With her partner's wishes to move on known to her, the former Queen did her best to carry on as usual as she and the redhead helped the other's clean up the mess Cerberus left behind in the Underworlds version of the Charming's family loft. With the promise that she would tell the rest of the family as soon as she could, Regina couldn't help but feel at a loss to what to do for the assassin.
Did she want her to move on from the Underworld? Yes. But at the same time they had a family and life to return to in Storybrooke. She wanted her back in their home their children ready for the next twist or turn to appear in the town full of fairy-tale characters.
But this was something Amelia wanted. Out of all the times the redhead put aside her own feelings for the former Queen, she wanted to show her the support she had given her countless times. Even if she thought it was against her better judgement.
The couple's distance as they clean up didn't go unnoticed as the former Princess saw the way the redhead's mind seemed to be somewhere else entirely to what they were doing.
"Found more arrows" Regina stated to the former thief as he made his way down the metal steps to rejoin them.
Robin let out a deep sigh after seeing what the beast had left in his wake "You do not want to see what that hell-dog did upstairs" he told the group as he made hi way towards the former Queen.
"Can't be as bad as what Master Richard did to those pigeons" Anastasia stated to the thief as she walked back into the kitchen from the downstairs bedroom to find her nephews at the breakfast bar.
The marksman assassin had left a small bloodbath for the young apprentices to walk out into after a flock of pigeons had left a mess on his targets. But Anastasia's words had failed to reach her sister's ears as she continued to stare out at an arrow she had found, her fingers absentmindedly brushing feathered fetching at the end of the shaft.
"Right sister?" she adds looking to the redhead to backup her claim to the others.
"Mhm?" Amelia looked at her sister behind the counter with Henry and Tom in confusion. She hadn't been listening to anything they were talking about.
"Master Richard. The pigeons?" she reminded the redhead.
"Right" Amelia mumbled to herself quietly "The pigeons" she trialed off before she resumed her work.
"W-what happened to the birds?" Tom asked his aunt in curiosity.
"You don't want to know" his aunt simply answered making the teen shiver.
"So, we think we're ready?" Emma quickly changed the subject as Gold let himself into the messy loft seeing everyone was there.
"What are you doing?" the old man asks the group.
"We're gonna get Hook" The Prince spoke up "What's it looks like?".
"We know Hades will have him in some sort of isolation" Emma informed the Dark One "Meg told us there's an entrance nearby".
"So, all 45 of you are gonna slip down into the deepest level of detention in the Underworld" he dryly told them "Hades knows you're here. He'll have put up barriers to keep the living out of all the places he doesn't want us going. You walk into his domain; you'll all be puffs of dust".
"So, we get a new plan" Emma retorted.
"Correct. The eight of you occupy yourselves as you will. Perhaps cleaning?" he tells the others before looking towards Emma "You and I will go in with the assistance of a helpful dead person. I can extend their aura, if you will, so that two living souls can get through Hades' barrier".
"And the already helpful dead person in the room isn't good enough for you Uncle?" Amelia drawled out making him look towards her.
"No offence dearie, but you and your skills can only serve me so far. This person will have more reason to help us".
"Offence taken old man" she quickly told him.
"Wait a minute" Emma interrupted his exchange with his niece "Yesterday, you hid in your shop. Today, you're gonna lead the charge to find a man that you hate?".
"Yeah, because I-I realized that if don't step in, we are never gonna get home, and I want very much to get home to my wife".
"Okay. So how do we get a helpful dead person to loan their aura so we can confront the god of the Underworld himself?" Emma asks him.
"You leave that to me. I've got someone in mind. Someone I've known a long time".
Just as Gold finished his plan to Emma they hadn't realized that Amelia had moved from her spot until they heard the front door being shut behind them making the whole group look up to see Amelia standing in front of the door with her hands stuffed in the pockets of her coat and a serious look on her face.
"Before you go out on your little adventure Uncle, I need to talk to you all" She addressed her family, knowing this was the best opportunity with her Uncle present to rip the band aide off so to speak about her decision to stay.
"Can't it wait?" Gold asked his niece in annoyance with clenched teeth.
"Not this" she tells him sternly "You can go on your merry way as soon I've said what I have to say".
"Lia what is it?" Emma asked her fiend in concern.
This was harder than she thought it would be with all her family looking straight at her in apprehension at what she was about to tell them. Regina fiddled with the arrow in her hand already knowing what her partner was about to tell her family, keeping her eyes to the ground as Amelia tried to find the right words to get them to understand her decision.
"I'm not coming back to Storybrooke with you" Amelia told them straight in one breath.
"W-what do you mean?" Snow spoke up from behind the counter with confusion lacing her voice as David's brows furrowed at the redhead.
"I know what your plan is to save Killian and I" the redhead starts looking towards the blonde savior in the eye "Splitting yours and Regina's hearts to give to us, to bring us back. The only thing is, I don't want to go back".
Silence enveloped the loft as the other's took in the assassin's words as she took in all the looks on their faces. A mix of shock, sorrow and confusion was what she could see flash through their faces as her love simple spun the arrow she had found in her hand keeping her eye's on the ground as she listened to the redhead tell their family that she didn't want to return to Storybrooke.
"But you have my word, I'll do everything I can to get Hook back, that is the least I owe him after everything, but when that's done I'm finding my unfinished business and move on from this place. I'll either do that with or without your help".
"Is this uh, what you really want?" Robin asked his friend from his place.
"It is" she confirmed with the group with a sad nod.
