Chapter 27
Enchanted Forest, present day
Emma closed her eyes, concentrating. She focused every ounce of her concentration, every ounce of her emotion on the apple sitting before her on the great hall table. She shut out the sound of the fire crackling in the grate, the voices of the Camelot knights training in the inner bailey, Roland's laughter as he played with his father and Regina. She was going to make it happen, and she was going to make it happen now. That apple was about to get the crap encapsulated out of it!
Taking a deep breath, Emma opened her eyes and then swore loudly. Nothing had happened! The apple simply sat there mocking her and her inability to entrap it. She picked up the stupid piece of fruit and threw it against the far wall.
She had to get her magic to work! She had to. Get it to work! Get it to work! She dropped glumly into the chair at the head of the table and chuckled humorlessly to herself. If she didn't watch it she was going to end up as cracked up as Jefferson with his hats!
Yesterday they'd devised their plan to defeat Ursula, and as soon as Blackbeard had left, she, Rumple and Regina had begun practicing their encapsulation spells. It took all of five minutes to realize she was the weak link in their armor. Once before she'd managed to encapsulate Morgana Le Fay, for heaven's sake, and suddenly she couldn't even do so to a gnat!
"Concentrate Mrs. Jones," Regina said irritably. "We've got less than a week, and as powerful as that damn sea witch is, we'll need all our skill to defeat her."
"You think I'm not concentrating, not trying?" Emma demanded, rounding on Henry's other mother.
"Not hard enough, apparently," Rumple drawled. "To say that last attempt was feeble is one hell of an understatement."
"How do you expect me to accomplish anything with you too idiots breathing down my neck?" Emma had raged.
Regina rolled her eyes. "Yes, because I'm sure Ursula will just stand still and let us defeat her. You can't handle a little scrutiny during practice? I hate to think what you'll be like during the pressure of the main event."
They'd practiced for another hour, and Emma's powers only seemed to get weaker, feebler. Finally, Rumple had called it a day and suggested Emma spend some time practicing on her own before they made any more attempts at combined magic.
And practice she had. Over and over and over she'd practiced—with no results. Was she even capable of producing magic anymore?
She had to be! Emma got up from her seat at the table, fished another bright red apple from the bowl and set to work again. Without her skill, they were all screwed. Rumple and Regina simply were not powerful enough on their own—not on Ursula's home turf at least.
Come on! Please, work for me! She extended her hand again and tried with every fiber of her being. She knew even before she opened her eyes that it was a no go. She'd felt no rush of magic, heard no slight hum behind her ears, felt no tingling in her fingertips, experienced nothing that would indicate magic had taken place.
Still, when she opened her eyes, seeing the damned apple just smirking up at her from its completely un-encapsulated perch, the frustration was intense. She leaned against the table, both palms laid flat, her head bowed, her shoulders drooped in defeat.
A warm, gentle hand descended on her shoulder, and she caught the scent of leather and rum and the sea. Turning, she fell into Killian's waiting embrace, and buried her face against his chest. She let a single tear fall as he held her, crooned to her.
"Sh, lass," he said in a voice as soothing as a cup of hot chocolate complete with cinnamon. "All will be well."
Emma shook her head against his chest. "No, Killian, it won't," she said brokenly. "I've tried and tried until I've nearly gone crazy, but my magic is just gone!"
He was silent for a moment, and then he gently stepped from her and dried her cheeks tenderly with his hand. "Come with me love," he said softly. "It's a glorious day outside, and there is a large tree in the inner bailey that is fairly begging us to sit beneath it."
Emma smiled sadly and then shook her head. "I wish I could, Killian, but I have to practice. I have to get this to work! Everyone is depending on me."
Killian took her hand and tugged. "You're exhausting yourself love, going round and round with no results. It's time for a break, time for a little repose and rejuvenation."
"But…"
"No buts, Swan," he said with a grin. "You'll do neither yourself nor anyone else any favors if you practice yourself to death."
Emma wanted to argue, wanted to scream and rage about how much she needed to practice, wanted to make it all happen by sheer force of will, but she knew Killian was right. She was doing no one any favors spinning her wheels like this. Finally, she silently nodded her head.
Killian laced his fingers with hers and led her to a gnarled, ancient tree under which he had laid a blanket. As soon as they were both seated, Emma turned to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head against his chest. His arms came around her, and she felt him brush a soft kiss against her hair.
