Killian's Inferno

Chapter Twenty-Two

A few moments after the Dark Ones cast their spells over the dark pixies to get them to trap the heroes within their own minds, a black cloud emanated before them as Rumpelstiltskin suddenly appeared and walked over to the cavern entrance to observe the former Dark Ones' attempt to destroy them, then said smugly, "I've got to say, I do love the idea of seeing our enemies become lost to their own nightmares, dearies. However, might I make a small suggestion?"

Nimue glared at the villain the darkness had chosen to become tethered to once more as she answered, "The pixies have already begun their dark magic. There's no stopping it now."

"Yes, but you are the ones guiding them, are you not?" he asked again. "I believe there is a far more devious way to destroy the Savior. Why not show Miss. Swan, the kind of torment the pirate she has foolishly come to rescue is suffering at this very moment, while she is completely powerless to stop it. I saw how she mourned his death. Surely seeing him suffer because of her own actions will break her as we all wish to see."

"You truly are worthy of being our successor, Dark One," Nimue responded with a cruel smile, then went on to adjust the spell over the mischievous creature inside the Savior's mind. "It is done."

Rumpelstiltskin laughed and then replied, "Marvelous! You may have failed when you entrusted your freedom to Hook, but if you succeed this time, you will soon be among the living again and free to help me gain all the power we so rightfully deserve. Do enjoy watching their misery. I wish I could stay, but I'm afraid I have someone to see before I find my way out."

Inside Emma's mind…

Emma suddenly bolted awake from another nightmare and as she looked around her to make sure that her family and friends were still safe, she found herself completely alone and within a different cavern that she didn't recall falling asleep in in the first place, then called out worryingly, "Hello? Mom! Dad! Henry! Where is everyone?"

"Well, well, well… Hello again darling," a familiar voice spoke out from the darkness until the room suddenly lit up as the torches along the walls caught fire, revealing the ghosts of villains Emma recognized immediately as they surrounded something or someone within their circle, the voice she heard coming from Cruella De Vil, though she realized the evil woman wasn't speaking to her, but to whomever it was they were torturing. "It is marvelous to see the man the vile Savior once loved down here among the rest of us. Tell me, Captain, would it pain her terribly to see you now, to see her pirate in such a pitiful sight?"

"Killian!" Emma cried out in fear when the vile souls before her parted enough to reveal Hook shackled by his arms and forced to his knees between his tormentors, visibly shaking in agony from the black, twisted striations covering his bare arms and chest while his head hung low.

The Savior raised her arms to fire a blast of magic from her hands to knock them all away from the man she loved until she was immediately pulled back by her own chains that appeared from nowhere, stringing her up above the ground as she struggled against them, while she shouted, "Hook! Killian! Get away from him!"

When she realized that no one could see or hear her, Emma could do nothing, but watch helplessly as a man, she didn't know was Hook's own father, knelt down and swiftly stabbed a dagger into Killian's chest, causing him to cry out as the man held the weapon in place while the striations slowly drained from his body and into the blade.

The torturer forced Killian to look at him, except for when he squeezed his eyes shut on account of the pain, as Brennan pulled his son's head up again by his hair, then stated maliciously, "It's time for your next form of punishment to begin and we can't have you too weak or unconscious for the fun. This blade isn't the same dagger you used to kill me all those years ago, but Hades had it forged for me, so that I can make you feel exactly as I felt before I died, slowly and in agony."

"I know the kind of man I was when I died, Killian," his father continued after he finally pulled the dagger free, but kept his hold on his head. "It was cruel to abandon you and your brother without so much as an explanation as to why I did what I did, cruel to trade you both into that soldier's service after I lied to you saying that you wouldn't have to worry about a thing. But I was not that man anymore when you stole my life from me and ruined my son's life after that night."

"I… was blinded by my ha… hate, by my anger when I saw that you… had found a way… to be hap… happy after what you did," Killian answered weakly. "I make no excuse. But it appears you haven't changed… as much as you believed either. Not if you found… yourself trapped down in the Underworld… working in service for Hades. Irony… is the only word that comes to mind when I... look at you now, father."

Tears fell down her cheeks from her eyes as Emma watched and listened to the scene before her fearfully, especially upon learning who this man tormenting Killian was, then Cruella stepped forward to stand beside Brennan as she responded, "Come now, are you really going to allow this pirate to speak to you in this manner? You must snuff out his bravado, darling. When I made my kills, back before that blasted Author took from me my one joy in life, I waited until they were nothing more than a sniveling mess before I stole their lives. Poison was my choice of weapon, but when my mother's husbands all realized what I had done to them, while I stood before them and watched as they pleaded for my help when the pain rose upon them… My was it beautiful. I never felt so much power, not even when I received the Author's gift of control over animals and wild beasts."

It was then that Cora spoke as she replied, "And exactly how is it you plan to torment the Captain here, Cruella? Exactly what is it that he did to you?"

"Nothing, but that wretched Savior did and as soon as I heard that the love of her life had died and wound up down here with us, I knew I had to come and join in on the fun," she answered. "If only she could be here to watch his suffering."

"Perhaps that isn't such an impossibility," Hades responded, though Emma didn't recognize the man in the suit, let alone see him to be a God either.

Finally, Cruella pulled out what appeared to be an electrified whip, but as soon as she made the first strike across his back, causing Hook to cry out again as the burst of pain hit him like a wave and left behind a strange lash, it was then that the voice Emma had heard earlier sounded again as the room suddenly became dark and the horrifying scene before her disappeared, as did the shackles that bound her.

After collapsing hard to the ground, Emma struggled to sit up, but remained on the ground while she wept until Hook's voice drew closer when he suddenly appeared behind her, as did the rooftop of Storybrooke's library around them, as he called out gently, "Emma."

