Shattered Sight

Gold couldn't help but smirk as he stood beside Piper, observing the town, night having fallen, the curse taking hold, watching as the citizens attacked each other, fighting in the streets, ready to rip each other apart. He looked at Piper to see her observing them with narrowed eyes, her pipe in her hands.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do Pip?" he asked, "It would be far more satisfying to let them end themselves."

She hummed at that, considering his words, "It would," she admitted, "It would be most entertaining to watch, most gratifying to amplify the effects of the curse," she ran a finger along the pipe he'd given her, imagining what her music could do the curse already, "Watch them truly tear themselves apart, the streets running red...rose red...with blood, the horror on the faces of those that survive the breaking of the curse…"

She let out a long, almost wistful breath at that.

"You could do it."

She slowly shook her head, "They are a threat to my family, and I will not allow anything to harm them, least of all their own people."

He nodded at that, looking back at the people, it had hit him, the moment Piper had asked what a Siren would do in such a situation, exactly what they WOULD do. A Siren, a full blooded Siren, would protect their family, from any threat, from every single person in the town if necessary…nothing would harm their family, and now, with the effects of the curse in place…it would be glorious to witness a siren in action.

Her voice, it was deeper, richer, it held a magic in it just from her speaking when she wasn't putting magic into it. The curse had truly taken every dark part of her and brought it to the surface, including her reserves of magic, it had amplified her music inside her, if the curse made her more like a real siren, then so would her magic follow. The power she had in her hands right now, the power she could exert over the town…he was honored he could be there to witness it, it was not something anyone had likely seen in their lifetime.

"You could end them though," he remarked, "They ARE a threat, they would kill the princess and her children, her husband, her grandson…"

"I would thoroughly enjoy it," she nodded, "But this curse is powerful, it fuels them," she frowned, tilting her head as she watched the happiest of dwarves starting to strangle the most dim of them, "And there are many in the town…" she shook her head, sighing with a sorrow in her voice, "They shall live yet, but sleep."

He nodded, understanding what she was saying. Her magic was amplified yes, but it wasn't limitless, a Siren's magic came from within, from their voices. There was only so long a person could play before their physical body shut down and grew raw, there was only so much energy she would have inside her to be able to affect the entire town as she planned.

It took less energy to lull the body to sleep than to cause it to shut down.

For now the town would merely sleep under her lullaby, soothed and quieted, put to rest and securing the safety of her family, something she had thought to do after bestowing the sleeping potion to Pinocchio.

He had to chuckle at that thought, the Snow Queen had been so reliant on the town destroying itself, and now they would barely be able to get a single effective harm in before they were curled up like children where they stood, completely ineffective to her spell. The biggest backfire in the history of magic he'd like to call it. She wanted the town fighting, but instead, the entire town would soon be sleeping. And the fact that Piper believed herself capable of doing that meant that she trusted how powerful she would be under this curse.

"I cannot assist you, Pip," he murmured, a hint of regret in his voice, "The deal with the Snow Queen, I was to stay out of her way if she stayed out of mine."

"You made the deal not to interfere with her plans…" she grinned, "But I made no such bargain."

"No, you didn't," he agreed, yet another loophole the Snow Queen hadn't considered.

"Truth, Rummy," she glanced at him, "I would not request your assistance in this matter."

"No?"

She shook her head slowly, looking back at the town, "I want to do this. I want them to know it. I want them to see what a true Siren could do, to know that their fate rested in my hands."

It was a double edged sword, he knew, for her to do this.

The entire reason she had allowed the spell to take her was the knowledge that, as a Siren, nothing and no one would stop her from keeping her family safe. Becoming the darkest part of her would literally be the only thing that kept the town from becoming a bloodbath while Emma and Elsa tried to break the curse. She did it for the same reason she had done everything in her past, for her family, she was letting herself be consumed by the siren to keep them safe, she was unleashing the truly dark parts of herself for them.

In the end, when the curse was broken and the town woke…he had no doubts that the majority would be fearful of her even still, that she had had such power as to affect the entire town with just her voice, they would ignore and overlook the fact that her music, her lullaby, was the only thing that kept them from killing the people closest to them. A few, a select few, would look at her with more understanding, he hoped, a greater depth in seeing how much she valued her family and would trust her from now on. If, at her very worst, her truly darkest time, she still put her family above anything else.

She wanted it to both be a show of power, but also a point to prove to those that doubted her care for her cousin and family.

"I do, however, have one request," Piper began.

"Anything Pip," he was feeling rather useless being unable to truly help.

"Find Henry," she looked to him, "Keep him safe. I do not doubt Emma or the Queen have taken precautions with him, but I would rather you protect him."

"Of course," he agreed readily, he would rather guard his grandson than let it depend on someone else's magic.

