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/characters, see previous chapters:
Gal Gadot as Persephone
Robert Downey Jr. as Hades
Ben Affleck as Prince Eli
Drew Barrymore as former Queen Serafina
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. Unless you're a troll. Troll comments will be deleted.
Here are individual responses:
Grace5231973: Yes, I agree. I'm glad that most villains got a second chance and most had real redemption(some not so much), but I wanted to shed the light on the other side. The normal people do kind of get screwed over, including him. Snow even mentions it to David in the Underworld when she's looking at the gravestones. There was a lot that wasn't in her control, but they were her people. I don't think the fandom likes to acknowledge how much Regina really owes Snow for all the chances she was given. They only focus on Snow's missteps with Regina(they love to cite 2x10 when it looked like she killed Archie). Personally, I don't blame them for thinking that. Up to that point, Regina had given them no reason to believe otherwise. Anyway, that scene was meant to shine a light on what some of these people might think sometimes. I think most of them forgave like the Charmings did, but I think there would have been those that didn't. They were just never paid any mind. What I will attempt to show though is Greg's inability to move on is what actually caused him to get screwed over. He couldn't let revenge go, like some villains for a while, and thus he's denied his happy ending. Yep, revenge and justice are often confused. The same "peons" he claims he's advocating for in his speech will be hurt by his actions now so he's being hypocritical there. Yeah, Mushu and the outside world are just going to be so much trouble. :)
Saberius Prime: Yep, way disturbing and doesn't get much better. Yes, we're meeting Jekyll here long before he's perfected the serum. Right now, it's not even safe for him to ingest so he's using real people as test subjects and still fooling himself that he's not evil. :)
mrhawkprime: Thanks, but I doubt I will be reading much into any of that. My plate is just too full for that and I don't have too much interest in King Arthur beyond the Once universe. But thanks for the information.
Jennifer Baratta: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Number Ten: Yeah, Greg really blurred the lines there and that was my intent. He does have some valid points, but yeah, he's really just shit stirring, but that was my point too, lol. I am with Snow too and she'll eventually prove that hope and forgiveness are the way. There will always be skeptics, but most will see the path to happiness begins with hope. Yeah, I thought it was an appropriate chapter to use that title on. :)
Dreaming Out Loud
Chapter 122: Quest for the Key, Pt. 1
As they followed Hades, they noticed he was leading them toward their old loft, causing Snow and David to exchange a glance.
"Wait...you think Hook has a key to the Land of Untold Stories?" David asked.
"No...but he still has the compass that he and Cora stole from Anton to get to this land. And we need that to get to the land we have to go to in order to find the person that may have the key we need," Hades answered.
"So...the key is in another realm entirely?" Emma asked.
"Yes...another one that fortunately was excluded from the United Realms. Trust me," he replied.
"Papa Hades...where is this key?" Snow asked. He sighed.
"Possibly Transylvania...a land of sheer terror and monsters," he said with a wince.
"We're going to Transylvania?" Emma asked, as her eyebrows were in her hair.
"Gods no...you three are staying here. Your grandmother and I will go get the key and then come back for all of you," he replied. Persephone nodded.
"Hey wait...you don't just get to leave us behind. We're coming with you," Snow said.
"She's right...my parents will be perfectly willing to watch the kids," David added.
"You three are not coming to Transylvania with us," Persephone argued.
"Mother...I've been to the Underworld, at least in the alternate reality. I grew up there half the time. How much worse can Transylvania be?" Snow asked.
"A thousand times worse, Snowdrop. When your mother and I were raising you in the Underworld, we were the rulers there. Everyone knew that even thinking about touching you was a one way trip into the pits of Tartarus or worse...getting made into a chew toy for Cerberus," Hades quipped.
"Yes...and we do not have that kind of pull in Transylvania. The monsters do not fear the threat of eternal damnation in Tartarus there," Persephone added.
"Maybe not, but we're still coming," Snow insisted.
"No...you're not," Eli chimed in.
"But Daddy…" she started to say and Emma had to suppress her own laughter. Her mother sounded exactly like she did when she was trying to get her way with her own father.
"Except that you may need them," Demeter chimed in.
