Chapter 23: The Witch's Tower
Killian and Smee gathered their supplies and left the Jolly Roger and began their trek through the forest searching for the witch's tower.
They had been walking for awhile when Smee said, "Uh, getting closer, Captain. At least, I-I think we are. I've never been much good at navigating on land."
Hook said, "Navigation skills are no longer required, Mr. Smee. Look up. The Evil Queen was telling the truth. This is a good day indeed. Yeah. Wish me luck, Mr. Smee."
Hook begins to climb up the tower grunting every once in a while with the effort. He finally hauls himself through the window, exhaling sharply. He's greeted by the sound of numerous pots clattering.
Drawing his sword, he calls out, "Who's there? Show your face."
A pretty blonde woman comes out from behind the curtain she was hiding behind. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," she says.
Putting his sword away, he replies, "Oh, I assure you, I don't scare easily. I-I just expected to meet a horrible witch. And instead, I find a beautiful young woman."
"Beautiful? Well, I see you're bold as well as brave. I'm Rapunzel. So, you're not here to rescue me?" Rapunzel says.
Hook says, "Sorry, luv, I'm here on a mission of love. I've heard that the witch's magic can help me find a way back to my true love who was so cruelly taken from me. Although, now that I've met you, a daring, uh, rescue might be in order. Once you've handed over the magic."
Rapunzel informs him, "You're welcome to it, though it won't do you much good anymore. The witch grows these Golden Flowers in her secret garden. But this is the only one that I have, and she's already used its power to imprison me."
Hook can only say, "Oh."
Rapunzel takes her hand and tries to put her hand out the window causing a magic barrier to appear and says, "See?"
"With magic that powerful, I will surely find Tinkerbell," Hook replied.
Rapunzel says, "If you can find the magic. I need it, too, to break the spell and get my freedom."
"Well, today's your lucky day, luv. Just tell me where this witch's garden is, and I will return with this flower that we both need," Hook boasts to her.
"Really?" Rapunzel says not believing her luck.
Hook replies with a simple, "Mm-hmm."
Skeptically she asks, "How do I know that you won't abandon me once you have the flower?"
"You don't. And since it doesn't seem like anyone else is climbing your tower, I'd say you don't have much choice, luv. Now why don't you do us both a favor... tell me about that garden," he says to her honestly.
Witch's Garden
Smee, complaining, "Ugh! This isn't exactly what I had in mind when you mentioned "garden."
Hook chuckles and says, "It's a witch's garden, Mr. Smee. And somewhere in here is the Golden Flower we seek. Find it, then we hightail it back to the ship, before we come face-to-face with something more vicious than this lad (poking his sword at a garden gnome)."
Smee asks, "So, how do we find the flower then?"
Hook tells him," Well, according to Rapunzel, we, uh... We sing. Something to do with the power of music revealing the heart. Fifteen men on a dead man's chest Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum Doesn't appear to have worked."
Smee says, mockingly, "Maybe you need some rum first."
They hear branches snapping and look up, seeing that the garden gnome has grown quite large and fearsome.
"Bloody hell," Hook says grunting as he tries not to fall over.
"Might be more fearsome than we thought," Smee remarks.
The gnome groans loudly and begins to come after them.
Smee yells, "It's too big! We're gonna need magic, Captain!"
"The song didn't work!" Hook yells, running from the gnome.
"Try another one!" Smee yells back, also running from it.
Hook begins to sing again, "Uh... My young love said to me "My mother won't mind And my father won't cite you For your lack of... "
Smee shouts, "Over There!" as a light appears near the ground. Hook rushes forward to the illuminated flower and picks it.
"It worked!" Smee says, panting. "What kind of sea shanty was that?"
"It wasn't a shanty. It was a lullaby," Hook informed him.
Smee questions him, shocked, "A lullaby? But you don't have children... that... that you know of. Why do you know a lullaby?"
"My mother used to sing it to me and my brother. And then she died, and my father abandoned us, and I didn't hear anything like it again. That's how I know a lullaby," Hook tells him.
Smee says, "Right. Well, I'll k-keep that between us. So, uh, back to the Jolly Roger then?"
Hook tells him, "Uh, actually, you go on ahead, Mr. Smee. I have some business to attend to."
"You mean you're going back for Rapunzel? Your troubles and beautiful women tend to go hand in hand. And the witch is still around," Smee chides him.
Hook boasts to Smee, "I'm Captain Hook. I can take care of one wily witch."
Back at the tower, Rapunzel hears approaching footsteps and heavy breathing coming from behind her.
She gets up from her chair and greets Hook, "You came back."
Hook says, "Aye. And I haven't returned empty handed," holding out the wooden box that contains the golden flower.
She gasps as he opens the box and reveals the flower.
Hook says, "Your Golden Flower, m'lady, freshly plucked."
Rapunzel says, "You really did it. I have to admit, I'm a little surprised - I didn't expect you to return."
"Nor did I. But it turns out, abandoning people just isn't my thing," Hook tells her.
"That's lucky for me," she says.
