Ch 11.

I spin around giggling. "It worked!" I take a deep breath, enjoying the clean crisp air. All around us are rows and rows of different colored roses. Blues, purples, pinks, any color you could imagine are in this beautiful garden. If Rumple wasn't here, I would've kicked off my shoes and run through the dewy grass before falling to the ground, surrounded by the rose's intoxicating aroma.

I kneel down instead beside the flowers and reach for an elegant purple one. Just as my finger touches its petal, the color suddenly darkens to a coal black. The flower droops down to the ground. My lips stretch into a frown.

"Not to ruin your," He pauses and motions at me, "moment, but where exactly are we?"

Ignoring the dead flower, I sigh happily as fond memories shoot through my head. "In the gardens of my castle!" I pick one of the roses and before I could bring it to my nose, it also turns black.

Rumple rolls his eyes, "When did you get a castle?"

"Well, technically it's Cora's castle but," I wipe away a fake tear. "She left us. So! It goes to her eldest daughter and even though I didn't consider her to be my mother, she thought of me as her daughter, ergo, castle!" I walk down a beaten path. "Come on! I'll give you the tour."

We walk for a bit before Rumple speaks up again, "Where is everyone else?"

"Still at Storybrooke! The ring that I used to get us here only has enough magic to transport a couple of people. I'm hoping to find something in the castle to amplify the ring's power so I can bring everyone here!"I hear Rumple laugh behind me.

"I knew you were powerful when I first met you. I was beginning to think you couldn't handle the power you have," he replies. I smile. I turn to him.

"Oh Rumple. You should stop underestimating me. You don't know what I'm capable of," I smirk. We stop near the wall of the castle. Twisted vines with sharp thorns stretch itself across it. Knowing that we were going to Storybrooke due to Regina's curse, I had cast these around my castle to keep unwanted guests away. The thorns are stained red. Looks like they've done their job.

I move my hand across the vines. They crumble away, falling to the ground as dust. A wide door appears before us. I push hard on the door. It creaks and opens up to a beautiful ballroom. "Home at last."

After hours of searching in the library, we came up empty handed. "Maybe we should just use magic to find it?" I complain, sitting down on a huge box. "We are never going to find anything at this pace."

"Because, dearie, if it's Regina's or Cora's, they hid it with magic. Strong magic. Which means that we have to be smarter than the magic that hides it to find it." Rumple puts down the book he was flipping through and looks at me. "I hope you didn't expect this to be easy!" He laughs.

I stand up and point at him, "Easy no, but not impossible! What if you just have to be stronger than the power that hid it? Everyone knows I'm stronger than Cora and Regina together! So it should be a piece of cake for me to find this, right?"

"Possibly, but-"

"Now they probably either put it in plain sight or it's something abnormal. So look for something different..." I close my eyes and whisper a spell. I open my eyes and everything's sharpened. Gazing around the room, I try to pinpoint any differences. After a couple of minutes, I notice a book with slightly less dust on it than the others. "Have we searched over here yet?" I ask, walking over to the bookshelf. I look back to Rumple who watches me, unsure. "No I don't think so."

I look back at the book and reach my hand out to grab it. "Wait!" I feel Rumple's hand on top of mine. I turn to him.

"How do we know it's not a trap?" Rumple asks. I look at the book and think for a moment. I smile at him in response.

"There's only one way to find out," I reply. Before Rumple could protest, I yank the book out of the shelf. We pause, waiting for something, anything to happen. "I guess not." I frown at the book. I open it up to find it hollowed out, "Well what do we have here?" I reach in and pull out a key, showing it to Rumple. Right before he could take it, my vision goes black. I blink and I'm in a room full of boxes and ancient looking artifacts.

I smile triumphantly. Hopefully, I can find something here. I look beside me to see Rumple isn't there. I turn around to find a transparent shield like wall. Behind it is Rumple, looking around in confusion. Realization hits me. I'm behind the bookshelf. I turn back to the artifacts and start to examine them.

