Winnifred was ambitious. She was also utterly annoying, which was why he'd never wanted to teach her in the first place. It was but one of the many reasons why he'd always turned her down when she first arrived for help. But today, if all played out as he was hoping it would, as he had seen it would in his mind, then his annoyance with her was soon to be over for good. Unless of course she'd managed to make a working Black Flame Candle, but he doubted that with every fiber of his being. Try as he may to see her in his future she wasn't there. And that was just the way he liked it.
Still, Dark One's had a habit of playing with their food, even if they weren't the ones to eat it. For his own entertainment he'd taken her at first light to the place outside the palace that he practiced with Regina, the spot he'd promised to be should the Queen choose to give up on Daniel, the place he believed she would return to. He actually taught the bitch a bit of magic. Just enough that if she tried to fight back against Regina it might make things interesting, but not enough to win. Winnifred did have great power, but she'd only ever been truly strong when her two sisters had been alive. Winnifred had been the clever one of the three, practicing magic through potions and spells. Mary and Sarah had always been a bit more flamboyant with their abilities, and so they'd been caught, and Winnifred had claimed innocence, promising them she'd bring them back to life. Out here in the open, with Regina due any moment, he pressed her to give rise to the powers she had but held back in fear of being caught like her sisters. Freeze time, disappear, move objects! She was capable of every one of those things. And if she chose to fight Regina for her spot, then it would make things interesting, certainly.
But then again…there were other things that could make this interesting.
He had her practicing a suspension spell on a rock the size of her own head as he read to her from the book he'd once loaned to Cora, when he heard footsteps in the distance. A twig broke suddenly, and from the corner of his eye, he spied Regina walking into the clearing in-
She nearly took his breath away.
She moved in strides, not steps; great powerful strides that would have required the entire Kingdom to look upon her lest they anger her. She was dressed in black. From head to toe, tight black clothes that showed off her legs, her chest, her waist…all the right curves that probably would have driven her husband crazy if it weren't for the crazy look in her own eyes. Black they were. Heavy with make-up and…something else…
It wasn't easy to see, not considering the overwhelming nature of everything else about her, but he could see it, the rims of her eyes just beyond the black, they were red. Oh, there may have been a smile on her face, her hair might be pristine, her clothes powerful, but she was a woman in mourning. And that was one of his favorite states to encounter people. In his experience, those who were in mourning rarely acted rationally. In fact, they were just the sort of people who might consider tearing away the heart of the thing they loved most to cast a curse. This was the Regina he'd seen in his vision. This was who he wanted to work with.
"Who's this?" Regina demanded, stepping between him and his new girl. Poor thing, Winnifred was so concentrated upon her rock she hardly seemed to notice Regina there. But if the sizzle of magic coming from beneath Regina's skin said anything, it was that the girl was making a dreadful decision in not doing so.
"Ah, your replacement, of course!" he declared. She should be afraid of the Queen but not him. He was fighting not to cry or look upon her with pride for before him was exactly what he had been hoping to create, the perfect storm, a monster. "I needed someone more dedicated."
"Dedicated?" she breathed with disbelief.
Regina turned. He hadn't even noticed until then that Winnifred had dropped the rock she had been practicing on, letting it fall to the ground with an indignant thud. He had no time to congratulate her on her pitiful successes before Regina plunged her hand into her chest, and pulled forth a glowing, beating heart. Winnifred barely had time to be stunned before Regina returned her gaze to him, and stared him down as the delicate organ began to crack and creak under the strain of her palm. The girl behind her dropped to the forest floor, Regina upturned her hand, and the ash from her heart fell beside her body.
"Now…where were we?" she questioned as he let out a laugh.
Perfect. Perfect and beautiful, and he couldn't dream of having it any other way. This was the Regina he'd seen in his vision, the very first vision, the one that the Seer had given him those many years ago. She still had a long way to go, but if this was only the start, then he longed to see what she would be at the end. The doctor had done his job. Now it was up to him to do his own.
Short, I know. I actually think a lot of the reason I don't like the previous chapter is because of this chapter. There were a few short scenes from the last chapter that I seriously considered attaching to this one but ultimately I decided that this moment was important enough on its own that it needed a chapter. The big reveal of Regina, that's one of the most important chapters in this entire thing. I couldn't have it share space with anything else.
Big thank yous going out to Alarda and Jennifer Baratta for your reviews on the last chapter! I'm humbled that you liked it, even if I know it's not the best. We've got one more chapter in the 2x05 bit and then, like I promised, time really picks up in this section. Peace and Happy Reading!