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.
I have also made the decision that this story will be going to bi-weekly updates as well. I want to try and finish up other verses and I really want to start working on something original in 2020. My original work will have a lot of Once vibes though and Snowing vibes, with a lot of my original concepts in this story and Finding You Always being incorporated. I am only in the outlining stages of this though and will provide more information as I have it. I'm hoping to get something going on or Ko-Fi in 2020.
There may be updates on opposite Wednedays in other verses, but no concrete schedule. I'm going to leave it pretty open. In January, there is also going to be a Snowing week that I will be participating in as well, so expect some pretty great Snowing stuff during that week too. :)
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, which will not become bi-weekly, so reviews are really gratifying. Unless you're a troll. Troll comments will be deleted.
Here are individual responses:
Saberius Prime: Yep, here we go. There's more action packed fun in this chapter!
Grace5231973: Yeah, I really wrote them into a sticky wicket here, lol. Hopefully the Dragon will have a fitting end eventually. Yes, and Aesop will have a much better back story here. I mean, an obvious former author and they did nothing with it. Glad you're looking forward to more. :)
sweetreader: Yep, our heroes are in a bit of a sticky situation so it should be interesting to see how they get out of this.
Number Ten: Yep, Aesop should be interesting. Yeah, I occasionally watch the movies now and then, but they're pretty bad. Bella is especially annoying sometimes. I'm not sure Rick and Morty is my thing. Maybe. We'll see. I'm behind on all the stuff I do watch now, not to mention my watch list is already ridiculous, lol. :)
Jennifer Baratta: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
Dreaming Out Loud
Chapter 125: An Untold Story
As they entered the tavern, they looked around and saw many different types of people. There were what looked like Vikings at the dart board, a pair in a booth in clothing that suggested they might have been from Agrabah, and even a few people dressed in clothing generally found in the Land Without Magic.
Behind the bar was an olive skinned man, who eyed them knowingly and tossed the towel he was wiping the bar with away.
"Well...this is something. It's not everyday that the Supreme Goddess visits my humble little Tavern," Aesop said.
"It's been a long time, Aesop," Persephone greeted.
"Your Majesties," he said, bowing to all of them, except Van Helsing.
"You've been scarce lately, Van Helsing," he mentioned.
"Yes, well Transylvania is a shit hole. The bloodsuckers keep me busy," he said, as he sat down at the bar.
"I'll take some of that special brew you make though," he said, as Aesop poured him a very big glass of ale.
"We're not here to drink," Persephone chided, as Van Helsing began to down the large mug.
"She's right...we're here to pay a visit to Dr. Jekyll. One I doubt he'll enjoy," Hades added.
"I feel that we can do both," Van Helsing replied, as he continued to drink and Hades rolled his eyes.
"You are useless," he argued.
"Oh that's rich coming from you, blue hair," he quipped.
"Speak of the Devil," Aesop commented, as a bespectacled gentleman came into the tavern. Hades gave him a look for that comment.
"Sorry...bad joke," he offered, as they turned to observe the man.
"So that's him? Dr. Jekyll?" Emma asked.
"Don't let his appearance fool you...he's barking mad," Van Helsing said, as he concealed himself so as to not spook the doctor right away.
"Dr. Jekyll…" Persephone called, as the doctor approached curiously.
"Yes...to whom am I speaking?" he questioned.
"Persephone," she said.
"And Hades," he added. The doctor looked quite intrigued by that.
"It's not often the Gods of Olympus bother with this land...especially since they like to pretend that it doesn't exist," he commented.
"To what do we owe such a privilege?" he questioned.
"We have much to discuss, doctor and we are here to give you a firm cease and desist warning," she said.
"Cease and desist? I'm not sure what you mean?" he asked, playing dumb.
"Cut the mild mannered, well meaning act, doctor. We are well acquainted with your work and that you and Hyde have been making visits to the Land Without Magic," Hades replied. The doctor's well meaning smile changed instantly to a more devious smirk.
