.
.
.
I looked beyond the pond with Emma by my side as we waited for Gideon to arrive. My foot tapped anxiously while I crossed my arms against my chest. I've heard stories of the Underworld, but never once did I think that one day I would have to go down there while I was still living and breathing. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Emma acknowledging Gideon.
"So what's the plan, again," Emma asked.
"Get to the Underworld, find Peter, give him half my heart, and get back to Storybrooke. We should be in and out," I assured the blonde.
Gideon reached into his back pocket and pulled out a vile of a red liquid, "Are we ready to go then?"
Emma pointed at the bottle with slight disturbance on her face, "Is that what I think it is?"
"My father's blood," he swirled it around as a questioned forms on my lips, "Since he went to hell and back, he knew how valuable it was, so he left some behind for a rainy day."
Gideon walked over to the pond and poured one single drop into the water. The one drop created multiple ripples as a thick layer of fog appeared across the surface of the pond. A dark, hooded figure on a boat rowed towards us. I could feel my heartbeat in my ears and my palms began to sweat. Emma stepped onto the ferry then Gideon; he lent me a hand, seeing me hesitate.
"How do we know Pan hasn't crossed over?" Emma piped up before we leave.
"Trust me," Gideon answered, "My grandfather has a lot of unfinished business."
Once we arrived to the Underworld, I was shocked to see how similar it was to Storybrooke. In fact, it might as well be another Storybrooke. The only difference was the clock tower had fallen onto the ground.
"Are you sure this is the Underworld?" I wondered aloud.
"It's a long story," Emma replied as they walked up to diner that resembled Granny's, "Last time we were here, we called it Underbrooke."
"Last time?" I questioned while I chased after them into the restaurant.
Like the rest of Underbrooke, it was an exact copy of Storybrooke. The placement of the chairs and tables were the same, it even had the old jukebox along the back wall. The only difference was the gloomy and dark atmosphere.
Emma sat at the counter and cleared her throat, catching the attention of a woman with unruly, curly blonde hair. I took note of her hazy blue eyes as she sniffed the air.
"Savior, back so soon?," she pouted, "Did you die already?"
"No, I need information," Emma asserted firmly, "Where can I find Peter Pan?"
The blind woman scrunched her eyebrows as she continued to wipe down the counter, "Peter Pan? Well, no one has seen him in years."
"He crossed over?" I finally spoke up.
She wafted her hand in my direction, getting a whiff of my scent, "The Cursed Queen of Adellia? Didn't think you would be here so soon either."
"Answer the question, witch," Gideon stepped in front of me defensively.
"I see you got your father's impatience, that's for sure," she rolled her eyes and sighed, "I never said he crossed over, no one knows where he is. We started to notice his disappearance not to long after you left last time you were in Underbrooke."
"But you can look around the pawnshop," she added, "That's where he used to work."
It was no surprise that the pawnshop looked exactly like Gideon's. The bell chime that echoed through the store's walls was also the same. A raven-haired women dressed in a black pantsuit stood at the counter while polishing a chipped china doll. Emma and Gideon tensed at the sight of her. I could tell there was some kind of history between the three. I didn't want to know.
"If only looks can kill," she said coolly once she noticed us as she ran a finger through the doll's strawberry-blonde hair, "But you've already done that, Savior, so what else could you possibly want?"
Her dark eyes landed on me as her face lit up, "Or is it who do you want?"
"Peter Pan," I answered, gaining some confidence, "Where is he?"
She shook her head as a sinister smile plastered across her face, "I hate to break it to you, dear, but unfortunately it's going to be quite a difficult task to find my husband."
"Your... your husband?" I barely spat out. My newly gained confidence immediately faded away. I knew Peter had a past life before Neverland, but I didn't think I would ever have to face it, literally.
"Of course, back then he went by Malcom, but it's obvious that you've involved yourself with his younger self or whatever persona he goes by nowadays-"
"Stops with the games, Fiona!" Emma snapped, cutting her off and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, "I'm only going to ask this once, where is Pan?"
"I asked myself the same thing when I first arrived here. It was the one thing I could look forward to," Fiona crossed her arms and leaned back on the counter, "But I soon learned that thanks to my son, he's swimming with the fishes at the bottom of the River of Lost Souls."
She pushed herself of the counter and came face to face with me, "It's a dead end, dear. You came to the Underworld for a lost cause. It's hopeless."
I shook Emma's hand of my shoulder, "I'm not leaving without him and trust me, I will find away to bring him back."
I turned towards the exit, with Emma and Gideon close behind me, but I looked back at Fiona one last time, "He might've been your husband but after you left him in pieces, I was the one who fixed him."
