Yeah, no excuse for how long it took except me being as tired as hell. Anyway, a major character will be coming into play soon. Enjoy guys!

Fairytale Land of the Past

She had been coughing for days. It never stopped. Throughout the night, all during the day, her throat burning with the countless hours that she laid in bed, secretly begging for release from the curse she felt she had been placed under. Her fever only climbed, never descended, and the sweat that trickled from her forehead could be used to construct a canal. She had grown immensely pale for someone who was meant to have naturally tan skin, and no amount of medicine or remedies could ever cure her. Little Cindy was dying.

Yet, he continued to fight the illness within her even if his little sister refused to push on any longer. She was perfectly okay with dying, but her dear older brother Jade just simply wouldn't have it. She was the most innocent of souls that he has ever met. Most precious and kind, she could never harm any living being, not even grass. She would feel guilty when walking on it, causing its many strands to crumble and bend beneath her feet. Even flies brought her no irritation, nor did the bugs that left bumps on her skin that itched and irritated most ... and spread disease much like the one she had.

No, Cindy was-perhaps- the most lovable of all souls. Only, possibly, could one other surpass her in affection and care, but she would never know of them. Her brother, on the other hand, was desperate. He couldn't stand to live without his younger sister, his best friend, and his reason for living. She was just too precious to him, and he wasn't about to let her give up. He would do whatever it would take to have her stay with him and the family just a little bit longer.

So he hauled buckets of water back and forth from the well, constantly stirring stew, selling whatever he could make to whoever would dare to buy to spend every last coin he made on cheep- probably non-effective- remedies that may be enough to soothe Cindy's temperature and bring her back to life. It never did. Nothing ever worked. Not even the soups he made her on the daily, nor the tea he brewed to calm her sore muscles. Nothing was ever enough, and Jade did much.

Like now, he had just finished brewing up another bowl-worth of stew, complete with some chicken he managed to snatch from the local farmer and some broth made from the finest produce he could find in their poor little village. It was probably his best work, and as the young Cindy coughed, he added an extra spoonful to her bowl and took a seat on the edge of her bed. Well, his bed, but he gave it to her knowing she needed the space.

"Come now, Cindy," he said, offering her the steaming soup with a carved out wooden spoon in hand. "You need to eat. It'll make you feel better."

But Cindy coughed all the same and faintly shook her head.

"No, Jade," she managed to croak through her damaged windpipes. "I don't want any. I'm not hungry."

Her brother was relentless, however, and so refused to take 'no' for an answer.

"You need it, Cindy," he persisted. "To get better, you need strength, and right now, the only way you can get it is through eating. So, come on now. Have a spoonful."

Cindy shook her head and turned her face away from him.

"Jade," she muttered, "no. I don't want strength."

"You don't mean that," he whispered.

"Yes, I do." She finally found enough of her body's ability to fight to do so with her brother, sharply snapping at him to get him to accept her choice. "I don't want to fight anymore. I have been fighting for far too long. It's time to just accept and move on."

Jade refused to believe her words, shaking his head and fixing his posture, making himself appear taller and more in command.

"That's the sickness talking," he argued. "You want to live, Cindy. You want to get better."

"I never said that I didn't," she spoke before he could continue to do so. "All I said was that I am tired of fighting for my health when it seems it has completely diminished. I am perfectly fine with dying, Jade. I want you to be the same way." She reached out, grabbing his knee with her tiny, frail hand, and attempting to blink the tears back behind her eyes so her older brother wouldn't see her sobbing. She knew if he did, that he would start crying himself, and she wouldn't be able to bare it. "Let me go," she pleaded.

Jade fought off a sniffle and diverted his gaze from her, knowing that if he looked at her any longer, that he would crumble into a ball of weeping madness on the ground. He wasn't going to let her witness him in his lowest state, and he most certainly wasn't going to let her die until he has tried every remedy, every alternative that there was to try. He would do whatever it takes, even if that means turning to the one thing he swore off.

