A BAT IN STORYBROOKE:
Chapter 6
Flashback: The Enchanted Forest, year 1774, at a party in the castle of Aldorada
A party hosted by the nation's ruler, Queen Florencia, celebrated the arrival of Aldorada's new allies.
It was one of those royal parties that Killian never believed he'd attend, with golden ballrooms and chandeliers, Chinese vases full of roses, buffets full of good-quality dishes, and dances. Many court's people where attending that party, with a majority of them being land owners or military official like the Denada Cortés.
Speaking of the Denada Cortés, Killian noticed that his brother didn't seem to have a good eye on the First Class Navy Sergeant as the latter was seen chatting with a few Aldoradian soldiers and at least 4 noblemen. They all seemed to have an amiable chat.
"The Sergeant doesn't seem trustworthy to me," Liam muttered to the Lieutenant.
"I don't understand what's wrong with you, Liam. You usually are the type to follow a code of honor about the essentials of good form, and here you are judging one of the militants of our King's newest allies merely because he looks different."
"Don't be ridiculous, Killian," the captain retorted. "Good form applies to humans and this sergeant isn't human."
Killian looked in disbelief at his brother. "Honestly, Liam, you disappoint me. You taught me to be a just and fair-playing leader without excluding anybody in the crew. And here you are, acting all prejudiced because one sergeant looks and might be different than others? I thought you were better than this." Before he could listen to his brother again, Killian went to join the group of chatting Aldoradians were Fitzgerald Denada Cortés was currently at.
The latter was actually the one to warmly start off with the conversation: "Ah, Lieutenant Killian Jones! What an honor to have you here! Please, do join us. We were just about to have a cup of our local sangria." The rest of the group excused themselves, thinking it might be best that the two officials conversed alone. Fitzgerald summoned a waiter, who served two cups of sangria to the lieutenant and the sergeant.
"Thank you, Sergeant," Killian raised his cup. "A toast for our new alliance?"
"A toast indeed," Fitzgerald agreed as his cup clanged with Killian's. "And please, there's no need to call me by my title, Killian. You may call me by my first name, Fitzgerald, or by my surname…Fidget."
"Are you sure that's all right with you? I wouldn't want to start off the alliance by the wrong foot."
"Absolutely. What could be a better way of starting a possible friendship?" Smiles grew on their faces as they raised their cups to their mouths.
This was the most confusing case Emma had ever dealt with.
She had followed Leroy and Sleepy to the crime spot where the 'menace' appeared. The truck was still there, crashed on the tree with dried leaked oil stained on the trunk. Aside from that, nothing else was to be seen. No tracks on the road, nothing stolen from the truck. Everything seemed normal.
The only thing that seemed odd to Emma was a circular dent on the truck's bonnet. It wasn't very deep, was perfectly circular with no jagged corners, and seemed large enough to fit only one heel.
"Was this dent already on your truck before last night's accident, Leroy?" Emma asked as she took a picture of it with her phone.
"Emma, I've had that truck for almost thirty-one years. If I'd seen that dent, I would have taken it to the garage in Storybrooke in order to fix it," Leroy snorted.
Emma gave a hopeless sigh as she put her cell phone back in her pocket. The 'menace' was clever enough to not leave any particular behind that would give Emma a hint of where he or she might be hiding and a car dent wasn't enough.
"I'll go analyze at the sheriff's station. In the meantime, stay here in case the culprit comes back here."
"You got it," Leroy said as Emma got inside her car and drove back to town.
Henry took a quick glimpse inside Storybrooke's library as he opened the door. Nobody was there.
"The coast's clear. Let's go!"
He and Rosetta sneaked inside, carefully closing the door behind, hoping that nobody would see them.
"Henry, I don't like this," Rosetta whimpered as she clung to the boy.
"Don't worry. I told Mrs. Roberts that I was taking you to the nurse because you didn't feel so well; that way, they won't be worried about our absence while we're here," he reassured her.
"It's not our absence or even or parents finding out that we're ditching class in order to find information on Hook's old foe," Rosetta insisted. "It's the quietness. It's as silent as a grave here. I can't even hear the air vent running."
