《Artemis || OUAT》76. Labor of Love
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Astrid was unconscious on her side, bloodied and beaten as well as wearing two magical cuffs on each of her wrists to prevent her from using her magic.
She suddenly woke up with a sharp gasp and sat up on one knee, glancing out into the hall from behind the wall. "Is this a bloody trick!?"
The girl began to limp forward one step until she heard someone say, "Stop. That's exactly what it is-- A trick."
She noticed a brown haired girl wrapped in a blanket as the mystery girl sat on the step a few feet from her. "Don't move. He wants you to think you can escape, but... you can't. No one can.
"Aye." Astrid muttered, "We'll see about that." She moved an arm around her rips as they felt cracked and then continued to step forward.
"Don't!" The brunette started, "He'll hunt you down."
"Hades has already done his worst to me." Astrid grunted.
"I don't mean Hades," The brunette shook her head.
"Who, then?"
The said brunette trembled in fear before she began, "No. Just don't."
"Look, this isn't my first cell." Astrid commented, "I don't just sit around and rot. Now, somebody's come down here to save me, and I need to make his job easier." She sniffed somewhat.
The brunette looked over at the blonde finally and asked in confusion, "How do you know he's here?"
"He got me a message."
"How do you know that it wasn't one of Hades' tricks?"
Astrid let out, her blue eyes watery, "Because I know! When you love someone, you know. Now, what's keeping us in here?"
"Something you don't want to face," The brown haired girl tearfully murmured.
"Well, I'll be the judge of that." Astrid remarked and stepped off of the last step and moved over to the girl, "Time to go."
"Are you mad?"
"Perhaps," Astrid commented and held her hand out to her, "But I'm the best chance you have." The brunette reluctantly took her hand and was lifted up to her feet. "Are you ready?" The brunette nodded quickly. "All right, go. Go!"
The two of them took off running down the hall then as they heard Cerberus roaring loudly as the brown haired girl gasped, "I told you we'd never make it."
"We won't... but you will." Astrid stopped her as the two faced one another. "I'll draw the hell beasts away. You run. And once you're free, find Peter Pan. I'm Astrid Jones, Killian Jones- Captain Hook's- daughter. Tell them to find me. Go!"
The brown haired girl nodded quickly, "Okay." She then ran down the hall while Astrid faced where the roaring was coming from and noticed six pairs of red eyes.
Astrid stepped back and let out to herself, "I'm not afraid."
***
Hook moved over to Regina who was now searching for Astrid in the woods with Peter and Emma; Robin and Henry had went to the the Mayor's office to look for maps.
"You guys find anything?" The pirate began as Regina shook her head and sighed, saying, "No. Nothing. You?"
Hook shook his head then and replied, "David and Snow went to the cemetery to find anything pertaining to clues but no luck yet." He abruptly noticed some fresh blood on a nearby leaf. "Hey! Look! Blood."
Emma, Peter, and Regina crowded around to look at the fresh blood as Emma spoke up, "There's a trail of it. It's not dry yet. It's fresh. Astrid."
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"Astrid!" The four of them began to call for the girl while running more into the woods. "Astrid!"
Peter started to follow the trail but stopped at a nearby tree, noticing a figure leaned against it; The brunette shook her head at him, saying, "Not Astrid, but I know her."
Hook asked first towards her as he helped her to her feet, "Who are you? Where's Astrid?"
Suddenly, they heard a loud roaring in the near distance as Emma looked around in confusion, questioning first, "What the hell was that?"
The brunette's eyes widened as she let out, "We have to get out of here."
"What was that?" Regina repeated Emma towards the girl who started to panic, saying, "It's coming. Hide me. We have to go... Now!"
Peter made the five of them disappear in a cloud of green smoke and then appeared in the Blanchard apartment.
Regina looked around the home in slight annoyance and remarked, "Your wife's parents' apartment? Really?"
"It's the first place I thought Astrid would be, so I came here and checked it out." Peter shrugged, helping the girl sit down, "Here. Lie down."
"What if whoever- or whatever- lives here, you know, comes home?" Emma began.
