Without Hades running the Underworld, it was easy enough to get down into the domain without any risk of getting captured or being thrown in the pit. Nadri, Arthur and Killian went down to search for the pages that Liam had previously given to Hades in return for his own secrets and brother's life. They stood at the entrance where doors had previously stood proudly keeping out any unwanted visitors, Nadri couldn't help when she saw the broken hinges obliterated from the archway.
"It looks like someone got here before us." Arthur commented as his hands touched the doorway that had been shattered into pieces by a magical force. Hades had beaten Nadri senselessly the day she was stolen back for that matter in particular.
"That was me." Nadri quipped as she strolled past Arthur, her dress flowing behind her. He nodded to himself and continued on after the woman in front.
"Where are you from then, hm? I have never seen a woman dressed in such a manner." Arthur's eyes lingered over Nadri as they walked into the throne room together. Killian's ears perked up at Arthur's questions, staying silent as they walked into the towering throne room.
"Before your time, Hin Vahlin." She shot back, feeling Arthur's eyes looking her up and down like she was a piece of meat on a pedestal waiting to be taken. The King couldn't help but look at the scales of her dress were shimmering and exposing her body. "Avert your eyes before I cut them out." Arthur's mouth open and shut a few times, trying to find the words to reply back to Nadri's threat. The dark-haired woman went to the middle of the room as Killian strutted over to his side.
"I wouldn't mate, she's had a rough day." Killian piped up before Arthur could finally speak.
It was quiet, only the crackling flames of the fire place could be heard by the trio. Everything was how Nadri remembered it, the blood splatter across the marble floor where she was first beaten when she had been found by Hades near the River of Souls. There was blood along the thick, threaded rug that was from her second return. Nadri's eyes were fixated on the on the ground, her mind flashing back through the memories of being in at the end of Hades' cane.
"Beg." He stood over her, bringing out the handkerchief and wiping the end of his cane where the blood from her mouth splattered up the ebony wood. Nadri firmly bit her lip, blood dribbling down her mouth. "Beg…and I might stop." She dragged herself up, purposely spitting blood onto his freshly cleaned rug.
"N-Never."
"Darling?" Nadri flinched out of her thoughts when Killian's voice came into earshot. She looked up at him and then back down to the rug, swallowing hard.
"This is where we met, properly. Do you remember, raaviir?" She asked him faintly, still staring down at the rug. Killian thought back to the moment he was dragged into the room by two guards, thrown onto the ground roughly and was met with the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.
"I'll never forget it."
"What have you done to him?" Nadri ghostly whispered, the man struggling next to her. She reached out and laid a hand on his arm, concerned for the life of his soul. Killian's one bearable eye blinked at her weakly, looking up at the woman who was leaning over to access his injuries. Killian stared at the woman in front of him, wrapped up in the deep purple scaled dress that almost made her seem that she had walked out of the darkness itself. He could see the gleam across her pale skin, most of her body exposed by the dress. Her hair draped below her shoulders, perfectly curled. Her face was pale, smooth apart from the scar that dragged along down her neck and across her throat with the accompanying bruises she had suffered earlier.
He couldn't break the stare with her, it almost felt like she was an angel guiding him to the light. He didn't realise the bruises at first, she still radiated underneath.
"He sounds like a worst King than I was." Arthur commented as he went looting through Hades desk, picking up a decanter of whiskey and sniffing the liquid in the bottle curiously before drinking it. "That's good." Arthur bemused to himself and then looked over to Nadri who had now parted from Killian and was searching along the fireplace for some sort of hidden space. He approached her slowly and held the bottle up to her. "Forgive me. I didn't mean to be-"
"Perverse?" Nadri finished for him as she took the crystal decanter from his hands. She brought the bottle up to her lips and downed three mouthfuls. She brought the bottle away, holding it in front of herself.
Nadri could feel the harsh chills up her spine again as she stared into the liquid, remembering the heavy smell of whiskey on Hades' breath when he was on top of her or when she was sticking his tongue down her throat. She gripped the neck of the bottle and with all her might, threw it across the room. The crystal obliterated upon contact with the wall into tiny shards that were almost impossible to see, the liquid bursting all over the marble floor.