She spun around and stared in shock at the man she loved now standing over her until she struggled to stand and rushed toward him to pull him into her arms, only to stumble right through him as he looked back at her sadly and said, "I'm afraid I'm not really here with you, love. I'm only a shadow, the part of you that urges you to keep fighting and to stay strong. And this is meant to be a place of peace, to help you to find the strength you need to push forward and fight your way back to where your family needs you. They've fallen under powerful magic, as have you, but as Savior, you can break free. And you can help them to as well."

"That's why I was helpless to help you… Killian," Emma replied upon realization as his words sunk in. "Why I wasn't seen or heard. Whoever put us under their magic wants us to become lost in our dreams until they become our reality. How do I do it?"

"You already know how," he answered confidently, just as the real man she loved would, which made her ache for him even more. "Don't think of all that you were forced to watch just now. Don't think of his agony, but think of your love for him. Think of the love you have for your family, and for Regina and Robin as well."

Emma's hand shook while she reached out and slowly began to trace the outline of his face as she responded, "Promise me that you won't leave me. I told you once that I couldn't lose you and in return, you told me that you were a survivor. I need you to prove that to me now more than ever."

Killian's shadow smiled and leaned in as if to kiss her, then whispered, "True love is the strongest magic there is. He may have forgotten and feels unworthy of your love, but so long as you keep fighting to save him and help him to remember, then you will have the power you need to defeat the evil that exists here. Don't give up, Emma. You're stronger than you will ever know."

"Killian!" she cried out when she suddenly burst awake and found herself back within the hollow where Henry, her parents, Regina, and Robin were all still sleeping, still trapped within their own nightmares as her vision of Hook told her they would be, then she immediately made her way over to her son to help him. "Henry? Come on, please come back to me."

It took a few moments before she knew what she needed to do as Emma gently laid her hand down on his forehead, and did the same for Regina, then concentrated as she allowed her own magic to flow through her and into them. It didn't take long before both of them gasped as they awoke as she had, then turned to look at the Savior in confusion while they struggled to get their breath back.

The Queen finally asked, "What the hell was that? Did I…?"

Emma quickly responded, "It was only a nightmare, one that you were trapped in because of powerful magic. I'll explain later, but right now you need to help Robin. Do the same for him as I just did for you. Think of your love for him."

"Emma!" David cried out after a few minutes as both he and Mary Margaret suddenly awoke as she and the others had, while Regina pulled Robin into her arms when he too came out from under the magic cast upon him. "Emma, is that… are you really you?"

"Who else would I be?" the blonde woman sitting in front of her parents asked in confusion.

David reached out to touch his daughter's face and laughed upon realizing that he had been trapped within a dream somehow, then spoke up again asking, "How did that happen? I was trapped…"

Regina finished for him, "Within a nightmare. We were all trapped within nightmares, but somehow Miss. Swan was able to wake from hers, then helped us to do the same."

"I saw Killian again," Emma replied as everyone turned to look at her. "I don't know how, but… I mean it wasn't him, but a shadow of him, just like before when I heard his voice. He told me that he was the part of myself that kept me fighting and encouraged me to stay strong."

"Your light magic is manifesting itself through you in the form of the one person you love most, to help remind you of how powerful you really are," Snow exclaimed with a smile. "To remind you that you are our Savior and not what the darkness that fell over you wanted you to believe. And you saved us."

Henry quickly added, "Way to go, Mom."

Regina looked over at her son as she asked, "What was it you saw in your dream? Did it become a nightmare?"

"I dreamt that I used the quill I received after becoming the Author to bring back Dad, but when I did… let's just say that I was right to destroy it," Henry answered fearfully. "Using the quill is too much of a temptation. What about you, Mom?"

"I became the Evil Queen again," Regina responded coldly. "She'll always be a part of me and it's my worst fear that I will become her again."

Robin reached up to put his hand gently over her cheek as he replied, "She might be a part of you, but you'll never be her again. I know you, Regina. You're goodness, is far stronger."

Emma helped her parents to stand from the ground, while Henry reached out to help his other mother and Robin up as well, then Emma cut in as she stated, "I'm afraid that our sharing time will have to wait. I'd like to hear all about it, but Killian needs us. It was what I saw. I guess my nightmare wasn't just a nightmare, but more like a vision. I was forced to watch as his father and Cruella tortured him."

"His father?" Charming asked in concern. "Why would his father…?"

"You heard what Regina said to Hook before he came back to us, just before he sacrificed himself to save us," Emma answered as Regina removed the spell she cast around them for protection. "Killian might have killed him when he was a villain, but his father was worse. And Cruella was there as well, as were Cora, Pan, Greg and Tamara, as well as several others I didn't recognize."

Mary Margaret looked at her daughter determinedly as she responded, "Well then, let's not take any more time standing around here. We're going to find him, Emma. Very soon now, I'm sure of it."

Regina and Robin followed after the others as she replied, "I agree with your mother, Emma, but you seem to be forgetting something very important here. None of us know who it was, or what it was, that placed us under whatever spell that was."

"I realize that, but they're gone now and we're all okay," the Savior answered. "Like the furies as well as any of the other demons and villains we've come across already, we'll deal with them if they come to try again."

"She's right," David responded in agreement. "Finding Hook is our priority and when we're attacked next, we'll be ready."

Regina asked skeptically, "Do you really believe that, or are you just trying to sound hopeful, for the rest of our sakes?"

Mary Margaret smiled as she replied, "What do you think? It's as Emma said, hope is in our blood. And we are never going to stop, even when we come up against Hades himself."