Peter picked up a photo and showed them, saying, "I doubt it." It was a photo of David and Snow. "I don't think we have to worry about that."
Zephyr walked down the stairs and then ran over to them, moving over to his Grandpa Hook who fondly smiled down at the boy.
"So this place is just waiting for them to die so they can move in?" Regina began in confusion yet disbelief.
"Creepy, but that seems to be the case. I think we're safe here." Emma spoke up.
"It's officially a cold day in Hell when I move in with the Charmings." Regina remarked.
Emma sat down next to the girl and began, "What's your name? Are you okay?"
The girl nodded, still shaken up a bit, saying, "Meg. I will be."
Simultaneously, both Peter and Hook asked in concern, folding their arms across their chests, "And Astrid?"
Meg shook her head slowly and stammered slightly, "I... I don't know."
"Where is she?" Peter questioned.
"In an underground prison. I escaped through tunnels with the help of Astrid. They let out in a cave somewhere in the woods, and..." Meg admitted, "Next thing I knew, you found me."
"Where is the cave? Could you find it?" Emma hopefully asked her.
"Yes." Meg nodded, "But it's being guarded by something... terrible."
Hook furrowed his brow and asked, "What's guarding the cave?"
Meg breathed out shakily, "It... It has three heads. Its teeth can crush your bones with a single bite. And those eyes... They burn right through your soul as it finishes you off. Nothing can defeat this monster."
Snow suddenly spoke up next to David as the two had entered the apartment, "That's not true. I know exactly what this beast is... and how we can defeat it."
"It's a hellhound. Sounds like Cerberus." Peter sighed as Snow nodded in agreement with him.
Meg looked over at Peter and began, "Are you... Peter Pan? Astrid spoke of you." She glanced over at Hook and added, "And you must be Killian- Hook- her father. She also mentioned you."
"Aye," Hook nodded, adding, "That's exactly who we are."
"And you know, I never fail. We will defeat that beast and get Astrid back." Peter also assured just as his five year old moved over to him and hugged the back of his leg.
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***
Astrid was shoved onto the floor, her wrists bound by magical shackles, as Hades stood over her, saying, "Oh, this is going to be quite an exciting day."
Astrid groaned and looked up at the man and remarked confidently, "Oh, it will be... when I kill you."
Hades laughed, "Why does everyone say that? You can't kill me. I'm Hades. This-- This is death."
"Well, then, I'll find whatever's worse and do it to you," Astrid spat towards him, hatred in her blue eyes for the man.
Hades smirked and knelt in front of the blonde and replied, "Oh, I see you've-- You met my pet." He lifted the collar of her leather jacket down some to reveal a deep gash on her collarbone. "You're about to realize his master is not nearly as friendly."
Astrid simply glared at him, showing no fear towards the man at all.
***
Emma, Regina, Peter, Snow, and Hercules entered inside of tunnel as Emma spoke up, "This is the tunnel she said she came out of. Astrid's in here somewhere."
"All right, wonder boy, are you sure you can do this?" Regina questioned towards the former demi god.
"Regina!" Snow scolded her before she placed a reassuring hand on Hercule's arm and added, "I know you can do this."
"We'll find your daughter. Don't worry." Hercules also assured his old friend who smiled and nodded. "Wait for me here."
As the group waited for a near five minutes, they suddenly heard a loud snarling as Snow yelled out, "Herc!"
"Come on," Emma started and the four of them began to rush where Hercules was until the former demi god ran over to them, making Emma's eyes wide as she let out, "Whoa."
Everyone now readied themselves as the growling grew closer until someone whistled, making the beast behave and quiet down.
"What the bloody hell?" Peter began as he shared a confused look with Regina.
"I called them off," A male voice spoke up as they notice a red haired man walk in front of them.
"Who are you?" Emma questioned the stranger in suspicion.
"My uncle." Hercules answered for the man.
Simultaneously, both Peter and Regina look at the man and let out, "Hades?"
"Don't look so surprised," Hades simply remarked towards Regina and Peter, "Who'd you think was in charge of this place-- Your mommy and your old papa?"
