Merlin had a terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE head ache. He laid in bed, moaning and growning on about how terrible it was.

It was freaking terrible.

He hated the bitter, terrible medicine Gaius proscribed him. The terrible taste lingered on his tongue, numbing it in a terrible way. His head throbbed terribly and made his thoughts and vision hazy. So hazy, he could only think of the word terrible. The whole of Camelot is terrible. The whole world is terrible.

"here is the next dose of your medicine," Gaius said, grabbing Merlin's weak hand and placing the cure into his palm, making sure his fingers tightened around the jar.

"this is terrible," Merlin grumbled, shooting the liquid down his thoat, "I can't believe how terrible this is."

"it will subside soon," Gaius assured, patting Merlin on the shoulder. Merlin murmured something unpleasant, and as you might have guessed it rhymed with bearable, he then weakly rolled over onto his side. Random thoughts floated though his mind, mostly consisting of how many chores he will have after he recovered, which was terrible. This made the whole thing even more terrible. Then, another random thought crossed his mind; he should go to the tavern. Drinking might take his mind off of this whole, terrible thing. He sat himself up wearily. Right as he became upright, the room spun and tilted side to side. Maybe the tavern wasn't such a bright idea. Then again, the alcohol could subdue him for a few hours, so maybe it was the right thing. Well, it wasn't the right thing, but it was the thing to bring relief and pleasure for a few hours.

Merlin slowly slid himself off the bed and shakily stood on both feet. It was amazing he actually stood up on both feet without falling over immediately. He slipped on his coat cautiously and slipped out of the house while Gaius was in his room. He slowly made his way to the tavern, stumbling occasionally. He sat at an empty table and ordered a pint. As he looked around, he seemed to be seeing doubles of men in the tavern. Merlin blinked multiple times to try and get the sights out of his mind. They continued to return. He chugged the pint as soon as it was served and ordered another. Pint after pint, Merlin drank his headache away. Then, he saw an unfamiliar face sit at his table across from him. The booze wasn't helping him try to recognize the fellow, but he knew it wasn't a woman. The man had a beard and he was on the heavier side.

"waddayawant?" Merlin slurred. The man smiled crookedly and chuckled deep in his throat.

"I need a friend to help me with a job," he said with that same crooked smile. Merlin smiled back, drunken out of his mind.

"ya know wha?" Merlin giggled, placing his hand on the mans shoulder, "I will do whadevah ya need!" Merlin didn't know what he was getting into, but he was happy to help.

The man kept his same smile through out his walk with Merlin. He led him down a tight alley, around the back of a few villagers huts, until they finally got to this one hut. It was dark, no lanterns lit inside or outside.

"this yer howz?" Merlin asked the man.

"no, it's a friends. Come along," he said pushing Merlin ahead towards the empty looking house. Merlin strolled up to the door and opened it without a knock, waving the stranger to enter. They went into the hut and there, in a metal cage, were 3 girls.

Help me, they mouthed to Merlin. Merlin snapped back to reality and backed away towards the door.

"um, I don't think you will need my help tonight," Merlin said stumbling over some stones on the ground.

"yes I will," said the dude, his tone becoming sinister and cold. Merlin gulped back some alcohol flavored saliva.

"no I don't think so," Merlin said turning around to walk out the door. The man grabbed his shoulder, yanked him back and pushed him against the bars of the cage. The girls gasped as Merlin's body got squished against the bars.

"now, you are going to watch over these girls. If I find you are gone, I will hunt you down and kill you," the man hissed. Suddenly, he heard an incantation. It was from the man. He turned Merlin around, then pulled him away from the cage. When he ended his spell, Merlin was frozen in place.

"here is the deal: you watch them and don't make a sound. I will be back," the man said and disappeared out the door. Merlin was stuck looking at the girls in the cage. He tried to turn and run, but his legs were bolted to the ground. He tried to move his arms, but they were glued to his sides. He couldn't even release a sigh. He watched the girls in their maiden dresses, huddling together in the corner of the cage. They all sat their in silence. The girls dint make a sound. Maybe because they were scared, or maybe... They couldn't. Just as Merlin thought it, the one girl in a green silky dress shook her head and placed her hand over her mouth, pointing to all of them with her other. Merlin was about to nod, but remembered he couldn't. Minutes, then hours passed as he stood their staring at 3 hopeless girls in a cage. Suddenly, the door to the hut swung open. Merlin felt a slight breeze on his back and then a voice.

"you sick prat!" said a raspy, old voice. The hoarse sound made Merlin jump and spin around to face an old woman. What, he just spun. He moved! He was free! Then, he realized that the revolted look on the woman's face was intended for him.

"how could you do such a thing to innocent young ladies?" her scratchy voice scolded Merlin. He looked to the girls and they were flailing their arms, trying to get the attention of the old lady, their eyebrows knit and mouths open, trying to speak to her. He turned back to the old lady who was now advancing on him.

"my daughters! You should be hanged for suck torture," she hissed.

"but I didn't-" Merlin choked.

"SHUT UP! You've done enough!" she screamed. Merlin knew this was not a battle he could win, so he ran for it. He passed the aged woman so fast all she had time for was to chant a curse. CHANT A CURSE?! Merlin plugged his ears, hoping he was just imagining things, but he knew it had no affect on the curse. As he ran down alleys, he heard a voice echo in his ear.

"for your crude ways, you will bare the curse of having to hold the pain they held, for you have inflicted this pain on yourself. By dawn, your effects will begin."

Merlin dashed all the way home. He wanted to forget the voice ringing though his head. He wanted to pretend that nothing happened, that he did nothing. As he plunged into his room, his terrible head ache started up again. He dropped onto his bed. Though his window, he saw the sun rising; dawn had come.