Hello, dears. The first scene is in Regina's POV. But the second is in third POV because it's a talk between Reina and Blue. Tell me what do you think...Should I continue with changing POVs or stick with third POV? I could go back to two POV in one scene only when Regina and Emma are involved.
There was a little mistake in chapter 4 'Games'. Rumple didn't make the curse. He took it from Blue and gave it Regina. Sorry about the mistake. I went back and corrected it. More about the curse in the next chapter.
So enjoy and don't forget to leave review, ask question, share a theory or just talk to me. I'm here!
I walk down the stairs of the mausoleum and notice my father's coffin is pushed aside. The place is quiet. The mausoleum is practically soundproofed by its thick walls. It`s the only place in Storybrooke where I can escape and be alone with my memories and feelings. A place where I can get a lot of answers just by sitting here and talking to Daddy. Revelation is bound to come at some point.
And much like me, Reina has come for answers. The desire to know everything, to not be surprised, to always have the upper hand, is what drives Reina forward. My sister`s mind works much like Cora`s. They both want power and will do anything to get it. It doesn`t matter the cost. What matters is the result, the prize. They will go to hell and back to get what they want. The difference between my sister and me is that I am not a cold-blooded murderer. I only kill when there is no other option. That was the case with Graham. I had to. I had to preserve the curse.
I descend the stairs once againand see her in the middle of the vault turning her head from left to right. Searching. She is wearing a grey coat, which I recognize is mine, and I see black material peeking from just under the hem of the coat. The dim light in the vault casts shadows over her black hair, giving it a golden glow.
''The two cases on the right on the top row,'' I prompt her.
Without turning to me she props herself on toes and reaches the cases. She can't open them. She tries again and again but the stubborn cases don't give. She sighs heavily asking me, 'Why?'
''I cannot open them either. I have tried ever since we came here but without success. And I have tried to figure out why but that escapes me, too.''
''So our hearts are here but we can't touch them?'' She finally turns to me, and her expression suggests that she is very disappointed. She had plans for these hearts.
''I guess. Why do you need them? They are safe here. No one can harm us until they are here,'' I state calmly, although she already knows that.
''But we can't feel anything without them, can we?'' She responds with sadness. It's rare to hear that tone in her voice. Reina doesn't like opening up to others.
''No, we can't.''
''Why? Why are the hearts trapped here? The heart we needed for the curse was dad's. I took it out. Our hearts weren't part of the deal. And now they are..." her voice slowly dies out.
She turns to the vault and finally breaks down. Tears run down the sides of her face and her bottom lip is quivering. She walks toward me and wraps her arms around me.
"And now we are just like Cora: without a heart and without feelings," I deduce, embracing my trembling sister. My hands fondle the back of her head as she buries her face in the base of my neck.
It's kind of ironic when you think about it. I fought so long to run away from Cora's reach. To be free from her abuse and influence. And yet here I am. I cursed people to come here to another land where mother couldn't be so I could have some happiness and peace. The curse was supposed to be my fresh start. A new chance. But I am not happy. I adopted Henry because I wanted to make someone happy, and he could do the same for me. But it didn't work because there was an important part of the puzzle missing.
I glance at the pulsating light coming from the vault.
We ended up just like her: heartless, manipulative, and power hungry. I guess people can't escape their blood.
''The feeling is there...'' I break the embrace and gaze at her brown orbs. It`s almost like looking in the mirror every morning. The same sadness, loneliness and fear of losing control are there. Sighing, I continue, ''It`s just a breath away. You reach out for it, but it fades. There is no place inside of you to harbor it.''
Reina sniffs and wipes the tears from her cheeks. Her eyes are locked on a random spot on the floor. A thousand thoughts are running through her mind and it's all evident on her face.
''Only the heart can harbor love," she says finally. "I know that. But why are our hearts locked?'' She lifts her gaze to meet mine.
