Once upon a time in kingdom named Elysium, there was an old king who had twelve daughters that he adored more than life itself, each daughter was as unique as the next and known throughout the lands as The Twelve Princesses of Elysium. However the princesses were not all that they seemed as they were different from other princesses. All twelve sisters were united not only by their blood but by their mission to protect Elysium from all outside threats and guard the Heart of Elysium; a great power in which the royal family had been entrusted to keep. King Octavius dotted upon his children as any loving father would, giving his daughters everything that they wanted and more. But there was something deeply troubling the king, every night his daughters went to bed in the large room that they shared and all were the locked up for the night to ease the old king's worrying mind. However every morning the shoes of the king's twelve daughters were found to be completely worn out as if the twelve princesses had been out dancing all night. Nobody could quite figure out how it had happened, since the princesses' were secularly locked in their bedroom every night. Desperate to find out what was happening, the old King Octavius declared that whomsoever found out the secret of the twelve princesses and their dancing shoes, could take one of his daughter's for a bride and become the next King of Elysium after his death.
Many brave men tried to find out the secret of the twelve dancing princesses but all who searched in vain for the truth failed as the secret of the Elysium princesses wasn't something that was deeply hidden in the depths of the shadows. It was so much worse than what you could possibly imagine, as Seraphina the king's youngest daughter knew for herself as the only surviving dancing princess.
The night was burning. A blood moon hung in the air that seemed to match the blood that had been spilt on the ground, people were screaming, bodies were scattered everywhere amongst all the chaos. Instead of running away from the horrors that were occurring Princess Seraphina was running towards it but it wasn't an easy task for her to do given the palace was under attack and she was having to duck and dodge pieces of falling rubble as the walls of the palace crumbled under the attack. Seraphina had suspected something like this would happen, that the dark times would finally make it's way to her father's kingdom but she never suspected it would come so soon. Seraphina thought she had time, they all thought that they would have more time before the witch Kohana made good on her promise to destroy the kingdom of Elysium. Long gone were the nights that Seraphina and her eleven older sisters would sneak out of the palace through a trap door and make their way through the tunnels under the palace and run through the woods laughing with joy and mischief until they reached the door that would take them to the Ever Woods, the place where they would dance all night until their shoes had become too worn to ever be worn again. Those were the nights before the evil had snuck in and destroyed all the happiness that Seraphina had once known. Or so Seraphina had thought but in reality all those nights of sneaking out to dance were so much more than the twelve princesses of Elsyium sneaking out to have a bit of fun. Kohana had been behind it all, she had used her dark magic to create the Ever Woods and used her powers to lure the twelve princess' into her world of illusion and darkness where she slowly began to use her influence to corrupt Seraphina and her sisters in order to have them fulfil her dark plans. At the time it all seemed harmless, Seraphina and her sisters would sneak out of the palace and go to a place full of golden wonders where they could dance all night with charming men and then sneak back to the palace before anyone could figure out they were gone.
They had never seen it coming, they had all been so unaware of what was coming, thinking that if and when Kohana would attack it would be a direct attack to the palace and not a more slower approach to take over the kingdom. They had been the ones responsible for bringing darkness to the palace that they had sworn to protect. Seraphina and her sisters weren't like most princesses, they didn't spend all their time wearing fancy gowns and attending balls to find a prince to marry them. They were princesses by birth but their roles were that of no ordinary princesses. They had different responsibilities and each of them had been reckless and stupidly naive, neglected their duties and Seraphina could see that now as she watched what used to be her sisters destroy everything they had one knew, all the happy times that had shared, the place in which they had grown up together all thanks to Kohana's dark influence. Kohana; the witch who had sworn revenge on King Octavius and she had taken her time in doing so with a plot that dated back almost twenty years. Kohana had planned on taking everything that had mattered to Octavius, his wife, his children and now his kingdom by using his daughters to do her bidding.
Kohana had attacked Elysium with a vengeance, using what had been the eleven of the twelve princesses of Elysium to bring the horror and destruction to what had been a peaceful kingdom. Seraphina's sisters were gone, the souls of her eleven warrior sisters no longer existed, they had been corrupted beyond saving and in their place was Kohana's shadow warriors who were mercilessly killing those around them without even batting an eyelid. Seraphina had been the lucky one, she had somehow been more resistant to Kohana's manipulation and managed to escape unlike her sisters who had become corrupted under the witch's dark influence. The eleven sisters that Seraphina once held dear to herself were no longer there, instead they were the dark warriors of Kohana and whilst they still looked like the sisters that Seraphina once knew, their eyes of were all pitch, reflecting the colour of their dark hearts and corrupted souls.
