A/N: We are approaching the end of the story! I just want to say, thank you to all of you who have stuck with me through the entire process! I really appreciate your support, and I hope you have enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it! You guys are super great, and I know I couldn't have done this without you! Mwah!
Note: Last chapter is scheduled to be posted on Saturday, October 17th, 2015. This is subject to change but is looking pretty solid at the moment.
Merlin frowned at the slightly disheveled gathering of people in front of him, asking for his aid. He was completely different than the group had been expecting, actually. He didn't wear a blue cloak with yellow trim and cheesy stars and moons tacked on it like they all had been picturing in their minds. Instead, he wore a flowing robe in the richest shade of red possible. The robe seemed to be moving in an imperceptible but persistent breeze; it rolled in smooth waves around the body of the great wizard.
He sat contentedly on a throne, rubbing his palm over his raven beard as the group tried to explain their predicament to him. Every once in a while he would nod and offer an "Mmhm" to show he was still listening.
Hook had rejoined them in the castle- they found out that he had wandered off for a bathroom, gotten lost, and then was found and brought back to the castle by King Arthur himself.
"Aren't you a pirate?" Regina had asked him when he admitted he'd gotten lost.
"I don't sail my ship over bloody land!" he'd replied angrily.
Emma was sitting in the corner, knees folded to her chest, watching everyone retell what had happened since she'd become the Dark One. Her brown contact-covered eyes darted frantically from person to person as they each made an effort to contribute details to the story. She noticed each person had a different approach to the story. David spoke defensively, asserting that Emma had legitimate and justifiable reasons for doing everything that she'd done as of yet. Regina told her part of the story with a deep sense of understanding; she'd been through similar events. Her voice sounded like it was being held back, like she felt like she was almost telling the pains of her own story.
Hook's voice was gritty and overlapped with pain, and it was obvious to Emma that he was having a hard time seeing her struggling (and beginning to lose) like this. Her heart melted a little at this; she recognized how difficult it was for him to deeply love something that he had before been trying to kill.
Henry spoke with love. He was even more supportive of her than David was.
Lily, she kept quiet. She knew it wasn't her place to speak.
But Mary Margaret? She talked with her eyes directed at the ground and her voice lowered, like she was ashamed of herself. She clearly felt it was her fault that Emma had given in so much to the Darkness already, and she was disappointed that they'd let it get this far. Disappointed in herself. Disappointed in Emma.
Emma balled her hands into fists in the corner. Why was her mother so upset? Sure, her thoughts were mixed between good, bad, and totally, off-the-charts evil. But she hadn't acted on anything. Yet. Emma felt like she was back in the orphanage, silently taking the blame for all of the things she never did.
Behind her, a golden tapestry with a roaring lion depicted on it burst into flames. She glanced back at the hanging fabric, acknowledging her anger and other swirling emotions, but allowed the tapestry to burn otherwise.
So did Merlin.
After the group finished recounting Emma's story, there was a long silence. Then, Merlin spoke up. He had a deep, booming voice that carried all the way across the large castle room and echoed off of the walks. It was intimidating. "So, you want me to destroy the darkness? Is that why you're here?"
They all nodded.
Merlin sighed. "I'm afraid I can't do that."
David launched forward. They'd come this far, and the great, powerful, and fabled Merlin couldn't do a single thing to help? What kind of a sick joke was this? "What!? You're Merlin! You can do anything! Why are you so famous if you can't live up to everything people say you can do?"
Merlin gave a low chuckle. "I can do far from anything. Like anyone else, I can't bring back the dead. I certainly cannot obliterate the Darkness. It is far too powerful for me."
"Didn't you create the Darkness?" Regina asked. "If you created it, couldn't you destroy it?"
Merlin was appalled at this question. "Gods, no! Why in the world would I create such an awful thing? The Darkness is a disgrace to nature. No, I simply contained it in a form that could be controlled."
"And Emma's that form now," Regina said definitively, suddenly understanding why there was a Dark One and not just Darkness.
"Precisely," the old wizard confirmed.
"So, what now?" Emma said loudly, forcing herself to her feet. "What do we do if we can't destroy the Darkness?" She strode over to where Merlin sat. Emma's brown hair bounced violently as she walked with extreme purpose across the enormous space between her and Merlin. The blunt, dark cut of her hair truly made her look even more devastating a force than before. Her red leather jacket had always been edgy, but it seemed even edgier with her new look. Emma, unlike Rumplestiltskin, did not look like the embodiment of evil. Nonetheless, Emma looked hardcore and rough, like she would hurt anyone who got in her way.
When she reached the group, they immediately parted and gave her a wide girth to Merlin.
"That's the problem," Merlin said as Emma reached him, finally putting out Emma's flaming tapestry with a light wave of his hand. "We ourselves cannot destroy darkness. Do you know why evil wins? Because it can play dirty. It can break the rules. The only way evil ever loses is if it plays too dirty, to the point where it messes itself up." He licked his lips. "Listen carefully. Only. Evil. Can. Destroy. Evil."
"What are you saying?" asked David.
"The Darkness is delicious, no?" Merlin asked Emma. "Every new thing you do is a fun little taste of what you could potentially do?"
Emma nodded.
"So you'll just take it further and further, easing yourself slowly into the Darkness until you're desensitized to the horrific consequences of your actions. You will have no regret; in fact, everything you do will be for your own pleasure."
"I don't get it," said Regina.
"Emma needs to realize she doesn't want to be the Dark One, that she doesn't even want the magic that comes with it, whether she uses it for good purposes or not." Merlin looked pointedly at Emma.
"Okay, I'll just say it, then," Emma said. "I definitely don't want to be the Dark One."
The wizard sighed, and his robe billowed out behind him as he did so. "It doesn't work like that, I'm afraid." Merlin shook his head sadly. "It's like life skills; you learn through experience. And, even if you do all you can do, the Darkness may never completely go away. Actually, it's unsure what will happen to it. Nothing like this has ever been attempted before."
"I still don't understand," said Mary Margaret. "So, what? Emma has to go out and talk to bunnies to get rid of the Darkness?"
"I can't say anything more. Emma has to figure this out on her own. If I tell you the solution now, it won't work. Do you have the dagger?"
Lily nodded slowly in response. "Yeah, why?"
"Give it to Emma," Merlin commanded.
"What!?" Mary Margaret was outraged. "What if she tries to do something? What do we do then?"
"You let her do it, then. Like I said, she needs to learn for herself the true horrors of being the Dark One."
"But- but-" Mary Margaret looked defeated. "Fine."
Lily slowly lifted the dagger out of her boot and tossed it to Emma. Emma caught it with ease, one hand closing around the dagger's handle.
"Thanks, Lil," Emma acknowledged.
"Got your back, Em. You and I, we're two of a kind. Living to fight the Darkness. Fighting the Darkness to live."
Emma groaned at this and turned to Regina, holding up the dagger that might as well have been engraved with the words "You're on your own, so good-freaking-luck with that" instead of Emma Swan. "Well, Regina," she said, "here's your blip in the situation. You said this seemed too easy, and it was. For all the hype on Merlin, he can't do squat. This is why I don't trust people."
Regina bit her lip. "I have a bad feeling this isn't the 'big obstacle' we need to face, Swan."