Hook… I Will Always Find You
Chapter Forty-Four
Inside the library…
The rest of the heroes waited in worry for Emma and Hook to come back up from the depths of the tunnels below them. So far, the protection spell Regina put up within the library appeared to be holding, which helped put them all more at ease a little. As did stories of how both Grumpy and Smee had gotten certain battle scars while the two men argued about which of them had been through worse. In the end of their argument, it seemed that the first mate had won, but only because he had lived far longer than the dwarf had. Plus, Smee was a pirate who'd been through far more battles than Grumpy's been through.
"How do you think Emma and Hook are faring?" Tinker Bell finally asked quietly in order to break the silence which had fallen over everyone else when she walked over to stand with David, Robin, and Regina who were standing nearest the elevator. "It's been awhile since they've been down there."
"I'm sure they're fine," Robin answered her when no one else did, trying to sound more confident than any of them felt. "They can handle anything. It's this waiting that's killing me."
All of a sudden, the library doors crashed open by a magical force while each of those inside immediately stood alert and prepared themselves to fight, when the Blind Witch and Cruella once again appeared among them as the two villainesses entered, then the dog hater retorted smugly, "Don't count on that. The Savior should have heeded your concerns about you coming here being a trap. But not just for them, darlings. For you too. It's time each of you stay where you won't be able to cause any more trouble."
Regina glared at her as she responded, "And what exactly are you and child muncher here going to do against all of us? In case you can't count, Cruella… we outnumber you."
"You know, Regina… you never did return to the diner to bring me my apples you promised me," the blind woman snidely replied as she ignored her enemy's goading. "I've promised my customers apple pie and yet, I've been unable to give them what they want."
"We've all been a little too busy to go out to do a little apple picking," the Queen answered curtly, then glared over at Cruella again. "I'm still waiting to hear how you're going to stop us from leaving, Fuzzy. Because all your magic can do is make a dog roll over and beg."
Cruella De Vil just chortled and then she responded, "True. I don't have the magic to keep you all penned in here."
The two women stepped back until they were once again standing outside, then the Blind Witch raised her arms out as she stated coolly, "But I do."
Without warning, the witch then suddenly used her magic to force all of the heroes back as they flew into the air and crashed into the walls behind them, before she finally locked them all inside by sealing the doors with a special spell meant to keep prisoners locked away. A special spell she had gotten from the God of the Underworld himself.
"Out of the way, David," Regina uttered angrily once she stood from the floor with Robin's help, then stormed in front of the doors to try to break them open as the Prince had tried to do with his bare hands.
"You forced my hand, kid eater!" the Queen then shouted as she summoned a fireball into the palm of her hand and propelled it at the doors, only to fail to open them when she immediately had to duck as the witch's spell projected the flames right back at her.
Robin fearfully cried out, "Regina!"
When she stood tall again, with disbelief Regina uttered, "What the hell?"
"That's right," Cruella suddenly shouted out to her and the others from outside beyond the doors. "No one's getting out before sunrise, and then no one's getting out."
The Blind Witch gleefully continued, "Consider it payback, Regina! For tricking those children into burning me in my own oven."
With finality, Cruella De Vil and the Blind Witch laughed and then began to walk away together as the woman with the ability to control animals added, "Ta-ta! Oh, it's going to be a nice eternity after all. At least for us."
"I don't get it," the Queen then said again after taking a few minutes to contemplate their situation, while David attempted to get out through one of the library's windows. "The Blind Witch's spells are always half baked."
"Unless this isn't her spell," the archer replied crossly after he finished helping the others to stand up from the floor as well.
She turned her head to look over at him and the others upon realization, then she answered darkly, "Hades. He wants us trapped in here."
Grumpy angrily cried out, "Well, what are we going to do?! We can't just stay in here and wait for Hades, or more of those flying freaks to attack us. We stay trapped in here, we're nothing but sitting ducks."
"I'm working on it," Regina retorted curtly, glaring at him as she did so until she turned her head back to face the doors while she continued to think of a way to escape.
