The Modern Fairy Tale Town Book 2: The Price of Magic

Chapter 13: Queen of Hearts

Back in The Enchanted Forest, Mary Margaret and the other soon made it over to the cell they were looking for after what felt like a very long while of searching. "Huh. Rumplestiltskin's cell. I haven't been here since before Regina's curse," she then remarked before looking back at Emma. "This is where he told us you were going to be The Savior."

"He knew?" Emma asked in surprise.

"Oh, it was prophesized," Mary Margaret explained before they walked on ahead together. "Come on."

They soon continued inside and found that the cell was a bit empty.

"Ugh... What's that smell?" Evie complained.

"You don't wanna know." Mary Margaret replied.

They continued to explore, even searching on the crevices of the wall, though their search seemed to be for nothing so far.

"The squid ink... It's not here." Aurora pointed out.

"Gold said we would find it." Mary Margaret said out of confusion.

"Well, was there anyone else in here with him?" Lonnie asked.

"Could they have taken the ink?" Mulan added as that was a good thought.

"No, he was kept alone. Visitors were forbidden," Mary Margaret explained. "He was too dangerous to allow any human contact."

"No human contact? That sounds messed up." Audrey remarked.

"Totally." Evie added, sounding emotionless.

"How'd he keep from going crazy?" Emma wondered.

"He didn't." Aurora said as she soon found something.

"What is it?" Mary Margaret wondered.

"Is that a message?" Emma asked the princess.

"Yes. And I think it's for you." Aurora nodded as she held out what she found as it appeared to be a scroll.

"Why would you think... That?" Emma soon asked before she looked down at the scroll to see that it had her name written on it... Over and over again and nothing else.

"Yikes... Someone needed a hobby." Audrey rolled her eyes slightly.

"This is kinda creeping me out." Lonnie added.

Emma blinked as the rest of the group decided to keep scouring the cell in search of the ink while she was still preoccupied with Aurora's discovery. "What does this even mean?" she wondered thoughtfully.

"He was obsessed with you, Emma," Mary Margaret told her daughter. "You were the key to breaking the curse."

"We've looked everywhere," Aurora frowned as she stopped her search. "There's no ink in this cell."

"Well, it has to be. He told David." Mary Margaret retorted.

"You were in a Netherworld. Maybe something got lost in translation." Emma suggested.

"No. She heard right." Mulan said as she held a bottle.

"What's that?" Audrey asked, seeing the bottle.

"What we've been looking for." Mulan clarified.

"You found it?" Mary Margaret asked in surprise.

"In a manner of speaking," Mulan nodded. "There was ink in the cell."

"It's not true." Emma shook her head.

"Well, it's something at least." Lonnie shrugged.

Then suddenly, Aurora launched the inkwell on the closing mechanism of the cell. Evie looked over at what Aurora did before flashing a smirk on her face.