Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any recognizable characters.
AN: This is sort of a double prompt from athomewithlana over on Tumblr who did fantastic minimalist posters for me, and for The-Writer2012 who was the 300th reviewer of A Fine Line. Athomewithlana Prompt: Emma sides with Regina in an epic battle. The-Writer2012: Skyfall by Adele - Swan Queen uniting holding hands. I thought they meshed well together, so I hope you like it! I definitely recommend listening to Skyfall while reading.
There was chaos. There was wreckage. The once quiet and predictable Main Street was now a minefield, Cora's own personal playground. Buildings were brought down to their foundation, crumpled uselessly like a discarded piece of paper. Giant potholes sporadically filled the street making it impossible to get by should anyone risk driving. No one was that foolish though. No one would even risk leaving their houses or shelters let alone taking a stroll down Main Street.
All that stood on the long stretch of road facing each other like a draw in an old western were Regina and Cora, the new Dark One.
This was it. This was now or never. The proverbial final battle was upon Storybrooke, and despite Emma being the Saviour, the circumstances surrounding this battle kept her away due to her overprotective parents who had already lost their fair share of companions. Charming was well down the street dragging a kicking and screaming Emma with them as Regina approached her mother.
Regina's heart beat rapidly in her ears, so loud it almost drowned out the faint humming from the collision of cars her mother's magic had caused. Too many lives had been lost. Too many families torn apart. Regina stood, her chin held high despite the clamminess of her hands, the quivering of her knees and the voice in her head, sounding strangely like her mother's, telling her to be a good girl and to come on home.
Not this time.
This time Regina knew what needed to be done. She knew she had to finish the job she should have done herself years ago. As a sorceress, Cora was powerful, but as the Dark One, she was damn near unbeatable. She'd have to do what no other person had done before. Kill a Dark One without using their dagger, the dagger the only thing able to defeat such a being.
She knew the odds were stacked against her and the chances of her coming out alive were so minuscule they barely existed. She knew her magic was nowhere near the level of her mother's, but she also knew she had a family to protect. She was loathed to leave Henry with Snow, having to lie to his face promising that she'd return, but what choice did she have? Her magic was far more powerful than the fairies' combined, and if she was going to make sure her son lived to see another day, she'd do everything in her power to see it so.
Steeling her jaw, she took a step forward when Emma's yells and pleas were out of earshot, her hand raised as the purple sparks sizzling around her fingers grew larger and larger, signalling her presence to the other woman.
Cora looked up, seeming to glide forwards with a wicked satisfied smile on her face. As she approached her eyes narrowed, realizing her daughter's intentions. With no heart and nothing to lose, Cora attacked.
Regina's mind's eye flashed to a time when her mother's magic terrified her, when she was hanging up in the air with whatever barrier was easily accessible let it be riding reins or a wrought iron gate. Regina remembered the tightening of the leather, the sting of the metal digging into her flesh. Never again, she promised herself back then. Never again, she thought as she easily deflected the simple spell that once had her quivering.
She sent a spell of her own towards the older woman, willing the broken pieces of glass from the storefronts to charge at Cora, but the Dark One simply held up a hand before the array of glass changed its trajectory and returned straight for Regina.
The brunette had barely enough time to crouch to the ground and cover her eyes, hissing when the glass cut through her clothes and sliced her skin. It wasn't enough to kill but the amount of thin cuts lacing her arms and back was enough to slow down her momentum.
Still, Regina charged forward, surrounding her mother in a ring of fire to distract long enough to get a sufficient distance closer. She still had no idea how to kill a Dark One, but she'd die trying to figure out.
Cora laughed amused at the flame and walked through it as she simply waved her hand causing the asphalt beneath Regina's feet to quake and crack in a circle around her. With every attempt to run from the weakening road, the ground which she touched crumbled easily beneath her weight. She ran strategically, aiming to reach the land that seemed sturdier than the rest before she found sanctuary behind a smoked and flaming car.
Her mother's voice, Cora's in every right but methodical and cruel, taunted her, listing off the people who would soon follow Regina's fate should she continue to be disobedient.
Two faces popped into Regina's mind at the threat, the two faces who had stood by her and kept her hidden when Cora had claimed she would stop her rampage should Regina return to her. Many citizens, including Snow and Charming though Regina would never admit she had overheard, had called for Regina's head should it stop the mayhem Cora was inflicting on them, but despite the mobs and moments of weakness where Regina reasoned it was for the best, Henry and Emma made her their own little captive while plotting ways to defeat the Dark One.
Regina's fists clenched at the thought of anything happening to those two and immediately retreated from her hiding place. This needed to end, and blood was surely to spill as payment. A price Regina was willing to pay.
The strange silvery tint Cora's skin had taken since becoming the Dark One shined in the sun making Regina forget that this woman was once her mother, could ever be her mother again. The daunting feeling of abandonment settled deep within Regina's core providing a momentary distraction, but a distraction nonetheless.
Bricks from surrounding fallen buildings sprung to life and were on a set path to the only other living target on the street.
It was ironic really, the bricks jagged and sharp coming after her like spears. It was what started Cora's outburst to begin with months prior.
