Alaia Skyhawk: (Is dying of laughter) Ok, I'm SOOOOOO going to enjoy doing this one XD
Also, the name of the book... I listened to that line for about TEN times and I still couldn't figure out exactly what Merlin was saying... I had to read it off the book, and even then I'm not sure it's right because the writing has dirt over it on that word (sighs) Merlin really needs to learn not to mumble lol.
Also also, I couldn't figure out exactly what Merlin said to unlock the box and to yank down Arthur's bed-curtains, so I just made some spells up that hopefully sound similar. I'll check the subtitles later to get the real ones and fix it then, but for now I didn't want to mess around and delay the chapter because of it.
Also also also... Why is everyone so obsessed with MerlinxMorgana? O.o; I know it's in the legends, but I'm trying to stay as true to the series as I can with this fic. So, sorry to disappoint, but unless the show's writers put MerlinxMorgana into it, it won't be appearing in this fic. So please don't keep asking... (sighs in resignation)
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
~(-)~
Chapter 9: Goblin's Gold ~Part 1~
Entering the musty and dust coated chamber, Merlin walked towards the master of this maze of bookshelf-formed passages and alcoves clutching tightly a scrap of parchment. He didn't come here often, only if Gaius asked him to get something or that one time he'd forged a Seal of Nobility... But this time it was the once again the former of those reasons that brought him here. Geoffrey of Monmouth may have been old, but his way of eyeing you as you perused the records was enough to make even those with legitimate reasons feel nervous. Hopefully this time the warlock wouldn't have to, and Geoffrey could tell him where the book he was sent for was.
Reaching the desk, Merlin waited as the man flipped through the sheets of parchment he held. Waited and waited, until finally he seemed done and addressed the servant before him.
"Yes?"
Merlin stared back at him for a moment, before hesitating with a nervous grin and replying.
"Yes... Gaius asked me to fetch a book for him." He looked at the piece of paper he held. "The um, Bestiari of Eluilym of Cambria"
Geoffrey raised his eyebrows in recognition, before shaking his head.
"The bestiary? I've not seen that for many years. It'll be somewhere in the east wing. I've no idea where."
Merlin's face fell in disappointment. He was going to have to search the shelves after all... Although, at least far enough away from the Keeper of Records that he wouldn't have to worry about being stared at. He turned to the right, starting to walk away until he was stopped by Geoffrey, changing direction to go left after the man pointed out that east was the other way.
Merlin hurried past him, a little embarrassed, before striding away into the maze. Well, it wasn't really a maze, but it was easy enough to get lost if you weren't paying attention. If it weren't for the fact that the blocks of shelves were of all different styles and colours, with increasing cloaks of cobwebs the further you got from the entrance, there wouldn't be any real 'landmarks' at all.
After arriving at the section marked East Wing, Merlin began to look around. If the book really hadn't been seen in years, then it was probably on one of the dustiest shelves he could find. Trying not to stir up the aforementioned dust and sneeze, the warlock looked in every alcove that fit that description until finally he spotted what he was looking for.
The Bestiari of Eluilym of Cambria... and it was right on the top of the bookshelf.
Merlin stared up at it, far from impressed.
"...Great..."
He walked up to the bookcase, trying to reach the book by jumping before deciding he was going to have to climb. Here's to hoping Geoffrey didn't come while he was doing that, he'd be scalped if the man caught him. Getting a grip on one shelf, Merlin lifted his foot to place it on a lower section, only for that section to swivel downwards the moment he put his weight on it.
His expression was one of surprise, as the entire bookcase turned around. When it stopped he found himself in a hidden chamber, as crammed with shelves of oddments and statuary that it looked like some kind of cobweb-covered bazaar.
Cautiously, Merlin started to look around, curious despite his previous track record with places like this. He couldn't help it; common sense rarely entered his head when he found something strange and potentially interesting. Within moments he'd spotted a large and ornate book lying on one of the shelves, approaching it before picking up and opening the tome. The moment he saw the writing on one of the pages he knew what it was. It was a book of spells, one that had by virtue of being in this room escaped being burned after the start of the Purge.
He might have examined it further, delighting in the possibility of it containing spells his own book did not, had he not heard a muffled exclamation from somewhere inside the forgotten room. He set the book back on the shelf, looking around as the noise came again, before moving an inadvertently kicking a box shaped like an octagonal cylinder that lay on its side on the floor.
The box rocked a little, banging coming from within it, before a rough voice said very clearly 'Oi!'
Staring at it in puzzlement, Merlin crouched down to take a closer look, whatever was inside complaining with grunts and grumbles as he turned the surprisingly heavy container up onto its end. The top was held closed by a leather strap, one that was held in place by the rather large lock it was attached to. Once again common sense didn't make an appearance, as the warlock eyed the lock and immediately decided to open it with a whispered spell.
"Ar oscailt..."
The lock immediately popped open, the strap falling away, and taking hold of the lid Merlin cautiously lifted it up to see what was inside. Leaning over it, gazing into the lead-lined interior, he then jumped back in shock as something leapt out of it to perch on the rim.
