"You sure she's going to be okay?" Emma asks the older woman referring to her unconscious mother as they remained in the pit the survivors of the dark curse had thrown them all into. With her arms folded across her chest she couldn't help but keep a weary eye on the man lad out next to her mother. Cora had insisted that he wasn't really dead. Not completely anyway. Only temporarily as his body healed from having a sword shoved through his heart.
He was a vampire. Vampire's were real. And he was one. It must've happened when magic swept over the town.
She was just getting round the idea of believing in magic and now she had to take in the fact that the Enchanted Forest was full of supernatural creatures she had only seen in trashy TV and movies.
"Don't worry. They'll both be fine" Cora reassures the blonde as she tended to both Mary Margaret and Elijah who had been moved out of the sun to lay somewhat comfortably "He just needs time to heal" she adds gently brushing his hair out of his face as she saw the first signs of her youngest making his way back to them as the dark desiccation veins that covered his face started to recede back into themselves and his skin started to turn back to normal.
She knew what he had turned into in her absence. She couldn't help but be disappointed that he allowed himself to fall into the trap that Henry Wotton had set up for him, and that her daughter couldn't move past her her thought of vengeance to see what her baby brother was becoming.
"What is this place? Where are we?" Emma asks the older woman as she peers up to the hole in the ceiling that allowed sunlight into the pit.
"It's a little island our captors like to think of as their haven" Cora informs her as she stands up to leave her son and Snow to rest.
"Haven?" she questions in confusion "From what?".
"The world's dangerous. What's left of it, anyway".
"Well, they can't keep us down here. We didn't do anything wrong" she expresses to the older woman.
"Neither did I" Cora retorts shaking her head at her.
"Then why are you here?".
"I'm here because of something my daughter did. The curse that ravaged this land? She cast it".
"Regina?" Emma states outload in surprise "You're Regina's mother?" she asks the woman in disbelief as she turns to look at the unconscious man behind her "So that means.." she trailed off in realisation.
"Yes Elijah's my son" Cora confirms the blonde suspicions with a gentle almost loving smile "But you have nothing to fear from me. The apple fell very far from the tree" she adds, looking at the woman's clothes "You're from over there, aren't you?" the sorceress changes the subject "How'd you get back?" she asks Emma as a deep painful gasp is heard from behind them making the pair look back to see Elijah sat up taking in lungful of air as the veins disappear from his face. Unaware that Mary Margaret had woken up and gotten back on her feet.
"Emma" the pixie haired princess called out for her daughter as she rubs the back of her head "No…" she whispered in disbelief seeing the woman for the first time in years stood in front of her.
"Oh, Snow, Elijah you're awake" she voices to the pair waking up "I'm so relieved".
Hearing the voice the vampire had to take a second longer than he usually took waking up from being 'killed' as he looked up to see a woman in the pit with them that strangely looked like his mother.
"Impossible" he whispered to himself as he heard her heart beating in her chest. She was supposed to be dead. That was the last time he allowed his sister to hire someone else to do a vampire's job.
Speeding over to stand on front of hir mother, the vampire listened closely to her heart beating in her chest only to hear the how it echoed. It was wasn't in her chest, but she was still human. He smelt in on her as she stared up at him, forgetting about the hole in his chest that hadn't fully healed from the sword impaling him . In the years he had been human he failed to remember how much it hurt being stabbed.
And with little human blood in his system, it would take a lot longer to heal than it usually did.
"Hello Mother" he greets his mother "How was Hell?" he asked her with a straight face "Is it warm this time of year?" the question made the older woman chuckle in response.
"I wouldn't know my dear boy. I was never there" she answers her son as she tries to reach up to touch his cheek only for the man to quickly take a step away from her as she saw the dark veins underneath his eyes crawl across his skin, warning her. allowing Mary Margaret to take her daughter aside to speak to her.
"As bad as you think Regina is, this woman is worse" Mary Margaret tries telling her daughter.
"Oh, Snow" Cora speaks up from over Elijah's broad shoulder her making her spin around to face the woman with a protective arm Infront of her daughter as Elijah put one in front of the former Princess "Sweet Snow. Please… Believe me. Whatever she told you isn't true. I just want to help you" she pleads to her.
"Mother be quiet" the vampire demands out of the older woman as remined the first line of defence.
"Let's hear her out" Emma whisper's into her mother's ear.
"Miss Swan, you have no idea who this woman is" he tells the blonde not as his eye's never left his mother.
"Elijah" the older woman feigns offence at the way he spoke about her "I'm your mother".
"Okay" Emma tried to reason with the pair blocking her from the older woman "Right now, we are at the bottom of a hole with no other options. And Henry, is back in Storybrooke with Regina".
"Who's Henry?" the older woman inquired with the blonde hearing the name.
"Emma be quiet!" Elijah tries to stop her from saying anything more as his mother saw how much this Henry meant to him. He was safer in Storybrooke with his sister now that their mother hadn't quite died when she was supposed to.
"My son" Emma answers the woman's question much to his and Mary Margaret's displeasure "I kind of share him with Regina. It's complicated".
"Don't talk to her!" Mary Margaret quickly scolds her grown daughter as she whirled around to face her as Elijah kept a steely gaze on his mother. But she saw it, the care in his face that told her everything she needed to know how much this Henry meant to him from the way he was trying to stope Emma from speaking anymore about him. He loved him. And that was a weakness he would be willing to use against him given the chance.
"Enough!" a guard calls down before a rope is thrown down into the pit making Emma and Mary Margaret look up "Our leader requests an audience".
Back in chains after his little 'outburst' earlier, Elijah was being personally escorted to the encampment's leader by two guards equipped with freshly carved wooden stakes in their hands ready to end the vampire's immortal life if he got any idea about making a meal out of their leader. Taking a bite out of the leader sounded a little tempting if he were being honey, he was hungry, and the beating hearts that surrounded him didn't lessen the crave he had for it.
Animal blood would have to be a substitute for the time being, he wondered if this little 'camp' had a butcher or hunter. It wouldn't be as good as human blood, but at least he stop imagining how it would feel like to take a bite out everyone in the encampment.
Trailing behind him, Emma and Mary Margaret followed the man's personal 'guard' as they were taken through the camp as the blonde watched the man closely having now discovered what he was.
"Why can't you just listen to me?" Elijah heard Mary Margaret voice to her daughter as they were escorted through the camp.
"Why couldn't you have trusted me?" Emma retorts "I was just trying to find a way to get us home. I could've handled her".
