A/N: Please enjoy (or don't enjoy, if you were hoping for kisses and fluff) the latest installment. I'm still having so much fun writing this story and look forward to hearing your thoughts. And I still don't own OUAT.
Chapter 14: Blood Magic and Fairies
"You're not coming!" Regina says stubbornly, crossing her arms like a pouting five year old. "You're staying in this apartment where you're safe."
"I'm not safe if she breaks through the protection spell!" Emma protests. "I've only been studying magic for three weeks. I'll be much safer if I'm with you."
"She only wants to kill you if I'm there to watch, and who knows what kind of booby-traps she has on her vault? It could be dangerous-"
"So I'm coming with you! I'm not about to let you walk into a dangerous, magically booby-trapped vault by yourself!"
"Zelena's coming, too."
"All the more reason you need someone to protect you!"
"This is my fight, and my family. I'm doing this to protect you, and I've got it handled."
"If I may," Mary Margaret cuts in, looking up from the pancakes she's flipping on the stove, "as Emma's legal guardian and someone who cares about you quite a bit, I'd personally feel better if you were together. Preferably here, but I get that this is something you have to do."
Regina looks like she's about to explode on Mary Margaret. "You don't understand," she growls. "You don't know what she's capable of."
"But I do," Mary Margaret argues. "I didn't always, but I do now. And I also know what you and Emma are capable of, and I think your best chance is together."
"Then you're an even bigger idiot than I thought."
"Why?" Mary Margaret challenges. "Because I believe in you? You can protect her, Regina. And I think she can protect you, too."
Regina's arms twitch, and Emma is afraid she's about to punch Mary Margaret in the face. Instead, she drops them limply to her sides and hangs her head. "I couldn't protect Dani," she says softly, voice cracking.
Mary Margaret inhales sharply before pulling Regina in for a swift hug. "It's not the same," she tells her. Emma would have thought that was the absolute wrong thing to say, but apparently Regina finds it somewhat comforting or at the very least, not offensive, because she lets herself lean against Mary Margaret for about half a second before pulling away.
"You can come," she grudgingly tells Emma. "But you have to stay out of the way and do everything I tell you."
"Duly noted, Your Majesty," Emma says sarcastically. Regina sighs.
"Great," Mary Margaret says with obviously false cheerfulness. "You girls should probably grab a bite to eat before your mission. Regina, these pancakes are made with apples from your orchard, and I will be gravely offended if you don't try at least one."
"I'm not-"
"Nope, you've used up your 'I'm not hungry' quota for the week. Now sit," she orders. Emma raises her eyebrows. She never realized Mary Margaret even had an assertive side until a few days ago, but she's discovering she kind of likes it.
Groaning, Regina perches on one of the stools at the counter and buries her face in her hands. Emma comes up behind her with a swift hug.
"You wanna talk about it?" she asks, bending over slightly to rest her chin on Regina's shoulder.
"I want today to be over," Regina mumbles.
"Well, you'll be one step closer after you eat your delicious apple pancakes," Emma offers. Regina makes a strangled sound that's about halfway between a laugh and a sob, and Emma holds her tighter. She wishes, for both of their sakes, that she could promise that everything would be okay.
xx
"What's she doing here?" Zelena sneers when she sees Emma standing behind Regina on the sidewalk in front of the mayor's house. "It can't be healthy for either of you to be this codependent so early in the relationship."
"Shut up, Zelena," Emma growls.
"You want me to do this, we're going it my way. So, she's coming. If you have a problem with it-"
"Lead the way."
"Okay," Regina breathes, smoothing some nonexistent wrinkles in her shirt before turning toward the front door. "You both have to be very quiet, and don't touch anything."
"What happens if we-"
"Just don't touch things!" Zelena says impatiently. "I'm sure with your three weeks of training, you'll be amazing at discerning which dark magical objects have the potential to take your life."
"Aw, Zelena, it almost sounds like you care."
"Could you both please shut up!" Regina cries. "I don't think either of you completely understands just how dangerous this is! It's possible that none of us could walk out of here alive."
Emma and Zelena immediately sober, casting contrite glances toward Regina. "Sorry, sis," Zelena mumbles. Regina's eyes flash in anger and she looks like she wants to comment on the nickname, but instead she shakily unlocks the front door and leads them into the mayoral mansion. Emma has to work hard to hold back a whistle - it's definitely the nicest house she's ever seen, although it hardly looks like a place someone would actually live.
She follows Regina and Zelena into the living room, where they stop in front of a huge fireplace. "The vault is through here," Regina informs them.
"How...how do we get through?" Emma asks, eyes darting between the two sisters in confusion. "And please don't say magic, because I kind of figured that much."
"We have to set a fire, and then...a passage should open."
"That's easy enough, then. Let's get started," Zelena says. Regina nods and stands in front of the fireplace, screwing up her face in concentration. Her fists are clenched and her body is visibly vibrating with the effort but nothing is happening.
