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────── ★★★ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

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The group of heroes dodged trees and jumped over logs as they ran through the forest and after the snow monster. This continued until they ended up at the Merry Men's camp. Robin and his men instantly stopped going about their day and turned their attention toward the newcomers. When the leader of the Merry Men saw the panicked looks on their faces, he placed his bowl on the ground and made his way over to them.

"What is it?" he questioned after stopping to stand a few feet in front of them.

"Some kind of snow monster," David explained while he and the rest of his group stopped to catch their breath.

"Marshmallow," Jackson repeated his earlier statement under his breath, causing Everly to send him another confused look. The two of them just stare at each other for a moment longer before the Purest Heart shook it off and turned her attention back to the situation at hand.

"No monsters have crossed our path," the Hood man told them as Marian got up from the long she was sitting on to join the group of heroes, "we'll give you our assistance-"

His words were soon cut off by a loud growling coming from somewhere in the distance. Everyone instantly turned their attention towards the noise to find nothing but trees and bushes before they heard the sound of trees crumbling.

"It's getting closer," Sam stated while everyone continued to stare in the direction that the destruction was coming from, "it's coming from the north."

"It won't attack us if we don't attack it," Jackson explained before the sound of heavy footsteps cut through the silence of the forest.

"How do you know so much about it?" Everly questioned right as another roar from the monster met their ears.

The former Lost Boy opened his mouth to respond but quickly shut it when the snow monster came into view. They all watched as it continued towards them before a group of Merry Men rushed forward with their bows in hand.

"There!" Little John exclaimed as he got his arrow ready while Everly glanced over at Jackson one last time to find a hint of panic forming in his eyes.

"No, no, no, don't shoot!" Emma shouted, but it was too late. They all watched in horror as his arrow flew through the air and hit the monster in its shoulder. The creature instantly let out another loud roar before it started coming towards them a lot faster than before.

"It only attacks when it feels threatened," Killian stated while keeping his eyes glued to the oncoming threat, "pistol, sword, hook, my cutting wit. I don't think we have what it takes."

"Always thinking positively," Everly teased after finally turning her attention away from the worried Jackson and back to the situation at hand.

"Emma does," David stated before his eyes fell to his other daughter standing next to the Savior, "you both do."

"I don't think my healing and teleportation will be any help right now," Everly responded while her sister continued to stare at the charming prince with a hint of confusion in her eyes.

"Your magic, love," Killian clarified for the Swan woman before she turned her attention back to the snow monster.

"Right," she sighed then she nervously rubbed her hands together. Once she was ready, Emma held her hands out in front of her before they began brightly glowing white. Balls of light soon formed in the palms of her hands and she instantly sent them toward the monster, sending him stumbling back a few feet.

"Take that, Frosty," Emma muttered under her breath as smiles began to form on her allies' faces.

However, everyone's joy quickly faded when the monster roared once again before ice spikes appeared on its arms and back. Before anyone could react, the giant creature blew a strong gust of wind filled with ice and snow at the group of heroes, knocking them all out cold.

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"I need a better explanation than 'I didn't deserve it,'" Everly told Felix after he continued to stare at her with a confident smile on his face, "for all I know this could be another one of Pan's games."

"It's not," the Thorne boy stated while keeping the smirk on his face and his club slung over his shoulder.

"But how do I know that?"

"Guess you'll just have to trust me."

Irritation made its way through the Jones girl before she let out a long sigh and looked to the ground. She just stared at the dirt beneath her feet for a long moment while trying to gather all of the thoughts running through her head.

"Even if I did trust you, Pan will find me soon if he wants me to be found," the former Lost Girl said as she slowly looked back up to meet his gaze, "he knows where everyone is on this island."

"Except you and me," he stated, causing the confusion coursing through Everly's veins to double. When Felix saw the lost look in the blonde girl's eyes, he let out a small laugh before he continued speaking. "Pan can only keep track of you if he gets into your head and he can only get into your head if you let him. You never let him and I've been here so long that I'm immune."

Before Everly could respond, the distant sound of the Lost Boys' yells began to get louder. This could only mean that they were getting closer.

"Better run, Ev," Felix told her, making Everly look away from the trees and back to him before he gestured towards the large tree they were standing next to, "meet me right here, under this tree, tomorrow around noon. You can ask me more questions to see if you can trust me."

