Regina still didn't understand why these brown eyes were glaring at her with such hostility. All that pink and glitter were just a pretty mask of gentleness and sweetness then? Meanwhile she was observing Emma, who was eyeing, in pure envy, Brenda reaching the buffet. In fact only few moments later she was speeding towards the food, such a coward for a Savior. Staring at her back she hoped that it'll eventually burn, when nothing happened she moved her attention back to the two witches.
Pippa Pentangle was very much interested in her "secret" past with Miss Hardbroom, " I don't recall ever hearing your name Miss Mills, how did you two meet, Hecate dear?"
Oh, it's "Hecate dear", now the situation is way more clear. Regina desisted from snorting and kept a pretty fake smile on her face.
"Well, we were not very close when I encountered Regina...?" Hecate was looking at the floor beneath our feet, a blush starting from the usually pale neck, hands closed in fists by the bony hips, she swallowed some air and started again:" At the time that I meet Regina we... we weren't in contact… Pippa". This is going to be end very badly and very quickly. "Miss Mills and her mother needed help with some extraordinary difficult and experimental potions, they chosen to contact me. After that we kept in touch until now." Hecate had an half embarrassed smile on her ruby lips and Regina's got sweeter even if just a little bit.
They became friends during these hard, terrible years of their life. Cora Mills was shaped with the same tough marble that shaped Hecate's father, and that united the two women with a strong tape of solidariety and comprension.
"Oh, I understand, Well met Regina Mills, then" The tone was a bit gentler while she touched her forehead with a rosy and cured hand, but in a flash she gripped the arm of the taller witch, telling me with a gesture what she couldn't in words.
This must end, right this instant, this silly and totally misunderstood issue is getting out of hand, dark eyes were focused and determinate to take care of the problem, and from the confused expression on Hecate's pale face all responsibilities were on her shoulder, anyway.
"Well met Pippa Pentangle, now Hecate would you be a dear and get these insufferable missing women back, while Miss Pentangle shows me a bit around this magnificent castle and helps me find a more appropriate place to discuss delicates details of the mission?"
Miss Hardbroom hesitated, her eyes open and bright, head slightly bend towards Pippa, interrogating her in silence. The forensic scientist, ex mayor, ex Evil Queen, barely restrained from pinching the bridge of her nose in light disgust at that embarrassing display of pining weakness.
Miss Pentangle didn't move her glance from the woman in blue silk but nodded gently and sweetly squeezed Hecate's arm. "Sure, Hecate, darling we will be in your study, I shall make some tea."
"They and their damned tea, it's an obsession. In this time of crisis some good alcohol would do the job, like some cider or better, an aged scotch." Regina's mind was rambling while she smiled in fake satisfaction.
Hardbroom mechanically moved her head up and down, then with extravagant moves of her bodies an hands excused herself.
Everyone could clearly distingue the chocolate covered face of Brenda Leigh Johnson and Sharon with her lips curved between light disgust and hesitant fondness. Pippa was inspecting the younger witch facing her, from the black shiny and expensive Jimmy Cho, following with the moderate split of the silk dress, showing toning legs, the heart cleavage, shoulder covered in black silk until she reached smoky brow eyes, that were throwing metaphoric stones at her.
She proceeded to links their arms not noting, or maybe, not caring about the other stoic pose, "Something you'd like to talk about Miss Mills? It required really that kind of privacy?" Her pink nails were brushing naked skin near the wrist, but Regina refused to be intimidate by that juvenile subtle threatening gesture, as if it could scare a former Evil Queen. "I just think you may be getting wrong ideas of me, Miss Pentangle, and that you are playing with fire, right now."
She stops breathing for a second to that low and growling voice, a smirk appeared on Regina's blood red lips.
"What… what wrong ideas, Miss Mills?" Her tone didn't seemed to be affected too much, anyway. This Pippa Pentangle, a pinkish glossy donuts at the outside, but on the inside there isn't just chocolate and cream. She is seriously starting to grow on her.
Baring her most reassuring smile while passing a gloomy corridor, surely conducing to the study of the raven's haired witch, hearing the distinct chatter of two pair of hells beating the floor in synchronous, Regina spooked in her most cooperative voice :" Let's say that you misinterpret the relationship between me and Hecate, I can assure you that it's a sincere friendship, nothing more".
They stopped near an high and polished door, Pippa delinked their arms in the benefit of facing her totally, she studied the other woman, fetching for some kind of lies or strange behavior. The dark haired witch kept her features strict, with some difficulty because her lips were twitching, hoping for a little smirk.
