AN: Hey guys! I'm doing really well on writing! Hopefully I can start posting more often soon because I'm getting ahead! I hope you guys like this chapter!

Music: "Echo" by AmaLee

NOTES!: "My professional opinion, madness is often a treatable disease, though perhaps not in this case."

Chapter 16: Echo

It was cold. Snow drifted in the ground, swirling in the breeze. Each step she took crunched into the heavy layer of snow that covered the ground. She was shaking despite the heavy grey coat she wore, rubbing her arms in a desperate attempt to get warm. The buildings around her were dark and crumbling at the edges. Blanks of wood had fallen from boarded up windows, burn marks covered what used to be store signs.

Emma paused, though, when she saw the warm light that spilled from a single shop window. She walked over to it, smiling softly and resting one hand on the ledge as she peered inside. It was a small display of a tea party. The red-haired Mad Hatter, the Hare, and the Mouse tied up with marionette strings and surrounded by cut outs of a paper forest.

"Emma..." A soft voice whispered, and Emma's eyes snapped up to a reflection in the window. A familiar figure stood there in a soft blue glow.

"Cat?!" She spun around, but there was nothing there.

Her shoulders fell and her heart ached. As she looked out at the square, she felt heat at her back. An amber glow silhouetted her shadow in front of her. A hissing growl was her only warning before the glass behind her shattered outward, broken by clawing tentacles.

Emma gasped, whirling around and throwing up her arms, but the tentacles wrapped around her, dragging her into the window display that was now a blazing fire. The flames bit at her skin as she struggled against the tentacles, latching onto the edge of the wall even as glass shards cut into her palms. One of the tentacles wrapped around her mouth, keeping her from screaming, and when she reached up to try and pull it off, she was yanked back into the dark fire.

The hissing, grating voice returned to her ears in the darkness.

"What have you done?"

Emma's eyes snapped open. She was laying perfectly still on her back in the center of her bed, but her heart is pounding inside of her chest. The light coming from the window told her that it was late morning and she sat up, crawling out of bed.

"Cat!?" She called. She needed him. She needed Cat.

She was running through the corridors, shouts and screams echoing in her ears. The faces of people she passed morphed between human and decayed monsters. She was close to the Great Hall when she felt hands grabbing at her arms and shoulders. She ripped her limbs away from claws and stone, even biting one, in her desperation to get away. She shoved her way into the Great Hall, banging her shoulder against the heavy door roughly.

The Guardians were there. They were just standing there. Staring. Why were they just standing there?!

"Emma, what happened to you?" Percy started forward immediately, looking concerned, but Emma dodged around him, looking around the hall. There were bright and shifting colors, but oozing blackness dripped in the edges of her sight. Her heart is pounding even faster now and her palms are sweating.

"Where is Cat?" She demanded, her eyes flicking to Percy then around to the other Guardians, but they won't stop swirling. They give her confused looks.

"Emma..." Jack tries to speak, but it catches in his throat, and Emma doesn't have time to wait for him to figure it out.

"I saw him, but then he wasn't there." She muttered, she could still feel the tentacles grabbing at her, so she scratched her arm. Why was everything moving? "I have to fix this. I have to stop him, but I'm not strong enough. There was just too much... So much fire... So cold..."

"Emma, you need to calm down." Rapunzel kept her voice gentle as she held out her hands to her in a calming gesture, taking slow steps towards her. "Try explaining it a little slower. What are you trying to fix?"

"Everything!" Emma shouted back. She was ready to rip her own hair out from the frustration. Why couldn't they just understand?!

The blackness at the edges of her vision was pressing in. Consuming. Oozing over everything and staining it with corruption. Emma clenched her teeth and reached for her Vorpal Blade. Her fingers touched cool metal, but the grip wasn't quite familiar. Had it changed shape again?

She saw Jack's eyes widened.

"Emma," Jack says quietly, calmly, but there's a note of desperation in his eyes. "Put the knife down."

There are murmurs coming from all over the room, and everything is spinning and warping. Emma can hear heavy breathing in her ears and a pounding heart. Her fingers curl tighter around the blade, but then there's a prick in her neck. She screams as pain burns from her neck and on through her veins.

There's a clattering sound just before everything goes black.

Jack was frozen in place as Emma collapsed right in front of him, the clanking of the dinner knife she'd grabbed from the table echoing in his ears.

He'd been called to the Great Hall early that morning with the rest of the Guardians for an emergency meeting. There had been an incident in Hogsmeade the night before. One of the shops was lit on fire, but no one knew how it started. The Royals were eager to have the Guardians lead an investigation, fearing the worst; that Pitch Black's forces had somehow slipped through their defenses unnoticed.

