With the events of the previous night still fresh in their minds and the new information they had gained from the Dark Swan, even by accident. Everyone gathered in the Mayor's office to inform them of the latest developments.
"We found Merlin back in Camelot?" Mary Margaret asked her former stepmother in disbelief as she David, Anastasia Hook and Belle listened to the Mayor inform them of what Emma had let slip to them the previous night.
"Emma let it slip last night when she tried to visit Henry" the former Queen informed the younger woman from her place stood in front of the long conference table.
"If we found that Sorcerer, why the bloody hell didn't he destroy the darkness in Emma?" Hook asked the question that had been playing on their minds at that moment.
"You're asking the wrong person" she tells the pirate.
"Well, we can't very well ask him".
"That's exactly what we're going to do" Regina tells him taking out the toadstool that David and Anastasia had found in the Camelot camp a few days ago.
"A Crimson Crown" David stated seeing it "You figured out how to make the communication spell work" he continued as Hook took the toadstool from the Queen to get a closer look at it.
"Let's just say, seeing Emma rip Violet's heart from her chest gave us all the motivation we needed" she tells them glancing over to the redhead sat at her desk absentmindedly gazing out of the window as she ran a self-soothing thumb over her protruding stomach that seemed to be getting bigger by the day.
Last night spooked her more than she was letting on. Of how far Emma was willing to go to get what she wanted with no knowledge of why. And now she was at her most vulnerable, trying to bring her child into a world in which the savior was currently the Dark One.
It didn't help that she didn't have the best of nights of sleep since returning from Camelot. A couple of times in the night not even her soulmates soothing touch could ease away the small nightmares that the redhead continued to suffer with, but as soon as she opened her eyes she forgot what plagued her dreams.
"How does this thing work?" Hook asked the former Queen as the redhead continued to listen from behind the desk "Do we simply speak to it?".
"It's not that easy" Regina tells him taking the toadstool back "Not just anyone can summon Merlin. He'll only appear to someone who's been chosen by him".
"Arthur" David answered the question "Merlin delivered all the prophecies to him" he told them as he and the blonde assassin started to make their away out of the office to get the man they needed.
"So, what do you say, sheriff?" Regina offered the task to the Prince as he and the blonde assassin were heading to the door.
"Way ahead of you, Charming" the blonde stated a step ahead of the former Prince only for Belle to stop them both.
"Wait, wait" Belle stops the pair from leaving the office as the librarian takes center stage swapping places with the former Queen to speak the group as the assassin turned in her chair to listen to whatever her aunt needed to say "Why are we wasting our time with Merlin when there's someone here who can help us?" Belle argued to the others.
"Who?" Mary Margaret asks her in slight confusion.
"Rumple" Amelia supplied the answer for the her Aunt, knowing what she's been wanting to do since the former Dark One had disappeared from the pawn shop. This also happened to be the first thing the redhead had to say the whole time they had been there as she turned him her chair to giver her full attention to the discussion at hand.
"If he hadn't brought the darkness back to Storybrooke, we wouldn't even be standing here right now" Regina argued to the librarian.
"Uh" the blonde assassin spoke up making her presence known with a hand in the air "I wouldn't' be here helping if it wasn't so him bringing me here" Anastasia reminded the group from her spot near the door wanting to leave to find Arthur.
"Do you really want to go there sis?" the redhead drawled out to her adopted sister as her hand fell back to her side with a huff.
"Rumple may be to blame for the situation we're in, but so is Emma" Belle continued to bring the subject back at hand "She was seduced by the darkness just like he was, so how does that make rumple any different?".
"Sorry, love. Crocodile had more chances than anyone" Hook told her straight, not wanting to waste anymore time on a man that didn't want to change for anyone.
"And right now we need to give Emma her best chance, which means contacting Merlin" David added to their side of the argument.
"And something bad happens to Rumple?" Belle pondered the idea of her true love being harmed or worse.
"It's a risk we'll have to take" Regina told the woman straight much to the young librarians disappointment, so she looked to the person that just might be her saving grace.
"Amelia" Belle called out to the redhead sat behind the desk, who hadn't spoken up for either side of the argument. "He's your Uncle, your family" she tried to beseech to the Assassin's softer side.
