Introducing
Kathrine McNamara (Shadowhunters) as a young Juliet Capulet
Sean Bean(Medici) as Mentor Claudius
Richard Coyle (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina)as Angelo
"I fear too early, for my mind misgive; Some consequence, yet hanging the stars. Shall bitterly begin"
Neverland
Many Years Ago
This was the longest Romeo had been on his own since joining the Assassins. But if Claudius said it was necessary to make allies outside of the Enchanted Forest, he would do it. As a young man of twenty he was ready to face any challenge his master and mentor sent him. Whether it be to kill a target or to gain intelligence, he owed his life to Claudius. He owed his life to the Brotherhood after the Templar's murdered his family when he was thirteen.
The mentor had given him the Jackdaw his brig as the heart of the Assassin maritime influence after he was made Master of Ships two years prior. The ship would be used as his base as it sat anchored on the water near the mysterious island of Neverland until such a time he was called back to the Enchanted Forest.
The islands resident leader Peter Pan gave his permission for the Brotherhood to do so. He had heard rumors that Pan was just a boy himself, but Claudius told him to never underestimate the boy leader, he said that magic lived on the island and that was something he never wanted to mess with. Period.
Even though he spent most his time on the ship he had to travel to the island to hunt for his food. He had built a hunting blind spot in the growing forest that he could spend hours on end there and not fear for his safety. The hours dragged as he waited for the indigenous pigs to wander into his snare that he had lied in a small clearing. Until one day he didn't catch a pig.
He caught a woman instead.
Present
The group kept good pace as they marched into the thick jungle that inhabited Neverland. The assassin was used to the long treks and managed to keep up with Emma and somewhat lead the group. The two had walked a little ahead of the group and had stayed in comfortable silence which Amelia was grateful for, it gave her time to think about Rumple's revelation on the Jolly Roger. Why didn't he say sooner, or was he just waiting for something like this to happen where he would need a use for her as a family member.
The answer always came out the same. Because he used people for his own gain. That was the only reason.
"So..." Emma started breaking Amelia's train of thought "I guess I need to thank you for diving in the water after me"
"It was nothing" Amelia dismissed her thank you "You tried to talk to me down, but I didn't want to listen, if it wasn't for you going into the water, I would've done something I would've regretted"
"I guess we're even then" Emma concluded. Amelia gave the blonde a tight-lipped smile as they continued into the thick forest. Emma picked her pace up seeing as the Assassin grew uncomfortable with the blondes last words.
Amelia suddenly came to a halt to see Emma step forward, only to see something odd in the foliage underneath their feet. In a blink of an eye Amelia's left arm shot out along with a small blade out of the phantom blade on her gauntlet into the tree directly in front of the blonde making her stop short of the strange item in the foliage.
"What the hell!" Emma exclaimed wide eyed at the Assassins actions making the others' rush to the distressed blonde voice and they see her looking alarmed at the assassin. David unsheathed his swords as Mary Margaret took the bow off her back and aim an arrow at the red head.
Unfazed by the weapons aimed at her she took out her Kukri blade from her robe.
"You were about to walk into a trap" Amelia stated matter of fact tone slamming the blade into a tree trunk next to her only to cut a rope that triggered a large net to snap up into the high trees just feet away from Emma's boot clad feet. The others watched as the net enclose nothing but air only disturbing the foliage dirt on the ground.
Emma looked back at the Assassin in wonderment "How did you know that was there?" she breathed
"If I'm going to trust your skill-set saviour, trust mine" the red head told her blonde as she walked under the netting
"Who do you think made that? Pan?" David asked the assassin sheathing his sword as the others did the same at the lack of threat as she examined the netting above her
"No, the material of the rope is too thick for something that was made on this island. This was meant to for trespassers not to hunt game" the assassin trailed off as she looked closer "It looks like…" they heard her say to herself
"Like what?" Regina pressed the assassin wiping the thins sheet of sweat that had already appeared on her forehead
"No" the redhead whispered to herself "I can't be. It's gone" Amelia continued to ramble to herself
"Perhaps you should share your thoughts to us luv" Hook interrupted her thoughts getting impatient with the slight delay
"It looks like something from my father's ship. It's ropes were one of a kind, made by rope-makers in Monteriggioni, but why would it be here?" her brows furrowed in confusion on how they could be here of all places.
"Lia!" Mary Margaret's voice sounded from their right; the group looked towards the Princess "You need to see this" the Assassin pushed the gnawing feeling from her gut to follow. The princess was holding back a large leaf for the Assassin to investigate the clearing. She felt the blood leave her face in shock as she felt her hands go cold.
"What's that?" Emma asked from behind the red head. She could feel the others had followed her looking towards the brig she had been raised on in the middle of the thick forest. The figure head of the bird the ship was named after standing dominant at the front of the ship, by it had rotted from age as gangrene had invested in the woodwork.
