The two looked on in horror at the wooden monstrosity knocking down tree's in a blind rage in front of them. It was only when it smashed the log they had been sitting on did Merlin shout "Run!" and grabbed Cinderella's hand, tugging her off to the side where they broke into a dead sprint. 

Unfortunately, not only did it give chase, but it did so at an impressive pace.  "What is that?" she asked as they ran, coming to a tree trunk that sloped down towards the river. "This kingdom has got a serious monster problem," he yelled back as they slid down the trunk, only for the monster to step on it, effectively sending them flying.

The pair landed on a rocky surface only to go sliding downwards, but just as it looked like they were about to collide with a stone, they fell down into a crevice in the ground. "You alright?" Cinderella asked him to which he responded with a simple "No," and much painful groaning as he walked forward on wobbly feet. 

Merlin eventually climbed to the top and offered a hand to help her out. "Thank you," she grunted as she came to stand. "Pleasure m'lady," he responded but the two walked forward only to immediately recoil as a wall was revealed to be the bark monster. 

It reached down a hand to grab them, but they successfully dodged and began to run upwards, before a second monster blocked their path. In retaliation, Merlin sent a bolt of lighting at it's leg, the creature loosing it's balance and falling...in their direction!

They instantly bolted the other direction and as the second monster flew above their heads, it collided with the first.

The two let their guard down, sharing a victorious high five and Merlin jumping up before a THIRD monster came from the woods, causing Cinderella and Merlin to take off again with three on their tails.

"What do they want besides smashing us?" Merlin asked as they ran.

"My best guess would be my shoes!" She responded, picking up her pace. Hey, she could only go so fast in heels.

As they continued running, Merlin noticed a stack of rocks that could easily become a rock slide, and he took aim with a lighting bolt, however it barely made a dent. "The old me would have nailed that!"

He spook to soon, as the monster trailing behind had an outpouring of rocks come down onto him, sending him over the cliff into the waters below. Merlin looked on in both amazement and disbelief as he ran backwards."You just got Merlined!" This turned into a scream however as one of the monsters sent a rock flying towards them, it colliding with the earth in front of them, missing the two by a hair.

They stood for a second in shock, before Merlin got up and ran around. "Hurry!" The two remaining threats continued to fling projectiles at them, the two somehow always dodging but at the expense of being ending up at the far end of the path. Seeing only one way out, the wizard ran up to the blonde. "Cinderella, close your eyes. Trust me!"

Instantly obeying, the girl sealed her eyes shut, Merlin transforming into a human and destroying the boulder that was about to hit them. "That was to close."

Cinderella went to turn around but the wizard grabbed her arm and pulled her away so they were back to back. "Don't look at me," his eyes then scanned the area and found and opening. "You see that tree on the other side of the bridge?"

"Yeah."

"On my signal, run towards it as fast as you can and don't look back."

Her eyes widened and her heart clenched at that. "What! No I can't leave you again!"

"You have to, please," he assured her. "Look right at that tree until I say it's safe. Promise you won't look."

"I promise," she said, following his instructions and locking her eyes on the tree. After a few tense moments he gave her the signal. "Now," and Cinderella darted forward, never looking back as much as she wanted to. As much as she worried for him though, she knew she had to put her trust in Merlin.

Looking back to make sure she was running, Merlin smirked at the monster and pulled out two spell cards and jumping into action. He ran forward and punched his hands together, using the momentum to jump high into the air and strike down the monster furthest to the back, only for the first one to punch him, sending him over the edge.

As he was falling, Merlin sent a stream of lighting up towards the monster, it tightening around his leg and allowing the prince to swing up and over, come up in front of the first one, and strike it down. 

The second one was still standing however, and as it went to swing downwards at him, the wizard successfully dodged and wound up sitting on the head of the other monster. Number 2 went to punch him again only to hit number one square in the face and send him over the cliff, Merlin now standing on number 2's head. He leaned over it's forehead to look into it's eyes taunting, "You just got Merlined. Yes, you did."

It clapped it's hands over it's head hoping to squash the wizard, who leaped away in the nick of time and clasped his hands together activating the spell cards he had planted on the monster's back, electrocuting it. 

