A/N Here's another chapter! Please review and don't be afraid to shoot me a message!
3rd Person POV
Cora stands over the unconscious woman. With a smile, she raises her hands and starts the enchantment. After a couple minutes, her hands fall to her sides and she takes a step are no physical changes to the woman on the ground but inside her, dark tendrils swim around. All of a sudden, the woman sits up right, gasping for breath. Her once blue eyes now black.
Cora smiles slyly. "Perfect." She laughs with glee.
Nova's POV:
"Ah!" I gasp as I jolt upright on my bed. Panting, I search around the room. Realising it was a dream, i calm my breathing and run a hand through my hair. What was that all about? Slowly, more parts of the dream return to me. I try to remember who the woman was on the ground but her face was too fuzzy in my mind.
Why did she feel so familiar to me? I rub my arms, suddenly feeling a cold breeze. I glance at the clock beside me, realising it's time to open the shop. I quickly get dressed and start down the stairs until I stop before destiny's room.
I raise my hand to knock on her door but I stop. The event yesterday replays through my mind, reminding me why checking on her may not be a great idea. Besides, I didn't hear her come back to the shop. Half heartedly, I rush down to the counter. I pull the key out from under my shirt and unlock the register then go unlock the door, flipping over the closed sign. I walk back to the kitchen and grab a tray of cupcakes I had made last night. I hear the front door jingle and I sigh. This is going to be a long day.
At 5 o'clock my watch beeps, signaling that it's closing time. I grab my wallet and phone from out of the counter. I go around and clean the plates and napkins off the tables, throwing them all in the trash. I flip the closed sign over and lock the door behind me. This morning I had made plans with Gold to talk about how he was going to deal with this Cora situation. I had texted Destiny about it hoping she'd come but since she didn't show up to work, I'm not sure she'll come.
To be honest, it was weird not having her around.
I walk over to Gold's shop, greeting some people on the way. Before I open the door, I hear muffled voices inside. Curious, I slowly open the door. As I enter, Gold and his customer turn to me. I couldn't help but freeze as I see that his customer was actually Destiny.
I rest my gaze on Gold.
"Sorry. Am I interrupting something?"
Destiny walks over to me.
"Hey. Don't worry. We were just making small talk while we were waiting for you." I move back slightly as Destiny tries to touch my shoulder. Destiny sighs.
"I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to attack you. I just... You know how I am," she shrugs. I glance at her.
"I don't remember you losing control like that. Anyway, we'll talk about this later. Right now, we have more important things to deal with." I walk past destiny to Gold. I feel her follow behind.
"So have you found anything on Cora?" I ask. Gold shakes his head.
"Not at the moment. Since I'm the one who trained her, she's not as easy to find as expected. Besides, we weren't really having small talk, where we, Destiny?" He eyes Destiny intently. Confused, I turn to her.
"What is Gold talking about?" Destiny glances at Gold, then at me.
"Look. I don't think it's worth finding Cora-"
"What?! What do you mean? You're the one who was going on about how dangerous she is and stuff!" I argue.
"Yeah, I know. But come on. We haven't found her for a while now. Instead of watching over our shoulders all the time, I think we should just forget about Cora-"
I try to protest but Destiny stares at me with a stern look. I feel an unusual shiver run down my spine.
"We're not going to search for her, ok? If she does come in my way, I won't have a problem handling her," she argues back. I look towards Gold for support but he simply shrugs.
Why did Destiny change her mind all of a sudden? Could her disappearance have something to do with it? I raise an eyebrow at her suspiciously. "Okay." I reply slowly. "But you need to tell Gold about what's been going on?"
Gold raises his eyebrow, "Going on?"
Destiny shrugs and waves her hand nonchalantly, "It's nothing. Just a little problem I had last night. It's all good now."
I raise my eyebrows in amazement, "Nothing? It made you attack me!"
She huffs and rolls her eyes, "You had it coming."
"What is wrong with you?" I look frantically at Gold for support.
"Destiny, is this about the curse?" He ask cautiously, finally realizing that she's unstable.
"Nope!" She pops the 'P' and starts to turn around. Frustrated with her behavior I grab her wrist and push up the sleeve, exposing the black veins to Gold. "This isn't nothing, Destiny!" I yell.
My hand is suddenly replaced by Gold's as he inspects her arm. "This is more serious than I had expected. Destiny, you should've come straight to me when this happened.
