Magic Revealed

Quite Alright

By the time Gaius had finished the antidote Merlin had passed out. It had been two hours since he'd first woken up and his strength gave out about thirty minutes before the antidote was finished.

Arthur hadn't said much after their talk instead content to ensuring Merlin was taken care off. Merlin didn't complain anymore afterwards and seemed just as worried about Arthur, who couldn't seem to go a few minutes without some sort of physical contact, and was restlessly waiting for the antidote.

When Merlin had fallen asleep Arthur almost panicked but realized the warlock seemed to just be asleep. Lancelot who apparently had been woken up by Mordred had come in and seen how agitated Arthur was and offered to go see how the antidote was coming so the king didn't have to leave.

When he returned the rest of the castle was beginning to stir and sun light was seeping through the window. Lancelot told Arthur that the antidote was almost finished and to just make sure that Merlin had a steady heartbeat until he brought it up.

When Gaius did finally bring the antidote Arthur stood impatiently by the bed side as Gaius tipped it into Merlin's mouth.

He took a deep breath, "Alright. It should work." He told Arthur looking as worried as the king felt, "He might not wake up for a while though. The poison effectively shuts down the most organs so his brain pretty much shut itself down in self-preservation. It's keeping the bare minimum going."

"Will he be okay?"

"I believe so." Gaius said, "I don't think it would have caused any brain damage, or if it does it'll be a result from the coma. And physically I think that wound will scar, it's too deep not to, but it'll heal up nice. You did a good job binding it and Mordred put one of the medicines they had with them on it so it should heal right up with no problems as long as he keeps it clean."

Lancelot coughed, "Good luck with that."

Gaius grimaced, "That's true, unfortunately. Especially since he'll want to start moving as soon as he wakes up. Do try and keep him there won't you?" He scowled at Merlin, "Boy's too stubborn for his own good."

Lancelot looked to Arthur, "Mordred asked Gwaine to get Merlin's things. I'm not sure where he is but he'll probably be up here soon."

Arthur nodded, "Good. That's good."

"How long have you been up sire?" Lancelot asked with concerned as Gaius began packing up what little things he'd brought.

"A couple hours. I couldn't sleep and then Morgana got a message from Mordred saying that Merlin got himself hurt and well, here we are."

Lancelot nodded, "How exactly did he get hurt?"

"Don't know. I sent Mordred and Percival to get some sleep. They looked like they were going to fall over."

"Yeah I noticed that when they came in. Percival just flopped down on his bed and started snoring. I'd never seen him do that before."

Merlin started coughing and opened his eyes, looking around at them. "What?" He asked in confusion.

Arthur's nervous energy returned, "How are you feeling?"

"My head's fuzzy." Merlin mumbled.

"Do you remember how you were hurt Merlin?" Gaius asked in concerned. 

The warlock thought for a moment before answering, "We were attacked... I heard Percival yell so I turned around to see what was happening and helped disarm his attacker with magic. But someone shot me in the back while I made sure he was alright. I managed to disarm and knock out the bandits on my side of the clearing..." He lifted a hand to rub his head, "I don't remember much after that." He glanced at Arthur nervously, "I woke up and talked to Gwen and Arthur... And then I guess I must have fallen back asleep."