Hopeful Angst

ajsrandom

Merlin stood at the lake, completely numb. How many times had he been here? And how many of those times had been for happy reasons? None of them, that's right. He'd only been here to kill someone or bury the dead.

How many funerals had he attended because he'd caused them? Every single one. And not all were here, but all were completed by fire. That thing that destroyed when it supposedly cleansed. He supposed it made the grieving feel better to honor their dead suchly, but he would not do it now.

Not now. Arthur would rise again someday. He had to believe that. With everyone around him dying, he had to have something to believe in. So that's why he wouldn't set Arthur on fire- Arthur needed his body back someday. And Merlin would be there to see that intact body rise again. It would happen.