The Modern Fairy Tale Town Book 2: The Price of Magic

Chapter 16: The Outsider

Belle and Mal continued to wander off together, looking around for a pirate ship in Storybrooke.

"This shouldn't be too hard to find, right?" Mal asked Belle as they walked along. "How difficult could it be to find a pirate ship in a town like this?"

"Just stay close, Mal," Belle advised. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"It's not me you have to worry about," Mal assured with a dark smirk. "If anything, you should probably worry about the pirates."

"Oh, dear." Belle murmured in response as that sounded a bit concerning.

"Let's just say I'm not one to mess with." Mal suggested.

"Well, that's good to know," Belle nodded as she looked around as they soon made it to the docks. "Where is it?"

"Surely it has to be around here somewhere..." Mal said as she looked around before finding something strange and pointed it out. "Whoa... Belle, check that out." she then said softly.

"What is it, Mal?" Belle asked before she looked where Mal was pointing. "...Huh?" she then blinked in wide eyes and disbelief at what she just saw.

The adult woman and the teenage girl looked ahead together to find a group of seagulls perched on top of something that wasn't even there. It was truly a strange sight indeed. There was also a creaking sound heard which began to solve their mystery before Belle opened up the feed box, taking out some feed, and sprinkled it right in front of her and Mal which soon revealed a stariway.

"Well, how do ya like that?" Mal remarked with a confident smirk. "I think we found them."

"I think you're right." Belle nodded in agreement before they soon went to go up the stairway together.

Mal looked very wary and nervous of the water with wide eyes.

"...Are you okay, Mal?" Belle asked in concern.

"I-I'm fine... I just wanna get this over with." Mal snorted in a bit of a huffy defense.

"Well, all right..." Belle said softly, though she felt like Mal was trying to hide something from her, but decided not to bring it up.

Soon, they had climbed aboard onto The Jolly Roger together and looked around for a bit, passing through a barrier that Cora had put on the ship before their arrival. They soon found Ben at the mast, tied up, and in trouble as a woman was sitting next to him, but she appeared to had fallen asleep.

"BEN!" Belle and Mal soon called out, then rushed over to the endangered teenage boy.

"Mom! Mal!" Ben called back as his mother and girlfriend rushed over to his aid. "How did you find me?"

"We have to get you out of here." Mal suggested.

"Mom, Mal, I want you to leave this place." Ben urged the two in front of him.

"Who's done this to you?" Belle asked.

"No time to explain," Ben suggested. "You must go... Now!"

"We won't leave you!" Belle insisted.

There was soon a knocking sound heard, causing Belle and Mal to suddenly look around cautiously.

"Is there someone else here?" Mal asked.

"Yes, but it's a little complicated," Ben replied. "You guys should go while you still can before you get shanghaied like me."

"No way. We're not leaving you here," Mal said. "If your mother's not leaving you behind, what makes you think I will?"