❃
|The Fields of Asphodel|
❃

Graham was leading Emma and her parents through the main Fields of Asphodel when a teenage girl ran up to them. "Excuse me, but do you know the way to the Eastern Fields?"

Graham nodded. "Yes. I could show you there," he turned to Emma, "Is that alright? It's not very far."

Emma nodded. "Yeah. We don't even know where we're going, so a small detour won't hurt."

After walking for ten minutes, the entered the Eastern fields. The teenager - Megaera - led them to a restaurant named The Seven Seas.

"Can we stop here?" Megaera asked. "It's my favorite place to eat, and I'm assuming you guys are kinda hungry?"

Mary Margaret nodded. "I could go for some food."

Emma really wanted to start searching for Killian again, but she couldn't deny that a nice meal sounded extremely good, so she gave in. "Alright."

The bell above the door dinged when they entered the small restaurant. A few of the tables were filled by people already eating their food, but for the most part, the place was empty. The only person behind the counter was a woman with black hair. She looked up at them and smiled when she heard the bell.

"Welcome to The Seven Seas! What can I get for you today?"

Megaera made her order first, as she clearly already knew what she wanted. Graham ordered second, after only scanning the menu for a minute. Emma, Mary Margaret, and David all ordered after Graham and Megaera because they had grown so used to just eating from Granny's that ordering from a different menu seemed almost like reading a foreign language.

The woman brought their food out and set it down in front of them. "Enjoy! Let me know if you need anything else." She walked away after that, heading back behind the counter.

Megaera finished quickly and bid the others farewell so they could finish while she headed home. Just as Graham, Emma, and her parents were finishing, a man emerged from the kitchen and called to the woman.

"Hey Milah, we're almost out of salt."

"Did you check the back storage?"

The man shook his head. "Nope. I'll let you know if we're out there too, but I think we're at least running low."

Emma pushed her chair back and slowly stood up, keeping her eyes locked on the woman behind the counter. She walked over to her, and the woman looked up.

"Do you need something?"

"You're Milah?" Emma asked. "The Milah? Gold's ex and Killian's ex and Neal's mom?"

Milah put a confused expression on her face. "Who?"

❃
|Storybrooke|
❃

Belle stared at the lake. This was where Rumple had said the Dark Ones dragged them all before they were supposed to be banished to the Underworld, so it made since there was a portal in the lake. Although, Belle really didn't want to step in the lake. It looked disgusting with all of the trash and other stuff in it. But to get to Rumple, Belle was willing to do whatever it took.

"We need the blood of someone who has died before to open the portal," Dorothy said, studying the lake. She placed her hand in the water and pulled it out. She dried it on her pants and turned to Belle. "So obviously you've got people here who have temporarily died."

Belle nodded. "Both Rumple and David. But they're already in the Underworld. Also Henry, if I remember correctly. But he's in the Underworld too."

"Is there anyone left here who has died before?" Dorothy asked.

Belle was about to say, 'No,' when a thought occurred to her. "Yes. There is one person left."

"Who?"

"Maleficent."

❃
|The Fields of Asphodel|
❃

"Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire and Captain Hook!" Emma used their Enchanted Forest names so Milah would know who she was talking about. Although she should have known Killian by his real name.

Milah sighed. "Fine, yes, I know who you're talking about. How do you know about them? More importantly, who told you about me, because those would be three very different stories and I'm not sure any would be accurate."

"Killian told me about you," Emma ignored the first question because that was a bit more complicated to answer. "You ran away with him because Gold - Rumplestiltskin - was the town coward and you were sick of being known for being married to the town coward."

"And how do you know him and Rumple and Bae?"

"That's a rather long story. Do you have, like, a lunch break or something?"

Milah shook her head. "No, but usually no one comes in at this time. If someone does, I'll have to ake their order, but I've got time."

"Okay..." Emma was pondering where to begin. She had met Neal first, but she wasn't sure that was the easiest place to start. Then again, meeting Killian and Gold weren't easy places to start either. But there was one thing that eventually led to Emma meeting all three, so that would probably be the best place to start.

"Many years after you died, a Queen named Regina rose to power. Her goal was to ruin my mother's happy ending because my mother had unintentionally ruined hers. The Queen became known as the Evil Queen because she was willing to destroy anyone and do anything in order to get her revenge. The Queen eventually cast a curse that would take everyone to a different realm. It was called the Dark Curse, and according to what everyone says, I was born to break the curse. So in order for me to break the curse, my parents stuck me in this...magical wardrobe that would transport me to the same world the Dark Curse would transport the citizens of the Enchanted Forest to. Except unlike all of the Dark Curse's victims, I was aging for the entire twenty-eight years.

