Emma woke abruptly, her eyes snapping open.
Killian was breathing shallowly, gasping like he was in pain.
Instantly awake, Emma shot up, eyes snapping to his face. His eyes were still shut, face drained of all color. He was still asleep.
Even in sleep, his face was pulled into a wince, his jaw clenched, and every muscle in his body was rigid, shaking with strain.
Emma touched the healed side of his face in an attempt to rouse him from whatever nightmare he was suffering. "Killian?" she said gently.
The moment she touched him, he recoiled. He flinched away from her touch, curling instinctively in on himself with a groan, a reaction Emma painfully recognized from some of the worst foster homes. It was a reflex that came from being woken violently many, many times.
"Stop," he gasped. "Please."
The absolute pleading in his voice was so small, so scared that Emma felt herself lose her breath.
Her chest hurting, Emma shook him gently. "Killian," she tried, but he either didn't hear her or she didn't break through his haze. He gasped again, a strangled noise escaping his throat. "Killian!" said Emma, louder. "Killian, wake up! Hook!"
For the second time, his moniker grabbed his attention. His eyes shot open, and like a shard of ice in Emma's heart, Killian instantly flinched away from her like he expected to be hit.
Her chest tightening at his reflex, Emma quickly whispered, "Hey, it's okay. You're safe. It's just me."
Killian cautiously looked at her, then around the room. Relief, quickly followed by confusion, flickered through his eyes. His gaze settled back on her.
"Are you okay?" asked Emma hesitantly, still feeling him tremble beneath her touch.
He shut his eyes for a moment, catching his breath. When he opened them, Emma was relieved to see the blue more vivid, his eyes brighter with far more awareness than he'd had the last time he'd been conscious. Though more lucid, he looked incredibly disoriented. "Emma?" he whispered, eyes shutting with a wince, as if through a headache. "I don't…" He blinked his eyes open again, giving the tunnel a confused look. "Where..?" he trailed off.
A little concerned that he didn't remember, Emma's brows creased. "I saw a tunnel that led out of the room we were in. We're in it now. You... were pretty out of it when we got here," she said quietly, trying not to let onto how much it had scared her.
He shut his eyes again, like he was trying to will the memories. But not a moment later his eyes shot open. His eyes widened a fraction, snapping to hers. "Something happened—the ground…" His brows kneaded as he tried to force the memories.
Emma nodded, biting her lip. "The opening we came through sealed shut and it was pretty… violent. You passed out when I caught you," she said, biting her lip, guilt in the words for having caused him more pain, even if it was in an attempt to prevent it.
Killian turned his head, eyeing the solid wall that blocked the way they came.
"I don't get why Hades bothered," muttered Emma, following his gaze. "It's not like there was a way out in there."
But something darkened in Killian's eyes. "There is… of sorts," he said quietly.
It took Emma a moment to understand what he was implying. Her brows shot up. "You really think Hades thought we would turn back and willingly jump into the River?!"
"I don't think it was personal to us," said Killian. "Hades wants his victims here to be consciously lost," he said quietly. "The River is an escape from that. The opening probably seals after everyone who passes through." A hollow look passed through his eyes. "An eternity spent lost and unable to escape is enough to drive one mad. I'd only been trapped down here for so long and… there were moments…" He shut his eyes.
Emma squeezed his hand lightly, her heart twisting painfully in her chest, hearing his panicked voice as he endured his nightmare echo in her head. "We're going to get out of here, Killian." she said firmly, trying to keep her confidence from wavering. "We just have to find it." She sat back on her heels, hating the way he still shook, how weak he still was. Hating that she could see more dried blood than his own skin. She bit her lip as he winced, his hand on his ribs. "I can try to heal something first…"
Killian shut his eyes and shook his head. "Conserve your energy, love," he whispered with a strained grin. "I'll be all right. You've done the worst of it."
Emma didn't feel as confident about that. The fact that he felt that the worst of it was already healed and he still looked as ragged as he did only made her feel sicker and sicker. Though awake, Killian's kept his eyes shut through most of their exchange, and his face was set into a permanent grimace like he was trying to manage pain. As much as Emma wanted to help him, she knew he was right; they had no idea if there were any more traps in here, and the moment she happened upon a weakness in these caves, she needed to be ready to take advantage of it. She was still battling the dark magic in the air as it was. Her magic needed to be as strong as it could be. The quicker they got out of here, the quicker she could heal him properly.
