"Merlin!" Arthur called out and rushed over to me. "What happened? Are you okay?"

I felt too sick to speak. I just pointed in the direction we needed to go. I don't know how I knew where to go, but I did.

"What's over there, Merlin? I don't see anything?" Gwen responded, worriedly.

"That way," was all I could choke out. I took a potion and Percival carried me on his back. Percival and I led the way, me tapping one of his shoulders to let him know when to change directions.

Eventually we come to a stop in a small room made of stone, pieces of collapsed building surrounding it. The room has a low ceiling and a small, simple, wooden bench. I didn't know which way to go. I felt like we were there. Right on top of where we should be…

Or maybe it felt more like we were under whatever is pulling me towards it. I point upwards, letting Percival know what I think. He lays me on the bench and circles around the room. He then goes outside the room and circles around it there, too. He stops, looking up. Hands on his hips, he calls Arthur over while still looking up. I can't hear what they are saying, but I see Percival point up and the rest of their conversation happens with both of their heads tilted skywards.

Arthur comes back into the room, grabs his bag, and leaves again. As curious as I am to see what he and Percival are up to, another wave of nausea hits me and I need to close my eyes. I hear sounds of chatter, but I can't make out what anyone is saying. Not that I'm trying to listen.

Next thing I know, I'm being jostled. I open my eyes to find myself on Percival's back again.

"What…?" was all I could muster.

"We found a way up," Percival answered, walking toward where he was standing with Arthur earlier. I look up to see a window with a rope hanging down from it. Percival grabs the rope, tests it a few times, then tells me to hang on tight. He then starts to SCALE THE WALL! I am freaking out, nauseous, and scared for my life. What if his grip slips? What if he loses his footing? What if the rope can't hold our weight? What if – I peel open my eyes that I hadn't realized I shut to see we were at the top, Percival already climbing in the window.

Before I can take in my surroundings, I roll off Percival and get sick on the floor. The two spoons of oatmeal and the bite of apple come up. A lot of stomach acid does, too. As I am wheezing and stand up, I notice the potion must also be in my mess on the floor, because I'm old again. However, when I'm done I feel much better, any hint of nausea gone. Well, besides the vomit on the floor.

Everyone else quickly follows Percival, each asking if I'm okay when they crawl through the window.

"Yeah. I'm fine now that that's done."

I finally get a view of the room. It is much larger than the room underneath this one. The roof is a huge Roman dome, a hole in the middle of the circle to keep the roof stable. The light coming in from the dome did not seem natural somehow. It seemed different than the light coming in from the window. Floating in the light was a young girl, maybe in her 20s. She has long, black hair cascading down her back. She's on the taller side. Her pale skin almost seems to be glowing in the light. She's wearing loose jeans, a shirt with a pattern that I don't recognize, and a forest green zip up hoodie, unzipped. I get closer, and notice her eyes are closed. Her face is lightly dusted with freckles. She just looks so innocent. But this is definitely the beacon of evil that's been making me sick, and pulling me towards it. I feel power emanating from her. I reach out to touch her, but I can't get my hand in the light. I hear what sounds like a faint whisper and the girl's eyes snap open. They are a fierce green and they look right at me, piercing me with their intensity, yet seemingly unfocused.

"Merlin," she speaks, her voice honeyed and sultry. "I've been waiting for you. I've got a new toy. Do you want to play?"

I think I hear a faint laugh in the wind as the girl drops to the floor. The light becomes natural, matching the light from the window. The girl is unconscious and I instruct the nights to carefully take her down. Unable to climb down in my old age, I take another potion, sad that the last one didn't last as long as it should, then climb down with my youth agility.

We lay her on the bench in the room below and wait. Not too much later, she regains consciousness.

"Wha—? Where am I? Who are you?" she asks frantically, her voice different than it was before. It's lighter, and much less sultry.

"My name is Merlin. We're on Albion," I gently respond, wondering why she doesn't remember greeting me and waiting for me.

"Albion?"

"Yeah, that's the island we're on. Off the beach, the one with all the abandoned, decaying buildings."

"Oh! Yeah…" she trails off, playing with the zipper of her sweatshirt. "Wait… did you say your name is Merlin?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Why does that sound familiar? And in an unsettling way…"

"I don't know. We've only just met."

"I don't know, either," she shrugs it off. "Um, I'm Jade."

I tell Jade everyone's names and Gwen reassures her that everything will be okay.

