Chapter 53
I'm not sure how long I sit there but eventually my thoughts are broken into by my brother's voice in my head. He is trying to summon me to the courthouse for some meeting that he thinks I should be apart of. I try to ignore the call at first but my eye's snap open when his thoughts become more urgent and a name enters my mind. Pan...The meeting has something to do with Peter Pan. My jaw tightens and I start to shake my head as I get up waving my hand to put out the fire. I grab my coat exit and lock up the cabin again before poofing over to the courthouse. I would have been annoyed with this meeting taking place on a regular day, but after the day I've had I'm just plain pissed now. I thought I had made it quite clear that Pan was not a problem for them to stick their noses in. They really have no idea who they are dealing with in Peter Pan.
I walk into the meeting chamber and find the Charming's, Emma and Bae, Blue, the Dwarfs, Red and Granny, and Archie all gathered around a table. They all look up and except for Bae they seem very surprised to see me. I had to smile at what I knew was the Charming's old war counsel with Bae and Emma replacing Geppetto and Pinocchio.
"So it appears I wasn't clear enough before when I said that Pan's fate was not a decision for you to make." I state rather coldly looking around the room and I'm rather surprised to see that every one of them has a devilish smirk on their face now. I'm starting to feel as if I've missed something as a few of their shoulders start to bounce with hushed laughter. I glare directly at my brothers traitorous grin which he try's to hide behind his hand.
"What's going on brother dear? I thought you summoned me here for a reason?" I ask taking a few confident steps toward him and he shrugs as he stands up with a wide grin.
"Sorry Nori but like you said you only tend to show up when somethings going on, and it was my job to get you here." He said and I just feel even more confused. I suddenly feel two people appear behind me so I whip around to see my father and Regina standing there. Regina snaps her finger's and decorations spring up all around the room. A long table appears with food and a large cake. I start to catch on to their game and I have the strong urge to run away. My father waves his arm and people start to appear among them are my Mother holding little me, Henry, Mulan, Phillip, Aurora, Jefferson, Grace, and many other's I've become friends with in town. With the decorations all up and all the guests here now they all shout the obligatory,
"SURPRISE!" My father walks forward with Mom by his side and I'm nearly clotheslined as Bae runs up behind me throwing his arm around my shoulders. I can see they are all very amused with themselves that they have managed to catch me this off guard.
"I hate surprises and you all know that stunts like this around me can have dangerous repercussions." I said but even I can tell I don't sound like my heart is really in it.
"Yes that is why Gold and I came in first. Just in case you threw fire first and asked questions later." Regina teased with Hook at her side and every bit as amused with my reaction as my family is.
"You didn't think you were going to get out of this just because the younger version of you was born today as well did you?" Bae said grinning like a madman.
"Yes as I understand it your dear brother just wouldn't stand for that. I rather doubt he has slept at all actually as he has been on the phone all day setting this all up." Dad said smiling at us both.
"Naw handed thing's off to Snow and Emma this afternoon and got a few hours shut-eye. They are the ones who worked the real magic for me and got everything coordinated, but yah if you want the guilty party for the utter embarrassment your feeling...Ya I guess you can blame me for that Sis." He said taking one of the Gold family sweeping bows.
"Is that so?" I turn my head to ask my brother and he nods very proud of himself.
"Well I'm sure I don't need to remind you that all magic comes with a price..." I said throwing a glance at my father who couldn't grin bigger.
"And in your case..." I start and Bae gets a worried look on his face and starts to back away slowly.
"Nori let's talk about this come on now be reasonable." He said as I turn to face him and crack my knuckles.
"That's me Bae!" I said snapping both my fingers and cross my arms in front of me. As Bae scrambles to get away he is engulfed in smoke for a moment and then as it clears he looks down horrified at what he sees. He is now wearing a pink ballet outfit complete with ruffled tootoo, tights, and wooden toe shoes. The hall erupts in laughter and as Bae looks back to me I bring my finger to my lips and blow across the top as if blowing the smoke from the barrel of my gun. He looks past me to where Dad stands obviously hoping for help, but I know he won't find any there. If there is anyone who enjoys a good joke at someone's expense it's our father. The final insult though is when Henry runs just past me and snaps a picture of his father.
