"I wish I could realize things before they are gone."

~@colormymood / / Twitter

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Henry's P.O.V

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    "You let her out?"
   I swallow nervously, glancing at Hook for an answer, my eyes darting from the older man's face to my mother's furious one.
    Hook bites the inside of his cheek in frustration. "Technically, I let her escape."
   "Moron!" Regina exclaims.
   "Watch it, Your Majesty," Hook warns. "At least I'm doing something to save Emma."

    "What's that supposed to mean?" She demands, noticing the hint of accusation in the pirate's voice.
   "Well, maybe you somehow managed to get The Apprentice to slip into a coma-?" Belle and the others simultaneously roll their eyes or sigh when Hook says that. "-Maybe you like being alone with Henry?"

    "Maybe you like having a hook?" Regina steps forward so that their faces are close. "Maybe you'd like another?"
   "Enough!" Mary Margret exclaims. "Zelena's out, that is what matters, but not as much as Emma. Emma kept us united, and that is exactly how we are going to remain. Come hell or high water, we are going to put our nonsense aside, and find my daughter."

    "Okay?" She asks, waiting for Hook and Regina to stop throwing dirty looks at each other. "Okay, where would Zelena go first?"
   "I know exactly where," Regina says, slowly turning around to face the Charmings' and Belle. "Or more accurately, who she's after."

****

    The six of us quickly make our way to the clock tower where Regina said that Zelena would be. And just as my mother predicted, we found Zelena standing in the middle of the street, holding Robin in place with her magic. Regina glares at Zelena as we approach her.
   "Hello, sis," Zelena greets. "I see you've fixed the clock. It would be a shame to break it again."

    "Although, it might be fun to see Robin fly like one of his arrows," she says cheerfully.
    Regina takes a step forward, glaring at Zelena. "You lay another finger on it and I'll-"
    "Oh, I'm not here to hurt Robin," Zelena assures her. "I'm here to trade him for The Apprentice's wand."

    "What the hell do you want with this?" Regina asks, looking down at the wand.

   "I am tired of losing to you! You continue to get everything! But now-" She places her hand on her baby bump. "-Now I have someone to love me and only me. See, this is my future, and I am not letting anyone take it from me or turn it against me. So I am going as far away from you and Robin as possible... Over the rainbow, where you can't follow."

   "Back to Oz?" Regina asks, confused as to why she'd want to go back.
   "I may have been feared and despised there, but at least I was free," Zelena says." At least I was in control. So if you want your forest-smelling boyfriend to live through the day, you will give me that wand."

    Regina looks down at the wand, then back at Robin, torn between both choices.

   "Don't even think about it," Hook warns, not taking his eyes off Zelena.
   "You can't, Regina. Please," Mary Margret begs, desperation clear in her voice.
   All eyes are on my mother as we anxiously wait for her to voice out her decision. Robin chokes as Zelena uses her magic to strangle him and I realize that my mother's already made up her mind.

   "I have to," Regina says, reluctantly handing over The Apprentice's wand to her sister.
   Zelena giggles, snatching the wand from Regina and letting go of Robin. "Lovely."

    Regina catches Robin before he hits the ground and brings him over to us.    "Now, all it needs is a little direction." Zelena takes out a crystal necklace from her pocket. "A trinket from home."

   "Now see me do what you weren't powerful enough to do yourself," Zelena taunts.

    She then spins the wand around the necklace twice before its crystal starts to glow a bright shade of green.  Zelena immediately throws the necklace into the sky once it starts glowing and hits it with a beam of magic once its in the air.

    The action causes storm clouds to gather nearby, clumping together to from a hurricane. We watch with bated breath as Zelena tilts the wand towards her, causing the hurricane to make its way towards us. The wand the lets out a spark of green light, zapping her. Zelena cries out and doubles over in pain, dropping The Apprentice's wand as she does so. She quickly reaches for the wand but Regina beats her to it.

    She grabs the wand but not before placing the enchanted cuff back on Zelena's wrist. David quickly rushes to restrain Zelena in place and to keep her from running.
    "What the hell happened?" Hook asks.
    "What happened is I'm not stupid," Regina replies. "I knew you could open that portal, but I also knew that it would weaken you."

    "See, there's one thing our family does well, sis, and that's exploit pain. Now we're gonna take your portal, but we're not taking it to Oz." She turns around to face Mary Margaret. "We're taking it to Emma."

****

    "Stay away from the windows, Roland," I warn as the toddler gets too close to them.
    The wind howls, causing some broken branch to smack against the glass. Roland jumps, hiding behind me as the rock unexpectedly hits the window. I place my hand on his shoulder, guiding him away from the windows and keeping him from getting in the adults' way.

