So now we have all of the new characters present in Storybrooke, although Ella's not doing too well, it seems. Wondering what's up with that...
After finding their friends in the Witch's storm cellar the atmosphere in the group certainly changed. If there was one thing no one would allow it was someone hurting a fellow admin, as they called themselves.
Doctor Whale, the counterpart of Doctor Frankenstein, checked up on all the newcomers when they brought them in at the hospital that night, with no incidents occurring like the one with Little John.
"They're bruised and need to rest, but otherwise they're fine", the doctor told the others when he had finished his examination.
"What about Ella?" Miranda asked. Whale sighed and shook his head.
"I'm not sure. She appears to be in a coma, which was how David Nolan spent his first twenty-eight years here due to being mortally wounded when the curse hit back in the Enchanted Forest. It is possible something similar has happened to her."
"But she will wake up, right?" Tessa asked. "She's not... you know... she's going to wake up, won't she?"
Whale gave them a hint of a smile.
"We'll do everything we can."
He led the way into the closed-off area that they had been given. With the exception of Ella the other five that had been rescued – Maryse, Arianne, Rowan, Clarissa and Catriona – were all up on their feet, enigmatically discussing what had happened. After her ordeal on the hiking trail Whale had insisted that Rachel should be hospitalized for at least a day as well, just to make sure that she would not suffer from the near-death experience. Her neck was covered in bruises and both of her hands were bandaged.
"Maybe this will teach me not to convert to a Gryffindor, huh?" she said with a lopsided smile.
"Well, if I can be a Slytherclaw, then you can be a Gryffinclaw", Clarissa pointed out and sat down on the side of the older girl's bed.
"What do we do now?" Chris asked.
"We get some sleep and then we can figure out a plan that does not involve people nearly being killed", Toby responded.
"Good luck with that in this town", Jade chimed in.
Early the next morning the phone on the table close to the door vibrated. It was Emma's old phone, which she had dug up so that they would have at least some means of communicating. All of their phones must have been lost in the vortex bringing them to the Enchanted Forest or sometime during their possible adventures there. Indira, having slept on a mattress close by, reached up and plucked the phone from the table, reading the message.
"They're having a meeting at Granny's Diner in thirty minutes", she said as the others woke up as well.
"Who are they?" Rowan asked.
"Well, the text is from David, so I'm guessing him, Mary Margaret and Emma, probably Regina, and since Emma will be there I'm also including Hook", Indira responded.
"No, we were supposed to stay here and plan", Toby pointed out. "Not rush off on some new adventure without..."
"I'm guessing you're volunteering", Wolfgang interrupted, causing Toby to stare at him.
"What? I..."
"Good, so Toby's going to Granny's", Rachel said, trying to hide her amused smile. "Anyone else?"
"We could go", Maryse said, inclining towards herself and Arianne.
"And I'll go as well", Indira finished off and rose. "Four should be quite enough for this meeting."
With Toby still gaping like a goldfish and trying his best to form a coherent sentence the three girls pulled him out of the hospital room and in the direction of Granny's. They met Emma Swan on the doorstep, quickly introducing her to Arianne and Maryse before being let in by Granny. The diner was filled with the smell of breakfast; bacon, scrambled eggs, freshly brewed coffee and bread roasting in the oven.
"If you want privacy, talk fast", Granny remarked as she locked the door behind them again. "We open in twenty and no one gets between Leroy and his bacon."
As the newcomers looked around they could see that Indira had been right in her guess of who might be there; David was standing at the back, Mary Margaret was sitting on one of the high chairs by the counter, Regina has placed herself by one of the tables in the middle, and before they came in Hook had been leaning against the doorframe. He now straightened up and walked further into the room.
"Any sign of our quarry?" he asked.
"I went over that farmhouse and the land around it, but nothing", Emma responded, seating herself by the counter as well.
"You spent the whole night out there?" Indira asked, looking at the Sheriff.
"Well, as much as I could", Emma responded and gratefully accepted a cup of hot cocoa sprinkled with cinnamon from Granny.
"Now that the sun's up we should check every place Gold might go; his house, shop, cabin..." David suggested, walking over to Mary Margaret.
"Yes, cause dead men certainly love vacation homes", Emma replied.
"Who's Gold?" Maryse inquired.
"The name Rumplestiltskin used in this world", Regina responded. "In this town he is known as Mr Gold."
"Can someone explain to me how this is even possible?" Emma asked. "We all saw Gold, he..."
"Disappeared into nothingness, I know", Mary Margaret filled in.
"So the guy we guess escaped from the other cage in the Witch's cellar is a man you all thought was dead?" Indira asked.
"Yeah, but I might have an inkling about what is going on", Hook responded, looking thoughtful. "When we went back to the Enchanted Forest, Neal was talking about the possibility of getting his father back."
"What, how?" David asked, with a frown.
"Who's Neal?" Arianne asked.
"Gold's son", Regina responded, her tone short, signalling she thought they were interrupting Hook's story.
"He didn't know how, he just..."
The pirate paused in his answer and looked at Emma, his face changing from thoughtful to sad.
"He missed his family", he finished. Emma quickly looked away, her expression also sad.
"He was desperate to find a way to this world", Hook continued, "and he believed that bringing his father back was the key."
"Well, if that was his plan, then obviously something went wrong", Emma said. "Gold might be alive and kicking but Neal... he's... we don't know what he is. We don't even know if he made it back to Storybrooke; no one's seen him since this new curse."
"He's out there somewhere", David promised.
"With all due respect we have bigger issues right now than who brought Gold back", Regina pointed out. "The fact that he was in the Wicked Witch's basement for one, and I want to know what the hell she was cooking up with him. And since none of her other prisoners were aware of what was going on..."
She turned to look at Arianne and Maryse, who squirmed slightly under the intensity of the Mayor's gaze.
"Well, the best way to find that out would be to ask Gold, right?" Mary Margaret said.
"He could tell us who the Witch is, maybe how to track her down", David agreed. Regina rose.
"I'm going to head back to that farmhouse", she said. "It's possible this Witch left behind some trace of potion or a special ingredient."
Emma gave her a slight smile.
"Have at it", she agreed. "Just be careful."
Regina looked amused.
"Well, she's the one who needs to be careful", she said as she pulled on her gloves. "She invaded my space; when I return the favour, I'm not pulling any punches."
She then walked out of the diner, head held high and heels tapping the floor.
"Shouldn't anyone else go with her?" Arianne asked.
"Regina knows how to handle things like this", Mary Margaret responded. "If she had wanted someone to come with her she would have said so."
"What about the rest of us then; what's the plan?" Indira asked.
"We should head over to his shop, talk to Belle about all of this", David responded.
"Belle?" Maryse asked. "You mean Belle from Beauty & the Beast?"
"Yes", Emma answered. "She and Gold were lovers and if anyone knows the answers to how he could have come back to life, it's her."