*insert author note here but Monica is too tired and has to finish a fic so yeah...*
Enjoy!
As Emma and Killian arrived at the garage, Emma could see Ruby in the distance, sitting on the ground beside an unconscious Milah. Even from a distance, Emma could see there was, indeed, something strange that looked a lot like blood around Milah's body, just as Ruby described on the phone. At the sight in front of them, Emma and Killian started to run together towards the two women.
"Ruby," Emma said as soon as they were near her, "whatt happened?" Emma dropped to her knees beside Milah.
"I don't know," Ruby answered, not looking at Emma. When Ruby finally raised her head and looked at Emma, Emma could see dried tear tracks on Ruby's cheeks. "She had been missing all day so I decided to go and look for her after I helped Hook with your date," Ruby started to explain. "I couldn't find her with my usual methods, so I used my wolf smell and I tracked her here. She was like this when I found her. That's when I called you,," Ruby finished.
In that moment, Emma realized that Ruby was the one that had been calling her from the beginning and now she was starting to feel a bit guilty about the fact that she hadn't answered her phone earlier.
"I called the ambulance as well. They should be here any minute now," Ruby said.
Emma looked at Milah. She checked the woman's pulse and was happy to see that Milah had one. It was faint, but at least it was there. Maybe she passed out? Emma took a better look at Milah and what was covering her. She stretched her hand to touch the strange liquid that was all around her. It was red as blood but its structure was like jello and it also had no smell. Milah's hands were covered in it and Emma was really curious about what it could be.
"What is that?" Emma heard Killian ask from beside her.
"I don't know," Emma said in a whisper, still studying the substance.
When she finally heard the sound of the ambulance's siren in the distance, Emma quickly snapped a few pictures of the substance to examine later and to also show them to Regina in hopes that she might know something. She then waited for the EMTs to come and take Milah.
The next hour passed in a blur. The EMTs came, put Milah on a stretcher, and lifted her into the ambulance to take her to the hospital. Ruby decided to go with Milah in the ambulance since she was the one that had found the woman and could give more information to the doctors, while Emma and Killian went back to the docks to get Emma's car. The two of them walked in silence back to her car and that silence remained through the whole drive to the hospital. As they drove on the streets of Storybrooke, Emma noticed that maybe for the first time since she came to town, everything was quiet. The town was sleepy in every sense of the word.
When Emma and Killian got to the hospital, Ruby was already in the waiting room with no news from Whale or anyone else that was taking care of Milah. Apparently, they had put her in a room more than twenty minutes ago, and she was still there. Emma, Killian, and Ruby had nothing else to do than stay in the waiting room and wait for anyone to come and give them news on their friend. Ruby tried to talk to Emma a few times to tell her that she was sorry for interrupting her date, but Emma told her not to worry and that she was right to call her.
When Whale finally came to the waiting room, Emma, Killian, and Ruby, all at once, jumped on their feet to hear what news he had.
"She is alive," Whale told them.
"Yes, that much we know," Ruby said, before the doctor could say more.
"Let me finish, Ruby," Whale told her. "She passed out, but we couldn't find any reason as to why she did it."
"Is there anything wrong with her?" Emma asked him.
"No," Whale shaked his head at her. "Nothing at all. She is very healthy."
"Then what happened?"
"Maybe you and your magical friends can find out," Whale said in a mocking tone. "But for now we can't do anything, except wait for her to wake up."
Emma rolled her eyes at his response but then remembered what they had found around Milah. The doctors surely found that as strange as she did and she hoped they took some tests. "Whale, what was that thing that was surrounding her?"
"It's not blood. I sent a sample to the lab to see what we could find out," he explained. Emma nodded at him and then took a step back and sat on one of the chairs beside Ruby. "You all should go home for now," Whale said looking at them and without waiting for an answer, he turned around and left them alone.
As Whale started to disappear down the hallway of the hospital, Ruby looked at Emma and started speaking. "You two should go back to the inn. Or to your ship," Ruby told her.
"What about you?" Emma asked her friend.
"I can stay here until she wakes up," Ruby explained.
"Are you sure, lass?" Killian asked before Emma could ask her the same thing.
"Positive," Ruby said, nodding with a small smile.
Emma looked at Killian with a questioning look on her face and waited until he realized what she was really asking. Closing his eyes he nodded at her and Emma rose from the chair. "Take care of yourself, Ruby," she said looking at the woman with a soft smile. "Call me if you need anything."
With a hug to Ruby, Emma took Killian's hand in hers and started to walk towards the exit of the building, leaving Ruby to watch over Milah for the rest of the night.
"Would you like to go back to your parent's loft?" Killian asked her as soon as they were back in the car.
Emma looked him in the eyes. Seeing the big oceans in his eyes made Emma think back to their date; the dark ocean and the night sky that was surrounding them just a little over an hour before. They had to put their date on pause until they took care of the situation with Milah, but now they were alone again. Maybe they would get to finish their date after all.
