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 lot andany feedback you can give is much appreciated. Unless you're a troll.

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.

There may be updates on opposite Wednesdays 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

Here are individual responses:

Grace5231973: Yep, they are going to learn the hard way for sure in this chapter. :)

Jennifer Baratta: Happy belated holidays to you too. Yep, major trouble is coming. Glad you enjoyed it.

Number Ten: Yep, they are stubborn and stupid, which won't serve them well. :)

Beth1980: Yes, I think Prometheus is an interesting character too. I know, both Emma and Hades have that comedic timing that makes them a lot alike. Oh yeah, he is way lucky that Persephone and David didn't skin him alive for that stunt. Yep, the Dragon is even more an enigma than you think. I have a couple twists coming. Yep, Jekyll is barking and Aesop is bitter so no help there. I loved Red to the rescue too. Yeah, Jekyll is full on mad scientist here and is ready to cut them open. Yes, in this version, Jekyll has been unable to perfect his serum yet. So all his subjects die before the separation can be completed. I decided to do something a bit different there. I love protective daddy Charming and mama Snow too. Yes, most of the people are transients from New York that no one missed. Yep, Merlin will come into play soon and Arthur will lose. Not without a fight though. Yep, Regina knows they have to do this the right way, to a point anyway. Yeah, the Dark One is going to win as you're about to see. Happy belated New Year's to you too. :)

Dreaming Out Loud

Chapter 127: Twisted Narrative

Snow glared at her captors, as she sat on a bench on the deck of the ship, her hands in front of her, bound by zip ties.

"You know, glaring at me is not going to make me burst into flames," Liz joked. Snow smirked.

"Stranger things have happened and if my husband is the one doing the glaring, you just might. Or my daughter. They are Prometheus' champions, after all," she warned.

"Champions that are severely under trained," she reminded.

"Then why do you need me to hold over them? You wouldn't if you weren't threatened by their potential," Snow retorted. Liz smirked.

"Wary, perhaps a little, but not threatened," she refuted.

"Then you're foolish," Snow said, as she continued to glare at her.

"Am I? Because once I hold the author's pen, I'll usher in a new age for all of humanity," Liz replied.

"So that's your plan? You're going to rewrite history? Because no matter what you do, you can't write over mine and Charming's love. It's written in the stars. Not even the author can change that," Snow refuted. Liz smirked.

"Oh no...I'm not going to rewrite the past, dear. I'm going usher in a new future. I'm going to open the world's eyes to the wonders of magic. You should feel honored since you and your husband will be a very big part of that," she replied.

"My land has been without magic for too long...and it's time to finally change that," Liz said, as they neared the Maine coastline. Snow noticed a blue bird that landed suddenly on the bow and she noticed Liz was now preoccupied in discussing something with the Dragon. She nodded her head to the tiny bird and it flew onto her shoulder.

"Find Rumpelstiltskin...tell him that we've been captured and trouble is coming," she whispered, as the tiny bird flew away. It was a vague message, but it would at least alert the others that there was more trouble coming.

"We should be coming upon Storybrooke soon, Your Majesty," Liz said to her.

"You must know that you're severely outmatched in the magic department. Rumpelstiltskin and my step-mother's magic is far more powerful than the Dragon's," Snow warned.

"We'll see," she said cryptically, making Snow a bit nervous. She closed her eyes and focused on the flutter in her half heart. She willed her love to her husband, knowing he would feel her too and she smiled slightly, as she felt him willing his back to her. She didn't care who this woman supposedly was or what she thought she was going to accomplish. They would fight her and defeat her. And they would do it together.

"Well...that was a bit of a close call," Regina deadpanned, as they appeared back in the palace.

"We need to find a way to neutralize these outsiders. And we need to do it now," Rumple said. James drew his sword.

"I know that we're not supposed to handle our problems, the old way we used to, so to speak, but maybe it's time you and I just slip back into those old way for a moment," James suggested.

"Absolutely not," Belle argued.

"He has a point, Belle. I wouldn't even have to kill them," he reminded.

"But if we just poof them back to where they came from, we need to make sure we have a way to put a permanent barrier around the United Realms. Then they can say whatever they want out there," Regina said.

"Maybe there's a way to hold them off until we can," Annie said, as she and her brother walked in.

"What do you suggest?" Regina asked.

"Well, we just saw all those agents walk into the prison," Adrian replied.

"Surely they wouldn't be stupid enough to release anyone there," Regina realized.

"If Greg is telling them that Circe can eliminate magic, they just might," James said in frustration.

"They're there now," Annie said.

"Then we neutralize them until we know we can get a protective barrier up," Rumple said.

