Second Star to the Right
Hook was going through every manner and method of murdering another he could possibly come up with in his mind as he led Lyssa towards Regina's office. The girl was shaking in his arms, both from her ordeal of being overpowered by Greg and Tamara, but also from how her mother had given herself up to free her. He knew Lyssa well enough to know that she was also berating herself and likely feeling immense guilt over the turn of events. The girl was capable, she had survived on a pirate ship for a year, had lived under the rule of the 'Evil Queen' for longer, and she knew how to protect herself. She could handle a sword as well as any pirate he'd ever met, she had magic even if she believed it weaker than most.
But he also knew she could be so focused on a task that others could sneak up on her, especially when she was worried. Having both her mother and her love facing a dragon had likely distracted her enough that she hadn't heard Greg and Tamara approaching. And, being so startled, she may have been able to magically throw away any weapons they had, maybe even cast the two back a few feet, but there were two of them and one of her and all they had to do was get that cuff on her wrist.
He silently cursed himself for that. The cuffs had come from him, from the beanstalk. They had torn through his pockets and found them. He hadn't thought much of it when they kept them. He hadn't cared enough, they were just cuffs. Now though, knowing they'd done something that made it impossible for someone to use magic? He hadn't stuck around long enough to hear their plan when they offered to work with him. He'd spun some sort of tale about how he could lure Regina to the woods for them to capture. Clearly they hadn't trusted him as much as he hadn't them. They had followed him, gotten to Lyssa because of his arrogance in thinking he'd fooled them.
Lyssa bit her lip in a way he knew meant she'd just thought of something terrible, drawing his focus back to the present, "It'll be alright, love."
She nodded, "It will be. We'll get her back, Killian."
"Aye, love, we will," he wound his arm more tightly around her, "Even if we have to go to the heroes for help. The Dark One, even."
For him to say that, she knew that he truly wanted to help her get her mother back.
She shook her head though, "They won't help," she disagreed, the same thought having gone through her mind only moments ago, "Even though she gave herself up for me, they'll still see her as a villain."
And wasn't that just the entire problem wrapped in a bow. Regina could do something so utterly selfless as sacrifice herself for her daughter, and the heroes wouldn't care, wouldn't see it as a sign that they had her wrong. They might help, MIGHT, if Henry asked them to, though she didn't know where his heart was at the moment, one moment Regina was his mother the next a villain to be defeated. And even then, it wouldn't be because of how Regina sacrificed herself and it HAD to be a sign she was 'good deep down' but because someone asked them to, because a potential 'hero' asked them to.
Lyssa closed her eyes a moment, "This is why we never told anyone," she murmured, trying not to cry, "We never should have said…"
It had been so tempting, she knew, for her mother to finally reveal her daughter. It had seemed like a safe thing to do now. In this world, without a thought of being able to go back to the Forest, where the heroes had more laws to stick to, with their savior upholding those laws, with the Dark One no longer needing his Dark Curse, with Cora trapped in the Forest. It had finally seemed safe enough to reveal it.
They were wrong, they were so wrong, and now her mother was paying for it.
It hadn't been kept quiet through the town that she was Regina's daughter, everyone and their brother knew who she was by now. Even Greg and Tamara. And they hadn't hesitated to use it against Regina.
They kept quiet about their relationship because she knew that her mother would do absolutely anything to keep her daughter safe, surrender, give up, anything. And she refused to be used in such a way as to have it cause hurt to her mother.
She hadn't practiced her magic much in the last year, not aboard the Jolly Roger, she was rusty and the few times she'd used it here hadn't prepared her for a surprise attack from anyone. She should have practiced, kept sharp, she wouldn't have been taken so easily but the three of them were so sure they were ahead of Tamara and Greg/Owen. It was her fault her mother had been taken.
She couldn't bear to go back to her mother's house, not right now. And there was nothing at the house that would help her get her mother back. But…there might be at her office. It was one of the most secure places in Storybrooke and if she could get to the beans, the magic beans, maybe she could create a portal to take her right to her mother. It was a long shot, she didn't know much of how portals made by the beans worked, but she knew enough to hope. She needed to feel like she had SOME way of helping her.
Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one with a similar idea. Though she doubted the heroes currently taking up residence in her mother's office had come to help her.
Just through the still open doors she could see Prince Charming, Snow White, Emma, and Henry standing there.
"…she's keeping the beans here," Charming was saying as they gathered by the corner of her mother's desk.
"Was keeping them here," Snow White countered, "They're gone."
Lyssa nearly stumbled hearing that, leaning heavily on Hook as he cursed under his breath, though the heroes hadn't seemed to hear them approaching, so focused were they on their discussion.
"Something's not right," Emma said, "Regina would never leave evidence like this behind."
Lyssa took in an angry breath through her nose at those words. Evidence? So now, yet again, the heroes were accusing her mother of another crime. What now? What had she done this time? They were growing magic beans on a public plot of land, whether it was under an invisibility spell or not, it was public and any one was entitled to take what they wanted. They had taken a small stalk, nothing even noticeable. So what now? What happened that they were so sure Regina had done? What evidence did they think was there? What counter-evidence would she be giving now that the heroes would disregard and ignore because it didn't fit their idea of what happened? She had been at her mother's side through all of this, so little happened with Regina that she didn't know about. So what would happen now? She would tell them her mother didn't do what they thought because she was with her at that time? And then they accuse her of lying for her? It was a vicious cycle with heroes wasn't it?
"Maybe she already used them to portal out of Storybrooke," Charming suggested.
"Without Henry?" Emma shook her head, "I don't think so."
"What if something bad happened to her?" Henry spoke, the first sign Lyssa heard that indicated he cared even a smidge about his mother.
Though a bitter part of her wondered if Henry was just asking because the hero in him hoped something had finally stopped the 'Evil Queen.'
"Something DID," Lyssa finally spoke, her voice hoarse, as she and Hook entered the room, flinching back when Charming and Emma instantly pulled their guns and turned them on her.
"Put those down!" Hook snapped, anger seeping into his words, "She's been held at gunpoint once today already!"
Emma frowned deeply at that, lowering her gun, "What happened?"
"It was Greg," Lyssa cleared her throat, "And that Tamara woman…"
"I knew it!" Emma nearly hissed.
"They took my mother," Lyssa's face scrunched before she took a breath and forced herself to be strong, it would not help her mother to break down, not now, tears wouldn't get her back, "They forced a magic suppressing cuff on her wrist and dragged her away."
"Where?" Charming demanded.
"Would we be here if we knew?" Hook glared at the man.
"We were coming to take a bean and use it to portal to her," Lyssa rubbed her head, "I'm assuming that won't happen?" she pushed away from Hook and past the heroes, frowning down at the stalk of beans seeing the stalk remained but there were no beans left on it, "Wonderful…" she sighed, turning to the heroes, "I doubt you'll let me pick any more?"
"You can't," Snow White told her, a small glare on her face.
"And why's that?" Hook demanded.
"She knows why," Charming stated.
"I really don't," Lyssa gave him a firm look, "So why don't you tell me why."
Emma frowned, her superpower telling her that Lyssa was being honest, she really didn't know why it wasn't possible for her to get more beans, "The bean field was burned to the ground."