"Remember next time Bae... Never start a something you can't finish." With that said I take pity on him and change his clothing back. Everyone applauds and so I take a bow for my stunning performance. Bae walks back over to us trying with all he has to glare at me and not bust up laughing himself. Some music starts as he reaches us and Henry grabs my arm to drag me over to a table marked Future Monori. I look over to my right and see another marked Baby Monori which makes me snicker slightly. Apparently Bae had made the party for the both of us and so people had the option to bring baby gifts for little me, adult ones for me, or both. Henry is walking around the table looking for something. His eye's light up and he pulls a parcel from the pile toppling over a few that had been on top of it. He runs back around and holds it out to me with a big grin on his face.
"This ones from me!" Henry said with no small amount of excitement as I take it from him. It was small and as I unwrap it I see why, Henry has gotten me some jewelry. I flip the lid of the box up and see that it's a heart-shaped necklace with my name engraven on it.
"It's a locket you gotta open it!" Henry said even more excited. I open the locket and see Emma, Bae, and Henry's family photo from the wedding. Then to my surprise it changes to my parent's, then Regina and Henry, Myself and Bae, It keeps cycling through different photos and I look at my nephew wondering how he accomplished this.
"Alright who helped you kid was it my Dad or your Mom?" I ask and he grins proudly.
"I did it with my Mom's instruction and supervision." He said folding his arms across his chest as if telling me to stick that in my pipe and smoke it. I reach down and pull the boy up into a hug.
"Well I can see you are a very good student and are learning quickly, but are you sure you did it all by yourself?" I said giving him an eyebrow raise and his face scrunched up a bit,
"Well I couldn't do the bit to make the pictures change and loop Mom had to do that but I did everything else." He defended and I just laugh slightly and squeeze him tightly until he starts to complain that I'm crushing him so I put him down. I put him back down and examine it more closely with my magic and I must say I'm impressed. I find a very powerful spell on it to protect it from being damaged. One that there's no way that Henry could've managed and that tells me Regina must have done more than she let on to Henry. I look back over my shoulder and see the woman herself is watching us. I hold up the locket, smile and nod in her direction giving her my thanks as well. She smiles back and then mouths 'Your welcome' before turning to talk with Hook, Archie, Emma, and Victor. I take the locket from the box and put it on as my attention returns to Henry.
"Now you don't have to worry about forgetting what your fighting for anymore." Henry said smiling as if he is a genius. His comment startles me though as it makes me wonder just who he's been talking to.
"What are you talking about Henry?" I ask wondering just how much he has been told about why I was gone so long.
"Well a little while ago I went to Grandpa Gold's shop because I wanted to know when you and Warren were coming back. He said he couldn't say because you were the only one who could answer that. Then I asked why you'd had to go away in the first place, and at first he gave me the same line that my parent's did. I knew you were away learning control over some new magic, but I also knew there had to be more to it. After I argued with him for a while I finally got him to tell me some of what had really gone wrong in Oz that made you leave. He told me that you lost yourself and that you had forgotten what you were fighting for, and that as a result you'd had to leave to learn to control that power so that it wouldn't happen again." Henry said and I had to laugh slightly as this boy was so a Gold. Oh he was most definitely a Charming as well, but when it come's to getting what you want from someone...no one does it better than my family. We are pretty well born master manipulators and only get better at it the older we get. Trust me if the people of this time think Dad is the master of deals now, they should see what he can do in my time.
"Thank you Henry. I'm sure with this... You're right I shouldn't forget again." I said as then I ruffle his hair and he pushes my hand away before running back to his parents to keep me from teasing him further. I make my rounds with the guests trying to make sure I catch everyone and thank them for coming. Everyone tells me they are glad that I'm back for one reason or another, but the general consensus is that they don't have to worry as much about Dad and Regina getting out of hand when I'm here. I get myself a drink and retreat to a corner to look out the window and be with my own thoughts for a moment. I turn back to the party to see Emma has found me, and why wouldn't she? I'm sure she had the same idea, being that she's the savior. These functions are as much of a pain to her as they are for me being from the future. Not to mention my parentage.
"So where's Warren?" She asks being her usual blunt and straight to the point self. I glance down at my feet for a moment and when I look back to her I can see she knows something's up.
"I noticed a little while ago that he wasn't here, and of all the people who didn't turn up for this he surprises me the most. So what happened you guys have a fight?" She asks giving me a concerned smile and one side of my mouth kinda twitches up for a moment as I nod. She sighs and put's her arm around my shoulders leading me to some fold-up chairs so that we can sit down.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asks and it's my turn to sigh because I really wish I could but I can't, not about this.
