This was originally a one-off, part of Staring Down the Sun. Speculation for 5.14 that kind of... exploded a little. Three-part story, part three coming soon.
Emma froze, her boot skidding on a pebble and throwing off her balance briefly. Heart pounding in her throat, she waited, watching, staring at the toes of his shoes to make sure they weren't any closer to the Lethe pool.
After a full minute, her knuckles started to hurt from clenching so tight.
God damn, motherfucking, son of a bitch.
"Oh right, did I not mention that? Forgetful me, just so much going on around here lately it's all starting to blur together." His laugh sent chills down her spine. Hades talked like a used car salesman and she trusted him even less. "See, the closer you get to saving your boyfriend, the closer he gets to my little pool here. Now, there's a trick to it and if you're even half as smart as my friend here has told me, you'll figure it out. Otherwise... it's a real shame True Love's Kiss doesn't work on amnesia."
She didn't want to turn around and give him the satisfaction of watching his little theatrics, she just shifted her weight on the narrow beam and considered her options. She'd made it about four feet before the first drop, still another ten before the platform. There were still about three feet between his shoes and the pool's surface - maybe. The glow and the platform made it hard to tell for sure. Maybe thirty inches or so between her Killian and some version of him that wouldn't know her. Or maybe he'd have to be fully submerged... though who was to say that once his feet hit the chain wouldn't just give way?
Emma didn't really feel like going fishing today.
She narrowed her eyes, concentrating a little. Her heart swelled when her magic engulfed Killian's body, but the magic exploded out and away from him, causing the ground to rumble and the rocks overhead to smash together in an almost deafening grind. Emma screamed, losing her balance, but she managed to twist herself around in time to grab the beam with both arms and hold on for dear life. She didn't dare look down.
When the shaking stopped and she could hear herself think - actually, she just heard slow clapping. "Oh, I hoped you'd try that," Hades said. "I'll even be nice and not drop him further; that was a spectacular reaction. Light magic always reacts the best, but that was something else; bravo little Savior."
Emma's jaw hurt from grinding her teeth together. She's going to find the deepest pit in this hellscape and dropkick this smartass megalomaniac into it the first change she got.
It took a bit before she could figure out how to swing herself back up onto the beam, but Emma didn't get to her feet just yet. She straddled the beam, calculating. She only glanced down once, the green, soul-filled river below flowing by in silence; it was weird that the water didn't splash or ripple, the pale souls making no wails of complaint about their predicament. And while he clearly loved gloating in her failures, she begrudgingly appreciated that Hades remained silent while she tried to decide on her next move.
Aside from the quiet clink of Killian's chains and her heartbeat and breathing in her ears, the Underworld was silent.
At length, Emma stood. "Please tell me you're going to try and magic yourself over there, that one's my favorite," Hades commented.
"Nope," Emma replied, popping the p and shifting her stance.
She gave herself to the count of three, then sprinted; she had to trust in her feet to stay on the narrow beam, she couldn't look down, only watching the rate at which Killian's body dropped with every foot of ground she gained. Her feet hit the platform just as Killian's were scant inches from the surface of the pool and she lunged, tackling him across the narrow opening and landing hard on the other side.
"Killian," she gasped, looking towards his feet to make sure he was clear of the pool. "Killian, wake up, you're okay."
She cupped his cheek and tilted his face towards her, her heart wrenching at how bloodied and bruised he was.
He wasn't breathing.
Did the dead need to breathe here?
There was a muffled shout on the rock ledge and Emma looked up as Hades started clapping again. Her heart sank.
Killian, bound and gagged, stood next to Hades. He looked much like his flickering ghost had in the graveyard, but he stood awkwardly, most of his weight shifted to his right leg. Her heart sank further, throat closing in as she realized he was fighting his restraints, fighting to get to her or to Hades, but wincing with every movement. Just what had Hades done to him? And for the love of God why?
"You know, I'm actually impressed, Emma," Hades said, bringing her attention back to him. He stood with his hands in his pockets, as casual as if they were chatting in the lawyer's office he was dressed for. "Only one mistake before you figured it out, I underestimated you."
