Once A Lost Girl | Once Upon A Time Story | Peter Pan

03x04 - Home? - Past

It was quite the trek back into the main town. Everyone I passed was suffering under the Queen's rule. A few of them I swore I had seen before, but if they recognized me they didn't say anything. As I drew nearer to the castle, it seemed like more and more people were staring at me. They had to be watching me--there was no one else to watch.

        I was the only one walking down the path. All the merchants seemed to be eyeing me. All of the customers seemed to be glaring. It made me nervous. Would they attack me? Probably not... they'd likely be hounded by guards or even the Queen herself. So why are they watching?

        That was when I saw it--the reason they were looking. Apparently the Queen had sent notice of my absence and blamed it on Snow White. I picked up the poster from the floor. I suppose the Queen would pin anything on anyone she hates. And if I didn't know any better I'd say this "Snow White" looked remarkably like Margaret... and she was on the run. Did she lie to me?

        I folded the parchment as an old lady approached me. "You seem troubled, young one."

        "I'm not troubled."

        "War rages whether or not the soldier is ready, and trouble awaits whether or not the guard can catch the thief." Her eyes were grey--like she was blind, but even with her short stature she stared into my soul. "War is coming. Trouble is here. Are you ready?"

        "What?" I asked, "what does this have to do with anything?"

        "The tide always rises on a moonlit night. The wolf always howls when danger is near."

        I stepped away, "th-thanks. Goodbye."

        "Trouble leaves gifts at your door. It dresses as goodness!" She called out something else but I'd had my weird for the day. She had to be crazy.

        The rest of the town was desolate. Even the tavern, which was supposed to be lively, had its door shut and the windows locked. The sign was hanging off of its post. No one went in, no one came out.

        Slowly, I scaled the steps to the castle's front door. My shoes clicked on the hard stone steps. My heart started racing and my body went cold. Suddenly, it was harder to breathe. I turned around, looking over the town below. No one was meeting, no children playing in the streets. The sun was shining, but it was cold.

        "Well, well. Looks like that cowardly Pirate actually found you." The Queen said.

        "He's not a coward." My eyes stayed trained on the buildings.

        "Well, whatever he is or isn't doesn't matter to you. You ran off," she grabbed my bicep and turned me around, "tell me, what was so intriguing that you would act so ungratefully. I gave you everything you could ever want."

        "You're killing these people--"

        "Only because they deserve to be killed!" She snapped, "right alongside their dear Snow White."

        "The person you blamed for kidnapping me?"

        "Well, clearly you can't run off yourself. Someone had to have taken you--you were a peasant on the streets. You would have starved had I not found you!"

        I glared, "had Rumplestiltskin not tricked me, you mean?"

        Her face shifted. "Tricked you?" the Queen took a few steps toward me. I backed away. "From where I stand, it sounds like that 'trick' was the one good decision you've made in your life. Now get inside before I change my mind and send you back to where you came from." I obeyed, ducking into the castle and heading for my room.