Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Raven had long since given up hope when it came to this.

This fucking test.

She failed every single time.

You would think after years of doing this, she'd finally pass the test but noooooooooo, Rumplestiltskin changed it every loop so she couldn't memorize the answers or anything. At this point she'd be amazed if she got a single answer right.

Oh yeah. Loops. I'm the narrator so I should probably explain that. 

"I'm sure the readers could wait a minute," said Maddie. 

"Madeline Hatter, no talking during tests!" Yelled Professor Rumplestiltskin.

Maddie giggled, "Sorry."

Right…

As the students finished up the tests and sat down at their seats again, Maddie quietly whispered to Raven.

"So how well do you think you did this loop?" Maddie asked.

"The same I do every loop. I'd be surprised if I got higher than a 40."

Can I explain the loops now?

"Sure."

Time is a fickle thing-

"Don't let him hear you say that."

Maddie!

The girl giggled, "Sorry."

Time is weird. Really weird. The future can be hard to change. So a spell, cast in a moment of desperation, now cursed sixteen people to repeat the same two years, over and over again. 

As the final bell rang and released the students for the rest of the day, Raven and Maddie made their way to their dorm. One good thing about this loop was that Maddie and Raven got to share a dorm. 

Raven ducked out of the way of a flying tea kettle and smiled. Even though some of the loops they've been in were wildly different, you could always count on Raven failing that one test.

"Well, should we meet the others? We only have the start of the dragon games and Crystal's visit before we'll have to restart," Raven said. They had just freed Wonderland from its curse and were preparing for the start of the dragon games. They always tried to keep a sort of schedule for these things. First, they'd deal with Legacy day, then True Hearts day, then Thronecoming, after which they'd have to rescue Wonderland, then the Dragon Games would start and then Crystal would visit. 

It was tiring, but it helped keep things on track. Raven just wished they could do the Dragon games without having to free her mother, but they learned from loop 4 that keeping as close to the original timeline as possible was the best bet. 

“Yep,” Maddie sat down at a small table and began pouring three cups of tea, “But first, tea time!”

Raven smiled, “I’ll text the group chat to meet at the regular spot at…”

“Midnight! Now do you want the wondrous herb tea, or the dragon flower tea?”

“Hmm… Dragon flower.”

~~~

Birb: Hey, can we meet at the usual spot, midnight?

Fruity: Okay

DamselWithASword: You got it

TwoTruthsAndAnotherTruth: That works

Birb: Hexcellent!

~~~

Darling put away her phone. A Loop meeting? It was probably because the Evil Queen was about to return.

“Why does it always have to be midnight?” Apple asked from her side of the room. She was putting away her contacts and putting on her glasses. 

Darling shrugged as she sat on her bed, “Dramatics?”

Apple walked over to her, “Don’t you think our lives have enough drama?”

Darling moved over as Apple sat on the bed with her and curled into her side, “There's no such thing as too much drama.”

“The same two years of our lives have been repeating for over a decade,” Apple deadpanned.

“No such thing.”

They giggled and leaned into one another. It had taken them a bit to get where they are now, but they were happy together.

Darling leaned over and pecked a kiss on Apple’s forehead, “Love you, babe.”

