Who thought paint could save them?

Chapter 19

"...it turned into something... very bad..."

"Do you know where the pond is, Henry?" Emma asks him.

"Yeah... it's where the well was." He says as he walks forward and takes his remaining mother's hand.

"They have to come with us." He gestures to Rumpel and Maleficent.

"Why?" Emma growls.

"Because that vile that's..." He points to the vile peeking out of Maleficent's cleavage, "Right there... One of them has to pour it in the pond."

"How do you know this?" Emma turns to look at her son.

"Because while you and mom have been worried about Chandler and what is actually going to happen, I've been reading everything I can to help try and figure it out!"

Emma grins at him and hugs him tight, "You have no idea how valuable you are." She whispers to him before she turns to Maleficent and then everyone else, "Let's go to this... pond, shall we?"

Maleficent bends down to pick up her lost hand. She sees a sword stab through it and looks up at the owner, "My hand if you please?" she asks angrily.

"My wife! If you please." Emma snarls before she puts the hand in the offered satchel that Mallory has, "I get my wife back... I'll consider giving you your hand back." She looks back to see her father, "Are you not coming?" she asks him.

"I've been there before... what's really changed?" He tries to avoid the question.

"Dad...?"

"Forgive me for not believing Rumpelstilskin and Maleficent... I just feel like there's something afoot, and I'd like to stay here in case they've planned something else..." He says quietly.

Emma nods and then hugs him, "Thank you, daddy."

"You're welcome." His hand lands on her head then falls to her back, "You're welcome." He whispers again.

~0~0~0~0~0~

They all walk through town to the pond. They see a dock, but only Maleficent, Rumple and Emma walk out on it. Everyone else stays behind.

Henry is standing in front of Pinocchio. He whispers up to him, "You said the blue fairy made your strings expel magic from what they're wrapped around?"

"Yeah." Pinocchio replies, already knowing where Henry is going with this.

"So... if you wrapped your strings around their wrists?" are Henry's next words, "Even Rumple.... Something makes me feel... off."

"I got you my good prince." He nods, "We just have to wait for the right time..."

Emma, Maleficent and Rumple stand on the dock for a moment or two, neither saying anything, "So what is in here? Some monster thing bigger than the one my dad defeated?"

"That's not it at all..." Maleficent says as she takes the vile from her breast, flips the cap off and pours it into the pond.

The drop of blood plus the potion itself, once in the water materializes into none other than the 'evil' queen, Regina Mills. Emma gasps and lays out on the dock shoving her hand into the water to reach for her. Regina reaches back but is out of reach and begins to float towards the middle of the pond, then just kind of floats in a circle the whole time trying to swim back, but unable to.

As soon as Emma's hand hit the water she knew something was going to happen... Henry wouldn't have said it had turned into something bad if the pond wasn't bad, but that didn't stop her from reaching despite. When she removes her hand she finds it aged... and it hurt like hell.