Chapter 75

Part 10/10 of your update. Hope you guys are still reading!

The stables in South Peak were in a far better state of repair than the ones in David's castle. Regina trailed her fingers along the polished ash grey wood of Campitor's stable door, breathing in the scent of hay and horses that lingered in the air. To her surprise, she had found her stallion untacked and groomed out in a freshly made up stall in the stables. Any stable boy that could deal with her monster of a horse was obviously worth his salt. She leaned over the wooden door, holding her hand out toward the stallion. He whickered, nudging her fingers with his velvety nose. With a spark of magic, she summoned a red apple into the palm of her hand and Campitor eagerly crunched into it.

"Good boy," Regina whispered, reaching out to scratch his ears. "What do you think of this place, huh? Do you like it here?" She leaned her head against the frame of the door, her eyelids fluttering. She was exhausted. She needed to head upstairs, draw a bath of her own and go to bed. She turned away from Campitor's stall box and walked over to the doorway. She had just reached the open double doors leading outside when she felt a strong vibration coming from the pocket of her jodhpurs. She glanced down in confusion, frowning as she dug out the compact mirror tucked away there. She had almost forgotten about it.

"Belle?" she snapped open the mirror, narrowing her eyes as she tried to make out the girl's face in the dark reflection of the mirror.

"Regina!" Belle's voice was frantic. "You need to come here, now! August is dying… please!"

"Wait, slow down," Regina said. "What's happened?"

"I can't explain… You just… We need your help, please just teleport yourself here now!"

"I don't even know where you are! I can't teleport myself somewhere without knowing where I'm going."

"Regina!" Killian's face appeared in the mirror. "If you don't get your ass over here, August is going to die. Stop making excuses and teleport!"

"Damn it," Regina hissed, pacing up and down. "Okay. Fine. Turn the mirror around, show me where you are."

The image in the mirror's reflection changed, showing a dark image of trees and bushes. "That could literally be anywhere," Regina growled, frustrated. Still, she found herself focusing on the reflection in front of her, drawing her magic together. This is insane. It's not going to work. You can't teleport to a place that you've never seen. She closed her eyes as the magic enveloped her.

"You're here!" a hand grabbed her arm and Regina's eyes snapped open again.

"I did it," she said in disbelief, glancing around herself. It was dark. They were deep inside the woods. A heavy bank of fog clung to the ground. Astrid and Grumpy stood to one side, looking shocked and afraid. The dwarf had his arm around the fairy, holding her close. Belle and Hook crouched on the ground, on either side of August, who was bleeding dark blood onto the forest floor.

"You can celebrate your awesomeness later," Hook growled. "August needs help."

"Move," Regina instructed, taking his place once he'd shifted to the side. She reached out, pulling August's blood drenched shirt out of the way to examine the wound. "This looks like a sword wound."

"It is," Hook nodded.

"Since when do fairies carry weapons?"

"There are creepy fairy soldiers crawling all over these woods," Hook told her. "Does any of this matter? Just heal him!"

She pressed her hand against the wound, drawing on her magic and sending it into the severed flesh of his stomach. Pain flooded through her arm and she cried out, jerking away.

"What is it?" Belle asked frantically.

"Nothing," Regina gasped. She pressed her hand back against the wound, gritting her teeth as she tried again. Pain flooded through her as she pushed her magic into August's body, fighting the damage that the sword had caused. "That blade must have had some kind of magic resistance enchantment," Regina muttered aloud.

"Can't you heal it?" Grumpy asked.

"Of course I can heal it," Regina snapped. It just hurt like a bitch to do it. She pulled her hand away, gasping, and stared down at the livid red mark on August's abdomen. It would have to do. The wound was only partially healed, but it would be enough. He would live.

"Your hand is bleeding," Belle said urgently, reaching out. She turned over Regina's hand, examining the deep cuts that had appeared on her palm.

"Ow," Regina winced, pulling her hand back. "What did you mean by fairy soldier? I've never heard of such a thing."

"They're old spirits of the forest," Astrid said solemnly. "They've always been here, protecting the fairies. They only attack when they're called upon."

