Merlin 1. Chapter 1- Beginning of the war

Sibling Rivalry- Modern AU.

Smirking her trademark smirk, Morgana floated down the corridors of Albion high. Mordred followed her in her wake. Several students dodged out of the way. Morgana's way with words was less than desired- especially her tongue that spat acid easily during her foul moods. Her hair was long, wavy and a shimmering raven colour and her eyes were a forest green. Her skin was a white as snow, but she was far from Snow White in her personality. A young boy of a similar age turned the corner up ahead. Snarling, Morgana shot daggers at him with her eyes. It was none other than her half brother, Arthur.

Arthur was a much happier and certainly more popular boy. Not only did he have the trademark cheeky happy-go-lucky look, his personality was one of the best. His first year wasn't exactly successful. He put on an arrogant selfish front, hiding his true nature for no particular reason except for pressure from his father. Many times during that year he had been called to the headmaster's office often for bullying or fighting. However, in his second grade that all changed. He suddenly became a much more affectionate and caring boy. Before he knew it, he was talked about in the highest possible ways. Girls seemed to fall for him from all angles, and a band of other boys joined his side one by one. Arthur was simply perfect. That was what Morgana hated most about him. His popularity. After he became popular, he never really had time to spend with her, despite being her half brother.

He mentally prepared himself as he noted Morgana strolling at him forcefully at a high pace.

"Hello dear brother!" Morgana greeted in a sarcastic fashion.

"Morgana!" Arthur returned with equal sarcasm.

"I see your minions are still following you around like a herd of sheep." Her tone suggested she was even more angered than normal at Arthur's friend's very presence.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't talk about my mates in that way."

"Oh please! You don't really believe they're your friends do you?" Morgana's cold laughter froze the air around the group.

"Of course." Arthur's joyful mood began to change very quickly.

"If you weren't popular, then I think they'd all be ripping chunks out of you!"

"Watch it Morgana! That's not true and you know it!" One of the boys at Arthur's side commented. His dark hair was ruffled in an untidy manner.

"Well yes, I know that's very true Merlin. You still can't appear to survive without your little red comfort blanket!" Morgana teased, grabbing his loose red scarf and untying it before holding it away from him.

"Give it back!" Merlin's arms scrambled all over the place as he reached out to retrieve his favourite scarf back. Mordred laughed spitefully as Morgana handed the scarf to him and he began to wave it above Merlin's head.

"Give it back. We're not going to fight, even though that's what you want." Arthur snarled. There was an uncomfortable silence as half-brother and half-sister stared with pure hate at each other. Morgana's stare began to pierce through Arthur and eventually he gave in.

"You never give a good challenge anymore." Morgana hissed before signalling to Mordred. He grinned evilly before taking the scarf and ripping it.

"NO!" Merlin screamed, "My Grandmother made that for me!"

Releasing them from his grasp, the two pieces of red material floated to the ground.

"See you around… losers!" Morgana smirked before walking round the group and out of sight. Mordred followed.

"We'll get them back Merlin. Don't you worry!" One of the boys patted him on the back.

"Thanks Gwaine." Merlin mumbled in response. Gwaine felt angry that his friend had been hurt and he'd done nothing. He turned round in the direction that Morgana and Mordred had drifted away. Frowning, he turned back, flicking his long brown hair about as he did so.

"I'll talk to Gwen. She loves textiles! She might be able to sew it for you." Arthur smiled and Merlin smiled back.

"So what are we going to do?" The tallest of the group, Percival asked. Silence.

"We need to do something! We can't let them get away with everything they've done lately!"

"I'm not sure a footie game would quite cut it, would it?" Leon suggested.

"No… no it wouldn't. Morgana is friends with Helios. Remember how he cheats and just shoves everyone out the way? We need something else."

"Can we flour bomb them?" Gwaine asked hopefully. Everyone stare at Gwaine with a dead pan face.

"Ok, it was just an idea!" Gwaine replied, scratching his head and avoiding eye contact with the rest of the boys.

"Although, I'd love to see her face if we did it!" Percy chuckled to himself at the thought of Morgana covered in flour.

"Well, if you want the consequences afterwards then go ahead!" Arthur laughed nervously, knowing for the fact he would be the one who got blamed the most.

"The prank would outweigh the consequences by far!" Gwaine grinned at Arthur.

"I'll get the blame." Arthur sighed.

"We'll all get the blame." Leon stated, "Not just you." He smiled as he looked around the group.

"Let's do it!" They all shouted happily and made their way to the school food technology classrooms.

Meanwhile, Morgana and Mordred had met up with Helios and Morgause. It wasn't only Arthur and his friends that were cooking up something.

"It was hilarious though!" Morgana smirked as she saw Merlin's desperate face when she ripped his scarf from his neck, "You should have seen him! He was such a total wimp!"

"Be careful! You know his father is the deputy head!" Morgause said wisely.

"Oh come on! We were just having a little fun!" Morgana pretended to sulk.

"Yeah! Look what they've done to us in the past!" Helios chipped in.

"Like what?" Mordred asked, puzzled. (He had only recently joined their gang).

"Arthur stole Gwen from us." Morgana snarled.

"She used to be our best friend, but then he swept her off her feet and now she's on is side!" Morgause hissed at the memory.

"You mean the nice girl in English class?" Mordred's eyes widened.

"That's what you'd think. But since she joined them, she's been a right little witch!" Morgana snapped.

"And you know why Arthur and Merlin are our enemies!" Helios grumbled.

"Yes. Yes you told me about that." Mordred replied, seemingly anxious.

"I think we should do something!" Morgana finally stood from her seat in the canteen.

"Keep your voice down! He's got friends everywhere!" Morgause whispered, concerned that someone might indeed spill the beans on them. At that point a weak-looking boy with large glasses looked up, frowning.

"What are you looking at nerd?" Helios roared at him. The boy looked away, picked up his things and left.

