"You're inside Charming's mind?" Ella doubtfully asked.

"Yes", Rachel replied. "It's very weird; I see through his eyes, I can hear what he hears, and I can hear his thoughts, but there's not much else I can do."

"So no communication", Wolfgang said. "How will we help them restore time without the means of communication?"

"What would I say to him, then? Hi, I'm your still unborn sister, we meet in the future but now that future is gone, so I need you to track down Snow White and marry her."

"Rachel's right; communicating with them would change history even more", Indira said with a small grimace.

"Maybe not all of us experience it like that", Clarissa suggested and walked over to her door, marked with a swan. Before anyone was able to stop her she stepped through it and disappeared.

"Hello?" her voice soon spoke through the hidden speakers.

"Holy shit, what are you doing in my head?" came Emma's voice at the same time.

"And there's the answer to that", Toby said.

"What's wrong?" Hook asked as Emma stopped in the middle of the road.

"It's Clarissa", she answered. "She's... inside my head... no, wait, they're all inside my head... or... no, apparently it's just... what?"

"Are you sure you're alright?" Hook asked with a frown. Emma nodded and was silent for a while.

"Apparently their group is going to help us restore time, but they're not allowed to be here physically because that could damage things even more", she eventually said. "So Clarissa's inside my mind and can communicate with me, and Wolfgang..."

"Right here", came Wolfgang's voice.

"Woah, mate, where did you come from?" Hook asked.

"Same place as I came from", Clarissa replied. The pirate frowned.

"Wait, now I can hear Clarissa, too."

"Toby's organizing communications", Clarissa explained. "So we'll be able to talk just like we did before, but we won't be visible to anyone."

"Also no one but you will be able to hear us", Wolfgang filled in, "so might be a good idea to just think your questions to us instead of saying them out loud, or people will think you two have gone crazy."

"Conference call test", came Toby's voice inside their heads. "This is the Leader speaking. Can everyone hear me?"

"Loud and clear", Emma muttered and winced.

"Sorry Emma, there seems to be no volume control on this", Toby replied. "Everyone who can hear me, report."

"The Believer and the Saviour here", Clarissa replied.

"The Runner and the Pirate", Wolfgang said.

"What are those names about?" Emma asked.

"Think your questions, Emma", Toby berated, "and the names are from Ollivander's prophecy. Anyone else who can hear me?"

"The Writer here", came Rachel's voice. It seemed to echo somewhat to both Emma and Hook.

"The Reader also present", Ella's voice said. Just like Sandra's it echoed.

"The Brave, reading you all loud and clear", Maryse's voice said.

"The Kind", Arianne said.

"The Wise present", Catriona said.

"Guys, this is seriously so cool", came Jade's voice. "Oh, I mean, the Young present."

"The Loyal right here", Rowan said. His voice seemed to echo even more than the others'.

"You sound odd, Loyal", Toby remarked, obviously having noted the same thing.

"I'm in a very odd place", Rowan replied. "Being inside a man without a heart is apparently not the best place to be."

"Who?" Hook asked, remembering to speak only in his mind while he and Emma continued to walk down the road.

"Rowan's connected to his brother, Graham the Huntsman", Clarissa explained.

"And right now he's lost his heart to the Evil Queen", Rowan continued, his voice static. "No free will. Very cosy."

"Right, that leaves Indira; the Light", Toby said. "Strange. Indira, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Her voice was very weak compared to the other ones.

"But", she said, "I didn't end up inside someone's mind. I'm myself. And I think I'm even further back in the past."

"You think this is when you and Rumplestiltskin first met?" Catriona asked.

"Might be. Toby, disconnect me from the conference call. Check my monitor and when you see me being pulled away by knights, you plug me back in."

Toby was quiet for a while before he responded.

"Done. Everyone else, here's the deal; I'll stay in touch with all of you and page you through if you need to speak with someone else. Otherwise I'll let you be. If there's a need for another conference call, during which everyone can speak with everyone, let me know. One of those times when you need to speak with one another would be if you notice you're getting close to where the others are."

"Thanks, Captain Kirk", Emma remarked.

"Who's...", Hook begun.

"I'm not going to have you call Kirk a wizard as well today", Wolfgang interrupted. "Now, weren't you guys heading to Rumplestiltskin's castle?"

"Yes", Emma responded. "How much can you see in there?"

"Basically what you see", Clarissa responded, "and what you're thinking about in that exact moment, but at least I'm trying to ignore thoughts that aren't directed towards me."

"We haven't done this before, you know", Wolfgang remarked. "It's a new experience and we're trying to figure things out just like you are."