"August?" Hook slapped his cheek lightly. "Can you hear me, mate?"

"He's unconscious," Regina said, standing up and brushing off the dirt from her knees with her uninjured hand. "He'll be fine, he just needs rest. So what the hell happened here tonight?"

"Can't we talk about this someplace safer?" Belle asked, glancing around uneasily. "There could be more of them out there."

"Sure," Regina nodded her head, drawing on her magic. Purple smoke enveloped them all and a moment later they were in the foyer of David's castle.

"Crap," Killian glanced around. "Now I have to go all the way back to River's Crossing to fetch my ship."

"I got you out of that creepy forest. You're welcome," Regina snapped. A wave of dizziness washed over her and she collapsed onto her knees, the edges of her vision blackening.

"Regina?" Belle reached for her.

"I'm fine," she groaned, closing her eyes.

"You're really pale," Belle fretted. "Can we get some help over here?" she yelled.

"I'm fine," Regina said again, sucking in deep breaths of air. "Worry about August instead."

"What's going on here?" a familiar voice asked, as footsteps approached. Regina opened her eyes.

"Hello Grey. You're still here."

The old soldier crouched in front of her, his grey eyes anxiously flickering over her face.

"Summon the King," he barked to one of the guards behind him. He held out his hand, helping Regina to her feet.

"Get August up to a room," she ordered. "He needs to rest."

"Hook?" Emma appeared on the stairs above them, her eyes wide as she took in the crowd of people standing in the foyer. "What are you all…?" her eyes dropped to August. "August!" she screamed his name, running down the stairs. "What happened to him? Is he…" she dropped to his side, her hands hovering in the air above him, too afraid to touch him.

"He's not dead," Regina said exhaustedly.

"There's blood everywhere," Emma breathed out. "What happened to him?"

"He was stabbed," Belle said. "But he's okay. Regina healed him. He's going to be okay."

Emma turned her head, tear filled green eyes lifting to Regina. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you."

"It's okay," Regina told her. "He's going to be fine. You should probably get him upstairs."

"Yeah," Emma nodded her head. "Hook, can you help me?"

"We'll take him for you, princess," a guard said, moving closer. A second guard joined him and the pair of them carefully lifted August's unconscious body up and carried him away.

"Come on," Belle took Emma's arm, guiding her to follow after them. "We can sit with him while I explain what happened."

"Thank you," Emma murmured shakily.

"He nearly died," Astrid whispered, watching them leave. "I nearly got him killed."

"Don't say that!" Grumpy shook his head. "You did nothing wrong!"

"He's right," Hook said. "You've done nothing but try to help us."

"If Green hadn't woken up from my spell…" Astrid dissolved into hiccupping sobs, allowing the rest of her sentence to trail off.

"That wasn't your fault," Grumpy hushed her, pulling her into a hug as she cried inconsolably into his shoulder.

"Take her upstairs. She could use the rest," Hook advised, and Grumpy nodded, leading the fairy away.

"Regina?" David had appeared at the top of the staircase, his blue eyes locking onto Regina immediately. He raced down the steps and she walked forward to meet him as he crossed the foyer toward her. He pulled her into his arms and Regina sank her head against his chest as she hugged him back, closing her eyes.

"I missed you," she breathed.

"What happened?" he asked, tilting her chin up so that he could examine her face. "I saw August… Belle told me that he was attacked…"

"Hook can probably explain it better, I only have half the story…" Regina murmured, turning to face the pirate.

Killian shrugged. "It's a mess. We made it to the fairy repository – all thanks to Astrid, she got us through the gates. The short story? We found out something about the Dark One's curse."

"What did you find out?" David pressed.

"That a fairy was the one who started it all."

"That's impossible," David shook his head.

"It's true. A fairy started the curse. Apparently she fell in love with a human and he rejected her, so she went crazy and got revenge on him by creating the dagger."

"Wow," Regina breathed out. "So what happened to this fairy? Did they kick her out? Take away her wings?"

"Did you find out anything about how to end the curse?" David asked, at the same time.

