That little back and forth with Pan and Lily in Ch 10? Replace them with...Patrick and Sandy from Spongebob. Pat says something moronic and Sandy asks "Don't you have to be stupid somewhere else?". He responds "Not til 4." Four is afternoon teatime in some European households.
I thought it was clever...
Stop judging me!
Well, anybody know what went into my version of Jasmine? Stumped? That's okay; bout to make it way worse. We get a more about her past (Regina included), she interacts with Storybrooke and we see a little more about her intentions. Also...we see Pan and Henry collectively loose their shit. But something (else) strange happens...further validation that Henry's Neverland's only hope.
Most of Shinedown's Trade Yourself In is our guide. I do recommend listing to it if you never have. Here we go.
*OUATE*
Ho...
...ly..
SHIT!
An accurate summation of the young boy's level of panic. He fell to his knees, a small hand clasping the object jutting out of Felix's chest but unsure how to help. Blood poured from the wound, pooling under his crumpled form. Though still alive, the blonde could only sputter and convulse; spewing large drops of crimson with every labored breath. What should he do?!
Oh god, it's coming out of his nose...
*OUATE*
In the waking world, Seether stalked through the forest, intent on his goal. Though originally rather...miffed, he could clearly sense the magic from his prey in the Echo Caves now. The caves themselves dampened their aura but he wouldn't be a true hunter if he didn't know how to track. Besides, each time a secret was revealed and the tunnels shifted, they exposed more of their magic.
Then for whatever reason, several things happened all at once.
First, Peter's Aura was racing towards him awash with...fear? Since when did his lover fear ANYTHING? Much less panic?!
Next, another shift in the caves let loose a wave of power and emotions ranging from shock to contempt with a dash of pity.
Of course little time was left to ponder that as in the exact same moment as Felix had in Everlie, Seether dropped like a stone. Red eyes wide in disbelief that somehow, someone had managed to impale him with an enchanted weapon. In the heart no less.
Before he could hit the ground, familiar arms caught him. He looked up to see the Great Peter Pan crying over him. The other boy tried to remove the dagger but sparks of golden energy kept him from even touching the hilt.
"No...NO!" Pan roared. "Not when we're so damned close! Please...I have done all that you have ever asked of me..."
The moon, though veiled in shadow above, had a ghostly silver outline that seemed to pulse faintly.
/Have faith my Evil Angel./ Whispered into his ear, startlingly the hell out of him. /You have not been forsaken. Neither has your paramour./
Gabriel observed the situation in both realms with interest. At first, he was angry that Tiger Lily had done that. Lesson or not, Felix/Seether did not deserve to be punished for Pan's (and by extension, his own) mistakes. Didn't she realize the shadow balanced his power but they were all that kept him (relatively) sane?
Then the moon diety realized Pan couldn't touch the dagger...but Henry could. The shell had no power over matters of the heart, literally. Lily's dagger was an anathema...used to cut non corporeal targets not physical. Explained why Seether just seemed to be wearing a weird broach but Felix was gushing like a broken spigot.
Clever girl...
*OUATE*
"Wait, what?"
"I said, I'm a complete hypocrite." Regina sighed. She deflated and walked to sit on a nearby rock. "I hated Snow White all these years because she couldn't keep a secret. The truth is... I once did the same thing because I believed it was right. What's worse I did it to impress my mother. Who didn't even care."
"Regina..." Snow knelt beside her.
"The saddest part is it cost me my only true friend." With a wave of her hand, she used the same spell Rumple had to show a memory. One she'd be glad to forget.
"I can't marry him Gina, you don't understand." A young girl, maybe 14, sighed.
"I understand that if you don't accept your duties as a noblewoman, your kingdom will suffer. I know it's hard-" An equally young version of Regina said.
"Hard?! Sultan Destane is the most wicked man in all the 7 deserts! Our people live in constant fear, we had to get away!" The girl wailed. "His own son has tried to assassinate him!"
"But Agrabah is the richest kingdom in the 7 deserts. It's a magical place envied by so many. You'll be Sultana of all that Jasmine! You could change things, give your people something to believe in again. Maybe...maybe you're what he needs." Regina ventured.
"What he needs is poison in his wine!"
She stormed off, sandals clacking as she ran from the garden. Regina stood there, a determined look in her eyes.
/She doesn't understand. She can save her land if she didn't run away...love can conquer anything./
"Whoa..." Emma blinked. "Those are your thoughts? Pretty optimistic there."
"Yes. Unfortunately, I didn't take into account that Jasmine loved her people but not more than her family. Her father, the sultan's grande vizer, stole away with her and her little sister on the month long trek to our kingdom. My father and hers had been great friends in their youth." The queen watched with the others as her younger self gathered her courage and ran right to the wrong person. "Father gave them sanctuary...but my mother was not pleased. Of course she didn't know the whole story at the time."
"And you didn't either." That came from Neal. Torn between looking at the scene and turning to face him, the group settled for looking at each other.
"You know that how?" Regina frowned.
"I recognize that fire in your eyes, the same I had when I tried to save my father back then. Foolish youthful pride that I knew better than others concerning things I had no clue about." Neal muttered. "I remember where believing in fairy tales got me."
The next scene was of men dressed in black, gold and royal blue Arabian Knights holding Jasmine and her sister.
"By order of his Highness Sultan Destane of Agrabah Vizer Hamed is to answer for the crime of high treason-theft of his bride. The sentence of death to be carried out immediately upon his capture." One read from a scroll.
