[A day later]

A lot happened that day, from the funeral of the King and the depression of the kingdom after Snow White ran away and meanwhile, the Evil Queen took full control over the kingdom. Many wished to marry her but anyone who dared try to become the new king would face the Evil Queen's wrath.

"Ugh, mourning, hate it." said the Evil Queen. "Mirror mirror on the wall, show yourself on my wall."

"Hellooooooooooo, Your Highness!" said the mirror. "Quite a fine day today."

"Why are you so happy today? It's not like you."

"I'm just... excited on what is in store for us for the future."

"Us? I thought you were helping me?"

"You know, you are a powerful witch and I have helped you get to where you were, I deserve to have something as an outcome."

"What do you want?"

"Freedom. I have been in this mirror for a long time and I deserve to be free! When I help you reach your goal, you will free me from my prison."

"What have you done for me to deserve this?"

The mirror laughed, "Ha! I have turned you from rags to riches! I helped you achieve your three dreams and two are done!"

"Last I checked, it was me who did the research and brought me to where I am."

"Through my teachings."

"Fine, I accept that you have helped me. I will help you if you help me do mine."

"No..."

"What?"

"I need some leverage in this matter, I won't help you find the girl but I will keep on assisting you."

"What?!"

"Come on! I have taught you so much, couldn't you do something yourself for once."

"Fine, I will send all of my guards into those woods and hunt her down."

"Remember to keep her alive! We need that heart."

"Yeah, yeah." sighed the Evil Queen, leaving the room.

Meanwhile, in the Mirror World, Magnifico and Gregori were having a talk.

"It seems you have listened to me after all." said Gregori.

"Yes, I knew we had to find a way to guarantee a way of being free." replied Magnifico.

"You seem upset, why do you take such a liking in that girl?"

"Because..."

"You can tell me, we are friends."

"Because... she... reminds me so much of myself at her age. I too was alone for a long time and when my mother died, I had absolutely nothing. I suffered years of depression before I learnt magic and when Gothel learned how to use the mirror... rather than controlling her, I taught her the ways of magic."

"Wow... Magnifico I am so sorry."

"It's okay, the past is the past now. We need to look into our future, not Gothel's."

"I really am sorry, Magnifico. We will find a way to make this work, perhaps one where we can all live in harmony. Perhaps when she frees us we can give her more than just the kingdom but the whole world."

"No, her fate is decided. She won't help us so we won't as well. Once we are free from the mirror, we will never look at her again."

"What do you mean? She's just like you."

"Exactly."

[In the Dark Forest]

Snow White ran as far as her legs could take her for a full day, well away from her kingdom and when she could no longer run, she began to cry.

"Why do I have to be such a failure?" she cried. "My father despises me, my mother is gone and my step-mother now hates me!"

"Hush, child." said a new voice.

Snow White looked up and saw a creature descending from the sky. It was very old and wore a different kind of style of clothes than any kingdom she has ever seen before and she has wings as well.

"What are you?" asked Snow White and immediately stopped. "I'm sorry! I don't know what I was saying! A lot had happened to me this day: my dad died and I was exiled from the kingdom and - I'm sorry about my manners!"

"It's okay, child. Why were you exiled?"

"It was by my step-mother, she was furious because my father killed himself because..."

"What's your step-mother's name?"

"Oh, umm... Gothel. Queen Gothel."

"Right," said the woman. "Well my name is Asha and I will help you find a place to live."

"Do you think this will be permanent?"

"I have heard of Queen Gothel before and if I know her, you'd be killed at the first sighting."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Oh my!" cried Snow White. "I'm a monster."

"It's not you, it's her." muttered Asha.

"What?"

"Nothing! I have a place nearby where you can stay for a while okay?"

"Thank you so much, it's as if you're a..." said Snow White and the dots seemed to connect. "Your a fairy?!"

"Yes." smiled Asha.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my! A real fairy!"

"Yes, I know. Now let's get you to that home."

