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Chapter Text

ㅤㅤㅤIT WAS HARD to fight without the Moonlight blade, Sol ended up being too harsh on her final blow against Ezra and not even her apprentices could take the sword off of his chest, she had to leave it behind against her will.

ㅤㅤㅤThe knight fought like a beast, dodging all the spells Merlin and Solamon tried to cast to take him down, both of them seemed too weak to try and attack him directly, though Jim tried it multiple times in hope to catch it unprepared.

ㅤㅤㅤIt had been only a week since she left her old home to come back with Claire, but they had to fight some monsters along the way; they were lucky with that, it kept her active enough to be used to the fight.

ㅤㅤㅤShe was quick to notice that the knight was aiming his attacks mostly at Jim, Merlin noticed it too, though he was less obvious about it; he got angry at Solamon after she pointed it out, claiming that she thought of him as a dumb man.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well, I wouldn't say dumb. I would say... old, yes, that's the word! Too old to comprehend your surroundings." she played around with a smile, the old wizard murmured cuss words before he continued fighting.

ㅤㅤㅤThe warrior was stronger and faster than the wizards, Claire and Jim could barely lay any attacks on him, it was scary how he predicted every movement they made, as if he studied them before the attack.

ㅤㅤㅤIn the middle of the battle, Sol saw Blinkous stop in a corner to look at a phone that trembled as a it received a call from someone, she followed him to scold him about it, but stopped midway, interested in it after three creatures appeared on the screen; two blue ones and a boy with iron in his teeth - the fairy wondered if that was what the humans called "braces" -.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ohh, hello there! Who are you?" she got near the screen to see more clearly as Blinkous put the phone down to protect himself from the knight with dwärkstones.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Solamon Izzet! Come here, you rascal!" Blinkous frowned, pulling the girl's shoulder as she insisted in staying very close to the screen.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Stop that!" she scolded the troll, who didn't stop pulling her back.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Blinky, who's that?" iron teeth asked, confused with the vision of two glowing golden eyes blinking curiously back at him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Solamon Izzet, that's my name." she smiled, but the boy didn't seem very interested on her. He continued speaking with his troll friend, ignoring the presence of the fairy as she studied the two creatures who stood awkwardly by the boy's side.

ㅤㅤㅤThe ginger lost interest on the screen very quickly, she turned to defend an attack from the knight as he almost slashed her with his dark sword. Her new staff was rather good as a weapon, though Sol was more used to the round blade, she tried many times to swirl the staff like she did with her old sword and fell to the ground with the lack of practice.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I thought you were a good fighter." Blinkous teased the fairy, who frowned in response and cleared her throat before speaking.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I-I'm not used to this kind of weapon." Sol cursed herself silently for stuttering out of embarassment, but the six-eyed troll didn't seem to notice her mistake.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well, then change it to something useful! It's your staff, you should be able to do that, right?" he threw the dwärkstones at the moving knight, but he easily dodged it and ran to Merlin to try and attack the half troll he was trying to protect.

ㅤㅤㅤ"....OH, YOU'RE RIGHT!" Sol realized that she would be able to change the staff's form if she focused enough in it; she didn't have mastery over her old staff but she was so used to it that it became a natural thing for her, so much that it was hard to get used to the new one.

ㅤㅤㅤShe tried to turn the staff over and over again until it eventually obeyed her silent begs for it to become a weapon she knew how to use. It glowed slightly before transforming into a long golden longsword with a sun mark over the wood hilt, along with the cherry tree's small flowers patterned all over the round shaped pommel that resembled the staff's citrine a lot.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, wow, hello there." she greeted the sword, enchanted by it's beautiful looks, before turning it to get used to the short hilt.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Solamon! We could use a little help here!" Claire asked from far, doing her best to dodge the knight's shards.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon ran to help them, stopping in front of Merlin to defend him after he gained a slight cut in the side of his stomach by the mysterious knight's blade. She used her new sword to make the warrior retreat, but he didn't seem like he would stop attacking them any time soon - it was rather hard to wield the sword with only one hand, since her other arm was still broken, but Sol managed to keep fighting -.

ㅤㅤㅤThe green knight threw more shards on their direction and Izzet almost missed a lot of them with her magic shield, she was lucky her magic got better with the staff; though it was hard to wield it, she could feel it provided her more control over her magick.

ㅤㅤㅤThe clink of the swords hitting together as Solamon tried to strike the knight was enough to make her frown in displeasure, she got closer to the beast's face to try and see something behind his helmet, but she could only see darkness and eyes glowing back at her.

ㅤㅤㅤShe forced her sword back, too weak to try and keep up with the knight, and retreated to protect her friends as the enemy raised his sword once more to send more shards on their direction.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Morgana..." the green knight whispered, Sol felt chills down her spine after hearing the name. The ginger looked over at Merlin, who looked as shocked as she was, before she turned back to the creature she was fighting against. Her hesitation after hearing the name was enough for the mysterious warrior to gain the upper hand, he focused his attacks only on the Trollhunter.

ㅤㅤㅤIt was too fast on it's attack, so much that Solamon wasn't able to keep up with him and her shield ended up too small for all of them to fit behind it because if the rush she was in to cast it, Jim was caught by surprise with one of the shards, that hit him right where his amulet was, very close to hitting his heart if it wasn't for the armor protecting his chest.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Jim!" his girlfriend gasped, helping him stand after he was hit. She helped him lay down on the grass carefully and examined the shard superficially - Claire didn't have a good eye for such things, she didn't knew how to help -.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Master Jim!" Blinkous ran to get to his friend, blinking his six eyes as he stared at the shard closely, the trollhunter screamed in pain after the shard started to push itself deeper in his chest.

ㅤㅤㅤThis time, Sol was prepared as the knight raised his sword, however, he stopped midway, frozen. Confused, the fairy frowned, but still walked back to get closer to her friends and protect both the hurt boy and the wizard.

ㅤㅤㅤThe creature turned and dissapeared in his own shadows when they were still distracted, making Sol frown in distress.

ㅤㅤㅤ"oH NoOOOOOO!" she became even more mad after the crow came out of his hiding spot, he was too scared of the green knight to help his familiar out in battle; Izzet wasn't gentle in the slightest as she scolded him about it by flicking his beak multiple times.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Quick, come! We must leave here as it is not safe for us, I have a feeling that this will not be the last time we see that creature and the big danger isn't far from reaching us." Merlin warned as he attempted to stand up, Solamon quickly ran to him and took hold of the old man's arm to help him walk.

ㅤㅤㅤHe guided them through the forest, away from their new home, and raised his staff. They watched as the gem on his staff began to glow and the ground trembled softly.

ㅤㅤㅤThey all stared wide-eyed as Camelot itself appeared from the sky, surrounded by towers that were connected to the main castle by magic of some sort. The big glowing stone in the middle caught Solamon's attention, she looked over at Merlin in search of an explanation, but he said nothing.

ㅤㅤㅤThe curious fairy helped the old wizard and the trollhunter get inside, Merlin was fast to heal himself, but he couldn't take the onyx shard off of Jim's chest even with his stronger spell.

ㅤㅤㅤThe wizard decided that the best decision at the moment was to slow down the shard as it went further inside Jim's chest, the best spell to do that was the crystallization, to which Sol had to help him with - he did most of the work, of course, but the liked the idea of being responsible for saving the half-troll's life, in a way -.

ㅤㅤㅤFinally, the old man explained to the fairy how was it that Camelot was still there, saved entirely, piece by piece, brick by brick. The Heart of Avalon was what kept it flying over the skies with magic, he calmly told her how it was controlled by time itself, which explained the fact that it looked exactly the same as when she left it centuries ago.

ㅤㅤㅤMerlin was kind enough to heal the fairy along with himself, her broken arm felt as good as new after she took the improvised cast off of it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I asked Hisirdoux to bring me the warriors of Arcadia, we can only hope he could do it on time." Sol's stomach twisted uncomfortably as Merlin mentioned his apprentice's name, she still wasn't prepared to face the boy and it seemed as that would happen soon.

ㅤㅤㅤClaire noticed how worried her friend was to see her old friend and tried consoling her by simply putting a hand over the fairy's shoulder and smiling at Sol when she turned to the apprentice.

ㅤㅤㅤThey only had to wait for some hours until Merlin eventually came back, the ginger left Claire to be by her boyfriend's side as she sighed in worry for his state; his closed eyes looked so peaceful, yet she couldn't help but to think he must've been in much pain before.

ㅤㅤㅤWhen they heard a ship landing inside the flying Camelot, Blinkous and Claire went ahead to see their friends, Solamon supposed that they missed each other dearly, but the fairy stayed behind to gain courage before she walked down the small pair of stairs of the entrance.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux sighed as he looked around, he missed that castle, it amazed him how it looked exactly the same as last time he was there. After he was done appreciating his old home, he looked ahead, not being able to see much past the entrance because of the big troll that stood in front of the young teens.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ezekiel! I didn't expect to see you here." Claire hugged the dark-skinned boy as he chuckled slightly, looking over at Steve as he explained himself.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah, it's a long story. Steve is kind of my neighbor and he became my friend now, so-" he stopped talking after he saw Izzet walking slowly towards them.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Miss Ilzzetrum!" Ezekiel smiled; it had been only a week since they last saw each other, but the boy still missed the scolding durring their training sessions.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It is good to see you, little Romeo!" she smiled, approaching them with cautious thoughts. Hisirdoux froze when he heard her voice, he knew that accent very well, it hadn't change a bit.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Solamon...?" he murmured, just to be sure, and the girl's shocked face appeared from behind Aarghaumont, taking a gasp from him.

ㅤㅤㅤBoth the older teens froze, not knowing how they should approach each other, worried about their perception of one another; Hisirdoux had no right to be mad for Solamon's choice of leaving to protect her family, however, Sol felt bad for not considering his feelings as valid as she took her decision of running away.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon gulped before she took a step closer to the boy, who tensed up as she approached him. After she was comfortably close enough to him, she inhaled deeply, trying to regain her courage to speak to her old friend.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux Casperan! Hello... there..." her phrasing slowed down as she examined the boy's clothes, he seemed to do the same as her; it was more than clear that they had incredibly different taste for clothes, neither of them could understand the fashion they were following.

ㅤㅤㅤThe fairy looked up, and so did the immortal human, staring at each other's eyes for a whole minute before bursting out into laughter. Solamon's eyes twinkled as small happy tears formed in her eyes by how hard she was laughing.

ㅤㅤㅤThe people around them sighed in relief for their peaceful encounter, though most of them didn't understand why where the rest of the guardians so tense about it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You dress like an emo teen who just hit puberty!" the ginger's voice was high as she laughed non-stop, though Hisirdoux was not so different from herself. She didn't understand why was his clothing all in black and his jeans were so tight, but it was still funny.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You dress like a grandma!" he pointed at her baggy beige buttoned up blouse and her masculine oxford shoes, laughing his lungs out.

ㅤㅤㅤSoon, the laughter of both the teens seemed to quiet down, though neither of them knew how to avoid the uncomfortable silence that could follow shortly after.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hello? I'm here too, you know." Archibald played with Sol's shoelace to gain her attention, she smiled before taking him in her arms to give him a scratch behind his ear.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hello Archie!" the cat purred as the girl caressed his ears, but stared wide-eyed at her hair after he paid more attention to it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, wow! I forgot how strong of a ginger you were!" Sol frowned and put a hand over her puffy red hair, huffing at the black cat.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What's that supposed to mean?" her insecurity over her own hair was enough for the cat metamorph to regret what he had said out of surprise.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh no, nothing bad, I swear! Sorry, that was rude." he sighed and turned to his dragon form and fly away from the pair.

ㅤㅤㅤThey were all rushed inside by Merlin as Toby asked for Jim and Claire only sighed in response. The path throughout the halls illuminated only by torches that stayed lit with Merlin's magic.

ㅤㅤㅤSol scratched the freckles around her face as she turned to Hisirdoux multiple times, trying to come up with a topic for them to talk about. Merlin's apprentice struggled to do the same, though he was better at hiding his attempts.

ㅤㅤㅤThe crow noticed how unprepared they were for their encounter by how slow the conversation was and joined them by landing on Sol's shoulder, blinking his weird eyes at the Casperan, who was very confused by the appearance of the crow; it was an unusual situation, to stare at a crow's cat-like eye, but he had been through worse so he didn't have much of a reaction to that.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, yes, of course. Hisirdoux, this is my familiar. He doesn't have a name, so I just call him "crow". We were united after I left Eriynx. Did I tell you that it was attacked by my sister's pawn while half of our family was out in battle?" the way Hisirdoux stared wide-eyed at her was enough of a response, the fairy sighed and tried to explain everything in details while also being short on her words, though it was hard to tell history in such a short amount of time.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, wow! So that means you're a master wizard now!" the apprentice smiled widely at her, his eyes twinkled in amazement as she showed him her staff in the form of a longsword.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I suppose so, yes. But I still can't wield it well, I have to train more with it..." she shrugged in embarassment as the boy took the sword on his hands to analyze the golden blade carefully. "Could... you help me train later? Maybe?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Of course, I don't see why not!" Sol sighed in relief with his response, taking the staff back from him after he started to put his fingers over the sharp blade; it seemed as he was still the same idiotic boy from nine centuries before, always having weird ideas like testing a magic swords blade by risking your fingers.

ㅤㅤㅤ"There he is, James Lake Junior in all his glory." Merlin presented the boy stuck in the crystal, Sol's eyes went from his face to the shard on his chest; she truly worried about the boy, not knowing how would they take that thing out of him scared the fairy.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Jim! What happened to him?" Toby - Jim's best friend, for what Claire had told Solamon minutes before they arrived - was shocked with the sight of his friend stuck in the green crystal -.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We were ambushed," the troll Izzet liked the less started explaining. "some ancient, dark warrior. An unstoppable knight clad in green who struck down master Jim..."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Master," the fairy watched as Hisirdoux turned to the old wizard. "is that the same knight we saw at the bookstore?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"One and the same." he responded coldly to his apprentice, not bothering to look at Sol as she frowned at him, angry for the fact that he told them nothing about that. "That onyx shard is working its way towards his heart. I placed him-" Solamon cleared her throat and Merlin sighed. "We placed the boy in stasis, stalling its progress... for now."

ㅤㅤㅤ"If I had my Shadow Staff, I could've saved him." Claire expressed her frustration in words and the ginger by her side couldn't help but to feel bad for her, only putting her hand over the younger girl's shoulder for comfort.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Who is this Green Knight? How do I get my hands on him?" Toby's sudden anger surprised Sol, but the rest of the crew didn't seem as shocked as she was, as if they were familiarized with his short temper and overprotective nature towards his friend.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I do not know." Merlin answered sincerely to the well-dressed boy. "The Green Knight said but one name, which chilled me to the bone."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Morgana." both he and Solamon repeated the warrior's words, frowning as they shared a worried look.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, I hate that lady... wait, I thought we kicked her bee witch butt to the Shadow Realm." Sol snorted at the expressions the small boy used to describe the Dark Lady herself, but Hisirdoux slightly elbowed her in the gut so she would pay attention.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Which he appeared not to know, but he bore the emblem of Camelot." the fact that made everyone gasp did not surprise Solamon that much; she was more confused about the fact that he wore Camelot's image of pride and still called for the enemy's name in battle. She had many theories in her head, but none of them made complete sense.

ㅤㅤㅤAs Merlin turned, everyone followed him as lost little ducklings, he only explained where they were going after he was out on an exposed corridor to one of the towers.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Come with me, quickly. I fear the answer lies in the past." they followed him through Camelot, Sol walked beside Claire to give her support; she couldn't completely understand the situation the teen was put into after her boyfriend was attacked by the onyx shard, but she imagined it was quite hard, most of it from the way Claire found it easier to blame herself for what had happened.

ㅤㅤㅤ"A dark menace is coming, one even I cannot face alone." she could hear Merlin say from far; Sol didn't know when it happened, but she had stayed behind somehow. The fairy was quick to run and catch up with everyone.

ㅤㅤㅤAs they arrived in Merlin's workshop, Sol stopped paying attention as she knew everything he explained to the younger teens around the table, instead, she focused on Hisirdoux's face, lost in thought as he didn't notice her stare.

ㅤㅤㅤHe had changed so much, and yet, so little. The sensation of looking at the same boy after so long was confusing to her; Izzet decided she didn't like it, it made her feel giddy and weird.

ㅤㅤㅤThe sound of a bell outside startled the ginger as she looked out the door to try and see what was happening. It seemed as the others didn't hear it at first as it took Merlin to finish his speech for the rest of them to turn the same way as the fairy.

ㅤㅤㅤThe impact of something hitting the tower made them all fall to the ground, Sol grunted as she turned her eyes to Hisirdoux to check on him quickly before turning to Merlin to wait for him to tell her what to do. After she stood up along with the old man, they all followed him to the battlements.

ㅤㅤㅤSol had to slow herself down so she could walk by Merlin and Hisirdoux's side - they were rather slow compared to the trained fairy -, she felt her eyes widen after reaching the edge of the tower to see what was attacking them.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Merlin, what is that?!" he didn't respond, which made her a tad concerned about the supposedly enemy.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh no! I think we have something of a problem." Archie spoke from the air as he flew next to Hisirdoux, who looked as worried as the teen fairy who stood by his side.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, fuzz buckets." Sol sighed as her friend said that, she missed hearing it from him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No... the Arcane Order... they found us." the fairy froze up when Merlin finally answered her question, she swore she saw him gulp and became even more worried about the situation.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sol, please hug me, I'm scared." her familiar asked, cuddling her neck as it imitated a baby's voice to try and convince her to protect him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"...Are you serious? You literally cannot die, why are you scared?" she frowned, pushing the crow back as he cried like an old man before it flew away to find Claire; she was always more gentle than the fairy.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Everyone, get to safety!" Merlin screamed to the teens in the other tower.

ㅤㅤㅤThe enemy threw big shiny orbs on Camelot and the walls shook a bit, but Izzet became truly worried when the ground shook again, this time it was strong enough to knock her out of balance enough for her to fall from the tower.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Solamon!" she heard Hisirdoux scream for her as she got closer and closer to the ground, but Archie, who was trying to take Merlin's staff, grabbed her on time by the collar of her blouse.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Are you okay?" he asked before setting her down safely. The girl smiled at him, breathing heavily because of the shock.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes. Thank you, Archie." he nodded as a response and flew away to catch the lost staff.

ㅤㅤㅤSol had to recover quickly from the shock as she tried to use her staff to blow up the ice bridge one of the Arcane Order's members had made to get to the other side, but her magic was too weak to give it any damage at all.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We have to steer Camelot through the time rift!" Hisirdoux screamed from far, making Sol roll her eyes; why was he revealing their plans so loudly like that? He truly was still an idiotic boy.

ㅤㅤㅤShe became confused for a moment, there were only two people over the skull sky ship, but she remembered very clearly that there were three members on the Arcane Order. One was the lava person, the other was the ice land person... where was the third one? Nari, yes, that was their name; she only knew it because the forest creature was ጠል's creator.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon became distracted while thinking of it and gasped when Camelot started turning over to the side after the Arcane Order's second champion helped them blow a hit over the walls. Once again, she couldn't keep herself from falling over to the edge of the tower.

ㅤㅤㅤThe girl used her longsword staff to keep herself in balance on the ground and smiled, looking around for someone so she could show off her great abilities.

ㅤㅤㅤ"SOOOOOOOOLLLLL!" the crow screamed in multiple voices at the same time as he lost control on his flying and rolled in the air in her direction.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh no- TURN YOUR WINGS, DUMBA-" she couldn't finish her scolding as the bird hit her in the face and pushed her back with the longsword.

ㅤㅤㅤThe fairy screamed as she fell into the portal Hisirdoux had made by Merlin's command, the crow was falling not so far ahead, but was too shocked to even make a sound.

ㅤㅤㅤIzzet tried to think of a spell to save herself, there were a lot of trees around, so it would be easy to work with that. She casted a rope through her staff and sent one of the sides to a tree, casually swirling it around one of the branches so she could balance herself before falling.

ㅤㅤㅤShe closed her eyes in fear, but the impact of the ground never came, she succeeded to use the branch as a tool for herself, Sol was lucky it was strong enough to handle her weight as she kept swinging from one side to the other on the tree, holding onto the rope for dear life.

ㅤㅤㅤThe sound of horses coming from far startled her and she quickly got up on the three she was swinging from, sitting over a branch to try and see who was approaching.

ㅤㅤㅤThe next thing that happened confused her deeply, she frowned at the sight of Lancelot's shiny helmet and the troupe that followed behind him. They all followed the screams of people falling Sol became worried; could it be her friends? She recognized Ezekiel's scream very quickly, so there was a possibility that they would be in trouble if Lancelot and the guards found them first.

ㅤㅤㅤShe rushed behind the guards with the crow, who kept silent after she threatened to cut one of his fingers off if he said a word and blew her cover. Solamon was too slow, however, and found the teens after they were already being surrounded by the guards.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What manner of sorcery is this?" oh, yes, that was Lancelot's voice alright; she would know, it never failed to make her irritated by how annoying it was.

Chapter Text

ㅤㅤㅤSOLAMON HAD TO think fast, she was considering the possibility that they all fell in the time rift that Hisirdoux had made by his master's command.

ㅤㅤㅤShe was lucky one of the guards far behind the others had the same height as her own, that would be really useful. She pulled the false horns he had over his iron helmet and made him hit his head on a rock before he could ask for help from his comrades, after she checked to see if he was still awake - he wasn't, of course, her attack was a little too harsh and she could swear the back of the helmet was a little damaged -, Sol pulled the man away from the others, into the shadows, in order to not get caught.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Psst! I need your help." she whispered to her familiar, who tilted his head to show he was listening; Sol almost laughed at his stare, she was still not very used to the cat-like eye. "Listen, I don't know if these things are going to fit me with the ring or the bracelet on, so you'll have to protect them for me."

ㅤㅤㅤAs she spoke, she switched clothes with the passed out young man and used her magic to transform her own clothes into small spheres of light that the crow could easily swallow. Since the man was out cold, Sol could steal his armor easily, though she had to sacrifice her ring and bracelet so the gauntlets and gloves could fit. She gave them to the crow so he would return it to her later and he quickly swallowed the jewelry.

ㅤㅤㅤThe helmet piece made the fairy a little angry, she had to cut her own hair with the knight's unused sword so it could fit in her head; Izzet was letting her hair grow after so long and she was quite disappointed to have to cut it against her own will.

ㅤㅤㅤShe pulled the unconscious body to the light so she could cast a spell without using the magic ring she had to sacrifice in order to use the stupid armor and breathed in quietly to focus.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Iussu solis, da vocem tuam ad me." the spell was far from being a difficult one, but Sol was afraid that if she casted it the wrong way it would only consume the energy she would need later on.

ㅤㅤㅤAfter she spoke the words, a small light came from inside the man and got out from his mouth, a little orb seemingly made of glass was the result of her spell. She took it and put it on her mouth after breathing in to make herself courageous enough to do it, the sphere tasted horribly, but she didn't have a choice other than to deal with it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Eyes!" the crow reminded her of her shiny eyes– they wouldn't help her with her disguise, surely.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh! Yes, that– that color changing powder you ate a few days ago, do you–" he coughed the powder in her eyes before she could finish, Sol immediately put her hands over them with a pained growl.

ㅤㅤㅤBefore she could scold the bird, he flew away in a rush, leaving her alone with Camelot's knights.

ㅤㅤㅤSol made the voice sphere roll to her left cheek to avoid feeling it's disgusting taste and ran to catch up to the guards as they marched away with her friends.

ㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤAs she remembered, the king was harsh in his words and incredibly unforgiving in his actions.

ㅤㅤㅤShe watched from the door as Hisirdoux presented his friends, but failed to find words to describe Ezekiel; he was the only one he didn't have time enough to befriend, it was only natural that he didn't remember the boy's name.

ㅤㅤㅤThe king grew impatient for Hisirdoux's lack of words for the younger boy, who was very clearly nervous with the situation.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That is Ezekiel, your highness!" she screamed to gain the king's attention. They all turned to the disguised guard and she cleared her throat, not used to the deep voice that came out of her throat from the voice sphere that she was using. "I-I brought him here, he is a great knight where I live and I thought he would be a great addition to the pikemen on war." she threw smart words she knew of the formations they used, not knowing if they truly made any sence.

ㅤㅤㅤ"And you are...?" king Arthur raised his chin, frowning as Sol stuttered to find the words.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That is sir Callum, my lord. Sir Callum of Vectis Insula." Lancelot explained to his king, Solamon was very lucky he knew all his favorite knight's names and easily recognized the voice of the man she stole less than an hour ago.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Vectis Insula, hm?" the kind seemed more interested in the place Callum came from rather than his name.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Very well then, we'll see if this Ezekiel is truly a good knight. Sir Callum, I did not gave you any permission to bring any knights for me, do not repeat this mistake if you wish to keep your head stuck to your body." the king's threat made Sol shiver in fear; she truly had changed a lot after the human cut off her wings, the sword he carried with himself was only but a reminder that he was capable of truly hurting her if he wished to.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes, my king." she despised those words, but felt obligated to say them in order to keep herself out of trouble. She looked over at her friends to make sure they were all okay and ended up making eye contact with Merlin's apprentice, who frowned before she raised her head slightly so he could see her face; his face of shock was almost enough to make her giggle, it was always nice to surprise him, his reactions were still amusing to her, even after centuries.

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ㅤㅤㅤSol cussed silently as she walked through the castle, lost among the many guards that were on duty. It had been more than nine centuries since she had been there, it was only natural that she had forgotten the path to Merlin's workshop where Hisirdoux should be.

ㅤㅤㅤAs she was losing hope, she found her favorite human man hiding behind a wall; Sol found it rather curious how she could hear his voice, but his mouth didn't seem to be moving.

ㅤㅤㅤThe girl approached him quietly, spitting the voice sphere to hide it in an empty small cloth sack she had found on her way there. Hisirdoux jumped at her touch on his shoulder, but relaxed after he saw her face and smiled in relief.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Where's Claire, Ezekiel and Steve?" he put a finger over his own mouth to keep her from speaking to loudly and she nodded before murmuring an apology.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Claire's serving Morgana, I'm pretty sure Ezekiel and Steve are with Lancelot."

ㅤㅤㅤ"I see." she didn't know how to keep a conversation with her friend after that, it was hard to guess what she had to say to him, so she kept silent.

ㅤㅤㅤ"How did you manage to get an armor so fast?" he whispered to her, turning to hide behind the wall so whoever he was watching before wouldn't see him. Not wishing to get caught, the girl did the same as him, smiling along with her friend.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I have my ways." she winked at him unconsciously; Sol had gained the habit of doing that when she was showing off to her apprentices, she was too late to prevent herself from doing it and visibly cringed at her own actions.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux had a positive reaction to her actions, however. He chuckled slightly and raised an eyebrow in surprise to her bold demeanor; she used to be very shy before they got separated - both blaming history for it instead of their own actions like they did before finding each other again after so long -, he couldn't help but to wonder what else changed about the fairy.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What were you looking at before? You seemed worried." she was quick the subject, taking the man's arm and using it to support herself as she tilted her head to spy the room behind the walls. She could see Archie by the corner of the room and smiled at the sight of the black cat, but became worried to where his familiar was; Hisirdoux of the past, that is.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Where-" the sound of glass being broken made Sol gasp, she blushed and frowned at Hisirdoux as he did his best to cover his laughter because of how she jumped in surprise by the sound. After she hit him softly in his arm for laughing at her, they both turned their heads to spy inside the room, watching as Merlin scolded Hisirdoux from the past for breaking a jar.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ugh, that hair was a mistake." Hisirdoux complained silently, making Sol turn her eyes to his hair to see what he was talking about, she frowned when she saw a high man bun containing his medium hair; that was a detail she didn't remember of.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, I missed that man bun! Why don't you use it anymore?" she smiled at her friend, who scoffed in response.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Are you kidding me? It looks horrible!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"It does not! I think the bun suits you." she defended the man bun she missed so much, crossing her arms as Hisirdoux only denied her statement by shaking his head.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That's very insulting, actually." she preferred to ignore him after that. Hisirdoux sighed by her side and imitated Merlin's scolding as she only smiled, still amazed by how little he had changed over nine hundred years.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Okay, I need to replace past me so I can get my hands on that Time Map and get us out of here. Can you cover me?" he turned to Sol after Merlin left the room, she only nodded in response and turned around to check her surroundings in search of any person that could catch Hisirdoux while he did his tricks.

ㅤㅤㅤWhen Sol turned back, she saw her friend walking in the room after changing clothes and immediately pulled him back by his hair. As he frowned at her for being so aggressive, she put his hair up on the man bun, creating a small elastic with magic to maintain it in his head.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Come on, Sol! It's my chance to pretend I never had that ridiculous hair!" he winced by her touch, that lacked any care at all as she pulled his hair.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Don't be silly, Douxie." she teased the boy, who huffed at the sound of her giggles. "You have to blend in perfectly, or you won't have any chances of getting the Time Map at all."

