Chapter 19: One Stand
A fire burned deep within Ingrid as she stalked through the forest. She was prepared to confront the two so-called "heroes" and take out the younger one. The one who was continuing to be a wrench in everything. She was as clever and as resourceful as her father it appeared, thinking rationally and showing great skill, but that would not help her now. Ingrid had offered her the chance to be spared and she declined, making her an enemy that needed to be taken out. Nothing would stop the queen because her icy heart had dictated her actions and it didn't matter if the girl was killed since she'd already done it.
The thought of the ice sculpture in the cave causes her hands to shake and her powers to spread across the ground. Flashbacks entered her mind and cause the tears again. Helga… then Maid Marian and now Captain Hook. How many more would she have to kill to get what she wanted? She'd never seen the true extent of how her magic could snuff out someone's life. With Maid Marian, it was done from a distance and did not concern her much as it was a ploy for people to turn on her niece, plus the Evil Queen had managed to remove the woman's heart to prevent the full process… with Helga, it was fast and of course, devastating, but there was something about Killian's that made her heart to ache a little. His was slower, more painful and all done in front of her. While he was afraid, he still tried to pass on a message to Elsa to tell Emma… no doubt a message of love to the Saviour. Even a blind person could see how much the pirate loved his Swan, but fortunately for Ingrid, Emma had been hurt too many times and was so guarded that she didn't see it yet... or ignored the feelings completely. Her fear and insecurity about love are what the Snow Queen had preyed on and fed the doubt in her mind. Even if the heroes could somehow defrost him, which was unlikely as once the heart has been frozen, it's much too late, Emma would still deny it all. If only she wouldn't deny her true family.
Sounds of footsteps can be heard coming closer and the queen composes herself before taking a position, lying in wait for the perfect opportunity to strike… the patience of a tiger… she'd waited almost 30 years for everything and nothing and no one could ruin it.
…
Emma and Crystal are following Henry's scarf through the woods. They are both on high alert, prepared for anything that Ingrid would try to throw at them. The wolves were one thing, but who knows what she might conjure up next. But nothing would stop the Saviour from retrieving her son and making the woman pay for her sins.
"When I get my hands on her…" Emma snarls under her breath.
"Emma, I know she deserves what's coming to her, but we need to be careful. One wrong move and she'll hurt Henry or Elsa or your parents…"
"I'll show her what happens when you mess with the Saviour," she grinds her teeth. She then turns to Crystal. "You've got a couple more surprises in that bag?"
"A few, the volcanic clay was the big one. I was hoping to use it to torch her cave, but the wolves were more of a threat."
"Good, but nothing that can kill her… that's my job…"
It shocks the daughter of the Dark One… the DARK ONE to see how dark Emma's thoughts had become in a single afternoon. Of course, the young woman was not a mother and could not relate, but this seemed to be something deeper. It was like a side of Emma that no one had ever seen. She always a more reserved and serious person, protecting herself from getting hurt and pushing people away, but that was through years of the trauma she'd endured, and she had coped well over time. She was still a kind person and cared for all, but now… she was downright vengeful or threatening. One could always rely on Emma to keep a level head in an emergency, but now she was impulsive and seeing nothing but red. A mother bear would do anything for her cubs, but this was something that had been repressed for a long time it felt or surfaced due to…
Suddenly, a flash of white comes out of nowhere and the Dark One's daughter is blasted back into the air. A sharp pain enters the girl's shoulder, and it causes a horrible chill to go through her body.
"Crystal!" Emma yells rushing to her side.
The blonde helps roll the girl onto her side, trying to gasp for air. The Saviour then watches in horror as white begins to streak into her hair.
"Are you okay?"
"I… can't breathe," Crystal grimaces. "It's so cold…"
Rage boils inside of Emma, both knew who'd done this but only one could fight.
"Show yourself you psychopath!" the blonde screams, letting the magic flow freely through her hands. She waits to take her first shot.
Crystal has curled into a ball, trying to regain some warmth. She tries to use her magic to heal herself, but the pain is preventing this. "God, it kills," she hisses through gritted teeth.
"Don't exaggerate," an eerily calm voice says. "I didn't hit your heart."
In a flurry of snow, Ingrid appears in all of her queenly and icy glory.
Emma doesn't waste any time, blasting the snow queen where she stood, having had enough of this woman hurting people she loved.
However, Ingrid raises a large and thick chunk of ice to deflect the attack. Of course, light and heat could beat it and it begins burning through like the beam of a laser. Ingrid knows she can't hold off the blast forever, but the ice was enough of a distraction to allow her to narrowly sidestep the hot beam as it finally obliterates the barrier.
"Really have accepted that magic," the queen grins. "You truly have the power of true love."
The Saviour is not interested in talking and aims again.
This time, "dairy queen" sets up a thin sheet of ice that reaches up towards the sky. It looked like a rectangular mirror and could shatter easily, but that's what she wanted.
When Emma's magic hits the sheet, it shattered and tiny razor-sharp pieces of ice fly into the air until Ingrid takes control of them and sends them at the two.
