Mental Instability

When Murtagh is accused of insanity and general meantal instability, he sets out to prove that he's not the one with the crazy genes. However, it's a lot more difficult than he orginally anticipated. R&R. Editted.

A/N: Yup, so this has been run through the mill and this is the editted version. It's part of my new project to clean up my fanfiction account. It was getting too cluttered, with fics that were hardly ever being reviewed/read. This is one of my favorites, so I decided that it just needed to stay, albeit editted a little.

Doesn't belong, so don't sue. -holds up hands in surrender-


Murtagh ground his teeth in anger. Arya, Nasuada and Angela had left his bedside with his brat of a brother Eragon. He had been experimenting, when something had gone wrong and Eragon's age was reversed. Now, the little snot rag was a true snot rag. Namely, a five year old kid with dust for brains. He had spent nearly all day being yelled at and berated by a foul-tempered Arya (Murtagh had to admit that she got pissed pretty easily). Meanwhile, Eragon had decided that it was the perfect time to do a little bit of sliding and had gone down the dwarf slide. In Murtagh's haste to keep the brat out of safety, he'd fallen out.

Life sucked for him.

Now, after all that trauma, he was being forced to take care of the brat responsible. On top of everything else, he was bed-ridden for two days. Angrily, he levitated the water jug, then placed it back down, as much as he would have liked to smash it against the wall. Something told him that it wasn't a fantastic idea. He sighed and looked around the room, his eyes falling upon a tablet of paper and a blue quill with a bottle of ink that lay on his bedside table. The cogs in his brain began to whirr, and he picked them up with an insane grin.

Now, if only he had something to write about.

"I know that Morzan was a guy with a mental illness..."

Murtagh's eyes lit up as he remembered the statement that Nasuada, had said. She had accused him of mental instability. Contrary to popular belief, it was NOT hereditary. At least, he didn't think so. Shaking his head, he put the quill on paper and began to write.

Ten Reasons of Proof that Morzan has a Mental Illness

1. He got himself killed by Brom, who is the most wimpy Rider ever to grace Alagaesia.

That was true. He had seen Brom, and heard tales of him from Eragon. All that, honour and rubbish didn't exactly appeal to him. He much preferred stealth and sneakiness and weaknesses to sabotage enemies. It was easier, and it was perfect if you suffered from the absence of a guilty conscience.

2. He married Selena, who apparently didn't have the guts to survive for her sons.

It hurt to write it, but the truth had to be known. What could be done? His mother had been a coward, that was true. But his father was an even bigger one to expose her to such evil. Or perhaps she had just had no choice in the matter. Grimly, he began to write again.

3. He was Galbatorix's right-hand man, only because he was too scared to try to get power by himself.

Murtagh smirked. If his father had any guts, or brains, Alagaesia would have been his and soon enough, Murtagh's. But, he hadn't, and there was no use pining for such things.

4. He also never wanted to take over the world, which is even better.

Every child had dreamed of taking over the world, and so did every proper villain. His father, despite being the last, surviving Forsworn, had not had such dreams. It was almost amazing in a way. Sighing, Murtagh simply continued to write.

5. He managed to produce off-spring like Eragon, who is a prat.

He scowled angrily and memories of Vol Turin flooded back to him. He seriously wondered what the hell had happened to make Eragon such an idiot. Perhaps it was simply his upbringing. Or maybe Morzan wasn't even the father. Murtagh shrugged. There was a possibility.

6. His looks were too good, and I look too good which makes me the center of fan-girl attention WHICH IS ANNOYING!

Murtagh gazed, surprised that he had written that last reason. It wasn't exactly true, going by most of the portraits of Morzan. He hadn't been the best looking man to ever live, but he was handsome. Maybe he was the reason to blame. At any rate, the list was slowly starting to deviate from its original purpose. He frowned at it and began to write again.

7. He gave me a scar, which makes fan-girls simper and cry, which is ALSO ANNOYING!

Ugh. Another weird reason. Somehow, he had a strange feeling that it wasn't him who was writing this. Putting down his quill, he waited expectantly for the next reason, which came in a rush of ink.

8. Uh...I have no ideas for number eight...just pretend I wrote something here!

He raised one eyebrow, but did nothing. Whoever was writing this was apparently at a loss for ideas, or was extremely brain dead. Come on, you can do it, he found himself chiding the unseen writers. What came next wasn't a reason, but more of an argument.

Gosh, Ani! I mean, can't you come up with a decent reason?

I tried! You try it if you think it's so easy.

Fine, I will!

9. Umm...

I told you!

Shut up!

Murtagh giggled. This was certainly interesting, and amusing. He briefly wondered what Arya would say about this. Sitting up, he waited for the last reason to appear.

10. He has a mental illness because WE SAY HE DOES! SO THERE!

That's not a reason.

WELL I SAY IT IS! TAKE THAT!

-sigh- You crack me up, U.

I beg to differ.

Murtagh's eyes widened and he jumped out of bed. "ARYA, NASUADA, ANGELA! GET HERE YOU'VE GOT TO SEE THIS!!" he screamed, then ran out of the room. Within moments, he had tripped and everything went black for the second time that day.


"So, you say he was yelling like a maniac, huh?"

"Yeah. I swear, I seriously think he's got a mental illness."

"I second that notion, Nasuada. He was waving around a piece of paper. Look what's in it!"

"Ten Reasons of Proof that Morzan had a Mental Illness. Huh. Poor thing, he's in denial with his concience! Oh, look, it's so cute, he's given a pet name for himself and his concience!"

"Ani and U? Wow..."

Murtagh had heard enough. He woke with a start then looked up at the three women looking over him. "You three! I've got something to show you! Paper - writing by itself! I swear! It's true!"

Arya patted him gently with a sympathetic look at Murtagh. "Don't worry, I'm sure the community will accept you no matter what. I mean, you do have a cool looking scar after all..." she trailed off and giggled as Murtagh gestulated wildly.

"I SWEAR THAT THING WAS WRITING BY ITSELF!"

"Murtagh, calm down. You'll over exert yourself. Don't worry, we believe you." Nasuada said, then winked at her friends. Murtagh sunk back into his sheets, wondering if anyone would ever believe him.


A/N: Yup, so I editted this as part of my campaign to just clean up my fanfic account. The general story line is the same, I haven't changed much, just the reactions to the reasons. I hope you like it!

REVIEW!