AN: Just so you know, this prologue was really written just to give you a general backstory of the basic information you need to know. There are a few other things though, that probably won't be explicitly explained at any point, so PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING FACTS:

In this story:
1. Hook didn't leave Neverland and meet Cora.
2. Rumple and Milah never had Bae, though she still left him for Hook, and Rumple still killed her. He became the Dark One for different reasons, and he wanted to enact the curse because he just enjoys screwing with everyone's lives.
3. Werewolves cange under different circumstances than just it being a full moon. I don't want to give away more than that.

There are probably a few other big points, but I can't think of them right now, so make sure to always read the Author's Note, because I'll keep you updated on any canon plot points I've gotten thrown out.

Anyways, this is JUST a general backstory. The prologue is supposed to be written kind of how Grimm's fairytales are, so basically not too long, and just the story's plot, no specifically detailed sentences or insight into characters. I promise, that'll come in the rest of the story.

Thanks for reading, please leave me some feedback! I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors there might be.

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Prologue

Once upon a time, in the Enchanted Forest, there was a young doctor who made a grave mistake…

Hoping to bring his brother back from the dead, he lied to the Queen, and told her that her late fiance could not be brought back to life. The famous sorcerer, Rumplestiltskin, promised him a heart which would then allow him to raise his brother, on the condition that he told this lie. But things didn't go as planned. His brother became a monster, a mere shadow of the man he was before.

This doctor's name was Victor Frankenstein.

In desperation, he went to the queen, Regina, who had once been a happy and kind young woman. Due to Victor's lies, however, Regina had become malevolent and bitter. When he told her what he had done and begged for forgiveness and help, Regina rejected him. She blamed him for what had happened to her beloved, and banished him from her kingdom.

Victor was not the only one who Regina blamed for her fiance's death, however. Snow White, her step daughter, had told a terrible secret, which had led to his murder. When Snow grew older and found her own true love, Regina became very angry. She didn't believe that Snow should be able to have a happy ending, since her own had been ripped from her. She threatened Snow White and her new husband, Prince Charming, with a dark curse that would tear the happy endings from everyone in the Enchanted Forest.

Victor, who had heard of Queen's threat, went to Snow and Charming. He offered his services in helping them defeat Regina, for he was angry with her for not helping him reanimate his brother. Snow and Charming accepted his offer, though they warned him he would be unsuccessful. Rumplestiltskin had told them that nothing could stop the curse, and the future was written.

Much to everyone's surprise, however, Victor was able to steal the curse from Regina's castle. He brought it back to the royal newlyweds, and the three of them decided that the curse couldn't be destroyed; it was too risky that Regina would find some way to mend it and use it against them. Instead, they would hide it where it could never be found. But before they got the chance, Regina discovered that Victor had taken the curse. In a fit of rage, she stormed into the castle and kidnapped Victor, despite the Royal Guard's attempts to stop her. She questioned him for the whereabouts of the curse. Victor refused to tell her, and Regina, declaring him useless, sent him through a portal to a distant world known as Neverland. Nobody ever grew up there, so she hoped that this would provide Victor with eternal bitterness for what he had done to her, and how he would now be unable to stop her from terrorizing the Charmings.

What Regina didn't know was that when she disposed of him, she was sending the dark curse away as well. Victor had the little orb on his person when he had been pushed through the portal. When he arrived in Neverland, Victor hid the curse on the island. Very few people lived there, and he knew nobody would ever find it.

Victor ended up being taken in by a group of children living on the island known as the Lost Boys. He was considered a father figure to the children. He would tell them stories and give them their medicine.

The Lost Boys were a group seemingly as ancient as the land itself. Orphaned boys had taken refuge there for years, fighting their inevitable growth. They battled pirates, Indians, and whatever other groups they deemed worthy of fighting. Their nemesis while Victor was living in Neverland was Captain Hook and his crew of pirates, some of the most feared men in all the lands. The boys harbored a grudge against the captain, a feud that started long before Victor arrived, and the children refused to tell him how the fighting had began. Still, even if he didn't know why his "sons" hated him, Victor grew to loathe Hook, and the feeling was mutual.

