Chapter 1...
THE LAND OF MISFORTUNE...
At first the ground beneath him was warm, and the air smelled of lilies and the season of fall. He felt so warm, so at peace. He didn't want to leave, but he could feel himself slipping. Before he knew it, he could feel himself move... somewhere different. The ground became cold and damp. The air smelled bitter, and it was dark. He was barely able to open his eyes before he attempted to move. He grunted in exhaustion and pain, and he fell back down to the ground. He decided to lay there until he could muster the energy to get up. However, a few moments later, the sound of hooves could be heard from a short distance. Soon he heard footsteps coming closer. He attempted to move again but found that he was weaker than before. He gave up on trying to move for now and settled on trying to see the stranger. But it didn't help, it was too dark. All he remembered before blacking out were a few words, "Who is he?"
STORYBROOKE...
Three months had gone by since Rumple's sacrifice. Most of the town didn't believe them when Snow and David told them Rumpelstiltskin helped them defeat the darkness. Some even suspected that he was still alive; that he was still the dark one and that it wasn't over. They would have to try and let them come to accept it on their own. It had taken so much and so long to finally defeat the darkness. It was a little hard to believe that it was now all over. Emma and her parents met with Regina to have breakfast at Granny's after Henry went off to school.
"It's so strange to sit here and think that the darkest thing I'm going to have to face today is grading tests." Snow was saying. Emma giggled, but her smile faded. She thought about the reason behind her mother's meaning. They all thought about him. They were still taking time to process all that had happened. She thought about how Killian was feeling with it all. He had barely talked about it since it happened. But no one could imagine how Belle was doing. She had decided to stay in town and had hardly spoken to anyone. She was always either at the library or taking care of the store. But everyone went to check on her now and then, to see how she was doing. It couldn't be easy grieving his death after such a sacrifice.
"Well, I think I speak for everyone when I say that we deserve some time off from this hero business." Emma said aloud. Naturally, their celebration was interrupted by Lee Roy being thrown into the diner. The Charming's and Killian rushed to Lee Roy's aid. Others in the diner jumped back in shock. Granny reached under the counter and got her shotgun out. Emma, Regina and David were the first to walk out of the diner. Snow, Killian, Granny and a few others followed behind them and they all stood just outside and stared at the intruder. She wore a dress black as night, covered in string and lace and feathers. She did not look friendly at all.
"Well, well, well, a Savior. How wonderful." She said in a thick British accent, her voice full of venom and evil.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Emma asked taking a protective stance in front of everyone, her Savior instincts taking over.
"Now, now, now let's not rush into this. There will be plenty of time for chatter after I've defeated the Savior."
"Fat chance." Emma said taking a confident step forward.
"Oh, how confident. But I'm afraid I'm not talking about you dear." She responded with a snicker.
"You just said you were here to destroy the Savior. That's me." Emma declared really confused. Why she come here and say she was going to destroy her, then say she wasn't going to destroy her.
"Yes, you are. In this land." the strange woman said with a smile. Emma's eyes grew when she realized what she was talking about.
"That's right. I'm not the only Savior." Emma remembered taking in the woman's evil smile. "There are other Saviors just in different realms. Well that doesn't matter. Whoever you're after, we're gonna help them stop you." Emma declared. The woman simply laughed.
"If only it were that simple. You see, they are far, far away from here. Some place no one can go, and no one can escape." She responded in riddle.
"Why is it always riddles?" David asked no one in particular.
"You really think you're strong enough to defeat all of us? We just destroyed the Dark One, the most powerful darkness in all of the lands. So, what makes you think that you can defeat us?" Regina challenged.
"Because you've already destroyed your only chance at defeating me." The woman said proudly. Emma stood in thought for a moment. Then it hit her.
"Gold. You're talking about Rumpelstiltskin." Emma stepped in front of Regina cutting her off.
"Gold was the most powerful sorcerer for over 300 years. Makes sense." Regina said.
"What do you have to gain by destroying us? This is a land without magic. You won't be able to have anything here. There's nothing to conquer except this town." Emma said.
"Oh no darling, this is the last place I would want to conquer." She answered snickering at the buildings she was looking at. "What I want is something much more precious."
"And what's that?" Killian asked with his death stare. He moved to stand next to Emma protectively, even though he knew she could take care of herself, but he couldn't stop himself. It was instinct.
"What most villains want... revenge." And the woman began to back away as if preparing for something.
"Revenge on whom?" David asked actually curious. As far as any of them knew, no one knew who this woman was. So, who could she want to exact revenge on? The question seemed to anger her as she stepped forward.
"That..." She realized that she was losing her cool and forced herself to calm down. "Is not important. And it doesn't matter because I will defeat the Savior. And there is nothing you can do to stop me." She said with a proud voice.
