A horse. The Queen thought that a simple pony, would be the key to end their days. A horse was the key to cover the world darkness and destroy everything that anyone has ever loved. Was she a complete idiot?
She must have been, because it was antagonizing to get The Queen to finally realize what she had to do to make the damn thing work. He practically had to spoon feed her the answer. Despite the irritation her visit brought, it was an interesting turn of events. He was becoming increasingly more and more bored, just sitting there in the dimly lit cave with nothing but his thoughts and his demons to keep him company. Everday he was down there he felt like the Dark One was pulling at his mind a little harder and make him feel crazier than he already was. He was really starting to loose it.
The Queen did deserved that shake though, he thought aimlessly. A fucking horse? Bah! How pathetic. At least had some fun with her, striking up one of his famous deals and setting up his life for the upcoming dark days. A pretty little arrangement, ensuring that no matter what, he was the one with the power at the end of the day, not her.
Still, the fact that this moron was running around with his dark curse irked him to no end, and he set about pacing the length of his cell. It was quiet spacious for being a dungeon, but it was all rock and absolutely no fucking way out. The walls were magicked to hell, and therefore impossible to teleport out of. Shapeshifting was out too because the bars were enchanted as well. No doubt the Charmings had enlisted the help of some faries to set up the magic borders for his cell. Yet another reason to put those pesky little demons on his hit list.
It frustrated him that the The Queen was completely fucking blind to what this curse was capable of. He had created the curse one drunken night when his memories were rather keen on tormenting him. He couldn't remember exactly what it did, but he remembered that it's effects were well, not very good.
Nevertheless, did The Queen honestly believe that he would make something so simple activate one of the most twisted curses of all time? Did she expect so little from him? This curse wasn't one of his funny little parlor tricks like turning men into roses. This was the real fucking deal, and frankly, he was insulted.
He had thought about activating the curse himself after he created it, but every time he tried something pulled him back and told him that it wasn't the right time, and that he must wait longer for the curse to start. He eventually got so frustrated with it that he traded it off to The Queen, just so he could forget about the damn thing. Out of sight, out of mind.
But, despite the Queen's idiocy he was relieved that he wasn't destined to be the one to use it. For what ever reason, he designed it so you had to kill the thing you love most, the only thing was, who can you possibly kill when all the ones you love are dead?
That stopped him. He sat down against the cool wall of his cell and leaned back. Everyone really was dead aren't they? His wife, long gone. Baelfire has probably been dead for ages. Unless he had found some way to stop the clock, which seemed unlikely. It's been so long that he had almost forgotten what his son's face even looked like. And of course there was the one person that he almost always tried to keep his thoughts from, that he tried to forget endless times by spinning at his wheel and emptying his flask. Belle.
He decided, that if he was going to be stuck in this damn cage until the Queen enacted the curse, he might as well have something to think about. He let the memories of her come flooding back in, releasing them from the back of his mind where he had attempted to keep them under wraps. He wisked himself back to the castle. He remembered her laugh, the way she would crack up at his mannerisms. How beautiful she looked glowing from the sunlight emitting from one of the hundreds of windows that she insisted on keeping open all the time. How damn fearless she was, never even blinking in the face of danger. Of all the things he loved about her, her bravery fasinated him the most. How anyone could be that confident was beyond him.
Could she have really been the Queen's spy? It's possible, if she was then she was a damn good one. But a spy, a spy would've fought to stay, she stared him straight in the eye then walked away. How could she be a spy? It was an argument that he had had with himself countless times. Was she? Or was she not? How could anyone ever love him? This shell of a man, this ugly twisted coward. He was the dark one! He could send people running in fear with a mere flick of his finger. But not Belle, she never backed down.
Sitting in his cell where his options were looking more and more bleak, he decided that he just didn't care anymore. Fuck it. At this point he take her anyway, anyway but dead. Hearing about her death nearly killed him, still kills him. There are so many things that he could've done. So many ways that he could've kept her alive. But there were too many ifs that went with their situation. In the end, she along with everyone else he loved was gone and he was still here. Sitting in his darkend cell, with nobody but the rats to keep him company.
Perhaps, in this dark and twisted new world she would be there. Bae too perhaps. It was impossible, but it gave him somthing to hold onto. Some light at the end of the tunnel. If he was going to hell it'd be nice to have some company, although he would never want his son and his love to to suffer as he has and probably will. Maybe in this new life he wouldn't be such a coward, and he could be the man he always wanted to be. Someone with power, with dignity and real respect. It was a nice thought, so with the axe hanging over his head he closed his eyes and waited for hell to take over. Because hell seemed a of a lot better than the shithole that he was in now.