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Regina gasped and wrapped her arms around them. She poofed them away from the fire, to safety. The girl's head snapped up immediately, but the boy didn't move.
"Theo!" She cried, trying to wake her brother. "Please, help him." She looked at Regina with fierce hazel eyes that flashed with terror.
Regina took a deep breath, trying her best to ignore the painful pounding of her heart as she assessed the boy's condition. She was terrified to use her magic with it being so out of control. When she rolled the boy over, she got the shock of a lifetime. Theo was a handsome young lad, in a good physical shape by what could be seen through the rags he wore for clothes. A deep, ugly wound stretched from the corner of his eye to his chin, just below his lip, marring his handsome face. There were more, smaller scars on his face that were less noticeable and there some burn marks on his arms. Other than that, he seemed to be okay, just exhausted.
"What was that thing you were hiding under?" Regina asked as she tended to the wound on the boy's face. It looked to have been cleaned, most likely by the girl but it had yet to be closed. She tried to do so with magic but found a powerful spell placed upon it, preventing her from healing it.
"Theo made it to protect us."
Regina looked up. "You possess magic?"
"He does." She answered. "Mine aren't strong enough." She paused to look around quickly. "We need to get out of here. The Hounds will be here soon."
"The Hounds? Where are we?"
"On the Dark Island. There's nothing but evil and darkness here. Come with me, I know somewhere where we will be safe." Regina picked up Theo, the boy immediately curling into her and she smiled slightly before hurrying after the girl. They rushed through the forest for a good while. Regina had to struggle to keep up. She was terribly weak from using her magic and probably would need to start a workout regimen when she got home.
Finally, the girl stopped in front of a massive tree. She pushed a few leaves out of the way to reveal a hole beneath its roots at the base of its trunk. "This way." She said as she crawled underneath it. Regina scowled and simply used her magic to poof them inside the hidden cave. The girl was already making a fire and as soon as it was lit, Regina was able to make out the meager decorations and furniture that the two children had used to try to make the place as much a home as possible. She laid Theo down on one of the beds.
"So," She said standing back up and facing the girl as she placed a pot over the fire. "How did you two kids get here?"
"We don't know. One day, we just...appeared here, I guess."
"What's your name?"
"Danielle." Regina smiled at the name. "What's yours?"
"Regina."
"Thank you for saving us from the fire. You probably want to leave before the Hounds get here." Danielle said as she added some vegetables and plants to the pot of water. As she sat hunched over the pot, the rags that she wore for clothes stretched over her back, revealing tears in the fabric that looked like claw marks. The openings showed ugly scars crossing the girl's back and Regina's felt her heart break at the sight.
"Who did that to you?" She asked.
Danielle looked confused for a moment before noticing her clothes and quickly rearranged them. "The Hounds."
"Who are the Hounds?" Regina demanded, rage building within her.
"Roscoe, Desoto and Buster. But they aren't the worst. Cerberus leads them. He has three heads and can see using the others. He sees everything. We're never safe but they rarely come in here, unless they want to 'play'." Danielle shrugged, apparently consigning herself to this wretched existence without a fight.
Regina scowled and looked around, noticing a pile of sticks that was probably used for firewood. "I'm getting the two of you out of here. No one is ever going to lay a hand on you ever again." She growled as she magically sharpened the sticks and went around the cave, shoving them into cracks where they couldn't be seen.
"We've tried to escape, but they always catch us." Danielle said, following at her heels "You should leave before they hurt you too. You saved us, you're a nice person. You shouldn't have to get hurt because of us. We'll be alright." The girl pleaded while Regina's heart swelled with pride at her selflessness.
"When do the Hounds come?" Regina sat down, examining her work.
"At sunset. What are you going to do?"
"Right now, I need to rest and regain some of my strength."
"You should meditate, it helps Theo." Danielle said, turning back to the pot. Regina's stomach was starting to grumble at the delicious smell coming from whatever she was cooking, but she ignored it and did as the girl suggested.
Finally, sunset arrived. Theo had awakened and the three had eaten the soup that Danielle made, the two kids badgering her with questions about who she was and where she was from. Regina laughed at their excitement and enthusiasm and was glad that the Hounds had not beaten the life out of them. Then they heard the howl.
Danielle and Theo immediately went to hide in a small corner, both trembling uncontrollably, filling Regina with anger once again. She stepped into the center of the room, magic threatening to burst with each second.
A dog slipped into the cave, small and harmless looking, before morphing into a sleek doberman the size of a horse. He wore a red diamond studded collar that glittered in the firelight. He was followed by another who was identical to him but his fur was slightly darker and wore a blue collar. A third followed. This one was different than the others. He was larger and scruffy looking with no collar.
"Well, well, well." said the dog with the red collar. "What do we have here, Desoto?" He flashed a grin at the dog with the blue collar.
"Looks like a dame that wants to die, Roscoe."
"Hey cool it, fellas." said the scruffy one. She assumed this was Buster. All of them were cocky assholes and circled her relentlessly. "That is no way to speak to a lady." Buster continued as the others snickered. "Look doll, just hand over the kids and we'll go."
