Soundless Words-
"EVERYONE RUN!" Emma screamed as terror jolted her system into overdrive. The streets of hells version of Storybrooke were becoming flooded with angry spirits clearly sent by Hades to stop Hooks soul from being stolen from his collection. Any spirits that may have helped them or seemed friendly when they arrived were now no different from the raging souls that wanted to tear them apart. It was the control Hades had over his realm that created the chaos, his ability to make the spirits into blood thirsty attack dogs at a flick of his wrist.
Emma's warning was heard by eight sets of ears as the entire group turned to look at what had made the blonde scream so loudly. When they saw the hoard of angry souls racing towards them no one thought twice about making a break for the boat back to the world of the living. David grabbed Mary Margret's hand and yanked her along by his side as she nursed her wounded leg. Henry and Robin supported Hook between them as the still mostly unconscious pirate dragged his feet through the sulfur dirt. Gold sprinted ahead of the group, his amber eyes locked onto the boat just ahead. The older man swore under his breath cursing the fact that his magic was of no use to him in the realm of Hades where all dark magic was under the god's control. Regina watched the hoard for a heart beat longer than the rest of them. Her eyes locked on the furious faces of her mother, her father, Cruella, Graham. It wasn't until Emma reached her side that she turned and began to run as well. She was determined not to leave the injured blonde to fend for herself at the back of the pack.
"You shouldn't have waited for me!" Emma snapped as she held her right hand tightly to her left shoulder.
Regina rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't have expected me not to!" She replied as she ran. It infuriated her that after all the two of them had been through together that the blonde still thought she would so easily leave her behind.
"You've life is just as valuable as mine Regina!" Emma yelled over the screaming and hollering of the stampeding souls. Her gaze flickered over towards the older woman and she saw her jaw tighten slightly. The blonde couldn't help but wonder if maybe one day Regina might actually decide to believe her because whether she knew it or not her life was important.
"You should have healed yourself!" Regina stated suddenly as they continued racing towards the lake.
"You know there wasn't time!" Emma snapped back. "I had to heal everyone else first! If it was such a big deal then maybe you should have pitched in!" She growled and wondered again why the former queen hadn't offered to heal anyone including Henry or Robin. A satisfied smirk pulled at her lips when she heard no response from the woman running beside her, it was a rare occasion that Regina Mills was speechless.
Just ahead of them Robin and Henry were hulling Hook into the boat with David's help while Mary Margret bit her lip and held her bleeding leg in agony as she sat towards the bow and Gold rushed to undo the knots that docked the vessel to the shore. "EMMA! REGINA! HURRY!" David yelled to the two women as they managed to get Hook safely into the boat.
"Does he think we're stopping to have a picnic?" Regina growled and was surprised to hear Emma chuckle. "Laughing in the face of death Miss Swan?"
"Nope, I laughed because no matter what the circumstances are you still manage to say something sassy." Emma informed her with a small smile before she winced at the agony in her arm.
Regina caught the sight of the blonde's smile and a sense of longing hit her harder than ever before.
As they reached the boat Regina slowed down. Emma realized her companion was no longer at her side and stopped only mere inches from the boat. "Regina! What are you doing? Get in the boat!" She gasped, her sides heaving from running so long.
Whiskey brown eyes snapped up to meet emerald green ones. "I can't."
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"What the hell are those things?!"
"Hell hounds Miss Swan, guard dogs of hell." Regina informed the blonde as their shoulders brushed. The group of hero's pressed together with their backs to one another each with their own weapons drawn. In the center of the group of hero's Henry and Gold stood supporting Killian's dead weight on their shoulders.
"Any ideas on how to get out of this?" David asked as he held his sword at the ready, his eyes trailing a demonic hound.
"Unless you brought a truck load of dog biscuits my guess is we will be fighting our way out of this one." Regina snapped her light magic sparking in the palms of her hands.
"How do we kill them?" Robin asked, his bow string loaded with an arrow.
"Emma's and my white magic should be able to injure if not kill them." Regina said thinking back to the readings she had done years ago when the Evil Queen had become fascinated with hell. "They are also believed to be vulnerable to iron." She added. "Let's just hope those books were correct."
