Chapter 29
They were all standing inside the Abbey waiting on Rumple to get there. They knew that he would come their eventually. He would have to. He needed to get his hands on some more items so that he could try to cast the spell again.
Belle has been right in thinking that Rumple would come there. It didn't take long for Regina to see the writing on the wall, either. They poofed to the Abbey, all of them, seconds after Belle told them she knew how to stop Rumple. Red and Will were both pacing in a back room like caged animals. Their inner Wolves were begging to get out and destroy.
Coraline, Will, and Regina with the help of the fairies set up a perimeter and a warning system. They would know that Rumple was there before he knew that they knew. It wasn't fool proof but it would be effective. They would hide and Blue would try to ascertain what he was really after. Belle was being taken further into the Abbey and hidden.
If somehow Rumple had figured out that Belle was there, he would try to destroy the Abbey to get to her. Rumple would stop at nothing when it came to finding his son Neal and Belle. He would do almost anything to protect what he deemed as his own. He was single minded in that respect. Regina had known that all along. She had seen it before when she was younger but she was too wrapped up in her own pain to deal with his. Rumple's pain helped her drive her own.
Blue had already sent the rest of the fairies to the cloisters. She didn't want them in this fight if things went sideways. Regina had agreed to pose as Nova when the time came and Rumple was there. Tink would stay behind at Blue's behest to protect them all. She would carry on the purpose of the fairies and protect their magic from the coming Blackness if somehow they all died. Tink would protect the family and that was enough for Regina and for Blue.
Red could smell how deep in the caves Belle was. She sniffed continually to make sure that she was still okay. Any change in her scent and Will knew that she would be gone. There would be nothing that she could do to stop her and truth be told, she wouldn't anyway. She would stay and fight Rumple, giving Red, Belle and the rest of them time to flee.
"Coraline is going to be mad if comes to that," Red said aloud.
"You don't think that I know that."
"She came back to save us and instead she may have delivered us to the Blackness," Red said.
Will's head turned sharply, quickly. She was upon Red faster than she thought possible. She had never unleashed the inner Wolf before, but there was something about threatening Coraline that always set her on edge.
"Easy now, Will. I meant no disrespect by it. But, we both know that Regina is posing as Tink. If she dies, Coraline is going to lose her mind. She'll blame herself this time for Regina's death. But that isn't the worst part of it," Red stated watching Will's eyes as they finally realized the truth of the situation they found themselves in.
"If Regina dies, Coraline dies?"
"Exactly."
"Then Regina will not die," Will stated.
"And, how do you think that isn't going to happen when Rumple finds out that he can't get what he needs?" Red asked her, pacing the room again, her body coiled and looking for a fight.
"I will not allow it."
Red laughed. It was deep and sickening. Will watched her, gauged her and waited. What was Red playing at? Will had been sent away. She was told to stay with Red and "heel" like a good guard dog. What was Regina playing at? What had she missed?
Red watched as the anger rolled through her. There was no hiding it. And, in that moment, Red wanted to push her buttons and keep her angry. She knew first hand that an angry Wolf was not something that anyone wanted to toil with, and the fact that Will was also Vulcannonian would only make it worse. She would be unstoppable. Silver wouldn't even slow her down.
"You need to calm down," Regina's melodic voice filled the room and Will stopped pacing.
"You cannot do this," Will stated standing right in front of her.
"I can and I will."
"You cannot sacrifice yourself to stop him," Will accused.
"Who said anything about sacrificing myself?" Regina asked her and then stared at Red.
"What?" Red asked.
"What did you say to her?" Regina questioned, her ire flaring.
"I told her the truth," Red replied.
"Which is?"
"That if you die, Coraline will cease to be. If for some reason that she doesn't, she will go mad because she will blame herself for your death this time. You don't have a tendency to think things all the way through before you do them, Regina."
"Why would you tell her that?" Regina asked, more like shouted at her half-sister. "She is my Vulcannonian and she is bound to Coraline. Are you insane?"
"She's bound to Coraline?" Red asked studying them both.
