Chapter Four

Preparing For Departure

Back in Cora's palace, they discussed what they were going to do. The plan was simple both Hook and Cora agreed. Hook would take Cora back with him through the looking glass, to the Enchanted Forrest, and present her body to Regina. Using a masking spell, Cora would appear to be dead. Then, when she was finally close to her daughter, she would stab her hand into Regina's chest, rip her heart out and crush it, killing her. From there, they would decide on how to proceed with Rumplestiltskin.

"Well aren't you a loving mother..." Hook spoke to the queen. She was not amused:

"Regina has betrayed me, Captain, by sending you here to kill me. She has betrayed us both..." she retorted with no emotion.

Cora was leading Hook down a long, stone hallway, underneath the bearings of her palace. The hall was lit with a procession of torches, each lighting as Cora walked past it. She walked with determination, seemingly showing no concern for the curious Hook following her.

At the end of the hallway, they entered into a vast, tall room, the walls of which were lined with small chests. At the center of the room was a large pit, with a roaring fire providing light in the room. Cora walked over to one of the chests, opened it, and pulled out a cold, empty object. Whispering something into it, the object suddenly turned bright red and started beating. With that, one after another, all the other chests in the room lighted up, turning bright red, and they, too, started beating. They were hearts.

"Welcome to my heart collection, Hook," Cora announced to the wide-eyed pirate.

"Whoa..." He uttered.

In these chests, laid the people of Wonderland, or at least a majority of them. The subjects of the Queen of Heart's court, well actually their hearts, were nicely contained in the vault at the center of her maze. These hearts here, they belonged to everyone else, all of Cora's other victims. Here they lay.

Walking over to the pit of fire, she outstretched her hands, soaking up the heat. With a twirl of her hand, the fire disappeared. Turning towards Hook, she spoke:

"You see, Captain, that fire was not real. It looked real, it certainly felt real, but it wasn't. It was an allusion. That is what magic is capable of, what it can do. You see all these hearts lined up here, the hearts of all my unsuspecting subjects, the ones who serve me so faithfully... I did this. I took their hearts out, one by one. That is how powerful I am, Captain. I want you to keep that in mind."

With another twirl of her hand, the stone beneath the previous fire disappeared. Reaching her hand in, she pulled out a bejeweled box. Holding the box in both hands, she stared down at it.

"And whose heart is in that box?" Hook asked.

"Mine," she said bluntly, "it's been in there quite sometime."

Hook raised his brow at this. In the brief time he had known this woman, he had learned to never underestimate her. This came as neither a surprise, nor a shock to Hook.

"I wanted you to see this, all of this, so that I can show you that I have no weaknesses. I will do whatever it takes to achieve what I want. Again, I want you to keep that in mind," Cora told him.

Turning she proceeded to walk out of the room and back into the hallway, still clutching the box. Hook followed.

"Come," she said to him, "we must prepare for our departure."

"Of course my queen," Hook replied.

"We will set up base on your ship, The Jolly Roger... where is it now?" she asked him.

"She is docked on a port near the edge of the Enchanted Forrest, away from Regina's palace," Hook explained, thinking fondly back of his beloved ship.

"Good, we will proceed from there once I kill Regina."

They had been walking for a few moments when they reached the circular steps that led back up into the Queen of Heart's palace. The steps were hidden from others behind a fireplace, with one of Cora's spells. The steps only revealed themselves at Cora's command.

Now in the marble-tiled great hall of her palace, Cora and Hook hurriedly rushed up the grand staircase, two of them, which together form one giant heart. Lining the walls and staircases were heartsmen, who seemed to not even notice they were there. With her, Cora still held her bejeweled box.

Within a few moments they were in Cora's bedroom. She gently set the box down on her bedside. With a twirl of her hand, she changed out of her red Queen of Hearts gown and into a much subtler dark gray gown with a black shawl held together by a gemstone brooch covering it. Still gracing her bun was her tiara.

"My daughter is foolish to think that a weak pirate such as yourself could kill me..." She said to Hook, walking into her wardrobe room nearby. He said nothing, choosing to look down to the floor instead, waiting patiently seated on her bed.

Cora's wardrobe room was large, much larger than the one she had had at the House and Stables. Lining the walls was the collection of prestigious gowns Cora had amassed during her tenure as the Queen of Hearts. She walked over to a small table at the center of the room; on which laid several pieces of jewelry. Perusing through the gemstones, she picked up a golden locket that was lying there. With a click, it opened, revealing a picture of a younger Regina on one side, and a picture of herself on the other.

"You betrayed me, my child," she whispered to herself, "after everything I did for you, you betrayed me." She set the locket back down on the table.

Twirling her hand, the puff of purple smoke appeared again. The gowns and jewelry were swept up and filed into a series of several large red trunks. Another twirl of her hand, and the trunks were moved to her bedroom. Hook still sat, waiting patiently on Cora's bed. He looked around at the queen's bedroom. The stone floors were gray, though that was about the only thing in the room that wasn't red: the red curtains, red rugs, red furniture, red tapestries, red bed covers. Turning, he took a closer look at her bed. The wooden oak bed frame was carved into the shape of a heart. Notched into the center was a crown.

Back in her bedroom, Cora walked past the curious Hook and to a large wooden cabinet. Opening it, she pulled out a small chest, which she unlatched and looked inside of. The chest contained her potions, all nicely labeled according to their ingredients. Having assured everything was there; she latched it back, and set it atop her trunks.

"Will the entire palace be coming with us, my queen?" Hook sarcastically asked.

She turned to him:

"I don't plan on coming back to Wonderland, captain, so I must assure that everything I need makes it with us."

Twirling her hand, the trunks, chest and Cora's heart box disappeared. They now sat in the cabin aboard the Jolly Roger, back in the Enchanted Forrest, awaiting their mistress's arrival.

"My things are now on your ship, captain," she spoke to him.

"Wonderful mate! Now should we make our way back to the Enchanted Forrest?"

"Why yes, of course."

As they proceeded through the door, exiting her bedroom, Cora turned around and took a last look at her room. Twirling her finger, a cloud of purple smoke encircled King Xavier's golden clock. Disappearing, it now waited for her along with all of her other belongings aboard the Jolly Roger. Smiling, she turned around once more, closed the door behind her, and continued with Hook along the hall.