Chapter Text
For a moment, Ariel thought once everyone had come back from rescuing Henry, things would finally start to settle down in Storybrooke.
Looking back, she didn't know what made her think that. It was a town full of people who had been transported from their home to a completely different world, had been under a curse for almost thirty years not knowing who they truly were, then saved, and had now two incidents of people coming to their town with the intention to either destroy it completely or destroy it in the process of getting what they wanted.
Things wouldn't calm down for a long time.
And of course, rescuing Henry (and Rumplestilskin's son who was also Henry's father apparently) was no different. It seemed they had a knack for bringing unwanted guests. Last time it was Regina's mother and a pirate, this time it was some Shadow.
Ariel didn't know much about this Shadow, but she guessed it was pretty serious since Snow begged her to come out of 'retirement' (Snow's words, not her's) and help. And so once again, she was helping the Charmings, like she had done before the curse. She was surprise they asked her now, since beforehand when the curse broke and things were a bit more haywire, they didn't ask for her help. But with this problem, Snow said that she immediately thought of her.
See, in the waters, something was brewing. It had been brewing ever since Snow and the others had returned from Neverland. It was this one section, far beyond the port but well in the lines of Storybrooke. It was this area, where the currents were going the opposite way. What caught everyone's attention was the faint glow it was emitting.
Ariel had no idea what it could be or what she could possibly be dealing with. This wasn't what she was skilled at. Protecting someone from harm (like Henry) she could do. Plan an attack? She definitely could do that. Instead, they had stuck her on a ship with some pirate.
Ariel really wanted to know what made people think pirates and mermaids went together. Because other than being on the sea for a large majority, they didn't have much in common. Plus, pirates either hated mermaids or were blindly in love with them. And neither of those options were something she wanted to deal with.
Which was why she was walking down the docks tonight. She didn't have trouble spotting the ship-it was pretty huge and obviously old-fashioned. It brought back memories of when she was much younger, and would sneak out at night to go to the surface and see how close she could get to a ship, to see if she could catch a glimpse of a human.
She walked up to the ship, fascinated. She felt like she was fifteen again; journeying into the unknown at night, completely fascinated and curious about it, even though she had no idea what to expect. Only this time, she wasn't sneaking around; she had been asked to go out and explore-something that would have never happened when she lived in the ocean. She put a hand on the side of the ship, feeling the wood and studying every detail she could find.
"She's a real marvel, isn't she?" A voice spoke, startling her. She turned around to find herself face to face with the captain of the Jolly Roger.
Ariel had met many different kinds of people on land. But pirates? Not at all. She had heard many stories about them though. And he was definitely a pirate. He was deviously handsome, with his dark hair and eyes blue as the sky. His smile was charming, but also mischievous. If she had met him when she was sixteen, she would have instantly been smitten. But now, not at all. She was wiser.
"She certainly is," Ariel agreed.
"It's always nice to have someone appreciate her," He paused, taking a moment to survey her, "Especially a lass of such beauty as yourself."
Ariel's smile dropped. She did not sign up to be hit on with rather lame pick up lines all night. She was putting a stop to this right now.
"I'm Ariel," She said, taking a step forward, "You know, the mermaid who's suppose to help figure out what's going on over there?" She pointed to the spot in the ocean.
His smile dropped and he looked over her again, this time with suspicion. Yup, definitely did not like mermaids. Wonderful.
"So you're the fish they've been talking about," He said. Ariel immediately frowned. She knew mermaid weren't perfect, but he had no reason to be hostile to her.
"I'm not a fish," She defended, "Nice to meet you too."
She knew immediately in his head he was comparing her to all the other mermaids he had seen. By mermaid standards, Ariel was not pretty. She was always seen as the plain daughter of Triton. She was never as pale as the others, due to the fact she would go up to the surface so much. Her eyes weren't dark, they were a bright green. Her auburn hair wasn't in perfect ringlets or straight as a pin like her sisters'. It was in the curls that could be unruly and very hard to control (she was thankful for the hair products in this world). All her traits mermaids found unattractive.
"Well, we best get started," He told her, walking back up the ramp. She quickly followed, ready to get this over with.
"Look, I don't know what we're suppose to be expecting, but I-" Ariel cut herself off when she looked up and found herself on the deck of the ship. She was speechless. The ship was beautiful and she wanted to memorize every detail of it, right down to the carving of the wood.
I'm actually on a ship, she thought to herself as she smiled. For years, she had dreamed of being on one with legs, instead of watching them from a rock. She looked down at her legs, then back up at the ship, continuing to stare at the ship in wonder.
"I see you've taken a liking to the Jolly Roger," He said, snapping her out of her thoughts. She smiled, nodding, despite the cautious look he was giving her.
"I was always fascinated by ships when I was younger," She admitted.
"They certainly are a wonder, especially when one is not trying to sink them," He said as he passed her while walking to the helm. That was a dig at her and if he thought he could do this all night, he had another thing coming.
"You know, when I was younger, I saw a lot of beautiful ships destroyed because of pirates," She responded, her tone harsh and firm. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She smiled, proud of herself.