"You're right, he is" she agreed with her aunt, no matter how much she hated the thought of being related to the man, he was her mother's brother after all "but getting to Merlin takes precedence right now, over someone that's overlooked his own family including me to get what he wants over the years" the redhead tells her straight, not wanting to stretch this argument out further than it needed to.
"Mm, well, maybe you're willing to. I'm not" Belle tells them as she storms out of the office as the redhead closes her eye's at the pain she caused her friend. The redheaded assassin closed her eye's in disdain at the pain she had caused her friend as her scorned steps stormed out of the office.
"Lets get this show on the road then" Amelia prompted the group as she pushed herself out of the chair to round the desk only for the pirate to halt her movements.
"Not so fast love" Hook stopped the Assassin making, stop to see the pirate, Mary Margaret and David looking straight at her while her partner looks at them in confusion at what they wanted with the redheaded assassin "We need to discuss something else".
"We?" she questioned the man as she faced the united front from behind the desk "Does that include my sister and my girlfriend as well pirate?" she asks the man as the blonde assassin watches the interaction having no idea what the man was on about.
"Depends on you, assassin" he simply states as the Charming couple close rank behind the pirate, knowing they needed to discuss what Arthur had told them last night.
"Well then, ask away" she says making herself comfortable back in the Mayor's chair as the dark-haired woman joined her partner in the small interrogation.
"The Sword of Eden" he asks the Assassin clenching his jaw in agitation "What is it?".
"I think you hitting the rum too hard last night" she told the pirate with an amused smile on her lips.
"Amelia" Mary Margaret caught the redhead's attention. She really hated it when the former Princess used her full name. "We're serious, you've been keeping something from us, and we need you to be honest with us" she pleaded to her friend.
"We know it's a Piece of Eden" her husband spoke up from the pirates other side "Arthur told us last the Apple".
"And what else did he say to you last night?".
"Amelia" Mary Margaret lightly scolds her old friend seeing her walls starting to build up "Please, if Emma has it then we need to know why".
"It's a long story" Amelia gulped.
"Then shorten it" Hook sniped back at the Assassin.
Taking a deep breath Amelia started "Over the centuries, after the Pieces couldn't be found, the sword especially became a legend. A myth that got passed down from one generation of Assassin's to next, but so did another, same thing but by a different name".
"Excalibur" David easily deduced making the the redhead nod at the Prince.
"The book that I dropped at the station; its a journal written by Altair Ibn-La'Ahad, the Brotherhood's founder" she tells them looking at David "You'll be able to collaborate with me on that Sheriff, since you were there when His Majesty told me what it was" David could only nod along to the redheads words.
"Not that I've had time to read it myself, but when I did have a chance he wrote of a sword that could kill any immortal being-".
"That the assassin's were tying to find it. to use it to destroy all magic. Dark and Light" David interrupted her "To free someone called Juno" hearing the name Regina saw the redhead jump in her seat at the name only to relax when a gently hand gripped her shoulder as the redhead could only blink at the three in front her at the accusation.
She had no idea why she reacted like that. she had no clue why a simple name would make her body react to it. She remembered something, not a memory in her mind. It was muscle memory. Her body remembered the name and reacted accordingly. Scared.
"Who the hell told you that?" Anastasia jumped into her sister's interrogation as she stormed back into the room to turn on the united three, distracting the hovering Regina to not see the way the redheads hands shook.
"Anastasia" Regina called out to the blonde assassin.
"No!" she snapped back at her sister's girlfriend "Don't you see the King's dripped poison into their ears?!".
"Doesn't matter"Amelia seized her sister's rants and she clenched her fists to get some control back over the shaking "It looks like they've already made their decision on who to trust" the redhead observed seeing that the three in front of her.
"Lia, that's not true" the pixie haired teacher tries to tell her "We just need to know what we're up against" hearing his David nodded along with his wife's words
"Not we" Amelia corrected them taking them by surprise "Just me".
"What?" the pixie haired teacher breathed out.
"Before Romeo died, he told me of a battle that he was passing onto me, it was the reason he never left the Brotherhood after my mother died, to stop it ever coming to me. It went beyond what's deemed as good and evil in this world. If it has anything to do with the Sword of Eden, then I am the only one that can stop it".
