2
Now. How the hell shall I make my escape?
It was unclear what caused this exact change in Emma. Maybe it was Ingrid's rigid responses. Her nonsense answers. Maybe it was because the past twenty one years of her life flashed before her eyes, and she couldn't see herself picking up a paintbrush ever again. She couldn't see herself waking from the tower with the same view she has had all her life. She could no longer envision a life.
As she began to dwell on the thought, she began to hate Ingrid. What were they doing up here, really? This lifestyle suited no one. It was as if they were hiding from something.
And with that, Emma circled the small tower and began to search.
The Jolly Roger had been sailing smoothly for a few hours now. The crew was headed North, towards the outer most edge of the Enchanted Forest. Though Killian thought the mission was going to be a bust, he followed his brother's instructions, and tried to look out past the water with a smile. He always found it calming, even when he was on official business.
As he stared out to sea, he saw the tallest trees of the forest coming into view on the right. What he saw next made him question if he had something in his eyes. He took a second before seeing, yet again, a lurking…thing… in the water.
It was springtime. But it looked like an iceberg. Bloody hell.
"Liam, I think we have a problem."
Liam came sauntering over. "What is it now, Killian? Don't you trust the King's orders?" He knew what Killian really thought about the trip, and didn't want to hear any more complaining. When Killian mentioned the ice berg, Liam stood a little taller, and looked up. "Let me have a hand at your spyglass will you?" Killian reached into the inner pocket of his navy jacket, and handed the object over to him. Liam confirmed the suspicion when he shouted: "Ice berg! Let's slow her down, now, shall we?"
So it was a shock to all when the Jolly Roger picked up speed. When the wind thrashed across the air. When violent waves began hitting the boat. When the Jolly Roger herself flipped over into the depths of the relentless waves.
The ship mates were gasping for air in the violent waters when the ice berg melted, as if it had never even been there.
Emma had been searching the tower for a few hours now. She hadn't found anything worth finding. She'd gone through all the drawers, wardrobes and boxes and felt like she was reliving her life: there were the paints she used, the books she read, the knitting needles, the pens. Buttons and coins. Dust and dirt and flimsy string.
The tower she resided in was your basic one; circular, with two steeping staircases: one leading up in curves, one down in curves. The bedrooms were upstairs, and she felt taunted by them as she had searched the main floor, because really: what did she expect to find down here?
Her heart felt like lead as she trudged up the stairs. She wasn't naïve enough to think she wouldn't find something incriminating—she just didn't want to.
When she finally reached Ingrid's room she stopped. Now, there was just a big, daunting door between herself and the truth. She took a breath before pushing it open.
She'd been in Ingrid's room before, but never for so long.
Mirrors of various sizes covered the sky blue walls, and an occasional snow flake would fill in an empty space. The bed was on the right side of the room and, on the left, there was a vanity with small dressers on either side. Emma currently faced the window, where a white wardrobe was standing to its right.
She immediately approached the vanity and flung the drawers open. She met a variety of powders, brushes and ties. She moved on to the other drawer, where things began to get interesting: a velvet cloth was delicately wrapped around a thin object. Emma picked it up, so that the cloth unraveled. It was when she saw "Ingrid" engraved in bold, dark lettering that the knife fell to the floor with a clang.
Killian Jones woke up on the edge of the shore, with sand in his hair and ocean in his lungs. He sat up and coughed the salt water out of his system. There was no one on the shore near him. He took a moment before standing up, and noticed the tall forest behind him. He'd made it to their destination, but he was alone.
"Liam!" He began shouting as he ran to the ocean's edge. His frantic eyes accompanied his heavy breathing.
The ocean contrasted him because it was calm. There was no ice berg. No ship. No arms flailing in the water. No white flag. He was alone and he didn't know how.
Emma gasped. Ingrid had talked about the Dark One before. She had said that he was controlled by a dagger with his own name as an inscription upon it. Why had she said this?
Emma reached down to pick it up. It couldn't be because…?
Emma's heart stopped as she began to piece together an unbelievable truth: her mother was the Dark One. Her mother was the Dark One and wouldn't let her leave.
Killian had been staring at the ocean. It was doing nothing for his nerves or the beat of his heart. It was doing nothing for the worry that he knew was the truth: his brother was dead with the rest of the crew.
The captain always goes down with his ship, but…what of this? Nothing made sense.
He remained a man of action despite his terrible confusion. He picked himself up, and began walking into the deep depths of the forest. Though it was still early morning, he knew darkness would eventually hit—and he didn't want to be here when it happened, with the serenity of the sea mocking him.
A village over from the tower, Ingrid smiled. She'd fixed the immediate threat: the latest crew the king sent out would be dead.
She was sitting in a small café, drinking tea as she gloated to herself. Her glamour spell gave her a younger looking face, with thick, curly black hair and dark eyes to match. Her blonde-hair-blue-eyed nature had been exchanged for a more opposite appearance.
When she'd overheard villagers speak of a possible end to the Ogre War she turned around to hear what the king was planning. She just didn't expect it to involve herself.
A dwarf was speaking to a small group of people: "The king is going to fix everything! He's sending out the Royal Navy right now to find the Dark One!"
For such a small man, he's got a big mouth. The group proceeded to sit down when Ingrid turned around and decided she'd had enough. No one was going to find her or Emma. Besides, she wasn't one to do another's bidding.
Killian had been wandering in the forest. He realized he had no direction, and that he was walking without aim. He was surrounded by the tallest trees in the land. He was plagued by loss. He was being.
Though he would have perceived himself to be going nowhere, Killian made it to a large clearing. He wasn't even registering that he had slipped under a short tunnel to get there.
Beautiful, he thought, after setting his eyes on a large log in the center. He sat down, and ran his hands through the dirt. He was angry, and he didn't know how to deal with it. His hands found a rock, and he threw it in the space in front of him.
The space in front of him began to glimmer.
He was seeing things, again. This only proved to poke holes at his heart. So he threw another rock. And then another. And another. Until he felt like he didn't have a heart, or like, if he did, that it stopped.
His eyes followed the height of the tower that had magically emerged in front of him.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Ingrid couldn't be back already; it's three days too soon. Emma took a gulp. It's as if she knows.
Her mind was racing. She ran down the steps leading from her room, only to realize the sound wasn't coming from the stairs. It was coming from outside the window.
Whatever it was, it wasn't Ingrid.
When Killian approached the tower, it didn't seem to have a door.
That wasn't stopping him. He gathered two sticks, and used them to climb his way to the top where he could see shutters. It didn't take long, and the focus of the climb kept his mind away from less pleasant things. He pushed through the shutters with a breath of finality, and stood relieved.
Emma was still gripping the compass she was about to pack in her bag, when she realized the sound was coming from the main window. She ran to it, and hid to the side as she greeted the handsome man who stepped into the tower with a nice hit to the head.
He dropped to the ground.
She flinched when she took in his beauty, and when she was finally able to note that she didn't know who he was.