Chapter 8: Return to Storybrooke! A new enemy appears!

Now: Outskirts of Storybrooke

Opening her blue eyes, dressed in the clothes she had on before leaving Storybrooke, Merlin took in her surroundings. Arthur stood in front of her, dazed and confused. Along with everyone else who had been in the Round Table meeting in Camelot. Because they never left Camelot, everyone was still in their own clothes while Merlin's were her own from before. Hearing a shout, Merlin turned and saw a very pregnant Snow leading a very confused Charming and the rest of everyone else; they were all also in their clothes from before, though Snow's seemed to have been made to accommodate her belly.

"Snow, Charming! What's going on? There was a blinding light and green smoke and then we were here!" Merlin exclaimed, running to her friends, "Where is here anyway?"

"I think I know," Regina's voice came. Merlin looked over to where she was staring and pointing to, a sad look on her face. There was a welcome sign.

Welcome to Storybrooke!

"What the hell is going on?! Why are we back here! I thought we couldn't come back!" Merlin yelled.

"We can explain. I'll tell you on the way into the town." Snow piped up. Merlin nodded and turned toward Arthur and the Knights.

"It'll be ok. Just follow us." Merlin said. Arthur nodded, showing his complete trust in his wife and Queen.

Snow began her tale, "It started because of a Witch named Zelena.."

Their voices trailed off as one by one they stepped over the town line and back into Storybrooke.

Then: Camelot

Something was wrong.

Merlin could feel it in the air. This feeling, the feeling of complete chaos and evil, had started about 2 months after her and Arthur's wedding. It started slowly, so slowly that it scared her completely when it invaded her dreams. Merlin had screamed Arthur awake more than once, scaring him senseless. He had Gaius check her, but he deemed her perfectly healthy.

Today she had gotten a letter from Snow, after sending one to her to express her concerns and make sure that everything was all right in the Enchanted Forest. Snow replied saying that everything was quiet on her end, that the only thing making any problems was the child in her womb driving her crazy and asking Merlin, would you kindly come help kick him from her womb; Merlin and Arthur laughed when she showed him.

Lancelot, though he was busy with the new baby and his wife, still made time for his old friend. When asked, he said, in quite a serious tone, obviously having been thinking about it as well, "Do you think it might be because it's been too quiet?" Thinking back on, Merlin knew, in the back of her mind, she did think it'd been too peaceful. She was so used to something happening, that nothing happening for too long, it started making her imagine things. Being a doctor, she should've seen the signs. Just because she married Arthur and magic was legal, it didn't erase everything she and all her friends had gone through. It didn't make the trauma magically disappear. Being constantly vigilant and on her guard, that was just something she was used to being when she was Arthur's personal servant and later one while fighting alongside Snow and Charming, and later Emma and everyone else.

Something was always happening and with nothing serious happening, except for the occasional bandit raid, life was quiet in Camelot. Thanking Lancelot for his wisdom, Merlin left and headed back to the castle, Gwaine her ever-present Knight assigned to her that day, followed her.

"See, I told you, m' lady Merlin. You had nothing to worry about." Gwaine said his ever-present grin on his face. Merlin shook her head and smiled at her old friend.

"Well, next time you have words of wisdom, I'll listen to you, won't I?" Merlin jokes. Gwaine tried to look offended and hurt, but his smile broke through the charade and they both began laughing. Many of the people greeted her happily as they walked back to the castle. Since becoming Queen, more people would come to speak to her when she had open sessions as she could handle just about any dispute without anyone getting hurt.

Laughing with her friend while returning to her husband, Merlin thought to herself, 'Maybe we can have a peaceful life now.'

Merlin would later come to regret this line of thinking, however.

Snow had expressed her desire for Merlin to deliver their second child, an honor that Merlin greatly appreciated, so she had begun early preparations for the trip to Snow's castle. Sitting her study, she made a list of everything she would need and sent it out with a servant to have it brought to her study where she can begin packing when the time is right.

Hearing a knock on her door, she looked up and smiled when she saw Arthur standing there, dressed for the Round Table meeting that was soon. Arthur dressed with no help nowadays, a habit he picked up after her banishment and couldn't bring himself to find her replacement.

"Usually when we have a meeting, you're the one that has to get me there on time. Tardiness is not a good look on you." Arthur said, amusement shining in his eyes.

Merlin smiled, "Well, I suppose there's always a first time for everything. Don't go thinking that this will be a repeat occurrence." Merlin put the papers aside and stood, pulling on her outer coat as it had started getting colder due to the approaching winter. Arthur linked his arm with his wife's and they went on their way to the throne room.

The guards bowed to them as they opened the door for them to enter, showing everyone else had already arrived.

"Finally decided to pull yourselves away from each other, have you? I was wondering if you'd forgotten in your…..moment of passion," Gwaine said. Gwen laughed into her hand while the rest of the Knights looked away and cough laughed. Merlin felt her face flush in embarrassment, though she knew he meant nothing by it. Arthur shot him a look, though there was no real heat behind it. Merlin sat next to Gwen, wanting to keep a close eye on her now that she's close to her friend. Lancelot sat on Gwen's other side while Leon sat on Arthur's right side followed by Gwaine, Elyan, Percival, Gaius, Geoffrey, and several other trusted Round Table council members. Arthur had replaced the council that was under his father and The Round Table meetings took the place of council meetings, so everyone from the top and the bottom could voice their concerns within their kingdom.

Arthur pulled the pile of papers toward him to start the meeting, but before he could even start to speak, the door was busted open by a panicked guard.

