Chapter 30

Nicola sat down in the room and waited for Shelby to get out of the shower. She sat for a few minutes before she needed to get up. She didn't like sitting still for long. She was up and looking out the window into the heart of the Atlanta.

She stared at the people moving who thought that their fairy tales were all just stories. They didn't know the half of it and she was glad that they didn't. They wouldn't understand, nor could they fathom the craziness and intricacies of magic. No, it was better off this way.

She shook her head. She should have given Rachel more of her time. She should have sought her out, regardless of Shelby's warnings. The girl needed to know who she was and what she could do. Now, thanks to her own talents, Nicola knew that Rachel was in the Enchanted Forest, with magic and no understanding. It was a recipe for disaster. She needed to find a way to get back, but she couldn't go thru Petra. She needed another way, but she didn't know of any.

"You're thinking too hard," Shelby said coming back into the room.

"I need to get to her before something happens."

"Like what?" Shelby asked her.

"She is in the Enchanted Forest, Shelby. She is in a land with magic. Her body will start changing because of my blood. She won't be able to escape and she won't understand it. I did as you asked and I left her alone because you gave her away. I watched her from afar, but I never believed in my wildest dreams that this would happen. And, trust me, I have had some insane dreams, especially about going home and taking you all with me. I know that it would be selfish of me and that you would all most likely hate me for it, but you can't blame me for wanting to go home," Nicola stated.

"I don't, Aunt Nick, but what can we do?"

"Call her," Nicola said.

"What?"

"Call her. I want to see what will happen when you do. I want to know how strong the magic is that is around her. If I am right, her body will be devouring it, soaking it up like a sponge. She is gifted Shelby and I don't know what her talents are. I need to get to her before they manifest completely."

"How?"

"I'll find a way. Do you remember the name of the town that she said she was going to? And what state is was in? I'll start there. I'll be able to track her better."

"Hold on, I might have written it down. But, then again, I think you said it again at the diner. It had something to do with stories or fables or something like that," Shelby answered.

"Storybrooke, ah, yes. I'll go there tomorrow. I'll book a flight from here to Augusta."

"And, what do you want me to do?" Shelby asked her.

"What you always do, Shelby. Perform. Beth is safe. I've seen to her as well. I'll find both Quinn and Rachel and I'll make sure that they are okay. I'll let you know as soon as I know something. But, do me a favor while I gone, will you?" Nicola inquired.

"Yes?"

"Be prepared to sit down with your daughter when she gets back to talk, and keep your phone on you. I have a crazy feeling that I am going to be calling you once I get to Maine. I am not going to let anything happen to her if I can help it. She doesn't need our family's curse hanging over her head there. I'll make sure to bring her home. I need to go. I need to get to her as soon as I can," Nicola told her.

"I will. Just please bring her back to me. I don't know what I would do if I lost her."

"Nor does she. I'll bring back her lover, too. Beth will need her mother to help her learn to deal with her powers when they develop. We have time. But, I need to go get Rachel."

Shelby pulled out her phone and called Rachel's cell while Nicola booked her flight and another rental car. She pulled out the mirror to figure out a general location for Storybrooke. She would start there. It was the only real clue that she had. It was the last place that Nicola noticed any trace of Rachel or Quinn. She hoped that it would lead her to a portal and a way back to the Enchanted Forest.

The more that Nicola thought about it, the more she worried how she would react once she was back. She hadn't been back to the Enchanted Forest in over two hundred years. It was hard to tell what would happen. She had been dealing without her powers for all that time. Well, all of them but her immortality. It was the only one that she couldn't turn off. Being pure Vulcannoian was a bitch sometimes, but she managed to hide. Moving a lot helped. It was hard, but she learned to deal with it quickly.

"She still hasn't answered," Shelby said dejectedly.

"I'll find her, Shelby. I promised my mother when I was young that I would never let my family suffer. I will find her. I'll bring her home."

"Why are you so afraid of her?" Shelby asked.

"It isn't Rachel that I am afraid of. It is what she might be able to do. She looks normal because her blood has been thinned. Hopefully, she won't inherit too much from my side of the family, but I can't be sure until I see her."

"Should I be worried?"

"Ever plan on going to the Enchanted Forest?"

