A fair warning: there's a bit of a graphic description of blood and an injury in this chapter, so if you're sensitive to that, I suggest you skip the part. It'll become fairly obvious where it is when you begin reading.
Yazi walked home after school, mentally repeating the grammar rules she'd need to know for next week's test. It had been such a long time since she had actually been to school, thanks to a variety of things, including rescuing her best friend in Neverland and the entire town of Storybrooke disappearing for a whole year, that it was becoming kind of hard to keep up with the classes. She was thankful she had Mary Margaret to explain things to her back at her house, otherwise she'd probably be thrice as lost now.
She greeted Belle who was probably returning to the library after a quick break, and took a brief look at the clock in the tower above it. 3:30 PM, she still had some time left.
She got into the loft, which was empty. David and Mary Margaret were probably at Granny's; she hadn't seen Emma since the previous night, and Henry...Well, she wasn't sure she was ready for that yet. Emma had offered to introduce them in the morning before she left for school, but Yazi refused. She would need a lot of mental preparation for that, and a previous warning as well. She feared that if she saw him out of the blue she would freeze and make a fool of herself, or worse, run away. She would never be able to face him after that.
She went upstairs and changed from her school uniform, to her typical sweater and pair of jeans; they were halfway into autumn, it was definitely not the season to wear dresses anymore.
Then, she poured herself a glass of juice and continued reading the book she had abandoned last night when Emma arrived, until it was time for her to leave again.
Twenty minutes later, she grabbed her jacket, scarf and was out the door, on her way to Granny's, her workplace.
Or, rather, her second hobby, because she wasn't being paid and, technically, she wasn't old enough to work yet. She might be old mentally, but she still looked like a fourteen year old girl and that would not look great in the records.
After returning from the Enchanted Forest, a thing that Hook had confirmed they had done the previous night, Storybrooke was a mess. There were a lot more people than before, people she obviously didn't remember, that were pouring onto the restaurant for shelter and food. The number of customers had increased greatly, and Ruby and Granny were stressed out; Yazi offered to help out after school for a couple hours everyday, not only to assist the two women and the desperate people they harbored, but also to keep her mind off a certain truest believer. It might not have hurt as much not seeing him everyday, but many things still reminded her of him; if she wanted to avoid those treacherous memories, she needed to keep herself busy. Hence, helping out at Granny's, and focusing on school more than she had ever done before.
And, for the most part, it was working.
Besides, she also got to see people she didn't encounter in her daily life unless there was a life threatening conflict, people like Archie or the dwarves, and they always had something to tell. She went home with a new story everyday.
She arrived to the outside of the restaurant; due to the imminent cold, there was nobody sitting on the outside, but she was sure the inside was packed.
And she was proven right as soon as she got in; there were almost no free tables. She spotted Leroy and two other dwarves sitting by the bar, Archie and Marcus on a table in the middle of the restaurant, Dr. Whale, Ashley and her husband, Prince Thomas, in a booth in one of the corners, and a lot other people she didn't recognize around them. It was going to be a busy day.
On the other side of the restaurant, away from the bar and almost hidden from view, she found Mary Margaret and Emma on one side of a booth, and David and…
She turned around and stepped into the cold again, her heart beating wildly. Some passersby gave her confused looks, but she ignored them.
It was Henry next to David, the boy she had refused to see that morning because she wasn't ready, the person she would need a heads up to see, was sitting inside Granny's in that precise moment, unbeknownst to the shock she was going through due to seeing him so soon. A million thoughts rushed through her mind; what should she do? Should she approach him? But what would she even say? And wouldn't it be weird if a unknown girl suddenly walked up to him and introduced herself?
Someone walked by her, grazing her shoulder gently.
"Oh, sorry" the stranger apologized, before getting into the restaurant, as the bell announced their presence.
Yazi took a deep breath, remembering where she was and what she had to do. She was spiralling, she needed to calm down. Nobody said she had to face him now, she could just walk into the restaurant and attend to other tables; but she couldn't discard the possibility that Emma could beckon her over to their table, or even Mary Margaret, something she didn't have a hard time imagining.
She shook her head again. Small steps; first, she had to actually get into the restaurant. She was two minutes away from starting her shift, and 4 PM was the time in which more people needed a snack; Ruby and Granny would need all the help they could get, and when she saw a big group of people walking from the corner of the street to the restaurant, she gathered her thoughts, put them in a box, sealed it, and stepped inside again.
She couldn't bring herself to look at the controversial table, she just walked to the kitchen, where Granny was preparing some pancakes, and Ruby was returning with an empty tray.