Lyssa crossed her arms, "Let me guess, you think mother did it."
"We know she did," Charming countered.
"How?" she challenged, "Another faulty dream-catcher showing her committing a crime with no suspicion that it was someone else in disguise?"
The heroes were silent, clearly they really didn't have any answer, just more assumptions. The field was burned and the automatically assumed one of her mother's infamous fireballs had done it instead of some random, non-magical person with one of those small wooden torches that lit quickly.
"We had one small shoot of beans, why would we burn the rest when we weren't sure the ones we had would grow?" Lyssa reminded them, "Now someone's stolen the ones we had and at the same time the rest of the beans are burned?" she shook her head.
"Sounds like the one who stole these beans is the same one who burned the others," Hook defended, moving to Lyssa's side, "Mayhaps find them and you'll find the true culprit."
Lyssa took it as a small victory that Henry didn't jump to accuse his mother of this crime despite her words, she took it as a tiny bit of a bigger one that the heroes didn't continue to insist it was Regina either. There was logic in what she and Hook had said. And without evidence proving it was Regina, they had to entertain the possibility that it could have been someone else.
"Tamara and Greg," Lyssa murmured, looking up at the heroes, "If they were after mama, they might have searched for her here and at home too…"
Emma was struck with a thought and moved over to the computer, quickly searching for something, "Security system says the last time someone was in the office was around 6:00 this morning," she tapped a few more buttons, trying to see who it was, "They used an override code to get in."
"Mother wouldn't need an override for her own alarm," Lyssa pointed out.
"It's not exactly proof that someone else broke in and took the beans," Snow White pointed out.
Emma shook her head, her gut telling her it was them, "Even if they didn't take the beans, they took Regina," she looked at Lyssa, "They're holding her somewhere and god knows what they have planned for her. We need to find her," she looked at her parents, "I'm going to search Tamara's room, see if I can't find any clues, I'll search Greg's too."
Before anyone could even counter, Emma was rushing out.
Lyssa swallowed hard before pushing herself off of the edge of Regina's desk where she was resting, gathering herself, and heading for the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" Charming called, tugging Henry closer to him when Hook moved to follow her.
Lyssa paused in the doorway to turn and face them, "Where any other desperate person goes," she remarked, "Rumpelstiltskin," she answered, "He must have some way to find my mother."
Hook grew grim at her words, but gave her a nod of support when she looked to him, the two of them stepping out of the office and leaving the heroes to their worries.
~8~
Regina was unnaturally calm even as she lay strapped to a table in an old room of the Storybrooke Cannery, there was something that made her more sure of herself even being held so powerless. She might be there, but Lyssa wasn't. Whatever Greg was planning to do, it wouldn't happen to Lyssa, and that was all she needed to know to endure whatever was to come.
Being left alone by the man, she didn't think he realized she could hear him through the open doorway to the other room. She could hear him and Tamara talking, they had gotten hold of the magic beans. She would have to do something about it after she got out of there. The same as she would have to make sure to get the trigger back too, Greg had taken it off her, searched all her pockets and found it.
The only good thing was he didn't know what it was.
A bad thing was neither Greg nor Tamara were operating alone, they kept talking about a 'home office' they reported to. Someone else out there knew about Storybrooke and about magic.
She glanced over to the side when she saw them wheel in some sort of device on a cart.
"Good morning, Regina," Greg greeted.
"This part of your 'mission?'" she asked, unable to help tensing when he began to place pads with wires connected to the machine to her temples.
"No. This...this is personal. See, this is about my father…"
"I already told you, he left town," she insisted.
That was the curse of villains, even when they told the truth, others never believed them. The man had not literally left the town, as in stepped over the town line. But he had left town, in the same manner one might say another has left this earth. They didn't become an astronaut, but they were not part of the earth any longer, neither was Greg's father, and he would never believe her if she told him how the man died.
She didn't want to come out and say what happened though anyway. Despite this situation, despite the man little Owen had become, a part of her still cared for the child he had been. No one wanted to find out that their parent had died, she wanted to spare him that, let him live in hope as long as she could.
"Yet he never came to find his only son?" the man scoffed, starting to turn on the machine one switch at a time.
"Is that supposed to frighten me?" she asked with a snort, she had been tortured by her mother most of her life, lived with the Dark One looming over her shoulder for the rest of it, he would have to do better than that.
"Well, it should. You see, this is how we deal with your kind. And yes, it's going to be unpleasant. Now, exactly how unpleasant…" he chuckled, "Well, that depends on you. Now, where is my father?"
Regina tensed as the machine was activated, her face grimacing in pain as she felt electricity shoot through her.
But she kept silent.
~8~
Lyssa knew Hook would not be pleased with her decision to enter Mr. Gold's pawnshop by herself, but she doubted his presence would be welcome or make the man any more likely to help her. He was waiting just outside the door, likely staring at her through the window. But she had seen Lacey within and she hoped the girl might be just the tiniest bit thankful to Regina for 'restoring' her memories that she might not let Gold hurt the woman's daughter.
It didn't stop her hands from shaking as she knocked on the door, it didn't keep her from trembling as she entered. She had gone quite pale, her heart racing, beating furiously in her chest, and her ears were ringing as she slowly approached the two having a drink together. She was utterly terrified, never having had to face down this man who destroyed her mother's life, and nearly destroyed her own, without her mother beside her. Even with Lacey right there...it did little to truly comfort her as she had seen the woman grinning and laughing as the man tormented others. She just had to hold onto that hope that Lacey would feel indebted to Regina.
She swallowed hard, calling out lightly, "Hello?" she winced at how her voice shook, just barely managing not to stutter as well, "I'm sorry to disturb you…"
Gold's expression, which had been grinning and delighted at Lacey, morphed into one of displeasure, "We're closed."
Lyssa froze where she stood, her hands clasped and wringing before her, feeling petrified now that his attention was on her.
"Oh come on Mr. Gold," Lacey whacked him on the arm, grinning at Lyssa, not seeming to notice the small panic the girl was having, "I owe her and her mother for helping my memories come back."
Gold seemed a cross between pleased she had memories and angered at the minor hand she had had in it, "Do you?"
"Mother did most of it," Lyssa insisted, needing HIM to feel indebted to Regina too...and feeling very much like she was in over her head with this. Blackbeard had been less frightening with Killian's life in his hands and her alone facing his entire crew by herself than this was, "And that's why I'm here," she took a breath and forced herself to look at Gold, trying to appear braver than she felt to be staring down the Dark One, the man who would likely love to kill her two times over for her mother and Hook, but she was desperate and she knew Rumpelstiltskin loved a desperate soul, whatever would appeal to him, she'd do in a heartbeat, "I need your help. Mother was kidnapped and I know she's in danger. I don't know where she IS."
"If only you were her real daughter," the man nearly sneered at her, making her flinch, "You'd be able to find her the same way I found my boy. Sadly you're not. Now if you'll excuse me…"
"If it wasn't for mother, Lacey wouldn't remember who she is," Lyssa reminded him of the girl's own admission, "You owe her."
Gold glared at her for trying that card with him.
