AN: Hi, hi! Back again with another chapter! Yay! Warning! There may be possible triggers in this one. Anyway, as always I don't own anything and please read and review!

Ch. 3 - "Never Get Involved In A Land War In Asia"

Edwin looked upon the vast maze that was the Labyrinth of Gedref with a knowing smirk as their little crew prepared to go ashore. No one but Edwin knew the way through the maze, and it had taken Edwin many years to learn it, and therefore Edwin knew that they could easily lose the mysterious boatman who was still following them. They hurriedly anchored their boat and climbed ashore as Percival gently lifted Arianna and carried her easily across his shoulder.

They were about a third of the way through the maze when they reacted a lookout point, and Edwin screamed out, "Inconceivable!" in frustration as he saw a masked man in black begin making his way through the maze. "You know you keep saying that word," Gwaine remarked as he looked upon the masked man, "I don't think it means what you think it means." Edwin just grunted in frustration as he turned to Gwaine and commanded, "Stay behind and kill him! I can't have anybody knowing our plans! Once you're done, meet us on the Saxon frontier."

"I think I'm going to do it with the left," Gwaine remarked smugly.

"You know what a hurry we're in!," Edwin screamed in frustration.

"Well, if I do it with my right, it would be over too quickly."

"Fine, have it your way," Edwin murmured as he continued into the maze with Percival following quietly behind him as Arianna weakly struggled to be let down.


Gwaine pulled out his sword and swung it around in a couple of practice swings as he impatiently waited for their pursuer. Suddenly the man in black came barreling around the corner, huffing out of breath as he spied Gwaine with his sword drawn. The man came to a quick stop and began to pull out his sword, but Gwaine calmly said, "Don't feel like I'm rushing you, I will wait until you get your breath back."

"Thank you," the man in black said as he rested up against one of the large hedge walls of the maze.

"I don't mean to pry," Gwaine said after a few moments of silence, "but you don't happen to have six fingers on your right hand do you?"

"Do you always begin conversations this way?"

"My father was killed by a six-fingered man, and I have been searching for him ever since."

The man in black held up his hand to show he had just five regular fingers on his hand and Gwaine nodded in acceptance before continuing by saying, "My father was a great sword maker and one day a six-fingered man came in and requested a sword. My father worked night and day and he created the best sword that I had ever seen, but when the six-fingered man came to collect, he only paid my father one-tenth his promised price. When my father challenged this man, he simply slaughtered my father. Naturally, I challenged this man to a duel; but I was young and inexperienced and he bested me, but I stole the sword my father had made and ran away before he could kill me. For the next twenty years I dedicated my life to the sword and seeking out this man, so that the next time that we meet I will not fail! I will simply walk up to him and say 'Hello, my name is Gwaine Lottson. You killed my father, prepare to die,' and then I will finally avenge my father."

"You've done nothing for the last twenty years with nothing other than seeking revenge on your mind?," the man asked.

"Well, pursuing it more like. There's not a lot of money in revenge. I just work for Edwin to pay the bills," Gwaine honestly replied back as he watched the man in black straighten up and pull out his sword, "Well, are you ready?"

"Whether I am or not you've certainly been more than fair," the man replied.

"You seem like a decent fellow, I will hate to kill you," Gwaine replied with a smirk.

"You seem a decent fellow, I will hate to die," the man replied back.

"Begin," Gwaine simply said as they began to exchange blows with their swords.

Both men smirked knowingly as their fight went on. They knew that they never before and probably never again would they fight a more worthy and challenging opponent. Blow after blow, strike after strike, and neither man had gained an upper hand as they traversed up and down between the rows of hedges of the giant maze. Gwaine couldn't help but grin even more and the man asked, "Why are you smiling?"

"Because I know something you don't," Gwaine said knowingly as he continued to block the man's sword.

"Tell me," the man huffed out as he blocked a particularly well placed blow.

"I am not left handed," Gwaine said with a smile as he nimbly switched his sword to his natural hand.

Their fight raged on, but still neither man could gain the advantage, but the man suddenly said, "I also I have something to tell you."

"Tell me," Gwaine huffed out.

"I'm not left-handed either," the man smirked and suddenly switched his sword to his natural hand.

They continued to fight, but Gwaine was growing tired quickly and after a few mistakes he suddenly found himself disarmed and brought to his knees. "Kill me quickly," Gwaine said sadly as he thought that he would never avenge his father. "I would rather destroy a stained glass window, than an artist like yourself," the man replied, "but since I can't have you following me either...," and suddenly the man hit Gwaine on the back of the head, and Gwaine passed out. "Know that I hold you in the highest of respect," the man said to Gwaine's unconscious body before racing on ahead.


"Inconceivable!," Edwin yelled out in frustration from another lookout point within the maze as he saw the man in black continued unheeded through the maze. Edwin looked up at Percival and commanded, "Give the princess to me and finish him off! Meet me up after you're done." Percival nodded as he gently let the princess down as Edwin pulled out a dagger to make sure the princess didn't do anything stupid. "Hey Edwin, how do I 'finish him off'?," Percival asked.

"Kill him! I don't care how, just do it your way!," Edwin yelled out in frustration.

"My way? Which way is my way?"

"See that rock over there?," Edwin pointed out to a big rock against a hedge, "When you see the man in black's head come around the corner, hit it with the rock!"

