Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me but the ideas and my feels.
Author's Note: Hey guys, so it's been awhile since I've dabbled in Once Upon A Time fics but what can I say, Captain Swan has destroyed me and I had no choice but to give this idea life.
So this fic doesn't exactly take place in canon and it's not necessarily what I wanted to have happened. It's more sort of half an idea of what I thought might happen when they introduced Pandora's Box and half my Captain Swan feels running amok. As a result I may have bastardized some Greek myths along the way but I did try to stick with what I found during the course of my research though I did tweak some things so please forgive me.
A thousand thanks to Caroline for editing this for me! It really means a lot. AND big shout out to Divya for letting me bounce ideas at her, I couldn't have done this without her!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this.
Hook ran amidst falling debris as another quake shook the cavern. When another chunk of ceiling landed beside him, he risked a glance behind him to make sure Emma was still there. She met his gaze for a split second before he returned his attention ahead of him.
Up ahead, David was almost to the end of the long narrow pathway and the safety of the boundary. Just as Hook and Emma began to pick their way across the narrow bridge suspended in midair, he could see David pass through the stable archway where Ruby was already waiting.
Dodging as much of the crumbling ceiling as they could without falling off, Hook and Emma soon made their own journey across. Hook felt a sort of gratitude for his long legs that made quick work of it. He was doing fine until he heard Emma gasp and he turned to look at her too quickly, nearly losing his balance in the process. She was fine however, but due to his pivot he began to sway. Before he could fall she caught him by the shoulder, steadying him in a way that felt natural and in tune with how much he had come to rely on her since the time they spent in Neverland together.
"Thanks," he muttered quickly, a little short on breath.
She smiled, "You can thank me when we get through this."
He nodded and faced forward again, much more careful in his steps this time, not daring to look back though it was difficult not to. Before too long he was passing through the enchanted arch into safety. He turned around and offered a hand to guide Emma through. She gave him an odd look but accepted it as she stepped over a large boulder in the way.
She let go the moment she was safe and immediately returned her attention to the rest of their party.
Tinker Bell was halfway across the bridge, moving fast and swift as if she still had wings and quickly joined them on the other side. Leroy and Belle, however, were still farther behind in the larger part of the canyon where the rubble was falling fastest. The five who were safe watched the final pair with bated breath. The collapsing cavern shook again as they watched. They had nearly reached the suspended path when a stalactite just ahead of them shook ominously.
"Look out!" Emma yelled as another shudder released it the moment the two were underneath it.
Leroy barely had time to look up before Belle shoved them both down to the right in an attempt to escape it. The dwarf yelled in pain as some of the debris landed on his foot. Charming and Emma made to pass the safety line and into the treacherous passage to aid him when Hook held out a hand to stop them.
"Don't," he said urgently. He was concerned for the dwarf too but they needed to keep in mind what was at stake. "Remember what Calypso said: once you pass a test you can't go back or you won't be allowed to leave the island."
He could tell that it took everything within Emma to not go back anyway and the only thing keeping her in place were thoughts of her son. Charming sighed in frustration and began pacing.
"Are you guys okay?" Ruby yelled as she toed the line, concern coloring her voice.
"I'm fine!" Belle yelled from where she knelt beside Leroy about a hundred feet away. "But Leroy's hurt. He's not bleeding but something landed pretty hard on his ankle."
They could just hear him groan again over the sound of falling rocks. "I'll be okay, just give me a minute."
As the ground shook again, Hook wasn't sure they had one to spare- the bridge was looking more unstable by the second. But he kept this to himself, for he knew it wasn't what the others needed to hear.
So instead he stayed by Emma's side, watching as Belle tried to ease Leroy to his feet. Eventually the dwarf made it with his arm over her shoulder, hobbling beside her as he tried to keep off his injured foot. That was when they got to the overpass above an endless black abyss. The crossing was barely wide enough for one person to cross so the two of them as they were would never make it.
Leroy seemed to have figured this out as they paused. He looked to her as best he could in their current position. "We can't do this together, Belle. You have to go on without me."
Belle looked at him in anguish before looking to the path ahead of them, calculating. "No. You can't make the path if you're limping. We're doing this together. We can do this if we go sideways very slowly."
She began to position them appropriately despite his protests. "Hold on to me, Leroy. Don't you dare let go."
He looked like he was going to protest but Belle had a stubborn look in her eye that said she wasn't giving up. Awkwardly and haltingly they begin to scoot along the narrow ledge. It was slow going with each quake of their cavern making them pause so as to not lose their balance. The others watched on anxiously, noticing the way Leroy held his foot that made it clear he was in pain. As they crossed, they could hear murmurs of Belle offering words of encouragement when he'd have to stop coming to them across the distance.
