New York City
"I am looking forward to this collaboration Neal. We're going to do great work together."
Baelfire smiled. Zelena Strogoff Sabitini was one of the top interior designers in the country and the prospect of entering into a partnership with her was a dream come true. Her husband and partner Angelo Sabitini had been blinded in an accident on their honeymoon but now he would need Zelena and Neal as Bae was now known to bring his visions to life. Bae met the couple at an exhibition in Italy two years earlier and they became fast friends.
"I'm honored you asked me, Zee. You could've picked anyone in the world."
"No one else captures my visions as well as you do," Angelo praised.
"And I hear a wedding may be in the works."
"I asked Tamara two weeks ago and she accepted," Bae murmured. He met his fiancee Tamara Giffen when they collided into each other on a busy New York street six months earlier and he was stunned to see how closely she resembled Alexis 'Lexie' Green, a woman he'd been in love with years ago in Miami Beach. Bae's past in Miami had been as painful as his past in Portland with Emma but he'd come close to losing his life in Miami. He took a job at a gentlemens' club called The Prime Catch unaware that the owner, an ex cop named William Roasch, was using the club as front for drug smuggling and prostitution. One night Bae had been the reluctant witness to the murder of Maria Rivera, one of Willie's girls. The woman claimed the son she had was Willie's child and she was threatening to turn states' evidence against him unless he started paying her more money or married her. Willie had his men beat Neal to the brink of death, tie him up, toss him in the trunk of a car and take him down to the beach to let him get swept out to sea.
Bae was fortunate that he was found by a young woman named Channon McDermott. She took him in and put him to work as one of the bodyguards at her club, The Oasis. Though the Oasis was also a brothel, Channon's girls were not involved in narcotics and her clients were some of the most prominent people in the state. He was assigned to Alexis but after a year their relationship evolved and Neal had proposed marriage to her, wanting her to get out of the business and fulfill her dream of becoming a singer but Alexis was not ready to settle down and Neal left Miami with his heart broken once again.
He was looking forward to his upcoming wedding to Tamara. He would finally have the chance to put his past behind him and move on. He was hoping Emma would be able to do the same even with the enormous burden of being the 'Savior' hanging over her head. Damn his father! Had it not been for his meddling he and Emma would've been able to find their Tallahassee together. He didn't care if he ever saw the bastard again. That night back in the Enchanted Forest he realized his father would never love anything more than power. When anyone asked him about his family he told them his parents abandoned him. It wasn't that far of a stretch from the truth.
"Wonderful! Why don't you come to dinner tonight and we'll celebrate!"
"What time?"
"Six," Zelena said with a smile.
"We'll be there," he said and walked out of the office. He put on his earbuds and Lou Reed's Charley's Girl came on, putting a little more stride into his step along with his joy that working with Zelena would give him more financial stability and he and Tamara could finally afford the larger apartment they were looking at in Harlem. It had been a wonderful day until he got back to his apartment to find that it was raining and he'd left the window open all day, not a wise thing to do in a place like New York City. He was fortunate he hadn't been burgled but he doubted anyone would want to take all of the vintage items he had in the apartment unless they were collectors or wanted to sell them for a quick profit on Ebay. He started to pull the window down and groaned when it was stuck again and his phone slipped out of his pocket and tumbled down the fire escape.
Oh well. I can afford a new one now, he thought. Just then a pigeon landed on the windowsill with something attached to its foot. Bae lifted the bird's foot and removed the item, a postcard. On the back of it was one word written in black marker.
BROKEN
He flipped the card over to see the image of a clock tower printed on the other side along with the words Greetings From Storybrooke!
She did it. She broke the curse.
But now his father remembered too...and he could only pray the bastard didn't come looking for him.
Neverland
The sands in the top of the hourglass were dwindling away as each day passed and soon Pan would revert back to his old, mortal self. It was a fate worse than death and one he desperately needed to avoid.
"We're running out of time," his second in command Felix said.
"Don't remind me!" Pan yelled and flicked his wrist, sending his friend flying against the wall and crashing to the floor of the cave on Skull Rock. "Send a message with the Shadow. Tell Tamara and Greg to stop playing around in San Francisco and get to Storybrooke. I want the Heart of the Truest Believer in my hand before the last sands fall or I'll incinerate this entire island and everyone in it!"
