Pandora's Box

Chapter 2

Mel's Flashback

Melody Jones let out a sigh as she tried on the new coat Ruby had given her.

Red insisted Melody couldn't prance Mel town dressed like a pirate. She said it was unpleasing to the eye. After Ruby used Mel as her barbie doll and dressed her up, the pirate was able to go home with a whole new cute outfit.

Although she would probably end up trading Ruby's red-heeled ankle boots for her own old boots. Ruby's shoes were too small for her feet.

As she entered the Charming's small loft, she was met by the smell of a home-cooked meal. Melody waved at her dad who sat at the kitchen table eating with Emma, Snow White, and David Nolan. When she entered, Emma gave her a thumbs up.

"Love your clothes."

"What the hell happened to you?!" Hook cried. Melody frowned and looked down at her simple skirt and long-sleeved shirt. She wasn't sure what was wrong with her outfit. She was even wearing tights under her skirt.

"That looks like the magnificent work of Ruby," Emma said and Melody tapped her nose.

"Well, Ruby has a strange sense of fashion! A pirate can't do anything dressed like that," he snapped. Melody rolled her eyes and snatched a peach off the counter. She took her favorite spot at the bay window and bit into her fruit.

"Well, unless you want me to go around naked, this will have to do," Mel said.

"Tomorrow you can go with Emma to buy some appropriate clothes," her dad muttered. Melody shrugged, not really caring about her father's concerns about her clothing.

She ignored the chatter that came from the rest of the Charming's. She rested her head against the glass window and let the burning sensation disappear from her eyes as she closed them.

Regina wasn't a Saint. She was the whole reason why they were all stuck in a stupid town. She had cursed them.

And even though Emma had broken the curse, it still irked Melody that they couldn't return to their old lives. What's even worse was that everyone was willing to forgive Regina for her actions. Or at least tolerate to be around her.

Melody scowled.

Killian and his daughter had been separated by the queen's curse. He had stayed behind in the ruins of the Enchanted Forest while Melody had accidentally gotten swept up by the dark magic.

The effects of the curse were simple; no memories, no magic, and no aging. Everyone was frozen in town for 28 years and had forgotten everything about their old ways.

When Melody arrived in Storybrooke she had no memories of her dad and she was considered an orphan.

That was until the day she was adopted.

If she looked back in time, Melody could pinpoint the best day of her life as the day she got adopted.

And it was exactly three years before Emma arrived in town.

Melody stared back emotionless at the man who had adopted her. She wasn't exactly sure why this man had decided to adopt her out of the blue.

She felt anything but safe.

Mr. Gold cleared his throat as he finished filling out her adoption papers. He handed them back to her social worker.

The social worker checked over the papers one last time before deeming Mr. Gold an adequate guardian.

"Congratulations, Harmony. You're out of the system."

Melody, her cursed ego being Harmony, still didn't understand why Mr. Gold had adopted her. He was a powerful man in Storybrooke and it was a strange action of his to out of the blue adopt a 17-year-old teenager.

After he gave her a room in his huge mansion and taught her the ways of running his trinket shop, the following years were spent with Melody adjusting to her new life.

She didn't even notice when time once again began to tick in the once frozen town.

~

"Hey, watch it!" Melody exclaimed as she nearly ran into someone. She looked up to see a blonde, one she did not recognize. The stranger had light green eyes and long hair which were tucked away by a grey beanie.

"What's your problem, kid?" She snapped back. Melody scowled at her instantly. Mumbling some incoherent words, she walked around the blonde and the kid that stuck to her side. Mel continued her walk down the streets of the town, ignoring the stares of the blonde and the child.

"Okay tell me, who was that from the book?" Emma asked as the two slid into a booth at the diner. Henry smiled and pulled out his storybook. He skimmed through the pages before finding a portrait that resembled the girl that had just met.

"Here she is," he said as he pointed to a picture. A girl with dark hair, light eyes, and a tanned complexion stood in front of another man. She held a sword up to the neck of a kingdom's guard while her face was twisted into a dark scowl.

"She goes by Harmony Sundly here," Henry informed, "But her real name is Melody Jones and she is the daughter of Killian Jones, otherwise known as, Captain Hook."

~

"I'm here!" Melody exclaimed as she entered the shop. She could hear the little bell above her announcing her arrival loudly. She stepped towards the register and smiled widely when her adoptive dad came out from the back room.

"Rumpelstiltskin."

"Welcome back, dearie. How was your trip with your one-handed pirate?"

"It was great. Although I did miss the diner's food," she stated. Mr. Gold chuckled.

"My darling child, I have some business to attend to. Do you mind watching the shop for a bit while I get back?" Rumple requested. Melody shrugged, not really having anything else to do.

"Yeah sure but I charge by the hour," Melody said. Rumple let out a sigh before nodding, agreeing to his daughter's strange price.

"I see I taught you well."

"All magic comes with a price... In your case, my work ethics come with the price of $13 per hour and a lunch meal," Melody snarked. Rumple ruffled her hair before heading out the door.

"We have a deal, dearie. I'll be back soon."

Melody blew a raspberry before grabbing a random book off the many shelves. She sat behind the cash register and waited for a customer that would never come. Nobody ever came to a store unless they wanted a deal with her father or to yell at him.

Melody chuckled as she thought her situation over. No wonder she was always getting into some sort of trouble.

Two dads. Like Henry, who had two moms, Melody was given two dads; an adoptive one and a biological one.

Rumpelstiltskin and Killian Jones.

What a pair.

⚔