Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or its characters or anything from CS Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia.

Chapter 31

The moment they entered the tower, Emma knew that they were in the right place.

There was neither a source of light, nor a sound to indicate they were on the witches' trail, but Emma sensed that both Regina and Gold had been here once before; remnants of their magic still in the air.

It wasn't enough that she could hear horses' talk, but now she could track like a bloodhound.

Killian waved the torch in her direction, the sudden emergence of heat warming her face; and Emma could now see that his brow was furrowed in frustration. He opened his mouth to speak, but she answered his question before the pirate uttered a single word.

"This is the right way," she said quietly, her voice echoing over the stony edifice.

Though the chill from the breeze was gone, the tower seemed stale and dank; water falling from the leaky roof at least three stories above their heads. Brick stairs spiraled along the interior of the structure; the state of their stability so questionable, that Emma wondered whether the steps would hold their weight without the assistance of magic.

Killian glanced over at her, as if to imply that they should proceed with caution, before he took the first step up the staircase; his boot quietly clinking over the stone, with Emma in tow.

After they reached the second story, she whispered into the dark, her voice gentle, so not to imply condescendence. "Hey."

Killian kept his pace, but turned to look at her, quirking a brow. "Hey yourself…"

She rolled her eyes at his teasing, but her face was serious.

"Look, we may not be able to accomplish the element of surprise, so just focus on getting Regina free, while I try to keep the witches and Gold busy -"

Stopping his progress, she nearly bumped into him in the dark, as his warm hands reached out to stop her. Emma felt the tingle immediately, goose bumps shooting up her arms, as Killian's expression softened.

"Don't do that, Emma," he said firmly, pulling her close to his chest, his breath till spicy from a quick sip of rum.

He had used this technique to distract her in many situations before, but this time she knew it was more about displaying their connection, both physically and emotionally.

"I know you want to keep me as safe as possible, and that you feel some obligation to help Regina," Killian continued, as the corners of his mouth tweaked upwards. "But you need not take this on yourself, luv. We are in this together, remember?"

She wanted to smile, to laugh it off and keep their conversation light; but Emma knew that Killian's words had reached down and grasped something deep inside of her.

His face was coated with sweat, the scar on his cheek now more noticeable under the torchlight; and Emma's mind flashed to the same look he had given her when they went into the Garden of Youth in Narnia. He had said those exact words before, and she had agreed; Emma had promised him that they were a team, and that they always would be.

Letting go of the regrets she made with Graham and pretty much everyone else in her life had been a big step. The last thing she wanted to do was fall into that rut again; certainly not with her best friend and father of her unborn child.

"Swan?"

Her heart pounded in her throat and ears, the overwhelming urge to jump out of the window of the tower nearly overcoming her. Killian sensed her struggle, slowly rubbing his calloused hands up and down her smooth arms, maintaining eye contact.

"Ok," she said in a single exhaled breath, her eyes fixated on the golden, skull necklace dangling on his chest. For some reason, it reminded her of their time in Neverland; the moment she had stared at it shortly after their passionate kiss in the jungle.

They had come so far together.

"I need to tell you something… I wanted so badly to tell you before now, but one of my visions showed you sacrificing… it's just that I was so worried that-"

He cut off her rant by lifting Emma's chin up to force her to look at him through her lashes; his blue eyes warm, but filled with concern and uncertainty.

"Killian, I-"

The piercing scream that resounded over the outside of the tower was so loud and encased with agony that Emma felt it rattle in her chest. She saw Killian's eyes widen in shock, before the two of them sprinted up the remaining steps toward the summit.

He slowed his pace to a halt at the rooftop of the castle, and placed the torch into a sconce nearby while they quietly caught their breath; the scenario that played out before them scaring Emma more than she had ever thought possible.

From nearly thirty yards away, Regina sat against the western tower, her wrists still bound in chains, as Zelena tortured her with magic, making the woman cry out in evident pain.

Her hair was disheveled and stuck to her face, as blood and dirt covered a majority of Regina's body. The worst part, though, was her expression. The queen, who was normally so resolute, now looked beaten; her defeated demeanor gripping mercilessly at Emma's heart.