"So, what should we do?" Mordred asked inquisitively, looking straight to Morgana whom smirked.

"Oh, believe me… I have the perfect plan!


	2. Chapter 2- Quest for the flour

Chapter 2- Search for the Flour!

Merlin peeked round the corner in the technology block. There was no one about.

"Coasts clear!" He whispered to the two boys behind him. Arthur, Leon and Merlin emerged from the hiding spot and sneaked over to the food room. Slowly, Merlin pushed the handle down.

"It's locked!" He exclaimed, still whispering.

"What should we do?" Leon asked, and the pair looked to Arthur.

"Why am I always the one who has to think up an idea?" Arthur frowned, clearly annoyed.

Suddenly, a familiar face walked into the block and around the corner.

"Arthur?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Gwen! Hi!" Arthur stood up straight, grinning.

"What are you up to?" Gwen folded her arms.

"Nothing! Nothing, at all! We were just…" Arthur tried to think of a good answer.

"Wanting to get in the classroom, so you could flour-bomb Morgana and her clan?" Gwen replied for him.

"How the hell did you know?" Arthur exclaimed.

"Ssh!" Merlin and Leon frowned and tried to keep Arthur quiet. If they were spotted, the plan would fail.

"I bumped into Gwaine and Percy on the way in." Gwen smiled.

"If they tell anyone else, then we're busted! Merlin, go tell them to be careful!" Arthur ordered.

"Why me?" He asked.

"Just do it!" Arthur replied. Merlin sighed, annoyed, and left.

"We can't get in anyway, the door is locked." Arthur groaned, walking past Gwen. Leon followed but the pair stopped in their tracks.

"So, you won't be wanting this then?" Gwen asked, holding up a key-ring with several different shaped keys attached.

"You genius!" Arthur grinned, hugging Gwen and then leaned in for a kiss. Leon stood there, feeling awkward.

"Guys?" He cleared his throat. They didn't hear him.

"Guys!" He tried again, louder, but they were still too distracted with each other. So Leon sighed, took the keys dangling loosely from Gwen's hand; unlocked the door and walked in the classroom.

Meanwhile, Merlin had found Gwaine and Percy.

"What do you two think you are doing?" Merlin asked.

"What do you mean?" Gwaine questioned, puzzled.

"You told Gwen our plan!" Merlin hissed.

"Well, she did offer to help! She got the key for the classroom!" Percy grinned.

"She… did?" Merlin was surprised. He hadn't seen a key.

"Well, apparently, as she takes food technology as a subject, she was going to go and collect the cake she made in lesson today and share it for lunch".

"So she had a key to get in from the teacher who is actually out on playground duty today."

"Oh ok."

Leon looked around the classroom. If he were a cookery teacher, where would he put the flour? He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in this room, though it looked pretty much the same. The store cupboard seemed a good start. Rummaging through, he found some very tasty looking cakes. One in particular had butter cream and strawberry jam. Something Leon struggled to resist. He felt like he had a devil and an angel hovering above his head like in the Tom and Jerry Cartoons. His hand slowly moved toward the cake. As he got ever closer, he saw it had been dusted with icing. His eyes grew wide as he imagined the sweet taste. His fingers were centimetres away now. Stepping closer, so that he practically leant against the shelf, Leon's nose filled with the irresistible scent of baking. He couldn't take it any longer. This torture to his taste buds was far too much.

Outside, Merlin, Percival and Gwaine were getting impatient. Merlin looked to his watch. It was now half way through lunch.

"What's taking them so long?" He sighed.

"I have no idea. All they need was some flour for our plan" Percival tapped his foot.

"…Oh! And don't forget the cake!" Gwaine added. Merlin and Percival stared at their friend.

"What? Cake is good! Besides, I'll burn it off and the gym later on!" He grinned, scratching his head.

After five minutes, the group got completely fed up and headed inside to see what was taking the others so long. As they turned the corner, they gasped before trying extremely hard to control their laughter.

"Well, looks like some people have been busy!" Gwaine chuckled as he saw Arthur and Gwen, still in a slightly passionate embrace. They had parted when they'd heard the boys laughing and both were now as red as radishes with embarrassment. Arthur's hair was ruffled slightly, and he had a very faint smudge of lips gloss on his lips.

"Well, at least we know why you two have been so long!" Merlin mumbled. Arthur stepped back and cleared his throat. Gwen offered him a handkerchief to wipe away the obvious lip gloss.

"Where's Leon anyway?" Percival voiced. At that moment, everyone frowned. It was a good question. Where was Leon? Noticing the keys were missing, Gwen tried the door to the classroom which was now unlocked. Cautiously, she entered.

"Leon? Leon are you in here?" She timidly crept in, wondering what she might find. The others followed. There was a noise from the store cupboard. Frowning, the group quietly shuffled over to the semi-open door. As Gwen pushed it open, she gasped.

"Leon!" She nearly yelled and the boys had to tell her to be quieter. They peeked around and over her shoulders. They too were rather shocked at the sight before them. A very guilty-looking Leon was sprawled across the cool floor of the store cupboard with crumbs, cream and jam spilled down the front of his uniform. In his hand was a small amount of cake. Sitting in his lap was the tray it had been sitting on and the tin was sitting on the floor next to him. He swallowed the cake he had in his mouth, wiped his fingers on a discarded but clean paper towel and stood slowly.

"What do you think you were doing?" Arthur questioned angrily.

"I'm sorry, but I was looking for some flour so I thought it might be in here as it was a store cupboard, and then I saw this cake and it just looked so lonely and like it needed eating so… I kind of… ate it". He winced, and looked away.

"Wait a minute… where did you get it from?" Gwen asked worried.

"The shelf, why?" Leon was confused. Gwen dashed into the cupboard and searched the shelf.

"Was it sitting here?" She asked, dreading the answer.

