Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time
Chapter 4: Grey comes from a mix of Black and White
"Zoe?" the voice makes me stop dead in my tracks, and I turn to face Bae, who seats himself on the flat rock he had been sleeping on a few seconds ago. "Where are you going?"
I sigh. My plan was to sneak out in the middle of the night without him noticing, though I hadn't anticipated that he would be such a light sleeper.
"I'm getting away from you," I confess.
He gives me a confused glance. "Why would you do that?"
"Because Pan is looking for me, Bae. And if he can sense my magic, it's only a matter of time until he finds me." I explain, this time allowing my worry to reach my voice.
If Pan finds out about Bae's secret cave, I realized last night, then Bae would no longer have a place to hide, and Pan would force him to stay in camp. I can't do that to him.
"He won't," he assures me with a determined voice. I've never understood how he can be so optimistic in situations like this.
"You don't know that. You've been hidden here for years. I don't want to ruin it for you."
"But where will you go? There is no other place to hide," Bae points out.
"I will figure something out," I assure him with a shy smile.
He sighs, shaking his head slowly. "Don't tell me you were about to leave without saying goodbye first."
"I've never been good at goodbyes," I confess. He then stands up and walks towards me, stopping only when I'm caught in the embrace of his strong hug.
"Be careful," he whispers, his breath ticking the back of my neck.
"I'll be okay," I say, focusing on keeping the tears from falling down my eyes. "Now my magic is back, so I can defend myself just fine."
"But what about escaping?"
"I will find a way," I state. "That's a promise." I then end the hug by turning to walk away, mainly because I can't keep on hugging him without bursting into tears.
This is why I hate goodbyes. No matter how warm the hugs may feel or how meaningful the words may be, goodbyes only increase the pain that people feel after they have been separated from the person they said goodbye to. Goodbyes are only another painful moment to remember when they start missing him.
"Will you come to visit me?" Bae's voice stops me just before I start climbing the rocks at the cave's entrance. I turn my head over my shoulder to look at him.
"I will try," I reply simply before climbing the rocks as fast as I can and jumping out of the cave. When my feet touch the ground, I force myself to walk away without even so much as glancing behind me.
Rumplestinskin and I watched as the cab, with the three sisters inside, left the house. Those girls were wearing elegant dresses, faces heavily made up, whilst the girl in front of us was almost the complete opposite. Cinderella looked a little older than me, but instead of jeans and a jacket, she was wearing a ragged, filthy grey dress. Rumplestinskin and I could see her from here, but she couldn't see us because we were using our invisibility. We watched the girl sweep her broom from side to side with tears in her eyes, looking hopelessly at the castle, which was only just visible in the distance. While Cinderella was distracted, a small fairy wearing a yellow dress came flying up from behind, stopping right in front of her.
"Do not despair my dear, you will attend that ball," said the fairy, her melodious voice making Cinderella turn to look at her, shocked. I glanced at Rumplestinskin, who smirked immediately upon seeing the fairy. Before we came here, he told me he knew a fairy would come here to help this poor girl. He wanted the wand the fairy possessed, which was the whole reason we had come here in the first place. I had permission to use everything Rumplestinskin owned if I wanted to, so if he had this wand, then it would be mine too.
"Who are you?" asked Cinderella. At that, the fairy grew to a human size, her skin flawless and nearly glowing. "I'm your fairy godmother," she replied. "And I'm here to change your life, Cinderella."
"But, my stepmother told me that I couldn't go, she forbade me to leave." Cinderella said sadly, shaking her head.
"Your step mother doesn't have this," said the fairy, referring to the bright yellow wand she made appear in the palm of her hand.
"Do you want to do the honors?" Rumplestinskin asked me, grinning from ear to ear.
"This wand has the power to take you to your ball. To your prince, and to-."
I simply smirked and, with a wave of my hand, the fairy vanished into thin air, leaving only yellow dust behind and, of course, the wand.
Cinderella took several steps back, looking startled. "What? Uh?" she said to herself. Rumplestinskin then took away the invisibility so that Cinderella could see the two of us. He crouched to pick up the wand.
"What did you do?" Cinderella asked, looking strait into my blue eyes with a mix of fear and anger. But it was Rumplestinskin who answered her.
"Now, now, I got what I wanted," he said. "There's no need to be frightened."
"No need?" Cinderella asked incredulously. "You just killed my fairy god-mother. She was trying to help me!"
"Was she?" He questioned. "Do you know what this is?" He referred to the wand by slightly moving it from side to side, almost singing his words as he did so.
"Pure magic," Cinderella replied, confident of her answer.
"Pure evil," I corrected. "Trust me, we've done you a favor. All magic comes with a price. Go and budge your life. And if you're lucky enough, you'll still have something to go back to."
"I have nothing to go back to," Cinderella said sadly. "My life, it's wretched."