She snatches her arm out of his hand. "It's nothing. Now leave me alone." With that she storms out of the store and slams the door, causing objects to fall off the shelf.
I exchange concerned glances with Gold. This isn't the Destiny I know.
"Do you think you can somehow cure her curse?" Gold looks thoughtful for a moment.
"I'm not entirely sure how she got the curse. But I'll see if it's possible," he reassures.
"She told me that she was born with it." He rubs his chin, "I'll see what I can do." I nod at him before exiting his shop.
Entering the street, I decide to go to Granny's for dinner. I pull out my phone and check my messages. None received from Destiny. I sigh. I send her a message to see if she's ok. Though I doubt she'd reply.
I look up from my phone to check how close I was when I spot a couple leaning against a wall in the alley beside Granny's. Before I could walk away in disgust, I hear a phone beep. I turn towards them and take a step into the alley. "Destiny?" I whisper, walking a couple more steps. Then I could finally see their faces. Oh my sprinkles. "Destiny!" I yell and run over. "What in the name of cupcakes are you doing?!" She giggles and her head pops out from under the man's shoulder. I turn away in disgust as the man continues to kiss her neck.
"Just having some fun, Nova!"
"Who even-Oh my sprinkles! Killian?" The man in leather turns around, face illuminated by the street light.
"Now girlie, I told you not to call me that. It's Captain Hook. And you don't need to be jealous that your gorgeous friend here got to me first. I tried to give you a piece." He shrugs.
I ignore him and turn to Destiny, "This isn't like you. You know he's not the same Killian anymore."
She giggles and grabs his neck, "Oh I know! But I think I like this Killian more." She presses her forehead against his.
"Gag! Alright that's enough." I look around the alley and find a board. "Sorry bout this Killian." With that, I swing the board as hard as I can and hit him on the head. He drops like a sack of potatoes. Before Destiny could harm me, I take a swing at her too.
Before I could pick her up, a purple smoke surrounds her body. I move back. The smoke eventually disappears, stealing Destiny's body. Fearfully, I search my surroundings. Not catching anyone in sight, I run in the direction of Gold's shop.
Something is definitely not right.
Destiny's POV:
Slowly, I gain consciousness. I blink several times, trying to adjust my blurry eyes. A sharp pain suddenly sparks in my head. I sit up on the ground, clutching my aching head.
"How are you feeling, dear?" A sickly sweet voice asks. I glance up from the ground to find Cora standing before me. An amused smile plays on her lips. I look around to find myself in the same place as before. Ignoring Cora, I try to remember what happened. But my head feels blank.
"What the hell did you do to me?" I moan as my whole body starts to ache. Cora walks over to the table beside us.
"Nothing of your concern. Though if you're wondering why your head feels battered, that's probably because Nova hit you across the head. Who would have thought that girl had some strength in her?" I furrow my eyebrows.
"Why would Nova hit me? She's my friend!"
Cora laughs, "Oh darling. She's scared. She afraid that with your powers you'll outshine her. So she had to cut you out."
I shake my head, "That sounds nothing like Nova." I growl.
Then a door behind me opens and boots click, "Alright Cora. What's so important…" He trails off when he notices me. "Ahh. Come for more, love?"
"What are you doing here? Are you working with Cora?"
"Well you don't have to say it so rudely, dear." Cora places a hand over her heart, faking pain.
"Why are you here? Couldn't resist me?" Before I could ask what he meant, Cora interrupted.
"Enough Hook. This meeting is strickly business." Cora turns around and shuffles through a pile of paper. Before she turns back around, Killian throws me a flirty wink and I just smile awkwardly in confusion.
"Okay Cora I have no idea what's going on. So you better start talking."
"In time, dear. First, we need you to distract Regina. That's the only way I can disguise myself as her and frame her for her therapist's murder."
"What? Why would you do that to your own daughter?!" Cora leans against the table. "Regina and I have not been on good terms when we were back in the enchanted forest. I just want to repay her for trying to make me disappear."
"I'm sorry she didn't," I remark.
Cora moves her hand towards my face and seals my mouth with magic. I try to stretch my lips but I couldn't.
"What will I get out of this? Back at the enchanted forest, you promised me that you will help me kill that Rumplestiltskin," Killian replies. I widen my eyes. No...
