3.07 As the World Falls Down

Neverland—Present Day

Hook sat idly at the large desk in the office of the Pirate King. Yawning, he looked into a small mirror resting on the desk and decided to reapply his eyeliner. He was focusing so much on admiring the handsome face in front of him and on grumbling about the hand that the fates had dealt him that he didn't even notice when a young man entered the room.

"Um, sir, you're not really supposed to be in here."

Hook looked up sharply. "Says who?"

"Says the rules. Only the Pirate King can sit at that desk."

"I used to be Pirate King."

The man nodded nervously and continued to stare at Hook. Hook sighed and said "Look, when the new king gets elected, I will leave. But until then, I don't think anyone will mind if I sit in here."

The young pirate looked like he was about to protest, but Hook fixed him with his best commanding-pirate stare.

"Um, very well, sir. I'll leave you here." He scrambled from the room.

Smirking, Hook looked down to continue admiring his reflection in the mirror. After killing Ruth, he had been able to successfully blame the assassination on the natives. The two groups had already been having many problems keeping the peace, and the Pirate King's sudden death had escalated the situation into open rivalry. Even the Pirate Council, usually a passive group, was discussing the possibility of war.

And through it all, Hook had gained. He had persuaded the Pirate Council that he was a worthy ally, and in their desperation they had given him a ship and made him captain. Soon they would decide on who would be the next Pirate King, and Hook knew that he was in the running. Years ago when he was banished, it had been because he refused to cooperate with the natives. But now that the pirates were thirsting for bloodshed, his style of leadership was starting to sound more appealing. In fact, it wouldn't surprise him at all if he actually was chosen to be Pirate King again.

Hook smugly looked around the room and started planning how he would arrange everything when he moved in. His ship-in-a-bottle collection would go on the top shelf that wrapped around the room's perimeter, his acquisition of Enchanted Forest-Grecian artwork (souvenirs from when he was in the Enchanted Forest) would go on the walls, and his stack of Fop Weekly magazine would be placed neatly on the end table next to the couch, so that anyone who was looking for an audience with him would have something to read while they waited.

And his eyeliner...something that was so necessary to upholding the banner of beauty needed an important place, but also a secret one, so only he would be able to use it. Hook carefully thought back to the days when he had been Pirate King. He had kept his eyeliner in a locked box on top of his desk back then, but it had been broken into once, by Ruth's pesky son Kevin. Hook convulsed in anger at the memory, and as he did, his knee brushed against the underside of the desk and released a hidden switch. What is this? Hook lowered his head and looked at the underside of the desk. It appeared that he had revealed a small hidden compartment. Hmm...this might be the perfect spot for my necessities. He reached his hand in to test out the space, and his fingers brushed against an artifact. He carefully removed it from the hollow and found that he was holding a small clay ornament in his hands. It was threaded on a cord, and etched on one side were the words 'What I hold is pure as breath, permanent as death, implacable as stone.'

Interesting, Hook thought. The trinket was probably the result of an afternoon arts and crafts session of a bored and lonely past Pirate King, but even so, it intrigued the pirate. He slipped it around his neck with the goal of examining it later, and then started moving his cosmetics into the hollow.

Neverland—Present Day

Emma ran through the tunnel and back up the stairs, her heart full of trepidation. The door at the end opened outward at the touch of her hand and she nearly tripped over Regina, who laid huddled on the doorsill.

"Emma!" Regina scrambled to her feet and clutched Emma's shoulders. "Do you know what is going on? Have you found Henry yet?"

"Regina." Emma blinked her eyes in surprise at the sight of the fairy tale picture standing in front of her. Along with the ball gown, Regina was sporting a longer hairstyle with silver hairpieces entwined through it. It was a stark contrast to her usual mayoral outfits. "Oh...Regina..." The task Vanessa had given her suddenly came rushing back, and Emma had to hold onto Regina's arms to avoid falling to her knees in dismay.

"What's wrong?" Regina's eyes searched Emma's face frantically.

"Um...nothing's wrong!"

"No, there's something you're not telling me. What is it? Is it about Henry? Did you find him?"

