I know it's been an age and a half but a lot has been going on with my life. Sorry for the delay. The story is fully written though, so anyone still with me now you will see the end of it - that is a promise! Thanks for your patience, and YAY for new series! Hope you enjoy this chapter. Reviews very welcome - especially if folks are hanging on with me!
"How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. Emma!" Regina yelled as soon as she had control of her words back. "Could you at least pretend to be an adult?" She chastised as Emma giggled.
"Oh come on. We both nearly died. It's about time we had some fun."
"Well some of us are too busy trying to find our magic to have time for fun - you're meant to be studying that thing, not playing with it."
"I am studying it. I'm testing if it works for complicated sentence structure." She explained with a smile as Regina glared at her, unimpressed. "I've also proven that somehow, no matter how many times I use it, the water level inside doesn't drop. It's got some kind of magical refill. Look! I can even turn it upside down!" She noted, demonstrating.
"Well at least that's something." Regina conceded looking back to the map they had been using with a dishevelled grimace.
"So what about you? You've been staring at those documents for ages." Emma remarked. Regina brushed a hand through her hair, bracing her neck.
"I was hoping it would give me some idea of where we are, but judging by some of the things marked on here I think it's very old. They just don't match what's around us. I've tried casting some spells on it but nothing that is of any use. I guess that means you're working harder than I am after all. Give me that!" Regina snatched the cup off her smirking partner before a wind gathered up around them. This time they barely batted an eyelid knowing what would follow. As expected, the riddler erupted in front of them.
"Your challenge was met, the well was beat; now to the great hall guide your feet. To let you in the guards can call, then you must chant; restore it all."
He whizzed past both Regina and Emma and whipped up the pad and the map in turn before they were blown back by an explosion of light.
"If I still had the cup I'd be making you say how you kind of like him after all." Emma teased, opening the pad the cat had dropped back before he'd disappeared.
"If he can prove that to me, I'll be first to say it myself. What did he write?" Regina asked looking over as Emma skimmed down. Something was scrawled across but it was written in rhunic with the addition of Regina's name below Emma's.
"Why are they so crazy about this language?" Emma complained, tossing it down.
"Well this path doesn't need translating." Regina held the map out and pointed to a line that he had left them.
"Well..." Emma shielded her eyes from the sun looking over to the closest collection of buildings in the distance. "Is it pointing there?"
Regina followed the line of vision she was indicating and compared it with the map. "Yeh...I guess."
"Are you sure you don't recognise that city?" Emma asked. "It looks kind of grand and distinctive, don't you think? I don't know - maybe it is a part of Oz or Wonderland? Kind of looks like it could be."
"Distinctively uninspired maybe, but grand? No doubt you have your impressions from some movie." Regina tucked the map away, raising an eyebrow as Emma shrugged. "Trust me, those places were built by people who had a flair for the fancy. Whoever built this city was probably copying whatever interpretations you've seen to fake importance."
"It looks pretty fancy to me." Emma pointed, squinting across the trees from the hill they were on to the collection of glowing houses and buildings in the distance.
"You have low standards. If we ever get back to Storybrooke your parents need to teach you something about magical kingdoms." Regina judged as Emma raised her hands up in defeat, not entirely convinced but not willing to waste time arguing.
"How about we get Belle on that rhyme. Hopefully she'll have got back to us by the time we reach this hall or whatever sorry excuse for one it is."
Emma pulled the mirror out and slipped her hand through Regina's necklace, somewhat invading her space.
"Next time I'm bringing a spare one." Regina mumbled, displeased at their awkward positioning. "Why don't you just take it off me and use it yourself?
"I just need it to make the contact." Emma pacified her as she channelled the magic, focussing on the mirror. "I told you, I'm not leaving you defenceless just because mine ran out. Your magic reflexes are faster and my one on one combat is better." She flashed a hand over the object as Regina shook her head in bitter submission. "It's a real power drain though isn't it?" Emma noted a sudden dreariness around her as she channelled the power through, noting the difference she felt using it via Regina.
"Does your magic always feel this dark? It's like the whole world is a little more grey. No wonder you're grumpy half the time." She noted as Regina furrowed her brow.
"Are you done?" She replied, not impressed by the commentary.
As the call connected, Emma moved her hand from its grasp around the amulet.
"Emma? Did you have any luck?" Mary Margaret answered as they connected.
"Guess what!" Emma chimed as the others came into focus, Regina had reached for the cup and noted something down on a scrap of paper.
"I don't need to know, Emma. I'm sure Regina has done something amazing." Mary Margaret replied before looking confused. "Wait, what?"
