literature

Lost and Found, chapter 7

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Chapter 7

News of Archie’s assault rampaged through the town like a fire in dry grass. Everyone was in shock as none could see how anyone would be cruel enough to attack the kind and selfless Archie. Thankfully, his injuries had been treated and were no longer life threatening. He had been stabbed by several blades multiple times in various places on his body, including his abdomen.

“None of his organs were damaged.” Dr. Whale explained, showing ultrasound and x-ray pictures of Archie’s abdomen, “Either this is a miracle or the person who did this is a master in both human anatomy and weaponry.”

“Did he give a description of the attacker before he fell unconscious?” Emma asked, looking over the pictures of the tests and of the injuries themselves, which were little more than a bloody and gruesome mess hiding the slices of three blades

“No.” Whale answered, “But he did draw this.” He handed Emma his clipboard, a sloppy hand drawn picture of some insignia attached at the top. It looked like a triangle which curved at the bottom and didn’t entirely close either to the woman. She didn’t recognize it, thinking it looked like something taken out of a video game. She took the drawing off the clipboard.

“Thanks.” She muttered, handing the board back. “Please let me know when he wakes up.” After the confirmation, Emma headed out of the hospital with Elsa. “And here I thought Storybrooke would finally get a moment of peace and normalcy.”

“This town is a crossroad between realms; I’m not surprised at its lack of peace. To the library I presume?”

“Yes. We need to find out what the hell this means and get that killer before they hurt someone else.” The library was not very far from the hospital. Still, their journey was hindered for a moment when woman bumped into Emma.

“S-Sorry.” The woman stuttered, reaching down to grab the paper Emma dropped.

“It’s okay. No harm done.” Emma assured, taking the paper back, the symbol in clear sight of the woman. She heard her let out a light gasp.

“Where did you find that?” She asked, her voice soft and shy but nervous as well.

“Someone drew it.” Elsa explained, feeling something unnerving about the woman.

“Did…. Did Archie draw that?” She asked, Emma catching onto something in her voice and her mannerisms.

“If you know what this means, tell us.” The woman nodded. She glanced around nervously, checking to see that there was no one around before she spoke in a quiet voice.

“It’s the insignia of Liberalis Circulum though they’re more commonly known as the Assassins Brotherhood. They are an organization of trained individuals dedicated to truth and free will but….” She paused, her expression one of absolute terror, “But they achieve it through less than ideal means. They murder whoever they think will halter the progression of ideas.”

“Then why attack Archie?” Emma whispered to herself. It didn’t make sense. Archie was never one to discourage ideas; if anything, he encouraged them.

“The Assassins will kill anyone working for the perpetrator but I refuse to believe that Archie would do something that would gain him a spot of their kill list. He can’t be a Templar.” The woman mumbled, speaking to herself but Emma still heard her, her suspicion raising with this woman.

“How do you know so much about this group?” She inquired. The woman bit her lip and removed the white glove on her left hand, revealing her missing ring finger.

“I once belonged to that group but I left because I couldn’t abide to their ways anymore. I saw the heroes but I saw the monsters too. The Mentor was the only sane one among us but even he couldn’t stop the Tiger.”

“Tiger?” Emma asked.

“The most deadly Assassin that was ever created. She had no morals, no boundaries, and no respect for her superiors or the Creed. Mentor forced her to leave the Brotherhood when she broke all our rules but after she went on a killing rampage, they had no choice but to kill her. As far as I heard, Mentor cut off her right arm and she disappeared after that with most presuming she was dead.” She glanced at the two blonde woman in front of her before hugging herself. “As you can imagine, I didn’t stay for long. I just… couldn’t do it anymore.” Elsa smiled weakly at the woman and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“It’s good to hear that you left when it began feeling toxic to you. You shouldn’t stay in situations like that.”

“Thank you.” The woman gave a tiny smile but a blush quickly spread on her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I just realized that I’m wasting your time.”

“No, you didn’t” Emma assured, “What you told us has been more than helpful.” After a brief exchange of farewells and good lucks, the three went their separate ways, Emma and Elsa to the apartment and the woman towards the park, the route to her home Emma assumed when she looked ver her shoulder.