It was green, had tattoos, and large pointed ears, and it grinned at him sharp pointy teeth.
"Boo!" Merlin just stared at it, until spoke again. "So are you going to say something, or shall I?"
It was with a tone of utter surprise that the warlock replied, and it wasn't the most intelligent answer either.
"You... you can speak?"
"You're a sharp one, aren't ya?" The creature began to stretch, joints clicking as each limb was worked. "Oh, I can't tell you how good it feels to do that... and that... and this!" Merlin continued to stare at it, not sure what to make of this bizarre... thing. He tried to hush it when he realised Geoffrey might hear it, but was rudely overridden. "I have been squished and swashed inside that box for more than fifty years... Time to have some fun!"
It jumped from the box to one of the shelves, and started throwing things at Merlin, totally ignoring him as he told it to stop it and be quiet.
"Stop it, or you're going to get us both into serious trouble."
Still ignoring him, it then slowly and deliberately pushed a vase off onto the floor, watching as it smashed.
"Oh dear, what a shame, never mind."
What little patience Merlin had left was out of the window, as he regarded the thing with growing frustration.
"Right, that's it, you are going back in that box while I... work out what to do with you."
It stared at him looking downhearted, lip trembling as it sighed.
"Oh, alright... If I really must..." It jumped down and headed over to the box, climbing up onto it to stand on its rim. The moment Merlin moved forward in anticipation of closing the thing inside, it jumped into the air and landed on his head. "Ha ha! Fooled you!"
It then disappeared amongst the shelves, while he demanded sharply.
"Stop messing around!"
Once again being ignored, he started to look for it, finding it rummaging through a box of bits and pieces and tossing them aside when they didn't seem to fit what it was searching for. He grabbed an old piece of cloth that was lying nearby, slowly advanced on the creature dodging as one thrown article almost hit him, before throwing the cloth over it and trying to wrestle it back to the box.
Then... all of a sudden... the wriggling mass beneath the cloth seemed to vanish.
Merlin blinked, lifting it and starting to look through its folds in confusion. Where on earth had the creature gone? He got his answer a moment later when a glittering golden ball of light, that sounded suspiciously like the creature imitating a bee, shot from among the creases and flew out of the chamber through a tiny gap.
Merlin gaped in horror, hurriedly exiting the chamber using the bookcase before searching the alcove outside only to get a book thrown at the back of his head. Turning and looking up, he found the creature on the top of the bookcase that was the hidden door, and it proceeded to unload the contents of the top shelf by throwing them at the warlock. Luckily for him it knocked down the book he'd been sent for... not so luckily the creature then decided it had had enough and it took off and disappeared.
Merlin hurried out of the Hall of Records, well, hurried except for when passing Geoffrey of Monmouth, searching for the creature while at the same time making sure not to draw attention to himself. It didn't take him long to find it thanks to a trail of destruction outside of Arthur's chambers, and it was with horrified denial that the warlock entered them to find them ransacked and the creature still throwing things around... and from it's monologue it wasn't entirely happy that it couldn't find what it was looking for.
The monologue had been coming from under the bed, but when he knelt down to look under it the most unwelcome thing he could imagine happened.
"Merlin... I hope for your sake you have a good explanation for this..."
Merlin turned and looked up at Arthur, wishing beyond wishing that the damned prat could have picked any other time than this one to show up. Quickly thinking, as improbable as that might sound, Merlin got up and came up with an excuse... if a rather lame one.
"I... I do have an explanation." Arthur stared at him flatly, Merlin now giving him his trademark innocent grin. "I'm spring cleaning."
Arthur was still staring.
"It isn't spring... and it certainly isn't clean."
Merlin's grin widened, as he laughed a little.
"That's because I've only just started." The chamber door creaked open a little, Merlin catching a glimpse of green fleeing through it, before he continued dissembling to Arthur. "Y-you just wait until I'm finished, you'll be able to eat your dinner off the floor... Not that you'd want to..."
There was a crash outside, Arthur turning to look.
"What was that?"
Merlin slipped past him, hurrying out the door.
"Then why don't I go and see, while you stay here and make yourself comfortable."
And then he was gone, leaving Arthur wondering what the hell had gotten into him.
~(-)~
Merlin stood at Gaius' shoulder, as the physician poured through one of his books in search of what the creature was. The warlock had arrived at his chambers in a flustered state, having chased the creature out of Morgana's room but not before it had thrown a good proportion of her jewellery on the floor. He'd been in the process of picking it up when Gwen had come in, leaving him in a rather compromising situation.
Lucky for him that Gwen knew he wasn't the kind to steal things... Lucky for him it hadn't been Morgana who came through the door.
Back to the matter at hand, though, Gaius turned a few more pages until Merlin stopped him and pointed at a picture of the creature he'd seen.
"That's it!"
Gaius frowned, he didn't look pleased.
"It seems you've unleashed a goblin."
Gaius was now regarding him seriously, Merlin becoming uncomfortable.
"I know that face... It's not good is it."
The physician nodded.
"Goblins are the most mischievous of creatures. Mischievous and dangerous."
Merlin frowned, not convinced.
"It didn't seem dangerous."
