Authors note:
I see you all freaked out about the whole Zelena/Elsa meeting, but let me just say: calm down and trust me. I've already got this whole story figured out, well, mostly anyway. I hope you like the chapter even though it's the shortest I've written for this story so far (sorry about that), but it felt right to end it there. ;)
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The pale woman was standing in the doorway of the station, completely still as if she was frozen to the floor, which was ironical seeing that Zelena was pretty sure she could see the ice forming around her heeled feet.
"Where am I?" The ice witch said suddenly, staring at the formerly green woman with curious and confused eyes. The cold air of her breath mixed with the warm air in the station, forming fog as the woman continued to speak. "Tell me please, where am I?"
Zelena inwardly cursed at her sister for taking away her magic. It was the one thing she could really use right now before she gets turned into an ice statue. And that was most certainly not on her to-do list. "You're in Storybrooke, Maine." She answered simply, trying not to look intimidated in the slightest. Because really, the freezing maniac was slowly moving closer and Zelena was trapped in a cage, unable to protect herself or to get away. Fight or flight would nit be an option in this situation.
"Storybrooke?" The confusion in her ice blue eyes grew, one pale hand moved to her forehead as the ice witch shook her head slowly. "We're not in Arendelle anymore?"
"Arendelle? Darling, I've been to a lot of worlds but never to a place called Arendelle." Zelena said once she concluded the witch seemed harmless enough not to attack her as long as she was not provoked. "Where did you come from anyways? I've never seen you before, not in any of the worlds I've been to. Who are you?"
The question seemed to spur some pride in the witch as she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. "My name is Queen Elsa of Arendelle, first reigning Queen in four generations. "
"Royalty, of course." Zelena huffed, curling both her hands around the iron bars. "Do you remember how you got here, Queen Elsa of Arendelle?" It was said slightly mocking.
The blonde Queen shook her head. The pale blonde braid that hung over her shoulder didn't match her movements. "I remember my castle being under attack, my sister Anna and her husband Kristoff got away in time, but a gold wizard captured me and put me in some strange vase."
"Gold wizard?" Zelena sighed, no doubt knowing who the Queen was talking about. "Let me guess, his name was Rumplestitskin?"
"Yes, that was his name." Queen Elsa nodded before cocking her head to the right slightly. "Why? Do you know him?"
"Yes." Zelena said, resting the side of her head against the bars. "You could say that."
"He's a powerful wizard. He killed my guards with to mere flick if his wrist, if you're still alive and you know him. That must mean that you're on his side!" Strangely enough, the ice witch's cheeks turned red with anger as bright blue magic started to twist and turn around her hands.
The fear and anger that was obvious in the girl's eyes and the clumsy ways she moved her hands told Zelena that Queen Elsa was not fully in control of her magic. And those sorcerers were the most dangerous.
"Wait stop!" Zelena yelled, holding up one hand in one futile attempt to summon her magic to the palms of her hands. But it did not work, which was to be expected.
The blast of ice cold magic hit her hard, ripping her remaining hand from the iron bar before blowing Zelena back into the solid brick wall behind her and she heard a crack when her body hit the wall. Air wheezed out off her lungs and the air around her turned to thick, unbreathable ice. Black spots were forming in front of her eyes, unable to concentrate on anything in particular.
Only when the dust from the broken wall behind her had cleared, did Zelena see the massive hole Elsa's magic had made in the cell bars. She also noticed the witch was gone, like she'd vanished, melted like snow does in the warmth of the sun. A wheezed chuckle left Zelena as she noticed the irony about that comparison.
...
The moment little Claire started to fuss in Snow's arms, Robin got his cue. That being that he had to rip the baby away from Snow and run her over to her mother as fast as he could before the cries started to erupt.
"Regina!" He said quickly, walking towards his true love with the baby in his arms. "She's starting to cry again."
"Give her to me." Regina sighed but the smile that pulled at the corner of her mouth couldn't be mistaken for anything but love. "Hello there, baby girl." She cooed, kissing Claire's chubby cheek before resting the baby against her chest and softly rocking her.
"Thank god, crises avoided." Robin smiled and moved his hand through Claire's dark hairs.
