The inside of the Underworld library was one of the few features of the town Hades had changed for himself. The books were still there although one might find that while the titles were indeed in the library, the content was completely mixed up, the story that matched the title probably hidden in another row. Hades had taken personal pride in that petty act. It annoyed the souls in his domain, and kept them from finding the novels on Greek Mythology he had put there in a strange burst of masochism.

The door to the basement, however, was glamoured and covered in magic runes most unlike the simple spells Regina had put on her own in Storybrooke. A breeze whistled through the stacks as well, courtesy of the broken and open ceiling, where Hades had torn the top of the building off and thrown it into the street. He had done it the day Rumple had stabbed Zelena in her cell.

Only a last minute spell on Zelena's part had saved her, creating a facsimile and turning her own body into smoke.

(A/N: I'm giving Zelena's death a real explanation, because the one the show gave was awfully cocksure for a group of writers who have already lost themselves in the forest of plot holes)

And the timing had to be perfect. All spells on a dead person broke the moment they died. The spell that had tethered Zelena's magic to her pendant had been one of those spells.

The only reason Zelena's spell had worked was thanks to the research Zelena had done on the dagger while it had been in her possession. Contrary to Rumple's assumptions, she hadn't just walked around basking in its power. In fact, she hadn't even kept it on her when she could avoid it. Such dark magic would have corrupted her beyond reason.

In her research Zelena had found a faint aura of dark magic that spread out from the dagger. It was this, but not the blade, that pierced Zelena's aura in the moment she performed the spell. The touch was enough to trick the laws of the very universe that she was about to die and break all of the spells on her body. The blade of the dagger itself, that would have killed Zelena, stabbed the facsimile.

Hades looked ahead at his love. He doubted she realized how unbelievable that spell had been. It was just another day working magic she didn't understand for Zelena Mills.

Despite the situation, Hades smiled. That wasn't even mentioning the time travel spell, and the previously indecipherable runes that Zelena had put her mind to reading in order to complete the spell.

Hades shook his head. She was the greatest witch of her time. It was just a fact.

Maleficent had tales of her dragon form, Cruella had gifts from the Author himself, Ursula was a sea goddess, Cora was thrown into an unknown realm only to rule it, and everyone knew tales of Regina's cruelty and reign. But Zelena, the innocuous Wicked Witch of the West, who wasn't acknowledged in her own realm or outside of it, she was greater than them all because she was the only one with the drive to learn more. To expand her power and to never place limits on magic.

She hadn't been taught about the glass ceiling, so the crushed glass she stepped on on her way to the top just looked like the threshold of the next staircase. She was glorious, she was inventive, she was magnificent, she was…looking at him weirdly and asking him something.

Hades turned his ears back on.

"-you ok?"

He shook himself.

"Yes I'm fine. Do you think Regina is still here?"

Zelena waved her hand and a line of green magic swept itself over the ceiling and the floor, down the aisles.

"She's here. Somewhere in the back."

They strode forward together, black coats billowing. Zelena spotted Regina standing at a desk, flipping through a book. Regina looked up as they approached, fear flickering into her eyes at the answering fury in Zelena's.

Zelena approached her sister and slapped the book out of her hand. Before it even hit the ground Zelena's hands were fisted in Regina's shirt, drawing her up to the couple extra inches to make them face to face.

"Where is my daughter?!" Zelena demanded.

Regina swallowed hard.

"Why should I tell you?"

Zelena scoffed and shook her hair from her eyes.

"Gee, I don't know, Regina. You brewed a selective memory potion that you then served to your cooperative sister. How am I supposed to fathom what you're capable of?"

Regina looked shocked for a moment then her walls came back up with a furtive glance at Hades and she shook herself from her sister's hands.

"Your daughter is safe. As for the memory potion, not to worry. It wasn't anything you'd miss."

Hades almost grabbed her himself for that. Thankfully Zelena channeled his rage pretty effectively.

"How dare you make that decision for me! You do not get to hide behind the hero excuse of a 'greater good' anymore. You are the Evil Queen, Daughter of the Queen of Hearts, and I. Know. You." She swung an arm out and pointed at Hades. "Why did you make me forget him?"

"H-he's not who you think he is," Regina sputtered. Zelena snorted.

"Who? The God of the Dead? Big deal. You don't get to control me!"

Regina straightened up.

"I know what's best for you Zelena. You're too busy right now to deal with him. And also, you don't have the greatest track record with good decisions."

Hades swore he saw Zelena's eyes flash purple again.

"What a disgusting double standard sis." Zelena swallowed hard then towered over her sister. "I've done unforgivable things. I admit them. I'll pay my dues when I end up here to stay. But you can't claim the moral high ground here."

Regina's hands began to spark with magic. Then she spat the most poisonous facet of their reality into Zelena's face.

"You slept with Robin against his will!"