Emma's verdant eyes gazed back helplessly into Regina's dark ones. She knew that she couldn't tell her that the only way to save Henry was for Regina to die, because Regina would gladly sacrifice herself to save her son. And for some ridiculous reason, Emma realized that she had grown fond of Regina. "No. There must be another way," she muttered.

"Another way for what?" Regina demanded, her eyes wide with confusion.

Emma ignored the other woman's pleas as she tried to think up an alternative way to rescue their son. Now that she was away from the presence of the witch, she was thinking more clearly. She couldn't confront Vanessa again with Regina at her side, because Vanessa might kill Regina herself. But perhaps if Emma helped Regina to escape, then Emma could go back and kill the witch with the knife and then grab Henry.

"Regina, we have to get you out of here!" Emma's hand slid down Regina's arm until it was gripping her hand. Then she was pulling her away from the door and around the perimeter of the room.

"Where are we going?" Regina asked with surprise.

"I'm looking for an exit."

"There isn't one. I've already looked. The walls—the mirrors—appear to be solid."

Emma ignored her and continued to pace around the ballroom. Occasionally she would run her hands over the surface of the mirror, as if she was searching for a tiny crack that would indicate that it was something more than just solid glass. However, once the pair had made it all the way around the room and were back at the door leading to the witch's lair, Emma had to admit defeat.

"Okay, so there's no exit. That isn't going to stop me. Regina, I want you to find somewhere to hide in this room, and I'm going to go back in and confront her."

"Emma, I order you to tell me what's going on! Is the witch through that door?!"

But Emma was too busy yelling "Labyrinth" at the door to pay any attention to anyone else. Much to her dismay, the door did not open. "I don't understand—that's the password."

Regina looked up at the mirror above the door and saw that the writing had disappeared. "Emma, stop!" She grabbed Emma around the waist and pulled her away from the door. "It's no use—the door has sealed itself." To her alarm, she saw that there were tears streaming down Emma's face.

"But that means there's no other way, that there's no other way to rescue Henry other than her way!" Emma glanced down sadly at the knife sheathed on her belt and then back up at her wife.

"Her way?" Regina questioned.

"Yes." In her fear and grief, Emma closed her eyes, leaned against the wall, and allowed herself to think back on the conversation she had had with Vanessa.

"I created a romantic atmosphere because I knew that you two needed an extra push to admit your feelings for each other...Having to dance all alone is one of the worst fates I can imagine...Would you really sacrifice Henry to save a woman you don't love?"

With a start, Emma suddenly opened her eyes. "I know how to win!" she told Regina, "Dance with me."

"What? Are you out of your mind?!"

Emma laughed with relief. "No, no, everything is going to be all right!" She placed one hand on Regina's waist and the other gripped her hand, and before Regina could protest, Emma had guided them away from the wall and into the crowd of dancing couples.

Atlantica—In the Past

"Unbelievable. Just look at some of these samples that Flounder brought back to me! In many ways, their society was more advanced than ours in the field of cutlery!"

"Flounder? Is that the name of another one of your fishy friends?" Eric teased her.

Vanessa pouted adorably. "Well, if you would listen to me more you would already know all about it."

Eric laughed and drew her to him for a kiss. After two years of marriage, he was more in love with his wife than ever. However, although Vanessa's feeling for him had never managed to develop into true love, she did feel a rooted affection for him.

A heavy pounding on the castle door suddenly broke the married couple apart. Vanessa rolled her eyes. "That must be your friendly parents and their minions."

"You're sure they can't get in?" Eric asked anxiously.

"Positive. Their brute strength will never get through my magical enchantments."

A week ago, Vanessa and Eric had been vacationing with the royal extended family on the warm and sunny islands of Schmoopiesmoochies. The family had a beach house there that they had stayed at once a year since the time that Eric was a little boy. When Eric was young, he used to sleep in a room full of bunk beds that he shared with his cousins, and although as a married man he got his own room with Vanessa, one of his deepest fantasies was to carry out the arduous act of passion in his childhood-room. So when his entire family was out waterskiing one day, Eric dragged his wife into the room and explained his plan to her.