    "Floyd, shut down the fryers, secure the condiments!" Granny shouts, walking out the kitchen with a half empty basket in her arms.
    "Don't move," David orders Zelena as he and Robin tie her to the chair in the middle of the room.
    "I'm not sure my insurance covers this place going airborne," Granny says as she makes her way around the Diner picking up leftover cups and plates.

    "We'll be fine," my mom assures her.
    Hook lets go of the blinds, turning around to face Regina. "Well, Your Majesty, it's coming. How do you suggest we get this hurricane to take us to Emma and not to Oz?"
    "By using this," Regina says, pulling out a knitted blanket.
    Mary Margaret's eyes widen in shock when she sees it. "Emma's baby blanket."

    "I, uh, couldn't very well carry her yellow bug." Regina explains, stopping when Mary Margaret smiles at her.
    She raises the wand to cast a spell on the blanket-
    "Wait!" I exclaim, suddenly remembering something important.
    Regina lowers the wand and looks at me. "What is it, Henry?"
    "Alice and her family." I get off my seat. "We can't leave without them."

    "Henry, lad, we don't have time to find them," Hook says. "And as you said earlier, one of their boys' are missing. They're probably still looking for him."
    "But-"
    "Hook's right, Henry," Regina agrees. "I know that Alice would've wanted to come with us to find Cassie but the hurricane would be long gone by the time we manage to get them here."

    "We can't just go without them!" I argue. "They deserve to-"
    I'm interrupted by the sound of the diner's door opening.
    "What's going on?" Alice demands, barging into the diner. "Why is there a freaking cyclone out there?!"
    Hook glances at me with a surprised look. "Well, it looks like they'll be coming after all."
    I let out a sigh of relief when I see that Hook's right and that every one of Alice's friends are accounted for.

    I furrow my eyebrows at the four strangers beside them. The two young men are bleeding and look like they've just been in a fight while the two young women beside them look like they were the ones who broke up the fight.
    "Henry!"
    I blink, realising that I'd spaced out. "What?"
    "I asked, why is there a cyclone outside?" Ray asks.

    The diner's door slams open again and three more people walk in. My eyes widen when I see who they are.
    The Bloodlust Trio.
    Their leader, Andrew, if I remember correctly, steps up. "Excellent question, Alice. Would someone please answer that before we all inevitably die?"
    "Long story short, we found a way to find Emma and Cassie," Regina explains for me.

    "You mean that thing outside is gonna help us find Cassie?" Jerome asks.
    "Yes," Regina replies. "And since Ray said cyclone I'm guessing that it's stopped raining, which means we have about five more minutes until our window of opportunity is gone."
    "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Alice exclaims.

    Regina turns back to face Mary Margaret. "Ready?"
    The dark-haired woman nods and Regina begins waving the apprentice's wand over the blanket. She has to wave the wand over the blanket a few times before it starts glowing. Zelena glares at Regina lifts the glowing blanket up.

    The moment is ruined by Leroy running into the diner screaming.
    "Twister!"
    Roland flinches as the screen door slams shut. I wrap my arms around him.
    "It's alright, Roland," I assure him when he buries his face in my jacket.
    "Leroy!" Mary Margret exclaims, seeing that he's startled Roland. "It's okay, we summoned it."

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Alice's P.O.V

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    "You did?" The man, Leroy, asks looking surprised.
   "It's taking us to Emma," Mary Margret tells him.
   Regina points the wand at him. "Out, dwarves. Adults only."
   Leroy glares at her. "No!"
   "No?" his friend asks, confused.
   Leroy turns to face Mary Margret. "We've been on the sidelines too long, sister, missed too many adventures. Now it's embarrassing."

    "How do you think it feels when everyone asks you how the adventure was, and you got to say that no one asked you to go along, that you weren't needed?" Leroy asks. "We're not turning our back on you again, not even in the face of certain death."    Mary Margret smiles at him. "Thank you, Grumpy."

    His friend gives him a worried look. "Certain death?"

   The diner rumbles, causing everyone to panic. I grab the twins as the lights begin flickering and pull them over the nearest booth.
   "Hold on to something!" I yell, throwing my arms over the twins as the tables and chairs are knocked over.
   Will and the other do as I say, rushing to find something sturdy to hold on to.

    The twins hold on to each other for a dear life as the diner lifts off the ground. My eyes scan around the diner, looking for the rest of my family. I relax, seeing Lewis and Jo standing next to the Charmings'. Lewis has one arm around Jo's waist and the other gripping onto the tabletop. Ares and his sister are seated at the back of the diner, Ray opposite them.

