Chapter 3: The Goddess of the Wonderland

(*FLASHBACK TO THE ENCHANTED FOREST*)

Hangman's Island (Enchanted Forest)

Prince Eric and his mermaid turned human wife Ariel were lucky. During Peter Pan's curse which Regina altered to bring everyone back to the Enchanted Forest, Ariel and Eric were lost to each other thanks to the pirate Captain Blackbeard. With help from Hook and ultimately Jafar and Peter Pan, Ariel was able to discover where Eric was. She swam to Hangman's Island just off the coast of the Enchanted Forest. They had a private wedding and decided to remain together on the island. Then, after Regina defeated the Wicked Witch, she undid the curse and brought everyone back to Storybrooke. However, Hangman's Island was just out of the curse's reach, meaning Ariel and Eric now lived in isolation, which is why it was so strange when two strangers washed up on the beach in a small row boat. On this day, Ariel and Eric watched from the house they built together by the water as these two strangers, a man and a woman with tan skin and dark black hair, stepped out of their boat and onto the sand.

"Who are they?" Ariel asked.

"I recognize their clothes." Eric said. "They're from Agrabah. When I traveled there shortly after we first met, I spoke with the Sultan."

"Is that man the Sultan?" Ariel asked.

"No." Eric said. "I recognize the woman. She is the Sultan's daughter, Princess Jasmine. She has a brother, Mirza, but that man is not him."

"Let's go out and say hello." Ariel said. "We don't really get visitors these days."

Ariel and Eric then walked outside and strolled down the beach towards the water to find Princess Jasmine and the man she was with, who was also dressed in royal garments.

"Eric!" Jasmine yelled. She then went over and hugged the Prince. "I'm so happy to see a familiar face."

"Hello again." Eric said. "This is my wife Ariel. Who is this man?"

"I am Aladdin." He said. "I am Jasmine's husband and the Prince of Agrabah."

"Why have you come here?" Eric asked.

"My brother is dead." Jasmine said. "He was murdered by an evil sorcerer named Jafar. He has bribed all the royal guards to serve him and he's taken the throne of Agrabah for himself. Jafar has taken my father prisoner in another world. I do not know which one. Aladdin and I had to flee to avoid being killed by Jafar. We don't know what to do now."

"Stay here with us." Ariel said. "At least for now, until we can figure out what to do."

"Thank you." Aladdin said. "We've been on the road for days."

"Tonight you have a place to sleep." Eric said. "Follow me."

(*PRESENT DAY IN STORYBROOKE*)

Storybrooke

Belle, Prince Eric, and Prince Aladdin spent the entire morning in the Storybrooke library searching through every book to try and find a way back to Agrabah so they could fight Jafar's apprentice Iago and save Ariel and Primcess Jasmine. Unfortunately, none of them found anything useful. So, the trio went back to Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop. Belle had been meaning to change the name of the store officially now that Rumple was gone, but she never got around to it. They spent a few hours in there rummaging through every magical item, but still found nothing that could help them. Belle, Eric, and Aladdin regrouped by the front desk.

"We can't just give up." Aladdin said.

"What did Iago do to send you here?" Belle asked. "If it was a spell, then there might be a way we can reverse it."

"He used a magical staff from the Underworld." Eric said. "Apparently it has the power to send people to other worlds. It used to belong to Hades. I have no idea how Iago managed to acquire it."

"If he sent you here with the power of the gods, then we can't reverse the spell." Belle said. "No one here is powerful enough to do that."

Suddenly, the door to the shop opened and in walked Emma Swan, Regina, Mary Margaret, David, and Hook.

"How'd it go with the fairies?" Belle asked. "We haven't had any luck all day."

"It didn't go great." Emma said.

"I got the fairies out." Regina said. "Then the Snow Queen, Jafar, and the Jabberwocky came out as well and ran off. They could be anywhere in the town."

"Mother Superior is at our apartment watching Henry and the baby. The other fairies are warning the town." David said.

"We figured they'd try and come here." Mary Margaret said.

"No one's been in here all day except us." Belle said.

"Jafar mustn't find out that Iago is in power in Agrabah." Aladdin said. "Form what I'm told, they ended their partnership on bad terms. If he knows Iago is in power, Jafar will find a way to return to Agrabah. He'll try to destroy Iago and he'll take the whole city down with him, including my wife."

"Like it matters." Eric said. "Nothing matters if we can't find a way back to Agrabah. We have no chance of saving the city if we can't even get there."

"Then help us save Storybrooke." Regina said. "If you're going to stay here, you might as well be useful."

Suddenly, a blue light flashed outside the store. No one could quite tell what it was because the window shades were barely open. Everyone then rushed outside to see a familiar sight. A magic blue rabbit hole had appeared on the street in front of the store. It was large with a swirling blue vortex inside of it. Someone from Wonderland was coming to Storybrooke. After a few moments, the White Rabbit jumped out of the hole as it closed behind him.

