Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon A Time, also the character in this story comes from this year, 2019 and the character is French (like me ah ah!), when she will talk in her native language, I will put it in italics or sometimes, I will write the word in French. I promise it will make more sense in the future!

Chapter 1: I just wanted to watch Gumball…

As Victoire came back home from a exhaustive day at school, she noticed in the train, that dark clouds started to form in the sky. She sighed and her friend told her that it will be raining all weekend.
"Great… I hoped to go to Lilou's party tomorrow but I can't, my parents want me to finish all my files for my art history exam… Why did I even pick that class?"
Her other friend, Thea, nodded.
"It's my stop… Have a nice weekend!" Victoire said to her friend.
As usual, Friday's night, her parents with her twin sister were going to her older sister football match and Victoire never wanted to go -her parents told her to come countless of times but she always had refused-. She liked those evenings when she was all by herself, maybe she could play Red Dead Redemption 2 until her family's return! With a chuckle, a can of coca cola and popcorn, she took the remote control and put on the tv. The thunderstorm started at this very moment and as Victoire browsed through the channel, she remembered that one of her favourite shows was aired but unfortunately, the remote stopped functioning and stopped at the channel airing the first episode of Once Upon A Time, a show that she used to watch with her twin, Vanessa (who were by the way, completely obsessed with the show and made her sister watch it until the last season and last episode). Victoire sighed as she approached the furniture where the tv was in search of battery. Thunder thundered outside and Victoire grimaced, not liking this sound. Also, the screen of the tv started to have some glitches.
"Et merde…" She cursed through her teeth, knowing her parents will blame her for breaking the nice and fancy tv.
The television's screen started to show green, red, blue, the voices were… strange. After another thunder, Victoire yelped and let go of the remote. She watched as the screen was all white, her eyes glued on it (but it was painful for her eyes) and she felt enveloped in coldness. At some point, the light began to be too bright and the girl closed her eyes, trying to warm herself.

She woke up with a groan, still cold, and birds chirping around. She opened her eyes suddenly. She couldn't hear birds inside of her house. She slowly stood up with her mouth open as she looked around.
"Holy shit." She said in English with a very strong French accent. "Where am I?"
She was in a huge forest… and she was in socks. Great. She needed to know how she came here and figured how to come back home before her parents came back. She didn't need to be grounded more. Victoire decided to walk right ahead of her, hoping to find someone to help her in her search. She was pretty sure she was not in the forest she lives near. This forest seemed brighter, happier and healthier… As she walked, she finally found a road covered in mud… Victoire stared down at her foot and cursed once again. She heard someone on a horse approaching her and she turned her head to get a look on the person. It was a man… He was quite tall with black hair, dressed in a armour and riding a white and black horse. The man stopped next to her and he gazed at her, probably questioning himself on why she was not wearing shoes.
"My poor girl… Where did you come from?" The man asked with a laugh.
Victoire took some times to answer, trying to speak in her best accent.
"I… I am lost, sir. I don't know where I am. I want to go home. Can you help me?"
The man frowned.
"You're not from here, aren't you? You have a weird voice."
"It's called an accent, enfoiré!"
"What did you say to me? Oh, you talk another language? That is quite impressive. I thought you were a peasant." The man continued with a smile.
Victoire sighed and she started to feel stressed. She really needed to go home, she didn't know where she was, this man could kill her or playing a joke on her and sold her to someone… It was too much for her to handle and she started to feel panicked.
"I… I just want to go back home…" She cried, with tears rolling down her cheeks.
The man must have felt bad because dismounted his horse and took her hand to pat it softly.
"Do not worry child, I see you are lost and very far away from your home. Where do you come from?"
"Viomanville." She answered as she tried to stop to cry.
The knight made a face and asked her to repeat.
"That is strange. I do not know this city. Maybe can you give me the name of your land or kingdom, so I can help you better." He offered her his handkerchief.
"France, but it is no longer a kingdom: it's a democratic republic." Victoire answered taking the object.
"I am confused: what is a democratic republic?"
Victoire froze on the spot. She looked at the man with big eyes.
"Where am I?"
"You are in the Enchanted Forest, not far away from Queen Regina's castle." The man answered. "Are you okay?"
She couldn't breathe. She just couldn't. It was a joke. It must be a joke or she fell on the floor and is unconscious for the moment. She will wake up, she has to wake up. She couldn't just pop into a tv show and how could this even happen?! The knight made her sit on the grass, and tried to calm her down. He touched her repeatedly so it couldn't be a dream. She burst into tears and started to babble in French as the man tried to recomfort her.
"I believe you do not come from this land… or this realm. I travelled a lot with my Queen and others, I had some good adventures on my own in another realm: Wonderland. I nearly lost my head!" He said with a smile but Victoire was still crying and panicking. "Listen… I won't do that normally but… I am going to take you back to the castle with me, we will sort things out, find you clothes and food, maybe talk to the Queen… Maybe she knows how to take you back to your realm."
Victoire whipped her tears with her hoodie's sleeve and stared at him.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked with a shaking voice.
The man gave her a charming smile. She was quite jealous at his perfect white teeth.
"I am a knight and it is my duty to help damsel in distress… Oh, did I forget my manners? I am Edgard of Rothys."
"I am Victoire Montique." The girl said. "It's nice to meet you."
Edgard brought her to his horse and helped climb on the animal, then he mounted.
"Now, we are going to the castle, to my quarters… Don't worry about the other men and soldiers: they look terrifying but they don't bite…"

