Can you help me find my son?

"A witch? I was called a lot of things but a witch was never really one of them."

Regina said this with her brow arched and her arms folding on top of her chest, only to listen to a couple of threats when she finished speaking. Her arms dropped to the side and she looked at Hayley curiously but not exactly surprised. She saw the fangs, she saw the yellow eyes and all of that somewhat reminded her of Red.

"You remind me of someone that I know. A friend. She's a werewolf. I take it you're one too? You're stronger though. I can feel it through my magic." She shared, completely unaware that werewolves were actually an extinct species in this new, strange world.

And she could. She could actually feel how much stronger she was. There was something different about this one. But even so, Regina's tone became softer as seconds passed by. She wasn't looking for a fight, really, even though she hated being followed around randomly in a forest. She just wanted to find her son.

And Hayley would be able to feel it too. Regina's magic was different from the witches of Mystic Falls or even New Orleans. It was more intuitive, faster, perhaps stronger. It didn't depend on ancestors or sacred territories or blood. It just came to her with no effort in a blink of an eye.

"My name is Regina. And I'm looking for my son."

Hayley Marshall

When the female insisted that it didn't really matter how she put it because at the end of the day she was a witch, Regina chuckled. Perhaps yes, she had been referred as a witch once or twice in her life but it wasn't exactly a name she was very used to. And how Hayley was putting it, it seemed that she was referring to a very specific type of persona, one that Regina really didn't identify as. The few witches she knew, were mostly charlatans and their powers were quite limited.

"Trust me. I'm something far more complex then a witch." She found herself saying, a roll of eyes and a huff coming along with it. "You wouldn't believe it anyway."

A hybrid? Now that was something that actually called her attention. She had never heard such term and she found it quite intriguing, specially because not even an hour ago she had her first encounter with a in those same woods.

"A Hybrid?" She repeated, yet it was clear how astonished she was. "To be honest, I don't even know why I'm surprised. Earlier today I didn't even find it possible for vampires to exist, yet I ran into one not long ago." She ended up sharing. 

But as soon as they began talking about her son, Regina felt something in the hybrid change. She didn't know the reasons for it so she couldn't quite explain why Hayley had dropped all the rough act in her presence. She wished she knew the answer to her question but the sad and hard truth was... she didn't. 

"I don't know. I mean... It's complicated and I don't have time to explain. I need to find him before something terrible happens to him. So as much as this little conversation is amusing, I don't really have time for this."

She raised her right hand and waved, soon the roots began to slowly slide off Hayley and submerge back into the ground. Regina turned around and began walking in the opposite direction from where the Hybrid was standing, not even bothering to look back as she spoke.

"You're free to go." 

Hayley Marshall

"What's so important about this other I met? Her name was Katherine."

And just like that, she started walking, not even thinking for a moment that Hayley could simply decide to follow her. And follow her was exactly what she did. Faster then Regina could even predict, the hybrid was standing right in front of her. "How the hell did you even do that?" She asked. She would never get used to this whole speed thing. Regina had seen her fair share of fast but this was a whole new level. Not even Red herself was this fast. It was insane really.

But as much as she would hate to admit that perhaps she needed help, the sad truth was, she did. She had just woken up in this strange world far away in the future and she had no ideia where she was. She had tried to use a locator spell to find her son but for some reason, it proved useless. So how could she deny help from someone that knew her way around?

"Ok." She said with a nod. "You're right. I need your help. But in one condition. If we see someone gifted with magic that isn't me, you stay behind me. I don't know what type of magic you're used to but trust me when I say, it ain't gonna be pretty."

Zira was out there and only she knew what other surprises she had reserved for Regina and the people of Storybooke. Regina started walking again, this time having Hayley by her side. She figured it would be only fair if she shared a bit of what was going on, even though she was unsure if the hybrid would actually believe her.

"You said something about believing in anything at this point." She began, her eyes however not on Hayley but everywhere else around them, scanning the woods. "I'm originally from another place. A realm called The Enchanted Forest. Once upon a time, I cursed everyone there, took away their memories and threw them into a town of my creation called Storybooke. I was a villian back then but things changed and people forgave me. Well, most of them at least. One of them didn't and decided to eventually make me pay for the error of my ways and, well, cursed me, my town, and everyone in it to fall into a slumber that lasted more then a hundred years. I woke up and my son, Henry, wasn't there. Yet, we were here and realized that the world had changed even though we don't exactly understand what happened. I told you my name was Regina but that wasn't what people used to call me. The story I just told you is the story about an Evil that forever ago wanted revenge on Snow White and then, years later, that came to bite her in the ass."

She stopped to face Hayley because now came the part she wouldn't believe.

"I might be a witch, Hayley. But I'm also a fairy tale character."

Hayley Marshall

"You seem awfully surprised at the mention of Katherine. What about her? Care to share?" Regina asked intrigued. At this point, it was obvious that both Hayley and Katherine shared some rocky history together and even though it wasn't actually any of her business, she could use the chit chat conversation to keep her mind off more negative thoughts about the whereabouts of her son. 

She nodded at Hayley's words, actually quite impressed with the set of skills that both vampires and hybrids seemed to share. Yet she was curious about their differences as well. "So... who tops who?" She asked in curiosity. "I mean.. Say that a and a hybrid walk into a bar and they get into a fight, who's most likely to have their ass kicked?" The question was made in a tone that resembled one of those jokes that people used to tell about people walking into a bar. Maybe it sounded ridiculous but Regina couldn't help but to place some mockery into more then half of everything she said. It was her own way of lighting up the mood and all that scenario was so heavy around her that she felt that the comic relief was needed. 

When Hayley then said that she already had her fair share of magical incidents, Regina nodded but said nothing in return. It wasn't easy to explain how magic worked in her world so there really wasn't a point in trying to make her see. Not that she doubted the Hybrid, because she didn't... but she figured that surely both realities were very different. So instead of actually commenting any further about that, she focused on Hayley's reaction to what she had just said and as expected the Hybrid made the face anyone would make when they thought that someone was insane and saying a whole bunch of nonsense. She crossed her arms on top of her chest, her facial expression more serious then ever and only then Hayley realized that she wasn't lying. "I don't blame you if you if don't believe me." She said with a chuckle as her arms unfolded and she stepped closer to the hybrid. "So here... let me show you." 
 
Regina raised both her hands, each one of them settling to the sides of Hayley's head. Closing her eyes, she concentrated and soon magic was irradiating from her palms and invading the hybrid's mind. But it wasn't actually that invasive. At least Hayley wouldn't feel it like that. Seconds later, the Hybrid could see it. She could see The Enchanted Forest, how Regina made Snow White's life a living hell, how she cursed everyone into Storybrooke and how things developed from there until the moment Zira cursed them all again and they ended up waking up one hundred and thirty two years later. It was as if Regina had selected some of her own memories and was now sharing them with Hayley... and when she decided that she had shared enough, she opened her eyes and stepped back, allowing the other some time to process all that information. 

"Do you believe me now?"

Hayley Marshall