Chapter 58

Hi everyone! I'm back! I know it's been FOREVER, and I do apologize for that. I had been going through some things and was also having a really tough time writing since the show has been over. I started rewatching again though, and it got me in the writing mood! I will make you all a promise that no matter how long it takes, this story will be completed as long as I still have readers out there. I've seen all of your reviews since I've been away, and I appreciate every single one of them! "Missing Moments" and "Little One" will be updated soon as well! Now, let's explore Camelot some more, shall we?
Enjoy! :)

"Hanna, what are you doing out here?" Snow was not very happy to see that she hadn't gone back to their room like she told her to.

"What happened in there?" Hanna asked, ignoring her mom's question. "Were you able to save Robin?"

"Emma was able to do it," David told her.

Hanna shook her head. "What do you mean Emma?" She looked towards Regina. "Why didn't you just save him?"

"I couldn't," Regina told her. "The sword was enchanted to kill me. My magic couldn't heal him."

"What?" Hanna was furious. "So you just let Emma do it? Wasn't that whole point of you pretending to be the savior? So Emma wouldn't have to use her magic?"

"Hanna calm down," Snow told her.

"Regina you know she can't use magic!" Hanna yelled, ignoring her mother once again. "How could you…"

"Hanna it was the only way," Regina explained. "Emma handled it. She's fine."

"Don't say she's fine! It did something to her! She…"

"Hanna that's enough," David said as he stepped in front of Hanna blocking her view of Regina. Hanna was getting too emotional and was starting to make a scene. She was going to wake the entire castle with her shouting. "Let's go back to your room."

"But Dad…"

"Now," David warned.

Hanna glared up at her dad and after seeing the look on his face, decided it wasn't worth the fight. She turned and walked back to her room.

"We want to know what exactly you were doing in the hallway after we specifically told you to come back here," Snow said once they were back to the room.

"I needed to be there," Hanna explained. "I had to know what was going on. I…"

David sighed. "But we told you…"

"Can you please just listen to me?" Hanna begged.

Snow and Charming could hear the desperation in her voice. They just nodded their heads, letting her know they were listening.

"I promised Emma I would help. Before she got taken away, she told me to help you find a way to get the darkness out of her. I promised her that I would. Don't make me break that promise to her. Please, I need to help."

Hanna watched as her parents looked at each other for a few seconds, then back to her again.

"Hanna you're right," Snow told her. "You should keep your promise to your sister and help us in any way you can."

Hanna smiled. "Really?"

"Yes," David said. "But if at any point your mother or I tell you to do something, like go to your room, we need you to listen because some things might just be too dangerous, okay?"

Hanna nodded her head. "Okay." Hanna trusted that her mom and dad would do what they said and actually let her help them find a way to save Emma.

"Now Hanna you know Regina never would have asked Emma to do what she did if she had any other choice, right?" Snow asked.

Hanna sighed. "I know. I shouldn't have yelled at her like that. I'll apologize to her tomorrow. It's just…I guess seeing Emma after she left the room got me really upset."

"Tell us what happened." David said.

"She was talking to someone, but there was no one there."

"She did that before she healed Robin too," Snow recalled. "She was talking directly to the chair in the corner of the room like someone was sitting in it, but it was empty."

"It's that darkness it's doing something to her," Hanna said. "Her hand too…I don't know how to explain it. It was kind of sparkling or something. Like it was changing because she used magic."

Snow and David nodded taking in what Hanna told them. They assured her that they would all find a way to fix all of this. Then David went into the other room to relieve Doc of his babysitting duties. Snow stayed to help Hanna out of her dress and remove the flowers and pins from her hair.

"So, tell me about that boy you were dancing with tonight," Snow said with a grin once Hanna was all ready for bed.

Hanna rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed. "You know there's not much to tell really. Dad interrupted us before the boy even told me his name."

Snow let out a laugh. "You know I did try to stop him."

"Yeah well maybe try harder next time," Hanna joked. "It's really no big deal though. It was just a dance."

"Maybe you'll run into him again. You never know," Snow said with a smile.

Hanna shrugged and let out a yawn. "Ehh, maybe. I have more important things to worry about anyways."

