《Artemis || OUAT》35. Witch Hunt

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Astrid walked beside Peter who walked beside Robin as the archer curiously inquired, glancing over at the green eyed boy, "So, you're dating Astrid?"

Peter moved his hand and held his love's while glancing over at Robin, saying, "So, you're like a father to her." He lifted an eyebrow in amusement as he added, "Are you going to give me a stern father-like talk?"

"Probably," Robin shrugged lightly and then commented seriously, "But just know, if you hurt her in any way, I will personally hurt you-- and I'm sure David would also help me."

"Yes, and Hook," Peter added, "I don't even want to Astrid hurt, so you don't have anything to worry about."

They continued to walk through the forest until they all heard a sudden screeching sound that was heard through the air, along with something with wings.

The creature with wings soared closer and Neal yelled out just as Astrid was knocked off of her feet and into the air briefly before landing on the ground painfully and hard, "INCOMING!"

Astrid groaned and grunted out, "Yeah, incoming already came..." She was helped up onto her feet by David and Peter just as they heard a little boy yell out, "PAPA!"

"ROLAND!" Robin yelled back as Astrid murmured, still dazed from that rough impact, "Roland?"

But before anyone could do anything, Regina grabbed the little boy and moved him out of the way while the flying creature moved around to charge again. Regina protectively stood in front of the boy and stated to the creature, "Not so fast."

She then proceeded to turn the animal into a stuffed monkey. Neal breathlessly asked Peter who stood in between his love and him, "Was that a flying monkey?"

"Yes, yes, it was," Peter answered with a nod and faced his girlfriend, looking her over for any broken bones, "You alright, love?"

"I'm fine." Astrid murmured, holding the side of her head with one hand.

Regina smiled at the little boy who was in his father's arms, saying, "See, not so scary. Now you have a new toy."

Roland took the stuffed monkey as Robin nodded at the woman and replied, "Thank you."

Astrid stepped over to them and asked in concern, "Roland okay?"

"Yeah, thanks to Regina. You okay? You took quite a hit from that thing." Robin answered also in concern for the girl, looking her over for broken bones.

"I'm okay, a little bruised, but okay," Astrid replied.

Roland looked over at her and recognized her immediately and grinned big, saying, "Sissy!"

Astrid laughed softly as Roland moved over to her and hugged her tightly, her scooping him up into her arms. "Hey, Ro. I've missed you."

"I missed you too," Roland innocently replied still smiling. Robin and her parents smiled at their kids.

"Okay, Henry is asleep upstairs. If he wakes up, you three are helping me with a case, okay?" Emma said as she walked into the living room at Granny's inn and sat down on the sofa.

"So, what the hell happened here? I mean, besides the obvious," Emma started.

Snow shrugged and replied, "We don't know. We watched you drive over the town line with Henry, and Regina started to cast her spell to take us back to the Enchanted Forest, and then... everything went black."

Peter spoke up from where he stood leaning against a wall, his arms folded across his chest, "And the next thing we know, we're here-"

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"Like it was any other morning in Storybrooke," David nodded in agreement.

"Except it clearly wasn't," Snow said while moving a hand over her pregnant stomach.

Hook smirked as he walked over to them and remarked, "Almost harvest time, but you can't remember the planting. That's bad luck, mate."

Snow rolled her eyes as Emma spoke up, "Clearly a year has passed, I was in New York, I know that it did."

"But we don't know where the hell we were. We don't even know if we left Storybrooke," David sighed as Hook spoke up, "Aye, you did. I was with you all."

"In the Enchanted Forest?" Snow asked as Peter also questioned, "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"

"Regina's spell brought us back. We spent a brief time with a prince and princess named Phillip and Aurora," Hook explained, "But I wasn't feeling the community spirit, so I ventured off on my own. Last I saw of you lot, you were making your way to Regina's castle."

"And now you're cursed. Why doesn't that surprise me?" Emma let out.

