Hey readers : ) Happy Valentine's Day! This chapter doesn't actually have anything at all to do with the holiday, and it's just pure coincidence that I got this chapter ready to post today. Oh well ; ) Still, if any of you do anything for Valentine's Day, I hope you have fun : )

I know this chapter is long overdue, and to be completely honest with you, there are still parts of it I'm not happy with. I've been messing around with it for weeks though, and I think this is the best it's going to get, so I'm posting it and being done with it. Plus, I also want this chapter out of the way so I can move on to the more interesting stuff in the next few chapters ; )

Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and has stuck with this story for so long. I really appreciate it so thank you : )

Please remember that Once Upon A Time is not owned by me, and I hope you enjoy this chapter : )

Missteps in Time

Despite her absolute euphoria at having both her body and her magic back again, Zelena forced herself to push aside those joyous emotions for the moment, and focus on her here and now. Or the new here and now she currently found herself in to be more precise.

Having her magic unbound from her pendant was very good news for the Wicked Witch, but that alone wasn't enough to secure what Zelena really wanted.

Revenge on her sister.

No. Magic alone wasn't enough to get her that. But perhaps the application of knowledge to the magic would be enough to undo that happy ending Regina most certainly did not deserve.

Grinning wickedly at the thought of destroying her sister and her happiness, Zelena turned her thoughts more towards how she was going to get more knowledge about what current events were taking place with many of the main players in this game of heroes and villians.

Technically, she was thirty years out of sync with them now after all.

Her gaze fell upon her spy-glass again.

Zelena had been so overjoyed about having her magic unbound from its tether that she hadn't even used her helpful mirror yet. Grinning, the emerald-skinned witch took a seat at the vanity and gazed upon one of her most useful trinkets.

Waving her hand, the surface of the spy-glass shimmered and changed.

Zelena observed with an arched eyebrow as Cora appeared in the center of the spy-glass, dressed in the regal crimson gown adorned with small black hearts, and a tiara encrusted with glittering rubies was nestled in her hair.

Cora sat upon her throne, a cruel smirk lining her features as what appeared to be a young man grovelled at her feet, clearly pleading for his life. But Cora had no heart in her chest. She was incapable of mercy.

Seconds later, there was the swish of a blunt axe, and Cora's cold smile widened gleefully, as the poor man's head rolled across her castle floor, his body slumping pitifully to the ground in a pool of blood as red as her jewels.

Zelena's blood boiled and she clenched her teeth.

Waving her hand again, the Wicked Witch of the West caused the image of her mother to fade away.

Zelena let out a scream of the utmost frustration.

It was more than obvious that she had emerged from the time portal in the wrong time-frame.

Cora was much older than she had been whilst courting Prince Leopold before Princess Eva ruined it all. Hell, her mother was in Wonderland and had become the Queen of Hearts already.

The Wicked Witch of the West let out another scream of outrage.

All that bloody hard work, all those years dedicated to one seemingly impossible goal, and when she finally managed to do what no other magic-practitioner had ever achieved, she emerged from the fabric of time at the wrong bloody point in history.

Oh, Zelena could rip the blasted sky apart, she was so incensed.

Her magic flared around her and the whole room started shaking in her volatile anger. This wasn't fair, damn it. How could all her hard work come so close to granting her all her dreams, only for fate or destiny to snatch them all away again.

Anger, hot as molten lava, coursed through Zelena's blood.

It was because she was a villain, she realised.

That was the only logical explanation as to why her time-portal had ejected her at the wrong moment in history. Nothing else made sense as to why her spell had backfired in a way Zelena had never even imagined. It was because the universe had long since decided one thing was an irrefutable rule.

Villains did not get happy endings.

Well, Zelena didn't care much for that bloody rule. She was too close to finally getting her revenge on Regina for getting everything whilst she got nothing to give up now. Even if she was too late to kill Princess Eva and change her family history, that didn't mean that Zelena couldn't make Regina suffer another way. There had to be some way to make it happen.

There just had to be.

But Zelena knew that it would require careful planning. And that would require more information to go on. Time travel was tricky, and required a cautious touch. Zelena couldn't afford to allow her bitter anger to cause her to become reckless right now.

Right now, she really needed to keep a cool head and think.

The first thing that Zelena needed to be sure of was whether or not there was a younger version of herself running around out there in the Land of Oz. She needed to know that first and foremost. After all, if she met herself... if two versions of her from different moments in history ever touched... it could create a paradox dangerous enough to tear apart Oz and quite possibly time itself.

