A/N: Thank you for all the faves, follows, and reviews!
WARNING: dark themes ahead, torture and such. Hopefully it's not unbearable, but I will say I had a much darker chapter written before and decided to rewrite it for a couple different reasons. Next chapter will also be a bit on the dark side, but I don't think it'll be as bad. The torture at least won't last as long.
Anyway, enjoy!
Snow and Charming had less than a single moment to figure out what had just happened. Before they could think about the words Regina had said let alone the fact that she'd disappeared right before their eyes, unsure of her intentions, they still had plenty of mermaids to fight off.
Hook kept busy as he tried to steer them out of the storm, which didn't look like much more of a struggle. In the distance, he caught sight of a large ship. It seemed unharmed and not at all endangered. The sky also seemed to change colors off in the direction. Instead of dark gray and extremely heavy rain clouds, the sky appeared to be its dismal light gray with a touch of blue. It appeared the way he remembered it from the last time he'd been in Neverland.
Hook veered his ship toward the one in the distance. He almost knocked everyone onto their asses as he did, but no one stopped what they were doing to scold him. They all readjusted themselves and continued to play Wack-a-Mole, or more appropriately Wack-a-Mermaid, with their attackers.
Snow didn't have a weapon to hit the mermaids with so she went back to the sail. She looked back at Hook to see if she could figure out what his game plan was in order to know which way to guide the sail. When her eyes landed on him through the rain as it pelted down on her, she saw a wicked grin on face that made his glittering eyes seem much more sinister than she thought the pirate to be.
Instead of focusing on the shivers his expression sent down her spine, she followed his determined gaze out across the sea and saw the other ship. She gasped then smiled as she rapidly fixed the sail to help get the ship to the nicer side of the sea.
Rumple beat down on mermaid after mermaid with his cane. He missed the feel of his cane connecting with a lively body until they bled or went limp as the person slipped into unconsciousness. If a merman came up to the surface, their heads would meet the tip of his cane with more force then he felt worthy to use against the mermaids.
One of the mermen that came up had black hair that was a little long, about shoulder length, with a scruffy beard that made Rumple smirk. Given the length of the hair and the teal colored tail, it was foolish for the Dark One to find similarities between Hook and the merman. But that didn't stop him from giving a good, one-handed golf swing at the merman's head. Upon impact, Rumple caused the merman's temple to bleed before the creature retreated below the sea.
He chuckled as he watched the merman swim away, leaving a small trail of blood in his wake. The chuckle sounded more like his Enchanted Forest counterpart, more like the golden sparkling faced Rumpelstiltskin instead of Storybrooke's Mr. Gold. To him, it felt good. It felt right.
Charming jabbed his sword at the mermaids and mermen alike. He didn't care if he got a little blood on his hands at the expense of his life, his wife's life, his daughter's life, or his grandson's life. He had to protect his family and he would do whatever it took to do just that. He wouldn't take pleasure from it, but if it came down to his family or the evil beings that dared attack them there was no question as to who he'd favor in that situation.
Even as the ship rocked and swayed in every direction, he and Rumple worked together to keep the sea creatures in the water. Both men realized, though, that they were passing quite a few opportunities, a few mermaids and mermen missed. There was a handful that they passed by in the ship, but they didn't stop swinging sword and cane.
The rain started to slow and didn't pound down on them any more than a light drizzle. Before anyone expected it, they were back to calmer water and didn't have as hard a time seeing through the rainfall. The storm hadn't completely cleared, but they were close. Even closer to the ship ahead than even Captain Hook realized.
Hanging from a rope, a mysterious man swooped across the foreign ship and landed his black-booted feet on the slippery deck of the Jolly Roger.
"Aye, were you goin' for a swim, mate," a pirate with hair styled into dreadlocks under a worn out, red bandana asked. "Feels like a bathtub in here."
The pirate raised his wet boot and shook off the water that dripped off the sole.
"Captain Hook, I presume," the other pirate spoke with a thick accent as he waved a pointed finger at Hook with a drunken flourish.
"And who might you be, mate," Hook asked as he remained behind the wheel.
The other pirate throatily chuckled as he slowly strutted in an odd manner toward Hook. His lips gradually curled into a smug grin as he put one foot in front of the other in somewhat of a dance.
"The name's Jack. Captain Jack Sparrow."
Purple smoke spun like a concentrated tornado through the depths of the sea. The smoke barreled through it until the underwater kingdom came into view. The smoke began to dissipate and Regina started to sink toward a dark palace not at all like her own in the Enchanted Forest. It was shaped like a fish and not of the nice, innocent nature. An orange-green glow came from inside and lit up the skeleton of the castle. Nothing inside could be seen, just the outline of the castle itself.
Brown eyes scanned over the area around the castle as she tried not to breathe for as long as her lungs would allow. She didn't see a thing. No irritating blonde woman or despicable lackey eels in sight. Not for a few long seconds more at least.
The two eels pulled Emma along, the woman barely breathing as Regina could tell she no longer put up much of a fight. They swam in from the side and approached the strange castle with purpose.
Regina curled her body inward and redirected herself at the castle instead of idly floating around in wait. She swam head first toward the castle and hoped she'd get there in time to grab Emma and get the hell out. She'd heard the story about Ariel, she'd even been the one to tell it on the Jolly Roger. She knew full well what the witch Ursula was capable of, but she'd never experienced it first hand.
And she hoped she never had to.
Just as she reached the mouth of the fish-shaped castle, she felt her lungs ache as they begged for air. She had no idea what the inside would be like, but she figured she'd probably drown before she saw her son, whom she'd do anything to save.
She'd almost died several times both in the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke, always due to the righteous crowd of people that followed the two idiots' leads. Every time, she prepared herself for the end and occasionally even welcomed it. She had no qualms about leaving the world she found herself in at that time, none whatsoever about dying. But all those times, she'd had good reason not to care whether she lived or died. As she reached the mouth of the castle, however, she couldn't say she felt dying for Emma was worth never seeing Henry again.
She swam through the mouth anyway. Maybe dying for Emma wasn't worth it, but if she got the blonde out of harms way and helped her live, Henry would at least know Regina had truly changed. He'd known she didn't just do one heroic act to clean the slate. She really was the hero he'd called her back in the mine before she and Emma stopped the trigger.
She swam until she saw spots in her eyes. She could feel herself losing consciousness and she didn't know if she would make it into the castle. She felt as though she'd swam for miles – although swimming when you're struggling to breathe could make a short trip feel like an eternity – before she finally squirmed upward. As she looked up in the direction the mouth of the castle forced her in, she could see something on the other side of the water. She wriggled her tightly constricted, airless body toward the glimmer of hope.
After a few seconds, she emerged from the water and sharply, loudly inhaled. She coughed as she breathed in the open air around herself. Her head kept dunking under the water, though, when she failed to focus on a body of land to latch onto nearby. Her body was weak from the lack of oxygen and she couldn't tread water to save her life, literally.
