AN: I know it's been done to death but I wanted to write a de-aging story. Set between series 3 and 4; I own nothing etc.
Arthur knew it was going to be one of 'those' days when he opened the door to Gaius' chambers as he searched for his knights and his idiot manservant and instead found six small boys who were basically trashing the room. Upon seeing the Prince Regent; the six boys yelled excitedly and jumped onto Arthur; taking the prince by such surprise that he fell to the floor with a thud. The boys were jumping and yelling and generally being a nuisance that Arthur found it initially hard to get up. When he did get to his feet; he stared from one boy to the next and slowly shook his head.
"You cannot be serious."
Merlin had been practising spells in the privacy of Gaius' chambers. The physician had been called out to one of the rural villages to tend a sudden outburst of illness and Merlin was taking the time between various threats and chores to improve his magic. He was about to attempt an age reversal spell on a plant on the table; hoping to cause the flower to retract into its seed form. However the door burst open and as the knights walked in; they had just finished training and decided to partake in their favourite activity; annoying Merlin. Merlin jumped and cast the spell. His shock caused the spell to become was so powerful that it rebounded onto all of them. Then everything went dark.
When he woke up, all he wanted to do was jump up and down and yell really loudly!
Now that Arthur looked at the small figures who were dressed in nothing but over-large shirts; their mail and other clothes scattered on the floor; he understood what must have happened. They couldn't be any older than four years old. And with Gaius gone; he was really in deep trouble this time.
You see; Arthur was a trained warrior. Battles, beasts even an insane half-sister and her equally deranged sister; bring it on.
Children, toddlers, or in this case friends reverted to childhood; this was a whole battlefield.
Arthur needed help. He needed someone that was caring, who would understand this situation and had a maternal nature... Arthur hurried out of Gaius' chambers and found a wandering servant.
"Excuse me but could you find Guinevere and ask her to come down to Gaius' chambers alone. It's urgent." Arthur ordered. The servant bowed. A few minutes later Gwen walked into Gaius' chambers and her eyes bulged and her mouth flew open at the sight before her. By this time the boys had had a dog-pile on Arthur.
"Arthur why is there half a dozen children running around?" Gwen asked as at least half of them latched themselves onto her knees.
"Those children are the knights and Merlin." Arthur replied as he struggled to his feet.
Gwen laughed. "Very funny Arthur. It's some sort of prank isn't it?"
"I'm being serious." Arthur replied and picked up Elyan and held him in front of Gwen. "Tell me that's not Elyan."
Gwen looked at the child who now eye level with her. The dark curls; the cheeky smile; the look of laughter in his eyes. For a spilt second as she looked into his eyes it felt like she'd gone back in time and was in her home, no older than six and she was playing with Elyan while her mother made the dinner and her father had just come in from the smithy and sitting at the table. Gwen reached out and Arthur handed Elyan over; letting Gwen embrace her brother tightly. She moved Elyan in her arms and looked around. Now that she had a good long look; she knew Arthur was right. She and Leon and Elyan had grown up together and the little red-haired boy was definitely the Leon she used to play with. The tallest boy who was hanging back slightly was clearly Percival. The scruffy haired boy who was hugging her knees was undoubtedly Gwaine and his black haired companion was Merlin whose scarf was hanging off his neck. The little boy who was simply staring at her couldn't be anyone else but Lancelot.
"How did this happen?" Gwen asked. Arthur shrugged.
"It must have been some sort of potion or spell. Only how could it have happened?" Arthur asked. Gwen looked around the room and her eyes fell on the still-open spell book which Arthur clearly hadn't noticed yet. Gwen had worked out Merlin's secret ages ago and the spell book was all the proof she needed to understand. She just hadn't gotten around to telling her best friend that she knew his most important secret.
"Well Merlin is fairly clumsy. Maybe he spilled a potion and they all got affected by it." Gwen suggested, ignoring the little 'Hey!' of protest that came from the figure at her knees.
"What do we do?" Arthur asked. He had no idea on how to deal with children.
"Wait until Gaius comes back?" Gwen suggested.
