Fire On Fire | Once Upon a Time

XViii. Silver and Gold

The Caribbean Sea. Present-day

MAGIC LESSONS LEFT Erica exhausted

So that night when she returned to the ship and ate her meal of salted meat with vegetables, she just wanted to collapse into bed and curl into Jaclyn as they wrapped their arms around each other as a silent promise to protect each other. Jaclyn does like cuddling.

But none of that ended up happening

Henry had a nightmare and ended up crawling into bed with Jaclyn and her and not wanting to wake Jaclyn up as she was actually sleeping tonight. She slipped out of their bed, uncurling herself swiftly from the delicious weight of Jaclyn and took his hand in her own and led him out to the deck of the ship

"Where do you like to go when you want to be alone?" Erica asked, holding him closer to her chest and shielding him from the wind. He looked up, eyes wide as if he hadn't expected Erica to ask that question

He silently pointed up towards the crow's nest and Erica nodded "Okay. Let's go."

Henry bounced on the balls of his foot in excitement and tugged on Erica's hands, turning slightly and narrowing his eyes "Do you know how to climb the rigging?"

"I think I can figure it out, I may need help"

It probably wasn't the smartest idea, to figure out how to climb the rigging in the dark and as her first time but surprisingly she wasn't afraid. Erica had seen the crew do it enough times and besides, she had magic on her side

She holds onto the rigging, testing the weight of it and then begins to climb. The darkness and the feeling that she could fall any second made it even more thrilling. Her heart fired with adrenaline as she scaled half of the rigging, managing to secure her foot in one of the random knots, she stops.

Body humming with energy, Erica feels alive.

Turning back she could see Henry struggling to climb the other rigging and an idea sprang to her head. Erica stops climbing and holds her hands out, wishing for light and it takes a few seconds but eventually a warm glow emitted from her palm, getting lighter with every second that passed.

Henry grins up at her and climbs the rest of the rigging with relative ease and only when he is up and over the edge of the crow nest does Erica resume climbing. By the time she reaches the top of that rigging, her muscles are screaming at her and her arms feel like they are made of lead

Henry ended up having to help her pull her weight onto the platform that makes the crow nest and Erica scrambles to her feet before sitting down against the mast and leaning her head against it. Body still thrumming with energy she tries to suck in a breath and still her heart that seemed to beat like a stampede

"You okay?" Henry whispers as he curls into her side

Erica kisses the top of his forehead "I'm okay"