Camelot
Weeks Ago
"So you can really do it..." David asked the legendary sorcerer as the group met in in Granny's while Emma sat outside making dream catchers by the dozen "Take the dark one dagger and put it together with Arthur's sword to re-create the original Excalibur?".
"I hope so" Merlin replies.
"And we can use it to save Emma?" Mary Margaret added making Zelena rolled her eyes at the woman's optimism that the blade would be able to help the savior.
"Perhaps, but I need two things. The magical means to unite the two blades. That's my and Emma's quest. From you, I need...".
"The two blades" Regina supplied from her spot next to her soulmate in a red booth shifting uncomfortably as Amelia stared hard at their joined hands on the table in deep thought.
"We're pretty much at the open-warfare stage here" the redheaded assassin speaks up from her place next to the former Evil Queen "Which just so happens to be my favorite kind of warfare by the way" she offhandedly adds to the group "Getting the partial sword from Arthur won't be easy. Possible. But not easy" she says making both Robin and Anastasia nod along with her observations.
"As long as you're looking at the future" Hook voices from the counter "Any hints on how?" the pirate question the man they've put all their hope into. It was easy to tell the man was getting more frustrated with the lack of movement from Merlin as they originally hoped.
"Well, the future isn't exact" Merlin answered the pirate "There are many parts-".
"Of course there are" Hook cut the sorcerer off "You're willing to send us behind enemy lines, but when it comes to specifics, everything's a little fuzzy, isn't it?!" he yelled at Merlin in anger.
"Hook, Merlin's helping Emma" David tried to calm the pirate, only for it to rile the man further.
"Is he?!" Hook yelled pointing to window "She's sitting out there right now, making things to pull memories out of people's heads, because that's what she does now instead of sleeping. I'm not quite seeing the "helping"!".
"I understand" Merlin told him "I know what it is to lose someone you love to the Dark One. All I can ask of all of you is that you bring me that sword... and that you have patience with Emma. Her kind of power, for good or evil... It is a weight on the soul. And love is a great help, if you can find it".
As Merlin finished his speech to the group the door of Granny's burst open making the group to look up to see the cause of the sudden entrance was a angry John Smith stepped into the restaurant to find the woman that could help explain what had been going on behind his back.
His eye's quickly found his redheaded ex-wife with her new love sat next to her after taking in everyone' presence, ignoring the new face within the group.
"Okay" he huffed out with his hands on his hips as his ex looked back at him like a deer caught in headlights "What the hell is going on Amelia?!".
"Shit".
500 Years Earlier
Out of all the lands she, Minerva and Jupiter had created almost a millennium ago, this land was her favorites out right, it was different to the ones she had a hand in creating,some parts of it were lush in vegetation, where life thrived whereas it was once covered in dry coarse sand as far as one could see.
She usually wouldn't be walking among the creatures they once used as slaves to build their great cities before the Great Catastrophe, but she left her last experiment in this land unattended for longer than she would've wanted to, she needed to check up on him.
Strolling in the small village, she came across a familiar man she had saved and bestowed powers upon after drinking from a chalice that had killed his comrade. The village he lived and worked in was almost covered in pick middle mist flowers as she strolled further in giving no attention to other villagers that walked past her as she continued to watch the man by the well. Merlin.
He was using the gift she gave him to heal an older man with his daughter stood by his side with two young boy's by his side watching the man. Well she would say they both watched, but one was more interested in the small blade he was spinning his hand that what he was doing.
"There. You're healed" Merlin announced to the man as he took in a deep healthy breath as color returned to his face.
"Many thanks great Merlin" the young woman told her experiment.
"You're both very welcome" Merlin told the pair as one of the young boy's led them away.
"I think that's it for today" his Apprentice tells him as he see's a woman wearing an almost glittering white robe and hood with gold plates on the shoulder and neckline make her presence known to them, looking straight at Merlin "Wait. Who is she?".
Looking to see where his apprentice was looking at. Fear etched the sorcerer's face as his eyes met her gentle smile as he pulled his apprentices shoulder back away from the woman "Fetch Altair and go inside, do not come out until I say so" the boy did as he said and grabbed the other boys arm and took him into one of the small houses before the sorcerer quickly closed the distance between them.
"Hello Merlin" the woman greeted the man with a grin.
"You" he almost growled at the woman as his soft and welcoming face turned hard at the sight of the woman in front of him.
"Is that really the way to speak to the person who created who you are today?" she retorted "It was my chalice you drank out of to give those powers you waste away".
"What do you want?" he demanded out of the woman in a hushed tone, hoping no one would look their way.
"I came to check on you, is that so hard to believe?".
Closing the distance between them Merlin grabbed her arm and dragged her to a secluded corner of the village, once alone Merlin turned on the woman in anger.
"You cannot be here".
"Would you rather have Minerva or Jupiter here instead?" she said as a villager walked past the pair "They loath these creatures just as much as I do" she glowers to the sorcerer as she watches the innocent villagers walk by.
"Merlin?" a new voice called out to the man making the pair to look up to see a young brunette woman with a basket in her hand looking straight at them "Who's this?".
"No-one" Merlin quickly answered his love, for the deity in his presence. She had noticed how quickly he had changed in the split second, he was being protective of the little human.
"Come now Merlin, you can tell me anything. Who is she?".
"My name is Nimue" the woman answered for the sorcerer holding her head up firmly at the woman Merlin was speaking to.
"Nimue" Juno tested the name on her lips as a smirk grew on her face "What a unique little name you have".
Leaving the other's inside Merlin found Emma outside to find Emma sat continuing to create dream catchers on a log deep in concentration.
"Emma" he called out to the blonde, only for it to go ignored, he tried again making her head snap out breaking her concentration on the dream catcher in her hand as he sat himself down on the fallen log. "Emma, there is a way to make Excalibur whole again" he tells her "Will you come with me today so we can get what we need? It's not far".
"What is it?".
"A spark from mankind's original fire, the Flame of Prometheus" he explains "Its heat forged Excalibur, and that's what we'll need to put it back together. So will you come with me to collect the spark? We'll be back by nightfall".
Emma looked closely at Merlin's facial expression and saw the slight fear in his eyes "You look dire. What is it?".
"When we get there, we will need to deal with the first dark one and the one that made her" he told her.
"The one who wore the mask? The one who killed the woman you love?".
Merlin nodded at the blonde "The very same. This is not a trivial task".
"I was seeing Rumplestiltskin. Like, a voice in my head. I just got rid of him. And now you want me to let another one in?".
"Yes, and not just anyone" he continues "This is the first Dark One, the original, the one from whom all the evil that followed was born. And her creator. You will need to be ready to see her true face, one you know and care about already, but you mustn't let her get to you, she will do anything to get you to succumb to the darkness within you".
Emma nodded to the man in understanding "Will we win?" she asks him.
Merlin lets out a deep sigh the sorcerer pauses to thin of an answer for her question "I see two paths for our journey, Emma. On one, you resist the darkness and we succeed. On the other, you succumb to the darkness and I do not return. I die".
"You die? But...".
