Alice jumped up and kissed Cyrus. "All things happen for a reason, don't they?" she bubbled excitedly.
A slow smile came over Cyrus' face. "I'm just now beginning to realize the truth of that." He turned to the man who had helped them. "Mr. Gold, there is only one way I know of to find my mother, but the object that can locate her is still in Wonderland."
Alice grinned at Cyrus. "The Lost-and-Found! Oh, Cyrus, how are we going to get it?"
"Pardon the interruption," Mr. Gold said abruptly, "but what exactly is this Lost-and-Found?"
"It's a compass that my mother gave me long ago," Cyrus explained. "It points the bearer to anything that has been lost."
The older man jerked as if someone had slapped him. "Anything?" he gasped.
Cyrus nodded. "When I was a young boy, the compass would always point me back to my mother, no matter how far I'd wandered."
"But a few years ago, it stopped pointing anywhere and just started spinning," Alice added. "That must have been when she crossed worlds."
"That's as far as I can tell," said Cyrus. "Though how she could have done it, or why, I do not know."
"Do you think Nyx might have come after her once you and your brothers were genies?" Alice mused.
Cyrus shook his head. "These spirits, though their vengeance may seem extreme, are rarely so vindictive as to punish the family after the doom has fallen on the one responsible."
"I can get it for you," Gold seemed to find his voice after a bit of trouble.
"Get what?" Cyrus' head had been so focused on his mother that he didn't know what Gold was referring to.
"The Lost-and-Found," the man answered. "I can cross into Wonderland and get it for you-of course, it comes-"
"With a price, I know," Cyrus finished, "All magic does. Name your price."
"Once I bring you the Lost-and-Found, and you use it to reunite with your mother... I get to keep it for my own use. It sounds like it would go nicely in the more secure cases of my shop." He grinned with a hungry gleam in his eye. "Do we have a deal?"
Cyrus nodded, "That sounds fair enough. And once I have my mother and Alice, I'm never losing them again, so I will have no need for it."
"Good," Gold gripped Cyrus' hand and shook it enthusiastically. "I'll go tonight after I close up the shop. Perhaps you can tell me where I can find it."
"Certainly," answered Cyrus, and the three began to make plans.
Later in the afternoon, Gold was in the back of his shop, laying out some new "merchandise," when he heard the bell at the front of his shop ring.
He entered the main area. A man with Arab features stood in his shop, scanning the shelves as if he knew exactly what he was looking for.
"Can I help you?" Gold asserted himself.
The man looked up. "Yes; I am in need of some magical assistance, and I was informed by a mutual contact that you would be able to meet that need."
Gold nodded, "I deal in antiques with certain...properties, if that's what you're meaning, yes."
The man, Jafar, showed an astonished face. "Really? I confess I would never have guessed it." He sighed and ran his hand over the delicate displays. "What a strange little town this Storybrooke is!" His eyes shifted toward Gold, who nodded.
"It is certainly unique; you'll never find another town like it."
Jafar kept an even tone. "Indeed?" he tried to be nonchalant. "I was under the impression that this was the same world Alice came to Wonderland from, and yet when I paid her father a visit, he seemed to have no knowledge of or belief in magic." He watched the proprietor closely.
Gold gave a gentle spin to the illuminated globe on the counter. "The same goes for the rest of the world, I am afraid. A curse brought a lot of us here from our own world, and there was no magic when we first arrived-till I brought it, that is." He shrugged.
Jafar made a point of leaning on the same counter and studying the same globe. "Well, then I suppose I will have you to thank when I've used your wares to locate my genie."
Gold's gaze hardened and he dropped the careless farce. "Pardon-genie?" He behaved as if the word were foreign to him.
Jafar stood and began wandering the shop again. "Oh, didn't I say?" he waved it off as if it was no big deal. "Yes, I'm looking for a genie whom I followed here. Have you seen anything like an old bottle around?" He glanced at an old cracked teacup, and an oriental vase, but neither seemed to be the bottle he sought.
Gold moved around the counter to stand closer to Jafar. "I'm afraid not; if I had, rest assured you would see it on these shelves." He tapped the glass cover of the case. "Nature, for all its weakness, can be rather unforgiving in its elements."
The tension mounted; Jafar wondered what sort of properties these untouchable items had. He played along, still trying to gauge Gold's loyalty. "Ah, yes; it wouldn't do to leave such precious metal out in the open. Now about my locating device-"
A small smile flickered around Gold's mouth as he answered, "I'll save you the trouble: there aren't any genies here."
That did the trick. Jafar had been studying a model of the Jolly Roger, but he whirled around. "Come again?"
Gold's face was a mask, but inside, his Rumplestiltskin persona cackled with glee. "You're the most powerful magic person to come to Storybrooke since the Red Queen arrived with Alice and Cyrus."
There it was, out in the open; Jafar realized too late that he had walked straight into Gold's trap. "So you're the one who's been hiding them, eh?" He blasted Gold with magic energy, but the bolt seemed to pass over Gold without touching him. He used magic to lift up the Oriental vase, only to have it wrenched out of his hands by an equal force that pushed back against his influence and created a barrier around him so that he could not manipulate anything in the store.
"Careful," Gold warned him calmly, "these are valuable pieces; wouldn't want you to break anything. You're liable to end up paying for them with your life." He indicated in particular a case of innocent-enough looking weapons.
Jafar seethed at him, full knowing that he was on another wizard's turf. "Where is my genie?" He spat.
Gold made a big show of leaning on his cane, even though his magical influence remained as strong as ever. "I told you, he's not here; Cyrus is a free man," he said pointedly.
Jafar was losing ground; what had that woman told him? Something about the Queen not remaining in this world. "And the Queen departed for yet another world, which means-" The pieces began to fall into place, but Jafar did not like the picture they made.
"Perhaps she is tracking down the genie you seek," Gold finished.
Jafar smirked. "That remains to be seen; do you carry any crystal balls?"
Gold nodded in understanding. "I'll check in the back," he responded.
"And I'd like to place a call," Jafar added, "if your telephone is in order."
Regina arrived home that evening to find a message waiting on her answering machine.
"Madam Mayor, this is Jafar. I am aware of your family connections, and I am in need of your assistance. Hidden within a small, sparse apartment somewhere in town is a heart contained in a box. I know you will find it, because it was your mother who first removed it. Please drop by your City's Hall and bring it to me, and I shan't be a bother for very much longer. I anticipate our partnership achieving great things, and I await your delivery. Good day."