"Yeah. Why?" Leon was already regretting what he had done.

"You idiot! That was my cake that I made! It was for everyone to share!" Gwen exploded in fury.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know! But… it was delicious and very well baked. If I didn't know I would have thought it was from a professional bakery!" Leon smiled, hoping that might cause Gwen to stop fussing.

"Well, at least one of you enjoyed it I guess." Gwen sighed.

Within a few minutes, the group were back to the original task of searching for flour supplies. It didn't take too long, because Gwen knew roughly where it was kept.

"This bag is open! There's no way I'm getting flour in my rucksack! Mum will kill me!" Merlin picked it up, clearly surprised it was open.

"Here! The ones underneath aren't open. They're likely to be fresh as well!" Gwen giggled at the thought of her nemesis covered in flour. The boys carefully manoeuvred the open bags of flour and took five of the new bags. Each took one and placed it in their school bag before grinning to one another. Phase 1 was complete.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Phase 2

As the bell rang for the fifth lesson of the day, Arthur and his mates headed to English.

"When are we going to do it?" Asked Gwaine eagerly, as though he was a mischievous five year old.

"Patience Gwaine!" Merlin hushed, smiling to himself.

"Uh oh! The man has something up his sleeve again!" Percival grinned.

"Indeed I do!" Merlin continued to smile impishly.

"What is it?" Arthur asked, intrigued.

"Ah, now that would be telling!" Merlin replied, tapping the side of his nose and entering the English classroom. The other lads looked to one another feeling anxious and interested at the same time before entering the classroom themselves.

Morgana gave her death stare as Arthur dared to walk past _her _desk. Ignoring her, Arthur sat at his. Suddenly there was a loud _thump _followed by an array of laughter. As Arthur turned round he noted Helios and Mordred laughing uncontrollably at Merlin whom they had obviously tripped up as he was sprawling around helplessly on the floor. Just then, Mr Alined- The teacher- walked in.

"What is going on in here?" His voice bellowed loudly as his face turned to thunder. The class fell silent and all eyes were fixed onto Helios, Mordred and Merlin. The three boys stared at one another.

"I'm waiting for an answer!" Mr Alined added. Helios winked subtly at Mordred before putting on the most innocent voice he could:

"Sir, Merlin here tried to hit me with his book. I didn't mean to hurt him, I was only defending myself!" Mortified, Merlin looked to the teacher whom walked up to where he was sitting in a heap on the floor of the classroom.

"Is this true boy?" The teacher asked menacingly, practically growling at poor Merlin as he towered over him.

"Of course not! I've got more sense than that sir!" Merlin replied.

"Really sir, I saw him do it!" Mordred chipped in; trying to smirk like Morgana did though seemingly failed.

"That's rubbish!" A voice yelled across the classroom. Everyone turned to see Arthur who had jumped up from his seat. The teacher's eyes narrowed.

"I wasn't talking to you Mr Pendragon." He snarled.

"But it's true sir! Merlin did nothing! Helios tripped him up!" Gwaine added.

All of a sudden, before Mr Alined could say another word, the class broke out in a riot. It was Morgana's team against Arthur's team. Exercise books and dictionaries were flying out of control over the room like malfunctioning aeroplanes; pencils and pens were firing across the room like machine gun ammunition and general fights mainly between the boys were breaking out.

"Class!" The teacher screamed, but his loud bellow was drowned out by the noise of the battle being fought within the small space.

Arthur was distracted as Helios pinned him up against the wall.

"This is for what you did to Morgana!" He roared as he punched Arthur hard in the stomach several times. Winded, Arthur fell to his knees, clutching his belly as pain throbbed.

"Arthur's down!" Gwaine mumbled. Then he delved into his bag.

Meanwhile, the girls weren't quite as violent with actions, but more so with their words.

"Gwen, you're so poor I bet your father has to sacrifice his breakfast for you!" Morgana laughed alongside Sophia and Nimueh.

"That's not true!" Gwen fought back the tears. Both Freya and Vivian put a reassuring hand on her shoulders.

"What the hell are you protecting her for Vivian? I thought you were on our side!" Sophia snarled at the blonde.

"You all put me in a mess with Arthur. If I had known you were doing it to separate them, I would have never agreed to flirt with him!" She snapped back.

"You shouldn't under-estimate us. Just because we enjoy learning doesn't make us freaks!" Freya shouted.

"Actually it does!" Nimueh retorted.

"You're the freaks!" Gwen found some courage and screamed back.

"How so?" Morgana walked forward, staring right into Gwen's face.

Merlin was watching in astonishment. The whole situation was out of control, or so it seemed. He noted Gwaine sneaking toward the girls.

"What are you…?" Merlin asked inquisitively.

"Ssh!" Gwaine continued, until he was just within reach of Morgana's huddle of girls. He readied himself, hoping they wouldn't turn around and catch him. Frowning Merlin noticed he had something round and white in his hand. Gwaine held it behind him.

"NO GWAINE!" Merlin yelled, but it was too late as Gwaine hurled the flour bomb toward the girls. At the sound of Merlin screaming Morgana turned. She didn't expect to be greeted with a parcel of flour hitting her face. The room fell silent. Everyone held their breath as they awaited her reaction. Wiping the substance from her eyes, she frowned and looked like she was going to kill someone as she scrunched up her fists and screamed:

"HOW DARE YOU!"

Everyone tried to cover up their laughter as flour covered her hair and clothes. Then Leon threw another flour bomb. Only this time at Mordred whom immediately stopped chuckling to himself as the package of flour impacted his rather immaculate uniform.

Once again, a riot broke out. This time, great amounts of flour were flying across the room, and before long the air in the room was so misty, it became hard to tell who was fighting with whom.

All hell had broken loose until the door to the classroom opened. Mr Alined stormed in, followed by a shocked Mr Physicist and Mr Pendragon. Suddenly, a flour bomb flew through the air and splattered over Mr Pendragon's pin stripe suit.

