The world without magic was so different to anything Tilla has been used to in the past. She had always favoured the Enchanted Forest, but she had been to a few different lands in her time. Most of them didn't differ too much from each other. Villages consisted of small, stone houses and muddy paths and larger towns usually had a more solid structure them. However, Storybrooke seemed to be in a style completely different anything else.
Everything was so big. The road was so wide, the buildings were tall. Even the windows, she thought, were bigger than anything you would find on any ordinary building. She couldn't help but stare at the windows that lined the wall at the Sheriff's office, wondering if she should be amazed or not. There were some cells made with iron bars on one side, though. At least some things never did change.
"And this is just a Sheriff's office?" she asked as she turned to Charming and Emma. "Just-Just an ordinary building."
"Maybe we should take her to Regina's," Emma said to her dad, joking slightly.
Charming chuckled but nodded. "Yeah, it's all a bit strange, isn't it?" he said to Tilla, who could only nod in agreement. "There's all sorts of people in this town, you'll find your feet."
Tilla didn't doubt that. She'd spent her life adjusting to one change or another, so getting used to the workings of another land wasn't going to be hard. It was the pirate-shape hole that was going to take some time.
"I know you recognised Tink, have you seen anyone else?" Emma asked her, watching for her reaction, but the other woman just shook her head.
"No, not really," she replied. "I mean, I've heard of Snow White and Prince Charming, Rumplestiltskin, of course. I've not really met anyone in person, though." She took hold of the side of her dress and began to swish it from side to side, like an absentminded habit. "I'm sure if there is someone who remembers me, then I'll see them soon enough."
Charming looked at his daughter. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, if a woman appeared out of a bottle, I'd be curious to see who she is as well," she offered. "And as I'm being confined to the Sheriff's office, they now have an easy-to-find location to come do so."
Charming laughed nervously. "Confined?" he repeated and she turned from the window to look at him.
"This isn't my first time being watched by people who don't trust me," she explained. "You're even putting me to work. And, hey, as long as it's not mopping, I really don't care."
"We're just keeping an eye on you in case someone comes looking for you," Emma explained. "Gold trapped you in that bottle as a punishment, but there is a chance that there may be something else following you. We'd like to know who it is."
"I'm not complaining," Tilla promised. "I mean, I'm connected to the Dark One, I wouldn't trust me either. Now," she looked around the room, "I don't know what any of this stuff is. If you want me to do anything useful, you might need to give me more instructions."
~0~0~0~
"Why not mopping?" Charming asked Tilla curiously. Emma had headed out for lunch with Hook, leaving him to watch over the newcomer on his own. Not that he really minded – well, he minded a little about Hook but he had shown that he was changing his ways.
Tilla, it turned out, had picked up the newness of the Land without Magic very well. While the inhabitants of Storybrooke had 25 years of getting used to cars, and technology, she'd barely had a day and yet she was already helping him sort of some of the old cases that the station had gathered over the years with very little questioning. He was sure that would change once they introduced her to the computer, but they didn't want to overwhelm her straight away.
"Hmm?" she asked, looking at a piece of paper with a frown. Photographs were so clear, weren't they? Much better than any picture she had seen.
"You said before that you didn't mind the work as long as it wasn't mopping," he commented.
"Oh, that," she replied. "I dunno, I hate it. My mother used to make me mop the house all the time. Reminds me too much of my chores, I guess."
"Is your mother here?" he asked. "Maybe she might remember you."
She paused as she placed the photo down, before smiling sadly to herself. "No, she died a while ago," she said softly. "At least a hundred years ago, now." She turned to him. "Even if she was alive, she wouldn't remember me. The spell was rather thorough. The Dark One doesn't do anything by halves."
"Now that is something we all know too well," he replied.
"Let me guess," she started, closing the folder and putting it on a pile and moving onto the next folder. "He's been his wonderful, charismatic self here as well?"
Charming shot her a look. "Do you have to ask?"
She chuckled slightly. "Probably not, no," she agreed. She glanced towards the door, wondering when and if Hook would be back. "So, the Sherriff, Emma, she's your daughter? And the pirate, Hook, is her…"
"Her something, let's stick with that," he cut in and she chuckled again.
"Protective father?" she asked.
"Whenever I get the chance," he replied, proud and she nodded.
