Back in England, a man with tanned skin was sitting on a long park bench. He looked around and saw lots of families having picnics there; after all, it was the weekend and the weather was just perfect for spending time with the family.
"S-Sorry, you must have been waiting a long time, haven't you?" A very faint and soft voice was heard; Romeo's head turned forwards again and he spotted a girl with light ash-coloured hair who had her head bowed. "Even though this is our first mission together, I've already made a bad impression."
Noticing her trembling hands, Romeo immediately stood up and walked over to her. "Hey, hey, calm down, I've only just arrived myself!" Hearing this, Snow immediately lifted her head; she then nodded, a clear sense of relief visible on her face. "Now let's get started on catching Miralda, shall we?"
The day before, they'd introduced themselves to each other and discovered they were both children of Mother Goose; the two of them had then been given a mission by Mother to capture Miralda, and she'd already planned out the strategy. "So, let's start by…" Romeo turned round and noticed a pair of gleaming red eyes spying on them from behind the bushes.
As soon as that figure realised it had been spotted, it vanished—Romeo was about to give chase, but before he could take a step, Snow's voice stopped him. "…Romeo, actually—um… No, never mind."
"Are you all right?" he asked, and received a nod in reply; it was already too late for Romeo to chase after the figure now, so they'd be better off focusing on the mission at hand. "You can tell me anything—if you feel comfortable saying it, of course," he chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood.
Snow stole a furtive glance before turning away to do something—Romeo tilted his head in curiosity and, by the time the girl had turned back, she was holding in her right hand a hand puppet that looked exactly like the one that had saved Romeo the day before.
A small man with a beard and a red nightcap, his face wearing a grumbling expression. "Uh…" Before Romeo could ask, the puppet's mouth began to move.
"This pesky girl can't speak clearly herself and we have to do it for her!" A rather hoarse voice rang out; Romeo looked at Snow's face, but instantly both she and the puppet fell completely silent.
His eyes returned to the puppet, which immediately stepped forward. "Hey! Don't look at her face! If you do, we'll go completely silent!" Its voice sounded angry. Now Romeo understood: if he looked at Snow's face, it would reveal that she was the one making the sounds from the puppet.
Romeo bent forward slightly and touched the puppet's nose. "Do you have a name, little man?" he asked, joining in with this little game.
"DON'T CALL ME LITTLE MAN!" the grumbling puppet snapped. From Snow's left hand emerged another hand puppet, this time wearing a yellow nightcap and sporting an expression brimming with happiness.
"He's Flint—and I'm Quartz," said another puppet cheerfully. Imagining the shy Snow saying this with a broad smile on her face made Romeo want to take a peek, but he decided to leave it at just that thought. "There's something Snow wants to say but doesn't dare, so she's using us as intermediaries."
"Well, in that case, let's sit down and talk it over," said Romeo, raising his hand; Quartz's little hand patted his, making a small high-five—and the man could hear Snow's quiet laugh, which had slipped out unintentionally.
The wind ruffled their hair, and a few leaves that had fallen from the trees fluttered here and there. "That's not necessary," a firm female voice could be heard; Romeo's brow immediately furrowed and he turned towards the source of the voice—his fist already clenched tightly as his ears recognised that voice.
He spotted a beautiful woman standing tall, her long, flowing black hair fluttering in the wind like a flag—her purple eyes were not fixed on Romeo, but on the girl behind him.
"It's been a while, Snow White." The remark caught Romeo off guard; he turned round and saw Snow looking frightened and nervous—she didn't even dare look straight ahead, and the two hand puppets that had allowed her to communicate so fluently had vanished.
"Oh? So you've already met? That's a relief, as it'll save us the trouble of getting to know each other—" Before he could finish his sentence, a woman named Miralda cut in straight away—deeming the words coming out of Romeo's mouth unimportant.
"Of course I know her," she stepped forward, each footstep leaving a trail of greenish smoke until she stood directly in front of Romeo—the man wanted to stop Miralda from doing anything strange, but he was immediately knocked far backwards by the green smoke emitted from her palms.
