Once Upon A Time is property of ABC/Disney. T This is a warning. Jane Epperson, I'm not. This is the first chapter of a story I've been fiddling with, and..with great nervousness,
Once upon a time...
There was a city of over 4 million people. It was gleaming, bustling, pulsatiing. It was warm in the summer and cold in the winter, as good cities go. It rained when it should have rained, snowed when it should have snowed. And the people there were happy.
The city was known as...Boston.
Once upon a time there was a great city with stadia like the TD Garden and Fenway Park. Beacon Hill and the Old North Church.
And a harbor that beheld a gleaming ocean teeming with commerce.
It took 384 years to create this city.
It took less than 30 minutes to destroy it.
For once upon a time, the blue-grey sky turned an evil purplish brown. And the ground shook. And thunder rolled where there was no lightning. And it became oppressively hot.
And then the monsters came.
Each one the size of five football fields. Dragons with jagged tails and oversized bodies and forked tongues. And mouths that exhaled gargantuan flames. Flames that targeted the great city and its inhabitants. Setting all aflame with no regard. Destroying buildings and killing people.
And the cries of hatred from the creatures...high-pitched. Chilling. As chilling as the maniacal human-like laughter the accompanied them.
And in the end, the skies stayed dark. The great city destroyed. Only a few tall buildings remained. Observing the remains.
The balding bespectacled man with his dog and female companion. Archie and Kathryn...though in another realm, they were known as Abigail and the Cricket.
A tall-red-haired woman named Ruby, brandishing a high powered weapon. A young couple, Ashley and Sean. A slightly older woman known in that other realm as Maleficent.
A raven haired woman named Snow and her husband James.
And in front of them, the dark-haired Regina Mills and the lighter-haired Emma Swan. They are holding hands...for each other, and to protect the child between them, a young boy named Henry. Snow held Emma s free hand on the left while embraced by James. Maleficent held Regina s hand on the right. All were looking at the carnage they tried to stop with quiet, intense sorrow and anger.
Especially Emma. Before she heard of a small town in Maine called Storybrook, this was her home. A home she decided would be hers until death. She bled Sox red and Celtic green. She was too busy holding the three people she loved more than anything from wiping the tear that fell free down her face.
She faced Regina, herself trembling with anger at it all. He s going to die for this. I swear it...
I might have a difference of opinion on that... The voice was unmistakable and broke through the sound of wind gusts generated by the four red dragons that had now roosted behind them two flanking each side of the two men. One wore faded jeans, sneaks, and a hoodie positioned so it hid his face. The other face they all knew..
Through gritted teeth, Snow hissed the man s name... Rumpelstiltskin...
Ahhhh, Miss White, its so nice that you remembered me after all this time. The man otherwise know in this world as Gold was infamous for laying it on thick...especially when he thought he had the upper hand.
James was enraged. We all remember, asshole! THESE WERE INNOCENT PEOPLE...WHY?
Rumpelstiltskin was enjoying the moment. These were just...examples. A demonstration of what we can do...will do...if we don t get what we want...
Emma wanted to kill the troll right there...but did not for the sake of her son and her lover. So...what do you want.
The man known as Gold looked right into Emma s eyes...it was like a laser. Complete. Total. Power.
Then he turned to Regina, who once was a confederate in evil as former queen of the realm, and started his sales pitch...
Why are you still with these...losers? Why not join me? You...me...we can rule everything...you can have everything you ever wanted...
What she wanted to say was that she did have that...everything she ever wanted was embodied in the people that surrounded her. And especially in the five who were closest to her now. Her anger only allowed her to say two words to the troll through gritted teeth...
Fuck you.
The demeanor of the troll soon turned to one of vengeance. Very well...you will die here... Rumpelstiltskin too two steps back and motioned to his companion, who walked to face the two women and their son. The man slowly removed the hood and the shock and terror of what they both saw was etched in the women s faces, as well as the boy s.
Sheriff Graham. The young lad was astonished and fearful. even more so when the human body of the man the knew as Graham...the Huntsman...changed into a ferocious beast. More a living gargoyle than a wolf. His eyes were now a blazing red. His teeth glistening and sharper than razors. The beast s hunches were now in attack mode.
NOW! The order cam loud and swift and the beast Graham lunged at Emma and Regina as the dragons pushed out rolling flames from their mouths at the rest...
"!"
Emma shouted her reaction and heard Regina scream the same thing...but what was odd was that now both were in their nightgowns. Alone. In Regina s bed.
The looked at each other, then they embraced and kissed desperately...not as much as lovers...but like long lost friends who both went through hell and are now back in one piece. They realized each just came down from a horrible dream. They questioned other about the details and soon realized that both dreamed the same apocalyptic nightmare. The fears started getting deeper when Henry burst in the room crying frantically.
Mom...Regina...I had a real bad dream.
It had to be. He had the same dream.
Regina held her adopted son and tried to reassure him that it was only a dream. Maybe trying to reassure herself and Emma too. She knew what this might mean. A phone call re-enforced that;
Emma answered: Hello...Mom? Yes, what s wrong...why are you asking...
Snow? Regina asked. Emma nodded her head and continued with the call. yes...Regina had the same dream...so did Henry. Regina motioned to Emma to give her the phone, which she did reluctantly.
Do you know if James had the same dream?...he did? Do me a favor...meet me at my house at 10 in the morning. We need to has this out..
After goodbyes and hanging up the phone, Emma asked Regina what s going on.
While she was holding a still scared Henry, she reached out with her free hand and grasped one of Emma s. In the old realm, those who were in a position to do something about it had an early warning system. We got those messages through dreams. That may have been what happened.
What s got me, Swan, Regina continued, Is that back then, I would not have gotten that dream...considering that I was usually the target.
And why did Henry get that same dream...he s only a kid. Emma squeezed her partner s hand more tightly as she became even more concerned.
Don t know, Princess...but I do know this..it has something to do with Gold. Regina paused...then went into mayor mode. Swan, call everyone on Henry s Cobra list...
Emma interrupted: Its three in the morning!
Regina responded sharply: I. Don t Care. If they had the same dream, they need to be here in the morning.
A scared Henry Mills looked up at his mothers: What about Mr. Gold?
Regina kissed her adopted son on the forehead, then looked at Emma: We definitely have a smart kid! then turned to her son to try to reassure him: He probably didn t have the same dream. That s only for those chosen... Regina stopped and realized what she was about to say...in the old realm, those dreams were given those chosen to fight in the battle. And if 9-year old Henry got that same dream...Regina didn t want to think about it...
Emma...start calling...
Once upon a time, there was a war...this is how it began.