''Maybe it's part of the curse?'' It sounds very naïve, but it's the only logical thing I can think of.
"I didn't put them in there."
"What about Blue?"
I know very little about the way the curse was made. I just know that only women can create curses because the women are creators of the world. Only they can alter it the way they see fit. Only women have the strength to assemble that kind of magic. Only they can make magic strong enough to transcend realms.
"She is the only other person besides me that knew about the curse before it became the legend it is. But I don't...I don't see the reason. What if our not feeling anything is because of the curse?"
"What if this was the only way she knew to destroy the Evil Queen?"
"She went through so much trouble to create her and then..."
"Only the creators can destroy the things they have made. That is what the Light Seer told me," I confess to my sister.
A long time ago, I went to the Seers' village. I hoped that they could help me bring back Daniel. "There is no way to bring back the dead the same way they were. We can bring him back, but he won't be the man you knew," the Light Seer told me, crushing all my hopes for reviving Daniel for good. Then I went to Rumple and resumed my magic training. I opened myself up to the darkness.
"I hate that the Seers know everything and tell us nothing."
"Yes," I chuckle and agree with my sister. "But imagine a world where you know all the bad things that are going to happen. You would want to avoid them and thus you would change the future. And for that, the consequences are severe."
Reina looks down at the floor and starts pacing around me. I stay put as the air around me shifts.
"Blue can destroy the Evil Queen in you. The Evil Queen is part of me. I can't...I am her. You...You were forced to become her because...I don't really know why. There is some purpose to all of this. Something beyond..."
"Beyond the Dark Curse?" I finish the sentence for my sister and she freezes.
She lifts her head and looks directly at me.
"Yes. The curse and the Queen were created. They were needed so we could come here and...There is a reason we are here in a land without magic. We had to end all the bloodshed, discontinue playing with other people's lives. We have stopped. The Evil Queen doesn't exist here.''
''Have we? Reina, come on. We still manipulate and scheme just as in the other worlds. Nothing has changed.''
''Why are you talking this way all of a sudden? Like...'' My sister throws her hands in the air with a defeated sigh.
''I sound like I did before the Evil Queen,'' I finish the sentence for her.
''Yes.''
''Well, the curse is breaking.''
''If the curse is breaking, then you should act like the Evil Queen, not your true self...'' She finishes in a barely audible whisper. She glares at me, a revelation hidden in her brown eyes and a smug smirk on her lips. ''That is why you killed the Huntsman. He kissed Emma and remembered his true self. You kissed her and you start to act more like your true self.''
Interesting, I think to myself. Is it possible to be that woman again?
"But I think I might have blown things with Emma." She looks at me sleeplessly and flashes an apologetic smile at me.
"What..." I shriek. "You..." I pause for a second to really understand what she is saying but my heartbeat quickens as the realization hits me. "We promised each other no more swapping here, right?"
It was easy to swap in the Enchanted Forest. Few people knew about Reina. It was actually fun to get in and out of the Evil Queen. Although the sadness, the bitterness, the anger, and the hunger for power were still deep inside. Reina had Jefferson to take her mind of all of that. I had...Daniel`s lifeless body.
"We did but I-I..." she gazes at me and shakes her head. "I thought it would be good to remove you from Emma`s suspect list."
"What did you do?" I ask with venom in my voice as I step in her personal space.
Reina is so manipulative that sometimes—more often that she likes to admit—she makes mistakes. That kind of hunger makes you blind to certain things. It makes you unable to think clearly and ponder over the events.
"I-I...I went to the station and got Sydney to confess he kidnapped Kathryn."
"And she bought that?"
"No, she...uh...She said she is taking Henry." Reina`s voice is barely a whisper. She knows how much I love Henry. I can`t live without him.
"No." I gasp with my hand on my chest. "I told you I was going to take care of that!"