"Even immortality has exceptions. A Dark One does have the power to kill me".
"But they won't even be there. Not really" she argues, as Merlin looks down, she quickly realizes the truth "Oh. It would be me. If you died, it would be me".
"If I die, it means that you lost your battle and the darkness stained your soul. Everything and everyone that you know will be at the mercy of the most powerful dark one ever. Yourself. No pressure".
"Look it's not that big of a deal" Amelia told her ex-husband trying her best to downplay what had really been going on around him outside the restroom of the diner, opting to lean against the wall as he paced the length of the hallway after she told him of the events that led them to Camelot, including Emma becoming the Dark One and why they had become public enemy one with King Arthur.
After the Captain found out of the Storybrooke's residents apparent 'treason' against King Arthur, he needed to hear it from the woman herself of what had been really going on.
To be fair they had kept him out the loop of what they had been really doing in Camelot. While he stayed by King Arthur's side as a knight of his round table.
Hearing this from his wife the Captain stopped pacing to face his ex "Amy, you just told me that Emma is the Dark One, how is that not a big deal?".
"That's why we are here, she took the darkness for Regina and I when it left my Uncle. It brought her here, we just followed. We weren't expecting anyone to greet us let alone a damn King".
"And that woman, Zelena. Who is she?".
"She's from a place called OZ" Amelia answered her husband "She's the Wicked Witch and Regina's older half-sister".
The privateer remembered her mentioning her when he was in Storybrooke "You said she died" he questioned her.
"Apparently not" she choked out a laugh that bubbled out from the back of her throat "She slipped into the time vortex that brought Emma and Hook to you and pretended to be Robin's wife Marian".
"So all that time Marian was actually her".
"Exactly. She fooled all of us".
"And Marian?".
"Dead. Zelena killed her when she landed in the Forest" She told him. John's eyes dropped as his hands went to his hips, knowing the pain Robin must've been through as Amelia continued "She posed as Marian until we caught her out. Trust me I would've killed her there and then if it hadn't been for –".
"..The baby" John finished choking up as angry tears threatened to fall he struggled to contain his anger at what had been happening while he decided to leave Storybrooke.
"Why would she do this?" he asked her trying to understand the woman's motive to hurt his friend.
"Revenge, spitefulness, bat shit crazy" she listed off "The reasons are endless, but it stems from her envy towards Regina's life, after their mother abandoned her".
"Why Robin?".
"She knows how close I am with Robin, our past, she knew it would hurt me and hurt Regina" John gave his wife a pointed look wanting her to continue on how she knew Zelena "During my time as the Widow...I slept with her to extract information about a target" she meekly admitted to her first love.
"Amelia" John exasperated in pure disdain with his head in his hands.
"Don't give me that" Amelia scoffed at the man "There must've been other's while you lost your memories".
"Of course there weren't, I was in love with you" he snapped at her making her back down.
"Things have been difficult, but we're trying our best to deal with it" she didn't know what else to tell him other than that.
"Your best? Is that what you tell yourself when you bring Tom into all of this?".
"Don't" she sternly tell the man in front of her "Don't you dare turn this on Tom. I'm not the one that abandoned us because he thought it was the right thing to do!".
"He killed someone Amelia! He killed a man in front of everyone".
"You don't think I don't know that!" she yelled at him pulling herself oof the wall to face the man as her voice filtered back through to the diner as the others overheard her snapping at the Captain's constant accusations "That has been greatest fear ever since I had him. That he would be exactly like me. But, if you took the time to really get to know him, you would see he's nothing like me, but no you left us. You left him. You have no idea what pieces of our son I've had to pick up and put back together after you decided being out of his life was better for him. You have no idea how angry I've been since you left!".
"Sorry to interrupt-" Regina's voice stopped from the argument from growing further from the formally married pair as they looked towards her. She couldn't sit back and let the other's overhear the heartbreak in the redhead's voice anymore "Merlin needs to see you before he leaves with Emma" she tells her partner giving her an excuse to walk away from the Captain.
Amelia didn't need another excuse to leave her current conversation with her estranged husband as she walked past her partner to find Merlin in the main diner leaving John with Regina alone for the first time since coming to Camelot.
"Everything okay?" Regina asked the man.
"No" he snapped at the woman that had taken his wife away from him "Everything's not okay. My friends wife is dead, now this Zelena woman is having his child, and not only did the woman I love moved on with you but apparently there's been more than just you and Robin. And Emma is apparently the Dark One. So, no Regina everything is not okay".
The former queen took hesitant steps towards the captain as he tried to digest what his ex-wife had just told him "Look I know that's a lot of information to take in but-"
"But what Your Majesty?" he questions the Evil Queen that stood in between of him ever finding her again.
"She thought you were dead John" Regina tried to stand up for her partner "We all did. I thought that when we first met all those years ago".
"I don't have time for this. I need to get back-".
"No" the brunette firmly tells him getting in his way to leave "You don't get to just walk away this time. Not when we've made sure Tom didn't hate you, instead she took the blame for the fallout of your relationship".
"I didn't ask her to do that".
"You didn't give her much choice. She knows how it feels to abandoned by a father, even if it was for her own safety".
"The first time we met, when I found you who you were. I knew the second she knew you were alive, she would leave me. She loved you so much John, there were times I even thought there was no way she could ever love me like that, not that I ever deserved it back then. But she did, and that's on me" she admitted to the Captain "I couldn't see through my own anger and hatred to see the person that was desperately trying to someway move on from you, she didn't care how much of herself she lost, because she had already lost everything that mattered in you and Tom".
"That didn't stop her from doing everything I heard about the Black Widow. There are better ways".
"You're right, but I don't think she knew the difference back then. She does now, and she's doing her best to do right by everyone, especially to her children. She couldn't stop Tom from killing the man, none of us could" she gulps remembering the look on his face that looked exactly like his mothers during her darkest days.
"Only the other day she was telling Henry just how much she loved you. You were the first genuine person she had ever met. The first one who didn't care who she was or what she could do. That's something not even I could ever take from you. She fell in love with you first. Not me".
The Captain stood in front of the former Evil Queen in silent contemplation seeing that he had finally won something over the woman that sentenced him to death. Amelia loved him first. He didn't feel like he had won anything at all. He just wasn't part of the happy ending she kept going on about back in Storybrooke. He was never part of it. She was.
"I uh,need to get back before Arthur notices I'm missing" at that John Smith walked around the former Queen to leave the diner and make his way back to the castle, the other's watched him leave with sympathetic smiles having overheard his argument with Amelia, while Zelena silently smirked to herself, knowing what she was going to do as soon as she got her voice back and his ear.
With John's abrupt departure and Emma and Merlin leaving to begin their quest to find the magical means of reuniting the two blades. That left the rest of them to figure out how they would be getting the sword from Arthur.
Gathered around a table, the group looked over a mock layout of the castle on one of the diners drawing place-mats trying to figure out a way into the fortress without anyone possibly being killed or hurt, leaving Zelena laid out on her back on the counter listening to the other's discussion
"Okay, what's the plan?" Mary Margaret started them off from her pace next to her true love.
