Merlin jumped out of Eris' grasp, his eyes narrowing. "What the hell are you on about? It was supposed to be a hypothetical question, so why are you so worked up all of a sudden?"
Eris huffed, turning away, her face flushed with embarrassment. "S-sorry, I just got carried away, okay?"
"Uh-huh, well, don't do it again," Merlin scolded, his voice firm but not unkind. "As far as I'm concerned, we're not related, and I don't know you. Got it?"
Eris quickly raised both hands in a defensive gesture. "Alright, alright, message received! No need to bite my head off."
She let out a sigh, reminding herself that Merlin was, after all, still a grumpy old mage—especially after a day like this. But as the moment passed, she noticed Merlin crouching down, his hand tracing intricate patterns on the ground.
Her curiosity piqued, she leaned over. "What's that supposed to be?"
"A magic circle," Merlin replied flatly, continuing his work without looking up.
Eris rolled her eyes. "No kidding. I mean, what's it for?"
"For my temporal displacement spell."
"Temporal displace—" she stopped, shaking her head with a grin. "Come on, man, just call it what it is, a time traveling spell. You always gotta make things sound so complicated."
Merlin grumbled something under his breath, but didn't stop. Meanwhile, Eris' eyes lit up with excitement, her earlier slip up already forgotten. This was the good part, getting to watch a master of magic in action. She leaned in closer, eager to see how the spell unfolded, hoping she might learn a thing or two from Merlin's process.
As she watched, though, Eris found it hard to decipher the intricate sigils Merlin drew with each careful stroke of chalk. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of awe. If it were her drawing these symbols, she'd have to think twice, one wrong mark could lead to catastrophe.
"Hey, uh... if you don't mind me asking," she ventured, scratching the back of her head with a nervous laugh, "Can you explain how that spell of yours actually works?"
Merlin snorted, not even looking up. "Why, so you can steal it?"
"W-well, you don't have to put it like that!" Eris stammered. "I just thought... it might come in handy, you know, for fixing things."
"Exactly!" Merlin cut in, waving the chalk at her like a reprimanding finger. "That's the kind of thinking that makes people misuse time magic. At best, it should be used only as a last resort or to give history a little nudge."
Eris arched a brow. "So, what was that whole sneaking-around bit earlier at the proving grounds? A last resort? Or were you just nudging things for fun?"
"I wasobserving," Merlin shot back, clearly irritated. "At least I was, until you came along!"
"Alright, I get it, but can you please just teach me how to do the spell? Please..."
"No! And that's final." Merlin interjected, wiping the sweat from his brow and finally standing up.
He carefully observed the temporal displacement circle on the ground, making sure that everything was accounted for and his addled and irate mind didn't screw up the entire process from Eris' incessant rambling.
"All right, get up." He told Eris, extending a hand towards her. "It's time to go."
"What? Go where?"
"To another point in time," Merlin replied, "We can't stay long here, and also, I can't just leave you."
Eris tilted her head with a teasing smile, "D'aaaw, so you do care."
Merlin's face was unamused, "You know what, maybeI canleave you here."
"Okay, okay!" Eris exclaims, grabbing Merlin's hand and entering the circle with him, "You're such a sourpuss."
"Traveling with people like you does that to a person," the magus added, "And besides, I'm only dragging you along because you know too much and because of those Conclave clowns."
"Wow, such a hero." Eris scoffed.
As the two shared a space within the magic circle, Merlin started moving his hands with precision, tracing those same invisible patterns he had done prior to coming into this timeline. The air within the circle began to hum, thickening with arcane energy. Faint light trails followed his fingertips, weaving intricate paths that connected the runes on the ground.
Eris, still quiet, couldn't help but watch in awe. She could feel the shift in the atmosphere, the hairs on her arms standing on end as the energy built up around them. Merlin's focus was unshakable, his every movement deliberate as he attuned himself to the magic once more.
"I gotta tell ya, this is fantastic!" Eris remarked, her voice low, more curious than skeptical.
"Shut up," Merlin replied, not breaking his concentration.