"Just try for me," he begged without looking at her. "Try different remedies. Let me find something that we haven't used before. And if it works than you fight, and if it doesn't, I'll let you go. Just let me give you something we haven't used before, please."

Cindy knew her brother loved her beyond compare, and knew that this was probably more difficult for him than her. She admired his ability to remain calm to keep the faith when it seemed as though there was no sunlight left to shine down upon their endless sea of despair, no light to lead them home. She knew just how much he has done for her, and so she decided to return the favor. She would continue to fight until they were sure that nothing could ever save her.

"All right, Jade," she complied, causing him to abruptly look to her again with widened eyes and a hopeful gaze. "I will try one more remedy. One that we haven't used before, and if it shows improvement, I will fight. If not, you must promise to let me die."

Jade took a moment to think it through, and though he had his doubts, he remained positive that he could find a cure, medicine that would save his sister. He knew of one that was risky, but would most certainly be worth it if that meant Cindy got to stay with him just a little longer.

So Jade nodded and accepted the terms to their agreement.

"I promise," he assured.

Fairytale Land of the Present

Regina looked down upon the frail Lucinda, never seeing a body so still before unless it was completely dead. Lucinda wasn't. She was just halfway there. It is believed that when one dies, the body shuts down, but the soul does not and instead travels to another life. Lucinda was experiencing something quite similar and quite different at the same time. Her body was on the brink of not working, her heart beating slower than ever, her lungs barely taking in air, she slowly decaying into nothingness. Meanwhile, her soul had already left and fluttered into another world far beyond anyone's reach. No amount of magic beans or wondrous wardrobes could ever take them there. Not Regina, not Emma, not even Rumple himself. Lucinda was, truly, lost.

And yet, Regina refused to believe that the daughter of her trainer was completely out of reach. She believed the young one still had a chance to pull through, but what horrors lied in the other world ... Regina knew that if Lucinda's soul died in the world it had been casted into, then Lucinda would completely die; body and soul. There would be no afterlife for her, whatever it was. No sanctuary, no Underworld. There would only be blackness, nothingness, just total death. That was the race against time. That was the reason for the rush of a cure. If Lucinda died there, she would never make it anywhere except an abyss.

Regina stood over the body of the cursed child, remembering when she was at the young age of sixteen and how out of place she felt. This girl and herself shared many similarities, many differences as well, but Regina could not deny her love for that girl. Lucinda was, in some ways, Regina's younger self brought back to life. The once evil queen was looking for a way to save this child, and she vowed to do whatever it takes to do so.

"Why don't we ask him to help us?" she suggested.

"Who?" Emma questioned.

"You know," Regina looked to her once hated enemy with her arms still crossed over her chest, still pissed at the worlds for letting such a thing happen. "Him. As in ... Him."

"No one can find Him," Emma answered after realizing who Regina was talking about.

"What do you mean no one can find Him?" Regina was growing impatient and annoyed.

"Exactly that, Regina," Emma explained. "No one can find Him. He probably isn't in this world at the moment. You need to remember that He sort of runs the cosmos right now. He is very busy. He could be in Neverland or Wonderland or, heck, even our old land. Who knows where He is?"

"There should be a way to contact Him," Regina scorned, shifting her gaze back to Lucinda.

"Yeah, well, Belle's already attempting to crack that code," Emma informed her. "Rumplestiltskin is searching every spell book in his possession, Henry's searching for the Enchantress, and here I am with you, looking through some potion books to see if there is anything to keep her heart going so she doesn't die on us. At least, we were doing that together until you decided to get all creepy and watch her in her sleep."

"She isn't sleeping," Regina snapped, giving Emma a dirty look. "She's dying, and until we can bring her soul back," her eyes went back to the cursed Lucinda, "every second brings her closer to it.

"He is the only one who can bring her back, and He can't be reached." She rolled her eyes. "Has His party been disconnected by the cellphone company?"

