Third Person P.O.V.
Leon sprints down the hallway, Edythe's screams becoming more pained and urgent with every passing moment. He continues turning corners, ducking under arches, only to find dead ends and having to re-track his steps while also desperately trying to find Edythe. Leon keeps calling out for her, but she only responds with suffering and tortured moans of pain. The maze seems never-ending, and Edythe only seems to get further and further away despite Leon's thorough attempts to find her.
His stomach churns with every scream, anger burning through every one of his cells with every plea. Leon finds himself not even regarding his wellbeing as he forcefully runs into walls as they become corners, anything to get to her.
And then the screams stop.
Leon finds himself coming to a halt with the sudden silence, colour draining from his face. "Edythe?" he calls out once more. He doesn't get a reply.
The knight frantically sprints down the various halls, finding the walls become further apart, eventually opening up to a large cavern, much like the one he was in before. His chest heaves as he tries to regain his breath, looking around the cavern madly to choose a hall. But then he sees the figure on the ground in the centre of the cavern—a heap on the floor.
"Leon?" the heap croaks.
Leon is already by her side before his name is fully called, falling to his knees harshly as he discards his sword beside himself. "Edythe", he fretts, ignoring the pain of the cuts acquired on his knees from the sharp fall as he pulls her into his arms.
She's dressed in a simple thin long black dress, her blonde hair knotted around her head, blue eyes bloodshot with fear, pain and tears. Her feet are bare, bloodied and bruised, much like her arms and exposed collar bone. Edythe's face is bruised and cut. Her skin pales like snow.
"Leon-" she cries, tears escaping her eyes. "It hurts" her eyes fall to her stomach. She pulls her hand away from her stomach to reveal a gushing wound, blood pouring out all over the floor and onto Leon's lap.
The knight quickly covers the wound with his hand. "Everything will be okay", he frantically replies, applying pressure to the wound. "I'm here now. You're going to be okay", he repeats for her, Edythe unable to reply with anything other than 'It hurts'.
Leon's heart races in his chest, threatening to burst out and run away as he tries to think of how else to help the woman in his arms. The woman that he loves.
"Leon", Edythe's voice says sternly. He looks down at Edythe, but her lips don't move, even as he hears her voice once more. "Leon."
He turns as he feels a hand placed on his shoulder, looking up to see Edythe standing healthy and very much okay behind him. The knight looks down at the fragile body in his arms, her lifeless eyes staring back up at him with a ghostly empty vessel. His breath is shaky, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he looks back up at the Edythe with her hand on his shoulder. This Edythe is wearing her usual attire, the same clothing he so distinctly remembers as the clothes she wore when they first met. Her hair even braided back in the same messy braid.
"This isn't real," she whispers in his ear.
Leon looks back down at Edythe in his arms, everything about her seeming different. Like she isn't Edythe. The woman standing behind him, that's my Edythe, Leon thinks.
"This isn't real," he says in time with Edythe.
In a blink of an eye, both Edythe's are gone. All the blood that had been staining the floor, Leon's pants, and chainmail is gone, replaced by the dirt and dried blood from days before. The knight looks around in a daze, breath still heavy from the panic he felt. Everything makes sense to him now, Leon regaining himself with the realisation that nothing he had witnessed was confirmed, as Edythe had told him before entering the labyrinth.
Leon stands, brushing the dust from his pants and picking up his sword. Leon thinks I have to find the others, beginning to march with new confidence down one of the hallways.
***
Gwaine swings his sword at nothing, turning defensively in another direction as if some unseen force is cornering him. He heaves his sword over his shoulder once more; its motion intended to find the mark of his unseen enemy. The blade hits the stone ground with a harsh clunk, Gwaine quickly pulling it to be in front of his chest once more, eyes following an invisible foe.
"I-I'm sorry", Gwaine shudders, eyes locked with someone that isn't there.
The maze falls silent once more, Gwaine listening closely to the hallucination that Ronon has conjured to torment the knight with. His face grows with a consuming sadness, tears in his eyes as he hears whatever the words are it speaks to him.
"It's not my fault", Gwaine throws back harshly. "It's not my fault!" he screams.
"Gwaine."
Gwaine turns harshly in the direction of his name being called, sword held defensively in front of himself. Leon appears from the darkness of one of the hallways; hands held up as he returns his sword to his belt.
"Leon?" Gwaine questions, sweat pouring over his beaten face, sticking his hair to his forehead.
