Zila's POV
I stared down at the sleeping Athena before me. While Rumple had been out of the shop, I was able to sneak in and retrieve the former female Dark One. She lay on the cot I conjured for her and shortly she would be awake.
"You know she doesn't look good if I say so myself" Athena's spirit said.
"You are the one who put her in this state" I told the spirit. "Unlike you my heart maybe touched my darkness but it hasn't made me evil"
Athena's spirit chuckled and I growled before conjuring a cut lass I had stolen from Hook's ship. I held it up high above the sleeping human like Athena.
"Quite a stroke of luck finding something that touched her broker when he was still a man"
Annoyed I turned to Athena's spirit.
"That wasn't luck I worked hard for this"
"That is true indeed how I'm so proud of seeing my sister-in-law as my successor"
"Quiet" I told her before focusing my attention back to Athena. Using my magic the cut lass turned into black dust and ash which I sprinkled over Athena's sleeping form. A sigh of relief came out of my lips as Athena's eyes slowly moved before they opened. Immediately upon seeing me fear came into her blue eyes.
"What do you want from me?" she demanded. "You're the female Dark One now, not me"
"That's right" I began. "You're not dark but you are also not light, your heart is a blank state, and that makes you useful"
I then pressed a hand to her shoulder.
"Relax I am not going to hurt you Athena, I just need your help and afterwards I will let you go"
"What is it you need from me?" Athena asked still unsure if I was threat or not.
"I need you to do something that only a hero can do, and not just any hero, the purest who's ever lived, I need for you to pull out Excalibur"
Enchanted Forest/Camelot
I was in the potions room in the tower and I think I had something when Rumple came through the door looking worried. I didn't like the look on his face and set the book down.
"What is it?"
"Arthur knows you're the new female Dark One"
"What the hell?How?!" I exclaimed.
"Long story but I was able to freeze Snow and Charming before they even spoke to me, they're under a spell thanks to Arthur"
I frowned because this wasn't good. If Arthur knew I was the new female Dark One it would only be a matter of time until Rumple was found out. Rumple noticed my stress and he placed a hand upon my face. He pressed his forehead against mine.
"Your dagger is safe and it will always be"
I smiled and pressed a kiss against my mate's lips. Even after 30 years of marriage and being under the curse for 28, our bond was still strong. After I pulled away from Rumple I showed him what I found in the book.
"Arthur wants my dagger because it's the other half to Excalibur"
Rumple's eyes widened in shock.
"The first Dark One had been female and eventually she used her dark magic to create another dagger, she found a man who was suffering and tethered him to the new dagger, thus creating a male Dark One"
"Damn" Rumple said.
"I also think I found a spell to get Merlin out of that tree but I will need help, and I don't want Arthur getting suspicious of you"
"I'll keep a low profile" Rumple reassured me. I flashed a smirk at my husband before I began to think about my plan to get Merlin"
Storybrooke
After Athena had something to eat I took her to see where Excalibur was. She eyed the sword in awe and I smirked. She then turned to me.
"You have so much power now Zila why do you need Excalibur?"
"When you were the Dark One you kept your plans secret"
"True and in the end they cost me my child and almost my brother"
"Diana died thanks to Zelena, you are not to blame"
I had a plan to deal with Zelena later for now Excalibur needed to be pulled out.
"Merida" I called out.
The red haired princess appeared behind us.
"Yes? Dark One?"
"Take Athena and start training"
"How long do you intend to keep my heart and threaten me?" she asked.
"As long as it takes me to get what I want"
"Maybe, but I think I can break your spell"
She then lunged forward and I quickly used Masamune to block her sword from touching me. Her heart appeared in my hand.
"Take her" I commanded. I didn't squeeze her heart but she knew I was the one in power here. Merida nodded and she went to Athena. Once she grabbed a hold of her and using my dark magic I sent them away.
Rumple's POV
Things in the past few days have been stressful for all out the residents of Storybrooke and Camelot. My sister had disappeared and I knew Zila had taken her. So to lift everyone's spirits Henry suggested a get together. But actually my grandson wanted to get to know a girl from Camelot better. Both David and I teased him which made Henry blush and Dakota scolded me for embarrassing him.
"We need to find Athena" I told the Charming's along with Henry, Dakota, and Belle.
"Most likely Mom has her somewhere" Dakota suggested.
I nodded before it hit me.
"Zila's other house where she lived before the curse broke"
"She won't just let us come in there" Regina said.
