Light and Darkness

Impossible

Esmeralda and Anastasia had been watching the drama unfold in Storybrooke, but they didn't regret not getting involved. They were used to living on their own, minding their own buisness, but they wouldn't be able to keep out of the heroes'way for long...

They had always thought that no one noticed them, but when the whole thing with Hyde was over someone did. Regina had started to notice that there were two girls she'd never seen before walking around Storybrooke. And she knew the curse like the back of her hand, they would have to be from the Enchanted Forest. When she didn't know who they were she went into defense mode. One night she cornered Esmeralda outside "Granny's".

"Who the hell are you?"

Esmeralda may have been the "girlier" of the two, but she was not afraid to stand up for herself.

"My name is "None-of-your-buisness". Now will you excuse me, I have a dinner to get to."

Regina had never had thin skin, but she had had a bad day so she wasn't going to let this upstart get the better of her, and she wanted answers. So she was going to get them. Esmeralda tried to walk away, but Regina grabbed her. Regina smiled.

"Listen here, miss. I asked you a question..."

"And I gave you an answer. Who gave you the right to..."

Regina had had enough now. She reached into Esmeralda's chest and ripped out her heart. Without breaking eye contact she spoke into the heart.

"Tell me the truth, who are you?"

Esmeralda stood up straighter.

No."

She ran off leaving her heart with Regina. Regina on the other hand couldn't make herself move. No one could resist an order from someone who controls their heart, not even Emma. She finally looked at the heart in her hand, and she couldn't help but gasp. The heart wasn't remotely usual hearts, it seemed to made out of pure light. It shone with a bright white light like a star.

"What the hell?..."

Regina had never seen anything like it, so she went to the only person who might have. Rumpelstiltskin.

Esmeralda slammed the door when she got home. The house smelled of fresh baked bread and lemon, but she resisted the temptation to go steal whatever Anastasia was cooking and went straight to the livingroom. She grabbed her block of paper and sat down and started to draw. She always did that when she was upset, it was a reflex now. After a few minutes Anastasia walked in with a worried look.

"Are you alright? I hid the food, but you never came..."

Esmeralda just kept drawing furiously.

"C'mon. Tell me or you're not getting any dinner."

"Fine, Stacie. Regina just took my heart, so forgive me if I'm a bit pissed..."

Anastasia thought of something to say, but she didn't know what so she just left and came back with a batch of cookies. She put it down on the table and went back to the kitchen. Esmeralda made sure Anastasia wasn't looking and then ate one grumpily.

Regina went to her office where she found a fitting box for the impossible heart and then she went straight to Rumpelstiltskin's shop. The sign said "closed", but she decided to ignore that and went straight in. The bell made a clear sound as she went in and the familiar smell of antiques and magic hit her.

"I'm sorry, dearie, but we're closed." Rumpelstiltskin's voice came from the back, but Regina knew him well enough to know that he would be coming to the front immediately.

"You're going to want to see this."

Rumpelstiltskin came into the shop from the back. The intesity of his eyes always surprised Regina, but she wasn't frightened by it anymore.

"Am I? And why is that?"

Regina went up to the counter and put the box down.

"I went to confront one of the girls today. She wouldn't answer my questions so I took her heart and commanded her to answer, but she said "no" and just left."

"That's impossible."

Regina opened the box and showed him the heart. He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"So it's true."

"What is?"

"I have a book containing all the legends of our world and I remember seeing this in a drawing in that book."

He pulled the book out of thin air and opened it right down the middle. The text was so decorated that Regina had a hard time making out the title.

"The tale of the Light and the Darkness? "

"Yes, your majesty. "the tale of the Light and the Darkness" is the oldest legend in our world. It is also the one legend that hasn't actually happened yet."

Regina looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"It says that one day there will be to children, born in the same year from different parents, and that these two children are the personification of Light-magic and Dark-magic. Of course there would be an illustration of what these children looked like, but seeing as it hasn't happened yet there can't be. So they made an illustration of the one thing they knew these children would have." He turned the page to reveal a drawing of two hearts side by side. One of the hearts were pitch black, like a shadow, and the other shining with a bright white light. " One would have a heart made of pure light and the other made of shadows. So do you know what this means?"

Regina tried to process the fact that the most ancient legend was coming to pass right in front of her eyes.

"It means that this girl is more powerful than anyone else in this town..."

"No, silly."

Regina looked at Rumpel in confusion.

"If she's here it means that there is a second one here somewhere, and we better find her before either of them become a threat..."