Chapter 2 – The Land Without Magic
"Where is Emma?" I demand as I enter the hospital walking in a fast speed in direction to the room where Henry is sleeping. Easily I found Doctor Whale as he points to the next room when I listen to familiar female voices arguing.
"So he could..." it didn't take a genius to realize the word Emma can't get out of her mouth. I still couldn't believe Henry's life was the proof she needed. That couldn't be the price of all of this, this not my definition of a happy ending for both her and Regina.
"Yes."
"So what do we do?" I say approaching them as I hold Emma as I see her with tears in her eyes along with agitated expression, I try to calm her down but her pain wouldn't allow it, so the best was to try and save Henry it would give her a purpose and a distraction. "We needed a plan." I say with a cold voice turning to the Queen, a good one actually, I add to myself.
"We need help. There's one other person in town who knows about this. Knows about magic." Regina says the last sentence slowly as I nod showing her that I knew the truth. Before Emma told me Henry ate the apple and falling on the ground, I knew the truth. The coincidences were to much and so the proofs I gather over the weeks. After many years of strange things there wasn't much more I wouldn't question as the truth.
"Mr. Gold" The man in question has proved to be the greatest ally and the greatest enemy. He knew a lot, information I still couldn't count.
"Actually, he goes by Rumplestiltskin."
*** OUAT ***
"Do my eyes deceive me, or is that the look of a believer?" I hear Gold's voice as Emma, Regina and I enter his shop.
"We need your help." Emma says immediately but it was obviously the desperation and the worry in her voice, she knew he was the only hope of saving Henry's life.
"Indeed you do. It seems quite the tragic ailment has befallen our young friend. I told you magic comes with a price."
"Henry shouldn't have to pay it."
"No, you should." I snap at her showing my hatred towards the Evil Queen. She was lucky I still hadn't used the gun I had hidden in my jacket on her.
"But alas, we are where we are." Gold says in a more calm tone, at least one of us had his emotions under control. Damn it. I don't have mines under control. I can't remember the last time this happened. Actually I can but I prefer not to think about it.
"Can you help us?"
"Of course. True love, Miss Swan—the only magic strong enough to transcend realms and break any curse. Luckily for you, I happen to have bottled some."
"You did?"
"How is possible to bottle love?" I ask him confused.
"Oh yes. From strands of your parents' hair, I made the most powerful potion in all the realms. So powerful, that, when I created the Dark Curse, I placed a single drop on the parchment. Just a little safety valve."
Safety valve my ass. He has another motive, men like Gold always have a bigger picture painted, always have they own plan and they own reasons.
"That's why we are the saviors, that's why we can break the curse." Emma says referring to both of us since the book says both daughters off, I am still not ready to say it, will break the Dark Curse, I can't actually understand how will we be able to do it, but there are more prior concerns.
"Now you're getting it."
"I don't care about breaking the curse. All I care about is saving Henry."
"Which is why it's your lucky day. I didn't use all the potion. I saved some. For a rainy day."
"Well, it's storming like a bitch. Where is it?"
"Where it is, isn't the problem. Getting it is what should worry you."
"Enough riddles. What do we do?"
"You do nothing. It has to be Miss Swan, both of them actually."
"He's my son. It should be me."
"All due respect, but it's her son and her nephew. And it has to be them. The product of the magic. They must be the one to find it."
"I can do it." Emma says as I simple nod, wondering what the hell only Emma and I can do that Regina can't. Not that I trust her to do anything. Because I don't.
"Don't trust him."
"What choice do we have?" Emma says as I just nod stare at him and back to Regina nodding.
"That's right dearie, what choice do you have?"
"Where is this magic?" I ask tired of this all game, we didn't had the time for all this.
"Tell me, your Majesty, is our friend still in the basement?"
"Oh, you twisted little imp. You hid it with her?"
"Oh no no no, not with her. In her." This make me raise an eyebrow, the bottle was inside someone. "I knew you couldn't resist bringing her over."
