AN: Thank you for the lovely reviews!
Emma was starting to think she was making a giant circle as landmarks and shrubs looked eerily similar to the ones she had passed before. The midday sun blazed heavily down upon her weary body, causing sweat to dot along her hairline as she trudged on. Fatigue crept in at an alarming rate and she realized with sudden clarity just how tired she really was. Looking around for a place to take a small rest, she spotted a bench peeking out from behind a wall and quickly made her way over to it.
Time was running out quicker than she had anticipated and she felt no closer to finding her son than she did when she first entered the labyrinth. Scrubbing her palms over her face before she rested her head in her hands, the teenager felt herself start to drift off when a voice suddenly called out her name.
"Emma?"
Startled, the blonde peeking through her fingers and was shocked to find two tall mirrors in front of her with a man dressed in strange garb standing inside one of them.
"Am I right that your name is Emma?"
"Yes," she answered as she pulled her hands away and stood up.
"I'm Sidney."
She furrowed her brows in confusion as she gazed upon the mirrors. "This was a dead end a moment ago."
"Actually, the dead end is behind you."
Emma whipped her head around and sure enough, there was a wall.
"Damn it! No wonder why I feel like I'm walking in circles. This place keeps changing," Emma cursed.
"The only way out is through one of these mirrors," Sidney indicated. "One of them leads straight to the castle and the other one leads to certain death."
"Well, which one is which?"
"I haven't the faintest idea," Sidney answered.
"So how do I choose?"
"You have to pick one."
"Well thank you captain obvious," Emma scowled.
"I'm not a captain, I'm a genie."
"Then why are you in the mirror? Shouldn't you be in a lamp or something?"
"This was my punishment when Cora banished me here," Sidney explained solemnly.
The teenager cautiously approached the mirror that the genie stood in. "How do I enter?"
"Just walk into the mirror," he instructed.
"Well I pick this one," the blonde declared. "Can you move so I can go through?"
Sidney blinked out and reappeared in the other mirror. "Good luck."
The young woman rolled her eyes before she pushed her hands against the looking glass. Like a thick, reflective pudding, her hands went through and disappeared before the rest of her body followed suit. The other side was bathed in darkness, but she felt no indications of immediate danger.
"Well that wasn't so ba…aah!" Emma screamed out as her feet slipped out from under her and she slid along what seemed to be an enclosed chute.
Further and further she slid until she felt the floor disappear from beneath her. Her body fell through the air for a few feet before she landed on something soft. It felt like a mattress beneath her, but she couldn't be positive as there was no light coming from anywhere. Too afraid to move off the soft surface into the unknown, Emma pulled her knees up and sat there unmoving as adrenaline refueled her previously exhausted body.
"She's in the oubliette," Regina declared as she gazed upon Emma's form in her mirror on the wall. "She shouldn't have made it this far."
Henry stretched in her arms and she paused, hoping she didn't wake him up. Tiny arms jerked in uncoordinated movements until he eventually settled back down. Regina tucked the blue blanket she had provided him with tighter around his body before she returned her attention to the mirror.
"Sidney," Regina called softly and the genie appeared before her. "Have the dwarf collect her and lead her back to the beginning."
"My queen?" Sidney questioned in confusion.
"If she sees that she has to start all over again, she'll give up and then little Henry will be mine," Regina clarified.
The genie smiled in understanding and he gave a small bow before he disappeared.
"Who's there?" Emma demanded when she heard something move around somewhere close by.
"It's just me, sister," Grumpy greeted as he flicked a lighter and lit a candle.
The blonde squinted against the sudden brightness and she blinked her eyes until they adjusted to her surroundings. She noted that the room was small with no windows as it housed only the bed that she currently occupied, a weathered rug, and a wooden chair.
"Where am I?"
Grumpy kicked the rug to the side before pulling up a hidden trap door.
"This is what's known as an oubliette. The labyrinth is full of them."
"What's an oubliette?"
"A place to put people to forget why they came here in the first place," the dwarf explained as he opened the door and revealed a dark hallway. "Let's get you outta here. I know a short cut out of the labyrinth."
"What? No, I'm not leaving now. She still has my son!" Emma argued as she crossed her arms.
"It gets a lot worse from here on out; trust me," he answered.
"Why do you care so much?"
"I don't it's just, you're this nice young girl and this is only the start of the queen's wrath," he explained.
"I can handle her."
"Of course you can. Now come along, sister."
"No way! How do I know you aren't taking me back to the beginning?"
Grumpy ginned mischievously. "You don't."
As he turned to walk through the trap door, Emma noticed a leather satchel hanging from the dwarf's waist. Hoping it was something of value, she quickly reached out and snatched it from his belt.
"Hey!" he shouted as she held it out of reach. "Give that back!"
"Not until you help me get to the castle," Emma explained as she held the dwarf at bay with a hand to his head.