"Why you?".
"Because of what were supposedly are" she trailed off.
"And what's that love?" Hook asked.
"Rumple called us Hybrids" Amelia supplied "Descendants of the interbreeding between god like deities that made the Pieces of Eden and their human slaves. It's what allows me to use the pieces without dying and the reason why Rumple and the Duchess drained three bags of my blood while I was under their custody not so long ago" she explained as she glanced towards her sister "He hoped he would use to restore the Apple himself and control himself".
"For what?" Mary Margaret asked her.
"Now that is something even I don't even want to know" she answers the teacher's question "I'm sorry from keeping things from you, but the real question here is who exactly all three of you are going to trust more. Me or someone you've just met who has a vested interest in something that can kill your daughter".
At that question all three of them seemed to stay quiet hearing this from the redhead "That's what I thought" she says standing from the chair "I don't know about you, but personally, I would like a chance to speak to Merlin before Swan comes after me with a needle".
It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as she waited with Mary Margaret, Hook and Regina in the latter's part of the vault as they waited for David and Anastasia to return with Arthur to complete the spell to speak to Merlin and find out for themselves what happened in Camelot and why he failed to help Emma.
But telling the other's didn't help the knot she felt in her stomach. She felt like she only knew half the story. Even Mary Margaret's attempts to ease the pregnant assassin failed to do anything as she stared at the bubbling cauldron over the heat.
"What the bloody hell is taking so long?" Hook broke the silence in the vault bringing the assassin out of her thoughts.
"Patience, Pirate" Regina told him "If these spell books are correct, as soon as Arthur adds the Crimson Crown to the cauldron, he should be able to make contact with Merlin" she told him as the man himself entered with his wife close by with the Sheriff and his temporary deputy, Anastasia.
"Then we'll be speaking with him before you know it" the Camelot King told them as he entered the vault "David and Anastasia told us everything".
"And you're willing to help?" Mary Margaret asked the King eagerly.
"After everything you've done for us, it's the least I can do" he answered taking the Crimson Crown from Regina over the cauldron only to hesitate to put it in the potion.
"What are you waiting for?" Regina asked the hesitant man.
"Perhaps, it's best if I do this alone" Arthur suggested to the Storybrooke residents "Back in Camelot, Merlin delivered his prophecies to me from inside a tree. But I'm afraid he only delivered them when I was alone".
"This is too important to risk" David spoke up willing to trust the man alone with the toadstool "Come on. Let's leave him to it" with annoyed click of her tongue Amelia followed her partner out of the vault along with the others including Queen Guinevere.
Fresh air hit the redheaded assassin's nose as she found herself venturing to her father's gravestone nearby with Anastasia while the other's left them to wait for Arthur to re-emerge, hopefully with good news.
"Is what you said true?" Anastasia quietly asked her sister "About what our father said before he died".
"It is" she tells her "He told me before I promised him I would find a life outside the Brotherhood" she says soothing her hand over the firm stomach as her sister's eye's follow her movement.
"At least you kept your promise to him" her sister tells her.
"I wish I could talk to him" she voices to the blonde "Get his guidance on all this".
"Me too. But I'm confused. What about what Rumple said about being the product of star-crossed lovers?".
The former Duchess's question was left unanswered when Amelia spotted Arthur re-emerging from the mausoleum making the pair leave their father's headstone in anticipation of the mans discovery.
"Did it work?" David eagerly asks the King as the other's awaited his answer.
"I'm afraid not." he tells them "I thought the spell was gonna make contact, and then it... Just fizzled out" he answered somberly as the redheaded assassin felt a chill go up her spine.
The hair of the back of her neck stood up on end whenever she was near dark magic, finding the source of the sudden feeling in the pocket of her leather jacket.
Quickly reaching into her pocket her fingers felt a piece of paper folded inside making her brows furrow in confusion see an envelope in her hand with her name neatly written upon. Opening the note it folded out to read a simple message;
We need to talk
- Emma
"What th-" she mumbled to herself as saw something floating don in front of her. Snatching the feather out of the air, it took the woman a second or two to recognize the familiar large brown feather in her fingers as she put the note and the object in her hand together.