"Who the hell is "her"?" I ask because I don't see many good ways of taking a bottle from inside of someone.
"Someone you should be prepared for. Where you're going, you're gonna need this." He tells us as I see him opening the case he had between us as I looked inside seeing a perfect sword in front of me.
"What is that?" Emma asks as I roll my eyes, did she really need to ask what it was. I wanted to know who it belonged to, that is more interesting.
"Your father's sword." He says as I touch it feeling the cold metal against my finder, it was truly a beautiful sword. "You can hold her dearie." He says as I do it taking it of the box as I adjusted it to my height. "You hold one before."It wasn't a question and I could see the surprise on his eyes and other pair of eyes on me probably curious as well. Emma already knew it.
"I need to go to the hospital before." Emma says as I nod for her to go and I see Regina following her as I move the sword imagine an enemy in front of me adjusting myself to the height in it.
"More than once I can see." He tells me as I turned to him.
"I took eskrima classes." I inform then but I knew it wouldn't be enough for later on with my eyes still fixed on the sword as we both knew it was more than that. "Why not put the entire potion, why save some left?"
"What can I say I like to be prepare, and for what it look so do you." He says pointing to the gun I had in my jacket and the knife in the belt. When Emma called telling me about Henry I knew it probably would come at handy. "I actually have something for you as well." He asks as he shows me a bow complete with 10 arrows. "It is."
"I know." I tell him before interrupting him as I get it putting in place. "And I know very well how to use it."
*** OUAT ***
"You're ok?" I asked Emma as I saw her arrive in our meeting place obviously even with more anxieties than before.
"August, he just turned to wood."
"The curse needs to be broken." I tell her as she nods and I give her the sword as she looks at me with frown eyebrows.
"It's better if you kept it. I only know how to work with a gun. I don't think I even know what to do with it."
"Then don't think." I tell her as I take my sai preparing for a fight as I turn to her. "I taught you enough classes in weapons so you can handle the sword." I tell her as she holds it, well apparently she needed a few more classes. "Besides I got the bow."
"And we both know you had the best teacher I archery."
"Don't tell Barton that. He's cocky enough without the compliments." I tell winking as I we got on the road.
*** OUAT ***
"What is this place?"
"Would you like a tour, or shall we just get to it?"
"Lead the way." I cut her off as we walk not needing her comments right now. I see her lifting a wall as it revealed a door that opened automatically showing us an elevator and I could listen to Emma stunned reaction again.
"Get in."
"After you." Emma responds as I just roll my eyes once again, we really don't have the time for this so I walk close to Regina.
"It's a two-man job, the elevator's hand-operated. I have to stay up here and lower you down."
"And I'm just supposed to trust you?"
"I don't think you have much choice in the matter, Miss Swan."
"Gold said it had to be us. This battle we're supposed to fight—who is it? What is down there?" I asked her not really caring about how the elevator works. Whatever was down there doesn't sound like something good for either me or Emma.
"An old friend."
"You're sure." I say sarcastically. Old friend that both her and Gold know it's someone hidden for everyone, don't seem like a friend to me or her.
"Then why don't you go talk to them?"
"Because her punishment here was different than everyone else's. I trapped her... in a different form. She doesn't wanna hear from me. You have to trust me on that."
"Okay, we will go down there." I respond for me and Emma but then I take a few steps so I was in front of Regina with Emma behind me getting in the elevator. "But let's be clear about something... 'Your Majesty'. The only reason you're not dead is because Emma needs your help to save Henry. If he dies... so do you. I will make sure of that. The only different is that I can make your very painfully." I treat her as she barely even seems to flinch at the words. She must really not know me because I saw people scared about less.
"Well then let's get on with it. Now, this is what you're going to have to do."
*** OUAT ***
Emma and I turn as we listen to the roar as I see the huge Dragon in front of us. A freaking Dragon. How the hell she's a friend?
"You still think I should be the one with the sword?" Emma tries to make some humor but I could listen how scare she actually was. "You do have experience."