“How is Archie? Is he alright?” Mary-Margaret bombarded her daughter with such questions and many more before she had barely set a foot into the apartment.

“He’s fine.” Emma spoke once her mother had finally stopped with the questions. “His life is no longer in danger and we have a better idea who attacked him.”

“Who was it?” David inquired.

“We don’t know.” Emma answered, feeling a wave of disappointment emanate from everyone. “All we know is that he is or was a member of something called the Assassins Brotherhood. Archie drew their symbol before he passed out.”

“But… But what could Archie have possible done that an Assassin would attack him?” Mary-Margaret gasped.

“That’s what we’re still trying to figure out and we won’t have any leads until Archie wakes up.” She took a breath, “Please be careful all of you; if this person will randomly attack Arche, he could attack any of you next.” Everyone nodded but Emma still felt uneasy about it all. It would be inevitable that the Assassin would come for her and her family; such people always came for the heroes. Emma just hoped that this wouldn’t be another forgotten blast of her past.

“So an Assassin is in town? Sounds like another adventure.” Hook whispered to Emma. Despite the grim situation, it elicited a small smile from her.

“I wouldn’t call a mad chase after an Assassin an adventure.”

“Aye, Assassins can be tricky but they are not invincible.”

“Sounds like you had a bit of a scuffle with them in the past.”

“I have encountered a few of them but I was never on their bad side.”

“Anything important I need to now?”

“There’s not much I can tell you besides don’t be on their bad side.” Emma let out a tiny chuckle.

“Well you’re no help.”

“The Brotherhood is a secret society, love.” He reasoned, “They don’t give out their secrets to outsiders.” Emma’s mind immediately returned to the woman they had encountered before. She was a former Assassin, she could tell her all they needed to know. Until they found her though, books would be their best resource.

Later that afternoon, Emma was back at the police station, her arms filled with books and scrolls with potential information about the Assassin and the group from which they came. She had asked family to warn the others about the danger and to report sighting of him to her. Once at the station, she, along with Elsa and Killian, began scouring through the books and scrolls, finding out the scrolls were “codexes” with information about weapons and fighting techniques.

“These techniques are incredible.” Killian muttered as he read a codex, “I’ve never seen anything quite like it.” Out of curiosity, Elsa came over to the man and read the codex herself.

“This must take years to master. Amazing.” She returned to the pile and grabbed a new codex, cringing at the new found information. “And this one is about how to administer poison through a hidden blade.”

“This Assassin keeps getting more and more dangerous. How are we supposed to defeat an enemy with countless hidden weapons, some with the ability to administer poison, a pistol, a sword, a dagger, who is also a master of martial arts and can blend in a crowd like a chameleon?” Killian asked, dropping the scroll on the table.

“We’ve dealt with worse.” Emma reminded him, “We’ll find a way. We always do.” She whispered.

No sighting of the killer for the rest of the day. It was a huge relief for Emma, if only for the assurance that they weren’t some psychopath who would kill every five minutes. It was now dinner time and the family was eating their dinner quietly as there wasn’t anything to talk about, at least nothing happy. Near the end, the silence was broken by several loud knock from the front door

“I’ll get it.” David stood up and got to the door, “Belle?”

“Sorry to bother you this late but I need to talk to Emma.” Belle explained, a high degree of urgency in her voice David let her in, Emma rising from the table. “Emma, I saw the Assassin. He’s close to my house.” Immediately the house was back in uproar as Emma, equipped with a flashlight, and Elsa stormed out and followed Belle.

“Where did you see him?” Emma inquired, looking around at the forests surrounding Belle’s home.

“Here.” She explained, walking towards the left side of the building, where the forest was most dense. “I only saw him for a moment and it was hard to see in the dark but he was there. They ran off as soon as they noticed I had spotted them.”

“Which way did they go?”

“That way.” Belle pointed with her flashlight into the woods. Emma grabbed her pistol from the holder and armed headed into the forest, Elsa and Belle not far behind her.

