(Fairy Tale Land, Future Past)

Zarina sort of skipped most of the godmotherly parts of her training, not to mention pretty much anything to do with human interaction, and now felt completely unprepared for the responsibility suddenly thrust on her. Emma and Hook had been gone barely an hour, without event, but Zarina's nerves kept her glancing between the bed where Liam slept and the cabin windows, despite the two layers of blood magic protecting them from the outside world. She tried to distract herself by magicking a human outfit to replace her fairy dress, figuring if she was going to hide among the humans, she might as well look like one of them. However, she'd never really paid much attention to human fashion and really only had Hook and Emma to go off of, so she ended up in a blue leather duster and trousers that made Tink snicker (not to mention the chafing). She let Tink take over and found herself in a simple skirt, blouse, and corset. She kept the blue coat, though; it made her feel big and weighty and significant in a heavy world far different from the clouds and flower huts back home. She longed to be back in her lab, but she knew, even if Blue hadn't found out, she had already outgrown her studies there. She knew fairy magic well enough, but the rest of magic, the rest of the world, was only book knowledge to her; Zarina needed to test her dust against more than just abject theories spilled from a quill but never tested in the proverbial wild against a bitchy witch. Unfortunately, she hadn't found a speck of Zelena's magic to analyze, so Zarina worked with what she had: Savior magic.

Emma had left a covered dish behind for Liam, spelled to keep his food warm and edible, as well as a little trinket box Emma had enchanted shut for them to test the dust against. Zarina sat at the captain's table and traced the edge of the dish with a finger, feeling out the magic. She tried to deconstruct all the interwoven elements of the spell, a mix of protective instinct and motherly concern plus a little maternal guilt. Tink sat opposite her at the table, fussing with the box. Tink sprinkled it with a little dust and tapped her wand on the box. The specks of dust began to glow white as they soaked up the light magic. The box trembled, lept into the air, and popped open. It fell back to the table with a bang, breaking the hinge.

"It… worked," said Tink, gingerly poking at the broken box, "sort of."

The bed creaked and Zarina almost zoomed straight to the ceiling in fright. Liam pushed himself up on an elbow, his hair a swirl of upended chaos and his skin pale from sleep. Apparently the dust had soaked up more of Emma's magic than just what was cast on the box.

Zarina slowly sank back down in her chair, her heart calming from the shock as Liam groggily kicked at his covers.

"You never were one for nap time," Tink sighed. She rose and held out a hand to help him up. "Come on. If you're not going to sleep, you might as well eat something."

He took Tink's hand and she pulled him up. He stood, theoretically, but Tink shouldered most of his weight as she guided him to a chair at the table. Zarina slid the dish over to him and lifted the lid to reveal two rectangular pastries on the plate. A sweet, sugary aroma filled the cabin. Liam blinked at Zarina a few times, a wary arch to his brow.

Zarina started to go a little red. Maybe Tink hadn't gotten the clothes right after all. "Is something wrong?"

"Pop-Tarts are contraband," Liam stated as if it were the most obvious law of the universe. "They're absolutely forbidden on this ship."

"Oh." Zarina moved to place the lid back.

"Ah ah ah!"

Liam launched forward, snatched one of the tarts, and shoved a corner into his mouth. "Lem'me deal wif the effidence," he managed through a mouthful of sprinkles and jam.

Zarina felt the weight of the plate lift from her hands as Liam pulled it away from her and set the plate in his lap.

"Am I allowed to ask where they went," Liam asked after swallowing half a tart, "or are prisoners to remain silent?"

Tink slipped into her seat and Zarina took the cue to follow suit. "Regina and Robin have the pen. They're returning it to Henry."

Liam sat up and dropped the unfinished half of his tart back on the plate.

"I don't understand," said Zarina, "why is that so important? The Author can't change anything, not without repercussions."

Tink nodded. "He can't, but everything an Author writes is recorded forever. Henry isn't just a writer, he's a caretaker of the Author's whole library now. The palace houses a great number of storybooks from, well, everywhere. If someone or something has been written about by an Author, Henry can find it, so long as he has the pen, and if Zelena bothered to steal it, she may be trying to hide something that she's afraid Henry would pick up on."

Liam had taken another large bite of his snack and had to swallow quickly. "Not to mention the other thing."

Zarina looked at him. "What other thing?"

"My satchel, please." Liam dusted his hands and motioned at a satchel slung over the back of Tink's chair. She lifted the strap and handed it to him. He took the satchel with one hand and, with the other, flipped open the leather flap to tug out a large scroll. He slipped the satchel over his shoulder and unrolled the scroll. It was a drawing in an unmistakable style.

Zarina leaned in. "Is that from the storybook?"