Lyssa took a deep breath and a step back, her mind racing for anything she could say to make him agreeable...and there was only one thing she could think of, "You can put it back on the table," she said, knowing he would understand what she meant even if Lacey looked confused, "What mother had you take off."
The threat against her, the way he couldn't go after her because of Lacey being restored thanks to Regina. Her mother had made it very clear that threats to her were off the table now, so...so if she put them back on, let her be a target of the man's wrath and vengeance, maybe he would help. If it meant her mother was ok she didn't care what torture or harm he dealt to her, just...save her mother. She blinked rapidly, feeling tears come to her eyes both for what she might be condemning herself to, but also for fear of what might be happening to her mother even now.
Gold nearly smirked, whether it was her offer or the tears in her eyes she didn't know.
"Do we have a deal?"
"Lacey," he spoke, not taking his gaze off of a shaking Lyssa, "If you could excuse us, I have some business to attend to."
Lacey could tell it was a dismissal and huffed, "Make it quick," she muttered, moving to the back room.
He waited till she was gone before he moved over to a series of drawers and cabinets, beginning to search through them, "I'm sure I can whip up something to find Regina, but tell me, truly, what makes you so loyal to the Evil Queen?"
"She's my mother."
He scoffed at the simple answer. Here was a girl selling her safety away, painting a bright red target on herself, all for the sake of the Evil Queen? And she expected him to take that as the answer? He shook his head, "And Bae is my son, doesn't mean he wants anything to do with me."
Lyssa was quiet a moment, not sure if he was genuinely asking or if he wanted to find some way to MAKE his son as loyal to him as she was her mother. It would make sense for the man to use anything she said to manipulate someone else, even his son.
"It's not the child," she said finally, "It's the parent."
It was a dangerous thing to say to the man as he hadn't helped her yet, hadn't truly accepted her deal. But he wanted an answer, and that was all she could say. Her mother, being who she was, the life she'd been given due to the woman, the love she felt for her daughter, it was only the tip of the iceberg for why she loved and was loyal to her mother.
Perhaps luckily for her, the Dark One seemed to not have expected an actual answer from her that he could use and merely turned, holding out a small bottle with a clear liquid in it, "This is one of Regina's tears."
Lyssa reached out and carefully took it, her mind leaping to what it meant, what it could be used for, "I know this spell…"
"Then you know it requires two tears," he remarked.
She nodded, though she didn't dare shed a tear now despite how they had been filling her eyes at the sheer anxiety she felt to be in the same room as that vile imp. Not when he might try to collect hers as well. She had learned from her mother to never leave anything behind so personal and connected to herself, especially not where the Dark One could get it.
She turned and left the shop as quickly as was humanly possible, taking a deep breath as she reached the open air, feeling as though she couldn't get enough air in her, it had been suffocating in there, her fear crippling her. Her entire body ached for how stiff she had gone when face to face with the man. Hook was at her side in an instant, "I'm ok," she told him despite how much she was shaking from the encounter, reaching out to grab his forearm to ground herself. Knowing what that man had done to her mother over all those years, he was utterly terrifying to be around.
"Was he able to help?" Hook asked, moving his other arm to the small of her back to guide her off.
She nodded, holding up the small vial, "I add a tear to this, and when I drop it in my eye I'll be connected to mother, no matter where she is. I'll see what she sees, I'll feel what she feels. Hopefully long enough to find her."
She just…didn't tell him how painful it would be to cast, he would never let her do it if he knew.
~8~
Lyssa clutched the vial in her hand as she stood in Regina's office, now empty save for her and Hook, the man blocking the door in case any unwanted heroes decided to barge in and disrupt the spell. He'd seen it happen more than once in his long life, spell casting being interrupted, it was better to be cautious.
"Ready?" he asked her.
Lyssa nodded, taking a breath and closing her eyes, not needing to think long or hard to conjure a memory that brought tears to her eyes. She still saw Cora ripping out Daniel's heart in her nightmares, though over the last few months there were instances where Daniel had morphed into Killian and driven her to wake up screaming or scrambling out of bed to seek him out and make sure he was still with her.
The tear came easily enough, falling right into the vial as she moved it below her eye. She opened her eyes and shook the vial, moving to sit down on the couch in a precaution against the pain. It would hurt more if she fell to the ground from a stand than sitting. The spell itself was uncomfortable at best, but given the things she had heard Greg muttering about as they waited for Regina and Hook to come up the elevator, she knew her mother was likely being tortured right now...and THAT was where the connection to her mother would cause her pain.
She glanced at Hook, offering him a shaky smile that had him frowning to see, before she quickly moved to pour the drops of tears into her eye, knowing he would work out from her expression how nervous she was about this, how tense. He had once said she was an open book to him, if he worked out she was afraid or anticipating pain, he would try to stop her.
There was only the briefest moment of calm before she tensed up in agony, curling up on the couch, and screaming.
She could feel Hook at her side in an instant, gathering her into his arms as she strained, feeling a fire unlike anything she'd ever encountered before racing through her veins and originating from her temples. She bit her lip so much she could tell she'd drawn blood, and forced herself to push past the pain. She knew pain, never this much, but her mother was so important to her to be so focused on how much it hurt that she couldn't help her.
She squinted against the tears building, seeing flashes in her mind, a room, Greg above her, a machine, wires, a door, the sky through a window. She could smell something, the ocean, the unique scent of sardines, salt, and…metal.
A flash of pain ripped through her again and she could almost hear Greg's voice demanding something about his father.
The last thing she heard before it became too much was the sound of her mother screaming (or maybe it was her) before blackness took her.
~8~
Regina wasn't sure how long it had been of Greg tormenting her before she finally had a reprieve, thanks to Tamara entering the room with a grin on her face.
"Everything's taken care of," the woman assured him.
"They bought it?" Greg seemed impressed.
Small tidbits came back to Regina as she lay panting. She could recall something about them being warned Emma had gone to Neal, something about evidence against Tamara, and how she needed to cut them off, cast doubt.
"As far as Emma and Neal are concerned, I'm just running along the beach," Tamara assured him, "How are things going with the Queen?" she asked, her last two words heavy with sarcasm.
"You know, she's not exactly cooperative," he shrugged, as though Regina wasn't lying right there. Not for the first time had he considered it might have been better to have taken that Lyssa girl instead. Regina would have cracked far faster if her precious daughter was being tortured instead. But he knew they'd have a harder time controlling and containing two sorceresses (and eliminating a bloodthirsty pirate) than one, and if he was going to torture anyone, it was going to be the woman before him, "But that's all about to change, right, Regina?" he looked down at her, smirking before he turned the machine on again, setting the level higher than the last time. He waited, watching as she merely groaned in agony before he turned it off, "Feel like talking now?"
"You have no..." Regina panted, "Idea who you're dealing with."
"Actually, no, YOU have no idea who you are dealing with."
She scoffed, "A couple of fools in over their heads who go around stealing magic."
"Stealing magic?" Tamara actually laughed at that, "That's what you think we're here to do?"
Greg shook his head, "We're not here to steal magic. We're here to destroy it."
"Magic does not belong in this world. It's unholy. We're here to cleanse this land of it."