The words that escaped her shiny lips left Regina in an unbalanced state for few seconds, "Hecate and I have a sincere friendship, too". There was challenge, fire hidden behind that simple utterance and clearly shown in those amber eyes. "Miss Pentangle, I'm purely an old friend, there was nothing else between us and nothing there will ever be." That fire needed to be extinguished. Even so Regina's voice was becoming frustrated an she could barely keep the irritation from filling her blood and burning her brain.
"How can you be so sure?" Her teeth were showing again, the magic was twitching and vibrating all around them.
"I will not get myself dragged in a senseless duel, we have not time for such silly games!" With that in mind the ex Mayor answered her question :" Dear, I am not interested and I am hundred percent sure she also isn't!"Her hands were shaking with a light need to strangle her pretty long neck.
"Who's not interested in what?"
Regina suppressed, hardly, the urge to scream at the top of her lungs. Thing that Pippa didn't succeeded in doing:"Hecate! You almost give me an heart attack, my poor heart!"
Miss Hardbroom appeared from nowhere with the others behind her. Brenda and Emma had pure fear in their bright eyes. Hecate opened her mouth but no sound was heard, until she swallowed loudly and moved her glance on the closed door. "I apo..logize Pippa, Regina, I didn't mean to startle you, but ehm would you please follow me in my study."
The beating of both witches hearts were almost stable, meanwhile they entered the study. Miss Pentangle, watching the not necessary affectations in Hecate's movements, brushed a delicate hand on a black covered arm, telling her with a sweet voice:"Don't need to apologize Hic-Hecate, you surprised us, that's all." The barely there smile that the taller witch gave her could warm the heart whose knows how much it costs her.
There was a exchange of looks between Regina and Emma, who seemed unsure and full of questions, the shorter woman shacked her head discreetly suggesting her to follow everyone in. Swan's face didn't change expression but she enters the room. They settles on a velvet dark couch.
The study was almost dusky but there was a deeply sense of warm, of security that echoed in the walls, you could feel it reverberating in your bones like strong natural magic. Old books in alphabetic order filled an entire wall, the ebony desk was full of stacked paper, elegant quills and a roaring fire was illuminating the entire place.
Hecate seat on a worn out chair facing the couch, Pippa fairly seated on an arm of the chair, a laugh died on Regina's throat at the strict pose assumed by their host, her brown eyes out on stalks as they followed Pentangle's sinuous curves. Swan's false cough that should've covered a giggle was recognized by everyone, in fact Hardbroom was flashing her a death glare that could make a lion tremb.
Then a improvise weight posed itself on the blue silk lap. Regina moved her attention below to find a black cat purring against her dress, then the realization, "Morgana! Still fit I see."
"She's adorable, hey kitty-kitty!"Brenda was instantly conquered by Morgana, obviously. The black cat was purring loudly now that long finger were petting her luscious and soft fur. Emma's eyes were burning holes in her temples, she sensed it, Swan was sitting right next to her, too close, on the sofa. Naturally Regina sees her make herself at home, stretching her long and firm arms below the couch, and she softly pressed her nape against one, smiling internally at the other women abrupt intake of breath. Meanwhile flashing Pippa a measured arched eyebrow, maybe she'll take the hint and that absurd situation would clear itself. Pentangle mirrored her stare with fissured and perplexed eyes.
Honestly this was getting ridiculous!
Abruptly she shakes her blonde head, throws her arms at the sky with the most betrayed expression possible:" That cat always hated me! One time she almost bit me! And now look at that, she is purring on her lap like a kitten!" Morgana answered with a low growl and the witch continued to pet the now hirsute fur with a tired sign.
She would really like to point out that it may be her high voice, or, most probably, the fact that witch's cat never get along with their "mistress" owner, but she bites her tongue with conscience.
Hecate was gaping, probably on the same line of thinking. Inexplicably Emma Swan comes to the rescue:" Don't give it too much thought, animals adores Regina, babies too, don't ask me why, tho". The woman in question let a sarcastic smile slip out while still caressing Morgana.
Pippa snorted loudly and Hecate's hand, the one far away from her pink friend, gripped the arm of the chair so hard to make her knuckles go white and to make her nails perforate the soft material. Immediately after she gulped and tried to relax her rigid posture, surely ecstatic to change the current argument to a more appropriate one. Her tone was tense but precise when she managed to speak again:"Now, I would like to know for what emergency, exactly, you come all the way here, to ask for my help."
Suddenly even the pinkish giddy witch returned serious, her look focused and slightly worried. Regina slowly nodded and convinced herself to go through a long, complicated explanation for enlighten everything.
An incessant beeping woke Sharon up from a deeply and dreamless sleep, letting her eyes get accustomed to the morning light she stopped the annoying rumor with an elegant move of the wrist. Then she prepared her mind and body to face a new day.
