𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑳𝒀 - Rumplestiltskin [2]

seven

7|pandoras box

"So Rumpel said "I'd find the hiding space with the strength of our love". And there is only one thing he could be talking about." Celeste beamed as she saw the chipped cup on his desk. "A tea cup."

"It's chipped?" Ariel smiled but her voice sounded confused.

"I know." She hummed, stroking her thumb over the chip. "But no matter how much this things been through, it's survived. Just like our love."

"So, what now?" The mermaid questioned curiously. "Do we make tea?"

"I'm not sure, actually." Celeste sighed, glancing around the backroom looking for something that could help her. She glanced at one of the cupboards and pursed her lips. "He use to keep it in here." She opened the doors and put the cup on the matching plate, a light glowing and revealing a hidden latch on the floor. "He enchanted it! It's a key." Lifting it up, a small box was revealed under the floor.

"Its a box." Ariel said excitedly, staring at the fancy box in Celeste's grasp.

"I've read about this in my books." She revealed, looking over the ancient box. "I just never realised it was real. Or that Rumpel had it."

"What is it?"

"Pandora's box." Celeste answered her. "Legends say it contains the darkest evil."

"Shouldn't you be wearing gloves or something?" Ariel suggested, stepping back warily.

"No, as long as we don't open it."

"Yeah, sure." She grimaced, still not trusting the box. "What do you thinks inside of it?"

"I don't question Rumpel." Celeste chuckled. "Learned that years ago. All I know is whatever is in here will help Rumpel and he will live."

The sound of guns safety coming off caused the two women to jump around in fright.

"All that trouble for a box?" One of the strangers questioned her.

"Who are you?" Celeste demanded, holding the box behind her.

"The people you tried to keep out of Storybrooke." The second stranger answered her.

The two women were tied up, back to back, on wooden chairs. One noticed the gun under Celeste's jacket, pulling it out and putting it on a desk away from her.

"Stay still." The one still pointing the gun at them warned both the women.

"I don't understand. Why do we keep doing what he tells us?" Ariel asked Celeste cluelessly.

"Because he has a gun." Celeste sighed in realisation, remembering Ariel has never seen a gun before.

"What's a gun?"

"Trust me, you don't want to find out." He snapped at her as his brother finished tying the rope.

"What did Rumpelstiltskin tell you about this thing?" The second stranger held the box in front of Ariel.

"I'm not afraid of you or your gun." Ariel spat at him. "And not just because I don't know what it is."

"Shall we demonstrate?" The first stranger asked, aiming his gun at Celeste's head. "The box. What is it?"

"It's magic." Celeste revealed, glaring at the man with the gun. "Which you're only gonna destroy anyways. So why do you even care?"

"Because our boss wants to know."

"Your boss?" She mocked him, laughing darkly. "Do you even know what this is all about? Or who you're actually working for?"

"Peter Pan."

"What?"

"Yes, we know exactly who we're working for." They smirked at her as she stared at them wide eyed. "Greg and Tamara didn't know. They were patsies. We, on the other hand, are aware of our real mission."

"Which is what?" Celeste dug, trying to get a proper answer.

"Seeing that your Rumpel fails." The stranger revealed. "And that this thing never makes it back to Neverland."

"They're too tight." She complained, trying to free them from the ropes after the two brothers left them, taking the box.

"We'll find a way out." Ariel reassured her.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because I'm an optimist."

"I noticed." Celeste chuckled, pulling at the ropes once more. "I wish I could be. But everytime I try to be the hero, every thing just fails. I'm sorry you won't get to be with Eric."

"Don't worry about me." Ariel smiled to herself. "Even after the magic wears off this bracelet, I'll find him and I will tell him how I feel. As long as he lives near the beach."

"Bracelet?" Something clicked in Celeste's head, her voice becoming optimistic. "Is that what turned your tail into legs?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I think we can get out of here." Celeste grinned and began to explain her plan. "Stretch your fins. Can you get the bracelet off?"

"No, I can't reach it." Ariel struggled, her hands tied too far apart.

"Okay, hang on." She reached back, grasping the large bracelet and pulled it off her wrist. "Got it!"

Ariel's legs were replaced with a tail, knocking the pair over. Celeste groaned in pain as her shoulder hit the wooden ground.

"See? That didn't backfire." Ariel grinned proudly, untying the rope from Celeste's wrists.

Celeste grabbed the gun and tucked it back into her coat before dragging Ariel out the store to find the two brothers.

"Where did they go?"