Regina snorted, being careful with her words, hoping if she baited them correctly she could learn more about this 'home office' they mentioned, "You think you can destroy magic? Just the two of you?"
"Well, who said there's only two of us?" Greg challenged, "Oh, we're everywhere, Regina. See, after I left Storybrooke, as a boy, I was babbling about magic, about what I had seen, and what had happened to my father. Most folks, they wrote me off. But some didn't. And they found me."
"They?"
"Believers. People that know that magic is real."
"And that it doesn't belongs in this world, and are willing to do something about it," Tamara agreed.
"This little quest of yours, to cleanse the world of magic, it's not gonna work," Regina warned them.
"No, of course it will. We've done it before, and we'll do it again," Greg insisted, "Do you think that Storybrooke was the first time that magic has crossed over?"
"Magic has been doing its damage for a long time," Tamara defended.
"And people like us," he grinned, "We're here to stop it."
He didn't let her get another word in before turning the machine on again.
~8~
"Lyssa!" Hook called, the girl lying along the couch, on her side, his hand running through her damp hair. Whatever the hell that had been, it had taken its toll on her, causing a sweat to break out across her forehead, tears to pour from her eyes before they'd rolled back into her head, and she was shaking like a leaf, "Lyssa, love, can you hear me? Are you ok?"
"What happened!?" another voice gasped and he looked up to see Snow White and her Prince in the doorway, the woman making to rush over but her Prince had enough soundness of mind to hold her back.
"We heard screaming," Charming stated cautiously, eyeing Hook as though he had been the one to cause Lyssa to scream.
Hook glared at them as they entered more slowly, "She took a potion from the Dark One that connected her to the Queen."
"Mama…" Lyssa breathed, drawing his attention back to see a clearness coming back to her eyes which had been so lost in pain moments ago.
"Lys?" he brushed more hair away from her face.
"They're hurting her," she murmured, blinking rapidly at the phantom pain she felt lingering through her, she had known they would, but feeling it...it was overwhelming, "She's powerless, they're keeping her magicless…" she scrunched her face for a moment before forcing her eyes open, "She can't fight back this time," she looked at Hook, "I saw Greg."
"Did you see where she was?" Snow White asked, getting enough of an idea of this spell to know it had truly connected Lyssa to Regina in a way where she felt and saw what the woman had.
Lyssa inhaled a shaky breath and moved to sit up on the couch.
"Easy, lass," Hook urged, helping her move.
Lyssa looked down at her hands, clenched in fists, and slowly uncurled them, "Her hands were bound," she began, her gaze on the small half-moon indentations her nails had caused in her palms, "Her legs too. It was cold and smelled like the ocean," she looked at Hook, "Like those sardines Smee loved to sneak. It was a building, old. I could see the sky through a window. It was cold and smelled like metal…"
Hook nodded and looked to the two heroes, gritting his teeth to have to ask them for anything, but for Lyssa he would, "Anything in this town sound like that?"
Charming and Snow looked at each other before the prince pulled an odd box-device from his pocket and moved it to his ear. He stepped away but Hook could hear the man speaking into the box, telling someone about what Lyssa had endured, what she had seen and smelled. Hook moved more onto the couch, sitting beside Lyssa, rubbing a hand down her back as she gathered herself, wiping her tears with the heels of her hands and sniffling in as she went over what she felt, looking for any other clues.
Two minutes later, Charming had stepped back into the room, grim, "Emma says to head to the docks, now," he looked to the two on the couch, "I think she knows where Regina is."
Lyssa, despite her experience, was the first to bolt out of the room at the man's words, Hook close behind with the startled heroes following.
Who would have guessed tears would, in fact, help get Regina back?
~8~
Hook was just barely keeping the grin off his face as he walked among the heroes through the halls of the Storybrooke Cannery. Prince Charming had tried to take command, to order Snow White and Lyssa stay outside the building. Before the man's wife could even try to argue, Lyssa had pushed herself forward, poking a finger in the man's chest and letting him know that she would not, under any circumstances, be left behind while her mother was in danger. So he could either move aside or she would go through him.
Never, not since he'd seen her acting the Pirate Queen, had he ever seen her look so much like her mother.
Regina would be proud.
Especially when Lyssa had shoved past the man and stormed into the cannery, leaving them little option but to hurry after her. He knew that, unlike in the library, Lyssa was prepared now, ready to face a threat. What little magic she possessed would be prepared to be used this time now that he'd pried the cuff off her.
Charming had, unfortunately, pushed ahead at some point and was leading them on, his gun out and ready as well. Which was just as well in Hook's book, let the man be attacked first.
A noise sounded ahead and they quickly hurried in that direction, rounding a corner, only to come face to face with Emma and Neal, Emma's gun in hand too.
"What the hell guys?!" Emma gasped, lowering her gun.
"Here," Charming handed her a walkie-talkie, "So that doesn't happen again."
Emma nodded, looking past him at the ones who came with him, not at all surprised to see Lyssa there though she was startled to notice Hook among them, "You four take the basement," she told them, "It's bigger. Neal and I will search the main floor. Regina's gotta be here somewhere."
They each shared a nod before turning to head off, a strange mix of hero and villain brought together for a common purpose.
~8~
And that purpose could only lie helpless on the table, panting when Greg ceased the torture for a moment at a knock on the window of the room, hurrying off to Tamara. Despite them being in the same room as before, the ringing in Regina's ears momentarily hindered her from hearing what was being said. It had only just started to dim down when Greg returned.
She could see him out of the corner of her eye turning the dial on the machine up, before he spun to her, "I'm moving up the timeline," he told her, a desperation and fear in his voice that made her nervous, he was in a rush now, "Now I'm going to give you one last chance," he moved to lean over her, "Tell me where my father is," he stared her down, but she said nothing, "Ok. Time's up."
Regina swallowed hard as he turned to the machine to turn it on, "Wait…" she called weakly.
He wouldn't be giving up unless he was about to be caught. She knew that rushed speed, that franticness that came with a plan about to crash and burn around you. Someone knew where she was, they were here, they were getting closer. And she knew, in her heart, Lyssa would be among them. Her daughter was tenacious, she would never sit by if others were coming to rescue her, and if it wasn't others, it would be her daughter herself along with the pirate.
If she could draw this out longer, wait a little bit more, someone would come and SEE him, he'd be caught. She just had to stall him a little longer…
"Where is he?" Greg demanded.
"Dead," Regina told him finally, a dark part of her unable to stop the smile that grew on her face at the horrified expression on his. After all the torture, any sympathy she felt for the man, for the boy he'd been, had vanished. Let him hurt as he had hurt her.
"How…"
This time she swallowed, her gaze flickering away as she admitted, "I killed him the minute you ran away."
"No, you're…you're lying to me."
Regina closed her eye for a moment. Was it a lie when someone believed it? When someone felt guilt for it? When it was their fault? Wasn't it the same thing as killing someone when they died because of something you did?
The stress and strain of his final moments in town, of Owen fleeing, how she had handled it…she was ashamed, looking back at it. Owen's father hadn't been able to handle everything that happened, he'd had a heart attack soon after Owen had crossed the townline. He'd been too far away from the hospital, he'd died before they had gotten him back for help.
It was her fault, it was all because of her actions the man had died.
