Chapter 10: No Longer a Princess
Crystal continues to walk through the streets of what was once the beloved town of Storybrooke. She couldn't believe the way that Leroy had treated her. It was insulting and enraged her to the point that the demonic voice in her head was tempting her to attack him.
Make him suffer, it hissed. Shut his mouth permanently.
But the daughter of the Dark One knew that the dwarf was her friend and she could never hurt him. While Leroy never treated anyone with much respect in the first place; but the dwarf was far beyond his usual sour mood. He was outright hurting her, assuming that she was a prostitute, and roaming the streets looking for clients on the wrong side of town. She's fighting back her tears. She just wants this nightmare to be over. No one remembers who she is, that much is clear, and it broke her heart, making her feel as empty as the streets were.
At one point in her life, Crystal would've loved to be invisible; be a stranger on the street with no ties to anyone and just another face in the crowd. It's how the first three years of her life went after her mother died. She knew she was a danger to everyone and wanted to avoid further sadness and depression in her life by losing someone close to her. She'd decided to "pull an Emma"; build up walls to keep out connections and love to avoid getting hurt and experiencing such loss again. However, that backfired spectacularly as soon as she started working with children. It was hard to resist their charms and innocence, their eager desire to be your friend and the way they looked up to their mentors made it almost impossible for Crystal to keep that vow of loneliness. Her connections had been solidified further when she found her father and the family she always wanted.
But now… it seemed like all of that had been ripped away by her grandmother's curse. Did the Black Fairy even know about Crystal? Most people didn't, so why would a visitor from the Dark Realm know about her either? If the black-hearted woman did know, was this part of her master plan to ruin everyone's happy endings, making everyone forget that her granddaughter ever existed? Sever the ties she'd worked so hard to build with her family and friends.
"I need a drink," she mutters, tucking her hands into her pockets.
She heads down the gray streets, going to the far side where she prayed the infamous bar of Storybrooke still stood. It would still exist, especially if the small Maine town had become a city of similarly seedy dives.
Sure enough, the sign announcing The Rabbit Hole is there with the angry logo gazing down at this alleged stranger. Despite the promise of swearing off alcohol since her years of being in street gangs, Crystal pushes open the door without a second thought, needing something to wash away the pain.
The place is filled with people looking for an afternoon drink. The sounds of rowdy drunk people are heard and the clacking of cue balls at the nearby pool tables. Crystal remembers that Regina had given her step-mother, Belle cursed memories and she had become Lacey, a barfly who hung around here a lot, much to Rumple's dismay. She can't imagine wanting to hang out in a place like this, Killian had told her that his former crew used to hang out here, and they often could not keep their hands off the women. The young adult could not stand the thought of being groped twice in one day and having to throw the pervert to the floor. Fortunately, everyone seems to be minding their own business. Rumple's daughter keeps her eyes down, deciding it seemed hopeless to look for anyone she could recognize because clearly, they wouldn't recognize her anyways.
Once she makes her way to the bar, she leans on it with her head in her hands, still trying to mask the pain.
"What can I get for you stranger?" a female voice asks.
Crystal looks up and gasps when she realizes who is talking to her.
It's Cinderella. The princess who originated the rags to riches story and who had a young daughter, Alexandra with her husband Prince Thomas. Despite Ella's real name, Crystal can see that she's been reverted back to her cursed name of Ashley, written on her name tag. That's not all, she's being forced to wear demeaning looking clothing that shows a lot of cleavage and other areas of her body. She is also being forced to wear bunny ears, keeping with the theme of the rabbit hole.
Crystal can immediately tell that Ashley is back to being miserable once again. The girl can see it in the blonde's blue eyes, trying to be masked by the imbibing of alcohol, she can see the pain and the distance within the princess. She has dark circles under her eyes; the layers of makeup forcibly caked onto her face to look appealing to customers cannot conceal her obvious exhaustion. Her shoulders are slumped over, and her hair is a dull gold, lacking its usual shine. Her eyes are also bloodshot, likely from crying, and Rumple's daughter can smell that this bartender has been secretly drinking when her boss isn't watching.
"Whatever is your strongest," Crystal says.
"Everclear okay?" Ashley asks.
"Yes please," she pauses. "Don't you want to see my ID?"
"Uh… yeah, I guess."
Crystal removes her wallet from her coat pocket and puts her driver's license down in front of Ella. The woman only examines it for a moment before beginning to mix the drink.
"Crystal is a pretty name," Ella says, trying to make small talk.
"Thanks, my mom picked it out," the daughter of Rumple sighs, yet another person who doesn't recognize her. Crystal had helped Ashley improve her Baby Time activities with her Early Childhood Education knowledge
Once her drink is mixed, the girl downs it almost immediately, cringing slightly at the bitter taste.
