Prompt: "People who claim that they're evil are usually no worse than the rest of us… It's the people who claim they're good, or any better than the rest of us that you have to be wary of." -Gregory Maguire
"Emma! You can't be going over there! Who knows what she'd do to you to get revenge on me" Snow said, clearly panicked by the thought of Emma going and trying to talk Regina out of going on a warpath and destroying everything, because of what Emma thought was perfectly justifiable anger.
"And whose fault is it that Regina wants revenge on you" Emma asked quietly, a bit curious about what her mother's answer would be.
"Her's of course! She was helping Cora, and I couldn't bear to do the deed myself" Snow said, in a tone that meant she thought it should make perfect sense. Emma meanwhile just looked at her mother like she was an idiot.
"She was her mother! Yeah Regina's done a lot of bad stuff, but she tried to be a better person, and you tricked her into killing her own mother. Please tell me you see the problem with that?"
"Regina clearly can't change, and Cora needed to be stopped" Snow said naively. "But now she's mad, so you can't go over there. I don't want you to get hurt Emma."
Emma rolled her eyes and opened the door, ignoring her mother's protests as she left the flat. Apparently all fairytale characters suffered from believing that because someone was a hero or whatever, any bad thing they did was justifiable, and if someone was a villain, everything, no matter how good or bad was evil.
She really hoped that she'd never start thinking like that.
After the customary 10 minute drive over to Regina's place, she got out of the car and stood in front of the door a bit apprehensively. While she may not blame Regina for being pissed, that did not change the fact that Regina was pissed, and showing up at her door would be like poking at angry bear with a stick. An angry bear that could breathe fire and decapitate you with a flick of her hand.
As it turned out, she wouldn't have to even walk up the steps to Regina's house, because right as she was about to work up the courage and go knock, she heard a familiar voice from right behind her, asking "feeling a bit suicidal Miss Swan?"
Ignoring the involuntary chill that went up her spine, Emma turned around and saw Regina standing there, her spine rigid and head held high, acting like nothing was wrong. If it weren't for the slightly red, still damp eyes and dark circles, she'd have probably believed it too. "I just came to apologize for what my mother did to you Regina. I'd make her do it herself, but she seems to think that it was your fault" Emma said, trying to keep calm, and making sure to look Regina in the eye and show none of the internal terror she was currently experiencing. Because showing weakness to a predator was a bad idea, and the woman in front of her was definitely looking for prey.
Regina merely gave a mirthless laugh and said "I'm not surprised. She's always been a bit delusional. I'm guessing they're currently organizing another mob for my head" she queried, conveying disinterest.
"Pretty much. Which I really don't get. Wasn't Snow the one that basically used magic to murder someone?"
"Haven't you heard? I'm evil. Which is why I don't feel any shame about doing this" Regina said, stepping forward and sinking her hand into Emma's chest.
So… This was really not going according to Emma's plan. "Won't work" she said her voice pretty much a groan of pain "my heart can't...Be...Ripped...Out."
"Oh, I know that. Unlike my mother, I researched the magic of true love rather...Extensively. That doesn't mean I can't crush her heart while it's still inside you. Who knows, it might be even more excruciating. You'll have to let me know" she said with a cackle.
And then she squeezed, and Emma felt like she was dying, as she fell to her knees, trying desperately to keep from falling over completely. "Regina...Please…You… Have...Good in you" Emma managed to get out, before she felt the world turned to black.
Regina pulled her hand out of Emma's chest, feeling none of the usual satisfaction from crushing a heart. She looked down at the dead body in front of her and felt a flicker of remorse that she couldn't quite snuff out.
So, I created a 30 day challenge for myself in the hopes of being able to write more. We'll see if I manage to accomplish it. This is day one, and, while a bit (Read: Very) dark, I'm hoping that the other's will be a bit happier. All 30 of the prompts are Gregory Maguire Quotes (If you have not read Wicked or any of the other books by him, I'd highly recommend it) so, yeah.