The soft glow from his fingers intensified, the runes on the floor pulsing in response. His voice then filled the space, low and steady, as he spoke the incantations, each word reverberating around them. The language of magic curled through the air like mist, its meaning lost to Eris but powerful nonetheless.
As Merlin thrust his pocket watch forward, the ticking grew louder, more insistent. Beams of energy erupted from the watch, intertwining with the runes, and wrapping them both in light. Eris' eyes widened, her breath catching as she felt the tug of magic pulling them forward.
The warehouse that they were in started to become a blur, the dull colors surrounding them started bleeding together, as the present unraveled. For a brief second, Eris caught Merlin's eyes, they were sharp, focused, but there was a flicker of something else... like uncertainty.
With a final flourish of his hands and a last resonant word, Merlin unleashed the spell, "Nexus!" he exclaimed the spell's name, finishing it. The swirling light around them intensified before everything vanished in a blinding flash, the sound of the pocket watch's final tick echoing as they hurtled through the tides of time.
~
Eris gripped Merlin's robes as if her life depended on it, knuckles white, teeth clenched. The world around them blurred into streaks of light and color, twisting and bending in ways that defied all sense. For Merlin, it was a smooth, practiced glide through time and space, but for Eris, it felt like being flung through a violent storm, riding the edge of a lightning bolt.
Her body jerked with every pulse of magic, the sensation of weightlessness mixed with the crushing force of velocity. Her stomach churned, threatening rebellion as they hurtled faster and faster. The rush of air, if it could even be called that, whipped around her, making her hair fly wildly, and her vision blurred with the sheer speed.
Every muscle in her body screamed for her to hold on, to stay grounded in something as they zoomed through the ether, but nothing made sense. It was like clinging to a speeding bullet train, one wrong move and she'd be lost in this familiar chaos again.
Merlin, on the other hand, moved effortlessly through the madness, his calm demeanor at odds with the whirlwind engulfing them. To him, this journey was routine, controlled, focused, but to Eris, it was a chaotic freefall through time, a ride far beyond anything she had ever imagined.
The girl couldn't hold it in any longer. Her composure shattered, and she let out a loud, high-pitched screech, the sound echoing through the void as they hurtled through time. Merlin's eyes narrowed in annoyance, and in a swift motion, he clamped his hand over her mouth, silencing her mid-scream.
Eris's eyes flew open in shock, and for a split second, she froze—staring up at Merlin's exasperated face, then glancing around wildly. The chaotic rush of colors and sensations was gone, replaced by a bustling, noisy market square. People milled about, staring at her outburst as if she'd just shattered the tranquility of their day.
Merlin awkwardly removed his hand, turning to the crowd with a forced grin. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple as he tried to salvage the situation. "Uh... don't mind us, folks!" he said, his voice strained. "She just... well, she has a bit of a condition."
He shot Eris a glare, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "Play along!"
Wide-eyed, Eris blinked at the gawking crowd before giving an exaggerated nod and twirling her finger next to her head in a ′I'm crazy′ gesture. The onlookers rolled their eyes, grumbling and muttering as they slowly resumed their daily activities, leaving the two in a bubble of awkward relief.
Eris exhaled sharply, her heart still pounding, while Merlin rubbed his temples. "Next time," he muttered, "maybe try not screaming through a time jump?"
"How the hell was I supposed to react to that?" Eris exclaimed, her voice sharp with frustration. "It was overwhelming!"
"Well, now you know!" Merlin snapped back, jabbing a finger at her for emphasis. "Now. You. Know."
Eris let out an exasperated breath, her vision blurring as dizziness set in. A wave of nausea churned her stomach, the aftereffects of the jump finally hitting her full force. Without another word, she staggered past Merlin and a few concerned bystanders, diving behind a nearby dumpster.
"What are you—" Merlin began, only to be cut off by the unmistakable sound of dry-heaving. He winced, rubbing the back of his neck as realization dawned on him. "Ah, well. First time's always the hardest, I suppose."
He sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. In hindsight, he probably should've given her a heads-up about the unpleasant side effects of time travel. But in the rush to escape, time was, ironically, not on their side. The best he could do now was to offer some sort of comfort, though he wasn't exactly the nurturing type.
