Merlin hummed as he looked through the murky liquid and glass at arthur, the rather disturbing contents sitting placidly in the bottom. The eyes of the shrunken head, though they were stitched shut, seemed to stare into Arthur's very soul, and made him decidedly uncomfortable.
"So what is it?" Arthur grumbled. He was grumpy.
"Well, it's definitely charmed. There's a really angry spirit attached to it, but I can't tell what kind."
"What do you mean 'what kind'?"
Merlin raised his eyebrows at his friend. "There are 3 main types of vengeful spirit. There's your run-of-the-mill vengeful spirit, the ones you see on tv that push stuff off shelves and possess people. There's a wraith, that are closer to demons than ghosts, so more violent. Then there's a plague maiden, that make people fall ill around it."
Arthur suddenly remembered how all the mailroom workers were out sick, and the Head was sniffing her head off.
"It's the last one." Arthur said decidedly, and told him his reasoning. Merlin nodded.
"Sounds like it, yeah."
"So how do we get rid of it? Do we have to destroy that?" Arthur asked, gesturing to the jar.
"No, this just limits her. Destroy this and she's free to reek havoc on anything and everything, at her full power. Something else is letting her manifest."
"So we need to find whatever this other thing is?"
"Yep." Merlin stood then as Gaius came bustling into the back room they were in with tea and a package of store bought cookies. Merlin nibbled on a cookie while Arthur immediately stuffed one in his mouth and grabbed another.
"So, how are we supposed to find this thing?"
"Well," Merlin said, finishing of his cookie. "I could probably detect it if I got close enough. Could we maybe get in after dark and look around?"
Arthur immediately shook his head. "The place gets locked down at 9pm sharp, and the only ones with a key are my father and the head of security. He doesn't even give Morgana and I a key."
Merlin pursed his lips, looking at him in a way that clearly said, "Then what are we going to do, ice brain?"
Arthur hummed in agreement. In the corner Gaius, who had been quiet thus far, said, "Why don't you hire him? You need an assistant, and Merlin needs to get out of the house."
Arthur had a moment to wonder how Gaius knew that while Merlin sputtered his denial. "That… actually might work. How did you know I was looking for an assistant?"
"I know your father well, Arthur. I have been a consultant for him longer than you've been alive. He has complained to me many times about how "difficult" you could be when it came to your assistants."
"Difficult, he says…" Arthur grumbled, but he was already thinking about it. He did need an assistant…
"Well, at least I can tolerate this idiot." Arthur said finally.
"What about after? Do I just stay your assistant forever?"
"Maybe not," Gaius admitted. "But it would certainly help you in finding out who is targeting Arthur."
"Targeting? What do you mean targeting? I'm not being targeted."
Gaius raised an impeccable eyebrow and Arthur could swear that eyebrow could intimidate even his father, the most stubborn man in the world. Arthur gulped and said, "Why do you think that?"
"You being haunted, you getting a cursed object, the person that gave you said cursed object mysteriously going missing hours later, and now a plague maiden? And all of this all of a sudden, with no warning beforehand whatsoever? It is a big coincidence, don't you think?"
Arthur had to admit, that did sound pretty unlikely.
"But why would someone be targeting me, of all people?" Arthur couldn't help but ask.
"It could be something around you that suddenly brought about these changes, but that wouldn't explain why these things are directly going after you."
"Maybe you did something that started it?" Merlin interjected.
"I don't know what it could have been." Arthur huffed, "and generally, I don't have time to worry about it right now if I want to get you on the employment roll by tomorrow."
"Seriously?" Merlin lamented his loss of free time.
"Why not? I need an assistant and you need a job. I expect you there at 8:30 sharp. And please wear something better than that." And with that, Arthur pulled out his phone and called Leon.
The next morning saw Arthur getting up at an ungodly hour, as per usual, and going to work. The plain office building, made almost entirely of tinted glass and steel, the grounds out front immaculately trimmed to perfection. A huge statue of a lion on it's back two paws, the front raised and ready to strike. The maw of the great beast gaped open wide, a silent roar that sent shivers down Arthur's spine every time he saw it.
His office was much the same. Very impersonal, a large leather chair, and a window that was dark even at noon.
