Even before the smoke dissipated completely and Its vision cleared it could feel the magic once more snaking insidiously through its body. It had been far too long since It had felt the raw power humming just under its skin, waiting to be released, to wreak havoc. Most wonderful of all was the sense of freedom it hadn't experienced once in the thousands of years it had been terrorizing the realm.
Not having the moral baggage or the doubting heart of a host to drag It down was most delicious.
It breathed deeply. The air was pure, tinged with the sharp scent of pine and the not so far off tang of the sea, instead of poisoned with the oils and chemicals that hung heavy in the air in the Land Without Magic. Looking around It could see that it was alone, despite having been mere feet from those who wished to stop it when the curse had been undone.
The Dark Curse. Oh, how Rumplestiltskin had put so much hope into what it could accomplish. Finding his precious Bae, striving to become a family again, had rankled It. That such a wondrously devastating thing was to be used for such a mundane and saccharine reason was a travesty and a waste. When the weakling Regina had failed to cast it It had been almost overjoyed for it had seen that it would still be cast but the caster had remained in shadow. It had been most surprised and intrigued when envy and bitterness led Zelena to do what she had been promised years before. Even more surprising was that she required the heart of Rumplestiltskin to do it.
Despite Its penchant for surviving all manner of weapons, poisons, and destruction meant to bring about its death It had been morbidly curious to see what would happen when Rumplestiltskin's heart was crushed while It was still inhabiting his body. When the time had come it had felt no pain, in fact it had little time to feel anything at all. It had only sensed a fleeting taste of something bigger than it had ever felt before and then… nothing.
It had been sucked under by the curse, a prison far worse than the underground one it had been confined to for nearly three decades. All Its magical power and centuries of knowledge had been shoved into the dark recesses of the mind of a weak, crippled man who only played games for what passed as power in the realm they'd been sent to. Yet, all it had taken to awaken It once more was a welp of a lad who wanted so badly to prove himself and his delicious mistake had nearly resulted in the heroes' undoing.
As quickly as things had looked decidedly in Its favor upon waking it had taken a turn for the worst when the wench who had both freed and imprisoned it had had been forced to destroy the wondrous curse. It had thought the bitch wouldn't cow to not only the heroes but the sister that she hated beyond reckoning and it had paid the price for its assumptions. As though being forced back to a realm where it would have to deal with those who had magics to rival its own wasn't bad enough the gem that would have given it unprecedented power had been reduced to nothing but a pile of glittering dust, the unforeseen cost of undoing the curse.
Its fury had known no bounds and with what spare magic it had had left it had sought immediate retribution and snapped the witch's neck. The act had only given It a moment's satisfaction, the determination in the Savior's eyes enough to give it pause. The Savior was the only one who had power that rivaled its own and it was only her poor training and naivete that would give it the advantage.
It raised the scaly hand of the man once known as Rumplestiltskin, ready to snap its fingers and begin its reign of terror across the realm when the unthinkable happened. The deep unrelenting tug, the one that refused to be ignored or disobeyed, made itself known. It howled, causing birds to take flight at the sound of its rage. Someone had the Dagger and It was helpless against its pull.
With a curse dripping with acidic disdain It fought as long as it could but it was no use. In a cloud of black, swirling smoke It disappeared to join its new master.