Almost as soon as the thought of the prophecy being fulfilled filled Emma's mind, as if reading it, the sky clouded over and a clap of thunder echoed across the town. It seemed that the storm that Maleficent had predicted was coming to pass, however, the tell-tale signs of lightning and rain was nowhere to be found. It was as if the weather was brewing specifically to herald the coming of the prophecy, adding ambience to the fight that was sure to come.
The air was suddenly abuzz with a kind of electricity, one that flowed easily through the crowd. As was typical for Storybrooke, a crowd had easily formed about the four women at the centre of Main Street, two blondes and two brunettes. There was a palpable feeling of whispered panic ploughing through the crowd like a wilful storm. Those who knew of the prophecy were huddled together, Ursula among them, all rushing over to Regina to be updated on exactly what was happening.
Emma absentmindedly noted that fights to the death were now so common in Storybrooke that in spite of the panic no one looked like they were going to hyperventilate or overreact. Although, normally that was on the part of Leroy, who was holding Nova's hand in the peripheries of the crowd.
Charming, who was just outside the parameter of Lily's blocking charm, was still lying on the floor, totally unconscious of the world moving forward around him. Unlike when Hook fell, there was no blood trickling from his head, he was just unconscious rather than dead. Lily mustn't have wanted to kill him but had just wanted get him out of the way. He was no longer alone as Ruby was beside him, trying to wake him gently, but it was to no avail. Before long, she stopped what she was doing so that she didn't cause any more damage to him, no matter how unintentional.
Snow glanced between Emma and Lily, her eyes glittering with barely restrained malice and glee. She seemed to come to a decision, nodding her head once, before she unnotched the arrow and moved the bow away from its position from Mal's chest, returning the arrow once more to its quiver. The dragon let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief, one that Emma only caught thanks to her enhanced draconic hearing. It seemed that Mal was significantly worried about Snow's mental state, so much so that she had thought that Snow really was going to kill her.
"Fine," Snow said. "Let the prophecy be fulfilled." She looked up at Lily, motioning to Maleficent. "Get her out of the boundary. We don't need her interfering, this is your moment, honey."
Lily nodded and flicked her wrist, basking in her mother's approval. Mal shot across the street and landed beside Regina, who looked panic stricken at the events that were unfurling in front of her. Emma knew that the lack of control was grating on Regina's nerves. The Mayor had tried every spell that she knew to break down Lily's charm, but she was using Emma's magic and Regina knew that Emma's magic was incredibly powerful. In fact, Emma's magic was the most powerful in existence, in its own league, the fact that it was being wielded by Lily and not its owner mattered little.
However, Regina stopped to catch Maleficent and healed the cuts on her knees before helping her to her feet. She gripped Regina's hand tightly within her own and the two shared a panicked look. They believed in Emma, but they were undoubtedly scared of what could happen. Now they were both outside the shield, there was nothing they could do to help her. They could only watch from the side lines.
Emma grunted in pain as Lily stole some of her power to expel Mal, but she took a deep breath in an attempt to shake it off. She couldn't allow the pain to take over, not at the beginning of what was bound to be a long fight. Lily would drag it out as long as she could, Emma had known her a long time and Lily had always been sadistic, even before she had access to Emma's power.
No, Emma had to think about love, as she, Regina and Maleficent had discussed that morning. Love was her best bet to keep her magic to herself and under her own control.
Therefore, she momentarily shut her eyes and thought of her son. Henry's face flashed up before her eyes and she felt the spark in her fingers. She flicked her wrist, wishing for a weapon she could use in the fight. She wanted a powerful one, one that she would be able to wield easily and her father's sword appeared in her hand.
She let out a silent cheer that her spell had worked, and a grin grew slowly as she recognised her father's sword that had landed in her hand, but her smile faded when she saw that using her magic didn't cause Lily any pain. It seemed that was only one sided. However, she couldn't concentrate on that. She whirled the sword around in circles, familiarising herself with the weight of it as she had not had to sword fight in a while and she'd never used her father's before. Despite that, the grip felt familiar in her hand as if it was telling her to trust it and she'd never fail.
Snow looked at the sword in Emma's hand and blanched. She could recognise that anywhere.
"I hardly think it's fair that you summoned your father's sword," she said indignantly. "That's powerful and a starting advantage!"
Emma simply shrugged. "It came to me. I only conjured a weapon to use if Lily is going to use one. This one was the one that came."
Snow looked like she was going to complain but Lily got there first.
