《Artemis || OUAT》98. Awake

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Hook continued to run as fast as he could to outrun the Lost Boys, already exhausted.

Yet, the Lost Boys continued to whoop and holler in excitement as they chased down their prey, which happens to be the one handed pirate.

Zephyr stopped in his tracks after noticing something about the pirate once they had him surrounded near the beach.

"Wait." The said seven year old spoke up, stopping his Lost Boys as everyone including Hook who looked over at him.

"Zephyr?" Hook let out breathlessly in confusion, lowering his sword.

Zephyr grinned and rushed over to the pirate who immediately picked him up and now held him in a comforting embrace, "Grandpa."

Hook moved a hand over the back of the boy's head before setting him back on the ground, "Where's your mother?"

The seven year old's eyes then showed his sadness as he explained, "After Papa died, my mommy and I left for the Enchanted Forest, but the Black Fairy threatened to take me away... So, mama sent me here for my best chance while she was taken by the Black Fairy."

Hook's jaw flexed at his adopted daughter being captured by the villain known as the Black Fairy.

The one handed pirate glanced back at the Lost Boys warily and started, "Look, I've got treasure buried all over this island, uh, and rum. Any of you lads old enough to drink rum?"

A second-in command Lost Boy stepped forward, and said, "There's only one thing we want from you. To make you pay for what happened to Pan."

"Aye," Hook sighed, withdrawing his sword again, "Well, let's get on with it then. I've got somebody waiting for me at home. Now look, I don't want to hurt any of you, so this is your last chance."

Zephyr moved in between his grandpa and the other Lost Boys and spoke up, "Stand down, boys. My parents are on good terms with Hook. Don't get on my mom's bad side when she comes back." He frowned, "Or mine."

The Lost Boys soon lowered their weapons and stepped back.

Hook nodded slightly impressed and couldn't help but think the seven year old had his mother's attitude in a way.

Suddenly, something hit all of the Lost Boys in their necks, making them fall to the ground unconscious.

"You should really be careful, Captain." A new voice suddenly spoke up a few feet from them, revealing an Indian woman, "The Lost Boys have gotten nasty since Pan died."

Zephyr looked up at the Indian curiously, "Tiger Lily... Is there a reason you bloody attacked my boys?"

Tiger Lily folded her arms across her chest and glanced down at the seven year old, saying, "Sorry, Kid. I had to get you two alone. That's all." She looked at the pirate, "Didn't expect to ever see you back on this rock."

"Neither did I." Hook sighed, "This isn't exactly what you call a planned excursion. I suppose thanks are in order for the daring rescue."

"Not like it was needed." Zephyr remarked, folding his arms across his chest.

Hook chuckled, "Right. Although my landing back on this island was unexpected, I did find my grandson."

Tiger Lily realized then, "That's right. Astrid was like a daughter to you, which makes her kid your grandkid... So, Pan became your son-in law?"

Zephyr softly smiled while Hook shrugged and said, "Yeah, over time. He actually, believe it or not, was a hero in the end."

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Tiger Lily nodded slowly at that.

***

Astrid curiously looked over the notebook with weirdly drawn symbols scribbled inside as she stood beside the table next to Emma.

"The final battle?" Emma repeated.

"According to that weasel, Isaac, that's what these hieroglyphs mean." Regina further explained.

Emma looked back at the pages as her sister continued to flip through it, trying to understand it.

"We really are at the end of the book." Astrid commented.

David shook his head, "We should've seen this coming."

Emma glanced over at their father and murmured, "There's no way you could."

"Yes." Snow replied, "Back in the Enchanted Forest, when Rumplestiltskin told us you were destined to be the Savior, he said one of you would have to fight the Final Battle."

"We thought that meant..." David sighed, "-breaking the original curse. We... We never would've put you through that wardrobe if we knew it was gonna lead to this."

Astrid moved a reassuring hand over her father's arm, saying, "It's fine. We are not gonna lose. This is my home, and I will protect it until my last breath."

Snow moved her hands and cupped the sides of Astrid's face gently and murmured, "That's what we're afraid of. We've already lost you so many times, A. We cannot lose you again. Or your sister."

