Ch.68: Fall
Ingrid stood in the woods, looking at the sky where her spell was starting, when Rumple came to stand by her.
“Well done, dearie. It appears you’ve won.”
“That’s big of you. And a welcome change, you’re usually so confrontational.”
“I prefer reasonable. I’d like to make a deal.”
“You have nothing that I want.”
“Well, perhaps I do. This spell of yours, when it hits, in a few hours from now…”
“Sundown,” she informed him.
“Sundown, yes. It will bring out the darkness in everyone in this town.”
She chuckled.
“It will do more than that. They will tear themselves apart until everyone is dead.”
He gave a smile.
“Not everyone. You’ll have what you want, you alone with your sisters, Elsa and Katherine, doing who knows what, and I’ll be here, too. Spending every waking moment of my immortal life trying to rip your heart out.”
“It seems you do have something to offer,” she replied. “What do you want?”
“To leave.”
“Didn’t we already make this deal?”
“Yes, but I have an eye for a loophole. And I think I’ve spotted yours. My wife and grandson will be destroyed by this spell. So, I want you to allow them to leave with me. You spare the two of them, I spare you misery. Do we have a deal?”
“Enjoy your trip,” she said.
Rumple looked at the spell in the sky.
Elsa used binoculars to look at the spell in the sky from the clock tower, and then stopped after a minute.
“Belle was right, my aunt is actually doing this,” Elsa commented.
She passed the binoculars to Snow whom also looked.
“The spell of Shattered Sight,” Snow said.
Charming took them from Snow and looked.
“We open the mines and the vaults, we take shelter there.”
“This is magic. It doesn’t care about ceilings. It started,” Regina told him.
“How long?” Hook asked her.
She looked through the binoculars.
“By sundown.” She took them away. “By sundown, everyone in this town will start tearing each other apart.”
“Okay. The answer is simple. Let’s not be in town,” Katherine suggested.
Henry, Regina, Katherine, Hook, LeRoy, Hook, Elsa, Charming, and Snow looked at the ice wall at the town line.
“Hardly an elegant solution,” Regina commented.
“Nothing wrong with brute force if it works,” Katherine replied.
“If we can get over, we can build a frame, take people over one at a time,” LeRoy suggested.
“David, be careful,” Snow said.
“Yeah, yeah,” Charming replied, rope over one shoulder.
Charming went over and use an axe to dig into the ice wall so he could climb it, but it shook, making him fall.
“David!” Snow yelled.
Elsa, Snow, and Katherine went over to the wall.
Snow and Katherine went over to Charming.
“David!” Katherine said.
“You okay?” Snow asked.
Charming started to get up and Katherine helped him.
“Looks like that wall doesn’t care much for your brute force,” Regina commented, looking at it.
Snow helped Charming away from the wall and a crack opened up, revealing Anna’s necklace to Elsa.
Elsa went to grab it and Katherine saw it.
“Elsa, no,” she warned. “Stop. Hey, no! That thing could go off again!”
Katherine looked at the wall, as Elsa grabbed the necklace.
Katherine put a hand on her arm.
“Come on.”
“It’s Anna’s necklace. I thought it was gone. It’s like a miracle,” Elsa said, holding it in her hand.
They walked away from the wall.
“Glad you found it, but sentimentality is not worth risking your life over,” Katherine told her.
“It’s a sign, Katherine. A sign we’re gonna win,” Elsa said.
“Is everyone into this hope thing now?” Regina said.
“If we’re gonna win, we need to stop wasting time,” Katherine told them. “David, Snow, LeRoy, go tell everyone what’s going on. When this goes down, everyone needs to be separated from their loved ones if they don’t wanna hurt each other.” She watched them go and then looked at Hook. “Killian, go to the waterfront. See if we can use boats to get some people out.”
“I have to warn Robin Hood. His camp’s not far from here,” Regina informed her.