"I can't do that!"
"Why not?"
"Because no one disobeys the queen! Now give that back!"
"Take me as far as you can and I'll do the rest on my own. Can you do that much for me?" she offered.
Grumpy paused in his antics before he growled, "Fine, but I ain't makin no promises. Just be careful with that, will ya."
Emma twisted the bag with a raised brow. "What's in it?"
"Fairy dust that belonged to my beloved…before she was taken from me," he answered before he lowered his eyes. "That's all I have left of her."
The young woman felt a pang of guilt for stealing it, but her son was more important. "I promise I'll be careful."
"Let's go then."
As they entered the dark hallway below, voices started to drift towards them. The words were hard to understand, but the desperation behind each voice rang loud and clear.
"What is that?" Emma questioned.
"You'll see," the dwarf answered as they continued down the corridor.
The disembodied voices grew louder until they rounded a corner and the young woman got her first glance at who was calling out. Crude prison cells lined up each side of the long corridor as various creatures and people within whispered and called out with desperate pleas of warning.
"Don't go on!" "Go back while you still can!" "This is not the way." Take heed, and go no further!" "Beware! Beware!" "Soon it will be too late!"
"Just ignore them," the dwarf instructed as the imprisoned people continued to call out. "They're just false alarms."
"False alarms?"
"Their hearts had been taken and they're programmed to throw out these false warnings, especially when you're on the right track."
"Oh no, you're not!" An ogre shouted between the bars.
"Shut up!" Grumpy yelled back before they rounded another corner and encountered a dead end.
Moving a small rock on the ground, he pressed a hidden button and the wall slid away to reveal a brick-lined tunnel with torch lights spaced out evenly along the walls.
They barely took a step into the corridor when a boy and girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere, causing Emma and Grumpy to jump back at their intrusion.
"I'm Hansel and this is Gretel," the boy introduced. "Where are you going?"
"To the castle," Emma answered.
"Really? I thought you were heading back?" Hansel questioned sweetly.
Grumpy swallowed audibly as he took a step back from the two children. "The young woman was surely mistaken. We are heading back to the beginning."
"What?!" the blonde barked in anger before she realized the dwarf's sudden reason for backtracking.
Familiar purple smoke swirled around the children before it cleared away to reveal the goblin queen in their wake.
"Your Majesty! What a pleasant surprise," the dwarf stammered as he bowed.
"Tell me Grumpy, are you helping this girl?" Regina interrogated as she approached the cowering man with a menacing glare.
"H-h-helping, in what sense?"
"In the sense that you are leading her straight to my castle," Regina replied in a sharp tone.
"N-no Your Majesty, I only told her I would help her when in fact I was taking her back to the beginning, just like we agreed," Grumpy explained.
Regina bent over to be eye level with the smaller man before she stated, "If I thought for one second that you were betraying me, I'd be force to toss you into the River of Hearts."
"No, Your Majesty!" Grumpy begged.
"Oh yes, Grumpy," she said in a threatening tone before she turned to the younger woman who had remained quiet this whole time. "And you Emma…how are you enjoying my labyrinth?"
Dark orbs sparked with hidden amusement as she sauntered into the blonde's personal space, causing a visible flush to paint Emma's cheeks.
The young mother refused to show any weakness to the beautiful queen, so she shrugged nonchalantly before she quipped, "It's a piece of cake."
"Oh it is, is it?" Regina purred in a sultry tone as she pinned the blonde against the nearby wall. "Then how about upping the stakes?"
"Alright," Emma agreed hesitantly.
"If you manage to reach my castle before the thirteenth hour, I will return your son and grant you one wish of anything you desire," the queen offered as she rested her hand on the wall beside the blonde's head. "However, if you fail to make it to my castle in time, you and Henry must stay here with me for the rest of your lives. Do we have a deal?"
Her heart pounded wildly in her chest at the queen's proximity and she bristled with the thought that Regina was purposely trying to provoke her into submission. Emerald eyes locked on russet orbs before Emma took a hearty breath and gave the answer that she was sure the older woman wasn't expecting.
"Yes."
Regina flashed a surprised grin before she withdrew from the younger woman and turned her back on her. "So my labyrinth is a piece of cake, is it?" she questioned before she turned back to Emma with a challenging glint to her eyes. "Let's see how you deal with this slice then."
The blonde watched in concern as a glowing ball of fire appear in the queen's hand before she tossed it down the darkened tunnel and disappeared. Regina gave a dark chuckle before she vanished in a cloud of purple smoke.
"Boy you really got her attention," Grumpy quipped as he stared down the long tunnel. "We need to get out of here. Now!"
"Why? What was that fireball?" Emma questioned as the dwarf grabbed her hand and dragged her in the opposite direction.
Before he could answer, a sudden whirring noise was heard. They both looked back only to regret the action as they witnessed a giant spinning blade making its way down the corridor as it headed right for them.
