Chapter 4

The Jolly Roger breached the surface what seemed to be a lifetime later, the hull of the massive ship airborne and then dropping back into the water. Hope opened one eye, hugging the mast for dear life, and completely drenched. Henry was gripping to the helm, hoisting himself back up shaking his hair out like a shaggy dog.

Dog. Shit.

"Hook!" Hope yelled as she ran to the captain's cabin, praying her precious companion made it through ok. She threw the door open, and saw Hook curled up on the pillow at the top of the bed. He opened one eye at his master and snuggled down further. Hope laughed to herself and shut the door, going back to Henry above deck.

"Is he ok?" Henry asked

"Yeah he's good. Passed out on the pillow on the bed." Hope answered with a laugh as she stood next to her brother. "Where the hell are we?"

"We are about a day's sail away from Misthaven, more commonly known as the Enchanted Forest. Welcome to our ancestral grounds Hopie." Henry answered with a smile.

Hopie, are you shitting me? She thought. Normally, Hope never liked that nickname, ever, from anyone. But since it was coming from Henry, her big brother, she might be able to let it slide.

"Well after being chased by ancient Incans with boom-boom sticks I am more inclined to believe all the crazy shit you told me." Hope mused.

"Boom-boom sticks?" Henry asked choking back a laugh.

"What the hell do you call them?"

"They are staff made from the trees in the realm of the Inca Empire. Yzma infused the trees with magic, and the staffs made from the trees are weapons that shoot black fairy dust in shards. They are really nasty to deal with actually, so we got lucky."

"Is there a difference between black fairy dust and, not black fairy dust?"

"Life and death, literally."

Hope nodded, watching the sea before her. This was still insane. How the hell was she supposed to save everyone, with her extremely heavy Constitutional law book? What was she going to do, beat them to death? Some things still weren't adding up

"How do sail this without a crew?" Hope wondered aloud

"It's made of enchanted wood. She's the fastest in all the realms and can damn near sail herself." Henry answered, eyes still locked on the horizon.

Hope rolled her eyes. Of course it was, cause that made sense.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a pawing at her leg and a slobbery tennis ball at her feet. She smiled down at her dog and headed down to the main deck with him, playing fetch for about an hour. The day was comfortable, not to hot and not chilly. It was sometime in the afternoon there, maybe One or one thirty. Hook finally tired out and found a sunspot and curled up on the deck, resuming his nap once more. Hope walked to the side of the ship, staring out into the waves. She had always found the sea calming, like it called to her when her nerves were shot. Her mind was spinning, so many questions still. How old was she when they gave her up? Why wasn't there another way? How in the world was she going to do this? Did her parents even remember her? Hope was taken out of her thoughts when Henry bumped her arm with a bottle and looked at her understandingly.

"What's that?" Hope asked looking at the amber colored liquid in the bottle.

"Pirate rum. Be careful, it's a lot stronger than rum you can get in NYC." Henry mused.

Hope brought the bottle to her lips and took a large swig. It burned on the way down and was about double the proof she was used to, but it was really good, and relatively smooth. She handed the bottle back at her dumbfounded brother, smiling.

"That didn't bother you?" Henry asked raising an eyebrow

Hope shook her head "It was good. Stronger than I am used to but not bad."

Henry shook his head with a chuckle, "You are most definitely his daughter."

The pair stood against the rail in comfortable silence, passing the bottle back and forth staring at the sea. After about fifteen minutes, Hope couldn't do it anymore.

"Henry, I need answers," She sighed, looking at her brother.

Henry pushed her toward the stack of rum barrels, sitting atop one of them and patting for her to sit by him. She followed suit but said nothing for a few moments.

"How old was I when they gave me up?" Her question was so soft Henry almost missed it.

"You were a month away from being a year old. Mom had a huge first birthday party planned for you before shit hit the fan."

Hope nodded taking a breath, she could do this, It's just her brother right?

"How far apart are we in age?"

"Ten years"

"Why the hell do we look a lot closer than that?!"

"The curse Yzma cast froze time, same as before. I grew up, but time moves differently there now. Our parents aged a little, but they will look a little older than me."

Hope grabbed the bottle of rum from between them and took a large drink. This is fucking insane.

"Where have you been?"

"I was taken in by some friends here until I started snooping for answers and then I was thrown in a dungeon. Since I was born in Phoenix and not the enchanted forest, it did not affect me in the same way. I had connections who kept helping me try to find you and I went back to the land without magic two years ago. I got a hit finally and that's how I ended up at your door. Hope, I never gave up... well hope. One thing you will learn about this family is that we always find each other." Henry grabbed her hand.

Hope's emotions were through the roof now, damn rum.

"Why couldn't they find another way?" She asked, doing her best to hold back the tears threatening to fall.

"Hopie, they tried everything. They tried protective charms, cloaking spells, they did everything they could. Mom and Killian never wanted you to grow up the way they did. It killed them to take you to that convent. Mom almost turned around twice for you but if Yzma would have found you, she would have killed you. Our parents had to give you your best chance."

Hope let her tears fall now; her mom and dad both grew up orphans, grew up alone. This still wasn't fair

"Why do you think I can do this, that I can help you break this curse? What even is it?"

It was Henry's turn to take a large swig of rum. He closed his eyes and took and deep breath.

