Introducing Tom Burke (The Musketeers) as William Shakespeare
Land of No Magic
London, England
1591
Star Crossed Lovers are rare in any realm. Once in a generation. A pair of lovers that are destined to be together but are always going to be torn apart. Fate was cruel that way the Apprentice thought to himself as he made his way through the filthy streets of the city he had found himself in.
But it was necessary. For what they could produce was something the Apprentice never wanted to encounter again in his long life. The thought of Juno once again walking in any realm made the Apprentice pick up his pace in a sense of determination he had only seen in Merlin and Altair.
Another pair had met in Neverland. Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. Two sides of the same coin. Followers of two ancient orders that hated the other. Two ideologies spilling blood in the name of their Orders only to get stuck in an endless cycle of death that followed each assassin or Templar Agent. Always to end up making the same mistakes its founders made in the pursuit for peace and order.
These two were about to put their love above their duty to their orders. An Assassin and Templar. A love that would only end one way. The blood that stained both their hands thanks to the Orders they belonged to, would never wash out no matter what good they would do and would be passed down to whatever child they would have.
Death surrounded the star-crossed lovers. And so would any product of that death-mark'd love. Death would follow the child wherever it went.
Their story needed to be written to serve as a warning. An author was needed. But not just any author. He needed a writer that would be able to hide this warning within his writings, in plain sight.
The thought made the Apprentice chuckle to himself as he thought of this. It reminded him of his old friend Altair.
Entering the tavern of the theater district of the quickly evolving city with a ruling monarch who was an admirer of the performances that graced the dirtied crowded streets, the Apprentice sought out the young writer where he was known to sit and write his stories in before being played out to the crowds.
He wasn't given a second glance as men walked by with tankards in their hands laughing and singing the night away as his old eyes found a young man with brown hair sat alone by the lit hearth hunched over pieces of paper with a quill in hand and a half empty tankard nearby as he wrote down ever idea and character he thought of, waving away men that tried to get him to stop and join in with the festivities around him.
This was him. The Author wouldn't be like the Author's that had come and gone through the years. He had the special task of writing about only about the pair of star-crossed lovers that were about to embark on their tragic story.
"Are you Will?" the Apprentice asked the young man as the latter continued to write.
"Who is asking good sir?" the younger man politely asked him, not looking up from his page so engrossed in the story he was trying to tell as he struggled to write down the words that came to his mind.
"I suppose...I am" the Apprentice tells the young man with a kind smile taking a seat in front of him noting the amount of paper the young writer was. This was him. The young up and coming playwright, and poet that had his own unique sense of language that would be needed for his task "I have a request,so to speak".
"I do not take requests" Will quickly answered him.
"A job then, one that requires your…. Expertise. I have a story I need told, and you William Shakespeare are the only one able to write it".
Without another word said between them the Apprentice took out the spherical object robes allowing it's light up the corner of the dimly lit corner of the tavern as no one else took notice of the playwright and Apprentice disappearance from their table in a bright almost white light, leaving behind the parchment and quill the playwright was using.
The Apprentice had one shot of using the Apple of Eden to rip through time and realms to get to the place the playwright needed to be to tell the story of Star-Crossed Lovers, for it took for Altair's last breath to give him the strength he needed to use it.
Neverland
Many Years Ago
The bright light that had almost blinded the young playwright subsided as he suddenly found himself stood on wet sand underneath his boot's. His surroundings had changed as well, instead of the enclosed space of the tavern he was out in the open on a beach with a deep jungle to his right and the sea to his left. The sky above him was filled with thousands of stars with the full moon bathing his surroundings in its light.
Whirling around he tried to find the old man that had taken him away from his musings to this...place. He certainly wasn't in London anymore. He finally found the man that had disturbed his writings sat on the sand further away from him looking worse for wear as a bronze sphere sat in the sand next to him.
"Wha- what is that? Where are we?" Will hastily asked the man in a state of panic.
"Magic" the man huffed out as he leaned heavily on his knees to picked himself up from the sand "Or at least that is what my friend likened it to" the older man added as he picked up the object that sat in the sand "This place is called Neverland, it is home to a villain we will not have the pleasure of meeting. Come we do not have much time".
At that the Apprentice led the playwright the short distance through the jungle until they came to a small clearing where a large net was hung enclosed like it had caught something.
"Hello? Very funny lads, you can let me down now" a feminine voice rang out in the distance making both men see a young woman with fiery orange hair trapped within a net that hung from the ground.
"Who is that?" Will asks him a little too loudly for the Apprentice's liking.
"Hush, we must not be heard" the older man hushed the playwright before looking back at the scene before them "Her name is Juliet Capulet and the man approaching her is Romeo Montague" the Apprentice tells the play-write seeing the Assassin approach the woman caught up in the netting with a sword in his hand "We are about to witness the first meeting of Star- Crossed Lover's, it is their story I need you to write about".
"Star-Crossed Lovers?" Will questioned the older man in confusion. He had never heard of the term before.
"Two people who are destined to meet and fall in love only for destiny to tear them apart, often by each others own hands" the older man tells him "They have the potential to create something that hasn't been seen in centuries in my land, an evil that must not be unleashed upon my world or any world including your own, William".
"And you say I must write about them to stop this...evil" the playwright hesitatingly asked the old man.
"Over the years I have asked many Author's to write what has your task is different. You must hide what these Star-Crossed Lover's have the potential to make. I have seen your work and all the work you have yet to write, you are the only person who will be able to hide the child they will have. It will serve as a warning not to get in the way of what destiny has is store of any star-crossed pair that wish to defy it or to those who wish to use it for their own gains"..
"If you are to take on the request, there will be rules.You must never interfere with their story, only observe, let it play out as it should be. Then I will take you back to your time. Do what you will with the information, show it to the world, the only thing I ask of you is to protect the child, keep them hidden within your words for it might be the only thing that protects all the realms that exist".
Enchanted Forest.
Years Later.
She couldn't remember how long she had been on the run for. How many hours she had spent going from village from village to get as far away from her home as possible. She knew for a fact that the Brotherhood wouldn't let the trail go cold even after days of constantly looking over her shoulder, checking every rustle of leaves on the ground or above her.
The sun was setting once again on the third day she had spent on the move with no breaks for food or sleep. Her stomach ached from the lack of food, she had to stop eventually and get what rest she could get at a sea side town that held a dry dock.
She welcomed lively atmosphere around her as sailors, townspeople and merchants all melded together in a symphony of voices as she neared a tavern that sat near the docks where a few ship had been anchored for the night. One that looked a little too big to be anchored in the small dock took her attention as she dismounted her the forth horse she had 'borrowed'. It's name printed out in gold lettering on the stern.
The Godspeed.
Rambunctious laughs and cheers drifted out of the tavern as the door opened and closed by patrons as she looked beyond the Godspeed to the open ocean in the distance. How she
"She is a beauty. Isn't she?" a voice suddenly said next to her making her snap her head around to see an impish man with shirt dark hair "The ship, I mean. Doesn't' it make you want to just sail out there to forget all your troubles" he went on.
"Seen better" she huffed out gently tugging the rains of her horse towards a water trough.
"Well.." he drawled out following the young woman with red hair as she tied the leather reins to the wooden post "I guess sea life isn't for everyone. I'm more of a palace kind of guy" he added as he looked behind the assassin.
Looking in the same direction she saw what he was talking about. Stood in the distance like a beacon of hope to the assassin stood King Leopold tall almost menacing palace the over towered its surrounding lands for miles, comforting its kingdom by its mere presence in the distance of the kind monarch that ruled within it she had met not even a year ago.
It was that moment she remembered King Leopold knowing her Master. He spoke of Romeo so fondly. Their conversation during their walk through the gardens came to mind while she was still recovering from the injuries she sustained protecting Snow and The Queen.
He knew. He knew Romeo was her true father.
Maybe the King could help her now. He would give her the sanctuary she needed at this most desperate of time, in a heart beat. But she knew what would happen if she involved anyone else in her escape from the Brotherhood. They would mostly be killed for aiding a traitor. Even a King and his family weren't safe.
No. She needed to stay as far as way from anyone she had ever met. The man's suggestion of the sea didn't sound so bad after all. The sea was her second home thanks to The Jackdaw, the water always calmed her. Get out of the Enchanted Forest altogether.
"It's nice huh?" the man spoke up again who was still admiring the building from afar.
"Get out of my way" she says quickly dismissing the man pulling up her hood over her head, sending her shoulder into his as she walked past heading into the noisy tavern for some food and rest before figuring out her next move in a world that wanted to see her dead.
Storybrooke
Present
With the new piece of information that the Author was trapped inside the page, the three women gathered to discuss their next move as Tom and Henry stood over the quickly ailing August on the couch.
"How the hell is The Author trapped inside the book?" Regina asked the pair as she held the page that had supposedly held the Author inside.
"Don't ask me" Emma argued "You're the magic expert".
