This was when it all began to actually hit Emma, everything that was happening, it was all suddenly real, hearing them all talk about it as if everything was normal, which it most certainly was not. But here she was, in some medieval looking dungeon, with two supposedly otherworldly beings, she wasn't even sure what to call them, and probably a third since she'd been told Henry was an apprentice. In the middle of some war that she'd never heard anything about, but now, she was being asked to pick a side, when she wasn't even sure if one side was actually good or evil or which side was which.
And she'd thought it was overwhelming when she'd just been told she was dead and had a second chance at life. If only she could go back to those simple days, back when she just had a job to do and wasn't involved in the middle of this.
A flash appeared next to her, followed by another person, thing, whatever it was that they were, who she recognized to be Neal.
A smile spread across Daniel's face, "Last to arrive like always," he chided, making his way towards Neal.
Neal playfully punched Daniels arm, "Somebody's gotta come last," he winked and Emma really couldn't believe what she was witnessing.
Regina called out "Seriously? Can we keep this G rated? There are kids present!"
"I only see Henry here."
"Actually," Henry chimed in, "I believe I'm older than you, so you would be the kid."
"Yes, but you're one here so you better what yourself," Regina chided him, "That still doesn't mean they can't act like civilized adults."
"Oh come on, like you always act like an adult, don't think I haven't seen you making goo goo eyes at Emma while you're supposed to be married to me!" He tried to fake an indignant voice as though her actions had offended him.
"We both know that was an act, besides, I think I should feel worse for Neal, no offense Emma, but you're not exactly his type." Regina had said this last part to Emma, who had taken to just observing the interactions between the group. She had noticed that Neal had relocated himself to wrapped in Daniel's arms.
She wasn't sure what to actually say to this, and just mumbled, "No offense taken."
Henry, feeling left out of the conversation, had to inform Emma, "Neal and Daniel have been together for a while, but are unable to actually have a relationship in the open, appearances and all, it's apparently pretty important to you humans. And Regina has been pretending to be raising me, and married to Daniel, but she hasn't been seeing anyone, so her focus has mostly been on my training."
He'd stopped talking when Regina shot him a dirty look involving a raised eyebrow, in an "I dare you to keep talking" way. He'd ducked his head, finding the floor suddenly very interesting.
Emma couldn't take her eyes off Regina though, it was as if she was seeing her in a new light. Regina's eyes met hers, shining in the dim light, a nervous smile. Inside Emma was celebrating as she realized that she could have a chance with Regina after all, that it was most likely going to happen, that all those signs she thought she'd seen along the way were most likely actually there. She felt free, liberated, able to actually relax for once, even though nothing had really changed, well everything and nothing, she knew more of the situation, which she still wasn't sure if she could entirely believe.
Daniel cleared his throat loudly, causing their gaze to break, "So," he started off, drawing out the 'o', "What did that place look like?"
Neal's interest was piqued at this, looking as though he was going to take notes on everything that was said, he'd made his way over to the table and laid his hands, palms down, flat against it. A map appeared, filled with unreadable characters, stars and lines, dotting, streaking across the surface, occasional flashes running its distance before fading into blackness.
Emma began carefully, describing every detail as best she could, thinking intensely, and turning each statement over in her mind before she actually said it. As she began to describe what she'd seen, she saw Neal start to move, Daniel standing next to him on his left, Henry on the right. Each of them pointing to sections on the map, circling possibilities, erasing others, moving around, talking amongst themselves.
Eventually, they had pushed and prodded for more details than she could give and Emma started to doubt herself, what she had actually seen, wondering if she'd imagined it. There were still quite a few possibilities of planets that he could be on, that he could be working out of, and there was always the possibility that it was none of them as well.
Emma had fallen to the background, unsure of what to do now, she was no longer being interrogated and the three others had taken to arguing, circled around the table, in some foreign language that she did not understand. They seemed to have taken no notice of her actions and she proceeded to investigate the room she found herself in.
It was not kept as sparsely as she had previously imagined, finding that as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make out many different shapes, including chairs, paintings and bookshelves filled with strange books, many of which she'd never heard of. At least, she assumed she never heard of them, the markings on them, lines, circles, swoops and dots, all seemed to make up this strange text.
She cautiously reached out a hand and stroked the cover of the book, tracing ever so lightly the strange shapes decorating it. She had been mesmerized by the books, and couldn't fight the urge to pull one off the shelf and examine it closer, awed by its mysteriousness. She flipped open the cover, looking down at the first pages revealed. The same text glittered a brilliant gold, illuminated despite the lack of light, but her attention was drawn to the images on display. It was all so foreign to her, even the beings depicted.
She jumped and slammed the book shut in a panic when she felt a hand brush against her back, its weight light, not heavy in anger. Emma looked over her shoulder, eyes wide as though she'd been caught doing something wrong, only to be met with Regina's tender face, a look of happiness shining through.
Regina took the book from Emma's hands and looked at the cover, "This was always one of my favorites when I was growing up. It's a book of fairytales. I haven't read it in so long though, always told myself I'd read it every night to my kids."
"Well, maybe that can still happen?" Emma offered, as though all was not lost, placing an arm around Regina, pulling her in close.
Regina looked into her eyes, a solemn serious look, "There's so much you still don't know."
"I'd be willing to learn, if you'll teach me, that is."
"Maybe once this is over, if you haven't left yet."
"Why do you think I'd leave?"
Regina just shrugged and handed the book back to Emma, turning to walk away, back to the table. Daniel and Neal pretended to busy themselves quickly, noticing they may have been caught staring.
Emma wasn't sure what Regina was getting at, but she doubted she'd like it if she refused to talk about it. Though she wasn't sure there was actually anything Regina could say that would scare her away. She hadn't left yet after all, and she'd definitely had quite the bomb dropped on her that day.
She went back to the table to join the group, not wanting to pressure Regina into saying anything, but hoping to figure out what was going on, even if she couldn't understand anything. The discussion at least this time, had turned slightly more civil and involved less yelling.
She walked up next to Regina and surreptitiously wrapped her arm around her waist, pulling the brunette in closer, giving her a smile and listening to the conversation. It continued long into the night, but she thought that maybe, by the end of it, she was starting to figure out some of what was said. Well, it may only have really been a few key words, ones that kept being said repeatedly, probably just names of planets or realms or those things on the map, she decided to leave it at that.
It was comforting, enjoyable, being here, with them, not having to maintain an image of something else, and she could tell the others seemed much more relaxed as well. They put together a plan, what information they would feed her first, how she should report it, and had all decided that they would continue to maintain whatever image they needed to outside of their little group.
To Gold, it would appear as though she was succeeding in her task, not a lot, but a little, and it would buy them more time. She would try to contact him in whatever world he was actually in, see if he decided to have his dream world appear to her again. That was what Emma kept referring to it as since she'd really only been there in her dreams, and she really didn't have a better name for it.
She had to be careful though, she knew she couldn't give too much away or it would make him suspicious, too much and he may change her end goal, not enough and she may lose her life, but if she said too much, then he would grow suspicious and that was bad. She didn't like that possibility at all, it meant he could take it out on all of them, that she could lose Regina.