A/N: Yay, a longer one! (Labyrinth of Gedref Part II) :) I don't own anything.
They had been peeling potatoes for nearly an hour before Arthur made any indication that he had noticed Merlin's uncharacteristically sullen silence.
"Merlin…" he sighed, "Is there some reason why you're treating me like I've killed your grandmother?"
"Nope." Merlin's reply was short and clipped, and the blond boy frowned.
"Don't tell me you're still angry about the unicorn."
Merlin put down his knife and crossed his arms defensively across his chest. "I don't think you should have killed it. It was doing no harm."
"So what? I'm sure it was just another Capitol mutt anyway. Did you want to keep it as a pet?" Arthur tossed his potato to the side half-peeled and began sharpening his dagger instead. Merlin's brow furrowed at the leaning pile of sliced vegetables on his side of the counter that dwarfed Arthur's.
He was opening his mouth to reply when suddenly Arthur dropped the whetstone and flung his knife across the room. Merlin flinched violently, and the dagger fell to the floor with a loud clatter against the flagstones.
"What was that!?" he demanded, but the blond tribute only shrugged.
"A rat. Looks like we have an infestation on our hands. Maybe you should worry about that instead of unicorns and fairy princesses."
Merlin scowled as loud voices sounded overhead. Arthur gestured in the general direction of the stairs. "So why don't you get on that? I'll go see what's going on."
Merlin stared after him half in disbelief as he jogged nimbly up the stairs and disappeared. Part of him wanted to follow the prat out of spite, but his stomach pointed out that dinner would never get cooked unless he kept working. The thought of eating Gwaine's cooking- or what he claimed was food- was enough to galvanize him into motion, and he strode over to the pantry.
The heavy wooden door was sealed tightly against the stone doorjamb, requiring much more effort than usual to heft open, and Merlin scowled at the swollen wood panels. It looked like they had a moisture problem as well as a rat one. It was no wonder people had abandoned the idea of constructing castles centuries ago.
Then, with one final shove, the door crashed open, and Merlin froze with horror. Every single surface of the closet-like space was carpeted in thick fur; writhing patches of greasy brown fur and pink, wormlike tails against the sickly grey-green fuzz of what looked like a millennium's worth of mold. He desperately slammed the door shut with all his strength, shielding his mouth and nose against the putrid stench and gagging on the bile burning the back of his throat. The voices upstairs grew louder and more agitated, and Merlin straightened, eyes watering.
"Merlin!" Arthur's voice rang down the stairwell. "Get up here!"
Merlin swallowed and did just that, wishing he could wash the sickly-sweet smell of rot from his mouth and nose and forget what he had just encountered. He found the others waiting impatiently for him in the main hall; Elyan was in the middle of saying something as he entered, eyes wide to accentuate his wild, somewhat panicked gestures.
"Merlin!" Arthur repeated. "What took you?"
Merlin smirked wryly. "The rat problem." He paused to enjoy the brief expression of puzzlement on the others' faces. "Just a public service announcement; do NOT open the pantry."
Morgana narrowed her eyes. "What-" she began, but Arthur interrupted her, genuine worry shining in his eyes.
"Whatever. We have bigger problems. Look."
He nudged Merlin in the direction of the window, and Merlin could only stare in shock for the second time in as many minutes. What seemed like the entire arena had gone grey and lifeless.
"It wasn't like that yesterday," was all he could manage. Arthur sent him an exasperated glance that praised him for stating the obvious, then scrubbed a hand across his face tiredly.
"We should go and see how far the blight extends away from the castle," he suggested.
Leon frowned and spoke. "If I had to guess, I would assume that it is expanding as we speak."
Arthur's expression darkened. "Is this some kind of disease?" He looked to Gwen and Merlin. "You two are from an agricultural district. Have you ever seen anything like this? Elyan?" All three of them shook their heads.
Morgana moved so that she had a direct view of the desolate panorama outside the window. "Well… we ARE in an arena here. So that would suggest that whatever we're seeing is indeed unnatural. Meaning that the Capitol probably dreamt it up, and we triggered it somehow. The real question is what did we do to set it off?"
Arthur shifted uncomfortably and changed the subject. "Well at least we've remained unaffected here."
Merlin cleared his throat pointedly. "Erm… not exactly. That's what I was trying to say."
Gwaine looked utterly horrified. "You mean…?"
"Yes, Gwaine, we're out of food save for what we all have on us right now."
Gwaine swore brilliantly under his breath, and even Percival looked mildly devastated. Elyan disappeared momentarily before reappearing with an even grimmer expression. "There's no water either." He opened his fist and allowed a fine shower of golden sand to sift through his fingers and filter to the floor.
Suddenly Arthur's face drained of color and he took off running down a corridor to the left of the hall. The others gaped after him in surprise, moving simultaneously to sprint after him.
"Arthur!" Morgana cried out after the blond tribute's receding back, but there was no response; Arthur didn't even slow. He vanished around a sharp corner and the entire Career pack followed, narrowly evading a full-on collision with their unofficial leader as they found him standing empty-handed in the middle of the passageway, staring blankly at the empty expanse.
"Arthur…" Gwen ventured cautiously, and he started, eyes flickering wildly from one end of the hallway to the other.
"He was just here, I swear- I saw him."
"Who was?" Morgana demanded. Merlin's stomach clenched with dread as a cool, unfamiliar voice sounded from the shadows.
"Are you looking for me Arthur Pendragon? It is I- Anhora, keeper of the unicorns."
