6 Upheaval of a King's Life and a Possible New Job

POV Change - Artoria Pendragon

As I heard the man-devil's words, I shuddered. How? HOW?! I'd done so much preparation to make sure I wouldn't be found out! Merlin has used his magic--

I was cut off from my thoughts by a chuckle, "I can hear it just pinging around in that cute little head of yours...'How? How does he know?!'" he mocked with an...excited (?) look on his face, "Don't be too disappointed, kid, magic and preparation doesn't do much to stop me, honestly. You could say my senses and instincts are perfect at seeing through illusions of magic and deceptions of clothes and body language," he mused before standing away and straight up again.

I'd seen his height before but then I only thought he was an ordinary man.

Now...I knew he'd killed every man and woman in that fortress and he'd came out unscathed. I could do the same...but even I would look winded at the very least. I wouldn't have the time to laugh around like some jester--

No. Calm down, Artoria. A King must remain level-headed at all times. Never give in to frustration or agitation.

...But this man truly makes me feel on edge. My instincts are screaming at me to get away from him. His height made it so he towered over Merlin, Sir Kay and I. He was broad. Unnaturally so. And his body was packed with muscle upon muscle. He was so muscular I was shocked. I'd seen strong men before but none of them looked like this man.*

(*A/N - Think of Yujiro Hanma or one of the Fanalis from 'Magi' but a bit more realistically muscled. What I'm trying to get across here is it that his musculature is perfect. Well, somewhat perfect anyway. He's not completely perfect just yet~)

No...he was a boy. Similar to me in age. His face, despite looking rough and hardened...had a sort of youth and immaturity to it. But that's where his age similarities end with me.

Shaggy grey hair that was cut messily and left around chin length. It was messy yet also wavy and looked quite fluffy. Then came his eyes - they looked...poisonous. A bright green that looked almost like green fire flickering in his eye. They unnerved me. Especially how his pupils were slits. It showed me that despite appearances...this Grey Devil as Merlin called him, was definitely no man.

He...he scared me, honestly. I would never admit it aloud - a King should never show fear - but the feeling the man, this Gabriel gives off...the bloodlust, the aura of a beast, the poisonous eyes...it all terrifies me. Right to my core.

"Hey, come on, kid! Don't be like that--" he laughed, going to tap my shoulder but a flash of light came from Merlin and impacted Gabriel's side.

It was an arc of lightning that act like a blade and explode, sliced and burned it's way through Gabriel's flesh and body. I wanted to let out a sigh of relief...but then Gabriel started laughing and the smoke began to clear up, showing Gabriel with a gigantic hole in his stomach and lower chest.

Merlin went quiet before speaking, "It seems the rumors were true after all. That's a bummer," he said with a grim tone yet tried to force a smile as I turned to him.

Then Gabriel spoke up, bringing my attention back to the man with a...shrinking hole in his body? It...it was healing? How? Magic? No, I can't feel any magic. Is this just his body's way to heal...no, it can't be right? Even Vampires have limits to their healing ability!

"I mean, can't say I didn't deserve that, Merlin. I am kinda forcing your hand, huh?" He laughed again, to which Merlin joined him with joyless laugh himself.

"Not 'kinda' - you definitely are forcing our hand!" Merlin cracked a joke but I could feel him preparing for another attack.

It seemed Gabriel felt the same because his laughing stopped, replaced with an unnerving smile, "I'll be honest with you, Merlin. No matter how many lightning bolts you throw at me, it'll always have the same effect. You'll waste energy, I'll heal, yada yada yada. So let's just have a talk, yeah? That's all I wanna do. I just needed to show I'm not some ignorant peon before we got to talking," he said with a remarkably refined vocabulary and a calm voice devoid of ill intentions.

Even his bloodlust disappeared without a trace.

Yet Merlin still looked on edge. No. He actually looked even more unnerved by this Gabriel...I guess I could understand it. Someone who could release such an intent and then suddenly draw it back in like nothing happened meant that they were either eccentric or they'd killed a lot of people...and from what I'd seen so far, Gabriel seems to fulfill both conditions.

Everything went silent between us, with only the nervous clamoring of my army behind us to fill the air with noise. Then Merlin stepped forward, an odd light in his eyes, "And what's to stop me from sealing you with magic? To make sure you can no longer threaten the King?"

The words were so outright aggressive that I readied my sword arm, gripping the handle of Caliburn even harder than I usually did. I was prepared for Gabriel to flip out.

