Chapter Twelve: Magical Tracing

Fiona sat in her office, having just returned from the mines behind the building. Not as many of her goons were sent into the town at that time, since Fiona didn't want other people in the town asking her questions.

But she was furious about what had happened the night before. Her car was still being repaired. Henry had escaped once again. And the girl was now aware of her own magic.

"But, Henry's family is still far away, unable to assist him in his quest. And what can three teenagers do all alone?" Fiona asked herself aloud. There was no one in the town to help them. There was no one there who would know what happened to the three teenagers after Fiona dealt with them. And though she hadn't quite figured out what to do about Robin, she knew that the Charming family tree needed to be cut.

She heard a small knock on her door. Gideon cautiously came into the room. Fiona rolled her eyes, part of her wishing that her grandson put up more of a fight. He was such a wimp by nature, though, and habits are hard to break. But thankfully, as Gideon grew up, he wasn't as hard to break.

"I finished my schoolwork for the day, mother." Gideon said. Fiona smiled at her "adopted" son.

"Good work, Gideon. Now you can help me with something else."

Gideon started to become concerned, but of course he didn't say anything. He didn't want to make his mother mad.

"What can I help you with, mother?" Gideon asked.

"There is a girl I need help finding, Gideon. I have something I want to give her." Fiona held out a brown leather cuff, identical to the one that Gideon was wearing on his wrist.

Gideon was curious to ask why someone else needed the cuff, but didn't say anything. Of course he wouldn't.

"I want you to go out into the town and look around for her. Try the forest, try the graveyard, anywhere you think she might be." Fiona ordered.

"How about the school?" Gideon suggested. It wasn't a stupid question, since he didn't know that Robin came from another town and didn't go to the local high school.

But Fiona took the moment to make her son feel stupid. She found joy in making him feel weak. One reason was out of pure evil, her mind was consumed with it. But the other reason was to make sure that Gideon didn't grow stronger. The cuff on his wrist blocked out his magic quite well. But if Gideon became strong and defied her, then one day the cuff could potentially come off, releasing magic that the mayor didn't think she could handle.

"Of course she wouldn't be there Gideon. If she were I would be going there right now!" Fiona spat. Gideon nodded quickly and left the room. Fiona noticed that he had left the cuff on the table, and called her son back into the room.

I will pull him down another peg.

Robin and Charlotte walked around the grocery store. Charlotte would point at different food and ask if they could buy it. Robin acted like a mother and told Charlotte why some of the food would be bad to buy. Oddly enough, Charlotte didn't ask about any candies or chocolates. Robin decided to put in a box of candies in the cart that Charlotte could try later.

Most of the purchases were vegetables, fruits, and some protein. Robin didn't know what type of diet Charlotte had before now, and wanted to help her grow stronger. She was even tempted to take Charlotte to the doctor to get her examined for anything that could be wrong, but she didn't know what would happen if she went into the hospital with a child.

As they waited in the checkout line, Robin pulled out her phone and checked her messages. She had twenty missed calls from Janice, Wyatt and Tina. Looks like they came home early.

Bracing herself, Robin decided to type in Tina's number and held her phone to her ear. But she couldn't get through to her foster parent. Robin braced herself even more and tried calling Janice and Wyatt while Charlotte paid for the food. But Robin couldn't reach Neal's parents either. Standing by a bench outside the grocery store, Robin tried texting Neal, but the message wouldn't go through. A balding man walked by her as he held his phone in the air.

"Man, what happened to my connection? What's up with the service?" Alright, so my phone isn't the only one going through this issue.

"Can we look at that store, Robin?" Charlotte asked. Robin looked across the street at Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop.

"Do you see the mayor in there?" Robin asked. Charlotte shook her head.

"Then we can go in."

Robin and Charlotte went across the street and went inside Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop. The owner smiled at Charlotte and greeted the two girls warmly.

"Good morning, girls. School on a break right now?" Mr. Gold asked.

Charlotte didn't know how to respond to Mr. Gold, but Robin smiled.

