Merlin and Red were spat out of the Story door onto a sandy beach. Merlin stood up, brushing sand from his robes as he did so. Red pulled her hands through her hair, caked in sand. She scowled. "What is this place?" she asked.

Merlin shrugged, looking around the beach to the lush green land behind them. "I've no idea," he admitted. "Hopefully somewhere that they can tell us where the Editor is."

Red nodded, fingering the club at her hip. "If there is...they will tell us," she said firmly.

Merlin didn't answer. He was staring at something approaching them. Something large, and...metal. "I have good news...and I have bad news. Which do you want first?"

"Good."

"I know where we are." Red cocked her head, waiting for him to continue. "The bad news—we're in Crete. And that is Talos."

"Sauvez-nous," Red exclaimed. "We cannot fight that!"

"That" was Talos, the massive, metal guardian of Crete. He stamped towards them, the sand sticking to his metal feet. He hadn't spotted them yet, but when he did...Merlin really wanted to avoid that. "Come on!" he said, grabbing Red's arm.

The beach would only slow them down. He stumbled through the sand until they got to the grass, dragging Red behind him. He heard the squeaking metal start to pick up speed. Great. They'd been spotted.

Hurtling head-long through the grass, Merlin had very low hopes for their survival. They passed a cave and would have kept going had someone not called, "Quickly! Over here!"

Merlin saw a young man in traditional Greek armor at the entrance of the cave, motioning to Merlin frantically. Gauging his chances between the giant metal man and the young kid, Merlin chose the boy. "Come on, Red!"

His words were rather unnecessary. Red had already started towards the boy in the armor, and muttering under his breath, Merlin followed her. The young man motioned Red through first, waiting at the entrance until Merlin reached him. "You'd be much better off without those robes, my friend!" the young Greek said.

Merlin sent him an icy glare. The grinning Greek stopped him, his head cocked. The two young men listened and heard the screeching metal stop at the cave, blocking out the light from the sun. Then, mercifully, it started walking away. The Greek relaxed, turning to Merlin and Red. "I'd say 'welcome', but I think Talos might be enough of a welcoming committee," he commented. "What brings you two to Crete?"

"My name is Merlin. We've come in search of someone who knows the location of the Editor," Merlin explained.

"Red Riding Hood," she said quietly.

"I can see that you're wearing one," the Greek said, frowning. "But what's your name?"

Red wasn't amused. "Red Riding Hood," she repeated.

Obviously confused, the Greek decided to overlook that. "I'm Theseus," he said. "And I know someone else who is searching for the Editor."

"Then carry on," Merlin said, motioning him forward.

Red and Merlin followed Theseus down the tunnel and past many twists and turns. How Theseus kept his head, Merlin didn't know. Then Red pulled on his sleeve and pointed to the floor. "Cheveux," she whispered. Merlin sent her an irritably confused look, silently imploring her to speak English. She rolled her eyes. "Hair."

Looking down again, Merlin saw golden locks of hair strewn about the floor, marking their path. A primitive version of Ariadne's string, he thought. Then he frowned. Why would Theseus need the hair, if he had Ariadne's string?

One thing was for sure; the other person looking for the Editor was Rapunzel. But last Merlin had seen her, she had been with Will. Something had happened. Mal had been telling the truth, it seemed.

Theseus led them to a lit corridor, where a large group of people were gathered. "Talos has gone by," he reported. "We have time before he gets to this part of Crete again."

"Good," Rapunzel said. Then she looked past Theseus and saw Red and Merlin. "What are you doing here?"

"Rachel ate the poisoned apple from Snow White's Story," Red said, not mincing any words. "Now we have to find the Editor and rescue Guy of Gisborne to wake her up. Where's Will?"

"Captured by the Editor," Rapunzel replied. "Turns out Ariadne isn't the perfect angel her Story makes her out to be."

"We should be going now," Theseus prodded gently.

Rapunzel nodded and motioned to the group behind her. "Come on, before our window of opportunity closes," she said.

Merlin, Rapunzel, Theseus, Red, and the Athenians went to the entrance of the cave. Merlin and Theseus cast about for Talos but could find no sign of him. Theseus motioned to the Athenians and Red and Rapunzel. "Come on!" he hissed. "Our vessel awaits us over there!"

Theseus and Merlin let the others go first, intending to bring up the rear. Merlin flicked his wrist, forming a fireball in his hand. He couldn't shake the feeling that trouble was coming, and glancing at Theseus he saw the Greek prince mirrored his thoughts. "There is an ill wind blowing," Theseus murmured.

"Then we'd best be gone before it causes us any grief," Merlin decided, and picking his robes off the ground he hurried after the others with Theseus only seconds behind. The others were almost to Theseus's ship, moored to the dock, when everything went wrong.