"Lia" Emma gently called out to the assassin to argue her "You can't be serious, what Juno-".
"This isn't about Juno" Amelia quickly tells the blonde making her shut her mouth "I'm not going to argue with any of you about this, I've made up my mind. I'm not going back. Full stop".
Across the room Tom had heard enough from his mother slamming down the object he was holding in his hand and angrily stomping around the counter as he headed for the door.
She couldn't do anything but close her eyes as she heard the door slam behind her as she blinked the tears that threatened to fall knowing how upset her son was at her decision. Not giving the other's a second glance the assassin turned and headed to the door,letting herself out to run after her son, to leave the other's to contemplate what she had just told them in stunned silence.
"Well" Regina broke the silence clearing her throat "That's it then" she says making the blonde look at the former Queen seeing the look on her face.
"You knew" it was more of a statement than a question Emma sent to the woman.
"Last night" she gulped out as a fresh wave of grief washed over her.
"So that's it? She's giving up" Snow sighed in sadness as she felt her husband try and comfort her.
"I don't think she had any intention of trying to come back" Regina told the group "That's why she found Hercules by herself. To start her unfinished business".
"Regina I'm so sorry" Emma had given her false hope, convincing her to come down and give her half her heart.
"Don't" she told the savior shaking her head "I should've known better" Regina tried to reassure the blonde.
"A pity" Gold finally spoke up after hearing his nieces request "Well at least that's one less soul we have to concern ourselves about" he said as he head towards the door, he stopped and looked back at Emma "Miss Swan, when you're ready to resume your search for your pirate, come find me" with that the older man left the remaining family to themselves.
"What do we do now?" Robin asked the rest as she saw the look of heartbreak on Anastasia's face at her sister's decision. She could only numbly stare at the door the redhead had left through as she did her best to comfort Henry next to her with a supportive hand on his shoulder, hearing someone he called his Mom not wanting to come back with them.
"Nothing" Regina tells them "She's made her mind up. We all know what she's like when she's made up her mind".
"No" Emma protests "We just need to convince her to change her mind" she tells them "There must be someone down here that can convince her to come back with us".
"You really think that'll work?" David asked his daughter "I mean most people hate her down here, let alone her old family" .
"We just need to find the right one" Snow tells the group as an idea come to her grandson's head.
"Romeo" he suddenly states as his hopes of getting his third mother to return to Storybrooke brightens for a second or two "What about her Dad?".
"No, that won't work" Emma quickly tells her son "Romeo's not here" she continues remembering what Neal had told her in her 'dream' on the way to the Underworld .
"How do you know that?" the former Queen questioned her friend "His ship is here" she argued.
"It is?" Anastasia questions the former Queen with furrowed brows who simply nods at the blonde assassin in confirmation before she looks at the savior in question on how she knows her adoptive father had moved on.
"I just do, an...old friend told me"Emma answered her family's questioning looks.
But her answer didn't sit well with the blonde assassin. If the Jackdaw was here and Romeo wasn't. Why the hell was his ship in the Underworld?.
"Then we'll ask around" her mother spoke up, determination lacing her voice as her husband nodded along "You need o to concentrate on getting to Hook" she tells her daughter.
"There is someone else that could help her" Regina spoke up as an idea came to her mind "I just need to find him first".
"Who?" the blonde savior asks her.
"Daniel" Regina told the group. Snow tilted her head at her old step-mother giving her a sympathetic smile.
"You mean.." she trailed off. She was talking about Daniel her fiancé, Cora had killed.
"Exactly. He and his father worked at Monteriggioni stables where they became childhood friends until they left. The next time she saw him alive. She put a dagger through his heart to stop him from hurting me" she says her thoughts out-load as she continued to spin the arrow in her hand "It's still odd to think that my truelove and my first love knew each other before I even did".
Daniel was one of the last symbols of her innocence as a child. As soon as he left, she closed herself up to letting anyone else in at the hurt of losing her friend, even Anastasia had trouble breaking through the hard exterior she had put around her heart when she started training with her.
"I remember him" Anastasia spoke up taking the former Queen by surprise as her head snapped towards the blonde assassin stood with her son.
Daniel was the stable boy her sister had spoken to her about periodically over the years. Her older sister had mentioned how she found out that it was Regina's Father's estate, their own father had sent them too after the other Assassin grew weary of the older boy she was spending time with outside of training.
"We'll find him" the blonde assassin adds volunteering herself to find someone that could convince her sister to change her mind.
"Then I'm coming with you too" Snow volunteered herself for the venture "Lia has fought for me at every turn, it's time I do the same for her".
"Thank you" Regina tells Snow with a grateful smile "But first, we need to understand what those headstones really mean".
"Then we'll find out together" Anastasia tells the woman with Snow nodding along with her "Whatever it takes".
Entering the diner through the front, the former Queen left the blonde assassin to enter through the back of the diner to better entrap their intended target in a pincer movement that would even impress her partner if she were present in that current moment in time.
"Hey, where's your boss?" the former Queen asked the girl at the counter. The mute woman doesn't speak and signals 'up' with her finger, misunderstanding who she was trying to find.
"No, not some deity..." Regina corrects her "Your boss here. The Blind Witch?" she clarifies the maid only to notice a familiar figure trying to sneak out the back of the diner "Never mind" she mumbled to the girl as she runs to catch up to Cruella De Vil.
The villain didn't get far down the hallway as she was stopped when she saw Anastasia Romanova stood in front of her in a yellow and black checkered pea-coat and jeans with her arms folded over her chest and her golden gauntlets in full view of the heiress.