"PAPA!" Seraphina screamed as the top of her lungs as she continued to run through the palace as it's walls continued to crumble, as she ran Seraphina couldn't help but take notice of those who were injured and the dead who were littering the halls of the palace. Those who were still alive for now, were begging her for help but Seraphina couldn't stop, she had to keep going as she needed to find her father. Once she found her father, Seraphina was certain that he could save all of them with the Heart of Elysium as whilst Seraphina and her sisters had been the guardians of Elysium, it was her father King Octavius who had the real power to save them all. He had the Heart of Elysium; a crystal of great power and it had been under the protection of the royal family for as long as Elysium had been standing.
Seraphina kept calling out for her father, screaming as loud as she could in hopes that he would be able to hear her but it was pretty hard to hear anything given the roaring sound of crumbling stone and the desperate screams of innocent people being harmed. But there was nothing she could so, Seraphina just had to keep looking for her father however she was starting to tire out, her lungs felt like they were on fire. But she couldn't give up, not whilst they were all still in danger. Running through the hallways of the palace, Seraphina took a sharp left down the end of one hall and ran towards the ballroom, well it wasn't much of a ballroom anymore given that most of it had collapsed. There was rubble everywhere, the air was thick with dust and there were small fires scattered across the vast ballroom. But sure enough there was Seraphina's father strewn across the ballroom under a pile off rubble, with only his upper body and left leg visible. Running to his side, Seraphina immediately went about pulling the rubble off her father but straight away she could see that her father was seriously injured. He had been impaled by a chandelier and the wound was serious.
"S-Seraphina… Is that really you?" Octavius asked in a weary voice and Seraphina nodded her head in a furious manner as she pulled her father into her arms.
"I-I'm so sorry papa! This is all our fault! I'm so sorry papa! W-We didn't know this would happen, we only thought t-that the dancing was a bit of f-fun… W-We had no i-idea this would happen." Seraphina wailed as all of this chaos around them was her fault, she should have known better, she should have been better. Seraphina was supposed to be one of the twelve guardian protectors of Elysium, it was her job to defend this land but it had been her foolish actions that had brought the darkness here. They hadn't thought it through. All of them had just wanted to be regular girls and have some fun, they hadn't realized that by sneaking off out of the palace night after night would have such serious consequences.
"T-This was not your fault my d-dearest daughter, y-you and your s-sisters have done nothing wrong."
"Everything is going to be okay, you're going to be okay." Seraphina replied in a reassuring manner, willing herself not to start crying because she knew that if she wouldn't stop crying. Her heart was breaking over the dire situation that they were all in. Her home was crumbling around all around, Elysium was on the verge of being destroyed and her family was falling apart. Today was without a doubt the darkest day in Elysium's history.
"N-No I won't, my time is this world is coming to an end." Octavius replied in a quiet manner and Seraphina ruefully shook her head as she didn't believe that, her father was the strongest man she knew and he often joked that he would be sitting on the throne until he was a hundred and ten years old. He wouldn't die so easily, not now when Seraphina and the whole of Elysium needed him most.
"Don't say that, you just need to use the Heart of Elysium and everything will be okay again. You'll be okay and so will the kingdom and we can save Lucinda, Violetta and the others, then defeat Kohana once and for all." Seraphina interrupted, not wanting to hear such talk from her father, he wasn't going to die on her, there was too much at stake and she needed him to use the Heart of Elysium to save them all.
"I can't do that Sera…" Octavius said and Seraphina didn't understand why her father was refusing to help, refusing to save them all when he had something that would save them all and return everything to how it was. Seraphina didn't understand what she was missing here, why was her refusing to help to save their kingdom.
"Yes you can papa! You always said that in time of danger that the Heart of Elysium would protect us. That if we were ever in trouble that the Heart of Elysium would save us or was that just a lie papa?!" Seraphina angrily demanded, pretty much on the verge of full blown tears. She wanted all of this to be over, she wanted the dark times to be over and her sisters to be themselves again. This whole thing was turning into a nightmare than never wanted to end.
