SUPER long chapter today guys! I think this will be my penultimate update: ( School is going to get pretty intense in the next few days so I need to wrap this story up, unfortunately. Don't worry though! Exciting things are going to happen in this chapter…. And the next ; )
Chapter 10
Rumple edges towards Regina in short slithering steps. Giggling erupts from his sadistic grimace at her flinching.
"Don't think I don't know who you are, Regina." He purrs her name, elongating the syllables and rolling the 'R'. Regina takes another step backward.
"You and your Emma have made quite the scene travelling around… using magic," the imp trills with an elaborate gesture toward the sky.
"How did you know?" Regina finds her voice, praying that the fear remains hidden by her adopted superiority.
Rumple's eyes narrow threateningly. "How did I know? How. Did. I. Know? You think that you can hide from me: the great and infamous Dark One?" He snakes a hand towards Regina's collar and yanks her forward. "You seem to have forgotten everything I have taught you, dearie."
"Let go of me," the brunette growls, struggling against the creatures grasp.
Instead he leans in closer. "I know you're from the future. I know you're planning to wipe her memory. What I don't know is why…"
Regina breathes in, recoiling. This has got to work. He has to believe this.
"Emma… she wants to take your place in this world." She inhales. "To kill you."
Glassy orbs widened to the point of comical. "And how does she think she can do that," the imp spits.
Smiling inwardly at Rumple's gullibility, Regina leans in and whispers in to his right ear, "Because she has the dagger."
The creature darts backwards, as if shot, seething beneath his scaly veneer. "NO SHE DOESN'T. DON'T LIE TO ME REGINA!" His yelling fractures the air around the two sorcerers.
"Not your dagger," the brunette sighs, feigning exasperation. This has got to work. He has to believe this. "Her dagger."
Rumple begins to visibly shake, much to Regina's delight. He summons his own jagged weapon in to his left hand and eyes it wearily. "Do you really think you can mess with the timeline Regina? Did you or did you not succeed in casting the curse? Do you not have happiness? I will not let you ruin EVERYTHING! You will lose."
"Believe me; I want to… for once. I think we can both agree that the consequences will be disastrous if Emma ends your life. I merely need to wipe the Queen's memory and… somehow get Emma back to our time."
The imp narrows his eyes. "Fine. I know where she and your beloved Emma are hiding. Emma will return back to your land and the queen will stay here with… with me. They will be perfectly safe. Both of them."
Regina knows he's lying. He can't risk anything in the way of his power. And in this circumstance that is exactly what she wants.
…
Emma used to tell herself it was for Henry; protecting Regina…for Henry; showing kindness toward Regina…for Henry. Everything was for Henry when in fact everything was for Regina. This thought had never truly occurred to her until a couple of weeks ago, before their trip back to the Enchanted Forest.
Henry sat on the table top swinging his legs as he attacked the digital zombie on his gaming device. Emma was busily making herself a tea; chucking in the tea bag with a frustrated sigh and pouring in the water sloppily.
"Mo-om stop sighing. It's annoying!"
Emma glanced up at her son whose eyes hadn't left their permanent position on the screen. "I'm not sighing," she said calmly, although Henry could tell otherwise through her gritted teeth. He put down his game and narrowed his eyes at his blonde mother.
Emma began to break under the intensity of his stare. "Fine, I just have one question. Do you-er-like Robin?"
The question seemed to relax Henry immediately. "Yeah, course. He's cool."
His answer made her wince. "But is… is Regina… happy?"
"Mom? You're being weird."
"Right. Yeah. Weird. But erm… is she?"
"I don't know to be honest… Robin is always smiling at her in this really annoying 'I love you so much' kinda way. It's gross."
"And does she smile back?"
Henry furrowed his brow, thinking. "Yeah, I guess she does."
She continued to ask him questions: "What do you do when you go over there?" "What do Regina and Robin even talk about?" "Do you see them laughing together?"
And Henry continued to answer: "I dunno… watch TV and eat?" "Deep stuff, I guess. They always look in some very confusing conversation." "Erm- not really laughing."
By the end of his mother's interrogation, Henry was smiling knowingly.
"What!?" Emma snapped, irritated.
"Nothing," her little boy smirked, jumping off the table and escaping to his room.
Jealousy: an undoubtedly tangible emotion that Emma had so clearly been portraying. She was on edge whenever Robin was in her presence, watching him, studying him… trying to understand why. Why did he think he was worthy of her? Why did she think he was worthy of her?
And even before Robin arrived, she cared. Perhaps everyone else could see it too; everyone else but herself… and Regina? It was a harrowing thought to imagine a world without the mother of her child. Of their child. Emma can never supress the smile that paints her features at that realisation. Yet, somehow, she can supress her own feelings. She fears rejection- perhaps more than anything in the world. Her whole existence has been a series of mislead promises, broken hope and rejection. And then she rejected her son too: passed him back to the doctor whilst she clung on to the hospital bed like a life-line. It is only now that she realises that Henry was.
