Chapter 21
Magic In The Land Without Magic
Regina was sad at Robin's wake, it was to be expected but she could not comfort herself with the thought he was in a better place, or the underworld where he could find a way to a better place. Snow and David came over to give their condolences but Zelena said "I think what my sister needs is to be with someone who knows what she's going through".
David replied "we're so sorry about Hades, I know you had hoped your love had changed him and now he's gone, it must be hard".
Just then Emma came in and came over to Regina, Regina said "please, I've had enough people giving me their condolences, I would rather be alone right know".
Emma replied "it's just I have something to tell you, and you're not going to like it. Do you want to go somewhere a bit more private, it's delicate".
Suddenly the ground shook and Neal came in asking "is everyone alright"?
Seeing him alive again Tally called out "daddy" and she ran into his arms.
"Oh Sugarplum" he said.
David said "I thought you were trapped in the underworld".
Neal said "with the defeat of Hades my unfinished business was done. I was greeted by Zeus who wanted to reward me for defeating his brother".
Hook came up to him and said "it is good to have you back mate".
"Thanks Hook" he said
Regina looked at him with contempt, he was dead and came back, Robin was destroyed and would never be able to come back. Emma said to her "I know this must be hard for you".
Regina replied "hard, hard doesn't even begin to cover it. But my feeling's don't matter now. That blast could have only been cause by magic, and there's only one person not here who is powerful enough to do that.
Emma deduced "Gold".
Everyone had gone to the clock tower to investigate and upon learning Gold had stolen Storybrooke's magic they knew they had to get it back. Emma however was unsure if Regina should fight so soon after losing Robin. After Regina left Emma and Neal told Henry and Tally to go to their house. As they were walking down the street Tally saw Henry texting on his phone. "We're not going home are we"? Tally asked.
Henry said "I'm not, you can make your own choice".
Tally said "you wanna go against Grandpa Gold, I am so in". Henry grinned as they both went to the shop
When they got to the shop Henry went straight to the safe in the back to get some money out. Tally asked "what are you doing"?
Henry said "Grandpa's causing all this trouble so he's gonna help fix it whether he wants to or not".
Tally said "as I said you want to go against Grandpa Gold I am so in. But what you're doing, that's called stealing". Violet came in Tally asked "what are you doing here"?
Henry replied "I invited her, she's who I was texting on the way here".
Violet said "Henry, your text sounded urgent".
Henry answered "it's my grandpa, he's stealing Storybrooke's magic."
Violet replied "that's awful".
Henry stated "what's worse is magic itself, it always is. It turned my parents into dark ones and took away the man my other mom loved. If I don't do something it might rip my family apart".
To Tally this all sounded too familiar, she said "please tell me you're not going to try and blow up the well again".
Henry said "no, this time I'm going to be smart about it, and this time all of Storybrooke's magic is in one place".
Tally argued "but not all magic is bad. Think about the Blue Fairy … and Merlin and…"
Henry said "think about Nimue, and Isaac, and Cruella, and every other villain that's ever threatened this town. Look around this shop". He went to a pair of puppets and said "these are Gepetto's parents, now cursed to live as puppets". He picked up a needle "this has put people under a sleeping curse". He picked up a snowglobe "a whole village is trapped in here, frozen in time".
Violet said "magic killed my mom".
Henry said to Tally "see, magic is dangerous, it's ruined so many lives". He turned to Violet "I'm going on a quest to destroy magic, and I'd like you to come with me".
Violet replied "my father would be so mad, but I'm with you".
Tally said "count me in".
Henry said "count you out. You need to stay home and cover for me".
Tally folded her arms and replied "you know me, when do I ever stay where I'm supposed to? Besides I'm afraid without me you'll do something you'll end up regretting".
Henry said "fine, I just need to get one more thing".
Tally was anxious when he pulled out his pen "Henry, that pen is supposed to be used to record history, not change it, you could lose the power".
