Chapter 30: Rising Tide
Killian Jones, captain of the pirate ship known as the Jolly Roger, was in some serious pain and not the normal variety either. Physically, he was fine, but he was insanely thirsty and the mother hen that was Princess Aurora wouldn't give him anymore water after he downed the first pitcher in under thirty seconds.
She was concerned that too much water on his stomach would undoubtedly cause him to regurgitate the contents of said stomach, but he seriously felt like he was dying of thirst, his mouth feeling drier than a desert. Every time he tried to get off the cot to get some more water, she pushed him back down and he was too weak from thirst to put up much in the way of resistance.
He was beyond relieved when Aurora left to check on Artz and Emma. Artz, his guiding star was truly the goddess of miracles. Not only had she saved the encampment...he didn't actually know how she had done that and she didn't actually stay conscious long enough for him to get the specifics. Her magic obviously, but how was she able to pull that off while still being so unaccustomed to her freshly awakened magic?
Didn't change the fact that she pulled off a second miracle by saving the blonde woman that had lava for magic and it turned out that it was actually Emma that had stopped the arrow from hitting him, not Artz...who had been running like the wind to try and save him...something that the odd dark haired fellow had told him.
The pirate captain had a feeling that the bloke he encountered before, shortly after his star had collapsed, and the dark clad brat, that had alerted his star of the shit storm he was walking into, were connected to each other in some way. The crimson haired goddess had mentioned something about her Guard being there. Were those two members of this so called Guard and if so, why didn't they do more to help?
He pushed those thoughts aside, knowing that that it would just give him a headache, and focused on what had occurred with Swan Lake. Her unexpressed fury caused the arrow to fly straight at the cause of said fury, her birth mother. Fortunately the original arrow shredded after Emma collapsed. His star was by their sides after a few short seconds...with an arrow embedded in her left side, dangerously close to her heart and lung.
If he hadn't been so worried about the blonde in his arms that was putting a volcano to shame, he would have beaten the blasted princess to within an inch of sanity. He swore that woman had a bloody death wish, but did that stop his star… nope. She slid onto her knees, yanked out the arrow, then turned her attention to the woman she viewed as her sister.
The heat was nothing more than a byproduct of the premature awakening of the blonde's magic as the Savior. How did he know that it was premature...his celestial goddess. Apparently Emma was not meant to become aware of her magic until shortly after returning to Storybrooke and even then, it was supposed to take her a while to actually summon it consciously and even longer to gain proper control.
Premature awakening aside, there was a very big difference with how both women awakened their magic, specifically the point of origin, that first spark, and the emotion behind said spark. Artz's magic had awakened due to her desire to save a life, that desire was the initial spark and the emotion behind that spark was kindness. Due to the fact that the emotion had a greater alignment with light magic, it allowed the ginger to awaken her magic more gently and gradually ease into using it. He still thought that it was odd that the only time her magic seems to work properly is when it involves him.
Now Emma's magic had a much more volatile beginning. The spark began as a roaring inferno. A savior's magic is meant to be awakened by stronger positive emotions, the best being love; however, her emotional state had already been at extremely heightened level due to resurgence of her true emotions being shoved to the surface. All it needed was a target which ended up being the woman that gave birth to her.
By sending the blonde into an almost blinding rage, Emma's magic awoke with a much darker alignment to light magic which was not a good thing. Contrary to popular belief, its actually easier to control dark magic than it is to control light magic. Dark magic resonates with a much wider spectrum of emotions and thus making it easier to wield because people have plenty of emotions that fall into this category; namely fear, sorrow, anger, grief, rage, guilt, fury and especially with hatred.
Dark magic can be taught, but light magic must be felt. Dark magic can be easily channeled because it is easier to give in and succumb to one's darker emotions. Light magic, on the other hand, is much harder to control because it comes from some of the deepest and most powerful emotions and when it comes to expressing those deeper emotions...well it's quite the struggle, a constant uphill battle because the wielder has to stop thinking and let themselves feel.
Before coming to the Enchanted Forest, his beloved star barely expressed any of her deeper emotions, at least visibly. Her silences and actions spoke volumes which almost the entirety of that blasted town blatantly ignored or misinterpreted. After coming to the Enchanted Forest, the awakening of her magic actually caused her to lose the ability to conceal her emotions and because she couldn't put up a mask to protect herself, she was in a constant state of fear.