"Forgive me for the intrusion, Your Majesties but something is coming toward the castle at an alarming rate." Merlin stood promptly and strode to the window. There in the sky was green smoke that seemed to be heading right toward the throne room where they all were. Everyone else gathered at the window, watching as it grew closer.

"Merlin, what the hell is that coming right at us?" Gwaine asked, a slight tremor in his voice.

"I don't...I don't know. I do know that it's not anything good."

Before anyone could react, there was a bright light that blinded everyone. When it was gone, Geoffrey and the other council members were the only ones to remain. The King and Queen and the best Knights of Camelot were all gone, along with Gwen and Gaius.

What were they going to do?

Now: Storybrooke, Granny's Diner

Once everyone was settled with Granny's hot chocolate in their hands, Regina finally got to start on what happened to have them end up back in Storybrooke, a place they weren't supposed to be able to return to.

To be honest, Merlin really wasn't expecting to hear that Regina had an older half-sister, who was given up and sent to the Land of Oz. And that she resented the fact that their mother gave her up and raised Regina instead, so now she's out to get revenge against Regina by hitting her where it hurts. Zelena, as Regina called her, had recreated her spell to send everyone from the Enchanted Forest to Storybrooke.

"But the spell never had the range it did when you cast it 29 years ago. Why did it reach all the way to Camelot?" Snow questioned.

"Most likely, Zelena either was able to add some kind of booster or she's more powerful than Regina is. Only powerful magic, much like mine, would be able to expand the range of the spell so it would reach Camelot as well," Merlin piped in, leaning against Arthur.

"Exactly. We need to be cautious. There's no telling what Zelena has up her sleeve now that we're all back in Storybrooke. Everyone needs to be on their guard."

Merlin wiped her hand across her face, exhaustion finally setting in. "We won't figure anything out tonight. Everyone's tired and confused. Let's get everyone settled and regroup in the morning when we have clearer heads." Everyone agreed and set about getting the newcomers settled in the hotel until they have more permanent housing. Arthur follows Merlin to her place, taking in everything in his new environment; everything was bright and loud.

"Well, here we are. This place has been my home for the last couple of years. It's not much, but it's home," Merlin said as she opened the door and turned on the lights. Seeing the inside, Arthur could tell it suited Merlin's life as the town's doctor perfectly. There was a bookcase full of medical textbooks, her office door just to the right of it, no doubt where she did her other work. The bedroom was on the left and everything was in its place.

But it was also recreated to accommodate Arthur in the apartment. There were clothes that looked like they fit him to T and another toothbrush that wasn't there before. In the bedroom, there was a nightstand for his side of the bed with a matching lampshade on top.

"Huh, got to love magic. It really thinks of everything."

"It's still kind of creepy."

Merlin rolled her eyes at that, and Arthur said in outrage, "Come on, Merlin. It made clothes that fit me perfectly. That's just weird. Especially when it's magic I don't know."

Arthur gets a pillow in the face for that.

Being back in Storybrooke, it felt like they never left. Everything was the same, as if nothing they had gone through had happened. Merlin's practice was up and running, as well as completely stocked. The same was said about Granny's and other establishments.

Merlin had found the Storybook in her library, sitting at her desk like it had been waiting for her. So, at least she had this to get more the story of what happened with Zelena and why she really wanted them all back in Storybrooke. Arthur made tea for them and sat with her while she read about Zelena's sad past and her slow descent into darkness. A dark curse, jealousy, bravery, courage, a brain, heart, and innocence (Snow and David's child).

Snow had actually done the curse, causing her and David to share her heart and Zelena had meant to add in a potion to make people lose a year when they arrived in Storybrooke, but something went wrong and those that were involved in the incident simply had been made to forget what happened. (A/N: I know I'm going away from what Zelena did. I read about her part in OUAT and I forgot all about the time travel spell and such. We'll get there, just differently. Please bear with me).

Merlin knew Zelena spelled trouble for everyone, but she believed, deep down, that she was still a good person and just simply wanted someone to love her. Like Merlin and many other Sorcerers did before Arthur removed the magic ban. To not be afraid of someone hurting them, like Zelena's adoptive father and her mother had.

"I know you want to give Zelena the benefit of the doubt, but we need to proceed with caution, Merlin. Making sure she doesn't get what she wants is the main priority here." Arthur's voice broke through the cloud that had formed in her head, making her turn toward the King.

"Yes, I know. Making sure she doesn't get the ingredients for this spell is for the best. As well keeping an eye on the whole Hades thing as well. But one thing at a time."

Arthur smiled and kissed her forehead, "You're learning."

Merlin scoffed, faking being offended, "Excuse you, I have been in another world for 26 years and lived in the Enchanted Forest before that. I have grown from the clumsy servant and sorceress that you used to know and make fun of, I'll have you know." Merlin poked him in his ribs, causing him to squirm away from her. In retaliation, he tackled her to the ground and started to tickle her mercilessly.

Zelena watched in the mirror as Merlin and Arthur started a tickle fight, of all things. Her lip curled in disgust and waved the image away. Soon, their happiness would be a figment of the past. And Merlin's magic would be hers. That amount of power would make it even easier to use the time spell and make sure she had the life she deserved and not the one she had gotten stuck with because she was an inconvenience.

Regina had better look out because she wouldn't have the role of the Evil Queen once she was done with her.

They would all regret abandoning her to the World of Oz.

In the back of her head, Merlin could tell something terrible was going to happen, and soon. She would have to buckle down with everyone else to find a way to stop Zelena from enacting her plan.

End chapter 8