"How?" James asked.

"It's time for them to see what the Dark One can really do," he replied, as he poofed all of them just outside the prison.

The agents walked into the prison and made their way along the cells, along with Landon and Greg.

"What the hell are you looking at?" a blonde woman snapped.

"Who are you?" Agent Isaac asked curiously.

"I was...am Queen Ravenna, until my retched little step daughter locked me away in here," she hissed.

"Pay her no mind...she's the one we need to free," Greg said, as they approached her cell.

"Finally...it's about time," she hissed, as he unlocked her cell.

"And why exactly are we helping someone whose locked up? Releasing prisoners isn't exactly what the FBI does," one of the agents argued.

"If you release her, she can take care of the magic problem. Then the Bureau can come in and do whatever they want here," Greg said.

"Is he right? Can you do what he says?" Agent Isaac asked. Circe smirked.

"I can...but I need my equipment and they probably have it locked away somewhere," she replied.

"Then let's find this equipment, because I have arrests to make," Agent Isaac said.

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that," Rumple said, as he appeared with the others. Circe growled and started toward them, but James held her at bay with his sword, while Rumple summoned a large enchanted looking glass, causing Regina to gasp.

"I recognize this," she uttered.

"Wonderland...are you sure?" she asked.

"Not even I'm that cruel," he said, as the mirror rippled and showed a barren type landscape.

"The mirror realm...I read about this in one of your books," Belle said.

"It will hold them in limbo until we're able to expel them from the United Realms permanently," he said.

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere!" Circe growled, but Regina gave her a harsh shove. She crashed into the looking glass, being sucked into the barren realm.

"You...you keep ruining lives and someone needs to stop you!" Greg cried, as he grabbed one of the guns the agent has and started firing it wildly at them. They were all forced to take cover, as he sprayed bullets at them.

"Damn him…" James growled, as a bullet hit the mirror, shattering the glass into a million pieces, until the gun clicked, signifying that the clip was empty. James capitalized on this moment and jumped toward him. He speared Greg through the heart and he was dead by the time he hit the ground. The former prince and now King breathed heavily, as he stared at the man, just as Regina put a hand on his arm.

"I'm sorry...but he was never going to stop trying to hurt you," he said. She smiled gently at him.

"You killed him to save us...you did it the right way," she assured.

"The mirror is shattered," Belle said.

"What does that mean?" Henry asked, as he arrived with Red.

"Kid, what are you doing here?" Neal scolded.

"Sorry...he sneaked out and I caught up to him just as we got here," Red apologized, as he hugged his son, but refused to let him see the sight.

"Is he dead?" Henry asked.

"Yeah kid...he won't ever try to hurt your mother again," James confirmed.

"What about the mirror realm?" Belle asked.

"It's gone...with the source mirror shattered, we can never gain access to it again," Rumple answered.

"Then Circe…" Eli said.

"Trapped...for eternity. I doubt anyone will lose sleep over it," Rumple said and no on disagreed with that.

"What about them?" James asked, referring to the agents.

"A choice," Rumple replied.

"And what would that be?" Agent Isaac asked.

"Leave and forget we exist...or…" he said, but Landon cut him off.

"Or what? You'll kill us like he just killed Greg?" he spat.

"I was going to say get locked up, but doing away with you would suit me just fine," Rumple answered.

"Rumple…" Belle chided.

"You want us to just leave? We haven't even been here twenty-four hours and there's been a murder, plus the cold case we came here for," Agent Isaac refuted.

"The United Realms doesn't operate under your laws and you're way out of your depth," Eli warned.

"He's right...so why don't you just return to your normal lives and we'll return to ours," Regina agreed.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple…" Agent Isaac said, as Rumple waved his hand and jailed the agents and Landon.

"It is and so you've made your choice," he said.

"You can't just lock us up!" one agent shouted, but they were ignored.

"Persephone and Hades need to figure out a barrier," Rumple said, as they walked out of the prison.

"Well, at least Circe will never be a problem again and those agents aren't getting out until we decide what to do," Regina said, as a blue bird landed on Belle's shoulder and chirped.

"Hello…" she cooed, as it flapped its wings.

"That's really cool...I thought grandma was the only one that attracted birds," Henry mentioned. They all exchanged a glance and Rumple waved his hand over the bird, magically picking up the message.

"Damn…" he cursed.

"What is it?" James asked.

"A very vague message from Snow. They've been captured and there's trouble coming," Rumple answered.

"Captured by who?" Regina asked.

"No idea...but we need to get to the Harbor," he replied, as they hurried off in that direction.

"Never a dull moment around here," James quipped.

