Heartless (part 2)
Hey guys! Sorry it takes I so long to update life has been...busy in more ways than one. But I haven't forgotten about you so no worries. I will be finishing the story...I just don't know when that is. Anyway school is going to end later this week and I'll have plenty of time to write! Just work with me till then ok? Thanks! Here you go guys, I hope you enjoy!
Anya found herself dashing through the forest before lunch, the moist dirt, soft under her flats. She couldn't imagine what her mother or even Henry would say when she was late, or worse didn't show up to lunch at all, but for now all she knew was that she really wanted to see Dimitri again. Almost as soon as the princess reached the bridge she saw the young orphan racing towards her from the distant forest. Her smile spread ear to ear, waving wildly towards him.
"H-hey!" Dimitri panted, slowing to a stop on the other side of the ruined bridge.
"Hi." Anya replied, wringing her hands behind her back, suddenly finding herself at a loss for words. "Well...hurry up, come over here." she told him, gesturing with her hands for him to come closer.
"What am I supposed to do?" he asked with a frown, the tarnished bridge laying in shackles since their stunt had knocked the boards loose, the run down remains appearing in worse shape than the day before. Frowning Anya looked around, there had to be some way to mend the bridge or else their visit wouldn't be much of a visit at all. "That tree." Dimitri offered, pointing to a fallen trunk behind Anya. "Can you roll it onto the bridge? I'm sure it'll be long enough to reach...and I wouldn't mind crawling across as long as it doesn't break on me." glancing back she could see what he was talking about, the giant tree seemed stripped bare of its branches after its fall. "Do you need to get some guards to help you move it?"
"Of course not!" Anya boasted, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. "I'll have you know that I am very strong for my age."
"But...you're a girl." he provoked, the child turning to yell at him.
"Yea so?! I could move a tree three times that size if I wanted to!"
"Hey I was just being polite!" he yelled back. "And besides, you're a princess, you haven't worked a day in your life! You couldn't pull weeds even if you tried." Anya grit her teeth, snarling at the boy. That was it, why on earth had she agreed to meet him again? All he did was get on her nerves!
"Fine, I'll show you." she spat, unable to deny his claim since...even though she may have been the daughter of a farmer she couldn't quite remember. Marching over stubbornly, Anya surveyed the fallen trunk, swallowing hard. She was in way over her head. Pulling up her dress she grabbed onto the tree, pushing as hard as she could but her feet just went sliding back, the tree unmoved. Embarrassment coloring her face scarlet.
"Th-that was just a warm up." she muttered, after all how hard could it be to move a log, it wasn't even that big! Taking a deep breath the princess tried again, the log rocked, once, twice and fell back into place, unfazed by her movement.
"Look its okay if you can't move it." Dimitri yelled, just don't hurt yourself-"
"No! I can do this!" she screamed, frustrated. A moment passed, a deep breath revealing an orange fog. It spiraled around her for a moment, her eyes shining like golden disks before thrusting the log forward, sending it rolling towards the bridge. A secondary solidary thrust and a groan sent the log crashing over the gap, forming a makeshift bridge.
"See I told you I could do It." the girl declared, but instead of fondness found nothing but fear in Dimitri's eyes. "H-hey..." she whimpered, holding up a hand, as if reaching out to him. "Why are you looking at me like that? Stop it..."
"What are you?" the boy asked, eyeing Anya and taking a careful step back.
"W-What do you mean?" she stuttered. "I'm human, just like you."
"Shut up!" Dimitri cried. "You're a monster...a witch. My papa always warned me not to go near no witches."
"Witches...wait no Dimitri! I'm not going to hurt you." she cried out desperately, sorrow forming in her eyes. "You're my friend I would never hurt you...you are my friend right?" the boy's gaze softened as her voice cracked, watching her closely, as if expecting a trap.
"Why are you so against magic?" Anya pouted, crossing her arms and glaring at him, this was beginning to annoy her.
"Because..."
"Because why?"
"Because, all magic comes with a price!" the boy blurted, crossing his arms and turning away. "My papa taught me that. He said never trust a mage...that magic isn't free."
"Price? What price?" Anya asked, raising an eyebrow. There was no price it was just fun. Moving this or that, playing with fire, there was no harm in it and there was no price. "There is no price."
"So... you're not going to eat me?"
Anya shook her head.
"Ya promise?"
"Promise."
Taking a deep breath Dimitri began crawling his way across the log, coming to a standstill beside the princess who seemed overly relieved by his presence. A moment passed in awkward silence before Anya broke the tension. Digging through her purse and handing the boy a pair of golden earrings.
"I brought you something." she declared excitedly, watching him stare in confusion.
"Earrings?" Anya nodded.
"You can give them to your sister." She told him, wrapping his hands around them, oblivious to the awe and hunger in his eyes, already thinking of the future meals the jewelry would buy.
"Thank you." The boy's smile widening, his gaze still observing her, as if expecting her to transform any moment. "Maybe...you're a nice witch." he offered, as if uncertain. Smiling, Anya struck a pose, clasping her hands together like an angel, like a child avoiding trouble.
