Hook lost track of how long ago since the vampire had made his quick departure from his own imprisonment in the giant's castle jumping the last few feet down as his sea legs made finally met solid ground after hours of careful climbing.
Waking up in chains alongside the vampire, he easily deduced what had Emma has done to the man as he sat silent with a blank expression on his face as he 'played 'with the phantom ring that was missing from his middle finger. He looked like a man with only thing on his mind.
Vengeance.
It was one thing chaining up a man you supposedly trusted, but to take away the thing he needed to survive in the daylight, that was something only the most desperate of hero's would do.
The second his chain was taken off his wrist, the vampire didn't look to take out his simmering anger on the giant that had agreed to keep them in his home, but to the woman who had a ten hour start of returning to the place he called home.
Taking a moment to enjoy being back on solid ground, his moment was quickly halted when he heard an all too familiar voice behind him make her presence known to him.
"My dear Captain" Cora greeted the man "It seems you've been on quite an adventure" she voices to the man "The compass, please" she demands holding out her hand to him.
"Yes, that" he stated turning to face the sorceress "Well… Matters grew complicated. It's eluded me for the moment. The details of the affair are a bit of a bore" he tried to brush his mistakes to one side.
"Really?" she questioned him "Stealing my protection spell and climbing the beanstalk without me might seem like a bore to you. But to me, it's a betrayal".
"I was going to bring it to you. Our agreement remains. We are going to Storybrooke, together. I'll get it back".
"I don't have time for your games" she tells the pirate "I've crossed through too many worlds to be brought short at the brink of success. Who was it who bested you?".
"The Swan girl, Emma" he informs her.
Emma Swan. The same woman her son told her that had poisoned him with vervain hidden in a bottle of rum that he willingly drank before stealing his ring. The betrayal of trust burned through his veins as he filled his poisoned stomach with the blood of the girl she had saved from her own rampage.
However it seemed the guilt of leaving the man without his ring to survive in the daylight seemed to weigh heavy on her shoulders as her son found his daylight ring waiting for him to find on a nearby log once he was finished with the girl.
"Rest assured, it won't happen again" the pirates tries to assure her only for the older woman to quickly grow tired of his failure.
She had her son now. She had a vampire on her side. And he would be more useful and held more motivation of getting to Storybrooke now that he had been abandoned by those he thought he saw as his friends.
"No, it won't" she states to him "You chose her, and the consequences of that decision".
"Oh" he feigned hurt "Are you going to kill me, now? Go ahead. Try".
"So brave" she smirked at him "No, I'm not going to kill you. I have something far more satisfying in mind. I'm going to leave you here with your thirst for revenge unquenched, while I complete our journey without you".
"There's no need to be rash" he replies in attempt to fix the bridge he had burnt as his face softens taking a slow steps towards the woman to persuade her to change her mind "We can discuss this" he slowly says turning on his charm to from her leaving him and his his vengeance against her old teacher unquenched.
"Your pretty face buys you a lot, but not my time" she retorts making his charming smile drop from his lips "It's too valuable".
"I can do this. I can get it back. You need me" he pleaded.
"No, I don't" she laughs at the insinuation, turning her back on the pirate taking a few steps away from him "You've had your chance" she says stopping to turn to face him "Now, it's my turn to do this. The right way. With my son by my side".
"Ah!" he screams lunging towards the older woman he goes to attack the witch with his hook only for a firm grip around his neck halt him from stepping near the older woman as he finds the owner of the hand looking straight back him with drying blood coating his lips.
"We need to stop meeting like this" Elijah purred in the mans face as his mother watched on "People will start to talk".
"Vampire" he growls with clenched teeth as Elijah felt mans vocal cords vibrate in his hand. As a flash of silver on the pirate's hand caught his attention. Snatching the pirate hand into his, the dim moonlight allowed the vampire to see the silver ring he knew all too well sit on the man's middle finger, embossed with the image of a dragon in the middle of the circlet shaped ring.
Only eleven rings like this existed in all the realms, he along with Wotton had the pleasure of prying ten of them off the men and women that had hunted him and his kind for the 'good of mankind'. He even had the honour of killing their founder as he sat hiding behind his desk as he heard his followers being slaughtered in the halls of his home.
"Where did you get this?" Elijah asks the pirate.
"Unhand me and I'll tell you" Hook barters with him, hoping his interest in the ring he had stolen years ago would be enough for his mother to bring him back into the plan to get to Storybrooke.
"Where did you get it?" Elijah asks him again "I won't ask again".
"You'll have to kill me" he states to the vampire as he continues to squirm in his hold, until he saw the stoic look on the vampire's face slowly ease into a sinister smirk, making the shaky smirk on the pirates own face fall off his face.
"As you wish" Elijah simply states to the pirate before squeezing his neck hard and quick enough for his mother to hear the audible snap of a neck breaking from the pirate as his body went limp in the vampire's hold before the latter simply let go of man's body allowing it to fall onto the ground in-front of the beanstalk they had climbed together.
He'd been waiting a long time to do that.
Looking upon the man that stood in front of her, if she had her heart in her chest she would feel in swell in pride for him as he met her gaze.
"Come my dear boy. We have a compass to find" at that the pair were engulfed in a cloud of smoke leaving the lifeless body of Captain behind to continue their endeavours to find a way to Storybrooke.
Reappearing in the refugee camp, Elijah was left outside on the steps leading up to the cabin his mother was in surrounded with the bodies his mother had killed herself.
Hearing his mother step out of the cabin, the vampire stood on his feet to see his mother with a glowing enchanted heart in her hand.
"Rise" she states outload.
Hearing movement from the ground Elijah watched in awe as one by one the bodies slowly re-animate before his very eyes as they rose from the ground from where they had fallen to all head in the woods in search for the band of hero's in possession of the compass.
"You understand the plan?".
"I do" he confirms.
"Then go fetch our girl" with a nod Elijah followed the corpses into the forest to show Emma her mistake of leaving him behind.
"The boy you saw in your dream – is that him?" Emma pressed the young Princess further shoving the picture of Henry in her face. The Princess had woken up screaming from yet another nightmare shouting out for Snow to help her, only to tell the mother and daughter duo of the young boy she had seen in the burning room along with her.
Henry.
Taking the wallet sized school picture Elijah had given to her during a time he had secretly been arranging a time for Henry and the blonde to meet behind his sisters back.
"Yes. That's Henry" Aurora confirmed to her.
"That's impossible" the blonde voiced as Mary Margaret abruptly left her side "It was a dream. How could you dream of my son?".
"I have no idea" the Princess could only reply shaking her head in confusion.
"Maybe it wasn't a dream" Mary Margaret suddenly voiced from behind her daughter making her stand back onto her feet to meet her mother.
"What?".
"That room. I've been there" she nervously admits to the pair in front of her.
"When I told you about it, you didn't say anything" Aurora told the woman.
"You were terrified" she reasoned her lie with the Princess "I didn't want to make things worse by telling you I thought it might be real".
"A room in a dream is real?" Mulan voiced from behind the former Princess in confusion.
"The sleeping curse" Mary Margaret easily deduced the common factor "It has to be. I went through it, Aurora went through it…".
"Henry's been through it because I wouldn't believe him" Emma trailed off in in dismay.
"Emma…".
"What else did you lie about?" Aurora accused the former Princess stopping her from trying to comfort her daughter,
"I was… I wasn't lying" she tries to defend herself "I was protecting you" she argue, only for the blonde to turn to the younger woman wanting to know more about the dream.
