Once on Instagram III

The Black Fairy (Part One)

June 6, 2018

Belle and Regina appeared next to the remains of the warehouse in a cloud of smoke. To their surprise, Nimue was already there.

"It wasn't me!" was the first thing she said. "I handed the dagger over to Milah about a week ago, and I have no reason to implode an empty warehouse."

"So do you think this was Milah?" Regina asked. Would it really only take Milah a week for the darkness to corrupt her enough to implode a warehouse? That didn't seem quite right...

Nimue pursed her lips. Clearly she did not really want to say what she was thinking. "I don't think so, but I mean, we don't want to jump to any conclusions—"

"Nimue."

Nimue sighed. "It seems like fairy magic to me, but the fairies are still in Storybrooke. Not to mention the fairies in Storybrooke wouldn't want to implode a building for any reason."

"What are you trying to say?" Belle asked. "There's... another group of fairies?"

Nimue shook her head. "Not another group. Just another fairy. You might have heard legends of her, but she's been silent for centuries. She was presumed dead."

"No." Regina looked at Belle and then back at Nimue. "No, no, no. You cannot be serious. She's dead, Nimue. No way could she not be after centuries of silence."

"Who else could it be?!"

"Could you guys maybe share who you're thinking about with me?" Belle asked.

Regina pressed her lips together and shook her head. Nimue looked down. "There was a fairy a long time ago who turned to dark magic. ...They call her the Black Fairy."

Belle's eyes widened. "The Black Fairy? I thought she was just a myth."

"I'm afraid she was very real," Nimue said. "I knew her before I died. But she disappeared one day and no one heard from her again. She was presumed dead and ended up turning into legend. Since you all had been through so many realms - Neverland, Wonderland, the Enchanted Forest, and now the Land of Untold Stories - I figured she really was dead."

"Well we didn't see her in the Underworld either," Belle pointed out.

"She could have been in the 'worse place'," Nimue said. "I'm pretty sure that's where she would have ended up at one point or another."

"So where has she been these past centuries?" Regina asked. "Just chilling in a cave in the Enchanted Forest? I doubt it."

"Regina," Belle whispered.

"What?"

"You know what realm we haven't been to?"

Regina just looked at Belle.

"Ella's Enchanted Forest. ...What if she's been hiding there?"

"Why would she be back now?"

"I don't know, but it might have something to do with that day when Robyn showed up here. Maybe she was the one who sent her as a distraction."

"If that's the case, then this warehouse might not have been a warning. It might be another distraction..."

"Welp, looks like my work here is done," Nimue turned to leave.

"Oh no," Regina grabbed the hood of Nimue's cloak. "No, you're going to tell us all about the Black Fairy and what she might want here."

~