She had rolled her eyes in mock-exasperation, but agreed to the scheme. And, like always, she first removed the seashell necklace that gave her Ariel's appearance so that she reverted back to her own form. However, the skiing-party arrived back a little sooner than they had expected, and Eric's young cousins barged in on them and immediately started screaming in abhorrence. Vanessa quickly had reached for her necklace, but in her panic she accidentally kicked it underneath one of the bunks. By that time, alerted by the screams, the King and Queen had run to the room to see what all the commotion was about, and before Eric could stop them, his cousins had explained everything.

"Eric! Who is this woman that you're having an affair with?!" his father had thundered at him.

Vanessa was all set to pretend that she was just some lowly servant girl, but Eric refused to take the blow to his honor (either that, or he just wasn't very smart). "It's all right," he told them. "This is my wife...my real wife. She's just been pretending to be Ariel so I could stay married to her."

If Eric had expected that this revelation would be greeted with exclamations of delight, he was disappointed. "What!" the Queen yelled, "Seize her! And find the real Ariel!"

Eric and Vanessa had narrowly escaped with the help of Vanessa's magic, and now they were barricaded into an old castle by the sea while the King's forces tried in vain to break the enchantments down. The King had also immediately sent out all his remaining forces around the country to find the real Ariel.

Vanessa was spending her time exploring the sea around the castle (her protective enchantments also extended to the surrounding waters). She had known for some time that there were the ruins of an ancient civilization deep under the sea with traces of magic around it. The magic seemed to have leached into the sea creatures that occupied the ruins and as a result she could communicate with the fish.

"Well, I'm off to do some more research," Vanessa brightly told Eric. "I'll meet you for dinner." She left her husband and ran out the back doors of the castle where the ocean was awaiting her. Then she waded out into the shallows and started singing. After a minute, a brightly colored tropical fish swam up to her.

"Hello, Flounder," Vanessa greeted it, "Do you have any news for me?"

Flounder was pulling a waterproof bag, which Vanessa took from him. "It's full of the rubbings you wanted us to take of the writing carved on the temple walls," he told her.

"Excellent. Soon I will have the language of the ancient Atlanticans unlocked, which will be extremely useful on my quest to understanding their secrets."

"What kind of secrets do you want to know about?"

"Well, I already know that they had tails like fish, they were as intelligent as humans, and that some could use magic. But what I want know now is what happened to them. Was there a catastrophe that resulted in mass extinction to their species, or did they pack up and move to another world like I did? And also, I want to know what happened to the magic. This world is now practically devoid of magic, except for my own."

Flounder's eyes suddenly got wider (for a fish). "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when I was in the temple, I could sense a magical aura coming from further in. So I followed the sensation, and I saw that the aura was coming from a glowing pitchfork!"

Vanessa looked at him in disbelief. "A glowing pitchfork? How do you even know what a pitchfork looks like?"

"Just because I'm a fish doesn't mean I'm ignorant. I just know. And I could sense that it was extremely powerful!"

Any further statements of doubt from Vanessa were cut short by the sudden sound of a shower of rocks on the cliff right next to the castle. She squinted her eyes against the sun and peered at the cliff. There appeared to be a woman scaling the crags. Vanessa watched in amazement as the intruder reached her arms over to Vanessa's bedroom window and then slowly climbed in. That woman...she looks like Ariel. But what could she be doing here? Vanessa shook her head in bemusement, excused herself from Flounder, and walked back to the castle to see what her intruder wanted.

Neverland—Present Day

"So, how is this...dancing going to help us save Henry?" Regina asked Emma.

"Umm..." Emma fixed her eyes on the silver hairpieces in Regina's hair to avoid looking at her eyes...or downward. "I can't tell you just yet."

"Well that's just great." Feeling frustrated, Regina looked over Emma's shoulders at the other dancers, who were all dancing a safe distance away from the pair. "I was told that if we were wearing masks, they wouldn't avoid us like this."

"Oh right, a mask!" Emma removed her hands from around Regina and reached into the pocket of her overcoat. "A man gave this mask to me so I could wear it here."