"He isn't the only one who can save her, Regina," Emma reminded her. "Lucinda can always save herself."

Regina shook her head in doubt.

"Lucinda only ever has focused on the negatives of her life. Never once has she focused on the positives besides her being a princess. There, she is nothing but darkness. There she must be frightened and terrified and hiding. She must be alone. She will be far too distracted with her own horrors to even think about saving herself. I know because ... I felt the same way."

Somnium of the Present

An ugly little troll he was, with scraggly gray hair that sprouted from the top of his greenish head, running down to his shoulders. He didn't wear much of fancy attire either, sticking mostly to a brownish worn shirt with a red torn vest over it. His breeches were aged and on his feet were some rag-like slippers with holes in them that were stained some with, what appeared to be, old ink blots. His nose was just as extended as his overgrown nails, black and thick, much like Lucinda's father's. He was a horrid looking creature, but Lucinda was too in tears to notice. All she really caught up on was the tray he too carried in with a hobble in his step.

"Ah, Ludlow," Jade speaks, setting down his teacup and reaching for the scroll that rested on the tray the little goblin-like creature carried. "Thank you."

"Of course, Master Jade," Ludlow replied, sounding as though he had some throat illness, a raspy voice that no amount of tea or honey could ever cure.

Lucinda peeked up from beneath her long lashes, flashing her sights over to Jade, who unrolled the scroll in his hands. His many bejeweled rings clanked together as he did so, the dangling bracelets around his wrists clinking as well. He twisted the scroll in his hand, having opened it upside-down. Properly before him now, Jade cleared his throat and began to read the scroll's contents.

"Ah, here we go," he says. "One miss Lucinda, formally Gold. That's you, isn't it?"

Lucinda nods slightly, still attempting to subdue the sobs and tears that leaked from her eyes over her own guilt, and because she was frightened she would never get out of there. That thought had hit her hard while she was sitting there, sobbing over all of the horrible things she had said about her parents and all, and how she would never be given the chance to apologize to them. She may never leave.

"Yes, thought so," Jade continued. "Here, you are known as Madame Dark One, the official Dark One of Somnium."

"What about my father?" she managed to mumble through the cries.

"Your father is currently the official Dark One in the world beyond this one. Imagine Somnium as a different dimension entirely. He doesn't exist here, therefore, you must take his place," Jade explained.

With no fight in her and unable to truly deny her current fate, Lucinda found the ability within her to just nod and accept facts. She was the Dark One. Maybe that would come to her own advantage. Maybe not.

"You were sent here by one Gretchen Grail, currently known as the Enchantress. Your mother's former Fairy Godmother," Jade continued.

That's when Lucinda found the strength to speak once again.

"Fairy Godmother? My mother had a Fairy Godmother?" she sniffled.

"As most distressed princess do. Your mother's life wasn't always easy. Especially with arranged marriages and all."

"But she ended up with my father."

"Yeah, obviously ... but after the Dark Curse that sent all the creatures of the Enchanted Forest to Storybrooke. The kingdom couldn't really say anything about it because the kingdom didn't exist to say anything about it. Duh." He let his tongue hang out dramatically.

"Why would she curse me if she was meant to help my mother?" Lucinda asked.

"Things between your mother and her kind of went downhill," Jade answered. "Can I get back to it then?" he asked, referring to the scroll.

Lucinda nodded, going to playing with her hair as she usually did when distressed or sorrowful.

"Cursed here by the Enchantress, the creator of this place. She made it specially for you because of her hate for your mother. She tried to find the best way to get back at her, and what better way than this?"

Lucinda wept harder, burying her face in her hands to conceal the amount of tears that she leaked, not wanting her companions to see her so weak.

"Oh, dear Lucinda, please do not weep," Jade begged.

"How can I not?" Lucinda questioned with muffles and sniffles. "I am bound to be stuck here forever, forced to be the Dark One, unable to return to my parents, my kingdom, my old life. Nothing for me."

