"There is always some madness in love. But there is always some reason in madness."
~ Friedrich Nietzsche
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Peter's P.O.V
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I smile as I rake my hand through Alice's soft hair. I've lost track of the amout of time we've spent kissing each other. My legs are intwined with hers and her right hand is laced with my left one. Only then do I realize the emptiness in my chest and a missing aura in my life. Malcolm. He's dead. They killed my grandfather. Alice smiles and I realize that I've been staring at her.
My heart demands that I give up this life of hate and revenge while my head tells me to kill everyone who threatens Alice's safety. I have to carry on with my plan. I won't let Felix's death be in vain. One look at Alice tells me to come to my senses, I can't disappoint her again.
"Peter?"
Her soft voice brings me back to reality, a gentle reminder that I'm not alone in this awful world. I shake my head, clearing my head from dangerous thoughts. "Yes, love?"
"You blanked out," she tells me. "Where were you?"
"With Felix."
She props herself up with her elbows. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
"Did you know Malcolm is dead?" I ask, changing the subject.
A look of horror washes over her.
"I didn't kill him," I assure her. "They did. And I want to see their blood on the streets because of that."
"Two wrongs don't make a right, Peter," she says. "Revenge isn't the answer. It never is. It consumed you the last time you went down that dark path."
"I needed the strength of Malcolm and Felix to keep me from going on a killing spree to get back at my enemies, but I don't have the strength to resist my bloodthirsty urges now that they're gone."
Alice remains silent, listening to what I have to say.
"Malcolm died by their hand, and Felix's death would be in pointless if I don't carry on with this plan," I say.
She takes my hand in hers. "You don't have to go through with this, Peter."
"But I do," I say. "They killed my family."
Alice brings my hand to her lips and kisses my knuckles. "Cassie and I will be your family now."
"Alice, I love you," I tell her for the thousandth time. "I'll try to be a better person for you."
"But that day is not today."
I wave my hand over her head, causing her to pass out. She goes limp in my arms and I gently place her on the bed. I sit beside her, caressing her cheek. "I'm doing this for us. We can never have a future together if they're still alive and breathing."
As if on cue, my father walks into the room.
His eyes dart to Alice. "She isn't-"
"She's not dead. Just unconscious." I roll my eyes. "Honestly, she's my soul mate why would I hurt her? And even if she wasn't, why would I go through all that trouble to keep her safe just to kill her?"
"Because you're unpredictable," he says. "That's why you need to be put down. But Alice begged me to trap you in Pandora's Box instead."
"So that's what the cuff's really for? To make sure that I won't be able to fight back?"
"I wanted to talk to you," he says, taking a step forward. "I want to be the last person who you see before you're gone."
"How touching," I say, sarcastically. "What do you want to talk about, huh? How you killed my mother in cold blood?
"How you banished me here for a stupid prophecy? How you torn me away from my homeland and banished me on barren island? How you expected and hoped that Malcolm wasn't still on the island to guide me?" I ask. "You've ruined my life and your father's. Can't I be free of you?"
"Oh, you will be." He pauses, picking up the sword that was lying on the table next to him. "In death."
Oh, so that's why you wanted to talk to me. Not to gloat or to taunt me, but to kill me.
I inhale deeply. "Then, let me give you one last lesson Malcolm didn't get the chance to teach you, father. Never make a cage you can't get out of."
I then rip the leather bracelet off my wrist. Rumpelstiltskin's eyes widen and he stumbles back in shock.
"I made this cuff, you know? Doesn't work on me," I say, shaking my head. "But on you?"
I wave my hand, using my magic to materialize the cuff onto my father's wrist. I revel in the look of fear on the pathetic man's face. I stand up.
"Down boy," I say, using my magic to fling him back.
The shelf breaks under pressure as he knocks into it.
"Let's see how you do without magic," I snarl.
My father rushes towards the fallen sword on all fours, but I kick it away from him, causing him to recoil back.
"I've come too far for this," Rumpelstiltskin says. "For them."
"For my perfect baby brother? No." I shake my head, a smug smirk etched on my face.
I take another step foward. "It's too late. Soon that fine green smoke will fill their lungs and fog their brains. Not like the rest of this town, I'm not just going to take their memories. No. Because of their special meaning to you, I'm going to take their lives. I'm gonna make them die a horribly painful death like the fate you gave my mother, the pure woman you corrupted."