She could tell that fire in the brown eyes of Regina were mixed, passion and anger. The fire in the sapphire eyes of her cousin and fellow pack mate was burning at uncontrollable temperature. Red wasn't sure who she was more afraid of in that moment, Regina or Will.
"Just as you are to Belle," Regina said incredulously.
Will's head snapped up from the spot on the floor she was studying, trying to calm herself. She met the hazel eyes of Red. She watched her body tighten at Regina's words. It was secret and Regina had just told the one person that could actually end Red.
Will's body began to swell. Regina had seen this before, on battlefields, in bars and taverns, but never in her home. Sure they weren't home, but this wasn't about respect of titles. She reached out and touched Will's arm, hoping that her contact would ease her mind. Will's eyes turned from Red and back to Regina.
"Belle?" she mouthed.
"Yes," Red answered just above a whisper.
"Does she know?" Will asked her.
"No."
"But, Coraline and Regina do?"
"Coraline figures it out in the future or so she told me. Regina is my sister. She just knew."
Will stares at Regina again. Her eyes flash yellow only for a split second and then a calm comes over her body. She relaxes and Regina breathes a sigh of relief. Her eyes dart around the room that they have been in until she finds something to sit on. She makes her body move towards the bench and she sits down. Regina follows her, never letting her hand leave Will's body.
"Is there no one that I'm not related to in some way?" Will asked.
"Emma said the same thing, dear. You know us wacky royals. We can't ever follow the rules that we put in place. Why should fairy tale royals be any different? We may not all be blood at this point but we are still a family…a family I meant to protect, all of it," Regina told her.
"I understand that…" Will started.
"That doesn't change the fact that Rumple has Book of Portals from Ramgad Antaf."
"I know that," Will replied.
"How else do you propose we stop him then, Will?"
"I don't know."
"I don't either. I don't want him to destroy this town or this family. He wants Belle. We all know that. He wants his power, but he wants Belle, too. He's lost his son Baelfire. He's losing Belle a little more each day. He knows it. He's breaking. His heart is hardened into a black mass. The more he does, the more I fear that he is the Blackness."
"How do we stop him?"
"I don't know that 'we' can," Regina stated.
"I will not ask her to do that," Red said through clenched teeth.
"No one is asking you to, Red. Nor, would I ask that of Belle. I know what Rumple is capable of. I've seen it firsthand. He will try to break her will to his own, but she won't break. He is trying to find a way to make her see his mistakes are hers, too. He is trying to punish her for leaving him by twisting his logic in his head so that it seems what he is doing is really helpful for her and the town. The more she pulls away the harder his insanity will tell him that he is doing the right thing. He tried to pick a fight with her in the diner the other night," Regina explained.
"He did what?!" Red questioned with ire and her eyes flashed yellow.
"He failed. Granny made sure of it. Kicked him out and told him to grow up. He is spiraling into some sort of insane realm in his mind and trying to figure out way to make it real. He needs power like a drug. He has none anymore. He isn't going to stop just because we ask nicely. He would stop even if Belle surrenders to him. He will still have to have someone to pay for her indiscretions. Belle isn't fallible, we are. Plus, we are the easier target of his rage."
"Do you think that we could steal the book back?" Red asked.
"I don't know."
"We could, but we would have to distract him."
"The Abbey isn't enough of a distraction?" Will asked.
"Not for him, it is just the means to justify his ending. It is a step in the path for what he wants. He brought magic back here after the curse broke because he remembered how to function with it and it was destroying his fragile psyche without it. He said it was for love, and Belle, but anyone with half a brain could see that he was struggling," Regina told them.
"Do you have any idea which spell he is trying to do?" Will asked.
"I have a pretty good idea," Regina answered.
"Then tell me, so that I can stop him."
"I wish that it was that easy," Regina replied.
"Then make it that easy," Red demanded.
"You don't know what you are asking for, Wolf Pup. You can't possibly understand what we are trying do here to protect this town. I can't make you understand something that you have no knowledge of, Ruby. You can't expect me to make you understand that Rumple isn't just starting a war; he is trying to erase everything. The spell he is trying to cast is one to get him back to the Enchanted Forest. He has a book that could erase everything. He could create a portal to end it all. He could go back and change everything. The spells are in the book."
