"It's a little freakier than I remember from the story." Emma said.
"Reminds me of death." Mulan said.
"Encouraging." Said looking at Mulan.
"Yes, this place does feel like some tragedy happened here." Philip said.
"Well, other than the killing of a large number of giants and men, nothing much." Hook said smiling. "And, your compass awaits. Shall we?"
"Wait. If these beans create…portals, why not just pick one and go home? Why the compass?"
"Because there aren't any more beans. Whatever story you think you know, my dear, is most certainly wrong."
"There was a guy named Jack, and a cow, and something about evil giant with a treasure and a golden goose. …Or harp."
"Sounds like a lovely tale. But the truth's a little bit more gruesome. The giants grew the beans, but, rather than use them for good, they used them to plunder all the lands. Jack, was a man who fought a terrible war, defeating all but one of the evil giants. The beans were destroyed by the giants as they died. If they couldn't have their magic, then nobody could. It's really very bad form." Hook said.
"Evil giants, who made magic portal beans? Why doesn't anyone just go up and grow some more?" Emma asked.
"Because one giant survived. The strongest and most terrible of them all. And we'll have to get past him to…"
"The magic compass." Mary finished.
"Indeed. The treasure remains, and amongst it is the compass. Now it will guide us to your land. Cora has the means to open a portal with the wardrobe ashes, but she can't find your land without the compass. Once we get it, it's find a way to power it up and we're on our way." Hook replied.
"How do we know you're not just using us to get the compass for Cora?" Mulan asked.
"Because you four are far safer company. All I need is a ride back. I'll swear allegiance to whomever gets me there first." Emma said.
"Quite the loyal warrior." Lancelot said distastefully.
"And how do we know you're not going to just steal the ashes and the compass and go to Cora and leave, after all, she does not exactly strike me as the most forgiving person when it comes to betrayal." Philip said.
"Well then, get the ashes and the compass and open the portal quickly; she won't know she was betrayed or give me time to betray you." Hook responded.
"Then we'd better start climbing." Emma said.
"Right, so… I failed to mention that the giant enchanted the beanstalk to repel intruders." Hook said.
"Alright, so how do we get up there?"
"I've got a counter spell from Cora. If you'd be so kind." He said, asking Mary to untie his wrists. "Thank you, milady." He then showed them a band on his wrist. "I've got one more of these. Cora was to accompany me. So… Which one of I hope the four lovelies shall take her place? Hm? Go on, fight it out. Don't be afraid to, you know, really get into it."
"And why not I just go up with you, or in you place?" Lancelot asked.
"Because it's bound to me already and you're not my type."
"And my type of pirate is in a cage or with a sword in their chest, but if we're both willing to compromise." The knight said smiling. "I think we can make it work."
"Pardon me. In this world, we are slaves to time. And ours is running out. In other words, tick tock." Hook said as the others talked about who was going to go with him. He then smiled when Emma walked up. "I was hoping it'd be you."
"Just get on with it."
"Put your hand right here. Emma put her hand on Hook's shoulder. He snaps the second magical cuff to her wrist, smiling the whole time. "That's a good girl. This will allow you to climb. There are other dangers. Thankfully, you've got me to protect you. But I can't climb one-handed, can I?" He said smirking.
Emma just glared. "Don't think I'm taking my eyes off you for a second."
"I would despair if you did."
"Let's go." Emma said. "And continue to flirt with me, or make any suggestive comments of any kind, and I will enjoy feeding you to the giant, I'm married."
"That's what they all say."
"First beanstalk? Well, you never forget your first." Hook said.
"Shut up." Emma yelled back.
"You know, most men would take your silence as off-putting, but I love a challenge."
"I'm concentrating. You have a death wish."
"No, you're afraid. Afraid to talk – to reveal yourself. Trust me – things'll be a lot smoother if you do."
"You should be used to people not trusting you. How many married women you tried to run off with."
"Ah, the pirate thing, you think all I do is plunder the innocent and try and steal women."
"Yes. You forgot coward who would fight people who are weaker, have a sense of honor that doesn't actually work, and a completely overblown belief in how charming only you think you are."
"Well then, now we know what you think about me, all wrong by the way."
"Prove it."