ㅤㅤㅤAfter she was done with his hair, she pushed the man so he would get in the room before she ran off to find Claire and the boys.

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ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, here you are!" Sol entered the room without any warning, she found Steve and Ezekiel complaining about the hard work they had to put on durring training. Her old apprentice smiled at the sound of her voice, he immediately stood up and hugged her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sol! I was worried about you! Are you that "Sir Callum" guy that helped me back in the throne room?" he asked, distancing himself from the fairy after she pushed him with one hand - Sol was still not very used to physical affection, or to affection in general, with someone that wasn't her family or her familiar -.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That's me. How are you and blondie locks doing?" she turned to Steve, who groaned in response. "Not very well, I imagine."

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, not really. Lancelot's so harsh, man!" the blond complained, kicking his feet where he sat in displeasure.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Huh. Well, that sounds like a you problem." she shrugged, leaving Steve astonished with her lack of care for his problems. Ezekiel, however, was more used to her unsympathetic behavior and only sighed before he turned back to complain about Lancelot and the training in general.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon removed the uncomfortable helmet of her head to put it over the table in the corner, she started to look around in curiosity - it was odd to slowly back to her old personality, though she kind of missed her old self, so she wouldn't complain about it either -. The study books spread through the table and shelves seemed like they were used very often by the lack of care over the folded edges of the pages.

ㅤㅤㅤIzzet picked up a feather with ink in it's sharp tip, wondering if that's what humans used as pens; usually, in Eryinx, it was normal to use your fingers or small sticks to write, they would never take a bird's feather for their own selfish reasons, it would be too cruel to simply take what made them fly for themselves. She put the feather back, messing around with loose pages that had small drawings all over them; Sol recognized one of them as an angry Merlin, that pointed his finger through the air as a frown adorned his old features, painted in black ink. Whoever drew that had a great talent for it, she was quick to notice. Sol kind of had an idea to who was the artist responsible for the creative paintings.

ㅤㅤㅤShe moved away from the table when the door handle moved, immediately reaching for her helmet, but she relaxed when Hisirdoux's tired face appeared from behind the door.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I forgot how much I hate to milk the slorr..." Hisirdoux complained as he got in the room, Sol chuckled, making fun of him silently, and he raised his dirty hands in front of her nose in revenge. She stopped laughing immediately, cursing multiple times in Eriynxit as she punched the boy softly for making her suffer with the horrible smell.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hey, when did you cut your hair?" her friend asked, frowning when he finally noticed her puffy hair reaching only her ears.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Before we got here in the castle, I had to cut it or it wouldn't fit inside the helmet." she sighed in displeasure before she slightly kicked the helmet on the floor, Hisirdoux laughed at the fact that the only solution Sol could think of was to cut her own hair; after he said that it loud, she started pushing his face to shut him up.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I didn't know you had piercings, though!" he pointed to her ears, speaking with certain difficulty since Sol's hand covered his mouth as she pushed him off. After he told her that, her free hand went for her left ear, she still had her helix piercings on.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, I thought ut was common for humans to have it too, so I didn't feel the need to take them off."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well, it is normal to have them, but only in our time. I think it's kind of taboo thing to have piercings in old Camelot times." he shrugged and moved his hair out of the way to show his own ears; they, too, had some holes where the earrings should be, Hisirdoux had to take them off in case Merlin decided that he could pay attention to unimportant details all of a sudden. "When did you get them anyway?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"In Eriynx, of course. I always had them, I suppose my hair covered my ears most of the time since the pretty ladies that work for the king insisted on doing those complicated hairstyles." Sol wouldn't admit it, but she loved those hairstyles, it always made her feel like a true princess; that was one of the reasons she always tried to do those herself in her home back in the human town. She removed her hand from his face and cleaned it on his leather vest, to which he glared at her for, before turning to take her piercings off.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Woah, you even have an industrial!" the spellcaster smiled in surprise as he pointed at her right ear before she took the earring off to put it besides her helmet over the long study table. "Wow, and I thought I had a lot of piercings."

ㅤㅤㅤ"It's a cultural thing. We used to do a lot of piercings to put earrings with protection spells that ጠል made so the enemy couldn't see them. I lost a bunch of them, so I did my own. I don't even know if most of them work, it's hard to write runes in such a small piece." he nodded, interested in the small piece of culture she shared with him. "I'll tell you more about it later, did you get the Time Map?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"No... I'm really worried about that. One wrong move, and we will screw up history without even knowing it." Sol nodded, sighing as she started to walk around the room to think.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Did-" before Hisirdoux could even start another question, Claire entered the room in a rush, not even bothering to acknowledge Sol's presence there.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We have to change history!" Claire's phrasing surprised all of them. Hisirdoux approached the girl, confused to what she was saying. "Arthur's had enough. The trolls are gonna die at sunrise!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, blimey balroths!" Hisirdoux frowned, seemingly as worried as the rest of them. Ezekiel stood up and pulled Steve along with him to join the rest of the crew as Hisirdoux moved to the window. "How are we supposed to stop this and stay inconspicuous?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"It wouldn't be a problem if I just had my Shadow Staff." Sol paused, hoping that Claire wasn't starting the idea of stealing the Staff from Morgana. "I know you said to lay low, but we can't let Jim die."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes, let's see what this future Douxie is capable of." Archie spoke for the first time since he got in the room, Solamon completely forgot about his presence there.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You're right, sod the rules." the fairy sighed, not enjoying the idea Claire and Archie were giving to Hisirdoux. "It's time for a dungeon break."

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ㅤㅤㅤSol rushed through the palace, guiding Hisirdoux and the others as she was the only one who knew where the dungeon was; it was marked in her bad memories, after all.

ㅤㅤㅤShe ran in silence after she saw Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad talking and laughing not so far from the entrance of the dungeon, motioning to the others so they would do the same as her. She frowned when Steve stopped midway, Ezekiel ran into him as a consequence, but didn't seem to mind as they both turned to the knights, who called them for a drink.

ㅤㅤㅤShe turned to the entrance of the chambers and back to the two boys, wondering if she should go back and help them, but Hisirdoux took her out of her thoughts by pulling her by the shoulder, gaining her attention.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Come on! We don't have time, they're going to be fine." he whispered to her and she nodded hesitantly before walking inside the dungeon.

ㅤㅤㅤThe chambers were just like she remembered them; cold, dark and stinky. Though, this time, it was crowded. Most of the cells were locked up and filled with different types of magical creatures. The sounds of the chains and the multiple cries that came from every direction were enough to make her nauseous. Hisirdoux seemed to notice the way she became pale, he held her hand and squeezed it a bit to reassure her it would be alright, Sol smiled weakly at him before she turned to walk around the chambers.

ㅤㅤㅤShe didn't pay any attention to Claire as the girl ran through the dark place to find her lover, instead, Izzet tried to find her own cell.

ㅤㅤㅤHer cell was one of the only ones who wasn't occupied by anything, the emptiness inside the cell gave her shivers. Hisirdoux walked behind her and put his hand over her shoulder to try and calm her down a bit.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hey, Hisirdoux?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes, love?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Thank you."

ㅤㅤㅤSilence. Only for a moment, but enough time to make Sol doubt if she should have said that.

ㅤㅤㅤ"For... what?" he turned to her, his expression was soft, calm. It amazed Sol how much she liked to look at it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"For being there with me. The time I was in Camelot as a prisoner was only bearable because of you, so... thank you." his smile made Solamon pause, she almost melted by how sweet his smile made her feel. "I really enjoyed being your friend, it was nice spending time with you back then, and I really missed you." it was a little hard for her to admit all that, she wasn't used to expressing her feelings out loud since being alone was kind of her new life, her comfort zone was being broken in a lot of ways as she spoke.

ㅤㅤㅤEven so, she maintained her eyes stuck to the floor, too embarassed to look him in the face. Sol, for once, was glad the helmet covered most of her face from him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I missed you too, Sol. And so did Archie. I'm glad I found you again." he moved his hand from her shoulder to her hand and held it close to his chest. Finally, the fairy turned to Merlin's apprentice and smiled at him.

ㅤㅤㅤJust as Hisirdoux was about to say something else, Claire's voice echoed not so far from them. Both the immortals turned to follow her voice in silence, Sol felt a little sad after Hisirdoux had to release her hand to cast a burning knife to cut through the locks of Jim's cell.

ㅤㅤㅤShe helped the man and his familiar to release all the creatures that Arthur had imprisoned, gaining a few tight hugs from the bigger trolls after they were free.

ㅤㅤㅤThey all walked silently to the entrance, this time Hisirdoux was the one guiding them out. Sol tried to think of a way to get out with all the trolls without being noticed by the knights, but Steve's scream from the door alarmed all of the trolls, who were too scared to think straight before they ran to the door to get away before they were caught by Arthur and his knights.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux, Archie and Claire ran after them, but Sol had to stay behind to try and get them some time so the trolls could run away. She put the voice sphere inside her mouth, hiding it in her left cheek, before running off to find Ezekiel and Steve.

ㅤㅤㅤShe couldn't find any of the boys and was starting to get worried for the both of them; Ezekiel was what she considered a "ጠልዪጎል ሀልጎ ርዐጠ ልነ ዐሁፕዪልነ", he only followed someone else on everything he did like a lost puppy, and Steve wasn't exactly a good example to follow around. Just as she turned a corner around the castle, Arthur stepped out of an alley and bumped onto her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Excuse me, your highness." she rolled her eyes, turning around to keep searching for her apprentice and his chaotic companion, but the king held her by the shoulder and pulled her back.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sir Callum, is it? Come, we have to ambush the beasts." he growled in disgust of the creatures before turning to find them on the entrance of Camelot. Solamon sighed before running to keep up with his big steps.

ㅤㅤㅤShe was asked to hold a spear out of the gates to hurt the creatures as they retreated, trying to get away from the sun. Sol winced as they got closer to her weapon and did her best to hide her actions from the king as she retreated the spear back inside to avoid hurting the creatures.

ㅤㅤㅤShe sighed in relief after the shadows grew over the path, smiling as the trolls ran away from the castle. Solamon almost forgot Morgana was on their side for now, that was good... maybe not, but she wouldn't worry about it now. Jim and the other trolls were safe, that's what truly mattered.

ㅤㅤㅤSol followed the guards on a horse of her own - it was quite hard to ride a horse, she had only done it once to run away from the witch trials in 1695, which was a fun memory now that it was over -, they were so fast it was hard to keep up. She pulled the horse's bridle after Gunmar appeared from behind Jim, protecting him from the guard that almost killed him.

ㅤㅤㅤThe fairy flinched when Gunmar killed the knight; she had seen him only once before, but it was enough for her to fear him for the rest of her life.

ㅤㅤㅤKing Arthur and him stared at each other, only speaking for a few moments before the human king turned back with his knights.

ㅤㅤㅤAs they went back to the castle, a strong light on the trees around Camelot hit Lancelot in the eyes after he turned once more to look at the trolls he couldn't capture moments before, that alarmed the knights, who got out of their horses to help Lancelot as he covered his eyes with his hands.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Something... something in the trees just tried to blind me!" oh no.

ㅤㅤㅤShe got out of her own horse in a jump, just as surprised as the other knights; it couldn't be herself, the king and his pawns weren't supposed to find her until the next time they were out hunting for the creatures that escaped. It couldn't be her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"There! I think I see something!" one of the guards pointed at something hiding behind one of the trees. The creature jumped from one tree to another and Solamon froze when she caught the sight of long ginger hair like her own.

ㅤㅤㅤA knight by her side used his crossbow to shoot on the weak branch the fairy was standing on, making her fall to the ground. Sol gasped when she saw her wings on the creature's back.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What is that?" Lancelot approached past Solamon, who stood up in fear and threw her poison bottle on him. Already expecting the attack, Sol blocked her own attack with her shield, which got damaged rather quickly with the poison, that had hints of acid on it.

ㅤㅤㅤShe was quick to run after herself from the past after the fairy turned to run away, Sol pulled her past-self's feet to make herself fall and used the cable of her sword to black out past Solamon.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Good job, Sir Callum." she didn't bother to look up at Lancelot as he congratulations her for capturing herself.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What is this abomination?" Arthur frowned from behind her; Sol supposed it was only a rhetorical question since Merlin wasn't there to explain it, but Sol had to explain it herself if she wished to stay alive.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I think it's a fairy, my lord. I'm sure Merlin knows something about it. It looks very human-like, doesn't it?" she felt disgusted for calling herself a "it", though she did her best to hide any sympathy she felt for herself. "My king, do you wish to take it with us so Merlin can put his own opinion on what we should do with it?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"It doesn't look very threatening..." the king pondered for a moment before he turned to the rest of his guards. "Very well, take the beast with us, I will talk to Merlin about it to know if it is a threat to us."

ㅤㅤㅤSol sighed in relief, her heart was pounding as she looked at her own face, sleeping peaceful with the small cut on her forehead - Sol didn't do it on purpose, she was only trying to make herself collapse and couldn't help but to feel bad for hurting the poor fairy -.

Chapter Text

ㅤㅤㅤ"YOU WERE CAPTURED already?!" Hisirdoux asked, confused when Sol explained how she caught herself from the woods a few moments ago. She had to take a sit on Hisirdoux's bed to breathe properly, as she was still shocked after seeing herself from the past. "That doesn't make any sense... did- did we do that? Oh, fuzz buckets, it's my fault for not planning this correctly..."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Arthur is furious. He's locked down the castle." Hisirdoux walked around in circles as Archie got up on the barrel that was put by the side of the door. Merlin's apprentice didn't seem to have heard Claire or Ezekiel as he worried for what would happen next.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Luckily, he thinks you're so incompetent, you can't be a suspect." Archibald smirked as he spoke, gaining a glare from both Hisirdoux and Solamon.

ㅤㅤㅤ"At least we got Jim and the prisoners away safe." Claire got up from the bed to comfort Hisirdoux just like she did with Sol. The spellcaster smiled before he turned to the door.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Where are you going?" Archie didn't seem as confident of future Hisirdoux's abilities as he was before, his worried tone of voice showed that.

ㅤㅤㅤ"To get that Time Map. Hopefully with Arthur on the hunt, I've got a chance to finally snatch that thing." the boy explained himself before he turned his face to Sol, who slowly got up from the bed to get her helmet from one of the book piles near the window. "Sol, can you come with me? Maybe with some help It'll be easier for me to get it."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sure, it's not like I have anything better to do anyway." she murmured before putting on her helmet to leave the room along with her friend.

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ㅤㅤㅤSol observed the dark room carefully before she let Hisirdoux go inside, he used the light on his hand to guide them through the workshop.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Where is it?" she whispered to him, in fear that someone could be hearing them from outside. Hisirdoux pointed at the round shaped vault and she nodded, following behind the boy.

ㅤㅤㅤShe watched as he opened and closed the door multiple times while trying different combinations of the small runes that adorned the door, hoping that the next thing that would appear inside the vault was the Time Map. As he searched there, Sol felt the aura of someone by her side and raised her fists as she turned to the man before he even spoke.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Looking for this?" oh, it was just Merlin. Solamon relaxed, sighing as she took the voice sphere from her little sack to put it inside her mouth; she couldn't risk getting her identity revealed to Merlin, that could easily mess up time in multiple ways.

ㅤㅤㅤShe watched Hisirdoux's shocked expression turn into worry, Merlin tapped the Time Map patiently as he raised his right eyebrow.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Or perhaps, this?" the master wizard raised his free hand and a sleeping Hisirdoux came into view. Solamon glared at her friend, silently judging him for not hiding his past self correctly.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, fuzz buckets." he elongated the "f" so much that Sol thought he was going to say another word instead. She preferred that word, of course, but wouldn't judge Douxie simply because of his fear of cussing.

ㅤㅤㅤ"...Is that really all you have to say for yourself?" she murmured to him, still with a frown on her face, and Hisirdoux flinched, surprised by her sudden deep voice.

ㅤㅤㅤHe explained the whole situation to Merlin and the old man scolded him for it, as expected. The bell outside alarmed the girl, who turned to try and see what was going on; had the hunt already started? She truly hoped not to get in trouble for not being there later on. The bell was so loud that it woke up past Hisirdoux, who was a little confused with the situation before he managed to catch on.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Have you any idea what you've done?! I knew my apprentice was an ignoramus, but traveling through time? Time!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"I think we handled ourselves just fine, all things considered. And technically it was your idea." he pointed at Merlin accusingly, his mentor was not happy with his actions.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well, then, you must have botched it up! My planning is flawless!" Sol snorted at that, to which Merlin glared at her for. "And you, pretending to be one of king Arthur's knights as if it's nothing. Where is the true Sir Callum, hm?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"He's most likely dead by now, I left him alone half-naked in the woods, after all." she shrugged, not caring for the three as they stared wide-eyed at her lack of care for the man she was replacing. "What? It's not like I had another choice."

ㅤㅤㅤ"For the record, Master, I had nothing to do with this. He did," past Hisirdoux glared at the future one, who didn't gave him any attention as he followed Merlin with his eyes. "which... is me, and- ugh! Time travel, so confusing!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hey, Merlin? I know I was supposed to clean the stairs but- woah." past Sol stared wide-eyed at the two Hisirdoux, who looked back at her in worry of her reaction to the situation. She tilted her head to the side, confused, before she pointed at them both. "How did he managed to do that? Pfft-" she laughed in their face, they both seemed offended by it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux messed with time and now he is stuck here." future Hisirdoux sighed at Merlin's short explanation, he rolled his eyes as past Solamon smirked, ready to make fun of him for it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hah, it's not a surprise that he messed something up."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" both Hisirdoux's complained, though future Hisirdoux was more offended by her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Nothing!" she defended herself, smirking at the both of them, before she turned back to Merlin to give him the piece of cloth she was holding. Sol was surprised her past self was ignoring her existence in the room so easily. "As I was saying, I don't want to clean the stairs anymore, so I'm going to walk around the castle. Goodbye Douxies!" she smiled sweetly to Merlin's apprentice and glared at her future self before running off, Merlin couldn't stop her since past Hisirdoux still didn't know about her being a fairy, the master wizard couldn't risk her secret by treating her like his prisoner in front of everyone.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I don't remember being so mean." she whispered to future Hisirdoux and he chuckled in response, only shaking his head instead of denying her statement to make her feel better.

ㅤㅤㅤThe old man took the Time Map in his hands and opened it, future Hisirdoux and Sol both frowned at the sight of it's light becoming red. Merlin didn't seem very content with the red light either.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ah! The timelines are in complete disarray!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Look, I can fix this, I swear!" Hisirdoux defended himself, approaching Merlin and the Time Map carefully.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ah-ah, your meddling has already wreaked enough havoc on history." Izzet didn't know what most of the words he had just said meant, but she kept silent, pretending to know exactly what he was saying.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Then surely we can use the Time Map to change things back," Archie started, walking around Merlin's table as he spoke to him. "and then it'll all be as it was."

ㅤㅤㅤ"It doesn't work that way." Merlin's stubbornness was enough for Sol to loose her patience with him, she blocked out the conversation by turning to pay attention to something else.

ㅤㅤㅤSol observed the people from outside the big windows as most of them walked around town with no worries; it made her sad how most of them were unaware of the Camelot's current situation on the war and how chaos would emerge among them in just a few days from now.

ㅤㅤㅤCamelot's calmness on the streets remembered her of her own home, the way fairies were always working on something as they flew or walked around Eryinx, not worried for what happened outside their home. An ignorant mind, Solamon could see it now, since it was the lack of empathy for races outside of Eryinx that got them to not know about the war that would kill them.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ah! By my beard!" Sol became alarmed with Merlin's shout and immediately turned to them to see what was going on. "Not that bad, eh?"

ㅤㅤㅤThe Time Map showed king Arthur, laying down with his eyes closed. Dead. Sol would have laughed if the possibility of the king's death didn't scare her; she didn't know what would be of her future if he wasn't there for the war that would take her family from her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Your little dungeon break must have changed fate." Merlin hurried to the door, turning back to his apprentice just in time to see the false knight open her mouth to deny his statement; the dungeon break would have happened anyway, Morgana probably was the one who helped them escape instead of Hisirdoux the first time. She thought for a brief moment - Merlin didn't know she was Solamon, it could be risky to reveal herself now by telling him she had been a prisoner inside the dungeon -, and then closed her mouth, giving up before she even started to defend her friend. "Now, unless I stop it, the king will die!"

ㅤㅤㅤSol only spoke after Merlin was gone, past Hisirdoux ran out to catch up to the old man and Archie followed him, leaving future Hisirdoux and Solamon behind. The fairy tried to say something that would make him feel better, she was starting to sulk by his blank stare at Arthur's dead body as it rotated on the air.

ㅤㅤㅤSighing, his friend closed the Time Map, making him blink in surprise before turning to her; he showed himself a little grossed out after he saw her spitting the voice sphere to talk to him in her normal voice, staring at the small shiny orb as she put it inside her coin sack.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Listen, Hisirdoux," oh, how nice it was to finally hear her true voice; "Sir Callum's" voice was a little too loud and cranky for him to get used to it. "Merlin knows what he's doing. Even though I don't approve of his choices, which are questionable and you know it, to make sure history goes smoothly, he knows what he does; we have to trust him to handle it now."

ㅤㅤㅤ"No... Solamon, you don't understand, I have to fix this, I screwed up, it's only fair that I help to deal with the consequences of my mistake." he grabbed her shoulders, frowning as she blinked in confusion before sighing; she and Hisirdoux had a lot more in common than she remembered, she understood quickly that his actions were not only because he made a mistake and felt the obligation to fix it, but because Merlin became disappointed at him for doing something wrong - his high expectations on his apprentice couldn't be reached, and, of course, it wasn't Hisirdoux's fault -.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Okay. I'll help you, then." she was there before, Izzet knew nothing could change his mind now, so she might as well help him to try and fix history.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Thank you." the fairy became startled when he removed his hands from her shoulders and held her hands instead; he had the habit to do that, she noticed, as it wasn't the first time he reached for her hands. Sol became a little self conscious after he frowned, looking down at their hands, and cleared her throat to call his attention.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Is... there something wrong with my hands?" Hisirdoux felt his eyes widen and immediately shook his head frenetically to deny her question.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, no! I just- um, well... I hope this doesn't sound weird, but your hands always gave me some kind of comfort. They were always so warm... I can't feel them when you have those gloves on." he explained, using one hand to scratch the back of his own neck; Sol completely forgot he had the habit of doing that every time he was nervous, she tried not to laugh, but the deja vu feeling that his blushing face brought her was enough to make her giggle slightly. Merlin's apprentice looked up, surprised to see her laughing at his actions, but slowly started to laugh with her; he couldn't help it, her laugh was contagious.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I know what you mean, don't worry. Yes, I suppose the gloves do not help, huh? The whole armor doesn't, it's so uncomfortable and itchy and hot! I feel disgusting." she removed the helmet with some of Hisirdoux's help, cleaning her face before putting it back; Sol's pale face was sweaty and the feeling made her face twist with repugnance.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Don't worry, now that Merlin knows that we're from the past, I'm sure he can find a way to take us back to the future, then you won't have to wear the armor and you can go back to your grandma clothes." he smiled, teasing her as he left the room. Sol gasped, as if she had been betrayed, and softly punched the boy in the arm before leaving with him.

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ㅤㅤㅤ"Man, I'm so tired..." Ezekiel complained, groaning as he supported himself on Sol's horse, that didn't seem to mind the boy as she gave him an apple. She had to be a little far away from the horse after that; he was known to be a grumpy horse, as she heard from the other knights, and, since she was linked to nature, she could calm him down easily even if she didn't intended to, so it could be a little suspicious if seen from far, Solamon thought it was best to avoid it.

ㅤㅤㅤThe horse, of course, didn't help, as he followed her around after she gave him a treat.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What do you mean?" Ezekiel turned to her after she spoke to him, her deep voice was still hard to get used to.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Steve has it easy, he gets all the easy squire work but I get the boring, hard ones. Damn you, Sol, for training me so well that Lancelot thinks I'm actually a knight!" he crossed his arms, frowning at the fairy as she laughed at him. Sol put her arm around Ezekiel's shoulders and shook him slightly, trying to make him feel better.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'm sorry that I'm a good teacher, I guess. Don't worry, the hard knight work will be over soon." she sighed, truly hoping Hisirdoux was right about Merlin finding a way for them to go home soon.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well, at least I get to spend more time with Ste- wiiiith my friends. And... stuff..." Ezekiel looked away, clearing his throat before he hurried to walk away from Sol after he heard her snort; she knew what he was about to say and was ready to tease him about it.

ㅤㅤㅤAfter she was finished preparing her horse, Solamon started to walk around with him to search for her friends, sighing heavily in relief after she found them all hiding somewhere the other knights couldn't see.

ㅤㅤㅤShe approached them the same time Steve and Ezekiel did; her old apprentice was very clearly avoiding eye contact with her, still embarassed for what had happened minutes before that.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Because of us, Arthur's now faded to eat the big one, too!" Hisirdoux explained to the younger girl, putting his hand over the Time Map to open it and show Claire what he was talking about.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Eat the what?!" as soon as Steve shouted, Sol shushed him with a glare, he whimpered in fear by the look she was giving him before turning to the rest of his friends. "Oh no, was I supposed to bring food?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"He'll be eating a death sandwich, Steve." by Hisirdoux's tone of voice, it was clear that he was as exhausted from Steve's lack of ability to "read the room" as everyone else was.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ugh, who would want to eat that? Gross." Izzet and Claire ignored him after that, both sick of how dumb he was. Ezekiel chuckled before putting his hand over Steve's shoulder, patient enough to explain quietly to the boy what Hisirdoux meant by that. Merlin's apprentice groaned before he spoke, more stressed about the situation than everyone else.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Look." the fairy approached her friend as he spoke, leaving her horse behind after she told him to stay put; it was no surprise that he obeyed her, though he was hesitant not to follow her inside.

ㅤㅤㅤShe stood by Hisirdoux's side and started caressing Archie's ears just like she did to her own familiar when she was stressed; the black cat purred at her touch, but stayed silent as they paid attention to Merlin's apprentice. He opened the Time Map and Arthur's dead body appeared to them once again.

ㅤㅤㅤ"If Arthur dies, we lose the Battle of Killahead and the war." she almost chuckled at the fact that the only reason Hisirdoux couldn't let the king die was because of the battle, it seemed that he was salty towards Arthur just like she was after he took away her freedom.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Which will probably mess up time so much, you'll never be able to return home." Archie's words made all of them tense up in a second. Hisirdoux rolled his hand over the Time Map, making Toby appear in the air as the representation of their time. Claire gasped as he dissapeared and Sol frowned, crossing her arms to hide how tense she was.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh no, Toby! What's happening to him?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"The future- our future is vanishing!" Hisirdoux tried to roll the Time Map again, searching for something before their time - an answer on how to fix what they did, maybe -, and they all gasped silently when Arthur appeared again, this time very much alive, with Morgana by his side, both of them were smiling.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What's that?" Claire spoke first, reaching for the vision of the two siblings and surprised by how happy they seemed.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well- well, that wasn't there before." Hisirdoux kept rolling his hand over the Time Map, as confused as everyone else by the new sight given by the small object. "It's a new timeline, one where Arthur and Jim live."

ㅤㅤㅤ"And Morgana's the hero?" Claire added and Sol flinched, not liking the idea of having that woman as her hero, even if it was their best option at that moment. "I thought she was destined to become Mistress Doom."

ㅤㅤㅤ"It looks like there's a possibility, if we get Arthur and Morgana to reconcile, then, somehow, nobody dies." Hisirdoux's words gave Izzet some kind of hope; if her friends could survive in that new timeline, then...

ㅤㅤㅤ"Maybe my family can live here too! I-I can save them!" she smiled and her friends copied her action, Claire was the only one who reached out to take her hands and give them a reassuring squeeze.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Squire Steve!" a knight's voice - Solamon recognized it as Galahad, the old man that insisted he was the one who taught her everything she knew; everything Callum knew, that is - called for the boy, who froze in place. "We are all thirsty!"

ㅤㅤㅤEzekiel frowned, a little sad for his friend since the knights were only using him to grab their beers and do most of the work for them, but he didn't think of that anymore after he saw Solamon's smirk and eyebrow wiggle; she was clearly teasing him, even without saying a word.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'll keep an eye on Morgana. Douxie, you work on Arthur," Hisirdoux nodded to Claire and ran out with Archie to find Merlin and follow him on the hunt. "and, guys, make sure they don't kill my boyfriend."

ㅤㅤㅤSteve saluted his friend, Ezekiel and Sol only nodded before she ran off to find the princess. Both boys looked over at Solamon, expecting her to take the lead, and she sighed, rolling her eyes before walking off the stable.

