A/N: So this idea's been burning a hole through my brain for a while now, and I hope I don't mess it up. I don't own Glee or the idea of a parallel universe through a looking glass. Hope you enjoy!Some of this may seem like Once Upon a Time, which is one of my favorite shows as well. Any resemblance to it is merely meant as a compliment.
Chapter One
It was the first day of the 2011-12 school year. Rachel and some of the New Directions were sent a mass text from Mr. Schuster to meet him in the choir room just before rehearsal. It was vague enough that most of them went along with it and would ask questions later. Finn and Rachel walked into the room together, his arm draped around her shoulders. Britt and Santana followed them, their pinkies linked as per usual. Quinn and Puck followed them, bickering about something that Rachel was tuning out. Pretty much whatever Quinn said was white noise to her anymore anyway. Kurt and Blaine were already there, staring at a huge box in the center of the room. The box was so big that the piano was pushed to the side. Sam came in with someone that Rachel thought (hoped) she'd never see again–Jesse St. James.
"What the hell are you doing here, St. Jackass?" Finn asked and Rachel had to tighten her grip on her boyfriend so that he wouldn't lunge at the curly-haired cocky boy with Sam.
"I got this weird text from Shelby," Jesse said. "She said I had to meet her here and wouldn't say why."
"We all got similar texts from Mr. Schu," Sam volunteered.
Kurt and Quinn leered at the blonde boy.
"Why was it just us?" Santana asked.
"Maybe the rest are coming later?" Brittany said.
"Well, it's not a junior thing," Blaine said indicating himself and Sam.
"Maybe there's a talent scout coming and we were all hand-picked to audition for something?" Rachel suggested.
"Why don't we just wait for Mr. Schu and Shelby to tell us what's going on?" Quinn said, glaring at Rachel. "Otherwise we'll be here all day playing this lame guessing game."
Just then, Mr. Schuster, Shelby, Coach Sylvester, Coach Beiste, Miss Pillsbury, and Mr. and Mrs. Hummel came through the door.
"Good, you're all here," Mr. Schuster said, nodding to Coach Beiste who closed the door.
"Mr. Schuster, what is going on and why have you brought my parents to the school?" Kurt asked.
"More importantly, why are Frankenteen, Man Hands, and Lady Hummel the only one whose parents have shown up?" Santana asked, crossing her arms under her chest.
"Santana, I've asked you repeatedly not to call me that," Rachel said through gritted teeth.
"Sorry, Midget," Santana said.
"Enough, girls," Mr. Schuster said, putting his hands up.
Shelby stood by Will and took his arm. "Actually, your parents are all in this room," she said.
Puckerman looked at her. "Did the rest of them turn invisible, Shelby?" he asked sarcastically.
"Don't speak to your mother that way, Noah," Mr. Schuster said.
Puck and Rachel blinked.
"What did you just say, Mr. Schu?" Rachel asked, thinking back on the times she'd made out with Noah and shuddering.
"Kids, sit down for a moment, please," Coach Beiste said.
The group of teens sat on the front row of chairs, looking to the adults.
"Please, explain yourselves," Jesse said, his arms folded in front of his chest.
Burt looked at Will and Will nodded to him.
"None of you kids are actually from around here," Burt began. Carole stood beside him, stroking his arm and smiling at their boys.
"What, like we're from another state or something?" Quinn asked, unable to hide her boredom.
Sue looked at the blonde former Cheerio and smiled. "Not exactly, Q," she said, snapping her fingers. The box in the center of the room fell open to reveal a full-length mirror. The mirror did not reflect what was in the room, however. As the kids looked at it, they saw swirling multicolored smoke fill the mirror.
"Is this some sort of elaborate prank?" Blaine asked, waving his hand in front of the mirror.
"Not at all, Blaine," said a familiar voice from behind him.
"Cooper, when did you get here?" Blaine asked.
"I was hiding in our dad's office," Cooper said, smiling to Mr. Schuster.