"The Jackdaw"
Past
Her hair was the first thing she saw. He'd never seen any woman's hair that colour of her's. Kissed by fire. He had known woman before he left for Neverland but this one was different. He stared at the woman from his hideout as she struggled in the trap that hung from the treetops.
"Hello? Very funny lads, you can let me down now" the woman said out load. Her accent was something he heard from the Northern Kingdoms of the Forest; he kept his distance from the triggered trap as the woman continued to struggle making the net swig for left to right.
"Come on guys! I'm sorry okay, I'll go back to Pan okay, just… get me down" she continued to plead to the air. Romeo had enough of the plead and swung out his cutlass to the rope that held the net up. The woman inside squealed in fear as she dropped to the floor in a heap. The assassin approached the red head as she pulled the netting that had fallen onto of her head, the woman groaned and grunted as she fiery red head was messed up from the net.
Their eyes met for the first time as Juliet saw a hand in front of her and looked up to see a man she had never seen before in a hood offering to help her up.
"Who are you?" she asked him
"Who are you?" he retorted with an amused smile
"I asked first"
"Romeo Montague at your service, milady" he mockingly bowed at the waist at her "Now will you let me help you get up, you're sitting in weeks old seaweed" the woman quickly took his hand and let him help her up, she planted her left foot onto the ground onto for a stab of pain to go through the foot
"Aah!" she exclaimed in pain grabbing Romeo's shoulder for balance as she took the offending foot off the ground
"You're hurt" he told her
"Nice observation their sailor" she huffed as he held her tighter against him
"I'll take you somewhere safe, you can't walk on that. Here" the redhead didn't get a chance to protest as the man swept her off her feet as he gathered her up in his arms carrying her to his makeshift tent that he had created for himself.
This was a turn of events neither saw ever coming
The group had followed the shell-shocked assassin as she approached the old ship and found an opening in the hull of the ship that exposed the internal levels of the ship that almost made her weep with sorrow to see the one majesty of ships by reduced to ruins.
The ship was tipped onto its side with its belly exposed by a large cannonball sized holes that littered its sides. The sorry state of the once great ship would make any man that loved the sea weep. It just made her angry. She knew who exactly did this to the ship, she still just didn't understand how it got to Neverland.
"How did it get here?" Emma asked the assassin. At least she wasn't the only one with questions
"I- uh" the red head stuttered. She didn't know what to say.
"Lia?" Mary Margaret called out her name in concern, she could see how deeply shaken she was seeing the ship in such a state of destruction and decay
"I thought it was destroyed" she said, the words tumbling out on their own accord "I ran before I knew what happened to it" she continued weakly. Hook stayed in sympathetic silence as she knew as a captain how much a ship could mean to someone.
"Never mind what happened to a rotting boat" Regina voiced in annoyance towards how Amelia reacted to seeing the ship "we need to keep going" she reminded them.
"Regina" Mary Margaret scolded the older woman
"The Queen has a point" Hook quickly defended the fellow villain "we're wasting precious time we could be looking for the lad"
"She's right" Amelia suddenly said taking the saviour and her mother by surprise "We need to keep going" Amelia turned heading back to the path they were cutting out only to be hastily followed by Mary Margaret.
Unknown to both woman they were being watched by a mysterious hooded figure that was listening intently to their conversation.
"Lia, I know this is a lot for you, but we can stay until you've had a look around, I know how much he meant to you"
"That man lied to me for years" Amelia bit out turning on the Princess making the pixie haired woman jump back "He was the only person I trusted until the day my whole world was turned upside down" she seethed "I was hunted like a dog by the men he called brothers. So, No. I don't want to waste any more time on a ghost"
The hero was left without words as the red head stormed off into the forest as the rest caught up to the pair.
"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fiar sun, and kill the envious moon"
Past
Weeks had seemed to fly by as Juliet found herself returning to his hiding spot time after time to seek out the only other adult on the island, sometimes he was there, sometimes not. She wanted to speak to him again, but could never find the courage to do it. How come she could annoy Pan to no end but could hardly speak two words to Romeo?
She trekked the growing forest as she came across his hiding spot being careful not to trigger anymore net or traps, he had laid out.
Today she found him on a small beach sat on the sand with nothing but a pair of cotton trousers as he set out to gut out the fish he had caught and laid out next to him. She stopped at the edge of the jungle watching him as he skilfully cut into the dead fish. From there she could see his lean but firm physic covered in droplets of water that she could see in the moonlight.
She couldn't deny he wasn't a handsome man and she couldn't deny she wasn't thinking about the man that Pan paid no thought to more than often.
