Chapter Text
It was about half two in the morning when they finished yet another episode of their favourite show; Once Upon A Time. Both Ryan and Lucy loved this show with a passion, it was one of the many reasons they were such good friends. They had met at college and since then had been almost inseparable, until they both moved to attend university’s in different countries. Lucy had come to stay at Ryan’s for the weekend as a sort of holiday, it was the first time they had seen each other since moving away just over a year ago. On this particular evening, or rather morning as it now was, the two were curled up in an armchair each, blankets scrunched up around their shoulders, binge watching the first season for probably the tenth time this year. While watching the screen they talked about the characters and shared theories they had about certain aspects, like they did every time they watched together. Tonight was a topic that was all too common for them; what would they do if they were in that universe? This came up often and provided some rather funny theories for them both. Usually the conversation would consist of fits of laughter as one of them suggested something outrages or blatantly hilarious, tonight was no exception.
"Oh come on Ry, even you have to admit it would be pretty freaking awesome to live in Storybrooke." Lucy was always so excited about the idea it never failed to make them both erupt into laughter. "Oh it certainly would. For the thirty seconds when something isn't trying to kill us. I doubt we would last a week there." Ryan replied, not sounding nearly as serious as he was actually being. "True, but it would be one hell of a week for both of us." She was always the more optimistic of the two but even Ryan couldn't disagree that it would indeed be one hell of a week. They continued watching the TV until another episode ended and Ryan suggested they actually get some kind of sleep. Lucy agreed and got up to move to the air bed that was on the floor in the centre of the room while Ryan switched the TV off and made his way to his bedroom down the hall. Just before he left the room Lucy started talking to him.
"You know, I wish it was all real, the fairy tales and the magic. Don't you?" "Yeah dude I do. It would be pretty cool." Ryan replied, leaning against the back of the sofa as they spoke. "Yeah it would. Night dude." Colin replied as he settled down into his sleeping bag. "Night." Ryan said as he flicked off the light and wandered down the short hallway to his own room. Climbing into bed and pulling the covers up tightly around his neck, he let thoughts of the fairy-tale universe fill his head and lull him into a deep sleep.
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Ryan’s dreams were filled with terror that night. It had started out lovely and peaceful, he was shirtless, walking along the side of a stream in a field of daisies that appeared to be never ending. The scars across his chest from the tell-tale surgery faded but still visible. The sun shone high against the pale blue sky, there wasn’t a cloud in sight. He walked along the stream for what seemed like hours, always smiling and occasionally looking up at the sun, it never moved. It all seemed like perfect bliss. This was a rather common re occurring dream for him to have, however that was about to change. An almighty crash of thunder pulled Ryan's attention away from the stream and up towards the sky which was suddenly filled with raging dark clouds. Another clap of thunder and streaks of lightning ripped through the air and sent panic through Ryan's bones. This wasn’t meant to happen, nothing bad has ever happened in this dream before, but sure enough this dream was turning into a nightmare and it was only getting worse. The darkest clouds started to swirl together on the horizon. They formed a tornado and started spinning towards where Ryan was stood, paralysed with fear. With every twist it gained speed and churned up the ground, causing dust and dirt to fly everywhere. Ryan wanted nothing more than to turn and run from the monstrous storm but something, some unseen force, held him in place. The tornado tore through the air, getting closer and closer until it was practically on top of him. It swallowed him up, lifting his skinny body of the ground entirely. He was trapped inside the tornado as it continued on its path of destruction. Ryan found it difficult to breathe as every inhalation caused dirt and dust to be drawn into his lungs. His sight had become hazy as the lack of oxygen started to affect him. Through the blizzard of dirt and debris he thought he saw someone, another person trapped inside the tornado with him, but his sight was failing rapidly as he was starved of air and everything suddenly went black.