Regina spit out a few ounces of salt water that made her wince in disgust as she bobbed up and down in the calm but rippling water. She ran a hand over her face from her forehead to her chin in order to clear her vision. When she opened her eyes, she caught sight of a wet, cave-like walkway. It seemed more like a tunnel with the occasional coral.
She swam to the edge of the water, where the tunnel began. She threw an arm over the hard, rocky surface and used it to hold up the rest of her body as she attempted to gain control of her breathing. She panted a few times as she looked around the surrounding space.
Behind her, she noticed the mouth of the castle led to the somewhat of an oasis she found herself in. There was a wall similar to the rocky wall and floor of the tunnel in front of her. The water she remained in sat in an open area much like a basin and spilled over the edge of the tunnel's walkway, but didn't flood it.
As far as Regina could see down the tunnel, everything in the underwater castle was dripping wet. Not everything was surrounded by water, which meant she could walk freely as she normally would, but it'd be similar to traveling through a pool with only two or three feet of water.
She took a few deep breaths before she pulled herself out of the water and staggered to her feet. She smoothed out her soaked shirt and balled both fists around the bottom half to squeeze out the excess water. Her efforts were fruitless considering they made no difference. She was still wet. She knew as she walked around in wet clothes, when they started to dry, it was a strong possibility she would start to shiver. The air she could finally breathe was a bit chilly and the ocean water wasn't warm at all.
Another deep breath.
Regina stalked through the tunnel, her black boots splashing in the numerous amounts of puddles that covered the ground.
She turned the corner and followed the castle tunnel as far as it would take her. After she made her way down the second hallway that led to a wider and more inhabited area up ahead, a heart-wrenching scream bounced off every last wall in the place and rang out in Regina's ears. She stopped where she stood the instant she heard it.
That can't be good, Regina thought to herself as slight panic quickly set in.
She'd never heard Emma scream before, but she didn't think what she'd heard could come from anyone else but the blonde.
Regina hurried her pace into a light jog through the damp and puddled terrain. Another scream, accompanied by a faint light show came from a back room past where the tunnel turned into the more inhabited looking area.
Definitely not good.
Regina ran to the next tunnel looking area, more like a hallway, where the light and screams seemed to originate. She peered around the corner just as a low-toned, throaty chuckle erupted from none other than the sea witch herself.
"Oh, I love it when they scream," Ursula grinned as she spoke in her deep, raspy voice.
Regina looked from Ursula, the old and bluish gray creature, to a metal grid. It wasn't the grid that had her widen her eyes in a combination of realization and fear, though. Chains were wrapped around fair skinned, almost pale, wrists and soaked, jean covered ankles. Restrained to the metal grid was a pained Emma Swan.
In the murky water below the grid, something moved and flicked water onto Ursula's tentacles as some of the drying black appendages draped over the lip of the coral ground and into the water pit.
"Thank you, boys," Ursula said, her voice even lower and hoarse as if she'd been sexually pleasured. "Now, my sweet young girl. What is your name?"
Emma clenched her fists and kept her jaw shut tight. She glared at Ursula with a well-sustained bravado, but Regina could tell it wouldn't last much longer by the way the woman's chest heaved.
"Come now, precious. All I want is your name," Ursula tried again with a sickly sweet tone as she slithered closer to the metal grid that hung from the ceiling.
Emma still refused to answer.
Ursula dismissively waved a hand before she spoke again, that time with boredom.
"Fine. Flotsam, Jetsam..."
The moving objects in the water suddenly became very clear to Regina.
The eels teasingly swam around the bottom half of the grid for a few seconds before they each coiled around a metal bar and sent sparks flying across the entire grid.
Emma gritted her teeth as the electrical charge made her convulse before she opened her mouth and threw her head back in an even louder scream.
Regina watched as Emma's neck muscles tensed while the shock from the eels ripped the raspy scream from Emma's lungs and vocal chords.
Emma's body twitched and every muscle found purpose in straining against the electrical attack.
"Enough," Ursula ordered and immediately, the eels let go of the grid and swam a few inches away from it. "Your name."
Emma's head fell, her chin nearly touching her sternum as she panted. She waited a few moments to catch her breath, but when she couldn't do that she decided to speak anyway.
"Emma."
"Hmm. Pretty name," Ursula started. "How old are you, my dear?"
Emma slowly lifted her head, a few wisps of blonde hair in her face as she looked straight at Ursula.
"Almost twenty-nine."
"Almost? Mm. Well, that's much younger than me so I guess you'll do."
Ursula's eyes raked over every inch of Emma from her booted feet to her mussed, sopping wet hair.
Regina remained in the shadows, out of Ursula's sight. From the looks of things, Ursula wasn't much different from her mother Cora. If that was anything to go by, Regina knew it would be best to wait for the most opportune time to make her presence known. Not just for her safety, but for Emma's as well.
"Tell me, Emma. What is it you can do for me," Ursula asked as she dipped half of her body into the water.
Two of her tentacles slid up the metal grid on either side of Emma while another one of them made its slimy ascent between parted legs.
"You see," Ursula purred. "I used to have the lively little mermaid to play with, but...sadly, she's been gone a long time. I've been trying to find just the right replacement...and then you came in from...wherever it is you're from."
Ursula reached out and tenderly ran the back of her hand down Emma's cheek as she brought her face less than an inch away from the human's. She slowed the tentacle between Emma's legs before the tip could reach the woman's sex. She left it tantalizingly, temptingly close, but didn't make a move to go any further. Yet.
"Have you heard of me," Ursula asked, genuinely curious.
Ursula tucked a finger under Emma's chin and kept the blonde's green eyed gaze on herself.
"Yes."
Ursula grinned.
"Have you heard of the mermaid I lost?"
"Yes."
"You know what I want from you, don't you."
It wasn't a question.
"I do."
"I imagine that if you're here, in Neverland of all places, you must be in search of something. You're too pretty a specimen for you to live here among those dreaded Lost Boys."
"Maybe I am," Emma replied, still a steeliness and strength in her voice.
"Then maybe we can make a deal. Give me what I want and I'll help you in whatever way I can."
"Touch me with those filthy tentacles and I will cut them all off, one by one, old hag," Emma warningly spat at the witch.
Ursula chuckled.
The deep, throaty sound of it made Regina's skin crawl. It was much darker in nature than Cora's chuckles, but it had the same purpose. Ursula had all the power and was going to reinforce it faster than the blonde would know what was happening. It had happened to Regina far too many times to count. It was a hard and painful lesson to learn and knowing how willful and headstrong Emma was, Regina knew the blonde would have to learn it more than once.
Ursula used her other hand to caress Emma's untouched cheek, but after a fleeting touch from the pad of her finger, she dug her long, red nails into Emma's soft skin.
Emma winced and tensed all the muscles in her arms. She turned away from Ursula, but the witch wouldn't let her get away that easily.
