Chapter 2: After the Curse
Emma Swan-Potter-Gold or whatever the hell her last name was, cursed when she found herself in her bedroom. What the hell—
She was pissed. Not even pregnancy hormone induced pissed, but pissed any old day of the week pissed. Though the days event of finding out that her unborn child had to be pretty much frozen in suspension, she fought a dragon, then Graham was turned into a wolf and—
And Jaime was be threatened by Regina who was holding a fireball.
She really wanted a drink.
She frowned, knowing she couldn't. Even though all signs of pregnancy were gone now, since Harumple hadn't removed the spell he placed on her belly and she couldn't even feel the baby anymore.
Besides, she needed to go back to that clearing. She needed to rescue Jaime from whatever the hell Regina was trying to him. Although, she doubted by the time she got to that hearing—if she could even find it—that she'd get there in time. And then Emma found herself starting to panic. She took deep breaths as she looked for her keys. She didn't know if her car could make it through the woods but she had to—
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Emma blinked. Sort of surprised, was someone knocking on the door? And why so loud?
Maybe it was Hermione. Graham said he was trying to contact he, so that she could come back and help them. Because apparently Hermione had magic.
Emma did remember that now.
It seemed so odd reconciling those memories with her interactions with these people for the past several years. While she did like Hermione, it pissed her off that the woman could never clue her into what Harumple was doing.
Not like I would've believed it, Emma thought in disgust. There were so many signs. So many points of being oblivious, it just made her angry.
"I'm coming." Emma barked when she heard the banging again. It better not be Hermione, she was pissed enough to say something not nice. But imagine to her surprise when she opened the door to see a very upset looking Mary Margret Blanchard and Daniel Mills staring at her.
It probably wasn't in Mary Margret's best interest to be near Emma right now. She was not one of Emma's favorite people, to say the least. Especially since she had merely gotten convicted of one of the lesser charges against her, and only punishment was picking up trash on the side of the road every weekend.
"I really need to work on getting that TRO." She snapped when she saw Mary Margret and attempted to slam the door in front of the pair's face. Only Daniel Mills put his boot in the way. Which really sucked.
"Wait, Emma. Let her speak."
Emma rolled her eyes, as she got out her phone. She was going to have Graham. Surely, he could have them arrested with trespassing or just being annoying. She didn't' get what was with Daniel Mills though, usually he was much passive and knew when to back off. And he hadn't wanted anything to do with Mary Margret, at least from what she could tell.
"I think she said everything she needed to say to me when she helped your wife drug me and almost killed my unborn child."
Mary Margret blanched when she said this. Good, she should be ashamed what she did was intolerable.
"Emma, I—"
"Don't." Emma snapped. "There's nothing that you can say, that will make what you did forgivable."
"I know that," The dark headed woman said looking down. "And I'll regret helping Regina as long as I live."
"Or until she orders you to perform another favor for her."
"Emma—" Daniel said, "There's more to the story than you know. Snow and I—we had no idea."
"Snow?" She asked. "What are you two talking about?"
"My name isn't Mary Margret," She said. "It's really Snow. Snow White."
Emma gave her a weird look. "Okay, I think it's past time for the insanity defense. You've been convicted."
Though, to be honest, she knew it wasn't that crazy. She had married a man named Rumpelstiltskin, magic was real, and she had fought a big purple dragon all in one day.
And she did remember briefly skimming Snow White's story in Jaime's book. And the artwork did look remarkably like Mary Margret, still she couldn't quite rationalize that those stories in that book were true.
Especially those versions of stories. The Snow White one, if Emma could recall, was particularly gruesome. Which made sense, because Regina was in it—obviously, but there were so many things wrong with it. She remembered reading about their child, a child that was rumored to break a curse but in the end of the tragic fairytale had been destroyed. Or at least that's how it appeared at the end of the fairytale she read, she sighed heavily, as she tried to rationalize the book. Harumple had mentioned something about Daniel Mills really being Prince Charming, which was Snow White's husband in the book—Emma thought. Only she never saw any illustrations of him so she was only relying on speclation.
"It's not like that Emma." Daniel Mills said trying to explain.
Emma was trying to decide which way was easier to get them to go away, since she had no time for this. She had to get to her son, before Regina could do further damage. In the end she decided to cut them off, "I don't have time for this, don't bother coming back. I am going to have Ford get that TRO on you."
