#lucy and david should have gone to the moon together

[fanficsforheartandsoul]

SPOILERS IN THIS POST FOR THE GAME CYBERPUNK 2077 AND IT'S ANIMATED SERIES EDGERUNNERS

Ok so I heard I Really Want to Stay at Your House from Cyberpunk Edgerunners on Tiktok before I even watched the series. I liked it so much that I downloaded it to my Spotify favorites.

This weekend I watched Edgerunners. When that song played in the last episode I was DEVASTATED. LITERALLY. I cried so hard the last 10 minutes like just full on sobbing.

Since then I have listened to this song nonstop and I kid you not today when I took the bus home I ALMOST TEARED UP BECAUSE FUCK MY LIFE, THIS SERIES MESSED ME UP BAD.

"You're not special."

This message rings in my head when I think of Edgerunners and it's fucking with me. Because I know this feeling. This sentiment of "oh no, I'm different, I'm not gonna do x or get addicted to y." And then BAM.

Turns out you are doing x already and got addicted to y.

Just like David Legend Martinez. My man didn't get the happy ending he deserved. Neither did any of the characters.

This whole show punched me in the gut and left me in the gutter (haha wordplay) and I dunno if I ever recover.

I'm probably over emotional because of other real life stuff but when I tell you I stayed up all Sunday night to read fanfiction to find some comfort, I'm not lying.

It's funny because I'm writing and reading x reader stories to portray myself as special. Whether that be for someone specific or the whole world. I need that feeling of "oh, I'm important to someone, I'm special and not completely worthless."

That's why I like most stories with an overpowered reader (as long as Y/N suffers a helluva lot as well but what that actually means for my psyche should be left in pandora's box) because I need to be special at least in my imagination. Edgerunners really opened my eyes in that regard. I knew immediately from the moment when Maine went down the cyberpsycho route that David would end up dead like him and yet I still hoped he would overcome it. He's the main character, he can't die like that. He won't, he's special!

Haha yeah nope.

The show really made me realize why I always want my y/ns to be jedi shadows, witchers, dragons, zombies, siths etc. and why I prefer these types of fantasy related backgrounds over coffee shop AUs and other real life stories and I dunno what to do with this information.

Doubled with me accidentally spoiling some of the endings of Cyberpunk 2077, I'm emotionally at my end.

I watched a youtube video about the ending where V decides to unalive himself/herself instead of dealing with whatever shitshow is going on (I have yet to play the game, I'm literally still at the beginning because I couldn't recover from Jackie's death haha🥲) and I didn't need that in my life. I'm too busy to cry about fictional characters but I guess this is my punishment for being emotionally attached to FICTIONAL CHARACTERS GOD FUCKING DAMMIT-

[toothpastecanyon]

Noie’s Brother, Chapter 20

Nearly finished!! Thank you so much to @feferipeixes for betaing this story!

Fate sometimes rhymed, but Alcor felt like this one was a little on the  nose. A newborn Mizar fading away in the hospital and a loving father  pleading to him from behind a circle of candles.

Fate sometimes  rhymed, but Naomi Argenta just wants this stupid vampire to stop  harassing her brother. It’s making him go… weird.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

                 “Allie!”  

                 Noie raced around the corner and nearly ran into David. He grabbed her arm.

                 “Allie?” His face fell as he got a good look at them. “Kids! D-did you hear anything just now, uh, l-like a door slamming, or-”

                 “No? What’s going on?”

                 He grit his teeth. “I did something stupid, that’s what’s going on! Allie’s missing!”

                 “What?”

                 “No time! Y-you know, I haven’t checked Allie’s office yet, why don’t you two do that while-”

                 “We already checked that.” Dipper stepped forwards; he was in human form again, Noie noticed. “How long has she been gone for?”

                 “I… I don’t know!” David gripped his temples. “I just- we were watching TV, and I just let her walk off for some reason! I didn’t think about it!”

                 “Okay. That’s okay, we’ll just-”

                 “It’s not okay! I can’t believe I did that! Argh, this is all my fault - ALLIE!”

                 Dipper gripped his shoulder. “Hey, that’s not important right now. Have you searched the whole house already?”

                 “Y-yeah? God, that only means one thing.” He looked outside. “Oh, my god. She could be anywhere. This is how people die.”