Piper smirked at that, gesturing down to the street and he flicked his wrist, causing a swirl of red smoke to rise around her and deposit her gently on the road. She looked up at him, her dark eyes sparkling with fire, and gave him a deep, wide armed bow of thanks, before she turned to the people, lifting her pipe to her mouth and playing her song.

Gold blinked as he realized her music wasn't affecting him…but very much was affecting those around her. He could see their movements slowing, growing more sluggish as she stepped into the middle of the road, see them swaying before they toppled over like sacks of potatoes, lying where they'd been standing, completely unconscious.

He could see Piper's smirk from there as she began to walk down the middle of the road, playing her song as she went. She wasn't powerful enough to cast her magic over the entire town from where she was standing, music had to be heard for it to work, so she would have to make a round about town, but the people would sleep till she chose to end the spell she'd woven.

He waited, watching till she'd disappeared down the road and around a corner, people falling like flies in her wake, before he transported himself away to find his grandson.

~8~

Emma and Elsa burst out of the sheriff's station, turning to run down the road, needing to find the Snow Queen. The first place they could think to go was the Ice Cream shop, it was the nearest and they just had to check. They ran down the streets, around the corners that would lead them to it…and stopped short around the very last one.

"Whoa," Emma blinked, staring at the road…it was quiet, there wasn't a soul to be seen…awake at least. Everyone was just lying there. She hurried forward to the nearest person, Whale, and pressed her fingers to his neck, "He's alive…" she frowned at that, more confused that he wasn't dead than saddened that he was alive, "What the hell…" she looked around again, everyone was sleeping!

"Emma what is this?" Elsa looked at her, equally startled.

"This, I believe, is something you would have to thank your aunt for," Gold's voice spoke behind them, making them gasp and turn around.

"The Snow Queen?"

"YOUR aunt," Gold clarified, nodding at Emma.

Emma's eyes widened, "Piper did this?"

"That IS her specialty," Gold shrugged, "Controlling beasts, and these people," he gestured at them, "Are little more than beasts at the moment, aren't they?"

"Piper put the whole town to sleep?"

"She's working on it," Gold offered, "A bit of a way to derail the Snow Queen's plans as it were."

"Then she's…" Emma hesitated, "She's still…good? She wasn't affected by the curse?"

"Oh she very much was," Gold sighed, "The spell's pulled all the darkness in her to the surface, all that makes her half-siren is pushed up and exacerbated."

"Wait," Emma shook her head, "You're telling me we've got an actual real Siren running around the town…and putting people to sleep?" that made no sense, "Wouldn't she just…just kill everyone?"

"She would," Gold agreed, "She's very disappointed that she's losing this opportunity."

"Then why's she doing this?" Emma threw her hand out at the people.

"Because of you, dearie."

"Me?"

"You are her family, as is Snow White, and Henry, little Neal, a siren allows no one to harm them. And this entire town is now a threat to them. So what do YOU think a Siren would do?"

"Stop them," Emma breathed, her eyes widening, "She's putting the town to sleep to keep them from hurting mom and me and…"

"Yes," Gold nodded, "But not even her energy is everlasting, she will tire soon, Emma. You and your little Ice Queen need to stop this, and stop this now."

"Why can't YOU do it?" Emma asked, "You're the Dark One! Can't you just…zap yourself to the Snow Queen and…"

"And?"

"And rip her heart out or something? Make her change this?"

Gold chuckled at that, "I'd be careful if I were you, Miss Swan. You almost sound as though the curse got to you."

Emma narrowed her eyes at that, "Gold!"

"Those ribbons on your wrist," he nodded at her, "I can feel the light magic from here. This curse is dark magic, you require light magic to fight it, of which, I have none. I'm afraid this is up to you."

"So that's it then, we have to kill the Snow Queen to stop this?"

"It appears so," he let out a breath.

"Can't you help us?" Elsa stepped beside Emma, "There must be something at least that you can do."

"There is," he nodded, "In fact, that's why I'm here," he looked at Emma, "Pip requests I guard your boy. I could go to my shop, find a magical item to find him, but this would be quicker if you would impart that information to me."

"How do I know you're not under the curse?" Emma asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Dark One, dearie," he held out his hands, "I'm already as dark as I can get. I'm immune."

Emma let out a breath at that, but was silent.

"Don't you trust me?" he smirked.

"I trust Piper."

"And she trusts me," he reminded Emma, "Now, we can go back and forth debating the merits of a Siren's trust…" he emphasized the word, reminding Emma that Piper was as good as a full Siren at this moment, that she would put her family's safety above everything, and if SHE had asked him to guard the boy then it was in his best interests to do so, "Or, you can tell me where your boy is so I can ensure no one harms him."

Emma's lips pursed, but she sighed, "He's in Regina's office."

Gold tipped his head at that and disappeared in a swirl of red smoke.

~8~

"Hello Snow White."

