#Reincarnated Arthur

[keitorin3]

Medici x Merlin Short

Merlin: *Meets Giuliano and is not impressed*

Giuliano: Do I know you?

Merlin: I sure hope not, or you'll most likely be seeing too much of me.

Giuliano: *Confused but intrigued* And why is that?

Merlin: Because I'd have done something stupid for the right reasons and somehow be rewarded with being your servant.

Giuliano: *A silent pause*... That's oddly specific.

Merlin: Believe me, with my luck, it'll happen within a day.

Giuliano: *Dumbfounded*

After a lot of drinks in the tavern where they met, a fight was avoided and one whole, less bloody, Giuliano was escorted home.

Lorenzo: You have done a great deed in returning my brother home whole and without injury, when you did not need to stranger. I offer you a place in our household. Work for us and you shall be rewarded with a high pay for your service to my brother.

Merlin: *Turns to Giuliano* See what I mean?

Giuliano: *Surprised* Brother!

Merlin: *Stares back at a confused Lorenzo* I'd like to have 2 days a week for myself and you've got a deal.

Lorenzo: Brilliant, you're hired.

Giuliano: *Making a fuss drunkenly* I'm right here, don't I get a say in this!?

Merlin: Of course Messieur, your the boss after all. Now let's see how badly of a room I'll be dealing with for the foreseeable future. *Helps support Giuliano while given directions by someone*

Giuliano: What!? Are you calling my room a mess?! You can't talk about me that way! *He whines childishly yet not shoving or pushing Merlin away.*

Merlin: Of course not Messieur. Never would dream of such Messieur.

Giuliano: *angry pouts* Sarcasm I see.

Merlin: Now I'm sure you're just seeing things Messieur. *Sarcasm drips from his tone. As he tries to hold back a smirk*

Giuliano: *Understands the tone and argues back.*

They did not notice or acknowledge the bewildered stares of the Medici members behind them, as they bantered like old time friends.

LATER IN GIULIANOS ROOM:

Giuliano: Hey, you never told me your name before.

Merlin: Ah? Oh I didn't, did I. Well, it's Merlin.

Giuliano: Merlin. What kind of name is that?

Merlin: *dead pans* English.

Giuliano: It's a dumb name.

Merlin: Like Giuliano?

Giuliano: *Whispers* Like your dumb face.

Merlin: I heard that.

(This was fun to make. What do you think?)

[giacarem]

listen, i need a “arthur returns” fic where Merlin keeps expecting Arthur to rise from Lake Avalon after all these years and so he builds a house right next to it, but nothing ever happens. It’s okay, he keeps living there and having his cottage there, but at some point he stops hoping and moves away

he keeps the cottage there, of course, and he visits it every year on the anniversary of Arthur’s death

Lake Avalon also becomes a popular romantic getaway sight, and Merlin can’t stand to see all the happy couples constantly

Years later, he meets a reincarnated Arthur, and is incredibly confused as to why Arthur has not risen from the lake like he expected

no matter, Arthur gains his memories back and him and Merlin talk about everything and then Merlin confesses

Merlin: You know, I always expected you to rise from Lake Avalon. I built a house there and waited for you

Arthur: You mean, that lake?

Merlin: Yeah

Arthur: Umm. Well. This is awkward.

Merlin: What?

Arthur: I have it on good authority that, you see. Lake Avalon is a beautiful tourist place now

Merlin: Yes I’m aware

Arthur: Well, you see. My parents went there on a holiday the year before I was born. And… well I’m not the best at math but I can count nine months and…

Merlin bursts out laughing when he realises, and saves Arthur the embarrassment of having to continue

And when the anniversary of Arthur’s death comes around again, Merlin has no need to return to that lake

[amidnightjen]

Arthur came home for Christmas, just as he did every year since leaving for university and then his job in London. That was fine, expected, she was happy to have her son home again. What wasn’t expected was that for the first time he hadn’t come alone.

He’d come home with a man.

