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hannahhook7744 · 1 month ago

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I Still Hear The Songs, Reminding Me Of A Friend…

Summary: The story of how the owner of Camelot Beauties, Gwen Smith, from the city of Camelot Heights, came to be a mother. Beginning Notes: Thanks to @princess-of-morkva on tumblr for inspiring me to write this. This will be published on ao3 later when I have time. Trigger warnings: Implied child abandonment, swearing, panic, improper heating of a bottle, etc. LMK if I need to add anything to the list.

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End Notes:

This is a Modern Merlin au in which the characters of Merlin (aside from Immortal Leon and Merlin, and Arthur who hasn’t risen yet) have been reincarnated.

The older characters such as Uther, Giaus, etc have also been reincarnated but those characters have died (some of them got the happy endings they never had before and others…like Uther…did not).

I got the name ‘Artie’ from Disney’s Descendants because I would have liked to see him utilized more. I got Morgie’s name from there, too.

Some of the characters have had their names ‘modernized’ or changed, because they can’t all have been reincarnated with the same names. For instance, Sir Ewan has been renamed to Ezra.

Artie is a newborn and Morgie is two. Gwen is 26, Morgana and Forridel are 30, Morgause and Ed are 21, Mordred and Kara are 17, Ezra/Ewan is 24, Sefa is 19, and Elyan is 29.

Forridel and Morgana are together.

Gwen is single because Arthur hasn’t risen yet and though she doesn’t remember anything, she feels as though something is missing from her life.

Ewain/Ezra and Sefa work at Camelot Beauties (a flower and boutique shop) as of now.

Elyan is a photographer and travel blogger.

Forridel/Del owns an occult shop called ‘West's Occult Shop’, which is just up the road from Gwen’s shop.

Next to Gwen’s shop is Morgan’s Place (a restaurant and gay club/bar), owned by Gwen’s best friend—Morgan Le Fay.

Morgause Le Fay is a lawyer and her boyfriend, Edwin 'Ed' Mercer, is a famous magician.

Mordred Barlow le Fay is Morgause and Morgan’s adopted little brother, and he works occasionally at Morgan’s Place. Kara also works there.

Ghost Arthur will not remember any of this when he rises.

The song Gwen listens to is “The Last Pendragon” by Tuatha De Danann, because I thought it’d be fitting.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

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“So the dragon went away,

He who sustained the kingdom for long time.”

Gwen hummed along to the song that was playing on the radio, feeling an odd sense of melancholy as she swept up the fallen flower petals that the fan had blown from the flower side of her shop into the boutique side. Smiling to herself as Ezra and Sefa argued among themselves over who’s turn it was to clean the bathrooms—the sound of the heavy rainfall outside almost drowning the sound out.

It was a day just like any other.

“He was our leader, he kept the land:

The king of kings.”

Any moment now, Del would walk by and grab them so they could head over to Morgan’s Place where they would meet Elyan, Mithian, Ed, and Morgause and help set up for dinner like they always did and relax for an hour before Morgan had to go set up the bar upstairs for her nighttime usuals.

Dinner was sure to be perfect.

The day was sure to be perfect.

“ARTHUR THE KING—THE LAST OF THE PENDRAGON—”

Suddenly, the radio went haywire—the volume turning all the way up and the song fading out to a static that was so loud and horrible that it was like someone jabbed knitting needles into their ears.

Sefa threw her hands over her ears, nearly knocking over the tip jar.

Gwen dropped the broom, startled. Grimacing,

And Ezra swore.

Only then did they notice the muffled wail of an infant from outside the shop.

Which only caused Ezra to swear again. “FUCK!”

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“Come on, come on….” Gwen muttered under her breath impatiently, scrunching her cellphone between her ear and shoulder as she checked over the baby someone had forgotten on the door stoop of Camelot’s Beauties. A baby who had been on said door stoop for who knows how long after closing. “Come on, Elyan, pick up!”

She’s been trying to call him for an hour.

Sefa, Ezra, and her didn’t know how to handle a baby—Tristan & Izzy’s Youth Center didn’t have any babies that they could take care of whenever they had time to volunteer, and Morgan had pointedly refused to let Gwen babysit little Morgie until he was older after she’d accidentally melted one of his bottles.

And, since Morgan was currently getting some baby things for the baby she insisted they’d need until a social worker was sent over, calling Elyan—who used to babysit when he was a teenager—it was.

Now, if he’d just answer.

