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-FantasyWriterFoSho
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Summary of the Previous Chapter: At the loft, Regina made a tracking potion for Emma while also recounting the terms of her agreement to Mary Margaret. Elsewhere, Gold and the Snow Queen have a conversation about boundaries.
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Chapter Twelve: Vigor Surprises
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6:55PM -The Ice Cave; Deep in the Forest
After spending some time checking in on the town, the Snow Queen finally returned to her lair, her silent gaze roaming over the reflected blank, but trembling face, of Emma Swan.
She could tell that she was now under the mirror's full control by how glued her eyes were to the sparkling surface.
Emma could no longer speak, or fully move, but she was aware of those who either stood in her immediate vicinity or were reflected in undisturbed pieces of the relic.
Quietly moving towards her, her gown's train tussling behind her, the Snow Queen stopped directly beside her. Hugging Emma into her side and observing her profile, she then rested both of her hands on each of the young woman's shoulders.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, visibly upset at what she had to do; the trauma she intentionally inflicted. "I know that this has been difficult and trying for you, but I needed you to see what you've been through in order for you to grow; to fully understand why you have to be with me..." Trailing off, the Snow Queen then raised her right hand so she could place it onto the back of Emma's head. "...I am the only one who can protect you," she continued.
Allowing her magic to coat her fingers and palm, the Snow Queen then gently pressed it into her, the light blue magic curling slightly upwards before it seeped past Emma's blonde hair and head, restoring her lost memories with a healing energy.
Emma's eyelids fluttered when she received the new information. Swallowing away her emotions, she instantly shuddered when she began seeing the new images play out on the glass, but soon, her senses were overwhelmed with an alarming amount of affection. The genuine laughter, the smiles and the love her younger self had experienced with the woman beside her made her heart swell.
Is this a trick? Or is this real? she questioned silently, hesitant to believe her eyes after what she had been previously fed. Though the Snow Queen's presence was more comforting now then it was a few minutes ago, Emma refused to just blindly trust her.
She refused to believe somebody who would trap, then try to brainwash her, under a mirror's powerful influence.
Straining against both the Snow Queen and the relic's power, Emma focused on her breathing and not on the images that were replaying before her. Reaching deep within herself, she honed, then concentrated, on what she desired the most: her freedom.
An unexpected warmth then tingled its way up her legs and spine before shooting directly into her arms and neck. An audible gasp pushed past her dry and cracked lips when an involuntary tremor overtook, then gradually freed, her fingers, which subsequently burst into white flames.
The Snow Queen's mouth dropped open at the magical display. She was just about to remark on their intertwined pasts, in the hopes that her words would coax her further, when she noticed something was wrong. Emma's shaking increased beneath her touch and a liveliness licked at her facial features before burning deep within her eyes.
Emma was rebelling.
She was trying to break free and, so far, she was succeeding.
"This...this is unbelievable," the Snow Queen rasped harshly, pushing herself away from Emma, her breathing ragged. "How are you resisting me?! Why...why are you doing this? I..." she paused, her mind racing. "I just showed you what happened. I showed you our shared past, and you...you are still choosing them over me?!"
Glaring past the images to see the woman beside her, Emma's eyes blinked then narrowed. Gasping again, she dragged in a shallow amount of air into her desperate lungs before she switched her attention down to her twitching mouth.
Pushing past the unbearable fog, she continued to do the impossible.
"Y...y-yes..." she said, the murmur soft but defiant.
When she did it again, the Snow Queen fell into a stunned and profound silence.
Stumbling away, she stared at Emma's profile.
She couldn't begin to fathom what had just happened, despite her witnessing it firsthand. Exchanging glances between the blonde and the mirror, she could feel her blood start to boil. The air began to thicken with a cold mist while her shoulders shook, uncontrollably. Eyes and face darkening, she walked back to Emma and flung an aggressive hand into the mirror's direction.
Dismissing the loving memories from the surface, the enraged Snow Queen brought back the disturbing ones with an unspoken command, flaring Emma's vulnerable mind with an unforgiving vengeance.