"Hey, Yazi!" the woman greeted warmly.
"Good thing you're here, this place is packed" she heard Granny's voice over the steam from the machines.
"And it's only going to get busier" Yazi replied "I'll leave my things in the back, and get to work right away" both of them nodded in agreement, and then Ruby went to grab the single tray on the counter, an order of coffee and toast.
The blonde walked into the quiet back room that read 'Staff Only' on the sign, and left her backpack in the chair by the door. She took out her coat and scarf, and hanged them from the hook, before grabbing the white apron with red margins and tying it behind her waist. Then, she gathered her messy curls into a ponytail, and held them together with a purple bandana, so she wouldn't risk some of them falling into food or even drinks.
She took a quick glance at herself in the mirror, and nodded, satisfied with her appearance, before stepping back into the hustle and bustle of the restaurant. The mob of people she had seen merely a few seconds ago was now occupying the remaining free tables.
"Okay, so what do we have here?" she questioned. There were three more trays replacing the single on she had seen when she got in.
"Tables five and six" Ruby pointed to the respective orders "And Leroy at the bar wants another coffee"
"Got it" Yazi nodded, and walked over to grab order five, a cup of cocoa, a latte and two pancakes.
"Oh, wait" Ruby called "That is…" she left the phrase hanging in the air for a few seconds, causing Yazi to give her a curious look "That's the order for Henry's table" a chill went up the girl's spine, as she gave said table a long look. Emma, Mary Margaret and David were talking amiably, while Henry listened quietly, smiling from time to time at something funny that showed up in the conversation. It was the first time she actually stared at him.
He looked older, which was natural considering an entire year had passed, and maybe even a bit more mature, though that was just a feeling, she didn't actually know. His hair had grown longer, too, and his head was about the same height as David's shoulder, a sign that he had definitely grown taller.
She wondered what he did in New York, what school did he go to? Had he made any new friends? She wished he had, he was always a very lonely person, from the first moment she met him she could tell; it was probably product of growing up away from his biological mother, and in the household of a woman that had been a tyrant for the better part of her life, keeping a very close eye on him, not letting him do many of the things he wanted to do. She hoped that his erased memories, specially the bad ones, had pushed him out of his shell.
"I can take it to him" Ruby's voice made her realize that she had been staring at him for a while, but, thankfully, he hadn't noticed. That would've been awkward.
"No, it's fine" Yazi decided, turning to look at the woman "I'll have to face him eventually" especially if he was going to stay there for a while, at least until Emma helped them out "Better sooner than later"
"Are you sure?" the woman asked, concern clear in her eyes. Yazi had told her about wanting to keep her mind off Henry as a factor she took into account when deciding she wanted to help at Granny's, and nor Ruby or her grandmother needed more convincing to give her the position; it was only natural she was worried about her now.
"Yeah" Yazi assured, placing her hand underneath the tray and lifting it up swiftly "It'll be okay"
"Alright" Ruby nodded, giving her a sympathetic glance; Yazi smiled at her, before turning around to face his table once more. She took another deep breath, before putting on her best smile and approaching them.
"Hey!" she greeted cheerfully, making all four of them turn to look at her "Here's your order" she placed the latte and pancakes on the middle of the table, not sure of who had ordered them, but the hot cocoa was placed in front of Henry without a second look.
"Thanks" Henry said, giving her a smile.
"No problem!"
"Henry, this is Yazi" Emma introduced, as she brought the latte close to her "She's Mary Margaret and David's foster daughter" she added, giving her parents a look, who smiled at the girl. Yazi could detect the worry in Mary Margaret's eyes, it was a look that clearly read 'you okay?'. The girl acknowledged her concern with a brief, assuring smile, before turning to look back at Henry.
"Nice to meet you" she replied warmly, doing her utmost to ignore the urge of hugging him.
"So, you're working here now?" Emma asked, giving her a curious look as she took a sip from her cup.
"Technically, it's called 'lending a hand'" she replied, holding the tray behind her back "Since I'm not old enough to work"
"How old are you?" Henry questioned with interest; it didn't seem like he had looked at his cup, because, if he had, he would have realized there was something missing: cinnamon. Yazi had noticed it when she first looked at it, but for obvious reasons, she hadn't added it. He had to ask if he wanted something else besides the base drink, that was the norm; Yazi had learned that the very first week she began helping around. And if she just sprinkled cinnamon in it without a request, it would look suspicious, specially because she wasn't supposed to know Henry or his preferences.
"Fourteen" she replied with a nod "You kinda look the same age as me. Am I right?"