Henry replied "you lose the power if you use it to write your own happy ending, and even if I lose the power it makes no difference because this is the last time I intend to use it".
Henry got a pad out of his pocket and he wrote down: The Olympian Crystal transferred from the dark ones possession to his grandson. The Crystal instantly appeared in Henry's hand and he declared "now we need to destroy magic and save our family".
The next morning everyone was discussing where to look for Gold next when Regina came in. "Where is he"? She asked.
Emma said "when we find Gold"…
Regina said "not him, Henry". She took out her phone and read "mom there's only one way to fix everything that's tearing us apart and that's by getting rid of source of all our problems".
Emma checked her phone and told everyone "I got the same one, and one from Tally".
She decided to read out Tally's voice mail "mom, I think Henry's going to do something really stupid so I'm going along to try and stop him before it's too late".
Snow said "something really stupid, get rid of the source of our problems, what is he going to do"?
"I think I can answer that" said Gold coming in holding a piece of paper. "I found this in my shop :The Olympian Crystal transferred from the dark ones possession to his grandson. Now Henry is not the type to sought out and steal magic so why would he steal the item that he knows had all of Storybrooke's magic in it"?
Neal said "to destroy it, a key component to things having gone wrong is magic was involved. He tried to get rid of magic before but this time he knows exactly where all the magic is".
Gold replied "and a key component of this town. If the magic is destroyed what do you think would happen to this town and everyone in it".
Emma said "Henry would never do anything if he thought it could hurt us. He doesn't know what will happen to the town if he destroys magic".
Gold replied "I'll be sure to tell him right before I take the Olympian Crystal back".
Neal said "don't hurt him".
Gold asked "how little do you think of me? With or without magic I would never harm a child, especially a descendant of mine. I will only do whatever I need to".
In a puff Gold vanished and Regina stormed out followed by Emma,
Emma called "Regina".
Still walking away Regina said "I just Robin, I'm not gonna lose Henry. Gold may have said he won't harm him but he also said he'd do what he has to".
Emma said "but we need to be smart about it".
Regina replied "no, not we, you benched me, now I bench you".
Emma replied "you benched me first and out of the two of us I'm the one who knows how to find him".
Regina faced her surprised and asked "how"?
Emma said "I have two children who never stay where they're supposed to. I recently sneaked a GPS app onto their phones so I'd be able to find them".
Emma got out her phone to look and when Regina asked "well"?
Emma said "Boston".
When they got to the bus depo in Boston everyone had already got off but the GPS signal said they were still on the bus. Regina was questioning the bus driver when Emma came off the bus holding Henry's phone. Regina said "what about Tally's phone, she'll be with Henry".
Emma pulled out a pink phone with cartoon butterfly stickers on it. Regina said "so you now have no idea where they are".
Emma said "not right now but I will, finding people is my talent".
Throwing the phones into a nearby bin Regina yelled "and how much longer is that going to take"?
Emma saw a trashcan behind Regina burst into flames, seeing her expression Regina turned around and confused she made the fire stop magically. They went over to the bin and Emma lifted Henry's phone and dropped it and seeing it floating in mid-air said "our magic's working, but how"?
Regina said "the Olympian crystal has all of Storybrooke's magic. Now it's not in Storybrooke magic is everywhere just like in the enchanted forest".
Emma asked "do you think Gold knows this? If he does then he can find Henry before us".
Regina said "the question now is where are they"?
Henry, Violet and Tally arrived in New York City. Tally said "welcome to NYC".
Violet exclaimed "it's incredible".
Tally added "sometime people also refer to it as the big apple".
Violet looked confused "how is this city like an apple"?
Henry took her hand and said "it's just a name".
Violet said "I want to see it all".
Henry said "first things first, pizza".
Violet asked "what's that"?
Tally answered " cheesy delicious circles sliced up, usually into eight pieces".
