Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. I am simply borrowing them for a time, to write a story that was inspired by their close bond. SwanQueen is end game in this fic. Thank you for your understanding, I hope you enjoy this little story of mine!

Also, this story began originally as a comic, however over the years I have found it difficult to finish it, so I am releasing its script as a story here on instead. If you would like to see the comic, you may do so on Tapastic under the same name "A Decadent Affair", however, there is no need as this is the full script, the comic only provides a visual aid to my ideas.

Having said that, thank you again for taking the time to read my story, I hope you enjoy it. This story is set right after Emma makes' claim to the Dark One's dagger and is working on an alternative result of how Emma is saved from her curse and how Regina manages to help her in the process.

Chapter 1: The Dark Pursuit: Lost in an Evil Fog of Dreams

The dark dense smoke crackled with an intense power, that no one save Regina and the Charmings had ever seen before. Everyone reeled back in The dark dense smoke crackled with an intense power, that no one save Regina and the Charmings had ever seen before. Everyone reeled back in horror as they watched their savior being torn away from them and turned into the worst fears; the Dark One.

Regina spotted something sparkling on the ground at the base of the dispersing fog. It was slender and looked to be a dagger. Immediately she recognized what it was and broke away from Robin, heading towards the weapon with all the intentions and purpose of a woman on a mission.

"Regina!" Robin cried in her wake, but Regina was deaf to anyone who would try to stop her.

"Mom!" Henry exclaimed but Regina was too busy to respond, her eyes focused on her target.

She stooped low and grabbed the dagger from the ground and turned it over in her hand. As the smoke began to clear, Regina could make out the words "Emma Swan" embedded into the shiny metal surface, written in the blackest magic, just as if it had always been there.

Just as Regina was about to stand up, a hand shot out of the fog. It grabbed hold of Regina's wrist and held on tight. Regina looked up into the dark, soulless eyes of her captor, and her heart sank immediately.

"Emma?" Regina asked pleadingly and winced, the grip on her wrist was like a vice.

Suddenly Emma yanked at Regina's arm and used Regina's arm against her. Emma twisted the arm until the dagger was pointed at Regina's throat, and before Regina could react, she felt the cold kiss of steel and dark magic against her skin.

"Swan, let go!" Regina's exclaimed, struggling to push Emma off.

Emma seemed to hesitate, the grip on Regina's wrist loosening, however, Regina started to feel woozy as she stared into Emma's blackened, soulless eyes. It was as if she was staring into the darkness of the universe itself. She felt herself slipping away into a trance-like state, and she was losing grip on reality altogether.

"Regina, look out!" shouted Snow White, her voice cutting through Regina's dark reverie.

"What? Oh gosh" Regina said and began to fight against Emma's control again " this is not how I imagined I would die!"

Just then Emma seemed to snap out of her evil trance. For a brief moment, she looked around, wide-eyed, wondering where she was and what she was doing. When she realized that she still had her hands on Regina, she immediately let go and took a step back.

"What have I done?" She gasped, looking at Regina in horror.

Before Regina could reply, Emma disappeared into thin air in a cloud of magic, whisking herself as far away as she possibly could get from the people she loved and cared about most dearly.

Snow White rushed over to Regina's side just as Emma disappeared and they both stared at the empty space where Emma had stood not moments ago.

"What just happened?" Snow White asked, stunned.

Regina looked down at the sword once more, studying the inscription for the second time, as if in hope that if she read it long enough, it would change back to Rumplestiltskin, or any other name for that matter, just not, Emma Swan.

The others crowded around Regina and Hook was the first of the lot to speak up.

"I don't know, but that sure as hell was not Emma," Hook said, his deep-set brows furrowing in worry and pain.

Regina turned to Hook and grimace. " Oh, that was Emma alright. That was Emma turned dark" She said, flexing her wrist to see how much damage had been caused.

Robin joined Regina by her side and placed a hand on her shoulder, but Regina was still too affected by the whole situation to want any close contact with another person.

"Not now Robin, sorry," Regina said and shrugged Robin off.

"No matter what has happened to my mom, we can't stand around here, feeling terrified about her." Henry piped up " She did this to save us all, so now we have to find a way to save her"

"The boy's right. Regina, you know and understand dark magic, what do you think we should do?" Charming asked, taking a step forward. His handsome features were darkened by that thought that he had somehow lost his daughter, yet again! He would do anything to get her back home, safe and sound.

Regina looked at everyone for a moment, then looked at the spot where Emma disappeared only moments ago.

"Hook, get Belle and find out as much as you can about the history of the Dark One. Maybe there is something that we do not know, that lies in those dusty archives of hers" Regina instructed, giving Hook a stern look.

Hook nodded and wasted no time lingering around. He immediately turned on his heels and headed towards the library.

"Snow White, get Ruby and try and see if you can track Emma down. When you find her, leave her be, all we need to know is where she is. It is too dangerous to bring her back here, with all of our unarmed citizens, we must try our best to contain this power in a place where it will hurt as few people as possible" Regina explained to Snow.

"On it" Snow replied and headed off to see Ruby at Granny's.

"Charming, you, Robin and Henry need to find a way to fortify the town. Remember when Emma was learning to use her light magic? Even when she was in control, her powers were erratic, I cannot imagine how much worse it must be, now that she is the Dark One.

Charming nods and leaves too, with Robin in his stride. Henry began forward in pursuit of his Grandpa, however, he hesitated and turned back for a moment.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Henry asked, feeling concerned for his mother's safety.

Regina shook her head and sighed, "I have to speak with Maleficent because sometimes, it takes evil to fight evil " Regina replied and headed on out towards the old hospital.

Ok that's the end of chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed it! I will upload the next chapter soon, have a great day!

- FTML