"I think right now, you just need to get some sleep. You need to be rested if you're going to help us with your sister."

Hanna nodded, another yawn escaping her mouth. "Okay." She climbed into bed and got under the covers.

Snow pulled them tight around her and gave her a kiss goodnight.

Hanna wandered the halls. She couldn't sleep. She was hoping an idea on how to help Emma would come to her. They were all still trying to find a way to free Merlin from that tree, but it's been a few days and they haven't been able to come up with anything yet. Hanna thought they were getting close when they had an idea on how they could talk with Merlin while he was still in the tree. Regina knew of a toadstool that could be used to communicate through barriers. It was called the Crimson Crown. Her dad went on a quest with Arthur to find it, but came back empty handed. They still weren't any closer to figuring out a way to free Merlin from that tree or Emma from the darkness.

As Hanna walked further down the hallway, she saw a dim light coming from one of the rooms. She peered inside to find her sister sitting at a table. Hanna quietly walked in and saw Emma had a knife and stick in her hand. Hanna was confused.

"Hey Em…what are you doing?"

"I can't sleep anymore," Emma told her as she continued to carve the stick.

"Well what are you…" Hanna started to ask just as her sister looked up towards the window in front of them. Hanna looked up too and saw them. "Oh, dreamcatchers?" Hanna knew how those were used. "You're trying to see people's memories?"

"Maybe."

"But Emma you can't…"

"I'm not going to use my magic."

"Good." Hanna pulled up a chair and sat down next to her sister. "Can I help?"

Emma turned her head towards Hanna and just looked at her for a few seconds before nodding her head. She picked up a ball of string and held it out to Hanna. "Can you untangle this?"

Hanna took the knotted mess. "Sure." Hanna set in on the task Emma had given her.

They sat in silence for what felt like a long time and Hanna barely made a dent in the string. She knew she could have a perfectly rolled up ball of string in about two seconds with her magic, but she didn't want to use it in front of Emma. Hanna looked over at her sister and gave her a nudge. "Geez Em, you really did a number on this stuff."

Emma looked over and gave her sister a small smile. "I may have been a little careless when putting it away after I used it."

"You think?" Hanna laughed. "This thing looks like a tornado sucked it up and spit it back out again."

Emma let out a laugh too. "You're right it does. Things become a little more difficult when you can't use magic."

Hanna's smile faded. She thought back to the night of the ball. "What happened that night, Emma? When you had to save Robin?"

Emma just shook her head. "Nothing. I used my magic to heal him and that was it."

"It wasn't though, Emma. I was there when you left the room, remember? Please just tell me," Hanna begged.

Emma stopped working and didn't say a word.

"You're seeing someone aren't you? In your head?"

Emma didn't answer.

"It's the darkness, isn't it? It's talking to you." Hanna reached over and took ahold of her sister's hand. "Emma you can tell me."

Emma nodded her head.

"And your hand…was that because you used magic?"

"It's under control Hanna. I haven't used magic since and the voice in my head isn't here now. I'm…" Emma quickly turned her head.

"Emma what is it?"

Emma said nothing and started walking out of the room.

Hanna followed Emma down the hallway and into another room. Emma walked over and opened the wardrobe. There was a box which popped as soon as Emma opened the doors. Inside was the dagger.

"Emma don't," Hanna warned just as Emma reached out her hand and was zapped by a protection spell.

"I can't."

"Good. Regina's spell worked. Now let's just go, okay?"

"Leave me alone," Emma said as she continued to stare at the dagger.

"Emma I'm not going anywhere without…"

"Get out of my head!" Emma reached out her hand and blasted some magic towards Hanna.

Hanna quickly ducked and realized Emma hadn't been talking to her. That thing was in her head. It was here right now. "Emma, calm down. It's okay"

"What's going on? Is she alright?" Hook asked as he walked into the room.

"There's no one here," Hanna said, trying to get her sister to relax. "It's just us and look, Killian is here too."

Hook walked over and pulled Emma into his arms.

"He's inside my head," Emma whispered. "I cant get him out. He's here." Emma looked towards the doorway. "He's always here."

"I'm going to go get help," Hanna told Killian.

He gave her a nod. "I'll stay here with her."

