Hook… I Will Always Find You
Chapter Forty-Three
Emma and Killian finally left the cave and made their way back through town under the cover of night towards the library, where the clock tower that stood tall raised atop of the building back in Storybrooke, now was rooted firmly into the ground of the square in front of the library here within Underbrooke. Several hours ago, Graham finally sent word to his friends through his wolf, who carried a message for them which told them he and Lila had found the entrance into the depths of the Underworld, where anyone else were too afraid to go.
Killian was still feeling weak and hurting from the injuries which still had yet to fully heal, so Emma continued to embrace him to help keep him steady while they walked. Both of them were grateful that none of Hades' minions or creatures were around to attempt to attack them, yet it didn't stop them from feeling more and more anxious the closer they got to the library, knowing that if this test of true love was real and not a rumor, that danger would be lurking around some corner waiting for its moment to strike.
At last, they arrived in the square in front of the library, where Grumpy stood along with Smee on the roof to keep watch for their friends, as well as for any unwanted threats so they'd be able to warn them and the others should trouble come for them. Hook raised his hand to wave towards his first mate and closest friend when Smee did the same, then he and Emma walked inside where David, Regina, Robin, Tinker Bell, Graham, Lila, and August were all waiting for them while they stood in front of an elevator which looked similar to the one inside the library back in Storybrooke. However, this elevator was now covered in magical symbols that Regina had drawn all over the doors.
Once the two of them reached the rest of their friends, David looked at Hook with sympathy while he spoke quietly saying, "It's good to see you up and about. How are you feeling?"
Killian turned toward his friend as he despondently replied, "I'm alright. About as alright as I can be, under the circumstances. Thank you, mate."
"Where are Liam and Alice?" Tink questioned upon realizing that Killian's family hadn't come with them. "Did something happen?"
"It's kind of a long story for right now," Emma answered as she looked over at the man she loved and smiled gently at him, then turned back to the others. "For right now, you just need to know that they've moved on and are finally at peace. We had a bit of a problem again with Silver and his pirates. But we'll explain the rest later. What's going on here? This is what you've been doing since you found the entrance? Painting a bunch of squiggly lines?"
Regina turned her head around towards the Savior and glared at her, then returned to finishing up her task at hand as she responded, "Hades put one hell of a protection spell on his elevator and these 'squiggly lines' are the only way to crack it open."
Lila looked between those surrounding her and Graham while she replied, "Graham and I spent the last three days talking to those from the rebellion and several others who've been trapped here in the Underworld far enough back that they might have heard the rumors Cruella had spoken of. What little information we could gather and piece together, finally led us here to this elevator. And I used my magic to try to get a sense of what lay behind these doors. It's beyond powerful."
"Hopefully, this elevator will take us to exactly where we need to go," Leroy said grumpily when he and Smee walked back inside after coming down from the roof. "I really just want to get out of this crummy world."
"Maybe with surprise on our side, we can get through this without much trouble," August added with a hint of frustration in his voice as his feelings, along with everyone else's, matched the dwarf's.
Killian looked between those who were risking their lives for him, then bowed his head upon sensing their yearning to return home and dejectedly uttered, "That's a lot of 'maybes' and 'hopefullys'."
Emma squeezed his hand upon seeing the sadness on his face, then she answered, "It's all we have right now."
"Okay," she then stated when the Savior turned to look between Regina, Lila, and Tink when each of the women with power then stepped forward facing the metal doors as they all raised their hands out in front of them. "Let's do this."
"Give the symbols as much of your power as you can," Regina called out when the four of them suddenly began to emit their light magic against the God's protection spell barring them from breaking inside. "And don't stop."
Nearly a minute passed and finally the doors to the elevator opened to reveal the lift inside. Once they succeeded, the women dropped their hands and stepped back to take a moment to regain their strength after emitting that much of their power drained them. However, Emma stepped forward again when she sensed something strange from the tunnels below, far stronger than she had when she and the others walked down into the tunnels to find Killian.
David looked over at his daughter as he asked, "Emma… what is it? What's wrong?"
Regina sensed it as well and responded, "There's no magic the further in this elevator shaft goes. There won't be any magic available to us if we run into whatever dangers are lurking once we get down there."
"No… it isn't that," Emma replied strangely as she walked up to the elevator and reached out to touch one of its sides, all of a sudden falling under the trance of a vision that came to her as she did so, then stumbled back into Killian's arms when it finished.
"Emma?" he questioned fearfully when he caught her, until she turned around to face him. "Are you okay?"
She nodded as she reached up to caress his cheek, then answered, "Yes. I promise, I'm fine. It was a vision. I somehow saw a flash of me laying my heart upon a scale of some sort. A very ancient scale. It's like the magic I'm sensing coming up from below is trying to tell me what I need to know before we enter."
