A/N: Hello everyone and prepare yourselves for a lenghty author's note!
As most of you may have realised, I have not updated this story for almost two years. There are several reasons for it: I moved to a different country, I got a job that sucked most of my writer's inspiration out of me; I got depressed, etc. And the most prevalent, I think, would be that I lost complete faith in Once upon a time. I have not watched it since season five ended - and what a shitty end, seriously, and I don't intend to start watching it anytime soon.
As a result, I lost will to write a story about that series, about those characters, even if I still love them for who they have been for several wonderful series.
It was only the kind and invigorating message of one of you that made me wish to finish this story. Because it would not be very long now, and because I don't like to leave things hanging and unfinished. So you can all thank dancingmylifeaway for indirectly bringing you this new chapter.
I will finish this. I promise. I don't know how often I'll update, but I will finish this story. Because Selene is my baby, and because for once, I think our gang need some time off crappy endings.
Enjoy this chapters and leave reviews if you so wish!
Disclaimer: I do not own Once upon a time nor any of its characters. I only own the plot in this story as well as a major OC.
11. Mother
Selene
She had been sailing the Jolly for what seemed like hours. Her thoughts were raging, more often than not settling on a means to contact the others at shore. Emma had forced her to sail some distance away from Avalon, and Selene felt immensely distressed at the very prospect of having to leave them behind.
As much as she wanted to convince herself that it was wrong, they were her family too now. She would not abandon them.
Her "mother" had been busy doing God-know-what below deck for the good part of an hour, and if the regular tinkles she was hearing were any clue, she was rummaging through Hook's stuff.
Their captive – Merlin, the great Sorcerer with a capital S – was still unconscious and in the same spot he had been left in. Selene wondered briefly what exactly Emma had done to him. He didn't look to be in pain, but he wasn't exactly looking perfectly fine either.
Her thoughts of taking him and trying her magic to escape were cut short when Emma erupted from below deck, an angry vibe around her – then again, she was always angry nowadays.
Her golden and green eyes settled on her harshly, and she pointed with her chin towards the man. "It's time. Leave the wheel and wake him up." She had something in her hand, but Selene did not see what.
The Sorcerer awoke after a couple of gentle shakes. He was startled, and stared at her blankly and somehow fearfully before remembering his bearings and sitting up abruptly.
He raised a hand as if to conjure something, and Emma hissed. "Do not even think about it."
Merlin's eyes fell on her, and he sighed. "My child, I told you, this was not necessary."
"You made me who I am, Merlin," she spat the name. "Now you're going to fix me."
"I told you," he groaned as he stood, and Selene did not dare help him up, "I cannot. Not alone."
Emma took two steps forward and hissed again. "And I told you I don't trust you or your petty little friends. You'll do it here. And now."
Merlin sighed again, and Selene was struck with how he did not seem scared of Emma. At all. He must have truly been powerful to be untouched by the darkness surrounding her. Maybe he could defeat her if he had the occasion. If what Emma said was true, and he had created the Dark Ones, it made sense anyway…
"I cannot. Once again, I urge you to listen. I need-"
"Don't try to trick me, warlock," another spat, "I have ended lives more worthy than yours."
The man smirked in response. Selene silently moved to a secluded part of deck. She didn't want to miss one second of this exchange, and at the same time, she didn't want to be caught in the cross-fire…
Emma
The worm. The worthless worm. He thought he could trick her with his words, but she knew better.
He had harnessed Darkness inside the dagger once. He could suck it out of her with a snap of his fingers.
He could not fool her.
The fingers of her left hand twitched under the sudden need to lash out at him, as she had done in the castle walls. Her anger had reined in any sense in her, and she had just launched all she could at his face until he collapsed and she took him.
But she could not afford to wait for him to recover again.
"I am not lying, Emma." He moved to a barrel and sat on it, angering her even further. "When I created the dagger, and the being that came with it, I was not alone. The first Dark One was the woman who helped me. Nimueh."
"I don't care what lies you give me." She advanced on him, hand and lips trembling under her rage. "You'll cure me." Her eyes fell on the pitiful child who was barely hidden beneath the stairs. "And you'll destroy her."
Merlin's eyes followed hers. His gaze turned a new shade, somehow painted with something akin to fear. Emma tilted her head to the side. "You are scared of her."
"Everyone is scared of something they do not understand," he answered calmly before looking back at her. "I cannot destroy her. You created her. You must undo your own curse."
Emma felt the rage stir to life dangerously in her veins. The Darkness wanted out, wanted to harm, to kill. It wanted to defend itself against the being that had all the keys to her destruction. It wanted to kill Merlin, the great Sorcerer, and it wanted to destroy the girl to oblivion.
How dare she? How dare she exist and take her place in her family like this?
How dare she breathe still?
There was a gasp and Emma's gaze settled on the girl – she had even been given a name, for God's sake! She was clawing at her throat, eyes bulging as if she was suffocating. Emma realised quickly that her magic had reached out for the girl and was trying to end her, and for a crazy moment, she tightened her hold around the girl's throat.
Selene's blue eyes were glazed over, tears spilling on her cheeks. But something else was there too.
Beneath the blue, a whirl of emotions and of something different was brewing, and as the girl continued fighting against the invisible hand choking her, her arm shot towards Emma, and a bolt of pure white light struck her right in the chest.
Emma flew backwards on the deck, but she flew to her feet quickly, just as Selene coughed and sucked in painful breaths. Her blue eyes met Emma's, and she raised her hand again, in defence only.
Emma growled and the Darkness reached out to kill the girl again – so she had magic, the brat, and hers, nonetheless. She needed to suffer for her theft.