I am so close to saying, "Why are you ruining my relationship with Emma?" Thankfully, I stop myself just in time. Reina wants me to seduce Emma so she can be on our side, but I can't do that. Not when I have feelings for her. Feelings that have emerged after just one kiss...Or maybe they were there all this time and I didn't realize them, which is why I told Emma that I am not ready. I am ready and I want her like no one else in my life but not like this, not when it's part of some plan. I want to go to the next level with her only when there is nothing but our feelings for each other.
I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down and get into the Mayor's mode. The Mayor's mask helps me deal with the most difficult situations. I can easily hide behind her and attack everyone. It's the safest way. In the Enchanted Forest it was the Evil Queen, here, in Storybrooke, it's Madame Mayor.
"Stay out of this," I raise my index finger at her and knit my eyebrows.
I realize I just said too much. Reina's eyebrows shoot almost up to her hairline and her eyes widen.
"Really?" She tilts her head.
I storm out before I reveal my true feelings to my sister. I don't want her to know about Emma. I want us to remain a secret. A secret that will stay hidden for as long as I can help it. I don't want to lose that love, too.
Love? Is it love?
Kissing Emma brought out my true self. I started feeling more like the girl I was when I was eighteen. The girl who, once upon a time, fell in love in the stables, hidden between the animals. The girl who believed that True Love was the most powerful magic of all. That girl was so far away, almost dead, when my lips touched those of the Savior. Lips that felt like heaven against mine. Lips that tasted divine. Lips that urged me to lose all control and surrender to the unknown. The lips of the person destined to break the curse. The lips of Snow White's daughter. The only lips I want now.
Reina stares at her sister's retreating form. She has made a great mistake. The swapping thing didn't turn out the way she had expected to. This Emma Swan is nothing like the people the brunette has encountered in the Enchanted Forest. She is unpredictable. Her face doesn't have filter for her emotions but there is something off with her eyes. There is something out of this world that the witch has seen only in Regina's eyes. And that scares Reina to no end.
She thinks of herself as the born Evil Queen. She is not a copy. She was not made by Rumple. She is the original. She is destined to do great things. She is much more than the miller's granddaughter.
Reina is determined to figure this out before Emma Swan ends the curse. She needs to know what lies ahead so she can work out a plan. The brunette can't just sit and do nothing. She has to be in control and in charge even in this world. She has to know how to bring the magic here. If that is even possible.
So she goes to the one person that will help her. At least she hopes.
She goes to Blue, or Mother Superior in this world, who lives in the outskirts of Storybrooke. She is the head nun now. The curse has some weird sense of humor.
Blue raised Reina like her own daughter, helped her wield the magic in her body. The magic that has been handed down the generation in Mills family. The magic that is both the greatest power in the world and the greatest curse.
Her body comes into collision with unknown soft form. Reina snaps her eyes open and sees Blue smiling.
"I saw your car. Why are you here?" The older woman asks with stern voice.
A little softness won't hurt, Reina says to herself, but she knows not to expect something like that from the woman that raised her.
Blue welcomed Reina when the fifteen-year-old girl escaped from the Mills' house. The older woman knew that Cora's daughter had to be under strict supervision. The power that she and her twin-sister had stored in them was beyond anything she had seen before. She still ponders how the cruelest love in the world could create something so beautiful, yet so dark. But then again maybe beauty and darkness go hand in hand.
"I need answers before all hell breaks loose."
"Hm..." The woman in Blue sits on the swing situated on her porch, gazing at the green field before her. It reminds her of her home back in the Enchanted Forest. She folds her legs at the ankles and relaxes her hands in her lap.
"The curse is breaking, and I need you to do something." Mother Superior gazes straight ahead, not looking at her companion. She has to lie to her, and avoiding Reina's all-knowing eyes is the best solution.
"What?"
"When the curse is broken, magic will not be available. We have to bring it before Rumple does."
"Just that?" The younger woman mocks at the simplicity of the statement, shrugging her shoulders. "We need True Love's magic. Just that."
