What do you know of Dragons?
There have always been stories of dragons as long as there have been knights in search of glory and gold, as the cunning beasts have both to offer their slayers. In the old days the great beasts roamed the sky, terrifying and beautiful at the same time. Then the knights came and killed them. Few remained by the time of the Queen and Snow, but those left are the oldest. They hoard their treasure greedily and sleep for long days on beds of bone. But dragons are not the only beasts that shake the world beneath their feet. Men are just as capable and many times more fierce. And those with magic? More fearsome of them all.
- Hans Grimm, A History of the Kingdoms: Magic and Men
How do you settle back into a life you abandoned over a decade ago? That question kept the young woman awake the entire flight from Heathrow to Bangor. If it had been solely up to her discretion she would have stayed in her small corner of the world, but being the only family her uncle had left she found herself on a Boeing 747 back to Maine. To that tiny corner of the world she had been running from since her fifteenth birthday. Back to her glorified jailor of an uncle. Her dark musings were interrupted by the pilot's landing announcement.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen we are about to begin our descent into Bangor, Maine in fifteen minutes. If you would please raise your tray tables and fasten your seat belts while our stewards do one last round to pick up any rubbish. The local time is half past ten with a temperature of negative four. Thank you for picking Virgin Airlines and have a lovely trip." She tucked away her immigration form for customs, happy to have kept her American citizenship, it usually meant shorter lines. Also less time to mope about missing her cozy little cottage in Yorkshire. It had been a bit chilly in the winters, and the central air was not always reliable leading to skimpy covering in the summer nights. There had been the perpetual squeaky screen door no amount of oil could fix, try as her adorably doty Irish landlady had so many times. But it had been her home for five happy years. Then her uncle's doctors had called and she'd sadly returned her key and collected the security deposit, the older Irish woman giving her a kiss on the cheek and a small iron crucifix for luck. Iron, the old woman said, keeps the fae folk from snatching you up. If only a little iron worked so well on bad uncles. Tucking the pendant beneath her sweater, she made a final check of her bag and passport. The sooner she was immersed in her new life the better.
As she had thought there wasn't much of line at eleven in Bangor. The hardest part was finding a bus to Storybrooke. The closest one was still a good twenty miles from the actual town. From there she caught a taxi, the driver laughing at her the entire time for her 'funny' accent. You spend twelve years abroad and come back without one she wanted to say, but held her tongue. It was probably no the worlds best idea to get into a fight with the only person who was willing to take her to this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. It was one in the morning when she hit Main street. The only thing open was Granny's diner, she decided to grab a little caffiene boost since there didn't appear to be any place to crash just yet. Her Uncle wouldn't be up for at least another five hours.
"Flat white please" she asked a waitress with red hair extensions. The girl just stared at her for a minute.
"Flat white?"
"Flat white, you know, coffee and milk." The girl nodded and smiled.
"Not from around here are you?"
"What gave me away?" The girl, Ruby she introduced herself, laughed and got her order. Seeing no one else in the dinner Ruby grabbed a cup of coffee herself and joined her.
"Whats your name, we don't many visitors to Storybrooke, I want to be the first to know. So spill." If she weren't so tired, she might have laughed at the slightly nosey behavior of the small town waitress.
"Cristabella, most people call me Cris. My uncle Moe..."
"Oh my god! You're French's neice? Girl your poor uncle is so lucky to be breathing." Cris' eyes widened, she knew her uncle had been hospitalized, but lucky to be alive? "Thank god for Emma, otherwise Gold would have killed him."
"Emma?"
"Sheriff. She managed to find your uncle before he had his head bashed in." Cris massaged her temples, gods what had she gotten herself into? "So, you here to take care of him or something?"
"Only family he's got. Otherwise I'd still be in Yorkshire. Hopefully I can get a job while I'm here, I had to leave my last one to come here."
"What did you do?"
"Nurse. Another reason my uncle contacted me I guess. A live in caregiver." Ruby giggled and finished her coffee.
"Well, I do know someone who works in the hospital. He owes me a favor. I'll ask him if he thinks theres any positions available." For the first time that night, Cris smiled.
No one knows the origins of magic. There are two main schools of thought in this matter. The first is the Dracophiles who believe that magic in entwined with the existence of dragons. Their ideology will be discussed in a later chapter. The second is the true love theory. Love has long been known as a powerful antidote to many curses, giving rise to the belief that love and other such emotions are the basis of magic. Many a mage ascribes to this, their reasoning that numerous enchantments are enhanced with strong emotional input. This writer, a theoretical magician, can only speculate. Still, imagine the possibilities should this essence of pure love ever be bottled.
- B. Grimm, The Theoretics of Magic
Her uncle didn't have a room for her to stay in, so Cris found herself a place at Granny's B&B, with a discount because Ruby took such a shine to her. Moe French was still wearing a neck brace and a leg cast, but had otherwise recovered from his encounter with the most feared man in town. This left her with little to do except housekeeping duties. She was furious at him taking advantage of their familial tie, but did her duty. She dusted his shelves and laundered his clothes and cooked his meals without a single word of gratitude from the florist. If anything he seemed to go out of his way avoid her. Was it her imagination or did he seemed frightened of her? That was ridiculous, they hadn't exchanged so much as a hello since her mother's family had taken her in. Chalking up his behavior to personal quirkiness, she let it go.
