Work Text:
Then
Defeated and humiliated with the edges of her clothing still smoking with dragonsfire, Regina rode in her carriage through the snow covered mountains away from the Forbidden Fortress, unsure of what to do next. Her magic was spent and would take days to recuperate from her battle with Maleficent, and by then her dear old friend would have the scroll with the Dark Curse well hidden from her.
She'd have to find it.
Rumple would be of no help. The damned imp was still locked up in Snow's dungeon and, apparently, perfectly content to remain there. She'd have to find another source of assistance.
Several weeks later, frustrated, she was no closer to finding an answer. Her magic was well restored, but none of her books had offered any alternatives that would grant her revenge better than the Dark Curse.
Her mirror, though, had learned of a seer in the western wood on the very edge of her kingdom. This was her best bet of determining where Maleficent would have hidden it. But Regina was not well liked in that area; it was entirely too close to Snow and Charming's land. In order to pay her a visit, she'd need to avoid detection.
Disguised as a peasant, she tried her best to be cautious, arriving further away than she normally would have and creeping in slowly.
These woods were old and the hovel she was approaching made her wonder whether this was going to do any good at all. It was tiny and in great disrepair and the whole area stank of forest. She idly wondered if the seer's usual patrons paid her in pinecones as she sneered at the surroundings. The hut was empty. Discouraged, she gave a careful look around.
A voice spoke out from behind a tree: "I've been expecting you. Your Majesty."
Regina should have anticipated that. Her tendency for flamboyant entrances notwithstanding, she had at least tried, this time, to be a bit more discreet. Apparently, to no avail. She stepped in closer to the seer, no longer trying to hide her presence, though she did make sure no one else was nearby. "...My revenge has hit a bit of a snag. I imagine you know that as well."
The seer revealed herself, first a hand only, with an eye in the center of its palm. Then the body, clothed in fraying garments edged in dirt, and finally the face, covered in scars, with no eyes on the head itself: only on the palms of the hands. "My gift lies more in the realms of the future than the past. The future is a puzzle, with many pieces to be sorted."
Regina took a deep, calming breath. This seer would be no good to her if she threw a fireball at her. "...Do you see yourself sorting your way to solving my problem?"
The seer's hands moved back and forth, as if trying to see something in the air around her, before she finally slowed, but did not stop. “Even my powers have limits.”
With a snarl, a fireball came to life in Regina's palm, ready to take aim at those taunting, blue eyes on the ever moving hands.
The seer raised one of those hands, as if in placation. “I offer you one piece of the puzzle, and it will come in a most unexpected way.”
One of Regina's eyebrows rose. “Well?!”
“But there will be a price to what you seek.”
“There is always is. What do you want in return?”
The seer stepped closer, hands outstretched. “Take my hands.”
There was a moment of hesitation. But only a moment, before Regina reached forward to clasp the seer's hands, and then they were both quickly overcome as magic flowed, like the breaking of a dam, from one into the other.
Regina's eyes opened wide. Her vision was suddenly filled with blinding white light, she opened her lips to scream but no sound emerged but the faintest of rattling, choking gasps. Her mind was overcome with flashing, jumbled images, like the pages of a book with no end and no beginning, flipping too quickly to be read.
“This... is... too much! What... have you... done?” she managed to croak out.
She broke their connection and the seer tumbled to the ground. “I have given you what you desired- a taste of the future. In time you will learn to separate what can be, from what will be.”
Regina returned to her castle with her mind stuffed full of answers, though none of them to her immediate problem. It would likely end up taking years to work through all the visions.
Her only real solace lay in the fact that Snow and her idiot Charming remained oblivious to the fact that she no longer had the Dark Curse, and were likely making contingency plans that, with any luck, would cause them even more pain.
Then
“You're certain it will be tonight?” The magic mirror actually looked a bit unsure, as if asking this question again was going to get him broken. Again. Regina smirked at the memory. Her maids had been cleaning bits of mirror off her castle floor for a week, but it had been worth it for the satisfaction of watching his face crack into a thousand pieces.
Even if he could just move to another mirror, as he did now to come closer and remind her: “By all accounts she isn't due for another week, at least.”
Regina paused in her pacing, resting one hand on the mantle of her enormous fireplace and the other rubbing at the upper bridge of her nose. Her head always throbbed the worst right behind her eyes, and not for the first time she almost envied the Seer for not having had them. “Yes, I'm sure.” Her voice was a low growl of warning. “And if you question me on this again I'm going to order every mirror in the castle to remain unpolished for a month.”
“Forgive him, your majesty.” Her father appeared at her side, offering a glass of her now almost hourly infusion of willow bark tea to help with the pain of her head. “It's just that we understand so little of your new... abilities.”
She turned her glare on him. “What is so difficult to understand?! I've seen the future. It's all tied up in knots and jumbled together like string that's been left unattended in a room with seventeen cats and there are multiple ends for every strand, but I have seen that Snow will go into labor tonight and she is either planning on sticking her newborn baby girl into a tree and sending her into another land all on her own, in which case good riddance and too bad for her. Or, she's planning on giving her to the damned flying moth. And once she sees that the Dark Curse isn't a threat she'll get her baby back and they'll go on to live happily ever and I will not allow that to happen! Is that difficult to understand?!”
