Disclaimer: The only thing I have to report is that the story has a new cover picture! It's actually a remake of a Princess Bride poster that I saw that I made with all of these characters. When I posted it on tumblr, it got so many likes that I figured it must be good enough to make as the cover picture! Anyhow, you know who owns it (hint, not me). Enjoy! :) Oh, and try not to get too scared ;)
It would have been impossible to find the correct trail if you weren't looking for it. But with Sir August's instructions and the tracking skills her mother had taught her, Emma had no trouble finding the trail and pushing Buttercup forward through the forest.
Throughout her ride, she repeated August's words over and over: middle of the forest, giant oak tree, counter-clockwise three trees, press the nob, down the hole, rescue Killian, middle of the forest, giant oak tree, counter-clockwise three trees, press the nob, down the hole, rescue Killian, middle of the forest, giant oak –
She reined Buttercup to a halt as she, for the second time in the last year, approached the strangest trio she had ever seen. Except this time, she recognized two of the faces.
"Graham? Anton?" she asked, her voice giving away exactly how surprised she was to see them. The last time she had, she and King George were leaving them to face the man in black alone. And when it'd been the man in black who continued to follow them, it was assumed that the two had been killed. But the man in black was Killian, and he hadn't killed either of them. Here they were, right in front of her, looking just as surprised to see her as she to see them.
"Princess!" Anton was the first to say.
Emma finally looked down at the third member of their party, who was passed out in Anton's arms. It was a very old, pale man who looked almost too frail to move. She reasoned he must be the zoo's caretaker. "What happened to him?"
"He told us where to find the man in black," Graham explained, still awestruck by the Princess's presence. "Through this entrance, five levels down. Anton knocked him out."
"And the wheel barrel?" she asked, gesturing towards the large wooden contraption that sat behind Anton.
The giant laid the caretaker in the barrel after she pointed it out. "He was pushing it; bringing it to the tree."
Emma jumped off her horse and walked towards them. "It's a big barrel. Big enough to transport a body."
"Princess Emma," Graham said cautiously as she approached them, "what are you doing here?"
"Same reason as you," she stated. "I'm here to rescue Killian."
She was the first to step through the entrance as Graham and Anton followed her.
They were all heading into the Zoo of Death to accomplish the same mission, though for separate reasons.
Emma knew that there was a slight chance that Killian was dead – her heart wouldn't allow her to pronounce him completely dead without seeing it for herself. But, regardless, she didn't want to tell the others. If they thought him dead, they might not find the risk worthy of their efforts. And as prepared as she was to face whatever she had to in order to reach her beloved, having a giant on her side wouldn't hurt.
Graham knew that the man in black, whose real name was Killian, would be the only one who could come up with a skillful plan to avenge his family and get back his heart from the Countess. He wasn't sure why the Princess was going through the trouble of trenching down here, but the dedication in her voice told him enough. And he couldn't help the admiration he held for her.
And Anton was just happy to see another friendly face again, even if he had been instructed to kill said face the last time he saw it. He was among friends again, and he would follow them anywhere. Even through the dangerous pit of despair.
What none of them knew was that the entrance they were taking was the wrong one – a false one, set up to foil those who did not belong. Sir August didn't know this, and the caretaker had been knocked out before he could warn them. And so, with an urgency that would soon turn to deep regret, Emma, Graham, and Anton submerged themselves into the Zoo of Death.
Just a few steps in, and they were surrounded with darkness. Emma held out her sword like a walking stick, making sure she didn't trip over anything as they furthered down the hall. Finally, the sword was pushed into a blockade straight ahead of them. "Wait," Emma whispered behind her, "there's a wall." She began to feel around. It was wooden. "No, a door," she corrected as she began to feel a knob. She turned it – and it opened. "It's open."
"Open?" Graham hesitated. "Close it then. There must be something wrong. Why would something as valuable as the Prince's private zoo be left unlocked?"
Anton made a face as the breeze made its way through the door. "It smells of animals something awful."
"You're right, it doesn't make sense," Emma cautioned as her vision began to adjust. She could just make out the huntsman's outline and a few of his features. She assumed the same was happening to him, because he was watching her as he waited for her to continue. "You don't leave diamonds lying around on the breakfast table and you keep the Zoo of Death shut and bolted. So there has to be a reason."