"Ditto on the blonde" Amelia added as the three woman look at the page that held the Author as Tom and Henry sat with August who had fallen unconscious.
"Mom..." Henry and Tom both called out for the three but went unheard.
"Well, this is insane" Regina carried on "Are we supposed to do, draw a key?".
"What we need to do is figure it out before Gold does and what he wants with the Apple" Amelia argued to the pair as the Apple of Eden say on the dining room table in it's burnt out state not too far away from the conversation.
"Mom!" Tom and Henry yelled in unison at them, making all three of them look towards the pair in concern.
"What is it?" Regina asked the boys.
"There's something wrong with August" Henry tells them making the redhead look at the man who was still on the coach not moving with his eyes closed.
"August? August?" Emma tried to shake the man awake as Amelia and Tom's eyes flickered gold as they saw how bad of a state the man was in. He was fading. Fast. She concentrated her vision on his beating heart. He was alive..barely.
"Lia? Tom?" Emma called out for the pair seeing how their eye's shone a dull gold color.
"We need to get him help" the redhead tells the woman "Now".
Mother Superior and the fairies at the convent was their saving grace once they had gotten August to them in the nick of time. The color of his face had turned a sickly grey once he had been settled in a bed. The wave of guild washed thought the assassin knowing she was partly responsible for his condition.
She had pushed him too far during her interrogation. It was the price she had to pay for playing the part of the Black Widow in front of the Uncle and the others. She would have to pray to whatever deity out there that would listen to her to spare him.
"He's been through a lot" Mother Superior told them stroking his hair as the former Assassin had to push that feeling of guilt away as she felt her phone continuously vibrate in her jacket knowing who was calling her without even looking. She and Regina was supposed to be back at the cabin by now with the Apple and the page
"What's happening?" Emma asked the fairy as the former Black Widow and Evil Queen took out their phones to reject and dismiss the calls and texts they were receiving from the cabin "He was awake, and then he passed out, and..".
"Well, he's been changed by magic many times" Blue explains to the savior as Amelia rejects the call from her sister once again "For him to survive this, he will have to be very strong" the fairy tells the concerned group.
"We have a bigger problem" Regina announced to Emma re-gaining her attention at the problem at hand.
Leaving August in the capable and caring hands of the fairies the trio of mothers led Henry and Tom out of the room.
"Gold and these other witches are expecting us" Regina informs the blonde savior "They sent us on a mission to get that page from the book and the burnt Apple. And if we return empty-handed, whatever suspicions they have of me or Melia will be confirmed",.
"Then give them this" Emma says coming to a stop, highlighter hand out flat she confidently conjures a duplicate of the page with the door on it.
An eyebrow raised on both Amelia's and Tom face at the small bit of magic she had displayed "Wow. You're getting good" Henry complimented his mother.
"I've been practicing" she tells the others with a smug smile on her face.
"A forgery?" Regina questioned as her partner took the page from the blondes hand showing it to her partner.
"It is a nice copy" Amelia compliments the woman taking a look at the duplicate "But this isn't Cora we're talking about here. They're not going to fall for a fake like she did. My Uncle isn't so easily fooled, especially if its something he wants. Believe me. I know" she tells the blonde seemingly unimpressed by her idea, handing the page to the former Queen "No offence" she quickly adds, hoping she would be forgiven for the slight aimed at her late mother.
"None taken dear" Regina sighed out taking the page from the assassin.
"Then pull out" Emma tells the pair "And we will protect you".
"We still don't know what they're up to" the former Queen argues "It's a bigger risk not to know" at that both Amelia and Regina's phone beeped simultaneously making them both take their cells out of their pockets to check them.
The redhead had to stifle a grumble as she saw the not so polite message asking her where she was with the Apple.
Regina simply sighed seeing her text as Amelia simply rolled her eye's at the crude text her sister has sent her "That's them. Probably wondering where we are" Regina voiced.
"Statia's getting impatient" she informs the group "It won't be long until she pisses either my Uncle or Cruella enough to make them come out looking for us themselves" she warns the other's knowing her sister all too well sometimes.
"Mom, Lia the forgery's good" Henry tells the pair as he and Tom compare the pages together side by side.
"Not good enough. But maybe what we need is a different kind of copy" Regina tells them turning on the camera on her phone.
"Because Gold and those witches don't know that the page contains the actual door" Emma realizes as the camera shutter goes off as the former Queen took the picture of the page "All they care about is what the door looks like".
"Hopefully, this photo will keep them on their wild goose chase around town" the former Queen says as she looks towards Henry "We've got to get going" Regina announces as she goes to hug Henry, the redhead moves to engulf her son in a warm embrace.
The pair held onto their son's knowing it would be a while until they would see them again. She didn't want to let go, he was the only thing keeping her anchored to Amelia Montague and not the Black Widow. It felt like the longer she was away from him the further she was drifting away into an endless sea with no land in sight.
He had to admit he missed her too. They hadn't been apart like this for over a year. He could see the effect of being near so many darkened hearts was doing. The sparkle in her eye had dimmed, her smile didn't quite have the same brightness as it did during those villain free six week's. Even her hair seems darker than it was. She was slipping further than anyone was realizing, not even Regina.
"Okay Mom" Henry chuckles out for the pair of them making them pull away from their sons.
"Sorry. Sorry. Just not sure if...When 'll be back to see you" Regina tells the pair, looking between them taking Henry chin in her hand "But don't worry. We'll be fine" the redhead gave the younger boy a confident wink making him smile at the redhead knowing they'll both be fine.
"Good, because we've got to Lia and Tom pack" Henry replied hearing the optimism behind the prospect of the redhead and Tom permanently moving into the mansion. A bright smile grew on the former Queen's face hearing her son's excitement and hope that their plan would work enough for the pair to start their life together in the one home.
The news took the savior by surprise as she looked between the couple seeing the happiness on her sons face. They were moving in together. Out of all the secrecy and undercover work they were moving forwards with their relationship.
But the former assassin kept a weary eye on her son as he tried to keep the smile on his face, he wasn't happy.
Moving pass the slight hurt the redhead spoke up "Don't get too excited, we still need to figure out what Gold is up to" she reminded him, quickly changing the subject for Tom's sake.
"I know Lia" he says in understanding moving towards the redhead he wrapped his arms around her in an equally warm embrace allowing the assassin hold him like she did her own son. Regina and Emma watched the sweet interaction knowing how much the redhead loved the younger boy ever since the first curse broke
Pulling out of the embrace she held onto Henry's hand taking Tom's in the other, looking between the pair the same way clenching Tom's hand a little tighter before letting them both go.
The couple turn to leave only for Tom's voice to stop them. "Wait" he called out to the pair making them stop and turn back to face him. "Let me walk you out Mom" the teenager offers, needing to talk to her.
"Tom, you can't-" she tried to tell him worried if anyone saw them speaking when they were supposed to be stealing the page and Apple back from them.
"I know" he quickly tells her, gulping in nervousness "I want to. As far as the car, I promise" he pauses as he tries silently plead to her through his eyes "Please Mom".
"Come on" Amelia mumbled as her partner hung back allowing the redhead to speak to her son.
The pair stayed in comfortable silence as they made their way out of the convent. She had a feeling this was something that had been on his mind ever since she suggested the idea of permanently moving into the mansion, not just staying over for a night or two then going back home to the apartment that seemed smaller each time they entered.
"Mom-" he started only for his mother to interrupt him.
"No, let me talk first. I know your not happy with the idea about moving in with Regina and Henry" she tells him off the bat.
"H-How did you know?". he nervously replied, his mother had seen right through him.
"You're my son, I just know" she simply tells him "Tell me what the problem is".
Tom paused trying to find the right word that would best sum up the jumble of thoughts in his head "Don't you think it's a bit fast? Moving in with them. A-And what about Dad" he spluttered out unintentionally trying to avoid the subject of Anastasia's warning not to get in her way.
"What about your Dad?" she asked him in slight confusion.
"You guys were married. And he left, just like that. No warning's, a quick goodbye. Aren't you pissed that he left" he vented out to his mother. This had been weeks in the making, distracted by the bar and the fairies the redhead saw the failures that now stood in front of her, desperately seeking for answers even she couldn't answer.
A flash of hurt went through her mind at the memory of how they had parted with John in the mansion. As happy as she was in her current relationship the sting remained of his decision to leave them behind to start again back in a land he knew.
"Tom, I will always love your father. He gave me something I thought I could never have in my life after leaving the Brotherhood. There isn't a day that's gone by wishing we had left on better terms" she paused thinking through the rest of her answer "So to answer your question, I'am hurt by the way he left. I'm angry that he ran away when there was a chance of keeping you in his life while letting me be happy with someone else".
"Then why did you let him go?" he asked her.
"I let him go because I loved him. Something even you will come to understand one day. He wasn't happy here. He wouldn't have left if he hadn't had thought we weren't happy here".
"How do you know that?".
