I had to speak to my father before I left. Knowing him, he would be less than understanding and would probably try to keep me in town. It was going to be a difficult conversation. But it had to be this way. What would be even more difficult would be saying goodbye to Henry. I had only known the kid for a few weeks but I had grown to love him. He was my only son, and I was leaving him again. I wouldn't walk out of his life forever, I would still keep in contact with him as much as I possibly could. But I wouldn't be able to see him as much as I wanted to and I knew this would make him upset. We had just started getting to know one another after all.

I began to make my way back to the inn, my steps much slower and heavier than they were before. I didn't think I had ever felt such an absence of energy.

"What are you doing?" a voice screamed in my ear, though nothing could be seen beside me. "You can't leave town. Not now, I need you here."

"You can recruit Emma," I suggested tiredly. "Or Snow White. Or Prince Charming. Take your pick in this town, anyone is bound to do a better job than me."

"Are you serious?" Nero yelled in frustration. "You're giving up because you got your heart broken. How cliche can you get?"

My eyes narrowed and I turned to sneer at this loudmouth. You know, if I actually could see his face.

"I don't need to explain myself to you," I growled. "You can easily find someone else to haunt."

"How can you be this selfish?" he asked angrily. "This is your son's life on the line."

That made me pause. I still wasn't sure what Dante wanted with Henry, or if he wanted him at all. My father had said that the future is never what it seems and is difficult to decipher. There was a possibility that Nero was getting it all wrong.

And even if he was right, I was the least qualified person to protect Henry.

I thought about Emma, crying as I left her alone in that office. I didn't want to leave her to face this unknown threat of the strangers by herself. But I wasn't going to keep forcing myself in her life and keep causing her more pain. She deserved a lot better than that.

I could tell my father about it. He was the most powerful sorcerer in the town. If anyone could protect Henry, it was him. I would tell him about Dante and Nero, and then he could protect my son.

It was really the best option. Henry would be safe, and I wouldn't be bothering Emma.

"Goodbye Nero," I said as I reached the door of the inn. I opened the door and stepped inside.

"Wait Ba-" Nero was cut off by the door slamming shut. He was trapped outside the building and unable to follow me in. With the dream catcher tucked beneath my arm, he is banished to the outside.

I stalked through the inn and went up the stairs to my room. I slammed the door shut behind me and tossed the dream catcher down on my bed. I pulled out my bag from behind my bag and carefully picked up the dream catcher. I hadn't really had the opportunity to take any of my stuff out of the bag. So there was really nothing for me to pack.

Nothing but this little nick nack.

I felt my heart clench in my chest. The fact that I was leaving, really leaving my family crushed my heart even further than I though it could be. I didn't know there was anything left to break. I might never see Henry again. I might never see my father or Belle. And I would certainly never see Emma.

The thought of going through those another decade with this unbearable heartbreak made my stomach churn and my insides twist. Was this what Emma had felt when I had rejected her so heartlessly and she was forced to give up Henry?

But I knew that I couldn't stay. It would only make things all the more painful for the both of us.

Hesitantly, I packed the dream catcher away in the bag.

I probably wouldn't be able to get a taxi out here. But I'm sure there was some place for me to buy a car, at least I hoped there was. With a sigh, I walked to the night stand and pulled out the horribly dusty phone book. The thing was covered in cobwebs and the yellow pages were cracked with age. I don't think anyone had pulled this thing out in the twenty eight years that it sat here. I flipped through the stiff pages, searching for some kind of car dealership in the town.

But my search was interrupted when there was a pounding on my door outside.

My head snapped up and I looked at the door quizzically.

Who the hell was that?

It was probably my father or Henry behind that door. They were the only people who would come to see me. The thought of telling either of them that I was planning to leave filled me with sorrow and dread. I couldn't imagine either of their reaction, but I knew it wouldn't be easy or painless.

I walked to the door at a deliberately slow pace. I wasn't ready to say goodbye, but I couldn't force myself to stay here. So I curled my fingers around the door knob and got ready to explain and argue for a good hour or more.

But when I opened the door, I found myself unable to speak.