She needed this, needed the love, comfort and security she could only find in his arms. Thoughts of her failure, her lack of ability threatened to overwhelm, but she forced them aside, instead resolutely focusing on the world around her—the heat of the summer afternoon, the cool breeze ruffling her hair, the gentle rustling of the leaves above her, Roland's delighted giggling as he, Robin and Regina played some game that seemed to be an odd mixture of hide-and-seek and tag.
"It will come back, love," Killian said softly. "Your magic, I mean. You will get it back. You've been through a terrible trauma and it only stands to reason that you will suffer some lingering ill effects. Give yourself time."
Emma sighed and began absently playing with one of the metal clasps of his vest. "That's just it, Killian," she said in a defeated voice. "We don't have time. The big confrontation happens in less than a week. I have to be ready."
Killian let out a deep breath and began running his fingers lightly up and down her arm. "Very well, lass," he said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Let's think this through, find a useable solution. In the past, how did you produce magic?"
She thought for a moment and then slowly answered. "Rumple told me that magic is in the emotions, not the intellect. When I prepare to do magic, I focus on those I love—David and Mary Margaret, Henry, you. Mostly you. My love kind of…I don't know…bubbles up and brims over, and there you have it. Magic."
"And your love is not working now?"
How could she put this into words? "I feel like something's blocking it. It's sadness about the baby, but there's more too." Emma sat up and looked into Killian's eyes. "Every time I close my eyes, I see it. You standing there in that box full of water, about to drown. All I can see is my utter inability to save you. In my mind, I've watched you die a million times. I'm terrified of losing you."
Her tears were flowing freely now, and his eyes darkened in distress. "Sh, love. No lasting harm came to me. If there's one thing I've learned over my three hundred years of life, it's how to survive."
"But if I hadn't found that note, if our fathers hadn't come after us…"
"But you did find it and they did come," he said firmly. "Swan, you can't torture yourself with 'what ifs'. It will drive you mad. All you can do is let go of the past and move forward toward the future."
"I don't know how to let go of the fear," Emma admitted in a small voice.
"I've heard it said that perfect love casts out fear," Killian said reflectively. "You are no longer alone. I am with you, working with you, fighting at your side, loving you with everything within me."
"But you weren't with me that morning," Emma said. "I woke up and you were just gone. No note, no goodbye, just…gone."
He drew a ragged breath. "I am sorrier than I can say for doing that to you, love. I found that note and panic took over. I had to protect you. You and the…and the baby. I swear to you it won't happen again. From this moment, we discuss and find solutions to our problems together."
Emma nodded and fell back into his arms, placing a gentle kiss over his heart. The little catch in his voice when he mentioned the baby broke her heart. Over the past week and a half since it happened, everyone had been so concerned about her—about her physical health, about her heartbreak at the loss of the baby—that they had nearly forgotten that Killian had suffered a terrible loss as well.
"Killian," she said, caressing his cheek and looking into his eyes, "are you okay? I mean really okay. I know how much you loved that baby already."
His eyes flooded for a moment, but he blinked the tears back and gave her a gentle smile. He leaned forward and kissed her gently. "Aye, love. The pain, the loss is…agonizing, but we will get through it together."
Emma kissed him, long and deep and thoroughly. They spoke a language too profound for words, lips fused, breath shared, tongues tangling. After long minutes, Emma pulled back, breathing hard, and rested her forehead against his.
"How are we going to survive it, Killian?" she asked softly. "Working with Blackbeard, I mean."
He closed his eyes for a moment. "We persevere, put aside our grievance in service of an objective bigger than both of us…all of us."
"Is that what you did in Neverland?" Emma asked. "I know how much Rumple hurt you. It must have been awful to team up with him."
"Aye, Killian admitted, "but helping you, saving Henry was too important. I couldn't focus on my own pain."
She nodded, opening her mouth to respond, but suddenly Little John's voice rang out again. "Someone's coming! Someone's coming!"
What was he, the Merry Men's version of Leroy?"
Killian helped Emma to her feet, and the pair followed after Robin and Regina who were already running. They met up at the base of the watch tower.
"Who is it?" Regina shouted up at Robin's large right hand man.
"I don't…wait! Yes I do. I do know who it is!" Little John said. "It's Prince Erik."
