The grief was overwhelming. In the weeks since Elysium had fallen Seraphina was barely coping, she could barely sleep and when she did, it was only for three or four hours at a time. Her actions weighed heavily on her mind constantly, no matter how hard Seraphina tried to focus on something else, her sisters were never far from her mind and with every passing day was the reminder that she would never see them again. They were gone, as was Elysium… Her home was forever was destroyed and in the aftermath of all the destruction, Seraphina had fled what remained of her home as there was nothing left there for her anymore. The palace had fallen, half of Elysium had been destroyed and what little remained of her home was better off without her. Seraphina was not fit to be queen, she had done too much damage to succeed her father as sovereign of Elysium and she could never go back, she would never go back. Elysium was gone. Seraphina had travelled across the lands and made her way over to the land of Mist Haven, she had never been there before but her father had spoken fondly of the land as it was where her mother was raised. Seraphina no longer had a home in Elysium, so the obvious choice for her was to go to her mother's former home where she spent most wondering around the woods aimlessly as there was nothing else for her to be doing. Seraphina kept herself well hidden, she made sure that she stayed out of sight because she had no interest in interacting with anyone, she just wanted to be left alone and figure out how she could repent for the sins that she had committed. So far Seraphina hadn't figured that out as she wasn't sure how she could atone for the hideous crimes that she had committed. This whole penance thing wasn't working out exactly as Seraphina had imagined it would go as Mist Haven was quite a troubled place, there was so much strife for such a vast land. But these problems were of no interest to Seraphina as matters of the state no longer concerned her anymore, as long as she didn't get involved in any thing that was going on in Mist Haven then she would be content in living out the remainder of her life on this land, living in complete isolation and begging the old gods for forgiveness. Today it seemed like they weren't in the forgiving mood as Seraphina looked out to sea from the shore, the sea was rough and the waves were crashing with a thunderous roar. It was oddly comforting to Seraphina, she felt relaxed for the first time in months and like she could stay here for hours. It was an option, Seraphina had always loved the ocean as a child, she loved the water and had a great fascination with how something could be calm and tranquil one moment, then be destructive and dangerous the next minute.

She had always wanted to sail to the ends of the earth but it was never possible, Seraphina's duty as one of the twelve guardians prevented her from doing that but now there was nothing standing in her way. Seraphina supposed she could do it but in her heart she knew that she would never go, everything that happened in Elysium was still too fresh in her memory and she didn't deserve to enjoy herself, at least not yet…

"If I were to say to you that I am a stranger from the east, seeking that which is lost–"

"–Then I would say that I am a stranger from the west, it is I whom you seek." Seraphina replied slowly turning around to see perhaps the last person she wanted to see, as the last time she had seen Rumplestilskin it had been months ago, in the time leading up to the witch Kohana's attack. Seraphina had travelled to find the man they called Rumpelstiltskin in hopes of finding a way to protect her kingdom from Kohana's pending attack. The man had been no help in the slightest, he would only agree to help if Seraphina made a deal with him and the price he was asking at the time was too steep. Seraphina had hoped that she would never see the creature known as Rumpelstiltskin again, he looked just as scaly and sickly as always, with those grey hues to him and dressed head to toe in expensive leathers but still look like he didn't put much effort into his appearance. His eyes however, always left the greatest impression on Seraphina, those amber eyes that seemed like they saw everything upside down, back to front and in a way that Seraphina would never be able to understand. Seraphina hadn't noticed the man, she had been certain that she had been alone and would have heard some one approaching but apparently not. Perhaps she was spending too much time in her own head. But then again she had always found Rumplestiltskin to be like a cockroach, repulsive and always sneaking up on you. Here he was standing on the coastline with Seraphina and tossing out another one of his riddles, Rumpelstiltskin always seemed to be fond of them and always seemed to have one up his sleeve.

"You're quite the difficult person to track down your majesty, always on the move, never staying in the same place for long and never leaving any trace of yourself behind. I had my work cut out with you Queen Seraphina but I expected as much, after all you were one of the twelve guardians of Elysium, the daughters of King Octavious who were sworn to protect their kingdom. I must say dearie your reputation did proceed you, until recent events occurred..."