Hanna returned with Snow, Regina, and Henry. They found Emma just laying across the trunk at the bottom of the bed. She looked like she was in some kind of daze.

"What happened to her?" Snow asked.

"I have no idea," Killian told her. "She hasn't said a word."

They all looked to Hanna.

"We were making dreamcatchers. Then all of a sudden she stopped and left. I followed her here, and we found the dagger. She's been hearing voices in her head. She was hearing them just then. I was trying to calm her down, and that's when Killian showed up."

"Like I said, she hasn't said a word since and has just been lying here."

"It's getting worse isn't it?" David asked when he came into the room and saw the state his daughter was in.

"David, where have you been?" Snow asked. "I was looking all over the castle for you."

"With Arthur. It turns out he might have a way to help Emma."

"We can't," Snow warned him.

"If we give him the dagger—"

"David, listen to me. We can't trust Arthur."

"What are you talking about? Who told you that?"

"Lancelot."

"Lancelot? Lancelot is dead."

"Wait he's dead?" Hanna asked, trying to keep up with what her parents were talking about.

"That's what he wanted Cora to think, but he outwitted her," Snow said.

"What does Cora have to do with all of this?" Hanna asked.

"It's a long story sweetie," Snow told her, "but all that matters is he's alive."

Regina interrupted their conversation telling them not to talk about this in front of Emma. Anything could set her off right now, and she needs to rest. Someplace quiet. Henry told them he knew the perfect place. Emma left with Killian and Henry. Hanna watched her sister leave and hoped the boys would be able to get her the rest she so desperately needed.

"Whatever's happening to her, she was here for the dagger," Regina told them. "So I should probably move it somewhere safer."

"Now, hold on a second," David said. "Arthur has a way to use that to help Emma."

"What did I just tell you?" Snow said, her voice apparent that she was getting frustrated with her husband. "We are not giving it to Arthur. Lancelot said he can't be trusted."

"And Cora said Lancelot was dead. You can't believe everything you hear."

"You really don't trust Lancelot do you? He married us he's our friend."

"That was a long time ago…"

Hanna and Regina just looked at each other. Hanna could tell Regina was getting annoyed with their bickering, but it just made Hanna feel uncomfortable. She didn't like seeing them talk to each other like that. Hanna was startled when her mom actually started yelling.

"I don't know David! I don't have all of the answers!" Snow quickly looked over towards Regina and Hanna. "Could you two please give us a minute?"

Hanna sighed and turned towards Regina.

Regina took ahold of Hanna's hand and poofed them both away.

Hanna looked up and saw that they were outside of Snow and David's bedroom. Hanna walked inside where Granny was watching Neal. Hanna took her baby brother from Granny and told her she could go take a break from babysitting duty. Hanna snuggled her baby brother close and sat down.

"Why do you think my mom doesn't trust Arthur now? Didn't he just make my dad a knight of his round table? Why would he do that?"

"That's just a flashy title, it could just be a rouse to make you father trust him," Regina told her. "As for your mother…well, I'm sure she has a good reason. She believes this Lancelot, and now we have an even bigger problem because we have no idea who we can trust."

Hanna sighed. She felt like they weren't making any progress with Emma and now her parents were fighting. "I didn't like seeing them like that."

Regina sat down next to Hanna and Neal. "Like what?" she asked.

"Fighting." Hanna looked down and held onto her baby brother's little hand. "I've never seen my mom and dad argue like that before."

"Oh don't worry about them," Regina said as she put her arm around Hanna. "I'm sure they've already made up and are on their way here."

"Oh good we found you," Snow said as she came into the room.

"We have a plan," David told them.

Regina gave Hanna a wink. "What did I tell?"

Hanna smiled at Regina, then went over to her parents. "So you're not mad at each other anymore?"

Snow shook her head. "We quickly realized fighting isn't going to solve any problems."

"And we've thought of a way to test who is being true—Arthur or Lancelot," David said.