Merlin walked away feeling victorious before the hand of number 2 came up behind him and smashed him into the stone wall, the man letting out a grunt of pain. The monster simply walked forward towards where Cinderella was and Merlin quickly gathered his spell cards. One thing he would not stand for was he thought of the blonde beauty he was in love with in danger.

"Hey, blockhead it's me!" He yelled after it. "Your even more of a blockhead then Prince Average!"

The monster then turned around and let out a cry of, "A-Vu-Rauge," Merlin standing terrified at this revelation. "Prince Average?" The newly known blonde prince swung his fist down at the wizard, who ran up the appendage, onto it's head, and back-flipped off onto the ground, his spell cards floating down around him. 

His plan in place, Merlin snapped his fingers, a ball of lighting igniting in his hand as he smashed it on the ground, all the cards charging with electricity causing the stone bridge to crumble, taking Average down with it. The wizard simply crossed his arms and repeated it catchphrase, "You just got Merlined," before walking away to face Cinderella.

"Take a look, Cinderella," he gave her the okay as she quickly whipped around with a smile. "Merlin," she cried out with relief. "I have triumphantly saved the day," he announced before a large, bark hand ensnared him in it's clutches and dragged him down into the watery depths together.

Cinderella looked on in horror as the man she maybe loved fell, her running frantically to the edge screaming, "Merlin! No!"

Making a split-second decision, she leaped off the cliff and dove into the water, looking around rapidly before she found the prince trapped under a boulder. She swam down to him, grasping his arms as she tried to tug him free. He looked up at her desperately before his brown eyes closed and bubbles rose to the surface from his loss of air.

The blonde looked on in horror and dread as her tugging intensified. "If only Snow were here," she inwardly cried, as she frantically twisted her head before her eyes landed on a large rock. She swam over to it and picked it up, shimming it under the boulder to act as a leverage point. Eventually side of the boulder Merlin was under lifted up, allowing Cinderella to grab his arms and tug him to the surface.

Taking almost no time to absorb air when she broke water, she swam to the lakeside, dragging herself and Merlin to the shore and collapsing in exhaustion and relief. 

This was short lived as when she heard a chorus of gasps ahead of her, the blonde lifted her head to see Regina's three bear servants. "Cinderella!" the gasped. However, the events of the day soon caught up with the girl as her eyes lulled and she fell unconscious. 

The three little bears and the wooden bunny, who had come running after witnessing the explosions from uphill lifted the pair and dragged them away from the water, unaware they were being watched.

*******

Back at White Castle, Regina was on the cusp of exploding. She gazed into the mirror where Cinderella's soaked likeness shown to her. "That little ingrate!" She screeched. "How dare she interfere! It's was one thing to have stolen my shoes, but now thanks to her my entire plan could fall apart!" 

The queen then snatched her purple cloak and donned it, pulling the hood up. "Your going after her?" the mirror asked.

"What? were you planning to?" She retorted as the mirror broke out in laughter, Regina walking away. Her plan may yet be salvaged.

*******

It had been half an hour since Merlin and Cinderella had woken up and the sky was alright pitch dark. They were currently sitting dry on a log in front of a built fire, the three bears and bunny sleeping in a pile behind them.

"I was scared I had lost you, when you went into the water." Cinderella suddenly said quietly. Merlin turned his head and was surprised to see tears dangling from her eyes and before he could blink she had engulfed him in a hug. "I thought I'd never see you again!" she cried.

All Merlin could do was wrap his arms around her in turn and mumble, "But you didn't. I'm here."

After crying for a few solid minutes, the blonde retracted from the hug, dried her eyes, and lightly smiled at him. "Thank you for being here for me."

Although stunned for a few moments at the sheer amount of gentleness in her eyes, Merlin smiled back and responded with, "And I, you"

A thought then occurred to the girl, a surefire way to know his intentions. She would tell him.

"I know." She said cryptically.

"Know what?"

"I know..that you and the others are the Fearless Seven."

A look of shock washed over his face as he softly asked, "How?"

"It really wasn't that hard. The weapons you use and the same names. It didn't take me too long. And before you ask, no I don't see you differently." 

He let out a sigh of relief at this, now all barriers were gone. But before he could say anything, she said something that left his breathing shallow. "All I want to know is...how did you end up like this. The truth please."