In panic the pregnant assassin brought her finger and thumb to her mouth the assassin let out loud whistle that would usually summon her loyal eagle to her side within a matter of seconds, the sudden noise only to made the other's jump as they looked to see the redhead frantically looking for something above them.
"Amelia?" Regina called out to her partner seeing the clear distress on her face.
"She's not coming" the assassin said to herself as she tried to keep herself as calm as possible.
"Who sister?" the blonde assassin asks her.
"Senu. She's not-" she cuts herself off "That bitch!" she exclaimed knowing where Senu was.
"What's wrong?" Mary Margaret asked the redhead coming to the woman's side seeing the feather in her hand and a note in the other.
"She has my bird" she told the former Princess in a low dangerous voice "She has Senu".
"Who has?" David asks her as he and Hook join her side.
"Your daughter" she tells the sheriff shoving the note angrily into his chest "She wants a chat, and she took Senu. No one take's my bird and lives" without a second thought the Assassin headed out of the cemetery only for the others to follow her.
"Do you think it's a good idea to face her your own, it could be a trap" Mary Margaret was the first to voice her concerns with meeting with her daughter.
"I don't care, she's obviously desperate enough my attention, and now she has it".
Camelot
Week's Ago
It felt like old times as she sat outside Granny's as a fugitive of Camelot. After freeing Merlin from his tree prison, the group of hero's and villain had officially been made enemies of King Arthur and his kingdom and they retreated to Granny's after being made unwelcome within the castle walls.
Finding a secluded spot away from the diner and her extended family the assassin sat on a fallen tree trunk with Senu perched next to her as she tried to encourage the eagle to eat the pieces of rabbit meat in her hand, that she would usually take from her hand, but the bird kept refusing her. She wasn't interested at all.
She was more interested to jump onto her lap and nuzzle her head into her stomach as the usual lively bird started to slow down suddenly. She tried throwing the meat or leaving the eagle to hunt herself, in case she was bored of having her meals being hand delivered but she just turned her back on the game that ran through the Camelot woods.
Was she sick? It wasn't like she could take her to the local veterinarian to get a checkup, they'd left that luxury back in Storybooke. Maybe she could talk to David, maybe he might know something more.
"Why won't you eat?" she asks the eagle only for the eagle to ignore her concerns and move closer to her, by jumping into her lap to nuzzle her head into the concerned assassin's neck and shoulder making her soften at the birds affection towards her "I know, I've missed you too" she cooed to the bird of prey, stroking her the long soft feathers on her wings.
"Everything all right?" Merlin's voice floated towards her, looking up she saw the sorcerer that would be the solving all their immediate problems.
"She won't eat" she fretted the sorcerer as he sat down opposite her as he get a look at the gift he had sent her way many years ago to watch over her.
"She is fine" Merlin tells the redhead "She's just coming to the end of this life cycle".
"Life what?" the redhead blinked at the man.
"Have you ever wondered how Senu has been with you since you were a teenager, Amelia?" the man questioned her.
"Good care? Love and affection?" she listed from the top her head, making the man chuckle.
"Close but not correct" he tells her "Senu, is not your typical eagle. She is a gift I sent to you when you were younger. You think you rescuing her from poachers all those years ago was coincidence?".
"Hmmm" the Assassin hummed to herself with a distasteful smile "I've learnt that everything isn't as it seems recently, that no matter what I choose, fate or destiny seems to have another idea, and now it takes credit for my eagle".
"Phoenix" he correct her.
"Phoenix?".
"Yes, she disguised herself as an eagle not to frighten you. One has been sent to every Hybrid that is born in this land, to watch over them. protect them if necessary. Your father had one. Ikaro's if I remember correctly".
She remembered Ikaro's. The male eagle always looked out for her, when she was younger, she even remembered the eagle sat on stone wall of the balcony that adjoined her room at night, like he was guarding her.
"Ikaro's is Senu's predecessor. He followed your father since he was a young boy, and stayed with him until he no longer needed to watch over him. When Ikaro's became Senu" he explains pointing to the bird of prey that had stayed by her side for all this time, only to see the way the redhead reacted when he called her a Hybrid "Here allow me to help her" he says waving his hand over the phoenix that was cuddling the redhead.
