Author's Note: Welcome to chapter two. This one is much shorter then my other chapters but it's just to move the story along a little bit; because of that I will probably be posting the next chapter early next week. With that being said thank you for all the followers and favorites. Please review!
Chapter Two
Emma could tell from Mary Margaret's tone that Cora was not someone she wanted to cross paths with. She could also tell that she wouldn't be getting to sleep anytime soon. The moon had been out for hours by the time Lancelot had led them to the pit where Cora was being held captive. The actions of the day were starting to wear on Emma a bit - being sucked through a portal to a town you used to think was a figment of your imagination would do that to a person. Now, as they were standing at the top of the pit, Emma knew that their night was just beginning.
"Who the hell is Cora?" she questioned, looking from her mother to Lancelot. Both of them looked at Emma with fear that equaled that of the fear that was given towards ogres.
"Regina's mom." Mary Margaret started. "Cora, like Regina, practiced dark magic. In fact, she learned from Rumplestilksen as well. You know of the past between Regina and I, well it was all in thanks to Cora that the things that happened, happened. When I was little, Regina saved me from my horse, which was out of control. My father instantly fell for Regina, something I hadn't seen since my mother passed away. Regina though was engaged to Daniel, a stable boy. I found out, and was quite upset, but Regina begged me to keep her secret, that she was running away with him. I couldn't keep her secret though, and I told Cora about her plan. Cora killed Daniel that night, forcing Regina down the path that she went."
"Holy shit." Emma said, completely blindsided by Mary Margaret's revelations.
Emma thought about it. Was her mother really and truly the cause of Regina's unhappiness? Sure, her mother was just a child, but in a way, if the young Snow White had just stayed silent, maybe, in the long run, Emma would have never been given up. However, Emma shook that thought from her mind. It didn't matter anymore. What was done was done. All that mattered now was getting back to her son. She couldn't let him grow up without her anymore.
"We found Cora unconscious near her staff, which we think she used to create her own curse. We think that strength of keeping the curse up for over twenty years was just too much to handle, and she collapsed." Lancelot explained.
"Wait, you said about three months ago right?" Mary Margaret questioned.
"Yes, it was three months ago when the curse lifted." he said, looking quizzically at the pair of women.
"I don't think she didn't have the strength then. I think it was you Emma," she said, turning towards her daughter. "You arrived in Storybrooke three months ago, and things began to move there, so they must have begun to move here as well. It doesn't explain why Cora fainted, but it does explain why time began to move here again."
"Either way, when Cora woke up, she was furious. She kept asking where he was. We weren't sure what she was talking about." Lancelot continued on with his story.
"Hold on, you said Cora has magic. Why hasn't she broken out yet? How are you keeping her down there?" Emma questioned. She knew Regina's magic was powerful, and if Gold also trained her mother, who knew how powerful the witch below could be.
"She tried. A few minutes after she woke up, she tried to do something with her staff, but she couldn't. She was completely powerless. Took her for quite the surprise. She kept cursing him and saying she would get what she wanted." Emma raised her eyebrows at his statement. She didn't have her powers? Why keep her locked up then? Lancelot must have seen the confusion on her face, because within a second he was answering her silent question.
"We keep her locked up just in case her powers do come back. It was something I learned in Camelot. She is unable to escape," he explained. Emma wasn't convinced.
"Why not?" she questioned.
"It's a secret from Camelot that I learned while I was on the round table. Don't worry, all you need to know is that you are safe from her." he smiled.
She let it go, it was getting late, and she really just wanted to settle down and prepare for tomorrow.
"Alright, you said the castle is still standing right?" Emma asked, turning to find Mary Margaret still staring down into the pit.
"Yes, but we are unsure who are what is there, or if there is anything blocking the path. That was why we sent Phillip ahead, but since he hasn't returned, we are unsure of what may be out there." Lancelot said, a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Well, we'll take our chances. Mary Margaret, you think the castle is the best chance for us?" Emma wondered.
"Yes, I think there may be something there we can use to get us back." Mary Margaret said, hope spilling from her voice.
"Well, it's what we will do then. We'll leave at first light. We can't waste anymore time." Emma ordered, sounding way too official and demanding.
"Allow me to escort you all." Lancelot offered. Emma really didn't want the man coming along with them. While Mary Margaret trusted him, Emma wasn't feeling great about this whole set up. Something didn't feel right.
