Merlin was so shocked at first, he wasn't sure what to say. It had been a long time since anyone had watched this channel, so he was surprised to finally have a viewer again. He tried to think of how to explain the situation without scaring the person off. "This is... oh, forget it. I'll just cut to the chase. I'm trapped. Not like cliche plot trapped, actually trapped. I know you're probably thinking this is made up or I'm insane or something, but I promise I'm telling the truth. I've been stuck in this channel for..." he racked his brains for an answer. It felt like forever. There was no way to keep track of time here. For all he knew, it could have been decades. "a long time. A very long time. And I need your help." Merlin looked at the status bar above the camera, showing that the person was still on the channel. Good, he hadn't scared him off yet. Or her. Merlin reminded himself not to make assumptions. He sighed, thinking for a minute. "I wish I could tell you how to fix all of this, how to get me out of here, but honestly? I have no idea. And of course, I have no way to communicate with you." Merlin frowned in thought, wondering what else there was to say. "I suppose while I'm here, I might as well explain how I got here. You probably won't believe me, but I promise it's true. Of course, you have no idea if my promises mean anything, but I guess you'll just have to trust me. Or not. Anyway, this is how it happened:
"I was on my way to work- I'm a computer programmer, in case you were wondering- when I ran into this old lady. Yeah, literally ran into her." Merlin cringed. "She wasn't too happy about that, obviously. I helped her to her feet, apologizing profusely. Then she asked me my name. I introduced myself to her, and she gave me a strange look when I said my name was Merlin Emrys- wait, have I not told you my name yet? How rude of me! I'm Merlin Emrys," he said, extending his hand as if the viewer was there to shake it. "Yeah, anyway, so I introduced myself to her, and she asked if I was a descendant of the original Merlin. I told her yes, and then she got mad. Like, really mad. She started cursing at me in the Ancient Language- that's the language of magic- and she called me the descendant of a liar and traitor. She blamed the original Merlin for her great (great great great... you get the idea) grandfather's death. He was burned at the stake for using magic while Merlin, king Arthur's manservant, stood idly by, hiding the secret of his own magic. I asked her to be reasonable, told her to leave me alone, all that, but she wouldn't stop yelling at me. Then, she cursed me to live in a TV forever.
"My programme comes on at 3:00 every morning. After that hour, I'm stuck in the same room, but nobody is watching me anymore. I wonder what happens to this channel when I'm not here." Merlin thought about this a moment. "Maybe it just goes blank. Or maybe some other random programmes or commercials come on. I don't know. I suppose you'll find out if you keep watching."
Merlin sighed. "I really wish I knew a way for you to help me. Hopefully you're ingenuitive and resourceful enough to figure it out. I also think I should probably do something to keep you entertained so you come back here, but... I don't have any good ideas. No, wait." Merlin smiled.
"Because of my name and my coding skills, I was often called a computer wizard. Little did my co-workers know, I can do actual magic, too." Merlin conjured a plate of food. "This is how I haven't died of starvation," he said, digging in. He conjured a glass of water, too, for good measure. Then, he went for something more drastic. A giant dragon made out of fire appeared in front of Merlin. Merlin sat on the dragon, and they rode around the small room. The dragon disappeared, and Merlin chuckled. "So you can see, I've got plenty of things to avoid getting bored." Merlin made a computer appear, and he held it up. "I'd been hoping that maybe I could get help online, but I can't seem to get wifi. I guess that's one thing that can't yet be done with magic." Merlin looked at the status bar again. He had half an hour left still.
