The ground walls were thick and the ceiling crumbled a bit. Tiny rocks fell to the bottomless, dark pit that would have any kid whimpering in fear of heights. There were endless tunnels, many twists and turns. The only light source for these tunnels were the flame torches that illuminated the path for many who crossed these caverns. Within them, others could hear the endless moaning and groaning of men and women as they harvested many fairy crystals that flickered with light magic and mysterious power. In these mines, the crystals were being collected by Storybrooke residents as monsters crawled and stomped on the ground. Creatures with rocky bodies and glowing red eyes and multiple arms.
Many of the residents complained and whined as they took axes and tried to dig out the diamonds. In this giant chamber, there were diamonds as large as boulders. Some were sharp as swords, while others were wide and huge as tree trunks. Residents were chained by their ankles and arms and their torsos had scars that oozed of blood and bruises that stung as they tried to brush them with their fingers. The monsters would agitate the residents as they snickered sadistically. The dwarf, Grumpy, yelled at the beasts to leave them alone and let them do their work, but the beast only threw him to the ground. Dr. Hopper had demanded to see the guy in charge but the beast only snickered in his face as it shoved him to the wall and told him to keep digging.
Farther into the mines, there was a tunnel that had torch lights on either side of the rocky walls. The farther you walked, the closer you would see a body being dragged down the hall by two deadly looking monsters, both had scaly skin, green eyes, boned wings and lime green saliva dripping from their mouths.
The body they dragged was covered in blood and ash, the clothes scorched as well as the figure's delegate peach colored skin. When they reached the end of the tunnel, there were two cages, both made of a powerful dark metal. One of the monsters unlocked it with the key and opened the barred door. They threw the body in there and the prisoner grunted in pain. "Ah, damnit!"
The mysterious girl pulled her blonde hair back and glared at the monsters in the eyes as they smiled evilly at her. After that, they felt her there and locked the cage. Anger boiling through her, the girl stood up as best as she could and gripped the bars tightly in her bruised and bloody fists. "Hey! Come back!"
But they didn't listen, they only left her in there, weak and valuable as they crawled away into the dark tunnel. "Damn it!" The woman groaned as she pushed herself away from the cell bars and pressed her back against the rocky wall.
"Well, well, look who the big bad monsters dragged in." The lady looked into the other cell to see a man, around his fifties sitting there with a few bruises and cut on his lips and pale skin. He had a short beard of pepper gray strands. "Let me guess, you messed up at your big chance at beating the big dog of this joint. Am I right?"
The woman scoffed and laid her head against the hard stone that had it's sharp edges poking at her head. "That obvious huh?" The woman looked closely to see that this man was wearing a business suit of sorts, but it was ruined and quite bloody, just like her outfit. He was in better condition than her, but he was chained up. Despite his injuries, the woman could tell the man had a smug look on his damaged face.
"Why are you here?" The woman asked as she moved to the bared wall and rested her head on her knees. The man laughed a bit and gazed at the woman with a small smirk. "I'm but a mere servant to the man who is currently trying to turn this entire wasteland of a town to his personal empire."
"Do you know him," the woman asked out of interest.
The man shook his head. "Trust me if I had known him, I would've ran someplace else to escape this bastard's wrath. Or in my best interest, I would've made a deal." He looked at her curiously and asked, "Who are you, sweetheart? Have I made a deal with you before?"
She sighed and closed her eyes in tiredness, "Why does it matter? All you need to know is that, the jackass who tried to kill my family gave me a chance to help them and I failed at it. Anything else you need to know?"
The man smirked a bit and answered, "Well, sweetheart, I would really love a name, like for instance, my name is Crowley. A demon from Hell, a Crossroads demon to be exact." The woman simply jerked back a bit in surprise and asked, "Wait, you're a demon, but why would you be locked up in here? Shouldn't you be with that motherload of an army?"
Crowley didn't have to wonder why he was trapped in this prison, and he didn't have wonder why he was resurrected in the first place. All that he needed to know is when were the Winchesters coming to finish the job and defeat this evil before he ruins the town. "Doesn't matter now, so why don't you do me a favor and tell me your name!?"
The woman answered, "Emma Swan. I was the sheriff in this town."