"And, Coraline's used them?" Will questioned, thinking out loud.
"Possibly."
"Possibly!?" Will mused, almost laughing.
"If she did, I don't know which ones."
"How can we find out?" Ruby asked.
"We need to talk to Belle and Coraline," Will stated.
"NO."
"NO? Are you fucking kidding me, Regina? Are you serious?"
"She doesn't need to be part of this," Regina stated.
"She is already part of this, Regina. She was born into this. She came back to stop it. She came back here to make sure that she has the childhood that you and Emma want to give her. She has information in her head that she doesn't even know is helpful. We can tap into that and stop him. If we stop him, maybe we stop the Blackness. Maybe, Rumple is the Blackness. We don't know that, sure, but what we do is that your daughter came from twenty-five years in the future to save you. And, now, she can do that. She can save us all."
"No," Regina told them and she left the room.
Coraline and Belle were in the basement. Tink was with them. She was just watching them prepare herbs and potions. She was surprised that Belle found it easier to work when the danger loomed outside. Coraline didn't seem to let it get to her. Tink knew the backstory, but watching her in action was something else.
Belle was constantly beside her, like an older sister would be, teaching and pointing. Coraline didn't say anything if she knew what she was doing. She took the instruction like she had done it many times before. There was a simplicity among them. There was a familiarity that she had only seen with Emma and Regina, Ruby and Belle, Regina and Will. It was a beautiful.
"What?" Coraline asked, looking over at her.
"Nothing."
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Coraline asked Tink.
"I am just noting something."
"And that would be?" Belle asked, looking up to meet her eyes.
"Just how quickly you fall together as sisters, family, when you are alone," Tink stated.
"Why is that surprising to you?" Coraline asked.
"Because we aren't really family," Belle stated.
Coraline stopped. Her hands fell to the table and she backed away. The emotion invoked by Belle's words tore through her like a knife through butter. No, they weren't family…at least not yet. Coraline didn't find comfort in that thought. She looked up into Belle's sky blue eyes and she saw the emotion of her own reflected. Belle was still at war with herself about her feelings for the younger woman and she didn't know how to reconcile them. Did she love her like a sister? Did she love her like a daughter? She just didn't know.
"I'm sorry," Coraline whispered.
"For what?" Belle asked, turning towards her, sure that she had hurt her and trying to fix it.
"I caused all of this."
"No, you didn't, Coraline. You didn't cause any of it. You came to warn us to a danger that we didn't see. Now, all I can do is see it and it hurts. It hurts me on many levels, but mostly because I know that our inaction before had to cause your actions now," Belle told her.
Mahogany eyes, like those of her mother, flickered over the smaller woman. Brown met blue only seconds before Coraline rushed to her and Belle enveloped her in her arms. She was willing comfort to seep through her body. She knew that Coraline was fighting a losing battle with her mind, but neither of them knew if this mission was a losing one as well.
"Coraline, you can't think that you are reason that all this happens," Belle murmured against her head, still stroking it lovingly like a mother would.
Red and Will were standing just outside the room. They had heard the exchange and now saw the women together. It was in that moment that Red knew what Regina had said was right. She was bound to Belle. The sight of her standing there holding Regina's daughter made her heart leap. She couldn't explain it, but she could see the two of them, together, raising her.
"She'll be alright," Will whispered to her.
"I know that. I can see that now. Coraline…I can understand why she's been so close to Belle."
"She still sees her as her mother."
"Yes," Red replied and leaned against a wall.
Belle and Coraline still hadn't seen them. They weren't hiding from them, but they weren't making themselves known either. They didn't want to disturb the interaction between them. Things had been stressful for all of them, but somewhere in her mind, Red knew that Belle had turned to the safety of her books so she didn't have to deal with the emotional side of her issues with Coraline. Now that Rumple was forcing their hands, she couldn't fight it anymore. Red watched her and the emotions cross her face. It didn't matter that Coraline wasn't really her sister and that she might become a substitute mother for her in a few years, Belle still loved her completely. It was in that moment that Red knew why Regina picked them to protect her.