Tendrils of grey magic – but darker by the second – aimed for the girl's heart, but another bolt of white magic dissipated it quickly. This time the bolt transformed into a wide shield of pure light, and the force of it made Emma double over in pain.
It was excruciating. The scorching of even more skin, the changing of her self. The blackening of her heart. She could feel it, feel its fire as it ate away at her body.
She cried out in pain and her eyes – both golden – raised to watch as the girl disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.
Emma squeezed her eyes shut once more under the onslaught of pain.
When she came to, Emma had been lain down on the Captain's bed. She bolted up, alarm ringing in her veins when she remembered where she was and with whom. The cabin was empty. She quickly assessed the state of her body – scales covering almost every inch of her by then – before running up on deck, to check if the warlock was still there.
He could have run away, a hundred times over, and yet, he was there, sitting on the same barrel as before, eyes closed and lips moving under what seemed to be meditation.
He opened his hazel eyes when she approached, and a sad smile appeared on his lips.
"I am so sorry, my child. Everything that is happening to you makes no sense. It was not written so. I truly am sorry."
Emma stared at him blankly, and was surprised to notice that she was not raging with anger for once. The Darkness had eaten her almost completely away, and yet, she retained some sort of calm.
She wondered if Killian had done something to her dagger.
"You said you needed something to cure me."
Merlin smiled. "I am glad you see reason. Yes, I need two things. Your dagger, for one-" she nodded, she knew exactly who had it and was glad of it for once, "-and a nymph. Vivian, who lives in Camelot, will do the trick."
"Why do you need her?"
"I need someone to help me suck the Darkness out of you. Vivian is very powerful and will gladly help. Nymphs are born of magic, a bit like you: their supply of power is infinite."
Emma nodded sharply. "Then let's find her and my dagger."
Merlin nodded back. "Let's."
Killian
He did not care for the castle's beauty as the Queen led them to wherever the witch had gone. She could tell them about this column or that statue, the only thing he cared about was to find Emma.
I'm close, my love, I'm close, he kept repeating himself.
He hoped it was true.
He wondered again what the lass was up to on his ship. He doubted she'd bolt and leave them stranded on that medieval island, but she had been acting strange for a while. The last time wasn't when she looked about to kiss him.
The thought was still disturbing him on many levels…
"Hook, you alright?" He looked at David who was walking beside him and nodded once without answering.
The Queen finally stopped in front of a simple door, one of the few that was not heavily decorated, and knocked once. Then she entered, her Knight in tow, followed by the rest of the gang.
Regina's eyes danced on the room with the same calculated gaze she had had countless times since he had met her – she was assessing every potential threat, and he was glad for it.
Robin settled next to his lover, unsurprisingly surveying the sorceress – or witch, or nymph, whatever suited her best – who was bend over a basin filled with what looked like fragrant water.
The Charmings approached her first, of course.
"Have you found her?" asked Snow White. His heart constricted as he waited for an answer.
"She is on your vessel." Vivian said simply, with a hint of a smile. Killian's eyes widened. On the Jolly? But-
"Selene!" he said with worry. Snow mirrored his gaze, while David's brow furrowed.
"What else do you see?"
The nymph pursed her lips. "I am not a seer, David Nolan. I can see where your daughter is, and I can see that she has Merlin close, as well as a part of herself. I guess it is the anomaly that the old man has been talking about for a while now." She moved away from the table, long limbs graceful as she paced around the room. "I guess you could go back to your boat and apprehend her. Although they have set anchor a bit far from the coast, I'm afraid."
She was advancing on Killian with something in her eyes that he didn't quite like.
Regina liked it even less. "What do you think you are doing?"
Vivian looked at her with a raised brow. "What ever do you mean?"
The Queen – Guinevere – cleared her throat. "I am sorry. Vivian, can you please help us retrieve Merlin? And the Saviour?"
The magical being tilted her head to the side. "I think I can. But I don't know if I will."
Her eyes fell on Killian again, and his blood froze. There was something predatory in her eyes, and he really really didn't like it. Her smile was too unnerving, it somehow reminded him of the Crocodile's.
His fingers tightened around the hilt of the dagger he held in the inside of his jacket, and Vivian tutted.
"Now now, Captain, don't be mistrusting. Can I see?"
She looked like a serpent. Everyone in the room was unmoving, but Killian did not notice, entranced as he was by her serpentine movements and smile. Henry would have no doubt found a resemblance with a character from his 'movies' but Killian was too busy to wonder who it'd be.
"What are you going to do with it?"
"Just look, I promise." The smile was too wide, but somehow, Killian found himself bringing the dagger to light. His grip tightened around it when Vivian's stare became too greedy, though. "It's…beautiful," she said, want dripping from her words.
Killian hissed, willing to tell her she'd never touch it, but the witch was too precise, too quick. He found himself frozen in mid-air, his hook hovering above her wrist as she had reached for the blade, his teeth gritting but no sound making it past his lips.
The nymph gently pried his fingers off the hilt, and the dagger shone in her grasp, as did her eyes. "Finally. Finally I can control what magic I wish. Finally I can become more powerful than that old goat." Her laughter filled the room, crazed, inhuman, and then she looked at him again. "Don't worry, Captain. Your Emma will not suffer."
And she disappeared, just like that.
No puff of smoke, just…her, ceasing the exist.
The room started to life again, and Snow and him exchanged a glance.
They had lost Emma.
Again.
A/N2: I was my intention from the beginning to make Vivian more shady than she appears. People who are too beautiful generally are not as beautiful inside. Anyway, some things might evolve from what I had planned since the official canon for this story has aired, but nothing that will denature the whole thing, I promise. :)