Season 2, Episode 5

Story 18: I Told You So

Chapter 2: Half-Baked Disaster

The next night found Gaius and Merlin whispering back and forth while they ate dinner, trying to make a foolproof plan. It was harder than it sounded. Their plan had to be subtle so that they wouldn't get caught or arouse suspicion, but it had to be obvious enough that Uther would realize Catrina was deceiving everyone. They had already failed to reveal her once. They weren't sure how many more times they would be able to attempt it before Uther got suspicious and realized what they were trying to do. If they got caught, they would get arrested for sure. He was already suspicious about why there were so many mirrors around the castle all of a sudden. He was even more suspicious when the mirrors miraculously disappeared over night.

There was a sense of urgency amongst them as they conversed in hushed whispers. Uther had confided in Gaius that he was going to ask Catrina to marry him. This had them pulling at the very corners of their brains to figure out something to reveal her before it escalated to that point.

At first, the ideas they came up with were pretty awful. They had been desperate for a solution and in their haste they had forgotten that their plans had to be possible.

First, Merlin had suggested that they put a sleeping potion in her food and keep her asleep until she transforms back into a troll. That idea was immediately dismissed. They had no way of knowing what food Catrina would actually eat and they didn't want to end up putting someone important to sleep. Also, Uther might suspect sorcery if his new lady friend was asleep all the time.

Then Gaius thought that maybe Merlin could cast a spell to make Catrina's true form show. Merlin was the one to point out the flaw in that one. He would have to do magic right in front of the king for that to work. Merlin rather liked his head right where it was: on his shoulders. If Uther noticed him doing magic, that was certain to change. On top of that, the spell of revelation was a difficult one. He may not be powerful enough to cast the spell. Even more likely was that Catrina may be too powerful and would be able to combat the spell. Perhaps if Merlin caught her when the effects of her potion were about to wear off, it would be possible, but Catrina was too careful to neglect her potion. Merlin would be willing to try it, but only as a last resort.

"That's a half-baked disaster if ever there were one," Merlin muttered after explaining exactly why that was destined to fail.

"A half-baked disaster?" Gaius had asked, his eyebrows shooting up his forehead. Merlin never failed to amuse him. Merlin ignored him, instead choosing to think about how else they could possibly be able to make Uther see he was in love with a troll.

Then Merlin suggested that they could do something so that Catrina's potion wouldn't work. The only thing he could think of would be to switch the potion with one that was almost the same, minus the magical ability to change her appearance to seem human. That idea was dismissed because neither of them knew where she kept her potion and it would be impossible to replicate it without an example. They also didn't have the time to create a fake potion.

It was Gaius that finally came up with a solution. He thought it through long and hard "You could do something that would limit her powers so she can't keep up the appearance. Then you can use your own magic to reveal herself," Gaius suggested.

Merlin frowned. "But what can do that?" Merlin questioned. "I've been studying magic since you gave me that book, but I've never heard of anything that can take away someones powers."

"There are a couple of things that can take away someone's magic. The one that would be easiest for you would be to enchant an effigy," Gaius explained.

Merlin stared. "Any chance you want to explain what that is?" Merlin asked uncertainly. "And are you sure it will be able to work on a troll. You know their magic is different."

"It's a puppet that you can enchant. It will make it so when she attempts to block your magic, she won't be able to," Gaius assured. "Even troll magic cannot resist it."

"Where do I find a prodigy or whatever it was called?" Merlin asked.

"An effigy," Gaius corrected. "And it's simply really. You make one."

"I make one? How can I make one? I'm no carpenter," Merlin protested.

"You don't need to be a carpenter to make a puppet," Gaius pointed out. "You have your powers for a reason."

"Yes, but somehow I don't think it is so I can make a doll," Merlin grumbled. Gaius raised his eyebrows at Merlin. Merlin knew arguing was futile. "Fine. But if it turns out looking awful, it's not my fault!" He grabbed the magic book and prepared himself for a sleepless night.

It was the middle of the night when Merlin finally successfully cast the spell. He knew it had worked, because he could hear the whispering of the effigy.

Now came the hard part. If Merlin wanted a chance of stopping Catrina, he needed to stop her now, before Uther dug himself into a deeper hole.

He carefully crept through the castle, ducking into rarely used corridors to avoid detection. He made his way to the place where Catrina slept deep underneath the castle.

As Merlin got closer, he held his hand over his nose. The smell was disgusting. It was a mix of some of the foulest smells he had ever smelt and it made him feel nauseous. Merlin clutched his nose for dear life, hoping to reduce how much of the stench he would actually have to breathe in. Trying to ignore it, he tiptoed around the corner until he could see Catrina.

Gaius hadn't specified how close the effigy had to be to her for it to work, so Merlin wanted to get it as close as possible. Merlin's heart beat seemed to be too loud as he got closer and closer. He feared the slightest noise would wake Catrina up.

Hours seemed to pass, but Merlin knew that was only because so much was depending on this moment. As Merlin placed it on the ground next to Catrina's sleeping form, he felt so proud. He had succeeded. Or so he thought.

Merlin turned to leave and saw Jonas standing in the doorway with a wicked smirk on his face. Merlin groaned. He had been so close. He should have known that something would go wrong. It hadn't been easy, not exactly, but there certainly hadn't been as many obstacles as he had expected.

Merlin should have had the forethought to plan something to distract Jonas. But it was too little, too late and there was nothing Merlin could do about it now.

Merlin tried to run for it. He should have known it wouldn't work, but he had to try. He hadn't made it more than a couple of steps before Jonas picked him up by his tunic. "You should not have meddled with my mistress," Jonas said angrily. He threw Merlin against the wall.

Merlin groaned as he felt the impact. He must have a concussion or something. There were black shadows on the edge of his vision and he felt as if his skull was being split in two, but Merlin forced himself to ignore them as he got to his feet.

Merlin saw Jonas charging toward him again. Merlin ducked under Jonas's kick, but got hit in the face with his tail. Merlin could feel the sting from the hit and he could practically feel his left eye swelling. Merlin could only open his eye a little bit, making him only able to see a narrow slit out of his left eye. In that narrow slit, he saw Jonas run at him to tackle him and Merlin ducked out of the way, landing head first on the ground.

Merlin forced himself back to his feet. He saw Jonas charge and him and he used his magic to blast Jonas backwards. Then he ran.

As Merlin rounded the corner, with his good eye, he saw Catrina awaken and grasp the effigy. He could hear the crunch of straw and the whispering stopped. Just like that, their plan had failed.