I laugh as I come across the famous poisoned apple with Snow's bite mark in it. She actually kept it with her treasures. She must really hate Snow, I think to myself. I walk further into the room. I notice something at the back of the room. It is disguised as a mere wooden box but with my spell, I could see that it's a gorgeous box with intricate gold designs surrounding an ocean blue stone. On the front, it had another blue jewel in the middle of the lid.

Knowing that since the box was Regina's, it would only open to her hand. I close my eyes and wave my hand. When I open my eyes, I look in the reflection of the stone to find Regina's face as my own. I place 'my' thumb on the blue stone and take a step back. The stone shines and with a click, the chest opens.

Curiously, I peep inside to find a silver, jeweled book. I could feel a powerful aura emit from it. With awe, I reach in for it. I stare in surprise as my hand passes right through it.

"What the hell..." I move my hand around, watching it pass through the book as though it isn't there. I grit my teeth. I should have known it wouldn't be easy to take something from Regina. I shut the box angrily. I walk back towards the wall. I thrust my hand into it, making it shatter to the ground. I walk through the bookshelf. Rumple stares at me, dumbstruck.

"Don't ask me where I was. I'm not in a very optimistic mood," I argue, walking past him. Rumple smirks.

"It's never easy to be bad. It takes practice," Rumple replies sarcastically. I shoot him a cold stare.

"From how you look, I can see that. While you were searching for me like a lost puppy, I found a secret room with Regina's treasured possessions. Inside, I found a book that could have helped us. But, unfortunately, I couldn't take it. I think it was an illusion that Regina had put."

"An illusion? What do you mean?" Rumple asks. I spin around.

"The book is real. But it's not here. If I was Regina, I wouldn't be stupid enough to leave a powerful book behind. That can only mean one thing. It's in Storybrooke. I need you to stay here and gather some equipment for our spell. I'll handle the book." Rumple nods in agreement.

I pull the ring off my finger and glance at Rumple. "See you soon! Oh and make sure no one gets in, okay?" With that, I place the ring on the floor, wait for the portal to appear and jump in.

I land hard. Standing up and brushing myself off, I recognize the forest to be on the edge of Storybrooke. I look down and smile, seeing the ring back on my finger. I stand up tall, pull up my skirts, and stride purposefully out of the forest.

I decide to skirt around the edge of town, avoiding being seen by anyone. By this time the spell would be weak, getting closer and closer to when they would remember what I had done. I'm not worried about what they would do to me. I just don't want to kill anyone today.

When I had first arrived, I had done a locator spell to find Regina. She's in the cemetery. So that's where I'm heading. When I arrive at the cemetery, I automatically notice an ancient looking building standing tall against everything else. My lips curl into a smile. I could feel the book's aura from here.

I stroll through the cemetery, searching around for Regina. Seeing the coast is clear, I rush towards the building. I stare at the red wooden door with curiosity.

I open the creaking door slowly, a ball of fire ready to throw. Not seeing Regina inside, I enter. I dissolve the ball into a blue light and move it in front of me. A large, white coffin lies before me, surrounded by shelves on both sides. I walk around the coffin, hoping to find something on the shelves. They are all empty.

I sigh in frustration. Angrily, I hit my hands against the coffin. Suddenly, I feel the coffin move to the side. I step back to find stairs leading downwards. Grinning, I pull up my skirts and walk down the stairs. As I reach the bottom, I could hear the harmony of heartbeats. Shivering, I realize where I am. I close my eyes and try to ignore the sound of hundreds of hearts beating and focus on the book's aura.

I grimace but slowly move forward. Coming to a stop, I open my eyes to find myself in front of the box I saw in the castle.

"There you are," I whisper to myself. I repeat the process I did before. The box opens to reveal the same silver book. Carefully, I pick it up. The amount of power it contains causes goosebumps to flow through me. As I open the book, my hand freezes mid-air.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that stealing is bad?" A stern voice calls behind me. I roll my eyes. I glare at Regina's smug face.

"And that is coming from the evil queen who is so caring, she kills her enemies and keeps their hearts for fun. To be honest, being good doesn't really suit you, Regina," I sneer. Regina clenches her jaw.

Calmly, I break Regina's spell on my hand. Regina's eyebrows rise slightly. I move the book underneath my arm. Regina takes a step towards me.