Anna, sister of Elsa, jumped at the voice behind her as she stood in the Sheriff's station, the baby, Neal, in his little cot on the table to her right, her fiancé handcuffed to a desk to her left, Snow White and Prince Charming locked in cells before her. Emma and Elsa had left her in charge of guarding them and now there was someone else there! She quickly grabbed a strange metal bat and turned, "Who are you?!" she demanded, ready to attack if she had to.

The blonde woman in the doorway just rolled her eyes, looking at the woman in the cell.

"Rosie," Mary Margaret smiled, a sneering quality to it.

"You know her?" Anna looked between them, not sure if she should keep the bat raised, the blonde didn't seem to be about to attack, not like the people outside the window were.

"Hello cousin," Piper continued to look at Mary Margaret, ignoring Anna whose eyes widened at that, slowly lowering the bat in shock.

"Hello traitor," Mary Margaret shot back, her sneer turning to a glare.

Piper merely crossed her arms, leaning on the doorway, tilting her head to eye her cousin, "Traitor, am I? Ooh…" she murmured mockingly, "That hurts."

"What are you doing here?" Mary Margaret demanded, gripping the bars, "Shouldn't you be out there, killing everyone in sight by now?"

"That is truly the best you can do?" she nearly laughed at that, sounding more like she was taunting the woman. She…didn't know why she had entered the station. She had sworn to avoid her family as best she could, keep them all safe by keeping them away from her at the same time. She knew she was in a dangerous state, she didn't know how she would react to them under this…new feeling inside her, she hadn't wanted to risk them…yet here she was, standing across the room from her cousin.

"How many have you slaughtered so far?" David called, a dark grin on his face as though he were trying to harm her with his words.

Sad for him that she wasn't interested.

"You should go," Anna called, wanting the woman out of there if she was just going to antagonize the others.

"I should," Piper considered that, pushing off the door to walk further into the room, making her way right to Mary Margaret's cell, "Before I depart, though…tell me truly Snow, tell me what you think of me now."

THAT was why she was there, she realized it now. She could remember before this…curse happened, she could remember the woman tearfully apologizing, taking back words of mistrust…but this curse. It was freeing, it let you see the darkest in others, express your deepest thoughts and worst feelings. She wanted to know, while they were open in such a way, what her cousin REALLY thought of her.

Mary Margaret smirked, leaning in, "I think you're a monster," she whispered to Piper, almost sing-songing her words, "I think," she stepped closer, curling her hands around the bars more firmly, "Your mother must have put a spell on my uncle, to make him love her because," she snorted a laugh, "NO ONE could love a woman like Ilayda or maybe he did," she shrugged, "And he was just as cruel and vicious as a siren was on the inside. And I think that it was a blessing Regina burned down your kingdom instead of giving you the chance to rule it. You ruined your life, Rosie, you tarnished your soul, put blood on your hands, let your heart harden to this?" she gestured at Piper, laughing in a scoffing way, "Your true love is the Dark One for god's sake! Just imagining what your kingdom would have been like, it's a good thing it was destroyed," she shook her head, "You're a failure of a mother, a traitor of a cousin, you let me think you were DEAD!" and now she was angry, "You let me grieve you, for years, while you played mistress of the Dark Castle, while you murdered and laid waste to villages. You let me think I was alone!" she leaned in close to the bars, glaring at Piper, breathing hard, "I think, no," she tilted her head, "I KNOW…that I hate you, Piper, I hate who you are, I hate what you are, I hate that becoming this destroyed my cousin, though," she let out a mocking pout, "She was a little bit of a brat, wasn't she? A freak? A monster? No, I guess you didn't kill her, you always were her, weren't you, this was always what she was going to be?" she eyed Piper up and down, "A monster, from the moment you were born, and that's all you'll be, that's all your children will be…IF you ever have any that is," she snorted, "Maybe the universe knows what demon spawn they would be and is trying to save us all that disgusting, disturbing horror."

Anna tensed, her hands gripping the bat as she watched the two women, tears in her eyes for the truly horrible things that Snow White of all people was saying to a woman that was apparently her cousin…

If she thought that Piper would have lashed out, struck at Mary Margaret, tried to hurt her or strangle her or…something…

She was actually very wrong.

Because all Piper did was grin and start to laugh, "Ooh, I almost like you like this Snow," she murmured, "You are far more honest when you care not if you shall harm me."

Mary Margaret frowned at that, seeming equally surprised by how the woman was taking her words.

"And as much as I would love to set you on the town," she glanced at Charming, "Or on your dear husband," she mused, stepping back, "I must take my leave of you," she held out her arms, "I have a town to slaughter after all. That IS what Sirens do, is it not?"

Anna watched, completely shocked, as Piper did just that, turned and walked out of the room, "Ok," she shook her head, looking at the others, "Was that normal? I mean for this cursey thing? Is that a normal reaction? Because I wanted to slap you and I'm not even cursed. I mean, I was cursed but…"

"Oh shut up," Mary Margaret sneered at her.