"Just came into town to get groceries." Robin answered. Charlotte walked around the store, keeping her eyes on the glass unicorn mobile that hung over one of the shelves. Robin stood back more, not really seeing anything in the store that interested her. But she knew that if Charlotte was really interested in something, she would consider buying it for her. As long as it wasn't expensive.

As Charlotte looked around the store, she noticed something that Mr. Gold was holding. She stared at it intently, grabbing Mr. Gold's attention.

"Are you interested in this piece of wood?" Mr. Gold asked. Charlotte nodded vigorously, and reached into her pocket. She pulled out two small diamond pieces and placed them on the counter in front of Mr. Gold.

"Charlotte!" Robin came up beside the young girl and instead replaced the diamonds with some cash.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Gold. I can pay for the-" Robin looked at what Mr. Gold was holding and was surprised as to why Charlotte would want it. The stick seemed to look more like bark, with rough patches that could give Charlotte a splinter.

"Are you sure this is what you are wanting, Charlotte?" Mr. Gold asked. He was eying the diamonds that were hidden under the small stack of cash Robin had laid on the counter.

"Either this or that cool sword in the barrel." Charlotte pointed behind her at the sword that Robin had noticed the day before. The red jewel on at the top of the handle glowed once more as the sun reflected onto it. She didn't want to have to keep on eye on Charlotte 24/7 as she swung around a sword in the farmhouse.

Mr. Gold seemed more attached to that sword, as he put the stick in a box and handed it to Charlotte.

"How much is it, Mr. Gold?" Robin asked.

"That depends, Robin. Is it for you, or for her?" Mr. Gold asked.

"It's for Robin." Charlotte answered.

But I don't want a stick. Robin looked at Charlotte.

"It's supposed to be for your birthday." Charlotte explained. Robin gave her a smile, and then realized that she was paying for her own birthday present. Sighing, she looked at the amount of money left on the counter.

"The stick, or wand as I like to call it, can be given to you for the price of…" Mr. Gold held out his hand and Charlotte gave it back. Mr. Gold held it in his hand and examined it quickly, then gave it back to Charlotte.

"$10.00"

Henry and Neal stood in front of the crypt. Neal was terrified of going inside.

"I can go inside, Neal. Just wait here." Henry went inside the crypt and pushed his grandfather's stone casket aside. Underneath was a small set of stairs that led to a small chamber of magic Regina had in the town. Looking around, Henry wondered if he would be able to find anything to help his family.

Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Henry saw Neal come into the room as well.

"I don't like graveyards." Neal admitted. He then felt his phone go off, and saw all the missed calls from his parents.

"Oh man, they came home early." Neal panicked. He sat on a bench in the chamber and dialled his dad's number.

"Neal? Where are you?" Wyatt wasn't yelling, but Neal could hear the panic in his voice.

"Hey dad, I thought you and mom were away-" Neal started.

Janice grabbed the phone from her husband.

"Neal David Wyatt! Why are you not at home? Are you with Robin, is she safe?" Janice demanded.

"Mom, Robin and I are okay. We're uh…in Maine."

"In Maine! Why on earth are you in Maine? And why haven't you been answering your phone? We've been trying to call you for the last ten hours!"

"Ten hours?" Neal checked the time stamps on his phone.

"Mom, my phone is showing otherwise-"

"Whatever the case may be, why are you two in Maine? The police went to Robin's house, Bill has kicked her out."

"Kicked her out?" Neal swore loudly, forgetting to cover the phone so his mother wouldn't hear.

"I'm sorry Mom. But that's ridiculous. Robin was just trying to find her parents!" Neal explained.

"Find her parents? How, she didn't have any information." Janice responded.

"She was given something in the mail, and there was information about a small town in Maine."

Neal explained.

"What's it called?"

"I don't think you would believe me if I told you."

"You better tell me anyway."

Neal sighed. Henry looked away awkwardly, examining the different shelves in the chamber.

"The town is called StoryBrooke, Mom. Apparently Robin and I were found outside of the town when we were two-"

"You and Robin?" Janice asked cautiously. Neal nodded, then remembered that his mother wasn't in the room. How was he going to tell his mother about this?