She sat herself down on a barrel and watched him as he began navigating the ship at the helm. Ariel had read about the different parts of a ship and how it was to be run, but seeing it, actually seeing it first-hand was a completely different experience.
She had been apprehensive when they first told her about Hook helping them. She had heard about his quest for revenge and working with Cora and how he tried to kill several others in the process. But he had aided them in getting Henry back from Neverland, so she assumed he was now trusted. She wondered if he was really trying to help them, or just trying to make it seem that way so they wouldn't punish him for what he tried to do earlier.
Nevertheless, they had to work together and he thought she was just some murderous sea creature. Getting him to cooperate with her was going to be difficult. Which was why she hoped this wouldn't take too long and once she reported back to Snow and David what they had found, they would take over and she would be done.
She looked around the ship, studying every detail she could find. She would occasionally look back to him, to see what he was doing. Sometimes he was facing the direction they were traveling in, with a stern and focused look on him. Out of the corner of her eyes though, she saw that he would occasionally look at her. He was trying to decipher her.
She knew she wasn't easy to read-and that was fine with her. It only made sense that he was curious. She was once a creature of the sea, and now a creature of land. It was an interesting story. A story she did not feel like telling.
It was quiet for a while. The two simply didn't have anything to say to one another. Ariel instead focused on the water. She may have been a human for quite some time, but she was still fascinated by how different the sea looked from up above. She now understood why humans had been so fascinated with it.
It wasn't until a while that she realized he wasn't at the helm anymore and instead was leaning over the port side, looking at something in the ocean. She got up and cleared her throat, reminding him of her presence.
"You may want to come take a look at this," He said, not moving. She walked over and looked out, her eyes widening.
It reminded her of the portal that brought them back from Neverland. However, it clearly wasn't as big or as powerful. It was much shallower and smaller. What caught her eye though, was a speckle of light in it. It was faint, but it was there. It wasn't until she was up close that she realized why it seemed so familiar-she had seen this before.
"Is....is this the portal you all came through?" She asked, even though it was pretty clear what his answer would be.
"Looks like it. But it's nowhere near as powerful. Doesn't even look like you could get through it," He said, studying it. Ariel studied it as well. Someone was trying to get to Storybrooke.
"It's him. The Shadow. I think...he's trying to keep the portal open so he can get through to Storybrooke," She explained, looking at the pirate.
Hook looked at her, "He was able to enter and exit this world anytime he wished-he was more powerful in this world which why was he kept bringing children from here back to Neverland. If he wanted to get to this world, he would have no trouble doing so. Nor would he need a portal to do it."
Ariel looked back at the portal, the wheels spinning in her head, "Because he's not trying to enter a world without magic. He's trying to enter a place full of magic. And when you're using magic to deal with other magic, things become difficult. Hence why he's having trouble. Not to mention he has to break through a spell that makes Storybrooke invisible and makes it impossible for outsiders to enter, which adds another layer of difficulty to get in."
"Well aren't you just a smart little fish?" He said, smirking. Smart enough to how to knock him out and throw him overboard, but Ariel didn't say that. She didn't think it would help improve how he saw her-despite how tempting it was.
"But I'm probably right though," Ariel said, holding her ground.
"It's quite possible. He goes after what he wants, and wouldn't let something like another world stop him," Hook responded, looking back at the 'portal'.
"The question now is, which I'm sure you can answer," She paused, "Would all the magic in Neverland be powerful enough to bring him here?"
"He has quite a considerable amount of power. Not to mention there are also some fairies, and mermaids." Ariel glared.
"Given the way you've been treating me, I don't think the mermaids there would be so helpful towards anyone, especially him," She was this close to knocking him into the now halfassed portal, "But what you're saying is, there's a chance he may not have enough power to keep this portal open?"
"There's a chance it might. Even if it doesn't, he'll find another way to come here. He's not exactly the type to give up so easily," Hook warned.
"I'm sure of that. However, I don't think he'll be entering Storybrooke any time soon," She responded.
"Look love, I don't think you have any idea what exactly you're dealing with," He warned, getting closer to her face. Ariel couldn't help but notice how blue his eyes were. She quickly shook the thought from her head-he wasn't going to scare her.
"You're right-I don't. But I do know that to create a portal that's strong enough to carry you safely over to another world, you need an extensive amount of magic. Be honest: do you think he has enough of that kind of magic?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Well it's certainly a possibility."
"It's also a possibility that this attempted portal may fail," She clarified, "I think we should come back tomorrow night and if it's getting more powerful, then we can tell Snow and David."
He observed her, his stare intense, "You're not trying to pull anything, are you fish?"
She scoffed, " Are you questioning my loyalty to them? Because I have risked my life for them countless of times. I'm trying to keep this town safe-I just know when to worry and when to freak out. Right now, we should be worried. So same time tomorrow night?"
"I'm not taking my eyes off of you fish," Hook told her, his voice far from flirty.
Ariel rolled her eyes, "Oh captain, I would despair if you did," She said, her voice dripping in sarcasm. She turned around, her focus back on the portal.
She missed the faint and curious smile the pirate had after her comment. The fish could certainly hold her ground.
Tomorrow night should be interesting.