"It's fine, Mother," Lily snapped irritably. Her eyes were red and she was fidgeting. She wanted the fight to begin and Snow was preventing it. "It's not the sword, it's the one who wields it that makes it powerful. Father may as well be dead and I'm faster and more furious. She doesn't stand a chance! I will win for us; we can rule the Enchanted Forest together!"
Lily's voice was growing more frantic at the second as she became ever more agitated at being prevented from fulfilling what she believed was her destiny. She only had eyes on Emma, having no idea that Regina had managed to remove the cuff on Mal's wrist in seconds and the dragon was now by Charming's side, healing him as they spoke.
However, Emma had to make sure that Lily didn't see what was going on, she needed to keep the focus on her. Once her father was healed, Mal and Regina could begin to get the border down. Once it was down, she would have help and the fight would be over in seconds.
"At least let me change," Emma said as she motioned to her current outfit. There was no way she could have a sword fight in a tight dress. With Lily distracted by the looming fight, Emma could easily access her magic. She flicked her wrist and her red dress changed to her typical white tank top and jeans with her red leather jacket on top. She did not need it for the weather, but she couldn't enter a fight without her signature battle armour.
A flash of lightning was followed by another crack of thunder echoed loudly which brough Emma out of her thoughts. The lightning bolt had hit the top of the clocktower which started to smoke, not quite on fire, but another strike of lightning would be enough to start a blaze. It had still not been repaired after the last catastrophe and another lick of fire would ruin it. Emma could dimly see Belle regarding it with no small amount of worry; had the situation not been so serious, Emma would have been just as concerned about the library and its books.
It was as if the weather was encouraging the fight. Emma tried not to roll her eyes at the pathetic fallacy of the situation. It made it feel even more like a story than it had from the beginning.
The thunder also encouraged Snow to step away from the two in the centre, not wanting to be caught in the middle as Lily was now swinging the sword around desperately. As Snow eyed her daughter, Emma couldn't read her expression. There was definitely fear and panic but also a shade of admiration but there was something else that Emma couldn't fully understand but now wasn't the time to be reading Snow White's facial expressions. There was a fight brewing and Lily was getting more agitated by the minute.
"Let us begin!" She cried and lashed out manically, almost catching Emma off guard but her reactions had always been quick.
With a quick throw of her arm, she blocked Lily's attack. Each blow Lily tried, whether she aimed for Emma's head, knees or shoulders were swiftly blocked by Emma's sword. However, after a few swipes, Emma wasn't sure if it was her skill or the sword's innate ability to protect the wielder. As the favoured daughter of the owner, it was helping her, but she had always been an above average swordfighter too.
Every time Emma met her blow for blow, Lily's eyes darkened further and her determination grew.
"How the hell do you keep doing that?!" She snarled as she went from aiming for Emma's knees to her forehead and Emma blocked her easily once more.
"Because of the sword," Emma replied, with a glint of mirth in her eyes. If they remained using the swords, she had a much better chance of winning as long as magic didn't get involved. This way, she could remain above Lily's kill capacity. "It knows I'm our father's favourite and that you're not worth the shit on the bottom of his shoes. It believes in me!"
Lily screamed in fury so loudly that half of the crowd covered their ears for protection. She shot forward, flinging the sword without even aiming it. She clearly had not had much practice, and was hoping that sheer luck and skill would be enough to defeat Emma. It was such a Snow White thing that Emma nearly laughed out loud, even as she parried and blocked every one of Lily's off-balance jabs. Emma was light on her feet and had both hands on the sword which led it to ricochet of Lily's.
Get her to drop the sword, encouraged a voice in Emma's head. It was Regina's voice, warm and melodic, the tone and words comforted Emma thoroughly. Her partner couldn't fight with her physically, but she was with her in her heart and in her head.
However, Emma couldn't fight through the attack, having to defend herself against Lily's strikes, not being able to get close enough to Lily to actually land any meaningful blows. She would just have to keep provoking her to make her movements even more erratic and energetic to tire her out so that she could start her own attack.
"How does it feel to know that finally, I'm the one who's wanted?" Emma jeered. "That I have the family and you're on the outside once again?"
As Emma hoped, the jeer worked. Lily eyes widened with fury as she inhaled sharply.
"Fuck you, Emma!" She screamed and shot forward, her sword now only in her left hand, swinging it around like it was a cricket bat which would never work. Emma swung her sword around and her blade slipped up past Lily's, so that it was now sideways and could reach up to cause some damage. It slipped against Lily's hand and nicked her skin causing a small cut just above her thumb. However, it wasn't deep enough to cause much damage and Lily was able to keep her grip on her own sword, however messily.
