Fairest || Merlin
Traveling From Camelot to Arendelle wasn't meant to be a casual stroll through the forest gardens, Merlin knew that. He also knew that Elsa had traveled the journey multiple times without running into too much trouble. Yeah, her smaller group sizes had meant they could go faster using magic, but why did quests always have so many mini-quests wrapped inside of them?
These are the thoughts that sat in Merlin's mind when he woke up tied to a tree with what looked to be a collection of vines. Vines that still grew around him, visibly climbing around his legs.
A quick look around reveals that the location has changed from forest clearing to the entrance of a cave, but their party is intact. No one is missing. A good thing because that means no one is dead, and a bad thing because it means no one escaped. Their captors are nowhere to be seen. Neither are their horses or their belongings. If Merlin had the use of his arms, he would have checked for a knife hidden in his clothes, but he doubted it was still there.
The only other person awake was Gwen, who stared back at Merlin in wide-eyed silence. Merlin guessed that somehow she could feel the magic too, despite never having seen Gwen show any signs of having magic herself. Perhaps magic at this volume could be detected by anyone. It lingered in the air around them, fertilizing the vines with its presence and holding them even more firmly as prisoners. Merlin's only comfort was that the magic didn't feel unfriendly or malicious. Perhaps it would be swayed by knowing he was Emrys.
One by one, the others woke up as well, somehow receiving the message that they too should stay quiet, at least until they were all aware of their surroundings.
"We should have done something when we saw that dog," Hans said. "This has to be Hero's doing now that she knows we're on our way to Arendelle. It took a few days for her to act on that knowledge, but this has to be her."
"I don't think so," Gwen said.
Hans laughed softly. "So now you're the magic expert? I didn't expect you do grow into that position so quickly, I'll admit."
Merlin didn't know what Hans meant, but he agreed with Gwen. "She's right. This is something different. It doesn't feel like an enemy."
"And hopefully, we will not be enemies."
The faerie flew about three feet off of the ground, taking up only a foot of space. Compared to previous encounters with the Sidhe, this creature looked more human despite its green hues. After the first one appeared, several others rose from the surrounding bushes.
"What brings you here?" It asked.
"We only intend to pass through on our way to and from Arendelle. If we've offended you, we offer our most sincere apologies," Merlin said.
It moved closer, its translucent wings flapping slowly enough that Merlin doubted they had functionality without the help of magic.
"Emrys," it said. Its high voice dipped in what Merlin guessed was kin to awe or surprise. A tiny finger reached out and touched his forehead, leaving the tiniest bit of magical residue behind. "You wish to defeat time's hero? Arendelle's frozen heart? The grimm keeper?"
"Hero, yes. I'm not familiar with the other terms, but we need to take back control of Arendelle."
Beside him, Elsa spoke with irritation. "Hans was never the prophesied enemy, was he? It was always Hero."
"Yes. Always," the faerie agreed. "And with her against you, time will not be on your side."
A second faerie, this one with a halo of black hair splayed around its head, flew in to rest beside the first. "It may not be on Hero's side either." It looked from Merlin to Hans and back again. "Two is better than one, and Hero can do much by way of lies and trickery, but she cannot become two. Time will follow you both if you ask it. It might not hurt to have her as well." The faerie nodded in Gwen's direction.
"Explain," Hans said. Merlin felt the magic from his words as well this time. With Hero knowing their path, apparently he'd changed his mind about keeping his magic to himself. The faerie laughed, a chorus of the fair folk echoing behind them, laughter like wind chimes just before a storm.
"Perhaps if you had time on your side, you could attempt to command us, Prince. Until then, your words mean little to us."
Hans scowled. "Fine. Would you please explain more about time?"
No answer came from the closest faeries. The farthest ones flickered out of sight until they sat alone again. The vines climbed their way back across legs and torsos, back to their trees and stalks that would take them closer to the sun. Their bags appeared on the ground, only having been hidden by plants to begin with, and their weapons rested on the ground beside them. A horse could be heard grazing only a short distance away.
"So, did anyone else just have a really weird dream?" Gwaine asked, looking around.
It did almost seem like a dream. No evidence was left behind of anything happening. Even so, Merlin knew reality when it struck.
