Will You Keep The Secret

Well that's helpful Oli grumbled internally. He raised an eyebrow at the impression of the imp. He wasn't sure how to feel about how easily it came from the boy who until this point had been painfully shy. The 180 in personality was unsettling but he desided for now to let it go, despite the niggling worry that there was more to Oscar than he'd originally thought. He followed Oscar as they headed through the town to what he assumed was the school. He hoped that this teacher would help him find Aurora as at the moment he felt that he was being shoved from pillar to post.

Oscar jumped back to face the way he was walking, and almost instantly his body language reverted back to what it was once; the confident and mischievous posture going to the smaller, almost slightly hunched ones. His foot steps becoming tentative and as his gaze scanning the corners where they walked. As minutes passed, they reached the school building.

The speed at which Oscar changed personality made Oli's head spin. Usually it was Oli pulling the preverbial rug from under people feet but here he was completely off kilter. Oli looked up at the school as they arrived, it was quaint. Very stereotypical small town America, which he supposed, was the point. The curse that brought this town here certainly had a flair for the mundain. Nothing was out of place, everything seemed perfect and that set Oli's teeth on edge. He could feel the mischief and mayhem bubbling underneath the surface of this place which might have been why it felt so off to Oli. He shrugged of the feeling and turned to Oscar. "So, what's this teacher look like?"

Oscar shrugged gently, whispering, "She'll be in the classroom, that way." Moving a slightly trembling arm up he pointed towards one of the oak door at the end of the hall. "It isn't school time, so she'll be the only one in there. You won't be able to miss her.... Don't tell her I let you into the town though, no one can know I did. I don't want to be in trouble with everyone. It's bad enough one person knows."

Inside the class room that Oscar had pointed at, Snow would of been sat at her desk. A pen balanced between her fingers as she marked work, the pain seeming to barely scarp the paper with how gentle her whole demeanour was.

Oli nodded. "Thank you Oscar, your secret's safe with me. I hope we can remain friends whilst I'm here." He knew better than to try shake the boy's hand, he remembered how he reacted last time. With a nod he headed down the corridor to the room Oscar had pointed out. For a few moments Oli took in the woman in front of him. She was petite with short brunette hair. He was taken at how pretty she was, whilst not having the air of arrogance of someone who knew they were pretty. She seemed quietly confident in herself. He raised his hand and knocked against the open door. He decided being polite was his best course of action with this woman, he imagined his normal cockyness would probably go down like a tonne of bricks and wouldn't help him find Aurora. "Excuse me ma'am, I've been told you're the person to help me."

"And what is the problem you need help with?" Snow questioned, voice soft as she lifted her gaze up from the papers to look at him. Her permanent smile faltering briefly as the air and atmosphere that he seemed to carry with him. "Please, take a seat. What is your name?"

Oli cautiously stepped into the room. He saw her smile falter and knew that she could see right through him. Even if she didn't know who he was she could tell he was different. He'd have to be extra careful. He sat down opposite the woman. "My name's Olifat, but people call me Oli. Someone I care about greatly has been taken and hidden somewhere in your town by a woman known as Marama who seems to have some form of pact with the imp in the pawn shop. She gave me a riddle 'She is neither hot nor cold. Awake nor asleep. She isn't dead, but she isn't alive either.... She had the ambition to be the centre of attention. In a place where all can see, but no one can touch...'. I just want to get Aurora back ma'am and I'm hoping you can help me."

"Someone you care about greatly," Snow mused softly, lips tightening into a line as she thought. Picking the papers up she put them into a neat pile on the side of the desk as she got to her feet. Repeating the riddle to herself, before heading out of the school building; assuming Olifat would of followed her. "The more minds we have working on this is for the better, if someone from out of town is causing trouble; we have enough people in our own community whom enjoy to see others suffer. Emma will be able to figure this out."

