Chapter 2: The Red Sword

Wonderland

Will Scarlet and Anastasia walked through the mushroom fields and into the dark forest. They were on a special mission from Merlin, the most powerful wizard who ever lived. His power was enough to rival that of the gods. Merlin asked the Queen and future King of Wonderland to find six swords with godlike power so that they could free Merlin from his prison and have enough power to stop some sort of great evil. Merlin didn't specify what that evil was in his letter, but Will and Ana knew it was probably terrible. So, they took up the challenge to find the six swords scattered across worlds. The first one was conveniently here in Wonderland. Merlin told them where he put it thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, he put it in the dark forest.

Will and Ana walked through the trees and small mushrooms in the forest. They followed Merlin's instructions closely. The sword was hidden inside a cave and guarded by a ferocious monster. Will and Ana thought that since Merlin asked them to retrieve it, they would not have to fight this monster. After some time, they came upon a cave. There was something ominous about it. Inside, they could only see darkness. Then, out of the darkness, they saw a pair of green eyes watching them. The monster was coming out of the cave. As the beast stepped into the light, Will and Ana saw that it was a familiar creature. This animal was the large, purple striped, Cheshire Cat.

"Good day your majesty." The Cheshire Cat said. "What brings you to my home?"

"You live here?" Will asked. "You're the guardian?"

"Guardian?" Cheshire Cat asked. "Oh. You must be talking about the terrible monster that used to live here. That thing died about a hundred years ago. Then, I moved in."

"Did you find any...treasure in there?" Ana asked. "Anything valuable?"

"You must be talking about the sword." Cheshire Cat said. "It's mine and I won't let anyone take it."

"We need it." Will said.

"Don't make me eat you." Cheshire Cat said. "Leave at once."

"You do not threaten the Queen of Wonderland." Ana said.

Anastasia then raised her hand. As she did, the Cheshire Cat was raised into the air. The cat hadn't felt this sensation since the Evil Queen came to Wonderland looking for Emma Swan and did this to him as well.

"Your majesty." The cat said.

"You're a criminal." Ana said. "You know what happens to criminals in Wonderland."

The Cheshire Cat then disappeared in a cloud of magic smoke.

"Where did you send him?" Will asked.

"The most secure prison in Wonderland." Ana said.

Anastasia then conjured a magic fireball on her hand so that they would have more light. Then, using her hand as a torch, Ana and Will walked into the blackness of the cave. They proceeded with caution and investigated everything they could see in the light. It was mostly rocks and some miscellaneous things that the Cheshire Cat had stolen over the years. In the very back of the cave, the two of them found what they were looking for. They found a long silver sword lying on the ground. The handle was red. Will picked it up and could definitely feel the power within the weapon.

"So what now?" Will asked.

"Merlin's letter said that when we find the first sword it will lead us to the second one." Ana said.

"It's not doing anything." Will said.

"Try talking to it." Ana said. "Sometimes magic is quite direct."

"Take us to the second sword." Will commanded.

Then, the sword began to glow bright red. Within moments, Will Scarlet and Queen Anastasia were consumed by a magic cloud of red smoke and were transported away. They were transported to another realm entirely. Merlin's second sword was in a kingdom in the Enchanted Forest. Will and Ana were going to Camelot.


Storybrooke

Regina, Alice, Cyrus, Mary Margaret, Belle, and Sophia stood on Main Street in front of Gold's shop. Taj, Rafi, Mr. Gold, David, Hook, and Glinda had just gone off to Camelot to search for Emma and Zelena. Now, they remained in Storybrooke to defend the town from Cora's impending invasion.

"We need to wake everyone up and let them know what's happening." Mary Margaret said. "We'll need everyone's help to defend the town."

"Cyrus, Sophia, and I will be doing the most fighting." Regina said. "We can't take Cora down unless we use our magic to defeat her."

"You don't need magic to be a good fighter." Alice said.

"You do need magic to triumph over my mother." Regina said.

"What about the kids?" Belle asked. "All the children in Storybrooke. We can't expect them to fight."

"They should go in my vault." Regina said. "It's the safest place."

"Your vault is an obvious target." Alice said. "I know your mother very well. She's obsessed with power. Your vault holds much of the magical power in this town."

"Then we'll need someone guarding it." Regina said.

"Sophia should do it." Cyrus said. "She has the power of the gods. No one will get passed her."

"You just want to keep me away from the battle Dad." Sophia said. "Hades made me a master of my powers. I can handle myself."

"Please just listen to your father." Alice said. "Defend the children. There are innocent babies here. If you don't protect them, we don't know what will happen."

"Fine." Sophia said.

"Good." Regina said. "Now let's tell everyone to get ready."

As the six of them prepared to spread the word about Cora around the sleepy town on this dark night, Maleficent appeared inside Regina's vault. The Dragon Queen was on her own mission to find her two long lost children. She now knew where they were. Her daughter Lily was in Lowell, Massachusetts. Maleficent couldn't wait the hours it would take to drive down there. So, she needed to teleport. Since there is no magic outside of the Storybrooke, she could not teleport there, unless she had some powerful magic. Maleficent first used magic to change from her black robe and headress into normal clothes. She didn't want to freak Lily out. Then, she searched through Regina's stuff until she found one of Cora's old spell books. In here was exactly the spell she needed. She would be teleported to Lowell, but would have no magic once she got there. After reuniting with Lily, the two of them would return to Storybrooke and use magic to travel to Camelot, where Maleficent would search for her son. She focused hard on the spell in Cora's book. Then, Maleficent was consumed by a cloud of purple smoke, and disappeared from Storybrooke.


Olympus

Zeus sat in his white throne room and watched through a magic mirror as Cora traveled to Storybrooke with her army. She was currently traveling through the state of New Hampshire. She rode on a private bus with Alice's twin sister Victoria, while her small army rode in black jeeps behind her. Zeus knew of Cora's plans to attack Storybrooke. He was also wanted to capture Cyrus and his brothers so he could punish them for murdering Hades. Zeus knew that his nephew Cyrus was in Storbrooke and believed that Taj and Rafi were still there as well. Since Cora was going to invade anyway, Zeus thought he should give her some help so that she could triumph over the children of Hades and deliver them to him. Zeus wrote a special message to the the woman who gave birth to both the Wicked Witch and the Evil Queen. Zeus then summoned Hermes, the messenger god, who promptly arrived in the throne room with his signature winged helmet.

"Yes Lord Zeus." Hermes said. "How may I serve you today?"

"Go to the Queen of Hearts." Zeus said. "Deliver this to her. Tell her that she is in my favor and that I want to make a deal with her."