The warmth of the metal slides across her skin, fingers fidgeting with the piece that's caused so much confusion. She tries to remember, but every time she gets close, the images scurry away like cockroaches exposed to light. Crystal blue eyes lower to her lap, the basic metal ring rolled between her thumb and forefinger. She feels slightly guilty that she cant remember. It seemed so important to the Queen that she does, the look in the woman's eyes earlier, the anger, but the desperation was just puzzling.

Helen sighs, the sky outside her window fading into hue oranges and pinks. She slowly raises the ring to eye level and studies it intently. Perhaps she can try again, try to summon the images to her mind. Last time she was touching it, it seemed to show her its origin. After a few minutes of nothing happening, she huffs her defeat.

"This would be a hell of a lot easier if she'd just tell me who Daniel is."

"My Fiancee.."

The ring slips from Helen's fingers but is quickly caught before it clatters to the marble floor. She whirls, quickly rising from the immensely comfortable chair by the vanity and is greeted with a somber Queen.

"..Well, my former Fiancee."

Helen's panic dissipates, the defensive Queen from earlier no longer with them. All she sees now is a young girl, powerless to a title that has been forced upon her.

"I'm sorry, is he..?"

"Dead? Yes, murdered by my mother in front of me."

Helen gawks, her heart aching at the revelation. How can someone do that to another person? How can a mother do that to their own daughter?

"I have no idea why I'm telling you these things, but I also don't know how you are seeing visions of my past. No one except my mother and Snow know of Daniel.."

The Queen steps closer, the clacking of her heels hesitant, eyes once dark, now full of hope and longing.

"Who are you? Why are you really here? Is it to torment me? You save me from the heroes just to what? Torture me with Daniels memory over and over again?!"

Helen studies angry tears, the little metal ring in her right hand heating up.

"Of course I'm not doing this to hurt you. I don't even know whats happening to m.."

She hisses, the metal clinking on the floor as she quickly studies the oval burn marred into her dirty palm.

"What the hell?! Did you..?!"

Before she can accuse the Queen, the royal is stepping up to her, grasping her hand and delicately smoothing a thumb over the damaged skin.

"This is a magical burn. Which is odd as the ring is not made from anything magical."

"This is ridiculous! I've had enough! Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!"

"Oh well dearie, what do we have here?"

Both Helen and the Queen quickly refocus on the man suddenly sat on the edge of the bed.

Helen gapes. Calling the person on the bed a man is an overstatement, he looks more like a lizard or a snake. His eyes reptilian and his clothes looking like something crocodile dundee wears in the outback, minus the hat. The mans skin is green and speckled with gold flecks, his fingernails black and cracked and his hair a curly grease ball upon his head.

"What are you doing here Imp?!"

"Now now dearie, no need to be hostile. I smelt a whiff of foreign magic and sought it out like any dark one would. It seems you've found something of interest."

Helen shivers as a pointed finger is jabbed her way and reptilian eyes look her up and down slowly. Whoever this guys is, she doesn't like him one bit. He makes her feel guarded and vulnerable both at the same time.

The Evil Queen glances back at her companion, her shoulders ridged and stoic mask still in place.

"And of what interest is she to you Rumple?"

The Imp giggles savagely.."Just a little side project from long ago. Someone I promised to get rid of for someone close to home. Now if you would be a dear and hand her over, all can continue as normal."

Helen pales, her body shifting ever so slightly behind the Queens strong frame. She doesn't want to go with this man, hell she'd even spend her nights in the Queens dungeons than go with him.

"Now why is she so important to you?"

"That dearie, is my business. But I am a man of reason, how about a deal?"

The Queen cocks a curious eyebrow.."What kind of deal?"

"You give me the wench, and I give you information that will aid you in the capture of Snow White by dawn."

Helen freezes, her heart pounding against her ribcage. She notes the Queen glancing at her, the contemplation in dark eyes has her unnerved and quickly grasping the royals arm.

"Please don't let him take me."

The Queen stares a while, the woman's chin finally lifting and eyes narrow as they refocus on the Imp.

"The fact that you practically hand me Snows head on a platter now instead of earlier, has me thinking the girl means more than your letting on Rumple. You tell me why shes so important and I'll consider your offer."

The Imp quickly stands, Helen darting behind the Queen further so the scaly demon cant see her.

"Like I said your majesty, that is my business."

"More like our business. Its no coincidence you've come here at the precise moment Daniels ring reacted magically to her. Its almost as if.."

The Queens brows pinch together, her thoughts escalating and Helen frowns curiously when she sees the Imps features slowly harden.

"...Its almost as if the ring was a catalyst of some sort, like a trigger for lost memories. But how is that even possible, you came from another world."

Auburn eyes find blue, Helen just as confused as the Queen. She doesn't get magic, doesn't really know much about this world but maybe they're finally getting somewhere with her visions. Maybe this Rumple knows whats going on with her.

"I think I've had enough of this guessing game. You can either accept my deal, or I can take her anyway."

Fear quickly returns to her, Helen quickly grabbing a candlestick off the vanity and holding it firmly.

"You just try it scaly!"

A malicious smirk slides onto cracked green lips, the Imps eyes hungry with the anticipated fight, but suddenly the mans view is blocked by proud features and two fireballs.

"You know better than to take my things Imp! Now run along, because as you know, there are many dangerous objects in your castle. Such a shame if one of those things happens to harm your dear maid."

The unknown threat lingers in the air, both parties scowling at each other whilst savage flames lick at the royals palms.

"Your making a big mistake dearie. You cant protect her forever."

