Daughter of Darkness || Once Upon a Time

Chapter Ten | Death After Death

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|The Center of the Labyrinth|
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The Apprentice had taken Merlin an Neal's idea of splitting the room in half again. Killian, his dad, and Zelena were all in one half of the room while the Apprentice watched their bickering from the other.

According to Zelena, she had been killed in Oz and while she shouldn't have died because the Underworld was sealed off, Hades had allowed her through. Hades spent the entire week they were unconscious quoting Romeo and Juliet at in Zelena in attempt to win her heart but as the week drew to a close, Zelena snapped and told Hades she had a boyfriend who was still alive. Hades got mad and sent Zelena to the center of the Labyrinth after stripping her of all her magic.

Killian and his father had done some tense catching up before Hades' spell hit, and now that Zelena was with them, they were all just arguing over petty matters.

And then the room shook, causing everyone to go silent.

"What's happening?" Killian turned the Apprentice.

"Regina found the throne room," Zelena answered absentmindedly. "Megaera's killing one of them now."

"What?" Killian spun to face the witch. "Well what happens if you die in the Underworld?"

Zelena shrugged. "If we die again, then we just reappear on the banks of the River Styx." Her tone of voice made it clear she wasn't very interested in what happened to her half-sister or Robin.

"And what about Emma and the others? They haven't died before."

"Well then it's the end of the line for them Whoever dies isn't coming back. Ever."

"So what? They just flicker out of existence?" Killian's dad asked.

"Not quite," the Apprentice spoke. "If one of the two has indeed died, that person's soul will be pulled down to Tartarus; the deepest pit in the Underworld. The chances of saving someone from Tartarus are miniscule, but it has been done once before."

Killian nodded. "Alright. So if either Regina or Robin has died, though hopefully neither has, they're just stuck in Tartarus until someone does the nearly impossible and rescues them?" To be completely honest, Killian was only asking in case Emma ended up dying in the Underworld.

The Apprentice nodded. "Yes, but don't underestimate Tartarus. If at all possible, you want to stay as far away from the pit as possible."

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|Storybrooke|
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Dorothy wasn't sure why Belle wanted to find a way to the Underworld, but she was pretty sure it wasn't to bring Zelena back to life. However, you could never be too careful.

"Why do you need to get to the Underworld?"

"I need to find Rumple. But I have no idea how he and the others got down there in the first place. I've searched his books on magic, but there's nothing about making a portal to the Underworld."

"Rumple as in Rumplestiltskin?" Dorothy didn't know why Belle would want to go to the Underworld to save the Dark One. Then again, why had she and Merida been in his shop when Dorothy first arrived in Storybrooke?

Belle nodded. "I need to find him and no one can know about this portal because they'll try to stop me."

Dorothy thought for a moment. The right thing would be to help Belle, and she was supposed to be the Witch of Innocence. Though creating a portal to the Underworld wasn't very innocent. Eventually, she gave in. "I will help you. But you have to tell me why you need to find Rumplestiltskin so badly."