A/N: I hope you enjoy this chapter, it has some very important guest stars from over on Ao3. Also a word of caution there is some angst in this chapter - it's part of the plot; I promise it will all work out but yeah sorry in advance
...SQ...
They spend the entire car ride back to Storybrooke in silence. After finding that the public library had been destroyed, Emma was adamant that they return home and turn the secret library at The Sorcerer's Mansion inside out if they have to, to ensure that the public library was the correction destination that The Apprentice had been headed to. They didn't know for certain that he had even reached there and she refused to give up the search for him.
Regina studies Emma from the backseat as she continues to keep her foot down on the gas; going well above the speed limit. Normally she would have stopped the blonde from behaving so rash - she hadn't even let Regina swap for the last half of the drive - hell-bent on flooring it all the way home. But Regina knows that Emma isn't thinking rationally right now. She is thinking like a mother - one that will do anything to protect her child.
Technically Henry doesn't need protecting from a particular bad guy; it's more that he needs protecting from the guilt that threatens to eat him whole. After they had discovered what had happened to the library and possibly The Apprentice - turning their hopes of fixing the mistake made to dust - Henry had grown despondent.
Though he had been on edge all day after realising how much of an effect the error he had made was having on the rest of the world, Regina knew that this time it was different.
This time he had lost hope.
And the Queen and the Saviour both knew it was a dark day when the Truest Believer lost hope.
While Emma chose to use her anger and pain at that to fuel her into becoming more determined in their mission, Regina felt something break inside for her son. She had watched him grow his entire life and the one thing that was constant about Henry was his ability to bounce back from any situation - no matter how difficult - as long as he had hope.
But as she watched the last remnants of hope that glimmered in his eyes die down until it was almost non-existent, Regina found it very hard to be angry, instead she felt deep sorrow. She'd crawled into the backseat and cradled her son in her arms until he had fallen asleep teary-eyed and exhausted.
She's broken out of her thoughts when Emma almost crashes the car again, causing Henry to jerk awake and look up in a panic.
"What's happening?" he asks wearily, moving to sit up properly.
Regina casts a glance out of the front window for anything untoward and her eyes almost fall out. The town line is a few minutes out of the main town area so nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Until now.
Now, their beloved home is in ruins. It feels like they've entered a warzone from a movie - collapsed buildings, fires everywhere; people running every which way, screams and wails and destruction filling the air.
They're parked just outside of Granny's; well what used to be Granny's - the only thing left standing is half a wall. The rest of Granny's is nothing but a huge pile of ash and rubble mixed together with remnants of green slime. Emma rushes out of the car, Regina and Henry following closely behind.
"Regina! Emma!" Belle shouts as she sprints towards them.
"Belle? Are you okay? What's happening?" Regina asks attempting to sound calm and collected - the complete opposite of what she's feeling inside.
"It's just absolute chaos everywhere. We're being attacked from all sides, even by our own. I left Ruby locked up in the library; she turned into a wolf and started attacking people. Happy just swung for me with his pickaxe on my way over, I barely escaped. Granny is going around shooting people with her crossbow and Archie?" she pauses disbelieving, "He's assaulting people with his umbrella! Why is this happening?" Belle gasps out, trying to catch her breath.
Emma places her hand on Belle's forearm, offering comfort then turns to Regina, "It has to be The Darkness right? The Apprentice said it's only getting stronger and won't last in the Hat long. It's probably making everyone behave this way."
"You're right Emma. Belle, are you the only one left that hasn't been acting irrational?" Regina asks.
"No. I haven't come across everyone, but there are a few others - Merida, Mulan, Doc; the Blue Fairy," Belle replies.
"Good, that means The Darkness must still be within the Hat. If it was free, it would have taken over the entire town and everyone would be acting, well... evil," Regina says.
Emma's eyes widen thinking of her parents, "Belle have you seen my mom or dad? Do you know if they're okay?"
"I'm not sure Emma sorry. All I know is that everything past Mifflin Street is blocked off, it's been taken over by a group of malevolent cartoon characters. The Town Hall is no longer there, that too has been destroyed. Last I heard Granny's was the only building left standing," she glances over to where Granny's used to be, "So much for that."
