The Dark Backward
Chapter Eight
Within the cemetery outside of the Evil Queen's vault, Maleficent slowly awakened once again and the headache she's felt the last two times she had been through the loop, or whatever it was she, Emma, and Hook were all trapped in, came rushing back. The villainess struggled to sit up from the ground, then stand, but when she was back on her feet, she stared ahead of her at the vault for no more than a minute before she finally decided to head right back into town to find Emma straight away rather than bother with talking to Gold, since it was clear he had no answers for her.
Maleficent nearly made it to the edge of the graveyard, when her path was blocked as Cruella suddenly appeared in front of her. However, it was clear by the look on her face that the dog hater was about as surprised to see the sorceress there, as Maleficent was surprised to see Cruella.
"Hello, darling," the woman with black and white hair stated coolly upon seeing her supposed ally coming from the direction of Regina's vault. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"I could say the same about you," the dragon sorceress responded just as calmly. "If you're looking to talk to Gold, he's in the vault just where you're headed. And if you're looking to make some kind of deal with him that might not include me being your ally any longer, it's fine by me. I think we both know our alliance is over ever since Ursula betrayed us to help the heroes."
Cruella sneered as she answered, "I always knew that eight legged sea witch never had what it takes to be one of us. She was never a villain through and through. And I think we both knew our alliance was never going to last. As for me coming to find the Dark One… I am, but it's because he asked me here. It'd be rude to ignore his request. Don't you agree?"
Maleficent let out a sigh in frustration, then she replied, "Like I said, I don't care what you do any longer so long as it doesn't include double crossing me. Now if you don't mind, I'm in a bit of a hurry and I'm not in the mood to listen to any more of your frivolity or crassness."
"Has Regina awakened yet?" the dog hater asked again after the other woman stepped past her in an attempt to leave. "Is that what you were doing here? So you and Gold could use her to conspire against me?"
"I came here to find out more about what happened to my daughter," the sorceress curtly responded. "Only Gold had the answers I was looking for."
All of a sudden, the Dark One appeared from behind the women while he spoke out saying, "Which I do not actually recall giving to you yet, dearie."
Maleficent turned to face him in surprise, then she asked, "I thought you would be down in the vault looking after Regina so she can't wake up and attempt to escape?"
"She's quite secure, I assure you," he snidely answered her. "I was expecting you to come looking for your answers. I wasn't expecting I would find either one of you out here at this hour conversing with one another. But since I have you both here, how would you like to work together one last time to try to turn the Savior's heart black?"
"You know… Ursula double crossing us made me realize one thing and that's that we won't ever succeed in accomplishing turning the Savior's heart black so long as we work together, seeing as we all want different things," Cruella replied in frustration. "That… and I think we all know each one of us would betray the others too if given the chance."
The other villainess turned her head to look over at Gold again as she responded, "I couldn't agree with Cruella more. Especially since you've learned the Author's been freed from the page and know you can get to him first before the heroes find him, or either one of us. I don't know what it is you're really after, Rumplestiltskin. But even though you claim to have mine and Cruella's best interests in mind, I don't trust you to help us gain our happy endings like you've promised. And I don't have the time to argue with you any longer. So, if you'll excuse me… I have somewhere I have to be."
And with that said, Maleficent raised her hand and waved it over herself as she vanished from before the Dark One and the villainess who had the power to control animals and wild beasts in order to return to town again to find Emma and Hook like before. When she finally arrived outside of the library, neither of them appeared to arrive yet, so Maleficent waited hoping they would appear soon. As she waited, the villainess' mind wandered back to her first confrontation with David and Mary Margaret after Cruella and Ursula had used their blood to resurrect her again.
Upon being raised from her ashes, Maleficent had spoken first in relief as she said, "It's good to be back."
"Snow White and Prince Charming," she then uttered darkly upon seeing the two so called heroes she hated and sought revenge against more than anyone else upon first awakening.
"Maleficent…" Mary Margaret had then begun in worry as she and David both walked up to stand before her, in hope of trying to appease the dragon sorceress' mind before she could attack them. "Whatever it is you think we did, you don't know the whole story."
The villainess in all black glared at them coldly while she answered darkly, "I know enough."
When Maleficent started to circle menacingly around the Prince and Princess, Cruella replied snidely, "Patience, Mal. We have a plan."
"You wanna hurt someone?" Mary Margaret continued as she kept her eyes trained on the woman they had terribly wronged. "Well, hurt me. Leave David alone."
"Hurt you?" the villainess retorted, looking between them both. "No. That would be far too easy."
Mary Margaret stared at her in concern thinking she understood then what she wanted and she responded, "You're going to tell everyone what we did first."
Maleficent glared at the Princess as she answered her angrily, "I don't care about your secret. You can keep it as long as you like. I only care about one thing… Your pain, and that it be as long and terrible and unyielding as my own. The pain you caused."
"I forgot how much I missed her," Ursula whispered smugly as she leaned over towards Cruella.
"It's going to be entertaining," the dog hater replied to her in agreement as well.
The sorceress kept her eyes on Mary Margaret and David while she cruelly continued again, "I'm gonna revel in every torturous moment. And you? You're gonna watch your world crumble."
And then, she turned away and started walking away from them while Cruella and Ursula followed, as she called back to the heroes, "See you soon, dears."
Maleficent's thoughts were interrupted when she finally saw David and Mary Margaret walking towards their loft apartment once they returned from their search in the woods from the Author. However, this time Emma wasn't with them. Neither of them saw her, until the villainess stepped away from the library and moved out to stand in front of them to block their path.
"Maleficent… what do you want?" Mary Margaret then asked her worryingly, while David swiftly stood protectively beside his wife in case the villainess made a move of attack against her.
"You can relax," Maleficent responded crossly. "I was looking for Emma and Hook. And not so I can hurt them. I expected them to be out here with you, yet here you are coming back from the woods without your daughter. Where is she?"
The Prince glared coldly at her as he answered, "Whatever it is you want from her, you won't get it. Why would you think we would be here?"
The dragon sorceress let out a sigh in frustration and then she replied, "I don't have time to go into any details right now. I have to find her. Her life and Hook's depend on me talking to her again as much as mine does."
"What are you talking about?" Mary Margaret asked fearfully upon hearing the other woman state that her daughter's life was in danger. "We were out searching the woods with Emma for the Author for over an hour, but then we lost her. What kind of danger is she in? And what do you have to do with it?"
"If you really haven't seen her since she vanished from your search, then I shouldn't be here wasting my time talking to you," Maleficent responded in frustration and then started to walk towards the harbor knowing that the Savior would have likely gone to find Hook if she had already run ahead upon awakening so she could avoid her parents.
However, David called out to her again asking, "Why are you suddenly so concerned with our daughter's wellbeing?"
The villainess stopped and turned back around again, then she answered, "I'm not. I would love nothing more than to see her die knowing her death would cause you the ultimate kind of pain a child's parents can suffer like I have. I was close to such a feat tonight, until everything went wrong. Now… I have to find her before Hook dies again."
"Again?" Mary Margaret questioned in concern.
"That's right, Your Majesties," Maleficent replied cruelly. "The pirate's death is what occurs every time just before…"
Before she could finish or even had the chance to transport herself to the harbor in hope of finding the Savior, the same bright light that has consumed her, Emma, and the pirate captain again and again, suddenly engulfed them once more. The next thing she knew, was finding herself back in the cemetery.
