I do not own Once Upon a Time.

Going off script, hope you like it.

Details were slowly coming to light about how far Gold had gone to free himself from the dagger. He had ripped out Killian's heart, making him a puppet and then somehow acquired a magical hat. According to Killian, the hat belonged to a very powerful sorcerer, a sorcerer who had been around a very long time.

Gold was planning on collecting other magical people inside of it, enough to free himself. All he was able to get, or rather all Killian was able to get, was the sorcerer's apprentice and all the fairies. Gold had planned on trapping Emma to finish it off but it had been Elsa's last minute heart to heart that stopped Emma. So that was how Emma was going to get rid of her magic, under false information from Gold. Amelia was grateful she didn't go through with it.

Now the magical hat sat on a desk in the sheriff station. Emma, David, Mary Margaret, Killian, Regina and Amelia stood around it, just staring at it.

"So how do we get the fairies out? They don't need to be trapped in there." Emma asked out loud.

"Maybe I have something in my vault." Regina offered.

"Leave them in there." Amelia said.

Suddenly everyone turned to stare at her. "Do you have something against fairies?" David asked, shocked.

"Not really, though they never did like me robbing them weekly…" Amelia started.

"Wait, you stole from fairies? Why?" Emma was still, even after all this time, trying to wrap her mind around Amelia's past.

"Do you have any idea how much fairy dust went for on the black market?" She shrugged her shoulders then dropped it and began her plead her case. "But in all seriousness, the sorcerer had this hat for a long time, and most likely used it to get rid of his opponents. Very powerful opponents, both good and bad. So unless you can safely get just the fairies and no one else, be my guest. If not, leave it alone."

Silence filled the station, which a few minutes later was broken by David. "I have to agree with Amelia, she has a valid point."

"Thank you." Amelia nodded then stared at the hat and suddenly began to hear quiet whispers in her head. Soft far away whispers that seemed to speak to her directly, seemed to want something from her.

"Amelia…?" Mary Margret gently touched Amelia's shoulder. That quickly brought her out of her trance. By the looks on the faces of the others, they had not heard a thing. "You alright there?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Amelia nodded though she really wanted to shake her head to get rid of the whispers.

"So, what do we do with that hat until we find a way to free just the fairies? We have to keep it safe from anyone." Regina asked.

"I'll keep it here and put a protection spell on the building so only we can enter it." Emma told them.

Amelia nodded, hoping that would be enough to protect the hat and everyone inside.

Belle called a day later with good news. There was a spell in one of Regina's books to free the fairies. The only issue was it was in another language. But she had already sent it to be translated by some professor at Oxford. Hopefully they should get a response in a day or so. Then they could get more answers on the sorcerer.

Emma and Killian sat in Granny's, Emma had a hot chocolate while Killian was carefully sipping a coffee. He was still getting used to this bitter drink that everyone in Storybrooke seemed to swear by.

Their quiet moment was rudely interrupted by a fairy dropping from the ceiling. And it wasn't just one fairy, it was about ten.

It was shocking and confusing to say the least. All the fairies that had been sucked into the magical hat by Killian six months ago were now in the middle of Granny's.

The Blue Fairy herself was behind the counter and she slowly got to her feet, clearly shaken by the experience.

Emma was at her side instantly, needing answers. "Blue, you were trapped inside a magical hat. Do you have any idea how you got out?" Emma asked.

Blue looked around the diner, then noticed a very guilty Killian. "You weren't acting on your own, were you?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No, the bloody crocodile ripped my heart out, I was powerless."

"But you're safe now. Any ideas on how you got out?" Emma asked again. What had happened?

"There's only one kind of magic that could have done this. Magic that is not found in the Enchanted Forest. Power that strong can rival even the Dark One himself. Ancient magic." Blue informed them before going to her fellow fairies around the diner.

"Great, another issue on our hands." Emma shook her head. Then there was a loud blood curling roar outside. She was outside with Killian at her heels. Regina joined her as did Mary Margaret and Neal.

"What was that?" Mary Margaret asked.

"First things first, the fairies are free. No idea on how yet." Emma told them. There was another roar, this time the ground shook. And they all saw what caused it.

A huge winded creature with horns flew across the town and settled on the clock tower. No doubt it could and would gladly destroy the town and everyone in it.

"Where did that come from?" Neal asked.