"You weren't there," she mused.
"What?" Will asked her.
"You weren't there in the future. In her future, in our future. You couldn't have been. That is why Regina won't release you. I get it, now," Red told her.
"Good, then can you explain it to me," Will said, watching Red's face watching Belle.
"Regina gives Remy, Coraline, to us to raise. She would only do that if you weren't there. She knew that I would protect her with my Wolf. That I was just as loyal to the family as you. She chose Belle because Belle was the last bit of royalty in the kingdom. She knew that Belle wouldn't let her forget who she was but would teach her to strong, emotional, and royal at the same time. Regina may not say it, but she admires her for the strength that she possesses. If you were alive, if you were there, she would have strapped the young child to you and sent you away. It would have been her final order. She would have released you from your contract, given your Remy and sent you packing," Red explained.
"But, she never got the chance," Will stated.
"Or, you were never there," Red added.
"Why? Why wasn't I there? I am here now."
"You said that your brother was killed and his line."
"Yes, so what?"
"You are the last Vulcannonian?"
"As far as I know, yes. The ones that did make it to this world on their own have remained hidden. They will feel me coming if I am close. They would make an appearance, swear fealty, and go back into hiding. The last that I knew of was called the 'Dragon,' and he lived in Phuket. But, I believe our good, young, and incredibly power hungry Pan killed him."
"What is it about that family?" Red asked.
"What family?"
"Pan was Rumple's father, who in turn was Neal's or Baelfire's father, who is Henry's father."
"But, Bae and Henry don't seek power," Will stated.
"No, they have been fighting against it since they were children. They've seen the horrors that too much power can create. Milah and Emma must have tempered their insatiable bloodlust for power. Henry somehow tempers Regina, but now that Emma and Regina are together, Emma has taken on that role," Red explained.
"And, for Rumple, it became Belle. Without her, he is going insane. He will stop at nothing to get her back, even if it isn't something that she wants."
"Exactly."
"So who is really in danger here? Us? Belle? Regina? Or Rumple?"
"Rumple," Red said, anger filling her again.
"Easy now, Coz. No need to Wolf out down here. You'll scare your love."
"And, what about you earlier?"
"It wasn't rational. The anger in my Wolf, like yours, is always present, but my Vulcannonian sensibilities usually override it. My need to protect Regina and the family keep it at bay just enough that I can unleash it if needed. I have control until my control of the situation is tested."
"Well, that should be fun with Regina," Red mused.
"You have no idea," Will replied with a smirk.
"Are you in love with her?"
"Who?"
"Regina," Red said.
"Not in the way you think, Ruby. I love her, yes, but not in a romantic fashion. I can't. There has always been a pull towards her, but it wasn't until I saw Coraline and learned that she was Regina's daughter that it made sense."
"You're bound to her aren't you?"
"Coraline? Yes, but she doesn't know. She can't know. But the fact remains, I am. And, as such, I really wonder what happens that causes me not to be there for her."
Red watched the two women before them, the objects of their desire. They were definitely the Yin to their Yang, just like Emma was for Regina. Red knew that something drastically tragic had to have happened for Coraline not to known who Will was.
"Did Regina ever write about you in her journals?"
"I doubt it. Why would she? I was just another servant."
"What would happen if she died?"
"The world would end?" Will replied sarcastically before asking, "What does it matter? Why are you asking me that?"
"If Regina dies, what happens to you?"
"I go back to being Snow's."
"And, if Snow dies?" Red pushed.
"I would be Emma's, then Henry's, then Remy's. I would stay attached to the family until it was gone. Then I would be alone."
"You aren't there. Emma dies first, then Regina, Charming, and Henry. Snow dies later. Remy is sent off with me and Belle. Would you know that she was still alive?" Red asked her.
"Yes."
"You would search for her?"
"I would scour the realms for her until I found her."
"Twenty-five years and not a single mention of you from her, Will, you aren't there."
"But, why?"
"That is going to be the question that will plague me, Cousin. If Coraline brought you back because she was meant to do, then why didn't she know who you were? If her bringing you back to us changes things, what have they changed and why? The one fact that hasn't changed in all of this is the most complex and simple fear for us all."
