Author's Note - Over 200 followers makes this sick writer very happy =) Today's been the worse! So while I recuperate and Cath works on Mastery degree type stuff, our updates might take a wee bit longer. Next update should be our Hearty Honeycrisp Apple for those following that story.
Nothing really to discuss about this chapter, but it should answer the few questions that arose of what happens when Zelena casts her spell and the repercussions! Please leave us any questions or comments and thank you for following along.
Regina's eyes went wide as saucers as she stared at David's pick-up truck. Henry had urged them to hurry, confident in his belief that Regina too would be able to wield light magic to defeat Zelena if needed. After the witch had just nullified Emma's magical abilities, it was a distinct possibility that they'd need a back-up plan. Regina wasn't sure if she could do it, but cowering at the hospital would solve nothing. But, now, she had to protest.
"I am not riding in the back of that pick-up!" she huffed.
Emma was at the back of the truck, pulling on the tailgate so Belle could climb in the back, and shot her lover a dirty look. "Really? You're going to complain about seating arrangements when all of our existence is in danger?"
"I'm not going to wink out of existence while riding in the bed of a truck!" Regina exclaimed as if that was entirely rational. She scowled at Emma and stormed around to the passenger side, ignoring the looks that everyone gave her as she awkwardly climbed onto the bench seat in her tight dress and heels.
"I think you just got out voted, Emma," chimed Belle, clearly amused despite the gravity of the situation.
The savior threw her hands up, not even wanting to address the snide remark because it was pointless, and climbed into the bed with the librarian. Once the back passengers were secured, David shifted the truck into gear and peeled out onto the street, speeding towards their destination - Zelena's farmhouse.
It was the only logical conclusion where the witch would be. It was her base of operations and in her arrogance, feeling she had no equal, wouldn't take precautions against an attack. She had the Dark One under her command, Emma's powers were nullified, and had all of the ingredients for her spell. Victory was certain. Her hubris would assure confidence in defeating anyone, drunk with the power she possessed. Regina would be the only one that had a glimmer of hope in defeating her, but their fight on Main Street had shown everyone who was the more powerful offspring of Cora Mills.
Regina stared straight ahead as David pulled up the long dirt driveway off the country road. She slid her gloves on snugly, intensely focused as they approached the farmhouse.
"There! They're in the barn!" Belle called through the truck's rear window.
"Of course. She'd need space to enact this spell," Regina said, thinking of the blazing fire pit she'd used to create her dark curse. To David, she added, "Hurry up."
He simply nodded and gunned it, knowing there wasn't any further need for subtlety. Belle and Emma gripped the side of the bed, being jostled around as the truck rocked against the uneven ground.
"So is there an actual plan besides crashing the party?" shouted Emma through the back window. "Or is that the plan? Running them over?"
"That could be particularly effective!" Regina shouted back.
In truth, she had no plan besides the obvious, central goal: stop her damned sister. How they went about it was going to rely on a lot of improvisation, Regina thought.
"We need to reclaim our elements, the symbols she's using!" she said. "However we have to do it."
"I'm not driving through the barn! My son's in there!" David said in strict disagreement.
"The elements are important for the ritual, but Zelena's amulet is far more dangerous, Regina," reminded Belle. "Glinda said as much."
"She's right. If we can get that, then she doesn't stand a chance. The question is how?" The former shepherd stopped the truck just outside the barn, looking desperate and lost.
"I'll take care of the pendant. Somehow," Regina replied. "You three get the other items and Rumpel's damned dagger."
She climbed out of the truck more easily than how she'd climbed in, smoothing her dress and flexing her gloves as she stormed toward the barn. With the doors arrogantly left wide open, it was easy to see the humbled Rumpel aligning each item in a rune circle while Zelena smirked at its center.
Emma hopped out the back and helped Belle down.