"No idea, but we need to get rid of it, now…" Emma said. She turned to Mary Margaret, Killian and Neal for assistance.

"First we get everyone to safety, we know the drill." Mary Margaret smiled then began to walk away.

Killian squeezed Emma's hand. "This isn't our first monster mash here, Swan." He followed Mary Margaret.

This left Neal with Emma and Regina. "Don't worry, you got this." He was supportive of Emma and her magic.

"Thanks. Any idea on where Amelia is? She likes this kind of stuff." Emma was slightly concerned at the missing librarian. The last time she had seen Amelia, something was off about her.

"No idea, but I will find her. Now go protect our town." Neal headed down the street to the bakery. On the way, he pulled out his cell phone.

She answered on the third ring. "Hi honey, how are you?" She sounded calm.

"Where are you?" He tried not to sound panicked. He entered the bakery just as the winged creature swept over the town. Close one.

"I went for a stroll." Amelia answered him.

She went for a stroll, now of all time? "Well, there's a giant demon in the town." There was silence on the phone. "Amelia…?"

"That's not good." She replied thoughtfully.

"No, it's not. Get to the bakery so I know you are safe." Neal told her. He hung up the phone and looked at the family inside. "Yeah so there's a demon outside, don't know where it came from, but Emma and Regina are on it." He gave Michael, Helen and Nathan the lowdown.

"Jordan is home today with Aiden. I'll call her to stay home." Helen said before going into the back room.

Amelia Hunter walked back to town from her interesting stroll. She kept looking over her shoulder for any sign of the winged demon Neal had warned her about. Where had it come from, well she knew the answer to that question. But why was what she wanted to know.

Then she saw it, still sitting on the clock tower, as if claiming it as its new home. Amelia may or may not have made eye contact with it and shockingly her blood did not run cold. She had seen worse. Amelia just continued on her way to the bakery.

Once inside, Neal pulled her into a tight hug, thanking his lucky stars that she was safe. Then she sat in the corner, drinking her latte and avoiding everyone's eyes.

Her phone ran a few hours later. The winged demon was gone, thanks to some advice from some new friends. New friends? Amelia did not like the sound of that. The any information that Emma gave was that the demon was tracking Regina and the only way to get rid of it was to get out of the town. So Emma began a car chase, one that ended with a sudden stop at the town line. The car made the stop while the demon did not.

One less problem in town now, or so they all thought.

Later that day, Amelia entered the station to see an old bearded man sitting in the chair across from Emma.

"So Emma is now tracking down old men who look like a sorcerer?" Amelia asked jokingly, placing a box of baked goods on a desk.

"According to Killian, he's the sorcerer's apprentice; Killian had trapped him inside the hat. Emma tracked him down with Killian's help. When the man was asked how he was released, Emma knew he was lying. Then she brought him in for further questioning." David told her. He didn't meet her eyes and she made no move to meet his. Clearly they were both hiding something.

"Oh." Amelia busied herself with the coffee maker. Maybe there was room in the budget for a latte machine. And she started to eavesdrop.

"I don't know why or how I was freed. One minute I was being sucked into the hat then I'm inside the hat, which by the way is a nasty cramped place and then I'm right back in the house where I was sucked into the hat." The apprentice sounded so calm.

"I only believe about half of what you are saying. I know you know exactly how you were released and who released you. Maybe you are staying quiet because either you are protecting the person who released you or you're scared of them."

"One of your reasons is correct, Sheriff."

"You don't look like a man who scares easily, being the Sorcerer's Apprentice. So I think you are protecting whoever."

"Quite smart." He seemed impressed.

"Can you at least answer me one question? Should we be worried about this person with ancient magic who set you free?" Emma asked.

And finally, an honest answer came from his lips. "No."

Ok, so Amelia wasn't really in this chapter because she may or may not be hiding something. It's her, she is sadly always hiding something.

FYI- I LOVED the mountain demon in this chapter, it made me happier than it should have. He was always my favorite part of Fantasia, like when he went to sleep, I thought the movie was over. It was only recently I learned Ava Maria ended the movie. And the Sorcerer's Apprentice terrified me. I was a strange child.

The sorcerer's apprentice knows something, who is he protecting?

Going forward, it will be an all new plot. I have my own stuff planned, the next story will be completely me. So you will have no idea where I am going.

Reviews?