The next thing Hook remembered was stepping out of the Vault of the Dark One. The Darkness was dripping from him before it formed the solid figure that was his body. It wasn't something that he wanted. He had enough dark thoughts within him that the Darkness loved. And it feasted on him, binding itself to its new form. Its second form.
He looked around, seeing that he was now wearing a dark cloak, much like Emma's white one. He shook his head slowly, adjusting to his new surroundings when he saw someone he thought he wouldn't see again. Rumplestiltskin.
He waved at Hook. "Hi."
"Bloody crocodile," Hook muttered.
"Not exactly," Rumplestiltskin said. "But I understand the confusion."
Hook lunged at the figure of Rumplestiltskin, but the figure vanished before Hook got there, and he fell face-first into the ground.
"That's not gonna work," came Rumplestiltskin's voice from behind Hook. Hook picked himself up and looked at him. "I'm not out here. I'm in there – in your mind. I am your guide. The voice in your head."
"Save your speech," Hook told him. "I know who you are. All the Dark Ones in my head." He remembered Emma having the same problem. "But it doesn't matter. I won't listen to you."
"What if I told you that together, I could get you the one thing you've wanted for hundreds of years? Your revenge." Rumplestiltskin giggled. "That's right. I saw what you saw, dearie. I saw your pain. And I can ease it. So stick with me, and you will finally do what you never could."
"And what's that?" Hook asked.
"Why, kill me, of course. Well, my other self. The one back in Storybrooke."
That night, Merlin, the Doctor, Lancelot, Regina, David and Mary Margaret had arrived at the Vault of the Dark One, hoping that Hook was still there. But they were too late. Hook was already gone.
"There's nothing we can do," Merlin said as he inspected the Vault. "It's too late. The Vault has already forged Hook as its new Dark One."
The Doctor looked around at the ground beneath them, where he saw a set of footsteps. "This way…" he said, following them. "He went this way." But they stopped a few metres away from the Vault. "Or, he did. He's gone."
"We should split up," David told them. "Search the woods."
"Where?" the Doctor asked. "Hook is a Dark One now. He has magic. He can transport himself anywhere. Even somewhere he doesn't want to be found."
"Emma, too," Regina added.
"Well, we have to start looking somewhere," David stated.
Merlin shook his head. "No. There's no time. I'm afraid this was the darkest of all the paths I foresaw for your daughter. We should return to the cottage and the TARDIS. Even without my magic, I still have enough ingredients to prepare."
"I don't care how bad things got," David said. "Emma wouldn't hurt us."
"Not on purpose," the Doctor said. "But she can hurt us accidentally. And with Hook, well, who knows what he'd do."
Merlin nodded. "The Doctor's right. We need as many allies as we can get."
"Lancelot," Mary Margaret began, "your mother's the Lady of the Lake. Could she help us?"
Perhaps," Lancelot answered.
"Perhaps?" David asked, and then he sighed. Things didn't sound good for them.
"Lancelot, you should go," Merlin told him. "She does have great power. The lake is but a two-day journey from here. It's worth a try."
"And if I don't make it in time?" Lancelot asked.
"Well, then you get to spend your last moments with your mother," Merlin said, patting Lancelot on the shoulder. Lancelot smiled and nodded before heading off towards the lake, and Merlin, Regina and the Doctor headed back to where the cottage was.
David turned to Mary Margaret. "We were so close, Mary Margaret. Emma was a second away from destroying the darkness and ending this."
"And Hook would have been dead," Mary Margaret stated. "She chose love, David. And we would've done the same thing. Hell, we have done the same thing. We share one heart now because we took the same risk as Emma. We find each other, and we save each other. That is what our family does. So have some faith in her."
"I do," David said. "I just hope her faith in Hook is justified."
Hook was in the woods on the other side. He stopped and looked down at himself. He was still in the dark robe that he had been wearing since he emerged from the Vault of the Dark One.
"What the devil am I wearing?" he asked. "Why must Dark Ones dress like monks?" He waved his hand and engulfed himself in a cloud of maroon smoke. And once it dissipated, he was back wearing his black leather pirate gear.
"Yes. Much better," Rumplestiltskin said. "I went leather as well."
