The Dark Backward
Chapter Ten
When Emma awakened again like each time through the loop before, she slowly opened her eyes notwithstanding the pain in her head and stared wearily up at the stars in the sky above her while she remained lying on her back against the ground, her tears continuing to roll silently down her cheeks upon having to watch for the fourth time as the man she knew she loved deep down despite being unable to admit it to even herself died. Her fear from admitting she could find love with Killian had come into fruition far worse than any of the ways she could have imagined.
She closed her eyes and laid her hands over them as she began to weep aloud, unable to contain her grief any longer. Emma found she finally lost her strength to stand back on her feet so she could make her way back to Killian again, fearing she would only fail to save him and she couldn't bear watching him die anymore.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long before David and Mary Margaret appeared again believing they would find their daughter taking a moment to catch her breath from all the running they had been doing trying to find the Author. However, her parents both ran to her once they saw Emma lying on the ground while she wept openly, completely unaware of anything that's happened.
"Emma?!" Mary Margaret cried once she reached her daughter and sat down in front of her, then gently pulled her up into her arms to hold her comfortingly, while David knelt down beside them as he laid his hand tenderly over the back of her head. "Are you hurt? What's happened? Please… please let us help you. Whatever's wrong… we can make it right."
"You can't," the Savior hopelessly whispered after she let out a few more sobs and then calmed down enough to be able to talk. "I've tried. Over and over, I've tried. I've watched him die four times now and I can't… I don't think I can do it again."
Her mother turned her eyes towards David in worry, then she tightened her embrace around Emma and asked, "What do you mean, Emma? Who's died?"
Emma finally pulled away as she wiped away the tears from her eyes and cheeks, then while she kept her eyes on the ground beneath her, she dismally replied, "Killian. First, when he protected me against Maleficent. He was struck in his back by her magic. Then, he was shot when we were in Granny's while we were surrounded by our friends. Killian was stabbed trying to protect Dad, and then… and then Ursula forced him through the windshield of my car. No matter how I try to keep him safe, death keeps chasing after him and I… I can't protect him."
"How did this all begin, Emma?" David then asked again with concern. "Have you been having recurring nightmares?"
"This isn't some terrifying nightmare repeating itself over and over in my head every night," she curtly snapped when she glared up at her father. "What's happening to us is real. You don't remember, but I've told you this before. Me and Killian are trapped in what I can only describe as a time loop after we were forced into this… twisted realm. Maleficent too."
Emma breathed in and out to calm herself again, then she added, "This night keeps on repeating just after Killian is killed. It must be because he was killed in the real world just before we were pulled through the portal. His death is the triggering point before everything happens all over again. Please… you have to believe me. I'm still angry at you for what you did to Maleficent and her child, but I'm putting my anger aside because… because I need you. I need you to help me save him and your help to get us out of here. I can't give up, but I can't do this alone."
David reached out to take her hand and squeezed it gently in understanding as he answered, "Of course we believe you, Emma. And we'll help you. If protecting Hook is how we break this loop you've become trapped in… then we will. Let's go find him. Do you have any idea where he might be right now?"
"Probably looking for me, feeling scared and confused," she quickly responded when she struggled to rise again to her feet until her parents both helped her up, then she nodded in gratitude before they finally headed back into town where they hoped they would find Hook in time.
In the meantime…
Maleficent found herself again within the cemetery outside of Regina's vault when she awoke after the darkness faded away to bring her back to the beginning of the loop. The villainess took a few minutes to regain her bearings once she stood, then waved her hand over herself to teleport aboard the Jolly Roger where she believed she would find the pirate captain upon him waking as well. She found Hook tying off one of the ship's sails to its main mast until he spun around to face her when she suddenly appeared.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Killian asked her coldly. "Do you have something to do with strangeness and the headache I feel, ever since I've awakened and found myself lying here on my ship's deck?"
The dragon sorceress kept her eyes trained on him while she collectedly replied, "I suppose I do to a degree. Although, it certainly wasn't my intention. Your Savior's also to blame as well."
Killian lowered his hand over the hilt of his sword and grasped it protectively without pulling the blade from its scabbard while he glared at her darkly as he retorted, "You're lying."
"You can relax, Captain," Maleficent said upon seeing him reaching for his weapon. "I'm not here to hurt you, or to continue placing the blame for this mess on Emma either. I'm here to try to prevent you from being killed again until she can get here to protect you herself."
"I don't understand," he answered warily, as his sense of concern only heightened upon hearing her reasoning for being there. "Why would I be in any danger? And why would you come here looking to protect me? We're on different sides."
