Emma needed to focus on Ursula, trying not dwell on Killian's appearance. He didn't look well. His skin was gray and his normally bright blue eyes had lost their mischievous sparkle. He was fading from human existence with each passing moment, and eventually his feelings for her would fade with him. Just hang in there, baby.
"Emma Swan. Have you accepted the bargain?"
"No. And I never will," said Emma, with quiet resolve.
Ursula raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. "So you'll condemn the man you love, the father of the child you carry, to an eternity of suffering? Interesting. I wouldn't have thought you were capable of such cruelty," she tossed back her head and cackled, "but it seems I've underestimated you, girl."
When Ursula mentioned the baby, Emma couldn't help but look at Kilian. She could read his shock even from this distance. Not exactly how she wanted him to find out he was going to be a father. A fleeting moment of joy briefly lit up his face, before being replaced by a heartbroken expression. They held each other's gazes across the rocking ships. He looked devastated. Great. Just another thing she owed Ursula some retribution for.
She clenched her jaw and turned her attention back to the sea witch. "You have underestimated me. I didn't come alone."
"Oh? The ragged pirate is going to be my undoing, I'm sure," she snickered.
"Oy!" sputtered Sparrow behind her. "This is a very fashionable kit, I'll have you know!" he yelled. "Not as if you're winning any beauty competitions. Hag," he added under his breath.
Emma reached down to offer a hand to Mickey, who was currently winding around her ankles. He slid his way up her neck and settled into place around her shoulders as though he belonged there. Emma felt an immediate surge of power humming through her as his scales came into contact with her skin. She fought down the overwhelming flow of it as she'd done before. She was pleased to see her hair remained its usual golden hue this time, though.
"So you have a pet serpent, what is it to me?"
"Oh, not just any serpent. This is Mickey. He was a gift from a very powerful new friend of mine. One who doesn't like you very much, by the way."
Ursula's eyes narrowed as she studied both the snake and Emma more closely. She looked as though she were deep in thought. Suddenly her eyes popped open wide as if something had occurred to her. "Yemaja?" she practically whispered, voice hoarse. "But no, it can't be! She's been gone for centuries. I tried to call on her power many times, but found only the useless descendants of her serpents roaming the oceans. They make for fine ropes, if you know how to enchant them, however," she smirked.
Mickey hissed. She stroked his head gently.
"Release Hook and the rest from this curse, drop your scheme to take over the realms, and disappear, Ursula. It's the only bargain I'm offering."
Ursula didn't hesitate. "Absolutely not. I don't believe you, and even if I did, Yemaja would be too powerless to harm me. That's the weakness of gods and goddesses you see: someone has to believe in them in order for their power to exist."
Emma simply raised her hands palms outward toward the armada.
Yemaja needed believers, did she? How about an entire army of men, all of them bound magically to the sea?
She opened herself more fully to Yemaja's power and invited her in. Without knowing what words she would use, she began to speak. Her body and consciousness were being shared completely with the goddess. She was no longer simply Emma Swan, the Savior. Now she was Emma-Yemaja, the Goddess of the Sea. And she was pissed off.
Her voice sounded completely foreign to her ears. It carried over the waters clearly, yet it was like hearing a tapestry of feminine voices, weaving melodiously together. There was an undercurrent to it like rushing water. It was soft and sibilant, with that silky accent Yemaja possessed.
"Sailors. Men. Fathers, brothers, sons, lovers. I have borne you upon the seas in your lives and cradled you in your deaths. It was my presence you felt as you contemplated a sunrise over a sea as calm as glass or dreaded the ferocity of a sudden storm. I am the mysteries of the sea. I am the waters of life in the womb. I am the waters that wash your bones clean in death. I am Yemaja. I am Mami Wata. Janaína. Sedna. Ved Ava. Thalassa. Amathaunta. All of you know me, who have sailed the seas."
A soft blue light was beginning to emanate from her hands. It was growing in strength as she spoke. A glance at the ranks of sailors gathered on the decks of the ships showed her she had their full attention. Her power was swelling within her as a kernel of belief took hold in their hearts.
