"The man that got his hand snatched, it's Killian. He escaped his prison, and rallied many wanderers with him. They're hiding somewhere. To find them, Cora commanded to arrest suspects, who are obviously wanderers. They're being deported God knows where. And among the squad entitled to arrest and interrogate them, there are Belle, Peter and Graham… they're led by Regina."
And just like that, my world violently collapsed. Regina. It was a burning slap in my face, and I felt smashed by my anger, frustration, and regrets.
Chapter 7. Horror History
Everything that happened the following week is kind of blurred. I went to Ruby, and I tried to find Killian. After two days, we were with him. Neal and thirty other wanderers were with them as well. They were hiding in a cave which was inside of a cliff, overhanging a forest. They had created magical entrances, and had protected them with magical spells, rejecting undesirable persons. When we told them what was going on outside, we agreed that we needed to act, to protect innocent wanderers.
Thanks to my picturing powers and their magical spells, we significantly extended the cave, creating individual rooms from up to the bottom of the cave. The second floor was dedicated to training, and the highest floor was a sort of meeting room, surrounded by computers and televisions. Once again, thanks to our powers, we connected the screens to what was happening in the magical world. Killian was a hacker. He pirated the Government's databases, and we accessed their files. We found the lists of the deported (the number was alarming), but no mention was given as to where they had been transferred. We also hacked a list of suspected persons, and we agreed to find these persons to hide them with us. The cliff could contain hundreds of rooms… we could save them.
The rest of the week passed this way. We organized rescuing raids. We did not want to draw attention, so we traveled in cars and motorcycles by groups of two people. In two days, Ruby and I found and hid ten persons. Back in the cliff, wanderers explained to new arrivals how things worked. The most audacious ones helped us find wanderers; the others helped to the life together.
When the Government realized what was happening, they tried to catch us off guard, by finding them before us. A real time trial took place against Regina. They were trying to know who they were fighting against, but we left no clue behind us. We discovered that their suspicions were directed to Killian, which seemed only logical. But we needed to find the place where the deported were transferred.
"We have to find this place!" I exclaimed.
It was midnight, and we had been discussing for a couple hours. I was exhausted, and frustrated. As always, all my thoughts were for Regina. But now, all the love was mixed with hatred. She had deported a child we had not been able to save, since he was not on the lists. We had found his name after the deportation. And not knowing where they were, nor what they were enduring was awful.
"We know we do, sweetheart. But it's kind of a very well hidden information" sarcastically answered Killian.
"We need to infiltrate the Government!" I added.
"Too risky" said Neal.
"We have to save these people! We don't know what she's doing to them! They may be tortured or killed right now!" I screamed.
"She would not do that, Ems. She cannot torture a child." tried to reassure me Ruby.
"I underestimated her once, Rubes. It won't happen ever again. We need to find them. We need to rally taleners, and make them work for the Government. We need spies."
Nobody talked. A guy named Felix aggressively said:
"Who are you to make decisions for the rest of us? And you are a talener! Why don't you take that risk?"
I remembered that guy. He had studied with us, and was very close to Peter once. It was before the whole crisis. Peter had betrayed him, choosing side against him. The hatred Felix was feeling toward him, made me think that maybe his feelings had been something more than friendly. And it made me sad for him. Especially if they had been reciprocated. But right now, I just wanted to punch the guy in the face.
Ruby growled, and threateningly answered:
"Because Regina knows her position on the matter. She would be arrested right away. And to answer your first question, she makes decisions for us, because she is our leader."
It provoked many reactions. The majority of people seemed to agree with that. But some others did not.
"Who said that? She's not even a wanderer!"
"Killian rallied us! He should be the one to lead us!"
Killian loudly coughed, silently asking for silence. We all looked at him.
"When I lost my hand and got arrested, I realized I needed to hide to save my life. I assembled only wanderers I knew. When Emma joined us, she created all of this. She saved at least twice as many people than me. She's not a wanderer? So? What's the difference? You're falling for that discriminatory crap, too? If it is so, I will ask you to leave this place right away. I personally vote for Swan as our leader."
"So do I!" exclaimed Neal.
