A Curse Upon Thee 2-20

Eyes blue as a summer sky snapped open at the scream. Wha-!

It tore through heavy night air, the sound jagged the way it stabbed into his ears; exactly the kind of unfiltered panic that hit you right in the hindbrain. Survival instinct had him up and wide-eyed, Finn jumping right to his feet in the space of a single breath. “Who?!”

Slaughter Demon was in his grip, fingers locked tight around the leather-wrapped hilt of his chosen weapon. He stood there in the mud, barefoot and shirtless, eyes darting frantically across the dying embers of the campfire.

Mulan’s eyes met his, the warrior woman up just as quickly as he was; curved blade free of its scabbard.

Finn’s head whipped around. “What?”

No ogres roared out of the night to charge the camp, milky-white eyes deepset in mottled skin the color of grass-fed vomit nowhere to be seen. No soul-sucking shadow monsters or witches wrapped in purple-smoke made themselves visible either.

“What the fuck is it?” 

All there was to see was a single princess; Aurora upright on her bedroll, chest heaving as she gasped for air with an open mouth.

“Hey, hey, whoa…” A breath left him, his dagger dropping back down to his side. A nightmare? 

Blue eyes blinked again. Really?

Biting back a groan, he glanced over his right shoulder to see the beanstalk towering high into the night sky; the Swan Princess and Captain Eyeliner still up in the clouds. And I’m on royal babysitting duty.

“Aurora!” 

Finn turned back to see Mary Margaret already at the princess’s side, the queen abandoning her watch post to do the mothering she desperately wanted. “Aurora. Breathe.” Dropping to her knees in the dirt and grass, gentle hands reached out for comfort. “You’re safe now, okay?”

“I…” The princess choked on the word, pale hands clutching at her silks like a lifeline. “It… It was..” Courtly diction cracked under panic, her voice trembling with each word. “…the fire. It was everywhere.”

“It’s just a nightmare, Rory.” He threw his head back, biting down on so many worse things he wanted to say. Slaughter Demon slid back into its hilt with a sigh he wasn’t sure was from him or the scabbard. “Happens to the best of us, Princess.” Not me, but you know… 

Bare shoulders went up and down, a lazy shrug all he could offer to go with that. Some of us.  

“Weird-ass magic woods’ll do that to you… I guess.”

“It was no mere terror of the mind.” Aurora shook her head, brown hair a wild mess against porcelain princess skin. “I was… confined. No escape to be found In a room of no doors, and no windows as well. The walls were draped in heavy curtains, the color of… of blood.”

“It was only a dream, Aurora.” Mary Margaret patted a hand on Aurora’s trembling shoulder. “The mind plays cruel tricks when we are exhausted. You must try to rest.”

“No, no, I saw a fire.” Aurora pressed on, the girl ignoring all the comfort Snow had to give. “A raging flame all over the room, enough to steal my breath. And through it… I saw a figure, someone standing in the heat, looking at me.”

Great… Finn raised a thick red eyebrow. “Guy didn’t happen to have a pitchfork and a cool spiked tail, did he?”

“I tell you, it was no dream!” A pale arm thrust out toward the dying light of the fire as Aurora ripped her sleeve back, lacking all her usual gentleness. “Tell me this is born of sleep.”

Finn’s smirk vanished as quickly as his night of rest as she stared at the angry red welt, blistered and raised, on Aurora’s white skin. …why is she burnt?

Mary Margaret gasped, hands over her mouth as she stared at the princess’s arm. “Oh, Aurora…”

“Yeah, alright, I’ll give it to you.” Finn clicked his tongue, struggling to find what to say. “That’s a new one.”

Understatement of the century, but fuck it if it wasn’t the truth. “Unless you rolled into the campfire while we weren’t looking.”

The princess stared back at him, silent through watery eyes.

Finn’s hands went high, palms raised. “No offense, of course. Just seems a bit clumsy for royalty.”

“I did not.” Aurora  slumped forward, face buried into Mary Margaret’s lap. 

“Sleep now.” Mary Margaret wrapped her arms around the trembling girl, as Aurora shook with silent sobs. “We’ll watch over you.”

Finn watched over her for all of two seconds before jerking his head toward the edge of the clearing, making sure to catch Mulan’s attention before he started walking. His eyes trailed over the purple-haired girl still asleep in a borrowed bedroll, his red leather jacket her makeshift pillow.

