Chapter twelve

"Do you truly believe me to be capable of magic?" Emma breathed as she continued to follow her wife away from the River Lethe.

Once she had woken up from her sleep, she had felt incredibly rested and more than ready to face whatever was present in Tartarus. That didn't hold back the blush when she had awoken to the goddess of the Underworld leaning over her with concern on her face. Regina had only laughed at the princess's embarrassment and helped her up, offering no explanation of what had happened. Emma knew better than to ask the immortal about her business, plus she had a sneaking suspicion that she would find out soon enough.

They had walked in silence for ten minutes until the blonde had finally voiced her question and the brunette looked over shoulder as if she were shocked by the sound.

"It is your birth right, I don't see why you wouldn't be capable," she shrugged, "why? Does the prospect excite you?"

Emma smiled slightly and blush crept up her neck as she gave a small nod, "it would be exciting…"

Regina stopped walking and turned to face the very happy looking princess, "perhaps a small test would be order before you enter the darkest depths of Hell."

The blonde nodded her agreement and Hades noted the lack of fear on her face.

She was beginning to understand what Dawn meant about not coddling her, there was no way that she would survive a real fight without a grasp of an emotion she'd only had a couple times in her life.

"How would you test it?" the blonde frowned.

Regina inspected her for a moment before she opened her palm and ignited a fireball with practiced ease, "copy," she commanded.

Emma took a moment to inspect her hand, she found it hard to believe that she could possibly be capable of that, even if she was aware that it was one of the more basic spells.

Scrunching her eyes shut, she tried to imagine the flames raising from her hand, peeking one eye open, she noticed that nothing happened.

Her shoulders sagged and she looked up at her wife with disappointment written across her face.

Regina took a moment to analyse just how adorable she looked, before she just shook her head and said, "magic is not a feat many mortals are capable of. It was a foolish notion to expect you to progress so quickly, you will need time to discover what motivates you."

"What do you mean?" the blonde asked with a furrowed brow.

"For some, magic stems from the need to protect another, for others, revenge is what motivates their power. Each individual needs to know what emotion fuels their power so that they can control it."

Emma considered this for a moment, she had no idea what had fuelled her powers whenever she had done the small spells in the past, she hadn't really even known that she had done anything special at the time.

"How do I find out what my motivation is?" she frowned.

Regina shrugged her shoulders and said, "it takes experience that you don't have…"

The blonde nodded and began walking forward.

"What are you are doing?" Regina sighed.

"Going to get experience," the princess laughed, and pointed in the direction of Tartarus, began walking resolutely ahead.

Regina smiled fondly at her back, before she rolled her eyes and began following her to the darkest depths of hell.


"Are you sure you're ready?" Regina asked with her arm blocking the path.

Emma tilted her head and offered the half grin that she had no idea her wife loved so much, "how else do you suppose I can get life experience?"

"Most people don't typically start their lives in the Underworld," the brunette frowned.

The blonde shrugged and said, "my life hasn't exactly been typical thus far, I see no issue with experiencing adventure in your domain.

Regina sighed deeply and stood aside so that she could see exactly what she was getting herself into.

Behind her, stood a colossal gate, the only barrier between them and the eternal home of the most despicable to ever live.

Emma's eyes widened as she inspected the intricate cravings set in what was certainly platinum, she felt a slight pang in her stomach as incessant whispering invaded her senses. She could just feel the souls of the truly damned, the demons and Titans who were sentenced to live their immortal lives in oblivion.

"Do…do we just walk in?" she asked in a slightly shaky voice.

Regina raised her eyebrow, the blonde seemed just on the edge of understanding the exact emotion she needed and the goddess couldn't stop the guilt pooling in her stomach. She knew that the princess needed to understand fear if she wanted the kind of adventure she had always dreamed of, but she didn't wish to throw her in head first. Although, she had lived in the underworld for over a month without learning the emotion, a feat that many mortals were incapable of.

"Is this not what you wanted, dear?" the brunette asked almost hopefully.

Emma bit her lip and shook her head and after a moment, she clutched the hilt of her newly acquired sword and began walking forward.

Regina managed to silence a heavy sigh and instead rolled her eyes at her wife's back, before she began following her. As they got closer, the goddess waved her hand and the gates began to comply instantly as they creaked open to allow the pair admission to Tartarus.

The princess looked about in wander as they crossed the border and her steps faltered as she felt a wave of darkness roll over her. She instantly knew that there was a reason that living mortals were confined to their plane of existence.

