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The Guardian	By : RavenGuardian Category: M through R > Once Upon A Time Views: 1275 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time and I make no money from this fiction. The character of Raven is an original character but any resemblance to any other character or person living or dead is purely coincedental.

Chapter List
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In the moment that The Dark One is about to twist the dagger, ending his own life to detroy Pan a portal opens in the sky above the pair. Somehow, even in his shock he manages to keep hold of the teenager. I fall through the portal and it's a good thing that I do because I know what happens next and I know that it doesn't have to be that way.
"Idiot," I grunt as I pick myself up off of the ground and glare at The Dark One. "Do not get me wrong, I appreciate the selfless gesture but that does not change the fact that it is not necessary. You were never supposed to die destroying Pan, we are supposed to do it together. That way neither of us has to die, in fact, both of us will be able to absorb part of his power. That is the way that it was always supposed to be, until I was kidnapped and you decided I was dead. You never even bothered to look at me did you? Do not answer that. I already know the answer and frankly I do not need to hear it right now, there is enough craziness going on here as it is."
I wave a hand and unfreeze our little audience, choosing to ignore the fact that two of the faces are familiar. I hold out a hand and without hesitation Rumplestiltskin pulls the dagger back. He only pulls back enough to free himself and then spins Pan so that he's facing me. I embrace the teenager, jamming the dagger forward until it slices into my chest. As soon as my blood touches the blade Pan begins to writhe and convulse, desperately trying to free himself. His form changes until he's no longer a teenager but a man and yet his height, weight and strength advantages still can't get him away from me. I step back from the blade, tearing it from his heart. In one swift and decisive movement I drag the newly liberated blade across his throat. Blood sprays from a wound so deep that I can actually see bone as the carcass that used to be Peter Pan drops to the floor.
"Damn," I breathe as I hear an unmistakeably childlike gasp from behind me. "You have my apologies, little one, had I paid more attention I would have realized that you were here. I have a rule about acts of violence around children, you should not have seen that. You have nothing to fear from me, you have my word on that, though I do not expect you to believe me. Nevertheless, it remains the truth, I do not lie, perhaps you will come to learn that. I suppose it all depends on how long I decide to stay but I will be sticking around for a while."
I notice that Rumplestiltskin is still bleeding on the ground, he shouldn't be bleeding. Then I notice the cuff on his wrist and quickly pull it from his wrist, restoring his power. He gasps running his hand over the wound in his chest so that it disappears and takes my proferred hand so that I can pull him to his feet. He makes a grab for the dagger but I'm too fast for him. I hold the dagger out of his reach and even when he tries to use magic he can't pry it from my grasp. I shake my head, there's no way that I'm giving this thing back to him. His skin shimmers and becomes scaled, reminiscent of a crocodile as he tries once again to get the dagger away from me. I step toward him, a feral growl starting deep within my chest and he immediately takes a step backwards.
"Whatever you may have convinced yourself," my voice is low and dangerous. "This dagger does not belong to you and neither does the power that it gives you. I am going to keep hold of this until the time comes for that power to end up where it was always supposed to be. You know that I will not use it but for now we are not going to get into that. For now you are going to explain what all of this power in the air that I can feel is coming from."
"It's The Dark Curse," says a stunning woman with dark brown eyes and silky black hair. "Pan cast it and now I'm the one that has to stop it, when I touched the scroll I saw what it would take. This town was created by the curse and so it's going to disappear and we're all going to go home. I don't care about where we are, what I care about is that I can never see the thing that I love the most again. Henry was born here and he's going to have to stay, the only good thing about all of this is that he doesn't have to stay alone. Emma, you're The Saviour, you can escape the reversal of the curse. You have to take him, get him away from here before you get sucked back to the enchanted forest with us. This is the only way for the rest of us to stay together. I pulled all of these people apart once, now it's my turn to know how that feels, it's my turn to be cursed."