"Great speech, Killian. Let's vote. Those who vote for Emma, raise your hands." approved Ruby.
Three quarters voted for me. The others were reluctant, but not against the idea. I then said:
"Fine. Now that this problem is solved, I need you to listen to me. First of all, we need code names. And from now on, the war begins. In no circumstances will you name each other by your real names. We have to protect each other. Our enemies will also have code names. Alright?"
Killian, who had replaced his hand by a hook, unsurprisingly chose Captain Hook. Neal chose to be the Crocodile. Ruby opted for Red Riding Hood. All those nicknames seemed pretty much obvious for any person who wanted to break them, but it was better than nothing. I named Regina the Evil Queen.
"What about you, Ems?" asked Ruby.
"No idea… who do you want me to be?"
"The Savior" Neal answered.
This is how the most feared names of all times were created. The Evil Queen against the Savior.
One month passed, dozens of raids had been effectuated, fiftyish people had been saved, and we had infiltrated the Government. Ariel was helping us, as well as Rapunzel and Mary-Margaret, our former professor. They had spread the informations we wanted them to have. They now knew that our army was led by a person called "The Savior", whom nobody had ever seen; that we were looking for every wanderer to ally with us; and that we were ready to fight. We wanted them to fear us. They were also aware of the nicknames we gave them: The Evil Queen, Peter Pan, the Hunter, The Beauty, and the Queen of Hearts. Soon we discovered that they were arresting people all around the world. We had to extend our researches. We traveled in the UK, France, Spain, and many other European, African and Asian countries.
I could never rest. I was the only one to be able to teleport… all day long was about transporting raids all around the world, and getting them back "home". My nights were spent training with Ruby, the only one I truly trusted. She made a point in training me physically, even though I did not see how this could help me in a magical fight. But I never refused: it was my ramrod. It expending my energy. There were the only moments I could have without thinking about her.
I knew I would have to directly confront her someday. It was becoming an obsession. I hated her with all my heart for what she had done. And yet, I could not suppress my desire for her. Every dreams I had reminded me of that. One of the reasons why I couldn't sleep anymore. I replaced the lack of sleep with my picturing power which gave me the illusion that I was not tired. Ruby was not really in a better condition. The exact same thing was happening to her, with Belle. But she had no picturing power. So I helped her a lot.
A routine came into place. Every morning, at 5 am, I would picture us rested. Then, we would drink a coffee together. Then I would make us showered, dressed and made up. We would go on the highest floor to check on the databases, see who we would have to save, and where we would need to go, establishing a schedule for the day. At 7 am, our raids would form, and depart. All day long I would travel, and come back, again and again. At 6 pm, a meeting with Killian, Neal, Ruby and a few important wanderers was made to talk about our progresses, weaknesses and schedules. At 9 pm, Ruby and I would go to the gym floor and train all night long, up until 5 am. And then, everything would start over.
My body was becoming much muscled. My endurance, my strength and my powers had improved so much I did not recognized myself anymore. I could say the same for Ruby. We became respected, feared and desired among our own clan.
Killian and Neal kept hitting on me. But I never let them approach again. I was longing for only one person, and I knew I would never touch her again. Nothing else mattered but saving people and training ourselves.
Three months later, we had saved five hundreds persons, and only half of the cliff was inhabited. We had lost one hundred wanderers, taken by the Government. The first fights had taken place. Graham had killed one of us during a raid. My men had the instruction not to kill anyone, but they could injure them permanently. It was hard for them to respect that, since one of their friends had been murdered. They wanted blood.
Mary-Margaret told us that they mostly knew who we were (except for me). This meant that a mole was among us. The bright side was that there were more and more spies in the Government to rally us. Rapunzel had found two new allies, who would name them the Apple and the Teacup: they were giving us fundamental clues. Our biggest successes had been made thanks to them. But still, we had no idea where the wanderers were deported. My picturing power did not succeed in locating them: I assumed Regina was blocking me. She was as good as I was, if not better. I had no idea how I was supposed to defeat her. A part of me didn't even want to…
Cora was acting crueler and crueler. Wanderers became a big no-no, while her dictatorship took place. Vampires were mostly working for the Government, whilst werewolves tended to take position for us. But no one could know for sure who was with whom, and it was a total chaos. Between denunciations and treasons, the terror arose.