“Love you too.”

~~~

As the clock struck 12, sixteen students snuck out from their dorms. At this point, it was less about not getting caught, and more about who could get to the spot first. When you sneak out regularly from the school for years, you get really good at avoiding security. 

As Ashlyn ran across the grounds silently, with Briar behind her, she saw some shadows moving as well. One looked to have a hood, probably Cerise, and was moving very fast compared to the more awkward shadow behind her. Probably Cedar. 

Ashlyn tried to run faster. They always had a competition to see who could get to the grove the fastest. It was the same grove they use when fleeing the Evil Queen. The pixies were nice and it was almost completely hidden away. 

Ashlyn panted as she came to a stop in the grove. Cerise, Cedar, Daring, Hunter, Darling and Faybelle were already there.

“Hey, I totally beat you here,” Cerise said.

“Uh, no you didn’t,” Faybelle responded as she sat down.

“Ahem, I was here before all of you,” Kitty said. Ash didn’t notice her at first but she was laying on a tree branch above them. 

“Oh come on. You can teleport. You don’t count.” a cacophony of voices rang from the group.

Kitty laughed as she smiled and disappeared, then reappeared next to Maddie, who had come in behind Ashlyn. 

She took a seat next to Hunter, who was debating something with Daring. The rest of the group slowly filed into the grove and into their seats. They had an unofficial seating chart. In a circle, Raven, then Apple and Darling, then Maddie, Lizzie, and Kitty. Ashlyn and Hunter, and Daring and Rosabella. Cedar and Cerise. Then Briar and Faybelle. And finally Cupid and Dexter would sit next to Raven. 

After a few moments of small talk, Raven appeared in a puff of purple smoke. After loop 5, Raven had gotten good at teleporting to the right place, even if she hadn’t signed the book yet. 

“Alright everyone’s here?”

A chorus of yeps came from everyone.

“Hexcellent. Okay so, we managed to get through Wonderland without any major hiccups. Other than Briar and Maddie getting replaced with Cedar and Ashlyn, everything went about the same as it did in the original timeline.”

“Personally, I was offended by you usurping my place, Ashlyn, I thought we were friends,” Briar said mockingly.

“You can keep your place. Wonderland is a bit too much for me,” Ashlyn responded.

“Alright, so we all know what happens next. Apple, you've been practicing being surprised by being manipulated?”

“Yep. Your mom will never know we’re the ones playing her,” Apple said jokingly.

“All we gotta do now is mentally prepare ourselves for this,” Dexter said with a light tone, but the others knew how hard it could be. The take over of the Evil Queen was something no one wanted to touch. They had changed parts of Legacy day and thronecoming and especially Spring Fairest, but no one had tried to change what happened during the Dragon Games. Only one change had ever been made to the events of it. Faybelle wouldn’t entirely be on the Evil Queen's side. They would use the story “She was acting as a double agent” for others, but with the amount of times they’d done that dance, they didn’t exactly need one.

Darling sighed, “Do we want to take a vote on whether to change how we deal with the Evil Queen’s take over?”

Some murmurs of agreement.

“All in favor of changing it.”

Darling, Raven, Apple, Maddie, Faybelle, Kitty, and Cerise raised their hands.

“All in favor of not changing it?”

Ashlyn, Briar, Cedar, Cupid, Daring, Dexter, Hunter, Lizzie, and Rosabella raised their hands.

“Okay. No new changes,” Raven made a white board appear and passed it to Apple, who wrote “Crystal's Visit” on it.

“Who’s gonna go on her adventure this go around?” Apple asked a little tiredly. 

“I suppose me and Cedar could give it a try,” Cerise offered.

“You can take me and Briar’s place. It's been a few loops since we had the Winter to ourselves,” Faybelle said, slinging an arm around Briar. 

“Could you guys stop flexing the fact that you're in a relationship?” Dexter gestured to Apple and Darling, who were sitting on each other's laps. Hunter and Ashlyn, who were holding hands and looking at eachother like they just started dating, and Faybelle and Briar, who were sitting so very very close to one another and Faybelle still had her arm around Briar.

“Stop being a pussy and ask out Humphrey,” Faybelle said.

“Faybelle.” Briar said with a quiet but warning tone.

The mood went from tired, but still fun, to tense and gloomy. They all knew why Dexter never asked out Humphrey anymore. He had for a few loops but… 

It wasn’t like a relationship with another looper. Every two years he had to rebuild his relationship and memories and sometimes Humphrey wasn’t even into guys and having to rebuild everything you have with someone over and over again just… breaks you.

“If that's all we have to talk about then I guess the meeting is adjourned or something,” Kitty said as she laid across Maddie and Lizzie’s lap.

