Uh... hi... I'm alive... Yes I know it's been a while. Too long. But I do have a good excuse. Between family stuff and attempting to fit half a semester of college math into two weeks I've been a little busy... yeah...
Anyway I am very sorry about the wait but this time I swear I am going to finish this story! Yeah! Go enthusiasm...
If you actually read the a/n kudos to you, if not, well, whatever.
Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT or their characters aside from Ven who is of my own creation. If I did the dialogue wouldn't suck.
ON WITH THE SHOW, er, story. ON WITH THE STORY!
Previously:
Mim's POV
How could it go so wrong so fast? One minute she had been finishing her tragedy with magic and flair, ending the drama, drawing the curtains with a flourish. She groaned, her eyelids fluttering. But then that girl. She gasped and glanced down at her arms, bruises showed against her deathly pale skin.
She was… hurt.
"How could she do…" she trailed off then sneered. "No. No one defeats the Mad Madam Mim," she hissed. "I'll kill—"
"—him."
She looked up at the voice. Then grinned. What a stroke of luck! There stood the girl, the heroine of the story, the destroyer of the story… and the tragedy. Standing right before her like a cake on a platter just ripe for the taking!
The little girl stood before her, her head hung down in defeat, her arms limp at her sides and her hair like rags around her face.
"You're a little fool for coming straight to me," she cackled, climbing to her feet and brushing dirt from her infinitely filthy dress. "More foolish than I thought." She glanced over the ledge at the body. "Looks like the tragedy is drawing to a close is it?" She grinned her rotten teeth at the corpse. "Your wittwe wover is dead…" she spun around. "… and you're n—ACK!"
Pain suddenly exploded in her chest as something bright and dark slammed into her, sending her over the ledge. She just barely gathered her magic around herself to break her fall on the ground.
"Wh-at?" She pushed herself up. Such power… I must kill her. I must have it back!
"You pathetic hag..." The voice reverberated through her, pulsating like a heart.
Her eyes widened. The girl raised her chin.
"Y… eyes…"
"You made a mistake to challenge me such," the voice said. "But your biggest mistake… was killing him first."
One glowing black… one white. Magic… terrifying magic of both black and white. Dark and light. Fighting in unison. Rage emanated from her, permeating the air and growing thickly with the magic that formed like a misty barrier around them. White magic crackled and flashed through the black mist.
Dark and light.
It was…
"Monster." A monster. A monster come to kill me. No… no I can't die. My story, my tragedy it isn't over!
Then the monster took a step.
A splitting noise jarred her and she scrambled back. "NO STOP!"
"You… killed him!"
Her back slammed against the wall. "PLEASE—"
"DIE!"
Blow after blow rained down, magic sliced her skin open, black blood oozed from the wounds and fire burned her skin. Boils appeared and shifted. Pain ripped through her and she screamed in pure, unadulterated agony.
"PLEASE STOP! STOP! DON'T KILL ME! STOP I BEG!"
"Ven stop! Stop enough!"
"That's enough!"
"Please stop!"
The magic thickened and pain ripped through her, she was slammed against the wall and slumped, all life draining from her limbs. The pain continued but she no longer had the strength to scream.
But then suddenly, as suddenly as it started, the barrage stopped. She sobbed and writhed on the ground in pain, gasping and gagging. A hand wrapped around her neck, scraping her against the rocks as she was dragged up.
"Enough Ven…"
My savior…
She dared to looked up. The mother stood behind the girl. The girl's eyes… like orbs of pure magic… and tears fell from those orbs.
"She is defeated. There is no reason to go any further, he's—-"
"Yes, listen to her! Please." She realized her mistake as the black and white eyes snapped right back to her.
Her eyes widened and she coughed. "Please…" she croaked. "Don't… kill me…" She gasped again. "Please… I'll… do anything…!"
"Anything?"
Those eyes…
She felt liquid trickle down her cheeks… blood.
"Anything in the entire universe."
Time stood still.
The hand loosened and hope, if one so rotten as her could even comprehend the emotion, spread through her chest. Maybe… just maybe… even monsters could feel pity. Maybe this monster would let her go. She could survive… just as she always had.
Those terrifying eyes of the monster looked at her as though staring into her soul… and the glow faded, the magic pulsing on the monsters skin fading with it until it was just her.
The monster. The girl. Ven.
The mismatched eyes, full of tears, the eyes of a child broken and shattered like glass, they stared at her as though seeing into her very soul.
Then they narrowed.
The tears on its cheeks tricked to her chin… and dropped.
"Anything," she repeated desperately.
"Then you can burn in hell."
The witch's eyes widened in horror as fire roared up around her.
"AAAAHH—"
Nothing.
Chapter 13: Dare To Believe…
Peter… my Peter my trickster… she killed him. He's dead. She killed him.
"Then you can burn in hell."
Not the magic, not the power, her. Just her. She killed the witch. Ven the Lost Girl.