“Okay, go,” she told her. “Elsa and I are gonna talk to Gold, see if he has any ideas. Henry, you come with us…”
“No. He’s with me. I’m his best chance,” Regina replied.
“That might not be true. Katherine and I, I think we’re immune,” Elsa told her.
“What?” Regina questioned.
“These ribbons.” Elsa raised an arm to show her. “If the Snow Queen wants us to be her sisters, then the curse won’t affect us.”
“So, I should definitely watch Henry,” Katherine told Regina.
“No. You’re a part of this nut job’s plan. I want Henry near me as long as it’s safe for him.”
“It’s okay, Katherine. I’ll be fine with her,” Henry assured her.
Katherine gave him a hug.
“Be careful, kid.”
“We gotta go. This is happening now,” Regina commented, looking behind her at the curse.
Katherine let go of Henry, seeing what Regina was seeing. It was just behind the trees.
Katherine and Elsa were at the shop with Belle.
“Any luck?” Katherine asked.
“No,” Belle said with a sigh. “It appears to be pretty much unstoppable. The one thing I did find is there may be a way to undo the effects on anyone it touches.”
“That’s wonderful,” Elsa replied.
“It seems that when somebody’s been touched by the spell, that you can use them to undo it. With a strand of their hair, you can make some kind of counterspell, like a vaccine.”
“My sister,” Elsa said.
“What?” Katherine asked.
“My aunt said she put me in that urn. I didn’t believe her because Anna would never do that, unless she was under that spell. We have to get to her.”
“But you still don’t know where she is,” Belle reminded her.
“No, but now you can help me find her. You said if I had something of hers, you could use this locator spell. Well, now I have something of hers.” She handed Belle the necklace and looked at Katherine. “Sometimes sentimentality pays off.”
“You have a point, Elsa,” she agreed with her.
Belle used a magnifying glass to examine it and immediately saw something.
“There’s mirror dust in this,” she informed them. “Actually embedded in the metal.”
“So I was right. She was under that spell,” Elsa said.
“So, if we find Anna, she can save everyone.”
“I’ll round up the faeries,” Belle said. “They can set up shop somewhere close and figure out how to make the counterspell.”
“Thank you. Let’s go,” Elsa said.
“Elsa, you realize this is a long shot,” Katherine told her. “I was time traveling when I brought you here. And when Anna disappeared, it was…”
“Thirty years ago,” Elsa interrupted. “I know. But she’s okay. She has to be. And I don’t care how old she is. She can save us.”
“Okay, then,” Katherine replied. “We’re relying on mirror dust and fairies. But now we have a plan, which is progress. Let’s go find your sister.”
Hook was using his telescope to look across the water at the docks. He saw a wall of ice at the edge of the water in a distance.
“No fleeing by boat, then,” he commented.
Rumple sat on the bench behind Hook.
“This Snow Queen is good, isn’t she? Sit, lad.” He patted the bag that was on the ground by him. “Don’t forget where your heart lies. Now, I have a job for you. You remember how this works, yes?” Rumple made the thing that the hat was in appear.
Hook looked at it.
“The hat…Not Katherine.”
“No, no. Not this time,” Rumple said with a chuckle. “I have a better plan. Granny’s Diner is being converted into a temporary hive for the vilest of creatures, the pious little fleas.”
“Pious. The fairies?”
“Just like any flying pests, if you wanna eliminate the infestation, it’s important to get them all. Doing so will infuse this hat with enough power to allow me to cleave myself from the dagger and then leave this town with my powers intact, a suddenly urgent undertaking. Now, will you assist me?”
“You have my heart. You know I can’t refuse,” Hook replied, though he didn’t want to do it.
“Indeed,” Rumple said with a chuckle. “But here’s the rub, dearie. My wife has just called to inform me that she intends to spend the day sequestered amongst said fleas. So, I need you to stand by while I get her out of the way.”
“The fairies are working to stop this spell. You’re killing the cure? You do this, you condemn the entire town, and even your own grandson, to whatever happens.”
