The Evil Queen and Her Darkness
Queen Regina stands completely still as she watches the hanging guard struggle for either life, or death. Whichever it is, she can't tell and doesn't care. For more than an hour she has stood here, ensuring the acceleration of his bleeding to death by slicing at his flesh with her razor sharp magic.
Suddenly, she feels a fierce tear through her heart. In a crazed frenzy, she decapitates the poor soul in an attempt to distract herself from the pain. It doesn’t work, and for a moment Regina is utterly terrified of how bitterly cold her heart feels. The body falls to the stone floor, bones breaking with a loud crack, and the head falls right into her hands. She catches it, and as though transfixed, Regina loses herself staring into the dead, blue eyes of the One Who Complained.
It has only been one day since Leia abandoned her, and the Queen has taken her anger out on countless unfortunate souls.
She curses her mother’s mantra of ‘love is weakness’ that she should have learned from ages ago. Truly, love is weakness, and will only make one weaker to be so foolish as to allow someone in. How could she have not remembered that? How could she have let herself enjoy Leia’s company?
Just then, she feels the unmistakable tremble of her world being penetrated. It’s the same source she felt directly before meeting Leia, and, therefore, the same she felt after Leia told her she was leaving forever. Without a doubt, the Queen knows she has returned. With a quick wave of her hand, the corpse before her dissolves and disappears.
Regina’s body tenses and she conjures a fireball when she senses her former lover’s presence.
“My Majesty,” Dark Swan whispers from far behind her.
Regina lifts her head high, staring at the spot where the guard had been hanging.
With all her strength, she whirls around to strike her, only to have her magic squelched out like a mere match by Leia's power.
"Oh, you're gonna need something much more clever than that to stop me, dearie," Dark Swan teases with a whimsical smile on her lips.
She begins to saunter forward confidently.
"D-Dearie?!" Regina startles at the familiar phrase. "Leia, wh-" she stops and takes in her changed appearance for a long moment. "What happened?"
Dark Swan laughs lightheartedly, “Leia was an alias I had to give in order to protect you. My real name is Emma... But, lately I've been calling myself the Dark Swan.”
“How can that be? You told me that you wield Light Magic,” Regina asks, hating the excitement building in her chest.
“I did. Er- Still do… I’m sure it’s inside here somewhere, but it’s not the magic I use anymore. I was recently cursed; twice, in fact. And, Regina," Dark Swan pauses and slowly steps into Regina. "Being cursed with this Darkness helped open my eyes. I know there's nothing I can do to take back the hurt I've caused both of us. I'm so sorry I had to leave, but you and I were both fucked over by someone who got what they deserved. I made sure of that, personally. Please, my dear Regina. Forgive me."
“That’s curious,” Regina blinks and tries to casually put distance between herself and Emma. “Cursed with Darkness? How does something like that just occur out of the blue?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Dark Swan shakes her head and looks at Regina tenderly. “I’m just glad to be back here in the Enchanted Forest… With you.”
Regina meets Dark Swan’s intense green eyes with her own sultry browns. Immediately, her heart melts and relief rushes through her. Tears begin to form as she giddily walks up to Dark Swan. My mother and her advice can burn in hell, she thinks to herself as she takes Dark Swan’s black hands.
“Emma,” she breathes with a grin. “I thought I was a fool for loving you. But, looking at you right now- I've never been so sure of anything in my life. I forgive you.”
Dark Swan laughs joyfully and picks Regina up, twirling her around in the air before dipping her down to kiss her passionately. The two break away after a long moment, and Dark Swan celebrates her victory internally while looking intently at Regina’s beaming lips.
Dark Swan chuckles mischievously as Regina plants a few sweet kisses on her cheek.
The Evil Queen is not Emma's True Love, and that's what Dark Swan was counting on.
Together, the Dark pair will be unstoppable.