"Cora? Don't be so sure. We've lived here, Emma. I know this world. And its dangers" she tells her.
"Wait here" their guard orders the women as they came to stop. The pair watch as Elijah is roughly pushed towards a table situated under and canopy in the middle of the encampment and forced into a chair with his guards standing either side of him.
"Danger's like Elijah?" Emma questioned the woman.
"What do you mean? Like Elijah?" she asks her daughter not sure what she was taking about, but she saw the way the woman was trying to brush her concern off.
"Don't give me that. I know what he is. He's-" she couldn't bring herself to say the word again. It still seemed impossible.
"Emma" Mary Margaret started taking a hold of her arms "I know it's a lot to take in that happened a very long time ago, before you were even born".
"You mean he's been a vampire this whole time?!".
"No" she quickly answered "Yes" she changed her answer not sure "I don't know Emma, all I know that he's still the good man we both know".
"Is he? Because the way he's been since the curse broke tells me different".
"He is" she insists to her daughter "He would die to protect his family, that just how he does it. It's not his fault" she tried to reassure her only for the blonde to roll her eye's at her "From what I understand, someone I even trusted when I was younger did that to him, turning him into something he never wanted to be".
"Really?" the scepticism in her voice wasn't hard for the vampire to hear as he waited for the encampment's illustrious leader to make their entrance.
"Really Emma" she continued "You just need to be the one to ask him and he'll tell you".
"Is that why you came through the portal? Because you thought I was helpless here?".
"No… I came through to be with you" her mother tells her making the corner of the blonde's lips quirk up as the encampment's leader finally makes his appearance, stepping out of his hut as Snow catches' sight of an old friend over her grown daughter's shoulder.
"Lancelot?" she called out to the knight as he saw someone he recognised with short dark hair and strange clothes.
"Snow?" he states in surprise as he pushed himself to meet the woman in warm embrace as the old friend reunited leaving her daughter and Elijah to watch from the table at who the leader of the encampment was.
"Good heaven's" Elijah exasperated from his seat at the table as he saw the knight and Snow warmly embraced like old friends. Just what he needed at the moment. Another hero.
"Wait, if I had known that you were the prisoners Mulan had brought back, I never would have locked you away. I was only told about the vampire attack" Lancelot tells the woman as he held her hands in his own "Please, forgive me".
"Of course" she quickly tells the knight "Elijah was only trying to protect us, he didn't mean to harm anyone".
"Lancelot? Really?" she send the pixie haired woman the question.
"He's an old friend" Mary Margaret tells her daughter "We can trust him".
Watching the reunion across the camp, Mulan and Aroura stood together as the Princess couldn't help the sick feeling that came to her stomach the way Sir Lancelot was treating the people responsible for her true love's death.
"Why is he embracing them?" she questions the warrior that Phillip entrusted "They were responsible for Phillip's death".
"You're new here, Aurora. Phillip trusted Lancelot. So must we" the warrior reasoned to the Princess.
"I want justice" Aurora states to the woman next to her as she watches Lancelot order his guards to remove the chains from the vampire's bound wrists.
"Tread carefully" Mulan warns her hearing this come from the grieving Princess "It's dangerous to confuse vengeance with justice. Do you understand me?" Mulan was met with silence.
"Do you understand me?" Mulan repeats herself needing the woman to answer her.
"Yes" Aurora answers her before the warrior leaves her to join their leader to 'welcome' the newcomer's as the Princess continues to watch the woman conversing with Sir Lancelot. Turning her back from view the Princess takes out the gagger and wooden stake she had been hiding on her person. They would pay for getting her true love killed. Even if she died in the process.
Settling around the table, Emma and Mary Margaret sat opposite Elijah as food and drink was served to them. The blonde watched with furrowed brows as the vampire helped to himself to the food that had been served to him. The man confused her to no end as he at spoonful's of rice like a normal human person.
She was distracted as a platter of meat she didn't recognise was placed in the middle of the table.
"What the hell is that?" the blonde exclaimed at the knight.
"That is chimera" he answers her curiosity "An acquired taste, but all our hunting party could bring back" he informs the pair as he takes a seat at the head of the table "One part lion, one part serpent, one part goat".
"Like turducken?" Emma says as she picks up a slab of the strange meat before putting it back only for a voice opposite her to stop her.
"May I?" Elijah politely asks the blonde as he held up his plate to her as he met her eye.
"Uh sure" she says placing it on his plate before he took it back. The vampire paused as he looked for a knife and fork only to see that none had been provided.
"How uncivilized" Emma heard him mutter to himself as he picked up the piece of meat with his hands. It was an acquired taste, he ate it a lot in his youth, it would satisfy his hunger until he found something that would last him a little longer and allow him to heal fully from the sword in his chest.
"I don't understand" Snow spoke up, looking at her old friend, moving the conversation on "We were told this land didn't even exist anymore. How did you all escape the curse?".
"It is a mystery" the knight answers her "The curse struck and when the smoke cleared, most of us had been torn from this land. But some of us here, in this particular region, were left behind. We don't know how, and we don't know why. Finding this safe haven wasn't easy. Took some spilled blood. But worry not. You're safe here".
"We can't stay" she tells him "My husband's back there, Emma's son. Elijah's nephew, my grandson. We have to get back to them. Can you help us find a portal?".
"No, leaving is unwise" he cautions them "The Enchanted Forest is not as you remember it. Even with the Queen's brother by your side" he adds glancing towards the vampire "The Ogres have returned".
"Ogres?" Emma interest peaked at the mention "Like, as in fee-fi-fo-fum?".
"Those would be giants Miss Swan" Elijah corrects her as her mother give her hand a squeeze to reassure the blonde, knowing she was all new for her. Seeing this from across the table he wished his ex-fiancée wouldn't coddle her daughter too much. She needed to adapt fast to this new land. It sounded cruel but it was the way it was.
"Ogres are far worse" Lancelot supplies to the blonde "And that's why we live here. On this island, where it's safe. Please, Snow. Stay here" he beseeched to the younger woman "There are no more portals left".
"I might know of one" the Princess tells him taking the vampire by interest.
"You do?" both Emma and Elijah echoed to the woman in unison.
"Where?" the knight asks her.
"Cora's near" the Princess frets to the knight after a pause "I don't feel comfortable voicing my plans. She's powerful".
"Not anymore" the knight informs them "The curse stripped her of her powers. But, given her reputation, we kept her locked up as a precaution".
