Welp, twenty chapters in. Time for a summary cuz Team Good N Evil arriving in Neverland is about where cannon dies.
So far we know not only is Pan the remains of a boy Rumple had an unwitting hand in killing as a child but said boy had a sister who gave birth to Felix. Felix inherited the same dark gift that got his uncle whacked but his mother tried to suppress it with questionable charms and such. Hence Seether, his bloodthirsty other side was formed. After slaughtering his remaining family, he departs with his immortal uncle (and eventually becomes his lover) who was revived as the Priest of the Moon. By the Moon, Dark Chaos Mage Gabriel.
Over the centuries the following cannon events happened:
Rum becomes the dark one, kills Milah for running off with Hook and Bae ends up going through the portal landing in England, later trapped in Neverland, eventually ends up in the Land Without Magic.
Cora meets, learns from and falls for Rumple. She tears out her own heart to pursue her goal of being a queen without emotions getting in the way.
Regina becomes the Evil Queen and all those dominoes fall.
Belle surrenders her freedom for her kingdom and becomes conscripted to the Dark One
The Hatter gets trapped in Wonderland.
The curse is cast.
But none happened the way we (or the characters) thought. The reasons these events occur all have a deeper, more sinister origin.
The forces of Jasmine, an unwilling bride to the Sultan known as the Black Death; Destane, said Sultan and power hungry sorcerer; and Mozenrath, his son, Prince of the Black Sands who attempted to murder his father (for killing his mother, being a dick in general...) are at play. Jasmine even kills Destane by accident, marries Moz and they live happily ever after. Until it's revealed he's not dead at all. Only in a magically reinforced coma that was undone by the curse.
Destane and Pan have been playing a deadly game of chess using the inhabitants of Fairytale Land and the Land Without Magic as pawns. One trying to dominate everything that makes up reality; become God. The other simply driven to retrieve what belongs to him and not lose the game. Neither having a complete idea of what's at stake.
At first.
Tiger Lily, Priestess of the Sun (Gabriel's sister, Light Chaos Mage Sylphine who is MIA) has a hand in getting Henry to understand what Pan needing his heart really meant. As Felix lay dying in Everlie, Henry used true love's kiss to heal him after realizing he IS Pan's heart and the Master of Neverland cares for the blonde more than anything. Now the three are bound together sharing two hearts.
Oh yeah. "Land without magic" is also the biggest misnomer since Columbus labeled the island natives Indians. Jack Sparrow, Calypso and most likely others live there with their magical abilities intact.
Having obtained his goal links Pan to Henry and Felix in a very intimate way. That is highly disturbing to Team Good N Evil. That he exploits to make them squirm. And builds their resolve to eventually severe the connection as they depart Neverland for Storybrooke.
Where familiar faces past and present are waiting. But not without secrets of their own.
Yes, the ton of 'plotholes' in this fic exist intentionally. There is a lot that doesn't make sense with the info presented so recall Gabriel's line about the way everybody (mortal) remembers things versus how they really went down is often skewed? He wasn't blowing smoke...
Now that we're up to speed, anyone who has heard this song before knows what happens will be none too pretty.
We'll see the beginnings of what happened to Alice and the exact how and why of The Hatter going nuts. Also some dark history of a few unlikely characters. Avenged Sevenfold leads the way with A Little Piece of Heaven.
*OUATE*
As the sunset, the soothing tune his wife hummed to their child became rather disturbing. From nursery rhyme to funeral march.
"Oh Harrison...you've been such a bad boy..." She sighed as he neared her.
"Alice?" Harrison felt very uneasy at the change. His darling wife was smiling brightly at him from the chair. Rocking their daughter of three years as she always did before bed. But that look was far from cheerful. Not, her expression shone of darkness. A crazed glee promising very bad things.
"Did you really think I wouldn't know?" She cooed, brushing a stray lock from the child's sleeping face. "That you could hide your crime forever and I would be none the wiser?"
"Love, what do you mean?"
"You are well aware what I mean. It wasn't a dream as you've convinced yourself darling. But it is a nightmare."
The movement was too fast to see until too late.
Grace suddenly cried out. The same hands that lovingly stroked her hair, cared for her needs, held her dear, were now wrapped around her fragile throat. The terrified child gazed deep into the madness hiding behind blue eyes for just a second. That's when her father plowed into them and the woman lost her grip. Grace was flung into a table and lay motionless as her parents struggled.
"Have you lost all reason woman?! She's our daughter!" He pinned her to the wood floor, hands above her head. Desperately searching her face for answers.
"Exactly. I can't very well leave her all alone once I drag you to hell can I? What kind of mother would I be then?!" Alice managed to wedge her legs between them enough to kangaroo kick her stunned husband across the room with superhuman force.
"Gah!" Harrison could afford no time to sit in shocked wonder. No sooner had he landed, the devil wearing his wife charged with the wood axe.
"OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" She cackled. The blade came dangerously close with each swing despite his artful dodging. Just as he managed to reach a kitchen knife, the axe found purchase in his back. He fell to the floor but did not loose his weapon. Even as she loomed over him huffing and puffing, ax poised to strike again. "Poo. Now I'm all tuckered out. Lets see how neat a cut I can make anyway."
/I can't leave Grace to this...monster. My life might end tonight but hers will not!/
A determination that only existed in protective parents surged his body to the side then straight up. The butcher knife driving home into her chest. Right below her throat. In an instant Harrison found himself covered in blood, bleeding profusely from a wound he could not see but damn sure felt. In a room with his unconscious child and wife...who was dead a second time.