Zelena willed the spy-glass to show her the Wicked Witch of the West at that exact moment.

A few moments later, a sigh of relief slipped past Zelena's slips. The spy-glass simply reflected Zelena's emerald-skinned reflection back at her. A smile graced her features, before it was replaced by a curious frown.

Zelena glanced down at her hands again, turning them over several times, lost in very deep thought.

So, she hadn't time-travelled in the exact way that she'd originally thought she had. Zelena had theorised that she'd gained her physical form back due to the power of the Time Portal, but the lack of a younger version of herself was forcing her to re-evaluate that theory.

No.

Instead, it would appear that Zelena's current self, the her that had progressed through her own personal timeline to the point of her defeat in Storybrooke, had merged into her past self's body, a version of her that hadn't left Oz yet.

Zelena had never heard of such a phenomenon.

In all the numerous texts on the suject and the dangers of time-travel that she had collected over the years, Zelena had never heard of the concept of the present and the past versions of the same lifeform merging together, so that the physical body was younger, but the mental state and the memories of the elder self remained.

But the evidence was quite literally staring at her from the mirror.

Zelena had obviously taken her past self over completely, whilst also retaining her memories of events that had happened to her in the future. Events that would happen… events that she could change.

A grin that was positively wicked crawled on to Zelena's face.

Ideas were beginning to swirl through her mind, oh such deliciously wicked ideas. Ideas of power, and death and destruction, and most prominently, ideas of revenge. A plan was taking shape in her mind, a plan that would finally give Zelena exactly what she'd always wanted.

A plan that would allow Wicked to win.

But before she could properly start to plot and scheme, Zelena needed to know exactly where in time she had emerged out of the Time Portal at. If her original plot to kill Princess Eva was now dead and buried, then Zelena needed to be sure that any new plan she came up with went off without a hitch this time. She needed more information, and she frowned as she pondered how to use her spy-glass to get her some.

The realisation struck her like lightning.

Between concocting her original plan to kill Princess Eva and change the course of her birth mother's life, Zelena had spent many an hour spying on Regina in the Enchanted Forest, partly due to revelling in knowing the events she'd be erasing from history by altering the past, and partly because Zelena secretly yearned to know more about the woman that had been chosen by her mother, whilst she had been abandoned in the woods. But such intimate knowledge of Regina's timeline would be useful to Zelena in another way now.

So cooling her boiling temper for the time being, Zelena summoned her magic, and waved her hand over her spy-glass once more.

The Evil Queen wore a malicious smirk on her face as she strutted into the cell block of her castle. She was there to pay a personal visit to one of her... guests today. A prisoner that was a particularly useful commodity, or at least, she would be one day in the future.

Oh, how Regina couldn't wait to see the look on her old mentor's face when he found out how she'd outsmarted him in such a devious way.

She would relish seeing that infuriating, smug little imp put in his place, and this chess piece would be exactly the way to do it. She still couldn't believe that old fool was even capable of loving someone but himself, or that anyone could actually bring themselves to love him in return.

There certainly was no accounting for taste.

But that wasn't what had brought Regina to the cell block that day. She wanted to talk to her prisoner, to glean from her if Rumplestiltskin had some kind of hidden agenda for wanting the Dark Curse cast.

Regina wasn't a fool after all. She knew her mentor never did anything for anyone without there being something in it for him.

And the Dark One had been pushing her lately.

He wanted this curse and Regina was determined to find out why, hence the visit to her long-term guest of honour.

Regina was drawing closer to her destination, and her eyes glinted with gleeful darkness as she noticed which one of her Black Knights was on guard duty today. Her lips curled into a cruel smirk.

"Ah, my favourite pet" she greeted him, her voice but a frosty sneer, "Standing guard today, I see. I certainly hope that you're not too bored".

The Huntsman levelled her with a even gaze.

"Your majesty" he acknowledged politely, bowing his head to her.

Regina's lips twitched. Oh how she loved hearing him be so... obedient.

"Is that the only greeting I get?" she asked with a mock pout, eyes burning with malice and something close to lust, "The standard greeting I get from my all servants and subjects alike? My dear Huntsman, I expect more from someone who knows me so... intimately".

Regina was extremely satisfied to see the Huntsman barely hold back a flinch of self-disgust.