"The nicest."
"Alright..." he mused, sliding the gift into his bag. "What do you want to do today?" he asked, kicking a nearby rock, sending it tumbling over the edge of the chasm.
"There really isn't much to do here." Anya shrugged, receiving a disbelieving look from Dimitri before the boy shrugged it off...after all it was clear the girl didn't really appreciate what she had and if he pointed it out every time than they'd never get to do anything.
"Maybe we can cross the bridge and walk the forest?" he offered, "I'll show you my hometown." frowning, Anya glanced fearfully back at the castle, the sun high in the sky, it was definitely past lunch and she would already be in trouble...
"Alright." Anya sighed, tugging uneasily on the lace of her white and black dress. "Let's go."
Taking her hand, Dimitri helped her over the log. The escaping princess glancing fearfully back at the shrinking castle before vanishing into the forest. She would return soon, before supper and everything would be ok.
Dimitri had found an obsession with her magic, curiously asking her questions of the strange empowering orange and gold fog that had given her the strength to move the tree. What magic she'd learned, and what she planned to learn. The simple farm boy overtaken by the concept fit for gods.
However, only several moments had passed before Dimitri became distracted, motioning for her to follow as he ducked through some bushes, pointing towards an empty and destroyed home, long since abandoned. The curtains ragged and wood rotting with age.
"There." A boyish grin creeping across his face. "That's my fort. Nobody can find it so we should rest there." Anya approached the "fort" curiously, staring up at the tall, molding door, the ravished ruins of a small building. "The road is just a little bit further that way so I can find my way back to town."
"Is it safe?"
"Yes." he answered without hesitation, plopping down comfortably on a chair, a large cloud of dust rising with a loud creaking sound that left Anya feeling unsettled. She was fine standing anyway.
No time passed at all before there was movement outside, the children jumping to alert, spinning towards the door as three black clad soldiers rushed in, fear raced through Dimitri's body backing up uneasily. The queen's guards would not be kind to the boy...especially after they found the queen's earrings in his knapsack.
"Wait I can exspl-" Anya began, cut off as a guard grabbed her roughly by the arm, pulling her into his embrace as the other two cornered Dimitri.
"The boy has been charged with kidnapping the princess." one of the guards began, ignoring the fear in Dimitri's eyes as the child's back hit the rusted wall, one hand grabbing his shoulder, holding him in place as the other soldier pulled their sword free of its black sheath. "The penalty for this treason...death." A gasp escaping Anya's lips as she struggled in the guard's grasp.
"No!" she pleaded, but couldn't break free, tears shimmering in her eyes. "He didn't! I went with him freely! Leave him alone!" but the girl was ignored.
"Stop, please!" Dimitri begged, glancing between the soldiers, panic shining in his eyes but he was helpless, feeling small in their muscular arms.
The man forced to thrust Anya against a wall to keep her from racing to the execution. time seemed to freeze as her captor collapsed to the ground with a pain filled cry, Dimitri and the two men turning to reveal the princess looking horrified, her fist clenched tightly in the air, her body trembling as dark red sand fell from her hand as she uncurled it. Tears filling her eyes, her naive eyes glancing down at the guard's lifeless body, searching desperately for a nonexistent wound, as if expecting there to be a gaping hole in his chest.
"I-I..." she stuttered, tears filling her eyes as the guards backed away from her, Dimitri taking his chance to kick them in the shin, dashing away, taking a dazed Anya by the hand and dragging her from the broken home.
The forest passed her in a blur, her eyes glazed over until Dimitri slowed to a stop, allowing her to collapse to her knees, staring uneasily at her corrupt hand.
"I-I...I didn't mean to...I was so scared." she cried, bursting into a fit of tears. "I killed him. I killed him." she repeated, burying her face in Dimitri's chest as he crouched down to check on her. "It was an accident. I was so scared." she kept repeating. Snapping from her trance as he took her by the shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eyes.
"Anya...Anya!" he demanded, searching her gaze until she was silent. "It-its ok." he stuttered. "It was an accident and-and..." he stuttered, glancing over her shoulder as if afraid they were followed. "Look..." he told her, suddenly calming down. "It's not your fault...you tried to talk to them they wouldn't listen. You heard them, they were going to kill me! It was us or them."
"B-but." she sniffled, wiping the tears on her sleeve. "I didn't mean to-...you're not scared of me?" Dimitri shook his head.
"If it means keeping my life...I'm okay with It." he answered slowly, the two taking a moment of silence to digest what had happened.
"I didn't want to hurt anybody." Anya whispered, far calmer than before, her body no longer trembling. "It just happened...he was there and I just reached out and...I grabbed it, and it was just so fragile it was an accident, I didn't mean to crush it."
"Shhhh, its okay." he told her, wiping her tears with his thumb. "But we can't tell anybody about this. Anya I'm not mad...you saved my life that's a good thing. I mean...think about It." he said, an idea flashing in his eyes. "You have magic, you were able to do that on accident, imagine what you could do on purpose."
"What?"
