PART THREE
Chapter 26: Truth
I still couldn't believe what just happened. Percy didn't know what was going on, and Gizelle had magically slept through it all. Gwen, however, looked as shocked as I felt.
"Hale. It could just be the mead..."
"It's not," I replied, trying not to show my emotions. "There's no way any drunk man could spin a story as accurate as that." Gwen squeezed my arm sympathetically.
"Well, at least you found him," she said quietly, trying to be as positive as possible. Percival looked hopelessly confused, but tried to be as supportive as Gwen. We walked back to where we had been before Gwaine embarked on his adventure to the past.
I lay down, and tried to make myself as comfortable as I could. I tossed and turned for a while until I found myself looking up at the ceiling. I hadn't noticed before, but there wasn't a ceiling. I could see the stars glowing. They looked so beautiful and calm. They looked so perfect. More perfect than my life was at the moment. I was stuck in a prison cell with two friends, a personal enemy, and possibly the love of my life. We still had to get out to find my sisters, who would help us defeat Cairon. Who knows what he's done since we left Camelot? We only saw a small scale of what he could possibly be doing at this very moment. It angered me that I couldn't do anything, that all I could do was lie here and worry about my petty problems.
"Please sisters, help me," I pleaded. My eyes slowly drooped as the starry night sky blurred in my vision and my head slumped to the floor.
I was back in the clearing, the empty clearing. My head shot from side to side as I searched for my sisters.
"Please! Help us!" I screamed into the echoing wind. "Help me..." I whispered, sinking to my knees. I felt the brown grass below. They weren't here. Had they given up on me? They couldn't! I needed them! We needed them! They couldn't leave. The wind gained speed and my hair whipped around my face, getting stuck to the salty tears that were leaking from my eyes. I ripped out chunks of the dead grass and threw it into the wind in anger.
"So this is it?" I yelled in anger, getting to my feet with tears still streaming down my face. "You're just going to leave me?" I laughed without humor. "Your own sister!" I looked around the clearing, hoping that my taunts would cause them to come out into the open. "Or was it all a lie?" I continued. "Was everything you told me a lie? Did you lie to me just like everyone else has?" My eyes continued to scan my surroundings; nothing but my own voice echoed back at me, pitiful and croaking. I marched towards the center of the clearing, hoping to find them, but as I marched the clearing faded. Everything spun out of control; my feet left the ground and a sob escaped my trembling lips. I closed my eyes tightly and soon after felt my body hit the ground hard.
"That wasn't the best landing," I heard a voice say with a hint of humor.
"Someone's out of practice!" said another singsong voice. I recognized those voices. My eyes shot open, and I saw my two sisters standing above me. Both were smiling, one with a sweet smile on her lips and the other's was slightly teasing. I was starting to wonder if I should trust these two. They had been watching silently while I slowly started to unravel.
"Wasn't that magical?" the teasing one asked. The sweet one whacked her arm lightly.
"Hello, sister," she said, smiling still. I wiped dirt off my arm and pants as I stood up to glare at the two.
"Why weren't you at the clearing?" I stuttered. They both smiled.
"We are at the clearing," the sweet one responded, pointing behind me. I could see the clearing in the distance. It was a little far, but I still wondered why they couldn't have just called me over instead of disorientating me and causing me to land on the not-so-soft dirt. I asked them this, and the teasing one shrugged.
"I needed practice, and we didn't feel like walking," she joked, receiving a glare from the sweet one who then turned to me.
"You have not found the clearing," she stated, completely ignoring my earlier question.
"Uh... I... no," I admitted, hanging my head. She surprised me by smiling yet again. What is with her?
"Do not worry, sister. Soon the locks will be undone, the chains will be broken and the journey shall continue with new company," she said. I sighed angrily.
"Yeah, it's annoying sometimes, isn't it?" the teasing one said. I looked at her questioningly. "The riddles," she answered. I laughed bitterly.
"Yeah, extremely." She smiled at me, and I hoped she might give me straight answers for once. She just shook her head as if she read my mind. My shoulders slumped.
"What would be the fun in just giving you the answers?" I was about to respond, but at that moment a huge gust of wind caused my sisters' images to blur.
"I'm sorry," I heard one of them say. I'm guessing it was the sweet, motherly blond because the other didn't seem to be paying attention anymore. The wind gained speed, and soon enough my body was spinning once again, faster this time, down into the darkness until I felt solid once again.
I gasped as I sat up after my dream. My forehead was sweaty, and my back ached from the prison cell floor. I sighed, looking around at the sleeping forms of my friends (and one enemy). I looked up at the dark sky, feeling one stray tear roll down my face. I wiped it away angrily with the back of my hand. Stupid riddles, I thought before closing my eyes in hopes of getting some sleep before the sun rose. But I never saw the sun rise. I stared up into the sky, and nothing ever changed. The same stars twinkled. Then, when one star dripped on me, I realized that they were actually glowworms. I didn't know glowworms lived inside trees. I wiped my face and found a spot in the cell where there weren't any. I tossed and turned for a while, but eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.