Emma raised an eyebrow at a smug looking Regina.
"You told me to relax and have fun. And now we know it works across realms." She replied as Emma shook her head with a smile before explaining.
"We found out how to work the cup. It holds water from the well and if you sprinkle someone's name with it you can make them say whatever you write below."
"So it literally does make you say whatever someone else wants?" Belle queried, jotting it down.
"Exactly." Regina replied. "For example..." she shook it again over another message.
"I'm sorry I'm so bad with secrets." Mary Margaret quickly belted out before and raising her hands to her mouth in an attempt to stop it moving involuntarily. "Seriously?! Still?" She muffled through her fingers.
"Just making the most if it." Regina dotted something on the next page as Emma reached over from her own position and took her turn confiscating the cup. She dribbled it over her own note before Regina had a chance to get in her second dig.
"I'm sorry Mary Margaret. I know I was worse and it's impressive you forgave me." Regina obediently spat out as she lunged over trying to snatch it back. Emma placed the cup to her side out of easy reach for both.
"And as much fun as we're having with it..." She batted away Regina's reaching hand. "Our riddler friend returned and we need you to take a look at what this could mean."
She tore out the page and held it up as Belle tried to jot it down, Regina conceding and folding her arms.
"Did he say anything else?" Mary Margaret asked, now it was safe to free her mouth again.
"Apparently we need to go to a great hall, use the cup to trick the guards to announce we should be let in and then say this chant." As Emma explained, Regina's face creased in thought.
"Don't those instructions seem unusually specific?" She turned to Emma, thinking it back to the others.
The blonde shrugged, picking up the cup again and playing with it in her hands.
"I'm still more baffled by how specific the power of the cup is." She admitted. "Sure, we can get the guards to let us in, but they know they're saying it? Won't they immediately just stop us?"
"Unless you can do more than just command words." Mary Margaret shrugged as Belle quickly read. "What if you can plant thoughts or demand answers?"
"Huh." Emma took in the suggestions, suddenly a brainwave hitting her as she tapped her lip with the pen.
"Ok, I can get a couple of words from what we had before..." Belle explained, darting between the note of the chant and her previous translations. "But the word 'power' is definitely there and I also found 'magic' and 'people'. Best guess would be it calls power and returns it? I'll need some time to work out the rest."
"What do you think Regina, of Belle's help?" Emma asked.
"I am not sure what we'd do without her. I know I don't thank her enough." Regina replied before quickly darting a glare at Emma as Belle exchanged a bashful look with a confused Mary Margaret.
"I thought we were in a ceasefire!" Regina complained.
"Oh you can fire back if you want but I think you'll be too impressed." Emma replied smugly.
"Here..." She applied the water again. "Ask me any question you like."
Regina eyed her partner up and down, thinking carefully. Squinting her eyes, she folded her arms.
"Did you have anything to do with Hook and the tree incident and were you there?"
Emma bit down on her bottom lip, closing her eyes but was unable to hold for long.
"I dared him to do it but it was a joke. We were both drunk and I didn't actually think that he would be dumb enough to." The words flowed out like a train as Regina tipped her head. "OK, I could have thought of a better way to demonstrate this..." Emma admitted, dipping down her eyebrows.
"And that you'll regret later, but for now you're right; I am too impressed to be mad. How did you make it do that?"
"Placeholders. Back in the old days, programming nerds that made our tracking stuff actually taught me a thing or two. I didn't think it would be up with code - and honestly I never paid much attention to what it was - so I just thought about and wrote 'truth' in brackets. Somehow it worked."
"Magic often connects with our intentions. That's why we have to focus when we use it." Regina explained.
"And some objects do the same." Belle added. "Especially ones that can be used by mortals like beans for portals. It's really the only way non magic people could use them."
"Which means this could have been designed for a mortal to get one over on witches. It usually just deludes common folk into thinking they can actually outsmart those who actually possess magic." Regina added smugly.
"Interesting." Mary Margaret got a devilish look in her eye before sending a silent signal to Emma who quickly produced the same glint.
"So you've never been outsmarted by common folk, Regina? Maybe even Snow White and Prince Charming?"
Regina quickly tried to grab at Emma, catching onto their plan, but it was too late.
"I've been outsmarted several times, especially by you both." She bleated out. "But mostly because you had an unfair advantage." She added, piercing Emma with a glare.
"Well at least this proves it works. I never thought I'd hear you say that." Mary Margaret folded her arms.
"Yes. Now this means we have some back up to my superpower." Emma sat back contently as silence followed and she caught hidden looks from all three.
