𝔗𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔗𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔰 ✓

New Beginnings

It was midnight now and I stood by the entrance of the castle. I told Cinderella that I wouldn't dare go in again in fear that Prince Charming would ask me to dance, so I was having fun sitting on the steps while people whizzed by.

"Mina!" a familiar voice called. I fought the urge to ignore him and turned around.

"Yes Hunter?" I asked. He was dressed in casual clothes this time and looked like he'd just ran a mile.

"Aren't you wondering why you haven't seen me since you escaped the realm? Good job by the way."

"Frankly, I couldn't care less," I said thickly. "And I rather not see you again."

Starting to walk down the steps, I ignored his calls as I felt him put a hand on my arm. Yanking out of his grasp, I turned around.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I know that you know everything," I hissed. "That you know you're Hunter and Morgana's your mother, but most importantly, that you're working for her!"

By this time I was completely in rage, stomping away. To my luck, he followed.

"Wait Mina!" he pleaded, he got a grasp on both wrists this time and talked quickly as I struggled.

"Look, I only remembered when we went back to the realm and she gave me back my memories. I'm not working with her."

Rolling my eyes, I roughly kicked him and escaped, but that still didn't hinder him.

"I know what I saw!" I screamed. "Quit lying!"

"But the reason why you have this second chance is because of me!" he finally revealed. "Regaining my memory caused me not to be apart of the story anymore and the whole cycle begin again."

"That doesn't explain why you agreed to try and capture me and Aldus, who I haven't seen since the time I got to the castle," I sneered. "So good luck catching him."

Exasperated, he brushed a shaky hand through his blonde hair and said, "I only said that so she would think that I was on her side. Mina, regaining my memories also helped me to remember that she was terrible to me. Morgana brainwashed me over and over again so I wouldn't be in her way. What she said about me helping her was a lie and in the next story she'll do the same thing again."

"And how can I be sure that you aren't lying to me. That you are on my side?" I asked. "Because you don't exactly have a good track record."

"Let me ask you this," I continued. "If I hadn't just said something about it, would you have even told me you knew?"

His silence was all I needed to figure out his answer. Now that he had no response to try and fire back at me, I made my getaway, but was surprised when I fell to the ground.

Opening my eyes, I realized that it was now daylight and somehow I ended up in the forest near Cinderella's house where I first landed myself in this mess.

"I found her," a dreadfully cold voice said. Looking up, I scrambled to my feet when I saw Morgana looking at me with a wicked smile. Hunter was right by her side.

"You just had to try to be a hero," she replied. "Well good news for me, I have magic that can kill you in any realm."

"Why are you so focused on killing me?" I asked. "Don't you keep saying that I'm not a threat? That I'm just a little girl?"

Her eyes narrowed, but she remained as still as a statue. "You are just a little girl, but I take no chances. These princesses don't deserve to have happy endings. They haven't gone through the things that I have. They just prance around, singing and dreaming."

"You are literally watching Cinderella play out," I shot back. "And she was treated as a slave all her life. I don't know how underserving that is in your book, but she deserves love in mine."

"I lived in a home where I got punished everyday for being a witch. My father was killed saving me from people who tried to murder me and my mother left me on my own, blaming me for his death. These tales was the only hope I had during those times. If they can get happy endings, then it's obvious that I will as well. But when I put myself in them, I was the villain, forced to watch the princesses fall in love and live happily ever after!"

As she talked, I eyed Hunter, who stood and watched the scene play out. Yeah, I thought sarcastically, You're definitely on my side.

"But it doesn't matter! You and that old man are the only people keeping me from fulfilling my dreams!" Pulling out her wand, she started chanting a spell and a blue light shot out of her wand.

I slowly fell to the ground. There wasn't any pain, but I felt my energy getting sapped out of me. My whole body weakened and all I saw was Hunter watching the whole scene with a straight face. I was confused, but he looked determined.

"Don't you realize?" Hunter asked before my eyelids dropped. "The story is already over."

I squinted as I vaguely saw a beautiful blonde-haired girl get into a carriage with Charming next to her before my eyes closed. The last thing I heard was the sound of horses clopping on the ground as the carriage left her house. I felt the familiar feeling of spinning around and around before my senses shut off and everything went black.