"Don't call me that! I am no queen… Now what do you want imp?" Seraphina growled as she was in no mood to play niceties with Rumplestiltskin who was perhaps the most crooked person that she had ever come across. He was always up to something, always wanting something as well and quick to be making deals that were very hard to get yourself out of, if you agreed to his terms. His reputation was as long as the amount of dodgy deals that he had made.

"Me? Dearie why must you assume that would want something from you? After all people come to me when they need something as you well know Princess Seraphina!" Rumplestiltskin squeaked in his typical high pitch voice and Seraphina couldn't help but roll her eyes as you could never get straight to the point with Rumplestiltskin. You always had to go round in a couple of circles before you got anywhere with him, the man took great enjoyment with toying with people as Seraphina knew from experience.

"Because you said so yourself Rumpelstiltskin, you've been looking for me and judging by what you've said, you've been looking for me for a while. You didn't go to all this effort to find me just so you can offer me your condolences Rumpelstiltskin, you came all this way because you need something from me. Something that you can't get from anyone else otherwise you would have tired already. The only question is; what do I have that you so desperately need?" Seraphina questioned and she watched as Rumplestiltskin awkwardly looked away briefly in a rare moment of embarrassment before returning his gaze to Seraphina or rather something that she was wearing around her neck, attached to a thin gold chain. A certain small but powerful pink orb. The Elysium Crystal. "Of course… I should have known that's what you wanted, it's always the same with you imp. I thought I told you the last time, that is the one thing that I couldn't get for you…"

"Yes I remember that conversation dearie and yet here we are and you now have the Elysium Crystal in your possession so be a dear and hand it over!"

"It can't be taken by force, you know that… The Elysium Crystal has to be given over freely and willingly, which I will never do. I would never hand it over to you given what little help you were to me when I came to you and killing me for it won't help you, the crystal will just go seek out a suitable new keeper which would never be you." Seraphina spat, leaving out the fact that the Elysium Crystal no longer worked, it no longer shone like it used to and for months now it has been a dull pink colour. Nothing happened when Seraphina touched it, the crystal had stopped glowing and it didn't acknowledge anything, it was like it was as dead as Elysium.

"What if I could change your mind dearie? What if I could offer you something that you couldn't turn down? Something that your heart so deeply desired that you would be willing to do anything for it? Even make a deal with me? What if I could bring back your sisters? All eleven of them… Would it be enough to persuade you to give me that pendent of yours? That's what you've wanted this entire time, isn't it dearie? To have your family and I'm offering you a way to have them back…" Rumpelstiltskin offered and as soon as the words came out of his mouth, Seraphina's heart threatened to leap out of her chest. Could he really do that? Did Rumpelstiltskin really have the power to bring her sisters back? Could Seraphina dare to dream? Could she be reunited with her beloved sisters? It sounded wonderful, better than anything that she could ever do as whilst the Elysium Crystal was powerful, it could not bring back the dead. Seraphina would do anything to get her sisters back, Rumplestiltskin was covering to do that… But in exchange he wanted the Elysium Crystal. There was always a price, that's what Seraphina's father had told her in his last few moments, that there was a price with magic. At what cost would Seraphina have to pay to have her sisters back? Could she really in good consciousness go through with this?

"No deal."

"No deal? Is this not that you've wanted this entire time? Is this not why you can to me snivelling about that witch of yours and your however every many sisters? I'm offering you what you wanted Seraphina! Don't be silly, take the deal… You know you want to!"