Oli stood and followed the petite woman out of the school. He was beginning to feel antsy, more used to going in all guns blasing rather than this sit down and figure it out tactic. He knew though that if he had any chance he'd have to hold out and just go with the flow so he put all of his trust in the woman who's name he didn't even know. "Ma'am, I must apologise for being so rude, I haven't even asked your name and here you are willing to help me, a complete stranger. Please forgive me. Also, who is this Emma we're going to meet and how will she be able to help us. I realise I am asking a lot from you and you don't even know me."

"Emma is my daughter," She replied gently as she walked, pausing in her tracks to glance over her shoulder when there was a loud, high pitch noise of metal hitting a pavement; shaking her head dismissively as her gaze fell onto Oscar's figure scurrying into an alleyway out of sight, a metal pole that he had found in the bin he must have been fiddling with to keep himself occupied rolling down the road towards them.

Oli nodded, of course this woman would go to family, but, her daughter? She surely couldn't be that old? This woman was mid thirties at most even if she'd had a child at 18 they'd only be a teenager now. How much help could a young teenager be? Oli cocked his head at the noise, he knew that Oscar had been following them, he just thought the kid was curious but now with him scarpering, he wondered if there was more to it than that. He raised an eyebrow at the woman, silently asking her what she thought. "You know ma'am, you still haven't told me your name, and if you don't tell me I may be forced to make one up for you." He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows, hoping a little flirting wouldn't go amiss.

"Snow." She replied gently, continuing on her way, "My name is Snow. Tell me about this Aurora? Why is she so important to you?"

"Snow, that's an unusual name, although, I'm not one to speak," Oli snorted. "Aurora......she.....I........eh...." Oli rubbed the back of his neck. this was harder than he thought. He'd never said it out loud, hell he barely even ackowledged the extent of his feelings to himself, if he said it out loud it made it real. He looked at Snow and decided to go out on a limb, he trusted her, which was surprising considering they had only just met. "I love her." He said it so quietly he was unsure whether she'd heard him.

Snow just smiled warmly at him, having known the answer simply by his body language before he had even vocalised it. She simply gave a small nod of understanding, before opening the door to her daughter's home, "Emma, we have a visitor."

The smile meant a lot to him. She understood what he was going through, that was good. He was glad he had someone who knew what he was going through, it was a comfort. He followed Snow through the door and stopped short at what he saw on the other side. He was not expecting to see a woman who was of the same age as her supposed mother. He looked between them "how........"

****************************************************************************************************************

Emma looked up as she heard her mother's voice. A visitor would undoubtably mean trouble. She stood from the table where she'd been having lunch with Killian and walked to the door to greet her mother and the stranger. She hugged her mum, "hey mum, nice to see you." She turned to the stranger and had to stop her mouth from hanging open, this guy was ripped. She held out her hand out, "Hey, I'm Emma." She laughed at his surprise, "yeah we're not exactly a normal family. There is a rather long and confusing story to that which I think is for another time over a bottle of rum. Now I assume you need help if you're comming to me. Come on in, we're just having lunch."

****************************************************************************************************************

Oli just went with it for now, he would keep those questions for later. He followed the blonde to the table and saw a man sitting down eyeing him up. "Yeah, I um, need help finding someone."

Killian remained deadly silent, his gaze firm on Olifat as he studied his body language closely. Running his knife against the edge of his plate so it made a high-pitched uncomfortable sound, almost in ways of a threat. When Emma returned to her seat beside him, the noise would of stopped, though his gaze still remained on the stranger in front of him. Shifting his weight ever so subtly so he was nearer Emma, a protective gesture that you would of been able to miss rather easily unless you were paying attention.

"Rumple has liaised with someone out of town, to bring trouble into town it appears." Snow enlightened, walking over and taking a seat. "He has Oscar scuttling around the place, so, it must be something that Rumple believes to be of significance."

Emma rolled her eyes at Killian's behaviour, he was so protective of her sometimes. She shook her head as he shifted towards her as she sat down. She lightly smacked his leg under the table and muttered, "behave" with a smirk plastered on her face. He was so cute, but she'd never tell him that, his ego might not take it. She looked between her mother and the stranger as her mother spoke. "Anything Rumple's got a hand in can't be good. Why's he got his sights set on you, if I might ask?"

