SET SOMETIME AFTER LANCELOT AND UTHER'S DEATH. MORDRED IS NOT A KNIGHT.

NOT RELATED TO ANY OTHER ONE SHOTS

WARNING: SEEMINGLY RUN ON PARAGRAPHS 

WARNING: SEMI-STRONG LANGUAGE

So, I got this Idea from fan fiction.net btw guys, awesome site but bit complicated and doesn't reply to your emails -____- I EMAILED THEM FOR HELP 5 TIMES AND GOT NO REPLY. I managed to figure out my problem out by myself, but that's besides the point. Anyway, I don't own the idea but, I do own the material. Also figured I should star doing disclaimers. so, I Don't Own Merlin. Wish I did though so I could create a sequel.... Can you guys please start participating when I ask for comments please?? It means so much and I love socializing with you guys!! ANYWAYS, Enjoy!!

Yet again, Camelot's knights, King and his manservant had another unlucky hunting trip. But, one thing was different. Merlin didn't escape unscathed. Unlike the countless other times when he would seem to come out unharmed, checking his friends for injury, there was a terrible change in the pattern.

They had stopped in a clearing for the night. It was the usual routine, Merlin would collect the firewood, start the fire, cook, prepare and serve the food, eat very little of it himself, collect the dishes, clean the dishes, wash the clothes, feed the horses, deal with the insults and jokes the knights threw at him, roll his eyes, prepare the beds, put out the fire, take the first and second watch, wake Leon for the third watch, lie and say it's the second watch and not the third, act asleep for two hours then fall asleep, and then get woken up after two hours of sleep and then not look tired the next morning.

While Merlin was packing up and the knights were eating breakfast, they were attacked by bandits. Merlin had gotten slightly better with a sword, thanks to Gwaine and Percival, and was able to defend himself. While he was fighting his own three bandits, five of them ganged up on Arthur and Merlin ran to help. While running, Merlin disappeared and an iron box took his place.

"MERLIN!" Almost every knight shouted in union and somehow quickly defeated those around them. Once they were sure every bandit was gone, They started inspecting the box.

"Merlin? Merlin, Are you in there?!" Arthur asked and every knight paused, waiting for an answer.

No answer.

They started banging on the box.If Merlin was in there, they had to make sure before moving on from there.

Finally, after about ten minutes of banging, inspecting and shouting, the knights hear it. A groan.

"Ughhh." Merlin groaned in pain, his groan echoing faintly from inside.

"Merlin! Can you hear us?" Gwaine yelled.

"Hello? Is anyone there? What happened?" Merlin yelled.

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled in relief. Everyone started banging on the box again but, it was no use. Merlin was stuck in there and couldn't hear them.

"Elyan, Leon, head to Camelot and bring Gaius here. The rest of us will stay here and see if we can figure anything out until Gaius gets here." Arthur ordered. Leon and Elyan nodded and went to pack their horses' bags.

"OK, let's figure this out." Merlin thought aloud, "This feels like an iron box, you have some room to walk and at least stand up. You somehow triggered this box to appear, you have no idea if the others are OK, you have no idea where you are, no idea how long you've been out of it... What the fuck is going on?" The servant surprised the others by cursing.

"And you're talking to yourself. Great. Fucking fantastic. Probably going to go mental while in here. At least I can pace..." Merlin muttered. Arthur could practically hear him run his fingers through his hair.

" I never knew Merlin cursed" Gwaine muttered, speaking what everyone was thinking.

" Did Morgana do this? Was it and ex-druid? Was it an impatient druid? Was it some random evil dickhead? Was I even the target. Was there a target at all? Great, You know next to nothing about this box. Wait a second...I wonder..." Merlin still rambled and then said words of another language.

" Of course. This box is magic-proof. My fucking luck" They could tell Merlin played down after that " Will I ever get out of here? " They heard him say. After that, all they heard was the even breathing of Merlin as he slept.

" Magic? Merlin has magic?!" Percival exclaimed

" It seems so. Looks like we'll learn a lot about him this way. Just wish we didn't have to..." Gwaine whispered

" Yeah. You and me both Gwaine" Arthur muttered

After about an hour, Merlin woke up and started brainstorming again.

" OK, so, what happened before I found myself in here. I was running toward prat to help him with all those bandits and then woke up here. I must've triggered something. Maybe I stepped on something or walked into an enchantment. Wait what was the passage on ancient torture techniques again? Uh, The old religion created enchanted iron boxes that kept the person in there forever. The enchantment made them never hungry or thirsty. The air has all the nutrients they needed and they never got sick or had to use the bathroom. Bt, it did make them go mad. As they developed they got smaller so is this the case, it must be older. Maybe there are some left. How did they escape? Ugh, this is worse than testing Prat's food for poison and getting poisoned. Especially that one that was snake, ugh that was nasty. Could barely breathe. Great, now you're going off topic. Where was I? Right, they were effective because they could't hear anything outside the box...but the people outside could ear them... fuck, I'm screwed" Merlin put the pieces together himself and they didn't hear from him that much.

Gaius, Leon and Elyan arrived and they filled the three of them in on what they've figured out- well what Merlin told them. They were brainstorming in silence for a couple of hours.

Until Merlin decided to talk.

" ok, so if you guys are there, there is no way I will be able to know. You can scream until your voice is hoarse and you can hit the box until you pass out from exhaustion and I won't know. What I do know, is that you probably sent for Gaius and he is trying to figure out what to do if he is already there. This box is designed to make me go mental. It will start creating false hopes for me and create sounds and make me hallucinate. What you need to do, is ignore anything I say once that starts. You need to focus on getting me out. Gaius will know how to. Until then I can answer some questions you'll probably have if you've listened to me since I've woke up. Yes, I have magic and I'm sorry I didn't tell you. So far every one who has found out has been killed or targeted by my enemies. Lancelot knew. Will knew. The woman I fell in love with knew and she was killed. My father died. My mum has been targeted, Gaius has been targeted. Thee druids have almost started war. I- I couldn't risk you guys getting hurt. I was born with magic and I couldn't control it. My mum got scared so she sent to live with Gaius after some kids in my village started going to far. Yes, I've been poisoned while taste testing for prat. A lot. I've actually started building an immune system of it and now it takes stronger poisons to poison me. Yes, I curse more than I look like a do. Hopefully that answers questions. Go back to work you snoopy people" Merlin rambled.

" Idiot" Arthur muttered and laughed

" Gaius...How do we get Merlin out? We need to before the hallucinations start" Leon asked Gaius

" I agree but, to get Merlin out we need to use... Well, we need magic" Gaius stated

" Magic? Ok, You have magic don't you? Can you get Merlin out?" Gwaine asked 

" I believe I can, but I need to know the spell. It will take a little to find the right one and I don't know where Merlin put the spell book" Gaius said 

" Can you get a hold of Merlin and ask him? Maybe your magic can get to him " Arthur asked 

" I might be able to, but it will take a big amount of focus and silence. Are-" Gaius was saying before Merlin had interrupted 

" It has just now occurred to me that Gaius most likely won't have the spell book on him or even know where I hid it... I am giving you a little to gather something to write with..........Qui capti in ferro remissionis religionis antiquae" Merlin said

Gaius repeated the spell and slowly, the iron box began to fade away almost. Merlin rubbed his eyes by the bright light after being in the dark for a while. 

" Good to have you back mate!" Gwaine laughed and hugged Merlin