Ursula used her other hand to cup the blonde's chin, her fingers pressed down on one side of Emma's jaw while her thumb pressed down on the other. She squished up Emma's face and yanked the woman's head back toward her. She held it in place and maliciously stared into green eyes with a lustful gleam in her own dark orbs. She slid her tentacle the rest of the way between Emma's legs and hooked it into the top of soaked jeans. With one good tug, she yanked them far enough to reveal upper thighs and black lace.
Emma's eyes widened in fear seconds before she felt the plump tentacle slip beneath her thin, drenched panties.
The suction cups on Ursula's tentacle occasionally stuck to Emma's folds as the witch pushed the tip of it toward her opening.
Emma clenched her thighs to no avail. She couldn't stop or prevent Ursula's tentacle from sliding somewhere she really didn't want it.
Just as the tip poked at Emma's opening, Ursula yelped and arched her back at the heat she felt on one of her back tentacles.
Ursula turned her attention away from the blonde and clambered off the metal grid as her aggressor tentacle slithered away from Emma's center.
Emma puffed out a sigh of relief as she relaxed. She gulped and tried not to cry as the thought of nearly being violated continued in her mind as though Ursula hadn't gotten off of her.
"You dare try to use magic on me," Ursula barked.
Emma's eyes shot open as confusion took over all other thoughts.
Why had Ursula pulled away?
Just as she finished forming the question in her head, she saw a familiar face on the other side of Ursula.
Regina, Emma asked herself as though it were all some mirage.
The brunette created another fireball at her hip, her eyes alight with the deep purple sparks reserved for her more intense magic.
"Big mistake," Ursula growled at Regina.
The eels coiled themselves around the grid again, without permission from Ursula, and shocked Emma again.
Emma jolted to life as she arched her back and bucked her hips in a poor, failed attempt to get away from the grid.
The eels didn't let up on the strength of their attack and they certainly didn't seem interested in stopping any time soon.
Emma cried out as she felt herself shake beneath the chains that bound her.
Regina backed away from Ursula as the witch slithered toward her. She kept the fireball at her hip with a wild flicker that wouldn't desist. After a moment, when she felt the presence of a wall close behind her, she threw the fireball toward one of Ursula's side tentacles. She kept her eyes on Ursula the entire time and made sure to control the swing of her hand to keep the bodacious witch from anticipating the attack.
It worked until Ursula moved out of the way and the fireball only scorched the tentacle on its way across the room. Fire erupted on the edge of the metal grid and crackled as it quickly swayed and made its way toward the blonde.
Damn, Regina thought as she looked over the voluptuous curve of Ursula's hip to see how much danger she'd put Emma in.
Regina's eyes found Ursula's again as she raised her hand to chest level and made a fist. The fire vanished. She used her other hand to charge up a few purple sparks at her fingertips. She extended her arm and shot out small lightning bolts at Ursula.
Ursula waved her hands protectively in front of herself and reflected the bolts off an invisible shield. A few bolts hit the wall and caused the coral foundation to crack while one bolt zapped Regina straight in the chest.
Regina cringed and keeled over at the waist as she felt her chest tighten under the shock of her own magic.
Ursula chuckled again and reached out with one of her tentacles as she slid across puddle after puddle to get to Regina.
The eels gave Emma a chance to breathe as they unwrapped themselves from the grid and swam a tiny distance away from the metal.
Emma's body went limp as she felt all her strength disappear. She could barely hold herself up enough to see if Regina was okay.
Ursula pinned Regina against the wall with a forceful shove of one of her tentacles. She pressed the suction cups hard against Regina's chest, the curve of the cups just above the brunette's concealed nipples.
Regina felt the air leave her lungs for the second time that day.
Emma weakly wriggled her wrists under the chains, not enough to rattle them. She didn't know how to free herself from them, but she employed Regina's words of wisdom from the only magic lesson she ever had to envision the chains gone.
"Who are you to try and fight me, girl," Ursula growled at Regina again as she closed the space between their faces.
Her behavior toward Emma had been predatory in a sexual manner while her behavior toward Regina remained predatory in a strictly menacing way.
Regina fought for oxygen as she extended her neck and squirmed beneath Ursula's tentacle.
"The Evil Queen," Regina slowly rasped out, her voice nothing more than a smoky whisper.
With both her hands still free, she created a fireball with each of them. Her answer bought her a few seconds before she flicked her wrists and directed them at the front half of Ursula's tentacles, under the one tentacle that held her against the wall.
Ursula emitted a roaring yell of pain as the fire burned her in an overly sensitive place. She briefly eased her hold on the brunette to take a moment and reel from the heat.
Emma managed to make the chain around her right wrist and the chain on her right ankle go poof in a small puff of blue smoke. She grunted just as Ursula yelled and pulled on the other two restraints as she slumped toward the water in her weakened state. She pulled herself up with much pain and struggle by her left arm, still bound to the grid. She gritted her teeth and expectantly held out her right hand.
She closed her eyes and envisioned a sword. Within a few seconds, one appeared in her hand under a swirl of blue smoke.
Flotsam and Jetsam noticed the shiny object and immediately coiled around the grid. They shocked Emma yet again.
"F-f-f-uck," Emma yelled in crescendo before she sobbed a few times.
She opened her eyes as she tried not to think about the pain she felt due to the eels' attack. She pulled the sword back and over her head. Her vision started to blur, but she tried her hardest to focus on Ursula. When the sea hag started to look over her shoulder and spotted Emma, the blonde knew she had to act right then.
Emma aimed and used her freed foot to push away from the grid before she released the sword.
Ursula turned in time to see the sword land in her lower back.
"Oh," Ursula angrily grumbled as she locked eyes with the blonde.
Ursula immediately pulled the sword out of her back and threw it down to the ground beside herself. Her let hand flung out toward Emma and freed the blonde from the restraints.
Emma quickly tried to grab hold of the electrically charged grid, but her body couldn't withstand the effort. She fell into the water and began to drift below the bottom end of the metal grid.
"Boys," Ursula called out to her pets.
Flotsam and Jetsam let go of the grid and swam to Emma. They worked together and wrapped themselves around the woman's waist. They dragged her up to the surface and nudged her onto the small bit of dry land at the edge of the water pit.
She didn't cough or gasp for air.
Regina took the time to run toward the sword while Ursula's attention remained on the blonde.
Ursula grinned again. The corners of her mouth almost spread from ear to ear at the sight of the blonde strewn on the ground, the top half of her on land as the bottom half dangled in the water. She turned her attention back to Regina.
"Ah, ah, ah," Ursula admonished then swept a tentacle across the ground and swatted Regina against the nearest wall.
Regina hit the wall with a thud and winded grunt.
"I've heard of you," the Sea Witch said with a light, almost airy tone, playful. "You made quite a name for yourself in that other world. I can't for the life of me remember what the name of it is, but what do I care. ...Your reputation, however, seems to greatly proceed you. You're not at all what I expected. It seems your mother taught you nothing after all."
Ursula pulled Regina away from the wall and wrapped her tentacle around the brunette before she continued.
