Marian grumbled to herself as she walked through the market, stopping occasionally to attempt to strike a deal. It had been a full week since Marian had been rejected by Robin, and he hadn't even attempted to apologize to her yet! I mean, she would just blow him off the first few times, but then he would finally accept and then he would realize how terrible Regina was and how great she was! None of that had happened, though.

Rrriiippp. One of the wooden strips to Marian's basket had ripped away from the rest. An apple tumbled out and onto the ground.

"Ugh!" Marian exclaimed. She bent down to pick up the apple, and a gust of wind flew by. A little cloud of dirt hit Marian in the eye. Blinded, she slipped and fell to the ground. Marian's cheeks grew red with embarrassment. Face hot, she picked up the rest of her apples and continued on her way.

From behind a tree, on the edge of the market, Regina laughed to herself. Who knew that just a week of Rumpelstiltskin's training could allow Regina to cause so much harm! And the training had changed her appearance, too.

Rather than her comfortable tunic and pants, Regina wore a tight-fitting pair of black leather pants with a dark blouse that flowed in the wind. Her long hair was in a ponytail on top of her head and her skin was as pale as the snow on the ground. Her nails were long and refined, coated in a black polish.

"Teasing the local villagers, dearie?"

Regina jumped. There was Rumpelstiltskin, sparkly as ever, his yellow-toothed grin adorning his unpleasant face.

"What do you want?"

Rumpel frowned. "Well that's no way to talk to your instructor."

"I thought I was done with my training."

"Not quite yet, dearie!" he chimed. "You have to have a, well, final exam of sorts. A way for me to know that you've learned everything."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Oh please, I don't need a test. Go ahead and give me your imbecilic test. I'll pass."

Rumpelstiltskin smiled again. "Alright then, if you're so sure. The last thing to do to make your heart completely dark is to seek revenge."

Regina snorted. "That's it? Easy. I'll just kill one of the pathetic market-goers that've tried to screw me over over the years."

Rumpelstiltskin grinned wider. "Not that kind of revenge. I mean revenge for the one person you know deserves it."

Regina faltered. She knew what he was talking about: Robin. How could she kill Robin? Sure, he had betrayed years of trust, but maybe she still had some tiny, itty, bitty feelings for him.

"Not so easy, is it?" Rumpelstiltskin said. "Two more weeks of training, then. Meet me at the castle at-"

"I'll do it!"

Rumpelstiltskin turned back around. "What was that, dearie?"

"I said," Regina stepped closer to Rumpel, her back straightening and her eyes cold, "I'll do it. Tonight even."

The old wizard's face flickered slightly, but then slipped back into its comfortable and sly grin. "Perfect. How about by that old tree that you two seem so partial to?"

He was testing her, and Regina knew it. She wouldn't give in, though.

"Sounds just wonderful. I'll meet him there at midnight tonight."

Rumpel clicked his tongue. "I'll be there, dearie." With that, he disappeared, leaving Regina alone.

Robin walked solemnly through the trees, staring up at the darkening sky. In the week that Regina had been gone, his friends had tried to comfort him, but to no avail. Sometimes, he could swear that he could hear her voice. In the wind, in the chatter of the market, in the silence of the woods. She was everywhere.

Even now, as he walked alone through the forest, he could almost see her figure in the distance. Maybe it was because he was getting closer and closer to their tree. This vision seemed so life-like, though. Almost as if he could reach out and touch it.

"Robin," sing-songed the ghost. "It's me."

I must really be crazy, Robin thought to himself. But was he? As the spirit walked closer, he could make out her appearance.

There she stood, bathed in moonlight, a flowy blue gown covering white skin. Her black hair was blowing freely in the wind, and her haunting brown eyes pierced his soul.

"Regina?" he asked, not daring to believe it.

Regina walked closer and leaned on The Tree. Robin walked right in front of Regina. They were so close their noses were almost touching. Regina tilted her head slightly and leaned in. Robin did the same. . . .

In a flash, Regina pulled out her dagger and pinned Robin against The Tree.

"What are you doing, Regina?"

Regina glared at Robin. "I'm getting revenge."

"Revenge? For what?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "For kissing Marian, you imbecile. You completely broke my heart."

Robin's eyes grew wide. "Regina, I didn't kiss her. Marian had some kind of scheme to get me to kiss her. I had no idea."

Regina took a step back. Her eyes got even wider than Robin's. "What? This is Marian's fault?"

Robin realized his mistake as soon as he said it. Regina stared at Robin, her eyes alight with a new rage at a new person.

"No, Regina, it's not her fault!" Robin tried to run at Regina, but she bound him to it with green vines. "Don't kill her!"

But Regina wasn't listening. She waved her hands and disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke.

Marian slept peacefully on a soft pad of moss, breathing steadily in and out. She was currently (in her head, at least) attending a ball where she was the center of attention. Her ball gown was magnificent and had all of the girls hating her and the boys fawning over her. Specifically, Robin. He begged her to dance with him. She would let him hang for a while, and then she graciously accepted.