Reluctantly swallowing, he begun the tale of how the F7 had gotten cursed. "It was about a year ago. We had been called into a kingdom to defeat a dragon and save a princess. We did just that, but when we met the princess we mistook her for a witch and sort of...attacked her. As punishment she cursed us to take on these forms whenever someone looked at us, while we would become normal when no one looked at us. The only way to break the curse was...to receive a kiss from the most beautiful woman in the world. When we met you, we knew it was you. But I can assure you," he reached over to clutch her hand, he blue eyes expanding widely. "I do have feelings for you. I just thought I might have more a chance of you returning them if i was my old self."

When he had finished his explanation, although shocked, Cinderella's face bloomed a scarlet red at the implications. "Th..that's what you think of me? The most beautiful woman in the world?"

"Yes," he said, his face also turning red. "You are." But he was most surprised when she turned her head and shook. "I don't think so. In fact, I think you deserve someone better then me."

"W..What do you mean? Have you seen yourself? Your perfect!"

She smiled lightly but it was overtaken by her forlorn look as she gazed directly at him. "That's not what I mean. What I'm trying to say is when you boil it down I'm not the sort of person whom you should be with. Your a prince for crying out loud, and you have hundreds of beautiful girls throwing themselves at you. And while I do feel the same way, I'm a servant girl with no dowry and no family. Smart match, don't you think," she snorted at the last part.

What she didn't expect to happen was for the prince in question to grasp her hand and turn her head downwards to face him. "You think I care about any of that?" he said looking up at her with a smile. "I may have once, but when you came into my life that got thrown out the window. This curse was the best thing to ever happen to me because I knocked some sense into me! I really don't care where you come from because I know who you are. Your a beautiful, smart, kind, and hardworking girl that frankly I don't deserve."

Her face then adorned a serious look as she stared into his soul. "Tell me truly, do you mean that." He nodded swiftly and responded, "Yes."

She simply clutched his hand and without warning, he let out a string of chuckles. "What?" she asked confused. "I just can't believe you feel the same way! Ah, the others are going to be so mad at me for, I kid you not, 'stealing you away from them'." 

"They really think that?" Cinderella asked, shaking her head in amusement. He nodded vigorously. She smiled and scooted forward and a blush ignited on both of their faces, and the energy they felt by the river earlier came back. Once again the two were leaning in, but alas, the universe had other plans. 

"Well isn't this sweet."

The two instantly snapped away from each other and stood, Cinderella adopting a look of horror on her face as she took a step back. "Regina?"

"In the flesh," she sauntered up to them. "You know little Cindy, I'm sure Snow has been missing you."

"What have you done to her," the blonde growled. No one messed with her friend.

"Oh relax, honey. Nothing...yet." The queen smirked as her eyes landed on the slippers. "And I can promise It will stay that way if you hand over the shoes."

"Never," Cinderella's gaze narrowed. "I know you well enough to realize she'll wind up hurt anyway."

Regina simply raised her shoulder and arms up in a joking manner. "Well, you got me." She then took notice of Merlin and dissolved into a fit of laughter. "Oh, you little minx, you've been busy since you've left."

"Touch her and your done for," Merlin said as he pulled out to spell cards. The queen simply signed and smirked. "Well, looks like I'll be doing this the hard way."

Then faster the the eye could see, she shot forward and enveloped Cinderella in her cloak, both of them vanishing into thin air.

"Cinderella!" Merlin cried out. Wasting no time, he climbed on the wooden bunny's back as he had woken during the commotion. He knew one thing, he wouldn't loose her without a fight.

"Come on long ears, let's go."

"Hey, wait for us," the three little bears called to him from the ground. "How about you go back and get the others, and make lot's of copies of this," he handed them a spell card. And with that, he rode the bunny forward towards the White Castle.

*******

At the castle, Regina came out of the portal falling to the ground, Cinderella unconscious next to her.

"Your power my lady," the mirror spoke. "It has drained you."

"You think," she growled. "I don't need you to tell me how I look."

"I'm a mirror! It's what I do. M--i-r-o-r. Sorry, I can't spell." 

"Enough. Bind her," Regina cast her gaze over to Cinderella on the ground, and smirked. "It's supper time."

Note: So we finally reach the climax next chapter and I'm super excited to write it. Please comment as this was one of my favorite chapters to write and I always love to hear what people think. Thanks-Lulu