She tried to imagine her mother's reaction to the things in the Underworld that she now considered normal.

Snow White probably wouldn't take well to living in proximity to the infamous Fields of Punishment and she knew that her father would be ever on guard with all of the demons she had managed to evade thus far.

Neither of them would even consider physically visiting the domain of Hades and they definitely wouldn't wish to go even deeper into their daughter-in-law's land.

Regina came up behind the young woman and resisted her compulsion to place her hands on her shoulders, even though all she wanted to do was protect her, she knew that wasn't the point of this exercise.

"You are under no obligation to continue, Emma," she assured instead of the physical contact she wanted.

For the first time, the blonde had the urge to turn back from something. She knew that she could easily go back to Regina's palace and train swordplay on her own, but the thought didn't sit well with her.

She knew that it didn't exactly make her a coward if she didn't go in, since there was no real consequence if she didn't. If someone needed help, she would already be half way down the corridor, but at the moment, it was only her curiosity at stake.

With yet another deep breath, she gripped the sword tighter and began walking forward, telling herself there was no way that she wanted to regret untaken opportunities in the future.

Regina followed behind her and allowed her to look around the entrance for a while, figuring that there wasn't much harm at the upper levels, especially considering who she was accompanied by.

Emma ran her eyes over the dark rock and obsidian pillars that populated the first entrance. Straight ahead, she saw a gate that no doubt led to the true horrors of the Tartarus.

Even with the empty state of the area, she felt a certain foreboding that wasn't helped by her tighter grip on the hilt of her sword.

Her steps flattered and she took to just gawping at the area, no one thing was significant, but she could just feel the aura surrounding her. She could sense the centuries of pain that she hoped to never be able to understand.

The silence became oppressive and she was about to turn and ask Regina what she could possibly have to learn from this, when a loud squawking sent her a couple steps back.

As her back collided with the goddess's front, she just about had time to blush as the brunette's hands curled around her shoulders, before she saw the darkness itself beginning to take shape.

She registered Regina lightly squeezing her shoulders before stepping back.

Looking over her shoulder, she shot her wife a curious look and the brunette explained, "you wish to train, I wish to discover what exactly you are in need of learning."

The princess just nodded and turned back to see what her threat was.

In the next couple moments, there were a couple earth shattering squawks and she finally saw the form that was being taken.

The first thing she noticed was long raggedy leather wings, and then the clawed hands and finally, the wrinkled sunken face.

Through the pitch black, the blonde was unable to discern any precise features, but she still instantly recognised what the creature was.

Furrowed her brow, she considered the fact that there was only one Fury currently there.

Before she could come to any conclusions, however, the creature flew straight towards her and she rolled off to one side and looked over to see the creature retracting its claws.

"What does this prove?" Emma called while taking deep breaths, never taking her eyes off the monster.

"You want experience, if you wish to experience anything else, I would suggest that you draw your sword!"

Running her tongue over her chapped lips, the blonde just about managed to free the blade from its sheathe and pointed it shakily at the beast.

The Fury flew at her again and this time, she swung wildly and felt her legs tense at the sight of the outstretched claws that came an inch next to her face.

It easily avoided her imprecise swings and he winced, expecting pain but none came.

Opening her eyes, she practically leapt back as she finally got a good luck at her attacker that was just kind of floating close to her.

Her face looked like it was moments away from breaking down from age, apart from the glowing red eyes, she could be seen as just an old hag.

Noticing how the Fury was desperately trying to resist the urge to just slash her target.

Realisation crashed down upon Emma and she stepped out of the creature's reach, looking over at Regina, she saw the exasperated expression on her face.

"The Furies are your minions, I was never in any danger, was I?" she breathed.

The brunette ran her hand across her face and shook her head, "that is not exactly the result I had planned."

With a wave of her hand, the creature faded back into darkness and she inspected her wife to double check on her health.

"What was the point of that?!" the blonde shouted, she was well aware that she had no right to yell at the centuries old woman, but she just felt this weird feeling pumping through her veins. She hated the fact that she had been completely paralysed in fear and she was questioning why it was necessary.

Regina raised her eyebrow at the much younger woman who appeared to be visibly shaking and replied, "I assumed that your Charming DNA would have forced you into action. At the very least, I thought that you might show some kind of survival instinct!"

Emma huffed and clenched her fist around the hilt of the sword, she had no idea where this anger was coming from, though she would later realise that it was simply a common reaction to fear as construed as weakness and therefore anger.

"What are you doing?" Regina called with a sigh as the blonde began running down the hallway.