Emma attempted, once again, to shut her eyes, but knew that she wouldn't be able to. They watered and struggled under the intense strain of both her actions and the Snow Queen's, creating a small headache near her temples. Breathing completely shredded, she fought to maintain her magical defiance but could feel it slipping away with every emotional, stripping scene...but what happened next, would make her wish she had never tried to resist in the first place.
A pain suddenly nicked at her heart.
It was something she had never experienced in this magical state.
The more she was forced to watch, the more it grew. It was as if the Snow Queen, in her rage, had added a dose of reality to the mirror's curse because Emma began to feel every harrowing ordeal, past and present.
Every heartache and every dealt blow erupted, then pummeled, her gut with such an intensity that it eventually knocked Emma down to her knees with a muted cry, her hair falling in layered waves.
Embittered, the Snow Queen watched the spectacle, her face the picture of fury as she stared at the other woman. Her anger surged and carried her through the next few agonizing minutes before she finally felt it wane. Her aching heart broke through her cold exterior and her eyes watered when she allowed herself to take in the distressing sight of the wide eyed, horror-stricken Emma, who was struggling to get out of her kneeling position.
Regretting her hasty action, the Snow Queen lifted a hand up, to relieve her of the physical torment, when she heard something clinking against her ice block. Half-turning towards the entrance, hands still raised, she listened to them carefully and nearly jumped when the noise escalated to several loud, unforgiving bangings.
Slowly, she moved towards it, her feet gliding easily over the iced ground. She was almost a foot away when it suddenly exploded, pushing her deeper into the fortress with huge, flying wedges that had once belonged to the now shattered blockade.
The Snow Queen grunted when she landed on her side but managed to flip herself around then onto her knees. Coughing briefly, her eyes searched the now destroyed side of her lair for a glimpse of the cause and was quickly rewarded when she zoomed her vision in on a slightly blurred figure.
"You," she rasped out, her face twisting into a malicious scowl.
"Who else were you expecting?"
Gold then emerged fully into the cave, his eyes first fixed on the recovering Snow Queen, who was scrambling to stand up, before moving them over to Emma, who was still on the floor. After raising a brow at the odd scene, he shrugged, though his expression was tense. "How interesting. Her attention appears to be elsewhere. It appears as if you have trapped the Savior in some sort of an ancient trance...I'm impressed."
"Leave her alone," the Snow Queen warned, her hands now raised in a defensive posture.
"It's so nice to see that I finally have some good fortune heading my way," Gold continued with a simultaneous hand wave, which swiftly encompassed the surprised Snow Queen in a magically confined prison that covered her from the neck down. With a different flourish, he then followed that action by reconstructing another door blockade, but one of marbled stone.
Smiling, he fluidly revealed his dagger and a small, circular device with a crackle of energy. After smoothly transforming the latter into a dark navy blue hat, he redirected his attention back to the frozen Snow Queen.
"Rumple," she began, knowing exactly what he planned on doing with at least one of the items. Licking her lips, she attempted to persuade him from trapping them both in the hat, particularly pleading on Emma's behalf. "If you have to choose, if you absolutely must take one of us, take me..."
Gold tilted his head. "Despite your need to advise people, you sure do have a habit of not heeding others. I told you to be careful. I told you that magic comes with a price." He then smirked. "Did you think that taking my warnings lightly would benefit you in the end?"
"Rumple…"
"Maybe it's you who should think before acting," he reprimanded gleefully. "Threatening the Dark One never works out well for bold souls. At this point in time," he said, pausing to take a few steps in her direction. "You should consider yourself now part of my magical affairs..."
The Snow Queen's eyes widened.
"I do, however, wish to thank you for revealing that valuable piece of information," he added when he stood only a foot away from her. "I still need to retrieve Killian's heart but if it wasn't for your knowledge, it would've taken more time out of my busy schedule to find it and I don't have that luxury anymore. So for that," he paused, his eyes fiery.
"...Your death will be less painful..."
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More to come! Stay tuned and thanks!