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"Come out wisps. Come on out. Lead us to the witch's cottage. We're here!" Merid called out into the sky.

The three had arrived back at the circle of stones and were now looking around for the wisps.

"Fine. Don't come out now that my mum's watching." Merid huffed.

Elinor looked at him expectantly.

"We were standing right here and the wisp appeared right there. Then a whole trail of them led us off into the forest." He explained, waving his arms in frustration.

Elinor held up her law to silence him and headed off into the forest.

"Uh...your majesty?" (Y/n) called out, standing next to Merid. Elinor kept going.

"Oh, does she think we're just going to happen upon the witch's cottage?" Merid mumbled to (Y/n) who just shrugged.

Merid sighed and grabbed (Y/n)'s hand and followed after his mum.

They walked through the woods for a good while. Elinor still taking the lead while Merid stomped behind her.

"Can you believe this (Y/n)?" Merid asked the girl, only to see she wasn't next to him anymore. "(Y/n)?" Merid asks again.

He looked behind him and saw that she was a few feet behind him just staring off into the trees. She turned her body left and right, and looked around with a curious expression on her face. Like she was wondering why she was here.

Merid walked up behind her. "Um...(Y/n)?" He hesitantly asked, tapping her shoulder.

The girl turned around and stared at him with a blank expression. "Yes?"

"Are you alright love? You kind of spaced out on me for a minute there." Merid asked.

"Oh, yes I'm fine." She reassured.

"Ok, we'll then we should probably catch up with my mum and keep looking then." He said.

"Of course...Looking for what?" (Y/n) asked him.

"...The Witch's cottage...remember?" Merid said slowly.

"Oh! Yes, right, the witch's cottage." (Y/n) suddenly brighten up, and started walking forward.

Merid grabbed her wrist and made her stop.

"Are you sure you're alright love?" Merid asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine Merid. I just got a little distracted, that's all. Now come on, we should catch up with your mum before we lose her." (Y/n) replied, grabbed his hand.

The two kept walking forward but Merid never took his eyes of (Y/n). He was a little worried about her. It's not like her to get distracted so easily.

They walked a bit further into the woods before Merid suddenly stopped.

"Oh, mum, I know this place. The witch's cottage...It's this way! Come on! Hurry!" Merid ran forward dragging (Y/n) behind him.

They ran through the woods dodging branches and went up a small hill and finally came face to face with the cottage.

"I can't believe it. I found it." Merid said. He let go of (Y/n)'s hand and ran towards the door.

"Merid, wait!" (Y/n) called after him.

Merid flung open the door in excitement, only to find it completely empty.

"No. She was here." Merid closed the door and turned to face (Y/n) and his mum. "No, really, she was just here."

Elinor sighed and (Y/n) gave him a sympathetic expression.

"Oh, wait." Merid suddenly remembered something.

He snapped his fingered like the witch had done, and went back inside, but it was still empty.

"No. No, no. No! No!"

Merid kept opening and closing the door in the hopes that the witch would just magically appear, but she didn't. (Y/n) came up behind him and put her hand in his shoulder to comfort him. She took a step forward into the shop and her foot hit a metal wire.

The wire triggered a mechanism that released a knife which cut the rope of a bag that was hanging over the cauldron, causing it to fall in. The knife flung towards (Y/n) and would have hit her if Merid hadn't grabbed her by the waist and crushed her to his chest, causing the knife to hit the door instead.

"Are you alright?" Merid asked, looking down at the girl.

"I'm fine. Thank you." She stood up on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek in thanks.

Suddenly, the cauldron bubbles to life and bluish-greenish fog started coming out of it. The three moved closer to the cauldron, and as they did, a smoky image of the witch's face came out and started speaking.

"Welcome to the Crafty Carver, home of bear themed carvings and novelties. I am completion of stock at this time. But if you'd like to enquirer about portraits or wedding cake toppers, pour vial one into the cauldron. If you'd like the menu in Gaelic, vial two. If you're that red haired lad and his pretty friend, vial three. To speak with a live homunculus..."

The witch was cut off my Merid pouring vial three into the cauldron.

"Prince and friend, I'm off to the Wickerman Gestival in Stornoway, and won't be back until spring. There's one bit I forgot to tell you about the spell. By the second sunrise, your spell will be permanent..."

Merid gasped and looked to his mum who glared at him.

"Unless you remember these words...

"Fate be changed...Mend the bond. What does that mean?" (Y/n) asked.

"One more time...

That's it. Ta-ta. Oh, and thank you for shopping at the Crafty Carver."

The witch's head disappeared indicating that was all she had to say.

"No. No! Where you go?" Merid grabbed another vial and poured it into the cauldron.

"Welcome to the Crafty Carver..."

"What?"

Merid grabbed a bunch of the vials that were out and started pouring them all into the cauldron. The witch's voice started getting disoriented since so many of her were talking at once.

"Maybe there's a book of spells. Look around. We'll need more vials." Merid was hysterical at this point, and kept lifting different vials into the cauldron.

(Y/n) grabbed his arm and pulled him away when she saw the cauldron malfunctioning. She and Elinor could both see that it was about to blow. Elinor quickly covered (Y/n) and Merid up.

"Thank you for visiting. Have a lovely day."

The cauldron exploded, and completely destroyed the witch's cottage. Merid and (Y/n) looked up at Elinor who looked down at the two with a sad expression.

...

The rain poured down on Merid and (Y/n) as they built a shelter out of the remains of the witch's cottage. Merid and (Y/n) sat underneath it with Elinor, who let out a heavy sigh.

"We'll sort it out tomorrow." Merid said.

Elinor just looked at him and rolled over to go to sleep. Merid frowned, and looked down with guilt. (Y/n) wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him from the side. He buried his head into her neck and hugged her waist as he softly cried into her shoulder.

...

A little Merid and a little (Y/n) were playing with wooden horses during a thunderstorm while Elinor was sitting in a chair, sewing a big tapestry and singing a song. A loud clap of thunder boomed into the night, causing both children to scream and crawl under her tapestry and into her lap.

Elinor chuckled. "My brave wee lad, my pretty wee lassie. I'm here. I'll always be right here." Elinor hugged both children and she continued singing, Merid and (Y/n) joining in.

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