A light blue hue engulfed the bird for a second or two before the animal suddenly perks up, bright eyed and full of energy once again as she jumped in Amelia's lap, excitedly flapping her wings as the redhead throws up a piece of rabbit into the air for the bird to leap up and catch and eat.
Merlin watched the assassin smile to herself seeing Senu healthy once again, only for it not to reach her eyes.
"This is troubling you still" Merlin observes out load.
"Seeing as every Hybrid before me has died before the age of fifty, including my own father, gives me pause of thought".
"The blood that runs through your veins allows you to control some of the most powerful objects in all the realms. Your fears for yourself are right".
"What about my other colorful title? The Product of Star-Crossed Lovers".
"That is a title is not one I wish on anyone Amelia. You are the first child to come from a pair of star-crossed lovers, since-"
"Since?" Merlin kept his mouth shut at her question.
"For you to understand what they are. What you are. I will need to tell you a story of the first pair of Star-Crossed Lovers that walked this land centuries ago. The pair that made Altair take drastic steps to make sure the pair did not take their place, something I asked him to do a very long time ago to ensure this land's survival five centuries ago".
"Aeneas and Dido were among the first assassin's that worked under Altair's teaching's. They were also the first pair of Star-crossed lovers to walk this land-
450 Years Earlier
This was only the start of the Brotherhood. One that would outlive even a Dark One.
Altiar Ibn-La'Ahad stood among the small community that had been left behind when Merlin had been trapped within a tree, one that stood at the heart of the Brotherhood he was building to protect The Sword in the Stone. He was only a boy when the Dark One turned him into the tree was currently sat against enjoying the spring sun as much as he could before the others returned.
His mission was a simply one given to him by Merlin. Protect the innocent. Magic ruled this land and there are those that would use it for their own gain in the suffering of others that did not wield the same power. They would have to fight magic wielders with strength and skill. Meet them on a level they could never reach with their reliance on magic.
In the distance he saw two of his associates of his mission returning. The pair had been inseparable since Aneneas stumbled upon them after his ship wrecked on the coast nearby, he had taken shelter in a nearby temple where she and Altiar had found him.
Bringing back to the village Dido had spent more time with him than any other person as he recounted his past travels and adventures to her. Altiar had never seen Dido this enamored with anything else but the Brotherhood he was trying to build. He wasn't' sure what to make of the man's presence, but as long as she was happy he wouldn't get in the way.
Later that night Altiar tossed and turned in his cot, sweat covering his face as he his mind tried to fight off from being pulled into the inevitable. Merlin needed to speak to his second apprentice, and the state of limbo was the only way he would be able to reach the grown man that till believed in his vision despite nearly half a century having passed since he was trapped within the tree.
Opening his eyes he found himself back on the land in which the sky matched the solid ground beneath his feet as he tried to find the source of the sudden meeting. These meetings between him and his old master were frequent, but they usually came with some warning.
"Hello Altair" the sorcerer greets his second apprentice with a fond smile.
"Merlin" Altair breathes out seeing his teacher once again engulfing him a arm embrace that was easily mirrored by the sorcerer, he was the closest thing he had come to a father when he was younger.
"It is good to see you my apprentice" Merlin tells his apprentice pulling out the embrace. Altair's hands remained on his shoulders as Merlin caught the image of his wedding finger missing from his left hand out of the corner of his eye. It showed the man's dedication to the cause Merlin has set out for him. That and the hidden weapon he had developed over the years as it didn't accommodate to the users finger. A small sacrifice for the greater cause.
"I apologize for the abruptness my old friend, but I needed to speak to you" Merlin went on with a solemn look on his face.
"Merlin what is it?".
"It concerns Dido and the man that she has grown an affection for, Aeneas".
"What of them?".
"I'm afraid Aeneas is not just a simple ship wreaked Captain, he came here as a worshiper of Juno to seek out her freedom from The Sword of Eden. He seeks to use Dido as a means to get what he wants".
"J-Juno" the man stuttered out in fear, knowing the woman Merlin spoke of. Her mere presence in the village all those years ago made him never want to meet the deity ever again. She was the reason Merlin was trapped in the tree. She had created a darkness that had never roamed these lands before. The very same one he fought against to this day and would continue to fight till the end of his days "How?".