"What is going on in here?" He exploded. Everyone fell silent and stared through the misty air at the silhouette of teachers. They recognised the voice of the head in an instant and cringed when they knew how much trouble they'd be in.

"Why are you all behaving in this outrageous manner?" He screamed. Wincing with pain, and rising from the floor, Arthur limped over to the headmaster- his father.

"It was my entire fault." He mumbled.

"What?" Mr Pendragon asked, hoping he hadn't heard correctly.

"I said it was my entire fault!" Arthur repeated louder.

"Arthur!" Merlin stepped forward, knowing that he shouldn't take the blame.

"How could you cause such a thing? You are my son! I expect you to set an example for the rest of the students! And here you are, fighting, throwing flour bombs and causing Mr Alined to require assistance in controlling this class!" Mr Pendragon lost it, screaming his head off at his son whom bowed his head down as he received a very nasty telling off in front of everyone. Merlin; Gwaine; Leon; Percival and Gwen all felt incredibly guilty. Then one by one stepped forward.

"Sir, it isn't just Arthur who should take the blame. We all should as well." Merlin admitted head down along with the others.

"We all had a part in this." Gwen added.

"All of you will have after school detention for an entire month where you will be writing lines for all of your actions". The group groaned quietly.


	4. Chapter 4: Boredom

Chapter 4: Boredom.

Arthur's clan sat with their shoulders slumped as their aching hands continued to write 'I will not cause mayhem in class' line after line after line. They sat in complete and utter silence. Gwen blew a strand of her curls away from her face as she started her sixth page that afternoon.

The teacher observing them left, muttering some excuse about his tea brewing and that he didn't want it to get too strong. Then he popped his head back round,

"And don't misbehave while I'm gone!"

Merlin peered around the side of the bookcase and watched through the window of the door as the teacher walked out of sight.

"Clear!" He whispered. The group sighed; glad to have a break from writing for so long. They all slumped back in their chairs.

"Thank god! I thought my hand was about to fall off!" Gwaine exclaimed.

"Well, it would've been your fault anyway!" Arthur huffed as he wiped his hands on his shirt in an attempt to get the smudged ink off of his hand.

"How was it my fault?" Gwaine asked, slightly offended, "I was defending the girls!" He added.

"Come on guys! Let's not fall out over this! We all know it was Helios and Mordred who started the whole riot off!" Gwen raised her voice, seeing if the boys continued to argue another fight might start. The boys looked to one another before nodding in agreement.

"So what are we going to do?" Gwaine asked, clasping his hands together, keen to hear what plans the group had for revenge.

"We're not doing anything unless you want us to get detention for a whole year!" Merlin voiced.

"Oh come on! Don't you want to just get back at them a little bit? Just an ickle wickle incy wincy bit!?" Gwaine leant over Merlin's table and squeezed his ear.

"Ow!" Merlin jolted away, annoyed.

"Well, if we can come up with something good that won't get us into trouble, maybe we _can _get our revenge!" Leon pondered as he thought aloud.

"Yes! Not just something good though, something amazing… something inspiring… something so brilliant that they can't get us back for!" Gwaine grinned as he marched down the small aisle of tables and chairs. For a moment, the clan of school boys (and school girl) were anxious that their fellow friend may burst into some kind of song or inspirational speech. Luckily, he just smiled to himself before sitting back down.

Just as he did, the teacher burst back in with a steaming cup of coffee. His eagle eyes glanced over the students, but all he saw was them working. He walked by and glared at the paper they all possessed. Then he sighed to himself as he looked at the time.

"You're all dismissed, I have marking to do and I can't waste another minute watching over you lot. Go on; scram before I change my mind!" He swatted his hand in their general direction as though they were some kind of pests. The six teenagers left in the shortest time possible, dashing out of the library and down the main corridor.

Arthur glanced over his shoulder. There were no teachers about. The group huddled.

"Ok, come on Skype tonight at about seven o'clock. We'll talk more then!" He announced in a whisper. They all nodded before exiting the school and heading their separate ways.


	5. Chapter 5- Sneaking Around

Chapter 5: Sneaking around

When Arthur arrived home, he was greeted with the unpleasant and constant moaning from Morgana. Everywhere he went, she followed him, her mouth barely closing as she ranted about how the flour could have damaged her hair, and that Arthur was stupid to think he could get away with such a plan. Quite frankly, Arthur was gaining a severe headache from her and instantly wished he could pick up a remote and press mute.

Arthur stormed into his room, finally losing his cool with his half sister. He waited until she was just coming into the room and then he slammed the door as hard as he could. He heard a satisfying thump and an "OWWWW!"

He hated hurting girls, but when it was Morgana, it really made him feel a bit better. He collapsed back onto his bed sighing loudly and running his hands through his golden locks of hair. Realising he was still in his school uniform, he groaned before slipping from his comfortable place of peace and heading towards his walk in wardrobe. Unfortunately, it wasn't until it was too late that he realised what Morgana had done. He now fell to the floor with a loud thump and practically squealed in a very high pitched fashion as he was splashed with ice cold water. To top the whole thing off, the bucket fell from the top of the door and landed on his head. Morgana- who had snuck in without Arthur realising- was rolling around on the floor in stitches of laughter. Arthur clenched his fists before leaping up and marching threateningly toward Morgana.

"You are the worst sister anyone could ever wish for!" He growled. Morgana gained control of herself before standing up and brushing herself down. She folded her arms at Arthur's comment.

"And you're the worst brother anyone could wish for!" She retorted.

"I hate you!" Arthur shouted.

"I hate you more!" Morgana screamed back, "Get out!" She added. Arthur walked out the room. A few seconds later he came back.

"This is my room!" He folded his arms impatiently, "So _you_ get out!"

Morgana walked out smirking to herself.