"Sure. I'll walk up to Gold and ask nicely for the goods." Realizing that the person she was supposedly talking to had already headed off, the blonde ran to catch up to her - David and Belle trailing closely behind. "Okay, Regina. Seriously. What the hell's the plan? We got your magic, two guns, and Belle. How are we really going to get Zelena's amulet and all of the items safely when she has Gold's dagger?" she pressed, pulling out her handgun.
"I don't know," she replied irritably. "Do I have to think of everything around here? We use everything we have. Henry believes in us. In all of us."
"All right. Fine. One half assed plan coming up." Emma surged forward, gun at the ready and yelled. "HEY GREENIE!"
And opened fired, purposefully far away in the direction of her brother. Emma was crazy, but not stupid.
Oh good god, Regina thought. A bit more than what I meant by improvise!
But, David and Belle used the diversion well and ran forward to try and retrieve the totems in Zelena's circle.
"Belle! No!" Gold cried out, anguished as Zelena directed his movements, forcing him to thrust she and David away with his magic. They crashed against hay bales to either side of the barn.
Regina stood in the entryway, waiting for her moment to act.
"You can't win, sis! This is my happy ending, not yours!" Zelena chortled.
"Like hell she's not getting a happy ending!" Emma said, retaliating with a well aimed shot now that she had a good view of their adversary.
Zelena flinched with lightning-fast reflexes and shoved Emma away with magic, sending her careening toward the hay bales too. "Rumpel!" she shouted, glaring at the savior.
"It is done!" he snarled back, regret clear on his face at having to ensure Emma's magic was nullified.
Zelena looked to Regina, completely ignoring the others even though they'd begun creeping back toward her portal circle. While her sister was looking to her, Regina - however - was looking toward Emma, worried for her as well as needing her help. If the savior who had once tormented her could be so casually tossed aside, what chance did Regina have? Emma grunted as she untangled her limbs and felt the eyes of her lover upon her. Still regaining her footing, she looked to Regina and her heart broke in seeing all of the mayor's insecurities drift across her features.
With the portal starting to gain in strength, blonde hair whipped against Emma's face from the force of the gale and had to use the hay bales for support. She could have said something, shouted even, over the turbulence the portal caused, but Emma Swan had been the guardian of Regina Mills heart - the most intimate act that the blonde had submitted herself to willingly. It was why no words were needed when their gazes met, validating the love and belief that the savior had in her true love - that she, alone, could defeat Zelena. The Wicked Witch had made a severe miscalculation because the savior was far from powerless. Magic was a tool that Emma had at her disposal, but her love - the true love she held for Regina - was more powerful than anything she could wield. Not even Gold could nullify that.
Zelena grabbed her sister by the throat with magic, hoisting her off the ground. Regina didn't struggle. She saw what she needed to see in Emma's eyes and felt magic surge through her.
"What are you doing?!" Zelena exclaimed.
"Proving you wrong," Regina growled.
She unleashed the magic coursing through her, blasting it through her palms at the witch. It knocked Zelena down and sent her skittering away from the portal. Regina fell and landed in a heap, hands just barely inside the circle. She watched Belle dive and grab Rumpel's symbolic brain as David went for his son. That was Emma's cue, too, and sprinted towards Regina's heart.
Zelena was screaming incoherently. Regina pulled herself to her feet and approached her. Brown eyes were fierce as she broke the pendant's chain and took the green amulet away from her. In a heartfelt victory, David was smiling down into the beautiful face of his son that he had barely held, relief washing over him that he was finally safe. He glanced up to see where everyone else was and watched Belle running to Gold.
"No Belle! Stay back!" Gold waved her off with a pained expression. "I can't guarantee your safety until the dagger's recovered."
Tearfully, she stopped and looked around for it, wanting this to be finally over so she could have her true love returned to her. She ended up gasping in surprise that Zelena no longer held onto it! Regina's blast had freed it from her clutches and the witch was currently unawares!