Emma tries to melt as many as she can, but due to inexperience with magic, she should have put a shield around them. The ice cuts her and Crystal on the legs, arms, and hands, drawing blood and more pain for the person who was down.
Still, the one born of true love will not back down. She sends a series of blasts that Ingrid deflects with ease.
It's then that Rumple's daughter knows what's happening.
"Emma, stop!" Crystal yells, realizing the tactic that she'd used on her father before. "She's toying with you, she's trying to wear you out."
Still filled with rage, the blonde pauses and realizes how drained she feels from pouring all her rage into her magic.
"Clever girl," Ingrid smirks. "Your father's daughter indeed."
"Just shut up," the young woman barks. Her entire body still aches, but her shoulder feels like there are a thousand tiny knives stuck inside it and it's cold as hell. Plus, the now multiple cuts from the ice have added to it. "God… these hurt."
"Stop exaggerating," the queen scoffs. "I didn't hit your heart."
"Then where the hell were you aiming for?" Crystal snarls, clutching her shoulder.
"I like to think of it as a warning shot, warning you to back off."
"Not when you have Henry and Elsa and everyone else as hostages," the Dark One's daughter says. "Not a snowball's chance in hell would I stop…"
Ingrid snickers at the girl's attempts to remain tough when she's in pain. "That's too bad, then you leave me no choice but to kill you. I offered you the chance and you turned it down. When you do that, you become a threat, a threat that must be eliminated."
"Yet Emma is the same thing, but you want to keep her alive because of some bizarre fantasy you have to replace your sisters with her and Elsa. You truly are delusional and touched in the head."
The Snow Queen clenches her fists, attempting to keep the magic under control for the moment. She's still recovering from the last time she turned someone into a statue.
She changes her tactics and throws back some of the insults and adds a little doubt into the mix. "And like you are sane yourself. I've seen you in my mirror, battling that darkness. It's so amusing to see you talking and arguing with yourself and how you try to convince it that you are noble and deserve a happy ending. You can keep acting like a hero, but you know you're only lying to yourself."
Crystal bites her already bleeding lip harder. She shuts her eyes in frustration and attempts to block out the taunts, knowing this is exactly what the voice in her head would say. She wasn't going to fall for it and lose control.
Her veins are burning, meaning her magic is slowly coming back.
"At least I'm aware of my darkness and try not to act on it."
"The same darkness that caused you to kill your mother."
That was it; gone was the rational part and the calm, this psycho deserved everything she was asking for.
"I changed my mind, Emma, fry this b****,"
With delight, Emma aims again and shoots magic at the Snow Queen.
Of course, she deflects, but then with enough gathered strength, Crystal opens the duffle bag and finds the restraining object she'd brought in case either Emma or Regina or the Queen had to do so.
It looks like a small kind of seed, but when the daughter of the Dark One activates it with her magic and teleports it next to Ingrid, long vines spring up from the ground and wrap around the woman's ankles. The ice witch is startled by being grabbed and lets her guard down, giving Emma the edge she needs to hit the Snow Queen and blast her backwards.
The woman falls to the ground, knocked unconscious by the power and then the vines wrap around her wrists and ankles to restrain her. A few also wrap around her middle to ensure she's not going anywhere anytime soon. It would give them the time they needed to rescue the others.
The Saviour goes down on one knee to recover from the power, Crystal starts testing her magic to try and heal her shoulder and body.
When the blonde is feeling strong enough, she goes towards the woman, who had made her life a living hell and hurt so many people. Her hands shake in rage as she wants to just end all this.
"Emma don't," Crystal says, managing to stand on shaky feet. "Don't give in to your darkness."
"She deserves it," she growled.
"I know she does, but you're not a killer. You're not my dad and you're not what Regina used to be like… you're the Saviour. You save people and if you embrace that darkness and it will be nothing but hell. You won't be able to live with yourself and it will haunt you for the rest of your life."
"Sometimes I don't want to be the Saviour anymore…"
"I know, but please… she's not going anywhere, she's powerless and I'm in control of the vines. Once we free everyone, we can lock her up for good."
Emma hesitates, wanting an end… wanting revenge, but then the image of Henry enters her mind. What would he think of her if she killed someone? And what about her parents? Or baby brother? Or Killian? Or even Elsa if she killed the woman's aunt, even if she was insane. She would never be able to look anyone in the eye again… and she'd seen the regret that Crystal lived with every single day for what happened to her mother…
It's not the path she wants to take, despite this feeling of evil inside.
"Fine," Emma says.
She goes over to help Crystal.
The younger woman then smiles to herself.
"What?" Emma asks.
"Funny, isn't it? That the daughter of the Dark One is convincing the Saviour not to give in to darkness. You'd think it'd be the other way around."
A/N: Yes, it's true. I'm back after three years and I'm sorry for leaving the story like this. I tend to start a lot of stories and then focus on some while neglecting the others. I appreciate all the support from people who've read this and followed it. Also for Guest, to answer your question after so long, yes Anna will be appearing.