Chapter Status: Edited.
[For anyone wondering Take Me Over was set from July to about September and this is in June the next year]
"Anna, can you meet me at my parent's house?" Tahlia requests.
She walks briskly out of the hospital's entrance, her phone gripped tightly in her hand, of which is shaking. Anna frowns, seeming to hear that Tahlia does not sound quite right.
"Tahlia, what's wrong?" Anna frowns.
"My parents have been lying to me, I need emotional support," Tahlia sighs.
She had not spoken to her parents in nearly a week, she has been living with Henry and Anna for almost a year now, and she has not had the time to visit.
"What about Chloe? We can't leave her here alone yet," Anna points out.
Tahlia stops in her tracks, "oh yeah, um, just tell her to go home, we can finish everything tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll tell her now, I'll meet you there in ten," Anna agrees.
"See you then."
Tahlia hangs up, sliding her phone in the pocket of her black jumper. When she arrives, she uses her magic to unlock the door. She had lost her key a few months ago so it is her only way in.
"Mum! Dad!" Tahlia yells.
"Hey, sis!"
June smiles brightly, but does not make a move to look at her sister. She sits on the corner of the couch, eyes glued to the television screen as she eats chocolate.
"Same," Tahlia mumbles before her Mum jogs into the room. "Mum, what's this about you being 26 years younger than you're supposed to be?" Tahlia asks before her mother can even say hello.
She sees the fear in her mother's eyes, seeming to be frozen, her eyes wide.
"What's this?" June questions, pausing the TV.
"How did you know that?" her mother asks softly.
"Oh, it's a little thing called Maths," Tahlia spits, much harsher than intended.
Her mother sighs, "I'll go get your father and Caleb, we should all talk about this together."
She leaves the room and Tahlia collapses on the couch beside June, staring at her hands, which fiddle together on her lap. June stares at her in slight confusion, Tahlia then looks up at the clock above her before looking back at her sister, hesitant to speak.
"What's happening?" June frowns.
"Mum and Dad are supposed to be 72," Tahlia replies.
"Oh okay... WHAT?" June screeches.
"What? What happened?" Anna asks, running into the house.
Tahlia frowns before realising she had left the door open, June then stands up quickly.
"My parents are supposed to be 72!"
Anna's eyes widen and she slowly shuts the door, seeming just as dumbfounded as June.
"What?" she squeaks.
"I did the Maths, it all works out," Tahlia grumbles.
Anna nods, "oh."
Anna seems to be in more shock than Tahlia was when she figured it out. Her and June sit on the couch in sync just before Elizabeth returns with Caleb and Daniel.
"Sit down Caleb," Daniel says strongly.
Caleb frowns at them incredulously before sitting beside Anna. Elizabeth then notices her, frowning, she thinks for a moment.
"Were you here before?" she asks.
"No, but I can leave if you like?" Anna offers, beginning to stand up.
"No, you can stay, Tahlia's just going to tell you later, you might as well hear it first hand," Elizabeth insists.
Anna nods and sits back down, it is silent as Elizabeth takes in a deep breath. She and her husband exchange a glance, a silent question as to who is to speak first, and, more importantly, how they are going to explain it.
"What's happening?" Caleb asks, despising the silence.
"As most of you know... we're supposed to be older than we actually are," Elizabeth starts. "You all think we were born in 1974, but we were actually born in 1950."
Caleb spits out the water he had been sipping on. Everyone stares at him as he coughs for a few moments longer than he should. He slams his cup onto the table in front of him, his eyebrow twitching ever so slightly as he looks at his mother in bewilderment.
"What?" he asks in shock.
"So, you all know who we were in the Enchanted Forest, William and Camilla. But only three people knew the real reason why we left," Elizabeth pauses. "I was pregnant."
"With our older brother?" June clarifies.
"Yes, we were going to name him Logan, but we never filled out any paperwork for it, I assume the adoption agency named him. Anyhow, we were desperate, and we wanted to be certain that we and the baby would be safe. So, I made a deal with Cora," tears fill her blue eyes, however, she holds them back. "I would poison Queen Eva if she would help us get to the land without magic further in the future.
"Once I had finished, she helped both of us get to 1992, the year the baby was born. My parents paid Cora to send them there; my cousin became King of our kingdom since they never returned. After I had the baby, we moved to Adelaide where we started our lives and had the rest of you, except for you, Anna," she finishes.
"Wow" Tahlia mumbles
"So, if you had just gone into the land without magic and not into the future and you still had us in the same order we would be 34 years older than we are?" June clarifies.
