Part 11
Lunge. Evade. Thrust. Block. Jab. Parry. Slash. Miss.
Over and over again the steel of their swords clashed against one another. Their footwork was a thing of impeccable beauty as they danced across the wooden deck. Both father and son cared little for the spectators cut off from them by Thé's magic. Their only focus was on the other; watching for the slightest change that could win each man the fight. Emma flinched at a particularly loud twang as Davy managed to press the advantage; Killian only managing to keep his father's blade from cutting him by his quick reflexes with his hook. In a single move Killian swipes the hook across his father's blade and with his own sword lashes out at the elder Jones.
"I'm Hercules by the way. We never got properly introduced earlier," smiles the demi-god shyly as he sidles up to stand by the brunette who had caught his eye.
Megara's eyebrows rise with incredulity, her head swinging round to stare in amazement at the idiot in front of her.
"Do you have some form of mental affliction?! I hardly think that this is the right time for introductions. My Captain is in trouble. As his crew it's our duty to help him."
"I apologise for my timing. But please will you accept a gift from a humble man that thinks you to be most lovely," replies Hercules, gifting her a single white gardenia in perfect bloom. "If I can be of any assistance to such a fair damsel, please just ask."
Megara freezes momentarily, her hand trembling ever so slightly as she reaches out to take the beautiful flower. A soft smile pulls at her lips as she raises the flower to smell the heady fragrance. Her eyes flit back up to the newcomer, standing unsurely before her waiting for some sign or words in return. But before she can give a reply one of her fellow crew members tumbles backwards, taking several others down with him as easily as if they were pins.
Thé rolls her eyes and sighs, "Throwing yourself at it will hardly break down the dome."
Having enough of the brutality that slowly escalates before her - and with a glare thrown over her shoulder at an emotionless Thé (who has returned to observing the fight blankly) - Emma throws up her hands and calls upon her own power. It does not take as much power as she thought it would to break through the protective dome Thé had placed around the Jones boys, and so as an after-effect Emma's magic throws them both to the ground.
"Enough of this," she grits, her steely tone meaning she will use further force to bring their fight to an end.
"Why would you do this?" glares Killian, ignoring Emma as he focuses his rage on Thé as she nonchalantly leans against the side of the ship.
"I couldn't very well use Charon. I was very open with him Killian. He knew what our mission was here," she replies in a subdued voice.
"Ha! You were open with me!" laughs Davy humorlessly. "You didn't tell me all the necessary details."
"Such as?" frowns Belle. "We told you the reason for our journey to the Underworld and why we had need to see Hades."
"But she left out the bit about those two being the daughters of that ruddy witch!" yells Davy, a vein beginning to throb at his temple due to his sudden onset of anger.
"Regina and Zelena being Cora's daughters wasn't something you needed to know. You just don't like any connection to any person whose been able to summon you through the realms. Get over yourself already. It wasn't necessary for you to know of their relation, just like it wasn't necessary for you to help save Aethyia!" thunders back Thé, her eyes swirling and the glittery stars in her eyes illuminating off the low luminescent lighting in the Underworld.
Davy flinches at the accusation, and even Killian looks shocked at the verbal blow Thé landed on his father. The pirate watches on as his father's visage darkens and he storms off in a huff to below deck, saying not a single word to anyone.
"Oh how mature," scoffs Thé before kindly turning to Mr Branigan. "Mind taking the helm, Mr Branigan. I don't want to trespass on my uncle's kindness longer than we should."
"Of course, my Lady."
"So...that's your father," comments David as they congregate around Killian.
"He helped create me, but he stopped being a father to me long ago," scorns Killian.
"So the pirate also has daddy issues. Whoopdedoo," sneers Zelena.
A flash appears around the redhead's wrist and in the mere blink of an eye the bridle binding her magic has disappeared from being wound around it to be wrapped around her head. Zelena emits muffled noises from behind the gag, her piercing green eyes glinting and glaring at Thé who stares bored back at the witch.
"I warned you."
"Guess we should add 'talking bad about the pirate' to this list of things that'll piss you off," observes Regina interestedly. "You're protective of him."
