A/N: And now the next chapter! I'm getting pretty good with my updates every Saturday. It definitely helps me to have a schedule. Even with finals, I'm writing this because honestly, I would much rather write than study. Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter! It's slightly odd, but considering the story, I think that that's a good thing =]

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin in this universe. Although I might in an alternate one, you never know. That would be sweet wouldn't it? I mean, if a parallel universe is made with every decision… there might be one where I exist as a writer for Merlin. Or if parallel universes and reincarnation are real…Maybe in another universe, I was reincarnated as a writer for Merlin. That could happen, too. Sadly, however, in this universe, I do not own Merlin, so a disclaimer is still necessary here. Oh well.

"What do you mean you don't remember?" Arthur asked, frustration leaking into his voice.

"I mean," said one of the guards, we'll just call him Frank, "I don't remember." He stopped. "Sire," he added hastily.

"Well, I suppose we must catch the culprit," said Arthur, before randomly raising his sword into the air. "For the love of Camelot!" he shouted.

"For the love of Camelot!" echoed Frank and… Steve, the other guard, while pulling themselves to their feet despite their numerous severe injuries. Really, their single scrapes could have been life threatening if they were deeper. Or decapitating. But they were definitely severe.

Arthur suddenly took off running down the hallway with yet another battle yell, his sword held aloft before him. The guards raced after him, screaming similarly. Servants jumped out of the way of their swords, and one old man fell to the ground, clutching his chest. This was not because he had been stabbed. No, he had simply had a heart attack out of fear. It was not a big deal, though.

Arthur kept running, although he had no idea what he was looking for. He just knew that he was looking for something dangerous. He was sure he would recognize it when he came across it.

"Sorcery!" screamed Uther from down the hall. "Sorcery!"

Arthur ignored him. Uther was always going on about sorcery.

Suddenly, Arthur felt something beneath his feet, and he tripped, falling to the floor. Simultaneously, a yelp cut through the air. "God, I'm almost as clumsy as Merlin," Arthur muttered, exasperated, before looking down to examine the source of the yelp. He was startled to see what he had tripped over. Fred.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Arthur exclaimed. It was then that he noticed the blood coating Fred's face. "Oh no, did I hurt you? You're bleeding!"

Fred adopted a pitiful expression.

Arthur frowned. "I don't know how I stepped on your face, though." At that moment, Arthur saw a flash of images. Namely two. The first image was the guards with wounds on their legs with Fred nowhere to be seen. The second was Fred now, with blood coating his mouth. Arthur felt a flash of terror. It couldn't be! No, it couldn't be!

No, of course not, it couldn't be, Arthur thought, relieved. "You tried to help them, didn't you?" said Arthur. Yes, that made sense, Fred must have tried to clean up the blood, and then run away frightened before Arthur had got there. That made perfect sense.

"Bark," said Fred.

At that moment, Merlin appeared out of nowhere, as if magic. Mind you, it was not actually by magic. Merlin would not be stupid enough to use magic in Uther's own castle after all. That would be ridiculously reckless, and Merlin was known for his maturity as well as his ability to act responsibly in any given situation.

"Arthur!" Merlin yelled, "are you—Fred!"

"No, I am not Fred," said Arthur.

"I know that prat, I was just—oh, never mind," said Merlin, shaking his head. "Why does Fred have blood on him?"

"He tried to help some injured guards," said Arthur, "I don't know where the perpetrator went. Oh right, the perpetrator!" he said, taking off running again.

"Here, I'll just carry you home," Merlin said to Fred, reaching down to pick him up. "I want to make sure you aren't injured."

Fred barked happily, snuggling into Merlin's arms. Little did Merlin know of the destruction that was lurking in his adorable mind.

Fred knew that time was running short. He wanted the downfall of Camelot, but that could only happen if he worked quickly. There was really no time constraint since no one suspected him, but Fred wanted to work quickly anyway. As Merlin carried him back to his quarters, Fred plotted, and as he plotted, he felt an evil grin beginning to form in his head. It did not form on his actual face, however, because he was a dog and therefore had a little bit of trouble forming an evil smile on his features.

When Merlin was close to his rooms, Fred acted. With a bark, he lunged for Merlin's arm, sinking his teeth into his flesh. Out of reflex, Merlin dropped Fred, reaching instead for his painful arm. It really did hurt. Fred let go and dropped to the floor. For such a small dog, Fred really had a good jaw. His bite resembled that of a Rottweiler, except that it was infinitely less painful, and Merlin probably could have pried Fred off him if he had tried. Probably. On the bright side, Fred had not made that necessary because he had let go of Merlin himself.

As soon as Fred reached the floor, he started running down the hallway.

"Fred!" called Merlin, his voice laced with pain. How could Fred have bitten him? He was such a sweet innocent dog.

As he ran, Fred allowed a look of triumph to enter his eyes. Not only had he managed to escape Merlin so that he could begin his evil plotting, but he had also got a bite out of Merlin, something he had been looking forward to from his first day meeting him. He had always liked the taste of people, and Merlin's blood was laced with goodness and unicorns and cupcakes and magic. If nothing else, Fred had good taste when it came to blood. In a way, it was a bit like fine wine.

