Alright, this chapter was in fact finished last Sunday, but I haven't had time to post it until now. Hope you still enjoy it!


The journey through the forest with Emma and Regina was terrible. Emma was constantly trying to talk to Regina and mend things between them while Regina snubbed her off and marched away, and in-between those two was Arianne. For the past thirty minutes of hiking she had not said a single word. Not that she had not tried, but every time she did another argument broke out between the two other women, regarding either Emma's attempts at apologizing for bringing Marian to Storybrooke or Regina hiding the magic she was using to track the Snow Queen. If it was not for the fact that Victor was missing as well as Elsa, Arianne would very much have liked to just turn around and leave – and that was not at all like her.

After those thirty minutes of hiking they reached a ravine – the same ravine that Regina and Emma had once been at when practicing magic, but now there was no shabby wooden bridge (or the remains of one) leading across it. Instead there was a bridge made of ice.

"Looks like Elsa was here", Emma remarked.

"Thanks, Ms Swan; please continue to point out the obvious", Regina replied, causing Emma to roll her eyes at the former Evil Queen.

"Then obviously we're not going to step on it until we know it's safe."

"It's safe", Regina said and marched past both Emma and Arianne, up the steps of the bridge. Emma groaned.

"I don't know why I even bother", she muttered.

"Well, that makes two of us", Regina replied. "Now hurry up; I'd like to get to that Snow Queen before it's actually winter!"

Emma muttered some curses under her breath as she marched after Regina, with Arianne bringing up the rear. She tightened the grip on her wand as she went after the two quarrelling women – whatever Regina might say about this bridge it was made out of ice and something about it did not feel completely right. It did not make any sort of groaning sounds that ice usually made, or any other sounds that might signal that it was breaking apart, but if they were indeed heading in the direction of the Snow Queen Arianne had no doubt that she would be trying to stop them. And she was a stronger ice-and-snow-witch than Elsa was; if the Snow Queen decided to shatter Elsa's bridge it probably would not stand a chance.

Half-way across the bridge the other two women seemed to realize the same thing.

"Something's not right", Emma remarked as cold wind wafted past them.

"Maybe your sparkly, blue-dressed friend is closer than you think", Regina replied, though her eyes were narrowed as she studied both the chasm beneath them and the cliff they were walking towards. So far there was nothing but that ominous feeling to make them all anxious.

"No", Arianne said, "this is not Elsa."

She had hardly finished the sentence when a rumbling shook the bridge, causing all of them to fall down on the hard ice. Arianne gasped as pain shot out from her right foot.

"It's the Snow Queen!" she still yelled as the wind intensified, climbing up to the speed required for a storm. "She's found us!"

"Where is she?" Emma yelled back, squinting as she scanned both sides of the ravine. There was still no sign of the woman they were hunting. However when they looked around they could see that Regina had gone pale.

"Sidney", she hissed.

"Sidney?" Emma yelled. "What does Sidney have to do with any of this?"

Regina did not reply; instead her face changed from one of shock and betrayal to one of anger and revenge.

"Regina!" Arianne called. "Talk to us! Tell Emma the truth!"

"What truth?" Emma shouted over the ever increasing wind, just as Regina pulled out a small compact mirror from her pocket. Emma's eyes widened.

"He's in the mirror?" she yelled. "He was in your mirror the whole time? You lied to me!"

"Maybe I did", Regina replied, "but I don't have to tell you everything I'm doing!"

Then she opened up the mirror. Sidney's ghostly face looked back at them from the glass, a smug smile on his face.

"Nor do I, Your Majesty", he said, his voice echoing.

"You led us here!" Regina bellowed. "You're working for the Snow Queen, traitor!"

Sidney chuckled.

"I'm the traitor?" he asked. "I think Your Majesty should take a look in the mirror and, as you contemplate what you have done, know that she has a present for you that I say is well deserved."

Then his image vanished, leaving the mirror looking like any other mirror.

"Sidney!" Regina screamed, then closed the mirror and looked as if she was about to throw it into the chasm below. Just then the bridge started to make noises that neither Arianne or Emma liked at all.

"Er, Regina?" Emma said, her eyes widening as she looked behind Arianne in the direction they had come from. Arianne was not sure she wanted to see whatever it was the Saviour was seeing; the groaning of the ice was enough.

"Save your moral judgement", Regina growled, not noticing the sound.

"No, look!" Emma shouted. Regina blinked, then followed Emma's gaze. Seeing her eyes widening as well Arianne was certain whatever it was that they saw was not good.

"Run!" Emma shouted and grabbed onto Arianne's arm, pulling her up. She screamed as she put weight on her right foot.

"I can't!" she yelled back, even as the sound behind her intensified. Regina immediately grabbed her other arm.

"With us you can", she said. Then the two proceeded to half drag, half carry Arianne forward. The sound behind them intensified with every step they took and eventually Arianne had to gaze back. Behind them the bridge was crumbling to pieces.

"Don't look!" Emma shouted. "Keep going!"

The rail on both sides of them shattered as she spoke and Arianne felt the steps beneath them disappearing as they went.

"Jump!" Emma bellowed a second later. Both she and Regina jumped, pulling Arianne with them through the air and landing hard on the ground on the other side of the ravine just as the final pieces of the bridge disappeared. They lay in silence for a while before any of them managed to speak.

"You two alright?" Emma asked.