"Would you mind telling me why you're after my book? And is that my dress you're wearing?" She asks in disbelief. I glance down at the purple, figure loving dress I'm wearing. I smirk.

"Technically, it's mine now. Though the collar is seriously irritating," I complain, trying to straighten the itchy lace collar behind my neck. Regina's face darkens. "And the book? I'm just here for some light reading."

"We have a library, you know?"

I shrug, rubbing my hand on the book's cover, "Yeah… but they don't have this book."

Regina makes a face but before she could say anything, I put my ring on and vanish. I reappear in the castle where Rumple is shoving things in a bag. Hearing me arrive, Rumple glances towards me. I stop him as he tries to speak.

"We haven't got time, Rumple. Regina caught me stealing her book so we're going to have to start the curse a little earlier than planned." Rumple stares at me. He looks with uncertainty at the equipment in his arms.

"I'm not sure we're-" Rolling my eyes, I grab the things in Rumple's arms and stuff them in the bag. I shove it in his arms and clasp onto his shoulder. Now with the book, it doesn't take us that long to find ourselves in the forest of Storybrooke.

I glance back to Rumple and notice that he had changed into his old clothes, "Went shopping, did we?"

He shrugs, "Makes me feel more like myself."

I shrug and wave my hand, transforming our features. "If anyone asks, we are Mr. and Mrs. Jenson and our ship wrecked off coast."

"Why the disguises?"

"We need to get in the middle of Storybrooke to activate the curse. Do you really think they'd let us just walk around freely ?"

He nods. "Good point."

I wrap my arm around his. "Let's go, my dear."

3rd POV

Everyone is in the diner. Regina and Henry, Nova and Jefferson, Mary Margaret and David, Emma and some more of the regulars are all having a calm lunch when Leroy comes running in.

"Visitors!" He yells, causing anyone who wasn't already looking at him to turn. "There are visitors by the docks! Dressed in Enchanted Forest outfits!"

Regina and Emma both stand up. "Well let's welcome them, shall we?" Regina says, walking out the door. Her face clouds with doubt. Who could these people be?

By the time Regina and Emma find the mysterious couple, the whole town followed behind, all curious about the odd newcomers. The couple was not at the docks as Leroy told them. They had made it further into town, just a few blocks from the diner.

Regina, as always, was the first to speak. "Hello." She nods at the strangers.

They both return the greeting. "What a warm welcome!" The woman's face lights up when she notices the number of people behind Regina. "If only everyone greeted strangers like this! Don't you think, George?" She continues to smile but when her husband doesn't reply, she hits him on the shoulder.

He grunts. "Yes, yes, quite nice." The woman rolls her eyes at his reply.

"What brings you to Storybrooke?" Emma speaks up, taking a step in front of Regina. Noticing, Regina shoulders her over.

"Well, the craziest thing happened-" The woman breaks off and waves her hand out, freezing the whole crowd. She then waves her hand over herself and the man, revealing Mr. Gold and Destiny. Destiny twirls around, her ratty dress transforming into a tighter, blacker and much more revealing dress. She sighs happily. "That feels so much better."

Mr. Gold rolls his eyes at her behavior and simply snaps his fingers. His clothes change into his old Enchanted Forest apparel.

Destiny walks up to the frozen Regina with a sly grin on her face.

"Poor Regina. Always falling for my tricks." Without another word, she walks towards Mr. Gold who is preparing for the waited curse. From the air, Destiny retrieves Regina's book. She stares at it with glee.

"Now we can go home. Where we all truly belong," she whispers to herself. She places the book gently on the ground. Mr. Gold stands beside her. He side glances at her.

"Are you ready, dearie?" He asks. Destiny smirks at him.

"Of course I am."

Destiny focuses her hands above the book. She closes her eyes and inhales deeply. An image of the enchanted forest rests in her mind. A gentle wind curves around her. As it picks up speed and ferocity, Destiny opens her eyes and flexes her arms outwards. The purple wind spreads, curving around the frozen crowd.

Destiny's dress dances with the wind. Gradually, the town starts to deteriorate around the people. Before the town could crumble onto them, they vanish. The town of Storybrooke no longer exists...