Her son who had never shown an interest in men (as far as she knew, and she’d known every time he fancied a girl), had come home with a man. And a strange one at that.

His name was Merlin and he was…strange. He made her son strange. Whispered conversations cut off when someone entered the room, a full blown argument in a language she couldn’t even identify, the constant touching which seemed grounded in a need for reassurance.

She didn’t understand any of it. Didn’t understand what had happened to her beautiful son to make his eyes so haunted or his smile harder to come by, but as she watched him in the garden (never mind the freezing cold), as he stared with soft eyes at Merlin (who didn’t even know he was being watched, his eyes focused on the night sky), she thought it didn’t much matter that she didn’t know, not now, not yet, because she’d never seen her son so in love.

Never seen him so grounded in a single moment.

[teefscrubz]

NEW MERTHUR AU ALERT !!!

Sure, for a couple hundred years of immortality, Merlin was able to occupy himself with a variety of hobbies, people and experiences, but nowadays (as in, the past few thousand years) he's just been so....well, bored.

Having a good year or two is nothing but a blip when spanned across thousands of years of depression and loneliness, after all.

But recently, Merlin has found a new past time—Something he never before considered, not really finding much interest in such a boisterous activity, and yet here he is, a professional in the field.

Illegal street racing.

Here Merlin was, glorious wind in his hair, earphones blasting music as he swerved a corner, his sleek red car (proudly named 'Excalibur', because who was Merlin if not a creature of habit?) smoothly sailing the roads with ease, leant back comfortably in his seat with the windows down. Sure, the air was cold, but it felt so damn good on his face. It always did.

It reminded him of riding horses back in Camelot. The open road; Merlin missed being able to venture as far as he wanted across wooded land. Not that Arthur ever let him, of course.

Merlin is brought back to the race at hand when he crosses the finish line, twisting the wheel and letting Excalibur skid to a stop. He climbs out, preparing to bow as per usual; he expects to be greeted by the usual roar of applause—Merlin insists he never uses magic to win a race, but the recognition does feel damn good. Even if racing was starting to lose the adrenaline filled fun for him by now.

Except the crowds aren't cheering for him. Instead, he turns to see a car already waiting for him; impossible, Merlin ALWAYS wins, after all. He's had too much practice.

But there is a flash of blonde hair climbing out of the battered old black car, a tattered thing that surely couldn't have won against him and yet somehow escaped even his attention. Merlin's eyes follow as the blonde man rises to his full height, turning with a bright grin and waving to the cheering crowds, only for his smile to fade when his gaze lands on Merlin.

Merlin feels winded, a ludicrous laugh of surprise tearing from his chest.

"Emrys," The blonde man smirks, making his way forwards to offer a hand, "I'm a big fan. Honoured to have beaten you today—The name's Arthur Pendragon. The crowds call me the King."

"You clotpole." Merlin chuckles, ignoring Arthur's hand out of disbelief. "You absolute prat. You're back."

"It appears so. Err—Back from where?"

Gods, he's just as stupidly handsome as he was the day they fought at Camlann. Finally, Arthur has risen. Finally, Merlin smiles.

[one-thousand-and-one-fandoms]

Merlin never recovered from losing Arthur. Merlin didn't know if it was Destiny, but it must have been, because he truly felt as if a fundamental part of him died with Arthur.

But grief can't last forever, and eventually, Merlin learned to live with the Arthur-shaped hole in his heart and in his life. He didn't leave Gwen alone. How could he? And he stayed in Camelot until the kingdom fell for the last time.

It didn't take Merlin too long to realize that he wasn't growing old. He began to roam around the lands, trying not to stay in one place for too long to be noticed. He lived through famines and war and plagues, and he suffered greatly, but he never died.

Merlin saw many Uthers come and go as the centuries dragged along. He saw more witches burnt than there actually were. He witnessed tyrants rise and fall like the ebb and flow of the tide, but he still didn't die.

Merlin tried not to leave the lake of Avalon for long, until he was forced to, as the lake gradually dried out. And with the lake of Avalon drying out, so did the magic of the world, until Merlin could barely feel it around him. He dragged himself through time, sometimes disappearing into a cave or a remote cabin in the woods, just... waiting for something to happen.

