Finding You Always

Thinking Out Loud

Chapter 184: Thinking Out Loud

Flashback

Several Years Ago — The Final Battle and following

"The crystal...she doesn't have it!" he warned, before falling to his knees in pain.

"That means...Mom and Dad have it! She was lying!" Leo realized.

"But if they are alive...then where are they?" Eva questioned.

"I don't know...which means there is a plan and we just need to buy time," he said, as the cobalt colored magic intensified in his palms. The pink magic in Eva's did too and they started fighting the creatures, blasting them one by one, even as they still poured in from the vortex.

"Let's keep fighting...we'll give Snow and my son as much time as possible," Xander called, as they began fighting anew.

"Gladly," Fandral agreed, as he unsheathed his sword again and joined the fray.

"Okay sweetie...let's play a game and that game is seeing how many bad monsters you can put in bubbles," Regina said, as she held her, while Summer effortlessly let her bubbles multiply into dozens upon dozens of bubbles that would keep the demonic creatures at bay. Summer even put the Queen in a bubble when she tried to use a fireball. The little one was under no illusion that she was the same as her Nana. The Queen cried out in horror, as she floated up and back through the vortex of evil that swirled in the sky. Regina and Robin looked on in disbelief and he put a hand on her shoulder.

"She's gone...that vortex sent her some place that she will never bother us again," he assured. Regina nodded, feeling like a weight had been lifted on her.

"And it's all thanks to you, sweetheart," she cooed, as she cuddled Summer close.

She floated...and floated...for how long, she had no idea. Her granddaughter's bubble was the only reason she was alive at all. The volatile All World River should have swallowed her up and drowned her by now. But instead, she floated in a state of subdued consciousness. She'd probably float in this eternal void until the bubble eventually popped and then it would be over. But it would seem that fate had other plans, as her bubble was gently bumped toward a glowing portal and she was caught in that current. This portal was a dark, swirling blue, unlike most of the others.

Most realms portals glowed bright and golden, signifying that they were likely brimming with life. Then there were red portals that signified different Underworlds. The Olympus Underworld was the most prominently known Underworld, but since there was an infinite number of realms, there was potentially an infinite number of dead realms. These worlds were a final destination and could lead to a good or bad fate. One could find themselves in the Asphodel Meadows; a place where good, but ordinary souls ended up. Or Elysian where all heroes in the nine realms of Olympus went. And for the wicked, the depths of Tartarus awaited. Like the nine realms of Olympus, other realms of the dead existed, like Hel, a neutral place, much like Asphodel Meadows, Valhalla, a place similar to Elysian, and Nifleheim, a place of damnation like Tartarus. With an infinite number of living realms, there was also potentially an infinite number of lands of the dead as well.

But even more uncommon than the usual golden realms brimming with life and red realms in which the final fates of the dead were determined, there was the dark blue realms that were lands of limbo. They were worlds where fallen, banished, or outcast beings might find themselves. Realms of dark blue were neither dead nor alive really. They just were. A realm of nothing. A realm of the fallen. Worse than death and definitely worse than life. Those there were alive, but outcast and banished by heroes of their former realms. It was a place for those with vengeful hearts and bitter spirits.