Soon enough, the redhead came to a stop a good few paces away from the firelight, Mulan following with her footsteps almost entirely silent in the mud.

Which was impressive.

Unfortunately, stealth skills weren’t the topic of the hour.

“So,” Finn hummed low. “We gonna talk about the weird shit radiating off your princess, or do I have to accept that spontaneous human combustion is just a regular Tuesday thing in this place?”

If it was even Tuesday.

He had absolutely no fucking idea at this point.

“Speak plainly.” Dark gaurded eyes narrowed his way, the sense of danger wafting off the woman as thick as her head was. “What exactly is your meaning, sorcerer?”

Finn leaned against the rough bark of an oak as wide around as a sedan, arms crossed over his chest. “Look, I know what bad vibes feel like. It was…” Finn clicked his tongue before he bothered to correct himself. “It is kinda my job to be aware of things like that.” He leaned forward, head tilted in Aurora’s direction; the princess still in Snow’s lap. “And your girl over there? She’s got some serious dark energy hanging around her.”

The metallic hiss was the only warning Finn got.

Even still, he didn’t flinch as the cold edge of Mulan’s curved blade stopped less than an inch from his throat. 

The next few words came out a growl more than anything else.  “Are you threatening her?”

“Whoa, whoaaaa, hey, dial it back, Crouching Tiger. I’m just sayin’.” Cursed Energy thrummed low under his skin, Finn’s muscles coiled tight in case she tried something else. “Like I said before you got all stabby, it’s my job. I can pretty much sense these things.”

Sometimes at least. When the residuals were strong and sloppy, he could.

“The energy… It’s a sticky thing.”

“Speak. Plainly. Sorcerer.”

“I am. I’m trying to tell you that it’s not her.” Finn rolled his eyes at Mulan’s attitude. “It’s something that was done to her.”

The Chinese warrior held his gaze, tension thick enough to chew on. After what felt like minutes of holding him against the tree, Mulan slowly lowered the sword. “I believe I know what you mean.”

“Do you?”

“She was cursed.” With that said, she slid the blade right back into its scabbard.

Finn’s smirk faded into a hard line. “Yeah. Figured that much.”

“The dark fae Maleficent…” Mulan closed her eyes for a moment. “She trapped Aurora in the dark, putting her under a sleeping curse. We broke the enchantment, but the magic, dark magic of this sort… it leaves scars.”

Finn stared past the warrior, silent for once as he looked at the bawling princess curled up like a child with snow. Blue slowly turned right back to Mulan; scattered pieces suddenly dropping into place.

“A curse, huh?”

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

“Of course it’s a curse. Why is it always curses in this town?”

As annoying as the question was, David Nolan had a stronger point than Regina would ever admit. For as much as magic granted ability and freedom far past what anyone could hope for with normal means, curses seemed built-in and ever-present; their purpose only to define and constrain magic and the joys of using it.

Or, in her case, simply existing in its presence.

“You can ask questions all night or you can simply save time and accept that some things simply are, David.” It was already too late at night for her to be over here in Mary Margaret’s utterly depressing apartment. Ugh. Dark eyes slid over the place, Regina taking in every inch and enjoying almost none of it. Last time I was here…

Last time she was here was to plant a heart to further her plans, and now this time…

This time she was here as a loving mother, waiting patiently in the kitchen while Gold hovered his hands over Henry in the area of the open floor-plan living-room David insisted was actually a bedroom.

“It was rhetorical, Regina.” David’s scoff was low, his volume controlled to keep from waking Henry. “ But a man can only tolerate so many curses.”

If I cared about what you could tolerate… The woman once known as the ‘Evil Queen’ bit her tongue as she offered Prince Charming a smile both of them knew was fake. “Well, that’s the only thing that could explain Henry’s nightmares as well as these burns of his.” Regina tightened the belt of her black trench coat, fingers trembling just enough to be humiliating.

If it wasn’t one problem in this town, it was bound to be another.

She understood the costs inherent to magic, of course.

But why did so many of them need to take from her son in the process?

Speaking of…

“Why exactly didn’t you tell me about this earlier?”

“Well, for one…” David shifted his weight, the man’s shoulders shrugging off the heat in her hissed words like they were nothing more than rain. “It just happened this morning. By the time you showed up, it had already disappeared. I wasn’t going to ruin the genuinely good breakfast you were having. You actually looked happy.”

