Hi, ya, totally and completely sorry for disappearing for those weeks! But I'm back and will be writing super long chapters to make it up to you guys!
Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Slowly, the Lost Boys began to wake up. A low murmur settled across the camp as everyone rushed around sleepily, making the fire and preparing whatever it was they ate for breakfast. I hoped to gods it wasn't squirrel.
I had finally taken off the dress, replacing it with black leggings,a layered maroon shirt and combat boots. I planned on spending the day avoiding everyone. I was almost positive that Henry's family would be coming to the island soon. With their annoying optimism for "always finding each other" or whatever. I had never met any of them personally, except for Regina and Rumpelstiltskin, who I was sure tagged along if it meant a chance to kill Peter. I was well aware of their relationship since he first found out about my trips to Neverland.
Finally, Henry woke up, groggy from the sleeping spell. "Hey kid, you alright?" I asked softly as he sat up from my lap.
He just blinked at me.
"Ya," I sighed. "Stupid question... Do you know why your here?"
"Pan said it had something to do with me being the-" he was cut off mid sentence by an apple being tossed at him. "No thanks. I don't like apples." He looked up at a smirking Pan.
"Who doesn't like apples?" He asked with mock incredulous.
"It's a family thing." He stated. Oh Jesus, one poisonous apple and everyone misses out.
"Well don't worry, they're not for eating. It's for a kind of game, a really fun game." I grit my teeth together, knowing that what Peter and Henry considered fun were worlds apart. I couldn't imagine anyone that thought of fun the same way as Peter, besides the kidnapped sexist boy scouts. "I call it target practice."
"Whats that?" Henry stood and watched Peter dip a cross-bow arrow into a powdered version of the Islands worst poison. Just the sight of it sent shivers down my spine.
"Dreamshade, a nasty poison." Peter said, finally letting the arrow dry after over-applying it. "It kills."
Henry sucked in his breath at the 'k-word.' Gosh, for the son of The Evil Queen, he made an American Girl Doll look like a murder.
I could feel Pan smirk at his innocence, "Felix, get over here!" I kept my gaze down and my teeth clenched as the smirking blonde walked over to his smug leader, a club slung over his shoulder.
"Is-is his aim good?" Henry stammered out, causing both their smirks to grow. I glared at Peters back as I watched him push the hood off his number 2 and place an apple on top of his messy hair.
"Doesn't matter," Pan said as he lazily turned back around to face a nervous Henry, "You're the one doing the shooting." He handed Henry the weapon.
"I-I don't want to shoot," Henry stuttered as he clung to the crossbow. I wanted to stop this, but no words came from my mouth, leaving me no choice but to stare in muted horror as the lost boys started to chant 'shoot,' egging him on. My mouth started to move inaudibly as Henry looked over to me helplessly.
"You not hit him. Trust yourself, go on." Peter reassured him, "It's exhilarating..." He let he sentence hang in the air as Henry aimed the surprisingly steady crossbow for the apple. My fists clenched as I waited anxiously for the kid to miss already.
Before he could fully release the trigger, he spun around and aimed the arrow at Pan's chest. A choked gasp leaked through my lips as Pan caught the arrow before it connected with his flesh, the camp fell silent except for his breathy pants.
Lifting his gaze up to Henry, a terrifying smirk on his face, his green eyes dark and triumphant. Flicking the arrow away, he made his way towards Henry. "What did I tell you? Exhilarating."
My heart skipped a beat as soon as those words left Peters mouth. I had come to Neverland long enough to know that anyone with enough guts- and smarts- to shoot an arrow at Pan had the potential to be a Lost Boy.
Peters gaze shifted to me as Henry began to back away, his smirk only growing at the horror-ridden look on my face. Felix had his eyes placed on me as well, though his face was expressionless, no surprise there.
Suddenly I regained my ability to think rationally and started to back towards the edges of the camp. Peter hadn't forbade me from leaving the camp. I had a way to escape, for the time being anyway. There was no true way of escaping Peter Pan, eventually, if he wanted you, you always were brought back to him. By whatever means he found necessary. This only made people more afraid of him; that made him even more full of himself though.
I spun around on my heel and sprinted into the jungle, not caring of Henry's safety all that much as I dodged trees and jumped over logs. I didn't quite care about anything except getting myself as far away from the Lost boys camp as possible. I considered placing a cloaking spell over me, but it would be futile. He, having bound myself to him, could find me anywhere.
This fucking curse really got on my nerves sometimes.
As I walked through the 'land without magic,' or Storybrooke, I saw many family let faces from the Enchanted Forest. Though they looked the same as they did when I had last been there, even though it had been easily 20 years.
Regina was up to some seriously messed up shit. Shocker.
