(Published on: March 15th, 2015)
Episode 4. The Stage is Set
Storybrooke. Present Day
A thick layer of gray fog covered Storybrooke, as if to foreshadow something sinister. There was also some chill in the air, all these things not really connected with the currently warm season.
Hope was already up. He wasn't exactly the type of person to waste time on anything, even if it was leisure. He always tried to learn new things; a day with nothing new learnt was something he considered a loss of sorts. But now in this mysterious place he hoped to learn anything about the circumstances of their arrival to Storybrooke. From what he learned from Emma and Serah, they came via a time portal which was hijacked by a powerful force. Hope wondered what it could be. Would the god which they banished into eternal slumber awoke and used all his power to execute his revenge on them? He came to expect even the most unexpected things from the gods of his old world. But a power to manipulate otherworldly portals? That surely had to be even beyond the god of light.
Meanwhile Emma was getting ready for the walk in the Vestige. Sure, there were some quite dangerous monsters in the town since Serah came, but she had to get answers. And how else she could get any if she didn't went straight on to the enemy's lair and demanding some answers? Her magic wasn't quite strong, but she had a few sword-fencing lessons with her father, Prince Charming knows in Storybrooke as David Nolan, so if there would be combat she already knew how to fight. She wasn't going to go there alone; Hope also intended to go there.
Like he agreed with Emma, Hope was waiting for her in the diner. He was eating a sandwich, considering a variety of things that could meet them inside the Vestige. His worst fear was finding it completely empty and not a single clue on their current predicament.
Then Emma approached him, he didn't even notice her coming into the establishment.
"Hello, Emma," he greeted her rather absentmindedly.
"Hi, Hope." She couldn't help it but notice his sad face, "Gloomy thoughts already?"
"It's just a name. It doesn't define me," he responded. There was a note of anger in his vocie.
"I didn't mean that," Emma apologized. "It's just that there are so many bad things happening here one after another that just giving in seems the best choice. But it isn't."
Hope smiled weakly, "You know, you kinda sound like her."
The woman was confused by his words but the man just waved it off.
"Finish the food and then we'll go," Emma commanded noting how many sandwhiches were still on Hope's plate.
"I'm already full."
"Look at that plate, you barely touched anything. Going there on half-empty stomach won't do you any good."
"I'm a grown man, you don't need to baby me," he mumbled.
Then they left the diner and followed the main road to the Vestige which stood in the forest on the edge of town. They didn't know what to expect there: a friend, a foe, or something else.
At the same time Serah was waking up in the hospital. She trembled a bit. Despite her first two nights at Storybrooke being peaceful, the third one brought a bad dream which was slowly fading away from her memory.
After a breakfast, she went on a stroll across the hospital. She needed to clear her thoughts. When she was passing by some door, she heard a familiar voice, or rather a moan. She peeked and saw Hook struggling with sitting. She knocked the door announcing her appearance and entered the room.
"Well, hello there, love," Hook greeted her.
"I see you're not doing well."
"You don't look well either," he noted. "Is it about that fellow Hope?"
"How do you—?"
"Emma visited me yesterday and told me a story about a man who appeared out of nowhere, sickly worried about you."
"Yes. They plan on visiting the Vestige," Serah's voice was trembling. "I fear that something terrible may happen."
"Trust me, it won't be anything out of the ordinary here. Emma will beat anything that is thrown at her," he winked.
"That's what worries me as well. I barely know you all, but Emma is so similar to Claire in so many ways it's scaring me, to be honest."
Serah sat down on a chair next to Hook's bed. She then stared blankly at space forgetting about the world around her. It was a somewhat nice experience.
"You alright there?"
"Y-Yes," she replied, her expression slightly softening.
"You're hiding something."
"No! Why would I do such a thing?"
"Maybe you want to protect someone, or save yourself," the man pondered. "I can definitely tell that you're not revealing something."
"I have no memories regarding how I got here," Serah stood up. "Do not accuse me of such things as secrecy!"
After this outburst, Serah left him. Hook was rather perplexed about himself: he pushed the wrong button and got Serah mad. Hopefully, it was only temporary. Yet the thought of something hidden within Serah's mind was frightening to him, as much as he was afraid to admit it. Whoever or whatever caused it, must have been very angry at Serah and her friends for one reason or another. Now he just had to wait, he saw no other option.
"Rumple?" Belle just woke up and noticed her husband's absence. "Not exactly a perfect way to start a honeymoon," she mumbled.
She sat on the bed and looked around. She decided to go with a white and blue getup, her favorite mix. As she was putting on clothes, she heard noise coming from the kitchen.
"Rumple, is that you?" the woman called out.
"You're awake?" the answer came, voice clearly belonging to Gold. "I hoped to surprise you with a breakfast to bed."
"That's sweet of you."
"Anything for the lovely wife of mine."
