Prologue
Darkness Arises
As the dead leaves on the ground began to flutter amongst the dirt, Regina could feel the atmosphere start to tense, and crackle around her. She could smell the wisps of magic, and darkness in the air, curling around the trees and assaulting her senses. Dark brown eyes widened as the branches on the trees waved and screeched violently against the ever growing gusts of wind that blew around her; the Dark One wanted Regina to know that she was drawing near. As the realization began to seep in, the brunette hardened her stance, biting down on the inside of her cheek, still tasting the words that she had allowed to spill from her lips: dark one, I summon thee.
Within a matter of mere moments everything had grown quiet once again; the wind had dissipated, and the forest was eerily still, and yet the nauseatingly pungent smell of magic lingered within the night. With caution swelling and flowing within the pit of her stomach, Regina straightened her posture and gripped the dagger between her hands a fraction tighter, feeling the steel bite into her flesh viciously.
Suddenly, after several minutes in wait, the brunette felt the distinct sensation of eyes upon her, and heard the quietest of movements behind her. Stilling all of her muscles, Regina unconsciously held her breath as warmth began to seep into her flesh, a body pressing lightly against her back. Remaining still, Regina licked her lips, letting out an anticipated breath as she felt the woman shift behind her. Slow, warm spurts of breath began falling across the brunette's neck as cold fingers brushed her dark hair away from her shoulder.
"You wanted me to come," Emma whispered, her voice lower, and richer than usual, "…so here I am."
"Emma," Regina started slowly, shivers running throughout her body as she turned to face the blonde, "we've all been looking for you."
"We?" The blonde questioned, her tongue flicking out to wet her lips as she stretched out her arms, green eyes gleaming within the shadows as they gazed around the empty, dark forest. "Yet you're the only one here."
"I was forced to do something I promised I wouldn't," the brunette whispered, swallowing hard against the lump lodged within her throat, "I was—I wanted to find you."
"Ah, I see…" Emma smirked, leaning forward as her focus flittered down toward the dagger clutched within Regina's quivering hands. "I knew it would be you to wield it. Having power over me has always suited you, hasn't it?"
Their faces were mere inches away from one another now, and as the shadows parted, the brunette nearly gasped at the sight. Biting down hard on her tongue to stifle a response, Regina tucked the dagger within her blazer and looked away, unable to make eye contact with the blonde. The darkness had already seemingly taken over Emma's exterior: her eyes a darker shade of green, her yellow hair brightened to an off-white, and her skin glittered gold within the moonlight. The very sight made the brunette's eyes burn with unshed tears, and her heart ache with guilt; somehow she felt the curse was her burden to bear.
The blonde stepped forward then, erasing the small amount of space that was left between them, and reached out towards the brunette. Cool fingertips trailed across Regina's cheek, and the brunette leaned into the touch without thinking, her eyes fluttering shut. As they caressed her heated skin, Regina felt a sense of comfort overwhelm her, and allowed her body to lose some of its rigid tension. But, as her eyes opened again, her gaze seeking out the blonde, all she found were two dark, hollow green eyes staring down at her, void of all humanity and emotion.
Full lips parted with the realization then, and Regina tried to back away from Emma. Yet, the once tender fingers found their way around her throat, and squeezed tightly. Coughing, and sputtering, the brunette continued to feebly fight against the superior strength of Emma. The blonde merely smiled at her as she backed Regina against a tree, loosening her hold slightly as the brunette's head collided against the bark.
"Now, you know why I showed myself, don't you?" Emma giggled, her nails digging into the flesh of Regina's neck, "you have something I want."
"Stop," the brunette nearly begged, her voice hoarse from the pressure on her throat as her hands limply searched her blazer.
"Don't you?" Emma cackled, her thumb pushing down harder on Regina's larynx.
"I command you…to stop."
As the barely audible words fell from the brunette's shuddering lips, Emma's green eyes grew wide as she stumbled backward. Weak, and breathless, Regina held the dagger to the blonde's throat, the tip digging into Emma's flesh and drawing blood. The two women stared at each other momentarily, Regina allowed her strength to build before she thrust her other hand forward, purple smoke billowing between them.
The brunette sighed in relief as she felt her body quiver, the magic taking over. But just as the power caressed her, it was gone and Regina felt herself shoved backward into the tree once more. Her skull cracked against the rough bark, and she bit down against her tongue. Crying out as she felt her mouth fill with blood, Regina let her body slump against the tree as the notion of her utter failure rang within her aching head. Hot tears began to trail down her cheeks as she stared over at the Dark One, her vision blurry, and out of focus while her body convulsed with muted sobs. Blinking away the tears, Regina watched the blonde stalk toward her once more, a sadistic smile spreading across her red lips.
As the fear, and anger culminated within her, bubbling throughout her veins, the brunette bit down on her lip hard before she lifted her hand, and flicked her wrist in a final attempt. As the weakened power waved and flowed around her, Regina watched in awe as Emma was lifted and flung fifteen feet across the forest.
Forcing her aching body to support its own weight, the brunette stumbled momentarily before gathering her bearings. The blonde lay motionless on her stomach in a heap on the dirt, and Regina took a breath before stuffing the dagger beneath her shirt and blazer before making her escape. Grasping onto all of her strength, the brunette began to run through the trees, her speed slowed only by the darkness of the forest. Everything within her protested, and screamed in agony, but the brunette ignored the pain as she picked up her pace.
