Enchanted Forest
Many Years Ago
In the shadows of the castle a young woman stood in front of a fancy looking mirror with a face that appeared in it. The girl had long dark colored hair tied in an elegant bun and was dressed in a black royal dress to show her status.
"What wouldst thou know, Your Highness?" The face in the mirror asked in an amused tone.
"Well, I come before you to ask whose light shines brightest in all of the kingdom." The girl said in a soft yet sinister tone.
"Cunning is your strength, Evil Queen but hold a young girl I see. Alas, her potential is far greater than thee." The mirror answered.
"Alas for her!" Regina frowned. "Reveal her name."
"You already know her name. Her skin as white as snow." The mirror answered.
"Snow White!" Regina whispered in recognition and scowled. "It's not enough that I haven't managed to kill her she still manages to pester me."
As she conversed with the mirror she did not notice that someone was in the chamber, peeking out from behind a pillar.
"A mirror that knows and see everything…How about that." Terra whispered as he turned away.
"The heart of Snow White, protector of the Kingdom, doth shine bright. Beware Evil Queen, the heart of light." The mirror continued.
Those words made Terra pause. "Another one?"
Regina spun around, hearing something behind her and summoned a fireball. "Who goes there? Show yourself!"
Seeing no point in hiding Terra stepped out of the shadows. "My name is Terra. I'm looking for a man named Rumplestiltskin. I thought you might have seen him."
Regina narrowed her eyes as she extinguished the fire ball. "He's hopefully dead and good riddance I say."
Terra closed his eyes, deciding that sticking around wasn't worth the effort and turned to leave but Regina suddenly had an idea. "Wait." Terra looked over his shoulder at the young Queen. "Ah yes… You came here to see the mirror to find this man? I have a task for you. If you succeed I will ask the Oracle where you might find Rumplestiltskin."
"And the mirror will know?" Terra asked skeptically.
Regina's smirk turned to a frown as she turned away. "Do you dare to question me?"
Terra put a hand to his chin in thought. "What is the task?"
"There is a young girl who resides in the forest, her name is Snow White." Regina walked towards Terra and held up a box. "Bring her to me and to make sure you do not fail bring back her heart in this." The box glowed a soft golden light as Regina handed it to Terra.
"Her heart?" Terra asked as he looked at the box. "I don't' understand. You're after the hearts of light too?"
"What I demand is her death. I have had more than enough of her light." Regina said as she turned around.
"And what did this girl do to you?" Terra questioned.
"That is no concern of yours." Regina answered darkly. "Now heed my words. My power is all the light this world needs."
Terra stared at the woman with a calm look. "Where can I find her?"
"She is near with the charming present." The mirror answered, confusing Terra slightly.
"No doubt they are present when a rebellion is taking place." Regina answered. "I will have my forces provide for you the means to find them. You are dismissed. Go now and seek her."
Terra left the chamber, leaving Regina alone.
Storybrooke
Present Time
Emma looked down at the floor, speechless by what she had learned of what her parents had done to Maleficent and to her.
"You…stole Maleficent's child before it hatched…And you transferred Emma's potential for darkness into it." Regina said slowly, surprised by what she had heard. "And then the Apprentice banished it."
She didn't know whether to be surprised that Maleficent had been pregnant or that Snow White had actually gone and stolen the baby before it hatched or was born.
"We thought we were protecting Emma…" David looked away. "The Apprentice…He stopped us from saving the child."
Emma stood up and headed to the door, not bearing to be in the same roof as her parents.
"Emma…Emma wait!" Snow called after her.
But Emma didn't hear her.
She ran out of the house and just started running.
Henry wanted to go after her but Hook put a hand on his shoulder. "Give her some time, kid. She needs to think about this. Besides…" He shared a look with Regina. "We have some other things to talk about."
"Like the fact that Maleficent said the Alliance of Darkness was back." Regina said, shooting a look at Snow as she reluctantly sat down. "The Alliance broke apart years ago. It can't have just come back."
"Maybe a certain crocodile has something to do with it." Hook said, noticing Belle flinch. "Him, the dragon, and the queen's sister."
"You think my sister and Gold are part of the Alliance now?" Regina asked thoughtfully.
"It does seem a little strange, don't it? Your sister calls from New York, then the dog of the Underworld shows up, and now the dragon's back with a really big grudge." Hook pointed out.
"And they just caught us with our pants down." Regina said, not frustrated. "You have a point. For all we know Ursula and Cruella are working with them too."
"What is the Alliance of Darkness exactly?" Henry asked.
