His Weakness✔

Chapter 15

The Blood Letter

"And these words appeared when your blood fell onto it?" Rumpelstiltskin asked and Emma nodded slowly. Gold didn't say anything as he examined the letter. While he did, Neal, Regina, Hook, Snow, and David all stood around, waiting for results.

"Well, obviously it's written in another language. Can't tell which one though," Rumple said and handed the paper back to Emma, who then handed it to her mother. Snow scrunched her face as she stared at the paper. The foreign scribbles were giving her a headache, causing her to hand the paper back and close her eyes to try to soothe the pain.

"Would Belle be able to help?" Neal asked and Rumple glanced at his son before letting out a sharp breath of air.

"Only one way to find out."

~

"I recognized this tongue," Belle said as she examined the paper with a magnifying glass. She put it down and looked at Emma.

"But it's a forgotten language. An old tongue the natives of Norway used back then. All of the information on this language was burned," Belle explained. Regina grumbled before speaking.

"Why would they burn the information?"

"It was during a harsh time the women wanted to expand on their own and learn to read. The rulers at the time did not approve and of course, did everything on their power to burn all information. They then created the new Norwegian language."

"But why would they create a completely new language?" Neal asked and Belle frowned.

"The women already knew a lot of the old tongue. They wanted to recreate a new one to deprive them of the knowledge they believed they had. It was a way for the men to keep order," Belle finished and Emma scowled.

"So a woman wrote this," David concluded.

"Or a man who still writes by the old language. It doesn't narrow our options much," Belle said and clutched onto the books she had brought.

"How do we even know if it's important?" Neal asked.

"It was protected by blood magic. Obviously, it is," Regina grumped and rubbed her forehead.

"Ask Evelina," Henry said as he walked downstairs. He was eavesdropping on them and just so happened to be walking downstairs when he overheard the last part. Everyone turned to him.

"What?" Henry looked up and smiled.

"Ask Evelina. She is Norwegian; she probably has studied this at some point in her life," Henry explained and everyone seemed to deem it a good idea.

"Where is the lass?" Hook asked and Henry slipped on his backpack.

"I was about to meet her at the park for a picnic," he said and was just about to leave when Regina grabbed the back of his backpack and yanked him back.

"A picnic. Really? Have you not been listening to the danger going on out there with Pan around, Henry?" Regina snapped while Emma got closer, silently agreeing with Regina.

"I wouldn't be alone I would be with Evelina-"

"Who sometimes can't control herself. Yes, I know, nothing bad will happen to you on purpose, but I can't rely on Evelina to keep you safe. Especially when Pan is after her," Regina finished and Emma finally stepped in.

"She's right Henry. It's not safe with the Lost Boys and Pan roaming around. We still haven't found a way to stop him," she said. Henry gave a stern look.

"He knows we fear him. And Peter Pan knows our weaknesses. We stopped living our lives just because we are afraid of him. We won't get anywhere unless we try and show him that we are not afraid."

With that, Henry walked out and headed in the complete opposite direction of the docks.

~

Evelina sat alone at the docks. After her long, educating talk with Hook about the different knots that could be spotted on a pirate ship, she was worn down and needed a snack. The pirate and Henry soon left her, both being summoned by Emma at the loft.

Evelina was left to her thoughts.

But she was quickly interrupted when she heard her name being called. Emma Swan paced towards her, determination clouding her eyes. Something had happened. Evelyn stood to her feet instantly.

"What's wrong?" She questioned immediately. Emma shoved the mysterious letter into the girl's hand. Evelina narrowed her eyes down at it and glanced up again.

"We need you to be a translator for today."

Once they were back at the loft, Evelina was on the spotlight as everyone waited. She examined the letter with scrunched eyebrows.

"You're lucky I can pick bits and pieces from this. Though you must understand, this is an old language. An ancient, forgotten language that I haven't encountered for years. I might not be too good," she hummed and squinted her eyes at the paper again. Evelina hadn't studied the language since she left her father's home and he had her study where her mother was from and her homelands back story, so the text was a bit blurry. But it was enough to ensure the Charming's nerves.

"Just leave me to it and I'll have it done in a couple hours," Evelina said and everyone mumbled.

Evelina was left to do her own thing.

~

The platinum-haired girl let a tired-out sigh as she rubbed her eyes and ran her hands through her unraveled hair. Her usually bright eyes were now a dim, dark blue, for the sleepiness was beginning to take a toll on the poor young Frost. The rims around her eyes were more prominent because of her pale skin and it made Evelina look like a walking mess.

"Take a break. There's no point in continuing if you're tired," Emma said as she placed a mug of hot cocoa sprinkled with cinnamon on it down before her. Evelina smiled softly at it. Her grin widened when a plate of Graham crackers came along as well.

"Takk skal du ha. Dette har vært veldig slitsomt," Evelina rapidly mumbled. She didn't even notice she was talking in another language until she glanced up at Emma and she looked beyond confused. Evelina smiled sheepishly and scrunched up her shoulders.

"Geez, jeg beklager, Emma. It just feels weird to talk again in English after reading in Norwegian all day," Evelina explained and Emma smiled and took the seat across from her. Both ladies sat at the kitchen table, with books and papers scattered everywhere. Notes of what Evelina had decoded were on a single piece of papers, with small doodles and scribbles all over the paper.

"How far have you gotten?" Emma asked before she sipped her drink again. Evelina gave a sigh as she munched into a Graham cracker.

"Not much. It's harder than it seems. The old Norwegian language, it is like English: Complicated and packed with millions of rules."

*unedited*