Finding Pan | OUAT Fan-fiction

49: The Tale of a Pirate and King

Arthur entered what appeared to be a diner and came up to the counter where a friendly looking little boy sat. 

"Excuse me," Arthur asked, "Can you tell me where I am exactly?"

"He stopped talking centuries ago. Coffee?" The behind the counter offered him.

"No," Arthur frowned, holding in his anger, "I don't want coffee. I wanna know what this place is."

The lady wasn't the one who answered him though.

"Well, I think that's quite obvious, Your Majesty."

Arthur's eyes froze for a second at the sight of the pirate whom he encountered in Camelot. Without warning, he grabbed the knife and held it to Hook's neck. 

"You got lucky last time we met. Now, you tell me where I am, or I run you through," Arthur threatened.

"Well, you can't kill a dead man, I'm afraid," The pirate grinned, "Well, you're having a hard time accepting it, but you know where you are."

Arthur lowered the knife as Hook's words sank in. No, Arthur refused to believe the truth behind this reality. 

"No," The former King said, "No, but I had so much left to do."

"That makes two of us," Hook stated, "I promised someone that I would move on from this place, but I still bloody can't. So I need to know what the hell is going on up in Storybrooke."

Hook took a step towards him and Arthur stumbled back wide eyed. This had to be a terrible nightmare. He really wasn't dead. This had to be the work of some other enemy at play. 

"Who killed you?" Hook demanded to know.

"No! No, No!" Arthur lashed out.

"Denial, anger, grief," Hook mused, "Can we just get to acceptance? Who killed you?"

"He said his name was Hades," Arthur finally answered him. 

The pirate was silent, "Did you see Emma and the others? Have they any idea how to stop him?"

"Haven't you learned anything?" The blonde lady asked Hook, "Hades never reveals his weakness."

"You know what," Hook asked her, "You're right."

He lowered his finger, "Hades protected his secrets well, But now... He's not here. So Your Majesty, how would you like to go on another quest?"

Arthur responded with a disgruntled laugh, "With you? Not a chance."

"Have you got any idea why you're down here, mate?" The pirate probed him, "And not up in some blissful afterlife or fiery hell? It's because you were a terrible king with loads of unfinished business. And when you leave here, you're either going to the better place, or a far, far worse place."

Arthur held his breath and glanced at the diner briefly. To think there was a worse place than this wretched land had fear course through him. 

"I think I prefer the first option," Arthur confessed. 

"Oh, then you're gonna need a seriously good deed, you know, to make up for the bad ones," Hook told him. 

"If I say yes, what exactly are we questing for?"

"The answer to defeating Hades," Hook answered him, "You can call it my holy Grail."

This caught Arthur's attention. What Hook was searching for was indeed worthy of such a quest. 

The two men descended down into Hades' lair and Arthur followed the pirate.

"If there's a way to defeat Hades," Hook stated, "The answer will have to be in here."