Arthur frowned as water dripped from his hair, slowly making a puddle on the laminate flooring of his room. He shivered from the cold that had crept across his skin from the water falling on him. Deciding that he should dry off, he left the room to grab a towel and some fresh clothes from the airing cupboard. As he pulled a fresh t-shirt with his favourite rock band plastered on the front, his eye caught Morgana's favourite tank top. He shook his head and went to close the door but he looked back to the skimpy black and green item of clothing. He smirked. Not like Morgana did though. It was a cheeky, mischievous grin. Checking she wasn't around he removed it from the cupboard and walked back to his own room.


	6. Chapter 6- Sweet, sweet Revenge!

Chapter 6: Sweet, sweet revenge!

Arthur had ordered a pizza for both himself and Morgana. Waiting for the pizza to be delivered was always a chore. Arthur had been sitting in his room, staring at Morgana's best top. The glitter glistened in the light. His eye had caught the scissors sitting in the stationary pot on top of his desk. He lay back on his bed, but his eyes kept drifting to the scissors. They were almost enticing him to pick them up and he felt hypnotised by his fiendish idea. Slowly, he walked to the desk and removed the scissors. He held the pair of scissors in one hand and Morgana's top in another before grinning to himself.

Later, the doorbell rang. Arthur raced down the stairs, eager to eat the pizza he had ordered. He could practically smell the delicious scent wafting from the porch and through the letter box to his nose. However just as he got to the hallway, Morgana beat him. She flipped her hair and posed in a slightly flirtatious fashion before opening the door. She was disappointed to see a domino's pizza delivery man standing on the porch. Turning her nose up, she turned and let Arthur go to the door.

"Sorry about her!" Arthur looked over his shoulder at his moody half sister.

"No worries, you haven't seen half the people I have to deliver to!" The man replied, handing the pizza's over as Arthur gave him a £20 note.

"Keep the change." Arthur grinned before closing the door and turning around. He met the icy glare that had become a common occurrence recently.

"So, I get you food and you still hate me?" Arthur moaned.

"You needn't have. I have a date tonight!" Morgana replied in the nastiest tone possible.

"A date? What with Helios?" Arthur questioned nervously. He quivered for a second at the thought of having to deal with Helios for an evening.

"Yeah! He's taking me out to dinner!" Morgana smiled as she turned around. Arthur stifled a chuckle.

"What?"

"Nothing."

It wasn't long before Helios arrived. As soon as Morgana opened the front door he wrapped his arms around her possessively. Arthur glared at Helios with the foulest look he could manage, but Helios's dark eyes gave such a glare back Arthur felt a little bit intimidated.

"Don't stay out too late. Dad will be back about half ten." Was all Arthur said before he ran upstairs to his room. Just as he got to the landing, he heard Helios say:

"What happened to your top?" Uh oh. Arthur leapt into his room and slid a heavy box against the door just as Morgana shrieked before screaming:

"ARTHUR YOU ABSOLUTE CLOTPOLE!"

Despite Arthur knew how angry Morgana was, and that he would regret what he'd done later, he burst into a massive fit of laughter and now he was rolling around on the floor with tears of joy rolling down the sides of his face.

"Um, Arthur?" Said a voice. Arthur stopped. He was a bit spooked.

"Who's there?" He asked, crouching down like a ninja.

"It's your father, who does it sound like?" Came a sarcastic reply. Arthur looked up and found himself going bright red when he realised Gwen was the first to start the skype call.

"What were you doing?" She asked as she looked into her webcam bemused and curious as to what Arthur was doing rolling around on the floor of his bedroom. Arthur cleared his throat and clambered onto the chair at his desk.

"There was a mouse in my room." Arthur lied. _A mouse? You idiot! _Arthur thought.

"Really?" Gwen smiled, not believing Arthur one bit.

"Yeah! It was really vicious actually! It had razor sharp claws and massive teeth. I came in here and it was trying to steal the pizza I just ordered so I tried to catch it and it just went for me." Arthur explained, nodding. Gwen just stared at him for a minute.

"Right, anyway… is anyone else there yet?" Gwen asked.

"No, still waiting for the lads to join the call." Arthur stretched as he leant back in his chair.

"Ugh. They are really bad at time keeping." Gwen complained.

"Yeah they can be a bit." Arthur laughed.

"Arthur?" Another voice was heard.

"Yes Merlin?"

"We've been here about five minutes."

"Oh."

"Cabbage head!"


	7. Chapter 7- The battle begins!

**Hi guys! Thanks for the reviews and favourites on this story. Sorry I haven't updated in a while- I had writers block but thanks to a friend, I now have a bumper long chapter for you guys! Enjoy!**

Chapter 7: The battle begins.

The Skype call had consisted of Arthur and his friends listing several different ideas that could be carried out to show Morgana that her team were inferior and Arthur's team were superior. A lot of the ideas, however, were either impossible or so silly even a toddler could think of better ideas.

"You know what? Let's just give it a rest guys. Maybe we'll wake up tomorrow and with refreshed minds think of something else". Arthur was disappointed that between the six of them, no ideas could become a plan.

The feud continued for many months. Everyone now and then, one team would infuriate the other and then the annoyed team would strike back. Luckily, Arthur and his friends now had free evenings as they had _finally _paid off the flour bomb incident and gained forgiveness from Mr. Pendragon. Little did anyone know that the real war was about to begin and the previous shenanigans had just been the build up…

Merlin gazed out of his window into the cold, dark night. December seemed to have crept up out of nowhere, and now everyone in the city of Camelot were battling the harsh frost each morning; using all the energy they had earned from drinking hot chocolate to scrape the practically inch think sheet of ice away that layered their cars in the morning. Suddenly, Merlin was distracted by his thoughts as a tiny white crystal floated down from the sky. It fell to the ground gracefully and sat there. Merlin looked to the sky and grinned as more and more snowflakes began to fall from the cloudless night sky. He clasped his hands together and made a wish before pulling his curtains and climbing into his old creaky bed before dropping off to sleep.