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ㅤㅤㅤ"Good, now put your foot right here." the fairy taught Ezekiel silently on how to ride a horse; she wasn't surprised when he told her he didn't know how to do it, but was still a little irritated over the fact that he waited until the last moment to tell her that.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Like- like this?" he did as he was told, holding onto the bridle for dear life. Sol smiled, patting the horse's nose as he nudged her with his face, begging for more attention.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes, exactly! See? You're a natural." Ezekiel smiled at her, but he didn't seem so confident of his skills as she was. Solamon walked away to her own horse, looking around for Hisirdoux.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Looking for something? Or rather, someone?" Ezekiel teased, slowly galloping in the other knights's direction. Sol followed him, frowning as she smirked.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Don't make me start talking about you and your dear Steve, mister." she giggled at Ezekiel's red face, galloping away from him in victory.

ㅤㅤㅤShe stayed at the front, almost side to side with the king, and finally found Merlin's apprentice stuck inside a barrel with his familiar trying to take him out of there. Sol frowned, but kept galloping, scared that anyone could be suspicious of her if she stopped to help.

ㅤㅤㅤThe fairy barely paid any attention to the rest of the knights as they shouted angry nonsense to prepare themselves to fight against the trolls, she was still worried about her past self and, now, her family; trying to come up with a plan to save them was giving Solamon a headache, she didn't have much time and needed the perfect plan so they would all be safe.

ㅤㅤㅤRight now, Izzet would have to do her best to protect the magical creatures; that she could do.

ㅤㅤㅤBy then, she supposed they would've at least gotten far away the Killahead bridge - the place where king Arthur and his knights were heading to -, so they were safe, for now. With their horses and Lancelot's help to find a shortcut to avoid being found by Gunmar or his son, they reached the bridge in no time, Solamon became alerted just in case she felt any auras similar to hers there; it was a great chance for her to train and get better at feeling auras, maybe she could reach her father's level on that.

ㅤㅤㅤShe stopped her horse by pulling the bridle up, looking around as Lancelot got down from his own horse to check for any living creature hiding behind the rocks around them; the king told him to do it, he didn't wish to be caught in a surprise attack.

ㅤㅤㅤSol frowned as she felt the aura of a small creature hiding near Lancelot, turning to Ezekiel to try and communicate silently with him so they could do something to help. Unfortunately, he didn't understand her hand signs and only frowned before turning to look at something in front of Sol; his widened eyes scared the ginger, who turned quickly enough to catch the moment king Arthur was running after Jim with his horse, screaming at the knights to keep up with him.

ㅤㅤㅤFar behind her, past Sol sighed in displeasure as she sat behind Merlin on his horse; he didn't trust her enough to leave her alone at the castle nor to give her a horse of her own. Oblivious to her irritated state, the master wizard frowned at his apprentice, who caught up to him to try and reason with him about changing the past; Sol didn't pay any attention to him, Merlin's apprentice was a little boring to be around and too stubborn for her to enjoy his company.

ㅤㅤㅤNot understanding the situation, Sol smirked and showed her tongue to future Hisirdoux in a childish manner, but he only rolled his eyes as a response. Merlin forced his horse to gallop faster - Solamon truly felt bad for the poor animal, though she didn't dare to say anything to Merlin, as he still scared her a bit -, but stopped abruptly after they reached the entrance of the Wild Wood; just then did the fairy became worried, if they kept advancing, they would reach her home in no time.

ㅤㅤㅤFuture Sol had the same thought, she became tense as the knights around her murmured uncertainties; like herself, they didn't want to go inside the Wild Wood.

ㅤㅤㅤ"They've entered the Wild Wood. Abandon the horses, we head on foot!" Arthur frowned as he observed the entrance, walking in front of the rest of the guards to take the lead. Sol took the opportunity to slowly back up from them after she got down from her horse, looking around briefly to search for her friends.

ㅤㅤㅤAs soon as she saw them, she hesitated; Merlin and her old self were still there, she couldn't be near past Solamon, it would be too risky. Instead, the fairy waited until the master wizard and his false apprentice walked past her to run to her friends.

ㅤㅤㅤBy the look on Hisirdoux's face, Merlin had said something that made him irritated; Claire seemed uncomfortable too, though she didn't show it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Forget him, stick to the plan!" Hisirdoux frowned and Claire nodded before turning to the false knight.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sol, is that you?" she whispered to the girl, covering her mouth from the rest of the guards.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes, it's me, don't worry. I take it that Merlin did not agreed to your idea?" Sol frowned after her friends nodded at her, though she wasn't surprised. "Oh, well, I'm sure we can do this without him."

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'll take the king." Hisirdoux looked over at Claire, who struggled to make her horse keep moving forward.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'll cover Morgana." she frowned after saying the name, still not comfortable about saying her name, as if the Pale Lady herself would jump out of a bush at any moment to attack her for referring to her so casually.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'll try to scare off any creatures that I find so the knights can't find them. I'll call for you if I find Jim." Sol smiled at her friend as she galloped past her, gaining a tense smile in return.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Are you sure you don't need help with that? I mean, you may walk past some creature and-"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux." the red head interrupted the boy, smiling widely at him. "I'm a fairy, I can feel all of their auras."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, right." he scratched the back of his neck, looking down at the grass as if it was the most interesting thing ever. "But don't hesitate to ask me if you need help, okay?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'll be okay, I'm sure it will be easy."

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ㅤㅤㅤShe shouldn't have said that.

ㅤㅤㅤSol's sense of auras wasn't good enough for her to find and scare off all creatures hiding in the forest, the king and his pawns found Jim and another troll that was helping him before she did - hell, they found Gunmar's son before she could even sense his presence -. Even with Steve and Ezekiel's help, they couldn't defend the trolls properly with the fear of getting caught by someone.

ㅤㅤㅤMorgana, however, stood up for Jim and defended him from the king so he could run away. Sol was glad she was there to help, but the princess was unstable with her feelings, just like she remembered, and now proclaimed everyone to be against her.

ㅤㅤㅤFighting with one of Morgana's shadows was hard, to say the least. Solamon was still not used to the heavy armor and the bad quality of the sword she was given didn't help; Sol was only familiarized with the best kind of blades, that one was a downgrade for sure.

ㅤㅤㅤLuckily, they all ran to an open space where the sun was still shinning. When no one was looking, Sol used a simple spell to burn the shadow quickly.

ㅤㅤㅤJust when she thought the chaos was done for her, a scream she recognized as her own came from behind her. Sol turned just in time to see herself from the past on the floor, she fell after the shadow attacked her by the side.

ㅤㅤㅤThe false knight looked around, searching for Merlin - her guardian, at the moment -, but he didn't seem to care about the non-human girl's well being. Frowning heavily in anger, Sol ran to rescue herself, as no one else seemed to care enough to do so.

ㅤㅤㅤThe shadow wasn't prepared to be attacked from behind and was easily killed with one cut, dissipating through the air. Sol, already breathing heavily from the fight she had with the other shadow, looked over at her past self, trying to keep her head down to make sure her identity was hidden.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Are you okay?" her deep - false - voice seemed to surprise the fairy, who was still laying on the ground in shock. Past Sol nodded, taking the hand that was offered for her to help her stand up.

ㅤㅤㅤIzzet looked away from her old self, missing the blush that rose over past Solamon's cheeks as the younger self smiled unconsciously; it was the first time someone there had helped her, Sol felt special for being the first one the knight helped before he ran to rescue Morgana's handmaiden from the shadow she had casted.

ㅤㅤㅤThough it was a little harder to help Claire - this time the shadow was facing both of them, Sol didn't have the element of surprise by her side -, Solamon and her friend managed to finish the shadow just in time to see king Arthur use Excalibur to finish off the rest of them, sending some of their friends flying back with it's immense strength; Solamon and Claire had to hold onto each other while kneeling so they wouldn't end up being thrown back.

ㅤㅤㅤThe ginger couldn't hear what they were saying, as she was too far from them, but Morgana and her brother seemed to be having a discussion as they fought against each other; it was truly painful to watch that, Sol couldn't help but to remember herself fighting her brother during the war, she knew how hard it was to hurt someone you love.

ㅤㅤㅤThe fairy only stood up when she saw Morgana starting a spell that she knew well; she had done it before to kill her sister, Yudith, after all. Sol started to run in their direction, ready to throw herself against Morgana if that's what it took to save both siblings from death, but she was thrown back with the spell as Morgana finished casting it.

ㅤㅤㅤThe impact when her head hit the floor was enough to make her dizzy, but Sol still tried to raise her head to see what would happen next after Morgana screamed in pain.

ㅤㅤㅤThe princess's eyes widened as her hand rolled to the side, the sight was horrifying, but Sol didn't dare to look away. Arthur reached out for her, immediately regretting what he had done.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Brother?" Morgana cried for him, stepping back from the king; she underestimated how far the edge of the cliff was and stumbled back, falling off with a scream.

ㅤㅤㅤToo shocked by the scene, Sol couldn't even move by how dizzy she was. The king, however, stepped back in shock and trembled as he held Excalibur with both hands.

ㅤㅤㅤHe frowned and raised the sword, hitting the fragile part of the blade against the ground and watching as it shattered. It was no surprise that he claimed the sword to be the one to blame instead of himself.

ㅤㅤㅤSol didn't want to admit it, but she felt his pain as he kneeled on the grass and shouted to the sky in anger and sorrow. The bright sky became dark, and the day that was once rushed became quiet, but not peaceful.

Chapter Text

ㅤㅤㅤSOLAMON OBSERVED CLOSELY as the Time Map showed different timelines of her own story; in most of them, she appeared alone, which wasn't very surprising, considering that's how she spent her last nine hundred years of life. However, some of them amused her by how many people appeared smiling with her, as if they where taking a picture. The Time Map changed from blue to red multiple times, to a point that it didn't even scare her anymore, she was starting to get used to it.

ㅤㅤㅤThe false knight sighed, wondering if the red light ment a timeline being erased rather than a "bad timeline", as she thought before.

ㅤㅤㅤAs if sensing her gloomy state, Hisirdoux closed the Time Map before walking around the table, away from the fairy as she frowned at him; Sol wasn't particularly interested in paying attention to what they were saying at the moment, but it seemed Hisirdoux was willing to force her to do it so they could all come up with a solution together.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Morgana tried to help me save Jim," Claire started to speak, making the teens turn to her; Izzet became sad for the girl, as she recognized her tone of voice as worry, guilt. "but all I saw was anger and darkness."

ㅤㅤㅤClaire frowned, putting her hand over a drawing on Morgana's book; the silhouette of the Dark Lady herself, it seemed. "We share the same magic. What does that say about me?"

ㅤㅤㅤSilence was her first response, Sol expected Ezekiel or Hisirdoux to say something, but both of them were occupied with something else - Ezekiel was trying to calm Steve down as he sobbed quietly, Sol didn't know why he was crying and she could care less about the boy, and Hisirdoux was still walking around the workshop, trying to organize his thoughts -. Althought she wasn't very good with words, Solamon felt obliged to say something.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Nothing. It says nothing about you, Claire. Remember Veronica Baudin? She was a user of the Dark- Shadow Magic." she was quick to correct herself, as the title "Dark Magic" didn't seem very proper at the moment. "And she was an amazing spellcaster."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah, but..." Sol sighed loudly, interrupting Claire before the girl could irritate her with her infuriating stubbornness.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sharing the same magic with someone does not mean you have the same beliefs." the girl finally got up from near the table, walking with confidence to where Claire was standing to put a hand over her shoulder.

ㅤㅤㅤThe girl smiled weakly, enough to make Sol grin; she was more than happy when Claire's aura brightened up a bit, though the girl was too shy to show herself more happy than that. Turning her face to look at Hisirdoux, she caught him smiling at her and her friend and became confused. He showed her his thumb and turned back to Archie after that, leaving her even more confused.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What- what was that?" she frowned, whispering to Claire as the girl giggled quietly.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It was a thumbs up. I think he appreciated the fact that you helped me out a bit just now." Claire whispered back before smirking. "You guys got close again really fast, huh?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"I... suppose so, yes. Hisirdoux didn't change much, and I think I didn't, either. It's only natural that we go back to being friends again so fast." Sol crossed her arms, shrugging.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah, friends, sure. And about that "Yes, love" he said to you, have anything to comment on it?" Sol gasped slightly, she didn't expect Claire to have heard what they were talking to each other inside the chambers.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, no. He used to call me that all the time when we were both still Merlin's apprentices."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, did he?" she wiggled her eyebrows, making Sol roll her eyes in response to her teasing.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Camelot is in chaos and Arthur is without his blessed weapon to defend it." Merlin got in the room, saving Sol from any more teasing that Claire wished to do to her. The fairy was quick to put the voice sphere inside her own mouth as past Hisirdoux and Sol got in the room, both carrying big scrolls in their arms.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What's the big deal? Can't he just buy a new one?" Steve stood up, cleaning his runny nose as he spoke; it seemed as Ezekiel managed to calm him down enough for him to stop crying, Sol was starting to see him more as the Palchuk's babysitter than anything else.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Without Excalibur, Arthur cannot lead Camelot to war against Gunmar." Merlin frowned at the boy, making him cower the same way he did when Sol glared at him before. She was happy to know she could be as intimidating to the Master Wizard - at least to the blond idiot -.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Which would mean the end of humanity." Archie explained as he jumped up on Merlin's table, future Hisirdoux followed him, standing by Sol's side as she avoided showing her face to their pasts selves and Merlin.

ㅤㅤㅤ"And our future." the teen completed, frowning in worry. "I'll never get us home."

ㅤㅤㅤ"And I'll never save Jim." Claire hugged her book, sighing in despair. After a moment, she frowned, her eyes lighting up as she smiled unconsciously at Hisirdoux. "But we can fix this, right Douxie?"

ㅤㅤㅤSol frowned, not enjoying the way all of them relied too much on Hisirdoux for the fact that he was the older teen there. She opened her mouth to say something, but a heavy sigh made her turn to her old self before she could help her friend.

ㅤㅤㅤHer eyes widened at old Sol's blushed face; the non-human girl was smiling widely and rocking back and forth in place, staring directly at her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Uhh... are you okay?" she tried to hide her face with her hands, though Solamon was sure the helmet's shadow was hiding it enough. She spoke quietly, not wishing to disturb the others as they spoke about the serious matter that was the fact that they changed the past.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes, yes I am." Sol cringed at her past self's response, she forgot how strong her accent could be when she wasn't truly trying to force herself to speak like other humans. "I just forgot to thank you for saving me that day."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, no, there's no need to thank me." she chuckled awkwardly, pushing past Sol by the shoulders so she would stand next to past Hisirdoux and far away from herself. The false knight turned to the moppet and tilted her body to the side so she could whisper something that only he would hear. "Please keep her away from me."

ㅤㅤㅤThe boy chuckled at that, finding it amusing that the knight wished for him to keep his odd friend away from him. He nodded in response, making Sol sigh before she walked back to stand by Hisirdoux's side once more.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Come on, we're leaving!" the apprentice excitedly pulled her by the hand as Merlin shouted orders to past Douxie, calling out for Sol so she would go along with them somewhere. She frowned, confused on what was happening. He sighed at her lack of reaction, smiling slightly. "Let me guess, you didn't pay attention to what we were saying."

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, I was too busy dealing with a wild fairy. Was it important?" Hisirdoux frowned at her deep voice; it was weird how he never expected her voice to sound like that, even after seeing her put the voice sphere inside her mouth.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, Lord, I'm still not used to that voice- it was important, yes. We're going to help Merlin fix Excalibur." he smiled, almost running as they found their way through the castle with Merlin and the kids.

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ㅤㅤㅤSol sighed as she joined the teens at the side of the ship, watching her surroundings with amusement. She tried her best to ignore past' Solamon's stare from where she was standing, but it was almost impossible to do so. After Hisirdoux was done talking to Claire, he seemed to notice it too.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hey... do you think your past self is suspicious of you? She's staring so intensely!" he frowned after whispering out to her, worried about what would happen if past Sol found out that the no-winged knight was herself.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No. That is not it. I... I think she may have a crush on me." Sol tried to hide her face on her own hands as she blushed in embarrassment for having to say that out loud.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Wha-" Hisirdoux was about to laugh, but stopped at the last moment after Izzet glared at him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I can explain! It's just that... we never became close friends here, apparently, so when I saved myself from Morgana's shadow, it was the first moment someone in Camelot showed any kind of sympathy for old Sol, and... why are you looking at me like that?" Sol frowned, only now noticing the way Hisirdoux's eyebrows were curved down in an expression she didn't recognize.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It's just that... when you say it like that, I feel even worse for what happened back then- I mean... well... now, to the past you."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, don't pity me, Douxie." she waved her hand, dismissing his words. "Like I said before, having you as my friend was something I adored-"

ㅤㅤㅤ"You never said that." he interrupted the fairy, smiling slightly.

ㅤㅤㅤ"...Oh. Huh. Anyway-" Sol ignored Hisirdoux as he giggled at her lack of reaction. "What I am trying to say is that your friendship kept me from going crazy inside the castle that I called my prison. In my true past, you were kind of my savior, just like I was for old Sol here. I can never thank you enough for that, my dear."

ㅤㅤㅤSol smiled at her friend, and he seemed to be caught by surprise at that. She watched silently as his face became red and his expression turned from shocked, to confused, to embarrased and then to a weird - somehow happy - one.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Past Sol probably feels helpless now because she was captured and any kind of sympathy would come as if one had second intentions, no matter who it was." she mumbled more and more, but Hisirdoux didn't look like he was paying attention to what she was saying.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, fuzz buckets..." he frowned, turning away from her as if he had realized something.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What? Is something wrong?" she became self conscious about what she had done; had she said something to make him uncomfortable, somehow? Sol tried to remember her words, but she couldn't capture anything that may have seemed rude or weird.

ㅤㅤㅤBefore he could respond to his friend, however, Steve and Ezekiel stood by their side to watch the the water from close, the dark haired boy seemed much more tense than the rest of them; Ezekiel was afraid to fall off, he was never in a boat before and it was scary.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I try to avoid water." Archie sat by Ezekiel's side over the balustrade, carefully watching the water as if expecting something to jump out at any moment. The familiar spoke to Ezekiel in particular, assuming he disliked water as much as he did.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Personally, I always pack my swimsuit." Steve bragged, cleaning his nose not so politely. Both Sol and Douxie's face twisted in disgust; it was strange how teens these days had become so improper with their manners. "Extra-personally, it's actually my birthday suit."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Are you serious?" Ezekiel was the only one who laughed at his disgusting revelation, the boy seemed less scared of falling off now that he had something else to pay attention to; that seemed to be Steve's intentions from the start, as he smiled widely and shrugged, turning to the boy to tell him more about the silly swimsuit he was wearing.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon couldn't help but to smile at that, it was nice that Ezekiel had a friend to help him deal with all that madness, even if Steve was an idiot most of the time. She knew how important it was to have a friend that could understand your situation. With that thought, the ginger immediately turned to Hisirdoux and found him already looking at her with a soft smile. The apprentice cleared his throat and turned away, embarrassed for getting caught.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Woah, it's a ship graveyard!" Steve pointed out, putting his hand over Ezekiel's shoulder to turn him around so he could see it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We've arrived." Merlin's voice came from behind the teens.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Finally!" past Sol groaned, stretching her arms out lazily before glancing at the false knight to see if she caught their attention with her exaggerated moves, trying to show off; she wasn't exactly the strongest fairy, but Sol took pride of her poorly defined muscles that were shown by her short puffed sleeves.

ㅤㅤㅤFuture Sol snorted, finding the fact that her past self was trying to draw her attention rather amusing.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Huh. The Lady of the Lake is real! I thought she was just a myth." Claire crossed her arms, approaching future Solamon as she spoke to talk to her from close.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh no, the Lady is very much real. Though only Merlin is allowed to meet with her..." Hisirdoux's face lighten up, a happy smile slowly making it's presence noticeable on his face. "Till now."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Because her power is beyond your comprehension." as Merlin spoke, their boat got closer and closer from the shore until the sand stopped it from moving any further.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Is she really all that?" both Sol's questioned, doubting that any powerful creature would be hidden from the world like that. Past Sol giggled for speaking at the same time as the false knight, but the future one only rolled her eyes.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It was from her mystic waters I helped Arthur first retrieve Excalibur and unite the kingdom." the fairies hummed as he spoke, truly interested to see another magical creature like themselves.

ㅤㅤㅤArchibald jumped off the balustrade and transformed into his dragon form, flying away from the boat to guide everyone else out. Sol looked around curiously, the place didn't seem to have any other living being, but she still felt the strong magical aura of two other creatures somewhere there.

ㅤㅤㅤThey followed Merlin and Archie close, too afraid to get lost in the darkness, and Sol helped Ezekiel to get up on a higher ground as her past self scoffed, angry for not having thought of pretenting to need help there too.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux, the sword please." Merlin didn't bother to look at his apprentice as he spoke, he walked ahead of the rest of them as Sol did her best to stay far away from her past self, though it didn't help that the ginger was following her around like a lost puppy.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah! Quest, quest, quest- c'mon Ezekiel!" Steve whispered out to his friend before going back to chanting the word "quest" multiple times, Ezekiel copied him, though in a much more quiet tone.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Watch the ship, I shall return shortly." Merlin's phrase made Hisirdoux's excited smile go away in a second.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What?! We have to wait in the car?" Steve frowned, moving his sword around dramatically and making Ezekiel step back to not get hit by it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"But... I thought we were doing this together..." Hisirdoux's sad tone of voice made Sol sigh in distress; she, too, was hoping to be a part of Merlin's quest to at least distract herself a little bit - thinking of her family was stressing her out, she didn't know if they were safe now that their killer was no longer alive to do them any harm, she still had The Arcane Order to think about and their plans to help Morgana -.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You should be thanking me." Merlin's words made Solamon's blood boil, she forgot how the old man could irritate her; nowadays he was always so sweet to her it was hard to believe he even was such a jerk in the past. "I got you out of Camelot. Arthur's unstable and the people are afraid."

ㅤㅤㅤAs he spoke, the old man got closer to Hisirdoux, he failed to make his apprentice cower as he planed to do with his strong voice, instead, the young man frowned and moved the broken piece of Excalibur away from him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I thought you trusted me." Sol could tell by his tone that Hisirdoux was sad, disappointed even, about the situation; he was so excited to go along with Merlin there it was impossible not to be sad with him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I won't just sit here without making things right!" he continued after Merlin groaned, clearly expecting his apprentice to be insistent. His words made the master wizard frown before he immediately responded the boy.

ㅤㅤㅤ"And I will not lose another apprentice!" Merlin's words truly made Izzet shocked, she was so worried about changing the past that she forgot to think how Merlin would feel with Morgana's death; as much as they fought a lot, he still cared about the princess. Sol felt horrible for not thinking how heartbreaking it was for Merlin to lose someone special to him like that.

ㅤㅤㅤMorgana had no proper burial, there was no body for them to bury, after all. Sol refused to even imagine how bad it was to lose someone in your life for them to be so unimportant to everyone else and be forgotten so easily.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux's face was one of shock too, he wasn't expecting Merlin to snap like that, before he sighed, feeling empathetic for his master.

ㅤㅤㅤMerlin looked down, he seemed like he wanted to say something else, but gave up at the last moment, taking the Excalibur piece by force before walking ahead to enter the cave.

ㅤㅤㅤMerlin stopped in front of two big faces engraved on the stone, they both blinked after a magic wave hit them, probably coming from Merlin himself.

ㅤㅤㅤ "Who dares to disturb my slumb-" oh. So that's where the magic auras came from. Solamon sighed in relief, happy that she wouldn't have to fight any creatures that she thought could be hiding there somewhere.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It's me, Merlin." the master wizard interrupted the left stone and the right one turned it's eyes to look at the wizard as he frowned at them, the eyes of the left one followed shortly. "Open up you idiots."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, it is you! All right, walk in." both the stones went back and to the side, opening the path for Merlin. The wizard looked back once before walking in.

ㅤㅤㅤClaire tried to hold Hisirdoux after he started to run to get in the cave in time, but he easily dodged her to run for it. The stones closed before he could step in, however, and Sol sighed as they made fun of her friend for not managing to get in.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Causa crepitoose!" he tried to open them by force with a strong spell, but the stones didn't move an inch after they were hit.

ㅤㅤㅤIt seemed as they would have to wait there for a while.

ㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤSol sighed, lost in thought as she sat down on a rock, watching Hisirdoux as he built a pile of twigs to make a fire pit. He sighed before he sat down near Sol. The fairy tried to console him by putting a hand on his back, but he barely paid any attention to her, looking around in search of past Solamon; she had offered to help him find some twigs to build the fire pit and was taking a little too long to come back.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Do you think past Sol is alright? She's taking a little while to come back."

ㅤㅤㅤ"I am sure she's alright, dear." he trembled softly with her words, though Sol didn't understand why; probably because he was surprised by the sound of her normal voice, she had taken the voice sphere out of her mouth only seconds before and it possibly went unnoticed by the boy. "She was trained to be a warrior to protect our family, Solamon Izzet can defend herself, you know?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Solamon Izzet..." Sol tried not to think much of it, but it was rare for Hisirdoux to say her whole name, it sounded nice coming from him. "Is Izzet your surname?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"What is a surname?" she frowned, tilting her head to the side.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh- um... it's like a second name, one that you share with the rest of your family to know where you're from and who your ancestors were." he explained, moving his hands around as he spoke, but avoiding eye contact with the ginger.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh. Well, then no. Izzet is not my surname." she spoke, the way he spoke her whole name a few seconds ago wouldn't get out of her mind for a while, it seemed.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Solamon Izzet. It's a nice name, does it mean something?" Sol sighed after he repeated her name; was the boy trying to kill her? She sure felt like she was dying, her face felt hot in embarassment and there were a million butterflies flying around inside her stomach, Sol didn't remember exactly when she had ate living butterflies.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well... I am not sure, to be honest. My siblings used to call me Sol because it means sun in our language, but I am not so sure if my whole name means something. ጠል never told me." she became thoughtful, trying to remember any words in her language that resembled her name in any way.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh..." he became silent for a moment. "...Sol what are you doing."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Just taking off my helmet, why?" she had some trouble taking it off, but managed to do it after a few seconds. Her puffy hair was starting to grow already and it was quite bothersome to have it get stuck on the helmet's edges. Hisirdoux laughed at her shaggy hair before he turned away, hiding his laughter after she glared at him for laughing at her hair.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It doesn't look bad, does it?" Sol murmured, worried that it looked odd with it's weird length; Sol didn't feel like it was proper to call it a medium length, as it was too short for that, but it didn't seem right to call it short or long either.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, no, no! I'm sorry, your hair looks nice, it's just funny when you take the helmet off because it bounces." he tried to imitate the movement of her hair with his hands, making Sol laugh by how silly he was being. "But why did you take it off? Past Sol could be coming back at any moment."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux, I am melting inside this thing, it is too hot, and I hate to sweat. Leave me be, it's just for a few seconds, I am sure-" the sound of twigs being released with force on the pile interrupted Sol, she turned around and saw her past self's shocked expression as she analyzed her whole face. "....Oops."

ㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, የቿረዐ ልጠዐዪ ዕቿ ክልዪጎ..." her past self was still in shock, she frowned as she walked around the fire pit that Hisirdoux had finished with Archie's help.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I know it is a lot to take in," Sol spoke in her own language, it was nice to talk in it after so long. "but you cannot tell anyone else about who I am."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Who would I tell?! I have no one! I thought I had Callum, the false knight who saved me even thought he knew nothing about me, but then-" Sol pointed at herself in anger, cussing with all the bad words she knew of.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Don't tell past Hisirdoux or Merlin." she made herself more clear, frowning as she stood up. Past Sol found the fact that her future self was taller than her, even though they looked the same age, but it was probably because of the sabatons she was wearing.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I don't trust either of them, why would I tell those dirty humans about you?" the angsty teen crossed her arms, still frowning.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux became a good friend of mine in my timeline, you should be less mean to him so he can become yours too." she put a hand over Sol's shoulder and the girl's face soften, thinking about her words. "Now that you know we are the same person, you have to help me keep our family safe. And do not trust the king or his sister."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Why not Morgana? She was nice to me when we met, even though her aura was a little-"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Intimidating, I know. But she does not wish for equality for all kinds, like she said. I... don't truly know what her intentions were, but they were not good, that's for sure; she hurt our family in my timeline." she frowned, holding onto both of the fairy's shoulders so she could speak more quietly; Claire and Hisirdoux were both occupied with Morgana's book, and Sol knew it would take some concentration to do any spell that was written there, she didn't want to disturb any of them.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Does Hisirdoux know about the wings?" she pointed at something behind her, hidden inside her dress.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes. You can tell your Hisirdoux too if you like, he will not judge you or anything. He is a very respectful man." she gave her past self a "thumbs up", but the fairy ignored the strange action.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What about the rest of your friends? You hide your wings very well, you must be used to hiding it from them." her heart broke in half with Sol's innocence. Before she could answer, Claire's scream made her turn immediately, worried for the girl.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Claire!" all of them - minus past Solamon - screamed for the girl, Sol became even more worried when she didn't saw the girl anywhere.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux, what happened?!" she released her past self and ran to get where the rest of them where, looking around for the girl; it was quite hard to see anything outside where they were standing, shadows consumed most of the cave.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We- we were just trying to see if Claire could do a portal, but I guess she couldn't focus and-" he breathed heavily, grasping onto his own hair in a desperate attempt to calm himself down. Sol frowned, only then seeing the magic book flying not so far from where she was standing.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Okay, calm down, everything will be okay as long as we find a way to bring her back, do you know how?" the ginger pulled him by the elbow so they could run to the book faster, watching as he scanned the pages in search of a way to bring their friend back from the Shadow Realm.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hold on, let me figure this out, it's gonna be fine." he frowned, glancing at Sol to nod at her and assure the fairy that he was alright now; she didn't release his elbow, too scared to let go.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Fine?!" Steve almost exploded Ezekiel's eardrums with his high pitched scream right over the boy's shoulder as they both watched Hisirdoux try to help Claire. "Shadows just ate her alive, man!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh my god, shut up already!" both Solamon's frowned as they snapped at the same time, making Steve whimper.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Douxie, did you find anything that can help?" Ezekiel tried to read the book too, but he couldn't understand a word of what was written there. Instead, he just turned to face the older apprentice, waiting for an answer.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, I can't... I can't find anything..." Hisirdoux sighed in distress, still searching all over the book for a way to open a portal himself.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That is alright, Hisirdoux." he didn't relax a bit when Sol touched his shoulder. The ginger frowned, taking a deep breath. "I think our only choice now is to wait. Claire can do this, she will find a way back, I'm sure of it."

