She ignored the knock at the door. It couldn't be Zeus again - he wouldn't bother knocking. Anyone else was putting themself in danger, and she wasn't about to oblige them by opening the door.

The knock sounded again. "Dora? It's Archie."

"Archie!"

She couldn't help herself - she raced to the door, throwing it open. "You're all right!" she breathed with relief.

"I'm fine. No harm done."

The look she gave him was extremely skeptical. So much so that he put up a hand to forestall her before she could refute it.

"Really, Dora. Neither Henry or I were hurt."

"You have a cut on your forehead," she said accusingly.

He flushed. "That didn't come from you. I tripped over a shoelace and went right into a rock wall."

"A rock wall you wouldn't have hit if I hadn't sent you there in the first place," she pointed out. "Now you really should be going -" She started to shut the door, but Archie's foot was suddenly in the way.

"Dora, listen to me. You may be in danger."

"I may be in danger?" She looked at him as though he were mad. "I am the danger! Don't you see?"

"You're not."

"I am!"

"Dora -"

"You need to leave." She tried again to shut the door, and again, Archie stopped it, but this time with his shoulder.

"And you need to listen to me!" He said, actually raising his voice.

"I can't let you put yourself in jeopardy," she said firmly. "Now if you'll excuse me...?"

"No."

"You have to leave."

"No. Not until you hear me out." Archie looked positively mutinous, and his face was flushing with color to match his hair.

"Goodbye, Archie."

"Dora..."

"Goodb-" she didn't finish the word because she suddenly found Archie's mouth on hers, and before she could recover her senses enough to realize how much she liked the feel of lips, or the gentle way his hand cupped her face, the kiss was over.

"Sorry," he mumbled, still flushed with color. "But Killian once told me that was the fastest way to shut a woman up and get her to listen to you."

Dora eyed him warily, still in a bit of a daze. "I'm listening," she managed to whisper.

He brought his other hand up, holding her face now as his eyes softened with entreaty.

"Zeus may be on his way here," Archie said. "And Belle uncovered some information that says that Zeus may be trying to use you somehow."

"As a weapon," she said, pulling out of his grasp. "Yes, I know. Tell the others not to worry. I won't allow it."

"Emma gets the feeling that what you will or won't allow won't matter much to Zeus," Archie pointed out.

"No, it won't matter." She stared at him a long moment. "Are you really sorry?"

"What?"

"For kissing me. You said you were sorry."

Archie's face flooded with color yet again, and he looked nervously at the floor. "I'm sorry if I was being too forward," he began.

"You weren't, you know. I liked it." She smiled hesitantly, then, as if remembering, the smile faded. "But you should go."

"We want to help you," Archie insisted.

"You can't."

"Dora, please-"

"You can't, Archie." She stepped further away, looking out the window and rubbing her arms as though she had a chill. "No one can help me. And I won't let him use me. There really is only one solution." She turned back to face him and took a breath before going on.

"I have to die," she said softly. "This very day."

###

A strange feeling pricked the back of his neck, and he looked up to see Zeus standing before him.

"The Eagle statue in the window was a subtle touch."

"I pride myself on my...discretion," Gold said, with a slight, gracious nod.

"This had better be worth my while." Zeus's tone was bored.

"It will be. I have a deal to strike."

"You have the box?" Now he was interested.

"I'm not foolish enough to keep it here in the shop, with you around. But I know where it is. And what's more...none of them do."

"You've kept it from them?" Zeus asked. "How did you manage that?"

"Simple, really. I told them you might overhear if we discussed it. After all, you can disguise yourself as anything."

"Clever," Zeus said begrudgingly. "So you give me the box, and in return..?"

"A favor."

Zeus gave him a measured look. "A favor." There was no inflection in his voice.

"One favor. Do we have a deal?"

"I'll consider it," Zeus said, waving a careless hand. "I'm not sure that I need you. The town isn't that large, and Pandora will lead me to it, eventually."

"She's too well-guarded," Gold said. "They're collecting her now and they won't let her out of their -"

The door opened, and in walked one of his least favorite people - accompanied by his girlfriend. Zeus had vanished, but as there were now two eagle statues in the display window, it was clear he was far from gone.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Gold asked, turning his back and busying himself with rearranging the knick-knacks on the shelf behind him.

"We need your help," Emma said. "Belle's found something. In a book."

He started slightly at the mention of her name, then he broke into reluctant smile. "Yes, if anything were to be found, Belle would certainly find it there."

