X Marks the Spot
Chapter Thirteen
Out at Zelena's farmhouse…
Regina used her magic to transport herself outside of the door, then took a deep breath before knocking. It took three knocks before Zelena finally opened up and glared at her sister when she saw her, then she turned her back to Regina as she walked away without so much as a word to finish setting her table for four, leaving the door wide open to indicate that Regina could come in if she insisted. Regina simply shrugged and followed her sister into the dining room.
She was the first to speak as she said sternly, "I appreciate the warm welcome."
Zelena chortled and then responded, "You'll forgive me if I'm not particularly in the mood to see you right now. I was expecting a little company and none of the guests I invited were you. I'm surprised you even bothered knocking. Usually you just poof your way in. To what do I owe this poorly timed visit?"
"Well I actually came here to talk to my other self about something important and I hoped she might be more willing if I didn't just invite myself in," Regina answered as she observed the dish settings, then looked over at the cradle in the corner where she saw that baby Robin was sleeping. "It was a foolish hope, I know. Where is she?"
"Do I look like her secretary or her babysitter?" the Wicked Witch asked curtly. "I don't know where she is, or when she'll be back. Or if she'll even be back for that matter. Though I suspect she will be because despite our differences, I genuinely believe she actually wants me to be her sister. Which is nice. You know, because you can't bear to even look at me long enough to try yourself."
Regina rolled her eyes and replied, "I am trying to put all of our hate behind me. It's just not that easy to do after we've been hating one another for so long. Look, I didn't come here for all of this. I really need to…"
All of a sudden, the Evil Queen poofed herself into the room and she smiled upon seeing her doppelganger standing before her, then she spoke up saying, "You really need to what? To talk to me? I have to say I'm intrigued by your visit. You don't usually come all the way out here unless there's some big emergency in town that you've come to accuse me of starting. What have I supposedly done this time?"
"All right," the former Queen responded in frustration as she turned around to face her other self head on. "You want to push aside all the niceties and get right down to business, that's fine by me. What the hell have you done to Hook? And why the hell would you align yourself with Black Beard of all people?"
"That's why you're here?" Zelena stated with disbelief as she stood up again after leaning down to check on her daughter. "Because the Savior's pirate has gotten himself into trouble again with some other pirate who's come after him seeking revenge? There's no surprise there. It's all he does."
The evil woman laughed and then answered, "I have to say I agree with our sister. And a little bit wounded by your accusation."
Regina glared at her doppelganger as she replied, "No you're not. It's not like you haven't aligned yourself with other fools to get what you wanted before. It also wasn't too long ago that you tried to split Emma and Hook up by spilling one of his many secrets and getting him kidnapped and almost killed by his own brother. So forgive me for suspecting you this time. I know you think it's crazy that I consider Emma and Hook my friends, but I do and right now one of them is fighting for his life, while the other one is scared to death of losing him again. I'm going to do everything I can to stop whoever's doing this, so if it's you…"
"It wasn't me," she interrupted curtly. "But something tells me that I'm going to wish I had. Did you even think to ask Black Beard himself before coming here to accuse me?"
"Of course I did," her good self responded. "That's why I realized I should come here. Black Beard is all too happy to take the credit for what's happening to his enemy. The problem is that there's some kind of dark magic involved in what's hurting Hook and seeing as that pirate is without an ounce of magic in him, it's obvious he had to have had help. Then there's also the fact that when I tried to read his mind to find answers, I discovered I couldn't. Who else would have the kind of power to be able to block me, but you?"
The Evil Queen sarcastically answered, "Oh I don't know. I suppose it could have been our sister, or Rumpelstiltskin, or the Dragon… who hasn't yet made a reappearance since I lost possession of his heart. But if it was perhaps for the greater good that Captain Hook dies, then it's very possible he might be behind this. Oh, or since Black Beard is a new arrival to Storybrooke, perhaps he brought another villain with him from whatever cursed land he came from. Hyde hated the pirate. Perhaps the first doppelganger had a few friends from the Land of Untold Stories who are trying to make the man who killed him pay. Dr. Jekyll too. Although that idea is pretty doubtful. I suspected not too many people really liked that weakling. My point is, there are infinite possibilities as to who would want to see the Savior's boyfriend dead, or to see her suffer as well. How exactly is Hook dying this time?"
Regina shook her head in frustration as she replied, "This really was a big mistake to come here. Or maybe it wasn't. Because if you were behind what's happening to him, I'm almost certain you would be happy to admit it like Black Beard did. And you certainly don't ever try to hide whatever treacherous and evil plans you conjure up to tear us apart. So thanks. But the only way you're going to get me to tell you what's going on with Hook, is if you actually agree to help us find the real culprit and stop him."
"Would you believe me if I were to say yes to helping you?" the other dark haired woman asked before her good self could disappear.
"Not a chance in hell," Regina responded firmly, then suddenly vanished from the farmhouse with a wave of her hand.
After she was gone, the Evil Queen just laughed and then took a seat at the table across from Zelena as she said, "She was right not to trust me. I have to admit, I am a little disappointed I didn't come up with the idea to help Black Beard."
The wicked sister looked at her with surprise as she asked, "So, you knew Rumple was the one behind Hook's ailment already and you didn't say anything, not even after Gold threatened you? Do you know what he's done to the pirate?"
"Of course I do," she answered smugly. "I know everything going on in this town, remember? He cursed Hook's dead hand that Rumple stole from him long ago with some kind of dark memory spell, using blood magic and something else that I don't understand or really even care to. But now the two pirates are linked and Hook is reliving some of Black Beard's memories through his own eyes. It's genius. As for why I didn't tell Regina any of this to spite Rumple… there isn't any fun in that. Rumpelstiltskin deserves to be punished for destroying what we had together, but I have a few other ideas in mind to accomplish that. I also look forward to watching Emma and Hook suffer. Who else is eating with us tonight? I don't recall inviting anyone over."
"I did," Zelena replied curtly. "This is after all, my house. And if you must know, I met a few villains awhile back that used to reside in the Land of Untold Stories. I decided to invite them over to see if we can't strike up a few plans of our own. One of them is a Count who used to fight against those who call themselves the Three Musketeers. And the other is currently residing in their asylum, but I'm going to break her out because I think she and I would get along swimmingly. Cinderella's Evil Stepmother."
A thought quickly donned on her as she added, "Hey, you and her actually have a little something in common."
The dark haired woman smiled as she spoke again saying, "Indeed we do, big sis. How very devious of you."