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Merlin had to admit that he wasn’t entirely surprised when he ended up with his back to a tree, Excalibur pointed at his throat.
He had known the possible consequences of using magic out in the open when he had done it, but he’d been out of tricks that he could use that wouldn’t give him away; besides, he was so incredibly tired of hiding.
He had long wondered if this beautiful sword would be the one to end his life.
He would find out soon enough.
“Your cover is blown. We all saw what you did,” Arthur said, with a glare so icy it would freeze hell.
Merlin nodded, determined not to let his tears fall. “I know. I-I’m sorry…”
“I would kill you on the spot if I didn’t know I would be harming Merlin.”
There were no longer tears in Merlin’s eyes. His hurt and acceptance were suddenly replaced with confusion. “Wait. What?”
“Now come out of him. Leave him alone!”
Merlin tilted his head to the side. “...what? Oh!” He laughed a little, stopping when he pressed his sword against his throat. “Ow. Wait. Let me get this straight. You think I’m possessed?”
“Don’t try to fool us again. You admitted to it just a few seconds ago.”
“What?”
“I said you cover was blown, and you said, ‘I know.’”
“I thought you meant…” Merlin shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Look, I do have magic, but I’m not possessed. I really am just me. Except, with magic.”
“Like hell you are. Now, you’re not going to try anything, sorcerer, while we get you back to Camelot. I will ask Gaius for a way to un-enchant you… or un-possess you… or undo whatever it is you’ve done to Merlin!”
“I’ve not done anything to Merlin,” Merlin retorted. “Wait - I am Merlin. Arthur, you're going to make me crazy!”
“You already are crazy, if you thought you could really convince me that my friend has magic,” Arthur spat.
Merlin smiled. “Is this you admitting that we’re friends?”
Arthur scowled as he lowered his sword and gestured for Merlin to get up. “You’re coming back with us. But should you try anything…” Merlin watched as Arthur realized he had absolutely no way to stop a sorcerer from doing what they wanted. “...you’ll regret it.”
“I already do,” Merlin grumbled. “Lancelot, I know you probably think this is hilarious, but can you help me out here?”
Arthur and the knights all turned around to see that, indeed, Lancelot was silently laughing his head off. “Right, of course. Sorry, Merlin. Yeah, that’s him. He’s always had magic.”
“How dare you!” Arthur reeled on Merlin. “You possess my best friend and enchant one of my knights?”
Lancelot appeared to no longer find the situation funny. “Wait, what? No. I’m not enchanted.”
“I cannot believe you think that I would believe Merlin would have let Lancelot in on his biggest secret, but not me.”
“He found out by accident,” Merlin mumbled. “It wasn’t supposed to happen. Of course, I did come to confide in him when he did know… I always planned on telling you, please.”
“I encouraged him to tell you, but I always understood why he kept it secret. He didn’t want you to look at him differently,” Lancelot reasoned with Arthur.
“Of course, by looking at me differently, I was kind of envisioning you accusing me of betraying you or trying to banish or execute me, not deciding I was possessed by the spirit of an evil sorcerer.”
“A ha !” Arthur turned back to Merlin. “More information. It isn’t an enchantment… he’s been possessed by an evil spirit of a sorcerer. Probably a dead one, then. Tell me, sorcerer , how would Merlin know that was what happened?”
“I thought that was what you were saying had happened!” Merlin groaned. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“Leon, keep an eye on Merlin and Lancelot. Gaius will help us deal with this sorcerer when we get back to Camelot.”
———
Arthur burst into the room with all of his knights, shoving Merlin and Lancelot in front of him. “Gaius, fix this situation.”
Gaius looked bewildered. “I’m sorry, what?”
Merlin smiled ironically. “Arthur thinks I've been possessed by an evil sorcerer. How’s your day going?”
Gaius stifled a laugh. “I’m sorry, sire?”
“You heard him. There’s the spirit of an evil sorcerer inside of him. He said so himself.”
“I did not say that.”
“We all saw him do magic,” Arthur informed Gaius. “Didn’t we?”