"He and Dido are Star-Crossed Lovers. Two people who are fated to be together, no matter how many obstacles are put in front of them, they will always find the other in the end, but in the end they will always be separated by death".
"They are destined to die? Why is this a problem?".
"Because somehow they have defied fate and created something that would outweigh the balance of magic of this land. This child will allow Juno to return. Altair, I would never ask you to something that you didn't believe in, but I implore you to make the right decision here. for the fate of the realm rests on your shoulders".
Iunonis templum
Temple of Juno
He should've known what this place was as soon as he stepped inside it's walls. It was right in front of his the whole time, he just didn't want to see it.
He knew what he had to now. He couldn't let Juno walk this land once again even if the Sword of Eden was stuck within the stone awaiting a hero to arrive to free it.
Walking to the temple he saw Dido's figure already there with a hand lovingly placed over her stomach as she waited for Aeneas to arrive after finding a note he had left her asking her to meet her in the place they had met. His feet scuffed the stone flooring as he neared the woman that would held the key to the realms demise, the noise made the woman jump to see her Mentor and good friend Altair approach her with a gentle smile on his face.
"Altair" she states taking in a calming breath to calm her beating heart from the slight fright.
"Do you understand our cause Dido? The Brotherhoods cause?".
"Yes of course" she tells him as he stops to stand before her "To protect those who cannot protect themselves. We defend those who cannot defend themselves".
"Exactly" Altair confirmed gently taking her head into his hands, cradling it between his hands to looking into the emerald green eyes he had loved like a sister in the lonely world he had found himself in since Merlin's entrapment "But I expect sometimes this Creed I am trying to build will be faced with more impossible choices. Ones not even our strongest of our people would be able to make. But it must be made, no matter how much it may hurt to make".
"Altair?" she questioned him not sure what he was talking about.
"Understand I do this for the greater good of all the realms. I cannot allow her to roams these lands without Merlin to stop her" she didn't even hear the sound of the mans blade before she felt it being buried deep within her stomach making her freeze in his arms as his whispered apologies did nothing to ease the pain she felt as the cool steel slid back out of her before her knee's gave out from underneath her.
"Noooo!" Aeneas voice was the last thing she heard as her life drained from her body as she awaited death to take her, as she felt her eyes close Aeneas fell beside her with a bloodied hand on his stomach as he grasped for her stomach wanting to hold onto the hope they had created for as long as he could before he was pulled away from her forever.
These pair of star crossed lovers would have to wait once again to meet again, only for their death marked love to be torn apart by fate once again, in an endless cycle.
Camelot
450 Years Later
"He killed her, didn't he?" Amelia asked the sorcerer in front of her as she felt her eye's sting from the un-shed tears that threatened to fall.
"Both of them" Merlin confirmed to Amelia "The Brotherhood that Altair created centuries ago died with him after he did what I asked him to do. He no longer held faith in me to carry on, the only faith he had was that someone else would be able to carry on the Creed without knowing what they were truly protecting".
"What about Juno?" she asks the man.
Merlin stilled as the name slipped of her lips "How do you know of her?".
"David told us that Arthur was looking for her, that I had a connection to freeing her. He said she could help Emma".
"No" Merlin quickly told the redhead "Juno will not destroy the darkness, she will only make things worse if she were ever to set foot on this land again. Once you were born Aeneas and Dido's doppelgangers ceased to exist because they were no longer needed. Juno created them as a way to enact revenge on the original people that thwarted her".
"Why are you telling me all of this?" she asked as he saw a fear flash with her eyes.
"Because I cannot see your future, nor the future of the child within your womb" the breath hitch in the redhead throat hearing this from the sorcerer as she started to stand up from the log she was sat upon only for Merlin to quickly pull her back down.
"Amelia. I promise your secret will stay with me and I also promise you and your unborn child that I will do everything in my power to prevent Juno from taking her vessel once again".
Returning to the vault after Arthur's disappointing attempt to communicate with Merlin, the former Queen was adamant that the spell she used for it was correct, checking over the spell over and over again as the other's minus her partner waited for any explanation of why the spell didn't work.
"You've checked over that spell a dozen times, Regina" Mary Margaret voiced to the older woman.
