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voxmortuus · 3 years

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Tonight, I Make You Mine

PAIRING: Creature!Ateez Park Seonghwa x F!Reader

UNIVERSE: Fantasy AU

WORDS: 3.4k

SUMMARY/PROMPT: It marks one year of a relationship with Seonghwa and he has a plan, a romantic plan, he wants to make you his in more than one way, he wants to show you what he is, he wants you to want him for all he was and he couldn't hide what he is to you anymore, and the way he shows you what he is, is a moment you will never forget in your life. In the end, you vow to spend the rest of your life with him.

NOTE: This is my first time writing anything like this. Please be kind to me, and I will absolutely take constructive criticism. I'm sorry if this is horrible! Also, there are links to some things such as outfits and the scent of the women's cologne and one other special surprise at the end.

IMAGE CREDIT: Google I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OF THESE IMAGES. If these are yours or you know who the creator(s) is please INBOX me and let me know. Thank you.

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REQUESTS: OPEN

You never thought it would happen, falling for Seonghwa like this, but honestly, it was easy. He cherished every moment with you, he loved you to the moon and back, and at times you questioned if he just settled. You never wanted to keep him from what would make him happy. He did well for himself. He knew what he wanted in his life, and here you were questioning Seonghwa. With a loaded breath, you sat there looking at your phone when you see the date. Today was the day, a special day he told you to get ready for. Licking your lips, you push yourself off the couch and walk to your room.

You opt for a cute dark blue daisy printed summer dress, and you put your hair up with loose curls. You decide to go with soft makeup and his favorite, Jo Malone, Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne/Perfume. A coastal aroma that will transport the wearer to the shore, with sea salt that's infused with wood sage and a bit of citrus to create a unique fragrance that you can’t quite put your finger on at times. The opening is oceanic with sea salt but is given a typical aquatic partner with the grapefruit. It is so fresh and abyssal but dries down with a bit of sweetness and light woody undertones. Let's not forget the sage, which is a part of the opening but comes into its own later. He loved that scent on you, one of his favorites, and you make sure you keep stocked on it. It was one of the many things that attracted him to you.

Looking at your phone, you let out a small breath, and you begin pacing your shoes echoed in your home against your wood floors. You were anticipating him being here, and you were nervous. Today marked one year you had been with him, and tonight was a special night. Tonight was a night that you had been waiting for. A night he had been preparing you for, for what felt like a long time. He had it all planned, and you were anxious. It was almost like you were on edge. You had no clue how to respond to most things, and this was something you didn't expect at all. You were used to life throwing you curve balls, and today was going to be no different.

You look at the time and make your way outside; you just couldn't wait any longer. You had been pacing your living room for hours. When you got out there, you got there just in time to see Seonghwa pull up, so it was good timing. Making your way down the steps, you stand there as he gets out of the car. Looking over him, you bite your lip, your hand fidgets with your dress, he wore a black suit, and he looked so handsome, so perfect. You smile as he greets you with a kiss on your cheek. Smiling sweetly, again, you kiss him back and watch as he extends his hand to open the car door.

"Thank you Seonghwa." He smirks, nodding his head, and makes his way around to get in on his side.

Your nerves are getting the better of you. Seonghwa reaches over and places his hand on your thigh; looking over, you smile at him. You couldn't take the quiet anymore. You bite your lip and look over his profile and smile, god he was handsome, and there was just something about him you can't quite put your finger on.

"Seonghwa, where are we going?" You inquire.

"It's a surprise, Love." He smirks, and you bite your lip.

"But I don't do well with surprises." You give him a hopeful look that maybe he'll tell you.

He only chuckles, shaking his head, "No love, I'm sorry."

You give a tiny pout and fidget with your skirt while his hand grips your thigh a little tighter, almost telling you to not fidget. Your hands stop fidgeting, and he lets out a small chuckle; you look over at him and tilt your head and watch him a moment. He gives a side smirk and takes a turn. You weren't paying attention to really anything around you, so when he pulled into the parking lot, you looked around, and it was empty. Looking at the building, you smiled and got excited!

"The aquarium!? I've been wanting to go for so long! I'm so excited!"

"Well, I've been paying attention, and I just felt like this was the right place, that and I've got it so it's all ours for the night."

"Seonghwa! This is so... this is... perfect." You lean over and plant a kiss on his lips.

With a chuckle, he leaned into the kiss, and you both got out of the car. Locking it behind him, he places his keys in his pocket and takes your hand. Your heart sputters a bit like it always does. Walking beside him, it was like he towered over you. Walking to the entrance, he smiled and grabbed his keys from his pocket- he held the key in his hand a moment before finding the key to the door and unlocking it. You look at him in awe; you two really were the only ones here.

Walking in, he locks the door behind him after letting you in. Looking at you, he smirks. "Where do we go first?"

"Oh, Seonghwa, I have no idea. I want to see everything."

"Ok," He chuckles, "How about you follow me." He takes your hand and leads you down one of the dark hallways.

Looking around, you enter a tunnel of water, looking above at the blue above, you smile. It was so pretty, so calming. Your hand touches the glass as you step to it, seeing a school of fish in the distance and a shark above. Your heart pounds. You look at him and grin wide. You were like a child in a candy store, and you couldn't wait to see more.

As you two walk deeper into the building, you're in awe by what you see, the colors, the vibrance of it all. Seonghwa chuckles, letting go of your hand, watching you. He slips his hands into his pants pockets and tilts his head, watching you. His heart flutters watching you, the enjoyment he got from this was something he thought he would never find. Seonghwa was always the kind to seclude himself, isolate, and turn a blind eye to the things around him, and here you were, opening his eyes to everything around him. Because of you, he has come out of his shell, and if it wasn't for you, he would never want to explore. Because of you, he explores more. But tonight was special.

