Regina loathed having to ask for help. Requesting aid impied there was something you couldn't do for yourself, and that implied weakness. It wasn't at all like giving orders. Sydney, being the well trained lapdog of a magic mirror that he was, would carry out her instructions even if it meant his own destruction.
An order given to a subordinate would be followed without question or payment. A request for help on the otherhand implied a deal between equals, between friends, that would require something in return. Regina had observed enough of Gold's deals to know just how disastrous being in someone's debt could be. Debts bound you to a person, bound you beneath them, with the debt like a leash and collar around your throat.
As such, Regina avoided owing debts like the plague. Usually. But now the situation demanded she enlist the help of others, as much as she despised doing so.
Something was amiss in Storybrooke. Memories were starting to return, people were breaking out of the routines they'd followed for twenty-eight years, and the clock at the town's heart had started to turn. A strange, foreign power had arisen to threaten the queen's carefully constructed world.
A time traveller had come, a version of her son aged and turned against her, and there was no doubt in her mind that Rumpelstiltskin had something to do with it. The web of lies,magic and deals had been pulled taut, and Regina would need help squeezing through.
She sat in her darkened sitting room, a glass of apple wine perched in her fingers. Henry was asleep in his room, thankfully. There was no telling what he'd think should he overhear this little meeting. He'd already branded her the evil queen. She didn't need him finding proof. A variety of chairs were spaced around the room, with a glass coffee table placed in the middle.
It had been nearly ten years since they'd all been filled at once, since she'd last had to call Storybrooke's resident villains to council. That had been when she'd adopted Henry, something the majority of her allies had been dead set against.
"The child will be nothing but a liability, Regina" Jafar had told her all those years ago, fingering the snake-head ring on his finger, high set eyes glowing in the firelight. "Dispose of him now, before you grow attached."
Most of the congregation had murmured their agreement, including the Troll King, whose stubborn nature made him a born contrarian. Regina had ignored their sentiments of course. She'd wanted a child, and a child she would get. Her allies had been less than pleased. That was why she couldn't call any of them for help. Were they to discover Caleb Montori's identity, they'd demand Henry's head on a platter.
The two coming to meet Regina tonight would do no such thing. They were her friends, or at least one of them was her friend, while the other was a close acquaintance at most. And despite the fact that Jafar's skill set would be ideal for this particular scenario, with his snake like ways and silver tongue, the pair's talents would more than suffice. That, and should worse come to worse and one of them rebelled against her, they'd be easy enough to squash like insects. Regina liked to befriend those with power, but with lesser powers than her own.
Just then the sitting room doors swung open and the pair of witches entered.
"Regina, darling" Melanie Harver, or Maleficent, greeted with a warm smile. She was dressed in a long blue dress that fell to her knees, and bejewelled rings decorated her fingers, signs of a more than modest lifestyle. "It's been far too long. Feels like we haven't spoken in ages." Regina smiled tightly.
They hadn't spoken in quite a while, that was true. It was no coincidence that Regina had avoided her. Their friendship in the old world had been a shallow one at best, forever marred by their fight over the title 'Mistress of all Evil.' Their last encounter before the curse's beginning hadn't helped much, and apart from that, they found each other's company rather tiring. Have a dozen pitched magical duels with someone, and you're bound to grow weary of them. Especially with a personality like Maleficent's. The twenty eight years in Storybrooke hadn't been kind to her mind, and day by day her sanity seemed to wane more and more in a cloud of ecstatic madness. It was sad really. To the peoples of the old world, Maleficent was one of the few devious masterminds who'd ever made any step at towards redeeming herself. She'd made her peace with the incident with Princess Aurora, and settled down to live a tranquil life of solitude in her keep. Then something had changed, and she'd become fixated on her old enemy to the point where she spent the majority of her life plotting ways to ruin Aurora's.
"Maleficent, dear, how lovely to see you. Yes, it's been much too long." She turned to her other guest. "Gothel, you're looking well. Your girl's hair is doing wonders for your skin. You haven't looked so young in years."
Tina Ross, known in the world of fairy tales as Mother Gothel, gave a small smile, brows rising on her forehead. A curvacious woman, Gothel had the looks of someone barely over the age of twenty, with flawless ivory skin, and a curtain of wavy black hair that fell to her waist. She was much older than she looked, Gothel. Her lifespan was spread over nearly four centuries, kept afloat by the power of a very special flower, whose power now resided in the hair of a young girl.
"Regina," she said in a calm voice reminiscient of the queen's own. "Wonderful to see you." She glanced around at the empty chairs. A coy smile curved her lips. "Is it just the two of us you've called?" she gestured to Maleficent, who'd taken a seat and poured herself a glass of wine. "It would take an emergency for you to willingly call us all here to meet, but it would take something far worrse for you to call a select few of us. How interesting." She walked to a nearby armchair and took a seat, crossing her ankles daintily. "What is it you need Regina? I'm more than happy to help."