Arthur threw his stuff on to a side table and sat in his chair to begin filling out papers.
An hour passed and the clock was nearing 8:40 when Merlin burst in, windswept, dressed in a rumpled dress shirt and black slacks. For pete's sake, he didn't even have a tie!
"Merlin! You are ten minutes late!" He seethed.
"I'm sorry! Gaius was hovering so I left late, then I missed the bus, then I-"
"Merlin, I don't care why you're late." Arthur threw up his hands and gestured to the door again. "Look, my sister's assistant offered to show you around out of the goodness of her heart, and I will not have you acting like an idiot around her. Now follow me." Arthur led them out of his office, to the elevator, and up a floor to Morgana's office and the floor she ran.
Morgana's floor looked a lot less dismal than most of the rest of the building. Her windows were not tinted, though he wasn't sure how that happened, and edged with drapes that changed often. Today the hall and areas surrounding were themed with a pastel green for spring, and fresh flowers sat in vases that sparkled. Arthur would be jealous if it didn't look so girly.
They passed offices as they followed the hallway, many with people inside. They turned a corner to see a short, amazingly clean mahogany desk, holding only a lamp and computer. Behind the desk sat a woman with a round face and almond skin. Her dark curly hair was pinned up and she wore a simple pink sweater and tan pants. There were little dots of silver in her ears, and she wore a necklace with a single bead that Arthur knew her brother, Elyan, had made for her when they were kids.
"Gwen." He said pleasantly as he strode up to greet her, completely forgetting his faux anger at his new assistant. "This is Merlin."
She stood with a grin, and Arthur felt his stomach squirm a little. He turned to distract himself by looking toward Merlin, only to see a strange look leaving his face. Before he could even think on it, the other man was grinning from ear to ear and stepped forward to shake Gwen's hand.
"Nice to meet you." He said just as she said, "Nice to finally meet you, Merlin." They stared at each other, before bursting into laughter.
Arthur, feeling like he had missed something, said, "Well, you two go off and do whatever assistants do. We'll meet during lunch and start looking around. Merlin, I already told Gwen everything that's been going on, so she's in on it."
Merlin nodded and shared another look with Gwen, who grinned wider and nudged him. He nudged her back and Arthur rolled his eyes. They were already friends. Of course they were, they were two of the nicest people he had ever met, though you'd never hear him admit it aloud.
Arthur, after a long period of work and not seeing any one for three hours, stood from his chair, stretched, and left his office for the break room. When he arrived, it was to see Merlin and Gwen chatting animatedly about something he had no idea about.
"Well?" he demanded.
"Oh, hi Arthur! Merlin was just telling me more about this whole situation."
"But I already told you all that." he said confusedly.
Gwen gave him a level look. "You told me that a ghost had haunted you and now someone might be targeting you, and some guy named Merlin was helping you out by coming into the office."
"Well, that's pretty much it!" Arthur said indignantly.
"You didn't tell me that Merlin was a psychic! Or that you had been attacked three times."
Arthur grumbled and sat down, glaring at Merlin, who was smirking as the older man got chewed out.
"Okay, what are we doing now?" Arthur said, dejectedly placing his head in his hands.
"Well," said Merlin. Gwen started unpacking her lunch, and handed a sandwich to Arthur and Merlin. Merlin took his without comment, and Arthur took his with confusion. She had made them both lunch?
"I thought, since Arthur found the first jar in the basement, we could look for the other jar on the roof."
"And what makes you think it would be up there? Or that its even another jar?" Arthur said skeptically.
"Well, this particular possesion needs an area mapped out, so the spirit can move between the two jars. It would make more sense to put it on the roof so the spirit could access all the floors instead of just one. And I know its a jar because the spell calls for opposites and similarities, so it will be a jar full of the opposite of the items that are in our jar."
"Fine. So what are we waiting for?"
Merlin's face adopted a wounded look. "I'm eating the amazing sandwich Gwen made me."
"Merlin."
"Alright, alright, prat."
"You can't call me that, I'm your boss!"
"I can't help it if it's true!"
(A/N) There will be three parts to this chapter. Hope you enjoyed, and the next chapter is already started!