                 Noie felt like a bucket of cold water had been dropped on her. “She’s not gonna die.” She stepped back, and shivered when Dipper looked right at her. “She’s not gonna die, right?”

                 “No, she’s not.” He said, and there was a strange shine in his eye. He turned back to David. “Look, it doesn’t matter if you messed up; we can fix this now.”

                 “Wh-what?”

                 “Go call the police!”

                 “The police?” David blinked. “Right, the police! What’s the number for the police- 911. Ohhh, you idiot, David…”

                 Dipper nodded at Noie. “While they’re coming, we’re gonna go outside and look for her, okay? Maybe she hasn’t gone far.”

                 “That-that sounds like a good plan.” David stepped away, digging for his phone. “She’s gonna be okay, she’s gonna be okay, she’s…”

                 Noie stared at him until she felt a hand on her arm. She shivered a bit at Dipper’s grip; he seemed to notice, and motioned her to follow.

                 “Come on, Naomi.” He tried for a smile. “Everything’s gonna be okay, okay? We’ll get her back in no time.”

                 The smile he wore… it seemed so odd on his face now. It was hard to look at it and not see the fangs, his fangs, but- She shook herself.

                 That wasn’t important right now.

                 Noie took his hand, and let him lead her into the darkness. They stepped outside, and the crickets started chirping, and suddenly it struck her how utterly normal this night seemed. It wasn’t even that dark; the moon draped itself just above the skyline, watching over everything with a steady silvery glow.

                 It didn’t seem like a night for Allie to go missing. It didn’t match up with the deep, sinking fear in her chest as she looked up and down the street and saw nothing.  

                 “Where are we looking?” Noie asked. “Should we split up? You go that way, I go this way? I should go back inside to get my phone…”

                 “We don’t need to look for her. I know where she is.”

                 “We don’t-” Noie blinked. “What?”  

                 Dipper was standing there, still. “I know exactly where she is. I can get her back.”

                 “Wh- How do you know that? How on earth do you…”

                 He looked at her. His eyes weren’t glowing, but there was something shining there that made her questions shrivel up on her tongue.

                 Of course he knew, she thought. Of course he did. She swallowed.

                 “Well, don’t just stand there, we have to get to her! Where is she?”

                 “I’ll tell you. We need to do something first.”

                 “Need to do what?”

                 “We need to… make a deal, Naomi.”

                 “A deal?” A chill went through Noie’s body. She stepped back. “Like… the demon thing? The shaky hands thing?”

                 He just nodded. She frowned.

                 “We don’t have time for this, Dipper! Allie’s missing!”  

                 “I know, it’s-”

                 “Then we gotta go now! Just tell me where she is and-”

                 “I can’t!” Dipper snapped. “Not without a deal! Do you understand?”

                 She shrank back at the echo in his voice. She watched Dipper sigh, step back, and compose himself. He looked back at her, and there was a deep guilt written into every line in his face.

                 “I can’t,” he said, quietly. “I know you’re not… comfortable with me right now, but I need… there’s a part of me that needs something in return. It doesn’t have to be big, b-but it’s been twelve years since I made a deal, I can’t do it for nothing.”

                 Noie didn’t say anything. She didn’t dare to.

                 “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get frustrated, I just…” he clenched his fists. “I can fix this, so please, let me fix this. I know I’ve messed up a lot, so let me fix this one thing for you and your family, okay?”

                 Dipper looked to her for an answer. Noie hesitated, and then, silently, she gave a nod.

                 “Okay,” she said, and watched him relax just a little bit. “Okay. What do I need to do? You said I need to, uh, give you something?”

                 “An offering, yes.”

                 “Oh.” She looked down at her hand, and struggled to get out the next bit: “...So, um… like blood, or souls, or-”

                     “No no no no no!” Dipper cut her right off. “No, you are not giving me your soul here! This is not that big a deal! Besides, I already have it - but that’s not important right now-”

                 “Wait, you have my-”

                 “Long story, not important! Shouldn’t have mentioned it, sorry!” He drew back. “Sorry, sorry, I’m making this confusing and scary when… I just need a small thing, okay? Think, like, a tub of ice cream. Not soul ice cream, just… yeah.”

                 She blinked. “Demons take ice cream for deals?”

                     “I take ice cream for deals.” His smile was quick, nervous. “Or… I know we don’t have any candy in the house right now, but if you buy me some later, you can offer to do that now. That’d be fair.”