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"Maybe you're not a monster," was the first thing everyone heard when they started to come around from the snow monster's attack. After looking over at her friends to make sure they were alright, Everly turned her attention back to the situation at hand to find Regina standing in front of the group of heroes with no emotion on her face.

"Maybe I'm not," Regina responded while keeping her expressionless gaze on the brunette woman, "welcome to Storybrooke, Marian."

Everyone watched as Regina gave Marian one last long look before the Evil Queen turned her back to all of them. No one moved as they watched the Mills woman walk away from them until Everly caught a hint of movement out of the corner of her eye.

"Regina," Emma called after the brunette woman after getting to her feet before she tried to follow her, "we've been trying to find you. We need to talk about-"

The Savior's sentence was cut short by Regina disappearing in a cloud of purple smoke. Emma let out a long sigh as she stared at the spot where the Mills woman once stood before she began walking down one of the paths back to town with Killian on her heels. Everyone watched them until they were out of sight then Everly, Sam, Katherine, and Jackson followed David down a shorter route back into town.

As soon as there was a good distance between the four teens and David, Everly turned her attention towards Jackson, only to find the boy staring down at his feet with a guilty look on his face. The Purest Heart just stared at him for a long moment while contemplating if she should break him out of his thoughts. It wasn't long before she decided she needed to find out exactly what he knew. After letting out a long sigh, Everly gently nudged his side to get the Overland boy's attention.

"Care to tell us what's going on?" the Jones girl asked while Sam and Katherine watched the duo with curious looks on their faces.

"I don't know what you're-"

"We just got attacked by a giant snow monster that you called 'Marshmallow'," Everly interrupted the boy's excuse while trying to hide the exhaustion in her voice, "you still wanna tell me you don't know anything?"

Jackson just stared at the Purest Heart for a long moment before letting out a sigh. It wasn't long after that when he turned his attention back to the forest floor, making Everly think he was going to keep his story to himself. But when she saw all the emotion in his eyes, she knew she was wrong.

"Jacob and I used to live in the kingdom of Arendelle with Jacob. Our dad was a royal guard so we knew the royal family pretty well. When I was about six, there was an incident that made the king and queen keep their eldest daughter, Elsa, away from everyone. They kept her away from everyone for years, even her sister, Anna. Even after the king and queen died, Elsa kept herself locked away."

The Overland boy hesitated as Everly, Sam, and Katherine watched a wave of emotions wash over him. If it wasn't for the situation they were in, the Jones girl would've had him stop his story. She knew how painful reliving the past could be but she also knew that this information could be the key to stopping whatever was happening in Storybrooke. So she let him continue.

"On Elsa's twenty-first birthday, a coronation was held to crown her the new Queen of Arendelle. Everything was going really well until the after-party. During a fight between the sisters, it was revealed that Elsa had the powers."

"So you think that Elsa is here?" Sam asked, only to receive a small nod from the Overland boy before he continued, "why would she be here?"

"I don't know...but she must be terrified."

"Why do you think that?" Katherine questioned after sensing the panic radiating off of the former Lost Boy.

"Because she would only create Marshmallow if she was."

"We need to find her before she makes another one," Everly declared as she glanced over at David before turning her attention back to the situation at hand, "where do you think she'd be?"

"If this were Arendelle, I would know exactly where to look," Jackson told them while he looked around at the trees that surrounded them, " but this isn't Arendelle...so I have no idea."

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After her little adventure with Felix, Everly raced through the forest toward her next destination. It wasn't long before she found Tinker Bell gathering some supplies in a clearing near her treehouse. The two instantly greeted each other with a hug before Everly followed the blonde woman up into her home. As soon as they were settled, the former Lost Girl told the former fairy about her conversation with Felix and about their planned meeting tomorrow. Throughout the Jones girl's story, Tinker Bell had a skeptical look on her face but kept her mouth shut until Everly finished her tale.

"This isn't a good idea, Everly," was the first thing the former fairy said after the Jones girl finished her story.

"He's not going to hurt me," the former Lost Girl stated before the blonde woman even had a chance to suggest it.

"You don't know that...you don't know him," Tinker Bell retaliated while keeping her eyes glued to the girl sitting in front of her, "how do you know this isn't a trick?"

