Chapter 26: Suspects

Her head was ringing and her vision was still a little fuzzy but she was able to take in some of her surroundings. She was being contained in a iron cage that was placed in a dark room with only a single lantern hanging from the stone walls. In one of the corners there was a passage way but no light came from it. She had no memory of how she got here. The last thing that came to mind was the fight at the Caterpillar's. She was shooting down as many as she could but it seemed that they would just get back up again. Eventually, she was overwhelmed and that was when things seemed to just fade to black.

She tried her best to stand but she only managed to get into a sitting position. A groan came from her left and she froze. After a few seconds of silence, she carefully reached out and felt the thick, shaggy hair of her shepherd.

"David?" She whispered in fear someone was listening.

Another groan came from the boy and she moved on to shaking him.

"David!" She kept her voice low but urgency could be heard in it.

This time he moved a bit and with another shake, started sitting up and looking around, bringing a hand to his forehead that felt like it was exploding.

"Snow?" He grumbled still a bit dazed.

She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder to let him know it was her.

"Where are we?"

"I have no idea." Fear was evident in both their voices as they realized they truly had no idea where they were or how to get out. Snow felt something warm and wet roll down her face as the thought of never getting back home came to her mind. Once one tear dropped, more followed until she was downright sobbing. David pulled her into his arms to try and make her feel better but it wouldn't do much good. He could promise her that they would be okay but he didn't know if they would.

"Well that was pointless." Regina huffed as she and her mother followed their stable boy back towards Emerald City.

"Not pointless, we did cross two people off the list of suspects." Daniel told her optimistically which was a bit out of character for him.

"And just who else is on this list?"

"There are two other witches."

If they met the witches of courage and wisdom then the other two would be love and innocence. How the hell could witches with those qualities do something like this? It had to be the two they met or there was someone else in Oz they needed to look out for. The wizard could be a possibility if he had a way to put a glamour spell on himself to frame someone. Or maybe it wasn't even the witches but another magic user in Oz. The mayor did say she was tall, blonde, and had a white dress, that description alone could describe a fourth of the population.

"Where are we going?"

"Back to the wizard's place. There's an item we could use."

Change? What did she mean change? Glinda turned the knob and opened the door to the old cottage. She stepped into the darkness that lay inside and Zelena had little choice but to follow her. A lantern was lit and gave off a dim light that allowed the young witch to take a good look of the room. Old pieces of furniture was scattered about the open space, each covered with a thick layer of dust. Any details on the walls were eaten away by time save for the old clocks that ceased ticking years ago. Without a word, Glinda went over to the worn out fireplace and with a wave of her hand, pushed back the bottom and revealed stairs that lead to a pathway illuminated by more flickering candles. The two crept down the stairs and through the hall and into a stone room that was empty except for a rather large iron cage in the corner. A cage which wasn't empty.

"Glinda." Zelena breathed. "What did you do?"

Across the room, inside the cage lay a group of adventurers unconscious and bound with rope. On the floor, just out of arm's reach lay a simple black hat. She looked back to her sister. There's no way she could do this, she couldn't kidnap people and keep them hostage.

"I'll explain everything in a moment. I need to go back and get something. I have faith that you'll side with me and watch them while I'm gone."

Zelena tried to say something but Glinda didn't bother listening and disappeared in a cloud of white smoke, leaving her by herself. She looked over to the adventurers. She knew she should help them but she really wanted to know why they were here. Besides, there was the chance that they could be part of some gang full of killers. She was doing the right thing, right?

Once they reached the castle, the guards tried to stop them after what happened before but Cora just snapped their necks and hummed a tune while doing so. She morphed their bodies into ants so no one would see and notify the others. They stormed into the big room and just as the fire started to flare up, Cora used her magic to rip down the curtain and reveal a man simply flipping levers and pushing buttons; not using magic. Regina dragged him over to them and flipped him over on his back. She forced parts of the floor to come up and wrap around his wrists and ankles to create make-shift shackles. Cora smiled and waved at him, pleased that she was correct on him being nothing but a fraud.

"Don't hurt me!" His voice cracked and he was on the verge of wetting himself.

Daniel walked over to where the man's things where and started rummaging through his drawers.

"Hey! That's my stuff!"

"Unless you want to be crammed in the drawer with your things, I suggest you shut it." Cora said with her usual attitude. Walsh immediately quieted and kept his head down. Daniel found what he was looking for and pulled it out. He walked over with the item in hand and held it out to for the others to see.

"A tin can?"

"When is an something enchanted not a normally useless item?" He retorted. "If you put your hand in, you can pull out any item from any realm or if you so wanted you could chat with the owners of the other cans."

"And we need this because?"

