I do not own Once Upon A Time.

You are just another pretty girl, given to the monster. Just another body filled with the warm blood it seems to desire. Just another sacrifice, another girl that was never asked 'are you willing'.

Then again, you are also one of the only ones with a father who screams. Your father is far from perfect. He is stubborn and pigheaded and wanted to give your hand to someone you said you would never love (and you meant it, because you couldn't) . But for all his faults, he also loves you.

So there he is, two guys shaped like marble statues of the demi-gods holding him back as he thrashes and screams 'that is my girl!'. The other fathers were all silent, either numb with shock/horror/disbelief or indifferent. Your father is threatening, pushing, saying over and over 'let her go, she is nobility!'.

A guy laughs. There is nothing happy about it ; it is agony and pain and desperate craziness. You remember he is the one with the sister that got sacrificed, the mother that went insane with loss, the father that was already gone and the- (you do not know what the man trying to save the sister was to this broken guy. Just that when he, too, fell to the monster the guy fell to his knees and wept and screamed and cursed every deity like he had a death wish)

'So what? She is one of the last' he now speaks. And it is true . Every year.. a girl needs to be sacrificed. And your father knows how to keep you from being offered as tasty snacks (no matter how much you begged him to let you do anything, anything to stop all this suffering)

Now, even your father seems defeated. He pushes and threatens, but it is lackluster and his eyes are wide open with incredulity and disbelief as your hands are tied to the rock. Your dress is sticking to you, both with the slimy moss of the rock and sweat and it is incredibly uncomfortable

Not to mention that your chest feels like there is a whole family of agitated birds inside, your stomach is rolling like the sea when Poseidon is angry and there are black spots at the corners of your vision because of your breathing that is more like wheezing.

You turn to the broken boy that tying your right hand (your left hand is already unmovable) to the rock, whisper 'do you have something sharp?'. He does not even look at you. Up close, looking into his eyes , it like looking at a soul wandering on the fields of Asphodel.

"Why? Won't do you any good".

" At least I won't feel so helpless".

He stops tightening the rope for one second, a fire spark of life returning to his eyes so you press. " Please. I won't run".

He does not answer you. In fact, you are already thinking of a different way to semi-defend yourself when the rope around your right hand suddenly loosens until you can move your hand a little bit. You did not see him bend or reach into his clothes but he is suddenly hiding a jagged , very sharp stone in the space between your wrist and the rope.

It cuts into your skin a bit, but you are too relieved to care.

" Thank you " you whisper.

He ignores you, does not even look at you as he turns around and walks back to the crowd. The wind has picked up. The sea behind you is starting to stir. The crowd starts to mutter, people holding on to each other or grabbing weapons or stepping farther and farther away.

" Father! Father!" you scream as they start to drag your dad away , not because you want him to stay but because the thought running in your head is what are you going to do now you are losing me to? What are you going to do what are you going to do what are you doing to do , will you be all right , will you be all right , will you be all right now you lost both of us?

You struggle against your own captors (ropes) as he is dragged away and he screams your name back at you "Belle! Belle! ". He does not offer platitudes. He does not offer any oaths.

He really cannot do anything to help you. You feel the roughness of the jagged stone, the blood dripping down your wrist and think do not worry father. I will defend myself. And you do not have illusions or hope , not really, but at least you will die fighting and not having to hang here and being eaten alive.

Or whatever the thing is going to do to you.

Your father's screams faint away and your own in reply start to become more and more difficult because your mouth is parched and your throat burns. Finally, the last silhouette disappears and you are left alone, bound to a rock waiting for a monstrous creature with nothing but a jagged stone to defend yourself.

You start by trying to cut the ropes completely. You hiss and gasp as the stone cuts into flesh but continue sort of sawing at the ropes. By the time you have cut away enough to pull free, your skin is both grazed because of the ropes moving sliding against it as well as decorated with blood that makes it all seem far worse than you intellectually know it is.