    "You did it," Henry says.
  Regina smiles, then pulls Henry into a hug.
   "Ah!"
   My eyes dart to the other end of the diner at the sound and I spot Hunter with his hand on his side, he brings his hand to his face, widening when he sees blood. It looks like one of the glass cups shattered as it hit the trio's booth.

    Hunter must've gotten nicked by a shard when he pushed Jerome away from the broken glass.
   "Hunter!" Jerome exclaims, giving his brother a concerned look.
   Hunter shakes his head. "I'm fine."
   The diner jolts once more, falling onto the ground with a loud thud.
   "Is everybody alright?" Mary Margret asks.
   "No, Hunter's hurt!"

   All eyes turn to look at the brothers. Jerome had somehow managed to clear a spot on the floor to lay his brother down. Hunter winces when Jerome lifts his shirt up to get a good look at his wound. The glass shard sticks out of the lower part of his torso and his blood stains the white tiles. The cut looks deep, but not so deep that it's fatal.

    "I have a first aid kit in the back," Granny says, placing her basket down to find it.
   She rushes out of the kitchen a few seconds later, placing a the first aid kit beside the brothers.
   Jerome turns to face me, not moving away from Hunter. "You guys go help them find Emma and Cassie, I'll stay here with my brother."
   "No."

    Jerome looks at Andrew with confusion etched in his features.
   "I'll help Hunter," Andrew says. "You help them find Emma."
   Jerome begins to argue but stops when Hunter grabs his hand. "Drew's right, Jerome. Don't worry, I'll be fine."
   Jerome hesitates for a second before nodding. "Okay."
    "Hey, Jerome?"

   The said boy turns around at the sound of his brother's voice. "Yeah?"
   "Bring Cassie home," Hunter tells him.
   Jerome nods before turning to face us. He wipes away his tears with his sleeve. "Come on, let's find Cassie."
    "How exactly are we going to find Emma in this forest?" Hook asks once we step out of the diner.

   The atmosphere here is no different from Storybrooke despite the fact that we're in a forest. I don't know what I was expecting really, I mean both places are somewhat enchanted. I guess I thought that there'd be more mythical creatures here.
    "With her baby blanket, of course," Regina replies matter-of-factly.

   She then proceeds to wave the wand over the blanket, casting a locator spell on it. "Let's go, hopefully we'll find Emma before dark."
   I lag a couple feet behind the group so I can talk to Jerome in private. "Don't worry. Hunter's going to be just fine."
    Jerome manages to give me a small smile. "Thanks, Alice."
    I smile. "Anytime."
    "How are you and Ray?"

    I glance towards the group at the mention of him. My eyes dart around the large group, looking for the brown haired boy. I spot Ares a few metres away, attempting to start a conversation with Will. It takes me a few seconds before I finally find Ray. He's talking Tia.
    I shake my head. "Honestly speaking, I don't know. We're not really focused on our relationship, seeing how everything's been at the moment."

    "I know, I'm late and all, but I'm sorry about Pan."
    I sigh, knowing where this conversation is headed.
    "Will you and Ray give it another chance one day?" He asks.
    "I don't know," I reply, not taking my eyes off the trail in front of me. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there."
    I increase my pace, not wanting to have this conversation.

    Ray is still talking to Tia by the time I've rejoined the group. He smiles at something she says but doesn't seem like he knows how to reply to it. Tia begins to say something else to Ray but cries out, falling backwards as she loses her footing on the slippery moss. Ray slips his arms around her waist, catching her before she hits her head on the roots protruding from the ground.

    Tia lets out a shaky breath and thanks him. I don't get a chance to think about what I feel about that when I hear Mary Margaret shout, "We found them!"
    I run to catch up with the front of the group, stopping in my tracks when I see Emma standing in the middle of a circle of stone pillars a few metres away, holding a heart in her hand.

    At first I thought that it was her heart that she was holding but I realize that I'm wrong when we get nearer to her. The heart she's holding isn't her own, it belongs to the red haired girl in front of her. And it looks like Emma's about to crush it. I immediately scan my surroundings, looking for Cassie. My heart skips a beat when I don't see Cassie, but Will and Jerome must've spotted him as they suddenly break into a sprint.

    Jerome and Will somehow manage to overtake the adults, with Hook and David right on their tails.
    Hook stops in front of the pillars. "Swan. Don't!"
    Emma jerks her head up in surprise, loosening her grip on the redhead's heart. "What? How?"
    "It doesn't matter how," Hook says. "Has anything ever stopped me before?"