"We have time," Lila calmly whispered when she looked towards Graham, who stepped forward to raise his hand against the doors, only to become shocked by the power keeping them inside. "We're still waiting for Emma and Hook to return."
Smee spoke up saying, "Maybe once they do, we could use the elevator to enter into the tunnels, then escape through them instead. We've all been through them before, either in Storybrooke or here in Underbrooke."
Impressed by the suggestion, August responded, "That's actually not a bad idea."
"It really isn't," David replied in agreement, then he and the others all turned when they heard the elevator rising at last.
"Emma!" her father joyfully exclaimed when she and Hook finally stepped out once the lift came to a stop and the doors opened, then he immediately rushed forward to embrace his daughter, while both Robin and Smee stepped up beside the pirate captain and patted his back, as well as his shoulder. "Thank God, you both made it."
The Huntsman looked to them as he questioned, "Did you pass the test? Or find the magic that might have been down there?"
Killian looked over at Emma, who then answered, "It turns out, the love Killian and I share is true love like I hoped. Like I always knew, even when I doubted it. Unfortunately, we didn't get whatever the fruit of the Gods is that could bring Killian back to life, but… A lot happened while we were down there. We can explain everything later, but we think we have a way to defeat Hades. And not just to defeat him, but to kill him so that everyone here in this world will be free from him."
"Another storybook?" Regina questioned in frustration. "How many times can one of these books actually save the day?"
"Try not to be so quick to dismiss what's helped us so many times in the past," Killian responded to her while Emma quickly laid the book open in his arms so he could hold it for her while she searched through its pages for the answer to killing Hades the Apprentice believed was inside of it. "The Apprentice gave us this book and claimed it could help us."
Regina looked at them skeptically as she asked, "What else did happen to you two while you were down there?"
Killian briefly outlined what had as he replied, "Hades was lying in wait for us to finish with the test. He tried to steal Emma's heart as it laid out in the open on the scale, nearly used it to somehow restart his own, tried to have a three headed monster take me back to the cave where you all rescued me from, then the Apprentice, Merlin, Zeus, and Poseidon all appeared and forced Hades to return Emma's heart. That about covers it… minus the details."
"Two more Gods and two all-powerful beings saved you from another of Hades' attacks?" Tink said out of disbelief. "Wow!"
"I found it!" Emma suddenly cried upon finding the pages which told Hades' story and included pages showing a weapon powerful enough to destroy even a God. "The Apprentice was right. There is a way to kill him."
When she took the book back from Killian and faced him as well as a few of the others so they could all see the pages for themselves, Killian read aloud, "An Olympian Crystal."
He continued, "A weapon powerful enough to disintegrate a God, or anyone else until they cease to exist. Not even the soul survives, so… there would be no moving on. How are we supposed to find such a weapon? Surely, Hades has it well hidden and better protected more than any of his other artifacts throughout this realm."
"We can worry about that in a bit, but first… we need to get out of here and find someplace new to hold up until we can finally leave here," Emma answered when she closed the storybook again and walked towards the doors until Regina quickly reached out to grab her arm to keep her back.
"That's going to be a bit of a problem," she responded curtly. "We can't. The Blind Witch cast a spell trapping us in here."
The Savior looked back at her in frustration as she replied, "Let me guess… She got it from Hades? This whole thing has been a setup to keep us trapped in the Underworld."
She quickly handed the book over to her father and motioned for him and the others to step back, then looked between the other women among them who possessed magic as she raised her hands before her while she spoke again saying, "None of our magic is powerful enough on their own to break through the spell, but with all four of our powers?"
"Should be plenty," the Queen answered coolly when she understood what Emma was getting at, and joined with the Savior, along with Tinker Bell and Lila too, as they all together emitted their magic in order to blast the doors wide open at last.
Once they were free again, the heroes all quickly left the library and headed back to the Charmings' loft where they planned to stay until it was time to leave the Underworld, which they hoped would be very soon. Upon their arrival, Regina picked up the storybook again and carefully read through the pages about Hades to make sure they weren't missing anything important.
