#hookedemma

“So much good that will do her now.” Rumplestilskin chuckles darkly to himself. He throws a few more ingredients into the cauldron, the concoction brewing menacingly. Down-right giddy now, he takes a small vial from his secret cabinet – the final ingredient he needs in order to enact the curse. Black smoke starts to rise from the foul brew as soon as he pours it in. It gathers above his head at first, but then it seems to take a life of its own and takes a sharp turn towards the window.

“Go, my precious, find them and make her pay!” Rumplestilskin is laughing maniacally now, as the black smoke splits in two then disappears in the moonless night, hunting for its prey.

Its two unsuspecting victims are easy to find. Once there, it engulfs both of them. As soon as the smoke makes contact with their skin, it immediately gets absorbed by it. The curse is now cast. The two young people sleep on, none the wiser that this moment has changed their lives forever and that from now on, both of their fates are entwined.

As soon as the sun rises, Rumplestilskin feels the magic come to life and he bursts into laughter. It is done. The princess will live the rest of her days half human, half something else, with no chance to ever get rid of the spell. Sure, this particular curse can also be broken with True Love’s Kiss, but how can she fall in love if she will never get to meet her True Love?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few days pass before they realize what is happening.

The first day no one knows where the princess is. They don’t remember Emma saying she wanted to go somewhere, but nothing seems amiss in her bedchamber, so they don’t panic just yet. They do send search parties around the castle grounds, nonetheless. They also notice a hawk in Emma’s rooms, but they don’t give it much thought. Princess Emma is fond of birds after all, just like her mother.

By sunset, the princess is still missing, so the royals gather in the council chambers with their most trusted knights, intent on formulating a plan on how to find Emma. And that’s how the princess finds them.

They’re surprised for the first few seconds, but then relief washes over her parents. Her mother hugs her tight and David puts his arms around them both. When the embrace is over, they want to know where she’s been, but Emma has no answers for them. The last thing she remembers is going to bed the night before.

David shares a worried look with Snow, then asks Lancelot to post more guards around the premises. They’re not taking any chances again. But the next morning, Emma is gone again and no one knows how.

It takes her parents a few days to realize what is happening to their daughter: that she’s actually turning into a hawk during the day. Her mother can’t stop crying when they do, her father is frantically trying to uncover the culprit, and Emma …she’s in shock.

They call for the Blue Fairy, all of their hopes on her having a solution. It’s the middle of the night when she arrives. She ushered immediately to the council chambers – none of them can sleep after all.

The atmosphere in the room is tense, but they don’t need to tell her anything. The fairy flies straight to Emma and stops at eye level in front of her, a look of pity in her small eyes. “Oh, my poor darling, what has he done to you?”

“You know what’s happening to me?” Emma asks uncertainly, unable to quell the small sliver of hope wanting to take root in her heart at the thought that someone might have some answers for her, that they might know what’s happening and how to cure her.

“Yes, my dear. It’s all around you, I’m afraid. You’ve been cursed by the darkest of magic.”

The sharp intakes of breath make it clear they all know what she means and who’s responsible - Rumplestilskin, the Dark One. He’s the only one capable of wielding such powerful magic.

“Why would he do this to Emma? And why now? What does he want?” It’s Snow White that asks the questions on everyone’s minds, looking expectantly at the magical being in the room.

The Blue Fairy sighs. “I do not know.”

But Snow White cannot be deterred; she asks question after question and her father soon joins his wife. Sometimes the Blue Fairy has an answer for them, but most often than not, their expectations go unfulfilled.

Emma tunes everything out, unable to concentrate on anything but the why. Because the Dark One has cursed her and apparently no one, not even the most powerful force of good, can do anything about it. She doesn’t even know what she did to incur his wrath. And then, like a candle lighting up suddenly in a dark room, she knows. “By the Gods!” she shrieks.

The conversation comes to an abrupt halt when they hear her cry and three sets of eyes turn to the princess. Face pale and out of breath, Emma slides into the nearest chair. Snow is by her daughter’s side in a second, crouching down beside her and takes her hand. “Emma, what is it?”

The princess feels, rather than see, her mother take her hand and run soothing circles over her knuckles. David is there, too, but she doesn’t really see him either. The shock of her discovery is still too great and she can’t believe she hasn’t realized it sooner.

Forcing the words past the lump in her throat, Emma looks to her mother. In a weak voice, she tells them the things she’s pieced together: “Last week, at the ball, I told Baelfire I’m not interested in him.” The queen gasps and she sees her father reach unconsciously for the hilt of his sword. “He didn’t take it very well, but I never thought…”

Sudden rage courses through Charming’s veins and he’s willing to do anything to save his daughter, even go against the Dark One. “I’m going to…”  

“Charming, you can’t go against the Dark One!”