"The one and only good you've done so far" Elijah comments between bites hearing this.
"Elijah" his ex-fiancée lightly scolds him from across the table. She needed to keep his sarcasm to a minimum. "Nevertheless, I'm not taking chances" she continues "Just trust me. I may have a way. Let us go?" she pleads to the knight at the head of the table.
"I'll allow it" he agreed to let them leave "But on one condition" he adds motioning for someone to come forward. A second later Mulan the female warriors that had captured them stepped up to the table "Take my bravest warrior with you. Allow Mulan to defend you".
"We can defend ourselves" Emma tries to tell him only for her mother to speak over her.
"Deal" the former Princess accepts his offer "Thank you, Lancelot. For always looking out for me".
"Now that's sorted and we're all friends" Elijah spoke up gaining the knights attention "Would you be so kind as to point in the direction of your camp's hunter or butcher. I'd like to have a full stomach before I'm tempted to rip open your warrior's carotid artery for killing me earlier" he say's narrowing his gaze at the woman who only stared back.
"That way " the knight answered with an amused smile, pointing in the direction of their hunter as Elijah head snaps in the direction he was pointing "I'll have someone take you there" he offers the man as he goes to bring someone over only for the vampire to easily catch the scent of blood in the air.
"No need" he tells the knight "I'll find them myself. Thank you. I also require a change of clothes, mine still smell like death" was the last thing they heard Elijah say before he sped away in a blur making the blonde jump as the empty chair he was sat on shook.
"That's still weird" Emma voiced to the pixie haired Princess.
"I know" the Princess could only sigh out "You'll get used to it".
He forgot how animal blood tasted against human. He rarely fed from animals before the curse, it tasted dirtier somehow, like the soil and grass the deer had eaten had soaked into the blood that pumped through it's body. Despite the taste, the substitute allowed for the gash in his chest and back to heal, giving him the energy he needed to follow his friend to wherever this portal was to get back home as well as satisfy his craving's.
He could breathe for the time being, until he needed another gulp or two from the waterskin he had filled to the brim, that now rested from his shoulder by the leather strap.
Stepping out of the hut where he had changed into to a set of clothes that felt more comfortable than one of his suits, the clothed long-sleeved outer tunic sat comfortably over his broad shoulders as the thick cotton shirt underneath hung loosely against his body as the dark leather trousers that would take the wear and tear of their impending journey on foot.
The heeled boots that had been procured for him felt snug around his feet as he made his way towards where he would met Mary-Margaret and Emma, on his way the vampire threw his bloodied and ripped dress shirt into the nearest firepit as he found his ex-fiancée waiting for them to ick out their weapons for the journey ahead.
"Hey" his ex-fiancée's greeted him as he joined her waiting for Mulan and Emma to join them "Did you find the blood okay?" she asks her old friend.
"I did, thank you" he replies as she takes a second to look over his healthier complexion. The colour had returned to normal as the ash colour from before had disappeared as any evidence of his earlier injury had healed.
"You look better" she voiced to the man in front of her "Less-".
"Dead" he finished for her giving her a sarcastic smirk.
"That's not what I was going to say, and you know that".
"Yes, but you thinking it Snowbell" he said with a teasing smile playing on his lips.
A breathily chuckle left her lips, shaking her head in embarrassment at the nickname he had come up with when she was younger "You haven't called me that in years".
"I know. But since we've both got all our memories back, I thought it was due for a comeback".
"How are you dealing with all that?" she asked referring to his memories returning him, revealing his sister's betrayal of his trust. She knew how hard he took betrayal from someone, especially if he trusted them.
"Honestly I'm not sure" he tells her "Perhaps this time apart from my big sister will me to figure it out for myself. I just didn't think I'd be-".
He didn't think he'd be turned back into the creature of the night. Into the monster that fed on blood to survive.
"I know" she sighed out in sympathy reaching out to place a comforting hand on his arm as if to tell him she wasn't scared of him, something he admittingly needed from her of all people. She'd been a firm ally of his despite the animosity between his sister and her step-daughter for the death of her love. And when she leaned of his transformation she didn't see the creature underneath that would no sooner drain her dry.
"No one did. Not even Regina" she tells him knowing that despite everything she's ever done, she would do anything to protect her baby brother. He was the exception to her hatred "When we get home, you'll be able to sit down with her and talk".
Her optimism was the thing he missed the most from the curse. As Mary Margaret she allowed her heartbreak and pain to be seen by everyone around her while Snow White was better at hiding her pain for the sake of other's.
"Is it bad taste to say I missed you after everything" he asks her "The real you".
"It is" she answers him honestly with a sad smile, sending the pair into silence, before the vampire broke it.
"Thank you by the way" he tells the Princess "For trying to speak up for me to your daughter. I know I haven't given you much reason to over the years, but its always appreciated".
"She's just a little shocked with everything. Give her time".
"Time is all I seem to have now" he replies as Emma and Mulan finally join them.
Opening the chest the three are greeted with an array of weapons that had been haphazardly placed into the wooden trunk, from daggers to swords to bow and arrow's.
"Choose wisely" the female warrior instructs the three as Elijah picks up a sword and scabbard from the wooden trunk to wrap the belt around his waist so that the weapon rested on his left side, as Emma find a dagger to slip into her knee high boot's. "We must be vigilant if we hope to survive the journey" the warrior adds as Mary- Margaret finds another sword to wrap around herself.
"Where's my gun?" Emma asks the warrior opposite her "I want it back".
Finding the weapons she took off the blonde when they found her, the warrior takes it out of her pocket and inspects the strange weapon in her hand. "Is it magic?" the female warrior asks her in wonder.
"Depends on who's pulling the trigger" the blonde retorts taking her weapon back into her hands as Mary- Margaret finds the bow in the wooden trunk. Picking up the heavy quiver full of arrows for her, holding it out for the woman to take from him as he finds a sheathed dagger that would
"Follow my lead" Mulan continues to instruct them "Step where I step. Do exactly as I say, and you might survive".
"Thanks for the pep talk, but I think we're okay. I just killed a dragon last week". Emma tells the female warrior.
"Have you ever seen an ogre?" Mulan questioned the blonde as she
"Pretty sure I've dated a few" Emma retorted to the woman with a steady voice.
"Legend has it, that when they kill you, the last thing you see is yourself dying in the reflection in their eyes".
"Good heavens" Elijah sighed out to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance as Mary Margaret rolled their eye's at the woman's attempt to spook the blonde saviour.