    "You don't know what's happening," Emma says, turning her attention back to the wheezing girl. "This is the only way to find Merlin. He's the only one who can stop the darkness. The only way to protect all of you."
    Regina steps up. "But to stop the darkness, you're going to let it consume you."
    "You don't know that," Emma disagrees.

    "We're not going to take the chance," Mary Margaret says, taking out the Dark One dagger out from her pocket.
    "No, wait. You can't do that," Hook tells her. "This has to be her choice."
    Emma is silent for a few seconds before speaking, "You don't understand what's at stake. If I don't find Merlin, the darkness will destroy all of you."

    Hook takes a few steps forward so that he's in between Emma and the redhead. "Emma, please. No."
    "The dark one destroys everyone near it," Emma tells him. "Look at Gold. I can't do that to my family. And to you."
    "She has to die," Emma continues, squeezing the redhead's heart.

    "Listen to your words. It's not you speaking, Emma. We can find another way. Together. Look at us..." He gestures at the rest of us. "Heroes and villains together for you, because of you. And if we can overcome it... If we can overcome our demons... Then so can you."
    Emma turns her head away from him before turning back.

    She looks as though she wants to crush the redhead's heart but makes a split second decision to shove the redhead's heart back in her chest. The redhead gasps for air, stumbling back when Emma takes her hand away. Emma then lets out an exhausted sigh and hugs Hook. I push past Ares and Tia, forcing myself to the front of the group.

    My eyes dart around the pillars to look for Cassie. My heart skips a beat and I stop in my tracks when I spot him hugging Jerome and Will. "Cassie."
    The toddler looks up at the sound of my voice. "Mama!" He exclaims, letting go of the boys and running towards me.
    I drop to my knees as he approaches me and engulf him in a bear hug.

    "I knew you'd find me. I just knew it."
    Tears stream down my face and I tighten my grip on him. I pull back after a few seconds, not bothering to wipe away the tears on my face. "Don't ever do that again, Cas. You gave us a fright."
    Cassie sniffs, wiping his tears away with his sleeve. "I'm sworry."

    I shake my head, pulling him into a hug again. "It's alright. It's alright, I still love you, and nothing you do will ever stop me from loving you."
    I feel someone kneel down beside me as I pull back. Cassie looks over my shoulder to look at the person and smiles. "You came!"
    Cassie doesn't see it but Ray's smile fades a bit. "Hey, Cassie."
    I stand up as Cassie moves to hug him.

    I turn my attention back to the group just as Emma hands her dagger to Regina. I feel Ray place his hand on my shoulder. "Let's go back home."
    I allow myself to lean against him, smiling as Cassie hugs me.

****

    "You brought Granny's?"
    I laugh at her reaction. "I thought that was a normal thing for you guys?"
    Emma shakes her head as we head towards the diner. "Nope. This is the first time they've used a building to get them somewhere."
    Granny steps out of the diner as we approach it. "The backup generator's working but the fryers are shot."

    "And Granny," Emma says, surprised.
    Leroy walks out of the diner after her. "Terrible news! No onion rings!"
    "And Leroy."
    "How's my brother?" Jerome asks worriedly.
    "He's fine," Ganny replies. "He's with your friend."
    Jerome rushes past Leroy and makes his way to the diner just as Belle come out.

    "Emma!"
    What was that?
    I strain my ears, hearing the faint sound of hooves hitting the dirt road.
    "Oh, what now?" Leroy grumbles.
    As if one cue a group of men armed on horseback come out from behind the thicket of trees.
    "Stand back," Emma tells us as the men approach us.

    The horses whinny as their owners pull on their reins, causing them to come to a halt a few feet away from us.
    "Who are you, and what do you want?" Emma demands.
    The man riding the white horse urges his horse to move forward a few paces. "I am King Arthur of Camelot," he says. "We've come to find you."
    Hook looks at the King strangely. "Find us?"

    One of his men speak up. "My Lord, they think their arrival is a surprise."
    "You were expecting us?" Mary Margaret asks, sounding more like she's stating it than asking it.
    "It was Merlin," King Arthur explains. "He prophesied your coming here a long time ago, just as he prophesied many things."
    Emma steps forward. "Merlin. Where is he? We were told that he's been missing."

    King Arthur nods. "For years, yes. But not for much longer because according to his prophecy, you're destined to reunite him with us. Now, then, if you'll all follow me..."
    "Where?" Emma asks.
    "Why, Camelot, of course," King Arthur says, gesturing for us to follow him.

Storybrooke.
Six weeks later...

    "Wake up! Everybody, wake up!"
    I groan, slowly sitting up on the hard floor.
    "Wait- Where's Cassie?" I ask, frantically looking around for the blonde haired boy.
    "I'm here, mummy," a small voice to my left says.
    I turn around, hugging the toddler when I see him.
    "Mpf, I'm still here, mama," he says, yawning.