"Correct," Elizabeth nods.
"Fucking nerd," Caleb mumbles under his breath before June punches his shoulder.
"Why didn't you tell us before?" Tahlia asks.
"We didn't think it mattered, we were going to tell you, but our lives are just beginning to get good here," Daniel states.
"Is that all the questions you have for us?" Elizabeth then asks.
"Did you guys go into the future so there would be no way anyone would find you?" Tahlia questions.
"That's basically it," Elizabeth shrugs in reply.
"Cool, well thank you for your time, we're going to head off now," Tahlia starts as she and Anna stand up.
"No, I haven't seen either of you in over a week!" Elizabeth argues.
"That's a shorter time than most other families, Mum," Tahlia tries.
"Oh, hush, we should all go out for dinner, you can invite Henry, and you can invite Nic, Anna! We can just go Granny's Diner or something," Elizabeth suggests.
"Mum, Granny's doesn't have tables that big," Tahlia points out.
"Well, we can go somewhere else," she shrugs.
"Well, my 20th is in a month or so, how about we just go out then?" Tahlia requests, a cheeky smile on her face.
"Do you not want to see us anymore?" Elizabeth frowns.
Tahlia sighs, "you know that's not true, I'm just really tired, I don't think I can stay awake long enough to have dinner tonight," she admits, laughing slightly "Besides, I have to organise a time to help this girl with her magic and that could take ages."
"What girl?" Daniel asks.
"Sandy Hagans, her magic is too powerful for her to control, she needs Tahlia to teach her how to control it," Anna explains.
"Oh, okay, I guess I'll see you soon then," Elizabeth smiles weakly.
"The weekend is only three days away, I'll make sure to come down for lunch," Tahlia says.
"Promise?" Elizabeth asks before Tahlia hugs her.
"I promise," Tahlia mumbles into her shoulder.
She hugs the rest of her family, minus Caleb who is "too cool for hugs," before she leaves with Anna beside her.
"So, tell me what happened at the hospital", Anna requests as they head straight towards Storybrooke's main road.
"Well, I had to wait until she woke up and then I put that magic cuff on her wrist so she can't use her magic," Tahlia explains.
"Isn't that bad for her?" Anna asks.
"She's too dangerous at the moment, especially in a hospital. It was bad for me but that was because I was just getting my magic, she's had hers for years. If anything happens to her Erin will call me."
"True," Anna admits.
"Besides, it's not taking away her magic, the cuff is designed to keep the magic from escaping her, so she should be fine."
Suddenly, Tahlia's phone begins to ring, it was a number she does not recognise, and so she stops walking to answer it.
"Hello?" she answers.
"Tahlia, it's Sandy, is there any way you can get here?" she asks quickly.
"Sure, what's going on?" Tahlia frowns.
"I think I figured out what's going on with my magic," she replies quickly.
"Really?"
"Yes, but it's too hard to explain over the phone, it'd be easier in person," Sandy states.
"Okay, I'm on my way," Tahlia hangs up and turns to look at Anna, "I guess we're not going home after all."
Anna groans, "do I have to go?" she whines.
"Don't be a baby," Tahlia teases.
She places her hand on Anna's shoulder and waves her free hand. In a matter of seconds, they are covered in dark blue smoke, and when the smoke disappears they are just outside of the Hospital.
"Thank god," Anna sighs.
She grazes her hand across her forehead in relief, there was no way she was going to run here, that is for sure.
"Come on," Tahlia urges, grabbing Anna's hand and dragging her into the reception. "Hello!" Tahlia waves at the same woman from earlier.
"Back so soon?" she asks with a smile.
"Sandy called, she needs to see me," Tahlia explains.
"And who's your friend?" she asks, leaning slightly to the right to look at Anna better.
"This is my friend, Anna, she's going to help us figure something out," she explains.
"Okay, you can go see her now," she smiles, Tahlia smiles in return, saying "thank you" before dragging Anna into the corridor.
"It's not as long down here as it is upstairs," Anna comments.
"I noticed that too, there's probably a basement or something behind the elevators," Tahlia shrugs.
She opens the door leading to room 4 and they walk in, Sandy sitting up at the sight of them, before turning off the TV that she had been watching.
"Hey Sandy, I hope you don't mind but I brought my friend, Anna," Tahlia states.
"Oh, that's fine," Sandy smiles in reply.
Anna waves shyly to Sandy, however, she does not notice, and Anna quickly drops her hand to her side in embarrassment. Tahlia shuts the door and the two of them pull two chairs up to the bed.