"It's not because I don't want to, it's because I can't… I don't have the strength to do what is needed to save us. The Heart of Elysium is not an object Seraphina but rather a person, it is the title given to the keeper of the Elysium Crystal. My time as keeper of the Heart of Elysium is coming to an end and I must pass my title and the crystal on to it's next guardian if we are ever to regain our peace." Ocatvius announced as and Seraphina was stunned as this was news to her, she had always been led to believed that the Heart of Elysium was the light blue pointed crystal that her father kept attacked on a chain around his neck. Seraphina couldn't believe for as long as she could remember, she and her sisters had been told that the stone around her father's neck had the capabilities of destroying kingdoms if let into the wrong hand and as such, as one of the princesses of Elysium, Seraphina was supposed to protect the Heart of Elysium which was supposedly Seraphina's father.
"Papa, I d-don't understand." Seraphina stammered, briefly looking over her shoulder to where the chaos was still going on outside. The night was burning along with the rest of Elysium. Her father was dying and the kingdom was about to be forever destroyed.
"It's you Seraphina, y-you will become the next Heart of Elysium… You must save us all." Octavius replied as he pulled the chain that held Elysium Crystal from his neck and placed it into Seraphina's hand and all she could do was dumbly stare at it. Seraphina wasn't sure what she was supposed to do it, she had only seen her father use the crystal a handful of times. But that didn't mean she knew what to do with it.
"Papa, I can't…" Seraphina stammered.
"Seraphina, you can… See? The crystal is already acknowledging you as it's new keeper. Octavius replied with a weak smile and Seraphina looked down into her hand and much to her surprise the crystal started glowing a serene like blue/white colour and it made Seraphina's hand feel all warm and fuzzy. Seraphina could only watch as the crystal rose out of her hand, it rose until it was at eye level with Seraphina, it continued to pulsate, the light kept getting brighter and brighter until the light seemed to burst and the crystal evolved right in front of Seraphina's own eyes. No longer the pointed blue crystal that her father kept around his neck, but rather a pink orb, roughly the same size as a gold coin. It was unlike anything Seraphina had ever seen before and the orb settled itself in her hand, like it belonged there. "You are now the Heart of Elysium and with that you have the power to save Elysium. The crystal now follows you Seraphina, it follows the heart of she who would become queen, so take the Elysium Crystal and release the great power of Elysium and bring peace once more to our kingdom."
"If I can save us all then why are you so sad papa?" Seraphina questioned as she couldn't help but notice that her father was crying which was unusual. Not once in her entire life had Seraphina seen her father shed a single tear let alone cry, something had to be really wrong for him to be crying.
"Because you must make a great sacrifice if you want to save our kingdom. There is always a price with magic S-Seraphina and you must pay a great price if we are to regain our peace. You must defeat Kohana, trapping her with the Elysium Crystal is not merely enough as she cannot be given the chance to escape, you must go a step beyond that and destroy her Seraphina. But by doing that you'll never be able to see your sisters again, if you destroy Kohana then you'll destroy your sisters as well." Octavius said, his voice soft and tinged with such sadness. It wasn't hard for Seraphina to understand as they were in the ruins of what was formally her home and in her arms was her father who on the verge of death, unable to do anything but watch as most of the children he loved so dearly destroy evening around them. King Ocatvius was a broken man, slowly dying and his kingdom was forever destroyed. Deep in her heart Seraphina wished her father dead already so he wouldn't have had to witness this all. The night was burning bright with the flames and destruction of the carnage that had engulfed the kingdom. Now Octavius was asking Seraphina to destroy her own siblings, he wanted her to destroy Vega, Eleadora, Corin, Magellan, Oona, Violetta, Lucinda, Freya, Aina, Primrose, Zosia, her eleven sisters. The sisters she had spent pretty much everyday of her life with, the most important people in her life.
"No papa, I c-can't not… There must be another way." Seraphina stammered as it was incomprehensive what her father was suggesting.
"It is the only way for us to regain our peace, your sisters are no longer your sisters… I wish there was another way but there is not. Seraphina you must believe in your own power, the fact that you could not be swayed to the dark side by Nerissa shows the path that you must take to become queen. You must be strong, great and irreplaceable so that our people can always depend on you. I leave E-Elysium in your hands m-my Seraphina, you can do this, I k-know you can, you must have f-faith in yourself as the H-Heart of E-Elysium… " Octavius chocked out and by now the tears had started falling down Seraphina's face and she could merely watch as her father eyes shut off his own accord and finally succumb to his injuries. Her heart was broken, Seraphina could feel the grief clawing over her threatening to destroy her at the loss of her beloved father. Now she was all alone in the world.
