SwanQueen: A Powerful Weakness (Lesbian Stories)

Chapter 22. Regina

Chapter 22. Regina

Regina was beginning to realise why Madman's Mountain was called so, beside feeling incredibly cold, she felt lost and as if she and her tiny mouse companion had walked right into the middle of nowhere, with no way back. Dark red blood was still trickling down her leg from when she had tripped over and crashed into a jagged rock, her tight leather pants; ripped at the knee exposing her cut to the cruel wind. "Maybe we should get out of here" Mallymkun squeaked, "No, I'm not going anywhere without Emma" Regina cried, her voice running away in the strong breeze. She raised her hand to her face; attempting to block flakes of snow from going in her eyes. "Emma" she called out again, knowing all too well that the saviour wouldn't hear her. By now, Regina was so cold her lips started to turn blue. "This Emma, she must be important to you, we could die up here" Mallymkun spoke again. "I promised our son I would bring her home, I will not disappoint him" she fretted, thinking about how everyone back home would react if she didn't reach Emma on time. Snow lay in every direction, below her feet, above her head, at her sides, it was everywhere. "I miss the leather jacket" she suddenly blurted out, dropping to her knees. "I miss the tiny tent, I miss the stupid grilled cheese sandwiches and I miss, HER, oh god" she sobbed, her heart breaking into a million tiny pieces. Her tears sliced at her face as they froze, she could barely breathe due to the lump in her throat. She felt like a little girl, a poor child wailing for a lost teddy bear, completely distraught. Mallymkun clambered out of Regina's pocket and clasped her face, holding her head in her hands. Neither of them said a word, they didn't need to, the mouse's tiny eyes told everything that needed to be said. Slowly, Regina stood up off the ground and continued walking, wiping away her tears as she focused on the path ahead.