"Unfortunately I can't really. What I can say is that I found something out today that he should have told me a long time ago. Something that changes everything I thought I knew about his people and even worse...myself." I said staring off into space slightly as I thought about what Warren had told me and what it all meant. But surprisingly as I come to realize something and I smile back at Emma.
"I still wish he had come though. Don't get me wrong I'm still very hurt and angry with him. So I know why he didn't come, but I think I still would have liked to see him here." I said and then we find that the time for this conversation is over as the rest of our family comes to invade our private corner. Henry walks right up to me with his sly smile on his face that tells me he wants something from me.
"What?" I ask looking around at them when I see they are all wearing cat that ate the canary smiles.
"Well Henry was wondering if you would be willing to demonstrate something and we all were curious about it too." Dad answered and I'm not sure I like where this is going as I look back to my nephew.
"And just what were you wanting me to show you bud." I ask him wondering what it could be.
"I wanna see your sword." He said and at first I'm confused and then I remember. Warren had mentioned my having a new sword and I had said I couldn't summon it there. I sigh as I look at Henry's pleading eye's and pouty stuck out lip, for who could say no to the kid looking like that.
"Your sure kid if I do this you're gonna see a side of me that may scare ya." I said in warning looking between his three parents as well, and surprised to see none of them look very concerned about it. Now that I think about it though it could just be they really want to see it as well.
"Ya please!" He said and the kid is just about trembling with excitement now.
"We'll need to go outside and as I'm sure we will be followed anyway... You best just make an announcement that I'm about to do some magic." I said looking to Snow for the last part and then I look at my father and smile.
"Charming did you bring your sword?" I ask and Dad has noticed that I may have asked David the question but my gaze never left him.
"Yes it's in my truck out front." Charming answers and my grin grows slightly.
"Good because my father needs to borrow it if that's alright." I said and then I get up and start to head for the door. Charming runs past me obviously headed for his truck as Snow makes her announcement that a magicians sword duel will be taking place outside if anyone's interested. We walk out into the courtyard outside the large building and I stop and take in my surroundings for a moment. It's a clear night which will make this more difficult but I can't help that so I keep looking around. There are some tree's, a flag pole, and a bulletin board that I will need to keep aware of lest I run into them. I look back to Dad and see him hand his cane, suit jacket, vest, and tie to Bae. He uncuffs his sleeves and starts to roll them up to give him better mobility. Charming runs back in with his sword and offers it to Dad who pulls it from the sheath and then walks out into the courtyard. He starts slashing the sword through the air running through a few practice passes to get a gauge on Charming's blade.
"Ready when you are dearie!" He calls over to me as he finishes and I can't stop my grinning.
"You sure about that?... Well I guess we will see about that." I said and then I shut my eye's and take a deep breath. Reaching deep into myself I let loose my power granted me by the dagger's curse and I feel the changes start. I can hear a few gasps as the party guests see for the first time that there is really no denying that I am indeed the daughter of the dark one. I open my eyes to a crowd of blue-tinted people in front of me. I zero in on Dad and as he will be my opponent in this duel and he turns Yellow. This was something that I had discovered when my training really started to make progress. It signified that he is still a friendly but I was going to fight him anyway for fun or practice purposes. I then reach out to my sides with both arms and my power starts to make the air here feel heavy. I start to raise my arm as I call out to the atmosphere above us and storm clouds start to condense overhead. With that done I bring both my arms and my gaze back to whats in front of me. I see my actions have struck most of my friends dumb while my family still looks varying degrees of excited and or curious. I then call my sword hilt to my hand from my bag in my apartment. I hold it up for all to see but mostly for my father who laughs slightly.
"And what good is a sword with no blade going to do you?" He asks laughing as a few others join him in his laughter but they all stop when they see my grin only gets bigger.
"Oh don't worry...It will momentarily, and once it does I will grant you two minutes to prepare your weapon for it." I answer and then I'm both surprised and happy to see Warren poof in next to Dad. I see him take in the scene around him and guess whats going on. He smiles as he looks to my father then chuckles as he nods to me to continue and moves back to stand by Bae, Henry and Charming. I start to concentrate the electric currents running through the cloud above us. When it's strong enough I throw my right hand holding the hilt up and call down a bolt of lightning to meet it with a deafening clap of thunder. I bring down my right arm and with my left I shape the wild energy into a blade three feet in length. With that done I close my left fist casting an immobilization spell on the blade freezing it in place. I place my left hand below my right and bring the bright white hissing sword to rest in front of me. I start counting the seconds of the two minutes I had promised as a few people ooo and ah at my weapon. I notice my father looks both proud of what I have accomplished, and concerned about just how he's going to deal with it. He looks over to Warren for help knowing he has dealt with it before. Warren looks quickly to me seeking my approval to help him which I give with a nod. Warren walks over and holds out his hand for Charming's sword.