But she couldn't stay here and grieve for her dead father, she couldn't give him a proper goodbye as all around her the nightmare was still continuing. The king was dead and Elysium was still falling and the casualties would continue to rise unless Seraphina tried to stop it. However, that meant doing something so terrible that she couldn't bare to even think about it but deep down Seraphina knew that she needed to commit such a necessary evil to save everyone one else. To stop her sisters and Kohana.
Seraphina slowly walked through what remained of her father's palace with a heavy heart, she so wanted to fall apart and hide like the scared little child that she felt she was. All of this was way too much and Seraphina just wanted to run and get somebody else to deal with this but her father was gone, her sisters were part of the problem. There was no one that she could turn to, she had to deal with this herself. Everyone else was counting on her so Seraphina had to win, she couldn't afford to be afraid. Seraphina made her way to the outside of the palace where she found Kohana who was standing amid all the chaos, she was dressed in an elaborate gown that was blood red in colour, like it was supposed to match the blood of all her victims. She looked half mad, a twisted expression of glee on her face as the screams got louder and the flames of everything around her got bigger. Her hair matted and wild, almost looking like a birds nest but that wasn't what worried Seraphina the most, it was the calm look in Kohana's eyes. Despite all the madness, Kohana's dark blues eyes didn't seem to reflect the madness that was on the outside.
"Well if it isn't the littlest princess of them all! Pitiful Princess Seraphina, the one who managed to get away but that no longer matters anymore as Elysium is now mine! All mine to control!" Kohana sneered and it unnerved Seraphina about how calm the witch was. Seraphina's world was literally crumbling at her feet and the woman who was responsible was calm and collected, seemingly unnerved at all the destruction that she had caused.
"I cannot let you win this one you terrible witch, too many people are counting on me. My kingdom is counting on me…" Seraphina uttered, trying to sound as determined as she possible could, trying her hardest to not let her grief and sorrow show in her voice. She needed to be strong right now.
"Ha! You stop me? Silly little Seraphina you don't have the power to stop me! You are no match for me! You won't hurt me child, the spell I've cast links me to those naive sisters of yours and you won't harm me if that means hurting them. You don't have such darkness in your heart!" Kohana cackled, laughing loudly and Seraphina said nothing, she wouldn't let Kohana's taunts get to her. Taking a deep breath Seraphina told herself that she could do this, no matter how scared she was, she could do this. She was Princess Seraphina, the Heart of Elysium and she had to protect her kingdom. More importantly Seraphina needed to believe in herself, if she couldn't save her sisters then she would sure as hell avenge them.
"Forgive me my dear sisters, for what I must do but I know that we will meet again in the next life." Seraphina quietly said before holding both her hands out before her and much to her surprise the Elysium crystal began to glow and within her Seraphina felt something that she had never felt before. She felt strong, somehow so sure of herself and no longer as weak and tired as she previously felt. The crystal hovered between her hands and Seraphina braced herself for what was coming next.
Immediately Kohana reacted casting her magic back towards Seraphina and there was a loud clash as their individual magic collided, the pink colour that the Elysium crystal emitted and the black colour that Kohana's magic emitted. There was so much force, so much pressure and Seraphina was struggling to hold on, she had no clue what she was doing or even how she was doing this. It had to be the power of the crystal, which somehow was her. This didn't feel real in the slightest, but this was real. People's lives were at stake. More people were going to die if Seraphina didn't win this battle and she wasn't sure that she could, Kohana was so much stronger than her in pretty much every way. She had managed to lure twelve young women into a fantasy world she had created, slowly corrupt them over the period of six months until all but one had strayed off the path of goodness and into the arms of darkness. Seraphina thought of her dead father, her heart simply ached at the thought of never seeing Octavius, her sweet papa ever again. Not to mention her sisters; Aina, Vega, Eleadora, Magellan, Primrose, Violetta, Zoisa, Freya, Oona Lucinda and Corin. Her sisters had all been taken from her, corrupted with such evil and darkness within them that they were lost forever. There was no coming back from that. There was no light to be found within them anymore. All was lost. Seraphina had lost everyone that she had every lost, her entire family was gone, she wasn't sure if she couldn't fight with her full strength and do what was needed of her. The grief was too raw, it was like Seraphina could feel it squeezing her so tight that she could no longer breathe. The pain was all too much for Seaphina as she continued to fight Kohana with what little strength she had left. The sound of their powers colliding was loud, like thunder rumbling above the sound of clashing swords. What little remained of the Elysium palace were shattering all around her.