Astrid smiled some and hugged her mother and father and softly told them in the embrace, "We're not going anywhere. Everything will be okay. Have faith in me, in us."

David smiled and kissed the side of Astrid's head and then did the same with Emma.

Emma smiled also and glanced over at Henry, "Come on, kid. Let's go to the library and see if we can find something to decipher exactly what this means."

She went to hand the notebook to her son when her hand began to shake terribly as she breathed heavily.

Astrid took her twin's hand in hers, it glowing briefly for just a millisecond, "It's going to be okay, Em."

Emma felt somewhat better and gave another small smile, "I know." She then left out of the home with Henry.

Astrid took a deep breath after having took some of her sister's anxiety from her and folded her arms across her chest.

Snow sighed, "Her story can't end like this. Hook's trapped in another realm. She can't go into the Final Battle without her family."

"And she won't." Astrid assured, "Mom, Dad, please believe me when I say I have a plan."

"Not a plan that involves you sacrificing yourself, I hope," Robin spoke up beside his love.

The twenty-eight year old immortal smirked some and replied, "Not all of my plans are sacrificial plays. I got this."

"Care to share with us?" David remarked, moving his hands over his hips.

"First, we need something. It's, um, pixie petals, which have now grown all over town. I feel it." Astrid began, feeling the source of the said magical flower in town, "It'll be enough to break the banishment spell on Hook so that I can bring him back."

Emma, Henry, and Zelena walked inside of the home as the redhead added, "I know magic, and pixie flowers only grow for one reason-- in reaction to the presence of great evil."

"So, if these flowers started sprouting all over Storybrooke..." Robin started.

"I think, the Author had the right idea skipping town." Zelena said, glancing at both Emma and Astrid, "Whoever either you or Astrid are meant to face in this Final Battle... They're already here."

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"Yeah," Astrid sighed, feeling a wave of dark magic somewhere in town, "Yeah, she bloody is. I feel such dark magic."

Snow shared a look with her husband while Emma looked over at her twin in just a little bit of nervousness.

***

Tiger Lily removed a piece of a wooden item out of her pocket and showed the pirate, "I need you to deliver this to another realm. You're still captain of the fastest ship on the seas, aren't you?"

"I'm not your errand boy," Hook replied, "The woman I love is in danger as well as my daughter. And every second I spend arguing with you should be spent finding a way back to them."

"You expect me to believe Killian Jones fell in love?" Tiger Lily remarked, "This isn't driftwood. It's a weapon. And it's the only chance we have of winning the coming war."

Zephyr felt something beginning to happen in Storybrooke, a great darkness approaching.

The seven year old glanced up at his grandpa and told them, "We'll do it. Gramps, this is to save my aunt and mom. We have to get this to Emma. The Black Fairy is in Storybrooke."

Tiger Lily nodded and added, "At least the kid has sense. This is the only hope the Savior and Artemis has of defeating her."

Hook sighed, "I wish it were that simple. But there seems to be a curse keeping me from finding my way back home, unless you have some magic that can lift it."

"I don't." Tiger Lily admitted but glanced down at Zephyr, "But his father might."

Zephyr nodded, saying, "It's true, back in my papa's old camp. But there is another way. I can call my mom here."

Hook curiously shared a look with Tiger Lily and followed behind the boy in the direction of Peter Pan's and Astrid's old camp.

***

Astrid led Emma, David, and Snow into the woods and let out, "The petals had to come from around here."

Emma noticed something down the hill and pointed it out, "Look. Down there." They noticed a whole area of the pink flowers. "Wait. Zelena said, these flowers only grow in the presence of evil. And Astrid said she felt dark magic."

"So if there's a whole field of them..." David also started, picking up his daughter's suspicion.

"And here I thought I was hoping to make an entrance." The Black Fairy spoke up a few feet in front of them.

Simultaneously, both Astrid and Snow notched an arrow in each of their bows as Snow said, "Stay away from our daughters."

The said fairy simply smiled, "Emma, I've been waiting a very long time to meet you. I've already met Astrid in my realm."

"So, I guess, you're the one I fight in the final battle." Emma spoke up.

