Queen of Nothing

Chapter 8

                All the lost boys are back to normal now. Well, all except Chris. After fighting him, the Merry Men and Regina entered the castle. She was really happy to see her son again and Henry was happy to see his mother. He didn't know the truth and was a little scared of me, but his mother's presence was reassuring.

"Regina, I need to be sure of one thing. Does Chris still have his heart?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

"He wanted me to think he didn't and I believed him. I didn't hear any heart beat."

"But why would Pan take his heart? Because it was probably his doing."

"Without his heart, Chris can't love. Which means there would be no true love's kiss so nothing to break the curse. And Peter doesn't want the curse to be broken until he has what he wants."

"Which is?"

I don't answer and look at Chris' sleeping body on the ground. Regina finally plunges her hand in his chest and he grunts, still sleeping. It's probably not the best sensation, but I have no choice. I need to know what happened to him, I need to know how far Peter went. Regina yelps and takes out her hand.

"What's going on?"

"You're right, there's no heart. But there is something else, something sharp and powerful."

"Like the other part of the mirror."

Talia comes closer to me and puts her hand on my shoulder.

"That's why all you saw with the mirror was the demon. It also allows Chris to be darker than he was."

"This story is just getting weirder."

"Thanks Ben."

He smiles at me before Talia nudges him to stop. I know he's only trying to make me smile, but how will I be able to break this curse if everything is against me? I'm starting to think the deal I made with Rumpelstiltskin is not just a deal, it's a warning of what is going to happen.

"What are we going to do now?"

"I don't know..."

"Maybe we should really ask Henry. You told me about his book of fairy tales."

"Obviously the curse is not in the book."

"Or maybe it is."

"How?"

"This book relates the stories of real people, stories that are still happening. The story of those people right now is this curse, which means there's a chance to find answers in Henry's book. At least we should ask him."

I slowly nod at her and she takes my hand. I still have my cuff that prevents me from using magic, but I think Talia and I are starting to be really good friend. I trust her more than anyone. I know she's going to stick with me because I can take her on an adventure. We walk toward Henry, who is reading his fairy tale book. He doesn't look surprised when he sees us approaching. He's still afraid of me so Talia talks instead of me.

"Hello Henry. I didn't introduce myself yet, I'm Talia Hood. I'm Robin's daughter and Roland's big sister."

"I know you. You're in my book."

He closes his book and extends his hand to shake Talia's. I smile but still don't say anything.

"You're a smart boy, Emily talked about you. Maybe you don't believe we're under a curse, but you still want to give everyone their happy ending. I do too. And I know the people in your book are not happy."