Elyse Charming, the princess of the realm, stared out the castle windows, a dreamy expression plastered on her face. Her thin legs were folded under her poofy silk dress as she perched royally on the stone windowsill. Its dimensions being just over a foot deep and less than three feet across, Elyse barely had room to sit. As young girl of just fifteen, she had not yet become exposed to the darkness of the world and so still was filled with the hope and dreams on which her land, the Enchanted Forest, ran. She had been born several months after all the residents of her land were placed back into their rightful places after the dark curse.
At the moment, Elyse's older sister, Emma, now 34 years of age, and Elyse's older sister's son, or Elyse's nephew, Henry- now 26 years old, were staying at the castle for Elyse's Birthday Ball. It was a special occasion, though this time a bit belated due to Captain Hook's capture and imprisonment. Elyse would gladly slip into the tight corset of her tailored gown and dance with the fine young princes and lords of the land that wanted her hand in marriage, but what she really wanted was adventure. The yearning was natural, but unlike the rest of her family, Elyse didn't have the instinct or ability to go out on sudden impulses like she dreamed. The only way she'd ever be able to go on an adventure, she knew, was to be gently coaxed into it and that was no way to start one.
Of course, if Elyse ever asked her parents Charming and Snow, their first and only answer would be yes. Anything to please their little princess that been their unspoken rule for as long as she could remember. She knew why. Long ago, when the dark curse first came to be, Prince Charming and Snow White had a baby, Emma Swan, destined to break the Evil Queen's impending curse. Charming and Snow placed baby Emma in a magical wardrobe that transported her safely to the land of the curse. The moment the curse hit, the residents of the Enchanted Forest were moved to Storybrooke, Maine, USA in the 1980's. Emma was put in the foster system and her parents no longer knew she existed.
Twenty eight years later, Emma, a grown woman, came to Storybrooke after the son she had put up for adoption found her. He was Henry, at ten years old. The town had been frozen in time and only Henry knew that Emma was to save it and break the curse. Many adventures and incidents later, the curse was broken and the inhabitants of Storybrooke were moved back to the Enchanted Forest.
Elyse's parents never got to raise Emma. After being frozen in time for over 28 years, their baby daughter was nearly the same age as them. Elyse knew that her parents wanted more than anything to raise her and spend time with her. For fifteen years, with the birth of Elyse, they had gotten just that, but it would never make up for the lost time in Storybrooke.
Elyse sighed, staring out the giant, semi-circular window at the dwarves laughing next to their cart full of pickaxes. Asking her parents if she could leave was completely out of the question. Maybe her Birthday Ball tomorrow would take her mind off things. She couldn't wait for the dignified guests, loads of food, and socializing.
Turning her attention away from the window, Elyse noticed a servant scuttle out of the door to the spiral staircase across the expansive stone room adorned only by a deer head and exquisite rug. He looked slightly scared as he clumsily balanced porcelain dishes and sterling silverware on a polished metal tray. What was he doing? That dingy staircase led up to the tower… Sudden realization came to her. The musty stairs also went down to the ghastly dungeon, where her family kept the kingdom's most dangerous outlaws, and more recently, Hook.
Unlike most of her family, Elyse didn't despise the one-handed buccaneer. She knew the horrible thing he'd ever done to her sister Emma, but somehow that didn't faze the fifteen year old. She felt slightly guilty about not hating Hook, but she knew it was for the best. A friend of her parents, Belle, had often reminded Elyse to never judge anyone until she really knew what was in their heart. Elyse took this saying as the truth and absentmindedly wondered what kind of a person the notorious Captain Hook really was.
Surprised at what she had just thought, Elyse realized she was still sitting in the same cramped position on the windowsill, twirling a ringlet of black hair the same shade as her mother's around her finger. The servant Jonah had long since gone, leaving the clatter of dishes crashing echoing off the walls and the door to the stairwell cracked open just enough that the lock didn't click back into place.