"Let's walk. It'll be dark soon" Mulan states to the pair turning to lead them out of the camp as Emma see's what weapon's Elijah had picked for their journey, it looked odd for the man to carry weapons on him despite knowing what he was.
A chuckle left the blonde's lips that was easily heard by the vampire.
"Yes Miss Swan?" the man blinked at her.
"You know how use one of those" she asks the man motioning to the sword on his hip.
"Do you?" he retorts dryly.
"I just thought...".
"I was taught how to use a sword long before I gained my abilities" he pointedly tells her "And seeing that I've already had a sword in my chest. I think having a weapon in my hand will only aid us in our endeavour to get back to my family".
"Right" she gulped remembering how he 'died' "Sorry" she adds.
"Forgiven. Now let get moving before we lose light" he indicated for the mother and daughter duo to walk ahead of him. Shall we?".
"Don't let them rattle you" Mary-Margaret tells her daughter as they followed the female warrior out of the camp "I won't let anything happen to us. Stick to the plan".
"What is the plan?" Emma asks the woman "You haven't told us anything. What's going on?".
"The wardrobe" she whispered knowing Elijah would hear them despite the distance between them.
"The wardrobe? 'The' wardrobe? Like, the wardrobe that sent little baby me to Maine? You think that can get us back to Storybrooke?".
"I don't know. First, we have to see if it survived the curse, then we'll worry about making it work"
"Where is it?".
"My place. Want to see where you're from, Emma? That's right. We're going home".
Making good pace with Mulan leading the group of three women and the vampire trailing behind, the hours dragged as the four made it to a small clearing as the sun began to dip into the horizon. They would need to make camp soon, it wasn't ideal for someone who had spent the last twenty-eight years of his life sleeping on a mattress with in his own home or in the Inn when he spent the night with Ruby Lucas , but he would much rather camp under the star than be stuck in the pit with his mother any day.
"This will do" Mulan announced to the three behind her "We'll make camp here for the night. We just need to find water, collect some firewood".
"Uh, if we're hiding from ogres, shouldn't we maybe, I don't know, not start a fire?" Emma asked the woman coming to a stop.
"Ogres are blind" Mary Margaret corrects her daughter "They hunt by sound alone".
"Right" the blonde blinked at the woman "Because that's something everyone would know about ogres".
The sentence of the woman's naivety of land around her made the seasoned warrior gave the former princess a pointed look as Elijah did his best to keep his mouth shut and his eye's to the ground as he rested his hands on the pommel of his sword. It was clear to everyone that the blonde was out of her depth.
Taking the hint from the female warrior the former Princess backtracked to speak to her grown daughter.
"Look, I know you're out of your element…" Mary Margaret went to say only for Emma to interrupt her.
"I'm fine" Emma quickly corrects her.
"I know. But, maybe you should just stay here while we get wood and water. Guard the campsite?" the former Princess suggested to her.
"You mean the big, empty clearing?" she voiced in concern.
"It's the safest place" Mary Margaret reassures her daughter "Besides, Elijah will stay here with you, he'll be able to hear anything a mile away. Won't you Elijah?" the woman looks to the man for an answer.
"Well..." he didn't get a chance to answer as a decision was made for him.
"See" she interrupts him "He'll look our for you. We'll be right back" Mary Margaret tells her daughter before she and Mulan split up in different directions to find food and water leaving the pair alone for the first time since arriving in the Enchanted Forest.
"If it makes you feel any better" Elijah breaks the uncomfortable silence between them "I think she only did that to get us to speak to one-another" the vampire offers to the blonde as he unsheathes his sword to stab it into the soft ground, before taking a seat next to the weapon to take the opportunity to rest.
"You think so?".
"She has a talent for getting what she wants" he tried to ease her mind only for the woman to become more tense. There was no use avoiding the subject of her discovery, it needed to be discussed whether it happened now or later.
"I assume it's safe to say you know about my vampirism" he goes straight to the point as he fidgeted with his daylight ring "You've been nervous around me since we left the pit".
"I'm not nervous" she argues as she paces the small clearing, keeping her distance from him.
The statement made the man chuckle in amusement, if only she knew how erratic her heart became when he asked for a piece of chimera, or when he asked where the encampment's hunter or butcher was. She was scared of him. And for good reason.
"You may have your superpower Miss Swan but I can hear a lie just as well as you can. Your heart gives you away".
"My heart?" she scoffs at the man sceptically "Really?".
A frightened gasp escaped her lips as the man suddenly appeared in front of her. wide eyed, the vampire heard her heart thump harder in her chest from the fright. He liked the sound of her heart, it was almost...comforting and amusing to see that he had this affect on her.
"I hear it beating in your chest" he tells her with a straight face "I can hear the blood being pumped around your arteries' through your veins, that is all I've been able to hear ever since I was made vampire years ago".
Stepping away from the woman, she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding onto as she watched him retake his seat on the grass.
"I can understand why my-" he paused trying to think of a word to use "...Second nature may have come as a surprise for you, I've had experience in the people I care most about looking at me the same way you did when they took us out of the pit, but if you think for one second this was some part of some illustrious backup plan if the curse ever broke. It wasn't. When I left the hospital to find my sister I was still human, until I wasn't again".
"The cloud" Emma states to the man "Magic did that to you" The purple cloud that brought magic to Storybrooke did this to him.
"Partly" he corrected her "The magic that was swept over the town somehow re-awakened it. While the Dark Curse wasn't just a punishment for people like Snow White, it was used for my salvation, from a path I was going down despite every effort to evade it".
"From what exactly?".
"From the monster you saw holding Dr. Whales life in my hand, the one that hurt that man in the hospital. I lost control. I lost myself in the blood and almost didn't come back".
"You mean.. this whole time you were human".
He still was human. He wanted to tell her, underneath the unquenchable thirst for blood he was still human.
"Yes, but it doesn't change anything I feel about Henry, it's just..." he stopped not sure how to describe the feeling.
"What?".
"Amplified" he answers her "When someone becomes a vampire, all their natural behaviours get amplified".
"What do you mean?" she pressed.
"The man you met when you came to Storybrooke, lived by a a code of honour and morality. Valued compassion, honour and virtue. Had long learned how to take care of my family" he stilled "Or rather, was that man before my portrait was cursed. When I was turned I became that man again only for everything about him was amplified, I became unpredictable, over-protective, and often, unforgiving to those I see to have betrayed my family and I".