The answer to why the door happened to be unlocked was really this: it was always unlocked. And the reason for that was really this: safety. No one who had entered via the front door had ever survived to exit again. The idea basically belonged to Countess Regina, who helped Rumplestilskin architect the place. The King selected the location – the farthest corner of the castle grounds, away from everything, so the roars wouldn't bother the servants – but the Countess designed the entrance. The real entrance was by a giant tree, where a root lifted and revealed a staircase and down you went until you arrived at the fifth level. The false entrance, called the real entrance, took you down the levels the ordinary way, first to second, second to third – or actually, second to death.
Graham shrugged. "We did interrupt the caretaker as he was in the middle of something. We could have gotten to him before he got to locking the door. Maybe once he was done with his wheelbarrowing, he would have begun locking and bolting."
"That makes sense," Anton reassured, even if he wasn't sure it made any sense at all.
If Emma hadn't been in such a hurry, she probably would have been wary. But time didn't offer such luxury.
Anton pushed past the two, offering to stay at the lead as he was the strength of the group. He had heard odd things about this place, and lions didn't bother him, and who cared about gorillas; they were nothing. It was the creepers that made him squeamish. And the slitherers. And the stingers. And the… and the everything, Anton decided, to be truthful and honest. Spiders and snakes and bugs and bats and you name it – he just wasn't very fond of any of them. "Still smells of animals," he said as they finally entered the Zoo, the great door shutting silently behind them.
"Quite a bizarre place," Graham said, moving past several large cages that held cheetahs and hummingbirds and other swift things. At the end of the hall was another door with a sign above it saying, "To Level Two." They opened that door and saw a flight of stairs leading very steeply down. "Careful," Graham said to Emma and Anton. "Stay close together and watch your balance."
They started down toward the second level.
"If I tell you both something, will you promise not to laugh at me or mock me or be mean to me?" Anton asked.
"We promise," Emma replied.
"Our word," Graham nodded.
"I'm just scared to pieces."
"Be sure it ceases," Graham said right back.
Emma was about to speak up, appalled that Graham would say such a thing to someone who was being honest. Especially since she too was scared, even if she wouldn't admit it. She opened her mouth to berate the huntsman when Anton smiled.
"Oh, that's a wonderful rhyme –"
"Some other time," Graham said, making another, feeling quite bright about the whole thing, sensing the pleasure in having Anton visibly relax as they descended, so he smiled and clapped Anton on his great shoulder for the good fellow he was. But deep, deep down inside, Graham's stomach was knotting. For he was also scared to pieces.
Emma realized it was a game – a rhyming game. She chuckled, and for a second she almost forgot her own fear.
The staircase was straight, and very long, but eventually they reached the end of it. Another door. Anton gave it a push. It opened. Another corridor lined with cages, big ones, though, and inside, great baying hippos and twenty-foot alligator thrashing angrily in shallow water.
"We must hurry," Emma said, picking up the pace. They half ran toward a sign that said, "To Level Three."
Graham opened the door and looked down as the others peered over his shoulder. "Hmmm," Graham hummed.
This staircase was different. It was not nearly as steep, and it curved halfway, so that whatever was near the bottom of it was quite out of sight as they stood at the top preparing to go down. There were strange candles burning high on the walls out of reach. The shadows they made were very long and thin.
"Well, I'm certainly glad I wasn't brought up here," Graham said, trying for a joke.
"Fear," Anton said, the rhyme out before he could stop it.
Graham looked back to Anton, his own fear showing. Emma cleared her throat, "What I wouldn't give for a beer." And that brought them back.
They started down the curving stairs and as the door closed behind them, two things happened: (1) The door, quite clearly, locked. (2) Out went the candles on the high walls.
Emma squealed, Graham gasped, and Anton screamed.
"Don't be frightened," Graham said, though the trimmer in his voice was doing little to hide his own fear.
"I'm not, I'm not," Anton replied, obviously lying. Above his own heartbeat, he managed, "What are we going to do?"