Standing up slowly, Elyse stretched out her legs from their cramped position on the cold, hard sill. She approached the wrought iron door to close it, but on second thought slipped through to the other side, the lust for adventure kicking in. Panic flooded her mind and adrenaline seeped into her veins as she quickly forgot why she came here. With a small tap at her forehead, Elyse quickly remembered and made sure the door was still left inconspicuously open. She tiptoed down the long stairwell, her padded slippers making no sound in the eerie tower.
Finally she came to an open chamber with walls carved from the earth. Jail cells of different shapes and sizes lined the rocky walls. Very few were occupied; the inhabitants looking scruffy but well fed. As Elyse sneaked past, they watched her with empty eyes and limp bodies. At the end, in the most high security part of the dungeon, sat a well-groomed man amiably picking at the rocks using the hook that replaced his left hand with concentration. The security on the cell wasn't ensured with guards, but magic built into the thick, tooth-like bars. In the past, this cell had been used to store the Dark One, Rumpelstiltskin.
Hook saw Elyse before he heard her. As she cautiously edged toward the rugged man, he called out, "Come to see me, love? I don't think your parents will be too happy about you coming here." His clear voice and hook chipping away at rocks, come to think of it, had no echoes, though in a room like this, echoes were expected.
"W-well, they didn't tell me I couldn't," Elyse stuttered. Captain Hook's dangerous, inquisitive stare made Elyse very nervous. It was hard to keep eye contact with his piercing eyes. It was hard to tell what color they were from her distance, but she realized it was a bright blue, inhibited by the darkness around them. Hook really wasn't what she imagined a pirate to be. No excess of curse words, no tattoos, and no wooden peg leg. His stare made Elyse constantly flicker her eyes away in awkwardness, allowing her to notice his attire: black, clean, leather clothing, matching with his black hair and mustache. The mustache wasn't as Elyse imagined, either. Instead of greased, curled ends, Hook looked like he'd just forgotten to shave for almost a week. She forced herself to meet the repelling magnet of Hook's eyes again, almost giggling when she was reminded of how Hook wore his collars up instead of folded.
Hook turned on the lump of rock that constituted a chair, making the rest of his body face Elyse. "You don't look much like your sister," he noted, "But then again, Emma doesn't look like either of her parents. You look like your mother."
Elyse didn't know what to say next. Hook was right, of course. The only similarity Elyse could find between Emma and her parents were Emma and Snow's faces. They looked slightly alike, but even then one had to look closely. Elyse, on the other hand, had her father's eyes and face but her mother's hair and misguiding look of innocence. Some features were Elyse's own, poise, small hands, curled hair, and a misleading fragility. In the dark of this cavern, Elyse's pale skin resembled creamy milk. "I was curious," she blurted out. "Belle said there's kindness in everyone's hearts, you just have to get close to them to see it. I-I… I wanted to know if you're really as bad as everyone says." She covered up quickly, avoiding the truth.
"Well," said Hook accommodatingly, "I am in here in this dungeon, aren't I?"
"Y-yes, but-"
"You should leave, love. There's no reason a little girl like you should be here unless it's to let me out of this hole."
"Sorry," squeaked Elyse. "I thought- I thought-" She tried to find an excuse to no avail. She then admitted, her voice down to a whisper, "I wanted adventure."
Hook, surprised, gave a chuckle. "And you thought I would be your adventure?" He was clearly amused. "Hate to break it to you, love, but I'm chained up in your dungeon."
Elyse, feeling ashamed, turned and was about to scurry back up to the living room she'd been daydreaming in earlier. Hook's voice stopped her. "Don't take what I said too personally, love. Feel free to stop by again. I do enjoy company." Elyse turned to look at him, shocked. Hook winked. "I said, don't take it personally."
Unwillingly, Elyse broke out into a small smile. "Okay. I'll remember that." She spun on her heel and dashed away and up the stone stairs, thinking that the terrible pirate wasn't so bad after all.