"Hello everyone." The White Rabbit said.

"A rabbit that can travel across worlds." Eric said. "That's how we'll get back to Agrabah."

"I'm sorry." The White Rabbit said. "I didn't come here to be everyone's errand boy. I came to ask your help. Something terrible has happened to Will Scarlet and Queen Anastasia. Something terrible has happened to all of Wonderland."

"What is it?" Hook asked.

The White Rabbit then proceeded to tell his story...

(*FLASHBACK TO WONDERLAND*)

The White Castle, Wonderland

Anastasia and Will had only been in Wonderland for one day since returning from Storybrooke. In that day, Ana re-asserted herself as the Queen of Wonderland after Cora briefly took over. Now that she had her kingdom back, she and Will could finally plan their wedding. Back in Storybrooke, Ana and Will discovered that she was pregnant. They were overjoyed and rushed back to Wonderland to get married. That way, Will would become King of Wonderland and their son or daughter would be considered a legitimate prince or princess. Will and Ana stood in their bed chambers at the top of their castle, discussing the future. They had asked the White Rabbit to help them plan, seeing as most of their friends lived in other realms and they would need him to cross worlds in order to get them to Wonderland for the wedding.

"We have to invite Alice and Cyrus." Will said.

"They aren't in Storybrooke anymore." Ana said. "They went to London in a Land Without Magic to look for Alice's sister remember? How are we supposed to get an invitation to them?"

"We'll figure it out." Will said. "We always do."

"I can open a portal to London, keep it open, and then have everyone jump back in to get here." The White Rabbit said.

Suddenly, they heard screaming coming from outside. Will, Ana, and the rabbit then dropped their conversation and rushed to the balcony to see what was happening. What they saw on this warm night in Wonderland shocked them. They saw a large, black dragon flying through the air and breathing fire down on the people and the forest.

"Of course." Will said. "Of course a bloody dragon would show up out of the blue on our first night back here together."

"I'll take care of it." Ana said. "I can use my magic against it."

"No way." Will said. "I'm not letting my pregnant fiancée go off to fight a dragon."

"Look." The White Rabbit said.

The three of them then realized that there was more than one black dragon. In fact, there were at least a dozen flying through the air and raining fire down on Wonderland.

"Where did they all come from?" Will asked.

"They're mine." A woman said from behind them.

Will, Ana, and the rabbit then turned around to see a woman standing in their bedroom. She looked a lot like Morticia Addams. She was tall and beautiful. She had radiant skin, long, black hair, red lips, and a black dress. They then ran back inside to address her.

"Who are you?" Ana asked.

"My name is Cersei." She said.

"Like the goddess?" Will asked.

"Not like her." Cersei replied. "I am her."

"Why have you brought your dragons here?" Ana asked. "Why are you killing my people?"

"They're not mine." Cersei said. "I'm borrowing them from my cousin Hades, Lord of the Underworld."

"That means they're not dragons." Will said. "Their demons."

"Correct." Cersei said. "Hades asked me to use them to conquer this world."

"Why Wonderland?" Ana asked.

"Now don't go believing Wonderland is special." Cersei said. "It's just the first world on our list."

"Why are you doing this?" Will asked.

"You should ask Hades." Cersei said. "I'm doing this because he promised me he'd bring Odysseus back to my island if I did. I don't really care either way why he does what he does."

"We'll stop you." Will said.

Cersei chuckled.

"You're a man." The goddess said. "Do you know who I am? I've been bringing men to their knees for thousands of years. You are no different."

"Your magic won't work on me." Will said.

"Really?" Cersei asked.

"I've faced the Wicked Witch, the Evil Queen, the Queen of Hearts, and the Snow Queen." Will said. "I can face you."

"I am a goddess." Cersei said. "I'm more powerful than all of those women and your fiancée combined."

Cersei then waved her arm. Then, Will became surrounded by a purple aura for a brief moment.

"Will?" Ana asked.

"He can't hear you." Cersei said. "He belongs to me now. I am the most powerful enchantress in all the realms."

"Good luck enchanting me." Anastasia said.

"I don't intend to." Cersei said. "I'm the Goddess of Wonderland now. I don't need you in the way. I'm not going to kill you either. Normally, I would, but you're pregnant and I'm not a total monster."

"Then what are you going to do with me?" Anastasia asked.

"I'm going to take you back to my cousin. I'll let him decide what to do with you." Cersei said.

"Hades." Ana said with fear in her voice. "We're going to the Underworld?"

"Oh yes." Cersei said with a smile.

The goddess then waved her arm and she and Anastasia became consumed by magic smoke and disappeared from Wonderland. The White Rabbit was then left in the room with an entranced Will Scarlet. The rabbit then decided to leave Wonderland and get help. Demons were breathing fire from above, Anastasia had just been taken by a goddess to the Underworld, and Will Scarlet was essentially Cersei's minion. So he dug one of his magic rabbit holes and headed off to Storybrooke.