She couldn't see Zelena or Gold entirely, as their backs were turned to her and Killian; but judging by Gold's unwillingness to stop the torment, the man had no problem with what has happening.

They heard Maleficent croak out something as she slowly made her way back to the cauldron, which bubbled loudly in the corner of the rooftop; and Zelena stopped the torture, apparently satisfied with her work enough to take a reprieve.

Emma noticed that Maleficent leaned against the stone perimeter wall as she started her work again, the sorceress' breathing now rather ragged. Weakness seemed to nearly overcome her; and whatever she was brewing in the cauldron, appeared to be her first priority at the moment.

A large catapult faced the south wall of the castle, partially blocking their view of Maleficent from where they stood; and Emma realized that it might just be something that could work in their favor. Killian shifted next to her, and she whispered quietly to him, as Emma's eyes darted between Regina and her captors.

"Make your way around that west tower if you can," she urged him, crouching low to avoid being noticed. "We need Regina freed, and I might just be able to get the wand from Maleficent while she's still weak."

The two of them turned to look at one another simultaneously, and for a moment Emma thought he was going to ask her what she had wanted to tell him. Instead, though, Killian leaned over and briefly kissed her cheek with surprising confidence; the warmth from his lips spreading from her face to her toes.

"May the winds be in your favor, Swan."

Emma watched him cast a confident smirk in her direction; before he ducked low and took off along the stone perimeter, his black clothes allowing him to nearly disappear into darkness of the night.

That man never ceased to amaze her.

Regina had finally broken her silence, her voice ringing out over the rooftop like a gunshot as she struggled to sit up; and though her breath was irregular, Emma was relieved to hear the resolve in her tone.

"What do you have to gain from working with these hags, Gold?"

Finally reaching cover, Emma was able to crouch behind the catapult; her hands sliding across the rough and splintered wood of the large weapon, well hidden from Maleficent's line of sight. From this angle, she could also see Gold's features quite clearly, despite the darkness and lack of torch light.

"Gain? Why, the only thing that mattered all this time, Dearie. Power."

While Killian solidified his hiding place behind the tower, Emma heard the bellow of a conch shell in the far distance; and she inwardly wondered whether the battle raged on, and who had managed to survive – if anyone. Surely, though, if her parents had been killed, she would know it.

Wouldn't she?

Gold's usual indifferent demeanor manifested into one that looked to Emma like righteous anger, as the man continued, pointing a longer finger at Regina with a quiver in his voice that she had never heard before.

"I spent a lifetime in my father's shadow of cowardice; always afraid to turn into the same thing. So I created my own destiny… you, of all people should understand that," he accused, coming to stand closer to the queen.

When Regina gave her reply, Emma noticed Maleficent turn her bony head toward the scene behind her; the shabby blonde hair clinging to her hollowed neck. In the moonlight, something glittered in the sorceress' pocket, and Emma felt her fingers tingle.

"So who are these four ring holders, Gold? I assume you must know, having made the rings yourself."

Unable to stop herself, Emma leaned forward to hear more, and her arm slipped from where she leaned against the catapult; causing a metal mechanism to fall from atop the weapon. With agile instincts, she reached out with her magic, a pale blue light encasing the large gear before it hit the floor, allowing her to remain safely hidden.

Whew.

"Are you honestly that thick, Regina?"

Emma was surprised to hear Zelena chime in, having been quiet all this time, after the witch jerked her head back to Regina. Even from this distance, Emma could see Zelena's features recoil in discomfort, as her strawberry locks billowed in the wind.

"After my mother the White Witch gave birth to me and my twin sister, the Narnian King at the time had her killed," Zelena said scathingly, pulling out her wand again. "As infants, my sister and I were banished from that land and sent to Oz for fear that we would follow in her wicked ways.. we were sent away as outcasts."

Sister? Emma had thought Maleficent was Zelena's only sister; she had just assumed the sister everyone knew about from the Wizard of Oz story didn't exist. It wouldn't be the first time the modern version of the fairytales had got it wrong.