"Yeah, I'll turn fifteen in a couple months" he explained, and his gaze then went over to her neck. He tilted his head to the side, giving it good look "Hey, that's a really pretty necklace" he complimented, and Yazi's hand immediately landed on it; she hadn't realized it had been in plain sight until then.
"Thanks" she replied, looking down at it, as memories flowed through her mind.
"Where did you get it?"
"It was a birthday present" she stated "My best friend gave it to me" Henry nodded with a smile, and Yazi's gaze then went over to the other three people, who had been listening to their conversation all this time; she had almost forgotten they were there, too "Well, I gotta get back to work" she added, ignoring the sly smile Mary Margaret was casting her way "I'll see you around"
"It was nice meeting you" Henry said, still smiling at her.
"Yeah, you too" the girl stated, before turning around to walk back to the kitchen, where more orders were waiting for her.
"Oh, wait!" the boy called, making her give him a curious glance "Can you bring me some cinnamon?" she couldn't stop the small smile from spreading on her face upon hearing that.
"Sure!" she said joyfully, and did as told. Henry thanked her once again, but she was already by the counter to be able to give him a proper answer. More customers needed serving.
But despite the obvious busy three hours that awaited her, she wasn't stressed out about it; in fact, she felt a lot more lighthearted than she did that morning, when she couldn't even begin to think about facing Henry and pretend that everything was fine.
He was still as friendly and kind as she remembered him being; she was glad that didn't seem to have changed.
After having her anxious thoughts consume her head from the moment she woke up, she felt happy knowing she had faced what terrified her, and actually won. A weight had definitely been lifted off her shoulders, she just hoped another one didn't replace it.
The night was quiet, the half moon was shining on the sky, surrounded by twinkling stars and dark masses of clouds. The only light illuminating the path to the castle came from Snow's torch, as she walked besides Yazi, the hood on both of their cloaks up, accompanying her to the magical barrier. Some leaves crunched underneath their feet.
"You sure you're up for this?" the woman questioned, giving her a glance "We can always find another way"
"It's fine" the blonde replied in assurance "I'm the only that can get through at the moment, and the sooner we figure out who's inside, the sooner we can take back the castle" Snow nodded, understanding her words, as they finally arrived to the place. The castle was sitting ominously atop the hill, far away from Sherwood forest, where Robin Hood had offered to shelter them for the time being.
"Be careful, alright? We don't know what's in there" Snow said, handing Yazi the torch, since she would need it more "I'll be waiting right here until you return"
"Alright" the girl stated, giving the princess an assuring smile; everything would be fine, but, if push turned to shove, she knew how to take care of herself very well, so Snow had nothing to worry about "I'll be back" she added firmly, before stepping inside the barrier. She casted the woman one last glance, and then, she began walking.
After several minutes of eerie silence, she finally finished her path through the garden and arrived to the palace door, to find it completely unguarded; whoever was in the castle had way too much faith in their magical barrier, but that didn't mean she would lower down her guard, who knows what awaited her inside.
She could see some light coming from several torches inside, so she decided to drop hers outside and simply find her way with those, so she wouldn't call the attention.
When she got in, her mouth popped open: she had lived in a little house in a village half her life, and the other in a rather spacious loft, she had never seen anything as big as a castle. The ceiling was very high up, almost as high as the moon that night. The size of the hallway she was in was incomprehensible, with, at least, fifty doors scattered across its walls, and even more hallways beyond them.
Rumpelstiltskin's castle had been pretty straightforward: walk through the red carpet to the very obvious door at the end, get in, find a great living room, and go through the door behind the diner table to the rest of the place, but this castle was practically a maze. When they got it back, Yazi was sure it'd take her a whole lot of months to learn her way around it. She got dizzy just thinking about it.
Considering the rather limited time she had, nighttime wasn't eternal, and despite how much she wanted to explore, she would only be able to go to one room: the bedroom. She'd be able to see all the castle's intricacies later down the road.
Why, out of all spaces, she'd go to a bedroom you might ask? Because a bedroom could say a lot about the person sleeping in it. Regina had actually given her directions to find it, which at first she found kind of useless, since how big could a castle be, right? But now, she was extremely grateful about it.
She had to go through the fifth door on her right, then turn left into the hallway of mirrors, keep going until she reached a black wooden door, go through it, and turn left; it'd be there.
So, she began her journey. The hall had golden colored walls, and several mirrors hanging from them, of all sizes and shapes; she even saw one shaped like a sun. But they weren't just invading the walls, there were a couple full body mirrors and vitrines with smaller ones. She was extremely anxious she'd bump into one, or her sword would hit them by accident and reveal her position; the fact that her face was staring at her wherever she looked freaked her out more times than she'd care to admit. Who'd need that many mirrors anyway?
