A/N: Finally the conclusion of their adventure is here, I hope I managed to make this somewhat thrilling. I also now know that there will be 21 chapters in this…. all though I might have a few "missing moments/scenes" I want to add.
Enjoy, and thanks to Hookedonapirate for beta reading for me :)
Chapter 18: RuebenRueben watched his girlfriend in awe; her focus was so centered on the magic swirling around them. He felt her magic pulse from her hands, and when their eyes locked, he could hardly hear the ongoing battle in the garden. Giving her an encouraging smile, he focused on what happened within the small area where all their friends each stood on their own marked stone. The whole scene where Hope and Poseidon had sorted out their group to represent the four elements had been a huge surprise for Rueben. But now, seeing them all joined together like this made so much sense.
Hope still held on to his hand as she placed the pendant over the two symbols then placed her hand over the pendant. "Put your other hand over mine," she whispered.
When Rueben touched her skin, the shimmering blue light from her magic intensified into an almost blinding light.
"Now what?" he asked, looking around the group.
"Hold on," Hope said urgently, her brows wrinkled in concentration. "Focus on your element everyone!" She bellowed and looked at Rueben again. "We're the 5th element, we focus on the hope. This city had once lost their hope, now hope will be the answer to raise the forgotten city."
"As in raise it above water?" Rueben asked in shock. "How do you know?"
Hope shrugged. "My magic is being strange, and I just feel it." She looked sheepishly at him.
"I'm proud of you, my love. I know you've got this," Rueben soothed.
"We've got this." Her eyes burned with a fierceness he'd never seen in her before.
He nodded in agreement and focused on the magic pulsing between them and the hope required to raise this city.
The battle cries encroached closer and closer, but they had to focus even more on their own battle within the magic bubble they created. Rueben dared to look beyond the area they stood and realized the battle between the sirens and the Atlanteans was getting closer, as if the sirens knew this was the epicenter of what was going on now. Forgotten was the golden apple tree he hoped still stood tall where he'd grown it.
"Focus!" Hope yelled when the war cries were closing in on them.
Rueben looked at his friends with pride; everyone was focused on the stone—the element they each represented. When the ground began to shake under their feet, he looked at Hope again.
"It is happening," she whispered, then added a little louder, "Prepare yourselves."
He felt her hands grow warmer under his as she moved them over the pendant. The blinding light intensified and a large bubble of magic burst from their clasped hands, moving beyond their little circle. When it reached the fighting sirens, all the winged fighters screeched in pain as their wings caught fire and their skin was scorched off. The screams sliced through the air before eventually dying down. The sirens were all slumped down on the ground in piles of burnt flesh.
Rueben looked around, astounded by the scene before him. He had not seen that coming. When he looked back at Hope, he saw her focus shift to Poseidon who walked toward them.
Hope still held onto Rueben's and the pendant, "Your majesty, what happens now?"
"The darkness of the deep is conquered." He smiled at each of the friends still standing on their stones.
They all looked at him in surprise.
"So I guess that leaves the last part of the prophecy to happen. How?" Hope asked shifting on her feet as if she wasn't sure about what the king expected her to do from here.
"Correct, and now we all shall join the combined magic of hope and the magic I hold as the ruler of the open water, above and below the sea." His voice boomed out, and all soldiers behind him stood their ground and watched their king raise his trifork in the air, bolts of lighting bursting from it's tip.
"What?" Hope mumbled, looking confused as her eyes landed on Rueben.
He shrugged, not having a clue what they should do now.
"Focus on that joint magic of hope and we will raise this city again," Poseidon explained in his booming voice.
Hope took one look around at her friends. She seemed pleased by what she saw and nodded at Rueben. "Let's raise a city, shall we?"
Rueben grinned and shook his head. It all sounded far too crazy if he lingered too much on what this whole thing would mean for them and for Atlantis. So he focused his magic on the pendant below their hands—the joint symbol of hope - that was twice as powerful now with the pendants joined. Just like he was joined with Hope right now, and they were with their friends.