“Yeah,” Ashlyn checked the time on her mirror phone, “We need to get back to the dorms. No one wants to be a zombie in the morning.”

The others all said their agreements and began to walk back to their dorms. But then Cerise stopped them.

“Guys, wait.”

“Is something wrong?” Darling asked.

“...Yeah.” 

They all began to sit back down as Cerise started talking.

“We have rule 3. Don’t keep it in if you’re going through something. No one wants what happened in the last loop to happen again. I guess I just…”

“Hey, we go through something, we go through it together, okay?” Raven offered.

“I'm just kind of tired. Of growing up, or trying to at least, and sitting by while my family just keeps repeating. I know I always joke about how much I hate my sister, but I miss her. We get close around Crystal’s visit, but then. Boom. Reset. Back to square one,” Cerise looked at the ground as Cedar hugged her.

“If you need someone to talk to, we’re always here. We all get the resetting thing,” Apple said. Although no one outwardly admitted it, they all spent much more time with each other than with any non looper friends. It was jarring to have half your friends be people you’ve known for over a decade, and the other half has only known you for what, a year? You know them for 10 times as long as they know you. It causes a dissonance. 

Ashlyn got a ping on her phone. She checked it to see that it was Blondie. Shit. Ashlyn forgot she agreed to talk to Blondie early in the morning.

“Oh no. Blondie’s in Briar and I’s room wondering where we are.”

“At 3 am?” Cupid asked.

“Yeah I thought she said 5, but I guess she's one for getting to things early.”

“5 fucking am... Ashlyn what the fuck? Anyway, how are you going to explain you coming in through the window at 3 am?”

“Simple. We’re going to start a fire and hope that draws her attention. But where to put it…” Briar pondered.

“Briar. No. You remember what happened the last time you decided to commit arson.” Ashlyn said.

“Yeah but this time I won’t get caught!” She said as she sped away towards the dorms.

“Should we stop her?” asked Raven.

“Meh, I haven’t seen Arson Briar in a while, so I want to watch.” Kitty answered as she disappeared, presumably to watch crimes get committed.

“It'll be fine. Probably.”

Chapter Text

After Darling and Apple got back to their dorm, they tried to go to sleep. They were interrupted however, by the fire alarms going off.

"Wow, Briar wasn't kidding about the arson," Darling said as they stood with a crowd of students outside the castleteria building. Which was on fire.

"Blondie Lockes here, reporting on a not so spelltacular event. In an un-hexpected turn of events, the castleteria has caught fire. Some blame rogue dragon flames, while others believe it was started on purpose. More later, once the facts are clear." Darling turned to see Blondie with her microphone, recording a mirror cast with the blaze behind her. 

Raven yawned as she made her way over to the couple, "It's like, 4 am. I hope the fire gets us out of classes. I don't think I can afford to be caught napping during class again."

"Mood," Apple said tiredly. 

“Hey guys!” Briar yelled from behind the three.

"Hey, Briar," Apple said.

"I didn't get caught this time!" She said a little too cheerfully.

"Don't celebrate too early," Darling said with a smirk, "Blondie is trying to figure out who set the fire."

A seeming constant throughout the loops was that Blondie always found out the truth whenever she went looking for it. 

Briar’s face fell and was replaced with a small look of horror, "Oh fairy fuck."

Darling laughed. They'd have to find someone to frame, otherwise Briar would be getting so much worse than a stern lecture.

"I ain't going back to jail again. I served my nickel!"

"Briar, calm down. Worse comes to worse, I'll just use a memory wipe spell on Blondie before she can tell anyone," Raven assured her.

"Oh. Thanks Raven!"

Darling rolled her eyes. Even after so many years, Briar’s crimes were always so messy. Unlike Darling's or Raven's crimes, which didn't have any evidence to point to them.

Darling saddened. Have they really been doing this for so long that crimes and the like mean nothing to them? She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Students! Students!" Headmaster Grimm announced from in front of the crowd, "Please go back to your dorms. We have the fire under control."

"Yay, we can leave and get some sleep," Darling said tiredly. She hadn't been sleeping well lately. Maybe it was the stress from the thought of the dragon games approaching. 

"Imagine being a weakling who needs sleep," Raven announced.

"Raven," Apple said, "Sleep is important. Everyone needs it."

"Sounds like something a weak person who needs sleep would say."

Apple smiled and leaned into Raven.

"If you don't go to sleep I will put so many sleeping drugs in your food, you'll be out longer than Briar," Apple whispered menacingly in such a quiet voice, Darling could barely hear her.

"I wouldn't suggest getting on her bad side," Darling offered.

Raven, who looked a bit spooked, "Trust me, I know. I used to dorm with her…"