After around ten minutes (yes, she was walking for that long) she spotted the holy black door in the distance.
"Finally" she couldn't help muttering, and hurried her steps, but she saw something moving in one of the mirrors, and stopped in her tracks. The mirror in question was pointing right, to what looked to be a red door. She got closer to it, trying to see if something else would show up, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed movement in a mirror on her left, next to the counterpart of the other one.
And then, steps. She looked around in a frenzy for a place to hide, and found it behind a column, thick enough to hide her body. She sat down against it, and waited expectantly until the footsteps grew nearer. When they did, she peeked out from behind the column to find that someone had stopped right in front of the door she was supposed to go through. They were furry, and when her gaze went over to their torso, she gaped, both, in horror and amazement, as she went back into hiding.
The 'someone' wasn't someone, but rather, something.
It was a silver monkey, with red eyes and rows of pointy teeth upon teeth that shaped into a spine-chilling grin. But the most bewildering thing, was the fact that instead of a bare back, it had wings attached to it. Thin, feathered, angel like wings.
And there was only one person in the several worlds of the universe that had such creatures, she had read about her in a book several years ago: The Wicked Witch of the West, from the nation of Oz. She had to be the one occupying the castle.
But why? That was what she needed to find out.
Her thoughts were interrupted by squeaking and hisses, that could not come from anything else but the monkey. She peeked out once more, to find that the creature had opened the door and had stepped through, before shutting it with a loud slam. Yazi scanned the perimeter in case something else showed up, but it was all clear, so she approached it as well.
It was way taller than her, like, three heads taller (though, granted, she was still growing), and it had silver details in its corners. She took a deep breath: this was it, she would find the answers she had come to look for beyond that wood.
She unsheathed her sword, and turned the handle; it creaked slightly when she moved it, and she dearly hoped there was no one around to hear it, but she didn't see anyone when she stepped through, much to her relief. She closed the door behind her as quietly as she could, and looked around.
Another hallway of the countless in that palace extended to her right, but there was no light in it to distinguish what lied beyond it. There was a black archway to her right, and one of the sides was hiding her small frame from sight. A balcony extended in front of her, she could not see much since it was dark out, but she could distinguish the shine of a flame hidden amongst the trees in Sherwood, where Robin Hood and the others were waiting for her and Snow to come back.
She heard a female voice humming softly, and stood alert. She tilted her head to the side, and found a figure standing by a wardrobe, dressed in emerald green. And everything in the bedroom was of the same color, from the bed to the walls. Did she need any more proof that this was the Wicked Witch?
She was too busy trying to figure out how she could drive her out of the room to search around, that she had no idea what was happening behind her. Not until she heard a hiss.
She bounced startled, and turned around, to find one of the monkeys suspended in the air, staring at her. She opened her eyes wide, and attempted to bring it down with her sword, but it flew away, dodging her swing, before coming back, in the noisiest way possible. Its squeaks could be heard from miles away.
"Shut up!" Yazi whispered in panic, though she was pretty sure it was useless.
"What's going on there?" she heard a voice, probably the figure standing by the wardrobe, and she froze in place. The monkey fixed its gaze on her, making a noise from time to time, and Yazi was beginning to think that for some crazy reason this creature was actually listening to her, when she heard a second squeak coming from somewhere in the bedroom.
And then, she was pushed to the floor, away from her hiding place, and her sword fell to the floor. She attempted to crawl over to grab it, but a sharp pain stung her shoulder, and her hand unconsciously went over to it, finding nothing but skin; she gave it a look, to see that the shoulder of her dress had been torn off by the monkey, and a claw mark had been drawn in it, but, thankfully, it wasn't deep, it wasn't even bleeding; the thickness of her clothes had helped her for once.
"Good job, my dear" she heard the woman, and looked up to find her approaching. If she needed further proof that this was who she thought it was, her green skin was a dead giveaway. She looked down at her with her icy emerald eyes "Who are you and how did you get into my castle?"
"I think you mean your stolen castle" Yazi replied curtly, as her mind tried to figure out how to escape without being attacked. But when she looked around, she saw that a couple more monkeys had approached them due to the sudden commotion, and they were far too many for her to outrun, specially considering, you know, that they could fly.
"Ooh, a feisty one" the woman replied, with a glint of amusement in her eyes "Interesting. What's your name, girl?"
