Hey look an update, whaddya know? I guess miracles really do happen. Last chapter was pretty short but this one is longer so enjoy!
I do not own any OUAT characters except Ven
Chapter 11: Storm…
Emma felt the magic spark at her fingertips as she slipped out of the cavern at the side of the waterfall. Gold, Hook and Regina all followed closely while Peter went out the other way. For some reason she found herself searching for Hook, his eyes were narrowed and his mouth set in grim determination.
"You know we might not make it out of this one," she remarked.
Hook cracked a smile. "Don't worry love, I've been in worse scrapes than this."
Her own smile felt hollow. No you haven't she wanted to say, but she didn't. She just nodded and tightened her hands into fists at her sides.
Magic crackled around them and the air thickened.
"So you've come to meet your fate?" A voice screeched, bouncing off the walls of the pit and echoing eerily like a recording not properly aligned. Mim, the witch, appeared before them, flying in the air as black and white magic both swirled around, the white rapidly being overtaken by the dark.
She held up her hands and felt her magic pulse to block the black lightning that shot towards them. Hook fired off several shots from a gunpowder pistol he'd found in the lost boy's camp. Apparently stories weren't the only things Peter had brought back from his other-realm travels.
Gold joined her, reinforcing her shield and shooting out arch of magic. Regina's own magic joined the fray and for a moment she saw fear flicker in the mad eyes of Mim.
Then she cackled. "My Shadow!"
The Shadow flew towards them, grabbing at Hook, but the pirate ducked, shooting bullets through the black haze.
Emma kept up her shield and directed a mass of rocks at the shadow with her magic.
"Eyes on me dearie!"
Her eyes widened and she dove out of the way of a massive explosion of rocks, water and magic. Her foot slipped and she screamed, but then a hand grabbed hers.
"Emma!"
"Hook!"
The pirate pulled her up, but the Shadow flew up behind and grabbed Hook's shadow. She threw out her hands, white magic blasted from her palms and slammed into the shadow, sending it flying back.
"Thanks Emma."
"Look out!" Hook ducked and she blocked she magic bolts, then ducked as he shot off several shots.
"What in bloody hell is takin' Pan so long?" he shouted above the waterfall. She didn't answer, preoccupied with Mim.
Then she saw it. The flash of light from the corner of her eye.
"EVERYBODY DOWN!" She screamed, dropping to her knees and raising her hands. Regina's magic joined hers in a shield just as a massive explosion rent the air like thunder, shaking rocks from the pit and sending water blasting from orifices formed from the barrels of gunpowder taken from the Jolly Roger.
Earlier…
"You want to do what?" Hook stared at Peter. "You're bloody mad! That's suicide!"
Peter raised an eyebrow. "So is challenging me and you did that and survived."
"Hook is right," Emma conceded. "Gunpowder won't effect Mim."
"Not necessarily." Regina tapped her lips musingly. "Mim may be powerful but she's not invincible, not yet anyway."
"An explosion of the size we could create with gunpowder from the Jolly Roger will at the very least distract Mim long enough for me to get at her from behind," Ven said.
"But it will kill all of us," Gold said in exasperation. "It'll do no good if we're dead."
"If Regina and Emma can rig a shield strong enough we'll be protected," Ven said. "It will work."
"But you don't have magic," Regina said to Ven. "How will you take back your magic?"
Ven smirked. "It's my magic. Even though I don't technically have magic anymore I'm still a magic adept. I can get it back, it's part of me. Once I have my magic back I can take the pendant, then all that's left will be to kill Mim and be done with it."
End.
Rumple had teleported the gunpowder to the top of the falls with plenty of materials to blow them up, and now rocks rained down around them but never hitting them.
Go Ven.
The smoke gradually cleared and they lowered the barrier. Then Emma's eyes widened and she froze.
"Hahahaha! HAHAHA! WELL DONE! NOW YOU GET TO DIE!"
"MOVE!"
Pan's shout was enough to shake them from the stupor and they dodged just in time to avoid the massive arch of black lightning.
"What…" she trailed off. "No…"
There stood Rumplestiltskin, his mottled hands raised and shielding Mim with a barrier of black magic. Ven lay crumbled on the rocks, unmoving. Peter was nowhere in sight.
"He's betrayed us!" she exclaimed.
"RUN!" he shouted above the roar.
"YOU FOOLS! YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD BEAT ME WITH MY OWN CREATION?" No no no. "I CREATED THE DARK ONE! I CONTROL IT!" She cackled loudly. "My Shadow! My Demon! Destroy them!" she shrieked.
Emma raised her hands just in time to block Gold's attack as Regina and Hook fought the Shadow and Mim simultaneously.
"Fight it Gold!" she shouted.
"I can't! I can't control anything!" he shouted back, desperation clearly visible in his eyes.
It's not over yet.
Ven felt the water pound upon her skin as it threatened to sweep her away but her hands latched onto the magic rope and she began her climb up. Thank Neverland for all of the cliff-climbing and tree jumping, she couldn't help thinking as she rose higher. By the time she reached her destination halfway up the pit she was tired out and her arms sore. The battle raged far below.
How much time had passed? Had she missed the signal? She waited with baited breath. Hurry Peter. There! A flash of light at the top of the cliff. He was there. She flattened herself against the wall of the small inlay she rested in, clinging to the rocks as the explosion shook the entire island it seemed. Then she turned, said a prayer, and jumped into the cloud of dust. The rocks beneath her feet were gritted and known to her, many a day had she spent navigating the treacherous cliff face.
Stay with me Peter. And she burst forward, straight at Mim, clouded by dust and magic. The black magic sparked against her skin but she ignored it, stretching out a hand. My magic. Part of me. She whispered coaxing words, she could feel it around her, she could feel it's draw. Come to me.
