Melody's head ached. The crowded bar didn't help her pain and frustration as she poured a beer for one of her customers. So much had changed in the past thirty-six hours. Belfrey- no, Rapunzel...Tremaine- had traded Lucy's belief for her daughter's life, Anastasia now recovering in the same hospital ward where Lucy lay dying. Sabine had stayed with Jacinda overnight, insisting Melody get some rest so she could work the bar as Roni had asked.

But as she stood behind the bar, listening to the overhead music playing 2000s throwback hits and customers laughing in every corner of the packed bar, she just wanted to take a walk. So many memories had been flooding her mind and body since she'd woken from the curse. Though she now understood that her sorority sisters had been cursed memories and not reality, she found herself dealing with pain from their deaths and the deaths of the family she'd actually had. The pain in her skull only increased as she tried to make sense of it all.

Another hour passed. The rush died down, leaving a steady hum of activity that she and the wait staff could actually manage. With a chance to breathe, Melody leaned against the back of the bar, careful not to knock over any of the bottles, and closed her eyes.

"Wake up, dearie. We've got problems."

Melody opened her eyes. She didn't move, though, her arms still across her chest as she stared at Weaver. He slipped onto one of the bar stools, grimace on his face and running his fingers over something in his hand. She frowned. "More than the usual?"

"I think you'll agree with me when I say this, is much worse." He set a large gold coin in the space between them on the bar. "Take a look for yourself."

She pushed herself up. With care, Melody picked up the golden coin. Her blood ran cold. She knew that coin. The smoothed but imperfect edge, the eight-spoked rune, the tarnished gold. Melody couldn't tear her eyes from it.

"They're here," Weaver said.

Melody looked up at him. "How many?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Gothel took Anastasia." He sighed. "She's a guardian."

"What?" Melody's eyes widened. "Is that why you helped wake her?"

Weaver glared. "Had I known it would cost Lucy's life, I never would've done it. But yes." He grabbed the coin back from her. "Now the guardian is missing and we have bigger problems than my dagger."

"She has magic here, then?" Melody asked.

Before Weaver could answer, a call from the other end of the bar tore her away. Melody frowned. She moved to grab the drink for the newcomer. The headache started to return. When she moved back to Weaver, it doubled.

"She does." He nodded, and then flashed the coin at her again. "If Gothel controls Anastasia, there's no telling the kind of damage she could do."

That was an understatement. Her history with Gothel went far back, much further than anyone else who had come over in the curse. She knew what that witch was capable of. Mother Nature had a way of destroying things.

"Any sign of Drizella?" Melody asked.

Weaver shook his head. "No. She's gone too, and so is Belfrey."

That couldn't be good. With Drizella on her side, Gothel had begun to collect her coven. If they added Anastasia, they had three. And though try as she might, Melody had yet to be able to recover any magic in Hyperion Heights.

"You don't have any magic?" Melody asked, half-hearted and well aware of the answer.

"If I had any, do you think I'd be in this place?" he said. Weaver shook his head. "Look. I know you wanna wake your pirate. And trust me, nothing would bring me greater pleasure than Hook awake and out of my way. But we can't."

She nodded. He was right, of course. But they had to tread lightly. The only source of magic had fallen into the hands of their enemies, and as much as she would've liked a memory potion to jolt Rogers from his cursed stupor, even if they had magic they would need it to defend themselves first.

"What's your plan?" she asked. "Don't play dumb with me, Dark One. You always have a plan."

Weaver huffed a small laugh. He pushed himself up, sitting straighter on the bar stool, and stuck the coin back in his jacket pocket. "Well, dearie, I'm gonna have to disappoint. Other than needing to find the guardian, I'm afraid me and that pirate of yours are gonna need to do some detective work. If the coven is coming back, we need to find where they are and how to stop them."

She took a deep breath through her nose, hoping to calm down as her hands shook. Melody poured herself a shot of whiskey. It went down smoothly. "Watch out for him."

"I may not have known this Hook as long as you, but I've known the other one long enough to tell you one thing." Weaver stood from the barstool. "He's a survivor."

Melody let out a small laugh. That he was. "Much to your disappointment?"

He just adjusted his jacket and sent her a look. Melody swore there was a smirk on his face, but he left before she could tease him about it. She returned to bartending.

The night dragged on. While on her five-minute break a few hours before closing, she checked her phone. A few texts had come in while she'd been working. A few from Sabine, two from Rogers, one from Henry. Sabine and Henry had sent her updates on Lucy, the latter having flown in that morning from San Francisco. Rogers had updated her on the same things Weaver had just told her about, that Anastasia was missing, that some weird symbol was popping up everywhere.

Melody ignored all of them. Instead, she found her thread with Roni. Her fingers hesitated over the keyboard for a moment before she typed out a message.

"We need to talk, Regina. Meet me in the Community Gardens after the bar closes."