But he laughed. A pure, loud laugh that boomed through the air.

I felt the laugh rattling my bones and resonating in my chest. I could feel it. He found Merlin's threat funny. He had the upmost confidence in himself that whatever Merlin could do, he could outdo. What sort of situation needs to happen to give someone such confidence? Even if he heals, making Merlin mad or any Mage for that matter...it can end badly. Getting sealed was only a matter of time.

Yet his answer wiped away what I was thinking. The confidence and absoluteness in his voice, mirrored only by his bright green eyes seeming to shine in response to those emotions.

"You might be able to seal me. You are the magnificent Merlin, after all!" he gave another laugh before continuing, "But...how long could you keep me sealed? Could you make a seal that can continue to work at full power even after your death? Could you trust someone else to empower the seal when they could so easily make a mistake and let me loose?" he questioned, each question picking up in intensity as Gabriel's lips spread into a smile that looked more like the snarl of a Lion or a Wolf than the smile of something civilized. "I'm immortal, Merlin. I can't die of natural causes. I would continue to live and live and live, until your seal weakened or someone makes a mistake and then I would escape," Gabriel took a step toward Merlin, looking down at him without even dipping his head down to look at my mentor, "And just to spite you, the person who sealed me, I would kill 10 people for every year I was sealed."

Serious. He was being completely serious. He wasn't trying to bluff his way out of getting sealed. He didn't care if he got sealed. If he was immortal like he said...hundreds of years would be easy for him to deal with. Then he'd escape. 10 people for every year sealed and if he's sealed for hundreds of years. Merlin wouldn't allow for such a risk to happen...He's--

"You've really got me figured out, haven't you?" Merlin gave a sincerely wry smile, nothing like the forced smiles he'd been putting up for a while. Moving to the side to let Gabriel passed, Merlin spoke up, "Let's go to a place with a bit more privacy, shall we?"

Gabriel gave a nod and walked passed us and toward the army.

The army flinched at his approach. I didn't blame them one bit. Gabriel...The Grey Devil...he was an unnerving man.

. . .

POV Change - Gabriel

We'd been walking for a few hours now and it was very clearly into the night, the sky blanketing us with darkness and just like always, I felt a little more at home in the dark.

It was probably to do with my Xenomorph bloodline. Either way, I didn't mind it.

Before I came to this world, I liked the dark anyway. Not in an edgy 'I hate sunlight' way but rather, I liked the way the darkness let you think. Or how it let me think. The sun and the colors the light would bring...I don't know, they just seemed to impede my mind a little. But with the dark, you didn't need to worry about that.

The dark just let you sit there. It let you do what you wanted. It didn't force light into your goddamn eyes--

Huh. Maybe it is the edgy 'I hate sunlight' way after all. Figures.

Xenomorphs like cold, damp and dark places. I'm the same in the sense that I like the cold and the dark more than I do hot and light-filled places. But I hate damp places. Just a personal pet peeve that I don't think a flimsy bloodline could ever change.

Such invigorating thoughts were brought to a stop by Artoria who gave a shout while planting her sword, Caliburn, into the ground, "We will rest her for the night, men!" she gave a very masculine shout that made me chuckle, earning me a sidelong glare from her. The army erupted in a cheer before the people around the supply carriages began to offload the tents and such.

They quickly assembled a tent in front of us and some of the soldiers came to take Artoria and Merlin's horses from them. I didn't need a horse - I just walked alongside them.

With surprising efficiency, the soldier's built a massive tent with Merlin's help. He no doubt used some magic to reinforce the whole thing and to help keep it up. Before long, we were walking into the tent, adorned with a nice carpet and multiple pieces of high-end furniture.

The tent seemed to be bigger on the inside, most likely due to Merlin's magic. Either that or Doctor Who had somehow been added to this amalgam fuckfest of a world. Though I really doubt it.

Merlin turned to Artoria, gesturing to her to go on further into the tent, "Go ahead and get changed, Artoria. I wish to have a chat with Gabriel here," he gave a reassuring smile yet that didn't stop Artoria from looking worriedly between me and Merlin. Though in the end, she seemed to have resolved herself and gave a nod before walking ahead. "Shall we?" Merlin waved his hand and a table, with an assortment of crude alcoholic beverages splayed across it, and two chairs appeared off to the side of where we were.

Giving a nod, I took a few steps before sitting down and grabbing the bottle with the highest alcohol content. I can't really get drunk - healing factor and all that - but I can suppress it for short periods of time. Only my body's ability to combat things like alcohol. I've never been able to stop myself from healing an injury. That just happens.