"You will not destroy me child!" Kohana roared and it seemed like everything was shaking in her quake, Seraphina knew that she needed to believe in herself, believe that she could do this, not just for herself, but for the people of Elysium, her dead father and most of all her sisters. She would not lose them in vain. Seraphina needed to use what little remained of her energy to channel it into the Elysium crystal as she needed to follow her father's instructions and release the great power of Elysium and if she died using all of that power, than so be it. At least she would be with her family again. Concentrating her magic on Kohana, Seraphina focused as hard as she could, trying to channel her grief and anger into her magic instead of letting it take over her. A small part of her could feel her magic growing stronger and stronger until there was this huge explosion, Seraphina hadn't seen where it come from but it was strong and had sent her flying off her feet. The rumble of her former home to seem break Seraphina's fall, what pain she had in her side was perhaps a mere sign that things could have been worse. Seraphina was certain that she wasn't dead, she felt very much alive for the first time in a while.
Getting to her feet, Seraphina couldn't help but notice the silence, it was a dead silence and her thoughts somehow seemed incredibly loud. She forced herself to walk ahead, trying to find a clue as to what had happened but for the most part she could only see the rubble from the palace. There was nothing. Until she came across a staff lying in the ground; Kohana's staff. It could only mean one thing. It was done. Kohana was gone as were her sisters, Elysium had regained it's peace and now Seraphina had to leave. She could not remain here, she could stay here and be queen knowing full well that she had done and the role she had in spilling the blood. Seraphina forced herself to look at the moon, no longer a blood moon but a clear and white as it was supposed to be and just looking at it made her want to cry. The nightmare was over, but for Seraphina it was only beginning.
"Goodbye Elysium, you are in my heart always."
Pang! Seraphina's eyes opened from her previously deep slumber and she sat up in bed, gasping for air as she was currently having a lot of difficulty breathing and struggling to catch her breath. She was soaked with sweat, her pyjamas were practically sticking to her body and the bed sheets felt heavy and uncomfortable against her skin. This was not how Seraphina had been planning on starting her day. Her head was spinning and she had the urge to be sick but Seraphina knew that even if she tried to throw up, nothing would come up as thinking about that night or even just dreaming about it, always left this hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. For Seraphina there was no escaping from that terrible night, it haunted her day and night, never letting her be able to forget what she did that night and how she lost her entire family in the space of that night. It was a nightmare that refused to go away and Seraphina had to live with it for the rest of her life as it was her burden to bare, the price that she had to pay for using magic. There was always a price with magic. Seraphina took a deep breath before wearily rubbing her eyes, despite the fact that she had woken up, she felt exhausted and like she had barely slept at all. She wondered if that was true, that she hadn't really slept but instead just shut her eyes and relived that night all over in her head. Seraphina so desperately wanted to go back to sleep but a part of her was afraid of what she might see if she allowed herself to fall back asleep again. Too caught up in her own thoughts Seraphina wasn't aware that she had company until she felt a shift of weight on the bed and looking ahead she saw a familiar face sitting at the end of her side of the bed with a concerned look on her face.
"You had the dream again, didn't you?" Jefferson questioned and Seraphina awkwardly tried her best to avoid Jefferson's blue eyes so he couldn't see it in her eyes before she allowed the lie to come out of her mouth. Seraphina tried to avoid lying first thing in the morning but sometimes it was necessary more for Jefferson's sake then her own. She didn't like making him worry as he had enough on his place without worrying about her having nightmares.