"Then change it," Rumplestinskin said. "You can't handle this." He pointed at the wand he was holding. Then we turned around and started walking away from Cinderella, a stride in both our steps.
"Wait please, wait!" she begged, running until she was in front of us. "I can handle it. Please, I will do anything to get out of here, anything!"
"Anything?" Rumplestinskin emphasised the word, and I glanced at him suspiciously. I knew that look; I had seen it throughout the years I've known him. This was the look he made when he was about to make one of his deals.
"Does one of you know how to use that wound, Mr. and M.s…?"
"Rumplestinskin," he vowed.
"Zoe Brook," I said with a smirk. "And yes, of course we do."
"Then help me," Cinderella pleaded.
"Well if I do, and you can indeed shoulder the…consequences, then you'll owe me a favor." Rumplestinskin stated, walking round Cinderella to look at her from all angles.
"Name it, what do you want?" She asked, desperation seeping from her voice.
"Something precious," Rumplestinskin answered simply.
"But I have nothing."
"Oh, but you will," he said. "From this wish will come riches more than you know."
"I care nothing for riches, I'll give you anything you want, just get me out of here." Rumplestinskin smiled and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. This girl was so naïve.
"Now we are talking," he said maliciously.
"Well, how does it work?" She asked eagerly.
"Fear not. My needs are small, and all you have to do is sign on the dotted line." When he finished saying the word 'line', a stretched contract and a quill appeared in his hand. "Do we have a deal?"
"Yes, yes thank you," said Cinderella, relief clear in her voice. Rumplestinskin placed the piece of paper against his back and crouched a little while Cinderella signed as fast as she could, her fingers rushing as if she was afraid the quill would disappear any second. When she finished, Rumplestinskin stood up straight and looked at the contract to verify that the signature was actually there, before he spoke.
"Zoe, if you will?" He handed me the wand and I grabbed it. I knew exactly what to do. With a flicker of my wrist, Cinderella was covered in a grey haze that instantly vanished, revealing her in a light-blue fancy dress, white globs, a necklace, and a small silver crown to rest upon her blond, tidy-placed hair. Cinderella stared at herself up and down in absolute disbelief, a wide smile drawn on her face, before her gaze fixed on the glass shoes I left in front of her, and she gave me a confused glance.
"Glass?" She asked.
"Every story needs a memorable detail," I said and smiled. "Let's see how they fit, shall we?"
Cinderella lifted her long dress a little bit to help her place her feet in the shoes. "Now you have a good time," Rumple added. "But remember to watch the clock."
"We haven't had a real conversation yet," An unexpected voice makes me almost jump, and I turn around to see that it comes from the blond teenager, who is leaning against a tree trunk. After leaving Bae's cave, I looked for a proper tree and slept there through the night, trying as hard as I could to get comfortable. Then, when the morning arrived, I started walking through the island in hopes of getting to know it better.
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" I reply calmly, succeeding in not showing him how much his sudden appearance scared me.
"Your magic." Pan starts pacing in front of me as he speaks, the excitement clear in his eyes. "I want to know more about it."
I raise an eyebrow. "And what makes you so interested about it?" I say, looking at him wearily, as if he were a cat about to jump.
"You'll find out soon enough," he stops walking when he is only inches away from me. "I promise."
"Well, if you don't tell me then you just won't know about my magic," I say, my tone matter-of-fact.
"That's where you are wrong," he whispers in my ear before backing away and starting to pace in front of me again. "You can either tell me, or you will have to show me." He gives me a charming, evil smirk, to which I respond with a confused look.
What on earth is he talking about?
He is suddenly in front of me again, and he grabs my wrist with a strong, almost painful grip. I blink once, and then we are somewhere else. This place is like Bae's cave, only darker and much bigger. Here, the air seems to be red, and I can almost smell death.
I immediately pull my wrist out of his grip and start to back away.
"You knew you where going to end up here," I stated. "And you still went to meet Cinderella, anyway, which means you are exactly where you want to be."
Rumplestinskin was front of me, the cell bars separating us. After I heard he had been captured by Snow White and James, I went straight to see him. He clapped enthusiastically when he saw I had gotten it right, his grin wide and confident as always.
"You are such a smart girl," he complimented me and I smiled smugly at him.
"The only thing I don't know is, why? Why be trapped?"
"It's better if I keep you in the dark," he assured me. "I promise."
"Where the hell are we?" I demand when there is finally a safe distance between me and the immortal teenager. My head starts turning around wearily as I sense the overwhelming amount of dark magic in this cave, almost as dark as Pan's magic is.
"Dark Hollow," he replies, grinning at me. "My shadow's home."
It is then when I feel the familiar odd breeze against my skin, and in a moment, three shadows appear in front of me. My gaze immediately goes to where Pan was standing, but he appears to be gone.
That bastard.
I realize now what his plan is. He is forcing me to show him how my magic works by making me fight against his shadows. I know that, though I can't see him, he is still here somehow, probably watching me with that aggravating smirk of his.
