Chapter 23: Loose Cannon
Everyone stopped in an instant as they reached the edge of the encampment. Dead… all the inhabitants of the encampment were dead… their bodies all over the place. There was no blood and several piles of dust that didnt seem to belong...Kora.
Kora had been here...searching for Artz no doubt, killing all that got in her way and not leaving any survivors. Emma was trembling, fear coursing through her veins and a big whopping heap of denial dropped on her brain...followed by the flood of worry, the beginning signs of grief making themselves known.
They slowly entered the camp, the blonde's gaze snapping from body to body. Her mind was practically begging for her friend to be alive, that she wasn't amongst the corpses. Her heart was being stabbed with guilt, knowing that if Artz was dead...it would be their fault. They just abandoned her...like throwing a piece of trash away and forgetting about it.
How could they...why did they...they were supposed to be the heroes, the savior, the good guys...the blonde felt more like a villain than a savior. Especially when she didn't find Artz's body… Kora… the blonde had left her friend alone… without any protection, and now she was in the hands of an evil witch. Then Snow opened her mouth and all bets were fucking off.
"I told you she couldn't be trusted. Their so called savior killed them all. We left her here...alone...and she took full advantage of it. My god...so many innocent people. Artz is a monster." The princess stated her tone filled with grief and rage.
Emma could only stand there, rooted in place...her hands clenched tightly into fists, a few white sparks partially materializing around her fists. A fury so deep and so profound erupting from her core, her blood burning like hellfire.
"You think the savior did this?" Aurora demanded staring at Snow in shock.
Yes...how could she think that someone so wise and so kind, so steadfastly loyal and a real glutton for emotional abuse...could ever do something like this?
"Kora was fighting us...these people had their hearts ripped out and crushed, classic Kora tactic and it could only be done by someone with magic. Artz and Kora have a history that we don't know about...she probably sent Artz to Storybrooke so she could have a little song bird sing for her.
Gold summoned that creature, Artz and the Dark One have a very close relationship with each other. He summoned the creature to make us open a portal so that little bitch could come racing back to her master and then we left her here.
Every single person in this encampment is dead! Yet where is Artz? Why isn't she here? If she wasn't in league with Kora then her lifeless corpse would be here and it isn't! Artz is no different than that vindictive bitch.
They kill without a second thought, without remorse or guilt. They use people, manipulate them into doing what they want and then disposing of them when they're no longer useful. They're evil...pure god forsaken evil. They're monsters...the both of them." Snow rationalized only to incite the wrath of Philip and Mulan, both drawing their swords.
The blonde haired savior jaw clenched, her eyes filling with tears...of rage. This was supposed to be her mother...and all Emma wanted to do was rip her heart out. Yeah...just like Kora...the bitchy ass princess fucking deserved it.
"She saved him! She protected him! How can you possibly stand there and call her a monster? To believe her capable of such atrocities?!" Mulan hissed her tone laced with a quiet fury.
"I would be dead right now...a victim of that creature. She saved my life...she didn't have to. She had no reason to...she was just being kind. Hell, she didn't even know that she had magic, that she was the savior!" The prince defended his body shifting into an offensive stance while Mulan's shifted into a defensive one, to protect him as she has done so many times before.
"My daughter is the savior! Not that evil witch!" Snow countered notching an arrow into her bow, her eyes darkening with fury.
"Well now...this is quite the spectacle." A black clad man stated garnering their attention, "Oh...dont mind me. By all means, slug it out. I could use some entertainment after all the physical activity."
He perched on the table, crossing his arms and legs...the picture of sass and charm. Such familiar movements and his pattern of speech...echoes of her friend. It was enough to shake the blonde woman from her all consuming rage, allowing her to think properly again...but the fire within did not diminish. It lingered just below the surface, waiting...for the right moment to strike.
Emma allowed her eyes to roam over the new arrival. He looked like a pirate, but there was something about him that seemed familiar. He had dark brown hair, eyes like the ocean...and he wasn't half bad looking.
Something was floating near the back of her mind...why did this man seem so familiar to her? A memory from before the Curse was broken flickered through her thoughts and she almost laughed.
This unexpected encounter has paused the potential blood bath...just long enough for a certain blonde haired Savior to take a trip down memory lane. How will she react once her mind puts all the pieces into place?