Without answering, Daniel reached in the can and after a bit of digging around, he pulled out the forget-me-knot that Snow and David had retrieved in Wonderland.

"A rope?" Regina asked him with an eyebrow perked. "And just what enchantment does this have? Do you intend to use it to lasso the culprit?"

"Its a forget-me-knot. You use it to view events that recently happened." Cora explained.

"If we bring this to the witches' circle we may be able to see our friends passing through and just who is accompanying them." Daniel told the young queen who still had her doubts. He was sure that as long as it went back far enough to see it they would easily be able to identify the perpetrator and find their companions.

"Well? What are we waiting for?" Cora asked and before either of the two could answer a blue cloud of smoke engulfed them and sent them back to the table. All of the witches were away doing their own business so no one would be there to interrupt them. Daniel held up the rope and scanned around the room.

"Damn it!"

"What's wrong?" The women gathered around him to view the scene however, instead of their friends being taken they saw a young redhead walk in with a birthday cake and get approached by the witch of courage who starts crying after a few minutes of conversation.

"Great!" Regina threw up her arms and groaned.

"Wait!" Daniel said and she looked over his shoulder to watch the rope again.

Just as the brunette really starts crying, another woman walks in. One that is tall, blonde, and is wearing a white dress.

"That's her!" Cora exclaimed and pointed at the blonde. She held her hand out to high-five Regina but her daughter just glared at her.

"That's Glinda. She represents love." Daniel told the two.

Regina kept watching but confusion was evident on her face. The blonde seemed to be comforting the redhead and she was supposed to be the person who kidnapped their friends? Something was off and she knew it.

"What are you doing?!"

The three spun around to find no one other than the witch they were spying on. Glinda walked over to them and studied the rope.

"A forget-me-knot? You had no right to be spying on my sisters!" She yelled at them but she didn't seem angry. If anything, she seemed hurt that they would invade her privacy. If she was the person they were looking for wouldn't she be mad that they were on to her? Shouldn't she be trying to take the knot and kick them all out?

"Some friends of ours are lost and we think they may of passed through here. If we're trespassing we'll just leave." Regina said and turned to go with Daniel and her mother eying her as if she was crazy. She looked back at them and motioned them to follow her. They apologized to the witch and left with Regina.

Snow and David remained as silent as they could and tried their best not to move. Two women had come down to their room and now one still remained. If she found out they were awake she could either kill them or put them back to sleep. If they wanted to eavesdrop and figure some things out, they couldn't have that happen. The women started pacing and talking to herself.

"What did she mean by change? How are these people supposed to change things? Why didn't she tell the others about this?" The woman groaned and stomped her foot causing Snow to jump a bit. She hoped their guard wouldn't take our her frustration on them although she did seem a bit surprised to find out her friend was holding them captive so it was likely she wanted them released. She heard a weird sound and another set of footsteps. The other woman must've returned using magic.

"Glinda, can you please tell me why these people are here?"

"They'll lead you to something you want."

Snow refrained from raising her eyebrows and she felt David shift.

"And what's that?"

"Your sister."

Snow almost gasped. They were being used as bait? That would mean they knew the woman's sister and pretty well too considering she'd come to save them if this Glinda person's plan worked. Considering the length of silence between the friends, the one who guarded them was probably shocked. Snow confirmed it when she heard the woman's voice with the next question she asked.

"Regina's in Oz?"

WHAT!? NO. They must be talking about another Regina. But wait, I don't know anyone else with that name. Snow's mouth almost flew open with the revelation that Regina had a sister that she didn't even know about. That no one knew about until now and now she's going to find out when she comes to save them. She prayed that the women only wanted to lure Regina in to have a friendly talk and not to kill her.

"Indeed she is Zelena. She'll come for her friends here and when she does, you can finally have that little 'chat' with her you always wanted."

Snow could tell with the emphasis the woman put on chat, the two weren't just going to chat. Her heart quickened. She needed to warn Regina but she didn't know how. There weren't any birds around here to send a message and she didn't know any magic.

"I'm over that. What happened to changing your destiny?"

"Zelena." Glinda started. "She came here through a cyclone. Do you know what this means?"

After some silence, Zelena replied.

"She's supposed to defeat the greatest evil."

Wait, Regina's part of a prophecy in this land?

"And who's that?"

"I guess its still me."

"Are you really going to let your little sister defeat you?"

"No, but I can't kill her either. If I did I wouldn't be representing innocence anymore."

"And if she beats you, she'll be the one to represent it. Oz needs you. Are you really going to put your detached family first?"

More silence fell upon the room until Zelena eventually came to a decision.

"No."

"What the hell was that?" Her mother yelled once they were out of earshot. "We could've had her."