“No. I’m not leaving Henry. I will take him, and I will take Belle, and I will leave this town to its fate.”
“But Katherine and everyone else…”
“I don’t have time for everyone else. And if I have to choose between everyone else and me, then me wins. Every time.”
Hook sat there, looking ahead and silent, not liking the idea.
Rumple chuckled.
“You can clench your jaw and flash your eyes all you wish, because it doesn’t change the fact that…” He took the dagger out and waved it over the thing that held the hat and the hat appeared. “We’re in this together.”
Robin sat in a chair with Roland, in front of a fire, a few merry men around the camp, as Henry and Regina watched.
Robin set Roland down.
“What’s this called?” he asked him, one of Robin’s arrows in Robin’s hand.
“An arrow,” Roland replied.
“Yes, and what’s this called?” he asked,
“Flight.”
“Flight, yeah,” Robin replied, and then looked to see Regina and Henry. “Stay right there,” Robin told his son, before getting up.
“Regina,” Robin said, and went to stand in front of her.
“It’s happening,” Regina told him. “You and your men need to scatter. All together like this, with all these weapons, you’ll kill each other once this spell hits.”
“Will!” Robin called. “Will Scarlet.”
He came out from a close tent.
“There’s no need to yell. I’m just here, Robin.”
“Emergency. Break camp!”
“All right, then. Come on, little man,” Will said to Roland.
Regina turned to her son.
“Why don’t you go help?”
Henry did as told.
Will walked off with Roland.
Regina looked at Robin again and Robin saw her face.
“What? Is there something else?”
“No. I’m just trying to memorize you like this.”
“Like what? Nervous and alarmed?”
“No. With love in your eyes. I told you what this spell is going to do.”
He put a hand on the side of her face.
“Maybe it won’t.”
“It will,” she told him. “The only people who believe in me in this town are Henry and you.” She sighed. “And the thought of you looking at me like everyone else does, with hatred…” She groaned. “It just might kill me.”
“Stop thinking. We’re here now and this is true.”
They kissed and then hugged.
Elsa and Katherine came out of the shop.
Elsa held the necklace up.
“Okay. Here you go…,” Katherine said. She poured a drop of the locator potion on the necklace. “Ha!” she added when the necklace started glowing.
“Is it supposed to do that?” Elsa asked her.
“Yeah, I know this spell. It gets brighter as you get closer to your goals. It’s how Snow White and Charming found each other.”
In a certain direction, it began to glow more.
“Did you see that? That means it found her, right? She’s out there?”
Katherine gave a smile.
“How about…Yeah. Come on, don’t just stand there. Let’s keep going.”
They continued walking, the necklace in Elsa’s hand.
“The library. But I’ve been inside before, and Anna wasn’t there,” Elsa said.
“The library is, well, a funny place. There are all these tunnels underneath.”
“You think she could be down there?”
“Regina kept a whole dragon under there for twenty-eight years, I’m sure you can fit a small princess, too.”
“Yes, frozen by the Snow Queen. That’s why we never found Anna. But now we will.”
Katherine and Elsa entered the library and went into the tunnels.
“It’s brighter,” Elsa commented, as they walked, Katherine shining a flashlight. Elsa pointed in a direction. “There.”
They stopped where there were rocks.
“No, how can there be a barrier? Look how bright the glow is!” Elsa said. “She must be practically right on the other side!” Elsa approached. “Anna! Are you there?”
Katherine walked next to her.
“Look at this dust. It just recently fell,” Katherine commented. “All the new ice-spiking and earth-shaking that the Snow Queen’s been doing must have caused it.”
Elsa stepped back a distance.
“I can move this.”
Katherine turned around to look at her.
“No. Elsa, stop. As much as I enjoyed our last cave-in, I don’t wanna do it again.”
“But she’s right there,” Elsa replied.
“Then we’ll find another way,” she assured her.