"No," Killian shook his head at David. "And yes," he turned to Regina. "We think they kicked her out. And took her wings. Belle thinks… Belle thinks that the fairy must be Maleficent."

"Maleficent?" Regina's brow furrowed. "No… That's not possible."

"Why not?" Hook asked. "She was one of them once, now she's evil. How do you think that came about?"

"She was my friend… I would know…"

"I doubt she would have told you something like this," Hook shrugged. "Either way it's a lead. It's worth checking out. Give me some time and I'll pay her castle a visit, see what I can dig up."

"Discreetly, please," Regina frowned at him. "I'm not teleporting over there to heal you if you get mauled by a dragon."

"Got it," Hook nodded. He gestured toward the staircase. "I'm going to check on August."

"Give us a moment alone, would you Grey?" Regina asked, glancing to her Captain, who was now the only person in the castle foyer other than David and herself. He nodded, following Hook out of the room.

"Are you okay?" David asked, turning his attention to her worriedly.

"I'm just tired," Regina sighed. "It's been a long couple of days." She lifted her uninjured hand, cupping David's face. "I'm glad I got to see you tonight."

"Have you and Henry reached South Peak?"

She nodded. "Yes. He's at the castle right now."

"Take me back with you," David urged, leaning down to kiss her. She hummed against his lips.

"I wish I could. But I barely have enough energy to get myself back, I don't know if I can teleport both of us. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow." She kissed him again.

"Stay the night here then."

"I can't leave Henry alone."

David groaned in frustration. "Stay for an hour then."

"David," she pulled away slightly, shaking her head at him. "I didn't tell Henry that I was leaving. I had to rush out to save August. He's all alone there… and that castle is half-filled with whack-jobs."

David scrunched his nose. "Really? I had such high hopes for the place."

"Don't worry," Regina smirked. "I'll straighten them all out soon enough."

A loud series of excited barking distracted her and she turned as Chase dashed into the room, leaping up excitedly to greet her.

"Chase," she leaned down to greet him, scratching his soft head. He wagged his tail delightedly, whining in excitement.

"He's missed you," David said, glancing down at the dog fondly.

"One more night," Regina told him, stroking his fur gently. "One more night and I'll take you home, I promise." She straightened up again, turning to David. "The same goes for you," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Regina…" he reached for her, but she shook her head.

"I have to go. Tell Emma I'll check in on August tomorrow."

And with that she mustered the last of her strength and teleported herself back to South Peak.

…

The first rays of dawn were creeping over the castle when David finally tossed his bedcovers aside, giving up any notions of sleep. He had tossed and turned all night, too unsettled to truly rest. He pulled on some clothes, splashed some water on his face to freshen up and set off in search of his daughter. He found Emma in August's room, sleeping uncomfortably in a chair that had been pulled up to his bedside.

"Emma?" he breathed her name and her eyelashes fluttered as she roused.

"What time is it?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Early," David told her.

She sat up properly and leaned forward to examine August.

"He looks better," David commented. "There's some colour in his face at least."

"Yea," Emma nodded. "I think he's going to be okay. I wonder how Regina is holding up. Belle said the healing really took it out of her."

"I should have forced her to stay here," David muttered, frowning as he thought about it.

"She had to go back for Henry," Emma shrugged. "You couldn't have stopped her if you'd tried."

David nodded reluctantly. "I suppose."

"I'm sure she's fine. She'll be back today," Emma added. "She promised to check in on August didn't she?"

"She did," David affirmed, glancing over at August's slumbering form again. "I still can't believe the fairies have armed guards in their kingdom."

"I can't believe a fairy is responsible for the Dark One's curse," Emma said. "Although, I suppose I can imagine someone like Maleficent doing such a thing."

"You think it's her?"

"She's the only evil fairy I've ever heard of," Emma shrugged. "Belle's right. It has to be her."

There was a gentle knock at the doorway.

"Come in," David called, turning around. A castle guard stepped inside.

"Your majesty," he said formally. "The Blue Fairy has come to see you."

