So, last we left Camelot at the mercy of Peeves the Poltergeist...and Merlin may finally have lost it...
Merlin found himself wishing that the goblin was back. Surely anything would be better than this constant nagging troublesome torture he and the rest of Camelot had to endure almost every day.
It had started with the ink incident, on that dreadful morning when he woke up covered in sticky smelly ink, a flaming cupboard by his door, and a leering ugly green-faced flying pest of a ghost hovering above him cackling like no tomorrow. Ever since Merlin had been trying and failing to catch and destroy the poltergeist that was tormenting the castle. At least the goblin had been funny, to a small extent, but Peeves was simply maddening.
After the ink incident, there had been the all-of-Uther's-clothes-have-been-burned-and-replac ed-with-dresses incident; the Gaius-and-Merlin-woke-up-in-make-up-fit-for-a-clow n incident; the Merlin's-shoes-turned-into-high-heels incident, and last but not least the all-of-Arthur's-clothes-disappeared-in-the-middle- of-a-council-meeting incident. Literally, all of his clothes... It had been a very awkward afternoon for everyone involved.
Today Peeves had decided to drive Merlin past the brink of madness, because he was already on it.
The wizard took deep breaths as he felt yet another small stick hit the back of his head, doing his utmost to continue with his day as though nothing were wrong. It didn't help that no one else wanted to play along since just about everyone who saw him and the green poltergeist floating above his head turned tail and ran. The fact that the poltergeist had made up what Merlin thought must be fifty horrible songs in his name and was singing them constantly at the top of his grating cackling voice definitely didn't help.
"Oooooooh Merly is a nasty twit
Merly is an angry git
Merly's got a temper
And it's never gonna simperrrrrr!"
"That hardly even rhymes!" Merlin shouted. Peeves threw another stick at him and responded by singing the song again, even louder.
Merlin growled, and concentrated on the pest's infernal hat. A blast of ethereal wind came out of nowhere and knocked it clean off of Peeves' head and into Merlin's outstretched hand.
Peeves gasped, for once silent and gaping at the wizard that had stolen his precious hat. Merlin felt an almost inhuman pleasure in having finally shut him up. "You like this hat, don't you?"
"Yes, yes, yes! Give it back, give it back you angry git!"
Merlin raised his eyebrow, that had not been the worst name the pest had given him since he appeared in Merlin's life. "No I won't, no I won't!", the wizard mocked in a close impersonation of Peeves' voice. Without thinking, he put the hat on his head. "Oh, look! I'm Peeves the Poltergeist and I like to wear stupid hats and dresses! I look like a griffin's backside and...!"
Both Merlin and Peeves were unaware of the fact that a certain maidservant was standing, shell-shocked, at the end of the hallway. Sure, she'd known that Merlin had been getting the worst of the poltergeist's tricks and pranks.
But Gwen certainly wasn't prepared when she turned around the corner and found him dancing and laughing maniacally in an orange top hat.
