No Curse AU. Hook finally defeats his crocodile but the cost is high and could cause him to lose more than he knows.
Shattered Glass
The Ring
With this crown
I give my loyalty
With these hands
I offer my service
With this heart
I give you mine
In Love, in Friendship let us reign
Princess Emma dropped the scroll back into the jewel filled strongbox and held up the silver ring which had encircled it. She had never seen the design before; a crowned heart held by two hands. It was not pretty exactly, not compared to the intricate jewellery she normally wore, but there was something appealing about it's sturdy simplicity.
She glanced over her shoulder and satisfied the bribed treasury guards were still pretending to be fascinated by their boots she tried to slip it onto her right ring finger but it refused to go passed the knuckle. Frustratingly it fit her left as though crafted for it. Putting the ring back around the scroll she continued her search for the perfect accessories for her crowning ceremony. Surely one of her many ancestors shared her size, colouring and taste in jewellery.
‡
Deep within a cave on the edge of a bottomless ocean something stirred. Stone cracked and the broken shards fused together in the ocean spray creating hands, a torso, fins.
For the first time in centuries the Sea Witch awoke.
‡
Hook cackled gleefully as the Chimera fell further behind, a sudden squall giving the Jolly Roger sails an added boost. Sinbad had been giving chase since the Brethren Court had turned on one another and he had discovered Hook had already liberated the Codex from its protector.
"Steady as she goes and straight on 'til morning!" He called to Mullins, manning the helm, shouting to be heard over the rain.
He smirked as several of his crew groaned but for once the reminder of Neverland improved Hook's spirits rather than darkened them. He was far from that place and on his way to the deal that would catch the Crocodile by the tail and finally enable him to avenge Milah's death.
A deep resonating boom caused Hook to glance upward on reflex then he raised his telescope to search the horizon. The sound came again but this time from below decks and again but inside his chest. Hook stumbled, his body going numb, he fell to his knees.
And then he was no longer on the Roger but above a castle as the sea crashed against familiar white cliffs.
And the Chimera stopped toying with them.
‡
Emma sucked in a outraged breath, the damned ring was back. Her hands tightened around the horse's reins, like a stray cat it had come and gone as it pleased for eight years. The Blue Fairy had assured her the ring was benign and she herself could not feel any ill intent in it's weak enchantment but it was an increasing annoyance. Albeit a minor one compared to the headache of ruling a kingdom.
Which was why she was out here before dawn, the thud of hooves and the smell of the ocean helping to organise her thoughts.
Seeing something in the distance Emma raised herself up on the stirrups; it looked like two men fighting, she grinned. Her days of being a Queens Rider, of sweeping in to save the common folk from bandits and raiders was long passed but when providence offered something like this it would be churlish to refuse the invitation. Swift and sure-footed her warhorse charger fairly flew over and around sand dunes to reach their quarry. Emma took up her sword and angled her hand so the flat of the blade would catch the nearest man's shoulder without causing lasting harm.
But as she drew closer her grip changed as she identified one of the men- Rumplestilkskin. He fought as the solder tales said; in a flurry of magic disappearing and reappearing to throw arcane fire at his enemy.
Emma's instinct was to retreat, Rumplestilkskin was a horror masquerading as an giggling imp. His words as poisonous as the deals he offered. This was not a battle she could win. She sighed, neither could the Royal Princess allow a fool to be killed by him either.
Magic always added spice to the air, she felt it like a brush of silk against bare skin and she knew exactly where Rumplestilkskin would manifest. Her sword flashed cutting his head from his shoulders in a swift downward stroke. The head bounced on the sand then vanished.
"Thanks for the opening darling."
Emma's gaze jerked to the other man, his lilting accent a slap in the face. It made her pause and suddenly a dagger, the dagger, was protruding from Rumplestilkskin's back. His twitching body stilled, his head stopped re-growing and Emma could feel the magic drain from Rumplestilkskin and into the new Dark One.
Diving off her horse she yanked out the dagger and held it against her chest.
Watching a new Dark One being born was like watching a blood leech feast. He became engorged with magic, horrible and pulsing. Glittering gold became a film on his once handsome face, a hook fell and was replaced by a perfect hand.
He grinned at her, his blue eyes now unmissable.
"You hold the dagger my lady and thus my heart and service, what is it you wish?"
A.N. Love, hate? Let me know.
Poem is Love of the Claddagh by Jillian Godsil (2001)