"So, Jade, what brings you here?" I ask back at base. Arthur didn't want to bring a stranger to camp, but Gwen insisted.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you…"

"It's usually the craziest stories which end up being true," I say with a smile, hopefully seeming comforting.

"I… I was told to come here. By the woman in my dreams. She's a goddess and she told me that if I came here and helped her I could get magic… I know it sounds stupid, I thought I was going crazy. But I've had theories and I've done tests and research. While magic and goddesses don't make sense scientifically, everything she has told me, everything she has predicted has come true. So I decided, what the hell? Why not try this out? Worst come to worst, I'd just find out I'm crazy and get a therapist. But if magic and this goddess do turn out to be real, they can be helpful in scientific advances. I could use magic to find a cure for cancer!"

"Does this goddess have a name? What does she look like?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know what she looks like, she was only ever a voice in my dreams. But she has given me a name. Her name is Otrena. I imagine her as a wisp of wind." Jade says in awe.

I rake my brain, but the name didn't mean anything to me. Jade's innocence may get her in trouble if Otrena is up to no good.

Arthur pulls me aside, "I don't trust her. She seems to… willing to accept dreams from an alleged goddess as truth."

"I trust Jade. She seems like she took some convincing and it took her a long time to accept Otrena as truth. But, I don't trust Otrena. I mean, a goddess? What if it's just a sorceress trying to get something from her? Otrena has potential to do anything, and be anything. We don't know anything about her…"

"I think we need to be cautious around Jade."

"Yeah, okay." I walk over to where Jade is sitting at the fire pit. "Hey," I say as I sit down next to her. I notice Jade is silently crying, slow tears flowing from her eyes. She wipes them from her cheek with her sleeve.

"Hey," she responds, her voice low and quiet, as she sniffs her nose.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, um… I— I just don't know what's going on anymore… I've never talked about Otrena out loud. Now that I have, I realize how insane it is. I'm starting to question if I really am crazy. I mean, magic? How did I get so far off the rails that I believe in magic?" Jade's head is in her hands, her fingers raking through her hair.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. Jade, look at me. It's okay… Here, watch this," I take Jade's hand and wait for her to make eye contact.

"What am I watching?"

"Look at the wood…" I say. And when she does I use my magic to start a fire. Her jaw drops and she stares at me with wide eyes.

"What—? How—? Did you—?"

"Yes," I say reassuringly, taking her hands in mine. "Yes."

My stomach decides to ruin the moment by making the loudest grumble. It makes Jade laugh, at least she's smiling. Her smile reminds me of Freya's, gentle and sweet.

"I think it's time to make dinner," I say, realizing now that I don't feel sick anymore. I grab some cans of soup, rice, and corn from our bags and start cooking them on the fire.

When dinner is ready, we realize we don't have an extra plate or bowl for Jade, so I let her use mine and I eat out of the pot. I sit next to Jade and we tell each other stories and keep each other laughing. We continue like this way past sunset, unaware of how late it is until we start getting tired.

"I think it's time to go to sleep," I tell Jade, yawning.

"Oh, um… Yeah… Time to sleep," Jade is unenthusiastic and seems distraught.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's – it's nothing," Jade shrugs.

"It's not nothing. I can tell. Please tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can try and fix it? Please, I want to help."

Jade looks up at me through her lashes and stubbornly state, "Okay, fine. I've been having bad dreams lately and it's making it hard to sleep."

"What about your dreams where you talk to a goddess?"

"Those don't happen all the time… I only hear her once every few nights. But, the nightmares started only a week before I heard from Otrena the first time. Sometimes I think they're linked. Like, sometimes I think 'Maybe she's not real. Maybe it's just my subconscious trying to give me something to deal with these nightmares.' But mostly I think how Otrena might be sending me these dreams. As a warning, or a cry for help. What if she's getting tortured? And- and- and I'm her last hope to help her?"

It's silent for a minute as I soak in what Jade just told me. What if Otrena is real and really is in trouble?

"So…? Can you do anything?"

"I don't know… I don't have any information about Otre- OH! You mean to help you sleep. Yeah. Sorry, I got lost in thought. Yeah, yes, I can help you."

I help Jade find a comfortable spot and find her a blanket. Luckily, we do have an extra blanket. She gets settled and I cast a spell to relax her mind and let her sleep. The spell takes a lot from me, more than it should, like her mind is fighting the spell. But that doesn't make any sense. I think I'm just more worn out that I realized – today took a lot out of me.

I lay down, unaware of how tired I am from the long day and hard night until I fall asleep almost instantly.