She escaped from his silent prescence by spending her free time in the diner looking through the listings for any job or taking walks in the forests around the town. There didn't appear to be so much as a cashier job available in Storybrooke. Not wanting to run through her savings on renting a room she turned her attention to finding cheaper accomodations. Her uncle was not going to give her a roof over her head, so that was out of the question. She
It wasn't long before she met Ruby's friends Emma, Mary Margaret and Ashley. The four women found that they clicked instantly. It was starting to become a regular occurance in Storybrooke to see the four women sharing a coffee at the diner or strolling down the street together. The town rumor mill was buzzing about this new happening, all eager to find out more about Storybrooke's newest (and currently most exotic) residence. The mayor even had Sydney Glass tailing her. To Regina's dissapointment there didn't appear to be much to learn. A nurse from the UK with a distant relation to one Moe French, end of story. The only interesting detail being that her parents had passed around her fifteenth birthday and she's spent a few short weeks in Storybrooke before bolting and disappearing for the next twelve years. Nothing Regina could currently put to use, not even enough to prevent the woman from meeting with Whale and getting a job after a month of searching the papers.
The mayor was not the only prominent figure in Storybrooke interested in the background story of Miss French. Through his own sources the loan shark also found out about her brief time in Maine. She'd only been in Storybrooke a few weeks before vanishing. Her mother's family had a hand in getting her across the pond and putting her through the English academic system. Her uncle had made not attempts to remain her legal guardian and from what others said, offered the girl no comfort in her time of grieving. It was a very, very little known fact that Gold had a soft spot for children, especially those who lost their parents. The fact that Moe had all but ignored his neice when he couldn't get anything from her inheritance made him hate the man all the more. He was on his way to question Moe about his neice when he ran into the young woman (quite literally).
It was one of the slightly warmer days of April and people were taking advantage. Children were swarming the new park Regina had contructed and many people were jogging down the snowless streets. It made him envious of all the people who could run and jump and dance without crippling pain shooting up their legs. Lucky bastards had no idea how lucky they truly were just to move freely. He was so lost in thought he didn't notice the woman barreling down the street until she knocked him over.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She quickly pulled out the earbuds from her ears and reached out to help him up. The angry words he had in store for the idiot who knocked him over died in his throat when he saw her face. Belle, his sweet, beautiful, fearless Belle. Her brown curls were tied back and she was wearing an old hoodie with shorts, but he would have recognized her anywhere. "I'm such a clutz, oh listen to me..blithering on like a mental. Again I am so sorry."
"Don't worry about it dearie, no harm done" she laughed nervously and pushed a stray lock of hair from her face. "Enjoying the springtime are we?"
"Me and everyone else it seems. I'm Cris" she extended her hand. He gave a small smile and raised her hand to his lips. She felt like giggling all over again, in one moment he'd reduced to her to a blushing school girl.
"A pleasure." He held onto her hand a moment longer than necessary, not ready to release his true love after spending almost three decades without her.
"Well, I better go, my shift starts in thirty. Nice meeting you." She replaced the ear buds and resumed her run to the hospital. "Cheers!" The pawnbroker smiled at her retreating form, the inner imp jumping and dancing for joy and even admiring the amount of toned leg the modern clothes were showing. That momentary joy was overshadowed by dark rage at a certain evil queen. For years he had thought her dead because of his fear of becoming that weak, lame coward again. Regina had been so happy to throw her 'death' in has face. She had all but ripped out his heart for her collection. It would seem the Queen had not been entirely truthful. A trip to the Mayor's office was in order.
I am the wolf of torrid battlefields
The she wolf among shattered shields
Walking between the broken spears
And eternal slumbering soldiers
The sunset red begins another night
Though battle's half the fright
The dragon's howl shatters high
The maiden I, can not outrun the sky
- Melilot van Meere, 'The Dragon and the Shield Maiden', verses 12-19
When Belle left the Dark Castle she eventually ended up beyond the western mountains in the country of Avaros. Unlike the kingdoms of the Enchanted Forest, magic was illegal. Wizards were considered abominations and hunted down by the theocratic government's foot soldiers. Belle had learned all this from an old man she had given two gold coins to show her safe passage to the country's capital city. To insure the old man would keep his promise Belle had offered another two once they reached the city.
She had chosen this land not only because it was as far as she could get on foot, but it was as different from home and the Dark Castle as possible. It would give her the needed space to heal her broken heart.
"And ahead, you see the paladins at the borders of Avaros" the old man pointed with a bony speckled finger at five men in shining silver armor. She couldn't see their faces due to their helmets and it made the paladins all the more menacing. Two of the soldiers were standing in front of a cage. "Looks like they caught another one. Easy girl, you're going to need to go through a check to prove you're no witch."