"What did he say – Henry? In the… In the dream?" Emma urged the Princess to answer her questions about her son ignored the hurt in her mother's eyes.
"He just said his name. He… And then, I woke up, and… It was over" the Princess tells her.
"Emma" Mary Margaret called out to her daughter trying her best to comfort her "It's going to be okay".
"We are so far from okay" the blonde fretted, regretting her actions on leaving Elijah behind all because she wasn't sure how much she could trust him with his vampirism.
"No. We have a way home now" her mother retorted thinking of the compass in their possession.
"We have a compass, and the wardrobe ashes are still with Cora" they only had half the items they needed to get home and they were still no way of getting back home.
"Any attempt to steal from her would be suicide. Especially now we don't have the vampire on our side. He'll be by his mothers side".
"You don't know that" Emma tried to argue. Would he really join Cora's side after the way she hurt him in the castle.
"You left him chained up at the top of a beanstalk for ten hours" Mulan reminded her making a pained expression flashed on her face "You took his ring. I'm surprised he hasn't found us by now. Which means he's planning something".
"Not anymore" Mary Margaret speaks up "We can stop her. And Elijah if it comes to it".
"How?" the warrior asks. Cora was powerful, and Elijah immortal. How were they going to defeat the pair together?.
"I don't know. But I know someone who does. Rumpelstiltskin. He'll know a way".
"Henry" Emma realised "We can talk to him. Now we can communicate".
"Wait, wait" Aurora voiced her protests knowing what that meant.
"Oh yeah, Princess. You're going back to sleep".
Flames roared around her once again as the Princess delved back into the flaming room in the Netherworld looking for any sign of the young boy that she had spoken to earlier.
"Henry!" she yelled through the flames searching the room for Emma's son, struggling to see through flames that threatened to burn her "Henry! Henry! Henry!".
"Hello?" a small voice reached her ears as she looked around to see the brown haired boy she had only spoken to a few hours ago with the necklace the Dark One had gifted him to control the flames while he was in the burning room "Hello?" he called out again seeing the young woman again.
"Henry!" she exclaimed over the sound of the flames, trying her best to hide her face from the flames as she closes the distance the small distance between her and Emma's son "Henry, it is you!".
"Yeah!" he managed to reply "Who are you?" he ask the woman.
"My name is Aurora. I'm with your Mom and your Grandmother" she informs him.
"Are they okay?".
"Yes, they're fine" she tells him "They just want to come home. And they need your help".
"Okay, so what do I need to do?".
Jolting up awake in his grandparents bed Henry once again back in the real world with his grandfather in a chair at the foot of his bed with his feet propped up on the frame as his adopted mother slept curled up on a nearby armchair.
"They're… They're alive. They're alive!" Henry exclaimed rousing his grandfather and adopted mother from their attempt of finding some sleep in-between their son and grandson waking up from his nightmares.
However his nightmare's weren't nightmares. He was experiences a side effect of the sleeping curse that was hidden in the apple turnover intended for Emma to eat. Mr. Gold or Rumplestiltskin had informed him after waking up from his nightmare with a burn on his arm that he was really travelling to a Netherworld where victims of the sleeping curse like his grandmother had been before.
"Who? Who's alive?" David asked his grandson as he jumped from his chair to sit on the foot of the bed.
"My mom and Snow" Henry panted out to his grandfather as Regina heard the news.
"I told you, kid. I told you!" the Prince excitedly exclaimed to his grandson with a wide grin on his face hearing his true love and daughter were alive and okay back home.
"But was it that woman you saw?" Regina asked her son from the edge of her seat "Did she tell you this?".
"Her name's Aurora" Henry tells the adults "She said they have a way home, but there's someone in their way – someone they need us to help them stop. Someone only Mr. Gold knows how to defeat".
"Who?" his mother asks him.
Looking towards the former Queen, Henry answered her question still not sure of what Aurora had told him was completely true.
"Your mother. And Elijah's with her".
As the older sorceress was making her presence known to her daughter in Storybrooke, the sleepy town continued as always under the Princes guidance and protection from the likes of the Evil Queen her baby brother and the Dark One, ignorant of the looming danger that was The Queen of Hearts as residents stopped to find something to eat and drink at lunchtime.
However this lunchtime wasn't like the others the residents had grown used to post-curse as they kept a weary eye on one of the marron booths to the side of the diner where the Dark One himself sat with his true love and now local librarian Belle.
Ignoring the looks he had grown used to, the villain sat opposite his former caretaker their lunch date enjoying each other's company outside the confines of either his musty pawnshop or the new reopened library after so long apart without any hero's meddling in his business.
Not long after ordering their food, the owner of the small diner herself brought over their burgers and fries to their table.
"They smell delicious, Granny" Belle instantly compliments the owner as the older woman places the plates of food Infront of the pair.
"They are delicious" Granny agrees with her "Didn't take any dark magic, either" she adds leaning on the table to address the Dark One "Oh, and, uh, I charge extra for the pickles".
"Mmhmm" Gold could only hum along with the woman as she leaves them to their meals in peace "I have a complicated relationship with her… As I do with most people" he tells his love.
"Well, it, uh… It did take me a little time to get to know you" she reminds the sorcerer "They will" she adds as Gold reached for the red ketchup bottle on their table.
"You know, you should try it with ketchup. Condiments are this world's most powerful magic" he informs his love heading her the sauce as Regina lets herself into the diner, heading straight for his and Belle's table, paying no mind to the other residents that saw her.
"Gold. We need to talk" she gets straight to the point of her visit.
"Do we?" he says not looking at the woman, uninterested in whatever she had to say ever since finding out what she had done to his true love before and during the curse.
The grandmother didn't need her keen sense of smell to feel the uneasiness of the other patrons in the diner as they saw the Dark One and The Evil Queen in a small space "Folks, I think I may need to close early. Uh, everybody out" she instructs the diner, taking charge of the growing situation.
"No. It's okay" the former Queen tells the woman "We're civil".
"Yeah, for now" Gold scoffs at his former students as he looked to his true love opposite him "Belle, you remember the woman who locked you up for twenty-eight years?".
"Uh, I should probably just-" Belle nervously tries to leave only for Gold to stop her.
"No, no. Please, stay where you are" he tells her "Whatever she has to say, won't be a secret from you. Whatever she wants, she won't get".
"I'm actually coming about the one thing that might unite us" the former Queen retorts.
"And what on earth can that be?".
"Cora" she simply states to the man, making him go quiet "She's coming from our land. I need your help to stop her".
"But she was dead" he calmly asks the Queen "You told me you saw the body".
"Apparently, you taught her well. She's not, and she's on her way. And I don't think I need to remind you, how most unpleasant that would be for both of us".
"For you" he retorts "I can handle Cora" he confidently tells her.
"That's not how she tells the story" she argues. It wasn't the story she told her and Elijah.
"I won in the end" he states.
"Maybe. But there's a big difference this time" she reminds him looking over at Belle "This time, you have someone you care about. This time, you have a weakness".
"I'm… I'm sorry. Who… Who is this woman?" Belle asks the pair.
"Someone you'll never meet" Gold assures her "So you say she's coming. Where is she now?".
"With them" she tells him leaning down to speak to him quietly "And with Elijah. Might I remind you that my mother and my brother together are not a good combination".
No.
Not a good combination indeed.
