Author's note

Hey readers! Thank you so much for following my fanfic However, the story isn't quite finished yet! I can guarantee a wonderful ending for this tale about Regina and Daniella. Therefore, I present to you:

'City of Starlight' !

Please go and check it out! (You can access it via my profile, or by searching it up).

Oh and I've attached a snippet from the first chapter of 'City of Starlight' down below. Once again, a huge thank you to all of you, for reading more than 60 chapters of my writing, haha! I love you all, and I look forward to hearing from you under the comments of 'City of Starlight'!

As you might have realised, I originally wrote this story for Wattpad readers, but I wanted to share it to other fanfic platforms. I've been writing 'City of Starlight' for some time, and I will try to balance my uploads so that and Wattpad readers can both access new updates in parallel with each other.

Snippet 1 of 'City of Starlight'

(Daniella's POV)

Once we had all settled down on the couches in the library, Snow spoke up. Her question shocked mother and I. "Regina, if Rumpelstiltskin's powers were yours for the taking, would you take it?"

There was silence. She put down the goblet in her hand and tried to conceal the absurdity of the question as she answered carefully, "No. You've seen where the darkness has taken me..the people I've lost because of it." I took a sharp intake of breath as mother continued, "Why do you ask?" The three Charmings seem to have visibly let out a breath that they had been holding so with just a slight tone of annoyance and amusement in her voice, she said quickly, "Do you really think I'd undo the future I've been trying to build for my daughter, these past five years?"

Emma replied, "No, we don't doubt you. Which is why we have to ask you to help us. Mr Gold has well..."

In a low voice, mother growled, "What has he done now?"

"He wanted to rid himself of the darkness, so he stole the author's pen from Henry and tried to write himself a new story; one where he isn't the Dark One," David replied. I gripped the goblet in my hand tightly. "Has he succeeded?"

"Yes and no. He partially got what he wanted, but not in a good way," Henry began. "His heart was darkening from all the dark things that he has committed and it's getting back to him. Belle's looking after him right now, but she told us everything we needed to know. She gave Emma the dagger so that we could help him." After looking at the cursed blade that Emma drew out from her belt, Mother frowned and shook her head, "Henry, I don't understand."

"He's dying. Actually, he's unconscious right now. By forcing the pen to give him a new story, he has isolated the darkness from himself, but he will die if someone doesn't take in the dark magic. Belle told us that the darkness will always inhabit somebody, and the first person they will look for, is the one with the darkest heart."

"Me," was all mother whispered.

Snippet 2 of 'City of Starlight'

*This snippet is interesting, as we are introduced to Daniella's sister (child of Lena and Daniel), who has grown up in the Land of Magic, without knowledge of her Enchanted Forest background. It might be helpful to keep in mind, that time runs differently across realms. Hence, Aurelie is 14 years old whilst Daniella is 16 years old.

(Aurelie's POV)

My heart thumped against my chest as I dug my fingernails along the frayed edges of the wood and into the crack of the floorboard. I latched into the pulp and lifted my hand slightly. The plank moved a bit. I held my breath, growing more impatient by the second. This is it. This has to be it.

I tried to take out the wood again and this time, managed to get the varnish crack more than last time. I quickly slide my other finger under the board and pried it up. As I moved the plank to one side, my eyes didn't move from the spot below me. There was a space in the flooring and it was quite deep. I quickly got out my phone from my pocket and turned on the torch, shining it into the hole. There was something that looked like velvet cloth. I dug my hand in and took it out, placing it onto the floor beside me. As I flattened it out, I realised that it was a bag. The pouch that my parents mentioned in their argument!

Excitedly, I put my phone down and reached to undo the string around the pouch. There seemed to be something small inside and when I poured it out onto the palm of my hand, I was confused. There, staring back at me was a little bean shaped object. I didn't know what it was made of, as it had a strange glow to it. It was almost like resin but I could see that it was glowing from within. It couldn't be plastic for it looked way more beautiful than that. I frowned and moved so that I sat cross legged before the hole in the floor. I squished the little bean between my fingers but I was afraid that it would burst. Was this thing what my parents were talking about? What is it? Why is it connected to...to whatever past they've tried to conceal from me?

I frowned and took out my phone to shine into the hole again. Something glittered back at me. I peered into the space and took out a medallion, the shiny silver or gold kind that you would find on the uniforms of high ranking officers in the military or something. Some of the British royals wear them too, at official ceremonies.

In the middle of the medallion and surrounded by an array of diamonds arranged in the shape of a sun, there was an elaborate script depicting the initials; DC. I gasped. No way...could I really stand for Daniel Colter, Dad's name? Where on earth did he get this? I was plunged once more into doubt and suspicion. If this belongs to father, then he must have had some kind of past that was way more exciting that growing up here in Brooklyn, New York.

I flipped the medallion over and there was a symbol, set in lacquer with a gold edge. Beneath an elaborate black crown, there was a line of red flames sitting above a white square pattern. This was all enclosed in a shield-like shaped outline. The crown was what made me confused. If this was a coat of arms of sorts...it had to belong to a royal house. But...

I picked up my phone and switched off the torch quickly. Then, I opened the internet and typed in, 'coat of arms' and 'royal families'.

A list came up and I scrolled through them. None of the crests on my screen matched the one on the medallion. I closed my eyes, suddenly feeling stupid. What if this isn't even serious? What if I was simply imagining things? The symbol on the back could mean anything.

I opened my eyes and looked at the crown again, feeling drawn towards it. No. It has to mean something. Besides, the argument between my parents last night proves that there is something that I'm unaware of. I put down my phone after minutes of endless scrolling. This was useless. Strangely though, as I stared at the little bean sitting on top of the pouch, I knew that I couldn't talk to my parents about this. I sighed and put the medallion into the pouch. Then, I replaced the board back into the flooring. I tugged the rug into place and stepped over it, trying to feel if there's something abnormal about the loose plank.

Then, I picked up the pouch whilst standing up. However, the bean slipped past my fingers and fell onto the ground. I watched as it rolled across the room to the mirror in the corner of the bedroom. I stepped forth to pick it up when bright light suddenly erupted from where the bean was. I almost fell in shock. Beneath that white light was a swirl of clouds. What the hell?!

I edged slowly closer to the whirlwind both in fear and curiosity. How is this possible? What is-

I felt an invisible tug from my chest that seemed to be wanting me to fall into the swirl of clouds. My mouth dried up as my heart pounded. I had no idea what was happening, nor what lay beneath the bright hole in the ground. However, Mum's words came ringing in my mind, "I won't let you drag us all back to what we've fought to escape from!"

I glanced down at my hand that was gripping the velvet pouch tightly. I was shaking uncontrollably. Well, if this was the way to 'go back' as my Dad said...then I'll just have to follow through. I was already past the stage of thinking that all of this is fake. It must be real. I'm not crazy am I?

I let the pull of the swirling winds draw me closer to the bright light. Then, just as I closed my eyes, I felt my whole body fall forwards. I thought of nothing but the mystery that shrouded in my parents' conversation. Who were they? Who is the 'she' that dad referred to?

*end of snippet

Please head over to 'City of Starlight' to read the rest of this fanfic!