"We take them by surprise a go in through the front gate" David suggested to the group as Zelena silently exasperated at the Prince's suggestion from her place from lying on top of the counter.
"Well, after our jailbreak, they'll be on high alert" Hook tells opposite the couple, as the Wicked Witch sit up hearing this from the pirate "We need a diversion at the drawbridge. The rest of us can climb the wall on the side. I think our resident Assassin's will be able to scale the walls in no time" he says looking at Amelia and Anastasia across the table, who were both quietly examining the 'plan' of the castle in front of them in deep thought, taking in every detail they could think of to give them the advantage.
"Are you forgetting? I've got magic I can just poof into Arthur's bedroom" Regina argued to the group making Zelena scoff from the counter gaining everyone's attention "What?!" the former Queen snapped at her mute sister, Zelena gestured to her throat, reminding her of her temporary impairment "Well, if you're going to make a scene, you might as well make noise" with a wave of her hand Regina lifted Zelena's mute-ism.
"Oh! Thank you" Zelena exclaimed in relief getting her voice "I do love hearing a sensible person talk" she says jumping off the counter top.
"Spit it out. What are you thinking?".
"I'm thinking going in the front. Suicide" she tells the Prince "Diversion. Arthur hides the sword. You need it on him" she tells the pirate before looking to her sister "And you could poof right in front of a blade. Oopsie!" Zelena grinned "You need to sneak in so quietly... No one knows you're there".
Zelena's suggestion was met by stunned silence as redheaded assassin and her blonde sister looked at her in disbelief "I can't believe I'm actually going to say this" Amelia spoke up for the first time "But Zelena's right".
"I'm sorry, did I just miss-hear you or did you agree with me?" Zelena blinked at the former Black Widow with a toothy smirk.
"Oh, I wanna to take it back" Amelia deadpanned the Wicked Witch "We might as well kill ourselves going through the front door and we can't risk Arthur hiding it, not without knowing every nook and cranny of the castle, that sort of surveillance could take weeks, something we do not have".
"How?" David interrupted the pair looking towards Zelena for more insight "Hang glider? Oh, giant slingshot".
"If Sir-Castic would let me speak, I'd tell you that I wasn't idle during those days in there, playing mute handmaiden at Regina's side" Zelena said throwing David and annoyed look "I was plotting an escape".
"I knew it" Regina seethed to herself as the redheaded assassin held out her hand towards her soulmate, allowing the former Queen slap a twenty dollar bill in her hand. She hated it when she lost a bet.
"And I found a way out" the witch continued "And if I know a way out, I know a way in".
"You're going to help us?" Anastasia asked the Wicked Witch with a skeptical brow.
"Of course. Because you're going to help me" she says holding up her wrist and pulled down the sleeve of her dress "I want my magic back".
Somewhat true to her word, Zelena had led them to an old stone structure that sat below the main castle with an entryway that was bared with iron that must've halted the Wicked Witch's own escape plans with her magic to wave hem away.
"It's a tunnel, abandoned for years. It will take you to the courtyard" she claimed to the group as Amelia and David approached the iron gate blocking their way in.
"Well, if it's so good, why didn't you escape through it?" Hook questioned the woman.
"Observe the massive metal grate" she sarcastically replied to the pirate "See, without magic, I'm a delicate thing".
"Hardly" Amelia scoffed at the woman under her breath as she and David looking through the bars, the redhead's eye's shone gold as she took in every detail of the tunnel.
"Well, it leads in the right direction" David observed out-load "Looks like your information is good, at least this far".
"Thank you" she thanks the Prince before looking at her sister "Now I've done my part. You can do yours. Take off this bloody cuff" she demands out of the former Queen.
"For all we know, this leads to the guards' quarters" Amelia quickly intervened, not ready to fully trust the woman yet.
"We make it out safe with the sword, then we'll talk" Regina told her older sister before looking at Mary Margaret "Mary Margaret, how do you feel about guard duty?".
"Oh, I'd be delighted" Mary Margaret answered glancing towards Zelena "We'll chat, have plenty of pregnancy tips".
"Good Lord, this is worse than being in my cell" Zelena grumbled out.
"The cell's still an option if you're not careful dearie" Amelia told the woman meeting her eye as she allowed moved aside to let Regina walk to the gate.
"All right, everyone." The former Queen sighed "Let's get this sword" waving her hand across the gate it disappeared as Robin, Hook and David unsheathed their swords as Anastasia and Amelia pulled up their hoods as Amelia led the group minus Mary Margaret and Zelena into the castle.
She could feel the hustle and bustle of the castle the further she walked through the tunnel, at least Zelena's word was worth something. With Hook by her side, they led the rest of them through as neared the end of the dark tunnel.
"Back" Hook hushed at the others as she pressed her back on the wall next to the pirate as a pair of knights marched through the castle carrying a dark smoky cauldron.
"You suppose that's for us?" Robin asked the group as he and Regina hid themselves on the opposite side of the archway.
"I have a feeling we don't want to find out" Regina replied.
"Ditto on the Queen" Anastasia added.
"Come on. We need to keep moving" Amelia encouraged the others as she led them out of the tunnel.
"I keep waiting for the axe to fall" Robin voiced out load at his uneasiness to the current situation to trusting Zelena's word.
"I didn't think she had it in her, but..." the former Queen replied "Zelena hasn't screwed us... Yet".
"There's still time" they heard Amelia add at the front of the group as David and Anastasia left the tunnel.
Years Earlier
Night had fallen when Merlin and his love Nimue made it to Prometheus's flame. With the plan to turn the Holy Grail that Merlin drank from to gain his power into a sword to strip his powers from himself so he could life a full mortal life with his love Nimue. Nothing was going to get in his way to stop him, not even Juno's sudden appearance could stop him.
However, the deity herself was not going to let her little experiment in this realm simply take his power away without a fight. All she had to do was to whisper in his little love's ear to drink from the grail while his back was turned to scupper any plans he had and in the end she would have her Piece of Eden returned to her hand. And this time as a weapon and something this realm need to make it bit more interesting.
"It's amazing" Nimue said in awe at the flame, making Merlin chuckle at her amazement.
"Come. You'll see that's an understatement"
The couple approached the flame in wonder and Juno simply had to watch as the next few minutes played out in front of her "Are you sure this will work?" Nimue asks her love as she took out the grail from her satchel.
"I'm quite sure" Merlin answered her as she handed him the grail that gave him the power of the ones that came before "This will give me the life I wish for... Shorter... And full of love and meaning".
Her experiment placed the grail in front of the flame taking a step backwards Merlin commands embers of the flame to egulf the grail, his magic made the grail hover in the air as the flame melted the goblet allowing Merlin to reshape into a waved long sword.
Juno watched with a wide smirk as Merlin grasped the sword with his hand taking it out of the air and into his hand Nimue heard something behind them.
"Oh, my God" Merlin heard Nimue gasp "Wait!".
"What?" Merlin asked turning around to see a hooded figure with a gold mask over his face.
