[At the palace]
"Your Majesty." said the Huntsman, entering the Great Hall.
"Huntsman, you're back quite soon. Is the job done?" asked the Evil Queen.
"Tracked and killed her."
"Wonderful." smiled the Evil Queen. "And what about her helper?"
"Not helper, helpers, plural. Dwarves."
"She's teaming up with dwarves, when did that happen?"
"I am quite sure Your Majesty but no, they are not dead. They are underestimated creatures and I knew that they could overpower me so I lured the princess out of her den and killed her and soon I shall slay the dwarves that have aided her."
"Good job."
"I shall get back to the woods then and finish the job." said the Huntsman and got ready to leave.
"I sense that there is something that you aren't telling me, what is it?" asked the Evil Queen
"Before the death of Snow White, I offered her a last wish and she just told me to bring you this." said the Huntsman and handed her a letter.
She snatched it from him and read it in her head. When she was done reading, she marched to the fireplace and threw the letter into it and watched as it burned into ashes.
"Why did you do that?" demanded the Huntsman.
"Simple, I do not accept her apology." said the Evil Queen.
"She is dead now, the job is done! At least you can forgive her for what she's done."
"And put her soul at peace? Never. I despise every little inch of that... thing." said the Evil Queen, disgusted.
"When you convinced me to fight for you, you didn't tell me the whole story, did you?"
"And why do you care so much about her?"
"Uhh... as a wolf; I have learnt to know whom I have slayed."
"Ugh, wolves and their morals. And actually, I did tell you the truth about that little monster. She murdered my husband and ruined the line to the throne with her... wickedness."
"I see," said the Huntsman. "And I have bought you back a small valuable from my... journey."
The Huntsman searched into his satchel and bought out a heart exactly like the one that the Evil Queen had given to him earlier, only it did not glow nor beat.
"Is that what I think it is?" smiled the Evil Queen and took it from his hand.
"Indeed it is."
"Oh, I needed this yet I forgot to tell you by the time you have left my abode, oh, this is key to the whole of my plan."
"And what is that plan?"
"To get me what I have been seeking for a long time... my happy ending."
"But you're queen, you have all the riches you could ever want, what is it you don't have?"
"Something that has left me long ago... a friend who has ever since passed away."
"And what does a heart have to do with the death of a friend and your happy ending?"
"It is an ingredient to an all-powerful spell that can change the world as we know it, it can even break the Laws of Magic."
"The Laws of Magic?"
"The rules the universe has provided to the power of magic: you can't change the past, you can't make people fall in love, you can't bring back the dead..."
"And so you're attempting to break those laws?"
"Not attempting, my friend... succeeding." said the Evil Queen, her eyes still glaring at the heart. "I know just where to keep it. Reginald!"
"Yes, my Queen." said one knight.
"Get it."
"Right away, my Queen."
Reginald then left the Great Hall.
"What is he getting?" asked the Huntsman.
"Something very special." replied the Evil Queen.
Reginald came back with a box that was decorated with many gems and jewels and was made out of gold and silver. It also had the shape of a heart using rubies. Reginald then bowed down and handed the box to the Evil Queen.
"What's so special about a box?" asked the Huntsman. "That it's made out of shiny jewels?"
"Not the jewels, but the enchantments inside of them."
"What do you mean?"
"This was just an ordinary box a while back, sure it was still made out of gold and silver, but then I managed to get my hands on magic jewels. Each gem has all sorts of protective charms and after lots of trades, this box is more protected than the Royal Vault."
"I see. And what does that ruby heart do?"
"That's the best part. It is sealed with blood magic which means only my and my family tree are able to open it, luckily I don't have any children of my own nor any family from above me."
"That is... sad to say the least."
"But there are good things and bad things in every situation, Huntsman. This box can keep whatever I wish to stay inside and another thing about the ruby heart is that it can only hold something that is of true value to me... and this heart in my hands will need to be safe somewhere safe until my spell with Dr Facilier."
The Evil Queen put the box on a table and snapped her finger... but the box didn't open.
"What?" she asked and tried again... and again... and again. "Why isn't-"
She then gazed upon the heart again and realised that she had been fooled.
"This isn't the heart of Snow White!" growled the Evil Queen. "This is the heart of a stag!"
"You've lied to me!" shouted the Evil Queen.
"I did what I had to do, you deceived me!" screamed the Huntsman. "Trying to make me think that Snow White was the villain, but it was you all along!"
"Take that back!"
"Never!"