"There are guards like them in the town I live in. they're cruel and don't listen to reason. We would give anything to be able to do what you just did."
"I killed him!" Anya screamed, mortified by the boy's suggestion, rising to her feet and stumbling away, but Dimitri stood up after her, holding his hands up in surrender as he continued.
"You saved us. I don't know when but they saw us running and thought I was kidnapping you, at least now we're safe...Anya we could do so much with that power...nobody would mess with us, nobody! Haven't you ever been really angry? Hasn't anybody ever hurt you? You're not defenseless anymore...you can fight back." startled, She absorbed his words, He was beginning to make more and more sense. She couldn't remember her family but the more she searched the more convinced she became that they were dead or at least forced to not find her. But if what Dimitri said was true...she could save them...or at the very least avenge them.
"What do ya say?" he asked, reaching out a hand for her to take, having become lost in thought for the second half of his speech. "You have to promise me...promise me you will get stronger. You'll get stronger and help more people with magic. Deal?" uncertain at first Anya reached out, shaking his hand.
"Deal."
The children surrendered their adventure to town and returned Anya to the castle, her eyes glazed over as she wandered the halls, deep in thought. Her dress covered in dirt and leave and twigs left her red hair in shambles. She wasn't even surprised when Henry appeared to her, bowing before informing her.
"Her Majesty awaits you in your chambers." nodding, Anya made her way to her room, her eyes never leaving the floor as she opened the door, looking up only to see Regina awaiting her.
"Oh, Anya." the queen breathed, rushing in to hug her, the embrace unreturned by the child who continued to stare at the wall with empty eyes. "Anya?" the queen asked, lightly at first becoming more demanding as she didn't reply. "Anya what's wrong? Answer me."
Wordlessly the princess strode across the room, staring at Ivory a moment, pulling her free of her cage and stroking her fur gently. The loving rabbit cringed and Anya turned to face Regina, a small crimson heart beating quickly in her hand her eyes unseeing as Regina raised an eyebrow, watching Anya take in a shaky breath before turning the heart to dust, the bunny falling limp in her free arm.
"I would like to continue my training with you." Anya finally said, her chest trembling as her breathing grew shaky, the child earning an almost pitiful look from the queen. The child clutched the rabbits limp body to her chest before losing her composure, breaking into in a fit of tears as her mother embraced her, a mournful look of understanding painted on her beautiful porcelain face. Whispering comforting words to her weeping child. Promising her the bright future of magic awaiting her, explaining that, although she was sorry, this was a necessary step. Anya eventually dropping Ivory's body, wrapping her small arms around the queen and sobbing into her dress. Knowing that she could never tell her the trial that had pushed her over the edge, of the boy in the forest or even that she'd murdered one of their guards. The fear and panic of the secrets over flowing inside of her. A burden too large for a child to carry.
That night, after a fitful day Anya had fallen into a restless sleep and Regina had nothing left to do but retire to her chambers, sighing as she turned to her mirror. She'd only begun to undo her hair bun before another glance in the mirror revealed a boy crouched on her bed.
"What the hell!" she grumbled, startled as she turned around to see a young boy, his dirty brown hair and ragged clothes standing apart from the sheen elegant black of her furniture, and the queen found herself face to face with Dimitri.
"Don't you ever use the door?" she mocked, returning to her hair, allowing it to fall freely as Dimitri vanished in a cloud of purple smoke, leaving none other than the infamous Rumpelstiltskin in his place.
"Why hello to you too dearie." the imp laughed, sliding to his feet. "I expect that you're satisfied with your results."
"She ripped the heart out of that rabbit like it was nothing." Regina replied, beginning to undo her jewelry for the night.
"Then, I suspect you'll hold up to your end of the deal than." With a flick of his wrist Rumple was at her side, running a hand along Anya's amulet, displayed above the queen's jewelry box on a stand. "I believe these were our terms. I get the child to rip out a heart in exchange for this, lovely necklace...it seems more than fair."
"Of course." Regina replied, turning to face the dark one, biting her lip as she watched the man greedily store the necklace in his bag. "And what am I supposed to tell Anya when she asks for it back?"
"Uh, that it was destroyed in an experiment. Magic can be very unstable." Rumple replied, snickering as if the answer was obvious. "I don't know dearie, lie...you're good at that...unless of course you'd like to tell her the truth, though I feel this wouldn't be the worst of It." he said, glancing at the genie's face, hidden in a mirror across the room.
"Yes, about that." Regina began, her eyes narrowing on the wizard. "Why did you let Anya escape? When you raided the castle you could have killed her as well instead you took her memory...why?"
"Well." he began, smiling, clasping his hands together as if he were about to tell a story. "That is for me to know, and you to find out...yes." he said, standing straight and examining a trinket off the dresser in boredom. "Our dearest little Anastasia has quite the role to play."
"What kind of role?" Regina pressed, only to be ignored.
"If that's all you need then I'll be leaving."
"What kind of role?!" the queen repeated, rising to her feet, growing frustrated. But Rumple merely smiled, pressing a long finger to his lips before vanishing in another cloud of smoke.
"Spoilers dearie."