Getting to the middle of the building, he looks around and smiles at you. You turn around and notice a blanket in the middle under the dome of water. He smiles and looks at you.

"Y/N, there is something I want to ask you, something I want, and need. Something I want to show you."

You nod your head looking over his face. A little nervous you let out a soft breath.

"I've found who I am with you, I've found myself with you, Y/N. If it wasn't for you, I'd likely be in my house dwelling the day. I want to spend my life with you, Y/N. I want to love you and be with you every day. If you'd have me of course." He looks over your face.

Tilting your head, you step to him and place your hand on his chest and look over his face and give a smile and you look deep into his eyes. "Of course I will, Seonghwa."

"You may second guess, I'm not like other people, Y/N." He tells you.

"So? You understand me and I understand you."

"I don't think you understand. I'm different."

"Show me." You tell him looking deep into his eyes.

He looks you deep in the eyes and licks his lip. He wraps his left arm around you tightly. He lets out a soft breath and you feel this warm, wet, sticky thing wrap around your leg, you go to look down, but with his right hand, he takes your chin and keeps your eyes on him. The way it moves around your leg, feeling it inch, crawl, the suction you look over his face, and your eyes grow wide as it wraps around your thigh, inching its way up, stopping just before it gets to your sex. You let out a soft breath, feeling one on the other leg, but he keeps his hand on your chin, and you look deep into his eyes.

"I told you, I'm not like others..."

"What are you? What is this, that? What is on me?"

"Do you trust me, Y/N?"

"Yes, more than anything Seonghwa, but tell me what is this?"

"This is me... this is what I am. Do you want more?"

Without even questioning, you nod your head and look over his face. "I love you, nothing can change that Seonghwa." you whisper.

He looks over your face and kisses you deeply as the tentacles wrap around your leg tighter and slide up your leg a little further, one begins to play with your clit while the other runs itself along your lower lips. Biting your lower lip you let out a shaky breath and rest your head against his chin. "Tonight, I make you mine." He whispered tilting your head up and kisses you deeply. You return the kiss, deepening it, gripping at his coat lapels, and moan against his lips as the suction of one of the tentacle cups your clit and works at it almost as if it is sucking on your clit, the other tentacle gets excited about your wetness and starts to toy with the entrance of your sex.

You feel another tentacle making its way between your legs. Your lips against his your hands gripping his jacket, his arm wrapped around your waist and another around your throat holding you close you now have 4 tentacles between your legs, one toying with your clit, two massaging either side of your sex, and one playing with the wet entrance. Your hips move slightly. "Please... make me yours." you whisper against his lips.

A tentacle comes up slithering up your spine up the back of your dress and he looks over your face, and strips you of your dress, laying it on the floor next to you, the blanket beneath you both, surrounded by pillows, he looks over you, licking his lips he steps back a bit, watching as the tentacle wraps around you a couple times with another to make you sturdy, one slithers up your spine to the base of your neck, you look at him, watching them protrude from him, such beauty in such an odd way, the color, the pink, the purple, the blues and yellows, something so amazing. You watch him and look over his face. You hold out your hand, while one is wrapped around you under your breasts reaches over and slowly wraps around your arms, inching to your palm and places itself in your palm. You let out a small chuckle and look back at him, nodding your head.

The two tentacles that are wrapped around you lean you back, the two that are wrapped around your legs lift you off the ground. Your breathing picks up but you being to relax. You have 2 more tentacles reaching out to wrap around your arms while the others that are wrapped around you cup your breasts and begin to flick at your nipples, wrapping around them until they are hard and begin to play with them, while the tentacle playing with your wetness enters into you. You let out a gasp as it begins to inch into you further, you feel the way it squirms inside you, feeling the suction cups rub against you causing you to shiver and moan softly. Whimpering as the tentacle against your clit becomes more rigorous in its motions.

The two massaging the sides of your sex decide to join the one inside and they twirl together and plunge into you, moving in and out stretching you and massaging against your walls, the suction cups adding extra texture. You let out a soft moan, as he watches you, his cock hardens a little more, feeling the excitement. The hardness of himself restricts in his pants. He lets out a soft groan feeling what the tentacles are feeling which only excites him even more.

As the tentacles work your sex, penetrating as far as they felt they could go, stopping at your cervix you let out a heavy moan and ball your hands into fists. The tentacles work their ways, squirming inside you in and out the suctions gripping at your wetness as you moan louder they move faster.

"Oh Seonghwa, faster, please." You beg.

As you beg your breathing grows faster and he grows harder, he removes himself from his pants, grips his cock in his hand and begins to stroke himself. He lets out a soft moan licking his lower lip taking it into his mouth biting at it a bit. You watch him and you moan louder.

"Fuck." you whimper. The tentacles work faster pumping into you harder and faster. Your breasts being squeezed by the others and the others that are wrapped around you wraps a little harder while they spread your limbs a little further. Seonghwa steps closer to you and the tentacles lay you on the blanket and rest your head on the pillows, the tentacles work your body, playing with your senses as one wraps around your neck, he kneels in front of you and two tentacles remove themselves from your sex they wrap around your legs and the one that was left inside you removes itself and starts playing with your back hole.

Biting your lip you look over him as he strokes his cock faster, hovering in front of you as he kneels, your hips rise, almost encouraging him to enter you, he tilts his head and smiles, kneeling down he looks over you and he shoves his cock deep inside you, your hips buckle your back arches and at the same time, he plunges into you the tentacle playing at your back hole shoves itself into you at the same time, penetrating you to a whole other level. You let out a loud moan of pleasure.