"Fred!" called Merlin again, "Come back!" He did not run after him, however, because apparently he did not savor the thought of getting bitten again by the Rottweiler—terrier.

Fred continued running, disappearing around a curve in the hallway as Merlin stood there in shock, blood running freely down his arm.

"I should probably should do something about that," Merlin thought with a glance toward his arm. With a sigh, he turned around to finish approaching Gaius's quarters, so that he could get some medical treatment.

"What happened?" exclaimed Gaius, as Merlin entered the room. "You're covered in blood!"

"I hadn't noticed," said Merlin. "It was Fred."

"Fred, you mean your friend—Oh, your dog, right," remembered Gaius. "Right. I suppose that makes more sense than… Oh, just forget about it."

"I was planning to," said Merlin.

"Right, well your dog," started Gaius. "Why did he bite you?"

"I don't know!" said Merlin indignantly. "Are you suggesting that I provoked him? Because I didn't do anything!"

"I wasn't suggesting anything of the kind," said Gaius calmly. "It's just that, in my experience, dogs don't usually bite without reason. I'm not saying that you did anything, but something probably happened."

"No, nothing did," said Merlin. "I was carrying him back here, and he just bit me."

"Wait," said Gaius, "you were carrying him back here? Why?"

"There was an attack on the guards, and he had some blood on him. I wanted to make sure he wasn't hurt."

"That's it!" said Gaius. "He was probably scared, and that's why he bit you! Where is he now?"

"Oh, he ran away. I don't know where he is. I didn't want to go after him and get bitten again."

"I see," said Gaius.

Suddenly, something clicked with Merlin. "Wait a minute, so he is afraid, possibly hurt, and running lost through the castle? I have to go after him!"

"I think that would be best," said Gaius. "I know you're attached to this dog."

"Yes, I am," said Merlin. "Okay, I'm leaving now."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" said Gaius.

"Umm, I don't think so," started Merlin. "Oh," he said as he spotted his arm. The blood was now dripping down his arm, soaking his shirt, and beginning to come dangerously close to falling to the floor. As he watched, a single drop fell from his arm to the floor.

"No!" screamed Merlin, as the drop fell and hit the floor. Nothing happened. Merlin was just overreacting as usual.

"What are you going on about?" asked Gaius.

"A drop of my blood. It hit the floor. That could've caused the apocalypse."

"Yes, yes it could have," said Gaius. "You need to be more careful. Now let's see about your arm."

A moment later, Merlin's arm was bound up, and he was ready to go search for Fred. "Thanks, Gaius," he said, "I'm leaving now."

"You're welcome," said Gaius, "but shouldn't you change your shirt first, since it's soaked through with blood?"

"I can't, Gaius, I don't have time," said Merlin. "It's not that big of a deal." He walked over to the door.

"Be careful!" Gaius called after him as Merlin left. Why did he have a bad feeling about this?

In fact, Gaius was right to have a bad feeling. In a different part of the castle, Fred was no longer plotting. No, he was finished plotting. Now he was putting his plans into action. There was a lot of work to do, but he knew that he could do it. What mattered most was Camelot's downfall, and Fred knew that he could bring it about. All it would take was a little effort on his part, and he would be triumphant.

Fred had already disabled two guards and managed to escape the eyes of both Merlin and Arthur. No one knew where he was, and he was fine with that. It would make his plans so much easier. Now, he had done something that would most likely keep Arthur and Merlin out of his fur even longer. Fred allowed himself another triumphant look, before leaving the room. He walked quietly, allowing himself to blend in with the shadows in the hallway, while he approached his next destination.

Arthur, however, was completely oblivious to this new set of events. He was still hunting for what had attacked the guards. After seeing Fred and Merlin, Arthur had not seen anything suspicious. No, all he had seen were servants, guards, and a few knights, no one who would have attacked Frank and Steve.

Arthur began humming to himself as he ran, still holding his sword in front of him for the fun of it. He stopped humming when he realized he was doing it, concluding that it was decidedly unprofessional. A moment later, however, Arthur was bored again, and he chose to restart his humming. After all, what could it hurt? Music was always a good thing.

The guards behind him overheard his humming and decided to join in. Soon enough, they had a chorus going. The people who they passed in the hallways started humming as well. Some of the people even followed after them, so as not to lose the music. Within time, the entire castle was in song. For some reason, everyone knew the song. It almost sounded like a theme song, Arthur thought, but what is a theme song? Arthur shook his head, deciding that it was unimportant.

Suddenly, Arthur realized that the entire castle was in song because of him. That was not prince-like behavior, was it? He abruptly cut off his humming, following it with a sigh. He could not be participating in things such as this. Soon enough, the humming around him died down, prompted by the termination of his own humming. The castle returned to silence, and everyone returned to their tasks as if nothing had happened. It was just a usual day in Camelot.