"You want some dinner" Romeo suddenly called out turning his head so that he was looking straight at her even though the jungle that edged the small cove. An amused smirk grew on the young man's face as she stepped out of the foliage
"How did you know I was here?" Juliet asked him
"Call it a gift" he answered her "Come on I've got enough for the both of us"
Juliet accepted his invitation as she joined him across from him with the small campfire in between them as she watched him cook the fish. She could see his features in the light that emitted from the fire his eye's were furrowed as he concentrates on cooking the food
"How's the ankle?" Romeo started the conversation feeling the young woman's eye's on him
"Good as new" she told him before blurting out "Where have you been?"
A curious brow rose on the man's face as he looked up at the woman at the sudden question "Excuse me?"
"You heard me" she said definitely holding "where have you been, I can't find you on the island"
"I have a ship anchored near the coast" he humored her with the answer
"A ship?" her curiosity rose as she found out that this man had a way off the island
"Uh Huh" he nodded "A brig. Called the Jackdaw"
"Like the bird?"
"Exactly. Fasted ship in the all the realm's, can weather any storm and withstand any attack"
"Doesn't everyone say that about their ship?"
"They do" a chuckle escaped the mans mouth with a smile that would bend any women to his will "but they never handled the Jackdaw" he told her with a smug smile
"Okay then prove it" she challenged him
"Prove it?" he questioned her with a confused look
"Let me sail her" she suddenly said
"Ha, no, no,no" he shook his head "No-one handles her but her Captain"
"What? You afraid I'll be better than you"
"No, because she's my only way outta here" he scoffed at the woman "I can't her run aground because some girl you wanted to prove a point"
"Woman" she quickly corrected the man
Romeo stared at the woman in front of his as he thought through her challenge forgetting the fish that was over the fire "Alright" he agreed standing from his place taking Juliet by surprise as her eye's widened in shock as he pulled on a long coat and headed for the row boat on the shoreline
"Wait? What?"
Romeo looked back at her in annoyance seeing that she hadn't gotten up "Well you said you wanted to sail her, so let's sail"
Quickly getting herself up she quickly followed the man towards the rowboat just as e started to drag it back into the water "W-What about the food?"
"I can get more" he groaned as he pulled the wooden boat towards the water, once in the water he slung a leg over to stop it from getting away from them before looking back at Juliet holding out his hand towards the woman "You coming or what?"
Juliet looked to his hand is hesitation before looking into his brown eye's and playful smirk. With a quirked smile she stepped into the shallow water before taking his hand, letting him guide her into the boat taking the leap of faith into the unknown that was Romeo Montague.
Present
The group was quiet after the discovery of the Jackdaw as they could feel the conflicting emotions coming off the assassin who had walked ahead of them. Emma watched the red head from behind Hook as she set the pace for them.
"So, what's up with the ship anyway?" Emma inquired with the pirate once Amelia had walked far away enough
"The Jackdaw was legendary, so was its Captain" Hook started off David's ear perked up from behind the pair with his wife "It was rumored to be the strongest ship ever made, it could withstand storms much stronger to that that one we were fallen victim to"
"Well clearly it didn't one day" Emma retorted remembering how much visible damage it had taken.
"Aye" he sadly drawled out "Some time ago that its Captain had been killed by the people he worked for. Never knew who. Whoever it was were very brave men. Captain Montague was a force to be reckoned with. Even had a couple of run in's with the man, he certainly lived up to the stories told about him"
"What stories?" Mary Margaret asked suddenly
"Oh the usual" he sighed "Honourable, brave, pure hearted. Its seems hard to believe that the famous Black Widow was sired by him"
"What if she's lying" David added "She's done it before, why not again?"
"She's not" Emma told her father "In the time I've known her she's never been this distracted about something rather than Regina, seeing that ship brought something back for her"
"She told me something earlier" Mary Margaret said to the group she stopped making the others stop a well to look at the princess "that he was the reason she was hunted by the Brotherhood after running away, but she didn't join Regina until years after she saved me and my father"
"Then what happened in those years she wasn't with Regina?" David asked out load looking between his wife and grown daughter in concern
"There's only one person who would know such a tale" Hook said to the small group
"Gold?" the Prince suggested
"Regina" Emma answered "Come on we need to catch up to them" the blonde told them and headed their small group to find Regina and Amelia.
David went to follow his daughter and the pirate only to be pulled back by his wife, "Mary Margaret?" he asked with concern etched into his face
"David, I know him" she whispered to her husband
"Who?"
"Amelia's father. Captain Montague"
"How?"
"My parents best friend in the entire world was called Romeo. My father named him as my Godfather when I was born. He was an assassin"
"Mary Margaret I'm sure there are plenty of men in the Enchanted Forest called Romeo" David voiced his doubt to his wife "He can't be Amelia's father"
"He captained a ship called the Jackdaw" she told him "David, Amelia's father was my godfather" David's face dropped at this information
"And here I thought our family tree couldn't get more complicated" he sighed rubbing his head at the new piece of information
"What are going to do? I have to tell her"
"No, not yet at least you saw how upset it made her just seeing his ship, we need to concentrate on getting Henry back then we'll tell her"
"Your right, we need her now more than ever, telling her would only upset her more"
"I will kiss thy lips. Haply some poison yet doth hang on them. The make me die with a restorative.."
