Hey, guys! Here's chapter 9 for 'ya. And who absolutely loved the Killian-Emma scenes in last week's episode? I know I did! They're just so banter-y. The best couples always are. Anyways, I wanted to get this out there 'cause there's the elections tonight and God knows that'll be important. Also, I have a long break this weekend and have already filled my schedule to the brim, so the next chapter will probably not be coming out until about Saturday. Sorry, peoples! But I hope you still enjoy this little installment...and feel free to review, review, review!
"You call those minor complications?" Killian yelled, face inches from Regina's. "I wonder what would have happened if there had been major complications!? What in the hell happened, anyway? How did you bring Anita back to life? Was that even Anita? Who is that girl that did that, anyway? And what, pray tell, did she even do?" he spat out question after question, each more venomous and angry than the last. Regina did not respond, only stood there quietly with a bored look on her face until he was finally done. "What Lanoria did was quite simple, really. She searched the dress for memories, whatever memories the owner, in this case, Anita, had. Because Anita is dead, however, there needed to be someone else to...experience...the memories. At first, I was going to have a village girl do it, but you bringing Anya along was just too perfect." Killian drew in a guarded breath, trying to harness his raging emotions and said, "You expect me to believe that what just happened to Anya...the reason she was screaming in pain was because she was reliving one of Anita's memories?" Regina nodded. "It's the truth, K. Becoming someone else...even just mentally, can be an extremely taxing process."
"But it wasn't just mentally! At the end, she, she became Anita, in flesh and mind! She even spoke like her!"
"That remains to be the inexplicable part. It was a rare phenomenon. I can't quite be sure what caused it."
"That's all you have...'I can't quite be sure?' Do you even see her over there? She's shaking like a leaf!" Killian shouted, gesturing angrily over to Anya, who was sobbing into the shoulder of Lanoria. "I see it, Killian. I see it just as clearly as you and I'm sticking with my answer. I have no idea what happened." she pointedly articulated the lasts sentence, teeth bared, as if she were going to scare Killian off. "Well, then, what about what Anita said? Why the hell did she say 'mother'? Hmmm? Do you have an answer to that, all mighty queen?" The woman took a step forward, sticking her finger in Killian's face. "What I'm doing, this, is a favor. I can have you out of here in minutes, and missing a soul and limbs, if I was feeling particularly evil. Would you like that, Killian?" Regina raised her eyebrows expectantly, waiting for his answer. He shook his head. "I didn't think so. If you'd let me talk, I might have some answers for you." she paused dramatically, thinking hard. "When Anita, or the thing that looked like Anita, said 'mother', I believe it was referring to the memory it was reliving. I think it was giving an indication as to what she was looking for, what she wanted."
Killian's eyes widened; the queens' words were making sense. "You think...you think she was searching for her, our, mother?" he asked, shocked. He had been told since the earliest moments he could remember that his mother and father had died of small pox and the plague, respectively. "I don't think she was searching for your mother. I think she found her." Regina said, eyes shining with an inexplicable joy. "But if that's true, why would she keep it from me?" Killian asked, letting himself be excited. Was his mother alive? Was he not alone in the world after all?
Regina's only reply to his question was a defeated shrug of the shoulders. "I don't know why she wouldn't tell you, K. But at least you know now what she wanted. And that she probably found it." The man nodded, sighing heavily. So close, and yet so far. "So I suppose the next thing to do would be having you locate exactly where my mother is." he said. Regina laughed. "The next step? K, I did what you asked. The deal is done. I owe you nothing more. In fact, you owe me." She said, smiling evilly. Give him his answers, so I can ask my questions. "What? No, you can't just give me that. You can't tell me my mother's alive, that Anita found her, and send me on my way! You can't!" he declared angrily, taking small steps closer and closer towards her, until they were chest to chest. "Can't I?" Regina asked amusedly, "Watch me." She turned abruptly, walked towards the steps to the altar and turned again towards Killian. "Now it's you he needs to fulfill their end of the bargain," she said. Killian narrowed his eyes. "What makes you think I'll give you what you want if you're not going to help me?" he wondered out loud. The woman laughed. "Because I have magic, Killian. And magic is power." As if to accentuate her words, she turned her eyes towards Anya, who had just regained relative composure. Still sitting next to her was Lanoria, and the two girls were talking quietly between each other. Suddenly, as though by magic, Anya fell to the ground, overcome by fits of crying. She began to scream, much like she had just minutes before, and was raised in the air by invisible strings. Her eyes were wide with terror and confusion, as she struggled in mid-air, quite uselessly. "Let me down! Please stop! Please let me down." she squealed, giving Regina a desperate stare. Killian, who could no longer deal with seeing Anya in anymore pain, clenched his teeth and ordered Regina to set her down. She complied willingly. "You'd do well to remember who is truly in power here, Killian." she told him chidingly, taking great pleasure in her superiority. "Fine. What do you want, vile soul?" he asked in a controlled town. "I want answers. I want to ask you a question, and I want an honest response." she stated matter-of-factly. Is this a trick, Killian though suspiciously. Is this truly all she wants? Answers? Or was there some deeper meaning beyond her words, some secret game only she was playing? "Ask away, Regina. I'll answer to the fullest of my ability." he told her, feigning confidence and charm. At that moment, he was trying to assess the expression on her face, but she was a closed book. She was careful to let no emotion mar her perfectly placid features. An expert in deception, it seems. You can't deceive me, though, Regina, Killian thought smugly to himself. He would not let her tricks blind him. He was smarter than that, better than that.