Leon approaches his friend carefully, hands still raised in the promise of surrender. "This isn't real, Gwaine", he explains. "Whatever you're seeing, they aren't real."
"Oh yeah. Then how come they're standing right there!" Gwaine screams, the sword now pointing to their left.
Leon looks over in the direction of Gwaine's stare, finding nothing there but the endlessness of another hallway. "There's nothing there, Gwaine", Leon observes, taking another step toward his friend. "This is Ronon messing with us."
"If that is true. How do I know you are real?" Gwaine questions, turning his sword on Leon once more.
Leon raises his hands again in surrender. "You don't. But remember what Edythe said. Ronon will work to put us against each other. Remember? She said not to give in. Nothing here is real. All we have is each other."
Gwaine stares back at Leon for a moment, the thoughts crossing his mind. This isn't real, Gwaine thinks. He looks to his left, only to find that the person he had seen earlier is gone. He drops his sword in relief. His arm has begun to painfully hurt as he feels like he has held it up for hours trying to defend himself.
"Are we on the same page?" Leon hesitantly asks, eyes on Gwaine's sword as he slowly lowers his hands.
"Yeah. We're on the same page," Gwaine huffs tiredly, leaning forward on his thighs for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts and reality.
"Good", Leon sighs. "Cause we have to find the others now."
"You haven't found anyone else yet?"
"No. I don't know if you've noticed Gwaine, but we're in a maze."
"I am aware, thank you, Leon. I was just asking," Gwaine groans, pulling himself to stand up straight. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go."
The two knights venture into the maze, darkness engulfing their forms once more.
***
"How much longer can you go on, Arthur?" Gwen asks, walking beside the king. "Dead end after dead end. I know the way. Please let me show you."
Arthur ignores his wife's pleas, knowing that whatever she says isn't real. Just like her, she is only a figment of Ronon's magic. Arthur had done as Edythe asked, concealing his mind from Ronon's power entirely by focusing on the task at hand. If Ronon were to look inside his mind, Arthur's true identity would be revealed, and that wouldn't be good for anyone.
"Please, Arthur. I need you to come back to me," Gwen pleas, still walking beside him seamlessly without faltering.
Arthur focuses on the task, walking along the maze, and when it gets harder to see, he feels for the walls. The king continues going up wherever a chance presents itself, figuring that up is his best chance of escaping this endless maze. The stone halls become brighter as Arthur ascends the levels, finding his way out.
Completely blocking out Gwen, Arthur climbs another level, becoming blinded by the light as he escapes the hole. He takes in a deep breath, seeping in the warmth of the sun, which he hasn't felt in the past couple of weeks. The sun glistens down from worlds above, giving the king some more strength to go on.
He opens his eyes, looking to his side as he notices the silence. Gwen is gone, no longer nagging him about following her to safety. Arthur nods to himself, feeling better without the false dream of his wife.
"Arthur?"
The King turns abruptly, Elyan appears from within the darkness.
"Are you real?" Elyan asks, cautiously approaching his King with a raised sword.
"Are you?" Arthur asks, also grasping his sword a little tighter.
"How do we tell?" Elyan questions, eyes locked with Arthur, a desire to be the true Arthur burning behind his brown eyes.
Arthur looks around, thinking of a way to put both their worries at ease. "I think...if we're both asking these questions...I think it's safe to say we're who we say we are."
"I agree. After all, you haven't asked me to kill you yet or tried to convince me you are who you say you are," Elyan notes in thought.
"Who have you seen?" Arthur asks, approaching his knight, the two embracing.
"Gwen, among others. You?"
"Yeah, pretty much sums it."
"Have you been envisioning the ball of light that Edythe told us about?" Elyan asks, the two men beginning their journey into the maze once more.
"I've been trying", Arthur answers truthfully. "At first, it was hard. But I've focused my energy on that, hoping that it's enough to keep Ronon out from deep inside my mind."
"Good."
"So you haven't found any of the others then?"
Elyan shakes his head. "No. It's so big here; they could be anywhere."
"Let's hope that they've found each other, and if they haven't that they will navigate their way out of this maze," Arthur thinks out loud.
"Arthur, look!"
Bright light floods the hallway, displaying a wall of floors and lush green leaves along the wall. The path veers upward to a shaped white light on elevated stone toward a door. Elyan and Arthur glance at one another, raising their swords once more. Ronon could have several traps waiting for them, and they don't want to take any chances.
As they approach the doorway, the crowd's screams can be heard in the distance. Still not letting their guard down, the two men venture into the sunlight.