Settling Henry in cot in the back of the pawnshop as he clutched the pendant that hung from his neck that helped him control the burning room close to his chest. The air in the back of the shop grew tense as David and Gold awaited the former Queen to return with something she insisted on taking to Henry.
One question weighted heavy on the Prince's mind as he stood at the far end of the small room. Why would Elijah be working with Cora?.
It didn't make sense. From what he gathered from what his wife told him he had a distant relationship with the older woman. Barely talked about her in the years they were engaged. And if she was standing in the way of him getting home to Regina and Henry shouldn't he be with his family.
He needed his question's answered, and there was only one man in the room that could answer them. Closing the distance between him and the Dark One the former Prince tapped on his shoulder making him look up and back at the the man that had disturbed him. With a look he motioned to the man with his head that he needed to speak to him privately.
Indulging in the Prince's request, the older man left the comfort of the wooden chair near the cot to walk towards the back of the room with the Prince keeping a close eye on his grandson over his shoulder.
"Should we be worried?" David simply asks him with his hand resting on his hips.
"Of Cora? Hardly" he scoffed at the man's insinuation that he couldn't handle a witch he had taught himself.
"No" he states "Elijah" he quietly asks the man not wanting Henry to hear him speaking about his Uncle "He's a vampire again, and if he's with Cora-" he fretted to the older man only for the Dark One to interrupt him.
"Your Highness, trust me enough when I say there is no love lost between Master Mills and his Mother. Long before he was turned he harboured a deep hatred to the woman that sought to torment him. Those feelings were only amplified when he turned. So, for whatever reason he is working with her, it is certainly not to help her".
"How do you know that?".
"Because when I presented him with the opportunity to send her away, he was more than happy to push her into another realm" he blinked at the man "So whatever concerns you have about him, perhaps you voice them to his older sister, for she knows him far better than anyone in this room".
Returning to his chair, the Dark One retook his seat near the boy as David's thought continued to worry about Elijah.
"Were you guys' talking about Uncle 'Lijah?" the boy look between the two adult men in the room.
Turning in his chair, the older man gave the Prince a look that told him to answer his grandson's question seeing as he was the one bringing the subject up.
"Yeah kid. We were" the Sheriff admits to him.
"He wouldn't hurt my Mom or Snow. He gave him his word he would protect his family".
"Kid, I'm sorry, but we don't know that".
"I do know" he tells his grandfather "I know him better. Family Above All. That includes my Mom and Snow now".
"I'm sure you're right Henry, but we need to be prepared in case what Aurora said was true".
"Why?" he questions the pair again "Because he's a vampire again?".
"Henry-" he started only for a pair of heels on the wooden floor in the pawn shop to interrupt them as the owner of them made her appearance in the back room with a blue and white blanket in her hands.
"I brought your blanket…from your bedroom back home" she said placing the blue and white blanket on him seeing the pendent on his wrist making her take a double look at it before she looks to the assassin who gives her a tight-lipped smile. She knew its significance to the woman, she never took it off for anyone.
"So, Cora..she's pretty powerful?" Henry addressed the adults in the room as the former Queen took her coat off.
"Yes" Gold answered him "But, uh, not as powerful as I am" he boasts to the young boy.
"Debatable" Regina muttered loudly for Gold to hear.
"Actually, no its not" he argued back. Ignoring the small debate between the pair David took a seat on the edge on the cot to speak to him.
"You sure you're okay to do this, kid?" David asks his grandson.
"I was born to do this" Henry tells his grandfather "I'm done reading about heroes. I want to be one".
"Well, sometimes being one is knowing when not to run into the fire" David gently argues.
"I'll be okay" Henry continues to insist albeit the adults concerns.
"Look, whatever he faces in there, will be far less dangerous than what he'll face if we fail" Gold voices to the Prince trying to quell his concerns about what.
"I can do this" Henry affirmed his decision to his grandfather before looking at his mother "Family Above All" he states to her the same thing he heard come from his Uncle time and time again, taking her aback that he would know something that meant so much to her little brother.
Gulping down the words that came to his mind, the Prince reluctantly left his grandson's side to face the older sorcerer.
"Get on with it. Fast" David instructs the older man before moving further into the back of the room as Gold takes a seat in the chair next to Henry's head.
"Alright, Henry. Just relax. And soon, you're going to drift off" Gold tells the young boy.
"What do I tell them?" Henry asks the Dark One.
"Just listen to my bedtime story, and all will be clear". Closing his eyes the man places a gently hand on his forehead before beginning his story "Once upon a time, Snow White and Prince Charming needed to stun a very powerful magician, long enough to lock him up in a dark dungeon".
"That was you" Henry speaks up opening his eye's to interrupt his story. "They used Cinderella to trap you with a magic quill" his continues as Mr. Gold moved his hand across Henry's face, causing him to fall asleep, continuing the motions as he spoke.
"Yes, indeed a quill. And yet, it wasn't the quill itself, but the ink that captured the Dark One – harvested from the rarest species of squid, from the bottom of a bottomless ocean. Impossible to find, unless, you're a mermaid… Or me. I happen to have a private supply. In my jail cell… That is where they will find it".
Daylight had truly broken by the time Emma and the other's had set up a camp on high ground for the Princess to fall back asleep to meet Henry in the Netherworld once again. Stood around the small campfire, Emma and Mary Margaret watched on as Aroura fell deeply asleep underneath the canopy with Mulan watching over the sleeping beauty, with a nod to the mother and daughter duo the female warrior silently tells them that the Princess had completely fallen unconscious.
Stepping away from the scene the saviour couldn't help but be feel apprehensive about her son being sent to the netherworld each time he fell asleep because he ate the turnover that held the sleeping curse that was intended for her. That and also the thought that Elijah could be anywhere as she eye's the treeline around the camp. He had his ring back, which meant he could walk in the sun once he was freed from the giant's castle as she started to question whether she did the right thing.
Of course it was, she reminded herself. She was doing it for their best chance of getting home. He was still the Evil Queen's brother, if it came between her and them, he would choose Regina over them in a heartbeat. She couldn't take that chance here, even if he hated her.
Seeing the anxiety on her daughter's face the former Princess follows her daughter prying her hand out of her jean pocket to take into her own.
"Hey" she whispers to her daughter weary of the sleeping princess behind them "It will be okay. You'll see Henry again. This will work" she finishes with a reassuring smile as they suddenly heard the sound of branches rustling nearby
"What was that?".
In the burning room once again, flames engulfed the walls and floor as the air filled with smoke that made the Princess struggle to breath as she coughed on the smoke filled air searching for the young boy that she had agreed to meet again.
"Henry!" she yelled over the flames seeing his figure on the other side of the room, closing the distance between them so they could speak "Henry! Can you help us?".
"Yes!" he yells over the loud flames clutching the pendant in his hand making the flames around them die down enough for them to hear the other clearly without yelling "I know what you have to do to stop Cora! You have to go to-".
His voice was muffled out as a flames flared out making the Princess turns away from his to protect herself.
"Where?" she ask him as the flames around flared up again "We have to go where? Wait. Where do we have to go?" she repeated herself hoping that he heard her.
"Rumpelstiltskin's-" he repeats to the Princess only for the flames to cut Henry off again making his voice muffle.
"Henry! Henry, I…".
"Aurora!" she hears a distorted voice call out to her from above.
"Who is that?" she asks outload.
"Did you hear me?" Henry asks the Princess seeing her become distracted by something.
"No!" she yells "Henry, say it again! I-".