"What's that?" Will asked her.
"The Blackness still comes. They all die. And, you are missing. She grows up in a land dominated by the fear of some magical entity. She comes back here to stop it, but for whatever reason, her travels through time don't stop it."
"Could I take her away?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because then her stories would contain an older version of herself."
"How do you figure?" Will questioned.
"Because we both know that Regina isn't going to let her out of her sight until she has to battle the Blackness, whatever it may be. She is fighting to be the mother that she believes that Remy deserves based on what Coraline has told her. They are both fighting to save their family. They want the same thing: for Regina to be there. That is why Regina hasn't released you. She can't."
"She needs to make sure that she and Remy are okay."
"And the only way to do that, as much as it pains her to allow you to love her daughter, is to keep you under contract so you can't full bind yourself to Coraline. Your binding to her already means that you will be with her no matter the circumstance. You will be at her side in whatever capability she has need of, mother, sister, lover, protector. It won't matter, because Coraline will still love you. As long as Regina keeps the contract intact, you will defend them both."
Will's head hit the wall, stunning them all. Belle looked over to where they were sitting. She gave Red a look and Will just smiled at them.
"Young Pup love," she stated only loud enough for Red to hear.
"Hush."
"She loves you, you know?"
"She is still married to the Imp."
"Not for long."
"How can you tell?"
"She had Regina draw up papers for divorce days ago."
"What? When? Why didn't she tell me?"
"We've been a little busy, remember? Rumple is trying to start an apocalypse. Didn't really think that the trivialities of a piece of paper signed by the mayor would matter much in terms of life and death, you know? I am sure that she has her reasons. She still loves him in her own way and Regina knows that. It is one of the reasons that she hasn't pushed Belle more on it."
"And, the other?" Red asked.
"You, you twit," Will stated, getting up from the floor by the wall and walking towards Belle and Coraline, leaving Red to think about what she'd said.
"Hey," Belle greeted them.
"Hey," Will replied.
"Any word?"
"No."
"Did something happen?" Coraline asked, her questioning eyes meeting Will's blue.
"In a manner of speaking, yes, it did. But, no, I can't tell you. It…it really isn't that important."
"Why are you lying?" Coraline asked her.
"I am not lying," Will replied.
"You aren't tell me the entire truth."
"It doesn't matter."
"I am not a child, Will. You of all people should know that. What happened?"
"Nothing happened."
"Then what aren't you telling me?" Coraline demanded.
"Regina forbid her from asking you about the portals," Red told her.
"What? Why? Wouldn't that be useful information, right about now?"
"It would, but your mother is trying to protect you. She doesn't fully understand the portals, yet. I think that she is afraid that if you tell her, you'll disappear. She can't lose you right now, Coraline. She loves you too much to watch you suffer."
"She is trying to sacrifice herself, again, isn't she?"
"Is she Regina?" Red quipped.
"Take me to her."
"Coraline…" Belle started.
"No. No! NO! She is not doing this to me again. If she dies, I die. Does she not see that?"
Emma watched as Regina, still in the figure of Tink, paced. She would wear a hole in the rug soon if Emma didn't stop her, but she didn't know how. It was like Regina was on some sort of deranged autopilot and the only to stop it was for her to kill something or be killed.
"If you're going to be in here with me, can you at least drop the face?" Emma asked her.
"Sorry," Regina told her changing back into herself.
"What's wrong, Regina?"
"I talked with Red and Will."
"And?" Emma probed.
"We may have to talk to Coraline about the portal she used to get here."
"You don't want to do that?" Emma asked, moving closer to her.
She took Regina's hand and held it. She stared into her deep brown eyes trying to reassure her with her own green eyes. She could see the stress lessening, but knew that Regina was far from being relaxed. Emma pulled her into her body and held her, hoping that her warmth would help.
"She's been through enough, Emma. She doesn't need this. She doesn't need this war."
"No, she doesn't. None of us do, but it is here now and we have to fight. She is proof that we have to fight. We have to protect our future. She is our future. Regardless of what we want and what we know, she knows more about what happens," Emma told her.
