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-FantasyWriterFoSho

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Summary of the Previous Chapter: Regina proved that it was Zelena who had stolen the urn from the vault, but she also made another discovery about her sister.

Afterwards, Zelena freed Gold so they could make a deal.

...

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Family Complications

…

Gold raised a suspicious brow at her. "You have nothing that I want."

Zelena folded her arms over her chest, unmoved by what he said. "Because of my actions, Belle's will be here soon," she paused, observing his response. When she saw interest glimmer in his eyes, she cleared her throat. Got him. "I saw her with Regina and a few others you may know. I believe another tracking potion is being made for me, which means, her and her little friends will be here soon."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Don't worry," she said, tilting her head. "If you're thinking that I'm here to stop you or to have you imprisoned again, you can breathe. I have no plans to do any of the kind."

"That's smart of you," he remarked, clasping his hands in front of him. "What is it that you want? You spoke of a deal."

Zelena smiled widely. "I humbly request that you trap my dear sister inside of the hat and to reconstruct the mirror that dead Snow Queen had." Pushing herself off of the well, she slowly took a few steps forward. "I want revenge against Storybrooke."

"How lofty of you," he commented, returning her smile with one of his own. "But why would I help you do any of that? And how have you acquired this information?"

"If you're worried that I'll use the curse against you, I won't," she responded, her eyes never wavering from his. "I'll make sure that you, Belle and Henry remain unaffected and as to how I've acquired these juicy little morsels of information...is my secret."

"Fine, but using the mirror won't be easy," Gold declared smoothly. "It's not something that can just be controlled. How will you manage to operate it?"

"I have my ways," she responded evenly. "You're not the only knowledgeable person here in this town."

Intrigued, Gold mulled over her words. He had already collected the necessary amount of magic to fuel the hat—though he would've loved to have Emma's as well—which he needed to quickly find. The only thing he had to get now was Killian's heart. "The thing is, dearie...I don't need any help or cooperation. So, that renders your request pointless."

Swallowing hard, Zelena tried to quell her thundering pulse. "Then, what can I do to assist you?"

She's desperate, he thought as he analyzed her face. But then again, so am I...

When his heart slammed painfully against his ribs, he rethought his decision. Shifting in his stance, he then sighed. "Actually," he began, his eyes sparkling. "There is something you could do. If you could gather and contain certain individuals for me, until mid-evening, I would spend the necessary amount of time piecing the mirror back together."

Hope now beamed in her eyes. "Who do you need me to contain?"

"Belle, Henry and the Captain."

She raised her brow. Interesting. "Why do you need the pirate?"

Gold gave her a mischievous look. "However, once the task is complete," he said, ignoring her question. She doesn't need to know the details. "I need insurance that you remain faithful to our deal, so...I won't give it to you until my plans are completed."

Her eyes widened. "You must have something extraordinary planned for you to do that." Curious, but still needing his help, she nodded her head. "Agreed."

"Good," Gold said as he raised a hand up. "Now that we have a deal, I suggest that you get to it." Waving a finger, he then whisked himself over to the destroyed ice fortress in order to locate—then start piecing together—the mirror while Zelena simply watched him leave.

Staying where she was, she glanced down at the urn before flicking a hand at it, magically hiding it from view. Moving backwards, she once again leaned against the well, waiting for her sister and her company to arrive.

…

After telling her the plan, Regina and Emma followed the illuminated strand back into the forest, their feet trudging over the packed dirt floor for the second time that day.

"I used to like the woods," Regina muttered, her eyes turned upwards. "But now, I think I'm rather over it..."

"You and me both," Emma returned, trailing behind the other woman when she had to step over a large branch.

A few minutes passed before they were brought to another familiar location.

Vigilant when the hair began to slow down, the two peeked out from behind some trees where they quickly spied who they had been searching for. Approaching south of the well, they treaded over, their hands raised.

"You're going to have to try a lot harder than that if you want to sneak up on me," Zelena announced before casting a short look over her shoulder at them. Waiting until they rounded the well, she smiled in their direction before glancing up and shooting a fiery stream at the tracking item, immediately destroying it.