ㅤㅤㅤ"But... I- I have to do something! I put her in that situation, I have to-"

ㅤㅤㅤ"የቿረዐ ልጠዐዪ ዕቿ ክልዪጎ- Hisirdoux if you don't stop talking I swear I will hit you. You did not do anything wrong, just- believe in Claire, she can do this alone." she shook his shoulder a bit to try and make him listen to her, and it worked, Hisirdoux sighed and placed his hands over his own waist, still frowning.

ㅤㅤㅤJust as she thought, Claire fell from a portal right over them and crashed onto most of the teens, making Ezekiel, Steve and Hisirdoux fall to the floor with her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Are you hurt?" Archie flew around Claire, searching for any bruises.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, ኗዪልርልነ ል ክልዪጎ!" Sol put a hand over her heart, sighing in relief; she was trying to sound confident just to calm Hisirdoux down, in truth, the fairy was just as worried as he was. "Claire, you little rascal, how dare you make me worry like that?!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sorry, Sol." the girl sighed, raising a hand so she could get help from the older teen to stand up and get off the others. Before Solamon could help her up, however, Hisirdoux sat on the floor and grabbed Claire's face with worry.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Claire! Claire are you all right?" he moved her face around, not letting her respond to him by how much he was pressing her cheeks together.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Give her some space." Archie noticed how uncomfortable she was and jumped over Hisirdoux, tackling him to the ground once more.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I saw her- a vision of Morgana!" the girl got off the three boys, sitting by their side as she took her time to understand what had happened while she was on the Shadow Realm.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, hot dang!" both Ezekiel and Steve exclaimed - it seemed as the blonde boy's stupidity was rubbing off on Sol's old apprentice -, trying to sit down beside each other while also paying attention to Claire.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Was it really her?" Claire took Morgana's book on her hands, staring at it's cover with confusion clear in her expression. "Or- or was it guilt, or fear, or-"

ㅤㅤㅤ"The Shadow Realm is a place of mystery." Hisirdoux interrupted the girl by putting a hand over the book's cover, making her turn to him as he spoke with calmness - the relief he felt now that he knew the girl was okay was clear to everyone -. "We understand if you don't want to go back in."

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, it's okay." Claire smiled, seeming much more confident than before. "I'll be alright."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Thanks for talking me through it, Teach." she smiled, extending the book for Hisirdoux to take. The apprentice smiled at her, surprised by her decision of going back to the Shadow Realm even with the accident that had just happened.

ㅤㅤㅤThey all stood in front of the two stones, only Hisirdoux and Claire were in the front.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No way this works, witchy!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"True. Not your fault your teacher's a dunce." both of them ignored the talking stones.

ㅤㅤㅤ"There is your anchor." Hisirdoux casted a basic light spell, throwing the small sphere so it would show Claire where to open the portal. One of the stones giggled when the light hit the space between both of them, as it tickled a bit.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Let go of the fear." Claire took a deep breath, raising her hands on the stones' direction.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, no, don't do that." the left stone's warning was to no use, she frowned and tried to concentrate to make the portal. A small void slowly started opening, becoming bigger as Claire took another deep breath. "Uh- no, no, no! Not good!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Bad, bad idea!" everyone was ignoring the stone at that point, both Sol's stood by each of the boys side as both of them sat on a rock and Archie laid down over Ezekiel's lap. All of them were rooting silently for Claire.

ㅤㅤㅤWith a last yell, she finished opening up the portal, taking a smile or a sigh of relief from her friends.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes, yes, yes!" Hisirdoux smiled, as proud of the young girl as her old teacher, who walked ahead to put a hand over her shoulder as she watched the portal attently. "Claire, you did it!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes! That's what I'm talking about!" she side-hugged Sol before she turned to Hisirdoux and gave him a high-five. "Shadow Magic!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Woo-hoo!" Steve raised a fist, also proud of the girl even though he had no participation at helping her whatsoever.

ㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤAfter they went through the portal, Solamon examined the place around them, frowning at the vague feeling of being watched; she felt no auras around, it was odd, to say the least. She turned to her past self and found her frowning along with her, both of them had the same feeling, it seemed.

ㅤㅤㅤSol got on a small platform that looked a lot like a deck that was torn off the edge of the lake with her friends and helped Ezekiel and Steve so they wouldn't fall; neither of the boys had any experience or the fearless spirit for that kind of stuff.

ㅤㅤㅤ"ጠጎክዘል ክልዪጎ ዕዐ ርቿሁ..." Izzet did not remember being so religious, and still, past Sol mentioned Nari's name so many times she was starting to think she suddenly became a very religious fairy.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hey- uhh Sol, look!" she pointed to something behind them as they floated around the water on the deck. Sol turned her face as she put on her helmet, not wishing to show Merlin her face on accident.

ㅤㅤㅤMultiple runes adorned the pillars around the cave, they all had a very strong light, as if active at all times, and that made the fairy very suspicious. She turned to her past self and shared a worried look with her before turning to warn Hisirdoux of what they had found.

ㅤㅤㅤBefore she could do that, however, she saw something rise in front of the deck and ran to get in front of her friends, protecting them from whatever was coming for them. She was faced with the Lady of the Lake herself, who tilted her head in amusement as Sol raised her arms in front of her friends to protect them.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I am the Lady, Nimue, Eldest of Oracles." her voice was very calming, something that none of them were expecting, but it didn't sound like it was coming from her, specifically. "Why do you seek me?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Okay, everyone," Hisirdoux put a hand over Sol's shoulder, slightly pulling her back so she would get away from the edge and back with the rest of them. "just be nice to the goddess. I'll sort this."

ㅤㅤㅤHis friends watched in worry as Hisirdoux tried to talk to the Lady, but she only watched him with curiosity, making him clear his throat before he started talking.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh mighty Lake Lady..." he was uncertain on how to start, but managed to make the Lady interested on what he had to say. "we are here to request your aid."

ㅤㅤㅤ"And we're missing an old wizard, if you've seen one." Archie flew around them, flying right above Steve's shoulder.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I can give you what you seek." Hisirdoux smiled at her words, turning around to show Sol a thumbs up while he nodded his head to show himself confident about that. She showed him a thumbs up in return, managing to smile a bit and nod just like he did before he turned back around, then she just sighed, shaking her head in disbelief.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Only you can help us on our quest-" he raised Excalibur's broken piece. "-to fix Excalibur and save Camelot."

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux flinched when the Lady approached him, getting very close to analyze the boy. The rest of them stepped back, not sure of what they were supposed to do. The apprentice chuckled, but it wasn't a very delighted one.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That is not which you truly desire." he froze, his confident smile immediately fell with Nimue's words. "You seek redemption from a scorned mentor."

ㅤㅤㅤThe Lady started to swim - or float? - around them, scaring the teens a bit as she stared right at them.

ㅤㅤㅤ"To go back home." she mumbled at past Sol, who huffed in regret for staying at the front on the deck; she was one of the first ones that were called out because of it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Escape from guilt." Claire flinched in her spot.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Validation of knighthood." Steve's eyes went wide.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What?" he crossed his arms in disbelief.

ㅤㅤㅤ"To understand your feelings." Ezekiel whimpered, looking away from the Lady.

ㅤㅤㅤ"To protect your loved ones." Solamon sighed, as she knew what the Lady told her wasn't a lie at all.

ㅤㅤㅤ"And you seek..." she paused for a moment, staring at Archie. "roasted salmon?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Guilty." he didn't hesitate to respond.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What? Come on, Arch!" Hisirdoux whispered out to his friend, who shrugged from the air.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You are not the first to try and deceive me." the Lady's voice began to change, making Sol frown and become rigid in fear. "You are not worthy!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Uh- guys..." Claire called out for them, looking around in fear as the water beside her started to shake, making bubbles out of the movement that came from inside.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Uh Mr. Magic Man?" Steve looked at the water along with the girl, screaming in shock when a big eye appeared glowing from inside the water. Ezekiel gasped after he saw it too, hiding behind Sol as she clenched her fists, unsure of what to do.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That is... no lady!" Hisirdoux frowned, stepping back to pull past Sol so she would stay behind him, as she seemed as scared as everyone else.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You seek, you take, and all receive their final reward." the monster's voice had completely changed, it didn't seem a bit like the soft voice they first heard when they came in.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Time to prove my knightly skills." Steve took his sword out and Ezekiel trembled to do the same, almost dropping the sword while he was at it. "I'll protect thou- thee... uh- huzzah!"

ㅤㅤㅤAll of them took a high guard, ready to fight against Nimue.

ㅤㅤㅤWith one of it's tentacles, the monster grabbed Steve by his leg and pulled him out of the deck, lifting him to it's mouth so it could swallow him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh no, Steve! Sol, what do we do?!" Ezekiel hesitated before he got closer to the fairy. She frowned, trying to think of something before an uncomfortable sigh left her lips.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux, watch the kids for me, will you?" she put her sword back on the sheath before she ran to the edge of the deck. Sol took a deep breath before she screamed and jumped inside the monsters mouth, being swallowed immediately.

ㅤㅤㅤSol rolled over it's stomach, trying to stop herself, but it was too wet for her to be stable. Finally, she stopped after rolling onto someone and immediately stood up after she lost her helmet around there.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You?! What-" Merlin frowned, not understanding why Solamon was wearing an armor and had her hair cut so short all of a sudden.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Shit." she cursed, trying to hide her face with her hands; he had already seen it, not even her could understand why she felt the need to hide it at that point.

ㅤㅤㅤ"...You are the false Sir Callum?!" he pointed at her, frowning after she huffed in disappointment. Sol found Steve hugging her helmet as if it would give him any type of protection and struggled to get it back, finally covering up her face from the master wizard, who stuttered to find any words on how to start a conversation with the fairy now that he knew who she was.

ㅤㅤㅤBefore he could even try and say something, the Lady's stomach trembled with force and they stumbled back, being thrown out of it's mouth by the impact of something that forced the air out of the monster.

ㅤㅤㅤSol, Steve and Merlin fell on the shore, though she was the only one who stood up quickly, too scared to let her guard down near the Lake Lady.

ㅤㅤㅤShe watched, with a very dizzy feeling over her head after being thrown around inside and out of that monster's stomach, as it laments about her revenge. The runes she saw were Merlin's, after all, he kept her as his prisoner just like he did to Solamon; that old man really was awful to other creatures, she took note of that.

ㅤㅤㅤSol did not expect Hisirdoux to prioritize her freedom over Excalibur and smiled without noticing as he screamed at her so she would get out of there. It surprised her how the Lake Lady became gentle with him again, fixing the sword as he requested to her when they first got there.

ㅤㅤㅤAfter she was gone and Hisirdoux gave Merlin the sword, completely fixed, she approached them with a smile, sighing in relief; their plan worked, after all, which was surprising, considering all the wrong things they had done until then.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux's actions made her quite proud; it was sweet to see him worry for other magical creatures like herself, it reminded her of how well he always treated her, even after discovering everything about her and the other fairies.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What?" he chuckled, confused after he caught her smiling at him unconsciously. She shook her head, raising her hands as she shrugged.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It's nothing, do not worry about it, dear."

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ㅤㅤㅤAs Sol walked in confident, strong steps around the castle, being on duty that day, she saw past Hisirdoux and Solamon running to Merlin's workshop while they were giggling; she didn't think much of it, only proud of her past self for finally letting go of her pride to become Hisirdoux's friend.

ㅤㅤㅤShe heard a sigh next to her and turned her face to see Ezekiel walking beside her, giving him a little nudge so he would notice her presence there. He became alerted for a moment, but soon sighed in relief, only then noticing who it was behind all that armor.

ㅤㅤㅤ"So... I heard from Douxie that Merlin and you had a long talk, huh?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah... I forgot how scary that old man could be, he got mad that I hadn't told him earlier about my identity. I was... scared to know if he would try to protect me if he knew this happened." she pointed at her own back, referring to her wings. "And I think it was better if he didn't know it was me, I thought he would try and force me to do his work like he used to do. Lazy old bastard."

ㅤㅤㅤEzekiel laughed at her mumbles, crossing his arms before he sighed once more. The ginger became worried for her apprentice and stopped walking, putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him too.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Is something wrong, little Romeo?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"...I think I like Steve."

ㅤㅤㅤ"That's not a surprise." she shrugged, gaining a pout and a groan in return.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, Sol, you don't get it- Steve has a girlfriend. She's, like, in another planet or whatever, but she still exists, and I feel so bad... damn, why do I always fall for people with girlfriends?!" he groaned again, kicking the wall beside him softly.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'm... truly sorry, Ezekiel. I do not have any experience on heartbreaks, but I can tell that it can hurt very badly." Sol frowned; she felt horrible for not taking the situation so seriously before, when he was rejected by Veronica, and it must have been awful for the boy.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It's okay, I just... wanted to vent, I guess. I'll get over him, I'm sure of it." his sad smile broke her heart in pieces, but Solamon couldn't think of anything to make him feel better.

ㅤㅤㅤShe was lucky, after all; to never have experienced a heartbreak.

Chapter Text

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hey, what happened?" Sol seemed alarmed by the deep voice speaking in her mother language, but soon sighed in relief after seeing it was just herself from the future.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I-I think I saw Morgana outside my window. It must be just my mind playing tricks on me, but still..." she started playing with the red dress's puffy skirt in anxiety. Izzet still found it rather weird to talk to herself, but she didn't show it this time.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hey, it's alright." Solamon got close to her old self to put a hand over her shoulder and used her free hand to take the voice sphere out of her mouth, quickly putting it inside her coin sack. "Listen, Solaomoni, maybe you're having visions because of the stress. Go rest a little- trust me, you are going to need it for tomorrow."

ㅤㅤㅤ"What? Why?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Don't worry about it too much. Just... go to the roof to breathe a little, just make sure none of the guards see you." she smiled and her old self sighed, but nodded nonetheless.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon only moved after her past self went back to her room, looking around in search of something.

ㅤㅤㅤShe wondered if it was too cold outside to take a walk. A little stressed after remembering what would happen the next day, the fairy stepped outside and turned her face to look around, but stopped herself when she saw Hisirdoux there.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Why aren't you at the ball? Merlin told me you two would be there." the phrase gave them both a deja vu feeling, Hisirdoux smiled as he sat near the castle's main entrance, though he didn't took his eyes away from the stars. By his side, Archie snored silently in a peaceful sleep, Sol was careful on her manners to prevent herself from waking him up.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Didn't feel like going." his murmurs were barely audible, Solamon walked up to her friend and sat comfortably by his side, the apprentice got slightly closer to her, hoping she wouldn't notice it. She did, of course, but chose to ignore it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I see." the girl answered shortly, removing the helmet from her head with a little bit of effort to put it on the ground. She shook her head so her hair would bounce around to remove it from it's pressed round form after being retained by the helmet for so long and Hisirdoux couldn't help but to watch with attention as she did so.

ㅤㅤㅤ"The music inside there is so loud that I can hear it from here." she giggled and the Casperan stopped for a moment to pay attention and try to hear it himself; sure enough, the strong vielle's, the harp and the opera singer echoed through the walls of the castle, he could hear the brief sound of a shawm too, though it was less noticeable than the other instruments.

ㅤㅤㅤHe smiled and turned his face to Solamon, nudging her slightly on her side before he said anything to call her attention.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Can you name the instruments that they're playing there?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Umm, sure." she lied through her sharp teeth.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Liar." he laughed when the girl showed her tongue at him in a childish manner. "I'm pretty sure there's a harp and at least two vielle's there." he murmured, showing off his great musician abilities with a smile as his friend rolled her eyes.

ㅤㅤㅤThey remained silent for a brief minute, both the teens watched the stars with interest as they twinkled back at them. They had very different thoughts from each other, both worried for different things that were becoming after the past was changed.

ㅤㅤㅤStill, they both felt the comfort of sitting in a warm place, watching the stars with the company of a loved one.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You know..." Sol's voice startled her friend, though neither of them turned to face each other. "You draw very well, I saw your drawings on the table of your room. Do you still draw?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Not anymore, it's more of a hobby, you know? I don't have the time to draw now." he sighed with melancholy, making Sol frown; he was good at that, it was sad that he couldn't do it as much, as he explained to her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh... that is very sad. If I had the talent to do something so well, I would do everything to find time to do it." she shyly got closer to the young apprentice, enough to touch shoulders with him; of course, she lost the chance to see his face turning red since she refused to face him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What do you mean? I'm sure you have the talent to do many things- I mean, you are a very skilled fighter and a great big sister." she snorted at that.

ㅤㅤㅤ""Great big sister" you say? I don't have any siblings left, how would I-"

ㅤㅤㅤ"To Claire and Ezekiel, I mean." he smiled at her confusion and Solamon frowned once more.

ㅤㅤㅤ"But I'm not their big sister."

ㅤㅤㅤ"You do act like one. You were all worried about them when you found me, and you're always protecting them. I admire that, truly." Hisirdoux grasped her hand and squeezed it slightly; he had done that before, multiple times, although this time it seemed different, somehow.

ㅤㅤㅤIzzet couldn't ignore the butterflies on her stomach, her cheeks were burning, and still, the fairy refused to face the boy. Hisirdoux cleared his throat unconsciously when she returned the hand squeeze, using his free hand to start scratching Archie's ear so he could pretend to not be so tense about the situation.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon felt something on his hand, a scar. She took a glance at the boy and saw how uncomfortable he seemed all of a sudden; Sol took that as a sign to not ask him about it, instead, she only caressed his scar in silence. Hisirdoux relaxed with a simple sigh, happy that she didn't say anything about it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Uh- you said something about having a talent." she tried to change the subject, Douxie was quick to notice it and couldn't help but to smile. "I don't know exactly if I have one. I mean, I can't say I'm bad at fighting, like you said, but it is not something I'm passionate about, I guess...?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"I understand what you're trying to say, I'll help you try to think of something- do you have anything that you really enjoy doing in your day-to-day life? Something that makes you feel satisfied when it's done, like it's always an accomplishment."

ㅤㅤㅤ"I really like to cook. And to do different types of tea; my የልየ had a book full of Eryinx dishes and drinks, I love to try and make those, it's always really fun." she smiled while thinking about it, almost forgetting about the fact that they were holding hands so casually as she spoke.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Maybe that's your talent." Hisirdoux nudged her with his shoulder, gaining a giggle in return.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Something as simple as cooking? I don't think that can count as a talent, can it?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Of course it can! You'll have to cook something for me one day, I'd love to prove one of Eryinx's dishes." after he spoke, she only mumbled a response, agreeing to that, before they both became silent once more.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux Casperan. It's a pretty name. Does it have a meaning?" she smiled at the boy, wishing to keep talking to him for as long as she could.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I... don't know, actually." he laughed silently. "You called me ርልነየል when we first spoke to each other, what does it mean?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"...It means dandruff, I'm sorry I called you that." Hisirdoux did his best to contain his laughter, not wanting to wake Archie up, and Sol did the same, covering her own mouth with the back of her gloved hand.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It's okay. My name really does sound like ርልነየል, doesn't it?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"It does."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah..."

ㅤㅤㅤSol wondered if he could see something she couldn't in the stars, the way he seemed so happy as he looked at them was curious. She began to search for something there, anything.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I've..." Hisirdoux started, making the fairy turn her face to finally look at him. "I've been thinking... of Morgana." he changed his phrase quickly after he turned to see her curious gaze, Sol sighed silently, seemingly disappointed about the topic that he brought up; not even she could point out what she expected him to say.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What I've done to her, it... it may have ruined our future and I don't even know how am I going to fix this... I-I mean, don't get me wrong, I believe in Merlin and that he's more than capable of handling the situation, but I think that I should be the one doing that since I'm the one to blame, you know?" he rambled, turning his eyes to every direction as he tried to focuse on explaining his feelings; it was quite hard, but Douxie was proud of himself for being successful in the end.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I know my words mean nothing, my dear, but I completely disagree with you on that. It is not your fault that Morgana is dead. In fact, when you changed history, you saved my family from a horrible situation, and for that I am forever grateful to you." she caressed his hand reassuringly as she smiled at the blushing boy. "For all I know, that witch has the Arcane Order on her side, I wouldn't be surprised if they found a way to bring her back. Then again, I'm not even sure they know she's not alive anymore."

ㅤㅤㅤThe apprentice thought of her words, looking up at the sky in wonder, and Solamon smiled when his aura became brighter and silence prevailed over them. She put her head over his shoulder and sighed, assuming the conversation was over.

ㅤㅤㅤThe comfortable silence along with the warmth Hisirdoux brought to the girl was enough to make her feel silly, she truly wished the tender feelings she had for him wouldn't come back after so long, but it was such a nice feeling that she couldn't let go of it. She didn't want to, anyway.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Do you really think that?" he surprised her with his small words, the ginger almost melted with the gentle tone he used to talk to her. Hisirdoux intertwined his fingers with hers and Sol felt difficulty fo breathe properly at that. He never looked away from the sky, too entertained with one of the stars that had hints of multiple colors changing from time to time.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, yes, most certainly. The Arcane Order is strong, if-"

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, no, that's not what I meant." he chuckled slightly, making Izzet lift her head from his shoulder and look at him with her brows furrowed in confusion. "Do you really think your words mean nothing?"

ㅤㅤㅤSol tensed up after she realized how close he was all of a sudden, she could feel his hot breath against her cheeks as she faced him. She was taken aback by his question but answered quickly, trying her best to ignore the way Hisirdoux shot glances to her eyes and lips as he patiently waited for a response. Could he hear her heartbeat? It was beating so loudly she couldn't even hear the music anymore.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Do- do they not?" she managed to stutter out in a single breath, her tone as soft as a whisper. The boy felt a shiver on his neck by how close she was to his face when she spoke, Sol didn't miss the way he took a shaky breath before he spoke with a sweet smile. Oh lord, that smile would be the death of her one day.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, Sol. Your words mean much more than you can ever imagine..." his voice was so calming that Sol found herself shivering along with it, though she couldn't follow Hisirdoux's actions as he caressed her cheek with his free hand and kissed her parted lips.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux pulled away before she even had time to react, though she missed the warmth of his lips as soon as he did so. The fairy didn't give him the chance to explain himself as she stood up and rushed to get her helmet from the ground and put it over her head.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sorry Sol-" he started, standing up along with her to help with the helmet since it got stuck in some of the curls of her red hair.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, it's okay! I... think I'm gonna go see my family, in Eriynx. Just to make sure they're safe." it became a natural thing for her to use her family as an excuse to escape moments like that.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Um- why? Didn't you say I saved them when Morgana died?" he tried to be gentle in his touch, pulling the curls out of the helmet's sharp edges.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I mean, yes, but- I-I can never be too sure, you know?" Izzet giggled when her hand accidentally touched his on the top of her helmet, though she cleared her throat awkwardly when he pulled away from the touch.

ㅤㅤㅤThe false knight bowed to him as a reflex from having to do so everytime she was to leave and cringed to herself when she did so, hopefully the helmet would hide her red face from Hisirdoux.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon couldn't take any more of that embarrassment, she quickly excused herself before she turned to leave without any of the guards noticing, though Hisirdoux held her wrist and pulled it slightly before she could get far from him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Was it- was it bad?" he was suddenly feeling as insecure as she was of the kiss, apparently. Izzet didn't know how to respond to that, so she simply didn't look at him as she found the words to answer.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, no. I-I liked it." ew. Was it too late to dig a hole and jump in?

ㅤㅤㅤ"What... about you?" at that point, Sol basically lost any control of her words.

ㅤㅤㅤShe heard Hisirdoux gulp and clear his throat. Was that a good sign? No, probably not.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah, um- yes, I liked it too." he stuttered, releasing her wrist so she could speed away from there in embarassment.

ㅤㅤㅤThe fairy cursed herself for feeling so happy with his answer.

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ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤSol didn't forget about the situation that happened hours before, though she tried her best to. Her steps where slow as she made her way through the Wild Woods in silence, it was incredible how she was still used to the trip and knew of every shortcut she could use to get to her home.

ㅤㅤㅤThe fairy preferred to take the long trip so it was less dangerous for herself; Gunmar was still out there somewhere, it would be too dangerous for her to walk around his home unprepared for battle like she was.

ㅤㅤㅤAfter some hours, the ginger could see the sun rising through the trees, she walked faster to get to Eryinx soon.

ㅤㅤㅤAs soon as the Eriynx gates appeared from far, she ran to it, getting up on a three outside the fence and sat on one of the branches so she could look inside her home without being noticed; again, it was odd how የልየ didn't feel her aura and got outside to warn everyone.

ㅤㅤㅤWas it too late already?

ㅤㅤㅤNo, it couldn't be. Solamon refused to leave until she was sure of it.

ㅤㅤㅤHer older siblings where all still, frozen like statues, until one of the younger fairies got out of their house. As soon as they did, the older ones started to move around and work along with each other, but stopped when the small fairy got back inside.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon did her best not to cry there, she was too late to save them. There was another problem that came with that, if they were already empty shells controlled by magic, that surely ment that the Arcane Order's champion was alive to do that.

ㅤㅤㅤAs she suspected, Morgana wasn't dead after all, and Sol became very pissed because of it.

Chapter Text

ㅤㅤㅤ"ጠልረዕጎፕል, ርዐዪክል, ዕቿነኗዪልርልዕል!" Sol swore as she ran through the forest- this time she took the fastest path, as she didn't have time to worry about her own safety; Morgana was alive and her family couldn't be saved anymore, it was all too much and the fairy felt horrified with the new information, she would have to think more about it later, as, right now, her only job was to warn her friends about what she had just discovered.

ㅤㅤㅤSol didn't bother to dodge the pricks that grew in some of the wild plants around the big trees, her armor became more and more scratched as she ran to get to Camelot as soon as possible.

ㅤㅤㅤOnly stopping once to breathe, Solamon finally arrived at the castle, alarming the other guards as she ran inside to find Hisirdoux's room. As soon as she found it, she ran inside, hitting the door and scaring most of the teens that were inside it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Morgana! She's... she-" it was hard to breathe after all the running, she hadn't realize how heavy she felt until then, like she was about to black out at any moment.

ㅤㅤㅤ"She's alive, we know." Steve crossed his arms, rolling his eyes at the worried fairy.

ㅤㅤㅤIt was a relief to her that they already knew that, Solamon finally let herself breathe properly and relax a bit; she shouldn't have done that, her exhaustion from not having slept through the night and instead running from the Wild Wood to Camelot was immense. As soon as she sighed to let her body become less tense, her legs gave in and she had to kneel down.

ㅤㅤㅤIt was hard to lift a fairy with heavy armor, Claire, Ezekiel and Hisirdoux discovered, as they were the ones who had to take her to bed so she could rest before they explained the whole situation.

ㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ"So? Did he believe you?" Solamon asked Claire as she and Hisirdoux left Merlin's workshop with muzzles covering their mouths.

