"We said we would find another way!
Rachel hoped she looked angry. It felt better to be angry than sad, or betrayed, or hurt in any way. Catriona looked more like the latter, which meant she would have to be the former. At least for now.
After meeting Glinda the two of them had accompanied Regina, David and Snow back to the Dark Palace, where they started researching. Rachel thought they had gone over every book hidden in every possible crevasse in the castle in order to find another way to get back to Earth, or the Land Without Magic as it was sometimes referred to here. There had been many mentions of magic beans, and some about the Mad Hatter's portal-creating hat, and then there was the Dark Curse. They had found nothing else but they had still kept going; there had to be something useful, something that would not mean David's death.
It was the morning of the fifth day when Snow had asked them to come to the council chamber. David and Regina were already there; the Prince seated on a chair, the Queen standing by the windows. Regina did not look anyone straight in the eye; a sure sign that something was wrong.
And then David had risen and told them that he and Regina had gone behind their backs and collected the necessary ingredients for the Dark Curse. They were now brewing in a cauldron and, by Regina's estimation, would be ready to use by nightfall. All that would be needed to enact it by then was David's heart.
Snow had not spoken since. Catriona had gone pale and sat down next to the pregnant woman. Only Rachel had remained standing, glaring at David and shouting at him. He had not moved a muscle, not even the look in his eyes had changed. It angered her even more. She wanted him to react, to do something.
"We should not even be doing this right now", she snapped. "We should be heading back to the Dark Palace and help the others; they still haven't found Toby, Regina saw as much in her mirror last night. If we can save him then we can activate the spell in the cowhide and whatever it does can defeat the Witch instead."
"You need Emma's help", David responded, his voice levelled and filled with nothing but determination. "Ollivander told you as much."
"Well, maybe I like to take my chances on that", Rachel spat out. David flinched somewhat, but quickly composed himself again.
"Rachel", Catriona suddenly said, her voice trembling, "it wouldn't work anyway."
"What do you mean?" Rachel asked and spun towards the younger girl. Catriona moved back somewhat on her chair and blushed, before placing a hand on the book she had brought along to the council.
"I found it", she explained. "The cowhide and the spell that resides inside of it. It's mentioned in a small passage in this book and I found it this morning. I was going to tell you about it but then we were called here and..."
"Then what does it do?" Regina asked, still not turning away from the window.
"It's a shield", Catriona responded. "The spell has been in the cowhide for a long time and it's originally not that powerful. I think Ollivander enhanced it by adding it to the prophecy and linking it to our wands."
"How powerful?" Snow asked, trying to sound hopeful.
"Enough to hold Zelena back for a couple of hours, I guess", Catriona answered. "Not more."
"You said he enhanced the spell by linking it to our wands", Rachel pointed out. "Maybe that changed the spell; maybe it's powerful enough to..."
"Rachel."
She shot an annoyed glare at David when he interrupted her, but he simply shook his head.
"It's done. Snow will crush my heart and enact the Dark Curse, bringing you to Storybrooke. There you must find Emma and help her defeat the Witch."
She opened her mouth to argue but he stopped her by walking up to her and placing his hands on her shoulders. A hint of a smile appeared on his lips, a sad smile.
"You are my sister, Rachel", he said, "and I'll always be with you, just like I'll always be with Snow, but you need Emma's help more than mine. If this is what I'll have to do to ensure that you find her and defeat Zelena, then I'm happy to do it."
The Witch seemed to find it extremely hilarious to have caught them unawares, even five days later. A knockout spell had hit Robin in the head and while Jade fought it off before it caused further damage, the Witch had transported the two of them inside a small cave with no visible entrance and chained them to the walls. She seemed intent on keeping Jade alive and brought some sort of sticky porridge for her two times per day, along with some water. Robin was a different matter. He was most likely still suffering from knockout spell and came around very rarely. If the Witch was around when he did she would throw some water at his face and then watch in amusement as he tried to lick and swallow as much as possible of it.
Jade wondered if this was the kind of treatment Toby was also receiving in some other cave, since he was not in the same one as them. If the Witch was intent on keeping her alive she might be doing the same for Toby.
Robin grunted to her right and she looked up. Her chains were long and allowed her to move somewhat, even lay down on the floor to sleep. His were not; he was forced to remain standing.
"Hey", she said and rose. He grimaced in response.