"He won't be back for days so what do we do? We can't tell everyone what happened, if my uncle finds out…" Arthur trailed off, wondering how exactly Agravaine would react to this occurrence.
"Well then we've only one option," Gwen replied and smiled. "I hope you're ready to become a father."
"Oh no, no, no, no, no. I don't deal with children and I am never becoming a father." Arthur replied backing away and holding up his hands.
"Well someday you'll have to. A prince must have heirs; so think of it as practice for the future." Gwen replied, setting Elyan down and freeing herself from Gwaine and Merlin's grasp. The boys simply began playing and jumping again. Arthur led Gwen into the corridor.
"Listen Guinevere I don't have a clue on how to look after children. Much less my de-aged friends. What if something goes wrong? I mean; you grew up with kids your age and no doubt you've probably babysat. But I've never done anything like before. I-I'm completely out of my depth. What if one of them gets hurt? Or what if they never turn back to normal and we've got six children running around this castle? I cannot be a parent." Arthur explained. He wasn't lying; he was genuinely afraid at the concept of being any form of parent to any child.
"It's not that hard. I mean there's no rulebook to being a parent; there are only the basic guidelines. You feed them, play with them, hug them if they're sad, tell them a story and put them to bed; everything else is what you learn along the way. Don't worry about it being permanent; I know we'll find some sort of cure. For now I think we ought to move them somewhere else. Anyone could come down here and see them. Besides by the sound of it; Gaius could be coming back to no potions or cures or anything." Gwen replied as she walked back into the room and clapped her hands. The boys all stopped what they were doing and stared at her.
"Ok boys, the eight of us are going up to Arthur's chambers and we'll play up there. However we'll need all of you to behave and stay quiet." Gwen explained. The boys looked at one another and while Leon, Percival, Lancelot and Merlin did what they're told. Gwaine folded his arms and Elyan shook his head in defiance.
"We not gonna do that!" Gwaine insisted.
"Why not?" Gwen asked.
"It's boring being quiet. We wanna play!" Elyan demanded, jumping on the spot.
Gwen gave a false sigh and used the age-old threat that never failed. "Well Elyan and Gwaine, do you know what happens to naughty boys who don't behave?" the boys shook their heads. "They get eaten by Griffins." Gwen whispered conspiringly.
"I'd fight a griffin! I'd go slash! Slash! Slash!" Lancelot boasted, forgetting his order to be quiet and began slashing a pretend sword around. The other boys followed his lead, boasting about slaying dragons and trolls and wyverns. Gwen rolled her eyes and bit back a laugh. She'd brought that one on herself. Arthur however looked ready to bolt.
"Can you just shut up?" Arthur snapped; the children fell quiet and stared at him. The sudden yelling had startled them. Leon tugged on Arthur's leg.
"Why are you cross?" Leon asked.
"I'm-" Arthur looked at Gwen who shook her head. "I'm not cross; it's just you need to stay quiet and come with us. Guinevere and I will take you up to my chambers and we can play up there. There are too many things which could be broken in here."
The boys processed the information. Generally when they broke stuff then people yelled and they got into trouble. And Arthur was scary when he shouted. Gwen looked at the boys.
"Ok boys what do you say to Arthur?" Gwen prompted.
"Sorry Arthur," the six chorused. Arthur led them out of the room and Gwen hung back to quickly study the spell book before slipping it under her arm. When she turned around, Merlin was standing and waiting on her.
"Am I in trouble for using magic?" the four year old Merlin asked. Gwen crouched down and took his hand.
"No sweetheart but this will be our little secret OK? Just between you and me." Gwen replied.
"Promise?" Merlin asked, gnawing on a fingernail.
"Promise. Now come on, when we get to Arthur's chambers will we play a game?" Gwen suggested, offering her hand. Merlin took it and they caught up to the others who were being quiet as Arthur looked around each corner for any guards or sign of his uncle. Fortunately they managed to make it to Arthur's chambers without being seen. Once Arthur had bolted the door; Gwen crossed to his desk and set down the spell book and began rifling through its pages trying to find the cure. Meanwhile the six boys basically charged at Arthur's bed and began jumping up and down.