"Right away!" Felix said when he got to his feet, coughing. As he was walking through the jungle he passed the exiled fairy Tinkerbell. Were it her choice she would leave that miserable realm and go somewhere else but the Lost Boys needed her and she would never abandon them. Word was circulating around Pan's camp that Queen Regina's curse had been broken and Pan's desperate search for the Strogoff heir would begin again.
San Francisco, California
SFPD Homicide inspector David Molk stepped aside as the photographer took another series of photos of the crime scene that would go into the file that was growing thicker by the day. The victim, a woman in her early twenties lay on her bed dressed in a Snow White costume holding an apple with a large bite mark in the center. A large glass dome had been covering the body until the techs removed it to dust for prints. It, along with everything else would go into the evidence logs.
"First Cinderella, now we got Snow White. Who's next, Sleeping Beauty?" his partner Edgar Navarro inquired while he wrote notes on the pad he carried. David winced, thinking of his wife Elizabeth, whom he'd given the nickname 'Sleeping Beauty' while they were dating because of her love of the classic fairy tale, the Disney film version of it being her favorite. She'd also been diagnosed with Kliene-Levin Syndrome, also known as the 'Sleeping Beauty' syndrome in her early twenties, her episodes of prolonged sleep increasing after they met but he loved her enough that he married her anyway and would never leave her.
"I'll bet my next paycheck the tox report is gonna come back with some kind of poison," David muttered. "Snow White ate the poisoned apple, our Cinderella was stabbed with the heel of her glass slipper. You hear anything back from those convention companies yet?"
"Not yet. I'm gonna call 'em again when we're done and tell 'em to get a move on it."
One of the techs pried the apple loose from the dead woman's fingers and bagged it.
"You thinking this might be that cult the guy from the NSA tipped us off about? The one called Home Office?" Edgar whispered.
"The MO matches. The victims were wearing costumes from fairy tale characters, dying they way they would in the stories. No witnesses. Now his other theory about them actually being fairy tale characters from another world...I'm chalking that one up to being on one of those drugs the government tests." The two inspectors left the technicians to finish their work and went outside. Suddenly David began to tremble as if he'd been struck by lightning.
"Molky? You okay, man?"
David looked up at his partner, not seeing him but a cat wearing black leather boots, a cape and a hat with a yellow feather in it, brandishing a sword.
"Puss?" he asked and waited for his partner to ask him if he were losing his mind only he knew he wasn't. Puss In Boots had been one of his closest friends back in the Enchanted Forest, a shapeshifter outlaw named Domingo Montoyo who acted as a spy for Prince Phillip and his father.
"I like my cursed name better," Edgar joked and helped him to his feet.
"The curse is broken," David murmured. "Rose...oh God! Rose! We gotta find her Navarro."
"Your brother might know where she went."
"I hope so. She went through the portal alone, dammit! That had to be Maleficent's doing. When I get my hands on that witch..."
They were both started when a navy blue convertible screeched to a halt beside their car and a petite brunette in her late thirties got out and ran over to them holding a little boy in her arms.
"Oh boy...this can't be good!" David sighed. Elizabeth would only show up at his crime scenes as a free lance writer but when he saw her holding their infant son Jasper in her arms he knew something was terribly wrong.
"I don't know where my parents are...they didn't come with me when the curse..."
"Beth, sweetheart, slow down. What are you talking about? Why are you driving when you know you're not allowed to? Is the baby all right?" David asked, handing Jasper to Edgar embracing her. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty, talk to me. He raised her chin and gazed into her eyes.
"You...you're gonna have me locked up...you'll think I've gone crazy or I'm having one of my episodes..." She buried her face in his chest. "She gave me this illness so I've been sleeping through most of my life, put my mother to sleep and probably killed my father! Go on and say it! You think I'm having a nervous breakdown!"
"Rose..." he whispered, praying that what he sensed in his heart was true, shocking though it may have been that the little girl he knew back in the Enchanted Forest had grown into the beautiful woman he loved more than anything in the world.
