Rumplestiltskin set down the magic box that contained his wife, Belle. He was in Storybrooke's clock tower, preparing to steal magic from the entire town. It was the only method he could think of that would help him awaken his wife. When she was fearful that their unborn child would be taken away by the Greek god of death, she placed herself under a sleeping curse. Now that the threat had passed, Rumple was going to awaken her, no matter what.
Rumple pulled the Olympian Crystal out of his pocket. A little gift left behind by Hades. Without it, stealing such a massive amount of magic would not be possible. After Rumple set the crystal down, he pulled the Dark One dagger out of his coat pocket. First, Rumple pricked his finger with the dagger and let his blood drip onto the crystal. The crystal began to glow red. Rumple summoned his dark magic and the crystal's glow became brighter. Then, Rumple began to chant with his eyes closed. An earthquake began throughout all of Storybrooke.
In Granny's Diner, the people mourning the death of Robin Hood knew something bad was going on. Emma, Regina, and the rest of Storybrooke's inhabitants saw seven pillars of light burst up from the ground and into the sky. About two minutes into the ritual, Rumple knew something was wrong. The magic was becoming violent and unstable. He realized he was losing control all too late. Suddenly, a large spark of red lightning sent Rumple flying straight through the face of the face of the clock tower. He used his magic to heal the wounds he sustained when he hit the ground. When Rumple looked up, a pillar of red light exploded from the clock tower. That very light then expanded until it covered the entire town.
A second later, Storybrooke was removed from its native land and taken to another.
Meanwhile, in the land where Storybrooke was going to end up, three young heroes were about to steal a very powerful magic item from an evil sorceress. There were two boys, James Adams and Leo Valdez, along with a girl named Moyra. They were hiding behind a fallen tree on a hilltop, looking up at what was known as the Shadow Castle. It was a tall, ominous structure the size of a mountain. There was a hexagon shaped wall surrounding the castle, with guards positioned all across the top of it. The iron gates were opened for the new criminals that were going to be integrated in Queen Abelina's army. Abelina was the ruler of the kingdom they were in, the resident of the Shadow Castle, and the sorceress these three young heroes were going to rob. They had chosen to go through with this mission on the night of a full moon, because at this time, Abelina's powers are at their weakest. However, she was still very dangerous.
James looked up at the castle and took a deep breath. He knew this mission had to be completed, to save the kingdoms and protect his sister. A mission to save the world was a lot of pressure to put on a fifteen year old boy. James has blond hair, blue eyes and is tall for his age. The seriousness of this mission weighed heavily on him.
Leo, on the other hand, was smiling mischievously. He liked to hide all of his fear and pain behind humor and smiles. He has curly black hair, dark brown eyes. His is almost always cheerful and he has a slim build. Leo wore a shirt covered with various stains from his mechanical experiments. In his hands, he held what would look like an ordinary pocket watch to a naive person. However, it was really their means of getting into the Shadow Castle undetected.
Moyra was the professional thief of the group. She has short red hair and green eyes. Like James, she could feel the pressure of their mission. Already, she had checked her satchel to make sure she had the enchanted compass that would lead them to the item they sought.
"Are you sure that device of yours will work?" James asked.
"Have any of my inventions failed before?" Leo replied.
"Dozens." Moyra said. "The last one nearly destroyed our house."
"Well, I've tested this one multiple times." Leo replied. "There is no way that it will fail. Have a little faith in a child of Hephaestus. Our inventions always come through when they need to."
Moyra gave him a doubtful look.
"Guys, we need to go now." James pointed at the road leading to the gate. "The carriages are arriving. This is the only time those gates will be open all night."
"Okay," Leo replied, setting the hands of the watch to 3:15 in order to activate it.
Quickly, the three heroes made their way to the castle. As they got closer, the fear in them grew stronger. However, they kept going forward in silence. Leo had said that the barrier would not only keep them from being seen, but heard as well. Despite that, they did not say a word. Before long, they were walking side-by-side with the carriages. They could hear the prisoners either screaming curses at Abelina or begging for mercy.
