[u](Featuring Guardian Angel Haruki's Killian One Hand, Ghost Shadow's Edric the Cat, Major Ursa's Knox and Jill of All Trades, and Tanderbolt-sempai's Snow
[b]Special Guest Appearance by YoshiSkittlez's Rumpelstiltskin's Letter[/b]
Special Mentions of Cora, Jefferson and Leveret
[b]Dedicated to the Memory of Alice...R.I.P., Gone but Not Forgotten[/b])[/u]

The group continued on their journey shortly after the quick stop, both empowered and slightly saddened upon seeing the castle again. Though tired, hungry, and aching, Edric made no outright complaint, instead filled with renewed vigor to make it closer to his goal. 

The castle looked like Snow expected it to. It was disheartening to see it destroyed, but if she was making a list of her most tragic moments, this wouldn't even be in the top 10. She was glad that the group had held together so far, all that remained was to get to the bedroom.

Upon arrival, Edric quickly shifted back into cat form, citing his keener senses and instincts as reasoning. 

"Well, we've made it - home...question now is, which way leads to the bedroom? Most of the passageways are destroyed. I'll have a look around..." The Cat essentially conversed with himself before teleporting off in a cloud of smoke. Though he was nowhere to be [i]seen[/i], the thumping sound of paws against the tile floor, and the occasional clang of something crashing showed his location. 

"I think I've found a way there. Come!" The Cat suddenly said, appearing in front of Snow as if he had never left. As soon as he figured he got her attention, he scampered off in a random direction, not looking back to see if she'd follow - expecting her to. 

Killian looked upon the castle. He remembered seeing the ruins, but certainly not up close like this. He looked to Snow, expecting to see emotion from the Queen, but she seemed to be keeping herself composed, as she was probably expected to by her subjects. 

He watched as The Cat shifted back to his feline form, and made himself useful looking for passageways into the castle. He smirked a bit when The Cat made his triumphant statement and he followed after him, certain that Snow would follow. 

Snow could see that the bedroom still stood, and breathed a sigh of releif. She followed Henry, walking slower than his quick pace, surverying the area for dangers. She said "If you need help getting around, let me know. Make sure to take care to avoid parts that are structurally unsound, we wouldn't want anyone to get crushed under a ton of rocks"

Jill skipped over ruin debris, here and there, eyes scanning up anything still standing and down along the ground, hoping to find anything of interest. Anything metal she stuck into her leathers, anything valuble was picked up and examined briefly...but as the castle was raided many times over, nothing more that metal glittering like gold or glass fragments shining like diamonds.

Stepping over a slab of broken marble, and hearing some crunch of things broken, the mercenary caught sight of, "...?" Going over to the long piece of wood, she tapped it lightly with the end of her foot, feeling the weight of it, bafore finally picking it up in hand. Examining it closely, feeling the carved grooves and seeing the gold inlay, "...!" This had to be...?!

Hopping up and down, Jill was certain she had found that royal scepter things kings usually wielded to, uh, hit their servants with. Little did she know, the long wooden stick was actually a bedpost from a guest room.

"Much obliged for the concern, but I don't think you'll have to worry about me...I should have, what? Six--seven, maybe eight lives left in me?" He replied with a cheeky grin, airing complete confidence. 

"Now then, business to attend to." The Cat declared as he slowly began probing the dusty bedroom, looking in every nook and cranny possible; as well as keeping an eye out for any [i]especially[/i] loose boards. 

"What exactly are we looking for anyways?" Killian asked as he followed the both of them into the bedroom. Of course, he knew about the mirror already, but figured that playing dumb would earn him favor from the Cat, considering that said companion hadn't said anything about the mirror to Snow, the Shadow Man, or Jill. However, he was certain that Snow was looking for something, but what, he didn't know. 

"We're looking for a lot of things. Obviously, supplies are the most immediately useful things, but I also need to find information. Look for any papers you can find, especially letters. I kept a lot of documents here, things like information on the area or about our enemies. Hopefully, something we can use survived." Snow said. She was a natural leader, even if her years of isolation had limited her personal interactions somewhat.

"Hm...not bad." The Cat put in, clearly more interested in critiquing the interior design of the bedroom as opposed to actually [i]looking[/i] for the letter, though it was a secondary objective. 

"I do say, I quite like where this is going...bit surreal, though, really...and that's coming from [i]me[/i]."

