Chapter 16
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David crouched low in the brush to the north end of the well. Hook and some of his shipmates were taking up the west while Ruby and some of the dwarves were taking up flank on the east side. Robin and the merry men were scattered through the forest so they could get vantage points and views of the flying monkeys when they arrived.
The sound of Mary Margret's screams tore at David as he refrained from charging into the clearing like Emma and Regina had. He couldn't afford for their positions to be given away. He had to wait. Just wait. He would save his family, just like he always did.
It was when Regina was shot that he began to doubt that he could save his family at all. The doubt ate at him, keeping him immobile until he saw the glowing aura of his daughter's heart resting in Zelena's hands. The notion of Emma sacrificing herself for Henry was one he shared. He would die to protect his children.
So it was with a quick nod to Leroy and Michael, the Huntsman, that he forwent waiting. He charged into the clearing around the wishing well, determined to reach his wife.
It was as his allies converged on the well that all hell broke loose. Flying Monkeys popped out from under piles of fallen leaves as they jettisoned into the air and began swooping down in varying attack patterns.
There were arrows flying overhead and animalistic cries of pain as well as the sounds of men groaning with exertion and injuries as they all valiantly fought against the strong beasts.
Hook reached the well first. He disabled Henry as soon as he walked up to the boy. Thankfully the witch was too busy preparing for her spell to give Henry any orders on who to shoot with his weapon. Hook knocked the gun out of Henry's hand and took the extra precaution to knock the boy unconscious.
Ruby uses her own supernatural strength to get to Snow. She kneels down next to her friend and checks to see how far along she is.
"Ruby, help Emma. Just, just stand me up." Mary Margaret begged, "Stand me up!" But it was as Snow saw the look of worry upon Ruby's face that she knew she wasn't going to be delivering her child in the safety of a hospital or even her own apartment. She was going to have her baby while battle raged around her….again. "No…no…no…" Mary Margaret sobbed even as she helped Ruby position her properly to begin pushing.
"What's going on there, love?" Hook asked as he used Henry's pistol to shoot at one of the flying monkeys that dipped a little too close to the werewolf.
"She's having the baby."
"Here!?" Hook's eyes widened even as he remained alert and gave Ruby and Mary Margret cover. His eyes tracked over to where Charming and the dwarves were fighting hand to hand with some of the monkeys that seemed to prefer to fight with weapons rather than their claws.
Ruby's men were around the well trying to break through the barrier that Zelena put up around herself. She was mixing herbs and potions and dropping things into the well as she muttered under her breathe.
"Get to Zelena!" Ruby yelled to Hook. "I've got her."
Hook took notice of how the well was beginning to bubble over with an ominous miasma. "Leave me with the easy task, why don't you." He complained under his breath as he made his way closer to the well. Sleepy, was trying to bash through the barrier with his pickax, but was having no such luck breaking through it. Hook didn't want to take the chance of shooting at the barrier just for the bullet to ricochet back at him so he studied everything around him. Trying to find a way into the barrier to stop the witch's spell.
Several feet behind Hook, Robin ran and slid under an attacking beast, shooting as his back rest against the soil. The hit was true and the monkey flew several feet away before collapsing onto the ground with the arrow embedded within him.
He quickly got up and made his way to Regina. He fell heavily to his knees once at her side. As gently as he could he turned her over. "Regina…I've got you." Robin promised as he took off his cloak and pushed it against the woman's stomach trying to staunch the blood flow.
Regina's eyes were glazed and her skin a sickly grey. Her breathing came in short wisps, the sound of blood filling her lung troublesome. "Hen…henry?" Regina asked after her son immediately.
"The boy is fine." Robin could see the unconscious form of Henry laying several feet away from Ruby and Snow White. "We have to get you out of here." Robin commented as he worked to get Regina up onto her feet. The scream that tore out of Regina's throat at the sudden movement stopped him, but only for a moment. No matter what, he needed to get Regina away from the battle ground.