~~~

A few days later, class was done for the day and Darling and Apple were chilling in their room. Apple was doing homework and Darling was listening to some music Raven had sent her. It was pretty nice. Apple curled into Darling's side on Apple’s bed.

"No one wants to change anything about the Evil Queen's take over," Apple said.

Darling paused her music and took out her earbuds, "We're all just… scared. No matter how many times we go through this, the Evil Queen is..."

Darling solemnly remembered loop 4, "No one wants it to go more south than it already is. We almost lost you and Faybelle last time we changed it."

"I know, I know, but… I don't want to go through it again," tears pricked at Apples eyes, "I've done this so many times, but it doesn't get easier. Some loops, the stuff she says to me is horrible. More so than usual."

Darling hugged her girlfriend and planted a kiss on her forehead, "It's okay. Eventually we'll find a way out of this. Then you'll never have to do it again, okay?"

"...okay."

Darling grabbed Apple's homework and put it on her nightstand.

"What are you doing?"

"Shh…" Darling positioned herself on top of Apple, "You're stressed. And I think I can help with that."

Apple smiled, "Do go on…"

Darling leaned down and kissed Apple on the lips. Apple kissed back. Then Apple pulled a move and flipped herself on top. 

Darling was really getting into it when…

"Apple sweetie, we have a lot to- What the hex!" 

Darling and Apple jolted away from one another as a voice rang out. Darling scanned the room to find that the voice was coming from Apple's nightstand. Her mirror pad was on, showing the image of a very shocked Snow White.

"Shit. I thought you turned that off!"

"I thought I did!" Apple responded as Darling rushed to turn it off. When turning it off didn't work, she did the next best thing and threw it at a wall, shattering it.

"What the hell, Darling, I just got that!" Apple said as she walked over to check the damage.

"It wasn't turning off or ending the call! Would you rather have had a very awkward conversation with your mother?" Darling said.

"No…" Apple remembered the last time she tried to have a conversation with her mother about dating Darling. It uh… didn't go well. Let's just say Apple had to spend the rest of the loop hiding in the enchanted forest from her mother.

"Shit… shit shit shit," Darling mumbled under her breath as she messaged the group chat.

~~~

DamselWithASword: Apple's mom just caught me and Apple being in a relationship 

Birb: Oh shit

Gort: Oh she's definitely going to tell our parents

DamselWithASword: Goddammit it I didn't think of that

Rosabella: Are you guys going to have to hide in the enchanted forest again?

DamselWithASword: Hopefully not

DamselWithASword: Also we need to get you a better name, your current one is boring

Rosabella: That is not the priority right now, Darling. What are we going to do?

DamselWithASword: Grimm, you type so formally

Rosabella: Darling!

DamselWithASword: Look, what's the worst she could do? Some if us have literally died before

~~~

"You know," Darling said to Apple as their parents bickered and argued with each other and the Headmasters, "I think this will turn out fine."

"Darling. Sweetie. Babe. Love of my life," Apple turned to Darling, "My mom is threatening to take me away from school. Your parents are threatening treason. Headmaster Grimm is contemplating his life choices, and Giles is just kind of reveling in the chaos."

"It could have gone worse."

Apple sighed and checked the group chat (On Darling's mirror pad since Darling broke hers).

~~~

Fruity : I think it's time we escape to the enchanted forest. There's no saving this. 

Furry : That bad?

Fruity : It's a train wreck out here Cerise 

AIsForArson : I could set something on fire?

Fruity : Briar No

BIsForBarson : I could set something on fire?

Fruity : Faybelle No

Fruity : Ashlyn, Rosabella, we're leaving for the enchanted forest, can you meet us there?

Rosabella : Yep.

12InchHeels : I can be there in 5

~~~

Apple closed out of the group chat and turned to Darling, "You catch anything they're saying?"

"Not really, although I think your mom tried to call me the f-word."

"Oh dear Grimm. Can you hair flip? Rosabella and Ashlyn are going to meet us in the enchanted forest."