I kneel down in front of him. "And you won't do a thing to stop me. Do you know why? Because without magic, you are right back to where you started. The village coward."
I stand up, making my way out the door. I glance at Alice's sleeping form, promising myself that I'll make it up to her when this is all over. My eyes dart to my father who's making a futile attempt to take the cuff off.
I have to admit, it hurt knowing that my father ruined my life in order to make my younger brother's life better. In another life we could've been a happy family together, but I guess fate decided that I was destined to end up alone, so that I'd meet Alice a couple centuries down the road. And now that I've found her, I'll do everything in my power to make sure that I'll never lose her.
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Ray's P.O.V
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"I've got a scent," Granny announces. "He's nearby."
"The tower?" Emma asks, catching up with her.
I wipe the sweat off my face. I gotta admit, she's fast for an old lady. We arrive at the clock tower building as Henry, now back in his original body, runs out from the library with Cassie in his arms.
"It's me, it's me! It worked!" He exclaims excited, running towards us.
He places the toddler down before rushing forward to hug both of his mothers. Emma and Regina spread their arms out, engulfing him in a groug hug.
"Mom, mom... I just saw you guys," Henry says. "You guys just saw me."
"But we didn't see you," Regina says, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"He's got it," Emma says, relieved.
Cassie stands in the middle of the road, his eyes red from crying. I kneel down, spreading my arms out in a gesture for him to come to me. Cassie rubs his eyes, running towards me. I stand up as he wraps his little arms wrap around my neck.
"Shh, it's alright, Cassie. Your safe," I assure him. "You're safe."
The little boy sniffs, tightening his grip on my neck.
Henry hands his mother the scroll, and in turn Emma gives it to Regina.
"It's up to you now."
A flash of purple light comes out from the scroll, knocking Regina out cold. We all gather around her as her body hits the ground.
"Regina!" Emma cries out. "Regina!"
The blonde woman attempts to shake her awake. "Regina! Regina!"
Regina slowly opens her eyes. "Emma."
She staggers to her feet.
"What happened?" Emma asks her. "You okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Regina answers, disoriented. "I just-"
"What is it? What happened when you touched it?" Mary Margaret asks, worriedly.
"I saw what needed to be done," Regina answers, looking at Henry.
"Mom, are- are you going to be okay?" he asks her.
The woman places a hand under Henry's chin. "The important thing is you will be."
Henry grabs her hand in reassurance. The next thing I know, the scroll disappears from Regina's palm.
"No, he won't," says a familiar cocky voice.
We all jerk our heads towards the source of the voice. Emma and Regina form a protective circle around their son as Pan walks up to us.
Hook points at the demon in front of us. "He has the—"
But he's cut off as Pan waves his hand over our group, casting a freezing spell that holds us all in place.
"Curse?" Pan waves the scroll almost tauntingly at us. "That I do."
Great, now we're screwed.
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Alice's P.O.V
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I wake up alone. I sit up on the bed, rubbing my temples with my hand as I do so. I can't believe he did that. Again. The sound of metal on metal catches my attention and I turn to see Mr Gold holding a sword dangerously close to his wrist.
"Stop!" I exclaim, causing him to almost drop the sword. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Help me," Gold begs, stumbling towards me.
"With what?" I ask.
He holds out his wrist to me and only then do I notice the leather cuff attacted to it. "Get this off me."
My eyes dart around the room. "Where is he?"
"Just take this thing off me and I'll take you to him," Gold says, desperate.
Gold senses my hesitation.
"Look, do you want your friends to die or not?" he asks, impatiently.
My eyes widen and I immediately try to pry the bracelet off him. Something zaps my arm as soon as my hand comes into contact with the smooth material and I recoil back in pain.
"What in hades was that?" I ask, rubbing my sore arm.
Gold exhales in frustration. "He must've charmed it so you wouldn't be able to get it off."
"Where is he?" I demand.
"Gone off to find the others," the old man replies. "He's going to kill them."
I stand up. "Then what are we waiting here for? Let's go stop him."
"I can't. I'm powerless to stop him." He holds up his wrist to make his point.
