Hi everyone! This new fic is a Dark OQ canon divergent fic (that'll eventually be a crossover) that occurs long after the events of seasons 6 and 7. It's also my Wish Realm entry for OQ Realms Week. Enjoy this first chapter, and let me know what you think! Cover by the amazingly is a tritalented There willow1411! so look at the bottom of the page for that if you feel you need to.
It had been nine years since Regina had given the Evil Queen, who everyone had long ago begun to call Queenie, a second chance at happiness. In that time, she and Robin of Locksley, the Wish Realm version of their soulmate, had not only fallen in love (they were destined to be together, after all) but had gotten married. And after years of hope speeches from the girl she had once tried to murder and the insufferable fairy who had first led her to the man who was now her husband, she had given birth to two beautiful twin daughters, Reina and Riley. She was living a life she had never dreamed she could have, and it was hers. She didn't have to sit on the sidelines as her better half mourned the loss of the thief who had started her on her path to redemption. Instead, she got to experience her own happiness as she ruled over the Wish Realm with Robin by her side.
Their seven-year-old daughters were currently racing through the halls of the Evil Queen's castle, which they had graciously accepted from Henry once the realms had all been connected by Regina. The pitter-patter of her children's little feet filled the Queen's heart with a joy she had never imagined she could have, but also filled her with a fear beyond comparison. She loved Henry and Roland dearly, they were her sons in every way and she cared about them as much as her girls, but something about having children who shared her flesh and blood made her want to protect her daughters with a ferocity beyond anything she had ever known before.
"Girls, no running," she called out, only for her words to fall on deaf ears. Her daughters were too busy having fun to heed her warning, but she shouldn't be surprised. After all, when had she or Robin ever enjoyed listening to authority? They were both more prone to action as they worked together to steal from the rich to give to the poor, making the kingdom a far better place to live than the Enchanted Forest had been under her rule all those years ago.
"But Mama, we're playing escape the ogre!" Reina exclaimed, looking over her shoulder as she followed her twin.
"Oh? And who, might I ask, is the scary ogre chasing you?" the Queen asked with a knowing smirk.
The minute she asked the question, a deafening "ROAARRR!" echoed throughout the hall. Robin ran past his queen, pausing for the briefest of seconds to plant a light kiss on her cheek.
He scooped up their seven-year-old daughters, one under each arm, amidst Regina's cry of caution. "Robin, be careful! They're children, not sacks of apples!"
"Precisely, they're children," he answered as he set each girl gently down on the floor and walked over to her, gathering her in his arms. "They need a chance to run and play, do they not?"
"Of course," she sighed, recalling how her mother had treated her like a marionette throughout her own childhood. Had it not been for her father and Daniel, she would have been entirely miserable growing up, and would have become the Evil Queen far sooner than she had in reality. "I just want to make sure that they learn how to take care of themselves, that's all. At the rate they're going and with your bad influence, they'll both have broken a few bones by their next birthday."
"Nonsense, love, they'll be fine," Robin insisted, kissing her forehead, then her lips. At their girls' cries of disgust, they broke apart, both grinning as Robin pointed out, "After all, they are the perfect combination of us. Together, they are unstoppable."
She couldn't resist her smile at that statement, knowing how true it was. Reina was the mirror image of her mother with her dark hair and eyes, but possessed her father's thieving ways, while Riley remarkably resembled her father with dark blonde hair and blue eyes, but had a spitfire personality, much like her mother. Robin was right, one day they truly would be unstoppable, fair and able rulers, much like their parents.
In the meantime, however, they were still children, older than Roland had been when she met him, but younger than Henry when that insufferable Mary Margaret had given him the storybook that had shattered her carefully constructed world forever, a fact that she was quick to point out to Robin.
"Exactly," he told her. "They need to be given the opportunity to make their own mistakes while they're young, or they won't learn from them and grow to be the wonderful women we both know they can be."
She sighed and nodded, knowing he was right. While she loved her thief with all of her heart and soul and it had been years since they had both renounced their dark ways, she still found it hard to believe when he started telling her the right thing to do. But it also marked how he had changed, and she was proud of him, and celebrated the changes she had seen in him since Regina had sent her to his world.