"Alright close your eyes," Apple did as she was told. Then Darling flipped her hair before grabbing Apple's arm and running as fast as they could into the enchanted forest.

~~~

"How do you think Mom and Dad are going to take it?" Dexter asked Daring.

"What, Darling dating my supposed damsel in distress? With any luck, they'll take it with grace like they do in some loops. With terrible luck… we might have to deal with three Snow Whites."

"Grimm, I hope not," Briar said from the other side of the common room, "One Snow White is enough, thank you."

"Yeah, she's kind of a bitch," said Kitty as she lounged on one of the couches.

A small laugh came from the direction of Cupid. They turned to her quizzically. 

"Sorry, it's just jarring. I'm used to you guys saying that Snow was perfect. A lot can happen in a few years huh?"

Briar mused, "I mean, most of us hated her since the prime timeline. We all hated her after loop 4. We just have to pretend to be okay with her for the sake of not pissing off people. It's a bit weird to have some of the most popular royals and rebels hate the beloved queen."

Cupid bit her lip in thought, "Loop 4… remind me again loop this is for you guys?"

"Loop 11," Dexter said.

"Loop 11…" Cupid laughed a bit, "You guys are a lot older than me, huh?"

Briar shrugged, "Age is weird. Our bodies always reset, and it almost feels like our heads do as well, sometimes. Plus, you're not that much younger than us. You came in loop 8...?"

"Loop 9, actually," Dexter corrected her, "Since she didn't become part of the loop until it reset."

"Okay, maybe we're a bit older than you…" Briar chuckled. 

They fell into a comfortable silence before all their phones went off. A notification from the group chat.

~~~

Birb : Update on the situation since I'm using an invisibility spell to listen in on Snow Bitch and the charmings

Birb : This would be easier if the person who can naturally turn invisible did it but she didn't want to get off her ass

Cat-tastrophe : Suck it up bitch

Birb : Anyway

Birb : They have officially noticed you guys being gone

DamselWithASword : Wait

DamselWithASword : They didn't notice us leaving?!?!

DamselWithASword : I'm not sure whether to be happy we got away cleanly or be disappointed in our parents for forgetting about us

Birb : Always be disappointed with your parents

Birb : Now they're freaking out and I got a whole 5 min video of Snow Bitch cussing out the headmasters and the charmings

Birb : I also counted at least 7 different slurs

Gort : Send it to me

Gort : That's going all over the mirrornet

TwoTruthsAndAnotherTruth : Hold on, aren't we trying to keep close to the OG timeline?

TwoTruthsAndAnotherTruth : Won't doing that mess it up?

Furry : Cedar

Furry : Babe

Furry : The timeline went out the window when Snow caught Apple and Darling being gay

Furry : Also

Furry : Who the fuck changed my name

Cat-tastrophe : Heh

Furry : I'm going to kill you

Cat-tastrophe : Try me bitch

TwoTruthsAndAnotherTruth : Cerise no

Furry : Ok but only for you cinnamon roll

Chapter Text

------------------------------

--Loop-8--

------------------------------

Raven woke up early in the morning. It was 3 days before school started, just as always. Last loop was weird. They knew that they weren't always returning to the exact same timeline with loop 6 swapping everyone's genders, but the last loop was still weird. 

Raven yawned a bit before checking her mirror pad. Apple had already created the group chat and was asking if anyone had any changes. 

~~~

Daring: Me and Rosabella are already dating. We grew up together in this loop.

Lizzie: Me and Kitty are both here

Raven: Thank grimm, I don't think I could take another loop with you guys in wonderland

Kitty: Me either

Kitty: Love wonderland, but not the curse

Apple: So this is a pretty close loop to the original?

Raven: Yep

Raven: This loop gonna be super boring isn't it

~~~

Oh how Maddie loved wonderland. It was beautiful and mad, just like her.

"Awww, how nice! Thank you, dear narrator."

You're welcome.

The group had just gotten out of detention and were on their way to the palace. Courtley was somehow more of a bitch than usual. I didn't even know that was possible.

"If I may ask a question, Mx. Narrator?" 

Eh, sure.

"Why are you skipping around? I distinctly remember it being three days before school a few moments ago."

