Once on Instagram III

Page 23 (Part Three)

August 4th, 2018

"What?" Morgana asked, a smiled playing at her lips. "Did you think your page twenty-three was the only alternate version?"

"Kind of," Robin replied. "Why...?"

"Why so many alternate pages?" Morgana finished. "Because you're soulmates. I won't bore you with Jasmine and Aladdin's history, but soulmates have a thousand different paths their stories could take. Specifically when the storybook they're featured in reaches page twenty-three. So if, by chance, there ends up being soulmates in the book Henry will write, their pivotal point will happen when he reaches twenty-three. Not every book features soulmates; so far only a select few have. Notably, Isaac's. That would be the book you two are in. That is, Isaac's original book, not his rewritten book that, erm... cost him his Authorship. However, in any books that do feature soulmates, you can rest assured an incredibly important part of their story happens on page twenty-three. Don't worry about Henry, though; it is highly unlikely his book will feature soulmates."

Regina had a lot of questions, but she wasn't entirely sure where to begin. And there was something in the back of her mind telling her that Morgana was probably not the most trustworthy person out there. But Regina wasn't about to get on her bad side.

"So what's so important about these alternate realities?" Robin asked. "Every decision ever made could have gone at least two different ways. What makes this any different?"

"The pages," Morgana explained. "They tear the Authors apart. My best guess? Isaac went crazy after writing all of these alternate realities to the point where he didn't care the cost of writing his own happy ending. Wouldn't be the first time and Author's gone berserk after having to deal with soulmates. Most people don't realize that the Author's sanity is just another price of soulmates. Once again, it's unlikely Henry will have to deal with that since the Author before him wrote about soulmates."

"And if Henry does end up writing about soulmates?" Regina asked.

Morgana shrugged. "He'll lose his mind."

~

Ella,

Don't think I'm putting our feud behind us, but this is bigger than both of us now. I know your memories returned, but the Black Fairy and the Dark Lady don't, so I'm praying this letter actually makes it to you. I can't trust anyone right now, so this is a gamble. The Black Fairy and the Dark Lady don't know I'm writing this, but I don't think I really have a choice. You and your friends are probably the only people who can put a stop to what's about to happen.

When the Black Fairy sent the other Dark One Dagger to Captain Hook and Milah, she wanted to erase them from the equation so cross-realm travel was harder to achieve for missions that needed to be secret. She knew Regina relied on the Jolly Roger for all important cross-realm travel. She also assumed that Captain Hook and Milah would want to exact revenge on Rumplestilstkin. I don't know what her connection to Rumplestilstkin is.

I've learned that their plan has nothing to do with Rumplestilstkin; it has to do with Emma Swan. I don't know the specifics, but they know Emma is pregnant. I don't know how. I don't know who else knows. All I know is that they're planning something that will be very harmful to Emma. It was never our intent for the Savior to get hurt, but the Black Fairy and the Dark Lady see her as collateral damage in order to get what they want. I believe that in exchange for Rumplestilstkin, they have agreed to help Hook exact revenge on Emma. You need to protect her. The Savior can not be erased from this equation.

Yours Truly,

Drizella

"And how do you know this has any truth?" Neal asked once he finished reading the letter.