A/N : Hi everyone ! I am SO SO SO sorry about the delay, I know it's been more than three weeks since my last update, but I was on vacation and I had no internet connection, so no way to post... But now here I am and I am definitely NOT giving up this story. In order to make amends, I wrote a longer chapter (about 5,600 words). Actually I didn't think it'd be that long at first, I was just very inspired... Maybe too much, I'm afraid there are too many elements, but you tell me ! Hook's backstory, a little of Killipan (kind of), my take on Neverland, a strange cave and Emma's dilemma... I really hope you'll enjoy your reading :)
And dear guest who told me people were going to stop reading this story, care to tell me why? Because of the delay? I couldn't do anythind else, sadly so...
Chapter 15 : Heart's song
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He was standing there, on the edge of the world, on the brink of gravity, his eyes locked on the neverending ocean of the traitorous island. The misty air bit his cheeks and then licked it softly, wrapping his whole being with delightful warmth and penetrating cold. That's what Neverland is. A battle of opposite forces, a fray of antagonists dancing in the wind. And its inhabitants were its victims. For the island was its own master, its own heart and brain. The piece of earth functionned like a true being, decided of every little thing, from the singing of the birds to the exotic rains. Its lodgers were its slaves. Slaves of the absence of time, slaves of the nothingness. Neverland was a poisonous star attracting dreamy and desperate children into its nets, devouring their innocence and turning them into mindless slaves.
And the most cruel part of this not so imaginary tale was that they didn't know they were slaves.
Killian Jones had landed on the island... Many years ago. He didn't know when exactly. Trying to count time in Neverland was like trying to count stars in the sky : pointless and impossible. The island was like a nightsky : fascinating and terrifying. You can't help but be amazed by the brilliance of the stars but in the meantime you feel smashed by the immensity of the universe. But Killian Jones had never been one to be afraid of anything. The immensity of the universe and other philosophical questionings were not his cup of tea. He preferred actions to words. But it hadn't been enough.
He had come to Neverland for one reason, and this reason was blue-eyed and dark-haired : Milah. The woman he loved so deeply. She was gone because of him, because he had failed in protecting her. Her sad eyes lingered in his dreams every night, when he managed to find some sleep. And when he was awake, his eyes locked on the ceiling of his cabin, all he could hear was her final last words : I love you. He hadn't even said it back. The words had died on his lips as death had swallowed her up. For a while, he had considered joining her in her eternal sleep, but he was Killian Jones. He was willing to fight for Milah's memory and for the loss of his hand. Killian Jones died the same day as his love. He was now Captain Hook, and nothing but revenge rushed in his veins and fueled his rotten heart.
He knew he needed time to plot his vengeance against his crocodile. While Rumplestiltskin was immortal and powerful, Hook was a mere mortal. But the wrath of a desperate man should never be underestimated. Blinded by his thirst of blood, Hook had sailed the four seas of Draiochtland to find a way to get more time, and a fellow Traveller had answered his prayers. John was a friend of his late father's, and he had told him about the four remaining beans. He possessed two, enough for one journey, but the others were nowhere to be found. Hook hadn't thought twice and had accepted John's help. He had heard of a land where time was nothing : Neverland. The location was famous among the Travellers who used to go there to get some rest during their long trips. But many centuries had gone by ever since, and Neverland was now a legend more than a memory. But Hook didn't care. He had taken the beans and looked for the second star to the right.
But finding Neverland hadn't solved his problems. On the contrary, being offered the eternity had plunged him into a deep sorrow, a twisted melancholy. As the days, or what he took to be days went by, Milah's face began to fade away, and he could barely remember the scent of her skin or the melody of her laugh. And with each detail falling into oblivion, Hook's heart blackened and hardened. He had done unspeakable things in Neverland. He had killed. Stiffened by his pain, he had wanted the world to die with him.
But as I said earlier, Neverland had a mind of its own.
