Ch. 16
A/N: Hello my lovely readers. I really enjoy reading your comments. I can see you are just as passionate about the characters as I am and I love it. In this chapter you'll learn about the curse that took away Emma's power. Much of my story tries to stay the path of canon but there is a little divergence here and there of course. Please let me know what you think! You know this show is full of tricksters for sure and all magic comes with a price dearies!
{The past}
The Evil Queen's plot for revenge against Snow White was not easy. She decided that as long as Snow White lived she would never be satisfied and her thirst for revenge grew with each passing day. The people in her land would never see her as their true ruler; they only saw her as the evil monster that took over the castle from their beloved Princess Snow White when the King died. No one could get through to her to make her see that revenge was not the answer.
The queen saw Snow as the girl who stole her happiness. Snow White revealed her secret love affair to her evil mother causing her love Daniel to be killed. She never believed she would love again the way she loved Daniel. She was heartbroken. She married the King and quickly realized he would never love her the way he loved his late wife Ava. She eventually became blind by hate and fury. She decided that she needed to rid herself of the man. She hired an assassin to poison the King.
She watched Snow White go about her duties at the castle. She watched how the people of the kingdom loved her and admired her. She watched as they fawned all over her when the news of her father's untimely death spread throughout the land. It was too much for her. Her heart grew heavier and heavier as the days went on. She decided that she would simply poison the girl when she least expected it and make it seem as though she died of the same affliction as her father.
What she didn't realize was that the many friends that Snow had in the castle were watching too. One of the servants tipped her off about the Queen's plot and Snow uncovered that she had her father killed. Snow fled the castle before she'd had a chance to enact her plan. Under cover of the forest and help of the people in their realm the Evil Queen would never be able to complete her plan of revenge. She decided that she needed magic to do it so she called on Rumplestiltskin, an all powerful wizard, who was also known as the Dark One. He possessed and practiced the darkest magic.
The Evil Queen struck a deal with the Rumplestiltskin to enable her to practice dark magic. In exchange for him giving her the ability to practice magic she would help him legitimize himself under disguise as a king of a neighboring land. She would help him become ingrained in their society and introduce him to other royals. He wanted her to help him rise in stature and power so that he was never looked upon as a peasant again.
The Evil Queen was reluctant but saw that as a small price to pay for the power to be able to kill Snow White. Rumplestiltskin warned her that all magic comes with a price. She took the deal anyway and he began teaching her how to use it.
During that time Snow White continued to manage to elude her and through every effort she was unable to kill her. While she was training she proceeded to support Rumplestiltskin's plan to become a Royal.
She introduced him into high society and he became engrossed in their politics. He maintained his cover and continued to act as the Dark One without anyone's knowledge except his son Neal.
Neal was a young man and always resentful that his father took up the role as the Dark One. He got into trouble often and Rumplestiltskin would have to bail him out. When one of the boy's altercations got out of control Rumplestiltskin wiped his memory of his past. He took away his knowledge of his father as the Dark One, his mother's abandonment, and his troubled past. He filled it with new memories of a happy childhood as a royal leaving him to believe his mother died in childbirth with him. He sent Neal to boarding school none the wiser that his life had been any different than what had been falsely implanted.
The Evil Queen finally caught up with the bandit Snow White in a tiny village. She pretended to be an old woman in need of help and that her crate of apples would spoil if she didn't get them to the shop for sale. In exchange for her help she gave Snow White one of her delicious apples. When Snow took a bite of the poison apple her body lay to rest in the outskirts of the town.
A band of men, the seven dwarves, befriended Snow White in that village and when she was missing they searched for her.
They found her body in the forest and took her home. They knew that the Evil Queen finally got her revenge. They created a final resting place for her near their village in a case of glass. The Evil Queen didn't plan on Snow White finding her true love while she'd been hiding out in the enchanted forest but she had. Prince Charming was able to rescue Snow White with True Love's kiss. The Evil Queen was unaware that Snow White still lived.
Snow White and Charming were happy and continued their lives undercover. They were married and lived in a cottage in that tiny village. One day they were discovered by Regina. In a desperate attempt to try to kill her again she tried to rip out Snow White's heart. She was blasted back by a force of magic so strong that she ran from the scene.
Snow White and Charming took back the castle and they didn't see the Evil Queen again for some time. They were soon blessed with a baby girl named Emma. When Emma was born it was a magical event. The lights flickered and the earth shook.
Their daughter was born with magic. The King and Queen kept it a secret because they were afraid of what their people might say. After having lived under the tyranny of the Evil Queen and her magic they didn't want to raise suspicion. Their people had been through enough.
Charming sought out to find someone who could help them understand what was happening with their daughter, the blast that protected Snow, and what was to come. Their daughter was a beautiful blond haired baby girl with big green eyes just like her mother. On the outside she looked just like any other baby.
A woman from one of the villages came to visit with them one day. She seemed kind and good hearted. She told them that Emma had a beautiful aura that glowed around her. The woman had what she referred to as the third eye. She could see the presence of magic. She said that Emma's magic was good and light. They shouldn't worry about their daughter. She also told them that it was probably Emma who protected Snow White from the Evil Queen's attempt to take her heart, even in the womb she was her savior.
The King and Queen felt relieved after talking with the woman. She was asked to keep their story a secret and she agreed to help them. She said that the child had not come into her powers yet. She asked them to call upon her when she did and she would help Emma to learn to control them.