She stared impassively as flames roared up around them, consuming the hated witch until she was nothing. Until not even ashes remained.
She stood still and silent, the tears falling hot and fast from her impassive face as the flames continued to burn around her.
"Ven please…"
The voice caused her to turn, just slightly, to look over her shoulder.
Regina… mother. Emma, Rumple, Hook… They stared at her in shock and… and fear.
She looked down at herself, at the flames around her feet, the magic in her hands and the power that was held in the half-heart nestled within her chest.
Monster… She was a… monster? Had she always known it? "I killed a man…" The monster inside her… hidden away… She had always known it. She was a monster. She looked down at her hand, then clenched her fist.
I. Am. A monster.
"Ven…"
Her eyes widened and her heart stopped.
That… voice… Dare she believe it? He… She slowly raised her eyes.
"Hah…"
There he stood. Injured and bleeding, burns on his arms and cuts on his face but alive. He was alive. But… she looked down. I am a monster.
"Ven." All of the sudden he was right there, standing right in front of her.
"You're alive," she whispered, her voice breaking. She raised her hand, then hesitated, her gaze lowering. I am—
"Beautiful." Her eyes widened. "You are beautiful," he whispered. His hands were warm and tender as they caressed her face. "My beautiful beautiful lost girl." He smiled, the smile that made her heart beat faster, had it always done that? The smile that made the world seem alright.
"But I'm…" she swallowed.
"I love you," he said before she could continue. "Forever and always… I love you."
Tears filled her eyes and fell, but these were not the same as the ones from mere moments ago. Gone were the tears of sorrow and anger.
"I love you too."
Silence.
"Oh bloody hell, mate will you just kiss the girl already?" Hook's voice rang out.
They laughed, Peter leaned forward… and did just that.
Ven sighed and leaned back, tilting her face towards the sky. She and Peter sat against the wall of the pit while the others stood towards the middle of the pit. It had only been about ten minutes since the battle ended, they hadn't even left Neverland's center yet. Everyone was in something of a shock from the battle.
Peter's fingers were entwined with her own, his hands warm and comforting. He was here with her. Alive.
"I can't believe we both survived," she remarked.
"I can't believe that only days ago I was going to kill you."
She rolled her eyes and elbowed him lightly. "Way to ruin the moment Pan."
Peter suddenly stood, his aura becoming grim. She looked up.
"Peter?" Then she looked to see Rumple approaching. She climbed to her feet, resisting the weakness in her limbs. She could feel the exhaustion pressing down on her.
"What do you want?" Peter asked.
"Well y'see we still haven't been able to figure out what to do with you two," Rumple said. "I mean you did almost kill a few of us."
His eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word out the ground shook and a loud boom rent the air.
"What's that?"
"Earthquake?"
"Everybody down!"
She gasped, blinking rapidly. What… is this feeling? She pressed a hand to her chest. It's like… it's like I'm… I'm hurting. My chest…
"Urrgh…"
She snapped back to attention in time to see Peter crumble to his knees, his hands scrabbling at his chest as though something was hurting him.
"Peter?! Peter what's wrong?"
He held up a hand, making her halt. "Don't… come… near." He groaned in pain, then gasped for breath.
"What's happening?" Regina asked as she and Emma came running up.
"What's going on with Pan?"
A loud rumbling sounded and the ground shook. Peter's eyes suddenly snapped open wide, then he gasped and collapsed.
"Peter!" She lurched forward and caught him. "Peter wake up-urgh!" She groaned, hunching as a pain thudded in her chest and spread outward.
"What's happening?!"
"We have to get out of here!"
Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh no…"
"What is happening Ven?" Regina asked.
She struggled to her feet, pulling Peter up with her, his arm slung over her shoulders. "We have to… get out of here," she panted. "Mim… tore apart the stability of Neverland's magic." She leaned against the wall. "The magic… it's tearing itself apart." Bright spots appeared in her vision. "Damn. Everyone form a chain," she gasped out.
"What why—"
"NOW!" she screamed, forcing magic into her words. Damn you Mim… you won't win. It was almost as if she could hear the witch's echoing laughter. "Form a… chain." They obeyed, compelled by urgency and her magic.
"You can't escape," the echo said. "You'll never escape me."
"We'll see about that." She grabbed Regina's hand. "Hang in there Peter," she murmured. An image formed in her mind. Move!
The landscape around them blinked out and they appeared on a wooden deck, she instantly collapsed on the deck, her vision blacking in and out.
"Ven? Ven talk to me?"
Voice? Who's voice.
"Have to… leave… we… have to leave… now…"
Then everything faded completely.
Whew... what a rollercoaster. Well... Mim is dead Neverland is collapsing and our hero may just have died. Ouch. Although it's kinda just another weekday for me, hehe. Stay tuned for the next chapter of Child of the Lost!
There aren't many left...