Daughter of Darkness || Once Upon a Time

Chapter Thirteen | The Problem With Portals

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|New York City, Eight Weeks Ago|
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Now that Robin Hood, Roland, and Zelena disguised as Marian were back in Storybrooke, the apartment they had been living in while in New York was up for grabs. After Storybrooke, Lily wanted to start new some place else, so she talked August into giving her the keys to the apartment in New York City that had been a safe place for fairytale characters since some guy named Neal had lived there years before.

Lily felt a little bad leaving her mother behind, but everyone in Storybrooke viewed Lily as some awful person, just because her mother was a villain. So after the week Lily had promised to spend in Storybrooke was up and the keys to the apartment were in her hands, she left for an eight hour drive south.

Lily opened the door to the apartment and dropped her bag on the floor. New York City was too crazy for her liking, but she'd get used to it eventually. She looked around the apartment. Everything was exactly as she remembered when Regina and Emma had dragged her to this place so they could reveal who Marian really was. But by that point, it was too late...

The apartment wasn't very big at all. Then again, the Neal guy had only bought it for one person; himself. There was a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen and living area that were connected. All of the movies in the apartment were Disney, and all of the Disney movies seemed to be there except for any version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Lily half wondered if Robin had gotten rid of them because they reminded him of Regina.

She found a folded up map of the New England area of the United States. There was a star on a part of Maine, but no city was there. The word Storybrooke was written next to it in rushed handwriting, probably either Robin, Regina, or Neal's.

In the bedroom, there were pictures displayed on one of the walls. Some were of a younger Emma, some with a guy who must have been Neal. And some were more recent; Robin and Regina smiling. Regina cooking with Roland. Robin teaching Henry how to shoot an arrow. The pictures made Lily sad because everyone in them had something she would never have; somebody to love them. But she didn't take them down because it felt wrong. Those people had lived here, and that was okay. The apartment didn't really belong to anyone anymore. It belonged to the fairytale characters in general. A safe haven outside of Storybrooke for anyone who needed it.

And for that one, beautiful moment, Lily felt like she was a part of something.

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|Storybrooke, Present Day|
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Belle brought Maleficent to Dorothy after the dragon had agreed to help. Dorothy was mixing ingredients in a cauldron down in Regina's vault so it was hidden from anyone who didn't know it was there. No one dared try and enter Regina's vault without her permission, but Regina had told Belle how to get in before they had left for the Underworld in case Zelena came back and they needed somewhere for Megan, Roland, and Neal.

Okay, so brewing a potion wasn't exactly what Regina's intent was when she allowed Belle access, but Belle could deal with whatever rage Regina had when they were back from the Underworld because there was no way Regina had it in her to harm someone who was pregnant.

Dorothy stood up when Maleficent and Belle entered. "I take it you're Maleficent?"

Maleficent nodded. "Yes. And who are you?"

"Dorothy Gale. You might recognize me from some book in this world. Or not, I've never taken the time to read it myself."

Belle spoke before Maleficent could say anything. "Okay, so we just need Maleficent to provide the final ingredient and then we can get to the Underworld?"