I do not own Once Upon a Time.
And cut to a different character.
Cold water being thrown at her face was what brought her back to reality. Bernadette coughed, the water had gone up her nose and she had swallowed some. She had lost track of how many days she had been in this cell. Five, six? There were no windows, so no sun movement to go by.
"There must be something very special about you."
So he was in the room with her. How long had he been there before he decided to drench her? Her tormenter went back to sitting in a chair, his eyes fell on the book in his hands. "He never had this kind of patience for anyone else."
"Well, I'm no use to anyone dead." Even since regaining her magic by True Love's Kiss no less, and returning the Prydain, Bernadette got her sass and confidence back. It gave her fear a brave face to hide behind.
"How long will you stay useful, I wonder." He stood up and looked her over. "At least useful to him."
If her hands hadn't been chained to the wall, Bernadette would have torn his eyes out. She wanted to vomit and it had nothing to do with the baby she was carrying.
He reached out to touch her cheek. Panicked, she tried to move out of the way, though if he did try something, she could bite him.
But his hand grabbed her wrist. "Now where is the sword?"
"I told you, I don't know." Bernadette was completely honest.
Suddenly there was pain under her fingernails. She risked a glance up, he had stuck small pins into her skin. Bernadette forced herself not to scream.
"I believe her.' Came a new voice in the cell.
Someone believed her? Could she be set free? But then she recognized the voice and her blood ran cold.
He, or it rather, stood by the doorway. He must have had to stoop to enter the room, he stood taller than any man Bernadette had ever seen. He wore a long red robe and the hood covered his head, but it had holes for his horns. The huge horns of a stag distinguished him from every man. The Horned King stood tall, proud and cruel. The stories did him no justice.
"You believe her, My Lord?" Her tormentor thankfully put some much needed space between himself and her.
"Yes, your services are no longer needed." The Horned King simply touched the man, instantly he was reduced to a pile of dust.
Bernadette stared in horror. What else could he do with the touch of his finger?
"Maybe I haven't been using the correct method on you." The Horned King mused and stepped to the side.
Bernadette swallowed hard, she knew what kind of creature stood in the doorway. Matted crazy hair, dark sunken eyes and fingernail that put the pins in Bernadette's skin to shame. Jabberwockies had been run out of Wonderland years ago. Those who survived the purge fled to Prydain. And instantly recruited by the Horned King.
The female jabberwocky came up close to Bernadette and studied her for a moment then torn the pins out.
Now Bernadette screamed, a tear trickled down her cheek.
"Isn't that better, dear? These are not how to get answers out of a person. Physical pain does nothing. You need to go into the mind." The jabberwocky's hand rested on Bernadette's head and her eyes closed.
Bernadette reopened them and she wasn't in the cell anymore. Where was she? How had she gotten out? She tried to run but her feet were frozen in place. Behind her, she heard something. Both the Horned King and the jabberwocky stood with her. Then she understood what was happening, they had all stepped in Bernadette's mind. She was having an out of body experience.
She watched herself and Neal enter the clearing. This was the night he left Prydain, the night she had been captured.
"They're still behind us!" She heard Neal yell.
"I know." Bernadette was clutching a sword. "We can't escape. He cannot get this."
"We can go to the Enchanted Forest; we can protect it there."
"And he will follow. I wouldn't put another realm in danger." Then Bernadette's eyes turned yellow and she stepped out of her shadow. The dark form still held the sword. "Go." She told the shadow and it flew into the night.
Bernadette then pulled Neal close. "Get reinforcements and find it before he does!"
"What about you?"
She silenced him with a bruising kiss. Neal didn't realize she had opened a portal behind him. That was until he was being shoved into it. "Find it."
The portal closed. Bernadette turned around to face her fate and locked eyes with herself.
A gasp escaped her lips and she was pulled back to the present.
Once again she was chained to a wall in a tiny cell with the Horned King and a jabberwocky.
"Well, you certainly are smarter than I thought you were." The Horned King gave her a half compliment. "You don't know where your shadow took the sword. But rest assure I will find it. Nothing stays hidden in this realm for long." He stepped closer and grabbed her face. Bernadette found herself staring into small red eyes in the skull under the hood. "No matter how hard you try to fight me; you will lose in the end. Which is such a pity, you are so powerful but on the wrong side."
Bernadette filled her mind with Neal and pulled her face back. He was the source of her confidence. "Just keep telling yourself that. Even if I die, you won't win. I have powerful friends."
He chuckled. "I have friends also. Maybe you should spend some time with her." The Horned King headed to the door. The jabberwocky stayed behind, an unsettling smile on her face.
I think the Jabberwocky is a fun touch. Her shadow has the sword.
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