"But can you fix him again, Cassandra?"
I marched out of the store, my chest pounding with every step I took. I hugged my cardigan closer to my body. My knees felt weak and my fingers were numbing from my tightened my fists. I buried Fiona's last words to the back of my mind; only one question lingered in my thoughts.
"What is the River of Lost of Souls?" I asked Gideon sternly, not stopping in my tracks.
He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his trench coat, "A place of torment and despair. There's no way of getting out. If you touch the water, you're trapped in its waves for eternity; those are the rules."
"If you've forgotten, Gideon, I'm immortal," I reminded him objectively, "That technically breaks the rules of life itself, so I'm pretty sure they don't apply to me."
I began my trek to the pier with Emma and Gideon chasing after me. It shouldn't be a long walk from the pawnshop. If Underbrooke is a replica of Storybrooke, then I have a good guess of where the river is located.
"Even if that's the case, Cassandra," Gideon started to reason with me, "You'll only be able to withstand the waters for few minutes before it washes away your immortality and takes you prisoner in its current as well."
Emma turned me by the shoulders, "Think about this, Cass, is he really worth risking your life?"
I blinked rapidly, taken aback, "You might find it hard to believe because the Pan you knew did so many horrible things, but Peter saved my life countless times in ways you would never understand. So yes, he is worth it."
I pivoted out of her grasp and continued down to the pier. I kicked off my boots and shrugged off my cardigan, throwing it to the ground. As I sleeked my hair into a ponytail, I glanced down at the water below me. Tortured faces floated at the top with complete dread in their eyes. The old me would've ran away at the terrifying sight. Abruptly, I felt something quickly go in and out of my back. I turned around to see Emma with my red, beating heart in her hand.
"It's best that this doesn't touch the water," she justified with an apologetic smile and split it in half then placed in a small, leather pouch.
"Once I have Peter, and I'll bring us back up to the shore, where you'll meet us with the heart."
Gideon pulled out an ancient looking cube from his pocket, "Then once you give him your heart, you put him in this, and we're on our back to Storybrooke."
"What is that?" I pointed down at the object.
"Pandora's Box," he answered, "Just a little something I brought down from the shop, for emergency purposes. I charmed it, so you'll be able to open it."
With one last glance back at the water, I breathed out, "Let's do this."
Before I could jump in, Gideon stopped me and waved the vile in front of my face, "Since Gold was his biological son, his soul will be attracted to his blood. We could use it as bait."
He poured one drop into the river below and it caused the same rippling effect as before. When it the water's surface, shrieks and wails escaped into the air, creating goosebumps on my exposed skin.
It's now or never. I leapt off the pier and took what could possibly be my last breath of air. The minute the water hit my skin, I could feel my energy slowing draining from my body. Gideon's voice rang through my head, reminding me I only have minutes. Countless lost souls latched themselves onto my warm body, weighing me down to the bottom. My fingers thrashed at the cold water, trying to free myself from their grasp. I'm started to lose air, and I was beginning to see right through my own fingertips. My eyes threatened to close and give up. Just as I'm about to give in, I saw a figure floating near the surface where the blood had hit the water. He was limp and lifeless, but I could recognize Peter's face anywhere.
I put the last bit of my strength into my legs to kick away the souls. I swam up to loop my arms under Peter's and pulled him the rest of the way to the top. Once my head breaks the surface of the water, I desperately gasped for air and looked down at Peter's lifeless face. My focus shifted to waving arms on the beach: Emma and Gideon. Using one arm to support Peter and the other to paddle through the current, I got us onto the shore and out of the river.
I flopped down on my stomach onto the sand with Peter's motionless body next to me. I spat out the water as I tried to balance myself on my arms. Emma called out to me and tossed me the small pouch. I barely caught it and pulled out half my heart from inside. I shoved it into Peter's chest, and his eyes instantly snapped open as he intensely gasped for air. His hand flew to mine as his emerald eyes widened in shock and confusion, "Cassandra? What... how did you...?"
Gideon handed me the box, "I know you have a lot of questions, and I promise to explain later, but you're just going to have to trust me."
I waved my hand over the box, and it opened abruptly as a cloud of smoke spilled out from inside. It engulfed Peter and hauled him into the box. River water dripped from my hair, reminding me of my limited time; I needed to dry off immediately.
As if Gideon read my mind, he released a drop of Gold's blood into the air, which dispersed and created a portal back to Storybrooke. Emma draped my cardigan over my shivering shoulders and helped me get back up on my feet. I struggled to gain my balance from the lack of energy, but I made it to the portal and jumped through.