The ground beneath them trembled and a low rumbling sound echoed around them. The lighting from the trifork seemed to grow in magnitude and Rueben had to look away. So his eyes found Hope's and they shared a smile, a smile filled with promises of a future together, joined by a mix of magic, hope and love; all those things were very powerful on their own, but combined, he imagined it would be unbreakable.
Suddenly a whooshing sound came over their heads, and when he looked up, he saw the ocean water part over the dome splashing down its sides. The sun burst through the dome, shining down on them for the first time in days. It was glorious to see and the outbursts of joy coming from the Atlanteans gathered in the garden were deafening.
Rueben watched as Poseidon stomped his trifork in the ground, and the dome above them vanished into thin air, the ocean breeze hitting their faces again, along with the warm rays of the sun.
"We did it," Hope whispered in awe as she looked around.
"We sure did." Rueben said excitedly. He stepped around the pillar separating them, pulled her into his arms and hugged her close. "We fucking did it!"
When Hope pulled back slightly and looked up at him, her smile was full of wonder, and he saw the pride bloom in her eyes. She had so much to be proud of.
"You're amazing," he whispered and leaned down to capture her lips.
The kiss deepened and he honestly didn't care if they were alone or not. He felt her mouth open under his, and she pulled herself closer, her arms wrapped around his neck. He lifted her up in his arms and spun them around while he kept kissing her.
"Oy, love birds, wait with the celebratory sex untill later, will ya?" Damien's voice cut through their little bubble.
Their friends were standing in a circle around them with huge grins on their faces; they all seemed to be in disbelief that they had helped raise the forgotten city of Atlantis.
"Fuck off," Rueben grumbled. Right now, he really wanted to be alone with his girlfriend, but when Poseidon walked over to them, he let Hope slip out of his arms. She stayed tucked into his side as they greeted the king.
"Your majesty." Hope curtsied, and the rest of the group did the same.
Neither knew what the king's plans were now. Would he want Atlantis to be part of Regina's United Realms?
"I thank you, Hope. You and your friends were the missing piece needed for Atlantis to rise to its former glory again," Poseidon said and looked at the friends gathered in front of him.
Rueben felt Hope clench her hand over his, and when he looked at her, he could see her swallow deeply as if she had a hard time figuring out what to say right now.
He cleared his throat and stepped forward. "At your service, your majesty." Rueben looked up at the imposing figure of the king of the sea, a man he'd only heard tales of in myths and legends.
"Rueben, a man of bravery indeed." Poseidon nodded in acknowledgement. "A man who holds the heart of a very special woman." He grinned when Rueben gulped down. "You and Hope are going to do great things in life, I'm sure."
"Yeah." Rueben looked around the garden; now the colors stood out clearly in the bright sunlight, the various plants in full bloom and in every color imaginable. "Not sure anything will top this." He swept his hand toward the garden and the city of Atlantis beyond.
Poseidon laughed heartily and slapped his thigh in mirth, "you might be right, but I can think of one thing that might be bigger." He winked then added, "But you'll know once you reach that point in life."
"What will happen now?" Rueben dared to ask. He swallowed and added, "I mean the city has again seen the sun and will no longer be forgotten"
"I will have to get in touch with the queen of the United realms. I imagine we're neighbours," Poseidon mused, his face calm—something it hadn't been in the days they'd been in Atlantis.
"You know she is my aunt? Eh well, my great grandmother, if we must stick to the technicalities." Hope stepped up next to Rueben and linked her fingers with his.
"I do know." Poseidon nodded and looked at Hope with a smile. "The gate to Atlantis is right over there." He pointed, and just beyond the garden wall, Rueben could see the glittering waters of the ocean. Further out was the small rocky island where the Jolly Roger was moored. They could barely see the main mast sticking up over the wall surrounding the harbour on the small island.
"I will only ask you to return to Royal City with a message from me," Poseidon said. "Sinbad will take you to your ship."