Regina sighed. "Years ago, someone who used to be a hero became a villain assembled us together to help us finally get what we wanted. I would get my revenge as well as Hook and everyone else would get what they would want. The plan revolved around taking the hearts of seven pure maidens and use them to create a power greater than even the Dark One's power. But he was banished to the Realm of Darkness where he should have died and the Alliance fell apart after that with a few of us even socializing with each other."
"Like you and Maleficent? Or her with Cruella and Ursula?" David asked to which Regina just shrugged.
"But they can't get into Storybrooke and neither can Rumple or Zelena." Belle quickly said.
"That just leaves the dragon." Hook said.
"And Hades." Regina quickly replied. "Mal couldn't have summoned Cerberus on her own. He's no doubt working with her again."
"And who was it that assembled you all?" Henry asked.
Regina and Hook shared a look before Hook answered. "A guy who was worse than the crocodile."
"Who?"
"Xehanort." Regina answered grimly. "He almost destroyed all the realms and he became such a threat Rumplestiltskin worked with us to stop him."
"So what do we do?" Henry asked. "How do we stop them?"
"Bloody good question, kid." Hook looked at Regina. "You're the most powerful person here so you might be the only one who stands a chance against the dragon."
"But I have to go to New York and rescue Robin from my sister." Regina argued. "I can't just forget about him."
"And what about Storybrooke? With you gone the dragon will probably burn it to the ground. Probably why this all happened. They want to lure you away so Hades and Maleficent can do whatever they want." Hook quickly pointed out.
Regina wanted to argue but unfortunately he had a point.
Maleficent had looked ready to murder Snow White and Charming but she had other plans. Regina had seen more than enough of how Maleficent exacted revenge and it wasn't pretty for anyone who offended her.
And the Charmings had committed what would be considered the ultimate sin in the eyes of the dragon.
"So where do we start?" Hook asked.
Regina let out another sigh. "We find Maleficent…And hope she gives us some answers before she tries to kill us."
"You can find her?" David asked.
"If there's one thing I'm good at…It's tracking dragons." Regina said. "And if Xehanort really is back we're in a lot of trouble."
Enchanted Forest
Many Years Ago
"Hey!" A female voice called out to him.
Terra stopped and looked forward to see a girl running up to him, holding a bow with an arrow in it. 'Could she be the one?'
"What are you doing here?" The girl asked. "Did Regina send you?"
"…I came here looking for someone. I don't know anyone by that name. "Terra replied but guessed this Regina was the Evil Queen.
The girl eyed him for a moment before lowering her bow. "You don't look like anyone Regina would hire. Who are you?"
"My name is Terra." Terra answered. "I came here because there's some sort of threat that my master sensed."
"A threat?" The girl asked.
"Yes, I'm not sure what it is but it is dangerous." Terra explained.
"Well, the only person here who could be a threat is the Evil Queen."
Terra thought as he listened to this girl that the Evil Queen wanted him to kill. 'Her heart filled with pure light. She's the one.'
"I came here looking for someone…Does the name Rumplestiltskin mean anything to you?" Terra asked.
"The Dark One? Why would you be asking about him?" Snow White asked before the same creatures that attacked Terra before appeared.
Snow White stepped back and gasped as Terra's Keyblade appeared in his hand. "That blade…"
"Get out of here!" Terra shouted as he prepared to fight.
Snow White looked around, seeing the Flood Creature slowly creeping towards them. "I'm not leaving you alone!"
"I'll be fine! It's you they're after." Terra stated.
"Hang on! I'll get the others to come help!" Snow White said as she ran and leapt over a Flood and ran off into the forests.
"Hey wait! Don't go in there alone!" Terra called out, trying to follow her but the Creature cut him off. "Out of my way!"
Terra realized that the only way out was to defeat all the Creature and he quickly set forth to do just that. He started by pointed his Keyblade above him. "Gather!"
The magnet spell he cast began its work of lifting Creature off the ground and pulling them towards the vortex of energy above them. Terra leapt up, swinging his Keyblade out and delivering several quick but powerful combos that destroyed the Creature that had been caught. He landed on the ground and spun around, pointing his Keyblade at a Creature that had come out of the ground to attack him. "Thunder!"
The resulting lightning blast destroyed the Creature instantly but four more appeared. Two of them bring Bruisers while the other two resembled a rabbit with black skin, a wide lower body with a thin neck, two spikes for legs, no arms, and a large round head with two floppy long 'ears'. Terra dashed forward to attack but one of the Bruisers saw him coming and launched a fist at him. Terra grunted as the first fist slammed into his face but he raised his Keyblade and blocked the second blow with a barrier. Terra let out a yell as he leapt up, his Keyblade glowing bright as he slammed it into the ground and released a shockwave that knocked the gathered Creature down.
