Race Through Time:
To Fight An Obsessed Alicorn
"According to Belle, the next ingredient that Midnight Sparkle is going to need to make her Lustful Curse is a handful of coriander," Emma said.
She and Killian were sitting in Emma's car parked not too far from the park. While Marion and Anubis' jackals continued to scout the woods in order to find the alicorn, the rest of the heroes were trying to locate the remaining ingredients in the hopes of getting a step ahead of the crazy alicorn.
"I am no expert on botany," Killian shrugged. "What the bloody hell is coriander?"
Before Emma could reply, a voice nearly startled them. "It's cilantro." Emma looked through the open window of her car and saw Henry, looking smugly at her. His girlfriend Violet stood next to him.
"Hey kid, what are you doing here?" Emma asked.
"Out on a romantic walk," Henry shrugged. Killian gave an amused grin as the boy asked his mother: "What's this story about Lustful Curse?"
"Lustful Curse?" Violet gasped. "Oh dear..."
"You've heard about it?" Emma asked the girl.
"From a true story that occurred long before Camelot came." Violet nodded. "It involved the late King Uther Pendragon..."
"Arthur's father?" Emma frowned, remembering the crazy king.
"Yes. Before Arthur was born, Uther's kingdom and the one of another king, Gorlois, were at war. During that time, Uther grew obsessive towards the wife of Gorlois, Igraine, to the point where he used a witch's potion to temporarily turn himself into Gorlois and approach Igraine in her bedchambers while the real Gorlois was out."
"Oh, I heard that story!" Henry snapped his fingers. "Then Gorlois died shortly and Igraine ended up marrying Uther in order to end the war and their union created Arthur."
"Yes," Violet hesitated. "Only...Uther wasn't exactly satisfied. Despite her marriage to Uther, Igraine still loved Gorlois and mourned his death. Uther got hit by jealousy and got his hands on the Lustful Curse formula, which he used on Igraine to make her lust on the king."
"And how did it end for the two of them?"
"That's when it got worse: from devoting so much of her soul and lust to Uther because of the Lustful Curse, Igraine eventually forgot what it's like to live and eventually found herself 'draining to death', as they called it back in Camelot. And Uther...he drowned himself in a lake miles away from Camelot. Ever since his death, corianders have been growing around the lake like mushrooms as a symbol of lust."
Emma and Killian stared at one another in horror after Violet finished the story. If it turned out, Midnight Sparkle's scheme to get Fidget's heart was deeper than just getting his devotion.
"Mom, what's going on?" Henry asked.
Emma told Henry the whole story about what was going on from Midnight Sparkle escaping Pandora's Box and her hunt to get revenge on Fidget to Rosetta's sudden disappearance and location in the Enchanted Forest.
"Good thing I grew up in Storybrooke," Henry commented. "There are only two places in town where Midnight could get her hands on cilantro: the farmer's market or the Games of Thorns shop."
"A market and Belle's father's flower shop? Thanks Henry!" Emma said as she and Killian fastened their seatbelts.
"No problem! And I'll do some personal research to see if I can understand why Rosetta went missing," Henry said.
"You think you can do that?" Violet asked.
"Hey, I'm the Author." Henry shrugged. Violet smiled at her boyfriend.
"Thanks kids," Emma said. "Meet up at the library at seven to see if you found anything?"
"Of course."
They then went on their separate ways.
Minutes later
"Mr. French?" Emma called once she and Killian stepped inside the flower shop. After leaving Henry and Violet, Emma had called David and Gold to let them know the second possible targeted location of corianders while she and Killian went to the Games of Thorns shop. A strong scent of roses and lilies filled the air as she and Killian headed towards the counter, where Moe French, Belle's father, was busy cutting the stems of hydrangeas.
"Sheriff Swan? How may I help you?" Moe French asked.
"Mr. French, I'll just make it quick: you might be targeted by someone trying to create a Lustful Curse and needing to get corianders from you..." Emma began.
"Too late darling," Moe's voice suddenly changed into a feminine voice.
"Midnight Sparkle," Killian snarled.
Moe French sneered before he was engulfed in smoke composed of eight-pointed stars and purple cosmos until it dissolved away, revealing Moe to be indeed the crazy alicorn. The last time they saw her, she was wearing a jumpsuit and leather jacket, but today Midnight was wearing a purple and black version of Emma's usual clothing attire, with the blonde's red jacket meeting it's evil clone, a dark violet jacket with an eight-pointed star shaped badge attached on it.
"What the Hell?" Emma asked, practically insulted.
"How do you like my look?" Midnight taunted. "I must admit, I rather like the fashion trends of this world..."
"What have you done to Belle's father?" Killian demanded.
