Merlin wasn't sure how it'd happened, since last he remembered, he'd been sitting in the chair by Gwaine's bed, talking to Percival, but he awoke in his bed. He didn't feel like he'd slept. Actually, he felt like he'd been run over by one of Arthur's horses, and for a split second, with his mind still half asleep, he thought he would tell Arthur that now his horses were getting fat, too. Then he remembered everything, in a rush so fast his breath hitched. He wouldn't be making fun of Arthur for being fat ever again (and it'd turned out he hadn't weighed all that much, anyway) and...

Merlin groaned and sat up. He swung his feet over the edge of the bed and tried to remember what he'd been saying to Percy. Something about the Cup of Life. And there'd been something else, something he'd seen that had nothing to do with making Gwaine better. The Cup hadn't let him not see it, which was probably why he felt like he'd recently been dead.

Oh right, now he remembered.

Merlin stumbled to his feet and went downstairs to find Leon standing, apparently having just entered. Percival was sleeping next toGwaine's bed, and Gaius was tying dried plants together- or had been. Now he was looking at Leon. They both turned and looked at him when he tumbled down the stairs and leaned against a table.

"Merlin?" Gaius asked, looking concerned, and stepped toward him.

"I need to talk to you. To Percival, too. Leon, you should probably stay as well," Merlin said softly.

Leon frowned, but nodded. As Gaius turned and gave Merlin his usual appraising stare, he went to Percival, softly touching his arm. Percival started, his eyes flashing from Leon, to Gaius, to Merlin, and finally to Gwaine, where they remained.

"I shouldn't've slept," he mumbled.

"We let you sleep. You need your rest. It's only been a few hours, and there's been no change."

Percival nodded blearily, and Leon straightened, turning back to Merlin. "Gaius was telling me you may have a plan to help Sir Gwaine."

"It's the Cup of Life," Merlin said bluntly, "It can heal any wound and cure any sickness. It will work, and I know where it is, but we have to get Gwaine close to it." He looked over at Gwaine, considering his friend with a frown, and then looked back at his mentor, who held out a cup of water for Merlin to drink. "Gaius, can Gwaine travel at all? I can't bring the Cup here quickly enough for him..."

Gaius frowned. "He is not wounded in a traditional sense, so yes. He will worsen no much more on the road than he would here, and as you say, the sooner you get him to the cup the better." He laid a hand on Gwaine's head, as if this told him everything he needed to know about his condition. "He will need to be kept warm and comfortable." Gaius' one eyebrow was raised, which usually meant he could tell what Merlin was about to say.

Merlin nodded, and then squirmed a little under Gaius' unblinking stare. He looked from Gwaine, to Percival, and then at the floor. "There's another... When I was scrying for the cup, I saw something else. A person cured by the cup is... they can't die. Ever. They're immortal," he said, not adding 'like me' to the end. They didn't need to know about that, and he didn't want to think about it. Who knew how long he'd be all alone in the world until Arthur came back? And even then, everyone else would still be gone. And then Arthur would eventually be gone again. This was not something he could cope with at the moment. He did, however, look over at Leon. "I thought you should know too, Leon," he said, and then dropped his eyes back to the floor.

Leon bridled, a good part of him at first insisting that this was wrong. But the Queen had made magic legal in Camelot again, and Merlin was-had always been-Leon stopped this line of thought as a newer, more urgent problem realized itself. "I should-what?" he stammered, as the full meaning of Merlin's words struck him. "Me?" The Druids had-he drank from some cup, of course-but he thought-everything had seemed like-

"You should sit down," Percival said, trading places with him and moving him to his chair.

"What does it matter if I am immortal?" Leon wondered bitterly, but somehow, without force. Somehow, he had always known.

"And this will make Gwaine immortal?" Percival asked, dared to hope. Finally, he would never have to worry over his friend's recklessness ever again. He would never have to worry for any of them. "We should go now!"

Merlin had nothing helpful to say to Leon, and he didn't have a good answer for that question. He could tell Leon that the scrying spell had shown him that he was immortal too, but Leon had been Arthur's guardian knight for the young king's whole life- Merlin wasn't sure that knowing Merlin would also live forever would be of any comfort, given his recent failings. Instead, he turned his attention to Percival.

"Yes, but Percival, you have to understand. It's forever, not for... not for a hundred years, or two hundred. He needs to know before he drinks from the cup. This isn't a choice anyone can make for him," Merlin heard himself saying, although he half-wished he didn't. Company for all the lifetimes he had to wait? Not just company, but his best friend? It would make the waiting far less painful. But he couldn't- wouldn't- ask Gwaine to do this. That would be selfish, and he'd already promised himself that he was done being selfish where his friend was concerned. If Gwaine didn't want to live forever, Merlin would do whatever he had to to make him comfortable so he could go in peace, no matter how much it killed him to do so.

Percival bit his lip and nodded, his stomach churning at what he knew, even now, that Gwaine would likely say when faced with such a decision. Hoping he was wrong, "Well. But it's the only thing to save him. We should at least head in that direction. If he dies, or—wants to die, well, we should at least get him at the point where he can make that choice for himself," he said.

He stepped toward the door, to go saddle the horses or gather supplies or he knew not what, but Leon stopped him with a grip on his arm:

"Make sure you let him make his own choice," Leon, who had not had such an option, told him.

Percival nodded.

...

AN: Apologies for the short post and the long wait! Unfortunately it's crunch time in school, but I thought I'd give you something just so you all knew I was still alive! Thanks as always for your patience!