Both of them just blinked at her, until finally her father asked, “...In a tree?”
She shrugged, “Don't ask me, Daddy, it's a ridiculous idea, but then this is Snow we're talking about. She talks to birds entirely too much for her own good.”
With a knowing smirk, she pushed through the pain of her head and squared her shoulders. “Either way, it will be tonight. So prepare the Faceless. We leave immediately.”
The attack on the castle came just as little Emma first made her entrance into the world, just as Regina had predicted. The White Kingdom had not been expecting them, having hoped their misleading of information had taken root and they wouldn't know of Snow's impending delivery. Regina's Faceless guards managed to fight their way into the upper reaches of the castle, to the royal chambers and where the infant's nursery lay, much earlier than expected. Prince Charming had just barely taken Emma into his arms when the first of the guards came in.
Charming managed to fight past those initial Faceless with only a slight wound to his upper shoulder, Emma cradled in one arm and a sword in his other hand while Snow screamed for them both in the background. He barreled through the doors of the nursery, ready to place Emma into the safety of the magic wardrobe.
“Going somewhere with that, Charming?” Regina smirked, fireball already in her hand, blocking his path.
She flung the fireball at them, expecting him to dodge. He did, but also raised his sword, swinging at her. She vanished in a plume of smoke, reappearing behind him with a laugh. But now there was nothing between Charming and Emma and the wardrobe. He lunged for it, opening the doors quickly while Regina shouted. She quickly cast a fireball and hurled it at the tree, but not before Emma had been placed inside. The dry wood of the tree caught ablaze just as the doors closed and he latched it shut.
And then Regina really began to cackle. “Oh, you really are quite the idiot, aren't you shepherd?”
“What are you talking about? It's magic! She's fine! She's been sent away, and she's going to defeat you and your Curse!”
It was at this moment that Snow finally managed to bring herself to fight through the pains of having just delivered a baby to make her way into the nursery. Seeing the wardrobe aflame, she screamed, and Charming ran to her. “It's okay! I got her inside in time!” He said this with all surety.
Just to make sure, Regina sucked the flames back into her hand, a smirk still on her face. With slow, deliberate movements and all the intent of a stage magician at a castle tourney, she opened the door to the wardrobe. It was empty.
“See?” Charming practically crowed at her.
Snow looked immediately relieved. “She got away! She's going to break your curse. You're going to lose. ”
Still smiling, Regina turned back to look at them. “Am I?” She chuckled darkly. “You both assume I've already cast the curse. And now you've sent away your precious little bundle of joy all alone to who knows where, and she's not going to save anyone. And you have no child.”
She stepped in extremely close to Snow's face and smirked. “You just sent your daughter away for no reason, dear. Tell me again how I am the one who's lost.”
Cackling, she vanished in her plume of smoke, with the cries of Snow and Charming ringing in her ears like beautiful music. She would remember this night for many, many years, and it would be glorious.
She did not hear Charming tell Snow that they would find their daughter (they would always find her.)
She did hear them, a day later through her mirror, ask the Blue Fairy if perhaps the fire had somehow altered the wardrobe. To which the fairy had no answer, but told her they would never stop looking until they had found the baby.
But the magic of the tree was altered by the fire. It could not transport Emma all the way to the Land Without Magic. Instead, Emma was merely cast beyond the sight of the Evil Queen. But also, sadly, outside the border of Snow's kingdom.
Little Emma would grow up beyond the reach of both kingdoms. Regina had won. Albeit in a most unexpected way.
Except she hadn't. For while Snow and Charming mourned the loss of their child for months, during which Regina gloated with all manner of revelry in their pain, it wasn't long before Snow fell with child again. And for all her foresight, Regina saw no way of preventing them this one. Crown Prince Leopold was born and the kingdom rejoiced. And in time, Snow and Charming forgot the pain of the loss of their first child in the joy of their second. And third, a few years later.
And Regina raged. And she became more and more focused on once more regaining the Dark Curse as her only way of true revenge.
Now- Years later- about 28 of them, to be precise
She was utterly miserable. It had rained recently; the ground was damp, and cold, and the few coins she had remaining were no good to her now, as she couldn't presently show her face without every bounty hunter in the kingdom being put on her trail. She'd taken to wearing a long hooded cloak she'd swiped from a drying clothesline, to help hide the more easily identified long blonde hair. It helped, but only to a point. So for now, all she could do was stay away from the main roads unless she was swiping things from poor unsuspecting passers-by, stick to the forests, and live off whatever traps she could set. That was her life. Steal, eat, steal some more, move on. Repeat the pattern. Though from the accuracy of the Wanted posters for her head, she'd lingered in this kingdom far too long. And this particular kingdom had an unusually high death rate for thieves.
At the moment, she was unsuccessfully trying to start a fire with damp wood. It wasn't going very well. She needed a miracle.