"Mother…" Persephone chided.
"Need us?" David inquired curiously and she sighed.
"The man we need to speak to...I wronged him in the originally time line and we had quite the falling out. He won't be happy to see me. However, he has much respect for heroes, so meeting Prometheus' new champion will have its appeal and Snow actually has met him as a child,' Hades said.
"He adored you...but then most do," Persephone added fondly.
"So we should go," David said.
"No," Hades refuted.
"Yes...because you will never get him to give you the key," Demeter responded.
"But Mother...Hades has changed since then and in the alternate reality, they made amends," Persephone reminded.
"And in the original, Hades cursed him to remain in Transylvania and he is forever trapped in it," Demeter countered.
"Who the hell are we talking about?" Emma asked, as they knocked on Hook's door.
"Later," Hades deflected, as Hook answered the door with Alice in his arms.
"Hello…" he said, with a bit of trepidation.
"Relax Hook...do you still have that compass that you and Cora stole from the giant?" Hades asked.
"Aye...does the giant want it back or something?" he asked, gesturing them in.
"No...we need it to visit another land that has something else we need," Persephone answered, as the former pirate retrieved the compass from a bedside table.
"Anything I can help with?" he offered.
"Not unless you've ever navigated to Transylvania," Demeter said.
"Why in bloody hell would you want to go to that nightmare?" he questioned.
"Unfortunately, there is something there we need," Hades answered.
"Well...good luck with that. I think I'll opt out of this adventure," he said, as they thanked him again and left.
"Are you going to tell us who we're looking for?" Emma asked impatiently.
"Especially since we're clearly going with you," Snow added. Hades sighed.
"We're going to Transylvania, because the only person I know that has a key, besides Jekyll himself, is Van Helsing," he announced.
"Wait...like the Van Helsing the monster hunter?" Henry asked.
"One in the same," he answered.
"Awesome...can I go?" Henry asked.
"No way in hell,"
"Absolutely not,"
"Not in a million years," were the responses and his shoulders slumped in disappointment.
"Van Helsing...that leaves me out," Rumple muttered.
"What did you do him, Rumple?" Belle asked.
"Nothing...honestly," he responded.
"Then why can't you go?" Neal asked.
"Because he'll hunt me. He considers me one of his monsters," Rumple replied.
"Maybe that's best anyway. We need someone looking over everything while we're gone," Snow said. David nodded.
"I'll stay with the kids and man the station then," Neal offered and Emma nodded and kissed him tenderly.
"Please be safe," he pleaded. He hated letting her go without him, but knew not only that she could take care of herself, but that her parents would never let anything happen to her.
"I will," she promised.
"Okay...pack some things and say goodbye to the children. We'll leave in an hour," Persephone said, as they headed for their castle to do so.
The Land of Untold Stories
"Entry number three hundred twenty six. The latest attempt of my serum has yielded failed results. The homeless victims from the Land Without Magic have all experienced various side effects upon injection with the common denominator of death," Jekyll reported into the recording device.
"Each autopsy I performed has revealed various ailments in some victims, while others were in optimal health. However, each one died of heart failure due to the serum's effects," he continued.
"I have concluded that I need a stronger type of control group for my tests. But this is not easily accomplished," Jekyll stated, as he put a hand to his forehead to fight off another headache.
"I have been told that the magical realms have all been joined together and going there presents a conundrum. Getting a stronger type of test subject, one born in a magical land, would be quite difficult in this new United Realms. I have word that it is policed by powerful figures and ruled by Gods," he reported.
"Normally, my medical logs are not filled with such fantastical talk, but this is the information relayed to me by my contact, a magical entity himself," he said.
"He assures me that he has ways for me to continue my testing and I await more information from him," Jekyll concluded, as he put away his research and the headache became much more intense. He could no longer fight it and his entire body convulsed, as his glasses dropped from his face. His body began to change quite dramatically, as he grew taller and thinner. His blonde hair became brown and his blue eyes red. His clothing changed too, from a tan vest and slacks, with his white overcoat, to a dark suit with a red tie. Gone was Dr. Jekyll and in his place was Mr. Edward Hyde.