"Wait. You said 'last I saw of you'. You mean, you left, knowing that Astrid only had like two weeks until..." David demanded, "Or did she go with you?"

Hook shook his head, saying, "No, she chose to stay for you guys. And it appears I made the right move in parting ways."

"At least, tell me if Astrid was devastated in you leaving her again or not," David sighed.

"No, she understood. We left on good terms." Hook commented.

"I just don't understand," Snow spoke up, "Who would've cursed us?"

Emma let out, "I think it's pretty obvious."

Snow shook her head and argued, "Regina seems as clueless as the rest of us. I'm not quite sure she was involved in this."

"So she says," Emma replied.

"I don't understand," David also began but towards the one-handed pirate, "If you left the Enchanted Forest before the curse, how did you know to find Emma and come to Storybrooke?"

Hook admitted, "As I was sailing the realms, a bird landed on my ship's wheel with a note instructing me to retrieve Emma and bring her back here. There was small vial of memory potion tied to its leg."

"Who sent it?" Snow curiously asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I assumed you did," Hook gestured to the dark haired woman.

David shrugged, saying to his wife, "Message via bird-- that does sound like you."

Before anyone else could say anything, the door to the hotel suddenly burst open as they faced the new guests in question; Leroy stepped into the room with an almost panicked look, Happy following close behind. "What is it?" David quickly inquired.

"We lost another one. We're down to five now-" Leroy started just before Happy stood next to him and shut his phone, cutting him off, "Four actually. Bashful's not answering."

Peter smirked a little, joking, "Well, maybe he's just being bashful and that's why he isn't answering."

"I see where Astrid developed her sense of humor from," David remarked towards the green eyed boy beside him who just shrugged.

"Wait, what's going on?" Emma asked.

Leroy noticed the blonde and answered, "Thank God, you're back, sister."

"It's not just our memories that are missing. Ever since we've woken up, people have begun disappearing," Peter explained to his girlfriend's twin sister.

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Leroy nodded and added, "Whoever cursed us is picking us off one by one."

"Who exactly is missing-- aside from Astrid?" Emma asked.

"Aside from those dwarves and Astrid, we're not sure. There's been a lot of confusion over the last few days. It's been hard to keep track of everyone," David said.

"On the plus side, I've looked all around town and I haven't stumbled across Astrid's body anywhere," Peter spoke up, "Which means-"

"That she could still be alive," Snow finished with a nod, hope gleaming in her eyes now.

"Unless, you didn't find that cure in those final two weeks of hers and she died... Then you could've buried her-" Emma started sadly.

"No. If that was the case, we would've put her body in a crypt or something special, not just bury her-" David cut her off.

Hook cut him off, saying, "Let's just hope that she's still alive. A lot can happen in a year."

"Is Neal here?" Emma asked as Snow immediately answered, "We haven't found him yet."

"So, he might've been taken, too," Emma began.

Leroy shrugged and replied, "Smart money's on yes."

"Leroy!" Snow scolded.

Peter also shrugged and agreed with the dwarf, "He's kind of got a point."

"He'll turn up, Swan. He always does." Hook assured the woman.

"Some folks are starting to set up camp at the edge of town. Neal might be there," David also tried to assure.

Snow nodded, saying, "Or he may not have gotten swept up in the curse at all."

"There's only one way we're going to figure all this out," Emma said and stood up, "We need to get your memories back."

Snow questioned her daughter, "How are we going to do that?"

"By figuring out who took them in the first place." Emma answered, determined.

That's when the lights flickered off, setting the group on edge. "Maybe Granny forgot to pay her light bill?" Emma warily began, trying to be optimistic for her parents.

"Yeah, I don't think that's likely," Peter remarked.

"You couldn't be more right," A chilling female voice spoke up as they all turned in the direction of the sound of her voice, which she was standing in the open doorway.

They seen a person with a blue cloak on, her hood covering her face where all you could see was her mouth. "Who are you? Did you bring us back here?" Snow voiced everyone's thoughts aloud.

The hooded lady chuckled darkly, only answering the last question, "No."