Other times, when his mood marginally improved or he was too bored or too listless or too something, he went to university. He got into the habit of amassing accreditations he didn't need even if he couldn't really boast about it to anyone but himself. He got a degree in math and physics, one in engineering, one in architecture. He got the one in economy, accounting and finance, which allowed him to get into banking and investments, which eventually led him to the stock market. At some point he returned to his roots and became a doctor, with specializations in cardio, ortho, neuro, internal medicine and dermatology.

His latest stint was a masters degree in literature with close emphasis in Arthurian legends because why the fuck not. It offered a good distraction as academia usually did and by now he was resigned to a miserable existence missing Arthur until Destiny decided to release him from his prison.

On the first day of class, when he entered the lecture hall, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Not until he heard a very distinct voice cry out: "Merlin!"

Merlin was surerly hallucinating. He must be. But when he turned, there he was, wearing tight fitting jeans, a red t-shirt and that infuriating, self-satisfied smirk on his face: King Arthur.

[styxhuntress]

Purely for my own curiosity

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

Arthur in the future discovering Google:

Arthurian legends

History for the past 1500 years

Where is Camelot now?

What happened to King Arthur’s unsent letters to Merlin?

How can I get something from an archive?

Can I keep something from an archive?

How much does it cost to buy an archive?

What is sexuality?

Why are people arguing King Arthur’s sexuality?

King Arthur’s wife.

What was king Arthur’s sexuality?

Am I gay quiz

Can I like both?

How to tell my best friend I’m not only attracted to women?

How to tell my best friend he’s hot without complimenting him?

What is fragile masculinity?

How can I have strong masculinity?

How to confidently compliment my best friend without hitting on him?

What’s no homo?

Can best friends hug?

(Edit: part two)

[knightswaypoint]

“Candid No. 24” by A. Penn Photo taken at “Camelot and Other Mythos” Exhibit, Natural History Museum

(Merlinktober Days 4 & 5: Foreign (Out of Place / Out of Time) & Lens)

[woodlnds]

“Charles, you said you’d ride with me.”

“I did, Arthur. Always.”

© Partial background belongs to Rockstar Games

[cursed-byesexual]

Two sides of the same coin

(rewatching Heartstopper and Merlin at the same time lead to some interesting overlaps in my brain.)

Also something about reincarnation maybe-

(The left side is obviously from the lovely Alice Oseman; not my work! The one on the right is mine, however it is a blatant copy)

[keitorin3]

The Reckless King and the Old Storyteller

So I had this idea that came to me one night just sitting around watching this movie "Three thousand years of Longing" on TV. If you've seen it, you'll probably know which part of it inspired me just by the title of this post.

So the setting for this story is based in the 1200-1300s where there is a young boy named Arthur who was crowned king at the early age of 11.

At age 20 he leads his army's to war, fighting alongside his men in the battlefield. Stories are told of his recklessness, even with his own life, but still with his strength and the power of his armies, he conquered the surrounding lands and the other neighbouring kingdoms as well. He returns to his kingdom as a conquer, but his soul has rotten in war, making him unable to shed his bloody armor (Figuratively speaking).

His councillors, fearing his bloodlust tries to distract him with other gratifications. They gave him all one could desire, alcohol, exotic foods, beautiful women and entertainment.

None could quinch his thirst for violence. Until the court summons all of the kingdoms best storytellers and bards to the castle in a bid for one of them enrapture the King with their tales.

At first, after many of storytellers failed and try to flee from the kings displeasure and impatients, they almost lost hope. But there was one that was able to enchant him.

The old storyteller went by the name Merlin, and he was a different kind of man. His insolence and quips would have earned his neck the blade, but the tales the man told stole the kings attention and even his foolishness and blunt comments was a charming quality to Arthur. It made him laugh and soothed the harsh king.

Merlin became his first friend. And that friendship eventually evolved into love.