“Sure, me and the guys can clear the tunnel,” LeRoy told Elsa. “We’ll have to work careful, but we can do it.”
“Let’s go now,” Elsa said.
Charming’s phone went off.
“Excuse me.”
“Look at this mess,” Regina commented. “A good mayor checks that these things are kept up to code.”
“Yeah, well, if the mayor only has to worry about one villain, and it’s herself, that frees up a lot of time for infrastructure,” Snow said, looking at the map and then at Regina. “I’ve had other issues.”
“LeRoy, how long to clear the passage?” Katherine asked him.
“A couple hours, maybe. We can get right on it.”
“That’s wonderful,” Elsa commented.
“We don’t have a couple hours,” Regina interjected. “Have you guys not been watching the clock? It’ll be sundown before you munchkins finish.”
“Dwarfs, sister,” LeRoy corrected.
“Like I care. Let’s just blast through and take the risk.”
Charming came back in.
“That was Belle over at the diner. They can possibly make the counterspell even if we don’t find Anna. They can pull the mirror dust out of the necklace and try to use that.”
“It’s exactly the same?” Snow asked.
“Almost. It’ll take a little longer. The process is difficult and it will destroy the necklace.”
“So, the necklace can either save all of us or Anna,” Katherine replied.
“No. It can do both. We have time,” Elsa said.
“We don’t,” Regina told her. “Exploring these tunnels could take days.”
“So, what’ll it be, folks? Save the town or find the sister?” LeRoy asked.
Hook and Rumple walked up to the diner. Hook had the hat in hand.
“Go to the back and wait,” Rumple told him. “You’ll know when you’re needed.”
“What do you want?” the blue fairy asked, when Rumple entered the diner.
Belle turned around at the bar to see him.
“Excuse me, but I’d like to borrow my wife,” Rumple informed her. He then told Belle, “I need you at the shop for a short while.”
“She’s working. We need her,” Blue told him.
“Mother Superior’s right. This is too important,” Belle told him. “We’re really close here, Rumple. Please, be patient.”
“Of course. Well, until you can go, I’ll just, uh…I’ll just keep you company. Perhaps I’ll be helpful.”
Blue approached him.
“This is light magic, Dark One.”
“Well, then maybe I’ll learn something,” he replied.
Elsa stood away from the others, looking at the necklace.
Regina looked at Charming, Snow, and Katherine.
“This shouldn’t even be a conversation. If we don’t get the necklace to the fairies right now, we and all our loved ones will be hit by this vicious spell. It’s one woman’s life versus a whole town.”
“Maybe we just haven’t thought of an option where we don’t have to lose anyone,” Katherine suggested to Regina.
“Mmm, you’re talking like a hero,” Snow commented.
Katherine looked at Snow.
“Yes, like all you Charmings always do,” Regina commented. “But right now, that’s not your job.” She looked at Katherine. “You’re more than heroes, you’re leaders, which means making the tough choice where someone has to lose and you have to say who.” She added that last part, looking at Charming and Snow.
“I agree with Regina. You’re right,” Snow said.
“Yeah, I heart it, too,” Katherine added.
“We need to do what’s best for the most people,” Snow said. “We need to give this town its best chance.”
“I’m so sorry, but we have to let the fairies destroy that necklace,” Charming told Katherine.
Katherine walked over to Elsa.
“This can’t be easy,” Charming said, as they watched her explain it to Elsa.
Elsa gave her the pouch, which Katherine took and walked over to them.
Elsa walked over to the elevator and went down with the necklace in her hand.
They entered the diner with the pouch.
“The necklace. Do you have it?” Belle asked, going over to them.
“It’s right here,” Katherine replied.
Blue opened the pouch but all there was were pebbles.
“It’s pebbles from the mine,” Blue told them.
“What?” Katherine said.
“Where is it?” Snow asked.
“She tricked us so she can use it to keep tracking down her darn sister,” Regina answered. “I should know better than to trust blondes by now.”