"The authorities in New York are generally overwhelmed with work. They'll hardly notice a few missing homeless people and prostitutes. In a way, you could even argue that I'm helping to clean up their streets," he said, causing Snow to gasp in alarm.
"Who are you friends?" Jekyll inquired.
"Never mind them...they are none of your concern," Persephone warned.
"Forget they exist if you know what's good for you," Hades added.
"Interesting...that must mean family," he said, as he looked between Snow and Persephone.
"Oh yes...the resemblance is quite striking. It is easy to see where your daughter gets her incredible, fair beauty," he mused.
"A Demi-Goddess…" he said, as he looked at Snow and then Emma.
"Two Demi-Goddesses, I assume," he stated, as David put his arms around Snow and made a point to put himself in front of his wife and daughter.
"Demi-Goddess blood...now that would be fascinating to experiment with," he commented, nearly causing David to launch himself at the doctor, but he was stalled when Van Helsing made his presence known. But the doctor seemed unfazed.
"You really should be more discreet, monster hunter. I've known you were here since the moment you entered this realm," he said. David turned to Aesop.
"Did you tell him?" he questioned.
"A little accusatory, Prince Charming…" Aesop retorted.
"I didn't tell you who I was," David countered, but the other man only smirked.
"I was the author at one time. I'm still familiar with all the realms of story, especially yours and your lovely Snow White's. It is one of the most prominent, though many other mainstream authors have gotten your story quite wrong," he mentioned.
"But as they have since their family stole the authorship from me, the Grimms got the honor of recording the real story of Snow White and Prince Charming; the tale of a legendary true love above all others," he added.
"Wow...bitter much?" Emma taunted and he smirked.
"And then there is the Savior. Another epic I was deprived of writing. The product of this true and legendary love that would break the Evil Queen's dark curse and save an entire population of damned people," he regaled.
"But I started it all. I paved the way for those authors...for entire Grimm family, only for them to toss me aside and bar me from ever picking up a pen again," he added.
"Yep...that's a lot of bitter," Emma commented.
"History even doubts my existence and all because the Grimm brothers wanted the glory," he added.
"We're sorry that happened to you, but this man is killing people and might be endangering everyone in our Kingdom and many others," Snow interjected.
"Not my problem, Princess," Aesop retorted.
"It will be if you help this monster again," Van Helsing said, as he prodded Jekyll forward.
"Come along doctor...time to release all the poor people trapped in your asylum," he said, as they followed him. But they missed the smirk on Jekyll's face, as he led them there.
The agents looked around the diner, seemingly confused by how normal it seemed. Neal stood up, motioning his son to stay with his great grandfather.
"Can I help you?" he asked, showing his badge on his hip.
"Law enforcement?" the woman asked.
"Deputy Cassidy," he introduced himself.
"Deputy...is there a Sheriff around?" she asked.
"Out of town," he replied.
"Then I guess you'll have to do," she said, as she flashed her badge.
"Supervising Special Agent Julia Isaac with the Federal Bureau of Investigation," she said.
"These are agents Mason, Cade, O'Bryan, and Quinn," she added.
"What can I do for you?" Neal asked, playing it cool.
"You can give us access to your criminal files. We're here to reopen the murder investigation into Kurt Flynn," she replied.
"Kurt Flynn...doesn't ring a bell," Neal replied.
"That's not surprising, given that it's a thirty-year-old cold case. But you do have Kurt Flynn's son in your custody and another man that broke this case wide open. We need to interview them too," she said, as she produced a warrant.
"This is a warrant for the seizure of your entire database," she said.
"I can take you to the station...just need to make a call really quick," Neal replied. She smirked.
"So you can have someone get rid of the files we want? I don't think so. You're going to lead us to the police station and you can do it in cuffs if you'd like," she threatened.
"Go…" Eli urged, as Henry ran out of the diner.
"Stop that boy!" she called, as two of her agents chased after him, while Eli and Neal were cuffed.
"So that's it...you just walk into town and take over? Is that warrant even real? Neal questioned.
"We're looking at castles and we saw a flying unicorn on the way here. Does it really matter if it's real?" she countered. Neal scoffed.