"What?" She commented defensively as Mary Margaret gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Mom?" Emma narrowed her eyes, writing something down and giving the cup a shake over it. "What is it?"
"We're happy to play along and nobody denies that you often have good intuition but your superpower pretty much only works on Henry." Mary Margaret finished, slapping her hands to her face. "Emma! Did you actually just do that to your own mother?" She gasped, horrified her daughter use it against her.
"I did." She replied stonily as Mary Margaret pickled pink and diverted her eyes. "Only on Henry, huh?"
"Can suggest you avoid using it too much...this could get a little dicey." Belle intervened as Mary Margaret nodded.
"I agree." She added briskly. "Let's just not play with the cup anymore." She ordered, folding her arms.
"Fun as it is, I do actually agree with Belle and Mary Margaret." Regina weighed in.
"Well maybe since my superpower is so pathetic I should ask you all questions." Emma squinted, petulantly.
"Have you lied to your mom at all in the last few days Emma?" Regina asked giving the cup a shake.
"Only when I pretended I had a plan so that mom wouldn't get all naggy." She replied before closing her eyes. "OK. I agree. Let's put it away." She conceded as Mary Margaret's jaw dropped.
"I do not nag!" She protested before Regina raised a hand towards a stuttering Emma.
"In that case -" She tried to diffuse the situation from any further hole digging. "I think we should make our way to the great hall and you call us as soon as you have finished the translation." The three agreed the plan between them and they finished the mirror call.
Regina and Emma had packed up their things and followed the map carefully through each path and track. Whatever section the map covered, it wasn't far as they had already approached open space in front of guarded walls. It looked like they were approaching from behind with the light of grand buildings still in the distance. Either way, there was no further way could go before being openly exposed or hitting its walls. They hid at the edge of a forest, looking out.
"We haven't heard from them yet. Maybe we should explore the perimeter and see the best way in." Emma sized it up from their spot. "The guards to command, that is. This looks like it probably has very high defences."
"Seriously?" Regina queried, looking back at Emma. She could see there was a single entry with a couple of guards but nothing too threatening. "You know for someone with a criminal record you sure have strange ideas for high security."
"Even those guards open up the grill I don't see how we won't instantly get arrested. Maybe the riddler doesn't know the best way in. It did says he only guides." Emma continued without responding to the dig as Regina narrowed her eyes.
"Or maybe he knows exactly what will happen." Regina took in the scene around them, deciding this looked too easy.
"Regina..." Emma weighed in, anticipating the wave of cynicism.
"No, you know what? I trust your gut Emma but I also trust mine. You were right, before. I do have experience so let me use it. I think we need to drag that cryptic moron back here and demand the truth from him."
"OK." Emma agreed, knowing they had the means. "But how? We don't know how to summon him."
Regina thought back to their steps before. "I ripped this out of his coat yesterday when I tried to grab him." She pulled out a watch.
"Well look at you, pickpocket. I thought you'd have classed that as one of my methods." Emma raised an eyebrow.
Regina rolled her eyes instead of rising to the comment and positioned her hand over the watch.
"If he is anything like the creatures I've come across in Wonderland, I think I know something I can use to bring him here. Now we have the truth extractor we can maybe get something useful out of him." She clasped the watch in her hands and put them behind her back inconspicuously, slowly rippling her fingers over the timepiece.
Soon enough there was a crack of smoke and the cat puffed into the air. His face was riddled with confusion and he tried to zip away but Regina instantly dragged him back with her magic.
Once again he popped away and on the third summon Regina greeted him with a shout.
"We can do this all day, riddler." Regina threatened as he finally ceased trying to fight it.
"Riddles I have, but answers not - I will not be comman-"
"Can it, cat." Emma sprinkled the water onto a sheet of paper.
The cat looked on nervously.
"The cup is used to control words not for other wisdom pearls."
"Look at that...he's hiding something." Regina purred pacing around him as the cat tried to disappear again but he came screeching back and shouted in frustration.
"What is this? I am not foe!"
"Are we going to get caught by the guards straight away?"
"Yes. The guards will catch you this way."
Biting her bottom lip, Regina darted Emma with a glare as they both considered the implications of what the riddler had just admitted. For Regina, the confession was confirmation of something she had feared all along, for Emma it was a sign that they may be about to start playing an entirely different game.
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"We've been blindly following, doing his bidding. Manipulated to -"
"Regina!" Emma cut her off more firmly, pointing.
"What?" She snapped back.
Emma paused, looking ahead towards the residue the riddler had left.
