She's My Daughter

Magic always comes with a price

Selena POV

Regina and I carried on our magic lessons throughout the summer, sometimes in her vault and sometimes in the forest. I much preferred it when we were training in the forest, it made me feel so much more alive as the wind swept through my hair and the sun's beams gazed down on me. Over the last two weeks, I had mastered being able to summon my magic at will and I had also been able able to conjure up a fireball to match Regina's. Almost match Regina's. Although I still felt exhausted after I had used magic, I was no longer collapsing and was still able to stand and carry on practising. Regina said this meant I was getting stronger and that soon I wouldn't even feel slightly tired; I would just be able to carry on as if nothing had happened. I began to yearn for that day as the exhaustion that came with practising magic began to eat away at me; I could no longer stay up until midnight (I now had to sleep at 10), I couldn't do simple things such as climbing the stairs without my legs aching, I could barely keep my eyes open during the day and, on top of all that, I couldn't punch Mr Gold in the face whenever I saw him.
"Calm down, Selena." Regina would whisper in my ear as we passed him and my hand would clench into a fist and my breathing would become ragged. I could only nod stiffly and try with all my might to walk past that infuriating smirk. The smirk that showed so much yet revealed so little. Gold knew too much about me and he just wasn't sharing enough of it. I needed to know what he knew. I needed to know why he did what he did. And I needed to know why I could sometimes see a hint of apprehension in his cold eyes. But Regina would always control me and make sure I wouldn't go on a rampage and force the imp to tell me what he knew. And I'm not even a violent person, I mean I would never actually hurt him. Well, not intentionally. Magic does make my emotions spiral out of control, even though Regina is always there to help me control them. Well, almost always.

"Ah, Selena." Mr Gold called out from the corner of the street where he stood every time I passed by, almost as if he was constantly watching me. I gritted my teeth and ignored him, trying desperately to think of another way I could go so I wouldn't have to walk past the imp.
"Mummy not here to stop you losing your temper?" He mocked as I approached, unable to find any shortcuts - there was just one long stretch of road and he was standing right on the corner of it. I thought about turning back the way I came but fury was flowing through my veins as his taunts continued and so I marched towards him, my eyes blazing with anger and my fists clenched so hard I could feel blood beginning to coat my clammy palms.
"Shut up." I snarled when there was only one metre between us. He smiled nonchalantly, his belief that he was superior to everyone else around him on full display.
"And why would I do that when taunting you is so fun?" He smiled again.
"You're sick." I spat. "Waiting on street corners for a sixteen year old girl to walk past so you can bully them? What kind of a man does that?"
He took a step towards me, his eyes no longer showing carelessness but showing anger.
"A man doesn't." He barked menacingly.
"Then maybe it's bloody well time you became one." I snarled. And with that, my hands shot out in front of me almost involuntarily and Mr Gold was sent flying into a brick wall behind him, almost like an invisible boulder had slammed into him. Stunned, I stared at my hands. I had never been able to do that before. I ran up to where Gold lay, panic laced through every cell in my body.
"I'm so sorry." I whispered as I approached him, fear gnawing at me as I saw what magic had caused me to do. He turned to look at me, spitting blood onto the floor as he did so.
"And so you should be, dearie." He smiled sweetly, blood covering his teeth. I lurched back in fear, his crouched position and menacing smile resembling a predator about to attack its prey. He got to his feet, flicked his hair out of his eyes and thrust out his hand. I felt what was happening before I could make sense of it. A fist seemed to be wrapped tightly around my neck, strangling me as it lifted me off the ground in a flurry of wind and energy. I writhed furiously, trying to release myself from the grip I couldn't even see. I looked down, my eyes watering, and saw Gold staring up at me with his eyes glowing menacingly and his hand outstretched before him.
"This is what happens when you go up against the Dark One, dearie." He shouted up at me, clenching his fist tighter. I tried to scream but there was no breath in my throat. I struggled frantically for air, trying to pry away at the invisible fingers that had engulfed my neck. Black spots began to scatter my vision, colours began to merge into one, tears streamed down my cheeks and Rumplestiltskin carried on laughing.

