The King & His Queen✔

Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Gold's Secret

Adeline Mills

"What did they say after that?" Merida asked as she ran the nail polish brush against her nail, leaving behind a trail of dark green.

"I don't know, I walked out of my room before they could say anything. And now I'm here." I explained. She groaned and blew on her nails to dry them faster.

"Parents." She said as she rolled her eyes.

"I wonder how the kings and queens are going to deal with this whole Pan situation." I mumbled, my eyes never leaving my nails as I admired my now dry work.

"And aye'm still wondering how ye convinced me to paint me nails." She said as she stared at her nails. I giggled and smiled proudly.

"I have wicked persuading skills." I said. Merida huffed and continued to blow towards her nails.

"God, I need a vacation. All this worry about the whole Pan thing is gonna give me white hairs." I snapped and ran a hair brush through my hair. Merida suddenly gasped aloud and she jumped into the air. I yelped in surprise and frowned when I saw the green polish that had spilled onto my carpet.

"You owe me a new carpet." I snapped. Merida ignored me and grabbed my arm in excitement.

"Ye can come live with me for a vacation!" She said. I let her words sink in and I begin to smile widely, for it was a genius idea.

"Oh my god, that is genius!" I exclaimed and began to already mentally pack a suitcase. But then I remembered who my parents were. And I knew there was no way the Wicked Witch of the West and Robin Hood were going to let their little green pea go off on vacation while a demon ran around searching for her. My excitement diminished away.

"But my parents won't let me go. They are paranoid that he will return and... steal me." I said.

"Aye'll protect ye, lass!" She exclaimed and I scoffed.

"Oh please. Don't deny it Mer, you couldn't fight against him. He has powerful, POWERFUL magic. Magic that not even I, my mother, Regina, and the Savior could take down. He's too powerful for all of us." I said plainly. I was a bit annoyed that not even my very advanced magic couldn't knock down that monster.

"Ye doubtin' me skills lass?"

"Hell yeah I am. Especially against that man."

"Bloody hell. Never mind on the vacation." She said frustrated and frowned down at her nails.

"And now aye have smudged me nail polish." She said with a pout. Merida's eyes suddenly widen in horror as she realized what she had just said.

"Son of a bitch- aye'm slowly turning into Preppy!" She screamed and ran out of my room. I rolled my eyes and huffed.

"You still owe me a new carpet!" I screamed after her. I turned back to brushing my hair before I heard a voice near my door.

"Adeline?"

I looked up to see Belle standing at my door. I raised an eyebrow and put down my hairbrush.

"Belle! I didn't even know you were here. Gold here too?"

"Yes and in fact he asked for you. He's in the tower of potions, where Regina keeps all her things." She informed. I nodded and stood up.

"Have you seen Merida?" I asked when I remembered my redheaded friend.

"I saw her running around yelling something about going out and shooting some stuff to regain her manliness..." Belle said slowly, causing me to chuckle.

"Oh, Merida and her manliness."

~

I panted as I continued to climb the stairs. Of all the bloody places to meet, he decided to do it in the tallest tower. How cruel.

I let out a happy breath when I saw the door to the magical room. I lifted the latch and opened the big wooden door. As I walked in, a horrid smell immediately hit me and I nearly had my lunch crawl up my throat again.

"Oh my stars, what is that horrid smell?!" I screamed and gagged loudly. Mr. Gold suddenly appeared from behind a tall stack of books and frowned at me.

"You took forever."

"Yeah, well the stairs were weighing me down." I snapped and plopped down in a chair and began to massage my legs.

"And what is that foul smell?"

"It's a knock out spell. Not a very pleasant odor." He said and walked over to the table where various liquids were displayed. He waved his hand over the one that was boiling and it disappeared.

"Where'd it go?"

"Somewhere safe. That potion is quite different from some. It could either save you from death, or cause your death. Depends who uses it." He said vaguely, refusing to go deeper into details. He took a deep breath before he turned to me.

"Now I heard that the demon himself wants you as his queen." I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"Is that why you made me climb those millions of stairs? To lecture me on how evil this guy is and to watch my back? Because trust me, mom and dad have done that pretty well already." I said, annoyed that we were on this topic.

"Dearie, you don't understand. This boy is not just a regular boy. He's a demon and he will not stop till he gets what he wants." My right eye twitched and I took a deep breath.

"Don't you think I know that?! Listen Dark One, the last thing I want is to be kidnapped by some crazy arse, my parents are doing everything in their power to keep me safe and-"

"Addy, one thing you can't seem to process is that he will never stop till he gets what he wants. And right now, he seems to be interested by you." He said as he added an ingredient to another potion brewing before us. I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms.

"What can I do to stop him?"

"Nothing dearie!" He exclaimed with a giggly voice. I threw my arms in the air, now completely annoyed.

"Okay, then what can my parents do?"

"They can't do anything either, dearie!" I scowled. There was no more patience with this man.

"Then what the bloody hell do I do!?" I screamed. He looked at me and smiled.

"Like I said, nothing. He will take you, he always gets what he wants. The only thing you can do, is prepare yourself for the worst." He said and flicked his hand, causing a cloud of magic to surround his hand. When the fog cleared away, a leather fat book rested in his hand. It looked just like Henry's storybook but black with green shiny lining. I raised an eyebrow. In silver, cursive writing were the words,

Neverland's Secrets

He pushed the book towards me and I gingerly took it.

"It has everything you need to know on Neverland." He said.

"Read it and you will be completely knowledgeable on that cursed island. Best of luck, dearie." He said. And with that he disappeared in a cloud of magic again. I looked around and see one potion was still boiling. How odd.

I carefully walk to it and peered down at the piece of parchment, that held instructions on how to accomplish the potion. A gasp left my lips when I read the name of the liquid.

Squid Ink.

Impossible.

Nobody can make squid ink just by using ingredients... They need to get an actual squid and take out their ink. It can't just be made by following instructions from a book.

Can it?

✴