Now Jack's eyes were fixated on Emma's unconscious form. He was vaguely aware of Bunny putting a paw on his shoulder to show support. Percy had rushed forward the moment Rapunzel's sedative spell took affect and Emma dropped. He cradled his daughter close as Rapunzel checked her vitals.

Jack wasn't hearing anything though. All he could see was Emma's white night gown. It was torn and burned, stained with mud and blood. Her hair was a mess and her eyes had been so wide and crazed.

"Jack!" His dad's voice broke through the roaring in his ears, and Jack's head snapped to his father's face. Percy's face was drawn into a concerned frown, but he gave Jack the best reassuring look he could from where he was kneeling on the floor with his baby sister. "Breathe." He told him.

Jack nodded and focused on exactly that. They didn't need two passed out Frosts.

There were murmurs around the hall from some of the other officials and servants. Words like "Insane" and "In need of care" were reaching his ears, and making it very difficult to not panic. Fear was clawing at his chest and throat as images of Emma being taken away or worse filled his mind.

He shook his head to clear it and rushed forward as soon as Rapunzel stepped back, filling her spot at Emma's side and taking his sister's hand in his. It was cold, which was saying something coming from him. Closer inspection showed him the extra grey in her complexion was in part due to the soot smeared across her cheek.

Rapunzel spoke quietly with North for a few moments, and then hurried back over to them, looking first to Jack and then Percy.

"We need to bring her to the infirmary. Dr. Sweet and I can do more for her there." She told them.

Hours later, Jack was waiting outside the Medical Wing with his parents. Jack's knee was bouncing up and down as he struggled to sit still, his dad was standing without pacing but his brow was furrowed deep as he stroked his chin, and his mother tried to keep her sniffles quiet as she caught the tears before they could fall with her handkerchief. Dr. Sweet finally came out, looking grim as he approached them with a heavy sigh.

"It isn't looking good." Dr. Sweet admitted bluntly. "Not one of the tests have given us anything to work with. Rapunzel can sense there's something wrong, but she can't seem to find the source. The fact is, I don't know anything about what is happening to Emma, and that might be enough to scare the Royal Council into having her committed."

"There has to be something we can do!" Percy insisted, his frown deepening hand his hand tightening around his staff.

"Please, Joshua, that's my little girl." Matilda added, her eyes pleading with him.

"...If we can prove her illness isn't a Fearling Curse, it may calm some of their fears, but I'm just not sure if that's possible right now." Dr. Sweet told them, scratching the back of his neck doubtfully. He took a deep breath and, after looking up and down the hall, gave them an earnest look. "I'm doing everything I can, but the Prime Minister has already come by asking for answers. I'd recommend looking into the fire at Hogsmeade and seeing whether or not Emma had anything to do with it. Arson does not look good when your mental health is in question."

As the doctor left to return to his work, Jack and Percy shared a glance, and then Percy turned and pulled Matilda into a hug. Jack watched on as his father tried to comfort his mother, knowing they couldn't deny the doctor's point.

So that begged the question; if it wasn't Emma, who was responsible for the fire?

Her vision was blurred, the greenery passing by as streaks as she raced through the garden in slow motion. Her breathing was loud in her own ears and a flicker of movement made her heart leap. Behind a tree there was a hole. Deep and dark, she leaned over and her hands reached out for purchase, only for the earth to crumble away beneath her fingers.

She was falling down. Farther and farther into the darkness as the blue sky grew smaller and smaller. Massive roots were growing out the sides of the earth all around her, and she tried to grab hold of one root to stop her fall, but her hands slipped on the moist dirt. She dropped onto a bookshelf, scattering books with a flurry of papers. She continued to tumble down, slamming into the side of a piano as the keys played a chaotic tune. Tables and chairs, tea pots and lamps.

She fell faster and faster until she finally crashed through weakened drywall and tile. She laid there on her belly for a moment, stunned, and then noticed the candles perched pointing towards the floor in front of her.

Emma slowly pushed herself up, staring at the iron chandelier that appeared to be hanging upside down. She felt the stretch of her brow as she realized her hair was falling up towards the candles, and the moment her perception was shifted, gravity was against her.

She dropped once again from the ceiling and her head banged against the floor, filling her vision with darkness...

Her eyes snapped open and her heart was pounding so loud, she was certain it could hear. Her back was pressed against the wall, her fists held close to her chest as she struggled to get her breathing under control again. A scraping noise alert her to it's presence on just the other side of the wall.

"Where are you...?" The deepness of the voice was familiar to her, but death had given it a grating hiss of the unnatural. "Why do you let them die? Why will you not face me?"

Emma clamped one hand over her mouth to keep herself from making a sound. A fat, hot tear popped out the corner of her eyes and splashed onto her wrist.