Opening up the bottle, I began to gulp it down as Merlin spoke with a small laugh, "You've paid more attention to that alcohol than you have the magic unfolding before your eyes, Gabriel. I take it you've seen magic before?"

Wiping the small amounts of alcohol on my lips, I gave a nod before answering with my newly dried lips, "Yeah," I looked around before giving a look back to Merlin, "Though I've never seen such complex magic before. This is miles beyond what I've seen on my travels through Europe. That attack you used to attack me earlier too...that's the first time someone's damaged me that much in a long time. We should spar sometime," I gave a savage smile to which Merlin gave a wry one.

"I'll keep your offer in mind," he politely said but I could tell he really didn't want to - his loss. I guess not everyone can see the joy of battle as I do, huh? - "So, why do you have so much interest in my 'King'?" he asked with a now serious face.

Hearing his question, I began to do something I hadn't done in a long time...I began to ponder.

My pondering brought me to my reasons quite quickly, honestly.

"Because being around her feels like it'll be fun," I shrugged before continuing under Merlin's confused gaze, "Going on adventures. Protecting a King and kingdom. Fighting evil Dragons and Monsters. Whatever it is, I know being around Artoria will be fun." Merlin just looked at me in a stupor, so I gave him an easy smile before speaking again, "What? Did you think I'm some kind of Demon who has a major ulterior motive? Hell no. Honestly, I don't think I even have the attention span to make an elaborate plan. I do things on the fly - I'm a hedonist. If I didn't run into you guys I would've gone straight back to exploring the world. If you or Artoria decided to fight me even after I showed my knowledge of her real gender or I decided to attack you back after you threw a fucking lightning bolt at me...I would've had a good time fighting you guys until one of us died or retreated," I listed off a few examples of my fickleness, laughing at some while speaking others with a grim disposition. In the end I just gave a shrug, "I'm just...do things, I guess. Not much thought involved unless it's something serious."

Merlin looked at me in a daze for a few seconds before his face went grim as he realized what kind of person he was dealing with, "...And what do you consider 'something serious', Gabriel?" was his first question which kind of surprised me. I thought he'd ask me to go into further detail about what I wanted to do.

"I guess...when something important to me is put at risk. That could be my own life, the life of a friend, the world as we know it...you know, stuff that would directly effect me?" I said before spotting my own mistake, "That lightning bolt you threw at me doesn't count as threatening my life either, so don't worry. About a year back I had a trebuchet projectile practically squash my torso into gory bits and I survived that so your lightning bolt was practically a love tap."

"And what do you want to do for Artoria, Gabriel?" Merlin asked, losing a bit of his 'on edge' appearance as he heard my answer.

Leaning forward after another big gulp of alcohol, I smiled widely and no doubt wildly, "The real question is, what can't I do for Artoria? I could go around the country clearing up problems. I could protect whatever city needs it. Hell, if you're asking what I PERSONALLY want to do, then I could be Artoria's personal bodyguard," I gave a laugh, thinking of how I'd definitely be in the history books or a fairy tale or two if that happened.

The handsome and dashing grey-haired Knight who protected 'King Arthur' against all the threats that opposed him~!

Though a shout came from behind me and I leaned back on my chair until I was looking upside down at a very angry/indignant Artoria who was wearing a plain tunic and pants. But her hair was without a crown and she no longer held the masculine expression she held on the way here. Instead, she had a slight pout and very red cheeks that I felt like pinching.

"I do not need a bodyguard! I can protect myself and could no doubt best you in a duel!" she angrily shouted, seeming to be upset about me underestimating her abilities. But she'd pressed the wrong kind of button with fighting talk like that.

I flashed in front of her, practically appearing out of nowhere. But she didn't back down or even get too surprised. In fact, she stepped up to me, her hands akimbo on her hips.

I leaned over her, our height difference being more apparent than ever as I felt my blood thrum in excitement at the possible fight with a mythological King and hero that could be about to happen. I bent down so far that my face was practically inches from her own, my smile spread so far across my face that my cheeks were beginning to hurt, "You wanna bet, Artoria~?!" I gave an excited shout.

I saw my reflection in Artoria's emerald eyes and saw that my smile looked like that of the Cheshire Cat from 'Alice in Wonderland'...You know, if the Cheshire Cat had a smile that looked like it belonged on a bloodthirsty savage, that is.