Crowley's smirked widened more and shook his head. A sheriff? Crowley may be shallow and have a distaste for humans but there was something different about this woman. "No you're not. You're something special. Something that can only draw attention from the thing controlling these monsters. So I ask you again, who - no - what are you?"
Emma stood up and walked around the cell. She was careful not to trip or collide with any hard surface that would cause her more pain. Earlier today, she had been dragged out of this cell and onto the major's office were a man in a black trench coat had been sitting of the leather chair like he was the king of Storybrooke with his legs crossed upon Regina's desk. She had challenged him in a fight, blade against blade. She had tried to win but the man was graceful and strong. He wasn't a knight. His powers were dark yet powerful, but he wasn't a wizard, not really anyway. Still, he was too powerful for her or anyone else in her family. She couldn't tell what he was, but if there was one thing she knew, it was that he is not like the other villains they've faced in the past.
Seeing that she'd hadn't answered Crowley, she spoke, "Doesn't matter now, all that matters is that I have to get out of here to save my family."
Crowley whistled a little and then said doubtfully. "I hardly believe that you're capable of getting out of here. Not with bars like these. They've been warded against you."
Emma just ignored him and stood back. I have to find a way out of here! I just have to keep trying! She raised her hands and focused on her magic. Come on! Come on! From the corner of his eyes, Crowley could see tiny sparks of pure light radiating off Emma's hands as she pointed them at the iron bars of her cell. They started to shake a bit as the force from Emma's magic tried to move against it. The light only grew brighter and brighter, it was so blinding to a demon like Crowley. He covered his eyes as the magic grew stronger. The bars upon the cage started to sizzle as ancient runes Emma couldn't decipher started to glow a menacing red.
"It's not gonna work! Emma!" Crowley shouted. Her light magic faded as her powers started to fail again. The runes started to fade away, but despite its disappearance, Crowley could still sense the warding that was cast upon the cage Emma was trapped in. She fell to her knees and growled in anger. "No! No! I have to keep trying! I'm not going to abandon my family."
Crowley questioned, "Why is family so special to you?"
Emma answered in a grimm voice, "Because no matter what we face, our family always stays together and win together. And this guy won't take that away from me."
Crowley smirked, "I admire your resilience. You must be a great influence on these people."
Suddenly, a brilliant idea had popped into his head, one that could be beneficial for him and this woman. Crowley announced with a devilish smirk, "What would you say if I told you I can offer you a deal?"
Emma looked alarmed. This wasn't the first time she had to make a deal with a suspicious looking creature, and a demon doesn't seem at all trustworthy under any circumstances. She didn't think it would be a good idea to get involved with a deal with this guy. Especially since a deal could screw her over in more ways than one. If she were to do something evil, her light magic would be destroyed. And she couldn't have that. Not now, not ever!
"Let me guess, it would be a terrible idea to make a deal with a demon. Trust me, this isn't the first time I've dealt with people like you. But I can insure you, this deal will be harmless unless you turn your back on it, then I'll sent a pack of hellhounds on you. So what do you say," Crowley pestered. Emma raised a brow, "What's this deal you want to make? What are you offering? Once you spit it out, then I'll give you an answer."
Crowley smiled and started to explain his idea. "Well, as you can see, those monsters outside can not be defeated by an ordinary weapon, and apparently, you are so drained that your magic can not defeat them alone."
Emma hummed in disappointment, knowing that the demon had a point in all this. Even she hated the idea of a demon being right. Crowley continued, "But here's the thing, I have a weapon that could assist you in the fight against these - um- whatever these beasts are."
Emma rolled her eyes, "Unless, it's a rifle or magic sword, I'm not buying it."
Crowley smirked, "How about an angel blade?"
Emma eyes widened and she turned to Crowley with a raised eyebrow, skeptical of his words. "An angel blade? You've got to be kidding me."
"Actu-"
But before he could answer, they heard growling coming from the end of the hall. Aww, come on. Not this again! Emma thought as the shadows of a monster with eight spider legs and sharp teeth kept coming their way. Not one but two appeared, the eight-legged creature along with another beast that moved through the shadows of the walls. As it removed itself from the wall, it's shadow was like a phantom, it's body was formless. The eight legged creature reached into it's own mouth. Emma groaned in disgust as the sight of one of the creature's legs dug deep down into it's long throat like a snake taking in a huge animal to consume.