Speaking of her magic, Emma felt better since having slept; it finally felt like she didn't have to actively try to keep her eyes open, and it didn't feel like she weighed three times her own weight. She was still tired, and with a tiny spurt of fear, thirsty, but she shoved that fear very far down. Her magic felt a little rejuvenated, even if it still wasn't anywhere near her full strength. She could, and would, get them out of here.
Emma got to her knees, preparing to help him up. "Ready?" she asked hesitantly.
It took him a moment to open his eyes, and she could see the pain and fatigue in them. But he was lucid, and for that Emma was relieved.
Killian nodded shortly, lifting himself gingerly away from the wall, hissing as his back left it, making Emma worry once again about what was wrong with his back. Killian raised his left arm to the wall for support, but he faltered, like he misjudged the distance. Emma caught him quick before his back could hit the wall.
"Bloody—" Killian cracked his eyes open, giving her a grateful look for preventing what would have inevitably hurt, and he looked at his left arm with an unreadable expression.
In an instant, Emma realized he forgot he didn't have his hook.
And, she remembered who did.
"Hang on," she said, releasing him with one hand to reach in her jacket. With a tentative smile, she pulled out his hook. "Sorry," she said quickly. "I forgot I had it..."
A faint smile touched Killian's lips when he saw it, a look in his eyes like he didn't think he'd ever see it again.
Emma didn't want to voice that when she saw it in Hades' possession, the first thought that had hit her was that she'd never see Killian again.
"Let's get this back where it belongs," said Emma with a little smile, and Killian returned it, lifting his left arm for her to click his hook back into place.
Once it was, Killian lightly brushed her cheek with the metal, and Emma tried not to think about how he still trembled from such a simple movement. "Thank you, love."
Emma smiled. Releasing a breath, she said, "Ready?"
Killian nodded, a little of his wince back in his face as he braced himself to move. He dug his hook into the wall of the cave for support, and offered Emma his right arm. She pulled it carefully around her shoulders and, together, they stood.
Now that Emma had healed more of his ribs, she had a place to hold him that didn't make him hiss. He stood easier than last time, though it was in part due to the fact that he was far more lucid now than he had been the last time they stood. Rest had done him plenty of good, and Emma was more than relieved. But he still looked dead on his feet, and Emma tried very hard not to think about how true the statement actually was.
Standing made his trembling worse, and he swayed a bit when he got to his feet, but he was still holding more of his own weight than before. Emma was keeping him steady more than holding him up now, and that was progress.
But she didn't have to ask him to know that if she wasn't there, he wouldn't have been able to stand on his own.
She held him a little tighter.
"You okay?" she asked, seeing his eyes screwed shut, face in a grimace of pain. The little color that was in his face before was gone now. After a few breaths, he opened his eyes, looking ahead of them, to where the tunnel seemed to go on endlessly. "That… looks promising," he commented, doubt clouding the blue in his eyes.
Emma felt the same doubt, but she shoved it as far down as she could. "No more so than the beanstalk."
That made him laugh shortly, even when the laugh resulted in a wince. "Touché, Swan." But she felt him hold her a little tighter, only seeming to remind both of them how far they've come.
Together, they took a breath, and started down the tunnel.
Emma's fear from before, that the tunnel went on forever, was becoming increasingly more worrisome the more they walked. The tunnel never changed direction; it just kept straight on ahead, torches still lighting the cave every few yards.
But nothing even remotely resembling a weakness caught her eye. Everything looked the same.
She tried to quell the rising panic that Hades was simply right.
Emma had no sense of time other than the strain of Killian's grip around her shoulders, which she was sure was leaving a mighty bruise. His steps were slow and halting, and with a tight chest, Emma could tell how hard he was trying not to voice his pain. She'd healed the bones in his left leg, but it was bound to still be stiff and sore, and she'd only managed to heal half his ribs so far. And those were only the worst of what he was feeling.
They had to take a break every (what felt like an) hour or so. Killian was trying, but it was clear that his body was more than shot, and he was unbelievably exhausted. His grip became tighter on her the longer they walked, his limping worse and his breathing more labored than when they started. His fight to keep his pain silent was an uphill battle, and every time he made a noise Emma felt her heart twist.
