Chapter thirty

Anton looked in earnest for the intruders.

He had been quietly dozing when the two humans had invaded his peace. The moment he had heard the beginnings of their petty argument he knew that neither of the trespassers deserved to live and he was determined to make sure that they didn't. The only issue was that they seemed to be better coordinated than they first appeared, as they each scampered off in opposite directions, no doubt looking to steal some of his treasure.

Loudly the giant stomped around, but it seemed as though they had each disappeared into thin air. That was until he saw a wisp of movement from behind a pillar.

A huge smile adorned his face as he approached, to find a short haired woman pointing a tiny arrow at him. She shot it a moment later, he batted away the tiny annoying stick, before he bent down and picked her up from the back of her jumper.

"Who are you?" he bellowed.

The woman seemed to get paler at his question and she began stuttering incomprehensibly.

Just as he was about to crush her, he felt his wrist cramp, the woman dropped to the ground with a small yelp. Anton looked down, fully expecting the woman to be crushed by her fall, only to find her floating inches from the ground.

"You idiot," a voice sighed from behind the giant.

Anton turned to see a woman retracting her hand, one of them has magic, he realised fearfully.

"Why have you invaded my home?"

"We just need to get what we need and we'll be on our way," the magical brunette answered.

Anton clenched his jaw, why do all humans have to be so entitled?

Deciding that death would be too good for the duo that had ruined his day, he bent down and picked both of them up. Before either of them could do anything in response he threw them into one of the many cages dotted around for human intruders.

"Well unless it is in there, you won't be finding it any time soon," he replied. With one last look to see that they were truly trapped, he stomped away to leave to them starve.

"We've been in here for half an hour," Snow sighed.

Regina rolled her eyes as she continued to inspect the lock, "I'm well aware, you can't possibly blame me for the lock being enchanted."

Snow huffed and crossed her arms, and she spent the next few moments in silence.

"Why did you do it?"

"What have I done now?" Regina huffed, as she completed the last unlocking spell she knew and fell to a sitting position in defeat.

"You saved me from the giant," Snow whispered.

Regina raised her eyebrow at the other woman, "and why wouldn't I do that?"

"If I had died than you could have just told Emma that it was an accident."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Regina laughed.

Snow gave her a look of outrage and the queen rolled her eyes.

"Still can't take a joke?"

"I suppose I'm just not used to you making them," Snow replied after a moment.

A moment of silence fell between them, before Regina finally answered her question, "Emma needs you."

"No she doesn't, she's a grown woman."

"You have a lot to catch up on then, believe me, our dear saviour is quite uncouth," Regina laughed.

A small smirk came across Snow's face as she thought about her daughter's mannerisms.

"How are we going to get out of here?" she asked eventually.

"I've tried everything," Regina sighed as she gestured towards the lock.

Snow stared at the lock for a moment, before she asked, "does it have to be a spell?" Regina shrugged and Snow added, "can you conjure lock picks?"

"You know how to pick a lock?" Regina scoffed, though she was secretly ashamed that she hadn't thought of this simple solution.

"Bandit," Snow replied while pointing at herself.

Regina raised her eyebrow, but despite this she waved her hand and a set of lock picks appeared.

"So assuming this works, what is your great plan for dealing with the giant?"

"Emma said that he's friendly, so we just need to be friendly," Snow reasoned as he began her work on the lock, it clicked a moment later with the gate swinging open.

"And how do you suppose we prevent ourselves from being crushed while we're being 'friendly'?" Regina asked.

Snow thought this through for a moment, before she nodded, "okay, you paralyse him and then I'll explain what's going on."

"And if he still wants to kill us?"

Snow shrugged, "to be honest, the first plan usually works for me."

"Of course it does, "Regina whispered as she began to follow her ex-stepdaughter back towards the giant.

"What are you going to do to me?" Henry asked from his tied up position.

Cora looked up from the book that she had been reading and narrowed her eyes, "I told you to be quiet."

The boy continued to resist against the magical rope tying him to a chair, and eventually with a sigh he gave up and sat back. Instead he decided to inspect his surroundings. He was in a strangely ominous place that he had never seen before, though he had a feeling that he knew what it was. When Emma had sent them to get Cora's heart, Regina had refused to allow him to enter the vault, now surrounded by the sound of beating hearts and the creepy looking magical instruments, he was glad that she had so adamantly said no.

"What are you going to do to my mom?" he tried again.

Cora growled and snapped the book shut, "it is difficult for me to enjoy Regina's vast library with all the interruptions."

The woman stalked towards him, and Henry felt fear grip at him. Is this how mom used to feel when she was young? He wondered.

"She won't let you hurt me," Henry said weakly as he tried to lean away from her.

Waving her hand over his face, his head lolled to the side, and the boy began to make soft snoring sounds that anyone with a heart would have found cute.

"Oh, I am counting on it," she replied to the unconscious boy.

A/N Hope you guys enjoyed :)

Also QueenApples and I were discussing pairings, and we thought about RedBeauty and GoldenHeart (pretty sure that's the name for Cora/Rumpel lol) but if we did do this than I would need to pair Graham with someone else, any thoughts? Perhaps Tinkerbell? or would you guys prefer him to stay with Ruby and then have Rumbelle and no Cora pairing?