David blinked in surprise. "She has?"

Emma stood up. "What does she want?"

"I'm not sure, your highness. She didn't say. She's waiting in the downstairs parlour room."

"I'll go speak to her," David said.

"I'm coming too," Emma told him, following him out the room. "What do you think she wants?" she whispered to him, as the pair headed downstairs. "Are we in trouble?"

"Of course not," David shook his head, speaking with more certainty than he felt. He had never heard of anyone breaking into the Fairy Kingdom before. He didn't know what the consequences would be. To his surprise, Belle, Hook and Grumpy were already waiting outside of the door to the parlour room. Hook and Belle were leaning against the wall, each looking sleep bedraggled. Grumpy paced in front of the door, his expression grim.

"What are you guys doing down here?" Emma asked.

"Astrid got a summons to speak with Blue," Hook said. He pointed to the closed door. "She's in there now."

"What's going to happen to her?" Emma glanced between them.

"We don't know," Belle sighed. She turned to look at Grumpy. "I'm sorry."

"Oh now you're sorry?" he snarled. "You didn't give a damn about what happened to her before."

"That's not true!" Belle said loudly. "Of course I cared! I never wanted anything bad to happen to her!"

"Then you shouldn't have dragged her into this mess in the first place!" the dwarf shouted. "You shouldn't have involved her!"

"Hey, you're not exactly innocent here, dwarf!" Killian shot back angrily. "Stop pretending that you didn't…"

The door to the parlour room opened at that moment and all of them fell silent as Astrid stepped out of the room. Her face was ashen with shock.

"What happened?" Grumpy asked, stepping closer to her.

"I'm no longer a fairy," Astrid whispered, lifting her eyes to his.

"No!" Belle gasped. "She took your wings?"

"It's fine," Astrid forced a smile. "I think it's better this way." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke.

"She can't do this to you," Grumpy said desperately. "She can't…"

"I broke the laws, Leroy," Astrid shrugged. "What else could she do? I some need air," she whispered. "Will you walk with me?"

"Of course," the dwarf took her arm, leading her away. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

"This can't be happening," Belle said, shaking her head. "Someone needs to talk some sense into Blue." She walked over to the doorway and strode into the parlour room. David, Emma and Hook trailed in after her. The Blue Fairy sat upon one of the pale blue sofas in the room, gazing out through the window at the rising sun over the sparkling blue water of the harbour. She turned her head toward them as they walked into the room.

"Prince Charming, Emma," she greeted each of them with a smile. "How good to see you both."

"You can't do this to Astrid," Belle said, without preamble. "You can't take away her wings!"

"I'm afraid I have to Belle," Blue's smile dropped. "You have no idea of the gravity of what Astrid has done. Taking humans into our inner sanctuary, showing them our most carefully guarded secrets, reading from the sacred texts… And then of course, the unfortunate accident that led to August's death," Blue shook her head sadly. "Fairies have lost their wings for far less."

"August isn't dead!" Belle said hotly.

"That poor boy," Blue said sadly. "How strong he must be, to still cling to life after such a wound was inflicted upon him. I doubt he has much time left."

"Actually, he's doing just fine. Regina healed him," Hook said, shrugging.

Blue froze, her eyes flickering to each of them as she absorbed his words.

"That's impossible," she said flatly, shaking her head. "A wound inflicted from a Guardian's sword will never heal. Their blades are enchanted that way."

"It took a lot out of her, but Regina managed it," Belle said. "Though it explains her hand, I suppose."

"Wait, what about her hand?" David asked, frowning as he tried to recall what little he had seen of Regina the previous evening.

"The hand she used to heal August was covered in these weird cuts by the time she was finished," Belle explained.

"It was?" David asked. He hadn't seen it. She hadn't shown him. He felt a wave of frustration at the realisation that she had teleported herself to the other end of the Enchanted Forest in such a condition.

"And she didn't heal August completely," Emma added in. "I mean, he's still recovering from the attack."

"Even still," Blue looked disturbed. "That she managed to heal him at all is incredible... I had no idea her magic was capable of such feats. How unsettling."