"Wait? What do you.." Two of the soldiers grabbed her arms to keep her in place as their captain placed a bare hand on her forehead. For several terrifying minutes he held her. The captain then nodded and the soldiers released her.
"You may pass." She wanted nothing more than to run from these imposing men. Gathering her things her guide was ready to lead her on. It was a quieter, gentler voice than made her stop once more.
"Food for a starving man?" It came from the cage. Belle could hear the sincerity in his voice. A previous prisoner herself, she could sympathize. She reached into her bag and removed a slightly hard piece of bread and a small hunk of cheese.
"Here." The paladins allowed her to pass the prisoner food through the bars of his cage. A slender hand appeared from heavy black robes. So a man, not a beast.
"Thank you for your kindness. The Creator smile on you." Belle couldn't speak, only stare at those slender hands, so like another wizard she had known. "Do not be frightened of me child," his voice even lower, she had to lean in to hear him, "and now, get away from this cage." Belle backed away slowly as the man stood up. The knights started barking at him to sit and shut it, but he paid them no mind. Instead he dropped the food Belle had given him and cast back his hood. A man he was indeed, one with a younger man than she'd expected, but hair silvery white. "Keeper of the Underworld will be most pleased with the souls I shall send him this day." He raised his hand and it erupted in flame. The knights unsheathed their weapons and raised them to strike the the wizard down. He onnly laughed at the knights as he hurled the fire ball not at them, but the cage door. Their swords missed as he rolled out of the cage with a huge hole where one side used to be. Cojuring another fire ball the platinum haired wizard tossed it at their feet, throwing them off guard.
Belle had never seen such raw elemental magic before. Rumplestiltskin had kept the displays of his power to a minimum, and even those looked like parlor tricks compared to this. She ducked behind the ruined cage as the knights began to fall one by one. It did not take long for the wizard to dispatch his former jailors. Their bodies were consumed by fire and ice.
Her guide had fled when the wizard had broken free leaving Belle to deal with this new threat on her own. She knew she should be terrified of this man. He had just slain five men with little more than a few flicks of his hand. What was going to stop him from doing the same to her?
"What's your name girl?" The wizard asked as he replaced his ragged cloak with one of the finer fur lined ones the dead paladins wore. "Those men," he gestured to the bodies on the ground, "were thugs. They got what they deserved. You have nothing to fear from me."
"Why?"
"Because I can smell magic on you. That and you're clearly not from around here. Nothing to gain from turning me in. So, name?"
"Belle. Will you tell me yours?" The wizard gave a toothy smile that sent tingles down her spine.
"Illias."
Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
- The Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter
There aren't many things that make Storybrooke stand out from other small towns in Maine. Yes, they have a new resident writer, but he's no Stephen King. What they do have that makes them unique is the tea shop. It's an unassuming little shop, no new age patterns of celtic knots and the mother goddess or neon colors on the doors, with only a small whitewashed sign advertising 'The Tea House'.
Inside there are rows and rows of shelves filled with Billy's many bottles of herbs and spices. Most of them are commonly found in the forests of Stoeybrooke, the more exotic ones are kept in the back. Nothing illegal mind you, though Billy also acts as town apothecary. While the town has an excellent medical staff, many choose an alternative treatment. Speaking of which, in comes one of his regulars.
"Good morning Mr. Gold. Here for the regular?" The older man comes in once a week for one of Billy's pain relief remedies. That and for what gossip the tall blonde man has overheard as his patrons go about their business.
"Of course. Though, make it a bit stronger today would you?" Billy disappears into the back to gather his ingrediants. He sets out of a number of leafy herbs and barks pieces on the counter with his mortar and pestle. "Been busy have we?"
"Town's been buzzing lately, some think its the climate change making everything feel different. Climate change, like that would explain missing people and fixed clocks." Billy adds an oil from his pocket into the squishy green mix. "And theres talk of the two new people in town. That writer guy, you know the one always tailing the Sheriff or the Mayor's kid. Kinda gives me the creeps. Then theres the nurse. Fresh from over the pond. Other than her being French's niece no one seems to know that much about her." The writer was currently none of the pawnbroker's concern, especially if he continued on his course of helping Emma. The girl though, it could be dangerous, emotional entanglements were a liability in war. Should Regina suspect something about her...it could end badly for both of them. "Oh, and I saw a unicorn in the forest." Rum raised an eybrown at that. "Just kidding."
"Those jokes get funnier every week, knife ear."
"No funnier than yours imp." The two wizards were among the few that remembered the other realm. Rum because he was the creator if the curse and Illias had used a powerful shielding spell. The couldn't wield their powers in this world, but their knowledge of older arcane arts was intact. This allowed one to play his shadowy games of chess and the other to remain off his board. "Is it really her?"
"That remains to be seen."
"I was her friend. I kept her safe when there was no one else. I at least deserve a yes or no." Damn that young wizard, but he could not deny the truth. She had been his friend. He would be lying if he were to say he wasn't jealous of the relationship the two shared.
"She has Belle's face."