It was her fault, she had killed him.
"Don't believe me?" she looked at the man, "Go see for yourself. I buried his body at your campsite."
It was the only comfort she could give the man, the only amend she could make for all she'd done, to bury him in the last place he and his son had been happy together, safe, without the madness of the town.
She took a deep breath, knowing she had to drag it on longer, stall, just keep stalling, "I doubt he gets many visitors there."
Why would he? She was too guilt-ridden to visit, she couldn't bring herself to go there, and Owen hadn't been able to enter the town till now.
"Now go ahead and kill me," she baited, seeing his face morphing to rage.
And wasn't that just the lot of a villain? That rage he felt? She knew exactly how he had taken her words, the same way any other hero would, he'd assume. He'd assume that she had physically killed his father, crushed his heart or poisoned him or stabbed him, done something that lived up to her reputation as the 'Evil Queen' to kill the man. He would never consider more natural means, more mundane ones, like a heart attack.
She felt like she had killed his father, and he would assume she literally did; like so many heroes he would never believe her if she said exactly how the man died but believe the worst of what little she did say.
And he'd get angry.
He wouldn't think about rushing off now, he would stay to truly hurt her, and if she could bear it, he'd be caught red-handed.
"I just wanted to see the look on your face when I…" this time she screamed when he activated the machine.
And he wouldn't even realize it was her way to draw the attention of anyone out there to the room.
"You feel that?" he sneered at her, "Huh? That's the end of you!" he turned the dial up more, slamming the button again to the point where she began to convulse, "That's scary ain't it!?" he turned the machine off for just the briefest moment, leaning over her once more, "Now you're never gonna hurt anyone. Ever again!"
He turned to the machine, turning it up to the highest setting he could, about to slam his hand onto the button, when the entire device when flying into the wall in a flash of white smoke. He spun around to see Lyssa standing there, Prince Charming bursting into the room just after her, the pirate close behind.
Lyssa ran straight for her mother, checking on her, "Mama…" she breathed as Regina seemed to just barely be keeping conscious. The second she had heard the screaming, she'd run off, not hesitating. All she could think about was getting to her mother and getting whatever was hurting her away from her. Her magic had reacted, throwing some odd box with wires into the wall as Greg began to reach for it.
She didn't even look at the man, knowing she was safe with Hook right behind her, even with Prince Charming who was more intent on stopping the man than checking on her mother.
"Don't move!" Charming warned Greg, approaching him...but the man bolted for a side exit.
"Go!" Hook shouted at him, seeing the man hesitate to follow, glancing at Regina.
"We have her," Snow White reassured him, she and Lyssa already working on the bindings holding Regina down.
A nod from Hook, a momentary truce, a promise to protect the women, was all Charming needed to rush after Greg, trying to track him down.
"We need to hurry," Snow White was mumbling to herself, "She'll die if we don't get her help soon…"
"Will that hospital be more accommodating to her?" Hook asked the woman, moving to scoop Regina into his arms as soon as she was free, the woman unconscious now.
"We gotta get her to Mother Superior," Snow White countered, "She can heal her faster than anyone in the hospital," she added, looking more to Lyssa at that, noting how the woman had stiffened at the mention of the fairy leader.
Lyssa took a breath, focusing on what was best for her mother, and nodded, "Agreed."
Hook nodded, heading for the door back the way they came, Lyssa close behind, with Snow White in the rear.
"Emma?" Snow called over the walkie-talkie, "You gotta block the exits."
"Already on it," Emma replied, "You guys alright?"
"We found Regina, with Mendell. He's coming your way."
Lyssa didn't hear much after, too focused on how pale her mother had grown, if anything happened to her…she'd never forgive herself.
~8~
Lyssa could not take her eyes off of the Blue Fairy as she healed Regina, the woman lying on the couch of Snow White's home. Hook was near the window, keeping watch in case Tamara and Greg were foolish enough to try and attack. Prince Charming stood a little further away, Snow White in his arms. Though Lyssa could half feel the princess staring a hole in her she would not look away, she trusted the fairy about as much as she would trust the Dark One, which minimal at best.
If that fairy tried anything…
"She'll be ok," Snow White spoke, directing her words to Lyssa, trying to comfort the girl who was clearly distraught and had gone through hell for her mother, "Blue is the best healer. She'll help."
"Forgive me if I don't take your word on that," Lyssa muttered, "But your pet fairy has already proven she'd refuse to help my mother in the past, save her from the fate you all forced her into. She even punished the ones who wanted to help, so I'm not so trusting that she will now."
Snow White frowned at that, noting how the Blue Fairy stiffened, hearing Lyssa, yet not denying or defending herself from anything said. So…somehow, in the past, Blue had had the chance to help Regina, to save her from becoming the Evil Queen…and refused? When had this happened? She bit her lip to tramp down the urge to ask. Even with her burning curiosity, she knew this was not the appropriate time to do so.
"I wish I was stronger," Lyssa murmured, "I could have healed her more..." she had done her level best to heal her mother on the way back to the loft in the hopes the fairies wouldn't be needed, she hadn't been enough.
The Blue Fairy stilled, glancing back over her shoulder even as she continued to use her magic on Regina, "YOU can heal?"
Lyssa's lips pursed, "Just because my mother is the 'Evil Queen' doesn't mean her magic was so tainted she couldn't teach me to heal and..."
"That wasn't what I meant," Blue cut in, "Forgive me, I was...merely surprised."
She did not add why she was so startled.
Let them think it was because of who the girl's mother was and not the fact that healing magic, even in its smallest form, was notoriously tricky and required immense power and focus to achieve. It was easy to destroy things, it was quite a great deal harder to repair them. If this girl could heal as she claimed to be able...she would need to be watched. She truly did doubt that the Evil Queen would have enough light and goodness in her to teach her child healing arts, which meant the girl must have learned it herself. And that was no small feat. To have a natural talent in healing was quite extraordinary. They would truly have to keep a close eye on this girl...
It was odd though, she thought, as she looked back down at Regina to assess her progress before she stood, her wand carefully trained on the cuff on Regina's wrist, dissolving it with a sigh of relief. The cuff, she'd been told both Regina and Lyssa had had one forced on them, yet only Regina's needed magical assistance to remove. The cuff was tied to a person's magic, the more powerful the person the harder to remove the cuff. Lyssa's, she'd been told, had come off easily at the hand of the pirate. So how could the girl have enough power to heal, yet not enough that the cuff came off?
Puzzling as it was, she had little time to contemplate it as Lyssa was at her mother's side in an instant, nearly shoving the Fairy back in her haste.
Blue turned to the Charmings, "Now that the cuff is off, she's gonna be ok. Given time and rest. Her magic will return."
"Emma?" David called as the door opened and a dazed and devastated Emma stumbled in, "What happened?" he moved to her side quickly, "What is it?"
"Where's Neal?" Snow White wondered.
Emma just shook her head, "He's gone," she looked to her parents, "She killed him."
Charming pulled her into his arms in a tight hug, "Emma, I'm so sorry."
"How...am I gonna tell Henry?"
Snow White moved to join them, thankful Henry was at the park by Granny's being watched over by the wolves.