Peter scowled, "Well, if this is your realm, maybe you can answer a few questions. For instance, where is my wife?"
Hades smirked at that just as Regina also asked, "And why does this hellhole look like Storybrooke?"
"I have my reasons, and I don't have to share them with you," Hades remarked, glancing back at Peter curiously, "And what? The infamous Peter Pan can't find his beloved Astrid? Shame."
Peter started to lunge at Hades until Emma stopped him by placing a hand on his chest, saying, "Not yet, Peter."
Peter's jaw flexed as he stepped back just as Hercules spoke up, "Leave them alone, Uncle."
"There's that famous courage people love to talk about." Hades remarked towards his nephew, "Oh, Hercules, did you really think you could face Cerberus again?"
"Again?" Snow began.
Hades faked gasped, saying, "You mean he didn't tell you?"
Snow looked over at her old friend and realized what he meant as she let out, "Cerberus killed you?"
"Yeah, I didn't want you to know," Hercules replied, "Snow, I couldn't let you down."
"Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of, nephew. After all, losing your life to my little pet is what finally brought us together as family." Hades spoke back up.
"We're not afraid of you," Snow spoke up with a small glare on her face.
Hades gasped again, "Oh. Snow White... or is it Mary Margaret? My nephew said you were a spitfire, but trust me, you should be quite afraid of me because the next time you interfere with my family, I will come after yours."
Peter stepped forward again as he spoke up, "Was that a threat? Then bring it. We're not gonna bloody rest until we find Astrid."
Hades kept his smirk and remarked, "Oh, and since your little Creator likes to send you messages, I told her I would deliver this one personally." He then held up Astrid's most prized twin swords coated in blood-- her blood.
Peter's glare hardened while Emma was the first one to question him, her eyes watery, "What did you do to my sister?"
"It's not what I've already done you should worry about now." Hades remarked before he dropped the silver swords to the ground in front of Peter, "It's what I'm about to do."
They watched the man disappear in a blue fire, leaving the group stunned while Peter reluctantly picked up his love's twin swords in each of his hands.
***
Peter woke up as he sat up on the couch inside of the Blanchard loft. "Fancy meeting you here." He suddenly heard a familiar female voice that he loves very much.
He stood up and faced Astrid who was bloodied and bruised, the two just inches from one another now. "Astrid, love, wha- how?"
Astrid gave her signature smirk and stepped closer to him and replied, "Hades vastly underestimated my power... Peter, you have to leave. Take Zep and our family and go."
Peter moved a hand and cupped the side of her face before he murmured, "I am not going to leave you, love. Never again. We're forever and always. Remember?"
Tears pooled in Astrid's swollen eyes as they dropped down her blood covered cheeks coldly. "Always and forever, yeah... I just want all of you to be safe. Promise me."
"Not until you're safe, love. We're going to do whatever it takes to free you and bring you home." Peter assured, "Don't lose your hope yet, Astrid Jones."
Astrid sadly smiled, saying, "I won't." She was kissed on the lips by her husband, both of their foreheads against one another's now. "I miss you."
"I miss you, too, love. We-- I will find you." Peter let out as he ran his thumbs lightly over her cheeks to wipe her tears away.
Astrid lightly laughed with a small sniffle, adding, "You always do... We'll be a family again. of us."
Peter kissed her forehead before he asked her quietly, "How are you here, love?"
"I channeled our bond to send you a telepathic message. You're dreaming right now, but it very real." Astrid admitted, "This is actually draining me a little more than I already was, so it kind of hurts..."
Peter held her a little bit longer in his arms just as both of them began to glow a golden glow.
Astrid shook her head desperately as she let out, "Don't... I don't want you to hurt. This pain is unbearable, and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Don't channel our bond to share the pain this time, baby..."
Peter smiled a little just as he finished channeling them and now shared the burden of his wife's pain. "You never have to face or endure anything alone ever again... You have me, love."
Tears fell down Astrid's face as she kissed him once more before she began to fade. "I'm waking up."
