Once Upon a Time: Ever After High (Book 10)

Ch.33 Echo Cave

After a while of following Jane through the Neverwoods, everyone soon came upon a cave that was already sending chills down everyone's spine.

"I see tracks" Elena pointed to the ground where they all saw footprints leading towards the cave.

"These are more recent" Jane put in as she looked up at the cave "Piper's defiantly in there."

"Wait if this is where Pan's keeping Piper-" Chase spoke up "Then how come there aren't any guards?"

"Because this prison doesn't require guards" Jane answered.

At that point everyone started to get an uneasy feeling by the sound of that.

"Echo Cave" Jane added with a sigh "Thee only way to rescue someone from inside is to reveal a secret."

"A secret?" Mira questioned a bit surprised "That's all?"

"The darkest secret. Echo Caves derives it's name from an old saying: The deeper the lie, the more truth of it's echo. The cave demands that ye reveal a secret about yourself, a secret that you've never admit to anyone."

"This is ridiculous" Elena remarked with a frown "Even if we spill our guts how do we know Piper's still alive in there?"

"This is what Pan wants, he wants us to recuse him."

"Why?" Olivia asked.

"So we'll reveal our secrets, he believes that once we do, our secrets will destroy us."

(Flashback) The day after the incident, even though he was still mourned about the death of Abby, Piper refused to let that stop him from moving on. So he decided to fly to Jane's ship to see how she was doing after loosing her hand. When he made it to her ship, none of her crew was on deck, but he did spotted Jane who was sitting on a barrel, appearing to be sharpening something.

"Hey Jane" he greeted as he landed behind her "How are you-?"

Before he could continue, Jane suddenly turned around where he jumped after seeing a hook had been replaced of her severed hand.

"Whoa" his eyes widen while gazing at her hook "Uh- I can see you're living up to your name."

"Indeed" she smirked as she gently ran her fingers across her hook "Me father gave it to me as soon as he found out."

"Oh-" he replied surprised "So uh, he knows about the whole thing?"

"Aye, but don't worry, like always, he doesn't care."

"... Okay?"

"Now if ye would excuse me, I gotta go get ready for me voyage."

"Oh where are you going?"

"Just an adventure, I feel like I need a fresh start in me life, and what better way to get a fresh start than to explore other worlds?"

Piper gave a small smile, feeling proud on how she's changed since the incident.

"Where will you be heading first?" he asked.

"Wherever me compass takes me" she replied with a small smile.

"You're not uh, planning on killing anyone are you?" he asked with a concerned look.

"Only if I have to, but in case ye forgot, I'm still a pirate."

"Right. Well uh, how long will you be gone?"

"As long as it takes. But hopefully not that long."

"Well then-" he smiled "I wish you the best of luck on your voyage, and I hope you have a wonderful adventure."

"Thank you" she smiled back.

And with that he saluted before flying off as Jane gave a small laugh, glad that she was able to settle things with him. Just then one of her crews came out from below deck and went up to her.

"Captain" he said to her "We're ready to set sail."

"Excellent" she replied with a smile "Get all hands on deck."

"Where will we be going first?"

"We'll try the west English coast, see what we can find from there."

"Are we still searching for the Never Diamond?"

"Aye, we will not return until we have thee diamond."

"And what if we're unable to retrieve it?"

"Oh we'll retrieve it alright, it's only a matter of time. Now get all hands on deck."

He nodded as he headed back below deck. As her crew came aboard deck, Jane hoped that on her voyage, she will be able to find the Never Diamond. And this time she wasn't searching for herself, it was for Neverland.

Now inside Echo Cave, everyone found themselves on a edge near what appeared to be a bottomless pit, but in the center of the pit, there was a single stone tower, and on top of that tower was Piper who was still locked in his cage.

"Oh my God" Olivia gasped "Is that him?"

"Piper!" Jane called as her voice echoed the cave.

Piper looked up and couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Jane and the others.

"Guys!" he called back.

"Are you okay?!" Elena asked him.

"I'm fine, but I lost my flight. Did you guys run into my clone?"

"We sure did" Courtly replied with a frown "And he's one hell of a demon."

"Sorry about him" he sighed.

"Don't be" Jane assured "We'll get rid of him."

"And we're going to get you out" Darling put in.

"It's like a hundred feet across" Mira suddenly gasped as she looked over the edge and saw how steep the pit was as she felt her knees wobble.

"And if we use rope we can't tie it to anything" David added.

"So what do we do?" Aidan asked.

"I told you what needs to be done" Jane replied "Consider this the moment of truth. Now, who wants to get things off?"

"So what?" Elena questioned "Someone tells their secret and they sprout wings?"

"I don't know the particulars, only what I've been told."

"Then how do you know it'll work?" Terrence asked.

Jane gave a sigh "Only one way to find out I suppose, so who wants to go first?"