"I can do one better; I can call her here," Hope said with a smile. When the king looked at her in wonder, she added, "I have this flask that I can use to call my parents. They will know where I am and they can have my Aunt make a portal here."
"How long would it take?"
"Not long, I imagine." Hope shrugged and picked out the small flask she'd gotten for her birthday.
"That would be marvelous," Poseidon said. "Carry on. I'll head to my palace and prepare for guests." He waved his hands to his guards, who then followed him to the city.
Ruben blinked a few times, then turned to his girlfriend. "So you're calling your parents to tell them you—we just raised Atlantis, and Poseidon wants to talk with your Aunt?"
Hope chuckled. "Yeah, when you put it like that, it does sound rather strange. But I guess here goes nothing." She uncorked the flask and spoke inside it, "Mom, Daddy, we're all safe and well, no worries. Bring Auntie Gina with you guys to Atlantis. Poseidon is asking to meet with her." She looked up at Rueben with a smirk, then added, "Something about national affairs or something." Then she corked the bottle and they waited.
The group of friends followed Sinbad to the newly created shoreline of Atlantis, now a large island. It was strange to think that this place had been under water only moments before. Rueben kept Hope's hand in his hand the whole time. He tucked her body close to his as they gazed over the calm waters.
The group was unusually quiet while they waited for the queen's ship to arrive. It had been a strange and eventful day indeed, and they all needed to process this whole experience. Rueben kissed Hope's hairline, taking a deep breath; he was happy that they all got out of there alive and in one piece. Now the next step on this journey was getting back home after the queen of the United Realms had spoken with Poseidon, king of the seas.
They waited for about half an hour when Damien bellowed from the shore, "Look!" He'd pulled off his shoes and was paddling in the shallow waters while Gloria was sitting on a large boulder nearby.
Everyone looked at where he pointed. Further out in the waters, a swirling portal appeared, and Rueben recognized it as one of the queen's. The group of friends gathered on the beach and watched as a large, three-masted ship sailed through the portal. The ship was larger than the Jolly Roger, and it was clearly a royal ship, the flag of the United Realms flapping in the gentle breeze.
Rueben hugged Hope and whispered, "Finally! What do you suppose your parents will say when they hear our story?"
Hope chuckled in his arms and said with a sigh. "I have no bloody idea. I'm not even sure they went on an adventure quite like this."
"Well they did travel back in time, so—" Rueben shrugged, still trying to sort out what had really happened these past few days.
"Yeah," Hope hummed, then pointed. "Look, they are lowering the longboats."
Several people were sitting in the long boat that slowly made its way toward land.
Rueben spotted Hope's parents at the very front, their gaze searching the beach frantically. He imagined they'd been rather worried when they never returned from their adventure. Behind Hope's parents, he spotted his own parents, which was a surprise, but a pleasant one.
When their eyes landed on him and Hope, Emma waved at them and shifted restlessly in her seat as the long boat slipped up on a sandy part of the beach. Finally, Killian could help his wife out of the long boat, and Rueben let go of Hope so she could hug her mother.
He walked over to greet his own parents and was pulled into a fierce hug from both at the same time.
"Son," his father began, then looked behind them in awe, "where are we?"
"It's a long story." Rueben grinned and tugged his mother's arm in the crock of his elbow." I'm pretty sure Hope would love to share it with you all." Rueben walked over to where she was speaking with her parents.
Hope was hugging her mother tightly as her father nodded to Rueben and his parents with a smile on his face.
"Hope, my little cygnet, what have you guys been up to?" Emma asked.
The two women stepped back, and the smile on both their faces showed how close Hope was with her mother. Emma looked around the beach and shook her head in wonder.
"Yeah, well, it's kind of a long story," Hope began and shuffled her feet in the sand, then stepped up to her father. "Hi Daddy." The old pirate pulled his daughter in for a hug, his hooked arm resting on her back.