Arthur grew very attached to the old man, and eventually it became a very common sight to see the two together as Arthur didn't just seek Merlin for stories but for company, somebody to speak too. For Merlin was honest in a sarcastic way that Arthur appreciates.

The tales Merlin told were many and holding a lesson and point of truth to be told. But Arthur especially loved the stories of Artorius. A Roman General from the 4th century who later becomes king after many adventures that helps to gather his loyal men of the Stone Round Table.

Arthur especially loves the tales featuring Artorius and his secretly magical Manservant, Myrddin. Their tale was of loyalty, love and heartache. Once, Arthur told Merlin that he thinks Artorius was in love with Myrddin and not the Queen Guinevere with how much they had been through together. It saddens Arthur that Myrddin had to hold onto Artorius dying body alone, weaping for him by a lake.

When Merlin finally reveals to Arthur his magic one day by via magic butterfly, and there and then, Arthur knew love.

Arthur tried to place Merlin in his court as advisor or court magician, but Merlin denies both offers and chooses to be his friend instead.

Now, this is where things get interesting! There's an assassination attempt on Arthur after hearing of the king going soft, someone had balls to try and kill him. The attempt is thwarted by Merlin who took a blade to the back after pushing Arthur out of the way.

The King holds Merlin in his arms as he dies.

The assassin dies shortly after with his internal organs ripped out and his head set on a pike in the front gates. But as soon as the bloodlust depleted, Arthur found himself beside Merlin's body and weeping.

The people ran for the hills as news of the Storytellers death spread, fearful of the violence the Kings grief filled rage will ensure.

Arthur did none, he remained at Merlin's side crying for the man who held his heart.

(Now here I would have left it off and said Arthur dies after drinking himself sick, but I'm a suckered for happy endings.)

It was only due to him never taking his eyes off Merlin that he witnessed it.

The Magic.

It was glowing gold, much like Merlin's eyes when he practiced magic, it sprung from the very earth and wrapped him. Before his very eyes Arthur watches in shocked Wonder as Merlin's sliver white hair turned raven black and his wrinkles disappear and smoothed clear into flawless white skin.

The best part was when Merlin's lungs breathed air and his eyes opened. They were gold for a long while before turning into very familiar blue eyes.

It was Merlin, his Merlin, only not so old anymore, but it's him and he was alive. Arthur had no restraint in hugging the just revived man tightly. Sobbing again but this time in relief.

Merlin: I'm ok Arthur, everything is ok my King.

Arthur: Don't- don't ever do something like that again do you hear me! Never again Merlin. Thank god you're alive.

Merlin: Err, your not shocked that I'm young again? Sorry about that by the way, I was planning on telling you but it slipped my mind, being old wasn't fake, just temporary. But man, it feels good to not feel my bones ache.

Arthur: You idiot. *then proceeds to kiss him dumber.*

Arthur would later trick Merlin into marriage and make him become King Consort. Nobody questions about the Old Storyteller become an Young Storyteller, content and happy with the positive effect he has on the Once Reckless King.

(This was great to get out of my mind. I loved the part of the Gjinns tale because instantly my mind went to Merlin and Arthur, but Merlin is the magical Being so he don't stay dead.

In my mind, the stories Merlin tells are all real events, especially Artorius and Myrddin. If it wasn't obvious, Merlin is Myrddin of the story and has been waiting for his King to return for 5-6 hundred years. He went across the lands telling their story. Now he found him in young Arthur and it was time they make new tales to tell, one of a round table and a sword in the stone.

That's all for now, till next time fellow dreamers~! ✨)

[cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu]

Vampire Arthur: [chuckling] We're like two sides of the same coin.

Merlin: [freezes]

Vampire Arthur: [concerned] Merlin?

Merlin: [tears falling] Fuck, hearing that shouldn't make me cry. He would've called me a girl for crying, I uh [wipes away his tears] shit, sorry. [tries to smile]

Vampire Arthur: [curious and slightly jealous] Who?