The dull glow of the street lights just ahead signalled Regina's closeness to the road, and she felt her chest explode with relief as she continued the rest of the way. But her speed began to slow, her steps faltering as she felt the earth shiver beneath her. Before the brunette could take precaution, her legs trembled before giving out beneath her. As she fell to the ground, Regina could feel herself being pulled backwards, her body dragging through the dirt roughly, the dagger slicing at her skin as she went, until she came to an abrupt stop.
Pulling herself up onto her knees, the brunette's eyes flittered back and forth around her quickly, searching, until her eyes were forced closed by the pain of a hand yanking her onto her feet by her hair. Seething in pain, Regina struggled against the hold on her; flinging her head and elbows backward in an attempt to catch her captor off-guard to no avail.
"You didn't honestly think it would be that easy to escape me, did you, Regina?" Emma chuckled behind the brunette as she tightened her grip on her hair, "I'm not the saviour anymore, I'm the Dark One—your power is nothing against mine now."
"Why are you doing this?" Regina whispered, her body unable to fight against the blonde any longer.
"You know why, don't be stupid, we both know you're smarter than that."
Taking a shallow breath, the brunette let her hands fall to her chest, feeling the jagged outline of the dagger that was pressed against her bare skin. She could feel the blood from the small cuts begin seeping through her shirt as they burned and stung. But she wrapped her arms around herself, forcing it to press more tightly against her; Regina would rather endure a lifetime of torture before she allowed Emma to hold all the power the Dark One could possess. The brunette wasn't able to stop the blonde from sacrificing herself, but she would do anything to stop Emma's heart from being fully consumed by the darkness.
"You'll have to kill me for it," Regina spit before finally pushing herself away from the blonde's tight hold on her.
"Oh, Regina…" the blonde sighed, taking a step closer to Regina, "how heroic you've become—and how pathetic."
Rushing forward, Emma tackled the brunette to the ground, straddling her hips and binding her arms to the ground above her head with magic. Leaning forward until their noses brushed, the blonde breathed in the scent of Regina's frustrated fear before slowly sinking her hand within the brunette's chest. A cry burst from Regina's lips as she felt cold fingers flutter across her heart, before Emma gripped the beating muscle and extracted it from her chest.
"Beautiful," the blonde whispered, sitting up as she caressed the darkened heart, feeling it pump steadily within her palm.
"Do it, Emma" Regina seethed, all courage evading her as she watched the light red glow of her heart alight Emma's pouting face. "Kill me."
"Now what's the fun in that, Regina?"
The blonde's lips contorted into a brilliant smile as she leaned forward once again, her free hand toying with the buttons of Regina's blazer. As she slowly began to undo each button, the brunette's breath hitched within her throat and she bucked forward in a feeble attempt to cease Emma's ministrations. The blonde merely pushed her hips down harder, her lips parting and her eyelashes fluttering as she thrust Regina into the ground a couple more times. The heat building between them was a combination of various emotions and sensations, but the brunette fought the shivers that extended throughout her extremities, and rolled her head to the side, giving up.
"Then what's the point?" Regina questioned, her voice a complete monotone as tears continued to form within the corners of her eyes. "If you don't want me dead…what is it you want?"
"I want my dagger," the blonde whispered, as she unhitched the last button of Regina's blazer and threw it open, "and I want you."
"Me?" The brunette whispered, her teeth worrying her bottom lip as she felt Emma rip her shirt apart, exposing her bare stomach, "why me?"
"I've always wanted you—as an equal," the blonde lilted, as she took the dagger within her hand and slid it into the empty sheath upon her hip, "but I believe you would make an even greater pet, for the time being."
Swallowing hard, Regina snapped her head forward, and gazed up at Emma, seeing nearly nothing left of the saviour within her cold, green eyes. The notion made the heart within the blonde's hand quiver, and Regina closed her eyes as those icy fingers whispered across her stomach and along her ribcage. The blonde's hand cupped Regina's breast roughly, as Emma knelt forward to softly lick the blood away from the corner of the brunette's lips, revelling in the metallic taste of the woman against her tongue. Emma bucked against Regina as a way of signalling her approval.
The touches disgusted and aroused Regina simultaneously; a part of her wished she were dead, yet another confessed that she had never felt more alive.
"You disgust me," the brunette spit, her hips rolling unconsciously against Emma's
"And yet your body disagrees with you."
"Fuck you," Regina snapped back, her body instantly becoming limp against the ground as she controlled herself.
"You're far too kind," the blonde chuckled, as she lifted herself off of Regina and stood, "but I fear I have other matters to attend to."
"You can't just leave me here!"
"Oh, but I can…" Emma smirked, squeezing the brunette's heart roughly between her fingers as a warning, slowly tightening her grip until the pain forced Regina to quiet.
As the agony continued to well inside of her, splinting throughout her entire frame, the brunette shuddered as she watched Emma disappear within a wisp of black smoke. When the Dark One had completely vanished, all scent of magic gone, Regina allowed herself to cry; her body racked violently with sobs, her throat burning and seething with pain as her sorrow overwhelmed her entire body. For a moment she tried to magic herself out of the Dark One's restraints, and yet she stilled as she realized her power was no match for the blonde's. Eventually her body grew too fatigued to do anything but lay still, and spent amongst the dirt. As the brunette fell in and out of consciousness she prayed that Emma would never return, but within her mind, in a much louder voice, she heard herself begging desperately for the blonde to return to her.
A/N: I've decided to try my hand at some Dark!Emma with Swan Queen just to see where it goes. I kind of just threw this prologue together quickly (so I realize it's probably quite rough, and quite terrible, my apologies) to see how it would fair with the Swan Queen fandom. Anyway, I just did this to pass some time, and see how I could write Dark!Emma. I hope you enjoy it, even if it is a bit out there, but I guess just let me know what you all think!