"You'll answer, just like that?" Regina asked surprisedly. She had expected him to demand something more in return, even though their original deal had said she only needed to find him what Anita was looking for. She had dealing with pirates. "I'll answer, just like that. But...I want our deal to be paid in full." he responded. "Our deal stated that I help you figure out what it was Anita wanted, and-"
"No!" Killian interrupted. "Our deal was you helped me find what it was Anita wanted. You've only gotten me half way there." Regina tilted her head, narrowed her eyes. What was he playing at? "And how exactly do you expect me to find your mother, if that is in fact what she was looking for?" she asked. "Use your magic mirror! You said you could see anywhere in the world through it!" he shouted, angry at her stupidity. She seemed to find his lack of control amusingly inferior, as she gave a condescending laugh. "If you can tell me where she is, what she looks like, what her name is, then I might be able to help you, Killian. Can you do any of that?" she asked as if she were speaking to a child. Killian looked to the ground, ashamed. He could not. He hadn't any idea what his mother's name was, much less what she looked like. He hadn't seen her since he was born. But, there was always Anya...If she could try to remember the memory she had relived, if his mother had been in it, she might be able to give him a description. It was his only hope. Sighing, he called across the church, "Anya?" She turned to him with a her big, innocent eyes, now full of fear and apprehension, and replied, "Yes, captain?" He didn't respond, only gestured for her to come over to him. Lanoria helped her stand from her position on the bench, and supported her for the short walk over to Killian. It seemed being turned into another person and suspended in mid air took quite the toll on you physically. Who would've known?
Lanoria handed her over to Killian, as though she were a porcelain doll who could not walk on her own, and she nearly collapsed in his arms. His reflexes were sharp enough so that she didn't fall to the ground, but he noticed in that moment how truly frail she was. He would need to get her medical attention as soon as they left the cursed church.
"Anya?" the pirated asked tentatively, not wanting to somehow frighten or scar the girl even more. As a response, Anya gave a feeble "Mmmm?" At least she can still hear me and understand me. At least it didn't drive her mad, Killian thought to himself, trying to find the good in this. "Anya? Did you see a woman when you were...in the...when you became that other person, what happened? What did you see?" Killian wasn't totally sure how to phrase the question, but he hoped that he had gotten the basic idea across. Anya scrunched her face up in thought, before answering in a quiet and tired voice, "I was...I was in a...a cabin. There was...a woman...a woman..." her words faded into incomprehensibility after that and her eyes fluttered dangerously. "Anya, Anya try to stay awake, darling. Try to hold on for just a few more seconds." Killian pleaded with her, still holding her in his arms. She didn't respond. "Anya!" He gave her a gentle shake in his arms and she lifted her head groggily. "Anya, do you remember seeing an old woman during...when Lanoria was touching you?" he asked. It wasn't until after he said it that it might sound a little bit dirty. Anya, however, was too tired to notice. "I...yes...a woman. Yes. There...there was an...old...old woman. Sick...very sick. Green skin...wanted blood...my blood...don't let her take my blood!" Her words became more and more panicked as she spoke. Her last sentence was a whisper-shout, and she had dug her nails into the Killian's neck, as though she would be safe is she was causing him pain. I'm evidently not going to get anything out of her, Killian thought reluctantly, she's gone through too much to think clearly. Thus, he walked over to a wood bench and laid her down carefully, setting on top of her his jacket so that she might be comfortable. Then, he turned back to the queen.