"That mask...!" Regina looked at the bear face in shock. "That belonged to the woman who promised to help me."

"What woman?"

"She was blonde, and she said she was the savior."

"That sounds a lot like me."

"Well, it wasn't you," Regina snapped.

Emma looked at Regina pleadingly. "Regina, please let's not fight."

"Only if you tell me what's going on.

In response, Emma leaned forward and quickly pressed her lips against Regina's.

"What...what the hell are you doing?!" Regina spluttered as all thoughts of Henry were driven from her mind.

Emma shrugged.

Regina stared at Emma curiously for a moment and then said "Emma, do you like me?"

"Um, maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Well, yes, maybe a little bit."

"Oh."

The pair was silent for a moment as Regina absorbed this new bit of information, her eyes avoiding Emma's at any cost. After several minutes of awkwardness, Emma broke the silence. "Regina, remember when we stopped the self-destruct that Greg and Tamara had activated with the power of our combined magic? Well, do you think that we're more powerful when we're together?"

Regina smirked. "Well, I think I was just as powerful before you came along."

Emma narrowed her eyes. Regina really was not making this easy. "But, don't you think that we're starting to need each other," she asked while pulling Regina slightly closer into her embrace.

"Need each other?" Regina scoffed, "What exactly are you insinuating, Ms. Swan?"

Emma started panicking because her plan was having the opposite effect that she had intended it to have. Her attempts at romance were making Regina throw up all her walls. "Regina, don't call me that. You know my first name." She drew Regina close again so she could whisper into her ear. "Just play along. I was told that the witch likes to play games, and I have a theory that we'll win the game and save Henry if we can convince the witch that we are in love."

"Is that why you kissed me?"

"Yes." It might have just been a trick of the light, but Emma thought that Regina looked slightly disappointed.

"How will our romance save Henry?"

"You just need to trust me. It's based off of what she said to me when we spoke."

"And you're sure about this?"

"Yes. I think that—"

Regina silenced Emma's next words with a kiss. Emma's body froze with surprise, then she gradually relaxed and leaned into Regina's embrace. After a moment, Regina broke away and looked into Emma's eyes. "How long do we need to keep this up for?"

Breathlessly, Emma said "I think just until the clock strikes six."

"And how will we know when that happens? I don't see a clock in here."

Emma looked around the ballroom and suddenly realized that there was no way to tell time. "Um, good point. Well, I'm sure something will happen that will let us know. Like maybe the witch will bring Henry out and say 'Congratulations, you've won. I healed Henry and you can leave with him now.'"

"Heal Henry?" Regina repeated curiously, "Why does he need to be healed?"

Emma froze. "Did I say that? Well, what I mean is—"

"Emma!" Regina interrupted. "Don't keep any more secrets from me. Tell me everything that the witch said to you about saving Henry."

Suddenly, the harsh clanging of a faraway clock was audible.

"What does that mean?" Regina quickly asked Emma.

"I...I think it means that it's almost six o'clock!"

"So did we win then, or what?"

Faced with the possible prospect of losing Henry should her idea fail, Emma decided to reveal everything to the woman she was bonded to. "Henry is dying, and Vanessa—the witch—told me that the only way to save him was for me to kill you."

Regina looked livid. "What?! So what was all that nonsense about acting like we're in love then? Were you just trying to take advantage of me?"

DONG.

"No, Regina," Emma pleaded. "I was trying to save you. Vanessa said some things that made me think that if she thought we were truly in love, she would reverse the curse that Henry was under."

DONG. The clock clanged a third time. The dancers surrounding them appeared to speed up so that from her peripheral vision they were nothing more than a blur to Emma.

"But I guess I was wrong," she cried to Regina, "And now I don't know what to do." Tears streaming down her face, she glanced up at Regina. To her surprise, Regina's face was completely devoid of emotion.

DONG. The clock clanged for a fourth time.

"Emma." Regina looked peacefully into Emma's eyes.

Emma stood still and did nothing.

"Emma."

"What?"

DONG.

"It's almost time," Regina said softly.

Without breaking eye contact, Emma reached down, pulled the knife from its sheath, and raised it up toward Regina's chest.