Everyone had gathered in main street having been told Storybrooke might disappear and Zelena used the sorcerers wand to open a portal. As soon as everyone was safe Zelena attempted to close the portal but she couldn't control it. An unknown force broke out of the portal and pulled Zelena, Snow, David, Killian and Neal in. When they got spat out they were a chasm away from some sort of building. They made their way over to the building and found an anxious groundskeeper and then an orderly caught them and they fell unconscious.
Regina and Emma sat in Emma's car preparing for their next move. Regina got out a needle and said "give me your finger".
Emma asked "why"? looking afraid.
Regina said "this will only make you bleed. If I wanted to make you take an eternal nap I wouldn't be asking. And how would you being asleep help us find Henry".
Emma gave her, her finger which Regina pricked and let a drop fall on a map. Regina said "since there is magic in this world I know a spell we can use to find the kids". She waved her hand over the map and as the blood began to use Regina added "all that's needed is a map and blood of a blood relative". The trail of blood led to New York City.
After getting pizza Violet asked "why are we here in New York? Weren't we going to destroy magic"?
Henry said "we used to live here. Sometimes when dad took us to the library he would be studying, and I read some of the titles, he was studying magic and knowing how he feels about magic he would have being studying how to get rid of magic".
Violet asked "did he find a way to destroy magic"?
Henry said "no, but he studied a lot and put all of his findings into a folder. And I'm the only one besides him who knows where he kept it".
Tally asked "and then what? If dad didn't find a way"…
Henry said "we can finish what he started, with the time in Storybrooke erased when he was studying there are parts we might know which we didn't then. In any case it's a place to start".
Emma and Regina were trying to track down where the kids were unaware Gold was listening to their discussion. And the kids were in a special part of the library, this was made apparent as there were other books like Henry's on a shelf. Suddenly Violet saw something in a glass case. Walking up to it she said "I think I know why your father couldn't find the answer he was looking for"?
Henry asked "and why do you think he couldn't find it".
Violet said "the books he read were written by people who'd never been to Camelot. There are legends of a cup known as the holy grail".
Henry said "I've heard of it and it turned into Excalibur, but how would that destroy magic"?
"It wouldn't, the legend of the holy grail is widely known but it's twin is not. The holy grail is the source of all magic and it's twin is the end. I saw it once in a book and it looked just like that" she said pointing to a black goblet in the glass case.
Tally said "too bad it's in a case, I guess we'll have to give up".
Henry said "Tally, you know our family doesn't know the meaning of the word". With that he picked up a book and said "sorry the book just flew out of my hand. Then he threw the book against the case breaking the glass and took the unholy grail.
Tally said "well, I'll just bet that's not the real one, what are the chances it's here in the land without magic"?
Henry asked "this is the only realm without magic, why is that, do you think"? He put the unholy grail on the table and took out the Olympian crystal. They watched as the Olympian crystal reacted to it. "This is it"! Henry exclaimed. "This will destroy magic, Violet you are brilliant".
Violet replied "now we can destroy magic once and for all".
Tally said "or not, now you have it maybe you should take some time and think if this is really the best course of action".
Henry said "I have and it is. But not here, we should find somewhere more private to do this".
As they were about to leave the doors flew open and they saw Gold.
Tally said "Grandpa". After ordering how he found them she said "if you've come for my answer it's leaning towards yes, I'm grateful you saved me but I hate that you stole all of Storybrooke's magic".
Gold said "technically speaking Tally, your brother stole it".
Tally replied "but you're the one who tethered it to the Olympian crystal."
Gold said "it was necessary to wake Belle, so I'll be taking that crystal back now".
Holding up the crystal Henry said determinedly "you're not getting this back, not without a fight".
Gold said "Henry, I think you know I'm gonna win". And with a wave of his hand Henry, Violet and Tally fell asleep.
When they woke up Emma and Regina were there waking them up. After making sure they were okay Emma asked "what were the two of you thinking"?
Tally said "when I found out Henry was going to try and destroy magic I knew I had to come and try to talk him out of it. True magic sometimes causes problem but not all magic is bad".
Regina said "Tally is right".
