Dagger in hand, Rumplestiltskin backed away from the body of the Dark One. Well, the previous Dark One. He looked to the dagger, blood dripping off its metal design with his name inscribed in it.
"How did that feel?"
Rumplestiltskin jumped, turning around. Zoso stood there, alive and well. He looked back to the body on the ground. "You...how...What are you?"
"I am many things." He stated, stalking closer to Rumple. "I'm the voice inside your head, the Dark One's powers inside you...inside all the Dark Ones. Zoso is one of many. You never answered my question. How did killing the Dark One feel?"
"Not good," Rumplestiltskin grunted.
Zoso showed his teeth. "Are you sure? You know it feels good to hold all this power now. Nobody can get to you."
"Please," Rumplestiltskin pleaded, "all I care about is my boy."
Zoso pointed to the dagger in Rumplestiltskin's hand. "With that, you can protect what's yours."
The Dark One stayed by Rumplestiltskin's side at all times, whispering many things Rumplestiltskin already knew to be true. It took some time to get used to the fact that this person almost always beside him could not be seen by others. He helped Rumplestiltskin get what he wanted- ending the Ogre Wars, caring for Bae. Everything he did, the Dark One had been standing beside him the whole time, whispering ideas. Kill that man, push his son away, let go of his son, hold onto the darkness no matter the price.
Hundreds of years after Rumplestiltskin took on the curse, the ogres became violent once again. So when Sir Maurice sent for Rumplestiltskin to help him in return for gold, the Dark One saw the opportunity to mess with his village. Who promised gold to someone who could create it using straw? He stood outside their war room, listening in on the conversations inside. Sir Maurice seemed to have lost all hope, but his daughter had faith that Rumplestiltskin would come to save them. He took that as his cue, knocking on the door, then transporting himself to Sir Maurice's throne while everyone had their back turned.
He lounged back in the chair, watching the shoulders of the people in front of him sag in defeat. "They really are desperate, aren't they," the Dark One chuckled.
Rumplestiltskin smirked. "Well that was a bit of a letdown." Everyone jumped, turning to face him.
A lanky knight pulled a sword, approaching Rumplestiltskin. "You sent me a message," he ignored the weapon in front of him, waving his hands around as he spoke, "something about um...Help! Help! We're dying! Can you save us?" He stood, "Now the answer is…" he swatted away the sword pointed in front of him, "Yes, I can. Yes I can protect your little town," he circled the war room, keeping his gaze directly on Sir Maurice, "for a price."
"We sent you a promise of gold." Maurice protested.
"Ah...now you see, I...make gold." Maurice took a step back.
Behind Rumplestiltskin, the Dark One interrupted his thoughts. "You know how bad the Ogre Wars can be. Name a big price. A meaningful price. How much is Sir Maurice willing to give up? What would kill him to part with?" In his three centuries, Rumplestiltskin's learned a thing or two about making deals. He's known his price since he walked into this room.
"What I want is something a bit more special. My price," he extended his scaly finger towards the daughter, "is her."
The room froze, Sir Maurice whispered, "no."
The knight who tried to intimidate him with the sword earlier shoved himself in front of the tiny woman. "The young lady is engaged to me."
Rumplestiltskin walked past the couple. "I wasn't asking if she was engaged. I'm not looking for love." He whirled around to face them again. "I'm looking for a caretaker. For my rather large...estate."
The Dark One snorted.
"It's her, or no deal."
"Get out," Sir Maurice growled. "Leave."
"As you wish." Rumplestiltskin made to leave the room.
The Dark One appeared in front of him. "Are you sure Maurice is desperate enough to stop you?"
"No wait." But it wasn't Sir Maurice who stopped him, it was the girl in the yellow ball gown. The Dark One raised his eyebrows. She removed the arm of her betrothed away from her, walking straight up to Rumplestiltskin. "I will go with him."
Rumplestiltskin giggled.
The knight shouted, "I forbid it!"
She turned toward her father and betrothed. "No one decides my fate but me."
The Dark One crossed his arms over his chest. "I like her. Let's see how long it takes to break her."
"I shall go."
"It's forever, dearie." He warned.
"My family, my friends- they will all live?"
The Dark One grunted. "She's smart, too."
"You have my word." He bowed his head.
"Then you have mine. I will go with you forever."
Rumplestiltskin giggled, bouncing with excitement. "Deal."
Sir Maurice stuttered. "Belle, Belle. You cannot do this. Belle, please. You can't go with this...beast."
The Dark One nodded. "He finally gets something right."