Belle entered the kitchen and saw Gold cooking scrambled eggs with bacon. The woman approached her husband who was still in a dressing-gown and kissed him on a cheek. The man just chuckled. Then Belle opened the cupboard and took out two glasses and poured some juice into them. She next put a basket with bread slices and utensils on the table next to the two plates that were already there.
"You don't have to do that," Gold said.
"I just want to help," she replied with a smile and patted him on the head.
"It's nearly finished."
Few more moments passed and the man finished the cooking and put the frying pan on a metal holder. Next he opened one of the drawers under the kitchen and took out a large, nearly flat spoon and started to put some scrambled eggs on Belle's plate. He then put some on his, leaving some more: it would be eaten later.
At first they ate the breakfast silently, but then they started to talk about light topics, like weather. After some time, the conversation shifted to travel and Gold's wish to show Belle the world.
"Journey sounds wonderful, Rumple. That would be something relaxing in comparison to what we had for the past thirty years or so," Belle day-dreamed.
"We could plan the trip if you wish. Besides, we'd need to prepare for the log road if we should decide on the journey."
"Maybe you have anything you want to show me? You did leave the town."
"That was just a trip to find someone I lost."
"I didn't mean to—," Belle started but was interrupted by Gold:
"Don't worry about that," he put a hand on hers. "We should celebrate this wonderful state in which Storybrooke is in," he quickly changed the topic. "What about a stroll in the park later today?"
Belle simply nodded and both of them finished the meal. Later, the man cleaned up and washed the dishes leaving his wife to her own devices.
"I need to run some chores in the town," Gold appeared in the library of the mansion they were spending their honeymoon at. "I'll be back later."
"You don't need any help?" Belle asked.
"This is nothing that requires your attention."
With these words, the man changed his outfit and left the mansion. The woman returned to her lecture, a large book which was titled The Ice Queen.
Emma and Hope arrived at the entrance of the Vestige and examined it. It appeared to be a large gate in a circular shape, adorned with blue and green neon lines. There was also an emblem on each side of the door, top and bottom of each symbol sported arrows with an empty circle in the middle.
"How do we open it?" the woman asked.
"If fal'Cie is inside the door would open so it could brand new l'Cie," Hope said. "But it's just a theory."
"Maybe it'll react to my powers? I'm a savior and all," Emma suggested.
"How are you planning to do it?"
"Cover your ears."
"Excuse me?" the man looked at her sceptically.
"My powers are not very stable and I'm not good at controlling them."
"I had worse," Hope smirked, but he quickly changed his expression to a more frightened one as a sphere of white energy flew at random emitting a strange noise.
"S-Sorry, I snapped. I'm not used to this," she said apologetically.
Hope quickly backed off facing away from her and covered his ears. Emma approached the door and put her hand on it. She was actually wondering why she asked the man to cover his ears. It wasn't like she had anything to hide from him. She was just full of fear and didn't want him to see her when she's in a 'bad shape'. She had to be strong, after all she was a savior, a person who always wins. Now she was to open the door to a structure from a world she never been to.
"This is my fault," she whispered. "If I hadn't go check the portal this would never happen." Emma then gently put her hand on the door. "Let me fix my mistake. Please."
There was no response. Emma was about to turn around when the door loudly opened, loudly enough to get Hope's attention.
"How did you open it? And I didn't see any magic involved."
"That's not important," she silently replied. "Let's go see what's inside."
They entered the structure. While for Hope it was nothing new since he was here in the past, but for Emma it was something out of a science fiction movie mixed a bit with medieval architecture. She took a few steps, but was quickly stopped by the man.
"What if there's an enemy here?" he asked her.
"I don't see anything dangerous."
"It might be a trap."
"I know this thing was brought here by this time portal, or at least I think so, but I don't think it brought anything other inside it," she replied.
"We need to be careful. There's no telling if a Cie'th or a PSICOM armament will attack us."
"Alright, let it be your way."
Then they continued their trek. As they walked they slowly climbed a variety of staircases, but there was no sight of enemy. While that seemed to be a pleasant surprise for Emma, Hope was suspicious of the lack of attack.
After like an hour they arrived at a large room with misplaced staircases on various levels.
"There should a mechanism to change the position of the stairs," Hope informed Emma. "I'll check this way and you go the other way."
They went separate ways. Emma arrived at a green pillar which resembled the Vestige in shape. There were few buttons, all green, and the woman had no idea which she should press. After a moment she pressed the center button and few staircases came down, revealing a floating platform high in the distance. She tried to press other buttons, but the pillar appeared to turn itself off. She sighed slightly disappointed.
Suddenly the stairs moved again and created a path to a higher floor. As she went its direction she was reunited with Hope.
"Good work, Emma. You see this floating platform there?" he pointed at the object in the distance. "This'll take us to the fal'Cie's throne. But first we need to bring it down."
"Platform? I could certainly use a lift. This place is taller than your usual skyscrapper," she commented.