"Yes well, just be happy I was close." Regina teased, smiling up at the archer with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Oh believe me, darling. I am happy." He said, amusement clear in his voice.
"Well then, where's my reward?"
A soft chuckle left his lips before he softly kissed the brunette. It was a soft kiss, tender, and full of the love they shared. "So, was that to Her Majesty's liking?" He said onice pulled back.
Regina smiled, placing a soft peck on his lips before pulling back completely. "Very much so, thief."
"Ah but I'm your thief." He tucked in his chin and pouted. He dropped down on the opposite side of the booth and chuckled softly.
The rich laugh that left Regina's lips was worth making a fool out of himself. "That you are, dear. That you are."
The couple fell silent, staring at the little miracle in Regina's arms. But alas, the peace couldn't last long.
The glass door burst open, causing all eyes to go to it's direction. The moment they noticed who it was that had so rudely interrupted the party, most people jumped back in fear, one even dropped his glass.
"Oh stop it, it's not me you need to worry about!" Zelena roared angrily, closing the glass door behind her bruised body. "There's a new threat, I'm old news people!"
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Emma jumped up from her seat at the bar, her hand already at the gun holster on her hip. "You were locked up!"
Zelena huffed, stumbling a little as she slowly moved closer towards the Savior. "There is some sort of ice witch out there. Her name is Queen Elsa of Arendelle and she wants revenge on Rumplestiltskin."
"Yeah, who doesn't?" Grumpy snorted, pouring another beer back, not caring most of it leaked down his flannel shirt.
Granny could only stare in digust as the drink also leaked on her just cleaned floor.
"This is not some stuck up royal that can freeze a glass of water." Zelena sighed, choosing to lean against the bar. "This witch, this Elsa, she's not in control of her magic." Her bright blue eyes found her sister in the crowd. "And Regina, could you please explain to the peasants how dangerous that is?"
Her brown eyes looked around slowly as all attention turned to her. With an irritated expression Regina handed the baby over to Robin and stood up. "If Zelena is telling the truth, and I'm guessing she is because she's not able to escape a jail cell on her own without her magic, then we indeed have a very big problem on our hands." She crossed her arms over her chest and took a couple of steps forward so that she stood next to Emma. "Uncontrolled magic is incredibly dangerous, she could easily freeze this whole town without even having the attention to do so."
"See." Zelena grinned smugly. "Now that we have that out off the way let's-"
"Rumplestiltskin!" The scream was sudden and filled with raw rage. It startled the people in the diner.
Thick white clumps of snow hit the windows as a sudden storm made itself present. Zelena had been right, Regina thought as she grabbed the black baby bag and pulled out a blanket to make sure Claire stayed warm in this mid April snowstorm, this witch was powerful and out of control.
Frost started to turn the windows white and with a loud crack the glass in the door broke. Glass rained down onto the linoleum floor, causing the people close to the door to jump back startled as they tried to avoid the sharp glass.
In a span of less than five minutes, chaos broke out in the cozy Storybrooke diner named Granny's.
Behind Regina, Claire started crying and she looked at Robin with fearful eyes as the man desperately started to try and calm their daughter down.
"Rumplestiltskin!" The ice Queen screamed again and appeared in the doorway, staring around with pale blue eyes as she searched for the wizard she expected to still have a crusty gold skin. Her deep blue dress moved around her body in the harsh wind, but the biting cold that came with it didn't seem to faze her one bit. "Where is he?! Where is Rumplestiltskin?"
There fell an eerie silence, only the sound of small sobs coming from Claire was heard. All eyes were turned to the witch as she slowly stepped inside the diner.
Regina's eyes found the coward wizard standing in the back of the diner, looking down with a frown as if he was trying to figure out whether to step foreward or not. Belle - his wife, Regina thought with an internal cringe - was standing next to him with a dissapointed expression, one she would probably be wearing a lot through her life from now on, being the spouse of the Dark One.
Apparently, the coward finally decided to step up, though Regina was sure it was only because of the look Belle shot him.
"Ah, Queen Elsa. Long time no see." He said in his usually manipulating and charming tone. One he had used on Regina many times in the past and it caused goosebumps to appear on her skin.