The news hadn't pleased the cocky captain of the Jolly Roger. Coming back to bloody Neverland was not really thrilling, let alone coming back there with Emma. He knew all the dangers of this poisonous island, from his toxic beauty to its vile and cruel creatures. But her heart was there. His salvation lied where his darkest hours rested. How ironic.
Killian was not one to believe in destiny. He thought life was an addition of choices, that each man had the power to change everything, to fasten their destiny. But ever since he had met Medea, and above all ever since he was cursed, he had begun to wonder if his choices were not the doing of fate. Fatum (1), as it was once called. The pirate had heard of tragedies, plays that existed in the world called Earth. Theater didn't exist in Draiochtland, only little scenes called 'farces' (2). But this strange world possessed countless authors who had offered their lives to this art. Shakespeare, Racine, Sophocles, they had written the destinies of men and the passion of star-crossed lovers. And in the greek tragedies, the characters were nothing but puppets in the hands of Fate. Their lives were mere threads the Moirai (3) could cut when they decided to. The characters could struggle, cry and wip, fate was stronger than them, it crushed them.
Killian was very young when he heard about these plays. He was a sixteen year-old traveller back then, his father was still alive. This idea of fate had chilled him to the bone. The thought of being someone's toy disgusted him. He wanted freedom, pure freedom. See the world and love and choose. But now, after all these years of thinking, pain and anger, he had started to believe that maybe, somehow, his deeds were already written somewhere. In the stars maybe. Or on a yellowish parchment, who knew. But all his choices had led him to Emma. If he hadn't met Milah in this tavern, Rumplestiltskin wouldn't have killed her and cut his hand off. If he hadn't killed Milah, Killian wouldn't have looked for a way to avenge her. And if he hadn't looked for a way to avenge her, he wouldn't have met Medea, and she wouldn't have led him to Emma.
"There is something I don't quite understand", Emma told him as they were walking along the beach of Neverland. "How did you know I was the Orfhlaith?"
Killian turned to her and flashed her a mischievious smile. "I read it in the stars."
The princess tilted her head to the side, a not so amused smile curling her thin lips. "Killian, I didn't ask for poetry, I asked for the truth."
"I gave you the truth love", the pirate said, watching the horizon. "Well, pretty much. I heard it from the stars." He stopped and stared at Emma. "When I was in Neverland, after Milah's death and before meeting Medea, I went to Neverpeak Mountain. I reached the peak, funnily enough, and the stars talked to me. They told me the Orfhlaith's name was Emma. I didn't understand who was this 'Orfhlaith' nor why the stars chose to tell me and I kind of sent them packing. But I think Neverland wanted me to find you."
Emma's eyes narrowed. "Why would this island want you to find me?"
"Does the name Peter Pan ring a bell love?" Killian asked while moving forward.
Emma pursed her lips and shrugged. "It might. Red-head little boy with pointy ears?"
The Captain chuckled. "That's how the tales of Draiochtland describe him indeed. But he was dark-haired and blue-eyed."
The princess stopped in her tracks and cocked an eyebrow at her companion. "You? You are Peter Fucking Pan?"
Killian couldn't help but smile at her 'lively' reaction. "I have nothing to do with these stories. As you know, I am or I used to be a Traveller. Neverland was the Travellers' den back in the days, it allowed the men to recoverand to take a break from the portal jumping. My father brought me with him one day, and I was only thirteen, the youngest boy who ever came to Neverland. They called me Peter Pan because Peter was my second name and I used to play the flute."
"But what about the Lost Boys? They were younger than you weren't they?"
Killian shook his head. "There aren't any Lost Boys in Neverland. No human beings, only creatures."
Emma looked down and laughed. "I've been lied to my whole life."
"So have I. I thought Neverland was my home. I used to go there very often with my father. But Neverland isn't to be tamed, and one day it revolted."
Emma saw something darkening the pirate's irises. "What happened?" she carefully asked.
"A storm. The most powerful storm I've ever faced. It ripped the ocean apart and threw all the men in the slit. My father and I fell into it, and we landed in the Scarlet Sea. I... I was saved by a mermaid, but my father... He didn't have this chance. She decided to save me. I think my father told her to save me."