"Old Bat" Anastasia greeted the older woman.
"Oh, it's you" Cruella grimaced out seeing the younger woman stop her from fleeing through the back of the diner "The Fetus. I heard you were down here" she drawled out to the younger woman with a hint of a smirk on her lips "How is that dear sister of yours?".
The heiress flinched at the sound and sight of Anastasia's hidden blade jump out over her closed fist about to take a step towards the black and white haired woman only to be interrupted by the sight of her sister's girlfriend voice stopping her.
"You!" Regina appeared behind her seeing that Anastasia had stopped her from getting too far.
Sighing the villain sighed and turned to face Regina "Hello, Darling".
"You can help".
"I can?" she questioned the former former Queen before correcting herself "I mean, of course I can".
"Tell me about the graveyard I need to find someone".
"Oh, it's just a chat you want. Well, if you're looking for someone, simply use your magic" Cruella tells the former Queen only to be met by silence as the blonde assassin looks over Cruella to see the look on her sister's love's face.
"Huh. Having trouble, are we? Magic's a little tricky down here, isn't it, darling?" she questions the former Queen who simply glares back at her in silence at her correct assumption "Let's sit down and be civilized, the fetus can even join us if she doesn't require a high chair".
"Suka" the blonde huffed under her breath as she followed the older women into the diner.
Sat in a booth the trio sat in stoic silence as the blonde assassin waited for the former Queen to ask the heiress opposite them what they needed to know, even if she did know.
"I see you're admiring my fur" Cruella breaks the silence between them "Doe skin, of all things. I'm not saying it's Bambi's iconic dead mother. And I'm not saying it's not" the heiress chuckles out to the pair seeing the faces they pulled.
"It'll be yours if you're not careful fossil" Anastasia threatened the heiress sat opposite them as Regina quickly reached out for the younger woman next to her to pull her back into her seat, patting her shoulder in a 'There, there' motion. The last thing she needed right now was to temper an angry assassin, even if it was her love's own sister.
At the threat the heiress simply smirked at the former Duchess before carrying on "I'm surprised not to see your little Widow here Regina. But then again I did hear those nasty little rumors about what those assassin's did to her while in their custody".
"Rumors?" the former Queen questioned her.
"Ghastly rumors that you shouldn't believe are true" was all the older woman said before the former Queen pressed forward with the reason they were speaking to Cruella in the first place.
"Just tell me about the graveyard" Regina tells the older heiress "If I find a headstone, does that mean that person's here in... 'Underbrooke'?".
"Underbrooke" Cruella scoffs a laugh at the name she used for this version of the Underworld "Oh, you are clever. No, it just means they're passing through, that's all. Who are you looking for?" Cruella asked the pair in front of her, her curious nature getting the better of her.
It couldn't be the Widow, they already found her. No it was someone they both knew, for some reason.
"Oh ,never mind who. I just... I want to know where they are" Regina answered her curiosity.
Picking up her fur handbag from the seat next to her, the heiress opened it to take out a piece of paper lays it out in front of the pair in front of her to show them the long list of souls that have passed through the Underworld.
"I have a map here" the heiress tells them "Now that I've been made mayor. Oh, thanks to your recently departed mother" It's got a list of cemetery plots, and you have to know how to interpret the headstones".
As Anastasia's eyes quickly scanned the map, she caught sight of a name she had only ever heard stories about during her time in New York.
Anne Bonny.
But she couldn't think much of the name that had taken her interest as Cruella explained to them the 'rules' of the headstones.
"You see, there's three... what would you call them? Settings? If the headstone is upright, it means the person is still here in town. If it's tipped over, it means their soul has gone on to a better place, okay? Happy person, tippy stone".
"And the third?" Anastasia asked the woman in front of them in trepidation.
"If it's cracked.." she gulps nervously at the pair of them as she sit up straight in her seat "Well, that's bad".
"Bad?" Regina questions her, but the only answer they got was from the way Cruella couldn't meet their gaze, so the former Queen answered for her "They got pulled under to... wherever is worse than this place?".
"Yes" Cruella confirmed "But no one who's anyone goes there anymore" she nervously chuckles at them only to stop to clear her throat.
Anastasia didn't need to look at her sister's love to know what she was thinking. That could be Amelia's fate if she doesn't move on from this place. There was no better choice, either let her wonder the Underworld or go to a place that even Cruella De Vil is scared to speak about.
Maybe allowing Amelia to find her unfinished business wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Finding her runaway son in the docks's, she found him slumped on the bench she would find whenever she needed to stop her head spinning from the endless thoughts that went through it, even in her cursed state it was always this bench she was sit on after a workout, looking out into the horizon waiting for her sailor to return to her.
Now instead the empty horizon, it was partially filled by the Jackdaw as it gently swayed side to side on the calm water. The brig looked better in the daylight, or at least the Underworlds version of it.
Approaching her son on the bench, the teenager did his best to hide his reddened eyes from her that the angry tears had left behind in his haste to run as far away from her as he could. Knowing it was a lost cause the teen stopped as soon as he found himself at the docks at the same bench he had met Juno on to return the Apple of Eden to her.
Taking a seat on the other end of the bench, he watched the ship he knew from his time on Neverland.
"Do you know what that is?" his mother broke the silence between them as she gazed at the brig in front of them.
"The Jackdaw" he answered her with a strained dry throat "Romeo took me to see it a couple of times" he told her making a sad smile grow on her lips at the thought of her son on the ship she had practicably been raised on.