Her brown eyes snapped to the ice witch again who was looking around in surprise, searching for gold skin she would never find. But when she saw the man limping forward, dressed in an expensive suit, something seemed to click.
"That's because you locked me up in a vase." Her voice was as cold as her magic.
"Yes, that was an... unfortunate event." His hands came to rest on the gold handle of his cane that was placed in front of him.
"Unfortunate event?" Rage flashed in her blue eyes as she cocked her head, magic swirling dangerously around her palms (Regina was pretty sure she saw Gold swallow nervously because of it). "You attacked my Kingdom! And for what? We didn't even know you!"
"To be fair, dearie." Gold said, flashing his smug smile. "It wasn't just for the hell of it, I needed something buried far under your castle."
"What did you do to Anna and Kristoff?!" The magic was starting to turn an almost blinding blue and Regina had to lower her eyes as she gripped Robin's upperarm. Claire had finally calmed down and was now starting to fall asleep, her dark brown eyes were lazily blinking.
"Well I can honestly say; absolutely nothing." And the man shrugged his shoulders casually. Regina swore he was crazy for daring such a powerful witch. "They just ran off towards the forest on their- what was it again... a donkey?" And then he went and made the witch even madder, but then again, he - unlike everyone else here - couldn't die.
"It was a reindeer." The witch spat.
"Ah yes, a reindeer."
What Regina had already guessed would happen, happened. And she immediatly jumped back and pulled up her magic, effecttively protecting the group of people behind her as the windows all burst just like the door had done only moments ago. The glass flew forwards, but didn't make it passed the smoky purple shield. Hitting it and then evaporating into thin air.
The witch seemed scared but angry at the same time as magic erupted everywhere, hitting the tables and turning the furniture to solid ice. Which Granny, who had ducked behind the bar - would surely be mad about later. But no time to thick about that, because all she could think about now was keeping Robin, Claire and Henry safe.
"Emma get Henry under a table!" She yelled at the blonde Savior who was nailed to the ground. Even though her voice was hindered by screaming people and shattering ice, Emma seemed to hear her.
The boy was ushered under one of the tables not even a minute later.
Frosty mist seemed to erupt out of nowhere and Regina squinted her eyes as she summoned her purple magic to her hands. Claire's cries came from her right and she tried to see through the white haze that already seemed to clear up again.
"Regina!" Robin's scream sounded and she snapped around just in time to see a powerful surge of blue magic surging towards father and daughter.
The scream that left her mouth was inhuman as she summoned her magic and tried to form a shield, but her magic wasn't fast enough.
Zelena snapped around in fear as she heard her sister's terrified scream and she saw the magic too. Without so much as thinking she started to run.
When the blue magic hit her, it didn't hurt like she'd expected it to do. The opposite in fact, it seemed to numb her nerves entirely. So when she fell to the ground, she didn't even feel it.
"Zelena!" Regina's knees connected harshly with the ground as she dropped down next to her sister, looking up at Robin with a terrified expression on her beautiful face. "What did you do?!" Her hands lit up purple as she moved them over the skin of her arm that had started to whiten. But it did nothing to heal it.
Elsa seemed to have calmed down enough to realize what she had done and she looked around with a guilty expression and tears in her eyes as she took in the destruction she had caused.
Regina snapped around to the ice witch with a vicious snarl. "You did this, now heal her!" She growled, her eyes shooting knifes.
"I- I don't know." She stammered as she looked down at the wounded redhead. "I don't know how to."
"She needs true love, dearie." Rumple said sadly, as he looked down at his two former apprentices. "It's the only way to stop the ice from reaching her heart."
"But she doesn't have a true love." The desperation was clear in her voice. "How much time do we have?"
Rumple's gray eyes scanned Zelena's arm slowly. "I would say a week, maybe nine days."
Regina blinked back tears as she gripped Zelena's hand tightly . "You saved my daughter, I promise I'll try to find a way to heal you."
"Oh don't be so dramatic, little sis." Zelena chuckled breathlessly before her blue eyes rolled back and she lost consciousness.
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Leave a review. No chapter for a little while because I'm going on vacation to Germany. ;)