Regina's POV

The air crackled as the smell of cooking vegetables filled the kitchen. Regina stood next to the stove, sautéing the food carefully to make sure it didn't burn. But even if some of it did, she would just give it to Snow. It's not like she'd even be able to tell the difference, thought Regina slyly.

Dinner-time was quickly approaching. Once again, it was up to Regina to make it. Next time she would definitely make Robin or Emma cook (but never Snow), because it wasn't like she had been working any less than them. Between working at city hall, doing this research, and keeping watch on Emma, Regina had been stretched thin over the past 2 days. She also knew that the same could be said of Henry, who still had to go to school, with dozens of children whose parents only seemed to talk about the 'Fallen Saviour.'

If only she could still light their faces on fire. But alas, she was stuck with these pesky 'morals.' At least she could send scathing glares at them, people still went running at those.

Stirring the vegetables one last time, Regina decided they were finished cooking, and pulled the pan away from the stove. As she split the food between several dishes, she made the last minute decision to put as much pepper on Snow's plate as she could get away with.

Once done, she walked out of the kitchen and started handing out the food to the others who were currently still researching. Everyone nodded thankfully, and dug in with a fervor. Regina could barely keep a smile from her face as Snow started coughing, looking down at the food with a cringe. She got some satisfaction from the way Snow's face turned red, unable to properly breath for a few seconds.

"Wow… this is very, um… Peppery." She coughed out, grabbing a nearby glass of water.

"What do ya mean, grandma? It's just fine." Henry looked at her questioningly as she chugged the water.

"Yes, Regina has done another wonderful job of cooking today. Her seasoning is great." Robin agreed.

Snow looked embarrassed as she became the center of attention, uncertain if she should continue pushing her claim. After a moment she decided to just give up, "Oh… Well, I guess it must just be me then. Sorry, Regina."

Regina, for her part, gave a soft grunt in acknowledgement, smiling deviously into a book she had grabbed. The small bit of entertainment had helped lift her mood. It was a much needed pick-me-up.

"Hey Ma, could you pass me my water?" Henry's voice sounded out from the other couch.

Regina glanced up from her book, looking at Emma, who looked at Henry confused and somehow shocked, "What did you say?" She asked, her voice pitching higher at the end.

"Could you give me my water?" He repeated slowly and a little louder, in the manner that teenagers are prone to do.

Emma sat still for a moment, then relaxed, laughing stiffly, "Oh, yeah of course, kid."

Put off by Emma's weird behaviour, everyone settled into a not-so-comfortable silence, completely involved in their own books. As she studied hers, Regina leaned back into the couch, her side brushing against Robin. She felt just a bit more confident that he was here. She knew that Emma was there for her, but at this moment, since Regina was constantly trying to help Emma, it was nice to know that someone separate from the situation was there for just her.

It was getting closer to 8 o'clock when Henry started talking, "Hey, I think I might have found something." The other adults, aside from Emma, looked up from their books and focused their attention on him.

"So, I didn't realize the connection at first, but then it hit me," He started, "This book references a legend about a devil. It talks a lot about how they 'terrorized the land'. Apparently, they were created by dark magic. They wanted something— I think it was more power or something like that— and they caused lots of pain. They fought with a 'mage of the forest', and were cast away, forever bound to the weapon that killed them." Henry looked up at Regina, face lit up in excitement, "This sounds like it could be talking about the first Dark One! Right?"

Regina contemplated the new information. This could easily be talking about the first Dark One and the Sorcerer. Stories always did get changed a bit, especially when going between realms, "Henry, which realm is that legend from?" Out of the corner of her eye she could see Emma move to stare at the wall behind Henry, eyes narrowed.

He flipped through the book quickly, "I think… It says here it's from the 'Land of Transmutation."

Regina felt Robin's hand touch her arm, "This means we are getting closer to our goal. Right, Regina?"

"Yes. But we still have to make sure this is definitely the correct realm. Good job Henry." Regina gave her son a hug.

Everyone sat for a few minutes, contemplating their next move.

"So, if this does turn out to be the right realm… what then? How are we going to get there?" Snow asked.

Regina realized she had not even begun to think about that. It would not be easy: travel between realms was something that took a lot of work, if one did not have a magic bean. They had run out of magic beans long ago.

Regina looked upwards, "I'm going to have to begin working on that. I'll get started on that right away."

After realizing there was still so much more work to be done, Regina found it hard to stay optimistic. She would never say so to Henry or Emma, but everything was happening so fast— too fast. How much time did Emma have left before she was completely different? How long would it take to get to this realm? Then to find the sorcerer? That was only if the Land of Transmutation was even the right realm.

Taking a calming breath, Regina looked back down at the group. She needed to keep a level head. Panicking would do no good. With that in mind, she stood up, "Okay. Since it's getting late, we should all reconvene tomorrow. I'll grab any more books I can find about this realm, and then work on a way to get there."

Henry started to groan, still excited from his discovery, and not wanting to stop. Regina quickly put a stop to that with her mom-glare.

Snow nodded and stood up as well, "Maybe I can also see if Belle has anything that could help."

After that, Regina sent everyone to their respective places: Robin back to his house, Emma and Snow to the room they were sharing tonight (It had been agreed Regina, Snow, and David would switch out every night to keep watch), and Henry to his bedroom.