"The therapist. He will be your source of information on Rumpelstiltskin." Killian's lips curl up darkly. Cora glances at me.
"And you. I will be watching you so don't try anything stupid or else I will crush your little friend's heart in my hand. Or I can always control you and make you do it."
Cora smirks. I thrash around, mouthing curses at her, but nothing comes out. "I'll see you soon darling!" She laughs and with a wave of her hand, I'm gone.
I feel my feet on solid ground and a scream escapes from my lips. I open my eyes to see Regina open her door with a worried expression. "Destiny! What the hell!"
I look around in confusion before I remember what Cora wanted me to do. "Hey! Sorry about that! I had a… spider on me! Yeah. And I HATE spiders!"
Regina nods, unconvinced but drops the subject. "Is there a reason you came?"
"I was wondering if you'd like a girls night out. Some shopping, dinner, the works?"
Regina gives a rare smile, "That sounds perfect. Let me grab my purse."
Thirty minutes later we had three shopping bags each. Now if we were somewhere with more than just two or three stores, it would've taken us so much longer! But we were happy and content with our purchases. It was amazing to hang out with Regina. It reminded me of our childhood.
We had stopped by the cupcake shop to drop off our bags before heading to Grannies for dinner. I order our meals and we sit at one of the tables. As I sit, I notice Regina and Emma shoot each other stern looks. I sigh. It must be about Henry.
"Everything ok there?" I ask. Regna looks towards me.
"Yeah. Someone just thinks they know how to look after Henry more than me," she grits her teeth as she speaks. I grin.
"You've not changed much, have you? Always thinking you're right." I laugh. Regina narrows her eyes before laughing. I feel guilt flood through me as I remember what cora was planning. If only I could tell her what was happening behind her back.
Someone bursts through the door behind us. I twist around on my seat to see what's going on. A man stands there, pale and sweaty. Ruby walks over to the guy, concerned.
"Are you ok?" The man turns to her, trembling.
"It's Archie! He's dead!" All heads turn to the man and a chorus of voices were heard. I turn to Regina, our looks of concern mirroring each other. We both get out of our seats as Emma reaches the man before us.
"Ok, just calm down. Now tell us what happened?" Emma questioned the man. The man breathes in deeply before speaking.
"I... I went to his office to ask him about something but when I entered, I saw a, a dead body lying on the ground. I turned the body and..." The man stopped, clearly unable to continue. Emma rubs his shoulder calmly, telling him it's ok. As ruby handles the man, Emma turns to us.
"I can't believe this. Who would do something like this?" I feel the urge to blurt out Cora's plan. I bit my lip. Slowly, Emma's look towards Regina is followed by other glances from around the diner. I turn to Regina.
"Why are you all looking towards me?" Regina complains. Snow walks up to her.
"Well, the only person who could have such a grudge against Archie is you." Regina rolls her eyes.
"How typical. Whenever something happens, everyone always suspects the evil queen. Well, I have some news for you all." She looks around the diner.
"I did not kill Archie. Actually, he seemed to be the only one in this town that tried to understand me. Why would I kill him?" I try to support Regina but I feel my voice disappear. Not now, dear, I hear Cora say in my head. I grit my teeth.
Emma shakes her head, "I don't know if you killed him or not, but if I were you, I'd hide. Because everyone loved Archie."
Regina looks around the diner and almost every face is glaring at her. She stands up, grabs her purse, and walks out the diner.
I cover my face with my hands. I can't believe Cora is doing this to her own daughter! Ignoring the constant whispers, I rush after Regina.
"Regina!" I call, stopping her from sitting in her car. Regina looks at me, her eyes showing a hint of hurt.
"Do you think I killed him too?' She calls back. I walk up to her.
"No. I don't think you could do something like that. But to these people, you haven't exactly got a good reputation," I explain. Regina smiles in relief. Her expression slowly hardens.
"Well, on the positive side, they can't hurt me. I am the mayor after all," she comforts herself. The diner's door bursts open, letting loose a crowd of angry people. I side glance at Regina.
"You may want to hold that thought," I reply, watching as they draw closer. On instinct, we both rush into the car. As Regina reverses and drives away, I stare back at the people after us. They all look so... Possessed.
I glance towards a panicky Regina, feeling the guilt rise in me. No matter what happens, I'm not going to let Regina take the blame for this. It's the least I can do for her.