Untitled Pt 1

Empty Promises

Carmen's wings weighed a hundred pounds as they carried her over branches and weaved her through the trees. The closer she came to where the strange tower of light had erupted from, the more evidence of destruction she came across. Uprooted trees lying on their sides, piles of dirt, the smoking husks of once tall, proud spruce trees. Finally, after what seemed like hours of flying, she zipped around a fallen tree, and found herself hovering over the epicentre of the blast: a great crater, six meters across at least. And lying in the centre, was her sister, Regina.
"Regina!" she cried, landing with a thud by her sister's side. Regina lay on her side, her head nestled in the crook of her elbow, as if she were laying down for an afternoon nap in the sun.
"Regina." She whispered, gently shaking her sister's shoulder. Regina began to stir, her eyes flicking open as she rolled to face her sibling. They snapped open in flash, revealing two orbs of soft, red light. Reflecting in them was a swirling mass of memories and emotions, all from her past, and glimpses of what was to come.
"Hey sis." Carmen smiled as the red in her sister's eyes slowly faded, revealing the burnt umber colour underneath.
"Hey." Regina smiled back.
"Big night?"
"Is that what you think?
"Sure as hell looks like it."
"Oh, what makes you say that?" Regina yawned casually, rising to her feet.
"Oh, you know. The giant six metre crater in the middle of the forest, the smoking husks of spruce trees, dead animals lying everywhere, dirt mounds as far as the eye can see. Call it a hunch."
"Alright, alright. I get. Yes, it was a big night."
"How do you feel?"
"Never better." Regina sighed. Her eyes were filled sadness, as if she were plagued by a horrible thought from long ago. And Carmen knew exactly what it was.
"Henry's fine."
"What?"
"Henry. He's fine. We found him, got him back to Blue. She fixed him up, and before we knew it, he was marching out of the Hive along with everyone else."
"What were you all doing?"
"Getting ready to march on Conan. But right before we were about to launch the first assault, Gilderoy and Sidney arrived with a message from the weasel saying that we had four days before the Overlord arrived. That amount had now been reduced to three. Today's Thursday, and he comes the day after the Festival of Stars, which is on Saturday. We don't have long."
"Okay, I'm confused."
"Don't worry. So is everyone else. Come on. Let's get back to the Hive. Now that you've broken through the dagger's control, and are no longer the Dark One, we don't have to worry about you turning it into a chainsaw massacre." Carmen chuckled.
"True. Although I would be a bit more creative with my massacre methods."
"Point taken. Shall we?" Carmen asked, her great black, feathery wings emerging from her back, stretching out beside her once more.
"I'm not sure you've noticed, but I unfortunately don't have a pair of wings to call my own."
"Dually noted. Come here." Carmen laughed, grabbing Regina around the waist. Ignoring her sister's cries of protests, Carmen beat her wings as hard as she could, smiling as they lifted them high above the clouds, and laughing as they carried the pair home, Regina screaming all the way.