"I guess it's my turn to pick up where she left off. I guarantee you if you do manage to leave my kingdom, you will be a changed woman. Although, I can't say you'll change as much as I expect Emma to once I'm through with her."
Ursula brought Regina close enough to her face that the brunette felt the witch's sticky, hot and foul breath on her lips.
"And that is on you," Ursula said, her voice deep in a cross between a purr and a growl.
Regina gripped tightly to thick metal bars as she stood inside a small jail cell with water up to her calves. She puffed out a frustrated sigh with gritted teeth, her eyes closed as she tried to focus on her confinement.
She clenched and unclenched her fingers around the two cell bars she gripped. Her fingers thrummed against the bars as they one by one tapped against then re-gripped the metal.
A loud but strangled scream sounded through the flooded dungeon.
Emma.
The blonde tried her hardest not to cry or scream or even yell. She wouldn't give Ursula the satisfaction of breaking her.
A thin though painful lash from a quickly and expertly wielded whip sliced through pale skin. A slash mark instantly appeared and blood began to flow across the diagonal expanse of the wound.
Emma gritted her teeth and tensed within her restraints.
Ursula had moved them from the outer room to a more dungeon like interior. The space seemed more intimate with less access to the water. Flotsam and Jetsam didn't seem to be able to disturb them there.
Though she had been complaining about Regina ruining her clothes during their magic lesson, Emma quickly realized Regina could have stripped her and it wouldn't have mattered. Ursula seemed determined to do just that, so why should Regina have cared about her modesty?
"Be a good girl," Ursula thickly purred. "Scream for me."
Ursula wound up the whip again. She raised it as high as she could before she brought it down in one rushed but smoothly executed movement.
The whip lashed her straight down Emma's sternum, between her breasts, and stopped a little less than an inch below her navel.
Emma hissed through her still gritted teeth as she arched her back and scrunched up her face.
She hadn't been receiving the pain well. She wasn't even sure how to cope with it. A few claw marks on her back, maybe a few red handprints on her ass, and plenty of sensitive and bruised bite marks, she was used to. No one had taken a whip to her, however.
Emma took a deep breath through her nose, ragged and hitched in nature.
Ursula could clearly see the muscles in Emma's forearm as the girl remained tense. She deviously grinned.
"This could be fun, you know. For both of us."
"Not. Interested," Emma growled.
Ursula shrugged.
"Guess it will just be my pleasure then."
Ursula held the whip out at an angle before she snapped it across Emma's stomach.
The force of the whip cut through the shirt and left most of it tattered. With the help of the previous lashes, the material of Emma's shirt hung in various directions. The word shirt was applied loosely at that point.
Blood dripped down from the gash across her abdomen.
Emma emitted a cross between a yell and a whimper as she tried to hold back the incriminating sound of her pain.
Ursula throatily chuckled as she looked at the blonde.
Emma could barely think straight let alone try to conjure magic. The most she could do was focus on her breathing and she hadn't been successful with that so far.
"Care for something more...entertaining?"
Ursula snapped her fingers on her free hand and the whip disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Emma tried not to find similarities between her magic and Regina's. If she made it out of the Ursula's castle alive, she wouldn't want to confuse the two. She still had to work side by side with Regina to save Henry. She doubted she'd be able to achieve that if she flinched every time Regina raised a hand to brush away a stray strand of her own brunette hair. Or worse, if she attacked the former Queen in an attempt to punish Ursula the way she couldn't while detained.
Ursula closed the distance between them as her slimy tentacles slithered across puddle-covered floors. She had a wild gleam in her dark eyes.
Emma knew what came next wouldn't be something she'd want to remember and would probably never be able to forget.
Regina channeled a bolt of strong, thick purple energy at the bars of her cell through her outstretched hands. She held out her palms to face the metal, but even as the energy struck the cell it didn't break through.
Instead, Regina had to dive out of the way with wide eyes as her magic backfired and reflected off the cell. It shot back the same direction it came and nothing Regina could have done to protect herself with magic would have been applied fast enough.
The magic crashed against the wall behind Regina. She looked over her shoulder to inspect the damage, still face down on the ground. She panted a few times before she pushed off the ground and got to her feet. She brushed off her pants and shirt until her hands froze mid-pat when another strangled scream echoed through the dungeon.
Regina closed her eyes and zeroed in on the sound. She didn't know what she was doing until she did it. Emma followed the scream with a coughed out cry. Immediately, Regina's eyes shot open and her eyes flared with a storm of purple. She set her jaw and trained her hollow gaze at the bars of the cell.
Magic coursed through her veins in a way she'd known only a few times prior to her predicament. It was her dark, malicious magic, the kind that blackened her heart with each previous use. It crackled at her fingertips and began to glow within her. She started to shake as her anger consumed her while her twisted emotions surged through her.
Regina threw out her hands toward the bars and screamed in a familiar way, the way she'd screamed when she sent her mother through the looking glass.
She hadn't noticed Flotsam and Jetsam quickly swim up to the bars. She didn't have any time to figure out what had happened before it had.
The eels wrapped their tails around the bars and sparked up the metal just as Regina's magic attempted to burst through the cell. The opposing forces caused Regina's magic to bounce off the cell once again.
Too deep into her emotions, too tapped into her dark magic, Regina couldn't break out of her reverie soon enough to dive out of the way again.
The magic slammed into her and sent her back against the wall. The impact was harsh and knocked the brunette back into reality just before the intensity of her own magic brought her to her knees.
Disoriented, Regina tried to clear her spinning vision. She could hardly tell where she was as darkness threatened to overcome her. She slumped back against the wall and her breathing began to slow.
The last thing she thought she heard before she slipped into the realm of unconsciousness was Emma screaming her name.
"Regina," Emma screamed at the top of her lungs as she felt the witch's long nails drag sharply down her exposed thighs.
"Oh, she can't help you now, girl," Ursula feigned sympathy. "I saw to that."
Tears threatened to fall and stain Emma's cheeks. She didn't know if she was actually concerned about Regina or if she hated that she was on her own again.
She didn't have time to analyze, however.
Ursula wrapped two tentacles around Emma's thighs and squeezed. She slid a third tentacle up to Emma's throat and closed it around the blonde's windpipe.
Emma choked as she lost the ability to breathe.
Ursula moved her hand, the one she'd used to claw at Emma's thigh, to the apex of her legs.
The moment Ursula's fingertips pressed and brushed against her sex, Emma felt an anger stir within her. Her need to survive kicked in and suddenly, the room rumbled moments before the ceiling fell onto Ursula.
The coral crumbled under Emma's magic and smashed into the witch.
Ursula let go of Emma and took the brunt of the ceiling mostly on her head and shoulders. It didn't discourage her, though. She took a moment to collect herself before she growled at Emma, malice clear in her eyes.
"How dare you!"