"This witch has upset the natural balance. You have been tricked into servitude long past the duty of your mortal coil. Neptune's hold over you should have ceased at death. Believe in me once more and you will be delivered from this wretched bondage!"
What met her speech was deafening silence.
Ursula's chuckle raised the hairs on the back of Emma's neck.
"You see? The curse has wrung the humanity from them almost entirely! They want nothing but plunder, and pleasures, which they can never obtain. Your words mean nothing, Emma Swan!"
"Perhaps they just need a reminder," replied Emma-Yemaja. She could feel the belief, the worship for the goddess, welling from the crowd of ghosts, however weak it may be. There was still enough humanity there to tap. "Let's try to reach what souls they have left, shall we?"
With a sweep of her hands, she raised her palms as though directing the ocean upward from beneath them. A fine shower of droplets rose in a massive sheet hundreds of feet across. They hung suspended in a vast sparkling curtain, towering between her and the armada like a net of diamonds.
Light began to dance through the sheen of droplets. Glimpses of images flitted through it, flickering faces and scenes crossing it in rapid succession.
Ursula's voice boomed, "What is this enchantment?! What are you doing, you foolish human?!"
"Reminding them."
Men began to sink to their knees on the decks of the ships. Some were reaching out toward the images on the screen, some cried out, some wept. "Rebecca!-" "Mum!" "Darling girl!"
The surge of power flooding into Emma suddenly made her wobble. Her head was spinning. Belief flared into a bonfire of worship for Yemaja as the assembled men fought through their curse to embrace a lifetime's worth of emotion.
"Snow?"
She turned to see David and Sparrow, both staring transfixed at the wall of droplets above them. She could imagine what David was seeing as tears streamed down his face. His true love, and their infant son, most likely. Sparrow she wasn't sure of, but she thought his lips formed a name. Elizabeth?
She needed to stop this soon. For men like David and Sparrow, untouched by the curse, the flood of memories and emotions would be too powerful for them to handle for long. She thought she had made her point well enough, or at least Yemaja had.
Emma-Yemaja sought out Killian, nervously. When she began the enchantment, it had occurred to her like a knife to the heart that Killian might see someone other than her. What if he was crying out for Milah? But he wasn't looking into the curtain of water. He was looking directly at her. She smiled tremulously. He raised his fingers to his lips and kissed them, gesturing toward her. She could feel the love and belief flowing from him. His lips formed her name.
"What have you done?!" Ursula was still shouting. She was raising great heaving waves to sweep the droplets out of the air, to no avail. The curtain always coalesced again.
"I've given them a vision of the greatest love of their lives, a reminder of the love which bound them most tightly to this realm while they drew breath. For some, a mother or a sister. For many, lovers or wives or daughters."
A blinding wave of love's power blasted into Emma as the enchantment continued to work its magic on the assembled pirates. The cursed men were feeling the full depth of their emotions for the first time since the chill of the curse summoned them from the grave. And they knew Yemaja was the source. She had all the power flowing through her veins that she would ever need.
"Time for some calamari, I think," whispered Emma. She allowed the curtain of droplets to fall. Millions upon millions of beads of water cascaded back into the sea.
She gestured fluidly to the waters surrounding Ursula and murmured softly "Dolo - dife. Cho."
The wave the witch was riding collapsed beneath her, sending her tumbling into the sea. The water began to boil and steam. Ursula's scream could've been heard across the realm. The witch began casting enchantments wildly in her panic. An oily bubble finally rose around her and lifted her from the ocean, shedding water as it went. Ursula lay within the orb, twitching. Emma-Yemaja was satisfied to see her skin covered in ugly blisters.
"Release the curse, witch!" called Emma-Yemaja. She could feel the goddess enjoying this scene immensely. Emma agreed - it was satisfying to make the witch pay. But truly, she just wanted Killian returned to her. It was time to offer her a bargain. "Do it now, and we may have mercy upon you."
The witch sat upright with obvious pain. "Never!" Her voice was hoarse.
Emma-Yemaja frowned and the waves rose, angrily.
"The seas are mine, Ursula. The ocean waters of all realms will remember you, and they will boil you alive if you dare set a tentacle into them. You'll have to make your home on land forever, Ursula. Powerless."