Arthur was beginning to grow frustrated, however, at his inability to find the culprit who had attacked the guards. After all this searching, he had not found a single clue. He was still just as unsure who the culprit was as when he had started the search. He had expected it to be easy. Dangerous people tended to leak pure danger, and Arthur could always sense it. He was good at sensing things. He was also very good at sensing magic. Yes, Arthur could always sense magic being performed under his nose or even at a great distance. Arthur was just that awesome.

Arthur sighed. "I think I'm going to take a break from the search," he said to the guards, frustration leaking into his tone.

"Okay, Sire," said Frank. "Should we keep searching?"

Arthur thought for a moment. "Well, since I'm taking a break, I think it's only fair that you're allowed to take one as well. Since you were the ones attacked, however, if you want to keep searching, you can continue."

"Thank you, Sire," said Frank and Steve simultaneously.

"I only speak for myself here," said Frank, "but I think I will take a short break. I may start searching again before you return, though." He glanced at Steve.

"Yes, the same goes for me," said Steve, who for some reason was never the one to talk first.

"Okay," said Arthur, "that works for me. I'll call for you when I'm ready to begin searching again."

"Yes, Sire," said Frank and Steve. They bowed respectfully, and then turned around to go wherever it is that guards of Camelot go to take a short break.

Now that that was done, Arthur decided to head back to his chambers. He could sit there and breathe for a moment. He was disappointed by his lack of success, but he needed to stop the search for the time being. Maybe when he sat still, he would realize something that he had missed. It was always a possibility. Arthur always thought better when he wasn't doing something else at the same. Multi-tasking had never been his strong point.

By then, Arthur was to his room. He reached for the doorknob, and then suddenly yanked his hand back as he felt a faint thrill of suspense. "Why did I do that?" muttered Arthur. He reached for the doorknob again, and pulled back his hand just as quickly as the same feeling filled him. "What is going on?" Arthur said, louder this time. He reached his hand for the doorknob a third time, and this time he reached for it without trouble, while he stifled his feeling of suspense. Arthur was fairly intuitive when it came to this sort of thing, and he couldn't help but feel that he would not like what he saw on the other side of the door.

Arthur turned the doorknob, and pulled the door open. He walked forward. He looked inside the room. He stood there. He gasped.

In front of him, where he would normally see a relatively organized room, he instead saw the path of a cyclone. It wasn't literally the path of a cyclone because that would be ridiculous. Still, it was a mess. The canopy to his bed had somewhere fallen to the floor, and his blanket was ripped and lying in pieces around the room. His mattress wasn't even on the frame anymore and was leaking stuffing. Ripped open pillows littered the floor, and like the mattress, their white stuffing covered everything in the room. Vases and jars were shattered into broken shards of glass. There was a puddle of liquid in the middle of the room that did not smell like water. Not only that, but Arthur could swear that the pair of boots beside his bed looked damp. He walked over to them carefully, trying to avoid stepping on the glass or in the puddle. He reached for them and brought them to his nose. He gagged, and a scowl formed on his face. Who could have done this?

At that moment, Merlin burst into the room. "Arthur have you seen—oh." Merlin had seen the room.

Arthur glared at him. "Merlin, do you have an explanation for this?"

Merlin looked back indignantly. "Of course not, what do you think? How would I know? I'm just seeing this for the first time myself."

"Well, you're going to see it a lot better," said Arthur, "because you're cleaning it up."

"What?" exclaimed Merlin. "This will take forever! And it's not even my fault!"

"You should have thought about that before you allowed it to happen."

"What do you mean, before I allowed it to happen?" Merlin said.

"You should have locked my door or been here to prevent it."

"I never lock your door during the day," said Merlin.

"Exactly."

Merlin glared at him. Arthur glared back.

"I think you should help," said Merlin.

"I don't think so," said Arthur. "You're my servant."

"Don't remind me," muttered Merlin. "Do you have any idea who could have done this?"

"No, I don't," said Arthur. "Who could ever be so stupid? Well, other than you of course.

"Hey, I didn't do this!"

"I know that, idiot," said Arthur. "The point is that no one would be stupid enough to risk getting caught doing this."

"Unless they knew that they wouldn't get caught," muttered Merlin darkly.

"Well, whoever it is, they… relieved themselves in the middle of my floor," said Arthur. He refused to resort to crude language. "Who does that?"

"I don't know," said Merlin, thinking. Something about this just didn't add up. "Eww, are you saying that I have to clean that up, too?"

"Yes, have fun with that," said Arthur, walking toward the door. "You better get started, this might take awhile."

"Prat," said Merlin, as Arthur left.

Merlin began to clean up the room, thinking as he did so. Who would have done something like this?

A moment later, everything snapped into place. The destroyed room. The torn pillows. The mess in the middle of the floor. And Fred was still missing.

Fred.

A/N: Has Merlin finally realized what's going on? Oh the tension! And if you didn't notice, I favored morbid humor a bit in this chapter. Fred is a rather psychotic puppy, isn't he? Reviews are much loved so go ahead and leave one. If you do, you get a virtual puppy that is adorable and not psychotic =]