DONG. The clock chimed six o'clock and Emma hesitated slightly as she mentally prepared herself for what she needed to do.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a loud crash as all the mirrors shattered. Shards of glass fell to the floor around the couple. Emma looked about with confusion and saw that the surrounding dancers were no longer touching the floor but were instead rising lifeless toward the mural on the ceiling in a manner similar to the fate of the blonde woman with the bear-mask.

"Emma, look!"

Emma looked to where Regina was pointing and saw that a black shadow had flown into the room, eyes glowing white. Trailing behind it was a bright yellow orb.

A high pitched voice then pierced the air. "DO NOT HURT HER!"

Atlantica—In the Past

Vanessa quietly walked through the castle, up the main staircase, and stopped outside her bedroom door. Then, she gently put her head against the door and listened carefully. She could faintly hear rough breathing coming from within. Frowning, she opened the door and stood in the doorway. "Ariel, what are you doing here?" she asked the red-head who was hunched over on the floor.

Ariel lifted her head, and Vanessa could see that it was stained with tears. "I needed to find you."

"You're not supposed to be here. The royal family is camped right outside our doors, and they're searching for you because they now know that I'm not you." Ariel nodded her head glumly. As she did so, Vanessa noticed that her skin held a deathly pallor. "Are you...all right? You don't look so well."

Instead of answering her question, Ariel posed one of her own. "Vanessa, remember when we first met?"

She smiled fondly. "How could I forget? I was so lost, having just traveled here from my home-world, and you were so kind to me."

"But that wasn't the first time I saw you. You don't remember, but I pulled you from the sea and saved your life."

Vanessa's smile vanished. "All I remember of our first encounter was the terrifying sea, swallowing me whole. And then I suddenly woke up on the sand and thought I was in the afterlife with an angel standing guard over me."

"That angel was me. And when I was faced with your beauty and your displays of magic, I knew that you were the angel."

Vanessa started to feel uncomfortable. "Not that I'm not enjoying all the chitchat, but what did you really come here for? I find it hard to believe that you simply wanted to talk about the old days."

Ariel sighed, and to Vanessa's alarm, slumped weakly against the ground.

"Ariel, are you ill? Did you come to me to seek magic to cure you?"

Ariel shook her head. "No, your magic will not cure me."

"What do you need, then?"

Ariel began to cry again. "I...can't do this! Not even to save my life."

"Do what?"

"Vanessa, I love you."

"What?"

"I always have. Ever since the moment I first set eyes on you, I knew you were my soul mate. And when you married Eric in my place, I believed you did it because you wanted to set me free. And so, even when I am at my weakest, I cannot bring myself to kill you in order to save my own life."

With a squicky look on her face, Vanessa said "Well, that's very sweet of you, but I'm afraid I don't return your feelings. Don't tell Eric this, but I married him for power. Not because I love him, or you, or anyone in Atlantica. In fact, now that the royal family knows that I am not you, I don't need to be able to change into you anymore, so you can have the seashell necklace back." She hastily dropped it around Ariel's neck. "And also, I believe that you should—" Suddenly, Ariel's final words sunk in. "What do you mean, 'kill me to save your own life?'"

"Don't fret, my dear sweet child. Ariel won't have to do a thing. I will kill you myself."

An old woman slinked out of Vanessa's closet and grinned at both of them. Vanessa stared at her in confusion. "You look familiar. Wait, don't tell me...Quasimodo."

The woman slumped in exasperation.

"No, it's her!" Ariel gasped.

Vanessa shook her head. "No, Quasimodo doesn't quite fit. Oh! Aren't you the Blue Fairy?"

The old woman beat her head against the wall in frustration.

"Truly Scrumptious? I mean, like she could have accidentally swallowed an ugliness potion."

"Ursula!" The old woman barked. "My name is Ursula!"

"How did you get your legs back without Vanessa's help?" Ariel asked raspily.

Ursula cackled. "I am a very powerful witch, you stupid fool. I only told you all those lies because I wanted to convince you to kill Vanessa for me. I thought it would be poetic justice that you would have to kill the woman you love in order to save yourself. But you waited too long, and now the knife's curse has made you too weak. So tell me, Ariel, how does it feel to know that even your self-sacrifice could not save Vanessa's life?"

