The Modern Fairy Tale Town Book 3: Secrets of Storybrooke

Chapter 6: Revenge of The Old Queen

It was a dark and grim day in Storybrooke. Regina was mourning her mother's death as she sat in her mausoleum, leaving behind a red rose before she was soon suddenly given some company.

"Black always was your color." Rumple commented as he suddenly joined the woman.

"I'm here to bury my mother," Regina glared at him. "So if you've come to gloat..."

"I came to pay my respects," Rumple defended as he brought out a rose and gently laid it down on the coffin that contained the former Queen of Hearts. "We had our differences, but Cora will always have a place in my heart."

"You killed her to save your own life." Regina scoffed.

"Sadly, desperate times call for desperate measures," Rumple replied. "Are you really going to let poor Benjamin go without his father and lose his mother who lost all memory and love for him?"

"Like getting Mary Margaret to trick me into killing my own mother?" Regina retorted. "You may be able to hide behind your dagger, but she can't. She's going to die for what she did."

"Oh, come on. We both know killing her will cost you the thing you want most: Evie and Henry," Rumple countered. "Why don't you just give up this obsession with vengeance? You know it can never make you happy."

"Yes, it will." Regina defended as strongly as she could.

"You had a whole curse worth of vengeance, and what did it get you? A gaping hole in your heart." Rumple reminded, giving her the hard truth.

"That was your curse." Regina said.

"Which you cast," Rumple nodded, standing his ground. "Still haven't learned your lesson, have you?"

"What lesson?" Regina soon demanded.

"The same one your mother learned a long time ago," Rumple explained. "You can't have everything. She wanted power, ripped out her own heart to get it. You want vengeance? Henry and Evie are both the price you'll pay. Time to cut your losses." he then added.

"Never. I will have my son and my daughter, and I will have my vengeance," Regina retorted coldly. "I will find a way to have everything."

Rumple looked soft at that before he soon nodded.

"Have you happened to see Evie on your way over?" Regina asked.

"No, dearie. I'm afraid I haven't seen her since we were all at my shop," Rumple replied softly. "I figured she would be here... Mourning for her grandmother she never got to properly know."

"...Well, she isn't," Regina sighed as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I first lost Daniel, then I lost my mother... I can't lose Evie either."

"Well, of course you wouldn't," Rumple nodded with a smirk. "She's your Evil Princess after all."

"Evie is not mad, bad, dangerous, evil, or wicked, you little imp," Regina glared protectively. "She's a very lovely and kind soul..." she then sighed. "And I fear I might've pushed her away... Lost my little girl... I don't want to lose her or Henry."

"And I don't wish to lose Benjamin either," Rumple replied. "They're our descendants after all and they have their own stories to tell from whichever path they choose and not the ones we laid out for them." he then advised maturely.

"Hmph..." Regina firmly pouted as she looked away.

Rumple then decided to leave her alone with her thoughts as he bowed his own head out of respect for the loss of Cora since they had an "interesting relationship" together once upon a time ago. However, no one was as down about what had happened to Cora as Mary Margaret who was so depressed that she couldn't even leave her bed. Regina just wondered to herself what Evie and Henry were probably doing right now, knowing they weren't together due to the way that Evie stormed out of the pawnshop after the death of Cora.