Without warning, Ursula slapped Emma hard across the face. She made a starfish appear in her right hand and harshly placed it on one of Emma's wrists. It began to move as it sucked at Emma's skin. Just after she watched Emma's face twist in discomfort, she made a second starfish appear and placed it on Emma's other wrist.
Ursula reached down between Emma's thighs and roughly pinched her clit.
Emma thrashed underneath Ursula's touch and emitted a visceral scream at the unwanted contact.
Ursula's tentacle, the one she'd touched Emma's center with the first time, slithered up the woman's leg. She darkly grinned as she closed most of the space between them the closer the tip of her tentacle got to the top of Emma's thigh.
Emma squirmed and fidgeted to release herself from Ursula's hold. She struggled against the double bonds of her restraints. The metal cuffs secured around her forearms and the starfishes on her wrists that prevented her from using magic. Each sucking motion from even one of the starfish caused her a pain she wasn't all that familiar with. The only time she'd felt anything even remotely similar was in the mine the day Henry was abducted. When she first went down to find the trigger with Regina.
"It feels like the oxygen is being sucked from the air," Emma had said as she continued toward the force that caused her to feel breathless.
"Not the oxygen. ...The magic," Regina had corrected with a worrisome tone behind her.
Emma glanced at one starfish then the other as she tried to go to her happy place, a place that really didn't exist for her.
Ursula chuckled from deep within her gut. The sound was so sinister and sent shivers down Emma's spine. Not even Regina on her darkest days had sounded so cruel in comparison to the witch before her.
"Lovely things, aren't they," Ursula rhetorically asked. "Thanks to me, the starfish here are enchanted. They're much like parasites. They absorb and prevent magic when attached to the right part of the anatomy."
Emma didn't like the way that sounded.
"And what happens if they're attached elsewhere," Emma asked with a controlled, raspy voice.
Ursula tilted her head to one side as she drank in Emma's features, her green eyes, her overly blonde hair, her fair skin made to look more pale by the surrounding water and the loss of blood through torture.
Ursula ran the back of her hand down Emma's cheek. Her knuckles grazed every inch of the human's face from temple to jawline.
Emma jerked her head to the side and looked away. She pulled her face away from Ursula's touch, but only stood to elicit a throaty, confident laugh from the witch.
Ursula conjured another starfish in the hand that had once caressed Emma's cheek then released the woman's bundle of nerves with the other. She brought her newly freed hand to Emma's shirt and ripped the fabric to uncover a black bra. She slid the strap down the blonde's arm then yanked the cup of the bra down until Emma's left breast was completely exposed. The other remained concealed by the bra, but the way the undergarment hung unevenly on the younger woman's body it wouldn't conceal it much longer if she continued to struggle.
Ursula delicately placed the starfish on Emma's exposed breast and placed her right hand between Emma's thighs once again. She scraped her long fingernail over Emma's sensitive clit before she pinched it again, that time with less force.
The starfish began to move against Emma's skin and within seconds, she realized she shouldn't have asked the question. The movement caused friction against her nipple and felt eerily similar to the tightening of clamps.
"You're sick," Emma spat out as she tried not to scream again.
Ursula leaned in and brought her mouth less than an inch away from Emma's. Their lips brushed against one another as she spoke while her breath heated Emma's mouth with every word spoken.
"You have no idea. Although, when I'm through with you...you may have some idea."
Ursula clawed at Emma's hip and sunk her long nails into pale skin. Angry red cuts appeared and marred previously unmarked skin with crimson.
Emma cringed and curled her body inward to move away from Ursula's cruel touch. She fought against the metal cuffs that kept her bound and sliced into her forearms.
Ursula dragged a finger up the open wound she had made on Emma's hip. She collected the blood on her finger and lifted it to her mouth. She languidly licked up the warm liquid and impishly grinned at the blonde.
"Exquisite," Ursula complimented.
Emma groaned and squirmed, the starfish on her nipple an unrelenting specimen. On top of that, she felt her blood roll down her body from Ursula's previous work.
Ursula slithered closer and slowly wrapped a tentacle around Emma's thigh. She squeezed toned muscle until the woman's face constricted with anguish.
"You take pain quite well," Ursula noted.
Emma didn't respond. She just tried to breathe. She may have been able to handle pain better than the average person, but not without a good breathing technique.
When Ursula lunged forward and clamped her teeth around the skin just below Emma's collarbone, breathing was out of the question.
Emma thrashed around again in Ursula's rough grasp. She yelped guttural sounds of displeasure that only grew louder when Ursula pinched her clit again through her underwear.
Ursula bit down harder for a second more before she flicked the tip of her tongue over the bite mark she'd made. She licked up Emma's blood again and hummed her approval of the taste.
Emma started to shiver as a tear uncontrollably tumbled down her cheek.
Ursula uncoiled her tentacle from Emma's thigh and pulled back to witness her affect on the woman. She lasciviously grinned when she saw a glimmering tear on a reddish pale cheek.
"I've waited years to find someone as magnificent as Ariel. Looks like I'm done waiting," Ursula purred.
Regina gradually came back to consciousness as she heard something move through the water. She groaned as she started to wake, her body heavy as she felt herself unable to even lift an arm. Her magic packed a harsh punch. She wasn't sure when she'd be able to recover from the cruel backfire.
Just as Regina's vision adjusted, she saw Ursula magically unlock the cell, a body slung over her shoulder.
Ursula slithered into the cell and smirked as she eased the body off her shoulder and down the front of her body.
"Next time," Ursula slowly said as she dropped the body in front of the brunette with a splash.
Emma, Regina realized as she followed the body with her eyes to see just who it was that had come to join her.
"You'll watch."
Regina looked from Emma to Ursula with a horrified expression.
Ursula swiftly turned and locked the two woman inside the cell. She slithered away and didn't look back.
Regina watched her go then redirected her attention to Emma. The younger woman had been nearly stripped, her clothes were tattered, nearly ripped to shreds. Ursula hadn't even bothered to cover up Emma's exposed breast or her lower body as the jeans the blonde once wore seemed almost non-existent in their condition.
Emma stared in Regina's general direction as she tried to sit up and only once, for a fleeting second, made eye contact with the brunette.
"What did she do to you," Regina quietly asked, a part of her afraid to know the answer.
"Nothing I couldn't handle," Emma replied, her voice tired and raspy.
Regina looked Emma over from head to toe. Emma still seemed defiant and strong, but something about her physical appearance made it hard for Regina to think the younger woman hadn't changed. She sighed as an emotion close to guilt washed over her accompanied by empathy as she reached out to Emma.
The second Regina's fingers touched wet blonde hair, Emma jerked away and flew out a protective arm to keep the other woman at a distance.
The younger woman jumped back, regardless of the pain it caused across her injured body, and focused her gaze on the brunette.
"Don't touch me," Emma growled at her.
Emma cringed as she crawled over to the far wall on one side of the cell. She hissed as she stretched open wounds.