                 “Okay-”

                 He kept on talking. “Or you don’t have to offer anything physical. You could just offer me something you don’t want anyway. Like unwanted memories.” He didn’t meet her eyes. “Then it wouldn’t even be like I’m taking something away from you. Killing two birds with one stone.”

                 “What do you mean?” Noie frowned. “Where are you going with this?”

                 “Give me your memories of the past few weeks, and I’ll find Allie.”

                 Stunned silence. Even the crickets went silent. Noie felt her stomach drop; she just stared at Dipper, dumbfounded.

                 She watched him swallow.

                 “You don’t have to take it.” He said. “But I know… I know you don’t want me to be a demon. You just want me to be Dipper Argenta. So I can do it, I-I can put everything back to normal and make a human body again, it can be like none of this ever happened. If that’s what you want, I’ll give it to you. If you don’t want to know, you don’t have to know.” He looked down. “It’s the least I can do, after… everything.”

                 Everything… back to normal? Noie shivered as she thought of everything that had happened since that day when Lucy Ann showed up by the school -      stars,     it felt like a lifetime ago. She could hardly imagine a world where her biggest problem was a group project in school; a world where her biggest frustrations came from occasional clashes with her grandfather.

                 A world where her biggest comfort was her brother.

                 She looked up at him, and      hated    how his face drummed up a mess of conflicting emotions in her - love and hate and fear and anger all mixed together and made things      complicated     where they used to be so simple. She just wanted to be close to him again. She just wanted to trust him again. She just wanted everything to go back to normal.

                 Normal. That was what she wanted. And that was what he was offering.

                 So, wordlessly, Naomi extended a hand. She watched her brother’s face flash through a million expressions before locking into something blank and unreadable. Then, he spoke.

                 “This is what you want, then.”

                 It wasn’t a question, but she nodded anyway.

                 “Alright.” He put out his own hand. “Let’s shake on it, then.”

                 They grasped each other, and shook, once. A small burst of blue flame startled Noie, but she couldn’t pull away. He was gripping too tight.

                 “So…” she managed. “It’s… done, then?”

                 “It’s done.” Dipper released her, and turned away. “I’m going to get Allie first, make sure she’s safe. It won’t take long, and then I can wipe your memories.”

                 She tried for a nod. “Good… good plan. You need me to come with you?”

                 “No. You don’t have to do anything.”

                 “Okay, I’ll just… wait inside, then?” Wordlessly, he dissolved into shadow - Noie took a sharp breath. “A-alright. I’ll wait inside. I’ll wait inside.”

                 She stepped back, and took one more look out into the night. The crickets were chirping again. The lights were off in all the houses, and the cars lay still in their driveways. It all seemed so incredibly normal.

                 Hopefully, it would start to feel normal, too. She turned, and walked inside.

                 Opened the door.

                 “Yeah, she’s about five foot eight, she’s got- Allie?”

                 Closed the door. She could hear her grandfather groan, and then turn back to the phone.

                 “No, that wasn’t her. Yeah, she’s five eight, got white hair, she’s- you’re spelling it with a K, right? A as in Alfa, L as in Lima…”

                 Noie walked over to the couch, and sat down on the couch. She stared without seeing, and let David’s words wash over her.

                 Her hands were trembling. She gripped her knees, and waited.

                 She didn’t have to wait long before there was a knock at the door.

                 “Huh? Oh, hang on a second!” David rushed over to open it. “Allie, is that- Aaagh!”  

                 Noie watched him jump back with a yell; the phone dropped from his hand and clattered against the tile. He spotted her standing up and shook his head frantically, but she walked over…

                 And saw Alcor the Dreambender standing in the doorway. The demon was dressed in his finest suit, with a thin gold chain looping up to his folded wings. In one clawed hand, he clutched a top hat to his chest. The other was resting gently on Allie’s shoulder; she lit up when she saw her husband, and he let her walk forwards and embrace him.

                 “David!” She gave him a peck on the cheek; he was too startled to even register it. “How was your day, honey? Leon and I, we had a wonderfullay, we went shopping!”

                 “Wh-what?” David managed. Alcor looked down.

                 “She was walking down the side of the road. I picked her up and took her back here.”

                 “Why?” He gripped Allie tighter. “What do you want from us?”

                 The demon stepped away. “I should go now.”