The first thing that awoke Merlin in the morning, to his surprise, was not his annoyingly loud alarm clock. A slightly large 'thump' was the first thing to awake him from his peaceful slumber. At first, Merlin thought he had imagined it, but another louder 'thump' made him realise he was actually hearing something real. Considering it was the middle of winter, even with his thin curtains pulled, Merlin's bedroom seemed brighter than a summer's day. When he opened his curtains, he squinted and grinned. His wish had come true. The streets were covered in a thick, glistening white blanket of snow. As his eyes drifted down, he saw Arthur, Leon and Gwaine standing with their arms folded. The three of them were wearing thick winter coats and a woolly scarf each. Merlin opened his window so that they could communicate.

"Rise and shine sleepy head!" Was Arthur's greeting as he grinned widely.

"Yeah, we were worried that we were going to smash your window in with all the snowballs we were throwing!" Added Gwaine. As Merlin glanced to his clock, it stated that it was actually ten o'clock. Merlin had overslept.

"Don't worry, I persuaded my father to keep the school closed today!" Arthur told Merlin when he noticed his friend's shocked and worried expression. Merlin laughed.

"Ok, give me 5 minutes and I'll let you guys in!" He shouted before shutting his window.

Dashing downstairs, Merlin met his Mum.

"Morning dear!" She smiled cheerfully.

"Morning Mum!" Merlin grinned.

"Sleep well?" Hunith asked as her son ran to the kitchen and hurriedly put some toast in the toaster and began to boil the kettle.

"Indeed I did!" Merlin replied, "Arthur, Gwaine and Percy are outside, can I let them in?" He asked with big puppy eyes. His mother chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"You know you can, your friends aren't any trouble!"

After Merlin had let half of the clan in, offered them all a hot chocolate and gobbled two slices of toast, he wrapped up warm and the group made their way outside. Merlin was surprised at how deep the snow was. Nearly 3 ft, or so it seemed. The four boys began plodding through the snow, making footprints as they trekked to the park a few blocks away.

When they arrived, they saw that Gwen and Leon were already there, starting to build a long lump in the snow- almost like a wall. They were chatting and smiling as they continued piling on endless amounts of snow and smoothing it down to make whatever it was that they were building stronger.

"We're here!" Called Arthur. As soon as she heard his voice, Gwen ran to him and hugged him.

"Hey how are you?" She asked.

"Not bad. Hey did you make those yourself?" Arthur asked as he noticed Gwen was wearing a hat, scarf and pair of gloves which all had a matching pattern. Gwen nodded and blushed.

"That's brilliant! Maybe you could make us some when you get a spare moment?" Arthur suggested.

"Sure!" Gwen shrugged and smiled back, but her happy expression faded when she saw a band of five figures marching across the park. When Arthur realised Gwen was looking over his shoulder he turned and he grimaced. Couldn't he go anywhere and have fun with his friends without his sister and her gang following them?

Gwen; Leon; Gwaine; Merlin and Percy all dived behind the now complete snow wall that Leon and Gwen had been working on earlier. Arthur bravely stood in front.

"What do you want?" He asked his sister with gritted teeth.

"For you to leave the park!" Morgana answered quickly as she stopped right in front of her brother.

"No." Arthur retorted loudly.

"Why not?" Morgana hissed.

"Yes Arthur; why not?" Helios growled as he stood next to Morgana and towered over Arthur.

"Firstly, I'm older than you so _you_ can't tell _me _what to do. Secondly, this park is HUGE so go find somewhere else because we were here before you!" Arthur shouted. Morgana's gang laughed wickedly.

"Helios… move him!" Morgana ordered. Helios just smirked evilly- more evil than Morgana- and picked up Arthur.

"Let go of me!" He shouted as he struggled against Helios's strength. He felt himself being carried away toward the pond which was frozen over. Uh-oh. Arthur began to fight more frantically, but Helios was too strong.

Suddenly, Morgana shrieked and caused Helios to stop in his tracks and turn to see what the commotion was. Morgana was lying on the ground, covered in snow. Arthur's team had rolled a massive snowball together before Gwaine and Percy hauled it at Morgana. Their aim had been perfect and it had impacted their arch nemesis hard, causing her to fall back and scream from the cold substance. It had been a nice snowball- there was no ice or stones contained- but Morgana still made a massive fuss claiming her £100 coat was now ruined.

"Stay there! I'll deal with you later!" Helios threw Arthur down, though it did no damage because Arthur landed in a pile of soft snow. He released a breath or relief that he had not been dumped in the middle of the frozen pond and left to fend for himself. He stood and brushed himself down before showing a thumbs up at his team and sneaking off to hide…

"Do you know how much this coat cost?" Morgana screeched at Gwaine and Percy who just grinned mischievously and folded their arms. Gwen stepped forward.

"Yes I do because it has a pure fur collar and a leather lining so it will be about one hundred pounds". She smiled simply.

"Shut up." Morgana mumbled.

"You're all going to pay for that". Helios roared as he stormed forward toward Arthur's clan.

"Hey Helios!" Shouted a voice. Helios looked around and frowned. Noticing Arthur wasn't in the spot he had left him he shouted

"Where are you, you little blonde brat?"

"I'm here, I'm there and I'm EVERYWHERE!" Arthur's voice echoed around the park. Merlin stifled a laugh. Helios marched away and Morgana, Mordred, Cenred and Morgause followed timidly- unsure of what they were expecting. Helios began to get angrier by the second as his patience in finding one of his enemies started to wear down.

"I'd really just quit and go home before it starts…" Arthur's voice echoed again.

"Like we're going to do that!" Morgana's gang were now situated directly in the middle of the park.

"Fine. Right you lot, its playtime!" Arthur shouted and laughed. Before Morgana could even say 'what?' they realised their mistake.