Awkwardly, he moved closer to where Eris was recovering. "Look," he said, his tone softening just slightly, "Next time, I'll... prepare you a bit better. It's rough, I know."
From behind the dumpster, Eris groaned, but Merlin could see her weak thumbs-up over the rim. He rolled his eyes but couldn't help a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah," she muttered between breaths. "Thanks for the warning... after the fact." popping up from behind the rubbish, Eris herself is starting to look the worse for wear. "Where are we anyway?" she continued like normal.
"Oh, uhh... we're actually a few weeks after the proving grounds," Merlin mused, glancing around as he spoke. "From my recollection and from the reports in the Candleravens' journal, we ran into a fellow guild member at a club around this time. You know, right after battling some cultists in a sewer."
"Whoa!" Eris said, eyes wide in awe. "You fought cultists? That's badass!"
"Hardly," Merlin replied, shaking his head with a modest grin. "It was a tough fight, we had to retreat into some pipes. We ended up deeper in the sewers, where—"
"Let me guess... a giant spider?" Eris interrupted, her excitement palpable.
Merlin smirked, "Precisely. A big, nasty one. And now, we're back here to retrace those steps." He glanced over his shoulder at her, his grin turning smug. "Why do you think I brought us here?" Eris, replied with a gleeful clap.
Merlin began walking ahead, scanning the area. The simple clothing of the passersby, the construction sites, the hustle and bustle of the streets, it all aligned with the timeline he had anchored them to. Using the Candleravens as a temporal tether ensured they stayed close to their key events, making it easier to track down their exact location.
To make things faster, he needed to pinpoint them. Merlin came to a stop, clapping his hands together decisively. "Hold on a second," he muttered, reaching into his robe. He produced a small tuft of fur, faintly bristled, like that of a bloodhound. He held it between his fingers as he crouched, muttering the incantations for hiscreature locationspell.
With a swift, fluid motion, Merlin began tracing the air with his free hand, his fingers weaving through the arcane symbols. As the incantation rolled off his tongue, his movements grew sharper, more purposeful. The air around him shimmered slightly, as if the very fabric of time was bending to his will.
"Indagare," he whispered, activating the spell. His voice resonated with power as the magic took hold. The fur in his hand glowed faintly, twisting in the air before dissolving into a fine mist that wrapped around his fingers like smoke.
With a final flick of his wrist, Merlin completed the spell's gestures, the arcane energies surging through him and spreading out in all directions. The spell settled, the magic locking onto the faint traces of the Candleravens' presence.
"There," Merlin said, his eyes narrowing as he pointed towards a distant alleyway. "They're close. Let's move."
~
Eris' excitement quickly shifted to dread as the spell's glow pulsed and drifted towards a manhole cover a few feet away.
"Oh,Saratoga, no..." she argued, already sensing where this was going.
The glowing threads darted to the manhole, swirling around it as if pointing the way. Merlin smirked, satisfied. "Well, looks like they're already down below. Right where I thought."
Eris shot him a look, her nose wrinkling in disgust. "Seriously? Here? I mean, can't we just go directly at the club and observe them from there?"
Merlin shrugged, amused by her reaction. "I thought you said it was badass. Now, think of this as part of the authentic Candleravens experience."
"Yeah, sure, if the 'authentic experience' includes drowning in filth." Eris crossed her arms, eyeing the manhole as if it were her worst nightmare. "Do we really have to go down there?"
"Afraid so," Merlin replied, already prying the cover loose. "Besides, we need to get up to them as close as possible so I could document our exploits better from a different angle."
The manhole cover lifted with a groan, revealing the dark abyss below. The stench of the sewer wafted up immediately, causing Eris to gag.
"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered, clutching her stomach.
Merlin chuckled as he took a step toward the edge, peering down into the shadowy depths. "Welcome to the glamorous life of adventurers, Eris. Just plug your nose, and try not to think about what's down there."
Eris let out an exaggerated sigh, staring at the manhole as if it might swallow her whole. "The void I could endure, this one just takes the cake."