"Regina watch out!" Emma yelled as a hell hound lunged at the queen. Instantly the savior sent a blast of white light shooting from her palms that burst to life against the beast's side. With a loud thump the creature hit the ground and for a heart beat nothing happened as all eyes watched and waited for the hound to rise to its paws, it never did.
An echoing howl rang from the throat of a nearby hell hound and in the blink of an eye the entire pack lunged at the group of intruders. Robin and Mary Margret fired arrow after arrow at any hounds appearing in the distance while also watching for any that might lunge over the pack. David swung his sword in flashing silver movements at any beast that got too close to his side of the circle. Emma and Regina worked as one sending out strong blasts of magic to keep the demonic mutts from breaking the line and reaching Gold, Hook, and Henry.
Suddenly one smaller hound broke past David and raced at Mary Margret whose attention was drawn the other way. The beast clamped its jaws into the smaller woman's thigh, its teeth tearing through her flesh causing a shriek of pain to rip from the woman's throat.
"MARY MARGRET!" David yelled and drove his sword through the base of the dog's skull. The furry beast slumped to the ground dead but before David could reach his wife another hound tackled him to the ground. The prince threw his fists at the creatures head trying to beat it off of him, suddenly he felt the breaking of his skin and heard his bones crack as the dog's jaws locked onto his lower arm and pulled violently. "AAARGH!" He yelled in pain. The dog continued yanking his arm until the point that the prince was sure it would rip the appendage off all together. Suddenly the jaws loosened and the dog let out a yelp of pain. Out of the corner of his eye David saw a flash of silver as Henry drove his iron dagger into the dog's side over and over again.
"Get off of my Grandpa!" The teenager snarled as the angry beast turned to face him. In unison the hound and the boy lunged at each other and hit the ground in a rolling storm of fury and blood. Henry slashed his dagger through the hound's fur as the hound dug its razor sharp claws into the boy's skin. Hot breath blew against Henry's face as the beast snapped its jaws in an attempt to bite into the teenagers head. With as much force as he could muster Henry drove the blade of his dagger into the side of the hound's neck and twisted, almost instantly the beast went limp beneath him.
"The line is broken!" Robin yelled to the group as he slammed his bow into the snout of a hound whose jaws were wrapped around his lower arm. The thief was bloody but still standing with his back to Gold who still held Hook up despite the fact that the captain was completely limp against him. The old impish man held his own blood soaked dagger in his free hand, the body of a hell hound at his feet.
"We need to end this!" Gold yelled as he slashed his dagger at another hound that drew nearer to him.
"How do we do that!?" Emma screamed in response as she blasted another beast back with her magic. Her left arm was barely still up as scarlet blood dripped down her shoulder from puncture marks that ripped through her jacket. Glancing over at Regina for the answer her heart practically stopped as she saw the woman taking on two hell hounds in front of her, completely unaware of the large black dog approaching from behind. "REGINA!" Emma shrieked as the massive hell hound tackled the queen to the ground.
"Emma help me!" Robin yelled as he raced towards the three dogs piled on Regina. The archer notched an arrow and shot it into the neck of one of the hounds. Notching another he drew his arm back and released watching as the arrow hit the other smaller hound in the temple. His blue eyes were bright with fear and anger as he reached for another arrow and found his quiver empty. "Emma!" He yelled again knowing that the blonde was now Regina's only chance.
Emma charged forward and felt a buildup of her magic under the surface of her skin that she had never experienced before. It was like every ounce of her knew that she needed to get Regina out of there, she needed to get that thing off of her. With a scream of fury and power Emma unleashed her magic without restraint at the giant black hell hound. The powerful beam hit the beast with a blinding white light that caused the group to close their eyes at the intensity of the blast. The instant the light cleared Emma opened her eyes and looked over to see Regina lying on the ground. "REGINA!" She cried out, her heart instantly fearing the worst. Without any hesitation the blonde sprinted to the side of the older woman and slammed down to her knees her hands hovering over the queen but not daring to touch her. "Regina!" She begged. "Regina wake up!" She demanded.