"I want to scream, I want to stand at the ends of the earth and scream until I can't breathe anymore because that would be better than what I'm dealing with. But what I want doesn't matter anymore, not after what I did… This person that I am now, the person who could only stand by and watch as her entire kingdom went up in flames does not deserve her deepest desires come true. I gave into my desires once and I had to kill my own sisters to fix the mistake that giving into my desires created. We swore to protect and defend our kingdom, to keep the Heart of Elysium safe and we failed in our duty. We failed in our mission, we failed in our roles as guardians of Elysium and I must live with that. I brought that evil to my kingdom, my selfishness almost killed us all and I have to live with that I did. What I did that dreadful night, I did without choice, in the name of peace and sanctity… I committed an act of unspeakable horror against my own kin and I must live with that choice for the rest of my life. I can't take it back. I loved my sisters and I miss them every day but the dead should remain dead. If it was possible to bring my sisters back from Valhalla then you'd bring her back as well, my sisters souls were tied to the witch Kohana's. I couldn't save my sisters without saving her; I couldn't kill her without killing my sisters. That is too much of a price to bare and I can't afford to allow that to happen, not after all the blood I spilt. I can merely hope that the souls of my beloved sisters are resting in peace as I can't be selfish again. I can't fail in my mission. My father made me the Heart of Elysium and I must not falter in my duty in keeping the Elysium Crystal safe for those who would wise to cause harm with it's power…" Seraphina replied with a heavy heart and she could see that Rumplestiltskin wasn't too happy about this.

"I see there is no changing your mind, your father would be proud of you if he wasn't dead. Oh well! I may not have got the Elysium Crystal and things may not have gone to plan but you exceeded all of my expectations, you survived after all…"

"What are you talking about?"

"That's for me to know and you to never find out Little One."


It was definitely moving. Time was definitely moving, that much Seraphina could see for herself as she stood outside the closed public library and stared up at the clock tower that no longer read 8:15 like it had done for the last twenty eight years. Seraphina couldn't believe what she was seeing, right before her very own eyes the hands on the clock tower were moving and she wanted to weep with joy as this was something she thought would never happen. Seraphina couldn't remember the last time she had felt something that resembled actual hope about the dire situation that she was in. Most of the residents here in Storybrooke were unaware that they never aged or changed in the slightest, they couldn't remember anything past that day but now things would change. All Seraphina wanted to do was run back home and tell Jefferson the good news, to tell him that time was moving in Stroybrooke for the first time in twenty eight years and finally things would change, people would age and regain some concept of time and that there was still hope for them yet. But before she went back to tell Jefferson, Seraphina wanted to see if she could find out what had caused time to resume here in Storybrooke, for the last twenty eight years, this place had been frozen and all of a sudden time had resumed. Seraphina didn't believe in coincidences, she didn't believe that suddenly the old clock started to work all of a sudden, something had caused time to move. Seraphina wanted to be certain of what that was before she returned home to Jefferson as she didn't want to get his hopes up, only for them to be crushed as she knew that with every passing year that this cursed continue to go on for, Jefferson was losing a little more of himself and Seraphina feared that if things carried on this way that one day his nickname of the Mad Hatter in their old world would become more than a nickname. Jefferson didn't deserve any of this, he was good man who had made some mistakes but he didn't deserve to be without his daughter. Seraphina had nothing else in this life of hers except Jefferson and she couldn't lose him, he had kept her sane this entire life and this cursed life was only bearable for her because he was by her side. However Jefferson currently wasn't by her side, in fact there was nobody was really around. Town was quiet. It was way too quiet in Storybrooke and before the curse had taken place and brought them here Seraphina had been one of those people who could function perfectly well in silence. Now? The dead silence of a sleepy little town in Maine filled to the brim with people frozen in time for the last twenty eight years, who couldn't remember who they were, simply unnerved Seraphina. She couldn't stand silence anymore, it made her feel uneasy and restless. Seraphina suspected this all stemmed back to the night Elysium fell, that dead silence that seemed to echo so loudly after she brought her kingdom to her knees was probably to blame for why she couldn't stand silence.