"During those twenty-eight years, I met Neal Cassidy, who I later found out was Baelfire - your son. We fell in love and had a son, but Neal didn't know I was pregnant. So he left me after being convinced it was the best thing for both of us. I had to give my son up for adoption because I wanted to give him his best chance. Whether it was a coincidence or fate or something else, the Evil Queen adopted him.

"Flash forward ten years and my son - Henry - is knocking on my door telling me he's my son and his adoptive mother is the Evil Queen ruling over a town of fairytale characters. I didn't believe him at first, but eventually I gave in and believed and broke the curse. While I was there before I believed, I met a man the entire town feared named Mr. Gold. That would be your ex husband, Rumplestiltskin.

"After the curse broke, things get even more complicated. My mother and I fell through a portal to the Enchanted Forest after we tried to expel a wraith there. That was where I met Killian. At the time, he was a double agent. No one was sure if he was on our side or the Evil Queen's mother's side because he kept switching. Eventually he came around and became a hero, as did the Evil Queen. I fell in love with Killian, but I had to kill him in order to get rid of the Dark One darkness for good. However, Rumplestiltskin had tricked us and taken the darkness again. I was going to come down here and save him myself, but my family wouldn't let me go alone. And that pretty much brings us to here."

Milah had many questions, but one was prominent in her mind.

"I have a grandson?"

Emma hadn't expected that to be the first thing Milah questioned, but she nodded. "Yes. Henry would be your grandson."

"And the three still at your table. Who are they?"

"David and  Mary Margaret are sitting next to each other. They're my parents. And I was sitting next to Graham, who is someone I met in the town under the Dark Curse. I guess he's be filed under the category of 'dead exes'.

"Finally, what happened to Rumple and Bae?"

"Neal - Bae - died about year ago. Gold is with Regina, Henry, and Cora, who are looking for Robin. He...er...has another wife now."

"Bae died?" Milah raised an eyebrow.

Emma nodded. "Is he not here?"

Milah shook her head. "No, or at least he never made any effort to find me. Did he do anything bad enough to earn his way into the Fields of Punishment?"

"I don't think so - wait."

Milah gave Emma a look that clearly told her to continue talking.

"Hades said something about a special place for the people who have cheated death. Neal and Killian would both be there because the both spent so much time in Neverland. Which means they never would have gone to the Fields of Asphodel. They're all somewhere else, probably out in the Fields of Punishment!"

Milah pursed her lips, sure that Emma would not be willing to offer Milah to come along. To be fair, Milah din't really want to go along, but she knew someone who would. "Would you be willing to bring someone along with you?"

Emma was hesitant to give Milah an answer because she had  no idea who Milah was talking about.

"Don't worry, it's not me. But Killian had an older brother, Liam. Would you mind if he came along because from what I've seen, he would do anything to see his little brother again."

❃
|Storybrooke|
❃

After Lily had left Storybrooke, Maleficent had spent most of her time either with Ursula or in her hotel room at Granny's. No one liked her very much because they were scared of her and now that Lily was gone, it seemed as if everyone was afraid she would become unpredictable. Especially since anyone who could stop her had been in Camelot for six weeks.

However, when Belle requested to meet Maleficent for lunch in Granny's, the dragon wasn't certain she wanted to accept the invitation. As far as she knew, it was a ploy to rid Storybrooke of Maleficent.

In the end, Maleficent agreed to meet Belle for lunch. There were only a few others there at the time and they all kept their space from Maleficent.

"What do you need?" Maleficent asked. "I don't have all day."

Belle figured Maleficent was lying about not having all day, but she was smart when it came to picking battles to fight. And that was not a battle that was worth her time, so Belle got straight to the point. "I need to get to the Underworld and find Rumple, but in order to do that, I need the blood of someone who has died before, and Rumple, David, and Henry are already in the Underworld."

"So I'm the last resort? To be honest, I'm a little shocked you actually remmebered I had existed, let alone died once."

Belle wasn't sure if that meant Maleficent would help or not. "So will you help me?"

Maleficent wanted to say no, but if she ever wanted to go anywhere in Storybrooke without being labeled as 'the lady who could turn into a dragon and kill us all,' then helping Belle was a great place to start. "Fine. I'll help. But only if you do something for me in return."