Apple's legs throbbed with pain, but she continued to march them forwards. They were newly bandaged thanks to the royal first-aid kit that Apple brought everywhere with her. One could never be too prepared. Her only fear was that they would scar, some of the thorns had cut in quite deep. But never mind, she would worry about that later.
The twists and turns seemed to continue on forever. Apple was starting to worry that she would never find anything in this continuous maze and this was all just some nasty trick or trap set by the Evil Queen. But then she heard a high-pitched bleating noise. She turned another corner and found a beautiful fawn stuck in one of the torn walls, a rope around its neck seeming to be the main cause, but the many thorns tangled in its brown fur wasn't helping. She quickly knelt down to the baby fawn who was now bleating in panic. Instantly, Apple felt worried for its safety. The view of the fawn was a rather distressing one and Apple couldn't stand to see an innocent animal in trouble. In an attempt to calm it down she placed a hand on its furry nose. It started to calm down and tried to nuzzle Apple's hand but found it was unable to get any closer due to thorns ripping into its body. Wanting to help, Apple searched through her first-aid bag for something to cut the fawn loose but all she found were some nail scissors.
"I guess this will have to do." Apple spoke out loud, seemingly to the fawn. She was about to start naming away at the rope when she was approached by a figure clad in a cloak and hood that covered most of its body. It removed the hood from its face to reveal a pale white woman.
"W-who are you?" Apple trembled. The fawn shrunk down amongst the thorns. The woman's ruby-red hair was draped down the woman's shoulders. She wore a pitch black dress, it's train swiftly gliding over on the ground. On her right wrist there was a black band and sitting on top of the band was a raven with piercing, red eyes.
"Please do not be afraid." The woman's voice was soft and gentle. It reminded Apple of a small child's. Her mannerisms appeared to be that of a gentle soul, but the look that she had in her eyes put Apple off and she decided to approach the situation with caution, despite her gentle actions.
"My name is Adelina and I am here to make you an offer." Adelina explained slyly. As she spoke, she bushed a strip of her red hair away from her face and pinned it behind her ear.
"What kind of offer?" Questioned Apple. A grin spread across Adelina's face which made Apple feel even more uncomfortable then before. A glint of glee was in her eyes.
"You see, I have something you might want." Adelina produced a key that was secured to her neck be some string. On the end of the string was a key, half black and half gold. At the end of the key was a red apple on top of a black raven feather. As soon as she saw it Apple knew exactly what it was.
"Our story key!" She exclaimed.
"That's right. Do you want it?" Adelina giggled lightly.
"What do I have to do to get it?" Apple asked as she found some new determination inside of her. If she could get the key now, her adventure would be finished much earlier than she originally thought. She guessed that there had to be some sort of catch. The Evil Queen would never give the key up so easily.
"Why, you can come and get it right now. As soon as you touch it you'll be transported back to your high school. Honest." Adelina smiled innocently. Hesitantly, Apple eyed her up and down. The offer just seemed too good to be true. The fawn bleated loudly and Apple almost jumped as she had forgotten it was there. She remembered the pair of nail clippers in her hand. She moved to walk back over to the poor fawn.
"Oh, just let me cut this fawn loose first, then I'll take the key."
"NO!" Adelina bellowed, her eyes glinted with malice for just a second and her into countenance melted away. "You must choose between the animal's life or the key!" Adelina waved her hand and the fawn disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
"What did you do to it!" Apple screamed. She now realised that Adelina was playing with her weakness of caring for animals. There was this twisted joy shown now in her face as she observed Apple's panic. It was clear that she was enjoying this. The wall behind Adelina sunk into the ground, revealing the fawn which was now on top of a column of stone, surrounded by lava. The fawn was bleating with fear, having no where to move. Apple only had to look at the set up for a few moments to understand her task. She was going to have to choose between her key and the fawn's life.
"So what's it gonna be Apple." Adelina taunted. "Your precious key or that pathetic little fawn."
"It's not pathetic!" Apple yelled back. She did not like this woman. Adelina just shrugged. She had now fully disregarded her old disguise and was shamelessly flaunting her blatant enjoyment.
"I'm still waiting for an answer." Her voice was lilting and almost as if it was just daring Apple to make the wrong decision. Seeing Apple hesitate, she continued and pushed her even more.