"Mom!" Henry cried out as he ran over to his mother's side. All around them the hell hounds were retreating with their tails between their legs. Though no one said it out loud it was clear that the hound that attacked Regina had been the alpha of the pack and by Emma killing it the hounds no longer knew what to do or who to follow. "Mom! You gotta wake up! Come on mom! Wake up!" Henry pleaded as he shook his mother's shoulders.
"There's so much blood." Robin uttered as he collapsed to his knees beside Henry looking down with tears in his eyes at Regina. His hand reached forward and pushed a lock of her ebony hair out of her face. "Is she?" He asked looking up at Emma.
Emma was too busy looking down at Regina's motionless yet still beautiful features to even register the archer's question. "Come on Regina…" She whispered. "Please."
As if at the command of the simple word whiskey brown eyes opened and blinked several times. "Emma?" Regina uttered softly.
"Regina! Oh thank god! I thought we lost you!" Emma gasped and smiled down at the woman. When Regina tried to move Emma shot her hands forward to hold the queen's shoulders steady. "No Regina, don't move. You're bleeding." The blonde informed her with a stern yet still caring voice.
Regina looked down at her shirt and shook her head. "It's not mine." She replied and looked at all the questioning faces. "It isn't!" She stated with a slight hiss to her words.
"Regina why didn't you wake up?" Robin asked looking at her with concern in his blue eyes.
Regina sat up and frowned at the question. "I must have hit my head when the hell hound took me down." She replied and rubbed the back of her skull.
"Whose blood is that mom?" Henry asked looking at her blood soaked shirt.
Regina looked at her son with soft golden brown eyes. "It must be the hell hounds blood. Henry… I promise I'm fine." She said giving him a reassuring smile. It was then that she noticed the scarlet on her son's forehead and arms. "Henry! Are you alright?!" She gasped and brushed her son's arm in an attempt to inspect the wound.
"I'm fine mom; I just got a few scratches. You'll be able to heal them easy." He said with a smile clearly proud to have marks to show his bravery.
"But don't strain yourself." Emma said and watched as Robin gently rubbed Regina's shoulder.
Regina looked down at the ground and bit her lip. "I don't think I should heal anyone right now. I hit my head pretty hard." She admitted and looked at Emma. "You can do it Emma, you've done it before." She said and gave the blonde a look of encouragement in her golden eyes.
"I…" Emma looked around at all the injuries. "Are you sure?" She asked.
Regina nodded. "I know you can do it Emma."
Emma looked at her a moment longer before nodding. "Okay, let me heal you first." She offered.
Regina shook her head. "Emma I'm fine, I promise." She assured the blonde. "Heal Henry first."
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"What the hell do you mean you can't?!" Emma yelled and took several steps towards Regina. Her emerald eyes were blazing with anger at the older woman's stubbornness but also with a hint of fear. "Just get in the boat Regina! We don't have time for this!"
"I know we don't have time for this Miss Swan!" Regina snapped in return and looked at the blonde. "But I can't get into the boat!" She frowned and her angry brown eyes softened a bit.
Emma saw the change in Regina's eyes and her heart plummeted into her stomach. "Regina…please just get in the boat." She uttered softly not wanting to believe what the look in Regina's eyes was telling her.
Regina shook her head and gave the blonde a sad look before catching the eyes of Henry, Robin, Mary Margret, David, and Gold. "Make Henry look away." She asked softly.
Emma blinked at the odd request and turned her head slightly nodding to her father. Suddenly Henry's demands to be let go and to be allowed to see his mother filled the air as Emma heard scuffling in the boat that signaled David and Robin forcing Henry to look away.