"Even my emotions are amplified. Happiness becomes joy. Sadness becomes despair. Anger becomes rage".
Listening to the man's words the blonde couldn't help but to feel sorry for the man in front of her, it sounded like he was going through hell, and it wasn't the first time either.
"What about the portrait? Does it even affect you now that you're technically-" she stopped herself from saying 'dead', she couldn't bring herself to say the word just yet.
"Dead" he finished for her making her jump "It's not a bad word, it's what I am after all. The curse remained on the portrait when I turned, it will be until I eventually die if not at all".
"You mean...".
"There's a good chance I'll outlive even Henry's great-grandchildren. I'm immortal. Nothing can kill me except from a wooden stake to the heart. No weapon made by man can kill me. Not even the sun can burn me as long as I wear my daylight ring on my finger" he says showing her the small band on his middle finger "The only other thing that could hurt me is through my portrait".
"How do you know that?" she asked joining him on the grass to listen to his story.
"Because I did once" he admitted to the blonde "The tear you saw that was repaired. After years under it's curse I had grown mad and took a knife to it in order to end it all. Only for a vampire to feed me his blood in time before breaking my neck to save me from dying".
"Why are you telling me all this?". He was telling her how she could kill him if it came to it.
"Like I told you in the hospital. I trust you".
"Is it safe? The portrait?" .
"Yes" he all but confirmed to her. It was safe in his home with his sister. Now that magic had returned, it would be only thing that would kill him if someone else got their hands on it.
"Emma" he started "All I ask is that you give me the next few days to tell you everything you want to know and I'll do my best to answer. In the meantime, you need to be able to trust me enough to listen to what your mother and I say. The Enchanted Forest isn't the same place we left twenty-eight years ago and now that my mother has somehow risen from the dead, you need to keep well away from her, otherwise she will destroy everything you love. Including Henry" .
"Okay" she agreed with a small nod of her head.
It didn't take long for the sun to set on the Enchanted Forest as Emma became more comfortable in Elijah's company as they waited for Mulan and Mary-Margaret to return with wood and water to camp. But as much as he wanted her to ask questions, they needed to stay quiet as the vampire stood listening closely everything around them for any sign of the heavy stomp that belonged to an ogre.
As the vampire listened to the sound of nature around him a voice reached his ear that didn't belong to either the female warrior or his oldest friend. No, it belonged to a Princess.
"Don't move" Aroura's voice commanded quietly "Phillip's gone because of you".
Quickly standing up from where he was sat Emma was taken by surprise when she saw the man marched over to his sword.
"What is it? An ogre?" Emma panicked as he snatched his sword out of the ground.
"Stay here" was all he said to her before he blurred away from her and the clearing to find Mary Margaret straddling Princess Aroura on the ground holding her arms either side of her head, with a lone dagger sat in the grass. He knew what the Princess was trying to do.
"Listen to me, princess" Mary Margaret quietly stressed to the Princess on the ground as the latter struggled out of the older woman's hold "You think I don't know what it's like to be separated from the people that I love? What happened to Phillip was not our fault. So I suggest, you find another way to channel your anger".
"Don't talk to her like that" Mulan told Mary Margaret pulling her off the younger Princess.
"She tried to kill her" Elijah makes his presence known as he approaches the scene.
"I will deal with her" the warrior tells him turning her back on the princess on the ground to pick up the dagger on the ground failing to see the Princess take out a stake from her person to pick herself off the ground with the stake high up in the air aiming straight for the vampire's chest only for a strong hand to take hold of her wrist holding it still in the air as the vampire observes poor attempts of the young woman's attempts of making a stake as whimper's of pain to escape the young woman's lips.
"You need to work on your whittling Princess" the vampire states to the girl as a loud bang resounds behind them making the flitch and cover their ears at the sudden noise. Letting the girls wrist go the vampire whirled around to see Emma stood there with her gun in her hand aiming straight at Mulan.
"Emma, what are you doing?" her mother asks the blonde as Elijah's ears are filled with the sound of scared wildlife howling in the distance.
"Protecting you. Drop the weapon" Emma orders the warrior and the Princess as the wooden stake is snatched from her hand by the vampire.
"Do you have any idea what you've just done?" her mother goes on as they all heard a deep growl in the distance getting louder as the ogre approaches the noise.
"Ogres?" meekly asked.
"Run!" Mary Margaret yelled as they all turned to run in the opposite direction. Allowing the woman to run ahead of him the vampire quickly followed suit, keeping up to the group of four women's pace.
"Spilt up!" Mary Margaret instructs them as Mulan take's Aroura one way while the older princess led her daughter and friend the other away from the ogre.
"Over here!" the pixie haired Princess direct them as they came out of the patch of woodland as Elijah caught up to the former bandit leaving the blonde saviour behind to strip on a fallen branch and fall onto the dewy grass on her front and Mary Margaret and Elijah continued.
Heavy footsteps followed her as the saviour turned on her back to see the ogre emerge from the tree's, the ground shook underneath her as the beast closed the distance between them, kneeling down in front of it's 'prey' its white eye's met hers as it sniffed the air. Finding her gun that had been dropped on the ground, the blonde turned aiming at the monster's head only for it to be snatched out of her hand and crushed in front of her in his giant hand.
"Seriously?!" she exasperates to herself before the ogre roar's in her face. It's hot breath made the saviour cover her face
"Hey! Over here!" the blonde saving grace came in the form of Elijah stood behind the ogre with a sword in his hands making the "Hey!" he continues to exclaim making the ogre forget about Emma and stand back up on it's legs and turn it's back on the blonde. Taking two steps towards the vampire the latter suddenly sped over to stand behind the blonde still on the ground.
"Over here!" he yells out again making the ogre turn back around in confusion as it roars out it's frustration into the night sky before it's heavy footsteps make their way back over to the Emma.
"What are you doing!" she yells out at the vampire as she tries her best to scramble away from the beast.
"Trust us" he tells her.
"Back away from my daughter!" Mary Margaret bellowed out to the ogre, making it turn again. As if she had time to spare the former bandit coolly notches an arrow in her bow, pulling back the string, aiming straight at the ogre as the beast made it's approach towards her.
Letting the arrow loose, the weapon flew in the air striking the beast in it's blind eye. A painfilled roar reverberated through the clearing as the beast stumbled before falling dead onto the ground near Mary Margaret's feet.
Wide eye's and shaken by the ogre attack the blonde hadn't seen the hand Elijah held out next to her head ready for her to take. Reaching up the vampire easily got the blonde back onto her feet as she kept a tight grip on his fingers as her eye's met a pair of concerned one looking over her..
