Very short chapter, but eye opening. Read, review, and most of all enjoy!
"Blueberry please. Thank you." Persephone hands me a little teabag, and hands out steaming cups with hot water to everyone.
"You're welcome. Everyone, please help yourself." She motions with her hand to the box with teabags, and while everyone gets a bag, she turns towards me.
"You look like a nice girl. Very polite too. But there's dark magic around you. Why's that?" Her eyes turn a darker shade of brown all of a sudden, and the warm, motherly woman of just now seems to have disappeared, and I notice my magic to activate in defence. I realize something very strange. I'm scared of her. I'm never scared.
"Ehh, I don't know? I have magic of myself, dark magic, I guess?" She shakes her head.
"That's not it. Her Majesty the Queen has dark magic, but that doesn't feel the same. This is more powerful, almost godlike." Oh. The mark. Fuck.
"Oh. I think I know what you mean. You see, I am not dead. Yet. So after Hades, eh, your husband, brought me here, I tried to escape. But my plan failed, and he marked me to follow my every move. You might be feeling the mark." She nods in agreement.
"You're right. That's the one. Damn." I look up in shock. She doesn't really seem to be the type that curses.
"What is wrong?" I ask. The others look at us with curiosity, but don't seem to be eavesdropping.
"He always tells me he is gonna change, and then he pulls this! No more slave girls I told him!" She begins to yell, and I move my chair a bit backwards.
"I am no slave girl. He just marked me."
"I know. The pervert. He's gonna get a piece of my mind when he gets home, you can be sure of that." She stands up to remove the box, and when she returns, she sighs deeply.
"Sorry, I love my husband. But this is a constant problem we have. Never mind this. You have a bigger problem. You want to revive Hook, remove your mark, and want to get every living person back to Storybrooke."
"That's right. Can you help us?" Emma asks. Persephone lowers her head in thought for a moment, and then she replies.
"Perhaps, but I'll need to have some more details first. I can't just let you go, or I'll have an argument with my husband for at least two years." She winks at Emma. Robin and Charming snicker, and Regina and Snow both slap them on the arm.
"Of course, allow me to explain?" Regina suggests. Persephone nods, and leans back in expectation. I feel tension in the room, and everyone else realized that Persephone isn't just the lovely woman she seems. Regina also knows, and she begins her explanation slowly and clearly.
"Let's start with getting Rae's mark off. She doesn't deserve to be here. She should have been killed in Snow and Charming's dungeons, or Hades should have returned her to me. He had no right to take her. She belongs in our family, and right now she should be living her life, not be stuck down here." Snow and Charming shift uncomfortably on their chairs.
"Then the next thing is reviving Hook. Now, I personally thought this might be futile, but with your help we could actually pull this off. We want to revive Hook because he is a part of our family, and Emma's chance at a happy ending. And I know those chances are rare", Regina concludes, staring at Persephone with intriguing eyes.
"Aha. Of course. Well, your Majesty", Regina cringes at the title, "I can only help you with two of the requests. I can let you return to Storybrooke, and I can let Rae return with you. I'm sorry Hook, but you died in a fair way, and there's no honour in reviving the dead."
"He died fairly!? Gold tricked us! He shouldn't have died", Emma rants, but Persephone seals her mouth once again.
"You have a patience problem dear. I wasn't finished. I cannot help you. But my husband can. Ask him. And with fair I mean that he died in a natural way. He had a poisonous gap in his neck, and he died of it. The surrounding circumstances do not matter when it comes to life and death", Persephone explains. Anyone who's a bit ignorant would think it was meant in a nice way, but if you pay attention you can tell the goddess is getting more annoyed by the minute.
"Who made up those rules? Zeus?" Emma says daringly. Persephone's eyes spit fire, and Regina puts her hand on Emma's arm to let her know she crossed the line.
"Emma", I warn, and shake my head. She looks at me, and leans back in defeat.
"No need Raena, Emma knows her place very well. And as a matter of fact, those rules are indeed made up by Zeus", Persephone replies.
"All right then, will you help us?" Snow asks, while judging Emma with her eyes, and Emma looks the other way to escape the destroying look.
"Yes. Because you deserve so. Meet me at the cemetery tomorrow morning. I will get you back. And Emma dear, if you want to revive you pirate, you'll have to ask Hades." Emma nods, and stands up. Snow, Charming, Robin and Henry follow. I can hear the door slam shut, but Regina and I don't follow. I can't move in my seat, and by Regina's fearful eyes I can tell she can't either. Damnit, she's evil after all. None of the others comes back to see why we're still here, so she must have put a spell on them as well.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything evil to you girls", Persephone snickers, while walking towards a cabinet next to the wall. She opens one of the highest drawers, and pulls out a tiny bottle with a purple liquid inside. Regina tries to speak, but only distressed noises come out of her mouth. I must say I am not entirely calm at this moment either, because usually mysterious bottles with purple liquid means either death or worse, death. I can't use my magic either, and the invisible bonds that tied me and Regina onto our chairs is of power I have never encountered before.
"Hush, you won't feel a thing." Persephone returns to the table, and I look at her with such fear that she almost looks away in shame. She pours the bottle into our two emptied cups, and I realise I can move my left arm.
"Don't try anything funny, you still don't have any magic. Drink it."
"What is it?" Regina suddenly speaks, and it startles Persephone.
"You're stronger then you look huh? It is a potion, and it does something I've been wanting to try for months. It takes away love and replaces it with hate. But don't worry, you won't remember anything", Persephone says as she rips out Regina's heart, who cries in pain. I'm the one making noises now, and I move my arm to get the goddess, but she moves away quickly, only to come around to behind me. I suddenly feel a excruciating pain in my back, and when Persephone pulls back her hand, it leaves behind a numb feeling through my entire body. I've never had my heart ripped out before, and I finally know why Regina dreaded it so much when her mother did it. It is horrible. I stare at Regina in a sort of trance, and she looks back with worried eyes.
"There, that's better", Persephone mumbles softly, while staring at the two hearts with fascination. Regina's is battered, and for big parts black, although there is some bright red as well. Mine isn't as battered, but is far more black.
"Bad girls huh? Look at those, amazing." Persephone brings the two hearts close two her mouth, and whispers something to them. I suddenly feel strong urge to drink the liquid, and my arm grabs the cup. Regina does the same, and as if practiced, we synchronously drink the purple liquid. It has no significant taste, but a bitter feeling spreads through my entire body.
"There we go. Now, forget about all of this please, we wouldn't want you to tell anyone about this." Persephone stops our hearts into two bags, and waves with her hand to make us disappear.
"How was your walk?" Snow smiles when she opens the door, and Regina and I walk through.
"It was great", I reply, and Regina and I smile back at Snow. Not knowing what happened.
Dun dun duuuuuuuun! *laughs evily*