"I don't think its her." Regina tried to explain but she didn't really know how. Every thing they knew about this pointed to Glinda but the witch herself seemed too innocent and caring to commit a crime like that. It wasn't like she just asked the gang to come with her to Oz. No, there were scuffle marks proving that they were forced here.

"And just why not?"

"She might be getting framed for this. She's the witch of love not darkness!"

"Regina may have a point." Daniel tried to cut in. After all, he actually met the witch before.

"People do stupid things for love! I thought you and Stable Boy knew that."

Regina gave her a dirty look then shoved past her and down the brick road. That weird feeling came back again and she stopped. What the heck is going on? She looked around and once again found no one. Is that wizard watching me or something? She highly doubted that though since she left the man shackled to the floor. This time was different though. She got lightheaded and the world seemed to spin around her. She tipped forward and caught herself by putting her hand on her knees. She looked down at the brick road that seemed to split apart and fall back together again as her vision grew shaky. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. This wasn't like anything she'd ever experienced before. Rumple had managed to get into her mind several times and her mother had as well but it was never like this. When they did it it was only whispers and sometimes visions dancing across her mind but now it was as if someone was trying to force their way into her head. A sudden feeling washed over her as if someone was staring right behind her. She spun around to only find her mother and Daniel watching her with a bit of concern and curiosity.

"Regina, dear, are you alright?"

She blinked a few times and the feeling went away. It seemed to her that this person was been trying to get in since she first came here and today they amped up the force. All three times they failed and backed off but she knew they'd be back.

"Yeah, I just got a little dizzy."

"A little?" Daniel asked. He could tell it wasn't just random bouts of dizziness. Just from the way she reacted he knew something happened that she didn't really know how to explain.

"Let's get to the nearest village and rent a room or something. Maybe a little sleep will help." Cora suggested and headed off in the direction. She was about to argue since anytime resting was time not looking for their friends but she really wanted the sleep. They set off down the road with Regina often casting glances over her shoulders. Daniel took notice and slowed his pace a bit to walk with her.

"What really happened?"

"I got light-headed, that's all." She lied.

"Then why do you keep looking around you?"

She sighed and turned to face him. She started hated the idea of sharing secrets with him not because she feared he'd tell; no, she knew he'd keep it to his grave. The problem was that she's told him so much and he still hasn't revealed anything about himself to her.

"I feel like someone's watching me." She confessed.

"Who do you think it is?"

"I don't know. It must be someone here though because it started right after we went through that cyclone."

He hummed in interest but didn't say anything. The only eavesdropper he knew about was the wizard and he was a bit held down at the moment. It was something he'd look into though. They already lost most of their group and if someone planned on taking Regina, he'd do his best to prevent it.

The inn they stayed at was pretty decent and the rooms were nicely sized. To them though it was on the smaller side because Cora only had enough money to buy one room and she bluntly told them she was too tired to spin any straw; so here they were all crowded together sharing sleeping space. On the good side, it had two beds. Daniel suggested Cora and Regina sharing a bed which led to Cora suggesting he share it with her daughter to which he decided to just sleep on the floor in front of the fireplace. The old woman took one of the blankets off her bed and threw it at him before crashing down on the mattress and passing out. Regina rolled her eyes and settled into her bed, pulling the covers up to her chest. She looked over them at bit to watch Daniel. He was sitting up, starting intently at the fire with the blanket wrapped around him. She smiled a bit when she realized how much he looked like a little kid at that moment. She found her eyelids progressively getting heavier and heavier and within moments she was out. However, instead of a regular dreamland, she found herself in a forest. She was intensely aware of her surroundings and details seemed a bit too realistic for something her mind conjured up. It was more like an out-of-body experience than a dream. Tall trees surrounded the dirt path she was standing on that was a bit muddy from recent rainfall. She walked over and grabbed a leaf from a nearby bush and was able to make out every drop of water on it. She furrowed her brows at further inspection. She had lifted up the leaf and tilted it a bit but no raindrops slid down or dripped. It was if they were frozen in place. She looked up at the sky and dropped her jaw. A bird was frozen mid-flight above the trees. The wings were arched as if they were just about to come up from flapping. Things were definitely frozen, she realized the scene was frozen in time. Leaves were stuck in the air after departing from trees that were slightly bent from a wind that wasn't there anymore. Birds and bugs remained motionless in the air and small animals skittering around on the forest floor were caught in a multitude of positions. All of them seemed to be running away from a certain direction. She looked over and debated if she should check out what was in that direction. Curiosity won her over and she decided to walk towards whatever was scaring the critters away. She stomped through some mud and pushed through some leaves to get to a little clearing to find no one other than the person behind this.

"Alex."