"You shouldn't trust Rumpelstiltskin, Emma. Let alone, sleep with him." Mary Margret or should she say Snow White said. "Look, I know that things are not good between us but—"
"I don't want to hear it, Snow White or whatever your name is." She said, "I have to get to my son. And it's none of your business who I sleep with."
She then walked towards the door only to have Snow White grab her arm, "No, Emma."
"Dear lord," Emma said. "I said not now. I have to get to Jaime before Regina hurts him or worse. And God knows what Harumple is going to do."
"Harumple?" Daniel asked not getting Emma's weird pet name for her husband of many names. "Jaime's in danger? Let me get my sword."
Let me get my sword?
Emma shook her head, "Uh, no thank you. I think I'll just call the sheriff."
Though, the last time Graham went up against Regina, he was turned into a wolf. So, he probably wasn't exactly the best person to go up against her.
"Nonsense," Mary Margret said. "We're going to help you. We can do that much."
Emma rolled her eyes. " Again, no thank you. If you want to help me you'll stay out of my way. You've already helped enough by trying to kill me and my baby."
She looked down at her deflated belly when she said this and Mary Margret suddenly seemed to notice that Emma no longer had a baby bump.
"Oh God, you lost the baby. Emma I—"
"Don't," She said not bothering to correct Mary Margret that her daughter hadn't been lost quite yet. "I have nothing to say to you, I have to protect my son."
She then managed to pry herself from Snow White's grasp and stared to dial Graham's number as she walked towards her car.
He was busy.
Probably trying to reach Hermione, she thought as she opened the door. Only to find herself surrounded by Prince Charming and Snow White (again).
Seriously?
"God," She said, "Didn't you get the point. You're not wanted."
"Emma, we can help with Regina." Daniel Mills said, "I know that you have issues with your—with Snow, but we want to help you."
"Fine, get in the car." She said, she wasn't going to bother arguing. "I have to get to my son. But don't think I'm not getting that TRO against you."
They nodded, as Emma turned on the car and slammed the gas on. As she made her way towards town, she notice that there was a large amount of angry people walking towards Regina's house.
Emma didn't want to say anything, because—hello, she was on a rescue mission to save Jaime—but when the troll like gas station worker almost ran into her car. She had to say something.
"What the fuck? Didn't that moron see the car?"
"You can't blame him," Daniel Mills said. "The curse broke. They all want revenge against Regina, we all do."
"Seriously." Emma said shaking her head as she managed to turn onto the drive that would take them to the woods.
"It's been twenty-eight years, Emma." Daniel. "Honestly, no one thought the curse would be broken…well all thought after."
"Your baby died that the curse wouldn't be broken," Emma said. "Yeah, I've read the story. How did it break?"
"You didn't die." Snow White said. "She lied to us. You survived and broke the curse Emma, just like you were supposed to."
Emma started laughing, as it dawned on her what Snow White and Prince Charming were getting at. "Uh, okay. You know that's insane, right? There's no way I can be your kid."
"But you are," Snow White said. "Look, it came a shock to me too, when I got my memories back. But it makes sense. You're my baby, Emma. My daughter. We have the same eyes. Your name is the same name I gave my child."
"So, we both have green eyes and I share a name," Emma said. "That's doesn't mean we're related. Harry has green eyes too and I'm married to the guy."
Though, to be fair Harry's eyes had gold flecks and were delightful to look at. Personally, Emma had always found her own eyes to be the same color as any other person with green eyes that weren't Ford's or Jaime's. She equated the color of green to grass clippings or maybe pound scum. She had noticed that Mary Margret' eyes were green in the past, but again it wasn't like she had molten gold flecks in her eyes like Harumple or Jaime. Hers were just the same pond scum green as Emma's.
"I swear, Emma, it's the truth." Mary Margret said as the road ended. Emma sighed, of course the road had to end. She now had to track in the woods. Thank God, she hadn't been wearing work gear today. She could only imagine how tracking in the forest would be if she wore her attorney pumps.
Emma sighed as she put the car in park, "I really don't care, Mary Margret."
"Mom. Call me Mom."
Emma rolled her eyes as she turned off the vehicle. "Yeah, not going to happen. Even if you are my mother. It's not that easy. You fucked a lot of things up. You hurt me and my baby."