"Mama…" Lyssa breathed, tuning the family moment out to focus on her mother as Regina began to blink awake.
"Lyssa…" Regina murmured, smiling slightly when Lyssa moved to grab one of her hands.
"You shouldn't have done that," Lyssa told her firmly despite the tears in her eyes.
Even at her worst, Regina managed to roll her eyes, "You're my daughter, Little Fox. I will always do anything to protect you."
"Not this," Lyssa shook her head, "Promise me you won't do this again."
"I can't do that, dear," Regina groaned a bit as she moved to sit up a little more, "Though, speaking of doing things we shouldn't…" she looked at her daughter, "You came after me."
"Of course I did."
"That was terribly dangerous."
"She wasn't alone," Snow White spoke, allowing Charming to lead Emma to the side for a moment to gather herself.
"YOU helped saved me?" Regina looked at her, not believing it.
"Yes."
"You really think we'd let you die?" even Charming spoke up, "Despite our differences, we're family."
"Mama," Lyssa frowned at her, holding her hand tightly in both her hands, pressed near her heart, "I didn't say anything before, because I know how much he favors the woods and the quiet and all that, but...maybe we should seek out the Huntsman?" she asked her, "This never would have happened if he was here…"
"Why do you think Graham…the Huntsman…would have helped her?" Emma nearly demanded, Graham still a sore spot for her.
"He would have protected mother," she looked from Emma back to Regina, "Did you dismiss him from his vows?"
Emma snorted though it sounded bitter and pained, "She dismissed him alright, she killed him!"
Lyssa frowned, "What?" she shook her head, confused, and turned to Regina, "Mama?"
Regina moved herself up more, "Lys…you remember what I said about the curse before I cast it?" she told her, tugging her daughter's hands down to hold in both of hers, "About their memories, what would happen if it was broken?"
Lyssa nodded, "Everyone would remember their pasts."
"And what happens if they remember before the curse is broken?"
Emma looked over sharply at that, startled that it was something the girl would apparently know, something Regina had told her even before the curse was cast. SHE hadn't thought it was possible for anyone to remember while the curse was in place, until Graham, but now she was finding out it had been a possibility all this time?
Lyssa's frown deepened, "They shouldn't," she said, "They can't, the curse can't be broken on a single individual person because it would still be active on everyone else. If someone's true memories began to come back while they were cursed they…" the way her face scrunched, it told all the heroes that it wasn't anything good, "They'd go mad," she whispered softly, "It would tear their mind apart until they…until they die from the pain of it."
"You're lying," Emma's voice was hoarse and desperate for it not to be true even though her gut told her it was.
Regina, however, was focused on her daughter, "He began to remember," Regina told the girl, "I couldn't stop it."
Lyssa let out a breath, working it out, "Was it…was it as painless as Danny?"
Regina swallowed hard, shaking her head, "It was before the curse broke, Lys," she reminded the girl, "I only had his heart."
Lyssa closed her eyes, knowing what that meant, the only thing her mother could have done was crush the man's heart to prevent such a gruesome death. She took a breath, nodding slowly, "It was a better death than he would have had."
"You're OK with this?!" Emma demanded of the girl, "She just admitted she MURDERED someone!"
Lyssa spun around to face her, standing up and blocking the woman's view of her mother as though to protect her, "It was the kindest thing she could do," she countered, "If he continued to remember before the curse was broken, it would have shattered his mind. Two lives is too much…"
"We all remember both lives," Charming stepped to his daughter's side.
"NOW," Lyssa pointed out, "AFTER it was broken. Imagine having memories surfacing while a curse is trying to push others to the front? It would drive you mad? Your mind would break down until it couldn't function any longer. He would have died, in agonizing pain," she shook her head, "What mother did was a mercy."
Emma swallowed hard, her gut twisting at how her superpower was screaming at her the truth in Lyssa's words, and looked over at Regina, the woman looking down, "You knew," she breathed, "That Graham was remembering."
"I did," Regina spoke.
It had become increasingly clear to her in how unwell and unsettled he looked, especially the last time they met. The strain of memories trying to resurface, how disoriented he had become, the drastic change in how he acted around her. It was all tell tale signs of an individual's memories resurfacing. He hadn't been making sense, that last time. She knew how it probably all seemed to Emma, but every question she asked, every thing Graham had said, every minute movement, all of it had told her what was happening to him, how near his real memories were.
Everyone else would think she killed him to keep him from remembering, because she'd lose an 'ally' given to her by the curse.
No one but Lyssa would know that she would have rejoiced if Graham had his memories back, she would have a genuine ally on her side, just one single person who knew the truth and didn't look at her like she was evil incarnate.
To have him remember HER and not the Evil Queen everyone else saw? Why wouldn't she want that?
But that was the point, he would have to remember and he couldn't, the curse was still active and his memories wouldn't resurface the way everyone's had after Emma broke the curse on the entire town. It would be fractured, disjointed, in pieces that the curse would try to break apart even more so it could force the cursed-memories back into place. There was no saying he would remember ALL of their time together, or maybe he would only remember it, or perhaps just his childhood and regress into a childlike mentality. Whatever he did remember would be constantly battered against by whatever memory the curse made to replace it.
No one but Lyssa would know that, no matter how much she missed the Huntsman as he was, it would be selfish to let his memories return for just that reason. Her daughter was right, if his memories returned before the entire curse was broken, he'd go mad, to the point where his mind shattered, or worse till it could not function any longer. She would not condemn a man like Graham to such a fate.
Did people really think she couldn't TELL when the curse on someone was being taxed? SHE cast this curse, she had an intimate connection to it, how else would she know who everyone was in this world? The curse connected through her, she could tell those who were affected by it, with the exception of Gold.
Graham hadn't looked well, it was true, she had said as much, it was a sign. How he had broken into her crypt, how he had even thought to seek answers in a crypt of all places, another. His resolve to remain with Emma when she tried to get him to leave, another sign. When he had instantly pulled Emma off of her when the woman retaliated, that instinct to defend her even as he tried to stand with Emma over herself. Something was wrong, he wouldn't be fighting so much unless it was a fight within him as well. She had even remarked about how he had changed all of a sudden, she had seen the signs there WAS a change, and any change in this town was just another sign things were wrong.
She could guess what Emma thought of the entire confrontation, how she had asked Graham point blank how he was 'leaving me for her.' Yet she doubted Emma noticed how flat her voice was, how she wasn't hurt by the notion, because it wasn't something she was hurt by. It was a test, to see what he would do, his entire tirade before that moment just showed her how conflicted he was. He hadn't been thinking straight, because he couldn't, the curse combating his memories was breaking his mind. The way he was before Emma arrived compared to the man before her? He wasn't the same.
Things carried over with the curse, like the Huntsman's feelings for her she'd quickly discovered, but...the curse was also intuitive. It took what she wanted and created life from it. Part of her had wanted the Huntsman to be able to move on, to love another, because she knew she could never love him the way he seemed to in the Forest. His attachment to Emma wasn't a surprise, but it HAD created the strain on the curse within him. Anyone else but Emma and Graham wouldn't remember, she was sure, but she also knew, had realized during that encounter, that it wouldn't have been anyone else but Emma that stole his attention.