"Run!" Grumpy shouted as they both took off in a sprint.
The blades sounded closer, but neither dared to venture a backwards glance. Emma was beginning to think they were out of options when a small alcove with a door appeared ahead.
"Head for that door!" Grumpy ordered.
They both crashed into the alcove and the weight of their bodies caused the door to burst open. They quickly scampered in and ran a short distance before they risked a peek at the hallway they had just escaped. The sound of the blade was gone even though it never passed by the open doorway.
"Where did it go?" the young woman questioned.
"Nowhere; it's still there just waiting for you to step back out again," the dwarf indicated. "Come on. There should be a ladder over here somewhere."
The duo didn't have to travel far to reach the ladder that Grumpy had mentioned, but Emma was intimidated by how the fragile climbing equipment appeared to go on forever before it disappeared from view.
"Follow me," Grumpy directed as he started up the ladder.
"How can I trust you? You told the queen that you were taking me back to the beginning," Emma accused.
"I only said that to her to throw her off the trail," the dwarf explained as he continued to climb up. "She scares the hell outta me."
"How can I believe you?"
Grumpy paused before he looked down. "What choice have you got, sister? Besides, you still have my pouch that you stole."
Emma sighed before she grabbed the bottom rung. "You're right."
The climb seemed to take hours and the blonde was worried that it cost her too much time. She was about to ask how much further when the dwarf hit something metallic before he scraped it to the side and allowed daylight to pour in. They eagerly climbed out and breathed in the fresh air, thankful to be out from the underground. Emma took note that they were still in the labyrinth, but the castle did appear to be closer.
"Here," Emma said as she handed the leather pouch back over to the dwarf. "Thanks for helping me out of there."
"Don't mention it," Grumpy responded as he carefully retied the satchel to his belt. "We should get moving."
"You don't have to help me anymore," the blonde pointed out.
"I kinda got a soft spot for ya, sister," Grumpy replied. "Besides, I offered to take you as far as I can."
The young woman held out her hand. "Friends, then?"
He eyed her hand for a moment before he shook it and smiled. "Friends."
The sudden clamor of singing could be heard nearby and curiosity got the better of the blonde as she dragged the dwarf behind her to find the source of it. After a couple of turns to the left and a few to the right, Emma was surprised to see a handsome man with a tall hat that housed a scraggly-looking rabbit that was hanging out of it while he held a cup of tea in his hand. The man was seated at a small table that was stacked with various shapes and sizes of tea cups and teapots as the two belted out in song without a care in the world.
"A very merry unbirthday to me!"
"To who?"
"To me!" The rabbit answered as he bounced in the man's hat with a tea cup raised. "A very merry unbir..."
"Excuse me?" Emma interrupted. "Can you help me?"
The man and rabbit froze as they glared at their two intruders.
"It's very rude to interrupt the March Hare when he is singing! Don't you know that it's bad luck?" The man stated as he stood from the table and approached Emma.
"I'm very sorry, but I'm running out of time," she explained.
"There is always time for tea," the crazed rabbit stated as he pulled out another cup from within the hat and sipped it.
"But I didn't…nevermind. I need to get to the castle in the center of the labyrinth. Do you know the way?"
"Do I know the way; of course I know the way, young lady," he bellowed out before he removed his hat and bowed. "The name is Jefferson."
Emma was stunned that the March Hare remained seated on his head as he continued to sip at his tea before he was once again housed in Jefferson's hat when he replaced it.
"I'm Emma and this is Grumpy," She quickly introduced before she smiled. "So which way is it?"
"Is what?"
"The castle?"
"What castle?"
"The one in the center of the labyrinth!" Emma shouted in frustration.
"Oh that castle," Jefferson realized before he raised a brow. "What about it?"
"How do I get to it?"
"To what?" he answered before he took his seat again.
Emma growled as she yanked at her hair. "You said you knew the way to the castle in the center of the labyrinth!"
"I do," he answered before he picked up one of the various cups and sipped on it. "Would you like some tea?"
The blonde slammed her palm against her face as Grumpy rolled his eyes.
"Let's go, sister. He's of no help to us," the dwarf scoffed as he turned and walked away.
"Thanks for nothing, Jefferson," Emma grumbled before she trotted to catch up with the fast moving dwarf.
The two walked along the stone path until it turned into a beautiful garden. Trimmed hedges made up the walls as pebbles created the walking paths. They were about to turn a corner when a booming voice suddenly roared out.
"What was that?" Emma wondered.
"I don't know, but I'm outta here," Grumpy said as he turned on his heel and ran.
"Hey! Come back here you coward!" she shouted after the dwarf, but he disappeared around one of the hedges and was gone. "Well, I'm not afraid."
Another roar sounded and Emma gathered her strength before she purposely rounded the corner to encounter whatever creature was on the other side.