Liam slid a hand across the paper, smoothing it against the table. "Not exactly."

Confused, Zarina looked back up at Liam.

"Most of the time Henry writes his stories after they happen, but sometimes the story finds him first. He gets a premonition, just enough to get him looking for the right people." Liam tapped the page with a finger. "When Zelena attacked the castle, he was working on this."

The page bore a drawing of two forms standing on the deck of a ship. The first was clearly Hook looking grim, as if he'd just heard bad news. The second form, a woman, faced him in conversation. She was dressed as a sailor, but wore a dark hood draped over her features. She had thick bracers over her forearms from which extended two short, bright blades.

Liam pointed to the hooded woman. "This is Morgan."

She looks like an assassin," Zarina blurted, then put a hand over her mouth because she was pretty sure telling a prince his girlfriend looked like a murderer probably wasn't a compliment in the human world.

"Privateer," corrected Liam, his lips turning up in amusement for a moment before drifting back down with the gravity of the situation, "but you're not far off the mark. The point is, Henry drew her before he ever met her, before I ever met her, and if her story called to him, he may know where to start looking. It's an Author thing." Liam rose from his seat. "I have to be there when he gets it back."

"No, you don't," replied Tink. "You slept barely an hour. You can barely walk. You want to help? Sleep. Sleep now so you can fight later."

The prince swayed heavily to the side and nearly fell but that Zarina leaped to her feet and caught him.

"You're right," Liam sighed. He put an arm around Zarina as if to steady himself, only to pull away with a jolt. Zarina felt a tug at her waist and she glanced down to find the bag of white dust gone from her hip.

"Liam!" Tink jumped from her chair, but could do nothing as the prince snapped to his full height, the bag of dust in one hand and a fist of dust extended over his head.

"If I can't walk," he said and opened his fist, "I'll just have to fly."

White dust fell into his hair, bounced down his shoulders, and ran down his chest as he clenched his eyes shut in concentration.

Only nothing happened.

Well, except for a pinch of dust that tickled down his spine and caused him to inhale suddenly, which caused him to breathe in a few granules of dust which then set off a sneezing fit.

Liam cracked an eye open amid his violent sneezing and caught Tink's unamused glare and Zarina's petrified stare.

"It's inert, Liam," Tink said. "White dust has to soak up magic before it can work and you, little prince..."

"...Don't have magic," he finished.

The sneezing subsided and Liam closed his eyes again, this time in shame. He slumped into his chair, sending an avalanche of dust down from his dark strands to the table, where the drawing of Hook and Morgan still lay. He stared at it with red-rimmed eyes, tracing a wild line of Morgan's hair as tears dripped from his chin and Tink's anger left her, leaving only pity and concern. Liam curled the picture and carefully stuffed it back into the satchel, as if laying a dream to rest. Tink stepped forward, to comfort him, to say something, when the satchel began to glow with a soft golden light. The dust on his arm lit up as well, snaking up to his shoulders, to his hair, to his very eyes, turning emerald green to glittering gold.

He glowed like that for a moment, soft and bright and brilliant.

Then he cried out in terrible pain and fell over.

-0-

Emma and Killian found everyone gathered in the castle war room. Fitting, she figured, since they were in a war of a sort; a longstanding conflict with the Wicked Witch over the fate of young Robyn, if not the fate of the kingdom. Only Zelena refused to see that her daughter had long since grown into a young woman with a mind and will of her own, and Robyn wanted nothing to to with Zelena. This attitude, of course, Zelena blamed on Regina and Robin and literally everyone else except herself and her own malice. Emma had all but given up on hope for Zelena, though she sometimes mused if history had gone a different way, if she and Regina had ever been able to mend fences, but wishful thinking only added up to so much, even in a magic realm.

Henry sat at the great circular table where his grandparents had sat almost half a century ago planning how Emma was to escape the Evil Queen's curse. He had a storybook spread open in front of him with Snow and Charming sitting on either side of him and Regina and Robin behind him, all reading over his shoulder. All except Henry had started to go at least a little gray, though Regina's grey tended to disappear at will, or when it "didn't go with the outfit", or it was Tuesday. It all happened so gradually, aging, that Emma only noticed in moments like these, but she'd much rather have aged family than dead family, hands down, so she embraced the lines and skin splotches and streaks of silver.

Henry caught the movement of their arrival first and looked up. "Mom! Killian!"

The others looked up and chimed their own greetings. Snow and Charming sent them particularly sympathetic looks, no doubt for Liam's sake.

"What's up?" asked Emma, charging into the situation if only to distract herself from the helplessness of her son's heartache.

"We caught a break," said Snow, putting an arm around Henry. "Henry found a reference to Blackbeard in another storybook; we may have an idea what he's up to."