"No." Regina snapped, conjuring a ball of fire in her hand. "You're never hurting them again."
"Oh, and what exactly is going to stop us?" Roscoe asked with a devilish smirk.
Regina stilled her heart and fired the fireball at Buster before magically firing two spears out of the wall at Roscoe, hitting him once in the chest and again in the shoulder. He collapsed, whimpering in pain before trying to launch himself at Regina, who barely managed to dive to the side.
Desoto threw himself forward and she raised a shield around herself. He clawed at it furiously. She summoned her magic and pushed the shield outwards, unleashing a shock wave that blasted him off of his feet. She speared him with five spears, three in the chest, one in the neck and another in the leg.
Buster silently watched, stalking towards her. She tried to spear him as well, but he was smart enough to dodge them. He managed to catch her arm in her jaws and she sprayed his face with fire to make him release her. She fell backwards, pain shooting through her arm as she attempted to catch herself. Buster growled and launched himself at her again, mauling her with his claws, ripping through fabric and flesh, until Theo stepped forward and blasted him with ice magic. Regina grabbed a spear and ran at him, ramming it into his heart. He collapsed a second later. Regina sighed and was about to collapse herself when jaws closed around her shoulder. She screamed as Desoto began to pull her backwards. They were both showered with white light and Desoto suddenly let go, whimpering as he burned beneath the light magic.
The world went black.
Regina opened her eyes slowly, her entire body aching beyond belief. Her right arm and shoulder hurt so much that she nearly cried.
"Regina?" Danielle said as she approached.
Regina managed a weak smile. "Well, that was fun."
"You almost died." the girl whispered.
Regina sat up, grimacing in pain. "I said I was going to get you out of here and I meant it. Where's Theo?"
"Over here." He came forward, carrying the dog collars. "The bodies just disappeared but these stayed behind."
Regina could sense the magic on them without even touching them. "This must be our way home."
"But there's only two. Buster never wore a collar." Danielle pointed out.
"Then Cerberus must wear one. Or three. Doesn't he have three heads? I vaguely recall that somewhere. Probably from one of Henry's video games."
"You want to kill Cerberus?! Are you crazy?! You barely survived a fight with his three goons." Danielle exclaimed, interrupting her ramblings.
"You said Cerberus sees everything because he sees through the eyes of the three dead dogs, correct?"
"Yeah." Theo said, giving her a skeptical look.
"Then he must be blind now."
"Blind or not, there is a reason why he rules the island. He'll kill you." Danielle said.
"I'm done stupider things before." Regina summoned her magic and healed herself, feeling the loss of energy that she'd only just regained. "Do you know where Cerberus is?"
"Of course, but going there is suicide." Danielle said. "Buster, Roscoe, and Desoto were his generals, but his castle is guarded by thousands of dogs."
"All of them as big as these were?"
"No, they're regular dogs." Theo said, studying the collars.
"Then leave them to me." Regina said as she stood up on shaky legs.
"You're exhausted." Danielle said. "Maybe...maybe we can use the power of these two collars to take care of the other dogs and you kill Cerberus to take his three. Everybody wins."
"Except for the person who has to go in and kill him."
"Me and Danielle can take care of the dogs, Regina." Theo interjected. "You focus on regaining your strength so you can fight Cerberus." He tied the red collar around his wrist and the blue around Danielle's. "Regina is right. We need to leave."
Danielle looked at the collar. "We need a plan then."
"Holy shit." Regina said as they looked down at the castle, the outside currently swarming with dogs. "Pardon my french, but this is ridiculous."
"We'll take care of them, just focus on Cerberus. Once we have the collars, you'll have all the power you'll need to get us out of here." Danielle said. "Ready Theo?"
"I was born ready." He grinned. "Be careful, Regina."
"You too." Regina stood up and waved her hand over herself, changing her appearance into the one she'd worn when she ought Snow and the stupid girl had scratched her cheek. It was her most appropriate battle gear from when she was a queen and she felt like she was going to need it now. To protect her children.
Danielle closed her eyes and raised her hands, the collar glowing as she concentrated.
"Remember, magic uses emotion to work. You need to focus on your anger towards Cerberus and his hounds, your desire to be free, to be happy. Channel that emotion." Regina said.
Danielle gave a small nod and squeezed her eyes shut. A halo of light began to spill from the red heavens over the castle, growing wider and brighter, showering the evil dogs with light magic, burning them, melting them.
"Now,Theo."
The little boy leaped to his feet and raised his hands as well, the magic flowing through him more easily as he created a cyclone of ice around the castle.
Regina poofed herself inside the castle. Cerberus wasn't hard to spot, sound asleep atop some kind of giant throne. A black sword appeared in one hand and a spear in the other.
"Don't even think about it, Evil Queen." One of Cerberus' heads turned towards her and she froze. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to come and try to take your children."
"I'm not trying to take them. I will." Regina growled as she infused the spear with magic and tossed it.