Emma allows her soft gaze to rest on the young queen, draped in slumber. She had placed Regina under a spell before she rescued her, fearful of alerting the King. Hair, once fashioned elaborately, now falls delicately over her eye lids in loose tendrils. Emma extends her fingertips to brush lightly against the queen's cheek bones.
"Emma… what… what happened to you?" the brunette stutters, reaching out to connect with Emma's hollow flesh, checking her solidarity.
The blonde presents her with a weak smile.
"What about Regina? Where is she? Why do I still remember?"
"She's not here. I rescued you."
The young woman's eyes widen in understanding. "You... you rescued me."
Emma nods and crouches down beside her, clasping on to a hand too strong for her matted bones.
"Emma, tell me. Tell me everything; your family, your friends, where you come from. I want to know."
There is soft howl that circulates around the cabin that Emma has fabricated. It rattles the windows, trapping the occupants inside. The Dark One closes her eyes and begins to weave the young queen a memory of her first day in Storybrooke, her son, magic, Rumplestiltskin, her parents, Neal… and then she's talking about Regina. She cannot stop. Her face is bright as the words tumble, admiration at her son's other parent: all the times in her life where Regina was .one. The smile magnifies as she illustrates Regina's ultimate sacrifice of allowing Emma and Henry to escape the curse, and loosens as she mentions Robin and their supposed true love. All the while, the young queen is laughing softly. Giddy with a happiness Emma doubts she has ever experienced before.
"Have you told her yet?" Regina whispers.
"Told her what?"
"That you love her. Have you told her?"
"Love? Oh no, it's…. It's not like that."
"Emma. You don't need to pretend!" she is sitting up now, grabbing on to the blonde's hands with ferocity, lit up by the knowledge of hope and… love.
"But Robin," Emma says lamely, pretending to ignore the tears that are trailing across her face.
"Believe me, she feels the same. Why else would she be here?"
Emma doesn't reply. She can feel a darkness bursting through her blood, like venom. Her vision falters and her ears can barely register the frantic screams that elicit from the other woman's mouth. Her tears are red hot and scorch her face as they thunder down her skin, coating her in a raw hatred like no other. She sees Snow and Regina and she has to save only one. She sees Neal and Regina and she has to kill the man with her bear fists. She sees her father and Rumplestiltskin who is laughing wildly as David evaporates. No. She then sees Henry, a tiny toddler, crying in the middle of the street as every passer by ignores her son. This is then preceded by the usurping anger. She is ripping out heart after heart, cackling as the strangers crumple to the ground. Helpless. Other's hearts are being ripped out too. Her mother's- for ruining Regina's life. Her father's- for sending her through a magical wardrobe alone. Neal's – for leaving her in a jail cell. Robin's- for believing he is worthy of Regina. Regina's – for believing that she is worthless to her. She even rips out Henry's, her final heart, before darkness engulfs her senses and she is still.
…
The young queen's features are marred with pain as she watches Emma collapse on the floor. Hours have passed since the blonde started her fiery decent in to madness, and only now has the magic finally subsided revealing a broken shell of a woman. Regina is too afraid to reach out and touch the arched spine of the blonde. As if one fleeting contact will shatter the structure completely and destroy her. She breathes in time with Emma, careful not to trigger another influx of darkness. Minutes tick by and the creature still has not awoken so the young queen clears her throat and summons Emma to back to reality.
"Emma."
"…"
"Emma."
"…"
"Emma. Please."
Two eyes the colour of fire turn and face Regina. A twisted smirk perverts the blonde's face, her skin glistening in the dull light of the cabin. "Hello, dearie."
…
Regina takes Rumple's outstretched arm in reluctance. A wicked grin plasters his tarnished features making the brunette's skin crawl. Once engulfed in his dark cloud, the pair arrives almost instantaneously at the door of a small log cabin surrounded by pine trees. Regina can sense the shift in magic immediately and swallows thickly. Emma Swan what have you done?
"Come along then, Regina. Quickety-quick!" Rumple trills knocking on the door in three thumps. He knocks again. And again. "Oh well, can't say I didn't try," he giggles, magicking the wood open instead. He hops inside with a spluttering of glee, before gesturing to Regina.
The room is fairly compact: just a bed, a chair and a wood stove adorn its floor space. And her former self. And Emma. Except this isn't Emma. This creature, this reptilian imp shares no resemblance to Emma Swan. Or does she?
Regina inches closer towards the now fully transformed Dark One. Entwined souls.
