CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
"Changing Fate"
Screaming.
Pain filled yells.
A burst of magic...and then darkness.
Lily's eyes sprung open as she gasped softly. After the party at the diner went south, Lily had gone home and tried to rest, but she was still being haunted by nightmares of her son's death. She sat up and found herself alone in the bed, having no idea on where Regina was. She couldn't even remember if she had gone to bed with her.
Pushing the covers away, she slid out of bed and made her way downstairs. She was a Dark One, so she didn't really need to sleep. She simply did it as a way to rest and relax, but whenever she did, Evander's death would play on repeat in her head until she woke.
"Morning!"
The sound of her step-son's voice startled her, and her fight or flight response kicked in as she conjured a fireball in her hand. Once she realised it was only Henry and Fallon sitting at the table, she extinguished the flame in her hand and sighed heavily.
"You shouldn't scare me like that." She sighed.
"He wasn't trying to." Fallon said. "What's going on with you? You're not usually this jumpy...or jumpy at all."
Lily didn't answer her granddaughter, she just walked away to try and find somewhere she would be alone. She found quiet in the backyard, everybody that was home was inside which left her alone barefoot in the garden. The ground felt soft under her feet, almost like it was cushioning every step she took.
More often than not when Lily would retreat into the backyard, she would find herself drawn to the apple tree. She never knew why at first, but she was beginning to think it was a symbol of who her wife was; and she found some sort of comfort in that.
Of all the people Lily had known through her life, Regina had been the only one that stayed. She had given Regina almost every chance to leave her, but she didn't. Having somebody like that was new to her, and she didn't quite know how to show her appreciation to her wife. She wasn't used to having somebody care about her the way Regina did.
It was an odd feeling that was going to take her a while to get used to.
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Adrienne hadn't returned to the diner or Regina's home since the party; and nobody had seen her. She was refusing to accept the feelings for Robin Hood that started to peak through. She still couldn't believe she had been stupid enough to allow them to be a thing in the first place.
She sighed and began to turn around a corner when she walked straight into Regina. "Sorry." She said quietly.
"What's wrong?" Regina asked, her eyebrows frowning in concern.
"I'm just a little upset about something that I never had, and never will have." Adrienne said. "Which sounds pretty pathetic."
"Robin Hood." Regina said. She looked around to make sure there was nobody within earshot, before stepping closer to her step-daughter. "I may know a way to help with that."
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She felt more and more confused with each passing second, but followed her step-mother into the basement of the hospital anyway. She had no idea what was going on or who they were visiting, but she was sure Regina had something going on. Whether it was good or bad was a different topic all together.
"Adrienne, this way."
The red head nodded slightly before following Regina around a corner, and eventually stopping outside one of the rooms. Regina opened the door and Adrienne frowned slightly upon seeing Sidney Glass sitting on the ground inside. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
"I need my mirror." Regina replied.
"For what, my queen?" Sidney asked.
"There's someone standing in the way of my daughter's happiness." Regina said. "She needs your help getting rid of them."
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As he walked down the street with Emma, Evander couldn't help but feel a little disgusted after finding out about Emma and Hook's...whatever it was. Finding out your uncle and your best friend had become a thing, was the last thing you would expect to find after you came back from the dead.
"There's been no sign of Adrienne anywhere." Emma said, reading a text on her phone.
"I don't understand why you're all making such a fuss about it." Evander said. "Adrienne is somebody that needs to have space when she's upset. If she doesn't get it, she'll blow up and that won't be nice for anyone. She might do that anyway after she learns about you and Killian."
Emma rolled her eyes. "There is no me and Hook. Alright, I don't know what there is, but I certainly don't want to talk about it with you."
"Oh, come on, I won't judge you that much." Evander said. "Just like..." He held his hands up and continued to increase the gap between them, until Emma smacked them down. He chuckled and she rolled her eyes.
"Swan!" Killian called out as he caught up with them. "The dock's are clear, Adrienne isn't there. She isn't at home with her mother either."
"Alright, thanks." Emma replied. She tried to walk away from him, but he held her arm with his hook. "Swan, are you avoiding me?" He asked.
"I'm not avoiding you. I'm just...Dealing with stuff." Emma replied.
As he watched between the two people in front of him, Evander noticed the tension between them and the way they looked at each other. He wasn't a fan of them as a couple, but he wasn't about to get in the way of them. "I can't believe I came back from the dead for this." He said.
"We're under attack! We're under attack!"
The trio looked up to see Leroy running towards them. "Okay, Leroy, what is it?" Emma asked.
"We were just driving home, and something blasted me with magic. The whole van's iced over. We woke up in a meat locker." Leroy explained. "Who's got that kind of magic?"