"This bed is huge!" Lancelot exclaimed as he jumped.
"It's the bounciest thing ever!" Percival added.
"Gwennie, come jump!" Elyan insisted. Gwen walked over and held onto Elyan's hands as he jumped up and down.
"Prat-face! Jump too!" Merlin insisted looking at Arthur.
"'Prat-face'?" Arthur asked looking at Merlin who gave him a younger version of the defiant look Arthur usually received when Merlin called him a clotpole or dollop-head.
"Yeah! Prat-face! Prat-Face Arthur!" Merlin chanted and Gwaine joined in with the name calling.
"That's mean; you not supposed to call people names." Leon insisted as he bounced.
"Leon's right, you don't call people names. Say sorry." Arthur insisted.
"No!" Gwaine and Merlin agreed.
"Merlin, Gwaine," Arthur said with a frown but before they could do anything; there was a series of knocks at the door.
"Arthur? Are you in there?"
"It's my uncle!" Arthur hissed. Gwen turned to the boys who had stopped jumping and were staring at the door in shock. This was bad. This was really, really bad. The last thing they wanted was for Agravaine to find out.
"Ok boys, go behind the screen and stay quiet. Quickly!" Gwen whispered, the boys leapt off the bed and hurried behind the screen. Arthur and Gwen looked at one another and Arthur walked over and unbolted the door. Agravaine was standing in the doorway frowning.
"Arthur; would you happen to know why at least half a dozen of your knights have missed their guard patrol?" Agravaine asked, ignoring Gwen.
"They're ill." Gwen lied. Agravaine looked at her disbelievingly.
"All five of them?" Agravaine asked.
"Food poisoning. They're down in Gaius' and Merlin's keeping an eye on them. I'd advise you to stay away it's not a pretty sight." Gwen lied. Agravaine looked convinced and nodded.
"Very well; I'll organise the next group to go in their place. If you'll excuse me," Agravaine said and left. Arthur shut the door and let out the breath he'd been holding.
"That was too close." Arthur muttered.
"Boys, you can come out now." Gwen said. The boys crept out from behind the screen and grinned. Now that Agravaine was gone they could play again. Gwen returned to Arthur's desk and found the page she was looking for.
"Reducer aetatis magia, the age reducer enchantment. This enchantment when said will reduce the age of whatever the spell is cast upon. This magic is temporary and all effects of the enchantment wear off within a new dawning of the sun. When cast upon people; they are reduced to early childhood. Their mind sets will also be reverted to that of children although they maintain some aspect of their memories." Gwen read from the book.
"So they're like that for a day?" Arthur asked.
"I think so; you went down after you didn't get your lunch and found them. The book says the spell wears off with a new dawning of the sun so that would be sunrise. I guess by this time tomorrow they should be back to normal." Gwen reasoned.
"And if they're not?" Arthur asked.
"Then we're in big trouble," Gwen answered before she noticed something rather obvious. "Is it me or it really quiet in here?"
"I don't think I bolted the door," Arthur whispered as they realised what must have happened. They spun around and the room was deserted; the door hanging open. They could hear running footsteps and laughter echoing off the walls. Arthur swore and they ran out of the room trying to follow the sound of the now-young knights and Merlin. If Arthur and Gwen thought they caused trouble as adults; it was nothing compared to what they could do as children.
"Where are we gonna go?" Elyan asked as they stopped at the top of a flight of stairs.
"I'm hungry," Gwaine replied. "Who's coming to the kitchen?"
"Yeah I'll go." Percival replied.
"I wanna go to the stables." Lancelot said.
"I'm going to the weapons room!" Leon exclaimed.
"Me too!" Elyan replied.
"I'm," Merlin was cut off by a loud swear and the sound of running footsteps. "I'll go with Lancelot, let's go!"
The six of them spilt up, heading in different directions. Arthur and Gwen were checking every room for the children; allowing them to get a huge head start in the castle-wide game of Chase they were all playing. After checking a full corridor; Gwen turned to Arthur,
"Wait; think about it. If we were the knights, where would we be right now?" Gwen suggested.
