A/N: I just noticed that I had posted this second part on Tumblr a ~(very) long time ago, but never here. For now this fic is on hiatus but I do plan to get back to it, probably somewhen in July!
Emma wanted to keep being angry at him and ignore him to make him understand how hurt she was, but she was not a child anymore and she knew that she could not afford to do such thing, she had to help put a stop to the Dark One's plans, especially if she was linked to those plans.
She looked him straight in the eyes. "I am really really fucking angry at you Killian, like you can't even imagine" He had let go of her shoulders but her words made him raise his hand and he frowned at her, a look Emma knew very well, it meant he was going to say something, because he could not keep quiet when it was needed. Emma grabbed his hand and held it with both of her hands. "but I do know you meant no harm and we don't have the time to fight about this."
"So tell me, Milah was married with Rumple for what fifteen years, how could she only find out he is the Dark One?"
"She says that until last year he was totally normal, she thinks the change happened during the summer, he left for a week to look for special potion ingredients in Albania and she said that when he came back he was different, prompt to anger. He blamed it on the fact that he had been affected by undiluted fire rats' poison: he even showed her the bite mark. After a week the mark disappeared and little by little his anger outburst stopped and he was back to normal."
"So that's when she thinks it happened? Did she tell you if she saw anything in her dreams about the transitioning or where the dagger was?"
He looked at her from below his dark hair confusedly, he looked like a young naïve child for a moment, a child needing her guidance and protection. But just as soon as the comparison appeared in her mind, his look changed and he looked pensive.
"Milah definitely thought that it was when it happened, because later he never left the school long enough to go on a trip, not even during at Halloween when he had a week off, he stayed with her and Bae in Hogsmeade. She said he had been secretive and kind of shifty that week, but no sudden changes like the one in the summer. What's this dagger you are talking about?"
"Well, I am talking about the dagger, haven't you heard or read about it? It's in Hogwarts: A History for Merlin's sake, isn't that your favorite book? Here, let me show you."
One of the things to know about Killian Jones was that he was a book worm and quite the nerd. He hid it from his fellow students because he said it would "ruin his reputation" especially in Slytherin where most students thought of him only as the "sexy and talented Quidditch player who was related the infamous Mills family", Killian's own words. If you heard him say it then you could hear him drawl out the word "talented" in his Irish brogue.
He could be found reading any kind of book, from a Muggle thriller novel to a book about magical theories. Killian's favorite book genre however, was history books, the kind that accounted battles and historical figures lives as well as disappeared places and cultures. And the book he never left the castle without, for a reason that Emma could not figure out, was Hogwarts: A History.
The black leather shoulder bag that Killian used was laying next to the tree, the part that she could see had a pirate flag's patch. Emma crawled until it was at arm's length and then dragged it towards her, earning herself an "Oye!" from Killian. She then pulled a book out of it and let go of the bag before noticing the title of the book.
PETER PAN
Emma felt her eyebrow rise out of its own will and a smirk play on her lips while her head tilted towards the book, their way of saying "seriously?".
She remembered when they had first met during their first year in this clearing she had had that book with her and Killian had asked her about it. At first they hadn't talked to each other much, they had both found the clearing during their second week end at Hogwarts and after having determined that they were the only one who knew about it, they had set up a truth where they were no longer Emma Swan, Griffindor and daughter of Snow White and Headmaster Charming, and Killian Jones, Slytherin and cousin of the Dark Witches Cora and Regina Mills. They just kept themselves to a side of the clearing and ignored the other, just basking in the calm and the magic of the clearing. Then they started to strike a friendship, thanks to the books they would carry with them and read in the clearing. They started by asking each other about the books and by the end of the year they were best friends, but only inside the clearing. Inside the school they were two students belonging to opposite houses and having no friends in common.
Emma shook herself out of her reverie, it had taken her only a few seconds to remember that time six years ago. She searched inside the bag for the book she wanted and then put the Peter Pan book back inside.
She opened Hogwarts: A History while pulling herself up and searched through the index for the part she wanted, opened the book at the right page, and then sat next to Killian to show him.
"See this part, it's about the Founders' biography, I am surprised you haven't read it, since you used to be so keen on finding secret passages thanks to this book. Anyway here it says that the Dark One has only one weakness, there is a dagger with his name on it, and if someone possesses the dagger then they can control the Dark One." She pointed at an illustration of a wizard holding a dagger in the air and a man in a dark cloak on his knees in front of him. "It also says that the Dark One is immortal and can only be killed by the same dagger. But-"
"Oh Emma this is perfect!" Killian got up, looking frantic. He started pacing around the tree, a dark smile on his face.
"All we need is to find this dagger and then we'll be able to destroy him, we'll avenge Milah and we'll make sure that he can never hurt you!" He was almost jumping around in his joy at having found a solution and Emma could not help but feel regret at the idea to have to crush his hopes.
"Killian! Killian, look at me!" He stopped jumping around and turned towards her, his smile thinning as he took in her sad face.
"If someone kills the Dark One with his dagger, he BECOMES the Dark One. That's how Rumplestiltskin became the Dark One, he must have found the former Dark One's dagger and killed him. But I thought about it and let's be realistic, Rumple is a smart Slytherin, if he actually turned into the Dark One in Albania there is a good chance that he hide his dagger there, or somewhere that is very well protected and where no one will find it. He could even have transfigured it into something else! If Milah did not tell you about the dagger it means she did not see it, so we can forget about that idea, but…"
"But what?"
"Well, if I remember correctly, it should be… "
Emma rifled through some pages until she found the biography of Salazar Slytherin.
"Here! It says that in 1228 when the Dark One was ravaging the country, after the Founders had tried everything that they could to find the dagger, they built under the guidance of Salazar Slytherin a cell capable of holding anyone and of preventing them from using their magic, no matter how powerful they were. From the moment the door was locked and the wizard inside the cell, he or she could no longer use their magic, and they used that cell to trap the Dark One for over fifty years, until someone who had found the dagger, killed the former Dark One and that's when the cycle started again."
"Well if we can't kill him then we will at least make sure to stop him, until we can find a permanent way to destroy that murderer."