                 “Yes, you should. We don’t have anything for you.”

                 David moved to close the door, and Alcor caught Noie’s eye briefly before it was slammed in his face. Allie waved.

                 “Bye, Leon!” She frowned when David grabbed her hand. “Ow. Where are we going?”

            ��    He picked up the phone. “Getting you away from the door. Naomi, Dipper, go to your room. Hello, police? Are you still there?”

                 Noie looked to the side, but she didn’t see Dipper there. After a moment, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

                     “I said, go to your room.” David growled, and then shoved her towards the hallway. “Hello, yes? I’d like to report a demon sighting…”

                 Thoughts buzzing in her head, Noie stumbled back and made her way into her bedroom.

                 She shut the door. She took a deep breath. She let it out, slowly, and then spoke.

                 “Dipper?”

                 “I’m here.” The reply was immediate. She turned, and saw a small boy curled up on the bottom bunk. “We should do this before the police get here.”

                 “Yeah, that sounds… sensible.” She waited for him to get up, but he didn’t move. “Uh, Dipper?”

                 “Sorry.” He wiped his eyes, and got to his feet. “I’m good now. I’ll do it.”

                 His face was a little red and blotchy. He didn’t smile. Noie frowned at him.

                 “Are you… sad because Grandpa told you to go away?” She crossed her arms. “You didn’t have to show up as Alcor. You could’ve just showed up as yourself-” and there she caught herself- “Or, well, not… you know what I mean.”

                 “Yeah…” he said. “I know what you mean. I don’t know, I just… I wanted to…”

                 He trailed off. Then he sighed, and gave a shrug.

                 “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter now. Are you ready?”

                 Noie nodded.

                 “Alright.”

                 “How, uh… how’s it going to work?” She resisted the urge to step back when he moved towards her. “Is it going to be, like, weird, or…?”

                 Dipper wrapped his arms around her, and buried his face into her shirt. She stiffened at first, but it felt so, so nice just to have him hug her again; she hugged him back, and closed her eyes, and it was like nothing was wrong.

                                Nothing was wrong.  

                                Nothing had happened.  

                                Everything was going to be okay.  

                 After the longest moment, Dipper shifted, and Noie pulled back with a smile.

                 “Alright,” she said, and ruffled his hair. “Good hug. That was a good hug! Got me all the warms and fuzzies.”

                 Dipper tried for a chuckle back, but Noie raised an eyebrow at him.

                 “Hey, what’s up with you?” She brought him in for another squeeze. “You’re not allowed to be sad, bro. This is illegal!”

                 “Is it?”

                 “Yeah!” She snorted at the sound of sirens. “See? They’re coming for you, bro.”

                 Dipper had nothing to say to that; he just let her hug him. The sirens kept getting louder.

                 “Huh, are they… pulling up to our street?” Noie pulled away to look out of the window. “Oh, wow, they are! What’s going on?”

                 “Don’t freak out.” Dipper stepped away. “I think I heard Da- uh, Grandpa talking about it earlier. I’ll go ask him about it, okay?”

                 She waved him away. “Yeah, go do that. This is freaky… Come back soon, okay?”

                 “I will. I promise.”

                 Alcor closed the door behind him, then sighed, and let his smile drop. He then vanished into the Mindscape to make his new human body, leaving no trace behind.

                 Back in the bedroom, Noie stepped away from the window. She made a face, shrugged, then wandered over to the desk and sat down in front of her computer.

                 There was a plain grey USB on her desk. She wiggled her mouse, then looked down at it and raised her eyebrows.

                 It was probably Dipper’s, she thought. She tossed it into a desk drawer, and resolved to tell him she’d done that whenever he came back.

                 By the time he did return, familiar and human and with a big genuine smile on his face, it had completely slipped her mind.

[iamnotadamnedmonkey]

NPCs for Demon/80s teen movie game

Father Jonathon McRiley is head of the Catholic church, a kind and friendly man, who preaches love and tolerance. The Church itself is an ancient stone building, rumored to have been there since before the town began.

Pastor William Lowell is his opposite in the Baptist church, full of fire and brimstone, eager to condemn anyone who doesn’t follow his creed. His church is VERY new, all bright and shining, lots of glass and spires. People say a white robe and hat hang in his closet, fi you know what I mean.

