AN: See chapter 1 for story notes and summaries.
Ships: Snowing, Rumbelle, Swan Believer, Swanfire, Daddy Charming, Mama Snow, HadesxPersephone, Mama Persephone, and a delightful Golden Mad Charming BroT3. :)
Please consider leaving a review. Feedback is much appreciated and vital. Reviews have dropped a bit, but any feedback you can give is much appreciated.
Also, feel free to follow me on Tumblr lilacmoon83.
Special note:
Here are the main face claims that we're dealing with right now. For other minor Gods/Goddesses, see previous chapters:
Gal Gadot as Persephone
Robert Downey Jr. as Hades
Vincent Irizarry as Deimos
Ben Affleck as Prince Eli
Rami Malek as Apollo
Drew Barrymore as former Queen Serafina
Idris Elba as Hephaestus
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Phobos
Thanks for awesome the reviews. Again, please consider leaving feedback. I love writing this story, but a lot of hard work in my free time goes into getting weekly chapters up, so reviews are really gratifying. Reviews have really dropped lately, so please leave a comment. :)
Here are individual responses:
Naomi Blue: Yes, the terrible trio are a huge problem on top of other problems for sure. Yeah, this Landon guy gets worse in this chapter when he meets someone who is also problematic. Emma on a Pegasus would be epic for sure and I enjoyed the Emma/Elsa scenes too. :)
Saberius Prime: Yep, and this outsider is going to get more problematic, I have an interesting twist with Pan, and I love the Emma/Elsa bonding too. :)
Jennifer Baratta: Yep, more trouble is coming. Glad you're enjoying it!
Number Ten: Pan is big trouble for sure. Glad you liked the Emma/Elsa friendship. I enjoyed that part too. Ha, yeah no Leo here, but at least Elsa has found family at least. I liked that too. Persephone and Hades would totally fight over whose going to spoil him the best. Yeah, the detective gets worse, because he meets someone who is equally problematic. Yikes. :)
Dreaming Out Loud
Chapter 111: Shadows of Evil
"Terrible News!" Leroy cried, as he hurried in with the other dwarves following him.
"Leroy...what is it?" David questioned.
"There's trouble in town. There's this kid flying around and he's got some shadowy thing with him," Leroy reported.
"And the shadowy thing is ripping shadowy things from people. And the people aren't getting back up," Happy added.
"One of them did," Doc reminded.
"Oh yeah, one guy got back up, but he wasn't the same," Happy added.
"His eyes were glazed and it looked like he was in a trance or something," Leroy confirmed.
"Pan…" Rumple growled.
"And the shadowy things?" Snow asked.
"The one doing the ripping is Pan's shadow. It does his bidding and rips the shadows from others," Rumple answered.
"Does it kill them?" David asked.
"If the shadow is not reunited with the body...then yes, the body will begin to decay. A shadow is akin to a person's soul," Rumple explained.
"Wait...are you saying we could have decaying bodies walking aimlessly around Storybrooke?" Neal asked.
"Not aimlessly...without a soul, they will be under Pan's control and terrorize the living so Pan can rip their shadows as well. They will have to be put down," Rumple replied.
"Rumple? We cannot put people down! Can't they be reunited with their shadow?" Belle asked.
"If we get them before the souls are consumed," Rumple replied.
"Consumed?" Emma asked.
"Yes...that's how Pan and his lost boys stay young. They consume the shadows or souls of people. The younger the person...the longer it sustains them. And if that person has magic...it's like giving Pan a hundred extra lives like a character in one of Henry's video games," Rumple answered.
"The baby…" Persephone muttered. He nodded curtly.
"The baby is pretty much his ticket to eternal life, though Henry or Emma would also nearly get him there as well," he said.
"But Henry doesn't have magic," Regina said, as she put her arms around her son.
"No, but he is born of two very significant bloodlines. Mine, which is riddled in dark magic and Snow and Charming's, which is the direct opposite and rooted in light magic," Rumple reminded.
"Anyone in Persephone's bloodline would add significant years to his youth," Hades agreed.
"So these soulless people that have already had their shadows consumed are just going to wander town and attack people?" Neal questioned.
"I'm afraid so," Rumple confirmed.
"So essentially, they're like zombies," Emma said.
"They don't eat brains, but it's a fairly accurate comparison," Rumple answered.
"Because we needed zombies. We didn't have enough problems as it is," Regina spat bitterly.
"How do we stop him?" Snow asked.
