A Whole New Woooorld~ | Reginaaaa :]

[Mr. Gold]

The amount of people going to Mr. Gold's shop to try and reclaim their things was absolutely staggering. It seemed like everyone had something they wanted to reclaim, be it their little pendant or some large item in their life. Mr. Gold had absolutely refused to simply give people the things in their shop, but he had made them pay less than they normally would have. Make no mistake, Mr. Gold was not showing any form of kindness towards the residents of Storybrooke. He just wanted to avoid the various angry mobs that had come after Regina when the curse was first broken. So far, he'd managed to do so. Certainly, there were those who tried to come after him. But, they weren't exactly successful. Mr. Gold had just finished selling one of the dwarves their pickaxe when he began to think about something that had recently come to his attention.

Cora had apparently managed to make her way to Storybrooke along with another, much less welcome guest. Apparently, Cora had brought Killian Jones with her. Mr. Gold had never expect to hear that name again and he certainly never wanted to. Killian's presence in Storybrooke worried him. As Rumpelstiltskin, Mr. Gold had taken Killian's hand and his true love. Killian was undoubtedly going to go after the things he loved and Cora was not exactly happy with him either. So, he had two enemies, one of which was perhaps more powerful than him and the other who wanted to kill all he held dear. So, he had a rather large problem that he had to deal with. Of course, his first thought was to go to Regina. Why? Well, Cora was her mother and he could use help dealing with his enemies, particularly when Cora was as powerful as she was.

So, Mr. Gold had asked Regina to meet him at his shop the day before and he'd explained his plan for getting rid of the both of them. Mr. Gold had an interesting idea for how to rid them of their enemies. He wanted to send them both back to their world, a world that was inescapable without a curse that required killing something you truly love. Of course, Killian Jones had already loved and Cora could never love. So, there was no way out for them. Mr. Gold glanced at the doorway. Regina was supposed to be here around this time.

[Regina Mills]

Allying herself with Rumpelstiltskin - or Mr. Gold, as he was known in this world - was not something that typically ended well for Regina. And thus, it was not something she did lightly. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and these were indeed desperate times. It was not only her own safety that was at stake (though that alone would have been more than enough to terrify her, given what Cora had done to her in the past), it was Henry's as well. And Oswin's. And everyone that Regina happened to care about - though granted, that was a very few number of people. She even worried, sometimes, that Cora would go after Snow and her family. That concern puzzled Regina - she wasn't sure why she should particularly care if Snow got hurt in the first place, but Cora had gone out of her way to ruin the relationship between Regina and her stepdaughter once. She probably wouldn't shy away from hurting Snow outright this time, especially if she was one of the people trying to protect Henry.

Regina had already promised, she would not allow Henry to lose anyone else he loved. And her own personal grudge was between Snow and herself - Cora, of all people, had no business going after her stepdaughter.

So, choosing the lesser of two evils, she'd agreed to Gold's little plot. Trapping Cora in another world had already failed her once before, but the Enchanted Forest was a lot more complicated to escape than Wonderland was. She of all people knew that. And this seemed like an ideal solution, for not only did Regina doubt that even her power combined with Mr. Gold's would be enough to kill Cora, but the thought of seeing her mother dead at her own hands made her feel a little sick. This alternative seemed a lot less guilt-inducing. Cora would be banished, alive but trapped in an empty world where she could hurt no one else. ...Well, except this 'Killian Jones' character that Mr. Gold seemed to despise so much, who would be getting trapped in the Enchanted Forest as well if all went according to plan. Regina didn't know who he was, and she didn't particularly care. He'd allied himself with Cora, and that made him a threat. Even if he'd been harmless, she was just about desperate enough to trap him regardless if that was what it took to get rid of her mother.

She walked briskly into Mr. Gold's shop, the bell above the door jingling lightly to announce her presence. She paused and scanned the shop briefly, her gaze settling on her temporary new ally. "Mr. Gold," she greeted curtly, walking over to the counter and slipping an item out of her jacket. She placed it on the table, revealing that it was a book that would probably be all too familiar to him - Cora's spellbook. "I thought it might come in handy." she remarked dryly. There were consequences of using the powerful magic that came from this book, they both knew that. But right now, Regina was fairly certain that neither of them cared.

[Mr. Gold]

Sure enough, Regina to walk into his shop. "Hello, Regina." Mr. Gold greeted, watching as she pulled a book from her jacket and placed it on the table. It was the book he'd given Cora so many years ago. That book was filled with all sorts of dark magic. It was of a particularly corrupting sort, the kind of magic that was powerful enough to transform someone completely. Perhaps the magic in the book would be useful, considering how powerful it was. Mr. Gold was wary of using it, but he was willing to take a chance to ensure that Killian Jones and Cora were banished to another world. Mr. Gold looked up at Regina and smirked. "Are you quite sure you want to use this? You know what it can do to someone."

