Hey all! Sorry it took me so long so update – I've been crazy busy and this chapter had me stuck for a while! Thank you all for the feedback on the last chapter; you are all awesome! Hope you like this one :)

I do not own OUAT.

"Congratulations, dear," Cora snarled, "I have to admit, I underestimated you. Though it would appear that you have very bad timing." She inched closer and closer and it took all of Emma's will not to back away and break under her piercing stare. Her tears continued to tumble down her cheeks, doing a good job at disguising the hatred that was rising up within her. She believed with every beat of her heart that Mary Margaret was still alive, that her mother was still somewhere inside of that shell chained to the wall. She desperately wanted to spin around and clang the bars some more in an effort to show the brunette that she was not alone; to do something that would ignite the last spark of hope she had but something told her that Cora would never give her the chance. No, her only options now were to face the music and stop the villain once and for all.

Wow, did her life sound like a movie or what?

"Actually I would say it was you who had the bad timing." It wasn't much of a come-back but it was enough to give Emma that extra bit of confidence she craved.

"Are you really going to threaten me?" she laughed mockingly. "I guess I was right about you; empty threats are no match for what I can do. I assumed you had learned your lesson from our little escapade in your home." The words 'your home' stung Emma as she recounted all the emotions she felt as soon as she stepped foot into the life she was supposed to live with her parents. And hearing someone as evil as Cora fling those words around in an attempt to stir the situation made her tremble in aggravation. She had some nerve.

"Who ever said my threats were empty?" Yet again, Emma felt that weird, tingling sensation return and travel from her stomach to the extremities of her limbs. She felt…stronger, more powerful and that was confusing to say the least. It was like she was losing all control of herself, like her body was taking over and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Luckily before anything happened, Mulan and Aurora – at the same time – jumped to Emma's defence creating a barrier in front of her. If it were totally different circumstances, Emma may have even smiled at their display, but this was much more serious than the blonde could ever imagine. Composing herself, she wiped away the streaks of tears off her face and clenched her fists into balls at her sides.

In one swift movement, Mulan drew her sword and cupped it under Cora's chin. "One move and I'll make sure you never move again," she bullied, shaking slightly but keeping her stance firm and aggressive. Emma wondered whether she had ever faced such a nefarious opponent before; someone who handled problems with the use of magic rather than swords or bows and arrows.

Unfortunately, Cora seemed unfazed by the warrior's warning and continued to fix her eyes onto Emma. There was something in her eyes that Emma couldn't decipher but she threw her shoulders back, staring her down, unwilling to let the woman see the effect she was having on her. "One move and she dies." Yep, her threat definitely packed more of a punch than Mulan's and of course, the fact that the 'she' she was referring to was Emma didn't do much for her friends' confidences; they knew that Cora was more than capable of living up to her word.

"Is she dead?" Emma whispered, ignoring the tension in the room. There was only one question she had and one answer she needed to hear. Everything else was secondary.

Curling her lips and narrowing her eyes, Cora glared at her. "Not yet," she said, "but she will be soon."

It was like the next few seconds passed by in slow motion. With a slap of a hand, Mulan's sword was reefed out of her grip and sent hurtling through the air. There was very little Aurora could do to get out of its way in time. Ducking ever so slightly to the right as the blade raced toward her, she managed to narrowly avoid sudden death, however she found herself pinned to the bricks by the sword and whatever blue haze Cora was wielding. "No!" she exclaimed, her voice breaking under the pressure of her bondage. "Let me go!" She grappled desperately, her hands around her neck, the air being sucked out of her.

"Leave her alone!" Mulan screamed, finally reacting to the task at hand. In true valour, she lunged at the evil woman and somehow got a hold on her garment before Cora provided the punishment. She thrust the air with the back of her hand and Mulan careened into the metal bars, her head colliding with them at brute force. She crumpled onto the ground and Emma wasn't sure if she was unconscious or dead – and she didn't want to know. Knowledge like that would cause her to spiral and that was the last thing she needed.