ㅤㅤㅤClaire coughed repeatedly and the muzzle disappeared, so Hisirdoux quickly followed up on her action.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What do you think?" the young witch frowned, crossing her arms as she watched Sol sigh, not surprised by Merlin's reaction about the situation.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah, I figured he wouldn't believe it." the fairy mumbled cusses, angry at the old wizard for being such an ignorant man.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No sign of Morgana anywhere..." Claire looked around, searching for any evidence that could show where Morgana was hiding.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Nothing but unwashed plebeians stuffing their faces," Solamon's whole body trembled after hearing Hisirdoux's voice; she still wasn't ready to face him, reason why the ginger refused to look at him or even talk to the boy. Claire noticed her weird body language, being right by her side, but didn't say anything. "eh, Steve?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, yeah!" Steve sang as he raised a freshly cooked chicken leg, smiling at it as if was the last piece of food in the world. He even kneeled in the ground as he looked at it, glorifying the chicken with it's magnificent smell. "A mighty leg for a mighty warrior!"

ㅤㅤㅤAs he stood up, he smiled at Ezekiel and offered him the chicken leg, to which he smiled brightly at before he reached out to it, thinking that he was the mighty warrior his friend mentioned before. Before he could get the food, however, Steve brought it back to himself and kissed the chicken twice, laughing at Ezekiel's dissapointed face as he took pictures of himself while holding the big leg.

ㅤㅤㅤClaire rolled her eyes at his childish behavior while Sol and Hisirdoux only frowned, not understanding how the boy didn't bother to be serious in a moment like that.

ㅤㅤㅤThey all paid close attention to the king as he spoke about the private tournament he would host to find a strong someone capable enough of fighting alongside him in the war that would come; Hisirdoux and Solamon already knew it all, they were the ones who paid less attention to that, instead the older teens were thinking of a plan to find where Morgana was before she could strike.

ㅤㅤㅤIzzet only snapped out of her thoughts after Steve's scream almost exploded her eardrums. She hit him in the arm, making him drop the chicken leg, and he cleared his throat, pretending not to be scared of Bular after he appeared from behind one of the exposed cells; Sol analyzed how many chains where needed to keep the monster restrained, they were all twisted in beautiful knots that were capable to keep Bular from moving a muscle.

ㅤㅤㅤAfter the king presented the monster that the winner would have to kill after finishing all the other contestants, they all followed after Hisirdoux, who found somewhere quiet to explain his newly devised plan.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We know Arthur is the main target," the apprentice started after Steve was close enough to hear him, as the boy was too curious and kept exploring Camelot while pulling Ezekiel along with him; the dark skinned boy was clearly tired of walking around, but he didn't complain at all. "I'll draw stasis straps around the perimeter, put up defense wards-"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oooh! Freshly baked!" Sol's eyes sparkled after she saw what Steve was carrying; muffins made by the same baker who did her favorite blueberry pie, the best of the best. She took some to herself and giggled as Hisirdoux did the same, biting one at the same time as she did.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Mm. I forgot how good this tasted." he didn't bother to finish chewing before he spoke, taking more of the muffins from Steve's big pile. "The ones in the future aren't the same..."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Guys, this is Morgana we're talking about." Claire frowned as she scolded them all. "We can't just wait for her to slice our throats."

ㅤㅤㅤIzzet cleared her throat as she finished eating the little pies, embarrassed that she had to be scolded by someone much younger than herself.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Claire's right, from what we've seen, she's super powerful and will find a way in." Ezekiel crossed his arms, nodding at Claire's words.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No sign of any sorceresses," Archie flew down, circling Ezekiel as the boy looked around for Steve, who suddenly disappeared somewhere in the kingdom. "then again, all you humans do look alike."

ㅤㅤㅤ"She is crafty." Claire scratched her own chin as she frowned, thinking of where the witch could be hidden. "She'll try to infiltrate the tournament!"

ㅤㅤㅤThey began going up the stars that were right behind them, listening carefully to Claire as the girl told them her theories.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We have to go on the defensive, root the witch out!" Claire spoke with so much confidence that it inspired all of them to face Morgana.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'll help you where I can." Ezekiel smiled at the girl, thought he didn't seem as confident as she was.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You do that, we'll secure the castle." Hisirdoux started to run ahead, but he stopped abruptly and turned around, making eye contact with Sol for the first time that day.

ㅤㅤㅤShe gulped, tensing up, but still followed her friend around the castle. He stayed silent most of the time, only ever spoke to her to tell her where to put the protection spells. She became less tense with time, but Sol's calmness didn't last for long.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Archie, can you excuse us, please? Only for a moment." Hisirdoux asked his familiar, Solamon immediately felt a shiver down her spine and looked over at the cat-dragon creature, silently praying he would notice her looks of pure despair.

ㅤㅤㅤHowever, Izzet was not a lucky girl, the familiar only nodded slightly and flew up to search again for any traces of Morgana around Camelot.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux took hold of his friend's hand and pulled her near an open space with big pillars, he hid behind one of them and searched for something out in the middle of the streets.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What are you-" Solamon frowned, confused with his actions.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Shhh!" he silenced her, putting a finger over her mouth, before he pointed to something ahead the pillar they were hiding behind. The fairy tilted her head to see what he was showing her and smiled when she saw the old Hisirdoux and Solamon hanging around the streets, her past self was eating a piece of blueberry pie while watching intently as people danced around to the happy music playing so loudly that they could barely hear themselves. Sol took the helmet off of her head so she could see the scene clearly, Hisirdoux smiled as she did so, her hair was mess under the armor piece.

ㅤㅤㅤThat was her favorite memory of her friend. It was amazing watching the scene from far, like living it all over again. Sol held her breath when she saw herself from the past frown at the covered feet of the people; that ment that they would start dancing soon.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux! Solamon! What are you doing just standing there?! Come here and help me with this!" Merlin's voice from the workshop's window alarmed both the past duo and the future intruders.

ㅤㅤㅤAs the teens rushed to get to Merlin's workshop, the fairy and her companion huffed in disappointment; it seems that they both wanted to watch the scene happen again.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Damn Merlin, I'll kick that old man's ass when we get back home." the girl murmured in her false deep voice, she spit the voice sphere and put it on her empty coin sack before turning to Hisirdoux.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Is that what you wanted to show me?" her normal voice seemed to surprise the apprentice for a moment, he cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah..." he thought for a short moment before extending his right hand to the ginger, who only frowned in confusion. "Well, if they're not going to dance, then shall we do it instead?" the sweet smile he gave her at that moment was enough to make her melt.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I- I don't think I can take my shoes off in this moment." she pointed to her round sabatons and Hisirdoux only chuckled in response.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Then dance with them on!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"I can't do that, that's not how it's done. I don't even know how to-" she crossed her arms stubbornly, but her friend was insistent.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I can teach you!" he kept his hand extended, giving the thoughtful girl a strained smile.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon hated herself for considering the idea, they had important things to do in that moment, but she felt like Hisirdoux wouldn't change his mind so easily.

ㅤㅤㅤ"...Okay. Don't be mad at me if I step on your feet."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Don't worry, I won't." he chuckled slightly before taking her hand in his and placing the other on Sol's waist. She truly hoped he couldn't see the blush that covered her freckled cheeks.

ㅤㅤㅤThe fairy considered herself a good dancer, but only when she didn't have her shoes on. She murmured "sorry" everytime that she accidentally stepped on the boy's feet, though he didn't seem to mind, only shaking his head to show her it was alright. She got used to dancing with the sabatons after some time and it got very quiet after that; the only sounds where the songs the band was playing.

ㅤㅤㅤ"So... Sol, about the-"

ㅤㅤㅤ"What does husband mean?" she asked all of a sudden, making the apprentice surprised. She was clearly avoiding to talk about the "k word" with him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"When we were dancing back then, we switched partners and the woman I was dancing with called you my husband. It means friend, right?" Solamon frowned, tilting her head as Hisirdoux laughed at her confusion.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, no. It means like... it's the title that your partner gains when you marry them. Do you know what marriage means?" she only shook her head to show that she, indeed, did not know what that ment either. "Okay... it's when two people get together for life, like forever partners."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh! That's cool!" she smiled, seemingly more excited to dance after knowing of that fact. "How do you marry someone?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well, it's a little complicated, I've never been married to anyone before, so I wouldn't know exactly, I just know that there's a bunch of paperwork and pretty pictures in dresses and suits involved." he explained, Solamon kept herself quiet after that.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Anyway, about the kiss-" he started again.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We should go back now, the kids are probably searching for us." Solamon rushed to distance herself from the boy after the song was finished, she grabbed her helmet from the ground and pushed it over her own head to put it back in. Seeing her struggle to put it on, Hisirdoux frowned and approached the fairy to help.

ㅤㅤㅤAfter he was done putting the helmet back in place, he turned her head up so she would look at him, still with his hands on her helmet.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'm serious, Solamon. We need to talk about that." he elongated his words so the ginger would take him more seriously and she gulped, clearly nervous.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What is there to talk about? We both acknowledged it actually happened and I already said I liked it, so..." she shrugged, trying to avoid the long talk that came with the whole "showing romantic affection" thing.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That's exactly why we need to talk about it. I don't mind a little mystery, but I need to know if we're in the same page here. Do you like me?" his straightforward question got Solamon off guard, she stuttered to find an answer, finding her face to get warmer and warmer as he waited not so patiently for a response.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Uh- I think... well, yes." his sigh of relief calmed the fairy down a bit, his absence of patience was so out of character that Solamon was starting to worry for the boy; had she broken him?

ㅤㅤㅤ"Okay. Well, I like you too." he smiled, seemingly as nervous as she was, though Hisirdoux was double the courageous than the fairy in things like those.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Okay." she didn't know how to respond to that, so maybe nodding and saying small words while holding his hands over her helmet would be enough of an answer.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Okay." he copied her, and they both didn't know what to do next. They stared at each other for a long minute before Hisirdoux started to lean in. She worried he was doing that to kiss her again and stopped him by putting her palm over his lips.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We really need to go back now, Hisirdoux." the fairy murmured, smiling as she avoided eye contact with the boy, who cleared his throat before he gave her space by stepping back a bit.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Of course, sorry." he chuckled, turning back so they could keep placing the stasis straps around the castle, Archie came back not too long after that to help them by showing where they could place the spells.

ㅤㅤㅤ"And... There!" Hisirdoux threw one last spell on one of the white walls, showing himself satisfied with the result. "The king's chambers and Merlin's tower, completely warded."

ㅤㅤㅤ"No evil sorceress is getting in now, eh, Arch?" he started to analyze his work by looking around as he walked with a proud smile on his face.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, you've done it, all right." the black cat sat on the last step on the small stairs that Hisirdoux and Solamon had just gotten down from. "Overdone it."

ㅤㅤㅤHis statement was proven right when a small and thin man got stuck inside a magic bubble after he accidentally ran into one of the stasis straps while carrying a bag of... rocks? Well, that was curious.

ㅤㅤㅤSol approached the young man while Hisirdoux helped him out of the bubble, she tried to look inside the bag he was carrying but he was quick to notice her curiosity and pulled it away to himself, running away from the two teens and the familiar; that made Sol even more suspicious. She was about to follow him before a strong arm pulled her by the shoulder.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oi! What are you doing here, guard?! Go back to your duties, you dirtbag!" she was pulled away from her friend by Sir Galahad, only having time to send Hisirdoux a worried glance before she was pulled by the knight around Camelot.

ㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon danced around the workshop as Hisirdoux played his new song to her and Merlin; it was a honor for her to have helped him find a name to the song.

ㅤㅤㅤThe fairy and her friend had already done her job of helping Merlin and they were taking a break from all the work, the both of them were quite happy with the extra time they had for themselves.

ㅤㅤㅤShe stopped abruptly when the sound of a heavy explosion came from outside, Hisirdoux mustn't have heard it, as he kept dancing and ended up bumping into Sol.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux, what's that awful noise?" Merlin demanded to know, frowning as he set his tools since he couldn't focuse enough to keep working with them.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I call it "The Rose of Ambrosius"!" he smiled awkwardly, thinking that his master was referring to his song.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, I- I heard it too! I think it came from outsi-" Solamon wasn't able to finish speaking as a bomb exploded from the window, taking half of the wall with it's destructive power. A blue shield protected them from what the fairy and the master wizard recognized as dwarf stones- they were quite rare, obviously not very often found in Camelot- they didn't have enough time to process that fact, however, as future Hisirdoux and Archie opened the doors and escorted them out of there to protect them.

ㅤㅤㅤAs they got out the workshop by a portal, Sol recognized the sound of her own language coming from outside Camelot's walls and became confused; could it be that her family was there to get her? Risk themselves like that just to save her from the humans?

ㅤㅤㅤShe stood by Hisirdoux's side, trying to help him get out of the barrel he fell into after they jumped inside the portal that saved them from the dwarf stones, but still looked around curiously just to make sure she was only hearing things, her family would never risk their lives to save only one of their kind.

ㅤㅤㅤAs ጠል appeared from behind the tall wall, Solamon's thoughts became a mess, she couldn't believe it.

ㅤㅤㅤThe big fairy raised her mighty fists and smashed the wall with brute force instead of simply using her magic; it was a scary scene, to say the least- ጠል was always graceful, violence was not a word she knew, and her angry expression was not a sight Solamon ever expected to see, yet, there it was.

ㅤㅤㅤ"ነዐረልጠዐክ," her voice echoed through the silent Camelot, the knights became too shocked with the size of the fairy to even move. "ሀቿክዘል, ሀልጠዐነ የልዪል ርልነል."

ㅤㅤㅤHer mother smiled, it was not a warm smile like Sol remembered it to be, but instead a forced one.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I- no, I..." she didn't know what to do. Sol never thought she would be indecisive about going back home.

ㅤㅤㅤOn one side, Hisirdoux was a dear friend of her and abandoning him there would probably ment never seeing each other again, Merlin was a good mentor and never did her any harm, even taught her strong spells and how to use runes that weren't written in her language. On the other side, her family was right there, she could go back home and pretend nothing ever happened; she was never captured, she never saw her future self, she never met Hisirdoux.

ㅤㅤㅤSol could go back to her old life with her siblings and her parents.

ㅤㅤㅤWhy was she worried anyway? She only met the boy a few days prior, he was not that special to her. Sure, it was nice to feel butterflies and to smile everytime he was around, but... well, it was her family.

ㅤㅤㅤOh, by the love of ክልዪጎ, why was it so hard?

ㅤㅤㅤ"ነዐረልጠዐክ, ዐ ዒሁቿ ቿነፕል ቿነየቿዪልክዕዐ?! ሀቿክዘል!" her mother frowned, extending a hand to the younger fairy and huffing after she recoiled, as if she was being scolded at.

ㅤㅤㅤ"...Okay." she sighed, not wanting to think about her decision too much.

ㅤㅤㅤShe tried not to, but it was impossible to not look back as she removed her wing protection to fly away with her mother. Hisirdoux was there, barely awake after passing out inside the barel, but looking directly at her with a sad expression.

ㅤㅤㅤNo, why was he doing that? That damn boy was only making it harder for her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sorry..." she whispered out to him, neither of them were sure if she actually ment it.

ㅤㅤㅤAnd then, she was gone.

Chapter Text

▬▬▬▬▬ㅤ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐘 𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐇𝐄, although not by herself, managed to change the past━ well, it wasn't exactly her fault that it happened, but Solamon Izzet's, the one from the timeline they were in.

ㅤㅤㅤAh, past Hisirdoux had a point, Sol didn't know it was possible to agree him him on something, but time travel was very confusing.

ㅤㅤㅤShe began forcing herself to pay attention on anything the king or the troll were saying, but it was hard when her head was filled with questions she made to understand what happened to herself before━ the old Hisirdoux had explained to them, minutes ago, that her family actually came to get her, which technically also confirmed that in the past Merlin and king Arthur were saying the truth, but she preferred not to think too much about that, it would give her a headache ━a worst one, that is━.

ㅤㅤㅤShe didn't notice how Hisirdoux stood behind her, trying to spy ahead to see how the conversation between the humans and the trolls would go, she didn't notice how one of the trolls took a rock from the ground, ready to prank one of the knights, and she didn't notice the suspicious glances Claire was throwing her━ obviously because of how Hisirdoux was standing close to her so casually all of a sudden.

ㅤㅤㅤIt was all a bit overwhelming, to think that just by being there she managed to change her own past so drastically. Because of how that version of Sol lacked the hesitance she had to leave Camelot at that time, her wings were still intact. Solamon was on edge, almost expecting her wings to grow back in a second, even when she knew it wouldn't happen.

ㅤㅤㅤAnd as much as she tried to avoid it, a stronger headache hit her head like a rock against her iron helmet.

ㅤㅤㅤNo, wait. It was a real rock.

ㅤㅤㅤTurning her head, Sol glared sharply at the knight who stood by her side, but they raised their hands to show their innocence. If they were faking it or not, Solamon didn't care.

ㅤㅤㅤWhile out of her thoughts, Sol finally managed to catch Douxie, Claire and Jim trying to overhear the conversation and frowned, using the spear she was given to push them back as gently as possible.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hey, hey, hey." she alerted in a whisper. "Don't do that, you'll get in trouble." Hisirdoux raised his hands in mock surrender and shrugged as he gave a few steps back, pulling Claire and Jim with him so they could talk about the matter in whispers.

ㅤㅤㅤSol watched as they talked to each other for a while before the three of they walked away with Merlin. Solamon had to stop herself from following her friends━ it was a habit she had created after they got stuck in the past. It was odd noticing that just now, she was more used to being followed more than anything, Sol had been a teacher to four human children, after all.

ㅤㅤㅤThen, when she turned back to the two leaders of the trolls of Dwoza and humans of Camelot, they shared a nod and walked together to the entrance of Dwosa. Some of the knights, including Sol, pushed the trolls back to give the leaders some space to walk through.

ㅤㅤㅤThen, Solamon finally had an excuse to follow her friends. And that's exactly what she did.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Wizard..." king Arthur spoke as they approached Merlin and Sol's friends. She stayed behind by Ezekiel's side as the boy played with his sword's hilt to cope with his anxiety━ there was a war coming soon, it was impossible to stay away from the fear, and the last thing Ezekiel wanted was to be on the wrong side of the war━ the losing side. "we've reached an agreement." the king continued, both Merlin and Hisirdoux visibly became less tense at that. "Now you must convince the crowd."

ㅤㅤㅤAs Merlin walked by the king's side to go back inside, Ezekiel ran to Steve to check on the boy━ as much as he was an idiot, he knew a war was coming, and surely he must've been as scared as Ezekiel because of how new all of that was.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What did the king and Vendel say? How did they come to an agreement?" Hisirdoux whispered to Sol as they followed Merlin and the two leaders. The fairy thought for a moment━ what was it that they were talking about, again? She had heard something about equality and also living together at peace... oh, yes! Yes, that was it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well..." she had no idea how to phrase the five words she managed to catch from their discussion.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You weren't paying attention, were you?" Hisirdoux smirked, already expecting that by the way Sol seemed so lost in her own thoughts when he last saw her inside Dwoza.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, I was not." she admitted with a sigh, holding back a smile after Hisirdoux laughed at her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Trolls of Dwoza!" Vendel's strong call ended the whispers of confused trolls around their home, making them turn to their leader as he raised his left arm. "Hear us now!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"As we speak," Arthur stood by his side, and Merlin stood by his side. "death comes for us all! But we bring an offer of hope."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Here comes the light show!" Hisirdoux left Sol's side, a smirk on his face as he opened Merlin's projector and watched as the small object worked on its own to put one round glass above the other, reflecting the image of the familiar amulet in the air so that everyone could see.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I've designed a grand weapon," Merlin spoke as the familiar blue gem with an iron protection and gears surrounding it appeared in the air. "an amulet which will choose the greatest warrior among you━" an image of the Killahead Bridge appeared by the side and the amulet floated to the center of it, a perfect fit. "━to banish the GummGumm menace from our realm and become the Trollhunter!" golden figures of imaginary GummGumms were pulled by the portal the amulet had opened, and the Trolls of Dwoza watched in amazement.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Troll...hunter?" a blue troll, with big horns and a rectangular shaped face glanced around his peers to see if they believed in the wizard━ if they did, then so would he.

ㅤㅤㅤ"The amulet's power will activate Killahead Bridge," Arthur continued, gesturing with sharp movements that seemed to mesmerize the trolls and give them some kind of hope by his confidence on that amulet. "once a border between our worlds, turning it into magic prison for Gunmar and his brood, trapping them in the Darklands and ending this war!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Wow." breathed another troll from behind the blue horned one, seemingly as amazed as everyone else with her wide purple eyes and small smile. "We would finally have peace? No more bloodshed, no more dungeons..." that thought brought a hopeful shine to her eyes. "The Trollhunter could save our kind━"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Stop gawking, outsider." the blue troll turned, frowning at her as he spoke. "I, Draal, Dwoza's strongest, shall be chosen for glory!" Draal spoke with confidence, raising his stone chin and smirking as the green troll behind him narrowed her eyes at him, mouth pressed in a straight line.

ㅤㅤㅤ"The battle will not be easy." Vendel warned. "While the wizard builds this am-yoo-let," he visibly struggled to say the word. "the king's men will train our bravest."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Indeed." Lancelot spoke from his place, by a corner near the entrance. Steve and Ezekiel stood by each side of the knight and Sol was not so far from them. "I shall guide the trolls to be true warriors and prepare you all for war. And I wish for the help of my best knights," all of Camelot's knights stood straight, a bit nervous after sir Lancelot's phrase. "sir Steve━"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah! Let's go!" the boy cheered, punching the air as he jumped in excitement. Ezekiel had to turn to the side to hide his laughter at Steve's reaction.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sir Ezekiel," Ezekiel stopped laughing. "and sir Callum."

ㅤㅤㅤWho━?

ㅤㅤㅤOh.

ㅤㅤㅤDamnit.

ㅤㅤㅤSol's eyes went wide, almost flickering to their original shiny color, and she cleared her throat, carefully slipping the voice sphere inside her mouth before she spoke.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Okay." it came out quiet, far from what she wanted, but she didn't repeat herself.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Then we ride for Killahead to draw Gunmar out!" the king finished, and most of the trolls cheered, confident that this would be the last time they would have to fight to live at peace.

ㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ"𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋," Archie sniffed to fix his glasses as he walked side by side with Hisirdoux. "it seems we may have a shot at surviving this, after all."

ㅤㅤㅤ"One shot is the best I can offer." Merlin mumbled, frowning ━as always━ as he stopped near Claire and Jim to talk to the group. "When Killahead activates, it shall unleash a surge of magic across the realm." he straightened his staff on the ground and the gem on its center shone a wave of green light, Hisirdoux had to look away because of its brightness.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Just enough to power the Heart of Avalon for a trip through time." he connected the dots, gesturing with his hand as he glanced at each of his friends.

ㅤㅤㅤ"But only one," Merlin pointed, warning Hisirdoux sternly. "which means everything must go accordingly to my plan. Hisirdoux, with me." he walked away in fast steps. "I need your assistance."

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux turned to Sol, who still stared at Merlin as he left.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Do you want to come with m━ with us?" he scratched the back of his own head, a worried frown upon his face. "It seems like a lot of pressure━ to train a whole army, I mean."

ㅤㅤㅤ"It's nothing I can't handle." the ginger smiled, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder and shaking it a bit. "I'll be alright, just stay safe, okay?" she pat his shoulder awkwardly, avoiding eye contact as she did so.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I will." he smiled, putting his hand over hers before he walked away in a hurry to catch up with Merlin━ he was rather quick for an old man.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oohhhkay," Claire raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as Jim watched with an amused smile. "You're gonna tell me everything after we're back. And I mean everything." she warned, pointing at Sol as the fairy backed away with an innocent smile.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Don't know what you're talking about." she sang, stomping back inside and ignoring Claire's giggles.

ㅤㅤㅤ"All right, men━ uh, trolls. Trolls!" Lancelot frowned as he glanced at each troll, trying to analyze what their respective strengths were so that he could find the perfect position for them in the formation. "Warfare is both art and skill."

ㅤㅤㅤ"You can deal with the smaller ones," Sol mumbled out to Ezekiel, who stood by her side, quietly so that she wouldn't interrupt Lancelot with his whole monologue. "I can handle training the bigger ones."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Shouldn't training the trolls be a team work? There are so many of them!" he mumbled back, frowing as he tried to count them all.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Please," Sol snorted, amused. "you really think Steve is going to be of any help? The boy barely has any muscles himself. And if Lancelot had to ask for the help of his youngest knights, then that means he doesn't want to do it himself, I doubt he'll raise a finger to help us." she gestured to each of the men she spoke of with her head, giving them a glare while she was at it. "It's up to us, Ezekiel." the boy gulped, but nodded anyway, breathing in and out slowly.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Listen up, rock-jocks!" Steve interrupted sir Lancelot and Sol sighed, already expecting that to happen. "Class is in session for Steve's Knight School of Hard Knocks and Rocks!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah, yeah, okay, that's enough!" the fairy put a hand over the boy's head, pinching her frown with the other one. "Steve, you can train the... gnomes, or something, just leave the rest to me and Ezekiel.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Huh? Why?" he visibly saddened up at that. Lancelot wasn't even there anymore, far away from them doing whatever━ Sol already expected that, she decided to just ignore the man for now.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Because the gnomes need training too, and no one could do it better than you." she smiled━ clearly a forced one, although Steve didn't seem to catch up on that, as his smug smile and confident stance was back in a second.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah, alright. Good luck, Sol, Zeke!" and then he was gone.

ㅤㅤㅤThey were both silent for a moment before Sol snorted and Ezekiel sighed.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Zeke━"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Stop that."

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon laughed before she approached the bigger trolls, ignoring how they tensed up, to begin her training.

ㅤㅤㅤIt didn't go so well.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Try again, you have to reach that horn or I'm not letting you go, you understand me?!" Sol pulled on the red troll's left ear to scream directly at it, making him flinch as his ear went deaf for a long second.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah, yeah, understand!" he cried, glancing up at the horn on top of a very tall pile of rocks.

ㅤㅤㅤIt seemed as the threat worked, the troll managed to touch the horn, but it tired him out quickly and Sol had to wait until he regained his breath to continuing training them.

ㅤㅤㅤIf they were to stay in that same slow pace, they were sure to lose the battle before it even started.

ㅤㅤㅤSol had to try a different approach, but she couldn't think of a better one━ although they didn't have much time, training was supposed to prepare them to be actual warriors, and that would take too much time, Sol was unfortunate enough to catch up on that a little too late.

ㅤㅤㅤA high pitched whistle made her head throb in pain for a moment, the fairy turned with a frown to catch Steve in a higher ground than the others, holding a dirty sock in his left hand and a determined expression as he forced the little gnome he was training to try and reach the sock with his mouth by doing pullups.

ㅤㅤㅤ"C'mon! C'mon!" he encouraged again and again until the gnome managed to get the sock and fell back to the ground, a big, toothy, smile on his face. "Yeah! That's right little dude, you did it!" he cheered, joining the gnome on the ground to shake him in excitement.

ㅤㅤㅤSol thought for a good minute, looking at the boy and then at the trolls behind her.

ㅤㅤㅤShe could only hope to not regret that decision.

ㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ"𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐋𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓, Sol?" Archie asked her as she sat by his side on a rock outside of Dwoza━ it was still night time and the chilly weather made her shiver for a moment as she sighed in exhaustion.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'm okay, no need to worry, Archie." she smiled minimally, scratching the cat's ear for a moment before stretching herself until her joints cracked━ she was beginning to grow uncomfortable inside that armor, being forced to stay that stiff for so long was tiring her out. "Training trolls is harder than I expected, is all. I left it to Steve and Ezekiel, they were doing a better job than me, anyway."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hm, I can only imagine." he answered with a soft laugh, laying back down in the rock after a moment. As she took her helmet off, fixing her hair with a simple shake of her head, Archie stared at her in worry. "Sol... do you think we have the chance to actually win this war?"

ㅤㅤㅤThe ginger looked over at him in surprise for a moment before her gaze softened. Sol was silent, trying to think of an answer to calm his nerves a bit, but she couldn't find one.

ㅤㅤㅤThere was no good answer to that.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I don't know." she sighed, rubbing her tired eyes ━still full of magic powder and still quite irritated from it━. "But we'll do our best to ensure that."

ㅤㅤㅤArchie nodded slowly, taking in her unsure answer with a saddened look. The cat shivered, only now taking notice of the cold wind passing through each crack on the rocks ahead, and jumped on Sol's lap to make himself more comfortable. The fairy smiled down at him and took him in her arms to make him as comfortable as he could get there, gently patting him ━Archie noticed how she struggled to be gentle, she wasn't like that with any animal, not even with her own familiar, who she was accustomed to share aggressive affection with, so it was possibly something new for Sol━.

ㅤㅤㅤThat simple, silent moment made Sol miss her familiar. Although together they weren't very calm like this, she still felt at peace with him, and, somehow, she knew the crow felt the same. Sol wondered if he was safe ━she didn't doubt of his capacities to protect himself, but the bird was a bit too chaotic for his own good and that was enough to get him in trouble very often━, if he had found her past self or his own, or if he even left her side, if he just stayed observing her at all times while hiding from everyone else to keep her protected like he always did.