The princess roamed his face and the way his features tensed and his eyes darkened. She recognized this emotion, she had seen it when he had saved her from Smith back in this filthy tavern. "Do you... Do you feel guilty?" she asked.
The pirate sighed. "I have for a while. For a long time actually. But my father was a loving man and he wanted me to live. I feel more guilty for not living up to his expectations than for surviving this day."
"His expectations?"
"He wanted me to join the royal navy", he beamed, smiling fondly at the recollection. "That was my dream and he knew it. I didn't want to be a Traveller, I wanted to sail the four seas and then settle down and fund a family." He stopped and looked out on the open. "And look what I've become, a bitter pirate doomed to an eternity of solitude."
Emma shook her head and took his hand in hers. "Self pity doesn't suit you Captain. Have you forgotten why we're here? I'm not giving up on you Killian."
He smiled at her, sadly and fondly at the same time. Even heartless, she offered him her life. He was not worth it. But telling her would be a terrible idea : the lass was too damn stubborn. She had decided to save him, and he was certain she would.
Maybe she had already saved him.
They kept going in silence, their minds fuzzing, too busy talking with themselves. The beauty of Neverland didn't seem to reach them, which is an exploit. Imagine the purest sand of all, whiter than snow, more glowing than diamonds and thiner than dust. A lavender water, shimmering and clear and gently melting on the sand in soft and foamless waves. A forget-me-not crown of exotic trees framing it all, yellow and red flowers scattered here and there among the blue leaves. And a pale and vivid light cast by the evening sun on these wonders, rays literally dacing with the warm wind and chasing away the shadows. Killian remembered his young days running after the huge butterflies and playing the flute along with the singing of the strange nightingales. The days he had spent in Neverland were like living dreams.
Until it all turned into a nightmare.
The wind hissed and slapped and snapped. Shining strips torn the sky apart and ripped the inky-black clouds gathering upon them. The rain flew down their faces, soaked them to the bone. The vessel shook and waved dangerously on the wild sea of Neverland, the water splashing its way on deck in huge and gray rolls. An enormous whirl had appeared near the ship and threatened to engulf it anytime.
"Killian!" a man's voice shouted across the pouring rain and the biting wind.
The young man turned around and saw his father on the other end of the deck, fighting against the gusts and elbowing his way through the mayhem of men. "Father!" he yelled back.
He ran towards the man and pushed everyone aside, his eyes locked on his position. When he finally reached him, his father put his hands on Killian's shoulders. "Are you okay son?" he asked with worry.
"I'm fine," he answered. "What's going on?"
"I have no idea, Neverland has gone crazy! I've never seen such a powerful tempest in my whole life!"
"What are we gonna do?"
His father sucked in a deep breath, looked around him and finally let out : "Pray."
Terror marred his father's features and the sight crystallized Killian's blood. Never had he seen his father afraid, terrified. He was seventeen and his father was the one he looked up to, the man he wanted to be. He thought he was different, that this kind of emotions were not his lot. Of course, he was wrong. The man was mortified at the thought of losing his son. He didn't care about his own life, but his son winding up in Davy Jones's locker was something he was not ready to accept. Strongly, he wrapped his arms around his son and closed his eyes, remembering with sadness the smile of his mother and his own tears the day Killian was born. They didn't bring him into this world for him to die without having lived.
"Son", he said in Killian's ear, "Listen carefully. Neverland has opened a portal of its own. It's something I had only heard of and I didn't think it was even possible, but that's happening right now. For some reason the island doesn't want us there anymore so it's trying to get rid of us. We're probably going to land in the ocean, but I doubt the ship will survive the jumping. So once we're in the ocean, you swim and you forget about me okay? You don't turn back, you swim."
