Dark One's Daughter *Book Four*

Fall {2}

With Emma dragging me back towards the mines, I glanced back up at the skies that were a light blue, speckled with clouds but it all looked so peaceful. But in reality, it was far from it. Even if I readjusted my gaze just over to the right I would see the fate that Storybrooke was about to encounter if we didn't hurry up. The Spell of Shattered Sight was almost here and we were far from saving everyone because no matter where we all hid, the curse would get to us and the town would be destroyed.

Emma and I went back down the elevator and as soon as it touched the ground we took off running.

"Elsa!" Emma called out, hoping to stop Elsa from attempting any magic. Because now it was not only putting her at risk but everyone. If the cave fell on us, we're dead or trapped and then so is the necklace that could potentially save us all.

"I'm sorry, I have to try this!" Elsa's voice echoed back through to us.

The sound of powerful magic blasting against the rocks made us pick up our pace until we saw her standing there, all of her magic flowing out against that wall of rocks. I prepared myself in case I needed to magic a protective bubble around us all but strangely enough, the cave around us was holding.

A few more moments passed before the rocks fell to the side and a large opening was left in the wall. And on the other side was the beach. Wait, the beach? Why the hell were we now going out onto the beach? Surely Anna couldn't just be laying here getting a suntan, could she?

Emma and I followed after Elsa, who was beaming with excitement but knowing what I knew about Anna's travels, I knew that this couldn't be good.

"Would now be a bad time to mention that the last time I saw Anna she was going to see Blackbeard?" I murmured to Emma so that Elsa couldn't hear.

"She was what? Blackbeard? As in, the pirate?" Emma replied, her eyes widening.

"The one and only," I nodded.

"And you didn't tell us this before because..." Emma trailed off.

"I didn't think it was important," I shrugged. "But considering the fact we are at the beach, right next to the ocean, I can only think of one place that Anna could potentially be."

We both looked over at the sea that was starting to get harsher as it hit the rocks. That damn curse was really taking its toll on this town.

"Please don't tell me Blackbeard had a thing for throwing people overboard," Emma groaned.

"I thought that if I gave Anna something of mine and told her to tell Blackbeard that I had sent her that she would be safe. Blackbeard owed me and usually, he lived up to his end of the deals but, well, he is a pirate and was very untrustworthy of others," I sighed. "I shouldn't have even thought for a second that Anna wouldn't be at risk."

"Oh, no," Emma murmured as Elsa began to frantically look around the beach in front of us.

"I don't understand. She should be here," Elsa said, walking back over to us.

"Magic isn't always perfect," I informed her but that wasn't the case when it came to the locator spell which, in my experience, was always accurate. Anna was here but she ... well, she wasn't.

"So, even though it's still glowing, because she's not here, it means ..." Elsa trailed off in confusion.

"The search is over," Emma finished. "Thirty years is a long time."

"You think something's happened to her and this has all been a mistake?" Elsa asked, gesturing to the glowing necklace.

"I think we need to deal with the problem in front of us right now," Emma answered. "I'm sorry."