She raised her head. "H...How did you know my name?"
He reached out and caressed her cheek. "What's our son's name, Sleeping Beauty?"
"Jasper, but...what does that have to do..."
"He's named after his father and he doesn't know it."
"Jasper!" she cried. "But...you...you were a cricket! I thought..."
"I was born human but turned into a cricket because my twin brother made a wish that he could be one."
The Princess Rose will only be awakened by the kiss of a knight, a white knight in blue.
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly, a wave of bright golden light sweeping over them. "The curse is broken Sleeping Beauty. Both curses are broken."
"My white knight in blue," she murmured, calling him by the nickname she'd given him while they were dating. "David! My parents! We have to find my parents!"
"We will, sweetheart but right now we need to get you and Jasper home."
And he had two homicides to solve.
Beth looked up at the apartment building. "There's been another one, hasn't there? A fairy tale killing?"
"Yes," he whispered. "A Snow White but not the one from our world. I think our NSA contact is right and this person's targeting people from other worlds. We have to warn the others."
"We don't know where they are!" Beth cried.
"Let's hope your twin sense starts workin again, Molky," Edgar said. "That's gonna tell us where they are."
Come on Jiminy! Where are you? Talk to me!
Oz (The Outer Zone)
Thirty days prior to the Double Eclipse
Sixty days prior to the Final Eclipse
"It's been broken! Oh thank the goddess the curse has been broken!" Az wept joyfully and sank to her knees in front of her bed in the witch's tower. She raised her hand to her lips and kissed the amber stone ring she wore. "And soon my darling baby girl, your father will come and free me!"
One of the mobat demon markings glowed and the demon flew off her chest. "Mistress, what is wrong?" the mobat Perika asked worriedly.
"The curse has broken in Storybrooke, Perika. Pallux and Archie will be coming for us."
"Archie?" The mobat stared at her in confusion.
"That's Jiminy's name on the other side and your mate is now a Dalmatian named Pongo."
"Then I will be Perdy," the mobat declared happily and draped her wing over her mistress. "I am so pleased to see you taking control more now. Her hold on you is weakening and once your mate and your sister return they will shatter it completely. Do not lose hope of that."
"I won't. Perika...return to me...she is taking control again!"
The mobat reluctantly returned to her place on her mistress's skin wishing the double eclipse would come sooner.
Storybrooke
Archie leaned against the side of the pawn shop fighting back tears, his hand reaching under his shirt and pulling out the tear shaped amber pendant his cursed self always liked but never recalled how he'd come by it or the tattoos on his shoulder and lower back and all he could see before his eyes were his precious baby girl and her beautiful mother, both lost to him when he'd gone through that travel storm...to serve the will of the OZ.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see the people in the town coming together, rejoicing that twenty-eight years of pain and loneliness had finally come to an end but he knew worse was yet to come and the indigo cloud of magic that swept over the town was only the beginning.
He held up his umbrella and waved his hand over it, a small smile on his lips when it transformed into the sword he hadn't used in a decade. His magic had returned...but so had Regina's and Rumple's but his would have to remain a secret from them...for now. But in the OZ there would be one person who needed to quake in fear now that his magic was back and that woman was Bastinda. The double eclipse was approaching and so was her death.
"Archie!" he heard Geppetto call out happily. Archie tucked his pendant back into his shirt and waved his hand over his sword, turning it back into his umbrella.
"Geppetto!" He hugged him. "Y...You're not angry with me?"
"No, my friend. I told you. You are forgiven. But my boy...I still cannot find my boy."
"We'll find him."
"And your brother...what of him and young Rose?"
"I know where they might be and I'll find them. We'll find all of them," he vowed.
"I don't understand...what...what happened when you summoned that portal?"
"Geppetto I promise I'll tell you everything but I can't now. There's going to be a lot of confusion now that the curse is broken and Snow and Charming are going to need our help."
They heard voices raised in anger and turned around to see an angry mob led by Dr. Whale crying out for Regina's blood heading to Mifflin Street. Archie shook his head.
"Idiots! Come on! We need to find Emma."
"She must pay for what she's done."
