Crocodile's Daughter - Magic is Coming

6 - Tallahassee

"It's a little freakier than I remember from the story," Emma said. "Reminds me of death," Mulan said. "Encouraging," Snow muttered. "Well, your compass awaits. Shall we?" Hook said, starting to trudge to the base. "Wait. If these beans...create...portals, why not just pick one and go home? Why the compass?"Emma asked.

"Because there aren't any more beans. The last 2 beans I know of, were ones I saw. The first took my brother to hell knows where, and the other took Killian and me to Neverland," I said. "Whatever story you think you know, my dear, is most certainly wrong," Hook said. "There was a guy named Jack and a cow and something about an evil giant with a treasure and a golden goose. Or harp," Emma said. "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," Hook said. "Evil giants, who made magic portal beans? Why doesn't anyone just go up and grow some more?" Emma asked.

"Because one giant survived--the strongest and most terrible of them all. And we'll have to get past him to--" Hook said. "The magic compass," Snow finished. "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," Hook said. "How do we know you're not just using us to get the compass for Cora?" Mulan asked. "Because you 5 are far safer company. All I need is a ride back. I'll swear allegiance to whomever gets me there first," He said.

"Then we'd better start climbing," Emma said. "Right. So...I failed to mention that the giant enchanted the beanstalk to repel intruders," He said with a chuckle. "All right, so how do we get up there?" Emma asked. "I've got a counterspell from Cora if you'd be so kind," He said, holding out his bound hands. I pulled out a knife and cut the binds.

"Thank you, milady," He said. He pulled off his disguise and held up his hand. "I've got one more of these. Cora was to accompany me. So...which one of you 5 lovelies shall take her place? Hmm? Go on. Fight it out. Don't be afraid to, you know, really get into it," He said. "All due respect, I'm the best-equipped to go. How many wars have you been through?" Mulan asked. "My share," Snow said.

"It should be me," Aurora said. "You? You haven't fought in a battle," Mulan said. "This is about us getting home to our loved ones. Why would you--" Snow said. "Because I have no loved ones. If I fail, you can still go on," Aurora said. "I'm not going. I've got a bad foot and no way to impede my impediment," I said, sitting down on a log and leaning on my stick.

"It's me. I'm going, and I'm not gonna fail," Emma said. "You're new here," Snow said. "It's about getting back to Henry. I don't care what I have to face. You're not going to argue with me?" Emma asked. "Would it do any good?" Snow asked. "No. Anything in that bag that's gonna help me with a giant?" Emma asked me. "A hook," I said.

"Hey," He said. "Come with me," Mulan said. She and Emma talked, Mulan gave her something, and they looked at Hook. "In this world, we are slaves to time. And ours is running out. In other words, ticktock," He said. Emma walked over and held up her arm.

 "I was hoping it'd be you," He said. "Just get on with it," She said. "Put your hand right here. That's a good girl. This will allow you to climb. There are other dangers. Thankfully, you've got me to protect you. I can't climb one-handed, can I?" He asked, putting the cuff on Emma and gesturing to his missing hook. "Don't think I'm taking my eyes off you for a second," Emma said, handing him his hook. "I would despair if you did," He said, putting the hook in with a click.

Emma put a bag on it. "Let's go," She said, and they started to climb. Mulan joined me on the log, where I was stretching out my leg. "Why are you so afraid of ogres?" She asked. "Because they're large, ugly and menacing," I said.

"That's not the reason. You start shaking and rocking and muttering 'they're coming for me. They'll take more than just my foot,' every time you hear one," She said, and I sighed, looking at her. "228 years ago, I fought in the first ogre war. Gave me Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Every time I hear one, I'm back in the trenches, hearing the ogres and the screams of other children being murdered. I could smell the blood. In my last battle, an ogre grabbed my foot, almost tearing it off. I managed to kill it, and it fell on top of me. I was lucky the other soldiers found me and got me to the infirmary. They fixed me up and sent me home with the news I could never walk again," I said. Mulan drew a sundial in the dirt, and Snow and Aurora took the first shift. Mulan came over with her stuff. "Get some sleep. We'll probably have to walk through the night," She said, laying down.

I laid down, put my stick on the ground beside me, and rolled up in my cloak. I fell asleep quickly but took the next shift with Mulan. We sat on the log, watching the sundial. I was fiddling with the hem of my cloak. "What's that?" She asked, pointing at my cloak.

"A cloak," I said. "Does it mean something? It looks like it's about to fall apart," She said. "Yeah. This is from a different life when my family spun and farmed.  We never had much, too poor to afford good cloth. Why are you so interested in my past?" I asked. "I want to get to know you," She said. "Or you just want to learn the monster's weaknesses. Nuh. Nuh. Nuh, nuh, nuh," I said.

"You're not a monster," She said. "Tell that to the people who want my head on a spike," I muttered. "What?" She asked. "Listen, my job was to stop the Dark One from going too dark. But I failed, and that led to people's lives getting ruined. Naturally, they blamed me, but I couldn't do anything because I didn't have magic," I said. "Why did they blame you then?" She asked.

"They didn't know. I've gotten so used to not having my magic that I forget I'm supposedly one of the most powerful beings in existence," I said. Then Aurora started to panic, so everyone else went over to comfort her. I didn't. I sat there, staring at the dirt, waiting for Hook and Emma to come back down. Snow was trying to comfort Aurora because she had been under a sleeping curse as well.

Several hours later, Mulan was looking at her sundial. Then she marched over the beanstalk and started to cut it down. "Woah. Wait! What are you doing?" Snow asked. "Just stay back. Emma gave me ten hours," She said, pointing her sword at them. "Wait, you're gonna just leave her there to die?" Aurora asked.

"Ten hours. She may already be dead," She said, then swung at the beanstalk. Magic pulsed from it, sending us staggering back. "No!" Snow yelled, tackling her. "No! Stop! Stop! Stop!" Aurora yelled as Snow and Mulan fought. "This was your daughter's wish," Mulan said.

 "I don't care what you say! You do not put my daughter in danger!" Snow yelled. "Stop!" Emma yelled, leaping from the beanstalk. "Oh. Emma! You okay?" Snow asked, helping her up. "Two earthquakes and a jump from a beanstalk. I think my brain's still rattling around a little," Emma said. "I did what she ordered, nothing more than that. Did you get it?" Mulan asked.

"Yep," Emma said, holding it out. "W-Where's Hook?" I asked. "He's detained. Let's go. Get your stuff. We got ten hours before he follows us," Emma said, and I grabbed my stick. "Good. Now let's go get that dust from Cora," Snow said. "And let's go home," Emma said.

a/n Hol up. So, apparently,while I wasn't paying attention, we hit #4 in princecharming! Don't know how, don't know why, but I appreciate it none the less.