True Love
A/N: HELL YEAH! Passed my exams! I've never been more scared in my life, but all the work these past years has paid off. Now I can enjoy the rest of my summer.
Belated happy birthday to Aphrodite7892! I have now got the chapter out, sorry I didn't get it up for you birthday.
Chapter 21- Ready When You Are
"YOUR MAJESTIES!" both Snow and James jumped when an out of breath guard burst through the doors.
"What is it?" said James, staring at the wheezing man.
"The Evil Queen!" he began, forcing words out. "She sent the order to march on the castle."
"She's headed this way?" asked Snow, standing from her chair.
"Yes Queen Snow." The royals shared a look, understanding one another perfectly.
"Then we shall do the same! It's time to finish this once and for all."
Xxxxxxx
Emma sat hunched over in a high backed chair, deep in the royal library. Books littered the tables and floors as she searched none stop for an answer. The Princess had been spending a lot of her free time in the library, poring over as many books as she could find, depicting magic and the powers of true love.
However, none of the books she had gone through seemed to give her an answer. Two days ago, Regina had given the order for her men to march on the White Castle. During that time, Emma had no doubt that her parents would have caught wind of this, and were sending their own army out to meet Regina's.
This gave Emma very little time to act. Since hearing Regina had sent out her army, Emma had been desperate to find a way to stop the war. Though as time wore on, it seemed she was no closer to finding an answer, to when she started in the first place.
"This is useless." She grumbled, throwing the heavy book back onto the pile and flicking her wrist, making another one appear. The Princess couldn't help but smirk at her now much more developed magic, and how useful it is. Granted all Emma used it for was to poof around the castle and make things appear in her hands when she was too lazy to retrieve them herself.
Max eyed the large pile of books all around them, and Emma caught his train of thought. Waving her hand once more, the books returned to their shelves, as if she had never touched them.
"We don't want to be caught reading these." She mumbled, pulling open another heavy book, and flicking through the time worn pages. Emma had hoped she could find some way to calm Regina and her parents down, or perhaps make them forget their hate for each other entirely.
The Princess glanced out of the window, noticing the rapidly darkening sky. Regina would no doubt be fretting about her where she had disappeared off to. Emma heaved a sigh and shut the book, deciding to put it back herself instead of using magic. She rested her forehead against the shelf for a moment, unable to bring herself to face Regina once more.
The Queen had gone completely nuts when Emma had continued to refuse to share a bed with her, and had taken to showing her frustration through anyway she could. Frankly, Emma was bored of the older woman's childish behaviour at not getting her way.
Emma strutted from the library, heading for the dining hall to sit through another intense interrogation from Regina about what she kept looking for in the library. The Princess was rapidly running out of excuses to be in there constantly, and she thanked her lucky stars that it was the only room in the whole castle without any mirrors for Regina to spy on her with.
The blonde frowned when she noticed Graham and two guards stationed outside the door to the dining hall.
"Graham?" he nodded at her, glancing at the men beside him before approaching Emma.
"Dinner is going to be delayed Em." He said heavily, tiredness lacing his accented voice.
"How come?" She peered around Graham, hoping to see what was denying her the chicken she had been thinking about most of the day.
"The Queen is entertaining some guest…"
"Let me guess." She said, raising an eyebrow. "She's hoping to persuade them to help her fight?"
"I'm afraid so, I don't recognise most of them, but I understand they aren't merely common people like me." Emma frowned at him.
"Magical people?"
"I assume so…" The Princess huffed, glancing out of the window once more, noticing it was a clear night.
"Very well, I shall find a way to entertain myself." She turned to walk away, but stopped when Graham called her back.
"Would you like company?" she smiled at him, shaking her head lightly.
"No thank you, I would rather like a moment to my thoughts." He nodded and let her, watching as she disappeared around the corner, before returning to his post.
Xxxxxxxx
It was a beautiful night, and Emma couldn't help but be lost in how peaceful it was. It had been a while since she had taken the time to stop and relax for a moment. The blonde wondered down the path in the gardens, looking for a nice spot to sit. She noticed a small pond and settled down next to it, lying back to stare up at the stars. Emma smiled as she felt Max plop next to her, laying his head on her stomach. She let out a deep sigh, vaguely tracing the constellations and remembering their stories. Her eyes easily found her favourite constellation, Cygnus.
Flashback
"Where are we going?" Eron laughed as Emma hauled him through the royal gardens. It was late, and the Princess was supposed to be in bed, but she was desperate to show Eron her favourite pass time.
"To the stars!" she cried happily as they stopped at the edge of the gardens, where it slopped down slightly. Emma sat down, and encouraged Eron to follow suit, tugging on his hand. The two sat in silence for a moment.
"What are we looking at?" He asked, frowning at the Princess, who flopped back on the grass.