"Because I know him. I may have lost time with him but I know him well enough he wouldn't have left for a reason. We had our problems Tom, we couldn't bury thirty years of pain and suffering under a facade just because we somehow got the chance to be together again. No one can".
"Not even with you and Regina?".
"No, not even with her. We aren't perfect. We both know that we aren't the Charming's, we've hurt each other so many times, I'm still wondering why we're even still together. But we took our chance to be happy together despite all of that".
"-And I wouldn't have said Yes to Regina if I didn't think we would be happy. I've never been so sure of something like this before otherwise I would've never have agreed in the first place".
His heart broke seeing the stray tears that left her eyes as she wiped away as he hung his head down in the wave of shame and guilt. Suddenly Tom threw himself into his mother's arms that easily caught him resting his head on her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him for the second time that morning.
"I'm sorry Mom" he says into her shoulder as he felt her comforting finger thread though the back of his head.
"No. Don't be. I shouldn't have put that on you before leaving" she says as he pulls away from her.
"It's okay. I know we'll be happy. I wanna move in with them, I really do. It's just...".
"Just what?".
"What if someone comes along you can't beat, no matter how much you want to. Someone who's stronger than you, someone you can't kill no matter how much you have to".
There was something he still wasn't telling her. And that was okay, he was worried something she's done hours doing herself. Worrying about the next contract, the next target, the next kill. It was Romeo that had to pull her out of the questions that filled her head whenever he caught her pushing herself too hard, ready for the fight that couldn't be won by her training alone.
"Well in that case, we live in the moments we do have to the fullest with the people we love in the time we do have" she tells him brushing a lock of the brown hair out of his face "Something your Grandfather taught me a long time ago, you can't be scared of the future forever, otherwise you'll miss your present".
Hearing the doors of the convent opening and closing she heard Emma, Regina and Henry file out of the building seeing the mother/son duo.
"I need to go" the redhead tells her son wiping the stray tears off his face "Keep the Apple safe until I can get back to you, but more importantly keep yourselves safe. The Apple is not worth your life" she reminded him under strict instructions that if Gold was bold enough to get the Apple himself, he was to just give it to him. Tom and Henry's lives were not worth something that they had no idea why they needed the dead Piece of Eden for.
"I know" he says with a nod "I love you Mom".
"I love you too" she tells him before making herself let go of her son to turn around to re-join her partner, leaving Emma and Henry to join him.
"She'll be okay" the blonde savior tells the teen wrapping her arm around his shoulders in a half hug as they saw both Regina and Amelia leave the convent.
"I know".
Entering the loft with the boys behind her, the savior was greeted with her parents stood in front of a very serious looking Killian Jones as they all looked towards the door to see her enter "Hey" she greets them before seeing the look on her boyfriends face sensing the tension in the room as the boys saw the look as well "Killian, what's wrong?" she asks the pirate seeing a book in his hand.
Knowing he couldn't lie to the woman Tom watched from the dining room table as the man informed the blonde on what he and her parents were talking about when they got in.
"Before Ursula left, she told me what the villains have planned" Hook tells his love "To get their happy endings, they intend to darken your heart, love, to turn you into a villain so you'll no longer be the savior" he tells her.
"What? You can't just un-savior the savior" Henry said from the dining table.
"Ursula said Gold has a way. He can use The Author and the Widow to do it".
"A-Amelia" Emma stuttered in confusion as Hook saw Tom's back straighten up in apprehension "What's she got to do with all this?
"Ursula told me the crocodile wanted to use what Amelia was to get what they wanted".
"And what's that exactly?" Tom was the one to ask this time, stood next to his younger cousin with his arms folded across his chest.
"A product of Star-Crossed lovers".
"Star-Crossed Lover's?" David spoke up "Are you sure that's what she called it?".
"Aye I'am" he tells the Prince "The sea-witch told me the Widow had the potential to become the most powerful beings in all the realms, even more powerful than the Dark One itself".
"Is that even possible?" Mary Margaret voice from next to her husband.
"I'm not sure, but Amelia even confided in me once about what her Uncle told her".
"Why did she tell you this?" the teen demanded out of the pirate with his brows furrowed in a mix of emotions.
With a deep sigh the pirate looked towards the teen who was putting on his bravest face "She was worried about passing down her knowledge about the Brotherhood to you lad, that she was playing into the hands of the man that took you away from her. To fulfill a prophesy of the Creeds downfall that ripped you away from your parents, the same night she became the Black Widow".
"She was?".
"Aye lad. Which is why I went to the library on my way here to pick up some research" he says taking the few steps towards the teen handing the book to the young boy. Looking at the cover it was a book of he saw the title and its author straight away:
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare.
"If whatever this prophesy is or what Gold wants with her is connected in someway, it will be in this, in her parents story" with a firm nod the teen took the book from the man knowing what he had to do to find out whatever his great Uncle was up to and stop him from using his Mom in whatever plan he had to turn Emma dark.
"That's insane" Emma exclaimed as Hook stepped back to face look at his love "If that's what their plan is, stop worrying. It's ridiculous. Author or no author, I am not going dark and neither is Lia" she tells the man seeing the level of concern he had for the blonde and the assassin.
"But darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up in you" he tells her "Amelia knows this herself".
The Charming couple winced as Emma took a step towards the pirate to speak to him "Hey. No one... not Rumplestiltskin or some author... gets to decide who I am" she tells him before comforting him, leaving her parents to soak in the new information they had about Amelia and Emma.
"Do you really think it's possible? Emma going dark after what we did?" Mary Margaret quietly asks her husband "After what I did to Lia" she added knowing that losing her father was part of the reason she took a path towards darkness.
"No, it shouldn't be" David tells her "We were told that we had to guide her, that her fate rested with us" he reminded her.
"But this author... he has the power to change everything. I mean, he's going to write the villains' happy endings. Who knows what he can do to Emma? We have to do something... Without Emma finding out the truth" at that Mry Margaret stormed out of the apartment taking everyone by surprise.
Emma looked towards her father in concern seeing how much this piece of news effected her
"She'll be fine" David quickly tells his daughter before going after his true love.
Returning the to cabin the former Queen and Widow were greeted by the remaining villains in the cabin empty handed with only the picture on Regina's phone as their saving grace to delay Gold's plans.
Closing the door behind her the redhead saw the villains including her sister gathered in a small huddle as if they were discussing something. Most likely wondering where they couple had gotten to.
"Oh, at last. I feel I've aged a decade waiting for you two" Cruella greeting the pair.
"Well, you certainly look like it" Regina quickly retorted earning a chuckle from the blonde at the woman's' snipe. She found it entertaining how the older woman including her sister would snipe and back chat at each other like they were still rival villains trying to get the better of the other.
"See Rumple I told you my texts would work" Anastasia tells the older man.
"Where's the page, Regina?" Maleficent changed the subject quickly eyeing the pair who were tasked into retrieving the items that had been taken from them by the heroes, along with Ursula.
"Don't tell me you failed" Gold accused the women in front of him seeing nothing in their hands.
"The page was under a protection spell..." Regina starts spinning the tale they had come up together on the way to the cabin "-something cooked up by the savior. She almost caught me trying to break it. I had to flee". she informs them with a straight face.
"And the Apple?" Gold asked looking to the red head "Surely the Black Widow has found one of the most powerful objects in all the realms".
Playing her part the tale the assassin shifted under her Uncle's glare as if she were still working for him back home. More often than not during her early days as the Black Widow, she failed.A target would get away with tricking the Dark One and got to tell the tale.
Which meant no rewards for her or Monteriggioni. Only bitter disappointment she would feel rolling off him in waves like whenever she failed one of her old Masters.
"I found it in the clock-tower, only to find it had been switched out for the one I gave to Cora. They even went to the effort to scorching it. I expect the saviors parents have put it somewhere I can't exactly get to right now".
"And where would be that sister" the blonde assassin speaks up not convinced of the tale her sister had sewn.
"Everywhere" the redhead tells them with a pointed glare "Words gotten out I've turned. There's dwarfs around every corner looking for me ready to alert the heroes to my whereabouts. I was nearly caught going to the my own bar" she complained to her Uncle and the other's.
"Are you sure that's what happened?" Gold asks his niece and her partner. Giving the pair a look that told them he wasn't quite convinced both the Evil Queen and Black Widow can be outwitted by a couple of royals, their daughter and a one-handed pirate.
"Of course, we are" Regina tells the man in slight offence as his niece silently glared at him.
"It's just that you've both been gone an awfully long time" he tells them as the four took a step towards the couple as a united front "And yet you come back empty-handed".
The other's watched as the Widow relaxed at their attempt to intimidate them as the corner of her lips quirked up in amusement.
"You really thing we'd come back here completely empty handed Uncle. After all these years you still underestimating us?" the redheaded assassin says as she sees a smirk appearing on her sister's face mirroring her's. The blonde knew her sister wouldn't disappoint them.
