They called her the Dark One. There was no life in her cold blue eyes, only hunger for the one thing she desired above all else: power.
He had heard tales of a girl who slayed a terrible creature, to take on an all-consuming darkness and wield the most uncontrollable force it possessed for her own. And now she stood before his little town. Rumpelstiltskin, a mere spinner, a cripple and a coward, was in the presence of the most powerful being in possibly all the lands.
And she was beautiful. He was almost reluctant to admit it to himself, for there was something so terrifying in her steely, ice-blue gaze. He found a certain allure in the confident way she held herself, in the slight breeze that tickled her hair that curled wildly around her small face, snakelike tendrils that complimented her scaly skin.
She was terrible, and beautiful.
The Dark One stared through them all like they never even existed, like they were unimportant in the scheme of things. Mere pawns in her game.
"I've come to make you a deal," she said coldly, the words chilling Rumpelstiltskin's bones. He drew his son, Baelfire, nearer to him, taking comfort in the warmth of his boy's form.
Her eyes flitted over the small crowd, and Rumpelstiltskin could only imagine her disdain at the raggedy bunch, the poor, downtrodden townsfolk suffering the terrible drought that the year had brought. Does she even care? He thought. Is this our unlikely savior?
He froze when her gaze fell upon him. A smile reached her lips then, but there was no warmth in it. He suspected that, like a reptile, her blood had grown cold along with her heart. Staring, transfixed, into her eyes, he imagined she had shut herself off to feeling a long, long time ago.
She drew nearer, a lackadaisical saunter that made him lower his eyes, pressing Bae tightly to his chest. The Dark One stopped mere inches from him, before twirling around and walking the other way. She was toying with him, he realised. Like a mouse in a trap.
"The deal, my dears… is that I shall rescue you all from this terrible, terrible drought," she said that mockingly, a tinge of humour in her tone. Rumpelstiltskin shuddered. She makes fun of our plight, he thought. Innocent men and women, innocent children die each day and she saunters in and laughs. He realised she had probably been aware of their situation for months, choosing not to come to their aid until it suited her.
The Dark One stopped in her tracks, assessing the crowd as if she saw them for the first time. Assessing them like pigs for the slaughter.
"I'll rescue you… for a price," her voice had dropped dangerously low, and Rumpelstiltskin raised his eyes long enough to see no one had the courage to meet her gaze. For all the times I have been berated for cowardice… every one in this town is just as scared as I am.
"I require certain… services in the Dark Castle," she continued, her voice skipping from high to low tones with each word, a singsong declaration that sounded like a musical instrument, "I require a housekeeper."
She paused, as if expecting someone to speak up. The silence seeped into Rumpelstiltskin's skin and made him shiver with cold sweat.
"Anyone will do," she said cheerfully, "and in exchange, I'll remove the drought from your village for the rest of time. It's quite simple, really. Just a little spell, and you could all be free."
The Dark One placed her hands on her hips, pacing back and forth in front of them. She stopped to kick a stone with her boot. Rumpelstiltskin was fascinated by the motion, was it a show of power, to intimidate them? It had been graceful, girlish even. She was so young and so old, so beautiful and so monstrous, so calculating yet so… trivial. She was a bundle of contradictions, this creature before him. He felt the urge to look upon her again, but he felt like the victims of Medusa, he would surely turn to stone.
"Well?" she asked shrilly, looking a little impatient now. Her hands had not left her hips as she assessed the crowd. No one had met her gaze, but still she searched, hoping to find a measure of foolish bravery in one of them.
"Ah," she said, a dangerous lightness entering her voice, "I see there is one heart of gold amongst this sea of dirt, after all."
Rumpelstiltskin almost fainted in relief, his hands releasing their tight grip from Bae's shoulders.
Horror entered his heart as he raised his eyes and saw the Dark One's face mere inches from his own. Only she was not surveying him, but the small child in front of him.
"No," he blurted, a sudden desperation filling him with something akin to bravery. But never true bravery. Not the village coward.
"I'll go," Baelfire uttered, his eyes never leaving the Dark One's. He gently removed his father's hands from his shoulders, turning around to face him. Rumpelstiltkin's gaze flittered up to the Dark One for an instant, but saw his son turning his back had not offended her. In fact, a cruel smile had reached her lips, sending a shiver down his spine.
"Bae, you can't-"
"Father… I need to do this. To save everyone… to save you."
He was such a little boy, so strong and so resolute. Hot tears prickled Rumpelstiltskin's eyes as he drew him close, clinging to him for dear life.
In that moment, a flash of courage went through him. There was only one thing in life he cared about, he couldn't let that get away.
"Bae," he whispered softly, "I can't let you go with this… beast."
The Dark One giggled amusedly, clasping her hands together. It was all just a game to her, and she moved the pawns as she pleased. Perhaps she had intended this all along.
Mustering up whatever courage he could find within him, Rumpelstiltskin drew himself up to his full height, his hand grasping his cane for the meager support it offered.
"I will go instead," he said, and he was mortified to hear his voice shake.
The Dark One eyed him carefully, the cruel smile not leaving her lips for an instant.
"It's forever, dearie," she reminded in that singsong voice that drew terror from within him unlike anything he had experienced before.
"I will go with you, forever," he replied, voice steady now. His shoulders slumped a little in defeat. The bravery had gone, but he was resigned to his fate.
"Papa, no!" Bae screamed, tugging at his arm. Rumpelstiltskin could not bear to look at him, not even once. He knew that one look from Bae and he'd change his mind, he'd beg for some other solution, and they'd both be killed with the flick of a wrist from the great and powerful being before them.
He couldn't let Bae's last memory of his father be the image of a coward.
This was his chance to be brave, and he had taken it.
After 2x07, I decided Belle needed a chance to lock some people up. Thus began this fic!