Leon nodded. “We did…”
“...But is it possible that Merlin just… has magic? And that he isn’t possessed at all?” Gwaine asked. “I mean, Lancelot seemed to be aware of the situation.”
“The current theory,” Elyan said slowly, “is that Lancelot has been enchanted by this… spirit that has possessed Merlin. I’m not certain, though. It could just be that Lancelot knew he had magic.”
“Nonsense. He would have told me,” Arthur said confidently.”
“Arthur, I’m sorry,” Merlin said sincerely. “But I didn’t tell Lance, he just found out.”
“So you’ve said. Gaius, if anyone knew that he had magic, it would be you. Were you aware of this?”
Gaius seemed to be debating something in his mind. Then he shook his head. “I knew of no such thing. Obviously, Merlin has been possessed and Sir Lancelot has been enchanted. I will see to fixing the situation right away.”
Merlin gaped. “ Gaius !”
“I thought Gaius knew!” Lancelot said to Merlin, confused.
“Oh, he knows, alright,” Merlin said, glowering at him.
“I do in fact know that you are possessed by the spirit of an evil sorcerer. Sire, please take your knights to another room. This may require a magical remedy that I need maximum focus for.”
Arthur nodded. “Do whatever you can to restore my servant and my knight.”
As soon as the door had closed and the footsteps had faded, Gaius broke down in laughter. Merlin and Lancelot stared at him while he got control of himself. “Arthur… he thinks… this is the best! This is fabulous!”
“This is not fabulous !” Merlin snapped. “Why did you do that?!”
“Because we can work with this,” Gaius told him, finally getting control of himself. Just… go with the plan.”
“And what exactly is the plan?” Lancelot asked skeptically.
———
“Has the spirit been expelled and the enchantment lifted?” Arthur asked in a serious tone, Gaius silently controlling his fits of laughter behind him.
“Yes,” Lancelot answered, well aware that Gaius would reveal how hilarious he found the situation if given the opportunity to speak. “I remember it vaguely. Merlin having magic? I’ve never heard of such a ridiculous idea.”
Merlin nodded. “I am no longer possessed. I’m fully back to normal. Well…” Merlin trailed off, pretending to be debating whether or not to say something. “Not normal, not entirely.”
Arthur crossed his arms. “What do you mean?”
“It appears that though we were able to get rid of the spirit,” Gaius said, having gained control of himself, “its powers remained. So, as of now, Merlin is a very powerful sorcerer, and yet, still simply himself.”
Arthur raised both of his eyebrows, looking over at Merlin, who was trying to gauge his reaction. Then he smiled wide, pulling Merlin into a hug and patting him on the back. “This is great!” He let Merlin go and looked over at Gaius. “Gaius, make sure he learns to control his powers. Now we will have protection against magical threats!” He ruffled Merlin’s hair. “Maybe this’ll be something you’re actually good at. Who knows?”
Merlin laughed. “Yeah. I… I guess that’s true.”
“Just don’t tell my father.”
Merlin rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to tell the king. I’m not an idiot.”
“That’s debatable.”
“I don’t have a death wish!”
“Good. This is awesome. I can’t wait to tell all of the knights that you have magic now!” Arthur was still smiling enormously as he walked out of the room.
Merlin started after him, stunned.
He wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble to hide his magic if he had known this was how Arthur was going to react.
— Three years later —
“We are honored to have Emrys and the Once and Future King as our guests,” the druid woman, Adeline, said.
Merlin had referred to him as the One and Future King before, so he figured it was some sort of weird title of respect. But ‘Emrys?’
“I’m sorry, who is Emrys?”
Adeline nodded to Merlin, who sat across the room entertaining Adeline’s son with magic. “Did he never tell you his true name?”
“His true…” He looked over at Merlin skeptically.
“Since you seem to know he has magic, I just assumed you knew he was also meant to help you unite Albion and bring about a golden age, restoring magic to the land. But maybe he only told you that he’s had magic his whole life.”
Arthur gasped. “ You ! Emrys!”
Merlin jumped. “Uh, yes?”
“You never came out of my friend, you only pretended!”
“What? Oh! No. Oh no…”