It had to be hours since they started walking. Emma threw a look over her shoulder; she couldn't even see the blocked-off opening they came through anymore. At the very least, she knew they were making progress, but the tunnel ahead of them still seemed to go on and on and on. That panic she tried to shove down was fighting to come back up, because what if this was all there was? What if this was what Hades wanted? To trap souls in a never-ending tunnel?
But even as the doubt crawled up her spine and broke through her thoughts, she heard a voice that sounded startlingly like her mother's tell her to keep going, to hope.
So, she did, and on they went.
Killian's walking was getting increasingly worse, and Emma was about to suggest they take another break when she saw something ahead.
She squinted, but it wasn't a trick of the light, or her own desperate hope.
"Killian," she whispered breathlessly.
He heavily lifted his head, panting now, and he looked at her sharply. Emma pointed with her free hand ahead of them, and he followed her gaze.
Not a hundred yards ahead of them, the tunnel split into four different directions.
She and Killian exchanged a look, and without a word, they started walking again.
When they approached it, they stopped. Killian heaved out an audible sigh of relief at the momentary rest. Emma gave each new path a wary glance.
They all looked the same as one another, and just as endless as the original tunnel felt.
Emma sighed, doubt creeping in, understanding perfectly how Hades intended them to feel like lost souls. The caves were a damn maze. "Any idea which way to go?" she asked Killian, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. They only had so much time; if they picked a dead end, or they ended up lost forever—
What if there was no path that led to a way out of here, no weakness she could exploit?
The Mary Margaret voice in her head spoke up again. There is always hope.
"Afraid I don't," he said tiredly. He swayed a little now that they were stationary and Emma had to shift her hold to steady him. God, he looked exhausted.
Emma eyed all four paths, biting her lip. "You want to decide?"
"I trust you," he said quietly.
Emma lifted her brows. That makes one of us. "Rock, paper, scissors?" she asked shakily.
"What?"
"Nevermind." Emma shut her eyes. She sighed. She looked from one option to the next.
Her instincts in life had always had her back, always pointed her in the right direction. For the longest time, her gut was the only thing she could trust. She desperately hoped she could trust it now.
So, Emma took a breath, and tried to feel where her instinct was pointing her.
She blinked.
It felt like it was screaming at her to go to the left-most path.
Her instinct had never been so… strong.
Deciding to take it as a sign, and praying it wouldn't lead her astray, she said, "Let's go this way."
Without hesitation, Killian nodded and they started down the new path.
After what felt like another hour of walking, they could see the end of this tunnel, leading to another choice, this time just left or right. And she followed the—surprisingly vocal—instinct inside her, like it was pulling her in a specific direction every time they needed to make a new choice in direction. Emma didn't like playing such a chance game over and over, but… her instinct seemed very sure of itself.
Even so, Emma was feeling more and more lost the longer they walked and the deeper they went, and suddenly understood what Killian meant about the River of Lost Souls being an escape from such a fate as this.
But that instinct, that hope seemed to flare in her chest, begging her to hold onto it.
And the more they walked, the more that instinct, that hope grew warmer. Stronger.
Emma froze, and Killian nearly fell over at her sudden stop.
"Emma?" he asked worriedly.
Emma hardly heard him.
Because it wasn't hope that was growing stronger.
It wasn't even intuition.
It was her magic.
She could feel it now, wondering how she hadn't noticed it sooner. That warmth in her chest was stronger. And the air around them wasn't quite as thick, wasn't as suffocating as it felt when they were beside the River.
"Emma?!"
Earlier, it wasn't instinct that led her to the right tunnel.
It was her magic.
She smiled. "Killian!" she looked at him, her hope flaring. "It's stronger—my magic is stronger!"
His brows kneaded, his eyes trading worry for confusion. "What?"
She couldn't help smiling. It was making so much sense. "The closer I got to you when I came down here, it was like the air was suffocating me," she explained fast, feeling hope warm as bright as her magic was. "Hades said that where we were was the darkest spot in the Underworld, and that's where my magic was the weakest." She grinned. "My magic is stronger now. If my magic is getting stronger, then that means—"
Killian smiled too, realizing what she was saying. "That we're going in the right direction," he finished for her. His own tired smile grew. "You're bloody brilliant, Emma!"
Emma smiled.
Her magic was going to lead them home.