Merlin smirked. "Don't be like that, I thought you wanted to help an old man." He then offered her a hand. "Come on. Time to jump in."
Eris looked at his outstretched hand, then down at the sewer, and let out a groan of resignation. "I hate you for this," she muttered, grabbing Merlin's hand as they went down into the darkness below.
As Merlin and Eris descended into the sewers, the damp, narrow ladder creaked under their weight. The stench hit them like a wave — a foul cocktail of rot, mold, and something far worse that Eris didn't want to identify. She gagged, her nose wrinkling in pure disgust as she held her breath for as long as she could.
"This is the worse," she cried, her voice strained as they reached the bottom. Her boots splashed in ankle-deep, murky water, and the sound echoed ominously in the tunnel. "I didn't sign up for this level of filth."
Merlin stepped down next to her, seemingly unbothered by the putrid surroundings. "This? This is just your average sewer, Eris," he replied, brushing off the grime on his sleeve. "The Candleravens and I have been in worse situations than this."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" Eris snapped, looking around with growing unease. The dark, damp tunnel stretched on endlessly, lit only by the occasional flicker of Merlin's magic. The walls were slick with slime, and in the distance, the unsettling scurrying of unseen creatures echoed around them.
Eris shuddered, pulling her cloak tighter around herself as if it could shield her from the creeping dread. "Ugh, why does it always have to be creepy crawlies?" She swatted at an unseen insect that buzzed too close to her face, stumbling a little in her haste. "And the smell, Merlin... it's like something died down here."
Merlin, ever calm, glanced over his shoulder. "Several things probably did," he said dryly, waving a hand to dismiss the foul air with a quick gust of wind magic. "There. Better?"
Eris grimaced. "Barely." She took a tentative step forward, her boots sinking into the sludge. The wet, sticky ground made every movement feel like a struggle, and the sensation of something slimy brushing against her leg made her yelp.
"Ugh! I can't believe you guys actually fought down here," she muttered, glaring down at the water in case something else decided to wriggle past her.
Merlin smirked, walking ahead and navigating the sewer like he'd done it a thousand times before. "Part of the job, my dear Erisviel, I'll give you that. Cultists, the abyss, giant spiders — it was all just another day's work. As long as the guild gets paid, too, of course."
"Hmph. Guess that's what I don't get yet," Eris said, her voice rising with both frustration and fear as a particularly large rat scurried by. She shivered involuntarily. "How could anyone fight in these conditions? This place is basically one giant, moldy death trap."
"As I said, it's just a job like any other and it's not often we find ourselves in places like this." Merlin replied, casting a soft light with his hand as they ventured deeper into the labyrinthine tunnels. The walls narrowed around them, and Eris could feel the cold stone pressing in on all sides. The eerie quiet was only broken by the occasional drip of water and the faint, distant sounds of movement.
Eris sighed, glancing warily at the dark corners, half-expecting something to jump out at them at any moment. "A job, huh... sure," she mumbled, keeping her eyes peeled. "Let's just hope we don't run into anything too nasty."
Merlin chuckled under his breath. "Don't worry. If anything shows up, I'll let you take the lead."
"Ha, ha," Eris shot back, glaring at him as they trudged onward. "You better be kidding."
The two pressed on, their footsteps echoing ominously down the dark passageways. As they ventured deeper into the sewer system, Eris couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. Every shadow seemed to flicker, every sound amplified in the eerie quiet. She kept close to Merlin, her earlier bravado slowly fading with each unsettling noise.
"This place gives me the creeps," she whispered.
Merlin, unfazed as ever, kept his eyes forward. "Focus on the task at hand, Eris. We're getting close."
And indeed, ahead of them, the faint sound of voices echoed through the tunnels. Merlin held up a hand, gesturing for Eris to stop. She raised a brow but remained quiet.
"Are we clos—" Eris began, only to be cut off by Merlin shushing her.
The familiar voice of Arctic Ink echoed faintly. "Fantastic mews, Mr. Meowlin, none of our spells are hitting!"
"Not now, Ink!" snapped the younger Merlin's voice.
