Whipping Boy

Chapter Twenty-Six

Inside Memento Mori…

Hook slowly awakened, though he struggled against opening his eyes when the anguish throughout his mind and body immediately came flooding back from Madame Leota's torment she had inflicted upon him so Gothel could cast her dark magic over him. At first, he could hardly remember what had been done to him, but a few minutes passed and the Captain remembered everything. And he didn't need to be able to see before he felt that the chains which had been wrapped around him were gone, as were the ropes which had once bound his wrist and hook together. However, he found he couldn't move at all, even enough to be able to roll over onto his back.

Through blurry vision, the prisoner gazed around him once he was able to weakly lift his head to try to focus on his surroundings. Yet after several minutes when he found he still could barely see, Hook settled on simply struggling to keep moving and at last he managed to roll over onto his back, grateful that neither Gothel or the medium inside her crystal ball were there with him as he fought to regain his senses and movement.

Within a span of ten minutes time, he was finally able to sit up against the fireplace beside him, using it and the floor to lift himself up and then he eventually managed to stand back up on his feet as well, though his head spun as he did so. His legs and hand shook while he fought to remain upright, but he knew that if he quit trying to fight off the dizziness and pain by allowing himself the reprieve his body was demanding of him, he wouldn't ever be able to get back up again.

So, Hook struggled to keep moving. When he turned and stumbled forward, his hook knocked over one of the candlesticks sitting on top of a table outside of the curtain splitting the lair into two rooms, as the unlit candle fell onto a partially opened scroll which he could see was a map. Much to his surprise, it was a map he could at last make out to be the land surrounding where Memento Mori stood invisible to anyone who entered the forest outside of where he had become a prisoner according to what Madame Leota told him. Discovering it to be of great value, the pirate rolled the scroll the rest of the way and tucked it into his long coat's inside pocket. Unfortunately, Gothel returned to the medium's lair moments later, as she appeared in a cloud of smoke a short distance from where he stood before he could continue to make his escape.

"Well… I hoped to return to find you awake, Captain, though I wasn't expecting you to be back on your feet so soon," the witch Hook had met so long ago now said callously. "You're strong. Strong willed that is. However, I can also see that you're still very weak. It's understandable for sure… seeing as you were very recently made to suffer the full force of Madame Leota's power. Why don't you come sit down before you fall down."

"I'd rather remain standing," he replied to her out of defiance. "You've done what you wanted, even if you did fail. You still got to see me writhing in agony. So what good am I to you anymore?"

Failing to see as Hook cautiously reached behind his back so he could pull out a small pouch attached to his belt while she was focused on his face and eyes, Gothel smiled at him, then she answered, "There's so much I could do. But for now I have yet to decide what I am going to do with you. If you would trust me, I can heal the burns under your clothes left behind. You'll feel much better… I assure you."

The Captain glared at her coldly while he responded, "I'd rather live with these burns and their pain for however longer my life may be. What have you done to me? Your spell… what you called an obsession spell… The other witch said it would stay with me until… until…"

"Until you become vulnerable and are no longer able to remember those you love or who love you in return," the nymph cruelly finished for him. "One day, you will be mine just like I told you when we were in Neverland together. A curse is coming, Hook. Madame Leota has foreseen that you heroes will all fail to stop it no matter what you do to try. The others will simply forget who they are, but you… Your punishment will be so much worse and it will be of your own making. Just like the poison over your heart."

"Not this time, Gothel," he darkly retorted and before she could stop him, Hook threw the pouch of gunpowder he kept hidden behind his back into the fireplace, then immediately dove backward once the flames suddenly erupted into an explosion that burst out at Gothel, causing her to scream out in pain as the fire burned her skin, as well as in anger when Memento Mori swiftly caught ablaze.

Upon the shop doing so, Gothel emitted her magic again in order to heal herself, then began to put out the flames when Madame Leota appeared again within her crystal ball, while Hook struggled to rise again to his feet so he could run despite his own pain and still feeling so weak, and she angrily cried out, "The pirate's escaping! Stop him!"

Adrenaline allowed for the pirate captain to break open the door so he could escape from the chamber, then began to run through the forest as quickly as he was able to move, stumbling a few times along the way. The witches both worked together to put out the flames surrounding them, then Gothel took off after Hook expecting to catch up to him once his strength wore out long before he could reach his friends within the safety of the rebel camp, almost playing with him while she hunted him down.

Hook ignored that he was being hunted, while he focused on staying alert to his surroundings, as well on the sky now that darkness had fallen so he could use the stars to help guide him through the woods in the direction of the rebel camp. Because he had no idea where he currently was since he had been unconscious when Gothel brought him to Memento Mori.

However, he sensed the villainess chasing him was moving in closer and losing patience the longer she kept following him. He knew it wouldn't be long before she would tire and close in on him unless he came up with a way to escape from her once and for all. So, upon hearing the sound of a raging river ahead of him, Hook turned in its direction and kept going until he came upon a cliff above the rushing waters now below him. He stared down into the river for no more than a minute before he made his final decision and suddenly jumped from the cliff into the raging waters below before he could be caught.

Gothel arrived at the cliff just in time to watch as her captive did so, then she finally vanished within a cloud of smoke to leave the pirate to the mercy of the river. Madame Leota had seen into the future where he would become hers once again, so Gothel knew he would find the will to survive the fall.