As if to emphasize this point, The Cat quickly shifted back into human form to get a closer...rather, [i]taller[/i] look at all the knick-knacks, at least those that remained after the near total-destruction of the castle. 

"Why can't we have furniture like this in Storybrooke? You'd think someone as fanciful as Regina would give us more to work with than downtown 19th Century, tsk tsk, rushed work, indeed." Edric ranted to himself, apparently not paying attention; or so it seemed. 

Killian looked around as Snow gave her answer, and he kept his thoughts on finding papers in this castle to himself. He looked at Henry when he shifted back into his human form and commented on the furniture. He rolled his eyes and he spoke up as he casually searched for anything of use, "Perhaps you could focus more on searching, instead of critiquing," 

"Don't tempt me, Blacksmith, lest I begin hounding you on those rags you call clothing." Edric quickly retorted, apparently finding his brightly colored coat, cravat, and waistcoat more appealing than the simple tunics of a refugee Killian wore. 

While they bickered, Snow found the letter exactly where she had left it years ago. For a moment she thought to herself that Henry was right about the inferior quality of the furniture in Storybrooke, if only they had a class of peasents to support the artistocrats in that world, then there would be an ample market for finely crafted furniture and other goods. She picked it up carefully, and tore at one of the edges gently. Now it ripped, meaning that the time had come. 

Before Edric could continue to make rude japes at Killian's expense, his blue eyes shifted over to where Snow was, holding a letter in hand; certainly the same letter she had spoken to him about just hours before. 

Though not saying anything about the matter to avoid drawing attention, he kept glancing over to her to gauge her reaction, see [i]what[/i] made this letter [i]so[/i] important. 

[center][i]You continue to let your assumptions take over your mind, dearie, you'll surely find yourself in a lot more trouble than Regina could ever present you with.

My words exactly were as follows:

'that little thing growing inside you'

My dear Snow White... there is no baby. There never was one. You took my words and formed it into something you and the shepherd longed to have, so desperate that you latched onto the words of me, The Dark One. Not your smartest decision, though not your dumbest one either. No, instead (since it seems you lack certain aspects of understanding conversation, that I must be literal in all things) I spoke of your heart. Protect it well Your Majesty, for it will both be your downfall and your salvation.

-Rumplestiltskin[/i][/center]

Snow's expression turned to a grumpy frown in an instant. She held the letter by her side and stared at the wall for a few moments, containing her frustration. It had all been a waste, but at least she hadn't suffered any great harm. She made a bargain with Rumpelstiltskin and only suffered a cruel joke, she should count herself lucky. Snow groaned and waited a few more moments before saying "Well, I guess this wasn't as useful as I hoped it would be. Come on, let's keep looking for supplies and get some rest."

"Snow, a word please, alone." Edric said in a solemn tone, now looking more dignified than flamboyant. 

Leaving the bedroom entirely down the somehow-still-standing hallway, Edric awaited her arrival before asking, "What was in the letter?" in a grave tone. 

"Nothing important, I trusted someone I shouldn't have and they ended up wasting my time. At least we found a safe place to spend the night." Snow said.

Edric's expression could be best described as insulted. Had there been [i]that[/i] much trust lost between them in only a few years? 

Seeing Edric's shocked face brought her out her frustration. She smiled from his humorous misunderstanding "Not you, the person who wrote the letter."

"No, I know." Edric replied, his own expression softening somewhat "It just seems strange that we'd come all this way for a letter that doesn't even seem to be that important." He added, hiding his own slight irritance that she wouldn't tell him more about the letter. 

"Sometimes people let you down, you put a lot of trust in them and they fail you. It's inevitable that some people will mess up, you can't avoid that. What is important is to try and do better, to learn from mistakes and never repeat them." Snow said, still talking in generalities.

Edric's expression soured again, becoming almost dour as he spoke next. "I am [i]not[/i] in the mood for this, Snow...you spoke to me [i]in private[/i] about searching for a letter, then, when we find said letter, you're not telling me what was in it. Are we together in this, or not?" He demanded in a tone most unlike him, a mixture of both anger and desperation. 

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you what it was about. Right before the whole mess with the curse happened, I thought I was pregnant. Rumpelstiltskin told me that I was, and he gave me this letter which he told me would be unsealed at the right time. Here, you can read it." She handed him the letter.