"Erik?" Emma asked, her brow furrowing. "Is Ariel with him?"
"No, he's alone. He's riding like the wind, and he looks…distressed."
Foreboding pooled in the pit of Emma's stomach. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. She had the inescapable feeling that their plans were about to change yet again.
….
Emma put her hand up and fingered the slits along both sides of her neck. Rumple had given them gills. Freaking gills! She had to admit, they came in rather useful as the whole group—she, Killian, her parents, Robin, Regina, Philip, Aurora, Belle, Rumple and Erik—swam ever deeper into the murky depths of the sea.
It was surreal.
Killian reached for her hand, and she laced her fingers with his. The big battle—in whatever form that might take—was looming large before them, and both of them seemed to need the connection. Who was to know what the next hour might bring?
Little less than an hour past, Erik had stormed the castle in an absolute panic, raving about Ursula and kidnapping and Triton and the trident and Blackbeard. It had taken them some time to piece together what he was saying enough to know trouble was brewing. Serious trouble.
They'd convened a quick war council and decided that the confrontation could wait no longer. A hasty battle plan was concocted. If they could get to Ursula before Triton handed over the trident, they had a chance. If not…well, things could get dicey.
"Now remember, dearies," Rumplestiltskin said from his place at the front of the pack of swimmers, "regardless, we're going to have quite a fight before us. Ursula has a veritable army of undead mermaids at her disposal."
"Undead soldiers that we can't kill or even harm with our weapons, right?" Emma said dryly.
"Precisely."
"You gotta love those odds," Regina said with a roll of the eyes.
"So basically you're marching us in to a slaughter?" Philip asked in annoyance.
Rumple giggled and Emma rolled her eyes. He was annoying as hell in this realm! "Of course not, dearie! I value my sparkly golden hide far too much for that. We don't have to kill the merpeople; we simply have to incapacitate them. Those of us endowed with magic will have the advantage, but the rest of you won't be helpless. Simply knock their weapons aside and tie them up."
"Oh, is that all?" Charming asked sarcastically.
"Rumple," Robin began slowly. "What if we were to…say…increase our odds?"
"How so?"
"From what Erik told us, the merpeople have become, essentially, Ursula's mind-numbed robots, but the same cannot be said of her human captives. It seems the pirates have retained their mental faculties. If we were to get them on our side, our ability to fight Ursula's minions would be significantly heightened."
"Maybe," Rumple said with a sidelong look at Killian, "if you think it's wise to trust pirates." He spat the word like it was the vilest of curses.
Emma felt Killian stiffen beside her, and she squeezed his hand. "For my part," she said with a hard glare at the Dark One, "I've often found pirates to be men of bravery, skill and honor. If we can get them, I think we'd be stupid to pass up the opportunity. The question is, how do we get them on our side."
"Simple enough," Killian said with a smile in her direction. "Pirates are unswervingly loyal to their captain. Get to the captain…who is purportedly already on our side…and you've got the pirates."
"Pirates also tend to be self-serving," Regina said. "We give them a reason to believe fighting for us is in their best interest, they'll fight for us—to the death. Perhaps all we need to do is remind them that if Ursula is defeated, their souls can be retrieved, and their slavery is ended."
"Perfect! Then we're in agreement," Charming said. "We find Blackbeard and the rest of his men and persuade them to fight for us."
After some discussion it was decided that Erik would lead Snow and Charming to the reef to which Blackbeard was shackled. They'd free him and then retrieve the rest of the pirates. Believing it would be in their best interest to have as many allies as possible, Erik suggested he return to Triton's kingdom and gather as many of Triton's soldiers as he could muster.
The group continued to swim, the ocean floor slowly coming into view. There was one last thing Emma had to know before they reached Ursula's castle.
"Rumple, you said we have a chance as long as Ursula doesn't have the trident yet. What happens if she does get it before we reach her?"
The sparkly imp grimaced. "Then we're screwed."
"Surely there's something we can do?"
"With the trident in her hand, no amount of skill or magic on our part will stop or encapsulate her," Rumple said ominously
"Then the answer's simple," Charming said optimistically. "She gets the trident before we arrive? We knock it from her hand, then you guys work your magic as fast as you can."
….
"Daddy, no!" Ariel screamed.
