The Orphans

Trouble

Emma woke up on the side of the street outside Granny's Diner after a nightmare. Every day for the past week, she'd been hallucinating visions of her family coming to rescue her. Maybe they weren't hallucinations, but Hades' way of punishing her for her actions. Whatever it was, she hadn't seen him since she rid him from the overworld.

She kept her head on the sidewalk, unwilling to stand up quite yet. Almost as if on cue, she heard her mother's voice calling her name. Maybe if I pretend not to hear the voices, it will go away, she thought to herself. She closed her eyes again but jumped a few seconds later when something touched her arm.

Looking up, she saw the whole gang staring at her in relief.

"Swan," Killian whispered.

Emma widened her eyes, not allowing herself to fall for another hallucination, so she pulled her legs up to her chest. She held the sides of her head with her hands and kept muttering, "It's just in my head... it's just in my head..."

Killian leaned down in front of her and made her look into his ocean blue eyes. "Love, it's really us. We've come to bring you back," he said, gesturing towards the others behind him. Emma's emerald gaze darted back and forth, not wanting to fall for the hallucination.

"No... you're just in my head," she whispered, must to the other's despair. Her voice hardened. "I won't fall for this again." Squeezing her eyes shut, she opened them after a few seconds and was relieved to see that they were gone.

Her relief didn't last long though. She started when she heard a rather familiar voice behind her.

"Hello, darling. Fancy meeting you here, isn't it?" Cruella's voice was full of smug. Turning around, she saw Cruella in the same outfit that she'd died in, a creepy grin etched on her face.

"What do you want, Cruella." Emma was not in the mood for any games.

Her voice suddenly became giddy. "I'm just here to tell you that those were your real family. Yes, I saw the whole thing," she said.

"Stop trying to play mind games with me. It's not going to work anymore. If Hades really wants to torture me, he needs to come up with a new method because I won't fall for that again." Even as she spoke, a prick of doubt pierced her. What if that really was them?

Cruella's smugness grew even more. "Oh I know, darling. In fact, I just had a nice chat with Hades." Emma sat bolt upright. "He told me that it's time for you to be further punished. I've been waiting a long time for this, Savior."

Emma didn't even get the chance to open her mouth before everything went black.

-

Killian was surprised when they all suddenly appeared back at the lake, He stared at the others in surprise, whose eyes held the same confusion that he felt. Why had Emma thought they were figments of her imagination?

"Worry not, my friends, for I hold all of your answers," he heard a gruff voice behind him say. He didn't even need to turn around to know whose voice it belonged to.

"What did you do to her, Hades," he demanded as he turned around to see the grey skinned creature again.

"I have done nothing. I've merely helped to break her. As I said, she would be punished for stopping me."

"Let me make a deal," Killian pleaded. "I want her back and you can have-"

"NO," roared the demon. "You will not get your lover back." He suddenly smiled. "But... I can give you this." With a snap of his finger, a mirror appeared behind Hades. "In this mirror, you can see her at any time. In fact, let's takes a look to see what's she's doing right now."