Blood of the Living Dead

[llywela]

Okay, so I've dropped off the radar a bit lately, and part of the reason for that has been family and work, but part of the reason was also that my brain got eaten by a sudden and unexpected new project that caught me in its grip and refused to let go. And as a result I have, out of nowhere, produced a completely unforeseen crossover fic for two fandoms that I'd never even remotely considered trying to write for until about four weeks ago, when I read a very short ficlet produced by someone else, and thought, 'yes, this is a good idea, but undeveloped, so what if this or perhaps that', and then I felt all inspired and, with permission from the original author, took that concept and went away and took it apart and rebuilt it as a completely different story – a full-blown, 74-page mystery-adventure story.

Title: Blood of the Living Dead
Show: The Musketeers / Merlin
Characters: Lancelot, Aramis, Captain Treville, Athos, Porthos, D'Artagnan, Merlin, Queen Anne, Constance Bonacieux (cameo), mentions of various others
Rating: PG
Summary: When Sir Lancelot is restored to life in 17th century France for reasons he cannot fathom, he builds a new life as the Musketeer Aramis, bit by painstaking bit - but who could have brought him here, and why? More importantly, what might happen if and when they catch up with him? And can he rely on the support of his comrades when the truth comes out?
Disclaimer: Both Merlin and The Musketeers belong to the BBC, and also to legend and Alexandre Dumas respectively. I have borrowed them for this story and am making no profit from this.
Author's Note: Inspired by the Watcher of the Eternal Flame series by Queen_of_Moons67, with many thanks both for the idea and the permission to use it. This story is set post-series for Merlin and weaves through pre-series and season one continuity for The Musketeers. I've taken a few liberties, but would class this as Universe Alteration, rather than Alternate Universe. And yes, for simplicity's sake, I have chosen to overlook the complexity of linguistic (and other) development over the space of a millennium.
With thanks to Chris for offering a second opinion and encouraging me when I thought I was completely bonkers to even begin.

And I wrote the whole damn thing without even thinking about having any kind of image or banner to go with it, and then when it was finished found myself thinking about the fact that I always have some kind of image or banner to go with my fics, so I made one after all, the simplest possible representation of the concept - too many damn characters to get them all in!



ETA: damn, this is the fastest I've ever picked up comments on anything ever - is this what happens when you write for something current instead of something 40-odd years old??? Who knew??!!

Comments

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

Nice fic - very cleverly done! Great to know you've been inspired to write - and love the banner.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Always both a refreshing change and a nervous time, writing for a new fandom! But these characters are all kinds of fun to play with *G*

[(Anonymous)]

I've finally found time to read this, and loved it. I don't know Merlin but the Musketeers all sounded perfect and the weaving of the story was very believeable.

Carol

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Carol! Having committed to the concept, it was fun to play with ways the different backstory would affect things through the season, in lesser or greater ways.