"Oh, Lucinda, you obviously have not been informed of the Escape Clause," Jade spoke, turning his head slowly to Bae. "Something I thought I made very clear when I sent someone to get you from your castle."

Bae looked away, feeling guilt as he had forgotten about that one vital detail. Oh well, a little too late now. Besides, he figured he would explain it wrong if he was burdened with such a task.

"An Escape Clause?" Lucinda questioned.

"Yes, indeed!" Jade expressed cheerfully. "There is a way to get out of here. Three, actually, but I doubt one of those options is really going to work."

Lucinda sat up a bit in her seat, still curled up with her feet on the chair, but now she brushed back her hair and wiped at her eyes.

"I have three ways of getting out of here?" she repeated Jade's words.

"Absolutely, but one of the options, I highly doubt is going to happen," Jade told her. "That option consists of someone on the other side bringing your soul back, because only He has the power to break any curse. However, He is one fairly busy little guy ... and He is currently not in the Enchanted Forest. However, you have two other options, and these I suggest you take."

"Do tell," Lucinda pleaded.

"Every single one of us has an escape clause here. A personal one, one that fits our personality and our flaws. I have yours right here, if you wish to know it," Jade replied.

"Absolutely," Lucinda spoke in response.

"Dear Lucinda, all you must do to relieve yourself of this prison in which you have found yourself in is to make a true sacrifice."

She scrunched her nose at that.

"All right ... what's my other option?" she asked.

"I had a feeling you would say that," Jade confessed. "Well, you can break the curse yourself, as all of us sent here can," Jade went on. "The last way is to do the opposite of what it takes to break a curse in the other worlds. Instead of showing an act of true love, you must 'break' an act of true love. You know, kill the one you love, which I don't suggest. Or, um, maybe ripping a tapestry or destroying a painting of loved ones or ..."

"Smashing a teacup," Lucinda muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Jade looked up from the scroll and to a red eyed Lucinda, who was still recovering from her tears.

"Smashing a teacup," she restated. "A teacup can be a symbol of true love, right?"

Lucinda looked to Bae and Jade for confirmation, swapping her gaze between the two. Bae had no response, stuttering on words and air, unable to tell if such a plan would work. So, both siblings ended up shifting their gaze to Jade, their elder and superior, questioning if Lucinda's idea would be a success in releasing her from the curse.

Jade was smiling sinisterly, rolling up the scroll with fast moving hands, slapping it shut in one quick motion.

"Ah, Lucinda," he spoke with a hiss to his voice, "now you are on my level."

Fairytale Land of the Past

He swore to himself that he would never deal with it. Promised himself to always stray when it was near. Vowed to keep his distance when he sensed its presence. Now, he had no choice, but to approach it. This circumstance, however, required extremes. This was personal and so the cure had to be personal. The cure had to be well thought out. The cure had to actually work.

So, despite his promises and his vows to his family and himself that he would never deal with such a thing, Jade found himself approaching the very temple of the force he needed to save his sister. Already his bones were shaking within him, his body trembled, and he found his knees to be weaker than ever. So this ... this is what it felt like to be so close to it?

To be so close to magic?

It was not a feeling he took lightly, still, Jade knew what he had to do, and so he pressed on. He was told many a great sorcerer wielded such powers, but not quite so splendidly as the one he was about to see. It was rumored that this being, whoever he was, was the very one to create magic years and years and years ago. Now Jade was to approach him and beg for some of his gift to save his ailing sister.

Would it work?

Would the sorcerer be so generous as to grant him such a gift?

What would the price be?

Jade could only think of such horrible things:

Perhaps a lifetime of servitude?

A life for a life?

My soul for eternal damnation?

A favor that could lead to disastrous results?