ㅤㅤㅤFor nine hundred years, that damn crow was her only company, and she missed him in the one week they spent apart. Sol became attached to the bird and she didn't even know it until now━ she'd been so ungrateful mourning for her family that she forgot who she had there, by her side, in the present.

ㅤㅤㅤIt was funny ━not a good funny, far from that━ how she only ever missed people after they were gone. It happened with Hisirdoux, and with her family, and now with her familiar.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon Izzet was never one to know how being attached to someone works, and now she was almost crying because she spent three days away from a crow. The fairy felt lucky to have someone with her at the moment, if not, she would've already had a breakdown at that point just from loneliness.

ㅤㅤㅤAnd as Sol kept Archie from being cold, he kept her from being too lonely.

ㅤㅤㅤIt was only silent for a minute, though.

ㅤㅤㅤCommotion began from inside Dwoza, Archie perked up in worry and jumped to transform into his dragon form, waiting for Sol to put her helmet back on before they both ran in to see what was happening.

ㅤㅤㅤMost trolls were surrounding a single one who stared wide eyed at the blue amulet as it called her the trollhunter again and again. The troll's magenta eyes were somehow familiar to Sol━ she shook off the deja vu feeling, it was not important at the moment.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ignore them!" Merlin insisted after the trolls started to argue that Callista ━the calamity itself━ was not fit to be the Trollhunter who would save them all. "Accept this honor."

ㅤㅤㅤShe was hesitant━ Callista was hopeful that she was truly fit for the title, that she could save her kind, even when they did not see her as such ━she's basically a fleshbag, they said━, but she wasn't. She was nothing.

ㅤㅤㅤShe was nobody's savior, Callista was nobody at all.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, they're right, I'm not a hero." she sighed. "I'm not even good at being a troll." she dropped the amulet to the floor and ran out of Dwoza, staring at the floor in shame.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Go on, say the words!" Merlin still insisted, shocked that she didn't want to accept his blessed amulet and the big responsibilities that came with it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Cal, wait!" Jim called, although he didn't step forward to follow her━ the only ones who did were Merlin and Hisirdoux, who stopped by the stairs as she ran out.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I... I can't do this!" she kicked the amulet after it followed her in the air, doing her best to stay as far as possible from it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Is this some sick human joke?!" Vendel got in Merlin's way before he could go further on following her, scaring the wizard enough for him to step back in surprise. "I believe you fleshbags have done enough damage."

ㅤㅤㅤ"We're doomed!" a troll cried.

ㅤㅤㅤ"GummGumms are coming for us," Draal approached the humans, a frown on his face. "and we've wasted time with your silly games!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"We must hide!" another troll was quick with the idea.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We all must fight as allies." Merlin protested, turning to Vendel to try and keep his encouraging flame lit.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You think just because your king gives us a shiny toy, you can buy our loyalty?" Vendel frowned, waving his free hand to make the humans back away. "Leave, and take your trinkets with you!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"This creatures will never trust me..." Arthur stared at his feet, a disappointed look on his face, as Vendel walked away with the trolls. "Why should they?" he sighed heavily and turned back, leaving with his chin down in defeat. "This was a mistake."

ㅤㅤㅤFinally, Archie flew closer to his friends and Sol ran up to them with a frown on her face━ something seemed to have gone wrong, which wasn't ━and shouldn't be━ a part of their plan.

ㅤㅤㅤ"The amulet chose Callista?" Archie tried to understand why that was so bad that all trolls were mad at the amulet and the humans who brought it, sitting on a rock by Claire's side as he glanced at her with confusion.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Woah, woah, woah━" she shook her hands, worryingly looking at Jim just in case she was wrong on the information she was about to share. "wasn't Deya the first Trollhunter?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Either way, without one, Killahead will be a bloodbath." Hisirdoux shivered just thinking of the scenario, and his tense expression made Claire cross her arms in worry and Sol play with her fingers in pure anxiety.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I think I know where Callista went." Jim tried to ease their concerns. "Claire?"

ㅤㅤㅤHis girlfriend nodded and turned around, waiting for his command to know where to create a portal to. After they were gone, Archie stood from the rock and looked over at Hisirdoux as he approached him and Sol.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What about the king?" he reminded them of even more people to worry about, raising his eyebrow in curiosity. "Doesn't history need him at Killahead as well?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Don't worry, I'm on it!" he turned and gave a few steps to the entrance of Dwoza, then hesitated and turned back with a grin. "But, before that!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux, I think you should hurry," Sol frowned, raising her hands before he could approach them again. "we have no time to waste━" before she could even think of worrying about the time passing, Hisirdoux took a staff out of his bracelet by magic and swirled it around to show off. Now wide-eyed and smiling stupidly, Sol ran up to him and grabbed his staff, almost expecting it to turn into smoke in a less than fun prank. When it didn't, she gasped and turned to Archie, who was as shocked as her. "WHAT."

ㅤㅤㅤ"I know, right? I can hardly believe it myself!" Hisirdoux giggled and let Sol take hold of his staff completely, he watched with an amused smile as she turned it to analyze all sides of the staff.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ahh, Hisirdoux!" Sol jumped over and over out of excitement ━Hisirdoux wondered, for a moment, if she had reacted that way when she gained her own staff━, then hugged him strongly and lifted him from the ground, shaking him around like a doll as he laughed joyfully, forgetting, for a moment, about the war that soon would come━ it didn't matter now, all that mattered was that Sol and Archie were happy for him and he was proud of himself. "Congratulations!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"You deserve it, my friend!" Archie joined in, finding a way to land on Sol's shoulder to then jump on top of Hisirdoux's head and mess his hair up.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Thank you, thank you!" he tried hugging them back, but his hands were stuck under Sol's arms as she still lifted him up ━and goodness gracious, either that fairy was strong as a brute or he was way too light for it to be considered healthy━.

ㅤㅤㅤHe was happy that the news of him ━finally━ being turned into a master wizard could ease their fears for a moment, Hisirdoux didn't know what would come to be after the battle and he was more than scared to find out, but ━if any buts were even capable of alleviating his own apprehension━ he still had all his friends with him, and that's all that mattered for now.

ㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐃𝐎𝐔𝐗 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐔𝐑'𝐒 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐓 ━and Sol had to applaud him for that, because the king was as stubborn as a rock━ they were all standing in formation; Sol, as asked by Lancelot himself, stood in the front lines along with Ezekiel and Steve, the two boys stood side by side, as always, and she stood with no horse, but only a silver sword that she did not like and a clenched fist.

ㅤㅤㅤSol's anxiety was now caused by all the fairies that stood on the other side of the battlefield, surrounding Gunmar as if they were his shield and nothing else.

ㅤㅤㅤWhat was causing her even more anxiety was that she saw herself in the middle of the flock.

ㅤㅤㅤAlthough, now, at least, she knew who to fight first━ the false knight was hoping that, by knowing herself at that age, she would be capable of making past Solamon Izzet change sides, like it should be.

ㅤㅤㅤAs she planned how her own personal fight would go, a clumsy black bird with a single cat eye searched for its owner from the skies, than made his way down until it launched perfectly on a ginger's face.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ow! Wh━" the fairy cut herself short when she saw what was now in her arms, smiling widely and hugging the crow. "You! Oh, how I missed you, dear friend."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Eh??? Sol?? Sol missed me?? Sol sick. SoL SICK! NOOO SOL IS DYING OF SICKNESS!" it worried itself━ oh, how Sol missed his exaggerated shouts. She kissed the top of his head, his beak and the feathers on his back lovingly.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'm not sick, there's no need to worry! Now stop shouting, you stupid bird, you're calling too much attention." although mad at him, she couldn't help but to giggle. "Oh! I missed you very much!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes, yes, I see that." he seemed to roll his uneven eyes and sigh. "Now STOPSTOPSTOP I HATE THIS MUCH AFFECTION COMING FROM YOU! IT'S WEIRD, STOP." she ignored the crow.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Can you give me my bracelet? I might need it now." she shook him off her arms and he landed on top of her head, searching for the marble on his stomach in silence. As she waited, Sol took one of her gloves off to be able to use the bracelet.

ㅤㅤㅤShe wasn't as worried as before, Sol knew she had her friends, and her familiar, and Hisirdoux by her side. Sol had people with her, she was far from being alone.

ㅤㅤㅤAnd she was ready for the battle.

Chapter Text

▬▬▬▬▬ㅤ 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐑, she was only a kid when Eriynx had its own and wasn't able to fight alongside her siblings like this. And as her stomach turned and her breaths became short and fearful, she thanked her family for never letting her be in battle━ until now, she supposed, since her family had dragged her to the Killahead bridge.

ㅤㅤㅤThere was blood everywhere ━either from humans or the fae, she didn't know━ and screams of pain or anger echoed in her ears and disoriented her as her eyes struggled to focus on one thing at once.

ㅤㅤㅤShe swung her sword at a human in a sloppy movement and missed them by a lot, which would've made her blush in embarrassment if she wasn't so scared and desperate to get out of there at the moment, besides, she wasn't too sure if she wanted to hurt them in the first place.

ㅤㅤㅤSolaomoni was sure she would feel humiliated after the war ended... or not. Would it even end? Would she even be alive after that?

ㅤㅤㅤThe ginger held in a gasp as a knight walked ━not ran, walked, as if there wasn't a war going all around━ in a straight line toward her. Sword in hand and eyes slowly glowing from behind the helmet, almost as two torches were being lit right in front of her.

ㅤㅤㅤSolaomoni frowned━ she already knew who it was behind that helmet just by their eyes. And with that knowledge, she grew angry at herself━ her future self, that is.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Traitor," the word, spoken in Eriynxit as Solaomoni was most comfortable with, made the knight pause. "I become a traitor in the future. That's it." Solaomoni raised her own sword, pointing it towards her future self.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Not a traitor," her other self mumbled, lacking confidence in her words, "never a traitor. Listen to me━"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Why would I ever?! You abandon your people for them, the people who would leave you behind in a blink if it were beneficial for themselves!" she quickly pointed around herself, not taking her eyes off of Solamon. "You abandon your culture, your name, to dress and eat and live like them! Have you got no shame?!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"I have nothing to be ashamed of! I've abandoned nothing and nobody! I know you can't see it, Solaomoni, but━" the older girl was interrupted by her past self, who swung at her with an enraged scream.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon evaded easily, blocking the second swing with her own sword.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Your people are being killed! Right here, right now!" Solaomoni pushes harder against her future self's weapon, her angered eyes bringing light to Solamon's hidden face. She hesitates as soon as she sees tears wetting her cheeks.

ㅤㅤㅤ"My people are being used." she struggles to speak, twisting Solaomoni's sword and turning it down with her own, then shoves the fairy back by the chest with her shoulder, making her lose her balance.

ㅤㅤㅤWith that momentum, Solamon holds her past self closely and puts the thumb of her ungloved hand over her forehead.

ㅤㅤㅤThe world around them dissipates for a second. There is Morgana, Eriynx, The Arcane Order, the spell. Everything.

ㅤㅤㅤSolaomoni is breathless when the memory ends.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That's not true... it can't be true!" she tries to crawl away from her future self, crying non-stop.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'm sorry, Solaomoni, I'm so, so sorry." she holds the girl by her shoulders and pulls her closer, ignoring how her voice cracks with every word. "They're gone."

ㅤㅤㅤShe looks around, finally noticing the slight dead-like state of her family. The light in their eyes gone, their handling with their respective weapons sloppy, too slow to be compared to the true strength of a fairy that has been fully trained for decades.

ㅤㅤㅤ"But... but..." she mumbles something Solamon doesn't quite catch, then turns to her future self, desperation in her eyes. "What do I do now?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"You need to help the people who are still here with and for you."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux? He's not actually here, is he?" the girl stands up in a second, looking around for her friend.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Not your Hisirdoux, no. Mine is." Solamon guides her past self around the battlefield, looking for a place to hide momentarily. She repeated that word in her head for a while: momentarily. She was not running away, she was planning. Solamon was not a coward, nor a traitor. "He's after Morgana, and you should be, too. He and Merlin might need help."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Merlin? Why would I help Merlin?" she frowns as her future self takes off her bracelet and hands it to her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Because he is important to Hisirdoux, and he might be a little bit to me, too. Besides, Morgana is our problem, you know that now." she shrugs, then helps Solaomoni put the bracelet on. "That's where my staff is being kept. Be careful with it, you hear me?"

ㅤㅤㅤSolaomoni rolls her eyes, her breathing a lot more calm now that they were distant from the battle.

ㅤㅤㅤ"When am I ever not careful?" she simply replies, turning to go back to the battle, but being stopped by her future self, who holds her hand gently for a moment.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Just... stay safe. Good luck." she nods once and leaves Solaomoni to wonder why she seemed like she wanted to say something else. It was odd, she thought, to not understand herself.

ㅤㅤㅤWith a simple exchange of looks with her familiar, Solamon could be more relaxed knowing he would keep an eye on her old self.

ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆. Infuriatingly, she had no control over time and the skin of reality still━ that's one more thing for her to learn.

ㅤㅤㅤEven with barely any control over her own life, Solamon was always trying. Trying to prevent her family from dying in a war, to save her past self, and to stop her incredibly cruel sister from destroying the world in revenge for her ━let's be honest, very ugly━ dead lover. In one out of the three situations, it worked, so maybe she could work on another miracle like that for her younger siblings.

ㅤㅤㅤKnowing the path to Eriynx like the back of her hand, she took no more than five minutes to get there, right on time to see her favorite tree be knocked down by the beast that was her sister's henchman.

ㅤㅤㅤShe got rid of the helmet that covered so much of her vision and approached carefully, but her legs trembled when she realized he had an arm attached to nothing in his hand, the blood trail leading to a body under the rubble of a house. Her sword seemed a little too heavy all of a sudden.

ㅤㅤㅤShe was there. Not just in a terrible nightmare this time, Solamon was actually there, reliving the moment that for decades had made her miserable and pitiful. She threw up again, just like the first time she had seen her dead younger sister's body, and her blurry eyes managed to catch the moment the monster saw her after making so much noise.

ㅤㅤㅤHer sword was left behind as she was struck in the stomach by his big hands, barely having a minute to catch her breath as her back hit a tree before he had her by the neck. His mouth was full of blood, his breath stank of raw meat, his eyes red and wide, the full posture of a predator.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon coughed, certain she would have vomited again if the giant creature weren't blocking her throat. She tried to kick his chest but he didn't seem to feel any pain, nor did he seem bothered by her weak punches.

ㅤㅤㅤJust as her vision was starting to darken around the corners, The monster was struck from behind, Solamon's sword sticking from his shoulder, and screamed, drops of blood flying onto Solamon's face before she was dropped to the ground.

ㅤㅤㅤShe tried to stand even with her whole body almost collapsing from being left with no oxygen for so long, wobbling a bit before she caught herself and lunged forward to pull on the beast's ear━ which seemed more and more wolf-like as she ripped it right off. It was a good thing he was still distracted for a moment with whoever was behind him, although Solamon didn't manage to fully look up at the person who had saved her before the beast jumped on her again, this time groaning in pain as it bit onto her side with its full wolf form.

ㅤㅤㅤShe had forgotten how annoying it was to deal with a metamorph, too used to Archie's peaceful demeanor.

ㅤㅤㅤHer sword was thrown to her and she quickly caught it, too desperate to get out of the monster's grip to worry about which one of her siblings was helping her at the moment.

ㅤㅤㅤThe blade went into his eye as easily as cutting through butter, but Solamon didn't have the time to push it even further into his skull before he released her and stood up with a painful scream that distracted her for a moment. She gripped the sword with both hands now, assuring herself she would not lose it a second time.

ㅤㅤㅤShe could feel the iron of the armor where she had been bitten poke her skin, certain it had punctured through it in a few places, but she was too full of adrenaline to feel it. For now, all she could do was hope she wouldn't bleed any more than she already had.

ㅤㅤㅤThe beast's back cracks as it grows bulkier, the ear that was left turning rounder as the howls of pain turned into roars. Sol took a step back and prepared her sword, she couldn't let him get another hit.

ㅤㅤㅤFrom the corner of her eye she could see some movement and tried not to turn her eyes away from the monster for too long as she checked to see if her siblings were okay.

ㅤㅤㅤThey were running towards a hole that had been made on the ground after one of the houses had been destroyed, some of the eldest were pushing pieces of stone to block the entrance as they finished going in, and even with the reassurance that they had found shelter, it didn't look secure enough and Solamon was positive it would collapse given enough time.

ㅤㅤㅤJust as she opened her mouth to warn them, the bloody creature ━now bear━ had his heavy paw on her cheek, leaving a big scratch behind as he pushed her to the ground, putting most of his body weight on her head.

ㅤㅤㅤThe pressure hit her hard as she tried to pierce his leg with her sword, and Solamon could tell she was missing her aim even with her eyes closed. The sword was thrown of her hands before she could get a proper swing and the paw was raised from her face, the bear monstrosity lifting it up with clear intent of cracking her skull in half.

ㅤㅤㅤWith her ears still ringing, Solamon rolls to the side and avoids the lethal attack only by an inch, as her hair got caught under his paw when he brought it down.

ㅤㅤㅤShe brings her sword closer with her feet and takes it with one hand, swinging sloppily to get his leg before he could lift it again.

ㅤㅤㅤThe growling from the bear was a satisfying sound as it stepped away to protect itself from Solamon's blade, she stood up to seem more threatening, tripping on the wet mud despite herself.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Remember this well," she shouted, her sword raised almost proudly. "if I don't kill you now, know that I will someday. Your spine will be my part of my blade, I will lit you up like fireworks for all to see, and I'll eat your burned heart for dinner!"

ㅤㅤㅤShe wasn't sure if the monster's wide eyes were from feeling threatened or just being in pain, but she was satisfied either way.

ㅤㅤㅤHe looked like he was about to attack again, but turned around as something in the forest made him perk up. As if called by an outside entity, he ran to the entrance of Eriynx and knocked down a light pole while he was at it, breaking the magic seal made around the flames as it fell onto the roof of a house, resulting in the start of a fire.

ㅤㅤㅤOnly then Solamon allowed herself to take a deep breath and fall to her knees, analyzing the dents made by the beast's teeth on her plackart to make sure she could still use it. The mud on her face was making the scratches on her cheek sting, but she couldn't get much of it out just by rubbing her face with her hands.

ㅤㅤㅤWith her hair full of dirt and her face muddy and bloody, she stood up and avoided walking near the dead bodies as she made her way closer to the temporary shelter her siblings had made with the remains of some of the houses. Solamon felt like she was about to pass out, the moment felt like a dream, she was scared she might wake up in a world where she hadn't saved her siblings━ the real world.

ㅤㅤㅤShe heard a caw coming from her side and immediately raised her arm for her familiar to land on it without looking over at him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Douxie needs help! RIGHT NOW!! GO, GO, GO!!" it screamed in her ear, finally getting some proper attention. Indecisive, Solamon looks at the shelter, then at the fire, then ahead in the direction the war was sure to still be happening. She had no time to think before the crow insisted. "NOWWWW!!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Alright! I get it." she sighed, then turned to the silent shelter, shouting at the top of her lungs. "Fire! There's a fire outside, you need to get out!"

ㅤㅤㅤWith the warning given, she runs out of the destroyed Eriynx with the promise to come back for them.

ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐑, she was in another dimension, almost.

ㅤㅤㅤShe knows the one in front of her wasn't her brother anymore━ she would've known even if her future self hadn't told her, after all, he just tried to put an axe between her eyes. Even so, she felt disgusted with herself when she pierced through his body with a magic-made thorn that sprouted like a flower from the ground.

ㅤㅤㅤHis dull eyes still stared down at her, the blood in his lips dripping down onto her cheeks, but she couldn't find it in herself to move away from its aim.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Solamon!" Merlin's voice snapped her out of her trance as he and Hisirdoux pulled her up and away from the body, with Merlin turning her around and pulling her with them as they ran after Morgana, Archie flying above their heads with the crow, who stumbled onto the dragon a few times as if it was hard to stay put in the air as gracefully as Archie was doing. "Come along!"

ㅤㅤㅤShe was glad to not be there still, but the image of her brother's body had already been burned into her memories and would not go away for a very long time, if ever.

ㅤㅤㅤThey got to the middle of an empty part of the forest, the hoot of an howl making Solaomoni jump in surprise as she stood between Merlin and Hisirdoux, grasping her future self's bracelet like a lifeline.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I feel dark magic." Douxie mumbled from beside her, and she wondered if he was talking about the chill he must've also felt just by being in that dark place.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It means she's close." Merlin responded just as Solaomoni thought she heard breathing from behind a tree, making her shake like a twig. Knowing what Morgana did to her family, she didn't know what to expect from the witch.

ㅤㅤㅤShe heard chuckling, her confused senses made it hard to know where it came from, and started to tap on the citrine in the middle of the bracelet, unsure of how to get the magic working.

ㅤㅤㅤ"An old man, a foolish boy, and an easily manipulated fairy, lost as always." Morgana's taunts echoed around them.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Do you dare run..." her voice finally came from a single place, all of them turning as she appeared with a golden flash on top of a fallen helmet, obviously made for a giant by the size of it. "or face my vengeance?!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Um, is there a third option?" Archie's voice almost overpowered the sound of branches breaking from behind Solamon, who turns to see roots growing towards them and gasps, flying up to avoid getting caught in their grasp.

ㅤㅤㅤMerlin, Archie and Hisirdoux weren't so lucky as to see the attack before it got them, and they couldn't fight against the roots' strong grip.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon turns as she hears Merlin shout in pain and sees a thin branch piercing through him as she desperately tries to activate the magical abilities of the bracelet.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux, run!" he struggles to speak, falling down on his knees as he fights against Morgana's magic.

ㅤㅤㅤRun? Run where? Run how?

ㅤㅤㅤSolaomoni turns to the enemy with trembling hands and finds that Morgana had already been looking at her. Her big eyes almost made her cower, but Solaomoni couldn't afford to leave those people now, she was in this too deep.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hiyaaaah!" she shouts and aims her hand at Morgana, almost expecting the bracelet to start shooting light beams at the woman. In response to her trying to send all her magic to it, the bracelet spits out Solamon's sword, which falls to the ground with an almost awkward 'cling' that echoes around them. "Oh..."

ㅤㅤㅤThe crow flew around her head, cackling its beak out. Before she could even find it in herself to be embarrassed, Solaomoni was also caught with more growing roots and pulled closer to the ground.

ㅤㅤㅤMerlin finally managed to free himself with magic at the same time as Hisirdoux, who was quick to help Solaomoni out of the roots before he turned to Morgana and shot with his bracelet━ exactly what Solaomoni was trying to do only a second before.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Merlin!" he worries for his master as he sees the old man struggling to get up, and the fairy doesn't make a move to help him as he holds Merlin up. With a grunt from the man, Hisirdoux doesn't find it hard to guess why he holds his chest with pain in his eyes. "You're injured!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Badly." Solaomoni realizes at the same time as him, and she looks over at him with apprehension, looking for any sign that Hisirdoux had a plan in case this was to happen.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux, if I should fall this day..." Merlin gives his apprentice a scroll, which he opens quickly and reads out loud with his familiar.

ㅤㅤㅤ""Heart of Avalon"?" Archie's eyebrows shoot up.

ㅤㅤㅤ""Building a tomb"?" Hisirdoux looks at Merlin with an incredulous look. "Why are you giving me this?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Foreseeing the future means preparing for the worst of it," Merlin says it like it's the most obvious thing. "including your wounded friend."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Jim? What about him?" Hisirdoux's worried expression didn't reach Solaomoni, as she got too stuck in the question "who is Jim?" to be fearful for him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"The corruption in his heart has no cure. When he returns to the future, it will overtake him."

ㅤㅤㅤAs Merlin explained the complicated situation about Jim, whoever it was, Solaomoni looked around the forest, which grew suspiciously quiet. She takes the sword the bracelet had spit out and turns it around her hands to get used to the weight and balance, although it wasn't so hard since the weapon had been made perfect for her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Such is the burden of a wizard━" Merlin trailed off as they continued walking with Solaomoni behind this time, keeping the old man safe as much as she could. "to make the hard choices mortals cannot."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Now it is yours to bear." Merlin grunts in pain as he looks up, she and Hisirdoux following close behind.

ㅤㅤㅤThey both gasp as ahead they find a giant skull in the distance with something lighting it up from inside and multiple cages hanging from the eye sockets and mouth. The crow lands on Solaomoni's shoulder, cowering and trembling in fear of the skull with the top of the head open, but Solaomoni shrugs it away with an annoyed click of her tongue, even when she herself was scared too.

ㅤㅤㅤMerlin jumps on the cage hanging closer to the cliff they were on and uses his staff to balance himself.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Morgana, reveal thyself!" he shouts out to the void, fearless despite his state.

ㅤㅤㅤAnd reveal herself she did. With a golden flash, she appears in front of the skull in what looks like a thorn that grew from the wall of stone that kept the skull from falling.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Look what has wondered into my web." she smugly leans forwards with a smile.

ㅤㅤㅤ"These are dark powers you meddle with, Morgana." the great wizard says, as if she didn't already know that. "Who granted them? Who resurrected you from death?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Wizards beyond your ken. You four aren't going anywhere." the crow shouts profanities at her, upset for not being included in her raged threats. Morgana splits herself in two, one made of shadows and highlighted with gold. "I have a king to slay."

ㅤㅤㅤShe disappears onto the shadows, leaving them to fight the clone with dual swords.

ㅤㅤㅤSolaomoni was so done with fighting already.

ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐅 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈'𝐒 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑, she would've been able to tell this isn't her Hisirdoux. Not only did he look more grown ━expression lines on his temple and on each side of his lips that could only be the result of decades, maybe centuries, of emotions (and of that irritating smirk she knew all timelines of Hisirdoux shared), tattoos peeking out of his sleeves, elaborate scribbles she vaguely remembered having seen in one of Merlin's books, but could not recall their meaning, and the blue tips of his dark hair like he had dipped it in a lake reflecting the night sky, Solaomoni wished she could have a closer look to see if she could catch any stars hidden between the soft-looking layers of his hair━, but his movements were quicker and better than her version of Hisirdoux could manage, the way he held his lute━ well, spellcaster guitar━ made her Hisirdoux look like he strangled the instrument, swinging it side to side and against Morgana's face like it was an extra limb.

ㅤㅤㅤThe way he reacted to things was also different, like he could see things before they happened, like he'd lived through this fight before. Solaomoni thought that maybe he did━ although she did not have many seconds to connect the dots before pain flared from her back.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon Izzet, her much more depressed future self, wore a human armor that held no consideration for faerie wings, therefore she could not have them. Hisirdoux had such desperation in his eyes when Solaomoni was caught by Morgana that it seemed as if he carried past guilt along with this present one, and it did not help that Solaomoni was staring into his eyes as her cheek collided with the floor and her wings were cut off in a quick swing, as easy as paper was torn.

ㅤㅤㅤYes, this must have happened before. Solaomoni did not think of that as she tore her vocal chords with a scream that echoed inside her head, she could hardly think at all.

ㅤㅤㅤShe shouldn't have provoked Morgana, Solaomoni wished she had the voice to apologize before the witch could finish tearing through her wings, but she was sure it was too late now. She just wished she had been warned about this, protected from it. Shouldn't an older version of herself know better?

ㅤㅤㅤBut even in her pain, Sol still stood by what she said. Morgana was not like her, she was not one of them. Not a troll, not fae, not a magical creature, and that title is the whole point of it. Morgana had never been called a creature, a monster, a being. She was Morgana, born in purple, raised behind golden bars, with round ears and a soft face, none of the trenchant edges that Solaomoni Ilzzetrum always had━ teeth made to crush bones, the slight pointiness of her ears that made her not like them, abnormal eyes like suns much like the tapetum lucidum of a wild animal, and the hair that could have been a soft orange but was bathed in blood too often.

ㅤㅤㅤMorgana is human, and Solaomoni is a creature. The witch will never be like her, no matter how much she carves her ears into jagged sharpness, no matter how much she files her teeth like a carnivore's, no matter how much magic she has in her veins. Solaomoni supposes this is why Morgana hates her so much, why she would dismember Solaomoni into a creature more similar to her instead of the other way around.

ㅤㅤㅤSolaomoni was so tired of fighting, so tired of hurting. She closes her foggy eyes despite Hisirdoux's orders against it ━it was too much pain, couldn't he let her have some rest, at least?━, and the world becomes dark and distant like a thought in the back of her mind, the same place where a regret to ever have been curious about humans now resided.

ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐍𝐎 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐈𝐃 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃, it was as if she had been rotting inside to make up for the fact that she'd never rot externally.

ㅤㅤㅤAs she stepped on a giant bone on abandoned battlegrounds she had only heard of before, she did not question her immediate thought of saving Hisirdoux first when she got to where he and the others were. Her past self came second, and Merlin last. She made the excuse on her mind that it was only because Hisirdoux is a very capable wizard, and a risk on him was a risk on them all, it made sense to not prioritize her younger self or the Master Wizard most likely to die of a heart attack mid-fight.