"Were you expecting us?" Regina asked, not liking the grin, but when she noticed how Zelena jerked away from the well to look around, she knew that she had been expecting more people. Seeing her sister's face fall, Regina pressed on. "Sorry to disappoint but it's just us..."

Narrowing her eyes at the unfortunate turn of events, Zelena inwardly growled before regaining her composure. Now, I'll have to go searching for Belle and Killian, alongside Henry, instead of having them just fall into my lap. "Congratulations," she then greeted, easily dismissing Regina's questions with a wide gesture. "You found me so quickly. I knew you had something else of mine, baby sister…"

"No more games," Emma then said, moving to stand beside Regina with her hands still raised. "I can honestly say that we're in no mood for them."

"Give me the urn," Regina demanded.

Shaking her head, Zelena once again refused. "Why would I? After all the hiding and sneaking around that I've done, it's my turn to have some fun."

"How did you survive anyway?" Regina asked, genuinely curious. "And why did you take over Marian's form?"

"First of all, I never died," Zelena answered, honestly. "I just got sucked into the same portal that her and lover boy fell into," she said, pointing a finger at Emma. "After that, it's history, but you'll be happy to know that you never have to worry about the real Marian coming back," she stopped to give her sister a wink. "I took care of it."

Swallowing hard, Regina shook her head. "You killed her?"

"Of course," Zelena replied with a wide smile. "I had to make my disguise believable. It would've been negligent to do otherwise..."

Fighting mixed feelings, Regina returned the subject back to her main objective. "Give...me...the...urn..."

"No."

Flicking her raised hand, Regina struck first by trying to paralyze her, but Zelena anticipated it. Blocking it with a few fingers, she then flung a stream of green energy into her sister's direction, but Regina countered with her own crackling purplish beam. Grunting under the strain, they both struggled for control, each fighting the urge to take a couple of steps back.

Reacting quickly, Emma reached into her jacket's pocket to pull out the vial that Regina had given her. Remembering what she was told, she flung it at the ground right in front of Zelena—careful to not physically get it on her—and watched the bottle break open, releasing a rising light green cloud.

When Zelena breathed in some of the fumes, she could instantly feel her body numb from the neck down, her limbs first tingly, then gummy, before all feeling vanished entirely, immobilizing her where she stood—her posture hunched over while her arms were outstretched in front of her.

Stopping her attack by dropping her arms, Regina heaved a grateful sigh at Emma before walking up to her sister. "Green is definitely your color," she remarked when the potion began to coil around Zelena's figure. "What can I say? I like to plan ahead," she continued, giving her sister a pleased smile when Zelena gave her an angry one.

"I can see that," she responded, a noticeable bit in her tone.

Looking over at an approaching Emma, Regina gave her a smile. "Nice work. Your throw was excellent."

"Well, you told me not to throw it on her because of the "upward extension" that would create," Emma said, smiling when she purposefully over-explained their methods in front of a scowling Zelena. "And I'm pretty sure that we want her to speak..."

"Unfortunately," Regina concurred in a similar tone before digging into her own pocket. "I made you something else," she continued when she looked at her sister. Pulling out a vial, she then shook in front of Zelena. "This...is a truth serum."

With her other hand, Regina then swiftly used it to grab, then pinch, her sister's mouth open so she could pour the concoction down her throat. Holding her chin up, so Zelena couldn't try to spit it out, she kept it there until every drop was drunk. "Now," she said when she finally released her. "Tell me the full nature of your plans."

Zelena tried to bite her tongue against the forceful urge to speak but stopped when she felt a painful rumble at the back of her mouth. Closing her eyes, she again tried to push it away, but it suddenly exploded from her, in a loud gasp. "I...WANT THE TOWN'S MAGIC!…I-want-revenge-on-everybody-here-because-of -the-failure-of-my-previous-plan!"

She ended it with a sharp intake of air, her eyes flashing at her own betrayal.

"Since the mirror's destroyed, how can you tap into that magic?" Emma asked, her eyes never wavering from Zelena's flushed face.

"I'm having the mirror reconstructed," she answered in a more flat, normal tone but her eyes were still glaring at the pair. "After that, I planned on winging it."

"That's not possible," Emma disagreed in a mixture of fear and confusion. "Ingrid, or the Snow Queen in this case, told me that it was destroyed beyond the means of..." she trailed off when she remembered her exact words:

...The relic was destroyed beyond the means of my magic...