Anna winced, "Right."

~8~

Gold appeared in the hallway just outside of Regina's office in Town Hall, eyeing the protection spell the woman had placed before the door and smirked, he had taught her that spell, he could easily remove it…but he wouldn't. His grandson was inside that room and, for now, he was safe. If anyone else with magic, a fairy or who ever, tried to change that…well, the boy was HIS grandson and no one was going to harm him. So he turned and settled himself against the wall just opposite the door, and remained standing there, waiting, watching…

"And what are you doing here, captain?" Gold muttered, seeing Hook striding down the hall, having waved his hand to add to the protection spell a sound-proof quality so that Henry wouldn't hear them outside.

"Where's the fish?" Hook countered with a sneer, "She turn homicidal on you yet?"

"On the town perhaps," Gold smirked, seeing Hook's expression falter at how HE wasn't the one in danger, "But never me. You…" he considered the man, "Perhaps, the both of us, if you don't tell me what you're doing here."

"None of your business."

"Given that there is only one person in this building, I think it very much IS my business," he narrowed his eyes at Hook, "I could order you to tell me…"

Hook muttered a curse under his breath before huffing, "I came for the boy. It's like swimming with sharks out there. The minute one of them tastes blood, they'll tear each other apart. I want to get him away from that."

"By dragging him through it?" Gold scoffed, "Count your blessings you're not one of them and leave Henry's protection to me."

Hook frowned at that, "Why was I spared the cloud's curse?"

"Because your heart wasn't in your chest, dearie," he said simply.

"Neither is yours," Hook pointed out, "It's in the fish."

Gold rolled his eyes at that, was that truly the best name people could come up with for Piper? He shook his head, "But I do have A heart in me," he countered, "You have none. It was in my shop with me at the time. In protective custody, so to speak."

"Why is it still beating then?" Hook frowned at him, "The Snow Queen is going to tear the town apart. Wouldn't it…cast blame off you to crush it now, leave the others to think it was one of my other enemies? My own crew?"

Gold knew what he was doing, trying to bait him into doing it, into not controlling him any longer, but he wasn't ready and it wasn't time and it wasn't as though the man would be able to speak of this to anyone afterwards, "The time isn't right," he said simply, "Tomorrow night, when the stars in the sky align with the stars in the hat, I shall finally cleave myself from this dagger and that, dearie, is where and when your heart comes in."

"So I have until tomorrow night to find a way to stop you."

"I dare you to try," Gold smirked, "But you'll find your heart just…isn't in it," he chuckled darkly, "And now, unless you really, really have no need for that tongue, I suggest you slither back outside into the hostile current and leave the guarding of my grandson to ME."

Hook's jaw clenched at that, knowing Gold would banish him to the middle of the carnage if he didn't leave now, but he wouldn't let it go without a few parting words, "You won't win. Villains never do."

"Then it appears YOU shall lose as well, doesn't it?"

Hook shot him one more glare before turning to stalk away.

~8~

Piper drifted through the forests around Storybrooke, having made it through the majority of the town by now, nearly everyone within the town's roads was asleep now, all of them save a select few she wanted awake come the end of the curse, the sheriff's station, Town Hall, but she had gotten nearly the entire town, and all that was left was the forests around the town. She knew that Robin and his men had taken to the woods, a few others had joined them…or targeted the men, whichever the case was she cared not so long as they were taken care of as well.

She was nearing the end of her trek when she paused in her playing as she heard a grunting noise and lowered her pipe, a familiar song playing ahead of her that had her smirking as she stepped out from the bushes to see…

"Robin Hood," she greeted, eyeing him tied to a tree nearby the cemetery and straining to free himself.

"Release me!" the man nearly snarled at her, struggling to get out, "Release me now!"

She tsked at him, "Rude."

"Do it!" he snapped.

She tilted her head, her dark eyes observing him, he seemed…determined, "Why should I?"

"I need to find her," he snapped, "She should be dead!"

"Who?" she inquired, "The Queen?"

"No," he nearly growled.

Her eyes widened minutely at the firmness in his voice, he truly was not intending to seek out the queen, "If you seek not the queen, then whom do you seek?"

"Marian."

The venom that came with that one word would have shocked her if she hadn't found herself so amused by it, "Your little forest maid is whom you desire to kill?" she raised an eyebrow at that.

"Yes," he strained against the ropes.

"And why is that?" as far as she was aware, the entire reason he'd lost his darling wife in the first place was Regina and her dungeons…

"She's the reason I can't be with my soulmate!" Robin nearly snarled at that.

"And you wish to be?" she asked, "Even now?"

"She's standing in our way," Robin glared at her, "I want her gone."