"Regina!" the young queen squeaks, relief at the other presence. Her eyes then widen in shock at the scaly companion standing alongside her older version. "Rumplestiltskin!?"
Rumple smiles and bows dramatically. "Yes, dearie, it is I. I have come to relieve you of this… Emma problem." He points a gnarled hand towards the other creature growling at his existence. "Hello Emma," he drawls, "how lovely it is to finally meet you!"
"Shut up."
"Oooooo… touchy subject, I see? Now I don't like people that think they can take my power. Did you know that, Miss Swan?"
Regina tugs at Emma's features with her eyes, willing her to notice. To remember her.
A sharp laugh erupts from the blonde's mouth. "Of course I knew that, Rumplestiltskin. The question is… did you?" A burst of dark light jolts from the women's palm, exploding in to tiny darts that puncture Rumple's stability (if only for a moment). The young queen screams and curls in to herself, protecting her sanity from the magical war that has only just begun. Regina runs to join her on the bed, gripping on to the slender fingers of her younger form, wishing only to realign the past and the present in a harmonious embrace.
Rumplestiltskin growls in response to his stumble, conjuring up his own blast of magic that punctures Emma's.
"Make it stop, please Regina," the young woman pleads to her older self, tightening the grip on her hand.
No. I can't.
Emma retaliates with something stronger. As does Rumplestiltskin. Both wear a mask of sadistic pleasure: a perverted game of cat and mouse, both Dark One's fluctuating between the contrasting roles. A bridge of dark magic begins to collate in between them both, an equal weight of power. Regina waits with baited breath as the scene unfolds. It feels so wrong to be accepting Emma's defeat. Just end it. Please.
The young queen is sobbing now- ragged breaths that compress in to a low moan devoid of hope. Regina attempts to soothe her as tears begin to leak out of her own eyes. Emma and Rumple have stilled now, their magic rejuvenating.
"Emma… give in," Regina croaks, finally capturing the blonde's attention.
"That's it dearie! Give in," Rumple cackles, preparing for his next blast.
Emma pivots and captures Regina's urgent gaze. A small almost imperceptible nod is all she provides before summoning the dagger to her grasp. The object slices against the papery shield of her skin, drawing blood and eliciting a giggle from Rumplestiltskin. "Oh two can play that game, Emma!" he smirks, his own dagger now in his palm. Regina tries to calm her nerves by staring at the two gleaming objects. Same dagger just a different engraving.
Both weapons are raised in the air, poised threateningly toward the other. Emma lunges first, pricking Rumple's hand with the jagged tip. He snarls curses at her before swiping against her arm; the blood beginning to explode like a burst dam. Rumple attacks again and again, taking advantage of Emma's blood loss. He's screaming at her and she's screaming back. Their voices united in cacophony. Pools of blood have now collated in rich puddles on the floor… Emma is too fragile, too weak to even stand up so she sinks in to a circle of her own spilt humanity.
Rumple begins to laugh hysterically, his dagger teasing at her heart. "Say goodbye to your beloved Emma, Regina. Both of you…"
"NO!" an inhumane scream erupts from the young queen's mouth as Rumple's dagger sinks in to Emma's heart. The blonde's eyes darken instantly, any stability she once had has shattered as she now lies defeated in a web of her own bloodshed. Regina cannot breathe. She can't breathe.
Emma.
A thick darkness begins to swarm like an angered insect out of Emma's empty eye holes; her mouth; her open wounds. It settles above the four figures; an ominous cloud ready to pounce. Regina lurches forward to grab on to Emma's lifeless form.
"Send us back! Rumple! Send us back NOW!" she roars, her hands already dripping with the saviour's blood. With Emma's blood.
Yet Rumple isn't hearing her, despite her fractured screams. Instead he is watching the cloud. Watching as it mutates in to an arrow shaped apparition. Watching as it darts towards the broken queen. Watching as it engulfs her wrecked body, still shaking from the trauma. Emma begins to evaporate from her grasp and, to Regina's horror, she realises that she is evaporating with her. No. No. No. No. NO! Her former self is attacked by the cloud as her body begins to absorb the darkness. Rumple's laughter is fading. The young queen is fading as every fragment of light in her eyes in eradicated by the blackest of black. Everything is fading as the defeated Dark One and her supposed saviour slip away from the reality of the past.
And then the cabin is replaced. Rumplestiltskin is replaced. The young queen, usurped by Emma's assimilated darkness, is replaced. The pools of blood are replaced. Instead, when Regina opens her eyes she is back in the barn; lying on the portal's embers, her hands stained with blood and Emma Swan, dead, in her arms.
Wow! I was up so late finishing this. Only one more chapter to go, guys. I really hope this chapter was enjoyable (perhaps enjoyable is the wrong word). Let me know in a review what you thought…