"I'm sick of people protecting me! Why can't anyone understand that I'm not a child?" echoed as the princess continued running.

"Perhaps I would understand if you weren't running away in a very child-like fashion!"

Before the goddess could even think about poofing herself to block her wife's path, she heard the distinctive sound of a gate screeching into place.

Her eyes widened and allowed her magic to take her to the end of the long corridor and clutched the metal blocking herself from the blonde. She focused everything she had on trying to force the metal to move but she could feel something stopping her power. Swallowing hard, she stepped back and inspected the blonde's back.

Emma was already halfway across the floor of the next room, but she stood frozen in her place, her sword clattered to the floor and she seemed to be staring at something just outside of Regina's view.

"Emma!" she called trying again to get the bars to move, but she knew that if she couldn't do it on the first try then her wife was certainly no longer dealing with any creature that she had complete control over.

The princess failed to even hear the woman's pleading cry as she continued to stare into the darkness.

This time, she couldn't see a single feature of her current attacker, but she could feel him invading her senses, willing her to be afraid, forcing pure terror to flood through her system.

Swallowing hard, she moved her hand slightly, causing her to realise that she no longer had the sword in her hand.

She was aware that all she had to do was bend down and take the blade back up, she would have something to protect herself. Try as she might, however, she just couldn't tear her attention away from the whispering blackness.

"Foolish princess," it hissed, the only thing that she could discern was that whatever creature it was, it was certainly a he, but beyond that she learned nothing from it harsh tones. She had no idea what to expect should it ever leave its shadow and that terrified her more than she could have ever imagined.

"You were coddled by your parents and now by your wife, do you not think there is a reason? You are a coward who has yet to learn the value of running away. You did not inherit any heroic nature from your father, your dreams of adventure are that of an inexperienced child. To Hades you are nothing but a mortal with limited time, your life is a blink of an eye to the goddess. To your parents you are already dead. Who do you think would truly care if you were to die right now?!"

Emma felt tears dampen her face and she began to shake more vigorously.

Somehow, her senses would not allow her to notice just how viciously Regina was trying to get to her so she could help. She just couldn't stop herself from agreeing with the creature, she was afraid of being unloved and in that moment all she wanted was for her parents to save her from this horrible place.

Taking heaving breaths, she asked, "who are you?"

"Fear itself! But I suppose you mortals know me as Phobos. I don't enjoy when those such as you refuse to appreciate me," he roared.

"P-Phobos," Emma repeated trying to remember whatever she had read about him, but her mind was completely blank.

"Just lay down and give up on your pointless adventure, stay here in Tartarus until your soul is granted death and you are allowed to return to your precious Underworld. Stay here and you will be free from ever feeling fear again."

For a moment, the blonde felt that the demon was right, she could just sit on the floor and wait to die, then she would never have to feel like this again. She could avoid pain and anguish and would soon be just another wandering spirit in the Fields of Asphodel.

But then she finally heard the voice behind her, "Emma! I'm sorry for treating you as a child, but you have a chance to prove yourself. You are stronger than this demon, all you need is light."

Emma's eyes widened and everything she had read suddenly came back to her in a rush of information.

This demon was the personification of fear so long as she could remain in the darkness, with more heaving breaths, she closed her eyes and focused on what she needed.

Opening her palm, a fire ignited and the whole room was lighted by the magic rapidly flowing through her veins.

She finally opened her eyes and her mouth fell open as she saw what she had been so terrified of a moment ago.

Hissing at her in the corner of the room, was a somewhat humanoid creature, even with the light, she couldn't see anything particularly distinctive about the creature, other than how non-threatening he was.

Reaching down, she picked up her sword and walked over to point it at him while keeping the fire alight in her hand.

"Open the gate," she commanded.

A second later, she heard the screeching of the gate lowering and she considered bringing the sword down for what he had subjected her to, but then she realised that he was immortal.

Sheathing her sword, she turned on her heels and all but ran back over to Regina.

Before the brunette could say anything, Emma basically ran into her arms and brought her own around her neck and burying her face in her shoulder.

"Thank you," the blonde mumbled.

Regina stood shocked for a moment, before she brought her arms awkwardly around her back and summoned purple smoke to take them home.

A/N Sorry for the wait, it was a mix of having inspiration for other fics and school work...I won't say when the next chapter is just because I don't want to be a liar again haha

I need to thank PerditusFic for being a mythology genius and my beta QueenApples for her usual help.

Reviews are a great motivator ;)