"Emma!" shouted the bookworm, needing to act quickly before the crazed woman realized she no longer controlled the Dark One.
The pendant in Regina's gloved hand grew warm, then positively hot. She hissed and narrowed her eyes but dared not let go. Sinuous green magic writhed from the pendant, clearly Zelena's magic, enveloping Regina before blasting out through the etches in the dirt. The mayor grit her teeth, realizing that the totems were too close, the magic too potent, and Zelena's will was still going to be done.
Emma looked up in alarm, fearing that her friend was in danger but also looked to Regina who was encased in the power of Zelena's magic.
"The dagger!" Belle exclaimed hurriedly, pointing towards it
Need to trust Regina and get the dagger. Maybe Gold can help...
Tucking Regina's heart safely into her arms like a pro running back, the savior sprinted towards the dagger, hoping that the sisters remained happily distracted by the magic coursing around them to steal it away. Zelena screeched as she watched her last bit of leverage about to vanish. Magical or not now, adrenaline fueled the witch to scramble across the hard-packed earth, trying to beat Emma to Rumpel's dagger. Eyes widening that Zelena was going for a last ditch effort, she glanced at Regina who was struggling with the amulet, knowing that her lover couldn't stop her sister right now. Dropping to her knees in mid run, Emma slid across the straw covered wooden floor and cracked Zelena across the face with her boot before the witch could reach the dagger.
"Shit!" Regina exclaimed as the portal opened mere feet behind her.
She leaped forward to no avail. The green vortex had her and the former evil queen found herself falling backward into the very land she had created her own curse to escape. With the portal finally opening, the residual magical energy of the totems were no longer required. David finally calmed his screaming son and Gold retrieved his wits. He poofed to his dagger and finally claimed control.
"Finally!" he said, eyes gleaming in victory as he held it, completely oblivious, or uncaring, to Regina's peril. His only altruistic moment was to drop the nullifying spell that had made Emma into a mere mortal because of what the witch had cost him in order to create this talisman.
"Regina! No!" Horrified, the savior reached out and grabbed the mayor's forearm, pulling with all her might to keep her from falling fully into the portal. She still had her heart! There hadn't been time to put it back yet and if Regina were sucked back into time without it, who knew what repercussions there would be?
"Shove my heart back inside me! Now!" Regina roared.
Emma was too afraid to act immediately, believing her powers hadn't been restored yet because she didn't feel any different. The force of the vortex was stronger than the savior's grip, pulling Regina and Emma into the swirling green. In her panic, Emma had no choice but to act or risk endangering her lover. Sliding helplessly across the floor, the blonde drew her arm back and looked at Regina apologetically, knowing this was going to hurt.
"Sorry!" she cringed and slammed the heart back into the mayor's chest just before they were sucked fully into the portal.
Just as quickly as it had opened, the portal shut behind them. The floor returned to dirt and Zelena screamed despite the agony in her jaw where Emma had kicked her. Gold charged toward the witch, holding his dagger out toward her.
"What have you done? Oh god, what have you done?!" he raged, seething for the loss of Baelfire, for his own enslavement, and now the catastrophe that was awaiting them all in their past. The air quaked with magical potential as he descended on Zelena. She flailed and tried to back away from him, helpless now.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" he screamed, intending to destroy her with the magical properties of the dagger, the same way that Zelena had tried with Emma.
"Rumpel!" Belle cried, lurching forward, trying to reach out to him. "Don't! We may need her still! Emma and Regina!"
He turned back to her, looking savage. "I don't CARE about them! She killed my boy! She deserves to die!"
"I know you want revenge on Zelena," said David, holding his son against his chest. "Believe me, I get it. I'd struggle with it too if she had killed my son, but you can't lose sight of the bigger picture! Regina and Emma are in the past and the longer they're stuck there, the likelihood that something catastrophic happens to all of us grows. What if you lose Belle because of it?! Can you afford to lose both your son and the woman you love?"