The Savior turned to Regina and then spoke again saying, "I need you to pull out my heart. What Cruella said about this test requiring one to offer their heart up for judgement… it's quite literal. Please… Trust me."
"I trust you, Miss. Swan, but… are you sure about wanting to do this?" the Queen questioned her as she looked over and saw the worry on Killian's face. "You have no idea what's down there. And without our magic…"
"Killian and I have to do this alone," Emma swiftly responded before Regina could finish expressing her concerns, then she turned to look between their friends, the man she loved, and finally her father. "He and I are the reason we're here. And he and I are the only ones facing this test. We need you all to stay up here and keep watch for trouble. Put up your own protection spells over this library like we did over the cottage. Just make it as strong as you can. It appears that all spells wear off eventually no matter where we are. It explains how the pirates were able to break through the barriers we thought were in still in place."
David looked at his daughter in confusion as he asked, "When was this?"
She quickly hugged him while she whispered assuredly, "A story for another time. I promise, Dad… We'll be alright."
"All right…" Emma then stated again when she stepped back and turned again to former Evil Queen. "Regina… It's your turn."
She nodded and raised her hand over her chest, then as carefully and as gently as she could, Regina suddenly reached inside to pull out the Savior's now glowing, beating heart within the palm of her hand. Emma gasped upon her doing so and once again stumbled back against Killian.
"You don't have to do this, Swan…" he whispered worryingly when Emma took her heart back from Regina and carefully placed it inside a pouch which Tink handed over to her, then she turned around again to look into his eyes upon hearing his plea.
The Savior smiled at him, then reached into her red jacket's pocket as she pulled out his hook and summoned his brace to give them back to him while she worked to secure them back over his arm, and finally replied, "And you didn't have to sacrifice everything and then give your life to protect all of us either. But you did. You would do anything and everything for me. Just as I would do for you too, Killian. Which is why we're going."
He simply nodded and then Emma glanced over at the Queen once more while she uttered, "Regina…"
"I know the drill," her friend finished. "If you're not back by sunrise…"
"Everybody leaves," Emma added. "Promise me."
The dark haired woman nodded as she said assuredly, "You'll be back."
While his daughter and Killian walked towards the elevator and stepped inside, as Killian pulled down the gate to secure it so it would begin to lower them down, David called out to them as he added, "We'll be right here waiting for you."
Finally, the Savior and the pirate captain descended downward as the elevator crept its way through the deep shaft until they reached the bottom at last, having no idea what they were about to come up against. However, they slowly began to walk forward while they talked quietly amongst themselves to help ease the eeriness of the dark tunnels before them.
"You really are a stubborn woman," Killian whispered lovingly once again like he had said to her back in Camelot, when he turned his head to look over at the woman he loved and saw the determination to proceed in her eyes.
"And you love me for it," Emma answered him the same as she had before as well.
Killian nodded again and then sincerely responded, "I do."
Emma and Killian walked out from one of the Underworld's many tunnels and finally came across a stone table where brass scales stood within a circle made up of Greek writing that Emma attempted to read until she said in frustration, "The instructions couldn't be in English?"
"Only a heart filled with true love can pass," he quickly read with ease, pointing to the words as he did so.
"Seriously?" Emma questioned while she looked at the man she loved in surprise.
Killian looked around him, then back at her with a small smile as he replied, "You'd be surprised what they teach you in the Royal Navy. The only question is, what the bloody hell does it mean?"
The Savior kept her eyes on the table while she answered, "I think I know. I think I have to weigh my heart to see if my love for you is true."
"What?" she asked when she turned her head back to him and saw him raise his eyebrow as if in question of what they were about to do.
"Are you saying that what we share is…" he began to inquire as he moved his body around so that he was facing Emma.
When he stopped she quickly responded, "Well, we're about to find out."
Killian looked down as though he was struggling with what he was about to say and then continued, "I know you love me. But true love is the rarest magic of all. Are you certain?"
"I mean, honestly, I'm not sure, but who could be?" Emma replied with a whisper as she too turned her body to face his when he looked into her eyes with hope. "We have to try."
"Why can you only admit how you feel when one of us is facing certain death?" the man she loved, then asked more sternly.
She shrugged as she answered him with remorse, "I don't know. I guess my armor's been on for such a long time that I… Sometimes I forget I don't need it with you."
Hook chuckled and she smiled at him, then Emma removed her heart from the bag as she stated, "Here goes."
Killian cautiously took a few steps back when Emma slowly placed her heart on one side of the scales and stepped back as well as they both waited for something to happen until nothing did, then with defeat Killian whispered, "It didn't bloody work."