"Not if I can help it. I think I'll just act on stage. Just make sure that both Quinn and Rachel are okay. I don't want to explain to Beth why her sister or her mother isn't going to be able to visit her anymore. I don't know about you, but I don't want to have to do that," Shelby stated.

"You won't."

Shelby watched her as she grabbed her phone and started towards the door. She didn't know what to do. Nick had never come without a reason and she was upset about Rachel being missing. It made Shelby's heart drop. She knew that it was more than Nicola was worried about Rachel. There was something more to it, but she knew better than to push her for answers. Nicola protected the family and no one ever questioned beyond what she told them. There was no need to and Shelby wasn't going to be the first one to do it.

"Do you have a picture of her?" Nicola asked.

"Of who?"

"Rachel," Nicola answered.

Shelby reached for her purse. She opened up her wallet and pulled out a few pictures. She looked through them quickly. She finally pulled out a picture of Rachel, Quinn and Beth together. Nicola took it and smiled.

"They are beautiful."

"They are," Shelby stated.

"I'll bring them home for her, Shelby. I'll do it. Continue trying to call her. If Rachel answers, don't forget to call me and let me know. Don't worry about them too much, Shelby. They'll be fine. You'll see. I'll bring them back…soon," Nicola told her as she opened the door.

Later as the sun came up over Atlanta, Nicola hoped that she would get to Maine on time. She didn't know what Quinn and Rachel had gotten into, but she knew that it had to do with magic. The whole thing stunk of it. She stared down at the planes and the tarmac and wondered if she still had enough power to get herself to this Storybrooke.

She decided not to chance it. She didn't need to be wasting her energy on that right now. She didn't know what she would be running into when she got to Storybrooke and finding it might prove to be difficult. She just hoped that once she got on the road from Augusta that she would be heading in the right direction. She didn't know anything about the town and no search that she did on the internet got her any closer. She would be doing this by feel and by intuition. She just hoped that it would be enough.

This wasn't the Enchanted Forest. This was Earth and it didn't play by the same rules. Hell, it didn't even have the same rules. Magic didn't really exist here and what bits of magic may have bled through from other realms was easily dismissed and thought of as divine intervention. Well, she needed some of that so called divine intervention if she was going to save her great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter, give or take a few greats.

Rachel was pacing back in forth in the library. Belle and Regina were watching her, unsure of what to say. Danni and Will both looked upset, but they were unwilling to stop the brooding brunette. Quinn and Santana were missing from this little get together and Brittany was with Ruby explaining their ideas for getting information.

Danni could hear Rachel as she started humming under her breath. She wondered if she actually realized that she was humming. She couldn't make out the song, but she knew that it didn't really matter. Rachel was angry. Danni could feel that anger rolling off of her and it was a feeling that she hadn't felt from Rachel since that night in the alley.

"Rach?"

"What?!" she snapped as she turned to face Danni.

"Why don't you sit down for a minute?"

"I can't."

"Why not?" Will asked her.

"Because my family is threatened by some unknown silver armored army and we are just sitting here doing nothing, no planning, no real strategy. We don't know what they want or why they are here. And, no one wants to talk about it. No one wants to face the fact that Santana almost died at their hands and we are just sitting here, hiding behind castle walls, doing nothing but staring at maps and reading books hoping that something might clue us in on who they are."

Regina bristled. Emma smirked at the pint sized diva, but everyone else gasped. But, Rachel didn't stop her pacing or waving her hands dramatically at the queens and Belle only to turn and pace again, with a humph every time. Danni finally couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed Rachel and pulled her out of the library to only she knew where.

Emma and Regina stared at Will, who just shrugged. They knew who Danni was, but then again they didn't. She had changed and the four women with her knew this person better than they did. They figured that Danni was taking her away to help her calm down.

"She has a point," Will stated.

Regina just looked at her harder. She couldn't believe that Will was siding with the younger brunette, but then again she could. Will was a warrior and she thought like a warrior. Regina was a queen, the mayor, and a sorceress. She had to think about the people and what was best for them. She didn't plan out wars and campaigns. That was Will's and Emma's job. She gave the authorization to fight and the means to do it. She didn't want a war. She was afraid of it.

"We don't know what they are or what they want," Emma said softly.

"I do not want to do anything that will lead to a war. So far they haven't attacked. They maybe just probing. We don't know," Regina stated.

"They shot Santana," Will added.