"I know your mad" she started "I was for a while after Romeo made the same decision. But we wouldn't have made that decision if we didn't think our children wouldn't be okay".
At that Tom quickly whipped his head around to look at his mother in offence "And Leni?" he questioned her as continued to stare out at the ship in front of them.
She couldn't help the twitch of her lips quirking up at the nickname her son had already come up with for his baby sister as he continued to argue with her.
"What do me and Dad tell her when she asks about you?" he argued "That you gave up? You didn't want to see her?".
She wanted to argue with him, but she couldn't. She didn't have the energy to tell him that all she really wanted to do is hold her baby girl again, to see her, touch her, smell her. To be the mother she knew she was capable of being. She barely got five minutes with her before Emma had to take her away.
"You can tell her whatever you want to tell her" she tells him "I let you both down as soon as I let the Black Widow back out. This way, I can't disappoint anyone else".
"What about me?" he choked as fresh tears fell from his eyes as she finally made herself look at him. Really look at him. A year or so ago, he stood in front of her of a Lost Boy simply looking for someone to look after him, to love him like a son. Someone like Romeo.
She had tried her best to keep a distance between them in the beginning, to keep him at arms length but she had reminded her or so much of herself, she couldn't help herself but to keep him close to her as much as she could.
He has had to grow up so fast in so little time, she barely been able to see the man he was becoming. The one other's would rely on in the future as he figured out his own path in the world like she had to when her father died. Gone of the days he would need comforting during a bad thunderstorm or when he fell on the deck of the Godspeed when he hadn't quite grown his sea legs.
He didn't need her at his side anymore, but he didn't want to see that yet.
Sliding herself closer to him, Tom allowed her take his hand in hers feeling the rough calluses that had started to appear in his skin form the hours he spent training with a weapon in his hand.
"Do you why I was able to push Juno away for long enough to tell Emma what she needed to do?".
He shook his head at this remembering the moment Juno held his arm so tight he thought she would be able to snap it like a twig.
"When you stood up to her with the Apple in your hand. You were so scared, but you were being so brave for everyone else. I used every bit of strength I had to do that. It was you that pulled me out of the darkness long enough to do that, not Emma or anyone else. You".
Cupping his face with her hand, she made him look into her green eye's as she spoke "You did that Tom. You saved our family that night, not me. That is how I know you're going to okay, that is how I know you're stronger than I ever could be".
"I just wanted to be like you" he told her, repeating the words he said to her before they traveled to Camelot.
"I know" she told him as she pushed a piece of his brown hair that had fallen in his face back "and I couldn't be prouder than I am right now" a watery smile grew on the teens face as he looked up him Mom.
"What about our lessons?" he sniffed making a laugh escape her throat. There was so much he still didn't know, that he needed to learn before he had to say goodbye to her. He wasn't done trying to be better, how to fight harder, how to protect his family.
"Thomas Romeo Smith" she breathed out his full name to his in awe of the person she had a very small hand in raising "You were named after two men, in mine and your father's life that would do anything to protect the people they cared about. They were our fathers and our teacher's. And every teacher knows when they can't teach anymore".
"I could teach you for the next ten years, but I can't teach you to be brave like that. That needs to come from here" She said resting her hand on his chest above his heart, feeling the strong heartbeat underneath his shirt, before she lifted her hand up to lift his chin back up to look at her.
"Romeo had to the same for me when I was your age, the lesson's you need to learn are out in the real world while you live your life. It's not going to be perfect, you'll make so many mistakes, it's how you learn from them that matters. And I know you'll do anything to make things right" she tells him taking her hands off his face to rest in her lap.
"But who the hell wants perfect anyway? That sounds so boring" the sentence make her son chuckle as he wiped away the stray tears from his eye's.
"That is why I can't come back. I've got to let you go as much as I need you to let me go".
"What if there was a way though? A way to bring you back without Regina's heart?" he told his mother as he remembered what Cruella had told him and Henry about the Author's quill. If Henry could bring Cruella back, he could bring their Mom back.
"Tom" she sighed "Even if there was a way, you know there's always a price to everything. I'm just not worth that price anymore" she reminded him before standing up from the bench holding out a hand to him "Come on, I want to show you something".
Stood at the foot of the ramp that lead up to the Jackdaw, she never thought she'd have another opportunity to step onto the ship that had meant so much to her, but this was it, and she would do it with her son right beside her. Leading with her right foot the former Black Widow took that all important step. She didn't care about the way her legs protested at the slight incline, all that mattered was getting onto the ship she first stepped onto when she was only five years old.
Glancing behind her she saw her son about to step onto the ramp that lead up to the brig only to quickly stop him.
"Stop!" she stopped him making him freeze with his foot hovering in the air to look up at her "Right foot first" she sternly told her son below her "Never the left foot, it's bad luck".
"Isn't that just a stupid superstition?" her son question her as he placed his foot back onto the ground.
"And yet we were never capsized in a storm" she points out to him "Or killed by mermaids".
Seeing her point the teen shrugged his shoulders as led with his right foot this time as he caught up with his mother on the deck of the Jackdaw. The salty sea air hit the back of his nose that nearly knocked him for six as he took in the full magnificence of the brig under his feet. He had only been on the Jolly Roger to compare with, but this. This was special. It was nothing like he ever imagined it would be as he felt the ship gently rock the ship. Looking up the main mast went on for miles as the white main-sail flapped in the gentle breeze.