Nadri exhaled sharply through her nose and went over to Hades desk, using both fists to smash and push everything off the wooden top, remembering the times he had shoved her into it. All the decanters and glasses went smashing into the ground. She picked up one of the tall, iron candlesticks that were sitting next to his throne and gripped onto it with both hands before slamming it into the bookcase, pulling the whole thing off the wall and down onto the tiling with a booming noise.
Killian and Arthur watched on as Nadri continued to destroy Hades' throne room. Everything had come off the walls, desks, chairs and furniture was being overturned and all of Hades personal items were knocked and collided into the ground into pieces. Arthur had a stunned face as he witnessed the act, wincing every time a smash was heard. Killian simply watched on, watching the woman he loved taking her power back.
Nadri stood in front of them, panting. She dropped the candlestick to the ground as she approached the two men who were watching her. She had broken a sweat, her human body not used to such an intense strength.
"It is forgiven, Hin Vahlin." She spoke to Arthur, her voice softly spoken again compared to her yelling and shouting as she went around the room. "There's no sign of these pages. I checked." Nadri looked along the floor, glass, wood, torn pages and other fragmented materials sprawled around.
"Do you feel better?"
"Not really." Nadri couldn't help but let out a lilted laugh, looking around the room. "I just really hate this room…I've spent long enough here." She sigh with a deep breath. Letting out years of anger on Hades' throne room felt like it was the way to go, empowering herself with destruction. It went much deeper than that. So much deeper. "My King used to hide his treasured stuff within the dragon's lair, I know that Hades would never hide anything like this in my cell for the reason that I turned on my own King. Do you think maybe there is something else?" She asked thoughtfully towards Arthur, the King must have known some knowledge to hiding riches. All three of them struggling to find any sort of hint to where the pages could be located.
"The most important stuff, I hid in a place no one would ever dare touch. My throne." Arthur turned around to Hades' ebony throne that was sat in the middle of the room. Arthur got down on his knees, feeling underneath engraved illustrations on the chair for any sort of mechanism. A click was heard and suddenly a flap opened from the side of the throne, five pages from the Storybook fell out. "Well, look at that, that's your holy grail." Arthur picked up the parchment pages and handed them over to Killian who was flicking through them, reading each word for some sort of clue towards taking down Hades.
"We have to try and get this to the others." Killian showed the page to Nadri who took it from him, bringing it up to her eyes and saw the description of the Olympian Crystal.
"Of course…" How could she have been so stupid? She knew of Zeus, she should have known that the way to destroy a God to particles of dust was a crystal of that much insane power.
"If we can get these pages reunited with the book then we can send a message to Emma."
"I was trapped in the prison for over a week, who was Hades giving orders to then?"
"Cruella."
"I thought you guys would come back soon." Nadri, Killian and Arthur walked through the door of the Blind Witch's, being met with the witch herself. Night had fallen through the Underworld, Killian had stormed through the front door before the sign could even be turned around to state that they were closed. "I smelled a bromance. Table for two? Oh! You've got the little dragon with you." The Blind Witch wasn't even paying any attention to them and already knew who was standing in her diner. Killian and Arthur exchanged fed up looks before turning to the woman in question who was sitting in the booth in the middle of the diner with a martini in hand.
"We're not here for a meal, we're here for her." Killian pointed at the skinny, almost anorexic, woman who had one leg crossed over the other as she sipped on her alcoholic drink. The shaggy fur coat gave more density to her body which was the opposite compared to her matchstick legs. Her eyeshadow was extreme to the point they were blended up to her eyebrows. Thin, cigarette stained red lips formed into a wide smile when she knew they were looking for her.
"Oh, Nadri, darling! How long it has been. You're looking well." Cruella smirked, drinking from her glass as her other hand brushed her menacing black and white hair from in front of her eyes.
"You know her too?" Killian asked Nadri and she returned it with a simple nod.
"I've been dead a long time, raaviir."
