Cora's Family Reunion, Chapter Eleven: The Hunt Is On

Author's Note: Here is the next installment. It has been a few weeks in the making, as finals are creeping ever closer like Ruby tracking Toto through Oz (How about that episode tonight?!). As always, I hope you enjoy, and please review, follow, and favorite, if you feel so led.

Characters:

Cora

Zelena

The Blue Fairy

Geppetto

Rumplestiltskin


"Pinocchio is off to bed," Geppetto said to Cora and the Blue Fairy as he walked into the kitchen. "Jiminy is telling him a bedtime story. He wanted to come and see you off, but I told him it was too far past his bedtime already."

Cora smiled. "You always have to do what's best for your children. It's what it means to be a parent." She silently regretted saying it even as the words formed on her lips.

"Geppetto, I can't thank you enough for all of your hospitality," Blue said, fluttering towards the woodworker.

"You gave me my son, Blue Fairy," he replied humbly. "You know that I am always willing to help you."

The trio left the house, where the enchanted carriage, door open, was waiting to bring Cora and the Blue Fairy to Granny and the dwarves.

"So long, my friend," Blue said as Geppetto gave a small bow. She flapped inside the carriage.

"Goodbye, Cora," Geppetto said, taking Cora's hand. "I'm sorry to see you go, but I will always treasure this visit in my memories."

"My dear Geppetto," Cora grinned, placing her free hand on Geppetto's shoulder. "It's goodnight, not goodbye. We will meet again, sooner rather than later."

The pair embraced, and she kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodnight, then, dearest one," Geppetto said as Cora climbed into the carriage. She closed the door behind her, obscuring Geppetto and his wonderful cottage from view. The carriage began to roll itself down the road.

"Off to the dwarf mines then?" Cora said, watching as the cottage slipped farther and farther away.

"Not quite," came Zelena's voice.

Cora's head whipped around, and surely enough, her elder daughter was sitting next to her. The Blue Fairy was suspended in midair by a freezing spell.

"Unfreeze my friend and then we'll talk, Zelena," Cora commanded.

Rolling her eyes, Zelena shrugged and released the Blue Fairy from her invisible bonds.

"Zelena!" the Blue Fairy snapped. "That was most discourteous!"

"That's the best you can come up with?" Zelena scoffed. She promptly turned her attention back to her mother. "I need your help."

Cora noted the urgency hidden beneath Zelena's callous demeanor. "Help with what?"

"I need you to help me find something. A beast that escaped my clutches. It's imperative that I get it back, and you're the only person powerful enough to help me to capture it."

The Blue Fairy raised her eyebrows. "Cora?"

"Stay on course, Blue," Cora said to her friend. "Make your way to the dwarves. I'll catch up."

"But Cora-"

"I'll be fine, Blue. I can handle myself."

"If you say so," the fairy grimaced. "Very well. But when Zelena betrays you and puts some curse on you, don't say I didn't warn you."

Zelena flinched. "Don't worry, dear. When the hunt is over, I'll my mother will return to you in one piece. You have my word."

The Blue Fairy didn't believe the Wicked Witch, but she nodded in agreement.

"Great," Zelena snapped. With a flourish, she engulfed herself and Cora in a green cloud of smoke.


Cora and Zelena rematerialized in the middle of the forest. They could see each other only by the light of the full moon.

"Let's start looking," Zelena said sharply. "We'll need to find the beast and subdue it. We'll need both of our power to do that."

"What is this beast?" Cora inquired. "I assume this is the reason you needed Geppetto to build you a cage?"

Zelena smiled wickedly. "You're right about the cage. As for the beast, you'll know it when you see it. I'd hate to spoil the surprise."

"I don't care for surprises, Zelena," Cora said in a dangerous tone.

Zelena narrowed her eyes, undaunted by her mother's ire. "How would I know that? We've only just met each other. It's not like I had an entire childhood of learning what you liked and disliked. No, you had Regina, and she didn't care. I would have."

"Are you aware that I did not have my heart for the majority of Regina's life?" Cora asked seriously. "I removed it before marrying her father."

"I guess your royal husband wasn't all he was cracked up to be."

The women continued their walk through the forest. They stopped every time they thought they heard a sound, but it only ever proved to be deer, foxes, and other woodland creatures.

"He opened a lot of doors for me, but you are right about that," Cora admitted. "You would have been cheated. I was not a good mother to Regina."

"At least you were a mother to her," Zelena shot. "And when last I checked, you had a heart when you abandoned me. It seems to me that you were still capable of making awful decisions even with it beating in your chest."

"You have every right to be upset with me, Zelena," Cora said firmly. "I don't know what you want from me. You know how sorry I am for abandoning you. I've offered to reconcile. I'm helping you hunt whatever it is we're hunting. I don't know what more I could do for you. I can't change the past, my dear. Not even the most powerful magic can do that."

We'll see about that, Zelena thought to herself. "I want you to realize that if you had kept me, if you had dealt with Princess Eva like you should have, you could have married Leopold and had the life you wanted with a child who would not have disappointed you. I want you to realize that if you had chosen me, you would have never needed Regina."

Cora laughed, frustrated. "What good would that do? We don't really know that that's true, Zelena. Speculation is a black hole that can consume us and prevent us from living in the moment as we might. My mistake in my youth was being too concerned with my future. You are too concerned about the past. You have to learn what I learned: to live in and for the present."

Zelena looked like she was about to respond, but she felt her ears perk up. She turned her attention eastward, where she heard clumsy footsteps stumbling over roots. "I think we have him," she whispered.