Oh, she knew that the Huntsman wanted no part of her. He didn't want to be in service to her, he didn't want to reside in her castle, and he certainly didn't want to be in her bed. Biologically his body may react to her presence, but that was the limit of his desire for her. And that was precisely why Regina used his heart to force him into being her faithful bed-warmer.

That was his punishment, for allowing Snow White to live.

Regina hoped that one day, he would look back on everything he had suffered through because of that incredible lapse of judgement; how he was forced to be her plaything, how he sacrificed his freedom for that wretched flake of snow... and come to resent her existence just as deeply as Regina did.

And then... he wouldn't hesitate to kill her.

"I apologise, my queen" the Huntsman ground out through clenched teeth.

Regina's smirk only widened.

"You seem displeased, Huntsman" she mocked him cruelly, eyes glinting with amusement, "Are you not enjoying your cage? Perhaps you should try to run away, but before you do, you need to ask yourself one immensely important question".

"What's that?" the Huntsman asked hollowly.

"How far would you get before I crush your heart into dust?" Regina whispered maliciously.

Although he hid it well, fear flashed through the Huntsman's eyes, and Regina let out a dark laugh that echoed down the stone corridor.

"Think about that, my pet" Regina cooed at him.

The Huntsman swallowed hard. He knew that the Queen knew just how much he loathed being called that, and relished in taunting him with such a degrading insult.

"But for now, you can take yourself away from here, and go to my bed chambers" Regina instructed him, relishing in the thought of making him suffer in such an invasive way for what must have been the hundredth time, "I have some business to discuss with our guest, but I'll be along shortly".

The Huntsman grimaced, but didn't move immediately.

"That woman in the cell..." he began slowly, cautious to avoid invoking Regina's infamous temper, "Why is she here? What do you want with her?"

Regina narrowed her eyes at him in irritation.

"You needn't concern yourself with her, my pet. Her presense here in none of your business" Regina snapped at him bluntly, "There is only one woman in your life you should be concerned about, and that is myself".

"Yes... your majesty" he sighed in defeat.

"And whilst we're on the subject of prisoners, let me make one thing quite clear" Regina continued, her tone deadly serious, "I have neither forgotten nor forgiven your blunder in allowing that shepard turned prince to escape from this castle. You're lucky I didn't end your existence there and then. So if I come here one day only to find that this prisoner has been allowed to flee my hospitality as well... well this time, my pet, you won't be around long enough to see the fallout. Do I make myself clear?"

The Huntsman swallowed hard again, eyes fearful.

"Yes" he whispered.

"Good" Regina smirked cruelly at him, "Now go".

The Huntsman turned on his heel and briskly walked away down the stone corridor and out of sight. Once the echoes of his footsteps had faded, Regina turned to the cell door, a malicious grin on her face. Waving her hand, the door magically unlocked itself.

Looking forward to what always promised to be an amusing encounter, Regina entered the cell.

Belle, the would-be lover of Rumplestiltskin and the daughter of nobleman Sir Maurice, glowered up at her from her bed where she was sitting in the cell. Despite being able to see the tiny bit of goodness hidden deep inside the corrupted soul of the Dark One, Belle could honestly say without a doubt that not even a shred of that same goodness existed inside the woman that stood before her.

As far as Belle was concerned, Regina truly had earned the title of 'Evil Queen' during her long and blood-soaked era on the throne.

"Hmm" Regina rubbed her chin in mock thought as she looked down at her captive smugly, "You're the second person I've seen today that doesn't appear to be thrilled to be living here in my castle. Is there damp in the walls I don't know about? Or maybe the kitchen staff aren't as talented as I thought, is that what's putting everyone off?"

Belle scoffed and rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"What do you want?" she spat angrily. She was in no mood for games today.

Regina quirked an elegant eyebrow in amusement.

"Straight to the point" she commented drily, regarding Belle closely, "I like it".

Belle didn't reply, just kept on glaring at her.

"I'm here with news about someone very special in your life Belle. Someone you care deeply about, more fool you" Regina explained, taking a perverse pleasure in watching how Belle's eyes widened ever so slightly, "Yes. That's right. I'm here to talk about your dearest Dark One".

Belle's nostrils flared in anger.

"You mean the man you refuse to allow me to save from the darkness?!" she growled furiously.

Regina threw back her head and laughed nastily.

