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CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
THE DARK SWAN, PT. 1
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EVERYONE WAS IN COMPLETE SHOCK. Their eyes were wide; bodies stiff; lips parted in shock; their thoughts going a mile a minute. None of them knew what to say, as they simply just stared at the fallen dagger that now spelled out Emma Swan.

Finally, it was Regina that spoke. "How could she be so stupid?"

"Regina!"

"But there had to be another way!"

"There wasn't," Snow said. "That thing was going to kill you. She saved your life."

"Don't you think I know that?" Regina all but growled.

"And now she's the — Dark One." Henry's eyes were wide as he stared at the dagger on the wet pavement. He couldn't believe. The woman who gave him life, the woman who is the product of true love and has the powers of the savior, is now the Dark One.

"Now she's a problem for all of us," Teresa muttered.

"Teresa!" Snow exclaimed, her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at her friend. "She's still good!"

"We have to think of the possibilities here, Snow. Rumplestiltskin was not a ray of sunshine as the Dark One, Emma will most likely be the same way."

"She's right," Regina agreed. "I mean, it's not like she rode off on a unicorn. She got sucked up by a vortex of evil."

"Where is she?" Robin asked. "Where has she gone?"

"Doesn't bloody matter," Hook grumbled, moving toward the dagger, Robin latched onto his wrist, forbidding him from doing so.

"Mate, don't."

"Get out of my way," Hook snarled, pushing the archer from out of his way. Robin moved back as Hook bent down to claim the dagger. "We can't find her, I can damn well bring her to me." He paused for a moment as he held up the dagger. "Dark One! With this dagger I command thee, return!"

Teresa, along with the others, looked around for Emma, yet they caught no sight of the blonde. Henry frowned.

"Dark One, appear!"

Again, nothing.

"Put that thing down before you hurt yourself, Guyliner," Regina said, stepping towards him. "I thought you knew the dagger's rules?"

"With it I can summon the Dark One from any corner of the world."

"Well, there's your answer. She's not in this world."

➳

The group barged into Gold's shop and straight to the back room, where Mother Superiour was sitting with The Apprentice, who was on his death bed.

"Apprentice," Hook spoke with urgency. "That monstrosity took Emma. Where did they go?"

"She is now where all darkness is born. In your realm."

Of course she is, Teresa sighed.

"Then take us there."

Teresa slapped the pirates arm. "Do you not see how he looks?!" She hissed at him.

"She is right, I'm far too weak now, but this will help." He weakly raised his hand and in a blink of an eye, a green wand with knobby brown end had been conjured in his hand. "It is a gift from the sorcerer, from Merlin, on the day I became his apprentice. In it is all the light magic."

"It can take us to our daughter?"

"Not on its own. In order to cross realms, it must be wielded as it was forged, with both sides of the coin. Light and..." His eyes closed. "...the dark."

The wand slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor as The Apprentice was now gone.

"I guess that's my cue," Regina muttered. She walked forward with a sigh, and picked up the wand. She waved it over her head, but nothing happened.

So she waved it again, and again, nothing happened.

"Enough!" Hook exclaimed, his voice laced with annoyance and frustration. "You're going to embarrass yourself and waste our time."

"Watch it!" Regina snapped. "I know what I'm doing."

"Well that's not enough. You heard the man, it needs darkness. You've gone soft."

Regina glared at him. "You wanna see soft? Why don't I use that hook to show you your intestines?"

The two got face-to-face. "Oh, you've got the fire love, but not the blackness, not anymore. How's this for irony? You've done too much good. No, we need someone wicked."

"No. No. No." Regina shook her head. "Not my sister. That witch is more than wicked, she's deranged."

"For Emma, it's worth the risk. She sacrificed herself for you, Your Majesty, because she believed that an evil queen could be good. Don't you think you owe it to her to repay the favor?"

"Guys!" Teresa shouted, breaking their fierce eye contact. All eyes turned to her as she let out a sigh. "If you're forgetting, I came back to Storybrooke, I can very well leave the same way."

"The magic beans," Snow said with a look of realization plastered on her face.

➳

When they got to Teresa's room at Granny's Bed & Breakfast, Teresa immediately made her way toward the dresser drawer that which she had placed the pouch of magic beans in.

Her eyes widened when she found that the pouch was no longer in her drawer. "What the hell..."

"What?"