How could it go so wrong?! The Queen of Hearts' dark magic murdered her. A curse on her womb to kill her within a year of childbirth. If she did not take the girl's life to save her own; she chose what any mother would!
But he brought her back! Everything was so perfect. She didn't even remember the brutality she suffered in the dungeons. A female prisoner at the mercy of the Queen's guards until they met on one of his expeditions and he rescued her. Their family had been safe. Why would her spirit be angry about that?
Didn't they deserve a little piece of heaven here on Earth?
*OUATE*
Jasmine jerked back from the man, releasing his hand. Allowing him to sink to the carpet and weep unhindered. That memory so full of pain. So full of regret.
So full of shit.
That was not a true memory. It had been at some point before being warped and twisted by another then planted in the poor man's mind. The only explanation was Destane had planned this out further than she our Moz could have dreamed. He'd been ten steps ahead this whole time!
That just opened a whole flood of new questions. Then what did happen to the man's wife? She wasn't in Storybrooke, meaning she was most likely dead before the curse. Or her ex husband had the woman. Then how had he done this while in suspension? How could he know anything going on at that time?
The Sultana felt sick. In all likelihood every decision she and Mozenrath made played right into that demon's hands! He knew she would do this!
*The moment you doubt yourself my desert bloom, my father has won. He is crafty but you are strong in a thousand ways he could never be. I believed in you.* Her love's voice echoed in her mind while tears flowed freely.
*OUATE*
To say the sudden appearance of 10 people on the beach startled the residents who were already there would be an understatement. Considering one had been kidnapped, one thought dead, two dangerous enemies of the past (and possibly present), the heroic royal family trio and three complete strangers, things went better than expected.
Until Prince Charming turned white and pitched forward. Collapsing into a heap, black veins pressing to the surface of his skin while his body seized. About then, hysteria kick in.
"David!"
"Charming! What's wrong with him?!" Snow panicked. The dwarves hurried to her side, the mining maps forgotten. They would have scattered to the wind if Doc hadn't the presence of mind to weigh them down with his glasses first.
"Oh yeah. Silly me, forgot about the dreamshade incident." The boy in green chuckled. With a wave of his hand, color returned to the man. Convulsions ceasing.
"You FORGOT?!" Snow bellowed.
"Snow calm down. Pan made it crystal clear he doesn't give a damn about us or any pain we experience." Regina sighed. "We really should have expected it."
Stop.
That scrawny kid was Pan? As in the bastard that kidnapped Henry and had even the Dark One wary? Then why was he with them? Not bound by a spell or chains? Why the hell was Henry giving him the same baleful look Snow White gave the Prince when he did something stupid yet unamusing. No real anger, just exasperation.
Where was that damn pirate? And who the fuck were the other two?!
Grumpy was pretty sure the same thoughts were bouncing around his brothers' minds.
"Thought you were dead." Came out, directed at Neal, instead of 'what happened'. His coping mechanism, sarcasm, started up before he had a chance to filter it.
"Long story. Look tell everyone there's gonna be a town meeting. We got a serious problem and need to know what's been going on since we left." Emma directed. "Get an ambulance first."
"But Emma, Peter healed Grampa David-" Henry started.
"No offense Henry but no mystical true love spell trap thingie he used to glue you to him could make me trust Pan any farther than I could punt his skinny ass." She snarled.
"It's not a trap if it was always meant to be Emma." Felix smirked. "Keywords there being true love."
"Yes, you wound me so." Peter's expression matched.
"If only in the literal sense you little monster." Rumplestiltskin growled.
"You...guys...really..." David groaned. "Gonna do this...now?"
"Um, you could simply ask me-" the silver haired teen spoke for the first time.
"Shut up! You're in the same damn boat." Regina snapped.
"Okay. Rude." Gabriel muttered.
"Ooo. Three words Queenie. Pot, kettle, black. " Pan snarked in his master's defense.
The sounds of everyone shouting at each other grew louder and louder. Soon no actual words could be heard. Only a cacophonous angry roar.
"STOP IT!" Henry shut his eyes and screamed. "There's too much more important stuff going on for you all to be squabbling! For god sake I'm twelve! Why am i more mature than both my mothers and guys who are centuries old?!"
Exausted by his rant, the preteen sighed and opened his eyes expecting to be met with angry glares.
Not absolute motionless silence. The wind stopped it's gentle blowing. A seagull hung in mid air as if on pause. Every person on the beach locked in position, faces frozen in rage or irritation. Except one.
"We need to work on that kiddo." Gabriel looked around. Observing his Evil Angel's hand inches from Regina's neck, he raised a brow. "Least you stopped him before hand this time. But I'm sure I'm the only one who actually heard your little bitch fit though."
"..." The boy flopped to the sandy ground. "Fuck my life."
*OUATE*
Tada. There you have it. Henry really needs to get a handle on his magic ASAP. Keep in mind he has it easy though. After all, it was never mentioned if Seether's gone...
Oh. I'm sure you've noticed in the tags but just curious who figured out the identity of the boy from the start of last chapter.
I should like to point out a glaring (in my mind) plot hole from the Neverland arc. At no pointed before entering the portal does Rum mention who their enemy is. Killian knows (a moot point in this fic) but he didn't even tell Belle. He just gave her the barrier spell.
So...
How the hell did she know enough about the threat to expressly state that Michael and John "don't know who they're really working for"? It sure as hell wasn't on the shell Ariel gave her. For the sake of continuity left that alone though. Just wanted you all to know how I felt about it.
Reviews are like hugs. Sirensoundwave out!