Looking out at the road, Emma noticed the icy trail leading down the middle. "Maybe the same person that made that." She said, before she walked away to follow the trail.
The two men caught up with her, and the three of them followed the icy trail to a warehouse. Evander catches a glimpse of a woman in a blue dress. He was about to call out to her when she shoots ice magic at them, creating a big snowman to defend her.
"Well, that's a new one." Evander said. The snowman threatened the trio with the two Jones men wanting to back away from it; but Emma took a step forward. Evander tried to warn her to stay back, but she didn't listen.
"I just want to see what it was." She said.
The snowman blew Emma away, sending her flying into Evander which ended with the two of them falling to the ground. In a panic, Evander grabbed Emma's gun and shot at the snowman; but this only angered it.
Emma snatched her gun form Evander's hand, and pulled the archer onto this feet before the three of them took off running with the snowman chasing them.
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After some convincing from her eldest daughter, Lily had agreed to go on a walk around town to help clear her mind. No amount of walking would stop the thoughts running through her mind, but she would never pass up an opportunity to spend time with one of her children.
Lorelai was the one that had done most of the talking. She tried to encourage Lily to open up, but had little to no success so far. She had been worried for her mother, ever since she saw that premonition. She was scared that Lily would tumble down a dark path, and find herself in a position that would make the premonition come true.
"You know, Mother, I've heard about the kind of work Archie does." Lorelai said. "Maybe-"
"No."
"But maybe-"
"No means no, Lorelai. I do not need to see a therapist."
As the two of them were about to step out onto the main street, Evander, Emma and Killian all came running past them with the angry snowman not far behind. Lily had to do a double take to make sure she was in fact seeing what she thought she was seeing. "I don't believe it." She muttered as she watched her son run away. "I left that boy alone for five minutes, and he's after getting himself chased by something else that wants him dead."
"The giant snowman isn't what concerns you the most?" Lorelai asked.
"Oh, I've seen far worse monsters than that."
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In Regina's vault, Adrienne held the story book open in front of her as she looked down at Robin Hood's story. She still wasn't sure what Regina's intentions were for bringing her and Sidney to the vault, but she went along with it anyway.
"Her name is Marian." Regina said, taking the book out of Adrienne's hands. "Thanks to Emma, she's back and recapturing that happy ending this book gave her."
Sidney's eyebrow raised in curiosity. "The book gave it to her?"
"It's powerful. It's more than just a book. What happens inside it appears immutable." Regina explained, before pulling Adrienne over. "But she is stronger. We're going to change things."
"How?" Sidney asked.
"She needs to be removed."
Adrienne's eyes widened as she turned to look at her step-mother. Would she like to have a happy ending? Sure. But she didn't want to tear a family apart in order to get it. "Regina, you can't be serious." She said.
"Sometimes, in order to get what you want, you have to take drastic actions." Sidney said. "I didn't think somebody as smart and powerful as you would be afraid of taking care of somebody that's in her way."
The red head fell silent as she looked down at the book once again. She knew Sidney was right, but she didn't want him to be. She wanted a happy ending more than anything, and Marian was the only thing standing in the way of what could be that.
"So, what? One of us is supposed to kill her?" She asked.
"I will. That's why Regina here kept me prisoner for all those years. Just waiting until I could be of service." Sidney said. "So, my Queen, how do you want me to kill her?"
"I don't want you to do anything of the sort." Regina said. "If she shows up dead, how long do you think it would take before someone figured out I put you up to it? This requires a more elegant touch. I have to undo Emma's mistake. I have to go back in time before Emma arrived and kill Marian before she can be saved."
"What I don't get is my purpose in all this." Sidney said.
"Well, as Queen, I sentenced many to death, captured many prisoners." Regina said.
"You don't remember this Marian."
"Well, she's awfully vanilla. Can you blame me? I need you to show me the exact moment I captured her so I know when to travel back to." Regina said.
"But how am I supposed to do that?" Sidney asked. "In this world, I'm no longer the mirror with..."
Before Sidney could finish his sentence, Regina put him back inside the mirror. Adrienne remained where she was standing as Regina stepped forward to talk with Sidney. Her mind told her it was wrong, but her heart was telling her to do it; and only one was going to win in the end.
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Running into the woods, Evander kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure the snowman was still following him. He ran faster to catch up with Emma, Killian and David as they ran towards Robin Hood's camp.
Alice, who had been practicing her archery on a straw target, looked up when she heard a loud thud which was getting closer and closer. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw everyone running towards her. "What is it?" She asked.
"Some kind of snow monster." Evander replied.
"No monster shall cross our path." Robin said. "We'll give you our assist..."
