We want to thank everyone for the support. You guys are amazing for sticking with us. 125 reviews and 199 subscribers. Just one more subscriber to break 200. Thank you everyone!

Anyway, we noticed something very embarrassing. We forgot to specify the size of the amphora. We know the exact size, but we weren't specific with you all. Sorry. We said large, but that's a subjective term. That's taken care of in this chapter.

Their voices were hushed over dinner. Merlin and Gaius usually tried to be discreet whenever discussing magical matters anyway. They were being more careful now that two guards, Gwaine and Percival, were positioned directly outside the door.

The physician and his ward whispered about the information they had thus far. They now knew which curse to break. However, from what Merlin could tell in the sorcerer's camp, a new tact was being pursued. Ruby had blabbed that the large amphora was the "fall of Camelot." Neither Merlin nor Gaius had ever heard of a clay pot being a city's doom. Though, considering the power which the pot emanated, Merlin didn't doubt that it could cause a great deal of destruction in some form.

"I need to go back to that camp," Merlin asserted.

"And what do you intend to do?" Gaius asked.

"I need a better look at that pot," Merlin explained. "I need to know what it does."

"Do you think they will let you near it?"

"No," Merlin answered. Merlin could tell that most of the politeness had been icy. Even Ruby, who seemed to like him, probably wouldn't like Merlin's return. Merlin was sure Rose would reprimand Ruby for being so open with a stranger. "I will need to sneak in. Gaius," Merlin carefully considered his next words, "if I don't want to be seen anyway, maybe I won't need to become Parsnip."

"Merlin, if they catch you, they will kill you," Gaius reminded.

"If they catch me looking through their stuff, they'll kill me, regardless of who I am," Merlin countered. Having been old before, he was able to appreciate the agility and energy of his youth. He figured that he would have an easier time sneaking around, and escaping if need be, as a young man.

"They might decide to question a strange old man before killing him."

Merlin admitted to himself that Gaius did have a point. A strange old man was more likely to receive momentary mercy than the man who kept the crown prince alive by simply breathing. Merlin nodded in agreement.

Gaius inclined his head to the door. "Now you just need to leave without being noticed."

Merlin smiled. Oh, he would definitely be noticed on his way out. He knew exactly how to keep Gwaine and Percival from following him out of Camelot.

Merlin poked his head out of Gaius's chambers. Guards were usually supposed to at least look stoic. These ones looked like buddies casually waiting around even before Merlin surprised them.

"And where do you think you're going?" Gwaine's tone was friendly as it always was. However, his question obviously wasn't mere curiosity. He had a duty to keep Merlin penned in.

"You know that potion Arthur and I had to drink?" Merlin said in a way that indicated he was setting the groundwork to ask a favor. "Well, I can still taste it," he lied. Merlin only had to deal with the wretched aftertaste for two hours. Since Merlin almost never considered himself above complaining, he made sure all five babysitters were aware of the distress. However, none of them knew that the taste had worn off. "Since nothing I've tried seems to have done the trick, I might need something a little stronger."

Gwaine's eyes lit up. "You need a drink," he automatically responded. "We should go to the tavern."

"We can't go to the tavern," Percival said shortly. Both Gwaine and Merlin could clearly hear the implication that, not only would Arthur not like it, but also that getting drunk publicly wasn't safe.

Merlin sighed wistfully, "Too bad we don't have anything here."

Just as Merlin hoped, Gwaine offered to pick up some ale and bring it back. And Percival had no problem with it.

Gwaine returned with three jugs of ale. "Here we go," he said. "Now, do I need to get the tankards too, or can Gaius spare a some?"

At that, Merlin invited the knights to drink inside.

They all sat down. After Gaius declined a drink, Gwaine poured the ale for himself, Merlin, and Percival. The knights began draining their glasses, happily closing their eyes as they did so. Merlin's eyes flashed and the amber liquid in his own glass disappeared. When Percival and Gwaine lowered their cups, Merlin pretended to have been enjoying the drink as well.

As this process repeated itself, the conversation become increasingly inane. Before long, Gwaine was singing "Little Brown Jug."