She hit send. It felt a bit odd, now, working for Roni. They'd been through so much together as equals. But she still had all of Melody's memories. That headache she'd finally gotten under control started to creep back in.

The last couple of hours on shift passed at a snail's pace. The crowds from earlier dissipated, leaving her with too many thoughts and too little to do. She and Marie started playing a game of Hangman on a napkin while she'd waited tables. Melody wished the simplicity could've been comforting, but it wasn't. Her mind raced with questions about what exactly Gothel wanted.

As she let out the last of her coworkers, locking the bar, and turned back to finish last-minute closing procedures alone, Melody let herself just stand for a moment in the silence. No music, no chatter, it was just her and the quiet of 1 am. It didn't take long for her to shut everything down and leave.

Melody stuck her bar key in her pocket and turned to the quiet street. A gentle breeze blew her hair around and out of her face, a tiny bit of drizzle on the air. With her backpack on, Melody set off towards the gardens.

Sitting down on one of the benches that had been installed, she just focused on her breathing. The shadows around her deepened when clouds began to cover the moon, but it didn't take long for them to pass and soon she could see stars.

"Hello, Muse."

Melody glanced up at the voice. It wasn't Regina. She shook her head, a tiny, bemused smirk breaking through her ever-present frown when she realized why Regina had to San Francisco. "Hello, Zelena."

The sisters walked side by side, moving through the plots of vegetables and flowers, until they all stood beside the wishing well. Both looked exhausted, though Regina a bit more.

"Welcome back," Regina said. She sighed. "Did Drizella wake you?"

Melody snorted. "You really think that girl would wake me? No." She shook her head. "I found the storybook while I was at the hospital. Speaking of," she added, gesturing to Zelena, "Regina, you don't have any more memory potion, do you?"

"Fresh out."

Zelena pointed at her. "For Nook?" She smirked as Melody nodded. With a tilt of her head, she said, "You tried kissing him yet? It's worth a shot, and even if it doesn't work, least you kissed him."

Melody rolled her eyes. "Oh Zelena, I have so missed you," she muttered. "Believe it or not, I have kissed him. And it didn't work." She sighed. "True Love's Kiss needs both people to believe in it. And I'm afraid hope is in short supply here."

Regina nodded. "You're not wrong there."

The wind picked up. The drizzle went turned into a misting, and all three women grimaced. Clouds had covered the stars again.

"So, what's the plan?" Melody asked. "Because I'm sure you have one."

Regina sighed. "We can't break the curse, not right now."

Melody stared at her. Both Zelena and Regina shuffled their feet, the former looking murderous as her gaze drifted around the gardens. "What do you mean?" Melody demanded. "You want to stay cursed?"

"It's not that simple," Regina said. "Drizella didn't cast the curse. I did."

"You did what?" Melody didn't mean to raise her voice, but the shock of the revelation was too much. "You cast the Dark Curse? Again?"

"We didn't have a choice," Zelena snapped.

"There is always a choice, Zelena."

Regina held up her hand. "Calm down, both of you." She turned to Melody and shook her head. "I didn't want to. But Drizella poisoned Henry's heart with magic. I cast the curse-"

"To save his life." Melody nodded, letting out a long sigh. "Great. So we need to fix Henry before the curse can be lifted."

"Exactly."

Zelena folded her arms over her chest. "Easier said than done. We have no magic, no allies, nothing."

"And Gothel does," Melody muttered.

Both of them looked at her in shock. Melody took another deep breath, relishing the light mist on her face that cooled her down. Zelena demanded she explain.

"Lucy collapsed because Belfrey traded her belief for Anastasia's life." Melody shook her head. "Anastasia is a guardian. Her magic works in this realm, and Gothel took her."

"Great," Zelena muttered. She rolled her eyes and threw her hands up for a moment. "Any more good news for us, Muse?"

Regina sighed. "Look. We'll have to deal with this tomorrow. We'll head over to the hospital after a few hours of sleep. We drove all day. We won't be any help to anyone dead on our feet."

They all agreed. As Zelena went to bunk at Regina's apartment, Melody just started down the street towards her own. Her feet ached. Her heart ached. Everything ached if she was honest with herself. It took all her concentration to put one foot in front of the other. She needed more than a few hours of sleep, she needed a week. A year!

If she couldn't sleep for a year, Melody would settle for her magic back. Then she could teleport home. But alas, even as she looked at the one star visible as clouds drifted across the sky and made a wish, her magic didn't return. Not that she had expected it. Gothel had really done a number on the magic of this realm.

When she fell into bed, Melody let herself breathe deeply again. Under the covers, she tried to hide from the horrors of the world. She held her phone close to her heart. She wanted to call Rogers. But as she looked at the clock and saw it was nearly three in the morning, she knew she couldn't. He wouldn't even know her, not really. And that knowledge alone kept her from dialing.