"Are you okay?" the man asked her in concern looking for any sign she might have hurt herself, he smelt no blood coming from her, but that didn't mean she wasn't harmed.
"I think so" she answered as she felt how cold he was to touch. Snatching her hand back the vampire quickly saw his mistake as he took his hand back to place behind his back.
"I-".
"It's fine" he quickly stops any apology from the woman. It was something she would have to get used to.
"Although, the same thing can't be said about you gun" he says handing the crushed piece of metal that barely resembled her weapon into her hand.
"Uh thanks. I guess" she tells the man as they made their way to Mary Margaret who was pulling her arrow out of the dead ogre's eye's.
"You have to shoot them in the eye" Mary Margaret tells her daughter "We were lucky it Elijah manged to confuse it".
"When was the last time you shot an arrow?" he daughter asks her.
"Twenty-eight years ago" Mary Margaret answers her taking herself by surprise of how long it had been "Guess it's like riding a bike".
"Yeah, but how did you know you could hit that?".
"I didn't" she tells her truthfully "And next time, listen to me? That kind of thing isn't going to work here".
"Yeah" Emma states.
"We should get going" at that the former princess and bandit walks' away leaving her daughter to walk around the ogre's still head as she looks back to Elijah.
"Don't you want a snack?" she jests to the vampire pointing to the fresh body on the ground.
"I have standards Miss Swan. And ogre blood certainly does not live up to them" he drawls out to the woman as he follows his ex-fiancé.
With Mulan leading the way with a torch held above her head, the group continued towards Snow and David's castle, the group that now included Princess Aroura who was struggling to keep up with the other's as the cloth wrap around her shoulders and kept catching on the foliage around them leaving the vampire to babysit the struggling Princess in front of him as he remained at the back keeping an eye and ear out for anything else that might come to harm them.
"We're getting close" Mary Margaret announces to the group from behind the female warrior.
"Aurora, you've got to keep up" Mulan called back to the Princess as she herd her grunt out in frustration each time she had to tug her wrap off a branch.
"Sorry, but I'm not exactly dressed for the woods. It's cold out here" she complained to the warrior.
"Then maybe, you should have listened to me and stayed back" the warrior retorts as Emma takes off her red leather jacket to offer it to the younger woman.
"Here" the saviour hands the jacket over to her.
"But I tried to kill your friends".
"Actually, she's my mom, and he's her ex-fiancé apparently. I have a feeling they can take care of themselves. And I get it. You're not the only one who's been screwing up lately.
"What kind of corset is this?" the Princess questions the blonde saviour as they climbed up the small incline to come to a stop as they oversaw the ruins that was Snow and Prince Charming's home sat in the middle the cast lake with only a bridge that connected the castle to the rest of the land.
"Is that it?" Emma asked her mother.
"Yeah" Mary Margaret breathed out looking over her home that had been destroyed by the curse that had ravaged over it "That's our home".
It only felt like it was only yesterday he walked these very halls with Dark Knights and the dark clouds of the curse ranging from behind him in pursuit of the new-born daughter of Snow White and her Prince Charming.
Now, twenty-eight years later, he was personally escorting the woman that had grown from the new-born that had escaped their efforts of capturing through the enchanted wardrobe in her nursery that possibly held the key to getting back to their loved ones in Storybrooke.
The chilled darkness that filled the castle instead of the light warmth even made the near immortal vampire weary of what could be hiding inside the walls since it occupiers had been forcibly moved to another realm.
The memories of defending knights fell to his sword filled his mind, their screams of pain replayed in his ears as they had the misfortune to come into contact with the Evil Queen's brother.
Finding the nursery, Mary Margaret was the one to let them into the room with her daughter close by behind her as the vampire looked upon the destruction the once quint and sweet nursery had turned to as the curse ravaged around it. The crib laid out on its side as toys had been left scattered from their places on the shelves around the edges of the room.
The enchanted wardrobe remained where it was twenty-eight years ago as Elijah's order to the knights echoed in his ears as Prince Charming laid out on the floor from his brief fight with the vampire "GET THAT THING OPEN!".
He couldn't help but feel the shiver that ran down his spine at the memory.
"Oh my god" Emma breathed out on wonder as she headed straight for the enchanted wardrobe that took her to the Land of No Magic "I recognize this from Henry's book".
Following the saviour in the room, the Queen's brother kept to himself as he remained by the door as Mary Margaret placed her bow and quiver on the ground to take in the room she decorated herself.
"Come" Mulan prompted Aurora to follow her "We'll stand watch at the gate" the warrior said to the mother and daughter, to give them space as Emma ventured to the window to lookout at the calm waters that surrounded the castle her parents occupied after taking it from King George.
He couldn't keep his eye's off the woman stood at the window, it was like she belonged there, like she had always stood in that exact spot in deep thought.
"I never thought I'd see this place again" Mary Margaret voiced in sad nostalgia, making her daughter turn to face her as the vampire blinked himself out of the small trance as Mary Margaret spoke "This room… It was your nursery" she said as she tried to pick out the dirt that had collected in the fur.
"I lived here?" Emma asked her mother as she joined her in the middle of the room.
"You never even got to spend a night" Mary Margaret tell her solemnly as she looked at the walls that would've held so many memories for their family watching their daughter grow into the woman she was today "This is the life I wanted you to have. I was going to teach you how to walk in here. How to talk. How to dress for your first ball. You never got to do any of it. We never got to be a family".
Each word felt like a stake to his undead heart as the guilt twisted his stomach at the life she should have had if it hadn't been for him telling his mother of his sister's and Daniels plans on running away. If only he had been stronger back then.
"We have a family – in Storybrooke" Emma flatly reminds her wanting to stay on task as Elijah saw her pull her jacket back on like she was shielding herself from the emotions her mother was displaying at the thought of the life that they had missed "And, right now, they need us to get back there. So, how do we get this to work?".
Turning to wardrobe Mary Margaret caught sight of the man that had stayed silent all this time who was stood waiting next to the wardrobe she had sent her daughter through to evade the curse and save them.
Sensing the tension between the pair, the blonde saviour looked between her mother and Elijah. This was the last place they had truly seen the other before the curse had struck, as her husband lay on the ground bleeding out from a wound the Queen's brother had inflicted on him. He helped her curse them and now he stood trying to help them. The Irony.