"No, you should stay here. This is your camp, these are your people. We'll be fine on our own." Emma was surprised to hear the words leave her mother's mouth.
"Alright, at least take Aurora and Mulan with you. Mulan should be healed by the morning, and they still need to find Phillip." he pleaded.
"OK. We leave at first light." Mary Margaret agreed.
They settled down outside a clump of tents near the edge of the camp. Lancelot had offered them his tent, but Emma preferred staying outside. She wanted to be alerted to anything that might happen, and it also gave them a quick escape route should they need it. Mary Margaret was a bit too trusting. Besides, the night air was the perfect temperature. The stars sparkled above her, allowing her mind to wander. She didn't want to think about her current situation anymore.
She had only just got Henry back, and she promised him she wouldn't leave, and look where she was now. She had let him down once again; she had failed to protect him. She certainly wasn't giving him the life she had dreamed for him. But it did her no good to dwell on those thoughts. They were a weight she couldn't bear right now. She knew she just had to focus on getting back to him. She had to focus on getting back home.
The stars were just as she remembered them. Some were identical to those she grew up staring at. Others were different. New constellations formed in her mind. She thought back to when she learned them all - knowing that while she could find Leo in the night's sky above Minnesota, she couldn't find it here. The stars lulled her into a restless sleep.
She was unwilling to fall deep enough to dream. She didn't know if she could handle a dream tonight. Especially now that she learned her dreams may be real. If the land was real, did it mean that the people were real too? Did that mean that the actions and adventures she had within her dreams were real too?
Morning came quickly. Emma had finally fallen asleep, with her back pressed against a tree a ways away from where Mary Margaret had laid down. Her mother had fallen asleep on her back, her head resting on a pillow she borrowed from Lancelot. Once Emma heard the sounds of the birds chirping, she knew it was time to start heading towards the castle. Lancelot had said it would be close to a day's journey now, especially since they had walked so far to the camp the day before. She woke Mary Margaret up, rearranged their items in their knapsacks and moved to find the two women who would be accompanying them.
Emma learned quickly that Aurora could hold her own, but was still a bit delicate for the journey. She would do anything to help her friends, but she still complained quite a bit. Mulan was up for the journey, only a slight limp hinting at her recent injury. Emma wondered how they were able to patch her up so quick.
They started out quickly; making good time back towards the town they first met them at. The town looked the same in the morning light. Only this time, the abandonment of the town was easier to see. Emma could see the degrading wood on the windows, the fading color of the doors and roofs. They walked thought town without stopping, which Emma was thankful for. She had spent many nights in the town that sometimes it felt more like home than where she lived in the other world. She didn't want to get caught up in the memories.
They had stopped for lunch a little after noon. They had been walking for hours, making great way according to Mulan. They were eating left over Chimera, which Emma had hoped she would never have to taste again, when they heard the crunch of branches.
Everyone was on high alert. Mary Margaret instinctively reached for her bow and arrow. Mulan drew her sword, and moved her body in front of Aurora, who didn't carry a weapon. Emma had moved to touch her gun.
"Don't!" Mary Margaret whispered harshly to her. Emma didn't understand why. If someone was going to attack them or an animal was going to attack, her gun was going to be their best defense. She was the one in the group who had a weapon that they could use from far away and who had the most practice with it. Mary Margaret might have been good with a bow and arrow twenty-eight years ago, but she was out of practice. Emma was their best defense.
Emma rolled her eyes at her mother. A thought came to mind, and before she had a chance to really think it through, she raised her gun in the air and shot off a warning shot. She was hoping it would scare off whatever was near by. She had done it a few times back home when a bear had gotten too close during one of her patrols of the woods around Storybrooke.
"Are you out of your mind?" Mulan hissed, turning to grab their items. She was frantic. Mary Margaret was holding her breath.
"What? I scared it off, whatever it was." Emma said, with a smile on her face. She could handle this after all.
It was at the end of her thought that a loud roar came barreling through the woods. The trees shook with the booming noise. Their leaves rustled quickly, like a storm was brewing.
"No you didn't Emma." Mary Margaret said, turning back to her daughter. "RUN!"