Piper let out a dark chuckle at that, "Well, well, well," she murmured, "That IS an interesting turn of events," she slowly neared him, moving before him to look into his eyes. And she could see it, the dark desire that came with wanting to murder someone, to take revenge, to get what you wanted, "I shall finish my work soon," she remarked, moving to the side, around the tree, "I shall need some form of entertainment."

And, with that, she pulled the Dark One's dagger out of her boot and sliced through the ropes securing Robin to the tree. The man barely stumbled as he was released from it, taking off into the woods, away from the cemetery, his eyes firmly on the ground as though looking for some sort of trail that would lead him to his frozen wife.

She smirked at that, it would be rather interesting to observe Robin Hood actually attempting to crush the heart of his beloved Maid Marian, what a tale for the epic love stories of old.

Her thoughts were cut off, however, when she heard an angry scream echoing to the left, in the direction of the cemetery, one that sounded remarkably like the Queen screaming 'SWAN!'

She hurried towards the cemetery, coming to the edge of it, within sight of the Queen's mausoleum where it appeared she had locked herself in, to see Emma and Elsa bolting through the aisles of gravestones, and the Queen, dressed in her old gown, about to follow them, actually giving chance instead of transporting herself with magic. The look on the Queen's face, the murderous rage, was enough for Piper to narrow her eyes and pull her pipe to her lips once more, letting out a piercing note that rang through the night, causing the Queen to stumble and cover her ears the moment it reached her.

Piper stepped out of the shadows, moving through the cemetery towards the Queen, playing more and more as she drew nearer, staring down at the woman trying to keep the music out, her body so pained her mind couldn't even process to use her magic to disappear. She took a breath in through her nose and forced herself to change the tune, lessening the pain, making it more soothing, lulling the woman to a deep sleep then and there. Henry, that was the word echoing through her mind, this woman was important to her nephew, her nephew would be crushed and hurt and hate her if she did anything to harm his one mother…so to sleep she went.

Piper took a breath as she finished the song, looking to the left where Emma and Elsa had run off, panting slightly as she started to feel the effects of the use of her magic reach her. She was using up her energy, and that was after taking precautions not to use too much of it in truly ending the town. But the town was now asleep, all of them save a few…and she had energy enough for one last quest.

Her cousin and Neal were safe, the town was asleep.

Her nephew was safe, Gold was watching over him.

Now…now it was time to ensure her niece was safe as well.

~8~

"You two have no idea how long I've waited for this moment," the voice of the Snow Queen spoke behind Emma and Elsa as they stood in her icy lair, having come to confront her, causing them to jump and spin around, instantly defensive. The small smile on her face faded when she saw that there was something distinctly missing from their wrists, "Your ribbons, what have you done?"

"I'm not much for accessories," Emma defended.

It had been hell getting the ribbons off. They'd confronted the Snow Queen at her ice cream shop…only to realize their magic didn't work against her. The ribbons protected her from magical attacks from them so they'd tried to get them off. They'd gone to Gold's shop, looking for anything that would cut them off but there was nothing…till they'd realized the ribbons operated on love…and all they needed was as equally hateful magic to destroy them. Which had led them to Regina's vault, had led to her antagonizing the woman into launching a fireball at them that destroyed the ribbons. She'd blasted Regina back with magic and they'd bolted, needing to find the Snow Queen before Regina caught up to them and they'd done it.

Now it was time for this to end.

"Those ribbons joined us together!" the Snow Queen frowned at them.

"Get it through your head, lady," Emma glared, "We're not your sisters and we're never gonna love you!"

"Oh, Emma," she sighed, "I know that you actually believe that. And it makes me sad. But I know that sadness won't last because soon, you'll see you're wrong."

"Don't do it!" Emma shouted, lifting her hands to call on her magic when she saw the woman move to a small cushioned bench and lean over to grab something. The Snow Queen just turned to them, holding out her hands with two purple stones resting on them, "The hell are those?"

"They're memories I took from the two of you," she smiled, "And now it's time to give them back."

"Why?" Emma shook her head, "So we can remember just how badly you treated us?"

"The funny thing about time is we romanticize the good and forget the bad. That's exactly what's in these crystals. These are the good memories and nothing else. Lovely moments the two of you shared with me, which I'll cherish forever and now…so will you."

"I hate to break it to you, but magic can't make someone love you."

"You're right, Emma," she nodded, standing, "Magic can't create love. But if someone loved you in the past, it can make them love you again. And I know you've forgotten, Emma, but you did love me," she slowly walked towards them, "You both did," she looked between them, before passing past them, towards her mirror, "That's why, right now, you're not doing anything," she smiled at the empty mirror, "We all know the only way to stop me is to kill me, and you're both hesitating," she turned to face them, seeing them glancing at each other, "You don't have it in you."

"But I do!" a voice shouted behind her before she stiffened, gasping, her body tensing in pain, before she fell to her knees, revealing Piper behind her, holding a red, beating heart in her hand.