"That's okay, love, because we're going to find you sooner than later." Peter assured his wife, "I promise you. We won't give up on you."
Astrid then looked at him seriously and warned, "Hades isn't to be taken lightly. After all, he's known as a god. His plans runs deep. Be careful, Peter."
As he kissed her forehead once more, Astrid then disappeared, leaving him alone now but he could still feel her pain.
Peter woke up and straightened up on the couch but was careful not to wake his five year old son sleeping next to him.
Emma and Hook was talking and comforting Meg while David watched the view from the window, his arms folded, as he thought about their situation.
"You okay?" Regina spoke up towards Peter who had glanced around the loft in slight curiosity yet suspicion.
Peter relaxed somewhat as he felt his wife's agonizing pain and then spoke up, "I talked to Astrid. She gave us a warning and she's in serious pain. I'm helping ease some of that by letting her channel my power."
Hook overheard this and stepped over to the nineteen year old immortal boy and spoke up, "What did she say? How bad is she hurting?"
Peter stood up from his seat, glancing down at his son to make sure he was still asleep before looking back up at the pirate. "That Hades isn't to be taken lightly, and that we should leave while we can. But we-- I won't. She is everything to me."
"We're not going to abandon Astrid." Hook assured with a shake of his head, "Not again, not ever. She's family."
"Regina!" David spoke up from the window as the said raven haired woman looked over at him and asked, "What is it? Did Mary Margaret talk Muscles into giving it another go?"
"I don't think so," David replied as he began to move away from where he stood until the whole building shook, causing the bedroom on the next floor collapse in front of them.
Peter picked up his son carefully but quickly into his arms while Hook told them, "Run! Let's go!"
The group raced out of the shaking apartment as Emma questioned, "Let me guess-- the Cerberus?"
Just as she said that, a three-headed beast knocked down the front door and stopped on top of the staircase and growled loudly.
***
They continued to run away from the building and down the road as Peter held a hand on the back of his son's head in assurance.
Snow and Hercules sprinted over to them as she asked first, "Are you okay? What happened?"
"Cerberus. He found us." David briefly explained.
"Where's the prisoner?" Snow questioned.
"She ran when the hellhound attacked." Emma also explained, "We gave her a head start, but there was only so long we could hold it off."
Snow sighed, "We should split up. We have to find her before that monster does."
"Go." David nodded in agreement, glancing over at Regina, "Come on."
Emma and Hook ran another way while Peter who still held Zephyr in his arms, Snow, and Hercules ran another way.
The three of them stopped near the fallen clock tower after they heard crying. They then see Meg crouched by the tower, clearly afraid.
"You shouldn't be here," Meg fearfully cried as they approached her, Zephyr now walking closely behind his father.
"We're here to help." Snow assured the brunette who widened her eyes and pointed behind them and commented shakily, "He found us."
All of them turned around to face a large three-headed beast with red eyes as it snarled their way. "What now?" Hercules questioned.
"We get her in there," Peter spoke up and pointed behind him at the library. He scooped up his five year old in one arm and helped Meg up with his other hand. "Come on."
The four of them took off running towards the library and didn't stop until they were inside safely.
Snow peeked out of the window before moving away from the window quickly after seeing the hellhound look over at their way menacingly.
"Any bright ideas?" Hercules began.
"We hit all three heads at once." Snow told him and Peter who was knelt in front of the curly haired kid, making sure he was all right.
"How are we gonna do that?" Hercules asked once one of the windows shattered, causing Meg to scream.
"We got this." Peter answered him, glancing over at Meg, "Stay here with Zephyr. Okay?" He looked back at Snow and Hercules and added, "We have a beast to slay."
Meg nodded quickly as the five year old grabbed her hand and moved the two of them over in between two shelves of books.
Zephyr also notched an arrow in his small bow and aimed it at the front doors, himself and Meg still hidden.
Peter, Hercules, and Snow stood defensively in front of the doors just as the hellhound broke down the door and was now standing in front of them.
"Now!" Snow told them but was cut off by one of the heads on the beast hitting her, causing her to fly across the room and hit the wall and land on the floor with a thud.
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