Regina sadly stared at her. Emma appeared angry and more like Regina's lost, younger self. Emma's expression was strangely familiar to her own the day she'd gone horseback riding and suffered abuse at the hands of Cora with dark magic to teach her a lesson that her father had passively allowed.
Regina didn't know what to say. She knew there really wasn't anything to say. There would be nothing that could make what happened to Emma better, nothing that could fix it. There was not an undo button in life. Even with magic, Regina couldn't turn back time. If she could, she would have done it a long time ago instead of casting the curse.
The two of them sat in silence for a long time. The absence of speech, or any sounds other than those associated with the water, made Regina's voice a disruptive force that caused both women to jump a little when she spoke.
"I might be able to heal you," Regina said.
Emma remained off in the corner, curled up with her knees to her chest. She looked so small.
"I...had a little mishap with my magic before you got here," Regina cautiously continued. "But I'm willing to try."
Emma wrapped her arms around her ankles and linked them at her sore wrists. She leaned forward to rest her chin on her knees and winced as she aggravated the whip marks on her sternum and stomach.
Regina didn't move. She kept the same distance between them that the blonde had made when she moved over to the other wall.
"May I take a look," Regina asked as she focused all her attention on Emma. She refused to look anywhere else. She couldn't look anywhere else.
It wasn't the first time that had happened.
After a minute, Emma looked up and locked eyes with Regina.
"No" she answered, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Why not?"
Emma didn't respond that time.
Regina waited in silence for a while before she spoke again as she started to form conclusions.
"Do you blame me for whatever happened to you up there? With her?"
"No," Emma quietly replied.
"Then why not let me heal you?"
"I just don't want you to, okay? Will you drop it already?"
"I will not," Regina persisted. "If you're not going to talk about what happened then at least let me heal you."
"I'm fine. Not a scratch on me," she lied.
"I know you're hurt. There's blood everywhere," Regina deadpanned. "Not to mention, Ursula threw you down right in front of me. Looks like you've got some ugly cuts on your chest. I can't be sure of the extent of the damage, but you're not fine."
"Let's just focus on how to get out of here. I'm not the kind of person who can just sit around and wait to be kicked around again. If I was, maybe we wouldn't be here."
Regina paused and let Emma's words sink in.
"I probably wouldn't have come back to Storybrooke with Henry when he found me. Hell, it would've probably been a lot harder for him to find me. That is, if I wasn't already six feet under ground by then."
Regina took a deep breath then started again with a new tactic.
"Fine. I respect your decision to refuse my healing, but will you at least let me try to fix your clothes? They're the only ones you have, right? And it's cold here. You must be freezing."
Emma pouted as she shifted in place to bundle herself up more. She hated it when Regina was right and she hated it even more when she herself proved it. It was admitting defeat and she didn't want to be defeated in front of or because of Regina.
Regina kept a neutral expression even as she watched Emma readjust. The younger woman's body language suggested she had been right. Emma was cold. Though she was known to push the blonde, she knew it wouldn't help given their situation.
"Okay," Emma reluctantly agreed after a moment, though she didn't move an inch.
"I need to see all your clothes," Regina said. "Shirt included."
Emma looked down at herself. Her face showed signs of internal debate as she realized her shirt no longer covered one of her breasts. She reached down and tried to slide the shredded material over her breast, her bra useless – torn up and left in the place Ursula tortured her.
The flimsy shirt fell right off her breast the second she let it go. She closed her eyes for a moment as she fought off a grunt or two of disapproval. She opened them again, her attention still trained on her lap, before she slowly looked up at Regina. She locked her eyes on the other woman's for a moment before she gradually lowered her knees and looked away from the brunette. Before either of them knew it, she sat half naked in front of Regina.
Regina kept her eyes on Emma's face and neck at first, but the small bit of light in the dungeon reflected off the water in the cell and attracted attention to the rest of the blonde's light skin. Her eyes wandered down to the bite on Emma's collarbone. She stopped to inspect the damage there, though Emma had insisted she not heal her.
The bite mark had no affect on Regina. She kept emotion out of her features and reminded herself that she'd seen worse before she saw the whip marks. After that, her gaze flickered down, without much thought, to Emma's exposed breast.
She gasped when she saw a red mark in the shape of starfish along with an irritated, dark pink nipple.
At the sound of Regina's gasp, Emma whipped her head forward and noticed Regina's eyes on her breast. Even though she'd once opened a door in only a tank top and red panties to Regina, she didn't need the other woman to see her in such a state. Battered and bare in places. She self-consciously shielded herself from Regina with her arms.
Her vision obstructed, Regina found Emma's eyes.
"I'm sorry," Regina genuinely apologized.
"Yeah, so am I," Emma quickly, bitterly said. "Forget the clothes. Let's get the hell out of here."
Regina frowned.
"Please," Regina begged. "I want to help."
"You can't," Emma harshly said as rage started to swim in her green eyes. "Not unless you know a way out of here."
Regina shook her head, a look of shame on her face as she continued to frown.
"I tried to use magic to get out of here. It backfired and knocked me out. The last thing I remember before you got here was..."
Regina trailed off as the pained cry of her name that came out of Emma's mouth echoed in her head.
"Was...?"
Emma expectantly leaned forward.
"What, Regina? Was what?"
Regina shook her head and gulped as she pulled herself out of her thoughts.
"It's not important."
Emma rolled her eyes and leaned back. Before she could stop herself, she pressed her open wounds against the coral and audibly cringed.
Regina looked at Emma again, concern usually reserved for Henry clear across her face.
"Are you okay?"
Emma, her face still scrunched up in discomfort, met Regina's gaze and snapped.
"I was whipped, I had a stupid starfish going at my breast like it was feeding, Ursula's gross ass fingers pinched me somewhere I'd like to forget, and my hip has been clawed at like a cat sharpening its nails. Tell me, if you were in my place, would you be okay?"
"I offered to heal you and you turned me down," Regina snapped back.
"And I really didn't want to talk about what happened, but I guess you always get what you want, right?"
"You know what, I don't need your consent for this," Regina said as she got on all fours and crawled through the water toward Emma.
Emma suspiciously eyed the brunette as Regina approached at a rapid pace. She leaned away from the woman, but Regina only followed her the small distance she moved.
"What are you doing," Emma loudly asked with a twinge of fear when Regina's face was only inches away.
"What I should have done when Ursula left you with me," Regina said as she reached out and pulled Emma's arms away from her chest.
"Regina!"
Regina held Emma's wrists in the other woman's lap and looked over what parts of the blonde's front she could see. She willed her magic to flow from her heart to her hands and sent it through Emma.
Emma felt lightheaded as the buzz of Regina's magic coursed through her. She looked down as her bite mark sealed itself and the skin on her hip stitched back together. The whip marks on her sternum and stomach cleared up as well.
Regina ran one hand up Emma's arm from her place around Emma's wrist to the woman's bicep. Magic traveled between her hand and Emma's skin as she moved.
Within seconds, Emma felt a tingling sensation in her uncovered breast. She gasped and looked down to see the mark of the starfish fade. Unable to stop herself, she quietly moaned at what happened next.