"You know what? I'm just going to ramble and hope you find that interesting. I was born in a rural village called Ealdor, but my mother Hunith sent me to London when I was 10. My father Balinor had died and she couldn't take care of me by herself, so she sent me to my uncle Gaius. I went to Dragon elementary school, and there I met my best friend Freya. A few years later, my friend from Ealdor, Will, moved to London. Will and Freya both know about my magic, but they're the only ones. Well, except for Gaius. He's known ever since he took me in. As soon as he realized I had magic, he told me to keep it a secret, for fear I would be taken by scientists for testing or something. That being said, he wanted me to learn how to control my magic, so he got me a tutor. He told me I had to meet the tutor, not vice versa, so he sent me off to this cave really far off in the wilderness. I was expecting to find some old grumpy hermit or something, but no. I saw a dragon! A real live dragon! He looked like..." Merlin conjured up an image of a giant golden dragon. "this. His name's Kilgharrah. He told me that I was the last dragonlord, and I inherited the gift from my father. It means not only can I do magic, I can also command dragons and they have no choice but to obey. He's been teaching me how to use my magic, telling me I am destined to use it for great things. He keeps going on about destiny. It's really annoying. And he seems to think I'm going to accomplish these things with someone else. He told me 'the story of Arthur and Merlin will repeat itself'. So apparently I'm just supposed to find a guy called Arthur Pendragon? I don't know, maybe the name doesn't matter.
"Gaius doesn't know, but I've been using magic to help me with my schoolwork for pretty as much as long as I've been in school. I'm not cheating on tests or anything like that, I just use magic to help me retain information and complete my homework faster. After all, magic lessons take a long time, and I need to get some sleep. I went to Camelot High, where I got teased a lot for my name. But my name wasn't that strange, considering that lots of other people there had names from Arthurian legends. Gwaine was the popular kid at school, going on dates with anyone who'd say yes and making friends with anyone who wouldn't. Gwen was my friend, but we kind of drifted apart after she fell in love with Lancelot and stopped spending time with me and my mates. I still hang out with her brother, Elyan, though. Mordred is a bully. He used to be my friend, but then he started teasing me and picking on my friends. I told him to leave, but he didn't listen. I used my magic to make his life miserable. Nothing too obvious, just a lot of things that could be attributed to bad luck. Tripping, losing stuff, having his clothes ruined, that kind of thing. Don't tell anyone I said that. Gaius and Kilgharrah tell me I'm not supposed to use magic for things like that.
"When I graduated high school, I went straight to work because I didn't have the money to go to a university. I got a computer programming job that didn't require a degree and worked at that for a few years before I got the money to go to Pendragon University. Seems a bit presumptuous, naming a university after a person who hasn't even done anything historically important, but whatever. It's a good university, even if the founder, Uther, is a jerk. I've heard his son isn't too bad, though. So, yeah, I'm studying computer programming at the university, and I've still got that job on the side. I'm pretty busy. Or rather, was." Merlin buried his face in his hands. "That's why I need your help." He looked at the status bar again. "And it looks like my time is just about up. Please come back tomorrow!" The screen went black.
"Gaius doesn't know, but I've been using magic to help me with my schoolwork for pretty as much as long as I've been in school. I'm not cheating on tests or anything like that, I just use magic to help me retain information and complete my homework faster. After all, magic lessons take a long time, and I need to get some sleep. I went to Camelot High, where I got teased a lot for my name. But my name wasn't that strange, considering that lots of other people there had names from Arthurian legends. Gwaine was the popular kid at school, going on dates with anyone who'd say yes and making friends with anyone who wouldn't. Gwen was my friend, but we kind of drifted apart after she fell in love with Lancelot and stopped spending time with me and my mates. I still hang out with her brother, Elyan, though. Mordred is a bully. He used to be my friend, but then he started teasing me and picking on my friends. I told him to leave, but he didn't listen. I used my magic to make his life miserable. Nothing too obvious, just a lot of things that could be attributed to bad luck. Tripping, losing stuff, having his clothes ruined, that kind of thing. Don't tell anyone I said that. Gaius and Kilgharrah tell me I'm not supposed to use magic for things like that.
"When I graduated high school, I went straight to work because I didn't have the money to go to a university. I got a computer programming job that didn't require a degree and worked at that for a few years before I got the money to go to Pendragon University. Seems a bit presumptuous, naming a university after a person who hasn't even done anything historically important, but whatever. It's a good university, even if the founder, Uther, is a jerk. I've heard his son isn't too bad, though. So, yeah, I'm studying computer programming at the university, and I've still got that job on the side. I'm pretty busy. Or rather, was." Merlin buried his face in his hands. "That's why I need your help." He looked at the status bar again. "And it looks like my time is just about up. Please come back tomorrow!" The screen went black.
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