Mary Margaret's yell was loud and demanding. Emma ran back towards the group and scooped up her bag, just as a crashing noise sounded behind her. She didn't look back to see what was chasing them, but she could feel the ground move beneath her feet. She had never felt an earthquake, but she assumed this is what it felt like. It was hard to keep her balance, the ground swaying beneath her feet as she ran behind her mother. They had cleared the forest, coming to a large clearing. Mulan and Aurora were already at the other side; having split from the group soon after the chase began.
Emma stumbled over a log that was laying a little ways into the clearing. She fell onto her face, but quickly spun herself around to see what was chasing them. A large creature, with a giant eye was barreling out of the woods. It was brown, with hints of puke green sprinkled across its skin. It was at least as tall as the trees, and twice as wide. Emma could see the path it created as it chased them.
Instinctively, she reached for her gun, which she had lost during her fall. The animal, if you could call it that, was now crawling over her, completely blocking out the sun. She lifted the gun in front of her face, when a large hand came down and snapped away the weapon. She was stunned. She couldn't say or think of anything. She was helpless.
The monster reared its angry head, letting out a glass-shattering growl. It blew Emma's hair out of her face, moving her skin in ways she had only felt while riding a roller coaster. Its breath was horrible, and almost had Emma vomiting on the ground. The monster leaned back a bit, readying itself for attack. It was then Emma saw an arrow flying through the air.
The arrow, which had come from behind her, was now lodged in the monster's eye. It had stumbled back on itself, falling to the ground near Emma's feet. The ground shook with a tremendous force when it hit. Emma's eyes were huge, taking in the animal at her feet.
Her mother came walking up behind her. Her bow down at her side. She had this look on her face, one of confidence, but also worry. Did her mother really just shoot that thing in the eye from a ways away? Holy Shit was all Emma was able to think.
"You have to shoot them in the eye, it's the only way to kill them." her mother explained, walking over and pulling out the arrow from the dead creature. She said it with this tone, one that said, if you would just follow my lead, everything would be OK. It was a tone that Emma read as condescending. One that said Emma was unable to survive in the forest alone. She had thought she was doing just fine. She would have found a way out of the mess if her mom had just let her handle it. But still, she was thankful.
"Thanks." she muttered. She stood up and continued to walk through the clearing. The sooner they were back in her world, the better.
They had been walking since their run in with what Emma learned was an ogre. Aurora had approached her first, asking her about the weapon she had used earlier in the day. They didn't have guns in the Enchanted Forest. She then explained to Emma that while ogres are large and have one huge eye, their eyesight was horrible. In fact, they used their hearing to track pray. She thought they must have been in the woods near by and heard them eating and talking.
At was getting close to dark when her mother finally approached her once again. Emma was still quite angry with her. She couldn't quite explain it, but the way her mother was, well mothering her, was annoying. Emma had lived the past twenty-eight years without her. She could manage this just fine. She didn't need someone watching her every move.
"Thank again." Emma said, after Mary Margaret had walked next to her for a couple of minutes. The silence among them was deafening.
"Of course." Mary Margaret said, her tone still sounding condescending. It bothered Emma, why did she think she was incapable of taking care of herself. Yet even through the condescending tone that was coming from her mother's lips, there was also kindness and caring behind the words, like the woman would do anything to keep Emma safe.
Mulan and Aurora were ahead of them, and had come to a clearing. However, this clearing was unlike the one where Emma encountered the ogre. This clearing was at the edge of a cliff, and it allowed a view of the mountains that lay ahead of them. There was a glistening lake in the center of her view - sparkling with the moon dancing on its waters. Next to it was a giant castle, bigger than any she had ever seen before. Granted, she had only seen the make believe castles at Disney when she was younger, and those castles she saw on the TV, but this was dominated them all. It sat on what at first looked like an island not far from the shore, but then Emma could see the bridge that was created by the water. It was the perfect place.
"Home." she heard Mary Margaret breathe. Her voice almost broke with the words. She could hear all of her mother's emotions being poured out at the sight of her home. Emma had the same feeling when she came home from college after her first semester - the view of her house almost bringing her to tears. So even though she understood her mother's emotions, she didn't fully grasp the depth of them.
They didn't take the time to walk around the castle and reminisce about what once was; instead they headed straight to what would have been Emma's nursery if the curse hadn't hit. Emma could see the regret and unrest in Mary Margaret's eyes. She tried hard not to make eye contact with her mother.
