summary: (Enchanted Forest AU) Killian Jones has a mysterious past and a sea witch is more than willing to exploit those connections for her own ends. (Rated T for mentions of death, conflict, and war)

Author's Note: This multi-chaptered story started out as a 'Prince Eric and Ariel are his parents' idea, with me thinking of details as I read some OUaT theories on tumblr. That got me to thinking of Killian as a prince and it's been sitting around in my mind on the backburner, along with theories about Ursula. Today I was trying to write a prompt for my 'secret santa' and a detailed plot ejected, genuinely surprising me. So I decided to work on it although I ended up deciding that Eric and Ariel won't be his parents after all; however I really should be working on my English Final. I disclaim all characters and locations from the television show "Once Upon a Time;" this version of Calypso is mine. Emma will come into the story later, but Rumplestiltskin was never the Dark One so of course Cora was executed for lying and Regina was never born. The villain in this story is a sea witch. The photograph is of Beardsley Lake in California.

"The Lost Prince" by JustWriter

Chapter 1: Captain Jones

After losing his brother Liam, Captain Jones became a fearsome pirate who ravaged the Enchanted Forest's navy, dodging the law whenever he went ashore. He briefly met a woman named Milah but left before any trouble could be caused, as she seemed a little too eager for his company and could have been a spy for the crown. He saw less and less ships and heard rumors of the conflict with the ogres going badly, so he and his crew aided the Kingdom's inhabitants, as it was once their home, to flee from the terrors. After learning that the King had been assassinated they helped more directly by teaching the infantries pirate tactics and their help won a decisive victory that had the ogres on the run.

During celebrations, after the entire crew was pardoned, he heard a woman shout, "Killian!" Across the tavern he recognized his aged mother and stood to meet her. She seemed frantic and thrust a ring at him. Before he had a chance to tell her what had befallen Liam and how he had fared over the years she disappeared. After secreting the article into his clothing he left the tavern to see foreign soldiers apprehending her. Seeing that she was in trouble, he just about approached them when she saw him and mouthed, "No!" Startled, he could only watch as they carried her away in chains.

After a few moments he came to his senses and pursued them but they were much too far down the road and he'd been stopped by an infantry general that he'd aided in the conflict. He was told that he was required at the castle and knew that there would be consequences if he didn't answer the summons. Fully intending to pursue his mother as soon as his duties to the new King were completed, Killian told the general what he'd witnessed in the street, but not his relation to the woman or the encounter in the tavern, as they were headed to the castle. From the description of the uniforms the general was able to determine the name of the Kingdom that they were from and some old memories of his father surfaced at the name.

He recalled being nearly ten summers old when he awoke on a merchant's ship to discover that his father was gone. He was told that they'd seen soldiers capture his father but his way had been paid back to his mother who had remarried a man that already had a son. He recalled further that he'd been raised by his mum until he was three and that one day his father came for him and they traveled, always ready to pick up and go wherever they were. His father had taught him odd things, like bowing and calligraphy, which he was told that he would need to know.

Upon reaching the castle he snapped out of his thoughts and had his audience with the new King. He was given his final orders, to retire the Jewel of the Realm, also known as the Jolly Roger, to sea. The next day he and his crew went out into the deepest part of the bay and as they were filing into the longboats and setting up the powder, Killian fingered the relic that his mother had handed to him and slipped it onto his left ring finger. The symbol was one that his father had drawn for him at a young age.

Snapping to attention as he heard cries for help on the ship, Killian scrambled up the side of the burning ship to the flaming deck ordering, "Number 1 do a head count and keep the men in the boats! Get them as far away as possible before the Roger explodes!" His first officer protested, "But Captain! Every man is here!"

The screams were coming from his old cabin and he burst into the room where the flames were strangely frozen in place and saw a smirking, unnaturally bronze-skinned, young woman turn to greet him. With a wave of her hand the door slammed shut but Killian kept his eyes on her. "Hello Killian, I've been waiting for you to be alone."

He spoke with quiet menace, "WHO the bloody hell are you and what are you doing on my ship?"

Her bronze complexion shone almost yellow in the frozen flames and her smirk faltered for a moment. Then she decided to play coy, twisting her ebony black locks around her shiny fingers as she said, "Awe, is that any way to greet someone who's doing you a favor?"

Filled with quiet fury he inquired, "I said what… are… you… doing… on my bloody ship?"

Frowning at him she replied, "I'm a sea witch by the name of Calypso, and the way things are going now you can't go back."

"Oh?" he sarcastically returned. "Pray tell," he encouraged.

Her empty bronze eyes stared at him somewhat unnervingly as she explained his plight in great detail. "The new king doesn't trust you not to turn back to your buccaneer ways so he's forcing you and your men to retire. And that old mystery that you've discovered on your finger can't be solved with the higher-ups breathing down your neck."

She paused and smirked once more saying, "This way everyone wins, the sailors and officers will get new posts in the severely depleted infantry and the courts and the general won't have to watch your every move because Captain Jones, war hero and ex-pirate is going to die honorably trying to save an innocent, ironically going down with his ship."

Breathing deeply he drew his rapier, not as heavy as the cutlass that he'd been using in recent years, and was prepared to die fighting. Suddenly she was inside his guard with her hands on either side of his head saying, "Sleep…" His sword fell from his grasp and clattered to the deck, his vision going black. The last thing that he heard was a giggle and the words, "Of course you won't really die; I've got plans for you Prince Killian."