As she did so, Emma took care of Killian while she pulled off his leather jacket again to check on his wounds beneath the bandages across his body. His modern dress leather jacket which he had gratefully changed himself into, as well as his pants with her help after she had magicked him some better clothes for him to wear some time within the three days Killian continued to rest without speaking with her.
"Okay… so, how do we do this then?" Robin finally asked after he finished reading the pages along with Regina himself, while Lila and Tink put up their protection spells over the loft as they had done before. "Where do we even begin to look for this crystal? Would Hades keep it anywhere other than within his lair? He'll be keeping it close and somewhere surely our magic isn't going to be powerful enough to break through the barriers with."
Killian thought back to his brief interrogation within the God's throne room before he had been escorted back to the pit where he had been tormented by his own delusions of those he loved, then responded, "His lair holds many treasures and artifacts Hades values. I don't doubt this crystal would be among them somewhere. Sadly, I was hardly lucid while I was being tortured there. I couldn't say whether or not I noticed anything that might hold such a weapon."
Graham spoke as well, as he replied, "Lila and I were there too… when we and some of our friends were destroying everything we could get our hands on. We destroyed a number of his valuables. As far as I recall, Hades didn't appear to be too particularly upset about any one thing being broken specifically."
"Probably because we never got the chance to break whatever it is that's protecting the Olympian Crystal before Hades returned and started taking us all out," Lila said when she thought back to the rebel attack they waged on the lair. "The globe…"
"Globe?" Killian immediately questioned upon its mention. "I do actually recall one while I was there. I suppose being a pirate and a navigator who's travelled many realms, having seen… many globes and maps that tend to stick out in my mind. This globe in Hades' lair… it wasn't just any globe. It possessed magic and was a map not only of the living realm, but many realms. All on one globe, also made of crystal."
Emma smiled at him, then turned to the others while she expressed keenly, "That has to be it. Hades has boasted a number of times about how he travels to other realms to make deals for more souls and to steal the treasures he possesses. He prides himself in doing so. That has to be where the Olympian Crystal is hidden. Inside the globe."
Lila nodded and then answered, "I agree. The question is… How are we going to get inside his lair again? Hades won't fall for another distraction. And even if we can get in, how do we get through his protection spell?"
"We were able to pass through the barriers in the house Killian bought…" the Savior started to respond, until she cut herself off upon realizing she hadn't mentioned to him yet that she knew he had done so with the intention of asking her to move in with him, then pulled the newspaper he had circled the advertisement of the house on from her jacket's inside pocket where she had also kept his hook safe too. "Killian, I… I didn't want to find out about it this way, but Hades taunted me with it. He said how taking the next step with you will never be possible. But it is now… once we get back. If you still want to take this step, my answer's yes."
"I had hoped to ask you in a more… romantic manner, but if your answer truly is yes and we do get out of here, then in time I'd like that," the man she loved replied quietly, then reached out to take her hand when she offered it to him. "In time. But you were talking about the barriers in place inside the house?"
Emma nodded, then looked towards the others and quickly continued, "That's right. With Liam's help we were able to get through them so we could enter the deeper depths below ground to find Killian. Having Killian, Graham, or Lila try to get passed the barriers… it might work. If all this is true, and it's a really big if… We might not need to break into his lair again at all. At least not like how we've tried to do before. We can use Zelena."
"What do you mean… use my sister?" Regina curtly asked her friend as she glared back at her. "Zelena wouldn't help us even if she wasn't twisted up in this perverted love story with Hades."
"Of course not," Emma answered. "What I meant was… When Killian and I were down there facing the test, Hades, and… everything, Zelena appeared before us along with Hades and his three headed dog. But after he tried to steal my heart, Hades bragged about how he had succeeded getting it after all and Zelena just vanished. She was pretty angry. I believe because I think she saw that Hades wasn't in love with her like she might have thought. If we can find her and keep her away from Hades, Regina… you can enter the lair as your sister and you can help sneak…"
Graham quickly finished for her, "You can sneak me in with you. While you're keeping Hades busy, I can try to steal the crystal if we're right about it being inside that globe."