With a loud moan of desire escaping his lips, his lips smash against yours while the tentacles play with your breasts, the others pulsate around your limbs, the other pumping in and out of your arse, and him pumping in and out of your sex you are in a state of euphoria, you're unable to collect your thoughts, your breathing picks up and you're close to a climax but you want all of the pleasure he can offer you.

"Good god, you feel so good, Seonghwa, your cock feels perfect, you're perfect. I'm all yours. My fuck I'm all yours!" You scream.

"All. Mine." He grunts as he feels himself close to a climax. Holding you tightly with his tentacles, he has one come up and wrap around your neck, gripping you as it pulsates and squirms almost massaging your throat as both he and his tentacle pump faster into you.

Moaning, you look over his face. "Harder... Please." you beg.

As he is happy to oblige to your request, he drives his cock and tentacle harder and deeper into you. Letting out a heavy moan you arch your back into him. Dripping with your own juices he feels them gush around his cock as he slams into you, feeling how wet you are the way you massage his cock with your walls he closes his eyes and takes a nipple into his mouth as his tentacle grips your throat tighter as they pump harder into you, your breathing and moans pick up faster, judging the volume and the speed and frequency of your moans he, himself grows closer to a climax.

"I want to feel you cum... so do they." He growls against your breast. Without questioning two tentacles enter you along with his thick hard cock. You let out a loud moan feeling yourself being stretched and you grip at the blanket. The tentacles wrapped around your arms hold your arms above your head and you let out a pleasurable scream. Without a second guess, another tentacle enters your back hole along with the other and you scream again. Your body shakes and quivers in pure pleasure. "Cum for us, Y/N!" He demands.

Without even a shadow of a doubt, your body releases all of what it could, shaking. Feeling you soak him and the tentacles, he lets out a heavy groan, gripping at your hips tightly, surely leaving bruises as he releases himself inside, you, pumping further. He didn't stop, nor did the tentacles. As they worked with him, the one around your throat started to massage a bit and he kept pumping, harder, faster, wanting another. "Again." He demands. Hovering over your lips, wanting to feel your breath, your body shook and gave another climax. He pulled himself from you and reached down watching the tentacles fuck you he stroked his soaking wet dripping cock.

The faster they moved the more they squirmed inside you the more you orgasmed, the harder he stroked. When your body started to shake you were unable to think straight, he hovered over you and the tentacle that was around your throat pulled your head up and you opened your mouth and he places his cock in your mouth as you begin to take him into your mouth. He grips your hair at the top of your head and fucks your mouth. Within a few moments he explodes in your mouth, like the good girl you are, you swallow every drop of him.

Slowly the tentacles pull from you, receding back to him, hiding, you look over his face as he kneels over you putting himself away, looking down at you. You bite your lip and you move in a way to stand in front of him, you pull his head to your stomach and hold him close.

"Seonghwa, I vow to you, right here, under the fish above, I am yours, I will have all of you, forever, for always. As long as you have me."

He looks up at you, standing, he leans over, and grabs your dress, sliding it back onto you, and smiles. "Forever, for always." He reached into the pocket of his suit coat and looks over your face and smiles, he wanted to wait. You smile taking his hand, looking around heading down another tunnel and you spot some octopi and smile wide. He stops and looks at you, getting down on one knee he looks up at you.

"Y/N, you've seen all of me, you've seen what I am, felt what I am, and didn't run, you've taken me for all I am, and now, I kneel here, before you, with one question. I vow to you, to be honest, to be true, and to be yours like you have done for me. Y/N I have one question... Marry me?" He looks over your face almost in the horror of being rejected.

You hear him, and you listen to what he says, your eyes close, your throat feels heavy, you let out a soft breath and turn around, "Seonghwa, of course, I will." You wrap your arms around him and hold him close. "I would be honored."

Not saying a word he pulls from you and places the ring on your finger, a special ring with a red cognac and black diamond with a tentacle band, special for you both. Smiling you admire it a moment and hug him again. Taking his hand he looks at your legs and chuckles watching his mess drip down your legs, licking his lips he smiles.

"How about we go back to my place, and you and I take a bath... and see where the night takes us from there." He chuckles.

Eagerly nodding your head, he picks you up and carries you back to the car forgetting about the blankets and pillows in the middle figuring he'd grab them tomorrow, he makes his way to the car and you two are off to his home.

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courtorderedcake · 5 years

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Hallow : ch ii - CSSNS 2019

—–

"The Goblin King was prepared to host the Darkness, stealing Fae women away to their corrupted lands underneath the ground as concubines. The Darkness chose another in his stead, but not before this selected vessel enacted a devastating attack in its vengeance, revealing its hatred & rage. The battle was a lesson the old kings had forgotten; never underestimate an opponent.

Many more lives were lost as they razed over any who dared defy The Goblin King’s will. Only the pure love of our rulers united in matrimony, breaking the Vorpal Dagger, sealed the darkness and the Goblin menace away. The light flourished under their fair rule, and the queen bore a child as pure as moon beams, swan feathers, and starlight. They lived happily ever after, and shall be written in history as Heroes for All Time.”

This is the history Princess Emma memorizes from the day she is born, paraded about and presented only with the highest protection. The palace is a cage she wishes to escape, desperately. Not careful what wishes she made, Emma discovers history is written by the victors - The Dark One has an entirely different version of the events that took place.

Rated E for explicit themes, Mature situations, and Fae fuckery.

Written for @cssns

Read on AO3 here.

Ch 2 / ?? : in which they meet.

—–

The stairs were uneven, wet, and somewhat mossy under her slippered feet, the scramble downward unending. Under the muted light of a conjured will-o-the-wisp lantern, she stumbled down, the temperature dropping as the bowels of the cave below swallowed her in its vastness. Sometimes the wall broke free on one side, and she could see into the abyss of a chamber, casting a light as far as she could only to see it fall far out of sight without ever hitting a cave floor.