"Alright, I'll remember that," she promised. "So, the Dark One, what did he do to get kicked out of town? It's rather hard to get rid of Rumplestiltskin, it must have been rather dire."
"It's a long story," he replied and she picked up a handful of folders.
"There's a lot of this paper," she countered.
He considered, for a moment, whether telling her everything that had happened was a good thing to do. After all, they barely knew her and he didn't want to give too much information away that could be used against them at a later date. However, perhaps something in the story might jog something in hers and they could get to the bottom of why she was in the bottle to begin with.
"Alright, settle in, though, it gets complicated fast."
~0~0~0~
Hook stared at her, his demeanour suddenly changing at the mention of the man he hated most. The man who he hated more than even Peter Pan. Just the sound of his name filled him with a rage he'd thought had mellowed out slightly over the recent years.
"You can take your hand off your sword, Captain," Tilla said in a calm voice. "Nothing I have to say is a threat to you."
He hadn't realised that his hand had gone to the hilt of his sword, but never the less he didn't move it away. "You do not give the orders around here, Love," he said with a sharp edge to his voice.
"I wasn't giving you an order, Captain. I was trying to reassure you. I'm sorry if it didn't work."
"Why are you hiding from the Dark One?" he demanded. "What deal do you have with him?"
"None, I can assure you," she quickly replied. "I wouldn't dare make a deal with that man, I'm not a fool."
"I should throw you in the brig for keeping this from me," he snapped. "In fact, I should throw you back to Pan."
Her eyes widened and he could tell that his threat had really hit something in her. He was glad that he'd managed to make her terrified and she quickly shook her head, taking a step closer with her hands outstretched in front of her.
"Please, don't," she begged. "I'm not a danger, and I'm not a threat. I'm just trying to hide from him, that's all. If Pan gets hold of me again, he'll just hand me over and I don't want to go back to him!" She took another step closer. "You can drop me back off on land, if you'd rather not have me on your ship. Just don't give me back to Pan."
Hook didn't feel like she was lying to him, and he was normally rather good at telling when people were lying to him, considering he was normally the one lying right back. She was genuinely scared of him in that moment, and he was the first to admit that while he enjoying knowing that people were frightened of him, having a pretty woman practically begging him was rather a thrill.
"Tell me, if not a deal, why are you running from him?" he asked. "No secrets this time, or I will walk you straight into Mermaids Cove myself."
"It wasn't a secret, you just never asked and…" She trailed off, realising that arguing over that little detail probably wasn't worth her time or her life. "When I was a child, the Dark One visited me in the woods outside my home. He asked if I wanted to make people happy, and I said yes because I was a young girl. He gave me his light magic. For a while it was fine, but he became angered at my constant interfering with his deals, and he trapped me. I escaped and managed to find my way here. If I use my magic, he'll sense it, and it might lead him back to me and I do not want to go back to his dungeons."
The fact that Rumplestiltskin had pawned off some of his unwanted magic on an unsuspecting child would have surprised many people, but not Hook. He was more surprised that she had managed to interfere with his deals at all. "The Dark One isn't known for shoddy deals."
"No, he keeps his end rather watertight," she agreed. "The other side, though, can be a bit more open to interpretation if you look hard enough. He thinks himself to be the cleverest man in the land, so he underestimates common folk a lot. Sometimes there is wiggle room, sometimes I can convince them not to make the deal at all." She shrugged. "I help where I can."
"Why? Why should you care about some peasant's deal with the Dark One?" he asked.
"Because I want to make people happy," she replied with a smile. "It's why he was drawn to give me the magic in the first place. I really don't have any other motivation, apart from being a nuisance, anyway."
She knew the moment he had heard the words 'Dark One' she was going to have a hard time convincing him that she wanted nothing to do with him. Even now, after she had explained everything, Captain Hook looked like he was torn between throwing her overboard or locking her up in the depths of the ship.
"I thought you wanted a way out of Neverland," he said. "How does that fit into your running away from the Crocodile? Surely this is the best place for you? Or was that just another deception as well?"
She shook her head. "No, I definitely want out of this hell pit," she told him bluntly. She swallowed, obviously steeling herself up for something. "I thought we could help each other. You're going to find your way off this island, back to the Enchanted Forest. I could go with you."
"You know, I'm starting to feel less generous with my time. Why should I help you now?"
"Because my magic will attract the Dark One. You get me off this island, and I can get you a crocodile."