"Piper!" Emma gasped.

Piper stared at the heart in her hand a moment, her face expressionless though Emma felt she almost appeared surprised that that had worked, before she looked up at Emma, over the Snow Queen's fallen form, the woman still living, gasping and clutching at her chest, not having expected that.

Emma actually stepped back at the sight of Piper…it almost didn't look like her any longer. Her hair…it seemed lighter, paler, straighter, her eyes were dark, almost black, her skin paler. Her entire presence gave off a dark feel, but…a protective one as well. She stepped forward once more to where she'd been, not feeling threatened despite the dangerous look on Piper's face or the fact that she was holding someone's heart in her hand, looking all too ready to crush it. It was like there was a magic wafting off her that even she could sense, and all of it felt…safe. To her, it felt safe, like SHE was safe.

Glancing at Elsa, though, she could tell that she was the only one in the lair that felt that way.

"Emma," Piper greeted, straightening, lowering her arm holding the heart to look down at the Snow Queen, "Queen Ingrid," she sneered.

"What have you done?!" the Snow Queen gasped, scrambling to her feet and turning to face Piper, "What…" she seemed shocked to see her heart in Piper's hand, the red, beating organ appearing to have a bit of frost around the edges of it.

"I am terribly sorry to tell you that your plan has failed," Piper stated, not sounding sorry at all, "The town is safe, your 'sisters' are free, and now…" she held up the heart, "Now this ends…"

"Piper stop!" Emma shouted, seeing Piper starting to squeeze the heart, driving the Snow Queen to her knees in pain.

"No," Piper shook her head, squeezing more, "This ends now, you…" she stepped closer to the Snow Queen as she gasped, agony racing through her from the pressure on her heart, "You wished for a family," her lip curled in a snarl, "You should not have tried to take MINE…"

"Piper!" Emma started forward.

"Stop!" Piper commanded, her voice oozing her magic, making Emma and Elsa's feet freeze in place.

"What?" Emma looked up, startled.

"This is the ONLY way Emma!" Piper snapped at her, not about to attack her family but not about to let Emma stop her either, "To destroy the curse is to destroy the one that cast it," she looked down at the Snow Queen, "Ooh do not look so startled, your majesty," she mock-cooed at the woman, now staring up at her with tears in her wide, fearful, wounded eyes, "THIS is what you wanted, is it not?! You wanted us to see our darkest selves. You wanted us to become the worst of our hearts…well now I AM," she brought the Snow Queen's heart before her, "NOW I am a Siren, that is what I am, that is my darkest self," she crouched down to look the woman in the eyes as she squeezed the heart more, "You wanted us like this, now you must bear the consequences of what it means to threaten a Siren's family."

Emma could only watch in shock as Piper squeezed the Snow Queen's heart, staring right into the Snow Queen's eyes, watching the woman watch her as she crushed it to dust, the Snow Queen falling, lifeless to the ground moments later.

"How could you…" Elsa began.

But Piper snapped her head towards Elsa, "I did what you could not," she looked between the two women, "I shall always do what my family cannot. I will NOT allow you to blacken your heart if I can take the burden from you, Emma," Piper told her. She hadn't been expecting to do this, hadn't even thought to try, till she'd seen the Evil Queen running after her niece, intent to kill...and it hit her, to stop the Snow Queen, Emma, her niece, would have to KILL the woman...and that had set her off, that had jarred her enough to have her follow, that sliver of love and that promise she'd made to her cousin so long ago reminding her that protection wasn't just physical, but so many other forms. And this? Doing this, keeping Emma from having to do it, was protecting her.

Emma swallowed hard at that, at the promise in her voice, and she knew…she could remember, her mother saying something about that. How her cousin, how Piper, had told her once, promised her, that she would do the darker deeds, that she would do whatever it took to keep Snow White's heart pure, to take on the burdens that the heroes couldn't. The only way to stop the curse was to kill the Snow Queen…and she was right, she and Elsa had hesitated, they hadn't been able to muster killing the woman…

Would she have?

She couldn't even answer if she'd actually be able to kill the Snow Queen just to end the curse, as much as she told herself she would, to keep her family safe, when she'd been given the opportunity to do it…she HAD hesitated.

Piper hadn't.

Piper had taken that terrible burden, that stain that would have been on her heart, for herself.

"Thank you," Emma breathed, feeling tears in her eyes as she looked at the woman that literally put her family above everything else.

She was a siren now, she was the…dark creature that everyone feared…and she had come here, after putting the town to sleep, to save her mother, to help HER face the Snow Queen. Because she hadn't wanted HER to have to kill someone…in cutting the ribbons she'd made the Snow Queen vulnerable, in being there she'd made the Snow Queen distracted, and in being who she was, she'd driven Piper to kill the woman instead, to do what…she was sure now…she and Elsa wouldn't have been able to do.