Emma, could feel her hands shaking as she began weighing the possibilities. "We can't go back and we certainly don't want to stay here, so we just must keep on going as we were before these little things happened." She peered forward, "Down. Down is our direction, men. We will walk side by side, yeah?"
Anton reached his great arm out and wrapped it around Emma and Graham. Instantly, Emma felt slightly more protected having Anton on her left and Graham on her right.
"Will you draw your sword with your free hands?" Anton asked them.
Graham nodded, "I already have, as has Emma. Will you make a fist with yours?"
"It's clenched."
"Then let's look on the bright side: We're having an adventure," Graham reasoned. "A giant, a swordsman, and a princess. Most people live and die without being as lucky as we are."
They moved down one step. Then another. Then two, then three, as they got the hang of it.
"Why do you think they locked the door behind us?" Anton asked as they moved.
"To add spice to our trip, I suspect," replied Graham, and they slowed, making a sharp turn without stumbling, continuing on down. "And they took away the candles for the same reason – spice?"
"It was probably magic," Emma answered. "A booby trap, of sorts. Dark magic."
Graham began to squirm at her side. "Anton, don't squeeze quite so hard –"
"The Princess is the one squeezing me –"
Emma scoffed, "Like I could even squeeze a giant – oww, stop squishing me –"
By then they knew they were in for it.
There has been, for many years, a running battle among jungle zoologists as to just which of the giant snakes is the biggest. The anaconda men are forever trumpeting the Galifem specimen that weighed well over five hundred pounds, while the python people never fail to reply by pointing out that the Sultan Viper found outside Agrabah measured thirty-four feet, seven inches. The argument, of course, is silly, because "biggest" is a vague word, having no value whatever in argument, if one is serious.
But any serious snake enthusiast would admit, whatever his schooling, that the Avalon Garstini, though shorter than the python and lighter than the anaconda, was quicker and more ravenous than either, and this specimen of Prince Baelfire's was not only remarkable for its speed and agility, it was also kept in a permanent state just verging on the outskirts of starvation.
So the first coil came like lightning as it dropped from above them and pinioned their hands so the fist and swords were useless and the second coil imprisoned their arms and "Do something –" Emma cried.
"I can't – I'm caught – you do something –"
"Fight it, Anton –"
"It's too strong for me –"
"Nothing is too strong for you –"
The third coil was done now, around the upper shoulders, and the fourth coil, the final coil, involved the throat, and Graham whispered in terror, because he could hear the beast's breathing now, could actually feel its breath, "Fight it… I'm… I'm…"
Anton trembled with fear and whispered, "Forgive me, Graham. Forgive me, Princess."
"Oh, Anton," Emma cried, tears streaming down her face as her breathing began to falter.
Graham chocked out one last breath, "I had such rhymes for you…"
"What rhymes?..."
Silence.
The fourth coil was finished.
"Graham, what rhymes? Princess?"
Silence.
Snake breath.
"Graham, I want to know the rhymes before I die – Graham I really want to know – Princess, do you know? Graham? Graham, tell me the rhymes," Anton said, and by now he was very frustrated and, more than that, he was spectacularly angry and one arm came clear of one coil. And that made it a bit less of a chore to fight free of the second coil and that meant he could take that arm and bring it to the aid of the other arm and now he was yelling it out, "You're not going anywhere until I know those rhymes" and the sound of his own voice was really very impressive, deep and resonant. And who was this snake anyway, getting in the path of Anton when there were rhymes to learn. And by this time not only were both arms free of the bottom three coils but he was furious at the interruption. And his hands grabbed toward the snake breath, and he didn't know if snakes had necks or not but whatever it was that you called the part that was under its mouth, that was the part he had between his great hands and he gave it a smash against the wall and the snake hissed and spit but the fourth coil was looser. So Anton smashed it again and a third time and then he brought his hands back a bit for leverage and he began to whip the beast against the walls like a native washerwoman beating a skirt against rocks.
And when the snake was dead, Graham said, "Actually, I had no specific rhymes in mind; I just had to do something to get you into action."
Emma began to breathe again as Anton was panting terribly from his labors. "You lied to me is what you're saying. My only friend in all my life turns out to be a liar." He started tromping down the stairs, Graham and Emma stumbling after him.