"I'm sorry you got sprung with Davy," apologises Thé, ignoring Regina. "I was planning on warning you, but then Hades got upset…"
"It's a bit of a shock," says Snow, her eyes darting from Killian to where his father had disappeared below.
"I'd figured out there was some familial connection," adds Emma quietly.
"Am I that much like him?" asks Killian with a roll of his eyes and a saucy grin, attempting to hide his pain but his Swan can see right through the weak attempt.
"In some ways...all good."
"Emma's right, Killian. You and he are alike, but you're a far better man than he will ever be."
"I thought he was your paramour?" frowns Robin in confusion.
Killian winces at the query but Thé answers the outlaw in a deprecating tone of voice. "Long ago he was. He broke my heart though. And now I don't think I'll ever truly love anyone ever again. Not romantically anyway."
"You knew," adds Belle, turning to Rumplestiltskin who has remained quiet and mostly out of sight. "That's why you were acting the way you were around Captain Jones...or rather I suppose it's Captain Jones Senior," she says with a slight chuckle. "You stayed out of his way Rumple because you knew Killian was his son."
"He didn't need me as a reminder of what felled his son. My guilt, and my own self-preservation, kept me out of his way," says Gold, his dark eyes roving to land on Thé significantly.
"And it's what I threatened him with if he didn't behave on this trip."
Belle looks outraged on her husband's behalf at Thé's underhand tactics. She is shocked that the woman she'd been beginning to get along with could be so cruel with threatening to tell the Captain Jones Senior that Rumple had killed Killian, especially as she obviously knew how bad the consequences of such a sharing of the truth would have resulted in.
"It worked, didn't it?" says Thé shamelessly.
"Where are we going?" glowers David suspiciously as Mr Branigan steers the ship in a different direction than they'd come.
"Thought it best we avoid the Pit this time round. Don't want any of those spirit buggers popping out and being a hindrance again," calls out The Dutchman's First Mate.
The mention of the Pit hits Killian. The dark-haired, one-handed pirate sways slightly as he's hit with the emotional memory of when he'd been at the Pit. Before, when he was a mere soul, he hadn't realised but his emotions weren't nearly as strong as they'd been when he was corporeal...how they were now.
"Killian?" frets Emma when she notices his gaze go blank.
"Hello, my love," she calls out to him sweetly.
Killian stumbles back from the edge of Tartarus, his pale blue eyes widening in shock as Milah takes form before him. Her skin has an ethereal glow to it, though nowhere on par with the glow that emits from Hades' swarthy skin. Her long black curls swish as she walks towards him. He winces when he realises she's still clothed in the pirate garb she'd been wearing when the crocodile stole her life away.
"Milah," he breathes, his hand trembling as he reaches out for her hesitantly. "This can't be real."
"It's me Killian," she smiles. "Hades placed a spell upon Tartarus when he first became lord of the Underworld. Any mortal that nears the mouth of the Pit causes any of their dead to rise out of it so they might speak."
"Why can I not touch you?" he frowns as his hand passes right through the sleeve of her gauzy black blouse.
"Neither of us are corporeal, Killian. We're both dead. Finally you've come back to me," Milah tells him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "Come into the pit, and we can be free together again."
"Killian," a gruffer voice calls out to him, breaking the entrancing moment the pirate was having with his first love.
"Baelfire," utters Killian in shock. "How...why are you not in Elysium?"
"I have a debt to work off before Hades will permit me eternal rest there. Seems resurrecting my father has bigger consequences than dying."
"You think it odd my son is here, but not me?" questions Milah.
"We didn't behave with the greatest honour. For some of our acts as pirates, we both deserve such a fate."
"You've changed."
"For the better," adds Neal. "But then Emma's like that with influencing people," he smiles in remembrance.
"Neal, about Emma…" trails off Killian hesitantly.
"She deserves happiness, and so long as you can give that to her I'm happy for you both."
"You talk as if he'll be with her again," scowls Milah.
"He should be in the Pit with us, mother, but obviously Hades knows a rescue mission is on it's way."
"You're not staying," cries Milah, her face creasing in sadness and pain.