"Get out of here," Hook demanded as he walked through the figure of Rumplestiltskin, to which he vanished.
But the figure only went to another part of the forest. Now he was standing beside a tree. "Try to ignore me, but you can't."
"Talk all you want, spirit. I know you're lying," Hook snapped. "There's no way I can get my revenge when Gold's in Storybrooke, and I'm trapped here in Camelot."
"Aren't you forgetting something, dearie? How did you come to Camelot in the first place?"
"The Doctor will not transport me back to Storybrooke so that I can kill his friend."
"Of course not. But that's where we come in," Rumplestiltskin said. "Might I suggest we get rid of the Doctor and his pitiable blue box and cast a Dark Curse?"
"And crush the heart of the one I love most?" Hook asked, and he shook his head. No, not Emma's. "No, no, no. That is out of the question!" he roared.
"But there's always a loophole," Rumplestiltskin said, but he was interrupted by another voice. Emma's.
"Killian!" she called out as she rushed towards him. "It worked. You're alive."
"Aye. It did. After spending centuries quelling my bloodlust, you threw me back into that Darkness! Job well done, Emma!"
"Binding you to Excalibur was the only way to save you," Emma said.
"Right! Excalibur. And where is my shiny new tether?"
"I don't know," Emma lied. "It disappeared right after you did."
"Isn't that convenient?" Rumplestiltskin said.
Emma turned to look at the figure. "How long has he been with you?"
"You can still see him?" Hook asked.
"Sadly, yes," Rumplestiltskin answered. "I mean, she's still a Dark One, no matter how ineffectual she may be."
"Don't listen to him," Emma told Hook. "He's not real. But I am. I'm right
here. Look at me. That future you told me not to be afraid of. We can still have it. The house in Storybrooke. I'm not afraid anymore. I want it. With you. It's ours. You just have to want it, too."
"I'd love that more than anything," Hook whispered.
"Killian, look," Emma said as she gestured to the empty spot Rumplestiltskin had been.
Hook sighed. "The demon's gone."
"We can do this. We can get the darkness out of both of us for good."
"How?" Hook asked.
"By doing what I just did with you. By going to those, we love," Emma said, and she kissed him deeply before pulling away. "All right. Enough distractions. I'm going to go scout our path." She turned to head towards one of the paths of the forest.
"I'll go replenish our water supply," Hook said with a nod and headed in the opposite direction. But as he did, he heard whispering inside his head. He couldn't ignore it. "Oh! What the devil is that noise?"
"That's the sound of the dagger singing to the sword," Rumplestiltskin answered. He was back. "And if you can hear it, that means Excalibur is quite close."
"No. It's impossible. Emma said it disappeared."
"Wake up, dearie!" snapped Rumplestiltskin. "Your lover is lying. She has the sword."
"Why would she lie to me?" Hook asked.
"So she can control you, of course. She likes the power it brings. Not that she needs Excalibur. She's quite good at doing that all on her own."
"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You!" came Emma's voice in the distance as she neared Hook. "Get out of here!"
"Oh, we were just talking about you," Rumplestiltskin said, turning his head. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"
"Ask me what? Hook, what the hell is going on?"
"Emma, do you know where Excalibur is?" he asked, wincing at the pain the whispering in his head was causing him.
"Killian…" Emma began, "Rumple is manipulating you. That's what he does. He's the Darkness, trying to lure you on his side."
"Are you lying to me? I can hear it calling to the dagger, Emma. Do you have Excalibur?"
Emma was silent for a moment, and then she nodded. "Yes," she said, making Excalibur appear in her hand.
"Did you use it on me?"
"What? No. Of course not. I was never …."
"Then why not tell me the truth?" Hook asked, but Emma didn't answer. "You were afraid I was going to ask you for it. You never planned on giving it to me, did you?"
"I did it to protect you. You told me yourself you were not strong enough to resist the darkness."
"Which is why I bedded you not to turn me into the bloody Dark One in the first place! But you went and did it anyway."
"You were dying," Emma replied.