"Aurora" the distorted voice calls out to her once again.
"Did you hear that?" she asks the young boy again as she paces around the burning room her trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.
"No! Aurora, what's going on?" Henry calls out to the distracted woman.
"Aurora!" the voice called out again, this time more urgently.
"Can you hear that?" she ask Henry one last time before she was forces out of the room by a swirling vortex, unknowingly leaving Henry behind to suffer the brunt of her abrupt exit.
Mulan: Aurora, wake up!" Mulan's voice snapped her back into the real world as she found the female warriors above her shaking her awake as chaos ensued around her as Emma and Mary Margaret fought off a hoard of ended refugee's.
Blinking herself out of the deep slumber Mulan continued to shake her awake until she was alert Aurora, wake up! Wake up!".
"No!" the Princess protested to the warrior "Henry wasn't finished" she argues as she was pulled onto her feet.
"The time for that is over" Mulan tells her before she turned to face the reason for her abrupt awakening as she did her best to hide as Emma her mother continued to fight off the undead.
With a sword in each their hand the three women struggled to fight them off as Mary Margaret was literally picked off the ground by one of the attackers came at her only to push pull her legs up in time to push the assailant away and onto the ground as she freed herself from the one that held her, just in time to see one run full speed towards her daughter.
"Emma, watch out!" she tries to warn her time only for the saviours to topple over onto the ground, making the compass fall out of her hand, rolling a few feet away only for the undead refugee that tackled her to pick it up instead.
"The compass. The compass!" Emma exclaims in panic as she struggles to get up from the ground.
Hearing her, Mary Margaret quickly notches an arrow in her bow, shooting the zombie with the compass making it drop onto the ground for Emma to quickly snatch up before running back to her mother.
"Any idea how to kill these things?" she asks her as Mary Margaret shoots the zombie again to stop it from following Emma, as one from the ground suddenly jumps up from the ground with an axe in it's hand to attack the blonde saviour
"None!" the former bandit answered as she looked to the one person who might as she continued to let arrows loose around her "Mulan!" she called out to the warrior looking around to try and find the woman with Aroura only to see the canopy the Princess was sleeping under completely empty with no sign of them anywhere "Mulan?".
"Where is she?" Emma asked as the zombie continued to come at them despite how hard they hit them.
"Emma, we've got to run for it!" Mary Margaret tells her as she picks a direction to run in.
Turning to run from camp, the pair didn't get fair as a blurred figure sped quickly around the small camp tearing apart each of the zombies heads from their bodies making the woman's heads whirl around as one by one they fell to the forest floor until one was left behind the blonde saviour about to bring it's axe down onto the woman's back.
"Emma!" Mary Margaret yelled out in panic seeing this out of the corner of her eye, notching her arrow in her bow the former Princess aimed true only for the zombie's head to completely come away from it's body as Emma turned to see how close she was to getting hurt and to see the person that had saved her.
"Elijah-" Emma breathed out in shock as seeing the man that she had left behind in Anton's castle.
"Emma" he calmly states her name with an even voice holding our his hand towards her "Give me the compass. I won't ask again".
Shaking her head at him the blonde saviour replied "You know I can't do that. You know why".
"I do" he understood, or at least he thought he understood. After the first few hours of planning the ways he was going to make her suffer from fooling him, he made himself think of why she thought she had to do it "For its the same reason's why I cannot allow my mother get to anywhere near my sister or Henry" he says taking a step towards her.
"Don't!" Mary Margaret yelled at her friend aiming her arrow straight at his heart "Don't come any closer to her" she warns the vampire "Or I will shoot and you know I don't miss".
Taking a beat the vampire heeds his old friends warning as he continues to try and plead his case to the saviour.
"Emma listen to me" he pleaded with her "I need that compass to protect my family. To protect Henry. You know that. I would never hurt him" he tried to get her to believe him only for the blonde saviour to shake her head at him.
"I can't".
"Why? I've told you as much as I can".
"No you haven't" she retorts as her mother watched on "I don't know who you are. Not really. I don't know why you would hurt someone so much that they would kill themselves, just because you decided you grew tired of them"
Sibyl. Whatever his sister had told her about the sweet actress that was fool enough to fall for him was the reason for his deception and entrapment in the giant castle for ten hours. Because she thought he would abandon people he cared about once he grew tired of them.
"Who does that?" she throws the question at him "Break's someone's heart for no reason. How can I know you won't do that to Henry?".
Or was she afraid he was going to do that to her if she let him close enough?.
"Emma" he slowly replied "The man that did that. That hurt Sibyl. Wasn't me" he firmly stated her needing her to hear the truth in his words. He needed her to believe him.
"You would know if you truly knew how it felt to be controlled by someone like me" he continued "To have your mind and sanity picked apart bit by bit by someone who didn't care what was left behind. Twisting themselves into your mind into thinking that you saw them as your friend. A man that would rather use you for his own twisted sense of friendship, and have him call you brother for ruining his life!".
Snarling out the last word as the woman in front of him heard the anger and hate that lased his voice as as he recalled the memories of the man that had manipulated his mind for years, killed people he loved only to turn him into a monster when he wanted to end it all.
"If you won't give me the compass, then you've given me no other choice" he states to the pair as he took a step away to turn his attention elsewhere only for Emma's voice to stop him from getting to far.
"I'm sorry" she yells out to him for what it was worth "I'm sorry Elijah. I was only doing what I thought was the right thing".
Turning his head to the side the vampire listened closely to any sign her heart was lying to him only to hear no skips or abnormal beats. There was nothing, she was telling the truth.
"Maybe you should've thought of that before you betrayed me" he tells the woman before speeding away in a blur, leaving the mother and daughter duo stood in the middle of the vampire's rampage against the army of the undead.
"Come on- hurry. Aurora, go" the female warrior encouraged the Princess ahead of her, as she went to follow the warrior was tripped up and brought down to the ground by an undead refugee as more continued their advance on the Princess who turned to flee leaving Mulan to deal with the zombie that had climbed on top of her.
Picking her the train of her dress from the ground the Princess caried on trying to get away from the undead refugees only to skid to a stop when Elijah suddenly appeared in front of her making her jump as her gaze met his.
"Hello Princess" he greets the young woman with tight lipped smirk, on instinct the girl turned to run only for the vampire to suddenly appear in front of her, blocking her from running, trapping her from making any kind of escape from him.
"Come with me" he say's offering his right hand to her for her to take willingly.
"Elijah please-" she tries to plead to the man to let her go.
"I wasn't asking" he retorts, speeding to her side, the vampire wrapped is arm around her waist, holding her tight he took her away just as Mulan searched for the missing Princess.
"Aurora!".
Depositing the young woman in the pit where he woke up in with Emma and Mary Margaret after being 'killed' by Mulan, the vampire securely restricted the Princess fastening shackles to her wrists as she tried to look for any reason on his face of why he was willingly aiding his mother even after his cruel treatment from her in the nursery. She and Mulan heard his painful screams as they hurried back to the room to help them.
It was something she wished she would never hear again in her life.
Elijah remained silent as he made sure her shackles were securely in place and loose enough not to hurt her, despite all reason for him to make sure he made her suffer, like Mulan made sure with the chains around his wrists when they brought them to the encampment.
But as he pulled away the fabric of the shawl that draped over her arm, he accidently brushed a finger over a burn that made the Princess wince in pain, making his freeze as he saw the patches of red angry skin that marred her arm.