"Okay! Where are we going?"

"To some other magical creatures."

"Wait the whole forest is covered with magical creatures?!"

"Yes it is."

"Then why is it called 'The Dark Forest'?" asked Snow White. "Surely it means that there is some darkness in here."

"Humans are the kind of species in which if they have little knowledge over something, they see them as a threat."

"So this is just a safe place?"

"There is some truth in the name, there are more than just fairies and... unicorns, there are dangerous beings in this forest. How long have you been here for?"

"Well over a day."

"A day?! Oh goodness, I'm glad I found you else you would have died, I really have no idea how you have survived this long but I must take you to a new place to live where you'd be safe."

"I see... so which magical creatures will I be with?"

"What do you think of dwarves?" asked Asha.

[Asha leads Snow White to a small cottage]

Snow White saw the small cottage and glanced at it, she was a smart girl and knew she had to make a good first impression on the dwarves, they were most likely the only way she was going to survive in the Dark Forest.

"Come on," said Asha. "Your new home awaits."

Asha and Snow White came inside the small cottage to see seven dwarves staring at them. They looked like middle-aged men yet under four feet tall, even the fourteen-year-old Snow White seemed like a giant compared to them.

"What's going on?" demanded one of the dwarves.

"I've come for repayment." said Asha.

"What do you mean 'repayment'?"

"Remember what five years ago with Breezy?"

"Breezy's dead now." said another dwarf.

"Yet I helped you heal him."

"What good is healing him if he was going to die anyway?" asked the first dwarf.

"That's what I told you, Grumpy. We made a deal."

"That's true." said another dwarf. "Asha gave us another year with our brother. We made an agreement and we need to repay her."

"Why do you have to be so happy, Happy?" asked Grumpy.

"It's what we're born to be, Grumpy." replied Happy.

"Hold on, as the oldest I am in charge," said another dwarf. "What do you want, Asha?"

"This little girl has been alone in the forest for over a day," said Asha. "I think this place is a safe haven where she can hide from the creatures in the forest, Doc."

"And why is she in the forest?" asked Doc.

"Banished from my home." said Snow White.

She then told the whole story on what had happened and she cried whilst she told it.

"That's so, achoo, sad!" said another dwarf. "Achoo!"

"Dopey, get Sneezy a tissue." sighed Doc.

"Snow, do you think you could go into the garden of the cottage, don't go too far okay. We are deep in the forest and that's where some of the dangerous beasts live." said Asha.

"Okay." said Snow White and left the cottage.

"You want us to make a murderer live in our home?!" shouted Grumpy.

"She's a little girl, she did not murder anyone." said Asha.

"Then who did?" asked Doc.

"Her step-mother, the Evil Queen as she goes by now but previously known as Gothel."

"Gothel? As in Queen Gothel?" asked Dopey.

"The Queen Gothel who killed our brother?" asked Doc.

"Yes, she was framed so that Gothel could keep the throne." said Asha.

"That dirty queen." said Grumpy, angrily.

"I know she is cruel and you are all angry with the queen and the royal family for what they did to Breezy but you need to help that girl. It is a miracle how she stayed alive for a whole day in this forest but it is only so long until her luck runs out and she is eaten by a dragon or an ogre."

"I'm sorry, Asha, but she is family to whom has murdered our brother, I wish her good luck but it will be a dishonour to Breezy." said Doc.

"Please, Doc. Have mercy on that child, she has been through so much already and if she does somehow miraculously survive, the Evil Queen will send her soldiers to find her and kill her."

"Come on, Doc," said Dopey. "She's just a girl, it's not her fault on what happened to Sneezy, why make her suffer on something she didn't do?"

"Fine, everyone who thinks she should stay here, raise your hands." said Doc.

Dopey and Happy immediately raised their hands and soon after Sneezy raised his. From the corner, Bashful put his hand up but not very high.

"Sleepy, wake up!" shouted Grumpy and Sleepy woke up and raised his hand as well.