"If she has her magic back we're the ones that will be paying! Come on!"
Emma watched her parents reunite with their old friends, still reeling from the shock that woman who became her best friend was also her mother. A mother who looked to be about the same age and her father not much older.
I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. Of all the scenarios I dreamed up...not this. Never this. I didn't believe in fairy tales. Hell, I didn't even like them except for the Ugly Ducking because that's how I felt. I was the ugly ducking but I wanted to be a swan. But I never will be. Nor will I be a princess.
She was so lost her own thoughts that she barely heard the others talking until they mentioned the word 'magic'.
"Magic? In Storybrooke? But you're the Blue Fairy. Do something magical." Henry was saying to Blue
"It's not quite that simple, Henry. No wand. No Fairy Dust. Matters are complicated now."
"Let's go to the person responsible for bringing it, the Queen," Leroy said angrily.
"No. Wait. It wasn't Regina. It was Gold."
"Gold?" The dwarves were puzzled.
"Rumplestiltskin. Mr. Gold is Rumplestiltskin. He had magic hidden here, told me it would save Henry so I went to retrieve it. It was hidden in the belly of a dragon."
"Maleficent," her father clarified. "Where I hid it before you were born, in exchange for his help in finding your mother."
"Bastard double crossed me. He wanted that magic for himself," Emma growled and started walking away.
"Emma, wait!" Snow pleaded. "Is there anything that you wanted to ask us? I mean, you must have questions."
"The only questions I have are for Mr. Gold. Why did he double-cross me, and what did he do to this town?"
"Uh... Shouldn't we talk about "it" first?"
"What?"
"Us. Your life. Everything?"
My life's been no fairy tale lady and you're better off not knowing!
"Can we do "everything" maybe later? Like, with a glass of wine. Or several bottles. Maybe a a few truckloads. Yeah, get completely wasted because after I talk to that jerk, it's what I want to do. Get completely wasted."
"I know it's a lot to take in. For all of us."
You have no idea...Dad.
"And we don't want to push, but we've waited for this moment for so long..." Smow stammered.
"Yeah, so have I! I've thought about this moment my entire life. I've imagined who you might be. But of all the scenarios that I concocted, my parents being... I-I just need a little time. That's-that's all!"
They suddenly heard voices raised in anger.
"Snow?" David could see a flock of angry townspeople running through the streets and a frantic Archie coming around the corner.
"There you are. Come with me, I need your help. Dr. Whale's whipped everyone into a frenzy. They're going to Regina's house. They're gonna kill her!" he exclaimed.
"Great, let's watch," Leroy muttered.
"No. No, we cannot stoop to her level. No matter who she is or what she's done, killing her is wrong!"
And she cannot be killed. She's too important to restoring the Balance and to Henry, little as I might like it!, he thought but that information would have to remain a secret for now. He would not stand by and watch a child's mother be murdered right before his eyes.
"He's right. Please. She's still my mom," Henry begged Emma.
"We have to stop them," Emma said. Archie breathed a sigh of relief. At least someone still had some sense.
"If the Blue Fairy is right and magic is here, Regina could have her powers back. They could be marching into a slaughter," David spoke up. "We'll find another way, Henry. Come on."
"...I should've known you'd drive a car like this," Belle joked during the drive back to town. "Like the Godfather."
Rumple frowned. "You were locked away. How do you know so much about this world's culture?"
"I had a nurse at one time who was kind to me. She smuggled a TV set into my room and we would watch movies all night long. She was my only other contact with the outside world. She brought me the TV, books and sometimes new clothes to wear. Then Regina found out and she was gone. But I remembered everything from that time. I think it was in the late 80s or early 90s."
"The Godfather was made in the 70s sweetheart but they play it on TV. Ah, here we are."
He pulled into his parking space behind the shop and turned off the engine. "The curse transported most of my possessions here and to my house. What?" he asked when she began to giggle.
"I should've known you'd be a pawnbroker. Deals are your specialty."
"Indeed they are." He unlocked the door and led her inside. "You wait here, Belle. I'm gonna find you something to wear. You've spent enough time in these rags."
"Thank you."