Such a trivial attack shouldn't have harmed him, yet blood was already spurting from his mouth—a green-patterned masquerade mask appeared, and he could immediately feel all his muscles growing stronger. His body crashed into a tree with such force that a loud cracking sound echoed.
Soon a loud noise echoed throughout the garden; Romeo glanced over and saw the tree topple onto the green grass dotted with flowers. "Everyone, grab your blankets and get out of this garden as soon as possible!" he shouted, forcing his family—who were enjoying this once-a-week moment—to flee from the danger that was about to befall them.
"I mean..." Miralda stopped right in front of Snow, who still had her head bowed; those fingers with their black nails landed right on her chin—the girl's head was lifted and their eyes met; for quite some time, there was only an intense silence. "Who doesn't recognise their own daughter?" Miralda could feel Snow's heart beating rapidly.
That realisation left Romeo speechless; he let out a cry as excruciating pain gripped his stomach—he pulled at his shirt to reveal his stomach, reddened and blistered, and screamed in agony. Although the mask had turned his body as strong as iron, it was still unable to ward off the poison that had entered his body. Snow glanced over and saw the poor man screaming as his body felt as though it were being burnt alive.
Miralda smiled slyly, convinced that she had now won. "Your face is still utterly repulsive to look at, isn't it?" she whispered, her eyes fixed on Snow before her; yet this was Snow's chance to strike back. "I want to tear your facial skin right off so that the beauty you're so proud of is no longer visible."
From behind, her rather tight black dress allowed her to show off her curves—she staggered backwards as the fabric of the dress was tugged. Her purple eyes glanced back and saw a little dwarf doll wearing a green nightcap, chuckling softly whilst continuing to pull at her black dress.
Before she could reach the dwarf doll, she saw two other dolls in front of her, being manipulated by Snow, who had already leapt backwards—the two similar dwarf dolls were distinguished by their red and blue nightcaps.
Flint landed a punch right on Miralda's chin, sending her head flying back, whilst the other dwarf, wearing spectacles, wrapped his arms around both the envious woman's legs, causing her to topple to the ground like a tree struck by Romeo.
From the side, a man—still clenching his stomach in pain—dashed forward, his mask now blue; he carried Snow's body away from there as quickly as possible, the dolls still tied by threads to the girl's fingers causing her to float in the air.
"T-Turn left, maybe Mother can cure that poison…" the dolls and threads slowly vanished in a whitish light, "And there's something I—um, we owe you a story."
Romeo nodded and the two of them glided into the Mother Goose pub; just as their feet touched the steps—Romeo nearly fell, but his body was caught just in time by Snow, who calmly and effortlessly lifted the man's large frame.
Snow calmly knocked on the wooden door; it didn't take long for it to be pulled open, revealing a woman with thick green hair—her expression immediately turned worried at the sight of Romeo, who was unconscious.
"Oh my goodness! Quick, bring him in!" Mother immediately hurried over to help lift him, and as quickly as they could, they laid him on the bed in the guest room. "What on earth has happened?"
"He was attacked by Miralda in the stomach," Snow explained, and upon hearing this, Mother immediately pulled up his black T-shirt, revealing skin that was bright red and covered in increasingly severe blisters. "W-What's this… Burns?! Miralda's Everafter ability is poison!" Her mouth gaped in disbelief.
"Necrotic poison—that's most likely what this is." Mother stood up, her expression grave; there was not a trace of her usual playfulness or silliness on her face. "It's a shame my ability hasn't returned yet, so for now we can only ask one person for help." She walked out of the room and over to her desk.
She picked up the telephone handset and dialled the number straight away, her left hand clenched into a fist—this was the first time Snow had ever seen Mother this serious. At that moment, she realised that Mother truly cherished the Fables as if they were her own children; it was evident from the guilt in her eyes.
After dialling the number, she held the receiver to her ear and lips, her fingers drumming impatiently on the desk—and after waiting quite a while, the call finally went through.
"Mira? Please clear your schedule to come here; it's urgent."