She gave up counting stairs in the upper thousands, slippers sodden as her toes bitterly complained of chill. Time passed without measure, but long after her lean legs had just begun to feel sore, Emma found herself in a dimly lit antechamber, crystal pillars giving off a dull glow at its entrance while the far end remained blanketed in shadow. She moved further into the murk, seeking more stairs, prepared like Theseus to encounter the purported monster of this labyrinth.

In the darkness, she caught a flash of her flame reflecting off leather, a hand wearing several rings twitching in the dim light.

”Hello?” she called, opening her palm to expand the blue light of the wisp. “Who’s there?”

The blue light cast an eerie glow on the iron bars built into the cave, lighting upon the sparkle of quartz embedded in the stone walls. She leaned into the dripping cell, trying to see the creature that lurked just out of her sight. Searing heat lit in her forearm as she accidentally touched the iron, hissing in pain.

”Careful, Princess,” a voice said drolly. “Wouldn’t want to burn such lovely skin.”

She threw the light high toward the chamber's ceiling for clarity, conjuring another in her hand as her eyes widened. There in the corner sat a man, dark haired and pale skinned, with sharp angles of shadow playing across a face that was clearly Fae. He looked up, shaggy hair, grown out in an older style sticking to his forehead. He was unshaven and although grime covered his cheeks, his steely blue eyes showed an alert edge that frightened her.

“Who…” Emma straightened her back and tried to hide her gulp. “Who are you?”

He laughed darkly, and flicked his hand to extinguish the wisp. It sighed as it sputtered out, and Emma frantically tried to conjure another. She peered into the darkness again, trying to find his silhouette, her light still dim from its poor summons.

He was suddenly in front of her, stepping into the light cast from her hand, smirking. He stood taller than her, his broad shoulders and muscles not hidden by an out-of-style laced shirt and leather breeches. At one time, there may have been a cravat, but now his neck was bare and dark hair glinted blue in the light with what looked like a waistcoat laying rumpled in a corner. She caught his eye and his eyebrow cocked up, the smirk on his face widening.

“I’m Killian. Killian Jones.” With another flick of his wrist he extinguished the wisp in her palm, and Emma cursed, summoning another with shaking hands as he laughed at her.

When a new blue flame danced in her hand, Emma saw him walking back to the corner where he’d originally sat. Squinting her eyes, she followed his form as he relaxed back against the wall. Through the dim light of the cell, she could see how bare it was, aside from a few books, a chamber pot, and a straw cot that looked mostly unused. The cell was smoothed, all edges almost melted away. He had nothing to end his own life with.

They were by no means fully immortal. Emma had heard tell of Fae crushed, or wounded by iron swords. The elements were never feared; being friends with the air, the sea, the earth, and even the flame meant that they had no worry of death by them. Immortality only meant they would stay in their youthful form. Even a hard press against the iron would only leave painful burns that healed before death. What had happened to him? Why was he here, rotting away in the rarely used dungeons, in this cell purposefully hidden with such care?

“How do you know who I am?” she asked, tentatively stepping closer to the bars again. “Why are you here?”

His laugh echoed off the walls, surrounding her, making her shiver as if she was chilled to ice.

“I know many, many things, Princess.” He held the ‘s’ longer, almost snake like, and she felt her chest constrict slightly. He turned over his shoulder, eyes reflecting the blue of the wisp and making them look more unearthly. “I’m here because I once tried to kill your family… and you.”

“You're… You're the Dark One?” Emma looked him over again, confusion written on her face as she chewed her lip. “That can't be right, you're my age and -”

“Simply held in a sort of stasis, darling. Immortal and cursed to serve a never-ending sentence rotting down here, while the royal family rules with an iron fist,” he hissed, sneering at her. Darkness flared behind him, shadows moving in snake-like sinews. Emma tried to remain brave, but felt herself tremble at his vitriol. His temper cooled as quickly as it had flared, almost as if he was a different person. “To what do I owe the displeasure of your visit anyway? You weren't expecting to find me, I'm guessing?”

“I…” Thinking on what even to say, Emma watched the eyes of a predator survey her, trying not to focus on the way he captured his bottom lip between his teeth or the crazy gleam in his pupils. He looked feral, and it unsettled her. Taking a deep breath, she tucked into the familiarity of decorum. “I have been tasked with partnering with you to help defeat a threat, a siege currently taking place above us.”

Killian Jones blinked twice, and then laughed.

Emma had never heard anything like it: the dangerous edge of a low growled chuckle, like the rumble of thunder as lightning lit up a darkened hollow. It was jarring, madness right in front of her eyes on display.

“Well. Aren't you a daring lass. What's in it for me, if I should help you?” he asked, and stepped forward, laying his palms on the bars and watching with depraved amusement as his flesh peeled away.

“Oh, well -”

“You didn't think I would do anything for you or your family without payment, did you, Princess?” Her cheeks reddened and he laughed maniacally.

“Honor, you'd -”

“What use do I have for bloody honor?” he interrupted, darkness flaring around them as he yelled, the sound echoing through the stone chambers.

“Gold, and jewels -”

“You think money can buy me to save the people who -”

Emma's heart raced, and she shouted over his voice. “A deal! A deal. My parents’ freedom for your own.”

Silence fell in the dungeon, the only sound the low drips of water. The Dark One looked at her incredulously, mouth agape.

“You're… You're not joking.”

Returning his own shocked whisper, Emma took a step forward. “I'm not. We have a mutual alliance in each other, because of this.”

Pulling the shard out of her dress, he gritted out a sound of longing.

“I'll take the deal. Set me free and you will have your parents’ freedom in return.” He looked at her hungrily, his eyes zeroed in on the silver chain around her neck.