"He's hog-tied and kept in the shop's basement," Midnight said smugly. "At least it gave me plenty of time to get these." She waved something in her hand in front of the two, and much to their horror, it was a handful of cilantro. Emma tried to blast them with magic, but the alicorn was quick and kicked Emma hard in the stomach. The Savior crashed into a bucket of chrysanthemums.
"SWAN!" Killian cried.
"Go save Moe!" Emma told Killian. The pirate nodded and rushed to the back of the store. Midnight grimaced at the entire scenario.
"You are lucky to have a faithful lover, Savior," she said, her voice giving out a tone of jealousy. "But I don't have to worry. Soon I'll have the next ingredients, the Lustful Curse will be complete, and by the time the next full moon's shattered reflection looms upon the altar, Fitzgerald will be mine!"
Emma frowned at what the alicorn was saying. "Look, I know you think you can possess Fidget, but using the Lustful Curse on him will be fatal for the two of you..."
"Please, you think I'm unaware of the fact that he drank the Elixir of Nine Lives?" Midnight rolled her eyes. "Suicide is the only way for him to obtain death, and honestly, aside from wanting to possess his heart, I also want to get my revenge on him making a fool out of me. Rebuffing my first advances then acting like he felt the same way, seduce me into intimacy, and before even getting deflowered...SUCKED INTO THE BOX! Do you have any idea of what it's like to land in a hellish wasteland within a box, stark naked and easily preyed by the local vermin? The humiliation!"
"What Fidget did was wrong, but getting back at him won't help. Trust me, I..." Before Emma could finish, Midnight made a hand motion that caused the tile floor to fall apart and the tiles to assemble around and above Emma until it seemed like she was encased in a stone box. Emma tried to break free with both her strength and her magic, but the walls were shutting down on her the same way walls were moving in movies like 'Indiana Jones'.
"Admit defeat, Savior," Midnight snickered as the box kept closing in on Emma. "Your magic may be powerful, but it is younger than mine. No magic can defeat one that is older!" To that she sprout her wings open and flew straight out the window, crashing through the glass and flew out in the open. Emma struggled to maintain her magic in one place of her brain as the walls were closing in until a bright light came out of the Savior and exploded like a giant light show, breaking apart the box and sending the tiles crashing all over the store. By the time Moe and Killian came into the scene, the store looked like it went through a volcano and Emma like she had wrestled a shark.
"Swan, are you alright?" Hook rushed to his girlfriend's side and helped her get up.
"What did the alicorn do to my shop?" Moe asked.
"Midnight escaped..." Emma gasped for air, "...and she took the corianders. And she still wants to get revenge on Fidget. She also said how Fidget would be hers by the time the... 'next full moon's shattered reflection looms upon the altar'? What does that mean?"
"It means that the next there's a full moon, she's going to go to an altar where she'll get a reflection of the moon through the wood's branches, which will make the moon's reflection look 'shattered'," Moe said. "I've heard that phrase from an old gypsy tale."
"And if I'm correct based on my astronomy knowledge," Killian said, "the next full moon will be around the beginning of May, which unfortunately is the deadline for putting that crazy alicorn back in the blasted box. We don't have much time."
At the Storybrooke Public Library
"Have you found anything, Henry?" Violet asked. She and Henry had been spending nearly two hours with their noses in nearly every book they could find excluding Henry's treasured storybook, and so far nothing.
"Nothing!" Henry grumbled as he slammed his storybook closed and dropped his head on the table he was sitting at. Violet was on the verge of walking towards her boyfriend and comfort him until a book on a nearby shelf caught her interest. She pulled it out and read the title.
"The Canterbury Tales? This world has a book about Dwight's travels? But he never got to the shrine yet!"
"What are you talking about?" Henry joined his girlfriend, who was flipping through the book's pages.
"Henry, this book talks about pilgrims going to the Canterbury Shrine and ends with an unresolved story. But this isn't the true story! I knew one of the pilgrims, the Tapiser. His name was Dwight and he lived in Camberley, a kingdom almost like Camelot. When I was close to seven, my father took me to Camberley to witness the jousting tournament between Camberley and Camelot. I remember meeting Dwight. He was selling tapestries at a stand during the tournament. When my father briefly chatted with him, I overheard Dwight saying that he was saving money for an upcoming pilgrimage..."
"A pilgrimage? To the shrine of Canterbury?" Henry got curious, for the Canterbury Tales were part of the tales he wasn't very familiar with...
A bell rung in his head. After the events involving the San Angel Heroes and the Aztec Gods, Rosetta had told Henry of the numerous recorded stories she had read in the Book Of Life and that she would take the opportunity to read some of the stories she wasn't very familiar with during her spare time. The Canterbury Tales were among them.
Henry might not known Rosetta's current location in the Enchanted Forest, but he had an idea of with whom she might be right now.