"It's no big deal, everybody dreams Jefferson." Seraphina replied with a small shrug of her shoulder before looking at the man who she would probably refer to as her partner. The two of them had managed to find each other despite being caught in the nightmare that was Storybrooke; a small town in Maine that was anything but ordinary. Every single person in Stroybrooke except one wasn't from this land, this land without magic as they came from a different world, a world filled with magic until they were brought here by a dark curse cast by the Evil Queen Regina. The people in this town were pretty much frozen in time, no one who had been brought here had aged in the 28 years that they had been here. Nobody knew that they were here. Except for Seraphina and Jefferson, they were the only two in Storybrooke who still had their memories of their real lives apart from Regina, who had no doubt kept hers since she was the one who had cast the dark curse in the first place. Using magic came with a price and in Seraphina's case it came with a steep price, not only had she lost her entire family but she was forced to live with the memories of what she did with no escape from them. Seraphina had been prepared to live with that, she had understood that there was a price to pay given that she had committed an act of great evil to save her kingdom. But things had got a bit more complicated as Seraphina had ended up in town called Storybrooke, she had never intended to end up here as she had been 'content' in some way in living a nomadic life wondering the enchanted forest in an attempt to pay penance for what she had done. In this town, most of the other people from her world lived new and different lives. Seraphina, however didn't have that luxury and was forced to live a life here, all whilst remembering her former life and being forced to live in this land without magic for 28 years whilst everyone else was completely oblivious and living in some fake reality that Regina had placed them in was quite the punishment. Seraphina wasn't exactly sure why Jefferson had his memories but she was glad for the company. The two of them had never crossed paths before they came to this world but since they had come here, they had come together and since then Seraphina hadn't had a lonely day. Her heart ached a little less with Jefferson by her side,
"You don't dream Seraphina, at least not anymore… You sleep for a few hours at a time, sometimes you don't sleep at all but you don't dream Sera. You haven't had a dream for fifteen years until today." Jefferson couldn't help but point out but not in a 'I told you so' manner but more in a worried manner and Seraphina couldn't help but sigh. Sometimes Seraphina had wished that she had never opened her mouth, never told Jefferson about who she was and what she had done. When the two of them found each other in the first few months after the curse took place, Seraphina should have told him a lie. But she hadn't. The two of them had spent countless hours telling each other about their respective lives before they came here, Jefferson told her of his life as a thief and a portal jumper, as well of his family which included his late wife Priscilla and their daughter Grace. He had spoken of after his wife had died, he had become a mushroom seller to provide for his child before Regina had found him and asked him to do a job. Jefferson's story spoke of adventures in the land of Wonderland and how the Queen of Hearts had cut of his head – leaving him with the scar on his neck before forcing him to continually make new hats to which he could jump through each with zero results. That had been his life right up until he had wound up here. It was a far cry from the life Seraphina had led as one of the twelve princesses of Elysium. Seraphina had told Jefferson everything, how she and her sisters were tricked by Kohana, the nights they would sneak away to dance whilst slowly being corrupted by the witch, how Elysium had fallen and how she had destroyed everything she had loved in order to save her kingdom. Seraphina didn't go into much detail about what she did after that night or where she went after she left Elysium.
"I'm fine, it's just a nightmare… It can't hurt me anymore." Seraphina said with a forced smile, all whilst wondering if she could really call it a nightmare given that it was something that she experienced before, she had lived that night a long time ago and it was as real to her now as it had been that entire night. Despite saying the words Seraphina didn't believe that and she knew that Jefferson didn't believe it either. The two of them had pretty much been together for the last 28 years, they knew each other's habits better than they knew themselves.
"I tried waking you up when I realized what was happening, but you know what your like when you dream. No matter what I did, you wouldn't wake up until it was over." Jefferson replied with a small sigh and Seraphina climbed out from under the covers of the bed that she had shared with Jefferson and crawled over to him. He looked exhausted, the crescent moon shaped bags were more apparent under his eyes than normal. No doubt whilst she had been dreaming of the day Elysium had fallen, Jefferson had been up all night with insomnia, thinking of his daughter who was so close yet so far away. Grace or Paige as she was known in this world, wasn't with her father like she was supposed to, instead she lived next door with a family who she believed were hers but in reality they were just a part of the curse and the false memories that it gave to everyone under it. Grace was unaware that her real father was her neighbour and Jefferson was forced to watch his daughter live a life without him. Seraphina wasn't sure who had it worse.
"You look terrible." Seraphina noted as she lifted her hand and gently brushed her thumbs against Jefferson's cheek. Despite the fact that Seraphina and Jefferson had come from two different worlds, one thing they had in common was the bizarre sleeping habits they kept. They didn't function like regular people, most of the time they barely slept because they had things on their minds, for Seraphina it was her guilt and for Jefferson it was his daughter. Insomnia seemed to follow the two of them around constantly.
"As opposed to mad?" Jefferson quipped, offering Seraphina a small smile which caused her to grin as there were very few things for them to smile about in their grim situation.
"Is that a joke? Are you pulling a funny Jefferson because you were known as the Mad Hatter?" Seraphina asked taking a few seconds to enjoy this moment as she fully well knew that this wasn't going to last. It never did. Both Seraphina and Jefferson were too messed up in some ways to ever fully function properly. Jefferson was obsessed with finding a way to break this curse, looking for loopholes and ways for to be reunited with his daughter and go home whilst Seraphina just didn't know what she was doing. All she knew was that she did not want to be involved with magic.