Doc raised his soon after, "Well Grumpy?"

"As much as I hate to say it... the fairy has a point." said Grumpy and raised his hand.

"We have now all voted, we accept to bring Snow White into our home." said Doc.

"You made the right decision," smiled Asha. "I can't wait to tell her the good news."

Asha brought Snow White inside and she screamed of joy.

"I promise you won't regret it!" laughed Snow White. "And in return I will cook and clean for you every day as a thank you."

"You don't-" started Happy.

"Oi!" yelled Grumpy. "Since you're insisting, we agree."

"Thank you so much!" said Snow White and hugged all of them.

[One year later]

"Well?" asked the Evil Queen, at the palace.

"N-N-No-Not yet, Your Majesty." said a guard.

"Grr!" growled the Evil Queen and sent a ball of fire at him and he burned in the flames to death. "It has been one year, I have thousands of men into that forest and not one of you could find me a girl!"

"It is a big forest, Your Majesty," said one, bravely. "We lost many men there by all of the beasts."

"Lock him up in the tower!"

"W-Wait no!"

However it was too late, he talked back to the Queen and now he was going to rot in the tower until death gives him mercy.

"Now you've all received a reminder on what happens when you talk back to me!" yelled the Evil Queen. "I don't care how many of your useless lives die in that forest, you will find me Snow White!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" said all of the guards.

The Evil Queen went back to her room and went straight to the Magic Mirror.

"Magic Mirror on the wall, you will listen to my call!" yelled the Evil Queen.

"Yes, Your Highness?" asked the mirror.

"It has been one year and I still can't track her!"

"See what happens when you're not under my supervision? You can't even find a small fifteen-year-old."

"Fifteen?"

"Yes, it's been a year remember?"

"I don't care how many years it will take, I will find that girl and take her heart."

"Well you should. When the girl turns eighteen, she is legally allowed to own the throne."

"Why would they want a murderer on their throne? Be serious."

"Because she has the love of the people, most already forgive her for what she's done and some even believe it wasn't her who killed Jared."

"This isn't good..."

"It isn't... for you."

"She is as much of a problem to you as she is to me. You want your freedom."

"No... you need me to be free to help you, if not I will never help you ever again. It is only you who will find that girl, not me."

"I am the only one who can free you!"

"I am immortal in this world, in the future there will be someone powerful enough to free me if it is not you, it might be... a while but my fate is sealed, I will be free from this wretched mirror and will live the life I wish for, and as for you... there won't."

"You need to help me!"

"As I have just explained, I don't. I am just helping you so that you can help me be free quicker, not to be free. You will find that girl by yourself whatever means necessary. Good luck, Your Highness, you will need it."

The face from the mirror vanished.

"Then I'm going to need someone else to help me find Snow White." said the Evil Queen, and left the room.

Meanwhile, in the mirror...

"You're being too tough on her." said Gregori. "She won't help us be free and you know it."

"Change of plans," said Magnifico. "I see someone else who can free us."

"What do you mean?"

"When I came inside of the mirror, for a very long time it felt like its magic is mixing in with my own."

"It feels the same for me..."

"Exactly, the knowledge in this mirror is soaking in with us and every day, it seems like one small piece of the puzzle is coming together... I felt that there was someone going to free us."

"Yes, I know that feeling. It happened as soon as you came inside the mirror all those years ago."

"For me, more recently than that but I sensed an aura coming from a woman who will free us. A very beautiful woman, with luscious hair and clothes fit for a queen."

"Y-Yes! Same for me..."

"She will be our saviour and for a long time, I thought it was Gothel but she's a lost cause now. I don't care about her anymore."

"Then why do you insist on helping her?"

"Are you kidding me?! This is the best comedic value I've had in a long time! I'm not giving that up! The look on her face when she will fail and her world will crumble!"

"How do you know?"

"Mastering Life? Ha! Not going to happen! She can't even track down Snow White!"

