better cope with caring for two young children, she asks Arthur and Merlin if they would like to continue caring for Samuel.
They don’t even need to discuss it.
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Over the years to come, Arthur and Merlin raise Samuel as their own. Merlin insists that they let Samuel remain a kid for as long as possible, and Arthur wholeheartedly agrees.
But by the age of fourteen, Samuel is brimming with curiosity and questions about running the village. He wants to learn everything Arthur has to teach him about leadership. And so Arthur quickly becomes Samuel’s mentor as well as father. Samuel is a worthy protégé, learning quickly and eagerly. While Merlin and Arthur mourn the loss of his innocence, his genuine desire to help the village, to make life easier, and to find peace with the rest of the country makes both of them beam with pride.
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As the years go by, Arthur passes more and more of his responsibilities onto Samuel. He and Merlin spend quiet time in the fields and orchards: farming, harvesting, helping to build and rebuild houses and expand the village.
Arthur loves every second of leading Windermere, uniting the villages, and raising Samuel, always with Merlin by his side. But twenty years into his role as leader of New England, Arthur begins to feel tired. More then anything, though, he begins to miss the quiet time he used to spend alone with Merlin: just the two of them and no one else.
When Arthur turns 50, he and Merlin agree it’s time for them to move on. They want to spend some time away from the rest of the world. Together, and in peace.
“I’ll do my best to lead the people in your stead, Arthur,” Samuel promises. “But…I’ll miss you both so much. Thank you for caring for me like I was your own.”
Merlin and Arthur hug Samuel close, and Merlin swears:
“We will always love you as our son.”
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Merlin and Arthur spend a few years quietly traveling the country, marveling at how New England is beginning to flourish. In the end, they travel to Scotland and retire on a small piece of land they can call their own, and they build a farm. It’s quiet, and quaint, but it’s theirs.
Over the years they tend to their farm and pass their time together peacefully. Merlin reads Arthur some of their favorite stories, along with a few new books they’ve collected over the years. Though Arthur’s more than capable of reading the books himself, he still likes it more than anything when Merlin reads them to him.
“‘Once upon a time - for that is how all stories should begin - there was a boy who lost his mother.’”
“Are you sure this isn’t my story, Merlin?” Arthur asks.
Merlin shows him the cover of the book he’s reading. “It’s called ‘The Book of Lost Things,’ Arthur. And you’re going to love it. I promise.”
Eventually, Arthur begins to write their story: the story of Arthur and Merlin. Knight and Sorcerer. Ruler and Advisor. The two men whose love once saved the world. Merlin adds some of his own stories to the middle of the book, to cover the time when Arthur was gone. One book quickly becomes two, and by the time it’s done it spans the equivalent of what Arthur likes to call “Ten Game of Thrones.” They call their saga “King and Lionheart.”
“But what does it mean, Merlin?” Arthur asks.
Merlin smiles.
“It was a beautiful song, Arthur. I wish you could have heard it.”
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Arthur and Merlin return to Windermere many times over the years. They visit with Sibyl, who never marries but assures them that, as Chief Healer and Midwife, she is happier than she’s ever been. Samuel marries a beautiful woman named Jessica who works in the orchards, and they have three children together, two boys and a girl. Samuel becomes a good father and a real leader, one Merlin and Arthur “couldn’t be more proud of.”
“What can I say, Dad?” Samuel always responds with a grin. “I learned from the best.”
On their last trip to Windermere, Merlin and Arthur give Samuel their book in the hopes that he and future generations can learn from it. Samuel smiles bravely through his tears when he reads the dedication.
To our dearest Samuel: Family doesn’t end with blood. You have always been and will always be our son. We couldn’t be prouder of the man you have become. The world will be a brighter place because of you.
Samuel hugs them both and whispers:
“The world is already a better place because of you.”
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On their way home from passing on their life story to Samuel, Merlin and Arthur visit the ruins of London so Arthur can finally see just what a big city looks like. Nobody lives there, even still. Nothing grows and the air still reeks of smoke and death. Arthur’s heard a lot about big cities and how they used to work, especially this one. Merlin shows him what’s left of some of the best spots. The Tower Bridge, the Eye, Buckingham Palace, and Big Ben.
Arthur is amazed and awed at the size of the place, and the beauty of the architecture. As much as he likes it though, Arthur hates that it feels like a ghost town.
“It makes me sad, Merlin. I wish I could have seen what it was like when people lived here.”
“I wish you could have, too.”
In the end, Arthur kisses Merlin fondly by one of the fountains in Trafalgar Square and thanks him.
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Merlin and Arthur spend the last five years of their life growing old together. And it’s there, in the bright, peaceful mornings and the long, quiet evenings, that Merlin finds his magic isn’t entirely gone after all.
Slowly but surely, the smallest bits of Merlin’s magic come back to him.
“But I thought Kilgharrah said your magic was gone for good?” Arthur questions.
Merlin just smiles.
“In two thousand years, it’s the only thing he’s ever really been wrong about.”