They were about halfway across when a stalactite fell a few feet behind them, making them wobble. When they finally stabilized, Leroy muttered, "I suppose now would be a bad time to mention I'm afraid of heights?"
"Just a bit." Belle laughed.
"Come on, you're nearly there." Ruby yelled encouragingly.
After what felt like an eternity they made it to the rubble just before the boundary. With great care to not disturb their balance, Belle reached out and nudged it with her boot before knocking it off. Then, with another minute of shuffling, they were safe in the stable antechamber.
Leroy immediately leaned against the wall while Ruby hugged Belle in relief. David clapped Leroy on the shoulder, glad to have his friend safe.
With their second test passed, Emma immediately turned her attention to the chamber they were in, as did Hook, instinctively mirroring her movements.
"I hate to interrupt our moment of triumph," Hook spoke up, hesitantly. "But there don't seem to be any other doors."
The others immediately looked up.
"What?" Tinker Bell asked incredulously.
"He's right," Emma responded, having done her own search of the dark corners, turning back to face them with her hands on her hips.
It was then that the wall behind her shimmered before a doorway melted away revealing Calypso. The nymph looked unchanged from when they'd seen her hours ago before entering the last trial.
She spoke in the same unemotional tone from before, "Congratulations you have passed the test for Courage and Perseverance. In light of your hardships, you will have ten minutes to prepare yourself for the next task."
An hourglass appeared on a platform jutting out from the wall.
"What is the next test?" Emma asked in her typical need for answers.
"You will see in time," Calypso answered impassively, gesturing to the hourglass as it turned and began. "Rest."
And then she went back through the wall as it reformed.
"Well, that was helpful." Hook remarked bitterly.
"Give her a break. Can't you tell how lonely she is?" Tink interjected. "She's been on this island for thousands of years, doomed to set these tests for all of time. Do you have any idea how many people must have come through here to try to get the treasure she guards?"
"You sound sorry for her," Leroy said.
"I am," Tink responded, crossing her arms. "I know what it's like to be alone."
With that she went to the opposite corner, ending the conversation. Hook couldn't blame her, however. These tests were exhausting mentally and physically and as a result they were all kind of high strung. But they all knew what they were fighting for and knew it was worth it.
They'd thought the worst was over when they finally defeated Pan and rescued Henry, but what they didn't know was the cost of opening Pandora's Box. None of them, not even Rumplestilskin had known what had been trapped inside. But when they put Peter Pan in, the Nosoi came out- spirits of plague and illness they bided their time at first, watching and waiting for the chance to strike. So when citizens of Storybrooke began falling deathly ill no one knew why at first- not until Tinker Bell had felt one come into the room and she had to fight it off with her pixie dust.
Once she told the others what she'd seen- a grey, frail figure- Rumplestilskin knew what they were up against. There was no cure, none that they had at their disposal anyway. Rumple could only alleviate the symptoms for a while just as Regina could only keep the spirits at bay for so long.
That's when Hook had suggested it; he told them of an island he had heard about in his pirate days where all the great relics of the Ancient Greek Times Gone By that were kept on an island, guarded by Calypso, a nymph who's duty it was to test any hero who desired its treasure. He didn't know where it was or what sort of tests it would be but he knew that the Golden Fleece was there and with its power to restore a land, he hoped that it could keep out the Nosoi and heal the people of Storybrooke.
And with more growing ill every day, it became imperative that they find it. That was when Belle remembered reading something about it in one of her books, but the problem was that there were thousands to choose from. When neither Regina nor Rumplestilskin knew any more than whispers, they all began to spend hours poring over the books searching for a map. They'd just found the map and were making the final preparations for the journey when the Nosoi attacked Henry and Snow on their way back to the library from home.
Hook knew then that Emma would stop at nothing to find this island and complete whatever was necessary in order to save her son. It was cruel, really, to have her son struck like this after they only just got him back. With so many loved ones sick and dying, they knew Calypso's island and the Golden Fleece on it was their only option.
Most of the uninfected volunteered but in the end Emma, David, Ruby, Belle, Leroy, Tinker Bell and, of course, Hook boarded the Jolly Roger to try to complete the tasks. Though Rumplestilskin wanted to go to keep Belle safe, she convinced him that he was needed there to make sure the infected stayed alive 'til they could get back as well as help Regina keep the Nosoi at bay. Regina was much easier to convince as she was one of the few magic users in Storybrooke and she was one of the few Emma knew would do whatever it took to keep Henry alive and it was definitely true that Henry needed her there.