Fuck, Emma thought. She had thought that would work for the sword to drop; she needed another dig to unseat Lily's sword.
"Not only do I have a great, large, loving family, I also have a great job and lots of money!" Emma continued. "I have two degrees from what one would consider the best university in the country, and made something of my life instead of working in a shitty diner and living for every pay check. Probably blowing it all on drugs!"
Now that did it. Lily raised her sword above her head, her eyes alight with a fire that Emma had never seen but needed in this moment. The position left Lily wide open, ready for Emma to lift her right leg and kick her half-sister directly in the gut. Lily doubled over and the sword fell to the ground with a clatter.
Emma rushed over and kicked the sword but as it flew away, it simply ricocheted against the barrier that Lily had shot up. So, not only did the shield keep people out, it kept them in. Even Snow was leaning against it, as she hadn't been released by Lily, watching the fight continue as if it was on TV. Her eyes were wide, flitting between both Emma and Lily and for the first time, Emma wondered if Snow knew who she wanted to win as she looked worried about both, but also excited with a worrying amount of sadistic glee. It was as if her personality had completely split into two.
Again, Emma reminded herself that Snow wasn't her focus. It was Lily. The kicked sword was starting to shoot back towards Lily who was recovering from the blow. Emma panicked and looked up, trying to see anything that could help, only to catch a sudden glimpse of her father as he now stood on his own two feet, albeit leaning heavily on both Mal and Regina. He pointed to the sword in Emma's hand and motioned slamming the tip down on the ground.
Understanding what to do, Emma pushed Lily aside before she could pick up her sword and brought her father's down, slamming the tip against the blade of Lily's sword so powerfully that it shattered into what felt like a million pieces. The two girls looked away so none of the fragments would end up in their eyes.
There was a cheer from the crowed as the shield couldn't stop sounds from entering and it filled Emma was encouragement. She was on the upper hand now as she had the sword and Lily didn't now. It was time to continue with the fight.
Emma recovered first and grinned now that Lily was weaponless. She lifted her father's sword, reading herself to strike, though where, she wasn't sure. She didn't want to kill Lily, just injure her enough to stop the fight. However, Lily took advantage of her slight hesitation. With a flick of her wrist, Lily had their father's sword in her hand and Emma grunted in pain at Lily's use of her magic and suddenly the fight was back, but she was on the back foot again.
The blonde gulped with fear. It hadn't occurred to her that getting the sword out of Lily's hand would let her access her magic instead. Her eyes flittered to the side to think so that she could still hold her own. She needed the sword back in her hands; therefore, she quickly summoned her earlier tactic. Henry's face flashed before her eyes again and she flicked her wrist. The cool metal in her hands was enough proof before she'd even opened her eyes; the sword was back in her hands.
With the sword firmly in her grip, Emma wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. It didn't matter where she struck Lily. There was enough magic in the town to save her before she could be punished for her crimes. The list was becoming endless.
Flexing her grasp on the sword, she prepared herself for the final blow. She stepped forward on her left foot, bringing the sword over her right shoulder and slashed it against Lily's forearm, cutting her much more deeply than she had previously when she had nicked her hand. Scarlet blood started spurting out and dripping down her arm, but Lily didn't seem to notice the pain.
"You'll pay for that!" She screamed and flexed her hands. Two large fireballs appeared and they were thrown at Emma before she could react. Both hit her on her arms, but the fire didn't last. It was as if Emma's leather jacket wasn't just metaphorically her armour, it truly was protecting her. The thought of it even distracted her from the pain of Lily's tapping into her magic once more.
At the disappointment that her fireballs hadn't worked against the jacket, Lily started summoning more, aiming them all over Emma's body so that she was having to move so that they would land on her jacket or put them out quickly when they hit elsewhere. She noticed idly that the fireballs weren't really affecting her even when they hit, it probably had something to do with her inner dragon.
The fireballs were coming so quickly that Emma was unable to think about using her own magic against her half-sister. She was just grateful that her adrenaline had kicked in so that she could ignore the pain that was stirring in her gut at the theft of her magic. The fire was a mild irritant in its nature but the way that Lily was tapping into her magic was making this a much more even battle.