The ship slowly made its way around the bend and the magnificent sight of the United Realms came into view.

"At last…" Liz uttered, as she took it all in and grabbed Snow's arm, as her men brought her family up from the brig.

"Charming! Emma!" she called, as she struggled against two of the brutes that were holding her arms. She kicked one in the shins and kneed the other in the gut, before running to her husband. With shackled wrists, he took her bound hands in his own as best they could.

"Are you okay? Did she hurt you?" he asked and she shook her head.

"I'm okay," she promised, as she hugged his arm and they looked at their captor, who rolled her eyes.

"Ugh...you two make me want to vomit," Liz complained.

"Once we cross the barrier into the United Realms, how exactly do you plan to keep control? You have to know that you're about to be wildly outclassed with magic," Hades said.

"Will I?" she questioned, as his face went ashen when she opened her palm, revealing a very familiar crystal in her palm.

"How...how the hell did you get that?" Persephone questioned. She smirked and looked at the old mage beside her.

"It was destroyed...it never came back from the Underworld! I had it there during Zelena's alternate time line! I threw it into Cocytus!" Hades shouted, as he recalled the memory.

"When it didn't surface once Emma reversed the time line, we only assumed that it remained in the Underworld," Persephone reminded, as they entered the waters of the United Realms. The crystal glowed with a bright white light and then oddly turned green.

"No way…" Emma uttered, as they watched the Dragon convulse and morph into Zelena.

"Ugh...finally I can stop pretending to be that disgusting old man," she said in relief.

"Zelena...that's not possible!" Hades roared and she smirked, before cackling in delight.

"Oh, the look on your face is priceless. Did you miss me, lover?" she cooed to him.

"How the hell did this happen? We watched Gold turn you to glass and smash you into a million pieces," David growled.

"Well, if there is one thing I learned about time is when you mess with it...it tends to mess back," Zelena replied, as she looked at her former one-time fling.

"You should be happy about that. You were right about changing the past...it doesn't work," she admitted.

"All it did was give everyone two sets of memories and maddeningly complicate things by uniting the realms," she added.

"But writing a new future? Now that has potential," she said, as she looked at her new right hand.

"Liz has taught me much since she managed to summon my spirit from the Underworld in one of her rituals," Zelena revealed.

"I don't understand...so you're some sort of demon now?" Emma questioned.

"I would be, except that I managed to brave the waters of Cocytus and retrieve the Olympian crystal from that frigid river. Prometheus was quite angry about that and I escaped to the surface, which oddly is like a warped, messed up version of Storybrooke," she said, offhandedly.

"Anyway, I found a witch in the diner. Blind as a bat she was, but she told me about amateur magicians that try to raise demonic spirits and so when Liz here performed her latest ritual, I answered her call. And that combined with the power of the Olympian crystal...I was resurrected," she announced, like she was expecting an applause. She of course received none.

"We stopped you once...we'll do it again," David insisted.

"Your daughter stopped me and I'm about to take care of that problem," Zelena hissed, as the Olympian crystal glowed green, now that it was polluted with Zelena's power, and she pointed it at Emma.

"NOOOOO!" Snow and David screamed in horror. They looked at each other and took the drastic measures necessary to save their baby. Simultaneously, David tackled Emma to the ground while Snow pushed one of Liz's goons that was still trying to restrain her into Emma's place. The man screamed in unexpected horror, as he was hit the blast and obliterated from existence.

"That was a big mistake…" Zelena growled at them. But Hades and Persephone responded, by using magic and freeing them all of the bonds.

"No...the only mistake was yours," Persephone growled, as she summoned her lightning bolts.

"Bring it on...Queenie…" Zelena hissed. Hades was about to jump in, but Persephone magicked them all, including Van Helsing, to the shore, just as Regina, Rumple, Belle, James, Henry, Neal, Eli and Red arrived at the docks.

"What the hell is going on?" Regina asked.

"Really long story...but in short, Zelena is back and she has the Olympian crystal," David answered.

"Impossible...I killed her," Rumple growled.

"Yeah, well it wouldn't be the first time death didn't stick," David retorted, as they watched the light show in the sky. Green and lavender blasts clashed, as the two women battled against each other.

"Mom…" Snow uttered, as Hades put his hands on her shoulders.

"She'll be okay...she'll win," he said, though he sounded like he was trying to convince himself as well. He knew how ruthless Zelena was and that she never fought fairly.

"Your wife will not defeat my wicked Queen so easily," Liz said smugly, as she and the remaining muscle appeared on the docks, thanks to her mistress' magic.

"Who the hell is this?" James asked.

