The Mermaid-Cursed Pirate

Chapter 45

Recap:

"That reminds me," Sirena echos Glinda. "Belle, meet Glinda. Glinda, meet Belle."

"It's nice to meet you," Belle says, extending a hand for a handshake.

Glinda pushes the hand out of the way and pulls Belle into a hug. "I don't do handshakes, Belle," she giggles.

"Oh, okay." Belle lets out a nervous chuckle.

"Alright, you two. Follow me!" Glinda calls as she skips away.

Recap 2:

"Believe me, pirate. I care about Sirena just as much as you do. And I will not have my son harm her. If there was a faster way for us to get the dagger, I would be doing it. But this is the only way." He holds the pirate's gaze with the same ferocity Killian has. "I promise you, captain. We will get Sirena back. And if we aren't able to get the dagger, I will give you the hourglass, no conditions. I'll find another way to power Neverland."

Killian is taken aback by the promise. He never could have seen this coming. He struggles to find the words to reply. "Thank you, Peter. I'm going to hold you to that."

"As you should. Sirena is special. I've already lost her. But I won't let you lose her too. Especially not to that damned crocodile."

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Hook, Pan, and a few of the crew members begin their journey through the Enchanted Forest. Pan and Hook lead the way, although Pan is the one who knows where they need to go.

"So where is this portal?" Hook questions Pan.

"Inside a hat," Pan answers with a mischievous grin.

"A hat? How does that work?"

"We spin the hat and it pulls us into the portal to Wonderland."

Hook closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Fine. Where is the hat?"

"The Mad Hatter has it. But most people know him as Jefferson. He's in a cottage somewhere in Sherwood Forest, east of Locksley."

"The Mad... Hatter... Am I supposed to know who that is?" Hook questions.

"He's a character in children's stories in the land without magic," Viviane explains. "They just don't know that he's real, like a lot of the people in the Enchanted Forest. I blame the Grimm brothers. They went to the land without magic and wrote stories about us for a profit. They made Pan ginger, by the way. And don't even get me started on what they said about mermaids. It's all wrong," she rants, glaring into the distance.

"Okay then. Am I in any of those stories?" the pirate questions, intrigued.

"Several versions, actually. But the general depiction is a ruffle-covered red coat and hat and a handlebar mustache. It's quite hilarious, actually," Pan chuckles, interrupting.

Hook's expression changes to an angry glare. "Is that so? And how do you know that?"

"Partly from my shadow and partly from Sirena. She went to the land without magic for a while to save herself, but she missed magic, so my shadow found her and led her to Neverland. While she was there, she watched a lot of the movies made about people she knew was real in other realms. She told a lot of these stories to the Lost Boys. They loved to listen to her stories," his eyes soften as he remembers those moments around the fire. "I loved it, too. She was so good at it. She even used magic to color and shape the smoke for illustrations."

The group continues their trek in silence for a while. Hook stops and touches Pan's shoulder. "We are going to get her back, Pan. Everyone here wants her back and safe."

Pan nods and they start walking again. After a while of walking in determined silence, Pan speaks. "We're here. That cottage up ahead."

A young girl was running around the forest giggling. A grinning man was chasing her, shouting "I'm gonna get you, Grace!"

The crew watches the happy family before Pan interrupts them. "Jefferson!"

The man freezes and turns to face the voice. "What are you doing here, Pan?" he asks in confusion. "And where's Sirena?"

"That's why we're here. The Dark One kidnapped her."

Jefferson's face pales. "What?" he gasps in a quiet voice. "Grace! Come back here!" The girl skips back to her father.

"Pappa, are these your friends?"

"They sure are. Especially that one," he says, pointing at Viviane. Then he whispers to her, "She's a mermaid, just like Sirena." Her eyes go wide in awe and she runs to Viviane. Jefferson chuckles and calls to the rest of the crew, "Let's go inside and have some tea, okay?"

"Yay!" Grace cheers, grabbing his hand and pulling her father and the mermaid to the cottage. The men follow her into the cottage, not enthusiastic about having tea