A Different Kind of Magic

The Shift

The next day, Idena got up early, and stood in her cabin with the map spread out in front of her. There was a knock at the door.
"Come in." It was Connor. "Sorry, did I wake you?" She asked.
"No, you're fine. I've been awake for a while." Idena looked up, and saw the dark circles under his eyes.
"Is something bothering you?" He sat down on a bench, and sighed.
"It's just- maybe I didn't make the right decision. Maybe I should have just stayed at home." The girl took a seat next to him, and smiled kindly.
"Give yourself a few more days before deciding how you feel. We could always take you back on our way home." Connor nodded, and stood up to leave.
"Thanks."
"Wait, Connor, how old are you?"
"Seventeen."
"When's your birthday?"
"Six months from now."
"Perfect." Idena walked over to the boy. "How's this: we'll be here for the next two weeks at the most, on our way back, we'll take you home. If you think you made the right decision in coming with us, then in six months time, you can leave on your own."

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It was hardly an hour later when Merlin knocked on her door. Idena yanked him inside, and locked it. Without hesitation, she asked:
"What are your feelings towards me?"
"W-What?"
"Are we just friends? Because, Connor said you have feelings for me, and I didn't really believe him, but then I thought about how we act around each other, so I thought maybe you do like me, but now I don't know how I feel, so-"

Her rambling was stopped by lips pressing on hers. Surprise overtook her, before she pulled back.
"I'm sorry, I thought-" Merlin fumbled thinking she was upset.
"No, it's okay. I just... I'm not ready for that."
"Alright." Instead the wizard wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. "Is this okay?" She nodded. "But does that answer your question?" She nodded again.
"So what now?" Her voice was muffled slightly, and Merlin shifted to look her in the face.
"What do you mean?"
"Do we carry on like we did before? Or are we actually 'together' now?"
"We can be whatever you want to be."
"Can we just be a little more than friends?" He laughed.
"Of course." Smiling, he put a hand to her cheek. "You've never been in a relationship before, have you?"
"Not that I know of." The girl muttered quietly, looking away. Merlin gently guided her chin back towards him.
"What do you mean?"
"Well... I... it's just..."
"Would you rather not say?"
"I mean... I was going to tell you sooner or later. Might as well be now." She swallowed. "Do you remember when I said the queen saved my life?" The boy nodded. "That was a bit under three years ago, and I have no memory of what happened before that."
"You don't have any idea?"
"Not really. I found out later that I had fallen off a cliff. That's where I got this." Idena gestured to her covered eyes. "I don't even remember my name."
"But I thought-" She shook her head.
"The name that I gave Snow was just what I could come up with." The girl laughed. "You know, it's funny. The reason I used the name 'Idena' is because it sounds like 'I dunno'."
"I had no idea. I'm so sorry." He pulled her back close.
"It's fine. I just have no memory of what happened prior to that. As far as I'm concerned, I've only been around for about two and a half years."

Merlin was left speechless.

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The group ate lunch on the boat, before getting ready to head out.
"Oh, hey, Connor? Can I talk to you for a second?" Idena said, pulling him to the side.
"What's up?"
"I don't really have an idea of how dangerous this is going to be."
"You want me to stay out of the way."
"No, I just wanted to let you know to prepare you for what we might face."
"Well, uh... thanks." The boy scratched the back of his neck.
"Listen, you don't have to stick with us unless that's what you want. You're more than welcome to explore the town if you'd like."
"Really?"
"Of course." The boy nodded and walked off.

"Now," Idena turned back to the F7 . "We'll be able to work faster if we split up. I think groups of two would be best. So..." Her gaze wandered over the guys in front of her, mentally going over the pairs she had put together. "Arthur, you're with Pino. Hans and Jack, you guys are together. Noki and Kio, you two are paired. And Merlin, you're with me." Arthur smirked at her from the corner, but didn't say anything.

"We'll need to be able to communicate with each other, if we see anything suspicious, and so I'd thought I'd put this idea I had to use." Idena pulled four plain metal rings onto the table. One at a time, she laid her fingers on each one. When she was done, three had a green sheen to them, and the fourth was completely green. The girl leaned forward onto the table. "All you have to do is squeeze it, and everyone else who's wearing one will feel it, and be able tell where you are. There's one for each team."

Connor came back in as the others were leaving, with just Merlin and Idena staying behind. She tossed the boy the green ring.
"For you. Just in case you find yourself in trouble." He cocked his eyebrow. "You most likely won't need it, but you have it if there's an absolute emergency. And I made yours different, so it isn't connected to the others."
"Thanks." Connor smiled sincerely before stepping back out.

"What about ours?" The wizard turned to Idena.
"What?"
"Where's our ring?"
"Oh, we don't need one. I can feel all of them."
"Okay then. You ready to go?"
"Not... quite. I'm going to need a minute."
"You alright, love?"
"Yeah, it takes a bit of energy to make those." She slumped in the nearest chair.

The sat in silence for a moment, before Idena spoke again.
"Did you just call me 'love'?"
"Do you not like it?"
"I mean, I guess I do, it was just a little sudden." Merlin chuckled. "Okay." She stood up. "Let's go now."