She could tell he was waying up her offer, and that it really did sound like a deal and she could understand his hesitance. "And, if you fail to uphold your end of this bargain?"
She shrugged. "Well, that then it's up to you, isn't it Captain?" she replied. "I can't convince you to join forces with me, but I know I can't run from you. After all, the Dark One is still in your sights, isn't he?"
He nodded and his hand finally fell from his sword. Tilla relaxed slightly, but tried not to show it too much on the outside. "And you'll still clean the ship," he stated rather than asked and she nodded.
"Of course. I'm not looking for a free ride," she promised. She held her hand out, taking a quick moment to check she wasn't going to be shaking his hook.
"Do we have a bargain?"
He took her offered hand. "Not a deal?" he asked and she quickly shook her head.
"I don't do deals," she said shortly. "Ever."
~0~0~0~
On some level, Tilla was rather glad that she had been released in such a strange world. It gave her something more to focus on that Killian, who's appearance had still hurt her more than she thought it would have. She had never expected to be released near him – in fact, she had never expected to be released at all. She could tell a lot of time had passed since she had been trapped in the bottle but she didn't have much in the way of memories from inside it. One minute she had been on the Jolly Roger, the next she had been looking at Tinker Bell. The entire situation was rather jarring, to say the least.
That was how she ended up in a little bar in Storybrooke, smiling kindly at the bartender as he handed her a drink. She felt more at home there than she had the last couple of days. Dark, dingy, and the noise of people slowly getting drunk. She found it rather comforting and was happy to particate in it herself.
She paused as the stool next to her moved and was occupied by a woman she had yet to meet, but who she had heard of a few times. Regina Mills – also known at the Evil Queen – had decided to finally come and see her. Tilla hadn't even thought about going to find anyone herself, after all the most important people always showed their faces eventually.
"Hello," she greeted. "I thought I'd be seeing you soon enough."
"As mayor of Storybrooke, it is my duty to look in on any of our newest residence," Regina replied.
"Especially when they come out of bottles and there is no way into the town without knowledge of where it is?" she replied. At Regina's suspicious look, she nodded her head towards the door. "Prince Charming told me about the many curses that have been placed on this town without magic over the last few years." She looked down at her glass, which suddenly looked a lot more appealing. "And yes, those are words that I never thought would come out of my mouth." She raised the glass. "Cheers," she stated before downing the liquid in one gulp.
"Settling in quite well, then?" Regina asked, motioning for a drink of her own. The bartender didn't even ask what she wanted, which meant she had to have been a rather frequent visitor.
"Prince Charming and Snow White have been very welcoming," she explained. "Emma has been very suspicious, but I get it. I came out of a bottle. It's a strange thing to happen."
"Not as strange as you might think," Regina replied and Tilla nodded.
"So I've also heard. So, yeah, everyone has been very eager to keep me around. I was invited to eat at Granny's this evening as well by the whole family."
"And yet you're in this place?"
The bartender brought Regina her drink and placed another in front of Tilla. "Don't let the appearance fool you. I just needed some time away from all the questioning, and I do like my rum."
"They can be a little… much," Regina agreed and Tilla laughed.
"Yes, that is a delicate way to put it," she agreed. "They seem like lovely people. I'm just not used to the friendly family routine. It's a little overwhelming."
"Well—" Regina raised her glass. "- I can drink to that."
Tilla smiled and clinked her glass against it. "To being left alone," she added to the end and the pair downed their drinks in one mouthful. They both enjoyed the silence afterwards for a little while, until Tilla turned to her. "As mayor, perhaps you can answer me a question about this town."
"I can certainly try," she replied.
"Is there anywhere I can see the stars?" Tilla asked. "Everything is so bright here, this electricity really is amazing, but it blocks out the sky at night. I think I'd feel a little better if I had somewhere I can see it properly."
Regina hadn't quite expected that question, and it took her a moment to try and think over any reason that meant that it was a bad idea to actually give her a real answer. Finding nothing immediately concerning, she then took a second to think over her town. "Probably the docks, or the beach," she offered. "They both rather beautiful at night."
Tilla thanked her, but made no move to leave the bar just yet. Regina also stayed and they made small talk for a while. Nothing important was shared, but they both seemed to be able to feel the heartache the other held. As Regina decided to head home for the evening, Tilla was certain of one thing; she really liked the Mayor of Storybrooke.