"Well I don't exactly fight dragons in daily basics either." I tell her as I start to look around observation the perimeter. "Follow me." I scream at her as I start to run listening to her following me.
*** OUAT ***
"Really!" Emma screams after shooting the dragon as I fight my urge to roll my eyes.
"Did you really expect that to work?"
"It was worth the shot."
"Well the shot pissed her off even more. We need a plan." I say looking around as I got an idea. "You distract her with the gunfire."
"How is that a plan? You just said it didn't work."
"Let me finish." I scream back since we were apart from each other. "While you distract her, I will get to a higher place and then throw the sword at her neck. But you need to distract her so I can have time to get in position."
"What if you fail?"
"Emma. I don't fail."
*** OUAT ***
"How could we let this happen? What is his plan?" I ask Regina as we ran to the hospital. Arguing with Emma would take me nowhere because she wouldn't even listen to me.
"I don't know but Gold always has some agenda of his own."
"I would like to know what the hell his planning to do." I snap looking at her with a treating look.
"I already told you I don't know what he wants."
"Why do I get the impression that you know at least something?"
"Ok there is a woman." She says a I raise an eyebrow. "Her name is Belle."
"Belle?! Really?!" Neither of us has time to finish since we already arrived.
*** OUAT ***
"We did everything we could."
"I'm sorry. You're too late." The mother superior tells us as I saw Emma's broken expression as she enters the ICU. Please, not him, not Henry. Emma couldn't handle it. She can't lose him.
*** OUAT ***
"No" I listen to Regina as she cries on Dr. Whale shoulders; the woman did love Henry after all. I turned to see the tears in Emma's face as I touched her face leaning her to me.
"True love." I whisper as the realization hit me and Emma turned her face all to me. "Gold's words. True love is the only magic strong enough to transcend realms and break any curse."
"But we don't have the bottle."
"Maybe we never did need it." I tell her as I see Emma walking to Henry probably ignoring what I just said.
"I love you Henry." I barely listen to her as I see him kissing the boy's forehead and suddenly a blast radiates from them and I see Henry waking. Thank god.
"I love you, too. You saved me." Henry says hugging her as I get close to the bed.
"You did it." I say putting my hand on her shoulder as Henry pulls me to a hug surprising me but I do hug him back.
*** OUAT ***
"Henry, what's going on?" Emma asks as I could see finally the fear in Regina's face, now she was going to pay, she knew it because everyone knew it.
"The curse... I think you broke it!" Henry says as I walk close to the boy touching his hair showing him a kind smile
"That was true love's kiss."
"Don't scare us again Henry." I tell him pointing my finger at him as I saw the smile on his face. "I'm not joking."
"No. No!"
"If I were you, your Majesty, I'd find a place to hide." The mother superior says as I nod at her proudly. She just took the words out of my mouth.
"Henry... no matter what you think, no matter what anyone tells you, I do love you." She says as I see her leaving us.
*** OUAT ***
"What will happen to Regina?" I ask the mother superior as I let Emma and Henry have some time alone, even if we were still in the same room.
"Once we get back to our land I am sure she will get the punish she deserves."
"Speaking of it. Henry, what's going on here? If the curse is broken, why didn't they go back?" I asked the boy since he seems to be the one with all the answers when it comes to the curse. Other than Gold but I don't trust him even if he's the Beast from Beauty and the Beast.
"I... I don't know." He tells me as I turn when I listen to the noise of something dropping on the floor and I see Emma with a nurse as they looked outside as I looked too.
"What is that?" Emma asks as we approached the window and see the purple smoke.
"Something bad." I respond at the same time Henry does.
*** Flashback, 4 years***
I looked at the underground base we just found as I read the many files in front of me staring in horror of what I was seeing.
"What's that?" Barton asked me close to me. I looked at him and shake my head at the same time Noah and Emilie come close to us after making sure the room was clear.
"Sometime bad. Sometime truly bad."