Side note: It may be a good idea to re-watch the fourth episode of season five ("The Broken Kingdom") if possible before reading this chapter.
CHAPTER SEVEN – Finding the Wicked Witch
EMMA'S HOUSE, STORYBROOKE - LATER
EMMA'S POV
Emma and Rumple smiled as they stared at Gold's scorched and bruised body. His hair was filled with ashes, his cheeks were red with his own blood, he had a black eye from when he tried to run away, seeming forgetting that he couldn't move very well thanks to his right leg, which Emma had cut off for what he had done to Hook's hand.
"You know," Rumple said, tilting his head in sync with Emma's. "He doesn't look too good, if I do say myself. Perhaps you went a little too hard on him."
Emma glared at him. "Since when did you become the type to judge how a Dark One tortures their victims?" Emma asked.
Rumple took a moment. "Well, I suppose the leg was holding me back anyway," Rumple said, rolling his eyes.
"He'll be fine," Emma said, waving her hand to completely heal him. "There. A fresh slate."
"Now, can we get back to finding Zelena? You need a vessel to house the light magic in."
"Alright," Emma said, with a sigh. "I wasn't really bothered to do the locater spell, and have been a little busy lately, so I was hoping the heroes would have found her by now, but they're clearly as unreliable as ever without me."
"Well, what did you expect?"
"Quite frankly, I'd expected that they would have focused their attention on locating a mad witch with a fiery burn for revenge instead finding out what happened in Camelot." Emma took a moment. "Actually, I know exactly how to find her."
"Do you plan on telling them about what happened between you two in Camelot?" Rumple asked.
"Oh, I'm sure they'll figure it out themselves."
"You know," Rumple said after a while. "This is going to kill Zelena."
"I'm aware of that," Emma nodded.
"And I'm aware that you chose Zelena, and not any of your family members."
Emma glared at him for a moment. "What are you implying?"
"Well, dearie, you're all talk and no kill..."
"What do you want me to do? Stick Gold's head on a pike and display it on Main Street?"
They both stopped and turned their attention back to Gold. "That's not a bad idea," they said in unison.
Emma approached Gold's body.
GRANNY'S, STORYBROOKE - MOMENTS LATER
DAVID'S POV
David, Mary Margaret, Arthur, Regina, Robin, and Henry were all sitting in Granny's when they heard it – a scream unlike any they had ever heard before, even Regina.
Everyone from the diner, including Granny, Leroy, and Doc, ran out of the diner and onto the street. Leroy spotted Belle on the ground crying up by the library. They began to run up to her, but froze dead in their tracks when they saw what she was crying over.
It took Regina a moment to comprehend what she saw. After remembering that Henry was with them, and staring at his grandfather's head on a stick, she rushed to cover his eyes, but it was too late. Mary Margaret was covering her mouth with her gloved hands in shock. David couldn't believe it. He spotted a piece of paper dangling from Gold's head, approached the head to get a better look.
"Try me," he read from the note.
All of a sudden, Gold's eyes opened and he tilted his head as he said "Boo", scaring all of them half to death.
Gold started laughing as a grey cloud of magic surrounded him and left Emma behind. Everyone stared at her in pure terror. Emma was still laughing when she finally spoke.
"Oh my God," she said, gasping for breath. "Your faces… Priceless." None of them could form words. "What? You guys actually thought that was Gold? No, trust me – you'd be lucky to even get his head back when I'm done with him."
"Emma…" David said, choosing his words carefully. "Please, just talk to us. Why are you doing this?"
"Don't worry about it, dad," Emma said. "When this is all over, you'll be thanking me for ridding you of an annoyance."
"An annoyance?" Regina questioned. "And what might that be?"
Emma just glared at her. David could almost hear Regina mind click when she realized what it was. "Zelena…"
"What do you want with Zelena?" Mary Margaret asked.
Emma looked to the floor before looking up again. "It doesn't matter," Emma said. "She'll be dead before you can get to her."
"And how do you plan on finding her?" Regina asked.
"With this, of course," Emma answered, summoning Regina's strand of hair in her hand.
Regina's hand instinctively shot to the back of her head. "Wha-where did you get that?" Regina asked, her tone rising.
"That doesn't matter," Emma said. "What does matter is that, with it, I can find Zelena and finally end this."
Emma flicked her wrist and disappeared. Everyone stood in silence for a while.
"We need to get to Zelena first," Regina said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
GOLD'S PAWNSHOP, STORYBROOKE - A LITTLE WHILE LATER
REGINA'S POV
Belle reached under the counter of Gold's shop, and pulled out a map of Storybrooke. Regina pricked her finger on a spindle and allowed a drop of blood to fall onto the map. They watched as the blood began to flow from the spot where it had fallen to a point in the middle of the Western Woods.
"Well, you've gotta appreciate the irony," Regina said, rolling her eyes.