David was going to go back to Arthur to tell him that they will restore Excalibur tonight. He will tell Arthur about Emma and convince him that Snow thinks trusting Arthur is a bad idea. He will tell him that Lancelot is back and that he was the one who convinced Snow of this. David will tell Arthur he brought the dagger, but when he opens the box, the dagger will be gone. Arthur will know Snow took it to Lancelot. Snow will have a fake dagger and show it Lancelot. She will tell him she needs his help to hide it. Arthur will want to follow them and David will follow Arthur, without him knowing. Seeing what Arthur and Lancelot do with the fake dagger will show them the truth.

"Hanna we need you to help Regina hide the real dagger," Snow said.

"Really?" Hanna asked. She wasn't sure if her this was just a sympathy job. "Are you sure you're not just having me tag along with Regina to make it seem like you're letting me help?"

"Hanna that's not it at all," David told her.

Hanna looked over at Regina. "You could really use my help to hide it?"

"Yes," Regina nodded. "Emma found my last hiding spot way too easily, but if I had some else who could wield magic…"

"The dagger would be better protected," Snow added with a smile. "We really do need your help, Hanna."

"Okay, let's do it then." Hanna passed Neal off to her mom and went with Regina

"So we're trying for the middle of the forest this time?" Hanna asked Regina as the trudged through the trees.

"There are infinite places to hide things out here and the farther away from Emma and others the better."

"So why don't we just poof ourselves into the middle of the forest and save all this walking?"

"We have to fit in some exercise in somewhere," Regina said with a grin.

Hanna just rolled her eyes and continued to follow Regina.

After awhile, Regina finally stopped. "This should be good right here."

"A hollow log," Hanna peered inside. It was very deep and plenty big enough to hide the dagger.

Regina reached out her hand. "Let me see it."

Hanna gave the dagger to Regina and watched as she carefully placed it into the log.

"Now, we are both going to cast a protection spell onto the log. That will make it so we both have to be here when we want to get the dagger again."

"Regina, I don't know…I'm only just starting to learn. I've never even cast a protection spell before."

"Hanna I think you're more in-tuned to your powers than you think. I remember all the magic you were doing in Isaac's realm."

"No," Hanna shook her head. "He just wrote me that way. I can't really do all of that stuff."

"Hanna yes you can," Regina assured her. "He didn't write you more powerful than you already are. All of that power is inside you. Why do you think he made you wear that cuff if he wasn't scared of your magic?"

Hanna thought about it and started to realize that maybe Regina was right. She was able to do a lot of things in that other realm. "But Regina I've never done a protection spell."

"It's easy," Regina told her. "Remember when I taught you how to make objects appear in your hand?"

Hanna nodded.

"Well, it's kind of like the opposite that. You need to think really hard about keeping the object in it's place and protecting it from anyone who would try to take it."

"Okay, I think I can do that."

"Just watch me." Regina closed her eyes and held out her hands. Hanna could see the magic starting to flow from them. Regina waved her hands over the log and the magic covered the lot in an instant, then disappeared. "See? It's nothing. Now you do it."

Hanna took a deep breath. "Okay, here it goes." She stood in front of the log. She closed her eyes and lifted her hands. She thought hard about how much she needed to hide the dagger. It needed to stay in this log so no one could get it. If it fell into the wrong hands, someone cold use this to make her sister do unspeakable things. Hanna couldn't let that happen she had to protect Emma. She had to keep the darkness from consuming her. Hanna started to feel the magic tingling her hands. She opened her eyes and waved her hands over the log just like Regina had done. Hanna's magic covered the log and disappeared. Hanna looked up at Regina with a triumphant smile. "Did I do it?"

"That was great, Hanna!" Regina was proud of her young student.

"So that's it?" Hanna asked.

"Yes," Regina said with a nod. "No one is getting that dagger unless we decide they are."

Hanna and Regina went back to Arthur's castle to wait for Snow and David to return. Robin was with them too, eager to hear how the plan would go.

Hanna just watched Regina. She wouldn't stand still. "Geez Regina, would you just calm down."

"You're going to wear out the masonry if you keep pacing," Robin told her.

"My mom and dad are going to be fine," Hanna said, thinking maybe she was worried about them like she was.

"You think I'm worried about them?" Regina scoffed. "Those two could outlive a cockroach."

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Then what the heck is your problem? You're driving me nuts with all that back and forth."

