Chapter 38
Emma ran out into the other room and grabbed her cell. She was speed dialing Henry before she busted back through the door of the bathroom. She didn't know what to do and she was in panic mode. She dropped the phone on the back of the toilet and hit the speaker phone button.
"Hey, Ma, what's up?"
"Henry, I need to talk to Rhiannon."
"Uh…why, Ma?"
"Just give her the damn phone, Henry!" she yelled as she tried to assess what was going on with Regina.
Regina just sat in the tub, water splashing all around her, fully clothed. She had her knees drawn up and her head leaning on them. She kept her hand strategically placed under the spray. Her normally bouncing hair was half water-logged. She didn't look up when Emma placed a hand on her shoulder, in silent promise that they would find a way to fix this.
"Ma?"
"Henry, just listen to me and give the phone to Rhiannon!"
She heard some muffled noises. She could hear Snow in the background asking what was wrong, but to his credit he wouldn't Snow take the phone. She heard some more muffled sounds and finally she heard tell Rhiannon how to hold the phone so that she could talk to Emma.
"Hello, Princess," she said in greeting.
"I need your help."
"With what, Young One?"
"Regina is on fire."
"I don't understand," she replied.
"She is literally on fire."
"Magically?"
"I guess. I don't fucking know. We were having an argument and then poof her hands are on fire. I got her in the tub under the shower spray, but the fire won't go out. It is just contained."
"Can she hear me?" Rhiannon asked.
"Yeah, I got you on speaker."
"Good. Regina, savo amdir. Lasto nin. "
"Emma ú-bêd edhellen." Regina answered.
"Boe? Ma den agor? Trastad? Who was it?" Rhiannon asked.
"I can't…I can't…it will destroy everything."
"It is destroying you. Davo leithiad anech. Odulen an gi nestad. Ni melig?"
"Sevig i velethen."
"Good. Avo drasto. Ci vellonen n'uir, pinig gwathel. Bereth vuin, sevin dhaw?"
"No. Caro! Ben iesteg! Gin iallon!"
"Ni 'lassui."
"What the Hell are you saying?" Emma interjected.
"Brennil vell, berteth vell, Regina suffers from another's curse."
"Whose?" Emma asked as she stared at the woman before here.
"Tell her, Regina. It is the only way I can help you. You want my help you have to speak the truth to your bessig."
"Please, Regina, tell me whatever it is so I can help you," Emma begged as she fell to the floor beside the tub.
"I can't. I promised. If I do, it will destroy everything."
"Tell me, Little One," Rhiannon pleaded through the phone.
"It will undo everything. I finally had everything and I will lose it. Just let me go."
"I will not! Fight for us, dammit. Tell me who did this to you, Regina."
"Was it Urra Dubh?" Rhiannon asked her.
"Yes…" Regina whispered.
"Why?" Rhiannon asked.
"I…"
"What is she talking about, Regina?"
"Regina? Please tell her or I will. I should have known he would try something. He didn't want you going to the Forest, did he?"
"No."
"What happened? Someone tell me what the Hell is going on. Rhiannon, what is she not telling me? Please tell me. How do I help her?"
"Phoenix oil," Regina replied.
"What?!"
"She's right. She needs a dose of Phoenix Oil or she will continue to burn. There is nothing else that can cure her. I have some here. That is not going to do you any good, though. How far are you from Columbia?"
"I don't know another seven hours or so."
"Regina…is there a pond or a lake near you?" Rhiannon asked.
"The hotel we are at has a pool."
"That will work, but you'll need some things. I packed a small case for precaution. It should be in your things. Will you get it Emma?" Rhiannon asked.
Emma mumbled something like a "yes" and left the bathroom. Once Rhiannon figured she was out of ear shot, she asked Regina again. She needed to know the woman's mindset.
"What did the foreseeing imp tell you?" Rhiannon asked.
"He told me that I would lose Henry and Emma if I didn't bind my powers. I had lived without them for so long, I knew I could again. I had Emma with me. She could help. She could bind me. It seemed simple enough," Regina told her.
Emma stopped just outside the bathroom. She leaned against the wall and slide down it. She held the box in question as her butt hit the floor. The tears that she had been holding in at seeing Regina in pain. She waited until there was enough of a break between the conversation between Regina and Rhiannon, while she tried to calm her nerves and steel herself enough to go back in.
"What did he tell you?"
"My magic comes from a dark place…if I didn't suppress it, it would kill me. I had to find a way to protect them. He told me that I would go insane and take it out on the town. I couldn't do that. I couldn't make Emma do that…I couldn't make her shoot me. It was the only way I would have been able to be stopped. There would have been a final showdown between good and evil. Good always wins. I know this better than anyone," Regina explained.
"But, you aren't evil, Regina. You changed for Henry, for Emma, for yourself. I don't know what the imp saw, but it isn't why he did it. You are suffering because you can. He knows that. He wanted you to cast the curse. Would he have a reason to have you bound? Would he?"
"I don't know."
"You do! Think! Why is the imp scared of you?"
"Because of Emma?"
"Precisely…you found true love with your Savior. She is your salvation. She has helped rewrite your future. I never saw this future. I remember the spells I sent to you years ago with my sister, Birgit. If you succeeded, which you must have because Shannon is in the kingdom of South Carolina, then the Dark One is afraid of her. Why would he be scared of Shannon?"
"I don't know."
"You DO! Think, Regina, what happened when Birgit and Shannon came to you in the Forest? Tell me what happened all those years ago," Rhiannon demanded.
"I don't remember ever helping your sister and daughter," Regina said truthfully.