ㅤㅤㅤNow, she didn't actually know what had happened for them to need her help so urgently ━the crow had difficulties with knots on his tongue whenever he had to speak fast, and switched to plucking his feathers when he realized Solamon couldn't understand him, which he usually did when stressed out━, but knowing how much Morgana hated her guts ━and it didn't help that her past self had plenty━, it had probably been Solaomoni's fault.

ㅤㅤㅤA few trees behind them, she sees why her assistance was so needed now, with Hisirdoux and Archie surrounding Morgana with circles of runes she could only half-read, and a small wingless fae thrown in a corner, Merlin kneeling in front of her, trying to protect Solaomoni in her vulnerable position even at his weakest. Her legs almost give out at the sight, ghost pains pulsating like a heartbeat from her back. It wasn't a pretty sight, her back all reddened, purple where foot marks had been left behind, the bits of her wings that were left blackened like they caught on fire ━although, they might've recovered if it had been a simple fire, Solamon had plenty of it inside herself, after all━, the ends twisting and twirling, twitching as if trying to heal and grow back. There were veins connected to that body part of hers, but the blood had dried already, the process possibly fastened because of the magic nature of the wound.

ㅤㅤㅤNo wonder Merlin couldn't look when it happened to her, she wouldn't have wanted to look either. The bits of her wings that had been left at the time had withered away and fallen out only a few weeks later, leaving some nasty scars that Solamon only had the courage to look at after months, too scared that she would've seen bits of her wings still stuck there like glass shards after stepping on some.

ㅤㅤㅤClaire gets to them at the same time Solamon does, they both head straight to Hisirdoux as he finishes his spell, Claire protects Hisirdoux from Morgana's pathetic attempt at getting him with her own magic, and Solamon holds his shoulders to try and offer some support, but her mind is still on the body behind them, and it appears so is his, as he avoids looking at Solamon.

ㅤㅤㅤMorgana makes empty threats, none of them listen, Hisirdoux finishes his spell at the same time as Claire makes a portal to throw the petrified Morgana in, and Hisirdoux's exhaustion makes him fall to his knees as soon as she's dealt with.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Douxie! Are you okay?" Archie's the first to check on him, walking a full circle around his familiar and tackling him into a sitting position as Claire and Solamon surround him as well.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ugh! That's━ that's disgusting!" he grimaces as Archie licks his face excitedly, but chuckles anyway. Solamon can't even think to stop herself before her hands are in his face, checking for injuries. There's a cut under his right eye that makes her frown, caressing it with her thumb as if it would do anything but make Hisirdoux flinch in pain.

ㅤㅤㅤThe way he looks at her makes her think of the sleeping fairy again, she knows he's about to say something that will make her angry━ not at him, but at the bad habit he has of blaming himself for things he had no control over.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I couldn't stop her, I'm so sorry. I just stood there and did nothing, again." his voice cracks, and for a moment Solamon recognizes the expression she saw when he was inches from closing the door on her after their discussion on her last night in Camelot nine hundred years before. It's the only expression of his that she hates.

ㅤㅤㅤ"If you truly had done nothing, I wouldn't be here now. Morgana would've done worse." she tells him, reassuring but mostly scolding, as Solamon found it hard to control her tone to be less so. "I never blamed you for it. Not the first time, and not now."

ㅤㅤㅤShe forces herself to look at the body again. Although the soft twitching in Solaomoni's eyebrow showed it still hurt, even as she laid unconscious, Solamon sees no other injuries but a scratch on her right cheek where she was forced onto the ground and a cut on the left side of her face that goes down to her neck, but that she knows was made by the puppet version of her brother. Her agitated limbs still move, unbroken, and the only bruises are on her back. Her leather armor is almost untouched, she recognizes the damages as being from the battlefield and not here, since they look axe-made.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I feel it was inevitable, fate is set on giving me the same scars no matter what we do." when she turns back to Hisirdoux, she catches him glancing at the scar on his left hand before he looks back up at her, looking so relieved that she doesn't blame him.

ㅤㅤㅤThat glance breaks her heart. She doesn't know the story behind it, and can only hope he feels safe enough to tell her one day, but Solamon can see it means the same as the one that goes from her face to her neck. It's fresh on Solaomoni, but centuries old for Solamon, a part of her she has to see in the mirror every day. She chose not to for decades, of course, and when she did it was as a punishment, but just thinking of Hisirdoux having that same mentality makes her want to punch him in the face.

ㅤㅤㅤShe puts down her fists before she can do it to him or to herself, as Solamon connects her love for him to her at this moment. Anything she feels, so does he━ putting that idea in her head makes her see herself more as the dead to the world Solaomoni next to the equally unconscious Merlin. Solamon could've done so many things different to try and avoid all the pain she━ no, the pain Morgana caused. Changing her plans, living things twice, fighting different people, none of it had broken what fate has prepared for all of them, Solamon suspects that none of them ever had that power, and ever thinking she did was a bit self-absorbed.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon never thought of checking the destruction of her home closely, too miserable to do so at the time. Now that she's sure she can't change the past, can't save her wings, can't stop Morgana from using her family, can't stop herself from saying venomous things that make Hisirdoux upset enough that they separate after a nasty fight, nothing really matters but what she'll do next. Solamon isn't very powerful, but she's sure molding her future isn't all that hard. All she had to do was laugh at Hisirdoux's clothes and make fun of them, not even a week later they're kissing under the moonlight and dancing like they did in the past━ that's the mentality she'll take from now on. She'll start by checking the rubble she never thought of lifting.

ㅤㅤㅤThe world keeps spinning during Solamon's internal epiphany, and soon she finds herself in front of the fallen body of her past self. She never aged a day, Solamon still has that same face, even when she thinks of herself as much more rugged than this body she lifts from the ground so easily━ she had always been considerably small compared to her siblings, and now she wonders if that's why her ᛗᚨ was especially protective of her, this small thing that was never much good at staying hidden, being too fluorescently orange, loud, and clumsy for that. Solaomoni grunts in pain when she's moved, but doesn't wake up.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon sees the layer of sweat on her forehead, and she thinks of how much this small fae suffered, probably having nightmares now. She and her Hisirdoux barely had a chance to spend time together, and now Solamon wonders how much of her own memories are true. The blueberry pie is true, she remembers the smell and the taste of it, the dance after it might not be, future Hisirdoux didn't seem surprised when it didn't happen, and it seems unlikely that a woman Solamon didn't know would confuse him, someone so young, for her husband. Pulling on Archie's tail to save him from an explosion might be true, she remembers the pain of him scratching her, but saving Hisirdoux after that might not, someone would've seen her with her wings out and it definitely would've raised questions, or at least made people go after her, even if not with pitchforks like she would've imagined for humans.

ㅤㅤㅤHer memories feel a bit foggy as she breaks them down piece by piece, and she's sure someone meddled with them now. That night on the rooftop, definitely true, she can recall the moment leading up to that, except her future self's involvement by sending Solaomoni up there in the pretense of relaxing after maybe seeing a flash of Morgana by the window of her room. That's something they all have in common, there is nothing on Solamon's future self, it's always someone else taking her place or Solaomoni on her own, she doesn't see Ezekiel, Claire, Steve, Jim or even future Hisirdoux anywhere. She knows who messed with her memories now.

ㅤㅤㅤPutting all those things in her own head was for protection, for comfort. She knows like all her other timelines that this small fae did not deserve to suffer so much, that she deserved a break from it all, some sort of comfort to think back on these years and still see lighter parts in the middle of so much trauma. She might've gone crazy by now if it weren't for them, for Hisirdoux and the memories that were true, which she probably would've thought of much less if the fake memories weren't there.

ㅤㅤㅤMuch like passing a family heirloom, Solamon leans down and rests her forehead against Solaomoni Ilzzetrum's, taking some of the pain in return for the fake memories she probably gave herself a million times before. Did the first Solamon Izzet make them up? Was there a first? Sol has no idea, she would rather not break her own mind with time questions while performing powerful memory magic. ᛗᚨ taught her this one, not ᛕᚨ. It's meant to be used in battle, so, of course it was her mother.

ㅤㅤㅤBack when Eriynx had just been divided from other fae communities, it was important to have a way of getting information on the humans and the other fae, so this spell must've been used much. To use something Sol considers a violation this kindly must be making ᛗᚨ proud in the Afterlife, Sol thinks.

ㅤㅤㅤShe forgets what was passed down onto the sleeping Solaomoni now, only having memories of a few times with Hisirdoux and a new one where she lost her voice for a day after mistakenly drinking some enchanted grape juice and being made fun of by Hisirdoux, who, in the end, still made the effort to try and understand the drawings Solaomoni attempted to do to communicate. Sol checks her past self's pocket and, sure enough, there are a few drawings of chickens and the slorr who hated Hisirdoux and many other things that even Sol can't recognize.

ㅤㅤㅤSolaomoni's face relaxes a bit, still in pain but now having solace for it, and Sol sees Hisirdoux with an amazed look in his eyes. She feels a bit embarrassed under his stare, having done all that in front of people, and he must notice, as he smiles at her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You take such good care of her." he seems just as proud as Sol would like to think her mother is in the beyond, it makes her blush a bit, then feel idiotic for blushing, even as she understands it's because he said that after watching her have an almost indifferent reaction to Solaomoni's pain after losing her wings.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I haven't really, so far." she shrugs, walking away to avoid looking at Hisirdoux.

ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊, especially when you have eyes like Sol's, made for daytime. Even so, it's even harder to miss frantic screaming of a bird trying very hard to sound like a common crow. It's sort of like a duck and a sheep at the same time, and it makes Sol think of the story about the rooster, the donkey, the dog, and the cat.

ㅤㅤㅤIt has two wide eyes that look exactly the same as one another, so she knows it's not her strange bird, who stayed with Hisirdoux since he prefers him over Sol for company. Putting her body down near a tree, hidden from the world and as comfortable as she could get her position to be, Sol looks at the confused bird.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Formiliar?" he asks, unsure of himself.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, it's this little one." Sol explains, gesturing down at Solaomoni. "Do your best to protect her, alright?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yeah." it responds, then drops down to start nipping at Solaomoni's fingers.

ㅤㅤㅤWell, at least the constant annoyance would help keep Solaomoni grounded. Sol isn't sure if it's been on purpose or not, but it did always help when she would feel her mind slipping back to the scar on her face and to the fallen gates of Eriynx.

ㅤㅤㅤTremors on the earth bring her attention back to the direction of Camelot, seeing the castle floating up from the ground like she had witnessed back when they were looking for shelter for Jim.

ㅤㅤㅤJim, of course! The shard, did Merlin remove it? He was unconscious now, and would be for quite some time, so she couldn't pick answers out of him like the crow picked at its own feathers.

ㅤㅤㅤShe goes for Hisirdoux and they regroup with the others, the plan is to use the Heart of Avalon to go back to their time, and Sol is extremely relieved to hear that.

ㅤㅤㅤEzekiel is safe but looking exhausted. He's seen death, probably for the first time from so close, and there's nothing Sol can do but to comfort him with a hug, which he accepts promptly, shedding a few tears on Sol's pauldron that she doesn't comment on.

ㅤㅤㅤSteve seems just as sad, but he reacts much differently, telling her about the plan of honoring Lancelot by reforming the Round Table━ one only for people with great hair, he specifies, and it makes Sol like him a bit more when he invites her to participate on it. Yes, her hair is great, she agrees to it and gets a hug in return, now having two teenagers in her arms, crying for comfort.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Everybody, ready yourselves." Douxie tells them as he gets the time map to work with the Heart of Avalon. "We don't have much time. I'll dial us in for when we left."

ㅤㅤㅤIt's perfectly reasonable to go back to the exact same time, but Sol feels an argument forming on her tongue. Why not a few minutes before? Now that they knew their enemies and the threat they pose, it would be beneficial to have the upper hand of knowing their moves. However, she knows Hisirdoux is right in doing this, as it would probably mess up the timeline as they had so narrowly avoided so far.

ㅤㅤㅤ"But what's gonna happen when we get there?" Claire frowns as she looks at Hisirdoux, possibly having the same thoughts as Sol. "The danger we escaped, it'll be waiting for us. And Jim's still hurt."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Claire, about that... Jim is━" Hisirdoux starts, and Sol's blood runs cold at his tone, knowing what words would follow. He's interrupted by Jim, however, who raises his hand to stop Hisirdoux from saying too much.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ready to face the inevitable." he finishes for the wizard, his wording not making it much better for Sol, who steps closer with Ezekiel and Steve's grasp on each of her arms.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Jim, are you sure?" Hisirdoux is against this, his expression darkens and he leans closer to Jim, but, really, what choice do they have?

ㅤㅤㅤ"Jim?" Claire's worried now, too smart to not catch on as she looks over at her boyfriend with a frown. He takes her hands and sighs, which doesn't do much as consolation.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Claire, the shard in..." he starts, then pauses, blinking slowly as if getting himself ready for his next words. "There is no cure."

ㅤㅤㅤClaire gasps, going pale, and Sol gets ready to catch her if she faints, since she looks like she's about to.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That's what Merlin told me earlier." damn Merlin━ never really helpful, that old man.

ㅤㅤㅤIf only Sol could remember anything from her Eriynx books now, so much study on different types of magic were useless if her memory's not good enough to keep all of it stored in her brain for moments like these.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That's crazy!" Claire's hands go up as she starts to get agitated. "We can find something! I'll learn a spell. We can stay here."

ㅤㅤㅤ"If we don't all go back right now, the future won't exist." Jim counters, taking her hands again to stop her from gesturing around wildly. His tone is soft, acceptance for whatever's coming for him making Sol's stomach churn. "And what kind of hero would I be if I sacrificed everyone else?"

ㅤㅤㅤA seventeen year old boy-hero, Sol thinks, but doesn't open her mouth to say anything, knowing she'd only come across as hypocritical since she had been demanding so much from herself when she was around his age.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Not to be ironic, but we're out of time." he finishes, daring to give a smile.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No!" Claire looks over at Sol and Hisirdoux, who now stood close to her and the boys clinging to her. "Sol, Douxie, tell him! We can fix this! You can fix this!"

ㅤㅤㅤSol has the urge to look away, but she couldn't possibly do that to Claire. Her eyes stay in the girl's brown ones, trying to get her sympathy for her and Jim to show in her face, as she could think of no words that would comfort Claire in this moment.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'm sorry, Claire. He's right." it takes Hisirdoux a big amount of effort to say this, his fists are tightly closed, and Claire's disappointed expression doesn't help. "We must go back now, but when we do, we'll find a way to reverse this."

ㅤㅤㅤ"If it comes to it, I'll look in my library for something, Claire, right after we deal with the danger waiting for us on the other side." Sol tries, her tone as hopeful as she could get it to be, but it doesn't do much for Claire.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux nods, trying to help Sol convince Claire that that's a good plan. Then, he looks back at the girl with determination in his eyes, a look Sol admires very much.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I promised I would return you home, and I am, but the portal can only open for a few moments." he lifts a hand and offers it to Claire and Jim. "This is our one shot. Trust me."

ㅤㅤㅤJim grabs his hand and they shake it, then Hisirdoux turns his back to them to go back to the time map.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ow!" Steve cries out suddenly, and Sol's scared he might've hurt himself in battle and only now was starting to feel it because of the adrenaline wearing off, but she finds it was just the crow flying onto the back of his neck. Now the crow and Steve are slapping each other like cats, which would seem immature even to Archie, Sol's sure of it.

ㅤㅤㅤDeciding to ignore them, the fairy turns her attention to the Heart of Avalon, which glows with power, the rings around it starting to spin as the magic of the time map connect to it. The rings snap in place, positioned to have the big rubies in each of them forming a straight line, where a beam of light goes out to form a portal in front of the castle, big enough that Sol can see the night sky of their present time.

ㅤㅤㅤShe walks ahead with Hisirdoux, and Ezekiel's grip on her arm vanishes as he steps back to pull Steve along, separating the fight between him and the crow, in which Steve was very much losing.

ㅤㅤㅤClaire and Jim walk behind them, talking in secretive mumbles. Hisirdoux and Sol leave them be, giving them a moment since they so clearly need it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ready to go back to your grandma clothes?" Hisirdoux asks her, taking her hand in his to get her attention as he smiles weakly.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I miss my patchwork cardigan." she admits, then tilts her head to the side to tease him back. "I bet you miss having spikes somewhere in your outfit."

ㅤㅤㅤ"I've had it this whole time." he shows her his tongue, where a small spiked sphere poked out of the top and a smaller simple sphere poked out of the bottom. It didn't seem to hurt him in all those spikes, so Sol assumes it's silicone.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Of course." she shakes her head, chuckling. She should've known better.

ㅤㅤㅤThey get on a small boat together and go airborne once everyone climbs in, with Hisirdoux using his staff to control the direction the boat takes.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Man, Camelot was crazy!" Steve remarks, putting his elbow over Hisirdoux's shoulder as if they're old pals, and the wizard smiles and pats his back in amusement. "Why don't they ever talk about that in the history books?"

ㅤㅤㅤSol rolls her eyes before they lay on Ezekiel, who sat by the corner of the boat, his gaze far away. She walks towards him and sits by his side, laying a hand over his shoulder.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Holding up okay, kid?" she asks, trying to be as soft as possible.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I guess." he sighs, frowning a bit before looking up at the portal in front of them. "I just can't wait to go home. I miss Vica and Bea."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Me too." she admits, not correcting him about the fact that he didn't live in the same neighborhood as either of those girls now. If that was his home in Ezekiel's eyes, then Sol had no authority to argue about it.

ㅤㅤㅤAs she looks ahead, she catches Claire glancing back at Hisirdoux with apprehension and the same disappointment as before, and although she doesn't blame the girl, what Hisirdoux mutters to himself makes Sol's heart shatter in small pieces.

ㅤㅤㅤ"My burden to bear."

Chapter Text

▬▬▬▬▬ㅤ "𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐘!" Hisirdoux announces as soon as they go through the portal. Sol has the feeling he was itching to say it, since he looks very excited as he does so.

ㅤㅤㅤShe coughs a bit at the familiar scent of pollution━ one which Steve immediately admits to have missed, meanwhile she very much did not. Her familiar has a much more dramatic reaction, coughing up what he had for lunch a few days prior, including her clothes, which are still in the small magic spheres she summoned to protect them from this exact scenario.

ㅤㅤㅤJim's pained scream snaps her attention to him just as she presses one of the spheres against her own chest and ends back in her striped sleeveless turtleneck, he crumbles to the ground with his hand over the glowing shard as it moves further into his skin.

ㅤㅤㅤShe hurries to his side and helps Claire keep him steady on his feet, just as they see the Camelot castle falling in front of their boat.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux leads the vessel closer to the castle as they hear a loud crash from one of the towers falling and hitting the other, and they find Merlin by the edge, looking disoriented.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Need a lift?" Hisirdoux can't stop his smug tone as he smiles at his master.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Douxie!" Archie jumps at him, looking surprised. "But you're trapped in the past!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Not anymore." he hugs his familiar, then turns to help Merlin get in the boat.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Took you long enough." Merlin grumbles. If Sol hadn't been holding Jim, she would've push that old man off the ship. Not sparing her a glance, he continues in a softer tone, putting a hand on Hisirdoux's shoulder. "We have much to talk about."

ㅤㅤㅤJim leans forward as another wave of pain hits him, and Sol isn't able to hold him up anymore, she lays him down gently as they're surrounded by his friends.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, no, Jimbo!" Toby is the first to approach, throwing himself to kneel before Jim. "What's happening to him?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"The shard, it's moving to his heart." Claire has tears in her eyes as she explains to Toby, holding Jim close to herself as he spasms in pain.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'm getting everyone home safe, as promised." Hisirdoux reassures, about to steer the ship away from the castle before he's stopped by Merlin.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Not yet!" he looks back at the empty corridors with a worried expression. "We're missing one!"

ㅤㅤㅤSol looks around, but she can't tell who is missing. Archie, Toby, Aaarrrgghh, and Blinkous already got here, was she forgetting about someone?

ㅤㅤㅤShe gasps, stumbling back when a familiar green face runs on all fours towards the ship, Sol hits her back against the side of the vessel as a scream for Hisirdoux to watch out dies in her throat.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Merlin!" Nari cries out, landing on top of Steve as they jump onto the ship.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You." Solamon pales up when she thinks of the possibility of Merlin working with The Arcane Order and handing all of them over to the enemy, but she barely has time to think as Hisirdoux steers the ship away from the castle just as it starts crumbling apart, zig-zagging around the debris and under a falling tower.

ㅤㅤㅤWith all the movement, Solamon ends up closer than she'd like to Nari. On top of them, really, almost crushing the small demigoddess with her weight.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I promise I have an explanation," Nari starts when she sees Solamon's confused expression, their face twisting with regret. "but we don't have much time, so, for now, please let it be enough to know that I am on your side."

ㅤㅤㅤOn her side. Did that mean anything to a being who can and definitely will outlive Solamon? She finds herself questioning if that even matters at the moment. Merlin is a proud man, and he would not side with someone who wants him and his precious creation destroyed, not to mention the fact that having one of the demigods on their side would be beneficial, given the fact that there is still a crazed knight out to murder them.

ㅤㅤㅤPutting so much trust on Merlin makes Sol sick to her stomach, but she offers her hand to help Nari up even so.

ㅤㅤㅤThe rubble falls all around them as they land safely next to a building that had been destroyed by the same fallen tower they had ducked under moments ago, and seeing the destruction it caused made Sol want to kiss Hisirdoux as a reward for being such a wonderful sailor.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Your beautiful school home was crushed." Nari laments as they slide down the boat's golden wing and land next to Steve, who was celebrating the building being destroyed.

ㅤㅤㅤ"So..." Toby's eyes follow Nari down the wing of the ship, letting out an awkward chuckle. "now that we've cheated death, quick Q. Who's the magic plant lady?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Nari." Merlin and Sol reply at the same time, but the wizard continues on his own. "She renounced the Arcane Order and sought asylum in Camelot."

ㅤㅤㅤ"What changed their mind?" Sol decided she deserved to know, glaring at Merlin to insist she would not take him avoiding the question.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Seeing the suffering and death of creatures on both sides of the war." he replies, simply. It's confusing for her, who remembers so clearly the dream ━well, vision.━ where Nari willingly helped the other demigods share their majicks with Morgana so she would have enough strength to control half the population of Eriynx.

ㅤㅤㅤSol is about to question him further, but she decides there will be a better time for it later when she sees Aaarrrgghh sliding down the golden wing with Jim in his arms, Claire following close behind.

ㅤㅤㅤThe boy grunts as Aaarrrgghh puts him down on the grass carefully, and Sol slides down the ship's wing to hold Steve and Ezekiel back from crowding Jim too much, with Hisirdoux following right behind her. He lets out a pained roar that cracks the sky, and Claire looks unsure of what to do as her hands hover his body.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Jim! Hold on!" she reaches out to hold his hand, but he doesn't seem to notice.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Poor soul. Your corruption..." Nari steps closer, looking saddened for him. She lifts her hand towards the shard and a light appears from the tips of her fingers, reaching towards him like a blooming flower before it wilts and vanishes. They gasp as it does, surprised and afraid. "I feel it worsening!"

ㅤㅤㅤBlinkous gasps from behind Nari, which makes Sol jump, as she had completely forgotten he was here.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Jim hurt. Dying." Aaarrrgghh voices his thoughts, maybe in an attempt to process the information as his stone lip quivers.

ㅤㅤㅤ"There has to be something we can do." Hisirdoux frowns like his head hurts trying to reach into the deepest corners of his brain for a spell that could help his friend.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I told you nine centuries ago, there isn't." Merlin looks disappointed in himself, which calms Solamon's urge to kick his knee from behind for failing to sound sympathetic in the slightest, given the situation.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You remember what happened?" his apprentice turns towards him, clearly surprised.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Like it was yesterday, which, for you, it was." Merlin explains casually, Sol struggled to think of a reason why it mattered in the moment whether or not the great wizard remembered it all. "I know it was a hard choice, but you did the right thing for the sake of the world."

ㅤㅤㅤHearing Merlin speak some sense was surprising, but it made Sol feel uneasy to agree with him, especially when the memory of Camelot and all the times he could've stand up for her when Arthur acted the way he did was fresh on her mind. It doesn't matter, this is for Hisirdoux's comfort and not hers. She shakes away her aversion of Merlin and puts a hand on Hisirdoux's shoulder to comfort him, feeling him put his hand on top of hers immediately.

ㅤㅤㅤShe has no gauntlets on now, and truly feels his touch for the first time in almost a millennium. Solamon could faint. Whatever they have with each other had never felt as real as it did now, she hadn't thought much of where their relationship was, since the little time they had did not allow for it.

ㅤㅤㅤAnd it seemed she did not have time to start thinking about it now, as the enemy castle in the shape of a skull shakes the sky as it appears from behind the fog, the red eyes shining down at them like it locked in its target. As it slowly gets closer, Jim screams out, and Sol theorizes that being near to the ones who did that to him makes the pain worse.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We've gotta get him out of here!" Claire looks like she's about to have an anxiety induced heart attack, pulling Jim closer by his shoulders to try and lift him up, not seeing how he flinches when being moved.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Stop!" Merlin runs to the two, his lifted hand making Claire pause. "The shard's creeping towards his heart again!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Nari," a booming voice from above makes Sol lift her arm with the bracelet, her sword materializing in seconds as her eyes widen in surprise. She didn't recognize the voice, but could immediately tell who it was. Ezekiel's reflexes are fast, she sees him lifting his sword just as she does from the corner of her eye, althought the fear understandably weakens his grip on the weapon. "come back to us and finish the work you have begun!"

ㅤㅤㅤThe creature above is standing at the edge of the great skull's thorned crown, big round eyes on their shoulders looking down at Nari and ignoring the rest of them, as if none of them are worth their time. The set of teeth on their stomach clicks together like it mouths what they are saying at the same time as their lips do, causing their voice to double in volume. Knowing the mouth on their stomach is as functional as the one on their face is not comforting in the slightest.

ㅤㅤㅤBellroc doesn't need a staff, they could tear someone to pieces with their bare hands, but they carry one anyway, either to intimidate or to cause more destruction, Sol is sure both options work well enough.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You misunderstand our grand vision." a nasal voice approaches next to Bellroc, the horns of the skull on top of his head showing before the rest of him does, hovering above the edge of the crown to appear as tall as Bellroc. Skrael does not scare Sol half as much as Bellroc does, seeing as she melts ice, but lava melts her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"They are under our protection." Hisirdoux screams back, looking like the bravest amongst them as he runs to stand between the group and the demigods. Sol is quick to follow, pinching his back for running ahead without warning. The only reaction he has is to be startled for a quick second, only waving her off instead of turning to her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"If you want them, you've gotta get through us!" Claire runs to her side, closing her fists tight and looking angrier than Sol has ever seen her as she looks up at the gods. To further prove her point, Merlin creates a shield around Jim, who is now being held by Blinkous, with his staff.

ㅤㅤㅤ"So be it." Bellroc seems almost pleased to accept a challenge such as that, and soon they see why, as the skull's jaw opens to reveal the dark knight standing with a thinner figure by his side, fully covered by a brown cape and a face mask in the shape of a wolf's skull.

ㅤㅤㅤTheir aura is familiar and strong, especially compared to the knight, who has such a weak one, Solamon doesn't like that feeling one bit.

ㅤㅤㅤThe Green Knight jumps from the skull's mouth and the earth feels like it cracked in half when he lands in front of the group, but the other figure doesn't approach, and they don't have a staff either, so Solamon can't tell how proficient they are with magic.

ㅤㅤㅤSteve, Toby, and Aaarrrgghh run towards the knight first, being their first wave of attackers. They scream with might and lift their weapons, differently from Ezekiel, who runs in a circle to attack the knight from another direction. He is silent and his sword is low, Sol feels herself swell with pride for having taught him that.

ㅤㅤㅤIt barely matters how well she taught him, however, as the knight blocks Ezekiel's attack at the same time as Toby's by twisting his broad sword around like it weights nothing. Toby doesn't get to touch the ground as the knight uses the antigravitational aspect of his hammer against him, sending him flying back. With that, and with the way he pushes Ezekiel back after having his sword creating sparks with his by pushing it from the fuller to the tip, where Ezekiel's sword breaks like glass with the force the knight uses, Solamon figures there's a reason why he's not attempting to kill any of them.

ㅤㅤㅤThe knight blocks Steve's attacks next, sending him rolling on top of Ezekiel with a yelp as his axe falls to the side.

