A/N: Look, I'm actually updating on update day! So, I don't own Merlin/Paralyzer by Finger Eleven... and thanks to Kitty O for beta-ing. Did you all enjoy the last chapter? I hope so. Please please review... I won't beg but... PLEASE!

8. Paralyzer

Arthur sat in his tent, dazed, contemplating what he had just seen. Merlin and Aven had been talking in hushed tones by the fire, sitting extremely close…

And then they'd kissed.

They'd kissed twice, as Arthur recalled. Aven had initiated the kiss both times. They had been speaking softly, the way that only lovers would. But, no, Aven and Merlin? Aven, who seemed to hate men and didn't believe in love, and Merlin, who was never any good with women to begin with? No.

Then again, it would make sense, Arthur supposed. It would explain why Merlin had practically gone into a state of dormancy when Aven left. It would explain why Merlin and Aven constantly went missing at the same exact time…

Arthur decided that he would have to talk to the one who probably knew the most about this: Rena. He didn't doubt that she knew about Merlin and Aven, because if there was something Rena was good at, it was decoding people's love lives. And since Aven and Rena seemed to be very good friends... well, it would just make sense.

With Merlin and Aven focused on both each other (ugh, Arthur thought), it wasn't hard to sneak past them and into Rena's tent. Arthur could tell that his cousin was only half-asleep, so he shook her shoulder gently and whispered her name. Rena made a sort of "mmmerph?" noise and sat up slowly. Rubbing her eyes and letting them adjust, Rena looked at her

"Arthur?" she hissed. "What are you doing?"

"I just saw something… rather interesting. Come with me," he said, ushering her outside. Rena stumbled tiredly out of the tent, but her eyes widened and brightened happily as she saw Aven and Merlin by the fire.

"Aww," she breathed, giggling slightly. "That's so…" She caught sight of Arthur's annoyed glare. "Oh. That's, um… this is not good." Arthur rolled his eyes angrily and dragged Rena back into the tent.

"Did you know about this?" he growled. "How many secrets are you keeping from me, Rena?" Rena saddened at the hurt and angry look on Arthur's face. She could only imagine what this must be like for him. After all, he hardly ever let his guard down around people,

"I have known for a while, yes," she admitted. "I… I wanted to tell you… I figured that you would understand, because… Arthur, I know of your feelings for Guinevere." At this, Arthur's expression became less angry. "So, you understand why we were trying to keep it a secret, yeah?"

Arthur sighed. "Unfortunately, yes, I understand."

"It was just… the more people that knew, the greater chance there was of your father or Aven's father finding out, and where would that leave us?"

"In a very bad place," Arthur muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "So, Aven and Merlin are…?"

Rena smiled softly. "Arthur, let me put it to you this way. Saying Aven and Merlin are sort of in love is like saying your father sort of dislikes magic," Rena explained. Arthur didn't say anything, which gave Rena (ever the hopeless romantic) a chance to launch into the speech she'd wanted to give for what seemed like forever.

"You know, I think Aven has actually been in love with Merlin the whole time, because when she met him, she didn't kill him. And… well, she sort of had a habit of doing that, what with living on her own, you know? Then he brought her to Camelot, right before you left in that battle with the Druids… remember that? Anyway, something must have happened, because all of a sudden Aven was irrevocably and irreversibly in love with Merlin, even though she wouldn't admit it of course, but it just made me think-"

"Rena, are you quite finished?" Arthur interrupted, looking annoyed. Rena nodded solemnly. "So, how long has their… relationship been going on?" Arthur asked.

"Um… it started about the time you got engaged to Aven for the second time." The look of shock on Arthur's face caused Rena to have to stifle a laugh. "I know, doesn't that just make you feel great?" she giggled. Arthur raised a disapproving eyebrow, which immediately silenced her. "Sorry."

Arthur sighed again. "…All right. Get some sleep, okay?" Rena nodded and hugged Arthur tightly, apologizing over and over for keeping yet another secret from him. She thought about how bad the situation would be when he found out about her magic.

She decided she didn't want to think about that anymore.


The next morning, Aven brought Rena and Merlin to Ysmina's tent, where they hoped that the experienced Seer would have an idea of who was sending Aven nightmares and who attacked Camelot on the night of the celebration. Aven had sent Arthur away, telling him to "go off and hunt something". As usual, he would just get in the way of their plans.

"…So you see, this is how we know Arthur will never be like Uther," Aven explained as the magic trio made their way to Ysmina's tent. "Uther would not even set foot in this camp… not without trying to kill everyone, at least."

Rena laughed. "True, very true, my friend. Arthur does not seem too fond of this place, but who knows? Maybe he'll warm up to the idea of not killing those with magic back in Camelot," she said.

Aven gave her a skeptical look. "…Yeah, let's not go mad here, Rena," Aven muttered as the three approached Ysmina's tent. It was much larger than most of the other tents, and no matter what time of day it happened to be, the tent was always very, very dark.

Ysmina was seated behind a rectangular table, over which a white cloth and crystal ball were placed. Aven smiled and shook her head upon seeing this.

"Ysmina, I thought we talked about the crystal ball being a cliché…"

"Yes, dear, but it is a cliché for a reason… It works," Ysmina explained, motioning for Aven, Rena, and Merlin to sit in the three chairs opposite herself. "Now, Aven, you've been having some troublesome nightmares, correct?"