Emma was her only open opponent. The Huntsman was a loyal ally in the Forest, determined to protect her from her enemies. It had taken her time to work out how Graham's memories began to come back, WHY they had. Part of him had been drawn to Emma for that reason, she was an enemy of the Queen, he had to protect her from Emma, but he didn't know WHY he was so drawn to her. The more he was around Emma, the more she opposed the Queen, the more part of him wanted to protect his Queen and come out but...it was also killing him.
It was going to kill him.
She was going to have to do something to save him from that agony.
And it was Emma's fault for being such a staunch opponent as to drive Graham to that point.
She had asked the woman what she had done to deserve this, to have Emma come after everything she held dear. Emma thought she meant Graham 'breaking up with her' but she was so wrong. It was a question truly full of hurt and despair...because there was only one thing she could do to spare Graham the agony awaiting him. SHE was going to have to take steps because Emma never would, wouldn't even know how to begin, wouldn't be able to help once more and more of his mind broke down. There were only three things still living she held dear, her two children and her friend, the Huntsman...and now her hand had been forced, because Emma just couldn't leave well enough alone.
And Emma still hadn't left it, even then, she'd gone on to poke at her worst thoughts, how her son and Graham had been so miserable they'd run to Emma and why was that?
She'd reacted in poor taste, punched Emma. But...in that moment, her mind had gone to Lyssa. To the daughter who had loved her, who was certainly NOT miserable, and who was lost to her. It wasn't HER, Lyssa was proof of it, but Lyssa wasn't there and her daughter might be dead for all she knew and Emma was standing there implying she should lose everything she cared about anyway. Emma had asked her why everyone was running away from HER. She was sure something of her pain had shown on her face before she'd snapped and punched her. All she could think about was Emma suggesting Lyssa would have run from her one day too and she could not handle that.
Graham's fate had momentarily been forgotten when she had attacked Emma and been attacked in return.
And Graham, despite his entire rant against her, had still protected HER over Emma, yanking the blonde off her, ordering Emma to stop, throwing her to the side, putting himself between the two women. He had stood there, beside HER, when Emma walked off, until she had tried to approach and he seemed to snap out of his daze and left her.
It was a testament to a lifetime putting on a mask around others that anyone watching or listening to the entire thing would have seen nothing but the Evil Queen. She had spent so many years wearing that mask around heroes, and clearly Henry thought Emma was one, she couldn't just take it off, she had to guard herself and protect herself. If Emma saw the hurt she caused, she would know she COULD hurt her, and she couldn't risk showing weakness, especially not with what she had had to do next. No one had seen how her hands shook as she held Graham's heart in her hand, no one had seen them shake still once it was over, and no one saw her breaking down after Graham's funeral for the awful choice she had had to make.
Sometimes the only choices someone had were bad ones, but you still had to choose.
Let Graham go mad to the point his mind shattered and he died in agony, or end his life before that happened and spare him that pain.
Either way she had lost and so had Graham.
And Emma had spent all this time thinking it wasn't anything to do with herself, as had Henry for bringing Emma there and sparking all this.
And she had never told them, because she blamed herself for not knowing how else to help or to stop it.
"I've known him for years," Regina murmured, "Cursed and not, all the signs were there."
Emma had to look away, not sensing a lie in what she said. It took her a moment to gather her words again, "You didn't kill him because he chose me, did you?"
She should have argued more, railed against what Lyssa was saying, but there was no lie she could detect in the girl either. It was true, it really was, that Graham would have endured a painful, prolonged death because he'd somehow managed to remember while still cursed.
"No."
Emma winced, still no lie.
For so long she had thought the woman had done it because of jealousy or the threat or Graham knowing who she truly was. But really…it had been Regina doing the most humane thing she could for the man.
Regina looked at Lyssa, thankful for her daughter's understanding, thankful to herself too that she had gone over every facet of the curse with the girl before she'd cast it so she would know what to expect. If she hadn't, it would have been a much harder conversation to have, to admit to. She closed her eyes tight, the mention of Graham, his death, reminding her that there were more important things right now, like the possible death of the entire town.
"Where are they?" she asked, looking to the others, "Where are Greg and Tamara?"
"They got away," Charming sighed. He'd run after Greg but he'd gotten too much of a lead on him.
"So they still have it."
"Still have what?" Snow asked, hesitant to know.
"They took the trigger?" Lyssa guessed, alarmed.
"A trigger?" Charming frowned.
Regina nodded, letting out a resigned breath, knowing they had to be told now that the town was in danger, "That will destroy Storybrooke."
"No!" Snow gasped.
"I had a fail-safe built into the curse."
"Why exactly were you carrying it around?"
Charming scoffed, as though it should be obvious, "She was going to destroy us, Mary Margaret."
"Why do you always do that?" Lyssa huffed, her hands on her hips, "Just...just jump to THAT being the reason."
"Because it is."
She shook her head, "Did it ever occur to you that if you use the beans, the TOWN would still be here? Empty? With no protection around it to keep other people entering? With the Dark One's shop with all his magical items still there and magic still HERE?" the heroes were silent, clearly not having thought that far ahead, "You would have left all that open to anyone to find. Mother's plan involved destroying the town, yes, so that no one would find the magic here. But did she ever say she was going to destroy it before you all escaped?" she looked at them, "We had the beans," Lyssa reminded them, "As did you all."
"Need I remind you, you were also going to abandon me first," Regina pointed out.
"She wouldn't have been looking for her own escape if there wasn't a threat of needing it!"
"Right now we have more pressing issues," Regina reminded them, "Which is that I no longer control the trigger."
"Any moment Storybrooke could be destroyed," Lyssa looked at them, "With all of us in it."
A/N: Quick note to start before I get into more detailed ones, I've decided not to put a flashback as the next chapter. This episode and the next came across to me as more of a 2-parter, especially being finale episodes, and so I'm not going to break it up with a flashback, so our last chapter for this story will be the next one. OMG, the story is going to be over before this week is! O.O
On to other notes lol :)
I never really understood why Graham, of all people, began to remember his old life first. It couldn't be his time with Emma or 'connection' to her because Mary Margaret would have had a stronger one. It couldn't be her kiss making him remember, she didn't have magic yet. And I don't think it's believable, given how the entire town seemed to work, that all it took was Emma going around kissing everyone. I also don't think she 'true loved' Graham because it took her a VERY long time to admit she even truly loved her own son. So I don't see it as the curse 'broke' on him, but that he began to remember, as he himself said.
And if the curse wasn't fully broken, but he had other memories coming up, then that means two sets conflicting and likely pushing against each other.
I honestly do not think anyone was intended to remember their real lives WHILE the curse as a whole was in effect. I honestly believe, if any one DID remember while it was in effect, that it would have serious, serious repercussions to them. We saw how unstable Jefferson was just remembering his one life. And we saw how distressed and confused Graham was when the memories began to break through. 'Remembering' as Graham seems to have, without the curse being broken, means, to me, way, way too much going on in his brain.
I truly do think his mind would have broken down, he would have suffered, and it eventually would have been too much of a strain on his mind and he would have died an agonizing death, that we just never got to see it in the show due to Regina's actions.
