"What" Regina said in shock. The face beneath that hood was her own? It had to be a trick, there was no other explanation. It was still Lubrici standing in front of her. A shapeshifting spell would do the exact same thing. "Oh, right, of course. A shapeshifting spell, very clever. You can stop the tricks, sooner rather than later please" Regina told her.
"Oh, but as I've already told you dear, I'm not Lubrici, though I'm not surprised by the fact that you think I am, no matter how foolish it may be. I always have been a bit... closed-minded for a sorceress, haven't I" Regina's doppelganger said with a smirk. "Not that it's really our fault, is it? Rather, it is the fault of our mother. Maybe we should tell her that... oh wait, we can't, because she's dead, right? Because you killed her, your own mother. We could never leave things alone, could we" she said, the smirk becoming even more evident.
"It wasn't my fault" Regina said, or rather, yelled, right back at her, completely ignoring the we's and the our's that she was constantly saying. "It was Gold's fault, he gave Snow the poison and then it became her fault because she had to use it and trick me, she had to take everything from me, once again."
"Oh, so you're insulting our intelligence as well then? I suppose that it could be true, after all, you did fall for Rumple's trickery, and we never could pay any attention to our lessons, could we? I mean really, it is only our own fault that we never had the brains or the intelligence to succeed in anything. Or maybe it was our father's fault, after all, Mother was very intelligent, wasn't she? Maybe we should ask Daddy why he had to be like he was? Oh wait, we can't because you killed him as well. How does it feel to know that you killed both of your parents, good right? Positively evil, just like you were supposed to be, because you weren't good enough to stop that from happening either, right?"
"Shut up, you know full well why I or we or whatever it may be cast the curse. You must if you are me, like you claim to be, isn't that right? We had nothing in that life. Everyone hated me, I had no one, absolutely no one."
"Besides Daddy, but of course, you don't have him anymore. I'm surprised with you, forgetting your father already? Why, that sounds just like something that the Evil Queen would do. Oh wait, you are the evil queen. Destroying several realms because your boyfriend died, I mean really dear, isn't that a bit petty, even for us?"
"Just leave me alone. Go away, and never talk to me again" Regina snapped at the other version of her, who was still in the hood.
"Okay, if you really want me too" her doppelganger said, before disappearing into a poof of smoke.
Regina breathed a sigh of relief, glad that it was so quick, but of course, it wasn't that simple. She couldn't move. She tried her hardest to move, to get out, to escape, but she she couldn't. And then, when she tried to magic herself away from the situation anyways, she looked down to see something on her arm. It was the magic blocking cuff, yet again, and in order to make matters even worse for her, she was still hearing the voice of the person masquerading as her ringing in her ears, telling her that she had to face what she needed if she wanted her magic back. It told her that she would have to break the Raven's blood curse by kissing the one person who's kiss could save her, at least the one person still living: Hook.
Still, she wouldn't be deterred from her goal, and so she said "get back here right this instant whoever it is you are and release me" hoping that the creatures magic would be enough to hear her words. She would prefer not to stand there forever. She really, really would.
As if on cue, her doppelganger returned. "Missed me already dear?"
"More like missed being able to move all of my limbs" Regina replied, stretching out her muscles. Standing still like that, even for a short amount of time was overly annoying for her, and it hurt a lot as well. Completely and totally undesirable.
"Ah yes, I suppose that I should have mentioned it. Because I am forged from a piece of you, if I get too far away, then you can't move until a return, a bit convenient for me, don't you agree?"
"A bit too convenient for you actually. After all, how am I supposed to go and face Hook like you seem to want me too if I can't move at all without you being nearby" Regina replied, the audacity of the situation hitting her rather hard. She was trying to manipulate herself. Herself. How on earth was it going to turn out anywhere near being in her favor?
"Oh don't worry dear" her doppelganger replied, "I will leave eventually. Once you face me."
"Okay, I'm facing you. See, looking you right in the eye and everything, can you go back to being inside my heart or my soul or wherever it is that you're from?"