Meanwhile, in the Enchanted Forest, Snow and Charming had new problems to worry about. Widow Lucas, their lifelong friend, had recently passed away. The Widow's grandchild, Red (who was only a month older than Emma), had been left with nobody to take care of her. Her father had ran away, and her mother had died while giving birth. Snow and Charming took the girl in, and treated her like their own daughter.

One night, while Snow and Charming were fast asleep in their bedchamber, Regina snuck into the castle. Her need to hurt Snow hadn't diminished; on the contrary, she was filled with more anger now that her curse had failed. She stole Red and Emma out of their cribs, knowing that losing them would devastate the Charmings. Regina planned to kill them, but felt pity when she looked upon their innocent faces. So instead, she brought them to a tower out in the middle of a long-since forgotten part of the forest. She raised them there as her own children.

When Snow and Charming awoke, they were frantic. They ordered nearly all of their guards to go and search for them. They knew that Regina must've been the one to take them, for nobody else in the kingdom would dream of stealing the beloved infants.

The distressed parents went to Rumplestiltskin, hoping that he would ease their minds. Rumplestiltskin promised to tell them, if they did something for him in return. He gave them his magical dagger, which he had hidden in his very cell. He told them to guard this dagger with all of their forces, and in return, he would tell them what had happened to Red and Emma. They agreed, and took the dagger. Rumplestiltskin proceeded to deliver a prophecy, similar to the one he made when they came to ask him about the dark curse. "The future has been tampered with by the Doctor. But the future is not always what it seems." He let out a shiver-inducing giggle. "Perhaps this is the curse it was refering to. Your unending suffering. The Queen had chosen a new way to inflict her wrath. She has your two dearies hidden, far from you. There is no hope for you to ever find them." In tears, Snow and Charming began to leave, when Rumplestiltskin shouted out after them from his prison, with a crazed tone of voice. "But they will find you! So long as you continue making your search and love for them known…" he took a shuddering breath, and then finished, "they will find you."

Snow and Charming wanted Rumplestiltskin to tell them more, but he couldn't. "The future cannot be read like a book! To many variables can be changed on a whim."

They went to leave again, but Snow turned back again. "If you had your dagger with you all this time, why do we need to hide it? Wouldn't it be protected from anybody else here with you, where nobody can break in?"

Rumplestiltskin giggled in an amusing yet eerie way. Almost as though it were an afterthought, he grinned, "Oh yes, there is one other thing I see in the future. Your daughters, when they come to find you, will have company. Red will find love with one you are all too familiar with,". He paused, closing his eyes, and continued with a strained voice, like he was pushing the boundries of his ability to see the future. "A man… of science. And Emma… her and a thief, the one who will steal that very dagger, have tangled destinies; intertwined and roped together, as sure as you two were always destined for each other."

Decidedly ignoring the fact that Rumplestitskin had spoken as though he were making a prophecy, and the implication that their daughter's soul mate would be a lowly thief, the Prince focused on something else the Dark One had said.

"Wait," he spoke slowly, "Does that mean that you're giving us the dagger not to protect it, but to insure that it gets stolen?" This was certainly not the first time they were questioning the man's sanity, but his clear madness shown through in this moment more than usual.

The only response he got was another giggle, while Rumplestiltskin slithered back into the depths of his prison.

Sticking to what the Dark One told them, Charming and Snow kept looking for their daughters, even though they also knew their attempts were useless. To keep their love for Emma and Red known, they sent hundred of lanterns into the sky every year on Emma's birthday, in the hopes that their signals would cause the lost princesses to return.

Meanwhile, Red and Emma were raised in the obsolete tower. The two would watch from the windows of their tower, and see the lanterns every year. Regina never told them, and never allowed them to leave the tower. She came up with stories about how cruel a place the outside world was, and how she was protecting them. She even told them that they had been abandoned on her doorstep by parents who didn't want to be burdened with them. Little did they know, their parents were searching tirelessly, hoping to one day be reunited.

Of course, there might be a few complications before they reached that happy day. After all, every great love story, whether it be with kin, friends, or soul mates, deserves a great journey.