"Oh... is that what you think would happen if I let you out of here to give him... True Love's kiss?" Regina quipped with disgust in her tone and disdain on her face, "Please... for such a smart girl you're either incredibly stupid, dangerously naive, or simply delusional".

Belle didn't dignify her taunts with a response.

"You can't save his soul Belle" Regina goaded her with a mocking, cooing voice, "Love is nothing more than a lie. A lie people tell themselves because the truth is so hard".

"I refuse to believe that!" Belle snapped back.

"Refuse all you like" Regina chuckled darkly, "That doesn't change the facts. The fact that you're locked up here as my most beautiful prisoner, or that he's locked up too".

Belle's eyes widened in horror, and for a moment, she even forgot how to breathe.

"What..." she eventually gasped out, "How?"

"A wretched flake of snow and a charmless shepherd think that they tricked him into imprisoning himself" Regina explained, tone bitter as she thought about her two most loathsome enemies, "But I'm not as gullible or as stupid as those two idiots. I know that Rumplestiltskin is plotting something. He's only in that cage right now because he wants to be".

Belle closed her eyes in despair, hating the mental image of Rumple inside a cage.

"And I also know that you are the only person alive that knows him and more importantly, knows his secrets" Regina continued, eyes now focused on Belle and nothing else.

"Tell me about the Dark Curse" the Evil Queen demanded.

The bookworm looked up at her, confusion playing across her beautiful face.

"What?" she questioned, perplexed, "What curse? What are you talking about?"

"Do not play me for a fool Belle" Regina warned, eyes narrowing dangerously, tone utterly serious, "I do not know why Rumplestiltskin wants me to cast this curse, but I know that you do. Tell me now, and I'll allow you to live long enough to see tomorrow".

Belle couldn't help but scoff in Regina's face for that one.

"Even if I had the slightest idea as to what you're talking about, why shouldn't I just keep silent and see if you carry out your threats?" she sneered up at her jailer.

The Evil Queen's face contorted with barely suppressed outrage.

"Oh, I promise you Belle" Regina warned in a voice that wasn't to be argued with, "I never make empty threats, and I always keep my promises. And I promise you this, if I don't leave this cell with the answers I want, I will rip out your heart and grind it until there's nothing by ash left".

Belle swallowed hard, but refused to allow any fear to show on her face.

"Then I guess that means I'll never see Rumplestiltskin or my father ever again" the brunette beauty said with genuine sadness, "Because I don't know anything about a curse, or what Rumple is planning, or why he's let himself be locked up".

Regina opened her mouth to retort, but paused.

The more she looked into Belle's sapphire eyes, the more she came to a dreadful but important realisation. The good lady Belle was telling the truth. She clearly had no idea about any of this.

Whilst disappointed, Regina couldn't help but relish in one thing though.

"Hmm... perhaps you really don't know anything" Regina mused, a nasty smirk beginning to play its way across her face, "That's interesting Belle. That's really interesting".

As loathed though she was to allow herself to be sucked in, Belle couldn't refrain from replying.

"What's interesting?" she snarled through clenched teeth.

"Oh... just that you claim to love the Dark One" Regina goaded cruelly, relishing in the anger burning away in Belle's beautiful eyes, "That you have so vehemently declared over and over again that your... True Love's kiss... can free him from drowning in the darkness. That you claim to really know him and understand him and can even empathise with him... and yet you know absolutely none of his secrets whatsoever".

A expression of absolutely crushing pain and despair settled upon Belle's face.

"Perhaps there's a reason for that, beautiful Belle" Regina was enjoying twisting the knife in the naive little bormwook that was practically withering before her, "Perhaps... Rumplestiltskin doesn't trust you... perhaps, beautiful Belle... he doesn't love you".

Belle surged off the bed and to her feet.

SLAP!

Regina's head snapped to the side from the sheer force of the slap, and her cheek stung with a white hot pain.

"Don't you dare pretend to know anything about our love!" Belle screamed in the Evil Queen's face, losing any remaining ounce of patience she'd had left, "You know nothing of love. You're incapable of it!"

Regina slowly turned her head back around to face her captive bookworm.

A burning white hot rage was shimmering in her eyes.

If anyone else in all the lands had ever dared to lay a hand on her, Regina would have burnt them alive at the stake. She would relish in torturing them in her dungeons until they were on their broken, bloodstained knees, pleading with her to grant them the sweet release of death.

