The group had re-gathered the moment the Evil Queen entered the ballroom, per request from Toby. From their alcove they could see the Queen walk over to the buffet table, accompanied by two of her Black Knights, and how the crowd quickly parted before her as she neared it. It was clear that she was as feared among the nobles as she was among the poor.

"We have to get out of here", Arianne said quietly. "Regina's got magic; she might be able to sense that we are using a concealment spell."

"There's no way out", Filipi replied. "Her Black Knights are guarding the doors."

"Anyone know how close we are to midnight?" Wolfgang asked.

"Closer than any of us would like, I'd imagine", Miranda answered. "Rachel, what..."

She stopped and stared at the spot where Rachel had been standing just minutes before.

"Toby, she's gone", she said. "Rachel's gone."

Snow White rummaged through the drawers in the tower room. A silver ring with a green gem; that was what the pirate captain had asked her to find. So far her search had been in vain; the drawers were filled with jewels of various shapes and sizes, but so far she had not found a ring that fit that description.

Expecting more jewels to show up she pulled out the bottom left drawer of the vanity and stopped. It held no jewellery or gems; just an old, brown satchel. Curiously she pulled it out and weighed it in her hand. It was heavy and jingled silently, causing her to open it up, and there it was; the ring she had been asked to find. She held it up in the moonlight streaming in from the windows, feeling the corners of her lips pulling up into a smile.

"My ticket to freedom", she said to herself in relief. Her relief was so great that she did not even notice that the door behind her open. In fact she was not alerted of her new company until a male voice spoke behind her.

"Who are you?"

Realizing she would be caught if she did not move quickly she placed the ring in her pocket and aimed for the window.

"Stop!" the man behind her called. "Thief!"

The next moment she was pulled to the ground as her companion threw himself onto her. He climbed onto her legs to keep her down and she turned over with a snarl. At the sight of her face he paused and blinked, his right hand raised for a knock-out blow.

"You're a girl", he said in surprise. Snow reached out with her left hand and found the small silver chest that she had thrown out of the nearby coffer earlier.

"Woman", she corrected with a cocky smile, before swinging the chest up into his face. It hit his chin with enough force to knock him backwards and freeing her. She quickly rose and opened the window; the parapet lay below her, but she would have to climb on the golden ornaments on the walls to get there. Should not be a problem, she thought; after all, she had climbed mountains with less foothold than this.

"James, what is taking you so..."

Snow turned to face the woman that had now entered the room. The blonde was staring at her, her face pale and her mouth open in surprise and recognition. Snow smiled triumphantly at her.

"You..." the woman said. "You're Snow White."

Snow smiled wider, then swung herself out through the window. Above her she could hear the blonde woman calling to the castle guards, alerting them of her presence.

Guards dressed in golden cloaks marched into the ballroom and bowed to King Midas.

"My Lord", one of them said, "Snow White was spotted in the castle."

"The bandit Snow White?" King Midas asked. "Here? Get her!"

Emma glanced at Hook, who nodded. The two then aimed for the stairs that the guards had come from, hoping that they would lead to the battlements.

The young magicians saw the events from the other side of the room.

"This is our chance of escaping", Wolfgang remarked. "Everyone's busy wondering where Snow White is, or actively looking for her."

"What about Emma and Hook?" Clarissa hissed.

"They'll be fine", Chris assured her. "Besides, I doubt it'll be long until we're able to get inside their heads again. We'll get more information that way than we do like this."

"But", Filipi protested, "Rachel's still missing."

"I can't get in touch with her", Toby said, a worried frown appearing on his forehead. "It's like she's blocking me, somehow."

"If she was in here we'd know", Maryse pointed out. "Do you think she's with Charming?"

"I don't think so", Ella said. "Heading away with him would attract too much attention. Wherever she is she's not around here anymore."

"So she might already be outside", Jade said, "and since she disappeared after she got here..."

She nodded towards the doors leading out onto the balcony.

"She must have exited that way", Indira agreed. "It's the only way out with the Black Knights guarding the doors. Come on."

After running up what felt like a hundred sets of stairs they finally came upon the door leading out to the parapet. Hook threw the door open and Emma was about to run out to see if she could spot Snow White when she saw the cloaked bandit climbing over the parapet then and there. Emma gasped, then ran out to see the raven-haired woman climb down a previously attached rope leading to the ground, then running in the direction of a shaggy horse.

"She did it", Emma breathed with a smile. "She must have stolen the ring."

She watched as Snow White jumped up on the horse and spurred it into a swift gallop in the direction of the forest.

"You can't hide from me!" a male voice called from above. Emma turned and saw Prince Charming in a tower window somewhat above her. He was bleeding from a cut on his chin.

"Wherever you are I will find you!" he yelled after the disappearing bandit. Emma felt her smile widen; how many times had she not heard her parents call that to one another, not in anger but out of love? She turned towards Hook, who shared her joy.

"Mission accomplished", she commented. "Now all we have to do is..."

She was interrupted by someone roughly shoving her aside, prompting Hook to catch her before she hit the ground. She turned to see who it was and saw one of the Evil Queen's Black Knights raising a bow and notching an arrow to its string.

"You'll find her sooner than you think, my lord", he said, though not nearly loud enough for Prince Charming to hear. He then drew and aimed the arrow at Snow White.

Emma definitely did not consider her next set of actions; she just knew that she had to save Snow White and to do that she had to stop the archer. To do that... well, throwing herself at him seemed like a good idea at the time. He still released the arrow, but as he was already tumbling to the ground, together with her, it missed its intended target. At least she believed it did as she heard no shout of pain and dared to let out a breath of relief.

That was when she saw it.

In front of her on the golden stones of the parapet lay a silver ring with a green stone. Charming's ring. The ring Snow White was meant to steal. She picked it up and showed it to Hook.

"The ring", she breathed, feeling panic slowly seeping through her body. Hook looked distressed as well, but had no time to respond before the door at the other end of the parapet opened and more Black Knights appeared.

"You've got to get it to Snow", he ordered and pulled her up, before drawing his sword. "Go, I've got this!"

Emma did not look back as she ran through the door they had come out through earlier; she only heard the swords clashing behind her and hoped that Hook would be alright. He was a good swordsman, but fighting off a battalion of Black Knights might be too much even for him.

She reached the ballroom and tried to figure out how to get out of there, what with the Evil Queen's Black Knights guarding the doors. Before she had time to find a good route the archer from before appeared through another door and spotted her.

"There she is!" he called. "She helped the bandit escape!"

Like a well-oiled machine the remaining Black Knights in the room all stepped forward and surrounded her. Then the Evil Queen stepped forward as well, smirking triumphantly.

"Going somewhere?" she asked. Emma swallowed.

"Regina, I..."

"That's a bit informal, wouldn't you say?" the Evil Queen sharply remarked, causing Emma to shrink back. "Show some respect; it's Your Majesty."

Two knights roughly grabbed hold of Emma's arms and she struggled briefly to break free, before she realized that, right now, trying to break free was useless. The Evil Queen still smiled at her attempt.

"You're not going anywhere. Snow White may have left the party early but, I suspect, your night has just begun."

Emma's eyes widened. What was she going to do; torture her? Was that one of the Evil Queen's methods? The Evil Queen noticed how frightened she became and chuckled in amusement, before nodding at her Black Knights.

"Take her away."

And with that we have half of the season finale done ;)