This is a flashback thingy and I really don't want to go through the whole loop just to explain what's happened in a certain area.

"Oh."

"Maddie," Raven's voice called from a bit away. 

"Sorry, got to go," Maddie giggled. 

"Why'd you stop?"

"I was talking to the Narrator!" Maddie skipped ahead of the group.

Once upon a time, the others would have just thought that Maddie was being by mad, but after quite a few instances of the Narrator communicating with other loopers, they've all just accepted their lives are being told like stories. 

"What did they say?" Lizzie inquired from the back of the group.

"Something something flashbacks. Nothing too important."

"You know what is important?" Briar said, "What ever after is going on between you and Cupid, Raven."

"Whaaaaaaaat, nah. Nothing is going on between us." The slight blush on Raven's cheeks betrayed her feelings.

"I'm glad you and Cupid are getting together, it can be really hard to make relationships with people outside of the loops," Apple interjected.

"Yeah… I just hope I'm not gonna ruin it or anything."

~~~

The dragon games. Out of all the adventures the loopers have had to go on, the dragon games are by far the worst. It's unpredictable on good loops and a complete mess if they aren't careful. 

So they were all a bit antsy going into the game. Light against dark. This time the teams also had Cupid and Briar replacing Poppy and Holly. 

It was going well all things considered. Darling didn't need to get hurt for the events to unfold properly and the game itself was fun. 

It was so familiar and nice that Raven got into a rhythm. She missed her mother casting a spell. It all just happened so fast.

The Evil Queen would always use an uncontrollable fire spell on Nevermore. But remember when I said the dragon games were unpredictable?

Raven was flying higher than usual in order to bypass Apple and Briar, when Nevermore started freaking out. Raven tried to steer Nevermore to the ground while avoiding the other riders, but it didn't work. 

Nevermore stopped freaking out before diving straight toward the ground. 

"Shit!"

Damn it. Raven got so caught up in the game she couldn't prepare herself for her mother's spell. How could she be so stupid!

Raven was trying with all her might to stop Nevermore, but instead Nevermore lashed out and flung her to the ground. 

The other riders had flown to the ground as well and were trying to assess the situation. Raven was going to warn them to stand back before any of the got hurt, but got cut short when the violet dragon spewed flames at them. 

Raven used a spell to shield them from it, but that only seemed to draw the attention of Nevermore. Raven was finally able to look her dragon in the eyes. Her eyes were clouded over, almost like a mind control spell, but… off. 

Raven didn't have much time to ponder before having to protect herself against another blast of fire.

Hold on, you may be asking, aren't the outfits fireproof? Yes, but for the sake of the story, we're saying that Nevermore is a special little dragon who's flames are also special.

"Get everyone out of here!" Raven turned her head and said to the other riders, "I can deal with Nevermore."

When she turned back to the dragon in front of her, she didn't have enough time to get a protection spell up as the flames licked toward her. In those few seconds before the fire got to her, Raven noticed a few things.

1, someone was reaching toward her, trying to shove her out if the way

2, there wasn't enough time for that person to be successful 

And 3, holy shit was Nevermore's fire always this hot

Raven could barely feel the hand wrap around her arm as the fire wrapped around her. 

No screaming, her vocal cords were probably melted. No crying, her tears ducts were probably boiled away. Just pain. White hot, searing pain. And then…

Nothingness...

Chapter Text

------------------------------

--Loop-9--

------------------------------

Raven woke up early in the morning. It was 3 days before school-

No. 

Something is wrong. Something is really wrong. 

Raven gasped for air as she shakely held herself. What the hell, what the hell, what the hell.

The loop restarted. Raven shook her head to try and clear new memories from this loop flooding in. She needed to think, to remember. What happened?

Evil Queen's rise. First game. Nevermore. Fire. 

"Oh Grimm." Raven sucked in a breath as she reeled from the events. Did she… die?

She looked over to her nightstand where her phone was blowing up.

~~~

From Apple White: Raven?!

From Dexter Charming: Raven are you okay?

From Darling Charming: What the hex just happened?