But Ariel was unable to answer, or even breathe for that matter. Long slits had appeared on her neck, and with their arrival, she lost the ability to breathe as she was accustomed to.

"Ariel, what's wrong with you?" Vanessa asked her somewhat concernedly.

"The knife's curse is taking effect," Ursula said while rubbing her hands together gleefully. "No, it won't kill her. That was a lie I told her. But the curse does have a different...interesting outcome."

Vanessa waved her hands at the elderly woman. "Okay, hold on here. Let's go back to the beginning. We've already established that your name is Ursula, so where do I know you from?"

Ursula placed her hands on her hips. "Really? We met in the Enchanted Forest, and I pretended to be your friend because I wanted to take over your life once you married Prince Eric. Remember?"

Vanessa looked surprised. "Oh. That's who you are. Well, it's been years since we saw each other, so what took you so long to get here?"

"Your tips for traveling by sensing the fissures between worlds didn't work for me, so I had to find a portal."

"Ha. You're too late. The royal family now knows that I'm not Ariel, so you might as well forget about the whole thing."

"That isn't going to stop me. I'll just steal both of your forms."

The two witches seemed to have forgotten about Ariel, and as they talked, she crawled over to the open window and pulled herself up onto the ledge. Her legs were no longer working, and, to her horror, seemed to be melting together.

"Ariel, what are you doing? What's happening to your legs?" Vanessa noticed the red-head at the last second before she pushed herself out the window. "Where is she going?" Both women rushed over to the window and watched as she fell into the ocean.

"She needs water to breathe," Ursula muttered to herself.

"She got away from you! Now how is your plan going to work if you can't steal her form?"

"Well, I can start with yours."

A knife appeared in Ursula's hand and she slashed downward with it into Vanessa's heart. Vanessa's sneer quickly turned into a look of surprise as she fell to the ground. A bead of light ran from her body, up the knife, and into Ursula. "Yes!" she cackled as she experimentally transformed into the raven-haired beauty, "Soon I will rule all of Atlantica!"

Neverland—Present Day

When Emma opened her eyes, she saw that she and Regina were once again standing in the shack. Much to her surprise, it appeared to be clean and kept rather than rundown.

"Whoa, how'd we get back here?" Emma wondered.

"Shhh," Regina hushed her. "This room was the only real room. Everything else was an illusion conjured by magic. Now be quiet; they're talking."

Emma then noticed that the shadow was floating in the middle of the room with Tinker Bell at its side. The fairy appeared to be berating Vanessa.

"Do you think this is a game? You almost ruined everything!"

"You have the boy," Vanessa argued, "What do you need the women for?"

"They are everything! The boy means nothing if one of them is dead."

The trio appeared to be ignoring Emma and Regina for the moment, so Emma took her chance to say more to Regina. "I thought Tinker Bell was on our side. I mean, she was the one who gave us the moonstone and pointed us toward Henry in the first place."

"Look at her eyes," Regina muttered.

Emma looked closer at Tinker Bell's eyes and saw that they appeared to be milky and lifeless. "What? What does this mean?"

"The shadow is controlling her," Regina explained. "He is unable to speak so he's speaking through her."

"And what was I supposed to think when you never came to get the boy?" Vanessa continued. "For all I knew, you had completely forgotten about him."

"You know very well that I could not use him then. But now that I have what I was seeking, I can move him tonight. So now, no more of your silly games. Give me the boy."

Vanessa sulkily waved her hand and Henry appeared in the bed.

"Henry!" Regina and Emma both exclaimed at the same time. They ran over to the side of the bed. "Is he still dying, or was he healed?" Emma desperately asked the witch.

"Dying from what? What is she talking about?" Tinker Bell demanded.

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "All right, everyone calm down. He's not dying and he never was. That was a lie I told Emma just to see if I could get her to kill Regina."

Emma's mouth dropped open in outrage.

"If he's not dying, then why does he look so weak? Was he drugged?" Tinker Bell questioned the witch.

