Chapter 22: Hauling Wind
The ginger had saved the life of someone the blonde cared for and this revelation utterly astounded her because it didn't line up with how she felt for the ginger at the time… like she was the enemy. Her confusion frustrated her and made her side with her birth mother, but then the redhead did the unexpected again.
When the townspeople had tried to storm Regina's home and basically lynch her...Artz stood in front of the Evil Queen and blocked the way. She wouldn't budge...not even when they started to hit her with an assortment of blunt objects, causing quite a few bruises...she held firm and protected someone that hated her, choosing her over everyone else...knowing that they would kill her too.
Gold...he had summoned that creature for no apparent reason. When asked why, he had said that in order for certain events to occur, others still needed to happen. He had been looking at the ginger haired woman, his eyes so much older and kinder than the man that she had butted up against on multiple occasions.
He actually apologized to the blonde and the others, saying that had there been another way...he would have used it instead of the creature. He refused to elaborate further and left...then Artz started crying but she was smiling. Her eyes more alive than they had been all year...finally...that was all she said.
Emma didn't understand why this event, this terrible and awful creature could in any way be a good thing...until the woman jumped into a portal...even though they had been told that it led straight to a void of nothingness. The blonde had genuinely panicked, thinking the redhead had just committed suicide...only to fall into the portal herself.
Waking up and hearing about what happened...just why? How could she ever believe that Artz was their enemy? She literally saved someone by simply being there! Good god, just how and then Snow spouting her mouth off, saying that the ginger couldn't be trusted and she just agreed like it was an absolute certainty… just how?
When Snow suggested the wardrobe as a possible means of getting home, Emma didn't even hesitate. Her hatred for the red head at an all time high...then there was Kora. Regina's mother had a rather disturbing fascination with the Crimson haired woman, wanting to know where she was… to introduce herself to her properly… as if they had some kind of prior history.
At this point, the blonde savior had hopped off the hate train and directly onto the oh shit train, having realized that they had willingly and knowingly left Artz at the encampment, surrounded by complete strangers...her blood had turned to ice, a fear unlike anything Emma had ever felt before was pumping through her system.
Even now...she was scared. Was Artz alright? Just how bad were her injuries? Was she even alive? Or worse...had Kora gotten to her first? What did Kora want with Artz? There was no way for her to know about the ginger's involvement with Regina...but that still left a great big question mark. How did Artz and Kora know each other and why was Kora so desperately searching for the red head?
The crimson haired woman had commented on the mayor's mother a time or two, mainly comparing the two and how different they appeared to be. With the Evil Queen, she definitely had a heart because she really did love Henry, but Kora...something had felt off about that woman...like she was empty.
All the more reason why the blonde wanted to get back...so many questions and she honestly believed that Artz would answer this time. Everyone except Snow seemed to be in a rush to get back, almost as badly as she did. Philip, the prince that the red head had saved, was actually carrying his fiance, Aurora, on his back so that they could go at a faster pace. Mulan was constantly scouting ahead, checking the immediate area and finding the quickest way back to the encampment.
Snow was bringing up the rear and was walking at a more leisurely pace which was beginning to tick Emma off but they were almost there anyways. She would just bite her tongue from giving her birth mother a verbal whiplashing. It didn't stop her from wanting to know why the dark haired princess refused to pick up the pace and then as they crested the hill...it didn't matter anymore.
Confusion was the word of the day and why was the question of the hour, but all that had preceded paled in comparison to what lay ahead. All hell was about to break loose...in more than one way.