"I'm placing an anti-conduction and breaking spell on your blade. Without them her's will most likely shear yours clean off and even if by some miracle it did hold together...When it came into contact with her blade you would find yourself electrocuted with each contact. It also cut's through any barrier spell I know so like I told you at the hospital last night... whatever you do avoid that blade at all costs, because it doesn't just cut it also gives nasty shocks and burns." He said handing the blade back to my father and smiling as he gives him a quick slap on the back for luck. He takes the sword back and then looks back to me and starts to say something but I startle him when I smile and then with two steps I am flipping through the air above him bringing my sword down on him. He just manages to bring his up to halt mine and as they clash there's a bright flash of light and a loud but strange clang. It didn't sound like two swords meeting but loud buzzing clang as energy met metal.
"Times up." I said as he struggles against my downward strike. My sword hisses, crackles, and sparks as I stand almost upside down in the air.
"I noticed!" He said and then with great effort he manages to force me back into the air slightly. I poof around behind him cross cutting only to hit smoke as he poofs away across the courtyard. He then comes at me in a complex attack that keeps me on the defensive for a minute or two. We end up with our blades caught body to body straining against one another. I take the strained pause in the duel and use it for a mental advantage so I start to grin slyly. Which of course makes him wonder and worry just what I'm up to now.
"Having fun?" I taunt and he musters up a smile of his own.
"Oh tons." He answers but then his grin starts to fall as I start to push him back slowly. With a final titanic thrust I force him back a few steps, and before he can charge me again I point my blade to the ground in front of him and let a bolt of lightning loose. It strikes at his feet causing him to jump back and so I let a few more fly forcing him back additional steps. I then raise my blade level and shoot straight for him and as expected he poofs. I reach skyward with my left hand calling down another bolt which I grab and then fling it like a whip at where I feel he poofed to. He just barely get's his sword up trying to block and is surprised when my lightning whip wraps around his blade and I jerk it from his hands. It flies through the air to land at my feet and I place my foot on it so he can't just call it back to him. I stand sword in one hand whip swishing back and forth in the other smirking at my disarmed opponent.
"Well I'd say this is over." I state and Dad just chuckles as he nods agreeing with me. I discharge my blade and whip back into the clouds, and then I return the sky overhead to the calm state it had been earlier. Now all that's left is myself which closing my eye's to concentrate I easily return to normal without any fight from within. Opening my eye's again I know all is back to normal as my normal vision is back. The party goers start to cheer seeing that my display is clearly over and I have to laugh as I see Henry up on Bae's shoulders. He must have wanted to make sure that he wouldn't miss seeing anything.
"Wasn't expecting the whip dearie...I'd accuse you of cheating but we set no ground rules." Dad says as he comes to stand next to me and shake my hand. I smile and just ignore the offered hand throwing my arms around him instead. He chuckles in my ear and returns the hug as most everyone starts to go back inside.
"Well if it makes you feel better you handled it better than Warren did his first time." I said as my family and Warren come to steer us back inside as well.
"Really?" Dad said looking over at Warren who doesn't look like he wants to talk about it.
"Yes you may have lost your sword but the first time I used it against him..." I started to say but Warren interrupts with a fake cough.
"She wrapped it around my chest and shoulders. It burnt through my shirt instantly and I was stuck convulsing until she threw me free of it face first into a tree. Oh and yes if you're wondering I went out like a light." He explained and we all laughed.
We went back in and the rest of the party went well. If you didn't count Hook's bad timing with a bad joke. That ended with Regina being startled and Hook struggling with the wall paper tree limbs that had grabbed him. I sent my presents back to my place to open later with a wave of my hand and Dad did the same with the ones for little me but to his house. As the night came to a close I said my goodbyes to everyone and then started to head for the door. I walk out and am about to jump skyward when my hand is grabbed. I look back over my shoulder to see it's Warren and I sigh because I know he wants to talk.