There was a strange sensation, with a light but persistent tingle on her nape. A trembling hand touched the area, finding nothing abnormal, just soft skin and tiny hair. Even so that tingle was bothering her, she shacked that thoughts out of her mind finishing her morning routine.
With some coffee finally in her blood and Rusty smiling lazy at her, still quite asleep, eating her breakfast, she realized that the prickling was stronger than before. With furrowed eyebrows she looked outside, a splendid morning, trying to make sense of that curious sensation. The teenager's voice startled:" Mom"-her heart still tripped in its bones cage when he called her that- "something wrong? It is Brenda? She… she keeps not listening to you?"
To the second question she had to laugh, because, when exactly, did Brenda Leigh Johnson ever listened to her?
"No Rusty, nothing to worry about, I just feel something different in the air." And she wasn't lying, it really seemed that the air was taking a color, a smell, something quite different from the ordinary. She could sense a very bad migraine making its way in her skull, starting a massage to her temples she signed with malcontent.
Rusty was staring at her, with a strange face, furrowed forehead and perplexed eyes. But really it was nothing serious, and she didn't want to alarm him, her sweet high perceptive boy. She started to think that maybe there was an hint of magic swirling inside him. She stopped to kiss his forehead, smoothing it, gracing her lips with the most relaxed smile she could master. "Don't worry honey, maybe I just had a strange dream last night." She said to him giggling a little, then saying goodbye and going to work.
It was going to be a busy morning, with the case linked to major crimes closed, Sharon needed to get to speed with all the FID bureaucracy stuff that she had neglected. She was going to miss Brenda today, specially with this strange tingle that wouldn't leave her. Something was telling her to look at the sky, but she keeps seeing only blue and white soft clouds. The blonde was always able to reassure her, as she was perfectly able to irritate her with few simple moves.
Maybe she could do a short visit, for lunch, with an excuse, just to calm her nerves a bit. Well, at least to distract herself.
In the office her hand was fast in filling modules, approving practices, reviewing rapports but her mind was elsewhere. Now the tingle was even stronger, a hand was perennial on the nape and her forehead was full of worried lines.
Suddenly the door of the office was slammed open with a smash. Regina looked like she had raced a marathon on her black, shiny hells, a really difficult task adding the red skirt and the matching dark sweater. Her red lips were barely open and her big eyes seemed at the mercy of some sort of circle of chaos. Meeting that unsettling stare Sharon started to get in apprehension. "Regina? What's happening? Speak!"
She made little frantic steps until she could lean with her hands on the desk. "Sharon tell me that you sense it too, it's driving me crazy from this morning, I can't… I can't keep, I just can't! Even Henry asked me to stay with me this morning, because he wanted to keep me company!"
What, in the hell, was happening? Clearing her throat she noticed her hands were trembling, "yes, yes I feel it too, it's the air, in the air, something changed and I can't figure out what!"
The forensic scientist relaxed visibly and exhaled a shaky breath before taking a seat on one of the chairs, almost exhausted. "Happy to not be gone mad, but what the heck is going on here? Sharon this is serious, if we both feel it, whatever this is, it has to be strong." The other woman nodded in agreement, abruptly with a new weight on her shoulders."Did Emma felt it too?"
This phenomenal needed to be analyzed from the origin, surely there was magic involved, but how?
Regina just shook her head with the lips in a tense line. "She didn't say anything but I didn't run into her this morning. Even so If she sensed something she would've called me."
"Good, this means that it requires a discrete sensibility to magic in order to perceiving it. What do you think?" The with was looking at her with the head bending, considering her thoughts or maybe her sensations, "I perceive, I think it is danger, let's give it a try. Close your eyes and focus on your emotions. We need confrontations."
Sharon closed her eyes slowly, taking her time to calm the mind and process. Now she noticed clearly a red strip, blood in darkness, a growl from far away, then agony, pure agony. She throw open her eyelids with a heavy breathing. "This is more than danger, I sense panic, desperation!" Regina made a rigid movement with the head.
"Something, someone, is trying to reach us, and it's desperate." Only by hearing those words Sharon felt a shiver running across her body. " A portal then? Yes, a portal and we don't know what is waiting for us at the other end." The situation was evolving into a more delicate and alarming emergency.
Moving without the usually fluidity and resting her forehead on clasped hands the Captain Raydor tried to come up with a brilliant solution.
"There's more Sharon, I think someone wants to talk to us." That'll explain the persistent tingle, "Yes I sense the request too. But how do we interact?"