When it removed it's leg from it's mouth, it had a key hanging from it's end. Emma was suddenly shoved to the ground, she peered up to see the shadow monster grinning at her with it's bleeding orange eyes. It brought it's head down to her ears and whispered in a voice that could haunt the savior in her sleep, "The master wants to see you. HeHe..."
She grunted as the beast brought her to her feet with the gate wide open from the eight legged creature. Just as they were about to leave, the demon with the annoying british accent in a suit decided to open his mouth again. "Good evening boys, lovely day - or - night, whichever, we're having yes?"
The creatures growled and the shadow monster grew in length and reached to Crowley as it held Emma in place. "Stop talking, vermon!"
"Oh, come on boys. I'm here to offer you a deal. See I tried to convince that lovely blonde right there, but she didn't have the stomach for it. I want to make a deal with you," he said with a cheeky grin that Emma wanted to punch so badly. She knew she couldn't trust him and she was right!
The creatures only laughed, or whatever the weird grunts they were making from their throats sounded like, and the shadow monster reached out to Crowley's neck and choke the life out of him. Crowley gasped for air, and tried to remove the shadow's grip but his hand only passed through. "Forget it, demon!"
Crowley smirked despite his situation and said, "Fine whatever, I just needed to do this!" Suddenly, in a swift movement, Crowley dug up a silver blade and drove into the shadow beast. The monsters screamed in agony as it's phantom appearance started to disappear in the light. Emma fell to the floor as the monster lost it's grip on her.
The eight legged monster growled and shoved Crowley using one of it's long legs against the cold bars. Stunned the demon was that he lost his grip on the blade and groaned in pain. The demon looked up to see that the creature bared it's disgusting teeth as it roared at him. It smelled worse than death! Crowley only laughed, "Whatever, abomination, do your worst!"
Just as the creature was about to strike him down. The monster howled in pain as a bright light illuminated from it's side and the light caused the creature's skin to scorch like paper burning on the top of a fireplace. The monster was consumed by the flames as it's body burned to a crisp. Then the eight-legged creature turned to dust and faded away into the long tunnel. Crowley looked up to see that Emma Swan had the angel blade in hand, gasping for air she was to regain her composure. She smirked when she gazed toward the gust still rolling off the ground, the remnants of the monster still lingering. Crowley stood up and rested his chin upon the horizontal bars.
"What did I tell you, angel blade does the trick every time."
Emma looked up at him and glared darkly. "Funny, you couldn't make a deal with me, so you decide to deal with the monsters."
"You basically rejected my bloody offer!" Crowley exclaimed a little too loud for Emma's ears. She rubbed then both as she sent the demon a murderous glare. Crowley sighed, "Look, I just pretended to make a deal with these primitive creatures so that way I could at least try to kill one of them, and the next thing I knew, you take out the bigger one with the angel blade. And -" Crowley was about to say something until he looked down and sent a mischievous smirk towards Emma. "You really are something special aren't you?"
She squinted her eyes in confusion. She followed his gaze and looked down. The savior was baffled to see that the angel blade in her hand was now burning with blazing sunshine colored flames. Oddly, she didn't feel like her hand was burning nor was it in any pain. The flames actually felt warm and calm between her fingers. She gulped and looked back to see Crowley biting his lip with that stupid smirk she was tempted to punch.
"Stand back." She demanded.
Crowley stood back as Emma raised the blade and swung it a few times. With every swift movement, it left a trail of bright fire that shimmered like sunlight. Crowley could see that every time Emma swung the blade, there would be bright burn marks on the metal cage. The warding flickered on and off like a dying lightbulb, it was failing. Suddenly, the cage melted into a liquid state. Crowley stood back and tried to avoid the hot iron substance. He quickly moved away from it to stand next to Emma.
She used the angel blade to burn the cuffs that kept Crowley chained and helped him out of them. "Okay, so if you don't mind, I'll be going with my angel blade."
Before he could take it, Emma shook her head with a smirk. "No, no, no. I'm keeping this Crowley, it's the only weapon I have that'll work on these creatures. But I going to promise you this, once I'm done saving my family and figure out a way to stop this guy from destroying Storybrooke, I will give it back to you."