The Evil Queen resolved to find a way to kill Snow White. She needed to find a way to defeat the protection that surrounded her. She continued to learn how to use her magic and made connections in dark places to do it. It was all going as planned until one day she woke up with a start. She had a white streak in her hair and she felt her body grow tired.
She learned that Snow White's daughter, Emma, was born that day. She nearly went out of her mind when she heard the news. She called on Rumplestiltskin again. He reminded her that all magic comes with a price and that the child of Snow White would be her undoing. She should have killed Snow White when she had the chance.
She learned that when Emma fully accepted her magic that Regina would lose hers. She would also begin aging more rapidly as she lost her power. Dark magic had a rather stringent price and since she failed to kill Snow White and pay the price for the power she would lose it all.
Regina begged him for a new deal. He eagerly agreed to it since he would gain tremendously from her desperation. He would provide her with a curse that would remove Emma's powers so that they would never come into full bloom. Regina would continue to keep her power and she would age normally.
The condition was that she needed to make sure that Emma married his son when she became of age. He wanted a royal heir for his throne to completely legitimize his position. He needed a royal to do that. The only way that Emma's curse could be broken was to be kissed by her true love. If she was married to his boy and had a child of his blood there would be no way that her curse could be broken. He created the curse binding his blood with it so that no member of his family or heir would break her curse. Not even a child's love for his mother would help.
The evil pair sealed the deal in blood. She would ensure that the King would encourage Emma to marry his son when the time came and he would give her the curse to suppress Emma's magic. Once the plan was enacted she would never lose her power again. She would also have the knowledge that Snow White's daughter would lose her magic and be separated from her True Love forever just like she was. Her revenge would be complete.
{The Present}
Charming watched his daughter ride off with Killian back towards the water. He continued forward towards Granny's inn so that he could find Ruby and get help. The last time he saw Regina was when she stole Emma's magic. After that no one in their realm knew or heard of her again. It was as if she disappeared.
Snow finally relaxed after Regina was gone and they were able to raise their daughter without the threat of death looming over their heads. Seeing Regina here again brought back all of the old worries. He was afraid to tell Snow what he saw. He reached the inn quickly and he was sadly surprised to see that Regina's carriage was there along with several black knights.
He remained undercover and inched closer when the guards weren't looking. He leaned up against the exterior wall and slid up the wall slowly until he could peer inside. August and Ruby were on their knees in front of Regina with their arms behind their backs. She was interrogating them about Emma's whereabouts.
"I swear I don't know where she is!" shouted August.
"I delivered a letter to the palace. I have no idea what was inside of the letter. I went to the palace and Snow is grieving for the death of her daughter." Said Ruby.
"Peasants!" shouted Regina.
He watched her storm out of the inn and he ducked quickly into the bushes so she couldn't see him. She pulled a mirror out of her pocket.
"Sidney!" she shouted.
Charming listened intently as the mirror came to life in front of her.
"Yes my Queen." Said Sidney.
"The wolf girl knows nothing and the puppet's head is so clouded that I can't read anything from him. Where is she? I need to know where the Princess is hiding." Said Regina.
"I can no longer see her in this realm. You know that you can't read a puppet's thoughts, even a former puppet." Said Sidney.
"Find her! If she fully accepts her magic you will be trapped in there forever! You know I'll lose my magic." shouted Regina.
"I understand my Queen." Said Sidney.
"When I get my hands on Rumplestiltskin he'll be sorry. He was supposed to keep her in the castle with his dolt of a son forever. I kept my part of the bargain and tricked Charming into marrying her off to his brat. He got his wish for a royal heir mixed with his peasant blood. He is going to pay for this blunder!" shouted Regina.
"Yes, my Queen." Said Sidney.
His stomach flipped when he heard her say it. How could he have let her dupe him into marrying his daughter to Rumplestiltskin's son? He felt like a fool. He was so enraged that he wanted to jump out and slay her. He needed to keep calm for his daughter and his wife's sake. They were in danger from the Evil Queen again.
Regina stomped back into the inn. Charming could hear her shouting inside. He listened at the window again. He watched as she wiped August and Ruby's memories of her visit and she rushed out again. He quickly ducked back into the bushes.
She jumped into her carriage and slammed the door. Her guards assembled around her and they started off with a puff of magical dust trailing her carriage. Then they vanished.
Charming rushed into Granny's to find Ruby and August. They were seated at a table having lunch together as if nothing just happened. The rest of the tavern was empty.
"Charming, what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" asked Ruby.
"Ruby, would you both mind coming with me to the castle to talk to my wife? I'll explain everything when we get there. I'm not sure it's safe for me to talk in here. I'm also worried about Snow's safety. It's important we leave right now." said Charming.
"Does this have anything to do with the letter?"asked August.
Charming nodded.
"Ok, let's go." Said Ruby.
"Do you have horses we can use? I need to stop by the docks to check to see if my horse is there too." said Charming.
"Yes, they are around back." Said Ruby.
"OK, I'll get them ready." said Charming.
He rushed out the door.
Ruby smacked August on the arm.
"I told you not to drag me into this. What have you done?"she asked.
"Nothing, I swear!" he said.
They rode to the water front and he found his horse waiting by the docks. He'd been riding with Ruby so he hopped down and grabbed his own horse. He felt relief wash over him. She'd gotten away. He needed to make things right for his daughter. He needed to get to Snow and make sure that she was ok. Who knows where Regina would go next now that she was back in their realm.