The Queen thought it through, then she finally used her magic to transform herself into the guise of the Wicked Witch and responded, "It's actually not a bad plan. Let's do it."
Just after sunrise…
The heroes who went off to find Zelena, found the Wicked Witch just where they expected they would find her… at her farmhouse. Emma peered through the windows from where she and the others knelt down behind the well to keep themselves hidden, using Killian's spyglass to see what the witch was up to and saw as she appeared to be alone while she was sitting at her kitchen table deep in thought, slicing up a green apple without eating any.
Knowing that attempting to talk to her would be a bad idea, they all decided on doing the best thing they could in hope of keeping her from interfering with their plan. Lila cast a sleeping spell over the farmhouse that would hopefully keep the witch asleep for the next couple of hours to give Regina and Graham the time they needed to pull off the more dangerous part of their plan.
Meanwhile, once again inside Hades' lair…
Hades was once again sitting on his throne as one of his mistresses stood beside him working to rub the God's shoulders, while another was kneeling down in front of him massaging his feet like he was just a normal living soul who had gone to get a massage to help relieve the stress he was under. And after his confrontation with his most hated brothers within the deeper depths of his world, when he had been so close to succeeding in stealing the Savior's heart only to once again have his victory snatched away from him, Hades was seething in anger. Upon his failure, he hadn't even given another thought to Zelena leaving him alone… until she suddenly reappeared before him in a bright green cloud of smoke once again.
"Zelena…" the deity uttered in surprise at her sudden arrival and quickly banished the women around him using his power to send them away, not suspecting in the slightest that the woman he had affections for was really Regina standing before him wearing her sister's face and clothes.
"You came back," he continued when he bit down the anger he was feeling moments ago and slowly began to approach her. "Are you alright? I thought… Why did you leave?"
Regina nervously turned away as she slowly made her way over to where the crystal globe stood between another chair and the God's pool table he must have acquired in one of his travels to the Land Without Magic, then reached down to lay her hand over the crystal sphere only to become shocked by the magic protecting it, quickly pulling back upon feeling the burn within her skin.
Hades immediately rushed over to her and took her hand in his own while he stated, "I'm sorry about that. I should have told you before that many of the things in here have protection spells over them that keep anyone from harming what's mine. Especially after my lair was attacked a few days ago by a group of rebels. They destroyed practically everything. I was lucky to be able to restore it all. So… why did you run? I thought you would have enjoyed watching me defeat the Savior and her pirate."
Regina finally replied, "Normally, I would have. It's just that… I saw Merlin suddenly appear from behind those two goody goodies, then his apprentice and the other God. I'm afraid I became scared. I've faced Merlin before when in Camelot and while he didn't frighten me in the slightest then, I just didn't wish to face him again, or risk my life or my baby's in a face off with your family. I hope you can understand that."
Hades led her away as they walked towards his throne while he answered, "Of course I understand. I'm just happy you came back. Have you had some time to think on my offer yet?"
"What you're asking from me is a lot, Hades," the Queen responded with reluctance in her voice in hope of sounding sincere. "I care about you and I would like nothing more than to start over, but I have my baby to think about. And… the Underworld, even the part that's designed to look like Storybrooke, it's not a place to raise a child. He or she deserves to have a life that I was never given myself. A life of happiness and love. I'm not so sure my child can get that here. You yourself said there's no joy or hope allowed here."
"That doesn't include you, Zelena," the God replied tenderly. "I want you and your baby to have all the things you never got with your mother and sister. Please, don't say no just yet. I would like you to think on it a little longer. Maybe… maybe I can surprise you."
While Hades was being distracted by Regina as they talked, Graham also entered the lair in silence moments after the former Evil Queen had, underneath the cover of a cloaking spell cast on him by Lila once again like they had used to escape the room from Hades' wrath after eliciting the attack to keep him distracted then as well.