"But father-"
"Killian, I have lived. I have travelled, I have met your mother and I have loved her deeply, I still do even though she's gone. And I love you. That's why I want you to live, you understand? I want you to know this kind of happiness. I want you to love til madness, because believe me, it's the only thing that's worth living for. Not money, not fame. Love. So you are going to survive this and be happy. Promise me."
The young man's eyes peered into his father's, equally blue. "I promise."
His father smiled and suddenly, the ship shook and leant and water came crashing down on their heads. Killian's flute tumbled to the ground and disappeared under a wave, but Killian promised himself he wouldn't disappear as easily.
"So, since you already know Neverland, where do you think my heart is?" Emma inquired.
Killian sighed and scanned the area around him. "It could be anywhere, in the forest, the moutains, in a cave, underwater..."
"Underwater?" Emma repeated with scepticism.
Killian smiled at her disbelief. "Mermaids, love. They live in a city under the sea."
The princess chuckled. "Logical."
The pirate stopped in his tracks and turned around so as to face her. "Maybe in order to find your heart you need to listen to it", he said.
"Listen to my heart? Seriously? It's not even in my chest", Emma deadpanned.
He flashed her a devilish smirk. "Exactly. I've worked for an... interesting woman many years ago. She had a fetish for hearts... She told me each heart sang a particular song."
Sure. Singing hearts. She folded her arms over her chest and tilted her head. "And how do you listen to it?"
"You focus and open your ears", Killian quipped. "And you try to trigger the song so as it's sung louder."
"How?"
A half smile broke across his face. "Find something that makes your heart beat faster."
The princess looked down and remembered the months she had spent with the pirate. He was the only one who had managed to make her feel, if only for a moment. He was the trigger, the hole in her chest had found solace in his presence. Her eyes lingered on his face and she curled her lips lightly. She took his good hand gently and pressed it, and he caressed the back of her white hand, both surprised and happy with her move. Emma closed her eyes, soothed by his touch, and focused.
Suddenly, she heaved a heavy sigh and dropped his hand in frustration. "This is ridiculous, hearts don't sing."
"Do you trust me?"
Emma shook her head. "You know I can't technically trust you."
"But do you want to?"
She didn't know what trust was. Only in theory. All she knew was that she wanted to trust him more than anything. "Yes," she let out, holding his gaze.
He moved slightly and he brought the palm of her hand to his lips. His mouth pressed a tender kiss on her soft skin and its warmth sent shivers through her body. And suddenly, a phantasmagoric harmony rang in her ears. Notes deep and heavy, the sound of the regular thumping of a heart mixed with a psychadelic echo. The song of her heart sang Killian Jones's touch.
"Can you hear it?" Killian asked nervously.
"I... I think so", Emma answered, her eyes still close and her features narrowed in focus.
"So, which direction?"
She opened her eyes and glared at him. "How do you want me to know that?"
"Focus on the nature of the song. Is there an echo? Interferences?"
Emma sighed and closed her eyes again. "It's... The sound seems... muffled."
"Water?"
"Maybe. But... There's also an echo."
"Underwater city or cave then."
"Awesome", she deadpanned, rolling her eyes.
Her reaction was welcomed by one of Killia Jones's typical and infuriating smirks. "I hope you can swim love."
"I'm more worried about the breathing underwater thingy", she said wiggling her arms.
"You shouldn't be."
"Why not?"
"A little faith", the pirate beamed before cocking an eyebrow at her, "and pixie dust."
She was in Neverland, the place where literally everything was possible, and yet, she kept being surprised. And she hated it. She hated the fact that he knew way more than she did. "Where are we gonna find this?"
"Here", he murmured while fidgeting his necklace. It was a silver chain with several pendants. Among them, a cross, an earthy religious symbol apparently, a skull ("pirate", he had told her), and a tiny phial. She hadn't even noticed it before, despite all the 'pirate scanning' she had practiced. "My father gave me this flask when I was sixteen", he said softly, his eyes still locked on the trinket. "It's filled with pixie dust. He never told me how he got it, but it doesn't really matter."
Emma peered at the little pendant and frowned. "Am I supposed to sniff it or something?"