"I heard that dragon hide makes for wonderful armour." Nadri stormed forward, slamming her hands down on the booth's table. Cruella looked up at Nadri with a playful smile, wanting to taunt her further. "Oh darling, you need me for something otherwise you wouldn't be here. Now, out of the way girl, I want to admire my handsome new addition to the Underworld." Cruella moved her head so she was looking around Nadri as if she was invisible, staring down at Arthur who stood there awkwardly with the old woman's eyes fixated on him like a piece of meat.
"We have to get a message to our friends in the world above. And you ripped out the phone booth that can do that. Now, where is it?" Killian was heated up, determined to get this done as quickly and simply as possible. Nadri withdrew back from Cruella, walking back towards Killian.
"Oh, as appealing as this stubble sandwich is, I'm pretty certain lying to you won't get me what I want. You'll eventually work out the truth, so here it is and on your way. I destroyed the phone booth. Sorry." Cruella's British tone responded in the most non-apologetic way, a bitchy little smile spread across her face.
"Why would you do that?" Arthur jumped in.
"Because, darling, I can't have anyone resolving their unfinished business. That would be no fun. And if I'm going to be trapped in here, so is everyone else." Cruella stared at the three of them with her deranged eyes, Nadri feeling uncomfortable underneath her stare.
"Enough. The book. Where is it?"
"In sight, but out of reach. I put it in the River of Souls." Cruella stirred her martini and Nadri turned back to the boys with a hopeful look, the first one that had appeared on her face for a while.
"Let's go boys." Nadri opened the diner door, the bell chiming as she left. Arthur and Killian exchanged confused expressions and followed the woman regardless, Nadri knew the River of Souls like the back of her hand, especially when she had been hiding down there for a few hundred years before Hades was brave enough to go searching that far down. "I think I know where it is."
Nadri knew they could get through the entrance back at Emma's house to get down to the deepest part of the River of Lost Souls. She was determined to get there, both men struggling to keep up with the scorned woman. They jogged the whole way, Nadri's dress frequently getting caught around her feet enough times where she had to tear the bottom off just so she would stop tripping up. Eventually they got down into the ruins, Nadri leading the way down as far down as they could go, knowing exactly where Hades would have hidden the book.
They were eventually met with the old wooden boat that they had arrived back on to pull Killian from the contraption that he was trapped on. They all got into the boat, careful not to rock it too far in case they let any water in. It creaked as they all sat down, Killian taking the paddle to push the boat off into the water. Killian and Nadri knew how disastrous that could have been for them if the soul-filled waters flooded the boat, the mission would have been over here and now.
"It's up ahead." Nadri told them as they continued to sail on, Killian leading the boat. Nadri felt her anxiety creep back up, feeling breathless. It was too late to back out now, she couldn't freeze up now.
"How do you know its here, of all places?" Arthur questioned Nadri as he sat back anxiously, conscious of keeping all of him in the boat in case one of the souls crept up along the wooden boat.
"Hades couldn't find me right under his nose. That's why he hid the book here because it was right under our noses the whole time. It's his idea of a sick joke." Nadri kept looking out, seeing the docks of the ruins coming closer into eye-view.
The green, moaning water surrounded the ruins as a large statue of a gargoyle held onto the precious storybook as it sat at the top of the ruins. Brass braziers lit the way up the stairs and ominous Greek writing was written across the archway. As they came closer, they could see that underneath the archway was a large, raggedy brown blanket that had been strewn across the stone floor and broken candles that had been melted down into dried splats of wax. It used to be her sanctuary, it was her escape from Hades. Hercules smuggled her down there at the risk of being thrown into the pit. He risked everything to keep Nadri safe.
It worked for some time.
"Welcome to my home." Killian threw a rope to pull the small boat in, keeping it tied closely to the side before helping Nadri and Arthur out. They looked up at the ruins in front of them, the book just lying in the gargoyle's hands for the taking. Killian had no words, only sadness for Nadri. He gave her a loving look before turning back up at the gargoyle. It was now or never. They had to finish it, Killian had to finish it for Nadri.
"Did it not drive you to insanity?" Arthur asked, looking around at the gloomy atmosphere that surrounded the ruins.
"Every single sul for an eternity." Nadri received a sympathetic half-smile from Arthur. They may not have met on amazing terms but since their quest began Nadri had picked up on the King's troubled demeanour. She had met awful kings, she had killed two of the ones she served when they could have easily made such a difference in their reigns over Asari. "I had never felt more scared when I was alone...now I'm no longer alone and I'm terrified this could all go wrong."