Ursula smiled, feeling victory. She'd won; she'd actually won!
"Your choice, buddy," Ursula said. "Your daughter or your trident."
Triton frowned at her in defiance for a moment more, and then slowly dropped his head and extended his arm, dropping his most potent weapon into Ursula's hand.
She had it! The trident was hers! Ursula felt herself growing, becoming larger than life. The hum of absolute power raced through her veins. She looked scornfully down at the merman who had banished her, who had opposed her, who had made her life hell. She pointed the trident in his direction, and with a flick of her wrist, she ripped the soul from his body and planted it in her garden.
"No!" Ariel shrieked, lunging against her bonds. Foolish girl. Poor, deluded, foolish girl! Ursula raised the trident once again, intent on punishing the silly little mermaid as severely as her father.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Dearie," came a mocking voice from the doorway. Ursula looked up in surprise and found herself face to face with a good half a dozen…humans? How the hell did humans make it to her humble abode without drowning?
"Surprised to see us?" the man continued. "Allow me to introduce myself. Rumplestiltskin." The man bowed formally.
Rumplestiltskin? The Dark One? What was he doing here?
"Ah," Rumple said, "I see my reputation precedes me."
"Yeah," Ursula said with a smirk. "Everyone's heard of the Dark One."
"Then you also know it's unwise to oppose me, don't you?" the sparkly golden imp asked.
Ursula laughed. "Yeah, maybe that was true before, but newsflash, genius. I've got the trident. I'm officially unstoppable."
Rumple giggled. "I think you'll soon find that overconfidence killed the octopus."
Ursula didn't have time for this; she really didn't. Best deal with this motley crew as soon as possible; they were getting on her nerves. She flicked her hand, and her army of merpeople flocked to her side.
"Choose carefully, humans," Ursula said ominously. "I'll give you one last chance. Leave now, and I might let you live. Continue to oppose me, and, well, I can promise you things are about to get real for you in a big way."
A blonde woman with a handsome dark haired man at her side yelled and charged forward. Sigh. So a battle then?
….
Anger coursed through Killian as the battle commenced. Holding his sword before him, his hook at the ready, he dove into the fray. This nasty purple octopus was not going to win the day, not with him and his true love aligned against her!
Ursula flicked her hand and an army of blank-eyed merpeople poured into the great hall. With one eye on Emma, making sure she was well and safe, Hook engaged his first foe, a huge blonde merman. He thrust his sword at his opponent, but it slid through without producing a scratch. The merman attempted to stab him with his own sword, but Killian danced out of the way. Then, dropping his useless sword, Killian curled his hand into a fist and punched the living daylights out of the merman before him. The man crashed to the seabed like a felled tree.
Killian turned quickly to engage his next opponent. The battle waged fiercely around him. Curses, fireballs, fists and grunts of pain filled the chaotic great hall. Ursula had yet to use the trident. No doubt, she feared to hit her minions. As Killian wrapped an arm around the neck of a large merman, blocking his windpipe, he wondered idly what exactly would happen to one of the soul-less throng should he or she be hit by a ray of the trident.
Five minutes later, things were beginning to look desperate. The mer-army had effectively backed the Enchanted Forest contingent into a corner. Killian fought desperately, knowing they only had moments before they were defeated.
A wild-looking mermaid swam up to him and raised a sword, preparing for the kill. There was nothing he could do, utterly no way he could stop it. He had time only to take a protective step to the right in front of Emma. This was it.
And then suddenly, the mermaid's eyes went unfocused and she crumpled to the seabed. Killian found himself face to face with a grinning Prince Charming holding a large beam of wood.
"Looked like you could use a little help," Charming said.
Killian clasped his father-in-law's hand gratefully. "About time you showed up, Mate."
And my had he shown up! Killian glanced past Charming and saw Blackbeard and a huge throng of rough-looking pirates pour through the great hall door. With shouts and rather profane oaths, the men set in to attack the merpeople.
"Took a bit of time to convince that group of fools to join with a prince of the realm," Charming said over his shoulder as he began fighting his next opponent, "but turns out, offer pirate slaves freedom, and they'll join you and fight like the devil himself."
All was utter confusion in the great hall. It was a huge, old room, but packed as it was with furious fighting, it felt nothing short of cramped. A blinding orange flash of light rushed past Killian's ear and he heard a gasp of pain behind him. Spinning quickly, he found one of the pirates lying senseless on the ground.