Zelena kept trying to scoot further away, clutching her jaw with one hand. David's presence cut her off from further escape.
Gold turned toward David. "So… you'll just lock her up?! Are you daft? She nearly destroyed your babe!"
"Regina has her amulet in the past with her. I saw her still holding it. That leaves Zelena powerless here just as Glinda told us." David glanced down at the cowering woman near him and sighed. "Regardless of what's she's done, she can cause no further damage. But there's a chance she can help us get Regina and Emma back. I just can't give up on my daughter. Not again."
"Please, Rumpel. Don't give in to your hatred," Belle begged. "At least let us get Regina and Emma back."
He looked at her incredulously. Pointing back at Zelena with the dagger, Gold exclaimed, "What is wrong with you?! She's powerless! If they're going to find a way back, they'll have to bloody well do it themselves! And that's if Regina can keep Miss Swan from stepping on the proverbial butterfly that condemns us all!"
"You honestly don't think she could think of a way to bring them back? Time travel was supposedly impossible. Yet she found a way! Who's to say she can't figure this out too?!" begged the prince, desperate and grasping at straws in order to get Emma back.
Gold looked at David venomously. "You're making a tremendous mistake, you fool."
He turned the baleful glare onto Zelena, who flinched with genuine fear. Then, the wizard turned and strode away. Belle paused, unsure how David would apprehend Zelena all by himself. She looked to the prince, torn.
"It wouldn't be my first, but at least I know in my heart I'm doing all I can in getting them back," David admitted, and then looked to Belle with trust in his eyes. "I know you want to go with him, but take my son with you. Back to Mary Margaret. She ... hasn't even really seen him yet."
"I will," Belle promised. "Can you, er… deal with her alone? I'm not a doctor, but I think her jaw really is injured."
He nodded, sparing Zelena a glance. She hadn't said a word since Emma's attack, which made David believe that Belle was right about how severe the injury was Normally she would be making threats and toying with them with great pleasure. Also, if she was going to help them, the woman had to speak. And, it was the right thing to do. They were better than Zelena's mad schemes and disregard for other peoples lives. "I'll bring her to the hospital so Whale can take a look at her."
Belle took the baby into her arms and sighed, adoring him. "Be careful, David. I'll tell Mary Margaret you're on your way…"
"And tell her not to worry," he said, grunting as he hoisted Zelena to her feet. The witch groaned with discomfort, but David would take care of her injuries. He just didn't promise to go about being nice about it while cuffing her. "I know she will, but I'm sure the little guy in your arms will help her stay put until I can join you."
The landing was hard. Very hard in fact. The breath had been knocked from Regina's lungs as she was still recovering from the jolt it was to fully feel again, with her heart restored in her chest. She stared up at the tree canopy as the portal that had just been over them vanished. Regina pocketed the amulet for safekeeping.
I know these woods. We're back in the Enchanted Forest. Oh hell, here we are. But when are we?
Emma rolled over and coughed violently, trying to catch her breath. She had landed on her stomach and it was difficult to stop from retching. Yet even through the pain, there was only one thing on her mind - the safety of the woman whose heart she shoved back into her chest.
"Regina …?" she gasped before another coughing spell took over.
Regina nodded. "I'm okay. Let me help."
She waved a hand over Emma's back to soothe the discomfort, to ease her coughing. Then, she dropped her head back into the clover and stared up at the trees, trying to wrap her head around what had happened and the feeling of being fully herself again.
Pushing herself onto her knees in the underbrush, Emma inhaled deeply as the magic mitigated the damage of the fall. "Thank you. Much better."
Now she could finally become conscious of her surroundings and looked around. With the knowledge that Zelena wanted to change the past, the blonde could only conclude that she was in the Enchanted Forest, but it wasn't in any part that she remembered when she last inadvertently visited. Of course, most of the area was uprooted because of Regina's curse then.