Just as the thought left her head, she heard the unmistakable sound of horses. Then, her almost favorite sound- carriage wheels. Carriages meant wealth, and wealth she could sorely use right now. They might have food she could swipe, and if nothing else, a horse sounded nice. She knew this particular patch of trees well, having been wandering around them for the last few days. There was a bend in the road up ahead. The perfect place for an ambush.
She raced ahead to it, clambered up a tree, and waited.
Just as she knew it would, the carriage slowed as it came around the curve. She aimed her weapon of choice for such maneuvers, her handy sling, at the driver of the carriage. The rock hit him square between the eyes, and he went tumbling from the seat. There was no time to celebrate her good aim; now came the dangerous part. The horses, now driver-less, continued barreling down the road at their present speed. She leapt from her tree onto the roof of the moving carriage. This would be the first indication to the passenger that something was wrong. Hopefully, they would freak out and stay put.
Clinging to the roof, she managed to fling herself into the driver's seat. And hit a patch of luck! The driver had left his lunch satchel on the seat. Tying it to her belt, she grabbed the reigns and slowed the horses just a little, but not to a full stop.
At least, that was the intention. Suddenly, the entire carriage froze. The horses stopped mid-stride, the wheels in the middle of a turn. Even the thin layer of mud on the road remained hovering in the air around the wheels. No natural stop, this. Magic.
"...Shit," she whispered quietly. She'd just realized how very fancy this carriage was. Wood of ebony with inlays and soft white cushions. No mere merchant could afford this. And there, on the dressings of the horses was the livery of the kingdom. This was a royal carriage.
The royal carriage. She had a sudden sinking feeling she knew exactly who was inside.
The door swung open. A booted heel hit the ground. Mud and gravel crunched beneath hard soles as footsteps came ominously closer, tolling out the sound of doom, finally reaching the front of the carriage.
To find it empty.
A fireball burst into life in the hand of the Queen. “Impossible! I froze the entire carriage!” At this point the guards who were supposed to have been riding point in front of her carriage clearing the path had finally caught on that something was amiss and doubled back to find their Queen blazing-eyed and the driver nowhere to be found. She turned her ire on them in a heartbeat, her fury somewhat wasted as she couldn't see the reaction on her Faceless guardsmen.
“Find me that thief! Now!”
The thief was a decent enough sprinter, when she needed to be, and knew this part of the woods, hopefully better than the Faceless did. When she was a decent enough distance away, she clambered up a tree and waited it out. When she reached a count of two hundred in her head, she heard a guard come riding up below her. She held her breath and remained perfectly still, hoping the color of her cloak and the fullness of the trees would hide her from sight.
They did, this time, and the guard moved on. She slowly exhaled, and waited some more. When she heard no more than the sounds of the forest, she gave a small sigh of relief. That could have gone far, far worse. "At least I got lunch,” she muttered to herself, and reached for the bag at her side.
Her foot slipped from its perch as she did, having been in its position for too long and starting to fall asleep. She went tumbling from her perch in the tree, hitting the ground with an “oomph,” and a “Shit!” Hoping the guards were far enough away to have not heard anything, she began to make her way away from this area, keeping her eyes and ears open and cursing her luck.
Unfortunately, she was focused a little too much on her own misfortunes and not enough on where she was stepping. She recognized the texture of the rope beneath her boot a fraction of a second too late. If she'd been a moment quicker, she could have rolled out of the way, and the net would have caught nothing. Instead, she was hoisted into the trees with a decidedly unladylike yelp of distress.
Caught. In a net. In a tree. In the middle of the forest. And likely about to die.
“Well, shit,” she said again. She flung her head back against the ropes and sighed, cursing her luck once again. And wondering how the hell she'd ever gotten herself in this mess in the first place.
The next thing she knew, an imperious sounding, decidedly feminine voice was speaking from below her, and her blood froze her in veins.
“Well, well. So this is the thief who thought she could steal from me.”
The ropes released, and she fell to the ground all at once, landing with another 'oomph' and a groan as limbs so recently locked into one position for so long finally had yet another rude awakening. “Ow...”
“Well? Nothing to say for yourself, thief?”
Slowly, with limbs still stiffly moving, she pushed herself up off the ground, spitting her flyaway hairs out of her mouth and dusting the dark earth off her clothes in a huff. She made sure to keep her eyes lowered, her hood covering as much of her face as possible. “...I had no idea that was your carriage, Your Majesty.”
The Queen scoffed. “You think that's an excuse, is it?” She stepped closer.
If the thief had any thoughts of running, they were quickly negated when the Queen's guards arrived, cutting off her way out. Now the only paths of escape were through them, or through the Queen.
The thief swallowed heavily, feeling it go down her throat thick and chalky. She tried desperately not to show the fact that she was utterly terrifed, certain her death was iminent. Her bravado had gotten her out of tough jams before. Maybe, through some miracle, it could do the same now.
The Queen stepped ominously closer. "I had that carriage frozen in a lock spell. How did you manage to escape me?"
Sighing, she figured there was nothing else for it. She lifted her head and looked at the Queen directly in the eye. "Anti-magic charm. Does wonders on small stuff like that."
