Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time.

Chapter Nine

Emma and Lily walked through the halls, exploring the castle. It hadn't taken them long to find out Ingrid had left, the appearance of the servants made from ice and snow had been a surprise though when they had first encountered them. The servants had explained that Ingrid had returned to the realm with no magic in order to find something she had left behind and that she would be returning soon.

"Hey Emma," Lily suddenly said. "Look at this."

Emma turned from where she been examining a statue on the opposite side of the hallway to Lily. Lily was stood in front of a set of double doors, which ice seemed to have leaked through and covered the walls around the door frame. The doors themselves were frozen shut and icicles had formed from the door handles.

"Wow," Emma muttered as she walked over to Lily. "What do you think is in there?"

"Only one way to find out," Lily grinned before raising her hands.

Shutting her eyes, Lily thought back to all the bad things that had happened in her life so far and how angry it made her. It wasn't fair! What had she ever done to deserve it? What had been so bad about her that her parents had given her away as a newborn baby? She could feel her hands growing warmer and she heard Emma gasp.

"It's working, Lily!" Emma grinned.

Concentrating, Lily tried to focus her anger. What else made her angry? Someone hurting Emma! Letting her mind run wild, Lily thought of all the ways Emma could be threatened or hurt in this new realm. Every villain from every storybook was real! What if Maleficent put her under a sleeping curse or she ate a poison apple? Lily opened her eyes to find her hands engulfed in flames and the ice melting from the doors forming a puddle on the ground under their feet.

As the last of the ice melted, Lily lowered her arms. Glancing at each other, Lily and Emma both stepped forward and grabbed a door handle each. With a turn and a click, the doors swung open. The room beyond the door was a large room, with a banquet table, with frozen a frozen tablecloth, candlesticks, ornaments and silverware on its surface, was covered in ice and frost with icicles hanging from the edges. The chairs were in a similar state. A grand fireplace had multiple icicles could be seen and frozen bookcases lined the walls of the room, with a small reading table and chair in the far corner.

"It's freezing in here," Emma exclaimed as shivers instantly run through her and her breath fogged in the air. "Like, beyond cold!"

"Funny," Lily giggled, not even shivering as the dragon fire which ran through her veins kept her warm. "Ice is like that, I've noticed."

Emma shot Lily a glare hugging herself in an attempt to keep warm, before turning her attention to the frozen painting which hung on the walls. Walking around the table, Emma was so preoccupied with the paintings, she failed to pay attention to where she was walking and bumped into something. Stumbling backwards she looked upwards at an ice sculpture of a young woman.

"Lily!" Emma gasped.

"Over here," Lily called and Emma turned to find Lily standing next to a second ice sculpture, one of a young man with a weapon raised poised to strike.

)o(

Ingrid knocked on the door of the foster home she had once run and was now in the care of Cruella. She could hear the screams and laughter of children playing within before it was drowned out by the sound of a dog barking on the other side of the door she had just knocked on. Taking a moment Ingrid looked round at the front yard, taking in the changes which had occurred since she had left. It seems she had left the foster home in capable hands just like she thought she had. As the barking stopped, Ingrid turned back to face the door which opened a second later.

"Ingrid!" Cruella greeted in surprise.

"It's good to see you, Cruella," Ingrid smiled. "May I come in?"

"Of course!" Cruella stepped aside, letting Ingrid enter.

Stepping past Cruella and into the foster home, Ingrid admired the new décor. Shutting the door, Cruella lead Ingrid to the kitchen.

"What are you doing here, Ingrid?" Cruella asked as she moved across to the coffee maker. "Tea? Coffee?"

Ingrid shook her head, "I need to find Ursula."

"Ursula?" Cruella asked, surprised. "Why?"

"She's been keeping track of someone, in hopes they would lead her to where the curse landed in this realm," Ingrid replied. "I need to find the one she tracks."

"She won't be willing to give up her chance of getting revenge on Ariel that easily," Cruella warned her.

Ingrid smiled and waved her hand, causing snowflakes to drift through the air.

"She doesn't need to be willing," Ingrid said.

"You have magic… How?" Cruella gasped shocked.

Ingrid just smiled, "Where is Ursula?"

Cruella stared at Ingrid for a moment and she saw the look in Ingrid's eyes and quickly put her cup of coffee down.

"I will go and find the address she left me," Cruella quickly excused herself from the room.

Ingrid watched her all but flee from the room. In didn't take long for Cruella to return with a piece of paper, an address written on it in Ursula's familiar script. Cruella held it out to Ingrid, who took it and studied the address.

"Thank you, Cruella," Ingrid smiled.

Cruella nodded, "Just don't tell her you got it from me. I, unlike you, will remain trapped in this realm with her… If she ever finds out I helped you and it results in her not being able to find Ariel and to get her revenge. Well, you know Ursula just as well as I do. She may no longer have her magic, but she's not someone to mess with in any realm."

)o(

Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.