"I have to go check the loft," Emma says stricken. She looks to Regina as if asking for permission.
"Of course let's go," Regina nods. "Belle, are you coming?" Belle nods and they all jump back into the car and head for the loft.
...SQ...
Somehow the loft is still standing, and Emma's relief overwhelms her so much that she opens the car door without even turning off the ignition, jumps out and runs into the loft; climbing the stairs two by two. Belle, Henry and Regina follow after her.
When they get inside, Emma runs forward while the others wait in the doorway. David and Neal are nowhere to be found, but Emma can see her mother jumping around and attacking a bird with a broom?
She didn't expect that.
"Mom, what are you doing!?" she calls trying to get Snow's attention.
"Vermin! Get out of my house!" Snow shouts back. And okay Emma doesn't know if her mother is speaking to her or the bird but she is slightly offended at that. Before she can ask who Snow is talking about, the pixie-cut haired woman continues muttering away to herself as she swings the broom every which way trying to get rid of the poor bird.
Okay then. Is it childish if Emma feels slightly relieved that it wasn't her her mother was talking to?
No? Good.
"Mother, it isn't vermin," she lets out a deep sigh; "It's a bird mom; probably one of your friends, um, Cindy or Martha? I don't know whatever, but mom..." she trails off as Snow pauses her movements to throw Emma a dirty look.
And God, if looks could kill.
Emma has decided that as annoying as chirpy Snow can be sometimes, she'd much prefer it over this sassy side of her mother.
This side, she does not like.
Snow rolls her eyes and scoffs at Emma then.
And scratch that, she really does not like this side.
Snow goes back to attempting to assault the poor bird and Emma throws her hands up in the air in exasperation.
They don't have time for this.
They need to get to The Sorcerer's Mansion.
She steps forward yanking the broom from her mother, shoving it away and grabbing hold of her wrist.
"Unhand me you wench!" Snow screeches, struggling to free herself from Emma's much stronger grasp. And Emma is back to being offended again. This time she chooses not to react, simply dragging Snow out with her as the others follow them back to the car.
Emma contemplates shoving Snow in the back of the Bug to sit with Regina, who will clearly not allow Snow to intimidate her. But then she remembers that regardless of Regina not having magic, if Snow irritates her enough – which really wouldn't be that difficult even on the best of days - Regina will figure out some way to get the pixie-haired woman to pay.
So yeah, best not sit Regina in the back with Snow.
Instead Emma grabs the spare pair of handcuffs from her glove box and cuffs Snow to the inside handle of the passenger side back door. Belle and Henry reluctantly climb in next to her, a little taken aback by how out of character their precious Snow White is acting. Emma and Regina sit in the front seats and Emma pulls away, setting off in the direction of The Sorcerer's Mansion.
Snow continues to wriggle against the cuffs, kicking against the back of Regina's seat and Regina grows frustrated. She turns to the petulant woman sitting behind her, "That's enough Snow! Stop behaving like a spoiled-brat!" she bellows. And Snow stills in an instant, effectively told off. Regina moves to face forward, a triumphant smile on her beautiful face and Emma wants to giggle watching Snow's face through the rear-view mirror. She shakes her head in fond amusement and the rest of the short drive is completed in silence.
...SQ...
When they get to The Sorcerer's Mansion they're relieved to see it's still standing. Well not all of it, the left side has been crushed by another smaller building very obviously superimposing on top of it, but luckily for them, the secret library is on the right side of the building.
"You guys go ahead, I'll keep an eye on Snow," Belle offers.
"Thanks Belle," Emma hands a small key over to Belle, "In the hopes that we succeed," she glances over to Snow then looks back at Belle and smiles. Belle nods in understanding.
"Okay," Emma says as they run into the library, everything exactly as they left it, "Tear it apart." With that the three of them scramble through everything, making sure to thoroughly search as fast as they possibly can.
It's almost a half hour later of desperate scouring and Regina is at her wits end. She slams the current book she was sifting through closed and huffs. Emma moves over to her stroking her hand gently in an attempt to comfort her. Glittery white sparks start to emit at the space where their hands touch and shoot over to the wall opposite them. Emma startles and pulls back looking down at her hands.