Emma Swan stood before me. Her face still stained red with the tears she had shed only minutes ago. She was breathing heavily, as if she had just run a marathon. And there was a strange sparkle in her eyes that I hadn't seen from her in years.

I was frozen in shock upon seeing her standing in front of me after the heartbreaking and tragic conversation that we just had. I would have thought she would never want to speak to me again. I tried to force myself to say something to her, to stop gaping at her like an idiot. I wasn't sure if this was real or if I was just seeing things.

"Emma," I whispered, my voice was horse and cracking.

Before I could say anything, the palm of her hand collided with my face. The sound of the slap echoed in the room. My face was red and swelling from the sheer force of the hit. The sting hurt like a bitch.

"Damn it!" I cursed as I reached up to grab my face. Yeah that really hurt. "What the hell, Emma?"

I was leaving town like she wanted me to. Why the hell was she still kicking me around? What the hell did I do wrong this time? Damn it, why did she have to hit so hard?

Before I continue with the wave of curses that flowed from my mouth, I was immediately cut off by a pair of lips falling upon mine. Every thought that had been racing through my head was silenced. All of my resolve had fallen apart yet again and I turned into a complete mess. A raging hot fire burned deep within my stomach as I closed my eyes, taking in the familiar and beautiful texture and taste of her lips. I don't understand what's happening at all, but at this point I don't care. I am completely lost in the magical land of Emma Swan, and I would prefer to stay lost. My mind can't really register anything other than her. Her lips as they move against mine. Her face, as I carefully reach up to cradle it in my hands. Her hips as they come agonizingly close to me. Her hands as she gently runs them down my chest and to my extreme displeasure, pushes me away.

When our lips separate, my eyes open and I remember what just happened not even a half hour ago. She had just told me that she didn't want to see me anymore? And hadn't she just slapped me in the face? It took me a minute to realize I was still holding her face in my hands and was still in pretty close proximity to her. I didn't have the strength or will to push myself away from her, but I was still extremely confused with what was going on.

Emma smiled up at me as she put her hands on my shoulders. "You're such an idiot," she whispered.

I frowned in confusion. "I'm getting extremely mixed signals from you."

Emma let out a laugh and slowly backed away from me. I felt disappointed by the loss of contact. But at the same time I was a too astonished to care that much. I watched in stunned silence as Emma walked passed me and calmly entered the room. I closed the door behind me, leaving us alone and with a heavy silence.

"I want you to stay," Emma muttered softly as she turned to look at me.

I was short of words, shocked by what she was saying and doing. "What?" I managed to utter.

"I don't want you to leave StoryBrooke," she replied with a tiny sad smile. "I want you to stay."

"But you just told me to leave town," I exclaimed, completely flabbergasted.

"No I didn't," she stated. "You just assumed that I wanted you to leave and then went ahead without asking me."

I stood stock still for a minute, trying to find an adequate response to that. I couldn't really come up with anything so I just stood there, looking at her with wide eyes.

Emma sighed before sitting down on the bed beside my bag. "I know things are...complicated between us," she said. "I'm still hurt and angry about what happened, but I realized something when you left."

When she doesn't continue to speak, I take the opportunity to ask. "What?"

"I don't want to loose you, Austin. You're my best friend," she stated with a soft smile. "I don't want to give up on us again."

I continued to stand there in silence and her big hazel eyes look up at me expectantly. I chose to make a hard decision and stop running from her. I took a deep breath and walk towards the bed. I sit in the chair to the side of the bed, leaning down and resting my elbows on my knees.

"Neither do I," I replied quietly.

Emma smiled at that. She reached out one had to me, and I took it, squeezing it gently as I did.

"I love you Emma," I whispered. "I want us to work."

"I love you too," she said, her voice shaking with emotion. "I probably always will."

We sit together with an understanding flowing between us and I focus on the softness of her skin within my hand. It was strange, being this close to her after everything we just went through. I had expected her to never want to speak to me again. But Emma was always one to do the unexpected.

I smiled to myself in remembrance.

"But if we're going work this out," Emma muttered, her grip tightening around mine. "We need to promise to be honest with each other."

I look into her eyes and see she is completely open. All her walls are down and she looks at me with the same raw honesty that she did when we were children. When we were old friends hanging out in a greasy diner. I smiled at her softly, drifting into the same mindset. Looking at her with the same open eyes that she was looking at me with.