The Queen's eyebrow rose. “I see.” Her brow furrowed as she stared at her, as if trying to determine where she'd seen her before. She slowly began to pace in front of the thief, keeping her eyes on her at all times. “...You're the thief that's been running rampant in my kingdom for the last three summers now.”
“'Thief' is a harsh word. I really prefer 'outlaw.'”
A hard glare was shot her way as the Queen continued. “Before coming to mine, I think you were in George's kingdom for a short while. Slim pickings there.” She chuckled darkly. “I think you also spent a few years in Midas' kingdom, if I'm correct. You've been all over the Enchanted Forest.” She almost looked impressed. Or else like she was about to take a bite out of a truly delicious looking steak. “Well, then. Lucky for you I didn't come here to fight. Ordinarily, I'd have you thrown in my dungeons or simply destroy you right now, but I realize that would be going about it all wrong.”
She swallowed, trying to keep her voice steady. “...I'm listening.”
“I came here to offer you a deal."
"And what makes you think I have any interest in dealing with you?"
An impeccably groomed eyebrow raised, a stark contrast to the dirtied face of the thief. "Well, the way I see it, dear, you don't have much of a choice. Isn't it a better option than staring at a wall in my dungeon until I execute you?"
She refused to be easily cowed, though the thought did give her pause. "...I've escaped dungeons before."
"So I've heard." She could practically feel the eyes raking over her as the Queen began to slowly walk in a vaguely circular pattern around her. The similarities to a shark circling its prey wasn't lost on her. "I need you to steal something for me."
Her eyes narrowed. "Not interested."
The Queen chuckled. “I'm sorry, dear. I think I may have made it sound like this was a choice.”
Before she could even think or say anything else, they were both suddenly swept into a dense purple smoke. This was magic too strong for her simple charm to hold off. When it cleared, they were no longer at a random intersection in the middle of the woods. The were in the square of a village the thief knew very well indeed. She'd grown up here.
There was the doorstep she'd been found on as a babe. There, the first home of the baker man and his wife who'd kept her and told her they loved her for a few years until they had a child of their own and decided she was suddenly one too many mouths to feed.
And there, the shop of the man who'd first taught her how to hold a sword. They'd practiced in the square and she'd worked odd jobs for him until he'd been mistaken for the Dark One by a traveling pirate with a hook for a hand and been murdered. Then she'd had to turn to thieving.
But still, she knew these people. And they scattered when they saw the Evil Queen. Even here, outside her kingdom, they knew her. They ran in fear, but one wasn't fast enough, and the Queen quickly extended her hand, choking him from afar.
He was a mining man. A man who'd shared bread with her when he'd had extra and she was hungry. He didn't deserve this. The thief stepped up to help him, but was blocked by the Queen's guards who'd traveled in the smoke with them.
The Queen smirked at her. “You see, dear, I tend to keep very good stock of what's going on my kingdom. Particularly, who is currently stealing from them. Terrorizing them. I'm afraid I really can't tolerate anyone but me doing that. So I've been learning a good deal of you these last few weeks. Like where you came from. Who you grew up with. Amazing what people will tell you when you threaten the people they know and care about. They'll do just about anything you ask them to. Won't they, Emma?”
She froze at the sound of her name. Locked eyes with the Queen. "...Let him go. I'll do it. And never come back here again.”
Smirk still firmly in place, the Queen released the little man, who looked back at Emma pitifully. “I'm sorry, Emma. We had to tell her everything,” he whispered, before running off to join the rest of the townspeople in running in fear.
Eyes burning with anger, the thief known as Emma Swan turned back to the Queen. “You didn't just happen to be riding through the woods. You were specifically looking for me. Setting a trap for me.” The Queen only smirked in answer, but it was obvious enough. Emma glared at her. “...What do you want me to do?”
The Queen enveloped them back in her purple smoke. It cleared, and they were back in her own kingdom, back by the main road, where her carriage was waiting. Pouring herself a glass of wine from a decanter kept inside, she smirked, knowing she'd well and truly won. She held the door open and looked at her with expectant eyes. "Get in the carriage."
Begrudgingly, Emma got inside the carriage and sat down, finally removing her hood.
“Well, well,” the Queen smirked as she sat down across from her, sipping her glass. “Quite a pretty thief under there after all. I must remember to thank the artist who captured your likeness for those posters. She did quite well.” She signaled to the driver, and the carriage began to move.
“A pretty outlaw,” she corrected, rolling her eyes. “Just tell me what you want me to steal.”
“An old friend of mine once took something from me. I want it back.”
She waited for the rest. When it was clear nothing else was forthcoming. Emma looked at her like she was insane. Which, to be fair, she was. “You're going to need to be a bit more specific.”
“It's a small scroll, three inches in height and about twelve inches in length. The text is written in dark ink, the language is half-Elvish. The outer casing is a deep red backing with a crisscross pattern of gold with diamond accents.” The queen's eyebrow raised yet again, and she took a sip from her goblet. “Specific enough?”
“Fine.” Emma half felt like crossing her arms out of sheer petulance like a child. “Where do I find it?”
The Queen raised a finger and smirked again. “Well, that's the interesting bit.”
