Author's note: So, how I came up with this story is actually funny story in it's own. I was thinking about doing some sort of body-switch thing with Merlin and Arthur for a while now, but then I saw Morgana21's Body Swap (which is really good. Go read it!..after my story, of course :D) and shrugged it off. Then sarahelizabeth1993 (go read her stories too! :D) said that I should have Merlin switch bodies with Uther, so here it is! Anyway, I plan on making this a multi-chapter thing but it won't be my top priority unless I get a good amount of reviews. So, please, give me your input on if I should continue working on it or not! Merci! ~Ninja

For now it's Uther's point of view, but will switch back and forth between him and Merlin in the chapters to come.


Uther had been ruling the kingdom for many years. How many? He lost count way before his son was ever thought of. During those years, Uther had grown, matured, developed. His kingdom grew along with him, and it had been quite the journey. There were ups and downs, of course. The birth of his son was one the highest points in his life. The lowest: the death of his beloved wife. It was tragic beyond reason, but, Uther was a strong man. He held his head high and marched on through. Uther's focus was on his people and the wellbeing of his kingdom. Some say he is a great man, where others say he is an idiot tyrant. Despite all those who think ill of him, Uther is a strong man to be reckoned with.

Then, how did he end up in this state? Here he was, in a foreign room, distorted and carrying the worst headache he has ever felt. Uther was confused, dazed, and unaware of his surroundings. For the first time in a very, very long time, Uther was at a loss of what to do.

But, for us to be able to understand Uther's dilemma, we need to go back in time a bit.

Three days prior.

The past week had gone well for Uther. There had not been much going on with the kingdom as normal. Of course, there is always something to be done, but there was nothing major that needed all of the King's attention. He was able to work on the personal problems the people had within the kingdom, oversee the creation of his army, and even had time to fit in a walk with his son to catch up on things. The light load had put Uther in a good mood, which put everyone else in a good mood as well. People were more productive and less intimidated, and in an end result, made Uther even happier. He was glad that the past week had been going so well, since he had time to spend with his son off-duty and not have to worry about any impending doom.

Yes, all was going well and Uther was in a good mood. Sadly, he was unaware that his good mood was soon going to change.

Two days prior.

Uther's good mood continued. He woke up that day feeling refreshed and decided to take an early-morning stroll by himself. He walked the almost empty halls of the castle for quite a while, until he reached one of the uppermost towers. The view there was spectacular. If he hadn't duties to perform, Uther would have spent all day staring at the kingdom below. His kingdom.

Without warning, a young messenger came up to Uther and bowed, "My lord, an envoy from a neighboring kingdom has arrived. He has a gift for you."

Slightly intrigued, Uther nodded and proceeded to follow the young messenger back to the royal hall.

After he placed himself inside his throne, Uther waved to the guards to let the messenger in. The wooden doors swung open and in walked a man no older than Arthur with long black hair and deep green eyes. He bowed low to the King,

"Sire, I have a peace offering from my king."

"A peace offering?" Uther asked, quite surprised at the sudden announcement of peace.

"Yes. He sends you a gift in hopes that you would consider becoming an ally." The man grinned, holding out a small, wooden statue of a tall ancient knight; his hands out in front of him resting on his sword.

Uther examined the statue for a moment before rising from his chair and stepping down to the messenger, gently grabbing the statue out of his hands. "Marvelous," he whispered, holding the perfectly carved statue up to eye level. The eyes inside the helmet of the statue suddenly grew a dim red, and for a split moment Uther's eyes reciprocated the action and also turned red. Both of their eyes transformed to normal after a moment. Completely forgetting what had just happened, Uther looked down at the now wildly grinning messenger.

"Tell your king I shall send him a message in three days hence with my answer. Also send him my thanks for his gift," the king said, his eyes landing back on the wooden statue in his hands. The messenger silently chuckled to himself and bowed, then hastily left the room.

One day prior.

The good mood Uther had carried the two days before had rapidly disappeared. Ever since he received the wooden statue, he became crankier and crankier until he was at his worst. Yelling at servants for no reason, storming through the castle grumbling, and even knocking over things in fits of rage; he did them all, and frequently. At one point he managed to knock over Arthur's manservant while passing him in the hall, causing Merlin to drop the large pile of clothing in his hand. Uther even yelled at his son on numerous occasions. Arthur, however, was the only one to not cringe in fear and scurry out the room. Once he even tried to ask his father what was troubling him so, but the king yelled at him and sent him away. Even Uther himself was unsure as to why he was in such a horrid condition. By the day's end, the feeling inside the castle was one akin to a cemetery. No one was happy.

Uther went to bed that night, completely unaware of what the next day had in store.

Current day.

Uther had tossed and turned the previous night. He barely slept a wink due to his horrific headache which was pounding at his head non-stop. It continued to get progressively worse to the point where Uther was about go and wake up Gaius and demand he be given something for the pain. But, as he was readying himself to get up, the pain got so bad that he blacked out and remembered no more.

"Are you still sleeping?" Uther heard a familiar voice speak, causing him to open up one blurry eye. "Arthur won't be happy with you being late again."

Arthur won't be. . . ? Uther thought to himself as he closed his eye and grumbled. "What are you talking about, Gaius?" He managed to say with a coarse, groggy voice.

"You know how Arthur is when you're late." Gaius said, the sound of his footsteps drawing near. He grabbed the covers and flung them off, "It's time you got off that lazy behind of yours and actually show up on time for once."

This confused Uther greatly. Not only was he confused, but he was not happy with Gaius ripping away his clothes and talking to him as if he were a child. "Gaius, what is the meaning of this? What are you doing inside my chambers, and what nonsense do you speak of?" Uther sternly asked, pushing himself up to a ninety-degree angle so he could look Gaius straight in the eyes. He suddenly noticed that his voice was not as stern and commanding as it once was; it was a bit of a higher pitch and he sounded . . . sounded . . . younger.

"You'll thank me for this later." With those last words, Gaius made his way across the room and disappeared behind the wooden door.

It was not until a few moments after Gaius had left that Uther became even more confused. Looking around at his room, he saw that it looked completely different. In fact, this wasn't even his room. It was three times as small and had clutter everywhere. With a puzzled look on his face, Uther brought up his hand and ran it through his hair – but it wasn't his hand. Bringing up both of his hands in front of him, Uther saw that they were smoother and younger looking than his own normal hands. Flustered, the king grabbed his hair once more and felt that it was completely different than his usual gray hair. He even caught a glimpse of the hair and saw that it was not an old gray, but a nice, healthy black color. Now, Uther was frantic. He scrambled out of his bed (with surprising new agility) and lunged forward to the dresser and began to search for anything he could see himself with. After much searching he found a rather small mirror wedged between a few books. Pulling it out, Uther brought it up to eye level. What looked back at him frightened the man immensely. The face of Uther, King of Camelot, wasn't looking back at him. It was Merlin.

He was Merlin.