"He told me it wasn't," Everly responded, knowing that it wasn't a good enough explanation the moment it left her mouth, "he promised me a long time ago that he wouldn't let anyone hurt me."

"Not everyone keeps their promises like you."

"He hasn't broken it yet...and he's had plenty of chances to."

Tinker Bell just stared at Everly in silence for what felt like an eternity before she let out a long sigh while leaning back against the wall and tightly shutting her eyes. "Just keep your guard up."

"I always do."

The two shared another hug before Everly left the fairy's treehouse and made her way down the ladder. As soon as her feet hit the ground, the Jones girl began her journey back to her cove. An unexpected wave of happiness washed over her as she made her way through the forest, only it to fade when she heard the rustling of leaves.

Everly became a statue as she listened to the sound for a second longer before her senses came back to her. After letting out a small sigh, the Jones girl took an arrow out of her quiver and placed it on the notch of her bow then aimed in the direction the sound was coming from. It wasn't long after that when Jackson came out of his hiding spot with a sword in his hands.

"This doesn't have to end in a fight, Everly," the Lost Boy said as the two of them continued to stare at each other before the former added, "Pan wants you alive."

"Pan wants me alive?" the former Lost Girl scoffed while she tightened her grip around her bow, "why?"

"Beats me."

"Just let me go, Jackson," Everly somewhat pleaded with the boy in front of her then she remembered the conversations she used to have with him, "or you can come with me. You hate Pan almost as much as I do."

"I can't," the Lost Boy responded as he continued to study the Jones girl before he let out a long sigh and lowered his sword, "go before the others catch up...they won't be as friendly."

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After making it out of the forest and back to the streets of Storybrooke, David and Mary Margaret insisted that the four teens came to the loft for dinner with them, Emma, and Henry. Even though David and Mary Margaret offered numerous times for her to stay with them, Everly chose to stay at Granny's with Killian, Sam, and Katherine. It was nothing against David and Mary Margaret and the Jones girl took every opportunity to make that clear to them. The Purest Heart was just used to having Killian around and she wasn't ready to leave him yet.

All of them had been there for the past couple of hours just eating food and talking. None of them would admit it but they all knew they were trying to have a moment of normality before the word went crazy once again. After finishing a conversation about how the four teens had been adapting to Storybrooke, Mary Margaret went to put Neal to bed before joining David on the couch while the group of four stayed at the dining table.

"Okay, chocolate, DVDs, ice cream...red wine," Emma said, drawing everyone's attention over to Henry as he put a basket together in the kitchen, "that's one heck of a late-night snack, kid."

"It's for my mom."

"I don't drink and sheriff," she told him with a small smile on her face as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"My other mom," the Mills boy clarified while everyone continued to watch their exchange with different emotions on their faces, "I googled 'how to get over a break-up.' It didn't talk about your boyfriend's wife time-traveling back from the past, but close enough."

Before anyone could respond to Henry's explanation, a loud banging coming through the window cut through the air. Everyone exchanged confused looks then turned their attention towards the source of the sound to find a raven tapping on the glass. David instantly walked towards the window with Mary Margaret following behind before the former slowly opened the window. The bird didn't hesitate to perch itself on the princess' finger then it let her take the note from its leg. As soon as she placed the raven back on the window seal, it flew away.

Everyone stared at the Blanchard woman as she carefully unrolled the small scroll in her hands before she read over the note. The expression on her face instantly changed before she rolled it back up and handed it to Henry.

"It's for Henry. It's from your mom," she explained as Henry opened the letter and read the message, causing the look on his face to go from confusion to sadness.

"She doesn't want to see me," he muttered then he walked past Emma and out of the loft before the Savior followed after him.

"And that's our cue to head out," Sam said after an awkward silence filled the loft, causing the three other teens to nod in agreement before they began to gather their things.

"Thank you for having us," Everly told her biological parents as she shrugged her coat over her shoulders, "we had a lot of fun."

"Anytime."

They all shared smiles with one another before the group of four walked out the door and down to the streets of Storybrooke. A comfortable silence surrounded them as they headed in the direction of Granny's. When they pass by the mechanic's garage, Jackson said his goodbyes and headed toward the door. Everly kept her eyes glued to him as he went before her attention fell on someone staring back at her from the window.

It was Jacob.

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