"Look, I, um... I know how one of those petals can help me find my lady love. But how's it gonna help you get out of this tower?" He asked her.
"You don't need to be bothered by the details, especially after everything that you've already done. The important thing is, I will finally be free. And... there are many, many things I have not done in a very long time," she says to him, running her hand across his cheek.
"Uh, perhaps we should leave the tower first, luv," he says, hoping to stall for time to get away from her. He loves his Tinkerbell far too much to give into this woman's wants.
"Perhaps not," she says, pushing Hook towards the bed, while she mumbles a spell under her breath.
The next morning, Hook wakes up with a hell of headache - worse than any rum hangover. He looks around to get his bearings and realizes two things - 1. he's naked and 2. he's still in the witch's tower.
"What in the bloody hell did you do to me last night?" He asked angrily, getting out of bed and grabbing his clothes to get dressed.
"Aww you don't remember? That's a shame. It was quite a night. Can't quite remember another like it," Rapunzel/Gothel said.
Hook says, "Aye I don't." He hears a baby cry. "What the hell was that?"
"That little cry…(baby cries louder) is the sound of my freedom," Rapunzel/Gothel informs him.
"Where did you get a baby from?" Hook asks confused.
Rapunzel/Gothel answers, "The usual place. Like I said, it was quite a night."
"No, no, no, no, no. That can't be. It's not possible," Hooks says shocked.
"Not if there's magic involved," she informed him with a sly smile on her face.
"You... you're the witch," Hook accused.
Transforming to herself, she said, "I prefer Gothel. I have to say, I had no idea getting what I needed was going to be that enjoyable."
Hook asked, "If you're the witch who guards the tower, then where's Rapunzel?"
"Oh, that's a tragic tale. I built the tower to imprison Rapunzel. But she managed to turn the tables and trapped me instead," Gothel told him.
"That's why you needed the flower," Hook says as realization dawns on him.
"Not the flower, but you. The flower imprisoned me, which means it couldn't free me. The only way I can escape this prison is by leaving someone in my bloodline to take my place," she says. She gasps as her hand breaks through the magic barrier and exhales sharply. "That's where you came in. The power from the petal just sped up the process. But don't worry. I left you a petal. It's small, but there's more than enough magic for what you need. Shall we?" she asks.
"So, you're just gonna leave and abandon this baby here?" Hook asks in disbelief.
"Oh, don't look at me like that. You're a pirate on a quest to find his lady love. I'm sure more than one innocent person has paid the price on that little journey. What do you say I come with you and help you find her, and then you come with me and help me get my revenge?" Gothel replies scornfully.
Hook tells her, "You got what you needed, and so did I. Let's leave it at that, shall we?"
Gothel says, "Suit yourself... luv. And don't brood for too long." There's a whooshing sound as Gothel jumps out the tower window leaving Hook and the baby in the tower.
Meanwhile at the tavern in the village there is a lot of cheering going on.
"Pay up, Your Majesty," Smee says.
"Where the hell is that captain of yours? Hmm? I can practically smell the cloying scent of Snow and Charming closing in on me," the Evil Queen asks frustrated.
"Not to worry, Your Majesty. I'm back." He sighs. "Sorry for the delay. There was a, uh... tiny complication," Hook says from behind her.
"Finally. This one told me you found the Golden Flower. So, you can find Tinkerbell after I'm safe," she said.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. You'll be headed to safety before you know it. But I won't be at the helm. The Jolly Roger is yours, Captain Smee," Hook informed them.
Smee stammers, "No. W-What? I…" He exhales sharply. "I-I'll take good care of her, but she'll always be yours, Captain."
"What the unholy hell is going on?" The Evil Queen asks outraged.
Hook replies, "Apologies, Your Majesty, but I have something more important than this mission, or my finding Tinkerbell, to attend to.
"What?! What is more important than finding Tinkerbell?" She asks, shocked at hearing him say this.
"A word in private if you don't mind, Your Majesty?" Hook asks, gesturing towards the door.
She follows him out of the tavern and into an alleyway. As soon as they are out of sight, she asks, "What is going on, Killian? I can't believe that you're giving up on her."
Killian explains what Gothel did to him at the tower and about the baby, his daughter, who is now trapped in the tower.
"Oh my God, Killian! Of course you have to take care of the child. I know you'll find a way to free her from the tower and continue your search for Tinkerbell," Regina said.
"Aye I will. In that I have faith," Killian said.
They hugged goodbye and went their separate ways - Regina back into the tavern to get Smee and the crew and Killian back to the tower and his daughter.
Once he arrived back at the tower and had climbed up, Killian carefully picked up his daughter from her bassinet and carried her over to a chair and sat down.
Softly he sang to her " She stepped away from me And she moved through the fair And fondly, I watched her Yeah. And she turned her way homeward With one star awake " and then said, "Well, I suppose I, um... I should... I should call you something. I've only ever known one person good enough to pass on their name... My mother. Yeah. She, uh... She tried to stay with me as long as she could. And I vow to do the same for you... Alice."