"You know the worst part, Swan?! When your mother wanted to use the dagger to stop you from crushing Merida's heart, I'm the one that convinced her that you needed to make that decision yourself! There has never been a moment where I didn't believe in you. Where I didn't trust you. But you don't believe in me anymore. So how am I supposed to fight this?"
"Killian…" Emma began.
"Don't!" Hook interrupted. "I don't want to hear any more of your excuses." He waved his hand and vanished in a cloud of maroon smoke.
To try and find Hook, Emma went to the meadow of middlemist flowers, where she turned Hook into a Dark One. She looked around. She was the only one there. "Killian?" she called out. But there was no answer. "Killian?" she called out again, but no response again. Finally, she sighed and poofed Excalibur into her hand. "Dark One, I summon thee," she reluctantly said, and Hook appeared in front of her.
"I'm sorry," Emma added. "I didn't know how else to get you here."
"You could have given me a choice," Hook told her.
"We need to talk about this."
"Do you have any idea how it feels to not be in control of yourself? The last time a Dark One controlled me, I had to watch as Rumplestiltskin almost killed you. I had to knee, powerless, while he almost crushed my heart."
"I know exactly how it feels! All my life, everyone I loved abandoned me!"
"I didn't abandon you," Hook corrected.
"I know. But I was about to lose you to the darkness. When I'm scared, that's when my walls go up. That's when I stop trusting the people around me. You know this!"
"It doesn't make it fair, Swan," Hook said, and he turned to leave.
"Killian, wait!" Emma called. But she still had Excalibur, and it made Hook stop in his tracks.
Hook sighed, and he turned around.
"I didn't mean to do that," Emma cried out.
"Aye, but you did. And that is exactly my point!"
"That's not why I called you here! I called you here because I do believe in you! I do trust that you can control your fate!" She held out Excalibur to the pirate. "It's yours if you want it!" Hook reached up, took the blade from her, and looked at Emma. "We are going to get the darkness out of both of us. But we are going to do it together. I promise you. I will never try to control you again. I love you," She added and held out her hand.
Hook sheathed Excalibur into his holster and then looked at Emma's hand. Finally, he took it in his hand. "I'm usually the one who has to say that first."
"Yeah, well?"
"I love you, too," Hook said, pulling Emma closer and kissing her.
When Emma and Hook arrived, Regina, Mary Margaret, and David were standing in front of the cottage. They sighed briefly when they saw them, glad they were alright.
"There you are!" exclaimed Regina. "We've looked everywhere for you."
"Emma?" Mary Margaret said, noticing her daughter's attire was different than the last time she saw her. "What happened to you? Are you okay?"
"For now," Emma answered. "It looks worse than it is.
"Are you sure?" Regina asked.
"Aye," Hook answered. "We're ready to get this sickness out of us. Where's Merlin?"
"He's inside," David said. "With the Doctor."
Hook nodded and walked past them. "Well, let's get on with it then. I'll get him. Wait here."
He entered the cottage and saw the TARDIS in the centre of the living room. The doors to the ship opened, and the Doctor stood in the doorway. "You're back. We've spent hours looking for you," he said, taking another look at the pirate. But something seemed different about him.
Hook turned to the Time Lord. "I'm fine. But you won't be," he said, holding his hand out in front of him and making a fist as if he was squeezing air.
"Hook? What are you doing? Stop this at once!"
"No. You see, I can't have you getting in my way. And there's only one way to do that. I recall you saying once that your ship, the TARDIS, is in danger; it will relocate itself. Or was it an old friend of yours? It was good advice, nonetheless. But your TARDIS should go somewhere far from danger. And look what I'm doing." He let his hooked hand push the Doctor inside the TARDIS, and the doors shut. He watched as strands of magic squeezed around the blue box, making it tighter around the TARDIS before the engines started.
Hook smirked as the TARDIS dematerialised and vanished. "Good. Can't have meddling Time Lords hovering around," he said and moved throughout the cottage until he found Merlin in the kitchen, leaving some voice message.
"Heard you were preparing for the worst-case scenario," Hook began. "But I'm sorry, mate. It's already here."
Merlin moved towards the back door, but Hook stopped him and plunged his hand into the sorcerer's chest, ripping his heart out. He looked down at Merlin's beating heart in his hand and smirked.