The witch was shaking, whether with pain or fury Emma didn't know.
"I can't undo it, you horrid creature," she spat, with evident frustration. "The curse is bound to Neptune. As long as he lives, the men will serve him."
Emma felt a surge of fury. "And Killian?"
"Your man?" hissed the witch, with an evil smile. "You can't save him, even if you are Yemaja."
Emma, or perhaps it was Yemaja, reacted with an angry slash of her hand. Ursula's protective bubble popped, and the witch tumbled back into the frothing sea with a blood-curdling scream. Maybe if Emma had been herself, she would've handled things differently. She wasn't the type to let any living creature die a horrible death, no matter how deserved it might be. But the part of her that was Yemaja merely smiled at the thrashing of her enemy as the waters heaved and steamed. The movement stopped suddenly and the seas quieted. Ursula's body floated face down, reddened and blistered. All was silent except for the creaking of the gathered ships.
Emma-Yemaja hissed softly and a swarm of black serpents rose from the depths at her command. They hissed to her in respectful greeting. They threaded through the water around the Jolly Roger. She gestured to them and they made their way to the witch. They wrapped themselves around the corpulent, blistered corpse and sank with her beneath the waves. The foul evil of the witch would be dispersed throughout the ocean, where it could do no more harm.
But now Emma nearly cried with frustration. Oh Killian. Yemaja was powerful, but could she defeat Neptune? If that was the only way to return him to her, would she be able to fight him?
As if the thought had summoned him, a great spurt of water fountained up between their ships a hundred feet high. A great chariot pulled by a team of horses the size of elephants erupted from the gush, and astride the chariot rode a massive man. He was naked and very muscular, and extremely pale. His white hair and beard streamed seawater in great rivulets. His right hand gripped a trident while his left pulled back on the reins. The steeds, formed entirely of seawater, snorted massive streams of steam as they stamped and tossed their heads.
Oh crap, thought Emma. Yemaja stirred within her in fury, and perhaps a bit of fear. That terrified her more than anything. If the goddess was even a bit afraid, they were in trouble.
"Who dares to speak to my oceans? Only I, Neptune, control the waters. They do my bidding alone!" boomed his furious voice.
Emma grabbed her head. It felt suddenly as if it were being cleaved in two. Her vision swam and separated and she had the curious sensation that she possessed two sets of eyes, and two bodies. She fell backwards to the deck and the pain was suddenly gone. Yemaja stood in front of her in all her naked glory on the deck of the Jolly Roger. Emma glanced at David and Sparrow, who both looked like their eyes might fall out of their heads. She realized as she stood that Mickey was now around Yemaja's neck, and not her own. She felt tiny, powerless. The sudden absence of the goddess left her empty. Yet she was also relieved, weightless.
The goddess grew rapidly in stature. When she was double Emma's height, she stepped delicately from the deck of the Jolly Roger and placed one elegant bejeweled foot on the surface of the water. She stood and walked toward Neptune, her height increasing as she went. When she reached his chariot, she was eye to eye with Neptune.
Neptune, along with all the sailors of the armada, simply gaped. Her flawless skin reflected the setting sun like burnished copper. Silken ebony hair streamed behind her on the salty wind.
"Yemaja?"
"Neptune."
"What-? But you were gone, never to return...?" he sputtered.
"Yet here I am, returned," she purred, "to find my realms usurped by a petty king and a foul sorceress."
Neptune's horses reared with his fury. "Petty king? I have ruled over the oceans since you abandoned us. I am the god of the seas now. The humans obey my rule, even after death. Soon, I will have the power to rule over land and all the realms will bow to me!"
"You think to rule over land when even the oceans slip through your fingers? Foolish man! Your sorceress is dead and scattered to the currents. Soon you shall join her!"
Neptune roared. "A goddess you might be, Yemaja, but still you are weak! I shall destroy you and any who worship at your altar! Davey Jones - I order you, destroy that ship and sink all who crew her to the bottom of the sea!"
Yemaja hissed and the oceans began to heave. A storm broke overhead, clouds sweeping in to blot out the sun. Driving rain began to pound down at them as the goddess and king launched themselves at each other, battling for control of the water.