Jannifer Tweed is in charge of the UU church, and general does not give a fuck. Rumor says she engages in nude dancing in the woods when the moon is full. The UU meets at a building that used to be a k-mart back in the day.

Lower School, Middle School, and High School. You guys generally don’t care about the lower two. The High school is run with the iron fist of Hauer Kalin, the new Principal. He’s a real hard ass, by the book, his way or the high way type of guy. His secretary is the well-loved Bill Cove, a sweet old man who has been involved in the school system for many years. A lot of people are upset by how rudely Hauer treats Bill, but Bill waves it off with a laugh. Some kids say the two are lovers, but kids say that about everyone.

Olga Waterhorse is the art teacher, as well as the best known lesbian in town. Kids say she is romantically involved with Jane Quirl, the rather pretty new gym teacher, but no one has caught them doing anything more than talking. Jane does seem to have drawn the attention of all the male teachers as well, with all of the single ones trying to date her. She’s turned them all down, saying she doesn’t date co-workers, which may have led people to claim she’s a lesbian.

The Science teacher David Longhorn has recently returned to work after a bad accident, and seems to be a changed man. He’s adopted a super atheist viewpoint of science, and has had several complaints filed against him by religious parents who dislike his constant dismissal of creationism et al.

People say the choir teacher Max Delhorn is the last of the hardcore hippies. He was at Woodstock, Man, and he’d be more than willing to sit down and tell you all about it. He’s also the best source for weed for kids, as long as you got the money. He’s real old school, and only charges 10 dollars for a dime bag.

Coach Jake Tailor is a god damn demon. He is the only person in the school even harder than the Principal. He’s clearly a sadist, from how hard he drives the team. But the school wins championships, so no one has the balls to report him… or if they do, they are ignored. The gossips say that he is the reason the last principal was fired. Except he wasn’t fired, he just packed up and moved one day, and didn’t tell anyone. So they fired him.

The Rachels are five Seniors, all named Rachel, of course. They are the queen bees of the school, laying down rules for dress, dating, and the like, at least, if you want to be popular. They’ve driven at least five kids to suicide through bullying, that people are aware of.

The Geek Squad- 12 unpopular nerds who have banded together out of love of popular culture. 10 boys, 2 girls, they LARP in the woods, wear capes to school, and basically insist people bully them.

David Whales should have graduated two years ago, but he dropped out instead. He’s still found near the high school, looking for vulnerable teens that he can take advantage of, and pimp out. He has a house on the bad side of town, where you can always go if you’re looking to pay for sex.

Brand Hex, an up and coming technology giant, has moved into town. It only took them three months to raise a ten story building JUST on the other side of the town limit, so they could ignore the building limits. They have a dedicated fleet of self-driving cars they have let out into the town to work as a free taxi service. No one is really sure what business they are in, but they sure have a lot of money.

An archeology team from the state college has come in to excavate a site in the nearby mountains. Apparently, they’ve found an ancient worship site. The researchers are really tight lipped about it.

The local tabloid rag has been publishing photos of a ‘Fossilized Angel’ that they say is in the mountains as well, but are refusing to tell people where they found it. Most people think someone snuck onto the dig and took a picture of weird statue. It sure looks like am elongated skeleton with wings. The paper also claims big foot has  been spotted in the woods, and is responsible for recent cattle mutilations.

John D Mills Maximum Security Penitentiary: A prison for only the worst of the worst offenders.  No one inside is the type of person who even pretends they were innocent. The new Warden, John Smith, is apparently a political appointee, sent in to clean up some civil rights violations. Or possibly make whole new ones.

It’s a small police force, barely a dozen men, sheriff included. They tend to be very lax. As long as what you’re doing isn’t harming anyone else, you can slip under the radar. The Sheriff Keith Yulidfer has even been known to sit down and share a drink with teenagers caught underage drinking, as long as they’re chill about  it.

Mayor Denise Malapo has been Mayor of the town for as long as any one can remember. No one bothers to run against her any more.

The Old Man of the Mountain: A statue in the middle of town, of an old man seeming to crawl out of a black of stone, have of his body still interred. It’s supposed to be modeled on the local guardian spirit, and, if you really need help, sometimes offers advice.

The Hobbit Hole is the local Nerd store. It’s owned by Creepy Carl, a nerd of extreme obnoxiousness. If his general misogyny wasn’t bad enough, he has this habit of making little wire dolls of people who come in the store.