But there was something else he needed to do first. He donned a pair of black leather gloves and unlocked the cabinet in the backroom of his shop where he kept one of his most dangerous magical items. Another was hidden beneath the floorboards, both items prized possessions of the goddess that inhabited his soul. She'd stolen them from Hades centuries ago to allow her vessels to use them as weapons against light mages only Regina was no light mage and would be getting exactly what was coming to her. He took out a gold octagonal shaped box and set it on his worktable. Inside was an amulet that would summon one of the most feared creatures in Ephesis; the Wraith. It had the ability to remove one's soul, preventing them from entering Paradise, damning them to spend eternity in Ephesis unless Ozmalita released them. He tucked the amulet into his pocket. If the townspeople would not be smart enough to see justice done, he would.
Regina heard the raised voices on her front lawn. So the rabble had finally come for her. She'd been expecting them and it was time to give them a reminder that although this was not the Enchanted Forest, she was still the Queen and always would be.
"Open up or we're coming in!" Whale yelled as he pounded on the door. She opened it with a smirk.
"Can I help you?"
"That smirk isn't gonna last forever, Regina. You took everything from us. And now..."
"What? Now you're gonna kill me?"
"Eventually. But first, you need to suffer."
"Listening to you has been enough suffering for all of us." She gave Whale a shove. "That's right. You wanted to see your Queen? Well, my dears." She raised her arms, ready to scatter them all like leaves. "Here she is! She stretched out her hands, relishing seeing the crowd duck in fear from the magical blast she expected to see but there was nothing. No light. No magiv.
"She's powerless!"
"What?" Regina gasped. What the hell was going on with her magic?
"Get her!"
No, no, no! It's not supposed to be like this! Where is my magic?
Whale seized her by the arms ans shoved her up against one of the columns on her front porch. "Now, where were we?"
He was going to enjoy choking the life out of her.
"Let her go! Let her go! Let her go!" Emma yelled, grabbing Whale's arm as he was about to wrap it around Regina's throat. For Regina, this was a day to mark, actually being grateful to the woman who was the bane of her existence, one of them anyway.
"Why should I listen to you?"
"Because I am still the Sheriff."
"Because she saved you. All of you!" David reminded the crowd.
"And because no matter what Regina did, it does not justify this!" Snow added.
"We are not murderers here." Emma said firmly.
"Well, we're not from this world." Whale glared at her.
'Yeah, well, you're in it now".
"Okay, Whale. We're done." David stepped between Whale and Regina, forcing the doctor back.
"Back off! You're not my Prince."
"Who are you, Whale?"
"That's my business."
"Well, my business is making sure this town doesn't go to hell, so whether or not I'm your Prince isn't the issue. We have a lot to figure out. And this isn't the way to do it."
"And Regina's death won't provide any answers. She needs to be locked up. For her safety, and more importantly, for ours," Snow informed the angry crowd.
"We still want justice!" yelled Happy.
"We'll have our justice but it has to be done the right way. Do any of you really want to murder this woman in front of her child?" Archie demanded angrily. "She is one of Henry's mothers, or have you forgotten that?"
"I am his ONLY mother!" Regina snarled.
"You're both his mothers and you have to learn to work together in the best interest of your son. But first you need to take responsibility for what you've done." Archie said as he approached her.
"You stay out of this Cricket!"
"You have NO idea who you're dealing with," he hissed. "Pray you never find out!" he added as a parting shot and walked over to where Henry stood with Ruby.
"Thank you Archie," Henry murmured.
"Archie, I don't think this is a good idea...she may not have magic now but she might later and..." Ruby protested.
"Right now my main concern is Henry." He glanced over at Emma and her parents. Emma had handcuffed Regina's wrists and David walked her down the sidewalk amidst cheers from the townspeople. Regina glared at them and continued to concentrate, praying she could summon up even a small portion of her magic to teleport out or at least break the handcuffs.
"Would you still be interested in sparing her life if she wasn't Henry's mother? You were the one who suggested we execute her back in the Enchanted Forest."
"I know but now that she is Henry's mother we need to take that into consideration. She can't die Ruby. You just have to trust me on this."