She was loathed to admit to herself however, that she couldn't go down that route with Belle.

Right now the brunette beauty was too valuable a chess piece in the game between heroes and villians alike. Oh, in the grand scheme of things, Regina knew that Belle was nothing. An insect. A pawn. She was a commodity who's value would one day diminish and when it did, that was when Regina would quite cheerfully kill her.

But that time wouldn't come until after her curse was cast.

So instead of giving into the boiling anger she felt, Regina masked it with a sadistic smile.

"If you're such an authority on love, my dear, perhaps you need to ask yourself one simple question" Regina said in an almost pleasant tone.

Belle, surprised to have not been incinerated for that slap, narrowed her eyes.

"What question?" she begrudgingly asked the queen.

Regina's vengeful smile widened.

"Why did True Love's kiss... fail to work?" she taunted mercilessly.

A look of hopelessness blossomed in Belle's eyes as she swallowed hard. A heavy silence was the only response she could give to Regina's cold taunt.

Laughing vindictively, Regina turned and swaggered out of the cell.

She had work to be getting on with.

After all, the darkest of curses wasn't going to cast itself.

The image faded away in the spy-glass, leaving a frustrated scowl etched into Zelena's emerald face in its wake. Watching that scene play out... had been absolutely no use to her at all. Seeing her little sister toy with the bookworm wasn't exactly the most revealing of events Zelena had ever spied upon.

All Zelena had really learnt from watching all of that was that Regina was preparing the necessities that came with casting the Dark Curse.

That, and based on the little bookworm's current imprisonment in Regina's castle, that the timeline was somewhere before the original Dark Curse, and not the one cast by Snow White to escape her.

Zelena swallowed hard.

That confirmed that she had time-travelled at least thirty years into the past.

She brew out a breath. Sometimes she even managed to impress herself with how amazing she was. Part of her was still astonished that her magnificent time-travel spell had even worked at all, considering that no other sorcerer had ever managed such an accomplishment.

A superior smirk curled her lips.

That was because nobody else in all the realms or the whole of history had ever been quite as wonderfully wicked as her.

The only problem was, her portal hadn't taken her where she wanted to go in time, and now Zelena was having serious doubts about whether or not she would ever be able to carry out her wicked plot of killing Princess Eva so that Cora could marry Leopold instead and keep Zelena as a infant instead of abandoning her in the woods.

The danger was even more paramount now that she had already passed backwards through time once.

All the written works that Zelena had managed to procure on time-travel over the years she'd dedicated to her scheme had lectured of the dangers of travelling through the fabric of time even once, but resolutely warned about the enormous risks of traversing time twice.

The supposed paradoxes such an act could cause, the damage to the timelines it could bring... well, the stories even unnerved her, the Wicked Witch of the West of all people.

Zelena scowled in annoyance.

No. She knew that travelling even further into the past was never going to be an option for her now. After all, what good would it do to erase Regina from existence if existence itself began to unravel until reality simply crumbled entirely and fell apart into nothingness?

But all wasn't lost for Zelena yet.

After all, she still had foreknowledge of events that would happen at least twenty eight years in the future, and knowledge itself was power.

A cruel smirk graced Zelena's features.

Her original plan may have ended in failure, but Zelena was far from done. She would get her revenge on Regina, if it was the last thing she ever did.

And thankfully, she had all the time in the world to prepare for it.

But that still left Zelena with a large window of time to try and narrow down her location within it too.

All she knew for sure was that it was some time after Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding - for Regina hadn't stolen the Dark Curse back from the Dragon Queen Maleficent until after that... happy day - and some point before Emma Swan was born as the curse engulfed the Enchanted Forest and froze all the other realms in time.

That meant she had a period of at least nine months to narrow down to a more specific time.

Zelena frowned, still struggling to work out in her head exactly what the date was based on where Cora and Regina both were in their individual timelines. She had a general idea, but she needed to know the exact date.

If she was to come up with new plan that was as wonderfully wicked as her last scheme, then she needed more solid information to act upon.

A moment later, another idea struck the green-skinned witch, and Zelena's lips curled into a dark smile.

Waving her hand one final time, new images appeared in her spy-glass, as another scene currently playing out in the Enchanted Forest now held the Wicked West of the West as an captive audience.