Using a spell given by Gold and cast by Regina they were able to cross the veil that concealed Calypso's island in the seas near Greece. When they'd gotten there they'd been greeted by the nymph Calypso, cursed to guard the trove of relics from those who would misuse them. To this end she told them she was given the gift to see their hearts and thus design tests specifically for them. If they were true of heart and in deed they would find what they sought.
It started off straightforward enough with a puzzle that Belle was able to solve to test their wisdom. Next they got to the cavern which started off with hot coals and then darkness in which there would be noises all around them and then the cave began to collapse, but they had plunged ahead through it all.
Hook was anxious as to what would come next. As long as it took Belle to riddle out the meaning of the symbols in the stone and as much as they were all tempted to turn back at the last trial, Hook couldn't shake the feeling that it had been too easy so far. He'd always gotten the impression from all the whispers he'd heard as a pirate that these trials would take you to the limits of what you thought you could handle and he hadn't felt that yet.
His eyes fell on Emma like they always did when she was near and he found himself thinking how proud of her he was for pulling together like this. She was obviously insanely worried about Henry, but she did what she'd done in Neverland- put aside her fears and channeled them into doing what needed to be done. She trusted in them all to get her there and had pulled them together through the last two tests. When they'd heard their loved ones calling from the dark of the cave she reminded them that it wasn't real and called them forward. He didn't think it was possible but he admired her now more than ever.
She looked up, feeling his gaze and smirked at him before he looked away. Things had definitely been different between them. In the week that they'd been in Storybrooke he couldn't say anything had truly developed between them like he'd hoped, but nothing had come of her and Neal either. In fact he'd heard that they'd had a conversation and felt that it would've ended differently if they had decided to become a couple. It gave him hope but he'd still agreed to give her space- let her come to him, as it were. She'd only just gotten her son back and he believed she needed time with him. So even though he just wanted to stay by her side he knew that wasn't what she needed. So he tried to get to know the people of this town that was to be his new home.
While there was still the negative association of him working with Cora, they knew they couldn't have gotten Henry back without his help so they were making an effort. Lady Lucas was an amusing young woman who could see right through him and had joined Tink in not taking any of his attempts at bravado. He'd been more concerned with the dwarves if he was being honest. Being among Snow's and Charming's most loyal followers he honestly thought they would take Snow's side in the 'immediately not liking him' camp but they were bigger than that, luckily for him.
When he'd first approached them at Granny's they'd all given him an appraising eye before Leroy came up to him. Hook had heard him go by the moniker of Grumpy and he certainly lived up to it with his furrowed brow when he said "I hear you're going after Emma."
Hook had to resist the urge to groan at the thought of the coming confrontation but he managed to pull a confident grin and stared him down as he replied, "That I am. I know you may not approve but I will not be giving up easily."
He'd expected grumbles and protests but instead Leroy patted him on the back, "Good. Emma's very stubborn. You're gonna need that."
And after several drinks Hook breathed a sigh of relief at having gained the tentative approval of Emma's stand-in uncles. Leroy was a very blunt dwarf and a little pessimistic but Hook appreciated his honesty and valued his presence on the mission.
Trying to keep his mind off of Emma, Hook went over to the dwarf, "You all right there, mate?"
"Well you won't see me doing cartwheels any time soon but Belle wrapped me up good so I'll make it." Leroy said pointing to his foot bound by the scarf the lady had been wearing.
"Guys," David said, interrupting the various side conversations. "It's time."
They then just in time to see the last of the sand flow into the bottom half of the hourglass. Hook extended his good hand to Leroy and helped him to his feet. Belle was quickly by his side to help the dwarf forward as the wall melted once more to reveal the blonde nymph in her blue robes.
"Are you ready?" She asked in her typical ethereal tone.
"Do we really have a choice?" Leroy asked grumpily as he rested on Belle for support.
Calypso didn't answer but turned and led them into the next level of their tests. After the grand and expansive arena of their last trial, Hook had expected more but this next room was scarcely bigger than the antechamber they'd just left. It was a simple square with no doors or windows other than the arch they'd just come through. Once they'd all entered, all but the wall before them faded away, leaving them with darkness on all sides diluted only by the glow of the floor itself.
Calypso crossed the platform to stand by the only remaining wall and turned to face them. "You have proved your wisdom, courage, and determination to see this quest through but the item you seek has great power. With the Golden Fleece you will have ultimate protection and those within its radius will be healed. From looking in your hearts I see that this will save many but all magic has a price, even that of the old gods. The price of this magic is as follows: in order to save so many, one of you must offer up your own life in exchange."