Piper looked up, as though hearing something above them, "We must leave," she turned and hurried to the doorway.

"What…" Emma began, when the room started to shake, what looked like shards of the mirror starting to fly in through the ceiling, gathering around the Snow Queen's body, the entire icy lair starting to rumble and tremble, ice starting to fall from the ceiling.

"Go!" Elsa pushed her on, the two of them hurrying after Piper, the three racing out the door as they heard crashing behind them as the structure collapsed, the curse ended, the Snow Queen's power unable to keep it erect any longer.

They gasped as they reached the forest line, turning to see the ice cavern collapsing with the Snow Queen inside it. And then, from the top of the structure, what looked like a swirl of white snow, not reflective bits of mirror, rose into the air and went flying away from them and towards the town.

"Is that…" Emma murmured.

Elsa nodded, smiling, "It's over…"

"We must get back to the town," Piper said suddenly.

"Right," Emma nodded, starting to smile too, "You need to wake everyone up," she reached out to Piper, offering her a hand, taking Elsa's as well, "I…sorta want to try something," she admitted, Piper taking her hand and the three of them disappeared in a swirl of white smoke.

~8~

Emma let out a whoop of joy when her attempt at magically transporting not just herself but Elsa and Piper was successful and they appeared right in the middle of main street, white flurries floating down around them, covering the people still lying there, asleep, in a thin layer of it. But there were others there, Mary Margaret, David, Anna, Kristoff, Regina, Gold, and Henry were there, awake and aware and seeming to be reuniting and talking about what to do next when they appeared in a flash of white magic.

"Emma!" Mary Margaret gasped, rushing to hug her daughter at the same time Henry called, 'Mom!' and went to do the same.

"Anna!" Elsa beamed, hurrying to hug her sister, even pulling Kristoff into the hug as well.

"Piper," Gold's greeting was more subdued than the others, his steps towards Piper more cautious, his expression more concerned as he observed her standing there, seeming almost to be swaying, blinking slowly, "Pip…" he watched her closely, seeing her eyes starting to fade from their darker colors to her usual green as the snow began to affect her.

"I take it we have you to thank for this?" David let out a chuckle at her, gesturing at the people, sounding almost grateful.

Mary Margaret gasped as she turned to Piper, opening her mouth to furiously apologize for everything she'd said, when her expression morphed instantly to concern, "Rose?"

"Aunt P?" Henry joined in, noticing that something was wrong with Piper as well.

"Rummy…" Piper breathed, her voice coming out far too weak and crackling, her face turning an unnaturally pale shade, her breath weak and shallow, before she managed to look up and lock eyes with Gold, "Help…"

Gold nearly leapt forward when Piper collapsed where she was standing, crumpling to the ground, nearly slamming her head against the street had he not managed to catch her in time.

Instantly, at the same moment she fell, the people on the streets gasped and sat up, as though waking suddenly from a deep sleep, disoriented and startled and looking around for their bearings.

"Rose!" Mary Margaret screamed, hurrying over to her unconscious cousin's side, trying to shake her awake, "Rose!"

Emma was at her side in an instant, pressing her fingers to Piper's neck, her eyes widening in concern, "We need to get her to the hospital! Now!"

Gold didn't even pause a moment, surrounding them in a swirl of red smoke just as Piper's head lulled to the side, her body falling limp, her chest ceasing to rise…

A/N: It might be a bit of a let down that Piper didn't rampage through the town slaughtering everyone in her path lol, but I hope that ending made up for it }:D Just some of my reasonings for events in this chapter to follow:

For Piper's lack of bloodshed, I feel like Sirens are largely misunderstood in the story and Piper is aware enough that her family is in danger if the town is left to its own devices, so SHE has to step up and do something to keep them safe. Family comes before almost anything to a Siren. But she also knows she has to be smart and calculated in how she does it to really be able to keep them safe and that's what's allowing her to put them to sleep instead of kill them all, Sirens will do what keeps their family safe from the most people...and she knows she doesn't have the energy to kill every single person in the town, that she'd likely get halfway through and run out and then her family would be in danger again. Relaxing someone and lulling them takes less energy and she needs her energy if she confronts someone that would attack her or if she confronted the Snow Queen. I feel like there's also something very sinister about the fact that Piper, eventually, could have that much power that her music could affect everyone the way it did, so quickly and powerfully, that she had that much power over them and likely DOES have some semblance of that power inside her without the curse. She could cause so much chaos in the town without a curse on her that to realize how easily she'd gotten them all asleep might be chilling to some.