"Just what you could expect from a fal'Cie."
After they climbed the stair the noticed a large plaza-like area with a green pillar in its middle. When they took a step, they activated a hidden mechanism and large walls appeared forming a labyrinth.
"Not exactly a welcoming committee," Emma said.
"I'd prefer a fight actually," Hope commented irritated.
"I'll try to use magic to navigate us to the switch?"
"You can do that?"
"I'll have to try."
Emma assumed a somewhat combat ready pose, her hands stretched in front of her. She closed her eyes and appeared to be very focused. Hope thought that the magic here must be different from the one where he comes from. Then a glimmer of light appeared, taking a form of a small crystal. It slowly started to float into the maze.
"You did it. Let's go," Hope snapped her out of her trance.
Then the two followed the glimmering crystal straight to the pillar. There was only a single green button in a shape of an eye. Hope pressed it and the walls and the platform lowered.
They approached the platform and stepped on it, it automatically starting itself.
"That's it," Hope said. "Hopefully, we'll get some answers."
"It's a bit... disappointing," Emma commented. "Doors opening without any special tricks, no freaking monsters from another world, puzzles like in a basic video game, it doesn't add up."
Hope simply kept silent, not wishing to further dig with Emma's concern. Jinxing it wouldn't do any good. It wouldn't bring them closer to truth.
New World. Year Unknown
A woman with short, silver hair, wearing red and gold outfit was anxiously waiting at a café. Her meeting was supposed to start five minutes ago, but her associate was getting late. Just when she was to ask for the receipt, another woman approached her table; she had long blonde hair, wore glasses and a long green coat.
"My apologies," she said. "It was a bit difficult to get here without being followed." She then sat down opposite of her and continued, "After all, it would interfere with our plans, don't you think?" A mischievous smirk crossed her face.
"Yes, Colonel Nabaat," the other woman replied, content with her associate's appearance.
"I would prefer if you wouldn't address me by my real name as this would give us away. I'll go by..." she thought for a minute and came with a name, "'Ingrid Vali'. Simply call me 'Ingrid', but do so in public places only."
"Yes... Ingrid."
"Since we have my identity kept secret now, we can proceed to actual execution of the plan. So how is the savior's sister doing?"
"Oh, she's just alright," the silver-haired woman responded. "She's a history teacher at the local primary school leading a perfectly normal life."
"And what about her fiance and the savior herself?"
"Villiers is a guardian at a common and the savior is running a florist store. They lead their perfect lives in bliss."
"We should plant a seed of doubt with the current flow of events," Jihl suggested. "I will need you to 'present' this to the savior's sister in a way you won't be suspected, Frigge." The woman handed a small, silver pedestal with a green, ball-like object atop it. "The recording in the oracle drive will cause such a disturbance within her heart it would quite certainly break her."
"How did you acquire such a thing? This is a new world, a fresh start." The woman now named Frigge lowered her head and silently whispered, "But not for me, Baldur."
"It appears that some kind of anomaly brought it to this world, anomaly which seems to wish to see our plan to succeed."
The rest of the afternoon between the two women was spent on dinner and further planning. At the end, each paid for her own meal and parted ways.
The next day when Villiers' house was empty Frigge decided to put her and Nabaat's plan to motion. When Claire, Serah, and Snow went to work, she lock-picked the backdoor and silently entered the kitchen. She was a bit surprised to see that plates and cutlery were already washed up; usually people left that as an after-work duty. Frigge then shook her head and continued to the hallway and climbed the stairs to search for Serah's room.
The first room on her left had photos of Claire and Serah on a shelf opposite of the door and a large mannequin with a simple, purple dress on it. This appears to be the savior's room, Frigge thought. She left the room and continued. The next room she decided to check was behind the second door on the right. When she entered it, she noticed a large room with quite notable space division: one part was quite messy, while the other was clean. A large photo of Snow and Serah was hanging on the wall opposite of the window and a foldable knife was sitting on a nightstand. Room of the savior's sister no doubt, Frigge wondered. Let's put this oracle drive here. She left the object next to the knife and left the house, cautious to close the bedroom doors and lock the backdoor behind her.
In the meantime, Jihl was fulfilling her part of the plan: she was acquiring a special coffer, an item of awesome power which could remove a person's soul. She planned to use this on a person from her past, a man who robbed her of everything she acquired through her hard work. Yet the man was only an 'appetizer' for her plot, her true nemesis was someone of a much greater power.
The coffer was in the possession of a young girl named Lumina. Her resemblance to Serah Farron was intriguing for Jihl, although she gave the girl little thought. Now they were to meet in a forest cabin, a place that Lumina picked up. Jihl was surprised by her choice but she complied: after all, such powerful object is not easy to find and sometimes playing with the 'merchant's' rules may be a quicker option. She heard stories about a girl named Lumina from the old world and as much as she enjoyed being the leader of situation, but the tales were disturbing ones to say the least.
