The Anti Savior: An Outlaw Queen Tale

Chapter Seven: One Year Ago- Hour Glass

On the day of Willow’s 14th birthday, she awoke as she would any other day. Her and Papa rarely celebrated birthdays because it seemed they came far too often in this world. You see there is a time difference between Hour Glass and any other world beyond its realm. Every year that passes in the other realms, seven pass in Hour Glass.

Willow did not like it very much in Hour Glass. She always sat at the edge of the glass waiting until the day she could return to her real parents. She loved her Papa and knew he took care of her as best as he could, but he had a very special job. His job was to travel to the other realms every night to spread sleeping sand amongst the people. Her father was The Sandman; believed to be a myth, but he was very real to Willow.

The thing about The Sandman was that he never slept. The time difference meant that he had to travel to other realms more frequently than he spent time in his own. This made him very angry; burdened to a lifetime of never sleeping takes a significant toll on a person. Willow always begged him to let her go with him, but he refused. The only time Willow would be allowed to travel to another realm would be the day she arrives in Storybrooke to meet her real parents, but only her Papa knew this.

Willow sat up her in bed and stared out the glass case that surrounded her, wishing to be set free from her prison. She always felt this dark presence inside of her, something she felt she had no control over. There was something missing and something she yearned for, but she couldn’t quite figure out what those things were. She was completely unaware of her destiny… that was until the moment a face appeared in her mirror. “Hello young Willow,” said the Man in the Mirror. Willow jumped out of bed and backed away from it. The man chuckled. “No need to fear. I am a dear friend of your mother’s.”

Willow stepped closer with a smile, “You know my birth mother?” she said excitedly. “Indeed I do. Her name is Regina and she is a Queen in the land you were born in.” Willow sat before the mirror in awe. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. A Queen. That made her a Princess! She could be royalty in another realm… but instead she was stuck in a sandbox. Her face changed upon realizing this, feeling that darkness rise within her. She became instantly angered by this fact. “Why did she give me away?” “That is what I am here to show you,” Sidney said as his face disappeared and revealed a scene from the Enchanted Forest; a scene Sidney knew was deceptive, but was his only hope for revenge.

Willow leaned in close to get a better look. She saw her mother dressed as a Queen. She was sensational. And the man next to her must have been her father; he was dressed in greens and browns and held a bow and arrow. She noticed another man was standing with them in the woods. His skin was scaly and resembled gold. His hair was long and stringy like hay. He called himself Rumplestiltskin.

“Hello dearie,” he said with a giggle. Regina was not surprised by his visit; she never was. “What do you want?” she said in the tone she often used around the Dark One. “I don’t want anything from you. I’ve come to warn you.”

“You never do any favors unless there’s something in it for you,” Robin said with his hand tightly around his bow. Rumple let out another giggle. “Let’s just say I’m invested in your future… And the future of that baby of yours,” he said pointing to Regina’s belly. She placed a hand on it and gave him a stern glance. “What does our baby have to do with you?” “She has EVERYTHING to do with me, dearie! She is doomed from birth.” “Explain yourself,” Regina demanded.

Rumplestiltskin cleared his throat and began, “Well, you see Your Majesty, your daughter is destined to die if you don’t send her away. She will kill the entire town of Storybrooke once we return to the next realm and be destined for death following our demise. Would you rather live your days knowing she’s alive in another world or die by her own hand? I’ll leave that up to you, dearie,” he smirked and placed his hands together in that sinister way he always did when he was up to something. Regina and Robin looked at each other for a moment and suddenly the Man in the Mirror returned before the young girl.

Willow sat there for a moment, stunned by what she had seen. Sidney sighed, “Your parents had no idea that Rumplestiltskin was fooling them. You see he had you sent away to save himself. He is the Dark One and the only person in any realm who can truly defeat him is you, Willow. You are destined to return to Storybrooke to reunite with your parents and use them to defeat Rumplestiltskin. Their true love created you and that makes you the Anti Savior,” he said with a grin.

“The Anti Savior?” she said, “That doesn’t sound like a good thing.” “Your parents are not good, young Willow. Your mother may have been a Queen, but she was an evil one. She murdered many people seeking revenge against her own stepdaughter. And your father? He is a thief. If they didn’t send you away to save the town, they did it for their own well being, I can assure you of that. You are destined for greatness, but do not believe that you belong with the good. You are evil to the core and must fulfill that.”

Willow thought for a moment about what this stranger in the mirror was telling her. Evil… At least that explains that dark feeling she always had. She looked at him and something was different; the look in her eyes slowly changed from the innocent 14-year-old girl to a young woman who knew her true identity. “How do I defeat the Dark One?”