"You don't. You're not going anywhere near this," Persephone protested.
"Mother...I'm not just going to sit back and let Pan reign terror on my town without trying to stop him," Snow protested.
"Snow...it's too dangerous. You need to stay with the baby," Eli said.
"Our baby has Granny and Red to protect him while we deal with this. And Nana Demeter," Snow reminded, as she looked at her step-father.
"Papa Hades…" she said, with pleading eyes.
"Oh, don't look at me like that," he complained and then sighed, as he waved his hand. Gone were hers and David's formal clothing and it was replaced with their warrior clothing, complete with the weapons.
"What the hell?" Persephone questioned her husband.
"You know they're just going to follow us anyway," he argued and she rolled her eyes, a signal that she knew he was right.
"We're coming too," Emma said, as she looked at Regina. The Queen gave them all Storybrooke clothing and weapons as well.
"What about me?" Henry asked.
"Oh hell no, kid. You're staying with Red," Emma replied, as Henry pouted. Persephone sighed and gave herself, Eli, Robert, James, and Hades a change of clothing as well.
"Let's go…" she said, reluctant to take her family into this, but knew they would refuse to stand on the sidelines when it came to protecting their people.
"Need some extra help?" Lancelot asked, as he stepped forward and David smiled, as they shook hands. The exchange was unknowingly witnessed by Arthur, who seemed very intrigued.
"Of course," David agreed.
"We will help as well," Mulan said, as she stepped forward and shed her helmet. The fiery redhead, armed with a bow, agreed with a nod.
"Let me guess...you're Merida," Henry said. She smiled.
"I am...how did you know that?" she asked.
"I like stories," the boy answered simply.
"I'm not sure what a zombie is...but I doubt they like ice. I'm in too," Elsa said, as she hugged her sister, who was going to stay behind.
"Go Red...there's enough of us to stay with the children. They'll need you," Granny said. Red nodded and shed her cloak.
"Let's move out," Rumple said, as he prepared to lead the fight against his own deranged father.
People ran and screamed and he found himself screaming, as he watched the shadowy creature literally rip something shadowy from a man. The man screamed in agony as he did it and then fell dead to the ground.
"What the hell is this…" Landon uttered, as he hid under a table on the patio and watched the spectacle with curious horror. And if watching shadows be ripped from people wasn't horrible enough, he watched in disbelief as the man floating in the sky seemed to suck the shadow up and consume the apparition through his olfactory senses.
"It's not enough," he heard the boy tell another boy that looked to be slightly older.
"Adults never are...especially non magical ones," the older boy confirmed. Adding horror to the whole unbelievable situation, the former detective watched one man, who had his shadow ripped from him, stand up suddenly. But the look in his eyes was glazed and his monotone stare indicated that something was definitely off.
"I need children…" Pan stated.
"Well, with all the realms united now, gathering them should be easy," Felix confirmed. Pan smirked and pulled out his wooden flute.
"Yes…" he agreed, but just as he was about to play the instrument, a fireball hit the object and destroyed it. Pan looked down to find his son there, along with many others that would attempt to stop him. He smirked and lowered himself to the ground.
"Hello son…" he hissed, as he looked at the rest of them.
"Where's the new babe?" he questioned, as he looked at Snow.
"You know...I felt him the minute he was born. I haven't felt magic like that in a very long time. I think twenty-nine years to be exact," Pan added and David's eyes narrowed.
"Is he talking about Emma?" he questioned to Gold.
"I'm afraid so. His life's mission is to preserve his youth and children do that best. It's why he lures them to Neverland," Rumple answered.
"Yes...and no one escapes Neverland," Pan added.
"I did," Neal challenged and Pan chuckled.
"Oh, you think you escaped?" the demon countered and Neal frowned.
"I let you go, Baelfire…" he revealed.
"Why? Because I'm your grandson?" Neal questioned.
"Oh no...I abandoned Rumple when he was very young. I would have thought nothing of eating your soul, but I knew what you would go on to do...or rather who you would go on to spawn," he continued.
"Henry…" Neal uttered.
"No way psycho...there's no way you're getting anywhere near our son," Emma growled.
"He'll make a nice addition to my lifespan, but it's your baby brother that's the key to my immortality," he replied. David drew his sword and pointed it at the evil being.
"You're not getting anywhere near our son," the prince growled.
"He's right...you're severely outnumbered and out magicked," Persephone concurred. Pan chuckled.
"You can't kill me…" he claimed.
