Oh, we're getting close, readers...really close. Killian's onto something, and the box has been found. And now the burning question...When do you get the sequel to "These Dreams?"
The answer to that, dear reader is...June 10th! I should be winding this fic up by the end of the month, and then I need a week off to finish another project (and to get my latest book out in print - check my author blog for details on that). Once they're out of the way, we go back on the rollercoaster through the dreamscape. This is gonna be FUN. And I promise, updates at least 2-3 days a week on this one!
But now...let's see how Killian plans to thwart a God...
"It's Gold," David said, looking down at his phone. "Should I take it?"
Emma gave him a short nod. "Better to know what he's planning - good or bad."
David answered the call, holding the phone to his ear. "When?' he asked.
He glanced across at Snow and Emma, nodding as he listened. "Okay. We'll be there in five."
"Do you really think he's got anything we need to hear?" Snow asked skeptically as David put the phone away.
"I'm willing to bet he'll be a lot more receptive once we let him know that Zeus is looking to enslave him and willing to go through Belle to do it," David pointed out. "I'll take a drive over."
"I'm going with you," Emma said. "Just let me tell Killian where we're going."
"What did he need Granny for, anyway?" Snow asked.
"He hasn't told me yet," Emma said over her shoulder. "Maybe he wants her meatball recipe?"
"He's probably getting her to double her order of rum," David called back as she stepped through the doors to the kitchen.
"I need to feed the baby, and then once I get him down, I'll check in with you," Snow said. She put a hand on David's arm. "Be careful."
"I'll hear what he has to say," David said, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. He looked up at Emma, who had just walked back out into the dining area.
"You ready?"
"Yeah," she said, jamming a thumb over her shoulder towards the doors. "He's back there in the storeroom discussing oil viscosity with Granny."
"What?"
"Don't ask," Emma rolled her eyes. "After that he needs to pow-wow with Marco. I'll catch up with him there."
They walked the few blocks down to Gold's shop, keeping a watchful eye on the skies. They let themselves in, and David got right down to business.
"So what's the burning issue?" he asked.
"Wait!" Emma held up a hand. "We need to make sure he is who he says he is."
"I see you've caught on to our mutual friend's favorite game," Gold said.
"Yeah," Emma said flatly. "Now tell me something only Gold would know that I know."
Gold eyed her shrewdly. "Very well. My son had a birthmark. It was on his lower back, on the left side."
"That's right," Emma said. "And here's one for you. Neal told me how he got to our world. Someone helped him. Who?"
"That would be our old friend, the Blue Fairy," Gold replied. "Who, coincidentally, has her hands in a lot more pots than any of you realize."
"Okay, so you're you," Emma conceded. "What do you want?"
"I've been catching up on my reading," he said, pulling over a large, dusty book. "Specifically, the prophecy."
"You found something new?" David asked.
"No. The prophecy is thousands of years old - there's nothing new about it. But the answers we seek are there, if one takes the time to interpret."
"And what does your interpretation tell you?" Emma asked, raising a brow.
"The prophecy tells us very specifically to return that which was lost," he said, "And I plan to do exactly that."
David shot Emma a look. "And by 'that', you mean...?"
"As the king of the gods, Zeus has the ability to return heroes from the Elysian Fields."
"The Elysian Fields?" David's eyes went wide. "You mean bring back the dead?"
"Zeus can bring back the dead?" Emma said, askance, as if she hadn't just done that very thing earlier in the day.
"Not all the dead, Miss Swan," Gold replied. "Those who serve out the afterlife in the jurisdiction of Hades cannot be liberated. Only those who have died a hero's death may be retrieved - and then only by a god as powerful as Zeus."
"And you think that getting Zeus to free someone from the Elysian Fields will break the curse on the box?" David sounded skeptical.
"I do, and what's more - I doubt our over-confident friend has thought that far ahead."
"Probably because he's too distracted by the thought of controlling you," Emma pointed out. "He knows Belle has the dagger, and he's determined to get to her. She can't live in the church forever."
"Which is precisely why we need to play the only cards we have in the game," Gold pointed out. "Pandora, and the box."
"We're not turning Dora over to Zeus." David's tone brooked no argument.
"She'll be a moot point if the box is disabled," Gold said.
"That's a big 'if'." Emma said, clearly not thrilled with the plan.
"And just who were you planning on bringing back?" David asked.
"It has to be someone who recently left us. One whose place is assured in the Elysian Fields through heroism."
Emma went very still, and her eyes widened just a fraction.
"Neal," she whispered. "You're going to ask him for Neal."
###
"It's here? Dora - are you sure?" Archie held her firmly, supporting her since her legs were shaking.