"It's not here." Teresa turned to them with wide eyes.

"What do mean it's not bloody there?" Hook was suddenly at her side and rummaging through her drawer where she had a few of her possessions.

"Someone stole them." A frown formed on her face as she now realized they wouldn't be going to save Emma. And that she wouldn't be able to visit Elsa and Anna anytime soon.

Snow sighed as she stepped further into Teresa's room. "Teri, could it be anywhere else?"

"No," Teresa replied. "This is where I kept them. You know me, Snow, I have great memory."

"Perfect," Regina grumbled with an eyeroll as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Now Zelena is our option. Unfortunately."

➳

Teresa's hand was up near her face, her fingers pulling at her bottom lip, as she paced back and forth on the cement outside of Granny's Diner. Just moments ago, she had been prepared to walk inside, but after looking through the window and spotting Henry seated at the counter she had froze.

Ever since she found out about her and Henry being bound together for life as soulmates, she has been trying to avoid him at all costs. Even though she knew he needed someone right now with his mother being the new Dark One, she still felt...strange around him.

Before The Apprentice had spilled the prophecy of the soulmates, Teresa had thought he was cute. His smile always made her smile, he made her laug—which was important to her due to her sarcastic nature—and she often thought back to the moment he flat out admitted that she was pretty. It seemed to always, like Henry had that day, make her blush.

And Teresa Holmes did not blush.

Until she met Henry Mills, that is.

"Ah there you are!" Teresa whipped around to face whom spoke. She found Hook rounding the corner and heading toward her. "What's with the pacing?"

"Nothing."

Hook raised an eyebrow, not entirely believing her rather quick response. "Right..." He let out a short breath. "I need your assistance."

Teresa crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at the pirate. "With what?"

"It appears I need a thief, and you, Holmes, I know still have a few tricks up your sleeve."

Teresa smirked. "And what is it we'll be stealing?"

"I'll explain on the way."

As they headed down the sidewalk, a Hook leading them in the direction where Regina was keeping Zelena locked up, Hook began to explain his reason for needing Teresa's help.

"Hold up, you want to break the Wicked Witch out of her cage?"

Hook nodded. "Aye. It wasn't my first plan, believe me. Plan A was Henry; to see if he could write the darkness out of Emma, seeing as he's the new author, but the young lad destroyed the quill. Something about wanting to be honourable and good — "

Teresa came to an abrupt stop, forcing him to stop walking as well. "Hold up. Henry's the new author?"

"You didn't know?"

"Who asks a question when they already know the answer? Of course I didn't know." She finished with an eyeroll.

"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine," Hook said with a sarcastic smile, one which Teresa returned. "Yes, Henry is the new author. He wrote everything back to normal, which is why you and I are not truly dead."

As they kept walking, Hook then smirked. "I believe he has earned the right to a thank you kiss, don't you?"

Teresa threw him a glare. "You want my help or not?"

➳

When they reached the basement of the hospital, they came to a door, which was, unfortunately, locked. Next to the locked door was a keypad.

"Damn," Hook muttered. "There's a code. Please tell me your boyfriend has told you his mothers code for this bloody door."

"One: he's not my boyfriend, two: no he didn't, and three: you do realise I have magic right?" Teresa stepped forward and peered through the window. After seeing what the other side looked like, she took Hook's arm and teleported them to the other side or the door in a wave of white flurries.

They then began to walk down the flight of stairs.

"So what's the plan now?" Teresa whispered.

"You wouldn't be able to teleport us inside her cell, would you?"

"I have to know where I'm going to do that, and I've never been here before, so no."

Hook heaved sighed.

"Just follow my lead." When she got to the last step, Teresa moved toward the receptionist sitting at the desk. After glancing at her name tag on her shirt, Teresa gave her a bright smile.

"Mrs. Ratched, I'm looking for Regina Mills, is she here?"

"Who're you?"

Teresa leaned against the counter, purposely knocking over the nurses drink, which then spilled everywhere, including on the nurses lap.

While the nurse popped up and begin cleaning up the mess, Teresa swiped the keys and held them behind her back. Hook took them and sneakily moved toward Zelena's cell.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" Teresa apologised. "I'm kind of a klutz."

"It's alright, sweetie," she replied. "You, with the mop. A little help."

A/N: I'm loving Teresa and Hook so much 😂😂

So, who do you think stole Teresa's pouch of magic beans?