“Hey sis, what’s up—”

Gwen let out a sigh of relief. Thank God. “Elyan, I need your help—someone left a baby on the steps of my shop—”

Her brother cut off her rambling, sounding almost amused by her panic, the traitor“—On my way. Be there in ten.”

“Thank you.”

“You know you can always count me. Now…just focus on taking care of the baby and don’t freak out too much, okay? They can always tell when you’re freaked out and it only freaks them out even more.”

…Well, that explained why they couldn’t get the little …guy?...to stop crying.

Ezra’s swearing could still be heard from the break room as he tried to figure out whether they should call the emergency number or the non-urgent emergency number, calling google several names Gwen had never even thought of before and Sefa was panicking in a language she didn’t know. Which, given the fact that Sefa had said she didn’t know any languages other than English on her resume was more than a little concerning.

Not to mention that Gwen wasn’t exactly calm herself.

Damn it.

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The baby was indeed a boy—something they discovered when Morgan had finally showed up with one of Morgie’s old onesies and blankets, one of his old stuffies, some formula and diapers, and some baby medicine and freaked out when she realized that he was still in his wet car seat and rushed to change him. Something she was still glaring at them for as she played with the tiny blonde.

The baby looked as small as Morgie did when he was first born, so that’s how old they assumed he was, and he was pale with sparkling blue eyes and a messy tuff of dark brown hair that was sticking up even after they had dried and combed it.

And he was still sniffling slightly even now that he was all dry. Something Gwen was sure she’d never stop feeling guilty over—wishing she had thought of getting him out of that seat sooner instead of just feeling revealed when she realized he wasn’t physically hurt. Who knows what he might catch just because she hadn’t thought of it.

“And just wait until you meet my son, Morgie. I’m sure the two of you will be the best of friends like your mama and I—”

Gwen was so upset by her lack of thought, in fact, that she didn’t even register what her best friend had said until much later. And by then, she was already signing the adoption papers for the poor little boy that she had named Arthur after the song that had been playing when they found him. Giving him the middle name Merlin after her best (male) friend.

Arthur Merlin Smith.

It was a fine name and it felt right.

Not that her son’s preferred nickname of Artie wasn’t a fine name.

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Arthur watched sheepishly from the World of the Dead as his wife (former wife?) and sister (former sister?) argued in hushed whispers while their employees, friends, and siblings ran around above Camelot’s Beauties trying to baby proof Gwen’s flat in a panic as Morgan occasionally barked orders at them. Reminding them of things they needed to do as Gwen questioned if all of it was really necessary.

Merlin not so subtly using magic to do his part of things when he thought no one was looking as Gwaine tried and failed to build a crib (swearing in old english when he accidentally hammered his thumb). All while Mordred and Kara ran after Morgie and Stephanie, who had somehow gotten their hands on Gingalain and Dragonet.

Then, rubbing the back of his neck as he slowly turned to face his family, he gave what one would call an almost embarrassed smile. “I guess I could have gone about that a better way…that wouldn’t have given Morgana and Guinevere heart attacks.”

Ygraine,her brothers, Uther, Giaus, Tom, Luella (Gwen’s mother), and many others, such as Bailnor and Hunith, facepalmed.

“Uther, Tristan, Agravaine, Nimueh, Giaus, Geoffry! Don’t you dare facepalm! This is all your fault!”

Gaius and Geoffrey accepted Ygraine’s scolding in stride while the other four all sputtered.

“What?!”

“How is this my fault?!”

“They’re the ones who raised him!”

The blonde stared at her brothers and husband, hands on her hips. “I’m not even gonna dignify that question with a response. Honestly, it’s a miracle how much of a wonderful boy Arthur turned out with all the stunts you lot pulled.”

Arthur scrunched up his nose, sighing. “I don’t know whether I should feel offended or feel complimented.”

No one answered him, which only made him sigh more: oh how he couldn’t wait to get out of here and be with his Guinevere and their friends again.

It was better than here.

Merlin Edit for Merlin Week;

September 29—Favorite Au/Modern Merlin.

(Context: How Gwen met her {adopted} son, Artie, in my Modern Merlin au—It's Time, It's Time, It's Time!).

#merlin #merlin week #bbc merlin #merlin bbc #the adventures of merlin #merlinweek #merlinweek2024 #merlin2024week.#merlin2024week #merlin edits #edits #merlin fake scenes #guinevere pendragon #gwen pendragon #sir elyan #artie pendragon

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