“We have to go back and get it,” Katherine replied.
“No. It’s too late,” Belle replied.
“Too late? Already?” Snow asked.
“By the time you get back here, yes,” Belle replied. “Without Anna being her physically, there’s no way to make a counterspell in time.”
“Time for a hope speech? Virtues of blind faith?” Regina asked.
“Well, it seems Elsa’s blind faith is exactly what’s screwing us right now,” Snow replied.
“Coming from you, that’s just terrifying,” Regina commented.
“Well, I’m not giving up,” Katherine replied. “I know she’s down in the mines looking for Anna. I’m gonna go help Elsa find her.”
Charming sighed.
“Well, then go. Because right now, that’s our only shot.”
Katherine left the diner.
It didn’t take long for Katherine to get down to the mines.
“Elsa!”
Katherine hurried to catch up with her.
Elsa stopped and saw her.
“I’m sorry, I have to try this,” Elsa said. Then she used magic to open it up, which worked.
Elsa and Katherine walked through the now big hole in the tunnels where there was a beach.
“The beach,” Katherine commented. “That map couldn’t have been any more wrong.”
“I don’t understand. She should be here,” Elsa replied.
“Elsa, I’m sorry. Magic isn’t always perfect.”
“So, even though it’s still glowing, because she’s not here, it means…”
“The search is over,” Katherine told her. “Thirty years is a long time.”
“You think something’s happened to her and this has all been a mistake?” Elsa asked, turning around to look at her.
“I think we need to deal with the problem in front of us right now. I’m sorry.”
They continued walking around on the beach.
“I’m sorry, Katherine, but I still have faith. I still believe she’s…”
Elsa looked at the necklace and saw that it wasn’t glowing anymore.
“What?” Katherine asked.
“It stopped glowing.”
“I’m sorry.”
“She’s really gone. This was my present for Anna for her wedding. It was among my mother’s things. But to us, it was new. And I turned it into the last gift I ever gave her.”
“Elsa, I’m so sorry,” Katherine said. “But it’s almost sundown.” She looked back to see that the curse was spreading. Then she looked at Elsa again. “That cloud is gonna hit any time. We have to go. Everyone’s gonna turn on each other, and something tells me that being immune to the curse is not gonna stop them from attacking us.”
“I failed. I deserve to be attacked. This…This is all I have left of Anna. Now, I’ll never know what happened to her.” She put her hands to her chest, still holding the necklace. “Anna, wherever you are, whatever happened to you all those years ago, I’m so sorry I didn’t find you. I still have faith. I know you’re out there somewhere. I won’t give up hope. I just wish…I wish you were with me now.”
“Elsa, come on,” Katherine urged her.
Elsa took her hands off her chest and put her hand out in front of her that still held the necklace. Then there was a bolt of magic that came from the necklace.
“Something’s happening,” Katherine stated.
“Do you think it is my aunt’s spell?”
“I don’t know.”
“What is that?” Elsa asked, when some of the water began to bubble in a circle.
A bolt of magic came from it, throwing them back, and they fell on the sand.
When they both sat up, there was a trunk and someone opened it. Then Kristoff and Anna came out of the opened chest.
Elsa stood up.
“Anna?”
They looked to see her.
Elsa ran over to her.
“Anna!”
“Elsa!”
“Anna! I couldn’t find you!”
“I was looking for you!” Anna said back.
“You missed your wedding!”
“It’s okay! We’re here!” Anna replied, and looked at Kristoff.
“You’re still young!”
“We were frozen,” Anna told her.
“For thirty years, apparently,” Kristoff interjected.
“How did you get here?” Elsa asked.
Katherine stood there silently, trying to figure out what happened, the necklace in her hand.
“It’s like you wished it,” she commented.
“My necklace!” Anna said. “It was the wishing star!”
“This is an amazing miracle, but it is a cold miracle and we’re all wet,” Kristoff replied. “So…”
“Yes. If we can get Anna back to the fairies right away, she might be able to stop the spell,” Katherine replied.