"So … any idea where and when we are exactly?" she asked inquisitively, hoping her lover had a clue.
"Shh," Regina replied, concentrating as she too sat up.
Brown eyes narrowed as she took in their surroundings, trying to answer Emma's question. Quietly, she rose and beckoned for the savior to follow her. Instinctively, she avoided a direct line of sight from the road as Regina had a definite idea of when they were. She crouched behind a thick bush that would hide them while they had a decent view of the poor village.
Regina sighed and bowed her head. Of course.
"We are roughly a year before you'll be born," she said, finding it surreal to say that. Looking at Emma, stricken, she added, "And… we're about to watch me condemn Robin's wife to death."
"What?" The savior looked dazed in hearing this and placed a hand on Regina's shoulder. She then peered through the branches, trying to take in the scene before her. There were guards dressed in black armor, herding the villagers together and keeping watch. But, there was no sign of past Regina yet. "Are you sure you got this right? I don't see Queenly you."
Regina studied the soldiers. With the face obscuring masks they wore, they were almost anonymous. She recognized those that she'd bothered to know - a number which she could count on one hand - and knew for sure this is when they were. She nodded to Emma.
"My carriage is coming," she whispered. "Just wait."
Though hardly saintly or good - at least in her own eyes - Regina knew she was a different person now from who she'd been as the Evil Queen. And it sickened her that Emma was about to witness that.
"Oh, no. I'm an idiot. Get back. Now. Now!" she hissed, grabbing Emma by the arm, dragging her deeper into the woods.
What would happen if I saw us right now? We have to be careful to not affect the past!
Emma finally pulled her arm free from the brunette's grasp and shook it loose. "Hey! What the hell, Regina? Usually I'm the idiot. But ... seriously. I'm not going to judge you." She pointed at the direction of the road. "That woman isn't you anymore."
Regina shook her head impatiently.
"It's not that. Well, it's partly that, but more importantly, we can't let my… evil regal self… see us." She widened her eyes meaningfully, and gestured at her own appearance, then pointed at Emma. "You and I met when you brought Henry home. We can't meet here, years earlier! We need disguises just to get by in this land… until we can figure out a way to get home."
That made the savior calm herself and lowered her arm. "Point taken. We can't go gallivanting around the Enchanted Forest without causing a riot. One Regina's enough right?"
She made a face at that, expecting that was Emma's attempt at diffusing the situation with humor. Regina sighed, remembering how hard it had been to learn glamour spells; Rumpel had mocked her that her mother was good at it, while she'd struggled.
"I'll use the glamour spell we used on Zelena, making us look like we belong here," she said. "But, we still need to keep a very low profile. Anyone we interact with, anything we do here… it can cause an unimaginable ripple effect."
The rumble of hooves and her carriage could be heard which made her crouch lower. Emma hunched closer to Regina, knowing she had to pay close attention because the stakes were that much higher being in the past. Firing guns at ogres were one thing, but they could accidentally change their future. If the Evil Queen saw her face now, how would their actual first encounter have gone? She didn't want to think about the repercussions because maybe then, Regina would have outright killed her.
"Okay. Yeah. Like your vault. Don't touch anything. Except, don't talk to anyone either. Got it." She gave the mayor a nod. "All right. Let's do this and get out of here while the you here is distracted."
Regina nodded her agreement and focused her energies. She changed their appearance just enough to keep them from being recognizable or memorable, garbing them in modest peasant attire.
"Alright. That'll do."
But now, it was too late to beat a hasty escape through the woods. With her regal self present, the soldiers would be on even higher alert. Blending in closer to the village now actually made more sense. Regina gulped, hating to see who she'd been, and hating worse that Emma was about to see. Henry's storybook had painted a far glossier picture of who the Evil Queen was than what was reality. She hated that Emma was going to realize that now.
"Hey," the blonde whispered and rubbed Regina's arm. She could sense that her love's thoughts were troubled even before green eyes gazed upon her features. Emma wondered if it was a residual effect of having her heart. "What's wrong?"