"What?" Charming immediately exclaimed.
Calypso remained unchanged. "I'm sorry but that is the price. I set the tests according the rules that I do not make. Take all the time you need but this platform you are on will not rise to the next level until one of you isn't on it. This is your only chance to turn back. If you cannot complete this task I will take you back to your vessel but the island will be forever closed to you. What is your decision?"
Hook looked to the others and saw expressions of despair that must have mirrored his own. It was a cruel question. None of them knew what to say.
Finally Emma spoke up, addressing the others, "We can't turn back. This is their only chance."
"She's right," Ruby agreed. "We have to keep going. Anyone want to leave?"
The despairing looks had hardened into grim resolve and Hook knew they'd just sealed their own fate for better or worse.
"We'll take the test." David spoke up for the group.
"Very well," Calypso replied with a nod. "I will leave you to make your decision."
And with that she and the remaining wall disappeared, leaving them suspended over nothing. There was nothing anywhere Hook looked, no distant walls or ceiling they could pull themselves up by.
"There has to be another way." Belle said urgently.
"Tinker Bell, can you fly?" Hook asked the fairy, desperate for a solution that didn't involve losing one of them.
Tink shook her head. "Remember what she said when we got here? Fairy magic doesn't work here, only that of the old gods. I've been grounded since we arrived."
Ruby looked upward with her wolf-vision, "I can't see anything we can use to ascend."
"Guys," Emma called over their scheming. "It's not going to work. You know what we need to do. The only way any of us can continue is if one of us doesn't."
There was a moment of resignation as they all accepted her words. Leroy broke the silence, "Then it should be me."
"No." Belle immediately protested.
"Yes." He argued. "I'm already injured. We don't know what the further tests will require. I don't want to hold you guys back."
"That's not the answer." David argued, "We can find another way."
"There isn't one, mate." Hook reminded him ruefully, how he hated that it was true. He sighed, meeting Emma's gaze once before looking away. "I'll go."
"Hook." Tink spoke up. She'd known him for so long it was hard to believe he was willing to sacrifice himself. She also looked to Emma and immediately knew why.
"You can't," the woman in question interjected. "We came here on your ship. You're our way off the island."
Hook wanted to meet her gaze he felt burning into him but he couldn't. He knew he'd taught David and Emma enough during their journey to and from Neverland that they'd know how to sail it without him. While it truly touched him that Emma would speak up for him, he knew he was the one who had to do it. He was the one who meant the least to everyone in Storybrooke. He wouldn't be missed, not much anyway. And he knew he couldn't leave if he looked at Emma even once. With this resolve he stepped towards the edge when David stopped him.
"Emma's right," He reminded him urgently. "We need you alive at the end of this." David sighed. "I'll sacrifice myself."
There was a collective shout from nearly everyone.
"No." Ruby said, stepping forward. "The town needs you David. I'll do it."
There were more protests and Hook could quickly tell that there would never be an agreement. Perhaps that was the problem with being a hero: you began to care for too many people who cared for you. Hook knew it had to be him. Knew he'd have to just do it. Have to do this one last thing for Emma.
That was when it hit him, after everything he'd been through with Emma he'd expected she would be the first to volunteer but she hadn't. In fact she hadn't said anything since he had made his own offer. Frantically his eyes searched for her on platform and that's when he saw her, several paces away on the opposite side from everyone at the edge.
"Swan!" Hook yelled urgently, brushing past David as he did so.
At his shout, the rest turned to look at her.
"Emma! Don't!" David yelled, instantly at Hook's side.
They both wanted to rush to her side and pull her to the center but the look in her eyes told them that if they tried she'd jump right then.
Emma smiled at them sadly, tears filling her eyes. "I love you all so much. That's why I have to do this."
"No you don't." David insisted, taking another step forward.
"Yes I do," She insisted, her eyes finding Hook's for a brief moment before flashing back to David. "Tell Henry I love him and take care of him for me."
Before Hook could say a word of how he felt she jumped and then she was gone, swallowed by darkness on all sides.
Time slowed down for him as the platform rose up at an accelerated pace. Hook was vaguely aware of the walls returning and Calypso saying something but it didn't matter just then.
All he could see was Emma leaping into the darkness, the sad look on her face ingrained in his memory.
All that mattered was Emma was gone.
Author's Note: So… yeah. There's the end of chapter one. Hope you enjoyed and that you don't hate me too much. Please let me know what you thought and I hope you will stay tuned for what's in store next time!