Emma wasn't quite sure what to feel standing in that room. She was still a bit pissed with her parents that they gave her up, simply to stop a curse. But at the same time, seeing how the room was made up and how cared for she would have been, she was touched. They really had cared, and she was starting to realize just how deeply it cut them to give her up.
The wardrobe was the key to getting home. They just need to find a way to jumpstart the magic that were still held within the doors. Emma laughed at herself as they looked around the wardrobe. The thing wasn't her bug, something she could just connect with cables and pray that the battery would spring to life again. This was a whole different beast.
It was as they were looking for anything that may help them that a man appeared in the doorway. Emma stood back, a bit shocked. Mary Margaret unmoving in her spot near the center of the room. Lancelot had appeared quite suddenly.
"What are you doing here?" Mary Margaret questioned, moving only an inch towards the man. He had stepped fully into the room at that moment, looking the wardrobe up and down with the most intense gaze. It gave Emma an uneasy feeling.
"We heard about the ogre attack, I came as soon as I heard." he explained.
Him and Mary Margaret launched themselves into a conversation, surrounding the wardrobe and what it meant for the pair. Emma wasn't paying too close attention, deciding to take a closer look at the wardrobe. Marco had really done a good job in it. There were intricate designs along the door and carved into the base. The wood had been polished, even though time had taken its toll on the wood. It was magical - she could feel the magic beginning to pulse within. Was it really that simple? A touch from her was awakening the magic in the wood.
She didn't get a chance to find out though. There was a slight commotion behind her; she turned to see Mary Margaret pull her sword on Lancelot.
"What the hell?" Emma questioned.
"He isn't who he says he is." Mary Margaret tried to explain. The man in question, laughed a bit. It was a confident sound. "We've never told anyone Henry's name - yet you know it. How is that?"
"Clever girl." the man said, magic swirling around him. Suddenly Lancelot had disappeared and a woman was standing in front of them. Emma recognized the woman. It was the woman from the pit, Regina's mother - Cora.
Things happened quite quickly after that. The pair fighting against the witch, who wanted to use the wardrobe to return to her daughter. Emma couldn't let that happen. There was no way in hell this bat shit crazy woman was going to get to Storybrooke and put Henry in danger. She barely trusted Regina. She would be going crazy with worry if it weren't for the fact David was still protecting him. So, if she couldn't trust Regina, there was no way in hell she was going to let mommy dearest near her son.
Emma soon had to take matters into her own hands. She couldn't let Cora get anywhere near their ticket home. Without thinking, she turned and lit the wardrobe on fire. She didn't think about how they would get home now, she couldn't. All she could think about was keeping Henry safe, giving him his best chance.
Cora roared her angry head once Emma had burned the wardrobe and Mulan and Aurora arrived with help. She disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Holy shit Emma thought. This day has been one crazy thing after another.
Once all was said and done, Emma turned to her mother. She could see the anger in her face.
"Sorry I torched our ride home. I couldn't let her get to Henry. I just -" she started. She was unsure how to explain it.
"You had to put Henry first." Mary Margaret finished, a look of understanding crossed the woman's face. There was as slight smile there, one that told Emma that she did the right thing.
"I was angry at you for so long - wondering how you could chose to let me grow up without you. But then, I just… seeing all this… You gave up everything for me. And you're still doing that. I'm not used to someone doing that for me" she confessed, all the feelings that she had been having for the past two days came rushing forward. For so long, she felt as if it was just her against the world. Sure, she had a support system, but there was always something missing from it. There was love, but she didn't always feel it was unconditional, she didn't always feel that someone would give up everything for her. It didn't click for her until she thought Henry was in danger. If she could do what she just did to save Henry, she could understand why her parents did what they did.
"Well, get used to it." her mother laughed a bit. It was like they finally understood each other, finally moving past their history, looking forward at the future. Her mother pulled her in for a hug. It was the first time that Emma truly felt like the woman's daughter. Sure, they had embraced when the curse lifted, but things didn't seem real at that time, but now, everything was falling into place.
The pair walked out of the room and found Aurora and Mulan a couple of doors down. They all decided it had been a long day, and while they should get back to the camp to see what damage Cora had done, they needed a good night's sleep for the journey.
Review?! The next chapter will finally see our favorite couple meeting again!