The sound of a barrel scraping against the wooden deck made him come out his thoughts as he found his mother crouched at the base of the main mast moving barrels and crates away. Joining her, the teen helped to move a partially heavy barrel out of the way to reveal the scratches that had been carved out into letter's.
A.A.R
"Amelia" she stated to him before moving to the next one "Anya" she says to him before pointing to the last one "Romeo".
"This was the only family I knew for the first eighteen years of my life. After Anastasia left to be with her family and I lost Romeo, I was so alone" she told her son "Then I met your Dad. And then you came. I had made this family out of nothing, and I was so terrified of losing you both. I forgot to enjoy the time we did have together. And when I did find myself alone again, I only made things worse".
"But now, I can say with that you will never feel like that when you go back to Storybrooke. You have a family that loves you so much, and would do anything to keep you safe. You'll never be alone again".
Throwing himself into this mother's arms she easily caught him ignoring the pain she felt as he held her as tight as he would. She knew this wouldn't be easy for either of them. He would have to be brave for the both of them.
The map Cruella had given to the former Duchess and Evil Queen was a god send as they met up with Snow to make there way through the thousands of headstones that littered the super-sized Underbrooke cemetery.
"Thank you for coming" Regina voiced to her former step-daughter as she, the former Duchess and Princess made their way through the cemetery. The former Queen lagged behind Anastasia and Snow as the former of the pair held the 'map' Cruella had given them.
The blonde assassin had seen a lot of familiar names, including her own late husbands; Dimitiri Antonov. But brushed it aside for the time being, she needed to concentrate on her sister.
"Of course. I couldn't let you do this alone" she tells her former step-mother carrying her bow and quiver with her as the blonde assassin's eye's scan over the names on the headstones knowing the one they were looking for shouldn't be far now.
Coming to a stop with the Princess, the Duchess let out a sigh of relief and slight annoyance seeing what condition the headstone was in before the former Queen could. Tipped over on it's back. He had moved on.
DANIEL COLTER
"We found him" Anastasia tells the former Queen, looking back she and Snow see that the older woman couldn't bring herself to look at it, in fear of what 'setting' it would be at.
"It's okay, you can look" Snow encourages her. Following her instruction the former Queen looks at the headstone to see it had been tipped over.
"It's tipped" the former Queen states walking closer to her first love's headstone as the other women saw the relief on her face "He's not here".
The blonde assassin could only hope this would be her if she ever found the courage to look for Dimitri's.
"He's moved on" Snow tells her "He's happy" she adds stepping towards the former Queen to pat her arm in comfort before walking away to let Regina be alone with her first love as Anastasia lingers for a second or two longer.
Seeing her first love's headstone told her everything she need to know. He had no unfinished business, which meant he forgave his friend for 'killing' him to stop him from hurting his fiancee. If only Amelia was with her to see this, maybe this would help ease some of the guilt she still felt for that day in the Storybrooke stables.
"Pokoysya s mirom" (Rest in Peace) Anastasia hummed under her breath to her sister's friend before following the Princess to give the Queen the privacy she needed.
"Daniel.." she starts to speak to the headstone "I'm so glad you're somewhere better. But I'm also sorry I missed the chance to see you" she softly chuckles before kneeling down to place her hand on the headstone "You were my first love, Daniel, and you will always live in my heart. I just needed to know you were okay" she tells him as a watery smile grows on her lips "Leela misses you".
Moving forward with their plan, there was one more headstone they had to try and find before calling it a day. Romeo's.
With the map, they managed to find the part of the cemetery that had seemed to dedicated to the Brotherhood of Assassins as hundreds of almost identical marble statues in various states littered the grass that had come and gone through the Underworld over the centuries.
Starting at Amelia's plinth and statue, they used is as a landmark to make sense of this part of the cemetery that seemed to go on for miles. As they divided off in three different directions to start their search for the senior Montague's statue Regina noticed he was Snow seemed to linger for a moment or two longer at her friends statue, reminding her that she was also a soul trapped in the Underworld along with everyone else here.
Walking back the few steps she had already walked it her turn to comfort the younger woman as she gently patted her arm in comfort, getting her to look away from the statue that held the exact likeness to the redhead. With a sad smile the former Queen encouraged her on.
Hurrying her steps forward the statues and names seemed to go on forever until the blonde assassin came to sudden halt seeing a marble plinth had her adopted father's name engraved on it only to see it vacant of the statue that usually stood upon it.
ROMEO MONTAGUE
MASTER ASSASSIN
REQUIESCE IN PACE
"der'mo!" (shit!) the blonde assassin exclaimed to herself seeing her father's figure tipped onto the ground in one piece. Emma had been right. He had moved on. the bitterness she felt in the happiness she felt of knowing the man that raised her was happy somewhere else. He was the only person she could think of that would be able to convince her to come back with them, to give them a chance of getting her a second chance.
The frustration of her sister's decision can to the forefront of her mind as the tears fell from her eyes. She wanted her sister back after what happened to her in Camelot. The powerless feeling she felt moment of King Arthur sent Excalibur into her. She couldn't stop him, all she could do was scream as her sister's lifeless body hit the ground. She wanted to go back and fight harder, smarter. But that was impossible.
Wiping the tears to one side the blonde assassin lifted her fingers to her lips and let out whistle that Snow and Regina would hear "Over here!" she yelled to the other women.
A few seconds later Regina and Snow appeared hurrying towards them as fast as they could as the former Queen saw the empty marble square pedestal that had the Brotherhood's triangular symbol engraved on it with his name and rank included on it.