"My little love." He grinned when he pulled back. "Do tell this story of yours. We could hardly believe our ears when you mentioned something about Atlantis." He pointed behind her, "This is Atlantis?"
"Yeah well, if you go through that garden there, you'll reach the city." Hope explained and stepped over to Rueben again. She slid her hand into his, waffling their fingers together.
Rueben grinned down at her, then returned his focus on Emma and Killian.
"Hello Emma, Killian.," Rueben nodded at them both. "Good to see you again."
"You guys have a lot of explaining to do," Emma said and looked at the group of friends.
"You got that right, young lady." Queen Regina stepped around Emma and looked at Hope with her hands placed on her hips, her dark eyes boring into her great granddaughter.
"Hi Auntie Gina" Hope smiled weakly at the queen. "It really is quite a story we have for you."
"And the Poseidon is here?"
"He sure is," Hope nodded vigorously. Her hold on Rueben's hand intensified as the Queen kept looking at her.
"And he wants to talk with me?"
"Yup. I have no idea about what; he never told us much." Hope shrugged and added, "I guess he just wants to be a friendly neighbour." When Regina raised a curious eyebrow, Hope quickly explained. "He didn't sound angry when asking to talk to you, so I'm pretty sure he is interested in some friendly talk."
Rueben could see the nervousness flicker over Hope's face as she looked at her "aunt".
"We did help the bloke get his city back up on the surface again," Damien piped up while Gloria smacked his arm, hushing him.
But Regina just chuckled and said, "That story is what I want to hear first before I talk with the King here."
"I know, I'll tell you all about it on the way to the palace," Hope said and waved them to follow her.
They all followed the trail leading back through the garden as Hope told their story to the group of newcomers. When they reached the golden apple tree, they paused. Regina was interested in the golden fruit. Rueben suppressed a chuckle when the queen began mumbling about getting a tree like that for her own royal garden.
Hope ignored the talk about apples and explained how they'd found the marked stones with the four elements. This peaked Regina's interest again and they kept walking while Hope finished her story.
Once they reached the palace, Sinbad stepped up, greeted the guard and let them all through; the eyes following the large group were curious and filled with wonder. Rueben imagined it would take some time for the Atlantians to get used to the sun and the air above the waters.
Finally, they reached the great hall of Poseidon and the group from the Royal City entered. Hope slipped her hand out of his grasp as she stepped up next to Regina, who placed herself at the front. The guard announced their arrival and Poseidon nodded in geeting.
Regina stepped forward and said, "King Poseidon, I've come to your glorious city, even if I was a bit surprised to know it was suddenly here again."
"Welcome, Queen Regina." Poseidon rose up from his seat and walked to the queen with a smile on his face. "I'm sure the surprise will fade once the realms will hear the tale from these young people back there." He nodded at Rueben and his friends who all gave a weak wave to the king.
"I'm sure it will cause quite a spectacle," Regina agreed, "but first, let me hear from you what the future for Atlantis will entail. And what it will mean for both our kingdoms."
"I'm not interested in causing any more fights; we've had quite enough of that in the past," Poseidon explained.
"Hope told us all about the trouble you've had with the sirens while the city of Atlantis had been forgotten." Regina shook her head, "I'm amazed no one ever found you?"
"As it happens with magic and all sorts of things in between can be forgotten quite as easily as they can be remembered." Poseidon mused, "We did venture above, the gates to Atlantis was my portal to the Realms, our only trouble was the Sirens keeping watch over us at all times." He sighed dramatically, and Rueben had to refrain from chuckling at how odd the pair of royals looked from the sideline. Poseidon large and broad, Regina a fine and poised woman who knows to rule the United Realms with a firm but now more gentle hand than she'd done when called the Evil Queen.
"Well it seems as if my great granddaughter helped you out with the pestilence of the sirens." Regina looked over her shoulder and smiled at Hope.
"She did, she is a fine young woman," Poseidon agreed, "Her magic is strong and all of this couldn't have been done without her help, along with her friends."