Emma took that moment to come back into the bathroom. She sat the small chest on the toilet seat lid and opened it. She was amazed at all the little vials and bottles inside it.
"Are you back, Emma?" Rhiannon questioned, already knowing.
"I am."
"Good. You are going to need to channel your emotions for Regina. I know that you love her and you feel it inside. She needs your love now, more than ever."
"What's going on?"
"She is suffering from something called Mana Burn or Resurrection Burn."
"How?...Wait, what? How do we stop it?"
"We need to get some Phoenix Oil. But, I think I have enough for you to slow the process. It will give you enough time to get to Shannon and bring her back. She has some oil, too. She'll be able to give Regina the first dose, but you will have to get to her quickly. I don't know how long the treatment that I am going to give you will last," Rhiannon told her.
"I am all ears. Let's go. Tell me what I have to do."
"First off do you see a small empty vial."
"Grab that," Rhiannon told her.
"Good. Now I am going to need you to do something for me. Cry."
"Excuse me?"
"You'll need your tears as a base for the potion."
"Got it. Now, what? What's next?" Emma asked impatiently.
"Has Regina been crying?"
"Yes," Emma answered.
"You'll need some of her tears as well. Add them to the vial. Now grab the blue gooey vial. It will be really thick. Add two drops. It will take a second for them to form, but only two drops."
Emma dug around in the small case and found the need item. She did as she was bade. Rhiannon was right, it was a painfully slow process but it eventually dropped two drops.
"Got it. Now what? She drink it?"
"Not yet, Little One, not yet. Take a hair from your head and add it. Then, add one of hers."
"Okay…done."
"Good. Good. Is it changing colors?"
"Yeah, now it is a weird pinkish color," Emma replied.
"That is good. Now take the smallest vial in the chest. It will have a little red stopper to it. I want you to empty it into the vial. It will smell, but it is needed."
"Found it. Wow, that does smell. What is all the stuff anyway?"
"All in due time, Princess, all in due time. Now, grab the one and only green bottle. Pour half the contents in the vial, stopper the concoction and shake vigorously."
Emma found the bottle after clanking around in the box. She took off the lid and poured what she eyed as about half into the now almost full bottle. She found a cap in the box that fit the bottle and closed it up before shaking it.
"Alright, got it. Now, what? Now she drinks it?"
"No, she doesn't. I need you to dig deep inside your heart and feel your love for Regina. I need you to put aside everything else but her for the moment. I need to you feel your love for her from your soul. Can you do that?"
"I do that already, every day. From the first time I admitted that I loved her, I love her with my entire being. I always have and I always will," Emma told her, as Regina turned to face her.
Regina's eyes were burning with a purple haze. Her hands were still aglow with a small flame, but a small smile filled her face. She held Emma's eyes and watched as the turned from a beautiful shade of jade to a magnificent royal blue.
"I love you, too," Regina told her, and the blue of Emma's eyes got deeper. "I think that she is ready, Rhiannon. What does she have to do know?"
"What color is the potion?"
"It is a mixture."
"Of what colors, pinig gwathel?" Rhiannon asked.
"It is blue, purple and pink."
"Good, then it possesses your magicks. Now, Emma, this is going to sound strange, but drink half the potion. I know you don't want to and you think that Regina needs it, but drink half."
Emma stared into Regina's purple eyes and drank half the bottle in one gulp. She watched wondering what it was supposed to do, but nothing happened. She was about to say something when Rhiannon spoke up.
"Now add the rest of what was in the green bottle to it and shake it again."
Emma did as she was told. The color turned a brighter pink, diming out the blue and purple, the more she shook it up this time. She waited for a second as she stopped shaking it to speak up.
"Now what?" she asked quietly.
"Now, Regina drinks the rest. Drink all of it. Hold it for her. It cannot get hot. She cannot touch the bottle. Let me know when she has finished it. There is more that has to be done."
Emma took the top off of the bottle and set it on the lid next to the case. She reached over to Regina's chin and tipped it back. Regina let her as she slowly and methodically poured the potion into her mouth. Regina couldn't help but swallow the concoction as Emma poured. It took four good swallows for Regina to get it down. She leaned back as she felt the potion move through her body quelling the fire in her body and cooling her skin.
"Now for the love of everything holy is this godless realm, kiss her like there will be no tomorrow and make her feel it all the way to her bones," Rhiannon told them.
Emma slowly snaked her hand further around Regina's head and pulled her mouth towards her own. Regina didn't resist the movement and actually leaned towards Emma. Neither of them caring that the spray from the water was still there, getting Emma wet now, too. Emma pulled her up and into her body, pressing her wet form into her own as she kissed Regina with all her might. Regina returned her kiss with as much vigor as her body could muster. Neither of them saw the blinding light that emitted from them.
"Now, that is settled. Good night. Sleep for a while and then continue your journey. Once you find Shannon, contact me again. I will tell you what to do with the Phoenix Oil. But, do each other a favor, tonight. Bed her well, princess, bed her well," Rhiannon stated as she handed the phone back to Henry.
Emma and Regina could care less. Emma blindly reached over and tapped the red "end call" button as she continued to kiss Regina. Once she was satisfied with that the phone was off, she picked Regina up out of the tub and carried her bridal style back to the bed. She followed Rhiannon's instructions, never once letting up on the former queen until the early rays of the sun shone through the window. Emma rolled over and set the clock radio alarm for eleven. They would leave and continue their journey. She could only hope that Regina would tell her the entire story behind the reason she got the Resurrection Burn. That was for later, though.