"It's about a prophecy," Emma continued. "And since you're our resident expert, we figured we'd bring it to you." She nodded over her shoulder at Killian, who placed the book down on the counter, opened it, and slid it across. Gold studied it soundlessly.

"Well?" Emma asked impatiently.

"I can't help you." Gold looked up. "As it is not my prophecy. I can only speculate."

"Then speculate." Emma demanded.

"You know what I know," Gold said reasonably. "The prophecy points to a time of chaos - I think we can guess what that references - and the building of an army." He pointed down at the book. "This section here is a bit more troubling: "The walls will not divide."

"And that means?"

"Well...it could mean many things," he said, casting an eye at the statue in the window.

Killian suddenly made an exasperated noise. "This is a bloody waste of time," he said. "He's being deliberately obtuse so as to not to tell us what he really knows."

Gold eyed him with a near-reptilian coldness. "As I stated before," he said, spreading his hands wide. "Not my prophecy."

"Walls." Emma tapped her fingers on the counter. "The walls around the town? Does that mean Zeus can take this chaos into the outside world?"

"Likely," Gold said. "But like any good prophecy, there's an escape clause. Call upon the lost for the truth to not be so. In order to restore the balance - and possibly neutralize the curse - we need to-"

"Find something that's lost," Emma finished. "Dora's daughter?"

Gold shook his head. "No. It doesn't say find the lost. It says return the lost."

"Semantics," Killian grumbled.

"I deal in words," Gold reminded him. "And words - particularly in a prophecy that's survived a thousand years - have weight. Whatever or whoever has been lost is not in an unknown place."

"That's...helpful," Emma said sarcastically. She turned back to Killian. "Let's get over to Granny's. Maybe Dora can shed some more light on this." She turned back to Gold. "In the meantime - you've got that box under wraps?"

"It's protected," he said. "Not even Zeus can find it."

"Good. He's slick and I don't think I have to tell you he's powerful."

"He sought you out," Gold said, his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah. He's a real piece of work."

"And you resisted his...charms? I'm impressed." Gold's eyes flickered to Killian briefly. "It's not as though you had much to compare him to."

Killian took a step forward, with his hand clenching into a fist. Emma turned back to stop him, and a flicker of something near the window caught the corner of her eye. She paused a moment, but didn't see anything.

"He might be a god," Emma said to Gold, "But you can color me unimpressed. And now I want to color him gone. Is there a way to get him out of Storybrooke, and block him from returning?"

"No. He can travel between realms. He'll just come back, and angrier. And an angry Zeus?" Gold shook his head. "You won't want that."

"I can't say that I like him friendly, either," Emma retorted. "What about light magic?"

"Zeus is the most powerful of all the gods, Miss Swan," Gold reminded. "Diplomacy may be a far better option."

"Bugger off," Killian spat. "There is no diplomacy with the likes of him. Not with Emma."

"Valiant as ever," Gold smirked. "But useless in the face of a god who can evaporate you where you stand."

"We don't have time for this!" Emma broke in. "He could be abducting Dora even as we speak. The best way to handle this guy is to be proactive." She grabbed the book off the counter, handing it to Killian. "Let's go."

She pushed past him, opening the door, and Killian, with one last glare at Gold, followed her out. The door shut behind them, and a split-second later Zeus stood before him again.

"She really is something," he said, looking out the window at Emma. "I haven't been this intrigued in centuries." He turned back to Gold. "Her companion is only a minor irritation, but as you pointed out, easily dealt with."

Gold smiled, and it actually reached his eyes. "You know, I like the way you think. I'm going to give you a piece of advice."

Zeus merely raised a brow and waited.

"You won't get any further with the savior - she'll see right through you. And if you hurt someone she cares about - and lamentably, that includes the pirate - you'll have a battle on your hands."

The corner of Zeus's mouth lifted. "That makes it all the more interesting. A seduction is amusing, but a conquest fires the blood."

"In this case, it could burn the blood right out of you," Gold observed. "Miss Swan's magic is no ordinary light magic. She's a savior. And you and I both know that in this realm, that means she can do some damage."

"So you think I need to find another amusement?"

"I'm simply saying that you need to force her to make a choice. For the good of all."

Zeus looked annoyed. "Then perhaps it's time I cultivate the means of swaying the savior."

He spread his arms into wings, and a moment later, an eagle soared into the sky, visible through the window. Gold watched him go, his eyes narrowing. He needed something bigger to deal with. And he knew just who he'd use as leverage.