Skepticism was the already crossing through Crowley's head. "How do I know you're not gonna stab me in the back?"
Emma shrugged. "You don't, but we need each other's help right now. You don't know a thing about these mines, and I've basically ran through here a bunch of times and as a demon, I can imagine that you could do a lot of things. This means that you could help me recover as I protect you too."
The demon had tried to look for a loophole in all this, but he couldn't exactly murder the girl. Judging by how an angel blade would burn like a star in her hand and slice through a monster in one swing, proved that she was more valuable and rare than any of human being. So he did the only logical thing he could do. "Okay, it's a deal. I let you keep the angel blade in your care as we try to escape this death trap while I try to heal you in some way."
Emma nodded. She hid the blade in her red leather jacket as it's burning flame withered away into tiny sparks of ash. "Come on," she commanded as she started to walk down the brick tunnel with Crowley following behind her as he mumbled a few profanities about her bossy attitude. But the demon was also planning a way to keep Emma in close range. Doesn't hurt to have a super weapon by his side after all.
***
The full moon had shown high in the sky and brightened it's way through the dark forest of summer trees and bushes. The leaves brushed against the wind as the air started to flow more rapidly. Near the mountains of shadows and stone, the grass started to whip wildly as the wind moved in circles, forming a vortex. Lightning crackled within the vortex as a powerful magic started to arise.
Suddenly, in a flash, a door appeared out of nowhere. Carvings of celtic runes glimmered a bit, engraved upon the wood. Magic sparked to life, and the door shook and wobbled like if it were being crushed and moved. It then burst open with two figures falling out of the opening like a pair of cannon balls. They both grunted in pain as they made impact with the rocky dirt and the trunks of forest trees.
The door then disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving the two travelers behind in a dark foreign forest.
"Bloody hell!" One of the figures exclaimed. She slowly stood, using a nearby tree for support. As she got up, she moved her cherry red hair out of her dirt covered face. She looked around to see that this place was new to her. "Regina, I don't think we're Storybrooke anymore."
The other woman groaned as she picked herself up, struggling to settle her dark hair until it was nicely groomed, or at least to look like she was attacked by a bear. She looked at Zelena and mumbled a few profanities.
"Sometimes, I hate it when you're right." Regina rubbed her head in frustration and looked down to see the condition of the long grey wand they used to get here. Regina sighed in relief when she saw that the sorcerer's wand was still intact. The portal they had just used was unstable, mostly because of the wild monstrosities that tried to eliminate them and pass through the portal. Their location wasn't even close to where they needed to be. Zelena questioned, "I don't understand. The portal was supposed to take us to Emma or Henry. So why in the bloody hell are we in the woods with no Emma or Henry in sight?"
"Oh, I don't know," Regina sarcastically remarked as she hid the wand in her black trench coat. Regina took out her phone and looked upon a digital map. Zelena looked around and cried for help. "Hello? Anyone there?" No response. Zelena bit her lips, enraged by their current situation. Unfortunately, things were only about to get worse.
"No, no, no, no. No!" Regina cried out like a child. Zelena turned to her with a raised eyebrow. Seeing her sister's rage mixed with confusion Regina explained. "You were right, we're not anywhere near Storybrooke. We're on the other side of the country. The portal took us near some crappy ass town called Beacon Hills, in freaking California!"
"What?" Screeched Zelena, her eyes so wide they nearly fell out of their sockets. "You were supposed to use that portal so it could help us find those fools you call heroes, but now we're stuck in the middle of nowhere. With no one to ask for help. Near a town where outsiders might mistaken the name for breakfast food. Excellent job Regina, what's next? Werewolves and demons?" Regina bit down on her lip to control her anger.
For the next few minutes, the two sisters kept on bickering with each other like they normally would. However this time, they had been bickering how to get back to their friends in Storybrooke. Zelena and Regina had been captured by the monsters like the others, and the Charmings were taken to the underground mines and Emma was forced to meet the head of the invaders. Zelena and Regina and been taken to work as slaves in the major's office, however, at a last resort, Regina had stolen the wand from Gold's shop and transported them out of the town to rescue Emma or join Henry. And apparently, the wand had backfired a lot and now they were far from home. Unless one of them were here, but the only possible reason for that is if Emma was banished far from Storybrooke. Henry wouldn't be here, he was still too young to drive and the journey would have taken him days! However, Regina was still convinced the wand failed them.
