Once Upon a Time: Ever After High (Book 13)

Ch.30 Old help

Full of shock at what she was witnessing, Danielle took a step back as she watched as Nathan pulled himself up as his wooden body let out a loud screeching noise. He then held his right hand up and made his wooden fingers move, and by the look on his face, it appeared he was so fascinated to watch his body move after so long of being a Nutcracker hidden in a drawer, and Danielle couldn't blame him.

"Nathan?" she gasped as he turned to her.

He studied her for a moment "Farrah?"

"You recognize me?" she remarked surprised.

"I know your face anywhere."

"Oh my God" she gasped.

"Now uh, why are you blonde?"

"Oh uh, it's kind of a long story."

"Does it have to do with the Evil Queen's curse?"

"You know about that?"

"The last thing I remember was hearing that the Evil Queen's curse was arriving and that we all had to hide."

She stood there dismayed "So you don't remember anything after that?"

"No" he mumbled "What happened to me? Why do I feel like I haven't moved in years?"

"Because you haven't."

"What?" he gasped.

"When the curse came, everyone had transported to this place called Storybrooke, some of us look different, but we're still the same people. But the curse somehow turned you into a real Nutcracker."

"Wait what?" he gasped again.

"You were a Nutcracker and you were shut in a drawer for over 2 years now."

He was speechless, he couldn't believe what he was hearing until Danielle spoke.

"I brought you back" she stated in a mumbled, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to before, we couldn't find you until recently."

"So what you're saying is-" he muttered, "We're all trapped in this Storybrooke because of the curse?"

"Pretty much" she sighed.

"And I've been missing for over 2 years?"

"I'm sorry."

He let out a big sigh as he looked down and spotted the ribbon tied around his belt loop.

"Looks like Justine really did give you a lucky charm" Danielle gave a small smile "Thanks to that, I was able to use my magic on it to bring you back."

"Wait this is what brought me back?" he gasped.

"I don't know how but, I had to try it out, and it worked."

"And uh, is Justine here?"

"She is, let me call her."

As she did so, Nathan looked back at the ribbon and untied it as he held it up in front of him. If it wasn't for the ribbon, he would not have been brought back, and it was all thanks to Nicole.

_________

Now sitting on the steps in front of Storybrooke High, Lydia waited for her brother to arrive as she distracted herself by reading a book on Fairy Tales. No matter how many time she read it, she was always reading Fairy Tales.

"Doesn't it get tiring reading those same stories over and over?" she looked up to see Noah smirking at her.

"You know it never tires me" she replied while shutting the book "Whatcha got?"

"Well nothing on the Trigger."

"Then why did you want to meet up with me?"

"Because I gotta question, and I wanna ask this face to face."

"Well talk then."

"I know what we need the Trigger for, but why do we need it when we can already destroy this town the first way?"

"Because Noah-" she frowned "This Storybrooke isn't part of the Fairytale world, therefore it can't be destroyed. But with the Trigger, it can demolish any realm we want, even realms like this."

"You're pretty sinister you know that?" he remarked "Wanting to destroy the Fairytale realm and everyone in it."

"I'm doing it because this is not how it should be. Why does everything have to be like this when we can change that?"

"I don't know what to say about that, but if you really want me to find the Trigger, I might know a girl who can help."

"Who?"

"Some chic who helped me back at Ever After, well, actually I paid her to help me."

"What did she help you with?"

"She went to receive the Trigger for me because I couldn't do it. But then you know the whole story of me losing it in the curse, and if she's here, she might know something about it."

"Might?"

"I have to see, but first I gotta find her, and I think I know where."

________

At the Storybrooke Garden Center, Jillian Beanstalk, daughter of Jack and the Beanstalk finished stocking up the plant pots on a shelf just as her friend Jenna Little, also known as Nina Thumbell, daughter of Thumbelina walked up to her with a flower pot in her hands.

"You finished stocking up the pots?" she asked.

"Yep," Jillian replied while wiping her hands "Anything else I can do?"

"Yeah, can you put this flower over there on that shelf?" Jenna handed her the flower pot "I'm too short to reach the top."

Jillian gave a small snicker, being the daughter of Thumbelina, Jenna was known for being a head shorter than everyone, meaning she had to have help whenever she had to reach something high.

"Of course I'll do it" Jillian smiled while taking the pot and walking over to the shelf where she set it on the highest shelf.

"Jillian Beanstalk" she suddenly heard a voice call her as she turned around to see Noah.

"Oh-" she responded a bit confused obscure "Um, can I help you?"

"I suppose you don't recognize me" Noah replied with a small smirk.

"You're Noah right?"

"I am. I'm also the guy you helped back at Ever After."

"I did? When?"

"You help me retrieve a gem I was looking for, a gem that was hidden up in the Giant's Castle."

She thought for a moment, and that's when she realized it.

"Oh right," she replied now knowing "But uh, are you here just to say hi to me?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you knew where I can find that gem again. You see I kinda lost it when the curse happened."

"Oh. Well uh, I haven't seen it. You can try looking in Mr. Gold's shop, he pretty much has everything."

"Oh-" he replied a bit disappointed "Well uh, thanks anyway."

He headed off just as Jenna went up to her.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"He was just asking if I've seen a certain gem."

"What gem?"

"Just some gem I helped him get before. I don't know why he needs it but, all he told me was that it was going to change something."