"I guess we will find out, eh love?" Killian let a nervous smile creep over his lips and Nadri shook her head, standing on her tip toes to kiss the taller man by her side, bringing him into a long kiss. "Protect her with your life." Killian ordered the King, looking back down at the love of his life and brought her into a deep kiss. There was no words needed with a kiss like that. It was a kiss so filled with passion that love poured through it like a waterfall. They parted and Killian made his way up to the steps, leaving Nadri and Arthur together.
As Killian made his way up, Nadri suddenly saw Arthur fall down into the ground next to her. With a panic she turned around, seeing one of the lost souls emerge from the water and pull at Arthur's feet to drag him in the river.
"Hook!" Arthur cried out, his fingertips digging into the stones to pull himself up. "Go get the book!"
"Do it!" Nadri yelled back up at Killian as he debated going up or down the staircase. Nadri reached for a torch that hung off the wall, spinning it around in her hand before swatting the spirit away with the fire. The spirit disappeared as the flames engulfed it, freeing Arthur from its grasp. She leaned down to the help the King to his feet, both of them looking back at Killian as he struggled to reach for the book above. Nadri felt the fear within her when Killian was so close to just picking it up, only an inch away. Another spirit emerged from the river, this time it was headed directly for Killian.
"Killian!" Nadri cried as the spirit whooshed up to him as he finally managed to catch the book in his hand and pull it from the statue. He climbed down in a hurry as the spirit came up to him and knocked the book straight out of his hands. It went flying through the air, Nadri dropping the torch and acted on pure instinct. She stepped towards the edge of the stone bridge, jumping up as high as she could to catch the book before it was lost in the river forever.
"Nadri, no!" Killian's shouts were heard as the spirit redirected itself down to Nadri, Arthur picked up the torch as it stormed down with her in its sights and batted the spirit away as hard as he could. The spirit fell to the floor and shrivelled up into the flames as Nadri landed down on the path, hanging off the edge of the river of souls as she held onto the book for dear life. Her face was inches from the water as she struggled to hold the thick, heavy book. Her hand was shaking as she could see herself in the water, the souls enticing her in.
What would happen if she could just be lost to the river, forever a tortured soul, instead of an eternity bound slave?
What would truly be better?
"I wouldn't get too close."
"I've got you." Arthur reached down, his hands around her waist to help her back up to her feet. She rested into his armour with a sigh of relief, clutching the storybook against her chest to protect it with her life. He had done exactly what Killian had asked, Arthur protected her from being engulfed by the desperate souls within the waters.
"What the bloody hell were you thinking?!" Killian stormed down the stone steps, almost tripping up at how fast he was pacing down. He was in between being seriously upset with Nadri playing the hero and extremely proud at the same time for catching the book before it was lost forever. "Are you okay?!"
"Thanks to the King, yes." Arthur let go of Nadri, returning her gratitude with the first real, warm smile that he has given her. "I'm okay, Killian, I promise you."
"You didn't tell me those things could attack us." Arthur quipped to Nadri, huffing as the adrenaline rushed through his body.
"They didn't before, Hin Vahlin. When Hades left I guess the souls decided to change their mind." Nadri replied and turned to Killian with the storybook, opening up to the ridges of the missing pages that Liam had first torn out.
"What now? Will this work?" Arthur questioned again, looking over Nadri's shoulder.
"Once the pages are reunited, we will haunt the book and whoever is closest will see what we are trying to do. The Olympian Crystal can obliterate anything. It's like throwing a soul into the Pit and it vanishes into nothing." Nadri explained to the men beside her as Killian dug for the pages in his back pocket. He handed them over and Nadri lined them up against the ripped edges and suddenly they reattached themselves effortlessly. "I hope that son of-a-bitch gets kicked into the empty."
"Oh, learning more curse words now, love?" Killian raised an eyebrow at the language she had picked up on.
