The Child of Erebus

A Walk Beneath the Stars

Once upon a dark autumn night
I was so very far from sleep
I longed to walk beneath the stars
Into the wood so dark and deep
Neither myth nor faerie tale
Could keep me from the path to the maze
But eyes upon me I could feel
Hidden in the shadows watching always
(Darkness - Blackmore's Night)

David and Mary Margaret arrived at the convent a few minutes after Regina had conjured Gold's spell.

David stood beside the Blue Fairy, staring at the marks on his daughter's arm with concern, while Mary Margaret knelt near Regina, also worried, and noticed the paper on which the spell was written. She carefully grabbed the note and read its content, exasperated.

"What did you do, Regina?" She groaned in dismay.

"As soon as they drank the potion, they were surrounded by light, but soon after, the marks appeared on their skin and began draining the light," said the Blue Fairy, pointing to the marks in the arms of Emma and Regina. David frowned, clearly fearful.

At the Fairy words, Regina finally started moving and slowly sat down, noting the marks on her arms. "What the hell is this?!" She still felt weak, but did her best to hide it.

"I do not know, I'm afraid I need to do some research about it, and you should stick around in the meantime." Replied the fairy without really facing Regina.

"And what about Emma? Did it work?" She said as she stood up, looking at the other woman with concern. Mary Margaret got up too and grabbed Regina's hand firmly.

"It's hard to know what her situation is, but it is clear that the spell prevented her to be consumed by a strange form of darkness," said the Blue Fairy slowly as Mary Margaret came forward to sit on the bed next to Emma and hold her hand.

"What will we ..." began David, but he was interrupted when Elsa entered the room. Realizing the marks in the arms of Regina and Emma, ​​her expression became very dark.

"Regina, you just broke some of the Shadow Realm's seals," she said, exasperated.

"What?" The mayor asked loudly. "How did this happen? This was supposed to be a protection spell!"

Elsa stared at Regina for a moment, worried, and slowly began to narrate what Anna had told her. As she spoke, David approached his wife and, still standing, put his hands on her shoulders. The others made no move, although the expressions on their faces became increasingly terrified.

"Apparently, the potion can protect you, but the cost is very high," Elsa ends. "Who drank the potion? Was it only you two?"

"Yes, it was," Regina answered, still dazed.

Elsa looked impatiently at the other woman, knowing she was being unfair and childish. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Great. Now we need to stop the effect of the potion before more seals are broken. Do you know how to do this?"

"What I know is that darkness can fight the light," said the other woman, also impatient.

Still surprised by the sudden appearance of the former Queen of Arendelle, the Blue Fairy came forward: "There is a man who goes by The Apprentice, I'm sure he can help us." She paused, watching Regina. "I do not think you should mess with light and darkness. There's a lot at stake and we do not know the spell you cast, but the Apprentice knows, that is for sure."

People in the room looked the Blue Fairy in silence for a moment. "I've heard that name before. This ... Apprentice. Anna met him, and he owns the magic hat Gold tried to use six months ago."