Belle's head pounded as she slammed closed another book. Burying her face in her hands, she cried. Even after three months, it was still a daily occurrence. "Belle?" Belle looked up and whipped the tears away from her eyes as Mulan walked towards her. "Do you know what it's like to have your true love ripped away from you?" Belle asked between sobs. "No. I only know what it's like to love someone who cannot love you." Belle looked down gently rubbed her brow. "It's a curious outfit you wear," Mulan said calmly. "I found his clothes in his old bedchamber. It feels like he's here with me," Belle told her, gently rubbing the silk shirt she wore. Combined with one of Rumple's leather vest, it gave her comfort. "What are you looking for?" Belle scuffed under her breath. "I'm trying to find a way to bring Rumple back without using very dark magic. I cannot find anything. But I still have more books." "How dark is this magic?" "So dark, even the Dark One would not use it. You can't bring back the dead."
Belle smiled as she knocked Robin's sword out of his hand. "You learn fast, my lady." "I might have read techniques in one of Rumple's books." "I know that look," Robin then stated as he picked up his sword. "What look?" "That look you've been walking around with. I lost my true love too." Belle sheathed her sword as Robin spoke, "I know what's like. That unbearable pain you carry with you, like having your heart ripped out. But Belle you must move on." "I can't move on," Belle replied. "It's only been a few months and I…." Belle looked pass Robin's shoulder and to that annoying flicker of golden light. "Do you see that?" Robin turned and looked over his shoulder. "See what?" "That light." Robin concentrated harder to where she was looking. "There's nothing there, my lady." Belle walked forward towards the light, following it as it led her into the castle and to her library. It dangled for a moment above a book Belle had yet to read. She sat down on the bed and started to read.
"No one has seen her," Snow said as she walked over to Bae, Charming and Ruby. "Well, we can cross her village off our list," Charming stated. "I don't know where else to look." Bae was quickly running out of ideas. No one could explain why Ruby couldn't track her. Belle left under the cloak of night. How do you lose someone in a twenty minute period? "Maybe she thinks she could find a way to bring him back," Snow suggested. Charming and Bae looked at her. "You can't bring back the dead," Bae insisted. "I can't give up on finding her. I can't let Papa down." "Where do we look next?" Charming asked with a sigh. "The Dark Castle." "Wouldn't that have too many memories for her?" Ruby asked. "Maybe that's why she could have gone there," Bae then suggested. Questioning glances took place as Bae walked pass the group, heading towards the direction of his father's old castle.
Belle grabbed her sword and a bow and quiver full of arrows. Stopping outside the Dark Castle, Belle looked around in the darkness. Her torch was her only beacon of light. "All right gold light. Please, show yourself. You're leading me for a reason. I just want to understand why." Belle stood quietly for a moment. The only sounds were from a few a crickets in the distance. The silence was almost deafening as she opened her book again. "Hello Belle," she heard a voice say. She turned and saw a woman standing a few feet away from her. Wearing a long a white gown with brown curls to her waist, she simply smiled at Belle. "Who are you?" "My name is Amelia. I'm your mother." "My mother?" Belle asked in disbelief. "Yes. I realize that may be a shock since I died in childbirth. But I'm here to help guide you. Your true love is trapped in a very dark place. Only you can save him and you must." "I don't understand." "You are destined to bear a child, the Dark One's child. It's important to all the lands that you have that child. Since you're not with child, you must find your true love. The book I lead you to, did you read it?" "Yes." "By foot it should take you about two days to get there." Belle looked down at the book she held and sighed. "Are the details true?" "I do not know. Never have I gone to that realm. I can only go with you to the portal. I'm sorry. The evil that runs that place is something I cannot handle." "Lead the way," Belle told her. "By the way, you'll need this," Amelia held out a bag of fairy dust.
Belle stood quietly looking at the rock with a simple phrase engraved on it "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."Belle looked at Amelia with a growing amount of fear. "Hope is all I have," Belle stated softly. Amelia placed her hand lovingly on Belle's shoulder. "Your love for Rumplestiltskin is strong. Believe in it." "I always have." "Think only of him and you will be lead to him." Belle took a deep breath and sighed. She fought a yaoguai. She told Regina she would never stop fighting for him. She looked over the edge and touched the rock. A moment later just off the edge, a green vortex swirled. She closed her eyes, though of her Rumple and took a leap of faith.
Rumple blinked his eyes open, not entirely sure where he was. Or what exactly had happened. He remembered stabbing Pan with his dagger. Rumple sat up and looked around at the baron wasteland around him. The fuzzy grey around him hurt his eyes. The wind blow rather furiously. There was nothing, he noticed as he stumbled to his feet. "What the hell?" He saw it somehow in the grey. His dagger lay, patiently waiting for someone to grab it. He managed to walk to it, his legs shaking unsteadily. He bent over and stopped halfway down, staring in disbelief at the green skin that covered his hands. The telltale word "Rumplestiltskin" still engraved in the curvy steel. He was still the Dark One. Now he just needed to figure out where the hell was he was and how the hell he was still the Dark One.