This story was loosely inspired by T.S. Eliot's poem 'The Hollow Men'. Each chapter of the story is based on one of the five parts of the poem, which are shown in italics. The story is unbeta-ed.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of OUAT or T.S. Eliot's poem 'The Hollow Men'.
WARNING: Character death, straight from chapter one.
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar
There is a blissful moment of silence. Emma lies on the ground, her eyes shut, and just breathes.
Then suddenly she gasps as pain shoots through her body, and she can feel a terrible heat licking against her face from the fire crackling through the trees overhead. As she struggles to her feet, she becomes aware of the sounds of screaming and crying.
The surrounding forest has been decimated. A large clearing with scorch marks upon the ground indicates the location of the final battle between Rumpelstiltskin and Cora. Flames still dance through the branches of nearby trees, and there is a sickly glow hovering in the air, a remnant of the magic used. Emma is unsure what the two were fighting about, in the end. Power, she supposes, and a history of betrayal and hurt. She can only be glad that they appear to have destroyed each other.
Belle kneels in the clearing, her fingers gouging the blackened earth, as she calls desperately for her deceased lover. Emma tears her eyes away from the sight, and bile rises in her throat as she takes in the rest of the scene. There are too many bodies, lying broken and unmoving. The Blue Fairy is sprawled next to her shattered wand, and Pongo is whining as his nose nudges the hand of his fallen master.
Many of those who are still alive seem to have gone into shock. Blank, hollow eyes gaze off into the distance as Emma walks slowly through the crowd. Ruby has her arms wrapped around Snow's shoulders, and Emma realises with a jolt that a pale, motionless Charming is enfolded in her mother's embrace. Ruby's haunted gaze meets Emma's, and the woman shakes her head sadly.
Emma starts to move towards them, but her attention is drawn almost unwillingly to another figure, which is kneeling on the ground, hunched over a small body.
Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;
The sound of screaming has stopped. Everything is too quiet, and Emma can only hear the rushing in her ears and the wild thumping of her heart. She doesn't remember her limbs obeying her at all, but she is there, suddenly, collapsing on the ground. Regina is clutching Henry, her lips pressed to his forehead as she rocks him back and forth. She lifts her head to stare at Emma.
'Kiss him,' she demands in a harsh voice. Half of her face is covered in blood, which continues to trickle from a wound near her hairline. Her left arm is burnt from the tips of the fingers to the elbow. During the battle, she had been trying desperately to protect people from the evil magic that had poured out of Cora and Rumpelstiltskin.
Emma leans down, and kisses Henry's cheek, trying to express all the love she can possibly feel in that one moment. They wait, but nothing happens. She tries again and again, becoming more and more desperate, until Regina's injured hand comes to rest on her shoulder.
'I'm not giving up on him,' Emma snaps.
Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us—if at all—not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.
Nobody wants to admit defeat - admit that, even with magic now in this world, they are powerless to fight against death. Potions are brewed, spells are found, but nothing works. Regina, more than anyone, knows the futility of trying to raise someone from the dead, but she does not try and stop Emma from searching for a solution. Emma needs this. In the end, it is Snow who composes herself enough to call everyone together, persuading them to move on and bury their loved ones.
The funerals are held a week later. There are so many people lost that services are held over several days. Emma watches as her friends are buried beneath the earth. The Blue Fairy, Archie, Doc, Ashley… Emma feels her bitter disappointment and despair drain away until an emptiness settles inside her.
They hold a joint service for Charming and Henry. Emma stands next to Snow, in the midst of a huddle of people including Ruby and the remaining dwarves. She wants to be standing next to Regina, holding her hand and comforting one another. Regina, however, has been pushing her away, and now stands alone, arms wrapped around her torso.
Their eyes meet from across the coffins. As she stares into Regina's hollow eyes, a spike of anger bubbles up inside Emma, even as hot tears slide down her cheeks. She hates the fact that Regina seems too calm about the whole ordeal. Emma hasn't seen her cry once since the battle, and she desperately wants to witness her breaking down, or showing some type of reaction at least. Regina, however, is too numb to express any other emotion. Emma wants to be numb too.
Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think, and whether I should continue.