Hmm...now he understood why his star's magic worked so well with him around. She felt safe with him which was ironic given his profession, history, and infamy. In fact, most people would react more negatively to his presence; fear, distrust, anger, disgust, contempt and naturally hatred. Did his guiding star adhere to this societal norm...of course not because she was bloody impossible just like Swan Lake had said.
Artz Lanaria did not make rational sense. She was always surprising him and taking him off guard by saying and acting contrary to the majority of the human race which is probably why it was so difficult to stop thinking about her. Emma had said that the redhead was unique… understatement of the bloody century. It didn't help that she was quandary wrapped in an enigma with several layers of mysteries combined with the conundrum of possible spells/curses which makes the woman a living, breathing maze like puzzle that becomes more difficult to solve with every new piece of information.
Just thinking about his star was giving him a headache though he bet the Swan girl was having the mother of all migraines, pun attended. The emotion of fury when combined with light magic equals to return to sender...especially when there is a stray arrow involved. He would admit that he owed the woman a rather large thank you because she did save his life and then he and Artz returned the favor and saved her from becoming her own pillar of fire.
Why because his guiding star was a stubborn bitch and he was a selfish bastard. Artz had initially attempted to absorb the blonde's magic into herself, but she almost self-combusted. She had thought that since she had used so much magic already that she would be able to simply draw the savior's magic out and store it in her body, only to discover that she was still filled to the brim with her own magic. It still didn't stop her from trying to save her sister, but she couldn't do it without killing herself and everyone around her.
Then he came up with the hair brained notion of being a temporary vessel of power, but his star adamantly refused to channel Emma's magic into him. She didn't have to say it. He knew that she was bloody terrified of losing him, so he suggested that she channel her magic into him while she transferred the blonde's to her. The look on her face...yep, she wanted to bitch slap him into next week, but he was persistent and they both knew that it was the only viable option they had.
The Crimson Savior didn't have time to argue but she made sure that he knew that she was doing so under extreme protest and that she would never forgive him if he died. Admittedly, this had been one of the worst ideas he has ever had...mainly due to the conflicting sensations he was having during the transfer. It was painful but only because she had to transfer a large amount of magic insanely quickly and that was a bit much for his body to handle all at once.
Then there was the other effect… intoxication… he had gotten completely drunk with her power, the ultimate high if there ever was one. Despite the pain… he had felt positively glorious… now not so much. He was not just incredibly thirsty either… he was having an intense craving for more of his star's magic...like she hadn't given him enough for whatever reason and for the life of him, he didnt understand why.
He was broken out of his thoughts when his body started spasming. He wasn't just thirsty anymore. He felt extremely dehydrated like he hadn't drank a single drop of liquid in months. Damn it, he was going to get some bloody water even if he had to crawl out to the damn well to get it! He groaned as he rolled off the cot, crawling over to the pail of water that Aurora had retrieved to fill the pitcher.
He got his hands on it and literally dunked his head into it, swallowing about two thirds of its contents before someone yanked his head out and he groaned in protest. That someone being the blonde haired savior and she looked worried as hell...still he was relieved that she was alright. He tried to speak but he was still too thirsty. He reached for the pail again, determined to down the rest of its contents, when the blonde grabbed the pail first but she lifted it so he could drink it...if he wasn't already taken by his star, he would have bloody kissed the woman.
He growled in frustration when the water ran out and he looked toward the opening of the tent. Emma got the message and immediately shouted for more water. To his surprise, the Celtic woman called Rem entered the tent with four pails of water.
He was so happy and relieved to see her. He didn't know if everyone had been saved by his star's magic but seeing her alive...it made him smile...then his vision began to swim and he reached out to try and grab the water, only to fall over.
Rem and Emma sat him back up with the curly ginger acting as his backrest while the blonde savior poured the water into a pitcher so that it was easier for him to drink...and boy did he drink and kept on drinking. Even he was surprised by how much water he was drinking...he lost count at around seventeen pails but he was pretty sure it was more than that.
For some reason, the more he drank, the better he felt. The more water he consumed, the more his strength returned. Why...why would drinking such large quantities of water actually help him? What the bloody hell was happening to him?