Yeah, it sounded harsh. Especially if what Mary Margret was saying was remotely true, which Emma had to doubt. Because come on, the woman wasn't that much older than her. She really couldn't believe that she was her mother.
"Don't talk to your mother that way!" Daniel Mills said.
"I'm not dealing with this right now. I have my own kid to look out for. If you two want to walk in the woods with me, that's fine. But don't expect me to deal with your shit."
Of course, the Charmings didn't get the point. Were they the Charmings? Harumple had never gone into such details about what surname they had. Would her name have been Emma Charming?
She shook her head at those thoughts, telling herself to stop. She was being ridiculous. These people weren't her parents. Though, they did sort of act like the parents she imagined. Neglectful ingrates who left their baby on the side of an interstate.
Yeah, she could totally imagine Mary Margret doing that.
"You don't have to be so hostile." Mary Margret said as they walked through the woods—yep, they followed her. "I get that you're made Emma but—"
"Snow," Charming interrupted. "Let her be."
"Charming, I'm just trying to get her to talk. She needs to talk to us."
"I need to get to my son." Emma said as she tried to remember which way to turn. "Without any annoying stragglers. God knows, what Regina has done to him by now. I swear, I'm going to kill Harumple when I find him. Zapping me away like that."
"Harumple?"
Emma ignored them as she spotted the clearing. There was no sign of anyone—Harumple, Regina, or Jaime.
"No. No. No." Emma said out loud as she looked at the deserted clearing.
Nothing was there. The only reason she even knew this was the spot, was because she remembered seeing that well. That stupid well.
And then she screamed. Screamed for her son and husband, until she found herself passing out into the clearing.
She woke up on a gurney in Storybrooke General and groaned. It was the last place she wanted to be.
"You're awake." Whale said and Emma just groaned.
"Not you."
"Yes, me." He said, "You collapsed Mrs. Potter."
"Obviously," She said.
He frowned, "Well, your parents—"
"They're not my parents." She said as she got up. "I need to find my husband and my son."
"I need to examine you." Whale said. "You passed out and—and I thought you were pregnant with the Dark One's baby. Yet, you don't seem to be showing really at all, which shouldn't be the case since you're supposed to be in the middle of your second trimester. And there's no fetal heartbeat."
"Yeah," Emma said. "That's because Regina killed my baby."
It pained her to say that, but it was better than going into the whole my husband froze our child so it wouldn't die a slow painful death from darkness and only magic can restore the fetus so that it could live.
Whale closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Potter. Perhaps, it's for the best though. It was the Dark One's baby."
Emma glared at him. Seriously?
Whale didn't see the death glare though. "We all want the Evil Queen punished. Trust me, she will get what's coming to her when she's found."
There was something about Whale's voice that was almost menacing that would've made Emma raise her eyebrow if it wasn't already raised for him calling her the Evil Queen.
"You broke the curse." He said, "Well, that's what Snow and Charming say. That you're the Savior."
"That's not true," Emma said. "Like I told you, they're not my parents. Obviously, you noticed the impossible age difference."
"But—"
"There hasn't been a DNA test either." Emma added as if she was doing a summation at a trial. "And I didn't really do anything 'curse breaking' worthy. Now excuse me, I need to figure out where the hell Regina took my son and husband."
She then got up, thankful that she hadn't been regulated to one of those stupid hospital gowns yet. As she made her way out of the examination room.
Whale was lucky she hadn't decked him for what he said about her baby. He should be lucky Harumple wasn't here, she thought. She might allow him to do magic on Whale.
Not that she could really control Harumple, see the whole zapping her away from her son bit. She had to find them.
"Emma."
She turned to see Graham. Finally, someone she could talk to. "Did you find Jaime?"
"Yes, and no." She said before explaining the situation.
Graham frowned once she finished explaining everything. "They likely traveled outside of this realm." He finally said, "I don't know much about magic, but from what I know it seems like Regina might've opened a portal of some sort."
"A portal?"
Graham nodded. "I don't know how much Gold has told you, but this isn't exactly our original realm."
Emma nodded. "Yeah, he sort of mentioned that to me when he told me about the dragon in the basement of the town hall. But he acted like it was difficult to travel realms."
"It's supposed to be." Graham said, "But Regina did it before, I could see her doing it again. She's desperate. And when she's desperate, she's pretty much capable of anything."