"And why the hell not?" Emma countered.
"Go ahead...take your best shot," Pan tempted, as Regina took his bait and tossed a fireball at him. It engulfed him in a fiery display and Snow gasped, as they saw a charred and burned Pan when the smoke cleared. It was a gruesome sight and while Snow turned away to hide her eyes in Charming's shoulder, Regina smirked smugly. But her mirth faded, as they watched in disbelief. They burned and charred skin melted away and Pan shook the ash out of his hair, as he was not only alive, but completely unharmed.
"That smarted...I don't let people do that very often," he boasted.
"How?" David questioned, as his eyes were wide. Pan smirked.
"Because a person's shadow essentially contains a person's soul. Normal, non-magic people become zombie-like creatures and die if not reunited quickly with their shadows," Rumple reminded.
"But for Pan, without his shadow attached to him, he cannot be killed. And because he has consumed so many shadows...they sustain his physical being. He can only die when he cannot consume shadows or we destroy his shadow," The Dark One continued.
"Which would essentially be his soul," Mulan surmised, catching on to the concept.
"And finding souls to sustain me just got a bit easier with this grand United Realms. When you're all sleeping in your beds, I'll lure the children of Storybrooke and all the realms to me," Pan said.
"The hell you will," David growled, as he drew his sword. Pan smirked and they watched, as dozens of ragged looking boys landed behind Pan from the sky.
"Who are they?" Snow asked.
"The Lost Boys...Pan's victims. Do not let their cherub faces fool you...they are without their souls," Rumple warned.
"Then how come they aren't zombie-like?" Neal asked his father.
"Because that's what happens to adults. For children, once their shadows are consumed by Pan, they become the lost, completely loyal and subservient to Pan. Do not hesitate to kill, for they are savage," Rumple responded.
"Surely they can be saved?" Snow questioned.
"They might as well already be dead," Rumple refuted, as the boys moved in and attacked with savagery that they had rarely seen, not even from grown soldiers in their time fighting George's and Arawn's armies in both time lines.
"Spread out...don't let them seek out any children or anymore shadows!" Persephone called, as they spread out to protect the town.
Though she loathed it, Elsa used her ice powers to subdue the ones she could, while Regina didn't hesitate to turn them to ash. Mulan and Merida joined Lancelot in a more conventional, but no less effective fight, as they engaged in hand to hand combat.
Snow threaded an arrow and hit one boy in the chest, which disturbed her greatly, as he fell lifeless to the ground. Another boy glared at her and flew over her, before diving down on her husband. She gasped, as David's back was turned, while fighting another boy off and she called out to him.
"DAVID!" she cried and then screamed, as the boy tried to rip her husband's shadow from him. There was no hesitation this time and she put another arrow in this one, dropping him. David fell to the ground, as his shadow went back inside his body and she rushed to him.
"I'm okay…" he assured, as she cradled him in her arms.
"But for how long?" Pan mused, as several boys hovered in the air around the couple.
"They gave life to the child that can grant my immortality. They'll make a nice feast for me tonight," Pan hissed. Persephone saw the precarious situation facing her daughter and son-in-law, so she called on her ultimate power. The lightning coursed through her veins and her eyes became lit with power, as her power erupted and struck down Pan and his lost boys. Pan seethed, as he stood up with Felix, the only surviving boy, and glared at her.
"This isn't over. Lost Boys are a cheap commodity for me and we will feed on the children of Storybrooke," he hissed, as he looked at Snow and David.
"Take good care of the babe...he's my ticket to immortality and ruling the United Realms," Pan said, as he and Felix flew off and back to their island for now.
Snow and David breathed in relief, as Emma hurried to them.
"Are you guys okay?" she asked.
"Yeah...I think so, honey," Snow replied, as she caressed her husband's face.
"David…" she said.
"I'm fine, my darling...just a bit sore," he replied, as she and Emma helped him up.
"How do we kill him?" David questioned.
"His shadow...we have to capture it," Hades answered.
"And then we have to destroy it," Rumple confirmed.
"And how do we destroy his shadow?" Eli asked.
"That's the real trick," Hades answered.
"What can destroy the shadow?" Snow questioned her step-father.
"Well, pure hellfire is one way. But since I'm not King of the Underworld anymore, I don't really have access to the fire of Acheron anymore," he replied.
"Who is ruling the Underworld now?" Emma asked.