"I know that."
"Then, we'll ask her."
"Emma…"
"No, Regina, we need to know. We need to understand what happened the day she came back. I know that she hasn't told me. Has she told you?"
"No."
"We need to know. We can't help her if we don't know. We'll ask her. Just you and me. I won't have anyone else there. Then, once she is done telling us what happened, we'll decide together as a family what to do about it. We owe her that much, Regina. We leave her in the future only for her to come back to save us. We have to do something."
"I know."
"I know that what she tells us might not be something that we want to hear, but we need to do it. We haven't pressed her before now. We no longer have the luxury of waiting. Rumple is moving faster to some unknown. If he succeeds with his portal, what are we going to do? Are we going to be sucked into the Enchanted Forest? Are we going to fight to close it?"
"I don't know."
"I know one thing," Emma stated.
"Yes, Dear, what's that?"
"I know I am not ready to not have indoor plumbing," Emma replied with a smirk on her face.
Regina backed up enough to look into her eyes again. She saw the mirth there. She knew that Emma would always find something positive in everything. It was another reason that she loved her. She laughed for a second, letting the levity flow over her. She needed this. She knew they all did. She smiled at Emma and took her hand.
"After having it all these years, I am not sure that I am either," Regina added.
Emma laughed. She raised her hand to her lips and kissed Regina's knuckles. She watched Regina's smile get bigger. They had each other. They would fight to keep it that way.
"You know that I am right though, right?" Emma asked.
"You are. I wish I could spare her this pain. I have a feeling I know what she is going to tell us and it isn't going to be good."
"Is anything from our future good besides her?" Emma asked.
"I really hope that isn't the only thing."
Regina took her hand. They needed to go get Coraline and get her to tell them everything that she knew. Emma knew that it was going to be a hard conversation for them all. She was just glad that Rumple had yet to show. She wasn't worried about Rumple really. She was more worried about the mental health of her growing family.
As they entered the lower levels to find Coraline, they could hear Red and Will arguing. Then she heard the blood curdling scream that no mother every wanted to hear. Then they both hear Belle and Red as they try to stop Coraline from leaving.
The doors thrust open and Regina can see the purple in Coraline's eyes. She stops short when she sees both of her mothers there in front of her. Emma cocks her head and sees the violet in her eyes. She reaches out for her like she would Regina and immediately Coraline's eyes flash green before returning to their natural brown.
"Moms?" Coraline asked.
"Hey there, kiddo," Emma stated waving her hand with the expression.
"Coraline, we need to talk."
"Yes, we do."
"Uh, Regina…" Red started.
"Not now, Wolf Pup. I need to talk to my daughter. You need to go stay with Blue. Belle, I would stay here. We still don't know what Rumple is up to at the moment, but I believe that he will still come here. He needs ingredients and he knows that the fairies have been stock piling. The entire town knows. We do need to make preparations," Regina explained.
"We do," Will added.
"Will, can you handle that?"
"I will, Majesty," she replied.
"We'll go take an inventory of…stuff. You can stay here and talk. We'll go," Belled told them, grabbing Red and Will's hands and leading them away.
Regina and Emma watched them go. Coraline walked back into the room and waited for her mothers to come inside, too. She sat down at the table and stared at them. She ran a hand through her hair and looked up at Emma, her brown eyes meeting her mother's green.
"Coraline…"
"Just ask," she demanded.
"Ask what?" Emma questioned.
"You came down here to talk to me. You came to ask me something about the future. It doesn't take a castle builder to figure that out. You want to know something and you don't want too many people to know what it is. Thus, you want to know something about the future."
"Sort of," Regina replied.
"Well, what is it?" Coraline asked.
"I need to know what happened the day you came back."
"What do you mean?" Coraline questioned.
"I need you to tell me exactly, everything that you remember from the day you enacted the portal to come here," Regina replied.
"You need to know what portal I used?"
"Yes," Emma said.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean that you don't know?"
"Exactly what I said."
"Coraline, we need to know everything that you do about that portal," Regina urged.
"I can't tell you what I don't know."
