A/n: Yep. Starting another one. Yes, Bested Thrice will continue to be worked on and updated. This one's going to be a slow burn, folks, no smut till much, much later - if at all - in the story. Shocking, I know. Warnings have already been posted in the summary, but just a reminder - this story will be Dark!Everything. If dark themes make you uncomfortable, then don't read this.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

"Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning. "

Emma clung to the mizzenmast of the ship, her knuckles stiff from the effort of gripping the mast. They were in the ocean – under it, she supposed – traveling through the whirlpool. Every time the ship came too close to the edges of the tunnel, it groaned in protest and made the magic protecting them shudder. Her eyes wandered to Killian, who was standing at the helm of the ship, his hands gripping the wheel tightly. She could see past his cool façade; the tenseness of his shoulders and the whiteness of his knuckles betrayed him. A veritable hurricane seemed to rage around them. Every drop of rain felt like a heavy flake of snow, every gust of wind felt like being on the receiving end of a cracking whip - it was hell.

Her wet hair clung to her face, impeding her view of Hook as he navigated skillfully through the portal. She could see her parents clinging to the mainmast, their arms clasped tightly around each other as they clung to the post. She couldn't make out Gold or Regina in the torrential downpour, only recalled them being closer to the bow of the ship. The ship shuddered beneath her, the wood creaking and groaning in a way that did not inspire confidence. A huge wave crashed over the ship, causing Emmas feet to slip out from under her. For a few moments, everything was calm – it felt like one of those moments you experience as a child, when you fall and get back up as though you had never fallen at all. Calm, that is, until Emma realized that a wave had crashed into the ship. She looked up at the Captain with a panicked expression her face, and felt fear sink to the put of her stomach when she saw her own expression mirrored back at her.

He turned the wheel hard, attempting to lessen the impact of the next wave. The action was successful, but the jerkiness of the motion sent Emma to her knees.

"Emma!" She could hear her mother cry out for her, but couldn't see anything in the rain and the ever-growing number of waves crashing over the ship.

"I'm fine!" She called back, blind, and tightened her grip around the mast, her legs curling around the post tightly.

The storm carried on, more violent waves tossing them into the side of the whirlpool and making the ship scream in a series of creaks and groans. A flash of light to her left caught her attention, and Gold became visible through the constant pelt of rain. His magic seemed to protect him from the onslaught of the storm, and she could see the bubble of magic begin to expand and stretch. Regina was the next to become visible, looking haggard and waterlogged but alive. She walked forward on the deck, stumbling once or twice as the ship was tossed brutally from side to side, to stand next to Gold, and held up her hands. Her own magic stretched out and encompassed Charming and Snow next; both looked utterly relieved for the temporary reprieve.

Emma stood again, this time with a little more difficulty, looked at Hook again, noting his locked jaw and white knuckles. "What's going on?" She shouted over the wind, taking a few daring steps away from the mizzenmast.

He responded, but the storm was raging too fiercely for her to catch the response. She made her way to the set of stairs and crawled up them, her hand gripping the railing and using it as leverage to pull herself to her feet when she reached the helm.

"What did you say?" She asked, squinting against the onslaught of rain.

"Something's wrong!" He roared, and Emma took a tentative step forward, her own hands coming to grasp the wheel. She felt it twitch beneath her loose grip, jerking as though it wanted to free itself. He had it turned hard to the left, and she imagined that if he let it go the wheel would snap to the right and spin, and send the entire ship careening into the wall of the whirlpool.

Emma leaned her weight into the wheel, attempting to help him keep the wheel from getting away from them. The whirlpool darkened inexplicably, the little filtering sunlight disappearing and leaving them in complete darkness. The flashes of lightning from the storm were the only sources of light left to be had. Emma felt a tingle crawl up her spine, a light, odd sensation that she had come to recognize as the feeling of magic.

"Hold on!" Hook shouted, and Emma felt his arm circle around her waist to pull her more firmly against the wheel. "We're almost there!"

Emma allowed him to hold her, used him as support to keep herself up right. 'We're going to make it,' She thought to herself, seeing the opening at the end of the whirlpool. Another wave smacked into the side of the ship, jostling it against the wall of water, and Emma heard the one thing she had been hoping not to hear. The wood creaked and groaned as it had done before, and then splintered.

"No!" Hook cried out, and jerked the wheel to the right to steer the ship away from the wall – but the damage was already done. Emma released the wheel as he turned it and stumbled into him, her arms sliding around his waist. The next wave that hit the ship tore it apart, and Emma could hear her parents screaming her name. The whirlpool was collapsing around them, she realized, and her lungs began to fill with water. A stray piece of wood smacked into her back and she crumpled against Hook, who was somehow still on his feet – still attempting to steer the ship and get them out of this alive. Her last conscious thought was of Henry, a mantra streaming through her mind and following her into the darkness.

"He'll be okay. He's going to be okay. He's a smart kid, he'll be fine. He'll be fine…"

She gave no thought to herself, or anyone else aboard, and certainly had no attention left to spare to the shadowy figure flying overhead.

A/n: So there's our prologue! Many thanks to Megan, who is my Beta for this story, and I look forward to hearing from you all at some point or another! Till next time!