Past
The pair hadn't said anything as Romeo rowed them into deeper water's towards the ship that was gently swaying on the calm water's that surrounded the island. Juliet couldn't keep her eye's off the brig that stood tall and proud on the ocean as Romeo couldn't keep his eye's off the woman in front of him.
The giant sails on the ship were down rippling in the wind as Romeo helped the young woman onto the deck, closely followed by the Captain
"Where's your crew?" was the first question that came out of Juliet's mouth as stepped further onto the wooden deck
"There isn't one, it's just me" he huffed out as he started to pull up the anchor from the water
"You're here all alone then?" she felt a pang of sympathy for the man as he was left to way anchor by himself. She was the only girl in an island full of lost boy's.
She felt the ship start to move under her feet just as Romeo ran up the ship to the catch the wheel with his hands. and before she knew it the ship was gliding across the surface of the water. She felt the salty air hit her face as she made her way up to the Captain at the wheel. Romeo's strong hands gripped the handles as he expertly controlled the direction of the ship
When Juliet made it to the wheel, Romeo caught her staring at the horizon. It was beautiful for such a horrid place, but it wasn't the horizon the young captain was looking at "You ready?"
"Huh?" a chuckle escaped his lips as he caught the woman out
"I said you ready to prove your worth?" he said holding the wheel steady, he turned to face her to make space for her to take over
With her chin held up she stepped up and took a handle on each side of the wheel as Romeo came up close behind her to steady the wheel before he let go "Word of warning she's a heavy one to steer" he whispered in her ear. She internally scolded herself as her body shiver as his warm breath hit the back on her neck
"I can handle her" she told him turning her head to speak to him. He could see the freckles that dusted her nose this close to her as his eye's were locked onto her's. This was the first time he had seen the colour of her eye's. there were emerald, like the precious jewel, they shone in the moonlight.
Clearing his throat, he broke the tension that had suddenly grown between them as Juliet refocused on the task on hand: To prove Romeo wrong.
His callused rough hands gripped the handles over her soft hands as he let her get used to the heavy wight of the wheel that controlled the rudder until he eventually let go.
Panicking at the sudden weight Juliet strained to keep the wheel steady as she struggled to stop the wheel going too far to the right
Romeo quickly but calmly grabbed the wheel around Juliet as the boat swayed in the water "Easy, push against the wheel" he gently advised her
"I had it under control" Juliet told him stubbornly as she took a sigh of relief that she manged not to capsize the ship
"Sure you did nightingale" Romeo breathed out
Juliet's head snapped to look at the man behind her "Nightingale?" she questioned the man who seemed to blush under her gaze
"Concentrate" he lightly barked at her making her snap her head back to watch where they were going. The corner of Juliet's lips quirked up at the nickname, she liked it.
They hadn't gone far from where they started as the jibs at the front of the ship and fore sail were the only sails open to catch the wind. As the ship settled once again Romeo let go of Juliet's hand once again as she focused harder, this time she kept the ship steady. She was a fast learner. Either that or she had sailed before and not told him, either way he was impressed. And it didn't' get unnoticed how beautiful she was.
This woman would be the death of him.
Coming to the end of their trip Romeo had taken her to the crow's nest on the main mast after putting the anchor down near to the place. The moonlight reflected of the surface of the water as they looked into the horizon. Her hands gripped the wooden rail leaning forwards as she took in the scenery. But Romeo didn't want to look at their surrounding's as it didn't compare to the beauty that was stood before him
"So, did I do a good job?" her question brought
"Well we're still floating, aren't we?" the Captain started to chuckle as Juliet playfully pushed him in the chest only making him laugh harder irritating the woman further, she whipped her hand towards his face to slap him only to have a firm grip to stop it short to the skin on his face as a dark look came across his eye's making her take pause. She made a huge mistake. The serious look relaxed making her breath out a sigh of relief as he kept a firm grip on her arm. She felt his warmth through the sleeve of her blouse as he had pulled her arm up making her take a step towards him closing the distance between them as she felt the warmth of his body radiate off him.
