A silent groan escaped his lips as the real world slowly pulled him back again, forcing him to leave the darkness where no pain existed. Now it came back just as powerful as before. His whole body ached and even that felt like an understatement. Every time he moved the slightest a searing pain shot from this or that body part, sometimes causing him to black out, and he welcomed that darkness.
In his latest dreams he thought he had heard them, his friends, but now that he was awake he was able to confirm that it had only been a dream. The cave was just as dark as always, with no entry way in sight, at least he had not seen one during the few times that the cave had been lit up. The few times when she had visited him.
He had seen her before, but only from a distance, when she had appeared in the Dark Palace taunt them and tell them that she would take the unborn child of Snow White and Prince Charming. So far she had not done much more than appear all of a sudden in her signature green smoke and forcing him to eat some cold kind of porridge. His situation seemed to amuse her greatly and she also seemed to take pleasure in touching him, knowing that he could not get away from her. It was hard not to think of Rachel's old story where his character had been trapped by a Huldra and fallen under her spell; now he was trapped for real and even though he was not charmed by the Witch, he certainly had no way of getting out.
He grimaced as he happened to move an inch or two, letting out a painful gasp. His hands were pulled up above his head, fastened by strong, enchanted chains to the cave wall, and the chains binding his feet restricted his ability to move them further than three inches forward, at least by his estimation.
"Aw, still not feeling any better?"
He gritted his teeth as she appeared in a plume of green smoke, all green skin and a pearly white grin. Her arrival caused the torches around the cave to light up and he winced, his eyes not used to it at all after several hours in darkness.
"Poor thing", she said with a pout, her sea-green eyes glimmering mischievously. "After two days I had hoped you would be feeling well again."
"Give me my wand back and I'll show you how well I'm feeling", he growled. She giggled a giggle he was beginning to find very annoying.
"Now, now, that's just the pain going to your head", she said and walked up to him. "I came to tell you the good news; your friends came by to find you."
His breath hitched and his eyes widened.
"What?"
"Surprising, isn't it?" the green-skinned woman said. "They would surely be much better off without you as their leader. After all, they do not seem to listen to you anyways."
"What did you do to them?" he asked. She smiled and cocked her head to the side, letting her long, red hair spill over her shoulder. Anger boiled up within him, fuelled by the pain.
"What did you do?" he roared.
"Oh, nothing yet, dear", she responded. "After all, they're not able to use the spell in that hide you found at the old wandmaker's castle without you being there as well. They're nothing but a minor annoyance."
"You can't keep me here forever", he warned. "Sooner or later I'll break free or they'll find me. I know that they would not give up on me, just like I would not give up on them if our positions were reversed."
"Oh, I won't be keeping you here forever", the Witch said with a new smile, leaning forward to whisper in his ear. "Soon, little one, today won't even have existed."
He stared at her as she pulled back, her white teeth standing out against her green skin.
"What are you planning, Witch?" he hissed.
"What I've always been planning, dear", she responded, leaning towards him again. "To get what I deserve."
With that she pressed her lips to his in a hard kiss that he knew was only meant to intimidate him, to let him know that she could do anything to him. That, however, did not stop him from staring at her in shock when she pulled back with a grin and then used her magic to get out of the cave again.
Unlike the previous times she had left he could feel that something was different this time around. It was as if there was a lingering presence of something in the cave; not hers, mind, but still a presence. The darkness rendered him blind, though, so he could not know what that something was. However, as it somehow managed to calm him down again, he knew that it was not something that the Witch had intended to leave behind and for some reason he thought that gave him the upper hand.
"I will get out of here", he promised himself. "Sooner or later I'll break free or they'll find me."
He repeated this over and over until the pain forced him to once again allow sleep to take hold of him.
Belle had offered to head back to the camp and alert Catriona of what was going on, leaving Regina, Snow and David to venture to the Dark Forest and find Glinda the Good Witch. Regina had, of course, opted to transport them there with a spell, thus now they were walking through said forest looking for some sign of the witch's presence. Snow was glad they had not had to walk or ride there, because in that case David would probably have forbidden her to go in her state. As they trudged on, however, she felt less and less hopeful about their mission and stared down at the murky leaves around her feet.
David, who had walked somewhat ahead of her, suddenly turned towards her with a small smile playing on his lips. She gasped when she saw the small, white flower he held out for her; a snowbell, the first she had seen in the Enchanted Forest since their return. She had always loved snowbells.
"For luck", David said and handed her the flower, making her mood brighten. She turned towards Regina with a smile, intending to say that she truly had belief in their mission, when she saw her stepmother's disapproving frown.
"What?" Snow asked. Regina rolled her eyes.
"We're in the Dark Forest", she said, "trying to find the one person who can stop our imminent doom and save your unborn child, and you two stop to smell the roses?"
Snow noticed how David smiled in amusement at Regina's comment and she herself cocked her head at the flower in her hand.
"Snowbells", she corrected her stepmother.