As she walked away from the clock tower, Seraphina's mind couldn't help but wonder to Jefferson as she had realized that the two of them had overreacted to the whole situation. That was the toll that being stuck in a town that was essentially frozen took on them and it was easy for them to become very frustrated as all they wanted to do was go home but they couldn't escape from curse prevented from them ever leaving and their last attempt to find a way out of this small town had resulted in Seraphina breaking her left leg. Things like that were typically when anyone tried to leave town, the curse that had been cast over them was done with strong magic that blocked all other magic. Jefferson's hat which acted as a portal between worlds didn't work, no matter what they tried it didn't budge and the Elysium Crystal was rendered powerless, it was even more broken then it was before Seraphina had arrived. What little magic that Seraphina and Jefferson both had didn't work in this land thus ensuring that they were to remain in this godforsaken town. Magic wasn't going to get Seraphina the information that she needed, she was going to have to go and find what she needed herself but to do that she was going to have to eat something as she didn't tend to work well on an empty stomach.

So Seraphina made the decision to head over to Granny's as the food there was pretty good and the company wasn't bad on the rare occasion that she needed a break from Jefferson. The diner had this homely feel to it and it was something that Seraphina hadn't experienced in a long time. As Seraphina approached Granny's, the door opened and out walked two people; the first was Henry Mills, Queen Regina's adopted son who seemed to be a precious young boy and the second person was someone who Seraphina hadn't seen before which was impossible as she knew the name and face of every person who lived in Storybrooke. People could never leave Storybrooke and only two separate occasions had outsiders come to Storybrooke and one of those occasions was when the queen's baby son had been brought to town. It had been decades since anyone had come to Storybrooke and yet here was this woman who long blonde hair and a red leather jacket, walking up Main Street and chatting animatedly with the young Master Mills. Something was going on here and Seraphina intended to find out. Making her way into Granny's, Seraphina scanned the room looking for anyone who could possible have any clue as to who the mystery woman was and lucky for her, Sheriff Graham Humbert was sitting in a booth having his morning coffee.

"So whose the mystery woman with Henry Mills?" Seraphina questioned sliding into the booth, take the seat that was opposite the Sheriff who rolled his blue eyes in bemusement at the sight of her.

"Good morning to you too Sera." Graham replied with a dry manner and Seraphina forced a smile on her face, so she may have skipped over the pleasantries and her mother would no doubt be turning in her grave over that but she did for a good reason. Seraphina wasn't a princess or rather a queen in this land without magic, she was just a person who trying to figure out what the hell was going on in this curse ridden land and whether or not, the clock in tower moving could be the start of finally ending this curse. If Graham wasn't unaware of his true self, if he knew what was really going on here then he would understand. But he didn't and after twenty eight years of hoping for some kind of miracle to happen, Seraphina didn't feel like offering an explanation. The time for explanations would come later.

"Yes it is a lovely day Graham and you are looking rather well today if I may say so, now that we've done our pleasantries can you please tell me who that woman was? As Sheriff, it's your job to know everything that goes on in this town." Seraphina retorted with a small quip as she leaned forward and took Graham's cup of coffee, giving it a small sniff before taking a sip. A little something shared between two friends and that's what Seraphina considered the sheriff to be; one of her friends. Their paths had crossed in Mist Haven several times, especially in the first few months that Seraphina had been there. He had been the one to show Seraphina that it was possible to live with her guilt, without it crippling her. He had been the first real friend that Seraphina had and it used to kill her that he couldn't remember their friendship. They were friends in this land too, but it was all built on a lie. The only comfort that Seraphina could take from it was that Graham was as good a man in this land as he was in the land they had come from. A lot of people here in Storybrooke were people that Seraphina was once acquainted with and it was a shame that most of them were a shadow of who they used to be.

"Emma Swan. Henry Mills' birth mother, the lad ran off the day before yesterday and went to find her and Emma brought him back." Graham explained with small smile and Seraphina had to admit that she hadn't been expecting to hear that. Of course she knew that Henry Mills was adopted, everyone in Storybrooke knew that Henry was adopted but him leaving town to bring back his birth mother was something else. Seraphina couldn't help but wonder if this was what caused the clock in the clock tower to start moving again? She wasn't sure but it could be a possibility.