“Wait, there’s something I have to do first,” Elsa said, and then hugged Anna whom hugged back.
Katherine gave a smile.
“So, Anna’s on her way,” Belle announced. “Do you really think they can do it?” she asked Rumple.
“Perhaps. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s never trust a fairy. Come, let’s get you some place safe. Just in case.”
Rumple left the diner with Belle.
Hook stood by a wall in the hallway in the back, hidden.
They walked through the streets of the town, heading for the diner.
“So, this spell can’t affect Anna, because it already got her once?” Kristoff asked.
“Exactly,” Katherine informed him.
“And the two of you?” Anna asked.
“We’re immune. It’s a long story. We just gotta hurry,” Katherine replied.
“What a funny-looking world,” Anna told Elsa.
“Right?” Elsa replied.
Hook did as he was told by Rumple to do.
They walked into the diner to see the aftermath of what had happened.
“What happened here?” Elsa asked.
“What do you think? The Snow Queen,” Katherine assumed.
“What does this mean?” Anna asked.
“It means that even with you here, we can’t protect everyone.”
“So, what do we do now?” Elsa asked Katherine.
“Prepare for the worst,” Katherine replied.
Hook listened to everything, hiding behind the counter.
“You’ll be safe in here,” Rumple said, as they walked to his shop.
“So, you can keep the spell out?” Belle asked him.
“No, but we must be separated,” he informed her. “As Dark One, I may be immune to this spell, but you can still hurt me. Go inside, and stay in the back room. I’m gonna seal it with a protection spell so no one can get to you.”
“Okay.”
“Look, I’ll be back soon. And then we’re gonna be together. And we’re gonna be fine,” he assured her. “I promise.”
He hugged her and then let go.
She walked inside, closing the door behind herself. Then he put magic on the shop.
Hook approached.
“Is it done?” Rumple asked him.
“You know, she truly loves you,” he commented. “You could have her forever. Or all the power in the world. It’s your choice.”
“I don’t need to choose, thank you. I can and will, have both.”
He took the hat from Hook.
Rumple walked away.
“Now that it’s settled, are we done?” Hook asked.
“No, no, I’m not gonna give up control of you just yet. Not until I have everything I need.”
“What’s left?”
“That’s my concern, not yours,” Rumple replied. “But by morning, all shall be complete, including your life. Now run along, dearie, and enjoy your last day in this or any land.”
“Mary Margaret. David. We’re running out of time. You said you had a plan,” Katherine said, as they entered the police station, where Snow and Charming were, Snow holding the baby.
“Kristoff?” Charming said.
“David!” Kristoff replied.
They went over to each other.
“You cut your hair!” Charming said.
“So did you!”
They hugged and laughed and then pulled away.
“I see you brought your lovely fiancée, Joan?” Charming said.
“Joan?” Kristoff questioned, looking at her.
“It was a code name,” Anna told him. “David, I like your short hair. Not that I didn’t like it long, or I thought it was…It’s good to see you.”
“Likewise,” Charming replied.
They hugged.
He pulled away.
“And this is my wife, Snow, and our son, Neal,” he informed her.
“The plan, what’s the plan?” Katherine asked Charming and Snow.
Snow grabbed the keys to the cell that were on a desk.
“This is the plan.”
“What?” Katherine asked.
“You and Anna and Elsa are the only ones immune,” Snow reminded her. “So, the rest of us need to protect ourselves.”
Snow held the keys out to Katherine.
“Hey, you might wanna try that desk, old friend. It’s sturdy,” Charming said to Kristoff, in one of the cells already. “Cuff keys are in the top drawer.”
Elsa went over to the drawer and pulled out one of the cuffs.
“I’m not locking you in there,” Katherine told Snow.
“Yes, you have to,” Snow encouraged her.
“We won’t be able to hurt anyone from in here,” Charming told her.