*****

Through my blurry vision, I could make out a figure running towards us, her dark hair flying behind her and words tumbling out of her mouth. Words I couldn't register. I saw another figure close behind her, her blonde hair cascading down past her shoulders as she grabbed the hand of a tall man dressed in black. Behind them I saw a woman with a pixie cut, her pale skin glowing in the sunlight and her hand being held firmly by her prince who also had a hand placed on the small of a young boy's back. I turned my attention away from them, the humiliation being too much for me. And then the humiliation turned to anger. And anger turned to hatred. And hatred turned into an ear piercing scream that rattled the birds in the trees and caused everyone to stop what they were doing in shock, including the figures of those I loved. But it didn't stop Mr Gold. Although shaken, his grip on me had barely loosened. There was nothing I could do. I was going to die by the hand of Rumpelstiltskin. I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down as I prepared myself for death. But then, in that moment when I knew I was going to die, I felt the same burst of energy flowing through my body as I had when the flying monkey was close to taking a bite out of me. But this time, nobody came to save me, the magic ripped through my chest and with a scream, Mr Gold had been blasted back into the same brick wall and I had collapsed in a heap on the pavement, coughing and spluttering as the black spots began to fade and I struggled to breathe.
"Selena!" Regina shouted as she rushed to my side and wrapped an arm around my shoulders as I carried on retching.
"Blimey." Killian muttered, running a hand through his hair.
"Are you okay?" Emma asked, crouching down beside me. I nodded shakily, my throat still raw and my eyes still watering.
"Of course she's not alright!" Regina snapped, pulling me closer to her. Emma glared at her, her eyes showing her friend she was just concerned. Regina's features softened and her hard gaze faltered as she looked away quickly, almost as if she was embarrassed. Emma shook her head softly but then turned to smile at me.
"That was brilliant." She whispered.
"What? Being choked to death and made to look like a rag doll in front of the whole town was brilliant?" I coughed, the embarrassment of how weak I looked resurfacing.
"No." Regina said firmly. "What was brilliant was that you managed to best Rumpelstiltskin. And that is not an easy feat."
"Indeed not." Came a low voice from behind Mary Margaret and David. My voice caught in my throat as the gravely voice reached my ears and my hand instinctively clenched but Regina tightened her grip on me and placed her free hand softly on mine.
"Get the hell out of here, Gold." Regina snarled. Gold didn't even acknowledge her. I heard his footsteps and the scraping of his cane moving towards me, I heard the instinctive rush of bodies to stop him, and I felt his cold fingers pressing into my shoulder. My eyes involuntarily snapped up to meet his and I realised that the fear I had felt when he was about to kill me was nothing compared to this. His eyes contained no pain, no remorse, no emotion but revenge, anger and bloodlust. He looked at me as if I was an object he needed to purchase in order to sell at his shop, an object that he would torture and hurt before he even thought about destroying.
"Magic always comes with a price." He whispered in my ear, his breath tickling my neck and wisps of his grey hair brushing my cheek, before he was being yanked away from me, his manic laugh echoing in my ears as I heard him walk away after having got the best of both David and Hook, who was now snarling as he attempted to throw his hook at the "crocodile" before Emma rushed over and stopped him.
"What did he say?" Snow urged, her fearful eyes searching mine as I looked away from Hook and Emma.
"Give her a minute." Emma frowned as she came back and crouched down next to me with Killian close at her heels.
"No, Emma. We need to know what he said." David pressed.
"And you will." Regina snapped. "When she's feeling up to it."
"I'm going to die." I whispered.
They all stopped, their eyes fill of fear.
Regina's arm slackened slightly around my shoulders, Emma's hand was squeezing my arm tightly, Hook had his piercing blue eyes resting urgently at my heart, Henry paused in his movement to comfort Regina, and David and Mary Margaret were staring intently at each other, their eyes showing their concern and fear.
"No you won't." David finally said. We'll protect you."
"Aye, of course we will." Killian agreed, his hook resting gently on Emma's shoulder.
"We've defeated him loads of times ." Henry added reassuringly.
"And this time will be no different." Regina said firmly, giving Henry a brief smile.
"You don't understand." I whispered.
"What don't we understand?" Emma said kindly. I finally looked up, my eyes meeting Emma's briefly before I turned to look at Regina, glancing at each of the others as I did so.
"You didn't see the look in his eyes when he whispered in my ear." I paused, taking a deep breath as I did so. "And the two main things they displayed? Confidence and bloodlust."
"His eyes always show that." Henry offered helpfully.
"Yes, but this time, he has a weapon. And he intends to use it on me."