Rumplestiltskin's hand shot to his heart in mock-offense.
"Father..." she placed her hand on his heart, "Gaston...it's been decided."
"You know, she's right. The deal is struck." He giggled. "Oh, congratulations on your little war!"
He led Belle out of the war room, transporting them to his castle. He didn't exactly have a plan for what to do with her when they got there, but luckily the Dark One thought to put her in the dungeon. He locked her and her bright golden dress away in a dark cell, giggling along with the Dark One.
Later, as she poured tea for him, he listed off her duties. "You will serve me my meals, and you will clean the Dark Castle."
"I understand."
"You will dust my collection and launder my clothing."
"Yes."
"You will fetch me fresh straw when I'm spinning at the wheel."
"Got it."
The Dark One groaned. "Anyone can do these things. You need to scare her."
"Oh! And you will skin the children I hunt for their pelts."
She gasped, the teacup she held slipping from her hands.
The Dark One put his head in his hands. "I said scare her not try to tell a joke."
"That one was a quip," he assured her, despite the Dark One's protests to scare the poor girl. "Not serious."
She let out a shaky laugh. "Right." Bending down to pick up the teacup, her skirts bunched up around her. She brought the cup closer to her face. "Oh. I'm so sorry, but, uh," she held up the cup in her trembling hands. "It's chipped."
"Fantastic." The Dark One muttered.
"You-you can hardly see it." She tried to amend.
"Does she think you stupid?" The Dark One near shouted. "That chip is huge. Show her who's boss. Threaten to snap her neck."
"It's just a cup." He assured her, leaning back in his chair.
They went on like that for a few months. In his three centuries of being the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin had gotten so used to listening to what the Dark One said. But it was different with Belle. He couldn't expose her to that side of him. The Dark One would suggest something that might harm Belle and Rumplestiltskin somehow found the strength in him to ignore it. He didn't listen to the Dark One anymore. Belle quite literally chased the darkness away.
It wasn't easy, though. The Dark One wouldn't give up. At first he found joy in scaring Belle. As time went on, though, the Dark One saw Belle as a threat. Rumplestiltskin would rather listen to her than him. The Dark One became more violent in his requests. He would see Belle blatantly not doing work (this happened often) and he would become frustrated, saying Rumplestiltskin should rid himself of a useless maid.
Rumplestiltskin turned to his spinning, drowning out the Dark One's voice with the creak of the wheel.
"Why do you spin so much?" Belle asked from behind him.
He paused. Nobody ever asked him that. At first he spun for money. His aunts told him he could spin for royalty. He never became that good, but he did use it to provide for his family. Even when he became the Dark One he used it to spin straw into gold. The gold quickly piled up, but he never stopped spinning.
"Sorry it's just...you've spun straw into more gold than you could ever spend."
"I like to watch the wheel."
Behind him, the Dark One sighed. "She's trying to figure out the monster's weaknesses. She's becoming a detriment to your plan."
"Helps me forget," he added.
"Forget what?"
He paused. "I guess it worked," he giggled, turning around in time to see her laughing along with him from the top of a ladder. He stood from his wheel, pacing over to her. "What are you doing?"
"Opening these," she gestured towards the long curtains, "it's almost spring. We should let some light in." She pulled at the curtains a few times. "What did you do? Nail them down?"
"Yes."
The Dark One stood next to Rumplestiltskin, crossing his arms over his chest. "She's trying to change your ways. Don't fall for it."
But with a few more attempts at removing the curtains, it was Belle who was falling. She landed in his arms with a gasp. Her arm came around his neck, her eyes inspecting his skin in the new light. The air stilled, a quietness falling over the room. "Thank you," she breathed, smiling at him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this close to a woman. He immediately dropped her to the ground. "Thank you," she said again.
"It's no matter." He turned to walk away.
"I'll put the curtains back up," she offered.
"There's no need. I'll get used to it." He returned to his spinning wheel, glancing around the room. The Dark One was nowhere in sight.
Months later found Belle sitting on the table in the Great hall, the Dark One crossing his arms in the corner.
"Why did you want me here?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.
He brought the chipped teacup to his lips. "The place was filthy."
"I think you were lonely," she raised her eyebrows. "I mean, any man would be lonely."
The Dark One spoke. "Have you forgotten that you're a monster?"
"I'm not a man." He joined her on the table, sitting so that they were close but not quite touching. He cradled the teacup in his lap, studying his inhuman skin and claw-like nails.
She took a breath. "So I've had a couple of months to look around, you know. And upstairs, there's clothing, small, as if for a...child? Was it yours or was there a son?"