Snow White, belly amply swollen with both new life and anxious anticipation, hurriedly followed the jailer through the dark corridor. She and her husband, Prince Charming, were on their way to speak with the one man in the Enchanted Forest who could answer their question. Snow had not been able to find peace since the Evil Queen's threats. She had to know the truth.

The jailer, a bulky and dyspeptic man, did not like this idea one bit.

"Don't give him your name, and here, wear these cloaks" he told them knowingly, passing two heavy hooded cloaks back to the married couple, "Your best line of defense against him is anonymity".

Charming took both the cloaks, shrugging into his own, whilst passing the other one off to his pregnant wife.

"Why did I let you talk me into this?" he grumbled in exasperation.

Snow kept pace beside him, slipping her cloak on too, her eyes worried, but also determined.

"It's the only way" she retorted, though her expression was set in a heavy frown, "You know I'm right Charming. We have to do this. For our child".

Charming let out a forlorn sigh. He knew she was right.

"The Prince is right to be wary, your highness" the jailer said ominously, "None is filled with more regret than he who's spoken to Rumplestiltskin".

Charming and Snow shared a grim look, both clearly shaken and worried by the man's concerned warning.

"I'll do the talking" Charming said decisively.

Far down the long, dark corridor, the three reached the final cell. No light came from within, and the flames of their torch was the only thing that allowed them to see the ragged bars. Snow grimaced, trying not to think of how they looked like monstrous fangs of a wild beast.

"Rumplestiltskin!"the jailer called through the inky darkness, "I have a question for you".

For one brief moment, there was nothing but silence.

Then came the high-pitched giggle.

"No you don't" came the dreaded voice, tone dripping with amusement, from within the dark cell, "They do. Prince Charming and Snow White would like to know whether the Evil Queen's words should be heeded. Am I right?"

"How did you know that?!" the jailed demanded angrily, "Who has been down here speaking to you?!"

His outburst only earned him another giggle of amusement.

"No one, my good man!" Rumplestiltskin's voice came. Snow still could not see him through the almost impenetrable darkness, but it seemed as though he'd stood quickly. Charming put his hand on his sword... just in case.

"Let's drop the game" Snow was beginning to lose her patience, stepping forward and pulling back her hood, "Tell us what you know".

"I will" Rumplestiltskin sneered frostily, stepping nearer to the bars, making Snow flinch back slightly, "If you'll give me something in return, sweet Snow White".

Charming surged forwards upon hearing those words, glowering at the imp in the cell, and planting himself firmly between the bars of Rumplestiltskin's prison and his pregnant wife.

"You're not getting out of here" the prince growled, levelling a harsh glare at the man before him, "There is no chance. So don't even try it".

Rumplestiltskin threw back his head and laughed loudly. Snow and Charming looked at each other in anxious concern.

"No, not now" he chuckled darkly, causing the other three people to tense nervously, "Of course not. I will be out later. When we're all gone. What I need is assurances. For then. For later. Eh?"

"What do you mean?" Charming angrily demanded to know, "What would..."

"Just tell us what you want" Snow cut off her husband's words frantically, "We don't have time for this".

The smile that etched its way onto Rumple's face was far from comforting. It was a smile that meant he'd realised exactly what Snow White was right now.

A desperate soul.

"Oh... the name of your unborn child would be... quite lovely" Rumplestiltskin sneered mockingly.

"Absolutely not!" Charming yelled furiously.

Unfortunately for the heroic prince, his words were ignored entirely.

"Deal" Snow said quickly, before Charming had a chance to argue against her actions, "Now tell us. What does Regina have planned for us? How will she take away our happiness? I know her threats were more than just words. I know she has a real plan".

Rumplestiltskin was at the bars of the cell now, and they could see his frightening scaled face. His nose was twisted and warted, his teeth yellow spikes. His hair was a matted curtain, but his eyes were the worst part of him. They were empty. Souless. Chilling. Some foul magic had done this to him, but Snow didn't know exactly how and didn't care to.

He smiled, his grotesque tongue wagging out of his mouth.

"The Evil Queen has managed to procure a very powerful curse" the imp explained to them omniously, a glint of amusement in his dark eyes, "She plans to enact it soon. It is coming. The curse is our future now. And it won't just affect this land. It will touch all the lands... Soon you'll all be in a prison. Just like me, only worse. Your prison - all of our prisons - will be time itself".

And to follow that bold and terrifying declaration, Rumplestiltskin did something that Snow could never even begin to understand.