"I can feel it," she said, turning wide and frightened eyes toward him. Inside the bedroom, the lamp on the table began to rock and the drawers of a nearby bureau began to rattle.
"Archie! Get out! Get out of here!" she shrieked, just as the light bulb exploded in the lamp and a nearby teakettle began to boil without the benefit of a flame beneath it.
"I can't! Emma's sealed us in," he shouted, making his voice heard as the whole cabin seemed to be rattling and shaking around them.
"It's...drawing from me!" she said. "I can feel it - it's too powerful!" She turned in Archie's arms, shoving at him violently. "You need to get away! Find cover!"
"No!"
"Archie, please! I couldn't bear it if I hurt you!" She pushed at him again.
"You won't hurt me," he said, shaking his head emphatically.
"You don't know that!"
"I do know that," he insisted. "I do know it."
"I can't -" Dora's words were stopped as Archie's mouth came down on hers, and as his arms slid around her and she lost herself in the kiss, the sounds around them began to quiet. The doors stopped slamming, the drawers ceased their rattling, and nothing seemed to be flickering anymore. There was still a strange hum of power, like lightning had charged the air but spent itself, but the rest was calm.
Archie lifted his head, his face flushed with color.
"See?" he said softly. "You won't hurt me."
"Why..?" Dora seemed to have a hard time finding her voice. "Why does everything quiet when you kiss me?"
"I don't know," he shrugged, giving her a lopsided smile. "But I'm willing to keep experimenting if you are."
She laughed, bringing her hand up to her mouth as though startled.
"I haven't laughed in...I don't remember how long."
He looped his arms loosely behind her back. "You can laugh at me anytime. And look-" he glanced around. "Calm and quiet. We can work with this, Dora. We can help you. You can help yourself."
"You're very good at what you do, you know," she said. "You have a way about you of getting to the truth of people. Seeing who they really are."
"I see you," he answered.
"And what is it you see in me?" she asked. "I still haven't reasoned that out. I couldn't be further from an ideal companion."
He cupped her face, looking right in her eyes. "I think I'm in love with you, Dora. That's what I see. That's all I can see."
Her eyes were wide, frightened. "You shouldn't love me."
"It's too late for that," he said gently. "And I wouldn't change it if I could. I've felt more alive since you got here than I have in my entire life."
"But what if I hurt you?"
He lifted a shoulder. "Maybe I should just keep kissing you?" he suggested.
Dora laughed again, turning her face up so he could do exactly that.
###
"The workmanship is remarkable," Killian said, turning the cuff over in his hand. "And you say you have another?"
"They're a matching set," Marco replied, fussing around the shop. "And I have other things, too. Many things."
"Give me everything you've got," Killian said. "I'll need it all."
The workshop door was flung open as Leroy and the dwarves stomped in. "Granny says we're good to go. And Blue and the other fairies can replicate whatever else we need, as long as we have the original batch to start with.
"You all know what to do?"
Leroy gave him a disgruntled eyeroll. "It ain't rocket science."
"We need to work quickly," Killian reminded them. "We don't know how long-" he swayed on his feet as the ground shuddered beneath him.
"What the bloody hell was that?"
Leroy reached out for a nearby rocking chair, cursing as it offered no stability when he grabbed it. "I don't know," he shouted. "But in this town, it's probably not good."
"Is it the mines?" Marco asked, desperately trying to keep a tall but delicate clock from tipping over.
"That ain't the mines," Leroy said.
"We have to move fast," Killian repeated. "Go!"
###
"What was that?" Emma reached for the edge of the display case as the ground seemed to lurch and then tremble beneath them.
"I'd wager on one of two things, Miss Swan."
"Zeus or Dora," David said grimly.
"My money is on the latter," Gold replied. "Which means the former won't be far behind. Let me guess - you moved her to the cabin."
"Yeah," Emma replied. "And it's got the mother of all protection spells around it."
"Which means precisely nothing to the king of the gods," Gold added. "And your protection spell won't last long now that you've unwittingly put the box in her reach."
"The box is in the cabin?" David was startled.
"And you've sealed her in with it," Gold noted. "Were you courting mass destruction, Miss Swan? Because that's how it's done." He gestured to the window, just as an eagle flew by, streaking toward the woods. "And now you've tipped him off."
Emma took off running for the door as the ground continued to shake, and David was right behind her. Gold gave a self-congratulatory smirk, and with a wave of his hand, he vanished in a cloud of smoke.
He reappeared just outside the cabin, where a clearly irritated Zeus stood with his hand outstretched, lightly touching the magical barrier before him.
Gold smiled. "Would you like a little help with that?" he asked.