"Whoa slow down there Slugger, pace yourself a bit."
Crystal just groans and pushes away the empty glass, doing her best not to vomit.
"Rough day?" Ashley asks.
"You have no idea."
"I know the feeling," the blonde agrees. Suddenly, her phone vibrates on her hip. She removes it from her apron and rolls her eyes. "Excuse me."
Crystal gazes around the bar, looking to see if there's anyone else she can recognize. Sure enough, in the far corner of the bar serving greasy food and beer to some bikers near the pool tables is another waitress whom she recognizes as another princess. With her auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail and the tired look in her blue eyes, Crystal knows that Princess Aurora also works at this seedy bar. The girl wonders where both these princess's children are, Alexandra and Phillip Junior. Were they still with their mothers and had their fathers?
Almost immediately, Ashley begins shouting into her phone which answers her question.
"I don't care about your damned inheritance from your damned father, you owe me two child support payments and if you don't get them to me by Monday, I'm going to have the courts after you!" She then hangs up and sighs very heavily in frustration. She turns to Crystal. "Sorry, you had to hear that."
"Custody problems?" Crystal inquires, wondering if she should pry.
Ashley pours herself a shot of tequila and downs it before answering.
"Oh yeah… I have a two-year-old daughter at home who relies on me to get food on the table and my idiot ex-doesn't have the funds and or the means to help me get there. I pick up whatever shifts I can here, but that leaves me little time to spend with her. I feel like I'm barely in her life anymore…"
Crystal can see the tears coming to Ella's eyes again. She bites her lip hard and reaches over to pat the sad woman on the shoulder. The girl then offers the bartender her napkin to wipe her tears. Ashley manages to smile weakly and wipes away the evidence of her crying as it was smudging her makeup. Crystal now knew that the only reason she could see the black circles under the blonde's eyes over all that makeup was that the poor woman was crying continuously.
"I'm so sorry," the girl manages to say quietly.
"It's all right, at least I don't have it as bad as A over there."
"A?"
Ashley points to Aurora, who is now collecting empty beer cans from a nearby table. Some guy grabs her butt and the former royal smacks his hand away. Considering the slumbering princess was never brought over with the first curse, of course, she would have a new identity this time around.
"Her husband went missing one day, gone without a trace and now she's battling custody for her son against the guy's parents and she's losing because she can't afford it."
"That's awful."
"Sure is,"
"Shouldn't the police be looking for him?"
Ashley snorts. "You're not from around here, are you?"
Crystal swallows and merely nods.
"Well, in Stygian, there are no police. It's one of the most crime-ridden cities in America and it's because the fuzz are all corrupt morons who do whatever they want and will accept a bribe if it furthers their chances at the cards table."
"Shouldn't someone do something about it?"
"Sure, if you want to talk to Fiona Blackwell, the mayor, I'm sure she'll listen to your complaint," Ashley mutters sarcastically.
Aurora comes up to the table and pulls a handful of cash from her apron. She too is forced to wear bunny ears and revealing clothing for the sake of the bar.
"Anything good?" Ashley asks.
"Fifty cents and a poker chip are all I get for serving those jerks," the auburn-haired girl mopes. She slams her tray down on the bar in frustration, rattling the glassware. "And all because I wouldn't let them touch me."
Crystal watches as Aurora fiddles with the wedding band around her finger several times before speaking again. "It's like this golden band means nothing anymore!"
"Have you heard anything from the P.I. about finding Phillip?" Ashley asks.
"Nothing, it's as if he just vanished into thin air," Aurora moans, wiping her sad blue eyes with her arm.
He probably did, the daughter of Rumpelstiltskin thinks to herself. Damned curse.
"They'll find him, honey, I know they will," Ashley says, forcing herself to sound reassured and confident.
"I hope so," the other waitress whimpers sadly.
Crystal can't stand to see them like this any longer. She knows she has to do something, anything to help. She slams cash down for the drink, plus a tip, and exits without another word to either princess.
Despite the alcohol in her system, the daughter of the Dark One is starting to better understand the purpose of this curse. It's to separate everyone from their loved ones and have them lose hope in anything and everything in their lives. Destroy the happy endings and prevent the Final Battle from ever taking place. But Crystal had one thing that no one else did, her energy ability. She was going to do something to help Aurora and everyone else. She's so focused on the new-found goal that she fails to notice a motorcycle pulling up in front of The Rabbit Hole and two riders getting off, one of them with the same determination and objective as she did.
A/N: Please follow and review, it really helps me out.