The Jolly Roger docks in Storybrooke and Emma, Hook, Henry, and Roland, step onto dry land laughing, talking, and generally in good spirits. Two feet from the dock each of them stumble in response to the unexpected guttural shockwave that rolls through the earth due to the sudden blinding white flash of magical light in the sky two blocks away. Pausing only long enough to exchange looks of concern, the four of them instinctual choose to run toward what they already know is very likely danger.

"What is that?" Nine-year-old Rolland points at the fleeing dark apparition as it glides up and away, screeching and howling in pain. They each turn their eyes to the late summer sky and break into dead runs as Emma squints and assures them all, "Nothing good."

Down to the end of the block. Down pass the hardware store at the corner of Willow and Pine. They come to a stop at the front door of the Lucky Feather. When they find the front door locked, and the closed sign clearly on display in the front window, Hook calls over his shoulder as he sprints around the side of the building, "Back door!"

Granny, Snow, David, and Belle each coming from their own direction, join them as they come to a halt just in time to see Regina collapse and nearly take an obviously weak Robin down with her.

"Mom, Regina!" Henry and Roland shout as they run double-time to her side.

Robin slowly sinks to his knees, cradling her and brushing tears from her face.

"What the hell was that thing, mate?" Hook queries.

Robin shakes his head completely at a loss as he looks over his shoulder toward the back door to find his frightened daughter with her tear-stained face and her trembling lips calling after him.

"Daddy?"

"It's okay, baby." He croaks hoarsely and motions for her.

Peering out cautiously, the child inspects her surroundings before timidly stepping over the threshold. When nothing dark and malignant snatches her from the ground, she runs as fast as her short little legs will carry her, straight to his side.

She searches Robin's face before turning her gaze to her mother's. "Mama?"

Robin gently squeezes one of her small hands when it becomes apparent that fresh tears are going to flow out of concern for Regina's well-being. "It's alright, Norah. "Mama's okay. She's just passed out."

When Norah squints in confusion, he simplifies things for her, "Mama's sleeping. That's all. She'll wake in a bit."

Norah looks to her brothers. "Bad monster. Ugly monster."

Henry picks up his little sister and rubs her back. "It's okay now, Norah Bea. The ugly monster flew away."

"Hurt Daddy, Mama, and Auntie Zena."

"Oh God; Zelena!" Robin worries aloud.

"It's okay, I'm right here." The redhead calls, stepping out into the sunlight with her whimpering daughter held tightly in her arms. She nods in response to the question burning in his eyes. "It's okay. We're alright." She tries to lighten the seriousness of the mood and quips breathlessly, "A bit shaken really, but not stirred."

"And the baby?"

Smiling, Zelena touches her own abdomen. He's a rock star. He protected all of us."

"Good thing he did. I think he officially deserves knighthood. If he hadn't shown us how to deal with that… that bloody thing. Robin filters, curbing his initial choice of language for the sake of the children. Still, I'd like to get you all to the hospital; just to be checked out."

"And, you too."

"I'm fine."

Zelena laughs wryly. "No, you're not. I felt what that thing did to me. And it had you for twice as long. If Regina were awake, she'd insist that you get yourself looked at right along with the rest of us."

Emma kneels before him offering the healing touch of her magic.

Robin shrugs. "You can try, but I don't think that's going to help. I don't think she's physically injured; just drained. At first, she hit that thing with dark magic, but it seemed to crave it, feed off it. It pulled it right out of her; devoured it. I think the well was nearly dry when she switched gears. I've never seen Regina release that much light at once. She's just spent. She needs rest. I think her body just shut down; especially given the simultaneous emotional and mental anguish. Whatever that thing is, it obviously paralyzes its victims by forcing them to relive the worst pain of their lives. When it had me… I… I lost Marian all over again, and Regina too." He glances toward his sister-in-law, seeking some kind of confirmation.

Zelena nods. "Watching my mother abandon me for the second time around wasn't any better than the first time and neither was Regina telling me that she'd had enough, and I should just leave and go back to Oz because she wanted nothing more to do with me."