"Good question and as Goddess Supreme, it's an answer I'll have to find out soon. It's not so easy though. Only the Gold of the Underworld and Hermes can access that realm...alive anyway," Persephone responded.
"But Mother...you're Queen of the Underworld still, aren't you?" Snow asked.
"I'm afraid not, sweetheart. My rule there was by marriage only," she reminded.
"And Hermes is a worm, who can't be trusted. But when he comes out of his hidey hole like the snake he is...I'll persuade him to tell me what we want to know," Hades said.
"Persuade?" Persephone asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Persuade, torture, beat it out of him...it's all relevant," he quipped.
"Hades…" she warned, with a disapproving tone.
"Don't worry...I won't torture him. I might make him wet himself a little though, you know, for fun," he said, in an amused tone. She sighed.
"Back to the matter at hand," she said.
"Oh right...hellfire. Well, there is bald mountain and since Frollo has little interest in going near the place that can imprison him again, that's an option," Hades continued.
"You mean the magma inside the mountain?" Emma recalled. He nodded.
"When we created the mountain, originally to hold the black God or Chernabog, I used hellfire from Tartarus to fill that pit. It was the only way to keep a creature as powerful as the Chernabog sealed away," Hades answered.
"Great...then we capture Pan's shadow and toss it in the pit," David stated.
"Unfortunately, he'll see that coming a mile away and stop us. Pan is not easily fooled. He won't go near that mountain or let us get his shadow near it either," Rumple refuted.
"Then we bring the mountain to him or rather the fire inside it," Persephone interjected and Hades smirked.
"Now that might actually work. Still not easy though," he said.
"Sounds like it's our best chance though. What do we need to do?" David asked.
"Let's go back to the palace. We can discuss it on the way," Persephone suggested, as they began the trek back.
Meanwhile, the former Detective that had observed the whole thing came out of his hiding spot. He had never been so confused or mystified in all his life. He would have truly thought he was in some kind of twilight zone, but then he realized that not even the twilight zone would be this crazy. He took out his phone again and pressed redial.
"Zach...it's Landon again. You got some personal time you can take?" he asked.
"A lot of it, why?" he asked.
"I've got a GPS location and I want you to come to it," Landon replied.
"Griffin...what the hell is going on?" Zach questioned, using Landon's surname.
"I don't know...that's just the thing. I told you that I'm in this crazy little town and there's some seriously weird shit going on here. So weird that you have to see it to believe! Hell, I'm seeing and I still don't believe," he rambled.
"Look Landon...I don't know what's going on with you, but I can't just drop my cases right now to come up there and chase ghosts with you," Zach replied in exasperation.
"Zach...I'm telling you that something weird is going on here. I'm talking changing the world type stuff," Landon argued.
"You sound crazy...and unless you have some kind of concrete case with some evidence of criminal activity, then I'm not coming up there to sniff the dirt with you," Zach replied, as the line went dead. Landon cursed inwardly.
"The cops won't even entertain your ideas without proof, right?" a voice said and the former detective turned to find a man standing there.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked.
"My name is Greg Mendell, but I was born Owen Flynn. I told the cops about all the strange things that happen in this crazy little town, twenty-nine years ago, but they didn't believe me either, because once I left, I was never able to find it again...until just a few months ago," Greg explained.
"You were here as a kid?" Landon questioned.
"Yeah...it's a bit different now, even weirder. The castles are new...but the town, yeah that's been here for almost thirty years now," Greg answered.
"Owen Flynn...that sounds familiar," Landon recalled and Greg pulled something up on his phone.
"It should to a former detective in this area…" he responded, as he showed the detective the now digitized thirty-year old article about him.
"Your father's disappearance...Kurt Flynn. I remember they thought he up and abandoned you," Landon remembered.
"He didn't abandon me!" Greg snapped.
"He was held against his will by an evil witch. I ran to find help, but could never find the town again, just like your friend couldn't ping your cell phone, despite a cell tower right over there," Greg said, pointing to it.
"Fine...then what happened to your dad?" Landon questioned.
"He was murdered and he's buried in these woods somewhere. You help me find the body and then we'll have proof to take to the cops," Greg offered.
"Even if we get proof...how do the cops even find this place? Seems to not be an easy thing. I'm still not even sure how I found it," Landon countered.
"I have ways of getting people in here now," Greg responded cryptically.
"Fine...but if we're looking for remains that are thirty-years old, that won't be easy, even if I did have a cadaver dog. Which I don't," Landon reminded.