Not long after, even the Faceless riding along outside were spooked by the shrieking sound that came from within the carriage.
“A dragon?! You want me to steal from a dragon?! You can't be serious!”
Sipping calmly from her drink as if unperturbed by the high pitched shriek of disbelief, that damned eyebrow only lifted again in response. “I assure you I'm quite serious, dear.”
“I think I'd rather be in your dungeons.”
She raised her hand as if to accommodate that request. “I'd be happy to arrange that instead, then.”
“No!” Emma sighed, sinking back onto the cushion of the carriage seat. She ran her palm over her face. “Okay, so we need to get information. I... have a contact who's done odd jobs in the kingdom near the Forbidden Fortress. He frequents a tavern not far from here. I'll find him and ask him where Maleficent,” and she glared at the Queen angrily for a moment again, for omitting the fact that she'd be stealing from a dragon, “would hide something she wouldn't want found. Simple.”
“Is it?” She waved her hand and suddenly the entire carriage was outside the very tavern Emma had mentioned.
Emma craned her head to look out the carriage window and groaned. “You have to stop doing that.” She stood as if to exit the carriage, and paused, considering. She eyed the Queen with a frown. “Maybe you should stay in here. Let me do the talking.”
“So you can steal someone's gold and run off? I don't think so.”
She rolled her eyes. Of course she was going to be difficult about this. “Fine. But give me a minute to chat up my contact for our information.”
Entering the establishment, Emma looked around quickly, without making it look like that's what she was doing. Good. Her friend was here. She gave a flirtatious smile to the barman and batted her eyelids, tucking her hair behind her ears and making sure her generous cleavage was on display as she sauntered up to him.
“Oh, for heaven's sake.” Regina rolled her eyes, coming into the bar close behind her. She waved her hand and snapped the neck of the nearest miscreant in front of her.
Emma nearly jumped out of her skin as people began to panic and scream 'it's the Queen!' and 'run!' around her. She glared daggers at Regina. “Are you kidding me? How is that not going to have consequences?”
“You were taking too long. You're not here to flirt. You're here to get information. People respond well to fear.”
“Yeah, well, my contact is busy running for his life now, thanks to you!” She rushed after the man, who was darting out a side door along with a horde of other people. He managed to slip away to his horse, and Emma followed suit, swiping a white mare and chasing him down.
For her part, Regina exited the tavern by the front door, changing her clothing on the way out to something more suitable for riding, and commandeered a horse from one of her Faceless before making her own way after her thief and their quarry, the rest of her Faceless guards following suit, carrying torches to ward off the oncoming dark.
Regina needed no torch.
And she was surprised to see that her thief had actually not taken the opportunity to run off. That she had, actually, caught up with the man she'd been chasing, and was chatting with him not all that way away. She held up her hand when she heard her guards approach from behind her, and they stopped. She rode ahead alone.
When the man saw her approach, he looked ready to bolt again, but Emma grabbed the reigns of his horse. “It's fine, Noni. Finish what you were saying.”
He looked from one woman to the other, then back to Emma like his heart had been crushed. “You're working with the Evil Queen?”
She just looked at him, biting the inside of her cheek. “Just finish telling me what you know.”
The Queen called forth a fireball to life in her hand as a warning. “By all means, do.”
He swallowed nervously, the nodded. “...It's on an island in the Wide Sea. There's a tower. She goes there twice a month. That's all I know.”
“Any guards?”
“That's all I know,” he repeated.
The queen sighed, then blew the fireball out in her hand like she was snuffing out a candle. She glanced pointedly at the horse on which Emma was sitting. “Return that horse to it's proper owner, dear. I'll not have you stealing anymore from my people.” She turned and began to ride back the way she'd come, with the implication that Emma was to follow. The Faceless remained watching from beyond to ensure that's what she did.
Once the queen was out of hearing distance, the man spoke up again. “...Emma, if your parents knew you were working with the Evil Queen...”
“My parents threw me away like I was garbage! And I told you never to bring them up again.”
“Emma, they were trying to protect you! From her!”
“Yeah, well they didn't do a very good job, now did they? And neither did you! You just left me on that doorstep the first chance you got. So shut the hell up and go drown yourself in another bottle. It's all you're good at, anyway. Pinocchio,” she spat his full name at him like it was a curse, and turned her horse back up towards the tavern.
She did return the horse, and got a pitcher full of ale poured on her for her trouble, even though she had a perfectly valid excuse of 'the Queen was here! I was just trying to get away!' Apparently everyone had put together that she was the one who'd led the Queen to them. Great. Another place she could never come again.
Sopping wet and angry, she sloshed out of the tavern to find the Queen's carriage pulling away. “Hey!” she shouted at it, angrily chasing after at with her boots squelching into the mud.
One of the Faceless pulled up his horse in front of her. “Her Majesty has said you know what you have to do now, so get to it, girl!”
She turned and looked up at the black fabric that hid his eyes. “You've got to be kidding me! I'm going to need supplies! Tools! A way to get there! A way to get back!”
“You'll be provided with everything you need,” came the sultry voice of the Queen behind her.
