The New Queen of Darkness

Chapter 1

Disclaimers::: I do not own OUAT or it's characters, just my imagination. Eventual swanqueen. This is different from my other stories and based on a promo that I absolutely loved. This takes place before and during the Queens of Darkness storyline. I honestly wish they did more with that storyline. That's the whole purpose for writing fan fiction right? Lol hope you all enjoy this story.

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The woods were thick, some trees were gnarled and dark while others just looked spooky. Some were covered in moss that added to the atmosphere. The area was made up of different colors ranging from black to grey to white and green. There seemed to be rising fog on the ground and moisture was in the air. She could see clearly around her even it was still early in the day. She had on her boots over her skinny blue jeans that looked like they were painted on. She had on a black t-shirt and her trademark red leather jacket as she walked through the woods. She could see the area of her surroundings in clear vivid detail as she moved forward, headed for something. She wasn't sure exactly what she was looking for. Only that there was someplace she needed to be. She spotted someone first as she continued forward. It was Cruella. Oddly enough, she didn't feel threatened by her presence. She continued on her walk. It was as if she were on a mission or on her way to meet someone. Before she could find out what would happen next, her alarm clock went off.

Emma woke up from her dream and sighed heavily as she ran her fingers through her thick blonde hair. She'd been having the same dream everyday for a week now. She didn't understand why she was having that kind of dream. It was starting to drive her crazy. She shook her head and got up after stretching her legs and then she went to take a shower and got ready. She then moved to the kitchen where Mary Margaret was starting to make breakfast.

The petite dark haired woman smiled at her daughter as she came into the kitchen. "Would you like me to make you something to eat? Maybe some coffee?" She asked.

"No thanks, Mary Margaret." Emma shook her head. "I'm going to meet Regina and Henry for breakfast at Granny's. Raincheck?" She smiled as she took off for the diner. She wasn't in the mood to have a cheerful conversation with Mary Margaret. The woman had good intentions, but she just didn't feel like dealing with her perkiness. Not after the dreams she'd been having.

Ruby smiled as she brought the drinks over to Regina and Henry as well as Emma, knowing it was their time to have breakfast as a family. It was part of their routine. She was so used to them coming to the diner and had already known what they liked to eat or drink. She'd made it a point to know what they preferred, so they would be served right away.

Emma slid into her seat, smiling her thanks at Ruby before she took a sip of her drink. "Good morning." She sighed and yawned.

"You want the usual?" Ruby asked knowingly after taking the orders from the mayor and her son.

"Yeah please. Thanks Rubes." Emma nodded before sighing and sitting back.

Regina watched the blonde and could see she had been having trouble sleeping. "Same dream dear?" She asked. "Anything new?"

Emma shook her head. "Nothing different. It's still the same thing every single day this week. Ugh! Why can't I have normal dreams like everyone else?"

Henry looked at his blonde mother. "Maybe it's a vision? It's probably trying to tell you something. Maybe it's a warning of what's coming. There's a kid at school that has dreams that keep playing over and over again until she sees something different and then it changes. Maybe once something is different you'll have your answer."

"You know Henry, that kind of makes sense." Regina nodded. She looked at Emma. "Maybe your dreams are trying to tell you something. Sometimes dreams can also be prophetic. Maybe you should start writing down your dreams and see if there are new clues that could help you figure out what it's trying to tell you." She suggested. "Are you still seeing Cruella? Has she said anything to you yet?"

Emma shook her head. "Not yet. I'll try starting a dream journal. Cruella still hasn't said anything to me in my dreams. She just has this strange look on her face like she knows where I'm going or what's going to happen. It's almost like she's expecting me, and she acts so happy to see me. Which is very weird because we're not friends and I have yet to meet her. I only know who she is because when I described her to you, you knew who she was." She pointed out. Soon the food arrived and they began eating.

Regina nodded. "Very strange indeed." She didn't understand why Emma would be dreaming about Cruella in the first place and it struck her as very strange considering that the Savior had yet to meet that woman. She knew dreams could be very powerful and unbeknownst to Emma, she'd been trying to do some research during her free time to figure out why her friend was having dreams like that. She was very suspicious about the whole thing especially since it involved Cruella De Vil. A part of her wondered if there was a dream spell at work here. She would have to wait and see if there would be any changes to Emma's dream before she could help her figure things out. They were at a passe right now and it was a waiting game for them. The dream journal that Emma would start would probably help to make some sense out of what the dreams were telling her friend.

Soon, it was time to drop Henry off at the bus and the women said their goodbyes to their son and to each other as they headed to work for the day. At least work would help Emma to keep her mind off the dreams she'd been having. She could remember every part of the dream in perfect detail. She had a photographic memory. She stopped by to see Belle before she went to work. She confided in the woman about wanting to start writing a dream journal.

Belle nodded and smiled at her. "I've got a box full of unused journals. Please take one." She moved to the back and brought out the box of said journals. "Actually, feel free to take a couple."

Emma looked through the contents of the box and picked out three. "I'll take three of these. How much for these?" She asked, taking out her wallet.

"Oh no please, just take them. Don't worry about paying." She gave her two more just in case she needed more to use. She wanted to let Emma have them for free to help make up for what Rumple put her family through. Ever since she banished Rumple from Storybrooke, she wanted to make time to get to know her friends better. Belle wanted to socialize more now that Rumple was gone.

Emma didn't feel right about taking things for free, even if they were offered for free. She had used to steal for survival when she was a teenager growing up in the foster system. That was not a part of her life anymore. She took out two twenty dollar bills and put it on the counter when Belle was looking away. "See you around Belle." She smiled as she left and headed to work.

As soon as Emma arrived at the station, she took out her journal and wrote what she remembered from her dream in exact detail, leaving nothing out. She wrote down the dates she'd been having the dreams. When she was done, she put the journal away out of sight and under lock and key securely. She didn't want just anyone to get their hands on this and use it to their advantage. She'd purposely kept the dreams from her parents. She didn't want them to panic and make things worse knowing how they could be, Emma kept silent about this. Only Regina and Henry knew about it and they'd promised not to say anything about it to her parents. She just wanted to keep them out of it. She sighed deeply before she started taking care of the paperwork and focused on her job, trying not to let the dream distract her from doing her work. Before lunchtime arrived, Emma had made sure to hand in her paperwork to Regina and then they took a quick lunch break together, talking about other things in general before they got to the subject of her dreams.

"Did you by any chance get a dream journal?" Regina asked, curiously.

Emma nodded. "I did, I planned to get at least three, but Belle insisted on giving me more so I ended up with five. I already wrote my dream down in one."

Regina smiled when she heard what Belle did. "Good, I'm glad you're putting them to good use. Do you still want to meet for breakfast again at the same time tomorrow?" She asked. "And then you could come to my place for dinner and we can figure out why you're having the dreams."

Emma nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. I'll see you for breakfast. What's for dinner?" She always loved Regina's cooking.

Regina smiled. "Lasagna." She winked knowingly. She knew how much Emma loved her lasagna. The blonde grinned at this.

Plans were made and the two women headed back to work. Neither one of them knew that things would be changing very soon. They were oblivious to what was going on outside of Storybrooke in New York.

Mr. Gold aka Rumple was now setting things into motion. Storybrooke had no idea that huge changes were coming their way. He had a smirk on his face as he looked at two of his companions. In a few days time, they would be in Storybrooke. They put their heads together and began making plans.