"Regina must be thrilled." Seraphina drily retorted as she took note that Graham had to look away in order to not start laughing and she quietly chuckled. For someone who was ridiculously good looking, Graham had one of those faces that you could pretty much read like a book.

"Tell me about it." Graham retorted with a small smile as he reached down and lifted something up before tossing it down on the table right in front of Seraphina and she could see that it was a newspaper, the town's newspaper in fact. The Storybrooke Daily Mirror and on the front page was a mug shot of the woman that Seraphina had seen with Henry and the headline; STRANGER DESTROYS HISTORIC SIGN. It certainly wasn't subtle to say the least. Sidney Glass the editor of the paper had really outdone himself this time Seraphina couldn't help but think to herself but she knew better than to say things like that out loud. The queen had spies everywhere, even in this land without magic Regina had bent people to her a will and the last thing Seraphina needed was having the queen sniffing around and breathing down her neck.

"I take that back, Regina must be really thrilled about this development." Seraphina quipped in an exaggerated manner as she gave the front page a quick once over before tossing it aside as it contained no real information that was of use to her. She'd have to find out more about this Emma Swan person on her own. It was a good thing that Seraphina had plenty of time on her hands.

"It's good to see you out and about Sera, it's rare for me to see you as usually you are playing the recluse in the big house with that boyfriend of yours." Graham idly commented in an attempt to be subtle but he was about as subtle as an elephant. Seraphina knew where this was heading as she had lost count of the amount of times that she and Graham had this particular conversation but he of course never remembered. So many times had she explained to him that the two of them just got so caught up in their own world that they didn't realize that they had been stuck indoors for weeks at an end. That's the lie that she spun as Seraphina couldn't tell the truth, she couldn't tell Graham that her and Jefferson went out of their way to be reclusive as it was easier than having the same conversation every day with people who could never remember having that conversation in the first place. Then Jefferson was too busy working on another hat in the hopes that it would work and allow them to go home. But that was another truth that Seraphina couldn't tell as people would just think she was crazy and lock her up which was the last thing she needed.

"We got into an argument this morning, I stormed out of the house and the worse thing is I already miss him. I never imagined that I would become one of those women whose life centered around their partner but that's the way things are. I didn't know that I needed him, I didn't know that I would find him but I did and he got under my skin and made his way to my heart. He loves me at my worse, he haunts my every waking moment and I can never hide from him. We love with a love that was more than love..." Seraphina woefully admitted with a dramatic sigh as right now she was feeling rather sorry for herself. She didn't have the answers to all her questions and she was still feeling bad about what had happened with Jefferson this morning. He was the only real thing that Seraphina had in her life as she no family left, her real friends was certainly something that was about for debate given the situation that she was in.

"So go and apologize then." Graham reasoned and Seraphina just shook her head.

"It's not that simple."

"It can be. You know… The two of you have been together for pretty much forever, I don't think I can remember a time where the two of you weren't together. Why don't the two of you just go ahead and get married, you already act like an old married couple." Graham stated and Seraphina grimaced in response as that was a rather frightening prospect, she was in no way qualified to become anyone's wife her views on marriage were somewhat questionable. Marriage was something that Seraphina had never really given much thought, as a girl she didn't grow up dreaming of wedding and imagining that she would be swept off her feet by some prince who would marry her and their life would be complete. Back when she was still in Elysium, Seraphina had too many things to focus on to even think about getting marriage and even then it wasn't like she had to worry about getting married for the sake of the kingdom's future, she had been 11th in line to her throne, right behind all of her sisters who had all been older than her. It was her father's passing and then the death of her sisters at her own hands that had made her Queen of Elysium but Seraphina didn't focus on that. She didn't consider herself to be a queen and she most certainly never thought about getting married, especially to The Mad Hatter of all people. Seraphina and Jefferson had found each other by chance and they had become the kind of people who lived their lives on a day to day basis. Talk of the future was non existent for them.