That wasn’t your choice. She wanted to spit the words in his face, but couldn’t deny that she had needed the time with Henry. But still… “I’m his mother, David.”

“You think I don’t know that, Regina?” One hand ran itself through blond hair, all that Charming forwardness obviously frustrated by the rock and hard place he found himself in. “It’s not like I wasn’t going to tell you either. Hell, I was going to bring it up earlier today in the office, but then the whole Graham situation…”

The man pulled that hand free from his hair to wave it around the kitchen. “Well, you know.”

Regina’s scowl deepened, dark red lips a razor line. One problem after another.

“You know.” The woman looked up to see David offering her a plainspoken smile, the man completely failing to read the tension coiling Regina tight. “You’ve been coming over here a lot lately. People might actually start thinking we’re friends, Regina.”

“Please don’t flatter yourself.” Dark eyes rolled so hard they almost ached. “I have a higher standard for acquaintances, let alone friends. Just focus on Henry.”

Both of them turned their heads to peer through the open doorway, the boy in question completely tuckered out in the small bed. Deep in the sort of slumber only available to small children and the heavily intoxicated, he didn’t react in the slightest to Gold as the imp leaned over him, casting whatever divining magic he knew.

“So…” Regina’s attention slid back to the tall farmboy-turned-prince. “What exactly did you and Henry do today after…”

She didn’t need to finish the sentence, Graham’s… renewal the most important event of the entire day. 

“Ah, well… don’t get mad, but… well…” David scratched his chin. “You know how Henry really loves stories and fairy tales?”

Regina’s stare blanked as the man spoke, already aware she likely wouldn’t be a fan of wherever this sentence intended to lead her.

“Henry really wanted to go see a movie and, apart from knight lessons, it’s all he’s been asking me about for a week now.” The man leaned back against the counter, both hands palming the marble. “I kinda thought it was a little thematic, or maybe appropriate is the word…” A soft laugh spilled free, the sound fading as Regina didn’t return it, the woman still waiting.

“Anyway, um…” David cleared his throat. “He dragged me down to the Storybrooke Theatre to watch that new one they just put on the marquee. Snow White and The Huntsman.”

“David.” His name left her tongue like a hiss the second she heard him.

“What?” The man blinked, genuine confusion sitting open on his face. “Look, I know, I know. It’s PG-13, but he literally begged for it. The kid’s a massive fan of the whole Grimm Cinematic Universe, apparently, and… oh.”

Regina simply scowled, arms crossing tight over her chest as she watched realization spread across his face. Idiot.

Taking her son — a son whose trust she was trying to regain — to see a movie where she was the villain was the height of idiocy if she had ever heard it. The only reason she didn’t consider it outright malice was because she knew Charming didn’t have the brains necessary to poison her son against her with any subtlety.

“Honestly, unless you suddenly decide to dye your hair blonde,” David offered further, the man’s mouth still running to find an excuse. “I kinda doubt it’ll really affect anything. Regina… Ravenna. Not even really all that close with the names. No offense, Regina, but you don’t look a thing like Charlize.”

“It’s not just that.” Regina unfolded her arms, a huff of air escaping from her nostrils at the man’s rambling. “Henry knows he’s not allowed to watch those movies in the first place. They’re far too mature for a boy his age.”

“…this wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that a certain witchy friend of yours  is the main character of the franchise, is it?”

Regina’s eyes narrowed nearly to slits. “Charming?”

“…yes.”

“Shut up.” The command left her with as much bluntness as a curse.

David nodded back at her. “The movie was weird anyway. They took some pretty massive liberties with the actual story. Actress didn’t look a thing like Snow either.”

Those eyes rolled again. Playing the part of the doting grandparent…

Unfortunately, she had far more to worry about than a film. Just earlier today, they’d had to deal with the exhaustive Graham situation. David had spent the afternoon spreading the news through the town in a game of literal telephone, with distinct instructions to keep the situation quiet.

On top of all that, they’d quietly put Graham back up in his house on the edge of town, kindly asking the awoken dead man to stay put while they prepared him a new life.

Every single step they took, all in an attempt to keep the new boy — Chad — from finding out exactly what kind of nightmare he’d wandered into.

