Envy had been Zelena's strongest trait for years. It had shaped her into the person she was today. And yet, even as she arrived at Eloise Gardener's household, Zelena knew that she would have to fight back the the seething jealousy that had started deep within herself. When she approached the house and knocked on the front door, at least fifty seconds passed before it swung open.
"Hey, Zelena," Eloise smiled at her, "Come in."
She entered, clutching her gift by her side. The first thing Zelena noticed was the stack of enormous presents piled on the table next to the front door, and immediately she buried her considerably smaller gift beneath the larger ones, making sure Eloise couldn't see her hiding it.
In the next room was a crowd of teenagers either dancing, drinking, or chatting with each other. Zelena recognized a lot of them as fellow students, but there were many that she had never seen before. Instinctively, her eyes scanned the crowd for Nick. When she couldn't find him, she looked instead for Regina, and found her standing by the punch bowl talking to a girl with blue hair.
"Zelena," said Regina when she saw Zelena approaching, "You made it."
"Wouldn't miss it," Zelena replied, before she turned to face the blue-haired girl.
"Oh, this is Crystal," Regina gestured to her, "although she prefers being called–"
"Leota," the blue-haired girl introduced herself, extending a hand formally, which Zelena hesitantly shook.
"Leota?" Zelena said curiously.
"It's my coven name," explained Leota.
"You mean, like, a witch coven?"
"I prefer the term wiccan."
Zelena exchanged a look with Regina, who seemed just as apprehensive.
"Riiight," said Zelena, nodding slowly, "Well, that's really... interesting. Does that mean you can do magic tricks?"
She had known Regina long enough to recognize her facial expressions. The particular look on Regina's face could be summed up as "Don't ask."
"I have the gifts of a medium," Leota replied, "I can communicate with the spirits of those who have passed."
Zelena's eyes narrowed,
"Is that right?"
Leota nodded, "In fact, I'll be performing a séance later tonight."
And with that, Leota walked off and disappeared into the crowd.
"Wow," Zelena said, "Eloise sure knows how to pick her student councilors."
"She's harmless," Regina said, "So, what are you doing here, Zelena?"
"I was invited. Remember?"
Regina lifted an eyebrow,
"I remember that you didn't want to come. Why the sudden change of heart?"
Before Zelena could come up with a response, a familiar face in the crowd caught her attention. She watched, eyes wide, as the guy who called himself Hades grabbed a plate of food from one of the tables before shuffling upstairs.
"I have to go," Zelena said quickly in Regina's direction before making her way through the crowd and rushing up the staircase.
By the time she had traversed the stairs, Zelena looked down the hallway just in time to see one of the doors close. Quickly and quietly, she approached the door, which was covered in stickers and signs such as Private Property and No girls allowed. Zelena scoffed, and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, Zelena knocked once again, harder this time. After a short silence, the door opened a crack, and Zelena saw a silver of Hades's face peering at her.
"Well hello there," said Zelena, putting her hands on her hips. Before Hades could slam the door in her face, Zelena pushed her arm out and forced it wide open, before walking into Hades's dimly-lit bedroom.
"Hey! You can't just"
"You could've just told me you lived with Eloise Gardener," said Zelena, "What are you, her brother?"
When Hades didn't reply, Zelena smirked and sat on his bed. The sheets were covered in a flame pattern.
"Did you tell Eloise I came to see you about her?"
"No," Hades said, sitting on his swivel chair.
"Does she know?" Zelena asked, "Does she know you hack people's devices for a living?"
"Of course not," snapped Hades, "My family don't know about my lair on the other side of town. As far as they know, I spend my days at school."
"Your mom works at Storybrooke High," said Zelena suspiciously, "I think she'd notice if you weren't there."
"Not Storybrooke High," Hades rolled his eyes, "I went to Sherwood High."
Zelena froze for a moment, then looked down at her feet.
"When you went there, did you know someone named Nick?"
"Nick?" said Hades, "Nick, as in, Eloise's boyfriend?"
"Eloise's... boyfriend?"
For a moment, Zelena's world went out of focus. I knew it was too good to be true. Without another word, Zelena left Hades alone in his bedroom and walked down the stairs. When she descended the stairs, however, Zelena was surprised to see that the crowd wasn't the same as she had left it. The lights had been dimmed, and the crowd was gathered around a table where a circle of people sat with joined hands. On one side of the table was Leota, now dressed in strange robes, sitting with her eyes closed. When Zelena moved forwards, she noticed that the other people at the table were the members of the student council, including Regina.
"Zelena," said Leota without opening her eyes, "Join us."
Regina and Eloise parted hands and moved their chairs away from each other, while someone from the crowd grabbed another chair. Zelena looked around at the expectant eyes of the people around her.
"Oh, uhh, I'm alright, thanks."
"Join us," Leota said again.
"Come on, Zelena," said Regina, smiling reassuringly. Tentatively, Zelena approached the table and sat on the empty chair, joining hands with Regina and Eloise. Only then did Leota open her eyes.
"Now that we are joined, we can begin."
"I ask that everyone at this table clear their minds, and suspend their disbelief. I shall now attempt to reach out to the souls of the departed who dwell on the other side. I call out to the spirits who are here tonight, I call out to the souls of those who have long since passed, is there anyone who wishes to speak with us?"