"We're not empty-handed" The Queen informs them with a smile taking her phone out of her pocket "I got this" she adds showing the man the photo she took earlier.
"A photograph" the Dark One states.
"10 points to Captain Obvious here" Anastasia grumbled from behind the Dark One as she tried to get a look at the picture before Cruella snatched the phone out of Regina's hand.
"Oh, and an incompetent one, too" the heiress critiques getting a closer look at the picture "That glare ruins any clear view of the door" she say handing the phone back to the Queen only for Gold to quickly claim it seeing the glare coming from the still picture.
"No, that's not a glare" the Dark One corrects the heiress as he walks around the pair closely examining the picture himself. The redhead felt her heart beat just a little faster than before as she and Regina saw he was figuring something out.
Something they had both missed by taking the photo of the real page and not the copy.
"That's magic" he goes on looking at his niece and her partner "This door has been sealed by it. This is the door we've been looking for".
"You think The Author is trapped in an illustration?" Maleficent asks the man "But that would mean..."
"The Sorcerer imprisoned him in the book" Gold quickly concludes as Amelia felt her stomach uncomfortably twist as she clenched her fist in frustration. She knew what he would need next. He needed the page from Henry, which meant Tom would be with him with the Apple.
Her clenched fist didn't go unnoticed by her sister as the Widow and her Queen kept their face's as straight as possible. She could easily ring Regina's neck out for this. They agreed if she went along with her plan the boys wouldn't be involved. And now by her mistake they would be dragging them both into this mess. All because of something Snow didn't want to come to light.
The former Queen tried to ignore her partner's anger as she focused on the matter at hand. If there one thing she know about Amelia is that she could never hide how angry she was. That was the one emotion she was not good at hiding.
"We need to get it" Gold says looking towards his niece and his old student "Bring us us the page".
"That won't be easy" Regina tells him"The Savior isn't about to let it out of her sight".
"Don't worry about her" Maleficent tell them making the Queen to turns to face her old teacher "I've got just the thing".
"What about the Apple" Amelia continued, trying her best to distract her Uncle from going near the page, she can try and distract him with the object he had been after since coming back "It could be anywhere by now. It could be in the middle of the damn ocean".
"Never mind the Apple right now Amelia" he tried to dismiss her concern only for his niece to continue. This wasn't something new coming from her. She constantly sought out trying to fix her mistake. To prove to him that she was the right person to trust getting his own petty sense of vengeance on desperate innocent people.
"But-".
"Once we get the page all the pieces will fall into place" her Uncle tells her confident that one they have the Author in their possession the Piece of Eden would soon follow. "I must say I'm impressed and curious with your new found eagerness to find the Apple" he called her bluff, not sure where this eagerness had come from. From their past conversation she was reluctant for the man to have the object in his possession without knowing why he needed it.
With eye's on the back of her head the redheaded assassin had to think fast. She had been too eager with her attempt to distract her Uncle away from the page. Regina watched her as she stood a little straighter than before. He was suspicious, something they didn't need right now.
"Just trying to make up for not being able to help you in the past" her Uncle stilled taking in his nieces words as their conversation in search for August's trailer came to mind. She would've helped him cleave himself from the dagger, but he didn't quite believe her that he did now. The look in her eyes told him. She was in this to the end.
Nodding in understanding he accepted her answer allowing herself to let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. He trusted her. But she still had to figure how to keep the page out of his possession.
Turning around her gaze met Regina's as she Queen tried to see what was behind her words only for the assassin's gaze to harden remembering how the Queen's idea had gotten this in this situation in the first place. Her gaze quickly left hers as she went to step towards her sister only for Cruella and Maleficent to stop her.
"Do we have a problem here?" she said as clenched her forearm allowing a hidden blade to slip out of her gauntlet, she wasn't afraid of the powerful sorceress in front of her that could easily swipe her away with a flick of her wrist.
"None Widow" Maleficent spoke up for the pair "Just glad to see you falling into line" with that the sorceress moved around the assassin to head to the door to start their search for the page.
As the Queen's where getting ready for their next move, unaware of what had happened in the cabin Emma, Hook, Henry and Tom waited in the loft for the blonde's parents to return. She knew Regina and Amelia has this in the bag. back with the what Ursula had Hook about Emma and the redheads involvement with it she watched the teenager taking vigorous notes on the notebook next to the Romeo and Juliet book. Determined to figure out what Gold wanted with his niece, or what she could do, given the chance.
She had only read it once in High School, she barely understood what Shakespeare was on about even with her teacher's guidance. It was an entirely different language. And now she knew the real story and even met Romeo Montague. she had no idea how help the teenager as he searched for something that would help them.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" she mused to her boyfriend next to her on the couch looking towards the former Lost Boy that had been gone through so much in his short life.
"Aye he will" Killian tells her "He's like his mother that way. Stronger than he looks" he tells her with a hint of confidence.
"You really care for her don't you" Emma replies seeing the concern he had for the redhead "Should I be jealous?" she said with a teasing smile making him laugh "Sorry to tell you but I think she and Regina are pretty serious, even heard they were moving in together".
"Well isn't that something" he said to himself as the blonde didn't see the smile reach his eyes
"Then what's wrong?" Emma asks him seeing the look.
"You know the Black Widow was partly my fault-" he started.
"Lia doesn't seem to think that" Emma quickly tells him "Didn't you say she forgave you for everything that happened that night for helping her father".
"Aye, I know" he says looking at the boy trying to find anything in a book he barely understood to find something "But will he? He's lost his father again" he knew what it felt like to be abandoned by your father.
"Then be there for him now, this can't be easy for him, always worrying about anyone after your Mom for her past. Be his friend. Henry says he has a crush on a girl, help him with that" she quietly suggests hearing the teen's phone beep yet again with a text which he quickly picks up to read and answer.
"Or send me into an early grave" Hook retorted knowing what his mother would do if she ever found out he was giving her son dating advise.
"Fifty-fifty chance" she tells him in jest as her thoughts moved onto August back at the convent. Those were probably the odds he had at the moment.
"How was he?" Hook asks her seeing her demeanor change suddenly "The wooden man-child... how was he?" he clarifies.
"Not great" the blonde tells him.
"You care for him?" he observes out-load.
"Yeah" she tells him making him hum to himself as he struggled to keep the jealously to himself.
"Oh, Killian. Now's not the time to be jealous" she quickly tells him.
"Why would I be jealous?" he questions her "Though I do know you're partial to men in leather jackets".
"He's just a friend" she tells him. He tried to help her break the curse when he desperately needed it to, only she pushed him away, not believing him, even after that he still believed in her even when he tried to warn her about Tamara.
"Yeah, of course" Hook accepted
"See... Well, you remember that video I showed you from the foster home?" she reminds him.
"With your friend when you were a girl?".
"Lily" Emma says her name for the first time in years "Her name was Lily. She was my first and best friend, and I pushed her away forever. And after that, I just...Wasn't great at making friends. August was the rare exception. That's why this is so important to me. There's nothing else going on, really" she tells her as the pirate see's something out of the window "What?" she asks in confusion seeing her boyfriend distracted by something behind them.
"Emma. Look" parting the closed curtain the couple saw a wave of purple light coming towards them.
"What the hell is tha..." she didn't get a chance to say anything else as the ave entered the loft washing over the current occupants. Emma slumped asleep in Hook's chest as the pirate's head fell back as Tom's pen scratched the surface of the paper leaving a a line behind as he felt his involuntary fall closed as his head fell onto the open book on the table, unaware of the villains that stood upon a hill overlooking the whole of Storybrooke watching as the sorceress sorceress used her staff to end the whole town into a soundless sleep.
"It's done. Now lets got to work"
Walking back into town Amelia kept her distance from the Queen, keeping close to her sister as Maleficent and Gold watched on from the back of the trail "Now, you know what you have to do"Gold tells the sorceress as the other's walked ahead of them.
"Quite well. The question is, do you?" she question him.
"Our deal was that you were gonna help me find The Author and our happiness would be secured" he replies.
"Well, I'm altering the deal because, let's face it, you need that page from the book to get The Author. And to do that, you need me" she tell him.
"Do I?" he asks her, not convinced.
"I just put the town to sleep. I'm useful" she points out when thier coversaition is interuppted.
"Hey old man" he and Maleficent heard Anastasia call back, looking up they saw the assassins stood near that base of a fallen tree that had conveniently landed on a angle that would allow the pair of them to climb into the trees."We need to stretch our legs, we'll meet you there".
"Dutchess-" he didn't get he chance to voice his protests to the younger assassin as she ran up the side of the fallen tree, quickly latching onto a branch to hoist herself in the tree disappearing into branches above them as Regina and Cruella stopped to watch the younger woman leave them.
"Stupid girl" Amelia heard the heiress grumble before she continued on her down the path in a huff.
"Go after her" he orders the redheaded assassin "Make sure she doesn't fall and break her neck" with a nod the Master Assassin ran up the fallen tree herself, after her sister knowing she couldn't have gotten too far away.
