Chapter Text
The citizens of Storybrooke, except Regina and Zelena, were in the cemetery standing around Snow White’s grave. They had placed flowers on her coffin and it was lowered into the hole. “My mother always stood up for what was right. She defended her friends, family and everyone else from whatever villains we had to fight. She always believed that everyone was capable of redemption and even in the end… she continued fighting.” Emma started crying, causing Charming to walk over to comfort her.
Later on, everyone except Emma and Charming left. “I’m going to avenge her,” Emma said. “Are you going to try and convince me not to?”
“Regina is more powerful than you. You can’t beat her in a physical fight.”
“So you think I shouldn’t do anything?”
“I’m not defending Regina’s actions, but all she wanted to do was save her family.” Emma then used her power to disappear.
Regina was sitting on one of the stalls in Granny’s. Zelena walked in and sat down next to her. “Are you O.K.?” Zelena asked.
“I had to do something horrible to save you,” Regina answered. Zelena was about to say something, but Charming then walked in. Regina turned her head, saw him and quickly stood up. “What are you doing here?” Regina asked.
“I don’t like having to do this because of what you did. But Emma wants to kill you for what you did. And if she kills you, it’ll take her down a path where there is no return and I don’t want that.”
“So you don’t hate me then?”
“Not as much as Emma does. Snow would’ve done the same thing if I had been the one in Zelena’s shoes. She wouldn’t have hesitated.” Zelena nodded slightly.
“I just hope she’s looking down on us hoping we continue the fight.” Regina took a deep breath and held out her hand. Charming shook her hand and they nodded.
Chloe was in Storybrooke’s harbour looking out at the Atlantic Ocean. She heard a shrieking noise behind her causing her to turn around quickly. She walked into a nearby building and looked around. A few minutes later, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw Lucifer. “Are you O.K.?” Lucifer asked.
“Yeah, I just needed some air,” Chloe replied. “I didn’t feel so good when I woke up.”
“In what way?”
“I don’t know, I just felt weird.” Lucifer nodded.
“So why did you come in here?”
“I was standing out there looking at the ocean, but then I heard someone shrieking.”
“You heard correctly,” a deep voice coming from behind Chloe said. Chloe turned around and saw a nearly ten-foot tall looking figure wearing a dark hooded cloak. Its face was hidden from view. Only its red eyes were visible.
“What are you?” Chloe asked. Lucifer started to look confused.
“Who are you talking to?”
“This thing standing in front of me.”
“There’s no one there.” Chloe turned to face Lucifer and then turned back around. “Can’t you see it?” Lucifer shook his head.
“It’s nearly ten feet tall. It’s wearing a dark hooded cloak and its eyes are red.” Lucifer continued to shake his head.
“He can’t see me. Only you can,” the creature explained.
“What do you want?”
“You need to suffer for what you’ve done.” Chloe looked confused. “Don’t protend you don’t know what i’m talking about.” The creature then disappeared and Chloe collapsed.
“Chloe!” Lucifer ran over and caught her just before she hit the ground. He lifted her up, brought out his wings and took her to the hospital.
Chloe was lying in a hospital bed. Lucifer was sitting beside her. “There doesn’t seem to anything wrong with her,” Peter said. “She’s physically fine and her brain scans are normal. So I don’t know why she won’t wake up.” Regina, Zelena, Rumple, Maze, Amenadiel, Ella, Linda and Eve arrived.
“What happened?” Linda asked.
“She was standing in a building by the harbour. Then she claimed something appeared in front of her. Something only she could see. She then collapsed and I brought her here,” Lucifer explained.
“Did she say what that something was?”
“Only that was big, cloaked and that its eyes were red.” Rumple then used his power to make a book appear in his hands. He then looked through the book until he was on the right page.
“You mean this?” Rumple asked as he showed the picture in the book to Lucifer.
“That seems to be like what she described.”
“What is it?” Regina asked.
“I don’t know what it’s called, but I know what it does.”
“And what’s that?” Zelena asked.
“It’s a being that feeds on both fear and regret. It appears before individuals that have caused massive emotional pain and gives them the suffering it believes they deserve,” Rumple explained. “It mainly focuses on those who acted like they did nothing wrong after they’d inflicted said pain.”
“But she hasn’t done that,” Lucifer argued.
“Yes she has,” Maze countered. Maze turned to face Regina, Zelena and Rumple. “After Chloe found out the truth, she ran away. A month later, she returned. She plotted with a priest to kill Lucifer. She backed out of the priest’s plan, but it took her after half a year to apologise for the emotional pain she had inflicted. That’s why this being has come for her.”
“But she did that in July 2017,” Linda pointed out. “She apologised on the first week of February 2018 and it’s nearly the end of 2019 on our Earth, so why would it come for her now?”
“Pennywise,” Lucifer answered. “There was something she wanted to tell me after he was defeated the first time. But she said she wasn’t ready yet. It must be related to this. Does your book say how to wake her?” Rumple shook his head.
“No. Everyone who’s encountered this thing, except one, never woke up.”