Regina extended her hands and Sharon took them in hers,an half smile on her lips in seeing that finally they had reached this amount of trust. She read in dark eyes her intentions and they both closed their eyelids, focused on that infuriating prickling behind the nape. The aura was changing quickly, unusual cold was penetrating their bones and they bared their teeth resisting the urge to shiver. The forensic scientist's hold was intensifying and the captain mirrored her action. The complete dark was little by little substituted by a intense white light, a distant voice followed. At first sounds couldn't be recognized then the request arrived, clear as the sky in their minds. "Help, help us, we pray you!"
The voice was strong but transmitted discomfort, it appeared like it was sobbing. They squeezed their eyes waiting for more. "Our children, the only hope for our people, they are in great danger! One of them is awake and it is reaching a portal for your dimension, you must stop it, we can't arrive in time!"
Regina open her eyes wide meeting bright green ones, in her dark irises was swimming apprehension and fear. It could be a trap, it could be anything.
The voice starts again:" They are very dangerous, they should sleep for hundreds of years waiting for us, but something is gone terribly wrong, you must close the portal. We beg you, it will be end of both dimensions, yours and ours!"
"How can a child be that dangerous? With who are we interacting?" They talk at the unison, her young friend was shaking, her hands sweating.
She and Emma, they wanted to get away from this kind of situations, away from risks, from harm, when they leaved Storybrooke. But it seems that you just can't escape destiny.
"We need to know more, why only the two of us? How can we close that portal?"They keep asking. The silence fills the entire room with its heavy weigh for too many seconds. Finally the answer came:" Three of you should be enough, I sense great power in you, but please be careful, you could wake everyone with too much power and then it will be end for all of us!" The tone was firm, but tense, maybe even true.
What choices do we have anyway?
" It will reach the portal in four of your days!"
Sharon could sense Regina's reticence, an urge to prudence. "Creature, where is this portal?"
"Look at the sky above your heads and before tonight you shall see it."
"But who are you? How can we trust you?" The frustration was enveloping the both of them, a characteristic tremble in their souls, a tremble of whose is losing control.
"You can't comprehend us witches, we are far too complex and we are afraid that you have just to trust our voice, remember it will be annihilation for both dimensions."
The communication ended with that, now the air was normal again, the tingle vanished. Freeing her hands with a deep breath, Sharon tried to keep her emotions from fighting inside her mind. The acid was rising in her throat and she swallowed it down. Their glares meet for an eternity before she managed to open her mouth:"We can't that kind of risks, you know that too".
Regina stared at her, blinking one, two, three times in a row, like she was recovering from an unexpected trauma, in the end she took her head in shaking hands. "We need three witches Sharon to close the portal, I don't believe Emma is ready for that kind of control, not yet."
We'll need someone else. " I don't know anyone with a similar power, someone with a deeply knowledge of magic and with skills in a fight." Suddenly her eyes lighted up and she smirked in victory. "Oh but I do, read to visit England Captain?"
England? She raised slowly a eyebrow, silently asking her to clarify. "She's an old friend, she'll help, I am sure. She works in an institute for witches, in the middle of England. I should be able to contact her by mirror, but we can't give that kind of information not in person."
Sharon took the low lip between her teeths thinking about the next steps, inform the team, Rusty, Emily and Ricky, then sail to the old continent. It will be a very busy week.
" Sharon I will warn Miss Swan, I'll leave Henry with her and I'll take few days from work. How are we going to proceed? We must close that damned portal as fast as possible!"
Everything was accumulating in her brain, that bad migraine was increasing, massaging her temple furiously she signed loudly. Just now that there was some peace in the air! But difficulty must be faced, and Sharon O'Dwyer Raydor doesn't hide behind a glass wall to the first winter breeze, no sire. "I'll take days too and talk with Rusty, I'll ask lieutenant Provenza to keep him, you buy the tickets for tonight, we have a time zone of almost eight hours against us, and I think we are going in a ten hours fly."
Regina nodded quickly and stands, but in front the door she twirls violently. "You need to tell the Chief!" She stops the finger lifted in disapprove with a glare. "We both know that she'll search for you everywhere at the tiniest lead she gets! You must tell her! Right now!" She doesn't give the Captain the chance to replicate, slams the door and the clicking of her heels filled the corridors.
Luckily for her, Sharon doesn't take orders from civilians.
Brenda Leigh Johnson, she would carry that absurd spear that she owns and won't allow her to say "no, you won't come with us!"
Therefore no, Brenda won't know anything until it will be too late to do something about it, hoping that we survive and that she'll see her again. Green forest eyes became shiny with unshed tears. She turned away those futile thoughts, this wasn't the time to being carried away by emotions. With a hand she took the phone while the other was holding the now weighty and pulsating head.
A long, busy day indeed.