The group minus the assassin's continued down the trail back towards town allowing the sorceress to continue their conversation.
"We all know Cruella, Anastasia and Ursula were a means to an end... me. That's why you haven't shed one tear over our tentacled friend's departure, probably won't if Anastasia ever thinks being on the good side with her sister is better than whatever this is... because you have me".
"-And to have me, means you have to give me what I want. It's, oh, so simple. I need to know what happened to my child after those two heroes got rid of it. I need to know its fate" she says coming to a stop with the Dark One "In return, I will get us both The Author. We'll get you the page. And once I know what they really did to my child, those heroes will pay".
"And they will my dear Maleficent" he tells her "And they will find they are without their favorite assassin behind them for the first time since the Queen's curse broke. For when she discovers what her so called friends have done to her and yourself. Not even she will be able to forgive Snow White. She has power no one the likes of us will never touch, and she will be on our side of the story".
"How so Rumple?" she inquired with the man, not sure where he was going with this "She has no magic. Unless you call the way she's kept Regina under her little spell for all these years, magic" she dryly retorted.
And amused chuckle left his lips at the notion "On the surface perhaps, but her blood is the key to what we want. You remember her father?".
"Romeo Montague" she states in boredom "I remember him well" she hummed to herself remembering the ship he sailed past her fortress time and time again despite the warnings she gave him.
"He was once mistaken for a prophesy his little Creed heard about a person that would bring balance to their little power struggle with the Templar's, only they didn't know about his daughter, someone born to a pair of lover's that are fated to die before they could ever have a child. All you need to know is that we need to keep her as close as possible before the heroes stop her becoming the thing we need her to become in order to have our happy ending".
"And how would they do that?".
A toothy smirk grew on his face knowing what her so called family would have to do "By killing her before it could happen of course".
It didn't take long for the redhead to find her sister in the woods, they had ended up in the small clearing where her and Tom's training ground. She sat on the edge of the training ring with a straw dummy stood next to her.
Her boot covered feet thumped on the hard ground as she landed at the base of the tree she was in when she spotted her younger sister in the clearing. She did this all the time back home. Always running, getting into trouble. And it was her that would get punished for it.
"What the hell are you playing at, running off like that?" she demanded out of her sister as she stormed towards her., stopping just a few feet in front of her.
"I needed to get you alone sister" Anastasia simply told her pushing herself off the the wooden fence.
"For what exactly, we don't have time for chit-chat" the redhead tells her "I'm supposed to take you back".
"You are hiding something, you and your Queen" the blonde accused the woman she was raised along side.
The redhead shook her head in disbelief at her sister's accusation "Don't be ridiculous, we don't have time for this".
"We have time" the blonde sternly tells her older sister "What are you up to. you were angry earlier when Rumple was talking about the page".
"Fine I was" she admitted to the younger woman only if its for them quicker to getting them back to the others "Is that good enough for you, we need to get back" the redheaded insisted the blonde seeing the slight panic in her eyes.
"Your scared of him" she states seeing the way she desperately wanted to get back "Why?" she curiously asks.
"Of course I'm scared of him. Aren't you?" she asked her "The difference is that you have no idea what he's capable of when he's angry. I do. He's crushed my heart enough times to know that. We don't stand a chance against people like him, we never have" the words rushed out of her mouth making her sister look at her like she had just grown a second head. "You would know the same if you hadn't had left me".
"I left you?" she scoffed at her older sister.
"Yeah you did. You left me alone with those monsters while you got to live your life, while I had to tell our father that you died" the last sentence tumbled out of her older sister's lips.
The statement took the blonde aback at the harshness behind the words. "W-why did you tell him that?" Anastasia stuttered out.
"How else was I supposed to tell him you weren't coming back. They would've hunted you down and dragged you back if the other's thought you were alive. Like they did with me, only they would've taken my head instead of forcing me back into a life I hated. You really think they let you walk away. No-one does Anya. While you blame me for Dimitri's death, I've kept you safe for years while you went off with your true love. While I had mine ripped away from me with my son. All the while you got your happy ending, I was turning into the Widow, so whatever plan you have with my Uncle compares to nothing I have already been through to get where I am".
The revelation seemed to zap the energy out of the conversation as the blonde forgot about her accusations against her sister and the Queen. That's why Romeo never sought her out after parting with her sister. He thought she had died on their mission.
"Come on we need to get to the loft before them" the redhead didn't allow her sister to reply as she turned to head back into town, knowing that her sister had no choice but to follow her.
Enchanted Forest
Many Years Ago
Food. At last.
The young redhead sat in the corner of the tavern with her hood over her head as she dug into the tasteless broth and bread that had supplied to her, trying not to eat too quickly after having an empty stomach for so long but she couldn't help herself. It was giving her some comfort having a warm meal in her belly. But as much as she was enjoying the food and the reassurance she would be sleeping in a bed tonight thanks to the sympathetic inn keeper who let her a room with little coin she could spare. But she needed a plan for the next day.
Finding a horse shouldn't be too hard, nor should blending into the crowd. Merchants frequent a harbor town to sell trade to sailors, she could pretend to be a merchants daughter if it came to it.
But where could she go?.
The sea wasn't a bad idea. move onto the next port and the next after that, the Brotherhood was now limited to their travels as they had killed their only Captain and the only other person being able to sail a ship of the Jackdaw's size was now on the run.
The Palace was the only place she could go if she needed refuge from her family. King Leopold was a close friend to her father.
Father. That was a foreign word to her. She only knew of a father from what Romeo had told her about; A drunk who left her mother before she was born. But now her Mother was a Templar, daughter to the infamous Grand Master Capulet sworn to take down the Brotherhood and her Father an Assassin sworn to stop the Templar's.
The thought circled her mind until a particularly loud group a sailors on the other side of the tavern cheered around her as a plump man stood up from one of the tables with his mug of mead in one hand and his other hand held out ready to make a hearty toast.
"Here's to the man that conquered Poseidon's Boneyard, crossed the Endless Ocean, widened the Narrow Sea, making love to every mermaid and slaying mythical beasts that crosses our path, all the while he still barely grow a beard!" The men laughed loudly at the joke "Here's to our Captain, our leader, Johnny Smith!" the man announced as the group her was addressing threw out a broad-shouldered man who stumbled into the small space the previous man had made to make his speech.
She was surprised seeing the man they called Captain. He couldn't be much older than her. His crew of about thirteen men adored him, cheering him on like they had known him for years. And if she was being honest, he wasn't bad looking.
The Captain was about to open his mouth to speak only for the door to the tavern to burst open. Amelia's heart dropped to her stomach seeing the people who had entered the establishment. The sailors turned to see Iago in his dark robe's take slow menacing steps into the tavern flanked by Tybalt and Ophelia behind him. She was trapped. This was it.
Feeling the uneasiness of stranger's John Smith placed a cautious his hand over a sword that was attached to his hip with his crew doing the same thing next to him.
"We're looking for a woman" Iago announced to the sailors to everyone in the building.
"Ain't we all" a voice came from one of the sailors earning a sideways glare from under his hood. A second later the man that made the comment fell to the floor clutching at his arm as a small knife protruded from his arm falling into the arms of the men behind him.
"Tom!" the Captain Smith exclaimed in concern seeing his injured first-mate sat on the floor with others close behind him as he tried not scream out in pain. John Smith looked up at the strangers in a mix of anger and anguish of nearly losing his first mate to the hands of the strangers at the door.
"We didn't want any bloodshed, but this is no time for your jokes" Iago growled at the sailors as she took out a something in his pocket. He held out a poster that illustrated her face down to her lengthy hair that came to her shoulders "We're looking for this woman, she's been spotted here. Any information that leads to her capture will be greatly rewarded".
A 'thunk' of metal hit the wooden floor as Tybalt threw a pouch full of coin that split open, spilling gold coins onto the floor. No one moved to pick the money up by John who stood up and picked up the pouch a well as the coin that fell out. He stood two meters from the Assassins throwing the money back at their feet. This man was either incredibly stupid or brave to stand up to people that could inflict incredible pain in a short amount of time.
"We don't need your money, or care about the woman you're searching for" John Smith addressed the trio stepping forward.
Iago stepped forward sizing Captain Smith up until they were chest to chest "Do you know who we are?" he growled to the young captain, but the man kept his ground on the older assassin, failing to falter under his stare that would keep her up all night.
"I don't like bullies. I don't care where they come from" Smith told the Assassin while the crowd kept quiet.
"Uh, um, excuse me!" a voice came from the crowd of sailor's breaking the tension between Smith and Iago. The Captain stepped aside to let the man who spoke to her earlier that evening push his way through the group "Excuse me!" he yelled out as he pushed himself to thought the tightly packed sailors.
"What!" Iago snapped at the man who was brave enough to interrupt his standoff with the young Captain.