"I will, but you still have yet to say anything about you." Hook said, but Emma was still silent. "Well, I don't need you to share. You're something of an open book."
"Am I?"
"Quite. Let's see – you volunteered to come up here because you were the most motivated. You need to get back to a child."
"That's not perception. That's eavesdropping."
"Ah, but you don't want to abandon him the way you were abandoned."
"Was I?"
"Like I said, an open book."
"How would you know that?"
"I spent many years in Neverland – home of the Lost Boys. They all share the same look in their eyes… The look you get when you've been left alone."
"Yeah, well, my world ain't Neverland." Emma said, mad.
"But an orphan's an orphan. Love has been all too rare in your life, hasn't it? You ever even been in love?" Hook asked.
"Yes, I am, with my husband, and any more flirting will result in your impalement and an express trip to the ground."
Hook and Emma reach the top of the beanstalk, to find a giant, destitute looking castle. With a lot of bodies. "What happened here?" Emma asked.
"It's where the final battle was. Give me your hand." Hook said.
"What?"
"Your hand – it's cut. Let me help you."
"No, no. It's fine."
"No, it's not."
"So, now you're going to be a gentleman?"
"Giants can smell blood. And I'm always a gentleman." Hook uncorks a bottle and pours its contents over Emma's bloody hand.
"I don't think that's trueee…" She yells while cringing in pain. "Ah! Ow! What the hell is that?"
"It's rum. A bloody waste of it." Hook says while tying a piece of fabric around Emma's injury. "Now here's the plan – we wait for the giant to fall asleep. And when he does, we'll sneak past him into his cave. It's where the treasures are – where the compass lies."
"And then?"
"And then we run like hell."
"I don't have time to wait for a giant to fall asleep. The powder Mulan gave us – we need to use it. We got to knock him out."
"Well, that's riskier."
"Than waiting for a giant to fall asleep when we need him to?"
"Point taken. Oo, you're a tough lass. You'd make a hell of a pirate." Hook says finishing the wrapping of the hand, and Emma sees a tattoo with a familiar name on it.
"Who's Milah on the tattoo?"
"Someone from long ago."
"Where is she?"
"She's gone."
"Rumpelstiltskin. He took more than your hand from you, didn't he? That's why you want to kill him.""
"Yes, if someone took your husband from you, wouldn't you want to kill them?"
"Wouldn't even need to think about it." Emma said. She then gave him a sideways glance. "What if I stole him, or he left a woman for me?"
"What?" Hook asked suddenly confused.
"You seem to be leaving a part or to out. You're a pirate, in any world there are stories of women running off with or being taken by pirates. Did Milah fit in to one of those categories?"
"She begged me to take her away from her old life, bored with the megger existence of being the village coward's wife."
"Really, so why did he kill his wife?" Hook looked confused at her question. "Well, if she just ran away with you, why did he kill her?"
"Because she loved me and he couldn't handle it."
"Really, not because she was faithless to him, but because she loved you." Emma said, laughing at the look on Hook's face, who was used to women taking his word at face value. "I'm not saying what he did was right, but if you're going to tell me he killed her, at least say what all happened. Don't try and lie to me."
Emma and Hook enter a one of the rooms filled with treasures. Having just put the giant to sleep, and Emma having to threaten Hook again for flirting. "They hoarded all of their greatest stolen treasures in here. Piles of jewels, and every room filled with coins."
"Let's get to it. The compass."
"What's your rush?"
"How long do you think magic knockout powder lasts?"
"I have no clue."
"That's my rush."
"Too right, lass. Come. Everything we need is right in front of us." He said, almost salivating at the loot.
"Feeling a little inferior Hook?"
"About what."
"Well, I'm betting you never had a haul 1/20 as good as one of these rooms, must make you feel a little bit less proud of your work to know your only second rate, at best."
"I think the fact that a giant could carry my ship in one hand and the treasure hoard of a kingdom in the other would be considered an unfair advantage."
"Well, Rumplestilskin was said to have a greater treasure then this, I guess that puts you in third, and he made his by honest deals."
"He made deals with desperate people."
"Still willing people, you stole from innocent people at the point of the knife, doesn't seem quite fair I'd say. The way I see it, at least he gave them a choice that wasn't do it or die by his own hand, he merely took advantage of people's own situations or greed. You forced people to give up what it was a treasured in order to make yourself feel better."