"We're not the getting married kind of people, if you hadn't noticed we are not the love at first sight and happily ever after couple. Far from it actually…" Seraphina replied in a dull and monotone manner although there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she thought about how far her and Jefferson had come. Seraphina hadn't fallen in love with him at first sight, in fact she hadn't been too keen on the man she referred to as her partner when they first met. She hadn't seen him and knew that Jefferson was the man she was wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Things between them took time, three years in fact given how emotionally stunted both Seraphina and Jefferson could be at times, it was a wonder how they had managed to get to where they were now.

"Have you always been such a pessimist? Because I'll tell you something now Seraphina Hart, it's very unattractive." Graham drawled in his near perfect Irish accent which caused Seraphina to let out a bemused smile as she rose from her seat, making sure to take the previously discarded newspaper with her. "Going so soon? Is it something I've said?"

"You wish." Seraphina replied in a wry manner before making her way out of Granny's pausing as she reached the door to take one last look at the place. You wouldn't know just by looking at the people in this room that they were the real people that the so-called fairy tales in this land were based on. These fairy tales where what people in this land without magic told their foundlings, they were stories based on what happened in their world only with slight modifications. Sheriff Graham was a hunter back in Mist Haven but in these so-called fairy tales, he was the Huntsman in a tale called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Most of the story was true to what really happened but it missed out some minor details. Such as Queen Regina stealing Graham's heart and forcing him to work for her. Then there was Ruby, the waitress here at the Diner who was charming enough, her name was a bit of a hint as to who she really was; Red Riding Hood however Ruby's past wasn't as sweet and homely as the stories made it out to be given that Ruby was also 'The Big Bad Wolf' from her own story but she never did eat her Granny, in fact her Granny was right beside her at this current moment, the two of them were arguing over something which was nothing new. None of them remembered this, they had no idea that these fairy tales were a watered down version of their former lives. Seraphina wasn't impressed with how her past was represented, in the story of 'The Twelve Dancing Princesses' Seraphina and her sisters were discovered by a soldier who told their father the truth and presented him with some evidence and was allowed to pick any of King Octavius' daughters to marry. In the end he had picked the eldest one. It was hilarious as Seraphina knew that her eldest sister Aina would have objected at some man picking her randomly to be his bride like she was some kind of stuffed animal. Just thinking of that made Seraphina miss her sisters fiercely and it caused her to look down to her left wrist, specifically the inked number that was etched in the curve between her thumb and index finger. The number was 306; the number of people who had died that night in Elysium including her family and Kohana.

Nostalgia was really playing with Seraphina today and she really wished it wasn't as it was hard enough for her to get up every morning living in a cursed down without dreaming of her former life. It seemed like the old gods had really sought to punish Seraphina for her actions and the nights when Seraphina was reliving the fall of Elyisum in her dreams was the worst of it all, that night had never faded away in her memory, it was so fresh in her memory as if it had happened yesterday. But it hadn't, Elysium had fallen over thirty two years ago. Seraphina had been twenty one when her kingdom had fallen, she had then been wondering the woods in Mist Haven for four years before the curse had been cast bringing them all to Stroybrooke where they had all been for the last twenty eight years. Seraphina still looked like she twenty five instead of her real age of being fifty three years old. The whole being frozen in time thing had taken care of that. Seraphina had barely walked five meters away from Granny's before she had to stop and take a deep breath in order to calm herself down, to stop her mind from continuing to race a million miles per hour. Today had barely began but it had already been so intense and Seraphina didn't know what to do. She was clueless about how to connect the dots and figure out what to do.

"Ms. Hart, may I have a word?"

That voice. Upon hearing that oh so familiar voice Seraphina couldn't help but grimace as she turned around to look at the last person she wanted to see today; it was Rumplestiltskin or rather his Storybrooke self Mr. Gold. In this world he wasn't the Dark One due to the curse bringing him along to the land without magic. Here in Storybrooke Rumplestiltksin was just Mr. Gold, a wealthy man who pretty much owned most of town. Gold acted as a lawyer and an antiquities dealer. There was no first name for him here, Mr. Gold never bothered to offer one. Rumplestiltskin was just as vague and allusive as he was before the curse had been cast. Given who Mr. Gold really was, Seraphina had made a huge attempt over the last 28 years to avoid spending anytime in the man's company as even though wasn't the Dark One in this land, he was still wasn't to be trusted.