"Just watch," Regina replied, distressed.
From their hiding spot, they had a perfect view of Queen Regina as she gracefully exited her carriage, the maroon velvet jacket and black leather pants hugging her curves. A large-brimmed hat was set at a jaunty angle, and Regina winced at seeing how smug she was, knowing what she intended to do here.
Emma was entranced by Regina's Queen persona, even though she knew she really shouldn't be - but she had never seen Regina wear anything even remotely close to that skin tight number. Form fitting power suits were one thing, but this was a whole new level of fucking incredibly beautiful.
"Holy Shit…" she gasped.
"Watch," she whispered again. "And shh."
Queen Regina made a production out of terrifying and humiliating the peasants as one of her soldiers hauled an olive-skinned brunette forward. She had to look away, realizing without a doubt that this was Robin Hood's wife, whom she had captured and killed because of her refusal to divulge Snow's whereabouts. Despite Emma's mind completely going off on a tangent by the presence of the Evil Queen, her expression darkened as the scene unfolded. She had witnessed the ruthlessness of the mayor first hand and even read what the queen was capable of, but it did not prepare her to see the cruelty with her own eyes.
"That still isn't you." Emma said adamantly, squeezing her love's shoulder. "Not anymore."
She shifted her hand to rub Regina's back softly, hoping that there could be comfort in her words or touch, as Emma looked to her. Never would she condone anything Regina had done in her quest for vengeance, but it was her past. It was what molded Regina into the woman she was today. A woman with an incredible capacity to love and prove she could become a better person deserving to be loved in return.
The guards dragged Marian out of sight and Regina bit her lip, realizing the opportunity that had been placed before her. Robin loathed her for what she'd done to his wife. While Regina didn't care about that, she was conscious of the fact that Roland was growing up without his mother because of her bloodlust for Snow White.
And it's now truly in my power to fix this.
Regina frowned contemplatively. She knew Emma would object on the same grounds that it was too dangerous; they were tampering with the past if they attempted to do anything to help Marian. But, if Marian was to die anyway, her mere absence would be equal to that. When they found a way home, Regina thought Marian could come along and be reunited with her family.
She looked at Emma. Alright. Maybe she's right. The queen isn't me anymore. I'm doing the opposite of what she would do.
"We should move from here," Regina whispered. "Go back to the road and figure out how to get home…"
The savior agreed, aware of Regina's internal conflict but unable to specifically know what debate was going on in her head. "Yeah. Between you and the guards focused on the villagers, this might be our best chance to sneak out of here. Do we have enough time to distance ourselves from here? Just in case the guards find us and are suspicious."
"Let's move swiftly. Walk where I walk so we don't snap a twig by accident."
After all, she'd heard the stories of Emma's last visit to the Enchanted Forest and her penchant for annoying both ogres and giants! Turning away from the sight of her younger self, she started to lead Emma through the woods and back toward the Queen's Road as the plan began to take shape in her mind. Emma took Regina's warning seriously and did as asked, not even sparing a second glance to the sight behind them to focus on where she was walking. The guards were busy taking prisoners on the Queen's orders but if anything suspicious happened, they would sweep the area without a second thought - hoping that it perhaps Snow White was near.
Even as the guards and cowering villagers voices were muffled with distance, Emma kept her voice low when they finally emerged from the forest and onto the road. "I've got a feeling you know where we're going? Or at least, I hope you do."
Regina gave her a sidelong glance and nodded. Emma would hate this, if she had told the savior what she was really doing. Finding magic enough to make a portal home, rescuing Marian, and… if it came to it… using the glamour spell-affected Emma as bait for the Evil Queen herself if a distraction became necessary.
"Yes. We're going to need the resources of one of the two most powerful magic users in this realm. That's Rumpelstiltskin. Or… me. So, we're going to break into my castle ..."