"Hey."
He was talking at least. Good. That must mean some progress, since he had not talked during the past few days.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
"I do have a terrible headache", Robin admitted with a grunt, "and some very sore arms. How long have we been here?"
"Five days", Jade answered. Robin squinted at her.
"How do you know? There's nothing in here to tell the time."
Jade leaned her head back and squinted at the ceiling.
"There's a small air vent up there", she responded. "If I look very hard I can tell if it's day or night out. Five days is just an estimate, though; if there's been a storm out there while we've been in here or if I've slept for far too long at some point I'll definitely be wrong about it."
"Have I slept the whole time?" Robin asked and frowned, then grimaced. His head must ache at the slightest movement.
"Not quite", Jade answered. "You came around a few times, but never long enough to talk like now."
"Right", Robin said and stopped himself in the last moment from nodding. "So what happened?"
"The Witch caught us with a knockout spell. That's the reason for your headache, by the way. Then she decided to lock us up in here. Don't ask me why; all she does is make me mad and throw water at you."
"She throws water at me?" Robin asked and frowned, then grunted in pain. "Damn."
"She seems to think of you as... expendable", Jade admitted. A whooshing sound caused her to turn away from him and face the green smoke signalling the arrival of the Witch. She grinned at them, her white teeth standing out against her green skin.
"Well, it looks like someone decided to come around after all", she said to Robin. "That was quite a hangover due to a knockback curse. You really are just a simple thief."
Robin's jaw tightened but he refused to speak.
"What do you want this time, Zelena?" Jade asked, drawing the green skinned woman's attention.
"It would be impolite not to say goodbye, would it not?" Zelena responded. Jade frowned.
"Goodbye?"
Zelena smiled again.
"Ah, yes, I forgot; you've been locked up in here for quite a while. Of course you haven't heard."
"Heard what?" Jade asked. The Witch smiled.
"Snow White", Robin suddenly said. "Has she given birth? Have you taken her child, you..."
"Oh, do calm down, thief", Zelena huffed. "Snow White hasn't given birth yet; she's as big as ever. However, my little sister has convinced her to do something... quite horrible in order to keep her precious baby from me."
"Stop speaking in riddles, Zelena; you're wasting time here", Jade muttered. Zelena smiled.
"Oh, but this is the fun part, isn't it?" she said and stepped forward. "Delivering the news of someone's impending death to people who care about him."
"Him?" Robin said with a frown.
"Yes, him. Snow White's precious Prince will be dead by nightfall and not by my hand. Isn't that delightful?"
"Why?" Jade asked. "How?"
"They decided to enact the Dark Curse", Zelena responded. "It will bring us all back to Storybrooke, where my sister and Snow White hope to find Emma Swan; the Saviour, said to be able to defeat even me. However, the Dark Curse does need the heart of the person you love most."
Jade's eyes widened.
"No."
Zelena giggled madly.
"Oops."
"Also", she said and flicked her hand, causing a bottle to appear in it, "I think I'll pay them a visit once the deed is done. I cannot allow them to gain the upper hand on me, can I?"
She grinned at them.
"And don't worry about your own wellbeing", she continued. "I'm sure you will end up in my care back in that little other town as well, although you won't remember how you came to be there in the first place. If the thief isn't experiencing a hangover by then I might be able to make him into something useful."
Then, with a triumphant cackle, she disappeared.
"We have to get out of these", Robin growled and yanked at his chains.
"They're enchanted", Jade replied. "I've already..."
Her gaze fell upon something on the floor, close to Robin's feet. It had not been there moments ago.
"Robin", she breathed. "My wand. It's by your right foot."
He quickly looked down and had to close his eyes at the pain, before he managed to kick the object towards her. Jade felt herself calm down somewhat when her fingers closed around the wooden shaft.
"Gotcha", she said and smiled widely, before pointing the object towards the chains around her ankles. "Alohomora."
The locks fell off at once and she quickly freed her hands as well, before walking over to Robin.
"Feet first", he ordered, "and I might have to lean on you once I'm down."
"I guessed", she replied with a small smile, before freeing him. He fell against her shoulder with a relieved grunt once his hands were free and she could feel that he was trembling. She held him up for several minutes before he managed to stand on his own. He gave her a reassuring smile.
"Alright, young one", he said, "let's find a way out of here."