He grinned triumphantly and kissed her once more, the shrieks of their children making them both snicker when they parted. Though both were fans of the stories of princesses that children of the Land Without Magic only wished were real, both were adamantly against public displays of affection shown by their parents.
Suddenly, they heard giggles and shouts of, "Tag, you're it!"
Both girls were running off again, their father close behind them. Queenie shook her head. Sometimes, she wondered if she was raising three boys instead of two.
Suddenly, she heard a crash and she rushed to the entrance hall of the castle. It seemed that Riley had collided with a suit of armor, which had fallen on top of her. Robin was currently busy lifting the suit of armor off of his daughter, who was whimpering, tears streaming down her face as well as Reina's.
Queenie's eyes shot daggers in Robin's direction. "What did I just tell you?" she asked, gathering Riley in her arms and checking for any injuries with her magic.
Never one to back down, her husband stood firm. "It was only an accident, lovely-"
"Only an accident?" she repeated incredulously, pointing down at her daughter's leg. "Your daughter's leg is broken, Robin. Broken. That doesn't mean it's some simple bruise that'll heal in a matter of days, this injury will take weeks to heal, even with my magic."
"Love, it wasn't a life-threatening injury, she'll be fine," Robin attempted to soothe her, reaching out to her.
He should have known better. She threw one of her signature fireballs at him, and he dodged it. In the midst of the chaos, she heard the front door open.
She whirled around and froze in her tracks. The one and only Rumplestiltskin was standing before her, and by the look on his face, his presence did not bode well for her- or, more importantly, her family. His signature maniacal giggle filled the hall as he greeted her. "Well hello, dearie. Long time, no see."
She crossed her arms. He shouldn't be here. He must have gotten past the enchantments guarding her castle, and she made a note to remember to fortify them later.
And as for his words, why did he speak in nothing but riddles? It would be much more beneficial for them both if he spoke more plainly. She decided to just cut to the chase. "What do you want, imp?"
"It's not what I want- it's what I have, and whether you can stop it. Which you can't," he informed her gleefully as he held up what looked remarkably like a stress ball from the Land Without Magic that was a dark purple and about the size of her fist. "This may look like something from the Land Without Magic, but in fact, it will put your dear husband out of your life- and ruin your happiness- forever."
Refusing to show him how concerned she was, all she did was glance over at Robin. As mad as she was at him, she loved him too deeply to contemplate losing him.
To that end, she tried to snatch the mysterious ball from his hand using her magic, but he snatched it back, the ball like a yoyo as it bounced back and forth as they fought for control. At last, she sent a fireball straight at him and managed to simultaneously grasp the mysterious ball in the palm of her hand.
She could immediately discern that it contained an unfamiliar powder that, if crushed and inhaled, would likely kill the victim within less than a second. But for Rumple to claim that she would be unable to save her soulmate from the powder had to be inaccurate. Maybe she had been around her oldest son and those insufferable Charmings for too long, but she knew there had to be a way to reverse the powder's effects. At the same time though, she was unfamiliar with the specific powder that he had used, so she could be wrong.
In the time she had taken to contemplate the powder, Rumple had time to recover and before she knew what was happening, the powder had disappeared from her hands and Rumple had her soulmate in a headlock. Before Queenie knew what was happening, Rumple had shoved the powder down Robin's throat.
He had just enough time to lock eyes with her and choke out a fervent, "I love you, my queen," before he went limp and fell to the floor when Rumple vanished in a blur of red smoke, his work accomplished.
Queenie rushed to his side, her trembling hand cupping his cold cheek. If she had had any doubts that her soulmate was truly lost to her, the fading warmth in his face erased them instantly.
Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at her daughters. The other version of her had already lost their soulmate once, an experience that had been seemingly impossible to live through, the grief a never-ending ache in her chest. She had barely managed to live from day to day until she met Robin of Locksley, and while she had been devastated when the Merry Men had taken Roland, in a way she knew it was for the best, because she could barely care for herself, let alone a child.
This time, she had two daughters to raise without him, and looking up at their tearstained faces, she struggled to smile for them. How would she care for their daughters without him?
She stood and faced them. Regardless of the fact that she was lost without her soulmate, she knew she couldn't wallow. Yes, she didn't know how she would do this without Robin, but she couldn't give up on her daughters, so she supposed she was about to be reminded what it was like to stand alone.
***TW for major character death***... Just trust me.