Merlin: [shakes his head] Someone from my past, anyways—

Vampire Arthur: [holds Merlin shoulders trying to peer into Merlin's eyes] Tell me who holds your heart still?

Merlin: [looks back at Arthur then to the side] A King, whom I'll wait forever for even if it kills me each day to do so.

[kannibalistics]

i like that rockstar gave Arthur a continuous reincarnation (or at least most of the fans seemed to think so).

i mean, the deer (or coyote but i refuse to do low honor therefore that route doesn't exist to me) and then the blue jay in Beechers Hope watching John get his life together.

also i like when people assign reincarnations/animal counterparts to the rest of the characters as well. like yes!!! John absolutely would be a dumbass wolf!! yes!!! Hosea would be a fox!! yes!!! Charles would be a buffalo!! it's so silly i love it

[justaz]

merthur reincarnation au, merlin is constantly roaming the earth and running into various reincarnations of arthur’s soul. neither know but there is always this draw between them. they’ve met in many different lives with many different dynamics. when do they realize/remember? when arthur’s body is mortally wounded.

in one life they met on the battlefield, leaders of the opposing armies. they often ended up fighting each other and they grew to respect the others tactics and plans. despite being enemies, the level of shared respect grew to an odd fondness. merlin’s rival in his own army grew tired of watching merlin dance with the enemies leader and decided to step in and put an end to it. they attacked arthur from behind and left him for dead. merlin, who saw the whole thing but was too far away to do anything about it, rushed over to be by arthur’s side as he died. arthur took off his helm then and merlin was faced with a man who looked eerily similar to the man who had died just a couple of centuries ago. arthur’s memories began to rush back and he bled out and merlin Knew when arthur stared up at him the same way he had the first time he died. merlin was unable to save him then too.

in another life, merlin had taken to simply roaming, no settling down and no roots. he was homeless and napping on a bench outside a cafe. a woman came out with a bag of perfectly fine baked goods that she was supposed to throw out (dictated by corporate) and she instead brought them over to merlin and set them down by him. merlin woke at the sound of the crinkling bag and met her gaze. it became routine after they closed, she would bring merlin the goods from the day. merlin eventually began to come in and sit at the tables inside every once in a while and talk with her when it was slow. one night, merlin was late to his bench and when he got there the lights were still on and the door was unlocked but he couldn’t see the nice girl who always gave him food. he shuffled in and found her bleeding out from gunshots behind the counter where the cash register had been emptied out. merlin was there for her final breaths and she joked how he could definitely do better than living on the streets. merlin realized who she was as the light left her eyes.

in another life, they were corporate rivals. another they were best friends for five years. another they were pirates and merlin ended up delivering the final blow. another they explored the stars together. etc, etc.

merlin losing him again and again after just finding him. arthur remembering everything right before he dies. a horrible cycle that seems never ending. merlin is forced to live thru the deception arthur suffered over and over again - finding out just who he has known for years is someone else entirely but not having the time to revel in it. arthur suffers the other end of their twisted dynamic of never being able to express his true self until the end wherein death is imminent. the cycle continues for millennia.

eventually, like all things, humans destroy what they had whether it be nuclear war or climate change or what have you, the earth reclaims itself and sends humankind back into their caves. everything there once was is gone and now left with nothing, humans return to their roots. magic flourishes and spreads as new civilizations begin to establish themselves. merlin, oddly enough, hasn’t run into an arthur reincarnation in centuries. not until he ventures into a village and finds a young man toiling in the fields. he dons a face merlin hasn’t seen in millennia. when he looks up and catches merlin’s eye, he smiles wide and calls out for him.

he remembers

[princess-of-morkva]

to find you again

Arthur Pendragon was ten years old when his world finally began to make sense.

It was in his fifth grade, when his class went on a week long camping trip. He didn't know, at the time, what compelled him to sneak out of the tent in the wee hours of the morning, when the first rays of dawn lit up the treetops and his legs carried him towards the shore of a lake. It's surface was shimmering in morning light, and he could feel his breath halt, afraid to disturb the serenity of the sight that felt so otherworldly. It may have been some divine compulsion or simply his innate, childish desire to explore that made him go further, then, until his rubber flipflops were left on the shore and his bare feet touched the water.

