Villains

Maleficent

They finally arrived at the ritual's place. Whoever had performed it, had done it in the base of the Forbidden Mountain. From where they stood, it was possible to see an old castle on the top of the enormous mountain; Maleficent's.

As the group walked through the forest, they spotted a drawn circle on the floor. Regina stepped forward and studied the runes very carefully - she was sensing some powerful magic on it.

It had a trace of magic she was very accustomed on sensing.

"That's impossible." She whispered, baffled.

Her eyes were wide, and the queen frowned in confusion. She could feel Rumple's dark magic on it.

How was this possible?

"Is he alive?" Belle asked desperately, gasping in surprise.

"Yes." The queen murmured, letting out a snort as she shook her head. "He probably found a way to double cross death. I think he's been alive all this time." She added, kneeling to examine the elvish words.

Regina didn't have to look up to tell if Belle was hurt or not. Her tone said it all.

"I don't understand. Why didn't he let me know he was alright?" The girl questioned, more to herself than anyone else.

"I'm sure he had his reasons, Belle. If there's one thing that man loves in this world, it is you." Granny said, trying to comfort the girl.

The queen knew the white-haired woman was trying to help, but she could think of one thing or two her former teacher loved as well.

Power, for example.

"Let's go back to the castle." Robin suggested, taking a deep breath.

"Not yet. I want to look around and see if I can find something that could help me understand exactly what happened. You shall stay here and wait until I come back to where we set our camp last night." Regina commanded.

"Wait a second, young lady. You'll just walk in these woods all by yourself?" Granny pointed out, lifting her eyebrows in disapproval.

"I can take care of myself. I'll come back at sundown." Regina said firmly.

"Very well then. We'll wait for you, milady." Robin responded.

He quickly looked at the queen, trying to figure out what was she thinking.

Not much time after, Belle, Granny and Robin walked back to the forest, leaving Regina alone with the rune.

                                --  |¥|  --

The queen studied the writing again. She channelized her own magic to find anything that could solve Rumple's mystery.

How can someone escape from death?

Even magic has rules, and one of the worsts is that you cannot bring back the dead.

Regina learned that lesson in the hard way. Therefore, she would be lying if she told herself that this potential resurrection wasn't bothering her.