"I know that, but are we sure that they knew who she was? They could have thought that she was just a big wolf that was going to attack. We don't know. We weren't there when it happened. I cannot condone an action that will lead to war, Will. I know you want to go and I am almost inclined to let you, but we need to think this through first," Regina told her.

"Sitting here isn't doing anything either," Will stated as she got up to leave.

"Being angry isn't helping," Belle added.

"No, it isn't. But, I can't just sit here and wait for them to come knocking on our door. I know that you are afraid, Regina. I get it. I read Belle's books. I know that Danni is scared, too. I can see it in her eyes. She isn't going to stop trying to get your permission and when she doesn't get it and the need to protect this family becomes too great, she'll leave without it. We both know it. And, when that happens, I am going to follow her," Will replied and left the room.

"Is she right?" Emma asked Regina.

"Is who right?"

"Is Will right? Are you scared about this turning into a war? Is that why you don't want to act?"

Regina hung her head slightly. She didn't want to admit it. She was afraid. She didn't want Remy to grow up without them. She'd been cautious. She'd read Belle's stories, but it wasn't until she knew that they were actual history that her paranoia took over. She didn't want to lose her family. Even though she knew that Danni had taken the Darkness into herself and saved them, she couldn't help but wonder if that wasn't enough.

They were back in the Enchanted Forest. They had been for years, but they never knew why or how it happened. They had literally gone to sleep and woke up there. Regina had been searching for an explanation for years, but still had yet to find one that she would actually accept.

"Regina…" Belle stated bringing her back to the library in her castle.

"If I agree to sending a search party, will everyone back down about wanting to hunt the army down?" Regina asked them.

"No one said anything about hunting them down, Regina. We just want to know what they want. If we know what they want, maybe we can sway them to our way of thinking and have peace with them. I am not especially fond of war, but I don't want our people or my family to suffer because of some unknown menace. I think that we should at least figure out what they want. We don't even have to contact them. We'll send Will. She'll be able to get the intel we need," Emma told her as she held Regina's hand in her own.

"Will that be enough?"

"It'll have to be until we know more," Belle stated.

"Unhand me," Rachel demanded as she tried to pull away from Danni again.

Danni let her go. She knew that Rachel was mad, but that still didn't give the right to be disrespectful in front of the queens. She knew that Rachel was just being dramatic but there was something more to it. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she could sense that Rachel was changing. She had been since they got Quinn and Santana back. Danni couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew that Rachel was at war with herself.

"You don't condone violence, Little One," Danni told her.

"I don't, no, but they are threatening us. Why else would they be mounted and in armor so close to the kingdom? Why else would they be using silver? They know that your mothers are friends with the Wolves, Danni. They have to know that Ruby is your aunt and the leader of the Wolves. They may not have drawn Santana out while they were looking for the plant for your fever, but they didn't have to shoot her either. They choose to do it. They started this fight."

"Rach…"

"No, Danni, just no. Quinn is a freaking High Elf, whatever that means, and she can defend herself and this castle if need be. Santana is werewolf, so I don't need to elaborate on her prowess or powers. Brittany is an Empath and can control people's emotions. She can even talk with Ruby will she is in her coma or whatever. But me, I have nothing. I am nothing. I am just a singer and diva. I can't wield a sword. I can't shoot a bow. Hell, I can barely ride a horse. What am I supposed to do? Sit back and watch you all go fight while I sit her and worry. Yeah, no thanks. I can't do that. I won't do that. You are all my family and I refuse to sit back and do nothing," Rachel told her.

She was standing with her hands clenched by her sides. There was a fire in her Rachel's eyes that Danni hadn't seen before. She looked determined. She looked like she was going to do something that they would all regret, but Danni just couldn't stop her. She never could. Rachel had a way of getting what she wanted, even if it wasn't good for her.

"What do you want me do?" Danni finally asked her.

"Teach me," Rachel whispered her demand.

"Teach you what?"

"How to fight, how to ride, how to shoot…"

"Rachel…"

"No, Danni, no. Don't placate me. I am not a damsel, but I am certainly in distress. Help me help you. I can't help if I don't know how to fight. I can't help if I don't know how to ride. I can't help if I don't know how to shoot. Teach me, so I can help."

"…I don't think…"

"Then don't think about it. Just do it. Treat me like I am one of your soldiers. Train me."