There was a hand then, that rose out of the water, translucent and not entirely present, an image out of mist. There was a hand, and then another, and then the head and the body — a figure arose from the lake, smiling at the little boy that intruded her realm.

"Hello, Arthur." She spoke, and her voice didn't carry through the air like a human's would, rather, it sang with the wind, hit the ears like tiny drops meeting the water. "It's good to meet you at last."

He stared at her, for a long moment, before answering.

"How do you know me?" He frowned at her. Father told him not to talk to strangers, and this might have been a very pretty woman made out of mist, but she was still very much a stranger. Still, he didn't step out of the lake, for his curiosity was much greater than his father's teachings which felt so far away at the moment, and there was no one around to see anyway.

"The world speaks to me. I can't leave this lake, but I can see far beyond it." Her answer was not an answer at all, Arthur thought. His confusion must've been evident, because she smiled at him again, and there was a mischievous hint in the corner of her lips that made her look not so much like a spirit in a lake but a living and breathing young girl, but the next second it was gone and Arthur was left to wonder if he imagined it entirely.

"Why can't you?" He asked.

"It's were I was put to rest." She spoke the words so evenly, as all of the things she previously said, that it took Arthur a few seconds to catch the meaning of it.

"Does that mean you're dead?" He asked, hoping not to offend her with it.

"Not exactly. I'm here, aren't I?" Once again, her answer gave more questions than it answered.

"There are ghosts." He said. Arthur wasn't sure there were, actually. His father didn't believe in such things.

"I am different from ghosts."

"What are you then?"

"A guardian."

Arthur nodded, as if it made perfect sense. It didn't.

"Do you have a name?" He asked. It was only polite to ask for a person's name when first meeting them. Than again, lake-guardian-spirits could have entirely different etiquette.

"I was called Freya, once." There was a small smile, again.

Arthur nodded musingly.

"It's a pretty name."

She hummed.

"Do you often speak to people?" He never heard of such entities as her. It couldn't have been a common occurrence, surely. But wouldn't that be lonely? Having no one to talk to?

She shook her head, and there was a wistful look in her eyes.

"I haven't spoken to anybody in centuries." That couldn't have been nice, Arthur thinks. If she could speak to him, why didn't she speak to others?

"Why'd you speak to me than?" Freya didn't answer immediately, pausing the flow of their measured back-and-forth. It almost looked like she was unsure, but her features were still so calm, it was impossible to tell.

Then, she asked. "Do you have dreams, sometimes?"

It was a silly question. Everybody had dreams. Arthur understood immediately though, it wasn't the regular kind of dreams she was talking about.

Because the thing is, Arthur did have dreams. Ever since he was little. He remembers dreaming of white towers and battlements, of bright red banners and capes. Of metal clanging and laughter and a weight of a sword in his hand, on his hip. Of familiar faces he could never quite place. Of raven curls and bright blue eyes, especially often.

He never told his father about them — he'd call such things foolish. Arthur didn't think they were.

Arthur looked at Freya and nodded. There was a glim of relief in her eyes, he thought.

"Would you like to see more?" She asked, offering him her hand. Not solid in any common way of the world but in that moment, more real than any other thing around them.

Arthur didn't think twice before grasping it.

-----

please tell me if you'd like to see more of it because i love the thing in my head so far

where is merlin in it? he's gonna be there. with a twist. it's a reincarnation fic but with a twist. it's also very merthur. or as much as it can ever get with my aromantic ass.

also it's modern au but i still haven't decided on a more specific setting- should i do college au? i'd be horrible at it even though it would make sense thematically- i haven't been outside in years how does society function? how do i write it?

can you see i love freya? i love her very much

[gldnstrngs]

ive heard people say that nick and charlie from heartstopper are based on merthur and idk if thats true but i rlly wouldnt be surprised if that were the case