"Mr. Poole...I'll be making a trip to New York. Please keep a good watch on the asylum," he instructed, as he extracted an ornate looking key from his inside jacket pocket.
He and Dr. Jekyll had one similar interest and that was being separate from each other to live their own lives. Jekyll wished to pursue his science and experiments, while Hyde's interests were more in obtaining powerful artifacts and information pertaining to magic. He loved power and he always wanted more. He was not as violent as the legends of his suggested, though he had his moments when he did lose his temper and as a result, destruction usually resulted, due to his superhuman strength. But Dr. Jekyll, though he feigned he was the good half, could be just as violent at times when he lost his temper as well.
Once outside the asylum, he used the key and a doorway appeared. He turned the key and unlocked a portal to his destination, before stepping through.
They gathered in the atrium of Snow and David's castle, as they hugged David's parents and Snow's father.
"I really don't like this," Eli fretted.
"We'll be okay, Daddy," Snow assured, but that did not lessen his worry.
"We don't like this either, but it may be necessary to have them with us," Hades said reluctantly, as Persephone appeared with a velvet pouch.
"Anton gave us several beans so we'll have extras in case there's trouble," Persephone said, as they said goodbye again, before Persephone tossed a bean down. A horizontal orange portal appeared before them, as Hades willed the compass to the place they needed to go. They all joined hands and stepped through the portal.
The pounding sound of the hooves of horses drew closer, until the sound was roaring in his ears. He had thought the forests surrounding Camelot were going to be fairly safe. He wanted to study and experiment with the waters of Avalon, but someone must have spotted him, because he now had the Knights of the Roundtable on his tail.
"Stop fugitive!" Sir Percival called, as he and Sir Tristan cornered him. He was then surprised to see King Arthur approach on his horse and dismount the animal.
"I warn you, Your Majesty...I may not the Chernabog anymore, but I am still a formidable opponent," Frollo challenged.
"At ease, Judge Frollo...we're not here to arrest you," Arthur stated and the older man looked skeptical.
"I am here to acquire your assistance in solving my problems with Excalibur," he added. Frollo looked very intrigued by that.
"You want to hire me?" Frollo questioned.
"Next to Merlin, you are now the most knowledgeable Sorcerer in all the realms, save for the Dark One, but he is obviously not an option. Merlin will never help me do what I need to do either, so he must never be freed. That leaves you to help me fix Excalibur," Arthur explained.
"I must learn how I can repair it. There must be an alternate way...and if there is not, I will need your help to force King David to use the Promethean flame to do it," the King added. Frollo smirked.
"I have done extensive reading on this subject and I think I can help," he responded.
"Then name your price," Arthur said.
"I do require a large library and place to work. I would also like all the creature comforts with a lucrative salary and free time to work on my own interests," Frollo said, making his demands.
"Done," Arthur agreed.
"Good...then I will follow you to Camelot," Frollo said.
"You said that you have done extensive reading on this subject. What exactly do you know?" Percival inquired. Frollo smirked.
"There is more than one way to skin a Dark One," the Judge said cryptically.
They arrived through the portal and looked around at the barren landscape. The sky was gray and murky, making for a very depressing sight.
"I thought you said this is Transylvania...not the Land Without Color," Emma quipped.
"Oh it is and they have color," Hades replied, as they heard a roaring, as some sort of winged creature flew far above them.
"They love red here...blood red," he said.
"That's not disturbing or anything," Snow said, as David clutched her hand.
"Okay...so where is this Van Helsing guy?" Emma asked. Hades gestured ahead of them and there was what looked like a village in the near distance.
"Probably the nearest tavern," Persephone said, as they started walking there.
"So...do you remember meeting this man? In the other reality?" David asked his wife curiously. She nodded.
"I do...he was very intimidating. But kind to me," she recalled, as she remembered one particular time.
Many years ago
Zelena's alternate time line
Hades sighed, as he saw another boat full of souls arrive with Charon upon the river Styx. He picked up his staff and tapped it on the ground. He was mostly passive to death now and his cold, stern gaze often made the souls fearful. As God of the Underworld, many naturally equated him to be evil and there was a time when that would have been a very astute assertion. But love had long ago melted the ice around his heart, though many would never know that.