"Well, I'm going to try and stop him, so you can either come with me or wallow in selfpity. So, what is it gonna be?" I ask.
He answers my question by throwing the sword aside, standing up to his full hight.
I grin. "That's more like it. Now, let's stop Peter before he does something stupid."
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Ray's P.O.V
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"Look at you all," Pan says, grinning. "A captive audience. I could play with you like a pack of dolls, couldn't I?"
Pan takes a step forward, but narrows his eyes when he sees me.
Aw, crap, he must've seen Cassie.
The brown haired demon waves his hand over me, using his magic to brinb Cassie next to him, fully mobile.
"You're safe now, my prince," Pan says in a reassuring tone.
Get away from him, Cassie!
Cassie inches away from Pan as he kneels down in front of him.
Pan furrows his eyebrows. "Cassie? Are you scared of me?"
The toddler shakes his head.
"Then why do you look so scared?" Pan asks him in a gentle tone.
Cassie sniffs. "I want mama."
"She'll join us in awhile," Pan assures him. "I just need to get rid of the people who will hurt mama and dada before we can be together as a family again."
Cassie throws his arms around Pan. "I mwissed you, dada."
Pan ruffles the toddler's hair. "I know, I missed you, too, son."
He sets Cassie back down into the ground. "Can you do dada a favor?"
The toddler nods.
"I have to get rid of the bad people first and I need you to help me by closing your eyes covering your ears," Pan tells him. "I'll tell you when it's over, alright?"
Cassie hesitantly looks at us, unsure.
Run, Cassie! Run!
But he doesn't. Cassie nods his head, proceeding to close his eyes and cover his ears with both of his hands. Pan stands up, turning to face us. His gentle and caring attitude gone.
"Now, who should I kill first?" he asks, smirking.
"I think I'll start with these two." He then makes a beeline for Belle and Neal. "Hmm. You both look so adorable. Hard to tell who to kill first."
His gaze shifts between the two of them. "No, it isn't." Pan points at Neal. "You. You're the reason why our father ruined my life and killed my mother. You should die first."
He flexes his fingers, causing green sparks to fly. "Say goodbye to your loved ones, little brother."
Pan raises his hand to cast a spell that would kill Neal, but someone grabs his wrist before he can do so.
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Alice's P.O.V
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"Stay away from them," Gold growls, pushing Peter away.
"How about this? The worm has teeth. What, you're here to "pwotect you're wuved ones"?" he mocks.
"I'm not gonna let touch either one of them," Gold says calmly.
"And neither will I," I say, making my presence known.
Peter immediately turns his attention to me. "Alice? How are you awake? I cast a spell on you."
"You see, dearie, Alice here is your soul mate. That means that your spells don't have the same effect on her," Gold tells him.
I kneel down in front of my baby. "Cas?"
The toddler opens his eyes at the sound of my voice. He slowly brings his hands away from his ears. "Mama?"
I smile as he hugs me.
I stand up, holding my son in my arms. I turn around to face the others just as Mr Gold starts talking again.
"I'm not going to let you hurt anyone," he says.
"Oh, I'd like to see that," Peter challenges.
I proceed to walk towards him. "Peter, stop this."
"Sorry, love," Peter says. "I've given up too much to stop now."
He waves his hand in my direction, causing my feet to stop moving. I try to move my right leg but it doesn't budge an inch.
Damn you, Peter.
"Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, I'd like to see you try to stop me without your magic," Peter taunts.
"Oh, you will," Gold replies. "Because I have a job to finish, and I'll do whatever it takes."
"No loopholes."
Peter scoffs, smirking at that sentence.
"And what needs to be done has a price," Gold says. "A price I'm finally willing to pay."
Oh, God help us all...
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One more chapter to go. I still can't believe I'm almost done writing this book, it's crazy. I've been asked a couple times if there's going to be a sequel and I assure you guys that there will be one -though I haven't decided when I'm going to publish it yet- I'm still thinking of the name for the sequel. I'll keep you guys posted if I come up with smth.
Anyway, fair warning, you guys shld probably grab a box of tissues when you read the next chapter, 'cause it's gonna be a really heartbreaking chapter. Like, really, really, really heartbreaking.
W
ell, that's all for this A/N, bye, guys
~ Alice xx
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More artwork by the amazingly talented Angie:
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