Emma quirked her head at that. "Blackbeard's from another storybook?"

"Not Blackbeard," said Henry, flipping back a few pages, then turning the book so Emma and Killian could inspect a picture. It was a man who looked every inch a pirate but for a white hood over his head. A stray lock of blonde hair fell from under the hood. She had never seen him before, but Emma did recognize the glinting blades strapped to his wrists.

"Is that…?" Emma started to ask, but Killian moved forward.

"Edward Kenway," Killian said. "Morgan's father."

"Morgan?" said Snow, brow knit in concern. "The girl Liam…"

"Aye."

Emma stared at the picture with renewed interest. How weird it was that she never met this man, and yet was almost family. Well, sort of.

Henry pulled the book back to himself. "Long story short, he followed some very bad people here who were after some very powerful magic in our world."

"What kind of magic?" Emma asked.

"A ship, for one," Henry replied, "the Queen Anne's Revenge. Heard of it?"

Killian tensed and his features sharpened. "Only one of the deadliest ships to ever sail. What did he have to do with it?"

Henry flipped around a few pages and turned the book back over to Emma and Killian. "Read for yourself."

They took the book and skimmed through the story. Apparently Kenway enlisted Blackbeard to help him to find this foreign ship in a foreign realm, but quickly realized Blackbeard craved the ship for himself. Kenway eventually broke with Blackbeard, found the ship on his own, destroyed it and, with it, his enemies. He had nothing left in his old realm, so Kenway sent his ship and crew back while he remained behind.

Killian shifted, breathing in the information. "I knew of the bad blood between Kenway and Blackbeard, but never suspected it was over the bloody Queen Anne."

Snow shifted in her seat. "How sad that he didn't have anyone back home."

"Don't get too weepy, love," Killian replied. "The man conquered an island and turned it into a pirate haven. Made more loot on that than he ever did at sea. He died a very rich man."

Emma frowned. "But if the ship is gone and Kenway is dead, what's Blackbeard after?"

"It's a magic ship," Regina replied, "and since magic can't be entirely destroyed, it is possible a sorceress of Zelena's caliber could resurrect the ship. With Kenway dead and his crew gone, the next logical link would be-"

"-Morgan," Killian finished.

Emma's eyes went wide. "Liam wasn't the only target that night."

Killian met her gaze. "They must assume she knows something."

"But that's good, right?" Snow asked, though with a shake of uncertainty in her voice. "It's a reason for them to keep her alive?"

"Until they get what they want and throw her overboard," said Killian.

Snow paled at the thought and her gaze dropped to the table.

"But why would Zelena want to help Blackbeard get a ship?"

"Because the ship is immune to magic," said Regina. "That's why we can't track it, not by magic means, anyway. Worse, it nullifies the magic of those aboard who aren't the captain-sort of like Pan's cuff. It's a veritable floating prison for any practitioner of magic."

"Robyn," whispered Robin, his hands tensing into fists. "It's always comes back to Robyn."

Charming sat forward, "She could also use this against Emma."

Emma's lips tightened. "I think Zelena's made it pretty clear if she ever gets a shot at me, she aims to kill, not-"

The words died on Emma's lips as a sudden tingle of dread raced up her spine. Killian caught something in her expression and out his hand to her shoulder in concern.

Henry, too, suddenly sat up straighter and his worried eyes snapped on Emma.

"Liam," they both whispered and the room filled with white smoke.

-0-

Liam flailed on the floor, his leg curled to his chest, throat hoarse with screams of pain. Tink crouched over him on the floor but could do little to ease his cries.

"What happened?" asked Tink, trying to still him long enough to check his leg.

"The pages were made from Author magic," said Zarina. She snatched up the bag of dust and deduced the prince had taken quite the dose. "There must have been enough of a remnant of that magic for the dust to soak up."

"But what did it do!?"

"I… have no idea."

Blue wouldn't just have her wings for this, Zarina thought, she'd impale her on her own wand.

Zarina quickly secured the dust to her belt and dropped to Liam's side and tried to hold him down while Tink examined his leg with a pinch of her own true fairy dust. However, she found nothing wrong with his leg, or indeed any other part of him. Zarina then placed a hand on either side of his face, trying to gently extract the magic from him. Wisps of gold rose from his skin and slowly drifted away, but nowhere near what he had doused himself with.

"Hook?" called a woman's voice, muffled by the wood and windows of the ship.

"What was that?" Zarina asked, her concentration still fully on the prince. His eyes clenched shut, fighting her attempts to pull him back.

"Emma?" the voice called again.

Tink jumped up to look out the windows. "It's Ariel. She's just pulling herself out of the water. She must have found something." Tink dug in her pockets for a little mirror to get word to Emma.