"Liz Crowley…" Annie hissed, as she and her brother arrived.

"Ah...I thought I smelt the stench of the Grimm bloodline," she retorted.

"How are you here?" Adrian growled. She smirked.

"By the grace of my new and very wicked Queen," she answered.

"It's Zelena...she's alive and has been parading around as the Dragon for who knows how long," David called. Annie's eyes widened and she opened the book. She felt the compulsion of the author consume her and she began writing furiously.

"Ahh...there it is. My Queen requires that pen to write our new future," Liz said, as she stepped toward her, but Regina tossed a fireball at her and Adrian moved his catatonic sister away from the woman.

"I'll have that pen!" Liz growled, as she jumped around the flames.

"Back off bug eyes," Emma shouted, as her hands became lit with Savior magic and Liz shied away.

"The purity…" she growled, absolutely repulsed by such light. Annie came out of the trance and they discovered that she had written all the events that had happened on their journey to Transylvania, The Land of Untold Stories, New York, and now here.

"We have to keep her from getting the pen," she told them.

"Leave her to me. She's a monster and I'm the hunter," Van Helsing said, as he loaded his crossbow.

"Who is this guy?" Regina asked.

"Van Helsing," Hades answered.

"Okay...it's time for you to get to safety," Neal said, as he ushered his son toward Red.

"Red...get Henry out of here and take these two with you," Regina said, referring to the author and her brother. Red nodded and transformed into her wolf form, causing Van Helsing to point his crossbow at her.

"Whoa...whoa...what are you doing?!" David cried, as he put his hands up.

"She's a werewolf," he said, like it was obvious.

"She's not bad...she has control of it. And she's my best friend!" Snow cried indignantly. Van Helsing put his hands up in surrender and Hades chuckled.

"You're such a tool," he commented.

"Shut up, blue hair," he muttered back.

"I'm sorry Snow...it's instinct," he said, as he eyed Rumple with a wary glance.

"He's off limits too. He's our ally and we share a grandson with him," David told him without missing a beat. The monster hunter rolled his eyes.

"You really like to muddy the whole good and evil thing around here, don't you?" he asked rhetorically.

"And why the hell are there two of you, chisel chin?" he asked.

"Twins," James answered in a bored tone.

Persephone crashed to the ground in a cloud of emerald magic and Hades rushed to her side.

"My love…" he called, as he helped her sit up.

"She's too powerful...even for me," she fretted.

"Mom…" Snow said, as she knelt beside her.

"I'm sorry, snowdrop…" Persephone said in a defeated tone, as Zelena landed before them.

"Hey sis…" she said, as she let the crystal float above her and they watched, as it began to suck up all the magic in the United Realms. It glowed bright green, before transforming into a pendant that now rested around the wicked witch's neck.

"All the magic in this whole place is mine now. Bow before your Queen," she demanded.

"Hard pass," Emma growled back, as her hand still glowed with white light.

"Impossible…" Zelena uttered.

"How? She took all the magic," Emma said, as she looked at her hands in awe. But Snow and David only smiled lovingly at each other and then at her.

"But she can't take or destroy true love," they said proudly. Zelena scoffed.

"I really hope you're not putting all your cards on that," she said.

"We always have and it's never failed us yet," David refuted. She smirked.

"Well, there's a first time for everything, chisel chin," she hissed, as she fired a blast at him. But he drew his blade and it lit with Promethean fire, allowing him to bat her attack away. Van Helsing smirked, as Emma drew her own flaming sword.

"Looks like you also can't take Promethean fire away," the monster hunter goaded.

"You really think these two can stop me? The Kingdoms are all but mine," she said with certainty.

"We'll see. We've taken back Kingdoms before and with a lot less than we have now. We'll do it again," Snow retorted, as she stood between her husband and their daughter. David smiled at her and then glared at Zelena.

"Well then...let the games begin," she mused, as she stood next to her new subordinate.

"The past and present has belonged to heroes...but the future will belong to villains," she promised as she looked at the author.

"You'll give me that pen now," Zelena demanded. Annie glared at her and snapped the pen in half, shocking them all.

"No...you little fool!" Zelena growled, as green fire appeared in her hand and Emma guarded her.

"You'll pay for that," she promised, as she and Liz disappeared.

"You...you broke the pen…" Adrian uttered.

"It's better than her or a Crowley getting a hold of it," Annie said sadly.

"But...who will record the stories now?" Henry asked.

"I'm afraid no one...but it has to be this way until she's defeated," Annie answered.

"This is it then...it would seem that the final battle has begun," Rumple declared, but none of them could have ever imagined a situation like this. The future was as uncertain as ever...