"I can handle her spells dearie" I relied to Regina.
"I think I have an idea, Violet's horse escaped from the stables, Calador spooked him"
Dakota blushed and rubbed the back of her head.
"Alright Henry you and your aunt go distract Zila while we do the rest" Regina told her son. Henry nodded and Dakota smirked before using her magic to transport themselves closer to Zila's house. Knowing my grandson and daughter they would keep my wife distracted long enough for us to find out what she was hiding.
Dakota's POV
"So who is this girl you fancy?" I inquired from Henry.
"A girl that came from Camelot" Henry explained. "She's really nice"
I smirked before patting his back and we came upon my mother's house. The front door opened and Mom came out. Her train wasn't flowing behind her but she still looked bad ass in black.
"I sensed you two were coming" Zila greeted coming over to us. She first hugged me before doing the same to Henry.
"Grandma my friend's horse is missing wanna help find him?"
"Sure I could use a break from being cooped in there" Mom answered nodding to the house behind her.
"She says her horse likes pumpkin" Henry added.
"And I know where to start looking" I finished.
"Very well while we look you can tell me more about your friend kid" Mom said to Henry with a wink. My nephew blushed before Mom nodded for us to follow her and we did. We piled into her Black Jeep Cherokee and it wasn't long until we were on the road heading towards a pumpkin farm.
Enchanted Forest
"Alright Regina this might not be easy for you" I told the Evil Queen as I sat my stuff down. In order to free Merlin my spell would need a tear. A tear from someone who lost a loved one. Rumple was able to transport a frozen Charming and Snow to Granny's.
"You don't seem to be exactly evil Zila" Emma said as I finished prepping for the spell.
"I've noticed that too" Regina agreed. I only shrugged before placing a dream catcher before Regina. Since I was a Dark One now I picked up the hobby of making dream catchers whenever I couldn't sleep. I didn't have much but a few had already been made. I sat down before her and held a newly made dream catcher up.
"Look into the circle" I explained to Regina before handing over the dream catcher to her. I then used my magic to activate a memory. Regina's memory from before she was a queen appeared and beside Regina was her first true love Daniel. Coram stood in front of the couple. After Regina embraced her mother Cora pulled Daniel aside. Then she thrust her hand into his chest and pulled out his heart.
Already I could tell Regina was saddened by seeing this memory that made her heart turn dark. A tear slid down Regina's face and I was quick to collect it in my flask. I then conjured a hanker chief and gave it to her.
"I'm sorry you went through that" I told her meaning every word.
"Same here" Emma added. "I never thought a mother could do something like that"
Regina wiped her face with a hand and told us.
"She thought it was for the best"
Storybrooke
Thanks to the kids I was able to get everyone inside Zila's house. The house hasn't changed much since I last was in it. Several dream catchers were on the coffee table in the living room and one was on the table in the kitchen. It took me a few minutes to locate a strong source of magic and it was coming from the door that led to the basement. I opened the door and the others followed. The basement had rock like walls and the ground had dark red colored stones in it. Up ahead was a rock and in it was Excalibur .
"Now we know why she's been guarding this place" Regina said not believing her eyes.
"Indeed" Hook agreed.
"Holy crap is that Excalibur?" Emma asked.
"Yes dearie it is" I answered her as we all approached the legendary sword. "And look at the markings"
"They match your daggers" Belle stated eying Excalibur with interest.
"The hell she want with this?" Regina asked looking up to me.
"Zila's dagger is the other half of this sword, the first dark one was a woman, if the sword is whole again Excalibur can be used for two reasons, one is to use the sword to rid dark magic forever" I then paused.
"And the other option is to destroy light magic" Belle added.
Zila's POV
There was no one at the pumpkin farm when we arrived. I'm pretty sure the owner would have bolted if he saw me. My daughter and grandson followed. A horse suddenly neighed and a second later a sorrel colored horse galloped over with Firestorm trotting in behind him.
"I will need to talk with Calador about spooking the horses" Dakota joked as I approached the horses. Violet's horse snorted and I placed a hand onto his nose. Being a dark one usually freaked out most animals but Violet's horse wasn't scared of me today. He snorted again and he started to relax while Henry came over. Firestorm neighed a greeting as I approached him. I haven't seen the stallion in awhile I would ride him back to the stables myself.
Henry finally had a hold of Violet's horse and I beamed at him proudly.
"Now that you got your girls horse don't you have a dance to go to?"