******************************************************************************************************************

Oli watched the man out the corner of his eye, he'd have to be careful with this one, but if Snow trusted him he would have to do the same. He held out his left hand to the man, hoping to win him over, "I'm Oli by the way. As for why the Imp is after me, I'm not sure why he's after me personally, but he seems to have made some sort of deal with a woman called Marama who's not my biggesdt fan. I want what's best for her niece but she seems to have different plans. That's why I'm here, to find her niece, Aurora."

Killian shook his head dismissively at Emma's scolding, raising an eyebrow at her and frowning in mock offense; acting as if he had done nothing at all. Though the few moments his gaze had been off Olifat unnerved him slightly, and as his eyes returned to the man they lit up when the handshake was offered, doing his best to hold back a smirk though his face betrayed him as one side of his mouth moved up. He lifted his hook up to meet Olifat's hand, merely scraping the sharp metal along the man's palm and letting out a chuckle which he could no longer hold in.

"Marama is an unusual name," Snow mused, "Very unusual, although Rumple has an eye for power and all things related to such."

Oli's eyes widened as Killian lifted his hook and ran it across his palm. He jerked his hand back as if it had been shocked and stared wide eyed at the man who was now openly laughing at him. He wasn't a huge fan of fishing hooks, what with his affinity to the ocean and all. Once he got his heart rate back to a more normal speed he managed to get out, "You have a hook.....for a hand.....and I thought my lot were different. I'm Polynesian by the way, commonly referred to as the trickster god. That's why Marama sounds so unusual, she's the goddess of the moon and death. If Rumple's attracted to power, someone who can control death is probably a good ally to have."

****************************************************************************************************************

Emma grinned at Oli, it never failed to amuse her how freaked out people could get at the hook. She listened to him as he talked about gods and goddesses. If it had been a few years ago she'd have had him go for a psyche eval but what with everything that went down with Hades changed her outlook on life. "Ww've already met a god of the underworld, Hades was just cheery."

****************************************************************************************************************

Oli looked at Emma, "Ah yes, Zeus did metion that Hades had been taken down a while back. That was you lot? I'm impressed. Hades was one tough bastard. Excuse my language ladies."

"Perhaps there is no time to be wasted on reliving the past," Killian replied with a wrinkle of his nose, still slightly disturbed by the whole ordeal. "It is a waste of time, we understand enough; power is the centre of Rumple's world, if this woman is powerful he wishes to please her and if she wishes to get you away from her niece then of course taking her niece away is the ideal solution though I imagine he probably would of just killed her if it were that simple. Perhaps we should pay a visit to Mr. Rumple and remind him that he isn't as big, bad and scary as he believes he is."

"No, that isn't wise." Snow answered, almost instantly. "This has to be thought out, if a girls life is at stake, who simply got caught up in the middle of this all then we can't go around kicking peoples doors down without irrational thought."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Sir! Sir!" Oscar whined, pushing his way through the small shop in order to search for Rumple, "They're getting the saviour involved, I was only trying to get him off my back and now... and now..." he swallowed thickly, trembling like a leaf.

"Normally I'd be all for kicking down doors and threatening people but I don't want to put Aurora at risk, she's too important. Hopefully if we can figure out Marama's riddle we'll be one step closer to finding her. Marama knew that putting Aurora just out of reach would hurt me more than just outright killing her. I could fix death, not knowing is not so easy to sort." He was glad Snow was there keeping a level head on things. "The riddle Marama gave me was 'She is neither hot nor cold. Awake nor asleep. She isn't dead, but she isn't alive either.... She had the ambition to be the centre of attention. In a place where all can see, but no one can touch...' do either of you know what it means?" He looked hopefully at Emma and Killian.