"That wasn't a unicorn. They have horns. Only a Pegasus flies. Get your facts straight," Neal joked.
"Cute...but will you be so smug when my agents catch up to your son?" she asked.
"He's a kid, but underestimating my son would be pretty stupid," Neal answered, as they were marched to the station.
"So you're Neal Cassidy, which is definitely an alias. So who are you?" agent Quinn asked. Eli smirked.
"I am Your Majesty King Elijah," he answered.
"Another comedian...that's fine. You'll be singing another song soon when you see what you're facing," Quinn stated.
"And exactly what is my crime? And I wasn't joking about the King thing. My castle is the one farthest north of here," he retorted.
"This is all insane," O'Bryan commented.
"Yeah...you have no idea how in over your heads you really are," Neal warned, as they approached the station. He could only hope that Henry found Regina before those other two agents caught up to him.
They followed a captive Jekyll onto the grounds of the Asylum, which was a dreary building surrounded by an attractive garden.
"How many people do you have locked up here?" Snow questioned.
"Most of my cells are full. But many are transients or mentally ill patients. To those that society has forgotten...I have given purpose," Jekyll claimed.
"Purpose? They're people you have locked up! You're killing them!" Snow shouted.
"I should have known that your daughter would be the bleeding heart type, Your Majesty," Jekyll commented.
"Take care how you speak of our daughter," Hades warned.
"Our daughter...isn't she the child that your wife conceived with a mortal prince?" The doctor questioned.
"Papa Hades is as much my father as my biological father is," Snow interjected, making him chuckle.
"Papa Hades...now that is amusing," Jekyll said.
"Yeah...keep laughing at my wife and you'll have done your last experiment," David warned.
"The great monster hunter, Van Helsing, hasn't been able to kill me yet. Do you really think you can, Prince Charming, is it?" He retorted.
"Do you really want to find out?" David growled in return.
"Charming...is that really your name? A little narcissistic to call yourself that, isn't it?" He goaded.
"If you must know, I gave him that name and he most certainly lives up to it in every way," Snow insisted, as they went inside the facility.
"Okay...let's start by releasing all these people and then you'll take us to the place you keep meeting the Dragon," Persephone said.
"Oh, I think not," Jekyll responded, as a high-pitched sonic wave blared from the intercom. He seemed impervious to it, but the rest of them covered their ears in pain and promptly lost consciousness. Jekyll removed some specialized, tiny pads from his ears, as Mr. Poole approached.
"Thank you Mr. Poole. Please put Persephone, her husband, and the monster hunter in a magic dampening cell," Jekyll ordered.
"And the other three?" He asked. He smirked.
"Oh, they are quite interesting. Bring them to my lab," he replied.
Henry ran as fast as he could through the woods, weaving around trees and cried out, as he tripped over a branch that was sticking out of the ground. He fell down, but then scrambled to his feet, intending to keep running. But the two agents caught up to him and cornered him.
"Easy kid...we just want to talk," agent Mason said.
"Yeah right...you just arrested my dad and he didn't do anything!" Henry cried.
"Actually, I put your dad's name into the database and he's a wanted man. His name popped up in Phoenix and Portland for grand larceny. Looks like he's been dodging the authorities for years," Agent Cade said. Henry looked fearful at that. Not only were they here to take one of his moms, but possibly his dad too.
"Come on kid, let's get you to the station too. You can at least say goodbye to him," agent Mason said, but a growling halted him in his tracks, as a giant wolf blocked his path to Henry.
"Oh my God...shoot it!" agent Cade cried. The wolf snarled and Henry hopped on Red's back, as she took off with him, even as the agents fired their bullets uselessly.
"I've never seen a wolf that big before," Cade mentioned.
"Let's get to the station," Mason said.
"Agent Isaac won't be happy that we lost the kid," Cade replied. He snorted.
"Yeah, well we're both lucky we didn't just get mauled by that wolf," he answered.
Snow mewled gently, as she opened her bleary eyes. She looked around and quickly noticed that her arms and legs were being held in place with restraints.