The silence that followed seemed to go on forever. Zelena turned her head to try and catch Regina's eye, but she was surprised to see that Regina's eyes were closed, as were the others at the table. What have I gotten myself into? Zelena begrudgingly closed her eyes. When Leota spoke again, her voice was somehow deeper, and unfamiliar.
"Something is calling to me," she spoke, "calling to me... who are you, wandering spirit? What message have you for us? ...There is a man, a dead man, a hanged man, and he is whispering to me. He says... there is a murderer in here with us."
Zelena heard murmurs and whispers throughout the crowd. Eloise's hand twitched against hers. Is Nick really your boyfriend?
"...The hanged man has spoken," Leota went on, "He tells me the story of his death. He worked at Storybrooke High School, until he was forced to end his life when a girl tore his life apart and destroyed him. I see a face... I see a face, and it belongs to... Mr. Walsh."
The murmurs grew louder, and Zelena opened her eyes suddenly, letting go of Regina and Eloise's hands.
"Who killed you, Mr. Walsh?" asked Leota to the open darkness, "Who is responsible for your demise?"
When Leota's eyes opened, she stared directly at Zelena. Zelena stared back at her, seething with silent fury. Then, Leota's eyes moved away from Zelena.
"Regina."
Regina opened her eyes, to see that Leota was now staring at her.
"What?" Regina muttered.
"He says that you blackmailed him into putting you into the Gold classes," Leota said, "He tells me that when he threatened to expose you and demote you to the Silver classes, you hired a hacker to post explicit and illegal material onto Mr. Walsh's computer."
Regina stood up, pushing her chair back as it scraped across the floor.
"What the fuck are you talking about?!"
Everyone was staring at Regina now, except Zelena. She was still staring at Leota, unblinking, her mind going about a thousand miles per second.
"The spirits have spoken," Leota replied calmly, "Have you anything to say for yourself?"
"You're full of shit!" spat Regina, "I never blackmailed everyone! And I've never contacted any hacker!"
"Pull out your phone, then," said Leota, "Show us your messages."
"Fine!" Regina withdrew her phone from one of her pockets and unlocked it before going through her messages. It was then, that Regina's face slowly turned from anger to fear. "Wh... what is this?!"
Zelena stood up suddenly and craned her neck over Regina's shoulder to get a look at her phone. She was scrolling through messages between herself and somebody else. The same messages between me and Hades. Zelena couldn't breathe. As she turned away from Regina, she saw Hades sitting on the staircase from her peripheral vision. Regina was shaking now as well, tears forming in her eyes.
"What is this?!" she repeated, slamming her phone down on the table and snarling at Leota, who stayed still and calm.
"Regina," Eloise put a hand on her shoulder, but Regina whirled and punched Eloise across the face so suddenly that, for a moment, nobody moved or said anything. In that split second of silence, Zelena made eye contact with Regina. Then, the room erupted into a loud uproar that seemed to fill Zelena's mind with deafening chaos. As Eloise grabbed Regina and pulled her down into a fistfight on the floor, Zelena turned and staggered over to the staircase, where Hades was now standing over her.
"I don't understand..." she said, her voice barely a whisper.
"Come," Hades extended an arm down to her, "Come with me. I'll explain everything."
Zelena looked at Hades's hand for a moment, before taking it in her own and following him back up the stairs as the mayhem ensued behind them.
Lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling fan, Zelena listened as Hades explained what had just happened.
"But, why?" Zelena asked, still staring upwards, "Why would they throw Regina under the bus?"
"I'm not sure," Hades replied, "Eloise is planning something, and she needed my help to do it. She and her friends on the student council are as close as sisters, but Regina is still an outsider to them. If I had to guess, I'd say that Regina simply wasn't fulfilling their needs, and that they needed an excuse to boot her from the student council. The police will have been called by now, and the evidence I planted on Regina's phone will be enough to reopen the investigation into Mr. Walsh's death."
"But Regina's mother is the principal," said Zelena, "Do you really think she'll stand for this?"
"I don't know what to expect," said Hades, "All I know is that I'm glad I don't go to Storybrooke High School."
Zelena sat up. She had been fully expecting Crystal, or Leota – or whatever she called herself – to expose her in front of everyone at the party. By doing the opposite and accusing Regina of committing Zelena's crimes... Is this Eloise's way of inviting me onto the student council? By even bringing up the matter of Mr. Walsh's suicide, it was obvious that Eloise knew what had really happened, or at least suspected as much.
"Did you tell Eloise about our previous dealings?" Zelena demanded. Hades didn't say anything. Zelena got off Hades's bed and paced the bedroom, feeling Hades's eyes following her. Eloise planned this from the start. She's been moving me around like a piece in her game. Zelena tried to remember where she had heard about Hades in the first place.
"If this goes wrong," said Zelena, "I need you to choose between your sister or me."
Hades let out a dry chuckle, "What kind of choice is that?"
Zelena walked over to Hades and straddled him suddenly,
"The choice between your family... and this."
When she kissed him, Zelena knew at once that this was Hades's first kiss. She felt his inexperience in her mouth and on her lips, but his enthusiasm made up for it. When he rose from his chair, Zelena wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her over to his bed.