Regina stared down at Emma's swollen nipple and slid her hand from Emma's bicep to hover over her breast.
Emma closed her eyes and felt Regina's magic spark from the other woman's hand to her nipple. She tipped her head back and rested it against the coral behind her. She no longer resisted Regina's hand on her wrists and let the healing happen.
Regina looked up at Emma when she felt the younger woman relax under her hold.
"Holy crap," Emma breathed out no louder than a whisper, her eyes still closed.
Regina took her hand back and let go of Emma's wrists when she restored Emma's breast to its usual, unharmed state.
Emma immediately felt the loss as the magic cooled down inside her. She opened her eyes and looked at Regina in a mild haze as she pulled her head away from the coral.
"Do you need me to heal your back as well," Regina asked without an edge in her voice.
Emma failed to speak as she looked from Regina to her mostly healed body. She gulped and slowly turned away from Regina.
Regina carefully pulled up Emma's shirt. She immediately noticed the length and brutality of the whip marks she saw.
"I'm sorry," Regina quietly said.
Emma furrowed her brow as she pulled her hair over one of her shoulders.
"Why?"
Regina shook her head even though she knew Emma couldn't see it.
"Forget it," Regina quickly said.
Regina frowned as she assessed the whip marks. They were deep and bloody. The longer they stayed half submerged in sea water, the more Emma risked infection.
She lightly ran a fingertip the length of a mark against unaffected skin on Emma's back.
Emma hissed and tensed under Regina's touch.
Regina pulled her hand back, but kept it close to Emma's back as she waited for the woman to settle.
Emma curled up again, knees to chest. She rested her chin on her knees again and twisted up her face due to the pain it caused her to pull at sensitive and sliced open skin.
Regina moved her hand closer to Emma's back once more but didn't touch her. Her hand glowed a faint purple and she slowly moved it down Emma's back, never touching the cut skin. Her hand continued to hover as she closed the wounds.
When all the whip marks were healed, Emma took a deep breath and the smallest of smiles tugged at the corners of her mouth.
Regina released Emma's shirt and it naturally flowed down over the woman's back. It covered everything but the small of Emma's back as it bunched up there given the blonde's sitting position.
After a moment, Emma turned back to Regina, her smile gone, and spoke.
"Thanks."
Regina nodded.
"You're welcome."
Emma looked down again and realized her clothes still hadn't been fixed. She picked up part of her shirt and held it over her bare breast.
"Looks like you've still got your magic," Emma noted before she looked up again and met Regina's gaze.
"I guess so," Regina replied. "Although, I still don't know how to get us out of here."
"Right. Well, I know I was the one that wanted us to get out of here before anything else happened, but here's the thing...I kind of like clothes."
Regina couldn't suppress the smile that spread across her face.
"Really? Given some of your more questionable outfits I thought otherwise."
Emma rolled her eyes.
"I'm pretty sure my wardrobe lately has consisted of less tank tops and more turtlenecks."
"Yes, what an unfortunate choice. You look more like your mother now. A shame, really."
Emma tilted her head to the side with a curious expression on her face.
Regina noticed and suddenly realized what she'd said.
"I only said that because no one needs to look like Mary Margaret," Regina quickly clarified.
"You think that's what I look like," Emma asked with worry, her voice a few pitches higher.
Regina chuckled.
"Haven't you noticed, dear?"
Emma frowned and inspected her torn clothes again.
"Not to worry," Regina said as Emma kept her eyes cast down on her clothes.
Regina waved her hand with a small flourish and purple smoke surrounded Emma.
When the smoke cleared, Emma took in her new outfit. Regina had dressed her in dark jeans and a wool-knit, dark green shirt that matched her eyes with long sleeves and a V-cut neckline.
"Much better," Regina grinned.
"Uh, thanks," Emma said as she looked up at Regina.
"Now, we need to get out of here," Regina started. "The sooner we do, the easier it'll be to find and get back to the ship."
"What do you mean 'find'?"
"Well, you didn't think your parents were going to anchor the ship and wait for us, did you? They were still under attack when I came after you. And I told them to find Henry no matter what happened to you."
Emma opened her mouth to argue, but she closed it just as quickly.
"You know you would've done the same thing had our roles been reversed," Regina said in response to Emma's action.
"Yeah," Emma admitted. "You're right. ...So, how did you try to get out of here?"
"I tried to blast open the cell with my magic. I just threw magical energy at it, but the bars seemed to deflect it like some kind of shield."
Emma furrowed her brow. The phrase Regina had used struck a memory within her.
"Almost like a protection spell?"
"Protection spells are supposed to keep people out, not trap them inside."
"Okay, but keeping us from getting out there," Emma pointed to the hallway past the cell bars. "Would be like protecting that area from us, right?"
Regina shook her head.
"Not really."
Emma groaned.
"Well, the only thing I know to do is cast a protection spell."
"And not very well," Regina added.
"Excuse me," Emma asked, slightly offended.
Regina locked eyes with Emma.
"It didn't keep my mother and I away for very long, did it?"
"That might have something to do with the fact that I don't practice magic and you plus your mom equals bad."
"Ursula is just as strong as my mother. I imagine her spells are hard to weaken."
"What, your mom's spells?"
"No, Ursula's. Pay attention."
Emma rolled her eyes again.
"Sorry. Maybe you should be more specific."
Regina sighed.
"Look, maybe...you could try again," Emma asked.
"And possibly kill myself in the process? I don't think so."
"I just-" Emma cut herself off to huff. "If you try again, maybe you can see how we're being kept in here. If it's some kind of barrier, you'd be able to come up with a way to...undo it or something?"
"I suppose you're right. But I don't need to throw my magic at it to figure that out."
"Okay, then do whatever it is you do need to do to figure that out," Emma waved at the bars.
"Next time something awful happens to you, remind to go back on my word and not save you."
"I will if you get us out of here."
Regina walked toward the bars and held out her hand. She tried to feel the magic and caused the space in front of her hand to glow orange. The magic she revealed magically shocked her. She winced, but kept her hand in place as she moved it left and right to get a better understanding of what she saw.
The magic shocked her again. That time it caused her to curl her fingers as she resisted the urge to ball up a fist. When the magic shocked her a third time, she didn't resist the previous urge and groaned as she pulled her hand away.
The orange wall of magic faded and Regina stepped away from the bars.
"A barrier," Regina said.
"Okay. Can you get us out?"
"I can't."
Emma hunched forward, deflated.
"But we can," Regina said.
Emma snapped her eyes back up to lock onto Regina's.
"How?"
"It isn't like a protection spell, but what I need you to do something similar to casting one."
"Of course because it was a piece of cake the first time," Emma sarcastically said.
"When it's just me using magic to get us out of trouble, you're all for it. But any time I need you're help and it's not your idea, you give up. We don't have a lot of time, Miss Swan. Henry needs us, remember? And if that's no longer enough to motivate you, Ursula will surely come back here and do much worse to you."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it," Emma quickly said as she stepped over Regina's words. "I'll help. What exactly is it that you need me to do?"