Emma frowned, "So, Jaime's back in the place—the place where you guys come from."
Graham frowned, "Honestly, I don't know. There are a lot of realms out there. Like I said, I really don't know much about it. I try to steer clear of magic, Hermione or maybe…maybe Belle could tell you more."
"Belle?"
"Lacey Gold." He clarified. "I'm assuming since the curse is broken, she has her memories. She was actually pretty book smart if I remember correctly, I'd say pretty on par with Hermione. Although, se might know more about the Enchanted Forest than Hermione since she used to live there."
"Curse broke?" Emma said ignoring the rest, "That reminds me—"
"Emma!"
Dear lord, could they ever go away? She was hopeful when they weren't right outside the room where Whale was examining her, but apparently her luck ran out when she decided to talk to Graham.
"Can you tell them to go away?" She asked Graham trying her best to ignore her supposed "parents".
He sighed, "I—you know who they are, don't you?"
"She doesn't believe us Graham." Snow White said.
"They are your parents, Emma." Graham said.
"There hasn't been DNA ran." Emma threw back at him. "And even if they are a match it's merely a biological connection."
"Don't say that," Snow White said. "Emma I know I hurt you, but—"
"Hurt me!" Emma yelled. "You put me in the hospital. Twice. All because your good buddy Regina told you too."
"It was the curse," Mary Margret sobbed. "I would never hurt you or Charming, you two are my family. I thought you died. Please, baby."
If this was supposed to get some emotion response out of her, it wasn't. Maybe she was a cruel person. Maybe a better term would be horrible person, but Emma just couldn't. Instead she said what she truly felt, "I don't care. Graham, contact Hermione. I need to find them."
"I already left her a message," He said, "I think she was filling in for Harry at some summit, so it might be awhile. Maybe you should talk to your parents, try to understand where they're coming from."
She shook her head and gave him a look.
"Okay then." He said before turning to Snow and Charming. "Perhaps you two should give her some space."
She didn't care if she looked like a crazy person, which by all accounts she probably did when she started banging on Lacey Gold—no, Lady Belle's door.
She was desperate.
So, desperate that she went her husband's "wife's" house even though she knew now that Harumple and Belle had never married.
"Emma," Belle said opening the door looking at her surprised her eyes lingered down to Emma's seemingly flat abdomen and she sighed. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't," She said. "I need your help."
"My help?" She said sort of surprised.
She understood the surprise and confusion. Even now, Lacey or Belle looked so fragile. She was wrapped in one of Ford's bathrobes that swallowed her thin frame. Emma realized that she had been alone practically the whole day, since Regina had killed her nurse and in the rush—well, Harumple hadn't exactly hired anyone else to watch her.
"I'm sorry, Lacey err…Belle." She said, "I, shouldn't be asking, not when…"
"I'm fine," She said. "Well, I'm as fine as I'm going to be. I'm more concerned about you. I thought Rumple—I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I gave you that tea, Emma."
Emma shook her head, "It's not your fault. And the baby she's—Rumple and I are working on that."
"But you're not?" Belle said pointing to Emma's relatively deflated belly.
"Concealment charm." Emma said, "He thought, well, he thought it would be better if everyone thought I wasn't pregnant for now."
Belle nodded, "It's probably a good idea. Considering all that's going on."
Emma nodded, though she hated it. She hated not being able to feel her daughter kick and move. To not grow any larger, to be stuck in this state until and if they found some way to stop the toxins that had been built up in her bloodstream.
Emma sighed heavily, "Yes, about that. There was another incident."
"Another incident?"
Emma nodded as she explained what happened.
"The wishing well makes sense," Belle said when she finished explaining. "It's been said that mermaids are able to travel worlds, so it would make sense if water sources were somehow involved in connecting realms."
That completely went over Emma's head. "So, there's a way to get there then, or at least know where they went."
Belle frowned, "I suppose so. But it's not going to be easy. I mean, Rumple spent centuries trying to find a way to find Baelfire. It's why he had to resort to Regina creating the curse."
"Wait, Harumple let the curse happen?"
Belle nodded. "Yes, he would do anything to find his son."
Emma nodded, while she knew there was probably more to stew on about that. She understood Harumple which was why she said, "I know how that feels. And that's why I need your help, I want to find Harumple and Jaime."