Quickly turning her direction toward Gold, Emma watched his features carefully, as he maintained stoic. Emma fleetingly wondered if he had anything to do with the White Witch's execution, since his past usually intertwined with everyone else's she has ever met.

"Don't sell your sob story to me, Zelena," Regina drawled, her features unsympathetic. "You've been calling Maleficent your sister all this time, when we both know you don't share any blood. Hell, she and I had been friends long before you met."

Zelena and Maleficent weren't sisters? Regina hadn't shared that bit of information, though Emma supposed it didn't really make much difference to their cause.

There was a brief pause, and for a moment Regina's features almost looked forlorn. "I've had my share of loss too, Zelena."

A flash of green lit up the entire rooftop, and the queen strained against her chains, a long wail spilling from the her lips. Emma instinctively raised her palms to intervene, but saw Killian look over in her direction, shaking his head adamantly as if to ask her to remain silent. Emma knew he was right: if either of them were caught before they had a chance to obtain the element of surprise; it could ensure destruction for them all.

Finally, Zelena stopped, standing directly over Regina, as if to show her dominance. "Rumplestiltskin came to Oz to train us, telling us that we were destined to be two of the ring holders," Zelena hissed. "He said that we would one day return to Narnia, and claim what was rightfully ours."

As if on cue, Gold pulled out a familiar velvet satchel that Emma had held in Narnia. Two golden rings plopped out into his palm: one reflecting a bright blue, the other a deep green that Emma recognized as the ring from the garden.

Zelena jerked her head around to Gold, her eyes narrowing in obvious jealousy. "But when my sister and I tried to enter Narnia to claim our power, the rings would not respond to us," she said bitingly, her voice rising as she turned back to Regina. Without warning, the witch lunged at Regina's hand and jerked something off of her with a sneer. Holding it up toward the night sky, Emma could make out a flicker of gold shining in Zelena's fingers.

The revelation shouldn't have caught her so off guard, but it did, Emma scolding herself for having missed it all along. A brief memory of her first lesson with Regina in the guardhouse flashed in her mind; the gold band on the queen's hand had caught her attention for the briefest moment.

Zelena turned the object around for closer inspection. There in her grasp, with hints of blood-red, was another golden ring.

No way...

The queen looked on in utter amazement, confusion written all over her face. It was clear that Regina was just as much in the dark about her power as a ring holder as Emma had been. Gold, per usual, did not look surprised and pulled the ring from Zelena's fingers. He added it to the other two in his outstretched palm; the three rings sparkling under the moonlight. Regina stared out into the night, her mind reeling as she reflected out loud.

"It was my mother's," she whispered. "I took it from her after she died…"

Emma saw Killian take advantage of Zelena's lack of focus, as the pirate came out from his hiding place slowly, reaching behind Regina's chains. The queen turned her head back, breaking from her trance for a brief moment, before looking forward again so she wouldn't be caught.

"Cora travelled to Narnia while she was pregnant with you, Regina," Gold said quietly, though Emma heard them loud and clear. "She held your power with her, and therefore was permitted to claim the ring."

Emma scowled at Gold, watching his smug demeanor through the darkness and smoke billowing from the cauldron.

And I just wander who told Cora about the ring's location.

Turning back to Maleficent, Emma watched as she added more ingredients to the cauldron. The contents suddenly bubbled louder, nearly spilling over the edge and the smell of a sewage drain hit her nose.

Over the noise, she could still hear Zelena's snarl, which sounded like a bit like an angry pit bull. "How can someone as pathetic as the daughter of a peasant claim such power, when my twin sister and I never could?"

At her question, Maleficent turned around and Emma watched as the sorceress limped her way over to the group, wand in hand. Emma realized this might be her only chance to disarm her, and she covertly moved closer, crouching behind the cauldron, which stood about fifteen feet away. Keeping her eyes focused on the Black Wand, Emma inwardly hoped that Killian had freed Regina from her chains, before her palms began to tingle; the warmth of her magic flowing through her body.