A boulder missed Merlin by a hair's breath, pinning his robe under it. "Blast!" he exclaimed, tugging at the fabric. As if that weren't bad enough, the boulder moved a little—right onto Merlin's foot. Theseus was running ahead of him, not noticing the incident. "Theseus!"

The Greek turned and dove towards Merlin, narrowly avoiding another boulder hurled at him. "Talos!" Theseus yelled. He called to the Athenians, "Set sail! Get going!"

"Merlin!" Red shouted, but one of the Athenians grabbed her arm and pulled her along behind him.

"Go with them!" Merlin said, growling with pain as the boulder shifted and started crushing his foot terribly. "I'm done for."

Theseus pushed his shoulders against the massive rock, straining to push it off Merlin's foot. The Greek must have had an immense amount of strength; Merlin pulled his foot free, and Theseus released the rock, panting. "Go," he said to Merlin. He noticed Merlin hadn't put his foot on the ground and put his arm under Merlin's. "We go together."

"You realize this is probably going to kill us both, right?" Merlin asked as Theseus half-dragged him towards the ship.

"If it does, the gods have willed it," was Theseus's response. Merlin heard the sound of heavy footfalls behind them; Talos was coming to stop them personally.

If Merlin had been Will, he would have reprimanded Theseus for worshipping false gods and all that, but he wasn't Will. He was more concerned with surviving than religion at the moment. "We might be in trouble."

"Set sail!" Theseus bellowed at the Athenians.

"Hurry up!" Rapunzel yelled back at him as one of the Athenian men hurried to do Theseus's bidding.

"We're not going to make it," Theseus told Merlin in a low voice.

Merlin pushed away from Theseus. "Keep going," he told him, though he knew he wouldn't. He focused on the massive metal statue charging at them, within seconds of squashing them—and the ship. If he could delay it...

Focusing, Merlin laid his hand on the ground, trying to ignore the searing pain running through his foot. Cracks appeared in the ground where Merlin put his hand, and he pushed them towards Talos.

He was within one step of Theseus and Merlin when Merlin's spell activated. The ground crumbled beneath Talos, plunging him into a hole. It wouldn't take long for him to get out, though. "Move!" Merlin yelled at Theseus, lunging and nearly falling on his face. Once more supported by Theseus, the two young men ran towards the ship, pulling away from the dock.

"Throw them a rope!" Rapunzel cried.

"We have none!" a girl Athenian answered.

Rapunzel scowled at the Athenian before grabbing her hair and throwing it out to Merlin and Theseus, who were splashing into the shallows. Talos was beginning to climb out of the hole as Merlin grabbed the golden hair. "Pull!" Merlin shouted.

The rest of the Athenians got behind Rapunzel, pulling Merlin and Theseus in by her hair. Talos was out of his hole by the time Rapunzel yanked Merlin up onto the deck. Theseus was a second behind. "Hurry!" Theseus cried.

Red was at the helm of the ship, surprisingly. She handled the wheel with her lip firmly in her teeth, looking anxious. Theseus ran up to her, taking the helm and steering them away from Crete. "Merlin, Talos is getting closer!"

"I distracted him before. Do I really have to do it again?" Merlin complained, grabbing the rail of the boat and hauling himself up. He put his hands out over the water, summoning as much wind as he could. Then he sent the boat flying away from the shore, nearly toppling some of the Athenians into the water. Talos threw one last boulder but missed as Crete disappeared from sight.

Merlin collapsed to the deck, rubbing his broken foot ruefully. He cast a mending spell on it—broken bones were some of the easiest injuries to mend—before sprawling out on the deck. "That was far too close," he decided.

Rapunzel closed her eyes and concentrated. A Story door appeared in front of her, and she smiled. "Perfect!" She turned to Red and Merlin. "Are you two coming?"

"Can't you give my foot a minute to heal?" Merlin complained.

"Oui," Red interrupted, glaring at Merlin. "We are coming."

Theseus motioned to one of his countrymen to take the helm and moved towards them. "I feel responsible for the abduction of your friend," he said. He drew his sword and knelt before Rapunzel. "Please accept my sword in aiding in his rescue."

Rapunzel blinked. "Is this some super-heroic way of asking if you can come with us?" she asked.

Theseus blushed. "Yes...I suppose it is," he admitted. "Will you allow me?"

"Why not?" Rapunzel said, shrugging. "The more, the merrier."

Red helped Merlin to his feet. He grimaced as he felt his bones literally melding together. "I don't have any objections to his presence," Merlin said, gritting his teeth. "He saved my life."

"What of your countrymen?" Red asked Theseus.

"My people know the way back to Athens, and they can inform my father that I am safe," Theseus replied.

"Works for me," Rapunzel said. "Shall we go?"