Once Upon A Time: UnderBrooke

Chapter 2

{{{Author's note: sorry for the long wait, I had to take care of some stuff for school and I hadn't managed to watch the new episodes of OUAT. But I promise I'll do my best to be more consistent and faster in uploading new chapters from now on}}}

Her nose wrinkled in disgust at the sheets crumpled around her. Zelena rolled her eyes and the deep emerald folds were replaced with green ripples richly dipping into shades of black. The middle of the night would plague her at times, jolting her out of her sleep. None had ever felt this empty.

She threw herself off her mattress. A wave of her hand enveloped her bony green shoulders with a cloud of smoke. As quickly as it came, it faded into thin air, leaving only a softly shimmering black cape in its place. Despite the warmth it provided, she felt a small chill creep into her limbs. Faint green sparks sprang alive at her fingertips, but the deep-seated frost latched on to her.

She forced herself to leave her room; she willed away this weakness trying to take root inside of her. Her footsteps were shrill strikes of thunder echoing through the emerald hall. Deformed winged creatures cowered behind the shadows, willing themselves to a deathly silence away from her rage.

The wicked witch ran. Her cape flying behind her, she ran until she couldn't run anymore. She ran until her breathing was ragged and heavy with exhaustion. Her feet were pale after slapping across beryl marble slabs. Her eyes shut as she took a deep breath, letting the pounding of her heartbeat deafen her from the rest of the world. She briefly opened her eyes, and they readjusted to the pure stream of moonlight lacing the halls with its immaculate beams.

A faint rustle came from the undergrowth beneath the window. A gentle flick of her fingers unleashed a chorus of unearthly shrieking. The tortured screams convulsed as they rose gently, suspended on a poisonous green cloud.

Her eyes glazed over them contemptibly. "What are you doing here?" They responded in terrified screams, manically struggling against the green vapours that only proceeded to coil tighter around their limbs and solidify into violent chords of murky cloud. 

They looked and sounded like her creatures. But there was something different. They didn't feel like her magic. They felt strange and convoluted. The stench of tormented humanity and internal screaming of their damned souls was gone. It was all drained and empty.

Her forehead furrowed, forming a scarlet valley with her brows. Her magic squeezed the creatures. They let out one final shriek before disintegrating into a pile of dust. She lazily walked over to the tiny mounds. She crouched low, reaching for it, when it suddenly burst.

Zelena staggered back, her hand raised to shield her face from an imminent attack. In the corner of her eye, she saw that her hands were on fire as well. Bits of her skin sparkled with blue embers while azure flames tickled the air around her. She felt nothing.

She watched it intently, silent. She looked back at the pile, lit up just like her arm, and reached her hand in to play with the burning ashes. She studied it, unable to comprehend this kind of magic. Her mind flickered to an image of a man, who wasn't really a man, but she quickly doused the thought.

The Wicked Witch scooped the dust in her hands and set it in front of her on the window sill. The dust glowed brighter in the moonlight, burning stronger and stronger. The blue fire burned until it was a tiny star and she had to look away. Slowly, it began to dim and by her side was a withered flower stalk. The stem was gnarled up and twisted like a rotten log, while the leaves and petals crumpled up like fragile ash coloured paper.

She took it gently in her hands and studied it closely, turning it slowly over and over for a sign of her secret admirer. She set it down without any further inspection and cast her eyes to the horizon of her kingdom. She didn't notice the letters of his name engraved into a fragile leaf, glittering subtly in the dark light