"My wife and I live all alone, In a log hut—"

"No," Merlin objected. He had been feigning intoxication in case his friends remembered anything that happened. He was willing to make a few stupid comments, laugh at lame jokes, and even do a little singing. But Merlin wasn't going to sing that song with a clear head. Maybe he would in the tavern, but not now. Not with Gaius staring at him like that.

"Ah, c'mon, Merlin," Gwaine gave a friendly nudge.

"You don't have a wife," Merlin said with an artificial slur.

"That's not the point," Gwaine said boisterously. "It's the song spirit!"

"The spirit of no wives." Merlin frowned at his empty his cup, creating the picture of total dejection. "I think that calls for another drink."

"Yes, more drinks," Gwaine agreed. "And more wives!"

Percival cheered. Merlin had barely any time to be mortified before both knights began singing.

Merlin wordlessly reached for the jug and began pouring the next round. Seeing that the last drops didn't even fill one glass, he grabbed the second container. They had been carousing for long enough, Merlin decided. He pulled out the cork and added a drug to the liquid. The knights were too busy with singing, "Ha, ha, ha, he, he, he," to notice. Merlin filled the cups with drugged ale and waited for Percival and Gwaine to finish singing.

While simply drugging the first round would have been much faster, the knights would certainly realize what Merlin had done. They would be outraged in the morning. However, if they could remember having at least a few rounds, they would think they had drunk themselves to sleep. Merlin had decided that avoiding his friends' rightful fury was worth listening to what is only enjoyable to inebriated minds.

Finally, Percival and Gwaine stopped serenading the jug long enough to down their drinks. Barely a moment after lowering their cups, the knights passed out.

"Sorry," Merlin muttered, partly to the knights and partly to Gaius.

Billowy cloak in place, Merlin snuck out of Camelot. After traveling a little way into the forest, he aged himself and cut the resulting hair.

When Merlin neared the camp he crouched down to a view through the brush. He was careful to check over his shoulder from time to time in case Rose was awake. He wasn't going to count on not being automatically skewered in the back if she caught him sneaking around again. Surveying the camp, Merlin saw Ruby over by a low fire. She looked as though she was keeping watch. No one else was in sight. They were likely in their tents.

Merlin looked at the trees on the other side of the small clearing. Gold filled his eyes for a moment. Influenced by magic, the underbrush across the way rustled. Ruby automatically spun around to look for the source of movement. Not seeing anything right off, she wandered away to investigate.

Once Ruby was out of sight, Merlin cautiously moved toward the amphora. He saw that Ashley must have finished building that crate. It was sized perfectly to fit the pot. The crate must be how they intended to go unnoticed while porting the massive thing. The fact that it reached the top of Merlin's chest was still baffling to the warlock. These people were displaying a huge, magical pot in the middle of the forest. And with only Ruby as protection.

Merlin got close to the amphora, took a quick look around, and started inspecting the writing. He wished he had brought something to write on; he would have liked to copy down the symbols. Since he didn't have that as an option, Merlin did his best to memorize every detail on the amphora. It was difficult, as he couldn't see any pattern to the markings. Everything looked random. He started step around the pot.

Then his foot knocked against something. He jumped slightly, pulling his foot away. Merlin looked down to see a sleeping figure stir. Fortunately, whoever it was didn't wake. Merlin let out the breath he had involuntarily sucked in. Then he wondered why someone was sleeping right by the amphora when there were tents nearby. Merlin crouched. It was Finley. Why was Finley right here? He shuffled around her. Beside her was a bottle of paint and a paintbrush.

And a book.

It was sticking out of a pack, probably carelessly shoved in. Merlin slid the book out of the bag and brought it to eye level. A magic book. A quick glance through a few of the pages, even though he couldn't read anything in the dim light, told him that this book was very different from his own. The details about the amphora had to be in the pages he was holding.

Excitedly, Merlin tucked the book under his arm. This was what he needed. He quickly but quietly snuck back out of the camp. He was taking his booty straight back to Gaius.

As Merlin got farther, he walked faster and less carefully. The danger of being caught had eased.

Then, suddenly, something knocked Merlin off his feet. He flew forward with just enough force that he knew he hadn't tripped.

He had been followed.

BTW we know very little about how much drinking is required for each level of intoxication. We've never been drunk, and we aren't generally around people while they're drinking.

Review. Because it's my birthday. What do I want for my birthday? I want to know what you thought of the chapter.