"I created the Dark Curse. You were born to break it. Astrid was born to finish it." The Black Fairy replied, "We've been destined to clash since the beginning of time. I never should have sent an emissary to do what only I can."

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" Astrid spoke up, "Was that a threat?"

"How did you get here?" Emma added as Gideon walked out of the bushes and over the fairy, "Right. Never mind. So, is this it?"

"Oh, no. You'll know when the Final Battle begins. Everyone will." The Black Fairy remarked.

David stepped forward, "We won't let you hurt our daughters."

"Is that so?" The Black Fairy chuckled, "Gideon."

Gideon then moved his hand and pointed at the flowers, destroying them in a cloud of purple smoke before they were completely gone.

"It's better this way. No parent should have to watch their child die."

Both Snow and Astrid released their arrows, which soared towards the fairy before she and Gideon vanished in a cloud of black smoke; The arrows embedding in a tree.

Astrid sighed, "That's okay. I don't need flowers. I have a backup." She made a magical stem appear in her hand. "Remember this?"

David looked at the plant's stem and realized, letting out, "The plant grown from true love-- the one the Evil Queen had snapped in half and destroyed."

Snow also asked, "How'd you fix it?"

Astrid smiled and magically fixed the stem into a slender, smooth wand with vines wrapped around the bottom edge of the wood.

"Perks of being the Creator and also a goddess. I create things." The immortal woman explained, "I knew this thing would come in handy, so I made myself a wand out of it."

Emma nodded, impressed, just as Astrid felt like she was being summoned.

"I gotta go-" Astrid started but was cut off by disappearing in a cloud of white smoke and appearing in front of her son and Hook in Neverland, "Zep."

"Mommy!" The said seven year old also let out and was lifted up in her arms in a tight embrace, her hand on the back of his head.

Hook approached his adopted daughter also and started, "AJ, I-"

Astrid set her son back on his feet and looked over at her father figure, stopping him, "Hey. You have nothing to apologize for. We already forgave your past. You've changed. You're good, Dad."

Hook smiled some and moved a fatherly arm around her shoulders as the two half hugged.

Astrid smirked, an arm still around her son's small shoulders, "Now, let's go home."

The one handed pirate began, "I was cursed. I can't return-"

"I know, but I'm more powerful than that curse," Astrid shrugged and waved her wand some around him as he glowed briefly. "There."

Astrid took her son's hand in hers after she had then made a portal in front of them.

Hook smiled and let out, "That's my girl."

Astrid stopped and glanced over at the ex fairy, now indian, "Hey, Tiger Lily, long time, huh?"

Tiger Lily smiled and hugged her, saying, "Go. Be the hero I know you are-- and keep the great Captain Hook in line."

Astrid laughed fondly, "I will." The three of them then left through the portal and appeared in the Blanchard apartment.

Emma and Hook quickly moved over to each other, making sure the other was okay.

"I'm sorry, Emma," Hook started, "I should've told you what I did to ypur grandfather all those years ago, and I should never, never even considered running away."

"It's okay. I didn't exactly make it easy for you to tell me the truth." Emma replied, "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up."

"No. No, there's something I have to do before I get pushed into another portal." Hook said and pulled out the ring, "And this time I'm gonna do it the right way."

Astrid smiled and led her son away as Regina and Robin led Henry away, giving the couple privacy.

She hugged her son as he looked up at her and murmured, "I still miss Daddy."

Astrid bent down to his height and kissed the top of his head, also murmuring, "I know, baby, me too. But we still have family. We're home, kid."

Zephyr smiled and wrapped his arms around his mother's neck and now was held in her arms, "At least, I still have you, Mommy."

Astrid smiled as the two of them moved over to their family.

"I take it Emma and Astrid hasn't told you my secret," Hook began towards David as the two men faced each other.

"Yeah, she did. And it was a long time ago." David replied, "You're a changed man now, Hook. Astrid was right. We've all seen it."

Astrid smiled at her fathers' interactions and spoke up, "This is how I know you won't face the Black Fairy alone, Em. We have family. We have each other's back. Always."

Emma smiled and hugged her sister tightly, "Thank you. For everything."

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