“But Snow, he cursed our daughter.”

“I know that, but it won’t save Emma. We must find a way to break the curse first.”

“I believe I can help with that” interjects the Blue Fairy. They all look towards her, eager to hear what she has to say next. “Like any curse, it can be broken with True Love’s kiss.”

And just like that, Emma’s hopes are crushed again. For four years, Emma has attended every ball her parents have thrown, danced with every prince and knight invited, and none has made her pulse race or incite her curiosity to wish for more than a fleeting acquaintance. True Love is something that her parents have, so it clearly exists, but Emma has convinced herself through the years that it’s not for her.

“Then it’s hopeless. I shall never meet my True Love, least of all now. Not like this.”

“You can’t give up hope, Emma” her mother chimes in.

But optimism in the face of insurmountable odds has never been Emma’s forte. It’s always been her mother’s.

“The Queen is right, young princess. You must not give up. You are the product of true love; there is someone for you out there, too. This curse would not have worked otherwise. You just have to find him, and together, break the curse. Share True Love’s Kiss on the one day without night, and night without day, and both of you will be set free.”

“What does that mean?” Charming asks.

“All will be revealed in due time. It will happen at the end of the third year, so you must find him by then.”

It sounds ominous because Emma is sure it’s too little time. Her shoulders sag again, but she tries to keep up a hopeful expression for her mother. How could she possibly find her true love in only three years, when four have given her nothing? And what does it all mean anyway that they’ll both be set free? Wait, both?

“What do you mean we’ll both be set free?” Emma is suddenly desperate to know.

“This is a curse that affects both of you” the Blue Fairy says nonchalantly, as if the knowledge that she’s the reason another human being is similarly afflicted means nothing. “I have to go now.  Do not lose hope, your highness. By the end of the third year, on the day without night and night without day, share True Love’s Kiss and everything will be undone.” The Blue Fairy flies higher up in the air, then waves her wand and disappears.

Emma feels hopeless, regardless of the Fairy’s words. Her mother is anything but, it’s clear by the look on her face, while her father is a bit more circumspect about the future.

“We have no time to waste; we must find your True Love.” There’s so much hope in Snow’s voice, Emma cannot contradict her. She only hopes it will turn out to be true. For all their sakes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Killian Jones wakes up with a pounding headache in the morning, but that’s nothing unusual. What is unusual though are his whereabouts. No matter how drunk, he had never woken up naked before, and in the forest of all places. It was bound to happen sooner or later, he guesses, with the way he’d been drinking lately. So he dismisses it as an embarrassing incident, one not to be mentioned to anyone again.

But when he wakes up the same way the next morning, he knows something is wrong. He might have been drunk two nights ago, but he had refrained from drinking anything all day yesterday. Killian Jones, the most cutthroat pirate to host a sail in the seven realms, did not get so drunk as to not remember anything, two days in a row.

He stumbles into the small seaside village, half expecting to hear people talk about him and his exploits – he’s sure two nights drunk off his ass would not have gone unnoticed – but all the villagers talk about is an enormous black wolf that has suddenly appeared in the woods. None have seen it, but they have heard it howling in the dead of night.

His men are busy hauling crates and supplies aboard the Jolly Roger when he reaches the ship. Nobody pays him any mind as he heads towards his cabin, eager to think about his nightly situation and the strange coincidence of a wolf roaming the nearby forests.

A few hours later, he decides to test a theory and settle his doubts once and for all. Because he’s a man of action, he asks Henry, his cabin boy, to help him. They go to the woods before sun down and he ties himself to a tree. Henry looks at him funny for a split second, but does not comment. An order from the captain is not to be discussed or commented upon; it’s to be obeyed – that is the way on the Jolly Roger.

“Go a bit further, lad, and stand guard.” No matter what is going to happen during the night – and he fears he already knows what it is – he does not want Henry hurt.

The boy nods and starts making a cot for himself several feet away, just as the sun casts its last rays. The only source of light comes from the campfire, but it’s enough for Henry to see everything that happens as the night settles. He’s scared and shocked, but he does not leave his captain, not even when the transformation is complete and Captain Jones is now one of the biggest black wolfs he’s ever seen.

The next morning, Killian knows his worst fears are true just by taking a look at Henry. He knows what’s happening. Killian Jones has seen too much dark magic to not recognize it for what it is – a dark curse; one that transforms him into a beast at night.

Who could hate him so much as to curse him thus? And who could have the money to pay for such a curse? Because this sure as hell did not come cheap.

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