The Huntsman carefully made his way over to the globe where he remembered seeing it before and knelt down in front of it from beneath the pool table which he consciously hoped would give him a little extra cover despite being protected by magic. Graham then glanced towards Regina and the deity to make sure she was keeping Hades facing the opposite direction and finally raised his hand to touch the crystal which the globe was made from. When no shock came, he pushed against it a little harder and suddenly his hand fazed through the crystal. He reached inside and felt two pieces of what he believed was the Olympian Crystal they had come for, instead of just one whole crystal.
He carefully pulled the first half out as he felt its power surging at his touch, then carefully wrapped it in the cloth he brought along with him to carry the crystal in. Graham then reached inside the globe again to pull out the second half and did the same. However, as he was making sure the halves were secure inside his satchel around his shoulders, a sudden burst of power struck him and forced the hunter, along with the pool table up against the roof of the cave above him, then allowed him to fall again against the ground.
With his hand raised out in front of him, Hades walked away from the witch he believed was the woman he loved and walked towards the Huntsman, having sensed another invasion within his lair and used his power to bring him out into the open by easily undoing the cloaking spell which protected him.
When the God then continued to harm the hunter by once again lifting him from the ground and into the air by a magical chokehold, Regina immediately screamed, "Graham!"
Upon the Queen giving herself away, as Hades realized then that it wasn't Zelena he had been talking to all this time, without releasing his hold on Graham, he turned his head around to face her while he said, "Let me guess… Your Majesty?"
"Ah… I should have seen right through your deception," the deity continued darkly when Regina finally removed her spell that made her appear as Zelena in order to reveal her true self to him. "But I was blinded by my rage and allowed myself to lose what's normally my good judgement. How dare you, come into my lair and attempt to steal… from me! You may be a living soul, Regina… And therefore, I can't personally kill you as much as I would like to, short of having my minions or creatures charge in here to have you thrown into the River of Lost Souls, but your rebel friend here… is fair game. And I can do with him, as I will do to Hook too."
"Regina… get out of here!" the Huntsman struggled to call out to her despite the squeezing hold around his throat. "The bag…"
Not realizing yet that Graham had snuck inside his lair under the cover of a cloaking spell so he could steal the two halves of the Olympian Crystal, his hesitation gave Regina the opportunity to use her magic to summon the satchel the hunter kept a firm hold on to herself, but before she could run, Hades propelled the statue sitting on the stand beside his throne directly at her back and knocked her to the ground. Not unconscious, just to the ground.
Regina glared up at the God while he continued to keep his hold over Graham, as she snarled brusquely, "You won't win. Beat me here and now, or not. Emma and the others will destroy you. Villains don't get their happy endings. I learned that a long time ago."
After he summoned a blank tombstone behind him, Hades knelt down in front of the Queen, who pulled the satchel containing the crystal behind her and further away from him, then he answered cruelly, "And now… neither will you or the rest of your friends. You never should have come down here, Regina. I can't kill you, but I can keep you down here until you die and then we can have some real fun. How do you want your name written on your tombstone?"
"Try thinking on that question yourself!" Emma suddenly shouted from behind him, as she along with Tinker Bell and Lila, who cried out to Graham as well upon seeing him being choked by the God's power, all ran towards their friends, before the Savior immediately discharged her own power at Hades as she struggled to keep him immobilized. "Regina… run!"
"You can't hold me, Savior," the deity retorted while he fought harder against her light magic, until the Green Fairy, Lila, and finally Regina too joined in, their power being strong enough to at last break the Huntsman free from Hades' grip. "Go ahead and run. I will end all of you and Emma… I will force you to watch the man you love suffer in front of you for all eternity. I swear it."
With all of the powerful women's magic combined, they summoned their anger within them and suddenly thrust the God back with enough force that Hades crashed right through the stone wall behind him, creating a giant hole within the cavern's stone. Once he was momentarily down, Regina helped Lila to help Graham up from the floor, then quickly grabbed hold of each of her friends and together they vanished from the lair within a purple cloud of smoke.