Killian laughed and opened it. He poured some dust on his index and tapped it on the tip of her nose. "So trivial princess", he said amused, "you don't 'sniff' pixie dust."
She did her best not to sneeze. This was crazy. "And now?" she asked.
He put some dust on his nose and smirked. "We swim like hell."
Emma wondered how the water could be so clear and purple on the surface and so black and opaque underneath. She couldn't see a thing. No fish, no little sea creature, no plant... It was as if she were at the bottom of a bottomless ocean, diving deep in the abyss... But without the pressure, which she was grateful for. She couldn't even see Killian, even though she felt his presence beside her. She didn't know were to go and she wondered if they didn't make a mistake. There was nothing here. Nothing she could see at least. But she trusted the man swimming by her side, she wanted to. He knew this place better than anyone else. She kept swimming deeper. "Don't stop till I stop you", he had told her. So she didn't stop.
Suddenly, a hand gripped her wrist and she turned around. Her eyes couldn't make out anything in the darkness, but there definitely was a human shape. She wondered why he had stopped her, there was nothing around them. And the grip on her wrist didn't diminish. On the contrary, it strengthened, and she swore she could feel sharpened nails piercing her flesh. Killian what the hell, she thought, and panic, or what she took to be panic, started to rush in her veins. She understood something was terribly wrong when she saw two glowing and green eyes filling the black. The halo of light revealed a strange face and long, long air limp around it and moving like tentacles. You are definitely not Killian, Emma thought, cursing herself for not being more careful. Trying to remain as calm as possible, she wiggled and tried to get out of the creature's grasp, but as she moved, an image flashed before her eyes.
Beautiful butterflies fluttering their motley wings in the air, their blue and white flooded by a bright summer sun. And suddenly, a thumbtack pinning the waving wings on a plank as the little insect fidgeted around and desperately tried to fly.
A flash of white.
Bae's face as she told him she didn't love him, the sound of his heart breaking to pieces, its song agonizing and awfully loud and sharp.
A flash of white.
A warm liquid on her fingertips, crimson and viscous, a dagger diving into her sister's flesh, her eyes wide with terror and disappointment and pure sadness.
A flash of white.
Her mother's tears and screams a she ran away from the castle, her father's arms strongly wrapped around her as his own tears rolled down her hair.
A flash of white.
Her, alone in the dark, her body aching and her heart squeezing, the pain unbearable and unreal, strong, strong, heavy and so strong.
She was drowning, stiffened by her remorses and regrets, the deafening sound of her relatives' pain ringing in her head and tightening her lungs. The tears of her mother flew down her throat, stifling and burning her. The sadness in her sister's eyes wrapped her and dragged her down the abyss. The venim and pain in Bae's words squeezed her being and soon, she stopped wiggling. She let herself sink, envelopped by all the things she had done and all the bare sorrow she had caused. This was how it had to end. The heartless princess drowning in her heartless sins.
But fate had other plans.
She heard a sharp cry and shot her eyes open. The strange creature's mouth was wide open, revealing her sharp teeth, and she yelled in the dark water. A green liquid came out of her back and flooded her, like ink in water, creating delicate volutes, a liquid smoke slowly filling the space. Weak and sore, Emma couldn't move, the water making its way into her and slowly making her its. Her eyelids fell heavily and an arm wrapped her waist as darkness dawned.
"Emma? Love, can you hear me?"
The air replaced the water in a heartbeat. The princess rolled over painfully and coughed and coughed, the burning sensation gradually fading, contrasting with the cold ground.
"What..." she began before coughing again, "what was this thing?"
"Siren. They kept this cave."
Emma's eyes widened. "You think my heart's there?"
"Sirens are not usually guardians. There must be something very precious here. What's more precious than a princess' heart?"
"Gold?" the princess deadpanned.
The Captain tilted his head to the side and laughed.
"Where are we?" Emma asked.
"We're in a cave. The only way to access this one was to swim and to pass by the sirens. Which indicates it hides something. Can you stand up?"