"It's getting closer." Killian said. "It's coming from the North."
The snowman arrived and Alice, Robin and the Merry Men all raised their bows ready to shoot. Alice slowed her breathing to concentrate on aiming her arrow at the snowman's head. "Mother, do not let that arrow go. It only attacks when it feels threatened. Pistol, sword, hook...my cunning wit. I don't think we have what it takes."
"Emma does." David said.
Emma frowned. "What?"
"Your magic, love." Hook said.
"Oh, right." Emma raised her hands and shot the snowman with a blast of light magic, but it only pissed the magical snowman off even more. It attacked and defeated Emma, David, Killian, Alice and Robin before turning on Marian; who took an arrow and shot the monster.
The snowman roared and threw Marian away. She collapsed on the ground, just as Adrienne appeared. "Please...help me. Please." Marian begged the red headed witch.
Adrienne stared down at the helpless woman for a few moments, before she magically disappeared. "No." Marian whispered. She looked up at the snowman and prepared herself for it to attack again, only for it to suddenly glow red before it exploded.
As it turned to dusty snow on the ground, Adrienne was revealed to be standing behind it. "You saved me." Marian said as she stood up. "Maybe you're not such a scary monster after all."
"Maybe I'm not." Adrienne said. She walked away as everyone began to wake up, and as soon as she heard Robin saying her name, she magically disappeared.
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Lily sat alone on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chest. She was relieved when she found out that Evander was safe after the snowman attack. She had given him a talking to after he returned home, but she quickly hugged him and let him go out drinking with Alice. Killian had offered, but she wasn't sure she could trust him to keep her son out of trouble.
"Lorelai told me you want to talk with me about something." Regina said as she walked into the room. "Apparently it's something important."
"She believes I need a therapist." Lily said. "That's rather ridiculous, don't you think?"
"Not entirely." Regina said.
Lily looked up at her in disbelief. "You're supposed to be on my side."
"I am." Regina said, sitting next to her. "But it might help to talk to somebody, especially about your past as it's quite obvious that it's still effecting you."
"I am not talking about my past with a cricket!" Lily said. "Nobody needs to know about that. It's in the past and that's where it should stay! I-I don't need to talk to anyone else about it."
She had trusted Regina with the information she shared with her; and she couldn't believe what her wife was suggesting. Therapy. That was the last thing Lily wanted or needed. She struggled to open up to her own family, so it was insane to think she would willingly open up to a man she once had a hand in killing.
"I don't need his help. I don't need anyone's help." Lily said as she stood up. "I don't need people diving into my past, especially that cricket."
Regina stood up. "If you won't do it for yourself, do it for your children. They're all worried about you, and so am I."
Lily looked into Regina's eyes and her facial expression softened when she saw the concern in her eyes. Deep down, she knew she wanted to get better and work through her issues; but she was terrified of opening up to anyone that would listen.
She sighed quietly. "I will do it for you and for my children. But if I decide that it's not for me, I am not going back and you cannot change my mind."
"That's all I ask."
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Adrienne sat alone in Regina's vault with the story book in her lap. She had gone back there after she defeated the snow monster, so she could hide from anyone that wanted to talk to her. She had spent the last hour re-reading her story and it always ended the same.
She was born with great power, was named the Scarlet Witch and then became one of the most powerful and most feared witches to ever exist. She began to realise that it was a life she didn't want.
All Adrienne wanted in life was to be normal. She didn't want the responsibility that came with her powers. She just wanted to happily raise her daughter, and have the happy ending she had dreamed of since she was a little girl.
She looked up at the blank mirror and frowned slightly. She shook her head, it's just a stupid thought. She looked back down at the book when another thought crossed her mind, but maybe it's not.
Standing up, Adrienne walked over to the mirror. "Sidney? Are you there?" She questioned.
Almost immediately, Sidney's face appeared in the glass. "Is the Queen with you?" He asked.
"Uh, no. It's just me." She said. "I have an idea that I need your help with. I want to change my fate."
"I can probably tell you if you're wearing too much eye makeup, but change fate?" Sidney shook his head. "That is beyond my powers of reflection."
"Your powers and mine together shall do it." Adrienne said. "This book is the cause for my suffering, not Marian or anyone else. Every story in it has one thing in common... the villains never get the happy ending, and it's always been right."
"But you're not a villain." Sidney said.
"But I'm also not a hero, and more often than not, people perceive me as a villain simply based on tall tales they've heard about me." Adrienne said.
"So, what's your plan?"
"Find the author. We must find out who wrote this cursed thing and then force them to give me...and everyone what we deserve. It's time to change the book, and give the bad guys their happy endings."