"Lay back." She commanded, smiling as he did what he was told.
"Now what?"
"Do you know any constellations?" Eron shook his head, looking at her.
"My father brought me out here for the first time when I was very small, and sat me down on the grass, instructing me to look up at the stars and tell him what I saw." Emma closed her eyes, reliving the beautiful moment between her and Charming. She had only been about four or five at the time. "I told him I only saw stars, but he said they were much more than stars."
"Oh? What are they then?" Eron looked at her, a small smile on his face.
"Stories."
"Stories?" Emma nodded, and pointed at a cluster of stars. "You see that? That one is called Leo."
"Leo? And what it his story?"
"He was a lion, killed by the hero Hercules." Eron frowned at her.
"Hercules? I have never heard of such a man." Emma smiled at his confusion.
"He is not from our world." The darker haired boy raised an eyebrow at her. "I do not know where he came from, but many of the stories behind the constellations come from different worlds."
"It's funny to think there are other worlds, don't you think?" Emma nodded, looking for other constellations. "What other ones are there?"
"Sagittarius." She pointed to a different group of stars. "Represents the centaur, Chiron. Again he was killed by Hercules, accidently this time however. He was shot by a poisoned arrow, but due to his immortality he could not die. Instead he took the place of another man, who had been sent to Tartarus."
"What was his name, the man he swapped places with?"
"Prometheus, he was punished by the gods for giving humans fire."
"Why didn't Chiron just heal?"
"The poison was from the Lernaean Hydra, and inflicted great suffering on Chiron. By swapping places with Prometheus, he could escape the pain. Jupiter recognised his goodness and placed him in the stars."
Emma went on to tell Eron many stories belonging to the constellation, loving being able to share with him all their stories, like her father had with her.
"What about…that one?" Eron pointed a group of stars and Emma smiled.
"That one is Cygnus, my favourite of them all." Eron looked at it closely, trying to work out what it is.
"What is it?"
"Cygnus is a swan, though he didn't start out that way." Eron rolled over to look at Emma, who gazed up at the swan.
"What happened to him?"
"Cygnus, was the son of Sthenele and a close friend of Phaethon. Phaethon died in the river Eridanus after attempting to drive the chariot of the sun, and Cygnus was overcome with grief that Jupiter could have struck down his friend."
"Why did Jupiter do that?" Emma smiled sadly as she remembered the story.
"Phaethon was the son of Apollo, the sun God. One day Phaethon asked his father to let him drive the sun chariot. However Phaethon could not control the chariot, and Jupiter feared he would burn the world with his actions, and so shot him down with his master bolt, causing him to drown in the river." Emma was silent for a moment.
"What happened next?" he prompted.
"In his grief, Cygnus transformed. His voice became thin and shrill, and white feathers hid his hair. His neck grew long, stretching out from his chest, his fingers reddened and joined together. Wings clothed his sides, and a blunt beak fastened on his mouth. Cygnus became a new kind of bird: but he put no trust in the skies, or in Jupiter, for he remembered how that god had unjustly hurled his flaming bolt. Instead, Cygnus made for marshes and broad lakes, and in his hatred of flames chose to inhabit the rivers, which are the very antithesis of fire."
"That's a sad one." Eron said finally, after they had sat in silence for a while.
"It is." Emma turned to face the older boy. "Phaethon means the shining one, like the sun."
"The sun?" he grinned at her, gesturing back and forth between them. "Swan and Sun!"
"Huh?"
"That's us! You're Cygnus and I am Phaethon." She smiled at him.
"Cygnus is a guy's name." he frowned, thinking for a moment.
"How about Odette? Like the Swan woman from the story?" she chuckled at him.
"Okay, I am Odette then. You can just be Eron, Phaethon doesn't have much of a ring to it."
"The sun and swan." He said, lying back once more.
Xxxxxxx
Emma smiled up at the constellation, running her thumb over the small sun bead on her bracelet. A year ago everything had been so easy, and nothing had mattered. She could just train and attend lessons, and then muck around with Eron, and other friends from around the palace. Life was so easy.
"I would have liked it to stay that way." She mumbled to herself.
"If life was supposed to be easy, there would be no point living it." Emma screamed at the voice, startling Max, who had been slumbering on her. "I should probably start announcing myself from a distance huh?"
"What!" Emma stared at the ghostly form of her old friend, lying back on the grass.
"Calm down sis." He chuckled, putting his arms behind his head as a cushion.
"What are you doing here? I thought I was never going to see you again in this land?!" Emma shrieked, unable to control her speeding heart.
"So did I, but apparently you need a little guidance." He looked over at her, raising an eyebrow. Emma frowned at him, crossing her arms.
"I'm fine." She said, putting on her best poker face.
"Pfft don't give me that look, I taught you that look." Emma huffed, and sank back down onto the grass next to him.