"Moms look," Henry says pointing at the wall opposite where his mothers are standing – a small bookcase materialising there.
"What the heck?" Emma whispers under her breath as she eyes it and she's truly lost count how many times she has asked that question today.
The three move closer to the bookcase, it's full. Most of the book spines a beautiful metallic colour, rays of gold, bronze and silver sporting some sort of elegant cursive handwriting and at once Emma starts removing handfuls of them and placing them on the desk behind.
"Let's look through these, there has to be something here," she says picking up a book, examining the beautiful golden colour of its cover, then opening it and reading through.
After another half hour Henry holds up a big book from which he's currently reading, "I think I've found something."
Regina eyes the book, it looks like an exact replica of Henry's storybook, except it's a murky grey colour, completely unassuming. It's a surprise he thought to even look in the book in the first place, but that is Henry, ever the curious being that he is. He looks up to Regina then, and Regina is immediately overwhelmed with pride and happiness at seeing that glimmer of hope that was once ever-present in her sons eyes grow larger with every second he stands there. She beams at him.
"What is it Henry?" she asks as both her and Emma move to stand on either side of him.
"The book doesn't have a title," he says, "But look," he gestures down to the page the book is currently opened to. There, it reads:
So long as The Darkness resides within Storybrooke, it will become more powerful the more the Saviour and the Queen give in to their desires.
"The fail-safe right?" Emma asks looking to Regina and Regina nods, lost in thought as she runs her hand over the bottom half of the page where it continues:
If they choose to continue down the path that was not chosen for them, they will have no other choice but to watch The Darkness destroy their home and their loved ones with it. Their only option will be to stay away from one another to keep their loved ones and their home safe.
"I mean it all makes sense. Ever since ma came to Storybrooke, The Darkness has been playing up."
"But what about in Neverland? And just after, when Gold sacrificed himself in Storybrooke?" Emma asks overwhelmed and not able to make sense of things.
"Well isn't it obvious? The Darkness wasn't in Storybrooke in Neverland, that's why Gold was so adamant on doing the right thing. And when we came back, he made the ultimate sacrifice for the love of a child – that was a sacrifice for true love," Regina explains.
"That's why grandpa almost wrote us out of existence. You guys were at your closest just before he recruited Isaac. The Hat has been self-destructing due to The Darkness because you've both been growing closer ever since." Henry gasps then, "And that's why the Order didn't want me fixing my mistake," he says slamming the book shut in anger, "Because even though it wasn't you, your Fictionals were acting on their desire and The Darkness grows stronger the more that you or they do that."
And it hits Emma all at once. She stands there stunned, coming to a realisation, "Wait so that means..." she trails off.
"That we can't be together," Regina finishes for her.
Emma feels something shatter inside, the razor-sharp shards pulling at her skin and shredding through her insides.
She wants to cry.
She wants to scream.
Instead, she settles on hope.
She is the daughter of Snow White after all, go ahead and sue her if you wish.
"We can't know for certain though right?" she asks tentatively, hopefully.
"Emma, look around you, what do you think!?" Regina says angrily.
She knows it's not Emma's fault.
Knows she can't take it out on sweet, sweet Emma.
But she's... well she's furious.
She feels it build within her, knowing all too well this is the old anger. The kind she would feel when she was the Evil Queen. The kind that sets everything alight; doesn't care about anything other than to destroy and spread pain and wreak havoc on everything in its path.
No.
No.
She can't lose herself.
Not now, after everything she has done to change, to grow; to redeem herself.
No. She refuses to give in to her anger and pain.
She will not once again become a monster.
She takes a deep breath, looking into the eyes of the woman that holds her heart. The tiny traces of hope that linger there are enough for her to shoo away the demons in her mind. And just to annoy them, she smiles at Emma instead of lashing out.
But before Emma can do anything, the book disappears from Henry's hands in a cloud of smoke.
"Thank you ever so much for this," a voice comes from behind them. The trio whirl around to find the three members of the Order standing there, the man in the middle sports a smug look as holds up the book for them to see. "You have helped us with a great difficulty. One that we have been dealing with for a very long time," he pauses, "As much as it pains me to say, I do congratulate you for proving me wrong."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Emma asks, moving to shield Henry with the side of her body.