A few hours later - I guessed it was around dawn - everyone was awake... everyone, that is, except the snoring lump that was Gwaine. I looked at the others, who seemed to be ignoring him, and stood up. I walked over and picked up a glass of water that we were given last night. I marched right back over to him and emptied the contents of the glass all over his face, getting some in his mouth, which was hanging open. His eyes bulged as he sat up, coughing out the water. I walked back and put the cup down, satisfied. I heard a groan behind me and turned around to see Gwaine trying to shrink into the corner grabbing his head. I laughed slightly as he rubbed his face.
"Are you alright?" I asked in mock sympathy. He tried to glare at me but his face just scrunched up in pain as he groaned.
"Shut up, Hale. Please don't yell..." I looked at him weirdly.
"I wasn't yelling." He shrieked and put his palms over his ears in agony.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" he yelled, rocking back and forth like a small child. I couldn't help but laugh as he rolled over onto his side with his knees still up to his chest.
"Ouch," he grumbled, massaging his temples. I sat next to him, still laughing.
"You're going to die one day from all that drinking, and I'm going to say 'I told you so' over your dead body," I scolded. He stopped his groaning and sat up, looking at me. His pained face softened a little before it scrunched up again, looking as if he was in more pain than before.
"Hale, I -" he started. I just raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Talk later, water now," I said, handing him a glass. He took it gratefully. "You really need to stop drinking," I said before standing up and walking to the other side of the cell to Gwen, not letting Gwaine respond.
Hours had passed, yet we still sat in this cramped cell. I stared at the glowworms, a new habit of mine. I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall behind me, smiling slightly. I took a deep breath and heard footsteps coming towards our cell. I stood up, opening my eyes. I walked over to the cold bars and grabbed them, trying to see who it was. It was the guy with one eye from yesterday bringing food. Yes! I thought as my stomach growled hungrily. He came over and handed me the loaf of moldy bread and dried fruits through the bars, and I passed it along to everyone else. It was devoured in a matter of minutes. The man just shuffled off, I'm guessing to go feed the others. We all sat in silence, eating the little amount of food we got. I suddenly wondered how the others were faring; Arthur probably wasn't happy about the less-than-princely portions. I jumped at the sound of something clanging on the ground from far away and a distant shout.
"Merlin, you IDIOT! Look at this, look at what you did!" I laughed loudly. That answered my question. If Arthur was strong enough to yell, that was a good sign... for everyone except Merlin. I'm guessing Arthur continued to yell at Merlin because I could still hear a distant grumbling of angry words. I chuckled and continued eating my food until it somehow disappeared. How did that happen? I wondered grumpily as I swallowed. Oh yeah, that's how. I sighed. I stared at the wall across from me as I heard the others finishing their food as well. My eyes traced the cell. This damn tree, I thought. We're going to die in here, aren't we? Cairon will kill everyone and we are going to die of starvation and boredom because some stupid twigs defeated us. I breathed deeply, trying to calm myself down as I continued to stare at the wall for what felt like hours. Everyone stayed silent, obviously feeling some tension from my cold stare.
The hours ticked by, and yet we were only greeted by silence. A silence that echoed through the cells and slowly gnawed at my insides. A silence that was so mocking, so powerful. A silence reminding me that it was over; we were trapped. My hope was gone. I couldn't seem to think straight enough to figure out any possible way to get us out; it seemed that there was no way out. I cursed at the walls. I didn't want to be conscious anymore. It seemed that when I was, all my thoughts spiraled in a depressing direction. I lay down on the cold floor, hoping for some more sleep. My thoughts calmed and my breathing slowed.
I felt that I was about to drift off when I suddenly heard the cell door being unlocked and heard the screeching of it being dragged across the ground as it opened. I lifted my head to see the one-eyed man again. He wanted Gizelle. He claimed that they were going to question her; he seemed to be holding some kind of torture device. Gizelle looked at it in horror. The man led her out after slamming the cell door loudly. Why did they want her first? I thought. She doesn't know anything. Heck, she doesn't do anything. There's no point in questioning her. I couldn't help wondering why they did. I tried to put it from my mind and go back to sleep, but something about it kept bothering me. They don't need her, and we don't need her, which is exactly why they won't get anything from her. She isn't one of us, she's just... there. I suppose they didn't know that, but somehow I felt they did. I felt that it was almost obvious to see that she didn't belong with us. And yet, they wanted to talk to her. Would they bring her back? What were they going to do to her? Who would be next?
I glanced quickly at Gwaine and scolded myself for it. I don't need to worry about him. He can take care of himself. I need to forget about him and everything he claims to be. But I can't. I wanted to believe he was the boy, and then I didn't. I scolded myself once again. I needed to let him go, let that fantasy go. But the fantasy stuck, along with Gwaine. I felt about ready to yank all of my hair out in frustration. I saw Percival from the corner of my eye looking at me. I turned my head and saw his confused expression.
Are you alright? he mouthed. I looked at him, not sure how to answer. In the end, I settled on just shrugging while my head bobbed up and down slightly. He looked at me with more confusion than before. I sighed. I will be, I mouthed back. He nodded in understanding. I turned to continue staring at the wall.