Firstly: I am SO sorry it took me so long to update!

Secondly: We grieve the end to the Merlin but we writers will continue the stories and this great tale is not something that will end, but will go on! I respect the writers and creators for doing what they said they would do, and I thank the cast for delivering so wonderfully.

Thirdly: Merry Christmas to all!

here is the next chapter!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin! :-(


Merlin opened his eyes, finding himself slouched over the table. He shot up confused.

What just happened?

He was responding to Arthur when... He looked down at the table- the food placed next to him. Good thing he didn't end up in the food. Arthur would be holding it against him for weeks...

Arthur...

He glanced around the kings room, not seeing any sign of him.

He stood up. He felt weird- like his body was numb to his control and a little sluggish.

A spell?

He glanced around the room and heard a familiar groan. But something seemed off...

He went over in the direction of the groan, on the other side of the bed and stopped in his tracks.

He was staring at himself, who was gradually lifting himself from the floor.

"That's impossible," he muttered and stopped short.

Arthur's voice!

He turned and hurried over to a mirror to look at himself. What he saw was his king looking back at him. He whipped back around to look at him...well his body, gaping at him.

"Arthur?" He asked his body.

"What in bloody hell..?" He heard his voice respond.

"We seemed to have been switched..." He told his confused self.

His face gave him an incredulous look. "How could have that happened?" Arthur demanded with Merlins voice.

"Magic, clearly," Merlin glanced around the room. "But how..?"

"Did you make some sort of wish or something?" Arthur accused.

"To be you?" Merlin scoffed. "Absolutely not! The last thing I would want to be is a selfish prat!"

"Well I'm not exactly a fan of being a scrawny servant!"

"Well maybe I wouldn't be so scrawny if you didn't make me carry everything, EVERYWHERE!"

"Sire?"

Both men looked to the door. Leon had entered and he was looking at them cautiously.

"Leon." Arthur said from Merlin's mouth.

Leon looked at Merlin's body- then to Arthurs. He bowed his head to who he saw as Arthur.

"Your Majesty, I just wanted to inform you the leader of the Melaites and what looks like half of his group is here."

Merlin made sure to control his breathing and did his best imitation of Arthur. "Thank you, Sir Leon. I am just finishing up things with Merlin here. Would you make sure our guests find their chambers and let them prepare for the banquet tonight."

Leon bowed. "Of course, sire."

He hesitated, but started to head out, as his king turned to Merlin, "And another thing, Merlin. I need you to polish my armor, shine my boots and make sure my clothes are pressed for tonight, and this time make sure you do it all before mucking out the stables and preparing for this evening..."

Leon closed the door and Merlin dropped the act. He looked over at his body which was just giving him a blank look.

"Is that what I sound like?" Arthur asked him. Merlin raised Arthurs eyebrows and gave him a nod.

"Now...back to this...us. There must be something that triggered the switch..."

He went over to the bed to check underneath.

Nothing,

Under pillows, tables, chairs...

Partially through the search, Arthur had joined him. Looking for anything that could have done this. Herbs, pouches, a bottle of liquid. A bug or something...

But there was nothing.

"This is just great," Arthur whined. "How are we going to explain this? With the banquet tonight!"

"I suggest we don't," Merlin turned to look at himself. "At least we should be wary of who we tell...

"You're right," Arthur replied, rubbing his face. "If word were to get out, with the treaties not yet signed. This is a nightmare!"

"How are we going to even go to the banquet?" Merlin asked.

"We have to!" Arthur commanded.

"We can't feign sick?" Merlin knew that suggestion was dead by the look Arthur gave him. He sighed. "We need Gaius."

"Yes," Arthur agreed. "We should tell Gwen too. I won't have you kissing her..."

"And Mila," Merlin added- thinking in case Mila were to make a magic reference to Arthur thinking it was him.

Merlin saw his own face raising an eyebrow at his suggestion. He rolled his eyes, "Not for the same reason as you." He defended. "because we can trust her and more heads on this the better."

Arthur considered. "Alright, but no one else."

At that moment Mila entered the room with the finished dress, heading over to the wardrobe.

"You boys better not still be at it," she stated with a smile. "It's been two hours..."

Merlin and Arthur looked at each other.

Two hours?

They have been out for two hours?

Merlin carefully approached the maidservant.

"Mila."