"Why does she want to know?" The Dark One narrowed his eyes. "She couldn't possibly care."
Rumplestiltskin ignored the Dark One, though, training his eyes on the ground in front of him. He hadn't spoken about Bae in...well, in centuries. "There was." He admitted. "There was a son. I lost him, as I did his mother."
"I'm sorry." She said, and he could tell she really was.
"Strange girl," the Dark One commented. "She could never truly care for a monster.
Rumplestiltskin smiled sadly, almost daring a glance at Belle, but thinking better of it. He'd spare her his affections.
"So you were a man once. An ordinary man." She stated. He kept his attention on the teacup.
"She's getting awfully close," the Dark One warned.
"If I'm never going to know another person in my whole life, can't I at least know you?"
"Perhaps." He stood, turning to face her. "Perhaps you just want to learn the monster's weaknesses."
"You're not a monster. You think you're uglier than you are. That's why you cover all the mirrors up, isn't it? Hmm?"
Luckily he didn't have to answer that question for they heard a knock at the door. They rarely got visitors coming to their front door, but Rumple slipped away to answer it.
"I am Sir Gaston," The knight from Belle's village held his sword pointed at Rumplestiltskin again, as if that seemed threatening to the most powerful sorcerer in the realm.
The Dark One hooted. "Oh dear."
Gaston continued. "And you, beast, have taken-"
Impatient, Rumplestiltskin snapped his fingers, turning the boy into a rose before he could continue his sentence. "Now there's the Dark One I like to see," he heard from behind him.
When returned to the Great Hall, Belle greeted him, asking, "Who was that?'
"Just an old woman selling flowers," he pulled the rose out from behind his back, casually holding it out for her. "Here, if you'll have it."
Belle grabbed it, a smile playing at her lips. "Why, thank you."
As he playfully bowed and she curtsied, he heard the Dark One groan.
Belle giggled, turning to busy herself with finding a vase. "You had a life, Belle. Before...this." He waved his hand around, indicated the castle. "Friends, family. What made you choose to come here with me?" He reclined in the chair at the end of the table.
"Heroism." She answered. "Sacrifice. You know, there aren't a lot of opportunities for women in this land to show what they can do, to see the world, to be heroes. So when you arrived, that was my chance." She trimmed the stem off the Gaston-rose. "I always wanted to be brave. I figured, do the brave thing, and bravery would follow."
"And is it everything you hoped?"
She laughed. "Well, uh, I did want to see the world." She hopped back onto the table. "That part didn't really work out. But, I did save my village."
"She's too good for you." Rumplestiltskin agreed with the Dark One.
Rumplestiltskin cleared his throat, remembering the stem of the rose she just cut off. "And about your betrothed?"
"It was an arranged marriage. Honestly, I never really cared much for Gaston." She smiled. "You know, to me, love is layered. Love is a mystery to be uncovered." Rumplestiltskin couldn't take his eyes off her if he wanted to. He needed to commit this moment to memory, with her sitting atop the table like she belonged there, talking to him about love. She shrugged, "I could never truly give my heart to someone as superficial as he."
"Oh," the Dark One said. "You have her lock and key. You really lucked out in finding her. I know I'm not her biggest fan but you should keep her around-she could be useful. You're never going to find someone who could see past your monstrous self like that again." Rumplestiltskin stared at her, her pale face illuminated by the light coming in from the window. He wanted to stay in this moment forever with Belle, and it seemed the Dark One agreed. He wanted to hide Belle away forever in his castle.
"But you were going to tell me about your son."
He didn't deserve this. "I'll tell you what. I'll make you a deal. Go to town, and fetch me some straw. When you return, I'll share my deal."
Belle stuttered, her mouth falling open. "You...town?" He nodded. "You trust me to come back?"
"Yeah," the Dark One added, "you trust her to come back to this?"
"Oh no," he shook his head, "I expect I'll never see you again."
The Dark One can't get to Belle now, he won't let him. After Belle left, the stillness of the room felt foreign. He'd have to get used to the solitude again. Just him and the Dark One inside his head. In all the time Belle stayed in his castle, he never got tired of how she lit up a room just by walking in. She'd been chasing the Dark One away. But now he felt the presence of the Dark One loom over him like a cloud, more noticeable than ever with the absence of Belle.
The Dark One's voice came from behind the chair Rumplestiltskin sat in. "She'll never come back to you, you know."
"Good." But that didn't stop him from trudging up the stairs to keep an eye out for her from the window of his work room, just in case the Dark One was wrong.