Hook suddenly realized how to break through the barrier. He grabbed one of the potions that Regina made them all carry with them. "Gentleman, the potions!" He called out to the dwarves still struggling to get into the barrier. Sleepy, Doc, and Sneezy stop and pull out their own potion bottles. "On the count of three. One. Two. Three!" He yells and all four of them throw the potions at their sides of the barrier. With a loud 'BOOM' the barrier explodes, knocking them all off their feet, and leaving Zelena defenseless.
"Attack!" Hook jumped to his feet and began rushing towards the well.
Zelena was rocked forward by the barrier breaking down. She glared at the men who dared interrupt her. She flicked each of the three dwarves that came charging at her aside easily, sending them flying high into the air where one of her precious pets scooped them up to deal with them. However the pirate is harder to dispatch because of the amulet he's wearing around his neck that is deflecting her dark magic.
Zelena stared at the man and then just behind him where Emma was struggling vainly to get out of the barrier still wrapped tightly around her, she smirked. She picked up Emma's heart and whispered into it. "Defend me." Unlike Regina's heart, Emma never protected her own heart from being controlled by others as she'd never thought anyone would get a hold of it.
There was suddenly a green glow to Emma's eyes. She stopped trying to fight the barrier and simply walked right out of it.
Hook was two feet away from Zelena when he felt someone grab his arm and spin him around and down so his chest was vertical with the ground. He doesn't have the time to react before Emma's knee knocked into his chest three times. His breath left him with a whoosh.
Gasping he fell forward as Emma put herself between Zelena and himself.
Looking just around Emma Hook can see Zelena's smirk. He glared darkly at the dark witch and stood up. "Emma, I know it's hard. But you have to fight her control over you."
Emma couldn't hear him. She marched forward and began a hand to hand fight with Hook, putting Hook at a disadvantage. He wouldn't hurt Emma but Emma had no qualms about hurting him.
As Hook tried to merely defend himself against Emma's attacks, Ruby looked into Mary Margaret's eyes and helped her friend hold her legs wide. "Okay, now push!" Ruby's eyes fell down to between Snow's legs where she saw the baby's head crowning.
Mary Margaret screamed as she pushed and tried not to think about the flying monkeys literally soaring above her head or how there were arrows, knives, and axes being thrown all around her. Or how her grandson was lying dead to the world for the next few hours and her daughter was just behind Ruby beating Hook bloody. This wasn't how she was supposed to have this baby. Things were supposed to be different. This was her second chance to get things right.
"Ahhhh….." Mary Margaret screamed as she pushed again, and again.
"That's it, Snow. That's it. Almost there. Almost there…." Ruby encouraged as best she could, always alert of their surroundings.
Suddenly across the battle ground the sound of a baby's first wail pierced the air.
Everyone stopped for a moment to marvel at the sound of new life. But it was Zelena whose eyes glowed the most brightly at the new arrival. With a triumphant smile Zelena made her way towards Snow White and the baby she needed to start the sacrificial part of her spell.
Ruby took off her shirt and wrapped the infant into it before she handed him to Snow, "It's a boy." She whispered, unable to keep herself from smiling encouragingly at her friend.
Snow started to sob as she held onto her son. "Now, let's get you out of here." Ruby was standing up to move to pick Snow up into her arms and carry her away when she heard footsteps just behind her.
Thinking it was Zelena she turned around to attack the witch, her fingernails grown and sharp, her teeth elongating as she channeled her own beast. She swiped her arms down swiftly, cutting into the shoulder and face of her would be attacker.
The cry of pain was not Zelena's, but Emma's. Ruby was momentarily shocked. "Emma…" She gasped surprised and ashamed to have injured her friend. It was only when Emma dropped her hands away from her bleeding face that Ruby noticed the green tint to her eyes.
Emma wasn't exactly Emma anymore.
"Shit!" Ruby gasped as she was lifted up into the air and tossed away like she weighed nothing. Her back connected with a tree trunk. Ruby fell to the base of the tree sprawled out and struggling to get back up.