The princess started to move and hid a wince. "Yes", she answered.
They walked in silence, worry crystal clear in Killian's pale eyes. Emma looked at nothing, her mind was too busy with recollecting what had just happened. The siren had tricked her, she wanted to kill her. This was clear. Somehow, she had tried to drown her in her own regrets, things she didn't even know she had. Her childhood crimes, her sister, Bae, her parents... Sifled with those, she had almost died, the pain had been unbearable, nagging. Was this feeling...? Was this worth it? All the pain, the sorrow?
An arm outstretched in front of her stopped the princess in her tracks and thoughts. Surprised, she looked at Killian and then she followed his amazed look : they were in a crystal cave.
The walls, the ground, the ceiling were translucent, flooding the area in a blue and pale and waving light. It was all so unreal, the way dashes of pale blue stripped and winded on the surface of the cave. It was like walking underwater, and it was thrilling. In front of them lied crystal shelvesfilled with crystal boxes. Underneath the precious material glowed and pumped and sang hearts.
"I had heard of this place..." Killian let out, still thunderstruck by the beauty of the cave. "But I had never managed to find it. My father used to look for this place as well... I never understood why he was so hellbent on finding it."
"Killian, what's this place?" Emma sofly inquired.
The pirate's eyes scanned the place once more as if to check his hypothesis. "Slave Cave."
Emma frowned. "Slave Cave? Why such a name?"
"Because when you enter it you're either slave of its beauty of slave because your heart is kept here."
"I don't understand, if my heart's there then why I am not a slave? And I thought your heart needed to be possessed by someone for you to be a slave?"
"The hearts lying in Slave Cave are controlled by the island itself. These are essentially mermaids' and sirens' hearts, useful creatures who keep the intruders away. Yours isn't controlled because you're human."
He took a few steps towards the shelves, dazed and distraught, as if he was trying to check something. Emma followed him, intrigued by his strange behavior and the brilliance of the hearts in front of her. The pirate scanned the boxes and suddenly, his fingertips brushed the sapphire letters of one particular box. It was empty. "Ariel", he read.
"Killian..." Emma gently said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"I... My mother's name was Ariel."
"It's a common-"
"No,", he cut her off, "it's not a common name. I never knew her Emma. My father told me she was dead soon after I was born. But... This mermaid he begged to save me that day in the Scarlet Sea... Her eyes were so blue... I... I knew she was not a stranger but I couldn't explain it."
"But how could a mermaid be the mother of a mortal? And if she was from Neverland, how come she ended up in Draiochtland seas?"
A half smile broke across Killian's sad face. "You've never heard of The Little Mermaid's tale, have you love?"
"Enlighten me captain", Emma gently beamed.
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young mermaid. Her hair was red and long, her eyes bluer than the sea she swam in. She lived in one of the underwater cities of Neverland, but she was unhappy with the fate she was promised to. Indeed, each mermaid of Neverland was destined to serve the island when they'd reach their majority, at the age of sixteen years old. And this service implied being deprived from their hearts. But Ariel was dreamy and romantic, she wanted to find love, so she took an oath. She promised herself her heart would never join the others in Slave Cave."
"The day before she turned sixteen, her eyes fell upon a young and dark-haired mariner named Eric, and she immediately fell in love with him. All her life she had been told that humans were monsters Neverland wanted to keep away from its treasures, that the Travellers had invaded the island. But that night, this mariner on his ship captured her heart. Suddenly, a storm broke and the ship wrecked. She saved Eric and brought him to the shore. She pressed a gentle kiss on his lips and she disappeared under the sea before he woke up. She felt light and glad and thrilled, but she knew she could never live with him : she had a tail while he had legs. So she made a deal with an imp named Rumplestiltskin : he promised her legs if she gave him her heart. The little mermaid realized how sick this deal was, for even if she had legs, she wouldn't be able to love Eric. But she was so eager to see him again that she accepted. The imp took her heart and she was given legs."