"You cast a spell without knowing what it was?" Regina asked, astonished that she'd survived.
"Okay, let's try this another way. Coraline, can you tell us what was happening when you cast the spell? Maybe that will help us narrow it down," Emma stated.
"No."
"No?"
"I won't tell you that."
"Coraline…" Emma started.
Regina looked at her daughter. She saw the resolve in her eyes. She saw the pain, too. There was something horrific about that day. She knew that Coraline was hiding something from her and she knew that she could push Coraline into telling her. She didn't want to do it, but she would if they couldn't convince her to tell them.
"What are you willing to tell me about it then?" Regina asked her changing tactics once again.
"I don't want to talk about that day," she replied with much conviction as she stared Regina down, only cementing further Regina's thoughts.
"That's fine, Darling. Just tell me everything and anything that you are willing to tell us. I will do my best not to ask you about that day," Regina agreed.
Emma looked at her dumbfounded. Their twenty-five year old daughter had done something that no one had done with Regina in a very long time: she won the argument and got Regina to back down. Her green eyes flicked from one set of brown to the other. Lost in her own thoughts, she sat down on a stool exasperated at the scene before her. She honestly didn't know what to do.
"The tattoos on my arms," Coraline started. "They were given to me by the royal tattooist. I think I was barely three or four. It was a whole big deal. Belle and Red were a little apprehensive about it, but you assured them that it wouldn't affect me at all. Once the ink had set for the recommended time, you used a spell to heal me. It kept the ink fresh. It wouldn't fade and it grew with me as I grew up."
"Wouldn't that have marked you as our daughter?" Emma asked, suddenly back in the room and following along with the conversation she was sure was going to go magically over her head.
"You would think so, yeah, but it didn't."
"Why not?" Regina asked.
"Something in the ink, I think. I am not sure. It wasn't until I was older that I realized what they were. The crazy thing about them is that I can make them disappear."
"What? How? I mean…well, how?" Emma questioned.
"I never thought about them. If I didn't think about them, they weren't there. After you both died, I stopped learning magic for a while. Aunt Belle and Aunt Red didn't think it was a good idea. They thought it would mark me for the Blackness to find me. It wasn't until I was older that Red even taught me how to fight, and that was only after she caught me on my own."
"Okay, that makes sense. Can you show them to me now? Can you make them appear?"
"I don't want to," Coraline stated truthfully.
"I don't want you to cast the spell. I just want to see the design. If I can see the design it might help me figure out what Rumple is really up to," Regina told her.
"You really think that Rumple causes the Blackness?" Coraline asked her.
"It seems the most logically solution to the problem. He is the only one that I know that can create such darkness. I don't know how he does it, but if he is willing to play with portals, there is no telling how far he is willing to go. He has access to Ramgad Antaf's books. That alone worries me, Coraline. It frightens me."
"Why?"
"Ramgad Antaf was a very powerful sorcerer. He copied all his spells into to tomes that he wrote himself with his own blood. He did that as a precaution," Regina explained.
"So no one else could absorb his magic," Coraline replied.
"Exactly. Now, we know that Rumple has his book on portals. What we don't know is what he is trying to do with them. Whatever it is, he needs the magic at the well to do it. That well is the birthplace of magic in this town. Its waters have very powerful magic. If he is willing to sacrifice the well, I am extremely worried at what he want to accomplish…"
"He is trying to go back," Coraline stated.
"Go back where?" Emma asked her.
"He is trying to go back to the Enchanted Forest. He needs items that he can't procure here. The book of portals has no time travel in it. It is strictly portals, but you are right that they are written in blood. You made me study them. They were my first magic textbooks. I was reading out them before Emma taught me to read anything else. I was speaking the language of the Fae before I could even read. My magic abilities showed themselves young. You knew that you would have to temper them and quickly. Belle continued that teaching."
"But, you don't do magic with ease."
"I don't. I was held back for a few years after your deaths. Something happened that day that neither Belle nor Red will tell me, no matter how many times I ask. They just shake their heads when I ask them about the blinding light. They act like they don't remember, but they do."
"How do you know?" Emma asked her.
"I can see it in their eyes," Coraline told them.