"I can't believe this," roared Regina as she sighed in exhaustion. She and Zelena walked through the forest trying to reach for any help. "So, what does it say about this Beacon Hills?" Zelena asked as she ducked under a huge branch from a low hanging tree. "Well, not much. According to what I found on my phone, Beacon Hills is an ordinary town with some 'unique' qualities'."
"What kind of qualities? I mean it's called Beacon Hills, doesn't sound very special. Sounds like one of those deadbeat towns."
"Trust me, Storybrooke sounds just as dumb. Beacon Hills isn't as well known but some people have posted websites online on how this town is connected to the supernatural. Werewolves mostly but also banshees, magical wizards, crap like that. But it's honestly just superstition. Nothing really special about it."
The sisters had walked for awhile in the dark forest. Along the way, they had crossed paths with tree stumps and Zelena nearly tripped on a root. The Wicked Witch's bad luck didn't end there because not long after she got her red tangles stuck into a branch. Long story short, Zelena was going to have to cut off the strands that were wrapped around a tiny twig. Regina sighed as her sweaty pantsuit started to smell a bit funky and the Californian heat nearly killed her. For an hour, they had walked aimlessly with no proper guidance, until they saw lights up ahead. Zelena spoke, "Hey, look. I think we're in town already. Let's see if there's somewhere we can stay for the night."
Regina sighed in relief and agreed.
***
"I've never liked the idea of staying in motels, they are so dirty and can have the most outrageous color schemes." Zelena complained as she walked out of the restroom with a look of disgust on her face. Well at least she cut off that twig. The younger sister thought. Regina replied, "Well Zelena, this is all we can do for now. Trust me, when we get back, we'll find a way to defeat these creatures."
Zelena groaned and sat down on one of the rough beds. As she jumped on it, she could hear the squeaking of the springs holding the mattress together.
"I hope so, for Robin's sake," Zelena mumbled with a worried expression.
Regina looked back at her sister to see that broken look on her face. The older sister, struggling to keep herself together, trying to distract herself from her own troubling thoughts. Regina couldn't help but feel sorry for Zelena, for she knew exactly how she felt. Her only family, Henry was out there alone with no one to guide him. He remembered that Hook was successful at taking Henry to the town line in Emma's yellow bug. She was more than upset that her son was the one driving, but she knew that it was his only chance to escape the dark forces taking hold of Storybrooke. She had hoped they'd end up where he went but it wasn't meant to be.
"Look Zelena," Regina spoke to the troubled red head turning towards her sister with a sad frown. Regina sat next to her and continued with what she was about to say, "We'll find a way to take back our children, you know we always find each other. This is no different. But for right now, we need to rest and save our strength for later."
Zelena sighed and walked back into the restroom with a pair of pajamas in hand. Just as Regina was about to close her bag, she was suddenly pushed back when a red scarf started to hover on its own, dangling in the air. It had swayed around like a fish in the water. "What the hell?!" Regina gasped, surprised and confused.
"Bloody hell! It worked," Zelena gasped as he groped her pajamas and smiled a little. Regina stood up and asked her sister, "Zelena, what did you do?"
"Nothing wrong if that's what you mean, when Storybrooke was attacked and when I heard about the Emma's plan to smuggle Henry out of Storybrooke. I stole Emma's scarf and one of Henry's sweater and created a Locator Spell so in that case, if we weren't nearby they would guide us to them. They are going to show us the way."
"That is brilliant Zelena," Regina exclaimed with a smile. The scarf started to head to the door and shrugged against it. Zelena spoke, "We have to follow it!"
Regina rushed after and followed Zelena as they started to follow the magical scarf. "Zelena, this better be worth it, otherwise you'll know what real magic is like!"
Regina locked the door to their motel room and chased after Zelena. The scarf swayed in the wind and luckily it was dark so no one else could see that flying scarf but them. Zelena and Regina stopped in their place as they saw that the scarf was leading them back into the forest. "Why the bloody forest," complained Zelena. Regina smirked at her sister's distaste and ran after the scarf.