"Hi there," a young female voice appeared behind Jihl. "I see you're up to the offer!" she said chirpily.
"You must be Lumina," Jihl noted. "I am Ingri—"
"No need to play games with me, Colonel," Lumina chirped and approached the woman in a dancing fashion. "I am the one who is having the fun here, you know?" she turned around, throwing her hands up, and putting them behind herself.
"Let's get down to business, shall we?"
"Yep."
Lumina then formed a bowl with her hands and in black mist an object appeared hovering above her palms. It was a rectangular box in white and black square pattern with a bright blue heart on the cover.
"This is the coffer I presume?" Jihl asked curious taking the object into her own hands.
"What did you expect I would give you? A cookie box?" Lumina chuckled. Jihl didn't responded. "You should know, whatever you're planning you'll regret it later. You sure you wanna put Sazh's through so much suffering?" she asked with concern, earning a brief look of shock from Jihl. "I saw him in the old world at the end of days and he was such a miserable guy it even broke my heart sometimes."
"My plans are of no concern to you." Jihl fixed her glasses, "This is strictly business we're doing here, girl."
"But it's still fun!" Lumina chirped and disappeared in white light.
Jihl simply sighed in annoyance and left the meeting place, the coffer in hand.
"It is time for 'Operation: Renascence'. There will be no more interference from fal'Cie and their tools."
Storybrooke. Present Day
Emma and Hope were riding the large platform to the top. It was taking it a bit and the two were growing frustrated with the wait. Few more moments and the platform stopped before a large platform with large stairs leading to a large door.
Emma was about to step on the stairs when she was stopped by Hope.
"I'll go."
"Are you always this stubborn?" Emma asked. "We are not in your world, things work differently here. I should go."
"It might be a trap. We can't risk this world's savior to die," Hope argued. "If the savior dies, there'll be no more future."
"This savior stuff is getting in your head. You should relax a bit."
"I guess it's a remnant of my past back from the old world," the man turned away from the woman. "Back then I was 'tasked' with helping Claire, who was the savior at the time, in her mission."
"Let it go."
"Sorry?" Hope was confused by her words.
"Let it go," Emma repeated. "Clinging to the past won't help you—actually it'll make it hurt more."
"But—"
"No, I don't ask you to forget!" the woman quickly corrected herself. "Reminiscing about it all the time will turn against you sooner or later. Plus, I wouldn't like to deal with Serah if she saw you so broken after you accompanied me."
"Oh, you wouldn't," Hope laughed it off. "She can turn into an angry ogre in nearly an instant."
"Harsh."
"It's just how she is."
Emma sighed, then her eyes focused on a random point, earning a questioning look from Hope. There was an idea in her head which could just work for the two of them.
"Let's go together if either of us won't let the other go alone," she suggested.
"Fine by me."
The climbed the stairs and approached the door. Emma sighed once more, this time in preparation and nervousness as she didn't know what she should expect. Hope was thoughtfully looking at her, suspecting what thoughts were occupying her mind.
At the same time, Mr. Gold was at his pawnshop, looking for an object from other otherworld. The appearance of the woman he encountered the other night caused some part of his memory to unlock. He was searching for the object in the main part of his shop, browsing through the collection of emblems. Soon he found the item in question: a crest in a form of an edged gold heart with pikes protruding from its bottom.
"So it's true," he mumbled. "The 'god of light' is approaching just like that person told me. Just what was the deal with them?" he wondered.
His memories of Rumplestiltskin days where clear aside of the one regarding a person he met when he started to plan a way to cast the dark curse. The thing he could currently recall regarded a 'savior' and a 'god of light', although he couldn't recall the details regarding that deal.
He stared at the crest for a bit, then hid it under his coat, and left his shop, locking it. Just as he walked to his home, he noticed what Emma informed him about a few days ago: a woman encased in crystal in an abandoned construction site.
He cautiously approached it and the closer he got the stronger effects of magic he felt.
"The barrier spell. An... interesting move, Miss Swan," he commented under his breath. Then his attention turned to the crystal, "Who are you?"
Few moments passed and Gold continued his trip to home to hide the crest from Belle: there was no need for her to know about an otherworldly deal he made in the past. His own happiness took priority: he might have lost Baelfire, but he still had Belle at his side. This was a comforting knowledge for him, that he was accepted and loved despite all the terrible things he had done in the past.
After he hid the crest in a safe, he returned to the mansion where he left Belle before and together went on a stroll.
Emma and Hope approached the door which promptly opened and revealed a tall, long corridor. They slowly proceeded and after few moments entered a large, half-circular room. However, something was off.
"There's no fal'Cie here," Hope stated in a surprise. "There should be a small mechanical chamber there which should open with our presence here."
"Weird," Emma commented. "I expected something dangerous here, yet all we got was some puzzles."