Once I had finally made my way to the edge of the tiny town I stopped in front of an obnoxiously huge white mansion. Of course, to Regina I bet this place was the size of one of her closets in her beloved castle. I dragged my feet as I made my up to the door, trying to keep my legs as close together as I could, it was freezing here. Great idea Mary, 'lets wear shorts to Maine!'
Before I could even figure out how to let the household that I was on their front porch, the door swung open, looking down, I saw a little boy, maybe about 6, starring up at me with wide eyes and a big toothy grin (though several of his teeth were missing).
"Um, hi?" I am so totally not prepared for this. "I'm Mary, is your mom home?"
"Hi!" he said, practically thrilled to be meeting a new person, "my names-"
"Henry?" I heard Regina's voice yell from deeper within the house, followed by the click-clack of her heels. "Who's at the door?"
"Some girl named Mary!" He yelled back in his cheerful toddler voice, full of innocence. A twang of guilt hit me, knowing that when someone broke this curse, there'd be a whole load of hate coming at him, no thanks to his mother- the wickedest bitch in all of the Enchanted Forest.
"Henry," Regina walked out from the hallway laughing lightly in her business suit.
I took in her new appearance, her obnoxiously long hair had been cup short. Which was for the better if you asked me, she needed a change from those stupid regal braids and up-dos. I was also surprised she didn't wear a ball gown around the house.
"This isn't just 'some girl,'" she explained. "This is your cousin Mary, from New York. She'll be visiting us for a week."
"Oh... Well I'm Henry." He stated proudly, sticking his hand out to me. I smiled as I leaned down and shook hands with him, leave it to Regina to raise her son like a mini businessman. "Pleasure to meet you."
Regina cleared her throat, "sweetie, I need to talk to Mary for a quick second in my office okay? Why don't you go and watch some TV?"
"Spongebob?" He questioned.
"Yes, you can watch Spongebob." Regina smile sighed. Henry's face lit up with delight as he ran through the hallway and towards whatever the hell a TV was. Regina ushered me in, "Upstairs," she pointed to the staircase that sat on the far side of her immaculate front room, if I didn't know any better I would have thought the house was empty. You couldn't see any signs of personality or children's toys anywhere, it was sad really.
"Shoes off," she ordered before i could move off of the door mat. I quipped my eyebrows up at her but obliged, shaking off my flip-flops. Really, how much of a dumb ass do you have to be in order to think that Maine was warm in the beginning of June?
I followed her closely at the heel as we made our way up the neatly carpeted stairs and not her office, which I was glad to see had some clutter to it, along with framed pictures of Henry and her. "What the hell is a 'Spongebob?'" I asked as soon as she closed the door.
She let out a breathy laugh and went to lean against the desk. "Don't ask, this land has the strangest things. Thanks for coming, I don't suppose you'll tell me how you managed to avoid the curse?"
I scoffed. "Well, I ran into a bit of a problem."
She raised an eyebrow, "a problem that lasted all this time?"
"I was 'obtained' By the Red Queen in Wonderland, her and some guy Jafar shoved me into an effing cage! I helped one, little harmless girl, Alice, through a maze and the next thing I know, my face is on 'wanted posters' across the entire realm.
"Well, you got lucky then," she smiled tightly. "Now, the reason I asked you here, when the curse was cast I took away everyone's memories, replacing them with new ones. No one know who they are, or what they've done, not even Rumpelstiltskin."
"So the problem is?" It wasn't like Regina to fail at any magical task, she was a ruthless perfectionist. Like mother like daughter, Regina might just be a little more broken though.
"Rumpelstiltskin knows." She stated dramatically. "I think he does anyway, I need you to find out for sure this week."
"And how, exactly, do you expect me to do that? He's never been one to break character, and he obviously just likes seeing you all riled up, sweetie. You get that crazy look in your eyes," I pointed at her mockingly. "Hey look! There it is."
She scowled at me. "Figure it out. Get him to say something only he would know, use one of you irritating mind games, just crack him somehow! I don't care, just get the job done. He'll be called Mr. Gold here, owns a pawn shop."
I rolled my eyes. "Ya sure, whatever, it won't be a problem, happy to help, yadda, yadda. Whats with the Henry kid?"
A smile relaxed her tight face. "He's my adopted son. He brings more happiness into my life, makes me feel less empty."
"You? Happiness? That's a little ironic considering your entire 'destroy happiness' speech at the Charmings wedding. You really put a damper on the after party, Hun."
"Don't test me, Poppins." She hissed. "If anyone asks, your my sisters daughter, your sixteen. And you are not to try and perk anyone's memory besides Rumpelstiltskins. Are we clear?"
"Crystal," I bit out . She smiled sweetly at me as she stood straight and went towards the door. "Am I allowed to talk to him?" I asked in a rushed tone before she had a chance to exit through the wide open door. She looked at me confused, "Henry." I explained to her. "Am I allowed to talk to Henry? Be the fun, older cousin that likes... Spongebob, right?