"So, what's your theory?" Tahlia asks, leaning her elbows on the bed.
"It's not a theory, it's fact," Sandy says, she grabs a book from her bedside table and opens it. "My grandmother brought this to me not long ago, it was written by my great, great grandfather," she starts. "The same thing that's happening to me happened to him, but not just him, 4 other people experienced it as well. 6 people spread over 500 years experienced the exact same thing," she explains.
"It started in 1520, Matthias Hagans, then 1620 Elizabeth Hagans, 1720 George Hagans, 1820 Alexander Hagans, 1920 John Hagans, and now me. Not only does it occur every 100 years, but it happens the 4th of June, everyone was 19 years old, all born on September 2nd," she rambles hurriedly.
"Wow," Tahlia comments, not knowing what else to say, this is far from a coincidence.
"But not only that, every one of them died September 1st, the day before their 21st birthday," Sandy adds.
"How did they die?" Tahlia inquiries.
"Their magic killed them, they all died in their sleep, all of them burnt alive," Sandy explains, worry clear on her face.
"It sounds like a curse," Tahlia frowns.
"It was a curse, a witch named Ginger cast it. She was in love with Matthias, but on the 3rd of June 1520 he broke her heart and in anger she placed a curse on him. On the 4th of June, his magic spun out of control and the night before his 21st birthday, he was no longer able to control it and it killed him in his sleep. The exact same thing has happened once a century for the last 500 years. Thankfully my great, great grandfather created a theory about how to break the curse," Sandy explains.
"How do you do it?" Anna questions.
"I'm not sure, the theory is written in some weird language," Sandy frowns.
"Why would he write it like that?" Anna asks.
"I have a theory for that as well. I didn't tell you but the only person that didn't die the night before his 21st was John, he died February 2nd," Sandy says.
"He stole the witches book," Tahlia mumbles.
"And so she killed him before he could figure out how to break the curse," Sandy says.
"I recognise this language, they call it Witches Tongue, only the most powerful sorcerers can decipher it," Tahlia says suddenly. "It was created so only witches, wizards and powerful sorcerers could read it. But you had to be extremely powerful," she adds.
"Who's powerful enough to read it?" Sandy asks.
"Regina," Tahlia says confidently.
"The Evil Queen?" Sandy questions uneasily.
"My boyfriend's mother, don't worry, she'll help us," Tahlia says comfortingly.
"Are you sure?" Sandy asks.
"I promise," Tahlia promises seriously, "can I take this with me? I'll be able to tell you tomorrow."
"Sure," Sandy nods.
"Thank you, I'll come back after my shift at the library, but I can come back earlier if you want?" Tahlia asks.
"Whatever's easier," Sandy smiles.
"Awesome, see you tomorrow," Tahlia says, standing up.
"See ya," Sandy waves before she turns on the TV.
Tahlia and Anna leave, shutting the door behind them and saying goodbye to the receptionist on their way out.
"Didn't that prophecy book say you'd learn to read the witches tongue?" Anna asks.
"Yeah, but I don't know when, probably when I'm older," Tahlia shrugs, deciding she'd rather not talk about her prophecies.
"Are we going straight to Regina's?" Anna asks.
"Henry was going there to see Regina today so I'll call him and ask if he's still there, if not I'll just call Regina and see if she's free," Tahlia shrugs.
She pulls out her phone, which is dangerously close to being flat, and clicks on Henry's contact.
"Heeeyyy," Henry answers in a creepily feminine tone.
"What the hell was that?" Tahlia can't help but ask, laughing.
Henry laughs also, "pretend I didn't do that, what's up?" he asks.
"Are you still at your Mum's?" she questions.
"Yeah, we were just talking actually," Henry replies.
"Can you tell her I need her help?" Tahlia requests.
"Is everything okay?" he asks, his tone of voice changing quickly.
"You know that girl that was in the hospital? Well, her families under a curse and the only way to break it is to do something, but it's written in some weird language that I think your Mum might be able to read," Tahlia says.
"Okay, come over, I'll just make sure it's okay with her first." It is silent on the other line; all Tahlia can hear is shuffling and mumbling. "She said yes, but I don't think she's very happy."
"Thank you, I'll see you soon."
Tahlia hangs up and the pair quickly makes their way to Regina's house. When they arrive, they knock on the door and Regina answers, wearing a simple, yet stylish, black dress.
"This better be important," she says as she lets them in.
"Well, it's a matter of life or death, is that important?" Tahlia asks.
"What's going on?" she questions, now sounding slightly worried.
