Strong Intentions
Part 5: The Dark Ones

By: Aria Breuer

Disclaimers: All material from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien and New Line Cinema. All material from the television shows "Once Upon a Time" and "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" belongs to ABC and Disney. All canon material from other fandoms belongs to their respected owners. All original material, including the plots and Storybrooke alias names for the Fellowship of the Ring and inhabitants of Middle-earth, belongs to the author of this fanfiction story. All original material from my other fanfiction stories, related to Strong Intentions, events, plot points and OCs, belongs to the author of this fanfic.


Welcome to the part five/episode five/season five block of Strong Intentions!

The events in this teaser chapter coincide with the rest of the episode "Operation Mongoose Part 2", from Season 4 of the ABC television show "Once Upon a Time". Afterwards, this episode block will follow the episodes from Season 5 of OUAT. Also, back in Episode 3/Part 3/Season 3 block for this series, Aragorn received a package, which was a clock with elvish designs. As for the clock's fate, we're about to find out its use for this episode/part/season block. So, I am excited to see the clock return. The clock's first appearance is in the Neverland arc, in case you're wondering where to look for it.


Episode V:

The Dark Ones

Storybrooke, Maine

On the evening after the alternate reality incident, there was a party at Granny's Diner. The residents of Storybrooke were invited to attend this celebration of their return to their reality. The Fellowship of the Ring arrived at this party early. They celebrated with their newfound friends, enjoying the beers and the food. Aragorn's wife Arwen and Samwise Gamgee/Curtis Greenhow's wife Rosie Cotton-Gamgee/Samantha Willow also came, as well as Merry Brandybuck/Donovan Masters' girlfriend Estella Bolger and Pippin Took/Edric Tuck's girlfriend Diamond Took.

In all, it was a good party but Frodo Baggins/Asher Beutel had other things on his mind. Sauron wanted him to go dark, so he could have a happy ending. What for? What was the reason for his treachery? Something told him it was more than just a trinket that the Dark Lord was after. Frodo was glad his thoughts were interrupted by Aragorn, who came over to talk to him.

"Frodo, it's not your fault." Aragorn explained, reassuring the hobbit man, "What Sauron did…"

"I know." Frodo looked at him. "What Sauron did, he took a lot from me. To make me go dark… I thought the Ring was bad. I didn't know I had that in me. It's still affecting me."

"You remember that clock. The one I received in the mail a while ago, when you were searching for Henry in Neverland," Aragorn asked.

"Hm mhm," Frodo answered, nodding.

"Gandalf finally got it to work properly. It doesn't only work for time travel. It can open portals between realms," he explained.

"What does that mean? We can go home?" he asked, confused. He had grown fond of Storybrooke. Why would they leave it again?

"That's up to you," he replied, looking his way. "But Frodo…" Aragorn was cut off by Belle, who entered the diner. Frodo/Asher listened intently as Belle warned them that they were in danger, due to Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin and Sauron losing their hearts to darkness. Realizing what he must do, Frodo darted out of the diner after Emma. He was followed by his hobbit friends Sam, Merry and Pippin, who were followed by Rosie, Estella and Diamond, and Aragorn and Arwen.

x-x-x

At the pawnshop, the heroes gathered around Mr. Gold and Sauron. Frodo grimaced at the sight of Sauron's physical form. It was vanishing, but the darkness emanating around his body was growing thicker, seeping out stronger. He could feel the darkness entering the room. He returned his gaze to the Apprentice, who set the box with the Sorcerer's hat down on the wood paneled floor, between the two still figures.

Taking out Mr. Gold's heart and Sauron's heart from their bodies, the Apprentice picked up the hat. Saying a few words, he watched the darkness pull out from the two hearts – Sauron's heart was smaller than Mr. Gold's heart – like slippery black tendrils. Sauron's heart enlarged and became the biggest, bright white heart in the room. The Apprentice had no choice but let the Maia's heart fly through the air. The heart, filled with purity once more, returned to its owner. Not a trace of darkness was left on Sauron's first form. He was back to the angelic appearance of a five foot, seven inches' man as he was when he was first created by Eru Ilúvatar. The Apprentice put Mr. Gold's heart back inside his chest seconds later.

The dagger and Sauron's gold ring, which sat next to each other, no longer had Rumplestiltskin's name on the dagger's blade and Sauron's true name Mairon wasn't on the gold band anymore. They were back to being everyday objects.

"What is it doing?" Frodo asked, pointing to the box. Unintentionally, he interrupted the Apprentice and Belle's conversation.

Fueled by darkness, the box moved uncontrollably from where it sat. The darkness wanted to get out. Now that it wasn't tethered to a physical form, there was nothing holding it back. Not even a box could stop it from leaving. Frodo moved Sam and Merry back as the darkness swam out of the box and into the air. He watched helplessly as its sticky black fingers found their way inside the Apprentice, whose eyes turned completely black before he fell unconscious.