She nodded, "of course," and she finally exited and descended down the stairs,her hand gliding on top of the dark mahogany railing.
I smiled and practically ran down the stairs and bolted out the door and through the walkway.
I could take a little detour on my way to find Rumpelstiltskin, right?
I couldn't how long I had been running for, though I was still racing through the mess of vines and trees like it had been only a few minutes. Running, running, running, that's all I had thought or done. I wasn't thinking about anything, nor looking for anyone (though an adult face would be greatly appreciated right now).
A choked scream slipped out of my lips as I wrenched myself backwards, landing on my arse as I stared in horror at what plant laid in the path before me.
A widespread patch of Dreamshade.
I let out harsh, shaky breaths as I sat, mesmerized by the plants sticky, black nectar that was continuously dripping off of every vine. Every part of my body began to shake even harder as I stared at the deadly bush. I waited anxiously for it to move, what was wrong with me?!
Still shaking and breathing hard, I clumsily stumbled back into my feet and began sprinting into the other direction, not caring if I was going near the camp or not. I was running faster than I could ever remember, tears streaming down my face, my scalp aching and my hair getting pulled as it was caught in multiple vines and tree branches.
I had been completely oblivious to what I had been doing, or what direction I was running in, until I slammed into someone's cloth covered chest at full force.
Felix's P.O.V:
I had been wandering around the jungle, about a mile away from the camp, mindlessly when a body slammed into me, knocking the said body to the ground as I just stood there rigid for a second, confused.
Glancing down, a trembling body curled up into a ball. I was utterly shocked to see that the body belonged to Mary.
This was a different Mary though, she wasn't her usual cocky, sarcastic self. I had seen many sides of her, she could change from being gently, the sarcastic, to loud, to quiet, and then turn into a emotional terrorist in the blink of an eye. But this, this side of her was new to me, it was almost the complete opposite of her.
She was shaking as sobs violently raked through her body, arching her spine. Her many layers of protective walls had come crumbling down, no longer guarded, and she was fully exposed. Her legs were bent a the knee and tucked under her, while her torso rested on the jungle floor. Her big blue eyes were covered with both hands, in desperate attempt to push back the pools of tears that fell from them.
In all honesty, I didn't know what to do, or if I should do anything really. Timidly, I crouched down next to her and gently laid a hand on her back, trying to comfort her. "Mary..." I cooed to her in the softest voice I could manage, though it sounded oddly foreign to me.
Slowly and unsurely, she lifted her head up slightly from her hands that still rested in the dirt, and gazed up at me with red rimmed eyes and a trembling lip.
"Mary, what... What happened to you?" I questioned her, unable to cover up the worry in my tone. I removed my hand from her back as she sat up, single tears still falling down her cheeks, she was shaking less now.
"What am I doing here? Felix, why am I here, really? How do I play a role in any of this, where do I fit in with his game?" She demanded in an a tone that almost sounded scared, her voice cracking multiple times. Then she buried her face into my chest and let out choked sobs, she was shaking even harder that before now.
"I don't know," I whispered the lie. I had been with Pan long enough to know that she was to be used as a distraction, a pawn. I never would have imagined that it would have been her. "Mary, look at me." My normal huskier voice back. Grasping both her hands, I pulled her away from my chest just enough to see her tear stained face. "Just breathe Mer, relax. all of this will be over soon." Her eyes closed and she slumped against me, defeated.
I small smirk played across my lips as I gathered her in my arms and placed her in my lap, it only grew when I noticed how she hadn't been shaking as much since I wrapped my arms around her.
Mary's P.O.V:
A soft sigh escaped my lips as I nuzzled my head into Felix's neck, feeling safer than I had in decades by the familiarity of his arms around me.
I had only just realized how much I had missed him the past century or so. I missed the days we spent living together in the woods, stealing from the market place and running from cave to tree, trying to avoid guards or angry patrons from the nearest town that we had stolen from. I welcomed the closeness of him.
I gasped and wrenched myself from his grip. I had missed him, I had let him comfort me, let him see me cry. I was letting him win, I was giving in to him. I wasn't supposed to miss him. I was supposed to be furious with him, yet I let myself be comforted by him because he was all too eager to oblige. I was letting him win.
He looked at me surprised, "what's wrong?"
"Dont give me that shit," I sneered, I was shaking again now, but not put of fear- this was rage. "You planned this didn't you? You two bastards wanted me to break like this. You want me to crack so I'm easier to take advantage of! Well, Pan and you have another thing coming-"
He growled, interrupting me. "Not everything has to do with Pan! There isn't always an alternative motive Mary!"
"Well, it's not going to be this fucking easy to take advantage of me!" I ignored his comment.
He growled again and leeched towards me. I yelped, preparing myself for he blow, but nothing of the sort came.
His lips came though, his lips came crashing down onto mine, drawing me into a kiss.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and again I'm so sorry for the wait!
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