Serendipity

Chapter 13: Unforgiven

"Well, you haven't slept a wink, have you?:

David shook his head. "No, it's hard with Ursula and Cruella just down the street. Well, it's a good thing Maleficent is no longer around.:

"The other two are. And they know. This can't be a coincidence.:

"It doesn't matter."David said,"None of that matters. All that does is that we kick them the hell out of this town before anyone else learns what we did.

Regina and Hope enter Granny's diner. Ursula and Cruella are already there."Regina! We could use a heart rip over here. Granny needs a little encouragement in taking our order." Cruella calls.

"Oh yes, a very effective tactic. Didn't you once rip out the heart of every villager in the north woods? Or was it the south? Ursula reminded.

"Uh, why don't you find Hope, head to my office, get started on the book?

"Sure! Make sure to get chocolate frosted doughnuts, not chocolate doughnuts, okay?" Henry hugs Regina and then leaves.

"Let me be clear, ladies. If you bring up my former sins around my daughter or son again, you'll find yourselves across that town line faster than you can say "costume jewelry."

"So what's the plan here?"David asked.

Mary Margaret: To deal with our... Latest crisis.

"Those two might be tactless morons, but... They couldn't magic their way out of a paper bag. I wouldn't worry. And they're here to seek redemption. If I didn't think it was a distinct possibility, I wouldn't have let them in town in the first place. Now that they're here, we have to be certain, which means keeping eyes on them 24/7. Which sounds like a job for the sheriff's department. I have bigger things to worry about."

Henry and Regina head to the Mayor's office, where Hope is as well."If the author left clues in the book like mother superior said, we'll find them. How about you, mom? How are you doing?

"I'm fine, Hope."

"You didn't seem fine when we ran into Ursula and Cruella."Henry said.

"Wait, y'all run into Ursula and Cruella???"

"Yes. I suppose that's because they remind me of a time in my life I'd rather forget. Time when I was a true villain. It makes me doubt if my happy ending is even possible. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be as happy as I was when it was just you, me, Robin Hood, and Roland. That feeling was, uh... The closest I've ever been to happy. I wanna get back to that.:

"You will, mom. We're gonna find the author, and when he rewrites your ending, everything will be the way you want it to be. Ugh Henry, could you like not? You're getting crumbs all over the book!"

"That's strange. This paper, it's... It's different than the rest."

"That's because it's Pinocchio's story."Henry said."August added it to the book. He wanted Emma to know he was Pinocchio as a boy. He wanted her to believe. IIf August took the book apart, he might know something about it that we don't."

"Too bad he isn't around to ask."Hope added.

"August might not be, but Pinocchio is."

"You found that in Cruella's car?"Mary Margaret asked, once David returned home."Oh David, that belonged to Maleficent, you know how much that meant to her.

David nodded."I do. And I can only think of one reason why those two witches would wanna steal a totem of hers... A spell. A spell to resurrect her. Now that we have this, it's not even an option. Then we take the one thing that Cruella and Ursula can't do without... Maleficent's remains. We find them, we dump them in the harbor, then she's gone forever. And once Ursula and Cruella realize that, maybe they'll leave town, too."