Chapter 5: Dark Passion

The rumor mill had given him quite a bit of information. The glorious ginger goddess held strong ties with The Crocodile, The Huntsman, and The Evil Queen yet it still continued to buzz most mightily. His goddess was quite the social butterfly.

More information popped up about a fourth individual in Storybrooke that she associated with, a woman named Ingrid...that name sounded familiar to him. Where had he heard that name? Didn't Erandel have a princess with that name? No...it was just the one princess despite the fact that he was pretty sure there had been three at one point.

He continued to listen as the ginger told others about the mysterious Ingrid. She was some sort of shop keeper that sold sweet snow...he was admittedly curious. This woman, like the Crocodile before her, was exceptionally kind to the ginger haired goddess.

The crimson savior spent a great deal of time with this woman and stated quite firmly that she loved Ingrid, oftentimes calling her mum by accident. To which the mysterious Ingrid responded, saying that she viewed the red head like she was her own daughter...a comment that apparently made the ginger cry, especially when the woman deliberately introduced her as her daughter without pause or hesitation.

What a picture that made...Ingrid as the mother figure, the Crocodile as a father figure, the Hunstman falling into the brother category...the Evil Queen...Killian smirked. There was no way that she was a sisterly figure...oh no.

Judging from the way the ginger had described their relationship and interactions...he was pretty damn certain that the Evil Queen had actually fallen for the red head. There was no other way to explain her reaction to the mere thought of losing her. That was going to be interesting...but it didn't really bother him either.

Mainly due to the fact that the Crimson Savior was even more desperate than the blonde in the love department. She needed as much attention, encouragement, and positivity as possible and even then, it was still going to take time and a great deal of patience to undo even a fraction of the damage already done to both her mental and emotional states.

Now the Captain of the Jolly Roger was a fairly open minded individual, commonly observing before forming a solid opinion, but he was utterly shocked when his crimson goddess began gushing about her time with Emma Swan, the blonde woman that had so adamantly hated the ginger. The other woman was apparently her mother, Snow White, but it was the blonde savior she spoke about that had his full attention.

The Crimson Savior called that blonde idiot her best friend...worse, she actually viewed the Swan girl more like a sibling...a sister. If only she knew just how much her so called sister hated her. He had seen their faces when they spoke about her...she was not family, she was not their friend, she wasnt even their ally...she was their enemy.

His thoughts turned murderous, his eyes shifting from their usual blue hue to a mirrored obsidian. He was going to kill them, kill them before they kill her. His heart may be blacker than the night sky, but he still at least had one...unlike Kora. He cared for this woman...a woman unlike any other. Yes...he would kill them...all of them...anyone that would do that woman any harm, their lives were forfeit.

The dark haired, black eyed pirate rose from his seat, fully intending on ending the lives of the blonde savior and her mother, along with cutting off Kora's head...but he stopped. His murderous intentions vanished in an instant, his eyes returning to their normal state and he barely managed to sit back down without falling...his legs seemingly unable to hold him up any longer.

Why? The crimson haired goddess was smiling and it was the most breathtaking sight he had ever seen. Her face seemed to brighten, almost like she was glowing. Her eyes, those utterly gorgeous sapphires, sparkled and shined. He just sat there gawking like an idiot, his gaze pretty much glued to the most incredible creature in the whole of creation.

One smile...one simple gesture of happiness...that was all it took to halt his murderous rampage. That one smile...it made everything he had lived through up to this point completely worth it...just to see that smile. His mind was transfixed, his heart felt like it was bursting, and his soul was flying through the stars...the infinite cosmos that lay beyond this tiny little world...so expansive and she was there flying amongst the stars just as he was.

The infamous Scourge of the Sea was gradually leaning more and more towards a future with the ginger goddess, but dare he attempt to win her heart? He was a cruel and vile creature that lurked within the waves of his beloved sea. Would she even want a monster such as he?