Henry said "even after what happened with Robin. Magic killed him, just like Daniel. You finally had a chance at happiness and magic ripped it away again".
Regina said "Henry, if this is about the evil queen…."
Henry replied "no, it's not about that". He looked at Emma and said "because unlike you I trust her to withstand the darkness. And in case either of you need a recap I myself fell under a sleeping curse once, a diamond almost destroyed Storybrooke, both Tally and I got chased by flying monkeys, the entire town got trapped in a book and we just got back from the underworld to save dad. Remind me how did dad die again, oh yeah, it was magic, again".
Regina asked "what were you hoping to achieve down here"?
Henry answered "to finish what dad started; a way to destroy magic". He took a deep breath and added "but it was just a waste of time, how can anything destroy magic in a land without magic"? Tally looked at him confused wondering why he was lying.
Violet said "and now we have a bigger problem, Henry's grandpa has the crystal".
Regina lay out a map Tally asked "are you going to make the map tell us where it is"?
Regina said "not exactly, it will show us where is New York he is, if he's even still in New York. Henry I need your finger to make this work".
Henry held out his finger and Regina used a needle to prick his finger and one drop to fall on the map. She waved her hand over the map but nothing happened, she tried again but still nothing happened. Emma asked "what's wrong".
Regina answered "my magic it's not working".
Emma said "it was working before".
Regina deduced "Gold, he must have done something to the crystal so only he can use it".
Emma said "so our suspicions are confirmed, he's not planning on sharing the crystals magic with anyone and he's not planning on giving it back".
Tally asked "so how do we find him"?
Emma answered "look likes I'll have to dust off my bailbonds tricks".
Emma and Regina had gone off to try and find Gold. Henry decided he wanted to find him too and of course Violet and Tally went with him. Violet asked "is this really the best idea? Shouldn't we leave this to your mothers"?
Henry answered "it might not look like it but they could use help".
Tally asked "and how do we help"? Henry opened his bag and they saw he still had the unholy grail "Henry, getting rid of magic is a mistake".
Henry said "no, it isn't".
Violet mentioned "but we don't even know where he is"?
Tally pointed to a hotel with an eerie purple cloud over it and mentioned "I'm just guessing here but I think in that building is a pretty safe bet".
Emma and Regina had noticed the cloud too and went to the hotel. Regina wanted to go in and take him by surprise but Emma convinced her to try something else. She thought trying to take a man with a towns worth of magic by surprise was foolish. But maybe if Regina convinced him to let her collaborate with him and keep him distracted she could sneak in and take the crystal.
While Regina was keeping Gold busy Emma sneaked in to try and get the crystal back. Gold told Regina that Belle was taken and could only have been taken by way of the sorcerers wand. He transferred the crystal to his hand once Emma found it. He revealed he knew Emma had come in and only let Regina in to get a DNA sample from one of Zelena's family members. Now he did he didn't need either of them. Henry, Violet and Tally burst into the room and with the unholy grail Henry sucked up the magic from the Olympian crystal. Tally cried "no" but Henry just kept sucking up the magic. Gold asked "do you have any idea what you've done".
Henry replied "stopped you from hurting my moms and anyone else".
Gold said "you stopped me from rescuing Belle and now she's trapped in another realm with the rest of your family".
Henry asked "what's he talking about"?
Regina said "we got a call from Granny. Snow, David, Zelena, Hook and your father got sucked through a portal to another world".
Gold said "and thanks to you we have no way to save them".
Henry yelled "this isn't on me, it's on you".
He stormed off and Violet followed him Tally yelled "you're the most powerful practitioner of magic that ever lived, you most know a way to save everyone".
Gold replied "if I did do you think I would be so upset right now".
Regina said "if Henry destroyed all Storybrookes magic what happened to the town".
Gold said "Storybrooke survived twenty eight years without magic I'm sure it can survive a few more".
Emma stated "you said it would be destroyed".
Gold replied "yes, when I needed to motivate you to find your wayward son".