"Emma… Emma this isn't you. This isn't. Please, Emma. It's your brother. He's your brother!" Mary Margaret cried as she started to crawl backwards trying uselessly to get away from Emma and Zelena, who stood just behind Emma.
"Get me the child." Zelena commanded and Emma didn't even bend down to take the baby. She merely opened her arms for the child and the little boy appeared in her arms. Without having to consciously think about it, Emma was able to channel her magic.
With her baby brother in hand, Emma turned her back on her screaming crying mother and handed him over to Zelena. The boy had blue green eyes just like Emma and was wailing his little lungs out in fear.
"You will do nicely." Zelena commented as if the boy was nothing more than a prized steed.
"NO!" Charming's fearful scream echoed across the clearing as he doubled his efforts to get to his wife and child.
Hook tried to grab ahold of Zelena's leg as she passed him, but his face was bloodied and bruised. His eyes were hardly able to see anything past the swelling that had already taken over, yet he tried.
Zelena easily kicked him off and kept on towards the well, Emma falling in step just behind her.
Zelena stood at the mouth of the well with the wailing infant for only a moment. She whispered something in Latin before she lifted the child up and outstretched her arms so the baby was held over the mouth of the well. Mary Margaret knew there was no one close enough to save her child and the color from her face drained as she nearly passes out.
With a sickening smile Zelena lets go of the baby. Around the clearing people struggle with renewed purpose to defeat their enemies. The foot soldiers here to stop the Wicked Witch finally gaining ground against the horde of flying monkeys till there is only one left: Walsh.
But it is too late.
The baby falls several inches into the well before his progress down into the depths of it stop. Zelena watches as the baby rises up out of the well and flies straight into the arms of the one woman whom she thought she'd handled already.
"Regina…" Zelena snarled as she watched her sister cradle baby Charming securely against her chest, away from her wounded side. Her eyes are still bleary and she looked like she could hardly hold her own weight up let alone the added addition of the child. But she managed. Just behind her Robin stood with his bow drawn, an arrow pointed at Zelena.
Zelena screamed in frustration when she realized he couldn't simply pull the child back from Regina's arms. In an effort to distract Regina from the protection spell she erected around her and the baby Zelena started tossing fire balls at the people around them, knowing her sister would try and protect the useless fools. It appeared her sister truly had gone soft from the horrifying tales she'd once heard from the survivors of her dark curse.
Regina used her bad arm to deflect the magic as best she could. Sleepy took the chance to rush at Zelena thinking the witch was as duly distracted as Regina. She wasn't. Regina couldn't deflect the fireball aimed at Sleepy as she was too busy deflecting the one Zelena sent towards Ruby and Snow. Sleepy was hit head on by one of Zelena's fireballs and was gone in a burst of smoke and flame before anyone could blink. His scream made everyone cringe as the allies did their best to avoid Zelena's magic, no one risking it to rush at Zelena again.
Robin used the time to shoot several of his arrows at Zelena, looking for an opening that just never seemed to come, and yet he kept trying. Hoping to help Regina in any way that he could.
Regina was quickly losing energy and she knew she couldn't keep up with Zelena or much longer. She'd lost far too much blood and she could feel her life literally slipping away from her as she valiantly tried to keep the squalling baby in her arms. The protection spell around her growing smaller and smaller as the ground continued to become soaked with drops of her blood.
"Someone DO something!" Regina faltered, one of her legs giving out as Zelena attacks the barrier erected around her and the baby.
Charming saw Regina falter and knew he hadn't the time to find a way to break through Zelena's attack. They needed to do something now or he was going to lose his entire family. He ordered he men around him to start firing at Zelena from all ends. With Zelena's focus on Regina and the people on the north side of the well Zelena couldn't protect her back.
Charming was hopeful as he watched the weapons fly towards Zelena's back. It was just as his own sword was about to embed itself into Zelena's back that white magic stopped the weapons, making them hang listlessly in the air. Charming's eyes tracked back to Emma and saw his daughter's arm raised her magic holding the weapons from reaching their target. It was the listlessness of Emma's stance otherwise. The way her muscles practically sagged and her eyes were hazed and practically lifeless. This wasn't his daughter.