Emma started treating the fireballs like baseballs and the sword became her bat, as she swung it to hit them back and away from her. Fortunately, when they hit the shield, they dissolved. Unfortunately, a well-placed fireball hit Emma's hands and she dropped the sword as a reflexive motion and before she could reclaim it, Lily had flicked her wrist and flung it through the shield. Regina just managed to duck intime before it hit her, unbalancing both her and Charming, but thankfully Mal managed to keep them upright. The sword shot behind them and clattered to the floor before disappearing completely.
Now swordless, all Emma could do to dodge the onslaught of fireballs was to duck, jump or hide behind her sleeves. All of which mean that she was moving constantly and she wasn't as young as she once was, which meant that she would only be able to keep this tactic up for a little while. In the back of her mind it occurred to Emma that Regina would be impressed by her stamina as she could do this for a long while, but her girlfriend was of the opinion that her bad diet would cause a lack of fitness, but no matter what Emma ate it didn't seem to affect her fitness or her overall health.
Unsurprisingly, after what felt like the hundredth fireball flew towards her, she ducked again to avoid it, her energy was starting to fade whereas Lily's was growing with every fireball, most likely from the magic she was draining from her blonde adversary.
"I'm going to take all your magic, Emma Swan," Lily sneered. "Everything you have will be mine! Everything you have should have been mine. I was the destined Saviour that the Dark One predicted until we were swapped. You have always had what was mine and seeing as you won't give it up willingly, I'll just have to take it with force!"
Lily stopped the flurry of fireballs and instead, concentrated on growing one large one between her hands. Slowly but surely as her hands moved out, a deep red fireball was growing that had influxes of black which made it clear that it was no simple fireball she was creating. No, it was something much more sinister that Emma had only seen in a book that Regina had made her read once: a death ball. She knew that her girlfriend had summoned one in the past, but she had never thought that Lily would be stupid enough to try to use one of those, they were notoriously tricky to conjure, requiring massive amounts of power. Not to mention that they were dangerous and a little unpredictable when wielded by those with little to no training, like Lily.
All while it grew, the pain in Emma's gut increased tenfold so that she fell from where she was standing, too weak to stay up any longer. Her vision was becoming blurry from pain as Lily siphoned off all of her magic to great the death ball. She could feel the tips of her fingers going numb, a numbness that seemed to be growing up her arms. Her blurry vision was becoming more and more black as if an invisible pressure was pushing against her temples, making her head cave in as the death ball grew, being filled with all of Lily's evil intentions and wishes.
"I have been waiting for this all of my life!" Lily cried as she summoned all her energy in the moment she had lived for. "You never saw my apartment. It's filled with how to find you and I was almost there until you arrived and brought me here. You brought upon your own death, Emma Swan. It is your own fault that you will die tonight in front of all your family. Do you have any final words?"
Emma couldn't speak through the pain, she couldn't see. She was now silently begging for the end as the pain consumed her body, she could feel her dragon growling with pain and struggling to break free, but Lily's siphoning of her magic left her unable to transform. She had predicted this exact outcome to Belle in the hospital, Lily had taken all of her magic and she was going to die. It was time to let it take over her and accept the inevitable. She just wished that she could bid her family goodbye and kiss Regina one more time.
Regina.
The name made something flicker in her chest. It was as if a small orb of light was starting to grow inside her as she thought about Regina one last time. Regina was the love of her life and she was pretty sure that they were also True Loves. They shared a love that was so deep that she had never thought she'd ever be able to possess it. She got to see Regina every morning when she woke up, her radiant smile filled her with such a deep love that all she wanted to do was kiss her passionately. Regina was the one she was always destined to be with as she had been the one to raise her son.
Henry.
Something else flickered in her chest as she thought about her son. The orb grew bigger as if it was surrounding her entire heart and threatened to burst out of her chest. The pain of giving him up had long been replaced by the sheer joy she had for him coming back into her life. He was her sun that lit up her days with his laughter and enthusiasm for everything. He had inherited her love of books and adventure and she was going to miss it all as he grew up. Then again, he had his grandparents and his uncle who could take him on the journeys she couldn't take him on.
Her mother, father and brother.
Thinking of the three made the orb expand even further. The blackness of her vision was fading as light started to filter through once again. Her eyes flickered as her vision slowly returned and she saw that Lily was still growing the death ball, completely unaware that Emma was recovering because Emma wasn't using magic; she was thinking about love. Even her family in the crowd looked like they were preparing for the worse. Henry was clinging onto Regina, both she and Mal were squeezing so tightly onto Charming that their grips were white and he was grimacing in pain.