"Perhaps." Jefferson replied with a small purse of his lips and Seraphina smiled as this was one of the rare times that they could just be Jefferson and Seraphina instead of the Mad Hatter and Princess Seraphina. Right here in this moment, there was nothing else. It was like they were in a little bubble and nothing could get in. "I should probably get back downstairs, back to work…"
"Do you have to? Perhaps today you could just take it easy and get some rest, you looked exhausted Jefferson." Seraphina tentatively began as she knew where this would go if she wasn't careful, her and Jefferson had countless arguments about this over the last 28 years and given that large timeframe Seraphina had lost count of how many time she and Jefferson had argued about this. It was definitely a lot.
"I can't do that, you know that I can't do that Seraphina… That's like asking me to give up on her and I won't. I won't give up on Grace, I can't." Jefferson said pulling away from Seraphina's embrace and standing up from where he was sitting on the bed.
"I wasn't asking you to give up on Grace, I was asking you to stop for a second to take care of yourself, to take the initiative to keep yourself healthy instead of me having to always remind you. Taking care of yourself does not meaning giving up Jefferson. Grace wouldn't want you to live this way. Staying up all night in that room, working non-stop on hats mumbling to yourself about making it work, hoping that this time you'll succeed. It's not healthy Jefferson, you must know that… The headaches that you get because of all those late nights, the weeks of insomnia and almost killing yourself to try and find a new way to get out of this town when we both know that we are bound here by the magic that cursed us." Seraphina stated in a soft manner as Jefferson was getting defensive, no doubt thinking that she as asking on him to give up on his daughter which is something she would never ask him to do. Never in a million years, or the twenty eight years that they had been stuck like this would Seraphina ever ask Jefferson to give up on Grace. She did not have the authority to ask that of him. She wasn't his wife, she wasn't anything like that. She was just Seraphina, nothing more and nothing less.
"How can you say that Sera? If we don't believe in magic being able to save us then how are we expected to succeed? You're the Heart of Elysium! Surely you know better than anyone the power of believing."
"I did believe. I spent my entire life believing in magic, believing that the Heart had this incredible power and could save entire kingdoms or destroy them! I believed that the Heart could protect us all and it didn't. I didn't protect my kingdom, I did the opposite of that! I led Elysium to it's destruction. I allowed myself to be swayed by some witch allowing her to take what she needed to conquer my kingdom. She took my sisters, she killed my father and I didn't do anything, I'm supposed to be the all powerful Heart of Elysium and I let that all happen. I was a disappointment. I tried to believe, I did and that got me nowhere and I couldn't save them all Jefferson. I killed twelve people to save what little remained of Elysium. I did that, so tell me again what is so good about me being the Heart of Elysium? It didn't help me to save my family, it certainly didn't help to prevent this curse from happening. Nothing good came of me being the Heart of Elysium or having the Elysium crystal and it won't help us now especially when we are in a land with no magic!" Seraphina snapped unable to contain herself anymore, climbing up off the bed so that she could have this conversation or rather argument as it was turning to, with Jefferson on level footing.
"You may not be able to believe in magic anymore but I have to believe Seraphina, Grace is my daughter. You wouldn't understand…" Jefferson said and Seraphina was slightly taken aback as she couldn't believe that he had just played that card. It was like a slap to the face for Seraphina. She was pretty sure that somewhere in between all that silence was the sound of her heart breaking.
"You think I don't understand hope? Trying to believe in some greater power in order to save someone you love? I understand Jefferson better than most people. I understand but at least you get to see Grace, even though you she can't remember you Jefferson, you have something to deal with the pain of what we live with. We don't live in ignorant bliss like everyone else outside these walls, we know the truth. But you get to watch Grace; see her laugh and smile whereas I have nothing, I don't have anyone as my family is gone. My father died and I had to kill my sisters. I have no one! I am completely alone in this world!"
"Seraphina…" Jefferson began attempting to take a step towards her but Seraphina motioned for him not to come towards her as she struggled to keep her composure together.
"All I was trying to say was that keeping the people you care about close and showering them with displays of affection aren't the only ways to display love, quietly watching from a far is a way to show love. You not being by her side doesn't mean you don't care or that you don't love her Jefferson, you can love her from a distance but to do that you need to take better care of yourself. You're no help to Grace if you are on the brink of collapsing, that's all. I never want you to give up on her. Never…" Seraphina quietly began awkwardly looking away before deciding that she needed to get out of here. Seraphina would have all but sprinted out of the bedroom and out of the house if it wasn't for the fact that she was in pajamas that were soaked with sweat. Not to mention Jefferson was sort of standing in her way. She couldn't go past him so Seraphina decided to go round him and so she climbed over the bed and went through the door in their bedroom to the bathroom, locking the door behind her before rummaging through the laundry basket for clothes to put on.