It looked like Ursula had finally joined the fray. Wonderful.
Erik returned with an army of merpeople, and the fight became even more confused. Killian's muscles began to scream as the battle raged on and on. How much longer could he keep this pace?
Somehow they had to find a way to separate Ursula from the trident…and soon, or they would all be lost. Killian glanced to the sea witch as he knocked out his latest opponent. She sat on a throne on the dais, pointing the trident, preparing to attack again. Killian looked at the trajectory of the weapon and froze.
Ursula was pointing her damned weapon directly at Emma.
"Swan!" he screamed, pushing merpeople aside, running as fast as his legs would carry him. But it didn't matter; he was going to be too late!
….
Blackbeard looked up at Hook's agonized shout and immediately saw what was about to take place. Thinking quickly, he leapt forward. They might just have a tiny sliver of a chance if they moved quickly.
"Dark One," he growled as he moved forward, "get ready!"
Ursula raised the trident and flicked her wrist. Focused as she was with her current opponent, Hook's lady had no idea of her danger. Blackbeard sprinted forward, knocking aside glassy-eyed merpeople along the way.
Blackbeard reached Hook's lady just as Ursula let a beam of deadly magic fly from the trident. In one swift move, he shoved Emma aside and threw his sword at Ursula's outstretched hand.
And then the beam of magic connected with his chest. He felt a moment of blinding pain, and then the darkness swallowed him.
….
"Swan!"
Emma startled at her husband's frantic shout. She looked up just in time to see Ursula pointing the trident at her. She froze; the moment seemed to go in slow motion. She saw Ursula's lips move, saw a streak of orange light fly from the trident, and then felt herself violently shoved aside.
Emma hit the ground and then twisted to see what had happened. It seemed Blackbeard had sacrificed himself for her. Getting to her feet, Emma turned back to look at Ursula. A startled look crossed the octopus's face as she looked down at her empty hand. It appeared they had even more to thank Blackbeard for; he'd knocked the trident from her hand!
"Regina! Gold!" Emma shouted. "Now!"
They had only moments before Ursula found the trident and once again took possession of it. Emma saw the former Evil Queen and the Dark One step to either side of her and raise their hands.
"On three, Mrs. Jones," Regina said in a cold, deadly voice. Emma nodded and listened as the other woman spoke the count down.
"Three!" Regina shouted, and Emma closed her eyes in concentration. Letting all the love she felt for her husband, for her son, for her parents, even for the unborn child who would never be born to her, flood her system, she extended her arm.
A smile wreathed her face as she felt the familiar tingle, the familiar rush of magic. It was back! The magic was back!
Ursula's furious screech was abruptly cut off, and Emma opened her eyes.
"We did it!" Regina breathed.
Where one moment before Ursula had sat, there was now nothing but a large, intricately decorated golden box. They'd done it! They'd encapsulated the sea witch!
It was over. They'd won!
Notes:
-Whew! The battle's over; Ursula's been defeated. I'll kind of miss her ridiculousness, but it was time. She was getting just a little too power hungry for everyone's good!
-I have officially decided that action/battle scenes are HARD to write. There's so much going on, so many moving pieces, that it's hard to know which way to turn. I thought about telling the last half of this chapter from a more third-person omniscient perspective, but, I hadn't gone with that route throughout any other places in the story, so I contented myself with telling little snippets of the battle from multiple people's perspectives.
-Blackbeard kind of redeemed himself there by knocking the trident out of Ursula's hand and sacrificing himself to save Emma. I suspect this will go a long way toward helping Killian and Emma to forgive him once and for all.
-Oh, by the way, I didn't really have a good chance to work this detail into the chapter, but the Camelot knights and the Merry Men/Mulan stayed behind at the Enchanted Forest castle and are guarding/babysitting Roland and Briar Rose (Philip and Aurora's about 18-month old daughter). I didn't want anyone concerned about leaving the kids to their own devices!
-Up next: The aftermath of the battle. Did the zombie merpeople keep fighting with their leader out of commission? Will they (and the pirates) get their souls back? How did the Enchanted Forest folks fare? Were there any casualties? What did the beam from the trident do to Blackbeard? Is he dead and beyond help? So many questions! :-)