‘Things Acquired’ was burnt down three months ago, but no one has bothered to clean up the burnt out wreckage. It was only open a week before the ‘mysterious fire.’ It had set itself up as a shop for ‘anything you might want, at a price.’ Although rumor says most of the town was there the night it burned, no one has been arrested or charged with any crimes. Adults who have been asked about it generally mutter the words ‘too cliché’ before changing the subject. The owner, one Dedric Eville, is missing, presumed dead.

Several younger children have gone missing, supposedly after arranging to meet someone online. The police have done several public safety campaigns about stranger danger. Most everywhere you go in town, you can find missing posters.

A local biker gang, The Low Flyers has their hangout as a bar on main street. They tend to be away during the week, but always show up on weekends. They have an agreement with the police that they can be as loud as they want, as long as they handle all fights internally.

One of the best known people in town is Old Mother Dismas. She’s an ancient woman, in her nineties if not over a hundred, but she’s always out on the front porch of her house, offering lemonade and fresh baked cookies to anyone who so much as glances her way. She often seems too good to be true, but no one has any dirt on her. The best rumor about her is a junkie looking for a fix once tried to steal her TV. She walked in on him in her bath robe, and just looked disappointed at him until he put the tv back, and then painted her house to make it up to her. She has a REALLY big dog named Honey.

Lucy Zalinski runs and owns the local diner, called, imaginatively, Lucys Diner. Eight months pregnant, and still working. Most people stop in to eat there at least once a week, the food is to die for.

The local graveyard is much bigger than accounted for by the rather limited population of the town. Sometimes, in the right light, the grave seem to go on for miles.

The Boundary City Library is considered to be the biggest in the state. Sometime in the sixties a government project expanded the library downwards, to use as a secondary backup for the Library of Congress, but that project fizzled out. No one is supposed to go down in the Stacks, but every kid played hide and seek in there at some point. Rumors of ghosts are generally just that.

The nearest hospital is a good hour away by car. But that’s okay, because no one ever really gets hurt that bad in this lovely town. Why, the worst that generally happens is a broken arm, and those are set by Kindly Dr. Jonas White, one of the few doctors left in the world who still makes house calls.

The Home Farms stretch over the hills. A good place to pick up some extra money in the fall, picking apples and reaping corn.  George Home turns a blind eye to parties thrown in any of the old Home Barns he no longer uses, and the occasional kegger out in the fields.

All the other type of places you’d expect are there too, but those are the ones that stand out.

[profoundlyfadedfics]

OUAT FF: The Stolen Heart From Within You

Summary: Twenty-Six Years after the Final Battle with the Black Fairy, Emma Swan and Killian Jones's only daughter is swallowed up by a portal where she gets caught up in a surprising mission that tests everything everyone thought known about a terrible battle that cost the life of the Saviour shortly after Zarina's birth twenty-five years earlier.

Meanwhile, Killian and Henry fight to find a way to the missing Zarina, only to find themselves caught up in the same story.

Rating: Teen (but will probably become Mature)

Warning: Contains Reference to a Major Character Death

A/N: This is not a conventional tale. But it’s something that has been knocking around my head for a while. It’s full of some of my headcanon, particularly relating to a CS Child. I know that dealing with the Character Death will be difficult, but all I ask is you trust me. It’s pure Captain Cobra in some place and completely Captain Swan in nature.

Also on AO3

Prologue: Once Upon a Time...

To the world looking in, Storybrooke, Maine had the air of a typical coastal town. The day dawned, the sun rising over the harbour and lightening the gently lapping waves. People made their way to work. To school. To visit family. Henry Mills-Jones was one such person. He rose to the sound of his alarm clock blaring, his bed cold and his head pounding from the long night. However, he pushed through his morning grogginess to push the comforter from his body and throw his legs over the edge of the bed.

For a strapping forty-year-old, Henry was certain he was still too young to be feeling out of it. He rolled his shoulders as he walked over to the desk, looking out the window and down onto the street below. This residential area of the town was always quiet. His eyes moved to a large book open on the desk. The old oak chair creaked as he sat down.

 In the night, he had added several pages to book. The magic had taken over after several hours of trekking through the woods that bordered the town. He flicked through the pages. The illustrations were familiar to him. He had written about the Enchanted Forest many times over.  As the realm was no longer desolate, new heroes were beginning to rise in the Kingdom. This new story seemed to focus on a villain.