"I'll take the training field and weapons room." Arthur replied.
"I'll take the stables and the kitchen. We'll regroup at your chambers." Gwen replied and they spilt up.
Arthur ran out onto the training field; stopping everyone he found and asking whether they'd seen a group of six little boys. However nobody had seen anything. When Arthur opened the weapons room door; he waited a moment and could hear laughter and 'shushes' before the familiar whoosh of an arrow being shot from a crossbow. He ducked just in time to see Leon and Elyan run from their hiding places and down the corridor. Arthur gave chase and caught them as they scrambled up the stairs. Carrying one of the boys under each arm; Arthur made his way back to his chambers and bolted the door behind him this time.
Meanwhile Gwen hurried towards the stables and waited outside for a moment. It was the stable boys lunchtime and they had all left. Inside the stables all that could be heard was the snorting of the horses and two voices.
"When did she find out?"
"I dunno but she said she'd keep it secret."
"She would; Gwennie's nice."
"Unlike Prat-Face!"
Gwen pushed open the door. "What were you told about calling people names?"
The looks on Merlin and Lancelot's faces were priceless as they attempted to run for it. Gwen managed to get a hold of Merlin's scarf and picked him up while Lancelot sprinted in the direction of the kitchens. Gwen's pursuit was slowed with the added weight of Merlin in her arms. However when she reached the kitchens, three little figures were sitting on the floor picking at a stolen roast chicken. Gwen placed Merlin on the floor and pressed a finger to her lips as they crept up onto the boys.
"Merlin got caught!" Lancelot commented as he tore off some chicken.
"By who?" Percival asked.
"Gwennie got him. We'll need a new hiding place." Lancelot replied.
"Or you can all give me one reason not to tell Cook who stole some of her food." Gwen warned as she crept up behind them and grabbed at all their loose shirts by the neck. While Lancelot and Percival accepted defeat; Gwaine still tried to free himself before reluctantly conceding defeat and walking back to Arthur's chambers. When they knocked on the door they could hear Arthur telling them to go away.
"It's me; I've Merlin, Gwaine, Percival and Lancelot." Gwen called. Arthur opened the door and she shepherded the boys into the room.
"What were you all thinking? You know that you can't be seen and now half the castle probably knows that you've been turned into children! You know there's a traitor here; what if they told Morgana that the people who defeated her were now defenceless children? Do you not understand what could have happened to you? Well, do you?" Arthur ranted at the six boys who were staring at the floor.
"What Arthur means is that we can't be too careful. You're supposed to all be ill in bed with food poisoning; not running around the weapons room and stables or stealing food from the kitchen. You had us really worried when you ran off." Gwen explained.
"Sorry," the boys replied.
"We were bored." Gwaine insisted.
"You didn't have to run off. Arthur I need to check on your father. I'll be back later on." Gwen replied and left to check on Uther.
Arthur ran his hand through his hair. He had been terrified when he realised the boys had run off not to mention how worried he was when he realised Leon and Elyan were in the weapons room. They could have been seriously hurt. Was this what parenting was like? Arthur looked at the boys who looked at him. None of them said anything for a moment before Arthur decided to break the silence.
"So what do you want to do then?"
After dealing with Uther, finishing her and Merlin's chores and avoiding Lord Agravaine, it was dusk by the time Gwen managed to slip back down to the kitchens to fetch some food before returning up to Arthur's chambers. As she approached she could hear yelling and laughter from Arthur's chambers. Gwen smiled as she knocked on the door and silence immediately fell.
"It's me," she said and the door was opened. Arthur smiled as she walked in and he bolted the door behind her.
"You need to be careful Guinevere; there are bandits hiding in here." Arthur commented with a grin gesturing to his screen.
"Bandits? I don't see any." Gwen smiled; going along with the game.
"CHARGE!" Leon yelled as he ran from behind the screen, an old wooden sword in his hand as the boys all ran out at them. Gwen laughed as Arthur pulled out his own wooden sword and began 'fighting' them off.