"Is that why you took Gold?" she then asked, her eyes widening in realization. "Because his magic will be powerful enough to reconstruct the mirror?"

Zelena's jaw twitched. "Yes. He's doing it now."

At that, Regina blinked rapidly. "You already freed him?"

"Yes."

"But...why would he agree to help you?"

"He appeared desperate. We both are," Zelena rasped. "We want power."

Now we're getting somewhere, Emma thought. "Do you know Gold's plans? What does he want from you?"

Zelena tried struggling again but the potion was too powerful. "He wanted me to collect Belle, Henry and the pirate, by mid-evening, in exchange for the mirror. Other than that, I don't know what his plan actually entails, but he did say that he won't give me what I desired until his plan was finished..."

"Is there anything else that you know that we need to know?" Regina asked.

"He wouldn't answer me when I asked him what he wanted the Captain for," Zelena added, her tone still flat. "But I could tell that it was for something big..."

Emma and Regina shared a look before they returned their attention back to the red headed woman. Noticing how the green coils were beginning to wear off around her feet and slowly fade upwards, Regina thrust a hand out and paralyzed her with her own magic, needing to maintain the upper hand as the immobilization spell slowly wore off.

"Give us the urn," Emma then demanded, staring deeply into their prisoner's blue eyes.

Remaining quiet, Zelena found herself thinking about it this time. At this point, there was a good chance that her plans were ruined, but she needed some reassurance. "What's in it for me?" she asked, looking at the pair.

Leaning forward to get her sister's full attention, Regina's eyes darkened. "You get to live..."

For the first time ever, Zelena feared the power of her sister. Swallowing hard at Regina's expression, she paused before nodding her head, silently agreeing to give up.

When the immobilization spell officially dissipated, Regina's hold on her sister was already in full effect. Raising her other hand, she then slightly loosened her control on one of Zelena's fingers, allowing her to magically summon the urn before regaining complete influence over her again.

Picking up the revealed urn, Emma held onto it tightly while Zelena's gaze flicked down to the forest floor.

"What's to become of me?" she asked softly, that once arrogant tone now a distant memory.

Neither answered her.

Instead, Regina just magically poofed the three over to the townline, indicating that she was going to forcefully, and permanently, evict her sister from Storybrooke with a simple hand gesture to the yellow line.

"No, you can't!" Zelena cried, her face paling. Closing her eyes and straining her neck, she desperately tried to move, or to break, the hold that was on her, but her sister's control was too firm. "Please," she pleaded, reopening her wild looking eyes. "Spare me!" She then glanced over at a watchful Emma. "Please! Help me! Don't let her do this to me!"

Emma swallowed hard but did nothing.

"I said you get to live, I didn't say where," Regina recounted, her resolve unyielding. Raising her hand back up with her fingers pointed to the sky, in a claw-like position, she wielded her magical influence over her sister, who was still squirming. "Since you're still under the truth serum and will be for a couple more minutes, I do have one final question for you…"

Zelena now had tears rolling down her cheeks, but if Regina was moved by them, she didn't show it.

"Do you think we could've been friends? Or do you believe we were destined to hate one another forever?"

Surprised at the question, Zelena bit at her cheek before her mouth fell open, her blue eyes watery. "Perhaps...in another time, we could've been friends..."

Nodding her head, Regina looked down before slowly closing her poised fingers into a fist, prompting her magic to move forward, pushing her sister over, then through, the townline.

Feeling a weird combination of shock, sadness, relief and understanding, Emma continued to watch the scene before her, her gaze now focused on the helpless Zelena, who was blindly scrambling around to find the entrance back into town. Her eyes were feral when she finally stopped flailing about and stared into the direction she had come from, a lost expression on her face when she suddenly collapsed into her hands and released a devastating scream.

The sound pierced right through Emma's chest, making her take a couple of steps back in empathy. Shifting her eyes onto Regina, who had been observing her sister the entire time, she watched her release a heavy sigh before silently turning around and heading towards her.

Silently resigned, Regina barely look at Emma when she lifted then waved a hand, teleporting them back to her office with a plan in the back of her mind.

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