Edric wordlessly took the letter, skimming it over, his mouth twitching the further he read on. "So...all a wild goose chase from The Dark One. I can't say I didn't expect such a thing occurring." He finished before sauntering back into the bedroom, folding the letter neatly in his hand as he did so. 

"Perhaps..." he began on a cryptic note, looking at the shelves once again, "Perhaps this trip isn't totally in vain after all." He added, a sly smile picking up on the edge of his lips. 

Snow tilted her head to the side and said "Do you have something in mind? Anything we need to do here?"

"No, no...not [i]here[/i]...but back [i]home[/i] - Wonderland...I have my sister to rescue." Edric replied in a tone filled with an almost frightening confidence, as if he would go to any length to accomplish his mission...no matter the consequences.

Killian meanwhile, had wandered off to look around, and soon enough he found something leaning against the wall. It was taller then he was, and it was covered in a cloth. He went over to it and removed the cloth to reveal that it was the looking glass portal. He smirked and he went off to go and gather the others. 

He found Snow and Henry first, and he said to Henry as he approached, "Hey. I found something you might want to see, mate,"

Edric's attention was diverted, however, when Killian spoke up; a wider smile crossing his lips. "Have you found it? The Looking Glass?" He asked hopefully.

Killian looked at Edric and Snow, realizing before answering, "Aye. Follow me," He then turned and led the way to where the mirror was, hearing Snow's and Edric's footsteps behind him as they followed with interest.

Running around like a fool, waving the wooden post around in the air like a little girl with a fake fairy wand, Jill was even doing the light giggly child laugh typical of such behavior...before her ears caught the sound of collective footsteps rung out just down the hall. Kicking an already broken door down and running around in the hall, hearing it's own wood on stone sound ring out, she was about one careful spin away from pitching forward and smacking into them all, nearly breaking the mirror thing with her royal scepter.

Killian immediatly spotted that fool Jill running over to the mirror, ready to smack the mirror and break it into pieces. He ran over and grabbed Jill's wrist (that held the wooden bedpost part) and yanked her backwards and he stated, "Careful lass. Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself by breaking the mirror,"

Eyes wide as she caught sight of the mirror, she looked the reflective thing over with interest. "Ooooo! 'Ow tis 'ing soo'wive 'ive eerz an'--" Taking a moment to stick a finger of her freehand into her mouth, "Many raids?" This thing was either a natural badass, or magic...hoping for the former, though the latter was much more likely.

Stepping out of a shadow cast by one of the more whole walls left in the building, Knox had listened in just enough to know when his presence would be needed. Seeing the whole of the impressive mirror for himself, his down face lightly smudged with a touch of dirt here and there...yet none of the previous exhaustion from before... "How indeed...? Well, nothing hurries things along faster than traps, I suppose." Rubbing his chin with the back of his hand, the shadow man made his way closer to the mirror, before pacing a little bit further away.

Mirrors, especially one like this, just left here when everything was in such a state of disarray...either someone was stupidly careless, or this was a trap. Then again, there would be certainly nothing gained from just standing around...well, this didn't matter. For now till they returned, and he knew they most certainly would aim for such, Knox was just going to follow behind them.

Snow looked around at the others, seeing that they had now gathered in front of the mirror. She took a moment to address them. "Well, I'm glad we're all here. I don't know what this thing is supposed to do, but I trust you guys if you say it is helpful. Can it get us out of here quick, or at least get some help? I don't think we'd be able to bring it back to camp without messing it up."

At Snow's statement, Edric let out a small chuckle that emanated sincere amusement; as though her thoughts of escaping and/or finding help were humorous. 

"Oh no, my dear, help is the last thing you're going to get through this mirror." Edric put in a nonchalant manner, examining the Looking Glass closely. "This...this is a portal back home, you see, back to Wonderland. [i]That[/i] is where we'll find my sister. Amazing...I've only caught glance of one or two of these in my life, but not up close like this..." As if trying to check its authencity, Edric outstretched a single hand, extending his pointer finger to touch the glass, which seemed to ripple like disturbances in a pool of water before settling once more. 

"So..." Edric began, turning to look back at his companions. "Who wants to see where madness comes from?" He asked with an almost manic grin on his face. 