“How did the one who survived it wake up?” Amenadiel asked.
“It let him go. It believed he had suffered enough and was truly sorry. Basically, it puts them through a test. It makes its victims see their greatest regrets, if it believes that the victim is truly sorry at the end of the test, then it lets the victim go. If not, then the victim is trapped in a living nightmare forever.” Lucifer held Chloe’s hand, hoping that she would pass the test.
Chloe was falling. She eventually landed on the floor. She looked up and saw the being from earlier standing above her. It looked down at her. Chloe stood up and looked around. She was standing in the home she used to have before she moved in with Lucifer. “Why are we here?” Chloe asked. “What do you want?”
“You need to suffer for the pain and misery you inflicted in the past.” Chloe turned and saw her past self standing in front of Pierce who was on one knee.
“Why are you showing me this?” The being pointed at the window. Chloe walked over and saw that on the night Pierce proposed to Chloe, Lucifer was standing outside the window.
“He was coming here to tell you how he felt about you. His exact words to Linda Martin were ‘I want her to choose me.’ But instead, you did this. You said yes to marrying this pile of human scum just to make Lucifer jealous, didn’t you?” Chloe said nothing. “DIDN’T YOU?!!?”
“Yes,” Chloe said, across between afraid and disgusted. She was afraid of the being that was now tormenting her and she was disgusted at herself for what she had done in the past. Chloe turned to face the being. “Please stop.”
“No.” The being waved its hand and the background now changed to the penthouse on the night Lucifer had confronted Chloe about her betrayal.
“Please don’t show me this,” Chloe pleaded.
“You told him you didn’t know if you could accept him for who he truly is. You left, went home and then a few hours later… headed to a crime scene in an airport hanger and said to Ella Lopez and I quote ‘Lucifer won’t be working with us anymore.’ You then assumed that he was fine when in actuality, he could barely stand up. He was trying to drink away the emotional pain you had now caused him to feel.” Tears started to emerge from Chloe’s eyes. “That afternoon, you questioned a man and told Daniel Espinoza that you were happy Lucifer wasn’t there and that you wanted Dan’s help because he wasn’t Lucifer.” Chloe turned to face the being.
“I get it! I caused all this pain! Now please stop!”
“It’s not the pain. It’s how long it took for you to show regret and apologise for what you had done.” The background then changed again to just after they’d solved what Lucifer said was going to be their final case. He was being seen by paramedics, about to be put in the back of an ambulance. “You said to him that you understood how he was feeling.”
“What’s your point?” Chloe asked, tears still emerging from her eyes.
“If that was true, then why didn’t you apologise in that moment? Because if you truly understood his point of view, then you would’ve accepted the pain you’d inflicted and you would’ve apologised.” Chloe fell to her knees.
“If I could take it all back, I would. I wish I had done those things differently. I wish I had never said yes to marrying Pierce and I wish I had never plotted to kill Lucifer. I now I have to spend the rest of my existence regretting what I did to Lucifer. So if you want to put me through eternal suffering, then go ahead. I deserve it.” The being looked at Chloe.
“It seems that you do truly regret what you did. Well done Chloe Decker. You have passed the test. However, you better hope that you don’t see me again.” The being then snapped its fingers and vanished.
Chloe woke up. “Lucifer?” She said softly. Lucifer looked relieved.
“Chloe. I’m so glad you’re back,” Lucifer said. Chloe sat up slowly and hugged Lucifer.
“I think we should give them some time to talk,” Linda said to everyone else in the room. They all nodded and left.
“What happened?” Lucifer asked.
“That thing made me live through my greatest regrets.”
“Chloe, you shouldn’t regret what you did. I forgave you long ago. You should forgive yourself.”
“No Lucifer, I should regret what I said. I said yes to marrying Pierce just to make you jealous. I caused you to feel severe emotional pain and then spent over six months acting like I did nothing wrong. If that thing had trapped me in an endless nightmare, I would’ve deserved it.” Lucifer held Chloe’s hands.
“No matter what happened between us in the past, I still love you.” Chloe smiled slightly whilst a tear began to emerge from her right eye. She then put her arms around Lucifer. “I love you too.” Linda walked back in.
“Are you both O.K. now?” Linda asked. Chloe nodded.
“I’m just happy to be back here with those I love & care about and not living in an endless nightmare.”
Regina arrived back at her house with Zelena. “Are you O.K.?” Regina wondered.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Zelena asked.
“You have your powers back now and I just wanted to know how you feel.”
“I feel amazing. I feel like I can be useful again. If we end up having to fight in another battle like the one in New York, then I can actually do something.” Regina’s front door was then blasted open. Regina turned around and saw Emma.
“You’re going to pay for what you did.” Zelena then blasted Emma out of the door with her powers causing her to crash on the path leading up to Regina's front door. Emma stood up. She generated as much power as she could and blasted it in all directions, knocking Regina and Zelena over. Light energy then started to emerge from Emma’s hands. It travelled in all directions absorbing everything it came into contact with until all of Storybrooke had been absorbed by the light.
To Be Continued…