"Vortigan" Nimue states in fear seeing the man that destroyed her village.
"There's no more Grail, sir. Leave us be" Merlin warns the figure.
"He wants the sword" Nimue told her love as Vortigan grabs Nimue holding a spiked weapon up to her throat.
"The sword will bring you no joy" Merlin tells the man as Nimue starts struggling in Vortigan's grasp Nimue elbows Vortigan, and escapes his grasp.
"Nimue, be still!" Merlin warns his love.
"I can do this! You don't know!" in her struggle Nimue manages to unmask the figure only for him to stab her in the stomach with the spiked weapon making her groan in pain.
"No!" Merlin exclaimed as he dropped the Piece of Eden to the ground. Catching his love in his arms gently lowering her down onto the ground as he looks at the growing blood stain on her dress.
"I'm sorry" she whispers in Merlin's arms as takes her last breath.
"Nimue!" Merlin exclaimed in grief as he love died in his arms.
"Oh dear" her voice makes Merlin freeze over Nimue's body, looking up he see's Juno herself with the sword in her grasp "You should've listened to me Merlin".
Present Day
Guiding Emma through the ruins of the now burnt-out Prometheus flame, he couldn't help but think of what happened to his love all those centuries ago, and now he would have to face her and the woman that destroyed her.
"This structure marks the end of Prometheus' theft" Merlin explained to Emma "The stolen flame burned on for a great while... Long enough for Excalibur to be both forged and broken here. This is where the First Dark One killed Nimue, the woman I loved and where I trapped the woman that made the sorcerer I am today".
"What happened to the flame?" Emma asked him.
"The First Dark One took it and still possesses it in the form of a single ember, with the spark deep inside".
"So that's what I need to get" she summarizes "Okay. Bring him on".
Taking her dagger from his belt, he hands the Dark One her dagger, the one he had gotten from the product of star-crossed lover's as she quickly takes it from his hands, holding it out in front of her to see her name inscribed upon the blade.
"My family let you take this?" sh questioned the sorcerer.
"Amelia did. Before we left. Without the other's permission" he answered her "You need its power to talk to the First Dark One, to reach all the way back to the origin of dark magic" Merlin gives the blonde place as the she feels the power that lies within.
"It's buzzing, like... Ants crawling up my arm" Emma tells him before whirling round to face him "Is it safe?".
"Of course not. Your power is totally unchecked, and I've just handed you the power to kill me. Now... Call on the spirit of the previous dark ones" Merlin instructs her.
"Take the right path" she breaths shakily "It's just in my head. It's just in my head. It's just in my head" she whispers to herself as she watches as the Dark One dagger scrolls back through the names of all previous dark ones until it stopped at the name 'Nimue'.
Looking up Emma is taken aback when she sees two figures standing in front of her. One in a dark robe and gold mask with another next to it in a white robe similar to the one Amelia wore only this on was different, it uncomfortably shined with its gold-plated shoulder and neckline.
"You did it" Merlin gasps beside Emma looking upon the pair that had started it all.
"You can see him, too?".
"Yes. Power has its advantages" he tells her "And it's not a him" he corrects her as the figure in black removes its mask to reveal a woman behind it. Nimue met Merlin's gaze for the first time in centuries as the man simply stared back at the woman he once loved stood before him as her creator stood beside her with their back towards them.
The figure in white pulled the heavy hood off their head to reveal the dark red hair that the blonde savior knew too well not to recognize straight away.
The redhead in white turned around to show the newest Dark One her true face as the saviors eye's widened in shock as a pair of green eyes looked straight back her with a playful grin.
"Hello Emma".
"Amelia?".
Years Ago
As Merlin mourned his love on his knee's,Juno couldn't help but roll her eye's at the man's grief as she held the new Sword of Eden in her hand.
"Sorrow's. Sorrow's. Prayer's. Prayer's" she mocked sympathy for the man as she turned to Vortigan making the sorcerer look up to watch the one that came before hand the man that killed Nimue.
"Good work" she tells the man as he takes the sword from her "Your reward as promised. Please take care with it. It's worth more than your life" Juno tells Vortigan. Nodding in understanding the man walking away from Merlin and his fallen love only for Merlin to stop him from leaving as he left his fallen love to stop the man from leaving.
"You killed her!" the sorcerer yelled at the man in anger taking Vortigan by surprise as he hold up the sword in defense as Juno watched on.
"And now I'm going to kill you" Vortigan retorts to the sorcerer.
"That power was never meant to be a weapon!" Merlin yells in his face.
"Then you shouldn't have turned it into a sword" he says only for him to suddenly stiffen and grunt in pain as his heart was ripped from his back by Nimue behind him. Falling to the ground Merlin is met with the image of his love back from the dead holding Vortigan's heart in her heart as a smirk grew on Juno's lips as her plan played out in front of her.
"Nimue" Merlin states in shock "How?" he asks her then realized when she had the opportunity to drink from the grail "When I cast the detection spell".
"Yes. I drank from the Grail" she tells him "You didn't tell me what it feels like to be strong, Merlin, to be immortal".
"Nimue, you let me watch you die!" he yelled at her.
"I'm sorry about the play-acting, but it was my last chance to remind you what death looks like" Nimue tells him as he met Juno's eyes over his love's shoulder seeing the smirk that played on her lips as Nimue held Vortigan's heart in her hand.
"You did this" he simply stated "This was the reason you returned to the realm". He should've known.
"What can I say?" Juno shrugged at sorcerer "She wanted her revenge and so I gave it to her. I'm calling it my next experiment in this realm".
"What matters now is that you're holding a man's heart in your hand. Please, spare him" Merlin begged her as Juno slid up to Nimue's side as his love kept her eye's on him.
"He doesn't deserve sparing" Juno whispered into Nimue's ear.
"He doesn't deserve sparing!" Nimue repeated Juno's words to him.
"If you kill, your magic will turn dark" Merlin retorted "You'll commit atrocities that you can't even imagine".
"This man took my home and my family" Juno continued to whisper into the woman's ear as Nimue spoke them "I had nothing to care for but a handful of seeds!".
"Stop!" Merlin orders Juno only for it go unanswered.
"This man took my home and my family. I had nothing to care for but a handful of seeds!" Nimue repeats Juno's words once again.
"I said stop!" Merlin yelled at the deity "Humans are not your playthings".
"These are her words not mine!" Juno replies angrily to the man.
Merlin look's into his love's eyes to see that Juno was right, she wasn't controlling her action at all, this was all Nimue. The deity had manged to dig her claws into the part of Nimue's heart that burnt for vengeance, amplifying it, nurturing it, until it festered in her heart like a virus.
"I'm not fighting for him! I'm fighting for you! I need you to be the woman that I know. I cannot bear to watch you become this" Merlin pleads with her "I know you feel you've lost everything, but, Nimue, if you do this... then we've lost everything".
Nimue pauses to think about her decision and makes it crushing the heart, turning it into dust as Vortigan collapses dead on the dead. The Darkness takes over turning her skin scaled from the darkness that grew in her heart as the flame behind them died into nothing.