"She is the second generation of true love, so I knew she was going to do great things." Regina chuckled, "but raising Atlantis from the bottom of the ocean, that I didn't see."
Everyone in the Great Hall chuckled at this and Rueben watched as Hope reached for her mother, who hugged her, whispering something in her ear. Hope looked down and shrugged, then she looked back at him and she gave him a feeble smile. Rueben knew Hope had never seen herself as something special, but he'd known from the start that whatever her magic would help her with in life it was bound to be something big.
"So let's make an agreement, a truce if you will." Poseidon cut to the chase and motioned for Regina to follow him to sit at a table by the wall.
A scribe or elderly court member was already seated. So Regina motioned for her secretary to join her.
The group stayed behind and let Regina deal with the royal work. While they waited, servers came in with food and drinks for them to enjoy.
After an hour, the two royals finally rose from their seats and joined the group. Rueben had talked with his parents for a while, both quite surprised how his role in all of this had played out. But he could also detect a huge amount of pride from them both.
They all looked forward to getting back home to Royal City.
Ruben watched as Hope and her parents greeted Regina.
"So are you all ready to go home?" The queen asked and looked at them with a pleased smile.
"So you and Poseidon have come to an agreement?" Hope asked.
"We sure did." The queen smiled even more. "Atlantis will not be part of my United Realms but we signed a peace treaty, just in case. Neither of us is interested in war on any level, so that will be the new era for Atlantis. It won't be forgotten any more."
"All thanks to you," Poseidon added with a smile. "On behalf of the entire City of Atlantis, I thank you all for what you've accomplished together as a team."
"Damn," Rose muttered and grabbed William's hand. She leaned in closer to him and whispered, "This is so friggin crazy."
William leaned down and placed a kiss on her temple.
"We'll be more than happy to spread the news to the entire United Realms and make sure the two realms will be able to coexist." Emma nodded to the king, then her gaze fell on her daughter, and the proud smile on her face reached her eyes.
"Tonight, there will be a great feast right here to celebrate the whole thing," Poseidon proclaimed and clapped his hands, calling in his servants. He ordered them to start preparing for a grand feast.
Rueben had no idea how they would even manage that in such a short time, but right now, he just wanted to find a place to relax with Hope. He looked at his friends; all of them looked weary and bone tired. When his eyes caught Sinbad's, it seemed as if the man understood.
"Everyone, come to our house and we'll find places for you all to rest." Sinbad motioned for the group to follow him.
Once they found their rooms and Sinbad's wife Nadjia had made sure the newcomers had a place to rest, Rueben finally slumped down on the bed next to Hope. She placed her head on his chest, holding him close. Neither of them spoke; they both needed to process what had happened. With the help of the magic of hope, the joint pendants, and Hope's magic, combined with his magic, they had managed to raise Atlantis from the bottom of the ocean. On top of it all they'd also gotten rid of the sirens for good now, it seemed.
He couldn't really fall asleep, his mind wandering to the future and what he wished for. He knew one thing for sure - no matter what, he would want to spend his life with Hope. He decided to have a conversation with Killian—something he should have done a while ago, but now was the time. He slipped out under the sleeping form of Hope and found the item in his bag he needed.
Searching the large house, he finally found Killian walking in the gardens. Emma was talking with Regina and his mother on the patio nearby.
Rubbing his neck, he nodded a small greeting to the three women then hurried to catch up to Killian. "Mr. Jones?" he called.
Killian turned and smiled when he spotted Rueben. "Hello lad. Told you to call me Killian."
"Oh yeah, right." Rueben shifted nervously on his feet and wrapped his hands behind his neck, trying to ease the tension in his shoulders.
"I sense you wish to speak with me?"
"Um, yeah, I do. Could we talk?" He glanced behind them, trying to figure out if the women would be able to pick up on what they spoke about.
"Come on lad, let's go further back in the gardens. I think I noticed a small pond there."