"I know the woman you speak of" he told the Assassin's with a friendly smile.
"Tell us where she is" Ophelia demanded out of the man as Amelia's heart pounded hard in her chest.
"I saw her on horseback heading North of here a few hours ago" the man supplied the lie to them.
"He's lying" Tybalt quickly spoke up to Iago "He knows nothing".
Hearing the hushed conversation between the assassin's the man quickly interrupted them "I assume you're looking for a young woman with robe's similar to the one's you're wearing and long red hair".
"Maybe" Iago's interest peaked at the mans description of her.
"Stuck out like a sore thumb around here and she dropped this" something caught in the back throat as he held up a small dagger out to the Master Assassin. Looking down at the long holster that housed around her waist the small throwing knife she saw one was missing. That's when she remembered him from. He spoke to her about the ship before she shoved her shoulder into his. He must have taken the dagger then. How stupid could she have been to do that.
Iago eyed the small weapon before snatching it out of the man's hands so he could get a closer look at it, as Ophelia stepped forward to examine the weapon with the weapons master. It was part of a set that the Assassin had gifted himself after her initiation. His best student to date. It was a shame she was a dirty half-breed, otherwise he would've had some sympathy for the girl running for her life after witnessing her father's death.
"It's her's Iago" Ophelia whispered in the weapons master's ear "She must've dropped it in a hurry".
"Sloppiness you mean" he spat out before looking back at the man "Which direction did you say she went?".
"North. Around an hour ago on a black stallion".
"What's your name?" Iago asked the man.
"Isaac" he answered with a smug smile.
Iago looked towards the young Captain who still stood his ground with a hand on his sword "Be fortunate Isaac was here Captain, otherwise your friend over there would not have made it back to your ship" he tells the younger man before giving the tavern one last look.
"We're leaving now" he threw the order at Tybalt and Ophelia before turning to the door. As the Assassin's left the lump in her throat disappeared as everything calmed down from the Assassin's departure as the young Captain went to his friend in aide of his injury.
From her place she tried to find the man, Isaac that had possibly saved her life that night only to find he had managed to sneak of the tavern. Forgetting the warm meal in front of her she stood from her seat and headed straight to the door bypassing the young Captain helping his first mate. John looked up to see a young woman head for the door that strangely looked like the woman the Assassins were looking for, he pushed on his knees to follow her out but opted to stay when he heard Tom groan in pain as someone wrapped his bleeding arm.
He had no idea what had just happened, but he prayed they wouldn't find the young woman they were looking for. He had a bad feeling that nothing would come out good for her if they ever caught up to her.
With the town asleep, it allowed the villains to freely explore the street's of Storybrooke without any interruptions as Amelia and Anastasia met the other's at the front door to the loft they would know Emma would be with the page they needed.
Anya had be quiet ever since telling her she had to tell Romeo and the other's that she had died, it was the only way she knew they wouldn't go looking for her. All the proof she needed was her golden gauntlets she had returned to Monteriggioni, as they needed to be removed after an assassin had died, but she had no idea how she got them back.
Once inside the group split up to look through every nook and cranny of the apartment as Emma slept soundly on Hook's shoulder and Tom audibly snored away at the dining room table. With the job of looking for the Apple, she wasn't left disappointed and partly relieved when she found the Apple of Eden hidden in a vent located in the Charming's downstairs bedroom floor.
Through that grate she could see the almost golden glint of the sphere that they had all been looking for.
Grabbing a pillow from the bed she sauntered back into the main room to her sleeping son with his head resting on what she assumed was some homework, in-between the pages of an open book with a notebook and pen nearby with a few notes already scribbled down in his handwriting.
"Nice babysitting Swan" the red head grumbled as she gently lifted his head up to place a pillow only to see what he was reading. It was sliding the book out of the way, replacing it with the pillow she saw what he was reading. Romeo and Juliet . Her parent's 'story'. She knew it wasn't his English homework. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she looked at the notes he was taking on the paper;
Star-Crossed Lover's.
Death mark'd love.
The list went on as she took the pen he was using, quickly writing down a note herself.
'What is this about?' -Mom x
"Found something dearie?" her Uncle spoke up seeing her write something down on her son's notebook.
"Well if your looking for a teenager's homework than we've hit the jackpot" she dryly retorted to the man as she closed the notebook shut and she glaces up to man seeing his un-amused face "He make's mistakes on his math homework, I'm leaving him a note telling him to try again" she informs him as he nods along, feeling Cruella's presence nearing her son.
"I have to say" the heiress starts looking down at the young Smith boy "The little runt does look like his father; he certainly gets his jawline from the Captain; don't you think Mal?" Cruella went on stepping towards the Widow's sleeping son. Hearing her come closer to Tom a hidden blade jumps out of her gauntlet, holding it out in a threatening stance towards the woman getting too close.
"Step any closer and I'll spay you" Amelia threatened the heiress. The heiress held up her hand in surrender deciding to redirect her attention to something else in the apartment.
"The savior looks a lot less threatening in this state, doesn't she?" Maleficent tells the others looking at the sleeping form of the savior on Captain Hook's shoulder.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to wring her scrawny neck right now" Cruella added.
"I can think of better things to do" Anastasia supplied from the kitchen island with Gold as Regina emerges from the downstairs bedroom.
"Don't even think about it" Regina warned the other's much to their surprise "I think we can all agree that killing the savior at this point would be ill-advised" she said looking through drawers as Amelia left her sleeping son to at least pretend to be looking for the page.
"You're right about that, yet wrong about the location of the page" Gold points out "It's not here" he concludes to the others.
"We just have to keep looking" Regina insisted "The page was here two hours ago. It didn't just grow legs and walk out of here on its own".
"Unless someone walked out of here with it" Gold suggested to the Queen.
"I put the whole town to sleep" Maleficent argued.
"Except those who have been under a sleeping curse and are immune" Gold tells the group making Amelia pause at her current task hearing this from her Uncle "I may know a resourceful young man who's wide awake" at this Amelia turned to see Regina with a worried look on her face as the Dark One continued "One who's very protective of the storybook and all its contents... one who's gonna test his mother's commitment, towards helping me".
Henry
The chill of the night air was the first thing she felt as she left the warmth of the tavern in search for the man that had steered the Brotherhood of Assassin's away from her.
Using her sixth sense her eye's shone gold as she searched for the man in question to see him walking towards the docks, with her target in sight she moved her feet forward. Easily catching up to him he turned into a dark alley way between buildings. Halfway through the path she jumped on him shoving his back against the hard stone wall taking him by surprise. A hidden blade slipping out of her gauntlet as the tip of the sharp blade rested on his Adams apple. He didn't fight under her strength on her hand on his chest keeping him in place.
"Why did you do that?" she growled into the man's face as she kept him on the wall.
"I-is the blade really necessary?" Isaac stammered in fear "I did just save your life after all".
"I'm afraid it is, because you're dead either way once they find out you lied to them and I'm still here".
"But you'll be long gone by then, if you listen to me" the statement only made the blade push further against his neck.
"Why the hell should I?" she sharply retorted.
"Because if you go don't, we're both dead" he tells her.
Amelia clenched her jaw as she thought over his statement. He was right. Iago and Tybalt would be angered over their wild goose chase that came to nothing and without Claudius's voice of reason she would be killed without being brought back to Monteriggioni to be 'trailed'.
After a pause the sharp blade jumped back into her gauntlet as she let of on the man's front and let his stand up straight "What do you suggest then?".
"There's a ship in the dock's. The Godspeed, the one I was talking about. It's only here until midday tomorrow for resupply headed to a land even the Brotherhood knows little about. If you get onto that, you're free of the Brotherhood's clutches once and for all".
"What do you want for this information?".
"Nothing. You take this information or not, either way neither of us are going to be here when they return once they learn of my little white lie" At that Isaac left the young assassin in the alley alone just as the sky above her started to rumble with the threat of a storm looming over the small dock.
"No one goes near Henry but Amelia and I" Regina warns the others as they make their way outside onto the street "If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with one of my fireballs" she says walking ahead of the others with the red head closely behind her.
"Follow them" Gold orders Maleficent, Anastasia and Cruella "And do what necessary to convince the boy. That page is the key. Let's not lose it when we're this close" he says before looking to the Duchess "Anastasia, go back and look high and low for the Apple, I don't think your sister trying her hardest to find the Apple" with a firm nod the blonde the woman turned back to have another look around the loft without her sister's interference.
At that Gold took his leave from the remaining villains walking int he opposite direction to Regina and his niece the Dark One took his leave much to the heiresses chagrin.
"Where are you off to?" Cruella questioned the man.
"I have other business to attend to" he tells them before walking away leaving the two to climb into Cruella's Panther. Unknown to them Mary Margaret and David had been watching them from down the street, the only other people in the whole town immune to the sleeping curse.
The assassin was the one who struggled keep up the pace with her partner as they thundered towards the sorcerers mansion in search for Henry and the page. Once they were far enough and she had finally caught up to the determined Queen the assassin voiced her worries to her soulmate.