"Careful, dearie," called Rumplestiltskin. "That's the oldest heart in all the realms. Let's cut it open and count the rings."
"You're too late," Merlin called. "I've already left a message for the others."
"Oh, they can't do anything to stop me," Hook said, still looking at the heart. "Not while I have this." He pointed to Excalibur on his side.
"Excalibur," Merlin commented. "What do you want?"
"My revenge. And for that, I need to get back to Storybrooke. Well, a Storybrooke without anyone to stop me. You see, I've already sent the Doctor somewhere far away. And when we get back, his son will try to find him, which is the Time Lords taken care of. But I need the others to forget everything they have learned while in Camelot."
"You want to cast a curse. It's not possible. Not without crushing the heart of the thing, you love most."
"Which is why I am not going to crush it. But someone else will. Someone who might have feelings for you, dearie. But that's not me," Rumplestiltskin said as he changed into another figure. Nimue's figure.
"But it is me," Nimue said.
"Nimue?" Merlin asked, looking over at her.
"Remember? I am all Dark Ones. It's romantic, isn't it?" she asked as she approached Merlin. "After all that's happened between us, you're still the thing I love most. And I do love you. I always have."
"But you're not really here."
"Aye, mate, but she is," corrected Hook. "She lives in all Dark Ones. So, when I crush your heart, so will she."
Emma entered the kitchen. She had heard the TARDIS from outside and wondered what was happening. But she saw no sign of it, so she entered to find out what would happen. She found her way to where Hook held a heart with Merlin and Nimue. "You were playing me the whole time," she said.
"Once you lied about Excalibur, all bets were off," Hook told her. "I knew it was just a matter of time before you tried controlling me. And now, no one will ever control me again! Go back from whence you came. Back to your stone," Hook said to Excalibur, watching as the sword vanished in a cloud of maroon smoke.
"I don't understand," Emma said as she approached them. "Why are you helping him get his revenge?"
"Don't be naïve, Emma," Nimue said. "Dark Ones never do anything without getting something in return."
"What do you want?"
"You a Dark One. You know what we want. You want it, too."
"No," Emma said softly. "You can't."
"Yes, we can. And we will."
Emma turned to hook. "Killian? Your revenge is not your happy ending. I am. You told me that. If you destroy this heart, you will destroy your happy ending along with it."
"Oh, Killian Jones told you that," Hook said. "Your lovesick puppy dog. But that man died when you turned him into a Dark One." He squeezed the heart he was holding, turning it into dust, and Merlin collapsed to the ground, dead and lifeless.
Hook carried the dust to a bubbling cauldron and poured it into the liquid. He watched as purple smoke began to pour off from the top.
Emma looked down at Merlin's body. She was sad that he was dead and couldn't help them anymore. He didn't deserve to die.
"No, don't take it too badly," Rumplestiltskin told her. I mean, he died for a good cause."
"I'm sorry," Emma whispered. "Rest in peace," she added, standing up and waving her hand over his body, turning it to smoke and letting it fly through the air.
"It's over, Emma," Hook told her.
"I told you I would never abandon you. So I'm not going to start now."
"I'm sorry, love. Once a curse has been enacted, you can't stop it."
"Yes, I might not be able to stop it. But I can make you forget why you cast it." Emma clenched her hand, making Hook fall to the ground asleep. "And you were ever the Dark One in the first place." She waved her hand and made a dreamcatcher appear in it.
"Clever, dearie," Rumplestiltskin praised.
Emma moved the dreamcatcher over Hook's head, watching as it collected all the memories of the past six weeks. Once they were collected, she knelt and looked down at him. "When you wake up, you'll be the man you were. With no memory of what had happened, either."
Emma stood up and moved over to the cauldron. "This is my fault. And I will be the one who fixes this."
"By using dark magic to change a memory wipe to the curse?" Rumplestiltskin asked, watching as Emma added in the dreamcatcher of Hook's memories. "But you won't like where it leads. Or worse. You will."
The cauldron smoked over, and clouds of purple smoke washed over the cottage and the surrounding areas, even reaching the castle of Camelot. And everything turned black for everyone affected.