"Are you able to read this?" Tahlia says, not bothering to hold it back.
She holds the book open in front of her, Regina leans closer, frowning slightly.
"I think so, who's going to die if I can't?" she asks.
"A friend," Tahlia replies.
"Okay, well this sort of language is a different type of Witches Tongue, you need to be able to create a special potion to read it," Regina starts. "We need to go somewhere else."
She waves her hand and all of a sudden, all four of them are in a small, dusty room filled with lots of bottles of liquid.
"Where are we?" Tahlia asks.
"My Heart Vault," Regina answers, "I should be able to translate it in here."
She opens the book and rips out of the Witches Tongue, she frowns as she reads over it, her finger tracing each word as she reads. She furrows her eyebrows together; a confused and aggravated look crosses her face. Henry and Tahlia exchange a worried look.
"The only thing I can read is 'break' and 'curse' out of this whole thing. For some reason, they're the only words written in normal Witches Tongue," Regina comments.
"Maybe that's how John knew this was how to break the curse, maybe he could read Witches Tongue," Tahlia says quietly.
"That's a theory, if he was powerful enough he could see it as English or whatever language he spoke," Regina says. "Who is that anyway?" she asks as she grabs a green liquid from one of the shelves.
"He's the most recent person to die from this curse, nearly 100 years ago," Tahlia replies.
"And I assume your friend is next?" she guesses.
"Yeah," Tahlia nods, her voice soft.
"Okay, I just need to find one more thing, ah, here it is" Regina picks up a thick red liquid, "witches blood," she smirks.
"Witches blood?" Anna frowns in disgust.
"I always keep some of it around, it's not hard to get and it doesn't go bad, this vile of it could last me centuries," Regina says before dropping only a single drop of it into the cauldron.
She shuts the vile and places it back on her shelf before beginning to mix the potion. Regina then drops the paper into the small cauldron and the four of them look into it as the symbols begin to turn into words, words of which only Regina and Tahlia can see.
"The only way to break the spell is to feel the way that Ginger felt," Regina starts.
"A heartbroken tear is the key, to break the curse and set them free," Tahlia finishes.
Anna opens her mouth to question her on how she can read it, but decides against it. Tahlia is already stressed enough.
"Is that Ginger the witch by any chance?" Regina asks.
"Yeah, it is," Tahlia replies softly.
"Okay, so Ginger was heartbroken, all we need is a heartbroken tear and some spell I guess," Henry says.
"It's not that easy, she didn't know she was going to be heartbroken, so the tear has to come from someone that's not expecting it," Tahlia says.
"And I guess if this curse was set to hurt this family, then the only person we can get the tear from is the person under the curse," Regina adds.
"Does that mean we have to hurt Sandy?" Anna asks softly.
"We don't, but someone else has to," Tahlia mumbles.
"Someone she loves," Henry adds.
"We have to make her fall in love," Tahlia states sadly.
"Do you think we could do that to her?" Anna asks.
"It's the only way to break the curse, she may never forgive us but it's the only way to save her," Tahlia replies.
"How are we going to do it?" Henry asks.
"I guess I'm going to introduce her to my great uncle," Tahlia says.
"Great uncle? Wouldn't he be a little too old?" Regina asks.
"He's only 21, he was a lost boy," Tahlia explains.
"Of course he was" Regina sighs before Tahlia pulls out her phone.
"Are you really about to do this?" Anna asks, "are you sure you think he's the right person?"
"I have too," Tahlia says guiltily before placing the phone to her ear.
"Tahlia?" a voice answers.
"Hey, Aaron, we need to talk".
A/N:
Man, that took me forever to come up with an ending. I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN OVER A WEEK, THIS HOLIDAYS HAS BEEN HECTIC (a.k.a me binge watching Supernatural and not leaving my bedroom).
I don't know if I like this chapter or not, what do you guys think? Do you like the twist? (*Clicks* or nah?).
Btw Take Me Over is nearly at 30K, WHICH IS INCREDIBLE! And this story is almost at 100 reads which I didn't expect, especially so quickly so thank you all so much for being awesome and reading despite it being really bad and the authors notes cringy af.
I'll also try to update within the next few days because I'm going on a mini holiday from Thursday to Saturday and I won't have any Wi-Fi and I'm really sad, but if I don't update by Wednesday (I have a birthday party to go to so it'll be an earlier update), I'll try to update twice when I get back... hopefully.
I think next chapter will be Tahlia introducing Aaron to Sandy and some other stuff so it won't be too eventful.
I LOVE YOU ALL, BYE!
Word Count: 3320.