Snowballs from all corners of the park came flying toward them and high speed. They were a brilliant target because they were all dressed in dark colours and stood out like sore thumbs against the snow. Laughter erupted from Arthur's friends lungs. This had been a plan for quite some time. To finally see it coming together was a treat indeed. While Gwaine and Percy had been able to distract Morgana's gang, Arthur had text their other friends who had been victims of Morgana and her clan in the past. All of them willingly accepted and practically ran to the park at the opportunity to get back at them. Once they had got to the park, they hid behind trees; in bushes; behind benches and anywhere else they could while Merlin escaped from the snow wall/ fort and plugged Arthur's phone into the speakers so he could talk without being seen. Among their other friends were Mithian and Vivian who had both been blackmailed by Morgana numerous times in the past. They squealed with delight as they saw Morgana and Morgause screaming as they tried to duck out the way. Helios was the first to grab and fist full of snow and throw it at someone else. However he was violent and patted it together so hard, it caused the other person to blast back a few feet.

"One down!" Helios grinned and at this point the other two boys began to fight back. Several people were suddenly being bombed at by rock hard snowballs. Seeing this was getting serious, Arthur walked along a tree branch in the massive Oak he had been hiding in. Merlin who was hiding behind him watched as his friend began moving away.

"Where are you going?" He hissed. Arthur didn't answer. He continued shuffling along the branch until he realised it wouldn't support him anymore. He dared not to move or say another word because he was directly above Helios. Arthur didn't like the decision he was making, but he wasn't going to have all his friends mowed down by the merciless beast beneath him. He counted to three in his head. Merlin moved toward him but it was too late…

Arthur roared as he leapt from the branch and landed on top of Helios, stunning him. Arthur tried to pin him down, but Helios was far too strong and threw him off easily. Merlin watched in horror as Arthur and Helios engaged in a rough brawl. Every now and then there was a scream of pain- unfortunately emitted from Arthur's lungs.

Gwen ran toward the pair but Morgana stepped in front of her.

"I don't think so." She smirked, her eyes piercing into Gwen like a blade. Frightened, Gwen froze. She watched as her boyfriend took a nasty punch leaving him winded in the snow. Gwen was normally a quiet and shy person, so even she was shocked when she did what she did. Morgana groaned in pain as blood rushed out of her nose from the hard punch that had impacted her face. Gwen shook her hand, praying she hadn't broken anything from smacking Morgana hard. Still revelling in surprise and disbelief, Morgana stayed sprawled across the floor as Gwen ran toward Helios and Arthur.

The park was now a full on battle field. A simple snowball fight had become a war where everyone was now engaging in violence although some people were still just throwing snowballs. Merlin watched in horror. What had they got themselves into? He was still stuck in the tree, clinging on for dear life even though he was the safest person in the park at that moment in time. Merlin stared down at Helios who had winded Arthur and was still kicking him like he was a football. Suddenly, a thought struck Merlin. He shuffled around awkwardly as he tried to reach into his pocket.

"Please, please, please…" He whispered desperately as he continued to go through each pocket in his coat (he had a lot). Finally, his searching hand found something and as he pulled it out he grinned.

"Leave him alone Helios!" Screamed Gwen bravely as she rushed forward. She skidded across a small patch of ice and ended up standing closer to Helios than she had originally intended. Helios turned, chuckling. The whole park became still. No one had ever known Gwen to be the loud or the brave one. Everyone watched as they feared what might happen to her. Helios came dangerously close to Gwen. She stood still. Very still.

"Gwen!" Arthur called out as he managed to stand. She signalled at him to move before turning her attention back to Helios.

"Guinevere. The normally so quiet, so shy and so feeble. Do you really think you can stand up to me?" Helios asked as he circled her. His tone was fierce and threatening. He finished his sentence and stood directly in front of Gwen. Gwen considered her chances, looking around her at the other boys who looked terrified for her. Even Mordred and Cenred were slightly concerned despite being on the opposite side. Gwen swallowed hard.

"I don't think so… I know so!" She told him confidentially.

"Really?" Helios asked, his voice laced with disbelief.

"Yeah!" Gwen nodded before raising her leg quickly and kicking Helios as hard as she could in the most painful place imaginable for a guy. He squealed like a girl and fell to the ground. All the boys made an 'ooh!' sound while all the girls gasped.

Merlin chose the perfect moment and threw down the potion he had made in chemisty. The area filled with fog as the glass tube containing the smoke bomb smashed open. Arthur's team made their escape leaving Morgana and her clan choking as they tried to escape the fog. It wasn't dangerous in anyway- Morgana was just over-reacting. Merlin jumped down from the tree, thankful he could now escape the horror and ran out of the park after the others.

When the smoky atmosphere cleared, Morgana screamed in frustration. Then she stared at her boyfriend who was still rolling around on the floor in agony.

"Are you ok?" She asked as she bent down to him.

"Do I _look _ok?" He squeaked in a high pitch voice. Morgause and Cenred both had to fight off laughter that was threatening to jump from their mouths.

"Arthur is going to pay so much!" Morgana yelled before storming off and leaving her clan in the middle of the park.


	8. Chapter 8- This is war!

Chapter 8: This is war!

When Morgana finally stumbled into the house, it was two o'clock. She was also incredibly disappointed to find Arthur wasn't there (He had in fact gone to Gwen's house). She wanted to scream until the glass in all the windows smashed. Noticing that her nose was still bleeding, Morgana decided to clean herself up. She limped to the downstairs bathroom and dabbed at her blood- covered nose with a wet tissue. As she did, she grumbled to herself. She was annoyed… actually that was an understatement- she was furious. More infuriated than a hungry Lion who's prey had escaped. She wanted her revenge. She wanted to show Arthur who wore the trousers in the household- well actually their father did as he was headmaster at the school- but between them she wanted to show him she was the boss even if she was the youngest. Quite frankly she wanted to smack Arthur several times and hope he understood something. But Morgana needed a plan. Something better than the snowball ambush. Something so good, even Merlin couldn't counter-act such a good idea- wait, did she just compliment Merlin? Never mind. She couldn't let distractions get in the way. She had to think hard. Suddenly, as she looked in the mirror, her eyes caught the black and white tiled wall behind her and an amazing idea sprung to mind…

"A chess match?" Helios cackled with laughter at the suggestion his girlfriend had voiced.

