Scarlet

I Will Never Let You Go

Emma relaxed when she found herself surrounded by the familiar objects of Regina's bedchamber. It was safe – for now. At least she was alone in the moment she needed silence the most. But her thoughts sliced through the stillness and buzzed within her head like a thousand wings.

The first question; how did she get here?

It felt as if it had taken nothing to utilize magic, like it were no simpler than breathing, or blinking. She thought of the royal bedchambers and, before she had blinked, she appeared inside the vision.

Was this the power of the Dark One? The ease of it?

The questions lingered as her gaze fell to the empty, canopied bed.

Emma carefully placed her Queen's body onto the sleek sheets and looked upon her peaceful features – something she hadn't seen on the brunette since they had met. It was oddly captivating how serene she appeared, as if content with the afterlife. Blood still stained her skin, appearing almost obsidian as it dried, molting from her.

Quickly, she waved a hand over Regina's body, removing the armor that she once wore and replaced it with one of her royal gowns – something dark and the color of blood. It looked as if she were merely resting, though the deep and red hole in her chest broke the immersion.

Suddenly the crimson looked less pleasing, forcing Emma from her spot to seek out a wash basin. Her Queen didn't deserve to pass into the other world soiled. As she sunk onto her knees, wet cloth gently wiping away the congealing blood, she thought of Regina's smile.

She yearned to see it instead of this stone carved in familiar features.

Regina had said the fates meant for her an early demise.

Fate.

Was Emma fated to fall in love with what was evil only to lose it to the stillness of death?

Had they meant for her to consume the Dark One's powers, damned by darkness to live forever?

She stood and looked at her rose-tinted reflection in the murky waters of the basin.

Relief had taken her when she realized she had not sprouted the scale-like skin Rumpelstiltskin had, though her face was pallid, as if her skin hadn't seen the sun in months. Perhaps it was the situation and her ultimate loss. Her jaw was no longer discolored.

If she truly had acquired the Dark One's powers, then there was nothing that could stop her. She closed her eyes and let the powerful darkness pump within her veins; she felt entirely made of it, as if there was nothing more that had created her physical form than magic.

Knowledge seemed to come to her, swarming her brain, of the past and of everything written and spoken, and the spells that Regina had long attempted to teach her. It was the knowledge of the others – the prior Dark Ones. She could feel them resonating within her, living in her mind, her body. They were only watching, quiet, but their presence was overwhelming.

Did she truly consume Rumpelstiltskin?

He was the hatred in her, scalding the blood in her veins. But she fed on it, letting it fuel her and open her eyes. It was hot and angry and bitter, and it was blood and bone and flesh, taking her wholly.

In spite of him, she had to save Regina.

There must be information in the vast library that was her brain. The Dark One was a powerful being and she was now it, the very incarnation of darkness. Surely necromancy would be like batting an eyelash, though it was frowned upon in most of the magical community.