Letting out a breath from where he stood, Knox watched the mirror 'ripple' as it liquid trapped behind the thinnest sheet of metal, evidently unimpressed, "Sometimes the most appropriate response to reality itself is to go insane."

"Well...that's one way of putting it, I suppose...bit less fun, though." Edric commented, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Hearing this, Knox raised both of his eyebrows and gave 'Edric' a sort of expectant to disappointed look, "Clearly you have this ass backwards. What I said was [i]hilarious[/i]."

"Look...I'm not asking for permission, I'm asking for assistance. Wonderland is my home, but I doubt my return will be met with much celebration. I need all the help I can get if I'm going to find Alice and get her [i]back[/i] to The Enchanted Forest...and hopefully, back to Storybrooke. So I'll ask again: who wants to come with me?" He asked again, looking between the current party members.

Killian asked "Before we go, mate. What exactly is your plan for getting back The Enchanted Forest or this...Storybrooke of yours...?"

"Hell if I know." Edric replied with a small shrug of his shoulders, his expression suddenly turning from casual to pensive as he tried thinking up a potential solution. Through the sea of various plans and ideas, a single thought poked out amongst the rest; which could be quite plainly seen as his face lit up into one of sheer excitement. "Jefferson." He said simply, unaware that the name would have little-to-no impact on [i]any[/i]one else in the room. Nevertheless, he beamed like a small child at a candy store at the thought of seeing his....friend (Edric had difficulty coming to terms with the word) again. 

Snow said "I miss Jefferson, he was a good man. I hate that in the other world everyone thinks of a repugnant man most famous for writing some great insult to a king when you say that name. I swear, filling my head with knowledge of how foolish that other world is one of the more insidious parts of Regina's curse."

"I wouldn't insult the Declaration once we get back to Storybrooke if I were you, Snow...there's a certain fireman who would just [i]love[/i] to pound your head full of good old American politics. I speak from experience...now then, we need a plan, basic and simple." Henry paused before continuing on, gauging everyone's reactions beforehand. 

"We go to Wonderland, rescue Alice, return to The Enchanted Forest, find Jefferson, have him take us to Storybrooke and then hopefully go longer than two days without a crisis. Sound good?" 

Snow disregarded his comment about the fireman. [i]What is a man with an axe compared to a Queen?[/i] She said, "That plan's a bit sparse. I think rescuing Alice is a good idea, and so is meeting Jefferson, but I think the order is a bit garbled. Is there any chance we could at least figure out if Jefferson is still around before leaving, or see if there's some way to get from wonderland to Storybrooke?"

"Honestly, I've lost contact with Jefferson since before the Curse hit...I've no idea if he's rightside-down or leftside-up...but for all I know, Cora's torturing my sister...there's no time to waste!" Edric quickly tried switching the situation around to appeal to (what was left) of Snow's empathy. 

Snow visibly twitched when she heard the name Cora. "F-funny, I knew someone named Cora. Regina's mom, actually, just as evil as her offspring. She's been dead a while now, so I guess this must be a different one. I will help you rescue your sister, I owe you that much. But if I don't make it back, you will owe Charming and the rest of Storybrooke a debt that is much greater than that."

"I'll call him 'your highness' if it gets him to stop whining." Edric replied in a tone that was harsher than intended. 

"Now then...the hour is late. I heartily suggest a meal and a nap is in order!" Edric threw in, switching subjects quickly. 

Snow answered simply, ignoring his joke "Agreed"

Knox looked about the surrounding area before finally shrugging and disappearing into the shadow he stood in.

Hook nodded and said "Aye. Sounds like a fine idea," He then started walking away, taking the bed post in his hand from Jill as he strolled by her, and said as he did "I'll go set up a fire then. Don't want to freeze before we go to Wonderland,"

Gawking at the mirror still, it took Jill a moment to realise that...her hands were empty... "'Ey? EY?!" Spinning around to see where it fell or flew or ran off too (whatever these thing'll do under the influence of majickers), she wobbled a bit dizzy before catching sight of Killian leaving with it in hand...hook...combo. Still dizzy, dizzier than she'd like, she wobbled after him, "Thaz 'ay 'wesure~!"

As her magically magic scepter of royalty was tossed into the fire started by Killian in a rather quick fashion, causing some embers to fly, the roar of flame was heard in her ears as the fire engulfing the delicately carved wood reflected in her eyes..."...no..."