Mila finished hanging the dress and turned to him. "Yes sire?"

Merlin shook his head and held up his hands. "No, listen." He took a breath and carefully said. "I'm not Arthur. I'm Merlin!"

Arthur moved forward. "And I'm Arthur..."

Mila gave them both a look and studied them. "Is this a joke? You two have had funnier"

Both men shook their head. "There was a spell," Merlin said. "Of some sort. We switched."

Mila gave Arthurs body a look, then looked to who she saw as Merlin. She was unsure of what to make of it.

"Mila..." Gwen entered the room, stopping at the sight of everyone looking over at her. Mila hurried over to her queen's side of the room, looking at the boys, still unsure. "Is everything alright?" Gwen asked.

"I'm not sure," Mila asked. "The boys are saying some things that are not making sense..."

"Gwen," Arthur said, moving towards Gwen in the form of Merlin. "You know me better than anyone..."

Gwen stepped back. "I'm not sure about that Merlin."

"No," He said. "Look at me. Look into my eyes. Can't you see?"

Gwen studied him for a moment. "See what?"

"They seem to think they have switched bodies," Mila filled her in.

Gwen gave a laugh, but then noticed that no one else was laughing with her. "Seriously?" She asked. She studied both men for a moment. "Prove it..." She looked at her King's body. "Show me that you are Merlin." She looked back at Arthur. "Or that you're Arthur..."

"Wait," Mila interrupted. "Before Merlin got here before, Arthur and I were talking. What did we talk about?"

"That's rather embarrassing..." Merlin's voice responded. Mila gave a pressing look. A/Merlin rolled his eyes and took a breath. "I was saying that I was afraid I can't handle all the pressures. That I need everyone around me and their support. I don't know what I'd do without it..."

"Does that include me?" M/Arthur inquired.

A/Merlin just stared at Mila. Mila looked at Gwen. "I think they are telling the truth..."

Gwen looked at both men too. She looked at M/Arthur and studied him. "This is the body of my husband."

"But it's Merlin inside" M/Arthur replied.

Gwen studied him further. "It's so hard to tell...it could be a very good joke..."

"You kissed me once," M/Arthur stated.

Mila and A/Merlin both looked sharply at Gwen in surprise.

Gwen gasped. She never said anything about that. Not even to Morgana, who was her best friend at the time.

"It was after you thought I was dead, when Arthur had gotten the remedy for that poison. You kissed me because you were so happy I was alive."

Gwen looked at Mila and A/Merlin who were both waiting for her response.

"It is you," She said looking at M/Arthur. She looked back to A/Merlin. "And you're Arthur..."

"Yes and now that we have that settled, we have to do this all over again for Gaius," A/Merlin replied. "I suggest we hurry our ways down there so we can try to get this fixed before dinner."

A/Merlin ran out of the room, Gwen at his heels. M/Arthur started to follow, but Mila grabbed his arm. "Wait."

M/Arthur looked at her confused.

"Prove it to me." She said. "I need to know for sure."

"We have magic." He said simply to her.

"Good enough," she grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door.

*M*

"Gaius..."

Gaius looked up seeing Merlin storm into the chambers. That he was used to. But then he found a surprise when Gwen, Arthur and Mila quickly followed.

"What has happened?" He looked to Merlin. Merlin opened his mouth but then looked uncomfortably at the others.

"Well..."

"Oh for the love of..." Mila stopped herself short and she moved forward. "Merlin is in Arthurs body and Arthur is in Merlins body."

Gaius looked to the two boys confused. "So you mean to tell me they have switched bodies?"

"Or switched minds...but I guess that irrelevant." Mila responded.

"Is there something that can be done, Gaius?" A/Merlin demanded.

"I...well I need to do some research. I have never heard of something such as this happening before..." Gaius said, as he turned to the stairs to retrieve his books. "I've heard of people taking the form of others, but never two people switching bodies. Hopefully it can be fixed." He pulled out a book and looked through.

"Ah here." He said as he reached a page. "This is a spell that sounds similar."

"And?" M/Arthur asked.

"Well it's a spell that has a time limit, as many do." Gaius stated. "We need to figure something out within the next few days, or they could be stuck that way"

The four younger people in the room looked nervously at each other.


I hope you enjoyed. As usual please review! I will work to get the next chapter up sooner!

Love to all!