Rounding the stone the former Queen saw the Master Assassin's own statue on the grass behind the pedestal completely whole with no cracks or imperfections to is as she quickly compared it to a couple of other statues that had pieces of their statues missing, from heads to top-half's of their torso.
Romeo had made it.
"Damn it" Regina swore out-load seeing Romeo's statue unscathed "Emma was right. It's tipped over".
"Do you think Amelia knows he moved on?" Snow asked the older woman as she saw the statue of her godfather for herself.
"Probably" the former Queen huffed out.
"What about her mother?" the former Princess suggested in hope there was someone that could help them.
"She died when Amy was five" Anastasia supplied to the pixie haired teacher and the former Queen "Give or take thirty odd years, I'd say she's moved on since" the assassin hypothesized to the pair much to their disappointment.
"Then we'll look for her headstone just to be sure" the Princess told her step-mother, trying her best to keep her hope alive that they could help Amelia.
"It's no use" Regina breathed out knowing how long they had until sundown to find another headstone, even with the map to show them, it would take too long "We don't have time, but I think I know just the person who will".
It was a long-shot, but it was the only one they had.
Walking back into town, the former Queen led the younger women towards the Hidden One's knowing it was where she would find Ophelia. The three came to a stop outside as they seemed to hesitate going in knowing this was the place the Amelia had been held by her former brothers. It seemed cold, unwelcoming and they hadn't even opened the door yet.
Pushing herself forward the former Queen was the one to let herself into the bar first with Anastasia and Snow trailing in behind her as they came face to face with the people inside. The light from outside lit-up the dim bar for a second or two making the men and woman inside look up from their drinks to see who had dared enter the place without an invitation.
A wicked smile grew on Iago's face as he stood up from his place in between Richard and Tybalt, as the door closed behind them.
"Your Majesty. Your Highness. Duchess" Iago addressed them all individually as he stood from his place at the long bar to walk out onto the bar floor 'welcome' them in a suit and tie that fitting his bulky form "What a welcome surprise. Tell us, how is our dear Amelia doing after her welcome gifts".
"Iago sit down and shut up" a commanding voice told the man as a figure walked out from the kitchen behind the bar to face the trio of woman brave enough to step inside the establishment.
"Yes...Master" Iago meekly answered his Mentor as he re-took his seat again in between Tybalt and Richard as they both snickered into their drinks at the man's expense.
The man held a presence about him that even made Regina feel a slither of fear seeing the man that had done to her love over the decades she was under his mentorship and the years after when she failed to beat each and every time she came face o face to him before she finally managed to kill him. He was the one Amelia truly feared out of all of them. He was bigger, stronger, smarter. Despite his age he would be able to beat all of them, even if Regina did have her magic back.
He had taught every assassin in this bar and excelled them in their respective fields. Weaponry. Marksmanship. Stealth and Free-Running. He had molded every assassin in this building and it showed by the way he stood before the Evil Queen, the Princess Snow White and his former student Anastasia with all the confidence in the world.
Claudius closely scrutinized each woman in front of him as he stood mere feet away from them, looking at each of them in the eye, before focusing on the former Queen.
"What do you want?" his commanding voice reverberated in their ears. folding his arms across his chest "We don't accept outsiders in here, even if they did aide me weed out the traitors within my ranks" he said looking between the Princess and Queen, before looking at Anastasia who lifted her chin up to meet his hard gaze.
"And you, Duchess" he spat out her title "You dare step foot in here after abandoning the Brotherhood".
"We're looking for Ophelia" Regina told the man as her eye's drifted towards the woman who was sat away from the men. Sat on a lone table away from he others, the Mentor of the Brotherhood of Assassin's turned to glance towards where his assassin sat away from the other's in her isolation from the others after freeing Amelia from their custody.
"You've found her" he tells the Queen turning back to her "Well done Your Majesty; it still doesn't answer my question".
"Claudius leave them be" the woman herself quickly spoke up as she stood up from her chair coming to stand by the man himself "Just look at them, they're on a hero's mission" she tells him with an amused smirk on her lips "I'd say we humor them".
"Make it quick" was all the man said before the brunette assassin dragged the three women out of the bar back on to the street's of Underbrooke to speak to the three women stupid enough to enter the lions den.
What the hell are you all doing here?" the female assassin seethed at the trio quietly "Do you want to get killed?".
"We need your help" Snow quickly told Ophelia "We need you to find someone for us".
"And why the hell would I do that?" she retorted to the Princess that was partly responsible for her friend being banished and Amelia's true parentage exposed to Claudius.
"Because Amelia wants to stay here" Anastasia informed her old teacher "We need to convince her that coming back home with us is her best option".
The news didn't come as a surprise to the brunette assassin by the way the redhead took her 'punishment' from the other without so much of a fight. She had given up, she saw it in her eyes whenever she managed to recover from a hard punch to her jaw.
"Shouldn't you two be supporting her on her decision?" Ophelia looks straight at Regina with the question that she couldn't answer "Shouldn't you be helping her instead of doing the opposite" she continued.
"We can't get through to her" Snow once again spoke for the former Evil Queen as the brunette assassin waited for the woman Amelia truly loved to speak up for herself, to give her a reason to help them "We thought someone down here might be able to persuade her".
"Who?" Ophelia sighed humoring the trio.
"Juliet Capulet" Regina answered the Assassin finding her back bone to speak to the woman who looked just a little older than herself as she heard a scoffed laugh leaving the assassin's lips at the name "I assume you know her".
