Chapter Seven: Evan

Raven laid in her bed. She would have to run away. It was the only way to keep her child. She would go to Cerise's cottage and ask to stay there until she had given birth and then find a place to stay.

Suddenly, her phone rang. It was Maddie, she picked up.

"Hey Maddie," Raven answered.

"I just heard that your being banished for poisoning Blondie and attempting to poison Apple! Is it true?" Maddie asked hastily, her voice thick with worry.

"It's true," Raven said, disbelief hitting her again as she said the situation out loud.

"What about your son? They can't possibly be taking him away from you, that's pure evil!"

Raven was silent.

"No!" Maddie yelled, "meet me at the Enchanted Forest in 3 hours Wonderland time, which should be 5 hours for you. Bring all possessions you want to keep," and with that she hung up. Raven was stunned. She supposed she should follow Maddie's directions, and began packing.

Raven teleported up to the main entrance of the Enchanted Forest with her bags hovering in the air from magic. It was hard to walk or carry things with a baby so close to being born. Suddenly she heard a voice whisper her name. She turned to see Maddie hiding in the bushes.

"Get over here!" Maddie whispered.

"Don't worry about me getting caught, I cast a hiding spell. So, what's the plan?" Raven asked.

"We are going to make sure you can raise your son. Follow me."

Raven slowly followed Maddie down the path, having to stop to catch her breath quite a few times. Finally, they arrived.

Before them stood a large run-down mansion with leaves and vines growing on the outside. Trees bent over the sides and a dark despair lurked over it. It smelled strongly of burning and dust. Raven didn't think she had even seen it before in her life. Maddie gestured for her to go inside, and Raven hesitantly followed.

The interior was decorated with fancy red carpet and large stone sculptures that matched the stone walls and floor. There were many doors leading to many places, the idea of which gave Raven an empty feeling. It looked as if the outside forest had tried taking over, vines and moss were growing everywhere. Raven thought she heard the laughter of ones who had passed on. It was incredibly eerie, but Maddie showed no fear and lead her further on.

The girls entered on of the doors and went up a seemingly endless staircase to another door. Before opening it, Maddie leaned in and pressed her ear on the door, the she turned to Raven.

"This place is hidden from everyone, I remember reading about it in one of the libraries in Wonderland. It has Wonderlandian magic, but it's more on the darker side," Maddie explained, "That man in there is a Wonderlandian obstetrician, he will deliver your baby, then we can raise your child here!"

Raven was stunned. She wondered if this was the right thing to do. She wondered why Maddie would so hastily give up her life as the Mad Hatter just so Raven wouldn't have to raise a child on her own. She wondered if the mansion would keep them safe, or if she wanted to life in the scary mansion at all. But Raven only knew for sure that she wanted to raise her son herself, so she nodded at Maddie and went into the room.

"Hello there," said the fish. I-I mean man, fish-man. He was wearing a doctors' outfit. The room had a bed in it and a large painting of a man. "I will be here until the baby is ready."

By now it was getting late so Raven lied down on the bed and Maddie kindly asked the doctor to leave. Maddie sat down of the bed and looked at Raven.

"Are you okay?" Maddie asked.

"Why do you say that?" Raven questioned back.

"Dexter betrayed you, everyone betrayed you. That must feel terrible."

Raven looked away, "I don't want to talk about it."

"I understand."

"How about you, how's your destiny going?"

"I completed it."

"Already! And you didn't tell me?!"

"Sorry, it's just that it wasn't that big of a deal. Alister came by, we sang a bit and had tea, then he left and right on the table was my page. I just grabbed it, it glowed a little, but then I was done. It's a very open ended destiny, unlike yours or Apple's. Not that your following yours, or that I'm trying to compare on how hard we have it, you win, it's just that I never really get closure or something to do afterwards. But hey, when the moonbeam sings the clouds bring new things!" Maddie vented a bit.

Raven thought of what Maddie said. Does Maddie want true love? It's a possibility, I just never thought of her as the type that would want a happy ending. I'm such an idiot, everyone wants happiness, and it must be confusing to have already done everything you needed to do in life. That must be why she wants to stay here with me!Suddenly, Raven felt something.

"The baby's coming!" Raven yelled.

"Doctor! Doctor!" Maddie called. The doctor rushed in.

Apple was in her castle, on the balcony. She stared out meaninglessly, thinking. Was that really the right decision? How terrible of a friend am I to send her away like that. What right do I have to treat her like her mother when she tried so hard for people to see her as more. And what about her son?

Suddenly, Darling burst in.

"Hey, honey?" Apple asked.

"The doctors, they have found a way to give us a child. One that is related to both of us!" Darling smiled. She knew how much this would mean to Apple.

"Really! How?" Apple asked excitedly.

"Uhh, something to do with bone marrow, I think. It's pretty complex," Darling responded.

"This is great news!" As Apple said this, Daring burst through the door worried and sweating.

"Raven's gone!" He shouted. Darling and Apple looked at each other.

"Isn't that what we want?" Darling asked.

"We were going to raise her child as Dexter's. The child is a boy, he can't be an evil queen so we decided that he should not have to be burdened with their bloodline," Daring explained, "But now..."

Apple looked out back at the sky, then at Darling, before saying to Daring, "Let her go."

Raven held her son gently in her arms after hours of labor. She felt Maddie gripping her hand tightly and smiled.

"What's his name?" Maddie asked.

"Evan, Evan Queen."

I'm gonna end it here. I should mention that the reason that they don't want Raven to raise the child is only because he is a boy and thus should not be forced to become the evil queen.