Snatching the sword from the ground Juno's new Dark One held it out in front of her as a warning to Merlin to stay away as she looks to Juno to know what to do next.
"Let's not think about cutting away anyone's magic or immortality now shall we Nimue?" Juno says ginving her Dark One her silent order.
"Please don't" Merlin begged the deity as he tried to called out to the woman he loved underneath the darkness "Nimue!" his pleas fell on deaf ears as the woman swung around to hit the sword against the stone podium that once housed the flame of Prometheus breaking off the tip.
Juno felt the power that coursed through her veins suddenly drain from her body as she stumbled on her feet and her vision swam. She knew it would the price of keeping Merlin and her new experiment immortal, it would be worth the price of making the sorcerer throw away the gift she gave him centuries earlier. If she couldn't die, he could either.
"No! No!" Merlin exclaims as he falls onto his knees.
Dropping the sword onto the ground Nimue turned to face her love on the ground "I'm sorry" she tells the sorcerer.
"No, Nimue. I'm sorry".
Present Day
"Lia?" Emma gasped seeing her friends face look back at her.
"That is not Amelia Montague, Emma" Merlin quickly corrected her ignoring Nimue's gaze as he gave the deity a hard look "Do not let her face fool you".
"But she looks just like her" she stammered out seeing the carbon copy of her friend stood there with her head tilted to the side as she got a good look at her latest version of her Dark One.
"That's because your friend is a vessel for her" Merlin informed her.
"A what?".
"Juno here is somewhat a god, of those that came before. She and her colleagues created the Pieces of Eden to enslave humans for hundreds of years until their world destroyed itself. They created the Enchanted Forest to start again, only a few humans from her world escaped into this one with an Apple".
"Urgh" Juno groaned rolling her eyes in disgust stepping away from her first Dark One "Adam and Eve. Don't remind me" she grumbled at them in distain.
"Adam and Eve?" Emma questioned hearing the names.
"Amelia is hybrid, a descendant of Adam and Eve's. Half-human, half-deity. Her blood allows her to control the Piece of Eden. She is also a product of Star Crossed Lover's. A curse has followed every star-crossed pair from their originators Adam and Eve so that any child made the union would serve as a vessel for Juno to walk these realms once again"
"Does Amelia know about this?" she asks him.
"Yes" Merlin told Emma firmly "Her knowledge of Juno's existence is detrimental to you fighting the darkness".
Emma nodded at Merlin as she looked at the figure in black "Nimue" Emma said to the figure in black as they pulled down their hood.
"Yes" Nimue answered "I'm Nimue. And you are Emma". "How pretty, the first dark one and the newest dark one standing as sisters" she says as Merlin keeps his eye's off the woman he loved.
"It makes sense. You killed the woman he loved because you killed the woman you used to be. Why didn't you tell me?" Emma asked Merlin who kept his eye firmly on the ground not able to look at the woman he loved and the woman who created her.
"I did tell you" Merlin told her "The creature over there is the first dark one. It's not the woman I loved".
"It's been a long time, Merlin" Nimue greeted her love making his eye's finally flicker up to her.
"I've thought of you every day".
"And now, on your last day, I'll be your last thought. How poetic" Nimue shoved her hand up that was mirrored by Emma sending a blast of magic towards the sorcerer sending him flying into the air before landing heavily onto the ground.
Laughter came from the saviors right to see a Juno with Amelia's face joyfully laughing at Merlin's pain "Oh that must've hurt Merlin".
"Why are you doing this? You loved him".
"Even when you love someone, you have to say, 'No, this is mine. You can't take it away from me'. And if they don't listen, if they try to stop you from being you, then you have no choice. You have to kill them. Oh...and you're doing this..." in a blur of white Emma found herself crouching over Merlin with a had around his throat starting to choke the man that was meant to save her "Because we are one and the same now, all dark ones, and we must destroy the threat to us. We must destroy Merlin".
"Emma, please" Merlin begged the blonde above him.
"It's... not me!" Emma try to tell him.
"Finish the job!" Juno bellowed at the blonde as she suddenly appeared next to her.
"Don't listen!" Merlin choked out.
"He wants you to make a sword to destroy me, to destroy us" Nimue continued Juno's encouragement as appeared to her other side.
"You can control this" Merlin continued to speak to Emma.
"Don't listen to him!" Juno bellowed at her again as Emma struggled to block out the sound of her friends voice speaking to her. It wasn't Amelia talking to her. It was Juno. "He doesn't understand what you and I do. He doesn't understand the power. The power I gave you. If you don't kill him now, you'll go back to being powerless".
"Killing is the dark path" Merlin manged to choke out from the ground.
"No! It's power to protect yourself and your loved ones!" Nimue argued.
"Let the light win".
"Kill him! Don't go back to being nothing!" Juno urged the blonde to give into her darkness once again.
"I'm not nothing! I was never nothing!" Emma yelled as she let go of Merlin's throat "The power you have I don't need!" turning the blonde held up the dagger and watched the first Dark One's name on the dagger scroll back to 'Emma Swan' as she takes control of herself.
"Now, I am going to take that ember from you, and you are going to let me" Emma told the woman as she approached her, with her hand she summoned Nimue's heart into her palm. The heart held it usual red glow but at its center was the bright glow of the Ember the blonde needed to reunite the blade into one piece.
Nimue relented defeat to the latest Dark One "The spark you need is in there... But the sword you will make has more than one use, and I am not dead yet, girl. You know where to find me when you want me" she says touching Emma's forehead "I'll be right in there" Nimue says before disappearing along with the vision of Juno.
"You did it" Merlin said to the blonde seeing the spark in her hand now of his feet.
"I did".
"How did it feel to take the right path?".
"To be honest, Merlin, it feels damn good".
With the spark firmly in their possession and Emma's test against Nimue and Juno passed, the pair started the journey back to the diner to find the rest of her family hopefully with Excalibur in their possession, but Emma had a few questions for Merlin.
"What happened after she turned into the dark one?" Emma asked him.
"First, my Apprentice and I made sure the sword would be safe. Then, I created the dagger. I tethered her spirit to it so I could control and prevent her reign of terror. But eventually, she got it away from me".
"She put you in the tree" Emma deduced "She wore the mask then".
"Yes" he confirmed "She took that mask from a man who did her great harm. It's easier to live with the darkness if you can dress it up as vengeance".
"I realize your heart was broken, but now I know... Nimue loves you still. It's all twisted up, but I felt it".
"Thank you. That means a lot to me".
"What about Juno?" she asked him next.
"I trapped her within the sword the same night Nimue became the Dark One" he told her "When Nimue broke the sword, she was left with half her power intact in order for the Dark One to remain immortal. A price so to speak. It left her weak enough to kill the body she inhabited but for her soul to be trapped forever, until a vessel was born".
"I tasked my second Apprentice, Altair, to watch over the sword, to make sure no one ever freed her. He created a Brotherhood that oversaw the Pieces of Eden for centuries, keeping them safe from those who would use them for evil".
"The Assassin's" Emma easily deduced.