I got off the chair without letting go of her hand and knelt down in front of her.

"I promise," I said to her. "No matter what happens between us, I'm not going to lie to you ever again. No more avoiding answers or skating around questions. I promise you Emma."

A bright smile lit up her face and her eyes came alive with new hope and happiness.

"Truth," she whispered, pulling me forward and drawing my lips to hers for a brief but sweet kiss. She smirked up at me when she pulled away and I could only gaze at her in astonishment. "You still don't know, do you?"

"What?" I asked.

"How I can tell when your lying."

I laughed a bit. "I just assumed you had super senses that allowed you to hear my heart rate. Like a human lie detector."

She scowled at me playfully and shoved my shoulder.

"You're such a kid," she sighed rolling her eyes as I laughed softly at her expression. I smiled at her fondly. She stared back and took my other hand. "I'm not sure if we can ever be together for real."

I nodded quietly. "I know."

"And I don't know what our relationship is."

"Neither do I."

"And I don't think we should rush things," she continued. "Not in the situation that we're in right now.

"Taking what ever this is slowly is probably a good idea," I agreed.

She smiled at me and brushed some of her hair out of her face. I could only stare at her, completely starstruck.

"So, we're really going to do this?" I asked, suddenly feeling the uncertainty of this situation. We had been spending so long trying to fight against our feelings and each other. Actually working on out relationship is a bit frightening. There is so much that could go wrong again.

Emma looked at me long and hard for a second, the same thoughts were most likely going through her head as well.

"I think so," she said, unsure as she rubbed her arm anxiously. "I want us to at least try. I want us to be friends again."

I nod and smile as I take both her hands in mine.

"Let's go out for lunch," I suggested.

Emma gave me a skeptical look and pursed her lips at my abruptness. "What happened to taking things slow?"

I put my hands up in defense. "It's not a date," I said quickly. "It's more of a 'we could have died but hurray we didn't' lunch."

She gave me a dead pan stare, but her lips slowly curled into a smirk.

"We should bring Henry along," she stated simply, standing from the bed and pulling me up into a standing position from the ground. "It would be nice if we all were civil together for once."

I grinned at her and nodded. "Sounds like a plan," I replied. I held out my hand for her to take. "Shall we?"

She smiled at me brightly and the smallest chuckle escaped her lips. "Where to?"

I grinned wildly. "To wonderland."

Her smile flickered for a moment when she remembered the night from ten years ago. The night that had made and destroyed us.

But her smile came back, lifting her face with the hope of new possibilities.

She slipped her hand into mine and pulled me towards the door.

Xxx

Henry had been ecstatic to go out to lunch with both his parents without them fighting or going off to stop some unspeakable evil. And I was pretty damn happy about it to. It was nice to actually sit down and not have to worry about Cora controlling my father or pirates trying to kill me. Sure Dante and Greg were still an issue and so was Nero's predictions of oncoming doom. But I think it was a good change of pace to unwind. If I didn't do that, I might go crazy.

"So how do you like that hot chocolate, kid?" Emma asked cheerfully.

"It's great, delicious and it doesn't lie," Henry bit out the last part.

Emma's face fell visibly and I bit back a sigh of exasperation.

Henry was still upset with Emma for lying to him. I could tell that much from their body language and how he seemed to be distancing himself from her and focussing on talking to me. My presence probably wasn't helping him look past the lie. I tried several times to involve Emma in the conversation. But he responded with calm indifference. I was starting to get what my father was talking about when he used to rant about the horrendous attitudes of teenagers. I definitely got that now.

"Hey kid," I chided him, feeling old and like an overbearing father. "Apologize to your mother."

Henry frowned before grumbling out an apology. His face was twisted into a scowl and he crossed his arms defensively.

Oi, kids.

There was a cold silence at the followed since Henry wasn't trying to talk to either of us. I tried to come up with some way to get them both involved in a conversation.

"Hey what kingdom are you from?" I asked Emma abruptly. I knew she was a princess, judging that her parents were Snow White and Prince Charming. But I didn't actually know what kingdom. I had been out of the enchanted forest for three hundred years, so I wasn't exactly up to date with the current royalty of each kingdom.