In rage, the Evil Queen used her magic to push the Huntsman flying into a wall and made him float in the air against it. His shoulder got dislocated and his back got severe bleeding and bruising.
"I can kill you!" raged the Evil Queen.
"Good!" replied the Huntsman. "With me dead, there will be no one to get Snow White's heart and in that time, on her eighteenth birthday, she will come back from the Dark Forest! She will bring you to your knees and get what is rightfully hers... the kingdom..."
As much as the Evil Queen wanted to kill the Huntsman, she knew that he was too valuable to kill. She slowly bought him down from the air and let him go.
The Huntsman grinned, "Exactly. You can't have me dead but you can't have me alive either... I won't help you track her down."
"You will-" started the Evil Queen.
"No, I won't! I will forever be on the side of Snow White, you should have killed me when you had the chance."
The Huntsman took the Evil Queen's heart from his satchel.
"I know that this is capable of this here has the power to kill you when crushed. So that's what you shall be when I'm done with it" said the Huntsman and slowly began to crush the heart into dust and the Evil Queen gasped for breath.
She fell to the ground, lifeless.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" she laughed and stood up from the ground.
"What?" asked the Huntsman.
"Do you really think I would entrust you with the very power that can take me down? Never..."
"But I saw you take it out from your body!"
"Evil Queen? More like Deceitful Queen, I really fooled you with that trick!"
"W-What? How?"
"I swapped the hearts when you weren't looking, the heart you crushed was some villager's heart who got me a green apple instead of a red one."
"You're a monster!"
"Oh, you haven't seen what 'monster' is yet..."
"Kill me, torture me, hurt me, I don't care! You can never make me do anything against my will."
"But I can! Killing isn't the only thing a heart can do..."
The Evil Queen went to the Huntsman and ripped his heart out whilst he screamed in agony.
"Guess the box won't be empty today after all..."
The Evil Queen snapped her fingers and the box opened this time and she placed the heart inside and it closed...
[An hour later]
The Evil Queen was waiting for someone to arrive in her room and suddenly, she felt a tingly feeling from behind her so she turned around.
"You called, Your Majesty?" smiled Dr Facilier.
"Yes, I did." replied the Evil Queen. "Your man failed his job! You promised me-"
"Oh, that was really not my fault. The deal was for me to get you the man, not make him do his task. That was not under my jurisdiction."
"You menace! I won't hand you my mirror-"
"But you will, the agreement was that I will get the Magic Mirror."
"No, the deal was for you to get me a man to get Snow White's heart AND to bring Layla back."
"Indeed, that was the deal, but you don't have the heart therefore I can't do the spell which means that this is all your fault and the mirror is rightfully mine!"
"That was your plan all along, wasn't it? You knew the Huntsman wouldn't get me Snow White's heart when he figured out I was the bad guy so you could get the mirror for free."
"It's called business, Your Majesty."
"You're not even an Elemental of Life either, are you?"
"Well, I am-"
"Don't lie! The reason I couldn't read your heart was because it wasn't in your body! And I just happen to have it here..." said the Evil Queen and revealed a heart, mostly pitch black, in her hands.
"How did..."
"No more questions! No one messes with the Evil Queen and you are going to pay the price!"
"Wait! I can be of use!"
"No, you won't. You're not an Elemental of Death nor trustworthy, you are done."
"You won't kill me..."
"No, I won't. I want you to suffer..."
"And how are you going to do that? Make me your slave?"
"No, I can tell that you put a spell on this thing, I won't be able to control you."
"No, you won't." smiled Dr Facilier.
"Instead, I found an even better and much more reliable way to punish you."
"And what is that?"
"Banishment."
"Ha ha ha! That's the best you can do?! Exile me from your kingdom!"
"No, from the realm."
"What?"
"Since you want to be claimed to be in the middle of life and death, I shall make it a reality! I banish you to the Realm of the Departed yet your heart will still thrive in my hands until the end of time..."
"No!"
"Yes!"
"You are not capable of such forces."
"Which is why I shall do it." said a new voice.
Dr Facilier glared at the Magic Mirror's blue face, glaring at him.
"You don't care about her at all, why would you help her?" asked Dr Facilier.
"Simple, I hate you more." replied the Magic Mirror.
A portal opened up and Dr Facilier screamed as he fell down it, "I curse the heart of the Huntsman! You will never find out where Snow White resides and you shall never get your happy ending!"
And the portal closed, imprisoning him in the Realm of the Departed.
"Then I will simply have to find another way." smiled the Evil Queen.