"They call it the Curse of Atonement." Henry began "It curses beings that wronged the one casting it and in Yzma's case she is angry about our mom defeating the black fairy. This curse lets the caster control the subject underneath in horrifying ways, trapping them in endless loops of torture and pain. It makes them relive their worst moments and snuffs out all light and hope. It eventually drives them to suicide if they submit," Henry stopped for a moment, his eyes burning with tears "She cast it on the entire population of Storybrooke using the book I gave you to guide her. That's why I wasn't affected; I'm not in the book and neither are you. But everyone I love and everyone who loves you and I are in it."

Hope took a swig of rum and handed it to her brother who took a very large gulp.

"What happens if they don't submit?" Hope finally asked, terrified of what the answer was going to be.

"They are subjected to torture and pain for eternity, becoming Yzma's slaves. She is extremely powerful. This curse gives her the ability to resurrect the dead and some of those include villains to help her in her cause. Ones who our mom specifically took out that would be looking for revenge."

"How long has this been taking place?" Hope whispered, taking another drink of rum.

"20 years..." He answered barely in a whisper.

Hope locked eyes with her brother. Her family has been an endless torture cycle for 20 fucking years? How in the hell had he not mentioned that? She could feel her emotions bubbling over again. She had to save them; oh god. What if the curse had already claimed them? Was she 20 years too late?

Hope finally got her thoughts in order. "Has the curse claimed anyone?"

Henry started to cry silent tears, "Unfortunately it has claimed some."

She started to panic. "Who? I have the book I can figure it out just tell me."

"Some townsfolk, I don't know everyone here, there's so many. Some are stronger than others. But the worst one was my grandfather, Rumpelstiltskin, also known as the Dark One. Yzma killed his true love and my step grandmother, Belle because she refused to hand over the Dark One dagger. The Dark One dagger is the link to all the power of the Dark One and Belle knew if Yzma got her hands on it, it would be the end for everyone because when you have the dagger, you control the Dark One and can make it do your bidding. Belle destroyed it with black fairy dust and Yzma crushed her heart."

Hope could feel her eyes well up again and nodded at Henry to continue.

"My grandpa was the Dark One for hundreds of years. All the bad he had done playing over and over in an endless loop. He killed hundreds, maybe thousands. He blamed himself for the death of Baelfire, my dad and Belle. He couldn't take it anymore. We don't know how he did it but Yzma was sure to let whole fucking forest know that the Dark One couldn't hold on."

"Henry I'm so sorry." Hope finally whispered, squeezing her brothers' hand.

"I am too, He held on for eighteen years, but I guess he had nothing else to live for."

Hope had to ask, "According to the book, Killi- I mean my dad was once a villain, right?"

Henry locked eyes with her. "A very long time ago but yes. Mom made him want to be a better man and he changed.

"But he did bad things once, so is he…?"

"Hopie, one thing you will learn about our father is that he excels at surviving. He has held on knowing he has mom and us to live for. Killian Jones is one of the strongest people I know."

"What about mom? Wasn't she the savior? What bad could she have done?"

"Mom was once the Dark One. She did things she regrets but never killed anyone, well she killed a villain, but it was an accident. Yzma has tried to get tricky and make her see things, but she is strong; just like you."

"How do you know all this?"

"I told you sis, curse didn't affect me. I've been keeping tabs on everyone the best that I can."

Hope let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Her parents were ok, which hopefully mean the rest of her family was too.

"So, what do we do?"

"First we need to find a talisman for Dad. something that will break him and only him out of the curse. I know where he is, but I don't know where mom, or anyone else is. Yzma split our family apart, trying to make them lose hope. Then we find mom and you and her can take out Yzma."

"Woah, woah, woah. What the heck makes you think I can help mom take this woman out?"

"Well, you are second generation child born of true love."

"Yeah, and…?"

"You have light magic, just like her."

Hope fell off her barrel. Magic? Has the rum gone his damn head? She stood quickly turning on her brother. "Have you lost your fucking mind?!" She was shouting now. "I do not have magical powers like Harry fucking Potter! I am nothing special. I am just Hope Swan- Jones, that's it, end of story." Hope was shaking now. "You cannot put they fate of everyone here on me that's not fair!"

"Nevertheless," Henry said standing, placing his hands on his sisters' shoulders, "I need you, I can't do this without you and I've waited too long to get you back." He pulled Hope into a tight embrace.

"I still don't believe you," Hope murmured into his shoulder.

"That's ok," Henry said, breaking the embrace and looking down at her. "The hero never believes at first." Hope looked him with a raised eyebrow and yawned loudly.

"Why don't you get some sleep. I need to get up and tend to the ship and make sure we make our heading." Henry said walking back to the helm.

Hope nodded and whistled for Hook. "Goodnight Henry."

"Goodnight Hopie."

She smiled at him and descended into the captain's quarters.

Henry went to the helm smiling. She has to believe he thought, she just has to. What neither sibling noticed is that in her rage, every candle on board flicked brightly.

In a cavern far below the surface, a man was chained to a wall. His dark brown hair sticking out in all directions, blue eyes stormy and sad. The black pirate's shirt buttoned to mid chest and leather clad pants sticking to his thighs. He had blood and abrasions everywhere, his scruff scarred and bloody. Another moment plays through his head, another memory. The man looks up and lets out a gut-wrenching scream and then silence.