"Mom, apparently I was born in StoryBrooke as well. But I'm not worried about finding out about my past, I just want to help Robin find her family-"

"Neal you need to come back home." Janice said. "This is completely irresponsible, you are still a minor and shouldn't be in a town on your own!"

"I don't know if we can come home, Mom." Neal realized that he shouldn't have said that. Henry smacked his head with his hand and turned to look at Neal.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T COME HOME?" Janice wailed. Wyatt took the phone from his wife and put it against his ear.

"Neal, why can't you come home?" Wyatt asked. Neal had put his father on speakerphone, and Henry could see why Neal loved his dad so much. The man was calm, cool and collected as he spoke with his son. Henry watched Neal calm down and answer his dad properly.

"Okay dad, I'm going to be honest. But I don't think mom should hear about it right now." Neal admitted. Wyatt understood, and the boys could hear Wyatt asking his wife if he could step out for a minute. There must have been some other people in the house as well, as Wyatt had to explain who he was talking to.

"He's alright, just needs to talk with his dad. Pipe down, I'll be back in a minute. No Tim, you can't say hi right now." Neal smiled, thinking about his same age cousin Timothy.

"Okay dad, my friend Henry is here in the room with me." Neal said.

"Hello Henry. Nice to, uh, hear you."

"Nice to hear you as well, sir." Henry replied.

"Dad, we found out that Robin was born in this town, but there have been issues getting information. And some bad stuff has been found in the town."

"What bad stuff, Neal? You have to be clear and explain it truthfully, so I don't panic like your poor mother."

"Okay dad, but a lot of it is unbelievable." Neal admitted.

"Neal, the blessings that both you and Robin have been in our lives is unbelievable. I can handle whatever you need to tell me." Neal paused, feeling his throat tighten. He just wanted to be at home with his parents. He didn't want to just talk to them on the phone.

He was then starting to wonder why his phone suddenly started working when he and Henry had entered the crypt. His parents had been trying to call him for ten hours. He was only hearing their phone calls now. Did it have something to do with magic?

"Hold on, dad." Neal said quickly. He covered his phone so his dad wouldn't hear him, and looked at Henry.

"Does our phone connection have anything to do with magic?" Neal asked curiously.

"What?" Henry asked.

"Our phones started working when we entered the crypt, and you said there was some magic down here. I haven't been able to use my phone as much elsewhere." Neal admitted.

"Okay, so maybe magic has some effect on it, what's wrong with that?" Henry asked.
"Can the Black Fairy tamper with that magic at all?"

Henry paused, unsure of what Fiona could do. He didn't know if she could affect anything that was in the range of magical items and objects.

"I don't know, Neal." Henry answered.

"Then I don't know if I should keep telling my dad about all of this." Neal said. He didn't know if the mayor could somehow magically tap into his phone, and find out about his family. He didn't want to risk anyone being put in danger.

"You might just be paranoid about it." Henry said. Henry did have a point. Deciding to speak with his dad some more, Neal uncovered his phone.

But now Henry was feeling paranoid, and went out of the chamber. Was the Black Fairy able to track down the phones with her magic?

Henry decided to use one of his mother's books about magic. He went through one of her larger volumes, which was basically an encyclopedia for magic and how to use it properly. Looking at magical tracking, Henry read about how magical tracking worked.

"Okay, so magical tracking isn't possible right from the start." Henry summarized. "Someone who is able to use magic cannot just start to track down someone out of the blue." Henry felt a bit of relief, and kept on looking through the page.

"In order to be able to track someone, a possession of that person must be surrounded by magic to create a track for the magic user." Henry closed to the book, and took a moment to breathe. He then dashed down the stairs and into the chamber. Accidentally tackling Neal in the process, Henry turned off the call on Neal's phone.

"Dude, my dad was still on there!" Neal exclaimed.

"Turns out magical tracking is a thing." Henry admitted. He went up the stairs and brought the book down for Neal to see. But Neal was confused by what the book meant.

"Magical tracking is possible, but the Black Fairy couldn't have done it to your phone before because there was no magic near the phone." Henry explained.

"So, the mayor needs magic around something she can track in order to be able to track it." Neal said.

"Yeah, pretty much." Henry said.

"Then we better find Robin." Neal admitted.