And also, it would show, to some, the misunderstanding of Sirens being these vile, villainous, evil creatures in how she could have just rampaged, but even under the darkest sort of curse, her family still came first. It would prove a point to some not to mistrust her if, instead of turning into a savage like the rest did, her sole focus was her family. I also really wanted her to be able to 'stick it' to the Snow Queen in that she had this elaborate and devious plot to cause a bloodbath, and one single person with a wooden pipe that should have, by her reckoning, turned the most violent of all...stopped it and put everyone to sleep. It would also explain the lack of a body count that the show gave us too ;)

For Robin though, that was something I really wanted to explore if someone came across him. What would HIS darkness be like? I feel like it would be assumed that he'd want to go after Regina, for 'killing' his wife and all that. But seeing Regina continue to call Robin her true love even under that spell and get SO angry at Emma when she used Robin to hurt her, after all the pain that Robin caused her (in picking Marian), to see her not even consider or think to hunt him down and make him hurt...it made me curious if it was a soulmate thing. We saw Snowing turn on each other and they are true loves, what if the soulmate bond went much deeper to the point where, even at their darkest, they still loved the other, in a twisted sort of way? If Regina didn't even consider going after Robin, maybe Robin wouldn't have considered going after Regina. But if he didn't go after her, then who else would he target?

And that was where the sort of 'dark/twisted' love came in. What if, because Regina is his soulmate, he would have wanted to go after Marian instead, what if, under the spell, his darkest thoughts were to take the obstacle keeping him from his soulmate out? And, it fit with Piper's uncaring for her life and desire to see it ended, let him go and do it.

The show made the curse seem like it would be the WORST thing ever, that people would be truly the darkest they could ever be...yet all we got was Snowing bickering and David calling Kristoff Iceman? Was one of the Dwarves shouting at another to talk? Was Henry calling Hook dirty? Really? Under the curse, people might expect that Robin would think badly of Regina, because of the whole 'dungeon' thing with his wife, but that's not really dark is it? If you expect it, if you figure that he'd be angry about it, it's not really dark but normal. If he chose Marian instead to target, now THAT is dark, to want her out of the picture, to want his wife gone so that he could be with the Evil Queen? THAT is truly dark and evil and the worst of it all }:)

For Snow, I really wanted Piper to confront her, just to see what she'd say. I debated if Piper would attack Snow back but she's going through the whole town, putting people to sleep to keep Snow safe and she's aware there's a curse on the woman. I couldn't see her attacking Snow but more laughing because she knows it's a curse making her say that and that the woman is still her family and she's doing all this to protect her so she wouldn't just attack her. I feel like, at her worst and knowing Snow's being manipulated by a curse that's forcing her to see people as evil and dark, she'd be more amused by the words coming out of Snow White's mouth. And it might just be amusing, to her, to see Snow sort of grovel and apologize later ;)

And, lastly, the death of the Snow Queen, I feel like it wasn't really changing much to have Piper end her instead of Emma or Elsa as Emma and Elsa DIDN'T do it in the show either. I felt like the entire plot by the Snow Queen didn't really make sense and that her ending was ok in the show, but a little lacking a sort of epic confrontation. With Regina knocked out, there was no reason for Anna to be at the beach and find the letter from her mother (which we'll see in the next episode-chapter, along with talk of the lost memories for Elsa and Emma), there was no reason for her to confront the Snow Queen. There was no reason for the Snow Queen then to apologize or realize the 'error of her way' and all that. Which left only one option, she had to go to end the curse. Piper is at her darkest now, she's not going to care if the Snow Queen begs, if Emma pleads with her, if anyone tries to stop her. This woman attacked her family, manipulated her true love, cursed her cousin and put her entire family in danger, and, on top of that, was threatening to take her niece away...and she wouldn't care about anything else if it meant stopping the Snow Queen. She was genuinely surprised that she was able to get the woman's heart out of her, she really did expect that only Emma and Elsa could stop her, but she saw an opening, she went for it, and it was working, so she wasn't going to stop. The Snow Queen was the biggest threat to her family, so the Siren took her out }:)

Some notes on reviews...

Oh no, I think she should have killed them too lol :) It definitely has a part in the near-removal of her magic for why she didn't attack back yup ;) Charming sort of knows that his brother had captured Piper, and he knows she was hurt while there, but he doesn't really know the full reasons behind it or her time there and Piper isn't willing to talk about that with him, especially when he looks like James :( Eventually he'll find out about what she went through yup, though when I was writing this story, it seems more like that bonding between her and David will come out in Season 5 }:) I don't enjoy it...but I sort of enjoy the reactions to it though, which is probably a little evil lol :) That's cool, usually the actress isn't 100% how I see an OC, just the closest I can picture :)

I can say that I do have a character planned for the future that's already 'mad' and there will be talk in the past of how she became so and how it grew more apparent as she got older though. She'll have a more subtle madness than another character in that story, but I also want to show, with her, as it's Doctor Who, how it can change and come across in different forms with each regeneration which will be very interesting to get into the head of and see how the same thing displays and appears differently with each personality :)