Moyra felt a bit of pity for them. She, too, was a criminal. In her kingdom, she was a thief that stole from quite a few nobles. These people were suffering the fate that she has always feared. Being caught and having the nobles decide her fate. It was because Moyra was caught that she was here now. The king of her homeland had heard of her skills as a thief and gave her a choice. Either rot in a dungeon or take this quest.
They now stood in front of the gate to Abelina's castle. The gate was made of iron and twelve feet tall. After a moment, the gate began to open. Inside, was a small courtyard in front of Abelina's castle. Directly in front of it was a wide staircase leading up into the castle. On both sides on the staircase, towards the bottom, there were two small tunnels that all lead to different parts of the castle. In the center of the courtyard, there was an large marble statue of a wolf.
Suddenly, about two dozen of Abelina's knights began walking down the staircase. All of them wore the same black armor with a wolf's face painted on their breastplates in red. The knights were armed with swords, daggers, arrows, and axes. These knights were Abelina's most elite warriors, trained to anything at Abelina's command. Literally, anything. James saw one of them in action close up when Abelina's forces invaded his home country. That knight was merciless, as well as stronger and faster than anyone he had ever seen.
The carriages formed a line in front of knights.
"Guys, let's get to the mission." James said. "The less time we spend here, the better."
"Agreed." Leo replied as they moved to one of tunnels.
James and Moyra followed Leo down the tunnel, as he lit the way with his burning hand. Yes, his hand is really on fire. As a child of Hephaestus, fire can not harm him and he can summon it at will. Also, being a child of that particular god is the source of his inventive mind.
After a fifteen minutes of following Leo's compass, they came upon a pair of ten foot tall iron doors. Painted on the doors in red were two boars charging at each other. A set of long chains were attached to each of the doors. Those were probably used to help pull the doors open. They seemed almost impossible to open and according to Leo's compass what they sought was on the other side of those doors.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Moyra complained. "How are we supposed to get through that? Hell, I don't even understand how anyone could manage to open them!"
"Remember, Abelina wield extremely powerful dark magic." James said. "She can just "poof" herself in and out of that room. Otherwise, it would take at least two dozen people to open them."
"Don't worry guys, I have a idea." Leo said with a smile.
Now Moyra and James were seriously worried. Every time Leo smiles like that, something either breaks, melts, or explodes. Almost always, there are explosions.
"Leo, do not tell me you plan to just blow-up these doors!" James said.
"Okay, I won't tell you that." Leo replied.
From the tone of his voice, James and Moyra knew that was exactly what Leo planned to do.
"Before you do your "human bomb" thing, give us a chance to get to somewhere we won't be incinerated." Moyra said. "I think I saw an empty room back down the hallway a bit."
"Wait, wait, wait!" James exclaimed. "You guys do realize what will happen if Leo causes a big explosion her, don't you?! Every guard in the castle will be down here faster than we can blink! Not to mention, Abelina, the Queen of Darkness! This is a terrible idea!"
"Not when you consider that Abelina and her guards are all at the front of the castle welcoming the new trainees." Moyra replied. "It will take them a while to get from there to here. Plus, we have that thing Leo invented, so they won't be able see us."
"It is called "Invisible Time," just so you know." Leo said.
"I still don't like it." James said.
"What other choice do we have?" Moyra asked. "We must complete this mission."
"That is an awful lot of commitment for a thief." James retorted.
Immediately, he knew he had made a mistake and apologized. James realized the pressure of this mission was really starting to weigh on him.
"Leo, wait two minutes, then feel free to blow-up." Moyra said before hurrying down the hallway, with James following close behind her.
Once they were in the room Moyra mentioned, she turned to James with an angry expression.
"Listen, pretty boy," Moyra said. "My father's freedom depends on me being able to complete this mission. So, I will complete it, no matter what."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." James replied.
Before they could continue talking, there was a loud "boom" and the room shook.
"That's our signal to get moving." Moyra said.
In a flash, the two of them ran to Leo. He was laying on the ground, covered in soot. Using so much of his power can exhaust him. He had to lean on James to stand, while Moyra quickly searched Abelina's treasure room with Leo's compass.