But it wasn't the story he wanted to be telling.

Slamming the book shut with a huff he went about his morning, playing kitchen tango with Lucy as he readied himself for work. He saw his daughter out the door at eight-thirty for school, reminding her not to dally on her way to class. He was ready ten minutes later. His first class wasn’t until ten. Henry could have remained home for another hour. But Storybrooke had a habit of getting in the way of normal plans.

He made his way down Main Street. Locals looked at him. Sympathetic smiles graced their faces. He nodded in acknowledgement to them as he dashed up the steps to the diner. Granny was far too old to run the joint. Instead, she was enjoying her retirement with the fairies. Meanwhile, the diner had been brought by Henry’s wife. Her changes were occasionally met with hostility, but Tiana’s Place had a steady clientele and a breakfast menu to rival anyone with aspirations of being an all day cafe.

Tiana stood looking down at the heavily wrinkled Grumpy as he groused about his bacon being over done. The dwarf was particularly grouchy after being enlisted on the mass scale search happening behind the scenes of the town. Tiana waved Leroy off when the door bell tinkled. Her lips stretched into a smile when she saw her husband.

‘That’s right, go and make moon eyes at your man,’ Leroy grumped before tucking in with gusto. 'Don't worry about customer satisfaction.'

‘He’s cheerful,’ Henry remarked as he leant on the counter.

 The pair kissed in greeting over the countered.

Then Tiana threw a sympathetic glance back at the dwarf. ‘He’s worried. Everyone is.’ She sighed, her expression growing tight.

Henry nodded. ‘Whatever Facilier did should have ended when he was killed.’

‘It’s not so easy to kill the Shadow Man,’ Tiana replied, looking away to her fidgeting hands.

‘Dad sent him to the Underworld with the spell my mom and Zelena came up with,’ he said, reaching up and lifting her chin with his thumb. ‘Hey, pretty sure he’s gone. He's gone from the book.’

Tiana nodded but pulled away before Henry could brush a kiss to his wife’s lips. He frowned as she walked to where two cups to go sat in a cardboard holder. ‘Two double espressos.’

‘Double?’ he queried, taking the cups from her.

‘I know you were up late, and as for your father…’

‘Grandpa said he would try to get him to sleep,’ Henry cut across.

Tiana shook her head. ‘When have you ever know Killian Jones to sleep when a member of his family is peril?’ she asked with a quirk of her eyebrows. ‘This is Zarina we’re talking about.’

 Henry took a sip from one of the cups, grimacing as the caffeine hit his system. 'True,' he acknowledged.

Henry left his wife to the influx of customers who appeared to have come from the search parties for his missing sister. He made his way to the Jones House. Killian still occupied the large house that Emma had acquired during her time as Storybrooke’s resident Dark One. Even now, long after Emma’s sacrifice, it was still full of the momentums the couple had acquired in their all too short marriage. Of course, it was also full of the little touches Zarina added. Every time she returned from Portland a new photo appeared in the house.

The most recent were of father and daughter at Storybrooke’s annual Summer celebrations. Henry had caught the picture after seeing them laughing at one float or another.

As Henry entered the house, he saw the picture in pride of place on the fireplace. Snoring on the sofa was his grandfather. Prince Charming had aged some in the last few years, his blonde hair turning grey at an alarming rate since experiencing his fiftieth birthday five years earlier.

Killian, however, was stood looking at a cork board he had been putting together since waking on Friday to discover his daughter missing. Unlike David, Killian had not started to grey. His secret stash of rum brewed from the waters of Neverland stowed in the bowels of the house slowed the process down. Henry had never been exactly clear as to why his dad still drunk the stuff. Nor was entirely sure how he had so much of it left after all these years.

Killian dragged his eyes from the cork board as Henry approached. ‘Any luck?’ he asked as he took the offered cup.

Henry shrugged.

After his initial disappointment in the morning, his contemplation of the words he had produced for the book had got him thinking. No new story came to him without good reason. He walked over to the kitchen table with Killian on his heels. ‘Not sure.’

He navigated his way through the pages until he landed on the newest pages. King Leopold’s Summer Palace rose through the trees in the illustration on the first page of the story.

Once Upon A Time, a Dark Queen rose over the Enchanted Forest...