"And your point is?"
"I'd say if the two of you, Rumplestiltskin is a far better man than you will ever be."
"He is nothing more than it two bit coward, I'm worth more than 10 of his betters." Hook said walking forward angrily, not even looking to see the trip wire on the ground.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Emma said quickly grabbing him and pulling him back into her arms.
"Thinking about apologizing are we love. It's about bloody time." Hook said, earning him a fist to his stomach. Emma then grabbed his head and made him look at the tripwire.
"It's a trip wire. Quite a security system." She then forced him to look up and see the cage being suspended. "Try not to be so stupid, we need to find the compass and go home." Emma then motioned for Hook to go forward. "After you."
After a Quick Conversation with a Giant.
"Hook." Emma called looking for the pirate inside of the pile of rubble.
"You are bloody brilliant. Amazing. May I see it? The compass." He asked. His eyes widening as Emma held it out for him to see. "It's more beautiful than legend." He said looking at it. "They certainly did not do it justice."
Emma began feeling a little uncomfortable with how Hook was looking at the compass, so pocketed it again. "Come. Let's go." She said.
And as hook extended his hand to Emma for help, she grabbed his hand but quickly put a shackle on it. "What are you doing? What are you doing?"
"Hook, I… I… I can't…"
"Emma, look at me. Have I told you a lie? I brought you here. I risked my own safety to help you. The compass is in your hand. Why do this to me now?"
"I can't take a chance that I'm wrong about you. I'm sorry."
"You're sorry? You're sorry?! I got you here! I got you the compass!"
"I got the compass."
"Well, you're just going to leave me here to die? Have that beast to eat me, to crush my bones?"
"He's not a beast. And you're not going to die. We're going to make a deal."
"What?" Hook asked in shock.
"The deal." Emma said smiling. Because she had been thinking long and hard about what she was going to have to do. And in a moment of weakness, or just thinking like her husband, she realized how she would be able to get Hook to be on their side, and not be able to harm her family. "You're a villain. That means I can't trust you. But I'm willing to take you along if you're willing to make a deal with me."
"What kind of deal?"
"My family, you don't touch them. My husband and his children, my children, the children we had together, my parents, our maid. If they live in our house they are under our protection and you don't go near them."
"And out of curiosity, since I am a villain, how do you expect to make me honor this agreement?"
"Because you're going to swear on the soul of your lost love. Swear to me on her grave and good memory, on all that you hold dear of her, that you will not lift a hand or a hook to harm them, and play no part in any plans against them."
"And what pray tell, for the sake of argument, could I do with one of them decided to try and run me through or something else as vastly unpleasant?"
"Help them hold the sword steady so they can aim for your heart." Emma said smiling. "Do we have a deal?" She said extending her hand.
Hook has a hard time, but extends his chained up hand, being that he couldn't very well shake hands with his hook, to attempt to seal the deal. Emma grabbed his hand in quickly cut it. "Bloody hell, what are you doing?"
"Just adding a little more insurance." Emma said before extending her already cut hand, with blood on it, grasping hooks now slightly bloodied hand. "Swear on her memory that you will not harm them."
"I swear on the memory of my lost love Mila that I shall neither harm nor help to plan harm to fall upon any of your family or loved ones. They shall be safe from my sword, hand, and hook." Hook said, obviously not putting much emotion into it. But when he went to remove his hand from Emma's hand, she kept a firm grip.
"I'm still not sure I should trust you."
Hook just let out an exasperated sigh. "I also swear fealty and my loyal service to you in exchange for you on chaining me from this wall and allowing me to come with you to your world." He said giving her hand a squeeze and shaking it a bit. "How's that?"
Emma simply responded by returning the shake.
Down, down, down The Beanstalk You Go, and Then Don't Go into the Tunnel at the End.
Mary, Mulan, and Aurora were all sitting around on a log, Phillip and Lancelot trying to entertain them by showing different lunge and blocking maneuvers, occasionally sparing off against Mary or Mulan.
Mainly Mary, trying to distract her from the fact that they were fast approaching 12 hours, nearly half a day without knowing if her daughter was alright of not.
"I'm sure she'd fine Snow." Lancelot said. But he quickly took a step back when she looked at him, like she was about to tear him in half.