She knew she should have moved, she should have done something – anything – to stop Cora from hurting her friends but it was like she was glued to the spot, paralyzed by terror. All she was truly aware of was that she was panting and shaking and that her mother may or may not be alive. Her limbs were uncontrollable, her vision blurry. In an effort to regain some kind of composure, Emma squeezed her eyes shut, focusing her energy and fury into one spot - but nothing could have prepared her for what happened next.

What could only be described as a sea of light flooded the room, its light blinding, and its heat unbearable. The dungeon shook violently, like an earthquake had pervaded the land. The room began to break apart with dust and chunks of stone dislodging from the walls and ceiling, attacking them underneath. Emma flung her arms over her head in an attempt to protect herself but it was too late. A loose stone dropped from above, connecting with her head, the crunching sound of her skull nauseating.

And then, her world went dark, with only the murmured screams of her companions filling the void.


There was a chuckle. Somewhere.

Close…or far away.

But it was definitely there.

The incessant thumping around her left temple was easing and Emma forced one eye open to inspect the damage. Her vision still blurred, she could just about make out the debris of the earthquake that littered the floor. It was only then that she realised that she was upright, not on the ground. The uneasiness she felt at that piece of information jolted through her body and she pulled both of her eyes open to see where exactly she was.

"Ah, you're awake." There was just the one voice; the one voice that made her skin crawl and her bones chill. Cora.

"Wha-what…what…" She couldn't string words together, the pain in her head still intense enough to have an enormous impact on her ability to, well, do anything.

"For a moment there I wasn't sure you had made it."

Sensing that her words were a failure, she fixated her glare onto Cora's face, taking in the injuries the woman must have sustained during the blinding light moment and subsequent shaking of the palace. She had a nasty deep cut just above her right eye, the blood stain ending at her lip, and she appeared to be supporting her arm against the wall, wincing ever so slightly when forced to move. Even the tone of her voice had less bite than usual.

Wanting to put an end to the ache in her head, Emma tried to put pressure on the wound only to realize that she was chained to the wall in a similar way in which Mary Margaret was entrapped.

And then, all of a sudden, the reality of the situation she found herself in hit home and she frantically searched around for Mulan, Aurora and her mother. The lingering residue of fallen bricks and the dim light provided a difficult search but the blonde was sure she could see two figures on the ground in the corner of the cell. If they were breathing she couldn't tell but she couldn't be pessimistic; everyone was still alive. They just had to be.

"Looking for someone?" Cora whispered, a smile evident in her voice. "Don't fret, dear, I can safely say that your sweet Snow is still with us…for now. Though your little 'moment' certainly caused her stress."

"Wher-where is she?" Emma demanded weakly.

"Take a closer look around you," she replied.

Listening to the order with zero indecision, Emma examined her surroundings; her eyes squinted to receive clearer images, her gaze fell on the wall opposite her. She could make out a silhouette restrained like she was. Emma knew it was Mary Margaret. A small bit of movement indicated that she was alive and allowing herself one moment of reprieve, Emma let out a sigh of relief, a few tears stinging the backs of her eyes. She was so sure that her mother was dead, that she was too late in her rescue attempt, but to have proof that she was still breathing was enough to regain some form of courage.

"Is she okay?"

No reply; just a sickening hitch of an eyebrow and curl of a lip.

"What happened?" she asked when enough time had elapsed, referring to the weird phenomenon they were exposed to before she blacked out.

To her dismay, Cora laughed manically. Not the response she had expected; the one time she wanted answers from her sworn enemy was the one time she rebuffed her. Of course it was.

"What's so funny?" Emma was in no mood for beating around the bush. If it were not for the shackles and her lack of any kind of energy, she would have pounced on her there and then.

Cora ambled closer to her, her smile doing little to mask the pain that she was obviously experiencing. Nevertheless she appeared far more amused than Emma thought possible. "You don't know?" She said that with a smidge-too-much innocence for Emma. When was she ever going to give a straight answer?