Emma attempted to use light magic to pull the darkness out of the Apprentice. However, the Apprentice fell backwards on the floor. The darkness flew out of the elderly man a minute later, zooming out the door before Emma and Frodo could stop it. Unsure where the darkness went, Frodo picked up the gold ring and its gold chain from the floor. He returned to the Apprentice in the back office, where Emma, Hook and Sam watched him. The elderly man spoke to the three, but also made an important note directly to Frodo and Sam:

"Middle-earth is not the first realm to spawn dark lords. The dark lords reside in every realm, including the Wizardry World. But when the light battled the dark lords, before your stories began, the light tethered the darkness to magical objects."

"So that explains the rings. Why Sauron created them in the first place," Frodo spoke, distant and staring at the gold band, still in his hand.

"After good figured out how to use vessels to contain the darkness, the dark lords took advantage of it. They began harnessing their own darkness, fueling it inside an object that worked to their needs. The object could be anything they possessed, anything they cherished. To stop the Dark Lords, to end their reign of terror," the Apprentice looked at Frodo and told him, "you must find Mab."

"Mab." The name sounded familiar to Frodo. "Queen Mab."

"Whose Mab?" Sam asked, confused.

"She's the Queen of the Fairies in Camelot." Frodo admitted, "I don't think she'll be happy to see me."

"Do you feel that?" Emma asked, nervous. Frodo's heart did not feel right. It felt like… "It's the darkness. Regina."

"What about her?" he asked, confused.

"She's out for a walk. We have to go and find her," Emma said, darting out the pawnshop's front door. Realizing Regina/Evil Queen would need help battling the darkness, Frodo chased after Emma. Following them were their friends and family. Emma admitted, the second they were outside, "The darkness. It's everywhere."

As soon as Regina Mills/Evil Queen and Robin Hood joined the Charmings, Hook, the hobbits, and Aragorn and Arwen on the middle of the street, in downtown Storybrooke, Regina was struck by massive thick threads of darkness. It swirled around her, trying to snuff out her life. In the few seconds after Emma proclaimed that there needed to be a vessel to contain the darkness, and Regina had worked too hard for her happiness, Frodo stared at the plain gold band in his hand. An idea struck, which he announced to the others:

"Wait. The darkness also belonged to Sauron. That much darkness cannot be contained by one vessel, Emma."

"What do you suggest?" Emma was open to suggestions, which Frodo clearly understood.

"That we both contain the darkness. I have Sauron's other ring. You have the Dark One's dagger." He paused, making sure to confirm his plan. "We don't have a choice."

"You're right! But you don't have magic, Asher." She said, concerned.

"No, but I do have this." He showed her the gold ring, "As the Apprentice said, it's a magical object to…" He was cut off by Regina, who shouted to him and Emma:

"We don't have time for idle chatter!"

"Mr. Frodo, don't do this. I'll take responsibility for…" Sam stopped when Frodo replied:

"Sam, I can do this. Sauron's chased me, ever since I journeyed to Mordor and after the quest." Frodo clamped his hand on Sam's shoulder. "Look, can you promise that you'll take the darkness out of me? You're my friend, Sam. You were with me in Mordor. I need someone I can trust. Bilbo's not in Storybrooke."

"I promise, but Mr. Frodo…" Sam was interrupted a second time by Frodo's embrace. He hugged him back, unsure what would happen. Frodo had an idea of what was to come.

Letting go of Sam and nodding to his other friends, Frodo approached Emma and raised his hand, the one that held the gold band. Emma did the same with the dagger. As if the darkness knew where to go, it jutted away from Regina. Regina rushed back to Robin and held onto him like glue. Frodo faced his friends as the darkness engulfed him and Emma. The ring and the dagger were its harness, giving the darkness ample opportunity to seep into Frodo and Emma's heart, veins and lungs without delay. In moments, the hobbit and blonde-haired woman we're lost in a realm of total darkness…

The gold ring and dagger dropped, landing with a silvery thud on the cement street. Engraved on the dagger was a name: EMMA SWAN. On the gold ring, a name was etched around its band: FRODO BAGGINS.


Thanks for reading. :) Already, this is a powerful teaser chapter. A lot is happening, and more is to come. And with the first half of Season 5 for "Once Upon a Time" being the Camelot arc, I know I have a lot on my plate and big shoes to fill. Hopefully, this story's first half arc will run a lot smoother and not have as many gaps as OUAT had in 5A. Thanks for reading so far. I'm excited to see what happens next with Season 5 and this fanfic's Episode 5/Part 5 block. :)