Poor Unfortunate Soul

The next day Anya returned to her makeshift bridge, waiting patiently for hours watching the sun rise and fall across the sky...but Dimitri never came. For months Anya would wait at the bridge, the leaves turning and falling, their slow differences noticed each day by the child who only stopped visiting when the snow fell, the cold trapping her like a prisoner inside the castle, and within the long months of winter Anya changed, submerging herself in her training. Emerging from the castle the next spring no longer a child but a desperate spirit in a child's body, rushing to the bridge, her footsteps slowing, heart sinking as it came into view. Shards of damp wood shrouded the area, a fourth of the tree had been thrown aside while the rest of the trunk had fallen, washed away by the river below throughout the harsh winter. The striking truth settling within her. He wasn't coming back.

Years passed, the once innocent child had grown into a graceful and cold young woman, her red hair pinned up neatly in a bun as she followed her queen to the royal carriage, each guard bowing in turn at the princesses upturned chin, her long black dress trailing along behind her, seeming plain next to the queen's bold elegance. Settling into the carriage Anya turned her attention to her mother.

"May I ask where we are headed?" Anya questioned in a tone that would in many ways mirror Regina's, having become a younger version of the queen...just as it should be.

"The sea witch Ursula has a certain influence involving the ocean." She explained. "You see, I need a certain bracelet." she announced, a gentle twist of her wrist revealing the hologram of a bracelet...well more like a gauntlet made of thorny twigs and seaweed. At the very least it struck Anya as invaluable, but she knew better than to judge anything the queen desired useless.

"What does it do?" the teenager pressed, staring intently at the image. There was no way the queen would want anything like that unless it was magical.

"It has the ability to transform legs into a fin or vice versa...I know a certain mermaid who is going to go through great lengths for it."

"What for?" Anya questioned, already knowing the answer.

"She's a friend of snow white's." the queen sneered, turning her gaze angrily to the window, leaving Anya to roll her eyes...The banished princess was all her mother ever spoke of...sometimes she even wondered if she'd been taken in as one of her desperate ploys to get back at the bandit.

"She is not the actual sea goddess Ursula." Regina explained. "Merely the petty outcast daughter of the sea king Triton. She's used magic to make herself like the ancient goddess but she's nothing but a mere interpretation...regardless you'll find there is something...odd about her."

"Odd?"

"Well...it's best you wait and see...I think I'll like to see how you react in these heavy situations." Anya nodded in understanding. Another test. If she wanted to surpass Regina one day she needed to be ready for anything and above all become accustomed to the deals of these witches and wizards...they always seemed over complicated and tricky she could never grasp what was right or wrong in them. So it only made sense that she was there for Regina's.

"Do you understand what you're to do?" the queen asked, Anya nodding in return. "Good, than you are to remain quiet and make sure I get that bracelet."

"Yes my queen."

Upon finally arriving at the sea witch's lair, a large cave along the ocean's beach with multiple entry points to the water the further into the cave one went, each with underwater tunnels connecting them. Anya took up her position at the side of the queen. Expressionless as she entered, the scent of the ocean water and fish overwhelming to the spoiled child.

"My, my, my, who's wandered into my net this time?" Ursula mused, her voice seeming to come from the walls, the surrounding effect unsettling to Anya as she examined the cave. A large cauldron stood near the back wall, shelves lining the walls all around it filled with various potions and bottles for the witch's experiments. There was a strange sound, a something wet and squishy moving around it wasn't until the dark haired woman finally came into view that Anya finally understood what her Queen had been talking about. Finding it difficult to hide her surprise to see a woman with the body of a human and the legs of an octopus. A grin crossed the woman's cheeks as she spotted the queen and her servant, approaching with an air of arrogance.

"Oh my Regina." she greeted, poison dripping from her sickly sweet words. Taking a fair moment to examine Anya at her side, looking her up and down as nothing more than the servant of the queen.

"Honestly Ursula this stench is impossible." the queen snapped, taking casual steps further into the lair, graceful, as if it were her own, exchanging glances with the squid as they left Anya near the door, still standing tall and silent.

"I'd like to see you live near the sea." Ursula snapped, following after the queen as she skimmed through her belongings. "And what could possibly bring the queen of complaints to my lair?"

"I need a certain item...a bracelet." Regina added, picking up a book and skimming through it idly. Ursula stiffened as Anya rustled some bottles, their gentle clinging echoing through the cave. The witch was on her in an instant, one tentacle pushing the bottles into place on the shelf the other pushing the young sorceress back into a wall. Her older form towering above the teenager in both size and presence. Her squid arm running along Anya's chin.

"Don't. Touch. Anything." she snapped, stating each word clearly, her wicked grin spreading as Anya grit her teeth, growling at the fish out of water. "Regina you've yet to teach your pet its manners." She received a sharp look from Regina who snapped instantly at her.