All of this spun in Jade's head wildly, he being unable to capture a single thought as he moved on, further towards the temple's entrance and knocking on the seemingly made of rock doors that shut out the world from the mysterious actions that took place below. Such entrances to such places was something Jade was not used to, but the whole time, he thought of Cindy and how she was ready to let herself die. As much as she wanted to let go, Jade simply wasn't ready to. So he built up the courage and forced himself to knock.

No voice called in reply nor any trap of some kind was enacted. Instead, the oddest thing happened; the door simply opened. Now, it would seem normal in any other circumstance, but dealing with magic was a tricky business. Usually practitioners of such a source would only open their doors to those who were interrogated before hand. Perhaps this sorcerer was so powerful, that they could already see the reason behind Jade's visit there.

With a lump in his throat and a shake in his step, his heart beating uncontrollably, Jade pressed on the door just a tad bit more and walked forward, finding himself at the top of a spiral stone staircase, appearing to lead to a dungeon of some kind.

My doom, Jade thought as he forced himself to take that first step.

His cloth made shoes barely hit the stone step beneath his foot when a cold, cruel shiver traveled at full speed up his spine. What was he to expect? Would he even make it out alive? The possibilities were endless. And as much as his fear tugged at him, telling him to turn around and go back, to leave and never return, his love for his sister made him place another foot forward, down on the step that was lower than the last. One by one, descending down into the pit that had light at the bottom rather than the top. Someone was home, waiting for Jade to make their presence known.

Turn around! he told himself within his own mind, he completely doubting himself with every step he took.

You're gonna die! Turn around! You'll find another way.

And for some reason, he refused to believe even himself. So he curved around the corner of the staircase, having a peek at the scene below him, and was rather in awe but what was made clear.

There wasn't much down there to spot. It was rather just a wide open room made of stone, empty but for a few simple things; An alter of some kind, resting in the center of it all with one large wooden chair on the side of it. An overly large spell book rested on said alter, and in the far corner, a cauldron barely filled with water.

Jade could spot the mighty sorcerer from where he peeked out on the staircase. The magic master's back was to him, he seated in the chair, but one arm was resting on the armrest that was provided, while the other hand was occupied, flipping through the spell book and it's many pages of various languages and tricks to try. So many works of magic, so little time.

Jade was as quite as a mouse, not uttering a sound or causing any disturbance in the air. He was practically invisible, but Jade's stealth was only so powerful against the magic of the sorcerer.

"You on the stairs," the sorcerer called from his seat, causing Jade to hold his breath and stand on his toes. "I believe you wish to speak with me. Come down and do so. Now is the perfect time."

Hiding no longer an option and turning back no longer in the cards without conversing, Jade swallowed the stiffness within him and descended down fully, inching his way around the alter to peek at the sorcerer's face. To Jade's surprise, he didn't appear at all as he was expecting.

A young fellow, very young, perhaps in his early thirties or so, sat in the chair with his deep eyes focused in the spell book as he skimmed over the words on the page. The most powerful sorcerer- "they" say- and even he had to brush up on his magic at times. Jade found it somewhat comforting for whatever reason, and the sorcerer's appearance was relaxing, too. His hair was short and had a nice flip towards the front, a single, fine mustache was attached to his upper lip. And the only "magical" look to him was his blue robe, fastened tightly around his torso. Jade had no idea why, but the sorcerer before him appeared more normal and human than like any magical wielder he had envisioned in his mind, which resulted in Jade's heart becoming tame and breath to calm. He wasn't so intimidating.

"Are you the Sorcerer?" Jade asked meekly, not wanting to seem disrespectful.

"That's what they call me," the young master in the blue robe replied.

"Um, my name is Jade," the mere mortal spoke. "I've come to you for a favor. You see, my little sister, Cindy, she's um ... very sick. She's dying. I was hoping you could give me something that I could use to cure her."

The sorcerer said nothing for a moment, merely rubbing his chin with gentle fingers, clearly thinking fiercely about Jade's words and pleas.

"How is she sick?" the sorcerer finally asks, and so Jade tells.