“Take the keys, Katherine.”
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I don’t know how long it’s gonna last. I don’t know what’s gonna happen to me,” Katherine replied to her.
“No, Katherine, you’re gonna fix this thing. And then you’re gonna come back and save us.”
“You think?”
“We believe in you,” Charming reminded her.
“Please,” Snow said. “Now, you know Henry’s in a safe place and Regina and the others can take care of themselves.”
Katherine took the keys and locked Charming’s cell first.
“What about the baby?”
“Don’t worry. Neal won’t be with us,” he assured her.
She went over to the cell Snow as in.
“Who’s gonna take him?” she asked.
“You are,” Snow said, and gave Neal to her. Snow closed the cell. “We don’t fear your magic, Katherine. It’s what’s going to allow you to take on this Snow Queen and win.”
“And when you do, you’ll be right back here unlocking these doors,” Charming assured her.
“We trust you,” Snow said. “And Henry’s right. You are special. And you are going to use that specialness and save us. Both of you.”
“You have wonderful friends, Katherine,” Elsa said.
Katherine turned around to look at her.
“I know.”
Hook walked in.
“Pierce, a word.”
She looked at Hook and then walked over to Elsa.
“Elsa, can you hold him?”
“Yes, of course.”
Elsa took Neal.
Katherine walked over to Hook.
“What are you doing here? You know what’s about to happen.”
“Aye. I know. I just needed to see you. Before I chain myself to the dock for the protection of all, I needed to see you one more time.”
“I’m…Killian, I’m not a tearful goodbye kiss person,” she replied, sobbing a little, not knowing what was going to happen once the spell ended. “But maybe just this once.” She kissed him and then hugged him. Then she pulled away.
“Goodbye,” he said, leaving.
She walked back over to Elsa.
“Okay.” She took Neal from her.
“Not long now,” Kristoff said, seeing it, looking out the window.
Anna walked over to the window and looked at it. She then turned around to look at them.
“Looks like one more adventure together.”
Elsa went to stand by Anna and saw it.
Katherine looked at Snow.
“Here it comes,” Snow said with a sigh.
Charming and Snow held hands through the bars.
Regina walked into her office with Henry.
“Henry, I’m so sorry. I should have stayed focused on Operation Mongoose. But Robin Hood…” She sighed. “I let my heart pull me elsewhere.”
“Operation Mongoose is not over,” he assured her. “We’re gonna find the author. You will be happy.”
“First, we have to survive,” she told him. “Now, listen to me carefully, Henry. I’m going to seal this place. You’re going to be locked in. But more importantly, everyone else will be locked out.”
“I understand.”
“Don’t be scared,” she replied.
“I’m not, mom. Katherine and Elsa will fix this. Have faith.”
Regina sighed and they hugged.
“I wish I was as brave as you.”
He pulled away.
“Now go. I’ll be okay. Really. Go.”
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too.”
She left the office and closed it. She then put a protection spell on the office.
She turned around to see Robin.
“Where to now?” he asked her.
“My vault. And you need to get as far away from it as possible. It’s dangerous even being around each other now.” Lights began to flicker. “We’re moments away.”
“It’s okay,” he assured her. “Roland is locked away somewhere even I don’t know. Henry is safe in there. I’ll go and chain myself to a tree in a minute. Unless you want me to come with you.”
“No, no, no, no, no. I need to seal myself in that vault.”
“What, to keep people out?”
“Well, no, to keep me in.”
“Regina, I’m not afraid of you.”
“But you really, really should be.”
Once in her vault, she put a protection spell on it, hoping to keep herself inside it.
Snow and Charming still held hands through the bars.
“Never let go,” Snow said.
“Hey, don’t be afraid,” Charming said. “You know, we share our heart, and nothing can come between two halves of one heart. These are just precautions. No spell is strong enough to break what we have.”
As soon as the spell began, they let go and Charming stepped away from her.
ns 15.158.61.50da2
