juliet •peter pan•

THIRTY-FOUR

They approached the beanstalk, and Juliet sighed. She had a bad feeling about this. She wasn't the only one. Emma folded her arms. "It's a little freakier than I remember from the story." Mulan looked up. "Reminds me of death." Juliet shuddered. "Encouraging." Hook smiled. "Well, your compass awaits. Shall we?" Juliet shook her head and stepped back. "No, you guys go." Hook looked at her. "Don't tell me you're afraid of heights." Juliet gulped. "Not heights, just beanstalks."

Emma sighed. "Wait, If these beans create...portals, why not just pick one and go home? Why the compass?" Hook shrugged. "Because there aren't any more beans. Whatever story you think you know, my dear, is most certainly wrong." Emma placed her hands on her head. "There was a guy named Jack, and a cow, and something about evil giant with a treasure and a golden goose. ...Or harp." 

Hook smiled. "Sounds like a lovely tale. But the truth's a little bit more gruesome. The giants grew the beans, but, rather than use them for good, they used them to plunder all the lands. Jack, was a man who fought a terrible war, defeating all but one of the evil giants. The beans were destroyed by the giants as they died. If they couldn't have their magic, then nobody could. It's really very bad form."

Emma, who still hadn't gotten this, sighed. "Evil giants, who made magic portal beans? Why doesn't anyone just go up and grow some more?" Hook looked up. "Because one giant survived. The strongest and most terrible of them all. And we'll have to get past him to-" Juliet nodded. "The magic compass." 

Hook smirked. "Indeed. The treasure remains, and amongst it is the compass. Now it will guide us to your land. Cora has the means to open a portal with the wardrobe ashes, but she can't find your land without the compass. Once we get it, steal the ashes from her and we're on our way."

Mulan placed her hands on her hips. "How do we know you're not just using us to get the compass for Cora?" Hook shook his head. "Because you four are far safer company. All I need is a ride back. I'll swear allegiance to whomever gets me there first." Emma sighed. "Then we'd better start climbing." Hook nodded. "Right, so... I failed to mention that the giant enchanted the beanstalk to repel intruders."

Emma looked from Hook to the beanstalk. "Alright, so how do we get up there?" Hook nodded. "I've got a counter spell from Cora. If you'd be so kind." He held up his wrists, and showed them a glowing cuff. Snow untied him. "Thank you, milady. I've got one more of these. Cora was to accompany me. So... Which one of you four lovelies shall take her place? Hm? Go on, fight it out. Don't be afraid to, you know, really get into it." Juliet rolled her eyes. "No thank you."

Everyone else started arguing. Juliet walked over to Hook. "Is this your goal? To get everyone arguing?" Hook shook his head. "No, but I'm really enjoying this." Juliet rolled her eyes, and walked over to the group.

Eventually, they reached an agreement. Emma was going to climb up the beanstalk with Hook, while everyone else stayed down. As soon as they started climbing, Mulan drew a line in the ground and stuck a stick a few yards away. Aurora folded her arms. "What is that?" Mulan sighed. "It keeps the time." 

Snow tilted her head. "You have somewhere to be?" Mulan ignored Snow. "We can mark watches – take turns sleeping. We'll most likely have to walk through the night again, so we should rest while we can." Juliet nodded. "I'll stay up first." Mulan shook her head. "No, I'm staying up first. You need to get sleep." Juliet folded her arms in a huff, and lied down.

Sleep came quickly.