After a few minutes, Regina and Zelena followed the scarf by foot with only the moonlight to guide their way through the darkness. Their journey ended as the scarf suddenly dropped on the ground. The sisters looked to see that there was a small cave on the side of a cliff near the town. So maybe she was banished here! Regina thought, excited by the notion.
"Emma?!" Regina yelled. "Come out, Emma. It's okay, it's just us! Regina and Zelena!"
No answer.
Both sisters ran into the small cave and looked around. "Hold on, let me get the flashlight." Regina said and pulled one out of her trenchcoat. When she flicked the switch on, both sisters looked in awe at the symbols on the walls of the cave.
"Impossible." Zelena gasped as they gazed upon the pictures of the strange runes. Regina too was in shock as soon as she knew what was going on, "I recognize these runes. Henry started to draw them on the eve of the final battle. The original author warned us that Henry's episodes with these runes would happen more frequently. After the battle, we didn't see the runes ever again. What are they doing here?"
The three sisters examined each rune closely. Some were big and others were small. The size didn't matter, but Regina couldn't help but be curious as to how these runes came here. There was some she could recognize from Henry's writing, while there were others she had never seen before.
Zelena traced each rune with a gentle hand. She couldn't recognize any of them from the spellbooks she's used in the past. Normally she was good with this kind of stuff, despite the fact that she didn't have magic anymore. The life of a 'normal' person wasn't ideal, but it was tolerable at best. That didn't stop her from making the Locator Spell that was meant to help them find their friends. She was really hoping that Emma would be here, sadly they could only find this stupid cave with odd scribbles.
At the end of the tunnel, both sisters looked up to see a huge six-star shaped rune that stood out from all the other ones. I definitely haven't seen that one before. Regina thought. Zelena spoke, "Regina, you may want to take a look at this.
Regina rolled her eyes but they landed on a bush of fuchsia flowers that grew between two moss covered rocks. Zelena nearly choked, "Pixie Flowers?"
Regina walked forward and examined the flowers. "Yeah, they're pixie flowers," Regina brought her hand up and used her magic to determine it's origin. The aura they generated was too familiar, and she knew exactly where, or to be more precise, who they came from.
"They were born of light magic. Emma's light magic." she explained with realization that the scarf had not led them to their friend.
Zelena shook her head with a look of confusion across her face. "But I don't understand, how can Emma's magic be here? Magic from Storybrooke can't reach beyond the town line. And pixie flowers? How could Emma's magic survive long enough to create a pixie flower bush in a Land Without Magic?"
Regina shook her head, "I have no idea, but just the fact that Emma's magic is even here just proves how our world is changing."
"HEY!"
Both women turned to see a man in a leather jacket, holding a gun upon entering the small chamber. He wore a hunter's jacket and jeans, with hiker boots. Regina didn't fail to see another gun hidden with the jacket. He glared at them as he inched closer.
Zelena raised her voice. "What the hell are you doing? Do you have any idea who you're messing with?" Regina mumbled next to her sister, "In case you've forgotten Zelena, you don't have magic anymore, so I wouldn't be messing with a guy who is holding a gun to our faces!"
"Hey! I'm asking the questions here! What the hell are you two doing here? And what the hell is that thing? That sure isn't wolfsbane."
Regina raised her hands slowly in surrender and tried to reason with the stranger. "Look, Mr...?"
"Argent, Chris Argent. And I'm guessing that your not just helpless wanders from outta town." The man answered. The sisters were lost at first, but the Argent man continued. "So which is it? Werewolf? Witch? Banshee?"
Regina continued, "Mr. Argent, my sister and I are travelers to this town of yours. More importantly, this bush comes from our own home. It's no harm to your people or anyone else here."
The man only scoffed and raised the gun, "Please, nothing supernatural is ever good. In fact I'm willing to bet you're planning something."
Regina protested, "I'm not, trust me when I say you'll live. We are no danger to you or your town. We can talk about this. This doesn't have to end in blood."
Chris Argent only smirked. "Sorry, but your word isn't good enough." In one swift movement, he moved the trigger.
Boom!
Emma Swan
Crowley