"Run Guinevere; I'll protect you!" Arthur joked as Elyan and Percival jabbed Gwen with their swords.
"We gotcha!" Percival said.
"Hand over your gold!" Elyan ordered.
"But I don't have any gold. All I have is this food." Gwen replied. As soon as she said food; the battle was over and all the boys and Arthur began trying to get the food. Arthur was as bad as the children and Gwen managed to set the tray onto the table.
"I couldn't get much because you lot are supposed to be ill so share it out." Gwen said as she took some bread and chicken for herself. Arthur divided up the meal and they all sat and ate. As they ate; Gwen and Arthur stood aside from the boys.
"You seemed to be having fun." Gwen smiled. Arthur grinned.
"Yeah it was, it was fun. I can't remember the last time I did something like that." Arthur replied. He was telling the truth. When was the last time he simply let everything go and just acted like a total child? When was the last time he could have fun or play or be free? Maybe there was more to parenthood than constantly watching the children in case something happened to them. Maybe there was some fun to be had in being a father. They turned back to the boys who had eaten their fill and were trying to hide yawns and rubbing their eyes. The hours of play had taken all the energy out of them.
"I think it's bedtime." Gwen said.
"Where are we going to put them?" Arthur asked. Gwen looked at him. "No way."
"You can give up your bed for one night." Gwen reasoned. Arthur frowned but sighed in agreement.
"Alright, boys it's bedtime." Arthur said.
"Not tired." Lancelot claimed as he yawned.
"Come on get into the bed. You're tired." Gwen insisted pulling back the bed sheets at both ends of the bed allowing the boys to climb into the bed. Grumbling and protesting the boys climbed into Arthur's bed and allowed themselves to be tucked in.
"Tell us a story." Merlin insisted.
"What sort of story?" Gwen asked.
"One with knights," Leon said.
"And battles." Gwaine added.
"And monsters!" Percival added.
"Yeah Guinevere, tell them a story." Arthur commented sitting on the mattress. Gwen rolled her eyes but went along with it.
"Ok, once upon a time there was a prince named Arthur. Arthur was handsome, brave and had many admirers. However the prince had a serious problem. In an argument with the wicked witch Morgana; she placed an enchantment on the prince, giving him the ears and voice of a donkey!" Gwen began. The boys began laughing and Arthur gave Gwen a look but she continued with her story.
"Embarrassed by the curse; the prince refused to leave his chambers. The only people who would visit him were his father and two servants named Merlin and Gwen. Despite only being able to bray; the prince was able to order the servants about; being rude and bossy. However they were the only two servants who refused to laugh at the prince. Well, Merlin laughed in secret. Finally one day Merlin came across a possible cure for the prince's enchantment but it meant leaving their home and travelling to a far distant land. As they travelled; they came across bandits and monsters and Morgana's spies and allies. However they also befriended a group of knights; these knights were the greatest in the land. There was Sir Leon who was the most skilled swordsman in the land. Sir Percival was the strongest knight in the land. Sir Elyan was the slyest knight in the land. Sir Lancelot was the bravest and noblest knight in the land and Sir Gwaine was the most troublesome knight in the land."
"Am not," Gwaine protested.
"Are too," Percival retorted.
"Boys," Arthur warned.
"The group of eight fighters joined forces and were immediately known as the greatest gang of warriors in the known kingdoms. They beat any rival who came their way in the blink of an eye. As word spread about the travelling fighters and their impressive skills the bandits were too afraid to attack and any troll or wyvern or griffin thought twice before trying to eat any of them. As the group travelled in search of a cure, two very important things began to happen. Prince Arthur and Gwen realised that they were falling in love with each other meanwhile the wicked witch Morgana and her equally wicked sister Morgause plotted a takeover of Camelot. Morgana believed that the throne should belong to her and with the prince gone; she was able to take over with ease. They imprisoned the king and Morgana declared herself the new queen. When they learnt of what happened to their home; the group abandoned their mission to find a cure for Arthur and instead turned their focus to defeating the witches. As they launched a rescue mission on Camelot; Morgana and Morgause commanded their armies of both beasts and men to fight for them. However the knights, servants and prince were able to slay the monsters and fight the men back with ease as they were the greatest fighters in all the lands. When they realised they had been defeated; Morgana and Morgause surrendered and disappeared; never to be seen again. The prince and king decided to formally make the knights official knights of Camelot and Merlin; who had been loyal friend to Arthur throughout was made into the most trusted counsel man. Arthur and Gwen were married and all of them managed to live happily ever after. The end." Gwen finished.