"Remind me to never trust an ice bridge again", Regina said as she got up on her feet. Arianne grunted and sat up. She was about to say thank the two of them for saving her life when a strange sound among the trees made her look up. To her right Regina had frozen in her steps and Emma, who was about to get up on her feet, was gaping.

"What is that?" Arianne managed to get out, staring at the creature that appeared in front of them. It was a humanoid creature, about ten feet tall and made out of ice. The colour, however, was wrong; the ice shifted between black and grey, with the exception of the eyes, which glowed blue. In its right hand it was holding an axe and in its left a shield, which was almost see-through, and on its head was a helmet with horns that spiralled down towards its massive shoulders. As it noticed them it banged the axe against the shield and then marched forward, causing tremors to run through the ground around them. Emma glanced at both Arianne and Regina, before taking off. Moments later she threw a stone at the creature from somewhere to its right, distracting it from its intended attack. While it turned to consider the new situation, Regina threw a fireball at it. It stumbled back and, while it was off-balance, Emma shot a beam of white energy right at it, sending it crashing into some of the trees. In the crash the arm holding the axe shattered. Grunting the creature got back up on its feet while Emma rushed back to where Regina and Arianne were, grabbing Arianne's arm and intending to move them all away from there. This, however, was stopped by the sight of the creature re-growing its arm and weapon.

"Well, that's a problem", Arianne remarked as she sat back down on a boulder.

"Don't start making non-helpful comments you too", Regina said. "What do we do?"

"Try together?" Emma suggested. "All three of us?"

Regina and Arianne looked at her, then nodded. Arianne pulled out her wand just as Regina readied another fireball and Emma prepared a burst of light magic. Then, as the creature growled and marched towards them again, they all fired; a white beam from Emma, a red one from Regina and a blue one from Arianne's wand. The creature staggered and raised its shield to protect itself from the onslaught of magic, but was pushed back step by step. It growled again as the shield shattered and the full power of the three women hit it in the chest. Then, with a final battle cry, it was reduced to a puddle of water that seeped into the ground and vanished.

"We did it!" Emma said, grinning widely.

"What a welcome visit", a new voice said before any of them had a chance to speak. The three of them spun around, Arianne still seated on the boulder, and were face to face with the Snow Queen. She smiled softly.

"Thank you", she then said, "for bringing me what I needed."

She held out her hand and, suddenly, Regina's compact mirror was there instead of in Regina's pocket.

"Give me back my mirror, you..." Regina begun, but the Snow Queen simply raised her free hand and started choking her.

"Hey..." Emma managed to get out before the Snow Queen raised the hand holding the mirror and, channelling magic through her thumb and index finger, placed also her in a choke hold.

"Let them go!" Arianne exclaimed and raised her wand.

"Arianne, don't."

She spun around on the stone and gaped as she saw Victor stepping out of the forest behind her. He walked past her, Regina and Emma, standing between the trio and the Snow Queen.

"You don't have any spells that can hurt her right now", he continued. The Snow Queen smiled softly again.

"True", she said. "What a wise young man you are."

"However", Victor continued, as if the Snow Queen had not spoken at all, "there is someone who has."

Then he ducked down just as Elsa appeared next to Arianne, shooting a beam of ice directly at the unprepared Snow Queen. She flew back and lost her hold on both Regina and Emma.

"You want a fight?" Elsa said and marched forward to stand next to Victor. "Then fight us."

"Us?" Arianne asked.

"I'll explain later", Victor replied, just as the Snow Queen got back up on her feet. For some reason her smile was now even wider.

"Well done, Elsa", she praised. "You're losing your fear; there's hope for you yet."

"Let's just finish this now", Regina said. The Snow Queen shrugged.

"No need. I have what I wanted."

Then she vanished in a flurry of snowflakes. The moment she was gone, Victor turned and crouched down next to Arianne.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah", she replied. "What was that about? What happened? Where were you?"

"It's a long story", Victor replied with a smile. "Once we're back at the mansions we need to call a meeting, with everyone. There's a lot we need to discuss."

"I agree", Emma said, "such as why none of you told me about Sidney."

She glared at both Regina and Arianne as she spoke.

"Because despite what you wish we're not partners", Regina replied before Arianne could get a word in.

"If you'd told me it would have saved us a lot of trouble!" Emma exclaimed.

"Tell you what?" Regina shouted back. "That I threw Sidney in a mirror to help me kill Marian, but then I changed my mind? You never would have believed me anyway. I know you too well, Swan. Now stop trying to make me forgive you because it will never happen!"

"Stop this!" both Elsa and Arianne exclaimed.

"You two need to mend your differences", Elsa continued, "or Storybrooke won't stand a chance."

Regina snarled.

"I do not want to."

Then she flicked her hands and transported herself away from there.

"Well, that went well", Victor remarked, before helping Arianne up on her feet. "Elsa, it looks like we'll need a new bridge."

Elsa nodded.

"Mind helping me with that?" she then asked. Both Emma and Arianne spun to look first at Elsa, then at Victor.

"Helping?" Emma asked. Victor grinned sheepishly.

"Not sure I can be of much help", he said. "I do need quite a bit of training as of yet."

"Wait", Arianne said, "are you saying..."

Victor looked down at her, then held out his free hand in front of them. He narrowed his eyes in concentration and then, suddenly, a flurry of snowflakes appeared above his palm.


Next chapter should be up next Friday!