“No funny business. If you don't free my parents the deal is off, alright?” Emma shot him a look, and he reached his hand through the iron bars for her to seal their accord with.

“Yes, yes. Now free me!” he breathed excitedly, and Emma shuddered.

Placing her hand in his, she shook. The bars shimmered, falling away like silver feathers that disappeared into nothingness. At first, he stood as stunned as she did, his mouth open slightly and eyes wide. Emma watched as a smile crept slowly over his face, blackness devouring everything around her, choking her like smoke, the world shifting as if she was thrown into a night sky absent of stars.

Emma landed in a graceless heap, hearing sounds of shock from around her as she picked herself up to look around. The man named Killian - or rather, the Dark One, for now she could see the Darkness in its full and horrifying glory as it swirled around him - stood slightly in front of her, his long coat, cravat, and suit clean once more. His beard was not gone but trimmed short, rakish, and his hair was left shaggy in a long style that fell over his kohl rimmed eyes. He looked mad, his smile a half snarl under blown pupils that sparked with insanity.

The Goblin King and Prince who stood before them did not seem perturbed by his crazed visage, simply happily surprised.

“I've brought your bride as a wedding gift, My Lord,” the Dark One called out like he was presenting some trinket, wrenching Emma forward. She shook her head and tried to protest, but he stared at her with amusement. Cocking his head and clicking his tongue, he spoke before she could say a word. “Don't worry, love. In exchange for a few favors, you can marry this royal annoyance today.”

“We had an accord you odious, foul, toad's ass! You promised -”

“Ah, darling.” Turning slightly, he raised a finger and touched her nose in a taunt. “That's why you always check the fine print.” The Dark One grinned, and the Goblins surrounding them laughed.

“Dark One! Good to see you again at last. What are your demands for my son's bride to be?” Gold smiled, steepling his long fingers.

“I would like the King and Queen of the United Realms freed, a pardon from the new regime, and the dagger and its shard in return for the princess. I'd also like the return and freedom of the person you took from me.”

“You ask a lot, Dark One. I say again, this is for my son's bride. I'm afraid that your help will be needed for my sovereignty. The dagger is off limits, so ask once more.” Nil shifted uneasily at his father's words while the Goblin King’s reptilian grin grew larger, as if he was laughing at a joke the Dark One had yet to catch.

“His bride… she isn't for you?” The Dark One looked apprehensive. “What happened to Mil-”

“Ah yes. Ever so perceptive, dearie.” Gold approached them, waving the dagger in his hands. “My first wife. You thought she might have escaped, yes? Thought maybe she might be in hiding? I'm afraid that while your subsequent… descent into the Darkness, as it were, did cause her some distress, we were able to come to our own arrangements after she realized that you were never to return for her. Not that she could have escaped anyway, as many times as she tried until she found herself with child. She bore me Nil, then died. I've taken another wife since, so this will be Nil’s chance at being granted a -”

Killian’s face was contorted in rage, as if Gold had smacked him. Emma could see his indignation and disbelief. She backed away and heard her mother's soft voice, finding Snow holding her father's head as he lay unconscious in her lap. He was still bleeding slightly, though much of it had been smeared from his scalp, ears, and lips; a wound on his side was wrapped tightly with strips of petticoat.

Crawling to them, Emma tried to heal them, but her magic sputtered. Snow stilled her trembling hands, her pale face swollen and bruised under her once perfectly coiffed hair. Emma had never seen her parents look so haggard.

“They've put up some sort of magic dampener. It won't work, Emma.” Snow brushed her fingers through David's hair, watching his brows furrow.

“I'm so sorry Mom, I -”

“It's alright. It's going to be okay, Emma. We will fight to get you safe, I promise.” Snow set her jaw in determination. “I'll die before -”

“No, no, Mom, no, don't say that -”

A crash sounded from the Dark One, his tone filled with incredulous hatred. “I don't believe you, I don't believe she's gone. She isn't - she isn't gone, she can't be! This is another bloody trick -”

“Trade me your loyalty and the princess for her then, if you believe your ‘twue wove’ lives. Prove your devotion.”

“The dagger, Milah, the King and Queen’s freedom, and my freedom for her, or nothing!” the Dark One screamed.

“Faaaaaather,” Nil whined. Gold looked annoyed, and sighed.

“Fine. Fine! Here's your precious Milah.” With a wave of his hand, a crystal casket appeared with a crash near the Dark One. Killian opened the frosted glass cover to look inside, his tense shoulders trembling, and let out an anguished cry as he stumbled to hold the woman's pale body inside.

While listening to the Dark One’s torment at finding his lost love dead, Emma realized that there were things she knew without having to know them; facts of how the world worked around her presence.

The earth beneath her feet spoke in a steady rhythm with her footsteps. Water would always hold her safely in its currents, softly tugging at her curls. The wind carried her like it carried songs, words, and scents to please her fancy. If she climbed high enough in one of her father's beloved trees, the sun's light was unbearably bright; but in that perfect instance of blinding warmth, she lit like a candle.

There were things she'd had to learn the hard way, even in her safe, sheltered, preciously controlled world. Once, as a child, she escaped to the old palace orchard to climb up into a peach tree, eating the ripe fruit greedily and dropping the pits below. When she'd gone to get down, sticky, her slippery fingers had lost their bearings, resulting in her falling backwards until the ground met her back harshly. She had felt the air forced from her body on impact, the whoosh of it leaving her without even a voice. It felt like her lungs had exploded, and when she finally could get breath, she wailed all at once.

Listening to Killian’s cries of agonizing pain as he stroked the woman’s face, she wondered if love was like that, too.

“So much for your faith, eh? Now accept that you have nothing, accept the fact that you can't escape. I have you, the princess, and the dagger all together, with nowhere for you to run to.” Gold giggled, giving a shrug. “So much for your demands.”