"What?" Emma asked in confusion.

"You know," I continued. "Your kingdom. The place that your parents run."

"Ummm. I'm not sure," she muttered, completely stumped by this question apparently. "How many kingdoms are there?"

"In the enchanted forest?" I asked. "Or the whole realm?"

"There's more kingdoms outside of the enchanted forest?" Henry wondered curiously, sitting up a bit from his slouching position. "Do you mean like Agrabah, and Guazhi?"

"Oh," I said in surprise. "So you know about the lands beyond the sea. Where did you learn about that."

"They were mentioned in the book a few times," Henry replied with a proud smile. "Belle once went to Guazhi and released Philip from a curse."

At the mention of the guy Philip there was a spark of recognition and solemnness in her eyes. But it was gone as soon as it came and was replaced with confusion.

"What are you two talking about?" Emma cut in.

"Well," I shrugged. "You know about Agrabah. The kingdom in Aladdin. It's a land way south of the enchanted forest."

"Okay," Emma nodded hesitantly, trying to get her head around what she was hearing. "And what the heck is that Guazhi place?"

"An empire in the east," I answered happily. I had always been fascinated by the stories of Guazhi that my mother told me and had dreamed of going there myself. That was back when I wasn't concerned with starving to death or the dangers of war. "It's a large and beautiful land that has the greatest army in the entire realm."

"The greatest army?" Henry inquired, a quizzical expression on his face. "But I thought Snow White and Prince Charming had the greatest army."

"We did have a great army," a voice proclaims to my right. "But it wasn't the greatest in the realm."

I turned to see David and Snow standing side by side by our booth. I unconsciously move further away from them, not wanting another punch to the face if they find out what's going on between me and Emma. But then again, I didn't even know what was happening between me and Emma.

"Though I can't say Guazhi had the greatest army," David continued. "It was just the biggest."

"Guazhi is where Mulan was from," Snow whispered to Emma, who's face lit up with recognition at the name. I turned my attention back to her father.

"Are you joking?" I snickered, earning a look from Charming. "That army has never been defeated. Their soldiers have the highest form of military training. I heard one of them can take out a dragon with only a pocket knife."

"Woah," Henry whispered in awe.

"That's just a myth," Charming laughed, waving his hand dismissively. "They do have some of the best weapons though. God knows how much those imported canons helped in our war."

"Wait," Emma said in shock. "You guys were in a war."

Snow nodded. "Against Regina," she stated. "We had to fight her to get the kingdom back."

"Your kingdom being?" I asked, trailing back to my first question.

"Tanis," Snow White answered proudly, raising her chin like a queen. She took Charming's hand and smiled up at him. "And Piranus."

"Oh," I mumbled to myself, a new understanding coming to me. "So you guys are northerners. I should have known from your obviously northern names."

"So where are you from then?" Snow asked curiously.

"Anezka," I replied with a grin. "The front lands."

"Really?" Charming said, intrigued. "So that part wasn't a lie."

"Nope."

Emma looked between all of us with an expression of bewilderment. "I am so lost," she muttered. "What are you guys even talking about?"

I looked at her hard for a moment before realizing that she had never been to the enchanted forest, not while it was thriving at least. She didn't know the details of each of the kingdoms. An idea came to my head in a flash and I grabbed a napkin and a pen from the side of the table.

Everyone looked at me in interest and some patrons even stopped and stared when I spread out the napkin and started drawing on it like it was a page from a sketch book.

I didn't really have the exact shape of the land mass committed to memory, but I remembered it well enough from the one history book I had as a kid. I divided the land mass into nine pieces and labeled each of them as well as I could. I had honestly forgotten how to spell some of the names and where each of them went. But with some guidance from Snow, I eventually got it.

I pushed the large canvas to Emma and Henry's side of the table. It displayed a map of the entire enchanted forest. Each of them labeled with the kingdoms name, except the one on the very bottom of the page.

"That's actually a pretty good map," Charming admitted, leaning in to look at the details. "Except, Tanis and Vlasta are conjoined kingdoms now."

"What?" I exclaimed. "When did that happen?"