"Okay fine! I'm a little…lost." He sighed, sitting up so that they were level. Emma eyed his translucent body, and how it glowed faintly.
"I can see that." Emma wrung her hands in her lap, not wanting to look him in the eye.
"How are you here? Did someone send you?" He frowned at her.
"You could say that." She glared back at him.
"Do you have to be so vague!?" she snapped, finding his constantly calm aura unsettling, even in death he was exactly the same.
"You remember when you told me about the stories of the constellations?" Emma nodded. "You said about Gods and Goddess', creators of life and all sorts."
"Are you saying they're real?" He shook his head.
"If they are, then I've never seen them." He said thoughtfully. "However there people like them."
"Who?"
"You aren't ready for that yet." It was difficult to make out the emotion in his voice. "They are simply the higher power."
"More powerful than Regina or Rumpelstiltskin?" he smiled at her, clearly amused.
"They make Regina and the Dark One look like ants." Emma found it hard to believe anyone could be more powerful than Regina and Rumple.
"And they sent you here?"
"Yes, they've taken an interest in you." His eyes darted down to Emma's bracelet, sadness flickering in his face. "You're about to change the world."
"Because of the war?" He didn't reply, instead he watched Max sniff around at the flowers.
"You know you can't change how they feel Em." The Princess' shoulders sagged at his words.
"I know."
"Magic can manipulate emotions, but it can't fully change them." He shifted his hand, as if wanting to reach to her. "Just like how it can neither create nor destroy them."
"I hoped if I could, this would all go away and everyone would just be happy." He smiled sadly at her.
"Good always comes from bad things. Nothing stays dark forever." She shook her head, feeling tears prickling her eyes.
"Are you angry Eron?"
"Angry?"
"With me, are you angry with me?" Emma stared straight ahead, not wanting to see his face and he spoke.
"No." The blonde frowned, but didn't speak. "It wasn't your fault Emma."
"I killed you." She whispered. "Every day I wish you were here, with me. And then I remember that the only reason you aren't…is because I killed you."
"I have accomplished more in death, than I ever could in life. I do not wish to live again." Emma turned to him, looking for a trace of a lie. But she saw nothing but sincerity.
"How can you want death? How can you accept it with open arms?" He smiled at her again, his scar crinkling.
"When I lived, my only dream was to spend the rest of my days with you. You were my home, you are my home." He shook his head. "However it was unrealistic, I see the world so differently through the eyes of death."
"I wanted that too." Emma's heart felt heavy, like it was weighing her down. "I just wanted to be happy, with my family and that was you."
"You have a new family." He said quietly.
"Not without you, my heart will forever have a hole in it, one than can never be repaired."
"I have always been with you. From the moment we met, till right now. I have never left your side."
"I have to make a sacrifice to stop this war, don't I?"
"Light and Dark shall forever be at odds, as the final sacrifice is made." Emma shuddered at the line from the Prophesy.
"Am I going to die? Is the sacrifice my life?" He frowned at her.
"We don't know, the future is as clear as day until you make the sacrifice, from there we are unable to see what will come of you and this whole realm." There was a heavy silence between them.
"You know what I do to stop this war, don't you?" he simply nodded. "You aren't going to tell me are you…?"
"What good does telling you the answer do? You won't learn anything." Emma sighed.
"However I can give you advise." She perked up at this.
"What?"
"Stop looking for something to help you stop the war, and instead look for someone." Emma frowned at him. "There are many books in the royal library that will tell you many things. You must look for a book which tells the story of how light began, and those who continue to protect it."
Eron began to stand up, brushing god knows what off of himself as he did. Emma followed his lead and stood up with him. He stared up at the sky, looking at the constellations.
"Cygnus lived the rest of his life in grief Emma. Do not do the same."
"How can I not?"
"I'm always here." He stepped towards her. "And I will be there in the end."
"You're leaving now aren't you?" He nodded.
"This story is unlike any other Odette. And I intend to be here to see it all, but like I told you before, I do not belong in this world…not permanently."
"The final sacrifice…" Emma felt something click in her, and she stared at Eron, who smiled at her.
"You know what must be done, but it doesn't have to be done alone." He opened his arms wide. "You have the whole world right before, and so many more to see! Go Emma Swan, go and live."
"Emma Swan?"
"I think it suits you."
"I'll miss you." She says, and grins at her.
"Just look up and you'll see me..." Emma frowned at him, but he said nothing else as his body began to dissolve once more and disappear.
A/N: I'm sorry I didn't get this out sooner, but I got really caught up. Please review and tell me what you think. There wasn't any Regina in this chapter, but I'll make up for it in the next! Anyone know what the sacrifice is yet? I hope not otherwise I suck at the art of mystery. Till next time Kids.