With every ounce of my being I want to let this woman do just that. Then I follow her gaze and see that she is looking at the child that I have already scarred for life and the pair of them have tears running down their faces. The love in their eyes is undeniable. I don't need to know who they are to each other, it doesn't matter, I can't let her do this, not when there's another option. There is another option, I just didn't want to face it because I know what it means. This woman thinks it has to be her because she has cast the curse but that isn't strictly true. The person who created the curse can also destroy the scroll and the rules will be different for them. If the creator destroys the curse they do not lose the thing that they love the most. The creator will lose the thing that they value the most, which is better is a matter far beyond the realm of understanding.
"Give it to me," my voice is resigned as I hold out my hand for the scroll. "I can stop the curse and I can preserve this town while I do but there is something that you should know. You were not the first person to cast this curse, it has been cast before and the first curse was never broken. The only way to save this town is by reversing the original curse and some of the people effected by it are here. They have been under this curse for more than a thousand years. Reversing it will take a heavy toll on them, it will take some time for the side effects to hit. I need you to give me your world that you will take care of them, when their memories return they will need to be able to speak with someone. The choice should be theirs if they want to come to me. I will not force my company on any of them, they will be able to find me in the woods."
"Wait," The Dark One finally speaks, grabbing a hold of my arm, completely forgetting that I'm in possession of his dagger. "More than a thousand years worth of memories. All of that information being downloaded into the brain at once ... no one knows the kind of effects that could have. There's an excellent chance that you're going to drive them all insane, that there minds are not going to be able to take it. I know that you have faith in them, in their power. That doesn't mean that they are capable now of the things that they were capable of then. Just look at me, could you ever believe that the person I was then could ever turn into the person that I am now? You will never forgive yourself if they don't recover and you'd never forgive me for letting you do this. I know what they mean to you, each and every one of them and this is a huge risk. I may not remember everything but I do remember some things, I have an impression in my mind of the life that I once lived."
"What do you take me for?" I snap fiercely. "Do you really think I would be irresponsible enough to even suggest something like this without first making sure that they were protected? After the original curse I made sure that their minds would always be protected. They will only remember what they can do so safely, the rest will be downloaded into my mind."
I take the scroll from the hand of the raven haired beauty. With a flick of my wrist a parchment appears in my hand and I offer it to the child who has to lunge forward to catch it. Another woman, a blonde, tries to stop him from coming near me but he doesn't seem afraid of me. On the parchment is a list, a list of the people who will need help. I only know the names that they had a long time ago, I don't know what they were called in the enchanted forest. I was able to watch them but I could never hear anything, I just hope that these people will be able to identify the people on the list. They are going to have a choice to make. Two of them are standing right in front of me but I can't tell them that, if I do it could effect what breaking the curse will do. Right now the thing that it will take from me is my ability to remain anonymous.
"Read the parchment once I am gone," I tell the child, dropping down so that my eyes are at the same level as his. "It will tell you who is going to need help as well as some directions to find me in the woods. I am giving this to you for a reason, actually there are a few reasons. Some of them will become clear with time but I will give you a couple of them now because the others appear to be afraid of me. You are not scared, I think you believed me when I told you that I was not going to hurt you. The second is that the people on that list are likely to trust you. I think that maybe you will be able to help them more than you can imagine, they are going to need you. They are going to need you to convince the others to help them but you must make me a promise. Anyone who wishes to visit me in the woods is welcome to do so, except for you, I do not want you coming to me alone. I need them to trust me in the same way that you do. If you turn up I will march your ight back intotown myself and I will not answer any of your questions, if you wish to speak with me you are going to need to have an adult with you."
"Wait," the child cries. "What's your name?"
"My name is Raven," I tell the boy as I begin the reversal of the curse. "It is time for me to leave now, remember what I told you, you must find the people on the list. They will wake in their own time, you must not try to speed up the process and when they wake they will have a whole new set of memories. You must help them to understand what they mean. I am sure that you understand, the curse that created this town has been broken. Imagine if everyone had regained their memories but there was no one else with them who could explain what had happened. That is what they will experience and I may be the only one who can explain. The problem is that they may think that I abandoned them long before they were cursed, coming to me has to be their own choice. I will not force any of them to face me but all are welcome."
As I teleport away I see the boy open the parchment and read the closest thing to names that I can give him.
The Dark One
The Pirate
The Runaway
The Wolf
The Hunter
The Storyteller
The Mermaid
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The Guardian