She couldn't help but wonder if his lips were just as warm to touch
"Now that wasn't nice" he breathed across her face as his eye's hooded over and the tip of his nose grazed her's she felt the grip on his arm go on her arm as it fell onto his firm shoulder
"Well I'm not a nice girl" she retorted
"Is that right?" he lightly chuckled with a toothy grin
"I'll break your heart" she warned him as he didn't move
"It's already broken" he told her "Try me"
She couldn't wait any longer as she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him towards her letting her lip capture his is a searing kiss that sent her head spinning as she felt his hand bring her in closer to him as he kissed her. If it weren't' for her lung burning for air she would keep her lip pressed against his as they parted leaving little space between their
"I was right" she panted out
"About what?" he asked her in confusion
"Your lips are warm" at that Romeo brought her into another kiss cementing his feelings for the woman he held against his body
Unknown to the star-crossed lover's in the night sky above them floated Pan's shadow watching the couples first kisses. Pan would certainly find out what his daughter was doing with the Assassin that had taken up temporary residence on his island
The assassin needed to put as much distance between her and the ship as possible. That's why she found herself leading the group through the jungle cutting through every twig or leaf that got in her path, letting out the frustration she felt seeing the Jackdaw. A physical reminder of the man that caused so much pain in her life despite being dead for most of it.
After their conversation about the redhead, Emma took charge of finding out more information about the mysterious assassin at the front catching up to the former Queen. Noticing the pirate and her parents lagging behind she slowed up allowing the redhead to go out of earshot.
"What is it you want Miss Swan?" Regina called out the blonde with irritation lasing her voice
"We just wanted to know what happened between Lia and her father, seeing the ship brought something up"
"You want to talk about ancient history while my son is being held hostage by a sociopath?"
"Well, it's obviously not to her. We need to get Henry back, but we need her and her… experience to have a chance of getting him back"
"What exactly did you three want to know?"
"What happened to her between the years she saved you and Mary Margaret to when she joined the Evil Queen"
"No" she told the Saviour as she carried on regardless to Emma's protests
"Regina, come on Amelia's not the sharing type, she'll only get defensive if we ask her" Regina stopped her trek and turned on the blonde making the latter almost skid to a stop
"Let me get this straight Miss Swan, whatever Amelia has said to me in confidence will stay that way. In confidence. No speech about working together will ever make me divulge information about her life to anyone"
"Then what can you tell me?" the blonde asked desperate for any clue to the woman's past, all she knew from small conversation from the red head that she only found out he was her father it was too late
Regina paused thinking over the blonde's words "She lost everything" Regina finally answered "Now if you don't mind, we need to find my son" at that the former Queen left the saviour pondering her words about the assassin's past
"My life is my foe's debt"
Past
She wasn't part of the plan
Romeo's head swam as he stared up at the ceiling of his cabin as sleep evaded him for another night ever since he kissed Juliet in the crow's nest of the Jackdaw. Now he was lying naked as the day he was born with a sheet covering his lower half as the woman lied next to him with her bare back facing him with nothing but a sheet to keep the chill of the ocean air protecting her pale skin sleeping peacefully after a passion filled night aboard his ship.
They'd been meeting every other night when he rowed to the island to fish, they would eat together talking, laughing and kissing between bite's before they always ended up back on his ship. He'd been with other woman, but he'd never been so desperate to see Juliet again after one of their nights together. He'd find himself using his vision to seek her golden figure out in the foliage his heart beating in worry in case Pan or the lost boy's that occupied the island had gotten to her only to calm down when he saw her red hair in the darkness.
He was falling for her. And hard
He wasn't going to sleep a long as this woman was next to him. Instead he got up pulling on his trousers before he went to his desk that was covered in paper's. in the centre directly in front of his chair was a brown leather journal he had been writing in with whatever he found on the island.
Sketches of animal's and bug's filled its pages as well as the animals' that inhabited the island. He flipped to the page which was dedicated to the boy that ruled this island. It was left blank with the exception of the word 'Pan' on the top of the page. Nothing frustratingly filled the page as he skipped it to the page that held sketches of the plant that held the poisonous dream shade. With Juliet's help he was able to pen more information about the substance, what it did, it's anti-dote.
Maybe the Brotherhood would be able to use it to their advantage once he returned.
Shifting his chair backwards to get more comfortable to write in the journal he was surprised feel the leg of the chair hit something on the floor. Turning on his sixth sense to see inside the dark cabin, standing up from his chair to investigate the floor his eye's came upon a silver ring. Picking it up he knew it wasn't his, his ring still sat on his middle finger. It must've been Juliet's. it must have fallen off her hand as they came into the cabin.
A smile crept of his face as he remembered the frenzy as the both desperately wanted to tear each other' clothes off as they made their way towards his bed. Just the thought made him want to wake up his sleeping nightingale and have his way with her again until they were both spent for day's. But any thought of that disappears as he turned the ring around to see a familiar red cross embedded into the ring.
A Templar Cross.
She was a Templar
His heart thudded loudly in his chest as he tried to find any evidence that it was fake that the red cross wasn't real, instead he found an inscription on the inside of the ring that made his heart break further.