Snapping his eye's to meet her's, the fear in them, he instantly knew where she had gotten the burns from. Instead of speaking the Princess shook her head, silently pleading with him not to say a word to anyone.
As quickly as he uncovered them the vampire silently covered the burns back over with the shawl before standing to his feet, turning to the door, no word said, the vampire left, shutting the door behind him, leaving the Princess alone before she was re-joined an hour or two later by his mother carrying a tray of food in her hands.
"I thought you might be hungry" Cora greets her as she made her way towards the chained Princess "I hope you enjoy stew" she adds placing the tray in front of the young girl.
"I enjoy anything that masks the bitter aftertaste of poison" the Princess dryly retorts making the witch chuckle in amusement.
"Oh, plucky. I like that".
"You might as well go" the Princess gets straight to the point "I'm not going to tell you anything" she tells her.
"Oh, I know. That's alright. You've nothing to tell. You weren't my target".
"The compass – sad you lost it?".
"I suppose. But now, I have something to trade for it" Cora tells her smiling down at the Princess on the ground.
"They'll never trade me for that" Aurora tells the woman.
"You might be more valuable than you know" Cora tells her turning towards the door only for the girls curiosity to stop and turn back to her.
"To who?" Aurora questions the witch "They just met me, and they're trying to get back to their families. Do you really think they'll sacrifice that for a stranger?".
"Your newfound companions? You may not know them, but I do" Cora corrects her "Snow and her daughter just can't help themselves. No matter the personal stakes, they won't let an innocent die. she states to the girl with tight smile "Just ask my son".
"We shall see" Aurora shrugged her shoulders at her.
"And what stakes do you have in their cause, Princess? It's not as though you'd travel back with them" the princess remained silent at this, knowing the thought had crossed her mind to go to this Storybrooke with them, to start somewhere fresh. Somewhere where she wouldn't be constantly reminded of her love.
Her silence spoke volumes as the villain saw her heartbreak on her face "Oh… What a sweet, misguided notion. Did you really think you could have a life there? Find another prince? You've forgotten Phillip already".
"Phillip is in my heart every moment of every day" the Princess snapped at the witch above her "If there was anything I could do to bring him back, I would".
"Is that so? What if I told you that when a wraith consumes a soul, it merely travels to another realm? But that soul could be brought back to this world? Show me a little courtesy, and I may explain how".
The Princess answers the older woman's offer of getting her true love back by kicking out at the tray in front of her making the strew spill out onto the ground.
"Oh! You stupid, ungrateful girl!" the witch fumed at the girl on the ground.
"I'm not as stupid as you think, nor my loyalty so easily bought. You can bring me a hundred meals, and make me a hundred promises, but I will never help you".
Throwing her hand out with venom behind the action, Cora magically throws Aroura against the wall of the pit, knocking her out as the Princess slumped against it".
"Plucky…" she spat at the unconscious Princess outload before seeking out her crow. Approaching the bird perched on top of it's cage the witch reaches up and gently strokes the feathers on it's chest. It was time to send the hero's a message. "Tell them" she orders it.
With a loud caw, the dark feathered bird flapped it's wings and flew out of the pit to seek out Snow to rely on it's mistresses message.
With Elijah disappearing into the forest and Aurora's absence from her protector, it was easy to presume that abducting the Princess was Elijah's only other option than simply Emma handing the compass over to him.
They weren't sure were Mulan were leading them, but walking was all they could do after losing the Princess to Elijah. Trailing behind her daughter, Mary Margaret couldn't help but to be concerned with the conversation she had with Elijah.
She barely knew who was Sibyl was. She only knew of what Elijah had told her during the curse.
Who was Sibyl? And what did her daughter know that she didn't?.
Carrying her mother's bow and quiver the blonde aimed to avoid the questions she knew her mother would have about the all but brief conversation she had with the vampire.
Only she could only think of why he didn't just take the compass instead of asking. He could easily overpower her and Mary Margaret, even on animal blood, but the strength he exhibited when he single-handedly took down the zombies, showed her that he had human blood before meeting them. He was back at full strength and if he had chosen to, he could've beaten them in a blink of an eye to get the compass.
Or was he trying to give them a chance to hand it over before he had to follow his mother's order? And she had let that happen.
The silence between the three women was broken as they heard the sound of a crow cawing as it swopped down to land on Mary Margaret shoulder made Emma and Mulan stop and turn drawing their weapons in alarm ready to defend the woman only for the former bandit to stop them.
"Wait" Mary Margaret quickly tells the pair as she closely 'listen's' to the to message that was being passed onto the group of heroines, before flying off again.
"What the hell was that?" the blonde asks her mother watching the bird fly away.
"Cora" the former Princess answers her daughter "We have until sundown to bring her and Elijah the compass" she continues as Emma takes the compass out of her jacket pocket "If we don't, she'll kill Aurora".
"Give it to me" Mulan demanded from the blonde, jumping forward to take the compass for herself for Aurora's safety.
"Hold on, Mulan" Emma says keeping the compass from the warrior "Just give us a minute to consider".
"There's nothing to consider. A compass is not worth Aurora's life".
"We need a plan to get back Aurora and keep the compass" Mary Margaret voiced to the warrior, trying to keep the peace with the woman.
"My vow to Phillip was to protect Aurora. That promise is all that is left of him, so it shall be done" Mulan firmly states to the mother. daughter duo before attempting to take the compass for herself out of Emma's hand.
"Hey. Hey! I climbed a beanstalk for this" the blonde fumes at the female warrior as they both fight for possession of the compass "You go get your own".
"Give it to me!" she demanded from the blonde as they continued to fight for the compass only for Mary Margaret to pull the pair apart.
"Mulan. Give us a few hours, please. If we haven't defeated Cora by then, you can have the compass" Mary Margaret tries to compromise with the warrior looking out for Aurora's safety.
"You can't hope to defeat her" Mulan argued to the pair "We no longer have access to the Dark One's assistance".
"Yes, we do" the former bandit corrects her.
"How? Aurora's gone".
"Aurora isn't the only one who's been under a sleeping curse. I can go back to that Netherworld".
"The door to that place is closed. You said it yourself" Mulan reminded the woman's own words.
"There may be a way… A way for me to go back into a deep slumber. One that can let me access it again".
"Another sleeping curse?" Emma states to her.
"No, not another curse" her mother quickly corrects her, turning to face her "I don't need one. I've been under already. I need to go into a sleep where my natural defences slip away – where my mind stops protecting me.
"How?" Emma asks her mother making the latter turn back to the female warrior.
"Your sleeping powder… If I inhale it, I will fall into a deep enough sleep that I should be able to do this".
"I used the last of it on the giant" Mulan informs her.
"Then make some more" the pixie haired Princess pressed her.
"The poppy plant is extremely rare in this kingdom, but I know of a place that may grow some more. It's a bit of a journey from here". .
"Can we make it by sundown?" the former Princess asks her.
Nodding the warrior agrees with the plan "We have to hurry".
Feeling something pressed against her mouth and lips made the Princess rouse from her sleep from being knocked unconscious as she something thick and metallic met her tongue before feeling the substance slip down her neck. Whatever it was, was making the ache in her head ease and the sting of the burns on her arms sooth.
"Keep going Princess" an echoed voice came to her ears urging her to keep drinking "Just a little more". In her semi-awake state the woman did as she was told as she, reached up with her hand to take hold of the objects that was pressed against her mouth as her blunt teeth clamping down on the flesh surrounding the sweet tasting metallic liquid, making more stream into her mouth that she greedily drank before it was harshly taken away from her lips.
