The wind was whipping furiously in their faces as Zelena's flying monkeys carried them high over the treetops of the Enchanted Forest. Rumple smiled with relief when he realized just where the monkeys were taking them. Neal glanced over at his father and smiled as well; getting back to the others would be far too easy. The doors to the balcony of Rumple's castle opened quickly as the three of them were unceremoniously dropped onto the floor.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Rumple looked up to find a very green looking Zelena staring at him.
"You may be grinning now dearie, but when I'm through with you-" Rumple stood to his feet, though he was pushed back down by Zelena, who now towered over him with as satisfying smirk graced her features.
"Ah, ah, ah; try anything funny and I'll be forced to kill your beloved son. I'm pretty sure you don't wanna lose him, not after spending hundreds of years trying to find him," Neal was in Zelena's grasp in seconds, a dagger pointing at his jugular, slightly pressing into it.
"What exactly is it that you want from me?" Rumple sighed heavily as Zelena released Neal.
"Well, first I want your dagger; I know you have it on you, so go ahead and hand it over," Zelena held out a hand, though Rumple hesitated; he'd never given up his dagger to anyone, not even Belle.
"I think you need a little motivation," Zelena casually reached her hand into Neal's chest, pulling out his heart and squeezing it.
"Alright! Alright, just don't hurt him!" Rumple's eyes were wide as he looked at his son. He had searched so long to find him and he wasn't going to take any chances on losing him, not again.
"This was too easy," Zelena shoved Neal's heart back into his chest before pushing him in the direction of his father. Neal carefully lifted a terrified Roland into his arms and tried to calm him.
"Kidnapping me and taking my boy, I understand, but what does the child-"
"He's merely leverage; Robin happened to reveal an interesting little piece of information about he and Regina," Zelena was primly pacing back and forth across the marble floors of Rumple's great room.
"And what, pray tell, kind of information did Robin Hood-"
"Robin and Regina are soulmates!" Zelena's eyes filled with glee as she revealed the news.
"Ah yes, so you heard about the long lost prophecy eh?"
"Yes, I heard about the…what do you mean, long lost prophecy?" Zelena paused in front of Rumple with a frown on her face as he spoke.
"It appears I've said too much," Rumple smirked
"Tell me what you know about the prophesy or else you'll be explaining to Robin Hood why his son's heart is no longer in his chest," Rumple sighed heavily as he glanced over at Neal and Roland.
"I vaguely learned of it while we were trapped in Neverland; something about pixie dust…" Zelena stared hard at Rumple for a few moments before shaking her head.
"That sounds ridiculous,"
"It's very much true, and we both know the power of True Love," Rumple taunted as Zelena shook her head.
"Yes, yes, I know all about how that pesky True Love works; but if I could find a way around your Dark Curse, it'll be nothing to find a way around True Love," Rumple said nothing; instead, he stared long and hard at Zelena.
"I'm curious; why exactly is it that you've taken the boy, aside from learning that Robin Hood and Regina are soulmates,"
"He's here for the same reasons I took your son…though I'm beginning to think I should've gone after your little girlfriend instead,"
"You lay one hand on Belle-"
"Careful Dark One, I am your master now," Zelena held the dagger out in front of her, as though she were going to command Rumple to do something; immediately he was quiet.
"Now, that's more like it," Zelena took a deep breath as to control her emotions before focusing her attention on Rumple.
"About a year ago, that pesky little witch Glinda paid me a visit, she told me of a prophecy, one that stated that I'd be defeated by some powerful witch…I'm pretty sure by now you know what witch I'm talking about," Zelena paced back and forth as she explained her encounter with Glinda to Rumple.
"Yes, it seems that your plans are far more clear now that I know the motivation behind them," Rumple said.
"Good; now, you're going to tell me exactly how to defeat Regina, and that's an order, Dark One," Zelena held the dagger out in front of her again, though this time Rumple could feel the tendrils of magic, pulling at his very being.
"Well, tell me!" Zelena shouted as Rumple looked up at her, a pained expression on his face.
"You can't," Zelena cried out indignantly in response to Rumple's answer.
"What do you mean I can't!?" Furious, Zelena used her magic to toss Rumple across the room.
