Elyan didn't know what to do. Obviously it was a maze, so solve it, right? Except it was a Giant Tree-Maze™️ and Elyan had always hated mazes. And puzzles. Anything that made him feel stupid, really. As a child, Gwen would give him little homemade puzzle boxes to keep him occupied. He could never figure them out, because he had always over-complicated them. The solution was usually something really simple, like sliding a lever to the left. Elyan always told himself that he was too smart for the puzzles. Maybe he was, or maybe he was too ignorant to see that life is sometimes just that simple. However, nothing about this maze seemed simple. Well, except for the fact that it was a Giant Tree-Maze™️. That part was pretty easy to understand. However, nothing else about it made since. Where did it come from? Did Leon and Elyan go to it? What the heck was that Extreme Tree-Dusting Storm™️? Well, obviously it was an Extreme Tree-Dusting Storm™️, but what had caused it? It definitely wasn't a natural occurrence. Then again, neither was the Giant Tree-Maze™️.

     Leon's voice startled Elyan out of his thoughts. "I guess we should choose which direction we're going to go. We can't exactly climb the walls." It was true, there were somehow no footholds on the maze walls. So, reluctantly, Elyan participated in the decision-making-process. Kind of.

"Do you have a coin?" He asked.

Leon looked at him, confused. "Yeah, why?"

Elyan smiled. "That way-" he said, indicating to the left, "-is heads. And that way-" he pointed to the right, "-is tails. Deal?"

Leon sighed. "I suppose."

Elyan flipped the coin. The action itself was not relevant, but, what followed was relevant. As Elyan flipped the coin, he felt something. A ripple in the air. It was almost unnoticeable, but when it hit the coin, something happened. It wasn't clear what, at least not to Elyan or Leon, but something happened. The coin landed on heads, so Leon and Elyan picked it up, and went left. As soon as they had turned to the left path, the exit to where the two knoghts started closed off. It wasn't like a door closing, nor was it a magical disappearance of space. No, the wall parallel to Elyan and Leon simply slid across the ground. It was if a giant hand had pushed the Giant Tree Wall™️. There was no way to except forward.

Leon frowned. "Huh... weird."

Weird, indeed. If there was one thing Elyan was sure of, it was that somehow, someway, they weren't where they started, in the forest. And that magic was probably involved.

(/^•^)/*\(^•^\)

"What do you think they're going to do to us?" The real Gwaine asked, acting almost like a small child who had been caught doing something wrong and was waiting for the consequence.

Percival paused, thinking of what to say. He could either comfort Gwaine, or motivate him. Although he wished to condole the other knight, Percival knew that motivation and tough-love would be more useful. Sigh. "They'll kill us if we don't escape, somehow," spake Percival, the voice of calm and reason.

"But how?" Gwaine asked. "This isn't like the stories, where the hero gets away by slicing the bindings with a nifty nail. This is real life, and real life is rarely that simple. We might as well talk about what those witches will do to us. There's nothing else to do!"

Part of Percival agreed with Gwaine. What was the point in even trying? The chances of them getting out of this were close to zero. But there was a purpose. Percival and Gwaine had information that could potentially save their friends' lives. Percival knew that Gwaine knew that. He just needed to be reminded.

"We need to at least try," said he, "they could kill Arthur and Merlin. We can have the chance to warn them. Even if it is hopeless, we can't give up, because, based on what they said, Merlin and Arthur are back at the Inn, alone. Maybe they have Lancelot, but he is Morgana's target." Gwaine was silent, and Percival knew he had won him over.

*Sigh* "Fine, but if we get out of this alive, you'll owe me something."

"How is that fair?"

"Because you're making me do something."

Percival smirked. "What will I owe you?"

"I'm still trying to decide between money and alcohol."

Percival let out a laugh. And with that laugh, he felt something within him. It was like a ripple in the air, a ripple in the universe. It was strange. Suddenly, there was a clanking sound to Percival's left. A sword had appeared, or had fallen, or something. Because there was a sword, leaning against the chair that Percival was bound to. It was just close enough to Percival's hands for the knight to be able to reach the hilt of the sword. Maybe he could even use the side of it to cut the bindings. It was perfect. Where did it fall from? It must have fallen off one of the many shelves and bounced of the cauldron just the right way. Wow. Maybe the Universe was on their side.

     As soon as he has heard the sword, Gwaine jumped like a rabbit, and almost knocked the sword over. "What was that?" The startled knight asked.

Percival didn't have time to explain what had just happened, so he kept it short and simple. "Sword. Hold still," he said as he reached for the long blade with his large hands.

"What?" Gwaine asked, confused.

"Just be still!"