"I want to know how their test went. I get antsy when I don't know who to hate."

"I think we can help with that," Snow said as she came into the room.

Regina sighed. "What took so long?"

"Turns out David was right. We can trust Arthur," Snow said.

"And Lancelot?" Robin asked.

"Locked safely in the dungeon. He was lying. Our best move now is to give Arthur the real dagger."

"We just spent all day hiding it, like we agreed upon," Regina said.

"Yeah, are you guys sure? We literally just hid that thing. We worked really hard too." Hanna had a weird feeling about all of this.

"Plans change," Snow told them. "Making Excalibur whole is our best chance to save Emma."

"Alright then, let's go." Regina led them out of the room.

"You're absolutely sure about this?" Hanna asked her parents once more.

"We're sure kiddo," David told her with a smile.

"Okay," Hanna said with a nod. She would trust what her mom and dad were telling her.

Regina and Hanna began their trek through the forest for the second time that day. This time with Snow and Charming on their heels. Hanna made eye contact with Regina when she saw the hollow log up ahead. This didn't feel right.

"You really think giving the dagger to Arthur is the best way to help Emma?" Hanna asked.

"We trust him," Snow said

"Implicitly," David added.

"Did you learn those big words at shepherd school?" Regina asked. with a raise of her eyebrows. "How do you know you can trust him?"

"Because we're good judges of character," David assured her. "And we would never act against Emma's best interest."

Regina and Hanna looked nervously at each other as they stopped in front of the log.

"Is the dagger in there?" Snow asked eagerly.

"Yeah it's in there," Hanna told her as she peered inside. She looked up at Regina. "What do we do?"

"We both just need to reach in for it at the same time."

Hanna nodded and reached into the log with Regina. They both took ahold of the dagger and pulled it out. Hanna let go, and Regina held it out to Snow, but pulled it away.

"Are you sure handing the one thing that can control your daughter over to Arthur is the right thing to do?" Regina asked.

"Have you lost the power of comprehension?" Snow said, getting impatient.

"Mom…" Hanna said, taken aback by her response.

"Hand over the dag—" Snow started to say before she and David were frozen into place.

Hanna had no idea what was going on. She looked up to see Emma and wondered what her sister was up to.

"What are you doing?" Regina asked. "When did you get so liberal with dark magic?"

"No choice," Emma told her. "Arthur has them under some kind of spell. He wants them to bring him the dagger. He wants to reunite it with Excalibur."

"Unite it?" Hanna asked.

"It was once one blade. It was broken in half a long, long time ago."

"What happens when they're together?" Regina asked Emma, wondering how she knew all of this.

"He wants to kill Merlin with it. I don't have to tell you how bad that would be for all of us."

"How do you know this?" Hanna asked, wondering the same thing as Regina.

"How do we know that this isn't the darkness in you rearing its head?"

"It's true, and we don't have a lot of time. Arthur is expecting them soon." Emma turned and started to walk away.

Regina put out her hand to stop her. "He's the king."

Emma just looked at her, unfazed by that fact.

"So you want to take on all of Camelot?"Regina wasn't sure this was the best idea.

"I want to free Merlin, then I can help my parents and stop Arthur," Emma told her.

"But we have no idea how to get him out of the tree," Hanna said.

"You already said it," Emma said to Regina. "Dark magic."

Hanna shook her head. "No. Emma, you can't keep using it."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Careful Emma," Regina warned. "I've been on that slippery slope, and you know where it got me."

"All due respect, I'm not you."

Hanna could tell her sister wasn't going to back down. Hanna knew using magic like this wasn't good for Emma, but maybe she would be okay to do just this one thing. Merlin would be free, and he could get rid of the darkness. Emma would be fine. There was just one more little thing they had to deal with.

"So what are we going to do with Mom and Dad?" Hanna asked.

Emma waved her hand. "I sent them to Granny's. They'll stay frozen there for awhile until we free Merlin."

Hanna shrugged. "Works for me. Now, let's go."

Regina waved her hand and poofed them all back to the castle so they could get to work.

"First, we need to know how the potion you've been working on will react to my dark magic," Emma said as she set the spell book down and began to read through the instructions. "Bring me the vile."