"I do" Ophelia grumbled to the Queen "She's the reason why we got in this mess in the first place".
"Then you shouldn't have much trouble finding her for us" Regina quickly retorted not liking her tone towards the thought of finding Amelia's mother.
"I've been down here a while and I haven't seen her once" she tells the women in front of her "She's gone".
"Look I can tell you're not happy" Snow interrupted the pair "We can make a deal, get you something in return. Maybe we can help you move on" Snow suggested to the reluctant woman.
"And why should I trust any of you" Ophelia argued.
"You care about her" Regina told the assassin referring to Amelia "Amelia looked up to you. And when you tried to tell her Romeo wasn't dead, she didn't listen because of what those men inside did to her whole life. She was devastated, when she found out you were telling her the truth. Not only did she kill her family, she killed her friend. If you care for her, you'll stop her making the worse decision of her life by staying here".
Ophelia was almost moved by the former Queen's words. Almost. She did remember what she told the Black Widow as she laid dying in the maze in Wonderland 'We didn't kill him'.
But she saw the darkness in Amelia's eyes that told her that she hadn't listened to a single word she had told her. The girl she knew and cared about was gone. Taken over by this Black Widow that needed her to feel the blood of her enemies between her fingers. The one that wouldn't stop at anything to fill that hunger for revenge.
She saw that girl beneath again when she stepped through the door of the hidden ones ready and willing to take whatever punishment her old family had in store. She handed herself over to them. Just like that.
"You don't know. Do you?" the words slipped out of her lips faster than she could control them taking the three women in front of her by surprise as they all blinked at her in bemusement as her narrowed eyes took in their reactions. They didn't know Amelia had handed herself right over to them. She wasn't captured or dragged away from her Underbrooke apartment. She walked right into the bar like they had just done only a few minutes before.
"Know what?" Anastasia asked her old teacher.
"Never mind" Ophelia brushed them off to change the subject. "I'll find her" at that the woman turned and headed back into the bar as the trio of women let out a breath they had been holding in knowing someone would be looking for Juliet Capulet.
The further they came away from the Hidden One's the better they felt knowing they had someone who knew this place better that they did. As they traveled on foot through Underbrooke the blonde assassin took it upon herself to look through the list of names that Cruella had given to them hoping she would spot Amelia's mother's name only to come up shot again. She even found a section that was dedicated to the Templar Order, located on the other side of the cemetery, in apart of it none of them had explored yet she came across a names she knew well.
Shay Cormac.
Lord Tywin Capulet.
But no Juliet Capulet. Maybe if she looked for her maiden name. Her surname before she was taken from her father and younger brother. Maybe that would be the way to go. As the trio of women came to cross the street, the blonde assassin was taken out of her thoughts when she, Regina and Snow heard a horse whinnying making them all stop and look to each other in confusion.
"What was that?" Snow asked her friends next to her.
"A horse?Here?" Regina questioned out-load before looking around for the source of the noise to notice a horse laying down on his side on a grassy verge. Upon seeing it the former Queen quickly approaches it to get a closer look as it grunts in pain.
"What's wrong with it?" Anastasia asked the former Queen as she in concern seeing and hearing the creature in pain as she and Snow followed her.
"It's hurt. It can't stand" Regina tells them.
Without thinking about she was doing the former Queen flicked out her hand towards the injured horse. As soon as the horse feels better it slowly gets back onto it's four legs before turning away from them and trotting around the corner.
"Regina, your magic" the blonde assassin says to her sister's trulove "You did it".
"I did" she states in disbelief before conjuring a ball of fire in her hand to truly test if her magic was back feeling her confidence in herself growing by the second.
"Regina, what are you doing?" the former Princess asks her friend in slight concern.
"Just checking" she tells the pair with a wide smile before snuffing it out "I'm back" she tells the pair with her before turning down the street to continue their journey back to the others.
If she could get her magic back then she could help her soulmate.
The news of Kilian's return out of the depths of the Underworld had quickly spread to his friends as they all rushed into the blonde savoir home to find the man himself bloody and beating holding onto Emma to stand up straight. From their day travelling through Underbrooke Anastasia, Snow and Regina filed into the two story home after the Charming couple and their grandson to see the pirate somewhat alive and well again with Robin joining them.
"Killian!" Snow exclaimed as she saw the man in person.
"Good job, Mom" Henry told his mother with a grin on his face as Tom joined his brother to see the pirate with them.
"Oh, look at you" the former Princess fussed over the man in front her.
"I'll be all right" the pirate told the former Princess as she door opened for Tom to walk into the home closely followed by his mother behind him.
Amelia's green eyes instantly found the one of Hook's eyes that wasn't swollen shut.
"Killian" she breathed out in shock of seeing the man in the flesh after being separated in the land of endless white. A crooked grin grew on the pirate's face seeing the redhead, even though the dirt and blood that covered his face his eyes lit-up seeing the woman had stayed behind to face whatever was going to happen next.
"Miss me Montague?" he quipped at the woman, the woman didn't reply as she walked straight up to the pirate who stepped away from his love for long enough for the redhead to engulf him in a long awaited embrace which he manged to move one of his arm around her careful not to get too much blood on her. But she didn't seem to care as she tried not to hold him too tight, knowing how much pain he was in.
"You son of a bitch" he heard the former Assassin mumble into his dirt covered leather jacket, he let out a painful chuckle as Amelia pulled out of the warm embrace and took his face into her hands.