Anton reached the door at the bottom and threw it open and slammed it, with the other two just managing to slip inside before the door crashed shut.
It locked immediately.
At the end of this corridor, the "To Level Four" sign was clearly visible, and Anton hurried toward it. Graham pursued him, sending Emma a nervous look as they hurried past the poisoners, the spitting cobras and Gaboon vipers and, perhaps most quickly lethal of all, the lovely tropical stonefish from the ocean above Atlantis.
"Anton," Emma tried to sooth, though her voice was still a bit strained from the near suffocation. "Please don't be upset. We can make more rhymes!"
Graham added, "I apologize. One lie in all these years, that's not such a terrible average when you consider it saved our lives."
"There's such a thing as principle" was all Anton would answer, and he opened the door that led to the fourth level. "My mother made me promise never to lie, and not once in my life have I even been tempted," and he started down the stairs as they quickly followed.
"Anton, stop!" Emma commanded. When the giant wouldn't cease, she decided on a different tactic. "As your princess, I order you to stop." And Anton did, though he wouldn't turn around. "We must examine where we are going. And whether you are upset or not does not negate from the fact that we are heading into another dangerous level of the Zoo and we must stay cautious."
It was a straight staircase, but completely dark. The opening at the far end was invisible. "It can't be as bad as where we've been," Anton snapped, and down he went.
In a way, he was right. For Emma, bats were never the ultimate nightmare. Oh, she was afraid of them, like everybody else, and she wouldn't willingly approach one if it came near; in her mind, though, hell was not bat-infested.
But Anton was a Giant boy, and people claim the fruit bat from Wonderland is the biggest in the world; try telling that to a Giant sometime. Try telling that to anyone who has heard his mother scream, "Here come the king bats!" followed by the poisonous fluttering of wings.
"HERE COME THE KING BATS!" Anton screamed, and he was, quite literally, as he stood hallway down the dark steps, paralyzed with fear. And behind him now, doing their best to fight the darkness, came Emma and Graham, and they had never heard that tone before, not from Anton.
And they didn't want bats in their hair either, but it wasn't worth that kind of fright, so Graham started to say "What's so terrible about king bats" but "What" was all he had time for before Anton cried, "Rabies! Rabies!" and that was all Graham needed to know. He yelled, "Down, Anton!" and Anton still couldn't move. So Graham pulled Emma with him as they felt for Anton in the darkness as the fluttering grew louder and with all their might they slammed the giant on the shoulder hollering "Down" and this time Anton went to his knees obediently.
But that wasn't enough, not nearly. So Graham slammed him again crying, "Flat, flat, all the way down," until Anton lay on the black stairs shaking and Graham and Emma knelt above him to keep him down. Graham was the first to raise his sword, but Emma was close behind him as she raised her own. It was the Great Graham Humbert and Mighty Emma Charming as they waited for the charge of the king bats.
Graham, in his invasive studies, had learned how to fight an enemy who was above him as well as an enemy in the dark. He drew his mind back to those lessons now. You had to depend on your ears, he was taught, and you wait. Above them Graham could feel the king bats massing, while below them Anton trembled like a kitten in cold water.
"Be still!" Graham commanded, and that was the last sound he made, because he needed his ears now. He tilted his head toward the flutter, the great sword firm in his right hand as he made sure Emma was following his lead. Graham had never seen a king bat, knew nothing of them; how fast they were, how did they come at you, at what angle, and how many made each charge? The flutter was dead above them now, ten feet perhaps, perhaps more, and could bats see in the night? Did they have that weapon too? "Come on," Graham was about to say, but there was no need. Because with a rush of wings he had expected and a high long shriek he had not, the first king bat swooped down at them.
"On my signal," Graham whispered to Emma, who nodded boldly next to him. They waited, waited, the flutter was off to the left, and that was wrong, because he knew where he was and so did the beasts, so that meant they must have been preparing something for them, a cut, a sudden turn, and with all control left to his brain he kept his sword just as it was, circling slowly, not following the sound until the fluttering stopped and the king bat veered in silence toward Graham's face.
But it wasn't Graham's sword that drove through the king bat like butter.