They took Regina down to the station and placed her in one of the holding cells. Everyone had been expecting to return to their cushy little lives in the Enchanted Forest after the curse had been broken but they could never return. She'd seen to that. She enjoyed this new land and its wonders and if having to stay here even after the curse was broken made them miserable, it was a small victory for her. Now all she needed was her magic back.
"Magic is different here, dearie." Rumple taunted when he walked into the station.
"I noticed. I assume this is all your doing."
"Most things are."
"Get to it, Rumple. What do you want? You here to finish the job?"
"No, no, no. You're safe from me."
"I feel so relieved."
"I wouldn't enjoy it for long, dearie. Why should I kill you when I have other methods of getting it done. You have to answer for Belle."
"She's alive?"
"You are a dreadful liar."
"I could have killed her. But I didn't."
"Yeah, you did much worse than that. You kept her alive, so you could kill her when it suited you. A fate worse than death. Which, incidentally, is exactly what I've got in store for you." He reached between the bars of her cell and pulled her arm out toward him, pressing the amulet into her palm.
"Is that..."
"Yes, dearie. The one thing no one can escape. Destiny. And I promise, yours is particularly unpleasant." He released her arm. She looked down at her palm. The mark had not yet appeared but it would soon enough. She glared up at him.
"You're summoning an Ephesian Wraith. You bastard!"
"Like I said, dearie: Why do the job myself when others can do it for me. Delegation!" He giggled. "And I'm going to enjoy seeing your soul being ripped from your body and your arse dragged down into Ephesis. Enjoy your long stay in the Realm of Retribution. Heard the accommodations are painful."
"Well you've got your own spot waiting too, Rumple!" she taunted.
"That remains to be seen."
"Does it? You turning over a new leaf? Becoming a hero? Don't make me laugh. We're villains. We always will be."
"Keep an eye on that palm Regina. The mark is coming...and so is your death. Get your affairs in order."
"You might as well get yours in order too. Emma's going to be gunning for you now."
"She can try but she's no match for me." He smiled and teleported out into the woods, dropping the amulet onto the ground. He took his dagger out of his pocket and held it out in front of him. "The Dark One summons thee!"
In her cell Regina felt the skin on her palm head up and looked down in horror to see the symbol of the Ephesian Wraith burned into her skin as the creature emerged from the the portal that had opened to the Realm of Retribution. It floated in the air above its new master with the amulet around its neck, awaiting his instruction.
"Take the soul of Regina Mills," he commanded. The wraith screeched and flew away in search of its prey. Rumple laughed and teleported back to his shop to check on Belle. She was in the basement as he suspected she would be looking through all the beautiful clothing he'd collected over the years trying to decide what to wear but kept getting distracted by the books on his shelves. He left her to her little adventure and went back upstairs to make them some tea. Moments later the bell above his door tinkled and a furious Emma Swan walked in followed by her parents.
Right on cue.
"What can I do for you?"
"What you can do is tell us what you did."
"I'm sorry, you're gonna have to be more specific."
"You know damn well what we're talking about," David barked.
"You double-crossed Emma, you, uh, took your—uh—potion from her." Snow added.
"And did who-knows-what to this town."
"And worst of all you risked Henry's life!" Emma raged.
"Well, that is quite a litany of grievances, now, isn't it?"
"Maybe I don't need answers. Maybe I just need to punch you in the face."
"Oh really, dearie?" he laughed and came out from behind the counter. "Allow me to answer your questions with some of my own, all right? Did your dear boy, Henry, survive?"
"Yeah."
"Is the curse broken? And let's see here, Miss Swan, how long have you been searching for your parents? Looks like you're reunited. Seems like rather a punch in the face, I deserve a thank you." And a you're welcome while I'm at it because I made you be the one to do it.
"Twist my words all you want, what was the purple haze that you brought?"
"You know, magic." he replied with a florish.
"Why?" Snow demanded.
"Not telling."
They heard rumbling outside and the store began to shake as if it has been hit by an earthquake.
"What the hell was that?"
David and Snow looked outside, hearing the Wraith shrieking as it flew into one of the streetlights and broke the bulb and into one of the power lines. Sparks emitted as the line severed and all the lights on the other side of the street went out. Rumple heard the gas powered generator he had installed in the basement turn on when his own lights flickered.