Regina watched as the broken rocks came hurtling after her, time slowing down and seeming to take her to another place where instead of bricks it was a single dagger magically thrust by Cora heading straight for the heart of the Saviour.
Regina had called Emma's name as if warning the girl could prevent the dagger from reaching its target, and before she knew it, Regina had appeared in front of Emma in a cloud of purple smoke, the dagger freezing just as it nicked lightly into Regina's chest, a small droplet of blood evidence that the blade had found her instead of Emma.
Regina didn't have time to process what she had done or why she had done it. All she knew was that her mother's gaze zeroed in on her, betrayal and disgust written on the older woman's face. Regina's hand reached behind her to feel for Emma's grasp before finding solace in the warm flesh then magicking them to safety.
Now there was no blade or blonde to protect. There was only the sure knowledge that the jagged bricks would indeed pummel her as she remained rooted to her spot paralyzed.
She faintly heard her name called before a force knocked her to the ground behind a turned over vehicle as the bricks smashed into the already damaged side of the car.
The familiar mane of blonde hair she had gotten so used to waking up beside was the first thing Regina recognized before seeing Emma's frantic and wide eyes questioning Regina's sanity, yelling that Regina should have retreated with them, reminding her that she'd promise to keep her safe and what Regina was doing now was not safe.
Regina's own eyes widened upon realization that with Emma here, Cora would surely be after the Saviour's blood. She yanked her up while still keeping them low as the bricks bombarding their only protection were replaced with a mixture of lightning and fire.
Already Regina's hand was shimmering purple, a tell-tale sign that she was about to magic Emma away but the blonde held her palm in her grasp while using her free hand to tilt Regina's chin towards her, their gazes locked. Green eyes promised safety, promised that Regina would no longer have to fight alone, never again.
Brown eyes showed hesitance, but the sound of her heart beating wildly in her ears, drowning out the explosions surrounding them, drowning out her mother's voice. Regina heard her own voice yelling at herself to protect this woman, to keep her safe. Emma had come back for her despite being dragged away. Emma had chosen her. For once Regina was grateful that Emma was stubborn.
Their fingers linked together as they straightened from behind the car, Emma's magic powering up Regina's with so much force the brunette almost wanted to let go but the squeeze from the younger woman kept her grounded, put her in more control of her magic.
They waited against the edge of the car, Regina keeping Emma's head close to the crook of her neck before the last of the fire and lightning ceased leaving a cloud of smoke and debris in their path. Both women felt the combined magic coursing through them as they walked hand in hand through the smoke.
Cora saw her daughter's new companion and laughed, sending a lamp post flying their way, but Emma acted quickly, using her body as a shield as she hugged Regina's head to her chest while automatically raising her hand as if she could block the lamps descent. Little did she know she could when her white magic encircled the pole and hung in the air. Both blonde and brunette gaped before Emma sent it flying away in the direction of her hand.
Regina exhaled relieved before squeezing Emma's hand again, walking forward together as Saviour and Queen flung the scraps of debris that Cora sent their way back as if swatting a fly.
The fear that resided in Regina since she was a child was replaced with a confidence. She didn't understand how, but she knew that this wasn't over. She knew their magic was enough.
Blonde and brunette continued their walk untouched as Cora growled, stomping her foot until hot springs sprung from the road as if they were lying dormant there waiting for command.
The only evidence of fear shown by either woman was the squeezing of their hand, but regardless of the blistering water that would have burned them had Regina not protected them in a thin barrier, they marched forward noticing the older woman back up a step.
Cora snapped her disgust at her daughter, barked her weakness for something as trivial as love when she could rule and have power. She showered a wave of fire on them, the orange and red flame licking off their barrier uselessly. She made the earth move but the women walked forward, oblivious to the destruction around them.
Finally when they were less than twenty feet away, the power within the Saviour and the Queen charged up emitting a bright pale purple light from their joined hands and shot outwards, shaking everything in its path and knocking over the Dark One with surprising force.
Cora's dagger fell to the ground, and with a wave of her hand, the dagger was in Regina's hand, eyeing the blasted thing before switching her gaze to her mother, huddled over on the ground with angry eyes.
For a moment, Regina searched the beady eyes hoping to find the woman whose love she so craved but found none. With a sneer, Cora moved to stand, a fireball already in her palm. Emma held Regina's hand over the dagger, silently begging the young brunette not to use it. The dagger grew white hot, burning both women's hands but they held on, watching the metal melt as it dripped to the ground from the pale magic emitting from the joint palms, the dark magic within it escaping and billowing around Cora in a small twister of wind and screams before descending to the earth.
Regina and Emma held on to each other, protecting each other from whatever came out of the dagger before all was quiet.
The dagger was destroyed. Main Street was in ruins. Cora lay lifeless on the asphalt, her skin returning to her natural pale tone, her eyes shut as if sleeping.
Regina gasped at the reality of the situation, her knees giving out as she fell to the ground where Emma caught her. The brunette clung to the Saviour in desperation, a mixture of mourning and rejoicing flooding her system.
It was finally over.
FIN