Henry paused, realizing that she was right: sure, the library was quiet when nobody was here, but even the air vent didn't seem to be running. Everything was quiet, a little too quiet. Even the books seemed stiff to Henry.
Nevertheless, Henry wasn't backing down. Hook needed help, and it wasn't the creepy silence of a library that would stop him.
He put is hands on Rosetta's shoulders and looked at her cyan eyes full of fear. "I promise, Rosetta, I won't let anything bad happen to you. Everything's going to be OK."
"Do you promise on the River Styx?"
"Sorry?"
"If you swear on the River Styx, then you can't break your oath. Do you promise on the River Styx that you'll keep yours?"
Henry hesitated at first but finally agreed: "I swear on the River Styx that I won't let anything bad happen to you, Rosetta Anubisia Romanov."
Rosetta smiled, reassured, and straightened herself. "Then let's get started!"
The children went through the books, hoping to find a clue that would help them.
"Do you anything about Fidget the Bat that might help us in here?" Henry asked his friend.
Rosetta stopped to concentrate until she found an answer: "He have to look at two books that are in this library: Batrishans: An Ancient Species and Aldoradian History."
"Batrishans? Aldorada?" Henry looked puzzled. "What does it mean?"
"Batrishans are the humanoid bat species where Fidget gets his main origins. They used to be an amazing ancient civilization full of arts and sciences that lasted for generations. Unfortunately, a god for apparently unleashing his wrath, which usually doesn't sound like them at all, decimated them. Nobody has ever seen a Batrishan ever again."
"But Hook did. He knew Fidget. So…Fidget must be the last of his kind."
"Exactly. When he was still a newborn, he was somehow spared and protected by another god who took him away from his birthplace, the Batrishan Sanctuary, and delivered at the front door of St. Alejandro's Chapel in the human empire of Aldorada, where a couple of Aldoradian noblemen, the Denada Cortés, found him and adopted him, baptizing him Fitzgerald Denada Cortés, and raised him as their own son."
Henry held back tears. "So that's how he knew Hook? Because Fidget was raised by humans?"
"Well, actually, he…I FOUND ONE OF THE BOOKS!" Rosetta pointed at red, thick book, on the shelf full of encyclopedias, with the golden, printed letters ALDORADIAN HISTORY on it. She went to grab the book…
That's when a black, clawed hand, accompanied by the scariest, bat face ever, emerged from behind the bookshelf, knocking down all the books on its way as it grabbed Rosetta by the arm.
Henry made a run towards Fidget as he restrained Rosetta with one arm, causing her to cry in pain due to his brutal force. The peg-legged Batrishan was too quick for Henry: with one snap of his unoccupied fingers, he summoned pipes that hung from the ceiling to release themselves and intertwine around Henry's arms like snakes, restraining him.
"Usually, I would gladly talk about the story of my life, especially with people who know a lot about me," Fidget said as he unsheathed a silver sword with an ebony handle and pressed it under Rosetta's chin, "but I'm in the middle of obtaining the revenge that I've been desiring for centuries and I can't ruin it."
"Let us go!" Henry retorted as he struggled through his tight restrains. "You won't get away with it if you kill us…Fitzgerald Denada Cortés!"
Fidget merely chuckled. "Oh, I'm not planning on killing you yet, you and your demigod friend…descendant of Rumplestiltskin the Dark One!"
Henry froze in shock. "How on earth did you know I was Rumplestiltskin's grandson?"
"He scented our presence when we arrived," Rosetta whimpered as Fidget tightened his grasp on her and started to press the blade of his sword harder under Rosetta's chin, causing her to start bleeding.
"Indeed I did," Fidget replied. "The Dark One's smell covers half of your body scent. Now, I'll only start killing you too, starting with the demigod here, unless you cooperate and do exactly as I say, Henry. Don't forget the promise you made on the River Styx."
Henry growled in anger. Now he understood why Fidget was a danger to Hook and everyone: his thirst for revenge made him go to the point where he'd be willing to force a child, who made an unbreakable oath, to help him in his evil scheme unless the child wanted to watch his friend perish at the hands of Fidget.
"All right. I'll do anything you ask me," Henry told the Batrishan, making the latter grin in delight as the beginning of his plan began to function.
"Excellent. Then let's get started, shall we?"