But then.
"AHHHHHHH!"
Hook fell to the ground.
"What in the realms!?" Mulan yelled, having jumped up, her sword drawn to attack.
Then Emma dropped down to the ground. Walking up to Hook and kicking him. "I said no more flirting or I would throw you to the ground." She then grabbed his coat and pulled him up to her face. "Don't do it again."
"Understood." Hook said gasping. His lungs feeling like they were on fire trying to breathe and most of his body slowly regaining feeling, mainly painful ones.
"So, dust yourself off and come on." She said dropping him to hit his head on the ground again. "Did I miss anyth…" The sentence was left unfinished, Mary collided into her.
"I was so worried."
"Yes well." She managed to pry her mother off. "I'm fine, turns out the Giant, Anton, is very nice, minus the part where he tried to kill us."
"What!"
"His whole family was killed by humans, he's a little sensitive." But he gave me this." She said holding up the compass.
"Wonderful, now we just need a way to make the ashes work." Philip said.
Lancelot walked over to Hook and picked him up off the ground. "Any ideas how to do the pirate?"
"No, Cora kept her information on a need to know, step by step basis. She would have told me after we got the ashes and the compass."
"So your usefulness has run out." Lancelot said going for his sword.
"Not necessarily." Emma said quickly. Lancelot stopped drawing his weapon. "You resourceful, even if she didn't tell you, you must know of something."
"Unfortunately, my magical knowledge was all focused on finding the Dark One's Dagger, not on portals or magical power sources." Hook said.
"The Dark One's Dagger?" Mulan asked.
"A weapon, the only thing that can kill him."
"How would you know such a thing excited?" Aurora asked.
"Because I tricked his only son into telling me." Hook said shocking the whole group, some more than others for different reasons. "Before turning him over to a rather unpleasant enemy who was threatening to kill my whole crew if I didn't hand the boy over."
"You traded a child to save yourself." Lancelot said, looking mad.
"His life or my crews, I found the trade to be rather fair and painless I thought. He decided not to join the crew, making him an outsider and an acceptable loss."
Lancelot the punished Hook to the ground. "Even Rumpelstiltskin's child deserved better treatment than that." He said going for his sword again.
"Lancelot." Emma said going up to stop him. "There are better ways to punish him, I promise." She whispered to him before turning and looking at Hook.
"Shut up unless you want him to kill you, or worse, leave you for Cora."
"So what now?" Philip asked.
"We get as far from here as possible, hope that Cora doesn't catch us, maybe a plan will come to us after a bit of rest and either way, were sitting ducks in this big of a field, we need to find some place to hide and hope we find a way out of here soon." Emma said, starting to walk away.
"Well, you heard her, let's go." Mary said following after her.
The group started moving a few seconds later, but it gave the two women enough time to move out of ear shot. "You okay?"
"Yes, I'll feel even better when I deliver that pirate's head on a platter to my husband."
PERSONAL NOTE.
Well, I survived a memorial service. I wonder how many people would be surprised by that when it's not their own service.
And now for some more bad news. My Uncle's birth father, also dying of cancer (wow that is common in my family) and extremely not Christian, died an hour before we went to Aunts service. I mean, timing. WOW.
My Uncle is not taking it well, and all sorts of awkwardness. So our family had a very, not good week that week.
Oh, and I caught a bullet with my teeth after it left the camber, metaphorically speaking.
Father, dead-beat dad, is trying for half custody because mom is trying to raise child support from $50 a kid to something reasonable. And I'm the one, alone, who told dad that, point blank, we will all be saying we don't want to live with him, we want to not see him more, maybe even see him less, and to not be a child.
This was an awkward thing to do, in the extreme, and so to marrow, we will all be saying our peace to him.
He is a Narcissistic Sociopath, so this will not end well most likely.
So please keep family in your prayers, especially my siblings as, (un)fortunalty, I am the only one to inherit Sociopathic tendencies, so this effects them a lot more then it dose me, especially emotionally.
So yeah, pray this all goes well, and hopefully all will go well.
And School is starting this week, AHHH.
Thank you all my lovely reviewers. Twyla Mercedes and ramen-luver101. And my beta and reviewer, Grace5231973.