"Something is wrong. I thought that with the use of a Time Gate the Vestige would fully return to its state from before crystallizing at the bottom of Lake Bresha."
"There might still be something here which may tell us what brought you here. Let's look around."
Hope nodded and together with Emma started to look around the room. Everything was like Hope remembered from his only visit here, except the fal'Cie Anima was not here. The only difference he noticed was presence of an unknown symbol: it resembled overlapping open hands somewhat resembling wings at sides of an ellipsoidal shape with an eye inside it. During his time as a l'Cie, then a Director of Academy, and finally the god's tool, he saw brands and emblems of the gods of his world, yet none like this. The man also wondered if he saw it in the new world, but this memory was locked away from him. He then decided ask his companion about it.
"Emma, have you seen this emblem before?"
The man pointed her the symbol in question on the wall. She shook her head in denial: another dead end.
"There's nothing interesting here," Emma finally said after a moment of silence. "Let's go back to the town."
"Not until we find any answers," Hope countered.
"Hope, relax. I know it's hard to live under the pressure that there's always something waiting around the corner to take away your happiness, but you take it too seriously."
"I can't," the man said sadly. "I have this feeling that something bad is about to happen if we don't resolve this mystery on time."
"Look," the blonde put a hand on Hope's shoulder and smiled. "I'm also worried, but I can't allow myself to be plagued to the death by it. A lot of people depend on me," and she added under her breath, "including Regina."
Hope sighed in defeat. As much as he would like to continue his search, there was no arguing about searching somewhere where there were no clues, aside of the mysterious emblem. Then Emma commanded him to leave the place with her despite being somewhat reluctant about it.
Just when they were about to leave the door didn't open. Not even Emma's magic could help force it. The two were confused: was there someone or something truly in here? If so, they were annoying.
"Welcome, savior," a deep female voice suddenly echoed through the chamber startling the two. "And welcome to your guide as well."
"Show yourself!" Emma commanded.
"Why so hostile, savior? Do you not trust me?"
Then a woman with a white mask and red and gold robes appeared in a cloud of black smoke. Her arms were wide open, as if to encourage the two to embrace her.
"Dark magic!?" Emma exclaimed.
"Chaos!?" Hope wondered.
"Neither," the woman replied. "It is of little importance for you."
"Who are you?" the man asked.
"I am a disciple of the Radiant God, tasked with the duty of helping in the creation of the perfect world."
"Yeah, he wanted to make us all mindless puppets," Hope spit with venom. "I was one of his victims."
"You are simply misguided. This time the wish will come true and everyone will bask in the light of Luminous."
"How do you plan to do that? It's not like this world has magic like in the old world," the man inquired.
"The power of the savior will shine upon the tainted and purge them. She will lead the people to the world of light where bliss is eternal."
Emma was growing mad with each word of the mysterious woman. She kept going around some kind of 'god of light' and it sounded like he wanted to use her to create a whole new world. That was something different from what she faced since her task as the savior was bringing happy endings to the denizens of the Enchanted Forest, not help some nebulous deity create a world.
"I have no idea what is your plan, but I don't intend to help some god in whatever he's planning," Emma said.
"Such defiance... It will not be so!" The woman floated into the air and cast a spell, tentacles of light energy caught Emma and Hope by their limbs.
"What do you intend to do with us?" Hope demanded.
Then Emma burst in black light and was released from the tentacles' grip. Hope watched Emma with astonishment, while the other woman appeared to be frightened.
"Is this savior also doomed?" she cried out and suddenly disappeared in black smoke.
The two looked at each other confused. What just happened?
"Emma, how did you—?"
"I-I don't know. The situation was starting to get on my nerves and I wanted to show some of her own medicine and then that happened. Do you know what was that?"
"It appeared similarly to a force the god that woman spoke of which he cannot see—Chaos," Hope replied solemnly.
"I heard that term a few times before. What is it exactly?"
"A substance which is unseen to gods' eyes, one which can destroy entire universe if it'll escape its prison."
"And I have that? I'm not from your world."
"It might be Chaos or not." Then Hope changed the subject although Emma's display of powers still intrigued him, "We now have some lead. Let's return to the town."
Emma nodded and together they set to go back to the town. The mysterious woman didn't reappear, this somewhat calmed the two.
New World. Year Unknown
Jihl arrived at the countryside farm. According to her intel Sazh Katzroy and his son, Dajh, settled down here. Her visit was not of the 'happy reunion' sort, it was a different sort of meeting. Soon the two men were about to pay for their crimes.
The bell at the door sounded. Sazh didn't expect any guests today so he was wondering who might that be. He stood up and left the living room where he was watching television and approached the door. He looked through the viewfinder and much to his shock he saw Jihl Nabaat: the very same woman who put him through much pain before Cocoon's fall.