Back at the Charmings' loft…
Killian was pacing back and forth impatiently in front of the couch as he worried about Emma and the others, despite David's warning that he ought to try not to wear himself out since he was still healing. David and the others on the other hand were feeling just as restless and anxious as their Captain friend. They just didn't show it as much. Then, at last, Emma, Tinker Bell, Regina, Graham, and Lila all returned within the Queen's magic and when the Savior saw Killian turn towards her, she immediately rushed into his arms.
While Graham embraced Lila as well, the hunter looked over at Regina and then questioned, "Did you get them? Please… tell me that wasn't for nothing."
Regina waved her hand and the satchel still containing the two halves of the Olympian Crystal swiftly appeared within his hand, then she smugly responded, "All that was for everything and I certainly wasn't about to lose to that bastard again."
"You actually did it," August replied, as the Huntsman pulled the crystals still wrapped within the cloth, then laid them out on the kitchen table before them so everyone could get a good look at them. "We can finally defeat Hades and then go home."
"It won't be quite that simple, since we still need to figure out how to put this thing back together again," the Queen grumbled in frustration.
Emma cautiously reached out her hand over the two halves, as she began to sense the crystal's power and while she continued doing so, she spoke out again saying, "Hades… he doesn't have the power to put it back together himself. Because his heart has been stopped by Zeus. That's why it's still in pieces. It's why… he's fighting so hard to either get my heart for my power, or to convince Zelena to fall in love with him. Without it beating…"
Killian finished for her, "…this crystal is completely useless to him. He may not even know it's missing yet."
"Well, if he doesn't yet, he ought to soon enough," Tink answered worryingly. "He was really angry back there."
"Emma… try to use your magic to put the halves back together," David stated to his daughter while she continued to hold her hand out over the crystals before them. "Hades thought the power in your heart is powerful enough to get his heart beating again. It should be powerful enough to do what he probably hoped to do with the magic in your heart himself."
Regina looked over at Lila and the fairy again as she responded, "While you're doing that, we'll strengthen the protections spell around us in hope our light magic will be enough to keep Hades from attacking us long enough to get this done."
The Savior nodded, then raised her second hand out over the crystal as well and began to pour all of her power and strength into the crystal, while Killian stayed at her side with his hand laid against the small of her back for support. It appeared to be working like the heroes all hoped for. Unfortunately, it was nearly twenty minutes later when the apartment all around them suddenly began to shake. It broke Emma's concentration momentarily, but she quickly continued to work, while the others rushed to the windows to try to find out what was going on.
Hades was standing in the street of the square in front of the building along with Pan and Cora, as well as other souls who possessed magic the God could use to break through the heroes' own, and Grumpy swiftly shouted, "I suggest you hurry up, Emma! Our magic won't hold against Hades' and the rest of the villains' down there for long!"
"I'm working on it!" she called back in frustration. "It's… almost there!"
"Unfortunately for you, I broke through first," the God of the Underworld retorted smugly when he suddenly appeared within the loft in front of them, as everyone except for Emma immediately rushed forward to stand in front of him to keep their Savior protected while she finished.
Pan and Cora both appeared among them shortly after, then suddenly used their powers to force each of the heroes back one at a time until they were all either knocked out, or just winded from striking the walls and ceiling above them so hard that they found they could barely move. All except for Killian, who remained at Emma's side, and Regina, since Cora couldn't bring it upon herself to hurt her any more than she already had.
At last, Emma finished and once again the Olympian Crystal was whole. However, as she reached down to pick it up from the table, then turned around to point it at Hades with the hope of using its power against him, he suddenly thrust a small powerful blade deep into Killian's stomach using his power to propel it forward.
Emma screamed Killian's name when he collapsed to the floor as she quickly knelt down beside him and held him against her body, while Regina joined them as well. Unfortunately, in their distraction, the deity summoned the crystal into his own hands and began to laugh… finally believing that despite all the setbacks he's had upon the heroes' arrival within his realm, he at last had won.