"With her access to the queen's storehouse of dark memories…" Robin halts in his conjecture.

"He's right," David says. "Whatever that thing was, if it feeds off people's darkness, off their worst heartaches – Emma you can keep trying if you like – but Regina is likely to be out for days."

"Don't go betting on that, shepherd." Regina hisses thickly as her eyes flutter and close again momentarily before opening fully. She tries to sit up. "You will lose."

"Mama!" Norah cheers with a brilliant smile as Robin caresses his wife's face.

Regina smiles at him as Henry and Roland kneel beside her.

She hugs all three of her children and reaches for her girl. "Let me look at you. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" She runs tender hands over the girl's body; head to foot.

Norah shakes her head vehemently. "I okay. Mama made ugly monster go away."

Regina kisses her forehead as she makes eye contact with her sister.

Zelena gives a casual little wave. "Still here."

"Good to know. What is that thing? And why is it after you?"

"Oh, right away. It must be after me, right?"

Regina coughs deeply. "Don't take offense, Greenie. It's the only thing that makes any sense to me; that's all. She threads the fingers of her left hand through Robin's. "It only hit Robin first because he was in its path. Once he was down, you were its first stop. It only came after me when I tried to stop its assault on you."

Swallowing some of the bite in her words, Zelena's shrugs. "Well, I don't know. I haven't a clue. I've never seen that thing, or anything like it, in my life. I would've remembered incurring the wrath of something that hideous."

Belle steps forward. "Can you describe it?"

Regina nods. It was like a wraith; but…not. Possibly akin to one. Sort of a cloaked and skeletonized grim reaper with no mouth, just in a gaping black hole for most of its face."

"And it feeds off an individual's darkness?"

"Actually, what it feeds off of is pain and fear. Most people do go a little dark when they experience those sensations." She sighs heavily. "Obviously, some of us more than others. It somehow makes the object of its attention re-experience their most painful moments."

"But, I do think Regina's wrong about one thing." Robin offers gently, honestly. "I don't think it stopped simply because I was down. I don't think it had any intention of stopping until I was dead. It literally sucked the warmth out of my body; right out of my soul. It stopped when I heard Norah scream, 'You get away from my daddy. You leave him alone.' Then I started remembering the day she was born and how happy we were. How amazing that felt. I think those good memories and the feelings attached to them somehow repulsed the thing. It had no more use for me. Or at the very least, less interest in me. It moved on."

Norah smiles at her father. "I did good?"

Robin reaches over as Regina hugs her tightly and he affectionately squeezes the toe of one of her sneakers. "You did something really beautiful sweetheart. Daddy is so proud of you."

Regina nods as she runs her fingers through her daughter's hair with warmth. "That does make sense. I didn't defeat it. I didn't kill it. I just chased it off, but I wasn't able to do that until I saw white power emanating from… Well, from Zelena's baby. When I decided to tap into my own and started thinking the thoughts that I use to trigger light magic, it fled. And, tapping into those thoughts was not easy under those circumstances. You're paralyzed. You're freezing. It's dark. It's desolate. Everything's black."

Zelena nods. "I felt like my heart was shattering into 1000 pieces."

Emma hesitantly and comically raises one hand. "Did I hear that right? The unborn child of the Wicked Witch and Lord Death has white magic? I'd be curious to know how that's going to go over with Dad?"

Zelena's scoffs snidely as Regina rolls her eyes and, using forced patience, she softly declares, "Evil isn't born, Emma. It's made. You've been in this town too many years not to know that."

Robin joins her as Regina rises to her feet, her mind ready for action, but her body isn't ready to comply with that desire. She sways and staggers; stepping back into Robin's embrace. "Well, we have to do something about it. We have to figure out how to get rid of it, not just chase it off. We have to do something now before it comes back; before it attacks again. I can't go another three rounds with that thing today. Whatever it is, it's not in town on vacation. It's not here to enjoy the sights. We need a better game plan, and we need to come up with one fast before it does kill someone."

