Swan Song ❂ Killian Jones [1]

24

Odette, always liking to be prepared, was ready for David to come to the town hall meeting without a speech he'd meant to write in the time before it. But, as he'd never returned to Mary Margaret and Emma's apartment, the blonde had taken it upon herself. It certainly wasn't as good as some of Snow's past speeches, but Odette knew it would have to do.

However, it didn't matter how good the speech was if there was no one to deliver it. And that seemed to be the case. Because while everyone had gathered together within the town hall, citizens of Storybrooke all ready for the hope which their prince would provide, the star of the show was glaringly absent.

Henry, off to the side of the room, was doing everything in his power to get a hold of David and remind him of where he was supposed to be all the while Ruby and Odette busied themselves with keeping the people calm. A job that was harder than it sounded as the people too started to become aware that David didn't seem to be coming.

"Please, everyone, just be patient. I'm sure he's gonna be here any second." Ruby called out to everyone, trying to ease all of the tension while Odette was occupied with trying to ease both Geppetto and Archie who were most worried about the town line and who may have crossed it already.

"My boy, what if he is out there somewhere, if he passed and doesn't know who he is or who his papa is?" Geppetto's worried question made Odette send him a sympathetic look.

"Hey, wherever he's been all this time, I'm sure there's someone to take care of him. Nobody would let a small boy go that far out alone. He's somewhere in town, we'll find him." Odette said gently.

"Granny, do you really need that?" Red's question made Odette's eyes turn towards the two women and widen once she spotted the crossbow in Granny's arms.

"We got a lawless town, Ruby. Damn right I need it." Granny stated firmly, her conviction making Odette rush off after excusing herself from Marco and Archie.

"And people call me a pessimist." She grumbled to herself before walking up to the elderly woman. "Okay, does that thing have a safety switch? Granny! We're not shooting our own people." Odette tried to reason with the woman while Ruby went to check on Henry and his progress with getting David to answer his phone.

Granny was about to reply to her when the door suddenly swung open, making all eyes turn to the person standing at the entrance. Regina's smile was the one many of them had grown used to seeing back in the Enchanted Forest while they lived in terror of the Evil Queen. People instantly stepped away from her, an aisle forming among the groups as Regina's eyes scanned over all of them.

"My, what a nice turn-out. No need for a fuss. It's just little old me." Coldness was laced through her sarcastic comment as she started to walk towards the front of the room.

The confidence with which she walked, her heels clicking against the floor made Odette realize this would not turn out good. According to David, Regina was hiding away in her house because she had no magic, no way to defend herself against the angry people waiting for her in the streets. If she was here, that could mean only one thing.

"Regina, think about what you're doing." Dr Hopper stepped forwards from the crowd, trying to reason with the woman before she did something that could have horrible consequences, for any of them. But it was too late for that.

"Bug." Regina scowled as she turned to him. With a mere flick of her fingers, she sent the man flying back to the floor. The action made Leroy try and charge at her, but he was only met with the same fate.

"Safety off! safety off! Shoot, please." Odette made sure to step out of Granny's way, letting her position the crossbow before she let the arrow fly at Regina. The Mayor caught it in her hand with ease, setting it ablaze only seconds later. "I really need to find my sword."

"How sweet." Regina muttered before turning the arrow into a ball of fire, sending it flying into the crowd. Many were forced to duck out of it's way, and as it hit nothing, the flame rebounded back, crashing into the wall behind Regina, a circle of flames now blazing where the Storybrooke crest used to hang.

"What do you want?!" Ruby, brave enough to step forwards, questioned the queen with a sharp tone, unwilling to just cower away from her. Even if she did have her magic back.

"Me. She wants me." Henry announced, standing from where he'd been crutched down to evade the flames. He was about to walk towards his adoptive mother when Odette stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No way in hell." She said sharply, her glaring eyes focused on Regina, whose smirk only widened at the display.

"It's okay, please let me go." Henry tried to reassure her, but using her moment of surprise, he stepped out of her grasp, walking over to stand in front of Regina as he continued to speak. "Okay, I'll come with you. Just... leave them alone."

"That's my boy." Regina smiled, proud of herself as she wrapped her arm around Henry's shoulders, leading him out of the room and, with one more display of her newly restored magic, closing the door behind them. All they could do was watch as she led him away.

However, once the door was closed, panic rose among the people, worse than ever before. People started rushing around, a commotion escalated as voices yelled all around the room. But one thing Odette caught best was what the ultimate plan was; to leave. Worried about what may happen if everyone chooses to do that, Odette first reached for Ruby.

"Go find David, get him to snap out of this funk because we need him. I'll try to control the situation here." Odette instructed in a rush, and Red didn't need to be told twice before she was running out of the door while Odette went in the opposite direction, pushing her way to the front of the room.

"Everyone! Please hold on! Think about this! Is leaving really the best option? Think of all you will lose. You'll be cursed all over again." She tried to remind them all of what happens when someone crosses the border once she knew she had their attention. But that message didn't seem to work as well as she'd hoped it would.

"At least when we were cursed she wasn't threatening our lives." Archie pointed out, many people around him nodding their heads in agreement.

"She has her magic again!" A fearful call came from deeper in the crowd, Odette unable to see who had spoken.

"The safest place is out there! Away from her!" Grumpy stood firmly, reminding everyone of the danger they were in. "Come on! Before the Evil Queen tries to stop us!"

Odette tried to call out, to get them to wait, but after that, there was no stopping them. She could only watch them all swarm out of the room, leaving her behind to stare after them as her mind tried to come up with a way to stop all of this.

"So much for being able to lead." She grumbled silently, allowing herself one moment of self-doubt before she shook it off and moved on, rushing out of the room as she tried to come up with a plan. She needed to find a way to stop this, for the sake of their town.