Both Emma and Regina glared up at him as Regina questioned angrily, "So… that's it then? You're finally going to end our existences using the weapon Emma just made possible for you to use?"
Hades laughed and then haughtily replied, "That's right… I am. And I'm really going to savor this moment. No one will stop me this time."
"And oh… it looks like Captain Hook and the Savior get to be the first ones to meet their ends…" he continued darkly when Killian struggled to rise from the floor despite the newest wound to his soul, with Emma's help as they bravely stood up against the God of the Underworld.
He finally aimed the weapon directly at them while David shouted out in fear for his daughter and his friend. But all of a sudden, and much to everyone's surprise, Zelena appeared among them as the true Wicked Witch swiftly magicked the Olympian Crystal away from the deity and into her own hands before he could strike her enemies down.
"Zelena… what are you doing?" he asked in shock by her sudden arrival and her taking the crystal unexpectedly away from him. "I… I was just about to destroy all of those who have ever crossed you. Who have ever hurt you. We're so close. You and I… we can have everything we ever wanted. You can have all your heart desires. All of this… All of this can be for you and your baby."
Regina weakly rose from the floor, along with David as well and together the two of them stood with Emma and Killian, who continued to struggle against the newfound pain of the knife wound, then the Queen pleaded, "Zelena… please listen to me. I know how badly you want to believe Hades loves you, but he's lying. All of this isn't out of any love he holds for you. It's all been done out of hate. And anger. And the need for revenge against all of those who have wronged him in his long existence."
Cora spoke quietly from across the room saying, "Your sister is right, Zelena. I know that I've wronged you terribly when I was alive. And that I can't possibly ever make up for all I've done. But whether you believe me now or not, I do want both of my daughters to be happy. You won't find it so long as you continue to believe in Hades."
"Shut up!" the God shouted at the sorceress who he had released from her punishment to help him long enough to break through the heroes' protection spells. "Please, Zelena…"
"Hades won't give up a single thing for you," Regina whispered while she slowly began to walk towards her sister. "Like he said, he wants it all."
The God also slowly began to step towards the woman he did actually love in his own twisted kind of way while he vigorously retorted, "Listen to her. She doesn't think you deserve to be happy. Look at this apartment. Look at this town. This all belonged to her when you had nothing, remember?"
The witch backed away from the both of them until she cried, "Of course I do!"
"All you have to do is kill Regina, and you can have everything you ever wanted," Hades answered cruelly, as Zelena sniffled and struggled to keep her tears at bay while her conscience told her to listen to what her heart was telling her, then she swiftly raised the crystal above her keeping it aimed towards her sister. "Do it. If you won't, I will."
"All I ever wanted was love," the Wicked Witch sadly responded. "You told me that was enough for you, but… now I realize…"
All of a sudden, Zelena turned the Olympian Crystal against Hades and thrust it deep into the deity's chest as she angrily cried out, "…nothing ever will be!"
Hades screamed in anguish as the weapon of the Gods began to consume him while he pleaded, "Zelena!"
At last… Hades, ruler of the Underworld was destroyed as his body soon became nothing but a pile of ash on the floor at the heroes' and villains' feet. Zelena began to sob and Cora slowly stepped towards her daughter again and gently pulled her into a hug that she had never once given her oldest while she was alive.
Emma turned her attention to Killian again and then helped him over to the couch while David followed them. Regina turned to their friends and helped Robin and Tinker Bell to stand again, who then continued to help everyone else so the Queen could turn back to her sister and their mother.
"Zelena, I…" Regina whispered nervously while she faced the older woman who until now had been a deep thorn in her side. "I am so sorry. You and I, we don't get along… Well, we hate each other. Or at least I thought I hated you… until now. If you would like to come home with us, you can be free. Because of what you just did. You won't be a prisoner any longer, so long as you don't continue to try to kill us. Will you come back with us?"
"Well… I certainly can't stay here in the Underworld," she despondently replied, then looked over at her mother, who simply nodded between her daughters. "Let's get out of here."