"Not like that dear. I must admit that though I enjoy utilizing snark, it isn't at all pleasant to have it thrown at me, especially in such a weak form. We are a bit better than that, don't you agree?"
"Then why don't you tell me what and how I need to face you so we can get it over with already? I'm getting a bit impatient dear, and you know that I don't like it when I'm kept waiting" Regina said to her mirror, rather annoyed with everything currently happening to her. Really she thought, was it so hard too let her get on with what had to be done in a nice, straight, fashion rather than being forced to go and follow a trillion different twists and turns?
"I am your fear. You need to accept it. Overcome it. Realize that you are stronger than it. Do that, and I'm practically dead already. Really dear, have you never heard of nightroot?"
"At least you gave me a briefing then. You know just as well as I do, even more so when you consider the fact that you actually are me, that I know what nightroot is. Why you told me that it is only a nightroot illusion on the other hand, I know not. Care to fill me in?"
"Not particularly, no. But since you asked so nicely, I suppose that I can oblige. You knowing what I am isn't going to make things get any easier for you dear. It really isn't. I know everything about you, and soon, you will be destroyed by it. Just like you destroyed yourself, isn't that right? We destroyed ourselves to get what we wanted. We crippled ourselves, darkened our hearts, poisoned ourselves even, just for love."
"Yes, you are getting our history pretty clear. Well done. I suppose that you can forgive me if I don't clap, right" Regina replied, getting rather annoyed with the physical embodiment of her fear. After all, it didn't control her, right? She wasn't afraid of anyone, or anything. Everything that she had to be afraid of was right inside of herself, after all.
"Ah, but you still believe that love is a weakness, don't you? You still think that even after everything that you have done in several attempts to claim love for yourself, you can't. You think that you are never going to be enough, isn't that right? Ah yes, it is. And you are of course right, Regina. Because we are always right. You don't deserve love. So even if you do kiss Killian, it won't matter. You will still have a heart poisoned in every single way by raven's blood and magic, because you don't deserve true love's kiss. And so, it will only make matters worse for you, and then the blood of the darkest of creatures will find a way to taint even the rest of your soul."
"Still right. Tell me something that I don't know and I may be more inclined to listen to you" Regina replied, trying not to let her fear show. She just had to stay strong, conceal it, not let it bother her. And then she would. Because she was stronger than herself, she had proven it many times over, and she wouldn't let it just stop now because something, someone, or anything else even more convoluted than that told her too. She was strong enough to make her own decisions, after all.
"But still you can't stop yourself. The evil queen is too strong" the voice of her fears said with a smile. "You are too impulsive. Too dark. Too evil. He will not love you. Nobody will. Because you don't deserve it, right? You don't deserve his love, or love from anybody else for that matter. You don't deserve your son, which is why he will soon be taken from you. Of course, he is already distanced, isn't that right?"
"Okay, I may be able to live with seeing myself dressed in that hideous outfit, I might be able to deal with you insulting everything else about me, but you have gone to far by bringing my son into this" Regina said, slightly scared by herself when she heard just how calm her voice was, despite the rage that was coursing through it. "So, return to where you belong and I won't tear you apart limb from limb, magic or no magic. Do you understand?"
"Yes. I think I do. Goodbye" her fears said, disappearing, but leaving the cuff on Regina herself for some unknown reason. The encounter was annoying, Regina was not about to deny that much, but now she had something to do. She was going to find herself a pirate.
So everybody, I didn't keep you all waiting for too long this time, luckily for you lot, I almost made this a whole lot longer but then I thought "Okay, so I have a really strong muse right now, let us not kill it by going and like... being completely and totally distracted by trying to do this next part I shall now go and post what I have written, it is long enough to keep their need for an update sated... and as a bonus, no cliffies, which in and of itself is proof that I do not own OUAT. Just playing around.
So, review, please? It really makes me happy reading reviews and I'd to get a few, so if you have any thoughts or opinions, or ideas as to what you all think should happen when they meet again, then just let me know, thank you!