Meanwhile…

Upon leaving the safety of their camp, Henry took charge in the heroes' search for their friend while Tiger Lily guided them through the forest using the talisman to track Gothel which Lady Tremaine had given to them, once she sensed the witch had left the cloak that kept her and Hook hidden. Alice stayed close to the Orange Fairy and Regina as she followed them while she held her father's chess piece tightly within the clutches of her hands for the little comfort it provided her. Tiana walked alongside the Dark One, who followed behind everyone as well.

However, upon them walking alongside the river, as its waters grew more forceful, Alice suddenly stopped dead in her tracks when she became overwhelmed by swift flashes that tore through her mind with a vision of her own. Within the flashes, she saw her father running through the forest away from whatever danger was chasing after him, until she saw him jump from a ledge high above the raging waters, then become consumed by them as they swallowed him.

All of a sudden, Alice fearfully cried out, "Papa!"

"Alice?!" Regina uttered in concern when she immediately pulled the young woman into her arms and held her tightly to try to comfort her upon seeing her fear and hearing her scream out for her father. "It's all right. Shhh… It's okay. What happened? What did you see?"

"I don't… I don't understand…" the girl from Wonderland worryingly replied, as she struggled to comprehend what just happened to her and all she had seen. "I've never… never had visions. But I saw him. My papa… I saw him running through here. Something was chasing him… or someone. Gothel…"

When she pulled away from the woman who loved her father, Gold walked up to the Guardian and stood before her while he spoke gently saying, "You've only just begun to harness your abilities, Alice. Just listen to your heart and focus on what your mind showed you. What else did you see?"

Alice looked over at him, then glanced over at Tiger Lily too as the fairy nodded her own encouragement for her to listen, and finally she answered, "I saw him jump into the river. The waters… they consumed him. No… he can't… he can't be dead. I'd know it if he were. I can feel him… I can feel he's alive, but he's hurt. We have to find him."

"We're not looking for Gothel any longer, so may I see the chess piece again?" Tiger Lily then asked, before the young woman handed the white knight back to her once again so that the fairy could guide them to him. "Alice is right. Hook is still alive. I can sense him, but I also sense he is hurt and very weak."

"We have to find him fast then," Regina responded firmly, then held onto Alice by her shoulders while they all followed after Tiger Lily, who nodded once more before she suddenly transformed herself into her fairy form to help light their way while she guided them to their friend and Alice's father as quickly as she could.

At last, the heroes came upon the calm of the river beyond the cliffs and hills alongside of it and when the Orange Fairy took a moment to get a sense of their surroundings, Alice suddenly took off in a run ahead of them when it was then that she finally saw her father lying face down on the ground several feet away, the lower half of his body still emerged within the shallow waters upon him pulling himself out of the river as much as he was able to before he had lost all strength and his battle with consciousness.

However, just before she reached him, Alice swiftly froze when she remembered she couldn't go near him on account of his poisoned heart, then backed away while she fought back her sobs and tears, as well as her anger over being unable to care for him now like he had cared for her since she was born until they were forced apart ten years later.

Regina immediately ran past her and when she reached the man she loved, she and Tiger Lily, as well as Henry all worked to pull Hook the rest of the way from the river, then carefully rolled him over onto his back. Regina leaned over him and listened to his chest for a heartbeat and to see if he was truly still breathing, as his face and body were freezing cold to her touch and he was eerily still, until at last she saw the rise and fall of his chest. Hook was alive, but only just.

Alice finally called out to their friends with fear in her voice as she asked, "Is Papa alright? Please… please tell me he's okay?!"

Henry looked up from his friend beneath him on the ground to glance at Hook's daughter and replied, "He will be. But we need to get him back to the camp where we can take care of him. It's far too dark out here in the forest and we have no idea what Gothel's done to him. We'll need to make a travois."

"Allow me…" Gold then stated, as he waved his hand and conjured a travois so they would be able to carry Hook back with them.

"Hook?" Regina whispered gently while she continued to lean over him and tenderly caressed his face, as Henry and Tiger Lily prepared to lift him onto the makeshift stretcher now laying on the ground beside him. "Killian, stay with me. Please… You have to prove to us again you're a survivor. Alice and I… we need you."

The Queen's son, then laid his hand over her back and said quietly, "We need to go. He's going to be okay, Mom. But first we need to get him back. Grandpa and I will carry him. You should stay with Alice. She needs you right now."

Regina looked up at the young woman again and finally moved away from Hook to allow her son and the Dark One to take over for her, then she stood to walk over to be with Alice, who worryingly asked the Queen again, "What's happened to him? How badly is my father hurt?"

"I couldn't really see," the dark haired woman who loved the pirate answered, as she wrapped her arms around his daughter like before. "He looks to be hurt pretty badly, but he's still alive, Alice. When we get back, we'll take care of him. I promise."

"I just wish I could at least reach out to take his hand," Alice sadly responded, while Regina reached down to take her hand in her own for strength when they followed behind the two men now carrying Hook between them towards their camp at a safe distance so that Alice's decision to remain among them until she knew for sure he would be alright, wouldn't hurt her father any more than he already was. "To assure him I'm here."

Regina then spoke again saying, "He knows, Alice. You're always with him even though you can't be in person. Just as he's always with you."

The young woman smiled up at her as she whispered, "Thank you."