"When my mother married my father," Snow stated with a slight smile, though I could see the sadness that was shining in her eyes. "They were the heirs to their thrones. So when they were married, the kingdoms were United as one."

"Wow," I breathed out in bewilderment. "I've been gone a while."

I turned back to Emma and Henry and pointed to a place on the map. "That's Vericus," I told them, pointing to the kingdom at the Left corner of the map. "It's said to be the richest kingdom in the enchanted forest. It's mostly in the mountains and they have all these diamond and gold mines. There are legends that their kings can create gold with a touch of their hands."

"That hasn't changed," Charming snickered behind his breath. "They're still the richest kingdom."

"That's where Abigail is from," Snow explained to Emma. I had no idea who Abigail was, and judging by her expression, Emma didn't either. "I mean Katherine. And Belle too."

Emma and Henry both nodded in understanding and looked back at me. I'm guessing their expecting looks were supposed to mean that I was meant to keep going.

I pointed to the smaller kingdom beneath it.

"This is Silas," I continued, noticing from the corner of my eye that some of the diner patrons were staring in the direction of our booth. More like the hand drawn map on a napkin. It might have been the nostalgia and sadness of looking upon a home to which they could not return, but they were drawn to the map and the land it showed them. "It's a kingdom that is mostly woods and forest. They aren't particularly wealthy, most of their economy depends on lumber. They have a great respect for nature and it's said that they're 'infinite forest' is the resting place for dead souls."

"It is holy ground," a man who I didn't know joined in from the booth behind me. "The dead make it so that whoever disturbs their forest can never leave."

"I got out," David shrugged. "But only with the help of Rumplestiltskin."

"An unholy man can break the rules of the holy," the man sneered. He looked down at me with an expression akin to reproachfulness. "No offense lad."

"None taken," I replied, slightly annoyed. So I guess the whole town knows that I am Rumplestiltskin's son. I was starting to remember why I hated small towns so much. "Anyway. This place is Camelot, the kingdom of the honorable nights of the old code. They have some of the most amazing and massive castles in the land. But they are a bit destitute and well broke, at least they were when I was around."

"King Arthur returned Camelot to its former glory when he took the throne and the sword Excalibur," Snow said. "He restored the old code and even brought back the worship of the Ceresc."

I looked at her in confusion. "Why would it need to be brought back?" I asked.

"Not many countries follow to Ceresc anymore. Many kingdoms converted to Catholicism."

"What?" I yelled. If I didn't have the entire diners attention before, I definitely did now. "When did this happen? All the kingdoms followed the Ceresc."

"Only three do," David countered. "Galiene still does. As does Camelot and Anezka, but the northern kingdoms converted."

"Sorry," Emma interrupted, looking overwhelmed and flustered. "What is a Circus or whatever?"

"A Ceresc," I corrected her. "It's a religion. The main religion of the Enchanted forest."

"Not anymore," David interjected.

"It's not exactly shocking that the northerners would abandon their faith and traditions when something new and shiny comes along," I replied with a tone of condescension in my voice. "But don't expect the rest of us to follow in suit."

"Hey," David yelled defensively. "The old ways weren't exactly practical. All you could do was bow before a colorful bowl. Hell you were worshiping sorcerers and fairies as gods and holy men. You didn't even know what you were worshiping. No one knows if the other four other than Blue existed."

"Oh and you do?" I ridiculed. "When exactly did Jesus Christ make his way to the enchanted forest, because I could've sworn he didn't."

"The religion was imported to us," Snow replied somewhat uncertainly. "From somewhere. And who knows, maybe he was there a really long time ago and we just have no record of it."

"Yeah," I snorted in derision. "That sounds likely."

I can't believe how worked up about Im getting about a religion I was never really passionate about. But it still meant a lot to me, and I had thought it meant a lot to my people. It was another part of my old home that I could never really let go of.

"Okay," Emma cut in again before we could continue debating on this. "I am seriously confused."

"Same here," Henry agreed.

"What is this Ceresc?" She asked. "Like what are the details."

"It's the main religion of our realm," I answered her, taking up the pen and drawing a circle shape with four smaller circles clustered in the center and four pillars on each side of the large circle. When David looked like he was going to argue, I immediately cut him off. "Don't start with me, Shepard boy. We all know that it's the oldest thing in the enchanted forest."