"That is my gift to you. That is gonna take care of Regina."
"Emma, come on" Snow ordered.
"We need to go take care of this."
"We're not done." Emma said angrily, glaring at Rumple.
"Oh, I know. You still owe me a favor." And he would collect it when he was ready to begin his search for his son. He went back to making his tea as the Charmings left the shop. Suddenly his hand paused over the cup.
"Returning to the place of your birth is where you will heal the wounds of your past and discover who you truly are," he murmured. He blinked several times and saw Belle standing in the doorway leading to the backroom, a frown on her face.
"You released an Ephesian wraith."
"Sweetheart, she had to answer for what she's done to you!"
"And she will but Rumple, but look outside. It's destroying the town, these people's homes! You've endangered innocents. Please, call it off and find another way!"
"I can't," he said sadly.
She went into the backroom and came out with a book.
"Belle, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to try to find it and call it off myself."
"You can't. It won't stop until its mission is complete."
"Oh Rumple, the more you give in to your darkness, the harder it will be to banish her."
He lowered his head, picked up his tea cup and went down to the basement to his spinning room.
"You still have it? My chipped cup," she said softly and picked it up.
He stood up and took the cup from her. "There are many, many, things in this shop. But this... This is the only thing I truly cherish. And now you must leave."
"What?"
"You must leave, because despite what you hope, I'm still a monster."
She placed her hands on his shoulders and gazed into her eyes."Don't you see? That's exactly the reason I have to stay. True love's kiss may not free you from the Alemedia Demonia but true love can. I told you. I'll never stop fighting for you."
"You sound like a Guardian's bonded."
"A what?"
"The four Guardians of the Balance. They are the descendants of Hades and Persephone and the Ozian gods Aramon and Lurline, the Strogoff and Ozopov. They're represented by the four points on the compass, each has their own element and a symbol. Their bondmates represent the fifth element, spirit and are known as their 'Hearts'. The bondmate's task is to keep a Guardian anchored to his or her humanity. Protecting their hearts and souls so to speak. There hasn't been a united circle of Guardians in centuries."
"Why?"
"Ah because Demeter cursed their bloodline to be at war with each other until the line dies out."
"Have you ever considered the possibility that you may be one of the four, Rumple?"
"That's ludicrous Belle. I'm the bastard son of Peter Pan and some young girl he seduced after getting drunk one night."
"P...Peter Pan is your father?"
"He's nothing like the celluloid version, believe me. He abandoned me in Neverland so that he could be young forever and live a carefree life. He always used to brag that he was from a line of Scots-Irish warlocks on this side but he never showed any magical ability until we arrived there."
"Rumple, what you've just said proves my theory about your magic! You were born with it and so was he! What if your father wasn't boasting and you are a descendant of Scots-Irish warlocks? Did he give you any names?"
"McDermott," he muttered.
"Then we have another mission along with finding Bae and breaking your curse. Finding the family you have here."
"Nothing is more important than finding Bae. I need to find him and make things right between us. I'm just like my father...I let him go like Papa let me go!"
"No, you're not the same. You've never given up hope of finding him and when we find him he needs to know that."
"I can't ask you to share this burden with me."
"You don't have to. I am sharing it. We're doing this together."
He could only hope she was up for the task.
Charming lay on the floor, his eyes wet with tears, Jefferson's hat crushed beneath his chest, the image of his beloved wife jumping into a portal that lead to who knew where after the wraith had taken the daughter they'd just been reunited with imprinted on his brain. He slowly rose to his feet holding the hat in his hands.
"No! Where are they?"
"I don't know."
"Are they dead!"
"The curse, it destroyed all the lands..."
"ARE THEY DEAD!?"
"I don't know!"
"I should've killed you myself!"
"Well, then, what's stopping you?" She felt a her magic spring forth and throw him against the wall, the vines in the wallpaper wrapping around him and holding him in place, one of them winding itself about his throat. "You think you're some heroic Prince? Please. You're nothing but the son of a shepherd. I should've killed you when I could. And now... Now I can."