"No I don't know! I don't know what you're talking about or why the hell you have that poisonous smirk on your face! Tell me what happened!" Perhaps yelling was the way to go. Her blood was boiling in her face and each part of her body writhed in pain; she just wanted an answer that would quiet all of the doubts and fears and anxieties that swarmed her very being. Mulan, Aurora, Henry, David, Mary Margaret – all of these people plagued every thought she had. She had to make it okay; she had to get out, had to get home. Even if every attempt she made proved disastrous and she ended up worse than when she started, at least she tried. Trying had to count for something. She was never going to quit.

"What's the magic word?"

Unconsciously, Emma growled under her breath. "Pretty please with sugar on top?" she sneered.

"Your disrespect is noted. But because I enjoy dropping revelations and since I feel that this particular piece of information could in fact be quite enjoyable – for me anyway – I will let you in on a little secret." Emma continued to hold firm and stare her down. Somewhere in the depths of her soul, she believed that Cora wasn't kidding around; whatever bombshell Cora was about to unload was going to have repercussions for her for a very long time. "Why, you used magic, my dear."

The blonde's eyes grew as wide as saucers, and without even being aware of it, she wrestled with her chains, her composure suddenly shot. Nothing of what Cora said could be held as truth; she was just a regular person – she had never even spent any time in Fairytale Land prior to this visit. Plus her parents didn't possess magic. There was no way she had magic.

Was there?

"You're lying."

"And why would I lie about something like that? There's no reason for me to lie, for lying only disguises the truth for a time. Eventually, the truth comes out, so why wait? You. Used. Magic. I don't know how or why; all I know is that you did this." She gestured to the wreckage all around her. "I must say, you're very unpredictable. I did not see that coming. Your mother must be so proud." As if on cue, a moan emanated from opposite her – Mary Margaret was listening to the exchange.

Emma didn't care what she said; Cora was lying. She was.

"Why do you seem to be amused by this?"

The woman pushed back loose hair off Emma's face, a gesture that made Emma shake ferociously. "Because I know that this knowledge may distress more than anything else I say. Because you are the type of girl to run away from her problems and live in fear of what you are capable of. Instead of wielding power, you'll hide it away so that it will not taunt you. Thus, you will pose no threat to me other than what you have already done. You have the potential to be something great and if circumstances were different perhaps I would even take it upon myself and train you as my protégé but we both know that that idea will amount to nothing." Her tone was so conversational that it was almost as if she were sitting around a table having coffee with a few friends.

Emma didn't want to accept anything that Cora said but what she deduced about her character was true; Emma did tend to run when things got too overwhelming and having magical powers or whatever was not something she wanted to embrace with both arms. She didn't want to embrace it at all. Ever.

"Look, what are you trying to prove here, huh? What's the plan? You could have killed me when I was unconscious on the ground. Why lock me up and tell me all these things? Why…why am I still alive?" She would have preferred a bit more tact to her questions but in truth, she was afraid and afraid was not something she wore well. She was as vulnerable now as she had ever been; she was separated from her father and son, her mother's life was hanging in the balance, and who knows how her new friends were – it was a lot to deal with. And she was pretty sure that whatever was going to happen next was not going to fall into the 'happy' category of her life.

Cora seemed to contemplate her queries for a moment, taking in rhythmic breaths and searching the blonde's face. "I changed my mind."

"What does that mean?" Why did she insist on being so damn cryptic?

Her eyes grew dark, glazing over with a wicked film. "It means I've decided not to kill Snow White."

That was not what Emma was expecting; that wasn't even in the neighbourhood and against her better judgement, she felt her hope grow into something tangible…which could not be a good sign for things to come. "You have?" The muscles on her face relaxed for the first time since arriving at the dungeon.

"Oh yes. I have a much worse fate for her in mind. I'm going to kill you and she's going to watch."

Please don't kill me for ending it there! This chapter was so difficult for me to write and action scenes and the like are not my strong point so I apologize if it came across as very weak. What did you all think? I know the idea of Emma having magic isn't exactly new but I thought it'd be an interesting route to take for the rest of the story. As always I really hope you enjoyed it and please, please review and let me know what you all thought! :)