"A bite. She was bitten, and ever since then ... she has been sick. I have tried everything; old home remedies, stews, medicine I could found on the street. Nothing seems to be working. Nothing makes her any better."

"And so you have turned to magic for help?" the sorcerer questions.

"Magic is all I have left," Jade replied.

"Well, then, mister Jade," the sorcerer said as he sat back more in his chair and folded his arms across his chest, "it seems as though you have the answer."

Jade twisted his face and furrowed his brow in confusion. The answer? That was the very reason of him coming here in the first place.

"I don't have the answer. The answer is a cure, which I don't have," Jade explained.

"Yes, you do. You said the cure was magic, correct?" the sorcerer suggested.

"No, I didn't," Jade argued. "I said that magic was the only thing I haven't tried."

"And so magic must be the answer," the sorcerer rebutted. "That's it Jade. You have the answer and you have the cure. Magic takes many forms and appears in all people. All you must simply do is activate it to wield it, and once you wield it, you can do anything. Even save the ones you love."

Jade stood in silence for a moment as the sorcerer before him merely smirked at his own wisdom, obviously confusing the boy and bending his mind with riddles as many magic masters do to poor sorry saps for whatever reason they have.

"Seriously," Jade spoke up, "can't you just give me a potion or something?"

"I'm afraid, mister Jade, that I cannot provide you with a cure when you already have one," the sorcerer replied.

"But I don't have one." Jade was growing frustrated, ready to pull his hair from his head. "That's why I came here. So you can give me one."

"And I'm doing you something better," the sorcerer countered. "I'm telling you that you already have a cure and so there is no need to go out and look for another. Go back to Cindy, Jade. She needs your cure if she is going to live."

"She is not going to live because I don't have the cure!" Jade shouted.

"Well, your medicine kept her alive this long," the sorcerer reminded him. "Isn't that worth something?"

Enraged and aggravated beyond compared, Jade shakes his head and begins to stomp away from the sorcerer, all why muttering under his breath curses and slang for the one who had cheated him.

"I'll find someone who will actually give me a cure," Jade mutters as he marches up the steps, back towards the exit. "He'll see. I'll find another sorcerer to give me magic. One who is in the business of making deals."

Ah, desperate souls would do just about anything to ease their pain, wouldn't they?

Back in the depths of the temple in which the sorcerer sat, the young fellow wanders up to his master, red robe trailing behind him for it was too big for his body, and he stops beside the chair of the sorcerer.

"Gee, why didn't you give him the cure, Master?" the young one asks.

The sorcerer stares ahead, wondering how he could have possibly made Jade understand better, but it mattered not any longer. Jade had left, and the sorcerer already knew what the young boy was up to; about to make a deal with a tricky sorcerer who deserved not to hold the title as one. The sorcerer sighs to himself before responding to the question presented to him.

"He already has the cure," the sorcerer replied. "Magic."

"Ha, he was a mere mortal, Master. Not many of them wield magic."

"Yes, that's true, but they all have the capability to make their own."

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Master."

"Magic, young one, comes in many different shapes, many different sizes, and many different forms. Liquids in bottles is just one form magic takes. Emotional connection is but another."

The little sidekick finally understood what his master was telling him, giving a long, extended "Oh," as a response.

"Gee, that's cleaver, Master. Do you think Jade will be able to figure that out?" he asks.

"In do time," the sorcerer replies. "In do time.

"Now, I have a job for you. I will be practicing a new potion. I need the cauldron filled. Get on that, would you, my young Apprentice?"

The Apprentice brought his tiny hand to his forehead, saluting his master.

"Right away, Master."

And with that, the eager little being scurried off to do as he was told. Meanwhile, the sorcerer adjusted himself in his seat and thought of Jade's predicament. The poor desperate soul had no idea just how powerful he was.

Sorry it's short, but the next chapter will be longer. Thank you for your patience guys, as well as all the reviews and follows. Don't forget to leave another review for this chapter! Thanks a million!