"Hands off squid." she demanded, her eyes sharpening. "That's my daughter." Ursula's eyes widened, glancing back at the queen with a smile as Anya jerked herself free of the tentacles. Taking a steady breath to refrain from snapping at the squid for her mistake.

"Regina darling I didn't know you'd a daughter."

"Adopted." The queen replied, watching Ursula gently, her fingers twitching to fillet the bitch should she attempt to hurt the girl. But instead Ursula turned examining Anya in a new light.

"You poor unfortunate soul." she mused, staring into Anya's darkened eyes, as if seeing straight into her soul. "It's tough isn't? Being the pet of the evil queen can't be easy." she sneered, receiving an angered growl from the child, "Let me know if playing puppy ever gets old." she laughed before finally backing away, leaving her remark to hang in the air, waiting to come back to the conversation later. "Now Regina what was it you were here for?"

"The bracelet." The queen growled.

"Yes of course." Ursula mused, strutting around, "But first, we have to discuss the subject of payment."

"What do you want?" Regina said nonchalantly. "Money? Riches? Gold? Name your price."

"I'm not asking much, just a token really, a trifle." she laughed, her rich voice filling the cave as she strut around her cave, returning to face Anya, continuing as if starting a new statement, a simple observation. "My, how I would like a pet."

"No." Regina demanded, infuriated by the witch's antics. She was treating them as a joke. She just wanted to get under their skin, laughing as Anya immediately pulled away, putting some distance between herself and the octopus. "I am not playing with you." the queen snarled, her hand tensing into a fist. Her patience was run thin until she was honestly debating just battling the sea witch for the bracelet with no deal...after all how much trouble could a fish out of water cause?

"No," Ursula laughed. Finally growing serious. "I desire something a little more interesting than the service of your little pet." she replied, a wicked scowl drowning the entertainment from her eyes. "The death of a certain sea captain."

"So it's revenge you seek." The queen clarified with an understanding nod. That was a price she could understand.

"Bring me the heart of Captain Hook in three days...and the bracelet is yours."

The queen stared at the woman intently, heavily considering the offer as Ursula picked up the seaweed woven bracelet, waving it in her tentacle tauntingly.

"I can't catch a ship in three days." Regina reasoned. "Give me the bracelet and I can swim out and bring him back in two." The witch could only laugh in response to the queen's foolish arrangement.

"Please darling, if I give you this I would never see you again."

"It's reasonable." Regina pressed. "How else is one supposed to catch a pirate than as a siren? You of all people should know that." placing a hand on her hip Ursula reached out, wrapping a tentacle around Anya's wrist, pulling her closer despite her fitful protests.

"Alright, but the pet stays...how else am I to know you'll return in three days?" Ursula pressed, too smart to trust in the queen's words...but instead of refuse the queen remained silent, thinking the possibility over. "Have we got a deal?"

"Yes."

"Mother!" Anya cried out, practically drowned out by Ursula's manic laughter as she tossed the bracelet to the queen who caught it effortlessly, grinning as she examined it, her treasure.

"Now run along mommy, we'd hate to make the pet wait."

Regina smiled, her flawless teeth flashing as she finally turned, lazily approaching the door.

"Anya." She ordered. "be a dear and take care of the sea bitch." without an instant's hesitation Anya spun herself around to face the fish, a powerful wind , cycling around her like a twister, pulling her free from the witch's grasp, her face expressionless and gaze focused as she glared intently at Ursula, struggling to keep the now struggling witch away as she slowly but surely regained her bearings, her 8 arms clenching onto something, rooting her down, one finally reaching out for Anya only to recoil at a blast of fire, both turning to stare at the queen and her smoking hand. "How many times do I have to tell you? Don't. Touch. My. Daughter." taking the moment of distraction Anya turned, hurrying to her queen's side a safe distance from the fuming witch.

"You..." she panted, breathing heavily in her anger. "You'll pay for this."

"You should learn not to demand so much in your deals...your magic is simply not worth its price." Regina replied with a shrug, turning on her heel. "Come along Anya." she snapped, the girl following closely at the queen's heels. Her orange hair swaying with each step having been pulled free of its bun during her struggle.

"Why you..." Ursula snarled, snatching the nearest potion from the wall, chanting a dark curse angrily as she threw it with all of her might at the evil queen. The queen didn't react, she just smiled as Anya took care of it for her, the younger woman spinning around, her magic shattering the bottle, the liquid content falling uselessly onto her satin black dress, the stains barely even noticeable within its dark folds. Her icy glare hovering on the sea witch before turning her back on her again, following the queen from the cavern.

"One day." Ursula called after the apprentice. "You will come crawling, begging for my help."