Victoire could only nod as the knight started to talk about his occupation, that he didn't have a wife or children because he was very busy, that he was a hero and that he had a small crush on Queen Regina. He also told her what not to do in presence of the Queen and that he intended to make her work as a maid, until he gets the chance to talk to the Queen, because she was very busy with the famous outlaw Snow White. Of course, Victoire knew and remembered all about the show and its characters and she always had a soft spot for badass women like Regina. It was true: she had magic, she was evil (for a long time) and she didn't take shit from people. So yeah, she was pretty much her favourite character. She remembered how Vanessa had a massive obsession over Peter Pan and how she would read fanfictions of him every day. She always had teased her twin for that. To be honest, when Peter Pan first appeared in the show, he creeped her out and she hated him. He was a true villainous person, and he also killed his best friend and second in command just for power.
"Here we are. Put my cape on, so people won't ask questions." Edgard said as he handed her his black coat.
Victoire nodded as she put the thing around her shoulder and watching the houses of the villagers. The castle was breath-taking and looked beautiful and dark. She was glad she had find and met someone like Edgard, he was very nice. They entered the stables and Edgard helped her climb the horse down.
"This way." He whispered to her. "I live inside the castle. I will speak to the head of the maids right away while you change of clothes."
"Thank you Edgard. I don't know what I will do without you." Victoire thanked him as she followed him.
"Do not worry, miss Montique. We will find a way to send you home, safe and sound. I promise you."
The servant of the knight gave her a white tunic with brown pants and leather boots. It wasn't the best outfit so far but Victoire didn't want to be difficult: Edgard helped her. She sat down, on the ground inside Edgard's chambers, trying to read a book in a unknown language but with beautiful illustrations. The knight returned ten minutes later with a bright smile and a old lady at his side.
"Miss Montique, this is Cecily Tarane, she accepted to take you in as one of the maids of Queen Regina. She will explain your duties shortly. Now I must take my leave. Once you will be done, come back here." Edgard told her as he left.
The woman's cold eyes glanced at her.
"You will wash the Queen's bedroom floor, and everything inside her chambers. You will make her bed, fold her outfits and gowns, tidy the place, wash her jewellery carefully. Do I make myself clear?" The woman said in a harsh voice as she started to walk toward the chambers of the Queen.
"Yes ma'am."
"The other maid didn't last long: the Queen fired her for breaking one of her necklaces."
Victoire gulped upon hearing this: she wasn't really a tedious person: her bedroom was a true mess and she tried to clean it up but she couldn't, she loved her mess. Anyway, she knew she had to be work hard, especially if she doesn't want to finish dead or unemployed.
"I will do my best, ma'am."
"I expect you to. Now, you have exactly three hours before the returning of the Queen: everything must be perfect." The woman told her, showing up the giant bedroom then leaving the French girl alone.
"How am I supposed to clean this when I can't even clean my own small bedroom?!" Victoire growled.

Author's Note: I know I didn't finish my current fanfiction (the curse of not knowing what to write unfortunately…), I hope you guys will love this one! Tell me if I made any mistakes or anything and reviews are always welcome 😊. Also, I don't know where I am going with this or if I am going to give the protagonist a love interest in the show (preferably untaken…). Have a nice day or night!