Killian pulled away finally, and Emma could see the fury rolling off his frame, his hands shaking as he pulled a necklace from the dead woman's neck. Snow shifted, laying David's head down with care before pulling Emma up slowly into a crouch.

The Goblin King was too busy laughing at his clever trick to notice Killian pressing his lips to the locket in his palm or the women’s movements. Emma braced herself in anticipation while Nil looked at her stupidly, opening his mouth to say something. Suddenly, Snow pushed Emma forward and on her feet, throwing her towards the Dark One. Emma stumbled forward, looking back at her mother's face, memorizing the bright tears in Snow’s eyes as she blew a kiss farewell.

Emma never heard Nil’s words, the thunderous noise throwing people aside all around them as Emma's steps propelled her forward with the shard. Killian had made a portal and was stepping through it when she hurtled into him, throwing them both through the swirling vortex to fall, fall, fall...

Wind whipped past her, Emma’s dress catching around her sides as the darkness above and below swallowed them. There was no up or down, only midnight and stars surrounding her until her body broke through the mirror surface of what was below, icy shadow swallowing her, pulling her -

She couldn't control the water, or the current, or the air and light; it all fought her grip like something feral as she flailed.

When she tried to breathe in, her lungs filled with burning starlight, a cold fire that left her vision blurring. This wasn’t to fall, but was to be struck down by an unseen hand of the Gods, like the old texts said had once separated Fae from Fae; taken as an old style sacrifice to protect like in the days before realms, left to burn in elemental fury…

Emma closed her eyes, and let the cold hand take hers to wherever awaited.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

It took an explosive amount of magic to rip open a portal, his rage over Milah’s fate all consuming as the Darkness fanned it in glee. He had held out hope for all these years that there must have been a mistake; had dreamed of a reunion instead of clawing at the dark heart on his shoulder, the charcoal ash color mocking him. Her name had never changed in its script, never faded, and he had traced it through the worst of doubts. Holding Milah, seeing her as a corpse with no vibrancy, seeing her son in his monstrous glory - it was a crisis of faith that weighed him down while he plummeted. Her locket was clutched tightly in his hand, gripped like a lifeline.

You knew she was dead; you knew there was no hope and that she was dead. You knew and you bargained like the fool you are, the fool you have always been. You killed her, and you know it; you knew it before this, but you do so love getting what you fight for -

It mocked him as he fell through a clear night sky and hurtled towards the lake below. In the corner of his eye, he saw a flutter of white, an unwelcome guest in his misery: the princess, dress and hair wild in the rushing wind, her skirts like the chapel paintings of angels as they swirled. He saw her hit the water below a moment before his own body crashed through the still surface, kicking hard against the current to take a breath of the chilled air. The water and night resisted his control at first, the elements unused to a master for so long. With finesse he manipulated the cold weight trying to pull him down, his movement fluid with no resistance. The princess didn’t appear or rise, and he dove back below without trouble or need for air, pulling her limp body towards the shore with ease.

For a brief moment, Killian thought she was dead. Her skin was pale and her lips were turning from pink to blue. He could take the dagger piece and be done with this, leaving her to follow the inevitable fate of anyone who crossed his path. Then again, the blasted thing was probably warded. If he squinted, he could see the slight bit of sparkling light magic shielding it. If it was shielded, the magic would probably tear him to pieces within moments.

Reaching for the chain, the Darkness and him together, the smallest voice inside of him protested adding another name to the long list of those dead. Reaching slowly to where the shard had nestled in the hollow of her collarbone, her magic crackled with electricity like intensity. Definitely some ward.

Tick tock, Dearie.

There would be time to test it later. He reluctantly pressed a few times on her chest instead, to see if there was still life. When she made no move, he tried again more forcefully, still with no success.

The Darkness bit and writhed under his skin in its impatience. Killian tried to comfort it and soothe the Darkness - the princess was worth so much more alive, she needed to be alive - but her heart barely fluttered under his prodding. The Darkness growled with agreement, but in its own way sought to continue its torment of its host.

It’s not working. You’ll have to make a decision on whether you want to do something other than those chest compressions pretty soon… We can handle pain, we can handle being ripped apart or put back together, but magic like this? If she dies the shard most likely will too. Tick tock.

Killian had to agree, even though its hateful cackle and his own derision only made his frustration grow. He pushed her wet hair aside, pinched gently on her nose, and pressed his lips against hers with a breath.

Emma sputtered almost immediately, turning her head to the side and coughing up water violently. There was a gentle sigh of relief inside his mind, so quiet he was sure he’d imagined it. The Darkness had not noticed or acknowledged it. Instead it quieted, a fact which surprised him slightly. She fluttered her eyes open, and stared up at him, sucking in deep breaths.

“What?” Emma coughed, shivering.

“We’re in the old homeland.” He pointed to the water where chunks of broken ice floated lazily. “Things have moved since I was last here. That used to be much warmer, and the river's current would immediately obey with magic.”

“Where?” she whispered incredulously. He looked at her with seething annoyance.

“The old lands. You know, the human world? Where we were before your parents decided on peace and love with a side of segregation?” His irritation seeped into his tone, and she scooted back away from him.

“You tried to use me to broker a deal, and we aren't even in the United Realms anymore? Why would you bring us here, of all places? You lying pig - Ugh! And you kissed me!” She scrubbed at her lips in disgust with the back of her hand, glaring at him. His anger came roaring back.