Rueben nodded in thanks and followed the centuries old pirate down the path, which was far more difficult than he imagined.
Once they reached the pond, Rueben began pacing back and forth, casting a fugitive look at Killian.
"Out with it," Killian ordered gently, looking so at ease and calm.
Rueben hoped he would still be like that in a few moments. "Okay." Rueben blinked a few times, trying to come up with how to broach the subject at hand. "I love your daughter."
"I know that." Killian tilted his head curiously.
"IWantToMarryHer." Ruben rushed out in one breath of air and stepped back, keeping a close eye on the other man's reactions.
"Come again, lad?" Killian blinked several times and scratched behind his ear.
Taking a deep breath, Rueben tried again. "I want to ask for your permission to marry your daughter." He managed to say all the words without stumbling too much over them.
Killian's eyes widened in surprise, then something between a grin and smirk spread over his face. He nodded and tapped his chin in thought. "I see—" He paused, then pursed his lips, looking as if he was really contemplating Rueben's question. "Well lad, let me tell you this; I love my daughter too."
"I know," Rueben interjected, took a deep breath and prepared himself for the worst. For a split second, he wished he'd asked her mother.
"I also know you love her; Emma and I've seen that in the past year," Killian said and stepped closer to Rueben, his eyes locked on his as if he tried to gauge Rueben's reaction. "So I would say that it would make us, both me and Emma, very happy to see you marry our daughter. I mean she will have to be in agreement with this."
Rueben breathed out the air he'd been holding for the past several seconds and felt joy buble inside him. "Thank you, sir, that makes me very happy, I know that she will accept my proposal." He grinned stupidly at the old pirate, not really caring if he looked like a lovesick puppy right now. For one, he was in love, and two, he was going to ask her to marry him.
"I'm pretty sure Hope would accept," Killian said with a faraway look in his eyes. "Bloody hell, it feels like it was only yesterday she lost her first tooth." He rubbed behind his ear and grinned sheepishly at him.
"Yeah." Rueben wasn't sure what else to say right now.
"So, when are you going to ask her?"
"I—eh, I really don't know." Rueben looked down and clasped his neck while the other hand found the small square box in his pocket. As he wrapped his fingers around it, he wished Hope was here right now.
"You'll find the perfect time, I'm sure." Killian assured confidently and patted Reuben's shoulder.
"Thanks."
"Daddy?" Hope's voice interrupted the awkward silence between them.
Reuben looked toward the house and saw his girlfriend—hopefully soon-to-be fiancé—walk toward them.
When she spotted them together, she glanced between them with a frown. "What are you doing all the way back here?" she asked, inspecting them with a curious glare.
"We were just talking. Ain't that right, mate?" Killian grinned and clapped Rueben good-naturedly on the back.
The slap surprised Rueben so much, he almost choked on his own spit, still trying to come up with an explanation as to why he'd dragged her father all the way down here for a casual chat.
"Rueben, are you okay?" Hope walked over to him and searched his face. "You look funny." She reached up and brushed a long stray lock of hair away from his eyes.
"Yeah." He nodded vigorously and added quickly, "I'm all good. Really, I'm fine." He bit the inside of his cheek so he wouldn't put a silly grin on his face, making her even more suspicious of what he'd talked about with her father.
"Okay," she looked up at him with a frown, "if you say so." She shook her head and looked over at her father. "Mom is looking for you. Something about getting dressed up for the party tonight."
"Bloody hell," Killian groaned, glancing at Rueben. "Ready to get all fancy and go to a feast?"
Rueben gulped down; he hadn't fully recovered from almost getting caught by Hope when he was talking with her father about asking to marry her. He merely nodded and took Hope's hand, then the trio walked back to the house to get ready for the feast Poseidon had invited them to in honor of their accomplishments. Rueben never liked being in the spotlight or being praised for what he did. He had accepted his magical powers this past year, but having someone throw a party in his and his friends' honor was a bit outside his comfort zone.