Zelena smirked as she knocked Regina onto her knees with a well-placed fireball to her sister's left. The barrier faltered and Zelena called the child back into her arms as if he were nothing more than a basketball being passed back and forth. With the infant in her arms she turned her back on Regina and marched back to the well. Assured that Emma would handle the rest of her opponents now that she owned the Savior's heart.
With all the ingredients needed safely within her grasp and in her arms she could cast her spell.
"Emma, handle Regina." Zelena commanded the blonde who stood guard for her.
With the pickax, knives, arrows, and Charming's sword still held in the air by her magic Emma turned swiftly so her back was to her father and she could once again face forward. The weapons traveled with her and aimed themselves directly at the fallen woman on the floor.
It was as the weapons soared through the air towards Regina, and Zelena prepared to drop her brother into the well behind her that time stood still for Emma.
In the deep back of her mind Emma was screaming at herself to stop. She had been screaming and ranting and having a mental hissy fit since Zelena first commanded her to defend her putting Emma between her real target and her friends and family. Emma wanted nothing more than to have beat Zelena as senseless as she'd beaten Hook. The poor man hadn't even tried to harm her. He had defended himself as best he could but left himself too open for her attacks by never taking on the offensive. Ruby's attack on the other hand still stung and some childish part of her wondered if she'd now become a werewolf because of the scratches. That part was small and far far away from the centered consciousness that was still railing against Zelena's control.
It wasn't until Emma's eyes saw the tip of Charming's sword approaching Regina's chest that something inside of her snapped. Regina's head was held high and her eyes were looking right at Emma. Regina looked right through the hazy eyes Zelena's spell created and Regina saw Emma where she stood trapped screaming deep beneath the mind control. It was the look of love in Regina's eyes that pulled at the part of Emma's chest where her heart should be. That pull was strong. Stronger than anything Emma had ever felt in her entire life and it was only growing stronger as the milliseconds ticked by.
Upon the surface of the well, Zelena noticed that Emma's heart was beginning to glow brighter and brighter. The aura around it growing larger and larger until it was the size of a large box, the colors that of a revolving silver, blue and gold sphere.
Suddenly the weapons stopped their flight towards Regina, leaving only centimeters between their sharp edges and Regina's palish skin.
"Wha…" Zelena's words were cut off as the sphere of what was once Emma's heart contracted until it was the size of a baseball and then with a 'POP' blew up and out. The light was so bright it blinded everyone in the clearing.
Zelena screamed as the white magic washed over her, burning her green skin to the point of blisters forming all over her body. The weight of the baby was too much and she let him go.
It was only as the light dimmed, only seconds after it had brightened, that Zelena saw the infant nestled safely in his mother's arms. The hearts that had been placed strategically upon the well's edge were gone. Emma's heart was nowhere to be seen. Everyone around the small clearing began to assess themselves in wonderment.
Emma fell to her knees and held Regina's eyes as she felt her heart begin to beat steady within her chest.
Henry was slowly waking up, his hand upon his chest where his heart was once again safe and sound.
Regina's hands slid to the bullet wound she'd suffered to find the wound gone. She stared down at her stomach and noticed even the blood that had seeped into her clothing was gone.
As Regina looked up at Emma in shock she noticed the bloody scratches that'd marred Emma's face only moments ago were gone.
All around the clearing were disoriented people holding various body parts as they inspected themselves. Just moments ago most of them had been winged apes attaching friends and in some cases loved ones. It seemed the white magic that had expanded from Emma's heart had eradicated Zelena's dark magic and freed those who'd been stuck under the Wicked Witch's thrall. Including Emma herself.
Emma was so overwhelmed with the magic and the emotions returning to her that the edges of her vision started to close in around her.
Emma reached out towards Regina as she fell face first into the dirt, the world a welcome black after such a bright white.
End Chapter 16