"Won't Raven sleep forever without this? Isn't everyone counting on you to save the day? What would they say if you came back without it?" While she said this, Adelina got closer to Apple, circling her in a menacing way and flaunting the story key. She got excruciatingly close and whispered her final blow into Apple's ear.
"What would your mother say if you failed?" She withdrew with a big, malicious grin as if she had already won. This last comment sent Apple over the edge. This woman was purposefully worming away at Apple's would her mother do? It didn't take much thinking to know how Snow White would do this situation. She knew exactly what she would do. The problem was Apple didn't know if she wanted to do. It would be so easy to just take the key here. But it was the royal thing to do and Apple was a royal through and through.
"Get the fawn down!" Apple demanded, a firmness in her voice that even surprised herself. This sent Adelina into a rage. Her eyes glowed.
"You're really going let this opportunity go for that!" She pointed at the fawn, pronouncing that with such venom that repulsed Apple.
"I'm serious. Let it go!" Apple wouldn't budge and she held firm despite what Adelina tried to do to dissuade her. Unexpectedly, Adelina then retained herself and all traces of he rage seemed vanish and she started to softly giggle. This instantly put Apple off and she started to doubt her choice. No, she shook herself, this is exactly what Adelina wants. She couldn't give into her.
"Now!" She demanded.
"Anything for you princess." Adelina cackled putting emphasise on princess. She then vanished in a puff of black smoke that stayed behind and swirled around Apple. She tried to swat at the smoke and as she moved, it moved with her not letting her go. After a moment, it dissipated into the air, leaving Apple and taking evert trace of the lava with it. Apple quickly rushed towards the fawn that was slowly walking forward, as if sceptical that the lava hadn't really gone. It's legs were shaking, making it difficult to walk and it gave out a few weak bleats of distress.
"Oh, are you okay little one?" She asked whilst trying to calm it down. She picked up the fawn, trying to get as much of the thorns out of its fur. While she did this, it nuzzled its head into her and immediately showed signs that it was starting to calm down. After making sure that the fawn was settled in her arms, Apple continued on. She had already lost enough time.
Left. Left. Right. Middle fork. Left. Right. Right. Right. Left.
Apple sighed as she hit another dead-end. This maze all looked the same. She turned around and retraced her steps until she reached the last intersection.
Right. Right. Middle fork. Left. Right. Right. Left.
It was then that Apple saw it. A bright light glowing amidst this sea of darkness. Could it be the exit? She picked up her pace until she was almost running. The fawn bleated in protest in her arms. She skidded to a stop at the doorway. It was the entrance to a small room. Apple almost squealed in excitement as she saw where the light was coming from.
On top of the crystal pedestal that sat in the middle of the room was the storybook key. It was floating about 5cm away from it pedestal and it was giving off an intense glow. One side of it was gold, the other black. On the end was a rosy, red Apple and a dark raven feather side by side as if they were equal. Apple cautiously walked up to the key. She hadn't forgotten Adelina's test and was well aware that this could be another one. The light was almost blinding and she had to look away. The fawn hurriedly jumped out of Apple's arms and ran away quickly, frightened by the bright light.
"Wait, come back!" Apple called after it but it was long gone. She was concerned for it as she was sure it would die all alone inside the maze, but she had other things to worry about. She didn't have time to chase after the fawn. Instead she turned her attention towards the key. She reached out for it and enclosed her hand around it. For a split-second there was silence and nothing happened. Apple was confused and slightly alarmed by this. She had just assumed that once she had the key, she would just be taken home. It turned out that she didn't have to worry as only moments later a light that was so intense that Apple had to squeeze her eyes closed emanated from it. Once the light had faded and she opened them again, she found herself no longer standing in the black maze. She was back in the Evil Queen's castle. She looked behind her to find the mirror staring back at her own reflection. She had made it out alive.
Dexter sat in a chair next to Raven, slowly stroking her hair. Apple had been gone for a day and he was starting to worry. If Apple didn't get back then Raven wouldn't wake up. Maybe that would be a good thing though. He didn't know if he would be able to handle the jealousy of Raving and Daring together, not to mention the horror Raven would be in once she realised what they had done. No. Dexter shook his head. This was no time to be selfish. Raven needed him and he was willing to help, no matter what the cost. At that moment the inter-com screeched on.
"Would Dexter Charming please come to the Headmasters office? Dexter Charming to the Headmasters office." A monotoned voice said. Dexter bounded out if his seat. This could only mean one thing. Apple must be back. Little did he know that it was about something completely different.