Her mother, who had only been in her life properly for less than a week was already everything she'd ever wanted. She loved Emma with her entire heart and never judged her or made her feel small. She listened to her, even when her thoughts seemed farfetched. She encouraged her when she needed it, something which was proved when coaching her through her dragon transformation both times it happened. More importantly, she didn't think Emma was stupid and she didn't try to own her. From the beginning, Mal had accepted Emma for who she was and never tried to change her. To her, Emma was her daughter that she loved and adored and shared with her partner. Maleficent, who treated Neal like her own son.
Neal, the brother she never knew she wanted. Hearing Snow say she wanted another child had hurt, but Neal being born had been the most amazing thing. She was finally able to help bring up a child which she'd always wanted. Neal always wanted cuddles from Emma and felt comfortable in her embrace at all times, sometimes preferring her touch to their father's.
Emma's thoughts fell to her father who, like Maleficent, had never tried to change Emma. He had accepted her feistiness and her passion, even encouraging them. They found that they had so much in common, their fight for good, their stubbornness and their love of food. He was a father, friend, brother and colleague all mixed into one. He was the father that she had always wanted and she felt lucky that she had him in her life and that he approved of her relationship with Regina despite their past.
Regina.
Again, her thoughts were focussed on her love, the woman she wanted to marry and spend the rest of her life with. She couldn't do that if she died, could she? She'd never be able to stroke her luscious chocolate brown hair or admire her perfect ass or breasts when she thought the brunette wasn't looking. If she died, she'd never be able to tickle her to hear her beautiful melodic laughter or tease her whenever she cried when someone died in a film. Moreover, she wouldn't be able to watch Henry grow up and have children or, the tiny part in her brain said, have another child with the woman she loved and share their love with even more people and all their friends.
The orb was now growing even further but Emma knew it wouldn't show itself until Lily went to strike her. Risking a glance up, she saw that Lily's task was almost done. The death ball was mere millimetres away from being complete and ready. It was the size of a large beach ball and the darkest of blacks.
Emma could hear her son groaning. "Why isn't she fighting back? She can do this! She needs to believe in herself! She can't give up, not now!"
Her son would always believe in her. He had the heart of the Truest Believer which never failed him. The orb was still growing, and now it was covering her entire body, waiting for the moment to strike.
"Say goodbye, Emma Swan!" Lily screamed as the death ball was ready.
Lily flung it forward powerfully. It was so large that it landed around Emma, covering her in darkness. She didn't move as it hit her and she heard the screams of her family and friends, thinking she was dead. She heard the cheer of delight from Lily and Snow as they believed it too, but Emma knew it to be false.
It was time.
The orb shot away from her body, blinding the surrounding area in a bright white light, throwing the death ball away from her, and Emma finally stood up. The orb turned her transparent as she walked forwards. Her clothes faded from her jacket, jeans and tank top ensemble to a pure white dress and her hair fell out of its ponytail so that it was floating around her shoulders. She was so fair and white. Truly the Fairest of Them All.
"That's not possible!" Lily cried as she pointed at Emma walking, no gliding, towards her.
"You forgot about something as you were forming your death ball!" Emma replied as she stretched out her arms before pulling them back towards her. The white light started to fade and the death ball appeared in her arms but already, it had shrunk and was growing smaller in her hands into the size of a football. "You forgot about love! Something which neither you nor your mother ever understood. You think the world owes you something, newsflash, it doesn't. But good people, those who truly care about one another, they get the reward of love! So, no matter the amount of hate I feel for you, I choose love. The love of Regina, Henry, my family and friends. I choose love!"
Emma then pushed the death ball out, aiming at Lily. However, with one last attempt at magic, Lily pushed out and the death ball ricocheted off her but it didn't return to Emma, it seemed to have a mind of its own as it diminished almost completely and flung towards Snow.
The ball, now so tiny it looked useless, landed on Snow's chest. She looked down and paused waiting for it to do something. When it seemed like it wasn't going to, she started to laugh manically but the laughter stopped as soon as it started. The death ball had lodged into her chest and black veins were growing from it, longer and longer until her entire body was covered in the black markings. Her face grew pale and her breathing became completely erratic until it stopped.
With a bang, Snow White, now covered entirely in black as dark as her hair and heart, fell to the floor with no one to save her this time. Her body shook violently before she stopped still. Her eyes were wide open, staring and seeing.
Snow White was dead.
Then the rain stated to pour as the heavens finally opened.
A/N: I am going away for a week this weekend so there will be no uploads next week. Don't hate me too much! Love, Emss xx