Regina didn't doubt that. But Gothel only gave help when it benefitted her own plans. And when Gothel's plans were involved, chances were at least one person would end up with a knife in their back.
"As am I" Maleficent put in cheerily, raising the wine glass to her lips."I'm always willing to help a friend in need. Always." The queen rolled her eyes. These days, in this world, Maleficent was beyond neurotic. One day, like the day she'd relieved her of the curse, she'd gone on about forgiveness and redemption, urging her friend to not take the path she was considering. Another day, she watched gleefully as half a truck's worth of mice were carted into her basement, where she giggled as frothing hot potion poured over their writhing bodies. In her madness, she'd began experimenting with what little magic the curse allowed her, trying to change the physical form of something other than herself.
Sighing, Regina paced the the window, peering through a gap in the tightly drawn curtains.
"My friends, I'm sure you've noticed the changes to our snug little hamlet as of late. The clock moving, King James waking up, and the developing relationship between he and Snow White."
"The curse is breaking" said Gothel. Regina nodded. "I suspected as much. Lately my magic has been more than adequate." A torrent of sparks flickered across her fingertips, bright, and healthy sparks ready to ignite anything they touched. Regina's eyes widened. She'd been afraid of that. When the curse had been cast she and her villainous allies had anchored their magic in it, sustaining the fabric of the alternate reality. Doing so had reduced most of their abilities to glorified parlor tricks, though that was a reasonable cost for an eternity in paradise.
"Your powers are returning to you" she said quietly. Her own magic had been reduced as well, assuaged by the fact that at any time, as the curse's caster, she could draw in it's collective might. But she hadn't felt herself growing stronger recently. She'd felt herself grow weaker.
"Mine as well" said Maleficent. The hand holding the wineglass morphed into a huge, scaly dragon claw, the glass balanced precariously on the sharp points.
"Have you any idea why that is, Regina?" Gothel asked with faux innocence. "Why is the curse breaking? Our friends won't like this at all. They've grown used to their lives of peace here, and have no wish to return. Well, except perhaps for the Troll King. He does miss his magic a great deal. It was a hard adjustment not being able to incinerate any who defied him. You have a lot to answer for, Regina. Why is the curse breaking?"
"I have a theory" Regina answered carefully. She was treading on dangerous grounds now. Friends or not, these two could become enemies at the drop of a hat. "It's why I've called you here tonight. Tell me, have you noticed our town's newest visitor?"
"The young man who held up the school?" Gothel asked. Regina nodded.
"Look's like one of mine, with that scar of his" Maleficent said, tapping a venemous claw against her drink. "His picture was all on the front page this evening."
"He may very well be one of yours, my dear. Though I can't be sure. His name is Caleb Montori, and he is far more than he seems. He is...a time traveller, from the days yet to come." Her guests stared.
"A time traveller?" Gothel queried, brows now gone above her hairline. "Is such a thing even possible?"
"Oh it's more than possible" Maleficent told her, chuckling. "Time is a fickle thing. Slippery, hard to control." Her eyes narrowed. "Only Gold would have enough power to turn back time."
"He and Montori have a deal" said Regina. "I believe it was he who sent him back in time. Though for what reasons exactly he did so, I cannot say. I was unaable to read the entire contract." Head aching, she massaged her temples. Here came the hard part. The bit of information that would changer her friend's views entirely. "Montori is my son, Henry. Nine years older. Apparently the curse breaks in the future. But somehow, it's breaking becomes our advantage. He's come back in time to break it again in a way he finds more favorable."
Gothel gaped. Maleficent laughed.
"Your son?" Gothel asked darkly.
"My dear, you'd better hope this news never reaches Jafar or Hook. They'd love to have a reason to scewer the boy like a piece of meat, lop off his head before he can do any damage."
Maleficent shook her head.
"We warned you he'd be trouble my dear" she tutted like a chastising parent. "Especially after he got that book, and started telling the whole town they aren't who they think they are. He'll have to be disposed of, Regina."
"He will not" the queen snapped, whirling to face them directly. "That is why I have called you hear. Montori may be Henry's future, but he is not Henry, he is not Henry's fate, and he is certainly not my son. My son will grow into what I wish him to be. Not this traitorous boy with nothing but a few skills with a sword and a handful of fae blooded magic tricks. I'm changing his future my friends. And you're going to help me."
Gothel and Maleficent exchanged a look.
"Of course, Regina" Gothel said. A rare softness was etched across her face. "I'd be happy to help avert the boy's less than stellar future. Gods only know what I would do in your shoes, if an older Rapunzel were to appear and try to ruin everything."