"I'd tell you to help," Zelena tells Emma in an undertone, "but it seems highly likely that Cora sealed it with blood magic, so you'd be just as useless."
"What's blood magic?"
"I thought I told you to be quiet!" Regina exclaims. "I can't concentrate."
"Blood magic means it can only be used by Cora or a close relative," Zelena explains. "And it's setting a fire - this is like, day one magic. Even you can do this, Regina."
"Why don't you help, then?" Emma asks. "Since you apparently have just as much nasty Cora DNA."
Zelena rolls her eyes and indicates the cuff on her wrist, while Regina turns back to the fireplace for a second try. Three minutes later, not even the smallest flames have appeared, and Regina is near tears.
"Why can't she do it?" Emma whispers to Zelena.
"If I had to guess, I'd say she's too scared. For the magic to work, you have to really want it to happen, nothing holding you back."
"That makes it so comforting to think about all the times you tried to kill us," Emma says sarcastically.
Zelena sighs and nods her head toward Regina several times before Emma finally grasps what she's supposed to do. "Hey, it's okay," she says, pulling the shaking girl into her arms.
"Emma, I can't do it," Regina whispers. "It's the easiest spell there is, and I can't even do it."
"Yes, you can. I believe in you. You're stronger than her," she soothes, reaching up to stroke Regina's hair like she's wanted to do for the last three weeks. "Amazing and perfect, remember."
"And, if you want to continue having this person whisper sweet nothings in your ear," Zelena cuts in, "we need to get moving on the fire-starting effort."
With renewed determination, Regina faces the fireplace, and the fire instantly comes roaring to life. She extends her hand, red flames change to purple, and the back wall fades away into a long passage. Emma's eyes widen in shock, but Regina simply says, "Let's go."
The trek through the passage is long and, at least in Emma's opinion, spooky. The lights are dim and there's a faint thumping sound that grows louder and louder the further they walk.
"What is that?" Emma can't help but ask.
"Hearts," Regina answers simply.
"Hearts? Like, still-beating hearts? What the hell? Is your mom secretly Edgar Allen Poe?"
"What happened to being quiet?"
Finally, the long passage comes to an end, and they enter a chamber that reminds Emma of a post office because its walls are lined with square metal boxes. Only these metal boxes have small windows that are glowing red.
"So, these boxes all have magical hearts in them?" Emma asks in disbelief. "Whose hearts are they?"
"I don't know," Regina whispers, horrified. "I didn't realize she took so many...she's really a monster."
"Let's get to the more pressing question: which one is hers?" Zelena is wearing her own expression of horror and disgust, and Emma finds herself slightly more willing to believe that the older girl honestly wasn't aware of how awful her mother was. It would be difficult to imagine such a high degree of depravity.
"She wouldn't keep hers with the others," Regina says. Her face is thoughtful, and she's looking around the room desperately, frantically. "Here!" she suddenly exclaims, running over to a jeweled mirror on the wall.
"Behind the mirror?" Emma asks. "But how do we-"
"Shh..." Regina is concentrating again, and the mirror gradually starts to glow violet. Suddenly, a large needle pokes out of the wall. "Blood magic," Regina explains. "I have to give blood."
"That seems-"
"Shut up," hisses Zelena.
Regina pricks her finger on the needle and the mirror swings open to reveal a small compartment with a non-descript wooden box inside.
"Is that it?" Zelena asks breathlessly.
Hesitantly, Regina reaches into the compartment and slowly opens the box. Inside is a leather pouch that gives off an eerie red and black glow when opened. "This is it," Regina confirms. "Now let's get out of here."
The trio sprint toward the passage leading back to the fireplace, but something in the room seems to finally sense a disturbance, and the ground starts shaking, knocking all three girls to the stone floor. Blinking, Emma sits up to see the walls starting to close in around them.
"Um, Regina? I think the room's about to crush us."
"Shit," Regina mutters. Her face pales, and her eyes reflect the same fear that Emma feels.
"Maybe you can teleport us out," Zelena suggests, struggling to remain calm. "You know, so we don't all die in here."
"You know better than anyone that I can't do that!" Regina exclaims. "Why don't you do it if you're so much more powerful?"
"As you may recall, I don't have magic anymore," growls Zelena, waving her leather cuff in Regina's face. "It has to be you!"
"But I can't. I'm sorry." Regina looks down, and Zelena groans. Emma reaches out to grab her friend's hand - if this is the end, at least they're together, she tells herself. She wonders if that wasn't Mary Margaret's reasoning in getting her to come along.
The second their palms meet, Emma feels herself blown backwards in what feels like a very forceful electric shock. A cloud of purple smoke rises around them, and when it clears, she's shocked to see that they're back in the living room, and the fireplace looks completely untouched.
Zelena raises an eyebrow. "You did it," she says. "Impressive."
"We can talk about that later. Let's get to Gold's shop before it's too late." Still clutching the heart, Regina sprints out the door.