"I can't give you a name, I can't give you a description I can't give you a proper location. But...I still want what was promised to me. I still want to have what Anita was searching for." he stated calmly and emotionlessly. Regina told him in no uncertain terms that she did not have it within her power to do so. Killian had expected as much. "Then, I'm taking the girl with me. She's a witch, she'll be able to help. " He gestured to Lanoria, who had made her way over to Anya once again and was dabbing carefully at her forehead with a wet towel. Where did she find that? Killian thought to himself distractedly. He was too afraid to look Regina head on, as he was unsure whether her stare would turn him to stone or not. Her reaction to his audacious move, however, was rather unexpected. "Fine, fine. Take the girl, she's of no importance to me; I have my own powers. So long as you answer my question." Just like that? Killian thought incredulously, first she only asks of me a question and then she just hands me her slave? It was almost too good to be true. "So be it" he said. "Ask away, my queen." The woman shot a speculative glance towards Anya and Lanoria, who had not heard, or gave no indication if she did, the conversation where Regina traded her to Killian. Neither women were terribly distracted with what Killian and Regina were doing, which caused Regina to give a satisfied nod and turn back towards Killian. Just for good measure, however, she walked up to him and whispered her question quietly in his ear. She couldn't have her ex-slave hearing her.
And once he heard the question, Killian understood why. It was not a question concerning magic or power. It was not a question whose answer would be advantageous for her, give her a key piece of information to hold over someone's head. It was question whose answer would put her mind to rest, her conscience at ease. The question was only of emotional importance, and she had worked painstakingly hard to assume an impassive and icy air about her. She felt uncomfortable enough as it was surrendering that detached power to Killian, she couldn't stand to have two others witness her weakness. She wouldn't stand for it. And so, after she spoke the words to Killian, those tender, vulnerable words, and he gave his honest and sympathetic answer, she made sure to make a pointedly unimpassioned and apathetic comment. "Get your slut and the witch out of my church. I've got much to do today, can't have them mussing up my schedule." Normally, Killian would've been angry at that comment. He would've rebuked her, told her that Anya was no slut and she had no right to call her that, but today, he saw through it. He knew at that moment it was all an act to mask her inner susceptibility. She had proved that to him with her question, with the way that she had eagerly awaited his answer, and seemed relieved when he gave it. He saw her true nature in her words, in her posture. And as he walked out, carrying his feeble and tired Anya bridal style, with a witch names Lanoria lagging not far behind, he knew that he had won. And he smiled.
Killian asked the girl whether or not there was a healer in town, someone who might be able to cure Anya and restore her to full health. The woman told him that there was no such person, and if anyone got sick, they were sent to her. "Ah! You're a witch-doctor, then?" he asked conversationally. The woman gave a brief yet respectful nod. "Do you think you can help her?" he asked timidly. She gave a nother nod. Killian laughed to himself. She reminds me of Anya when she first boarded my ship. "Why are you laughing?" she asked quietly. Then, as though a voice in the back of her mind had viciously chastised her, she quickly apologized for her insubordination and promised that she would only talk when addressed. Regina really broke her, didn't she? he thought to himself. And it was true. Under the evil queen's dominance, Lanoria had known isolation and torture, in ways unimaginable to most. She had been forced to use her own magic to abuse herself, forced to watch her son die at the hands of Regina. Indeed, she had been broken time and time again, but each time she had forced herself to stand back up and glue the pieces together. Each and every time, all in the name of her husband. And now, she was being dragged away from even him, forced to sail away on a pirate ship, never to see her love again. Silent tears began streaming down her cheeks at the thought, and she was careful to stay behind the captain so that he might not see. If he did, he gave no indication.
"Are you sure you can help her?" Killian asked, completely oblivious to the emotional turmoil Lanoria was experiencing at that moment. "Are you even sure what's happening? She's getting very hot, I can feel the heat radiating off her. And she's still shaking. Is that normal? Have you seen this before? Is she going to be alright?" The pirate kept spurting out ridiculous questions and comments, seemingly truly worried about the young princess he was carrying in his arms. Meanwhile, Lanoria was struggling to regain composure, trying to keep her voice in check so that it might not betray her. "The girl is going to be fine. She..." she drew in a pained breath, closed her eyes and continued, "She is just experiencing a small fever. It happens quite...quite often when one who is inexperienced with magic is suddenly exposed to it." Her words seemed to calm the captain down. "So, it'll pass soon, right? Just a fever, nothing more? She's not going to go...insane, is she?" he asked carefully. The question was so absurd, Lanoria laughed in spite herself. "Where would you get that idea from? This woman, this girl. She has great power inside of her, great strength. I can sense it. No matter the pain she has experienced today, she can take much more. She is a pure soul. One of the few left." Lanoria said, speaking truthfully. She had sensed when performing the spell something different within the girl. A remarkable bravery and fortitude unknown to must. "I know. I saw it in Anya the moment I met her." Killian agreed, looking dreamily down at the beautiful nun.