"We don't need one. We just need these," Greg stated, as he held up a vial and a ratty old plaid shirt. Landon quirked an eyebrow.
"I'm not even going to pretend to know what either of those have to do with finding decayed remains," the former detective said. Greg poured the liquid substance on the old shirt and Landon's eyes widened, as it floated.
"It's a locator spell…I borrowed it from the same witch that I know killed my father," Greg stated.
"Okay man...start talking and explain to me what the hell this place is and who those strange people were," Landon demanded.
"I'll talk while we follow this," Greg said, as the shirt began to float toward the woods and they trekked after it.
Henry sighed and pushed his comic book away, as they waited for news from his loved ones.
"Hey...since when are the adventures of…" Granny said, as she looked at the comic.
"The adventures of the Avengers so uninteresting?" she asked.
"Who needs to read comics when my life is better than one, except I'm on the sidelines," Henry complained. Granny chuckled.
"Are you comparing your family to the Avengers?" she teased.
"Wouldn't you?" Henry countered and she nodded.
"I suppose you have a point. We do kind of have our own little team of Avengers here. But they need to know you're safe here," Granny reminded, as she held the baby.
"I guess…" he said dejectedly.
"What's an Avenger?" Kristoff asked curiously and Henry simply handed him the comic book.
"I just wanna be out there too," Henry lamented.
"And someday...you will be," Granny promised.
"Now...why don't you read from the book to your baby Uncle," she suggested. Henry smirked.
"Is it weird that my uncle is younger than me?" Henry asked.
"Yeah...that's definitely weird, but then your Mom is the same age as her parents," Anna chimed in.
"Maybe...but this is Storybrooke. Weird is a prerequisite," Granny quipped, as Henry picked a story and began to read.
By the time they returned to the palace, the summons had mostly ended and the palace had emptied, except for the staff they had hired. Emma and Neal had put a sleepy Henry to bed, while Snow and David retired with the baby. She sighed, as she exited the bathroom. Upon moving into the castle, the first thing her mother had done was modernize it, including modern appliances in the kitchen, central heat and air, and most importantly, running water and indoor plumbing. They were planning to innovate all the homes and castles with all the amenities as part of the campaign they were calling the best of both worlds. Regina was actually eager to help them with the project as well, surprisingly, but then she was trying to channel her energy into positive things for Henry's sake.
"Are you okay?" David asked, as he turned to her and she smiled at him. The sight of him holding their baby melted her heart every time.
"I am...I guess it just seems that people that might want to hurt us keep multiplying," she mentioned, as she slipped her arms around his waist.
"And now...there is a literal flying demon that wants to eat our baby's soul," she added.
"Hey...that's not happening," he promised.
"Your mother and Hades put every protection around the castle that they know," he reminded.
"And I don't care what lengths I have to go to, because Pan is not getting our baby and I'm not going to hesitate when it comes to his demise," he added. She nodded. This was definitely one time that mercy was neither an option or warranted. Pan was a straight up evil seed with no redeeming qualities. Rumple had been vague, but her mother had gone into a bit more detail. Apparently, to become what he was and have eternal youth, Pan had willingly and gladly abandoned his son and to her, that was pure, unadulterated evil. And if that wasn't evil enough, he had basically promised to kill all the children of the United Realms and build an army of lost children to help him rule the rest of them.
"Papa Hades was pretty vague about how exactly he's going to use the hellfire though," she said, as she bit her bottom lip.
"Only because he thinks Pan has ears everywhere," he reminded. She nodded. It made sense. Their plan basically hinged on tricking someone Rumple said was almost un-trickable and the element of surprise was crucial. Snow watched her husband gently put their sleeping angel in his bassinet, which was right beside their bed. She peered down at him and fussed a bit over his blanket and made sure he was tucked snugly. She felt comfort at him behind her, as he put his arms around her.
"We still need to name him," David mentioned.
"I've been thinking about that," she replied.
"You have a name you like?" he inquired.
"Well...I know we talked about naming him after someone and there are a lot of people that would deserve such. But then I've been thinking about how you said you wanted him to have his own identity too," she mentioned.
"I did...but if you want to name him after someone, that's fine too," he said agreeably.
"Maybe the middle name...but I think I want to name our son Alexander and call him Xander for short," she announced. He smiled and kissed her cheek.
"Alexander...Latin meaning defender of the people. Appropriate," he agreed.
"I love it," he agreed.
"Me too…" she replied, as they shared a tender kiss and watched their baby sleep.