Alice's plan to overthrow the Queen of Hearts is thwarted by a dashing pirate with a hook. Years later, after the curse is broken, they reunite once again.
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slowly editing! You'll see at the end of each chapter if th...
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I pull up to the clock tower and see David and Snow already there waiting for me. I made sure to bring my sword, knowing that Cora could show up and try to take the dagger for herself. I get out of the car and the pair of them look antsy but I just smile at them reassuringly without fear.
"Hey, what took you so long?" Snow asks, concerned.
"Sorry, I was visiting a friend but I'm here now. Let's do this." I brush her off before we head into the library and into the elevator.
The ride up is silent and I can feel the tension in the small space but I don't let it get to me. The doors open to reveal a small staircase that leads up to the clock arms. Without needing to say anything we all head up the stairs. Once we reach the glass panes of the clock I reach out and gently remove one and reveal the dagger strapped to the clock arm. I take the dagger quickly before the arms can move again.
"Clever hiding place for a very clever man." I say with a fond chuckle. I may not like the man but he does love my friend, even if she doesn't remember him any longer. I feel a pang in my chest, realizing that when I die, she'll have no one she remembers. I push the feeling down.
"We did it." Snow says as I hand the dagger to her. She holds it up and looks at Rumpelstiltskin's name engraved on it.
"The Dark One can finally be controlled." David chimes in, looking at the dagger in wonderment. Suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck stands on end.
"Indeed he can be. But by whom?" I whirl around at the sound of Cora's voice. She stands there with her daughter, both looking thick as thieves. I step forward in front of the Charmings, hand steady on the hilt of my sword. The one from the prophecy. The one that the White Queen had to sacrifice herself to make, just to protect me. I can't let her sacrifice be in vain.
For the first time since I was I child I don't feel the familiar fear in my heart at the sight of her. Only anger. Anger at the loss of my memories. Anger at the loss of my magic. Anger at the loss of twenty eight years of imprisonment from her daughter. Anger at Hook's betrayals at the behest of Cora. Anger at the loss of the crown that was meant to be mine. Only anger.
"Cora." I say calmly with a nod of acknowledgment before turning my attention to Regina. "And her traitorous daughter." Regina avoids my gaze.
"Alice, we meet again." Cora says with her usual condescending smile in place. I can't wait to see it gone.
"Yes we do. I wonder how things will end this time." I say mysteriously. She has no idea that I have the upper hand. For once, it's me who will play her like a fool. My words cause her to look genuinely confused as she studies me in silence for a minute.
"There's something different about you, isn't there?" She surmises and I smile. Not a condescending one like hers, a soft and genuine one.
"I'm ready for this rivalry to end. You both have hurt me enough." I answer and turn my attention to Regina again, the smile gone from my expression now. "I gave you my friendship and I gave you a choice. To choose the right side but you didn't." She looks guilty for just a split second, long enough for me to know the inner turmoil she's going through. But it's too late for sympathy from me now.
"I told you to pick your side carefully. Good has won, just as it always does." Snow chimes in but Cora just chuckles, drawing our attention back to her.
"I think the day has finally come, my darling Snow, for you to learn a long overdue lesson." She waves her hand but I don't flinch. Thankfully, there was no need to. A woman materializes in between Cora and Regina. An older woman with red hair who looks around in confusion.
"Johanna!" Snow cries out and I clench my jaw. This has always been Cora's method. Realize she's losing and then bring in a hostage. She's gotten me twice by doing this. Once with Jefferson and then with Hook. Apparently, Snow is her target today. Which makes sense considering she's the one holding the dagger.
"You see, in the end, it isn't good or evil that wins, but power." Cora says with a cruel smile before Regina rips out Johanna's heart and holds it out like a trophy. The woman and Snow both cry out, one in horror and the other in pain.
"Your choice." Regina taunts and I clench my jaw.
"I don't know who that is but you will not harm her." I demand but before either can respond, Snow speaks up again.
"She has nothing to do with this." She pleads and the woman just shakes her head.
"Whatever they want, Snow, don't give it to them." She pleads back, giving Snow a reassuring nod but Snow doesn't listen.
"Quiet, handmaid." Cora's quick to interrupt. "Surrender the dagger. We all know you will follow your mother's example, no matter the cost. All she ever wanted was for you to be good." Her last words might as well have been a dagger in the chest for the way Snow reacts. Her tears stream down her face freely as she looks at Cora, realization dawning on her.
"Those words? Where did you hear those words?" She whispers. Cora smiles cruelly.
"Where do you think?" She remarks and I look back and forth between the two of them, trying to figure out what's going on.
"My mother wasn't sick at all, was she? You did all of this. You killed my mother." She cries harder but Cora doesn't back down. She never does.
"Hand over the dagger." Cora holds out her hand but Snow just shakes her head.
"No! I will not let you win again!" Snow cries out.
"Do it, Snow." I say evenly, looking at her over my shoulder.
"What?" She and Cora exclaim at the same time. I nod at snow with a reassuring smile.
"Do it. We have time to get it back." I tell her and David gives me a thankful smile.
"Alice is right, if we give up the dagger we can still win." He puts his hand on his wife's shoulder comfortingly. Our attention is drawn back to Cora when Johanna begins to cry out in pain as Regina squeezes the heart slowly.
"Enough!" Snow shouts before falling to her knees and throwing the dagger to the ground. David comes to her side but I don't take my eyes off Cora. She lifts her hand and the dagger flies into it as though magnetized.
"Such a good girl." She says with a smile and a tilt of her head.
"You have everything you came for, now go. We'll be seeing each other again. Soon." I threaten and she looks at me, jaw clenched before she waves her hand. All of us watch in horror as Johanna flies out the window. I clench my eyes at the sound of her body hitting the pavement and Snow's screams. I open my eyes to see Cora already looking at me with a satisfied smirk.
"Not quite everything." She says.
"You see where good gets you." Regina comments before both of them disappear in a cloud of smoke.
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