She nodded in agreement, then she responded, "Yes we are. But then the strangeness you're feeling… the strange sense of déjà vu… it's because you, me, and Emma are all trapped in some kind of time loop that always ends with you being killed. We don't know why or how yet, but Emma and I have been somewhat working together to try to solve this mess. She'll confirm I'm telling you the truth once she gets here if you can't believe me. Not that I would blame you if you don't. Believe me, if it weren't for me being caught here, I wouldn't care what happens to you. I'm here for me… and me alone."
Killian let go of his cutlass and calmly he asked again, "If what you say is true, why can't I remember any of this when it's clear… that you do?"
The villainess shook her head, almost feeling remorse while she replied honestly, "I don't know. It's possible because you were already dead when we all became trapped here. A mistake I made when I attempted to kill the Savior out of anger instead. You got in the way protecting her. Somehow, you were revived here."
"And Emma's remembers all this too?" he then questioned sadly upon apprehending the kind of pain the woman he loved must be feeling right now if Maleficent's answer was yes, and watched her simply nod before he turned away from her to try to understand everything she's been telling him. "I feared as much. Do you know where she is now?"
"I'm not sure," Maleficent answered him again. "She usually comes to find you straight away, from wherever it is she comes from when she first wakes up. I always wake up lying on the ground within the cemetery outside of Regina's vault. Next time I see your Savior, I'll try to remember to ask her. Tell me something, Hook… how have you been able to stand living here day after day while trying to be some hero, with Gold walking free and clear after all the pain he's caused you for all the years you've both been alive?"
The Captain finally looked over at her again after he leaned over the side of his ship and responded, "That's only one of the reasons Emma is my Savior as you so snidely call her. She's saved me from myself. And while I haven't given up my hate for the bloody Dark One, she keeps me from becoming the man I used to be all over again. She could help you too if you would let her."
The sorceress laughed darkly, then she replied, "I'm not looking to be saved. Snow White and Prince Charming have to suffer for what they did to me and to my daughter. And once they do, then I will find some way to bring my daughter here to Storybrooke to be with her mother again so she won't have to feel so alone anymore."
"If we do get out of… whatever this hell is we're trapped in, and I do somehow survive, I will continue to help Emma to protect her parents from your revenge the best I can," Hook austerely answered her without waver.
"I don't doubt it," Maleficent haughtily responded.
And then, they both turned when they heard Emma calling out to Killian and saw her running into the harbor towards the Jolly Roger from the direction of town followed closely by her parents. However, she then stopped short once she reached the docks and let out a sigh of relief as she smiled upon seeing he was alright when Killian appeared atop of the gangplank. He smiled upon seeing her as well and was about to step down so he could join her, until all of a sudden, a streak of lightning came from out of nowhere as it struck the main mast, splitting it through the middle and catching the white sail on fire.
When Killian fell back against the deck as the ship rocked in the water at the impact, the Savior immediately ran forward while she screamed, "Killian!"
Maleficent also fell back, but as soon as she and Killian both raised their heads when the mast suddenly cracked in half and began to fall directly over him, the villainess raised her staff and emitted its power to create a force field over the pirate captain to try to protect him from being killed again. Once the mast crashed through the deck, the shield over him disappeared and Emma raced to him after she ran onto the deck, then helped him to stand so they could escape from the fire spreading across the Jolly Roger rapidly while she quickly nodded her thanks to Maleficent for saving Killian.
The sorceress was the first one off the burning ship as she made her way over to where David and Mary Margaret were waiting for them. Emma and Hook were about to follow, until ropes from the loose riggings hanging from the broken mast magically wrapped themselves around the ship's Captain and pulled him back down against the deck, then towards the fire as they were controlled by someone powerful.
The Savior fought against the riggings with her own magic trying to free him, while he struggled himself using his hook and his sword once he got it free from its scabbard to try to cut through them. David raced aboard so he could try to help them. Unfortunately, their efforts weren't enough, as the ropes only grew tighter around Killian's body and the flames finally reached its target when his legs caught fire, causing him to scream out in agony.
Emma cried out again, "No! Not again!"
"Em… Emma, please… please go!" he pleaded when he struggled to raise his head despite his pain in order to look up into her eyes. "Aah! You can save me again, Emma. You'll have… you'll have another chance. Go! David… take her!"
"No!" she shouted angrily, as her father finally complied with Killian's pleas when he wrapped his arms around his daughter, then pulled her back with him despite her fighting against him to get back to the man she loved. "Let me go! Killian!"
As soon as David managed to get Emma off the ship and back to where his wife and Maleficent were waiting for them, the Jolly Roger suddenly erupted into massive flames causing the ship to explode with Hook still onboard, while the sorceress raised another force field around herself and the heroes to protect them from the fire and debris.
Emma collapsed in agony and despair within her parents' arms upon losing Killian so horribly. However, it wasn't long before the white light engulfed her and Maleficent once again until the power keeping them trapped in this hell plunged them back into darkness. No one saw Gold watching the tragedy from a distance after he enchanted the ship to attack its Captain.