It was Emma's, and Graham's face was painted with shock as the bat above him began dying from the stab. The death sound of the king bat was close to human, only a bit higher pitched and shorter. Graham was only briefly interested because now there was a double flutter; they were coming at them from two sides: one right, one left. So Emma stabbed to the left as Graham drove to the right, and two more almost human sounds came and went. Emma's sword was heavy now, two dead beasts changing the balance of her blade. Graham's, who only weighed one, held his strong as there came a single flutter from above. No veering this time, straight and deadly for their face and the sword moved up and into the heart of the lethal thing. Now their swords were even, two skewered on each sword.
There was silence now in the darkness. The fluttering was done.
"I said to wait for my signal," Graham scolded Emma.
She rolled her eyes, "You're criticizing the way I saved your life?"
Graham took a deep breath, then smiled. "Thank you." He turned to Anton, nudging for him to sit up. "And you – some giant you are."
Emma and Graham helped him up. They hurried down the rest of the darkened stairs. "Graham, Princess – I made a mistake before. Graham, you didn't lie to me, you tricked me, and mother always said tricking was fine. So I'm not mad at you anymore, and is that all right with you? It's all right with me."
They turned the knob on the door at the bottom of the black stairs and stepped onto the fourth level.
Graham looked at him, "You mean you'll forgive me completely for saving your life if I completely forgive you for saving mine?"
"You're my friend; you both are. My only ones."
Emma smiled as she was touched by Anton's innocence.
"Pathetic, that's what we are," Graham said.
"Athletic."
"That's very good," Graham said, so Anton knew they were fine again.
They started toward the sign that said "To Level Five," passing strange cages.
"This is the worst yet," Graham said, and then he jumped back, because behind a pale glass case, a blood eagle was actually eating what looked like an arm. Emma gasped as she looked on the other side where there was a great black pool, and whatever was in it was dark and many armed and the water seemed to get sucked toward the center of the pool where the mouth of the thing was. "Hurry," Graham said, and he found Emma's hand trembling as he grabbed it to pull her forward, the thought of being dropped into the black pool consuming her thoughts.
They opened the door and looked down toward the fifth level.
Stunning.
In the first place, the door they opened had no lock, so it could not trap them. And in the second place, the stairs were all brightly lit. And in the third place the stairs were absolutely straight. And in the fourth place, it wasn't a long flight at all.
And in the main place, there was nothing inside. It was bright and clean and totally, without the least doubt, empty.
"Dede42: I'm glad that Emma is going to rescue her true love, which is a great twist, and maybe, just maybe, she can restore August's heart in the process and return him to his dad. Update soon! Geronimo!" Thank you! I'm glad the twist is well received. And I hope her joining Graham and Anton in the Zoo will be as well lol. I too hope that Emma can help August! ;)
"Melody Anna Kamiya Tudor: I can't wait till the next chapter you've done a good job so far. Keep up the great work. OH my -crys- Killian... I hope Emma will be able to save him and bring him back so they can kick Neal's booty!" Thank you so much! I'm glad you've enjoyed it! And I hope so too! ;)
"Skyeward MusicLover: great chapter. plse update" Thank you! :)
"Cad521: I am loving this story sooooo much!" I am loving you loving this story soooo much! :)
"trustpixiedust: Yessss! I love the Emma powerhouse part. It fits her so well. Lovely as always." Yay! Of course Emma's gonna be a badass lol can't have Emma Swan without it! No matter what universe!
"C.Y. Dementress: Ooh keep going with this one! I'm particularly enjoying this, and I haven't even seen The Princess Bride yet. :D" Thank you! I always get excited when people who haven't seen the movie (and/or read the book) read this story, because you aren't spoiled by the surprises! Lol. I'm glad you're enjoying it! :)
"Infinities Lover: Eep! Loved it! PLEASE update soon!" Yay! :) Glad you liked it!
"Zerousy: I feel bad for Pinocchio on how he became a dark knight but I just LOVE how he's going to forget that Emma was even there. Also, I was kinda hoping for Rumple to smack Bae or something witht he way he'd pissed him off but hopefully Emma or Killian will do it instead." Prince Baelfire does have a long and well deserved smack waiting for him at some point in the future! Especially if Emma learns of his plan to kidnap and have her killed all along!