"I'm sorry Milah, but no. If I have the chance to return, I'll take it."
"To be with her. This Emma Swan," sneers Milah jealously.
Killian moves to try and take the black-haired beauty into his arms but remembers he cannot touch her at the last minute. "I will always love you Milah. There's a place in my heart that you will forever hold. But Emma made me see that there was more to life than revenge and other dark emotions. By being who she is, and being around her, I discovered there was still more to life that I could explore, feel, and do."
"Enjoy every minute you have with her, Killian. And...take care of Henry for me," Neal manages to choke out in a pained voice. "I wish I could see him one last time to simply say goodbye, but if he's not managed to convince Ems that he can tag along will you tell him I love him?"
"Of course Neal," promises Killian, his tone sincere and compassionate.
"Killian!"
The loud shout pulls Killian from the morose goodbye he'd had with Milah and the man who'd played many roles in Killian's life - a surrogate son, an adversary for Emma, and a friend who he wishes he could have been there for at the very end. His thoughts continue to swirl on Tartarus, causing Emma to fret at his continued silence and the pained stare in his piercing blue eyes. She glances at her parents, a hopeful look upon her face that they would have the answer to help her. David hugs his daughter with a tender hand resting on the back of her head in his usual fatherly embrace.
"Go be with your pirate, Emma. He needs you right now. And you need him too. You both should have some privacy," David quietly tells her, leaving a quick peck atop her head.
Emma silently takes Killian's hand and gently tugs him along until they're enclosed in his father's cabin. A quick glance around tells Emma the Captain hasn't been by his rooms and isn't hiding there. Killian comes back to himself when she releases a sigh of relief.
"Sorry love, seems I drifted away there," smiles Killian, trying to sound nonchalant about what just happened.
"Killian, I'm here for you. Just as you once said it was your job to protect my heart, it's my job to protect your's too," Emma gives him a brilliant grin as she gently presses her hand against his chest.
Killian gives her a grin of his own as he reaches up to cradle her hand with his. The couple stand staring at one another, simply being with another and blocking out the feel of the ship moving along the current beneath their feet. Emma moves ever so slightly closer to Killian, but it's enough of a movement that Killian surges forwards pressing his lips to her's. Killian sighs at the feel of her lips. He thought he'd never feel this again. Love and desire floods his body as their lips and tongues move against one another. Finally when they break apart Emma's breathing is a little heavier and Killian's kohl-rimmed hooded, hungry eyes are staring at her as if she's the greatest thing in the world. But then his peripheral vision notices the heavy oak table bolted to the floor behind Emma, and everything comes crashing back in.
"You can talk to me about anything," prods Emma quietly, having noticed the sudden change in the pirate's demeanor. "But like before with the whole Ursula business, do it in your own time."
"Emma," languishes Killian. "There's just so much. My father, Thé, being here in the Underworld, and there's still the hurt of what you did to me. I can't help it, but you made me a Dark One. You didn't trust me which made everything so much worse. Dealing with their voices in my head. I could have handled it, managed through it perhaps if only I'd had you by my side and showing that faith you've had in me for so long," he bursts out, wincing in pain at the emotional toll he's feeling at the remembrance of it all, and what he must be inflicting upon Emma. "I love you with all my heart. That won't ever change, Emma. Hades made me realise though that our love is strong enough. We can get through it, but it'll take time for me to fully trust you again."
Tears gather in Emma's eyes as Killian moves away from her in an attempt to give her some space. Her hand automatically reaches out to cling onto the sleeve of his short leather jacket, halting him. Killian's blue gaze falls to Emma's own. Shock trembles through him as he sees complete understanding and acceptance in her eyes.
"I will show you I can be trustworthy again. It'll take time for me too. I know you were lashing back at me, but the things you said hurt more than I can say. Your words cut me to the quick. However it's like you said, our love is strong. We can be strong enough together to get through this. It'll just take time. Or at least that's what Thé thinks when I spoke to her about it all," smiles Emma with a roll of her eyes.
Killian chuckles. "Thé can be quite a character."