The dummy in her arms vanished in cold flames, leaving her alone on the platform. She got to her feet with a wince - she'd landed awkwardly - walking around the opening to the path back to the ledge. "Most people do," she shot back, fed up with this psycho and his games.
Only when she tried to step back onto the path, she struck an invisible barrier.
She pushed at it, blue fire rippling through the air out from her palms before vanishing again. Protection spell - or a caging spell. Emma glared across the chasm. "Seriously?"
Hades vanished in a column of flame, only to reappear in front of her. "You have no idea the game you're trying to play, little princess," he said, his voice cold, his disarmingly affable mannerisms gone. Emma forced herself to stand still, refusing to back down as the magical weight of his godhood started to press on her. Flames slowly crept up his scalp as he spoke. "You know, for all your rejection of the title, you sure do have the spoiled attitude of royalty. You come into my kingdom, uproot my system and my order, demanding I return what I took?"
He stepped forward, orange flame starting to tint the blue on his head. Emma was forced to take a step back as he passed through the barrier. "It's so like you mortals, passing the blame of your misfortunes onto us hard-working gods." He kept walking, backing her up with every step. "'It wasn't me, Fortuna doesn't favor me!' 'The Ourea didn't bless my journey.' 'Eros doesn't favor me!' 'Hypnos has cursed me.' 'It's Demeter's fault.'" The flames flared crimson for a moment. Hades took a breath and they resettled to orange-blue. He jabbed a finger into her chest. "Well, listen to me, little princess. We don't have time to mess up your pathetic little lives. We're too busy cleaning up your messes. I took nothing from you. You ran him through, you get to suffer the consequences."
Emma's foot slipped and she realized she was at the edge of the opening, the Lethe pool not far below her. She looked up at Hades, her skin icy despite the heat he gave off in his anger. "It wasn't fair," she said, each word a labor to speak.
He looked almost bored with her. "Newflash, sweetheart. Life never is."
He vanished, the immediate removal of his magical presence allowing her to breathe more freely. He appeared on the other side of the chasm, the flames retreating from his head as he spoke. "Only one way out, Emma Swan. You've been a headache for me since you got here. I'll consider your memories and your soul enough payment to return your pirate and your family to the mortal realms in peace. Doubtless you'll be glad to be rid of them, from what I understand of the last few weeks."
Emma looked back down at the pool. She could hear Killian's muffled shouts against the gag.
A soul for a soul. That was the price, wasn't it?
It wasn't like Hades was giving her much of a choice. And she was the one who was stupid enough to run down here without telling anyone. "What happens to me after?" she asked, glancing back at him.
Hades rolled his eyes. "You'll get in line for judgement like everyone else here. It'll take a while, but most things do. It's like the DMV down here, only you've got nowhere else to be."
Emma turned back to the pool. So until judgement she'd become a wandering soul like everyone else here. Only without her memories. And with her physical body. Maybe? How did that even work down here?
Something niggled in the back of her mind, something about Lethe and Greek mythology. There's always a cure, isn't there? Every good deed has a reward, every ill has punishment? For everything bad, there's something to counter it? Some stupidly complicated name, something that - if she did this, if she did this stupid thing she was really considering in exchange for Killian's life and her family - could reverse it...
And gods couldn't go back on their word without punishment.
"Swear to me," Emma said, turning suddenly. "Swear on the Styx you'll return them with no harm. Swear that once I do this, you'll leave them alone."
He rolled his eyes again. "You mortals and your clauses... Fine. I swear on the sacred Styx that once you jump into the Lethe, I will release Killian Jones's soul and the physical bodies and souls of your family, and no further harm will come to them until they finally kick the bucket."
Emma nodded while Killian screamed her against his gag. She looked at him, heart in her throat, praying this would work. "Killian," she said softly. He ceased struggling, his good eye trained on her like she was going to vanish at any second - and in a way, she was. "Killian, I found you. And you always find me, right?" He nods and even from here she can see him trying to figure out what she's saying. "You always come for me, no matter what. And I love you. Take care of Henry."
She lifted one foot, hovering over the pool. She kept her gaze locked on Killian. "Mnemosyne."
The last thing she heard as she jumped into the Lythe was Hades' outraged scream.