"Why is she there?" Robin asked.
"I have no idea but, whatever the reason, I doubt it's a good one."
"Alright everyone, let's head out," David said.
Regina, Robin, David, Mary Margaret, Arthur, and Belle all walked down Main Street, heading for the Western Woods.
"Can't I just 'poof' us in there?" Regina asked, finally breaking the silence.
"Regina," Mary Margaret said. "Your sister probably has the place booby-trapped."
"Fine," Regina agreed reluctantly. "But at least let me bring us closer to it."
Regina flicked her hand and they were a hundred metres from the where the map said Zelena was residing. They saw a little cottage in the distance and all turned to each other in confusion. Regina gave them a signal with her hand and began to approach the cottage. They stood outside the door, listening intently. They could make out muffle sounds followed by a soft bang. Right after the bang, they burst through the door and stared at what they found in shock.
It was Zelena, wearing her Ozian attire, sitting on a patched couch, with a cup of tea in her hands. She stared up at them in shock before reaching down to pick up the book that fell on the floor
"God, you gave me a heart attack," Zelena said finally.
"Uh, Zelena?" Regina asked.
"Yes, that's me," she said, nodding her head. "Who are you?"
EMMA'S HOUSE, STORYBROOKE - PRESENT TIME
EMMA'S POV
Emma twirled the flower from the Middlemist Meadow in her hand.
Tell me, Killian had said. What do you see?
Lots of flowers, Emma had replied.
Very good, he said, picking one of the flowers and handing it to her. Now, what don't you see?
Emma had looked around. Rumplestiltskin… he's gone.
I had a feeling he might be. By trusting me with you burden, you've left no room from him in that head of yours.
Emma remembered being completely overcome with love in that moment and attempting some of his charm. Well, now that we're alone… she had said, as he raised his eyebrow and as she leant towards his lips and closed her eyes.
They kissed for what felt like ages, eventually pulling away, gasping for air with their foreheads leaned on each other's.
Well, that was— Emma had said after a while.
Bloody hell, Swan, if you say 'a one-time thing'… Killian had interrupted with a cheeky grin.
Emma had allowed herself to let out a small laugh as she pulled him in for another kiss.
"I remember how it feels," Gold's hoarse voice came from behind her, pulling her from her thoughts and causing her to scowl. "The darkness. But you don't have to give into it. You could just set me free."
She turned to face him, staring at him. He was lying on the floor. She had used her magic to heal him before having another go at torturing him.
"I could do that," Emma said, nodding her head. "But that'd be no fun. Besides, I'm starting to enjoy having you as my piñata." She ended with a dark smirk. "Zelena should've told me how fun it was."
"What's your plan with her?" Gold asked curiously. "I overheard bits of your conversation with the demons in your head earlier."
"Nothing too drastic," Emma said. "Just, you know, going to use her to snuff out the light forever." Gold stared at her in shock. "Oh, come now, don't look at me like that. You've most certainly done worse."
"I'm not sure that that's true," Gold said, shaking his head. "You see, I was never weak enough to give into the urge to destroy the light. I never felt the need to vanquish light magic. Everything I did, I did for my son. Who are you doing this for?"
Emma tilted her head and looked into his eyes. "Myself."
ZELENA'S GROTTO, STORYBROOKE - PRESENT TIME
REGINA'S POV
"You…" Regina began. "You don't remember me?"
"No," Zelena said slowly. "Should I?"
"Yes," Regina said while she nodded. "I'm your… well… I'm kind of your sister."
Zelena stared at her for a moment before bursting out into laughter. "That's, uh, real funny," she said, recovering from her laugh.
Regina let out a sigh. "It's true. Look."
Regina plucked a hair from Zelena and placed it in a glass jar. She shook it a little until it began to glow green. Zelena jolted up from the coach.
"You can do magic?" she asked, staring in wonder at the glowing jar in Regina's hand. "I mean, I can do a little bit, but I wouldn't be good enough to do that." She took a second. "I suppose there's a chance we could be sisters…"
"We are," Regina said, noticing how oddly reassuringly she had said it, but ignoring it. "My mother left you when you were a baby and you were sucked up in a green cyclone to Oz."
"Well, if that's true, why are you all here now?" Regina and the others turned to look at one another.
"We think you may be in danger."
"Oh," Zelena said, her face dropping. "Why do you say that?"
"Well, here's the thing, sis," Regina said, thinking of how to phrase her words. "You're kind of, well... pregnant."
A/N – Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. As you can see, we're getting a better look at a more sinister Dark Swan, which I hope you guys are enjoying. Also, this chapter includes a mention of the beautiful CaptainSwan scene in the Middlemist Meadow in "The Broken Kingdom". I'm also including a little side-story involving an encounter between Zelena and Emma that occurred in Camelot in my story, but not on the show. Chapter eight should be up soon.