"That's enough" Elijah tells the girl, now fully awake, making her whirl around to find the vampire behind her as best she could only to be stopped from the strong arm that kept her firmly held against his chest as she drank from his wrist.
"Wh-What are you doing?" she asks the vampire, as she wiped away what remained of the wet substance she felt on her lip "Is that blood?".
"Healing you" he tells her matter of factly taking his wrist away from her as he stood to clean the blood that still remained from the healed bite as best he could "Your Welcome by the way. My mother left a nasty bump on your head when you defied her wishes for information. It also healed the burns I found on your arms. I can only assume you got those from the burning room".
"H-How do you know about that place?".
"I go through a...similar experience myself each time I've been killed for a few hours" he informs the young Princess "And old friend once told me, because of our immortal nature, our soul has to go somewhere while our body heals itself".
She almost felt sorry for the man, it was bad enough she went into the burning room each time she fell asleep.
"Why are you telling me this? Aren't you supposed to be working for your Mother. That is why you kidnapped me, is it not? To use me to trade the compass?".
"I took you because Emma would not hand over the compass willingly. Not because I wanted to" he corrects her crouching down in front of her "If it was up to my mother, no such attempt would have been made or even thought about. It was her choice not to trust me".
She almost missed it, the flash of pain that went through his eye's when he said that Emma didn't trust him, but she saw it.
"You care for her" the words slipped from her lips quicker than she could stop them. It was evident that the man cared for the blonde.
"She is my nephew's mother" he tells the Princess on the ground. But she didn't believe the words that monotony left his mouth like he had practised the words over in his head over and over again.
"I'm rather impressed" he quickly changed the subject "Not everyone in your situation would put the people responsible for your love's death over the chance of finding him again".
"I'm guess I'm different from everyone else" she voices to the vampire.
"Although it doesn't explain why you decided to stop and open yourselves for an attack. Tell me, what were you all doing? Why would be so important that you all stopped to let you sleep in the middle of the day?".
"N-nothing" he heard the Princess stutter as she tried to keep her gaze, he didn't even need to listen to her heart to know she was lying.
"You know I could always make you tell me" he reminds her narrowing his gaze at her.
"No amount of torture would make me tell you".
"Torture?" he echoes in offence "Oh no, no, no" he echoed shaking his head at her "I admit, when it came to violating any of the sister's esteemed guests, it was usually up to me how and when that would happen. But I'm afraid I don't have that luxury with you, because if I kill you, my one and only leverage against them goes".
"W-What do you mean?" she gulps in fear. What could he have over them?.
"It means, that if you had the misfortune to die in the next day or so, you would came back as something I don't even think your Prince Phillip could grow to love".
The blood, she realized. She would become like him. A vampire.
"If you tell me what you were doing. I'll give you my word that your human heart continues to beat beyond the time in which my blood leaves your system as long as you tell me what you were all planning".
"And if I don't?" she retorts looking the man dead in the eye keeping her resolve against the man in front of her.
"Then you'll have the rest of eternity to think of what could've been. What shall it be Princess?. A chance of a happy ever after with your love, or a never ending life?".
"Here. Let me take care of this" Gold tells the young boy on the cot as he magically heals the horrific burn on Henry's arm from the foot of the bed as his mother comforting him, sat in the chair the Dark One had occupied during Henry's trip to the netherworld, while Henry's grandfather sat hunched over in worry and concern on his own chair having seen his grandson get hurt.
"What caused this?" Regina sent the question towards the older man looking for a reason why her son was hurt so badly.
"When you venture deeper into the Netherworld instead of away, there are risks. Someone woke Aurora before her soul was ready to return. The violence of that act tore her away and injured Henry. We're lucky it wasn't worse. He's going to need some time to recover before he can be sent back".
"Out of the question" "Not a chance in hell" both Regina and David protested at the same.
"We'd be monsters to even consider risking his life again" the Sheriff stand up from his chair making his point.
"Careful with your tone, Charming" Gold says standing up to meet the man "I understand your concern for the boy, but I know Cora. Without our help, Snow and Emma will soon be dead. And then… A true monster will be on her way to Storybrooke" he sent the warning towards the former Queen.
"Aurora is gone" Regina pointed out to the man as she stood up from her chair to join the discussion "Why do we need to send Henry back to that fiery inferno with no one there to receive our message?".
The room went to silence as David turned with a frustrated sigh and hands on his hips as Regina thought deeply before realizing that Henry and Aurora weren't their only chess pieces in play. There was someone else no one had thought of until now that had woken up from a sleeping curse, albeit not in the same realm as them, but it was their only shot.
"Because someone will be there" the former shepherd suddenly speaks up making the others looks to him.
"Who?" the former Queen challenges the Prince as the mans eye seemed to light up at the thought of the one person that could help them still.
"Snow" David states to the pair.
"Well, that's an awfully big assumption" Regina scoffed at the mans idea.
"No. No, it's not" he argues to the other sceptics in the room "She was there once before. She can go back. She can find a way. She will – I know it. And I'll be waiting" he offers.
"You're going to this Netherworld?".
"I faced you" he tells the villains in the room "How bad could it be?" he adds.
"It's not as simple as that" Gold speaks up interrupting the Prince "You can't get there. You haven't been under a sleeping curse" he points out to the hopeful man.
"Well, then put me under one" he quickly volunteers himself.
"If we do that, there's a chance you might never waken up" Gold argues. Snow wasn't here to give him true love's kiss.
"Sure I will. When I see her, she'll kiss me, and I'll be fine. Now, put me under" he demands the sorcerer as his anger gets the better of him "I've spent far too much time looking for my wife. It is time to bring her home".
Henry
"Are you sure this was the boy you were speaking of?" Elijah pressed the Princess as he held up one of the square polaroid picture he kept in his wallet in front of Aurora's face.
It was a picture of his sister and Henry in a tight embrace looking at the camera he held, taken about a year ago, before Emma had come to town, before he know about the adoption. A time he wished he could go back to as a moment he truly felt happiness in his life in Storybrooke.
A moment they felt like a real family.
It was one of his most prized possessions since he felt the distance between him and his nephew only grow further since Emma came to town. Not that he could blame him for the distance, he keeping a secret from him that nearly cost him his life.
"Yes. It's him" she confirms to the vampire "We've been meeting in the room. He was supposed to rely a message from Rumplestiltskin of a way to defeating your mother, only-" she trailed off thinking of the way she was suddenly taken out of the room and away from Henry.
"You never got it" he finished for her, taking the picture back to put back into the pocket he had made into the tunic to keep the picture safe. It lived in his wallet that was in his pant pocket
"No" she sadly replies "I was woken up before I could find out".
"But he seemed well otherwise?" He needed to know that he was okay. That had been the worst thing coming here, he'd spent a decade looking after him, this was the first time he was truly away from his nephew. There is no greater pain than to be away from those you love.
"He misses his family" she tells him "Including you" she adds watching how he would react to the news the young boy was missing him. Only she wasn't expecting the vampire to pull her up onto her feet, taking hold of the metal cuff around her wrists, pulling them apart until the metal gave in and snapped off leaving the Princes dumbfounded at the man's actions.
"I..don't understand" she sates in bewilderment.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm setting you free" he points out to her.