"May the father of understanding guide you daughter"- Lord Capulet
Sucking in a breath of shock the ring slipped through his finger's falling onto the floor as his knees gave out from underneath him, his hand scrambled for the back of his chair making it scrape across the floor before he fell into chair making the sleeping woman in his bed rouse from the sudden noise.
Expecting to find the man she was falling for next to her. Her eye's fluttered open not feeling his warm body behind her, she sat up to see him sat on his desk chair with his head in his hands and her ring on the floor. Quickly checking her finger's, she saw that her ring was missing. He knew
"Romeo?" his head snapped up to look straight at her. Red rimmed his eye's as his eye's furrowed in anger and not in adoration as he did over the last few hour's. He was angry and she was completely at his mercy.
Present
Nothing more had been said about the Jackdaw or her father as they venture further into the jungle. David headed the group cutting down foliage to create a path for them followed by Hook the most experienced person they had about the island. He was taking them to a spot of the island that would allow them to see the rest of island.
The humidity was starting to get to the Assassin as she stopped to take a gulf of the water in her water skin. She watched as Regina, Emma walked past her only for Mary Margaret to pause with the red head. Wiping the sweat on her brow it reminded her of Agrabah and the desert that seemed to never end.
But she remembered Agrabah as one of few pleasant memories she had of Master Romeo. She had gotten bitten by a snake and started to panic, only for the older man to keep her calm until they got to the nearest village to get an antidote. She didn't see what type of snake it was; she only remembered the pain that flared up on the ankle. It was excruciating. But he did everything he could to keep her calm.
Amelia offered her water skin to the younger woman only to have it politely declined "Are you okay?" the Princess asked the woman seeing that she was struggling with the hike
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"You know, if you went back no one would say anything. I know you'll be able to find us again with no problem"
"I wouldn't be surprised if you went back" she retorted "Seeing how fond of him you were"
Panic started to set in Mary Margaret's head "W-what do you mean?"
"I remember he had a god-daughter, and he was close friends with your father, I put it together pretty quickly after that" the princess could see the pain in her eye's knowing she could be more of a daughter to him that his actual daughter
"I'm sorry" Mary Margaret quickly told her
"At least he had one daughter he could love" Mary Margaret felt the sting of her words as she slung the water skin back over her shoulder and carried on with the trek to catch up with the other's leaving the younger woman to contemplate what damage that was made between the pair
"O Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo. Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Of if thou will not, be but sworn by my love. And no longer be a Capulet"
Past
He wasn't part of the plan.
As Juliet Capulet lied in Romeo's bed with a sheet covering her naked body she couldn't help but feel content at the way she would contently sleep next to the man she loved. Yes. Loved. There were times like these she could forget about her family name about her father and the reason she was really on the island. Taking that small leap of faith on that day on the small beach was the best decision she had ever made. Even after she found out what he really was.
The Brotherhood of Assassin and the Order of Templar were bitter enemies for years before either she or Romeo were born, that didn't mean that she or him should continue the bloodshed that had been shed between both orders. They would be different. She just had to tell him who she was before it was too late.
However, that day had come sooner that Juliet had wanted it to come as the sound of wood scraping across the floor disturbed her from her deep sated sleep as her eye's fluttered open. She smiled to herself as she sat up to see that Romeo was already awake, but something was wrong as she sat up using the sheet to cover herself with to see the man he loved with his head in his hands. And her ring in his hands.
Panic set into her chest as she quickly checks her fingers only to see they were naked. Oh No.
"Romeo?" she gently called out to him lifting his head she could see the hurt and betrayal in his eye's instead of the love she saw whenever he looked at her.
"You're a Capulet" it was more of a statement than a question that came out of his mouth
Juliet felt of throat suddenly go dry as she tried to think of the words "Romeo, let me explain"
"No" he refuses her plea jumping to his feet "You've lied enough to me. I want you gone" he said as he threw her clothes back at her.
"Romeo please" she pleaded with the man as he grabbed his clothes as she felt her heart start to break inside her chest
"The Capulet's send their regards" he told her "That's what he said before they killed my parent's before they killed my sister in her bed"
"That's not me" she stated firmly. Her father never believed in killing, he made sure that all Templar's knew that. whoever killed his family was not of their Order or at least an extremist of some sort.
"Doesn't matter" he huffed angrily as he grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head before throwing her clothes as her "You're a rotten Templar" he growled in disgust turning away from her gripping the edge of the wooden table
"You don't mean that" she gasped as she tried to hastily dress herself
"When were you going to tell me then? Just before you killed me?" he accused her
"Romeo please"
"Get out!"