"So, who are you?" Emma repeated her mother slightly. They seen the mysterious stranger's mouth twitch into a mischievous smirk.

"I just came to... retrieve someone- not tell you my identity," The hooded lady remarked in a bored way.

"And who's that?" David spoke up, "Are you the one taking people?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Who knows?" The mystery woman chuckled and said in a dark, sinister tone, "No one remembers who, so..."

Hook noticed the hooded girl's hilt on her sword slightly stick out from underneath her cloak and saw the familiar initials carved on the bottom of it. "AJ?" He voiced his suspicions.

"What? Astrid?" Everyone replied after hearing what the pirate said.

The girl simply smirked and slung everyone, except for Emma, against the farthest wall with her dark magic, them noticing her eyes glowing white once she lifted her head towards them, still not revealing her identity.

"Just you and me, Savior," The girl remarked, her hands now glowing black.

"Astrid-?" Emma slowly breathed out, hoping that this was her sister, while she also slowly took small steps backwards.

"Not Astrid." The girl muttered, slinging the blonde woman in front of her by her magic, making Emma crash onto the floor with a groan.

Hook struggled to escape the magical hold the hooded lady had on them as he called out to her, "If you're not Astrid, then why do you have her bloody swords?"

"Maybe I took them from her corpse," The girl remarked, "Go ahead, Swan. Use that superpower of yours and see if I'm lying. Your sister is ."

"No," Emma's eyes watered as she let out, still on the floor, "Never." The hooded girl stood over her and kicked her in the ribs hard one time as Emma groaned in pain.

"You all have bigger problems to worry about than your beloved Astrid anyway," The stranger added, slightly stepping away from Emma on the floor.

"How did- How did she die? From the curse?" Emma grunted, slowly sitting up onto her knees.

"You could say that," The stranger chuckled, glancing over at Peter who squirmed in the magical hold on him. "Huh." She murmured to herself in amusement.

While the hooded lady had her back turned from Emma, Emma stood up with a determined look upon her features and charged at her, tackling the girl onto the floor.

The hooded stranger swiftly used both of her boots and kicked Emma's waist, throwing the blonde woman off of herself, her eyes glowing white again as blackness began to encase her body completely.

And then the mystery woman was gone, the hold on the group also gone as they fell to the floor.

David and Snow quickly moved over to their daughter and had her in their arms, looking Emma over in concern.

"If she's telling the truth about not being Astrid, then who the hell is she?" Leroy voiced everyone's thoughts.

"And if she was telling the truth, that would mean that Astrid's... dead," Hook solemnly began.

"Exactly, if," Peter started, "Astrid is still out there- alive- I just know it."

"But who was that person?" David also started, still looking over his older daughter in concern.

Astrid looked around at the whole group of people after that flying attack by that mystery creature. "What the hell was that thing!?" David was the first to question.

"The same kind of monster that attacked us on our journey here." Snow answered.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say it looked an awful lot like a monkey," Grumpy pointed out.

Astrid stumbled a little, shuddering some, trying to shake the immense pain away. Peter wrapped an arm around her in reassurance, instinctively.

"A monkey with ?" David said in confusion.

"That's exactly what it is." Peter spoke up, knowing what they were dealing with now.

Neal gave him an odd look and replied, "Okay, you're acting like that's normal."

"Actually, it is," Belle spoke up, "But not here. There's only one land that has creatures like that. I've read about it-- Oz."

"Oz? That's a real place?" Snow questioned aloud in surprise.

"I seem to recall you saying the same thing about Neverland," Peter remarked in amusement while glancing down at his love in concern, feeling her pain triple.

Snow shrugged as Regina stepped in and replied, "They're right. It's quite real. If our simian friend is any indication, then I think we know exactly who's taken up residence in our castle."

"The Wicked Witch." Astrid finished, gritting her teeth to stifle back a wince.

"We talkin' East or West?" Leroy asked in slight confusion.

"Does it matter? Neither one sounds good," Snow answered.