"It's in Maleficent's belly." Blue sees that Reina blinks few times in an attempt to assimilate the new information. "Rumple will try to get to it. But we have to get there before him." Blue states and wishes that this little imp hadn't succeeded. It is dangerous to have True Love's power in the wrong hands. And above all, The Light Seer told her that Rumple should not get his gold hands on it in this world. If he did then he would gain unstoppable power, and if the prophecy is to be fulfilled, he has to be stopped.
"He'll try and drop it in the well. Is there another way?"
"Yes. But that is out of the question."
"Why?"
Considering her options for a while, the older woman brushes her skirt and speaks just under her breath, "It involves your sister."
"What do you know?" Reina whips her head around to face the older woman whose blue skirt matches her coat. But her look tells a different story. Her words don't match her expression. Her eyebrows are knitted together; her gaze is locked on her skirt.
"Nothing."
Lie, the younger witch thinks.
"Don't play dumb with me. You taught me to really look at people. I can tell that you are hiding something."
"All will be revealed in time."
"That's the Seer's line," Reina almost shrieks before stopping for a second. Blue looks away from her. The air is full of tension and lingering secrets. The twin is on the verge of yelling. "What did she tell you?"
"Nothing that you should know before the curse breaks."
"I need to know so I can protect Regina."
"Oh, so now you are protecting her? Where were you when she was been consumed by darkness? Oh, wait. You were by her side, encouraging her."
"I...She wanted to feel what it was like to win for once. I wanted her not to feel neglected."
A silence falls between the two women.
Blue knows that Reina has a point. She knows what her sister had to endure to get to this point where Regina could be turned into the Evil Queen. Although she will never be the true Queen. She will be a pale counterfeit of her own sister. Reina will do whatever it takes to win without thinking over it. Regina, on the other hand, has conscience, and what's more, she actually listens to it. Reina took Henry's heart out to enact the curse. What she didn't know, what the fairy hadn't told her, was that the twins' father's wasn't the only heart needed for the curse. The prophecy said that a witch from Mills family would fall in love so desperately that she would rip her own heart out. All magic comes with a price, and her first-born children would pay it. The Dark Curse would be created out of their hearts.
The twin's voice snaps her out of her thoughts.
"There is something more, isn't there?"
"There is always more, Reina. You can only see the skeleton of the future. You can`t see the circumstances around the events." She turns to the younger woman and continues. "All I can tell you is that this bigger than you, me and everyone else. It's about the love that is starting to vanish. The curse had to happen in order for us to come here. The Evil Queen had to be created for her to enact the curse. The Savior had to be born and sent here in order to break the curse."
"Why did Regina have to be the Evil Queen? I already had the Queen in me. I was born the Evil Queen. Why should someone else wear that ugly title when she doesn't have it in her? I should have done all of that."
"You already did enough. You created the curse. That was your purpose. Regina's was to enact it, and Emma's is to break it."
"I'm waiting for the 'more' part." Reina is quickly growing impatient with her.
"I already said too much, Reina. When the time comes, you will know all."
"When magic comes to Storybrooke I'll see into the future and I'll know."
"The future is a puzzle. You may have all the pieces, but you have to figure out how to make them fit."
"And everything is open to interpretation. I know. I lived in the Seer's village."
"When you were hiding from Regina as she pursued you for killing your father," Blue bites, hoping to steer the conversation in another direction.
"I had to kill him. She couldn't do it."
"You truly are just like your mother."
"Is that such a bad thing? I think it's better than being coward."
"No, it's not a bad thing. But why is being a coward so terrible?"
"Because if you don't hold your head high, you can't see when your enemies are going to attack," Reina says, her voice laced with venom. She stands up, holding her chin high and looking at Blue from above.
In that moment, the fairy sees the ruthless killer and manipulator that Reina truly is. Just like her parents.
A/N: Did anyone notice that at the end of the last chapter it wasn't Regina who talked to Emma? If not, this chapter will be a shock for you.