"What are you turning into some uber geek or something?" He asked as he struggled to control the wicked laughs erupting from his lungs.

"No. I think it's a brilliant idea. Arthur and me. A simple chess match with some kind of prize for the winner."

"Oh please Morgana! What happened to 'let's go punch my brother in the face?" Helios put a hand to his forehead, wondering if he was dreaming or if this was reality.

"You saw what happened the last time you turned to anger and violence. Maybe logic will help us win instead." Morgana replied wisely.

"Have you been talking to Merlin or something? You sound more and more like him every day. If you didn't hate Arthur and his clan so much I'd think you were cheating on me with Merlin!" Helios quipped, though his expression remained serious.

"Unless you want me to tie you up and get a group of girls to come and kick you in the…"

"Ok! Ok! Forget I said anything!" Helios held his hands up in defence, but he couldn't hide the absolute look of terror upon his face. He knew Morgana to well. He certainly wouldn't be surprised if she did what she had just suggested if he didn't stop teasing her.

"A Chess match?" Gwen giggled on the other side of town as she walked slowly at the side of Arthur.

"I know it sounds stupid and it's extremely unlikely that Morgana will agree to it… but I think it might work. Maybe we can finally bring a bit of peace to the rivalry." Arthur replied.

"I don't think it sounds stupid at all." Gwen whispered in his ear. Arthur grinned.

"Well, I was scared earlier today…"

"Ooh! Arthur Pendragon scared? Now _that's _a first!" Gwen interjected with a cheeky smile. Arthur rolled his eyes before continuing:

"I was worried that you were going to get hurt. You took on both Morgana and Helios!" Arthur exclaimed. Gwen scratched her head.

"Well, you were getting hurt. Infact how's your side now?" Gwen asked.

"Oh it still hurts and I'm going to get an absolutely massive bruise there… but I'll live!" Arthur replied, "I just need to think of a way to talk to Morgana without showing weakness or starting another fight…"

**What will happen when Arthur and Morgana see each other again? Will the Chess match go ahead? And what will the prize be? Follow this story to find out. CLIFFHANGER ALERT (So sorry!)**


	9. Chapter 9- Stale mate

Chapter 9: Stalemate

A cool breeze swept through the sheltered area at Albion High in the early morning. The tarmac covered ground was a lethal thick layer of ice and frost: almost like a glacier. First years (and the slightly less mature older years) skated across it, treating it as an ice rink- daring each other to skid further or faster. Every now and then there would be an eruption of laughter as one of the kids landed on their backsides after slipping over. The occasional snowball flew up into the sky and then splattered onto the ground in the near distance. When there was snow and ice, school playgrounds were the last place teachers and other staff wanted to be.

Arthur and his friends were practically huddled together in the sheltered area like a waddle of penguins. Every now and then, one of them would shiver as a shot of freezing air bolted through them. Like a Mexican wave, the next person would shiver and then the next until the energy wore off. They were all quite pale. It was awful being forced to stay outside, particularly in this cruel weather. If they were inside, they would have to be continuously walking otherwise they would be told to move outside anyway for 'loitering' or 'blocking the corridor'. So the simplest solution was to freeze to death outside anyway. Gwen had suggested huddling. For a moment the boys stared at her as though she had spoken a completely unknown language. Then, they reluctantly walked to each other and stood rigidly against one another. At first, Gwaine; Leon and Percy complained how 'wrong' it looked that a bunch of boys were all invading each others personal space. Merlin however counter-acted that if they would rather be struck down with the common cold or flu then he would happily kick them out the shelter. After this, no more complaints were made.

All of a sudden, a figure in a dark fur coat; a black scarf and woolly hat with cat 'ears' strolled over. Due to the fact Arthur and his friends were all facing each other rather than looking out, this figure was unnoticed until Arthur felt a cool hand gently touch his shoulder. He jumped; nearly screamed like a girl – much to the amusement of the figure and turned around.

"Morgana. What are you doing here?" Arthur asked. His tone was cold like the day itself.

"I'm cold." She began.

"Well, go hug your boyfriend." Arthur snarled. He attempted to turn back to his friends, but Morgana put pressure on his shoulder which caused him to stop and stare at her.

"And I think it's about time we had a truce…" Morgana added. Gwaine started choking on his breath, disbelief that Morgana was after peace. She had always provoked violence and annoyance. Why did she want peace now? Arthur widened his eyes, also shocked by her words. However, the thought of no trouble with Morgana was a blessing; he had to take the chance!

"A truce? What do you want us to do? Sign an agreement; shake hands and hug each other?" Arthur asked.

"Not quite. I was actually thinking of a chess match…"

At this point, the group of friends burst out into laughter at the coincidence of Morgana and Arthur thinking of the same idea.

"What are you all chortling about?" Morgana looked over her brother's shoulder at the group who had just lost control of their emotions.

"It seems great minds think alike sister."

"Why?"

"Because I thought about it too!" Arthur grinned.

"Maybe… but there is one slight error."

"What's that?"

"You don't _have _a great mind!"

**Sorry for the lack of updates guys, but I have been back at school and then became ill, so I've been under attack from the common cold which has actually been nasty and now given me a donkey cough. (He he! Remember when Arthur got turned into a donkey?) Anyway, hope you enjoyed this update! **


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Merlin, Friendship, Humor