    "I know." I nod. "I know, I was just worried."
    "What time is it?" He asks when I let go of him, rubbing his eyes with his little fists.
    But I'm too far away to hear him. My eyes dart around the diner, looking for my friends and family. Lewis and Will stand a few feet away from Cassie and I, attempting to wake Jo up.

    Ray and the twins are beside them, still unconscious. I jerk my head towards the diner's door just as two men open it. The man wearing a red jacket steps enters the diner first, looking surprised when he sees us. "What are you guys doing here?"
    "What happened?" Mary Margaret asks.
    David peers behind the open door. "We're back."
    Hook swears. "Bloody hell."

    "This doesn't make any sense," Regina says, looking around. "We were just waking into Camelot."
    "What the hell are we wearing?" Leroy asks, looking down at his hands.
    Only then do I notice the tight feeling in my torso. I look down, realising that I'm wearing a medieval style outfit. I'm dressed in a dark green, silk dress that stops just above my ankles.

    The tight feeling in my chest is caused by a brown leather corset hugging onto my torso so tightly that it constricts my movement. My fringe is tied up in a crown braid and the rest of my hair is left untouched, my wavy brown hair cascading down my shoulders.

    "Sneezy, what happened?" Leroy asks, jarring me from my thoughts. "How long have we been gone?"

    "Six weeks," his friend replies.
    Six weeks?
    Regina's eyes widen as she jerks her head towards Sneezy. "What?"
    "Our memories... They're gone."
    Not again.
    Hook looks around the room worriedly. "Where's Emma?"
    "Relax," says a voice coming from the entrance. "I'm right here."
    My mouth drops when I see her.

    She's dressed in a black leather outfit which covers all exposing skin, save her neck, face and hands. Her once blonde hair is now a pale white shade and is tied in a tight bun.
    "Mom?" Henry asks, not recognizing his mother. "What happened to you?"
    "Isn't it obvious? You went to Camelot to get the darkness out of me." Mary Margaret gasps as Emma places her hand on her cheek. "And you failed."

    The man in the red jacket sneezes, ruining the tension.
    "And what are you supposed to be?" Emma asks, turning to face him.
    The man looks scared as she approaches him, but can't stop himself from sneezing again.  "Ah-"
    Emma raises her hand, turning him into stone. "There's no savoir in this town anymore," Emma says, ignoring the looks of fear etched on our faces.

    Regina walks up to her. "Emma, stop. That's enough."
    "Or what?" Emma asks.
    "Or I'll do exactly what you asked me to," Regina replies, reaching for The Dark One dagger.
    She freezes when her hand comes into contact with her waist instead of the hilt of the dagger.
    "Looking for this?" Emma asks, raising her dagger next to her face.

    "No one's gonna touch this dagger but me." She steps around Regina, walking towards Hook. "Now, for what you all did to me... You're about to be punished."
    "Emma-" The woman turns around when Hook says her name. "Why are you doing this?"
    "Because... I'm The Dark One."
    She then closes her eyes and disappears in a cloud of black smoke.

    "What are we going to do now?" Mary Margaret asks. "We don't have our memories, and we can't help her if we don't know what happened."
    "Maybe we could just-"
    "Andrew and Hunter missing!" Jerome exclaims, causing everyone to look at him.
    "Calm down, they're right over there," Leroy points out, gesturing towards the hunched figure kneeling over something.

    "Andrew?" I call out, walking towards him, slowing down when I see that he's holding onto something dark red. "Andrew what's that in your hand?"
    The tall boy doesn't reply or show any sign that he's heard me. I take another step forward, hesitating as I place my hand on his shoulder. "Andrew?"

    I turn him around to face me, gasping when I get a good look at him. His eyes are bloodshot and his brown leather jerkin is stained with dark, red blood.

    "H-Hun-Hunter's gone," he says, raising up his bloody hands for me to see what he's holding.
     It's Hunter's favourite jacket. And it's drenched in blood.

-

I'm just gonna leave this here and hope that you guys don't send me any death threats... *Runs like a maniac* I hope this extra long chapter makes up for the fact that I scared you guys, but I have a feeling that it didn't really make a difference.

It's currently one in the morning rn and I'm tired so you can't really blame me for any spelling mistakes or errors. Yeah... That's all for this A/N, good(night) guys

~ Alice xx

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What do you think happened in Camelot?

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Jerome...

Side note, do you like the gif I added at the start of the chapter? And would you like me to use gifs instead of edits from now onwards?

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Vote, comment, rate do whatever you want <3

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