"How come?"

"She texted me before I continued my call with dad. She said that she was having trouble with her phone, but since we are here we can receive those messages anyway. Cause magic. But anyway, she said that she and Charlotte bought something from Mr. Gold's store, and Charlotte is convinced that it is some wand that the Black Fairy had."

Henry felt his throat tighten.

"And they didn't drop the wand anywhere, or decide to return it?"

"No, Robin is holding onto it. She and Charlotte are going to head back to the house."
"We have to find the girls and get rid of that wand!" Henry yelled. He and Neal ran up the stairs and locked the crypt behind them, running through the graveyard to find Robin and Charlotte.

Robin could feel her phone go off in her backpack, and saw the missed calls that she had from Wyatt and Janice and Tina. Oh man, they returned home early.

Grabbing her phone out of her bag, Robin saw that her text to Neal had been sent, but he hadn't responded.

Robin was anxious to go back to the farmhouse and put the groceries in the fridge. But something was preventing her from turning around and heading in the direction of the old house. Some instinct kept her walking towards another part of the town. Charlotte followed along closely, noticing some of the Black Fairy's goons wandering about.

"They won't attack us right now, will they?" Charlotte asked quietly. Robin noticed the goons, but was able to reassure Charlotte.

"Don't worry, Charlotte. Other people would notice those thugs as soon as they started bothering us."

"Yeah, you're right. Besides, you could hit them with your magic if you wanted to."

"I guess so." Robin responded quietly.

"Shouldn't we go home and put this stuff in the fridge?" Charlotte asked. Robin nodded, but didn't want those goons following along. Walking through an alleyway between two of the buildings across from Granny's Diner, Robin and Charlotte ended up in the woods near the cemetery.

"Maybe the boys are still in the crypt." Robin wondered. She was curious to go and look, but couldn't step forward. Another instinct was taking hold, something that she wasn't used to.

Robin turned around, and thought she saw some figures walking by the other side of the alleyway. Robin handed the groceries over to Charlotte, along with her cellphone.

"Charlotte, I'm going to distract those goons. You go home and wait for the boys, okay?" Robin explained. Charlotte nodded, and went running into the graveyard. Robin could still see the figures at the other end of the alleyway, peaking in every now and then. Robin acted as if she was talking with someone else who was hidden behind one of the buildings on her end of the alleyway. After twenty minutes, Robin turned around and headed to another alleyway between the buildings. Bracing herself, she came out the other side and walked towards Granny's Diner. She could see the goons in her peripheral vision. They were peaking through the alleyway, wondering where Charlotte had gone.

Time for a chicken salad sandwich.

Charlotte was a fast runner like Robin was. She was able to get back to the farmhouse and put the groceries inside. She locked all of the doors to the house and waited upstairs in the room she occupied, wearing Robin's hoodie and holding onto Henry's storybook. Henry didn't think that the book would be in as much danger as he and the others were.

Since Charlotte had never had a phone before, she had no idea how to use Robin's. But she pressed the buttons and was able to find one of the many games on the small device. Charlotte preoccupied herself for an hour, until she felt tired and wanted to sleep. Putting down Robin's phone, Charlotte fell asleep on the bed.

"I don't think hitting the rocks and quieter will make the sound quieter."

"You're right, it just makes it a harder process to get more diamonds."

Charlotte rolled her eyes at her two friends, but went back to hitting the stones in front of her. She wore two thick pieces of cloth around her head to try and dampen the noise of the pickaxe. It was helping, but it would have worked best if it was only Charlotte hitting the rocks. Sadly, there were about 20 other kids in the same chamber as she was, and 100 more working at the moment in the same mine.

The three children could hear a scream coming from a chamber far down the left side of the mine. The Black Fairy had her large main chamber there were most of the diamonds and magic was stored. One of the older miners had done something that the Black Fairy hadn't appreciated. They let Charlotte out of her cell earlier than she was supposed to be released. Charlotte felt her throat tighten with guilt.

"I hate this place." Charlotte said aloud. Her friends looked at her, but continued to hit the rocks in front of them. Charlotte's friend Travis was working on freeing a large diamond.