"My way is not very sportsman like," Percival observed quietly as he picked up the rock.


The man in black quickly ran his way through the maze when suddenly a large rock was thrown right in front of his face. "I did that on purpose," Percival said honestly as he faced the man in black, "I didn't have to miss."

"I believe you," the man answered back cautiously as he took in Percival's large muscular form as he grabbed another rock, "so what happens now?"

"We face each other as God intended. Sportsman like. No tricks, no weapons."

"You mean I'll put down my sword and you'll put down your rock and we kill each other like civilized people?"

"I could kill you now," Percival threatened as he lifted up the large rock menacingly

"Frankly," the man in black replied as he cautiously put down his sword, "I believe the odds are slightly in your favor when it comes to hand fighting."

"It's not my fault I'm bigger and stronger," Percival said with a grin as he threw the rock away and got into position to fight the mysterious man that had been following them.

The two men slowly circled around each other, when suddenly Percival lunged for the other man, but the man quickly rolled away. "You're quick," Percival complemented as the other man continued to avoid Percival's jabs. "A good thing to," the man replied as he quickly jumped up onto the man's back and began to choke him out. Percival staggered around, but couldn't shrug the man off and finally the large man ran out of breath and was knocked unconscious The man in black quickly got up and checked the larger man's pulse and said quietly, "Rest well and dream of large women," before getting up again to continue his journey.


The man in black finally made it out of the large maze, only to find Edwin and the princess sat around a large rock with a picnic laid out in front of them and Edwin holding his dagger up to the princess' neck. "Come any closer and I'll kill her," Edwin threatened and the man in black held up his hands in surrender and said calmly, "Let me explain..."

"There is nothing to explain," Edwin interrupted, "You're trying to kidnap what I've rightfully stolen."

"Perhaps an arrangement can be reached?," the man in black asked as he slowly moved forward.

"There will be no arrangement and you're killing her!," Edwin threatened as he pressed the dagger up to Arianna's throat, making her hiss in pain.

The man in black suddenly stopped in his tracks and said, "Well, if there can be no arrangement, then we are at an impasse."

"I'm afraid so," Edwin agreed, "I can't compete with you physically and you are no match for my brains."

"You're that smart?," the other man asked unimpressed with Edwin's claim.

"Ever heard of Aristotle? Socrates?"

"Yes."

"Idiots," Edwin said smugly.

"Really? Then I challenge you to a battle of wits."

"For the princess?" Edwin asked and the man nodded his head in agreement. "To the death?," Edwin asked and the other man nodded again. "I accept," Edwin agreed and put away his dagger.

"Good than pour the wine," the man asked as he sat down at the table and reached into his pocket and retrieved a small tube and said, "Smell, but do not touch," as he lifted the tube to Edwin.

"I don't smell anything," Edwin commented.

"What you do not smell is Iocane Powder which is one of the more deadly poisons known to man. It's odorless, tasteless and dissolves completely into liquid," the man in black said as he grabbed the two cups and hid them from Edwin's view and put them back by saying, "Alright, where is the poison? The battle has wits has begun and it ends when you choose and we both drink and we will find out which one was right and which one is dead."

"But it's so simple," Edwin proclaimed smugly, "All I have to do is divine from what I know of you. Are you the kind of man who will pour the poison into his own goblet or into his enemies? Now a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because only a great fool would reach for what he has been given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But, you must have known I was not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me."

"You made your decision then?," the man in black questioned smugly

"Not remotely," Edwin said back with a smug smile, "Because Iocane comes from Australia, and Australia is filled with criminals, and criminals are used to having people not trust them as you are not trusted by me; so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you."

"Surely you have a dazzlingly immense intellect," the man in black replied with a knowing smirk.

"Wait 'til I get going!," Edwin proclaimed losing track of his thoughts, "Where was I?"

"Australia"

"Yes, Australia! And you must have suspected that I might have known about the poison's origins so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me."

"You're just stalling now," the man in black accused.

"You'd like to think that wouldn't you! You've beaten Percival, which means you're exceptionally strong, so you could have put the wine into your own goblet trusting on your strength to save you, so I can clearly not choose the wine of front of you. But, you've also beaten Gwaine, which means you must have studied, and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal. So you must have put the poison as far away as possible, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me!"

"You're trying to trick me into giving something away. It won't work."

"It has worked! You've given everything away!," Edwin cried out smugly before suddenly pointing to something behind the masked man and said, "What on Earth could that be?"

"What? Where?," the man asked as he looked behind him and Edwin hurriedly switched the wine goblets.

"I didn't see anything," the man replied suspiciously as he turned back around.

"Well, I'm sure I saw something. Never mind, let's just drink. Me from my glass and you from yours," Edwin said chuckling.

"What's so funny?"

"I'll tell you later, but first let's drink," Edwin said as he raised his glass in a mock salute and the two men drank their wine.

"You're wrong," the man in black answered smugly as he set down his wine glass.

Edwin simply started laughing as he said, "That's what's so funny, I switched glasses when you're back was turned! You fool! You fell victim into one of the classic blunders. The most famous of which is never get involved in a land war in Asia! But one slightly less well known is never go against an alchemist when death is on the line!" Edwin continued to laugh, until suddenly he stopped and slumped over and died.