He wondered what she wanted from him. After all she was a mysterious woman, one not easy to read. Sazh was confused of what to do: ask her to leave and never to return or to invite her inside. Either option didn't sit well with him. He would actually prefer to get rid of her, but what would that make him?
"Who's there?" he finally asked.
"Good morning, I am Jihl Nabaat," the woman replied. "I am looking for Mister Sazh Katzroy."
"What for?"
"I'd like to make amendments, Mister Katzroy."
Damn!, Sazh thought. I should have pick my words better.
"After all you put me, my son, and my friends through, do you think simple apology will cut it?"
"I do not know, but certainly these closed doors are an effective way to prevent such from being effective."
"There is a table and a pair of chairs at the porch. I'll be there in a minute," Sazh replied, already regretting his decision.
A moment later Sazh arrived with two glasses and a jug of lemonade. Jihl simply smiled; Sazh knew that smile all too well.
"That is very kind of you, Mister Katzroy," she complimented.
"Just because I was a Pulse l'Cie doesn't mean I am a monster," he scoffed.
"I didn't mean to imply that."
"So how do you intend to make it up for me?" Sazh wondered. "It's not like you can improve my and Dajh's life, we're fine as it is."
"There is a way. In fact I brought the means of doing so with me."
She then suddenly revealed a black and white checkered box with a large light blue heart on its cover.
"That's—!"
Jihl quickly opened the box and a ball of light emerged from Sazh's chest and entered the chest. The man then collapsed, Jihl smiling mischievously.
The woman then sipped some of the lemonade and left the man. He would wake up later today with no recollection of what happened. She now proceeded to the village where at school Dajh was studying, his soul also to be locked away in the coffer of souls.
Some time later in the town where Claire, Serah, and Snow lived, the three returned from their work. When Serah entered her and Snow's bedroom she gasped in shock: an oracle drive was sitting next to the survival knife she once gave to Claire in the old world.
"Claire, Snow!" she shouted and the two quickly arrived.
"What's wrong, babe?" Snow asked.
"You should see it for yourselves," Serah replied.
The three entered the room and Claire and Snow were shocked to see the device.
"How did it end up here?" Claire asked.
"You don't think it's some kind of paradox effect, do you?" Serah asked concerned.
"How would that even be possible? We defeated Bhunivelze," Snow said.
"He crystallized, not exactly died," Claire noted. "You said it yourself—'remember the legends: l'Cie who fulfill their Focus turn to crystal and gain eternal life'. It's possible that something like that happened to him."
"Not exactly comforting words," Snow admitted. "But how would he even do that? Isn't he in that Unseen Realm or whatever?"
"I don't know. Caius might know but there's no way we could reach him," Claire pondered.
"Should we see what's inside it?" Serah suggested.
"Honestly, I'd rather not. The prophecies led to some serious disasters and I enjoy peace for once," Snow said.
"Even so, they gave us some sort of warning and allowed us to prepare for the catastrophes. I say we watch it," Claire suggested, although she also shared Snow's fear but chose not to show it.
"Okay, let's do it," Serah said and extended her hand towards the object and a projection of an ellipsoidal screen appeared above the oracle drive.
The vision showed two women resembling Claire and Serah in embrace, slowly turning into a crystal, with Chaos emerging from them and covering the world. Then the illusion shifted to a blonde woman with strings attached to her, Bhunivelze high above her with the cords in his hand. Last thing to appear was the woman performing powerful magic which engulfed the vision in bright light. After this the screen shut down and the three people watching it stared at the object with confused looks.
"What was that about?" Snow broke the uncomfortable silence.
"I don't know," Claire said.
"But why we turned into crystal? Who was that woman? What Bhunivelze has to do with it all?" Serah asked. There was something in the works, but they didn't know what.
"Bhunivelze only wishes for a world where souls of humanity are his own, and humans are his puppets," Claire said. "He will discard our hearts by any means necessary, all for the sake of being an 'almighty god'," the last words the woman spoke with anger.
"I'm not going to let any of that happen!" the man declared. "I'll save everyone."
"What now? It's not like we can wait until Bhunivelze makes his first move," Serah wondered. "Plus, we don't know how this object actually appeared here in the first place."
"Maybe we should talk about it during the reunion party at Hope's place?" Snow suggested, his hands resting behind his head. "It's not like we'll think of anything on our own."
"No. We can inform them later about it. After all it will be party, we should make the most of it," Claire said.
"Are you sure, Sis? What if it'll be too late by the time we tell them?" Serah asked. She didn't enjoy the idea of postponing such important information.
"We'll tell them, not just right now."
Claire was quite certain that Bhunivelze wouldn't execute his plan right away. He was a crystal now, so even if is capable at the hand, he had limited power, not even a god is without flaws. Right now, the woman wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet and Bhunivelze's impending return appeared to loom over their peaceful lives.