Long, spindly fingers tipped with vicious claws slowly curled around the edge of the wall just above Emma's head.

"This is what's become of the great maiden?" The voice taunted...

Emma gasped for breath as she lurched forward and out of the water. Her lungs burned as they filled with air, and her feet came under her as if she was standing on solid ground.

Above was the night sky, lit by the moon and thousands of stars. The water beneath her feet was a perfect reflection, to the point where she wondered if she was up or down. Both the sky and the water stretched out far beyond what Emma could see, leaving her in complete solitude. She looked around, but found nothing.

"Cat!?" She yelled, her voice echoing and sending out a ripple in the otherwise still water.

"Emma."

She stiffened, and then her eyes shot down. There, where her own reflection was supposed to be, stood a tall and dark figure. A long black coat was all she could make out from the shadowed form except for the bright green eyes that glowed through the darkness.

"Cat," She whispered, staring at him. She clenched her trembling hands and pressed on. "Cat, everything is falling apart! I need your help! What do I do?"

The looming shadow beneath her feet shifted in response, but there was no sound. The edges were beginning to blur as the reflection trembled. They both looked off into the distance as a roar echoed across their meeting places, creating ripples in the water.

Emma felt panic rising inside her as her vision began to fill with white. Her vision was disappearing and she knew that without her magic, there was no way for her to maintain even this small connection with Cat. She opened her mouth to call out to him again but her voice caught in her throat. She grabbed at it in her surprise as Cat reached out towards her, but their moment was already fading...

Emma's eyes opened. She noted the high ceiling arches for a moment, and then turned her head from one side to the other to take in her surroundings. She knew that she was laying on a bed in the Hogwarts Infirmary. Not knowing how she'd gotten somewhere was a pretty regular occurrence for her, but considering what happened after her last visit, she wasn't exactly excited to be back.

She sat up slowly. She realized that she'd been placed as far from the other patients as possible, and the three nurses that were there were chatting and laughing in the back rooms. Emma was contemplating how much trouble she'd get in if she simply left, but her attention was stolen from those thoughts when the Infirmary door gave a soft groan.

Jim's head poked through and he looked around before slipping completely inside. They made eye contact almost immediately as he walked towards her, and Emma quickly motioned for him to stay quiet, pointing at the door to the back rooms. He nodded and hurried over, sitting down in the chair beside her bed.

"Jim, what happened?" Emma whispered as soon as he was close enough.

"You don't remember?" He looked at her cautiously, and Emma shook her head. "You, uh... I wasn't there, but apparently you stormed into the Guardian meeting and wouldn't stop mumbling. Your dress was burned, and people were scared you were responsible for a fire that happened in Hogsmeade."

"What?" Emma stared at him, her heart rate speeding up already.

"Percy and Jack joined the investigation as soon as it was suggested, but the Prime Minister sent them and North and Bunnymund away on an urgent quest. He told them it didn't look good that they were so close to the case." Jim explained. "The Aurors seem pretty convinced you had nothing to do with it, but there's a lot of talk right now..."

"Great moon..." Emma muttered, her gaze dropping to her lap where her hands were rested.

"Do you remember anything from that night?" Jim questioned after a moment.

Emma paused as she lifted her eyes to his again, but then shook her head.

"I had a dream, but that's all it was." She told him softly. "I swear I... I wouldn't."

"I believe you." Jim told her.

The nurses in the back laughed uproariously, making them both jump and glance back nervously towards the door.

"Look, I probably don't have much time. Dr. Sweet and Rapunzel are the only people allowed to see you right now, but I had to," Jim said, digging into his pocket. "You've been asleep for three days, and I managed to complete my quest." He finally pulled out his hand and revealed a ring with a glowing gold symbol on it.

"Is that...?" She inquired hesitantly. Jim nodded.

"I just got back a few hours ago... I told Blinky and the others that the ring was destroyed." Jim confessed to her. He picked up her hand and placed the ring into her palm, pushing her fingers to curl around it. "Take it."

"What?" Emma startled, trying to pull her hand free so she could give it back to him. "No!"

"Emma, this ring is too dangerous to give to anyone else." Jim gave her a determined look. He'd made up his mind, it seemed. "You don't have any magic, so you can't protect yourself. Wear this. Angor Rot can't hurt you and... And maybe he can protect you, too."

"I'm beginning to think you're the crazy one here!" She hissed back.

"He's angry. He'll be coming for me, and he's skilled enough to get to Hogwarts." Jim said plainly, holding her hand tight. "Please, Emma."

She tried to think of something to say, anything really, but she was left with her jaw falling open and closed a few times before she finally sighed and gave a small nod. Jim finally let go of her hand, and Emma opened her fist to look down a the gleaming ring laying in her palm.