The house was destroyed. But at least it wasn't his Tower.

He'd been so angry following Anna's departure, at his own hand, that he'd gone a bit mad with fury, breaking glasses, splitting wood, tearing apart pillows and fabric, imploding stones. He'd wanted to find that little mouse; the little rodent that had ruined all his plans and all the plans of all the Dark Ones before him. Anna had demanded that he turn the Wizard back into a human, but she'd said nothing about making sure that he was alive when he made him a man again. He'd kill that mouse. He'd kill him, then turn him back into a human, and enjoy looking at whatever broken and mangled body he left behind. He hadn't gotten the hat, and though he was confident that one day he would get the hat back, he also knew that he wasn't about to miss an opportunity to destroy the one that stood between him and Merlin's Magic. He could still make his plans work. He could hire someone, send them to Arendelle, have them infiltrate the family, and kill the Princess after locating the box. Maybe not tomorrow, like he had hoped, but with a little time and patience, he could follow through. Patience was his gift, according to Nimue, even if at the moment, she was not in a pleasing mood with him. All these decades had proved was that he had patience galore. He would do what he had to and make sure everyone involved knew better than to mess with him.

But that damn mouse eluded him. He was here, somewhere in this house, hiding. Every now and then, he heard a squeak that told him as much. But he couldn't find him. Not behind the fireplace, not under the bed, not in the rafters, as if he didn't keep checking those every five minutes! He'd checked above and around. The only thing there seemed left to check was below.

He rose from his place by the rubble that had once been the fireplace, then held out his hand to obliterate the floorboards…and stopped.

A chill ran through his body. The Seer was whispering. Then she was shouting at him, crying out at him to remember!

His vision. It wasn't a coincidence that the spot he wanted to destroy first had been where Anna had dropped his dagger. But there was something familiar about the image of his dagger on the floor. Something his brain was trying to recall, but it was difficult through the red haze of anger.

He remembered! He'd seen it before. He'd never been in this house before never looked or focused on the floor before through the crystal ball, which left only one possibility: the vision the Seer had given him.

His heart knocked against his rib cage like a reminder, trying to shake the memory loose from his head as he closed his eyes and tried to think. He remembered Anna. He remembered seeing her in this house, he remembered taking the tear and the Seer telling him that Anna was the key to the box…

But that wasn't the only thing she'd said.

"But the true key is in the box!" she screamed as he found himself looking back at the floor, his dagger was on it. Both the dagger and the floor melted away to reveal a hole in the floor. A plain wooden box. "Your answers."

He remembered. He hadn't paid attention to it at that moment because he'd been so focused on the hat, on finally achieving what every Dark One had wanted. But what he wanted wasn't what every Dark One had wanted. Not truly. They all wanted the hat. Only he wanted Baelfire.

Anna was the key to the box, but the true key was the box…

Which was hidden under the floor.

The place where the dagger had fallen.

He let the magic inside of him build, he let it grow and swirl and then pushed it out and shot it at that place he was staring at now. The wood disintegrated before his eyes into nothing but dust. He applied the same magic to the wooden boards around it until there was a hole in the floor revealing the true foundation of the little house, then he stepped closer to peer inside. There, in among the dust and debris and dirt, was a simple wooden box.

It was small; like a child's music box, no bigger than something a little girl might put a few pieces of jewelry. Actually, its design wasn't far off from what Cora and now Regina kept their hearts in, but less ornate. It was made only of unpainted wood, a couple of metal hinges, and a small metal latch that had no lock or key. It was light, too. Maybe too light. When he picked it up he had the sense that there was nothing in it until he tipped a bit and heard a few faint taps against the side. He rotated it more, this way and that. Every time he heard something, several somethings, bang against the sides of the box, tap, tap, taping. But every time he felt no weight. There was no heart inside this box. So what was in it? And why did the Seer want him to have it?

Answers, answers, answers, answers…

The Seer was chanting over and over again in his head. Answers. Answers to what?

With a wave of his hand, he righted a small table that had been pushed away and set the box down upon it. Then, he held his breath as he opened the simple latch on the front and tilted the lid up. He let his breath out in a disappointed huff.

Paper. It was only paper! The bottom of the box was littered with small pieces of paper. But...the more he examined them, the more his heart began to race, and his disappointment faded. It wasn't just paper. To start with, there was no reason to hide small fragments of paper. In addition, the papers were rolled tight which meant...scrolls! Not just paper but parchment scrolls so tiny they could fit in the palm of his hand. They were thinner than his pinky and tied with a thread so thin he didn't know how to make it! Gingerly he pulled one of the scrolls free. He wasn't about to dismiss this. The Apprentice hadn't gotten so far to protect a box of paper. There was something to these. Something important.

They were touched by magic!

He could sense it as soon as he rolled it between his fingers. It wasn't just Light Magic. It was Fairy Magic. Strong Fairy Magic at that.

Just then, he heard a squeak come from near the fireplace and turned to see the same brown mouse that had bitten him looking up at him, his nose twitching, beady little eyes staring at him as if daring him to chase and kill. He'd stopped hiding and come out to face him? No...he was tempting him. The Apprentice wasn't supposed to remember his life or who he was in that form, but he could tell that he did, at least in some way. He didn't believe he'd stayed hidden as he tore his house apart and then made a sudden reappearance just as he'd found something potentially valuable. He was trying to distract him, which could only mean one thing. He'd found something important; valuable.

With a snap of his fingers, he sealed the mouse inside a small metal cage with a bit of hay. His distraction wasn't about to work. He wasn't tempted to run off and kill the Apprentice. Now he could do it when he wanted, which was after he'd discovered his secrets. He wasn't an idiot. Coming out of hiding, risking his life for this box, there might have been a spell on it that did something if he died. He couldn't risk it.