"…this isn't a good…"

"I don't care, Danni. I am not going to sit back idly and watch you all fight. If you go, I go. We've always had each other's back. Why is this so different?" Rachel demanded to know.

"Because this isn't so game. This is real life fighting. People will get hurt and could die."

"I know that!" Rachel hissed as she got closer to Danni and almost in her face.

"You aren't going to give this up, are you?"

"Nope."

Danni took a deep breath and then let out a sigh. She knew that she had been beat. The little diva wasn't known to ever back down. If she wanted something bad enough, she go after it. If Danni wasn't willing to teach her, then she knew that she would find someone in the castle who would no matter if Danni, Emma, Will or Regina forbade it. Rachel would find a way. She always did. Danni could only hope that that tenacity would help her now.

"Fine."

"Good."

"But, we need to get you some new clothes," Danni told her.

"What's wrong with this dress?" Rachel asked her.

"What's right with it?" Danni replied as she walked away shaking her head.

Nicola arrived in Storybrooke late that afternoon. She was surprised to find it empty. She wasn't surprised to find out that no one outside of the town had ever heard of it. She used what little magic she had to find it once she got in the rental car. When she crossed the town border, things got weirder for her.

Magic flowed through her like she was in Petra or back in the Enchanted Forest. She'd been to Shangri-La, but even it didn't feel this good. And because of that, she was afraid. She wasn't afraid of what she might find. No, she was scared for Rachel and her friends. She wondered if they knew what they had stumbled into while they were here.

She could feel them. She could them all and it surprised her. But, she felt something else too. Something deeper, more familiar, but she couldn't pin it down. It was faint, very faint, but she could sense it like it had been there the day before.

She parked the car on the main street only to find out that it was Main Street. She went into the diner, but there was no one there. The grill and fryer had been abandoned, but none of the food had spoiled. She helped herself to a bear claw and went back to the street. She looked in both directions, up and down the street, before she leaned over and touched the asphalt.

When a glowing path appeared, she decided to follow it. She stopped in front of a large white house on Mifflin Street. She didn't know who's it was, but she decided that she needed to look around. Whoever's it was, they knew Rachel in some sort of capacity and she needed to know what. And, since there was no one in town, she couldn't get arrested for breaking and entering.

She walked around the house that was more like a palace until she found the room where the glowing trail stopped. It was in front of a large mirror. When she touched it, she could feel the magic flowing from it. She dropped her head and tried to push through it. Nothing happened, there was no magic left in the reflective glass.

She pulled out her cell phone and called Shelby. She didn't know what else to do. She'd found out where they'd gone, but it still didn't explain how they were in the Enchanted Forest. Nick knew that she would need to do more digging.

"Did you find them?" Shelby questioned as soon as she answered the phone.

"Not exactly," Nick replied.

"What the Hell does that mean?"

"I found out where they went and how they got to the Enchanted Forest, but I haven't found them. I don't have enough magic to open a portal. I can sense the magic of some very powerful beings in this town, but no one is here."

"I should be there with you," Shelby stated.

"And, what would you do, Shelby? Sing them to death? There is nothing that you can do. I'll figure this out. I'll bring her home. I will always protect this family!" Nicola stated.

"I know that, Aunt Nick, but she is my daughter…"

"I'll find her, Shelby. After all, I've done it before. I'll do it again."

"Bring them back to me," Shelby demanded, her voice breaking.

"I will, Little One. I will. Now, call your other daughter. Make sure that she is safe. I'll call you when I have more news. This town isn't that big, but I still have things that I need to explore," Nicola told her.

"Okay…"

"Shelby?"

"Yes, Aunt Nick?"

"I love you, Little One. I'll bring her…them home. She'll be safe. I promise."

"I love you, too, Aunt Nick. Thank you. Tell her I love her."

"I will," Nicola replied and hung up the cell phone.

She looked around the house. There were plenty of pictures, but it wasn't until she saw the picture of Will and Regina together that things started to make any sense. Then, there was another picture of Will, Regina, and another woman, dark and beautiful. She was softer than Regina and it made Nick cock her head.

"Oh, Felix…I see your spawn has had spawn and she is powerful, but that doesn't explain why my niece is with her. Wilhelmina…by the gods, girl, you've grown. Pyroxes better have a good explanation for this or I am going to have his head. Why is he aligning the kingdoms?"