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Ryan woke with a start, the fear from his dream jolting him awake. He was breathing hard and took several deep breaths to try and steady himself. Once he had calmed down enough to take in his surroundings he quickly realized that wherever he was it definitely wasn’t his bedroom. This caused a whole new wave of panic to hit him. He looked around frantically, trying to find anything that was an indication of where exactly he was and how the hell he got here. Currently he was sitting against a large tree that was covered in patches of wet moss. The damp began to seep through his joggers, causing his legs to shiver slightly. He jumped up from his spot at the base of the tree and frantically looked around, still unsure of his surroundings. A meter or so to the left of him was a stone well. It was relatively small and old, cracks ran along the stone bricks and the wood canopy to it was worn. Gingerly he walked over to the well, hoping it would provide some clue as to where he was. He hadn’t walked more than two steps when he saw a pair of legs poking out from behind the well, as if someone was laying just beyond it. Throwing caution aside he ran the rest of the short distance and around the side, dropping to his knees to examine the person. They were pressed against the stone of the well, facing away from him. He carefully put a hand on the strangers shoulder and pulled them away from the well slightly. When he could see their face he was shocked, and then worried. It was Lucy, dressed in her pyjamas like him, and passed out on the floor.
Ryan shook Lucy’s shoulder in an attempt to wake her. When that didn’t work he repeated it, this time a little harder while calling to her.
“Luce…Lucy come one wake up.”
“Huh, wha-Ryan what is it? What time is it?” Lucy replied, groggy from sleep and a little annoyed at being woken up in such manner.
“No idea, but we have a slightly bigger problem right now.”
“What do you mean?” She blinked a few times, forcing her eyes to focus before properly looking at Ryan. She looked up past his head to see tree leaves and sunlight. This was enough to startle her as she jolted upright and looked around frantically before turning back to face Ryan. “Where the hell are we? How did we even get here?”
“Two questions I have no answer to right now, but I'm sure we can find out.” Ryan helped her to her feet and then circled the well, inspecting it as if it had all the answers. Lucy however had other plans and began to wander off slightly into the forest, not knowing what direction she was actually walking in. She only made it a couple meters before Ryan called out to stop her.
“Hey! Don’t get wandering off, we don’t even know where we are yet. I don’t really fancy loosing you in this damn forest.”
“Right yeah we should probably stick together, sorry.” She apologized and started walking back towards the well when a sudden realization struck her.
“Ryan, I think I know this place.” She said as she scanned the area ahead, her eyes coming to rest on the well her friend was currently stood next to.
“What do you mean? Have you been here before?” He asked, confused but a little relieved too.
“No never, but I recognize it. You should too.”
“What on earth are you talking about, why should I recognize a place I’ve never been to before?” Ryan was even more confused now, he had no idea where they were or why she thought he should know.
“Because you have seen it before. So have I, many times. Look come over here and you’ll see what I mean.” She called, beckoning him over with a quick wave of her hand. Ryan walked up to her and she placed her hands on his shoulders, turning him to face the well.
“See what I mean?” She asked, keeping her hands on his shoulders.
“What am I supposed to be looking at Luce?”
“The well! We have both seen that well before, hundreds of times.” She pointed towards the little stone structure as she said this, hoping he would see what she was on about. The look on his face as the realization dawned meant that he did.
“No, it can’t be…” was all Ryan managed to say as he just stood there in pure shock and maybe a little bit of terror.
“Well it defiantly looks like it so unless we have been drugged and this is all some insanely weird acid trip I think it’s safe to say this is all real.” She said while trying to hold back a laugh at the expression Ryan was wearing.
“Ok OK, hold up a minuet. Assuming this is all real and everything, that makes this the well from Storybrooke, right?” Ryan looked up at her, indicating it was her turn to speak.
“Yeah it is.” She sated rather matter-of-fact like.
“Alright, so if this is Storybrooke then we what, teleport-ed into a fictional world?”
“When you put it that way it sounds kinda impossible.”
“And yet here we are.” Ryan finished and they both starred at the well for a little while. It felt like they stayed there for an eternity when it had only been a few minutes.
“Right well I guess we should try and find our way to town, if that even exists. Too bad they didn’t leave us a map, whoever they are.” Ryan began to walk away from the well and deeper into the trees.
“Do you have any idea where you are going?” Lucy called, following him anyway.
“Not a clue.” He called back, turning on his heel and flashing her a big grin. The worry in his voice was only out shone by the look of pure excitement in his eyes. Lucy chuckled as she followed her friend on their path. This was shaping up to be one hell of an adventure.