He threw back his head and laughed long and hard.

"This is foolish" Charming hissed through clenched teeth, angered by this monster frightening his wife, "Come on. We've heard enough".

Once again, the prince's words were ignored.

Rumplestiltskin stopped laughing, and became deadly serious. The striking shift in his demeanour unsettled Snow even further.

"Time will stop. We will all be trapped, suffering for eternity. Our memories will be warped and twisted into something truly dreadful, and the Queen will lord over us, enslave us all. We will be lost, confused... hopeless... " Rumple waited, allowing the true horrors of what awaited them to sink in, "None of us can do a thing to stop it. All of which means only one thing... No more happy endings".

Snow swallowed hard, looking at him grimly.

Rumplestiltskin was a creature of trickery, everyone knew that to be true, but he rarely ever actually lied. That caused Snow to buy it. They truly were in the gravest of danger, just as the Queen had vowed, all those months ago at Snow and Charming's wedding.

"All curses can be broken" Snow whispered anxiously, "Who can break this one?"

Rumplestiltskin's smile widened even further, chilling them all.

"The child" he declared smugly, gesturing at Snow's sizable belly, "Your child will be the key to stopping the Queen. You must get her to safety, away from this land. And when she reaches her twenty-eighth year, it will begin. The final battle will begin. She will save... us. All of us".

Those last words were delivered simply, as though it was only a matter of course.

"She?" Charming questioned in confusion, glancing at Snow, whilst the jailer motioned that it was time for them to leave, "But it's a boy".

Rumplestiltskin giggled once again at the prince's assumption.

"Is it?" the imp questioned with a deranged grin, before singing "I don't think so, Mr. Prince!"

Charming still looked confused, but Snow merely shook her head.

"We have to prepare" she warned her husband anxiously, grasping his arm, "Come now, my love. The Dark One's prophecy is correct. I can feel it".

Snow White and Prince Charming turned to leave, with the jailer ahead of them, but a manic voice yelled out from behind them.

"Wait!" Rumplestiltskin screamed furiously, "The child's name! I need her name! We had a deal! I want her name! Give me her name!"

Snow swallowed hard, but heaved a heavy sigh. Praying that she wouldn't come to regret honouring this deal one day, Snow turned back to look at the monster of a man, and stared into his cold, empty eyes.

"Emma" she whispered simply, "Her name is Emma".

And with that, Snow White and Prince Charming and the jailor walked away, leaving Rumplestiltskin alone with his darkness and insanity.

As the image melted away in her spy-glass, Zelena grinned broadly, for she now knew exactly where it was in time that she'd emerged out of the time portal at.

One month.

She had arrived in the past roughly one month before her sister was due to enact the original Dark Curse. The curse which would last for twenty-eight years, and one day be broken by the Saviour.

Zelena couldn't contain the joyous laughter that bubbled its way up her throat.

Whilst ending up at this particular moment in history wasn't even close to when she'd originally wanted, Zelena also knew that things could have gone so much worse for her as well. Being here at this point in the timeline gave her enough time to plot and come up with a new scheme to get her revenge on Regina. She could work with this.

And work she would.

Zelena was going to use the next four weeks to do her damnedest to change things, so that by the time Regina fell, she was going to fall hard. The Wicked Witch of the West wasn't exactly sure how yet, but she was nothing if not determined.

One thing was for sure. She would be using this next month to its fullest.

Zelena would have her revenge... or die trying.

And there's another one : )

Not the most action-packed chapter, I know, but it was necessary for the story. I needed to show Zelena learning exactly when she was in the past to set up for the future, but I also wanted to do some scenes with characters we haven't seen in a while.

Speaking of, I believe this is Belle's first appearance in this story. I had so much fun writing her scene with Regina. The slap felt a little bit out of character, but I wanted to show that being locked up in a tower was slowly eating away at her. Hopefully that came off alright : )

And the Huntsman... you guys all know he's one of my favourite characters, so any chance I get to include him, chances are I'm gonna take it ; )

Just to clarify, Zelena is now going to spend the next four weeks before Regina casts the Dark Curse making changes to the timeline and setting up for her new plan since her original one is now a bust. The next few chapters are going to focus on that, and I honestly can't wait to see what you guys think as more changes happen : )

Once again, I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing the last chapter, and please consider leaving one for this chapter as I love reading your thoughts and opinions ; )

Until the next time, keep on reading : )