"She walked on the beach for hours, the sand hurting her feet like daggers, and she finally found the sailor. Somehow, he recognized her. Ariel remembered him but feelings were now memories. She didn't know what to do. But Eric didn't let her think twice. He ran to her and kissed her. Suddenly, her chest ached : True Love had given her a part of her heart back. Almost all of it. She kissed him back and they conceived a child the same day, under Neverland's nightsky. They lived happily together on the island for nine months. When the baby was born, Ariel's chest ached again : the happiness she had felt when her son saw the light made her heart whole again. But Rumplestiltskin realized his deal was now broken, for the heart had disappeared from his collection and the contract had burned. So the next day, something terrible happened. Ariel's legs turned into a tail and she was back to being a mermaid. This broke the lovers' hearts, for they had to say goodbye. Ariel was banished from Neverland's sea for she had disobeyed, fraternized with a human and denied her destiny as a mermaid. She disappeared from the island, and no one knows what she became."
"That's a sad story", the princess remarked.
Killian's face was unreadable. There was a twinkle of melancholy into his eyes, but he wouldn't let anything else show. "That it is", he let out. "But that's not what we came for."
"Killian..."
"No. Emma, this is my past. Let's focus on our future, shall we?"
Something tickled the pit of her stomach. Our future. Their future. Together. She wouldn't be Emma anymore, she wouldn't be the heartless and careless princess. She knew she felt something for the devilish Captain of the Jolly Roger. But what if pain and misery were bigger emotions? Having her heart back meant being a prey for these feelings. Love had caused Ariel's fall and sorrow. If Emma had her heart back, she would feel the regrets she had experienced over and over again, all her mistakes would haunt her. The siren had almost drowned her into her sins. And if anything happened to her family or Killian, she wouldn't survive it.. Allowing yourself to love, to open up meant giving those people the power to destroy you. And the princess wasn't sure she was ready to risk this. Her parents had decided she would live heartless. Her parents had decided she would get her heart back on her 24th birthday. What if it was time for her to choose for once?
Meanwhile, Killian had taken the heart in his hand. It was so pink and bright and glowing, its melody so pure and rousing. But its thumping became too loud, too deafening, too much. Its brilliance blinded her. The pirate took a step towards the princess, a smile curling his lips. But Emma took a step backwards and the happiness left the corners of his mouth.
"I don't want it", she said shaking her head.
Killian's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"
"I... I don't want to get my heart back. Ever."
He approached her, his jaw clenched, annoyance and disappointment very clear on his features. "You made me come here, and the Gods know how much I loathe this place. And now you just throw it all away? Why this sudden change of mind?"
"Because having a heart is like being a goddamn lure for misery and pain!" she yelled.
"And that's what makes life so precious Emma!" he yelled back. "Without those awful emotions you wouldn't recognize the happy ones! That's what I've learnt at my expense. I've spent so many years in pain that loving you immediately felt right. "
"You just want me to have this heart because it'll break your curse."
"How can you only think that?" the Captain asked with a cracked voice. "I would sacrifice everything for you!"
"Well THIS is who I am, who I've been for 24 years. I won't change, this is me, the heartless bitch whose selfishness is borderless!"
"This is not everything you are Emma."
She glanced down at the heart and tilted her head. "But maybe that's all I want to be."
Whereupon she left the crystal cave, leaving Killian Jones with a beating heart in his hand and a shattered heart in his chest.
(1) Fatum : means destiny in latin, as the English word fate shows.
(2) Farces : basically, short humoristic plays that existed through the Middle Ages in France. Inspired by the Greek like Aristophane.
(3) Moirai : Also known as the Fates in English or Parques in French. They were 3 : Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.
A/N : So...? Too many things? As you may have noticed I did an effort, I don't leave the space between the word and the punctuation anymore x) But I'm not sure about the direction this story is taking... I felt really inspired, I just hope it stays logical.
Thanks a lot to my new followers and reader, each notification means a lot to me. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint after such a long wait! Lots of love.