"Why do you care?" she challenged.
"I'm just trying to be polite" the woman replied nonchalantly, and Yazi glared at her "You can call me Zelena"
"Yazi" she replied meekly, rolling her eyes at the theatrics of the woman. The latest tilted her head to the side with seeming interest, and her eyes then set on her uncovered shoulder, and it was then that Yazi realized that it was her left one, the one that had the star.
"Wait a minute" she spoke up, and took some steps forward, giving her arm a closer look "You're it, aren't you? The Golden Child" the blonde obviously didn't answer "What are the odds? I was planning on getting to you later, but seems luck is on my side"
"What are you talking about?" Yazi frowned. What did she want with her?
"Give me a second, darling, this will hurt only a little bit" still confused, the blonde only had time to spot the witch's fingers snapping before something moved out of the corner of her eye and impaled her shoulder, but with much more strength than before. She yelped, tears of pain running down her cheeks, but before they hit the floor, a cold object was placed against them; it was a vial, similar to the one Rumpelstiltskin had used all those years ago "Ah, yes, this will be perfect" the witch spoke up again; Yazi didn't pay any mind to her, and just focused back on her shoulder; the sight almost made her gag.
In the spot where there had once been a single scratch, five had replaced it. All of them were spitting out blood, it was falling down in gushes, staining her clothes and forming pools on the black floor of the castle.
"Ah, don't worry about that, it'll heal in a month or two" Yazi looked at her in disbelief upon hearing that; that was way too long. She watched as the witch gave the flask with her tears to a monkey, that flew off, to take it who knows where,
"What do you want?" Yazi asked the obvious question, which she knew she would not get an answer to.
"Oh, you'll see soon enough" she replied cryptically "I have big plans for you and your little friends, specially the evil queen" so this was another person that had a vendetta against Regina, how surprising.
Zelena squatted down in front of her, which made her lean back, which, in turn, made her wound throb, and her hand went over to it; big mistake, because it was now covered in blood, too "And you, my golden child" she traced the outline of her cheek with her cold finger, sending a shiver up her spine as she turned her face to the other side in disgust, trying to get her filthy hands off her "Will be my messenger"
Yazi served two customers an order of coffee and sandwiches and wished them a good day, before walking back to the counter, finally able to get a break.
She looked around the restaurant. The amount of people had decreased considerably in the past hour, and it was rather quiet now, except for a laugh here and there, and the occasional moving of chairs. The blue sky she was able to watch through a window when she first began her shift, was slowly but certain being replaced by the dark, as the sun shone its last rays of the day in the distance.
Her gaze then went over to a particular spot on the floor, a spot that had been full of broken pieces of a cup around 4:30, when Regina showed up at Granny's and saw Henry sitting in the corner, who obviously didn't recognize her. She felt kind of bad for her, to be honest; she knew what she was feeling, even if their positions in the boy's life were incredibly far from each other. She was his best friend (or, former), Regina was his mother, it was barely comparable, but Yazi could still understand it. That was definitely something new, something she had never thought would happen a year ago; further proof that something had changed, something her erased memories were preventing her from knowing.
Her eyes then rested on the table Emma and Henry had been occupying until an hour ago, and she found that nobody had cleaned its surface; she couldn't blame anyone, it had been a really busy day. The clock behind her ticked, marking 6:45; there were fifteen minutes left in her shift, which were more than enough to grab a tray and clean up.
So, she grabbed one from the pile underneath the counter and walked over. She placed two cups and the plate gently on the tray, making sure to take advantage of every corner of it. She put the used napkins, which had been crumbled into a ball, on the plate, before proceeding to grab the ones that hadn't been touched.
But then, something called her attention.
One of the napkins had a black mark in one of its corners. Yazi frowned curiously, and took it in her hand to take a closer look; it didn't seem to be any sort of leftover from the order. She wondered if it was a bug or something similar, but upon closer look, she realized it was either pen or pencil. And she also noticed that it wasn't a random smudge or doodle, it was perfectly shaped into a star.
But not just any star, Yazi recognized it, because she had stared at it many times before. It was the same star that she had on her shoulder, the same star that Henry had given her in a necklace almost two years ago.
And it was sitting right underneath the cup that Henry had been drinking from.
A bit of a cliffhanger there! Is the star a mere coincidence? I mean, he did look at it for a while when Yazi brought the order, so… Who knows. Maybe he was just bored.
The flashback in this chapter was so difficult to write, specially the castle parts, since descriptions are not really my forte, but I'm glad I managed to get the chapter to you anyway! I hope you enjoyed it!
See you soon!