∞

Henry leaned against a stack of crates, his mind wandering far away from the humdrum of the world around him. It tumbled and turned, constantly picturing the emotionless voids of darkness, the cloud of purple smoke, and arrow piercing his flesh. The harrowing scream of his mother as she awoke from her Dark One daze and saw what she had done still rattled around his kettle drum of a brain. His mind, still centred around the nightmarish memories, paid no attention to the sound of the rock sliding away from the entrance, or the cries of joy riding from the throats of the rebels. Only when Rhydian gave his shoulder a gentle nudge did he look up, and feel his smile stretch to his ears as his eyes fell on his mother for the first time since that day in the woods.
"Mom!" he cried, racing into her arms.
"Henry!" she sighed, wrapping her arms tight around his shoulders.
"Mom!" Henry Snr cried, racing to join the growing group. More and more cries continued to rise as the rest of the Charming family came to welcome Regina home.
"Henry. I am so, so sorry." Regina gasped, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I know mom. I know you'd never hurt me on purpose."
"REGINA!" Robin's voice bounced off the stone walls of the cavern as the thief rushed to meet his queen.
"Robin." She flung herself into his arms, and the two shared a deep, love-filled kiss. Some averted their gaze, others resisted the urge to make any sound as the two stood together, blissfully unaware of the world around them.
"Alright lovebirds. Sorry to break this up, but we have a lot of stuff to get through." Carmen called. "Yes. Starting with why Carmen did a rebel recall and made us all trek back here." Rhydian spat, his steely glare landing on the Alpha.
"Thank you for that encouraging follow-up, Rhyds." Carmen replied. Leaping up onto the closest crate pile, she turned and gazed out over the sea of blank-faced rebels before her. "Look, I know you guys are pissed about all this, but I assure you that this is the last time I will ever make you run about in circles." She began.
"The bottom line is that all this rebellion stuff; here, and in Everglade, for those of you who were there, has all been leading up to one critical moment."
"And that is?" Jana huffed.
"In our world, there is a legend. One which begins when Carmen the First defeated the Overlord, the powerful tyrant who had reigned over Everglade with an iron fist for thousands of years. She buried him deep within the mountains. But that was nearly a thousand years ago. Since then, he's been working from the shadows, gathering support, corrupting the minds of the Kings of Everglade. And now he is out. And he's heading for Storybrooke."
"He's what?" Emma cried.
"Is that what those clouds are?"
"Are we going to be okay?"
"What's going to happen to us?"
The entire assembly erupted into a panicked frenzy of questions and fear.
"Alright!" Carmen raised her voice. "Look, I know this is scary. There is a giant evil Overlord heading for your kingdom. Believe me, I know how that feels."
"How did he even get here?" Jiminy called out.
"He must've slipped in somehow." Rhydian declared.
"He did. When we were all busy with Conan."
"How do you know?" Jana questioned.
"Because I made sure he did."
A blanket of silence settled over the room as every eye turned in her direction, each reflecting back the same look of confusion and betrayal.
"What?"
"I made sure he did. Think about it, Jana. Conan White, the most notorious villain in Everglade, was finally leaving to go and torment another realm. We would've been free of him. And yet, I made sure that we were right over the curse's arrival point when it came, so we would be swallowed up along with him. What possible reason could there be for me to be so eager to go and follow our arch-nemesis into an unknown realm, when I had an entire kingdom to run? Yes, I wanted to help my sister, definitely. But that was the only reason. It was because I was coming to help him, not destroy him."
"'Help him?' You came to help Conan? Our enemy?"
"In case you haven't figured it out by now, Conan is not the enemy. He never was."
"Then what was all that crap with Regina and the dagger and stuff?"
"You don't know because you were never told the end of the story."
"What? Of course I was. Carmen buried the Overlord deep in the mountains to be forgotten for all eternity. The end."
"But there's more."
"More?"
"Indeed. The conclusion of the Overlord's story is the same as the end of The Legend of the Cursing Queen."
"So the Overlord, who is tucked away in a mountain, is going to unite all the realms of story and rule over them as queen?"
"Good guess, but no cigar."
"Then where's the ending?"
"The final pages were hidden away by Carmen after she defeated the Overlord. She wanted to make sure he never discovered his fate should he escape his rocky prison."
"Sorry to interrupt this nostalgic session of revelations, but what is this legend everyone keeps talking about?" Emma demanded.
"The Legend of the Cursing Queen is a story about a queen whose heart has seen the darkness, and is destined to unite the realms of story together in a forgotten corner in the land without magic."
"Regina." Snow breathed, looking to her stepmother.
"Yes."
"Okay, so what's the ending?"
"For a space of time, life in the new realm will be peaceful and prospering. But a great looming threat seen only in legend will arise once again to rain chaos down on the innocent.
"The Cursing Queen, with the power of darkness entwined with her own, and those from her past, will become a force of balanced light strong enough to defeat the evil.
"With the help of those from his realm, and the ones she deems worthy, the evil will be defeated, and the land of united stories will forever remain undisturbed." Carmen recited.
"Lovely. If I had known it was story time, I would've brought a book along." Zelena quipped.
"It sounds like it's talking about Conan." Marita huffed.
"But it's not. It's talking about the Overlord."
"So he's real."
"Yes."
"And he's coming."
"Yes."
"Well heck." Rhydian chuckled. "You know, it's real nice of you to tell us this like TWO BLOODY DAYS before he arrives! Real helpful there, Carm!"
"Well, I'm sorry Rhydian, but the bastard wasn't even supposed to arrive for another three months. We were supposed to have enough time get Regina accustomed to her new powers and all that jazz, but in case you haven't guessed, we're a little stressed for time."
"Wait, what new powers?" David asked.
"It's complicated." Regina replied. "Carmen, we need to get to Conan and start..."
"Preparations, I know." Carmen finished, her brow creased in deep concentration. There was a sudden thud as Rhydian's feet landed on the top of the crate stack across from her.
"Carmen. You're a bitch. You're insane. You're a piece of work. You piss me off like there is no bloody tomorrow. And half the bloody time, you're just making stuff up on the fly. Sometimes I ask myself why I'm still doing this. Following you into every battle that comes our way, destroying every single enemy that crosses our borders. It's enough to make a sane man lose his mind."
"Nice to know how you feel, Rhyds."
"But do you know why I stay?"
"Why?"
"Because I'm not sane. I never was. But that's not all. When I see you up there, rallying the troops, or when I see you rushing to help a fallen brother-in-arms. Even when you stop to help an old lady cross the street, I am reminded of why I choose to stay."
"And why is that, Rhydian?"
"Because of you, Carmen." Marita answered, leaping up beside Rhydian. "You drive us all insane with your crazy plans and secrets. But in the end, you've never let us down. You always tell us what we need to know, even though it's hardly ever when we want you to. But you do. You lead us to victory time and again. You see and want the best for everyone. Your loyalty to your kingdom, to your friends, to your people, and your willingness to do whatever it takes to make sure they live to see the next sunrise. That is why we stay, Carmen."
"We're with you. To the end of the line. Carpe diem!"
"Carpe diem!"
"You know, I've always wondered why anyone in their right mind would still be with me after what I've put them through." Carmen smiled. "And now I know."
"A person would have to be crazy to follow you."
"All the best people are."