"Emma, what's wrong?" he asked fearfully, reaching out to try to help her as she suddenly let out a sharp and pained gasp, then collapsed to the ground when it only worsened.
"The pedestal," she responded weakly, struggling to speak from the pain. "Get my heart off."
"Killian!" Emma cried out for him when he rushed forward to try to grab her heart for her until he suddenly became engulfed by flames, causing him to scream in even worse anguish than her own. "Killian!"
Not caring about his own wellbeing, Killian shouted out to her, "Get your heart! Aah!"
Still fighting against her own pain as she struggled to breathe, Emma looked between Hook and her heart for a few moments in fear, before she swiftly rose herself up and tackled the man she loved to the ground, pushing him from the fire to save him. Emma laid on top of him while they both breathed heavily and then the door finally opened, getting them to look towards it in surprise.
Emma spoke again asking, "What the hell is that?"
"It's true love," Killian replied quietly, then they turned to look at one another and he smiled.
"Emma, you chose me," he continued, looking up at her with awe and a deeper love than ever before. "That was the test."
The Savior smiled down at him and then questioned, "Don't you understand now… why I haven't been able to let you go? True love doesn't come around more than once. And I never thought I would ever find it. But with you I have, Killian."
The Captain raised his head and kissed her lips and once Emma pulled back after kissing him in return, she struggled to stand up again, then reached down to take his hand to pull him up as well. At last, they started walking towards the doors which opened up to them in reward for passing the test, though Emma paused a moment to stand in front of the scales again to reach out to take her heart back. However, they were both startled when Hades suddenly appeared behind them within blue flames as he's done several times before, this time along with Cerberus beside him, followed by Zelena within her own green smoke.
Before Emma could grab her heart from the pedestal, the God of the Underworld immediately summoned the precious organ into his own hands and then laughed upon finally having won the prize he had been seeking since he'd appeared to the Savior aboard the Jolly Roger back within the heroes' own realm.
Killian immediately cried out, "No!"
"At last…" Hades uttered smugly, while he held her heart in the palm of his hand and stared at it with glee until he raised his eyes to look again at the pirate, whose soul still belonged to him as well. "The Savior's heart belongs to me. I wasn't happy when you helped your mother and brother move on from my world, but I have to admit it all worked out for the best and I'm actually not angry with you anymore about that. Well… I am, but I'm also glad everything worked out this way."
"Please… please don't do this," Killian pleaded with the villain before them, as Emma quickly gripped his arm and pulled him back to her when he started to charge against the God in a foolish attempt to help her, especially when the three headed dog began to growl angrily at him. "Don't hurt her."
The deity laughed while Zelena continued to watch on in silence, then he answered, "I promise you that her death will be mostly painless, Captain. As soon as the power it holds restarts my heart after I've remained dead for century, after century… just waiting for the golden opportunity. I didn't think I would succeed in stealing the Savior's heart. But soon she'll become another one of my souls and the two of you will at least still get to be together. Unless of course… I choose to keep you apart, which is exactly what I intend to do. I'm very vindictive."
The Wicked Witch suddenly vanished from before them without as much as a word while Hades shouted, "Zelena?!"
"What's the matter?" Emma asked darkly as she finally spoke again. "Did Zelena come to see you as the man you really are? You never really did love her. You just hoped her love for you would be strong enough to restart your heart, having failed until now to steal mine."
"That doesn't matter right now," Hades retorted angrily, then blew out a whistle to prepare his beast to attack Hook so he could get on with finally freeing himself from his own hell. "It's time to send Captain Hook back to his dungeon above the River of Lost Souls where you saved him from. I suggest you say your goodbyes."
Killian saw that all of the beast's eyes were solely on him, yet he kept his stand beside the woman he loved while she kept a firm grasp on him as well. They slowly backed away together as Cerberus ascended upon them. However, before Hades could give the whistle that would elicit its attack, an enchanted blade suddenly soared past above their heads from behind them and plunged itself deep within the beast's chest as it roared in anguish, until finally the creature became vanquished in black smoke as it died.
Both heroes and villain turned to find out who had thrust the sword to kill the monster and each of them were surprised to see the Apprentice standing among them, as well as Merlin and Poseidon, the God of the Seas and Hades' own brother… the Sorcerer having been the one to slay Cerberus. Then, another God who appeared much younger than the others, wearing a white robe, and golden gauntlets upon his wrists, as well as a gold belt around his waist, swiftly appeared among them too and Hades screamed out at them in anger.
The villain among them shouted, "This is my realm!"
The younger of the Gods stepped forward to stand with Emma and Killian as he sternly responded, "And the living world is not a part of it, yet you continue to enter to make deals with those foolish enough to do so. We may not be able to stay for more than a few minutes, but it's long enough to keep you from taking the Savior's heart in order to restart yours."