“I don’t think that this is a good idea.” Belle voiced after traveling several minutes in the dark, “Walking around in the dark looking for a killer.”

“Worse things have happened here and looking for someone is certainly not the worst of them.” Belle rolled her eyes a little and they continued their way quietly. After another 10 minutes of walking, they stumbled across a small camp, the fire out with some other provisions scattered around as if the person had been in a hurry.

“This looks like it.” Emma announced, starting to look around the camp for any clues. She looked into the shelter, finding nothing but a few arrows stuck in the ground.

“Emma.” Belle called crouching by the fire pit, “The ashes, they’re still warm.” Emma held her gun up, knowing the person of the camp must still be near. A strange hum came from behind Emma. She turned around, lowering her pistol at what she saw: a small blue flame floating in the air at the edge of the camp. It was looking at her and motioning with little arms to come closer. Emma came closer, hand reached out to touch it but as her fingers were about to touch the flame, it disappeared, popping up a few meters ahead and others appearing behind it, creating a path.

“What is that?” Elsa asked.

“I have no idea.” Gun at the ready, Emma followed the flames, the little lights disappearing when the women got close. Barely two minutes away from the camp, the lights stopped in a clearing, it seemingly empty.

“Why would they lead us here?” Belle inquired, pointing her flashlight in various directions including high up in the trees.

“I have no idea.” Emma answered. Suddenly Elsa let out a scream of fright. Someone had appeared out of the dark, their face covered by a cloak. Emma pointed her pistol while the stranger pulled out an arrow and at the speed of light, loaded it into her bow.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Emma demanded, trying to find the insignia on her clothing, unable to find it due to the darkness

“Who Ah am is none of yer concern!” The stranger replied, her voice laced with a Scottish accent. “Now get out of ma way!”

“And if we don’t?” The eyes of the stranger narrowed and she shot the arrow, it missing Emma’s shoulder by a hair and lodging itself into a nearby tree.

“Ma aim is true. Don’t test me.”

“Why don’t we just take a breath and try to figure this out calmly?” Belle hastily interceded, hoping to prevent unnecessary confrontation. There was silence, Emma and the stranger staring each other down but eventually, they both lowered their weapons.

“Care to explain what you’re doing her?” Emma asked once her opponent had her weapons tucked away. The woman sighed.

“Ah’m looking fer ma mum.” She explained. “She was kidnapped a long time ago and Ah heard that her kidnapper was in this realm. He’s called the Shadowman.”

“I can’t say I’ve heard of him.”

“Dr. Facilier?” The stranger tried but all the women shook their heads. “Ah’m certain he’s here.”

“We can help you find him; there always is an interesting collection of characters in this town.” Emma spoke. The stranger looked flabbergasted, removing her hood to reveal her bright red curls.

“Thank ye. Thank ye so much.”

“You’re welcome.” Emma replied with a smile. “What’s your name?”

“Merida.”

-----

Arendelle

Whenever there was a visiting royal in Arendelle, the castle buzzed with excitement but it also meant that the staff had much more work to do. More rooms to tidy, more laundry to clean more food to cook. Queen Elsa always wanted to go up and beyond the expectation put on her for the visitor so she wanted to ensure everything was perfect. Though it was only one guest, the kitchen and all the other work areas had gone mad with labor.

As it was Gerda who told him what his job was daily, Hans saw a little of each fray. He didn’t mind working in the busy areas too much as it gave him lots to do and kept his mind focused on other things and helped him ignore what others said.

The others, especially the men, loved spewing insults at him. He heard them so often by now that the insults had become meaningless to him now. On other days, they would force him to do their work on top of his own duties so he often wasn’t back in bed until early in the morning, only to wake up a few hours later to start it all again. Whenever he worked, he frequently found himself returning to his dream world, a place he had shut out so long ago. He would daydream about a life where it was perfect. He was a ruler of his own kingdom, beloved by his subjects with a loving wife and children and his brothers groveled at his feet, begging his forgiveness. It was everything he ever wanted.