"Hey, she's not the Evil Queen anymore okay?" Emma said. "She's not going to use her magic to hurt anyone."

"I hope you're right, Emma," Blue said, shrugging one shoulder daintily. "One never can be sure with her. I'm just glad to hear that Pinocchio is alright. I do care for the boy."

"He's fine," David sighed, pushing aside his worry for Regina for the time being. "Was there something you needed to speak to me about, Blue?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I don't blame you for what happened in my kingdom last night. I know how desperate you are to save Snow, whatever the cost. I only wish I could help you."

"You can help us. You can tell us who the fairy is who cast the Dark One's curse," Killian said.

Blue frowned at his words. "What Astrid read to you was not ever meant to…"

"Is it Maleficent?" Belle asked, interrupting her. Blue fell silent, staring at Belle in surprise. "She's a dark fairy, isn't she? It makes sense."

"Such a clever girl you are," Blue mused thoughtfully. "I'm afraid I'm forbidden from discussing these things with humans, though. Like I said, I wish I could help you, but my hands are tied." She smiled, rising to her feet in a swish of glittering blue fabric. "I'm afraid I must be off now. The Fairy Kingdom is in disarray and they need me now, more than ever."

"Of course," David said. "Thank you Blue, for being so understanding. I apologize for the deception. We won't break your trust again."

"Thank you," Blue smiled at him. "I would appreciate that."

With that she swept from the room, disappearing into a puff of shimmery blue smoke as she reached the doorway.

"Well, that could have gone worse," Hook sighed.

"Are you kidding?" Belle turned on him angrily. "She took away Astrid's wings! How could that have gone any worse?"

"Well at least she's not angry with us," the pirate shrugged.

"You're so selfish!" Belle hissed. "Astrid just lost everything because of us."

"After what I've seen of the fairies, I honestly think she's better off," Hook shrugged.

"Why didn't anyone tell me that Regina had hurt herself trying to heal August?" David asked, interrupting the argument.

Belle glanced over at him in surprise. "How did you not see it yourself? She was white as a sheet. Her hand was covered in blood…"

David winced, worry and guilt flooding him anew. How could he have missed that? He should never have allowed her to leave.

"I'm sure she's fine," Emma insisted.

"Yea," Killian nodded. "It was just a sword wound."

"Blue didn't seem to think so," Belle said. "She didn't think the wound could be healed."

"Well Blue doesn't know how powerful Regina is," Killian argued. "She doesn't know about her magic."

"I think she has an inkling now," Emma pointed out. "Didn't you see her face earlier?"

David sighed. "I did," he said. "I guess we can't blame her for being worried. All she really knows of Regina is the Evil Queen."

"That's not really fair," Emma grumbled. "Regina hasn't been that way for a while now. Surely even Blue can see that."

"These things take time, princess," Killian shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

"He's right," David said. "We have enough on our plates as it is."

"What's our next step?" Belle asked. She glanced at Hook. "Maleficent's castle, I suppose?"

He arched his brows. "You're coming with me, are you?"

"Of course I'm coming with," Belle said defiantly. "This is our mission."

"Actually, it's ours," David pointed out mildly, gesturing between him and Emma.

"You're both needed here," Belle said, with a shrug. "And we want to help." She turned to Hook. "So when do you want to leave?"

The pirate sighed. "You don't want to wait for August to recover first?"

"No," Emma said firmly. "Leave him here. He's been through enough. We don't even know how long it's going to take him to fully heal."

"Fine," Hook waved a hand. "We'll leave him behind. The two of us can handle this."

"You don't have to," David said firmly. "I can do it. I've been to the Forbidden Fortress before. I can snoop around and see if there's anything useful there."

"You already have your hands full here, mate," Killian shrugged. "It's not like I have a hell of a lot going on right now. It's fine, just leave this to me... err us," he amended, catching sight of Belle's expression.

"Just be careful," David sighed. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of this."

"We'll be careful," Belle promised. "Just think, with a little bit of luck, we can finally put this Dark One's curse to rest."