Somehow, someway, Percival grabbed the long sword at just the right angle for him to cut the bindings without stabbing Gwaine or himself. The sword had been recently sharpened, and little force was required to cut the rope. In just a few minutes, the two men had escaped the ropes. After making sure the other was okay, both men quickly walked out the door of the apothecary. They needed to warn their friends as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the Universe had other plans for them. And, apparently, these plans were important, because all logic had been defied when they stepped out of the building. On the other side of the door, there was not a village square, but a 10-meter-tall wall, composed entirely of... trees. And another tree-wall. And another. They formed a Giant Tree-Maze™️. It surrounded them from all angles. As the knights had stepped into the maze, the door they went through simply vanished. That was not normal.

"What the hell?" Gwaine exclaimed.

Yes, what the hell, indeed?

\(*•*\) (/*•*)/

     After a worrisome conversation about Elyan and Leon, everyone decided that they probably just ventured a little too far into the woods, and stayed the night. They would probably be back in a few hours. Since none of the men had slept in a while, Merlin had settled the verdict that they should all retire to their rooms. It was no use cramming everyone into one room when they had payed enough for everyone to be comfortable. So Merlin and Arthur stayed in the same room they had bought before, and Lancelot, Gwaine, and Percival had slept in the three-person room that they had payed for earlier. They couldn't afford a five-bed suite, and they had wanted a couple people to take watch anyway. Now everyone could sleep comfortably, because Elyan and Leon still weren't there. Lancelot was to take first watch, and he would wake up Percival when he was done. He would stand between the doors of the two rooms.

Merlin and Arthur walked into their room. It was exactly as they had left it. They had no belongings with them. Merlin and Arthur both needed sleep. They were exhausted, and there were clearly defined bags under their eyes. So they lie down and on their beds, and Arthur blew the candle out. Merlin knew that he needed sleep, but something was keeping him awake. It was a mix of emotions. He was concerned for Elyan and Leon, he was happy that Gwaine and Percival were okay, and he was relieved that Arthur had started to forgive him. But that wasn't it. There was something... strange about how Gwaine and Percival had acted. Their attitude stemmed a little forced. They weren't acting natural. Had something happened to them when they were out? It was a sort of vague thing to think, but Merlin didn't have any idea what was making the two knights act this way. The thing that made Merlin the most uneasy, however, was the magic he sensed on Gwaine and Percival. Merlin was positive that neither of them had ever used magic before this, especially something as strong as this. Which was why Merlin was, to say the least, uneasy. He kind of wanted to wake Arthur, and see what he thought about it. Maybe the king wasn't even asleep; it had only been a few minutes since they had 'went to sleep.' Arthur broke the silence before Merlin did.
"Merlin," Arthur spoke, "are you awake?"

Chills ran through Merlin's spine. He must have been startled. What other reason was there for his stomach feeling light and airy, and his heart fluttering for just a moment?

"Yeah, I'm awake," Merlin responded.

"Why..." Arthur paused. " Why did you look so confused when you saw Percival and Gwaine?"

Merlin started. He had only shown his true expression for half a second, if that. He was positive that no one had noticed. "What- what do you mean?" The warlock asked, trying to sound perplexed. Why was it so hard for him to lie to Arthur?

"Merlin," *sigh* "I'm not an idiot-"

"That's debatable."

"- I saw your face earlier. It wasn't hard to tell that something was going on in your head."

This time it was Merlin's turn to sigh. He knew he had to tell Arthur. Before they had come back to Aldea, they had agreed to trade no more lies between each other. But it was more than that. Merlin didn't want to to lie to Arthur. It was exhausting, and he felt worse each time he did it. It wasn't like that with anyone else. He could lie through his teeth without pausing to think. So why was Arthur any different?

"I... Don't you think Percival and Gwaine were acting a little weird?"

Arthur frowned. He supposed they were acting a little strange, but he assumed that it was nerves. Arthur remembered how, when Gwaine had acted strange, Percival had stomped him on the foot. That was kind of alarming. Was it really nerves?

"Yeah, now that I think about it, they were acting really strange, but it's probably just nerves, right?"

"I don't think so," said Merlin with unease.

Arthur picked up on Merlin's anxiety. It perplexed the king. Yeah, Percival and Gwaine had acted slightly weird, but it shouldn't have bothered Merlin as much as it was.

"Why does it bother you so much?"

"Well, I-" Merlin paused and took a deep breath. "IkindofsensedmagoccomingfromthemandIthibkthey-"

"Hold on," interrupted Arthur, "I understood nothing you just said."

Merlin took a deep breath, trying to phrase the next few sentences carefully, as too break the news to Arthur gently. Short and simple seemed the best option.

"There is magic coming from of our friends."

Arthur furrowed his eyebrows. "Do you think they're enchanted?"

"Arthur, the magic is coming from them."

"Yes, you've already said that."

"As in, it's not controlling them. If it was, the magic would surround them. Percival and Gwaine are radiating magic."

"That's good, right? They aren't enchanted..."

Merlin was a little frustrated by then.

"Arthur," Merlin sighed, "they are controlling the magic."

Arthur's mouth went dry."Oh."