"I don't care if they're dancing daffodils!" Regina exclaimed. "I need to destroy my sister, and so do you."
She walked away from them, continuing down the trail while still speaking.
"If that babbling mad man sent us on a wild goose chase I swear I'll..."
All of a sudden she stopped talking and walking, staring ahead. Snow cringed her neck to see what it was that the other woman had spotted. Ahead of them the path split in two and right in that split, surrounded by a few stones, stood a door. The frame was built in a red toned type of wood, with carved out details painted in gold. The door itself was grey. Ivy was growing up the sides of the frame, telling the fact that it had been here for some time.
"What's that supposed to be?" Regina asked.
"Well, it appears to be a door", David pointed out, giving Regina a teasing smile which made the former Evil Queen roll her eyes. Snow hid her own smile from her as they stopped and watched as her prince walked closer, inspecting the object. He walked around it and sighed.
"And it leads to nowhere."
Snow felt like laughing; of course it would not seem to lead anywhere.
"Through the door, step inside", she said with a smile, repeating Rumplestiltskin's rhyme, "if pure of heart, then she won't hide."
David looked back at the door, still not certain about the object. Snow, however, had never felt more certain about anything.
"It's Rumple's riddle", she said and walked forward. "It's Glinda."
Determined she opened the door, which seemingly only opened to the empty air on the other side. With another smile she stepped forward.
"No!" she heard David shout just as her surroundings changed. The next moment he was there with her, having run through the door as well. Then the door closed and they stood alone, gaping at the new realm. It was covered in snow; everything around them was a glistening shade of white, from the bushes and the trees of the forest behind them to the snow capped mountain ahead.
"I thought she was supposed to be the Good Witch of the South..." Snow thoughtfully remarked, looking back at the now closed door and wondering why Regina had not followed them.
"I was."
The unfamiliar voice made both members of the couple turn. By the foot of the mountain ahead of them, a woman had appeared. She wore a glistening white dress, her blonde hair was tied up in an intricate hairdo, and the little skin she showed seemed to sparkle. Around her neck she wore a necklace with a square-cut jewel probably the size of Snow's palm. The blonde woman now smiled sadly at them and looked at her surroundings.
"Before I was banished here", she finished her previous statement.
"Where's Regina?" David asked, voicing his wife's thoughts without knowing it.
"I'm afraid your travelling companion has a heart heavy with vengeance", Glinda the Good Witch responded. "Only a good witch may pass through my door."
"I'm not a witch", Snow quickly corrected, "my name is..."
"I know who you are", Glinda said, another soft smile playing on her lips. "I've heard many tales of your bravery, and now you hold not one pure heart, but two."
A soft thud nearby made them all turn around, noticing two figures scrambling to get up off the ground.
"Where are we?" Catriona asked as she emerged out of the snow. "Is this Narnia?"
"What are you two doing here?" Snow asked in return.
"I have no idea", Rachel admitted as she brushed off the snow from her shoulders. "Last thing I remember is Filipi knocking me out."
"You two are here because you share unbreakable bonds with Prince David and Princess Snow White", Glinda responded. "Once they passed through my portal you did as well. There is powerful magic at work here."
"Magic", Snow said. "That's why we're here."
"We were told your light magic could help defeat the Wicked Witch", David continued. "We've come to ask for your help."
"I'm sorry", Glinda responded, "my magic is not powerful enough to defeat Zelena. It never has been."
"You know her?" Rachel asked with a frown. Glinda smiled briefly.
"We were friends", she said, "long ago, when things were different. But she made her choice; she gave in to her dark magic. I tried to stop her. I failed."
"There must be some way to defeat her", Snow protested.
"There is", Glinda agreed. "She was born with great power. Long ago I gave her a pendant to help focus it and her magic has resided inside of it ever since."
She touched the stone of her necklace to show what she meant and Snow recalled the green stone that Zelena had worn around her neck the only time she had come face to face with the Wicked Witch.
"So if we can remove it", Catriona said, "she'll lose her power and we can defeat her?"
"Yes", Glinda agreed, "but only a purveyor of the strongest light magic will be able to accomplish such a feat."
"Emma", Rachel and Catriona said at once. Snow and David both turned towards them in surprise.
"How did you..."
"Ollivander", Rachel responded.
"He said that only Emma Swan, your daughter, can defeat Zelena because she's able to wield the strongest light magic; magic born out of True Love", Catriona clarified.
"If she is as pure and powerful as you say, then yes; only she can defeat Zelena", Glinda agreed.
"But she's not in this land", David protested, "and we can't get back to her."
"Which was why I didn't say anything about Ollivander before and hoped there was another solution to this", Rachel muttered. Glinda's smile faltered.
"Then I'm afraid your quest is futile."
"Actually", Snow said and swallowed, closing her eyes, "there is a way. But there's a steep price."
"No, Snow", David protested, touching her arm, "you can't mean..."
"Yes", Snow interrupted, opening her eyes and hoping that she did not look as shaken as she felt. "We must enact the Dark Curse."