You are tired and dizzy with fear , but you ignore all this and the throbbing in your hand as you start to free your other hand. You study the knot ( you know a little bit about tying knots, because you devour all books you lay eyes on) and manage to work out the best way to get it loosened. Still, it is difficult labor, especially with a bleeding hand and the terror that is trying to incapacitate your thinking.

Then there is thunder and a storm , salty water hitting your thighs and thinking becomes impossible. You mutter a quick prayer as you bend over to hopefully free your feet but your hands are bleeding and trembling and the stone nearly falls and you are too scared to –

" No!" you gasp as your only 'weapon' falls from your hands. The sea eagerly takes it and then hits you in the face. You throat burns because of the salt and you are just on time to close your eyes but they still burn.

Then the water pulls back and you cling at the rock, your already bleeding and abused skin torn open even more. There is another wave, slapping you. You gasp and push yourself into the rock, terrified. Another wave, your fingers sliding from the wet rock. Another and you have to dig in your fingers and ignore the pain. The salt licks and sets your wounds on fire.

Finally the sea calms a little and you shiver and tremble. You hold the rock with one hand attached to an arm that feels like someone replaced the blood inside with lead, use your other to tug on the ropes.

Finally, after the most terrifying moments of your life where the sky is bleeding and Zeus is throwing lightning everywhere (does he want to show this monster where to find me?) and you feel like time is running out. You sometimes swear you can see something.

Something so terrifying you nearly cry with terror.

Then you are suddenly free but your hardships are far from over. You start to climb. The rock is wet and you keep slipping ( and you were forced to wear a dress that leaves your knees bare so your knees are covered in blood too, lovely) as well as having to pull yourself up with arms that are already overused.

Then you are finally on top of the thing.

You bend your head as you greedily gasp in air, the parts of your hair that were not braided clinging miserably to your face. Zeus is still throwing lightning everywhere, his booming voice making you flinch every so often. You wonder whether this is your punishment for being less than appreciative that one time when you were eight years old and reading about all he had done to people and women in particular.

Then there is sudden ssssssllll kind of sound and you stagger back a little. In the dark, you see the suggestion or something moving. Something slimy. Something with – hooks? Knives?

You take a big, slow step back and try to stop breathing so it can't -

" AAAAAAAAAAAH " you yell when your feet slide away and you are falling back, feeling like Icarus as you claw at the air and then hit the water and are under.

It is almost peaceful, for you can finally no longer hear Zeus' angry roar or see the terror of his bolt or see Poseidon react… but you are also in freezing water with a back that hurts and darkness everywhere. Swimming also won't help, not when you have no idea where you are and the sea is wilder than you've ever known it.

Then a seaweed-like thing wraps around your leg and drowning starts to seem a good idea.

You are pretty much helpless as it pulls you along, your hands grasping around you for any kind of weapon ( anything , you are so desperate) and finally you feel something and you clutch it in your hand as you are pulled out of the sea into the shore and-

The sky is still filled with Zeus' weapons and screams and Poseidon's angry retorts-

Sputter and gag. You look up, hand clutching the thing and –

A sharp stab of pain. The world fading at the edges, then totally. The gradual disappearance of sound.

Your eyes roll back& you are gone.

You awake with the smell of roses in your nostrils and the sound of bird(s?) around you. You slowly push up, for a moment breathless at the thought which mountain this might be and -

But no, that is completely ridiculous. Because while you are most definitely on a mountain, it cannot be The mountain.

You slowly push yourself up and look around. Then you take a hesitant step… and as you are held back, a sob slowly builds in your throat. You throw yourself back, putting all your weight in the desperate attempt of what you know to be a new form of imprisonment. A leash of some sort.

" No! NO!" you pull even harder, desperately. You pull and pull and pull until your arms feel like Greek fire is leaping along them. After what feels like a God's lifetime, you sink on the floor and allow a few tears to slip.

You are thinking about banging on the walls of this place when a high, ridiculous voice speaks behind you.

" Dearie dear, please do not injure my sacrifice"