The Royal Scandal *Book One*

The End is Only the Beginning S1 E13

Merlin's POV

The next morning I walked out of my room to say goodbye to Gaius to find that he wasn't there. Just as I was about to walk out, I saw a piece of paper with my name on it. I immediately recognised it as Gaius'. I put down my bag, picked up the note and read it.

Dear Merlin, my life is already near its end. There has, for the most part, been very little purpose to it, very little that will be remembered. In contrast, Merlin, your life is destined for greatness. You can Chelsea deserve to be happy together and I know that no matter the obstacles that you will face, together you will get through it. Live by the tenets I have taught you and I believe you will in time become the greatest warlock ever. To have known you has been the greatest pleasure. And to sacrifice myself for you and Chelsea is but an honour. You are and always will be the son I never had.

No! Gaius cannot do this!

I ran out and grabbed a horse. The quickest I had ever done it before, I got the horse ready and rode out of Camelot.

I went through the forests, and over the cliffs trying to get to Gaius before he did what I knew he was planning on doing.

After a while, I arrived back at the ruins and ran in just as Nimueh was muttering an incantation and holding the cup in the air. Gaius lay unconscious against the stone tomb in the middle of the clearing.

"Stop!" I yelled.

She smirked and looked over at me.

"Back again so soon, warlock?" She smirked.

"What have you done?" I asked, peering down at Gaius.

"Your girlfriend is safe. Isn't that what you wanted?" She countered.

"Have you killed him?" I spoke seriously.

"It was his wish," Nimueh admitted.

"I bid my life for Arthur's, not my girlfriend's, not Gaius'!" I yelled at her.

"The old religion does not care who lives and who dies, only that the balance of the world is restored. To save a life, a life must be taken, Gaius knew that," Nimueh explained.

"It is not the old religion that has done this, it is you," I accused her.

"Come now. We're too valuable to each other to be enemies," Nimueh teased.

"No, I share nothing with you!" I disagreed.

"With my help, Arthur will become King," Nimueh said.

"I will make Arthur King, but you will never see that day," I threatened. "Ástryce!"

I threw a ton of fire in her direction, but of course her being a lot older than me, managed to stop it.

"Your childish tricks are useless against me, Merlin. I am a Priestess of the Old Religion," Nimueh said, before firing a fireball at me.

Luckily, I managed to jump out the way in time.

"You too are a creature of the Old Religion. You should join me," She suggested.

"You think I would join forces with such a selfish and cruel magic? Never," I laughed emotionlessly.

"So be it," Nimueh replied, throwing another fireball at me.

Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough this time and it knocked me to the ground. The fire had left a burn in the middle of my chest and to say it hurt would be an understatement.

"Pity. Together, we could have ruled the world," She tutted, before walking away. But I would not let her beat me that easily.

"You should not have killed my friend and tried to kill my girlfriend," I said, getting back up, determination pulsing through my veins.

She turned to face me, once again smirking. Using all my energy, I controlled the sky and caused it to thunder and lightning. It eventually struck Nimueh, leaving her dead.

I ran over to Gaius and knelt down beside him.

"Gaius. Gaius," I said, shaking him.

He didn't reply, nor did he move at all. Or so I thought.

"Merlin," I heard Gaius mutter.

"Gaius, you're alive," I laughed, pulling him into a hug.

"What did you do?" He asked.

"Nimueh's dead. The balance of the world has been restored," I told him.

"You amaze me. You've mastered the power of life and death itself. We'll make a great warlock out of you yet," Gaius said.

"So you believe in me now?" I asked.

"Well...I would do...if--if you could...stop this blasted rain," Gaius laughed.

I joined in laughing and stopped the rain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chelsea's POV

The next day I woke up and felt a dip on the side of my bed. I opened my eyes and saw a certain somebody sitting on my bed.

"Merlin?" I muttered.

"Good morning gorgeous," He smiled.

"What happened?" I asked.

"It's over. The balance in the world has been restored and we are both alive," Merlin added smiling at me.

"That's definitely a bonus," I laughed.

"So what next?" Merlin asked.

"I don't know," I thought aloud.

"I have a suggestion," Merlin smirked.

"Oh, and what could that be?" I smiled, knowing where this was going.

"I think you already know," He smiled.

"I don't think I do. I think you might need to show me," I smirked.

And just like that my life was perfect and falling back into place.

Or so I thought...