"Do not play games with me Dark One or I will force you to kill your own son! Tell me, how do I defeat Regina!?" Rumple tried desperately to catch his breath as he moved into a sitting position, though Zelena was directly in his face again, the dagger mere inches away from his neck.
"You can't; if you did, you'd be playing with fate; and that's not something you wanna mess with," Rumple managed to choke out, taking Zelena by surprise.
"What do you mean?" Zelena was suddenly curious.
"It means that my suspicions about who you were, were right," Zelena frowned as she looked down at the imp.
"What are you talking about; I don't need riddles I need to find a way to-"
"Destroy Regina? I know; I've already told you that you can't…it is your destiny to be defeated by Regina, and we both know how destiny works," Zelena was furious; there had to be another way, there just had to!
"Fine, tell me everything you know about Regina, and I mean everything,"
oOoOo
The clearing was quiet after Zelena's flying monkeys left, taking with them Rumple, Roland, and Neal. Hook, David, and the Dwarves were in charge of putting back up the tents while Granny served meals. Meanwhile, Tinkerbell and a few other fairies put up a new protection spell, seeing as no one was sure if the flying monkeys would return. Meanwhile, in another tent, Snow White sat cleaning the wounds of her step mother.
"Those things could've killed you, y'know," Snow's voice was gentle when she spoke, though Regina didn't look at her.
"Is that what you wanted, Regina? To die?" Regina still refused to look at Snow, but quietly responded.
"No, not really; but it would've saved me from all of the pain that I'm feeling right now,"
"Regina, I know you're hurting but-"
"Do you, Snow? Do you really know what I'm feeling? I spent nearly a month on an island with people who hated me; before that, I was tortured for two days. Before that, my mother died and then I lost Henry. In the midst of all of that, I met my soulmate and allowed myself to fall in love with him and-"
"You're in love with Robin?" Snow's voice was filled with excitement, which she quickly tampered down on at the menacing look on Regina's face.
"I was or...I thought I was but…he lied to me, Snow. He put us all in danger and cost me my son; that can never be forgiven," Regina's voice was firm, though Snow could see the pain in her eyes, and all of it didn't come from losing Henry.
"Regina, we both know that Robin lying to you wasn't by choice; what would you have had him to do? He had just gotten Roland back; what if you were in his shoes, what would you have done?"
"I would've done everything I could to protect Henry," Regina said immediately.
"Then how can you blame him for doing exactly what you would've done? I'm not saying that you can't be hurt by what happened, but he's lost his son for the third time now," Snow placed a sympathetic hand on Regina's shoulder once she had cleaned and bandaged her wounds.
"I know this is going to be hard for you, not seeing Henry, trying to figure out what the Wicked Witch wants with you; but I'm sure that Henry wouldn't want you going through this alone. I promise you, Regina, we will defeat Zelena and we will get back to Emma and Henry," With that Snow stood and left the tent, presumably to help the others prepare for the night and the trip to Regina's castle the following morning.
oOoOo
Once Snow was gone, Regina stood up, stretching her limbs and popping her joints. She knew for certain that she looked a mess; if the way her body felt was any indication, she was in horrible shape. It was too soon to use magic; she was still woozy from using it to get everyone back to the Enchanted Forest. For now, she would have to suffer through the pain. Taking a calming breath, Regina made her way out of the tent in search of Robin Hood. It didn't take her long to find him; he was standing over what looked to be a shallow grave, more than likely belonging to one of his Merry Men.
"I'm sorry, Robin," Regina's voice was soft when she spoke, causing Robin to turn and look at her.
"Milady, you're injured," Robin immediately stood from his spot of mourning and moved towards her, carefully reaching out to touch her cheek.
"I'll be fine," Regina said dismissively.
"Can your magic fix this, your injuries I mean,"
"I'm taking it easy on the magic," Regina said softly.
"As you should, getting us here took a lot more out of you than you were expecting," Robin smiled.
"Speaking of us getting here…Robin, I-"
"I owe you an apology," Robin began, though this time it was Regina who cut him off.
"You don't owe me anything; I had no right to react the way that I did,"
"Regina-"
"He's your son; and I would've done the exact same thing with Henry if I were in your shoes," Regina felt her throat tighten at the mention of her son and did her best to swipe angrily at the tears that had begun to fall.