Henry blushed and I chuckled before I kissed his forehead. I then helped him onto the horses back before I hoisted Dakota onto Firestorm. Once she was on did I climb onto the stallion's back. I rode with Henry until we got to the town border and we parted ways there. I took Storm back to the stable and with Dakota's help we brushed down the stallion and refreshed his food and water. Dakota was going to the festivities with her friends and I was glad she was having a chance at a normal life. I kissed her goodbye before I used my magic to return to my car.
Camelot
"Go ahead love Arthur could be here any second" Rumple said to me. Regina, Emma, Rumple, and I stood in the courtyard in front of the tree Merlin was trapped in. I nodded and began to pour the right ingredients into a single goblet. Regina then handed over the flask that contained her tear which I took. I poured the tear into the goblet and at first dark grey smoke began to emit from the goblet before it disappeared.
"What the f**k?" I said not believing my eyes. "Why the hell didn't it work?"
"It should have worked" Regina agreed.
"Regina" Rumple began looking to his former student. "Your heartbreak wasn't strong enough"
"What?!" Regina scoffed looking to my husband.
"Your tear was real and so was the pain but you have Robin now, you moved one and healed" I told Regina.
"So what do we do now?" Emma asked.
"Hey"
We all turned to see Henry and he looked really upset. Immediately I got into Grandma mode as Regina and Emma got into Mom mode.
"Sorry I'm late" Henry apologized coming to a stop in front of us.
"You okay kid?" Emma asked her son.
"Yeah I'm fine" Henry lied.
"No your not what happened?" Regina inquired. Both of them placed a hand on Henry's shoulders.
"I don't want to talk about it" Henry replied. It was my turn to come over to my grandson. I placed a hand against his face.
"Something happened with Violet right?"
Earlier Emma and Regina informed me they encouraged Henry to tell Violet how he felt towards her. And apparently it didn't go in his favor.
"I tried doing what you said" Henry started. "I tried acting like myself and she didn't want anything to do with me"
My heart broke for my grandson and I kissed his forehead before backing away so his mother's could comfort him. I went over to Rumple who no doubt felt bad for his grandson.
"Poor lad" my mate said.
Regina used a piece of cloth and collected one of Henry's tears. Regina then turned to me and I realized Merlin could be freed. I was about to walk over when Arthur's voice shouted.
"Stop!"
We all turned to see Arthur with some of his knights coming towards us.
"Stay away from the tree"
Immediately Rumple and Regina pushed me and Henry behind them. Emma stood next to my husband ready to use her light magic if necessary.
"I won't ask twice, you and your people have done nothing but lie to me ever since you got here" Arthur turned to Emma. "Your no Savior, you're a fraud"
"Go ahead and call me a fraud again I dare you" Emma hissed.
"We welcomed you, celebrated you, and in return you bring the Dark Ones into the heart of my kingdom" Arthur then pointed at me and Rumple. Rumple was getting angry and I placed a hand onto his shoulder to calm him down. "Endangering all whom live here, give me the female Dark Ones dagger!"
"You want my wife's dagger?" Rumple hissed coming forward. He conjured a flame into his palm. "Come and get it"
Regina then handed me the cloth with Henry's tear and I placed it into the goblet. A second later both black and white magic came to life and it swirled around me. Arthur called out to attack but Regina and Rumple unleashed their flames at Arthur and his knights.
Both the black and white magic entered inside me and soon I held out my hands guiding it towards the tree. The tree became enveloped with the dark and light magic and I continued to guide the magic so its purpose could be fulfilled. I grunted before I unleashed the last of the magic and the ribbons of light and dark magic separated and faded within the night. The impact made Arthur along with Rumple, Regina, Henry, and Emma fall to the ground.
I panted because using all that magic wore me out. As I caught my breath I looked up and the tree was gone. A cloaked figure stood in the trees place and I sensed the powerful magic from within him. The cloaked figure then removed his hood and I looked into the face of Merlin for the first time.
He was a young thing and he didn't seemed surprised to see me. A smile came to his lips.
"I've been waiting for you Zila"
Form some reason Merlin looked familiar to me but I couldn't remember where. Merlin then turned to Arthur.
"And you the boy who would be king, my great hope, how you've disappointed me"
"I disappointed you? You gave me false prophecies, sent me on an impossible quest, you ruined my life!" Arthur yelled drawing out his part of Excalibur.
"Put it away Arthur" Merlin said. "We both know that broken sword can't hurt me"
Arthur hesitated before putting his blade back into its scabbard.
