EVENT: MELPOMENE ▒ HOME

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Ensemble production!
LOCATION: Corridors in the belly of the Tranquility
WARNINGS: Creepiness, disturbing imagery, violence, etc.
SUMMARY: Characters discover slices of sanctuary deep in the maze.
NOTES: Open to all! Covers Stage Four of the plot & Escape.

You've been running and fighting for what feels like weeks now. Exhausted and desperate, you find another door, stumbling through into— You're home, finally, far away and safe from monsters or spaceships. You're not alone, someone here who's been waiting for you, and they're so happy to see you. Relief overcomes you; you just want to rest, and there's no reason to believe anything here isn't what it seems, is there?

Comments

[unmothered]

[Regina, for her part, doesn't really care who the woman is or what she might mean to Hook. She doesn't... really care about Hook either, especially not right now when she's just had her son torn away again. Yes, he wasn't real. But it still felt like losing him.]

It's not anyone. None of them are. This is ridiculous.

[gilding]

[The look Gold turns on Emma is absolutely venomous, and his tone conveys much the same.]

If you must know, yes.

[Not that she really has any right to the information, no matter how much she thinks she might. It was bad enough to have it dragged up and dropped in front of them like some macabre little display of domestic pirating life, he did not need Emma Swan prying into his past. Again.

He shrugs her hand off, sharply.]

But as much as we're being pushed to it, I don't think this is a good time for a trip down memory lane. [No time ever is. There's nothing good to be found down that particular road, not for Gold. He turns to point at the wall, still refusing to look back at Hook or the facsimile of Milah.] There's a way out here, somewhere.

[uncurse]

Not without him.

[ No second thought occurs to her on the subject. It bursts forth suddenly, stubbornly, and she works to aggressively not regret it or allow it to fluster her once it’s out. This is a matter of leaving someone behind in the bowels of the ship, not — whatever else. He was her teammate, and she was not leaving someone behind.

Gold can find the exit. Emma’s finding Hook.

Her gaze burns into the pirate because she can’t help but feel like that isn’t the one she knows at all, and she’s not certain he’s in there right now. She has no recollection of the moments before Regina and Gold woke her, so certainly he must be elsewhere mentally.

Lingering for only a second longer, she begins to pace out towards the other end of the cabin, where Hook and the beautiful spectre of his lost love sit at his desk. ]

Hook! [ One short, demanding bark. She raises a hand to reach in his direction, but drops it before it can ever truly be considered a reach. ] Come on, we’re leaving.

invites self in

[capsize]

[ Hook, predictably, doesn't respond. There is a change— the humming comes to a gentle stop, and the woman goes still for a moment before turning to face Emma. Pale eyes settle on her for a beat, then Regina. They settle on Gold.

She stands up slowly, hand taking an easy grip on the sword at her hip as she steps around the desk. It puts her securely between Emma and Hook, though Milah doesn't seem entirely troubled by her presence. Her lips spread in a smile, but there's no mirth in it. It's sharp and cold, same as her voice when she finally speaks. ]

Rumple. [ She says it gently, a mockery of affection. ] Forever the coward, running away from a fight. I wish I'd seen it the day I met you— it would have saved me so much anguish.

[unmothered]

[Regina laughs.] Really, dear. That's the best you can do? [She's seen Gold sacrifice his life to save them all. She doesn't particularly want to jump to defend him, but coward isn't the first word that comes to mind. She turns towards Gold.]

I don't particularly care who this woman is, but we do have to get out of here. Is this going to be a problem?

[Because she has the fireballs ready if it will.]

[gilding]

[Gold's reaction to the sound of Milah's voice is immediate, a tension that strings through the lines of his body like a wire crackling. He's frozen in it, for a moment, a sharp pressure on a wound that had never truly healed - and pain only makes him angry, draws his rage up like a flame set to dry tinder.

What he might have done would have likely been messy, violent. Show this fake that spoke in a dead woman's voice that there was no fight here, not against him. There was just defeat. Death. Again.

And then Regina laughs.

He turns his head slightly, enough to look back at her, confusion pinching his brow into a frown, surprised both by the interruption and the nature of it. It redirects his attention, takes some of the sting out of Milah's words, the heat out of his anger. She wasn't real. There was no problem.]

You'd have a better time directing that question to Miss Swan.

[She was the one insisting on going after the pirate.]

[uncurse]

[ Gold’s prompting wrenches an uncomfortable tightness into her chest. How can the woman that Rumpelstiltskin killed be calling him a coward? She can remember, painfully, Gold's memory of the moment. Of Milah crumbling to the deck, of Gold crushing her heart in his hand. Those hardly seemed like the actions of a coward. ]

[ Better question: why was Emma giving any credence to the rantings of a shade? ]

[ While Milah strategically placed herself between Emma and Hook, Emma isn’t opposed to going through her to get there. ]

Hook, this isn't real. She’s dead.

[ Apparently, he needs the reminder. Emma pushes forward, reaching one arm out to try and push Milah off while her other hand stretches forward to try and grab at the edge of Hook’s coat, straining for a grip on the leather to pull him by. ]

[ The oil lamp on the desk trembles from an otherwise hard to register quake. Just like what had happened in the room they’d found her in, this one was going to fall apart. They needed to go. Desperation colors her tone as her voice raises. ]

We need to get out of here! So, you can either die here with the ghost of your ex-girlfriend, or you can come with us.

[ But he’d better get to snapping the fuck out of it. The choice laid out like that makes Emma’s stomach twist, and she can’t hide the evident concern in her expression, the look that undeniably presumes to know exactly what his choice will be. The same one everyone else has made. Anything but Emma. ]

ok last-ish milah tag?? SET HER ON FIRE do what you will

[capsize]

[ The reminder doesn't accomplish much. It isn't until Emma goes to push past Milah that things start to shift, and quickly— the subtle quake, Milah's eyes abruptly snapping away from Gold and locking onto Emma. The metallic ring of a sword being drawn follows, but it's a second too late.

When Emma gets hold of Hook's coat, the pressure's enough to drag him off balance. The response is instinctive, and the desk rattles slightly as he abruptly grabs onto it to catch himself; despite the quick movement, his mind's a bit slower catching up.

The details filter in slowly. The warm light, the dark wood. His gaze is still unfocused when it settles on Emma, but then it sharpens quickly, brow furrowing as he studies her features.

Or tries to, in any case. They aren't right. The distortion's subtle enough to leave an uncanny familiarity, far worse than a blank slate. Fear isn't an expression he wears often; even now, it manages to translate into a fierce disgust. There's a flicker of hatred in his expression before Milah steps between them again, roughly, one hand finding Emma's shoulder and pushing her back hard so that she can raise her sword between them. ] Stay back.

[unmothered]

Oh, good. Swords. [She smiles, the expression far too twisted to show any real happiness. Regina doesn't really do real happiness. She glances over at Emma.]

Step back.

[She raises her hands, heedless of if Emma listens or not, and shoves a big blast of magic at Milah, knocking her back a whole lot harder than she'd knocked Emma back. Then she steps forward, conjuring up a fireball.]

You two deal with the delusional pirate. I've been itching to set someone on fire since I came here.

[gilding]

[It's all abruptly more movement than they'd had since they entered the cabin, and the space is barely large enough for it. It's not possible to just continue ignoring the matter, even if Gold is still reluctant to follow any direction on dealing with Hook. Instead, he finds himself drawn into staring at the spectacle of Regina throwing the facsimile of Milah into the far wall, some kind of macabre fascination in seeing two quarters of his life warring. Of seeing someone else responsible for harm to a woman he'd killed.

The crash of broken glass cuts through, pulling his gaze away, the force Regina had thrown out hitting some of the windows as well as Milah, shattering the panes and letting fresh sea-air into the cabin. Unless Hook has some secret door hidden in the wood panels, it's the first thing that's looked like a way out since they arrived. Gold moves, finally, to Emma's side, gesturing towards the windows with the handle of his cane.]

Our exit, I believe.

[Then he looks at Hook with an expression somewhere between distaste and begrudging acceptance, realising he may actually be willing to assist in hauling the damn pirate up and out, if it would speed things up.]

[uncurse]

[ The look in his eyes crawls under her skin, making her sick. It’s not quite a lack of recognition—no, that would be better. That simmering hatred is the real blow, not Milah’s shove or the sword. Emma raises her hand instinctively to bat Milah’s hand away as she staggers back, but it’s Regina’s commentary that jerks Emma out of her distracted state. ]

[ Watching Milah get knocked out of the way is startling, but welcome. The end of that sword wasn’t something she was looking forward to without one of her own, and she doubted shooting Milah would make Hook any more amiable to them. Turning to Gold, she nods. ]

[ Sure. Climbing out the window of a pirate ship. Why not? ]

[ Surging forward, she opts to disregard any discomfort in Hook’s expression and reaches out to grab him by the arm. ]

I might have lied about the part where you have a choice.

italics are milah until she's toast

[capsize]

[ Hook's still struggling to make sense of Emma's voice when the violence of Regina's attack cleanly interrupts his focus. Awareness snaps into clarity, though it's hard to say whether that's an improvement. Emma and Regina shouldn't be here, not on the ship. The sight of Rumplestilskin may be deeply unwelcome, but at least it's not entirely foreign to the landscape.

In the end, it doesn't really matter whether or not the details make any sense. The only thing that truly matters is the attack on Milah, and the response to that is instinctive. The seat is knocked back roughly as he stands, and there's no effort to fend off Emma's attempt to grab his arm. Despite the disorientation, she's not a threat— not compared to the others. He draws his gun instead of bothering to push her away, taking steady aim at Regina.

Milah's regaining her footing in the meantime, one hand braced against the wall as she recovers her composure and casts a vicious look back towards Regina. She holds her ground, and after a tense moment her gaze skips to Hook. ] Shoot her!

[unmothered]

[Regina's head whips around, eyes widening when she sees the gun.] Emma... do something! [She hurls the fireball at Milah, flames splashing out against the wood of the ship, which catches fire along with Milah. Possibly, fire should not have been her first weapon to go to, but that doesn't stop her. Regina prepares another fireball, backing away towards the window.]

[gilding]

[Not distracted by attempting to manhandle Hook or even the flaming figure of his past wife, it's Gold that reacts first to the drawn gun. A clutching force grabs and then yanks the offending weapon roughly out of Hook's hand, sending it flying across the room, no care paid as to where it lands.]

I wouldn't advise giving me a reason to remove your other hand.

[Possibly too close a reminder with the situation they're in, but Gold doesn't really linger for a reaction before he's moving to help Emma with hauling the pirate bodily to the window.]

[uncurse]

[ Were the situation even slightly less dire, Emma might linger on that. As it stands, she grabs Hook's emptied hand and twists it behind his back to shove him towards the window. He can gripe at her for kidnapping him from whatever hell they've walked themselves into later, when he's himself. For now, she just wants to get them all out. Safely. ]

i'm glad my laptop was premature on a thread ur all tracking

[capsize]

No— [ Hook's voice, sharp and likely more panicked than anyone other than Gold's ever heard it. The sight of the flames hitting Milah is enough of a distraction that he doesn't even come close to firing the gun before it's wrenched from his hand, and he doesn't get another word in before he's being roughly dragged towards the windows.

He's not cooperating. Far from it, but the truth is he's in a bit too much shock to put up a valid fight, eyes locked on the flames that are quickly licking their way over the rest of the cabin. It isn't until they're nearly at the window that he finally makes a real effort, yanking at their grip before grabbing hold of Gold's shoulder, focus shifting to him. ]

We can't leave her! [ He watched Rumplestiltskin kill her. This time it's different, wrong, and he's disoriented enough that this is the one commonality he's got to stand on— the others know nothing about her, don't seem to care whether she's left behind, but Rumplestiltskin loved her, once.

There's more to it, of course. As much as it might seem like pleading, there's a hardness to it, an accusation; if killing her had been the mark of a coward, so was leaving her to die. ]

[unmothered]

She's not real, you idiot. [Regina's voice isn't quite as sharp as it could be. She knows how real it feels. The woman means nothing to her, but Hook's pain is the same she felt just a little while ago. Like dying along with the shade would have been better than finding out the truth.

She puts her hand on his back and pushes him down towards the window. Why exactly did they have to rescue him again?]

[gilding]

[Regina's right, of course - right in all of it, snapping at the pirate and continuing to push him towards the window. But Gold's still struck by it for a moment, the look in Hook's eyes and the tone in his words, the fact he'd reached for him at all on the matter when he knew full well that Milah's real death had been at Gold's hands.

For a moment he's the last left stood in the cabin, looking back at the flaming figure of the Milah replica as it burns, flames spreading through the rest of the place. There's no temper fuelling him this time, none of it his doing, Milah's goading not striking as deep as it had the first time, already dismissed by Regina. All that's left is something removed, perhaps the closest he's allowed himself to get to regret since crushing her heart to dust. Hundreds of years, and he almost feels like they'd just been children, selfish and naive, building mistakes upon mistakes with no idea of how wrong things could truly go.

It's only a moment. Then he's turning his back on it all, climbing through the window before the flames can get any closer.]