"Correct" he says with a gentle smile "I watched over the years as they became corrupt and greedy, until the Black Widow hunted down the last of them out of her own sense of vengeance for the life, they took from her".
"Amelia's not like that anymore" Emma quickly came to her friends defense.
"I know, but there will always be a darkness within her the Juno would feed on if she ever got a chance to take her as a vessel to walk the land again, if she ever got out and regained her full power, there would be no one to stop her".
"Is it possible for someone to have the darkness, but use it for good, use it to protect people?" she inquired with the sorcerer.
"Emma, don't let those thoughts tempt you" Merlin warned her.
"But is it true?".
"Someday perhaps there will be a person who's worthy to hold that much power and not let it burn through to darken their soul. But if we can wipe out the darkness, we'll never have to ask that much of anyone".
"Sounds like we need to find the other half of Excalibur".
Meanwhile
Getting through the castle undetected was surprisingly easy for the group of hero's and villains as they searched for Arthur. They made a beeline for the throne room that housed the famous round table.
Bursting through the door's the Assassins lead with David and Hook flanking them, hilariously outnumbering and outgunning the lone King.
"Foul witch, you've overpowered the guards!" Arthur bellowed as he grabbed a spiked mace charging at the group, the Assassins were ready to face the King only for Regina quickly using her magic to freeze him in place while taking the weapon out of his hand.
"Sword's on the table" Robin stated to the group as he set his sights firmly on the King as the redhead saw the broken sword tied up in cloth. Strange.
"Don't touch it. It could have protection charms" Hook warned the others.
"Tell your timbers to stop shivering, pirate" Regina drawled to Hook as she rounded the table towards Arthur, a smirk on her face with the redheaded Assassin mirroring the Queen's own triumphant "Nothing in here can hurt us. Arthur doesn't know how to do magic".
"Hi, guys!" smirk dropped as she felt her stomach drop as Zelena came walking out from behind a hanging tapestry behind the thrones gripping a gagged and tied up Mary Margaret in her hands as the assassin pulled down thier hoods to face the Wicked Witch.
"Oh, hell no" Regina breathed out.
David eye's widened as he stepped forward with his sword only for Amelia to quickly grab the back of his tunic to drag him back from the fight he wouldn't ever survive "Mary Margaret! If you hurt, her..." he warned the Wicked Witch.
"Ooh, daddy's angry" Zelena smirked at the Prince as she forced Mary Margaret into a chair around the round table.
"Let's undo that" Zelena sates as she unfreezes Arthur with a simple wave of her hand.
"How did..." Regina's question trailed off.
"Well, Arthur was kind enough to remove that constricting jewelry" Zelena answered her sisters question holding up her cuff-less wrist.
"Fine. I'd prefer an even fight" Regina growls summoning a ball of fire into her hand, ready to send towards her sister.
"No, don't!" Robin exclaimed in panic "The baby" he reminded the former Queen. The bruntee painfully relented and snuffed the ball of fire in her hand knowing she couldn't hurt her half-sister.
"You know, if you treated me fairly for once, maybe I wouldn't turn on you" Zelena told the group.
"Yes, you would" Hook lowly retorted to Zelena.
"But I'd enjoy it less" Zelena replied as she found a book on the round table "Oh! Here we are. One of Merlin's cookbooks".
"Is it the right spell?" Arthur asked the Wicked Witch.
"Oh, yes. It's quite an ingenious recipe for a tethering potion" the Wicked Witch commented as she read the spell.
"Excellent" Arthur said with a relaxed smirk.
"You knew we were coming" Amelia said to the King "How?".
A knowing smirk grew on the kings face as the red headed Assassin lowered her sword "I may have lost some loyalty among your people" he started looking towards David "But. it seems I still have some within my own" he told them as his head hitched up to something behind them.
Armored footsteps made them look toward the door to see a group of heavily armored knights led by none other than John Smith with his own sword in hand and an apologetic look on his face as his eye's met hers.
"No" she whimpered out seeing the first man she fell in love with. Regina watched her partner's face as it fell agape as hurt and betrayal etched both Amelia's and Robin as their friend and former lover as an absentminded hand rested on her stomach.
Hook didn't know what to do as he turned on his foot to hold this sword in front of John warning not to come any closer a his eye's flickered over to the red head who was still in a mix of shock and hurt that her husband would hurt their chances of getting the sword.
Her pained look quickly turned into one of thunderous anger as the redhead spun around to face Arthur and Zelena for an answer of why her first love them would work against them, even after everything she told him.
"What foul spell have you cast on him Witch!" she spat at Zelena as she gripped the pommel of her sword in her hand
"No charm's needed, Assassin" Arthur answered her calmly making her look towards the King "He's doing this of his own free will, ask him yourself if you must".
Slowly turning to face her husband once again "John?" she simple asked him, silently asking him if what Arthur was saying was true.
"I can't let you stop him Amy" John told her before his eye's flickered down her torso stopping at her stomach "Especially with the baby".
Amelia's breath hitched in her throat as the sword she held in her hand fell onto the floor as silence of the revelation defended the group.
"Baby?" Hook asked the question out load as confusion waved through the room "What baby?".
"Oh! I told him!" Zelena's chirpy voice spoke up from the other side making the other's except from redhead to look at her "She really thought she could hide the signs of an expecting mother to another. The nausea, the dizziness" she lists off looking towards her sister "I'm surprised you haven't noticed Regina, seeing as you spend a nauseating amount of time with her".
"Your lying!" Regina accused her sister angrily through her teeth, before looking towards Amelia who hadn't taken her eyes off her husband "Melia?" she called out to the Assassin "Tell me she's lying" she pleads with her. She would never keep something this big from her.
"She's not" Amelia softly answered the Queen, looking straight at John "She's right I'm pregnant" she said the words she had been trying to keep herself from admitting to herself for so long.
"Agreeing with me for a second time today, that must hurt" Zelena leered across the room as she went back to Merlin's spell book.
"Seize her" Arthur ordered his knights "I need to make sure she doesn't try anything stupid before I get a chance to make her presence here worth the nuisance she's and her pathetic excuse of a Creed has caused since arriving" Arthur spat out.
David, Robin, Hook and Anastasia felt useless as they were simply pushed aside by the knights as the grabbed the redhead by the shoulder forcing her to turn around face Zelena as they forced her on her knees as she felt the shackles being locked into place around her wrists and behind her back.
Across the room Mary Margaret was silently urging her friend to fight back against her captors only to see the redhead keep her head held up as high as she could as she felt the steel cold shackles being locked in place around her wrists and ankles.
"Are the chains really necessary?" Robin asked the King as he and the others could do nothing but watch their friend .
"Anything is necessary to keep the Black Widow at bay, I've heard rumors of her work in the Enchanted Forest, I can't put anything to chance now I'm so close to get what I've wanted for so long".