ㅤㅤㅤAaarrrgghh roars as he attempts to attack the knight before Steve even hits the ground, forcing his fists downward to try and smash the knight to the ground, but he fails to do so as the Green Knight blocks his fists with his sword easily and throws Aaarrrgghh's body over his own, with the big troll landing on the other side with a grunt.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon steps forward to help them, but before she's able to move much closer, the second figure is in front of her, almost hitting her with an electrifying magic sphere. Sol didn't even see them move from their spot, this being was much faster than she had imagined. Thankfully, with Hisirdoux by her side, she's pulled out of the way and the sphere hits Merlin's shield, which disperses the magic.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Nari, Trollhunter," the Green Knight points his sword at them, but Solamon doesn't give him any attention as she gets pulled into a fight of her own, forced to block multiple electric attacks coming her way from the second figure, who doesn't seem to focus on the demigods' targets as much as the knight does, but on the fairy instead. "you are mine."

ㅤㅤㅤAs Solamon busies herself with the strangely familiar mage, Hisirdoux runs ahead to attack the knight with his staff, which had turned into an instrument when Sol wasn't looking. A guitar, she thinks. Seeing him play with such passion, and cause the knight to step back when others couldn't, has her distracted enough that the mage manages to get closer and punch her in the eye.

ㅤㅤㅤNow angered, she punches right back, cracking some of the teeth on their wolf mask and making them stumble back, falling on their back. They quickly get back up with a twist of their lower body, however, almost like they're dancing their way up.

ㅤㅤㅤWhen the knight starts running in Jim's direction, Solamon knows she must shift her focus, and so she spins her sword around with both hands, the blade melting towards the tip and becoming shorter while the thorned vines on the handle grow upwards in a spiral to make it longer, turning it into a spear.

ㅤㅤㅤShe throws it up while spinning it and turns her body around to wind up a kick at the very end of the spear, knowing her kick would be much stronger than to throw it. Her aim in a kick isn't so good, especially when she still has the lower part of the armor weighting her down, but she manages to get the mage stuck against one of the concrete blocks behind them just as they were starting to build up another magical attack, the spear going right through their cape and making a hole in the debris.

ㅤㅤㅤTemporarily free from that fight, Solamon runs towards the knight just as Claire attempts to force him to walk through one of her portals by creating them right in front of him, but he manages to avoid every one of them.

ㅤㅤㅤHe attempts to hit Hisirdoux, who blocks with his guitar and causes sparks of magic around them. Sol summons a flame on her hands and spreads it across her bare arms, then tackles the knight with all her strength, but it doesn't do much besides making him step back a bit. Her flames do nothing to his armor, and he pulls her aside by her arm easily, throwing her off to the side.

ㅤㅤㅤThe Green Knight manages to disarm Hisirdoux and is about to slice him with his sword, but Claire creates a portal under Hisirdoux just in time and teleports him over to her side, only then Sol lets out a breath she was holding.

ㅤㅤㅤWhile she's down and out of breath from being thrown to the ground, Solamon looks over to the mage she had pinned against the remains of Camelot and sees that they are still struggling to free themselves, which calms her nerves a bit, knowing that they still have time to only focus on one enemy.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We're outmatched!" Merlin shouts over to the group just as Solamon feels a tug on her ankle. Looking down, she sees a bright blue rope tied to it, and at the end of it Hisirdoux pulls her towards him before the Green Knight can get to her, taking advantage of her brief distraction. Ezekiel and Steve help him pull since it seems she weights a bit more than he can handle, and they only let go once Sol is in front of them.

ㅤㅤㅤNot the appropriate moment to find enjoyment, but she found it was very fun to be pulled around like that, and Hisirdoux seems to have found it amusing as well, since he smiles as he offers his hand to help her up.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Everyone, fall back!" the great wizard continues, they all step back as they're told, just as the mage manages to rip their cape off of Solamon's spear, which she summons back to herself, attempting to hit the mage on its way back to her, but failing as they step to the side.

ㅤㅤㅤJim's scream makes them all turn back, finding him pushing the shard farther into his heart.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No! You can't! Jim!" Claire punches Merlin's shield with both hands, trying and failing to push her way through it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It's the only way!" he struggles to get the words out in his pain, continuing to push the shard until it disappears behind his breastplate. With one last shout, he blinks his now red eyes and stands up much bigger than he was before, breaking through Merlin's shield with a roar.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Run!" he warns them all, rushing on all fours towards the knight as he lifts his sword. Jim gets to him before he can even get in a position to attack, pushing him down with his weight.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No! Jim!" Claire's voice cracks as she steps forward to try and go after her boyfriend, but Hisirdoux and Solamon hold her back before she can.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We have to go! He's buying us time!" Hisirdoux tells her, pulling her with them as the group makes their escape.

ㅤㅤㅤFrom afar, Sol can see Jim fighting against the Green Knight's control as he raises his sword, a light the same color as the cracks on Jim's stone skin coming out of the middle. In the end, he loses the control over his own body and falls to his knees, and Sol doesn't have the strength to keep looking.

ㅤㅤㅤJust as she turns back ahead, she feels the weight of someone tackling her to the ground, the pressure of being stabbed making her cry out as she grabs the attacker by the throat and twists the both of them around to pin them against the ground. With a dagger's hilt sticking out from the left side of her stomach, Solamon lifts one of her fists and gets a punch ready, but she pauses when she looks into the mage's scared eyes.

ㅤㅤㅤToo familiar, uncomfortably so. The deep brown pulls her deep into a pit in her mind where the precious memories that make her want to claw her way out of her own skin to escape the torture reside, and the mage is quick to take advantage of her hesitation, grabbing her arm and sending a shock wave through her body.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Solamon!" Hisirdoux approaches, about to touch her shoulder, probably to try and pull her away from the mage, but she stops him by kicking dirt his way, unable to speak. Don't touch, she begs on her mind, it'll hurt you too.

ㅤㅤㅤFrom behind the mage, Ezekiel lifts his sword and hits the pommel against the side of their head as hard as he can, immediately knocking them unconscious and stopping the electricity running through Solamon's body.

ㅤㅤㅤFinally able to breathe, Sol stands up with a limp and gestures for them to keep running when she sees the light from the great flying skull approaching.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux, kind as he is, stays behind with her to help her walk, putting her arm around his shoulders.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sol, what should we do?" Ezekiel starts fussing over the dagger sticking out of her stomach, his hand hovering over the hilt. He looks so sick that it's as if he's the one who had been stabbed.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Leave it, I'll lose a lot of blood if we pull it out now." she explains, trying to calm him down, but she supposes she must look as sick as he does with how his lip starts to quiver. Sol attempts to smile, but breathes out as she does and ends up grunting in pain. "I'll be fine, it's not like I've never been stabbed before."

ㅤㅤㅤ"You've been stabbed before?" Hisirdoux looks over at her with his eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You haven't?" she's just as surprised, and if the situation was different, maybe Hisirdoux would take that as a bit of an offense.

ㅤㅤㅤ"They'll come looking for us." Nari cries out, running on their hands and knees next to Merlin and making Sol and Hisirdoux look over at them.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We need to split up, it's safer to be in smaller groups." Sol tells them, not waiting for a response as she pulls Claire with her since the girl seems to still be disassociating since Jim was caught. They do so quickly, ending up in an alley where a cat runs out after hissing at them and scaring Steve, who yelps and jumps behind Sol.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hide!" Ezekiel tells them, shoving Steve inside a portable toilet and running inside the one next to it while Claire, Sol, and Hisirdoux hide behind a dumpster. Noticing how bright her hair is, the wizard takes off his vest in a hurry and puts it around Solamon, struggling to pull the hood over her head to cover her orange curls with how fast he does everything.

ㅤㅤㅤThe light shines over the alley, causing a long shadow from the dumpster, which hides them well enough that the skull leaves in a few seconds.

ㅤㅤㅤSol flinches when Hisirdoux moves from her side to check outside the alley, with Claire following right behind him and starting to run back to where they left Jim, but Hisirdoux stops her and pulls her back.

ㅤㅤㅤ"There was nothing we could do!" he tells her as the rest of the group, who had split up as Solamon told them to, reunites with them from the other side of the alley. "We'll go back for him, I promise."

ㅤㅤㅤSol did not like Hisirdoux making promises, she felt it put more pressure on him, and that was the last thing he needed at the moment, but she couldn't find the strength to stop him from doing so, as her words died out before they even left her lips, all her strength going into pushing herself to stand back up. She knows she shouldn't be moving so much with a dagger on her━

ㅤㅤㅤShe screams. Nevermind, Merlin just pulled it out.

ㅤㅤㅤStartled, she tries to push him away, even her familiar attempts to attack him for causing her pain, but he simply lifts his hand towards her injury and starts to heal it, which gives her enough relief to forgive him just as quickly as he had angered her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Give that to me." she lifts her hand, wanting to get a closer look at the dagger. He does as she asks and she inspects the silhouette of a wolf carved out in the wooden grip, with curves carved like waves around it. Solamon feels the guilt weight on her for not recognizing that aura much earlier.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We can't." Merlin refers to Hisirdoux, walking away once the cut in Sol's stomach is nothing but a long scab, he doesn't expect her to thank him. "We must hide Nari. There's more at stake than you know. The Trollhunter━"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Don't you talk to me about Jim!" Claire snaps at him, looking like she's about to hit Merlin, which Solamon certainly wouldn't stop her from doing.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, Master Jim!" Blinkous laments, looking a bit pathetic with his broken arm and dirty face. He slowly sinks down to the ground, defeated. "We are lost without him. We must seek refuge to regroup, form a plan to save him."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Where?" the master wizard lifts his hands as if challenging Blinkous, but Solamon is pretty sure his sarcastic voice isn't on purpose this time. "The Order has roamed this planet for centuries. They know all my places of power."

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux thinks for a moment, scratching his chin before he looks back at a lit up store behind them.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I know a place with plenty of power where the Order's magic won't find us." he looks more hopeful when he turns back to them, then looks over at Solamon as she pushes herself away from the wall she was leaning on to pick away the scabs of her injury. "Ready to see an old friend?"

ㅤㅤ𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐙𝐙𝐄𝐓'𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐃𝐎𝐔𝐗 𝐈𝐒 𝐔𝐍𝐖𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆, but she would be lying if she said the plan he had didn't make her nervous to the point of almost throwing up. She did not think it a good idea to head straight into the Order's hands like this, and decided it was better to be prepared to start running if anything went even slightly wrong.

ㅤㅤㅤShe would also be lying if she said most of her nerves didn't come from the owner of the dagger she now carried on her back pocket.

ㅤㅤㅤIt wasn't too hard to track the Order down with their ship, especially when they weren't hiding in the first place, and now, on their way to the lion's den, Sol feels the urge to pick up the dagger and look at it again.

ㅤㅤㅤThe crow, who sat on her shoulder, glances at it, then looks over at Sol with his cat eye, blinking like he is about to cry. She nods in confirmation, knowing he recognized it too, and the crow then flies over to Hisirdoux to be with him instead, nestling in the crook of his neck for comfort as it whimpers.

ㅤㅤㅤConfused, the wizard scratches its wing before looking over at its owner, who looks away to hide her frown. He walks over to her, surprising her when he tucks one of her curls behind her ear to uncover her bruised eye. She winces at his touch, as soft as it is, and turns away on reflex.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Don't you want to ask Merlin to heal that?" he asks, gently.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It's fine, it doesn't hurt." she lies without looking him in the eyes, then shakes her head. "That mage had a weak fist."

ㅤㅤㅤ"They were targeting you. Why?" he's mindful of the volume of his voice now, in case that information is a secret.

ㅤㅤㅤSol hesitates to tell him. What would he think of her if he knew what she'd done? She would like to think he wouldn't let that get on the way of his feelings for her, but Sol had been wrong many times before. The dagger she carried now was proof of it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I used to know her." she tells him even with her fears, mumbling in hopes he won't listen, but he leans in to hear her better anyway. "A long time ago, when it was still my reflex to run away when things got complicated."

ㅤㅤㅤHe struggles to nod because of the crow forcing itself under his chin, but does it anyway out of sympathy, his hand caressing her hair softly.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I have concerns about this cockamamy plan of yours." Sol rolls her eyes when Merlin interrupts the moment they were having to say something that will make her cross, as he usually does. "We're headed right into the lion's den."

ㅤㅤㅤ"You gave me a staff because you trusted me, right?" Hisirdoux frowns, keeping his gaze ahead to look out for the Arcane Order's great skull castle. "So, trust me."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Very well. I stand by your decision... wizard." the grand wizard sarcastically replies, raising an eyebrow at Hisirdoux's tone.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Everyone knows what they need to do." Sol's beloved assures Merlin as well as the rest of the group, then refers to Claire. "If we pull this off, we'll get Jim back."

ㅤㅤㅤThey find the castle still looking for them with its lit up eyes, approaching as carefully as possible.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Arcane Order!" the beams go down onto the ship as if the skull's gaze was turned to Hisirdoux, he covers his eyes to protect them from how strong the light is. "We're here to barter!"

ㅤㅤㅤThe castle's jaw opens and a platform similar to a tongue extends out to recieve them.

ㅤㅤㅤ"And that means 'come in'. This is where we split up." he tells everyone as Merlin lands the ship on top of the platform, tapping the crow on his neck to make it go back to Sol, but it stays right there. With a sigh, he gives up on moving it, turning back to Sol to hold her hand before she can leave with Claire. "Be careful."

ㅤㅤㅤ"You too." she caresses the back of his hand with her thumb, then nods over to her student. "Take care of Ezekiel for me."

ㅤㅤㅤHe glances at the boy before nodding with a smile, then leans in to plant a kiss on Solamon's cheek, which would make her blush if the crow hadn't taken the opportunity to bite her face.

ㅤㅤㅤShe moves back and smacks it off with a pained grunt, but the crow shows no remorse as it flies away. Hisirdoux chuckles after checking her face for a possible injury from the bite, then Sol bids him goodbye with a wave.

ㅤㅤㅤClaire looks away when Sol catches her staring with a saddened expression, but is quickly comforted by the fairy, who caresses her back gently.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Let's go get him back." she tells the girl, trying to sound determined, which seems to work since Claire brightens up a bit.

ㅤㅤㅤStill having Hisirdoux's vest on, Solamon lifts up the hood and tucks her curls inside so they can sneak around the Arcane Order's castle without being noticed.

ㅤㅤㅤAfter sneaking around rocky terrains, Sol stops Claire from crawling further into a narrow path to point out a wide room under them where she could teleport them. After she does, the two start looking around the open space.

ㅤㅤㅤThere are windows all around the room, all of which the crow hits at least once as he flies around, and the circle they stand in is surrounded by what look like rain grates with an orange light coming from under the gaps. Solamon is curious to see what they are standing above, but Claire's gasp makes her pause before she can look.

ㅤㅤㅤThey hear growling from an opening in the room, Sol sees a big creature sitting down in the shadows, looking defeated. Jim.

ㅤㅤㅤClaire approaches him slowly and lifts up her hand to show she means no harm, but he growls a bit anyway and turns away from her with a snort.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Jim, can you hear me?" she tries, softly at first, but when Jim snorts at her again, she loses a bit of her patience. "We came here for you. Come on, let's go! We're getting you out of here."

ㅤㅤㅤThe girl opens a portal behind herself and offers her hand for Jim, but when he actually starts approaching, Sol gets her sword ready, just in case. It seems to startle Jim, who starts running at her, but is stopped by his girlfriend, who gets in the way with her hand lifted and a frown on her face that seems to intimidate him, as giant as he is at the moment.

ㅤㅤㅤHe steps back like his head hurts, grunting as his eyes try to focus on the two but fail to do so. He's still fighting for control, Sol realizes, and it must be torturous for him. With a tired sigh, Claire closes the portal and tries to calm Jim down by raising both hands. She gestures for Sol to let go of the sword, but the fairy steps back instead, still with her hand on the grip of her longsword.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Easy. Easy. This isn't you. You're James Lake Jr., the Trollhunter." Claire tries to remind him, getting close enough to almost touch his arm, but he flinches away from her touch.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Jim is gone. The Knight freed me." the monstrous Jim jumps back and roars.

ㅤㅤㅤAll his noise might've been a call for backup, since a figure jumps from the ceiling when he roars, landing between him and the two girls. The mage goes for Claire first since she's closer, but Solamon blocks her electric attack with her sword, getting hit instead and falling to her knees as she feels the electricity run through her body. The crow screams and goes into hiding at that, not wanting to face the mage.

ㅤㅤㅤAgain, the mage was so fast that she didn't even feel her aura before they were attacked.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sol!" Claire gasps, holding her shoulder to try and help her stand back up.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Keep trying to reach Jim, we'll pull him back with us by his horns if he doesn't come willingly." Sol grunts, standing up with her legs trembling from the shock. She refuses to let Hisirdoux's plan go to waste. "I'll deal with the mage."

ㅤㅤㅤShe's not sure if she can, not when she has no plans of hurting the mage, but Solamon has to seem assured to Claire so the girl won't panic.

ㅤㅤㅤThe mage tries to attack Claire again, but this time Sol is ready and creates a shield around her that quickly breaks away with the electricity. Before she can try again, the fairy rushes towards the mage with her sword up.

ㅤㅤㅤShe swings the blade from behind her back to the front of her body, almost getting the mage, who stumbles back as Sol swings again, this time in the opposite direction and swerving back to switch the position of the sword so the tip faces her adversary. She then thrusts forward with the blade, aiming for the mage's gut, but missing since she rolls to the side to gain some space between the two, which she uses to send another spell in Solamon's way.

ㅤㅤㅤUnable to deflect the attack with how fast it is, Solamon falls to her knees as a pained scream fails to claw its way out of her. She's unable to do anything but grimace as the mage continues to send a shock through her whole body.

ㅤㅤㅤIt seems Claire is also having problems with Jim, he jumps over Solamon's body and lands with a roll on the other side, turning to face Claire who is still pleading for him to remember who he is.

ㅤㅤㅤThe shocks stop when Jim, in his crazed state, bumps into the mage and sends her to the ground with a grunt. Sol takes the opportunity to stumble her way, but finds herself unable to do anything but hit the side of her head against her forehead to have her unconscious like before.

ㅤㅤㅤShe sighs, reaching out to remove the wolf mask on her face, but is stopped by a familiar voice that makes all the hair on her arms stand up.

ㅤㅤㅤ"The boy is gone, little lamb." Sol wants to believe she's dreaming, but when she slowly turns her head, Morgana is there, lowering herself to their level with such serenity that Solaomoni can only assume to be calculated.

ㅤㅤㅤFlashes of fire and faerie puppets appear on Solaomoni's mind when she blinks, she finds herself unable to move. So far, she had only seen the past Morgana who had yet to do the horrible things that turned her life into torture for so many centuries, but this was the one who had done it all, and now carried herself with a sense of maturity like she's above such trivial suffering from lesser beings.

ㅤㅤㅤAnd she has the audacity to look sad.

ㅤㅤㅤIt pisses Solamon Izzet off, so much that smoke comes out of her nostrils when she huffs.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Morgana?" Claire is angry, as she should be. "You just won't die, will you?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"The Order had other plans." her staff is pointed at Claire, who she takes to be the bigger threat here, since the two had fought before, and Morgana had never had a proper fight with Solamon Izzet. "There's no way out, I'm afraid, for any of us."

ㅤㅤㅤShe attacks Claire using no magic, swinging her reconstructed staff ━which Solamon could see even from afar had visible cracks everywhere, like someone had taken the time to glue it back together piece by piece, or, rather, dust particle by dust particle━ at the girl, who steps back and ducks desperately.

ㅤㅤㅤMorgana doesn't deserve her magic, Sol decides, since the witch doesn't even bother to look her way. Her sword disappears, summoned back into the bracelet, and Solamon runs to Morgana to pull her by the braid, which she uses to twist her around and throw her against a wall. A bit too practical, Sol would never grow her hair out enough for braids after this, she would be too paranoid of the same being done to her.

ㅤㅤㅤWhen the monster version of Jim starts to run in their direction at the same as Morgana, who recovered rather quickly, Solamon uses both of them to her advantage as she grabs Morgana's staff and falls backwards, kicking the witch's stomach with both feet to have her rolling over Solamon's body and crashing onto Jim.

ㅤㅤㅤThe two roll over to the end of the room, but Monster Jim stands up after shaking Morgana off of himself and roars their way, ready to attack again. The crow finally comes out of hiding just to claw at his face, distracting him for a moment.

ㅤㅤㅤRealizing the disadvantage they were in, Solamon puts her hand over Claire's shoulder without saying anything, and the girl makes a portal behind them and starts retreating without taking her eyes off of Jim.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I won't give up on you, Jim. I'll find a way." her voice cracks as she makes the promise, waiting until Sol and the crow pass through the portal with her before she closes it.

ㅤㅤㅤAs soon as Claire portals them to the front of the castle, Ezekiel and Steve, who seem to be forced to waltz together on the ice, fall on top of Claire and are frozen by Skrael. Solamon manages to avoid it the first time, but they get her on the second attempt, freezing her hands against a wall as her feet slide on the frozen floors.

ㅤㅤㅤShe immediately starts melting the ice, shivering when the cold droplets slide down her arms. The process is too slow for her liking.

ㅤㅤㅤ"We propose new terms" Bellroc says in their doubled voice, it's too powerful for Sol to ignore, she turns to them immediately.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Give us Nari, or he dies." Skrael continues, pointing at something with his staff. Only then does Solamon see the monstrous Jim pushing Hisirdoux and Archie against the floor with his stone claws.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hisirdoux!" she and Merlin call out at the same time, equally as anguished. The fairy pulls on the ice to try and free herself, as melting it is much too slow.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'm sorry! This is my fault!" Hisirdoux weakly breathes out from under Jim's paw, wincing when he tries to move.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Merlin!" Solamon screams out. Do something, she begs on her mind, too focused on melting the ice on her hands to be able to say more than one word at a time.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I know not what darkness twists you, but you will not harm the boy!" he warns the Arcane Order, frowning with more emotion than Solamon had ever seen him show. "Not while I draw breath!"

ㅤㅤㅤWith a wave of his green magic, Skrael and Bellroc are tied up with chains and a shield is formed to protect Merlin. He shoots out more chains to try and get the Green Knight, who looks an awful lot like King Arthur from this far, but he avoids all attacks.

ㅤㅤㅤJust as Merlin thinks he's got him, the knight jumps out of the dust that rose up from Merlin's magic and advances towards the great wizard, pining him against one of the orange tinted windows that cracks when Merlin hits his back against it.

ㅤㅤㅤBefore Sol can even react, the Green Knight thrusts his sword into the old man's stomach and lights it with magic to torture Merlin, who shouts in pain as Solamon stares in disbelief just as her hands finish melting the ice, making her fall to the frozen ground and slide away from the wall a bit.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No!" Hisirdoux cries out.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon doesn't know who to help first, or if she even can, she doesn't even know if the Arcane Order plans to kill any of them, or use them for their own advantage, but she has the feeling everything is lost. They're either going to die here or be tortured until they beg for mercy.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It's over." Morgana appears from a portal just before the Green Knight, who Solamon is starting to think truly is Arthur, finishes breaking the window with Merlin's body and throws him off.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No!" the whole world feels like it just exploded when a blue wave shakes the whole castle, sending Sol flying back until her shoulder hits the wall she had been frozen to a few seconds before. The wave breaks Claire, Steve and Ezekiel off the ice and they all end up falling on top of her and squishing her body.

ㅤㅤㅤThey help her up as the castle starts to crumble apart, then look up at a flying Hisirdoux, who is shielded and surrounded by rings with runes written in them.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Get out of here!" he throws Archie their way and Steve manages to grab him.

ㅤㅤㅤClaire makes a portal big enough for all of them, but Solamon refuses to walk through it.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No! Hisirdoux!" she cries out, but before she can even think of stepping forward to help him, she is pulled by Claire, Steve, and Ezekiel, who use all their weight to force her to go through the portal.

ㅤㅤㅤShe's immensely relieved to find Hisirdoux on the other side of the portal, and is ready to jump on top of him before she sees Merlin laying next to his kneeling form.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh, no..." Archie mumbles out from Steve's lap.

ㅤㅤㅤThe fairy rushes to kneel by Hisirdoux, checking Merlin's state to see if she could do anything, even with her poor knowledge of healing magic. The wound is deep, but there's almost no blood, the edges of the cut are black like Merlin had been burned from the inside. Sol wouldn't be surprised if his internal organs suffered most of the damage, he looked like he could barely breathe.

ㅤㅤㅤ"He looks bad." Steve quietly says, not wanting to step any closer. The sight of someone dying could mess very badly with a teenager's head, even more when it wasn't the first time on such a short period of time.

ㅤㅤㅤEzekiel freezes up at the sight, then turns around, gaging a bit before he manages to get a hold of himself. Claire seems like the less affected one of the three, looking more saddened than scared.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Hold still. I can fix this!" Hisirdoux tries covering the wound with his hands at first, but when that does nothing but get his hands dirty with blood, he raises them, almost touching his own forehead like his head hurts. Solamon stops him before he can get himself dirtier with the dark blood, but he doesn't seem to notice her touch. "I can fix this! I can━"

ㅤㅤㅤHe reaches out for his bracelet to look for runes that could heal this type of magic, but Merlin holds his wrist to stop him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Stop, Hisirdoux. No one can. Do not blame yourself." he tells his apprentice, his voice so calm one would think he's already accepting death.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'm sorry. I should have listen to━"

ㅤㅤㅤ"No, no. I'm sorry." the great wizard stops Hisirdoux before he can finish, shaking his head a bit and taking a second to breathe before he continues talking, like he can only do one at a time. "I spent a lifetime serving the wrong master, trying to save this world."

ㅤㅤㅤThe last part he says looking at Solamon. She already knew this, that he served the wrong man, but having him confirm it now, only on his deathbed, makes her sad just as much as it makes her angry at him.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You can't!" Hisirdoux cries out, voice cracking at the same time as tears start to fall from his eyes. "You're Merlin, the greatest wizard of all time!"

ㅤㅤㅤHe leans his head against Merlin's chest plate and starts sobbing, his master's attempts to comfort him by caressing his hair don't work much. It hurts Solamon so deeply to see Hisirdoux experiencing this type of pain, and to be suffering with him, as much as she has been against so many of Merlin's decisions.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I saw a glimmer of greatness... of what you could become." he cups Hisirdoux's face with his calloused hand, his voice cracking with emotion. "And the greatest thing I have ever accomplished was saving you."

ㅤㅤㅤMerlin glances at Solamon then, his expression is a bit confusing to her, it could mean so many things. Knowing him, it means all of them. Take care of him. Take care of yourself. Be brave. Be scared, sometimes.

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon Izzet hates this old man and how he makes her choke up with tears now, so much she can't even tell him to wait for her so she can haunt him in the Afterlife.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'll try and make you proud." Hisirdoux whimpers, holding Merlin's hand tightly and pressing it against his own chest.

ㅤㅤㅤ"You already have... son." it's the first time Sol sees Merlin smile so peacefully. It doesn't last long, he grimaces in pain right after. Then, he goes limp. Dead.

ㅤㅤㅤMerlin Ambrosius, dead. A bit of the hope Solamon has of winning against the Arcane Order dies out with him, as well as all her resentment for the man.

ㅤㅤㅤHow could she hate him now? It felt so meaningless. He gave her that bracelet, her staff, and a group of people she could now call her friends. Solamon would have never given them the chance if it weren't for him insisting that she take Claire as an apprentice. Him and his obsession with apprenticeships.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No. No, you can't go!" Hisirdoux screams, trying to get Merlin to wake up. When he realizes his master won't open his eyes again, he hugs his body close to himself. "No, please. I'm not ready."

ㅤㅤㅤUnexpectedly, Merlin's body turns to dust, leaving Hisirdoux with nothing to hold.

ㅤㅤㅤSol touches his shoulder, unsure of how to offer him consolation in a time like this. It's so strange, she thought she would be able to help someone going through the same thing she had been through, but no words would come out when she needed them to.

ㅤㅤㅤShe thinks her expression is enough, thankfully, when Hisirdoux looks at her and more tears fall from his eyes. They meet in the middle in a tight hug, and she lets him cry on her shoulder, grieving quietly for the man she thought she would hate for the rest of eternity.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Douxie, I'm so sorry." Claire kneels down by their side, joining the hug like the rest of the group as they surround Hisirdoux and Solamon.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I... I can't believe he's gone." Archie whimpers, curling up in Hisirdoux's lap as the ashes of Merlin's body fly off to reveal what looks like a book.

ㅤㅤㅤThey all let Hisirdoux go so he can reach forward to touch the book's cover, still dirty with some of Merlin's ashes. He hugs it close to himself and forces his eyes closed, standing up slowly.

ㅤㅤㅤ"What is that?" Ezekiel and Steve ask at the same time, curiously glancing at the book.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It's all we have left to guide us." Hisirdoux wipes away his tears, letting out a sigh before he looks up at the sky with a worried expression. "Other than that... we're on our own."

ㅤㅤㅤSolamon felt the unpleasant feeling of deja vu, she wondered if another crow would come to guide her or if it would be the same one she had already been given.