“What do you suggest?” Sean asked Regina, attempting to keep the peace between the two.
Regina thought for a moment before announcing, “I’ll have to go down there.”
David started to argue that her plan was basically the same as his but Regina shook her head and finished, “with magic. If I can stand by the hole I can use magic to get myself down there.”
“You could barely stand five minutes ago,” Sean pointed out.
“And there’s a strong current down there,” David followed up.
“Get me a radio,” Regina demanded and Sean reached into the car again to get one. Regina waved her hand and her white shirt and black trousers and jacket combo changed into dark blue jeans with black wellington boots and a long sleeved black sweater. Sean hadn’t seen the transformation as his head had been in the car so he stared at her in confusion as he handed her the radio.
“Where’s this gap?” Regina said as she snatched the radio from Sean and began stalking up towards the building site.
David followed her, “I’ll show you.”
“No,” she shook her head, “my understanding is that this structure is very unstable, two of us will double the chance of further damage.”
He knew she was right so he nodded, “fine, as you climb up here you walk to the right, there’s a fallen beam and if you crouch under that and then take a left around the wall you’ll see it there.”
They approached the plastic sheeting and Regina leaned in close to speak to David so Sean couldn’t hear, if she was going to have to display any sign of weakness she was damn sure only going to do it to the one person.
“My magic.. is depleted,” she admitted, “the power will be restored but it may take some time. This will not be a.. fast.. process. I will attempt to contact you through the radio but if you don’t hear from me it could be the depth or the density of the rocks.”
“Okay,” David nodded but looked at Regina sceptically as he knew there was something else.
Regina took a deep breath, “magic is.. is me. It’s my.. soul, if you will. Using magic when you are..” she bit out the word, “weak.. it can be dangerous.”
David’s eyes flashed with concern but she continued before he could say anything, “I’m going to use magic to get down there and I’m going to attempt to use magic to both of us back here.. but, if anything happens to me.. if..” she rolled her eyes, “if you can’t wake me, you need to call Rumple. Do you understand?”
“Regina, are you sure you want to do this?” David asked her beseechingly.
“David, do you understand?” Regina glared at him defiantly.
“Yes,” he said and at her continued glare he added, “lots of magic, if you lose consciousness we call Gold.”
She nodded and climbed up onto the concrete plinth and looked back at him, “give me one hour before you start any of your ridiculous Charming heroics.”
Chapter 32
Regina looked at the chaos within the building site with a roll of the eyes, concrete pillars had collapsed and fallen into one another, the concrete floor had hairline cracks throughout and the whole structure was listing dangerously.
“Bloody dwarves,” Regina muttered as she bent down to get under a fallen beam, “why couldn’t they have stuck to wood? They understand wood.”
She continued until she saw the hole and her eyes opened wide in shock. David hadn’t been exaggerating when he claimed it was the size of a car, it looked like a bomb had gone off and a giant uneven slap of concrete had fallen into darkness. She could see the edges of the hole were uneven and dangerous so she stood as close as she dared and peered into the hole. She could hear the rushing water but she had no idea how far down it was, how deep it was or how strong the current was. Magic or not this would going to be an estimated gamble.
She took a few deep, steadying breaths while she prepared herself and then she splayed her fingers of both her hands, simultaneously taking a deep breath and lifting her head up in case the water level was high.
Meanwhile, outside the building site David paced in front of the Sheriff’s car while Sean sat on the bonnet watching him.
“David, it’s been five minutes, if you’re going to do that for the next fifty five you’ll be too dizzy to help,” Sean pointed out.
“I just.. I feel like I have to do something,” David explained.
“Well, pacing a new hole in the middle of the road isn’t going to help,” Sean observed.
David folded his arms and leant on the bonnet of the car and frowned as he continued to think of other rescue techniques that wouldn’t make matters worse.
“Why is she helping anyway?” Sean asked.
“Regina?” David queried.
“Yeah, not exactly the Evil Queen’s style is it?” Sean hinted.
David smiled, “no, but since Henry.. they kinda get along.”
“But Henry isn’t her kid anymore,” Sean said and David looked up at him sharply, “I mean he obviously is but Regina doesn’t see it that way if she changed the adoption order. So..”
“Henry asked her to help,” David explained with a shrug.
“She seemed a bit keen to go down a big black hole in the ground if you ask me,” Sean observed.