It was 6pm when we headed to the council room. Neal sounded panicked:
"Savior, we have a problem. Hook just found in the Government's database that Cora intended to extend her dictatorship to humans. She wants to rule them as well…"
"Contact Snow, Long-Hair and the Little Mermaid. They must get closer to the leaders and dissuade them. Or at least tell us, how she intends to do that."
Neal immediately left the room.
"Hook. I need you to hack the magical network. We need to give a message to all of them."
"What sort of message, Savior?"
"A videotape. They need to see my face."
They all looked at me, flabbergasted.
"No way" calmly said Ruby. For the first time, she had disagreed with me.
"Rubes…"
"No way, Ems. When they see your face, they'll know who to kill. This is an information no one must know. Fearing the unknown is far more powerful than anything else. You know that. We have this advantage on them, there's no way we're blowing it!"
"Red, we have to show everybody how strong we are! We have to let them know that we're fighting! That we can protect them! We need to lead them to rebellion."
"Ok, but you cannot show your face! Let Hook show his! The war began with him, anyway!"
We all turned to him.
"I accept, if this is your way to ask my permission. And I agree with Red…"
I was about to answer when a window opened on all the computers' screens. As I approached them, I saw that it was an alert. Two taleners were heading to get a teenager in Marseille, France. Probably another wanderer.
"Rubes, come with me?" I said.
"You're really asking, sweetie?" she laughed. "Give me proper suits, though! We cannot go for a rescue or a fight in those jeans…"
I pictured us in leather dark suits. We had black boots, skinny black leather pants, a black laced corset, a black leather jacket and a heavy dark make-up. Both our hairs were loosed and curled. I made a point to always make an impression in the hypothesis we would be seen. And by the looks directed to us by my men, I assumed we succeeded. I felt power rushing through my veins. Ruby devilishly smiled at me, appreciative. I knew she loved this.
"Let's go" I simply said, taking her hand in mine.
We arrived in front of a dilapidated house. The sun was about to rise. And something was off. I had been in so many rescues, and I had never felt like this, before. I had a very bad feeling about this particular mission…
We entered the damaged place. A boy was packing his belongings (which were almost nonexistent), his back turned on us.
"Hey" I calmly said.
He quickly turned around.
"Vous êtes qui? (Who are you?)" he worriedly asked.
His hair was brown, as well as his eyes. He looked quite small and gentle.
"Des amis. Tu es sorcier? (Friends. You're a wanderer?)" I answered.
"Oui." He simply whispered.
"Ok, tu viens avec nous, on est là pour te protéger, ne t'inquiète pas. (Ok, come with us, we're here to protect you, don't worry)".
"Qui me dit que vous n'êtes pas des magiciens? (How can I be sure you're not taleners?)" he suspiciously asked.
"Je suis la Sauveuse. Et oui, je suis une magicienne, mais je peux te promettre que tu n'as absolument rien à craindre de nous, gamin. Comment tu t'appelles ? (I'm the Savior. And yes, I'm a talener, but I can promise you that you have nothing to fear from us, kid. What's your name?)"
"Henry." He answered.
"Ok, on y va Henry! (Ok, Let's go, Henry!)". But the boy did not move. "S'il te plait, Henry, fais nous confiance. (Please Henry, trust us)".
He looked at me for a long time. And his eyes brightened. He had seen the sincerity in mine.
"Ok" he shyly said.
"You're not going anywhere, I'm afraid" said a low and cold voice.
I felt my back straightened, my whole body answering to her voice. I had not heard it in an entire year (exception made for my heated dreams). Electricity felt through my veins, whilst I felt my knees weaken. I slowly turned around to face her.
She was dressed almost the same way we were. But she wore a corset black dress, emphasising her perfect breast. Her long black coat only partially hid it. Her plain red lips were smiling at me, revealing her white teeth. And her black eyes, heavily made up, were staring right through me. Although she was smiling, I could feel her rage. I was finally in front of my worst nightmare: Regina.