But such daydreams wouldn’t come true. Not for him anyway because nothing ever changed. He was stuck forever in a samsara, a cycle of suffering, a cycle of endless failure. Where did it all go downhill? He found himself asking on occasion but he knew exactly when the cycle began: when he was seven years old. On a cold day in autumn, his mother walked out of his life for good. From there, it was just one horrible event after another. His father’s new marriage, death, Arendelle, Edvard and Fredrick abandoning him, a second chance and more failure, and now, rock bottom. The only good thing about the bottom was that he couldn’t sink any lower; even oceans have a bottom. He would stop opening doors now as he was never the one to walk through it.

The seasons soon turned, the leaves on the ground being covered by the white snow. Fortunately, the fjord hadn’t frozen yet so the trading ships were still in use.

Elsa will enjoy that.” He thought as he returned to the kitchen after running some errands for Gerda around the city, coughing loudly. He shivered as he was surrounded by the intense heat from the kitchens, letting out several more coughs.

“Blast it Hans! Go cough somewhere else!” The Cook scolded at him. Hans ignored him and he went to find Gerda to let her know he was finished and hopefully get a small break, hopefully enough that he could rest a little and sleep away his flu.

“Hans! You’re done quicker than I expected.” Gerda chuckled when she spotted him, giving him a smile; the old woman had turned out to be a lot friendlier than she had led on at first. Hans figured she must’ve done it to let him know she was in charge and that he shouldn’t try anything stupid. She was kinder to him than most but he wouldn’t call her a friend. The only one who had that honor was Sitron.

“It wasn’t very far.” He answered, trying to speak as normally as he could past a sore throat. “Mr. Andersen asked me to-“He coughed loudly. “Asked me to give this to you.” He handed Gerda a small book, "He said they were new stories for your family.”

“Oh, I’ll have to remember to thank him next time I see him.” She put the book down on a nearby table and grabbed a basket, covered by a cloth. “I have one more job for you; afterwards you’re done for the day. Please bring this to my grandson; you know where he is.” Inside, Hans groaned. All he wanted at that moment was lie down and rest. He was sick and exhausted. Biting his tongue, Hans took the basket and nodded, immediately heading out into the cold weather towards the docks, pulling his thin coat closer to try and shut it out.

The docks was not far from the castle but it felt as though it took an eternity for Hans as nausea and dizziness hit him like an unexpected punch. Even so, he tried to ignore it, set on finishing this job so he could go to his corner and lie down.

Trying to distract himself, Hans peeked at what was in the basket. It was a pie, apple Hans hoped as that was his favorite pie flavor. Even if it wasn’t apple, he had no doubt that it would be delicious; homemade pies made with a mother’s touch were always the best. Gerda must’ve made it because her son was set to sail again and the odds that he would be back before spring was next to none. In all honesty, it made Hans a little jealous.

Upon arriving on the deck of the ship, Hans was happily greeted by the few crewmembers present, all of them asking how life was in the castle and asking him to join on of their many rowdy parties to which he politely declines. After the usual exchange, Hans headed into the captain’s cabin with a little smile on his face.

“Hans! Good to see you.” The captain piped, “What brings you here? Not another request to join my crew?” He teased. Hans let out a chuckle and shook his head, holding up the basket.

“Your grandmother asked me to bring this to you.” He explained, his throat feeling hoarser than before. The captain took the basket with a grateful nod, his expression having changed at the sound of Hans’ voice. He put the basket down on the desk and headed to the dresser next to the bed in the back, scouring through the many items.

“Here, take this for your troubles.” He handed the man a woolen scarf in mint condition, the man taking it with an expression of pure awe. Hans liked the captain a lot. The man was truthful, trustworthy and much more open minded than most people in Arendelle. From the first moment, he had not once looked at Hans with scorn; he had never even remotely mentioned his past crimes in the odd conversations they had, which was more than enough for Hans to gain a degree of respect.

“Thank you.” Hans croaked. He held the scarf out to the man, “But I can’t take this.

