Hook was old. He was beginning to realize just how old he was as he saw the young, terrified look on his wife's face.
Emma, for all of her strength, was still so young. Hook felt his eyes fill up with tears that he did not release as he realized that she was protecting him. That young life should not be on the line in this way, but it was.
Emma had Nimueh at gun point.
"Put your toy away, Lady Swan. It will do no good against my powers." Nimueh pulled the scarlet cord she had tied around Hook's neck tighter. He tried to conceal how badly it hurt for Emma's sake. Beneath her false bravado, he felt her heart well up with terror. She was still the lost girl he'd met inside, lonely and afraid, poorly armed against the dark.
"It will still hurt like Hell. Let him go." Emma shook the gun at Nimueh.
"You heard her, witch. Your quarrel is not with Emma Swan any way. It is with my father." Arthur stepped into the clearing with Merlin beside him, whose hands and eyes were ablaze in spirit flame.
"Oh, but see,...my quarrel is with everything that your light touches. Emma Swan is blazing with the light of your heart, Arthur Pendragon. With Light all her own.."Nimueh smiled. Then, she let Hook go and tossed him forward.
"I didn't come here to hurt your precious beau, Lady Swan. At least, not yet. I only wanted to warn you to consider and to heed my warning." Nimueh smiled, looked at Merlin with some slight discomfort, and then sniffed arrogantly.
"Yeah? What warning is that?" Emma lowered her gun. Her lip quivered ever so slightly. Hook felt his throat close, wanting to kiss her lips to stop their quivering. He had never loved her more than in that moment with the quiet desperation bubbling in her lonely eyes.
"It is not you that I desire to destroy, Emma. It is Uther Pendragon. It has always been Uther Pendragon, and all his line. Out of Uther came descendants both of flesh and of spirit. His daughter Morgana became queen after her brother's death, and through her marriage there came physical heirs. I have killed many of these over the centuries..."Nimueh focused on Arthur's mortified face for a moment.
"Out of Arthur's death, there came a line of spiritual heirs. Those born with his magic, created by the bond Emrys shares with his king, whose life and death caused his cycle of rebirth forever. Oh, so much more than immortality was the dark curse of Emrys..." Nimueh looked almost sad then. She looked at Emma intensely.
"My warning is this, Emma Swan. As the spiritual heir of Arthur Pendragon, the perfect balance of that entire line, you are the apple of Albion, the first fruits of all its glory. I must do more than kill you...more than turn you. Dearest girl, I must destroy you. Either I will do so by harsh means, or you will give yourself to me and allow me to sacrifice you for the good of your kingdom. In the end, dear girl, it will be left to you to decide." Nimueh smiled.
"She will do no such thing! I won't allow it." Hook snapped. Already, his voice told them he was powerless.
The look on Emma's face then was one that Merlin recognized on Arthur's. Fear struck Merlin, and he looked over at Arthur who had drawn protectively closer to Emma.
"Why sacrifice the girl? My life I gave you freely. There is no need to come for my spiritual kindred." Arthur took a protective step between Emma and Nimueh.
Nimueh smiled at this, in what might have been partly a snarl.
"Oh, I know. But see, I have your soul still. Haven't you wondered why you are still suffering?" Nimueh looked almost apologetic. Merlin felt his body go cold from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. He swallowed.
Arthur was silent, and this told them that he had already realized it and hadn't said. Nimueh nodded.
Emma took a step forward.
"Okay...look...I'll lay it out for you. If it's gonna come down to you hurting my family or me for your petty little revenge anyway, then... go ahead and take my life. Right here, right now...no games no tricks." Emma held her hands out.
"EMMA! NO!" Hook's jaw dropped. Arthur shook his head and drew closer to Emma. Merlin drew up taller, ready to react if he needed to, still stunned by Nimueh's confession.
Nimueh studied Emma intently. Then, she looked at Arthur.
"She...is truly your spiritual descendant. I remember a much younger version of you, boy king. It was as if you offered me your heart on a banquet tray...How it grieves me that you have passed this on to the Savior..."Nimueh shook her head.
"There will be no tricks, then, Emma Swan. When the time is right, and the suffering has reached its peak, then you will know. You will know and you will come to me as Arthur Pendragon once did. I will sacrifice you on the stone. Then, justice will be served and Uther Pendragon's kingdom will have its end." Nimueh nodded.
Emma's face twisted.
"You're not going to sacrifice anyone else! You're not! I will not allow this! You will have to come through all my power, witch, to do whatever vile thing you have planned!" Merlin screamed.
"O-Or you can take my heart instead. Emma and I share a heart via a spell. You can sacrifice mine and leave her be..."Hook pleaded.
"Rather that, you will sacrifice me again. Why can you not? If my soul is yours, then what is the problem?" Arthur was so tired; his voice ached.
Nimueh studied them all.
"I will say no more. The time is not right. But when it comes down to the choice, to destiny, you will know what you must do, Emma Swan. Think about your son." Nimueh nodded. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she passed from that forest in flames.
They were left alone to stand in the sun. Emma's face was blank.
"I know...I know you guys are trying to protect me. And I appreciate it...but...but if it comes down to protecting Henry or myself...you know what I have to choose. You know what I have to choose..."Emma was in tears then at the absolutely silver-blue look on Hook's face.
Arthur took Emma's hands.
"No, child...There...there has to be a way to stop this before that happens. No one should suffer her curse. No one..." Arthur fretted his lip when Merlin looked up at him slowly, teary-eyed at his words.
"F-Fret not, dear, if anyone can stop her it's Merlin...Merlin, surely you know something in all your years of rebirth and facing the legends again that will trap Nimueh? All we need is a way to prevent her if we cannot kill her..."Arthur looked up at Merlin.
Merlin drew in a breath.
"We know she plans to wake Uther. We know she plans some great and final showing of her might to him. I fear we will have to wait until we find your father, in the land of the living, before we can make a trap." Merlin sighed.
"Emma? you-you can't...you can't go like that...Please...There will be some other way..."Hook was near tears. Emma went to his arms and they fell silent.
Merlin drew nearer to Arthur whose eyes were wide.
"I don't understand how she can still have my soul..."Arthur tilted his head.
"I did not know you sacrificed your soul to her. I only knew it was your heart..."Merlin choked on the thought. Had he been in Hell all the long time he'd been gone then? Had Merlin failed to save him from his loop in the Legend because damnation had prevented his Destiny from taking form?
Arthur's eyes told him the answer to that question. He smiled softly. Yes, he had spent the last 25 ages in Hell to save him.
Merlin nodded, as sickness settled in.
"No matter. We will have your soul back from the witch if I must burn myself and the world down to do it. Come now...Come Emma, Hook...We need to leave this place..."Merlin led them back to the town then. They had all fallen silent, too deeply upset by facing Nimueh to say another word to one another for the remainder of that day.