Channel 5 (Merlin fanfiction): Chapter 1

As I was reading through the extensive collection of Merlin fanfiction on AO3, I found an abandoned story, and I decided to take it up. Chapter 2 is copied word for word with a little added in on the end, and the initial idea isn't mine, but the rest of the story is mine. So now, here is chapter 1. Enjoy!

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Merlin couldn't remember how long it had been like this. An evil witch had enchanted him simply because he was a descendant of the original Merlin, who was a sorcerer in Camelot while sorcery was outlawed and for a long time did nothing to protect the innocent sorcerers. She believed it had been that Merlin's inaction that had caused her great (great great great great great... etc.) grandfather to be burned at the stake. Since the original Merlin was long gone, she punished this Merlin instead. Every day, Merlin was trapped inside a small room. There was nothing in the room; it was completely blank. Merlin got food, water, and other necessities only by using his magic. And every morning at 3 o'clock, Merlin was on the television. It was simply a video of whatever Merlin was doing in the room at the time. Merlin had originally hoped that he would be able to reach out to his viewers and have them rescue him, but this scenario had a few major flaws. First, he had almost no viewers. Most people didn't watch the telly at 3 in the morning. Those who did happen to stumble upon his channel quickly got bored and switched. Merlin tried using magic and doing other things to entertain them, but most of them still didn't stay. On the rare occasion that someone did stay, Merlin would tell them of his predicament and ask for help. Help never came, though whether this was because viewers thought it was just part of the plot or they were actually unable to help, Merlin wasn't sure. It didn't matter anyway. He had just about given up hope, but he was still desperately trying to find some sort of solution, completely lost in thought. And that's why he didn't notice Arthur.