Chapter XI

“Follow me,” the guard orders.  We walk down a brick pathway through the garden until we stop next to a couple of trees growing the most beautiful red roses.  “Take a closer look,” he tells me.  I walk up to the roses and notice that they’re dripping.  Upon closer inspection, I see that the originally white roses were only painted to appear red.  Through the branches of the tree I can still see white roses that have been missed in the process.  I step back, never having seen a tree that grows roses before.  I look at the trunk and notice that the bark is twisting in such a pattern that it almost looks like… an “E” carved in cursive.  I gasp and the guard walks up next to me.

“Your sister sold us white rose trees after I messed up the order form,” he tells me, “I was supposed to buy red rose trees for the queen.  When I found out they were white, I tried to cover it up but another guard caught me.  In my fear I put the blame on your sister, and for that I am truly sorry.”  I know I should be horrified, but the look on his face tells me he really does feel terribly about it.  Seeing the long scar run around his sun-tanned neck makes me wonder what the queen would’ve done to him for angering her a second time.  I don’t think I want to know.

“Do you know where my sister is?” I ask on the verge of tears.  I don’t know if I could handle seeing her with a scar like that.  The guard notices my gaze.

“Don’t worry,” he assures me, “She only beheads people if there’s something she wants from them.  Your sister is safely locked up as a simple punishment.”  I sigh in relief, not realizing that I have actually been holding my breath since seeing his scar. 

“What’s your name?” I ask curiously.

“Acer Spade, now follow me,” he tells me, quite a peculiar name.  We sneak out of the garden and meet the mouth of a large hedge maze.  On the slight incline we are standing on I can tell that this maze goes on for quite a distance.  If only Dexter were still here, he could just transport us through the maze.  Luckily Acer seems to know where he’s going; we reach what looks like the center in no time at all.  There is a large stone columned building with a gold dome on the top of it.  He hastily opens the doors with his keys and inside there is box after box stacked up, all about the size of only a jewelry box. 

“I thought we were trying to find my sister?” I ask confused.  Acer ignores me and studies the small plaques on each of the boxes before he slides one out.  “What are you doing?” I ask him.  He sets the box carefully on the ground and opens it.  He takes a peek inside and smiles, waving me over.

“Look,” he says.  I glance inside and see a small person sitting in the corner of the box.

“Elizabeth!” I squeal, and she stands up to the whole three inches she has.

“Take her out of the box,” the guard tells me.  No need to tell me twice!  Now that I have my sister I want to get out of here.

“Why is she so small?” I ask, letting Elizabeth walk onto my hand while Acer hurries and puts the box back in its place.

“I can fix that, come with me,” he says demandingly.  We rush out of the maze faster than we entered it, and he sighs in relief when we reach the edge of the garden again.  He bends down to the edge of the garden’s fence and plucks a piece of a large mushroom hidden by vines.  “Give this to your sister and put her down,” he tells me.  I set her and the mushroom on the ground and she takes a small bite.  Suddenly smoke starts crawling around her and the air above her, and she turns back to her normal size.

“Elizabeth!” I exclaim, running to give her a hug.

“Alice, I can’t believe you’re here!  Don’t you know how dangerous it is here?” she scolds, but I can’t help but both laugh and cry in happiness while I can tell that she really is happy to see me. In the midst of our reunion, I hear voices and footsteps quickly advancing towards us from deep in the garden.  I look at Acer and he has a look of pure fear written across his face.

“You two need to leave now,” he says quickly.

“What about you?” I ask, knowing that he is going to get caught, “I can bring you with us!”

“No,” he says, shaking his head, “my place is here; now go before they see you!”

“Thank you,” I tell him, the thought of leaving him here makes me feel a little guilty, but I know he’s right.  He gives me a soft smile and starts running back through the maze again.  I try to clear my mind of all thoughts and think only of our world, hoping I can transport instantly like Dexter does.  I think only of the Enchanted Forest and of our home, our school, and our lives.  I think of Jefferson who I am supposed to visit when I get back.  At that I can feel my mind turning and I sense the darkness falling upon me, taking us home.

