Chapter 3

"You didn't tell him the price!"

- Rumplestiltskin (3.14 Quiet Minds)

I burst into the Charmings' throne room, the doors crashing open before me.

"Zelena!"

The room was empty, save for a ludicrous throne that appeared to be made of meat pies. She had a year's supply of food, and yet she was allowing Belle to starve while she kept her locked away? The insane lunatic deserved to die choking on her precious pastries.

"Killing you once wasn't enough, dearie? Show yourself!"

Green smoke swirled around the throne, and when it dissipated, the wicked green witch sat there, pouting.

"Come now, darling. That's hardly any way to get what you want."

"Where's Belle?"

Zelena scowled. "Why do you want her when she betrayed you? She doesn't want you anymore, dearie. Just like Cora. Just like Milah. Just like your father."

"Shut up." The pain was suffocating. Belle couldn't be like them. But she was. She forced me over the line without giving me a chance to explain. Milah had listened at least, little good that did. She hadn't understood. Maybe Belle wouldn't either.

Zelena stood and approached me, circling. "She doesn't love you. She loved a shadow of a thought that you could never live up to."

"Shut up." What did Zelena know of what I could be? The love Belle and I shared was true. My curse wouldn't have almost broken the first time we kissed otherwise. That had never happened with Cora. And Belle had cried when she used the dagger against me, both when it was fake and she wanted to see the Snow Queen, and when it was painfully real. She apologized the first time and couldn't bear to watch my final moments as I crossed out of Storybrooke and lost my magic. "You know nothing."

"What I know, doll," Zelena said, her voice soft, "is that you keep pushing away the only person who loves you for who you are, not who you could be." Her hand trailed across my shoulders as she walked behind me.

I glared at her. "You led my son to his death. You forced me to become your slave, locked me in a cage and treated me like a dog. You tried to make me kill Belle! And you expect me to call that love?"

Power sparked from my hands and the room began to shake. I was going to enjoy killing her again. And this time, she'd stay dead.

It was like the night of the wraith all over again. All the lights on Main street were flickering, and a fierce wind was blowing trash and debris into the air.

Belle took one look and darted back inside the library. Regina, Emma, and David braved the storm, debating which way Mr. Gold might have gone. In the end, they split up, leaving Henry with Dr. Hopper.

"This is my fault," said Henry.

"What? No, of course not. Any one of us could have said something to set him off. Or, it could have been none of us. It's difficult to know what he thinks he sees."

"But this is my fault. What he said before, about Belle starving in a cage, he's looking for her. But he's not going to find her."

Something sparked and a telephone pole came crashing down. Henry and Archie retreated back inside.

"I don't understand," Archie said. "Belle was here, but he didn't recognize her."

"Exactly!" Henry pulled the storybook from his bag. "He's in his head, seeing things we don't see." He opened the book to the first page. "I wrote this after I found out what had happened."

Archie looked it over while Henry continued.

"I was mad at him. I wanted to punish him. But he was already gone, so I wrote until I wasn't mad anymore. Then I wrote about how I wished the spell on the town line would come down so my mom can find her happy ending with Robin Hood and still come back."

"You're telling me you broke the spell by writing in this storybook?" Archie asked.

"Yes. And when it came down, Grandpa Gold must have still been near the town line. He must have seen it and come back."

"And got caught in the spell you wrote." Archie blinked.

The library lights flickered and went out.

"We have to find my mom and figure out how to fix this before he reaches the end of the story." Henry shoved the book back into his bag and ran out the door before Archie could stop him.

The minute he stepped outside, though, the storm quieted.

"No."