"I'll uh, wait outside" he stiffly tells the pair quickly heading for the door. He couldn't stay in this room any longer.
Stepping out of the room he felt like he could breath again as he ventured down the corridor with his eye's firmly set on the ground only to hear an echoed heartbeat that wasn't there before.
"Hello Elijah" his mother's voice came to his ear, making him look up at his mother in dismay.
"Mother" he gasped outload as his hand went to his sword on his hip only for his mother to wave a hand in the air, before he knew it, his head and neck harshly twisted to side as an audible snap echoed in the dark hallway before his body fell lifelessly to the ground, giving the sorceresses access to the nursery to continue her deception with the her former step-granddaughter.
Opening the door's of the enchanted wardrobe the mother/daughter duo peered inside the compartment inside to try and find a way they could use it to get back home.
"Where's the 'on' switch?" the blonde asked her mother.
"It's more complicated than that" Mary Margaret replied "We'll have to get it back to the island. Hopefully, someone there has access to enough magic to make it work again".
"How are we going to carry this thing?".
"With the help of an old friend" a friendly voice answered them making the pair look towards the door to see Lancelot enter the room taking the pair by surprise.
"Lancelot! What are you doing here?" Mary Margaret asked her old friend.
"We heard about the ogre attack, and I had to make sure you were alright" he said walking further into the room to join the pair at the wardrobe.
"Oh. Where are Mulan and Aurora?" she questioned him further, he would've encountered them on the way in.
"I sent them to find food" he casually answered her "Tonight we'll make camp and then, in the morning, we'll head back" he tells them turning the wardrobe "So, this is it – the portal you were after".
"The same one Emma went through" Mary Margaret nodded along "That's how she skipped the curse".
"Remarkable…" the knight whispered in awe as he looked upon the piece of enchanted wood.
"Geppetto carved it from an enchanted tree, but there's no magic left" the former Princess went on.
"Well, a portal this powerful… There must be another way to recharge it" he expressed to the pair.
"Why are you so interested in the wardrobe?" she quired with the knight hearing and seeing him so engrossed with the portal.
"Well, I just want you to get home to your husband" he said to the Princess before looking to Emma "And son. Henry. They must miss you".
The sentence made the Princess tense at the knights words. There was only one person who knew Henry's name, and she was supposed to be powerless but she had to be sure.
"Did you happen to see Elijah on your way in here?" Mary Margaret asked the knight keeping the smile on her face.
"The vampire said he was going to hunt for game in the forest" the knight answered her. This wasn't Lancelot.
Drawing her sword from her sheath the Princess quickly pushed her daughter away from the knight as she held the sword up to the man taking the blonde by surprise.
"Stay away from him, Emma" Mary Margaret told her daughter "He is not who he says he is".
"What are you talking about? Who the hell is he?" she asked her.
"There's only one person you told Henry's name, and Lancelot would never call Elijah by that word". Lancelot was too honourable to call him anything but his name.
"Cora" Emma stated outload before 'Lancelot' was engulfing in a cloud of purple smoke for the older sorceress to take his place as she stood with her hands on her hips as a smirk played on her lips
"Clever girl" she chuckled at the blonde.
"Where's Lancelot? Where's Elijah?" the Princess pressed the older woman.
"He's dead. I killed him a long time ago" Cora answered the younger woman "And my son is just outside" she says pointing behind her as she saw the uncertain look on Snow's face "Now, now Snow, you don't think I'd harm my own son" she laughed the insinuation off.
Seeing no sign of Elijah, she knew he was dead out there somewhere, it was only a matter of time until he woke up. Unfortunately she didn't have that time presently as she kept her sword poised as the Queen of Hearts.
"And you've been posing as him ever since?".
"Well, they'd never listen to me. And besides… Every kingdom needs a hero, don't you think?".
Lunging forward to attack the sorceress, Cora was quicker as she used her magic to throw her step-granddaughter against the wall, pinning her to it as Emma went to help only to get thrown back onto the ground only for a solid figure to catch her before meeting the floor.
Feeling a pair of arms under her arms, the blonde looked up to find Elijah above her as she saw a face she didn't recognise. Dark veins protruded under his as long sharp incisors had grown from the top row of his teeth. So, that's what a vampire looked like.
"Leave them alone!" Elijah bellowed at his mother as he dropped Emma on the floor, speeding towards his mother to release his friend from her hold, the vampire was struck in the chest by the wooden stake he had taken out of Arouras hand embedded deep into his chest, inches from his heart making him fall onto his knee's in agony as he tried to pull it back out only for Cora's magic to push it back in. He was at her complete mercy. A literal inch from his final death.
"Thank you, Snow" Cora said up to the pinned Princess as she struggled to breath watching her old friend on his knee's with a hand wrapped around the stake that hung his life in the balance "I've been looking for a way over for so long".
Seeing the pair in trouble the saviour jumps from her place where Elijah had dumped her to rushed towards them only for Cora to summon a rug to wraps around her legs as Elijah was left paralysed to let it happen.
"Emma!" Elijah called out for the woman as his voice straining as the pain worsened.
"I never thought the person to help me find it would be you" Cora tells the Princess before looking done at her son, still on the ground "It was a shame you and my son never married in the end. I thought you'd make a charming couple".
"Why?" Mary Margaret gasped at the woman "Why are you doing this?".
"I want to see my daughter. It's been too long".
At the mention of his sister, the vampire let out a roar of protest catching the older woman's attention as he used every bit of his enhanced strength to pull the stake out to put it through her own, she was going nowhere near his sister again.
Freeing himself from the stake, his defiance was punished as Cora looked at her son with a hard gaze as he felt the blood vessel in his head pop over and over again, inflicting excruciating aneurysm after aneurysm making him scream out loader than before has he held his head in his hands.
"Stop it!" Emma tried yelling over his screams pleading with the woman from the ground "Stop it!".
The pain suddenly came to a stop as Cora looked away from her son slightly wavered on her feel from the amount of energy she had to put into the spell, giving Emma the window she needed to pour out the gunpowder from the bullet onto the wardrobe.
"Oh Elijah" she cooed down at her grown son as he collapsed onto his side "You never did learn your lesson did you?" she told him "And you know, I would love to meet my grandson, Henry".
"No, you won't" Emma announced the the base of the enchanted wardrobe as she created a spark to set the power alight, starting a fire to burn the wardrobe.
"No!" Cora exclaimed seeing the fire. Pulling the fire from the wardrobe with her magic the sorceress turns it into a fireball, turning to throw it at the saviour only for the ball of fire to be blocked by Mulan's sword as she dived between the pair, unknowingly sending back towards the wardrobe.