With a flick of her wrist Excalibur shone green as Zelena completed the spell she let out a gleeful laugh in triumph over the hero's "There... You can take it now" she tells Arthur as he himself stepped forward to grasp the pommel of the sword in his right hand "Cookies are done, and by 'cookies', I mean that Artie here may have a shorter sword than a man would like, but it can control the world's greatest wizard" Arthur ripped the cloth around the blade to reveal that the name Merlin was now engraved on the steel "His plan, but I like it. Happy to help".
"Most obliged, my lady" Arthur thanked Zelena as he took deep strides backwards holding the sword up high.
"Arthur, please" David beseeches to the King one last time to try and save his wife and friends "You can't see a way out, but there is one. You can start over".
"Merlin!" Arthur called out to the sorcerer ignoring the Prince's plea.
"We've all started over" David continued.
"Merlin!" the King called out for the sorcerer again.
"Emma is worth more to you as the Saviour than the Dark One. Amelia is of more use to your unchained and free" the Prince continued to plea to the man as the redheaded assassin remained deadly silent.
Arthur stopped calling out to the sorcerer to look at David "Thank you, David. But... Merlin!" Arthur bellowed once more.
Merlin suddenly found himself in the throne room with everyone else after he was walking with Emma back to the others with the spark. He looked around the room to see Mary Margret gagged sat in a chair with Regina, Robin, David, Hook and Anastasia the other side of the table with John Smith in the doorway with a pair of knights stood either side of Amelia.
But the thing that made his blood run cold was seeing Amelia in cuffs and chains. He could see her shaking, but not out of fear, but out of fury that coursed through her veins at being retrained and made powerless at Arthur's hands, her nose flared as she tried to keep calm taking in deep breaths.
"Amelia" Merlin shuddered in fear for the woman across the room, loud enough for the woman to hear "What has he done to you?".
"Ah, Merlin" Arthur brought Merlin's attention back on him "How kind of you to come when called. For your first task, please use your magic to keep these fine people from attacking me in any way".
With a wave of his hand everyone's swords excepts from the Captain's, joined Amelia's sword on the floor as Anastasia tried to flick out her hidden blade only for them to malfunction as Regina was made completely powerless as her sister laughed at their collective expense.
"It is done, Arthur" Merlin tells the King slowly "You can put that down. We don't have to do this. Emma has passed her test and Amelia is no threat to you, let her go".
"Oh, Emma passed the test? How nice for her" Arthur drawled "I'm not letting dear sweet Amelia out of my sight, not when I'm this close to freeing the only thing you fear in all the realms".
"I have what we need to unite Excalibur and fulfill your legacy, you won't need Juno" Merlin tried to talk the man down once again "Give me the sword".
"You mean give you the glory? No" Arthur denied Merlin's request with a shake of her head.
"Glory? You seek glory?" Merlin questioned the mans intention "Is that really what you've become? Entrapping a pregnant woman in chains, can you really call that glory? I am so sorry I wasn't there to guide you, Arthur. This isn't the man you were supposed to be".
"Oh, I am exactly what you made me" Arthur interrupted the sorcerer "Look at the half-man with his half-sword, solving riddles from a tree. I bet you laughed".
A choked laugh escaped the chained Assassin making the King whirl through to see the woman smirking darkly at him "Quiet!" he yelled at the woman before looking at one of his knights "Someone gag her" he orders the knights behind her. One stepped up to follow the order only to be met with John Smith's sword stopping the man in his tracks
"Don't even think about it" he told the knight darkly who slowly backed away from the privateer and his wife.
"I was trapped, and I put my faith in you" Merlin argued gaining back Arthur's attention "You were meant to be like a son to me".
"Shut your mouth" Arthur orders the sorcerer lifting the sword up to the man "I was never a son to you" he tells the sorcerer holding up Excalibur to show Merlin is name engraved on the steel "You lied. You told me legend would speak of the great King Arthur, using Excalibur to strike darkness from the realm! Tell me how this was not a lie!".
"Because you will do that" Merlin tells him "You're a part of doing it right now".
"A part of it?".
"We have what we need. The future is in your hands, Arthur. Give me the sword. And free her. We can repair everything".
"No, not everything. This is my charge and my right. I will be known for more than defeating a stone".
"Arthur, you cannot.." Merlin tried to speak to the man again only for Arthur to interrupt him again.
"Be quiet" he orders Merlin "We have intruders. Make them leave" with a wave of his hand the 'intruder's blinked out of the room, leaving Merlin with Arthur, John and Zelena.
"Now" Arthur cleared his throat as he looked to Zelena with a grin as mirrored it "Shall we free her now?" He asks his ally as John's brow's furrow in confusion.
"Free who?".
The hero's and former villains found themselves chained to tree's in the middle of the forest after they left the throne room. Amelia, however in a different predicament. A steel collar appeared around her neck attached to long chain that had been wrapped around a tree trunk, leaving her hands and feet were free of their constraints.
The redheaded assassin sat on her knee's in front of her family and friends ready to witness to whatever was to done to the woman in front of them. They all knew the secret she had trying to keep to herself before she could tell Regina or Tom first. But as the week's went by it was only a matter of time until they had found out.
As much as she could disguise the nausea, she couldn't stop her stomach from starting to noticeably swell even under the layers of materiel her robe's consisted of. And now that chance of telling Regina herself was gone, in a split second.
And now she was at the mercy of King Arthur and the Wicked Witch.
Her mind drew a blank on how she would get herself out of this situation herself. Even is she had her hidden blades, there were too many variables. Arthur and Zelena could turn on the other's.
"Lia!" Mary Margaret called out to the Assassin now free of her gag "Lia! Talk to us" she pleaded to the Assassin in the middle of the was still struggling to breathe through the collar. She tried her best to pull the collar away from neck using her hands but it was useless.
"Careful dear" Zelena's voiced floated through the ar as the assassin looked up from were she knelt to watch the woman stalk towards her back in her signature black dress, that hugged her paired with a hat upon her head. "You don't want to stress the baby" Zelena gloated down at the Assassin as she sauntered around the woman on the ground.
"I should've let Rumple killed you like a dog in that barn" Amelia growled at the woman thought gritted teeth and flared nostrils as she pulled against her chain and shackles trying to get to the Wicked Witch of the West as her green eyes focused solely on the woman in front of her. Giving no notice to her family members shackled around her.
"You're sounding awfully like your old self dear, I must say it's not a good look on you now".
"Take the chain off me, and I'll show you a good look, as I tear you apart, piece by piece until there is NOTHING LEFT BEHIND!" Zelena seemed to flinch at the woman fury but quickly recovered raising her hand with a green fire emitting from the palm ready to throw at the Assassin for her insolence.
"Zelena!" Arthur's voice bellowed in the clearing as he and Merlin following behind the King came closer to the chained Assassin "I need her alive" at the that the Wicked Witch scoffed and rolled her eye's extinguishing the flame from her hand.
"I was just getting her warmed up for you" Zelena chirped at the King.
"Neither the less, I'd rather keep Juno's vessel unscathed" the King told her as he reached the redhead on the ground "Although" he drawled out slowly "I'm not sure what to do about that" he said glancing at her bump.
"Nothing" John stated firmly to the King stepping forward with his hand on the pommel of his sword "You promised to keep the baby safe".