"What have you been hiding, Little Wizard?" he questioned. Little Wizard. That was what Nimue had called him when she'd known him, and all had been well. She'd never imagined what he might grow into.

Another wave of his hand and more magic and the scroll grew. So did the thread. With a snap of his fingers, the thread broke, and the scroll unfolded to reveal tidy writing in ink that sparkled in the light.

Apprentice, we appreciate your last correspondence, we were all so sorry to hear of the death of the previous Author, we know the pair of you had quite the relationship if only privately. He was truly a remarkable man, and it seems his world is all the lesser for their loss. We are, however, pleased to hear that there is a new Author among us. We shall do our best to keep our eyes open for Isaac and any assistance that he should need in the future. As always, you have our sincerest loyalty, and thanks for your services to our kind. Blessings, The Superior Mother, Reul Ghorm.

Well now...what was this?!

He picked up another letter, enlarged it, and read it.

Apprentice, Thank you for your last correspondence and for assuring us that the Black Fairy remains trapped in her own realm. We have done all that we can to contain her but know that she is able to muster a bit of magic to cross realms for a short period of time when summoned. We continue to search for an answer to this problem. The good news is that her summoning is old, and not many can read it. The bad news is that it isn't old enough. We will continue to try and seek out all summonings for destruction, just to be safe. I look forward to your next letter. Blessings, The Superior Mother, Reul Ghorm.

"Well, well, well, a secret correspondence between you and the Mother of all Fairies. Why am I not surprised?" he muttered as he pulled out another one. There must have been hundreds of letters in that box. It seemed their correspondence went on almost as long as both had existed, which was a long time. It would take days to read through them all, and without doubt he would, but…he'd already had one failure today. The Seer had promised answers in this box, and yet nothing looked promising about the letters he'd read thus far. What was he supposed to find? If he were back in his Tower he had just the spell to cast to find what he needed. But since he was here…

He held his dagger tight in his hand, held it over the box, and summoned his answers. Two scrolls shot out of the box and raced toward his dagger, sticking there to the metal as if they were magnetic. The mouse squeaked wildly as he pulled them off. Fear. That was good.

He enlarged the first, broke the seal, and read:

Apprentice, I am sorry to interrupt our typical "all is well" reports with dire news, but I'm afraid it is a matter of utmost importance. It is my true belief that the Dark Curse is no longer safe here with us. Only days ago, we intercepted two of Rumpelstiltskin's spies, innocent individuals being forced to do his bidding, among our most holy of holy places, seeking out the Curse he so desperately desires. We have dealt with the issue of his spies, but I believe that if he can penetrate this far into our fold, then we need to do what we can to make sure he does not obtain this Curse! The trouble is, of course, that Dark Magic calls to Dark Magic. We cannot destroy the scroll as the Curse is too powerful, nor can we think of a place to hide it where he will not be able to find it. We know that you have had experience with Dark Ones in the past. Any insight you might be able to offer us into this matter would be greatly appreciated. Blessings-

He didn't read the last bit, he simply plucked the other piece of paper off the dagger and set it aside. He felt light-headed and dizzy, he was so eager he fumbled as he enlarged it, tore the thread free, and read:

Apprentice, We were overjoyed to receive your correspondence and even better a solution to our great problem! Natural Magic. Why hadn't we ever thought of that before? Rest assured, my old friend, we have found the strongest source of Natural Magic known to the Enchanted Forest and taken great lengths to hide the Curse there. Along with a few other tricks we have, we sleep soundly at night knowing that it shall remain free of the Dark One's hands, hopefully until the Dagger's Curse falls into the hands of another. Many thanks and Blessings-

He tossed the letter away and let out a noise that wasn't human. It was one of astonishment and relief and utter overwhelming disbelief. The mouse was squealing away, but he could hardly hear it over the hum of his blood in his ears. Answers, the Seer said. Answers indeed! For years, decades, centuries even he had looked for the Curse! Searched high and low and so many realms, and now here it was! Just like that, the answer to everything, the key to finding Baelfire, it was right in front of him and practically had been the entire time. Oh, no. The Blue Fairy hadn't written it's hiding place down precisely, but "disguised by the strongest source of Natural Magic known to the Enchanted Forest"…she may as well have written it down and covered the place in glittering fairy dust! There was only one place his Curse could be.

His answers were on Bald Mountain.

Well? Well?! Did I not promise you I would make the Big Bad lead into something important?! While we saw him retrieve the Curse on the show, we never did find out how he found it there. We saw him discovering he needed it and making inquiries about where it was, but we never saw how he figured out where it was. So, I used an awful arc to lead to something awesome...the way he finds the Curse. And here's the beautiful part about it: we know that it's right around this time that Rumple has to find the curse because it's when he meets the Queens of Darkness and that means that by the time Belle is there he already has the Curse (and she's coming sooner than you know; less than two weeks). So finding it has to be now. And in my mind, it was always the Apprentice and the Blue Fairy who had to have the answer, it was in character for both of them and it fit so perfectly into the timeline too, like this was exactly the answer it was so easy to write it! The answer has been with the Apprentice at the bottom of his mountain all along. So? How did I do? Good? Love it? Hate it? Disappointed?

Thank you Grace5231973 for your review on the last chapter, I'm excited to hear what you think of this chapter. It's sort of an in between chapter. I think it is officially labeled as a Frozen Chapter but in my mind it bridges the gap between Frozen and The Curse making itself both and neither at the same time. And hey, if you don't like this then I still have good news for you. In the chapters ahead, we have some fun with the Queens of Darkness and we get the return of a fan favorite character as well. Guesses? Peace and Happy Reading!