Cerberus' head moved but that didn't stop the spear from piercing his side and erupting into flames. The great dog leaped to his feet and all three heads let out roars of pain. She magically launched herself at the dog, stabbing him in the shoulder with the sword. But she was quickly thrown and hit the ground hard, nearly knocking herself unconscious.
Cerberus' eyes blazed with hatred, but he was still blind and couldn't find her to kill her. "You think you can come into my realm and steal my pets?! You think you can kill my generals and expect to get away with it?!"
Regina struggled back to her feet, her shoulder starting to ache again and she could feel blood trickling down her ear. She summoned another sword and a chain in the other hand, swinging it over head.
Cerberus took a deep breath. "Perhaps, I shall kill those brats. I will tell you what their blood tastes like, Evil Queen. You can watch as I tear them apart." He suddenly took off towards her and she threw the chain, it hooking itself over his left head. She was yanked through the air and onto his back. She struggled to hang on as he barreled through his castle and outside. He roared upon not hearing his fellow canines outside. "What have you done?!" Bursts of magic came from his mouths. "I will kill you all!"
Regina managed to cut off one of his collars before her took off again, straight for Danielle and Theo who'd ceased their magic. The collars must be attracting him she realized. With a scream, she raised her sword over her head and let herself slide backwards before stabbing downwards with the added force of magic. The blade pierced the great dog's back and he faltered in running, sending both of them crashing into the ground.
"Regina!" Theo cried as he and his sister ran towards the fallen woman. "Regina." He said, crouching next to her. "Regina!"
Regina groaned softly. "What happened?"
"You stabbed him and he fell. You fell too. Are you okay? What can we do?" Danielle asked.
Regina weakly raised her hand, showing them the black collar clutched in her fist. "One down." She tried to sit up and Theo quickly ran around behind her to push her upwards. Danielle pulled and she slowly made it back to her feet. "Two to go. Stay back." She ordered, staggering to the dog. Cerberus didn't move as she approached. She noticed one of his necks bent at a strange angle, but she wasn't taking any chances. It took two hands to reach into his chest and pull out the basketball sized heart before she crushed into dust and cut off the two remaining collars.
Each of them took one and wrapped it around their wrists. Suddenly, before their eyes, the forest began to brighten and grow green and beautiful. Cerberus' black castle began to turn white and all of the evil and darkness began to wash away from the island, filling it with light new growth.
People began to rise out of the earth where the dogs had collapsed. They shook dirt from their bodies and began to laugh and hug each other.
"You saved them, Regina." Danielle whispered. "You saved the island."
Cerberus' body melted into three different men. Two were clad as a warrior with long brown hair, one with a thick beard and the other with a short goatee. The third man wore regal robes and carried a staff. He sported short brown hair and no facial hair.
They approached her before bowing deeply, the rest of the people following suit.
"Hail to the savior!" cried the man with the staff. "I am Ser Grant and this is Ser Rodney and Ser John." He said, motioning to the warriors with the beard and goatee respectively. "And you, my dear, have saved us all."
"What happened here?" Regina asked.
"We were cursed, by a vile sorcerer named Rumplestiltskin."
"Why am I not surprised that little imp has something to do with this?" She muttered.
"And in honor of your heroic deeds, we bestow upon you the right to rule, as our queen." Ser Grant smiled while Danielle and Theo gasped and looked up at her.
"I can't." Regina sighed. "I have a son back in my world...and if you knew who I was, you wouldn't want me any where your throne or your people. I was once a queen and I abused my power because of vengeance."
"So you say." said Grant. "But all I saw was a woman facing off against impossible to save two children she didn't even know. We will not force you to stay but know that there is always a place for you here, and until you return to take your place as our queen, my self and John and Rodney will rule jointly." He held out his hand and a tiny tendril of diamond thread flowed out of his palm and began to make a swirling pattern. Within moments it had created a sparkling crown with a black gem as the centerpiece. "It is yours."
"You honor me for something I don't deserve." Regina said. "I was simply trying to save the children."
"And in the process saved so many more. You are a hero to the White Kingdom and you will always honored as such. Should you ever decide to return, the throne is yours." He smiled down at Danielle and Theo. "And you two will be next in line as the Prince and Princess."
Regina staggered away, changing her appearance back from her evil queen persona to Regina Mills. She healed herself using some of the magic from the collar.
"Do you really have to leave?" Danielle asked.
"Yes, I am afraid I do." Regina smiled sadly and knelt in front of her. "But I will miss the both of you."
"Why?" Theo asked. "We're coming with you."
"But you can live in peace now." Regina said. "You would be royalty."
"And everything we just did would have been completely unnecessary." Theo scoffed. "You risked your life for us. You didn't leave even though you could have many times. You stayed. So, we're staying with you. Right, Dany?"
Danielle gave a firm nod of her head. "Right."
Regina smiled down at her children. They didn't know it, but she did, and her heart was ready to burst with happiness and pride.
"My queen." The three of them turned to see Ser Grant approach. He held up the Horse, no longer broken and fully intact. "Should you ever wish to return, this shall do so." He bowed as she accepted it. She handed it to Danielle who clutched it to her chest.
"Now, let's go home." Regina said.