We're here again. Sorry. Sorry. Insanity of life, followed by writer's block. Lucky for you, we were determined to get something out tonight.

So, funny story, we originally planned to have something else follow the cliffie. We then realized that we were better off taking a different direction. The problem was that the newly planned situation didn't live up to Merlin's reaction at the end of last chapter. So we had to get creative. Let us know if it lives up to your expectations.

In case you don't want to go through the last chapter: Merlin was caught trying to abscond with Arthur's shirts. Merlin lied about why he was taking the red shirts and not any other color. Gaius realized that Arthur's shirt was used as a vessel for the pain-feeling spell. Merlin wasn't happy when was shown the spell and its antidote.


Merlin only had to look at the title to know what deep trouble they were in. He stared across the room, his grip on the book slackening. Maybe living with this curse wouldn't be so bad after all. He wasn't sure that risking his sanity was worth avoiding a few extra aches and pains.

"Gaius, are you sure?" Merlin asked. It couldn't hurt to search for some uncertainty.

"I'm afraid so, my boy," Gaius replied. Sadly, he sounded confident in his assessment. Merlin cursed inwardly.

"Well, I can't do it," Merlin said.

"I will make sure the dosage is safe," Gaius said reassuringly.

"Gaius, you can't make it safe! It causes persistent hallucinations!"

"I wouldn't allow you take enough opium for that."

"What?" Merlin stared blankly at Gaius. "Why am I taking opium now?"

"Are you alright?"

"I don't remember there being opium in this recipe." Merlin fought panic. Opium would only make the effects worse! How was he going to tell Arthur that insanity was the only cure? They might as well offer themselves up to the disturbed minds who cursed them, rather than suffer through the antidote. Antidote. What a laughable word to use. The people back at that sorcerer camp had to be laughing at that moment!

"Merlin, I think you're confused." Gaius took the book from Merlin and explained the steps in detail. Arthur and Merlin would take one potion for thirteen days that required no drugs. On the fourteenth day they would take a different potion. Since the final severing of the spell would be excruciatingly painful, they would have to take opium. It was the only painkiller known to not react badly with the potion.

After knowing what the cure actually consisted of, Merlin wondered how he managed to be so confused. What potion was he even confused with?

At that moment the door swung open. A very grumpy Arthur stomped in.

"Merlin!" Arthur barked. "You walked to and from my chambers without an escort. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Gaius made a show of casually putting the magic book aside, making it look like regular medical papers.

"Sorry?" Merlin sounded as though he was looking for a simple appeasement without even sounding apologetic.

"You agreed to go nowhere outside my chambers or Gaius's chambers without guards."

"I'm in Gaius's chambers now."

"But you left!"

"I was in a bit of a rush."

"Merlin!"

"We found a cure. So... It's alright." Merlin smiled.

"A cure to the red shirt spell?" Arthur asked half-skeptically, half-hopefully.

Gaius raised his eyebrow at Merlin as if to say, 'What did you tell him?'


Arthur could still taste the foul liquid. It was a half an hour later, and several glasses of water later, and he could still taste that disgusting potion. To think he would have twelve more days of drinking that... whatever it was. Arthur didn't want to know what he was being forced to ingest. Hopefully the potion for the final day would be a bit more pleasant.

Two weeks. In two weeks he would be free. Arthur would no longer have to put up with aches that were not his own. No more spontaneous aging. No more itchy blood.

Right now he was particularly excited about losing Merlin's "rare blood condition." Arthur had to concentrate on some paperwork concerning trade routes. What he really wanted to do was scratch his insides. How was Merlin able to so nonchalantly deal with his condition? This seemed normal to him. The servant was somehow able to go on cleaning as though nothing in the world bothered him. How? It was disgusting. There was nothing natural about this. The prince had never felt anything like it. Itchy didn't even fully describe the bizarre sensation. It pulsed. He had heard his blood pounding in his ears before, but this wasn't like that. It was as though he could feel the rushing of blood in every part of his body. And a concentration of this feeling moved around his body. And it would feel stronger at some times than at others.

Arthur suddenly realized that he had been absently glaring at Merlin. Arthur looked back down at his papers. He bent over his work, at least giving an impression of redoubled effort.

Then Arthur suddenly looked back up, realization dawning on his face. The itchy blood had a pattern. He watched the way Merlin bustled about the room. The direction, for lack of a better word, of the itchiness was always dependent on where Merlin was facing. The strength of it correlated to where the boy was standing. It was a wonder that Arthur hadn't noticed this before. He began to wonder if Merlin really told Gaius about the itching blood.

It took several minutes before Merlin realized that his master was staring intensely at him.

Concerned, Merlin spoke, "Arthur?"

"Merlin," Arthur spoke slowly and somberly, "I think your blood condition is magical."

Merlin felt the blood drain from his face. How had Arthur figured it out? Merlin could feel his throat going dry. Should he make a run for it? Arthur had gotten up and was walking toward him. Surely Arthur wasn't going to kill himself just to stop a sorcerer. As the prince got nearer, Merlin began to think of every spell he knew. To Merlin's surprise, Arthur clapped his hand onto Merlin's shoulder.

"I know you're scared, old friend," Arthur said seriously, "but Gaius should be able to cure you."

"What? No. Gaius can't fix me," Merlin sputtered.

"Well," Arthur said, trying to sound encouraging, "I'm going to stop whoever did this to you." The prince put his arm down and began to walk away.

"You really don't need to do that." Merlin didn't want Arthur to waste time trying find an imaginary sorcerer unless absolutely necessary.

"No, you're wrong. I have to." Arthur's voice became cold.

"It could be dangerous. Besides, it's only an annoyance."

"How do you know it won't get worse and kill you? Drive you mad?" Arthur demanded angrily. "I know it's about to drive me mad."

Merlin felt himself stiffen. Chasing after imaginary sorcerers it was. Hopefully he could find away around that once he took care of some real sorcerers. He would find out more about that amphora tonight.


We were going to end it elsewhere, but we thought you guys deserved a chapter for being so patient. We wouldn't have finished it tonight if we had ended the chapter where we originally wanted.

Yes, Arthur does not yet know that he will doped up on the final day the antidote.

What did you think? Confused? Pleased? Disappointed? Amused? Tell us, please!

And for the record, we didn't intend to make a Star Trek joke. But we did laugh and leave it there. Oops.