"Okay when to we start panicking?" Amelia asked her partner as they made their way to the lakeside mansion as her heart hammered in her chest.
"We're not" Regina firmly tells her as they continue their brisk walk towards Henry "We'll go in, get the page, get out".
"I understand that part, what I don't understand is the secrecy" the redhead said making the former Queen scoff at her.
"Isn't secrecy part of your little Brotherhood" she sniped at the redhead.
Coming to an abrupt halt she forcefully grabbed Regina's elbow making her whirl around to face the panic stricken redhead.
"Not when it could harm our sons!" she unexpectedly yelled at the former Evil Queen "Ever since you asked me to help you with this, you've been keeping something from me, something big. You need to tell me what that thing is otherwise this whole thing would've been for nothing once they get their hands on the page and the Apple, if you don't tell me the truth now".
"Melia-" Regina tried to speak up only for the redhead to continue.
"I've done my part, I've played the Widow to the point where I've pushed someone so far they are now possibly dying in the convent because of it. I've kept my mouth shut but when I invite people like Cruella De Vil to stand over my sleeping son, that's when I draw th damn line".
"What possibly could be the endgame here Regina? What is Snow so desperate not to get out, that I am putting my family at risk. A couple pages of a story to be changed?".
"It isn't just about a couple of pages- this is our happy ending" the former Queen tells her partner.
"Screw the Author. We don't need them to give us that. We have that already. I chose that when I came to find you the night John and Robin left, when I agreed to move into the mansion with you and Henry. Why can't you see that?".
"Aren't you happy with me anymore?" that sentence is what broke the former Queen's heart "What if your happy ending isn't with me? What if these last few weeks have been nothing? What if the author decides you're not my soulmate anymore? That's its with someone else?".
Regina saw something in the assassin's eye she hadn't seen in year looking straight back at her. Fear. She was scared of what the Author could do them after finally being together with no Wicked half-sisters or resurrected husbands getting in the way.
"I'm tired of the secret's Regina" her soulmate tells her as her body and mind finally caved into the tiredness eh had felt every minute she was in that cabin, slowly circling the drain back to the Black Widow "I don't want to do this anymore. I can't do it anymore. So, please tell me what is going on".
Taking the redhead's face into her gloved hands she wiped away the tear that had escaped her tear filled eye's, gently placing her lips on the assassin's in a sweet but brief kiss before pulling away, resting her forehead on the assassin's in a gesture she knew would always relax the woman as she breathed in her love's presence.
"I'm sorry" Regina suddenly whispered making the assassin look at her in confusion before waving her hand across Amelia's face. The former Queen stepped back as the assassin's eye's fluttered shut as she tried to fight off the magic only to fail as her knee's gave up underneath her as the silent spell took hold of the redhead as the woman dropped to the ground.
Turning her back on the sleeping assassin Regina resumed her journey to Henry, knowing the redhead would be safe until she got back.
Not even a minute later the Panther rolled up to the side of the street it's purring to a stop as Cruella and Maleficent saw Amelia's unconscious form on the sidewalk "Oh dear darling" Cruella drawled from the driver's seat "Looks like the honeymoon is over".
"Get her in the back" Maleficent order's the heiress next to her "Make it quick" with a scoff the woman get out the car to get the assassin into the car, ready to deliver her to Rumple.
With a page from Henry, the Evil Queen rode in the back of the Panther with Cruella and Maleficent in the front as the heiress drove pass the place the former Queen had left her partner only to see the space empty with no sign of the redheaded assassin anywhere. They hadn't mentioned seeing Amelia when they finally caught up to her at the lakeside mansion to find Henry.
"Darling" Cruella called back to the Queen with looking at her through the rear view mirror "Where is that little assassin of your's" she drawled out to her passenger in the back "She's gone missing".
"How the hell am I supposed to know, I don't keep tabs on her" she curtly tells them trying to keep her composure.
"Maybe you should" Maleficent spoke up from the front meeting her eyes though the mirror "We found her in a crumpled heap in the middle of the street" the sorceress informs the Queen "She'd been spelled along with the others, so being the friends we are, we picked her up and put her in the trunk until she decides to wake up".
She felt her pounding harder in her chest knowing she had put the redhead right into their hands completely vulnerable to the pair in the front.
"We, darling?" Cruella questioned the other villain "I didn't most of the heavy lifting, she's heavier than she looks".
"Well I wasn't going to bore you with the details but she was asking too many questions. I think she was the one to double cross us. She's done it all her life, playing both side's".
"You think she was the mole?" her old teacher asked her with a raised brow in the mirror.
"I don't think, I know. She been keeping the heroes in the know the whole time, how else did they know we had the Apple and August".
"A shame really" the heiress mused out loud as they pulled up the pawnshop "I think the fetus was enjoying having her sister back".
"Yes" Regina gulped "A shame" she echoes as they came to a stop near the pawn shop.
Climbing out of the car they saw Gold himself walking out of the shop as the three approached the Dark One as Anastasia walked down the street from the other ends with the Apple of Eden in her hands having found it in the vent of the downstairs bedroom, where her sister had previously searched.
"What were you doing in there?" Cruella questions the man seeing him at the shop.
"Mind your own business" he quickly tell her "Did you find the boy?" he asks taking notice of his niece's absence.
"We found the boy" Maleficent tells him handing him the page with the illustration of the door on it.
"I found him" Regina corrects her as the man closely examines the page in his hands.
"Where is my sister?" the blonde assassin asks the trio in front of her.
"Regina here exposed her as the mole" the heiress informs the blonde assassin "Give her a little credit where it's due fetus, your big sister was double crossing us the whole time" the older woman informs her with a smug look on her face.
"No" the blonde said shaking her head at them "That's not true, she wouldn't".
"Well you're more than welcome to interrogate her once she wakes up" the sorceress tells the younger assassin.
"This is rubbish" the Dark One tells the Queen seeing the fake in his hand.
"What?" Regina scoffs out in disbelief as Cruella looked at the Queen.
"It's a fake. You've spent enough time with the book. You should know the difference".
"They tricked me" the Queen tried to defend herself as Gold turned to the last assassin standing with the 'Apple' in her hand.
"Give me that" he demands out of her. Following his order the younger woman give him the apple as Regina flinches seeing the man confidently taking it in his hands when he wouldn't touch it when Amelia first brought the object to the cabin.
She watched in disbelief as the man literally crushed the 'Apple' in his hands like a tin can, leaving the spherical object out of its original shape. The real one was with the heroes still.
"Another fake" he growls at the Queen angrily discarding the fake Apple onto the ground.
"What, you think I didn't suspect you? Both of you?" he said seeing both her and Amelia's treachery to the cause, ripping the page in half in front of her "I've been waiting for this moment. I knew it would come. Maleficent".
"Wait, I can expl..." the Queen didn't get a chance to explain herself as Maleficent sent the Queen to ground.
"Bring them both to her vault" he orders the three villains around him "I think it's time I have a chat with my niece, don't you think?".
With their treachery exposed the villain take the couple down to the former Queen's vault, the pair lying side by side at the villains stood over the unconscious couple who had been playing them all the whole time. But that still didn't explain why his niece was left in the middle of the street after she followed the Queen to find his grandson. There was something going on between them that his niece didn't like, so the Queen took it into her own hands to silence her.
"Well, I say we just slit their throats right now, get it over with" Cruella suggested to the other's.
"No" Anastasia tells the older woman snapping her head towards the woman "No one was touching my sister but me".
"Well, if it's too messy for you, fetus. Mal can incinerate them" she tells the blonde assassin.
"We're doing nothing of the sort" Gold tells the women in the room.
"They'll never help us" Maleficent settled on.
"Of course, they will" Gold tells them "They just don't know it yet. I'll have something that the moment they see it will make Regina do my bidding... Forever".
"And you little niece?" the sorceress asks.
"Oh, she'll be more than willing with a little push in the right direction. After few hours with her sister. She'll be desperate enough to just do about anything for us".
Left in charge of her sister's condition, in the redheads part of the vault. The woman herself was tried to a chair in the middle of the cool vault with her right arm left outstretched on the arm rest, the sleeve to her shirt rolled up and her black leather jacket taken off to allow the blonde assassin to seek out the artery in the elbow she needed to drain as much blood that was needed for the Dark One to use for when they had the Apple back in their possession.
She watched as the blood slowly dripped down the clear medical tubing ran down to the leg of the wooden chair where it was collecting in the bag that hung onto the leg. A simple trip to the hospital was needed to get what she needed for this part of the plan. She was surprised no-one reported the bags and equipment missing from their storage room.
As she waited further instructions from the Dark One she walked around the edge of the armory picking up random weapons her sister had bothered to keep. One most noticeably the pair of twin dagger's Master Iago had set upon it's own plinth. A reminder perhaps that he was too dead to use them against her as his whip sat out on display on the wall neatly coiled up.