The treasure room was huge and filled with gold, jewels, armor, magical items, etc. To the left were carefully organized coins, jewels and wands. To the right was a life-size chess set with obsidian statues for game pieces. It seemed that it had been abandoned mid-game. Straight ahead was a wooden throne with a golden wolf statue on its right side and a silver wolf statue on its left side. Each wolf had a pair of rubies for eyes. Behind the throne were gray statues that had no doubt once been people. Moyra came to this conclusion based on the life-like expressions of terror on their faces. Most likely Abelina's enemies or simply those who had failed to do as she ordered. Such a cruel thing to do.
"I will not end-up like that." Moyra said to herself.
"Quickly, Moyra!" James said. "The guards could be here any minute."
"I know, you have already said that." Moyra replied. "Stop repeating yourself."
"I will stop when you to listen to what I've said." James replied.
The compass lead Moyra directly to the throne. For a moment, Moyra thought there must have been something wrong with the compass. Then she got the idea to tear-off the cushion. Under it, she found what they had come here for. It was the minute hand of a clock, but obviously not a normal one. The moment Moyra touched, she felt a powerful warmth surge through her body. As expected of one of the legendary "Hands of Monday," which were wielded by the great sorcerer, Arthur Penhaligon. When Moyra grabbed it, she knew that Arthur would be able to defeat Abelina.
"Moyra, we need to leave now!" James said.
"Oh, it's too late for that." A voice echoed throughout the room.
Not a moment later, Abelina appeared in a puff of blue smoke. She wore a black dress that was decorated with rubies and pearls. Her silver hair covered the left side of her face, which was said to be burned horribly. Her lips formed a cruel smile.
"I have to say, you did well getting this far into my castle." She said. "Even I was unaware of your presence, until you created that explosion. That was a rather idiotic idea."
"I told you so." James commented.
"It didn't occur to me that you would use your magic to get here instantly." Moyra said.
"Well, whatever." Abelina said with a smirk. "Now all that's left is to decide how to end you."
The three heroes were all starting to sweat. If only Leo could still use his powers, then they might be able to escape. However, he could not even stand without help. Moyra was struggling to think of a plan. She still had couple of useful items in her satchel. Maybe, if she used them properly, she could escape with the others.
"Oh, I know the perfect way to finish you three." Abelina was now giggling with sick joy.
She raised the palm of her hand in the direction of her giant chess set. Several blue strings shot out of her palm and connected with three different pieces. At that moment, they transformed. They became violet-glowing knights, each armed with a blood-red sword.
"Ah, crap." Moyra said as she drew her dagger from her boot.
James drew the short sword he kept attached to his belt. At first, Abelina's puppets took small steps towards them. Then, they suddenly rushed at them with incredible speed. Moyra leap out of the way while James fended off one of them with his sword. The third puppet would have killed Leo if Moyra had not thrown her dagger into its back. This drew its attention to her.
"Ha, ha, ha!" Abelina laughed. "That's it, keep struggling. Hold on to hope for as long as you can. Then the despair you will feel when you face death will be far stronger than normal. I will be sure to savor the taste of your delicious despair!"
Only seconds later, the ground began to shake with great force. Only Moyra managed to remain standing. At the same time, Abelina's puppets crumbled to dust. As for Abelina herself, a dark cloud surrounded her and she cried out as if she were in terrible pain.
Seizing the opportunity, Moyra and James grabbed Leo and made a mad dash out of the castle. After reaching the entrance, they found total chaos. Apparently, some of the prisoners had decided to take advantage of the earthquake and try to escape. Without Abelina, her knights seemed lost and were struggling to control the prisoners.
"Come on, let's grab some horses and get the hell out of here!" James said.
No one really noticed them amid the chaos. James knocked out a knight who was getting on a horse. Then he and his companions got on it instead. Just as they made it out of the castle, the heroes heard a deafening shriek. Moyra looked back to see Abelina standing on one of the castle's balconies. Blue lightning shot from her hands, towards them. The three of them managed to avoid the strikes and made it into the woods.
After riding for a hour,James came upon a smooth stone road. Oddly, he did not remember it from when they traveled to the castle. Next to the road was a sign that "Welcome to Storybrooke." In the distance, James was sure he could hear people.
For some reason, James decided to follow this path. Thus, entering Storybrooke.