Just imagine you're holding the wand…

Her focus shattered, however, when Maleficent's raspy words broke the quiet around them, her tone malicious and foreboding. "That's because you weren't meant for greatness, Zelena."

Emma stopped her magic, and glanced at the witch; whose expression turned from furious to utterly baffled. Even Regina appeared surprised, and though Emma couldn't see Maleficent's features, she was certain the sorceress was quite serious.

Maleficent raised the Black Wand over her head, pointing it at Zelena, and Emma quietly gasped as she saw a flash of gold on her hand under the moon's reflective light. Her instincts had been right all along.

Maleficent was one of the ring holders.

"What do you mean," Zelena said quietly, her resolve breaking down slowly. "We are part of a sisterhood of ringholders, and Rumple trained me too-"

"You were a loyal companion, but you are neither my blood, nor my equal," Maleficent said callously. "Rumplestilskin had been wrong to think you and your twin were meant for the rings. Your magic helped to get us to this point, but you can't just earn the right to be a ring holder."

Emma had moved around the cauldron, and could see the firelight from a nearby torch reflect on Maleficent's hollowed profile, her dark eyes void of any emotion. "You either are or you aren't. Rest assured, though, that your sacrifice will guarantee my permanent regeneration."

Before Emma or anyone else can react, Maleficent thrust her long, skeletal arm into Zelena's chest, and wrenched out her heart, as the witch screamed in agony. The sorceress held the glowing organ, which seemed to thump in her hand for a moment; red in some places, but mostly covered with blackened shadows from years of abandonment, jealousy, and hatred.

There was a last look of utter shock on Zelena's face, before her features contorted with pain and betrayal, as Maleficent mercilessly crushed it to ash, watching her once-ally and devoted confidant fall motionless to the stony floor below her feet with a resounding thud.

Emma was so stunned that her limbs could not and would not move; as she stayed crouched behind the cauldron. Without another word, Maleficent made her way toward the bubbling ingredients, the heat from the fire pulling Emma out of her daze. She made one last attempt to focus on the wand, hoping it would be yanked from the sorceress, who now only had Gold as an ally.

Come on…come on…

Maleficent held her hand over the ingredients, the ash falling into the cauldron with a loud sizzle, its contents turning a deeper shade of purple. Emma felt her fingers burn red hot from her magic; but before she could focus any further, the ingredients had finally boiled up to the edge, falling over the side.

The cauldron suddenly exploded, creating a purple smoke around Maleficent that had apparently been exactly what the sorceress had planned.

"It's time," she grinned viciously, her dark eyes turning to yellow slits that reminded Emma of the Hydra. "The power is mine."

There was a great tremble beneath their feet, the entirety of the castle shaking with a force unlike Emma has ever experienced. Suddenly, the structure began to descend into the ground; its walls and towers crumbling around them. She had only enough time to spot Killian, who held Regina against him, but shouted at Emma from across the distance.

Without warning, the structure plummeted beneath the surface of the ground; and they were lowered into a large cave about the size of a football stadium. Emma found it nearly impossible to maintain her sense of balance, as Gold look around nervously; apparently surprised at the turn of events.

If she hadn't been so terrified, Emma would have found satisfaction in knowing that Gold was caught off guard by Maleficent's actions. She also wondered fleetingly whether the cavernous world, covered with stalagmites and stalactites nearly two stories high, had always been there, or if it was simply a display of Maleficent's newly-acquired power.

The eastern and western towers had become, what looked small mountains, protruding up from a cavernous ground beneath them. It was slightly damp, but the air was thick, like they were in a rain forest, and there was no light except for the faint glow from Gold and Maleficent's magic somewhere in the distance.

"Swan!"

She heard Killian's strangled yell, and Emma cringed, as she heard his painful grunt through the darkness; completely blind to what was happening with him or Regina; before the entire cavern lit up on all sides, fire and ash erupting from every crevice.

Emma could now see across the large area, at least sixty or seventy yards; and she bit back a scream when she saw that Gold held Killian against the cave wall, choking him.