Storybrooke. Present Day
After one final checkup, the doctors said that Serah was in condition to be discharged, although they advised her to rest for the next few days. The woman called Emma so she could pick her up and get her back to Granny's to continue her quest with games. Then Emma picked up phone and without even speaking a word Serah knew that things went not the way she thought they would.
"Any news?" the pink-haired woman asked.
"Aside of fact that the vestige was pretty much empty, we have a crazy fanatic who wants to make a whole new world," the blonde stated with strange curiosity. "It's for some god she called 'Luminous'. Know any god by that name?"
"Fanatic?"
"Yeah, looked like some kind of cult member to be honest," Emma admitted. "Know any women wearing masks and robes?"
"No. Hope wasn't able to recognize her?"
"Sorry, Serah, but my memories are off too," the man in question replied. "Although I presume she has something to do with it."
"That's bad. Also, they're discharged me a few minutes ago."
"We'll pick you up. Just wait in the waiting room, okay?" Emma requested.
"Just so you know if I get tired of the wait, I'll just leave and we'll meet somewhere in town," Serah answered.
"Please don't do that. The town is in danger as it is," Hope said.
"Are you implying I'm a trouble-maker, Hope?" Serah asked and burst into laughter. Emma and Hope on the other end did that as well.
"No, it's just that there's something weird going on and I'd prefer that Snow wouldn't get mad at me at getting his fiancée out of commision," Hope replied.
"All right, Smarty Pants, I'll wait then."
Serah disconnected and headed to the waiting room. She sunk in thought, wondering about the Vestige, the mysterious woman, Claire, and 'Luminous', whoever he was. What she was supposed to do? She started to doubt that she'll find any answers in the games, a different approach would be better. She could find the mysterious woman and ask her about the god, but there existed a possibility of her being controlled without her even knowing what she is doing. The answer to this would have to wait; first she had some games to play.
Mr. Gold and Belle were strolling together in the park, enjoying the tranquility that surrounded them. After like three quarters the two decided to sit down on a bench and observe nature, a thing that they didn't really do back in the Enchanted Forest. Back then, Belle was a simple maid who was doing chores while Rumplestiltskin was traveling across the world and making deals. Now it seemed that the man finally came to understand his wrong-doing and decided to improve himself. The woman welcomed the change, it gave her hope that everyone can change.
"Rumple." Belle's words caught her husband's words. He turned his face towards her, interested in what she was about to say. "How is it that there are heroes and villains? How is it that there is constant need for a clash between the forces of good and evil?"
Belle's question startled Gold. She raised an important issue: the never-ending conflict between what one could say light and darkness. He never given much thought to battles between the two opposing concepts. For most of his life, he was doing deals with a variety of people, both considered heroes and villains.
"What prompted the question, Belle?"
"There was Snow White's fight against the Evil Queen back in the Enchanted Forest, then you against Peter Pan in the Neverland, later Regina against Zelena here in Storybrooke, and there were other conflicts as well. Hero against a villain, every time, like a cycles of war of good versus evil. Seems like a must to have."
"This is just how things are," was Gold's only response. He didn't know how to respond. For the first time in his life, he came across a question for which there wasn't any easy answer.
"I wanted to be a hero just like my mother," Belle continued, "but now that I think about it I don't know if it wasn't just some higher power that made my choices for me, and I wasn't even aware of that."
"You always did what you deemed right. There is no way someone else made the choices for you."
"I'd like to believe that."
Then Belle laid down her head on Gold's shoulder and clutched her hands in the hands of her husband. The man kissed the woman gently on the hair and gazed into the distance thinking about her words. Was the 'heroes versus villains' the only driving force of the existence? Now that he thought about it, he heard rumors about a person nicknamed 'Author' who is searched by Regina. This person is said to be responsible for the events of the Enchanted Forest from before the first curse at least. If he could find him, he get everything he ever wanted: Baefire back, limitless power without the handicap of the Dagger, and more. He started to consider doing his own search for the elusive 'Author', but there were other things at hand, like the deal he made so many years ago back in the Enchanted Forest. Maybe a memory potion would help him with remembering the deal.
He decided to try it tomorrow. Today he was relaxing with Belle, the only person alive close to his heart.
Marian was getting frustrated with Robin's recent obsession about the newcomers: Sazh and Dajh Katzroy, along with their strange friend Chocolina. Just when she thought that now she finally got together with him and their son, they could live a peaceful and happy life, complications appeared. While the case of the boy was rather quickly resolved, the case of his father didn't appear it would work out easily. Her only hope was to find the lost of the man and return it to him, relieving her husband from the burden he took upon himself. However she didn't know where to start.
Then a thought struck her: maybe Dajh will know something? After all the two men are family, he's bound to remember something about the events regarding his and his father's soul loss.
She then approached the boy intending to find some information, but she had to be gentle about it. After all, Dajh was still a little boy.
"Hello, Dajh. How are you doing?" Her words startled the boy who was drawing circles in the ground.