For the first time, Vanessa started to look a little nervous. "Because...well, because although the cursed knife I used on him will not kill him, it does have a different side effect."

"Which is...?" Tinker Bell asked. Emma noticed that while the shadow could not talk, it still managed to convey danger with its eyes.

"He's turning into a merboy." Vanessa said very quickly.

"A what?" Regina and Tinker Bell screamed at the same time.

Vanessa shifted uncomfortably. "It's like a mermaid, only he's a boy. I didn't mean any harm; I just—"

"How is this curse counteracted?" Tinker Bell interrupted.

"Umm..." the witch looked nervously at Emma and Regina. "Well, the blade of the knife is two-sided, and the only way to stop a curse from the dull side is to kill someone with the sharp side."

"Anyone?"

"Yes."

"What?" Emma stared at Vanessa in horror. "But you told me that I needed to kill Regina, because she's the darkest one here."

"Emma, she lied to you," Regina informed Emma, her eyes soft. "It was all part of her game."

"He must not become a merboy. That just won't work at all," the golden fairy warned Vanessa.

The dark-haired witch put her hands on her hips in frustration. "Since we can't kill Regina or Emma, then my best solution is this." The witch clapped her hands twice and a closet door opened. Out tumbled Greg and Tamara, still bound and gagged. "Now, the man has been the more annoying of the two, so I say we kill him."

"No!" Tinker Bell screamed while the shadow agitatedly flew around the room.

"Okay, so we'll kill the woman. It doesn't really matter to me."

Vanessa held up the knife, causing Emma to notice with a start that it was no longer on her belt. "Hold on, you're not really going to—"

Vanessa plunged the knife into Tamara's heart.

Emma stared wide-eyed at the crumpled form of Tamara. "Okay, I guess you are going to."

"Mom! Mom!" Henry sat up in the bed.

"Henry?!" Regina put her arms around him. "I'm so happy you're all right."

"Get away from him, woman," Tinker Bell said sternly to Regina.

"Don't talk to her that way!" Emma yelled at the fairy.

Tinker Bell ignored Emma. "Now that everything is organized, I can take the boy and go. Witch, please restrain the two women."

Vanessa clapped her hands and Emma found herself unable to move. To her horror, the shadow flew to Henry, picked him up and out from Regina's embrace and disappeared with him. The moment that they disappeared, Tinker Bell collapsed to the ground and Emma found herself able to move again.

"Henry!" she screamed, "I can't lose you again!"

"It's too late," Tinker Bell weakly whispered. "They're gone."

Storybrooke—Present Day

The stars shimmered high above Storybrooke, shining even brighter than usual because of the absence of the moon. However, Belle was oblivious to the beauty of the sky as she walked the sidewalks, her eyes downcast.

"'Evening Belle," Granny greeted her as she walked by the diner. "What are you doing out so late?"

Belle shrugged. "Oh, nothing really. I'm just out for a walk." She noticed that Granny was locking up the diner. "Have you heard any news about Ruby yet?"

Granny's face turned grim. "No, I've heard nothing."

"Belle! Belle!" Leroy jogged up to her. "What are you doing here? It's nighttime and the tides are low. Shouldn't you be at the water's edge?"

"What for? I need a—" she noticed Granny was watching them curiously—"A you-know-what for the spell to work, and I haven't got one."

Leroy grinned. "You do now! I found one for you!"

"What?!"

Leroy grabbed her hand and pulled her away. "Come and see."

The duo raced to the brink of town. "It's in the woods," Leroy told her.

"Um, Leroy, are you sure about this?" Belle peered uncertainly into the forest.

"Yes, I am. I even made sure to keep it by the water's edge, just to make it easier for you.

Leroy stepped into the forest and after hesitating slightly, Belle decided to follow him. After only five minutes, Belle heard a strange noise. "Leroy, it sounds like there's an animal or something ahead of us. I'm not sure if this is safe."

"Don't worry, I tied it up."

"What?"

After walking for another minute, they were at the seashore. And tied to a tree next to the shore was...

"It's a deer," Belle breathed wondrously.