“I most certainly did not kiss you, I saved your royal arse! It isn’t my fault your deal was to save your parents, you vain, spoiled, presumptuous brat -”

“Take me back!” she screamed at him, throwing a fistfull of mud, rocks, and leaves from the shore as she stood. “Take me back this instant! I want no part in whatever working with you entails you bastard son of a sow -”

“I saved your bloody life! Twice now even, in the last hour!” he growled, as she continued to pelt him with whatever she could get her hands on. “You should be thanking me you stubborn -”

Emma hit him hard with what he assumed to be a tree branch, his patience now gone. When she came back to hit him again, he caught the branch, pulling her down in the slick mud of the riverbank as she protested, covering her mouth with his hand and pinning her. Her eyes were wide, silvered green in the moonlight, fear keeping her paralyzed beneath him.

“Right. Here’s your choices. Choice one: I can help you get your parents free of the Goblin scourge we both are clearly enemies with, help you navigate to allies if you have any, all in exchange for that blasted bloody shard holding my freedom around your neck." Emma squirmed slightly and he pushed harder against her, catching her leg with his own to allow no movement.

"This place’s time moves far differently than your home. What will be a week there, well, it could be years here depending on whatever magic your parents have conjured up. You don’t know a damn thing about this world, but I do. The elements here will be resistant to your magic, but I can help you tame them. Do you understand? Be a good lass, nod your head yes or no.”

Emma nodded yes under his hold.

“Good. Second choice. I leave you here, go along my merry way until the Goblins catch you - which they will - and we see each other next at your wedding day when the Goblin King gets you and that shard wrapped together in a pretty little bow. The blade becomes whole again, and I lose the ability to control the Darkness at all. Now, which would you rather choose, hm?” He let go of her mouth and Emma sneered at him.

“Get off me.” It was hissed, and he felt the Darkness stir even in its muted state inside him. Killian pushed it down, willing patience on it. Pulling himself off of her, he stood and dusted himself off.

“Your choice, m’lady?” He offered her a hand, which she refused, standing on her own even with her compromised balance.

“You’ll help me? The enemy of my enemy and all of that?”

“There’s that proper breeding and decorum I expected from a Highborn!” Killian spat sarcastically. “I’m glad you can comprehend something so simple. Yes, I’ll help you.”

"Why keep me alive? Why save me at all?" He watched her search his face for any answer. Her eyes lit when she realized his greatest weakness was the same as his price: The Dark One was controlled by the shard, and as long as Emma had possession of the piece... "You can't hurt me."

"The Vorpal blade commands me to do no harm to anyone who holds it, even in pieces. I cannot kill what controls me, for it compels me, as I call it Master. I cannot take what controls me from my Master, it must be given." Intoning the words through gritted teeth, he closed his eyes to drown out the Darkness screeching in frustration, trying to rip him apart from the inside. The Darkness salivated at the thought of bloodshed, wishing it could end her life in a single snap, images of Navy ships burning on dark water intertwined with the greasy voice of a viper.

It would be so easy, and we'd revel in the destruction. We’d sit on a black throne in a dark castle, you could have everything -

“Fine. Choice one.” Emma's voice cut through the noise, Killian’s ears ringing as the Darkness settled.

He turned from her, and nodded his head in a direction. “This way then- Ow!”

She hit him a few more times with the tree branch before chucking it aside.

“Don’t ever, and I mean ever, touch me like that again, or I will gut you like a codfish,” Emma hissed, eyes slitted. “And never in your life expect to kiss me again - that was most definitely a one time thing, buddy.” She stalked off in the direction he pointed. The Darkness swirled back to life, smoke filling his veins.

Stubborn wench deserves what we'll do. Just bide your time and hatred - we'll be free soon, free to wreak havoc and seek revenge.

Killian hummed in a half hearted agreement, surprised to feel challenged by the pluck the woman had.

The sky was dark and the starlight helped very little as she stumbled through the forest. Killian watched from behind her with a low chuckle, and the Darkness mused at how it had lost its footing so easily in its host. It wasn't of real consequence. The foolish girl had never been in this world, and even if it was completely different, there were truths that were well known.

“If it gives you that much trouble, Princess, light a guide for yourself or a palm lantern. Even a will-o-the-wisp.”

“You're not,” Emma huffed in exertion, snapping back a branch, “making much use of anything but that mouth of yours. Why don't you do it?”

Annoyance filled his lungs with the gritted breath he took. That wasn't expected. Killian wanted her tired, her magic completely expended, with no hope of fighting to keep the shard around her neck as long as he could withstand the ward's pain. The princess needed to do magic to do that, to exhaust the limited supply that this world had. He tried a different tactic: pushing her to annoyance.

“Ah, but we both know that you don't want me to use my mouth in other ways -”

“Could you not?” Emma made a disgusted noise, and summoned a blue flame in her palm. It didn't drain her as much as he needed, to his overwhelming frustration. The Darkness cursed.

“Fine. We need to get somewhere safe regardless, and you're freezing. Help me with my magic, I know a safe place.” If all went well, he could potentially leave the wench outside of town and charm someone to steal the Dagger piece for him. It would have to be outside of town though. Motioning her over to him, he positioned them facing a certain way, whispering what sounded like a transportation spell.

Emma looked at him quizzically, but approached, any wariness replaced by the small beginnings of trust. She was a foolish thing. If he could feel pity, he might have been sympathetic towards her leap of faith.

Taking her hand and putting it reluctantly in his, Killian whispered words, taking the magic he needed as smoke poured around them. She had more than he ever expected, he realized, an overflowing basin of light that swept in tendrils around their touch. It filled him with heat and warmth, thawing ice away, his body unable to stop its pull as it sent the Darkness skittering into a deep part of him. Light spilled into his veins with a power deliciously strong but somehow fluidly soft.

The ground was leaf litter and river clay, until it wasn't - At first Killian thought his calculation was off, but the swell of power as the air crackled was enough to know the truth. He had not accounted for her power. In an instant they were not just in the town, or near the house as intended. Instead, they were in a flour coated kitchen as if it hadn't changed through the whole stretch of his captivity as Emma wobbled forward from the jump.