"Well, simply put... The fail-safe was protected. It could only be released from its rightful place by those whom it involved. The suffering is much more pleasant that way," he drawls, an evil glint in his eyes. "I didn't think you were capable enough of being able to liberate it from its hold, but now that you have, we are able to access it and we can keep it far, far away from you," he says pointing to the three of them.
"Go to hell," Emma grits out.
The man in the middle smirks at her then, "That reminds me... now that you have accomplished this task, allowing us to secure the fail-safe once and for all, there's no need for you to be able to roam around the town freely," he sneers at Emma then, "You can go to hell yourself." With that he lifts his hand and both Emma and Regina disappear in a cloud of smoke.
"No!" Henry shouts, he runs over to the man in the middle attempting to shove and push at him, "What did you do!? Where did you send my moms!?" he shrieks, tears building up in his eyes as he turns red from anger.
"Oh Henry," the man in the middle tuts, "Don't worry, they've been cursed to their own personal hell," he says laughing, a dark sinister sound sending shivers up Henry's spine.
Henry freezes when he picks up on the meaning behind those words, "Wait, they're dead?" he asks quietly not quite believing what he has heard.
The man in the middle stops cackling then; he arches a brow and smirks, "What do you think?"
"No!" Henry charges at him, his tears falling freely now, eyes red-rimmed, but is held back by the other two men, "Bring them back!" he yells struggling against their iron grips around his upper arms.
"Put him with the rest!" the man in the middle orders the others. Henry feels something hit him in the head then, a sharp pang resonates at that place, before it becomes agonising. Soon enough, his vision fades and he succumbs to the pain.
...SQ...
When Henry comes to, he realises he has no idea where he is. He's slumped against a white tiled wall in a small room. The other three walls, floor and ceiling are all identical to it. There are no doors and no windows just bright white LED strip lights running through the walls and across the ceiling. It looks like some sort of futuristic sci-fi type room. Normally Henry would become extremely curious, thinking up a thousand theories in his head, jumping around and searching the room thoroughly to try to find a way out.
But not today.
Today he has no energy left.
Henry folds in on himself, bringing his knees up against his chest; wrapping his arms around himself tightly. He sniffles as the tears continue to fall and tries to gulp them down not wanting to break down in this place, but to no avail.
He sits there for what feels like hours, the tears have long dried but the ache in his chest is decidedly worse, as for the rest of it, he just feels numb. Suddenly he hears a muffled sound coming from the wall across the room opposite where he is currently sitting. He jumps up and rushes over placing his ear on the wall in an attempt to listen more closely.
More muffling sounds come through then a series of loud beeps, Henry quickly jumps a few steps back as the wall starts sliding to the left, revealing another white wall some distance ahead and a person standing there facing it in a full black stealth suit.
"I'm here to help you- wait, Henry? What are you doing here?" the person asks, as they turn around from said wall where they were previously tapping away into a keypad and look up at Henry. Henry can't see their face as they're wearing a full black face mask, silver mirrored lenses covering their eyes.
"How do you know who I am?" Henry asks, surprised.
"My name is Trinadecker, I'm a friend."
Safe to say Henry is now also shocked; his eyes widen jaw turning slack, "The Trinadecker? From Ao3?" he asks, hopeful.
A small chuckle comes from Trinadecker, "The very same. Now let's get out of here and save your moms and the world."
...SQ...
Emma jolts up, her eyes attempting to adjust to her surroundings. It's dark, that much she can tell. Wait, what was she doing again? She hears something move from somewhere above her and realises she's lying on the ground. Her left hand moves against it, damp and gritty – a road maybe? There's something cool in her right hand - metal perhaps - she remembers then, it's a sword. That means- Emma jumps up and there they are. The blonde immediately feels her blood boil.
The hooded figure.
The one person destined to end her life in the final battle between good and evil.
She swings the sword forward attempting to strike the figure, but they dodge it. Instantly jumping forward to send their own strike. They manage to nick Emma's arm just before she moves out of the way. Emma lunges forward and manages to do the same to the figure, a tiny rip in their cloak and a trickle of blood leaving the skin now visible.