Emma and the other's watched the pair with a gentle smiles seeing the pair interact as they seemed to grown closer by the trauma they had shared from their experiences as the Dark One and Juno. Amelia had truly forgiven him for the part he had played in her past and was willing for the friendship between them to grow as former villain's willing for love to change them for the better.
And despite what Juno told him about the Widow did to him as some sort of payback for tearing her family apart, but that wasn't the woman in front of him. The was the grief stricken Widow wanting to see the whole world on fire for what happened to her.
"So, you did miss me then?" he teased at the woman as he looked over her face, he saw remnants of the same treatment he had received by Hades.
Healing cuts littering her face through his good eye as he saw the bruises that still remained from her time with the assassins. He had no idea where the redhead had ended up when they separated. Hades had told him where she was and what was being done to her, he felt helpless he couldn't help her.
"I told you we needed to stick together" she told the man as she surveyed the injuries to his face.
"Always Montague" he told her as Emma took the man back to her side only for Hook to keep hold of the redhead like she was going to disappear again like she did the Land of Endless White. One minute they were about to let the thunderstorm take them and the next she wasn't with her.
"How did you do it?" David asked his daughter.
"Gold got us in" she informed the others as Amelia glanced back at her Uncle behind them "He got us help. He poofed us back here. He even had a boat to get us all back home. But it's gone".
"What happened?" Snow asked the pair.
"Hades attacked" Hook told the group "We lost the boat and... we lost a friend" his face turned dark before he turned around to face Gold who was stood waiting patiently behind them "I hear you took away mine and Amelia's sacrifice" he told the man with anger lacing his voice "Everything we did to save our friends all went to give you back your power. We should kill you".
"Killian" Amelia gently voiced to her friend, giving his hook arm a gentle squeeze in warning. Now was not the time to start a war with her Uncle. Especially knowing how powerful he was now. She knew it was Juno's idea, he just simply followed her word at a weak moment thinking his marriage was over.
"Acknowledged" her Uncle stated to the man and his niece.
"But.." Hook went on"You helped get me out of there, so I should say-".
"Thank you" Gold finished for the man "No need".
"Stay of execution" Hook corrected him "We're even for now".
"I just wanted to get home. And yes, you're welcome, Captain".
"Well, we're sorry you lost her" Robin told the older man, referring to the friend they had lost in Hook's rescue.
"She made me who I am" Gold told the group before Regina changed the subject.
"Okay" Regina interrupted the conversation "We don't have a way out, but we didn't have one before anyway" the former spoke up with new found confidence "My magic's working now. So let's do this heart split. That way, when we find an exit, we can get through it" she told the blonde.
Hook looked at Emma in shock and concern "Heart split?".
"It's a good plan" Emma tells him "It'll work. Trust me" Letting go of his hand, Amelia took hold of Killian's arm to keep him upright as he watched Emma step up to Regina.
"Why aren't you doing this?" he asked the Assassin in a low even voice. Surely her Queen would be stepping up to split her heart to bring her love back to the land of the living.
"I'll explain later" she whispered to the pirate with flash of a smile before they both refocused on what was happening in front of them. It was his time to be happy and she was going to let him have it.
Emma steps forward, sighs and clears her throat getting ready to have her heart ripped out of her chest "Do it" Emma instructed the former Queen.
With a thrust her hand the former Queen goes to take the saviors heart from her chest only for flash of magic to repel her gloved hand away.
"Oh!" Regina exclaimed in shock and confusion as her trueloves eyebrows furrow seeing what had just happened.
"What the fuck was that?" the redheaded assassin could only say seeing the plan fail.
"Interesting" the redhead heard her Uncle mumble to himself from behind her.
"What the hell?" the former Queen lowly stated to herself.
"What is this?" Emma said to herself in disbelief that her plan didn't work "Why didn't it work?".
The redheaded assassin had a bad feeling about the answer.
The answer to their quarry was in the cemetery. Stood with her soulmate and sister withe side of her, she clenched her love's gloved hand in her own as she gazed upon something she thought she would never be able to un-see in her afterlife. Her love's name chiseled into to headstone, along with her sisters and her closest friends.
REGINA MILLS
ANASTASIA ROMANOVA
SNOW WHITE
EMMA SWAN
Each time she read the names it felt like another cut being made in her skin by her old family, another punch, another kick, another stab.
Amelia stood with Regina as they looked onto the answer to their question. While Tom stood with his brother and his grandparents. Anastasia stared at the headstone with a hard look on her face with Robin and Gold.
While Snow sought comfort in her husbands embrace, Tom stood by his younger brother's side as they saw their family's name permanently engraved into stone. Anastasia simply stared at her own headstone with a hard look on her face, like she was living her darkest nightmare.
"Hades told me to pick four names and chisel them onto the headstones" Hook informed the other's as they stared at the four names in front of them "He said whoever I picked would remain in the Underworld. I refused".
"Well, it looks like he did the picking himself" Regina stated the obvious to the group.
"What does this mean?" Emma asked the question the redhead already knew the answer to.
"It means we're stuck here" Regina tells her "And now we can't use your heart to save Hook".
"Well..." Gold sighed at the newest predicament "I got the pirate out in a day. But you lots managed to find a whole new way to fail. I'll be in the shop" with that he walked away from the group leaving them to their next problem to deal with alone.
AN: Hello there! I'm still here! Another Chapter to disgust for you today.
Remember to:
Follow/ Favorite/ Review/ Comment.
Until next time!