"Yes, and I know they aren't visions, just… really disturbing nightmares. Someone is trying to mess with my mind," Aven said.

"All right, well, hands on the crystal, all of you," Ysmina instructed. Aven, Merlin, and Rena placed their right hands on the crystal ball, and Ysmina closed her eyes. "Aven… before we begin, have you done anything to anger any sorcerers lately?" Ysmina asked, her eyes still shut. Aven thought for a second.

"Not recently, no. Not since Alvarr's death, actually," she said.

"Mm, if you say so," Ysmina murmured, her face twitching as she began looking into the crystal ball. Aven raised both eyebrows in disbelief.

"Um, what?"

Ysmina held up a hand to silence her. "Aven, I think you cause more trouble than you realize," the older woman said. "I honestly mean that in the kindest way possible, but I believe is something you will want to see." A wary look came over Aven's face, but she closed her eyes as she heard Ysmina begin to whisper an ancient spell.

"Dangoswch i ni beth yw ein dymuniad i weld…"

When Aven opened her eyes, she was no longer with Ysmina, Rena, and Merlin. She was by herself in a dark, damp cave. Well, great, she thought sarcastically. After a minute of looking around and seeing nothing but darkness, she realized she could hear voice over to her left. Following the sound, she came upon two women standing at the entrance of the cave, which was lined with torches, as it was the dead of night.

"We may not be able to find Emrys, but now that we know who Aella is, perhaps we can lure her over to our side," a blonde woman said. Aven almost audibly gasped, but she knew better than that.

"And if she should refuse to come?" a woman with dark hair asked, sounding like she knew the answer. The dark-haired woman looked so familiar to Aven…

"Then we will kill her friends. She will have nowhere left to turn," the blonde said, grinning maliciously. Aven's eyebrows furrowed, and her mouth turned down at the corners. They cannot be talking about…

"She will not hesitate to retaliate, though, will she?" the dark-haired woman asked, interrupting Aven's thoughts. The blonde let out a little sound of amusement.

"She will be far too broken up to retaliate, sister. Believe me, she puts up a guarded front, but it is true what she says… the more people she lets in, the weaker she becomes. She has let in far too many people even for her own liking, and she will pay for that. She will pay for many things. Morgana, when our time comes, you can be sure that Camelot will see a quick and disastrous downfall," the blonde woman said. Aven closed her eyes, wanting to get away from the sight in front of her. She just wanted to get away from it all…

Aven opened her eyes, and she was back in Ysmina's tent with Merlin and Arthur.

"Well?" Ysmina had an expectant look on her face. Aven looked at the ground.

"I… I saw Morgana… and her sister… they were talking about… about me." Aven's voice got quieter with each word.

"What did they call you, Aven? I didn't quite understand that bit," Ysmina said, her expression becoming thoughtful.

"You do not remember that name?" The look on Aven's face was grim. "What I used to be called… Aella. It meant something like 'whirlwind'." Aven shrugged. Merlin and Rena hadn't seen what she had, so why should she worry them and show how scared she was?

"Oh." Ysmina's response was quiet; almost a whisper. Rena and Merlin looked at each other, then at Aven for an explanation.

She didn't give them one.


Merlin decided to give Aven a few hours to herself after they left Ysmina's tent, figuring that she would talk when she was ready, and she just needed to process whatever it was she had seen.

Rena knew her better than that.

"All right, Aven. You need to talk to me." Rena got right to the point as soon as she and Aven were alone in their tent.

"What is there to talk about? You seem to have this unrequited desire to-"

"Aven, I am not Arthur. Do not use big words to try and confuse me," Rena interrupted.

"It isn't even that big a word! And why would I try to confuse you?"

"To make me stop asking you questions about what happened back there with Ysmina."

"And why would I want to do that?" At this, Rena rolled her eyes.

"Now you just want to get off-topic, but I know your tricks, Ave."

"Oh, I'm sure I still have a few up my sleeve you have yet to discover," Aven murmured, grinning. Rena didn't smile, though; she just gave Aven a look that clearly said "I'm waiting". Aven sighed, knowing that Rena wasn't going to let the matter drop, so she decided that she just had to tell her the truth.

"All right, if you really want to know what happened…" Aven sighed again. "Morgana… er, after her "disappearance"… and I use that term loosely… joined forces with her sister - whose name I still don't know - and they are planning to use my friendship with you and my relationship with Merlin against me. I fear they want to hurt you." Everything that Aven said was quite rushed and it all hastily came out of her mouth. She didn't want to give her brain a chance to fabricate a lie, and she didn't want her brain to convince her mouth that lying to Rena would be the right thing to do.

"Morgana?" Rena asked, her facial expression being one of disbelief. "She… she…"

"Listen, Rena, I know this has to be strange for you…" Aven trailed off, not quite sure how to sympathize. She had never really cared for Morgana, anyway.

"Um… well, honestly, I always had a weird feeling about her. She was always watching me in a creepy way, like she knew something I didn't. And she was always smirking at me-"

"Yeah, Rene, that's fascinating, but how about you tell me some other time, all right? It looks like we will get to accomplish a few things off of our to-do list… remember? Use excessive amounts of magic and kill a few people…"

Rena backed up. "Aven, I didn't like the way you were smiling on that last part."