Chapter 9.
As Snow slept Rose paced waiting for her sister to wake again. Emma stayed, as she promised, sat in front of her mother holding her hand. Eventually the queen's patience wore out.
'Stephen, come with me, we'll go and check the perimeter make sure we're still safe and alone.' Rose explained to Emma and Mulan.
'Getting restless?' Emma asked, smirking at her aunt as she did. Rose returned the smirk nodding slightly.
'We won't be gone long. Mulan, watch over them.' Rose ordered. Mulan nodded as Rose and Stephen walked away from them.
'I'm sure your sister is quite safe your majesty.' Stephen tried to reassure Rose. 'She does not appear to be in any discomfort.' Rose listened to Stephen nodding.
"I know, but forgive your queen Stephen, she worries for her little sister." Rose smirked to the captain.
After an hour or so of being away Rose and Stephen returned to the spot where they had left the others. The scene they returned to had Rose pick up her speed as she moved towards Snow.
"I have to get back!" Snow panicked, tears beginning to fall, Emma tried to comfort her mother.
"We'll get back to them, I promise." Emma said holding on to Snow, making her listen.
"Snow?" Rose slowed; walking up behind her, Snow turned and threw herself into her sister. "What happened?" Rose asked looking to Emma.
"She met David in the Netherworld." Emma explained as Rose had her arms around Snow White doing her best to comfort her.
"Not Henry?" Rose questioned, surprised.
"They wouldn't let him go back in, it was too dangerous." Snow explained as she pulled herself together, still holding on to her sister. Rose nodded understanding.
"So what next?" Stephen asked stepping towards them all.
"We head for Rumplestiltskin's cell. The way to stop Cora is there." Snow explained stepping away from Rose.
"Oh no." Emma said turning to her mother, her face stricken with worry. "The compass, it's gone!" Emma explained her eyes wide.
"Where's Mulan?" Stephen questioned looking around the site not seeing the female warrior anywhere. Snow and Emma looked to one another, then quickly grabbed their weapons and started racing after Mulan.
"She'll be heading to meet Cora!" Snow called back as they all ran.
Mulan ran through the forest desperately trying to meet Cora's deadline and save the princess. A slight whistling noise ran past Mulan's ear as an arrow flew into the tree just beside her making her stop in her tracks.
"Mulan, stop! Give us back the compass." Snow called out bow still raised and pulled taught with arrow in place ready to fire.
"No. I swore to protect the princess, not run around after you and your want to return home. If I give this to Cora she'll release Aurora." Mulan explained raising the compass in her hand.
"Cora will kill you both before she would ever consider releasing the princess." Rose called out standing beside Snow. "Now return the compass to Emma and join with us to stop the witch and we will save the princess." Rose ordered. Mulan looked at them for a moment.
"No, I'm going to meet with Cora." Mulan said about to turn and run on. Snow sprinted to charge the warrior tackling them both to the ground. The force Snow took with her gave her the upper hand pinning Mulan to the ground and pressing the head of the arrow to Mulan's throat. "Go ahead, kill me." Mulan taunted.
"Stop this!" A voice shouted surprising them all as Aurora appeared before them. "Let Mulan up." Aurora ordered. "I said let her up!" Snow quickly moved away from Mulan allowing her to stand again.
"Aurora, how did you escape?" Emma asked.
"I didn't escape, Hook released me." Aurora explained.
"Why?" Asked Emma baffled but the untrustworthy pirate's actions.
"Because of you Emma. He wanted to prove to you that he could be trusted, that if you had trusted him we could have defeated Cora together." Aurora explained. "I think he cares for you."
Emma looked to her aunt and then mother, uncertain of what she was hearing.
"Did you find a way to stop Cora?" Aurora asked.
"Yes." Replied Emma as she started walking past her mother and Mulan, Rose and Stephen not far behind her.
"Where are we going?" Aurora continued to question.
"To Rumplestiltskin's cell." Emma said determined.
Daylight was soon turning to dusk as Emma and the others reached Rumples cell.
Rose walked with Mulan by her side; both were silent until Rose spoke.
"You do not trust us, do you Mulan?" Rose asked keeping her eyes on the road ahead. Mulan look to the queen as they walked, lowering her head slightly as she answered.
"It is not that I do not trust you, your Majesty, it is just that I have made a vow to protect the princess and nothing will stop me from doing that." The warrior woman explained.
"I might. Consider this your last warning Mulan, endanger my family again and I will stop you." Rose said sternly before picking up her pace to walk beside Snow.
"She's angry, it'll pass." Emma offered, trying to soften her aunt's words.