"Well, I did everything right" the former Queen argued turning to the pixie haired woman "Arthur should have been able to communicate with Merlin" she said as David knelt down to find a burnt Crimson Crown in with the coal that heated the cauldron.
"Or are you more worried what the Dark One want with my sister" Anastasia voiced to the older woman. The question had been on all their minds since the redhead had discovered that Emma had kidnapped her loyal eagle. Of course she was worried, they all were.
But whatever Swan needed to talk to her about didn't involve them. Perhaps she would be able to extract more information about the missing six weeks out of the blonde then they ever could.
"Unless he didn't want to" David told them as found something in the coal bringing the former Queen out of her thoughts about her soulmate, seeing the key ingredient they needed to speak to Merlin in his hand.
"The Crimson Crown" Hook stated seeing the charred toadstool still intact albeit being in the fire.
"Arthur threw it in the fire. He sabotaged the spell. He lied to us" the former Prince discovered the mans treachery as the former Queen shook her head in disbelief with her hands on her hips.
"I guess he didn't realize magical toadstools don't burn" Regina stated folding her arms across her chest.
"But why wouldn't he want us to contact Merlin?" David questioned out load.
"We need to talk to Merlin now more than ever" his wife spoke up.
"Unfortunately, we need someone he's chosen" Hook reminds the group "The Apprentice is dead. We're out of options, love" he summarized.
"Perhaps not" Regina told them as in idea came to mind "There is one other person in Storybrooke who was chosen by Merlin... The Author".
With a simple phone call the forlorn and hurt Henry found his family in the vault closely followed by Tom, who had been keeping his younger cousin company while the adults figured out a way to find out what had happened to them in Camelot.
Entering his adopted mother's part of the vault they were both greeted by the dark brunette as the older of the pair easily found his aunt stood next to Hook but with his on mother nowhere in sight.
"Are you sure you're up for this?" Regina asked her heartbroken son having explained what they needed from him.
"I'm fine, Mom" he tells her.
"It's just I-I know you've been through a lot".
"The person who ripped out Violet's heart isn't my mother. But Emma is still in there somewhere, and I'll do anything it takes to get her back".
"You can do this, lad" Hook encouraged the boy as he handed him the Crimson Crown.
"Where's my Mom?" Tom softly asks Regina as Henry steps up to the smoking cauldron.
"I'll explain later" she quickly tells him knowing her partner wouldn't want Tom worrying about her.
Dropping the Crimson Crown into the cauldron the toadstool is quickly swallowed up in the clouded spell expands out as an apparition of Merlin appears in an image with tear filled eyes. The spell had worked.
"Merlin?" Henry called out the sorcerer.
"If you're receiving this message, then things are worse than I feared" Merlin starts his message
"I don't believe this" Regina spoke up "We're getting Merlin's voice-mail?".
"There is only one person who can help you defeat the Dark One now. Her name is Nimue" Merlin continues.
"Who's Nimue?" David questioned out load only to be met with silence.
"If you want to destroy the darkness, then you must..." he was cut off by something behind him "No. The Dark One's found me already".
"Don't forget about me Merlin" a voice they all recognized came through the message as Amelia suddenly appeared behind the sorcerer with an evil smirk, they watched as Merlin whirled around to face Amelia with a wicked smile on her lips, they had seen on the Black Widow's face before.
"Juno" he whispered in horror, hearing the fear in his voice "No" he shuddered.
"I-Is that?" Tom stammered not sure at what he was seeing, feeling Regina quickly grabbed his hand a squeezed as hard as she could as he watched his mother stare down at Merlin with an evil grin that only four sixths of the 'audience' had seen before.
"This is gonna hurt me more than you Merlin" Amelia tells the sorcerer before a flash of steel ended the message leaving the group of hero's and villains as the message ended leaving them in a mix of shock and disbelief of what they had just seen.
"What the hell did Emma and Amelia do to him?" Hook broke the shocked silence as Tom continued to stare at nothing where the image of his mother killing Merlin.
AN:
Not the longest chapter in the story (I know) and not the easiest to write either. The Bear and the Bow episode was going to be challenging, but I hope it serves as a filler for the next one. ;)
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