"We're not doing a damn thing until you tell us how you knew David and Mary Margaret were under a spell," Regina said.

"We don't have time for this," Emma told her.

"Make time."

"Fine." Emma picked up a dreamcatcher and held it out to Regina. "I saw it in this."

"The dreamcatcher?" Hanna looked up at her sister. "But Emma you said weren't going to use your magic with those."

"I didn't have a choice."

"Emma this is dark magic," Hanna snatched the dreamcatcher from her sister. "You can't keep using it!"

"Hanna I had to."

"But Emma, the darkness. It's doing things to you. I saw what it did…"

"Hanna, think about where the dagger would be if I hadn't used this!" Emma took her dreamcatcher back. She was getting annoyed the with her sister.

Hanna just nodded her head. Arthur would have the dagger right now if Emma hadn't shown up when she did.

"These things catch more than dreams," Regina told Emma.

"I know."

"And you have to wave it over someone to capture a memory."

"I don't. This dark magic is stronger, more unpredictable than any magic I've ever used. The image just appeared. It also showed me what Arthur did to them."

"Mom and Dad are going to be okay, right?"

"They're going to be fine," Emma assured her. "The dreamcatcher also showed me a memory that's going to help us…Merlin's. I saw him."

Emma continued to tell them that Merlin wept for the loss of the only woman he ever loved moments before the dark one captured him in that tree—using one of his tears. Regina realized they could use this to their advantage. She told them spells are like snakebites. You can make the anti-venom with the venom. If a tear of lost love trapped Merlin…then another one might be able to get him out. They got the potion ready and all they had to do was get themselves a tear. They went out to the tree and prepared to add the final ingredient.

They planned on using Regina's tear by having her look through one of Emma's dreamcatchers and watching the day her mother stole her true love from her. Regina was going to watch the moment when Cora crushed Daniel's heart. Reliving that terrible memory worked, Regina shed several tears, but when they added Regina's tear to the potion, it didn't work. Emma said the answer was simple, Regina's heartbreak wasn't strong enough. Not that Regina's pain wasn't real, but she had Robin now. She moved on. She had healed. They weren't sure what they were going to do—until a broken hearted Henry walked over. He had been spending time with Violet, the girl he danced with at the ball, but she didn't want anything to do with him. She told him he could never be a hero in this world. As tears began falling from his eyes, Regina took a tissue and dabbed them from his cheeks. Henry may not be a hero in Violet's world, but he was in theirs. His tears were going to be just what they needed to enact the spell, but before they could add the final ingredient, Arthur and his men showed up to stop them.

"Stay away from the tree," Arthur warned. "I won't ask twice. You and your people have done nothing but lie to me ever since you got here. You're no savior. You're a fraud."

"Go ahead," Regina said, clenching her fists and walking towards him. "I dare you."

"We welcomed you—celebrated you," Arthur said. "And in return, you bring the dark one into the heart of my kingdom, endangering the lives of all who live here. Give me the dagger!"

"You want it?" Regina formed a fireball in her hand. "Come and get it."

"We won't let you have it." Hanna stood next to Regina, ready to fight.

"Now Emma!" Regina handed her the tissue with Henry's tear and Emma ran to finish the spell.

"It's working!" Emma called out.

Hanna turned to see black and white magic swirling around Emma. Hanna was glad the spell was working, but worried about what effect this would have on her sister. Hanna quickly turned back when she heard Arthur and his men draw their swords, they were about the charge. Regina and Hanna were not going to let that happen. Regina threw a few fire balls, while Hanna blasted a few of Arthur's men back with her magic. Hanna just grinned. Regina was right, she was able to do all the things she could do back in Isaac's realm. She lifted her hands to fling back a few more of Arthur's men.

Hanna turned to Emma and watched as she got control of the magic and pushed it towards the tree. The magic surrounded the tree and seemed to be working. Hanna watched Emma. She was succeeding, but this was no easy task. Emma was using a lot of dark magic to do this. Hanna worried what this would do to her sister.

Emma gave the magic one last blast towards the tree and everyone fell to the ground. Emma stood, smiling at her success. Where the tree once stood, there was a man. They had done it. Merlin was free.