"Mom?" Henry cried out as she was about to order the vine to do its work, Ruby at his side.
"Henry, what are you doing here?"
"What are you doing?"
"It's okay. You're safe now."
The vines vanished and David fell to the floor coughing. Ruby kneeled beside him.
"Where's my mom? Where's..."
"..They're gone. They fell through a portal. They're... Henry, I'm sorry."
"No, you're not. You really are the Evil Queen. I don't wanna see you again."
Regina felt her heart shatter with those words. "No, don't say that. I love you."
"Then, prove it. Get Emma and Mary Margaret back. And until then, leave me, leave everyone alone!"
"Where will you go?"
"With me." David spoke up and wrapped his arm around his grandson's shoulders, leading him out of the office.
Regina sank to the floor in tears and held out her hand, hoping that her magic would respond to her again but it refused.
"I will get him back!" she sobbed. "I'll get it all back!"
She would let them enjoy their victory for now but in the morning her work would begin again.
Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora's Castle
The Enchanted Forest
Theirs had been an arranged marriage but Aurora grew to love her husband in the ten years they'd been husband and wife, their beautiful daughter Rose the ultimate symbol of their love. Now Phillip lay on the the bier that had been her resting place in the twenty-eight years Queen Regina's curse had been in effect, his soul taken by an Ephesian Wraith that had somehow wandered into their safe haven. His companion, Mulan, stood off to the side in silence after she'd revealed the terrible secret Phillip asked her to keep immediately after awakening his wife; that Aurora not be told about the curse until the proper time.
"This corner of the land was untouched. No one knows why. But something saved us. And for 28 years we were frozen. And then, time started again. The terrible curse's power was weakened. Phillip and I were able to resume our search. We found you. But the land is ravaged with dangers more fearsome than you can imagine. For those of us who remained, we found a safe haven. We must go there now."
"Our daughter," Aurora sobbed.
Mulan froze. "Daughter? You have a child together? Phillip didn't tell me this."
"Rose was ten," Aurora smiled softly. "It was no jest when I said you are not the only one who knows about sacrifice. I sent our daughter away with our advisor to try to escape the curse Maleficent placed on us. She'd already turned Phillip into the beast you encountered and cursed me to an enchanted sleep as she cursed my mother. All the women in my bloodline would be cursed with this enchantment. We thought that if we sent Rose to the new world she would not fall under curse." Aurora brushed tears from her eyes. "She will be a woman now, thirty-eight..and older than me if she did not go to the new land the Queen created. I have to find her Mulan. I have to tell her about her father."
Mulan nodded silently. Aurora's earlier assumption that she'd been in love with Phillip was correct. She was...and had been in the twenty-eight years time was frozen but she was not so callous that she would break up a marriage. Only now there was no marriage to break, only a widow grieving the loss of her husband and a woman in another world who would never be reunited with her father.
"I can understand why you loved my Phillip. He was an easy man to love," Aurora added.
Suddenly they heard rustling from the pile of debris covering the entrance to the portal the wraith had emerged from. Mulan drew her sword. "Something's in there. Stay back."
"What did it bring? What is it? What do you see?" she demanded while her new friend lifted up a large piece of flooring and threw it aside. "Mulan, what is that?"
"That? That is what brought the wraith here. That is what murdered our prince," she said angrily.
In the rubble Emma began to stir, her mother lying beside her still unconscious.
"Get up!" Mulan ordered, pointing her sword at Emma.
"Hey watch where you're sticking...Ow!" Mulan made a small cut on her arm.
"Now, or I'll cut something else!"
Snow groaned and opened her eyes, blinking several times. "Where...where are we?"
"You too. Get up! Aurora, get me some rope out of my sack."
The princess did as she was told.
"Now tie them to the rope and hand me the end of it."
"Just a minute..." Snow protested.
"Be quiet!" Aurora growled, binding them tight and tossed the end of the rope to Mulan as she mounted her horse. Aurora climbed onto her own horse and the two women set off pulling their prisoners behind them.
"What the hell is going on? Where are we?" Emma demanded of her mother.
"I don't know but we have to get out of here."
And then they needed to find a way back home.