"No," Emma finally said, realized that she didn't answer his question. "Let's go back to the Jolly."
"Are you sure?"
"I want to finish our date," Emma said, with a mischievous smile on her face.
Killian smiled knowingly at Emma and nodded at her. With the same big smile, Emma started the engine of the bug and started driving back in the direction of Killian's ship.
When Milah woke up that morning feeling a bit dizzy, she didn't know why but she guessed it was due to the lack of sleep she had over the last few nights. The previous night, just like the others, was full of nightmares and what she still believed was some of her old memories.
She rose from the bed, took a quick shower, and changed into running clothes. A run in the forest would make her feel better for sure. She wanted to be fine for the rest of the day and she also hoped she would be able to talk to Emma to see if she found out anything. She also wanted to ask her if she could spend some time with Henry again.
Milah smiled thinking back at her meeting with the boy. He looked so much like Baelfire when he was a young boy and Milah almost had a shock when she saw him the first time.
The boy, Henry, was full of energy. He told her about his book and how she had to see it. He told her that she was in there and he knew about her, who she was, before Emma could tell him and that he understood what she did and why she did it. Milah was in love with him already and she hoped she would get to spend more time with him so she could get to know him more.
The run in the forest didn't help her too much she realized after thirty minutes. During the whole run, Milah's mind kept flying back to the things that appeared to her in the form of dreams the night before. She knew for sure she remembered a man and water.
She was surrounded by water; the ocean perhaps? But she wasn't on any ship, she was underwater with a man she didn't know. And she was able to breathe down there.
"Milah!" she heard a voice calling her name behind her.
Milah turned around, towards the sound but there was no one. She was still very much alone in the middle of the forest. She had probably just imagined her name being called due to the tiredness. That, or she was going mad.
And yet, she started to feel anxious there in the middle of the forest. The temperature suddenly fell and the silence of the forest started to be too much for her. There were no birds, no wind to move the leaves of the trees, and the whole scene was making her feel nervous.
"Milah," she heard her name again, being called in the wind.
She looked around her but there was still nothing. No one.
Milah decided that it was better if she headed back to town and forget that anything happened in the forest. But as she started to walk on the trail that led back to the town, she found herself urgently needing to go to the water. So Milah changed her course and started to walk towards the beach.
"Milah." She heard her name again. Looking around her, she saw that she was still alone. "Milah."
The next time her name was called, she was able to recognize that the voice was a feminine one. Milah was starting to get nervous by everything that was happening around her.
When she was finally able to see the sand of the beach in front of her, she let out a deep breath she did not realize she had been holding. But as she stepped on the sand, a strange red fog started to surround her. She started to run forward, hoping to get out of the fog and when the fog disappeared, Milah could finally see a person in front of her. It was a tall woman with literally sparkling eyes.
"Who are you?" Milah asked the woman.
"You do not remember me?" the woman asked and Milah recognized her voice as the one that had been calling her minutes ago.
"Should I?" Milah asked confused.
"I am the one that brought you back to life," the woman said with a trace of a smile.
At her words, Milah's eyes widened. "What?" she snapped at the woman. "How is that possible?"
"You should remember me," the woman spoke again. "I helped in giving you a purpose after you died and your lover threw your dead body into the ocean."
"Who are you?" Milah asked with narrowed eyes.
"You will find out soon," the woman said with an evil grin that scared Milah.
Before she could say anything else, the woman started to walk towards her and with a raised hand and red smoke, she started to come towards Milah. Milah closed her eyes and raised her hands, trying to keep the smoke away from her eyes. But when she let her hands down and opened her eyes, she found herself somewhere else. She was no longer on the beach, but instead she was in a room, decorated with gold and blue ornaments that reminded her of some of the places she'd seen when she was back in the Enchanted Forest. She looked around her, trying to find something familiar, but there was nothing that told her that she had seen or been in that room before.
"You are probably wondering why you are back here Milah," she heard a voice behind her and when she turned towards the source of the voice, she saw a beautiful woman at the entrance of the room.
"Back here?" Milah started to talk, being very confused. "I've never been here before," she said.
"Oh you have," the woman said smiling at her. "You just don't remember it," she said walking past Milah and sitting on the big throne in the room.
"Where am I?" Milah asked in a desperate tone.
"This is Atlantis, darling," the woman said, opening her hands in front of her, with a grand gesture.
"Now, I am pretty sure I've never been here," Milah said determinate. "Atlantis is just a legend in the Land Without Magic."
"Is it?" The woman said with a mischievous smile.
"Of course. What kind of magic is this?" Milah demanded.
"The only magic you will see around here is in your body," the woman said. "And of course the magic Thetis used to bring you here."
"My body?" Milah asked shocked by what she had just heard.
"I know some things are missing from your mind and sadly I can't help you with bringing your memories back," the woman said. "Maybe your friends back in Storybrooke can help you?"
"How do you know about them?"
"I know everything about our nereids, Milah," the woman said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Now Milah was really lost. "Nereids?" she once again confusedly asked.