But then the doors burst open and in came that horrid Regina. She was wearing a better gown than Marian, and Robin was immediately drawn to her. He dropped Marian's hand and her waist and walked towards Regina, offering her his hand. She took it, and they began to dance as Marian watched furiously. She sat down on a bench and pouted, wishing she could be somewhere else.

Marian got her wish as she was jerked from her dream and back into the real world. She was slammed against a tree and restrained to it by snaking vines.

"Ugh! What the hell?"

Marian looked around for her attacker and stared straight into that ugly Regina's face.

"What are you doing?!" Marian exclaimed.

Regina rolled her eyes. "Dear gods, how many times do I have to make this speech? I'm here for revenge, murder, bla bla bla."

Marian paled. "MURDER?!" she yelled. "Are you crazy, bitch?"

Regina laughed. "Pretty much."

"What the hell are you even doing?!"

Regina started walking around the tree. "See, you are a special kind of enemy. I don't even know what to do with you. I could, perhaps, do the classic and stab you."

Marian gasped.

"I could skin you."

Marian let out a whimper.

"Or . . ." Regina smiled, "I could rip out your heart like you did mine."

At this, Marian screamed. "HELP! SOMEONE, HELP!"

Regina rolled her eyes again. With a flick of her wrist, Marian's screams were muffled by yet another vine.

"I did a lot of readings, these past few week. About different ways to kill people. This one intrigued me the most, though. Pulling out a person's heart, and then crushing it before their very eyes. It sounded fun, actually."

Marian shook her head frantically as Regina approached her. She reached out her hand and stuck it inside Marian's chest. Marian screamed. Regina pulled her hand back out observed Marian's beating heart. It was fairly bright, with the occasional dark splotches. Regina began gripping it, determined to crush it.

"REGINA!"

Regina swiveled. She saw Robin, running towards her, the occasional vine hanging from his tunic and trousers.

"Regina, stop!"

Regina merely snapped her fingers and suspended Robin in mid-air, leaving him kicking at the sky.

"You are so hard to get rid of," she muttered under her breath.

"Regina, you can't do this!"

"And why is that, I do ask."

"Because it's not you!"

Regina looked taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"This isn't you!" Robin repeated.

"Then what, pray tell, is me?"

Robin sighed. "You're someone who likes throwing knives at trees even though you would never hurt someone without reason. You're someone who can rob someone blind but won't unless you need to. You're someone who puts up with me. Most importantly, you're someone who doesn't kill."

Regina faltered, feeling tears gather in the back of her eyes. She could feel a little bit of Dark Regina leaving her body. She began to feel just a little bit more. But no, this wasn't supposed to happen! She needed to kill Marian! Or did she? Yes. No. Yes. NO. Yesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesno.

Regina sank to the ground, trying to stop of the conflict.

"You're someone who loves the mornings but hates sunrises. You love winter and hate the heat."

"Stop."

"You hate the smell of mint but you love candy canes."

"STOP."

"You hate Halloween. You love the color purple. You act like you're some loner but I know that you hate to be alone."

Her voice rose to a shriek. "STOP!"

Robin wouldn't. "You're intrigued by spiders but if one comes near you you'll squash it. You're a women's rights advocate. You act like you hate kids but I know you love them. And most of all, as much as you would like to forget it right now, you. Are. Human."

Regina let out an unearthly scream. It filled the sky and made the entire forest vibrate. Animals fled and villagers woke from their sleep. Regina collapsed into a heap on the ground. Marian's vines retracted and Robin fell to the ground. Marian grabbed her heart, warily shoved it back into her chest, and ran like her life depended on it. Robin ran to Regina and sat down by her, feeling for a pulse. It was barely there. What could he do? There was only one person he could call.

Regina's eyes flew open. Above her flew a blurry blew figure, sprinkling some kind of blue glitter over her. Regina sat up warily, and then lay back down as her head began to pound.

"Where am I?" she asked groggily.

"She'll be fine," spoke the Blue Thing, not seeming to hear her. "Call me if she doesn't." Then, the figure disappeared.

"Where am I?" Regina repeated, louder this time.

"Regina? Are you alright?"

It was Robin. "Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?"

Robin creased his brows. Then, it all came flying back.

"Oh my gosh," Regina whispered. "I tried to kill Marian! I tried to kill you!"

"No, it's all right. I'm alive. Marian's alive. It was just the Dark Magic."

"Rumpelstiltskin-"

"I know. The Blue Fairy told me everything."

"Am I still. . . ."

"Still Dark? No, but it was close. You were dying. But you're fine now."

"Really?"

"I'm sure."

"But what if-"

"No. This is never going to happen again."

Regina nodded, but mostly to herself. "Never again."

So sorry about the wait! This chapter took me a while write, because of the length and the plot. This has definitely been my favorite to write so far! Please comment your thoughts, and I promise to post again soon! Smell ya later!