"You need to recreate Ursula's spell."
"Okay, this is why I give up whenever I need to use magic to help us. I can't do that. I have no idea what kind of spell she used. I'm not you."
"Well, you need to start acting like it or we'll never get Henry back."
"Can't you just be the Evil Queen and do it all yourself?"
"Magic doesn't work like that and neither do I."
Emma growled.
"Then we're screwed," Emma threw up her hands in defeat and dropped them down to her sides with a slap to her legs.
Regina pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You're unbearable," Regina grumbled.
"How is it that a powerful sorceress like the Evil Queen can't magic us out of this mess," Emma asked.
Regina advanced on Emma and aggressively took one of the younger woman's hands in hers. She released a heavy sigh and focused on the bars.
"What are you-"
"Shut up," Regina ordered before Emma could finish her question.
Emma felt a jab in her hand before she felt a familiar pull. Regina had started to siphon her magic from her.
Regina absorbed as much of Emma's magic as she could and did what Emma refused to do. She recreated the spell Ursula had cast and an orange wall appeared in front of the bars again. Her eyes started to glow purple as she powered up her own magic and threw a fireball at the orange colored barrier within the seconds it took to conjure it.
The barrier zapped like an electrical fence when the fireball connected with it.
Regina followed up with electricity of her own. She sent long sparks of purple at the barrier and knew by what she saw next that she'd found the right way to go about their escape.
The barrier sizzled as hot white sparks flickered over and over again when met with Regina's magic.
Emma felt herself being drained and gritted her teeth before she yanked her hand out of Regina's.
Regina seemed to forget about her as her eyes continued to glow and she raised her other hand to send more long, purple sparks at the barrier.
Emma fell back against the coral wall behind her and panted as she watched Regina with wide eyes.
The orange started to flash like strobe lights and white and purple sparks jolted against each other.
Regina gritted her teeth and replayed every tragic or painful event of her life. Images of her mother's abuse, the loss of Daniel, her first night trapped under King Leopold's crushing weight to consummate their marriage, Rumpelstiltskin's cutting words said as a part of lessons Regina never wanted to learn, every moment Regina had like her mother though she never wanted that to happen, and Henry choosing Emma over her.
A growl escalated with a crescendo in the back of her throat before she screamed.
The orange barrier exploded and Regina's magic fizzled out.
Emma shielded herself from the explosion and the ground rumbled beneath their feet.
Regina shook from overexertion as the purple faded from her eyes. She dropped to her knees in the water and leaned forward on her hands.
Emma turned back to smoking bars, a hole blasted through them in a somewhat circular pattern. Only the edges of the cell door remained.
"You did it," Emma said with a smile.
Emma headed toward the opening in the bars before she looked over her shoulder at Regina.
"Regina?"
Emma saw Regina's body shake as she breathed heavily and rested on all fours, her head bowed and brunette hair in her face.
"Regina," Emma asked again as she closed the space between her and the other woman.
Emma placed a hand on Regina's back and tried to make eye contact with her.
Regina's head stayed down.
"Hey," Emma tried again. "You okay?"
"When I...ask you to help...don't...question me. Just...do as...I say," Regina groggily said between breaths.
Regina finally lifted her head and looked over at Emma.
"You got it," Emma agreed.
A splashing sound in the water redirected Emma's attention from Regina to two dark objects on their way toward them.
"Come on," Emma started. "Time to go."
Emma reached down and grabbed Regina's hand. She pulled the other woman to her feet and dragged her toward the opening in the cell.
Emma kept Regina's hand in hers as she stepped through the destroyed bars then turned to completely face Regina. She extended her other hand and held it out to Regina.
Regina took it and used Emma as her crutch as she lifted one leg at a time and freed herself from the cell. Too tired to stand on her own, she stumbled into Emma.
Emma awkwardly caught her and shuffled back a few steps. When she regained her balance, she let go of one of Regina's hands and spun back around to face forward. She squeezed Regina's other hand as she started to jog down the hallway.
Flotsam and Jetsam slithered toward her and tried to wrap themselves around both Emma's and Regina's ankles.
Emma tried to stomp on the one that circled around her while Regina stood defenseless against the one that suddenly shocked the woman.
Emma felt the shock through their joined hands just as Regina fell toward her.
"Transport us," Regina breathed against Emma's shoulder.
"I don't know how," Emma said as she looked back at Regina.
The other eel coiled around her ankle and Emma tried to shake it loose as she flailed her leg around then stomped a few times.
Both eels simultaneously shocked the two women.
Emma felt not only the shock from the eel around her ankle, but the one around Regina's as well. The same went for Regina.
Both women groaned and squeezed each other's hand tighter as they both winced in pain.
When the shock faded, Regina spoke again.
"Just think about a place then will yourself there," Regina tiredly said.
Emma nervously looked back at Regina. She saw brown eyes struggle to stay open. Regina had never looked so worn out to her.
She closed her eyes and tried to focus.
Two eel shocks later and nothing had happened.
"I can't do it," Emma said again. "I'm sorry."
"What do we have here," a hoarse voice asked with delight.
Emma whipped her head around to see Ursula slither toward them.
"Trying to escape, are we? That simply won't do."
Regina strained to keep her eyes open the instant she heard that voice. As she continued to lean on Emma, she felt the younger woman stiffen at Ursula's presence.
Emma stood more protectively in front of Regina as she shielded the brunette from Ursula and gulped. She knew Ursula wanted more to do with herself than with Regina, but something inside her still told her to protect the weakened woman behind her.
"And you're protecting her," Ursula motioned to Regina. "How precious. But I have no interest in her, no real interest anyway."
Regina straightened up behind Emma and tried to find whatever strength she had left in her. She rested a hand on Emma's hip to stabilize herself, Emma's right arm tucked between them as Regina's left hand laid in Emma's right.
Emma felt Regina's right hand on her hip. Though Regina had stood up on her own, the woman hadn't moved her hand.
Ursula's eyes looked down and noticed the same thing. She arched an eyebrow before she locked eyes with Emma again.
"It seems as though my interests have changed," Ursula said before she snapped her fingers and the three of them appeared in a dining area.
Emma frantically looked around and took in as much of her surroundings as possible before Ursula reached out and pulled her away from Regina.
Ursula threw Emma onto the table and held her down by choking her then magically directed Regina into a seat at the table to keep her close to the action.
"I highly doubt the two of you will be leaving anytime soon."
A/N: Just a warning that our time with Ursula has not ended. She should only be a problem for the next chapter or two, however, seeing as how she isn't the "big bad" in Neverland. Also, we'll get back to the Jolly Roger soon enough, but for now I'm sticking with Emma and Regina.
Let me know what you thought of this chapter. The reviews really help me know if I'm going about this the right way. They're extremely encouraging in one way or another. :)