"I did. And so did you with Graham."

Regina reeled back.

"Didn't think I knew about that did you? It's amazing how easily this town has just dismissed your 28 year run of using the man as a sex slave. Neither of us are saints. At least I own my actions and am willing to pay the consequences."

Regina gritted her teeth.

"I have paid the consequences. Years of torment, until I finally saw the truth."

"What truth?" Zelena spat.

"That evil doesn't win. That good should triumph and that I will always fall to myself if I don't try to be good."

To Hades' surprise, Zelena's face relaxed completely and she nodded.

"Agreed."

Then in a second her hatred was back.

"But here's where you've messed up, sis. You took your so-called emotional torment out on others, deliberately. You knew better and you still fell to your evil. It's perfectly fine to be good, in fact, God forbid you return to your roots, but you don't get to forget them."

"You tormented people too."

Zelena nodded, but her rage didn't abate.

"I did. I have sent several people here myself. Innocent citizens who stood up to me and people who were victims of my lack of control over my magic. But Regina, darling, I have to say, I never sunk to your depravity."

Regina scoffed.

"You're just talking in circles. We begin equal but now you're better than me?"

"In this respect I am."

"What respect?" Regina spat. Zelena lowered her head to her chest.

"Children. Regina, you killed children. You burned whole villages to make a point to Snow White, to blame her for a fault that fully lies with our mother."

Regina was stunned into silence. Zelena continued, horror draining anger from her words. Somehow it didn't make the mood any better.

"I admire you, I really do, for choosing to be good. But that doesn't make your mistakes go away. You don't have to punish yourself for them. Learn to live with them instead." Zelena's head rose and she locked gazes with her sister. "And it is for this reason that you don't get to think you can make my decisions for me. Ever since I woke up an amnesiac, this man has been nothing but kind to me. Maybe he's still dangerous or I shouldn't trust him, but that's something you have to let me make the call on."

Regina shook her head and stray tears deviated in their tracks down her face.

"But he's threatening my family. And you were supporting him."

Zelena smiled. "Then make me your enemy."

That simple assertion froze Regina's response. Zelena continued.

"If trusting him is a mistake, let me suffer for it."

Regina's fists clenched. "Your daughter is in danger from your decisions. You aren't going to punish her for your own mistakes are you?"

"Absolutely not. The child should never suffer the faults of the parent." Hades sensed this was an idea Zelena had come to in her own life. "And that's why she isn't with me right now. I gave her to Robin. That much I do remember. Although, not why."

Regina sighed and her fists unclenched. She met her sister's eyes, heedless of the tears still rolling down her cheeks. She started then cleared her throat to mask her damaged voice.

"I understand. If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't the one who made you forget Hades. That was our mother."

Zelena's hand flew to her face. "Oh dear. I forgot, she's down here isn't she? Damn blood magic works up the generations too."

Regina turned back to her stack of books. "I can't tell you why you had to forget him, it's still too dangerous. You'll have to find that out yourself."

Hades expected Zelena to protest but instead she just smiled weakly at her sister's back. "I'll ask mother then."

Regina nodded. "It's about time you spoke to her anyway."

Zelena spun on her heel, beckoning Hades out the door. He followed, still a little shell-shocked from the miserable shouting match he'd just witnessed. He felt none of the disgust the heroes would have about the atrocities committed, only because he'd done plenty of terrible things himself. But once again he was amazed at the dynamic that existed between the two broken women.

He looked ahead, at the stiff back of the woman in front of him. How did she get so wise? She was striding headlong into her own doom, with full knowledge that her torment in hell would be unbearable. Yet she was still determined to live her life the way she wanted to.

It was insanity. Insanity and courage. He'd never felt so young in his life.

He was a couple millennia old, yet this fifty something woman, trapped in the body of a twenty year-old, knew more about fulfillment that he'd come upon in all of those years.

He'd loved her before, admired her skill, but now he was faced with an entirely new feeling. He respected his love's determination if not her decisions. She didn't see it, but he smiled, and rushed forward a bit to fall into step beside her. He hoped they were staring at the same point in the distance.

Author's note:

They have a lot of issues. I hate show canon, and like to pretend that Zelena didn't even sleep with Robin in most of my stories because I consider it out of character and dumb. This is the first time I've had her own up to it, I hope I didn't offend anyone and still made it clear how much I don't approve of it at all and am physically and emotionally disgusted by it. This chapter is kind of short but it's very content heavy so I hope the next one will have more action and perhaps creeping hints of fluff. Plenty of time for Hades to try and get Zelena to remember on her own before they find Cora. Who knows? This chapter is also finally me getting all of my issues with Regina out in the open. Thanks for reading, please R&R, comment, or kudo.

-Ragingstillness

P.S. Come give me feedback on my story on tumblr too at ragingstillness.