Sorry for not posting anything yesterday, or Saturday night! Completely forgot. Guess that's what happens when you're not used to doing this regularly anymore...

Anyway, enjoy!

When Maryse and Catriona showed up outside the pawnshop and offering to help Belle sort through the large collection of objects, the brunette was quick to accept. She had, however, been very surprised when Maryse's phone received a secret text and the two girls had explained that they had been sent there to try to find Regina's heart before the Wicked Witch could, in an attempt to protect it. Belle, of course, told them straight away that the Mayor's heart was not to be found in the shop, but the notion of it actually being found by their enemy worried her.

"We can still help you with the sorting", Catriona assured her. "If Zelena's found the heart I don't know what we'll be able to do to stop her. The goal was to find it and hide it somewhere else without her knowing and then keep moving it around to confuse her."

"Why would you..." Belle asked, before a sound of someone tearing down things on the floor out in the shop silenced her. She quickly hurried back out there and saw the back of Regina by one of the far counters. The woman was busy tearing down objects on the floor, growling that they were useless.

"Hey!" Belle called. "Hey, stop! Stop it!"

Regina did not seem to hear her; she just continued tearing through the objects.

"What are you looking for?" Belle demanded to know as Maryse and Catriona joined her.

"I need to destroy my sister", Regina said, sounding uncharacteristically stressed. "She has my heart."

Belle let out a shocked breath and took a step back. If Zelena had Regina's heart but had not crushed it, the woman in front of her was a danger to everyone. Possession of someone else's enchanted heart did, after all, enable you to control them. Regina noticed her move and huffed.

"Relax, she can't control me with it", she said before moving on to the next counter. "I protected it from that. Problem is I don't know what she's planning on using it for!"

She closed the book she had been flipping through with a slam, looking exasperated. Belle had never seen the woman in front of her look so stressed about anything, which was worrisome in itself. Personally, however, she did not like having Regina in the shop. There was too much bad history between them for her to like such a thing.

"I need to take her out", Regina continued, taking a deep breath. She then turned towards Belle and, to the brunette's surprise, a flare of hope appeared in the Mayor's eyes.

"That's why I need your help", the dark-haired woman said and walked forward, until only one counter separated them. "What do you have here?"

"What do I have here?" Belle said, feeling anger flare up inside of her. She wanted this woman out of this building right away, not help her.

"Self-respect!" she continued, earning a surprised look from Regina. "Why on Earth, or any realm, would I help you; the woman who imprisoned me in a tower in her castle, then put me in an asylum for 28 years, who's done nothing but mentally and physically torture me ever since we've known each other?"

"Huh", Regina said, pulling back somewhat, "bookworm's got teeth."

And of course the sarcasm came out. Belle felt like slapping her, but resented to simply rolling her eyes and pointing at the door.

"Get out."

"Yes", Regina instead responded, placing her hands on her hips, "I did all those horrible things, in the past, but right now I need something to defeat the woman who's puppet-mastering your boyfriend."

Belle's anger faded away as quickly as it had risen at the mention of Rumplestiltskin and the fact that Regina sounded utterly desperate was definitely also a reason for it.

"She has your Rumple", the Mayor continued, "and unless you help me you may never see him again."

She tried to look angry at the fact that Regina's plea for help sounded like a threat. The former Evil Queen seemed to understand and looked down briefly, sighing.

"I'm sorry, Belle", she said when she looked up again, sincerity shining from her eyes. "I really, really am."

"Belle, she's right", Maryse said, causing Belle to glance back. "If Zelena has her heart we're in deep trouble, especially since we don't know what she's going to do with it."

Belle sighed and turned back towards Regina.

"I've been trying to match the ingredients that Zelena's been collecting", she admitted, "to whatever spell she intends to cast. It would really help if I knew... what is so special about your heart? Does she just want it because you're sisters, or..."

"I have no idea", Regina truthfully responded. Then, suddenly, her sad face changed and there was a sparkle of hope in her eyes once again.

"The candle", she said, her red lips widening into a smile. "Where's the candle?"

"Here?" Catriona said, picking up a three-armed silvery candleholder from on top of a box. Regina, who had walked over to search one of the many cupboards in the room shook her head.

"Not that, Liberace", she said, "the two-sided candle Snow used to kill my mother. Where's that?"

Belle immediately walked over to the box that the previously shown candleholder had been standing on and opened one of its drawers, pulling out a two-sided candle held together by a metal cord. One candle was white, the other black, and at the centre of the cord glowed a blood red stone.

"Its power is gone", she pointed out. "Now it's just a relic."

Regina turned towards her and her lips widened in a smile.

"Yes, that's it!" she said and walked over, taking the candle in her hands. Belle frowned at her in surprise.

"This isn't about how my mother died", Regina continued, smiling deviously, "this is about how she lived."

With those words she then spun around and hurried out through the door, its bell chiming as she left the trio staring after her.

"What was that about?" Maryse asked.

"I have no idea", Belle admitted and closed the drawer she had collected the candle from. "I'd better get back to researching the curse."

"We'll keep sorting through things while you're at it", Catriona suggested. "The others can always call us if they need any help."

"That'd be great, thank you", Belle said with a smile and walked past them towards the doorway leading to the storage room at the back. Just as she crossed the threshold a heavy cowhide tumbled to the ground from atop one of the cabinets behind her, causing her to jump in surprise.

"It's okay", Maryse said. "It probably just lay at a bad angle and fell down due to the floor moving beneath your feet."

"Yeah, probably", Belle said and frowned at the hide, "but I've never seen that thing before."

"You mean it wasn't here during the last curse?" Catriona asked. Belle shook her head.

"I mean it hasn't been here since we got back here, either."

Maryse frowned as well and moved to pick up the object. It immediately started to unroll and the girl opted for unrolling it on the floor of the shop. As she did a pattern drawn in black ink came into view.

"What is that?" Catriona said and crouched down next to her friend. Belle soon joined them, tracing the lines of a large star at the centre of the hide.

"I've never seen anything like this before", she admitted.

"That's weird", Maryse said. "There are fifteen points."

"Why's that weird?" Belle inquired.

"Because there are fifteen of us", Catriona responded, realizing what Maryse had meant, "fifteen in our group of people, fifteen who wield wands. And look at these things."

Her fingers traced what seemed to be a burn mark on the inside of one of the star's points. Similar marks were found inside all points, all of them with intricate patterns.

"Hold on", Maryse said and pulled out her wand, placing it next to one of the burns, "it's a match. The pattern on my wand matches the pattern on the mark! Cat, try yours."

The other girl was quick to follow and soon found the mark matching her wand. "These marks are recent", Belle observed. "The ink pattern is older but these marks... they're not even a month old."

"We need to tell the others", Maryse said and removed her wand. "Is it alright if they all come here, Belle?"

"Yeah, sure", Belle responded. Her fingers traced an inked symbol of a rose, pointed out by the star point containing Maryse's burn mark. It felt cold to her touch; not uncomfortably so, but unnatural. Whatever this cowhide was it contained magic. Powerful magic.

Hm, interesting...