just thought that I should mention that I DO NOT OWN ONCE UPON A TIME OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS! no matter how many times I wish upon a star, the rights to the show still do not belong to me. In fact, the only thing that belongs to me is this story and Circe...
Keep in mind that this is my first story, so please be nice...
Enjoy~
Fair
Regina stumbled through the woods as she searched for the Dark One. She knew deep down that by the time she found Rumpelstiltskin, he would have already noticed and dealt with her. But here she was, a couple of steps away from his leather-clad back. Regina's eyes were red and swollen from the time she spent crying; at this point, she could barely see or move, but he had not turned around. She clutched the twisted dagger next to her chest and slowly crept her way over to him. He appeared to be lost in thought, staring into the clearing where he had dragged her away from her son.
"It was his fault…"
The words kept tumbling over and over in her head. She would have changed for Henry. She was on her path to redemption, but her desire for revenge on Snow had been too strong. All it took was a sly remark from Rumpelstiltskin to set her off. Regina could have killed Snow that night, but all she wanted to do was inflict a little pain, teach her a lesson. But as always Snow White came up one step ahead. And so Rumpelstiltskin and his little maid dragged her away from Henry, back into the Enchanted Forest. She felt the edge of the cursed blade. It was his fault that Henry and she were separated, and he would pay for it.
Regina was close enough for the dagger to work. She could have uttered the simplest of commands and Rumpelstiltskin would be forced to obey, but she wasn't striving for power over him; she wanted his death. The tip of the dagger was only an arm's length away, but he still hadn't turned. The imp's gaze was fixated on the center of the clearing. "Maybe he's guilty..." she thought, but the Evil Queen knew it wasn't true. She raised the dagger slightly, held her breath for a second, and plunged it into his side. Her smile was gloating, but the look quickly slid off her face. As the he turned around, she realized that the leather coat was hiding soft curves. When the person turned around, she realized in horror as she stared into blue eyes that she hadn't stabbed Rumpelstiltskin. She had stabbed someone who was obviously the offspring of the beast and the beauty.
The woman, or rather girl, stared at the dagger in her side with piercing blue eyes, then back at Regina. She appeared to be no older than seventeen, and yet she already had the hardened look of someone with several times her age. She let out an ominous giggle that resembled the Dark One's and pulled the knife out of her. She held it up to blade at eye level and blew on the dark blood coating it. The blood dried and flew off in a crimson cloud and the gash in her side sealed closed.
"It appears you have mistaken me for someone else, darling," the woman flashed the dagger in the sunlight teasingly and the name on it flickered across Regina's horrified face. Her voice was not as high as her father's and she had an accent that was a combination of both of her parents', but it still had the menacing tone to it. "This little dagger won't do a thing to me, but I can't guarantee the same results for you." She let out another threatening giggle.
Regina was paralyzed by her shock. After all the time it had taken to acquire the dagger, the loss of her magic, and all the sacrifices she made, she had stabbed the blade into the wrong person. Regina had wanted to win for once. She knew that her chance at a happy ending had passed long ago, but she at least wanted some small victory. She was so close to it, and now she was going to die.
Regina backed up, away from the she-demon, but two branches from the surrounding trees bent low and grasped her wrists. She knew that she was helpless without magic, and she knew that it would be useless to plea with the daughter of her enemy. But it still did not stop her from struggling.
"Now, now, darling. You don't want to make this harder than it has to be," the woman reached out for Regina's wrist and held it straight in front of her. She dug the tip of the dagger into her flesh and Regina let out a pained scream. Slowly, she carved the word FAIR into the white flesh of the former-queen's arm. When she removed the tip of the blade from her skin she blew on it, and the same red smoke appeared. The words glowed a horrid color then faded into a stark black that contrasted the paleness of Regina's skin. Regina howled in agony from both the pain and the humiliation of the words.
Fair. Life had been anything but fair to her. Her mother was pure evil, the love of her life had died, and everyone hated her. All she had ever wanted to do is be happy, and that simple pleasure had been denied from her. The word was a cruel symbol of how horrible her life had been.
Regina's cries were cut short by a hand at her mouth. "Hush now. You have nothing to cry about. Life is terrible for everyone. Everyone has had something horrible happen to them, but they don't go around ruining everyone else's lives." The young woman gazed off into the distance as she seemed to reminisce in all the anguish she had felt. Her countenance once again hardened and she looked Regina dead in the eye. "Life is cruel to you because you seek revenge. Don't expect any happiness to come from it, darling."
"You know nothing of the pain I have felt!" Regina spat out the words like venom.
"I KNOW EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU! I KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE! I KNOW OF THE PEOPLE YOU HAVE HURT! THE LIVES YOU HAVE RUINED!" Regina again cowered away from the girl.
The she-demon leaned in close. "I could kill you right now. I could kill you because of what you've done to my parents, what you've done to everyone in this land. But that isn't right." Her voice became high-pitched and jeering like her father's, and she made a motion very much like the Dark One's trademark gesture. "But my father taught me to always be fair!" She dropped her voice much lower than her normal way of speaking and whispered in Regina's ear, "This is just a lesson, just a little reminder for you to clean up your act. In three years your 'son' will be back in the Enchanted Forest. He will fight in a war against ogres. A war that we wouldn't be fighting if the inhabitants of the royal kingdom hadn't suddenly 'disappeared.' And I know that we won't win and many people will die, including Henry, if you don't help us. If I don't help us. So you better be prepared to put aside your petty little differences, because as of now Henry's life is in your hands."
The branches detached themselves from Regina's wrists. She clutched her sore arms and asked in a shaking voice, "who are you?"
"Call me Circe..." and with one small step in her boot-clad feet, the girl disappeared along with the dagger.
Regina sunk onto her knees and stared into the clearing. The words of the Dark One's child echoed ominously through her head. She tentatively touched the letters branded on her skin and felt a shooting pulse go through her fingers. It was a pulse of magic. Regina smiled darkly and again prepared herself for another attempt at revenge, but Circe's final words rung in her head: "Henry's life is in your hands." She stood up, and magicked herself back to her old castle. She had a war to prepare for.
Ummm I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to do now, but, yeah, so this story is done... please review (and mind your manners)!