"I'm all right, miss. But my daddy is not."
"We're working on it. Say, do you remember anything from your world that could help us?"
"We lived in a biiig house in the countryside and me and daddy used to have lots of airship races," the boy's eyes slightly brightened. "And Chocolina was with us having fun too!"
"Oh."
Marian was startled by Dajh's words: airship races? What are those? And who exactly is Chocolina? She appeared to be close with the Katzroys. She was likely the key to this mystery.
"Who is this Chocolina?"
"She was my chocobo chick. Daddy bought her for me during a trip," Dajh slightly smiled as he reminisced. "I'm not really sure, but she is a lady now. Not that I mind, she is really funny anyways."
"I would go for the word 'peculiar'," Marian argued. "Do you remember anything of how this... affliction came upon you?"
"No, madam. Sorry."
The woman rubbed her temples: she was getting nowhere. He clearly knew nothing about how he and his father ended up like that.
"Will my daddy get better?"
"Yes, give it some time and he'll recover."
She wasn't sure if it would be true, but she hadn't had the heart to tell him outright that Sazh may remain like that forever. Not wanting to burden either of them she bid him farewell and left the boy in Roland's care who just returned with her husband from a stroll.
Robin noticed the worried look in Marian's eyes and decided to inquire her about her feelings.
"Marian, is something wrong?"
"No!" she quickly deflected. "Everything's fine. I just don't know what going on."
"Two dark curses are a certain way to bring trouble to a quaint town like this."
"I wish it didn't come to this. All I want is to live with you and Roland in peace, but it appears that such thing is not meant for us."
"I realize you are not exactly happy about all the difficulties thrown at us, but we'll prevail." Robin gently embraced his wife. "With each other's help there is nothing we can't do."
"I'd like to believe that," Marian silently muttered into his shoulder.
Emma and Hope came to the hospital to retrieve Serah. The blonde said she wanted to visit her friend so he and Serah had to wait a bit for her. The two didn't mind it and also decided on some socializing: they hoped that recollecting memories from their homeworld may help remembering some of the lost details.
Few minutes later Emma found herself in front of Hook's room. She knocked a few times and a familiar voice said that 'it's open'. The woman entered and approached the man, putting a hand on his head.
"Hi there," she said with a smile.
"Good to see you, Swan," he greeted her. "How was the day?"
"We came upon a crazy woman who kept bragging about some god she called 'Luminous' and his vision of a new world."
"Care to tell me?"
"Something about me 'purging the tainted'. I have no idea what it's about."
An awkward silence fell between the two. Hook didn't know what to say. Despite spending so much time in the Enchanted Forest and other kingdoms he didn't hear about something as strange as this. Not even Rumplestiltskin would come up with such plan.
"How's your chest? Any better?" Emma shifted the topic, not wanting to deal with the silence.
"A bit pale, but I'll manage," he replied with a smirk.
"Can I look at it?"
"You miss seeing my rippling muscles already?" he winked.
"I just wanna make sure you're not making things up. People tend to hide what's wrong with them from those they care about and that's not good," she sighed.
"So you don't trust me?"
"I do trust you. I'm just worried about you."
"You're just like Serah—you worry too much, love."
"What she has to do with it?" Emma asked surprised.
"Anyone would be worried if they found themselves in an unknown world. This is what worries her—she has no idea what's going on, and either have we."
Then Hook suddenly yelled in pain and collapsed into his bed. Emma quickly called doctors who forced her out of the room while they examined the man. Just before the doors were shut, she caught a glimpse of small patches of white dotting few places on the man's body. This surprised her as Hook didn't have anything like that. She then considered the battle with the Cie'th things from few days ago the reason for the change in the man's appearance. The whiteness on Hook also matched the one on the Cie'th they fought now that Emma thought about it.
After few moments she found Serah and Hope talking in the waiting room. When they noticed Emma's of confusion their conversation abruptly ended.
"Emma? What is it?" Serah asked with concern.
"It's Hook. I think he's sick."
"How come?" Hope asked.
"He's dotted with white patches. It's like he's turning into a Cie'th or something."
Author's Notes
[March 15th, 2015]
So I finally got to finishing this chapter/episode after over three months or so. We got some background on villains and heroes, some philosophical questions, and lots of other things. I do hope that those who read the story are actually enjoying it: it's a difficult task to writing a post-Lightning Returns story with Once Upon a Time setting, but it sure is rewarding.
The next chapter/episode will contain a surprise (and possibly) one-time cameo, because what would a story like this without a cameo be?
Is there anything you might be looking forward in the story? Or maybe you'll feeling that some plot points are underdeveloped? Anything you'd like to share will be of great help and boost for me.
For those interested, I started to create Final Fantasy VI SNES style sprites for the characters that appear in this story, and today the first character appeared: Emma Swan. The link to the gallery with the sprite collection can be found on my userpage.