"Drift!" Terra quickly used a Gravity Spell to lift them off the ground, leaving them floating helplessly in the air.
Terra jumped, swinging his Keyblade up and taking out one of the Creatures with just a few hits before turning to the Bruisers. He took out one just with a few blows and turned to the other one just as the Zero Gravity spell he had used reached its limit and allowed the remaining Creature to land on their feet. Terra dashed forward, stopping to create a barrier as the Bruiser jumped up and landed back on the ground, creating a shockwave that the barrier blocked. Once the barrier faded Terra delivered a few quick slashes that took down the Bruiser and finished off the remaining Hareraiser just as quickly.
Terra was not out of the woods yet as a batch of Red Hot Chili Creature appeared to take over for the Creature he destroyed, surrounding him but he was not worried. "Drift!"
Just like before the Creatures were left helpless as a vortex appeared above Terra and gathered them all up for Terra to dispose of with a just a few well placed slashes. A Scrapper appeared and attempted to attack Terra with its claws but Terra pointed his keyblade at it, firing an ice shard that destroyed it on impact. A Red Hot Chili Creature that managed to survive released a fire blast at Terra while his back was turned but Terra jumped to the side and delivered an upper slash that took of that annoyance rather quickly. Just as it faded away another batch of Creatures appeared, the same type as the Creature that appeared earlier but in greater numbers.
"Thunder!" Terra shouted, releasing a blast of lightning that struck all the Creature, destroying a few but stunning the rest.
He leapt forward, delivering a horizontal slash to a Bruiser that knocked down and created a barrier to block a few attacks from the Creatures surrounding him. He gathered energy into his Keyblade again and slammed it into the ground, releasing another shock wave that knocked them all back.
"Drift!" Terra shouted, using his Zero Gravity spell again to paralyze the Creature. "Thunder!"
Another blast of lightning reduced the Creature's numbers to only a few just as they managed to break free of the Zero Gravity spell but Terra dashed forward, slashing them all until the very last one faded into a purple mist. With all of the Creature destroyed Terra turned to the forest to find Snow White but when he took a good look around he knew it wouldn't do him any good.
'Lost her.' Terra thought. 'She might have known something about Rumpelstiltskin. That leaves me with one other option.' Terra turned around walking back to the castle. 'The Queen back in the castle.'
Present Time
Storybrooke
Emma sat down on a bench, looking at the boats tied to the docks, the memories of her parents confessing to what they had down playing heavily on her mind.
How could she look them in the eye after learning how they stole a child?
Villian or not Maleficent had done nothing to deserve such a horrible fate, especially since she became Regina's prisoner for thirty years shortly after that.
"What a sight to behold." Emma turned around, eyes widening at seeing what looked to be a man dressed as a knight appear out of the shadows. "To see the so-called Savior in all her glory."
"Who are you?" Emma slowly reached for her gun.
"You have heard of me before." The knight answered. "I am Xehanort."
Emma pulled out her gun but Xehanort made no move. "What do you want?"
"My freedom from the Realm of Darkness and of course the destruction of the Light." Xehanort stepped forward.
"You won't win." Emma declared.
"Won't I? Your parents could not defeat me and neither could Rumplestiltskin. It was by mere luck that I was sealed away and I see their self-righteousness has not changed much since I was away." Xehanort commented.
"Emma!" Emma looked over her shoulder, seeing Hook rushing up to her, stopping when he saw the armor. "…Xehanort."
"Killian Jones. It has been a long time." The armor said, sounding pleased.
"Aye, it is has been. Why are you here?" Hook demanded.
"Just to take in the sights of Storybrooke. After all, the Dark One went through such trouble to create this place." Xehanort answered casually.
"And you are working with him aren't you? You helped bring the Dragon back, didn't you?" Hook questioned.
"If only to answer for the crime that the great Snow White and her foolish Prince Charming committed and then went on living the mask of Heroes. Their foolishness will cost them greatly in the long run." The armor didn't react as Emma cocked her gun.
"Stay away from them." Emma snapped.
"You cannot protect them from their crimes and you cannot stop me from gaining what I want. Tell me, do you think you can stop me and help Regina save Robin?" Xehanort questioned.
"So Zelena is working with you." Emma realized.
"I merely offered her the opportunity that her mother and sister squandered. Do not think that being a hero means anything Emma Swan. It was not a hero that banished me but it will be a hero who releases me." Xehanort said before disappearing in a puff of black smoke.
Emma lowered and holstered her gun when Xehanort vanished. "We need to find out what he was talking about. How can a hero release him?"
"The same way he was banished." Hook answered grimly.