"Father! No!" Jasmise cried in horror. She saw the saber rise then fall upon her father's neck. Severing it. Her sister stopped struggling, having passed out at the sight of her father's head rolling across the stone tiles. "You...evil...little...bitch. I trusted you!"
"How dare you speak to her that way. She understands the weight of duty girl. She would not see her kingdom fall to the wrath of a dark sorcerer because one trollop decided to bring death to her door." Cora scoffed, turning to leave the courtyard. "My husband and I do what is best for our land. Guards! Clean this mess immediately, and escort out guests to the kingdom border."
"For what you've done, you will never be happy Regina. I swear it. And neither will you, Red Queen."
That caused Cora to pause just for a moment. A second later she snorted and continued on her exit.
"Oh boy..." David gulped.
"Oh boy is a bit of an understatement dearie." Rumple groaned. "Destane was a dark magician with no peers. Even I avoided him. You sold your dear friend out to a man who secured his power by ripping it from the core of other beings. Your dear, obviously magical friend. If that wasn't a curse, I'll eat me cane."
"Was?" Emma perked up. This story, though greatly altered seemed familiar. Jasmine and Agrabah were the names Disney assigned the princess and her kingdom in Aladdin but... where was Aladdin in all this? Hell, even the genie showed up before him so what gives?
"It is said his greed and lust for power lead him to nurture the spark he found in Jasmine to increase the bounty of power he could consume from her when she matured. His first wife was a strong witch whom he only wed to produce a magical heir then killed in her sleep. That worked out about as well as you think it did in both instances." The Dark One continued.
"She killed him?" This was obviously news to the Queen.
"Well, she was in the room...As was his son. It's more accurate to say karma got him in the end." He shrugged. "The same day of the funeral, the two married. No one had a problem with it."
"So Aladdin was a prince instead of a street rat in real life. At least they both still got a happy ending." Emma tried to smile but it would not reach her eyes.
"Aladdin? No no Ms. Swan, once again Hollywood served to misinform denizens of the other world with only bits and pieces of the truth. Destane's son is named Mozenrath, Prince of the Black Sands."
*OUATE*
"So do you prefer Sherrie or Jasmine?" Granny asked as the two walked down main street.
"Either is fine, don't worry about offending me." The young girl smiled.
"It's just I remember hearing as a young girl tales of the desert kingdoms. But when we rose up against the Evil Queen we couldn't count them as allies. Not one of the Seven."
"I imagine the barrier errected by the Sultan of Agrabah prevented contact." She sighed. "Tales of her wickedness reached my people and he decreed the Desert Kingdoms to be off limits to outsiders. He had no doubt he could defeat her but decided a battle between the two would take too great a human toll. Trying to convince my husband to drop the barrier is what got me here, both of us were just outside it trying to assess the situation when the curse struck. Still haven't found him."
"Poor thing. It hasn't been broken long, the curse, maybe he's here but just a bit disoriented. Having to sort through two lives hadn't been as easy for some of us as others." Granny pat her back gently. Opening the diner door, she ushered the young woman inside.
"One can only hope."
"Hey Granny, who's this?" Archie greeted the two.
"This is Jasmine. The curse kept her locked away in her home, like it did the Hatter. Jasmine this is Archie or Jimminy." The human grasshopper turned a very unhealthy pale. The gulp was loud enough to get Ruby's attention across the diner; wolf hearing and all.
"Jasmine? S-Sultan Mozenrath's w-wife?"
"Yes, are you ill? You don't look well sir."
"I... have heard many things often unpleasant about your husband your majesty, forgive my rudeness." He bowed.
"I understand, but I assure you the bulk of what you fear is due to the reign of his father, my long dead first husband. Moz turned to the darkest of magics in an effort to free his people and avenge his mother. But, what's done in the dark is not always tainted, nor is all that basks in the light pure. Your perception of good and evil doesn't always translate to simply dark and light." Jasmine sat at the counter. "He has a good heart and is known for his kindness and mercy."
"Ain't that Mozenrath guy a necromancer?" Grumpy blurted out from the otherside of Archie. "That sorta screams evil lady."
Archie looked even more terrified now, Granny glaring at the dwarf as if willing him to burst into flames.
"It's true, my love can resurrect the dead; mumluks are merely reanimated corpses of criminals, they patrolled our borders. But, there is a price to return the soul to the body and truly live."
"A life for a life." The blue fairy stood in the doorway, face grim. "Your husband is an abomination that creates abominations. To tamper with the laws of magic for his own twisted ends is beyond sick. The dead are meant to stay dead."
"I see why I never ventured into town beforehand. Thank you Granny for the lunch offer but I think I'll pass today. Goodbye." Without another word, she neatly side stepped Mother Superior and was gone.
"Blue! That was terribly harsh." Ruby exclaimed.
"That woman is not as sweet as she appears and the man she loves fancies himself a death god. Execution in Agrabah consists of having the condemned's life force torn out and placed in one who had already died." She shook her head sadly. "She also should not be here in this world, the curse was nothing compared the their combined might. Something is very wrong."
*OUATE*
Ta-da. Yes, I rewrote the shit out of Aladdin by ditching the main character for his nemesis in the animated series. Or did I? Did Jasmine's speech about light and dark remind you of anything? It may seem strange but this isn't random, it's important. Remembering that seemingly trivial threat by a thirteen year old is a big plot development.
Also, the memory scene is deliberately vague...only partially due to laziness n_n
Anyhoo, up next Jasmine reveals something to the reader (the real danger; there's a reason this isn't call Once Upon a Time in Neverland, folks...), Hook gets more screen time and we see Henry accept his destiny. And the repercussions there of.
Until then, reviews are like hugs! Sirensoundwave out.