Her lips tightened into an even deeper scowl as she turned her eyes to the wooden floor. A waste. All this pathetic effort just to keep a single secret. We had better methods for this when I was mayor, when…

Regina blinked, scowl faltering as she realized that the same sheriff she’d used in the past to take out the trash had returned. That…

It was often annoying how things seemed to align like that.

The rhythmic tap of a cane announced Gold’s quiet exit from the bedroom, Regina and David turning to look at the man.

“The boy must have been suffering these night terrors for a good while longer than even he noticed.” The imp nodded his head as he spoke, voice oozing across the kitchen. “At least a few days, I’d wager.”

“So, what is it?” David stepped forward, asking Gold before she could.

Gold’s gaze turned to Regina, rather than the man who voiced the question. “All signs point to the lingering remnants of a sleeping curse.”

She didn’t need to look up to know that David was looking at her too, but Regina kept her eyes firmly on the wooden floor. Guilt was a weakness, as was shame, and most especially love; yet, Regina knew all three deeply. The apple turnover.

“His hand.” David’s voice pulled her from her thoughts. “Henry’s hand. It was burnt when he woke up but it healed up almost immediately. Right in front of my eyes, even.”

“Fascinating.” The imp tilted his head, still mimicking a snake even without the gold scales of his monstrous form. “It seems young Henry possesses a rather innate resistance to the effects of said curse. Strange.”

“…not just a resistance.” Regina’s jaw tightened as she thought back to her dead lover and what her son did. “Henry has magic. Powerful magic. It feels like the exact opposite of a curse. The complete other end of dark magic.”

“Ah, light magic. I did notice that in the boy. Wasn’t sure if you did.” Gold’s breathy exhale held a laugh as he admitted to that. “An astonishingly rare gift, if there ever was one in any realm. But not entirely unsurprising for the get of a Savior.”

Always back to Emma. Regina bit down a scowl at the direct reminder of the blood in her son’s veins.

“But, yes,” the imp nodded. “The light magic possibly has something directly to do with his healing, that much is true.”

“I didn’t even know magic was in the blood like that.”

“Honestly, David, is there anything at all in that blond head of yours other than honor and horses?” Regina’s temper turned on the man nearest her, voice nearly brittle. “It’s magic. Of course it’s in the blood.”

“Alright, Regina, you can calm down.” David frowned her way, stubbornness keeping his spine straight against her ire. “I’m not a magic guy, okay? I’m allowed to be a little surprised my grandkid’s a full-blown wizard.”

“More a sorcerer, technicalities being what they are.” Gold corrected smoothly. “But we’re getting ahead of ourselves anyway. He might not last to see that potential realized.”

Regina bit back a gasp as David’s attention turned to the pawnbroker, the man suddenly serious. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that even with the boy’s prodigious gift for light magic, the sleeping curse is simply too deeply embedded to be burnt out naturally.” Gold leaned further on his cane, eyes on David as he delivered the deadly diagnosis. “And be aware that such a curse will only get stronger. Eventually, the curse will do significantly more damage than his light could ever hope to heal and then…”

The imp tilted his head. “Well…”

Raw panic, cold as ice, chilled Regina down to the bone; her breath and heart hitching in her chest. “H-how…”

“How do we fix this?” David demanded for her. “There has to be a way.”

“Fix? No. No. No.” Gold’s tone was as giddy as ever, even when discussing the death of a little boy. “Any fix I have for something tied this deep would require transferring the curse or placing another into the same situation and hope they could pull him out.” The suited man shook his head.

“No, the only sort of true resolution for a condition such as this requires some incredibly powerful magic and knowledge, both belonging in the hands of the fae. And even then, you’d need someone with intimate skill in the dark arts to properly administer the cure.”

Gold raised to head, eyes fixed on Regina as a knowing smile stretched wide across his sharp features.

“You wouldn’t happen to know anyone like that, would you, dearie?”

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

“Hmm.”

A glass of wine floated through the air, shadows wrapped around the stem.

Tipping forward, the contents met a pair of plump soft lips, their impossibly beautiful owner sighing in satisfaction as she leaned back.

Long blond hair cascaded down her shoulders, the steaming marble bath she sat in filled to the brim with bubbles that hid nearly every inch of her naked body. The air was overwhelmingly thick with the flowery scent of jasmine bath bombs, and the richness of imported chocolate; box after box after box opened and emptied all around the floor of her tub.

The wine glass swirled, shadows roiling around it as she spun a finger.

“Oh, Reginaaaaaa.”