Belle volunteers. "I'll hit the books. While I'm doing that, you all need to go to the ER and get checked out."

Six hours later, the town librarian knocks on the mayor's front door.

Belle smiles politely when Regina's father opens the door and welcomes her in without so much as a single question. "Ms. French, good evening."

"It's just Belle, if you please, Your Majesty."

"Belle, it is then; but only if you will call me Henry. Your Majesty makes me sound like some pompous, unpleasant old royal."

She laughs. "As you wish, Henry."

"Good, now will you join us for pizza?"

Her eyes widen in surprise. "Oh, I don't want to intrude. I've only come bearing information."

"Yes, I figured as much. Regina told me to expect you. She, Robin, and Miss Norah Bea are upstairs sleeping. They have been since shortly after they were declared fit to leave the hospital, but the boys and I have more than enough pizza to share if you'd care for a slice or two. Come in. Take off your coat, and tell us what you've learned."

Henry pauses long enough to help her out of her coat and then leads her to the kitchen table. "Are you a purist or a hedonist?"

Belle purses her lips and raises an eyebrow comically, not understanding the reason for the question.

Smiling, Roland rises from his chair and fills in the blank for her as he pulls out the empty chair next to his own. "Hi, Ms. Belle. Do you want plain cheese pizza or super deluxe with everything on it?"

"Ahh, well now the question makes sense. If those are my two options, I'm proud to say you'll have to consider me a hedonist."

The king's namesake smiles and teases his stepbrother. "He's weird. Even Mom likes more than just plain cheese. He's the only purist in this house; at least when it comes to pizza. Can you tell us what that awful thing was?"

"I can."

Before she can say more, Henry steps to her side with a chilled glass of Riesling and Regina enters the room courtesy of the kitchen stairway: knotting her robe's sash at the waist. Her wet hair and the few noticeable water droplets still on visible flesh indicate a very recent shower.

"Hello, Belle. Don't stop on my account. We're all ears."

"Well then, according to what my research turned up, the dark – being – at the tavern this afternoon is called a …" She pauses when Robin comes into view on the staircase a step behind his wife and wraps an arm around her waist. Hello, Robin… " She smiles with just a tad of mild unrest when she realizes that his equally wet hair and fresh t-shirt and jeans would seem to indicate that his wife may not have been alone in the shower. Forcibly shoving what is none of her business from her mind, Belle clears her throat and plows on with renewed focus. "It's called a Dementor. They are the merciless guards of a prison called Azkaban in the Rowlingshire Realm. They keep the prison's inmates, who are usually dark wizards or witches, under control by performing what's known as the Dementor's Kiss on anyone who dares step out of line."

Despite just rising from a very long nap, the news makes Regina want to turn around, march back up the stairs, and return to bed to sleep for another five hours.

She sighs wearily. "Trust me the Dementor's Kiss is more than effective. If they have long-term inmates, they are all either model prisoners, or they are all nuttier than a macadamia tree. Prolonged exposure to that sort of thing would drive even the strongest mentally sound person completely, and irrevocably, out of their mind. But, why is it here? Is it chasing an escaped convict? Is there someone new in Storybrooke?"

"I haven't noticed anyone new in town. I don't have to tell you how quickly people around here would notice that sort of thing. There wasn't a lot of information. Just what I've given you so far, and one footnote. If you want to know more, I think you're going to have to go to Rowlingshire."

"Belle, some realms are tiny; the size of a postage stamp. Others are expansive. Before I go anywhere, I need to be armed with a tad more information than just simply, go there and find the Dementors of Askaban Prison."

"Yes, that's where the footnote came in. It said that people seeking information should visit the Ministry of Magic and ask to speak with an auror by the name of Mr. Harry Potter."

Author's Note: To all my friendly but silent lurking readers. I know you're out there. I watch the traffic graphs. I love writing this story, but even when you love what you do, it's still work; and nobody works for free!

The way this goes is, I write a chapter and, if you like the story, if you want more, it's up to you to feed the muse. So, take five, get in touch, share your thoughts, make requests. Come on people, talk to me!