Merlin spends many of his afternoons on the porch, under the apple trees, and by the side of the lake, trying to get his magic to come back to him. In the end, he can only do little things. He can make flowers bloom, recreate the blue ball of light that led Arthur to the Morteous flower all those years ago, create small blue fires in his palms and golden dragons in the flames of their fire. Merlin grows frustrated at the fact that he can’t do anything more, but Arthur comforts him.
“This is what I’ve always loved most about your magic, Merlin. All these small, whimsical things. The little stuff that always makes you smile.”
He kisses Merlin fondly to prove his point.
“I can’t bear to see you upset, Merlin. Not over something like this. If this is all the magic that comes back to you, then so be it. So long as it makes you smile.”
Merlin takes Arthur’s words to heart, and he smiles. He makes sure to smile every day, as often as he can. He makes the blue ball of light sparkle above their bed. He makes the flowers bloom during the day and the dragons dance in the flames at night. And he does all of it for Arthur, because Merlin finds that when he smiles, Arthur smiles back, and it’s all that Merlin has ever wanted and more.
The one thing Merlin can’t seem to do is make the blue butterflies. They were Arthur’s favorite, and Merlin tries his hardest to make them again. But for some reason, he just can’t do it.
Arthur holds Merlin close at night, their blue light shining quietly overhead, and tells him he doesn’t need any butterflies.
“All I need is you.”
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One morning, Merlin wakes to tell Arthur that Camelot has fallen.
“I saw it, Arthur. The castle, the town, our cabin. It’s all gone. The only thing left is the tree. And Excalibur. It’s still broken, but it’s there, right where we left it…and it always will be. As long as there’s the smallest bit of magic in the world, it will wait until someone worthy comes along to claim it.”
Arthur doesn’t ask how Merlin knows this. He just pulls him close as they allow themselves to grieve.
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That night, Arthur wakes to find himself alone. The light that normally floats overhead - a quiet, comforting sentinel - has gone out. Arthur pulls himself out of bed, grabs his cane, and shuffles slowly to the front door. He finds Merlin sitting on the porch steps, his hands cupped slightly. Arthur sits down carefully, ignoring the arthritis in his knees and the constant pain in his back. He spies a faint glow coming from between Merlin’s old, gnarled hands, and he assumes it’s their blue ball of light.
But then Merlin looks up at him, tears in his eyes, and opens his hands.
A small blue butterfly flutters out. It hovers in front of them for a few seconds, glowing bright enough to put the stars above them to shame. Then it flies around them once and soars off into the sky.
As Merlin cries, Arthur holds him close, pressing gentle kisses to every part of him he can reach, brushing away his tears and whispering:
“I love you.”
Merlin doesn’t try to make another butterfly. He knows deep down inside that he’ll never make another. But Arthur tells him it doesn’t matter. It was beautiful just the same, and after all:
“We got to see it one last time.”
Merlin and Arthur help each other up off the porch and back into bed. They talk about everything and nothing that night. Arthur talks about how grateful he is that he was able to get the old Merlin back. Merlin responds that he only feels like himself when he’s with Arthur.
Neither of them is sure how long they lie awake. They do know one thing, though.
“I waited a hundred lifetimes for you, Arthur. And I would have waited a hundred more.”
Arthur smiles, tears springing to his eyes. “Well, you don't have to wait anymore. I'll be with you again soon, Merlin. I promise.”
They pass peacefully in their sleep…together. And when they reach Avalon, they greet each other as old friends.
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That evening, deep in the Rocky Mountains of the United States, a baby girl is born. She cries loudly, and when she opens her eyes, they shine with gold.
THE END
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AN: The book that Merlin reads to Arthur is called “The Book of Lost Things” by John Connolly. It’s a story about stories and a book about books; a tale about the power of stories and the power of reading to change lives. I highly recommend it to fans of fantasy and all fans of reading.
Final AN: It took me a lot longer to finish this story than I ever intended, and I’m sorry about that. Life has a way of getting in the way of things we really want to do but don’t necessarily have the time or energy for.
I just want to say that I wrote this story for the ending. Not just the “happy ending,” but the ending where Arthur makes a difference with Merlin to help him and they get to be together by themselves at the end of their lives. They get to pass away at the same time just as Merlin’s magic comes back to him. I was able to give them the ending that they should have gotten; that’s all I wanted from the beginning and what I feel like we were kind of robbed of in the finale.
I was also excited for the idea of Merlin’s magic being passed on. This ending, and the part where Arthur stabs Merlin and Merlin loses his magic but doesn’t die, were the very first imaginings I had of this story. They were the ideas I had in the shower one morning and wrote down as soon as I got out, even though it made me late for work. These were the things that I knew I wanted to have and that never changed no matter how much this story evolved. I really enjoyed writing this even though it took me longer than it should have. There are a few moments in here that I’m very proud of, and some things that I know could use some editing; but overall I’m very happy with this story. I hope you enjoyed it, too. Thanks for reading! :)