“Bloody hell,” he whispered, and Emma held her head, unsteady and confused. Killian let go of her, noticing how delicate her wrist was, the honeyed floral smell of her magic in the air over the scent of bread, vanilla, and sugar making him sway for a moment as well. He felt alive; the view from his cell had never been enough, but now that he was here, reunited with his -

Emma's quiet voice broke into his thoughts, her swaying getting worse. “I feel so…”

“I forgot, magic here wanes. You’ll have to use it sparingly until the full moon.” Killian tried to hide his glee at her weakness, but when she stumbled and fell against him, he was shocked to feel her magic still swirling inside of her. The Darkness gave an involuntary shudder.

This is a… This is a trick, a fluke. She has only been in this realm for minutes, her power will weaken and fade soon enough.

“When, tomorrow?” Emma asked, exhaustion heavy in her tone.

Killian shook his head. “A full moon here takes time to come back.”

Emma tried to stand, this time falling back hard into his arms.

“Whoa, easy there, Princess. Easy, easy, love.” Emma felt his arms around her, a deep tiredness settling in her body. His embrace was strong on the wooden floor where they stood, and Emma felt dizzy when the smell of apple pie hit her hard on top of the room spinning.

“Killian, I… Did I…?” Her mouth was beginning to feel full of sand and straw, her tongue too big, her tiredness unrelenting. “Safe?”

He nodded, and Emma tried to focus on his face, the haze of her fatigue causing him to look younger, an imagined phantom of his brows knit in worry for her. “Yes, we're safe. You're safe,” he soothed.

The hallucination made him look like a different person, the worry on his face so clearly caring and empathetic. She reached up to touch his shoulder and felt the sharp zap of her magic meeting an angry force, like a shaken wasp’s nest, the buzz causing her to yelp.

A woman burst in, white hair in disarray under a knit sleep cap. She was wielding a baseball bat in one hand, propped on her shoulder, while the other hand crackled with icy magic. Both her magic and the bat fell away when she saw the two intruders.

“Killian! You're here, you're free, oh Killian, what has it made you do? Why… why are you here? Did you kill her?” she asked, horrified.

“Nothing Ingrid, the lass fainted from using magic,” Emma felt him shift her as she laid her head in the crook of his neck. In her delirium, she noted that he smelled wonderful under the smell of forest. “I know that you must think the worst, but I need help. We need help -”

Emma tried to listen to their blurred voices, but it was too much and she was too weak. Opening her eyes she gazed up, letting her head flop back as her muscles gave way. Killian’s expression was back with no empathy in sight, dark and impassive, the shadowed scowl the last thing she saw as she fell into unconsciousness.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

The Darkness squirmed under its vessel's skin, demanding and impatient now that the royal brat lay still in a bed under a thick quilted comforter. It was all it could do to get Ingrid to stop her incessant nagging and simpering over their arrival, to believe the tale of his freedom and the alliance the princess had forged in good faith.

Ingrid was too shrewd and calculating in her own right, and the Darkness hated her for it. She was off limits to the Darkness completely, which it hated, and with the addition of the strange magic that the princess radiated, it was difficult to maintain control.

“So you're freed, and you come here with Snow Margueryte's - Er, Queen Snow’s daughter? And you truly thought I would not ask questions or have concerns about your intentions? Killian, you have learned nothing from your exile; don't think I cannot see this Darkness controlling you.”

“If the Darkness controlled me, you would be dead, Ingrid,” its host replied simply. It was true, the Darkness mused. As long as it had inhabited this man, it was unable to exact punishment on the older woman. She was off limits, no matter how annoying.

All family, for as long as we coexist. I will never again harm them.

“How long will you be here?” Ingrid asked, and its host sighed. “Have you brought danger down upon the last remnants of your family? You were not to come without warning.”

“Time there is slowed once more. I don't know, and I cannot say for certain that we bring danger, but I suspect we do. The princess is being pursued in marriage. I had nowhere else to go, no time to give warning, and she… I need her cooperation if I'm to maintain my freedom.”

“I'm glad you're here, then. I'm glad you are safe, that both of you are. I'm not glad that buzzing maniac still inhabits you, and I stand by that. You're being watched, Killian. I won't let you hurt the girls, or this princess.” Ingrid stood, as tall and noble as she had been as a duchess. “I have to sleep to open the bakery in time, but remember your brother's words: ‘In this home, you are not what they think you are.’”

“Fine,” he whispered solemnly. Here Ingrid wasn't Fae nobility, he wasn't the Dark One, and the princess was just a woman. Liam had been just a man, sitting at the table with them and laughing over toast. The memory made him hurt, and Killian felt the Darkness push at that pain like a finger in a wound.

Emma slept soundly as Killian sat on the edge of the mattress. She barely moved except to burrow further into the quilted blankets she had wrapped around herself. Her body was so still, and his temptation was goaded by the pulsing voice that told him to take the shard, make sure it could not be taken. Silky pitch and charcoal whispers that refused to be ignored.

Killian reached the hollow of her throat, fingers gently trying to pull the blade’s tip. The shock that exploded when he gripped the steel sent him to the floor, every muscle taut, then released in burning pain. The Darkness ripped at itself, tearing at the searing sensations that clawed at it, fighting to survive the flames that erupted through its vessel. The bloody wench didn't even stir as its host fell back twitching.

The damned piece of blade was enchanted with her parent's ruddy love far too strongly. The Darkness vibrated with rage, formulating new plans and strategies. They would have to keep the brat alive, the shard now tied to her heart, the embodiment of the True Love that bound it. Spitting and cursing, it needled under the flesh of its host until he returned to consciousness with a snarl.

For now, they would wait. The shard would be theirs eventually.

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