"It's alright to miss him you know," Robin gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"No, I can't, because if I do…" Regina felt her breath hitch as she was overwhelmed with grief at the thought of never seeing her son again.
Instantly, Robin had gathered her in his arms and together, they cried out their grief over their missing sons.
oOoOo
"…And so Regina possesses light magic?" Zelena stood listening to everything Rumplestiltskin told her about her new nemesis.
"She does, but she's new to it, but with time-"
"She could master it; and I assume that this, soulmate thing with Robin Hood makes it stronger?"
"Possibly," Rumple nodded.
"Don't beat around the bush with me, I want straightforward answers; yes or no. Could Regina's relationship with Robin make her light magic stronger?" Zelena demanded, using the dagger for leverage.
"It could if say…a child were to come into play," Rumple's eyebrows raised in suggestion.
"You mean like a baby?" Rumple nodded.
"But I thought you said Regina couldn't have children?" Zelena raised an eyebrow.
"She can't…"Rumple replied though Zelena caught the look in his eyes.
"What aren't you telling me?"
"Regina could never have children with the king; but with Robin Hood being her soulmate…"
"Anything is possible," Zelena swore out loud as she began pacing back and forth.
"What do you know about the Gray?" Zelena turned and asked Rumple who sighed heavily.
"Gray magic is only a myth; or have you forgotten our lessons on it,"
"You said that while it was a myth, that it could potentially be true; now, tell me all you know about it," Zelena commanded.
"Gray magic is like I said, an old wives tale, passed down by many a-sorcerers. It's said that any evidence of the Gray was destroyed when those who were said to be potential carriers of it were killed by the magic council. Though if the gray were still to exist, it would be considered as untamed, wild, unpredictable magic,"
"So you're saying that it's-"
"Unlike anything the universe has ever experienced," Rumple explained as Zelena paused.
"Is it true that it has the power to destroy light and dark magic?"
"The stories suggest that while it cannot completely destroy it, it can subdue it; but the implications of trying to subdue such magic would be dangerous," Zelena hummed in concentration.
"And exactly how would I go about destroying light magic?" Zelena asked, a sinister smile on her face as Rumple sighed, feeling the magic rush through him, forcing the answer out of his mouth.
"If the Gray did exist, you would need the forged blades of Excalibur and the blade of the Dark One. This sword and this sword alone has the power to cut down any and all magic," Zelena smiled wickedly at Rumple before asking her next question.
"Is it possible for a child born of soulmates to possess gray magic?"
"It's possible," Zelena grinned wickedly before disappearing into a cloud of green smoke.
Once he was sure that Zelena was gone, Neal immediately rushed towards his father, young Roland hesitantly following behind him.
"Are you alright papa?" Rumple smiled at the old moniker that Neal used, pretending not to notice.
"I'm fine son,"
"How are we gonna get outta here?" Rumple turned to his son and smiled once more.
"We don't," Neal frowned.
"We don't? But papa-"
"Zelena may have my dagger, but that doesn't mean she has the whole story,"
"What do you mean?"
"Zelena seems to have forgotten about my seer's power,"
"So that means…"
"That means that no matter what she does, she's still going to die," Neal looked at his father and smiled.
"There's something else I don't know, isn't there?" Rumple simply smirked and nodded his head.
"What's coming next is something that no one would've expected; you see, when I first met Zelena I sensed something about her that made me start digging into her background,"
"What'd you find out?"
"I found out that Cora broke a deal with me, though this is one deal I'm glad she did break," Neal looked at his father as if he'd grown a third head.
"What does Regina's mother have to do with any of this?"
"Cora has everything to do with this; you see, fate has a way of bringing things full circle. Cora broke a deal with me and now, I'm about to reap the rewards of her breaking that deal," Neal looked at his father and shook his head.
"This is some mystical Dark One stuff that I'm never gonna get, right?"
"As long as we're here and Zelena has my dagger, the truth can never be revealed,"
"Okay, so how the hell do we get out of here?"
"We don't, but we have to make sure that little Roland here does; and when he does, he's going to deliver some very important information to our friends that could potentially save us all,"
Chapter 25 to follow…