"I learned from the best." Nadri grinned up at her lover, a bright smile that only sweet revenge could bring. "I'm a little rusty. It has been a while." She closed the book and held it in the air, closing her eyes as she concentrated on putting her energy throughout the book and relaying it to the world above. A light shone throughout the book, illuminating the pages. Killian and Arthur watched on before the light slowly fizzled out and the book disappeared from her hands. "It's done."
"I owe you thanks for your help." Killian looked to the knight beside them, truly grateful for having been by their side through their quest. "We both do."
"I have embarked on many a wrongheaded quest in my time. I'm just glad to finish one that was righteous." Arthur smiled, extending his hand to Killian. Killian clasped his hand and shook it. "I'm glad I met someone different from a world of my own. I'm glad I helped you on your quest to freedom." Arthur turned to Nadri and gave a half broken smile when she was reminded that she would still be here.
They would make it work.
They had no choice.
"I hope that it has worked." Nadri took Killian's hand, squeezing it as she looked up at him. "We just have to make a life for ourselves now."
"Forever, love." Killian agreed with a saddened smile, kissing her hand. "Let's go back, we can all take the boat and-" A shining light emitted from behind Killian, the men and Nadri turning around to hear a shimmering and twinkling light replace the archway of which used to be Nadri's home.
"Oh by the Gods. By Akatosh, it cannot be." Nadri's violet eyes widened in awe, glistening over with inspiring tears. "We did it." The glittering light laid upon Nadri, so bright but she couldn't look away. It was impossible, she wanted to see what was on the other side. She was going to be eternally free, to move on from this afterlife of pain, torture and hurt.
"Did what, love? What is it?" Killian stared in confusion at the archway, watching Nadri almost fall to her knees in tears. The slow realisation came over him. It was a way to move on. It was to go to a better place.
"The defeat of Hades was your unfinished business." Arthur mused, the gleaming light shining on them to greet them in.
"I think it was our unfinished business." Killian looked at Nadri, his own heart could have broken at seeing Nadri's tears of happiness. "Perhaps it was yours, too. Come with us."
"Don't worry about me. I'll be all right. I was once prophesied to repair a broken kingdom. My mistake was thinking that kingdom was Camelot but now I think I understand the kingdom I have to repair... is here... the Underworld." Nadri turned to give Arthur a sweet smile, himself realising the error of his ways and ready to correct his wrongs.
"Goodbye, Your Majesty. I wish you the best." Killian shook his hand once more and Nadri stepped up to Arthur and pulled him down to her level gently, kissing his cheek.
"Do better than that man ever could. Goodbye Hin Vahlin." Her voice was shaking with nerves, Arthur nodded and let her join Killian by his side. Nadri looked up at Killian, holding his arm tightly as they readied themselves at the portal. "Are you ready, Ruveyzun?"
"With you, always."
They stepped through the light together, walking through the brightness. A flash came over their eyes, almost blinding them in their tracks. The couple looked around the white light where they could faintly see stone columns lining up along the pathway, silver braziers holding white fire. Nadri had never imagined that she would move on into the bright light, she had always imagined that there was going to be one way for her since the long years she had spent unwillingly serving Hades.
"Hello Nadri." Nadri and Killian looked around to see a figure standing behind them. The figure had golden hair, wrapped up in a white toga with a golden accented belt wrapped around his waist. He looked glorious which is how he should have looked the whole time in the Underworld. Nadri began to choke up on sobs, running into the arms of Hercules.
"Herc! You're here!" She cried into the man's arms. His strong build picked her up off her feet as he hugged her back tightly. Killian watched on as the woman he loved cried over her dear friend, a friend she was unable to say goodbye to. "Oh by the Gods, I can't believe it." Nadri continued to weep into his shoulder, happy tears constantly overwhelming her.
"Nadri, I'm so glad you are okay. When my father opened the portal-"
"I don't believe it either." Hercules put her on the ground, beaming his charming smile. "I didn't get to say goodbye." His hands laid upon her cheeks, looking deep into her watery purple eyes. She broke into a wide smile, a rarity to be seen on Nadri's face from what she had gone through.
