The Dark Swan
The sound of breathing and the occasional sob were all that was to be heard in the loft. Robin and Regina sat together on the sofa, their hands entwined between them. Henry sat at the kitchen counter, staring at a picture of him and Emma from the hospital after Neal's birth. Snow sat in the patchwork chair in the corner of the room while her husband perched on the arm, cradling her in his arms as she cried. Killian sat on the end of Emma's bed where he had been with her not 2 hours before, when he was convinced she was going to say those three words that he had been dying to hear ever since Neverland. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he remembered the look on her face just before she sacrificed herself, the fear in her eyes had been unbearable. He wiped the tear from his cheek and stood to go downstairs and check on the others. Nobody said anything when he entered the room or when he moved towards Henry, he knew there were no words that would help the boy right now and so he chose to simply place his hand on Henry's shoulder in a gesture of reassurance and comfort. But, Henry stood from his chair and Killian was convinced he was going to leave but instead the boy turned to face him and in one swift movement, wrapped his arms around Killian and let the tears he had clearly been holding back fall freely. Killian placed one hand on the back of his head and let his hooked arm rest on the boy's back, careful not to catch him with the tip of his hook.
"We'll find her, lad. I promise, we'll bring her home." He whispered.
"We need to find Merlin." Henry said, pulling away and dropping his arms to wipe the tears from his face. "The Apprentice said that he's our only shot at getting Mom back."
"Henry's right." Regina said. "I know we're all hurting but the best thing we can do for Emma right now is to find this sorcerer and figure out how to banish the darkness so that it can't hurt anyone else."
"Where do we start?" Snow asked, standing from her chair, with David's hand in hers.
"Perhaps the Dark… Rumplestiltskin will know something of it." Killian reminded himself that Rumple wasn't the Dark One anymore.
"It's worth a try, isn't it?" Robin interjected.
"Yeah. Come on, let's go." Henry, moved towards the door and everyone else followed, David grabbing Neal and the pram before heading down the stairs. They all stopped as Henry opened the door to the street. They stepped out of the building and onto the sidewalk, emerging one by one until they stood in a small group, staring at the scene in front of them. The entire town stood before them, everyone looking confused and upset. Ruby stood near the front of the group, her eyes were red and puffy the same as Granny's who stood next to her. Clearly, the news about Emma had travelled fast. Blue stepped out of the crowd and walked towards Snow, enveloping her in her arms and holding her.
"I'm so sorry. We all are. What can we do?" She asked, solemnly.
"You can help us to find Merlin." Snow replied.
"He can help Emma?" Ruby asked.
"We believe so." David replied.
"Where do we start?" Leroy asked, stepping out from the crowd.
"We think Gold might know something." Henry said.
"Then let's go ask him before I put an arrow in his neck." Granny replied. Clearly, she was going to hold a grudge against Rumple for a long time for what he had done to Emma.
Belle stood at the counter in the shop, staring at the cup that had come to mean so much to her.
"Belle?" Henry asked as the group entered the shop.
"Hey, how are you?" She asked, coming around the counter to hug the boy.
"Besides having my Mom taken over by the darkness that came out of my Grandfather? I'm good." He said sarcastically. She smiled sympathetically and looked up at the rest of the group.
"How can I help?"
"We need to find Merlin and we thought maybe Rumplestiltskin would know something about him." Regina replied.
"He hasn't actually come around yet, he's still unconscious." She said in an apologetic tone. "But, I might know something that could help." She moved behind the counter again and ducked down, opening a large drawer. She pulled out a tall, wooden staff with a glass orb in the top and an engraving on the handle. "Rumple told me that this staff came from a place that was believed to be the home of a sorcerer called Merlin."
"What place?" David asked.
"Camelot." Belle replied.
"Camelot?" Killian asked in a surprised tone.
"You know it?" Henry replied.
"Aye. I travelled there when I was… before I became a pirate." He explained. "I met their King and if there is one thing I'm sure of, it's that you want to steer clear of him."
"I remember reading about Camelot when Regina and I were searching for information on the Author. The King was said to be mad." Robin said.
"Mad is putting it kindly." Killian said.
"Hang on, if there's information on Camelot in the library then wouldn't that be a good place to start?" Henry asked.
"Let's go." Snow said eagerly.
The rays of the morning sun shone through the blinds in the library. They had all been at it through the night and were exhausted. Snow had asked Belle to take Neal while they searched the library for any information on Camelot. Suddenly, a loud noise from outside caused the group to jump into action.
"What the hell was that?" Regina asked, standing and moving towards the door. The rest of the group followed. The rest of the town had clearly heard it too as Main Street was once again full of people, all looking in the same direction. Up. The sky was darkening as what looked like a miniature tornado moved towards the street at startling speed. Screams filled the air as people ran away from where the tornado was coming down. They all turned away and covered their heads as it made contact with the ground. The immense winds carried on for a few more seconds before it stopped as suddenly as it had arrived, the sun coming through the now disappearing clouds.
"Everyone okay?" David asked. A chorus of yes's came from the group as they all turned to see what the damage was. A series of gasps came from the street as people turned to look. They all froze and simply stared at the figure crouched in the middle of the street. She was clad in head to toe black leather, wearing heels of a height that they had only known Regina and Ruby to wear. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a large but very neat bun. She slowly rose from the ground, lifting her head to look at the people who loved her the most. Her eyebrows were white and her lips were blood red, her skin almost matching the white of her eyes from how pale she had become.
"Emma?" Killian asked, frozen to the spot. It was only then that he noticed the dagger in her hand.
"So sorry to cause a fuss." She said, looking him dead in the eye. "Just thought I would make an entrance." Her voice was the same except now she spoke in the same way Regina once had and Zelena still did, with a hint of sarcasm in every word.
"Emma, are you…?" Snow began.
"Dark? Yes, Mummy. I am." She began walking towards the group. "I don't want to be, but I am. I've dealt with it, now you all have to. Don't try and find me, don't try and fix me because it can't be done, we all know that from our experiences with the now not-so Dark One." She looked at all of them separately, and he could swear he saw a tear in those now black eyes. "Now, I really must be going. Things to do, people to kill." She said in a dark tone. They all looked at her with confusion and shock all over their faces.
"Emma, please?" Killian shouted, taking a step towards her.
"Oh, and one last thing. My name's not Emma. It's the Dark Swan." And in a puff of red smoke, she was gone.