"Be careful Magnifico, we never know what the future will have for us."

"I know, I know, my friend but I know it will not be Gothel who will free us, even if she does bring Layla back, she won't free us..."

[One day later]

The Evil Queen knew that her soldiers could not go into that forest and live to find Snow White, there had to be someone helping her to stay alive in there who knows the forest better than anyone so all the Evil Queen had to do was to find someone who will go into that forest and be able to bring Snow White to her. She made all of the guards that didn't go into the forest assemble in the Great Hall.

"I want everyone to go into every village, town and city in the kingdom and find someone with magic who is able to find Snow White. You buffoons haven't been able to find a small girl for over a year now and I need to find someone who will, someone who is different than you, someone with divine skills in magic. You have until dawn to find me that man, punishment... death."

The Evil Queen went back into her room and sat on her bed.

"I can help." said an eerie voice.

"Ahh!" screamed the Evil Queen and leaped out of bed. "Who are you?"

"Someone who can help..."

The Evil Queen saw a man wearing a business suit, bow tie, top hat and a staff in his hand.

"You snuck into my castle, why should I not kill you now?"

"Because, Gothel, you need me." said the man.

"It's Your Highness, idiot. Get it right or I kill you."

"Good luck with that!" laughed the man. "Let's say my skills work like... magic."

"You have magic?"

"Yes! Isn't that what you were looking for when you announced that speech?"

"You were there? How?"

"Your guards... aren't the best."

"I know that, those knuckleheads can't do anything right."

"Now, onto business."

"Yes, you will capture me Snow White-"

"Uh, bub, bub, bub. Unfortunately, my powers are not able to locate Snow White."

"Then what use are you to me?" asked the Evil Queen and lit her hand on fire but the man didn't seem afraid at all.

"Why aren't you frightened?" asked the Evil Queen.

"Because it is not scary! It seems you have not encountered anyone with magic before, they saw I'm... like the shadows..." said the man.

With that, he vanished but his voice still echoed in the room, "You see, Gothel? This is what true powerful magic is like!"

The Evil Queen put the fire ball away and said, "Fine. You can come."

The man went in front of her again.

"What is it you offer?" asked the Evil Queen.

"I may not be able to find Snow White but I can well enough find someone who can." he said.

"You know someone else with magic?"

"No, no, no! He has no magic at all."

"It seems you are not as wise as can be."

"I know everything! The way you wish to bring Layla back from the dead, how you killed the past king and queen and framed that girl."

"How-"

"Business, love. It's my job."

"Fine... carry on."

"The book said that you need the heart of the fairest of them all - Snow White - but it didn't specify that the heart needed to be gotten through magic."

"Oh... that changes everything."

"Oh boy, it does! You can just hire one man to get rid of Snow White and get you the heart, two favours all in one deal."

"Deal?"

"Well you didn't think it was going to be one-sided, did you? I want something in return for this man."

"What do you want?"

"Simple, the mirror."

"Why do you want that?"

"That is my business, sweetheart. You don't need it anyway, I can after all just do the spell for you."

"Wait, what?"

"An Elemental of Life, right in front of you! Ha, ha!"

"That's..."

"Impossible? No it is not."

"How do I know that you just aren't lying?"

"Read my heart."

"I... can't."

"Exactly. Mine isn't in this world but also dead."

"So you're in both states of the living and the dead?"

"Yes. That means Layla can be right in your arms very soon after I perform the spell and you won't need the mirror anymore, after all, you can't trust it."

"What do you mean?"

"The Magic Mirror never cared a thing about you, it wants what everyone wants... freedom."

"And that's why you need the mirror, you are trapped on both worlds."

"Yes and only that mirror can free me from this state."

"It's a deal. If you can perform the spell and find me that person who can help me, the mirror is yours."

"Great!"

"Wait!"

"What?"

"What even is your name?"

The man smiled and replied, "Facilier. Dr Facilier."