The fight goes on like this for a few minutes, hits and blows exchanged equally between the two. Emma knows deep down it's no use to fight this figure; they both have the same level of skill, there's no one upping the other as they are the same in everything except the sides that they fight for.
As she continues swinging her sword - being met with equal resistance - she feels it deep down, knows they've already done this battle a thousand times over, yet they continue to do it anyway. Her mind is flooded with confusion in an instant, if this has already happened why do they continue to fight? How are they even able to when the battle will only be over when one of them falls?
Soon both are covered in equal amounts of blood, cuts and bruises and Emma is exhausted.
She's had enough.
This strange sense of déjà vu is draining her from the inside, it coupled with the physical pain and mental exhaustion is enough for her to be overcome with bloodlust.
She no longer wants to keep fighting; needs to end this once and for all. There is only one way to finish off this evil in front of her.
Emma waits for the hooded figure to mirror her movements, knowing all too well they're thinking the exact same thing as her. She takes a deep breath, preparing herself for the pain to come and then charges forward thrusting her sword straight through the hooded figures abdomen; feeling their sword drive through her own.
Time slows as she stares at the hood. Just stares, knowing the figure is staring right back at her, both too aware of what's going to come next. A painful gasp - a realisation - then the hood falls and Emma watches as that beautiful face comes into view, instantly morphing into a look of pain. She watches as the life begins to leave those captivating orbs. And Emma's vision starts to darken at the edges but she refuses to look away, feeling something shatter inside as she finally remembers, her breath coming in slow now, the pain excruciating and all she can think about is the life in front of her, knowing that she was the one to end it. Finally she's able to recognise that perfect face just to greet its owner in death – Regina.
Emma hasn't the energy left to come to terms with what she has just done; with what Regina has just done. Both fall to the ground, staring up at the sky into the dark abyss knowing that as soon as their last breath leaves them, they'll wake up again each having forgotten who the other is - up until the point when the deed is done and there's no saving one another.
Their own personal hell.
Emma closes her eyes; a teardrop falling down the side of her face, Regina mirroring her exact movements and as her final breath leaves her, she can only think of one thing – I'm sorry.
...SQ...
"My moms are dead," Henry says sombrely, fresh tears gathering in his eyes once more. Before Trinadecker can reply another person in the same ensemble as Trinadecker comes up to stand beside them. They face Trinadecker as they speak not even realising Henry is standing there.
"Trina what are you doing standing here? The Apprentice is alive and with Amy. The rest of the team are freeing the other prisoners as we speak. We have to hurry if we want to help SQ and save the world."
Henry doesn't get the chance to celebrate the news regarding The Apprentice as he hears Trinadecker say, "CG, I found Henry Mills."
Henry gasps, unable to stop the star-struck expression from taking over his face, "Wait... CG? As in coalitiongirl? The coalitiongirl?"
Coalitiongirl turns to face Henry and chuckles, "It's nice to know you're a fan Henry and I'd be happy to sign an autograph or whatever later, but right now we have to go and help your moms."
"My moms are dead."
"Henry if your moms were dead, the world wouldn't still be on the verge of being taken over by their fictional counterparts and their stories. Without prime Emma and prime Regina there would be no SQ fanfiction," coalitiongirl says and Henry exhales a long deep sigh of relief. "And there clearly is, because both worlds are still merging."
"What!?" Henry replies in shock.
"It's true," coalitiongirl replies, "The barrier between the worlds has weakened since you started bringing the SQ realm from the World of the Fictionals to life. But unlike that world where it can re-adjust and re-size to accommodate what is written within it, this world cannot do that and the SQ realm is so large that things from it are overlaying and superimposing one another in order for all of it to exist in this world."
There is silence for a few moments; then Henry speaks, "Okay I... I think I understand," he says trying to make sense of it all in his mind, "But why is it happening everywhere when magic only exists within Storybrooke?"
A third person steps into view then, again wearing an identical ensemble as Trinadecker and coalitiongirl, "Because magic exists within the SQ realm in the World of the Fictionals, therefore magic is also now existent wherever the SQ realm also exists. But we should discuss this afterwards; there is very little time left before the entire realm is merged with this world, and we won't be able to undo anything once it's set in stone as we most likely won't survive, so come on let's go now."