That made him role his eyes in annoyance, but none the less he only leaned back against the booth and continued to listen. So did everyone else in the diner. It was going to be strange, explaining this stuff now that I had an audience.

"See these four pillars," I said pointing to the four circles. "They represent four deities, four types of magic, and four corners of the realm."

I drew four different shapes at the corner of each map. A star at the top of the map. A sun to the left. A crescent moon to the right. And a swirl at the bottom, right under the land with no name. "Vespera, the blue star, who represents light magic, innocence and the north. Canicus, the red sun. He represents fire magic, courage and the west. Mamara, the white moon. She represents the magic of water, love and the east. Salmuan, the black sky. He represents dark magic, wisdom and the south lands. Vespera and Mamara are creative, while Salmuan and Canicus are destructive. Canicus is the bright, intense and destructive power of flames. Mamara is the gentle, harmonious and healing power of water. Vespera is the joyful, alluring and expressive power of the light. Salmuan the cunning, sharp and mysterious power of the shadows."

Henry looked at the map and picture in awe. Emma looked extremely affronted with all the info I was dishing out to her.

"The word Ceresc is the name of the temple where the people pray," I kept explaining. "It is a large round building that either has no roof or some sort of opening in the ceiling. They mostly only include four pillars and an alter in the middle. The traditional one was four trees that created a large circle with the symbols carved into the bark. In the centre, there is an alter that is split into 4 sections with four round stone bowls. A white bowl with water, a blue bowl with rocks, a red bowl with burning coals or fire and a black bowl that is always covered in shadow. To pray you bow before a bowl while kneeling before the alter. Whichever god you are praying to is the bowl you kneel before. Those who can preform magic are considered holy people and have a special connection with the god of which kind of magic they preform."

"Okay," Emma breathed, interest and curiosity sparkling in her eyes. She ran her fingers over the image of the crescent moon, her eyes straying on the image for a moment. She moved her hand to point at a kingdom that was separate from the land mass of the enchanted forest. An island just to the side. "Which is this kingdom?"

"Galiene," Snow answered. "It's a kingdom that is very sea oriented. They have the most ports and the largest navy. I don't think you know anyone from there. But I once had a handmaiden who came from there."

"And you're from here," Emma stated, pointing to the land labeled Anezka.

"Yep," I answered with a grin. I pointed at the the bottom corner of the kingdom, right above the unlabeled land. "That's where my village is."

"It's the kingdom where Aurora was from," Snow explained. She turned to me with a slight smirk. "She's your princess. Or I guess she's your queen now."

I rose my eyebrows in surprise. "Interesting," I muttered. "Well, she's probably a better ruler than the king that was around when I was there. But that doesn't exactly take much."

Henry looked at the map for a moment and his eyes trailed down to the kingdom with no name. "What about this one?" He asked, pointing to the kingdom. "Why doesn't it have a name?"

"Those are the black mountains," Charming answered. "It's not actually a kingdom, it's the ogres' territory. No one lives there except for trolls, dragons, ogres and nightmares people dare not to think of."

"In Anezka we call it the hollow land," I stated, grinning at Henry like a Cheshire Cat. "Because it was once the greatest kingdom in the enchanted forest. Before the Black Sky got to it."

"Don't tell me you actually believe in that story," Charming laughed. "It's a myth, there was never a kingdom there. And even if there was, the reason it was destroyed was because the ogres invaded."

"No offense, your majesty. But you have never been as close to the hollow land as I have been," I countered, my eyes narrowing. "All the people of Anezka have been close enough to see the castle that sits in the black mountains, completely untouched. You have to ask yourself, what could have possibly happened in that place to make it so not even something as dumb and blind as an ogre would even dare to disturb it? What unholy things went on in that castle?"

Henry and Emma looked at me, completely starstruck and anxious for me to continue. Emma's eyes lit up with the same curiosity and awe that shined in her eyes when she used to listen to my stories as a child. Even the diner patrons, along with Red and Granny were gathering around in curiosity.