"Come-" Her word turned to a scream as electricity shot through her body and everything went black.
She was out for mere seconds, but she could feel the wind pulling at her black locks and stinging her skin as she hurtled towards the ground so far below. Her magic was out of reach, Rumplestiltskin was under Mim's control and she was going to die.
Peter… I'm sorry.
"VEN!"
She forced her eyes open despite the wind and grabbed hold of the rope that was flung towards her, the fibers burned her hands and she slammed into the wall of the pit. But she was alive.
Then a stray shock of magic snapped the rope.
Damn you Mim. Damn you all. Peter shouted her name as he tossed through the rock-weighted rope towards Ven. He saw her catch it and relief flooded him. He had watched in horror as Rumplestiltskin was overtaken and she fell, her magic lost.
But then the rope snapped. He swore Mim to hell with foul words acquired over two and a half centuries of life as he saw her hit the ledge and lie still.
This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to get her magic. This wasn't suppose to happen. Please be ok. Please be ok.
The others were hard pressed fending off Rumple, the Shadow and Mim, but Mim wasn't paying attention to him. Why should she? He was powerless.
So she thinks. He lashed the rope to a tree at the top with a few swift and practiced knots and tore off his shirt, wrapping it around his hands. We're not done yet Ven. He grabbed the rope and wasted no time at all, sliding all the way down to where Ven was.
"Ven—"
"I'm fine." Her voice was a murmur. "Come on Peter. One shot."
In that instant… Emma hated Gold. Absolutely hated him. He was a freakishly strong magic user, not to mention being the Dark One and the fact that he was currently under the control of Mim.
Come on Gold.
"Just a little bit longer…" she muttered through clenched teeth. Gold was fighting the control, maybe just enough for them to play the ace up their sleeve.
Earlier…
"It won't work."
No one wanted to hear those words, but the grave manner in which Peter said them was unmistakable. He knew full well that this was no joke and they knew that.
"What won't work?" Emma asked.
"Killing Mim, it's not going to work," Peter reiterated. "That and the fact that because she created the Dark One dagger she can control Rumple."
"What?!"
"She created the dagger?"
"That's crazy!"
"Impossible."
"Shut up," Ven snapped with only mildly surprising authority. "It is very possible. She is practically the queen of chaos and darkness."
Peter nodded his agreement. "The Dark One dagger is one of the most powerful black magic tool in the history of magic in any realm. She infused massive amounts of power from a magic storm near a millennia ago."
"How long has she been alive?" Emma asked, appalled.
"She's as old as the Great Wizard and as powerful as the Apprentice," Peter said.
"Then let's just get the Great Wizard," she replied with a shrug.
Rumplestiltskin scoffed. "One does not simply 'get the Great Wizard Merlin'. He cannot be summoned like some fairy!"
Emma's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Wait, Merlin is the Great Wizard?"
"Who else would it be?" Peter asked, looking as annoyed as Rumple was.
Emma blinked once, twice. "Yeah. Sure. Of course. Makes total sense."
"Back to the matter at hand, we have to find a way to kill Mim," Ven said.
"The gunpowder will doubtless distract her, but it won't be enough, she'll just latch her hooks into Rumple and use him as a shield while continuing her attacks," Peter said musingly. "We need more than that."
"What about a magic inhibiter?" Regina suggested. "Not for Mim but for Gold. If Gold can fight her control enough to get an inhibiter on him we'll take him out of the fight, and if we get ahold of the coconut used to contain the Shadow that's minus two opponents."
The Shadow had escaped its confinement when Mim called it to her so they had to get it back in.
Peter allowed a small, devious smirk that was nothing but Pan. "I have just the thing." Her eyes widened fractionally and the smirk he wore spread to her.
"I see. You want to use Pandora's Box."
They had a shot. One shot.
End.
Distraction, draw it out just long enough to make Mim think she was going to win, then trap her. Ven, Peter and Emma would advance and attack, the latter two distracting enough to where Ven could take her magic back and then they would entrap her and with their combined magic force destroy the box, forever sealing her within the endless abyss within the box. The plan? Simple? As hell. But with a little bit of luck it just might work.
Emma dodged another magic attack, groaning as she hit the ground. I'm gonna feel that tomorrow. She ducked. If I live that long. She flicked her wrists and tossed a ball of energy at Gold, then one at Mim. The mad witch cackled madly as it shattered against her barrier.
They didn't have much time left. A few more minutes and Mim really would be invincible. Then down came the island and they were all dead.
Don't think about that. Focus on the plan. She backed up and her back hit Hook's.
"A lovely party inn't?" he remarked.
She smirked. "Oh this is nothing." They spun and dodged. "When we get back to Storybrooke I'm taking you to New York to show you a real party."
"Please no 21st Century shit," he said.
"No promises."
A high pitched whine, followed by an explosion of rock set Hook and Emma running. That's the signal. She dove beneath Gold's slightly offset attack and slammed the bracelet on his wrist. His magic instantly dissipated. She looked over and saw Hook drag the Shadow into the coconut.
She looked up towards Ven, Peter and Regina, starting forward.
One shot.
The noises rattled around her head as she struggled to stay focused. Stick to the plan. Stick to the plan. Stick to the plan. She and Peter headed straight for the ledge where Regina stood, defending against Mim's brutal attacks. Emma was struggling up the cliffside but she was far less agile than Ven and Peter. Despite that she would be in time.
Almost there.
Images of Felix and the other Lost Boys flashed through her mind. She never thought she would think let alone say it aloud but…
"I'll protect you. I swear it."
That was when everything went to hell.
I know I know another cliff hanger but hey, two chapters in one day? I'd say that's pretty good. I'll try and get the next one up within a few days, promise.
Please review! I read every single one!