"Mulan!" Mary Margaret exclaimed from her place seeing the female warrior enter with Aurora behind her helping Emma to her feet.
"We're not done" Cora tells the Princess before disappearing a cloud of purple smoke as the magic that pinned her to the wall disappeared leaving her to step back onto the ground.
"Elijah!" the former bandit called out as she rushed towards the motionless vampire on the ground.
"Is he okay?" the saviour asked her mother in alarm seeing how bad he looked.
"He will be, he just needs to heal" she reassured her daughter "Where's his waterskin?".
"Here" Mulan said stepping forward with his waterskin in her hand filled with animal blood "It was outside".
Quickly uncapping the waterskin the warrior joined the Princess on the ground as Mary Margaret laid gently laid his head on her knee's as the warrior held the opening of the waterskin to his nose hoping the vampire would respond to the smell of blood nearby.
A beat or two later the plan worked as the vampire began to stir smelling the blood he needed to heal once again as he quickly took the waterskin out of the warrior's hand to bring to his lips to chug back mouthfuls of the dirt tasting blood until he felt himself getting stronger managing to sit himself up to drink until the last drop of blood touched his tongue.
Heavy pants left the man's mouth as he felt the hole in his chest close up and the drumming in his head to come down to a steady beat as he focused on the one that currently kept him from getting lost in his hunger for more blood. As long as it still beat in her chest, nothing else mattered. It would anchor him to the part of him that was still human.
"Elijah?" Emma's voice came to ears making him look up to see her.
"You're okay" he breathed out seeing her on her feet.
"Yeah" she replied in confusion, he was the one literally screaming out in pan only a couple of minutes ago "Are you?".
"I'm fine" he answered with a gentle smile as Mary Margaret helped him back onto his feet to see the wardrobe on fire.
"Are you okay?" Emma asked her mother in concern.
"You saved me" her mother replied.
"Yeah, well… Where is she?" the blonde asked as she tried looking for any sign of Cora.
"Gone" Elijah tells her.
"So's our ride home" Emma tells the pair as the look upon the wardrobe as it burnt to ash.
Watching the only portal they had burn was not a sight they would want to savour in for too long, but it was the only way to keep Cora away from Storybrooke, Regina and Henry.
He knew his mother too well not to try and use his sister's pain in for her own advantage. With the return of magic in Storybrooke the Evil Queen and Queen of Hearts would be something not ever a so call saviour could save them from.
"Lancelot was one of the most noble knights I ever knew" Mary Margaret mourned the knight
"How could I be so blind?" Mulan fumed to the others "How could I not see that it was Cora?".
"Let's be fair – the whole shape shifting thing threw me, too" Emma offered to the group.
"Mmhmm" Elijah hummed along with Emma's point "Unfortunately, its one of my Mother's favourite tricks to use".
"What are we going to tell the people on the island?" the warrior fretted to the Princess.
"The truth" the princess tell her "That Lancelot was cut down by a terrible villain. He died an honourable death" the sentiment fell short for Elijah as he could only roll his eyes at the words his old friend spoke. There was no honour in death. He knew that as a fact.
"Cora's still out there" Mulan reminded them "We need to find her. We need to defend what's left of the kingdom" she stressed to them.
"Who's going to lead us?" Aroura sceptically questioned the warrior "You?".
"No. Her" Mulan looks to Mary Margaret taking the pixie haired woman by surprise.
"I'm honoured" the woman gently lets them down "But Emma, Elijah and I still have to find a way back to Storybrooke".
"We'll help you" the warrior proposed to the Princess, before looking at Aroura "We'll find a way, won't we?".
"Yes" the younger Princess answers "Perhaps, it will help me channel my anger" nodding at the Princess's words, Mulan led Aroura and Elijah out of the nursery as Emma blocked her mother from leaving needing to speak to her privately.
"I'm, uh, sorry I torched our ride home. I couldn't let her get to Henry. I just-"
"You had to put Henry first" Mary Margaret finished for her, knowing what she was doing.
"I was angry at you for so long… Wondering how you could choose to let me grow up without you. But then I just… Seeing all this…" the blonde indicates to the room "You gave up everything for me. And you're still doing that. I'm sorry, I'm not good at this. I… I guess I just… I'm not… I'm not used to someone putting me first" Emma wept in front of her mother before she was quickly embraced by her mother, holding her tight as she continued to cry.
"Well, get used to it" Mary Margaret tells her daughter making her chuckle between the tears. Parting from the embrace the mother wiped the tears from her daughter's cheek before letting her leave to take one last look around the room where she would raise her daughter in as she imagined the room as it was before with the warm light pouring through the windows and the crib in the centre ready for her daughter to spend her nights in.
"Snowbell" his voice brought her back to reality as she whirled around to see her best friend stood there with a mournful look on his face as she tried hide her face from the man that she had once been engaged to marry taking in the destruction he had been a apart of for the last time. To burn it into his mind at what happened when he allowed his sister to control him as she did.
"I'm so sorry Snow".
He was sorry for his part in he pain she felt of losing the chance of being a mother. A chance of a normal life without his sister's constant need for vengeance. For not telling his sister sooner that it was him that told their mother about Cora, not just Snow. Maybe if he'd just been stronger he'd been able to marry her and learn to love her. There was so much he was sorry for, he wasn't sure which sin against there was the worst of them all.
The words coming from the man, finally broke the woman's composure as she closed the distance between them the former Princess threw herself into his arms as he quickly gathered her, holding her close as he could in what little warmth he could give her as she mourned the life that was cruelly taken from her and her daughter.
"I missed you too" the woman said into his shoulder. She had missed him, the real him she had grown up alongside. The kind gentle soul that would do anything to protect his family. But he was still in there, she knew he was.
"Come Snow" he tells her gently puling her off his shoulder to hold her head between his hands "There is much to be done" he states to her placing a gently kiss on her forehead that she warmly accepts, before guiding her out of the nursery and shutting the door firmly behind them.
With the room empty Cora reappears with a cloud of smoke heading straight for where the wardrobe once stood to pick up a handful of it's ashes into her hand and pour into a glass bottle. Holding the bottle up the sorceress smiles to herself as she see's the ember of the remnants of magic that still reminded in the enchanted wood.
AN: Hope you enjoyed Lady of the Lake!
MAY THE FORTH BE WITH YOU!
Thanks for reading!
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