"It won't." Stephen chipped in from behind them. Emma cast him a scornful look over her shoulder.
"No, Stephen is right, and I can't blame the queen for her anger." Mulan said accepting Rose's words and threat.
"Give her time." Emma suggested.
"We're here!" Snow White called out as they came to the entrance of the dwarves tunnels.
"Of course, the Dark One's cell would be down a creepy dark tunnel, where else would it be." Emma said sarcastically as Rose and Snow took torches lighting them before entering the tunnel.
"Come my young niece, it's nothing to be afraid of." Rose teased as she paused for Emma to catch up beside her. Emma only grumbled slightly whilst rolling her eyes. They all walked through the tunnels, their footfalls causing slight echoes, Emma's foot caught a rock causing her to stumble slightly in to Rose who steadied her again, smirking as she did.
"Not funny." Emma grumbled.
"I never said a word." Rose said moving the torch to her right hand so that the light from it fell between her and Emma.
"Here it is." Snow said as they all stopped in front of a large open cell that backed into the rocks of the tunnel. "Rumple's cell. This is where he told us you would be the saviour." Snow explained to Emma as she walked forward entering into the cell.
"He knew?" Emma said both surprised and confused.
"It was prophesised." Snow simply explained as she scoured the cell trying to find the squid ink. Aurora and Mulan joined them trying to find the illusive liquid.
"It isn't here!" Aurora said frustrated.
"It has to be Gold said it was in here." Snow said checking every crevice of the cell.
"No one was in here with him?" Mulan asked as she looked. Rose and Stephen stayed outside of the cell keeping a watchful eye over them all.
"No, no one." Snow explained.
"How did he not go crazy?" Emma wondered aloud.
"He didn't." Aurora said as she pulled a rolled up piece of parchment from the wall. Unrolling it she read it and held it out to Emma. "I think it's for you." She said. Emma took the parchment confused, reading the scrawl on the parchment her eyes grew wider.
"What does this even mean?" Emma asked handing it to her mother.
"Gold was obsessed with you Emma, you were the key to breaking the curse." Snow explained.
"But where is the ink?" Aurora asked.
"It must be here, Gold told David that this is where the squid ink would be." Snow worriedly said looking around again.
"Well he was right, there was ink here." Mulan said picking up a small ink well.
"You found it?" Snow said hopefully.
"What there was of it is gone now." Mulan explained handing her the empty ink well. Snow's face fell as she looked for herself to see there was no ink.
Without them seeing Aurora picked up a rock and threw it at the lever just outside the cell releasing the cell's doors as they crashed closed.
"Aurora what are you doing?" Mulan yelled as they all attempted to open the cell.
"She's doing what I asked her to." Cora said as she entered. Rose and Stephen stopped trying to pull the lever to face the witch and protect the others. Cora simply used her magic to pick them up and throw them harshly against the jagged rock walls of the tunnels, letting them both fall unconscious to the ground. Snow and Emma both cried out for them. Cora waved her hand, dark grey smoke pooled around Rose and Stephen, they disappeared from sight, for an instant Snow thought the very worst until they reappeared in the cell with them. "Can't have those two waking up and releasing you all. That's if they do wake up, looks like a nasty bump to the head your sister has there Snow." Cora smiled sickeningly. Both Snow and Emma turned to Cora their eyes fuelled with anger. "I'll take that also." Cora said as she summoned the compass to her.
"No!" Emma called out try to grab at it, only to grab thin air.
"How could you do this?" Snow asked turning to Aurora.
"I wouldn't blame her, it wasn't her fault." Cora said as she took out Aurora's heart and squeezed it. Aurora fell to her knees clutching at her chest in agony.
"You took her heart?" Emma asked astonished.
"Actually I did." Hook said proudly, stepping forward smugly smirking at Emma, pleased with himself. Cora chuckled a deep sickening laugh deep in her throat as she again squeezed Aurora's heart causing the princess more pain.
"We'd love to stay and chat more but Storybrooke awaits. Come Hook." Cora wickedly smiled as she left walking back through the tunnels. Hook bowed his head to the ladies and turned to leave also.
"Hook wait. Please don't do this." Emma pleaded. "My son is in Storybrooke, he needs me."
"You should of thought of that before leaving me with that giant. Do you recognise this Swan?" Hook held up the mummified bean for her to see.
"The giant's last remaining bean." Emma said recognising it straight away.
"That's right. Something that was once magical and full of hope, now dead and useless. Much like our current relationship Swan." With that Hook turned and walked away leaving Emma and the others in their cell.