"Ah...you're awake," Jekyll said, as he approached.
"Let us go!" Snow cried, as she saw that her husband and her daughter were both in the same type of position she was.
"Oh, I'm afraid not, Princess Snow," he said.
"Queen Snow," she corrected.
"The last few hours of research and exams have been quite enthralling," he said, as she then noticed the machine that was in front of her husband, showing an x-ray of his chest and it was quite clear to see that he only had half a heart.
"Half a heart in his chest and half a heart in yours," Jekyll said, as she noticed the same type of device in front of her.
"Even in fairy tales, I never imagined something so fantastical could be possible," Jekyll mentioned.
"Well it is, but it is nothing scientific for you to study. It's true love," she refuted.
"True love...true love that produced this young woman," Jekyll said, as he referred to Emma.
"The resemblance between her and the both of you is quite obvious, but I wasn't sure it could possibly be so since she looks the same age. But the blood tests confirmed it. She is yours," Jekyll said.
"You didn't need a blood test for that, four eyes. You could have just asked," Emma grumbled, as she woke up.
"Emma…" Snow called, as her daughter tried to get her bearings.
"What the hell…" David growled, as he came to as well and found himself restrained.
"Charming…" Snow whimpered, as he looked at her.
"Snow…" he said, as he looked at the doctor.
"Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded.
"What do you want?" he demanded to know.
"Relax, Your Highness...I am almost finished with my examinations," Jekyll replied.
"The blood samples I took were quite fascinating," he continued.
"I expected the samples to be extraordinary, because of the Demi-Goddess blood, but I found his quite fascinating as well. There is an extraordinary quality to it as well, something I've never quite seen," he mentioned.
"And it's in your daughter's too," he added.
"Because of that...I have determined that she is the perfect candidate to test my serum on," Jekyll stated.
"Like hell…" David growled, as he pulled at the restraints with all his might.
"Your serum?" Snow asked with trepidation.
"Yes...so far, my serum has failed to complete the separation between a person's good side and their dark side. But I believe your daughter, due to her lineage and this strange anomaly in her blood, that she may be strong enough to survive it," Jekyll replied.
"Survive? You have tested others and they didn't survive?!" Snow exclaimed, as she started to panic.
"I'm afraid so...but you have nothing to worry about. I'm sure if anyone can survive, it would be the Savior," he said.
"You sick psychopath! We're not letting you test your insane serum on our daughter!" Charming cried, as he pulled on the restraints with all his might.
"Oh, I'm afraid that I'm going to do just that and there is nary a thing you can do about it, Charming," Jekyll responded, as he readied a syringe.
"Mom...dad…" Emma said, as she looked at them and a tear slipped down her cheek.
"I love you…" she said, clearly scared beyond belief at what was facing her. Snow began to sob and fruitlessly tried to get free.
"Emma…" she cried.
"Please don't do this! She's our baby...please!" she pleaded to the cold, unfeeling monster of a doctor, but her begging was paid no mind. David struggled desperately with the restraints and Snow's cries pierced his heart.
"Please! Please no!" she cried for their daughter, as the doctor approached her. Charming felt the fire coursing through his veins and as much as he had been leery of it up until now, he gave himself over to it and his arms glowed red, as he literally burned his way through the restraints.
"How did you…" Jekyll started to say, but he was cut off, as David punched him in the face, breaking his nose on contact. He cried out in pain and fell to the floor.
"Curse you…" Jekyll seethed, as the syringe lay broken on the floor and he glared up at the prince. David ignored him and undid Emma's restraints, as she hugged him tightly, before they both scrambled to undo Snow's.
"Mr. Poole!" Jekyll called, as the large man entered the lab and stood menacingly in the doorway. David cut him off, as he barreled toward them and ducked his large fist, before landing one of his own in the other man's gut. They traded blows and David ducked another jab to the face, taking the opportunity to punch him in the jaw. Mr. Poole hissed in pain and touched his chin, feeling that there was burned skin left by the prince's fist. He looked at him questioningly, before charging again. David was ready though and threw him over his shoulder. Mr. Poole went crashing into the doctor's lab table and equipment, including the large beaker that held all of the existing serum.