"Did the prince ever get his ears and tail fixed?" Elyan asked.
"Sadly he was too much of an ass for it to be fixed. But they loved him anyway." Gwen answered. "Now come on; get to sleep."
As the boys drifted off to sleep; Arthur and Gwen watched them for a moment before Arthur looked at Gwen. "What did you mean 'too much of an ass'?" he asked.
"Nothing, it was just part of the story. I had to bend some of the truth." Gwen replied with a smile.
"I thought we promised never to speak of that again." Arthur commented with mock hurt as they looked at the sleeping little boys. "Today was more fun than I thought it'd be. I thought it would be a disaster; I'm useless with children."
"You were good with them today; you shouldn't doubt yourself. Someday you'll be a great father." Gwen replied and kissed his cheek. "I'll be up early tomorrow."
"Take care, Guinevere," Arthur said.
"Take care," Gwen answered and returned home.
The next morning, Merlin, Gwaine, Leon, Percival, Elyan and Lancelot all woke up with fuzzy heads as well as a general sense of confusion and vague memories of running around the castle and jumping on a bed. When they looked around, they were all either hanging out of Arthur's bed or in Elyan and Percival's case sprawled out on the floor. Merlin sat up and looked at Arthur and Gwen who were smiling all-too-innocently at them.
"What happened?" Merlin asked.
"Nothing major," Arthur replied. "Training's in two hours."
"Lads whatever we were drinking yesterday; make a note never to drink that again." Gwaine moaned, rolling over and falling onto the floor. "Ouch."
"Seriously though what happened to us? The last thing I remember was finishing training." Leon asked.
"Well as far as anyone needs to know; you all came down with a sudden bad case of food poisoning and Merlin spent all day yesterday looking after you. But between the eight of us; let's just say you helped your prince with his own special type of training." Gwen replied ambiguously.
"What sort of training?" Lancelot asked.
"Parenthood," Arthur answered.
"I think I remember something now. Something about a donkey, does anyone else remember?" Elyan asked.
"I think I remember having to hide for some reason, everything else is vague." Percival said.
"You tell them; I have to see your father." Gwen instructed and slipped out of the room leaving Arthur to explain what happened the day before. As she walked through the castle; she had to smile to herself. It had been some fun simply being able to have some good old fashioned childish fun; the sort that one generally leaves behind when they leave childhood. Now all she had to do was work out some way of telling Merlin that she knew his secret. That would be an awkward revelation.
Two years later…
The Queen of Camelot paced nervously around her chambers. Gaius had just confirmed what she already knew. That her supposed 'illness' wasn't an illness. It was something better. Gwen had asked one of the guards to fetch Arthur for her, now all she had to do was find the right words. Arthur walked into his chambers, pale in the face with worry. Guinevere had been ill the past few days and he was petrified that something was seriously wrong with her.
"Arthur, do you remember a few years ago when the others were turned into children?" Gwen asked suddenly.
"How could I forget?" Arthur asked with a grin. That had been a unique day.
"Well do you remember how I joked that it was practise for when you became a father someday?" Gwen asked.
"Guinevere, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Arthur looked at his wife as she gave him a nervous smile and nodded. Arthur then proceeded to do the most un-Arthur thing he'd ever done. He let out a whoop and picked up his wife and spun her around like a madman acting like a child on their birthday who just received the present they wanted.
"I'm going to be a father." he exclaimed joyfully. Gwen laughed as he spun her around again; they were going to be parents!