The Gold Chronicles was inspired by the Gold Standard written by my friend and co-author Snapegirlkmf and I began posting it 2013 but after the direction the show started to take I took it down for a massive rewrite. Now that Kat and I have officially crossed over our two series in our current story How The Queen Stole Christmas, I am reposting the series starting with this story. This story also crosses over with the SyFy miniseries Tin Man so it is strongly advised that ALL parts of it be read or crucial plot points will be missed!
Stay with me now I'm facing my last solemn hour
Very soon I'll embrace you on the other side
Within Temptation - The Heart of Everything
Storybrooke, Maine 2011
A group of people stood frozen in the middle of the street. The person once known as Malcolm McDermott paced in front of them holding a small scroll in his hands. Centuries earlier he and his small son used a magic bean to travel to a place called Neverland. In that paradise Malcolm abandoned his son and his responsibilities as a father to become Peter Pan, an evil magician whose only love was power and to keep that power he needed the innocent heart of a descendant of the Ozian goddess, Lurline Diosa and the Greek gods Hades and Persephone. That heart belonged to Henry Mills Gold, his own great grandson.
He hadn't counted on his son Rumplestiltskin, who had been possessed by Alemedia Demonia, the mistress of the Ozian hell realm Ephesis and Hades' second born , to travel to Neverland with the boy's parents to take it and the boy back. They left Neverland confident they'd defeated him and he allowed them to, borrowing the body of his old accomplice to return to the land of his forefathers where his powers would be much stronger and he could conquer that world and make everyone in it his slaves, Not even his son could stop him now. The boy was nothing but the village coward without his powers.
"Look at you all. A captive audience. I could play with you like a pack of dogs, couldn't I?" he taunted. Among those frozen were his grandson Baelfire, his great grandson Henry, that silly girl Belle, the Evil Queen Regina, Emma the Savior who couldn't save anything without a roadmap, the former cricket Archie Hopper, a formerly possessed Ozian sorceress named Azkadellia Ozopov and Snow White and Prince Charming. "I think I'll start with these two." he said as he now stood before Bae and Belle. "Hmm. You both look so adorable. Hard to tell who to kill first. No, it isn't. You. You first. " He pointed at Bae and was about to strike when he felt himself being pulled back.
"Stay away from them!" Rumple hissed.
It was time to end it. The most painful part was facing the ones he loved the most to say his goodbyes, even more painful to see them standing still unable to move or speak but their love for him made him stronger than he ever had been before.
"How about this? The worm has teeth," Pan taunted. "What, are you here to protect your wuved ones?"
"I'm not gonna let you touch any of them."
"Oh, I'd like to see that."
"Oh, you will. Because I have a job to finish, and I have to do whatever it takes. No loopholes. And what needs to be done has a price. A price I'm finally willing to pay," Rumple said bravely. He glanced over at his paralyzed son. "I used the curse to find you, Bae, to tell you I made a mistake. To make sure you had a chance at happiness. And that happiness is possible. Just not with me. I accept that."
"Pretty, pretty words," Pan was sneering.
Rumple ignored him. "I love you, Bae. And I carry a part of you with me...just as part of me will always be with you..."
Bae's cheek twitched and inside he was screaming, not wanting to lose his father now that they'd finally reconciled.
"Oh don't worry. You'll be reunited...in death." Pan laughed.
Rumple ignored him and glanced over at Emma. "Forgive my son Emma. He made a mistake, just as I did all those years ago. Forgive him for yourselves and for my grandson. Find the Tallahassee you dreamed about together. This is the last thing I'm asking of you."
A tear slid down the Savior's cheek.
Now his eyes met those of his young grandson, the box containing what was left of his heart in Henry's hands, visible to all but Pan. "You will be a great man and a great sorcerer someday, Henry. You will be the man I wanted to be all those years ago of that I am certain. You were raised well." He smiled at Henry. He walked over to where his cousin stood beside her bondmate. "I'm sorry we didn't have more time to get to know each other, cousin but I leave you in good hands. Bury the sorceress in the past and become the woman you were meant to be."
He now turned to the man at Az's side. "Archie, be a comfort to my family. They'll need you now more than ever."
Now Rumple looked over at Belle, his own bondmate, horror and despair in her beautiful blue eyes. "And I love you Belle," he said as he fought back his tears. "I never thought I could love that way again until that day I came to your father's castle. You saw both sides of me and even when I gave you plenty of reasons to leave; you came back and fought for me. I will see you again...just not in this life as we hoped and I'll wait for you...in the next one. You made me stronger, strong enough that I now know what I have to do and can do it...without fear anymore. You all have. By believing in me even when I no longer believed in myself."
He faced his father again with grim determination. He had to succeed for his family. He no longer had a chance but he would give them one.
"Stronger, yes. But still no magic," Pan reminded him. "You removed it and the Dark One powers with that talisman, remember?"
"Oh, but I don't need it. You see, you may have lost your shadow but there's one thing you're forgetting." Rumple pointed out as he regained his composure.
"And what's that?" Pan sneered.
"So I have I," Rumple declared triumphantly. "I sent it away with something to hide." He raised his hand, willing his shadow to answer his call. The black specter flew toward him and placed his dagger into his hand and remerged with his body. He grabbed his father and held him to him, the blade of the dagger poised behind Malcolm's back, directly over their hearts.
"What are you doing?" Pan demanded as he struggled to free himself.
"Fullfilling the prophecy and protecting my family! You see, the only way for you to die, is if we both die. And now... now, I am ready!" Rumple snarled as he plunged the dagger into his father's back and through his own chest where what remained of the Dark One's essence was stored and twisted it to banish her back to Ephesis where she belonged as his father pleaded with him to stop, promising him that they could have their happy ending.
"Ah but I'm a villain and VILLAINS DON'T GET HAPPY ENDINGS!" he snarled and twisted the blade.
A gold wave shot out from around them and all across Storybrooke, knocking everyone who stood in front of them off their feet, Henry still cradling the box containing the remaining portion of Rumple's heart in his arms protectively. The light surrounded father and son and as it cleared Rumple held his aged father's now still form, sobbing quietly and giving the man he once loved so much a kiss farewell on the cheek as he pulled the dagger out. He gently lowered Malcolm to the ground and closed the older man's eyes. "T...The...darkest of curses by a Strogoff was taken... and with my sacrifice...in the names of those I love...let this curse and all those created by it at last...be...broken!" he whispered and slumped to the ground beside his father, the front of his suit stained with his own blood and his father's. The dagger fell out of his hand and there was a blank space where his name was once engraved.