"Oh Mr. Gold, how lovely it is to see you but I must really be heading home, I have an awful lot of work to be doing today. Could we talk later?" Seraphina offered forcing a smile on her face to look like she was being polite as getting involved with Rumplestiltkin had always gotten her into trouble in the past and she wanted to avoid that. Even though he had no magic here, the imp as Seraphina liked to call him was still going around making deals with people.

"I'm afraid I must insist, your majesty." Mr. Gold replied in a curt manner leaving no room to argue and the forced smile that Seraphina had been putting on for appearance sake instantly dropped. Your Majesty. That's what Gold had just called her, he had just referred to her royal lineage by addressing her as a queen. Every time that Seraphina had come across Rumplestiltskin in Mist Haven he always addressed her by your majesty despite her asking him repeatedly not to address her as the sovereign of Elysium.

"What did you just call me Mr. Gold?" Seraphina hoarsely questioned praying like hell to the old gods of Elysium that this was some kind of mistake. There was no way that Rumplestiltskin could remember who he was, there was only three people here who had all their memories intact and knew the truth and Rumplestiltskin wasn't one of them. Seraphina that there was no way in hell that Gold had known this entire time and had been feigning ignorance, not for twenty eight years. Rumplestiltskin/Gold were good liars but they weren't that good. Nobody could keep an act like that for twenty eight years.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that I must first address you as Your Majesty when engaging you in conversation with a reigning monarch and I think we both know why I did that and we both know that my name isn't Mr. Gold. Isn't that right Seraphina?" Mr. Gold replied in a rather sarcastic manner and Seraphina bit her tongue momentarily before looking around to see if anyone was around, thankfully there was no one remotely close to hear any of this.

"You know, I'm rather unimpressed that it took you this long to remember… I would have thought that the Dark One would have been immune to this curse or at least figured it all out years ago but apparently I overestimated you. I won't make that same mistake again. But why now? You've had no clue about any of this for the last twenty eight years and now you've suddenly remembered. Why? I find it very coincidental that you've got your memories back the same time that the old clock tower began to tick again. What did you do?" Seraphina retorted in a despairing manner as dealing with the imp was not something that she wanted to be doing. But she couldn't ignore the fact that Rumplestiltskin was aware of their reality.

"Unlike you, Queen Regina saw fit to make sure that I didn't remember anything and as to why I'm suddenly 'aware' I'm flattered that you think that this was all my doing but my memories returning to me and time starting to move again in Storybrooke isn't down to me. It's down to somebody else. Emma."

"Emma? Henry Mills' birth mother? Her…" Seraphina questioned as she held up the newspaper for Rumplestiltskin to see Emma's mug shot on the front page of the local paper. Now Seraphina was really confused, Emma was the first person to come to Storybrooke in years and now time was moving again, Rumplestiltskin had his memories back and judging by what he had just implied, Emma coming here was responsible for everything that was going on. It just begged several question as to who Emma was connected to all of this.

"You don't know do you…" Rumplestiltskin questioned with a self satisfactory smile on his face and Seraphina knew that it was going to kill her on the inside to get an answer from the man. But she was going to have to swallow her pride.

"Know what imp?"

"It's going to costs you dearie."

"Why am I not surprised? So what do you want Rumplestiltskin?" Seraphina questioned in exasperation as the last thing she wanted to be doing was making a deal with Rumplestiltskin. His reputation for making deals proceeded him and Seraphina knew that this was going to cost her a lot but she needed to know what he knew.

"A favor. I'm going to need you to do something for me in the future and your going to do it with no questions asked, is that clear?" Rumplestiltskin stated and Seraphina didn't like the sound of it in the slightest, it was all vague and cryptic which made the possibilities of what Rumplestiltskin wanted her to do for him in the future endless.