"Yes. What you are, and what Thetis, the woman that brought you here, is."
No, something like that wasn't possible. Milah was human and she knew that. She wasn't some kind of creature, she was absolutely sure of that.
"I'm human," Milah contradicted the woman.
The woman looked at Milah with a superior smile. "You were. Well, I guess you still are, thanks to Nereus."
"What are you talking about?" Milah asked with her eyebrows furrowed close to each other.
"I asked Thetis to bring you back so I could tell you that Nereus doesn't need you any longer as one of his Nereids."
"Woman, I don't understand a thing you are saying," Milah snapped at the woman.
"Of course you don't," the woman said, rolling her eyes. She took a deep breath and started to talk again. "As I said, I can't help you with your memories. But I can tell you this. You were brought here by Nereus, the King, a long time ago. You were dead. My lovely husband saw something in you and he brought you back to life. You've been one of our Nereids for quite some time. You had only one job, which you failed by the way, but apparently you are back on track now," the woman said, moving her hand in a circle in front of Milah. "Zeus knows what's in that small head of my husband's. Anyway, Nereus decided that he doesn't need you anymore, but he promised that he will leave you alive."
"I am still very confused," Milah admitted.
"Then ask your friends to help you, darling," the woman said, using the same mocking voice as before. "Just be grateful that we are leaving you alive."
"Grateful?" Milah said dumbfounded. She looked at the woman who looked back at her with an eyebrow raised as if she was waiting for Milah's thanks. "Thank you?" Milah said a bit confused.
"You are welcome," the woman said smiling. "Now please leave my palace," she said, gesturing to Milah to get out of the room.
"But-," Milah started. She had questions and she wanted answers to every single one of them.
She took two steps toward the woman but before she could say something else, the woman raised her hand in front of her, stopping Milah. "Thetis!"
In a second, the woman that brought her to the palace, Thetis, came from behind the woman and pulled Milah out of the room. They started to walk together, even as Milah tried to get away from her.
"Hey! Where are you taking me?" Milah asked her.
"There are people looking for you," Thetis told her. "I am taking you back to them."
"This is like a bad dream, or something," Milah said to herself.
"I am sorry dear, Nereids like us don't get dreams. But you are no longer one, are you?" Thetis said with narrowed eyes.
Milah opened her mouth to speak but before words could come out of her month, Thetis led her to another room. It was just as big as the other one, but before Milah had the chance to study the room more or ask where she was, she saw Thetis raising her hand and the same red fog that had covered her before was coming towards her once again. Milah closed her eyes instinctively hoping that when she opened them again, she would be in Storybrooke.
The next time Milah opened her eyes, she was in a white room with machines surrounding her. She realized that she was in a hospital room so she rose quickly, wondering how she got there. She wanted to pull the wires away that were around her, but before she could touch anything, she felt a hand on hers.
She looked up and she was met with Ruby's eyes.
"Wolf," Milah said, smiling at her friend.
Only Ruby didn't smile back at Milah. No, Ruby had dark circles under her eyes, and a worried expression on her face.
"Ruby?" Milah asked, worried about the way Ruby looked.
"What the hell happened to you? I thought you were going to die!" Ruby yelled at her. Milah opened her mouth to speak but Ruby was faster. "You worried us! You scared the hell out of me when I found you unconscious!"
"Breathe, Ruby!" Milah said, trying to calm the girl.
Ruby looked at her unbelievingly. "How could I when I didn't sleep all night?"
Milah lowered her eyes and answered "I'm sorry."
She was really sorry for what happened. It was the middle of the day when Thetis appeared in front of her on the beach, and Ruby said that she did not sleep all night, worrying about Milah. How long was she gone? How long had she been in Atlantis?
"What the hell happened?" Ruby asked, breaking Milah out of her thoughts.
Before Ruby could answer, the door to Milah's room opened and the doctor came inside. "Ruby will you please stop yelling at my patient?"
"Shut up, Whale," Ruby snapped at Dr. Whale.
"No, you shut up, Red," the doctor said, coming beside Ruby and putting a hand on her shoulder. "I have to examine her, to make sure she is okay."
Ruby let out a puff and rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine," she said taking a step back.
"I will also have to ask you to leave the room," the doctor told her.
"But-," Ruby started to argue with him.
"Ruby!" Dr. Whale snapped at her.
"Fine! I hate you," Ruby said pushing him in the chest with a finger. "I am going to call Emma and Belle. Let them know you are awake," Ruby said, looking at Milah.
Instead of answering, Milah just nodded at her. Ruby left the room without another word to any of them and Milah turned her attention to the doctor.
For the next ten minutes, Milah tried to convince Dr. Whale that she was fine, nothing was hurting her and she did not know why she lost consciousness. It was a lie, of course, but she knew that he will think that she was mad if she would have told him what happened, so she kept that part to herself, waiting for Emma and Killian to appear and to tell them what really happened with her and what she had found out.