Emma turned, open mouthed. The Queen was behind her, still on the horse she'd borrowed from her guard. “I... um... Your Majesty. I thought... you'd gone.”
That impeccable eyebrow raised again. “I think that's the first time you've addressed me by title since you tried to apologize for stealing from me in the first place.”
“...I'm not big on titles.”
“Except your own, apparently. Outlaw,” she teased, and set her horse to a slow walk, implying that Emma was to keep pace with her. She looked down at her with an amused little glance. “You could have tried to escape. Several times now, at least. Yet you haven't. Why?”
Grumbling, Emma refused to crane her neck looking up at her, looking instead straight ahead as she walked. “I told you I'd do this for you. If I didn't, you'd go back and kill everyone in that village.”
The Queen chuckled. “I certainly might, that's true. But then I might go back and do that anyway.”
“I don't think you will.”
The horse actually stopped up short at that, making a little noise if indignation at its current rider. The Queen paid the horse no mind, too intrigued by her current conversation partner. “Oh? Why?”
“Because you'll have what you want.” She made an effort not to look at the Queen.
“And what is it I want?”
“The curse." And she almost cursed herself at the glibness with which she said that, quickly trying to cover it up. "Or... whatever it is on that scroll. Probably a curse, though. Since it's written in half-Elvish and you want it so badly. ”
It took a moment for the Queen to respond, considering carefully. “And just how do you know so much about these things, dear?"
Emma shrugged. "Everyone knows you were going to cast a curse but you never did."
The Queen narrowed her eyes. "Yes... I suppose they do."
They drifted into an uncomfortable silence, Emma internally cursing herself and her big mouth with every step. Eventually, the Queen looked down at her with a semi-bored expression. She raised her hand and purple smoke enveloped them once more. When it cleared, they were outside the Queen's castle. Emma had to immediately stop walking or else risk running smack into the side of the damn thing. She glared back at the Queen, who was now dismounted, the horse goodness knows where, hopefully returned to its knight. The Queen simply looked bemusedly at her. "Well, dear. My lord steward will see that you have everything you need to get me what I want. Meet me in my castle once you have it. And don't take too long. I've waited long enough."
She turned to leave.
Emma bit her lips for about half a second before her mouth got her in trouble again. "Hey, how have you not aged?"
She could see the lines of tension form along every part of the Queen's body. She turned her heard deadly slowly, like a viper. "Excuse me?"
"Everyone talks about it. How you haven't aged in thirty years. They say its Dark Magic. I have a bet going." She shrugged like this was all the explanation that was needed.
The fireball once more burst into existence in the Queen's palm. "I'm afraid you're going to lose that bet."
Emma continued as if the fireball wasn't even there, though her eyes flicked back and forth from it to the Queen's face, finally settling on the latter. "I think you were cursed. Probably by the same person whose secret vault I'm about to sneak into for you." She managed to stare the Queen down. She'd never had occasion to test whether her anti-magic charm would work against fireballs. She didn't really want to try it.
But the Queen did need her, at least for a little while. And slowly, the fireball fizzled out of existence. She stepped up closer to Emma, her eyes raking down her face before finally settling to glare into her eyes. "...You're about as discreet as a dull ax, aren't you?"
"Never had much time for good manners." Emma's voice was a little more breathless than she would have liked. “Not much needed in a life like mine.”
They stared at one another for several long, slow seconds. Until finally the Queen's Lord Steward arrived and cleared his throat with a bit of hesitation. The moment was broken, and the Queen slowly inhaled with a sneer before turning away, "Do yourself a favor and learn some before we next meet."
Emma was left alone with the Queen's Steward, an older man with a kind face. "Hello, I'm Henry. Let's see about getting what you need, shall we?"
The journey to the island was completely uneventful. Honestly it was a little too easy. It had put her on edge. She docked the small boat she'd been given in a quiet, inconspicuous little cove and quickly crept up onto the main hill. It was night, and sailing the Wide Sea in the dark had not been fun, but when she'd weighed the risks it had been the necessary step to take. Now, it was easier to sneak towards the castle undetected. There did not appear to be many guards, but then who would be stupid enough to steal from a dragon in the first place?
Emma Swan, clearly.
She muttered under her breath and sighed at herself as she readied her grappling hook. She took a few deep, calming breaths. This was her area of expertise, and she knew it well. The hook flew over the wall like a dream, catching on the ramparts easily. She tested it, and then began to climb.
So far, so good. She made it to the ramparts easily enough. Now it was just a matter of determining where a dragon would hide a curse-scroll. In the dark, it was difficult to determine the layout of the castle, but she could tell there was one main tower. That's where she'd start. She made her way there slowly, bit by bit. She told herself she had all the time in the world until she got caught, but once she got caught, there would be no time at all. Creeping her way along the wall, she made her way up to the tower.
By the time she finally found the scroll hidden in a small leather pouch inside a tiny drawer, high in the tallest point of the tower, it was already well past dawn. Letting out a sigh of relief, she studied the thing for only half a moment, making sure it matched the Queen's description. Once certain it was correct, she tucked it back in the same pouch and attached it to her belt. Even so, she was on edge. This had been way too easy.