And with a spiral of burgundy smoke, the crocodile is gone.

Helen releases a shaky breath, her candlestick weapon slowly placed back on the vanity.

"Well that was intense."

The balls of fire in the Queens palms are suddenly extinguished, the royal suddenly pacing with a sharp clack of heels. Helen frowns weakly, dizzy at watching the woman pace back and forth.

Her wandering eye slides down and catches the ring that's caused so much trouble. Tentative she scoops it up, the metal cold as it should be. What did the Imp mean when he said he got rid of her? Shes never been here before, that shes certain of. The why the hell did he say it? A sudden hand on her arm snaps her from her thoughts, and before she can utter a word, a wave of purple clouds her and she feels as if shes being sucked through a hole. Only a second later the smoke disappears, her legs wobbling which has her stumbling slightly whilst she adjusts to her new surroundings.

Shelves filled with books on almost every wall, chests pushed against stone and filled with potential wonder, a table in the center of the room stocked with test tubes and ingredients most vile. There's also and medium sized cauldron at one end of the table, the black pot charred and what looks too be hovering over some embers. The whole scene just reminds her of the witches of Eastwick.

"Bubble bubble toil and trouble.."

She giggles to herself, the distracted Queen quickly pacing over to a rugged looking chest and rummaging through its contents.

Helen stands back, leaving the royal to her own task and wanders the chamber. The books look to be old, some of them in different languages and some only shapes and pictures. She figures these must be some magical spell books and this must be the Queens magical lab.

Speaking of said Queen, the royal is watched as she dashes around the room, gathering ingredients and flicking through undecipherable books.

"Ugh..What are you doing?"

Helen's ignored, of course she is, so she simply plonks her bum down on one of the more sturdier looking chests and watches from afar. Its almost exciting, but also a bit terrifying as ingredient after ingredient is dumped within the black cauldron, the royal muttering something in a foreign tongue as a steady flow of blue mist rises and flows over the edge of the black pot.

After fifteen minutes of unwavering focus, dark eyes snap up and Helen swallows harshly.

"Come here."

"Why?"

"Because I said so!"

Helen recoils, the darkness in the Queens gaze sending her hairs on end. Shes had that look from the woman before, right after the Queen threatened to have her head cut off. Swallowing harshly, Helen makes her way over, standing at the royals side and waits anxiously.

The Queen holds out her hand.."Give me the ring."

The metal quickly lands in the woman's palm before its thrown into the cauldron. The blue mist whirls, the trinket absorbing the gooish fog until the ring gently rises from the bubbling center, hovering in the air and waiting to be claimed.

The Queen very carefully plucks the trinket from thin air, analyzing its bluish hue.

"Now we can finally get some answers."

Helen frowns.."Answers? Answers to what?"

With a shaky breath, the ring is gently slid over a slender finger, the Queen looking somber as it stares up at her, reminding her of a past she had once craved.

"Take my hand, and don't let go."

Helen is about to protest, but the serious look in auburn eyes has her discarding her objections. The Queen said they would get answers, and the woman did save her from the scaly Imp. With a weak sigh, Helen gently grasps the Queens hand, the ring pressing against the magical burn marring her sweating palm.

They wait, the Queen studying blue eyes intently.

"Well?"

Helen frowns.."Well what?"

"Do you see anything?"

"I see you."

Dark eyes roll.."Not me! I mean your visions, do you see anyth.."

Helen gasps, her skull suddenly pounded with an invisible sledgehammer. She tries to pull her hand back, the pain releasing a strained whimper and her knees nearly buckling, but the strong hand in hers grips tighter, the blue glow on metal shining brighter. She looks up, her vision hazing but is able to see the woman in front of her clutch a hand to ebony hair, the pain visible on porcelain features.

A bombardment of images hits her, more vivid this time and almost clear of the fog. The man, Daniel, he works with horses, works with a woman, loves her more than anything. The woman, the picture focuses and she sees her, its the Queen, but its not the Queen she knows.

There's a cottage, its small with a minuscule patch of vegetables out front. A woman picks at the soil, Daniel surprising her from behind and giving her a hug. Helen tries to focus on the other woman, the words they exchange, sister, its his sister, younger, perhaps only fourteen.

The images begin to fade, her head almost ready to explode but the Queens angry voice demands more, a powerful force pushing her to keep going. The horses whinny in fright, ash crumbles between crooked fingers, a heartbreaking scream and so much pain in auburn eyes. The cottage suddenly resurfaces, the darkness of night, a sleeping form beneath the handwoven sheets. There's a flash of red smoke, the young girl startled awake by a demon, his eyes reptilian and filled with malicious intent.

The Queens voice screams at her, tells her to focus. Her mind crumbles, a snake of warmth slipping from her nostril and her hand practically on fire. Shes dropped to her knees, the pain unbearable as she focuses, processes the images in front of her. The demon reaches over, a white like snaking from the woman's forehead and into a rusted metal ring. The woman falls unconscious, the demon throwing something on the floor, a green vortex, the pull ripping up floorboards, dragging in anything the quaint little cottage has to offer. The demon is gone, the sparking abyss dragging in the unconscious woman.

Helen screams, the tip of her spine exploding in agony as the unconscious woman's face resembles her own, in fact her spitting image when she was fourteen. But it isn't possible, this never happened to her, she remembers her life with her parents.

The hand in hers wrenches free, her head flopping back and landing with a harsh crack on the marble floor. She sees nothing only a blinding light, hears nothing except the devastated utter of four simple words..

"Daniel has a sister..?"