Yes, in the show it is heavily implied she did it out of jealousy, perhaps even suspicion that he remembered or would soon, though it seems to lean more towards jealousy. Emma doesn't believe Henry, so if Graham suddenly began to call himself the Huntsman and trying to get Emma to 'believe' she probably would have checked him into a mental hospital or thought she'd caused a mental breakdown or delusions or something. But in this story, with the relationship Regina has with the Huntsman, I felt it would be more along the lines of 'if I don't do something now, he is going to suffer for months and die, because Emma is nowhere near breaking the curse and I don't know how to break it either to save him.' She didn't know he was sharing a moment with Emma at the time, she didn't know it would be traumatic for Emma witnessing it, she just knew the Huntsman was going to die an agonizing death and she had to make it far more painless and quick :(
It may seem a bit odd that Lyssa accepts that Graham is dead and Regina killed him and sees it as humane so quickly. But, again, Lyssa has not been raised in this modern world, she has no memories of modern times, and only has a background in the Enchanted Forest. This is a place where people were executed by bow and arrow, people would injure themselves to get out of wars, and where mothers would give up their own children to the Dark One to their benefit, where medicine wasn't widely available nor was the healing power of fairies something anyone could go use. The medieval era would be one where physicians were more likely to help you die than let you waste away in agony if they couldn't help you. To Lyssa, this would be something probably quite normal whereas modern views would not see it so :(
I also wanted to look at a possible reason why Graham began to remember, in this story. Graham had a much closer relationship with Regina and I feel like, again in this story, him seeing her on edge around Emma made something in him try to push memories up. Because the Huntsman of this story would protect Regina, and Emma was coming across as a threat to her. But, at the same time, he doesn't remember that old life and he just has Henry running around telling anyone who will listen that his mother is evil and ripped the Huntsman's heart out and so on. Part of him is trying to remember, another part of him is being influenced by what he thinks the story is.
I felt for Regina in this chapter, even as she's being tortured she'd rather it be her than her daughter, she'd use whatever time she has to try and get information to stop Greg, and she bait shim to prolong it so he'd get caught :( On top of that, there's also what happened with his father. We never saw Regina actually kill the man, so I looked at it in the context of the story and how Regina would take the man's death. If he died of natural causes, but brought about from stress she caused, she would very much feel it was her fault, her responsibility, and so she 'killed' him. Greg would take that as a literal confession and run with it, not digging deeper because 'she's the Evil Queen!' :( It's sort of like that trap with the heroes too, even if Regina tried to tell the truth, he wouldn't believe her. Greg decided early on that Regina did something to his father and that's why his dad never came after him, she killed him. So when she admits it, says it in the way he wants to hear, he believes it and doesn't question it. Even if she said 'he died of a heart attack' he'd probably say she was lying and 'what did you do to him?!' until she 'confessed' :(
Poor Lyssa though, this is like her worst nightmare come to life, enemies of her mother using HER to get Regina to do what they want :'( On top of that, she has to go to the Dark One, someone she is very frightened of, and make a deal to get help. Then the potion...and remember, she KNOWS this spell, she knows what she will feel when she connects to Regina, and she knows enough of what her mother's enemies are like to guess what she'll be experiencing is going to be literal torture. She does it anyway.
Lyssa has not had a good day so far, sadly it's not even going to crack her top 5 :(
Some notes on reviews...
I feel like the buildup would have been pretty cool, but at the same time, it would have been about 4 stories worth of alluding to it and hinting at it and there are just SO many chapters and flashbacks I wanted to do with Lyssa there that sort of needed the reveal to have already happened lol :) I could definitely see Graham and Regina together in this story, if only Lyssa had been there when Graham was remembering :(
I'm glad you like the changes to the plot :) I like looking at the different sides of things :) Ooh Zelena, big plans for that season }:) And Robin Hood! Lyssa's reaction to him, hmmm...let's just say...if anyone thought Henry was the captain of the Outlaw Queen ship they may need to downgrade him to first mate in this story ;)
It's definitely sad :( I sort of wanted to really highlight the way heroes view villains and how, sometimes, they don't even pause to consider why villains became villains :( They have their view of what happened and won't change their minds :( I can say the heroes will definitely learn about what they've done and perpetuated as the story goes on, Emma especially will be confronted with Graham's true feelings for Regina at one point }:)
I can say we will see Graham again at one point that is not a flashback chapter, it might be as close to closure as they can get though I won't say how ;) Robin will hear some tell of Graham, Lyssa is very critical about the men who get close to her mother. Robin may have an easier time given his tattoo and what it means, but Lyssa will hold him to a certain standard in comparison to Graham ;)
That is a quote I can definitely see applying to Regina, very very true in this show especially given how Blue had the chance to help but refused to save her :(
Lyssa will certainly have a lot to say about Gold and his manipulations throughout Regina's life. I feel like the heroes especially are deeply unaware of how much a hand Gold had in shaping Regina. They never really 'talk' about anything with Regina and Gold wouldn't just broadcast his hand in things but keep it close to his chest :( Lyssa may bring up things they had no idea happened :(
No worries at all :) The more I thought about Regina's reveal, the more I felt like I couldn't drag it on as long as I planned, there are so many chapters of her past I wanted to write Lyssa in but then I wouldn't be able to post it till the reveal happened which would have been about 4 stories worth before that point, I'm impatient lol :) I feel like there are times Gold is brave without his magic, but also times where he is a bit cowardly. In the real world after being cast out by Belle, he was quite resilient and resourceful, but the Queens of Darkness also didn't have magic there either. When confronted with Dark Emma without his powers, he seemed a bit less confident. I suppose it's just situations, we all react differently in different ones :) Oh Neal, big plans for him, but I don't want to spoil too much ;)
I'm glad you like the changes Lyssa has brought about :) I feel like Graham noticed things about Leopold Snow didn't because he wasn't as close, he could look at it as 'well that's a king and he just got married, what else would happen on the wedding night?' whereas Snow sees her father and doesn't think of things like that but more 'father got married, I have a new mother, he has a new wife, he won't be lonely!' :/ She will one day see how not rosy-colored things were :( I agree, Regina knew there were ways for Snow to beat her, knew ways to really really hurt her, but didn't take those options because it wasn't her end goal, to me. In this story, she hoped that Charming would end up trapped in the forest and he probably would have, but the Dark One got him out :(
Lyssa just might be quite the game changer yup ;) And it's funny too because things will come up and it's not even going to be Lyssa forcing her way into changing events but more just things happening and with her there things just sort of curve a little into a new direction that changes more than people realize :)
Poor Graham :( Before Lyssa appeared he began to remember his original life before Emma broke the curse and Regina crushed his heart, killing him. In the show it's implied she did it out of jealousy for him picking Emma over her, revenge of sorts, taking someone from Emma that Emma took from her, but also a bit that he might have been remembering and she did it to protect the curse. In this story though, it's a bit more heartbreaking and complex, Regina saw him beginning to remember and knew it would only end in an agonizing death where his mind began to break down to the point it couldn't function, and with no curse breaking in sight, she had to make a choice to either let him suffer and die, or try and be more humane by allowing him to die now, quickly, relatively painlessly, before it could break him down :(