The three shadows start flying over and around me, preparing to strike. As I carefully observe their movements, I notice that one of them is controlling the other two. This means that two of them are only puppets, so I only have to focuse on killing the real shadow and defending myself from the rest. But...how do you kill something that is already dead?
Without a warning, one of the shadow's puppets places its hands against my chest, pulling me upwards with it until my back hits a tree trunk. I feel it trying to rip my shadow out, causing a sense of emptiness inside me and I deep, unbearable pain.
Pan want's magic? Then he'll have it.
I make a grey wave of magic radiate off my entire body, causing the shadow to release me as it is thrown backwards with full force. I land on my feet just in time for the other puppet shadow to try to throw itself at me, and though my ankles sting from the fall, I manage to dodge it by using my magic to jump over it with an agile movement.
The only way to win this fight, I notice, is by handling the real shadow. The one which brought me to Neverland in the first place.
Once I'm on the ground again, my determined eyes fix on the creature, and with a wave of my hand I start controlling the branches of one of the bare trees inside the cave. I make them reach out and hold the shadow, tying it against the tree trunk almost like actual ropes. The shadow immediately starts fighting the branches around it, squirming and writhing to be released.
When I'm about to make the branches squeeze it harder against the tree trunk, one of the puppet shadows pushes me with full force, making my back hit a tree trunk hard.
I fall to the ground, my aching body distracting me just long enough to forget about the main shadow, causing the branches around its body to stop being controlled by my magic and to release it. I force myself to stand up again before they can attack me, my body now facing the three shadows.
The puppet shadows may not be the real enemy, though they do distract me quite a lot. Maybe the real shadow can't be killed, but the other two sure as hell can.
I make a grey wave of magic radiate off my body just in time for a puppet shadow to throw itself at me, forcing the three shadows to be thrown backwards. The two puppet shadows dissappear out of thin air, immediately upon their backs slamming into tree trunks, finally leaving me only with the real shadow. The main threat.
It tries to grab my wrist, but I transport myself away from it, appearing on the other side of the cave. As the shadow flies over me again, my gaze fixes on the cracks on the roof of the cave. The cracks appear to be forming a circle, the approximate size of a giant rock.
An idea immediately lights in my mind, and I start throwing fireballs at the shadow, succesfully making it fly below the circle on the roof. When it is positioned right where I want it to, I pound the floor with my foot, my magic forcing the circle on the roof to fall off. When it hits the ground, a wave of dust and dirt covers the cave, blocking my sight for a moment. I extend my arms to make the wave disappear, revealing the shadow.
The lower half of it's body is trapped under the giant rock which just fell from the roof whilst the other half is trying as hard as it can to release itself, attempting unsuccesfully to fly upwards. The hole on the roof allows light to enter the cave, iluminating the dark place and giving me a better view of the shadow's angry, violent eyes.
I did it. I won.
It is then when I hear a slow clap, and I turn my head to see that Pan has reappeared beside me, anouncing his presence. I immediately glare at him.
"Impresive, Zoe," he says. "You know, I've visited the Enchanted forest more times that you could count. I have lived for centuries. And, in that time, I have never seen anyone use your kind of magic before." Pan then uses his own magic to lift the rock and fit it back to it's original position, breifly nodding at the shadow before it flies away and gives me what I made out as one last, vengeful glance.
"But you know what type of magic it is anyway," I state, and Pan nods at this. The boy then starts walking around me, and I resist the urge to follow his movements with my eyes, managing to leave my head still.
"Most practicers of magic can only control dark or light magic. The ones who do manage to use both still can't use the two of them at the same time," he starts. "The grey waves that radiated off you, however, contained a mix of dark and light magic."
Pan seems way too eager to tell me what he has just discovered, though I already knew of this information about my magic because of Rumple.
"Now," he stops pacing when he is in front of me. "Both light and dark magic have different strenghts the other type of magic doesn't have. So, if you were to join them, the result would be a magic twice as powerful."
He then leers at me, and I realize that having him know about my magic isn't a good thing at all. He is so close to me that I can feel his cold breath, and every limb of my body tells me to get away from him, away from his twisted magic as fast as I possibly can.
"That's why you are so special, Zoe." He gently passes his hand over my cheek, and I have to hold back a cringe. "Like I said before, you are one-of-a-kind."
I move my head slightly to my right, making his hand fall off at his side. He sighs at my reaction.
"Why?" I ask, my voice way softer than I meant it to be. "What does my magic have to do with you keeping me here?"
"Because I need you, Zoe," he replies, his bare answer only making my frustration increase.
"And now that I know so much about your magic." He places his hand on my waist, bringing me closer to him. "It only makes me want to keep you more."
I hope you enjoyed this chapter a looot, because it has been the most difficult to write so far. Any reviews on this chapter? What do you think about Zoe's magic?
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