"No, I won't leave" she told him stubbornly as she remained on the bed "Romeo…" she didn't know what to say that would calm him down he looked heartbroken before he picked up the chair he was sat in and threw it across the cabin, breaking it apart making her jump in fright at his sudden burst of anger
"I loved you!" he screamed at her with gritted teeth making her stomach drop. Loved. It meant the world to her and broke it all at the same time "I loved you" he panted out as he angers dissolve into despair "Just go" he gulped "Please"
Juliet nodded pulling the cotton pants that Romeo had given her, standing up from the bed she headed for the door. She was weary that she would have to pass him on the way out, but she had to keep her head up. Not let Romeo know much he had hurt her. Conceal not feel. That's what Tywin would say.
Once she had reached him her stopped holding his hand up to her "Here" he held her ring in his fingers. She gently took the piece of jewellery out of his hand as look at him. He kept his head down as he felt her eyes pierce onto him
"I don't want it" she told him throwing the silver ring angrily down onto the ground, she heard roll on the wooden floor until it came to a stop somewhere in the cabin, not caring where it ended up "Romeo, we are not them" Juliet started "We don't need the Brotherhood or the Order. Deny the Brotherhood for my love" she stammered as she confessed her feelings for the man in front of her "If you can't I will deny the Order to be with you only if you tell me that you love me"
He couldn't meet her eye as she tried to look for his "I'll take you to land, but after that if I ever see you again. I will kill you"
Juliet could only nod meekly as he rushed out of the cabin to prepare the rowboat for the longest journey in her life. Once she was alone the resolve broke as she clenched her stomach as she sobbed for the pain that she felt in her heart.
Present
It was starting to annoy her the number of times the Jackdaw and her father was slipping back into her thoughts. She needed to concentrate on Henry. On Neverland. On getting off this island without killing anyone or herself. That's when she remembered the journal's her father kept. He wrote everything down; from the people they had encountered to information he had found from wherever he was. They also never left his cabin. Coming to stop on the track her mind pulled her to go back and find them.
Looking into the dark sky, her eye's found the stars that sat above them "Damn you" she whispered to herself before turning around she headed back to where they had walked, leaving Regina to wonder where she was going. Passing through Emma, Hook and David, she finally stopped in front of the Princess, halting her progress. She felt the other's stop as well looking back to see what the assassin wanted.
"If I die here, you're burying me" was all she said to the Princess. Mary Margaret simply nodded numbly at the redhead with a gaping mouth before Amelia ran back from where they had walked using the tree's to aid her journey, disappearing into the foliage with only the sound of leave rustling in her wake
"Where is she going?" Emma asked her mother
"She's going to find her father" she breathed out in relief
"Chasing Ghost's more like" Hook spoke up "That's one less to take back then" Hook added before continuing with the other's following on with their hike
The Jackdaw looked worse on closer inspection as she stood at bottom bracing herself with clenched fists to go to the broken ship. She remembered seeing for the first time when she was five. It was bigger than any giant her mother told in her bedtime stories. Now the trees here overshadowed the tipped over brig.
Forcing her foot forward she started her climb the outside of the hull until she found the biggest hole she could fit through. Thankfully she managed to squeeze through with ripping anything as she found herself in the belly of the ship. The Crew's quarters. As she grew older Romeo allowed her the quarters where hammocks were tied up between posts. She had spent many nights down there are drinking and playing with the crew before her father summoned her to her own room. Now there was barely anything saved from a few trinkets left by the men that worked on the ship. She hated to think what happened to them. They would stand by their Captain through thick and thin. They loved him.
Shaking her head out her dark thoughts as she eye's the ladder that would take her to the main deck. Being careful of the moss that had grown over the years she almost slipped twice before finally reaching the Captain Cabin. Pushing on the door's twice they didn't move. Something inside was blocking it. She needed a good look inside before she entered anyway.
"Sorry Master" she whispered to no one before punching through the coloured pane glass window breaking the corner of the pane finally gave in big enough for her to peer through.
It was just like she remembered. The furniture was the same only displaced from the ship being tilted. The mannequin that housed his robes when he wasn't wearing them. The model of the Jackdaw, with a now broken mast was on the right. Then she saw the moonlight making a circle in the middle of the cabin, looking up she saw the gaping hole in the roof.
The dust that had settled in the cabin was disturbed as Amelia fell through the hole landing on one knee and fist, only for her foot to slip at the awkward angle that make her lose her balance, rolling onto back until she was met the unmistakable piece of furniture that she had hit her head that was once the bane of her existence.
"Stupid Desk" she grumbled as twisted herself so that she could pull herself up onto her feet as the ship groaned and creek from her movements. Her eye caught his chair. Whenever she was onboard, she could often find him at his desk writing something in his journals, the thing was always breaking, he never told her how he broke it in the first place, but it had been put back together so many times he would be able to fix it in the dark without their sixth sense.
He never replaced it though which was odd because Monteriggioni produced some of the best wooden furniture in the Forest. Royalty even sought after it, often paying way beyond what it was worth so they could say it was from her home.
