The Promise Within

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Fanfiction
Title: The Promise Within
Author(s): MK Yujji
Date(s): 27 August 2011
Length: 48,765 words
Genre(s): slash
Fandom(s): Merlin
Relationship(s):
External Links: The Promise Within (LiveJournal)
The Promise Within (AO3)
The Promise Within trailer (Livejournal)
The Promise Within trailer (AO3)
Screencap from Valika's fic trailer. Arthur sees Merlin with a golden aura.

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The Promise Within is a Merlin/Arthur story by MK Yujji. It was written for Paperlegends 2011 and is set a month or two after the end of S1. valika56 created a trailer vid for the story.[1] The trailer is 1:13 min long and has a very epic feel to it.

Summary: "This is not as destiny intended, young warlock. You are meant to be the magical side of this coin, not the young Pendragon. I can no longer clearly see what path destiny will follow.
An ancient ceremony alters the course of destiny and everyone must face choices that no one expected. As Uther's hatred of magic clashes with his love for his son, Arthur sees everything in a different light."

A spell awakens Arthur's dormant magical abilities (his mother's family in this story is known for having some magical talent) and Arthur has to deal with the fact that he can now see and manipulate the aura's of the people around him. That means he sees that there is something different about Merlin who has to confess what that something is and Arthur needs to learn how to control his abilities before anyone notices what is wrong with him. Arthur having magic also means that Morgana's fate isn't set in stone either.

Recs and Reviews

OMG, this is one of the best 'Fix-It' stories ever!! Set in the days after the end of the first series, we are given the Merlin and Arthur of old, before all of the lies and deceit wore them down. What begins with Arthur being kidnapped leads to a whole new chain of events that will have you on the edge of your seat the entire time. kitsuneyujji does an outstanding job with all of the characters, from Merlin and Arthur struggling to deal with the curveball Fate (and magic) has thrown at them, to Uther having to weigh his own hatred of magic against his love for his son, and the host of supporting characters. This story is so incredible that it's beyond my ability to describe fully how it is so incredible. By the end, you'll be squeeing, I'll say that much.[2]

It's an Arthur-has-magic fic and a fix-it fic!!! This takes place between S1 and S2 and wow, it was just...yeah. Reading this has made me so sad the series played out the way it did, not to mention extremely worried about how the writers plan to resolve everything. I loved all the characters, and I think the author got Merlin and Arthur down pat. Merlin's devotion to Arthur and Arthur's acceptance of his magic and his reasoning that it's something he has and that he now has to learn to deal with or he risks leaving his kingdom heirless were spot on with their canon characterizations. The banter between Arthur and Merlin was great. And Uther fucking broke my heart. He's not a one-dimensional character by any means. It's evident he loves Arthur and hates magic and now, with a magical son, he has no idea what to do. This story is amazing and beautiful. Definitely worth a read![3]

References

  1. ^ valika56. Merlin Big Bang 2011 - a trailer video for The Promise Within by kitsuneyujji, 27 August 2011. (Accessed 03 September 2011)
  2. ^ angelqueen04. 2011 Paperlegends Fic Recs, 07 September 2011. (Accessed 08 September 2011)
  3. ^ rebeccaann08. Merlin Insta-Rec, 31 August 2011. (Accessed 25 February 2012)