"That was no dream," Hans said, stating Merlin's thoughts out loud.
Gwaine took hold of his sword and pointed it at him. "If that was no dream, then why should we trust a word you say? You're back to using magic."
"The enemy of my enemy is a friend, Sir Gwaine. No need to point that at me. We have bigger problems." He looked at Merlin specifically. "Like, how are the two of us supposed to turn time to our side? What does that even mean?"
Merlin shrugged. He'd read about time spells. There were spells to make a person younger, to make them older, to attempt immortality. There were spells to take a person back in time, supposedly, but none recorded actually worked according to the person that wrote them down. None of the books he had with him would have anything on time - they were all about the elements, specifically ice and water. This was a task for someone back in Camelot.
"I'll ask Gaius."
"Do we have time?" Elsa asked. "We've already wasted time stopping here, it's almost been two weeks since I left Arendelle in the first place."
"The irony of you asking if we have 'time,'" Hans pointed out. Elsa ignored him.
"Whether we have time or not, I think it's riskier to keep going without trying to figure this out. Are we in agreement?"
Hans nodded immediately. Everyone else looked uncertain. It probably wasn't a good sign that the only one agreeing with him was a former, and possibly current, enemy, but Merlin went with his gut, anyway. He pulled out the mirror and hoped Arthur hadn't left it somewhere out in the open, and that he'd be close enough to see it shimmering when he called.
The mirror surface rippled out from the center three times. Then Arthur's face appeared in the glass.
"What's wrong?" His eyes were puffy, and he didn't seem to be wearing a shirt. Still hadn't been woken up, then.
"We need Gaius."
"Oh, I see how it is. Nice to see you too, Merlin. I wouldn't appreciate a report of whatever is going on or anything. I'll just carry this mirror down to Gaius and not ask questions."
"I'll explain everything when Gaius is with you, prat. I don't want to have to go over everything twice."
Merlin watched the ceiling in Arthur's room as the soon-to-be king walked around his chambers, probably looking for some decent clothes. In the end, Merlin heard him open the door and request Gaius be brought to him.
Gaius took the mirror from Arthur when it was offered to him, and Merlin was stuck staring at the old man's forehead.
"Gaius, hold the mirror a little farther away from your face."
He could see a bit of the bed frame behind Gaius now, not just his forehead. Merlin sighed. "Point it at yourself, not upwards."
Arthur came back into view, taking the mirror and holding it so that both of them were in the frame. On Merlin's side, he tried to make space for as many as he could, Elsa squeezing in next to him and everyone else peering over the sides, trying to see and be seen.
"What seems to be the issue?" Gaius asked. "I thought you said magical fire seemed to be the cure for Elsa."
"We were given an interesting message by some faeries," Merlin began. He explained what they'd called Hero and how time somehow played a role. Gaius nodded along with the story. Arthur looked like he was trying his best not to be completely confused. "So if you could do some research for us, that might give us a better chance."
"Of course," Gaius said. "But I think I already have an idea of what they were talking about. It's a balance, like Elsa needing fire to fight her ice. The book speaks of slowing down time in connection to what they call 'tree-speaking', but as a balance for people speaking."
"That's what I can do?" Hans asked, his eyes only just visible in the mirror over Merlin's head.
"Yes. And if your magic is similar to Liesel's, it would make sense that she's used one kind of magic to counter the other."
"But what happens if you don't?" Elsa asked. "I started losing myself to ice magic. What happens if you don't balance people-speaking or time?"
"From what I know about the former, the sorcerer would start believing his own orders, whether they were true or not. Eventually, that would lead to not knowing truth from lies, and potentially insanity."
Merlin watched Hans' head disappear from the mirror glass and looked behind him to check. The Prince held one hand to his head, eyes vacant and a concerned frown lingering on his face.
"So trees," Merlin said.
"Trees," Gaius agreed. "Get in touch with them, and maybe you'll be able to slow time down."
The next chapter is already 2/3 done, and was pretty fun to write. As a warning, though, it is darker than everything else in this fic. I don't think it needs a warning tag, but I'm used to reading stuff that's way worse, so I'm not sure if I'm underestimating.