"NOOO!" Jekyll cried in horror, as he glared murderously at the prince.
"Do you know what you've just done?!" he screamed.
"That was years of work, you foolish brute!" he cried.
"That was all the serum I had in existence!" he ranted.
"Good...then maybe it will stop you from hurting anymore innocent people!" David shouted back, as the Doctor tried desperately to scoop some of the existing serum up into an empty vial, but it was a futile effort.
"You're going to pay for this, Prince Charming!" he screamed, as they noticed that a small fire had started, thanks to the Bunsen burner being upturned and making contact with the various liquids that now stained the floor.
"We need to find your parents and Van Helsing and get out of here," David said, as he ushered them toward the exit of the lab.
"Stop them Mr. Poole!" he cried. Unfortunately for them, they did not see that the fire had spread to the medical equipment present and the oxygen tank ignited, sending a plume of fire through the room. David pushed the three of them through the door and they escaped the flames. But Jekyll and his cohort were not so lucky and they both cried out, as they were caught in the inferno that was now the lab. Snow gasped and turned away from the sight. Mr. Poole was completely engulfed and the poor man's cries slowly dissipated, as he perished. Jekyll growled and tried to crawl toward them. He had suffered burns on his face and body, but was still very much alive at the moment.
"This isn't over…" he growled, as he cried out and started to convulse. They watched in horror, as he changed into someone else, who they could only assume was Mr. Hyde.
"Run...we need to get everyone out of here, before this whole place goes up!" David cried, as he ushered his wife and daughter forward. They hurried through the corridors, as an insane and badly burned Hyde chased them.
"Snow!" Persephone called, as they rounded the corner and entered the cell block.
"Mom!" she called, as Emma tried to use magic on the lock.
"This is a magic dampening cell," Hades said, as they realized it wouldn't work.
"Maybe we can melt our way through, like you did with the restraints," Emma said to her father, as they both put their hands on the bars and began to do so. Van Helsing smirked.
"You're both learning fast...that's good," he said, as he looked up to see a deranged Hyde coming at them.
"Whoa...what the hell happened to him?" he asked.
"An oxygen tank exploded on him," Emma replied, as they melted enough of the metal away for the three of them to slip through. The rest of the cells were not dampened by magic, so Persephone and Hades used their magic to snap the locks on all the cells.
"Everyone out! This whole place is about to go up!" Hades called, as they started filing people toward the exit.
"Get them out of here...I'll get the rest with magic," Hades told his son-in-law. David nodded, as grabbed Snow and Emma's hands, before leading them out.
Within a matter of minutes, the entire asylum was completely engulfed, but luckily they had gotten everyone out, with the exception of Hyde.
"Oh Snow…" Persephone gushed, as she hugged her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter.
"Do you think he survived?" Snow asked with trepidation.
"It's hard to say. Even Jekyll and Hyde have their limits, but since he was Hyde, I wouldn't count him out just yet," Van Helsing replied.
"He was going to test his serum on Emma," she said fearfully, but then put her arms around her husband.
"But then Dad saved me. He burned his way right through the restraints," Emma said, with pride and Snow kissed him passionately.
"We need to relocate these people and then find where this Order that the Dragon is working with so we can shut them down," Hades said.
"Uh...most of these people are from the Land Without Magic," Emma whispered.
"And Jekyll said most of them are homeless," Snow added. Persephone nodded.
"Can any of you show us where you were taken from when we get to New York?" she asked.
"I...I think I can," one young woman said.
"But who are you people?" she asked.
"That's a very complicated story, but just know that we're going to return to New York and you'll all have beds to sleep in tonight," Persephone answered.
"What about all this stuff we've seen? Who the hell is going to believe any of this?" a man asked.
"No one and trust us, it's best that way," Hades replied, as his wife used a key to open a portal to the Land Without Magic.
After they left, a badly burned and injured Hyde crawled from the burning building. He yelled out a blood curdling scream of rage and agony, promising that he was not done and he would seek revenge...