"You don't have power over me here," Hades retorted angrily. "Here… I have power over you."
"But not over me," Merlin replied steadfastly and suddenly projected his power at him with as much strength as he possessed before Hades could attack his brothers, forcing the deity back through the air and against the wall behind him, while Emma's heart then flew from his hand.
Killian immediately dove forward to catch her heart with his only hand before it could hit the ground, then gasped in pain when his body landed. Emma rushed over while she knelt above him to lift him against her so she could hold the man she loved until the battle around them hopefully ended quickly.
When Hades rose back to his feet and saw that Hook now had the precious organ he had stolen from the Savior minutes ago, he attempted to strike out against them until the Sorcerer and his apprentice swiftly raised a magical force field over them so he couldn't harm them again at this moment in time.
Poseidon spoke out against him as he said, "Go back to sit on your throne, Hades. These heroes have not defeated you yet, but they have in this battle."
The God of the Underworld snarled darkly, "This is far from over, Savior. You and your pirate aren't safe from me."
"Unfortunately, he's right," the God who was unknown to them stated once Hades swiftly vanished again from among them. "So long as you remain here, Emma… you and your loved ones will never be safe. And we can't protect you again. You must leave with them now while Hades is consumed by the anger of this defeat."
"I can't leave without Killian," she answered without waiver, as she slowly stood again and then carefully helped Killian to as well. "I won't. Besides, Hades has his minions and creatures all over this world. He'll never allow us to reach the portal that will take us back to Storybrooke."
Killian looked between them while he continued weakly, "The only way to get out of here… is if we defeat him."
The God of the Seas looked over at his older brother as he grimly responded, "They're right, Zeus."
"You're Zeus?" Emma retorted while she stared at the ruler of the Gods in disbelief. "As in… God of Lightning and of the skies?"
"I am," Zeus replied. "And I know who you are as well, Emma Swan. I'm sorry for our brother. He's long since become lost to us when he thirsted for power over every realm. I hope that you will succeed, though I'm afraid we can no longer be of any help to you in your endeavor to do so. It's forbidden among the Gods. However, we've come on Merlin's behest in order to help him enter and depart from the Underworld, so he could save you from the dark fate he foresaw. He can be quite persuasive. I'm afraid not even what once grew within those doors which opened to you upon passing true love's test can help you now, as the tree containing the fruit of the Gods was burned down long ago by our brother. We cannot tell you how to defeat Hades, but there is a way to kill a God. It will be your only chance. I wish you well."
Poseidon turned to Zeus as he nodded, then turned back to the others among them and stated, "Forgive us, but my brother and I must depart from this realm. I fear we've already stayed a bit longer than we're really able to. Farewell."
All of a sudden, both Zeus and Poseidon disappeared before anyone could object, then Emma and Killian turned around to face Merlin and his apprentice while the Savior spoke again in sincerity saying, "Thank you. Both of you. For saving us. I take it that throw of the sword to kill that three headed beast came from you, Merlin?"
"It did," the Sorcerer answered. "Sadly, there's no more I can do. And I'm afraid this is when we must leave as well."
"However, perhaps this will give you the answer you seek," the Apprentice then responded as he held out the version of Henry's storybook to them which he collected for them from his mansion, and once Emma took it from him, a light descended down upon him from above while he slowly faded away. "Now… I am free to move on. Farewell, my friends."
After he vanished, as did the light, Merlin said to Killian genuinely, "What you did for those you love in Camelot, Killian… it was very noble. It was why Excalibur granted your wish for the darkness to at last be destroyed. I too hope you will win this war you're fighting. One day, I hope to see you both again. Only in Storybrooke or in Camelot. Be well."
It was then that the Sorcerer disappeared as well, and Emma finally turned to Killian again as she rested her forehead against his while she whispered, "That was too close. I'm so sorry, Killian. Dad, Regina, the others… they all warned me this was dangerous, but I didn't listen. I just wanted to give you a reason to keep fighting."
"You did, Swan," Killian replied softly, then gently pushed her heart back into her chest as she had once done for him back when Gold had attempted to crush his heart to free himself from the tether of the dagger. "So long as you're with me. What do you say we return to our friends? It must be close to sunrise by now. Surely, your father's going out of his mind with worry."
"Don't you want to see what's in those doors?" Emma asked him when she raised her head to look up into his eyes. "What if Zeus and Poseidon were wrong? There could be some of the fruit that could save you that survived?"
Hook looked over at the doors again, then shook his head and answered firmly, "No. The only way we can leave here is after we defeat Hades and save those who are trapped under his cruel reign. Even if some of the fruit did survive. We can't leave others to suffer."
The Savior kissed the man she loved until she pulled back and then responded, "That's what makes you a hero, Killian. Come on."