Leroy shrugged and pointed out to the woman, "One you drop a house on, the other you toss a bucket of water at."

Astrid and Peter shared a look as David spoke up, "So, Regina, what exactly are we up against, besides green skin and a pointy hat? What did you do to her?"

"This time? Nothing. Never met her." Regina admitted which made everyone give her surprised looks.

"This isn't a personal vendetta. There's a shocker." Astrid remarked and then spoke up, taking the lead, "Okay then, Oz aside, we stick to the original plan. Arm up, then attack-- Assuming you can get the shield down."

Regina snorted at what the girl said, saying, "You don't need to worry about me."

"I'm coming with you," Snow told the former Evil Queen who replied, "No, this is a one-woman job."

Snow didn't give up, though, and inquired, "What? Against the Wicked Witch? She has flying -- Who knows what else?"

"I don't care if the Lollipop Guild is protecting her! I can lower that shield on my own." Regina stated before earning a nod from Snow.

"Then we'll be waiting for you on the other side." Snow assured the woman who nodded and walked away from the group.

Astrid didn't like it, though, because she had a gut feeling that the Wicked Witch has a personal vendetta against the former Evil Queen, albeit the flying monkeys coming and attacking them.

They were after Regina.

And by the look on Robin's face, Astrid knew he was thinking the same thing.

"Henry, this is David, Mary Margaret, and Peter," Emma introduced her son to the three people who just walked into the diner.

"Are you helping my mom with the case?" Henry asked the three and then lowered his voice as he asked Emma, "Or are they the ones who jumped bail?"

Emma chuckled and stood up, saying, "No, no, they are... They're just old friends."

"From where?" Henry questioned.

Snow said, "Phoenix-" while Emma also said, "-Here." Henry looked at them weirdly as Emma clarified, "Well... Phoenix and here."

"But I thought you were only in Phoenix for being in that place..." Henry began in confusion.

"Right. We were cellmates," Snow immediately added.

"Really? What were you in for?" Henry asked as Snow and David shared a look and Snow answered the boy, "Banditry."

Peter smiled a little in amusement and looked at the twelve year old, saying, "Nice meeting you, Kid." He then excused himself and headed towards the counter, sitting on the seat at the end and moved his folded hands to his lips, sighing.

He missed Astrid terribly, his heart ached to be with her, by her side.

The two of them didn't really have a long time to be together on Neverland, and he doesn't even know what happened in the Enchanted Forest.

He closed his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed, as he tried his hardest to remember what happened. But nothing.

Ruby moved over to him and stood in front of him now, speaking up, "So, you're the Peter Pan. I'm Ruby, one of Astrid's friends. She seemed really fond of you-- I could tell that she loved you very much."

Peter looked at the woman, saying, "She's not dead. Or at least, I don't think she is. I just have this feeling."

"I get it," Ruby sympathetically said softy, setting a cup of hot chocolate with cinnamon in front of him. "Astrid loved- loves- drinking this, like the rest of her family."

Peter raised an eyebrow and took a sip of the hot beverage and replied, "Yeah, I've had cocoa before. I like it too. It's good... Thanks."

Ruby smiled and was about to say something until they heard something made of glass drop and break.

Peter turned slightly in his seat to see Regina standing a few feet from him with her mouth agape as she stared at Henry. Regina started, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

"Oh, um... that's okay." Henry replied and glanced back down at his cocoa in front of him.

"Regina... Regina, we need to talk." Emma began and headed over to the woman who nodded and followed her where the two was out of sight.

"Well, that was... interesting." Peter remarked, taking a long sip of his own hot chocolate.

Ruby laughed somewhat and started to wipe down the counter, commenting, "You and Astrid are kind of alike."

Peter smirked, softly murmuring, "Well, we were- are- best friends." Ruby smiled and nodded.

Astrid and Robin followed Regina into the woods, seeing her lift a large boulder out of the way by her magic. Regina noticed the two standing a few feet behind her and shook her head, saying, "No."

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