Once Upon a Dream:

Page 53: Mermaids?

Above deck, David and Mary Margaret are trying to steer the ship or keep it steady. But the ship was too much to hold the wheel when they were forced to let go. The two of them got back up, grabbing the wheel, along with Emma, who rushed to help her parents.

"What are you three doing?" Regina scoffed at them while Hook and Dream came up to the deck.

"Trying to keep it steady!" Mary Margaret yelled at Regina.

"Hold on!" David yelled when Hook looked over the side, noticing the harsh waters. "Prepare for attack!" Hook announced to them, moving to take over the wheel when Regina moved to hold onto her daughter.

"Be more specific!" Regina scoffed at the pirate," who grabbed onto the wheel with David while Emma moved back with Mary Margaret.

"If you've got a weapon, then grab it!" Hook said to them when Emma and Dream moved to look at what was making a shrieking noise.

"What's out there? A shark?" Dream asked aloud to Hook, who was the only one on the deck who had been to Neverland. "A whale?" Emma asked aloud, looking with Dream. "A Kraken?" David asked when he and Mary Margaret moved to look with the girls at the water. 

But it was so dark that no one could see in the water.

"Worse..." Hook sighed when the others started to see the creatures, which shocked them. "Mermaids." Hook said terror in his tone when Dream turned to look at him.

"Are you kidding me? Mermaids are worse than the Kraken?" She asked, looking at the pirates, who did not understand what she was so confused about. "What is this place?" Dream asked, looking over at her mother. 

The screeching continued while the boat kept rocking, making Dream seasick again. "Mermaids?" Emma asked when Dream moved over to her mother. "Yes. And they're quite unpleasant." Hook said to the others. "You think?" Regina sarcastically asked Hook while she and Dream held onto the ropes by him. "I'll try and outrun them." Hook said to them.

"How many of them are there?" Emma asked before the mermaids hit their tails on the ship.

"I will not be capsized by fish!" David said, moving to load one of the cannons on the Jolly Roger.

"Emma!" Mary Margaret said when Emma moved to follow her mother. "What are you doing?" Emma asked her mother while she followed her. "Fishing." Mary Margaret said, picking up a net when Emma moved to follow her lead.

David shot the cannon into the water, making the mermaids move away from the ship for now. He loaded the cannon again while Emma and Mary Margaret threw the net over the edge. Meanwhile, Hook did his best to try to keep the ship steady. "I think I'm gonna be sick." Dream sighed when Regina held onto Dream's hand while Mary Margaret and Emma held onto ropes, trying to catch one of the mermaids. "We caught one!" Mary Margaret yelled out when she tried to pull the net back up with Emma.

"One?" Regina asked, moving over to them when Dream moved to try and help Hook. "There are dozens of them." Regina continued to scoff, while Emma and Mary Margaret struggled with lifting up the net, while David continued load and shoot the cannon. "Enough of this..." Regina sighed, when she used her magic to create a fireball in her hand, before throwing it into the water. She did this a few times, before the mermaids swam away, while Mary Margaret and Emma kept holding onto the one in the net.

The boat and waters went still, when Hook placed his hand on Dream's side, while they both held onto the steering wheel. Dream did not turn to glance at Hook, but her breath just hitched, before Hook moved his hand back on the wheel.

"There. They're gone." Regina said, looking into the water.

"Not all of them." Mary Margaret said, when she continued to struggle with bringing up the mermaid in the net with Emma. "What about that one?" She continued to ask, when Regina scoffed to herself, before using her magic to bring the mermaid up to the deck, while the mermaid laid on the net. The group looked shocked, when the mermaid tried to move, but her hands were caught in the net, and she had a tail so she could not move. 

"Get that thing off my ship!" Hook spat at the others, when Dream moved over with her mother and the Charmings, since the ship was calm now.

"No! Now, we have a hostage." Regina said, walking around the mermaid. "I hate to say it, but I'm with Hook. Those things just tried to kill us." David said, walking over to stand with Regina. "And perhaps we should find out why..." Regina said to him.

"How?" Dream asked, standing next to her mother. "By torturing her?" Mary Margaret asked, when she moved next to Dream.

"Well, if need be, sure." Regina said, looking at Mary Margaret, when Dream noticed the mermaid, but was too late to stop her from grabbing the shell that was brought up with her, before blowing into it.

Everyone shielded their ears from the loud sound, before they looked back at the mermaid. "What was that?" Emma asked the mermaid, moving her hands from her ears. "A warning." The mermaid threatened, when there was a sudden blast of thunder that rumbled. "Let me go. Or die." The mermaid said, looking at the others, one by one.

~season 3, episode 1: "The Heart of the Truest Believer"~

~918 words~