Mr. Gold wondered if Regina knew that the book might very well have been the reason Cora was who she was. He probably wouldn't be the one to tell her, especially not now when the use of the book could be the only thing that gets rid of Mr. Gold's two greatest enemies. Not that he'd tell her anyway. The book could be put to use again in the future. Besides, Mr. Gold wasn't in the business of telling Regina anything more than what she needed to know. In his making Regina into what she was he'd made someone who couldn't be trusted at all, at least not by someone who had been competing with her for a long time. Mr. Gold picked the book up and opened it. After flipping a few pages, he came to the one he was looking for - a portal spell.

"Here we are..." Mr. Gold said, placing the open book back on the table. The spell was normally cast on an object, such as a door or mirror. However, it could create portals as well. "This is what we'll need." He'd cast the very same spell before on a mirror, the very same mirror that had trapped Cora in Wonderland. However, it was a very difficult spell to cast. It could go wrong easily if they weren't careful.

[Regina Mills]

Indeed Regina knew, all too well, what this sort of magic could do to a person. Really, at times the consequences were just as dire for the person using these spells as they were for the person on the receiving end. The book contained powerful magic; so powerful that it could easily do some serious damage to the person who wielded it, if they weren't extremely careful. Regina knew that both Mr. Gold and herself were both more than experienced in this sort of thing - but the risks were still there. And in this situation, they were absolutely more than worth it. "I'm well-aware." she replied curtly, keeping her expression carefully neutral. Gold was, quite frankly, the last person she wanted to show any hint of emotion around when it came to matters concerning her mother. He'd been too closely involved in all of that. "Considering who we're dealing with, I think we're going to need magic of this intensity, if anything." Cora, unfortunately, was more powerful than both of them - though she knew Mr. Gold was more reluctant to admit that than she was.

But she had no time to gloat over his potentially wounded pride. Instead, she waited in silence as he took the book and flipped through it, searching for the spell they'd need. She tensed a little when he eventually found it, pointing out the ritual that would create the portal they needed. It seemed so...final, now that they'd found a solid way to do this. Regina could remember all too clearly the way she felt the last time she'd gone through with pushing Cora through a portal, banishing her from her life for what she'd thought was forever. It had been...difficult, then. She'd been barely more than a girl, still frightened and distraught at the idea of having to go through life without her mother, even if Cora treated her the way she did. Now, it was different. Regina had long since rid herself of such weakening dependence, so she hadn't really expected to feel fazed by any of this. And yet it was still...sad, somehow. Knowing that this was the way things had to be. That there was no way Cora would ever change. Trying to reason with her was foolish, and only gave her more opportunity to hurt someone. They had to act now.

Though Cora was familiar with many of the spells in the book, Regina knew she'd never memorized the portal-opening spell. If she had, she would've broken out of Wonderland far earlier than she had. This...this would work. If they could successfully push Cora through. If not, well...they were both as good as dead. "You were there the first time. The only reason I was able to push her into Wonderland was because I caught her by surprise. We'll have to come up with a pretty sound plan if we're going to successfully lure her and Hook into this trap." she replied after a moment.

[Mr. Gold]

Regina was right. As much as Mr. Gold hated to admit it, Cora's power far exceeded both Regina's and his own. They had to combine their efforts to defeat her or she would certainly destroy everything they had. Mr. Gold could not risk either Bae or Belle being harmed by Cora or Killian Jones. That was the only reason he'd thought up this plan in the first place. Both of them hated Mr. Gold for differing reasons. Killian, especially, would be targeting the people he loved instead of him. He was unsure of what Cora would want with him, but it certainly nothing good. He had done much to Cora and very near taken her child away from her. It was a shame that she'd been able to break the deal. He was going to raise the child to cast the curse for him. He still managed to do that, but it was much more difficult.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Cora's magic may not be as powerful as mine, but we will still need quite a bit to defeat her." Mr. Gold lied, scanning the page of the book that had the portal spell. It was a ritual that required very powerful magic, the sort of ritual that could only be done by two very powerful magic users. He and Regina were just that, so there shouldn't be any problems with the casting of the spell. As Regina spoke again, Mr. Gold looked up from the book and at Regina. She was right. Both Cora and Killian Jones were clever opponents in their own way. He was quite sure that both Cora Killian were going to be wary about how their two greatest foes were likely planning to stop them. Mr. Gold could only hope that neither of them knew what they were up to. Mr. Gold then raised an eyebrow. "... 'Hook'? Is that what he's calling himself now?" Mr. Gold asked. He hadn't heard anything of Killian Jones since he'd taken his hand.