"Don't get distracted, man, just pull!" Florian yelled, urgency creeping into his tone.
"Maybe we can try tossing it another coin?" Artemis added.
"ARTEMIS!" the three Candleravens shouted in unison, followed by the sound of something crashing violently to the ground.
Present-day Merlin sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. Chaos, as always. And it seemed they'd arrived just a bit too late to jump in seamlessly.
"Damn it," Merlin muttered under his breath, hurriedly rummaging through his bag for his journal and quill. He needed to document this immediately. That is, until...
"Umm, Merlin?" Eris whispered, tapping him urgently on the shoulder.
"Not now, Eris," Merlin grumbled, still struggling to extract his journal from the clutter of papers, vials, and odd trinkets in his bag.
"Yeah, sure, sure, take your time," Eris replied sarcastically, backing up a little. "It's just that there's a fan waiting for your signature is all."
"A what?" Merlin stopped dead in his tracks, looking up.
Behind Eris stood a hooded figure, silently holding up a plate. Merlin's heart skipped a beat. It was one of the creatures the Candleravens were supposed to be fighting right now. This wasn't in any of the reports he had pieced together — they were only supposed to encounter two of these things at a time. Unless...
"There's more than two..." Merlin whispered in disbelief.
"Offering?" the hooded figure intoned, lifting the plate slightly toward them.
Merlin gulped and shot a look at Eris, his expression grim. He leaned in and whispered in an almost unintelligible tone, "Whatever you do, be quiet."
Eris squinted at him, clearly not understanding. "What?"
Merlin's eyes went wide as he snapped his attention back to the creature. Without wasting another second, he yanked Eris out of the way, both of them tumbling to the side as the creature lunged, crashing into the stone wall where they had stood just moments before.
Eris rolled to her feet, wide-eyed, her breath coming in short gasps. "What the hell was that?!"
Merlin gave her a withering look. "I told you to be quiet!"
"Yeah, well, next time don't mumble it!"
The hooded figure slowly rose from the rubble, turning its head toward them with an eerie, mechanical precision. It stood up, the plate still clutched in its hands, though now slightly cracked from the impact.
Merlin muttered under his breath, pulling Eris behind him as they scrambled for an exit. "More of these things were definitely not in the report."
"Great, so what's the plan now?" Eris hissed, glancing nervously between Merlin and the approaching creature.
"The plan?" Merlin replied with an exasperated breath, barely sparing a glance at Eris as the hooded figure inched closer, its movements slow but deliberate. "We make a run for it."
Eris's eyes widened in disbelief. "Run? That's your big plan?" she hissed, her voice rising slightly. "Why don't we just fight it? We can take it down, right?"
The creature's head snapped in their direction at the sound of her raised voice, its pale eyes narrowing, reacting to every sound they made. Its eerie, hollow breathing grew louder, echoing through the tunnel.
Merlin whipped his head toward her, his face inches from hers as he whispered harshly, "Fight it? Are you insane?" He threw a quick glance at the creature, which was now even closer, its grip tightening around its plate. "We mess with something from the past, we could break the timeline! You hurt it, and who knows what kind of disaster we could cause. A chain reaction and maybe even destroy my altogether!"
The creature let out a low hiss, seemingly growing more agitated with every word they spoke.
Before Eris could get a word out, the sewer tunnel echoed with a sharp growl. A second creature exploded from the shadows behind her, colliding into her side with brutal force. Eris was thrown off her feet, crashing into Merlin as they both tumbled backward.
"Ugh!" Eris yelped as they hit the slick stone floor, water splashing up around them.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them gave way. With a jarring drop, they plunged into the lower levels of the sewer. The foul stench hit them instantly as they landed in a filthy, murky pool. Gasping for breath, Merlin struggled to his feet and so was Eris as they both tried to orient themselves.
"So... we're really not fighting it?" Eris groaned, wiping sewage from her face.
"No, we're really not," Merlin spat, glancing up to see the two statue like creatures scrambling elsewhere to find a way to them. "We're running. Before we end up wrecking the whole damn timeline."