"I'm all for a morning jog, but did we not just establish you can get us there using magic?" Zelena groans.
xx
The three girls hide behind the bushes and watch cautiously as Gold and Cora face off. Regina holds her mother's heart in a leather pouch, and her hands are shaking so much she looks like she's about to drop it, which Cora would surely sense..
"You've got this," Emma says, rubbing gentle, reassuring circles on her back. "It's gonna be okay."
"Shh," Zelena hisses. "None of his will work if she hears us." Emma rolls her eyes and glares at the older girl, still unsure if she's an ally or an enemy. Regina attempts a smile that turns out more like a grimace.
Spells are flying back and forth, magic in rich, dark colors that looks like evil fireworks over Main Street. A few brave - or incredibly stupid - townspeople have left their homes to watch the battle raging on the sidewalk, but it appears there's some sort of magical barrier protecting them from getting hit by the worst of it. There are two glittering objects resembling green and blue lanterns fluttering through the sky, but when Emma looks closer, she realizes they're actually people. Small people. With wings.
"Hey," she whispers as quietly as she can. "Is that Tinkerbell? And Mother Superior?"
"They're fairies,' Regina explains. "They can - I'll explain later. We really do have to keep silent." Emma nods and forces the confusing thought out of her mind, focusing only on comforting Regina so she's calm enough to do what needs to be done. The back rub seems to be doing the trick - her hands have stopped trembling enough that mayor's heart is no longer in imminent danger of splattering on the pavement. Emma wonders if enchanted hearts can even splatter. She wonders why she's wondering these things now when she needs to be paying attention to the battle.
Mr. Gold magically conjures a sword in each hand, which is Zelena's cue. Stepping out quickly from their hideout, she begs, "Please don't kill her, Mr. Gold. I only just got the chance to meet my mother, and I have so many more questions I need to ask her."
Zelena's acting is good, Emma observes. She half expects her to turn on the waterworks any second. Cora, however, is unmoved. "You foolish girl," she spits. "Stay out of this or you could get killed." Okay, maybe not completely unmoved - at least she's concerned about her newly discovered daughter's life. Zelena should take what she can get.
"I can help you," Zelena insists. "I'm more powerful than Regina; you said so yourself, and so did he." She tugs the sleeves of her to jacket cover her wrists, so Cora can't see the cuff that renders her completely powerless.
"This is between Gold and me," Cora says coldly. "I won't ask you twice to stay out of it." The interference distracts the witch's attention enough that Mother Superior - or whatever fairy she really is - has the opportunity to throw a glittering ball of blue light. The second it hits Cora, her entire body is paralyzed and glowing.
Zelena's eyes dart toward the bushes where Emma and Regina are hiding. "You ready for Operation Loving Mother?" Emma asks.
Regina squeezes her eyes shut, but not before Emma sees a few tears leak out, and her entire face crumples. "Hey," she murmurs, wrapping her arms lightly around the brunette's waist. "Whatever happens, I will be here for you. You know that, right?" Regina nods, and Emma presses a soft kiss on her forehead. "Now get going - that fairy magic won't hold forever."
Regina dusts herself off and darts out of the bushes, removing her mother's heart from its pouch. Approaching Cora from behind, she quickly shoves the glowing organ into her chest.
Mayor Mills gasps, and her body convulses as a pulse of magic shoots through her.
"Mother?" Regina asks quietly, stepping around to look into her mother's eyes. Both she and Zelena have the most heartbreakingly hopeful expressions on their faces, and Emma shoots a prayer or wish or whatever it should be called to the fairy godmothers she now knows actually exist that this won't have all been in vain.
Emma can't see Cora's face, but she guesses from the smile that's slowly forming on Regina's that perhaps the mayor is gazing upon her child with love for once in her life. Although she personally feels that being heartless is not an excuse and that nothing she does now will make up for sixteen years of physical and mental abuse (she hopes Cora wasn't using magic on Regina when she was sick, but she wouldn't put it past her), not to mention the crap her abandonment put Zelena through, Cora's daughters are either forgiving enough or fucked up enough to want to give her a chance.
Then the blue glow around Cora's body fades and she starts choking and clutching her chest before collapsing to the ground on her back.
"Mother!" Regina screams, immediately dropping to her knees besides her mother's fallen form. Emma feels a wave of nausea come over her as she realizes what's about to happen a moment before it actually does, and she scrambles to get out of the bushes and help in some way, although she has no idea how. Regina cradles Cora's head to her chest, weeping, while Zelena hovers about three feet away, eyes filled with dread.
"Mother, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," Regina sobs. "Mother, please don't leave me."
"Regina," Cora croaks with what might perhaps be her dying breath, "and Zelena...I-" she doesn't get to finish the sentence before her body slumps on Regina's lap and her eyes flutter closed.
"You what?" Zelena asks frantically, kneeling down next to her half-sister. "What is it?"
Her mouth hanging slightly open in horror, Regina places a hand on her mother's chest to feel for a pulse. Emma feels her own heart stop momentarily when she sees the brunette's almost imperceptible headshake. "She's gone," Regina whispers.