"We all do, Charlotte. But we can't do too much right now." Travis said. Mike agreed. Suddenly, the three children saw guards coming down the hallway from the Black Fairy's lair, as it was commonly referred to. Charlotte looked away from the guards, keeping her eyes on the rock in front of her.

"Is this the kid?" One of the gruff guards asked. The man who had let Charlotte go before nodded sadly, and fell to the ground. Charlotte looked at the man on the ground behind her, who she didn't believe was just unconscious. Looking down the hallway, she could see the Black Fairy standing in the doorway of her lair, smiling wickedly at Charlotte and her friends.

If Charlotte didn't cooperate, she wondered what would happen to Travis and Mike. Usually, the Black Fairy will target friends and family members of workers she wants to punish. Travis and Mike were basically Charlotte's brothers.

Charlotte sighed and was ready to put down her pickaxe and go down the hallway, but apparently Mike and Travis had a different plan. Travis reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag that was filled with magic dust. He had found some earlier on in the day and was to give to it the Black Fairy when he was done mining. Instead, he threw the bag behind the heads of the guards behind him.

The guards knew how important the magic was and scrambled to grab it, while the three kids ran down the hallway away from the Black Fairy.

There was a small escape hole near the main opening of the entire mining cave. It wasn't as noticeable, and Charlotte popped through the hole and got into the woods. However, she could hear Travis cry out from behind her back in the mine. She looked back in the hole, but watched Mike cover it up with a large rock.

"Get out of here, Charlotte!" Mike yelled. She then heard him scream from inside the cave, and could hear her friends being dragged away towards the Black Fairy.

Charlotte ran into the woods and wandered towards the town line, where she saw Neal and Robin. Then she was caught and taken back to the mining cave.

Charlotte woke up and began to cry. But she didn't cry for too long, because she could hear Neal and Henry downstairs trying to open the door.

"My parents used to be thieves, Neal. They knew how to pick locks. I just need a minute."

Charlotte went down the stairs quickly and opened the door.

"Robin isn't here. She sent me home ahead of her so she could distract the goons." Charlotte explained quickly.

"Oh man, she's on her own? But it's better than her being here. Apparently the wand can track Robin's phone-"

"She left it with me." Charlotte said. She handed the phone over to Neal, who took it into his pocket.

"I'm going to go back out and find Robin." Neal said. But Henry shook his head.

"Maybe we should all go. Better than sitting here like…sitting ducks."

Neal shook his head. "Those goons are back after Charlotte, and they'll grab you too. It's better I go by myself."

"Just go for a couple of hours, and come back. We can at least switch off if we don't find Robin." Henry said.

Robin had gone back to Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop. She looked right at the sword in the barrel that kept grabbing her attention whenever she went into the store.

"We do have an exchange policy." Mr. Gold said from his counter. Robin smiled, but shook her head.

She grabbed the box with the potential wand inside and placed it on the counter.

"I'm wondering about this stick." Robin admitted.

Mr. Gold looked at the wand, but didn't grab it.

"It is a wand, Robin. Designed to look like a usable one, anyway." The man admitted.

"It's funny how you don't refer to it as anything that could be magical." Mr. Gold noticed.

"Since you did pay for it, and all magic comes with a price." His tone made Robin feel uncomfortable, but that could also have been because Robin could feel her anxiety increase her heart rate.

"I mean, I don't know anything about magic, but I can't say that it isn't out there." Mr. Gold mused.

"Would you think that it could be in StoryBrooke?" Robin asked curiously.

"Doubtful. There isn't anything magical about this town."

"What about the name?"

"Coincidence, I presume." Mr. Gold said.

Robin rolled her eyes when Mr. Gold wasn't looking. She was hoping to find an adult ally who could help her and her friends out.

"The mayor was curious about you yesterday." Mr. Gold admitted. "She was wondering what you looked like."

That made Robin nervous. Which only added to her anxiety. As she put the box back in her backpack, she could have sworn she felt it move.

"The mayor doesn't know who I am. I may have been born here, but I've seemed to have kept a low profile."

"As if you were never here at all." Mr. Gold commented. "Have a goodnight, Robin Hood."