Chapter Ten | Change of Plans
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|Zelena's Cabin, Five Days Later|
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Zelena bottled up the antidote to the potion she had given Regina. Soon, Regina would be crushed as the memories of Robin (and more importantly, the fact that he was gone forever) resurfaced in her mind. But there was doubt in the edge of Zelena's mind now. Ever since she had discovered something that would make her plan a bit more difficult.
Zelena zapped the potion with her magic and shook the bottle so all of the ingredients were surely mixed together.
"Arthur, dear," Zelena called. "Check on Ruby while I'm gone, would you?"
"Yup," Arthur called from the living room. "You going to give her the potion?"
"Yes I am," Zelena said, her voice far more determined than she felt. Zelena transformed herself so she looked like Ruby before pocketing the antidote and leaving. The cool night air caused Zelena's breath to steam.
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|The Vault|
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Regina absentmindedly twisted the ring on her left ring finger as she waited. This was the last night of moonlight they needed before the antidote would be complete. Tomorrow morning, Emma would mix together the ingredients, add a bit of magic, and Regina would finally have her memories back.
Regina was about ready to head home when Zelena came sauntering into the vault. Regina was completely defenseless at the moment since she didn't want to risk using magic and hurting the baby, but hopefully Zelena wouldn't know that.
"What are you doing here?" Regina sneered.
"Coming to give you a present." Zelena pulled the antidote out of her pocket. "An antidote. It will restore your memories of Robin."
"Like I trust that."
"I'm serious," Zelena said truthfully. "You know I want revenge and your memories are the key to that for me. I did quite enjoy your cluelessness about Robin, Roland, and Meg, but I will enjoy watching you suffer even more."
Regina took the vial from Zelena. It looked like what Belle said the real antidote would look like, but when it came to Zelena, you could never be sure. This potion might make the memory loss permanent. Or do something worse. "Why should I trust you?" Regina challenged.
"Because. We're family. You've been told how much you loved Robin. Imagine if you could feel that love you've heard so much about only to realize that your soulmate is gone forever after wondering for two weeks. Mmmm, yes. Heartbreak at its finest."
Regina studied the potion. "What ingredients did you use?"
"A melted lock and key born of true love, a feather from the Firebird, a branch from the oldest tree in the forest, four weeks worth of moonlight, and a tiny zap of magic to finish it off," Zelena recited.
"You could be lying about that too," Regina mused.
Zelena wished Regina would just hurry up and take the potion because the witch's confidence in her plan was slowly fading. "I'm not. I want you to remember Robin, sis."
What scared Regina was that she felt like Zelena was telling the truth, and it wasn't because she was being a good half-sister. Zelena honestly thought the heartbreak would destroy Regina. But the lure of remembering Robin was stronger than Regina's fears. She uncorked the vial and looked inside. "I take this and all my memories of Robin will be returned?" Regina asked.
Zelena nodded. "Of course. Now drink up."
Regina placed the vial to her lips but before she could ingest any of the antidote, something overcame Zelena and she swiped the antidote out of Regina's hand and recorked it.
"I thought you wanted me to remember?!" Regina exclaimed.
"I don't," Zelena said as if the answer surprised her. "Sorry."
Regina rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Emma will mix up our antidote tomorrow and I know I can trust hers."
Zelena weighed her options and decided on what she would do. "Look, sis, trust me when I say you don't want your memories back. Given time, you probably would have gotten rid of them yourself. From what I've heard, you were going to get rid of your child because you were in so much pain after losing Robin."
"I'll be fine," Regina spat. "I'm stronger than you think. Now if that's all you wanted to do, get out of here. I'll pay you a visit tomorrow to show you how wrong you were."
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|Gold's Shop, The Next Day|
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Emma swirled the ingredients together and when Belle was satisfied, she removed the wooden spoon and the antidote lit up as Emma zapped it with her magic. She handed the spoon to Regina who stirred it a bit before she raised the spoon to her mouth.
"STOP!" Zelena and Arthur burst into the shop. The spoon plopped back into the bowl and Emma, Regina, and Gold all stood so they were protecting Belle and Evelyn.
"What do you want?" Emma asked, ready to use her magic.
"I just want to have a chat with my dear sister," Zelena kept her voice full of wickedness even though she was filled with doubt.
"Chat away," Regina spread her arms apart. "Just don't hurt anyone."
Zelena smiled. "I don't need to hurt anyone. Not yet, at least..." Zelena eyed her half-sister's stomach. She stepped towards Regina and placed her hand on Regina's stomach. "Can't wait until it's born."
Regina smacked Zelena's hand away. "You can threaten me all you want, but don't you dare hurt my children."
"You've got another eight...ish months. But I'm afraid there's something I can't allow you to do." the bowl of the antidote appeared in Zelena's arms. Regina lunged for it, but Zelena backed up and handed it to Arthur.
"You told me you wanted the memories to crush me last night!" Regina shouted. "What's different now?!"
"You want the memories," Zelena lied. "I'm not going to let you have something you want, no matter how painful it would be to you." She took the bowl back from Arthur and her hands lit up with magical flames that quickly consumed the bowl, spoon, and antidote.
"NO!" Regina shouted, but it was too late. Zelena let the ashed fall to the ground before looking her half-sister in the eye.
"I'm sorry. Trust me when I say it's for the best."
Zelena and Arthur disappeared from the shop and Regina hung her head, defeated.
"I was so close..."
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|Zelena's Cabin, A Few Hours Later|
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Zelena looked down at the plastic item in her hand. No one could know she had it, not even Arthur. If he did find out... Zelena wasn't sure what would happen, and quite frankly, she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.
But the two red lines stared back up at her, warning her that she had to act fast before Arthur found out. Two months until she needed to be in New York. Which meant there would be no getting Regina's child right after its birth. She would come back for it someday, but she wouldn't be there for the birth. Unless Regina started coming to Granny's when she was actually hungry and Zelena could feed her half-sister some tainted onion rings.
But half of Zelena wondered what would happen if she did tell Arthur. Would he want to go with her? If not, she could always just erase his memory of her ever saying anything.
And what would happen if Regina ever found out? Surely she would stop Zelena from leaving and lock her and Arthur both back up in the asylum.
All thanks to one cheap piece of plastic with two red lines.
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