"Fine… And here I thought you were going to be stupid enough to ask my crystal again." Seraphina replied in a bored tone of voice.

"You've made it clear that you won't given up the Elysium Crystal and besides I'm no longer interested in it given it's useless here thanks to Regina and her curse. But hopefully that won't remain the case for much longer since Emma is now in Storybrooke, the saviour returned on her 28th birthday just like I foretold and things are going to get very interesting, just look what's happened already." Rumplestiltskin stated and Seraphina sighed as she still had no clue as to what the man was going on about, this why she hated dealing with Rumplestiltskin as he never got straight to the point. He was always one for theatrics and spent forever beating around the bust.

"Are you telling that Emma can break the curse? Henry's birth mother is the key to all of us being free again? Her coming to Storybrooke is why time has reumed?" Seraphina question, daring herself to hope for even a brief moment.

"That is exactly what I'm am telling you Queen Seraphina, Emma Swan is more than the birth mother of Henry Mills, she is the child of Snow White and her Prince Charming, a product of true love and the saviour. She is the key to the dark curse being broken…"

As soon as Seraphina heard Rumplestiltskin state that Emma was the key to breaking the curse she stopped listening, she was unable to listen anymore as she was so overcome with emotion that her mind just went blank. This curse, this these twenty eight years of hell would be coming to an end. There was a saviour who could save them all and finally put an end to this nightmare. The curse would be broken. Jefferson. Seraphina's mind was instantly filled with the person most important to her, the person who was always on her mind and had been by her side though all of this. She needed to tell him, Jefferson needed to know that soon this would all be over. Not caring for niceties, Seraphina left Rumplestiltskin and began to run, she wanted to tell Jefferson as soon as possible and so she ran. The distance to their house wasn't too far but that didn't matter as Seraphina would have run a hundred miles in order tell Jefferson the news. He had been trying so hard to break this curse on his own, to find a way to be reunited with Grace again. Seraphina ran as fast as she could, not caring that she was getting slightly out of breath because nothing was going to stop her. Everything that had been working towards was now right in front of them. Seraphina ran up the driveway, awkwardly stumbling with the door before all but falling over the threshold. She shouted as loud as she could, she yelled for Jefferson as she ran through rooms trying to find him. He wasn't in the living, he wasn't in the kitchen. There was a possibility that he could be upstairs but then Seraphina's mind wondered off to the one room in the entire house that she spent little time in but Jefferson spent most of his time in. The workroom.

Seraphina made her way down the hallways, ignoring everything around her accidently knocking over a lamp but she didn't care. This entire house was pretty much a huge reference to their former lives, it had always drove Seraphina mad but now? It was a reminder of what they were going to go home to. In what seemed to be like hours but only a few minutes, Seraphina came face to face with Jefferson who was walking out of his workroom, no doubt coming to see what all the noise was about. Seraphina blurted the words out, she said the words that they had been hoping to hear for so many years; that the curse was going to be broken. Seraphina had said the words but Jefferson hadn't reacted, he was looking at her as if she had lost her mind. He had this sad and worried look on his face, it was pretty much the same expression that Jefferson had greeted her with this morning. Seraphina didn't understand.

Why wasn't Jefferson reacting to what she had told him? This was the news that he had been dreaming of ever since they had arrived in Storybrooke. Seraphina didn't understand, all she could see was Jefferson walking towards her. He stopped right in front of her and he lifted his arms up and it was only he used his thumbs to wipe her face that Seraphina understood. She was crying.

"Sera… Seraphina, what's wrong? I can't understand what your saying, I need you to take a deep breathe and tell me what's happened." Jefferson asked in soft manner as he continued to brush away Seraphina's tears. She must have been more overwhelmed that she thought, Seraphina hadn't realized that she was crying, Jefferson probably hadn't a single word she had said to him because she was such a mess right now. The tears and all the running must have made everything she had said incomprehensible for Jefferson to understand. She didn't know whether to laugh, cry or even scream but Seraphina knew that she just had to get the words out of her mouth.

"The curse. It's going to be broken, we're going to be saved…"