"This is not finished" the King said before he turned around and took his leave with his fellow knights following behind him.
The Next Day Morning.
I watched as Merlin held his hands up and he started to use his magic to undo the spell on Snow and David. The couple glowed purple for a few seconds before the light faded. I sensed the spell was gone from Emma's parents and Emma breathed a sigh of relief. Snow and David looked around in confusion before they finally realized the spell they were under was gone.
Snow went to her daughter and hugged her.
"There that should do it" Merlin said looking over to me.
I nodded in thanks before David looked to me and Rumple.
"Zila if we knew how bad Arthur was we would have never confronted him on our own"
"You and your mate were only doing what you thought was best, besides Merlin was able to free you"
Just as I said that a whirl of crimson smoke appeared next to Rumple and Dakota emerged from it.
"Holy crap you're the great Merlin?!" she exclaimed eying Merlin with interest. Snow and David turned to the powerful wizard as well.
"Merlin?"
Merlin gave my daughter along with Charming a wave.
"Expecting someone older I take it?" the mage asked in amusement.
"Ya that pretty much sums it up" Dakota added.
"Yes well let's just say that being a tree good for your skin"
"Now the you are released" Rumple interrupted. "Can you free Zila from the darkness she now wields?"
Merlin looked to me before eying Rumple. It didn't take long for him to realize we were husband and wife. He then eyed Dakota in interest and our daughter blushed. Merlin then returned his gaze to me again.
"Sure but it won't be easy"
"I'm an optimist" I told the mage. "I became Athena's successor to save my child from this fate"
Merlin looked to Dakota again. A smile came to lips.
"I can see why your child is very beautiful and no mother wants to see their child suffer"
Dakota rubbed the back of her head and chuckled lightly before Merlin focused his attention back to me. He then walked over and came to a stop before me and Rumple.
"Darkness like this takes a hold of the person, finds its way deep inside where nobody else can see, so if I am to free you from its grasp, I must know one thing, Zila is your heart truly ready to be free? Because it is as much up to you as it is with me"
Storybrooke
As soon as I appeared in front of Regina's house she opened the door.
"Zila"
"Hello" I greeted Regina.
"What the hell is going on? What are you doing?"
"I wanted to make sure Henry is alright"
"That's not what I mean, you took our memories, and now Athena, what are you trying to do?"
I remained silent it was too soon to reveal the truth why I took everyone's memories.
"Zila" Regina began. "There is nothing you can't come by from if you just tell us"
"What I'm doing is my business and it's for the best trust me"
"I was starting to and like Henry I was seeing the good in you, but I was wrong, I thought you could be different, I thought you could escape the darkness but then you had to go and rip a thirteen year old girls heart out"
"What?"
Regina held up one of my dream catchers.
"Now your breaking and entering?"
"Oh no you don't get to be self righteousness with me" Regina continued. "Not after what you've done, Henry saw what you did, he's devastated"
"I returned her heart and tried to redeem myself to him"
"Redeem yourself? By reuniting a girl and her horse well let me guess you let the damn thing out in the first place"
"Calador scared that poor gelding which is why it fled" I argued and turned around. "Everything would have been fine if you stayed out of it"
The two of us a were silent for a few moments before I turned back to Regina.
"We were running out of time in Camelot and what I did was the only way to free Merlin afterwards I returned Violet's heart"
Regina froze when I said this to her.
"Merlin? We've freed Merlin back in Camelot?" she asked.
"Yes and what followed afterwards didn't lift the darkness out of me, something you and everyone else will know soon enough"
I turned away from Regina again so she wouldn't see a few tears slide down my face.
"Tell Henry I'm sorry"
I then used my magic to leave Regina's place. I appeared in the woods behind my home and made my way through them. It was a good fifteen minute walk until I came upon a very large cave entrance. As I entered it I used my dark magic to light up the candles as I passed. I stopped walking as I came upon the main chamber. Jewels, gold, gemstones and other riches littered the floor. And sitting in a corner next to a large mountain of treasure was Smaug.
"It would seem you are adjusting well to this realm my friend" I told the fire drake coming up to him.
"It will suffice and now you are close by"
I chuckled and came to a stop next to Smaug's great head. I stroked his snout and leaned my body against his jewel encrusted chest. Thanks to his magic Smaug created a glamour spell so no one in town could see him. He tended to hunt a half hour away from Storybrooke where there was plenty of food.
"Dark times are ahead my friend" Smaug told me.
"Yes they are but in the end my plan will succeed"