Tally folded her arms and said "I think I just had another vision, it's you, ending up alone, and unloved, for all eternity. It you want to prevent it do something useful for once".
Gold said "Mrs Swan-Cassidy, control your daughter".
Emma said "no, I'm with her on this".
Regina said "me too".
Gold though for a moment and said "this is the land without magic, but there is someone that might still have some".
Regina said "then take me to them, Emma you go find Henry".
Emma and Tally knew Henry would be at this wishing fountain, when they lived in New York City Henry would always go there when he was upset. Whenever Emma found him there she'd give him a penny and tell him to wish his troubles away. Meanwhile Gold and Regina had gone to see a man known as the dragon. He knew who they were and wasn't interested in helping Rumplstiltskin but before they could leave he agreed to help Regina.
They all gather at the dragon's shop and he put a flower in a bowl and used his powers to make the flower spin and when it disappeared they saw their family in the bowl. They were in a land they'd never seen before being led by someone they didn't know. It looked like they were trying to get away from something or someone. The dragon tried to open a portal but couldn't, there wasn't enough magic. "I'm afraid conjuring a portal to that world is beyond my capabilities".
"Please" Tally begged "try. Henry and I just got our father back".
The dragon replied "I did try but I was not able to. I have done all I can but none of you have. Just because the boy destroys Storybrooke's magic doesn't mean there's none in this world".
Regina said "you're saying there's magic in the land without magic".
Emma said "having no magic is the reason Neal chose this land in the first place".
The dragon replied "if you don't think there's any magic you don't go looking for it. But it's all around us, you can see if you believe".
Emma said "years ago before the curse broke August tried to prove magic was real to me be showing me his leg but I couldn't see his leg turning wood because I didn't believe. I couldn't see it until I started to believe.
Regina asked "so if there's magic in this world where would we find it"?
Henry said "I think I know where".
They all followed Henry to the wishing fountain. Henry asked "remember what Jefferson said the problem with people was"?
Emma answered "everyone wants a magical solution to their problem and everyone refuses to believe in magic".
Henry said "but they do believe, whenever they dare to make a wish".
Gold commented "I don't think this is what the dragon meant".
Henry replied "with all due respect grandpa I think this is exactly what he meant".
Tally asks "so what do we do, make a wish, and that will restore the magic"?
"Can't hurt to try" Henry said taking out a coin from his pocket. "I wish we were reunited with our family" and he tossed the coin in".
"Look at that" Tally said pointing at the crystal. Everyone looked but nothing was different. Tally explained "I saw it glow slightly for a brief moment".
Henry realised "just one isn't enough, it has to be all of us" he gave everyone a coin. They all wished silently and tossed a coin in the fountain. The crystal glowed brighter than before but then faded again.
Tally said "it's not enough, just six people wishing isn't enough".
Henry climbed next to the lion at the adjacent library and started a speech. "People of New York City" everyone turned to look at him and he continued "my name is Henry Mills and I need your help. My family is in danger but we can save them, with magic. I know how crazy it sounds but magic is all around us if you're willing to see it, willing to believe. And I know how hard that is, I once let my own belief waver and I'm known as the truest believer. We need magic, it can make the world a better place. I'm willing to bet that all of you were once a believer and at some point you left that part of you behind, but you can go back to it. So please make a wish for us and help restore magic to this world". He got down and ran to the fountain "you just need to make a wish". Everyone moved over to the fountain and made a wish and in a flash Snow, David , Neal, Hook and Zelena were standing in the fountain.
Tally screamed "Dad" and she ran into Neals arms.
Neal said "oh my sugar plum" Henry ran to hug Neal too while Emma greeted her parents and Regina greeted her sister.
Everyone applauded and Henry said "they think it was just an act".
Emma replied "but for one moment you made them all believe".
Tally suddenly had a vision, Henry asked "what did you see"?
Tally said "they're coming".
Emma asked "who, who is coming"?
Tally said "those who have stories best left untold"