As he tapped his staff, the few wicked souls in the boat were immediately cast into the river of lost souls. Others looked at him wearily, as they ascended to Asphodel Meadows. Those left behind were ushered to the realm above them that was for those with unfinished business.
Many of the unfortunate victims as of late were from Paris. Judge Frollo had been waging his religious war against secular groups and calling it a cleansing of the city. As much as he would have loved to stop him, he could do nothing and could only hope that someone would eventually rise against him. He had hopes it would be Quasimodo and that the unfortunate man would expose his hypocrisy.
At that moment, he heard someone else appear in his Throne room and he suppressed a growl, as Van Helsing littered his Throne room with various monster limbs and entrails.
"I had a busy day," he said, as he went straight to Hades liquor cabinet and smelled the scotch, before downing it straight from the bottle, even as the God of the Dead glared at him.
"What? I made quite a haul today. A Basilisk that was terrorizing Rome for weeks, a dark Elf in Weselton, and an out of control Chimera in Thebes. Not to mention the banshees I exorcised from a church in Nottingham," he boasted.
"I didn't say it wasn't good work, but you can't just come dropping body parts in my Throne room! Snow could walk in here any minute and I do not want her to see...this," he said in disgust, as he used his blue fire to incinerate the grisly sight.
"Sorry...I can never remember when she's here," he claimed.
"Well, it's winter so that should be a pretty good clue, but then I suppose you need to be sober for that," he said.
"Hey...the duties you task me with are not easy. You'd want to be drunk most of the time too," he argued. Hades sighed.
"You are the best monster hunter in all the realms and it's something that must be done. As ruler of the Underworld, part of my job is seeing that there is balance between good and evil. And we both know my stupid brother is too busy with his conquests to rule effectively," he reminded. Van Helsing nodded in acknowledgment to that. He couldn't disagree. He had once worked for Zeus, but when he called him out and challenged him, he was cast out of the heavens and to Earth, briefly stripped of his powers. It was hundreds of years ago and with his work being undone, monsters began to run rampant over the Earth, making it a very dark time for mortals.
Then Hades, in direct defiance of Zeus, restored Van Helsing to his former power, and since that day, he had reported to the God of the Underworld and kept balance in the realms. Van Helsing took another drink, as Cerberus clomped into the Throne room with an eight-year-old Snow on his back. She giggled and hopped down, as the three-headed dog nuzzled her gently.
"Papa Hades!" she called, as he smiled and scooped her up.
"Did you have a fun visit in town, Snowdrop?" he asked.
"Uh huh...mama helped three people move on and she said I helped too," Snow replied.
"That's wonderful...your light is very welcome to those troubled souls," he said, as she noticed the other man.
"Mr. Van Helsing...did you kill a lot of bad monsters today?" she asked.
"I did little Miss Snow," he replied in a softened tone. Snow was about the only one that he wasn't gruff with, though he had a great amount of respect for Persephone and showed such when the Queen entered the chamber.
"My Queen," he greeted.
"Hello Van...that was good work today. Did you happen to get me anymore information on Dr. Frankenstein?" Persephone inquired.
"Ah...the Land Without Color, a monochrome bore that place is. But yes...his experiments are raising eyebrows and not the good kind. His father is threatening to disown him and only hasn't, because Gerhardt has begged him not to," he reported.
"Then he is still experimenting with the dead?" she said in a troubled tone.
"I'm afraid so...I plan to pay him a visit and warn him against it, before heading to Transylvania. The vampire problem there is starting to get out of hand," he mentioned.
"We eradicated vampires for a reason and if we had power in Transylvania, we would do so there. But since we don't...that's where you come in," Hades said.
"Don't worry, the blood suckers are on my radar in a bad way," he said bitterly. And they knew he was serious since he had lost the woman he once loved to a vampire.
"We appreciate your efforts in helping us to block their realm from accessing the other realms," Persephone said. He nodded, tipping his hat to her, before he made his way toward his portal exit.
"Bye Mr. Van Helsing!" Snow called.
