Chapter Four

The ship of the damned

"WELCOME TO THE SHIP OF THE DAMNED."

"Oh my God." Emma's eyes widened to where she felt they would surely pop out of her sockets. "We have to go in there?"

"YES MORTAL. YOU DIDN'T THINK YOU THREE WERE THE ONLY ONES VOYAGING TO TARTARUS DID YOU?

Emma is about interrupt with thoughts racing through her mind with previous notions about the grim reaper.

"YES I CAN BE IN MANY PLACES AT ONCE JUST LIKE YOUR MOVING PICTURES TOLD YOU BUT ALL SOULS WILL END UP ON MY GRAND SHIP. SORRY TO DISAPPOINT YOUR PRIOR MISCONCEPTIONS ESPECIALLY THE ONES WHERE I LOOK LIKE BRAD PITT."

"Brad Pitt?" Regina's perplexed.

Gold chuckles to himself. Death has a sense of humor. Who would have guessed.

Emma side glances Regina; clearly she has never seen Meet Joe Black. She wonders if Regina ever watches any movies?

In the blink of an eye Emma feels a violent gust of wind hitting her body making it difficult to steady herself. She frantically searches around her looking for Regina and Gold. Even though she stands on something solid all she sees is a cloudy grey mist surrounding her. She's convinced she's up in the clouds somehow.

"Emma!" She makes out Regina's figure wobbling towards her while fighting the strong winds.

"Grab onto something!" Regina can barely see Emma as her straining neck fights the winds to return itself to a vertical position as her right ear practically kisses her shoulder from the force.

Emma tries to heed Regina's advice but she can't find anything to get ahold of; she can barely take one step without feeling like she's about to be blown away.

"Over here!" Gold yells out.

Emma hears him but feels blinded by the gusts of wind and the rain that has now decided to descend upon them. She feels the sleeve of her jacket being pulled harshly.

"Move!" Regina yells at her.

Regina is fighting with all her strength to get to that imp for shes' certain he's found something to hold onto. She feels Emma wavering as she battles through the storm in what seems like hours before finally she can make out his graying hair blowing in the wind like a flag to safety.

When they reach him Regina realizes he barely has a grip, wrapping his arms around what may be a giant mast. She pulls Emma to grab onto a rope that's hugging the structure. 'If there is a mast than we must be on the top of the ship. There has to be a mizzen and shrouds, something smaller to hang onto.' If only Regina could figure out which way was the helm. She takes a leap of faith knowing they can't hang on to this massive mast much longer. She lets go and makes her way in the opposite direction of which she came from. She can hear Emma and Gold shouting out at her but soon their voices are lost in the wind. 'Where the fuck is the helm?'

"TSK TSK SO HASTY. DO YOU PLAN ON SAILING THIS SHIP YOURSELF, YOUR MAJESTY?"

"Stop toying with me. You've been paid to deliver us to Tartarus."

"AND DELIVER YOU I SHALL. BUT DID YOU BELIEVE YOU WOULD BE RIDING WITH THE SOULS IN THE HAUL? NO NO MAJESTY THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR REASONS I KNOW YOU CAN UNDERSTAND. MORTAL AND SPIRIT EACH HAVE THERE PLACE; EVEN ON THE SHIP OF THE DAMNED. YOU MUST NOT BE TAINTED."

"Are you trying to get us killed?!" Regina is desperate now. She has no time to analyze 'its' riddles. If only 'it' had an actual voice so she could follow it and find the helm where it surely stands mocking them.

"Cease the winds!"

"I HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THE ELEMENTS; YOU MISTAKE MY POSITION."

Regina is convinced he wants their lives for his insipid collection. She's decided to call it a he since only men are so selfishly self-righteous. Well he can't have them! She fights her way through the storm lowering her body by bending her knees and leaning forward. She keeps her hands in front of her face to provide a shield from the racing rain. She knows she must hurry. It is unpredictable whether the weather will worsen and she's worried Emma and Gold won't be able to hold on much longer. She runs into the gusts as they sway her to the right and then the left. Just when she feels she's gone too far in this direction she see's it; Standing mighty and surrounded by a low shroud of ropes is what she hopes is the mizzen (posterior smaller mast),even the foremast would be a welcome sight. As long as they can find more support. Eyeballing it as she crashes into it she's relieved that this will due. After taking a few deep breaths she hastily turns around and begins to make her way back with deliverance on her mind. The return is difficult but she has a clear mental path of where she needs to go. By the time she reaches them she's exhausted.

"Where the hell where you?!" Emma's knuckles have turned white from gripping onto the rope for dear life.

She can't tell if it's the wind or the cold that has Rumple shaking.

In between catching her breath, "Let go. I found a better place to hold on." She shouts.

Emma immediately loosens her grip and starts to claw her way around the mast following Regina's lead. She pulls on her shoulder, "Wait...Gold's not moving."

"What are you doing?! Let's go!" Regina yells as him but she can only see him shaking his head no.

"I can't. I can't let go." Emma can hear what he's saying.

"Yes you can! Come on!" Emma extends her hand to him. He looks as though he's going to try but instead he waves them off, "You go, I'm fine hear."

"No just grab on!" Just as Emma tries to reach for him a gust of wind hits her harder than any before and she loses her balance completely. Regina catches her and pulls her up by the shoulders to face her, "Emma we have to go now!"

Emma nods her head as they make their way to the other mast. Hands are gripping shoulders and forearms and pulling on sleeves; anything to keep some balance and make it in one piece. When they finally arrive they both crash into it, huffing and puffing as the cold rain hits harder. They each wrap their own arms and wrists around the shrouds of rope and then use the mast as a brace for windbreak. They hold on for what feels like an hour with the storm not subsiding in the least. Emma can see that Regina lost a lot of steam trying to find this spot because she's having a hard time keeping herself steady. Emma wordlessly wraps her left arm around Regina's back as she stands behind her; intertwining her hand in the ropes as she locks their forearms with her right.

She feels the trembling body against her chest. "Hang on. It'll be over soon." She tells a freezing Regina.