"We have time now. You are so strong, Nadri and you deserve more than what you had in the Underworld. My father gave me strict orders and he heard it was you, he was impressed and wanted me to guide you to where you are going next." Hercules looked up at Killian. "Where you are both going next." Hercules smiled at them both proudly and back down at Nadri to kiss her forehead.
"I miss you, Herc." Her tearful words made Hercules' heart swell, his hands dropping down to lay on her shoulders. "You helped me get out of there. I owe you my laas."
"You owe me nothing, Nadri. I want you to move on peacefully, freely."
"Will I ever see you again?" Nadri continued to cry, tears streaming down her face with broken sobs. She couldn't hold it down as much as she tried to, Killian watched on feeling helpless for her. Hercules was Nadri's first savior, he helped her get out of a hell that she never once could have thought of getting out of by herself. Killian owed him his thanks but for now allowed her to say goodbye. "I never got to say goodbye."
"I'll be here next time, Nadri." Hercules squeezed her shoulders and Nadri knitted her eyebrows together, looking back at Killian and then back to Hercules.
"Next time?"
"Yes Nadri, next time." Hercules said again, bringing his hands away from her shoulders and guided her back towards the pirate waiting patiently for her. Hercules looked down at the woman, her soul now bright and powerful even as a human being. "You will be great. I know you will." Hercules leaned over from his towering stance and gave her a kiss on her forehead, a silent promise that he would keep her safe along the way. "Shall we?" Hercules motioned towards the end of the bright white tunnel, the light still beaming.
"Thank-you for freeing me." Nadri blubbered, Killian wrapped his arm around her shoulders comfortingly. Hercules gave her a warm grin and urged them to step forward towards the light.
"Go and be happy Nadri." Nadri turned back and gave Hercules one last smile thankful for everything that he had done for her while they were in the Underworld together. Killian and Nadri continued on and the bright flash engulfed them.
They continued walking and Nadri could feel wet grass beneath her feet. She gently opened her eyes, taking in a deep breath of freshly fallen rain. She felt the rain gently spatter on her face and she looked up to be met with cloudy skies. Killian was by her side, rain still falling gently down from the sky and at their feet where they had arrived. They were in a graveyard, exactly the same as the Underworld's…only this one was different. This realm had light, everything had a different colour instead of a blanket of dark orange everywhere they went. Nadri embraced the new tones of colours that she had not witnessed before in the Underworld...but that's because this wasn't the Underworld.
"What is this place?" Nadri whispered, feeling the grass from beneath her feet, looking around at the bright colours. She let go of Killian's hand to reach out to the air, feeling the rain spatter on her finger tips. "I have not felt lokluv for hundreds of years..." She felt small drips of cold rain between her fingers as it continued to fall from the sky. The rain sat within her hair, the wild curls continuing to frizz out further from how wet they were becoming. "Is it-?"
"This…this is Storybrooke." Killian answered her as he turned around to see that his tombstone was still there with a mound of dirt and flowers above it. This wasn't any old Storybrooke, this was the real Storybrooke in the Land of the Living. "Hercules took us home." Killian sighed happily, wrapping his arm around Nadri's shoulder and kissing the side of her head. They both stood there looking up at the sky, just enjoying the feeling of rain falling down on them.
Nadri gasped, feeling a hard rhythm of thumping from within her chest. It stunned her, forcing her to catch her breath. Killian recoiled his arm, moving his hand to Nadri's shoulder out of worry when she struggled for breath.
"Killian, something is wrong." Killian moved around her as she held onto her chest, Killian replacing her hand with his and rested it against the top of her chest to feel what was wrong.
Thump. Thump.
Killian exhaled with such a sigh of relief that the whole town could have heard it before his lips stretched into a grin so wide that his face started to hurt. He knew what that feeling was, it was the same feeling that he could finally feel thundering in his own chest all over again. It quickened every time he looked at the woman he loved, making it all the more real.
"Oh darling, that's your heart beating." Killian's tears were mixed with the rain on his face, Nadri looking up in shock as she continued to feel the beating from inside of her. Nadri pulled the pirate by the lapels of his jacket, crashing their lips together. She pulled him in as close as she could, Killian's hands around her waist to enjoy every single moment of their kiss. He picked her up, continuing their desperate, passionate kiss.
They were alive.
They were living.