Chapter One: Introduction
The night time was dark as Rumpelstiltskin walked through the quietness, the stillness of Maine at night. He looked at the strange road signs that he had seen only once before when Emma Swan had brought him to New York and sighed. He knew where he was and where he was going, to a train station where he would catch a train and ride into the city. He cursed himself, not only because he had lost all of his magic when he stepped over the line but, he had lost Belle, the only person who had trusted him he had lost and could never get back.
As he entered a small town and made his way toward a train station, he passed a shop window and stopped. When he had crossed the town line, it had brought back to him is inability to walk without aid and he had used a large tree branch to get him this far. In the window he saw a beautiful cane that reminded him of the cane he used when he was in Stroybrooke during the curse and he knew that he'd have to have it. Slowly, he entered the shop and looked around.
The shop was small and looked just like Rumple's own pawn shop. He sighed missing all of the magical objects he had had in that shop and went over to where the cane was sitting in the display case. It looked magnificent and he smiled at it reaching toward it.
"It's fifty dollars," He heard a voice from behind him and he slowly turned around.
It was a hassle not being able to know when others were around and looking at the shop keeper, he wished he had known. She was a beautiful, a woman who looked like some sort of wonder with curls like Belle had. She almost looked how his beloved wife did and it threw him off guard but, he knew it wasn't her. She had dark eyes with a sparkle in them that looked like the moon was glowing behind them and her lips were thin and still on her face.
She wore beautiful jewels around her neck and a tiara on her head that looked as if it were made of silver starlight. Rumple regained his composure and nodded as he pulled out his wallet from his pocket and took out a wad of bills passing it to her. She looked at him and then looked at the money as she slowly took it and walked to the front counter.
"So, why are you walking with a tree branch?" The words seemed to echo in Rumple's ear as he was reminded once again of what he had just lost.
"It was all I had," He said clenching his jaw.
"You look like you'd be a well off man in the suit you're wearing," She said as she placed the money carefully in a box and pulled out a few singles.
Rumple swallowed hard and took a deep breath. He was rich but that was back in the town he could no longer return to. Everyone must already know, he thought. He wondered what his own grandson thought of him, losing every connection to his father. Damn his own failure.
"I just lost everything but the clothing on my back," He replied softly and looked at the cane in the display box. "Are you going to get that for me, dearie or will you give me my money back?"
She smirked at him and Rumple wondered what made her so happy. In the mood he was in, he thought, she was lucky that he didn't have his abilities. His eyes trailed her as she moved to the display and took out the cane. She closed the case and turned toward him holding out the cane.
"I'll take that nice tree branch off of you," She said and Rumple raised his eye at her.
"Why do you need a tree branch?" He asked her and his eyes narrowed.
"I can turn it into another cane," She said and took the branch from him as he took the cane and leaned on it.
He gave a nod and went to the door. He didn't turn around as he exited the shop and walked past the window again. Slowly turning to the window again, he saw another cane in the spot where his new one had been. He raised an eyebrow and looked to see if he could see the woman who had sold him the cane but she was nowhere to be seen. Something didn't seem right but it wasn't his problem, he reminded himself as made his way to the train station.
…
Robin and Leona waved goodbye to their friends at camp half-blood. Lloyd Rivington, Annabeth Chase, Leo Valdez, and Will Solace waved back to them as they crossed the barrier surrounding the camp and into the mortal world. It was easy for them to manipulate the mist and live a peaceful life. Monsters couldn't even find them unless they wanted to. Robin and Leona hardly even needed to go to Camp Half-blood anymore since they had mastered their abilities but they had made friends there.
Robin and Leona were children of Hecate, the goddess of magic. The two of them were pretty powerful, their mother being considered by some to be a titan. Some people considered Robin and Leona to be half titan and half human rather than half god but the two never spoke of it. They both had seen their mother and all of the power she could do. Children of Hecate always had to prove themselves to their mother that they could use their magic in the way that she intended it.
Robin Hokces was a sixteen year old troublemaker though powerful with his magic. While he used it with good intentions for the most part, he liked to use it for mischief and poking fun at people. His half siblings nicknamed him Moonchild because he was most powerful when the moon shined in the sky. During a full moon, he was not himself which made him deadly, something that Hecate seemed to overlook. Robin had dark hair and eyes that sparkled like the moon.
Leona Goodchild was different than her brother. Her magic she used to read a person. She knew everything about a person, as long as they weren't a god, just by looking at them. She was younger than her brother but didn't look up to him. He thought her abilities were much cooler than her own. She and he both know that. For her abilities, she was called The Viewer. Leona had auburn hair the stretched all the way down her back.
As they left the border, they found someone waiting for them outside the border, someone who couldn't cross through. His name was William Ryhn and he was a 29 year old mortal. He had been practicing magic since he was a child and was discovered by Hecate who found his love of magic flattering. She promised him that if he would protect three of her children, she would allow him to expand his magical abilities. He accepted and now watched over Leona, Robin, and a girl named Kristen.
Ryhno, as he was called had dark hair and dark eyes. His skin was tan and smooth but seemed to glow with the magic that Hecate bestowed upon him. He was a kind man and very quiet. Some days, he hardly talked at all. He was lead to Robin first when the boy was only seven years. Robin was taken from his father's home and raised in Ryhno's apartment building. Two years later, Leona and Kristen joined them and not too long later, Hecate told them about Camp Half-Blood which had made a cabin for children of herself.
Ryhno looked at the two children.
"Hello Ryhnny," Robin grinned and playfully punched his shoulder.
"Hello Moonchild," Ryhno said in a rather monotone voice.
The three of them walked to a cab that was waiting for them and they rode toward New York city with the camp behind them. Leona was watching the cab driver closely as she did every time that she left the camp. Robin would guess that she was trying to figure out if anything changed, if she could read anything from him. After a few minutes she sat back in her seat.
"Did you miss us, Ryhno?" She asked him and he gave a quick nod of his head. "How is Kristen?"
Kristen Justine, who was fifteen years old and refused to go to Camp Half-Blood, was the third child that William Ryhn had agreed to watch. Hecate had brought her to Ryhno the day after Leona had arrived. She was a kind girl but she didn't talk about where she had come from. In fact, none of the children of Hecate liked to talk about their life before they came to Ryhno's apartment in New York.
"She is well," Ryhno said softly looking out the window.
"You should really talk more, Ryhnny!" Robin said and then muttered something in Latin.
Blue sparks danced around his hand and he laughed as they flew at Leona who gasped and ducked out of the way.
"Stop, Moonchild!" She scowled and he sighed.
"You always ruin my fun, Leona!" He crossed his arms.
Ryhno sighed softly and shook his head. He snapped his fingers and they were no longer sitting in the cab. The three of them were sitting in the apartment where Kristen was laying against the sofa.
"Welcome home, you two," She smiled at them.
…
AN:
I hope this wasn't too short of an introduction to the story. Please tell me what you think. Leave a review. If you want to know more about the characters, feel free to PM me! I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter.
If you have anything you want to suggest, let me know in a review.
~Rahxas (Ted Theodore Logan)