The Way

Chapter Fifteen

Emma stood in the center of an enormous room dominated by an equally enormous centerpiece cloaked in a ragged, faded piece of drapery. A faint breeze drifted through the open balcony, shifting the fabric and making the blonde turn to gaze over her shoulder. Her lips parted and a gasp slipped through them at the sight of a shadowy figure standing in the moonlight, their face made utterly indiscernable by the thick hood over their head. She turned sharply, taking a step backward as her eyes strained to determine who was there.

The figure stepped toward her, an ankle-length cape rustling as they did so. From a distance, Emma thought it was Rumplestiltskin, but the form was far too tall..far too strong...

"Fancy seeing you here, Miss Swan."

At the sound of the voice Emma jumped, for she didn't recognize the sound. Behind her, the curtain fluttered again, more strongly this time.

"Who are you?" she called to the silhouette, her hand instinctively reaching for the knife she always kept in her boot. The figure chuckled, low and deep.

"There'll be no need for that, Miss Swan."

"How do you know my name?"

Again, the figure chuckled.

"I know far more about you than just your name, milady."

Emma pulled the knife from its sheath anyway, brandishing it at the one before her as the fabric behind her shivered even more violently.

"Who. Are. You."

Another short moment of laughter followed, and the figure stepped forward while pulling back the hood. Emma faltered, her head tilting as she willed herself to recognize the man who stood there. He obviously knew her...but she had never met him before. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing had happened there in Storybrooke but...She glanced around. Thiswasn't Storybrooke at all. This was...

"How are you liking the Evil Queen's castle?"

Suddenly, Emma's eyes widened in realization.

"You...you're...him! You're the one Cora was talking about! Aren't you?!" The knife fell slightly lower but its threatening stance wasn't altogether gone. Emma didn't trust him...not yet. Then, as if she realized this fact, she tensed and raised the blade upwards once more. "What do you want with me?"

The man smiled and dropped the hood completely.

"I need you to see something."

He came toward her then, eliciting another raising of the blade, but he only moved past Emma to place his hand upon the quivering fabric concealing the centerpiece. He turned once he had hold of it and looked Emma straight in the eye. Somewhere in her body, magic began to boil, and when she looked at her hands, faint white light was twisting 'round the blade. Startled, she dropped it, then took a step back, and then looked up at the man again.

"What you see will make you stronger," he whispered, and then he dragged the fabric away.

Emma found herself staring into a monstrous mirror, but it was occupied by only she herself. The man who now stood beside her had no reflection. She gasped and turned to look at him at the same time he clamped his hand around her wrist.

"Look into the mirror, Emma Swan!"

Compelled by an unknown force, Emma did as he asked.

Suddenly, images of a life not her own began to flood through her...sounds...smells...the emotions associated with each came through as well...

And that's when she started to scream.

Charming could hardly bear the sight of Cora with her palm pressed over the place where Emma's heart would be, nor the sound of his daughter's screams as the sorceress drew her back to the realm of consciousness. His blood boiled and his hands quaked against their magical bonds, his body straining to pull away from the stone wall. What good was a father who couldn't save his own daughter from the clutches of danger?

"Leave her alone!" he cried, desperate and having no other option. But it worked.

Cora stopped, looking over at him with raised eyebrows as Emma came-to.

"Why, Prince Charming, I thought you might want to speak to your daughter one last time before Regina arrives," the sorceress suggested calmly, gesturing up at the ceiling. "Because, you see, she has arrived...she's just upstairs...and she has your precious Snow White in tow."

Charming's eyes narrowed and he only repeated, "Leave her alone."

Cora laughed, coming to stand before him.

"Perhaps you would prefer I show you the same treatment?"

"Kill me...let them go," the man growled, his hands out behind him as he tugged against invisible chains.

"No one is going anywhere," came another voice, and David looked around Cora to see Regina standing in the solitary entrance to the cavern. She did, indeed, have Snow White with her, but their arrival was less than ideal.

Snow's hands were bound behind her back, just as were the others, her face dirtied and her clothes ragged and torn. Lines where tears had fallen criss-crossed her cheeks, her hair was discheveled, and her expression was utterly hopeless. Their eyes met briefly, but what he saw there was anything but misery. Confused, he shifted his focus to Regina, who only—and expertly so—avoided his gaze.

Cora, too, turned to look upon her daughter, and Charming thought he saw a swell of pride emerge from the old sorceress' form. But something wasn't right...something was...off...about the way Regina and Snow had entered. Taking a chance, he called out to them.

"Regina!" he cried, and the woman's dark eyes flashed as they came to rest upon him. "Help us!"

With a flick of her wrist, David was slammed up against the cavern wall, and then her hand shaped around a distant neck and she began to choke him.

"You've put your eggs in the wrong basket, Charming," she hissed, a sneer creeping onto her face. "You are the very last person I am here to help."

Gasping and unable to do anything to stop the attack, David only kicked the wall with his feet. Finally, just moments before crossing the threshold, the fallen queen released him. Now on his knees, sucking in breath after precious breath, Charming scowled up at her from afar.

"You think you know a person..." he muttered darkly, and Regina only laughed.

"Oh, but you do know me," Regina retorted, arching an eyebrow and lifting one corner of her lips into a smile. Abruptly, her lips straightened. "And I will never change."

Then, with another flick of her hand, Charming fell unconscious himself.