Title: Not the Way it is Supposed to Work

Category: Merlin (BBC series)

Genera: humor

Rating: K

Words: 351

Characters: Merlin, Arthur, some bad guys and some knights

A/N: A reveal fic…sort of.

0o0

Grimacing, the sorcerer ducks as the Current-Evil-Creature-of-the-Week™ makes another swipe with its massive tail. The fight is not going their way, and with half of the knights already dead (and Sir Leon presumed dead but probably just unconscious), it is becoming pretty obvious that swords are not going to work on this thing. Which leaves magic. Lovely, just lovely. Not the place or time he wants to reveal this, but clearly fate has other plans.

With a withering sigh, the sorcerer looks around to judge the situation. Evil beastie, check. Remaining knights too preoccupied with said beastie to be in the position to kill him right away, check. And where is…oh, right, there he is. That damn thing is killing people left and right, and he thinks it's a good idea to try and get closer to it? Here we go…again (sigh).

The sorcerer wheels around so that the monster is the only thing in his sight (and hopefully so that the others cannot really see what he is doing). Stretching out his hand, he firmly intones his spell: his eyes flare gold and a ball of fire condenses just beyond his fingertips. He hurls it towards the beast.

He is grimly satisfied with the process, because while this is neither the time nor place to be revealed, things are (for once) at least following his predictions. The knights are very preoccupied with the beast and everything appears to be going according to the plan…until it's not. Until it is not so much so that he feels like he is getting whiplash. Because just as his fire ball is about to strike the monster, a lightning bolt comes out of nowhere and collides with the beast at the exact same time (and in the exact same spot) as his own spell. And it certainly did not come from him. And retracing the striking angle brings him too…

Eyes wide and arm still outstretched, Arthur turns to stare at Merlin, who is gaping back at him in equal shock. In perfect unison they demand incredulously:

"You have magic?!"

0o0

Source: Got the idea from iDaun, in her story "In Which Arthur Finds Out".

A/N: So Arthur was born with magic. Like Morgana's, it did not manifest itself until he was in his teens, at which point he has a minor freak-out and period of denial, but is not trusting enough to tell anyone. Eventually, he begins to study magic on his own and is able to actually do quite well. He isn't the best with the stuff, but he tries hard and is able to achieve a minor mastery in the more subtle attack spells. He somehow manages to hide his magic completely from everyone and repeatedly uses it in combat against the magical creatures which frequently attack Camelot (or did you think that magical creatures that can only be defeated by magical means began attacking Camelot only after Merlin showed up?).

One day, he notices that the magical beast is subdued before he even gets there. This happens over and over again, until he is able to focus just on straightforward attacks and not on subtle, magical ones. Arthur is so relieved that he doesn't have to spend hours sneaking around and studying magical counterattacks that he utterly fails to connect the new magical guardian thing with his recently acquired a manservant. He thus remains oblivious to Merlin's magical abilities.

Since Arthur stopped using magic against beasties (in the belief that his 'guardian' would use it instead) before Merlin really paid enough attention to him to notice, Merlin doesn't have a clue about Arthur's magic. Arthur's ability to spout his father's opinions on magic doesn't help Merlin in this at all.

Perhaps the Great Dragon knew Arthur had magic and laughed uproariously at the whole thing. But I'd like to think that the Great Dragon only sees visions of the future, and does not necessarily watch the present as it happens. And while the Dragon Saw Merlin's magical destiny and Arthur's as the Once and Future King, he (and every other seer) utterly fails to See that Arthur has magic.

So there you have it: all these great and powerful beings manipulating things from behind the scenes based purely on visions, and completely ignoring Arthur except where they need to stick him into some prophecy or other. And Arthur's plotting along and surviving his life, and doing pretty damn well all on his own.