Turning her mind back to the task at hand she needed to find those journals. He kept them hidden, but how hidden she did not know. Claudius would have pulled the ship apart to find them. Turning on her sixth sense her eye's fluttered around the cabin only to come up with nothing, this usually worked. Was Neverland's magic interfering with her ability. Those thoughts were going through her head until she saw a faint golden glow coming under the rug that sat in the middle of the room
Her vision went back to normal as she kicked the dirty rug from its place it revealed a hidden hatch. In the middle of it looked like a lock, but it was not a normal keyhole it was a simple slit. It made her wonder.
Flicking out her right wrist the hidden blade sprung out it's hidden place, as she eye's focused on the small markings at the tip of the blade. Romeo was the one to have them made by our blacksmith. She gently slotted the blade into the slot feeling it click into place. It was the key. Turning her arm clockwise she heard clicks and cogs move within the ship floor until she heard something click. Taking it out of the slot the hatch slid open to reveal a pile of worn brown leather covered journals with a note sat on top of it with her name on it.
Gently picking it up she saw her father's insignia sealing the opening to the letter. Breaking the wax seal she opened It to see his handwriting on the paper.
Amelia,
If you have found this, it means' that all I have done over the year's to keep you safe has worked. I won't know how you will come across this letter but know why I lied to you all those years.
There are a thousand things I would've liked to have said to you before I departed. But seeing you grow into young woman you have become today. I'm sorry it has taken me this long to realise it.
You are the east and Amelia is the sun
She hadn't realised she had been crying until she felt the tears running down her cheeks. Quickly wiping them away she put the letter aside to see something that had taken her interest. It was a silver ring. Picking it up she saw the red cross straight away. It was a Templar Ring. Inside the ring she was a in inscription hat had faded thought the years but still readable
"May the father of understanding guide you daughter-Lord Capulet" she read the engraving out load
It was her mothers.
Quickly pocketing the ring she quickly found an old shoulder bag loading up the dusty journal by the hand full until the secret hatch was emptied. Hopefully these journals told her something about Neverland that would of use to them.
The redhead was still unaware of the hooded figure that had watched her since coming back to the Jackdaw.
He would re-unite with his daughter soon. He just didn't know when.
"My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep: the more I give to thee. The more I have, for both are infinite"
Six Year's Later
His heart ached like he never thought it ever would as he stood in front of Master Claudius as his daughter sat outside with Angelo. Five years came and went after they left Neverland. It seemed like yesterday when he begged Paula to give his pregnant wife a room in the bordello. It was the safest place for her there.
Five winter's ago, the second half his heart was born. Over the year's his mission's had gotten harder, his kill's harsher.
But now one half of his heart had broken, and he had to keep the other as close to him as possible. Even if he had to train her into a killer in a corrupt Brotherhood, he knew was getting worse by the day.
Claudius looked up to his Master of Ship's in confusion as he had petitioned to make this whore's girl Amelia into an Assassin. She already held their sight, but it still didn't explain why one of his brightest assassins wanted to stunt his own progression within the Brotherhood to train a five-year-old. He would make the rank of Mentor in a few years' time in another Brotherhood stronghold even taking over from himself.
"What about her mother, the whore? How did she die?" Claudius questioned the assassin before him
Romeo clenched his fist's at the man's use of the word whore about his wife "She was found dead a few day's ago. Paola is still investigating"
"And the father?"
"Unknown. Paola took her in while she was still pregnant"
"Very well" the senior Assassins stated "Because you're so eager to train her. From today henceforth Amelia is now your Apprentice until the day she makes rank of Master Assassin. And if she die's before that day..you bury her. You're dismissed"
The word's stung his Master of Ships as he bowed his head respectfully to his Master before heading back to Angelo's study to find the man himself deep within his books until he sought out Amelia's smile figure, to find it trying to look into the model of Monteriggioni.
A fond smile grew on the man's face to see that she had inherited her mother curiosity as she reached out to touch one of the models towers only for his voice to make her snap her hand back behind her back as she turned on her heel to face him
"Amelia" he started as he took a step toward the young girl "I hope you weren't going to touch Angelo's new toy"
"No sir" she answered him formally with a shake of her head looking up at him doe eye's and innocent looking
"Good because Angelo would be most upset if you broke a piece off, it's not a toy for you"
"Never sir" half her mouth quirked up in a half smile as he saw right through the small lie, the same smile her mother would pull.
"Come I want to show you around, you'll be spending more of your time here over the next few years"
"Yes Master" Amelia answered him
It was that moment he knew. This girl would be the death of him.
And he didn't mind one bit.
AN: Thanks for reading. A little more info on Romeo and Juliet in this chapter. Let me know what you think of the chapter
Remember to:
Follow/Favorite/ Comment/ Review