"Wait...what?" Blaine asked, looking from Cooper to Will and back again.
"We'll explain in a minute," Will said.
"What does any of this have to do with me?" Quinn asked.
"You're part of this too, Q," Sue said.
"I knew we should have told them sooner, your majesties," Emma said.
"WHAT?" The teens shouted together.
"Maybe we should stop telling them and show them," Carole suggested, waving her hand towards the mirror. The scene inside of it showed a castle and Burt and Carole nodded to Kurt and Finn. "Jesse, you're coming with us."
"I'm not going anywhere with St. Jackass," Finn grumbled.
"No arguments, Finn," Burt said, ushering the three boys through the portal. He and Carole brought up the rear.
Rachel and Blaine watched as their boyfriends disappeared and the multicolored smoke returned to the mirror.
Sue waved her hand at the mirror next, revealing a different castle. "Q, Brittany, and Sam, come with me," she said.
Brittany looked at Santana and sighed. "I have to go. You heard what Coach said."
Santana kissed her girlfriend. "I'll see you soon, B," she said.
Sam, Quinn, and Brittany stepped through the mirror, followed by Sue and Coach Beiste.
Santana looked at Mr. Schuster, Shelby, and Miss Pillsbury. "So you mean to tell me that I'm the Hobbit's sister or some crap?" she said.
Shelby waved her hand at the mirror, revealing a third castle.
"Just follow us and we'll explain once we get you all home," Mr. Schuster said, walking through the mirror with Shelby still holding his arm.
Rachel and Blaine stepped through the mirror and stepped onto the castle floor, looking around at the tapestries and paintings along the stone walls. Cooper followed them and smiled.
"It's good to be home," he said.
"You remember this place?" Blaine asked his brother.
Cooper nodded. "You four wouldn't," he said. "You were babies when we were sent away."
Emma nodded at Santana and Puck, who both reluctantly followed the others. Once the children were through the mirror, Emma turned and waved her hand to close the portal. Only someone from their world could open the portal again. Emma curtsied to Will and Shelby, leaving them alone with the children. Shelby nodded to the redheaded woman.
"Mom...where is this place?" Rachel asked.
"This is Allegretto," Shelby said.
"Ironic," Santana said. "We're from a 'magical' land that's named after an Italian musical term." She used her fingers to air quote the word "magical".
"Santina Olivia Mariella Constanza Desdemona Calligaris! Enough!" Shelby said.
"That is not even close to my name, Ms. Corcoran!" Santana screamed back.
"Yes, it is," Will said, pulling a book from a crevice in the wall and opening it up. Inside there was a page with several names written in gorgeous script. At the top was written, "These are the children of Guillermo and Scarlatta Calligaris".
Santana, Rachel, Blaine, and Puck all glanced at the page.
"Why the name change?" Puck asked Shelby.
"We had to," Shelby said. "There are people who are after us."
"I like Scarlatta," Rachel said, smiling.
"I did too," Shelby said. "But I had to pick something much more common and much less exotic for Carmel."
"Who's Carlo?" Blaine asked, reading the first line.
"That would be me," Cooper said. "Our guardians picked Cooper. Not sure why."
"Nicollo?" Noah said, looking at the second name on the list. "Like that Macchiavelli guy?"
Will nodded. "It was my grandfather's name," he said.
Noah smiled. "Cool," he said. "And there's Santina."
Santana scoffed. "You changed one stinking letter in my name?" she said.
Will shook his head. "Dr. and Mrs. Lopez did when Emma gave you to them," he said. "They loved your name."
"Raina and Benedetto?" Rachel queried, noticing that there was only one line for the two names.
Shelby nodded, taking Rachel and Blaine's hands. "You were my last babies...twins."
Blaine smiled. "I kind of knew that," he said, hugging Rachel with his free arm.
"But...why were Blaine and Cooper given to the same couple?" Rachel asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice. She rested her head against Blaine's shoulder and tried not to cry.
