WHO: Emma Swan, with cameo by Killian Jones / Hook — mentions of Rumpelstiltskin, Belle, and Henry. WHEN: Today, around breakfast time. WHERE: Mess Hall. WHAT: Enjoy guys. Emma turns into the Dark One. WARNINGS: IDK evil stuff?
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It looked like a tornado of black goo or black goo ribbons. Either way, it was unlike anything she'd seen. That's about all that Emma could think of as she watched the swirling darkness for the second time in her life. She thought she'd fended this off for some time, but it seemed that fate had a way of catching up with a person. The churning mass seemed to grow as it groaned across the Mess Hall. They had to contain this somehow. There hadn't been time for an enchantment or anything to hold it in, and if the sorcerer's apprentice couldn't do it, what made her think that she could?
Well, she was the savior, of course. It was her job to protect people. That meant stepping up, even as she realized that there was no Merlin to seek here, and she was going to be stuck with this Darkness for as long as she was here. Maybe longer.
Rumpelstiltskin was unconscious, Belle at his side. The dagger lay on the floor, and for the moment, there was no name on it, only the ornate decorative engraving of the Dark One's dagger. It took an instant to grab the dagger and only a few more to stand at the head of the Mess Hall. The dagger in her hand, the Darkness was hers to control. It instantly stopped in its tracks.
Emma's eyes flicked to Killian; he'd know what she meant to do. He was going to try to talk her out of it, but she couldn't let him. No one else here deserved to suffer for this. She hadn't known that whatever spell she tried would release the Darkness, but she'd known more than these people had. It was her responsibility, and no one else's.
"Emma," he said, half in warning and half a plea.
"I let this thing out, I have to take it. No one here is going to pay for my mistake." She remembered Regina's anger with her when she arrived, how she reprimanded her for doing just this. Deep down, Emma knew that Regina was touched; anger was how she showed it. And Henry, Emma's heart hurt just thinking about him. He'd understand; he always understood. Sometimes heroes have to sacrifice themselves for others.
Emma kissed Hook, one last time, but hoping — a rare thing for her — that he'd figure out a way to get the Darkness out of her. Together with Henry, maybe. That was all she could hope for. "I love you."
No sooner had the words come out, she pushed Killian away from her and jerked her arm upward into the mass. As soon as it got a taste of her, she felt it give up on everyone else in the room. They were safe. That was good. That was all she wanted, even the people she'd never opened up enough to try and talk to them. One final moment of regret.
She could feel it digging into her, trying to bury its claws all the way inside her soul. It was like drowning, suffocating in darkness that wouldn't let you breathe, wouldn't let up until it smothered every last drop of you. The pain was almost unbearable. Emma let out a guttural cry as it rooted her where she stood, arm raised into the center of the churning ribbons. Thunder crackled, eerie bluish purple lightning illuminated the inside of the cloud as she struggled to contain it. It became a tomb, wrapping around her tighter and tighter until she could no longer see anything but Killian's eyes. One final thought — don't leave me — and then she was no longer visible inside the cyclone.
It rose until every last bit of it somehow plunged upward, cresting like a wave and disappearing in a ball of lightning. The dagger crashed to the cement floor, leaving no trace of Emma Swan save the name ornately etched into its blade..