"What is it, Zelena?" Cora whispered furiously. "What are we chasing."

"You'll soon see," Zelena responded. "Now we need to hit him with a freezing spell at the same time."

Cora nodded warily. "On three?" Three…Two…One…"

The two women sent pulses of magic at the mysterious beast, and they saw their waves of purple and green magic collide as something heavy fell to the ground.

"Got him!" Zelena cackled, jogging over to her victim. "Come see, Mom!"

Cora's heart skipped a beat when she reached Zelena's position. "Rumplestiltskin?!" she gasped.

Zelena nodded, cackling even more.

"But he was dead! I watched him sacrifice himself to save all of us from Peter Pan!"

"As you say, Mom, he was dead," Zelena sang.

"You can't bring back the dead!" Cora asserted. "The laws of magic state-"

"I know the laws of magic, Mom," Zelena groaned petulantly. "Let's just say I found a loophole for the Dark One."

"We'll discuss this later," Cora said. "Let's get him back to your lair."

"Very well," Zelena agreed. Waving her hand, she engulfed herself, Cora, and the unconscious Rumple in a cloud of green smoke.


"Welcome to my castle, Mom," Zelena said as the smoke cleared around them.

It took Cora a moment to realize where her daughter was squatting. "The Dark Castle? I feel I should warn you, dear, if Rumple breaks free, he is not going to forgive you for holding him captive in his own home."

"I know!" Zelena grinned. "Isn't it exciting?"

As Zelena magically levitated Rumplestiltskin into the cage, which she had already equipped with a spinning wheel, Cora contemplated the similarities and differences between her two daughters. Regina and Zelena both exhibited a lot of boldness (genes that definitely derived from her). However, Regina was a meticulous planner. Her bold feats were always accompanied by laying foundation work around her. She studied and practiced and worked hard to achieve her mastery of magic. Zelena, on the other hand, exhibited a startling natural talent for magic. She had become so confident in her natural abilities that she rarely had to do much planning to be successful. As Cora herself was a planner, she assumed that Zelena's improvisational traits came from her father. Rumplestiltskin had escaped likely due to Zelena being overconfident in her ability to restrain him before she acquired Geppetto's cage.

"That's taken care of," Zelena declared, dusting off her hands.

"So how did you do it?" Cora asked, trying to downplay how impressed and curious she really was.

"Have you ever heard of a little place called The Vault of the Dark One?" Zelena asked.

"I have," Cora nodded.

"There is a key, a key that Rumple had stashed in his castle. Bringing back the Dark One requires a living sacrifice. It's not nothing for nothing. As you know, magic doesn't work that way."

Cora's eyes went wide. "Who?"

Zelena smiled nastily. "I'm sure you already have a guess. As you might have guessed, there were two people who were eager to find Rumplestiltskin. Two people who would go to great lengths to retrieve him from the other side."

"Belle and Baelfire," Cora mouthed, mortified.

"Oh, yes," Zelena said, relishing in her mother's shock. "Baelfire, trying to be a hero like his dear, old dad, decided to insert the key into the vault, marking his life as the one that would be taken in order for his father to live."

"He knew this?" Cora asked.

"No, I had my servant, Lumiere, trick him into doing it. Unfortunately, Lumiere betrayed me and let Belle escape, so he is… no longer with us."

"So you killed Baelfire?"

Zelena pursed her lips. "Not entirely, no. Rumple absorbed Baelfire into himself to prevent him from dying, which is why he's been given to spouting nonsense. I have tried to separate them, to no avail."

Cora sank into a nearby chair. "What have you done, Zelena? I made a promise to Rumplestiltskin that I would look after his loved ones, and now I have failed."

"Relax, Mom," Zelena said dismissively. "Thanks to Lumiere, Belle is probably still alive. Don't worry, though. I don't think she'll be that upset with you. Rumple on the other hand… Well, you thought he'd be upset with me for holding him captive in his own castle. I think he'll have a different kind of fury reserved for you."

A few tears escaped down Cora's cheeks.

"Oh, so now you cry!" Zelena snapped, become rapidly angry. "You easily abandon your own daughter, but when the deadbeat son of your ex-lover goes belly up, you cry?"

"What do you want from me?" Cora sniffled.

Zelena sat in the chair next to Cora, taking a moment to regain her composure. "You keep what happened here a secret. No one knows that I brought Rumple back except for you, me, and Belle. Now, I can't stop Belle from telling, but unless you want me to explain to Rumple how you abandoned Baelfire like you abandoned me, you're not telling anyone either. And I would also request that you buy me some time with Belle as well." She waved her hand towards a nearby mirror, which showed Belle running through the forest. "By tomorrow, she should reach the dwarven mines, which, unless my ears play my tricks, you'll be visiting with your irritating friend. Stall her for as long as possible."

Cora bowed her head in thought. It's not really a betrayal, she thought. Belle will reach the Charmings eventually. And when she does, we'll find a way to save Rumple and Baelfire. Though despair nagged at her like an errant wasp, Cora knew that she could find hope, not just for herself or her friends, but for Zelena as well, if she agreed to Zelena's terms.

"Very well," Cora agreed. "But I hope you understand how much danger you have put us both in by your actions."

"That's the fun of it!" Zelena giggled. "It makes things so much more interesting than when I was waiting for all of you to make your way over from the Land Without Magic."

Cora shook her head, standing up. "I am going before Blue sends out a search party."

"That's probably a good idea," Zelena nodded with mock sincerity.

"Goodbye for now, Zelena." Without another word, Cora took leave of her daughter and the Dark Castle.


Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow, and favorite!