Shorter chapter this time but I figured since the last chapter ended on a big cliffhanger I should throw out a bone to my readers. This way you'll get to have a few things cleared up a little quicker. Enjoy.
"What?" Emma whispered. Her world seemed to crash around her. Henry couldn't be gone. Henry has been her everything since the moment he had knocked on her apartment door. Regina, if possible, was even worse. The fire she usually felt explode from losing something wasn't there. For the first time since the poison apple there wasn't room for anger.
"I wrote him away to fit the stories so that it was like he was never born to begin with." The author stammered. he knew that everything that he had built was in jeopardy and he would do anything, anything to keep it.
"That's not possible." Hook said. It was the first time he had really gotten involved in the conversation. He had believed it would be best to leave it to the lad's mothers at first.
"I, I'm sorry but it is. You were never supposed to get out of the other book to even remember, let alone look for him again. This is all because of Mr. Gold. You have to understand that." Isaac told them, trying his best to push any blame on to Rumplestiltskin. The man wouldn't last much longer in this world anyway.
"Bring him back." Emma found her voice. "You're the author so bring him back."
"I wrote my own happy ending. I've broken the cardinal rule. I'm no longer the author and I can no longer use the pen to change anything." He told them.
"No. It's not bloody possible." Hook said again with a voice even harder than before.
"It's all true. The author can have his power taken away if he writes his own happy ending." Isaac repeated.
"Not that. You can't just write people away even with all that magic in your quill. If you had been able to, you would have done that with Emma in that storybook but you didn't. So I'm shall ask for the last time. Where is the lad?"
Regina's eyes widened. Hook may not know it now but he had just given the two women the thing they needed the most. Hope.
The authors gaze turned to spiteful.
"I don't know what your talking about." He said.
"No more lies." Emma told him.
"No more games." Regina added. "We may not have magic here but the savior over there is carrying a very handy gun that I'm feeling very tempted to get it out myself."
The fire was back in their eyes.
The author felt himself being backed into a corner.
"I'm defenseless." He claimed. "I wrote my own happy ending. I'm not an author anymore."
"I don't care what you are or aren't." Regina said back to him
That corner the author had felt before, well, it's walls were getting closer.
"I suppose he might still be alive." He finally spit out to the mothers.
"You suppose? What's really happening because nothing has been right from the moment we escaped from Heroes and Villains. I mean, the book should have been destroyed but instead it's like we just landed in another..." Emma trailed off. Strings that hadn't made sense before were finally coming together.
The author gulped. He knew what Emma's expression meant. She had finally figured out what he had been trying to hide.
"We're still in one of your books." Emma finally said.
"That's impossible." Regina tried to tell Emma. "What did he do? Put us in a book inside of a book?" Emma wasn't going to hear any of it, though.
"That's exactly what he did." Emma said and turned back to the author. "And I finally understand your play. You don't want us to find Henry. Why would you when the only way to get out of a book is to change its story?
I know it's been forever but I promise Henry will actually come into play very soon. He won't stay missing. At least he's not actually gone forever. As always R and R.