"More specifically, it's a hart," Leroy informed her proudly. "I just caught it today."

"But why?"

"I think it's the answer to the riddle. It didn't mean a 'heart,' it meant a hart."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I was rereading the riddle, and I realized that when it said "One is the first noise of a salutation, everyone just assumed it meant 'he' from hello. But what if it really just mean an 'h'? Combine that with art and you get hart."

Belle faltered. "But, how do you know that that's correct? It could be either way."

"I heard that in the old days, people sacrificed deer all the time for magic. And it just makes more sense to me. Please Belle, it's the best chance we have at saving the town."

Belle sighed. "All right, Leroy. It's a good thing I happened to bring the spell with me." She took it out of her pocket and smoothed it against a tree. "But, there's not enough light for me to read the magic words. Leroy, can I borrow your flashlight?"

"Sure." He handed it over to her.

"All right, what do we do now? How do I...kill the hart?"

"Don't worry about getting your hands dirty. I'll kill it." The dwarf pulled a knife out of his bag.

Suddenly, Belle jumped. "Ohmigosh Leroy, did you hear that," Belle hissed.

He gave her a weird look. "I heard nothing."

"No, really. I think there's something out there."

"Belle, I think you're just nervous about the spell."

She bristled. "I am not! I really think I heard something. And you are not sacrificing the deer; I am. Rumple gave the spell to me."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. This task was entrusted to me and me only." She carefully took the knife from him and gave him the parchment. "Here, hold this for me. When I'm done with the deer, hold that up so I can read from it." Belle carefully approached the deer.

"You know what Belle, I think I can hear something moving around out there." Leroy said nervously.

"Shhh."

The hart gazed at Belle peacefully. Most of the wildlife in and around Storybrooke had been transported from the Enchanted Forest when the curse struck, which meant that the animals were more trusting of people than their native-to-earth counterparts. Belle reached up her hand to pat the creature lightly on its nose. Seeing in its eyes that it trusted her completely, Belle took the opportunity to quickly thrust the knife into its heart before she lost her nerve. Blood splattered into the ocean.

"Leroy, the parchment! Quickly!"

Leroy thrust the parchment under her nose and shined the light on it.

"Masred rae a twees takisme" Belle began.

"Belle! Stop! You shouldn't do this!" A human burst out of the forest. It was Ruby.

"Lla remasred tusm akawe" she continued, afraid that if she stopped reciting, the spell would no longer work.

The parchment began to glow a rich golden color. At the same time, a golden line formed in the air next to the water. Leroy could see that the line continued on and probably encircled all of Storybrooke. "It's working," Leroy whispered while keeping an eye on Ruby.

"Ton tihw erast ro a higs"

"No Belle, you can't do this! You don't know what will happen!" Ruby appeared to be powerless to come any closer to Belle.

"Help me! Please, someone!" It was a voice other than Ruby's.

Leroy frowned and looked out at the water where the cry had come from. Unless it was Ruby playing tricks on them, he could swear that he could see something swimming in the water toward them. "There's someone out there," he told Belle.

"Lla ginths—"

"—Please let me in!" It was a woman's voice coming from the sea.

"Belle, there's a girl out there. I think she needs our help!"

"Eufaultib—"

Leroy took the parchment away. "I can't let you finish. Someone needs our help."

Belle attempted to grab it back. "Leroy, let me finish! For the sake of Storybrooke!"

But it was too late. The parchment shone an even brighter gold and then burst into flames, while the golden line simultaneously fizzled out.

Belle glared at Leroy. "What did you do that for? I was almost finished."

"Sorry, Belle, but there was a woman in the water who wanted to enter Storybrooke. If I had allowed you to complete the spell, she never would have found us again."

"A woman in the water?" scoffed Belle. "Really—argh!"

A hand suddenly reached out of the water next to the shore where the pair was standing. It was followed by the red-haired head of a woman. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything," she said anxiously, "But I seem to have lost my way. I would really appreciate it if you could direct me to the Prince Eric's castle. I believe that the woman I love is in danger there."

Belle and Leroy were so surprised by her appearance that they didn't even notice that Ruby had disappeared into the woods again.