ᴘᴇʀꜱᴇᴘʜᴏɴᴇ | once upon a time [ EDITING ]

- ᴄᴀᴍᴇʟᴏᴛ.

The moment they returned to the diner the people who had stayed behind, like Leroy and Granny, came rushing out to greet Emma. Presley watches everyone reunite and remains on the side. She didn't want to intrude on everyone's happy reunion. Not being distracted by conversation also made her one of the first to notice that something was approaching them.

Shortly after their arrival they heard horses neighing and hooves coming nearer. On top of the horses were a group of knights, dressed in armor and red capes. Presley feels a power surge inside of her and boil up underneath her skin. It was ready to unleash at the girl's slightest command. She balled her first in an effort to keep herself from using that simmering power. 

One of the knights introduced himself as King Arthur of Camelot. He explained they had come to find them, claiming they had known of their arrival since Merlin had prophesized it. The others were all more than eager to accept his warm invitation to his castle, but something inside of Presley told her not to trust a word this king said. Perhaps it was a sense of intuition or perhaps a distaste for strangers, but either way this all felt wrong.

However, she wouldn't stay behind all by herself. So, when Arthur brought everyone to Camelot she followed along and let herself be welcomed into the castle by the King and his wife, Queen Guinevere. They arranged for private quarters in their castle for them to stay in. Since she was a part of the group of guests she was also welcomed to the ball that they had organized in their honour. 

Emma had to admit she worried when Presley had locked herself away the entire day leading up to the ball. Her mother tried to calm her down by telling her she was certain that the girl would show up at the ball. How she could be that certain was a mystery to the new Dark One, but she hoped her mother was right.

In the privacy of her own bedchamber Presley found herself preparing for the ball. During her time in the Enchanted Forest after Pan's Dark Curse was prevented, she had been taught in magic by Loki, the God of Mischief. Apparently she had followed his lessons earlier, but due to the First Dark Curse she forgot about them. Simultaneously she also forgot about the first time he betrayed her, causing him to do that yet again with her with this time much more at stake.

In exchange for the promise of information, which she later learned he couldn't give her, she had freed the god from his chains. Just after that event the two of them were swept away by the curse that Snow White and Prince Charming had enacted, tampered with by Zelena so they would all forget the year again. Except for Presley, who could remember everything for reasons unknown to her.

She had tried to keep Loki from doing irrational things by locking him up in a cave in the woods, hoping no one would discover him. Presley had tried everything she could so people wouldn't find out about her secrets, but eventually they came out. Emma had confronted her, causing Presley to become upset and leave.

But before she left the town behind, she made a quick detour to the woods. Presley had freed Loki from his cave imprisonment. That action honestly surprised the god, considering she put him in there in the first place. "Why release me now, my favourite student," he had asked her. The blonde had crossed her arms then. A cold and disinterested look spread on her face. "Because I realized that I can never be the good guy. Good guys care about what happens to other people. They care about the consequences of their actions."

Presley had chuckled humorlessly. "I don't care what will happen if I let you run loose. I am not going to waste a minute of sleep over thinking about the rampage and destruction you could bring if I sent you back to Snow and Charming's kingdom. I didn't belong there and I never will, so why would I waste precious minutes of my time worrying about that?"

Loki had grinned at her response. "I have more self-control than you think, darling." The girl shook her head. The corner of her lip tilted up in an amused smirk. "Don't fool anyone, we both know you have none." The god had laughed. His eyes gleamed with a mischievious kind of joy as she released him from the cave.