"Liam?" Ariel called. "Guys, I know where they are!"

Liam's eyes flew open, still bright gold. He leaped to his feet. Zarina caught him by the arm, but he would not be stopped. He dashed to the stairs, pulling the fairy off balance. Zarina's instincts kicked in and her wings unfurled, flapping to keep her from falling. She ended up airborne and still clutching to the prince as he barreled upstairs through the blood-shielded hatch and onto the deck.

The mermaid stood at the stairs leading down from the ship, a long trail of wet footprints lead back down to the docks where she had pulled herself from the ocean.

Liam immediately ran for the gunwale.

"Prince Liam! Stop!" Zarina insisted, fighting with all the might in her wings to hold him back. She used her inertia to tug him back just shy of the gunwale, the shield, and the anxious mermaid. He looked at her with those mad, glimmering eyes. "You can't go, it's too dangerous. We have to get your parents."

"There's no time. They're leaving the port at Great Inagua," Ariel blurted, putting out a hand in plea for permission to board. "The Jolly Roger can get there in time if we leave right now."

Liam grunted something feral and stepped backward, giving the mermaid his other hand through the shield, without ever taking his eyes from Zarina.

Ariel took his hand, smiled, and tugged him backward through the shield.

Several things then happened in the space of a breath. Ariel disappeared in a swirl of green smoke, replaced with the dark green form of the Wicked Witch. Zelena waved a hand and the prince passed out, going limp as he fell into her waiting arms. The fairy, who hadn't let go, was pulled through the shield as well. The witch flicked her wrist dismissively and every muscle in Zarina's body froze. Without working wings, Zarina dropped out of the air, losing her grip on the prince as she tumbled down the stairs. The bag at her waist caught on the edge of the stairs, tearing the fabric, and she rolled down the stairs in a cloud of dust and terror.

She landed on her side on the dock, still completely rigid. Everything hurt, and the dust filled her lungs, causing her to cough and sputter. Then, white smoke filled Zarina's vision, and up and down the dock appeared Emma, Hook, and the rest of Liam's family.

It might have meant her immediate death, but she was happy to see them.

"Really, why you lot still let fairies watch your children is beyond me," the witch crooned.

Zarina watched Emma look from Liam to her and back again. Tears filled Zarina's eyes, but she couldn't even move her mouth to apologize.

"You're crazy if you think you're getting out of here in one piece," Emma spat back.

Emma flicked her hands, assuming a battle stance. A beam of bright, burning light streamed down on Zelena. The witch smiled, tilted her head, and held up a hand. A great bolt of white lightning shot from her hand, hitting Emma and knocking her back into the small crowd of family. Emma's beam cut short. Hook, Charming and Snow White struggled to get her back on her feet while Regina, Robin Hood, and Prince Henry stepped in front of her. Regina tried to fling a ball of light, but with another dismissive motion, Zelena froze the whole lot.

"One of these days, Regina," cooed Zelena, "you're going to have to admit that I am, and will always be, the better witch."

Regina glared up at Zelena. Zelena giggled down at the helpless group. Liam, unconscious, breathed shallow breaths, oblivious to danger.

And Zarina sneezed.

It wasn't loud as she caught her nose with her hand in time to stifle it, but it left a glittery green ooze in her hand. The sight so disturbed her that she almost missed the fact that her hand was free to move as it pleased. She immediately glanced around and found her neck muscles responded, no stiffness. She glanced down at herself awkwardly sprawled on the deck, covered head to toe in dark emerald dust.

The dust must have soaked up the witch's magic, releasing her from the spell.

"Now, until I have my daughter back, I'm going to keep your son locked up in a prison you can't find." Zelena's attention was on the frozen family, not Zarina, and hadn't noticed her movement. "Whenever you decide you're ready to trade, just wail in defeat and I'll bring your boy. Or whatever's left of him. Ta!"

Zelena threw a hand up to disappear and Zarina made her move. She threw an arm out at the Witch, willing with everything she had that she might not take the prince. The dust around her rose in a whirlwind and flew at the witch. Zarina shuddered with the power that swirled around her; immense, intense winds of absolute hatred and bitter jealousy. Her vision clouded green. She trembled, such pure and unashamed anger bore down as a maelstrom on a lone, lost fishing boat. A tunnel opened in the winds and she could see on one far end the dock, the family, and the sea. At the other end she saw Liam, asleep. She tried to stretch out, to grasp both ends with her hands, but the further she stretched toward one, the farther away the other drew, so she took both hands and grasped for the prince. Her hands met warm flesh and she rooted her feet to hold him there, but the ground beneath her shook and broke apart and flung her into the air, into the maelstrom, and into green fury.