"Merlin. Restrain him with the others" Arthur commanded Merlin, with a wave of his hand the Captain was sent backwards, away from his ex-wife, by an invisible force until his back it a tree and his hands wrapped themselves backwards around the street until he felt a pair of shackles held him back.
"What are you doing!" John yelled from his tree as he pulled as hard as he could against the restraints, but no matter how much of his strength he put into it the shackles would not budge.
"Making sure you didn't get any grand ideas of playing hero to your wife" he told the privateer. It was that moment the man realized the King had no intention of keeping her safe. He let himself be fooled.
"Amy" He tried to call out to his wife only for Amelia to turn her attention back on the King himself.
"Enough!" Arthur bellowed in the clearing "Time is of the essence; I suspect Juno isn't the patient type" he said as he closed the distance between the edge of Excalibur and Amelia as the broken edge of the cold steel touch her neck just under her jaw as she waited for the man to take what he wanted.
"Now, it's time to claim my reward" Arthur growled as he quickly cut the delicate skin with the sharp edge making the Assassin to hiss in pain as her blood trickled onto the sword.
Holding the sword up, he saw the red substance trailed down the sword, onto the dark engravings of the sword as he and Zelena watched in awe as the steel seemed to soak the blood into the steel leaving no trace of the red substance behind.
A wide triumphant smirk grew on the King's face as the yellow jewel on the pommel shone bright shining in his face, it was working, she was finally free. Only for the jewel to suddenly stop glowing.
"Wh-?" he flustered out seeing that his plan hadn't worked "W-why didn't it work?" he stuttered in shock as he turned to Merlin for the answer "Merlin?".
"No" the sorcerer refused "I won't let you free her".
Arthur lifted the sword in from of the dark-skinned man that tethered the sorcerer "I command you Merlin. Tell me what I need to do to free Juno from the sword!" he barked at the sorcerer.
The others saw how hard was trying not to answer the royal's question as it would not only cost them Amelia's. Looking at the assassin he tried to convey how sorry he was not being able to keep his promise to her before answering.
"You need more blood" he answered with watery eye's as he knew what fate would befall the woman from his words.
Arthur let out a huff as his body relaxed once again "Why didn't you just say in the first place?" Merlin said to the sorcerer before he sent the broken end of Excalibur straight into Amelia's belly without hesitation, he pushed the sword into her body up to the hilt as the yellow stone that was welded into the center of the hilt lit up and shone a white gold as her blood soaked into the dark engravings.
"Melia!""Noooo!".
A series of screams came from the others as they saw Arthur impale the pregnant Assassin. They watched Arthur pulled the sword out with the help with a boot on her shoulder to push her off the blood soaked sword as her lifeless body fell onto the ground. Motionless.
Angry tears fell down John face as he tried fight his way to his wife screaming as they others simply watched on with tears streaming down their face's as their friend and comrade.
Merlin had to look away. He promised her he would keep her and her unborn child safe, but he had failed. He had failed her.
With one thrust of a broken sword the Black Widow was dead.
Regina had no idea how long she blankly stared silently as her soulmates body wishing she wasn't seeing what was right in front of her. It was happening again. Her love was being cruelly taken away from her and she could do nothing to stop it from happening.
John had finally given up on reaching his wife as he fell onto his knee's still shackled to the tree as grief overwhelmed the strong the other's mourned the sudden and brutal passing of the one woman that could get them out of anything.
The Princess freely cried seeing her childhood hero, while Anastasia's uncontrollable sobs drowned out the silence of the woods for her sister.
Hook bowed his head to the ground not able to look upon the scene before him while Robin simply watched with his mouth agape. The group willed with every fiber of their body for the woman to get off the ground like she always done, but the seconds slowly dragged as her body stayed still.
She was really gone, just like that.
Ignored his prisoners as he stared at the sword covered in Amelia's blood for something to happen, to tell him his plan had worked. That Juno was finally free to help him snuff out the darkness once and for all and re-unite Excalibur.
"Well…that was disappointing" Zelena griped at the King. This wasn't what she was expecting when the King told what his plan was as she kept nervously glancing towards her sister. She hadn't expected to actually kill the assassin and yet, there she was bleeding out onto the forest floor, dead to the world.
"I-I don't understand" Arthur stuttered as Merlin searched the whole clearing for Juno's presence he could feel it and it was strong "She's the product of Star-Crossed Lovers! I did everything I was supposed to do!" he yelled in anger taking John out of his moment of grief he looked up see Arthur taking his anger out on the sword his back turning away from the spot where Amelia's body had been left only to see it empty.
Confused brows grew on the privateer's face as he tried to come to terms with what he was seeing "Where'd she go?" he panted gaining everyone attention, they all looked to the spot vacant of Amelia's body.
"Were the chain really necessary?" her voice rang out into the air as she walked into the clearing as she pulled the steel collar away from her neck with little to no effort as she let it fall to the forest floor with an audible 'thunk' as it hit the floor. Her family watched in a mix of confusion and relief to see the woman alive again after seeing get killed by Arthur.
"It worked" Arthur whispered in awe as the red head with a new air of confidence to her that the assassin lacked as the deity approached her 'rescuers'.
"It did" the woman told the man as she stopped in front of the pair "I take you're the one's I should be thanking for freeing me after so long" she told the pair as she cricked her neck to the side as an audible crack coming from her neck "I must say it was starting to get a little cramped after the first century" she breathed out in relief finally being able to breath in fresh air for the first time.
Arthur fell onto the floor onto one knee bowing his head in respect for the deity that was his presence "It's an honor to be in presence" he told the deity.
"Bloody hell" they heard Hook grumble seeing the King kneel in front of the woman like a peasant.
The redhead rolled her eye's at the King's actions "Please don't' do that, it makes me uncomfortable. Get up" Arthur did as she said and stood back up and saw the sword in his hand, still broken "You didn't do everything I required though did you?".
Panic set in the King's face as he looked at the broken sword then back up to her's "A half done job by the half man" she sneered in his face as she stalked toward the King.
"I will complete it soon I swear" he tried to plea to the deity.
"You better, or you'll find yourself favoring their wrath rather than mine" she seethed into his ear before finding Merlin's eye.
"Merlin" she greeted the sorcerer "Good to see you again my old friend" she pleasantly told the sorcerer with a smirk.
"I wish I could say the same" he deadpanned the woman.
"Oh don't be like that Merlin" 'Amelia' drawled out "You did trap me in that pathetic excuse for a sword for what? Four? Five centuries? I'm willing to let bygones be bygones and move forward from our little…disagreement".
"Amelia?" a voice from behind her called out to her vessel.
'Amelia' turned around to see the people her vessel called family "Oh Amelia's not here, she's still rattling around in there, but she's taking a back seat for the foreseeable future".
"What do you mean?" Mary Margaret asked her.
"Who are you then love?" Hook asked the entity that had taken over Amelia's body smirked as she introduced herself to the group of hero's and villains chained against the tree's.
"Call me..Juno".
AN:
Hehe...
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