"She never told us how you two knew each other. I figured it was through your...through Davy when I guessed who he was," says Emma inquisitively gaining a rueful grin from Killian before he leads her to sit down at the table.
"We didn't meet under the most ordinary of circumstances. It was back at the beginning of my pirating days, shortly after Liam…" trails off Killian sadly. "Our crew had docked in some port or other and we were enjoying some libations in a local tavern when we heard the rumours of a goddess being imprisoned on a nearby isle. There'd been some attempts to launch a rescue mission, as the reward it would bring to have a goddess indebted to you would be a great one indeed. None however had managed it.
"My crew and I...well we weren't entirely sober," Killian rubs his ear and smiles softly at Emma who gives a small chuckle at his boyish embarrassment, "so we were being boastful and decided that we could pull it off. We got close to the isle when the calm sea turned into a raging storm. But thanks to the Jolly being made from enchanted wood, we made it through safely (and completely sober)!"
"And Thé was the goddess?" asks Emma, entranced by Killian's storytelling.
"Aye, love. Turns out she'd gone and fallen for a mortal. That would have been fine and completely acceptable, but she refused to return to Olympus and said she wanted to remain in the mortal realms. She was so much softer and not quite as outgoing back then. Being imprisoned by her half-brother Ares at their father's command. He enjoyed chaining her so that only one of her 'beloved mortals' might free her, but said mortals would never be able to cross the storms Poseidon would create to force them all away. She'd been lingering there for several years by the time my men and I freed her."
"And was she grateful?" Emma questions with a tilt of her head and a raised eyebrow.
Killian grins devilishly at Emma and pecks her on the lips. "No need to be jealous, love. It wasn't like that at all. Yes she's a beautiful woman, but she was never attracted to me in that way. In Olympus the gods had watched what happened when I first journeyed to Neverland with my brother," explains Killian darkly. "It was all a game to Ares; providing a sail of Pegasus feathers and betting to see if a war of great devastation would be wrought across the realms. Athena was the only one that saw Liam's death as a tragic and unnecessary loss. Even Persephone didn't see why Thé was so saddened by it, for we are but mortals in the shadows of gods."
"But Athena doesn't see us that way."
"No, and after meeting and falling for my father," says Killian distastefully, "she felt even stronger about the mortal race. In regards to her being grateful to my crew and I for being free, she gave us several chests of gold to dole out amongst ourselves. When we reached the nearest port for her to continue on her journey amongst us mortals, a cherub appeared bearing a message. As punishment for her leaving her prison Hera had taken some of Achlys flowers and used them to poison Thé's sister Aethyia."
"Why would Hera care about Thé being free?" frowns Emma in confusion.
Killian smiles bitterly, "She wouldn't, but Aethyia was a beloved mortal daughter of Zeus who he doted on more than many of his countless other offspring. Using Thé's freedom from the prison sentence imposed by Zeus as justification, Hera was free to hurt Aethyia."
"What did Thé do?"
"She hired us to take her to see her sister, in the hope she might save her. Her sister was still breathing when we arrived in the Eastern Kingdoms, but she had only a few agony-filled days left. Leaving Aethyia in my care Thé used her magic to transport her to this very ship. She'd heard through whispers and myths on our way to finding her sister that Poseidon had cursed Captain Davy Jones to pilot an ethereal ship that would take souls from this world into Purgatory to await sentencing. She went to him for help. If he'd accepted Aethyia as a crew member she'd have lived. She'd never have been able to get off The Dutchman, but she'd have been alive."
"He refused to help her?" asks Emma in shock, remembering the glances she caught the Captain giving Thé when the ex-goddess' attention was on something else.
"He wouldn't bring the wrath of the gods on himself, his crew or his ship again. He told her his loving her had cursed him, and so she was deserving of whatever fate the gods sent upon her. When she returned we helped her find a secluded grove, near to where Aethyia had grown up. In return Thé had a trinket crafter for me and burnished it with some of her own magic," continues Killian as he fiddles with the skull and dagger necklace. "It's what allows me to be able to control the enchanted wood The Jolly Roger is made out of and sail it on my ownsome."