Which, inevitably, meant when she turned around, she came face to face with the dragon sorceress herself, in human form, barring the door.
Elegant fingers tapped at the sides of a staff capped with a winged dragon. She sniffed in derision, "Oh, now you must have a death wish."
Emma took a sharp step back in surprise. Her foot accidentally stepped on her cloak, pulling the hood back from her face.
Draconic pupils slit into place in Maleficent's eyes for a half second; they widened in rage and recognition. Her nostrils flared and faint wisps of smoke emerged. With every sentence that followed, she took steps closer, and Emma took steps back. "I should have guessed it would be you. Not enough that your damned parents took everything from me. Not enough that your damned father then crept up into my palace and attacked me for no reason. Now you're blatantly stealing from me. Clearly the apple didn't fall far from the tree."
Swallowing thickly, Emma's mind raced as she rapidly contemplated how best not to become lunch. "Um... look!" she inwardly cheered when her approaching doom actually did pause to look, "A distraction!" She threw a tiny phial of squid ink she'd managed to persuade Sir Henry into giving her at Maleficent, and gave a sigh of relief when it actually worked.
The magic crackled and burst into life around her, freezing her in place, and Maleficent hissed and raged. “This will not hold me for long!”
Emma didn't have to be told twice, and ran out of the room, racing back to castle ramparts with her cloak trailing behind her. She shimmied back down her rope and made it back to her ship, unfurling the sails and hoping against all hope that the wind would be with her.
She only got a small distance away before the very large and very angry dragon burst her way out of the side of the tower, bricks and wooden beams crumbling as she forced her way out. Her bellow of rage echoed across the water, and Emma gulped. And furiously tried to come up with a plan.
The dragon circled wide around the tower, which was miraculously still staying upright despite the gaping hole in the side of it, and came barreling over the water towards her, teeth bared and tail lashing.
Emma jumped to the front of her small boat, waving her arms with her hair tousled by the wind and generally looking like she was utterly insane. Maleficent roared, and came charging at her, her belly glowing as she prepared to light the ship with dragonsfire.
At the last possible instant, Emma ducked and rolled to the side, revealing her lit canon. It fired, hitting Maleficent square in her glowing chest. She crumpled, and flopped into the water.
Emma looked after her for a long moment, shocked that that had actually worked, and waiting for her to re-emerge. She knew it wouldn't kill her, of course. No weapon powered by fire, even a cannonball, could ever kill a dragon. But the immersion in water would severely hinder her magic, hopefully enough for her to get away. The lake was wide, after all, but not that wide.
And indeed, eventually a very waterlogged and worse-for-the-wear looking Maleficent emerged, in human form, back at the edge of her island. She would need time and rest to recover, but her anger burned in her now more powerful than any dragonsfire.
Far away, stepping out of her boat as it landed on the other side of the Wide Sea, a certain thief was looking over her shoulder for any sign of dragons, and chuckling to herself when none were to be found.
Regina was pacing.
Her father was watching.
“She should be back by now!” she said again, for what may have been the tenth time, throwing her hands up and then stopping in front of the mirror. “Try looking again!”
The smoky face of the genie appeared. “Her charm prevents me from finding her, Your Majesty. Just as it has every other time you've asked.”
Regina let out a growl of frustration and stomped away. “I knew I shouldn't have let her keep that damned thing! I should never have trusted some low life thief to go up against Maleficent! She's probably been roasted in six different ways by now!”
One of her Faceless entered the room, bowing his head. “Forgive the intrusion, Majesty. But we found him.”
“At last, some good news!” She stretched out her hands and shoulders as if in preparation, then nodded. “Bring him in.”
“Who have they found?” asked her father. “Who have you ordered them find?”
She didn't answer, and in another moment the guards brought in a struggling man with a bag over his face and his arms and legs bound. They forced him to his knees and then she smirked and strode up to him and removed the bag. “Ah, there you are. Welcome, Mr... Noni, was it?”
The guards had gagged him, but the man who was once a wooden puppet carved and brought to life as a real boy and then shoved through a magic tree just before a certain princess stared back at the Queen with widen, uncertain eyes.
“Remove the gag.”
It was done, and he wet suddenly very dry lips, but said nothing.
She smirked at him, a fireball blooming to life in her palm. “Now then, you're going to tell me exactly where Emma got that little charm of hers. And why it is she seems to know so much about my curse.”
She couldn't believe her ears when he actually started to laugh. “You don't know. You don't know who she is.”
Regina nodded to her guards, and they kicked him in the ribs, stopping the laughter immediately. She raised her brow. “She's a thief who drifts around from kingdom to kingdom and was raised in a tiny village that smells like pig shit. What else is there to know?”
On the floor, he shook his head, then coughed, and his shoulders shook as he laughed again. “She's not just some thief. She's Emma!” He said this like it should mean something to her.
“...And?”
He looked at her like she was stupid. “The lost daughter of Snow White and her Prince Charming! The daughter they hid away in the wardrobe to save them from your curse!”
Regina stormed up to him, taking him by the throat with her magic and suspending him in the air. “What?! And she knows this?!”