******************************************************************************************************************

Emma frowned, rolling the riddle round her brain, it sounded familiar. Suddenly she had a brain storm, "Awake nor asleep, alive or dead, she's under the sleeping curse! Mum, is the glass coffin you were in when dad found you still around, that would fit with a place that all could see but not touch. She'll be in there. How come you didn't think of this mum?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rumple glowered at the boy in front of him. "The saviour's getting involved? Now how would he get the idea to go to her? Let me guess, you took him right to the charmings." Rumple waved his hand and in a puff of purple smoke a heart appeared which he squeezed. "Why would you do a thing like that? Do you wish to see your family again or not?"

"That's an easy one," Killian agreed with Emma, rolling his eyes as he moved his gaze over to Snow. "Working in that school is slowly beginning to rot your brain away. As for you," he leant back in his seat and waved his hook around in Olifat's direction; a lazy indication of letting him know he directed the the next statement to him. "This is certainly going to be a challenge for you, mate, you'll have fun with this one. The adventure has only just begun."

"I didn't make the connection," Snow replied with a frown, "He is a stranger, he isn't from here. I didn't think it could be anything to do with curses and magic, not when strangers are involved. My coffin... The curse. Do you mean it when you say you really love her? Is it true; not shallow, or materialistic. Is it true love?"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Oscar tensed when his heart was squeezed upon, his breath catching in his throat as blood began to trickle out of the corner of his mouth. "I just wanted to get him out of the town, he wouldn't go; it didn't work, I misjudged it all. I'm sorry! I'll fix it! I'll help you fix the problem, I swear! Just tell me what to do and I'll do it!"

Oli watched the hook carefully, he wasn't entirely sure the man wouldn't use it on him. He was uncomfortable not being totally in control and not being sure where he stood with this man who had a killing device for a hand certainly wasn't good for his already frayed nerves. He turned on Snow as she talked and felt completely exposed when she asked him if was true love. It was bad enough she knew, he didn't want it flaunted in front of everyone, he didn't like being so vulnerable in front of people he didn't know. He stared intently and the grain of the wood that made the table, not wanting to have to deal with the stares they were surely giving him. He knew he loved Aurora, that she consumed his soul, but he had no idea how she felt about him. "I do love her. She's everything to me. I can't bear to lose her, I don't know how I'd cope if I lost her. I don't know how she feels about me though." Oli's throat constricted as he spoke, he had to hope these people wouldn't use it against him. He wasn't used to trusting people with his feelings.

******************************************************************************************************************

Emma was determined not to cry. She reached across the table and squeezed Oli's hand. She knew what it was like to think that you'd never see the person you loved again. She looked at Killian, her eyes brimming with unshed tears, hoping he could see the love she felt.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You had better fix it, boy or it'll be all the worse for you." With his free hand he magicked up a small vial of black liquid. "This is a poison that'll make him die permanently. Make sure this stranger gets it, and if anyone gets in your way, there's enough for them too. A few drops will do the trick." He handed over the vial to Oscar and dissapeared in a pouf of smoke.

Oscar swallowed thickly, clenching the vial in his hands and backing up slightly. Glancing around the to try and regain his bearing before heading back into the centre of the town, lurking on the street to try and clear his mind and think of what was best to do next.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
"So we go to the coffin, you can have a smooch with her and then we all carry on our way and hope we don't run into any enemies on the way." Killain hummed, as if it were easy, moving his gaze briefly to lock onto Emma's and just give her a smile. "We need a reminder of where the coffin is now,"

Oli huffed a short laugh at Killian's bluntness. He was appreciative the man wasn't making a big deal of his emotional outpouring. He was glad of Emma's silent show of support though. He squeezed her hand back to show he appreciated the guesture. "What does this coffin look like, and why did you need a coffin Snow, if you don't mind me asking?"

******************************************************************************************************************

Emma looked at Oli as he pulled himself together. She wanted to help this man despite not knowing much about him. He was so genuine with his feelings, and who knew, maybe having a god of mischief around might be fun once all this was over. "It's mainly glass, with black metal criss crossing over it, that about right mum?"