"What is this, some sort of vampire ruse?" she questions his intentions. Not ten minutes ago he was threatening to turn her into a creature of the night only to free her from his mother's capture.
"Emma may have refused my help, but I refuse to let Cora anywhere near my nephew. And by denying her wishes of the compass for your life. I will do just that".
"You'd risk your life, so you could thwart Cora?".
"I don't like being double crossed" he states to the woman, taking her aback as she recalled how Emma double crossed the vampire "So for once I'm going to do something before she can hurt me. Now go" he urged her to leave again.
"Thank you" she says move around him to head for the open door only for the vampire to catch her by her arm, stopping her from leaving.
"You can thank my by doing one favour".
"What?".
"Give Emma a message" he asks of her letting go of her arm "Tell her: I'm sorry. And that I understand why she did what she did. All I ask is her forgiveness and a second chance to prove to her that I would never hurt my nephew like I hurt Sibyl no anyone, again".
"You really think she'll forgive you?".
"No" he honestly tells her, but it was a start to get her to trust him again "Now go. If my mother catches us, I fear her anger will not stop with us".
At that the Princess turned and escaped her prison leaving the vampire to watch her leave hoping she rely the message. Turning his head away from the entrance of the door.
Gasping out in pain the vampire felt something impale his chest through his back, he looking down he found the end of a blade sticking out of his chest as he felt the dark veins crawl across his face as his body started to shut down and plummet itself back into the Netherworld, only for the point of a sharp hook to appear in his blurred vision feeling it pierce his neck, pulling him back until he felt his back hit something firm behind him, hearing a voice he should've been ready to face when he re-awakened from his temporary death at the hands of a supernatural being.
"That, was for killing me mate" Hook seethed into his ear before pulling the blade from out of the vampire's back, allowing to the man to drop to the ground once again before the pirate smiled to himself pleased how easy it was to kill the vampire, even for a view hours.
Continuing their journey towards the Poppies as a new means of communicating with Henry in the Netherworld, Mulan hacking through the thick underfoot foliage that blocked their way with her sword, if not to help them get to their destination quicker, but to let out the frustration she felt of not being able to hand over the compass over to Cora for Aurora's safety.
"Once we crest this ridge, we'll be near the woods of the dead. The last poppies in this realm have taken seed there" the female warrior reports to the mother and daughter duo behind her as they followed her lead through the woods.
"You okay?" Emma asked the woman behind her having heard nothing from her the whole hike to the poppies.
"Yeah, I'm fine" she quickly answers her daughters question, trying and failing to hide her nervousness of going back to that room once again as she stepped ahead of the questioning blonde.
"Hey. Wait. Wait" Emma called out to her the woman, stopping her mother from going any further "No, no, no. You look nervous. This Netherworld… How bad is it? What's it like?".
"It's like you're, um… Lost, drifting in the dark. No one to talk to, nothing to do. Except think of all the people that you love, and how you'll never see them again".
Hearing this, the blonde mother couldn't help think that was exactly how her son was feeling each time he went into the place in his sleep.
"Henry was lost in that dark too because of me" she voices her guilt to her mother.
"What are you talking about?".
"He tried so hard to convince me I was the saviour".
"Stop it. Nobody would've believed Henry's stories.
"But his mother should have" Emma retorted. If she believed in the curse, they wouldn't be here, they wouldn't be fighting their way back home. It was her fault he ever had to feel like he had to eat that turnover.
"Okay. You want to play the blame game? If I hadn't told Cora about Regina's true love, Cora never would've killed him. Regina wouldn't want revenge. Elijah and I would've never been betrothed to marry and met the man that would eventually turn him into a vampire" she list off the top of her head to her daughter of all the things she had felt guilty of since Daniel's death.
"The curse? Never would have happened. We could spend all day trying to figure out why each of us should feel guilty, but it will not help us get home".
"You really think we're going to make it back?".
"If there's one thing your father's taught me, it's not to give up" she tells her daughter as the piece of sentiment made the corner of her lips quirk up for a second "Now, it's time for me to go back to sleep".
At that the former Princess turned to follow Mulan into the ridge where they would find the poppies her daughter's voice stopped her.
"It's Regina" Ema suddenly tell her making her stop to look back at her grown daughter.
"What?" she blinks at her in confusion.
"Regina" she repeats herself "That's who we should blame".
Reaching the top of the ridge Mary Margaret anxiously waited for Mulan to crush the poppy seeds the old fashioned way, by grinding them into a fine powder that could be blown into her face with the blade of the knife on a stone as the mother and daughter duo waited for her to be done.
"The powder's nearly ready" the female warrior announces to the anxious former Princess.
"How long will the effects last?" Mary Margaret asked the warrior as she settled herself in the exposed roots of a nearby tree with a shawl draped around her shoulders an Emma sat on the ground in front of her ready to fall asleep to find Henry.
"It's difficult to say. Maybe an hour, or much less" Mulan informs her.
"Well, I shouldn't need much time. As long as Henry's in there when I am".
"I'll be right here" Emma tells her mother offering her hand to the former Princess, taking hold of her hand the mother felt herself at ease more knowing Emma was there "Say hi to my son for me".
Nodding at the warrior the Princess gave the young woman to go head to give her the powder.
With the handful of powder in hand the female carefully makes her way down to the pixie haired Princess, opening her gloved palm, the warrior gently blew the powder into Mary Margaret face as the former Princess inhales it, knocking her out into a sleep deep enough that would take her back to the burning room.
Time passed quickly as the former Princess found herself waking back up in the Enchanted Forest with her daughters hand still in her's as she blonde rested her eye's while she waited for her mother to wake back up from the effects of the powder.
Opening her eye's the former bandit was greeted with the familiar image of trees and open sky as she had grown used to during her time on the run from her step-mother, fiancé and their dark knights as Emma roused from her quick nap to see her mother awake coming out of her deep sleep.
"Hey. Hey, you okay?" Emma gently asks her mother who still seems out of sorts until she suddenly jerks away from Emma to stand up as she remembered what or namely who she had met in the burning room instead of Henry.
Panic rushed through her body at the thought of her true love stuck in the Netherworld having taken Henry's place by going under a sleeping curse so he could see her with the thought that if they shared true love kiss in the room, he would wake up. Only she couldn't even touch him.
See needed to find him again.
"What… What happened? What are you doing?" Emma asked her mother as she jumped over to the rock Mulan was using to crush the poppy seed into the powder.
"I'm looking for more powder" she answers her daughter as the blonde stand to her feet to try and calm her mother down.
"Well, I'm pretty sure we're out of that. What happened?".
"No. I have to go back in. He's all alone" she fretted to the blonde.
"Henry? What? Is he okay?".
"No. David" Mary Margaret tells her "He went under a sleeping spell so he could see me. He thought that my kiss would wake him, but it didn't. And now he's trapped" she sobbed out in pain.
"Okay, slow down" she pleaded to the woman as the former Princess stood back up to sit on the log taking a deep calming breath "David is trapped in there?".
"I have to get back. There's only one way to help him".
"True love's kiss" Emma states.
"Yes, but… It won't work in there. We have to get back. If we don't-".
"We will. We will" Emma echoes firmly to the woman in front of her.
"Now you're so sure?" Mary Margaret questions her daughter sudden change of tone from earlier.
"Yes. You told me to have faith, and now I'm telling you. We will make it back. Okay? Did you get the information?".
"It's Rumpelstiltskin" Mary Margaret tells her "He said the key to stopping her is in his jail cell".