"We tried our best to keep you children together," Will said, kissing his wife's temple.
"There were many loyalists who wanted to help us out...and our chief advisors suggested that we separate you all," Shelby explained, leading them all into a large hall full of portraits.
"Only one of the couples in the outer realms was willing to take more than one of you," Will said, leading them to the one and only family portrait that was painted before the children were given away.
"Then why didn't you give Blaine and I to them?" Rachel asked. "Twins should not be separated!"
Cooper frowned. "It was my fault," he said. "I told the Andersons that I could take care of Blaine but not both of you."
Rachel glared at her newfound "brother". "And everyone calls me selfish," she said.
"Why is there such a huge gap in ages between Carlo and I?" Noah asked Will, having noticed their birth years.
"I was off at war," Will said solemnly. "I had to leave my wife and new baby for seven years while leading our country's army."
Shelby looked to her husband and stroked his back. "I forgave you for that ages ago, Will," she said.
"I know...it's still hard for me to remember," Will said, kissing her forehead.
"Touching," Santana scoffed, her arms still folded under her chest. "But what does any of this have to do with us now?"
"It's finally safe," Will said, smiling at his children.
Noah looked out the lone window over the vast kingdom and gasped. "You call that safe?" he asked, pointing out the window to the devastation of their lands below. "Are you fucking kidding me, Mr. Schu?"
"What's so bad about– "Rachel started to say but stopped as she saw the charred landscape that Noah was looking down at.
"I know, it looks bad," Shelby said, coming up behind her son and daughter.
"We need your help to repair the lands," Will said, looking at Cooper, Santana, and Blaine.
Blaine crosse the room and stood behind Rachel. "Uhh...you need an army to repair those lands, sir," he said.
"Will...we should let them get settled in and changed," Shelby said. "This is still so much to take in..."
Will nodded to his wife. "Boys, follow me. Girls, follow your mother," he said, heading off towards the eastern part of the castle. Cooper, Blaine, and Noah followed him, looking at their surroundings. Cooper was a bit less astounded than his brothers, having remembered most of this from his early childhood.
Shelby led Rachel and Santana up the stone steps to their rooms.
"I don't have to share a room with the midget, do I?" Santana asked.
"No, you each have your own rooms," Shelby replied, reaching the top of the steps and opening the first door. "This one is yours, Santi."
Santana entered her new room and shut the door in Rachel and Shelby's faces.
"Typical," Rachel mumbled, still following her mother.
"She'll start remembering," Shelby said, stroking her youngest daughter's back and kissing Rachel's head. She opened the second door and led Rachel through.
Rachel gasped, looking around the opulently decorated room. "This is better than any set designer's imagination!" she exclaimed, running for the large four poster bed and pouncing on it.
Shelby laughed. "You can bounce on the bed later, my love," she said. "Please allow your ladies' maids to dress you properly and then join us in the banquet hall."
Rachel nodded. "I can't wait to see my wardrobe!" she said, running for what she assumed was the closet.
Shelby grinned, closing Rachel's door and going to her own chambers. The skinny jeans and black baby doll style top were not going to work in her addressing the court as their queen once more. She entered her private dressing room and greeted her own ladies' maids with a nod. The women scurried about their queen, first helping her out of her strange clothing and then beginning the arduous process of helping her into the layers of clothing commonly worn by the nobility of the inlands. Two of her maids went to work on Shelby's hair, making the intricate braids around the crown she wore. Finishing her hair, they helped her to stand as Will entered her chambers quietly and wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"My love," Will said, kissing her neck. "We're home."
Shelby ran her hand up through his hair. "Later, darling," she said. "We have a kingdom that is waiting for the royal family to appear."
Will growled in frustration and held her close.
Shelby turned her head and kissed his lips softly. "Never again will we leave this place," she promised.
A/N: So what do you all think? Should I continue or bury this thing in the back yard? Reviews and follows make me happy! :)