In the middle of the vault sat a glass cabinet containing The Black Widow's black and red accented robe. She'd only seen her sister in that robe once when she was close to ending her life years ago before the Imp intercepted her efforts.
Something made the younger Assassin look towards her older sister as she saw her eyes moving more erratically from under her eyelids. She was waking up.
Leaving the armory, she ventured through the vault until she found Rumple talking to Maleficent, stopping just before interrupting she listened on into the conversation.
"She's alive" Anastasia heard the sorceress say "And...".
"In this world" Gold confirmed for the woman.
"I must find her. There has to be a way" she sniffed "If she's out there... Someone must know her".
Over Maleficent's shoulder Gold saw Anastasia hovering at the doorway "She's waking up" the blonde informed the man as he nodded in understanding.
"Good" he said walking past the emotional sorceress "Now we can teach my niece a lesson neither of her parents failed to teach her".
It was nearing midday the next morning as Amelia watched the crew as they load the last of their supplies onto the ship for a long voyage. The man that was injured by Iago last night Tom at the bottom of the plank that led up to the Godspeed shouting out instructions to the crew with his arm in a sling.
With Isaac's words still fresh in her mind her weary eye's blinks the fatigue she felt in the body from the sleepless night she had gotten from the encounter with her former family.
Her only hope of escaping her family was the Godspeed.
With her decision made she found a stray crew mate that and ventured a little too far from the rest she easily hide from the man before pouncing to wrap her arm around hi neck making his gasp for air until he fell unconscious in her arms.
Emerging from the hiding spot she tucked the last of her red hair into the cap she had taken as she adjusted the tight bounding around her chest and back to hide her gender from the other men. This must be what a corset feels like as she felt the bandages constricted her flattened chest.
She could just about breath as she lifted a knapsack that contained her old life over her shoulder with a heavy bag of flour on the other as she approached the ship that would take her far, far away from the Enchanted Forest.
Keeping her head down she approached the plank with her right foot making contact with wood until a loud voice made her freeze.
"You there" the first mate's voice boomed over the crowd made her stop as he approached her eyeing the bags she was carrying he noticed that she correctly stepped onto the ship "What have ya got there lad?".
"Flour sir" she answered as he continued to look at her trying to look for something out of the ordinary.
"What's your name, I don't recognize ya". he said narrowing his eyes at her.
"New recruit sir. Kenway" she tells the man remembering the quick peak she got on some paper's he was carrying on him.
"Kenway" the first mate testing the name "Aye, I know the name, get onboard lad. Captain Smith will be on deck soon".
"Yes sir" at that she climbed the rest of the way up until she found herself stepping on the Godspeed for the first time. She only realized she was the last person to board when the firs mate joined her on the deck before the plank with taken away by the crew.
"Captain has the helm!" someone announced as her head snapped to the wheel to see the Captain from last night at the helm looking into the horizon ready for the adventure ahead. The same look her father had when they were ready to set sail.
"Bosun, weight anchor! Half sail!" Captains Smith's voice reverberated down the ship from his place at the wheel where he was quickly joined by his first mate and old friend.
"You heard the Captain!" the first mate's voice boomed out "Get your head of the clouds and get us out to sea!".
The whole crew apart from her all cheered out in unison as she felt the ship moved under her feet. This is what she missed, even if this was temporary she loved the sea more than anything. Whatever was ahead of her she was going to enjoy herself while she could as the Captain's eye met hers from wheel before the crew-mate quickly broke the eye contact, getting to work.
Once they were far enough out of the shallow water the Captain called out"Full sail! Full sail!" at that the pristine white sails unfurled from the masts giving them the full strength of the wind to carry they into the sea and away from the Enchated Forest.
On the dock the Author watched as the redheaded assassin board the ship with a smile on his face knowing his plan had worked to get her into his story. She was now under his stewardship. Shakespeare had no idea what he was doing with her. And the Apprentice, well he had no right to hide her from the main story. He knew what to do with her. And it was going to be one hell of a ride.
"What have you done Isaac?" the playwright asked him as the brown haired man watched the girl he had watched from afar grow into the woman she was today "The Apprentice said she is under my stewardship".
It only seemed like yesterday the Apprentice had tasked him to watch over Romeo and Juliet's daughter. He had lived and worked in the city she grew up in, watching the girl grow intermittently from infancy to the woman she was now, going back and forth from his world to this one to keep an eye on how Romeo and Juliet were doing since escaping Neverland together.
"She's part of my story now Will" the Author tells him with a wide grin "Tough break buddy" he says giving the playwright a had hard slap on his back. "I've got to say, it's a real honor to meet the William Shakespeare. I'm a fan, but in this instance, you nothing more than an annoying gnat that doesn't know when he's not needed anymore"
At that the Author took out his enchanted pen and a piece of paper and quickly wrote the bards final act in the Enchanted;
"With his work now complete, William Shakespeare returned to his world, never to return, bequeathing his original manuscript of Romeo and Juliet's story to the Author for safe keeping".
Will couldn't fight the magic of the words as he handed over the Star-Crossed Lover's story to the Author in a large brown leather bound book to Isaac who gratefully took it from the bard before a blinding light took the playwright back to his world and time.
"Have fun Will".
Gods her head hurt. She could tell she had been tied to a chair before she opened her eyes. In the hazy blur she could tell by the cold musk in the air that she was in her part of the vault.
But how did she get there. She remembered her conversation with Regina before she suddenly felt heavy and then nothing. As her vision cleared as her senses came back to her when she felt her right arm in an odd position.
Turning her head she saw the tattoo her right arm tied up straight out facing upwards as she saw a needle embedded in the crook of her elbow, taped down and attached to a medical tube that was full of her blood, going to what she assumed was a blood bag
The sight made the red head's stomach churn as she felt the coldness of the vault for the first time. She physically shivered as she felt the chill in her muscles, making her stiffen as they contracted trying to keep her warm.
"Cold dearie?" Gold's voice suddenly came from the entryway to her armory, making her look up to see her Uncle stood there with her sister with him.
"You sick bastard" she seethed angrily through her teeth clutching her hands into fist as she pulled at the rope that tied her to the chair but stopped as soon as a wave of dizziness swept over her.
"I wouldn't try and move if I were you Amelia. You've lost quite a bit of blood" her uncle tells her before looking over to Anastasia "Take the bag and put them with the other's we have enough for now, wouldn't want to kill our only donor now" Anastasia did as the old man ordered, walking over to her sister. The redhead didn't even look at her sister as she felt the needle being pulled out of her arm. She felt every inch being pulled out of her skin that made her sick to her stomach, as the room spun once again.
Rousing from the dizziness she saw her sister placed the warm bag of blood next to couple of other's in the corner of the room as she looked down to the her elbow to see her sister had at least taped a gauze to the spot where the needle went in.
"Why?" the red head shakily asked the old man as she saw her sister put the bags in a cooler.
"Consider it, a donation to our cause" he said taking a seat opposite her into another chair opposite her "You see, your blood holds the secret to getting what we want".
"What the hell are you talking about?".
"I'll admit it took me a while to figure out myself, but uh.. after I heard you wielded the Apple of Eden without dying. That's when it all made sense".
"-Might I cast you mind back to the stories your father used to tell you about those who lived before. They created objects known as the Pieces of Eden, powerful artifacts and weapons that augmented their god like abilities, as well as forming human in all the realm's including in the land of no magic".
"What do bedtime stories have to do with me?".
"Because these gods were very much real" he informs her "These god's, liked to interbreed with their human workforce, creating hybrid's. Over generations the hybrids and their offspring eventually assimilated into the population. These scions possessed extra abilities that no other human had, including your handy little parlor trick and the ability to fully interact with the Pieces of Eden without dying".
"You think I'm one of these...hybrids?".
"I don't think dearie. I know. Your Father was one, you're one and my great nephew is one" he listed making a chilling shiver go down her spine as he pointed to the bags of her blood in the corner of the room "With this blood not only will I restore the power of the Apple of Eden but I will be able to control it as you did without reacting to my magic. I'll be able control my happy ending to whatever I want it to be and you, won't have any say in the matter".
"Duchess" he addresses Anastasia as he stands up from the chair "She's all yours".
Amelia stared off into the distance as her Uncle left her with the cooler of her blood before her view was blocked when the Duchess stood over her menacingly, completely at the woman's mercy.
"Shall we play a game?".
AN: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wishing all my reader's a happy and healthy 2023. And I hope you all had a happy holiday season.
New Year! New Chapter!
Yay!
Thank you to everyone that stuck with the story during the small break and for your patience and support. Your reviews and comments make my day and inspire me to keep writing more.
I should be able to get back to making regular updates from this week going forward with maybe a few breaks in-between. But hopefully this chapter should keep you busy for a while.
Fun Fact: The use of the tern Star-Crossed Lovers was first used by William Shakespeare.
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