*

The ride down to the shop is quiet.  The thing I love about Dexter is that he always seems to know when I just don’t feel like talking.  He has always been my best friend and I can’t imagine what I would do without him.  After what seems like no time at all, I can see the shop’s sign hanging in front of us.  My heart drops now that the time has come.  “Thanks Dexter,” I say as I step out of his car.  As I walk towards the door, I look back and wave, signaling Dexter that he can go.  He gets the hint and slowly pulls out from his parking spot.  I turn back towards the door and lift my hand to the handle.  I shut my eyes and slowly walk in, hearing the ding of the bell ring as the door opens.  I take a deep breath and open my eyes to see Rumpelstiltskin looking at me, cleaning some old mugs from behind the front desk.

“I’m ready,” I tell him, walking to where he’s standing.

“Well good!  Come with me then,” he tells me.  As we walk towards his back office, I take the time to look around the shop and see what’s in it.  I freeze when I see a small yellow tea set sitting on one of the shelves.  My old tea set from when I was only about five or six years old.  It was the last thing I got from my parents before they died.

“Where did you get this?” I ask, picking up one of the small cups and feeling the smooth yellow glaze with my fingers.

“It came through with the curse,” he says, “Everything in this shop belonged to somebody before we got here.  I guess you can say that I’m saving them until their owners come to claim them, which should be starting to happen soon I imagine.”  I can feel my eyes starting to water; I haven’t seen this tea set in so long.  Just seeing that it has been safe all these years makes me smile.

“Can you give it to Grace when I leave?” I ask, turning to face Rumpelstiltskin again.

“Of course,” he says, looking from me to the tea set.  “Well, we had better get going, the sooner you go, the sooner you return,” he tells me as he continues into his office.

“So, what’s the plan?” I ask with all the confidence I have built up.  I’m just hoping it isn’t extremely complicated.  Or time consuming.  He opens a drawer in his desk and pulls out a yellow ring and a green ring.  “What are those?” I ask as he hands them to me.

“These,” he explains, “are how you enter and leave the Wood Between the Worlds.  The dust used to make these rings comes from the sands of Atlantis’ pool in the Wood itself.  The original rings are lost somewhere, but I had some extra dust saved up from a past deal I made so I decided to make a few rings of my own,” he smiles.  “The yellow ring will bring you to the Earth pool in the Wood and the green ring will take you back as long as you’re standing back in the Earth pool.  Just clear your mind and you will transport.  Make sure you can find your way back to the Earth pool after you leave it.  When you find the pool to Atlantis, collect some sand into your vial,” he explains.  “Make sure you do not touch its waters or the waters of any other world or you will have a harder time transporting back here,” he tells me seriously, “Do you understand?”

I nod.  “What do you need the sand for exactly?” I ask him.

“The sand itself can be used to transport between worlds,” he explains, “For some reason, when the curse broke, we didn’t return to our home land.  I know that the Enchanted Forest is still out there, but as of now, we have no way of returning to it.  This sand could be the answer.”

“I understand,” I tell him.  One thing still bugs me though, “What if you find a way back before I return?” I ask.

“If you return to Earth and find that we are no longer here, you have two options.  If Storybrooke and its magic is still here you can simply use your powers to take you back to The Enchanted Forest where you can find me, the sand will be useful to me regardless.  If there is no magic, you can use the rings to return to the Wood, find the Enchanted Forest pool and arrive that way,” he tells me, “Technically you won’t need magic to use the rings.”  I can’t help but be impressed that he has this all figured out, even though I am still worried about my chances of success.

I look down at the two rings.  I slip the yellow ring on my finger and put the green ring safely in my pocket.  I take some deep breaths, here goes nothing.   I close my eyes and clear my mind.  It’s a little harder than usual considering I haven’t done this in twenty-eight years.  “Good luck,” I hear Rumpelstiltskin say before I feel my mind distancing, ready to start my new adventure.

Author’s Note

The end!  I do plan on writing a sequel but I want to wait until season two finishes so I have more plot to work with.  Thank you so much for sticking with the story until the end, I really appreciate it. :)  If you know any other Once Upon a Time fans be sure to tell them about this story and remember to vote!  I started writing another book but I don’t know if I will post it on Wattpad yet because I want to try and get it published possibly when I finish it.  We’ll see!  Anyways, thank you again everyone!