"Right", Hook said, speaking aloud again. "Well then, milady; let's continue to the Dark One's castle."

It took them several hours before they finally spotted the Dark One's castle in its valley among the mountains. At this time there was still a dense forest covering its surroundings, making Emma realize that the route from the outcrop they were now standing on would definitely not be easy.

"The Dark One's castle", Hook said.

"A little more imposing than the pawnshop", Wolfgang remarked.

"So, what do we do now?" Emma asked. "Knock on the door and introduce ourselves? 'Hey, we're from the future!'"

"You seriously should have planned ahead", Clarissa muttered.

"We were far too busy getting used to others being inside our heads", Emma replied.

"Might be best if I stay back", Hook said, grimacing slightly. "The Dark One and I have a rather complicated past. I'd wager he'd want to kill me on sight."

"Oh, I'll take that bet!"

The two of them spun around with surprised gasps, facing the strange looking man who had spoken. Emma's jaw dropped as she took in his appearance. His skin was scaly and of a greenish-golden tint, his eyes were large and amber, his hair long and a muddy brown, and on each hand he had five long, black, claw-like nails. He wore clothes in dark-brown, dark-red and black, most of them made out of leather or reptile skin. A mad giggle escaped him as he saw their surprised faces and he clapped his hands like an amused child.

"I can't tell you how long I've been looking forward to this", he said with a wide grin. "Oops, I suppose I just did."

With that he threw his right hand forward and used magic to strangle Hook.

"Swan", the pirate squeaked.

"Stop!" Emma called at the same time. The Dark One, Rumplestiltskin, simply waved his left hand and sent her flying back, never taking his eyes off Hook.

"I don't know who you are, dearie", he remarked in a bored tone while she tried to get back up without tripping over her skirt, "but why don't you run off and let me enjoy my killing in peace."

"Alright, I can see why he's called the Dark One", Clarissa remarked.

"He's not going to hurt you," Emma tried. "You have to listen to me!"

"And why would I listen to you?" Rumplestiltskin asked, cocking his head slightly as he glanced at her.

"Neal!" Wolfgang called out. "Mention Neal!"

"Because if you don't you'll never see your son again!" Emma said.

The effect was instantaneous as Rumplestiltskin quickly let go of Hook's throat and turned to face her full-on. Hook landed on the floor with a grunt and drew several deep breaths before he managed to stumble back up onto his feet.

"What do you know of my son?" Rumplestiltskin asked, squinting his eyes at Emma.

"His name is Baelfire", Emma replied. "You're planning to enact a curse in hopes of reuniting with him."

"And who told you that?" Rumplestiltskin demanded to know. "What are you; some kind of witch?"

"No, I'm not a witch", Emma answered.

"Technically, you were a witch while you had magic", Wolfgang said. Emma hoped that the glare she felt like giving the boy still came across in her mind.

"I'm the one who breaks the curse so that you can find him", she continued, speaking to Rumplestiltskin. "I'm the product of True Love."

Rumplestiltskin looked taken aback by this statement and studied her intently, even taking a step back to take her in entirely.

"But that's speculation", he eventually said, his voice now sounding much more like Gold's did, void of high-pitched tones. "Part of my plans, but I haven't done it."

"You will, and you will succeed."

"If that's true", Rumplestiltskin said, "then that means..."

"We're from the future, mate", Hook said, still massaging his throat.

"But time travel hasn't been done, mate", Rumplestiltskin replied, giving the pirate an annoyed glare.

"Well, someone's cracked that code", Emma said, hoping to avoid another show-down between the two. "We need your help."

"Help?" Rumplestiltskin said, then giggled his manic giggle. "You need my help? Then answer me one question; do I find my son?"

Emma hesitated.

"Do I answer?" she asked in her head.

"Yes", Clarissa replied. "No. Maybe. I don't know."

"Answer me!" Rumplestiltskin ordered, startling Emma.

"Yes", she replied, hoping nothing else would happen now that he knew this piece of information. Rumplestiltskin studied her intently, before his mouth widened in a pleased smile.

"Bae", he said. "I find Bae. How? No, don't tell me. If I succeeded, I don't want anything in my head that might throw it off."

"It might already kind of have been thrown off", Emma said. Rumplestiltskin's smile disappeared in an instant.

"You've changed things?" he exclaimed. "What have you done?"

Emma glanced at Hook, who sighed and nodded at her. Slowly she then turned back towards the scaled man.

"We interrupted my parents' meeting."

And with this I bid you goodnight :) Oh, I should probably tell you I've written a total of 94 chapters so far and I'm fairly certain I won't be able to keep this from getting to +100 chapters X)