“Hans.” The captain chuckled, “It’s nearly Jule. I’m not giving it to you out of pity; I’m giving it to you as a gift. And I’m not taking no for an answer.” He pushed the scarf back to Hans, “Besides, you’ll need it more than I do. Winters in Corona are much warmer than here.” Hans nodded and put the scarf on, a small smile on his face from both the thought of the Sun Kingdom and the gift. It’s funny, in the past he would’ve completely rejected the gift, likely stating at the same moment that he didn’t need help.

“Thank you.” The two exchanged smiled before Hans began coughing again. Concerned when the bout continued, the captain grabbed the flask of water he kept in his dresser and tried to give it to Hans, who pushed it away. “I’m fine.” He assured but his coughing immediately became worse, collapsing to his knees when the dizziness became worse. He heaved up the contents of his stomach onto the wooden floor, unable to hear the captain calling to him and then his crew. He doesn’t know how he ended up lying on the floor but he could feel the rough wood under him, the coldness sending chills through his body.

“Hans?” The captain called but the man’s voice echoed and sounded muffled in his ears. “Hans!”

In his weak state, the sick man looked to the captain but he didn’t see the captain.

“Edvard?” He muttered, his vision going black afterwards.

Hans was brought back from the land of the unconscious when a cold cloth was pressed to his forehead. After he had collapsed, the captain had bought him back to the castle where he now was tended to by Gerda. The woman had never seen a fever as strong as the one he was having and she hoped that he would recover. Seeing he was awake, she grabbed a cup of water, which was mixed with a little medicine and got him to drink a little.

“M-Mom?” He muttered.

Wonderful. He’s delirious.” The woman thought sourly. She ignored the comment and tried to continue tending to him when he suddenly snatched her wrist tightly.

“Don’t go. Please don’t go.” He begged, his voice vulnerable, sad, sincere. With a touch of motherly affection, Gerda removed his hand from her wrist, holding his hand loosely.

“I’m not leaving until you get better.” She told him sternly, surprised at how freely he was speaking right now and her own reaction to it. The man seemed to relax a little at the statement.

“Father… Sigmund, Viktor… So cruel.” He muttered. The mindless muttering continued, Gerda occasionally responding to them. He was spilling so much to her; he was telling her more about his life than he had ever told Anna or Elsa or herself. The mutterings seemed to have the same pattern: him begging for someone (she suspected his mother) to not leave and muttering some names, followed by saying they were cruel. She had ten names by now, all of them Hans’ brothers but she knew he had twelve. Why did he never mention the other two? Were they never cruel to him?

“Gerda?” A young woman with brown hair had come up behind the elderly maid with a bowl of cold water.

“Thank you, put it next to me please.” As the woman put the bowl down, Hans spotted her, a smile appearing on his face and he reached out and took her hand, Gerda certain she saw a tear in his eye.

“Henriette.” He muttered, his smile never wavering, “I knew it. I-I knew it.” The two women exchanged confused glances at each other, the younger thinking he had gone insane. She wormed her hand out of his grip, walking away before he could grab it again.  Hans’ smile immediately fell, his hand still reaching out to her. “Don’t take her. Please, don’t take her.” He begged, a tear rolling from his eye. “Don’t take her!” He sat up, shouting at the top of his lungs and trying to get out of bed. Gerda immediately tried to push him back down but he was much stronger.

“Hans! No!” She shouted when he tried again.

“I won’t let you take her!” By then, several others had run in, all of them forcing Hans to lie back down. They had to hold him down until he calmed down but he never stopped muttering the same phrase.

Don’t take her
Story summary: The Queens of Darkness have been defeated and the Dark One has been permanently banished from Storybrooke. For the first time in a long time, it seems that Storybrooke will finally receive a moment of peace and a sense of normalcy but the appearance of a new face and the reappearance of a familiar one comes with the promise of more adventure and more danger

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AnaxErik4ever's avatar
Henriette is the woman at the hospital, the one who was a former Assassin.  And Merida I suspect is the Tiger, named for her flaming hair or else it's Anna.  But what could cause Anna, who is short-tempered and brash to begin with, to go on a killing rampage?