A deafening clapping sound thundered up ahead. Regina stopped dead in her tracks, her heart pounding. An immense drop threw itself between her and the far side of the mountain. Down below was an angry ocean, waves slammed continuously into the rocks. "This tide is really high, is it supposed to be?" Regina asked, hoping the mouse would ease her mind, instead it did the opposite. "Regina, we really need to get out of here" her little voice boomed. "I CAN'T LEAVE EMMA" Regina screamed, clenching her fists and spinning on her heels. As she turned, her squinted eyes instantly caught sight of something odd. A giant black hole seemed to be staring her right in the face, at least whatever it was the snow had not clung onto it. "Oh, I know what that is, it's the little grotto, you know, like a cave, before this place got out of hand people used to explore inside, only now the only adventurers that step inside there are sea creatures. The cave is now a realm of its own" Mallymkun squeaked. Regina continued to stare into the distance, "Sea creatures?" Regina questioned, "Yeah, the ocean rises up through it and would drown any land animal inside". That was when something snapped inside Regina, or rather clicked into place. "Emma could be in there" she whispered, more to herself than the mouse. Panic started to arise within her, if the Saviour was in that cave there really wasn't much time before the ocean claimed her. A high pitch sound pounded deep in her ears, everything else; Mallymkun's voice, the howling wind, the crashing waves, all fell away. Everything was silent. "EMMA" Regina screamed as loud as she could, almost deafening the tiny mouse in her pocket. With that she started to run, faster and faster towards the cave. Almost immediately her muscles began to ache, she was running on adrenaline alone.
As they reached the foot of the cave, a deep dark tunnel would lead them into the centre, and after just a few feet they were swallowed up by complete darkness. Immediately, Regina sparked her own fireball, holding it out in front of her, it gave her just enough light to see where she was going. The freezing cold rocks beneath her feet managed somehow to punch through the soles of her shoes but that wasn't going to stop her. There was a possibility that Emma was here and she was going to find out even if it was the last thing she could do. If this went badly and she died, nobody could say she didn't try. She owed Emma, she owed her everything, she'd come a long way. She was not going to give up one her, not ever.
Shaky breaths echoed around the curved cave walls, spiraling into the distance. "There" Mallymkun pointed out proudly, drawing her sword from its holder. Regina looked up from the ground. A few feet away, another fire seemed to be flickering, a much larger fire. Somebody was definitely here. "Emma?" Regina called out hopefully when suddenly another voice called back. It was quiet, very quiet, not the type of voice she would have expected, whoever or whatever it was, something was wrong. "Emma, Emma are you there?" Regina called again, picking up her pace, rushing through the tunnel. "Regina?" the voice chattered. "EMMA" Regina repeated, a charging relief flowing with her voice. Mallymkun jumped from Regina's pocket and let her run on ahead. Regina pushed and pushed through her fatigue, finally catching a glimpse of Emma. She fell still when she noticed her friend trapped inside the cage, the tide biting at its base. "Regina" Emma whispered, "You came for me" she sounded surprised. "Of course I came for you, now lets get you out of here" Regina gasped, her bottom lip trembling, almost joyful that she had reached her on time. As she grew closer to Emma she noticed the titanic gap between the ground and Emma's cage. "No, no no no" Regina muttered, knowing there was no way she could reach the saviour. Emma used all of her strength to pull herself against the bars, she looked defeated. "Regina, go, save yourself", "NO", "Regina p-please go, Henry needs you", "He needs you too, I'm not leaving you here Emma" Regina sobbed attempting to create some kind of bridge with her magic, but it didn't work, nothing worked. There was absolutely no way she would manage to save her. Zelena had done it, she'd won. Game over. Both women cried, adding more salty liquid of there own to the cave. Mallymkun watched silently from a distance as the two women stared longingly into each other's eyes. Emma suddenly gasped in pain, the tide was now high enough to start filling the cage. It's icy cold sting biting at her skin. "Regina get out of here" Emma pleaded. The gap was no longer there, the ocean had arrived and flooded the ground, already reaching Regina's ankles. Mallymkun clutched onto a stone on the wall and began to climb to a safer height. Regina hesitated as she searched for the best place to move to. "I am not leaving you to die" she called over the noise of the filling cave. Emma was now completely surrounded by water, reaching her chin she struggled to keep her head above the surface. "Thanks for trying Ms Mills" Emma replied, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. Without knowing so, without even thinking Regina suddenly shouted, "I love you Emma" she broke into tears once more as the blonde disappeared from sight. The water began to raise Regina from her feet, she was now floating above the ground, "I love you, I always have, right from that first day I met you, you terrified me and I couldn't stand to be around you but I just couldn't help myself, I fell for you" she gasped, holding her own head above the water, "I loved you then, and I always will" she wept until she too was fully submerged beneath the sea. As she floated down towards the floor, her body heavy, her muscles aching, a bright green light glittered from near the cage. Regina shook her head frantically trying to keep herself awake. As she watched the magic materialize the lock fizzled away, crumbling to nothingness. Emma's body lay in the water, still and lifeless. Somehow, like a bolt of lightning Regina felt a new found strength soar through her. She violently kicked out at the perishing water, attempting to swim in Emma's direction. The sound of the water was so powerful she couldn't seem to focus on anything else other than its aggressive roar. Emma was only a few feet ahead of her now, she kicked harder and faster and finally managed to grab hold of her arm. As she clasped tightly to Emma's body, her blonde hair flailed out in the water revealing her pale face. Her eyes were closed, those bright green eyes she had peered into every day for the last few years, clenched tightly shut. 'NO' Regina gurgled fearing the worst. As her panicked voice escaped with her last breath her strength deteriorated. Although nobody would ever be able to tell, Regina cried, the saltiness stinging her eyes. They were in too deep, the tide was surely touching the roof of the cave by now and she couldn't breathe. Regina's face screwed up with pain as she squeezed Emma tightly, holding her close. She ran her hand through the saviours blonde hair and inched closer to her face. In one swift move she pressed her lips against Emma's, pouring every ounce of love and emotion she had to give into the kiss, her lips locked unbreakable against her true loves.