From C.A. Cupid: Raven?

~~~

Raven flitted through her messages before doing a double take when she saw Cupid in her inbox. Cupid doesn't transfer to Ever After until after Legacy day. She shouldn't even know Raven exists right now. Unless…

~~~

Raven Queen: Cupid?

Incoming call from C.A. Cupid 

~~~

Raven held her breath as she accepted the call.

"R-Raven?" A shake voice sounded from the other end.

"...yes."

"Do… Do you know me?"

"...yes."

Raven heard unsteady breathing coming from the other end, "Cupid, look, I need to know what you remember. Start from when you got to Ever After."

"Ever After… I shouldn't know what that is should I? It's like I have two sets of memories, but one extends into the future. I shouldn't know what Ever After High is, I shouldn't know who you are, but I do. What's happening?"

"I need to know what you remember, Cupid please."

"I remember True Hearts day. I remember thronecoming and getting brought to Wonderland. The Evil Queen came back. And then-" Cupid cut herself off.

"Cupid?"

"I… I remember Nevermore freaking out. You tried to stop her, but she caught you off guard. I tried to push you out of the way of the flames, but I didn't get to you in time. Then all I remember is pain. Did… did we die?"

Raven took in a sharp breath before responding, "Yes. Look, Cupid, we need to talk in person. How fast do you think you can get to the pixie's grove in the enchanted forest by the school?"

"Um, maybe a day?"

"Okay. Tomorrow night, be there, okay? We need to explain everything to you."

"We? What?"

"Look, Cupid, tomorrow night, okay?"

"Okay."

There was a pause before Cupid said in a quiet voice, "I love you…"

"I love you too." Raven disconnected the call before opening the group chat that Apple made.

~~~

Raven: Guys

Darling: Raven what the actual hell happened?!

Raven: What do you think Darling? I died

Cerise: so then why did we all get sent to the beginning instead of waiting until the loop reset naturally

Raven: what?

Apple: Yeah. We all got sent back here when you died. That's never happened before.

Dexter: to be fair, Raven's never died before

Raven: Look we have more pressing issues

Darling: like?

Raven: Cupid is looping now to

Faybelle: Cupid?

Cerise: I'm sorry what?!

Kitty: I thought we were the only ones stuck

Apple: what?

Ashlynn: People can join the loops? 

Darling: Raven please tell me you're joking

Raven: Unfortunately no

Raven: We should all meet at the grove tomorrow night, we can make a proper plan then 

Rosabella: That is probably the best course of action. 

Raven: Right, see you then

~~~

Raven paced back and forth in the pixie's grove. She had arrived a few hours early using a teleport spell to get there as quick as possible. And now she was waiting. And worrying. 

Grimm, so many things could go wrong. So many things have already gone wrong. Cupid somehow got brought into the loop. Raven did a full reset just by dying. Oh yeah, Raven died.

Death was not exactly a new thing for the loopers, but usually their memories of it are foggy or all together missing. Raven remembered all of it. Too much of it if you ask her. 

Raven eyed the campfire the pixies had started warily. The heat from it was just too much right now. Thankfully, she didn't have to deal with her thoughts any longer because the Charmings and their respective partners quietly walked into the grove.

"Hey guys," Raven bounced her leg nervously after sitting down. 

"Please explain everything now," said Darling as she approached the witch.

"Once everyone gets here, I swear."

~~~

They sat in silence once all of the loopers entered the grove. No one really knew what to say, but they didn't have to think too hard as a new figure entered the clearing. 

"Uh, there's more of you guys here than I thought there would be," Cupid said as she nervously walked toward the group.

"Yeah, probably should have mentioned that," Raven answered as she gestured to the seat beside her for Cupid to take.

"So. Cupid," Darling said as she stood, "We're stuck in a time loop reliving the same two years of our lives."

"Oh gods…"

"Yeah. Sorry for being blunt but we're trapped in this, and I am so sorry you have to be a part of it too." 

"Trapped…" Cupid looked to the ground, the look on her face distant as she tried to process what she heard, "How long have you been 'looping'?"

"This is loop 9," Raven said as she held Cupid's hand in hers. 

"And there's no way to stop it?"

"No. Not as far as we can tell," Raven sighed, "So since now you've joined us, we should probably explain everything. Starting from the beginning."