Mary Margaret and Emma started arguing as they got out of the pit. Dream followed behind, looking around at the small village. "Why can't you just listen to me?" Mary Margaret scoffed, asking her daughter. "Why couldn't you have trusted me? I was just trying to find a way to get us home. I could've handled her. I mean, Dream knew her." Emma said when Dream perked up at the mention of her name.
"Not personally... And the stories my mother told me..." Dream said, raising her brows, biting her bottom lip as she sighed.
"Cora? Don't be so sure. I've lived here, Emma. I know this world and its dangers." Mary Margaret said when she ignored Dream's comment.
"Wait here." One of the men said before Emma could say anything else.
"Is that why you came through the portal? Because you thought I was helpless here?" Emma asked, looking at her mother as they stopped as the man told them to. "No. I came through to be with you." Mary Margaret said, making Emma smile a bit.
"So, then, why did you come in after me?" Dream asked, looking at Emma. "You're just a kid in a strange place. You would need someone to help you." Emma said, causing Dream to scoff. "I'm not a kid. I'm just nine years younger than you." Dream said, crossing her arms. "And I can handle myself--" Dream stopped when Mary Margaret noticed the man walking out of his hut.
"Lancelot?" Mary Margaret asked, making Emma and Dream look where she was looking.
"Snow?" The tall man in the knight's uniform asked when the two of them met halfway. The two of them hugged like old friends when Emma and Dream were confused. "Wait, if I had known that you were the prisoners Mulan had brought back, I never would've locked you away. Please, forgive me." Lancelot said to Mary Margaret.
"Of course." She smiled at him.
"Lancelot? Really?" Emma asked her mother.
"Of the round table? Like Camelot?" Dream asked when she remembered reading about King Arthur and the sword in the stone. "He's an old friend. We can trust him." Mary Margaret smiled at the two girls.
Meanwhile, Mulan and Aurora watched the interaction from a distance. "Why is he embracing them? They were responsible for Phillip's death. And the young one is the Evil Queen's daughter." Aurora said, sounding angry when she looked at Mulan. The two girls knew Snow White, but they recognized Dream from the apple pin on her sweater; she even looked like Regina.
"You're new here, Aurora. Phillip trusted Lancelot. So must we. And we do not know the girl is her daughter. Why would she be with Snow White?" Mulan asked when Aurora did not seem satisfied with that answer. "I want justice." Aurora scoffed, hatred in her voice.
"It's dangerous to confuse vengeance with justice. Do you understand me?" Mulan asked, but Aurora turned her head, looking away from her. "Do you understand me?" Mulan asked, moving so that she was in front of Mulan.
"Yes." Aurora sighed, not looking happy. Mulan walked away when Aurora turned, pulling out a dagger that she was hiding in her bag.
After catching up, Emma, Mary Margaret, and Dream sat at the table while Lancelot offered them food. He moved to sit a big plate of meat down. Emma and Dream looked grossed out. "What is that?" Emma asked Lancelot as Dream tried not to vomit at the smell. "That is Chimera. An acquired taste..." Lancelot explained, walking over to the other end of the table.
"And smell." Dream scoffed, moving her seat, so she didn't get the strong smell.
Lancelot chuckled at the girl before continuing. "But it was all our hunting party could bring back. One part lion, one part serpent, one part goat." Lancelot said, sitting down in his chair. Emma moved to pick up some on the big fork that was on the table. "Like a turducken?" Emma asked, looking at the strange meat. "Well, it certainly isn't grilled cheese." Dream said, in disgust, making Emma look at her, agreeing.
"I don't understand... We were told this land didn't even exist anymore." Mary Margaret spoke up, getting to the actual reason they sat down to talk to Lancelot while Emma put the strange meat down. "How did you all escape the curse?" She continued to ask him.
"It is a mystery. The curse struck, and when the smoke cleared, most of us had been torn from this land. But some of us here were left behind in this particular region. We don't know how, and we don't know why. Finding this safe haven wasn't easy. It took some spilled blood. But worry not, you're safe here." Lancelot explained that while Emma tried to wine on the table, Dream was skeptical about eating anything, but she was starving. "We can't stay. My husband's back there. Emma's son, my grandson. And Dream's mother. We have to get back to them. Can you help us find a portal?" Mary Margaret asked when Dream looked to see grapes. She liked grapes so she would take her chances.
"No, leaving is unwise. The Enchanted Forest is not as you remember it. The ogres have returned." Lancelot said, piquing Emma's interest, while Dream furrowed her brows with a mouth full of grapes.
"Ogres? Like, as in "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum,"?" Emma asked him, making Dream chuckle as she tried to swallow the grapes without chuckling. "I think that's giants." Dream chuckled when Mary Margaret nodded, letting Dream know that she was right.
"Ogres are far worse," Lancelot said in a lower register.
"But Sherk was funny..." Dream mumbled, but no one heard her.
"That's why we live here on this island, where it's safe. Please, Snow, stay here. There are no more portals left." Lancelot said, making Mary Margaret sigh, looking at the table. "I might know of one." She said, looking back up as Emma turned to look at her.
"You do?" Emma and Dream asked in unison.
"Where?" Lancelot asked her.
"Cora's near. I don't feel comfortable voicing my plans." Mary Margaret explained softly when Dream noticed the mood change on Lancelot's face. She noticed the way he spoke was familiar, but this was in the Enchanted Forest, where they spoke like Shakespeare, so she figured everyone talked like that. "She's powerful..." Mary Margaret continued.
"Not anymore. The curse stripped her of her powers." Lancelot sighed when Dream raised her brows. "She doesn't have magic anymore?" Dream asked as Lancelot nodded, looking at her. "But given her reputation, we've kept her locked up as a precaution," Lancelot explained, looking back at Mary Margaret while Emma started eating again.
"Nevertheless, I'm not taking chances... Trust me, I may have a way. Let us go." Mary Margaret said as they all watched and waited for his answer. Dream noticed that this was more than just hesitating for safety. "I'll allow it... But on one condition." He said, raising his hand up to signal someone to come over to the table. "Take my bravest warrior with you. Allow Mulan to defend you." He continued to say as Mulan walked over.
"We can defend ourselves--" Emma went to deny, but Mary Margaret interrupted her. "Deal." Mary Margaret said, making Emma look at her. "Thank you, Lancelot. For always looking out for me." She continued to smile at him.
~season 2, episode 3: "Lady of the Lake"~
~1216 words~
VOUS LISEZ
Dreams Come True:
Fanfiction***A Once Upon a Time Fanfiction ***A Killian Jones/Captain Hook Fanfiction *** Since I first wrote this book, I have changed chapters and some of the story, several times... I hope that if you are coming back to reread this book, that you will stil...
