Chapter 44: Late Night Visit
"How long do you think the sleeping spell will last?" Killian asks as he, Crystal, David, and Rumple stare at an unconscious Uma, as she's on one of the cots in the holding cells at the Sheriff's station.
"Decent 8 hours, she won't wake up until you and Miss Swan come in the morning," Rumple answers.
"At least it's not a sleeping curse," Crystal says, with her arms folded.
"Should we worry about the possibility of magic?" David questions as he places a blanket over the sleeping teenager, a sign of kindness from the prince.
"Or how about the eight-tentacles thing," Crystal asks as she hands David a glass of water to be placed on the floor next to the girl. Once Uma has her water, David shuts the cell door and allows his son-in-law to lock it.
"According to Mallory, daughter of Maleficent, magic works differently here. The violet-haired girl said herself that she has trouble using magic, and hers is far more powerful than the cecaelia here…plus…" Rumple says. He holds out the enchanted shell that had been around the girl's neck. "I assume this is the source of her shifting from a bipedal creature and back again."
"Put it in Emma's desk," Killian says. "We'll deal with her stealing in the morning."
"The child has the fire, I will give her that. However, that fire often burns too brightly and she's unable to extinguish it when she needs to," the Dark One murmurs, placing the shell in the sheriff's desk.
Crystal then puts an enchantment on the lock to ensure that the daughter of Ursula is not going anywhere. If these kids had a childhood that was similar to hers, they would know how to pick locks in order to get in or out of certain situations. The daughter of Rumpelstiltskin gazes at the turquoise-haired girl for a long moment.
"What happened to you to make you hate the world so much?" she asks herself before joining the rest of her family.
The four of them then walk out, allowing Killian to lock up the station for the night.
"Well, I'm beat, I'll see you guys in the morning to fix this portal problem," Crystal vows. "I'm sorry for what happened, but I will get these kids home."
David and Killian nod and the farmer prince heads towards his truck, ready to go home. Killian begins walking towards his home, where his wife was likely passed out on the couch due to exhaustion. Rumple is about to poof himself home to his family, but not before Crystal gives him a long hug.
"I'm sorry for the way I treated you tonight," she says earnestly, wrapping her arms around her father's shoulders. "I tend to get carried away sometimes."
Rumple pats his daughter on the back. "It's all right, I too tend to give into the darkness."
"It's something we share," his daughter sighs. "Makes us more alike than we'd prefer."
"Indeed," he mutters, rubbing the back of his beloved Crystal. "Good night darling, I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight Dad," she says. "Tell Belle and Gideon good night too."
"I will."
"I love you."
It's a long moment before the man known as the Dark One speaks. "I love you too."
He then vanishes in a puff of gray smoke, leaving his daughter to begin walking home by herself.
She enjoys the quiet nights that this tiny town brought with it. The only sounds she can hear are the crickets, a few birds, and the sound of a dog barking in the distance. The only reason she'd miss New York is that of her best friend Alisa still living there; everything else, especially the noise of the big city would not. She'd fallen in love with this tiny town the moment she'd step foot in it. It was where she truly belonged, where she had found the family she'd always longed for and was finally able to put the past behind her. The death of her mother always haunted her mind whenever she gazed out at the brightly lit cityscape… and her break-up with Mason was the second reason she'd left. He broke her heart and she had thought that they were soulmates, he even knew and accepted her past and her magic. Apparently, he was from the Enchanted Forest as well, but then one day, he texted her to say they were over and completely dropped off the map. It almost eerily mirrored what happened to Emma with Neal, with the exception of ending up in jail.
Shaking the thought of her ex-boyfriend from her head, Crystal continues walking towards her apartment. She shivers slightly in the cool Main breeze and several trees behind the buildings creaked ominously in the wind.
Finally, she reaches the downstairs part of her apartment, which is an empty space at the moment. She hoped one day to rent it out and have some hopeful entrepreneur turn it into something interesting, maybe a new kind of shop or even a restaurant, but with all the problems that she's been having in New York, she keeps postponing the possibility.
She reaches into her pocket to get her key when she notices the front door is ajar. Her heart leaps into her throat. Someone obviously broke in; this was typical in New York, in fact, it had happened to her three times back in the city, but here breaking-and-entering was rare, especially now that peace had finally been brought to Storybrooke. Crystal's hands light up, mustering the courage to go inside. She shouldn't be afraid. Hell, she was the daughter of the Dark One and she'd spent time with gangs in New York, she was more than capable of defending herself, and yet someone breaking into her home was still scary and violating.