Henry looks between the three and gasps, "Wait, let me guess, you're amycarey?" he says, his voice dripping with excitement.
"I am yes, and you're Henry Mills. My goodness it's an honour," amycarey says.
"You're kidding right? It's an honour for me, you guys are my favourite SQ fanfiction writers," Henry replies.
"Humble as always young Henry," and Henry recognises that voice straight away, deep and slightly accented. A figure steps forward from behind amycarey and there standing in all his glory is The Apprentice. A wave of happiness hits Henry in the chest, overwhelming him to the point where he feels dazed.
"You're still alive?" Henry breathes out; then laughs at his words, "I mean... you know what I mean," he says sheepishly, feeling his face turn red.
"Let's discuss while we get out of here hm?" amycarey suggests. Henry steps out of the room, into what seems like a horizontal passageway. He looks left and right noticing at least a dozen other rooms the same as the one he was in.
"They're holding cells," Trinadecker offers, seeing the look of confusion spread across Henry's face.
"Where are we?" Henry asks, as he starts to follow the group out of there.
"A long way outside of Storybrooke, this is one of the facilities that are run by the Order. After great difficulty we managed to track The Apprentice's location here, and finally we were able to execute this mission to get in undetected in order to rescue him along with the other prisoners we suspected would be held here too. We didn't know you'd be here too though Henry, but my, are we glad to see you," Trinadecker explains. Henry nods and turns to The Apprentice, goodness it is so good to see him.
"I do apologise that it has taken so long for my presence to become known Henry," The Apprentice says as they walk, "I had managed to procure the Dark Grail and vacate the premises before anything untoward took place. The time it would take for me to arrive back to Storybrooke was a miscalculation on my part however, and the Order captured me soon after but not before I was able to hide away the Dark Grail."
Henry gasps sharply, "You got it? That means we can get rid of The Darkness once and for all and I can undo my mistake too right?"
"The only possible manner in which to procure the pen once more would be to free The Sorcerer. And the only method to do that would be to destroy The Darkness. There is however a small issue..." The Apprentice trails off and suddenly Henry almost bumps into the person in front of him as they halt in their steps, he's not sure which of the three agents it is as they are indistinguishable in their mask and suits.
"What do you mean?" amycarey asks.
"Apprentice you said we could do this, what possible problem could there be?" Trinadecker questions worriedly as they begin walking again.
"I cannot destroy The Darkness-"
"Because of your magic?" Henry questions cutting The Apprentice off.
"No. I have just enough magic to liberate The Darkness from its shackles within the Hat," The Apprentice replies, "But I cannot use the Dark Grail."
"Then who can?" coalitiongirl questions.
"The Dark Grail must be wielded as it was forged, with both sides of the coin. Light and the dark. Though the Queen now possesses light magic, there still exists darkness within her. It is the same for the Saviour, her potential for darkness remains. Therefore both their light and dark parts equally together will allow for the Dark Grail to destroy The Darkness once and for all," The Apprentice replies.
"Well if the worlds are merging then we can just write my mom's back here right? We don't need The Author's pen to do that?" Henry asks, feeling hope flood his heart.
"It is possible Henry yes," coalitiongirl agrees, "However it's not that easy. They were cursed to wherever they are. They only way for them to break it would be to share true loves kiss. Assuming that The Order wanted their suffering to be at its maximum, they most likely don't even remember who the other is, so they won't love each other and the kiss won't work even if we could get them to do it. And besides they're not Fictionals, we can't manipulate them in the same way as you could with the pen. We can only manipulate fictional characters through our writing, not real people."
"So let's help them remember. We can write our own character and send them to wherever mom and ma are to help jog their memory. Mom and ma are always stronger when they're fighting, either with each other or together against a villain," Henry suggests.
"Very well, but we need someone who can be a common enemy and who is strong enough to take on the both of them," amycarey says, "But who?"
Trinadecker starts chuckling "Oh my goodness, I have the perfect idea," she pauses then, "Why don't we send in the Evil Queen?"
...SQ...
A/N: I don't know CG, Trina or Amy's pronouns or what they look like and didn't want to be disrespectful by assuming, so I hope that part didn't sound too odd