"You see," I whispered, for effect. Forcing everyone to move in closer in order to hear me. "The hollow land was once a proud and magnificent kingdom, but in the span of one week, everything was wiped away. Their people, their history, and even their name. There is no doubt that the kingdom once existed, but no one remembers anything about it. No one remembers it's name."

I could see Charming roll his eyes and I shot him a smirk.

"You can't exactly explain that one, can you?" I grinned. "There is a story that is told throughout Anezka. Mostly in the front lands. The true story, of what really happened in those mountains. The legend says the King of the hollow land had rejected the Ceresc religion when the Blue Star didn't save his son from death. He declared that the four pillars were false to his people and had them all turn from their faith. The Black Sky didn't take the rejection well and as a punishment disguised as a gift, he used the most unholy of magic to bring the dead Prince-"

I stopped suddenly and my mind wandered to a story I had heard only days ago. A dark suspicion crawled into my mind. A prince of a powerful kingdom, being brought back to life. A powerful seer and a vicious King.

"Back to life." I finished with a breathy shaking voice. Emma gave me a somewhat concerned look and reached out to touch my hand. In an impulse, I pulled away and covered my shock with a look of indifference. Emma's face fell slightly and she retracted her hand.

"The prince was no longer what he had once been," I said quietly. All the flare and mystery in my voice had faded away as I was hit with a numbing realization. "He was brought back as a deformed monster. A servant of Salmuan. The king was distraught with the dark creature his son had become. Along with bringing back the prince, the Black Sky also turned the entire kingdom against their king, including the queen herself. He turned the queen into another creature of darkness. One that lives off fear. The king was devastated by the disaster that had been brought upon his kingdom and in his desperation, he turned to Vespera. When the Black Sky realized that the two of them were now aligned, he tried to stop them and ordered the prince to kill the king. But even though the prince was a servant and an abomination, he couldn't allow his father to die. He betrayed Salmuan and granted his father complete immortality. He could still suffer injuries and pain, but he could never die. And therefore the Black Sky could never kill him."

I looked up to gage everyone's reaction. They were completely enraptured by the tale. But I was unsure if I wanted to continue and prove the doubt that had been festering in my mind since I began.

"As punishment for his betrayal," I said slowly and cautiously. "The prince had the last of his free will taken from him and became a true slave of darkness. The Blue Star was left with no other options but to create a powerful spell. One that would curse the Black Sky into a state where he could never hurt anyone again and would demand the sacrifice of Vespera's divinity. But before the spell had been cast, the Black Sky took his revenge and slaughtered citizens of the kingdom, leaving only a few alive that were scattered across the enchanted forest. He ripped away the kingdoms history from everyone's mind. And along with it, the kingdoms name, which has never been repeated since that day. The Blue Star cast the spell, but by then it was too late. The damage had been done. The Blue Star had sacrificed a great portion of her powers. The King was left as the only one with memories of his kingdom and its name. The prince and queen became horrible creatures of darkness. And the Black Sky was cursed into a state where he couldn't effect anything. Some say, that Salmuan remains in the castle. And that is why no one dares to enter it."

The room was dead quiet when I finished the story. But my head was roaring with chaos. I couldn't think because my head was so clouded with doubt and horror. Nero meant black in Italian. And Ceil meant sky in French. He was a powerful seer. Realization hit me like a bag of bricks and I was left aching.

"That's not a very happy story," Emma said to break the silence. I looked up at her and tried my best to smile.

"It's not supposed to be," I stated, trying to hide the shiver that ran up my spine. "It's more of a cautionary tale. Don't screw with the gods."

"It's not a true story," Charming said. "If all knowledge of the kingdom was wiped out of the realm, then where did the story come from?"

I looked down, no longer interested in arguing or debating on this topic. "I don't know."

As everyone shuffled back to their tables and Snow and Charming left to order their own lunch, I looked down at the image of the star I had drawn on my napkin map, lost in my thoughts. I knew the story that Nero had told me was a story of betrayal and heart break. And I knew the story that had been passed around as a legend from my people that told a story of despair and evil.

Which story was true?

This one was long. Like damn. But I hope you guys like this one. Emma and Bae are in the it's complicated zone. Yay!

And there is more mystery ahead for Bae, and not everything is as it seems.

lol im so cheesy : D

Please review.