"Goodbye little Snow," he called back.
"Wow Mom...I had no idea you knew Van Helsing!" Emma said in amazement. Snow shrugged.
"I guess I didn't think about it. I only met him a handful of times," she said.
"Don't expect a warm reception. He won't be happy we're here," Hades warned.
"Why? Did you two have a falling out or something?" Emma asked. Hades winced.
"Not in the alternate time line, but in the original, we came to blows when I resurrected and created Deimos. He was livid and rightfully so. I pulled a Zeus and banished him back to Transylvania permanently," Hades explained.
"He fared much better in the alternate time line obviously, but he's still sore about what I did in the original one," he added, as they noticed all eyes on them once they were walking through the village.
"I suppose we do stick out in our Storybrooke clothes," Snow said, as they approached the tavern. They walked in and all eyes were on them, as they strolled toward the bar.
"Well, this isn't unnerving or anything," Emma commented.
"They probably think we're witches and in their defense, they have a right to be leery. Vampires and monsters terrorize their villages on a regular basis," Persephone said.
"There he is...we need to make this quick," Hades said, as they approached the bar.
"You think these people are going to attack us?" Emma asked.
"No...they're too afraid. I'm not worried about them," Hades replied.
"Then who do you think may come?" Snow asked.
"The covens," the man at the bar said, as he lifted the bill of his hat slightly.
"Coming here was a mistake...this place is worse than ever," Van Helsing warned.
"We need your help with something and then we'll be gone," Hades promised.
"It's too late," he hissed.
"They would have smelled the demi-Goddess blood scent rolling off these two the moment you stepped into this realm," Van Helsing growled.
"What is he talking about?" David asked.
"Demi-God blood is like the ultimate feast to them," Persephone answered.
"It's why we were reluctant to bring you," Hades added.
"And him...not a Demi-God, but there's definitely something that will attract them too," Van Helsing commented. Persephone winced.
"Promethean fire," she told him and he threw up his arms.
"Perfect...they'll all be in a frenzy," he snapped, as they heard screeching in the distance.
"Damn you...I think your presence might have even brought the King of them all out and that's saying something. He usually sends the minions out," he said, as he opened his coat, revealing silver stakes and he picked up his cross bow, which was loaded with silver tipped arrows.
"We wouldn't have come if it wasn't important," Hades said.
"Save it...they're here!" he snapped. Persephone's hands glowed and she used her magic to coat Emma's sword with silver and Snow's arrow tips as well.
"What about David's sword?" Snow asked.
"Promethean fire is as good as silver with them," she answered, as people screamed when the roof of the tavern was literally ripped off and they were dive bombed by the winged monsters.
Special Agent Zach O'Bryan sat at his desk, finishing some paperwork from a former case, when his superior approached and put a file on his desk.
"Have you looked into this cold case yet?" his supervisor asked.
"I ran the coordinates that my contact sent me, but it's in the middle of the Maine woods. There's no town there," Zach replied.
"Which is fishy at best. I want you to check this out," his supervisor stated.
"No disrespect, Ma'am...but this thing is a ghost hunt. It's thirty-year-old bones and a traumatized kid that's now a highly disturbed, traumatized man," Zach argued.
"Who insists that he can point us to a killer. If you were able to close a cold case from over thirty-years-ago, there might be accommodations for us all," Supervising Special Agent Paulo said. He sighed.
"All right...can I least leave in the morning?" he asked. She smirked.
"Sorry O'Bryan...get your go bag. You leave now and you'll be taking Agent Quinn with you. She needs to get her feet wet," he answered. He sighed.
"Great...a rookie," he complained, though he himself had only been with the bureau for three years. He grabbed his go bag and met their newest agent at the elevator.
"Ready for a big old wild goose chase?" he asked her. She smiled.
"I'm just anxious to get into the field, Sir," she responded.
"Ugh...don't call me, Sir. I'm like five years older than you," he complained.
"Fine...only if you don't call me rookie the whole time," she quipped.
"We'll see," he said, as they boarded the elevator. Maine was their destination and he expected absolutely nothing to come of this other than wasted time. He couldn't know, however, that he would be exceptionally mistaken...