She cautiously pushes the door open and scans the downstairs area. Nothing but boxes and dust, but the girl's blue eyes gaze upwards, up the spiral steps leading into her apartment. She swallows when she sees the trapdoor open and a light on.
She walks on the balls of her feet, trying to avoid making any noise. She approaches the steps and gazes up into the bright light. She bites her lip before taking the black, twisting, iron steps one at a time. She holds her breath, keeping her hands lit. The once lilac coloured magic emanating from her palms has become a shade darker with every step she takes.
Finally, the young adult sticks her head up cautiously and scans her apartment.
To her absolute horror, she sees Emma and Killian's alternate son, Harry asleep on her bed. Wrappers and boxes of food from her pantry lay empty and strewn about the hardwood floor. Half her six cans of pop are gone, her TV is flickering with static, a magazine lays on the chest of this pirate, his boots are in the corner, his hat on her bedpost, and to add insult to injury, he's been going through her family pictures. Half of her collage of pictures that usually hung on the bulletin board behind her bed are scattered on the floor or on her duvet blanket. Photos of her life back then and her life now. Selfies with Alisa at Halloween and Christmas parties, little Neal playing with Wilby, the Charming's family dog, her attending Henry's graduation, a picture of the preschool class she'd taught in, the Himalayan hike she'd done with Mason… photos of her and her mother… all of her memories are lying around her home, being viewed by a freak kid from another realm.
Completely angry, Crystal lets the trapdoor to her place slam shut. Almost immediately, Harry Hook jolts upwards, falling off her bed and sending several of her pictures to the floor.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you? Or am I spoiling the fact that you're trespassing in my apartment!"
"Bloody hell," he mutters, trying to gather his bearings. He fumbles around, trying to find his hat and other equipment.
"Oh, it will be bloody if you don't get the hell out of here!" she snarls. "How the hell did you even find out where I lived?"
Her angry blue eyes suddenly look down at the floor and she can see her wallet laying open next to her bed, with her written address inside one of the leather pockets. She frantically searches her pants and realizes that her wallet must've fallen out back at the docks, allowing Killian Jr. to pick it up.
Harry looks up at Crystal, his heart skipping a beat. He gives the girl a grin and then places his hat on his head before giving her a bow.
"Forgive me for being so nosy, but a lad's curiosity to learn more about the lass he fancies is a very powerful thing."
"More powerful than this?!" Crystal snaps. She raises her hands and sends Harry flying across the room. He lands roughly against the back wall and then falls to his knees. He gives her a grimace of pain and for a moment, the girl's heart softens, feeling bad for giving into her inner darkness.
"I'm sorry for hurting you," she says. "But I just don't expect creeps to be eating my food, wasting my hydro, and sleeping in my bed! Do you realize how many boundaries you have crossed?!"
Harry gives her a confused look as if he was unfamiliar with such things. He gives her a cheeky grin, showing his teeth. Briefly, Crystal's heart flutters and she can feel her face flush, it was a charming smile, but then she snaps back to reality. This crossed too many lines, no matter how good looking the intruder might be. Why does she always seem to attract the creepy stalkers?
Feeling the exhaustion in her body after this overwhelming day, Crystal just wants to be done with this. She decides to keep Harry in the general area, just until Emma and Killian could actually talk to him, make the reckless teenager listen for once. She sighs heavily as Harry gathers his hook and cutlass, the weapon leaning against her computer desk. She raises her hands.
"Have fun sleeping downstairs," she mutters.
The teenage pirate vanishes in a puff of smoke and suddenly finds himself downstairs amongst the dust and boxes. The darkness is a lot for him to take in and his bright blue eyes blink several times to adjust to the blackness around him.
Crystal then puts an enchantment on her front door and also the trapdoor to ensure he doesn't try to come up here again. She waves her hands to clean the mess and then gets ready for bed.
She pauses as she hears rummaging downstairs, no doubt Harry would be trying to leave or get back up here. She sighs, knowing she had to show him some compassion. The daughter of Rumpelstiltskin opens the trap door and throws down some blankets and a pillow before locking it again.
Harry looks on as a glass of water appears on the dusty counter. A sign of comfort and form of goodwill from the girl that he'd just broken into the sanctity of her home for. Obviously, it wasn't his best decision, but he feels drawn to this enigma as if she needs to be solved. As the teenager make himself a bed beside some empty boxes, he smiles to himself that he was slowly winning her over.
A/N: Special thanks to Guest for their 101 review! Also VKScarlett for the 100th review, willdawg992003, and alextp18 for their reviews.