"I suggest we cast the spell first." Mr. Gold said, as he waved a hand to conjure something under a large sheet. "Perhaps you recognize this?" Mr. Gold took hold of the sheet and pulled it off, revealing a large, ornate mirror. Mr. Gold looked down at the spellbook and then back at the mirror. A black, swirling orb of magic appeared in his hand. He pointed his hand at the mirror and fired a large beam of dark magic at it. After the spell was cast, all seemed to have gone well. "Now, we can start planning..." Mr. Gold said. Right after he finished his sentence, the mirror's glass started swirling until it formed into a large portal that started sucking things from the shop into it. Mr. Gold frowned, taking a step back and grabbing onto his desk to avoid the portal. This shouldn't have been happening - portals were supposed to only take people to places when they wanted to. Obviously, something had gone wrong. Suddenly, the portal's pull grew stronger, forced Mr. Gold to release his grip and soar right into it, bringing him to another world...

[Regina Mills]

Predictably enough, Mr. Gold was unable to brush past the subject of Cora without interjecting some passing comment about how his own power still exceeded hers. They both knew that was untrue - Cora had surpassed even the Dark One in power, a feat that was undeniably...somewhat terrifying. That, and is own silly pride, were the reasons Gold would probably never admit to Cora being more powerful than he was. Regina resisted the urge to roll her eyes, knowing that there was no time to start some petty argument over this, and through her silence she allowed the subject to drop.

She did glance at him curiously upon hearing his question in regards to Hook - or 'Killian Jones', as she supposed Mr. Gold knew him. The story went that Hook had lost his hand because of Rumpelstiltskin himself - but after that, he'd ended up in Neverland, and made a reputation for himself there. Perhaps it was no wonder Mr. Gold had never heard of this; the only way Regina had was through her previous travels with Jefferson. "Captain Hook - it's the name most everyone knows him by now. He's built up quite a fearsome reputation for himself in his quest for vengeance." she commented, arching an eyebrow as she attempted to gauge Mr. Gold's reaction to this. She wasn't entirely sure why Hook so hatefully sought revenge against the man he'd once known as Rumpelstiltskin, but the subject rather intrigued Regina. The pirate's vengeful hatred reminded her of her own feelings for her stepdaughter - though she suspected that she and Snow had a somewhat more complicated history than Gold and Hook did. Rumpelstiltskin had ruined countless lives, after all - Hook had probably just taken it too personally.

There was no more time to ponder that now, however. The spell needed to be cast. The appearance of the mirror Gold had summoned caught Regina by surprise, and for a moment upon seeing it, she froze. The memory of pushing Cora through that very mirror, the first time she'd ever used magic, abruptly came rushing back to her. That had been the moment it'd really all began - the moment she'd given in to the magic she was so afraid of using. And now she was about to do the same thing. This time, she would not hesitate. She scanned the page in the spellbook that Mr. Gold had opened two - the spell was intense, complex - she could already tell that just by reading over the words. This wasn't going to be easy...or without its consequences. But however it affected them, they could take a bit of time to recover afterwards - they would need it to plan out how they were going to lure Cora and Hook to the mirror, anyway. Without further thought, Regina set her jaw, stiffened, and sent a powerful beam of dark magic similar to Gold's shooting towards the mirror at the same moment he did. The intensity of their combined power nearly knocked her right off her feet, but she held her ground, trying to retain some sense of awareness as the heady sensation that always accompanied using such powerful magic washed over her.

And then, just like that, it was over. They'd succeeded. She paused for a moment, almost disbelieving. They'd actually opened up a portal to another world. Already she could feel the effect it was having on her, the energy draining from her body until it felt like she might pass out. But it didn't matter now, because they'd achieved the first and most difficult step in their plan. Now all they had to do was -

And then, abruptly, Regina's thoughts broke off. Something was wrong. Very wrong. The portal...was opening, wider and and wider, and not only that - it was actively sucking everything immediately available into it. This was wrong, all wrong - an uncontrolled portal could mean the end of....well. Everything. She stumbled backwards, instinctively seeking something sturdy to hold on to, only one thing on her mind: they had to undo this. Where was the spell to undo it? She gripped the side of the desk and picked up the spellbook, holding it tightly, terrified that it might fly away...but it was impossible to flip through the pages without losing her grip on the desk, and suddenly she felt herself tumbling backwards, uncontrollably, right into the ever-growing portal.

For a long moment, everything went black.

The air was strangely calm when she came to again, a sharp contrast to the windstorm the portal had created. She grimaced slightly, shifting a little and trying to discern whether or not she'd injured herself. She almost didn't want to know where they'd ended up, and whether or not the portal had even succeeded in opening a gateway to the world they'd wanted it to. Slowly, however, she chanced opening her eyes...and found herself looking up at an endless expanse of trees stretching towards the sky.