Regina kept her eyes on Emma as she lifted her hand and waved it swiftly over herself. The swirling of light magic flowed from Regina's body into her hand as she reabsorbed the spell she placed on herself. Once the magic was gone Emma's eyes trailed over Regina's appearance and she felt her throat close up as she began to choke back tears. It was clear that Regina had been using a cloaking spell of sorts because now that it was gone Emma could clearly see that the blood that stained the queen's shirt was not from the hell hound but from the queen herself. Emma held back sobs as she saw the claw marks that ripped through Regina's stomach and up her chest closely meeting smaller similar marks on her arms and a savage bite mark on her throat. "You swore to us that you were fine." Emma gasped as tears trailed down her cheeks.
"I said what I needed to in order for you to keep going." Regina admitted. "Emma, there is nothing you could have done."
"Don't say that Regina! We could take your soul back with us just like we are taking Hook's back!" Emma snapped through her tears.
"He has a body to go back to Emma, I don't. People aren't supposed to die in the Underworld; this is a land for the already dead. Someone dying here is unnatural." Regina looked away to hide her own tears.
"We can go find your body Regina!" Emma replied desperately. "We will not leave you here! I will not leave you here!"
Shaking her head Regina looked back up to meet Emma's eyes. "This is my body Emma; I never left it because my soul is already in the Underworld. You can restore Hooks soul back to his body because they are separated by the world of the living and the world of the dead, the same cannot be said for me. I died in the realm of the dead; nothing is anchoring me to the living." She stated and looked over her shoulder to see the hoard of the dead growing closer.
"No Regina! You can't be dead! You used magic! You aren't trying to kill us like the rest of the souls!" Robin pointed out as he looked at the woman who was supposed to be his soul mate but who had barely spared him a glace through the whole conversation.
"As I said I have my body which means I still have my heart. The heart is where magic comes from and though mine no longer beats it still protects me from Hades control. None of the other souls here are still connected to their heart." Looking behind her again she shook her head. "They are too close! You need to go now!"
"Regina! We aren't leaving you!" Emma yelled at the woman.
"Thank you for the loyalty Miss Swan, but this really isn't your choice to make." Regina uttered and regret sparkled in her eyes. She then waved her hand and a cloud of white smoke encircled Emma, when it cleared the blonde was standing in the boat being held back by her father and Gold.
"No Regina! Regina! WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE HER HERE! REGINA!" Emma screamed and fought. She could feel Henry by her side fighting as well. Looking over at Robin she screamed, "SHE IS YOUR SOUL MATE! YOU CAN'T LEAVE HER HERE!"
The archer looked at her with pained eyes and she watched him look back at Regina with hurt in his gaze before he looked away and grabbed an oar. "My soul mate died." He replied to her.
"GO BACK FOR HER! DAVID GO BACK!" Mary Margret cried as she sat barely able to move at the back of the boat. She was looking past the struggling forms inside the boat at the figure of her former step-mother and friend standing on the shore of the lake. "SHE IS OUR FAMILY!" Mary Margret cried.
"MOM! MOM!" Henry yelled as loud as he could. The teenager tried to break past David and Gold, but the two men held him back with ease. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO! THAT'S MY MOM! I'M NOT LEAVING HER! MOM! MOM! DON'T MAKE ME LEAVE YOU! I LOVE YOU MOMMY! I LOVE YOU! DON'T MAKE ME LEAVE!" Henry screamed and fought.
David held the boy and his daughter back with all his strength. The cries of his wife, his daughter, and his grandson rang in his ears as he fought to keep them on the boat. He hated himself with every fiber of his being for doing this; he didn't want to leave Regina behind anymore than they did. Tears trailed down his cheeks as he spared a glance back at Regina who had now turned to face the hoard of spirits. He would never forgive himself for being the one to leave her behind and he knew that his family would never forgive him either but he knew in his heart he couldn't save her so he would do everything in his power to save the rest of them.
Gold spared a glance back at Regina as she stood facing the army of spirits head on. As he helped David hold Henry and Emma back he watched his former pupil summon a wave of light magic that consumed the shore line in a white barrier to keep the spirits at bay. He knew he wasn't a hero and that he wouldn't have gone back for her if it meant risking his own life to do so, but still he felt a spark of pride. He watched Regina hold the barrier up, watched the power of her magic shine bright and beautiful behind them. He let a small smile tug at his lips as he watched his apprentice do the one thing he was never truly able to do, be a hero.
"GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!" Emma fought and kicked. "I NEED HER!" The blonde cried. "I NEED HER! DON'T MAKE ME LOSE HER! PLEASE! PLEASE! I LOVE HER!" Emma felt time slow down to the point that she felt every single heart beat in her chest. Aside from her own drawn out screams of protest she could hear the thunderous boom of the demonic spirits charging towards Regina and the light barrier. She watched soundlessly as in the last heart beat Regina turned to face her, her eyes glittering with tears and understanding as if she had heard Emma's confession. The queen's lips moved and her eyes shone brightly as she looked at Emma. Then she was gone. Consumed by the hoard of angry souls as they crashed against the barrier that kept them from reaching the boat as it drifted further and further from shore. "NOOOOOOO!" Emma screamed and the cry sounded as if it had been ripped from the deepest most painful depths of the savior's soul.
The blonde collapsed into her father's arms and felt sobs wrack her body as she clung to him for dear life. "I loved her. I loved her." She repeated over and over again.
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She could hear a knocking somewhere in the distance, it was like a gnat buzzing in her ear as she tried to ignore it. All she could focus on was the woman standing on the beach in front of the boat she stood in. It was just the two of them standing and staring at one another with so many unsaid words being acknowledged within their gaze. Emma's emerald eyes looked over every inch of the woman on the shore and she couldn't believe how breathtaking she always managed to be. Regina was never one to disappoint, even when standing on the shores of hell.
"Regina." Emma uttered the name as if it were the most sacred word to ever be spoken.
Whiskey brown eyes crinkled at the corners as the queen smiled. She gave Emma and nod and her expression softened as her lips moved soundlessly. Suddenly the beautiful white dress Regina wore began to tear open as long invisible claws ripped her apart. The skin on her arms spilt and crimson poured freely from the wounds. The flawless skin on her throat became torn with puncture marks created by savage teeth.
Emma watched helplessly as the woman she loved bled out on the shore that grew further and further away from her. She screamed and cried but no matter what there was nothing she could do. And despite it all Regina's lips were still soundlessly moving even as sorrowful tears left her golden eyes. Then right before her eyes Emma watched as a swarm of dead spirits once more consumed Regina making her disappear into an unknown fate.
The more she fought to reach the shore once more, the more the knocking in Emma's ears grew louder and louder until it was like thunder against her ear drums.
Shooting awake in her bed Emma screamed as she crashed to the ground tangled in her sheets. Cold sweat clung to her skin as her damp hair stuck to her face. Outside her bedroom door she could hear someone knocking. With a flick of her wrist she unlocked the doorknob before leaning against the side of her bed and hugging her knees.
At the sound of her daughters door unlocking Mary Margret rushed into the room to find Emma sitting tangled up in sheets beside her bed. Understanding and sympathy flooded the woman's mint green eyes as she walked over and sat down beside her daughter. Instantly Emma let herself lean into her mother and felt a touch of comfort as the woman wrapped her arms around her and held her close. It was then that Emma knew it was safe for her to cry.
Mary Margret rubbed her daughters back lovingly as the blonde sobbed against her. She brushed her daughter's damp locks out of her face and kissed her forehead. "Was it the dream again?" She asked thought she already knew the answer.
"I have it every night." Emma sobbed and held her mother's hand. "I c-can nev-er save h-her." She gasped as the crying continued.
Mary Margret fell silent for a heart beat as she let her daughter cry in peace and provided the comfort she needed.
"S-she keeps saying it." Emma whimpered after the few moments of silence. "She never stops."
Mary Margret's brow furrowed at her daughters words. She knew bits and pieces of the dream but Emma had never told her about Regina saying anything to her. "What does she say Emma?" She asked softly.
Emma took several deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating before she looked up at her mother with heartbroken eyes. "That she loves me too."
A/N: I figured I haven't broken anyone's heart in a while so here you go. I am actually really sorry about this. I hope no one hates me too much for this story, it just popped in my head and I had to write it. Please comment and review so I know what you think about it! I love you all!