Loose ｡ Henry Mills [2]

32 - MIRROR MIRROR

The sky was cloudy and the weather was cool as Emma Swan and Alice Lidell walked through the cemetery together. Neither of them knew why Regina had called them, but they had made the trip regardless, curious about what kind of developments had been made in their research to defeat the Evil Queen and Ravenna, and cure Snow White and David of their sleeping curse. And, of course, find a way to bring Teresa's memories back and restore her soul.

"So, do you know what Regina called us here for?" Emma asked. She walked with her hands stuffed in her jacket pockets and her boots trekking through some light mud from the rain that had come through earlier that morning.

Alice shook her head, "I was hoping you might know."

The Savior sighed, but she didn't say anything else. Instead, she reached out, opening the gate to the Mills crypt. She let Alice enter first and closed the gate behind them. Walking down the hidden flight of stairs, they came into Regina's vault, where the woman kept all her magical objects, potions and grimoires for safe keeping.

With a deep exhale that told her lover she was troubled, Regina Mills closed a set of maroon curtains, covering a massive mirror hanging on the wall. She looked at Emma first, who seemed more exhausted than usual, which was to be expected considering half the time she was the only officer in the entire town with David being cursed now. Killian was helping out at the station, of course, but he wasn't exactly deputy material.

"How are your parents?" Regina asked.

Emma sighed as she leaned up against the stone wall. "I can't stand seeing them like this, so please tell me you have something. I spent the whole day calling New York trying to track down the Dragon, but, no luck."

"Well, that's a hell of a long shot."

The Savior shrugged. "That's all I got. He helped August. He has magic in a World Without Magic. Maybe he can break my parents' curse . . . of course, it would help if he had, you know, like, a name."

Alice placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll find a way to save your parents, Emma. There are still plenty more leaves to turn over. We'll find the solution to their curse soon enough."

Regina nodded in agreement. "I actually think there's a way that can buy us some more time to figure all of this out."

"Seriously? Well, what did you find?" Emma asked, desperate for a solution that could bring her parents back together. She couldn't stand seeing them in such a way anymore.

"I had a dream last night, and it gave me an idea." Regina crossed the room, opening a small chest and pulling out a hand mirror with gold trim. "Now, we can't hurt the queen, but maybe we can trap her."

"In a mirror?" Emma asked in disbelief.

A chill rushed down Alice's spine as memories resurfaced in the back of her mind, and Regina noticed the expression on her face, though she fought the urge to walk over and pull the blonde into her arms. "Not in the mirror, Emma. In the world behind the mirror."

"There's a world behind mirrors?"

"Yes," Alice replied, her voice shaking. "I used to be imprisoned within a mirror. Cora, she . . ."

"Why would Cora trap you inside of a mirror?"

"Because of me," Regina sighed, a pained expression on her face as she remembered what happened that day in the Enchanted Forest. "She knew how much I cared about Alice and wanted to punish me, so she took her, imprisoned her inside a mirror. I tried saving Alice, but my mother shattered the mirror right in front me. I had thought . . ."

"That I was dead," Alice finished for her. She offered Regina a comforting smile, knowing very well the pain she had felt back then. "But, I wasn't dead. Cora had made a duplicate of the mirror in which she imprisoned me. She knew that Regina would try to free me, so she hid the real mirror somewhere Regina would never find it. When we came to Wonderland, Cora released me from my imprisonment and trained me to use dark magic." She laughed humorlessly. "She told me it was the only way that I would ever reunite with Regina, and I was foolish enough to believe her."