Unimaginable and scorching heat seemed to come from every angle; as Maleficent raised the Black Wand, creating rivers of lava and ash to accompany the volcanic towers. Emma felt a wave of familiarity hit her, mixing with the sweltering air in her lungs, as she allowed the truth to sink in.

This was the setting of her latest vision.

There was a brief moment of panic that gripped Emma's heart, and her heart pumped so loudly in her ears that she barely heard the voice booming from across the cavern like an intercom. "Well, well... we were wondering when the Savior and her pirate would join the party," Maleficent shouted, her voice resounding over them.

Emma took off at a sprint toward Killian and Regina, darting between volcanic mounds of all sizes. She had quickly created a defensive barrier to protect herself; and the heat from the magic had already made it nearly unbearable in addition to the blistering environment around her.

Emma leapt over the fiery river, and noticed that although Zelena's corpse had somehow managed to stay intact this entire time, it now slowly sunk into the lava, which incinerated the flesh from her bones, leaving only green ooze over the volcanic rocks that poked through the deadly liquid. Everything she ever was, or meant to have been, was gone within a few short seconds.

Gold did nothing to stop Emma's progress; and actually released his hold on Killian, as she reached him and Regina.

"Killian," she choked out, helping him to his feet, as he gasped for breath. Emma looked over at Regina, who was still chained to the rock that was the tower, her leg bleeding worse than ever.

She leaned down, placing her hands over her injury to close up the wound, glancing over at the queen to meet her eyes; her heart clenching, as Emma realized they were rimmed with tears.

Don't give up me, yet, Regina.

Gold made his way over the river that separated them from Maleficent, and stood next to the sorceress, who Emma could now see stood much taller and more ominous. Her skin was a dark color of grey, richer than the corpse-like shade it had been before; but almost scaly, like that of a serpent. Her eyes were the brightest yellow they had ever been, and her lips gleamed blood-red under the fiery flames above them.

One of Regina's cuffs appeared to be loosened, and Emma did her best not let on that she noticed. Suddenly, she felt as if her head was being pressed between a vice, like there wasn't enough room for her to focus clearly on one specific thought.

"Can get free… distract her… only need a moment."

She glanced over at the queen, and Emma realized that somehow Regina has already picked up on the fact that they shared a magical connection. Whether the communication could be controlled or not, it was enough for her to understand what needed done.

Maleficent's words snapped her attention back to the sorceress, the melodic tone much more determined and firm, now that she had been regenerated.

"We've been waiting for you, Savior."

Emma glared back at her, and resisted the urge to cover her abdomen. She knew full well the answer to Maleficent's question before asking it.

"What do you want with me," she said defensively, her palms still warm as if to anticipate an attack. "You already have the wand and all four of the rings."

A sneer came from the sorceress' prominently narrow nose, and Emma had been almost certain that she had seen a light smoke escape her nostrils, as the heat radiated intensely around them.

"Yes, we've had the four rings all along, but their magic is much more powerful if it's wielded by the ones they were meant for."

Emma narrowed her eyes, and pulled them over to meet Gold's, who she could tell this wasn't news to him. A deep, fiery anger burned low in her belly, as she realized that the man had kept this from her, too.

The conniving bastard.

Gold hadn't mentioned that only the ring holders could activate their power. When Zelena had said that her and her twin had been unable to obtain the rings, Emma hadn't made the connection. She was the "savior" after all, so perhaps that had been why the golden apple in Narnia came to hear so easily.

It suddenly made sense, now. Rapunzel had said that only someone worthy could enter the Garden of Youth and no one else. She recalled that moment: how it had felt so right; how she had known from the moment the glimmering apple caught her eye that she was meant to find it and how that golden ring had warmed in her palm.

And now Emma knew why.

"You didn't just need me to obtain the ring in Narnia- you needed me to activate its power," she whispered, glancing over at Killian, who gaped at her with a pained expression.

Their eyes met, despite the darkness and over the noise, she knew Killian didn't need to hear her words to understand.

"It had to be me because I'm one of the ring holders."

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or its characters or anything from CS Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia.