I'm diving into that deep
And I'm not scared
I'm not scared
And I'm in way over my head
And I'm not scared
I'm not scared
No...
-Deep End by Daughtry
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HOOK AND I WALKED through many hallways. Our footsteps were echoing off the stone walls. The Underworld sometimes reminded me of a maze, seeing as it's much bigger than many would suspect and a lot more complex. You had to know where you were going or you'd get terribly lost. The hallways could sometimes make you feel small as well, the ceilings were high enough for Cerberus to walk through, though probably not wide enough.
I glanced at Hook, who seemed to be deep in thought. I had noticed how Hook had opened his mouth to speak more than once, only to close it soon after. He wanted to say something but didn't know how and it was getting on my nerves.
"If you want to say something just come right out and say it," I told him without looking at him. My gaze was stoically fixed right in front of me while his eyes were now fixed on my face.
"You and your father," He started but instead of continuing his sentence, he remained silent after that.
"Yeah?" I prompted, encouraging him to finish his sentence.
"Are you always like that?" He asked after a moment. Now it was my turn to stay quiet for a short moment before answering.
"He's always acted that way towards me, yes. But it's only since recently that I started acting this way towards him. I never imagined ever banishing him out of the Underworld, though." I answered. I wasn't sure why I didn't just tell him it was none of his business and to sod off. Maybe I actually wanted to talk about it and he just gave the perfect excuse to do so without me having to bring it up myself. That must've been it.
"How did you act before then?" He sounded genuine in his question. It almost sounded like he cared. I had to stop myself from frowning at this.
"I let him manipulate me. I let him do a lot of things I'd rather not talk about."
"You let him?" He asked in disbelief as he stopped walking. I stopped walking as well and turned to him. I nodded my head. He looked in thought for a moment before he made eye contact again. "In that case, I'm glad you don't anymore." He told me and actually gave me a small smile as well.
I looked at him confused and my confusion only grew when I noticed the weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't help it and gave a small smile back. His eyes bore into mine and our hands brushed each other. I looked down at our hands and realized how close we were. I looked back up at him and he seemed to be pondering over something.
"What made you change?" He finally asked as he made eye contact again. Taken back by his question I blinked. I couldn't look away from his eyes that seemed to genuinely want to know the answer.
"I guess going to Auradon changed me. Also becoming the ruler of the Underworld helped. I think it's a lot of things together that changed me." I replied, not breaking eye contact. I slowly started walking again as an excuse to finally look away from him. He fell into step next to me.
"We're all still growing up, I guess." He agreed. I nodded my head.
"Yeah." I smiled. "I think that's it most of all." I turned my head in his direction at the same time as he turned to me. We shared a smile and turned the last corner to the left. It was strange, not insulting Hook but instead having a normal, even meaningful, conversation with him. I liked it, even though I knew I shouldn't. I despised Hook, didn't I? I shook the thought off and focussed on where we were going again.
At the end of the hallway was a door. The door was huge and came close to the high ceiling. It was made of wood that seemed like it had endured hell, attached to the door was a big rusted metal door knocker that was shaped like a demon with flames engraved on the handle.
I started walking towards it but Hook didn't follow. I turned around and saw him still staring at the door. He felt my gaze and looked at me. He pointed at the door.
"We're going through there?" He questioned in disbelief. I nodded with a raised eyebrow in response at his dumb question. He seemed to ask those a lot. "And how do you suppose we open it?" He asked as he craned his neck to see the top of the door and then looked back to me. I just smiled mischievously before turning around and approaching the door. Hook hesitantly followed. I created a big hand out of grey smoke and it pulled the door open easily. I looked back at Hook with a grin and his jaw fell to the floor. I shook my head with a smile and walked into the room.
"You might want to close your mouth or you'll catch flies. You never know where they've been if they're from the Underworld." I called over my shoulder. Hook followed and pointed at the door, having no clue how to close it. I simply waved my hand and the door closed with a loud bang. Hook flinched at the sound.
"Where are we?" Hook wondered as he wandered around the room, observing it.
"This is the meeting room for when I have to meet up with the Fates," I explained.
"Okay," Hook dragged, "but what are we doing here?"
"See that mirror. It's actually a gateway to the other two kingdoms. Poseidon's and Zeus' Kingdom's to be exact. The brothers wanted an easy way to reach each other in case of an emergency. That was before all the family drama, of course. We're going to open up the gateway using the key to the Underworld in order to get the cup. This one's blocked though. No living thing can go through it. That way my father couldn't escape. Luckily, only the cup with have to go through. "
"And how are you going to open it up at the exact place the cup is?"
"By using that thing in your head called a brain. I know that must be hard for you, but bear with me here." I smiled sweetly. Hook rolled his eyes. "Now, if you were the ruler of the sea with the most precious of riches in your possession, where would you keep it? With your other treasures, right?"
"So, the treasure room?"
"No, I was thinking more of the garbage room, actually," I said, my voice dripping sarcasm.
"No, that's where you belong, darling." Hook retorted.
"Is that why you were checking me out back on the ship?" I shot back with an innocent smile.
"I wasn't checking you out. I had to keep an eye on you for Uma."
"Uh-huh. That's why you were staring at either my ass or my chest." He rolled his eyes and we both turned back to the mirror. He rested his chin on my shoulder.
"So, what's the plan, little Ms Smart-Ass?" He taunted. I elbowed him in the stomach and he grunted.
"We're going to get the cup to go through the gateway, which I will open right in the middle of the treasure room."
"But if we can't go through it, how will you get the Cup through it?"
"Well, a lesser-known fact about my father and I is that we aren't just the Gods of the Dead, but also of riches. We can control these riches like metals and precious stones, which happened to be exactly what the cup is made of."
"Nasty." Hook grinned.
"I know right?" I smirked. "Now, here's the tricky bit. Controlling riches isn't exactly my speciality and doing so from the other end of a gateway that encompasses such a great distance is going to be extremely difficult. It's going to take a lot of energy and concentration." I explained. Hook nodded, signalling that he was following me. I sighed in reluctance at the words that I spoke next, "That's why I need your help."
"With what?"
"I need you to catch me if I fall and keep me upright until we get that cup through the gateway. I can't lose my focus on it, so you'll have to keep me from collapsing and losing my link with the cup."
"Okay."
"Okay? 'Cause I'm gonna put my trust in you right now, even if it's just a little bit." Hook locked eyes with me and nodded.
"I won't let you down." He promised. I looked deep into his eyes to see if he was lying. He wasn't.
I nodded and turned to the mirror. I took a shaky breath and used the key to open the gateway, focusing on the treasure room in Triton's kingdom. A keyhole formed in the mirror and twisting it, the mirror seemingly melted away, leaving the view of the treasure room in its place. Part one succeeded. Now time for the tricky part.
I spotted the cup quickly. Even in a treasure room, it stood out with its many embedded stones and its shiny golden metal. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. I felt Hook place a hand on my shoulder and give it a small squeeze. I opened my eyes and looked at the Cup with determination. I held out my hand to it and slowly my mind got a grip on it. I wrapped my mind around it with difficulty.
I lifted my hand slightly and the Cup slowly followed. I felt my energy drain already so I steadily but slowly moved it to the gateway. It left its pedestal, but I hadn't anticipated how heavy it would be. It nearly dropped to the ground but I got a hold of it right before it could clatter to the ground and alert the guards that were undoubtedly right on the other side of the door.
I felt my knees shaking as I moved the cup closer and closer towards the gateway. It was only three feet away when my breathing became laboured. Only two feet when my ears started ringing at the strain of my body. A mere foot when my vision started becoming blurry. It was only a few inches away when I threatened to collapse but Hook kept me upright like promised.
Then finally, it came through the gateway and I allowed myself to let go. My knees gave out completely and I let myself relax. Hook caught me before I could come even close to reaching the ground.
"I've got you. I've got you." He reassured as he sat me down on the ground with my back against the mirror that had now returned to its normal reflection of us. He carefully moved the hair, that was stuck against my sweaty forehead, out of my face with his hook and looked me over. I gave him a weak smile as I felt my energy slowly return. "You okay?" He asked with worry. I nodded.
"You didn't let me fall." I smiled. He smiled at me and put his hand on my cheek. That feeling in my stomach returned again.
"I told I wouldn't, didn't I?" Our eyes locked as I nodded slightly. Our noses almost touched and his eyes flickered to my lips. I don't know what came over me but I closed the gap between us and we kissed.
Outfit