He somehow managed to keep laughing at her, even while choking. “Of course she does. I went with her. I told her the entire time she was growing up. We made wishes to her fairy godmother and the fairies came and gave her lessons in magic and special talismans to keep her safe. From you.”
“This is... impossible!” Regina began to pace again. “I would have sensed it... I would have seen it. I... I... I can't have been this stupid!” Her eyes blazed with anger and she began to approach him again, ready to add his heart to her collection.
Her father placed a hand on her arm. “What of your.. gift? Didn't it show you the future with this... Emma?”
“You know it doesn't work that way, Daddy!” She turned her head sharply toward him. “I only saw possible futures, and that was twenty-eight years ago! I can't be expected to remember every little image!” She snarled, and looked back towards the mirror. “But every time I see Snow with her two perfect little children and her perfect little kingdom all happy and perfectly content, forgotten all about me and the pain she caused... it eats me alive, Daddy. I can't keep living like this. I can't keep letting her be happy!”
Regina's hand shot out and plunged into the man's chest, tugging his heart out in one smooth, swift, gesture. She squeezed it until he was squirming on the floor, gasping in pain, and then moved to squeeze even further until it ground into dust, when a voice rang out:
“Stop!”
A cloaked figure was suddenly standing on the balcony, a grappling hook and rope swinging from the railing nearby. The hood was whipped back from the head to reveal blonde hair.
Regina's eyes almost shot fireballs at her all on their own. “You! Guards, seize her!”
“I don't think you'll want to do that! Not when I have this!” She held out a little leather pouch. “I think this is what you wanted so badly, your majesty.”
Regina flung out her free hand, and her guards stopped in their tracks, retreating back to watching the prisoner, not that he could do much, with his heart in Regina's hand. “My curse... you actually got it.”
“I did. And I've read it. I know exactly what you need to cast it. And this little pouch is enchanted to go up in flames if you try to poof it to you, so don't even try it!”
Regina's fingers lowered from where they'd been about to snap to do just that. “...You've read my curse. You can read half-elvish?”
Emma rolled her eyes. “The fairies were quite insistent about my education. When they felt like showing up. And when they were done they ditched me back in whatever dump they found me in before. Because it was 'safer that way'.” She glared at Pinnochio on the floor, then looked back at Regina. “So yeah, I read it. And to cast it, you'll need the heart of the person you love most. Which is your father.” She glanced at him, the kind-face man in the corner of the room who had helped her get everything she'd need to steal from a dragon. She nodded to him in deference, then turned back to the Queen. “So I don't think you want to do that.”
Regina looked personally stricken. “...What?”
“That's the final ingredient of your curse.” Emma held up the little pouch, coming into the room properly. “And that's why I can't let you kill Pinocchio. You see, even though he is a low-life sack of scum who left me on a doorstep when he was supposed to watch out for me,” she glared at him, “...he did still come back for me when I got older. And he did tell me who parents really are. And he is the closest thing to family I have.”
Pinocchio gave a sigh of relief as Emma stepped over him, closer to Regina, bearing the little pouch like it was a weapon unto itself. “Which is why I'm going to need his heart intact so I can cast this curse for you.”
Pinnochio fainted.
Henry blinked.
Regina stared. “...What?”
“I heard what you said. About Snow White and her two perfect children and how she's forgotten about you. She forgot all about me, too. She threw me away. Like I meant nothing.” Her face was an angry snarl of emotion. “Which is why as soon as I figured at what you wanted me to get for you, I knew I'd find a way to get it.” She offered the little leather pouch for Regina to take.
The Queen's eyebrow went back up again, but she did take the little pouch and reach inside. Sure enough, her little curse scroll was in her hand when she removed it, and she unfurled it, taking a glance at the ingredient list. It was just as Emma had said. She glanced at her, letting her eyes rake over in in a long glance from top to bottom. “Why should I trust you to cast my curse for me? You're the daughter of my greatest enemy.”
“I am. But I may be the only person in the kingdom with reason to hate them as much as you do. And I've never even met them.”
“And that's enough for you to help me? I did set a trap for you and threaten to raise an entire village full of people you know to the ground.” Regina's voice was losing its skepticism, but still retained just enough to make her a tinge enough wary.
Emma shrugged. “You did. Those people are sheep. They have moments of 'generosity' which assuages their consciences about all the horrible things they do the rest of the time. I have no interest in being a Savior to people like that.” She bit her lip and looked back at Regina. “You don't have any of that. So...I'd much rather save someone like you.”
Regina stepped in very, very close to her, eliminating almost all the space between them. She stared at her lips for a moment, before looking back into her eyes. “I don't need a Savior.”
Emma smirked. “Of course you don't, Your Majesty.” She didn't back down, didn't move away, just continued looking back into Regina's eyes.
And she must have seen something that struck a chord, because slowly, as if a bit begrudgingly, Regina reached out her hand and placed Pinnochio's heart in it. Emma's smirk only widened once she was holding the beating, glowing organ, and she let her own eyes wander approvingly up and down the Queen.
“But maybe you need an Outlaw.”