"Okay. Then let's go get it. Come on – get your stuff. Come on" she prompts the other woman as they turn to retrieve their things as the blonde saviour check her pocket for the compass only to find it empty. Whirling around the blonde sees no sign of the female warrior hellbent on saving Aurora.
"No…" her mother heard her daughter say to herself as she continued to search for their way home
"What?".
"The compass is gone. And so is Mulan".
He shouldn't have taken this long. All he had to do is heal the plucky girl and interrogate her with the threat of turning her in the back of her mind. That's all.
Entering the underground prison to see what had happened to her son she was greeted with the image of neither her son or the Princess present in the pit.
"Looking for someone?" a voice she knew said behind her making her turn to see Hook step out of the shadow's of the pit. Alive and well after his temporary death.
"Hook. You're alive" she feigned surprise seeing the pirate alive and well once again after being killed by her son at the base of the beanstalk "Don't tell me you were dumb enough to let her go".
"As much as I would like to say it was. It wasn't me. It was your son" the pirate informs the witch stepping to the right to reveal her son's desiccated body laid on the floor behind him. Dead, but healing "They were never gonna give you what you wanted anyway".
"So, he freed her" Cora summarised tasting the bitter taste of disappointment towards her only son once again. She should've known he wasn't truly her's to use for her own gain. He had grown to strong minded in the years apart to so easily manipulate. His own sense of honour blinded him to what he could achieve with her by his side. It always has.
"And what?" she continued "You stuck around for the petty satisfaction of seeing me suffer?".
"Oh, watching you suffer is a tempting motivation, but it wasn't that".
"Well, then you must have a death wish" she states to the pirate using her magic to throw him against the wall of the pit, pinning him against it as a piece of the wall encircles his wrist. Closing the distance between them the witch removes his hood from his stump before tracing the sharp point against his chest, above his darkened heart.
"You know I have to kill you. And you won't come back this time even with that ring on your finger" the memory of the his death by the vampire's hand made the pirate clench his teeth.
Waking up from having his neck crushed by the vampire was not something he wished to do again as he gasped for breath finding himself still at the base of the beanstalk. He wondered if somehow the vampire had turned him without his knowledge but the absence of the need for blood made him think different. He was still human.
"You should try thanking me" he retorts.
"Oh, really? Why's that?" she questioned him.
"Because I've brought you a gift. It's in the satchel".
"What is it?" she ask her as her curiosity gets the better of her.
"Customarily, surprise is part of the fun of gift giving. Open it" he instructs her.
Following his request the older witch opens the satchel that sat on his waist to see something her son should've thought about before letting the Princess leave the pit alone.
Running as fast as she could with the compass in hand to trade for Aurora's life, the female warrior's quick feet made easy work of the flat forest ground as she lessened that distance between herself and keeping her word to Phillip.
But as fast as she could run, as soon as she saw an arrow strike a tree nearby, she knew it was no use carrying on. She'd been caught.
"That was a warning shot" Mary Margaret warned her as the former bandit caught up to the warrior, notching another arrow in her bow "Try to run, and I promise the next one won't be".
"How did you find me?" Mulan asked the woman looking over her shoulder to ask it, holding her hands up in surrender.
"I know a thing or two about tracking" the former Princess simply replies as Mulan takes her chance to turn to face the mother/daughter duo.
"All we want is the compass" Emma tells her.
"Very well" was all Mulan said before reaching to her belt to draw her sword instead of the compass, the warrior didn't get very far as she was tackled to the ground by Mary Margaret, the frenzied former Princess sat on her chest holding an arrow head against her exposed neck.
"Give me the compass" Mary Margaret demands from her.
"And seal Aurora's fate?".
"We learned how to overpower Cora. Once we get what we need, we will defeat her, and Aurora will be free".
"Another journey" she spat at the woman pinning her to the ground "Just as I predicted there would be. Our best chance to save Aurora, is to make that trade now. You told me Elijah is a man of his word, he will make sure the deal is honoured, even if your daughter tricked him into poisoning himself and trapping him".
Hearing this from where she stood, the blonde saviour couldn't help but to silently agree with Mulan, however how much she wanted to disagree, she couldn't. Not that her mother would listen to reason at the moment as she kept Mulan pinned to the ground an inch from making a split second decision that would change everything.
"Not going to happen" Mary Margaret instantly replies "Without that compass, we can't get home.
"Then I hope you're prepared to use that arrow" she baits the woman above her to make good on her threat.
Pausing the Princess takes a second to think over Mulan's statement. She needed to get home, now more than ever. Not only to her grandson, but to wake her true love from a self-induced sleeping curse he took to save Henry from the burning room.
And she was the only thing in the way of doing just that.
Drawing the arrow head back weapon back ready to plunging into the warrior's exposed neck, the action made Emma jump into action to stop her mother from killing Mulan only for a voice to stop her, making them all look up to see Aurora stood in the forest with them.
"Stop!" Aurora exclaims at the seeing Mary Margaret about to kill Mulan as Emma gaped at the younger woman in disbelief to see her free of her captors.
"Okay, don't take this the wrong way, but how the hell did you get here?" the blonde savoir gaped at the Princess.
"Let Mulan go" Aurora demands from the former Princess ignoring Emma's question as she makes her way towards the scene "I said, let her go!" she repeats herself to the pixie haired woman making the latter jump off the warrior allowing her to help Mulan back onto her feet.
"Were you followed?" the warrior fretted to the Princess as she stood from the ground.
" I… I don't think so" Aurora stutter's "Cora may know I'm gone, but she didn't see me escape".
"How did you escape?" Emma questions her, making the Princess look towards the blonde.
"It was Elijah. He let me go".
"Why?". He was supposed to be on his mother's side now. Why would he capture her from Cora only to let her go again?.
"Because of you" Aurora tells her "He said he wanted to prove to you, that you should've trusted him. That if you had trusted him, you could've defeated Cora together. That the two of you could've gotten the remains of the wardrobe and gotten home to Henry. Without him, you'll have to go up against her all by yourself. He only wants to help. I… I think he may care for you".
Clutching Aurora's enchanted heart in her hand, Elijah could only listen as his mother spoke the untrue words he knew the Princess would be mimicking to Emma and Mary Margaret.
Having woken back up from his temporary death at the hands of the newly resurrected Hook, the vampire sat on floor of the pit with his wrists and ankles bound by vervain soaked ropes that apparently the pirate had acquired for his mother to use on him, he was left helpless as he knew the next time he went against her, his heart may not longer remain in his chest.
He was back where he had started off; his mother's prisoner.
"Nice touch, that" Hook couldn't help but to compliment the older woman words she said into the heart with his silver hook back where it belonged.
"But you know she won't trust him" she points out to the pirate, glancing down at her disobedient son on the ground.
"Ah, she doesn't have to." Hook wagers "All you need, is for her to believe that he was genuine in letting the girl go, which I wager she does now. You're welcome".
"Impressive. You took a heart" she complements the pirate.
"Now you've a princess" he retorts "And a more obedient vampire".
"Indeed, I do" she confirms.
"Now, can we get on with the business of going to Storybrooke. Together?" he asks her.
"Why not?" she agrees "I hate to travel alone. All we need is the compass".
"Which will soon be delivered, thanks to Elijah here" Hook says looking down at the vampire that wouldn't try and defy her again. For it could spell the end for himself and the hero's that held the compass.
AN: Hello there!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Apologies for the slight delay, but I hope this makes up for it.
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