Inwardly, Regina smirked. Gothel had been a wise choice. The two of them had a lot in common, you see. Both of them were witches who lusted for power, for control. Both had done terrible, terrible things. And both of them had adopted a child who they'd genuinely grown to love.
With a heart twisted by centuries of evil deeds, Gothel's love for her kidnapped daughter was perhaps the only glimmer of goodness inside her. And it made her all the easier to control. Regina had a similar glimmer of her own. But she'd acknowledged that, and refused to let it make her weak. Power and position were all that really mattered in the end.
"I'll help as well" Maleficent said, setting down her empty glass. "I'd very much like to study time travel. The curse as well. All very convaluted magic, these things. Now, Regina, what would you have us do?" Regina smiled.
"First, we need to discover what assets our enemy possesses. He's a fae blooded, and a fairly powerful one if his eyes are any indication. He has a vast knowledge of the old world and it's inner workings. Magic, politics, stories and legends. He knows it all. He's much like Henry, in that respect. But what really needs digging into is his mother, Emma Swan." She paused. "You noticed of course that she was the first ever visitor to our humble abode. The day she arrived was the day everything started changing. The day the clock started moving. Admittedly, her pressence...troubles me."
Again she paused, considering her words. She couldn't make herself look weak with fear. Not now. "And not in the way you'd expect, what with her trying to steal my son. When she's near, I feel...strange. My hold on the curse feels distant. Not weaker, more fragile. We need to discover what she is, my friends. To discover why it is my son sought her out, and why the curse is weakening. Luckily, she's dining with me tomorrow evening. A heroe's feast for protecting the innocent little children. Maleficent, you will join us. Observe her, examine the flows of magic around her. You'll be needing a test subject, naturally. To see what effect she has on those cursed."
"I'll bring the girl" Maleficent grinned. "She missed work this morning. Pity. I was thinking of giving her leave next week. No matter now. I'll just dock her pay again. I'm curious to see what effect Swan will have on her. With a curse of this magnitude, there's no telling what breaking it could do. So many possibilities." She had a far off look in her eyes, as if experiencing a wonderous daydream, probably about ways she hoped to torture Sleeping Beauty and her prince.
Regina rolled her eyes. Even among their sort of crowd, Maleficent was paticularly petty with her revenge schemes. After all, she'd cursed an entire kingdom for not being invited to a birthday party, and had nearly been slain by a deaf prince as a result. The queen turned to Gothel.
"I want you to examine Montori more closely, Gothel. I need to know what he's made of. There's no doubt he'll know who you are. But he can hardly do anything to impede your study, chained to his hospital bed." Gothel nodded.
"Am I looking for anything in paticular?" Mulling through a person's body with magic was a long process that revealed much about the subject. But much of the information revealed was almost entirely usless. Medical readings, pulse rates. Other various facts about the body.
"Magic, of course. We need to get a gauge on just how powerful he is, and what spells he's capable of performing. Do not kill him, by the way. His deal with Gold keeps old Rumpels bound to something, and I won't turn away any sort of advantage, especially one on for old wounds as well, and how he got them. Anything that could help determine what sort of battles he's seen. Gold's made a wraith of him as well. Check his connection to it. See if we can figure out where it's hiding. To defeat an enemy, you first must know him." She met Gothel's eyes. The hardness faded from her expression for a moment. "Thank you, Gothel. I knew you'd understand my situation." And a daunting situation it was. Trying to protect her child while trying to orchestrate the downfall of an older version of said child.
"My pleasure" Gothel told her, standing up. She took Regina's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Henry's yours, Regina. No matter what Swan's done for him, you raised him, he's yours. Never let anyone tell you otherwise." Sincerity shone in her eyes, and Regina knew she meant every word. A small part of her felt guilty for evoking such compassion in her fellow witch. She'd done so to further her goals, not create a sense of kinship between them. Gothel turned towards the door, skirts swishing with her steps. Looking back over he shoulder, she said. "Whatever Montori is, he isn't your son. He won't even have a chance to exist when you're through with him. I'll have samples of his magic for you tomorrow evening. Perhaps then you'll tell me the rest of your plans. You do have plans you're not telling me, don't?"
It was a rhetorical question. Regina snorted.
"Of course" Regina said, looking out the window at the star speckled sky. "But I can hardly tell you of them now. Wouldn't want to put all my eggs in one basket, would I?"
Really short chapter, I know, sorry guys. There was a lot of stuff I wanted to squeeze in here, but then it would have been way too long. So instead of writing one oversized chapter I decided to make this scene a sort of interlude, and use the other stuff, (which will come out much faster than this one did) in the next chapter. Happy Reading!