Gaius' expression became stern.
"Believe me, Merlin, goblins will stop at nothing to get at that which they value above all others... Gold."
He might have said something else, but for Arthur suddenly striding into the room with a rather unreadable expression on his face.
"You're needed, Gaius, for a matter of urgency and extreme delicacy... It's my father..."
~(-)~
It was a little while later that found them stood outside the king's chambers, and Arthur warned them in no uncertain terms that if they valued their lives they would not even think about laughing. He then took them inside, whereby after a call of enquiry Uther's voice informed them he was sat behind his dressing screen.
King Uther had been rendered bald...
Gaius and Merlin had given each other a long look then, before Gaius had assured Uther he would look into finding a cure and the two of them left. Arthur stayed with his father, which was fine by Merlin, because he wasn't sure he wanted to admit to the prince that he'd freed what had done that to the king.
Making their way through the halls back to his chambers, Gaius murmured to his ward in concerned tones.
"Only an enchantment could have could have caused Uther to lose his hair like that. I've no doubt that the goblin is to blame. We must catch it before it does any real damage."
At that point the warlock could hold it in no more, as he stopped and a laugh burst past his lips.
"Did you see the look on Uther's face."
Gaius turned to him, admonishingly.
"Merlin... What do you think Uther will do to the one responsible for releasing the goblin?"
That wiped away the grin, as the warlock suddenly became more serious.
"We need to catch it, how do we do that?"
They set off down the hallway again, Gaius outlining the plan.
"We need to set a trap, and for that we need gold... and plenty of it..."
~(-)~
Why did he seem to set himself up for these things? Why? Why hadn't he just left the secret room after stumbling into it... And why oh why had he opened that damn box?
Merlin reached under Arthur's bed, dragging a certain item from underneath it, grateful for the fact that by disturbing the goblin during its search of the room he'd prevented it from finding this... A small chest containing a not inconsiderable amount in gold coins.
Pulling it out into the open, Merlin lifted the lid to confirm the contents. He then carefully tucked it under his arm and headed for the door, as silent as a shadow, as graceful as a... bull in a china shop...
Passing by the corner of the table where the prince sat to eat his meals, the warlock inadvertently knocked the tray of bowl, mug, and plate he'd set there earlier in preparation for the prince's breakfast tomorrow. It clattered to the floor, the sound ringing out through the otherwise silent room, and Merlin instinctively ducked behind one of the chairs, placing it and the table between him and the now conscious prince.
Arthur lifted his head, still a little drowsy but otherwise on full alert.
"Who's there?"
Merlin remained silent, old habits meaning he acted as he would have before Arthur had learnt about his magic.
Taking that silence to mean he had a real and potentially life-threatening intruder, Arthur leapt to his feet and drew his sword from the stand beside his bed, eyes searching the chamber from his vantage point atop the bed.
Again, without really thinking, Merlin eyed that perch and whispered.
"Titim eadach..."
The bed curtains dropped, landing on and entangling Arthur who yelled in surprise before falling off the bed and onto the floor.
Merlin came out of his hiding place, but what he didn't count on was that Arthur, instead of flailing about with his sword as if expecting something to attack him, had gotten to his feet and stopped still having put two and two together. His bed curtains just conveniently falling on him... Yeah right...
"...Merlin... What are you doing?"
Merlin winced, putting the chest on the table before going over to Arthur and helping him from under the curtains. He then hung them back up again, enduring the prince's glare as he started to explain.
"I uh... When I was getting a book for Gaius this morning, I found a secret room in the Hall of Records... And when I was in it I accidentally let something out of a box that was stored in there..."
Arthur's expression was mixed, and it looked like he didn't know whether to be angry, irritated, or resigned. Instead he sighed, and folded his arms with a frown.
"Let me guess, the thing you let out is what you were looking for in here this morning... and is the thing responsible for my father's..."
He didn't say it, while Merlin, curtain's re-hung, winced again.
"Uh, yeah... It's a goblin and Gaius and I are going to set a trap for it. That's why I needed..."
His voice petered out, eyes moving to the chest on the table, and Arthur spotted it too.
Incredulous, he turned on Merlin and gave him a clip round the back of the head.
"Merlin! Did it ever occur to you that if you really needed something to deal with this, you could have asked me for it instead of stealing it?" Merlin hunched his shoulders, looking sheepish, before Arthur just shook his head and flung an arm to point at the door. "Take it! But you'd better bring it back! And I want you to report everything that happens regarding magic from now on! You're acting like I still don't know about you."
The warlock had the grace to look a little ashamed, averting his gaze.
"Force of habit, I guess." He saw Arthur's stare. "Sorry... I'll let you know how it goes."
And with that he hurried to the table and left the room with the box of coins, while Arthur muttered to himself and returned to bed. Of all the things to wake him up... bloody idiot warlocks...
~(-)~
Alaia Skyhawk: And I'll stop there, at the point where the first real deviation from the episode happens. I'll see about getting the rest of the episode done tomorrow, or failing that it will be in 3 parts with the 3rd being posted on Monday or Tuesday. Until then, see ya :)