"Well, we won't let you win. Good always wins. No evil is strong enough to defeat the most powerful thing in all the realms." Snow shot back. The witch just laughed.
"Oh? And what's that darling?" She asked curiously, but she seemed unphased as if she expected all of this.
"Love." Snow answered strongly.
"You have no idea what true evil is. And as for who I am? I'm the one who is going to snuff out the light once and for all." Just as quick as she appeared, she disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Killian took a step forward.
"Who the bloody hell was that?" He asked no one in particular. Suddenly Blue appeared on the sidewalk, she was walking towards them quickly.
"That was the Black Fairy." She said, answering Killian's question and walking up to the Charming family.
"Blue!" Snow exclaimed relieved. She walked over to greet her friend.
"Who was she? And what does she want?" Emma asked Blue with a worried and determined expression.
"She's a very powerful fairy. And if she's here, God help us." Blue said. "She steals children and bewitches them into believing she is their mother."
"So, she's the one who's been taking the children." David realized. Blue nodded. "But why? What does she want with the children?"
"She uses the children to harvest dark fairy dust. Where there is light..." She trailed off.
"There is dark." Regina finished understanding. "She needs more dust to get to this far away land. To defeat their Savior." Blue nodded with a saddened face.
"As soon as I sensed that she was here I knew. She is not a threat to take lightly. She turned dark a long time ago. The other fairies and I tried to stop her from making a big mistake, but we failed." Blue explained.
"What mistake?" David asked this time. Blue looked at them sadly and sighed.
"That's a long story. And one that everyone should hear. But first, we need to go Mr. Gold's shop. There is something there that we will need if we are to succeed in defeating the Black Fairy."
"Which is...?" Killian asked getting a little impatient.
"A book." She answered.
"How is a book going to help us?" Killian asked a little too forcefully. Blue turned to face them.
"There's a prophecy. One I hoped would have been prevented from coming true, but it seems it's already begun." She half explained.
"You're being a little vague, what is this prophecy?" Regina asked her, crossing her arms over her chest. Blue hesitated, unsure if she should tell them. She had tried her best to keep any notion of this prophecy existing. There was nothing she could do now except tell them.
"The prophecy says, as the final battle approaches a Savior will return to the light from the darkness and fight the final battle." She said weary of their questions and reactions.
"Emma is the Savior, she was never dark, though." David said defensively.
"Well, she was the Dark One at one point." Regina put in.
"Regina!" Snow complained.
"What? She was! And she is the Savior." Regina added.
"Yes, but does that even count? I mean she remained pure after..." Snow trailed off not wanting to speak of that night. Killian shifted uncomfortably.
"She's not the only Savior." Blue told them. Regina rolled her eyes.
"Yes, we know that. But why would she come here if the Savior she's meant to destroy is in this so called far away land?" Regina asked skeptically.
"She needs the dark fairy dust. Wherever she was before, must have run out. And now she's here." Blue responded.
"Okay, so if I'm not the Savior in this prophecy, who is? How do we find them?" Emma asked wanting to get this conversation over with.
"The realm the Black Fairy spoke of is The Realm of Misfortune. That's where he is." Blue said.
"Oh well that sounds like absolute paradise." Killian said sarcastically moving to stand on the other side of Emma and she gave him a look.
"So, she's using dark fairy dust, but how do we get there?" Emma asked.
"The book." Regina answered. "You're not talking about the book, are you?" Regina asked moving closer to Blue.
"I'm afraid so." She said looking at Regina apologetically. The others just looked on in confusion.
"Wait what's so scary about some book?" David asked.
"It has the darkest of spells in it. No one knows where it originated. It's older than Merlin himself. It's said that you can travel to the darkest of places using this book. It's full of the darkest of spells and even Gold refused to use it, and we can't. We don't know what kind of price we'll have to pay." Regina spoke intensely, trying to get her point across that they shouldn't use this book.
"It is the only way." Blue said.
"Let's go get this book." Emma started walking to head to the shop.
"No one knows where Gold hid the book in the Enchanted Forest, no way anyone will know where to find it now. And now there's no Dark One to just pull it out of thin air." Regina argued.
"Then we'll ask Belle to help us find it. She's good at finding things. Especially when it's something of Golds." Emma said still walking, the others following behind her.
"This won't be easy to ask of her. You know how hard it's been for her." Snow said walking faster to keep up with her daughter.
"I know. And I hate to make this difficult for her. But I know that she would want to help." Emma stopped walking for a moment. "Gold died to save all of us. We can't let his sacrifice be for nothing. Regina came back from the darkness, and now so has he. We owe him this much. And there are children here in danger." Emma said.
"I know. But let's be smart about this and come up with a plan before we do anything that book says." Emma nodded at her mother's words.
"I know. I just hope we get to this other Savior before the Black Fairy does."