"Seraphina? Sera… I didn't mean to say that, I didn't mean to make out like you don't care or understand because I know you do. Just like I know that I wouldn't have managed to survive these last 28 years without losing my mind if it wasn't for you. You keep me sane. You keep the Mad Hatter sane, which is something… Finding you in the midst of this chaos that is this curse is something I never expected to find. Everything we have and we have shared means a lot to me Seraphina, you mean a lot to me. I want you to know that you are not alone. I never want you to think that your alone again because you have me and always will." Jefferson called out, knocking on the door for good measure but Seraphina didn't respond, she was too busy pulling on yesterday's jeans and sniffing a t-shirt to see if it was clean enough to wear. She wouldn't have this problem if she went back into the bedroom and got clean clothes out of the closet but that meant seeing Jefferson and Seraphina was worried that her face would give away what was going on in her head. She couldn't deal with this right now. She was too upset. That nightmare had messed with her head and this stupid argument with Jefferson was just making things worse. Once she had reasonably clean clothes on, Seraphina scrapped her brunette hair back into a ponytail and took a deep breath before she opened the bathroom door. She knew that Jefferson was going to be there waiting for her. Naturally she was right, Seraphina opened the door and like she had expected Jefferson had been waiting for her.
"It's fine, I'm fine Jefferson… So you know what? Just get back to work and do whatever you need to do, I need to clear my head so I'm going to head out to town and pick up some groceries whilst I'm out." Seraphina said interrupting Jefferson before he had a chance to say anything and she quickly slipped past him. She had given him a lame ass excuse which wasn't nice but Seraphina knew they would be fine eventually. When you were cursed in a small time where everyone was frozen in time, you learned how to move past petty things. The two of them had somehow managed to find a tiny bit of happiness in misery and Seraphina knew that both of them wouldn't risk losing that over a minor misunderstanding.
Finding some shoes and a warm jacket, Seraphina made her way out of the house and slowly began the walk into town and as she made her way from the house – or rather Jefferson's mansion, Seraphina started to feel a lot better. Her and Jefferson didn't tend to venture out of the house much, there was something tedious about having conversations with people who would never remember having them that made the two of them weary about coming into town. Because of the curse everyone was stuck and unaware of the restraints that were on them. Occasionally the two of them left the house to venture into town but mostly it was Seraphina who went if they needed something given that Jefferson tended to be preoccupied with something be it, attempting to make another portal jumping hat or plotting Storybrooke yet again on a map in an attempt to find a way to escape or a possible loophole around the barrier that prevented them leaving to see if he had missed anything.
Seraphina had to admit that she found it impressive how far Jefferson was willing to be reunited with his daughter, willing to risk everything including his sanity in order to get Grace back. That kind of love and selflessness was incredibly and something that Seraphina sort of envied, when it came to saving people that she had cared about Seraphina had been a coward and too weak of a person to try and find way to save them all. Instead she had taken the first option given to her and she had to live with that for the rest of her life. Jefferson was so much stronger than she would ever be and Seraphina knew she was lucky to have him. She remembered the day that the two of them had met, she had been wondering around the streets of Storybook trying to figure out what the hell had happened but no one could tell her anything. Everyone seemed oblivious and then she saw him; a man who looked just as lost and alone as she was. Seraphina had found Jefferson and since then she never had a single lonely day again. The more Seraphina walked, the more she began to feel better, it was as if the fresh air was clearing her heart of all her troubles and worries. Plus the view wasn't too bad, Storybrooke was no Elysium but it was a nice enough looking place and Seraphina could think of worse places to be trapped for 28 years. But as she walked Seraphina heard something that caused her to stop in her steps, a loud chiming sound and looking over her shoulder in the direction the sound was coming from, Seraphina saw that it was coming from the cloak tower that was above the library.
That was odd. In twenty eight years that clock hadn't ticked once, the hands on the clock hadn't moved and had always read quarter past eight, it didn't matter what time of the day it was, whether it was day or night the hands never moved. It was as if the clock tower was as frozen as the inhabitants of Storybrooke were frozen. But not anymore, time was now moving. Something had to have caused it or someone. Something was changing Storybrooke for the first time in 28 years.