"Sparrow! David! We need to get out of here, now!" shouted Emma.
"Aye!" shouted Sparrow over the gale. "Get to the helm, lass!"
She ran up to the ship's wheel. From this vantage, she could see the armada making sail for them. A dozen ships, and they meant business.
She turned the wheel hard to port as Sparrow made to unfurl the main mast. They caught the wind with a massive jerk and began to tack. She hoped they would be fast enough. Without Yemaja's help, she was just an ordinary sailor, and not a very good one at that.
Killian was gripping the rail of the Black Pearl as they made for the Jolly Roger. He had no doubt that Emma's life, and that of their unborn child, was in great danger, and he had a sinking feeling he wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it. Liam put his hand on his shoulder.
"You all right, brother?"
He met Liam's eyes, and shook his head.
"Seems you're going to be a father, lad!" Liam clapped him on the back. The forced jollity in his voice didn't escape Killian.
"Aye," he said, with a sad smile. When Ursula had said it, he hadn't believed what he was hearing. But when he met Emma's gaze, transformed though it was by Yemaja, he could see the truth of it there. A thrill of joy had reached him through the numbness of the curse. It had lasted only a brief moment though. They were locked in a hopeless battle, Emma was possessed by a sea goddess, and he was a dead man walking. How could they be having a baby in the midst of all this?
He'd allowed himself to imagine it, before all this happened. Emma carrying his child. Perhaps a little girl with her mother's stubborn spirit and his mischievous nature. He had thought they would get around to it eventually, if he could talk her into it. For a moment he was actually grateful for the numbness the curse brought. Otherwise, he'd be on his knees with the pain of what he had lost.
"Come on then, Killian. No sense sulking about. We can still help your lady, even in our sad state."
"The heart. You think we should make the attempt?" Killian felt a surge of hope. At least he could do something for her.
"Aye, the heart. 'Tis the perfect scenario, don't you think? Neptune has handed us quite a distraction," said Liam, with a grimly determined smile.
"Lead the way, brother."
They wended their way through shouting sailors and the chaos of a ship about to attack, trying to pass belowdecks unnoticed.
At the door to Davey Jones' cabin, a sentry stood guard. It was some sort of sea creature amalgam, like Jones. Its face was dominated by a wicked beak, its beady black eyes watching the corridor.
Liam strolled up to him. "Got a light, mate? Since we're about to go into battle, thought I'd find a corner for a quiet smoke."
The creature didn't acknowledge him at all.
"Fine, fine. I'll just keep looking then. Don't mind me."
As he turned to leave, he drew his dagger in a flash and drove it home in the creature's chest. It snarled and pushed him off, drawing its cutlass in a fluid motion.
"Bollocks!" yelled Killian as he dove into the fray. He and Liam hadn't fought together in many years, but their shared training came back immediately as they parried and attacked in tandem. Killian nearly laughed when Liam ducked low and allowed him to plant a boot on his back, leaping over him to attack the enemy with a maneuver they had once called the Jones' Haymaker. He drove his cutlass through the slimy bugger and pinned him against the wall. The creature struggled but couldn't break free.
"After you," he called to Liam, shaking his head with a smile. He'd missed his brother. Liam gave him a cocky grin as he passed. He slapped the creature's face as he sauntered by, narrowly missing losing his fingers when it snapped its beak at him.
They strode into Jones' cabin, not sure exactly what they were looking for.
"That must be it, there." Liam was pointing to a heavy sea chest, bound with irons and a padlock.
Killian reached for the pouch at his waist and pulled out his lock picking tools.
"You really are a pirate, then," said Liam behind him, a note of amusement in his voice.
"Aye, lucky for both of us. I'll have this open in a trice."
He bent his concentration to the lock. After a minute of delicate maneuvering, he heard it click open. Pulling back with a smile, he unbound the chest and lifted the lid. "I'll be buggered."
There was Davey Jones' heart, pulsing wetly in the cavity of the chest. He grimaced as he lifted it out. Liam handed him a kerchief, which he wrapped it in before placing it in his pocket.
"Now at least we have some leverage," he said.
"Aye, now let's go make use of it before your Emma ends up at the end of a plank."