"So it's that necklace that makes you a 'helluva Captain'," smirks Emma, impersonating his English intonation.
"Hardly, love," grins Killian.
"You were a hero back then."
Killian brushes off her compliment, uncomfortably shifting in his seat.
"It was the right thing to do. Just good form," he dismisses. "And in a way I got paid for it."
"Killian," says Emma meaningfully, her tone much more serious, "It was still a good and heroic thing to do. A gift, also, is not payment. What happened to Thé after that?"
"Her grief and anger made her run...after I helped her find a shaman who - for a price - gave her a mostly mortal life. She could feel, smell, and taste things the way a mortal can. But she'd remain impervious to our weapons and wouldn't age the way we do. She travelled around the realm and decades later, whilst on an excursion for Pan," says Killian repugnantly, "we bumped into one another once more. A night in the tavern and we got caught up with one another. She was upset by what the crocodile had done. Thé said that it would be a loss to the world if the last decent one of the Jones men were to die, and so she used her goddess powers to Mark me. Not entirely sure what it all means, just that Hades is made aware when a soul who has been Marked arrives in his purview and who Marked him or her."
"She really didn't need to give you such a compliment, your ego is big enough," teases Emma. "Thank you for telling me."
"Of course, love."
"Was it horrible staying in the Underworld for so long?"
"Hades and Persephone are very kind hosts. And Melinoe was an absolute treasure," Killian smiles softly, causing Emma's heart to thump a little faster in remembrance of how fitting the dashing pirate looked with a child in his arms. "But I did visit the edge of Tartarus once. I saw Milah and Neal. It was nice to see them both again but it wasn't a pleasant experience, as I reckon you gather from Rumplestiltskin's complaints to Hades earlier."
"Yes, Milah and Neal appeared to us on the ship. It seems that the river we were drifting down is close enough to the edge of the Pit that the ghosts latch on. Cora was there too, and my father's twin brother James. That was an eerie sight."
"Are you alright? Seeing Neal again," adds Killian at the confused look that appears on Emma's face at his question.
"Like you said, it was good to see him again but having to say goodbye again whilst not as painful as the first time wasn't a pleasant thing to go through. Speaking of unpleasant things, do you want to talk about...Davy," broaches Emma hesitantly.
"Not right now, love. I just want to hold you in my arms, if that's alright?"
"Fine by me," agrees Emma with a brilliant grin as they move closer to one another and she snuggles into his warm embrace.
A short while later and everyone aboard The Dutchman stops what they're down as a thunderous barking echoes off the walls of the Underworld and reverberates around them. Those up on deck all freeze and stare on in horror at the gigantic three-headed dog stand guard before the domed exit that has a black gauzy curtain draped over it. The veil of material swirls as the animal in front of it moves; the silvery stars of light embroidered into it dance hypnotically with the movement.
"This is bloody why I took the damn scenic route!" complains Davy as he climbs on to the main deck drawn by the monstrous growls.
"It's only Spot! He's definitely one of Hades' less scary pets," retorts Thé huffily.
"This is 'less scary'?" asks Robin as he prepares his bow.
"Hercules' Twelfth Labour," mutters Belle. "Surely you can defeat the Cerberus."
"I am sorry, but I failed that task. Why do you think I've been trapped here in the Underworld for so long?"
"This isn't the time for this discussion. Weapons at the ready! Mr Branigan, hard to starboard. See if you can swing round the beast and we'll attack it from the side," commands Davy gruffly as he pulls his sword free from it's scabbard and his pistol from the holster at his side.
A/N: I had hoped to write this and have it uploaded before the Americans got the latest episode. But my Deadpool comic arrived and so instead I made my comic book shoes. Also just wanted to say thank you to all my reviewers so far. They mean a lot to me and make me happy. This chapter got a little away from me. Emma and Killian were bloody chatterboxes. So I've had to split it. Hopefully I'll get the next Part finished and up before Episode 13 airs.
Anyway, please review and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!
Due to my illness I do sometimes have issues being able to write on a regular basis. I don't know when I'll get this next updated but I just ask for your patience. Many thanks!
~Anna-Margaret
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